Sweet Little Lies

“Mirror mirror on the wall… who doesn’t want to look in this mirror at all,” Grace said as she looked at herself in the dressing room mirror, disgusted. 

“Come on, Mom. How long does it take to try on a bathing suit. Let’s see,” her daughter Ashley yelled from outside the dressing room. 

Grace froze at the idea of going out where people could see all the bits she hides from even herself. 

There she was in a cute one piece suit that exposed too much of her back, thighs and cleavage, along with everything else she wanted to conceal. 

Is this some kind of fun house mirror? You’d think a mirror in a dressing room would make everything look good so people would buy things, she thought. 

But glaring into the mirror, she knew it was her true reflection. 

Maybe it’s OK, she stared again, lying to herself. 

“Come on mom,” Ashley urged in a bored tone. 

“Oh well, reality bites,” Grace said, frustrated. “Here goes.”

As soon as she walked out of the dressing room, her daughters Ashley, 15 and Kaylee, 10 stared at her for a pause that seemed to last for hours, but lasted only a minute. 

Sweet little liar Kaylee was first out of the gate. 

“It has a pretty bow on it, Mommy.”

But from the look on Ashley’s face, Grace knew she would not be seen on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 

“It’s nice mom, but I don’t think this one’s for you. Let’s try another one,” she said with a sweet little lie. 

With each fitting, Grace became more and more frustrated. Nothing fit. She didn’t want to settle for a big granny bathing suit with a puffy skirt on the bottom that look like a dress. But she didn’t want to be an overexposed sausage either. 

She knew she no longer had a bikini bod, but was starting to believe she no longer had a bathing suit bod. 

Staring at the mirror, she lamented the past.  I used to have such great legs, she thought.  

“Now I have thunder thighs and my boobs sag. Ugh! Gravity bites,” she said out loud, thinking it was her internal voice. 

Finally, fed up Grace put on her regular clothes and left the fitting room. 

“OK, now it’s your turn, girls.”

Armed with several suits each, they went behind the curtain.

Kaylee came out a few minutes later in a cute pink polkadotted two-piece with little white bows on it. She twirled and admired herself in the dressing room. It was adorable.

Then Ashley came out out of the adjoining dressing room with a plunging two-piece neckline that barely had enough material to cover her blossoming bosum. And when she turned around, Grace saw most of her backside. 

“Try again,” Grace said with a disapproving mom face. “We don’t need to show all of our goods on the beach. Leave something to the imagination.”

Ashley sighed in anger and returned to the dressing room as Kaylee happily strutted around like a runway model in another adorable two-piece that made her look like The Little Mermaid. 

Grace smiled and Kaylee went in for another fitting as Ashley appeared in something a little more appropriate. 

“I feel like I’m wearing a dress. Everything’s covered,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Grace smiled. “Exactly.”

This suit had a low neckline, but didn’t expose half of her breasts and the bottom just showed a hint of cheek on each side.

Admiring herself in the mirror, Ashley cracked a grin. 

“But I do like the iridescent metallic material. it’s like rockstar. I guess it’s ok. But we still need something for you, Mom. You can’t sit on the beaches of Waikiki with shorts and a T-shirt.”

For a moment, shorts and a T-shirt sounded like a good idea for to Grace. 

“Mommy we need to get a suit to swim with the dolphins, remember?” Kaylee protested. Grace grimaced realizing she needed a swimsuit. 

Then she heard the sympathetic voice of the shop lady who was about her age, shape and size. 

“Believe me, I get it. Trying on bathing suits is the worst. Every year I’d rather walk on a hot coals then try a swimming suit on. But I found this one works for me. I think it might help you.”

Reluctantly Grace went into the dressing room once more. This was an attractive two piece that completely covered what she didn’t want to see. The bottom was a skirt, so it didn’t show too much of her hips from bearing children and what she called her thunder thighs, but the skirt was fitted. And the top was light, like a shirt. It had a little plunge but helped cover her back fat and had a built-in bra.

Grace looked in mirror and found herself smiling a little bit. Suddenly the mirror didn’t seem like distorted doom and gloom. Her gaze was interrupted by her daughter’s plea. 

“Come on, lets ‘s see,” Ashley said. 

This time when she walked out of the dressing room, she stood up straight and felt more confident. Ashley, Kaylee, and the shop lady were all smiling and nodding their heads. 

“This looks nice mommy ?Kali said nodding her head. 

“Yeah. This one does work,” Ashley nodded. 

Grace mouthed thank you to the shop lady and she smiled in acknowledgment. 

It’s kind of like Goldilocks, Grace thought. That one didn’t work. The other one didn’t work. This one fit just right.

(C) Suzanne Rudd Hamilton 2025