Amazing how some things happen so overwhelmingly fast yet you can’t really forget a second of that brief moment. To this day, I haven’t had a thought that can override that of the first time my cousin Ash (Ashley) and I got to know just how much fun two cousins can have on a stormy Florida day.

Well, it all started one morning of autumn. It was a Sunday, I recall. My cousin Teri, Ash, and Alec were to visit us and stay until dinner time. Ash was 16, the same as me, and we never really talked about anything besides the usual words like “hey, cuz!”

Anyhow, that Sunday, our cousin bond got much closer than I’d ever dreamed. They all walked in from the pouring rain and greeted as they normally would. Teri was 28 and little Alec was only 4. My mom and dad told them the news that they’d have to be staying over due to a severe thunderstorm expected to hit for hours, if not overnight. This all-cousin sleepover thing I wasn’t used to sank in when I walked into my very own bathroom to catch Ash cleaning up her face.

She was wearing a white shirt, and even though she had a jacket on, she was still soaked, her nipples clearly showing through, making me feel slightly attracted, enough to flirt around with her.

I said, “You must be freezing, Ash! You dry yourself off and I’ll go get you a shirt, maybe one of Mom’s or whatever...”

She smiled and said, “Why? Am I not cool enough to wear any of your cool rock band shirts?”

I chuckled and handed her one of my black Nirvana shirts without hesitating.

All of us were now in the living room, talking and watching a movie that was on TV. Teri had Alec fall asleep in her arms and decided to take him into my mom’s room. Mom and Dad fixed dinner and as usual, we all ate and gossiped about anything and everything. Outside, a severe storm was taking place. We decided upon Alec and Teri sleeping in the queen bed in my room, and Mom and Dad in theirs...