A good story begat another good anecdote, but there was no sense of the one-upmanship typically found among men. Even a cynical old grouch like me fel...l into a more accepting attitude. For the first time I started to live the role of a woman comfortably. I stopped consciously studying mannerisms, vocal tones and attitudes; abandoned scrutiny of the others reactions to me and just reacted without conscious thought. By the end of the meal I was no longer an actor learning a part, but was a person. Oh yeah." Then there were more rustlings and some wet sounds.I stood there for a moment wondering what to do. I felt guilty eavesdropping, but my old middle-class morality was rearing its ugly head. I decided that the best thing to do was simply to complete my mission to the kitchen.When I arrived in the kitchen, the light was on. Charlotte was seated at the table with a cup of something hot. I assumed it was one of the herbal teas that she favoured. She grinned at me. "I couldn't sleep. “I usually wear shorts and a t-shirt over it at the beach, but the girls reminded me they were wearing far less. I doubt I will ever be comfortable being dressed as they are, but I’m tired of feeling I need to hide my body. I know I won’t be judged here, so I decided to be bold.”“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Aurora,” I told her. “After five children, a few stretch marks are expected, but if you’re really worried about that you should talk to Kiera and Sonia. They spent a lot of time. Now everyone knows the sort of guy that barges into his own place, dumps his stuff in a corner and just plays music loudly. Max does that too but for two great reasons. One is I enjoy the music and two, it's to hide our fucking from the neighbours. “Sarah get the fuck in the shower right now!” He might tell me while dumping his coat, bag or whatever else he has at the time, adding his clothes to the mix most of the time. Then he just storms into the bathroom with a music player while I undress.