The morning after they arrived at the beach for their brief summer getaway, Allison rose early and wanted to ask Liona if she wanted to go for a morning run along the beach with her. Chloe had woken early too and joined her at their friend's room door, so when she knocked to see if she was up, there was no response, so they decided she was still asleep. She ended up going for a run by herself while Chloe volunteered to make breakfast for them.
While Allison was out on her morning run, Chloe made breakfast since she was already up. Liona had probably gone to bed late last night since she had still been gone after she and Alli had gone to bed. It was best to let her and Erik sleep in a bit more. She had no doubt that her best friend's mate was in the room with her. It was rather obvious to her and Alli that their friend would want to spend as much time being close as they could since they couldn't be as lovey-dovey at her house with the surveillance that was always on.
By the time Allison got back from her run and had showered, Chloe was setting the table for breakfast. "Has Liona or Erik woken yet?"
"I'm sure they are awake, but I wouldn't count on seeing them for breakfast." Chloe nodded toward the room that was still shut tight.
"I figured as much. So what do you want to do today?" Allison sat down as Chloe brought the last of the food to the table.
"Hmm, well, I did want to go do a bit of shopping while we were here. It would be nice to find Erik, a birthday present you can't find in the city. After all, what friends would we be if we didn't get him something after all the help he gave us with studying for finals?" Chloe buttered some toast while Allison chewed thoughtfully on a bite of scrambled eggs.
"That's a good idea. He really helped us out, even though Liona couldn't join us. Let's get him something nice. The Fourth is tomorrow, so we better do it today."
After breakfast, with still no sight of their friend, they knocked on the door once more and announced playfully that they would be stealing her car for a trip into town. They reminded their friend to play it safe before they left the bungalow. Being betas, Allison and Chloe couldn't detect the pheromones that were coming from the room of their friend, but it also didn't take rocket science to figure out what their extended stay in the room meant.
"Hey, I just had the best idea!" Chloe giggled as the car drove to the nearest town.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Allison grinned. They had both already turned eighteen, so if Chloe was thinking what she was thinking, it would be feasible to pull it off.
"Wanna get them both a gag gift?" The girls spoke in unison and laughed at their brilliant idea.
"Yeah, that means going into that store…" The girls were thinking of the adult store in town that was just the right amount of seedy looking that most people weren't caught going in there in the daytime.
Arriving in town, the girls headed for the main row of shops that attracted tourists first. There, they browsed the merchandise for anything that was uniquely kitschy enough to give to their best friend's boyfriend. As they browsed, they found a few must-haves that would go into the gift basket of gags they had in mind. They got him a couple of t-shirts that said "Life's a Beach", and "Beach Bum" with the name of their location on them; one from each of them; a bottle of beach sand, a pail and shovel for kiddies, a beach themed snow globe, and a bunch of seashell decorations.
After they finished in the tourist trap area, they headed to the giant white tent on the beach that was selling fireworks. There they bought all the fun ones they could find, this close to The Fourth. Their last stop after stowing their purchases in the car was the adult shop. Entering the darkened shop that smelled of some kind of nasty incense, they looked around for things that would be funny to give for Erik's 18th birthday. They giggled at several things and puzzled over others. Some things they saw they wanted to unsee and quickly turned away to look somewhere else. Near the back of the store was an entire section dedicated to alphas, so they headed over there to look for something.
"What about condoms? You know they are probably going to want to do that if they haven't already…" Chloe held up a variety size box labeled for alphas.
"Yeah, probably a good idea. I'm sure that Liona has said she doesn't want kids yet, so we can include this as a bonus. Grab an ultra-economy pack so they don't run out anytime soon. Let's also get something for Liona while we are here. After all, what guy wouldn't love to see their girlfriend wearing something crazy?" Allison giggled as she pointed out the variety of lingerie that was extremely risqué in another section of the store.
The girls ended up picking up a box of crotchless panties, a matching peekaboo bra, garter belt, and stockings in rose red as the last part of their present before checking out with the clerk, who looked bored and mindlessly scanned their items. They walked out with their purchases without more than a second glance from the employee.
"Wow, how easy was that? We could have gone in there underage and no one would have batted an eye!" Chloe marveled.
"Yeah, but what reason would we have? The only reason we even went in there was to get gag-type gifts for Erik and Liona." Allison just rolled her eyes at Chloe.
"What's next for the birthday boy?" Chloe ignored Allison. She had always been the more practical one in their group.
"I'd say balloons, cake, and something to BBQ." Allison ticked off the list on her fingers.
"Then, our best bet is the local supermarket." Chloe was already heading for the car.
After seeking out the bakery, they ordered a chocolate and cherry cake with a cherry theme, and had the baker write "Happy 18th, Congrats on the Sex!" on it with a picture of a cherry in a circle with a cross through it. The baker got a chuckle and was glad to have it ready by the end of the day. It was worth paying extra to rush it.
From there, they found balloons, and browsed the meat department for something tasty to make for dinner for the birthday boy. They decided they would make shish-kebabs with a variety of fruits and vegetables along with a juicy cut of meat for a sweet and savory taste. After figuring out what they were going to make for dinner, they held off on purchasing the perishables until later that night.
After buying the balloons, a variety of congratulatory, birthday, and numbers to make eighteen with, and some trick birthday candles, as well as the full complement of colorful candles, making sure there were enough to put eighteen on the cake, they headed for a craft store next to get a basket and ribbons. As the day wore on, the girls ate out for lunch and took a stroll through the public beach, where they planned just how they were going to separate the lovebirds.
"What about Auntie and Uncle? Will they believe us if we say that Liona's gone into heat and will stay here an extra couple of days?" Chloe brought up a worry she had about Liona's parents finding out about their plan.
"How about we say we are going to spend The Fourth here to celebrate Erik's birthday and as for the day after, we'll say Liona went into heat and she wanted a day to recover? We'll say she decided to play it safe and take a stronger suppressant because of Erik. Uncle Leon is always telling her that if in doubt around an alpha, to take her suppressants, so he shouldn't object if we tell him that. As for Aunt Vivi, she will probably be a bit more scrutinizing, but if we say we are keeping an eye on her, and entertaining Erik in the meantime, she should buy it." Allison had it all figured out.
Soon enough it was time to pick up the cake, which turned out way better than they expected it to on such short notice, and they purchased the ingredients for tomorrow's dinner. On the way back to the beach house, after being gone all day, they half expected their friends to still be in each other's company behind closed doors. However, they were pleasantly surprised to see them out and about in the kitchen, where Liona was making dinner.
"Oh, hi guys! Welcome back! Did you have a fun day in town?" Liona asked them. They just grinned and pulled her aside and explained their plan for Erik's birthday, but kept the present they got for their friend a secret for now. They would surprise her later with that. Afterwards, the girls put the groceries away while Liona kept Erik busy in another area of the house so he wouldn't see his gift basket and cake being smuggled inside.