Chatting with Mom in the bathroom.

Holly was covered to her neck in scented bubbles when he walked in.

“You’re amazing. Thanks honey. Can you light that vanilla one and put it on the sink? We’ll see how that strikes me before we worry about the other one.”

“Vanilla it is,” he said, lit it, and set it on the counter.

Holly lifted one of her feet out of the bath. Sudsy rivers ran down her toes to her ankle. If it weren’t for Jessie awakening some dormant fetish, he wouldn’t have cared about the foot at all. Now it was all he could look at.

“Something wrong?” she asked, and waved her toes at him.

“Uh... no. Nope. Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking you must be on those poor feet of yours all day.”

A wry grin formed on her lips. “You don’t know the half of it. My feet ache, my shoulders hurt... I’m a withering rose.”

“You make it sound like you’re 60. You’re 35, Mom.”

“35 rounds up to 40,” she sighed. “I’m constantly working, and your Dad is never home.” A defeated look took over her face. “The rest of my life is going to pass by without too many more men stopping to give me a second glance.”

“Do you want them to?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I wish I had a way to show them ‘Hey, I’m still a woman! I’m still sexy!’ without having some wild midlife crisis.” Would my mom go for modeling if I pitched the idea to her? It was an interesting possibility, but he wasn’t confident enough to ask her right away.

He walked over to the side of the bath and gave her dripping foot a tight squeeze. “For what it’s worth, I know you’re still a sexy woman.”

She brought her other foot out of the bath and rubbed the back of his hand with it as if to say thank you. “I shouldn’t encourage you to say stuff like that to me, but it feels nice to get a compliment. So thank you.”

The lights flickered and went out at that exact moment.

“Good thing I lit that candle huh?” he asked. The candle lit up the bathroom dimly, but it was still hard to see.

“Good thing you brought two. Light the jasmine one and set it on the toilet tank, would you please?”

He did as she asked, and then they could see each other clearly again.

She sat up a little straighter, causing her shoulders and the tops of her breasts to emerge from their watery concealment.

“I’m stressed, I’m under appreciated, and now the lights don’t even work. What a day.”

“I could help you relax?” he asked bravely.

The flickering shadows lent her smile a seductive aura. “And how might you go about doing that?”

“A shoulder massage. Maybe get your neck and arms in on the action?”

“In the bath?” she asked. The idea of that seemed to put her on edge.

“Or after. Whatever’s best for you.”

“Letting you stand there and get an eyeful is already pushing some family limits,” she said. “So why don’t we plan for after my bath? I’ll meet you on the couch in the living room after I slip something on.”