Chapter 14

“Glad to hear it, Pru. Can I get you to organise your family so that we know what you might need in the next few days, and whether you need to do some Christmas shopping before the event.”

Frances volunteered, “Mrs Gower, we did all our Christmas shopping before we left to visit the families. We have been dropping off our gifts at each parental family, and receiving gifts in return, so some of our baggage is Christmas gifts from and to us all. We will shortly dig out what we have for you and Mr Gower, once we find out which bag it is in. As for daily needs, we have used all the cold and flu relief capsules that we had and were given by my mother, so a few new packs of these would not go amiss, to help cope with the aftereffects of the flu. We have all been drinking cool juice drinks to keep up our liquid levels, so if you have a few bottles of such drinks, they would be welcome at our bedside.”

Before she could answer Frances, Mrs Gower had to pick up her phone, which was ringing. Frances whispered to Prudence that she was off to help the others unpack in the bedroom. Prudence nodded to her as she left, and remained as her mother answered the phone.

“Hello?”, then “Hi, darling. No, I’m fine. Pru and her family are here, safe and sound, and we are just sorting them out for tonight. When will you be home?”

Getting that reply, she concluded the call and closed her phone.

“Pru? Daddy will be home within the hour, if the traffic is not too heavy. Can you wait until he arrives, for your evening meal?”

“Of course, Mum. If any of us is hungry, I can get them one of your Fairtraid packs of nuts to chew on. They’re still in the same cupboard, I presume?”

“Yes, Pru. There is almost a full case of the packets. Take whatever you think might do the job. I’ll see about your drinks in the meantime. Were you happy with bour choice as your bedroom?”

““The Guest room? Yeah, Mum. It has the size to suit us, and thanks for the two beds put together. They are not going to slide apart, are they? It could be embarrassing.”

Her mother guffawed. “I can imagine. No, I got John to put in a connecting bar at the top and bottom of the beds. They are quite secure, so you can get up to anything without any worries.” She gave her daughter a knowing grin.

Prudence responded, “The first time I was in bed with Reg, he was so tender I almost cried, Mum. He was so solicitous, you would not believe. Now he is fully aware of what I want from him, he is great! He must have trouble remembering what each girl prefers.”

Her mother commented, “I expect that each individual will spark off the right triggers, dear. Familiarity solves a lot of problems, I am sure.”

Prudence leaned to kiss her mother on the cheek. “Thanks, Mum, for treating me as the married woman I am. It makes me feel great.”

Mrs Gower smiled sweetly. “I like how mature my daughter is now. You have made me proud, Pru.”

“Right. I’d better see what that lot are doing upstairs. If they have already finished, I may take them along to see my former bedroom, as a contrast to who I am now.”

“Good idea, Pru. We left it untouched, even after your Commitment ceremony. It is up to you to decide what happens to the contents. You may want to transfer some of them to your new home, but on the other hand you may feel that this is your old life, and leave it alone.”

“Mum, my new life is constantly changing in so many ways, but Reg, Frances, Erika and Freda are a constant. Holly and Carol will be the next change, when they start working for us. At least they are already known to us.”

“Yes. That happened kind of suddenly, didn’t it?”

“Hmm ... yes. They were originally sheduled by their parents for university, but it turned out that the twins didn’t see it that way. They want to get a job right away. France, as their cousin, heard this from them when we met, and she reckoned that their talents would be put to better use working for us while we concentrate on our studies. Someone else worked out how to finance that, and all the parents were roped in It turned out their Dad had realised how they were thinking, and decided to chip in as well. After all, he would be saving on university tuition fees, wouldn’t he?”

“That is so, Pru. I know what Mr LeBrun told me, but is it a real job that they can use as a stepping-stone to another job later?”

“Sure it is, Mum. They will officially be employed by Mr LeBrun’s company, acting as our domestic staff while we study, and we had to sign up as potential graduate trainees for his firm. We can take that up when we graduate, or not; he isn’t too bothered, but it ticks all the boxes, so he can treat them as part of his business staff costs. Neat, eh?”

“Mr LeBrun looks like he will do well out of this arrangement. You should explain all this to your father. He has accepted the deal, but would love to hear it in more detail.”

“Why, Mum? Do you think he might have jobs for them in a few years?”

“Who knows? I can’t talk about his work, and he can’t, either, but time will tell. Let’s see about that meal, eh? The main course should be about cooked; it is a bacon joint. What do your lot like in the way of vegetables?”

When Mr Gower finally arrived, there was only time for quick introductions, then set down to eat. Then he wanted to know far more about Prudence’s spouses and how they had been getting along, so it was a couple of hours before Prudence and had father got a bit of privacy to talk about the twins.

Prudence went over the same ground as she had with her mother, but her father was watching and listening intently. When she had finished, he eyed her carefully, and asked quietly, “But there is more to it, I think, Pru. I get that impression.”

“You were always sharp, Daddy; I remember. Okay, there is a little bit more, but it has to do with what the twins want; not what we want, if you see what I mean.”

“The concept is not unknown to me, Pru, but I need to know the details, not the principle!”

“Oh. Yes. Well, Dad, the twins told Francis that instead of going to university – they have the school results for that, so they are not stupid – anyway, instead of going to university, their target is to become wives and mothers. In many ways, finding them work may put that idea on the back burner...”

Her father was still not satisfied. He was certain there was more, so he said, “And...”

Prudence gulped, hesitated, then rushed out with, “They want Reg to take their virginity, Daddy; both of them. They saw how pleased and happy we were with him, and how much we bragged about him, that they wanted what we had; and so they asked Frances to permit him to take their virginities!”

Mr Gower gave a grunting laugh. “I b et that surprised Reginald!”

“Yes. Frances quite rightly told them it had to be a group decision, not just hers. We didn’t inform Reg until after us girls got together and agreed that we would allow it to happen. The twins couldn’t get a better guy to do the deed, we thought, and we were satisfied that it would make no difference to how he treated us. However, Reg thought differently about the proposal. When we told him, he almost blew his top. It wasn’t that he was not willing; he admitted they were attractive girls. It was our assumption that it was just sex and sex alone. Reg pointed out that for a virgin, she should be familiar with the man and satisfied that he will be kind and thoughtful, and not just treat them as objects to be fucked. He pointed out that he was already smitten with us before he accepted our advances – and it WAS that way around, Daddy; Reg was too scared of doing something wrong, that he would not do the sexual approach. Similarly with the twins: he insisted that he would have to get to know them, and have them get to know us all, before we could judge if and when this should happen. That was one of the reasons why he agreed they should work for us: getting to know each other. He wanted there to be at least a little bit of love present before contemplating taking their virginity. So now you know.”

Her father sat back, satisfied at last. “My goodness! Your Reg is quite a man, isn’t he? He was acting more maturely than any of you girls, including the twins. I have even more respect for your guy, over and above taking on, for keeps, a group of plain Janes – which you know you are. I lump you in with them because of your height, Pru. That is just as much a disability as a homely face. Reg did not choose you, did he? You chose him, from what you say.”

“Yes, Daddy, but we do love him; he is a very lovable character. He does his damnedest to make us all happy, all of the time. The only time he is unhappy with us is if he thinks we are not working on our education. He wants us all to get good degrees, Daddy.”

“I can see that, girl. I saw it in his eyes whenever he looked at you before and after that Commitment ceremony, and at table tonight. The poor guy is besotted with all of you, for whatever reason. The man must be a fool, in a nice way; or at the least an idiot savant. But the net result is everything one could wish for: you girls have a lovely man who makes you happy. What else could you ask of life?”

“Thank you, Daddy. I knew you would understand. What do you think about Holly and Carol being with us? There is also the possibility of them getting pregnant and having babies. We wives see that as a chance to learn about child-rearing before we ourselves embark on that.”

“What? You ALL want to have children?”

“Yes, Daddy. We expect the house will be rather busy, eventually.”

“I’ll say! So when am I likely to become a grandfather?”

“Only after we graduate, Dad. Babies can be a bit of a drag when you are at university, unless you have baby-sitters to hand.”

“Yes, I agree. Quite right. A valid point, but it has a corollary. So ... what are Carol and Holly? Are they not available as baby-sitters? I would have thought that baby-sitting was simply another household task for your employees.”

Prudence gulped again. She had not thought this through. She ventured,”I suppose you are right, Dad. None of us had considered that possibility. We had only thought as far as the twins losing their virginity. You always were good at long-term planning, Dad. Thank you for your thoughts. I must tell the girls as soon as I can. Should I keep it from Reg for the moment?”

“God, no. You don’t want him to feel he is being kept out of the loop on an important matter. He is your husband, so you must show him that respect. Include him right at the start, as you explain things to the others. Mind you, you don’t HAVE to get pregnant early. I was just pointing out the possibility. I would be happy to be grandfather, sometime, though,” he finished with a sly grin.

His daughter said softly, “So you don’t mind the idea of me getting pregnant, despite being not legally married? You were always adamant on marriage, Dad.”

“My girl, what you have is as good as any marriage I have seen. It looks permanent to me, so as far as your mother and I are concerned, you ARE married. One last thing: don’t mention to your mother about Carol and Holly possibly having babies. She might not take it well. I have enough with her moans about her sciatica.”

Prudence made her way thoughtfully back to her fellow spouses. They had completed their unpacking and all the luggage contents was put away in drawers. They themselves were laid out on chairs, or on the bed, tired but happy. Prudence was afraid she would upset their relaxation.

“Hi, everyone. News: I have spoken to my Dad, and laid out all our plans for the future. He drew out what might happen with Carol, and Holly, and he is fine with it, as long as we do things as Reg suggested. Reg made an impact on my Dad, you will all be happy to know.”

They all sat up to pay attention, and there were a few smiles at this bit of news. Prudence continued, “However, one thing Dad pointed out surprised me. It was a point we should have considered ourselves, so I think we should start to mull it over.

Dad explained that as we would have Holly and Carol in our household, we had ready-made babysitters on hand, should any of us want to start a baby while still at university. All our planning for the future assumed we couldn’t cope with babies while studying. Holly and Carol makes that proposition null and void.”

She could see all the faces absorbing this news with some seriousness. They realised it was not a simple decision to make; and probably not a quick one to make, either.

She nudged them. “Well, any comments?”

There was a pause, then Reg admitted, “I certainly failed to think that through. It was valid when it was just ourselves, but having two girls in our household, the balance swings the other way.

I am not directly involved in the matter of pregnancy problems, so it is up to you girls as individuals to reconsider your inclinations. You might want a child around now, or may be happy to continue with the target of several years from now.”

Erika and Freda were looking at each other, speculatively. Freda nodded, and Erika nodded back. Freda announced, “I am willing to start my first pregnancy fairly soon, if Holly and Carol are happy to be babysitters for us.”

Erika added, “I feel the same way.” She finished by glancing between Frances and Prudence, wondering what they would say. These two sighed a little, and Frances admitted, “I was going to say the same thing, but shouldn’t we space the pregnancies out a bit? We don’t want to have four babies arriving all at the one time, do we?”

Prudence came in with, “My Dad asked when he was going to be a grandfather. It looks like it will be much earlier than I told him, for I have no problem with an early pregnancy, if Holly and Carol are okay with the plan. Shouldn’t we speak to them first?”

Reg voiced as his opinion, “The twins may insist on having their own pregnancies before you do, if they feel you are outdoing them and making use of them unfairly.”

Frances rounded on him. “Reg, we didn’t agree to them getting pregnant. In fact, they haven’t given any such agreement. All they talked about was losing their virginity, and anything else was more ephemeral. Am I right?” Reg was being patient. “Frances, in my childhood, my parents, and latterly my mother, never involved me in any family decision. The discussion was theirs alone. I was never even asked if I liked what they had decided. It told me how unimportant I was to them. I don’t want the twins to feel the same way. They are important people, aren’t they?”

Freda went red in the face. “I think Reg is right. The twins accepted that it MIGHT be a possibility, but if we pressure them to be babysitters for us, they may demand to be pregnant themselves, just to be first! If they are looking after our babies, though, that may put them off having their own. We just don’t know. We had better discuss it with them ASAP, and find out how they feel.”

Reg asked, “Who is going to speak to them on the phone? It should be one of you ladies, as the subject of babies does not sit so well with us men, except in the starting procedure.” He smiled as he looked around at his wives. They giggled.

Frances declared, “They are my cousins, and as you have all declared me as First Wife, I think it’s my responsibility.”

She phoned her parents, and her mother answered the phone, so Frances reported their safe arrival at the Gower residence, and asked, “Can I speak to the twins in private, Mummy?”

“Of course, dear. They are at a loose end without you and your emergency ward crew to look after. I am sure they will be glad to hear from you.”

She called the twins, switched it to speaker phone, to suit the two of them, then retreated from the room. Holly grabbed the phone and almost yelled, “Frances! How are you doing, girl? And how are the others? Any symptoms worth mentioning? We were worried for you.”

Frances tried to get a word in. “We are not too bad, girls – I think that was Holly speaking – am I right?”

“Yes. Well done, Frances. Not many people can tell us apart that way. What’s happening now?”

“I have a bit of news for you. Prudence’s father, who wants to be a grandfather, pointed out that as and when you girls are in our household, you might be able to act as babysitters. He said that would allow any of us to have a baby and still continue with our academic studies. We thought it was a great idea, but Reg, our wonderful man, insisted we check with you girls to find out how you viewed the idea. He wants you to be the ones who decided on whether it will happen, and when. You are important people, you know.”

“Gosh! Did he really? That was nice of him. Just a moment, Carol wants to say something.” the voice changed slightly. “Frances, there was mention of us having babies too. How does that affect the dynamic?”

“Quite so, Carol. Reg didn’t want you to feel you were being used in any way. He sees us all as one family – you are already part of my family – and wants us all to have a say in what happens. Can you think about this, and let me know what your verdict is?”

“Cool, Frances. So we get to say if and when we want our own babies, and decide how that affects you girls having babies?”

“That’s it in a nutshell. You have that power over us, courtesy of Reg. We all agreed that he was right to leave it to you two to decide things, as you will be facing the majority of the work involved.”

“Holly,” said Carol, “I quite fancy looking after Reg’s babies, even if there is a lot of them; as long as ours are included!”

“I can go along with that, Carol. How we are going to do the cooking and look after babies at the same time is a difficult question, though.”

“Holly, if one mother can cope with her own family and still get the cooking and housework done, between us we ought to be able to cope.”

“Point taken. Okay, Frances, you are on! I don’t expect you will all get pregnant at once, anyway. Some girls don’t catch for ages, I understand.”

“Thanks, girls. I’ll tell Reg that you want to be included in the group for having babies, at a time of your choosing. Thanks again, and bye.”

The call concluded, Holly left the room to return the phone to Mrs LeBrun, who asked, “Did you have a nice discussion, girls?”

“Yes, auntie. Reg is such a nice man, we confirmed.”

“Oh? What was he saying?”

“It was Frances who told us. They are thinking of starting a family and want us to do the babysitting while they are at university.”

“That’s rather a tough job, girls. Looking after babies is not an easy task.”

“Yes, but Reg insisted on us making the decision about the future babies, as we would have to do the bulk of the work. Wasn’t that nice of him, letting us decide?”

“Quite something, indeed. That young man is very mature for his age. The girls are lucky to have him, I think. It will be a nice household to work in, I am sure.”

“True, auntie. He is worth hanging on to. That’s what we decided, too. We decided he would be the father of our own babies.”

“Pardon? Did I hear right?”

“Yes, auntie. We want to have babies and we decided that Reg would be the father. Working for the family will make it all easy, we think.”

“That’s a weird idea. Why not a husband and father of your babies, all of your own?”

“But, Auntie Dolores, why not a man you admire and respect, who will be a good father to the children? Technically, he is not the husband of his ladies, but that is simply because of the legal restrictions on multiple wives, and they are going to have his children, so why not us? If we can get along with the other ladies, we want to persuade them to let us become wives as well. We’ll have to work at it, but we are certain it is a worthwhile aim for us.”

Mrs LeBrun remained staggered by their plans. “Young people, these days: I can’t understand them at all; my own nieces, too! Perhaps your uncle will rethink financing your jobs...”

Carol dismissed the thought. “Uncle Paul is too hard-headed a businessman to do that. The project has a reasonable chance of netting him reliable graduate staff in a few years, so he is not going to back out simply because we are not adhering to social norms, is he?”

Her aunt quickly thought it over, and came to the conclusion that Carol was right. She almost admitted it as she said, “Even if he doesn’t do that, he is not going to be happy, girls; and what about your parents?”

“Oh, we don’t expect to get pregnant for a while. We are not in a rush. By the time it happens, our parents will be happy with how we are coping with life in the big bad world, and will just accept that it’s the way we want to be. They know that being happy in your life is the top priority.”

“That’s true, at least. Well, keep it quiet for now. Don’t tell your parents what you are planning. In fact, pretend that I don’t know: life will be simpler for me. I don’t want to be accused of not telling them in advance.”

“Don’t worry, Auntie. We’ll concentrate on learning about the job; its terms and conditions, and so forth. Do you think uncle Paul will put us on an induction course, to know how things are done in his company?”

“If he does, it will be very short; a few days at most. And if it does happen, it will be before you start at the Robertsons house. As soon as you get such information, pass it on to Frances, so she is aware of your timetable.”

“Will do, auntie.”

At the Gower household, Reg was trying to learn a little more about his father-in-law’s company.

“Sir, what Prudence has told me about your work is very little indeed, and you clearly keep a tight rein on knowledge of your address. Is your work very secret, as in working for the government, or is it a commercial secrecy, necessary for the safety of your employees?”

Mr Gower looked Reg over, assessing how much he could be relied on. He said carefully, “Reg, I like what I see of you, son, but revealing much about my company’s operation is a tricky judgment for me to make. Can I suggest that I need to know you better before I make that decision?”

“Of course, sir. I do know the company name, from Prudence: ‘Gower Personnel Affiliates: staffing for the best people’. That tells one nothing at all, as I expected. It says a lot, but tells nothing.”

“Now, Reg, that is you being tricky. You are clever enough that you could do online searches and derive data from what you find, even if it is only snippets carelessly dropped by former clients who should know better. So I shall refuse to say more for the present. Okay?”

“Okay. I understand your position, sir, and I will not push the question. My interest is only that: interest. Any problem that might crop up with Prudence’s mother or father will concern me as her husband. I want to be able to help her in such circumstances, so the more I know, the easier it is to choose the best way of helping my Prudence.”

“I can see that and approve, my boy. Give me time, and I will see what the best solution would be.”

Reg nodded, and continued, “If I may, sir, can I offer my deductions, based on what I know and have been told?”

“That might be instructive for me, Reg. Please do.”

“I am led to believe that you are neither an arm of the government nor directly employed by such. From what I have been told by Prudence, I deduced that your firm is a private company with an innocuous name that deliberately fails to tell anyone what your firm does. The company name implies only that you are a management company supplying staff to unspecified clients for unspecified tasks. As a result, I bet you get a lot of enquiries that you have to turn away as outwith your scope. My assumption, due to the secrecy level, is that you supply either bodyguards or technical expertise to protect sensitive data, or both. You may also be providing a supply of staff with high-level security clearance to handle company secrets, and possibly to fill in as replacements for essential financial or policy department staff on holiday or during long-term illnesses.

There may be more aspects that I can’t think of in detail at present, such as offering a service to government departments where they need to run a sting or disinformation operation with deniability built in. Your company would not officially be involved, I surmise, but there would be a nominal company that is notionally engaged, but which shuts down as soon as the operation is completed, leaving no evidence behind.”

Mr Gower’s eyes had widened as Reg spoke, but he had said nothing. Now he asked Reg, “Is that it?”

Reg started to nod, then added brightly, “Except... , well, you could be offering investigative services to companies, organisations and local government; digging out everything from fraud to incompetence, or staff feathering their own nests by favouring those who are willing to offer bribes for special service, or getting sight of competitors’ bids. There are many ways open for criminal activity that the police seldom have the staff to track down.”

As Reg concluded, Mr Gower sat back and re-examined his son-in-law with a new perspective. Reg had hit the answer among the suggestions he had made. More to the point, he had come up with possible diversification of the company’s operations; diversifications which could be profitable for the company.

His pause for thought left Reg wondering what was up.

“Sir, is anything I said of validity?”

His father-in-law came to with a start. “Sorry, Reg, I was thinking. Forgive me for that long pause. In truth, one of your suggestions is exactly what we do. I don’t propose to say which one, so as not to give away anything, but your other ideas were ... interesting, to say the least. What made you come up with all these ideas?”

“I don’t know, sir. I do a lot of reading in diverse subjects, and some of that knowledge may have skewed my thinking somewhat. University does that to you: gets you thinking.”

“Well, I like your style of thinking. Do any of your wives think this way?”

“Actually, I think all of them do, to some extent. While I was tutoring them – before we thought of being together permanently – I got them into the way of going beyond what the textbooks say, and get into the mind of the lecturer or author. Often what you get offered to learn is only part of what is possible, because the lecturer, or the author, has a specific menu that has to be covered, and cannot diverge from it. Textbooks are like that: modelled on the course syllabus. Anything outside that model gets ignored, even if it is interesting in itself. I like to read round the subject, and I have taught my girls to do the same. It makes the subject more interesting, and usually results in better marks in the projects and assignments that are set for us to cover, when you can show a broader understanding of the subject.

The subject of archaeology, for instance, usually involves history, so that discoveries from the ground can be put into context. That dating was originally done by stratigraphy and styles of pottery, but year by year the subject has increasingly involved more recent scientific knowledge. Radio-carbon dating came in, and that got expanded to include uranium/lead dating, then luminescence dating. Next, ground penetrating radar was developed, and has become a vital research tool. Metallurgical analysis also arrived, so archaeology has become a diverse collection of disciplines all focused on learning what is under the surface of the land. Knowledge of geology has even become important in understanding how deposited layers may be altered by ground movement: earthquakes or tsunamis, or volcanic ash deposits.

Other subjects have similar new aspects, but not so clearly defined. That is a rough outline of what I mean.”

Mr Gower expressed his amazement. “Reg, your wide-ranging knowledge shows the great advantage of advanced education. This is the sort of vision that a company requires if it is to be continually on the cusp of progress. If I can persuade my colleagues in the business, we might be able to employ you as a consultant to look at new ways for the business to advance. Does that appeal to you?”

“I am not sure what is involved, sir. Would I have to appear at some of your meetings to give a report?”

“No, nothing like that. We would provide you with a scenario, and you would look at it in detail and make suggestions for improvement in whatever way you thought might be possible. You and the girls may be able to collaborate on the matter. You would send me a written report, and our board would look it over to see what was applicable to our business model. You could do this while still at university.”

“That sounds interesting, sir. Would there be any remuneration?”

“Remuneration? On that point, I would be proposing to the board that we offer a fixed retainer, and any results from your reports that become incorporated into the business would be assessed as to their value to the company, and a fee awarded appropriately. I can’t be more specific without consulting my colleagues.”

“Sir, I have never been employed, so I know little about fees and retainers. I would be happy to leave it to you to be fair to me and my girls.”

“Fair enough. I hope I can soon say, ‘welcome to the world of work’, Reg.”