Birthday suit tradition

So, my name is Alice. What do you need to know about me? Actually, I'm a pretty normal girl. Have my small circle of friends, get on well with most other people at school, pretty good grades. I can say with relative certainty that I'm pretty good-looking, maybe a bit lacking in the ass department, but my chest is more than adequate - still, I like to think that this isn't the only reason I got together with several boys over the course of my teenage life. Never went beyond kissing and light petting, though, and I've been single for the past year. Not to say I don't have my urges, but so far, I satisfied them myself, more than frequently; and most important of all, in private.

My mother, though... she'd like me to be a lot more open about my body. Both in talking about it, and in my choice of clothing; she's got this whole body positivity thing going on. Tanning nude in the yard, going to the beach topless or in a tight bikini - she's got the body for it, sure, and dad's all for it, but it's always been a bit embarrassing for me. And then, she always tries to get me to follow in her footsteps! Getting me revealing clothes I'll never wear, trying to talk with me about boys and sex and masturbation... though it's not all bad. I'm probably better educated in that department than anyone else my age, and while I may have been to go to the adult store with her, I might have never gotten my favourite vibrator otherwise.

That being said: even though I knew my mom very well, I could have never expected what she had in store for me on my 18th birthday. My story begins on the evening before, having a talk with my mother before going to bed...

"...so we've got enough to eat and drink even if there are surprise guests. Your dad already freed up plenty of space in the living room and brought up the extra chairs from the cellar. And I prepared the party games you wanted! Even though I still think that adult board game would be more fun~"

"Oh, stop it, mom. You know I vetoed that one. .... Thanks." I gave her a kiss on the cheek; without her, I wouldn't have been able to organize everything. My birthday parties had never been actual parties - mostly it was just me going out with my closest friends, to the bowling alley or the water park or something, and to some restaurant before or afterwards. So this was actually quite a leap in the dark. I invited some girls over that I don't know well, but who always seemed nice, hoping to make some more friends. I even invited a few boys - none I ever went out with, but still ones I did think were pretty cute. And decent! No rude assholes. Also, everyone could bring someone along if they wanted.

"Ally, sweety, don't thank me, I just want you to have fun on your birthday! I'm so glad you're inviting some more people for once. ...but before you're going to bed, there is one thing I wanted to talk about, regarding tomorrow..."

"Yeah, mom, what is it?" I was in a pretty good mood at that point, the perfect chance for her to get me to greenlight anything questionable. And how she took that chance!

"In my family, as you know, there have always been certain... traditions. That I wanted to uphold. Because they played a part in making me the person I am today, and I am proud of that."

"Is this about the thing with the presents? You know I never chickened out on that, even when it was embarrassing." A silly, but kinda fun tradition. Whatever present you get, you have to try it out in front of the guests. One time, that had meant modeling underwear in front of relatives, the other time, a skimpy swimsuit mom got me, knowing I would only wear it this once to honor the tradition. She had hoped I would end up liking it and wear it to the beach anyway, which didn't happen. The whole thing was sometimes awkward, but in good fun.

"No, not that. Another one, that only applies to 18th birthdays. To get to the point, you'll have to wear something for at least the whole day."

"Oh, and what?", I asked, genuinely curious.

"... your birthday suit."

"What? What does _that _mean?" For some reason, I didn't even consider taking it literally.

"Well... it means what it means." My mother stared at me like I was stupid. But it didn't make click for me; I still thought she was probably referring to some mysterious outfit that is maybe very revealing, or looks ridiculous. At worst a chicken costume, or that skimpy bikini. Nothing I couldn't handle in front of maybe a dozen people and for just one day, even if some of them turned out to be mean.

"I'll do it", I suddenly blurted out with conviction. I wanted to show mom how thankful I was, and this was the opportunity to do it.

"Really? And you'll commit for it, for the whole day? It would mean so much to me!"

"Don't worry, mom. I promise, I'll commit! On, uh... my honour as a daughter?", I finished awkwardly, while mom pulled me into a hug.

"I knew I would get through to you someday! You're making me so proud... good night sweety, get some rest for your big day tomorrow!"

"Night, mom!"

Already having brushed my teeth and wearing my pajamas, I immediately slipped into bed, wondering what my mother had meant with that last sentence. Honoring a tradition for one day didn't mean she succeeded in molding me in her image, or did it? I didn't worry about it nearly as much as I should have, in hindsight, and drifted off into sleep, no idea what would await me on my birthday the next morning, and what the true nature of the 'birthday suit' was...