Episode #2: Overcoming Trauma #2 - Receiving Cassie

Jan,07 2026

<-#1: Sarah becomes friends with Cassie#3: Overcoming Trauma #3 : Family Talk ->

Choosing a partner is important, and I picked the best partner. My husband knew what to do!

When my daughter Sarah went to the sleepover, we turned the house into intervention mode for our son.

"Kyle, Sarah has a new friend, Cassie", said my wonderful husband, taking the lead.

"I know"

"Cassie doesn't live like we do"

"Ok"

"At her home, her parents and she don't wear clothes; they are nudists"

"Ok"

"Just ok?"

"Why? Is that a problem?"

"No", said my husband, laughing. "So Cassie will be coming over tomorrow"

"Cool, Sarah says she is nice"

"She is. But there is one thing. She will probably be nude at our house too"

"ok"

We look at him.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"No, should it?"

We look at each other. "I suppose not. Good talk, buddy. Want to do something tonight?"

"Can we play catch?"

Ah, to be 9 and untraumatized.

While my husband and my son were outside playing catch, I was left in the house. So I called Nadia, Cassie's mother.

She was thrilled to get my call, and I had been afraid I was bothering her.

Kyle's lack of reaction doesn't surprise Nadia at all. "Kids take to nudism so easily. It's teenagers who have a hard time. Even I spent time wearing clothes at home when I was a teen. Patrick too".

Good to know. Perhaps Cassie will go through that? I did ask about it, and Nadia was again pretty transparent. Naturist teenagers get awkward like anyone else and find themselves ashamed of their bodies.

I asked a few questions about what it was like growing up, and honestly? Nothing surprised me much.

She was funny, I'll give her that. And she laughed at my jokes. I guess we were becoming friends.

"So, I guess it's not that inappropriate to ask you what you are wearing right now?" I say, as a joke.

She laughs far too loud for that lame joke. "No, I suppose it's not. I know it sounds weird. It's not like I told people when I was in high school, you know? I knew we were different"

"So why let your kid grow up feeling different then?"

"Now, that is the important question. I guess because we felt that the benefits of naturism outweighed the feeling of being different? I mean, there are a million ways a child can feel excluded."

"Is that why you only had one kid? To focus on the one you had?"

But there was silence. An awkward one.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry"

"No, it's ok", she says, and I detect that she is crying.

"Oh shit, I feel like you need a hug"

"No, it's just... Ok, when I was in university, I accidentally got pregnant with Cassie. We wanted her, make no mistake about it, just not then. So we decided to wait until I would settle in my career, but by then"

"You felt it was too late?"

"No, it really was too late."

"Oh?"

She sighed. "I got autoimmune oophoritis as part of Polyglandular Autoimmune Syndrome"

"Oh shit, so you got POI"

"Of course, you are a nurse. I don't need to explain everything."

"Are you better now?"

"Yeah, I got cured from everything, but it was rough"

"I bet, did they immunosuppress you?"

"Yeah. Good thing I work from home. I had to be isolated. Even from my family."

"I bet. I am so sorry to hear that. So you became infertile?"

"Yeah. We tried hormonal replacement therapy. We still are, to be honest, but so far, no pregnancy."

"That's horrible. No one deserves that. How many kids did you want?"

"Two or three. My father was a twin, so I was hoping for 3 kids in two pregnancies, you know?" she says, laughing a little.

"There is aways adoption"

"With our lifestyle?"

"Right. Do they frown about it?"

"I mean, it's allowed, but we aren't prime candidates for adoption, you know?"

"I understand. I am so sorry about this. Do you get painful periods?"

"I used to, and they were irregular, which is a nightmare for a naturist, you know?" she says, with a nervous laugh.

"Right, I get that. But HRT helps?"

"They put me on Seasonale."

"Wait, that's not the right way to stimulate ovulation, I think"

"I didn't start on it. We tried the others, and now, they're managing symptoms, not inducing ovulation anymore"

"Oh, I am so sorry."

We talked a little more. I think we bonded. It felt good.

Sarah did call home before bed to wish us a good night and confirm she was ok.

She told me and her father that she loved us, and we told her we couldn't wait to see her again.

Her call was nice. I think she wanted to show us that she was getting closer to Cassie while not getting away from us.

Nadia dropped both girls at our home just after lunch. The two ran inside, as Nadia wanted to talk to me on our porch. John stayed close.

"I wanted to thank you for your understanding. I sometimes feel like being sterile makes me look like I am less of a woman"

"No, you'll never have that judgment from me"

She began crying a little.

"I think I will give you that hug, if you don't mind", I said.

She just nodded, and I came in.

And that, too, was nice. I wonder, do naturists hug? We were both clothed, but it would have felt a lot weirder if she were nude.

She thanked me again and briefly hugged my husband, thanking us for our understanding even if his contribution was just standing there.

But once inside, we found the two girls in the living room playing the game, both in the naturist wear and sitting on towels on the floor.

I knew Cassie would be nude, but I thought that Sarah would keep her clothes on. We never discussed this. She is again pushing my buttons.

My mother would have exploded. More than once she spanked me. Did I want to be like my mother? I cut ties with her when I moved out. Did I want that with Sarah? Of course not.

Kyle was on the couch, asking about the mechanics of the game. He kept his clothes on but didn't seem fazed at all by the girl's nudity.

My husband just asked them if they slept well enough, and they half replied that they did, mostly focusing on the video game.

He said nothing, so I said nothing. I sighed, but internally. In my mind.

John had some cleaning to do in the garage, so he went to do that, but I just sat next to my son and looked at the girls playing. He was glued to the TV, but I was taking in their casual innocence. I would feel so bad in their place, and then, to them, it seemed so natural, so simple.

To them, life could be so easy. I envy them.

Kyle grew bored with watching the game play and went to his room. I stayed a little while but had to work on the grocery list.

I needed to make a special supper as we had a guest. Of course I know that neither Cassie nor Sarah probably cares about what I am making for food, but it's like it's ingrained in me. I want to impress our guest.

I did ask John what he wanted, and like the perfect husband that he is, he just agreed to go with whatever I wanted and offered to help in any way I desired.

Asking my son was a waste of time. I knew his possible answers, and none would satisfy me. He is past his mainly chicken nuggets requests, but we aren't that far from it.

I considered making my lemon chicken pasta, but I decided to dare with my paradox meal. If you describe it, it feels like a simple meal on the go, but to taste it is to live a gourmet experience.

I am talking about my deceptively delicious roast beef sandwiches.

I did check with Cassie for any food preferences or restrictions and got the green light. She doesn't like olives, green or black, doesn't eat spicy food, and isn't a fan of weird meat.

But seriously, is any of that surprising for an 11-year-old girl?

After a quick round trip to the grocery store, I return to find the girls gone from the living room and my son playing one of his video games.

I can hear their laugh in Sarah's room. Maybe they finally got bored with the game? Or perhaps they decided to give room to Kyle?

I went to organize the food while hearing the two girls talk to each other, and I am taken back to my childhood.

Could I have received a friend for supper? Would my mother have made one of her special recipes? That question doesn't need an answer. For her friends, she would make the best meals, while getting my friends to eat in was unacceptable.

I have this theory about sandwiches. Putting meat between bread doesn't make a sandwich. Adding vegetables or cheese either. What makes a sandwich, what ties it together, is whatever "sauce" you put in it.

My base is always the same. Mayonnaise. What most people don't realize is that mayo isn't just a sauce. It's an emulsion, an almost supernatural mixture of oil and an acid, often vinegar or lemon juice, which do not wish to mix at all, but add an egg yolk and you can emulsify the oil and make a stable mixture.

That base can now receive some horseradish and Dijon mustard for taste and pairs very well with the second "sauce" of the sandwich: the salad dressing.

The bottom bread will receive the roast beef, which I will heat in the oven on a pan, topped with a slice of Havarti cheese, a pair made in heaven.

While the non-vegan part of the meal heats up, I whip up a custom-made simple salad dressing with olive oil, the tastiest, and lemon juice. Mix in some baby arugula, and you have a sandwich topper that just fills your mouth with tastiness.

Add freshly cut tomato slices (two per sandwich) and some savory onion confit (but only for those who want it), and top with the top bun with the specially prepared mayo on top, and you've got a masterpiece.

Add some Ruffles chips on the side, and you have a plain-looking meal that is deceptively delicious.

By the time I am done, I have a hungry husband looking to help, a famished son hunting for snacks, and two curious 11-year-old girls who smelled the roast beef.

We all sat, and Cassie offered to say grace. It surprised me that she was religious when we aren't. But it was nice, not too committal, and well, she thanked me too for the food.

To my surprise, Cassie wanted the onion confit, and my Sarah decided to try it too. That means only Kyle skipped on what I consider a pivotal piece of the sandwich.

The first bite produced gasps in Cassie. "This is delicious and so moist, not dry at all"

I smiled. It's fresh, and warm, and tangy; it's all flavors mixed.

It doesn't take long for Kyle to drop some mayonnaise on his t-shirt. I never understood how he could be so precise with sports and so sloppy with food.

"Let me get you a napkin for that", I tell him, annoyed.

But instead, he puts his sandwich down and removes this t-shirt.

"Kyle, we wear shirts at the table"

"Sarah isn't", he replies, before picking up his sandwich.

I look at my husband. Maybe he knows how to reply to that? But he just shrugs and keeps on going.

The girls made a new strategy for their video game, while Kyle wanted to tell me about the catch session with his dad, in which they split away from each other further than ever before.

After supper, the girls returned to their video game, but Kyle was hoping to play a board game with us.

He even offered to dry the dishes that didn't go in the dishwasher.

I thanked him for the offer, but there was just the pan... and I had already cleaned it.

See, my mother would leave dishes out for hours after a meal and complain if anyone cleaned them to help her. It's like she wanted everyone to know how much of a chore she was about to do, without anyone allowed to help her with it.

So I asked him to pick the board game, and of course, he picked King of Tokyo. With him, it's always King of Tokyo first.

I don't mind, but it's not my top choice. Ticket to Ride or Takenoko are more my jam.

John loves all board games that offer a level of choice. Candyland or Chutes and Ladders are pure torture to him, but the arbitrary nature of those games is something I am familiar with.

My main issue is that Kyle didn't put a shirt back on, but this was a settled ruling. I would need to learn to tolerate that.

We had fun, I admit it. And the girls alternated between moments of despair and frustration and glimpses of pure joy when, finally, they would reach a new objective. I'll admit it, it's the happiest my daughter has seemed in months.

She doesn't make friends easily, and now, she has one she feels close to.

Perhaps I should tolerate her choice of how she dresses when with this new friend.

<-#1: Sarah becomes friends with Cassie#3: Overcoming Trauma #3 : Family Talk ->