The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1270 by Angharad Copyright © 2011 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Once I established there would be at least two lifeguards on duty all afternoon, I allowed the girls to change into their swimming cossies, Danny had already run off to the changing rooms to change into his. I let him off without any reprimand this time partly because he’s quite a good swimmer and partly because I always seem to be telling him off for something or other. On the whole, they’re all good children but like all children, life is a learning experience and some of their experiences haven’t been exactly nice ones.

The advantage the girls have is that they move like a pack, four for the price of one, which means they are safer together in lots of ways, if noisier–they rarely manage to do anything without loads of giggling and squealing, which even Billie does now without any self-consciousness. Danny, in contrast is alone quite a lot of the time although he can have friends over when he likes and he does meet up with the odd boy from school–although the cold winter didn’t make that any easier.

I saw the children all in the pool and went off with baby Catherine and Jenny to the gym. We sat on adjacent bikes after settling the baby in her lounger seat, where she slept while we sweated.

I don’t particularly like stationary bikes but they are useful at times and I did the equivalent of twenty miles in my hour–and didn’t my legs know it. I wobbled when I got off and nearly fell over just like Bridget Jones does in the film. I went and showered, got myself a drink and went to watch the children in the pool. While I watched them I fed the baby and nodded off to sleep with her doing the same.

I only dozed for about ten or fifteen minutes then cramp in my leg woke me, so much for exercise being good for you? At five o’clock, I got the children out and arranged for them to get showered and casually dressed before we all had a snack. Simon had been lifting weights and was as stiff as I felt from cycling.

At six, I left the baby with Simon and Danny, Tom and Henry were chatting and propping the bar up, and took the girls with me to the beauty salon. I had my hair trimmed, shampooed and set, a facial and manicure. The girls all had a hair tidy-up, and a manicure–I’d already agreed they would only have a light pink nail polish applied, compared to my red talons–remember the dress I was going to wear.

Then we repaired to the suite and began to change into our posh frocks. It was now nearly seven and Stella was in with us while the boys were changing in her room. They hadn’t seen our dresses and we wanted to surprise them.

Stella wore a beautiful off the shoulder, blue lacy affair with a skirt that flared from below the bust and ended on her knee. My own red sparkly thing stopped above the knee, which I wore over my red bra and panties, and some very delicate ten denier tights. I finished it off with a red bracelet and matching necklace.

“Jeez, Cathy, if you show anymore cleavage someone will park their bicycle in it.”

“You can talk, I can see your nipples from here.”

“If you’ve got it flaunt it.”

“Exactly,” I said applying my lipstick. Of course the girls all had to have some makeup as well, “Julie should be doing this for you,” I suggested, “Where is she?”

“Da da,” said a voice and in she walked wearing exactly the same dress as me. “Oh shit.”

“Where’s the other one of the Three Degrees?” asked Stella.

Julie burst into tears and I wasn’t far off it myself. I had told the silly girl I was wearing red. Stella came to the rescue, she had a spare dress in her room which she went and got, “The boys are all watching football, can you believe?”

The replacement dress was absolutely lovely, it was a mixture of pale pink and lavender and showed Julie’s emerging bosom rather nicely. Thankfully, she hadn’t worn a coloured bra so didn’t need to change that, although she had to change her nail and lip colour.

“Why couldn’t you wear the same dress, Mummy?” asked Trish.

“Because it isn’t done, sweetheart.”

“But you looked like sisters, we sometimes wear the same things don’t we, I mean, me an’ Livvie.”

“Livvie and I,” I corrected. “When you’re very young it looks cute, when you’re an adult it’s different, and as I was the senior, Julie had to change–besides which, I wouldn’t have got into that dress–my boobs are too big.”

“I hope I have boobs like yours,” said Trish looking longingly at my chest.

“You’ll have some before too much longer.”

“Yeah, like in a million years time.”

“Livvie doesn’t keep on about it, and she’ll have to wait for the same length of time.”

“Livvie’s a proper girl.”

“So are you, now don’t start that all over again. Let’s have a nice evening and not let anything spoil it.”

Stella looked at me, “I’ve told the doorman not to let any police in.”

“Oh thanks, Stella, I have no intention of getting myself arrested tonight.”

Tom came by with his camera and took photos of us all, both as a group and individually. He went back to the boys looking very pleased with himself.

At seven twenty nine, the men came to escort us girls down to the ballroom. Simon had me on his arm and he was desperately trying to conceal his enthusiasm for my dress while holding Trish’s hand as well. I glanced at his trousers and knew he liked my dress.

Henry escorted Billie and Mima, whilst Julie went on the arms of Danny and Leon and of course, our honoured couple led us into the lifts and down to the ballroom.

I don’t know how many people they’d invited but as we all walked in, the rest of us a few yards behind Gareth and Stella, a throng of people burst into spontaneous applause.

Henry made a short speech inviting the guests to share the delight of his family in the engagement of his only daughter, and he also added, he hoped the marriage would be as successful as that of his son and daughter in law. There was a round of applause for Henry, which erupted again when he declared a free bar but asked people to drink sensibly as the bar staff would refuse to serve anyone who’d had too much.

After Simon got us both a glass of wine, he put his arm round me and said, “When I saw you in that dress, I nearly messed my underpants.”

“You can get tablets for diarrhoeal relief,” I whispered back.

“That wasn’t what I meant and you know it.”

“So are you pleased to see me or is that a baseball bat in your trousers?” I said sexily to him.

“Oh don’t, Cathy, if I turn round quickly, I’m likely to take one of the children’s eyes out.”

How do you follow that? I took him off to a corner and kissed him hungrily, rubbing my hip against him. He blushed and stumbled off to the gents presumably to wash my lipstick off his mouth and change his underpants?

Stella sidled up behind me and said quietly, “That was rotten, you bitch.”

“Nah, he’ll want me just as badly when we get to bed but he’ll take his time.”

“Doesn’t he always?”

“Sometimes he takes so long he falls asleep.”

“Oh, still I suppose that better than you know–wham, bam, thank you ma’am.”

“Depends on what I’m doing at the time.” I replied casually.

“Eh? Like what?”

“Like taking the roast out of the oven...” She laughed so loudly I thought she was going to burst something aside from my eardrums.

“Cathy, you are a fool...”