Chapter 14: Fireworks

Stephanie kissed her children good-bye and reminded them to behave for their grandparents. Darren's arm felt perfect around her waist as they waved from the doorway. They watched as his parents drove off to their cabin in the mountains for a week. Stephanie felt both sadness and excitement. A week without kids meant more time to spend with Darren. They hadn't connected this well in years and she wanted badly to be with him all day. Tomorrow was the fourth. Fireworks. Yes, she wanted to see fireworks, but not the kind the city had in mind.

Darren was up and out the door early the next morning, before she had even stirred. Stephanie stretched, enjoying the feel of the cool sheets against her bare body. Darren would be off with his friends Roger, Bobby and George golfing until early afternoon. Stephanie looked over at the clock. 11am! Wow, she thought, I haven't slept in this late in ages.

Stephanie tossed the covers off and padded to the window. She opened the curtains and looked out. The sun was bright and the sky clear and blue. She saw young Johnny Carter mowing his lawn next door. Wow, she thought out loud, this time last year I wouldn't have dared to look out the window naked and now I'm standing here. It feels good to be this comfortable with my body. Darren's constant compliments and attentiveness hasn't hurt either.

She closed the curtain and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. She was drying and something caught her eye in the mirror. The sneak, she thought as she looked over at the mirror. It was fogged over except where Darren had written, " Good morning, sleepyhead. Check the kitchen table before you get dressed. D."

What did he have in mind, she wondered. She wrapped her towel around herself and slipped down stairs. There was a clothing box and a note on the table.

"Stephanie -- The fireworks last night were spectacular. Here is something for you to wear today. I thought we'd go to the city fireworks display tonight. I should be back by 2. --Darren"

Stephanie opened the box. It was a black bikini. It was smaller than the one he bought her earlier this year. She picked the parts up. It was so tiny. The top consisted of two triangles and three strings. One string ran through the bottoms of the two triangles. The triangles slid on that string. The other two strings were each attached to the top of one of the triangles. The bottoms tied on the side so that only a string went around the waist and the hourglass shaped piece of black fabric sure wouldn't cover much.

Stephanie let the towel drop and slipped the bottoms between her thighs. She tied the two side strings in bows and then tied the top in place. She bent over to pick up the towel and trotted upstairs to see what the suit looked like.

She stared at the woman in the mirror. About half of each of her breasts was exposed. The nipples were covered, but a generous amount of the inside and outside of each mound was visible. She played with the triangles, varying the amount of each breast that they covered, form a thin strip over each nipple to nearly the whole breast. She found she could even move the fabric so that the breast was completely exposed. The bottoms barely covered her mons. And about half of her butt stuck out around the sides of the bottoms. She wasn't sure she liked that, especially when her tan line made it that much more obvious. Maybe I need to go lay out for a while in my new suit, she thought.

And so she did. She turned the stereo on, grabbed her sunscreen and a towel, and layed down on the lush green grass of the back yard. She lay on her stomach first, untying the ties of her top and feeling particularly daring. After an hour or so, she tied her top again and rolled over onto her back. She pushed the edges of each triangle together until they barely covered her nipples. Then she closed her eyes and allowed the sun to carry her off to dreamland.

She didn't hear Darren until he sat down beside her, partially blocking the sun. She looked up and shaded her eyes. "Hi Darren."

"Hi, yourself. I see you found the sunwear." His voice dropped to a whisper, "It sure got Johnny Carter's attention."

Stephanie looked over Darren's shoulder and she could see Johnny Carter's ball cap sticking up over the hedge that separated the Carter's yard from theirs. Stephanie couldn't believe he had been watching her. Darren stood up and held his hand out. Stephanie put her hand in his and he helped her stand up. She looked down and patted the lump in the front of Darren's shorts.

They walked hand in hand to the back door. Darren kissed her and then whispered in her ear, "Dare you to take the top off here and now."

"Johnny will see," she hissed back.

"Your back is all."

Stephanie looked back over her shoulder for a moment and then shrugged her shoulders. She reached back behind herself and untied first the bottom string and then the top one, letting the top drop into her other hand. They walked through the door to the cool inside without a look back.

After Darren carried her off to the bed for a midafternoon romp, they watched an afternoon of television and ate a simple supper.