Chapter 18: Wedding Plans

Dave, Cricket, Ken, and Patti sat together after dinner with their cellphones at the ready.

Dave said, “So, Valentine’s Day falls on Saturday this year. That’d be perfect except it’s only two weeks or so away.”

Patti said with enthusiasm, “I agree. We’ve been engaged almost a year. Something needs to happen to get this oaf moving. He’s too comfortable.”

Ken teased, “Why buy the cow when you can get all the milk you want for free.”

Patti tried to look incensed. She said, “Now that you mention it, why should I buy the whole pig, when all I want is a little sausage!”

Ken laughed and looked pained at the same time. Dave and Cricket were laughing at the sparring of the pair. They were witty like this all the time.

Dave tried to regain some focus on their meeting. “If we marry Cricket on the same day won’t that take away from your feeling of celebration?”

“No, not a bit,” Patti insisted. “We’ll have our family here. By now, they know the deal about the Circle, so you marrying your fifth wife won’t seem out of place to them at all.” She rolled her eyes to emphasize her sarcasm. “Seriously, I think it’d help make the occasion unique for all of us.”

Ken nodded, “I agree with Patti. This is a fun event, and a great excuse for a large party – our reception. There’ll be two grooms and six brides.”

Patti laughed, “Wasn’t there a movie, something like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Maybe there’ll be others that want to do this. What about Roy and Elise?”

Dave said, “I can ask them.”

Ken urged, “Call one of them right now and get them thinking. We have only two weeks to put something together.”

Instead of calling his mother, Dave called Roy and posed the question to him. Roy got enthusiastic about doing just what was suggested and went off to talk to Elise. He called Dave back five minutes later and said, “Yes. Count us in.”

Dave said, “Then come and join us. We’re on the patio.”

A few minutes later, Roy strolled out of his home in shorts and t-shirt. Elise scampered behind him in a revealing shift. They sat and joined in. Dave had the feeling they’d been playing in bed when he called.

Dave said, “We were thinking about who else needed to be here. Patti just called her parents and they can make it. Ken’s mother lives in Idaho, and he’s waiting for a call back. Cricket just talked to her aunt and uncle that raised her, and they can make it. I’m covered.”

Cricket reminded him, “Plus, Alice’s sister and niece will be here, maybe with Candy and her brother in law. That would help make it more special for Julie and Alice, too.”

Roy traded texts with his brother and announced that he could also make it. Elise had no siblings to bring. She wanted Gail there and maybe if Betty, Gail’s mother, could come down from Ohio. She wanted to get Roy to fuck Betty’s brains out, in part as a reward for her losing a lot of weight.

“How should we do this?” Patti asked. “One big ceremony, or separate ceremonies the same day, or what?”

Dave thought and said, “Well, I can’t really marry Cricket without getting in legal trouble, so we’d be doing everything but tying the legal-governmental knot. What I’d suggest is back-to-back ceremonies in front of the arbor that Maddy and Bobbie used. I liked that. After that, we’d all celebrate together.”

Ken said, “That has the added benefit that each of us does have our own moment before we all throw in with something larger and a lotta fun.”

Elise said, “Why aren’t Mike and Clarisse involved?”

Dave hit his own forehead. “Duh. I forgot. They’ve been engaged so long, I just think of them as married. Who else have we forgotten?”

Soon Mike and Clarisse joined the group at the table. After a few salient points were raised and a couple of calls, they verified that they could garner all the right relatives for that day. They were enthused about doing the group wedding.

Mike admitted, “One of the reasons I’ve kind of dragged my feet is the whole planning thing. Doing it with others en masse in two weeks satisfies my need for speed and simplicity. No one can make this that complex in that period of time.”

The rest of us laughed. Patti said, “Oh, this will get VERY complex in that time.”

There was talk about who to get as a minister to preside over the event and make things legal for those seriously getting married.

Cricket said, “The prof I had in my comparative religions and spirituality course might be a good guy to try. He’s nondenominational, likes the SBNR movement, and wouldn’t lay out God and Jesus to the point where any of us would gag, and probably not at all. He’s ordained, but told the class that he’d moved beyond organized religion to a personal spirituality. I also know he’s done some other weddings and various rites of passage for other faculty and students.”

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

Ken said, “This guy would work for me. Could we meet with him ahead of time to be sure he’s all right, not that we don’t trust you Cricket.”

Cricket wasn’t insulted, “I can see whether he could pay us a visit. I’ll call him tomorrow morning and try to line him up. Maybe we can even get a group discount.” She chortled at her idea.

The next night at cocktail time, Cricket led a handsome, square jawed, sandy haired man in his forties onto the patio. The two of them were talking and Dave assumed he was getting a somewhat superficial description of the Circle and the cohousing situation since she was gesturing at the various homes and the core.

Dave met Ross Buchman with a firm handshake and noticed the strong voice and not a hint of embarrassment in the man. He was confident and curious about what Cricket had led him into.

The other wedding principals gathered around and introduced themselves to Ross. He made a very good first impression, and Dave could see the resonance they felt with the man almost immediately. This was the guy to do the weddings.

Dave got Ross a glass of wine and the group sat together at one of the tables while Jake and Phil tended the bar. Ross was impressed with the organization of the Circle and the camaraderie he saw around the patio.

Ross said, “So, several of you are getting married. We kind of met in a group setting, but I don’t have a sense of couples yet. Could you pair yourselves for me?”

Mike held up Clarisse’s hand, “We’re Mike Holiday and Clarisse Carter. We’ve been engaged about three years while Clarisse went to school and I got a business off the ground. She graduated in May and I’m finally solvent.”

Roy held up Elise’s hand. “I’m Roy Goodman and this is Elise Prentiss – Dave’s mother. This occasion will be second marriages for both of us. We’ve been engaged since Thanksgiving timeframe.”

Ken held up Patti’s hand. “I’m Ken Toomey and my bride-to-be is Patricia or Patti Turner. This is a second marriage for me, and Patti’s first. We’ve been going together for over a year and knew each other before that. Like the others, we live together.

Ross turned to Cricket, “And you and Dave are the last couple?”

Cricket grinned, “Not quite. This is where it gets kind of complex. I’ll be Dave’s fifth wife.”

Ross turned to Dave, “Oh, you’ve been married several times previously?” There was no tone of judgment.

Dave nodded, “Yes, but I’m still married to the four of them.”

A long silence ensured while Ross processed that chunk of data. He turned back to Cricket, “This wouldn’t be a legal arrangement?”

Cricket shook her head, “No. There’d be no paperwork on this one, only the sense of commitment. I am marrying into his family, so in the ceremony I would stand juxtaposed to Dave, Alice, Pam, Julie, and Heather. It’s really a commitment ceremony from all of us to each other. They’ve done this before, but I’m kind of new to the scene. We’ve only been engaged a couple of months, but I am so in love with Dave and everybody.”

Ross nodded, “A little unconventional, but I like that. Is there a ‘real’ wife in there?”

Dave smiled, “Alice. We’ve been married about fourteen years now. We have one child. I also have a child with Pam, and an adopted son of Heather’s.”

“Do you want to have the children have a role in the wedding?”

Dave nodded, “That’d be nice. Only Matthew, who’s about to turn eight is old enough to do that. The others are at best toddlers.” He looked to be sure Cricket was okay with involving Matt – the name increasingly used for the young lad as he matured.

“Where do you want to do your group ceremony? Tell me the details that you’ve all worked out.”

Mike responded, “Here on the patio. We have an arbor we’d position near the head of the pool.” Each person chimed in and filled in some of what they were thinking the ceremony would be like. Ross paid careful attention, especially when it came to the vows that they’d make to each other.

Cricket then had an idea the rest of the group thought was fabulous. She said, “What if after all of our new families has done their vows, we do a vow to the Circle – a promise to love and support each other? We could involve the entire community.”

The six others looked at her in awe. Elise spoke first, “I think that’s a great idea, because if I wasn’t marrying Roy, I’d be marrying the other sixty of you.” Roy nodded in agreement.

Alice said, “I love the idea. Let’s do it.”

Mike chimed in and then the others.

Dave said, “We could write up and print a small program for the event with all our names and such on it, and then write out the group vow we’d invite everyone to participate in.”

Ross said, “If this is kind of a pledge of allegiance to your Circle, I think I have just the thing. It’s only a couple of sentences, but a group I lived with in college used it.”

“Sure; let’s see it,” Dave said.

Ross and the others talked about the wedding day in detail for another half hour and then drifted off to other topics as they learned about Ross and his affiliation with the university. Cricket looked pleased that she could introduce someone so nice to her friends.

Thursday before the Saturday Valentine’s Day, Karen, Candy, Bridget, and Daryl arrived in Sarasota. Dave picked them up at the airport and drove them to the Circle. They’d be staying with the Prentiss family in the guest room, or wherever they decided to hang their hats at night.

Daryl looked as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Alice had come home early and showed them to their room and helped with their bags. She then orchestrated a tour of the Circle for Daryl and Bridget, ending up by the pool just at five o’clock.

Ron and Murph showed up to tend bar, assisted by Cindy and Sharon who’d again decided to be sexy cocktail waitresses for the busy week and weekend. They were wearing short little skirts, gone commando, and had crop tops on that showed lots of under boob as well as significant cleavage. Dave had to laugh aloud because Daryl’s eyes about popped out of his head, especially when Cindy faced away from him and leaned over, straight-legged, to pick up some imaginary piece of something from the ground. Her pussy went on complete display along with her fine ass about six feet from where he sat staring at her pussy.

Bridget smiled and said, “I have got to join up with this place. These are my kind of people.”

Shortly after that brief episode, Julie and Kat came out wearing only their monokinis. Wendy followed, and then Donna and Nancy showed up. The day was warm for February and there hadn’t been that many that invited the nudity since the New Year’s Day, so the sun worshippers were in full regalia, so to speak. Robyn and Jason showed up, too, with Susan in tow.

A few babies appeared and started to get passed around for adult cuddling at attention. Several wanted to be down on the ground scooting around. Susan’s little Mark was already walking in lurching tentative steps. He seemed content, however, to play with a baby toy at her feet and look at all the adults in a circle around him.

Bridget also watched the outward sexuality on display. She asked, “Is it always like this?”

Alice explained, “This is the first afternoon in about six or eight weeks that we’ve been able to be like this out here because of the cool temperatures. In warm weather, any type of clothing is an option and some degree of nudity usually prevails.”

“So, I could go topless right now?”