4th July Haircut by Cartairs

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(Author's note: This is my last part of my holiday trilogy series. If you missed the first two parts, they are Christmas Haircut and Memorial Day Haircut.)
(Webmasters Note:You should read the two previous stories if you haven't done so)

It was the 1st of July when I got the phone call that changed everything. I was a little surprised when Chad asked to talk to me. While my brother-in-law and I got along great, on the phone, he usually only talked to Christy.

He got right to the point. "You remember how Dad pretended to be upset when you showed up Christmas morning with that shaved high and tight?"

I grinned. Not that Chad could see it. Christy's dad was a former Marine who was proud of his short hair. He really was pleased with my choice to go shorter, but I think showing him up bothered him just slightly.

"One of the best responses I've ever gotten from him," I replied into the phone.

"Charlie and I have been talking, and we'd like to play a joke on him this week. We're thinking that when the three of us show up at the house for the July 4th BBQ, we should be shaved smooth. You in?"

"Definitely count me in! That'll be lots of fun."

I got off the phone and told Christy the plan. When I finished, her eyes lit up. "He'll love it. You should definitely go for it."

Over the next couple days, we discussed a few different scenarios concerning how best to pull this off. In the end, we decided to get together at Chad's for the shaving, while the women would go shopping. They'd come back later, and we'd all head over to the BBQ together.

Chad and his wife Sue had just bought a house a few months back. When Christy and I arrived over there, Charlie and Stacy were already waiting. Charlie had proposed last month, and their fall wedding was the subject of the day's shopping trip for the ladies. They were soon on their way, talking excitedly about the stores they planned to stop at.

Charlie shook his head when they'd left. "Were Sue and Christy this obsessed with your weddings?" When we both nodded, he groaned. "So there's no hope in her calming down?"

"We both survived," I tried to cheer my other brother-in-law up.

"Barely," Chad added. "Shall we get to it?"

We left our shirts in the living room and proceeded into the bathroom. It was a little crowded, but we figured it would work best. After some discussion, we concluded the order and Chad sat down to be shaved by Charlie. Since all three of us were maintaining the induction cuts we got for Memorial Day, he reached straight for the shaving cream. After splashing some water up there, he smeared the white cream all around his brother's head.

"Ready?" he asked as he reached for a razor.

Chad grinned. "Let's do it!"

Charlie started with the right sideburn, pulling up and clearing the side of Chad's head. He rinsed it off and started on the next stripe. Sitting on the toilet, I got a perfect view of the head that was immerging. I couldn't believe how different it looked from what had disappeared under the cream. It was so smooth and bare. And with the tan Chad already had going, it looked great.

Charlie worked his was around his brother's head, saving the top for last. When he finally took a swipe across the very top, Chad finally reacted. I could see his eyes widen a little as he saw the difference it made. Then he grinned.

Soon enough, Chad was completely bald and it was my turn to sit in the chair. Chad wasted no time in wetting my head and smearing the cream all over. Unlike Charlie, he started with the top of my head, running it from forehead to crown before stopping.

Over the months that Christy had been giving me the shaved high and tight, I had gotten used to the feel of a razor on the sides and back of my head. This was something else entirely. I felt a chill of excitement go down my spine as he made the next pass. Slowly and methodically, he made my head truly bald.

After he'd rinsed off my head, I reached my hand up and felt it. "Wow" was all I could think to say. It felt weird and wonderful at the same time rubbing my hand over a completely smooth head. This would take a little getting used to, but I loved it.

I stood and hardly had a chance to call out "Next" before Charlie was in the chair grinning. "Finally!"

Chad and I laughed as I repeated the process on him. I had been nervous about shaving my brother-in-law, but with small strokes, it was fairly easy. In no time at all, the three of us stood looking at our reflections in the mirror. We were bald. And we looked great!

We'd just finished cleaning up when the women returned. They entered the living room chatting and laughing loudly, but that stopped when they saw us. Christy was across the room and in my arms in a second giving me a passionate kiss, her hands rubbing the top of my head so fast I thought I'd get a burn.

"I take it you like it," I said when she finally stopped.

"I'm not sure I want you to grow your hair back," she whispered as she leaned in to kiss me again.

"I think I can live with that," I murmured when we separated. For the first time I looked around the room to see that my brothers-in-law were also being greeted rather passionately. "In fact, I think we've started a new family tradition."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

If the six of us had been trying to sneak up on the house that afternoon, we would have failed miserably. We were so enthused by the new cuts and imagining Dad's reaction to them that we were boisterously loud. In fact, we didn't even need to ring the door bell; Dad had the door opened by the time we got there.

We'd agreed earlier to wear hats, so nothing was out of the ordinary as we greeted each other. Everyone was talking a mile a minute as we quickly moved to the back yard.

Chad had been declared out leader. As things began to die down a little, he caught both our eyes and then raised his hand to his cap. Both of us followed suit and as one revealed our bare heads.

Dad stopped mid sentence to stare, but Mom started laughing. "I think they got you, dear."

He blustered then grinned. "Shown up at my own house and my own party by my own sons. What is this world coming do?"

By this point we were all laughing. Dad had always taken such pride in his short hair and passing that on to his sons.

"But Dad," Chad piped up. "It is Independence Day. We're showing our independence from hair."

Being the son-in-law, I figured I could get away with pushing a little further. "I believe this makes you the long haired hippy of the group." This brought the longest, loudest laugh of the day.

"And here I thought that title would always go to you," he quipped right back at me.

I shrugged. "You never can tell."

With the hot temperatures, it wasn't too long before we hit the pool. Diving in was a new sensation to me. After feeling the water glide over my scalp, I could understand why swimmers shaved their heads. This could be an addictive sensation.

Just before dinner, Dad disappeared for a few minutes. None of us were surprised when he reappeared shaved smooth as well. Of course, that didn't stop us from teasing him unmercifully about it.

It was such a hit with everyone that Charlie called me a week later. "Stacy likes the shaved heads so much she wants us to keep them until after the wedding."

"The same person who kept talking about trying to get you to grow a little more hair?"

He laughed. "Yep. Not that she was ever super serious. Anyway, that a problem for you?"

"The only problem would be if you wanted me to grow out my hair. I don't think Christy will ever let me grow out hair again."

"I can think of worse fates."

I laughed. "Like having to grow out my hair. I love it, too."

And so it was decided. Charlie got his last groomsman to shave his head as well. So we'll be keeping it for a few months anyway. And who knows, no one in this family may go back to having hair anytime soon.

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