THE END OF SUMMER... September (Part 90b)

Elle passed the kids off to me and excused herself. I knew she was going to get washed up and changed into clean panties. After a few minutes Jean was receptive to answering questions from Ali and had walked over to where she was squatting while talking to my mother. I, carrying Ann who was holding on to me with a death grip, followed and was rewarded by seeing a nice DP (downpants) view. Ali was wearing brown shorts about the color of chocolate milk so the white of her panties was a nice contrast. I specifically remember Jean being asked why she wasn’t in swimming and her direct answer... because she didn’t bring her bathing suit. That part was true but the real reason was that Elle didn’t want to have to give the girls baths and wash their hair right before the party. A soon as Jean spoke the words Ali ooched over to her and told her that she was wrong and proceeded to grasp the hem of her dress and pulled it up and over her head leaving her standing there in just her underpants. I don’t remember what Jeans’ reaction was because I couldn’t see her face but Ali proceeded to tell her that when she was a little girl, like Jean, she never had a bathing suit. All she ever wore to go swimming was her underpants and as she said that she jumped up and started pulling Jean towards the water. I tried to call out for her to stop but it was too little and too late.

Ali had waded out to where the water was up to her knees which meant Jean was wet to her waist. By then I was at the waters edge and Ann could see her sister out in the water and wanted to get down. Ann may have been shy around people she didn’t know or recognize but when it came to going in the water she was fearless. I followed Ali’s lead and pulled her dress up and over her head. I think it was still there when she started into the water. Jean was about halfway to where Ali was now standing. Ali was encouraging her to come out further but she just stood in place. Ann went right by her and right to Ali which really made no sense. Only a minute or so before she was still hanging on to me to avoid Ali and now she was headed right for her.

Ali started splashing water towards Jean and I encouraged her to splash Ali back. It only took a few minutes before Ali was fairly wet. Water on her light brown shorts had turned them to the color of Hersey's chocolate. Shortly thereafter she just sat down in the water. My two girls ended up climbing all over her and having a good time. When Elle returned she was livid. My mother had gotten up and was down by the water’s edge with me and she tried to intercede on my behalf. Elle railed on about having to give them baths and wash their hair. My mother said that she would help and that seemed to calm her down a bit.

Because of having to devote time to doing that before the party Elle called for the girls to come ashore. Of course they resisted but Ali became the ”ogre“ telling them she had to go home. It was when Ali carried Ann out of the water that I started to get excited. Her shorts had stretched a bit and had slid down on her hips a bit. It looked like she had on a white belt. Of course it was her panties. But, carrying Ann she couldn’t pull them up. My mother had gathered the beach towels up to wrap around the girls so Ali had carried Ann up to where she was standing. I was right behind her leading Jean up to Elle. When Ann bent over to put Ann down I got a view and a half. Without exaggeration I saw at least two inches of her panties. Being so close I was able to confirm from the waist elastic what I’d thought all along and that was she was wearing Lollipop panties.

Ali was saying good bye to the girls when Elle realized that she didn’t have any dry underpants for them and that set her off again. Ali cut her off by saying that she could solve the problem and that she’d be back by the time the girls were washed and dried. Elle looked at me as if to ask what was up with Ali. I didn’t know so as my mother and Elle took the girls inside I collected up all the beach things and put them away. I’d just finished when Ali reappeared with four small cellophane packages. As she handed them to me I saw the logo reading Lollipop right across the packages. She said that out of the four Elle should find the right size for each of the girls. My first thought was to pay for them. The price was marked right on each package... 65 cents. As soon as I mentioned paying she shook her head from side to side and started apologizing for getting the girls wet in the first place. Then she, still in her wet clothes, turned to go but pleaded for us to come visit her store.

The birthday party was nothing special. The only difference was that both Elle’s brother and mine were there. Our father’s had bought their own presents so there were no surprises. By the time we left the kids were so tired that they fell asleep within minutes. I’d not had a chance to really talk with Elle about the swimming incident so I chose to do it on the trip home. I also asked how the Lollipops fit and if she liked them. She said she’d have to wait to see how they washed and how they wore before making a judgment. I was hoping for more than that so I reminded her that we had the catalog that Ali had given me and that she’d told me that she’d sell us underwear at her cost. My memory said that it was about a 40% saving. With the kids growing so rapidly and the fact that Ann, although 16 months younger than Jean, was almost as big as her there wouldn’t be many ”hand me downs“. Elle agreed but still said she wanted to wait and see before making a decision. End of conversation.

To be continued...