Suit Yourself

I got this idea from a popular comic strip about family life here in the country and with a little tweaking, expanded it from an eight-panel story into this one-shot – Inspiration can come from everywhere!

Read away!

Moments when most of the members of the Loud family weren't home were uncommon; the chance that most of the thirteen-person household had obligations elsewhere, outside of school and work, was minimal… and the resident child prodigy Lisa had calculated that. Rita, matriarch of the family, gladly made use of these short leaves from the turbulence of an average day managing her family to scratch off some things from her personal to-do list. Despite the weather not yet showing the part, it was summer and the family was out to go on their annual vacation in just a few weeks. Between tending to the house and raising her kids to the best of her abilities, Rita hadn't made time yet to check if her summer outfits were still up to snuff.

Not that Rita looked forward to do it: there was an uneasy balance between the immense satisfaction of getting something done that was long overdue and the dismay of actually doing said task. Rita wound up unpleasantly surprised each year with how much clothing she had to sort out, her closet seemed bottomless as she kept scooping garments out by the armful. Even then, if she ended up disillusioned with her collection, the threat of having to go shopping with all the grievances that came with it hovered over her like the blade of a guillotine. Rita was not up for the ordeal with their vacation coming up on short notice; with a family this big, it required weeks of preparation to make it go right.

But Rita was especially wary to be confronted with the state of her body; her blemishes were slowly getting more pronounced with age. There was nothing she could do about it, but wasn't at ease with the sight either. A quick sideway glance into the mirror aroused the fear she already saw some wrinkles setting in. Rita lightly rubbed her face but couldn't feel anything in the way of creases in her skin and was unable to figure out if they really were there or the mind was playing tricks on her – maybe the mirror was just smudged. Rita wished to remain willfully oblivious.

The floor of the master bedroom soon became covered under the sundresses, light pants, windy blouses and other summery fashion that had been excavated from the closet and scattered about – Rita sometimes was like her children in that regard. Despite the initial dread, Rita found her collection held up decently and was satisfied with more than enough pieces – long dresses especially. Anything that didn't look well on Rita anymore or she thought she had 'outgrown' were laid on a sloppy pile on the bed to be given away later. Despite a sizable part of wardrobe due to be put away, there was more than enough left for Rita to vacation in and it cleared out some room in her closet to boot – space was valuable in this crowded house.

However, There was still a major hurdle to take before she could declare it an unexpected success. With Lynn Sr. out to a meeting of local restaurant owners, Lisa was midflight to Switzerland for research on particle acceleration, Lily was upstairs, napping in her crib and where the rest of her children were didn't matter as long as Rita didn't get a call from the emergency services. She hadn't been disturbed so far in the ample time she took to browse her summer collection: good, Rita preferred her privacy in this vulnerable moment!

One of the last pieces Rita still had to try was her true and tried coral-colored swimsuit. She eyed the one-piece as it laid spread out over a chair: trying it on, despite being essential for a good beach holiday, was deliberately put off so Rita could avoid the risk of further ruining her brittle motivation. Swimsuit season was about to kick off and each year, Rita was antsy to find out if her age is finally catching up to her. The answer never came until it was done and over with so once the motivation had been mustered, Rita wriggled herself into the swimsuit with a groan, a quiet cuss and some fidgeting.

Once hoisted into it, Rita went to the mirror in her room and did a round of twists and turns to examine herself. Rita's eyes widened and cooed: unexpectedly, she found out to look alright! Although she had expected to have slimmed around her hips somewhat due to not having any pregnancies in recent years, but she remained on the same width as the last time she checked. It didn't matter; Rita usually wore a coverup like shorts or a wrap over her hips, anyway – modesty suited her best. Obviously, she was no super model but it was a relief to know that she was comfortable to weather swimsuit season for another year: the sun, the beach… and the silent judgement all around.

Looking around, now only a few forgotten pieces of clothing and several accessories had to be tried on and then Rita could put this chore behind her for another year. It went unexpectedly well and Rita was content yet she needed a moment to align herself, wondering if a little rest and relaxation is worth all this stress and loathsome effort. Barely, she decided: Rita hasn't been looking forward to beach vacations much: the heat makes her slow. it irks her to no end how sand always gets everywhere and she prefers cooler temperatures, anyway. The quality time with the family was the saving grace.

Speaking of which:

''Mom!'' Leni came barging into her mother's room out of nowhere – Rita didn't hear the front door open moments earlier. ''I forgot my- huh?''

Whatever Leni's question was, she became speechless with surprise seeing her mother dressed in her swimsuit with clothing spread everywhere. Rita briefly winced, feeling like she was caught in a compromising position – and maybe she was.

''What are you doing?'' Leni curiously scanned the room.

''I'm sorting out my clothes for the vacation.'' Rita said, her smile was supposed to be casual but looked stapled on: she really wished not to be disturbed in this delicate moment, not even by her own kin.

Leni cooed in delight and sat on the bed. ''I have all my outfits picked out and sorted on color, pattern and vibe – Reinigers outdid themselves this season!'' In an instant, she folded her hands and leaned towards her mother with an excitable smile. ''Why didn't you ask me to help? I love to! What you've got?''

Rita sighed wearily, but found relief in being offered Leni's help only when she was close to finished anyway.

''I'm almost done…'' Rita said. She eyed herself in the mirror, tugged at the bottom of her swimsuit and said with humble satisfaction: ''This still goes well on me.''

Leni backed away, a grimace of abject disgust forming quickly.

''Omgosh- M-mom, no!'' Leni went back to stand with her mother and was quick to point out several critiques to Rita's mirror image, beginning by lightly plucking at the swimsuit's fabric: ''It's been worn to the thread! The frumpy top, the cut at the bottom is way too prissy and it doesn't do your body shape justice, like, at all; you look sad and saggy! And that faded peachy color is totes yech!''

''Is it that bad?'' Rita dipped her head to look down at herself.

Gone was the gentle positivity, scared into nothingness by Leni's harsh verdict. Rita suspected that Leni's… candid view on her supposedly horrid fashion sense has been there for years and that this was just the moment she'd been waiting to voice it, though that could also be Rita's dented ego talking…

''Yes.'' Leni answered unusually blunt with a determined, all-business expression to match. While normally kind and soft-spoken, she was a high priestess to her religion of fashion and had just witnessed heresy. ''You can be so much more fashionable Mom; you got to be! As a proud employee of Reinigers, I can't let you be seen when you're not up in vogue!''

Besides being stuck for hours in a dressing room and the inevitable disappointment of trying entire stocks and finding nothing, another thing Rita forgot that she didn't like about shopping: intrusive salespersons. She went into the defensive and went to stand right in front of Leni to keep her from snooping around. ''I appreciate your concern but I'm doing okay! Besides, I don't even own another swimsuit besides this one!''

Leni breathed a lengthy gasp and clasped her hands to her jaw, a bubbly smile forming between her pressed cheeks. ''Which means… swimsuit shopping!'' Leni squealed and shook her hands in delight. ''No time to lose! Beech & Bulmer has a totes cute collection-''

''Later, honey!'' was Rita's panicked last attempt to get out of Leni's suggestion – anything but shopping, anything but swimsuit shopping! She turned to her nightstand and hastily opened her agenda on a random page in November. ''But if you really want to…''

''And you need to.''

''I think I have some room two weeks from now!''

Leni pouted, she was willing to argue over her mother's opinion and her duty to help. Meanwhile, Rita was hopeful she could wave it off and have Leni forget about it, relying on her daughter's short attention span and – dare she say it as a good mother – occasional dimness. Leni was indeed getting distracted, her pupils losing their intent focus on Rita and forgetting the arguments to take her mother by the wrist and run her to the mall.

''Wait…'' Leni tapped her chin to help jog her memory as it was taking steps to print a picture. ''That's not true – you do have another swimsuit! A candy red one-piece? With stripes? I saw something like it a while ago when I was putting your laundry away!''

Since Lori moved out to college, Leni took over her chore of doing the laundry. Right now, Rita wished Lori had flunked her senior year.

''Leni stop it – this isn't needed!'' Rita exclaimed, seeing her daughter crouch down to search the floor.

''Not needed?!'' Leni looked up as if she saw water burn. ''This is a fashion emergency! Swimsuit season is right around the corner and this is so… average, bland, oldie, slouchy; just passe! You needs an update stat!

Every reason Leni uttered was like Rita having a pebble thrown at her face: annoying and a little painful.

''Gee, thanks…''

''You're welcome.'' Leni replied, oblivious as always while busy searching, excavating a pile of shirts by throwing them everywhere. ''It's like you dress like you're 25 years older than you are – even Myrtle goes by more showy than you!''

That was more like a brick…

Rita crossed her arms and shot a soft, indignant glance and said with similarly irritable tone: ''This swimsuit is fine, Leni!''

It was supposed to put a definitive end to this conversation, but Leni remained deaf to her mother's declaration. Between being told down this hard by her own daughter and Leni ignoring her so unabashedly, Rita felt her parental authority chip away in big flakes. One thing Rita forgot that she didn't like about shopping: intrusive salespersons. Rita wryly mused: why did out of her eleven children, precisely the most fashion-conscious have to intrude on this moment? Why not have the whole family here while we're at it? Her children tended to instinctively flock together when one of them was up to something – it was possibly telepathic.

Then, nerves flared up in Rita seeing Leni move her hunt to the bed, especially since she was searching close to where Rita-

''I got it!'' Leni said, proudly holding the one-piece in question like the pelt of a skinned animal. She was in awe with the design: ''Oh my! This'll look so stylish on you!''

Rita felt a knot in her stomach. This was one of the clothes she immediately and resolutely threw on the pile on her bed to be given away; it was a mistake to buy years ago and had been too ashamed to return it. The glee Leni radiated was a hard contrast to her mother's anguish and either she was oblivious to the unwillingness carved on her mother's face or she didn't care for it at all – even with Leni's ditziness accounted for, Rita strongly suspected it still was the latter. Leni basically shoved the swimsuit into her mother's grasp, and Rita held it with a grimace as if held a child of hers she didn't love.

''Well? Try it on!'' Leni urged with her brightening smile as further encouragement.

''This thing?'' Rita asked, holding the swimsuit in question up by the shoulder straps.

''Yes!''

''This doesn't work on me…'' Rita pressed the suit against her torso and looked at the mirror to get a clue how it'd fit her, but to her it only reinforced her belief.

Leni placed her hands in her hips with a glance of scorn. ''Have you ever tried it on? The price tag's still on it!''

Rita was pointed to the card dangling at the bottom. She was flustered with her admission: ''No…''

''You can totes have it!''

There was a sliver of doubt in Rita that the teenager in the room with her wasn't whom she once referred as a 'little angel', but a demon out for a quick laugh at Rita's expense; she did think to see this strange, impish glimmer in Leni's ravenous gaze. Still, what harm was there to quickly grant her the fun when it was the easiest way out of this? A mother sometimes had to put her self-respect aside to please her children – Rita had eighteen years of experience under her belt on that. It's not like Rita had a real choice anyway because she knew her children: if she refused, Leni will round up her siblings to badger her mother into the swimsuit anyway and make Rita absorb another eighteen years of embarrassment in just one sitting. There were two choices, but one certain outcome.

''Fine then…'' Rita said, although obviously reluctant and pulled the price tag.

''Eee! Fashion show!'' Leni squealed and held onto the swimsuit so her mother could undress.

Due to circumstance, the Loud family wasn't shy with nudity around each other: most of the Loud siblings have shared baths with their parents or each other when they were younger – it saves gallons of water each month – and if they weren't of the same blood, why would you bother to be embarrassed anymore when the busted lock on the bathroom makes you constantly walk in on each other anyway?

Rita discarded the coral swimsuit and was handed the new one from Leni – she could almost hear her mother's shudder – and then claimed a spot on her parents' bed for a front row seat, impatient to see her mother shine. Rita pressed the suit on her bare torso one more time to compare her contours in the mirror, wondering how on earth she was going to cram herself into this. She turned away from the mirror – to save her the premature shame – and put it on. She hoisted it up and was already willing to call it quits when she felt her body might get stuck in a few tight spots, but found out right away that the fabric still easily slipped on and clung snugly to her. With a quiet 'snap', the shoulder straps of Rita's new swimsuit clasped to her and sounded off her change of clothes.

''Well…'' Rita turned to Leni first before looking in the mirror or even down at herself. Expecting an uproar of laughter, Rita sounded dismal: ''how does it look?''

Leni needed only a brief moment to form her opinion before she smiled; Rita lightly scrunched her face and turned her head, bracing herself for a humiliation.

''Wow Mom!'' Leni exclaimed, awestruck. ''It's totes cute! Look at how good it goes on you!''

Rita turned her head back to Leni as her daughter stood up from the bed and hovered around to get a better look, gleaming with wonder.

Surprised, but still leery she was being tricked, Rita took a cautious glance into the mirror before fully turning towards it. The pinkish red swimsuit bore thick, horizontal stripes and was styled like one for swimming laps: sensible, but distinctively more slick and showy than her current suit, exposing a little more cleavage and, to Rita's horror, the cut exposing more upper leg and hip; turning around, her backside had a little more exposure too. Rita didn't share her daughter's admiration; she slouched her shoulders as her guarded curiosity became chagrin seeing how she appeared just as laughable as initially expected.

''I'm a mother of eleven kids; I can't wear this! I'll be the laughing stock of the beach in this thing.''

''That's so not true!'' Leni pointed out several spots on her mother's upper body. ''Like, I don't believe in body types but this swimsuit does you justice by pulling the focus upward: your shoulders and arms look so strong!''

''Don't these horizontal stripes make me look wide?''

''That's a myth! Other people will be totally jealous!''

''Don't flatter me. It's as if I'm desperately pretending I'm still a teenager!''

''Yeah,'' Leni folded her hands and nodded agreeably. ''You could pass as our older sister!''

''With elephants, maybe…'' Rita twisted her side towards the mirror and used her hand to put attention to her flank. ''Look at this cut: this is exposing too much leg and hip and – It just looks inappropriate!''

''That's fine: there's nothing wrong with showing a little leg; it's so in this season too!'' Leni gleefully pointed out.

Rita clutched her lightly protruding stomach, which was faintly visible through the fabric. ''And this baby belly?'' following a hiss of disgust, her thighs were next to razz on. '''Or all this flab? Or these wrinkles setting in – that can't be trendy!''

Rita didn't really listen. Taking another moment to reflect on her current state of dress, Rita frowned and became bitter with all her bodily flaws so easily visible. Seeing herself in this outfit for the first time showed that enduring ten pregnancies did her figure less favors over the years than she thought. Rita's imagination began to tease her with the idea of actually being on the beach like this: all the other beachgoers she could see watching her, their prying eyes were gluttonously taking in her shame, being just barely civil enough not to openly laugh Rita into oblivion but visibly snickering behind their hands and whispering mocking banter with each other! Rita shuddered and frowned to dispel the fantasy, rubbing her shoulders as the swimsuit began to feel very thorny.

''Swimsuits are just wasted on me.'' She pitched an annoyed sigh and turned her head to her daughter, almost willing to hold Leni responsible for her soured mood. ''Are you happy? Can I take it off now?''

Rita already took the shoulder straps between her fingers to peel the swimsuit off, if she wasn't interrupted by Leni:

''Mom?'' she placed her hands in her hips and cast a soft frown of her own. ''Why do you put yourself down over a little love handles because it's, like, super sad to see?''

Rita huffed, upset with the insinuation that she was to blame somehow and expected another deep jab aimed at her confidence.

Leni perked up a finger. ''Lemme tell you: Fiona gave me this cropped tee and I was afraid to try it because I have this tummy pudge I can't get rid of – I thought it'd totally ruin the look! But I just tried it once and I actually thought I looked so cute and squishy with a little pouch on my belly! And now I have my outfits showing off as much of it as I can because it makes me feel fab!''

Rita shrugged. ''But you're 17 – more power to you, but I'm 43.''

''So? You have so many good years left!'' Leni almost shouted.

Rita rolled her eyes and remained indifferent, dismissing Leni's retort as blind optimism. ''I didn't fit the beauty standard when I was in high school and I still don't exactly do…''

''Well, it's too bad that fashion makes people so toxic for thinking that it's about fitting an ideal or being trendy, because it isn't about fitting an ideal or being trendy…'' Leni broke her solemn demeanor briefly: ''okay that it is,'' but resumed with her thoughtfulness right after: ''but I think that the most important thing about fashion is for people to be bold and have the courage to step out of their comfort zone and try on new things! Everyone deserves self-confidence to shine in whatever they like no matter how people try to bring them down! Mom, you are a role model; raising eleven kids with a job and writing a novel too! You are a power woman that deserves that poise when she flaunts herself at the beach!'' Leni explained, awestruck.

She then turned Rita, who remained largely unmoved, towards the mirror and continued: ''But then you'll need the courage to say to yourself: I look great!''

Rita was cynical for what Leni was going to put her through this time.

''I look… great? Hmph-'' Rita remarked. Eyeing herself over and being confronted with all her faults made her huff out of scathing disbelief with her own statement. ''This cellulite would like to have a word with you!''

Leni was clearly not satisfied and clicked her mouth. She read the problem and went to stand with her mother again and turned her to the mirror, speaking in a non-threatening hush like her mother often did when Leni was young and fussy: ''We all have our little blemishes like spots or a little loose skin that make us feel yucky but you know what they are? Perfect imperfections!''

''Oh?'' Rita's eyes opened in more ways than one. Leni sensed something good and went in for the kill.

''Now tell yourself again: I look great.'' Leni instructed, holding her head close to Rita's.

''I look great…'' Rita repeated. She felt something bud inside her, but was in need of some validation right away. She tilted her eyes to her daughter while holding the skin on her thigh. ''People will not ridicule me?''

''Say it again.'' Was Leni's formal response.

Rita shook herself lightly before intently focusing on the woman in the mirror, what she looked like and what she was wearing.

''I look great.''

''Again.'' The tone Leni mumbled in her mother's ear was stern but encouraging.

''I look great.''

''Again.''

Rita felt herself loosen up from a burden and perched her arms in her hips.

''I look great!''

''Again!''

''I look great!''

''One more time, with more oomph!'' Leni moaned into Rita's ear.

''I look great!'' Rita declared self-assured with a vivid nod of her head.

''And you better believe it! You're hot! Sexy!'' Leni exclaimed as she backed away so it was just her mother visible in the mirror.

Rita once again took a closer look at herself and, unconsciously, her mouth curled into a small smile. It's been ages since she felt this youthful joy from wearing clothes! Was it really this easy? Just having belief in yourself to feel attractive and good-looking? The blemishes on her body certainly didn't feel as disheartening anymore now that Leni had declared them 'perfect imperfections'. Rita couldn't believe it of herself, but she was getting impatient to go on vacation and strut her stuff on the beach!

''Mom! Look here!'' Leni called.

Rita didn't expect to come eye-to-eye with the lens of Leni's phone. In a startled reflex, she put one hand in her hip and one arm behind her head and improvised a pose.

''This beach bunny's about to make a splash!'' Leni cheered.

The camera kept clicking with every photo snapped. Leni bounced up and down like she was at a professional photoshoot, making sure to capture her mother in many nice angles. Rita felt her mouth strain as she couldn't keep herself from casting a giddy grin, flustered with her brief modeling stint and the ego boost she was getting from it! Leni stopped taking pictures to review them and it disappointed Rita to know her moment for a much-appreciated ego boost had passed already.

''I so need to have these in my portfolio!''

Rita's smile returned: that was a decent consolation – too much of a good thing would make her vain after all. She stood bent over her daughter to take a look at her photos.

''Is this what you do at work too? Giving people confidence?'' Rita asked with Leni handing her mother the phone to browse the photos herself.

''I help people that need a little support to be their best self! All people need for a nice swimsuit body is putting on a nice swimsuit! Like, I talked Gavin into picking one of those gym shorts to swim in, with a fab pattern, because long, baggy trunks are foul – just plain blech!'' Leni scoffed and did a shake of her head. ''He was super squeamish about it; men are so self-conscious over showing a little thigh!''

Rita pitched a quiet chuckle, continuing to choose a flattering photo of herself to send to her husband.

''Hey mom, what are you going to do with those capris?'' Leni asked, picking up a pair of white pants from the bed.

''What? Oh- I am going to give them away.'' she answered without much thought, focused on sending the pictures to her phone so she could then relay them to Lynn Sr..

Leni pitched a familiar drawn-out, perplexed gasp that finally alerted her mother to pay attention. ''No way; they're cute! These must suit you fabulously!''

Before Rita could even think on what to say, Leni rushed to her mother with pleading eyes as she shoved the trousers into Rita's hands.

''Try it on for me!'' Leni probably meant to sound like she was asking, but in her excitement it came out as a demand.

Rita sighed and began to undress. She predicted that it wouldn't stay with the capris, because even with pants in her hand she was obsessed with, Leni's eye was already wandering to the next piece of clothing and she seemed to realize what a treasure trove of fashion she was standing in now that she wasn't zeroing in on just a one-piece. She would find more outfits that she wanted to see Rita give second thoughts about, basically making them go through her entire wardrobe again. That was fine with Rita though, because her children kept her feeling confident and young!

Originally, Lori was in Leni's place until I realized that, besides Leni being the house's fashion nut, it was a missed opportunity to do up some writing experience with Leni's character, who was up until this story one of the lesser focused-on sisters in my works. Then it was both Lori and Leni but that felt a little too cluttered so it ended up with just Rita and Leni. I'm glad I did, because I value the experience of getting to write Leni's character… but Lori really got the short end of the stick here, didn't she?

The story was also a little more emotionally loaded in its first draft but I felt like it ended up too much alike in tone to another one-shot of mine. Besides, it became melodramatic over something that could be told much better as a little mother-daughter moment with a little bit of cringe comedy.

I bet people would've rather wanted me to update Forced Staycation – I frankly do too – but one-shots are easier to write for me than multi-chapter stories and I wanted to squeeze this in now that I had the inspiration for it. Still, I'm making very good progress on it and I hope to post it soon.

I thank you for your time and I hope it's been enjoyable to waste it!

:D,
-Q.W.