Mrs. Thornberry turned her attention to Richard. She took his arm and turned him away from the crowd. "Was he upset, Richard?" 

"Oh, no. Overtired perhaps. But he is right about one thing. I should probably get going."

"Oh, what's your hurry, dear? It is Christmas, after all."

"Yeah, but I don't want to overstay my welcome and the busses do start running again in just another..." Rich looked at his watch and frowned, "...hour and a half."

"Come on," she teased, as she led him from the room, "You can spend the night and things will be a lot clearer in the morning."

As the conversation continued, Richard reluctantly followed his host up the stairs. "Unfortunately, we had to move you to a different room," she said over her shoulder as they passed the room where he had his nap that afternoon. "We really hadn't expected Aunt Toni, Uncle Donny, and Colton to arrive today, what with the storm last night." 

"It's alright, Mrs. Thornberry. I don't mind."

"Well, here we are." Ginger opened the door to Richard's new room and reached for the light switch. He surveyed the room. "This looks comfortable enough."

"Oh, it is," she continued. "Now let's see. Here's your dresser and I'm sure you can find some clothes that fit you. We have your new bathrobe and pajamas right here." Ginger pointed to the gifts sitting on top of the dresser. Mrs. Thornberry went to the other end of the room and opened a door. "And here is the bathroom." 

"I took the liberty of drawing you a bath, Richard. I think a nice soak might do you good at this point. Don't you?" Richard peered over his hostess's shoulder into the tiled room. He had to admit that the tub filled with steaming hot water did look inviting. "Thank you, Mrs. Thornberry," he blushed. "This room will do just fine."

"Well," she sighed. "It's not as convenient as Colton's room is but..."

"Wait," Richard furrowed his brow, "you mean the room I was taking a nap in this afternoon belongs to the same Colton I met tonight?"

"Yes, of course, dear. Why?"

"The room with all the toys and children's books?"

"Yes. Oh, dear!" Ginger gasped. "You didn't touch any of his things, did you?"

"Um, no," Richard fibbed. "Why? Are they valuable or something?"

"No. Not valuable, exactly. It's just that...well, Colton doesn't like anyone touching his belongings, Richard. He's quite particular in that regard." She waited for a response but her guest was too confused by the situation to reply. After a moment, she continued.

"Okay," she sighed, "I guess I'll leave you to it, then. We really don't have anything planned for tomorrow anyway so you can sleep in as long as you like. And we are quite informal around here so you can come to breakfast in your PJs if you wish."

It was Richard's decision whether or not to take a bath. This motion finally won his support. As he hung his clothes up, he stripped down to his boxer shorts. The tub was still steaming and he dipped his elbow into the water to check the temperature. After finding the temperature quite acceptable, he removed his shorts, slipped into the tub, and felt his entire body relax.

He closed his eyes and the tension slowly ebbed from his body. Mrs. Thornberry was right, a good soak was just what the doctor ordered. After a while, he opened his eyes and reached for the soap. He looked around for a washcloth. There was none in sight but there was good sized loofa sponge and so that was what he used to scrub his body. 

Then he started to panic. He glanced at the sponge. It held an inordinate amount of his own pubic hair. In fact, the entire tub was filled with pubic hair. He examined his arms and legs. They were as bare as a baby's bottom. His whole body was as smooth as the day he was born. He tossed the soap away and pulled the stopper from the tub. It refused to drain. He grabbed a towel and climbed out of the tub.

He gazed at his body in the mirror and couldn't believe his eyes. He had always looked youthful but without any body hair, he looked positively pre-pubescent. He grabbed the soap he had been using. Then he saw the wrapper in the small trash bin under the sink. The label read, "Howard's Luxurious Depilatory Soap". He gulped. It must have been a mistake. 

It was certain his hosts hadn't planned to do such a thing. He took a deep breath and tried to think. There were only two options available to him: confront his hosts, ruin everyone's evening, and possibly lose his job, or pretend nothing had happened and leave as soon as possible. Obviously, that wouldn't happen until morning anyway, so he decided to make the best of it for now.

He looked at the tub. The water level didn't seem to be any lower. Richard reached into the water and felt around for the drain. He came back with a hand full of hair but the water level remained the same. He decided that that was a problem that could wait until morning. He dried himself off, put on his new pajamas, and crawled into bed.