Chapter 9: Shock and Awe

Matt and Amy were sitting on the side of the pool having an animated discussion about something. Edie had gone inside to put the breakfast dishes away. She was wearing her Daisy Dukes and a crop top, and also acting enticing.

I was left sitting with my two children – Josh and Carolyn. Josh asked, “How do you spend your time?”

I decided now was a good time to do a reveal. “We have a very loving and romantic social life with two other couples and a couple of others we see less frequently.”

They both frowned as their little thinking engines tried to work through the possibilities that my remark left open. I added, “We get together at least once or twice a week, and tonight is one of those nights. I hope you’ll excuse our absence, but we planned this romantic time long in advance and they mean a lot to both Edie and me.”

“What do you mean ‘romantic’?” Carolyn asked.

“We make love to each other, although the men don’t interact much.”

Josh managed to make the four syllables each into separate words: “Sexually”.

I nodded. “I also take care of our two homes, inside and out; continue to work our investment portfolio; do a little genealogy; and I have a few other hobbies and projects, and there’s some charity work I still do. I have about six novels going at any one time. Edie has been encouraging me to write some stories, too, and I wanted to get back into photography, especially having a model as a girlfriend. I bought a great camera just before Diane died, and I just lost my motivation. Edie is restoring my chi, so I’m getting interested again. Most of all I love being with Edie. We take romantic walks on the beach, and we talk about everything under the sun.”

Josh started sputtering, “Wait. Wait. Wait. You have sex with Edie AND other people – other women?”

“Yes. Mindy and Rita, and I love them, just not as much as Edie. They’re both married, and their husbands are our best friends. Edie makes love with the men, too. We’re all best friends.”

Carolyn sputtered, “But ... but ... but ... that’s so wrong.”

I countered, “No it’s not. Who told you that?”

She was flummoxed and couldn’t respond.

“Kids, we love our friends. Most of the world operates under the assumption that you can only love one person. THAT’S wrong! I know, because I live a life where I love more than one. I was just talking a few weeks ago to Edie’s daughter’s husband and his female friend about at least two models for how you can live your life and your relationships. I made a list for them. Here it is on my cellphone.” I passed phone to Josh. “I’m getting another cup of coffee. Get you any?” They both nodded but were looking at the short list on my phone.

In the kitchen, Edie was just finishing. We both stopped and made out for five minutes. “You got them cranked up?”

I laughed and nodded. “Yep. They’re stuttering because they’re trying to tell me how wrong it all is.”

Edie laughed, “Oh, a value judgment. Shame on them. Who’s to say whether its right or wrong?”

I did mention that you made love with the men.”

“Oh, great. Now, your girlfriend is a first-class slut that sleeps around.”

I teased, “You don’t seem to sleep when we see our friends.”

She laughed and headed off to the bedroom. “I think it’s monokini time.”

I carried three mugs back to the table and distributed them. I sat back and looked out at the pool and yard.

Both Josh and Carolyn were warmed up for a salvo in my direction. I fired off the first shot. “Now, please don’t be shocked when Edie comes out. She’s usually nude around the pool, but I think I convinced her to wear the lower half of her bikini. She doesn’t like tan lines. She has done some other modeling recently, so it’s important that she look uniform and at her best.”

They both looked at each other, and then at Edie as she strolled onto the patio with her iPad. Edie did not have opulent breasts like some porn queens. They were full, ripe, and perfectly proportioned to her body. They were also perfectly formed, had good-sized areolas, and nipples like the end of your little finger. They’d sagged a little with age, but she always carried herself well with her shoulders back, and that posture supported more than many other women her age.

She stopped by the table, “Everyone have what they need? There are more coffee and sweet rolls left, and we always have unsweet iced tea in refrig. We have all those great leftovers from yesterday for lunch, too.” We all politely turned her down. I got a hug, that put my head between her breasts, and then a couple of sweet kisses.

Edie went and joined Matt and Amy on the other side of the pool in the sun. I was mildly surprised a minute later when Amy removed her top. Josh looked stunned at his wife, but didn’t say anything. Matt looked happy as he sat with his mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

I relaxed and waited for that missing salvo. Josh said, “I read that list. I’d like a copy, if you please. It’s quite persuasive. You know I’m rooted in the first model – the paradigm on the left in your chart I think we mostly are. But when I read the words for the other model, that’s where I want to live. How’d that happen? Why didn’t you talk about with us earlier in our lives?”

“Sorry about that. Your mother and I were raised and inculcated in the paradigm we all lived in. It’s hard to see a different way when you living inside what you think is the only way. It’s only been recently I’ve learned about the other possibilities where I thought there were none. Edie’s on the same voyage of discovery. Our friends helped a bit, but I read a lot and started finding a better way. It’s a voyage of discovery for all of us. A favorite book that influenced me a great deal was Heinlein’s Stranger in Strange Land. I recommend you read it.

“What else?” Carolyn asked with a touch of eagerness in her voice.

I laughed, “The Ethical Slut. It’s more contemporary and nonfiction, and it’s fundamental manifesto is that consenting adults can do whatever they want about sex. With that as prologue, here I sit doing exactly that. Edie’s in that boat, too.”

“Do you think we should change?” Josh posed.

“That’s up to you. You need to judge whether you are ready to make that leap. It is not an insignificant one. You, of course, need your spouse along for the ride, as well as fortitude and resolve to make any relationship a success. Edie and I have those, we think.

“Now that you’re adults, if I tell you to do something and you do it and it fails, you’ll blame me. I don’t want that burden. If you try, I ask that if you judge yourselves don’t use the criteria people use in the old and most popular relationship behavior model. You need new yardsticks and measures of success. Edie and I are still making the transition, too, so you’re catching us mid-stride. I hope I always encouraged you to be daring and have a willingness to take risks. That was what I tried to instill in all the people that worked for NASA. We’d have never made it to the moon and Mars otherwise.”

Carolyn looked out across the patio. Both Amy and Edie had moved to a chaise in the sun. Matt was applying sunscreen to Edie and not missing any spots. I laughed. He was being teased something fierce and apparently loved it.

“What would be the kind of things you’ve done to loosen up or to take risks?” Josh asked.

I laughed, “Tell Matt to put lotion on Amy. Carolyn, you encourage him, too.”

Josh laughed and then yelled over, and also thanked him for protecting his precious wife. Carolyn said loudly so he could hear, “Don’t worry honey. I’m not jealous or anything. Just help both women ... and don’t miss any spots.”

Matt was frozen in position looking over at his wife and brother-in-law in disbelief. Amy was laughing, and Edie just gave a little wave and then said something to Matt. He smeared on more lotion, this time working the cream into her breasts. A few minutes later he did Amy all over, but kept constantly checking with his wife. Carolyn watched and grinned.

I asked, “What are you feeling?”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Aroused, elated, excited. He’s touching places on Amy only I have touched for the past five years.”

“Do you think Amy loves you any less?”

“No. Maybe more. She likes Matt, and I suspect she’s feeling many of the same things I am, especially aroused. I bet she likes being touched by another male.”

I pushed further, “Just to push the point a little, what if you saw Amy push her bikini bottoms off and he started to finger her pussy as they kissed. What if she pulled his dick from his bathing suit and started to blow him, and then had him mount her and they started to make love.” I held my hand up in a stop motion to Carolyn; her turn would come momentarily.

Josh watched the couple diagonally across the pool. We could just hear the overtones of their conversation but not make out too many words. Edie was often part of the chat.

Josh sighed, “Wow! That’s like crazy stimulating and arousing.”

I said, “Model One would have you fly into a fit of jealous rage. You’d want to kill him and probably Amy. You’d scream and carry on. Maybe hit Matt for taking advantage of your wife. After all, she’s your property and he violated her. If she loves him, she doesn’t love you. You judge their behavior as outrageously bad, so bad that you engage a divorce attorney. You spread her bad reputation and misdeeds to all your friends, but they soon leave both of you; nobody likes that kind of drama or having to pick sides. Amy is pissed at your response, so she’s not about to apologize or try to win you back; she gets the best divorce lawyer in the state and is out to make you penniless for a long time. The child custody battle almost makes national news.

“In Model Two, you watch and appreciate the love they’re sharing. You know that the more people you love the more love you have to give and the more you get in return. Matt is a good friend and remains that way, even closer now that he has a comfortable relationship with your wife as well as you. You also hope Amy is having a great time as they make love. You want her to have orgasms from him. You bury any bad thoughts because they aren’t contributing to your happiness over the event; there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. You resolve to be encouraging of their love and friendship, and besides, perhaps it’ll bring you closer to Matt’s wife, who you also love and would like to engage in a similar way.”

I laughed at my ending to the little scenario. I was teasing the two of them about having a sexual relationship.

Josh said, “Yes, there’s something to be said for the second model, but ... I have to learn to think that way.”

“Carolyn, have any thoughts?”

“Fuck yes! You just set me up to have sex with my brother. You have my husband going off to fuck Amy all the time and in love with her. What am I, chopped liver?”

I spoke calmly, “The important question is ‘What do you want to be?’ The wronged wife, part of a loving group of people, a loving sister, or something else? Only you can decide.”

“But ... but...”

Josh leaned over the Carolyn, “Honey, he’s just pushing your buttons ... as he was pushing mine a moment earlier. He is right, though. He has given me – us – some serious things to think about. I’m thirty-two, and I have to decide if the way I’ve been living is something I want to continue. Of course, I need to talk to Amy. If you’re contemplating all this, I suggest the four of us get together.”

I stepped in, “You can start here, if you wish. I suggest you all come back in one or two months and take stock of where you are in your thinking. If you want, Edie could also introduce you to her daughter – at least electronically or over Zoom. She’s also making a similar transition. David, her husband, had a small indiscretion with a pretty girl named Jean. Under Penny’s aegis, the threesome is going to try living together in a group marriage.”

Carolyn lit up. “I’d like to talk to her – wow! I need a woman’s perspective. I assume she’s about our age?”

“Yes, she is. Twenty-nine if I recall correctly. Edie can tell you more about her.”

We all looked over at Matt, Edie, and Amy. The three were laughing, and Matt was standing behind Amy and running his hands up and down the front of her body including her breasts. She was pushing up into his hands and laughing as they all looked over at us.