Mandy on occasion came up in her nightgown or robe, freshly showered with her long brushed honey blonde hair laying loose over her shoulders, simply needing only to interrupt long enough to give a goodnight kiss to each of us. I enjoyed her smell of soap and perfume filling my senses, and soft silky hair brushing my face and shoulder as she leaned in to kiss me on the cheek before lightly prancing off to bed.
Early one recent Friday evening, Jason was working at his part time job at a local restaurant, and Mandy downstairs preparing to go out with friends. Julie was taking a leisurely bath and I had already showered and changed into silk pajama bottoms for the balmy summer evening. I went downstairs to tell Mandy goodnight and that we were about to start preparations for our meal, which is commonly known in our house as the secret signal that Julie and I want to be alone upstairs. As I turned from the base of the stairs toward the family room, I called out Mandy s name to see where she was. Hearing her reply, I followed the sound of her voice and began my conversation even before I saw her. I was surprised to see Mandy standing casually in the family room facing the full length mirror brushing her hair. She was wearing only a loose fabric skirt, completely naked from the waist up. As a family, we were comfortable in nightwear or minimal attire, but nudity was not normal except for the unexpected surprise encounter. On those occasions, it was brief and hands came up to modestly cover what they could before a calm departure could be made.
As I had announced by arrival, this was certainly not a surprise encounter for Mandy and she made no effort to conceal her nakedness. She stood there and kept brushing her hair making casual conversation with me, as if this was routine. I suppose, I would not have been so taken off guard, if she had a reaction similar to mine. We were all comfortable with our casual and often times limited attire, and although we taught them that the human body was beautiful and nudity was nothing to be ashamed of, we kept it private.
At first, I looked her in the eye trying to remember what I was saying, and to prevent from seeming flustered, but to no avail. She kept talking and brushing her hair in long slow strokes, and turned from the profile to face me, still making no effort to cover her breasts. My gaze lowered to her full and round breasts perched high on her youthful body, and the words began to fail. I stammered though my sentence letting her know we were about to start our evening and wishing her a good night. My mind was racing and thoughts were a jumble. Here I was standing only 10 feet away from this beautiful young woman, my step-daughter, with her bare breasts in full view. I was torn between making a graceful exit and finding something else to say so that I could stay longer. Rational thoughts overtook passion, and I wished her a good night with her friends before heading toward the stairs. She wished us a good night in return and stood there with the casual gentle smile on her face as I left the room.