Chapter 11: Harvest

The early fall was a time of changes for Alex, Rachel and Emily. Emily, Alex's beautiful, athletic twenty-year old lover had several bouts of anxiety from her brush with violence. Alex provided strong shoulders to cry on, but the not-yet-seventeen year old Rachel was the real glue in their relationship. She was changing from a wide-eyed explorer of bisexual delights to a wise, patient and loving center of their little family.

Yes, family. Rachel's long conversations with Emily, Alex, and eventually both, had clarified their long-term desires. Rachel and Alex were assuming they would stay together and marry when Alex, the youngest in their little group, turned eighteen.

Emily found that she was tired of independence. She wanted to go and conquer the world, but come home afterwards and be held and supported. In the end, she was probably more addicted to Rachel's conversations than to sex. Although sex was spectacular, too.

Alex had suggested that Rachel take up psychology. He was very impressed by her grasp of motivations, and her ability to talk through choices and possible consequences. Rachel said that she was considering neuroscience or neuropsychology for her graduate work, but her current schedule didn't leave her the time for another minor. "I can't read ten books a day like you, lover."

Their sex frequency took a dive for a couple of months. The confusion about Emily's long-term role and the logistical problems of getting together three students with busy academic schedules were taking their toll.

The emotional issues were getting better, and Alex had plans on the logistics.

Alex had finally started writing his economics dissertation. He had plenty of material to work with on the relation between capital markets, macroeconomics, psychology, and weather. He had identified several mathematical models that had both interesting applications and some plausible theories behind them. He had already selected over one-hundred items for his bibliography, and had enough data and analysis programs on his computers to make a good case. He felt good about his dissertation and he had to stop himself from branching into interesting but unrelated areas.

Alex's trading was going very well. He had been using high-risk strategies in the beginning, but now he was adjusting to using less leverage and lower risk. He had good working capital, and he was valuing preservation of capital more. Of course, his high-frequency transactions would be considered extremely risky by any competent financial advisor, but Alex was a sixteen year old boy.

His compression patent was yielding some results now. His lawyer and he were negotiating a contract with a big router manufacturer for a hardware-based compression card. They were arguing about exclusivity provisions and minimum revenue amounts, but Alex thought they would come to an agreement soon. Alex also had some nibbles from standalone card manufacturers, which was why he was trying to limit the exclusivity provisions.

He had also filed an application for a group of encryption algorithms on highly parallel architecture. The theoretical work behind it was submitted to an academic periodical. The patent rights were assigned to the Wrinkle Corporation, which was the name Alex had finally chosen for his licensing business.

Alex's trading and the anticipated patent licensing income allowed him to take his idea to the "family council."

He had surprisingly little resistance from the girls on the idea of him buying a house. Rachel was confident that they would marry, and she expected to live in a house with him. She didn't so much expect the man to support her, as she had an uncomplicated assumption that the spouses would pool their income, whenever they had any. As a wife-in-training, she was ready to do it at any time.

Emily's positive attitude was a bit surprising to Alex. She was open in discussing her situation. Her parents were very well off. Her father was a partner in successful law firm; her mother owned a real-estate agency. Their only child loved literature. While they would have preferred something more lucrative, they loved her and would support her.

Emily never doubted that her chosen field would take a long time to provide a comfortable living. She wasn't planning to be a starving artist when her parents were both eager and able to support her.

Once Emily accepted that she would be with Alex and Rachel for the long term, she had little problem with accepting that she would be supported by her husband instead of her parents.

That brought up the topic of what to call their relationship. Obviously, "girlfriend" and "mistress" didn't work. Their relationship was deeper than boyfriend and girlfriend. Once they moved together, they could use "live-in boy/girlfriend" to describe themselves to others. Rachel proposed "the Driscoll ménage à trois". Alex was outvoted in the poll, and the name was accepted.

Even ignoring their ages, they couldn't have a legal three-way marriage. Alex proposed a legal framework, perhaps a partnership, where they had powers of attorney, living wills, and so on for each other. The girls told Alex to discuss this with his attorney. Mr. Childers, the patent lawyer, had a wide knowledge of local attorneys, and could refer Alex to a specialist for anything he didn't handle himself.

"So, what do we call each other?" Emily asked.

"How about 'lover'?" Alex suggested.

"Informally, there are plenty of endearments, and maybe curses we can use for each other. However, I think we should have a more formal name for our relationship. How about spouse?" Rachel offered.

"Maybe we could have some sort of ceremony in the future, where we could wed each other. I think spouse is a bit premature. But we could call each other fiancé, however many 'e's there are at the end," Emily said.

They liked that idea. Alex suddenly recollected himself. "Wait!" He pushed his chair away, and got down on one knee. The girls were grinning.

"Will you, Rachel Goldberg, make me the happiest man in the world, and grant me your hand in marriage?"

"Hmm..." That sound still scared and thrilled Alex. "Okay," Rachel said and giggled. But Alex thought he saw moisture in her eyes.

"Will you, Emily Anderson..."

"It's "Emily Julia Carol Anderson, actually," Emily Julia Carol Anderson said, with a smirk.

Alex began again "will you, Emily Julia Carol Anderson, make me the happiest man in the world, and grant me your hand in marriage?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Emily was more emotional than Alex expected. A certain amount of kissing ensued, and Rachel felt obliged to join. After everybody was thoroughly kissed, and interesting groping was just beginning, Rachel yelled "Stop!"

"What?" Alex said.

"There is still an open leg in the triangle," his fiancée, the budding scientist answered.

Rachel got down on one knee, and fighting giggles, said, "Will you, Emily Julia Carol Anderson, make me the happiest woman in the world, and grant me your hand in marriage?"

Emily's answer this time was just as enthusiastic as before, and since nobody yelled stop, they eventually ended up quite naked celebrating their engagement in Rachel's bed.

It was an unusually cold November, and they had a frost overnight. Alex had to scrape a thin sheet of ice from his car before driving to pick up his girlfriend from the dormitory. It was unfortunate that buying a house was taking so much time. Alex and his two girlfriends found a house close to the university campus. The house had a three-car garage, and that would have been handy on a day like that. Well, they would close in another ten days, and then they could move in.

They only had two cars, but Rachel was finally convinced that sometimes she wanted her own transportation instead of relying on her two lovers. Today she was taking the driving test.

They celebrated Rachel's driver's license by going to a nice steak house. This time, Alex insisted on paying. Emily tried to object again, mentioning her generous allowance from her parents. That started a conversation on that subject.

"Alex, I told my parents that I plan to move in with you. They would like to meet you."

"Did you mention you other fiancée?" Alex said, picking up Rachel's hand and kissing it, as though there was some confusion about whom he meant.

"Well, no. I was planning to bring her up later, as a girlfriend who moved in with us, maybe to save on expenses."

"I don't think that's right. You don't have to bring me up from the start, but you need to avoid lying to your parents. If the right moment, or even the wrong one, comes up and you need to mention me, you should be honest," Rachel declared.

"And what did you tell your parents about us?" Alex asked.

"The same as Emily. They are worried that I am rushing into it, but they like you, Alex, and I've been bragging about you. They know you have a car, and a patent, and can support a family. They were very impressed by your Ph.D. at sixteen. I haven't mentioned our engagement yet, but they know that I am very close to Emily. I think Mother suspects it's more than friendship, but Father is oblivious. Perhaps he prefers to be oblivious, I am not sure. He may still prefer to think of me as a virgin, although I am sure he suspects that I would not be moving in with my boyfriend to hold his hand and gaze soulfully into his eyes. He is probably not quite ready to suspect that I may be a bi-sexual horndog.

"In any case, I plan to tell them before I move into the house."

"Back to your parents, Emily. What is their initial reaction?" Rachel asked.

"I don't think they were shocked. I am twenty, after all. I think they fear you would be sponging off me. I didn't mention your age or your patent and trading business."

"I think all the more reason for me to pay for the dinner. Look, once we finish the paperwork — maybe in three weeks ― we will set up a couple of joint accounts. We will all be able to spend the money on food, household expenses, and so on. What I'm making now is essentially family money. Your parents' money is not, or at least shouldn't be."

"I understand. It's a bit weird thinking I will be living off a sixteen-year-old, but I agree."

"Think of it as living off a family partnership, to which we will all contribute when and how we can. I can provide money now, but we couldn't survive without all of us contributing our love, support and decision-making. You don't think I want to decorate this house, do you?"

Rachel chuckled. "We will spare you that onerous chore, darling. Emily, did you realize all those times we used your apartment for sex, you were contributing to the family partnership's mental health?"

"No, but I am glad I did."

Emily's parents lived in a mansion. It was a huge white house, with four floors if you counted the partly exposed ground floor, and the dormer windows on top. The roof was enclosed with railing; perhaps there were chairs there for sunning.

Emily parked her car in the breezeway leading to the detached garage. Alex ― dressed by his girls in "sharp casual" ― licked his lips.

"Don't be nervous, honey. They hardly ever let the Rottweilers eat the visitors," Emily offered helpfully. Alex then realized there were two large black dogs staring at him curiously. Luckily, they were behind a chain link fence. Alex wondered how far the fence extended.

The inquisition was just as bad as the first meeting with Rachel's parents. Alex didn't think that the perfectly groomed, tall and attractive Mrs. Anderson was going to hug him at the end of their visit.

After a light meal, where Alex declined an offer of wine, the parents got blunter.

"Alex, what are your plans for the future? I understand you and Emily will be living in a house together. That can be expensive, particularly for two young people in college. We love Emily and will support her as she pursues her interest in literature, but we do not plan to subsidize any extravagant living style. We might be willing..."

"Mrs. Anderson, I am sorry to interrupt. I understand your concern, and I hope I can reassure you on this aspect. I have a business which is doing well. I am buying the house for us, and like you, I love Emily and will support her study. Her living expenses will be covered, and we will be setting up joint accounts that she can use.

"I have recently concluded a licensing deal with a minimum revenue commitment of ten million dollars over three years. I will be getting initial payments soon."

Alex showed him the statement of the account he was planning to use for closing and initial house expenses. It had a balance of just over a million dollars. Alex decided not to complicate matters by mentioning that it came from his trading activities.