Familiar Stranger

We were carrying our groceries back to Peter's pickup when someone tucked a flier into his hand. We couldn't see what it was without unfolding it, and our hands were occupied, but when we got back to the pickup and finished loading the groceries into the rear of the crew cab, he opened the flier. And snorted.

"What is it, son?" I said, curious.

"A flier for the nude beach at Pilgrim's Bay," he said, laughing and looking more closely as something caught his eye.

"Something interesting?" I wondered.

"Possibly, yeah. Apparently July 14 is National Nude Day, and they're offering free admission to family groups for the day."

"Good for them!"

"Yeah, but no interest to us, is it?"

"Why not?" I said, thinking maybe this could be my chance, Molly.

He stared at me for a moment, slightly startled, I think. "Well, the beach at Pilgrim's Bay has been nudist for at least seven years that I know of, Mom, and you've never expressed any interest in it before, have you?"

"Not openly, no, I haven't," I admitted.

He blinked. "Secretly?"

I shrugged. "The idea of nudism always appealed to me when I was younger, and when the beach first went nudist your Dad and I talked about going, but he was killed in that accident when you were thirteen and we were too busy surviving that for me to think about it again. Not for a good while, at least."

"But now?"

"Now? Now you're nineteen, not thirteen, taller than me now and you'll make a great escort, and you'll make all the other women and girls jealous of me since you're so handsome." And I batted my eyelashes at him before breaking into the laughter I'd been holding back after seeing the startled look on his face.

"Okay, Mom, silly time over," he said, grinning. "Serious now. Do you really want to go to Pilgrim's Bay on July 14 and take all of your clothes off and let everyone, everyone at Pilgrim's Bay, at least, see you that way? Including me, of course."

I nodded, trying to keep my cool and solemn look. "Yes, I really do. I think I'm up to it, but only if you will be my escort. Because I want to see you, too." You and your cock.

He reached out and took my hands. "Mom, ever since I hit puberty and found out that girls actually are different to boys, I've wondered what you would look like without clothes. You look great in a swimsuit, especially a bikini, you're slim, you're fit and you always make sure we eat healthy food, so I'm pretty sure the reality will be stunning, so if you're serious then yes, I'd be delighted to be your escort."

Well, that was frank, and yes, he'd often seen me in my swimsuit when we used our pool. Sometimes a bikini, more often a one-piece, but I usually felt good in either. I nodded, smiling at him.

"Okay, then," I said, "on July 14 my handsome son and I will go to Pilgrim's Bay and take all of our clothes off and find out what this nudist thing is all about. You are free on July 14, I hope?"

"Yeah, Mom, it's a Friday, so I'm free." And I suspected that if he hadn't been free, he'd have moved heaven and earth to make sure he was, since it was his first chance to see his mom with no clothes on. Of course, if we weren't comfortable at Pilgrim's Bay it might be his only chance. I gestured.

"Great! Okay, son, drive us home."

And off we duly went on the short drive home. The drive was silent, but it was a comfortable silence, and Peter was pretty obviously thinking. Hell, so was I, thinking that in only a couple of days -- today was the tenth -- I would be seeing my son naked, and I wasn't quite sure how I would handle that, after what my friend Molly Hunter had told me after a night out with our friends from our local book society, and that had startled me more than slightly! She'd told me that she'd been having sex with her son for about six months, but it was what she'd said next that really shook me.

"You should think about having sex with Peter, Kelly. You're a widow, and he's a man grown now. It would mean you being loved by someone you love and who you know loves you. You have the experience to guide him, and if Peter is anything like my Dave, he'll have the endurance to give you a good time. A fucking great time, in fact, excuse my French."

Well, I'd said no, of course, it just wasn't going to happen, but Molly had just smiled.

"I've sown the seed, Kelly, and you'll think about it, you won't be able not to, and you'll wonder. Well, I tell you straight, it's the best sex I ever had,"

She'd been right, I did think about it, and I did wonder, but I told myself it would never happen, yet I wondered how I'd feel after we spent time together naked at Pilgrim's Bay, and I saw what he could offer me.

Once we were home, and had the groceries duly stowed away, I made a pot of coffee and poured two cups. I always took mine black and Peter had developed a taste for it that way, too, while he was away at college, and neither of us added any sweetening. I signaled him to follow and led the way into the sitting room. I took my favorite chair and Peter sat on the couch. I looked across at him.

"You're sure you're okay with us going to Pilgrim's Bay?"

He grinned. "Absolutely, Mom. I'm looking forward to it, because it means I'll finally get to see you naked, and as I said, I've been curious about that for some years now. I guess I shouldn't really be thinking that way, but hey, I'm a male, you're an attractive female, and you are, you know, even if you are my Mom, so I do. I think that among other naked people we'll not feel quite so -- I don't know, not embarrassed, awkward, perhaps -- not feel quite so awkward, not quite so conscious of our nudity, it being the first time for us. Okay, I am nervous about it, but I'm certain there will be other nervous first-timers apart from us. And now you've mentioned that you've thought about nudism in the past, well, why not?"

"Yeah, I was thinking something similar, that's really why I suggested us going together. Someone to hold my hand. I'm looking forward to seeing you naked as well, you know? I haven't seen you that way since you were about nine and decided you could bathe and dress yourself without my help." Yeah, and I'll be thinking about what Molly told me as well.

He laughed. "Hey, I mostly managed, didn't I? I couldn't have been too bad."

I laughed too. "No, you weren't, honey, you weren't, and you were a rock when your dad was killed You remind me of him so much. You're almost the double of the man I married twenty-one years ago, the man I loved. The man I still love." And I was miles and years away for a moment, remembering Peter's father and he waited, silent. I sighed, and then smiled at him, and I think what I went on to say startled him.

"What do you think about a privacy fence for the back yard? There's only that stretch between the garage and the back gate that needs to be done, although we'll need a full-height gate as well. It's about what, ten feet?"

"About that, yes, but why a privacy fence?"

"Well, we could maybe start skinny-dipping in the pool, if we're comfortable together at Pilgrim's Bay? I think I'd kinda like to try nudism at home as well, certainly in the pool, maybe around the house, too, if we're okay with it?" I had always liked being naked with Peter's father, and not just for sex, either.

"Mom, you tell me that one of the loveliest women I know might be wandering about the house, and dipping in the pool, totally naked and you ask me if I'm okay with it? Remember, I'm a teenager -- okay, only just, as it's my twentieth birthday next month -- I'm a teenager, with hormones. Moreover, I'm a male teenager who thinks that the naked female form is one of the loveliest things in creation. Of course I'm okay with it!"

I laughed. "Okay, then. Now, tell me, when are you free to go to the lumber yard for the timber we'll need for our privacy fence? And what do we do about the gate?"

"Well, if I remember right, the lumber yard sells ready-made gates and frames. We'll just need to build it into the fence. We can get the locks and hardware, probably the paint, there as well. As for the when, how about now?"

Two hours later we were home again with everything we needed to build our privacy fence. Peter had measured up before we left home, we'd sketched the layout and we discussed the project with the manager, although not the why, and he'd calculated what we'd need, including the brackets to fasten the fence to the walls at each end. One of his employees gave us a hand to load the stuff into the pickup. Home again, we unloaded the timber and the other stuff and stored it temporarily in the garage.

"I'm free tomorrow, Mom, so I can get started on the framing after breakfast. Shouldn't take too long to get it assembled, then I can fix the vertical cladding. Should have it all done by evening, if it goes well."

"It would go quicker if you had help, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, of course it would. You offering?"

"Let me ring Sally, she still owes me a couple of days for the extra time I put in over the Easter period. I'll see if I can swing it for tomorrow," I said and headed for the phone. Sally was agreeable, in fact she told me not to come in until the Saturday, since I had no scheduled appointments until then, and I went back five minutes later with a grin on my face. "Did it. You have an assistant for tomorrow."

"Great! We'll start right after breakfast tomorrow, okay, Mom?

"Okay, son, right after breakfast."

And we did, me in tank top and shorts, Peter in tee-shirt and shorts. I'm no carpenter, but I can handle a power drill and power screwdriver, so Peter gave me the job of doing the fastenings, while he handled the measuring, cutting and fitting. By mid-morning, when we broke off for a cold soda and a cookie, we had the basic framing assembled and fastened in place, the frame for the new gate in situ, and by lunch we had about half of the fence cladding uprights in place. Only needed to finish that and fit the gate, and the job would be done. We just had bacon sandwiches for lunch, quick and tasty, and by five-thirty, when we finished for the day, the privacy fence was complete and had had its first coat of paint applied.

"I think we did a good job there, son," I said, "so, tell you what, instead of me cooking our evening meal, let's celebrate by phoning for a takeaway, eh?"

"Great!"

"What shall we get? Pizza? Chinese? Indian? Or perhaps Thai?"

"Whatever suits you, Mom, but I'd like to try Thai again, they have some interesting flavors."

"True, they do. Okay, Thai it is. Selection for two?"

"Sounds good."

"I'll order it for seven, because I think I've earned a swim. Not nude, though, not yet. Fourteenth and after, I promise." I grinned and winked at him.

He laughed. "I think I'll have a swim as well. You're right, we've earned the leisure time."

"Remind me, when do you have to work again?"

"Wednesday and Thursday, Mr Ansman has two deliveries to make." He was spending part of his summer break from college helping our local furniture sales entrepreneur with deliveries, as some of his regular crew were on their own summer vacations. It was hard work, physically, but no mental effort was needed, and he got on well with Mr Ansman, and with his regular crew, too, he'd told me, because they knew he was no threat to their jobs, since he saw his own future in the computer field. It was useful money, as well.

"Okay, then, swim time," I said, and headed off towards my bedroom.

We enjoyed the swim, me in my almost new red and white bikini. We enjoyed our Thai takeaway later as well. Next morning, the new privacy fence got its second coat of paint and Peter fitted the hardware. Three keys came with the lock and we each attached one to our key-rings, and I tucked the other away with the other spare keys in a labeled box in one of the kitchen drawers. Wednesday and Thursday Peter was busy on furniture deliveries, helping Jack Crozier, Ansman's regular driver. His usual buddy, Billy Todd, was on vacation. Crozier was a tad humorless, Peter reckoned, but they got on okay.

Thursday, I did a little groceries shopping, and then it was Friday. National Nude Day. I think Peter and I were both a little nervous and excited, knowing we were going to see each other naked in the very near future. We'd decided to leave for the beach around ten o'clock, breakfast digested, and we took a couple of candy bars and cans of soda in a cooler bag, along with our towels and sunblock. Instead of Peter's pickup, we used my Honda, and at ten twenty-five I eased the car into a vacant slot in the parking lot at Pilgrim's Bay - only just over half full, I noticed - and turned off the engine. We looked at each other and I grinned.

"Come on, sweetie. Into the unknown."

"Tallyho," he responded, and I laughed. He grabbed the cooler bag, me the bag with the towels, and my purse, and we got out. I locked the car and we set off on the short walk to the admin block. Inside it was cool and shaded, a scattering of couches and low tables, and a desk behind which sat a lady about my own age, halter top and shorts at this interface between clothes and no clothes, and a welcoming smile on her face.

"Hi, folks. Here for the free admission today for family groups, perhaps?"

"Yes, indeed," I said. "I'm Kelly Grant and this is my son, Peter."

"Family group, then. Welcome to Pilgrim's Bay Sun Club. I'm Patti McCaffrey. I'm on duty here until noon if you have any queries. One of the other staff takes over then, so don't be surprised to see me on the beach later. Okay, here are your admission tickets, and a brochure which gives the layout of the place, as well as membership information. As it's your first time, if you want somewhere quiet turn right when you get down to the beach. The concession is the other way, and it tends to be busier along there. If you're thinking about joining us, there's an offer on at the moment. Half-price membership for your first year if you join before the end of the month. Okay, then, through that door over there. Turn left for the ladies' changing, right for the men's. Enjoy your visit, and remember -- we were all beginners once." She gave us a cheerful smile and turned to another family group who had followed us in.

Through the door we were in a sort of lobby. To left and right were the doors to the changing areas, and in front of us another door, above which a sign told us, 'Access to the beach. No clothing beyond this point.' I turned to Peter.

"Okay, son. When you're changed, just go straight out and wait for me there. Then we'll go down to the beach together. If I'm first I'll wait for you outside. Okay?"

He nodded. "Okay, Mom, see you in a minute or two, outside."

I went into the female changing area, empty at the moment except for me, and quickly stripped off my clothes, putting them into one of the lockers provided. I locked the door of the locker and fastened the touch-and-close key case around my wrist and picked up my bag. I went to the door to the beach, took a deep breath and stepped through onto a shaded porch area running the length of the building. No one was there except Peter, although I could see other figures further away. Naked figures, I realized.

Peter turned as I stepped through the door and, for a moment or two, seeing him naked, I forgot to breathe. I gave him what I'm sure was a nervous smile, set down the bag with our towels, spread my arms wide, and said, "Well? How do I look?"

"Mom? You look absolutely gorgeous in only your skin."

"You're not just saying that to make me feel good?"

"Of course I'm saying it to make you feel good! You should feel good, you're absolutely stunning, and if you weren't my mother I'd be trying to think of any possible way to get closer to you. You are the loveliest sight I've ever seen nude."

I laughed. "Seen many nude females, then?"

"Not live, no, but I guess we'll see some today, since we're at a nude beach, but in glamour magazines and on-line, yeah, I've seen plenty, but none as attractive as you. Live with it, Mom, you're beautiful."

"Thank you. Now let me look at you." So I did, almost unblinkingly, for what seemed like minutes but was really only seconds. I nodded. "I was right, you are a truly good-looking young man." And that cock of your looks like it could give a woman a really good time. Yes, Molly, you witch, you were right -- I want it!

"Well, that's both of us happy with the view. Come on, let's head down to the beach." It was probably just as well we started moving when we did, as the family who'd followed us in came out now. Mother, father, son about nine or ten, daughter maybe twelve or so, just beginning to develop her curves. They gave us hesitant smiles, but I work as a nurse and stand-in receptionist for our local medical practice and am used to dealing with people. I gave them a bright smile.

"Hi, folks," I said, "are you first-timers as well?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, we are. We're just wondering if we're ready for this."

I laughed. "I know how you feel, but so far I feel liberated." I gave the woman a wry smile. "So liberated, I'm forgetting my manners. I'm Kelly Grant and this is my son, Peter."

"Grace Koniski, my husband Josh and these two are David and Donna," said the woman. We all exchanged greetings and I took a moment to study the others. Grace, I guessed, was middle thirties, Josh a little older. He looked fit, not soft and I speculated on an active job. Grace was a little softer than me, with a fuller figure, but still very attractive. The kids were typical kids, but not overweight, I noticed, not like too many of our neighbors' kids. I thought Donna might be quite the looker when she was a little older.

"I think I know you," Josh said to me, "Elmview Medical Center, yes?"

"That's right," I replied, "I'm one of the nurses and sometimes stand-in as receptionist. Are you one of our clients, perhaps?"

"We're on the Elmview books now, yes, but I was there in my official capacity. I'm a detective with the Harvey County Police Department and we were investigating some drug thefts, but you hadn't lost any, so I was in and out pretty quickly. I think you were on duty but I think it may have been your office boss I talked to."

"Sally Ellerman?"

"That's her, yes. You have a good records system there, I wish there were more like it," said Josh, "but that's enough official talk. We're all here to enjoy ourselves so let's head for the beach. I think David and Donna want to get in the water, don't you?"

"We do, Daddy, yes," said Donna.

"Okay, then," said Josh, "let's all go down to the beach." Feeling natural, as the two youngsters hurried on ahead, I fell into step with Grace and Josh and Peter brought up the rear.

"Just you and Peter today?" said Grace. "Husband working?" I'd noticed her glance at my left hand where I still wore my wedding ring. I shook my head.

"No, I'm a widow. My husband was killed in an accident six years ago, I'm afraid."

Grace gave me a wry look. "And there I go, putting my foot in it again."

"It's okay, you couldn't have known. Hey, smile, we're here to explore nudism, not the past!"

Grace laughed. "True, and so far, I feel okay about it. I thought I'd be terrified, especially if I met someone I know."

"Well, they'll be naked as well, if you do, so relax and let it happen."

"You're right, of course. Guess I'm just nervous."

"Understandable, but I feel comfortable with you all, so if you don't mind, Peter and I will stick around for a while." We'd reached the beach now and, remembering what Patti had said, I gestured to the right. "How about along here? Patti, in the office, says it's quieter this way."

"Quieter sounds good," said Grace, then turned to Donna and David who had stopped and were waiting. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"We want to go in the water, Mom, but where will you be?"