Chapter 19

Four months later, the festival of the high sun...

Anuhea sat down alone with Mark at the end of their long afternoon of work. The sun was almost touching the ridgeline of the nearby hills, and the orchards around them were full of the songbirds Mark had come to love, as well as the complex fragrances of the many fruit blossoms. Anuhea wiped the sweat off her brow with her bare arm, smiled, and said slowly and carefully, "So tell me Mark, how familiar are you with Hopewell dating customs?"

"Just a little. Both my wives have been coaching me, so I won't try to do something inappropriate."

"Ha! You mean like trying to get me pregnant?"

"Wow! Ha! No, I'm a little more gentle than that."

"Ah, I shouldn't tease you. It's just that Kirahani taught us quite a bit about Earth dating customs, to help us relate to you. The idea that people would be so irresponsible as to have children outside of marriage, it shocked all of us. How could anyone be so uncaring?"

"You're quite right, Anuhea. The Hopewell sense of social responsibility is much more advanced than Earth in some ways. In other ways, perhaps Earth is better. We don't have dowries in the part of Earth where I lived."

"Yes. I know, and I agree with you. I know you and your family are working very hard to get the council to abolish the mandatory dowry laws. I think it's a wonderful idea! Kirahani had an interesting phrase, the Best of Both Worlds. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Aina could be like that? The knowledge from Earth has been fabulous. I know you've been working mostly with the free masons, and the construction of the new female bath hut is the pride of the village. Everyone is so excited about it! You're the head project engineer. So tell me the inside secrets! Will it be as beautiful as promised? Done in time for winter?"

"Should be! Anuhea, I could talk for hours about my project! But before I do, let me compliment you on your English. It's superb."

"Thanks. Kirahani has been so kind to teach all five of us. The classes over the last four months were extensive, ah, intensive, intense? What word is correct?"

"All are okay. I know what you're saying."

"We wanted you to feel very comfortable while dating us. We thought speaking in your native song, ah, language, would help you relax with us."

"It's true... I am relaxed, and I'm very happy to be here with you now. Spending this afternoon working with you in the orchards was delightful. Work dates are a really interesting idea. I don't know why we don't have them on Earth. Perhaps life is too easy there, with all the technology..."

"Perhaps. I couldn't judge a thing like that. I found my time with you delightful too. I love these orchards! I think it's the best job in the village. And you're a very hard worker. Really. We got a tremendous amount of work done today, and I've learned so much about you. I'm enjoying our date very much."

"Anuhea..." Mark tried to find words, but they didn't come. He offered Anuhea his hand, and she gave him a bright smile, accepted and scooted her body to sit close beside him, and then rested her head on his shoulder. Mark bent his head to rest it against hers. He could smell her muscular body a bit, from all their hard work of the afternoon, and she could smell his, but they both found the odors pleasant and appropriate. They sat quietly for a while, sighing and drinking in the fragrances of the blossoms and the restful chatter of the songbirds.

Snuggling into Mark's shoulder, Anuhea said quietly, "Dating Mark. Do you know how this will work?" Anuhea wrapped her arm around his waist, lightly holding him to her.

"No. My wife Kara wanted it to be a bit of a surprise for me. I am very curious..." Mark returned the affectionate hold, his hand resting lightly on Anuhea's hip.

"Well, hmmm, I'm trying to think of the English word for * marriage * class *, the group of young adults coming into their marriage year..."

"There's no English word, because we don't have the concept. Just use the word class, and I'll know what you're talking about..."

"Okay. A good class will normally run on a mixture of co-operation and competition. Both the girls and boys compete with each other in trying to look attractive as mates to the opposite sex, and as separate groups the girls and boys both try to arrange things so that everyone gets a chance to marry someone they will be happy with. The girls just have their age-mates, the boys will scout out other young males from recent marriages to give the girls enough selections. That's the way it used to work..."

Anuhea broke her thought for a while, reaching up and kissing Mark' cheek before returning her head to his shoulder and sighing. "I'm really enjoying my date with you Mark. Being here and holding you like this is delightful... Anyway, with the Paleo women, everything has changed. For all marriages and especially the new marriages, we have a tradition of adding at most one wife per year to a marriage. In my class, the 15 boys are going to break with tradition, and marry 14 Hopewell and 16 Paleo girls. Everyone is hoping it will work... I understand you had just agreed with Kirahani to marry when you both then also accepted Va'an. I understand the politics of why you did, but it must have been hard on Kirahani. Oh Mark, excuse me, I'm not trying to... what's the word? Critique you?"

"No, it's okay Anuhea. I'm enjoying this conversation too. And you're very thoughtful, it was hard on Kara for a while..."

"Ah, should I call her Kara?"

"Oh, either is fine. I tend to use Kara for within family matters, and Kirahani for her interactions with the tribe... Either is fine...

"Okay... Anyway, the Paleo women have flooded the system for marriages. Even with all double marriages, there are five Hopewell and six Paleo girls in my class that aren't planning to marry within the class. We'll be dating men a few years older than we are, and each of us five Hopewell girls are also very interested in dating you. I guess what I'm trying to say is don't feel pressured to marry any of us, and we of course won't feel pressured to marry you... Mark, the detail of how we're dating you is very unusual. Normally we would all be dating you at once, as well as dating other men, but Kara compared that to a circular bird."

"A circular bird?"

"Yes... I'm trying to remember her exact words... Round robin?"

"Ha, ha, ha! Okay, I understand now."

"Anyway, Kara told us she thought you would find that difficult, trying to date five girls at once while doubly married. She strongly suggested we try it one at a time, so we drew lots, and I got to go first. So I'm hoping we can date for a while, and when you want to try the next one, the other four girls will draw lots again..."

"Okay, I understand." Mark sighed. "Kara's right about my personality. I would find dating five girls at once very confusing..." Mark lifted his head and pressed his nose into Anuhea's hair, breathing in her fragrance. He kissed her lightly and then returned to resting his head against hers. "Anuhea, I think I know the Hopewell customs for modesty in dating, that nakedness and sleep rights are for families, and not for dating. But I'm not sure about other details... If I ever get too bold with you, just guide me. I won't be offended..."

"Okay... Thank you... There aren't many hard rules, just common sense guidelines. The way we are cuddling now is a little unusual for first dates, but I really want to and I hope you do too, so it's quite acceptable... In fact, if a girl really likes a boy and wants to show him she is very, very interested in him, she'll take off her moccasins on a date. It's an offer to have her feet petted. If the boy decides to pet her feet, he's showing her that he has the same serious interest. It's not engagement, not commitment, but an expression of desire for intimacy. Not sexual, but emotional intimacy. Couples who go through the feet petting ritual start sharing their dreams with each other, start learning how to confide in each other. Starting with the feet to learn the intimacies of each other's bodies..."