Chapter 16: Celebrations

It is Friday morning. I am sitting in my casino office. Connie is attending some kind of feel good training session. Most of the senior management staff is at the same training session. The office wing is eerily quiet.

I let my mind wander. So much has happened over the last fifteen or so years. The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting Ann. We fell in love, married, and joined a polyamorous group. We were both open to our sexuality and joining the group, our marriage prospered.

Ann and I enjoyed the variety of partners available and the intimacy we shared with others. We also enjoyed the intimacy we had for each other when we were in private surroundings.

That changed when we decided to start a family of our own. We dropped out of the poly group and focused on being good parents. We both loved our bouncing baby girl and convinced ourselves that our lives would be complete as parents.

Ann spent more and more time with our daughter, I spent more and more time at work, and we spent less and less time communicating with each other.

The Hall Pass almost ruined our marriage. Even though it had been given with good intentions, it was the absolutely worst choice either of us had ever made. The longer that the hall pass was in effect, the further apart we became.

During those same years, the poly group also suffered. Ann and I were the first of the group to leave. Our move to New Mexico and then to Oklahoma made it impossible for us to rejoin the original group.

Patricia Hall and her daughter Candice left to join George White in Washington D.C. Patty and George were married within a year. When George retired from government work, he and his wife, along with Candice, moved to the Solomon Islands. Tom and Jill Hill joined them last year. I recently learned that Ben White, along with his wife Pam and daughter Jenny, would be moving to George’s estate in the Solomon’s. The move is scheduled to happen two weeks from today.

Out of our original group, only the McClellan and Lorca families remain in Colorado Springs.

The good news is that Ann and I finally recognized that we were meant to be together, not only as a family unit but also as a part of a polyamorous group.

The original members were Ann and I, Rolf and Martha Svenson, and John and Carol Quigley. Soon after, we added Austin Brooks and Tracy Borden. The last to be inducted were Liz Moran, our daughter, and Gracie Svenson, Rolf and Martha’s daughter. Since the girls are only fifteen, they have limited membership.

Tonight we will induct six more people to the group. Matthew and Joan Twain and their son Mark; Mitchell Twain, Mathew’s twin brother, and Sam Borden, Tracy’s brother. Jackie Twain, daughter of Matt and Joan, will be inducted as a limited member.

Max and Susan Waters are honorary members of our poly group but have not joined us as a group yet.

I leaned back in my chair and thought that we had many things to celebrate. Not the least of all was the fact that there were so many family units involved in our poly group. I was shocked as much as I was amazed that so many practiced family love along with the polyamorous lifestyle.

It disturbed me that, in this day and age, organized religion could continue to treat family love as immoral and sinful. It disturbed me that politicians, under the influence of religious leaders, could make family love illegal and punish offenders.

I couldn’t understand why religious leaders were against family love for the masses when they not only accepted, but encouraged Adam and Eve, Lott and his daughters, or Noah and his wife to practice family love. I couldn’t understand why politicians could make it illegal to practice family love because a few demented fathers took advantage of their power of control to abuse their children. They didn’t make it illegal to drive a car just because a few drunk drivers maimed or killed innocent people.

I could only hope that someday, somewhere, religious zealots and politicians could understand that the majority of families should be allowed to show their love and respect for one another without suffering punishment from the church or government.

I was pulled back to reality when Connie entered my office.

“It’s lunch time, Mr. Moran. Would you like to join me in the cafeteria?”

Connie confirmed my suspicion about this morning’s training session when she said, “They didn’t teach us what we wanted to know. They taught what they wanted us to know.”

Another piece of my overall review of the moral problem in the casino.

I confirmed that my family would meet them next Friday night.

I checked in with Jerry Red Elk before leaving work early.

I arrived home at 1pm and found my wife, dressed, with Rolf, Martha, and a couple I had not met before.

Before I could say a word, the unknown man jumped to his feet. His body was ramrod straight when he gave me a hand salute that would have been the envy of every cadet at West Point.

“Sir, I am proud to meet the man who saved my brother from certain death. He told me how you shielded his body and took a bullet meant for him. He told me how you picked him up and carried him to the extraction point even though your left ankle had been totally destroyed by a Chicom bullet.

“Sir, the man you saved was my brother, Jesus. The last thing he said to me was that it was an honor to serve with you.”

“Mr. Moran, my name is Carmen and I was there to hear what Jesus said about you. I want you to know that what you did to save my brother-in-law inspired me to continue my education and become a Nurse Practitioner.”

“If anyone should be honored, it should have been Jesus. He was the backbone of my command. He led from the front. He never asked his men to do anything that he wouldn’t do. He was a fine, honorable man. He will be missed.”

Alejandro thanked me for my kind words.

I told Alejandro and Carmen to sit down while I took a seat beside my wife.

“Eddie, before all of this praise goes to your head, the reason Al and Carmen are here is to let us know that there might be a problem waiting to happen.

“It seems that their boys are smitten by our girls. Jose has a crush on Liz and Juan is head over heels for Gracie.”

“Are those the same boys that you paired the girls with at Liz’s birthday party?”

My wife said, “Yes, but I didn’t pair them up. Liz and Gracie pleaded with me and Martha to pair them up with the boys.”

“I am at a loss. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Eddie, you are still as dense as you were when we got married. Al and Carmen are worried that when the time comes for the boys to ask our girls to go out on a date, we will not allow it.”

“I still don’t understand. Why wouldn’t we allow it?”

“Because the boys are Hispanic and the girls aren’t!”

My blood began to boil and my face turned red. I was about to say something inappropriate when I realized that Ann and I should have been happy about their concerns.

I looked at Alejandro and Carmen. “Neither of you are concerned about us being prejudiced with regard to our girls dating you boys. You are worried about the prejudice of other people when they find out that our teens are dating each other.

“So, let me set your minds at ease. In four weeks, we are pulling our daughters out of public school and enrolling them in a private home school.

“We had the opportunity to watch your sons at our daughter’s birthday party. I will tell you right now that they not only impressed our daughters, they impressed us as well. Your sons acted like men compared to the other boys at the party. It was almost like...”

“Oh, my God,” my wife said. “Carmen Martinez, you have been teaching your sons how to treat and please members of the opposite sex. Have you been teaching them on your own or are you using a surrogate to help you?”

Al answered by saying, “I have been slowly teaching our sons to be men for many years. I am now teaching them how a man conducts himself around women.

“My wife is teaching them the finer points of male and female relationships.”

“Carmen,” my wife said. “You still haven’t answered my question. Are you teaching your sons on your own or do you use a surrogate?”

“On my own.”

“What are the finer points of male and female relationships?”

Carmen looked at Al and then, with a blushing face, she told my wife, “I am teaching them the difference in having sex, making love, and fucking.”

“Is your teaching still in the verbal phases or have you graduated into the physical stage of teaching?”

Carmen’s flushing face became even redder as she quietly said, “Physical.”

I asked Al, “Were you there when the teaching turned from verbal to physical?”

“Yes”

“And what did you feel when that happened?”

“I felt joy. I can’t really explain it, but I was proud of my wife as she turned our sons into men.”

I thanked Al and Carmen for their honesty and trust in us. I told them that the Moran family was involved in the same teaching methods for our daughter as they were for their sons. I also told them that because of the age of consent laws in Oklahoma, we would not make public the fact that our daughter lost her virginity last night.

Rolf added that the Svenson family was also using the same teaching methods and Gracie was no longer a virgin either.

My wife said, “You know what I think? I think that it was fate that Eddie came home early today. I think it was fate that we had this conversation. I think it was predestined that the Moran, Svenson, and Martinez families would develop a friendship that will last forever.”