Chapter 17: Fourth of July

"Alex, your folks get in this afternoon. Do we need to agree on anything? Clothing, screwing, whatever?"

"I've been thinking about it, Saul. I told them they have to accept that we sleep together, and that we don't always have our clothes on. They say they agree to that."

"You don't sound all that sure about it," Sigrid said.

"I'm not. I really don't see Mom being able to deal with it."

"Well, we're going to find out," Heather said.

"Let's try to keep some clothes on, except in the sauna and the pool," Anne suggested. "And if we get horny, let's just plan to use a bedroom instead of the window sill."

"Hey, that's my fave!" Sigrid said with a grin. "But you're right, we should try and meet them part way. I was glad when I heard Will's folks are coming too. Pat managed to get along at Easter without much trouble."

"She's a very flexible lady," Saul said. "Perhaps being an artist helps."

"Going to be an interesting weekend, anyway," Alex said, "I can't wait to see how it turns out."

At supper, Saul toasted their guests. "Welcome to you all. We've wanted to have you here for a long time, but as you know, our lifestyle has always seemed a barrier. I'm not sure if the problem has been yours or ours, but we wanted you to come here and see us and get to know us. Your children are our closest friends, companions and lovers, and we want to share our happiness with you."

"I thought, if you don't mind, Saul," Anne said, "that I'd sort of sketch out for you just how we live here. Bluntly, you might as well know, if you don't already, how we behave, or at least how we think we do.

"Your rooms upstairs are the ones Will, Saul and I share — that's where Pat and Dean are. Tina and Fred are in Alex and Heather's room and Judith and Pete are in Mary's old room. Mary and Ken spend about half their time here and half at his house — they're sort of honeymooning. You'll see them tomorrow.

"Close your door at night or at any other time you don't want to be disturbed, please. An open door means you'll accept visitors.

"Now, of course, we will be sleeping in the Big Bed downstairs. We often sleep there together, but you should also know that we frequently sleep in our own rooms, too. I'm trying to say that while we are all lovers, we each have our special partners, and we like to spend private time with them."

"For your information," Saul added, "since you may hear a remark about it, we have a rule that anyone who sits or stands on the Big Bed is declaring that they are available to all from then on. I don't think we're going to be dogmatic about it this weekend. Please just keep it in mind. And of course, 'No' means just that."

"As for clothing, you see us more completely clothed than usual, and mainly out of consideration for you. Clothing optional means just that. If we want to wear clothes, we do. We don't wear bathing suits in the pool or when sunning, but that's up to you. But, if you use the sauna, no clothes are allowed there for reasons of hygiene."

"What about in the winter, what do you wear?" Judith asked.

Tom spoke up, "We keep the house quite warm in winter, about 75-80º. It's cooler now than that, and we wouldn't ordinarily be wearing much tonight. But, in winter — I guess it's psychological — we tend to wear more clothes than in the summer at the same temperature."

"Tomorrow," Anne continued, "we'll have Sarah Posito and Steve Halleck here. Sarah runs the stable next door, and Steve teaches humanities at the university. I think you'll find them interesting people. They may stay overnight, and they'll be downstairs with us.

"You mean you have lovers outside your group?" Tina asked.

"You're referring to Sarah and Steve. Yes, we do," Anne answered.

"And Ken? Him too?"

"Oh, certainly. He's family. You see, we each have our number one lover — actually, I have both Saul and Will. Mary fell in love with Ken Chance some time ago and only realized it a few weeks ago. That makes him family. They're still sorting out how they'll live, but they spend a lot of time with us. I hope they always will."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

Judith interrupted, "Tina, it's not, really. A lot of health-care people say that multiple partners is dangerous in itself. I think that's mostly prudery; you need to look more closely. Yes, they each have many partners, but their circle is pretty well closed. The likelihood of catching some disease is not really worse than for you and Fred. I suppose the girls may exchange Candida now and then, but from what I hear, it hasn't been a problem."

"We like to think it's because we don't wear panties much," Heather said. "Forgive my putting it this way, but air in the crotch seems to stop rot."

"However you put it, it's good news," Tina said.

"Cappuccino anyone?" Anne asked.

"I've heard you have to take your clothes off for that," Tina said.

Heather responded, "We serve all kinds, Tina, and cappuccino nudo has always been a gag. What do you want, plain or nudo?"

"Plain, please. Two."

"Heather, you had some nerve, asking for nudo after dinner."

"Shit, Anne, I figured the fat was going to be in the fire sooner or later. And, I was suffocating in that dress."

"You just wanted to show off your new design," Alex said.

"That, too. I did manage to change the subject, didn't I?"

When Anne and Saul went swimming in the morning, Fred Jefferson joined them, swimming fewer laps, but getting a good workout. He was a good swimmer and his body showed it. They were laughing and chattering when they came in for breakfast.

"Fred. Get your clothes on," Tina snapped as soon as they appeared. Fred went upstairs and put on shorts, returning to find Anne and Saul, still naked, sitting on the breakfast cushions.

"Saved some corn muffins for you, Fred," Saul said. "They go fast."

Fred took his muffins and sat next to Tina, who did not speak to him. She was dressed in a crisp shirt and slacks. Her displeasure was evident.

Pat and Dean came down next, wearing tee-shirts and shorts, followed by Judith and Pete. Both of them wore only briefs. Once the new arrivals had gotten food, talk resumed and discussion turned to the day's events.

"Mary's doing a demonstration with the Riders this afternoon, and we thought you'd like to go to it with us," Sigrid said, then explained that the Riders were teenage girls.

"You all work with these girls?" Judith asked.

"I saw their first show at Easter," Pat said. "They are really impressive. Especially, I understand, if you know horsemanship. I thought they were remarkable, and I don't know anything about riding."

"What does Mary do?"

"Tina," Anne answered, "Mary and I sort of started this whole crazy thing. She's studying to be a Certified Financial Planner. In her spare time, she teaches riding at the stables next door. She's a girl who grew up on horseback and is a championship horsewoman. She's gotten this group of young girls together to learn Western Pleasure Riding. The idea is to give the girls something healthy to do and get them away from the boys who harass them at school. Build their confidence and improve their grades. It's also a lot of fun."

"And you go to these shows?"

"Yes. You see, all of us at Still Waters take part in the program, helping supervise the group when Mary's not there teaching. Saul and Sigrid teach aerobics, and the rest of us help with school work and general support... So, we'll be going to the show this afternoon, but there's nothing special to do this morning."

Judith said, "I, for one, am going to get some sun."

"Alex," Fred said, "Pete and I'd like to see what you're doing with the Still Waters catalogs. And Tom's network applications. We can get some sun, too, and a swim."

After breakfast, Judith and Pat found Tina in the living room, looking at The Goddesses.

"What do you think of them, Tina?" Judith asked.

"I'm sure the work is very good. I don't know much about it, but I can see they are beautifully done. I just can't relate to the subjects. I like the first one of Sigrid; it makes her look very nice. But the others..."

"As an artist and a teacher of art, Tina, I can tell you the work is outstanding, even if Will is my son."

"And, I think the pictures are wonderful," Judith said.

"Even when he makes your daughter look like... ?"

"How do you see it, Tina?"

"Why, she looks like she's ready... Well I don't know, she's either ready to rule the world or to jump in bed with the next man she sees."

"Tina, that is my daughter exactly. She's always been like that and I love her for it."

Pat said, "I nearly died last night, when she took off her dress. It was so natural, and she looked so gorgeous wearing nothing but that bouquet of flowers. I'm really sorry you don't see the fun and beauty of it, Tina."

"Judith, please don't misunderstand me. Heather is a beautiful girl. I guess I should say, 'woman'. And those designs are lovely. I just can't handle this other business."

"You mean you can't handle sex and nudity," Pat said.

"But they're so blatant about it. They don't even think there's... They're shameless!"

"I wish I could believe you meant shameless in a positive way, Tina. Shame is what tells us we're doing something wrong. Nothing I have seen them do since we have been here is in any way shameful, at least to me, Tina. They told us up front what to expect. They've been considerate of our sensibilities. They've gone out of their way to meet our needs because they want us to be a part of their happiness and love. There's no shame in loving each other, and there's no shame in enjoying sex."

"I'll tell you something, Tina," Judith said, "You'd better find a way to deal with it. Our children — these people — have built a solid, loving family. And they've done it while going to college, getting top marks and building a really successful business. You may not agree with their sex lives or their taste in clothes or art, but those things aren't any of our business any more. If we want to be part of their lives, we have to accept them as they are and love their ability to love and do things that succeed."

"Well, I'm not taking my clothes off."

Pat said, "Nobody asked you to. So don't. And nobody asked you to sleep with anyone but your husband. So shape up and join the party."

Pat pulled off her tee-shirt. "Judith, how about some of that sun?"

After the horse show, Mary returned to Still Waters with the others. She had planned the dinner, and after showers and a sauna they all pitched in to get things ready. When all the women were in the kitchen, Mary made an announcement.

"Since it's a holiday, I thought it might be fun to dress up tonight. We've got a while before dinner's ready, so why don't we get some things on and compare notes. Perhaps some of our guests would like to try some VeeJays or VeeCees."

In a short time, they convened in the living room. Anne wore her snakes and The Lovers earrings with a low-riding, long, full skirt of light cotton, shot with gold and silver. Mary wore jeans and intricately worked conchas at her breasts. Heather had on a flirty mini-skirt and the doves Mei-Ling had made for her, and Sigrid wore a squash blossom at her navel above a light, Spanish-style skirt. Two slithery snakes dangled from her nipples.

"One thing's sure," Pat said, "Even total nudity couldn't top this."