Chapter 3

Surprise was about the only word Tina could think of as she stood in the doorway of her bathroom, watching her husband fuck their 17-year-old daughter. Half way to the conference, Tina had realized she had forgotten her bible, and had gone back to the house to get it. She knew her husband and daughter would be spending quality time together, but this is not at all what she had expected. She was glad that Angelique, their younger daughter was at a friend's house now. Bob and Guinevere were on the floor, moaning in pleasure and oblivious to the world around them. The passion Bob was displaying surprised Tina. Whenever they had made love, it was usually quick, and more of a chore than an enjoyable past time. Tina was knew Bob had been sexually active before they were married and before he had been saved, but she thought for sure he over come his lust.

Unable to speak, Tina left the house without her bible and ran out to the car. She sat there for a few minutes, just crying. She tried to pray, but her mind kept going back to the image of her husband and daughter on the floor in the bathroom. Tina was still unsure just what it was she felt, or how should she react. She wanted to be angry, disgusted with what she had seen, but those emotions couldn't come to the front. She felt useless as a wife, for not only being unable to keep her husband from straying, but from straying with his own daughter!

As she cried, Tina didn't notice someone walk up to the car. She jerked her head up in surprise as someone tapped lightly on the window. It was Marc, the young man who worked at her husband's hearing aid office, and one of her close friends. She rolled down the window and, trying to smile, said, "Hi."

Marc's face was concerned, and he crossed over to the other door. He got in and asked, "What happened, Tina?"

Tina brushed away at some of her tears and tried to speak. Instead, she started crying all over again. She leaned into Marc, and he held her, softly stroking her hair. "It's ok," he soothed. "Tell me what happened."

Tina nodded and looked up at her friend. "I saw Bob in the house with another woman," she replied, tearfully. "It was Guinevere." She buried her face back in Marc's shirt and began crying again.

Marc was in shock as he held his friend. Bob and Guin? So far as he knew, he had been the only sexual experience Guinevere had had, and certainly Bob wasn't the type to stray on his wife, let alone with his daughter. "What did I do wrong?" asked Tina. "I tried to be loving and obedient. I tried to take care of his needs. Why did this happen?"

The young man thought he knew the answer. He knew Bob had been very promiscuous before he had become 'saved', and he was pretty sure his boss disagreed with many of the church's teaching, or else he would have stopped Marc from talking to the girls along time ago. Tina, on the other hand, was the obedient housewife, never questioning anything, and most likely seeing sex as a chore rather than a way to draw closer to someone you cared about. Throw into the mix a hot young girl rebelling against strict rules and exploring her sexuality, and you had the makings of a very interesting situation.

Privately, Marc saw nothing wrong with what was going on. He knew Bob and Guin loved each other, and Bob would never do anything to hurt her. He believed that like the ban on premarital sex, the incest taboo was outdated and specific to the time. He also saw nothing wrong with Bob sleeping with another woman. In fact, the only problem he saw was that Bob hadn't talked to Tina first. Now, how to explain that to a 40 something year old whose only knowledge about sex was something read in a 4000 year old document?

"Tina," he said, after a silence. "Do you love Guin?" Tina nodded, thinking Marc was going to talk about forgiving her husband and supporting her daughter. "What about Angi?" Again, Tina nodded, albeit a little confused. Marc pressed on. "Do you love one over the other?"

"Of course not," she replied, sitting up. Marc's arms were still around her. "Why do you ask that?"

"What about your parents?" Marc continued. "Do you love your father more than you love your mother, or vice versa?"

"I don't understand," Tina said, shaking her head confusedly. "Why are you asking me these things?"

"Tina, if you believe it is possible to love two parents at once, though differently, and two children at once, do you believe it's possible to love more than one man or woman?" Tina's eyes widened with shock at the idea, but Marc pushed on. "Love isn't limited or compartmentalized like we're taught it is. You can't say to yourself, 'I will only care about this person, but not this person.' Just like you can love more than one child, you can love more than one lover."

Tina thought about that. She admitted to herself that she had feelings for other men, Marc included, but she had always thought that to be lustful and sinful, so she never said anything. If she had these feelings, she supposed it was possible her husband did as well. "But it's a sin," she argued. "The bible says you should have one spouse only."

"The bible also says you should dig a latrine to go to the bathroom, do you do it?" Marc countered.

"Of course not, that's not needed anymore."

"Neither is the monogamy. Paul was talking to Christians at a time when Christians were having to watch their spouses killed in front of them for not renouncing their faith. It was to spare them that pain that Paul advised them not to marry, or if they had to, to only have one spouse."

"But with Guin?"

"Why not?" asked Marc. "You know Bob loves Guin, and she him. You know he would never hurt her. If they want to express that love, you should let them. You guys should sit down and talk about it, though, so it's all out in the open."

Tina pondered all this. "I guess you're probably right," she finally admitted. "I'm not angry at Bob, or Guin, not really." Marc reached up and started drying away Tina's tears with his hand. "I guess I look pretty awful, don't I?" she asked.

"You look beautiful," replied Marc. Impulsively, he reached over and kissed her on the lips.