Chapter 7

Ed woke up on the floor of the playroom with Beth, Kelly, and Ling. Beth was spooned against him while Kelly and Ling were sleeping together. The hand moving on his cock suggested that Beth was not asleep. He moaned as his cock erected under her gentle administrations.

As a result his moans, she knew that she was having a real effect on Ed. Beth increased the pressure of her grip on his cock. He shifted giving her easier access to it. The noise woke Kelly. Pouting, she came over and said, “No fair! You had him last night.”

Beth giggled and said, “So did you!”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.”

The conversation didn’t stop Beth from slowly jacking Ed off. Kelly lay down in front of Ed and sucked the tip of his cock into her mouth. After just a moment of that, she moved down and sucked one of his balls in her mouth. Ed lifted a leg giving her easier access to his balls. The dual sensations were bringing him quickly to climax.

Before he could come, Ling lay down on the floor in front of him and slipped her mouth over the head of his cock. Having three women share his cock at one time was almost beyond belief. He knew that he was large, but it didn’t seem possible that there was enough room for a hand on the shaft, a mouth on the head, and a mouth sucking his balls. As his balls pulled up tight to his body, the one in Kelly’s mouth popped loose. That was too much for Ed. He shot his load of come into the mouth of Ling with a loud animal grunt of pleasure.

An hour later, a very exhausted Ed limped out of the playroom with a rubber still hanging from his cock. Looking down, he saw it and wondered when they had put it on him. Only a couple of more weeks and then Beth would be trying to get pregnant. He went into the bathroom of his bedroom and threw the used rubber into the toilet. Flushing it, he watched the rubber get swallowed into oblivion.

He took a long hot shower to rinse off the fluids of sex and to relax muscles over used. Ever since John had gone to the funeral of his former landlord, Mrs. South, Ed had been trying to satisfy three women. As he lathered himself, taking care not to further irritate his raw cock, he realized that they needed another husband. Kelly had been correct back when they were dating, it was important to have a balance in gender in a group marriage.

After his shower, he sat down in his comfort chair to consider recent events and tried to make sense of what was happening around him. Things had been strange in the house since the day that John left for the funeral. That morning had started normally, but then the wives met with other women in town and started drinking to the point where they were sick. Last night and this morning was the first time they had spent much time with him, but almost all of that time had been spent having sex. Ed was not the kind of guy that would complain about having three beautiful women making love to him, if such a guy possibly existed; however, three times last night and three times this morning was tough on a man his age. He had left the playroom no wiser as to what had been bothering the wives.

Since the day they had gotten drunk, the wives had been secretive and had successfully avoided all his attempts to find out what was the matter. In response to direct questions, they had told him that it was not something for him to worry about and that they would solve the problem. There was a ring of truth to their words, so he had relented.

The exercise of the night and morning had drained his energy reserves. His stomach growled, proclaiming his hunger. He dressed and went to the dining room to get something to eat. Expecting him, Marguerite set a pair of fried eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him along with a cup of coffee. He looked at the meal and, with a smile on his face, said, “You could have arranged this in the shape of a face.”

Marguerite, with a sly smile, retorted, “I only go to such extremes for people that notice.”

Laughing at her, Ed said, “You only do that for people you like!”

“Or at least people that are likable,” said Marguerite as she ruffled his hair.

He watched as she returned to the kitchen; she was laughing and dancing as she walked. The fact that she was dancing into the kitchen was a little odd, since she usually only did that when she was preparing a major meal. The wives were at work that afternoon and evening, so he, Ling, and the staff would be the only ones around the house.

Eating his breakfast, he wondered what man he knew could be a candidate for marriage. There weren’t very many people who already lived according to the rules of the house, even though the character of the town had changed with the arrival of John. People had learned how to love, but few of them worked actively for the greater good of the community. He knew that would come in time, but they would need a husband soon.

The only person that really came to mind was Robert White Feather. Everyone in the family respected and liked him. He had a sense of higher duty and applied that in everything that he did. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of including Robert White Feather. He would mention the idea to John and see what John had to say.

Finished eating, he was about to carry his plates into the kitchen when Bob came into the room from the kitchen. Marguerite and Bob spent a lot of time together and Ed wondered when they would just admit to each other that they loved one another. Bob stopped and said, “You really made Marguerite happy by entering her in that competition.”

“It’s her passion. She has a right to pursue it,” replied Ed. A look of disappointment crossed Bob’s face at the idea that Ed had done it for reasons that had nothing to do with Marguerite herself. Ed winked and said, “Besides, it was great watching her work her kitchen magic on a crowd of people. She is the best.”

Realizing this was how the two treated each other, Bob said, “Neither one of you can admit you like each other.”

Ed replied, “I’m not the only one that has that problem.”

Not understanding what Ed had implied, Bob shook his head and carried the plates into the kitchen. With nothing left to do, Ed went into the family room to watch the news. He turned it on in time to hear a public service announcement that was John’s eulogy for Mrs. South. Shaking his head, Ed was so proud of the sentiments that John had expressed. Every time he watched it, it brought a tear to his eyes.

Flipping the channel to the news, Ed listened as a high profile arrest was made by the IRS in New York. An agent was being arrested for blackmail, having used his position to get individuals that owed taxes to pay him off to bury their case files. He had received well over a million dollars over the past five years. It was another example of one criminal making a living off another, but John and he considered the misuse of a public servant position for personal financial gain to be a form a treason. He was rather surprised when he was given credit for having broken the case.

The telephone rang and Ed went over to answer it. Picking it up, Cathy said, “There’s a Deana Ahlberg on the telephone.”

Smiling at the timing of the call and the news story, Ed said, “Thanks, I’ll take it here.”

Cathy put the call through and Ed said, “Hello, Deana. What’s up that isn’t on the news?”

The sound of her laughter came over the phone as she answered, “That was a nice catch in New York. We’re going to prosecute the guy to the fullest extent of the law. I think it’s time that we present a picture of the IRS that moderates it treatment of the public at large.”

“Sounds good to me,” answered Ed. One of the problems with being associated with the IRS was that agents had a very bad public image. Here in Phoenix where they had been addressing errors as human failings, the general public relations had improved. More than one news story on television had talked about the courteous treatment received at the office.

She added, “We are about to make some additional arrests of individuals that really lied on their tax forms. I hope you don’t mind if we give credit to the primary investigating agent.”

“I don’t mind at all. In fact, I’m glad you are doing it. They did the work and they deserve the credit,” answered Ed. He wasn’t concerned about credit for having done his duty to the Two-Sided One. When you knew the truth, it didn’t matter what others knew or thought.

She laughed at the idea that the agents had done all of the work. He had cleared the desks of two hundred agents in two weeks. The backlog of cases had been significantly reduced. She said, “Okay. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”

After hanging up, Ed sat back in the chair. There had been something bothering him for several days and he couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew it was something quite big and related to his service, but had no clue as to the nature of the problem. Knowledge of what he was to do would have to wait until the circumstances were right for him to learn of it.

His thoughts were disturbed when Cathy came into the living room and cleared her throat. Once she knew she had his attention, she said, “Your presence is requested in the library at your earliest convenience.”

“Do we have a problem?” he asked realizing that it wasn’t an emergency, but was concerned by the unusual summons. Normally, family business was conducted in the library and a summons meant that something important had happened. He wondered if this was connected to the strange behavior of his wives. Perhaps they were ready to explain what had been bothering him.

Although she had a clue as to what was going on, she didn’t understand all of it. Rather than speculate, Cathy answered, “I’m not sure how to describe it.”

Perplexed by her answer, Ed turned off the television and went to the library. Ling, arms folded across her chest and legs slightly spread, was waiting for him outside the library. Greeting him with a stolid expression, she said, “Go on in.”

Turning to keep an eye on Ling, he sidled into the library trying to decide why she seemed so distant. She moved to block the door, effectively preventing him from leaving without having to deal with her. Turning to view the rest of the room, Ed was amazed to find nearly every woman in town with whom he frequently talked.

More than a dozen women were seated around the conference table. Kelly and Beth were sitting at the last seats along the conference table, leaving a spot for him at the head of the table. Uneasy, Ed edged towards the head of the table as he said, “Hello, ladies. It’s nice to see all of you.”

With a wry smile, Kelly said, “Have a seat Ed.”

Moving slowly, trying to get an indication of what was going on from the faces in the room, Ed reached the chair and sat down. None of the women would meet his eyes, each would look down at the table when he looked at her. Wondering if he had done something wrong, Ed asked, “What’s up?”

There was a long moment of silence before Kelly answered, “A lot of people are upset with us.”

This came as a major surprise to Ed. He had no idea what they could have done that would anger anyone. Curious, puzzled, and confused, Ed said, “Huh?”

The look on his face caused most of the women in the room to giggle. It was clear that Ed had no idea what was going on around him or the effect that he had on people. Kelly said, “The problem started when we married Ling.”

He couldn’t figure out what they had done by marrying Ling, other than the fact that they didn’t have a huge public ceremony. Of course, that had been at her insistence and no one had mentioned anything that suggested that this had upset them. No one had hinted that adding another person to the marriage was even an issue. Having decided that his first response was still appropriate, Ed repeated it. “Huh?”

Displaying irritation that her husband was being strung along like this, Ling said, “Would someone please explain this to him?”

The whole room was silent as the women looked at each other, waiting for someone to say something. Finally, Ed looked up at Ling and asked, “Ling, what’s going on?”

“I will be blunt about it if no one else volunteers to tell him,” said Ling. She looked around the room at all of the women. Most of them were blushing or squirming nervously. Giving up, she looked at Ed and said, “All these women want to fuck you.”

Although her words had the ring of truth, the idea was so ludicrous to Ed that he burst out laughing so hard that he thought he was going to hurt himself. It took him almost two minutes to regain any control. Wiping tears from his eyes, he looked up to see everyone looking at him with hurt expressions on their faces. He apologized, “I’m sorry. The idea that you ladies would want to sleep with me is funny. So what is really the problem?”

Beth finally said, “Ed, they are serious. It’s not a joke.”

Her voice was sweet with the sound of truth and the implications stunned him. Mouth open, he looked from one woman to the next realizing that she wanted to make love with him. Almost all of them were married or in a committed relationship. Shirley had her group marriage, Rosa and Maria were married to Carlos, and Linda was engaged to Robert. There were a number of other women that were married to the men that had protested the marriage. The only unattached woman was Maria from the restaurant. Numb, Ed asked, “How does this involve Ling?”

Shirley said, “Until you guys married Ling, we assumed that you and John were off limits. Then we discovered that you were a little more accessible than we thought.”

Somewhat more direct, Rosa asked, “We’ve been sending you signals for months, but you just ignored them. How come you never propositioned any of us?”

“Let me get this straight. You are talking about the Ed Biggers that you’ve known all of your lives, right?” asked Ed.

“This is not going like I thought it would.” Kelly muttered to herself in a voice that was just loud enough for Ed to hear.

Exasperated, Linda said, “We are talking about the Ed Biggers that kept my late husband from looking like a fool the day he died. The Ed Biggers that saved my son from a lifetime in jail for murder. The guy that respects us, treats us like real human beings, and appreciates the differences that we make in his life. That is the Ed Biggers we are talking about and that is the one that is in this room.”

Confused by the talk of her son having to go to jail for life, Kelly said, “Your son wouldn’t have gone to prison for carrying a starter pistol into a bar.”

Shirley, uncomfortable, looked away as Linda replied, “It was a real gun and he went into the bar fully intending to kill Ed. Ed cooked up the idea that it was a starter pistol. Shirley and the Sheriff went along with it.”

Narrowing her eyes, Kelly stared at Ed. She was more than a little upset at the revelation. Beth had not even been aware of the episode as she had been ill at the time. Shirley tried to look small. The effect on the other women was electric. All of them looked at Ed with awe as most of them had seen him immediately after the event. He had walked down the street treating it like some kind of prank and had never let it be known how serious the situation had really been. Even more significantly, he had never let anyone know what he had done for the boy.