Chapter 30: Loosening Up

Dave lay snuggled in his bed between Athena and Taylor. He’d made love to each of them twice. Athena seemed more relaxed and talkative after watching Taylor and Dave make love. Taylor was in seventh heaven, and talked throughout the lovemaking sessions about how good it felt and how she never wanted them to stop.

Cricket came in and joined the fray. She’d been with Dave’s brother and sister-in-law, and seemed very content and fulfilled. Dave teased her, “What are you going to do when Don Abrams gets here on Friday?”

Cricket laughed, “Fuck him blind. Maybe Taylor and Athena will help me. He seemed to like young, nubile women, like me. We’re all on the small side, and my size seemed to really turn him on. I used to tease him about he was so big, and I was so small. You know, the ‘how will it ever fit’ kind of stuff.” She giggled.

Dave laughed and the two girls made appreciative noises. Finally, he asked, “Where are the others? Is it just you and me in bed tonight?”

Cricket said, “Well, Alice and Julie went to make love with Owen, Heather is on the patio with Jason deep inside her last I saw, and Pam was in a similar condition with Phil. Robyn, by the way, was with Roy, and your mother was fucking Derek to his great delight. I didn’t see Emily or Abby. I think Heather and Pam will be here soon. My guess is that Alice and Julie will sleep over at Owen’s.”

Dave snorted, “He likes to have sex with someone in the middle of the night. Maybe he can do both of them then.”

Cricket smiled, “I’m always available for that type of thing.”

“Promise me you’ll still have that attitude when I wake you up horny at three a.m.” They laughed.

Taylor said, “You could always wake me. I’ll make love with anytime, anyway, anywhere, anyhow. I just want you to want me.”

Dave kissed Taylor, “I do want you, but you must be learning by now about how men have their limitations.”

Taylor teased, “But I heard you did it ten times one day.”

“I was on drugs or something. That was a ‘one time once’ kind of thing. You had me twice tonight, and so did Athena.”

Athena said in a soft tone, “You could have me again, too – anytime, anyhow, anyway, anywhere. I really like making love with you. It feels so good and you made me cum over and over.”

Dave rolled his eyes, which made Cricket laugh. “You ladies are supposed to spread your talents and pussy around the Circle. There are other men that you need to also love and appreciate, as I am sure they will love and appreciate you.”

Athena said, “How many men in the Circle are there?”

“About twenty-five. A few others live far away and aren’t here very much. I even heard that Martin and Sasha are starting their own Circle up in Ohio. They’ve also been talking to Daryl, Candy, and Karen about being the core group up there. Sasha had my brother’s child, and Shelby has Martin’s child.”

Athena then pointed a gun at Dave’s head and fired. She said in a level tone, “I guess I should be on birth control of some kind, huh?”

Dave sputtered and stuttered and finally blurted out, “YOU’RE NOT ON BIRTH CONTROL?” He was getting all fired up to say something further when he saw the corners of Athena’s mouth turn up.

He spoke again as he slitted his eyes and stared at her, “You are a she-devil, right? You are on something, aren’t you?”

Athena snorted and grinned, “The pill. I was just teasing. We never talked about that, but I take that we should have.”

“The assumption in the Circle is that everyone is sexually clean and on birth control. You were a virgin, so therefore clean. Sometimes the women are not on birth control, and they’re willing to be impregnated. Sometimes they limit access to their womb to only certain men, but THEY TELL THEM AHEAD OF TIME!” Dave emphasized his last words to drive the point home.

Athena nodded. “I promise to tell you if I change my status and stop taking my pills.”

Taylor crooned, “Eventually, I’d LOVE to have your child.”

Dave rolled his eyes, “There are enough of them around. I’ve been rather prolific it seems. Besides the babies with my wives Alice and Pam, I have children with Joan, Susan, Nancy, Erin, Susan probably, Holly, and Wendy. There may be one or two more.”

Taylor jerked upright, “That’s like almost every toddler I take care of! Holy shit!”

“Yep. Call me a busy guy. What’d Owen say? My little swimmers know exactly where to go and what to do.”

Athena sat up, “I need to go to my own bed. I sleep in Rose’s room, so when she gets up there’s someone she knows there and I get up to feed her and get her ready for the day.”

“You are a fabulous nanny.”

“Thank you, and thank you for making love to me tonight. I ... I never thought it would be so wonderful. I’ve been missing a lot. I have a lot swirling around in my head right now. I know I just took the biggest step in my whole life. I have to think about what comes next.”

Dave hugged Athena to him, “Don’t let any of this upset you. This is about love, not anxiety or worry. Talk to everyone. They’ll help you organize your thinking, AND you can always talk to me. I hope you know that. You have nothing but friends around here. No one is out to take advantage of you.”

He kissed Athena and she kissed back, pushing her well-developed nude body against his. He smiled at her. She slipped on her robe, and headed down the hall to the bedroom she and Rose were using.

After she was gone Cricket said, “I’ll make sure to talk to her tomorrow. I also want to get to know Rose a little better, too. I’d better do that now, because after Don arrives, I think I’m going to be a lot busier.”

Dave acknowledged her remark and said that he too needed to do a better job of befriending the six-year-old. He had the feeling that she was going to be around the Circle a lot more in the coming days.

Dave observed Taylor and Athena for the next few days. Taylor was just as attentive to him and conversational as she’d been. She loved the children just as much as was continuing to be a great nanny for the Circle toddlers.

Athena seemed to be more open to meeting the others in the Circle. Dave could tell she wasn’t jumping into bed with anybody, somewhat the way Taylor had with a few of the men, but at least she was talking to them and building friendships.

Scarlett was busy reading scripts, and re-reading the book Crystal Clear. She and Cricket would spend hours together talking about some of the scenes, and some of what Cricket wrote so that Scarlett understood what the character Crystal, that she would be playing, actually thought about during some of the scenes. In this movie, Crystal would be greatly committed to Jim Mellon, the main protagonist in the novel. Chris Hemsworth would play Jim in the movie.

Friday, when Dave got home, Cricket bounded up to him and kissed him hello. “Come and meet Don Abrams.”

Cricket introduced the men. Don was in his early forties, deeply tanned, and in superb physical shape. He had very close-cropped salt and pepper hair, and could almost pass for bald. He was about Dave’s height and sported a winning smile. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt from a Dave Matthews Band concert. He and Dave shared a few welcoming words, and Dave led them to the bar so he could get his wine cooler from the sexy little waitress bartender Cindy. She flashed him to show that she was commando as she usually was on the patio at the end of the day. Don about dropped his eyeteeth at her invitational flash and laugh.

Don said, “THAT was very California.”

Dave shrugged, “Pretty normal for around here, at least inside the gates of the Circle. Did Cricket tell you much about the Circle?”

“Just that it’s this cohousing compound with lots of shared space such as the patio and pool. This has become popular in some of the burbs of L.A., too.”

Dave smirked, “There’s a lot more to it than that.” He turned to Cricket, “My lovely wife, I think you should do the honors with your friend and give him the information he’s going to need to live in this place for the next few weeks, otherwise he’s going to keep having one shock after another.”

Don was already reacting, “WIFE?” He looked at Cricket as she smiled up at him, “You never told me you were married.”

Cricket actually giggled, “I didn’t want to bias your thinking about me. Dave and I got married on Valentine’s Day. I’m his fifth wife. The other four will be around here soon.”

Don shook his head to be sure he was hearing things correctly. He carefully asked, “Are you a Mormon sect or some other religion?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. We just love each other. The Circle is all about love and caring for other people. Dave and we five wives are a polyamorous family living in a polyamorous neighborhood.”

Don kept shaking his head, “I have GOT to hear this story.”

Dave had heard Cricket give the instructional talk about the Circle a dozen times, and she was flawless and as far as he could tell omitted nothing of importance. He gave a little wave to the two of them and separated away.

Alice and Pam and just come on the patio from the core nursery, and each was carrying a toddler on their hip. He greeted them and kissed the tots. He got a couple of coos and da-da’s from the youngsters. The three talked about their day and their hopes for the weekend. Dave pointed out Don Abrams and explained how he was only now getting the awareness or indoctrination talk.

Both Alice and Pam expressed interest in the man. Dave told what little he knew from talking to Cricket, but suggested they sit together at dinner. Scarlett joined the group and then saw Don. She waved hello as Dave explained what was going on. She was wearing a monokini.

Scarlett laughed, “He’ll be fine with all this. He used to live in an open marriage, but it fell apart on him a few years back. He really likes Cricket. His trip here is to see how she lives so he knows her better. She didn’t tell him much about her current life; only her past.”

After they talked a while Cricket and Don walked over. Don had that glazed look on his face.

Cricket said, “We’re going to get Don’s bags out of the rental car, and I’ll show him his room and a quick tour of the house.”

Dave said, “Please plan on sitting with us at dinner. I’ll do all the introductions then.” He gestured to Alice, Pam, and Scarlett.

Dan and Cricket were back in fifteen minutes. By then Bridget, Taylor, Athena, Rose, Heather, Matthew, and Julie had joined the group. Owen sauntered over just as the pair sat.

Owen said, “Hi Don. Glad to see you on this side of the continent for a change.”

“Hi Owen. Cricket had given me a real education about this place. I had no idea such a place existed. Your size or membership is amazing. The philosophy is so aligned with my own thinking I have yet to hear anything I don’t fully agree with and endorse.”

“We’ll talk later. I need a drink. I’ve been haggling with Mark Worthington all afternoon. He’s a tough negotiator, but we ended up with an agreement on some things that we both really like.”

Owen made the rounds and kissed everybody and then headed off to the bar. Dave noted that he lingered in the kisses with Alice and Julie, but smiled because he knew there was some specialization there.

Don commented, “Cricket showed me around the house. The house is very nice, but that bed in your master bedroom is ... spectacular. I’ve never seen anything that size – even in California.”

Dave nodded, “A set of sheets for it is over four hundred dollars. We all love sleeping together, or whatever else we’re doing.”

Don rolled his eyes, “Cricket explained that there’s a lot of ‘whatever else’ going on all the time in the Circle. I should have guessed after I discerned her great interest in things erotic and sexual. She even told me she lived in an environment that allowed her to express herself in that way ... but this ... Wow!”