The beach.

Turns out Gwen's already packed some towels, a cold bottle of lemonade and some juicy, ripe peaches. She slips her shirt off the shoulder slightly to give you a peek at her bikini, and holds one up for you in the other hand. Beaches have never been your thing, with you preferring to swim in the privacy of your parents' pool or the solitude of the lake, but you've been out a couple of times with your sister in the last few months and are enjoying it more and more. She obviously has her mind made up already, and considering that her weekend time is a lot more valuable than your own, you're happy for her to call the shots.

You wish you could drink a coffee before you go however, but after flinging open the windows in your room the welcome breeze perks you up a little as you slip into the swimsuit. Pausing for a moment to sweep your eye over the rest of your wardrobe, you choose a short and loose shift dress that comes partway down your thigh. It won't be on for long and just needs to keep your appearance somewhat modest in the morning California sunshine. You fill a little purse with some cash, your phone, and a small emergency vibrator in case you are caught out again. Finally, you pick up Mom's Wayfarers - yours now in all but name - and follow Gwen out to the car.

The cool morning is glorious at the beach. After a quick swim, the two of you have found a perfect spot on the almost-empty expanse of sand. The only people you're sharing it with are a bunch of surfers who are going at the waves with a single-minded determination that means they've hardly noticed you. The gentle rays kiss your golden body and you soak them up greedily. It's so quiet that you decide to strip off completely to even out the tan, and while Gwen smirks at you she promises to keep an eye out for anyone coming past so you can quickly cover up.

The peaches are delicious, plump and bursting with flavour. Before long your hands and chin are covered in the sticky juice, and you laugh with your sister at the awkwardness. The sand is sticking to everything, and you both try to get it off with futile sweeping gestures.

"Your face is usually sticky with something else these days, huh?" You yelp at her bitchy comment and throw a peach stone at her.

"Ouch! Where did that one come from?" You laughed with her at the crude insult but find it smarts a little under the bravado.

"Sorry hun, I didn't mean it like that. I guess I'm a little jealous, you know? You're having all this great sex and this perfect partner, a proper job, and everything. I'm excited to be an aunt soon and have your kid in my life, but there's something... missing, for me. I'm only three years older than you but I'm starting to feel like an old lady."

"Babe, don't be stupid. You look amazing. I learned everything I know about being a woman from you. Next to you I look like a child."

She snorts. "Yeah, sure. A child. A little sexy child with bigger boobs and bigger curves than me. Sure." She is glowering down to the tide line, steadfastly refusing to look back to you. "I'd joke about getting pregnant just to even things up but I haven't had a man look at me for months with you standing next to me."

That hurts. You don't want to deal with this. It was her idea to come here and you were enjoying the blissful morning, and now she's laying all this shit on you.

"Fine you be like that, I'm going to swim. See you in a bit." You storm off down the beach to the water, realizing about twenty meters away that you're still butt-naked. You don't want to give her any more ammo to throw at you so after a moment's hesitation you brazen it out and run the last short stretch to the chilly water.

Jumping in, you swim out vigorously for a short stretch and then back. You repeat this over and over, working out the anger. All the swimming you've been doing, along with your superpowered pregnancy, means you can keep up this intense pace for a long time. You finally start feeling the burn and come back to shore, glancing around for any witnesses to your nudity before leaving the water.

Approaching Gwen, you notice that there is another dark figure next to her. You glimpse a pale face and flash of red and realize that it's Carly, crouching next to a zippy little surf board, gradually peeling off a wetsuit. Gwen appears to be chatting to her animatedly. Neither of the girls ahead of you have noticed your approach. Oh shit. This is going to be a tough one.