Nope, the naked vacation is on

"Honey, you need to fight back," Sarah insisted, her words catching in her throat as it started to dry, "otherwise everyone's going to pick on you and be able to do this to you."

But Erica remained silent, staring bug-eyed at her mother.

"Sweetie, please be strong..." Sarah whispered with a rising inflection.

But still nothing from Erica.

So, Sarah went to work, pulling Erica's pants and underwear down to her ankles and taking them all the way off with her shoes. Sarah placed her daughter's garments on the counter by the sinks next to them, and looked back at her daughter, only to look away again after just half a second. The image of her daughter, her own flesh and blood, pulling down on her shirt for dear life and being bare between it and her socks was too much to bear. Sarah couldn't believe she was doing this - stripping her own daughter of her clothes, of her dignity, in a public place no less! She had more than half a mind to stop doing this and give Erica her clothes back, but took a deep breath, collected herself, and bent down to pull Erica's socks off with much greater ease than she felt comfortable with.

Sarah put Erica's socks on with the rest of her clothes, and with her eyes red from the near-tears she was doing, she lightly gripped the hem of Erica's shirt just outside of her daughter's hands. She knew - she wasn't fully comfortable with admitting this knowledge to herself let alone others - that Erica didn't wear bras, so this was crossing the Rubicon. Steeling herself, and not able to make eye contact (the best she could do was stare at Erica's still-clothed shoulders), she gasped out her last offer to Erica.

"Honey, is this... is this really how you want your vacation?"

Erica said nothing, and out of the corner of her eyes Sarah could see her holding her head down.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah gave one strong upward tug, overcoming Erica's resistance and pulling so hard that not only did the shirt come off but Erica's arms ended up completely outstretched above her head, almost touching the ceiling. This lasted only a split second, though, as Erica quickly covered her small breasts and crotch with a slight forward bent.

It was this pathetic sight that caused Sarah, having just placed the shirt on the clothes pile, to form water in her eyes and snot in her nose. Her daughter, from whom she had just taken away clothing, appeared stripped of womanhood, cowering and covering her slender frame like a teenager who had just had a terrible accident.

"Mom," Erica protested flatly, "please give me back my clothes."

This broke Sarah's heart. The sight fully prepared her to grab the pile of clothing to her left and Erica's right, and give it back to its rightful owner. Sarah grabbed the clothes and was about to do so when her resolve kicked in again. No! This is tough love - if it weren't her, it would be Alicia or Carrie or that Caruthers bitch Lisa.

"I really want to, sweetheart," Sarah said between sobs, "but you know I can't until you learn to fight back. And this includes what I packed for you!"

With that, Sarah quickly spun around to dump the clothing in the trash bin behind her, and to relieve her from the sorry sight of her daughter.

"Come," she offered her hand behind her without turning around, "let's get back to the gate."

Erica limply accepted her mother's hand, and the two started out.