Chapter 12: Values and Vegas

My parents left for their home and work on a Monday flight after our weekend-long orgy. They were the happiest that I’d ever seen them and gushed with praise about the entire weekend and their gratitude to everyone for being included. They reiterated to me how pleased they were with the expansion of the relationship between them and Sarah and me, and that I was eventually going to marry Sarah.

My mother gave Sarah and me a list of things that we had to discuss, but not necessarily agree on. She produced the list based on her research from the Internet of 150 value statements that we were to discuss over the coming months. An example was, ‘Marriage vows can be renegotiated at a later date.’

Dot said, “I want you two on the same page about a lot of those things. I don’t expect complete agreement, but at least you’ll know where you may have friction points in your relationship. I wish Jim and I had done this. It would have squashed about half our arguments over the years, especially early in our marriage. Now, we look at this list and laugh about some of them where we ended up having a knock-down, drag-out argument because some issue popped up that we didn’t expect.”

Sarah and I agreed to open a dialogue about the various value questions, some of which required interesting choices. One item posed, ‘Should you raise a sensitive issue with your spouse that you know will anger her/him and hurt the intimacy in your relationship, or should you learn to live with it?’

Another said, ‘Should spouses combine all their finances, have some separate individual accounts and some shared accounts, or have everything be separate?’ Of course, a short answer to any of the questions was not the right way to approach the subject. The object was to provoke discussion between partners, talking about the pros and cons of some issue, and then seeing whether they agreed on a single answer.

For the financial question, I knew that Sarah had worked hard and focused to build her wealth, and I wanted her to have her own accounts to manage that money as well as a pre-nup to protect it. She didn’t entirely agree, but we clarified the issue and put it on a back burner to think about.

I spotted a couple of questions right away that addressed a couple of the issues I knew we’d be facing in the near future, specifically about Lindsay and Rachel. Dot’s question from the list was, ‘Would the two of you accept other men or women into your marital relationship?’

Sarah, Rachel, Lindsay, and I had taken a long jog on Saturday morning, and had just finished ordering our brunch at The Station, when Sarah dropped the question on the table. Sarah and I looked at each, hoping that the other would start the discussion. The other two shrugged and looked between the two of us waiting for resolution.

I speculated, “Rachel and-or Lindsay may not want to be with us.”

Rachel quietly said, “She does. I love both of you. I also like that we have an open relationship policy in terms of sex with others, even other guys like TJ and Jake, but, for now, my primary focus is on you two. I confess to a growing crush on Jon, but except for spending more time with him, I still love the two of you.”

Lindsay said, “Hey, I want ‘in’, too. I love you all and think that you walk on water. I told Sarah yesterday that you’re the nicest man I’ve ever met.” She turned and poked a finger in Rachel’s side, “And, I even like Rachel a lot, too.” She giggled.

I said, “I’m feeling conflicted here, maybe mixing in too much lust with the love I feel for you all. Formally, a marriage is a social contract to create a stable and enduring arrangement called a family, possibly including children, and having love and sex as the basis for that.

“If the contract is me and several women, then I feel ill-equipped to decide what the right answer is because I become the pivot point and have to spread my affections among all of you. I don’t know whether you will feel I can accomplish that.”

Sarah pressed me with a chuckled, “But would you WANT to have a family with three or more women?”

“If we are harmonious, yes. If there are constant frictions and jealousies, no.” I turned to Sarah, “What do you want?”

Sarah said, “I’m more than willing to share you. Part of me wants exclusive, but then I know that overall, I don’t want to be locked into an exclusive relationship, at least at this stage in my life. We’ve talked about this. I want some other dick once in a while. I know that’s strange, when you’re my primary relationship, but it’s just what I feel. Thus, I want you to have the right to other pussies, whether they’re in the family or not.” She turned to Rachel and gestured for her to speak.

Rachel said, “I love you, too, and I think I can tolerate Lindsay.” She reached beside her and poked Lindsay in the side with a smirk. “I want to be family with the three of you. – and even our entire group. Yes, I love all the sex, but I also just like being with the three of you, your parents Doug, Greg, Sandy, and Jon in that, too.”

I postulated, “Are we being limited by thinking of our new family as only the two or three or four of us? Is our Gang of Six or Eight or Nine really a polyamorous family?”

Sarah teased, “Your parents?”

“I read somewhere that a ‘balanced’ polyamorous family has some older and younger people in it.”

Lindsay asked, “What are we considered, old, middle, or young?”

I said, “Probably part of the younger or middle set. On an age basis, Lindsay, Sandy, and I are the youngest ones in the ‘family’ by a few months. Rachel and Sarah are both slightly older. Jon’s got a decade on us. Greg is also older by a year or so.”

Sarah said, “Yes, I think we’ve become a family. We certainly support each other, and we’ve all been helping each other with small chores around each condo.”

I said, “And Jon moves into his new apartment this Friday. His furniture and things from New York arrive that morning, plus some of the things he bought down here.”

Rachel said, “We should help.” She sounded eager.

“I’ll talk to him.”

I subsequently did at cocktails that night, but he pushed us off until Saturday after our run. He said, “Friday will be the big, heavy items that the movers will handle and set-up. My bed is the only important item. I have about fifty packing boxes in transit, and those are what I’ll need help with – kitchen stuff, books, linens, knick-knacks, and so on. I’d love help with all of that. At least, a lot of the stuff is labeled as to what room it belongs in. Julie didn’t lay claim to any of it. She’s still in denial as far as I know.”

Jon then said something else that made those of us in the conversation stop and look at him. He said, “My yacht is being ferried down here and should also arrive soon. When it’s here, if anyone is interested, we can take a jaunt around Sarasota Bay or even a longer trip.”

Sarah was with me. “Yacht?” we asked in unison.

“Yeah, I inherited a ‘good-size’ yacht about a year ago from my uncle. I contemplated living on it, but I like having my primary nexus on land. I lived on it for a couple of vacations and then after I split from Julie. It took me months to arrange a mooring at the marina here. I’m on a waiting list for a slip. Like most large boats, it’s costly to have. I think the rule of thumb is about twenty-percent of the value per year just to run the thing; more if it’s taken on a lot of cruises.”

I asked, “Just how big is ‘good size’?” I was expecting a modest number.

“It’s sixty-five feet long, and a handful to drive. I renamed it ‘Liquid Asset’. The few times that I’ve been out on it, I’ve hired somebody that knows what they’re doing to pilot it. I’ve had some client meetings and short cruises on it, too, but I’ve never run the thing completely by myself. I have a new pilot bringing the thing down here, and he told me that he’d like to stay affiliated with the boat.

Sarah and I gawked at his revelation, “HOLY SHIT, THAT’S AN OCEAN LINER!”

“Yeah, kind of,” Jon said. “It is pretty nice and very ocean capable except in the biggest of storms. Julie and I got to take it to Bermuda a year ago when I first got it and didn’t know about her infidelity. Up in New York, we didn’t even think of using it for six months of the year; too cold. I figure that down here in Florida we can take some great trips on it. It’ll easily sleep ten or twelve people – maybe a few more.”

Sarah asked, “What’s a pilot? Did you have it parked in Manhattan? How old is it? What’s something like that cost? Can you...”

Jon held up a hand, “Slow down. I hired a captain or pilot to bring it down; he’s moving to this town, too, so he’ll be around to help with it. Frankly, my using it will depend on him or somebody like him. This is no little outboard skiff, except there is one on the boat that can be lowered into the water for use where there are shallow water slips or even a beach. That, I can operate.

“He’s ferried other boats like this around the world, actually; and it does need a crew. It was not parked in Manhattan, but at a yacht club a short way out on Long Island. It is a 2016 yacht with long-range capability due to its fuel capacity. I think the original price was around $4 million, but the value today is probably less than half that. And lastly, to your ‘Can you?’ question, the answer is probably yes. It has every convenience known to mankind on it. My relative was a gadget freak. He learned to pilot the thing on his own.”

I teased, “Jon, you’ve been holding out on us. Your ship has already come in, while the rest of us are wondering if the raft we’re building will even float.”

Jon nodded, “I don’t want to be thought of as anything special because I have some family money. Please don’t change how you interact with me or what you think of me. Yes, I have some wealth, but also, I’m just a normal guy that has tried, at least partly, not to rely on it.”

Sarah made another connection. “Holy shit, with this yacht and what you’ve implied in this conversation, no wonder Julie is after you. You’re her meal ticket.”

Jon nodded. “I was, but won’t be after the divorce is final. Not to be crass about it, but she signed a rather strict pre-nup agreement that forbade cheating, which she blatantly did, so she can’t get near the yacht or any of my wealth. The amount that she’ll get is specified, and she knew this before she started to sleep with her shithead boss.” The tone of his remark proved there was still some anger there.

I shook my head. “Sorry for the break-up, as I’ve said, but in a lighter vein, I really look forward to you taking us out for a yachting expedition.”

“As soon as it’s here,” he said with a smile.

We talked about the details of the yacht, and he showed us some pictures that he’d taken on his cellphone. The thing was huge and was longer and larger than all the other boats near it in the background. Rachel joined us and was as awed by our discoveries about Jon and his toy boat as we were.

After the morning run on Sunday and brunch with everybody, I spent the rest of the day at my flight school taking back-to-back flight lessons and more ground school. The ground school was basically forcing me to go through the various manuals about FAA regulations, navigation, flight operations, aircraft performance, navigation, and weather. Frankly, as an engineer conversant with trigonometry, I could have done a better job, but I kept my mouth shut and continued to excel. I aced every question that I got asked. I scheduled the actual written exam for later in the week.

The flight lessons had me ready to solo. That afternoon, I did. After some other practice drills with the instructor, we did two touch-and-go landings, and then he had me drop him off at the flight school and take the plane back out on my own, handling all the communications and other aspects of the flight. I did three landings on my own and then taxied the plane back to the flight school, where I got congratulated, photographed, and my hand shaken.

As I estimated, I was about a third of the way to my private pilot’s license. At the rate I was taking lessons, I would be another four months before I took my final flight test.

Later in the week, I aced the FAA’s written test.

After learning about Jon’s water toy, I started to have delusions of grandeur about the large, multi-engine jet that I would sometime own and fly all over the world – just for fun. I love my daydreams.

Life motored on for our ‘Family’. Life seemed more stable and predictable. Our family members living outside of Sarasota came and visited. Lindsay again managed to come for a visit the same weekend that Jim and Dot – my parents – were there. Yes, everyone connected with everybody else.

The summer was brutally hot. We ran at six in the morning and stayed inside in air conditioning the rest of the day. Even on weekends we did our long runs early, and then took siestas in the afternoon, usually with a loving partner.

I got asked to present a paper based on my doctoral research in generative artificial intelligence and machine learning. I had developed some unique algorithms and applied them in novel ways, and as word of my dissertation hit the public data bases, people were very interested.

I talked to my boss at CSS about it, and he encouraged me to speak at the Las Vegas A.I. Convention for that year and said that the company would cover all my costs and give me time to prepare. The conference was in mid-September, so I had plenty of time to put together my talk, handouts, and even get special business cards printed to use as handouts. Instead of giving out paper copies of my slides, I’d post them online and have the URL on my special cards to give to those that ask. I’d save a small forest.

I told our circle of friends about my trip and they were supportive and pleased that I’d get some professional recognition for my contributions to the scientific field. I’d accepted the invitation.

Over the weeks leading up to the conference, I put together the requisite presentation, ran it past my work group, did revisions based on that drill, rehearsed my speaking, and then put it up on a unique website that also promoted CSS and gave key links to their main website. I also had our group admin assistant arrange my travel from Sarasota to Vegas, coordinate with the conference program people, and arrange my stay for the week at Caesars Palace. I’d be able to take a taxi or the monorail to the convention center from there.