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Consequences, Sandy

By: Scorpio44



 [Consequences are the results of actions taken or not taken. They can be intended or unintended. This story is about both kinds. I hope you enjoy this story. If the response is such that a follow-up is wanted, it will be submitted. Your votes and comments will determine if there is a follow-up.]

*

On April tenth my Dad died in his sleep. He was sixty-four. He had moved to the small town where I was born two years before I was born. It was my Mom's home town. Dad was fresh out of the service. They married within six months and a year later I was born. Dad worked at the lumber yard and eventually bought it from Mr. Conners. 

I grew up with sawdust, two by fours and knowing the difference between a two-penny and a four-penny nail. When I graduated from high school I went away to college and majored in business.

Late in my freshman year Mom died of a heart attack. I went back home for her funeral. After the burial Dad took me aside and said he wanted me to finish college. He wanted me to go all the way to an MBA. He paid the bills for college, room and board for the six years it took to get the MBA. I came home once a year and we hung out like friends when I was home. We both missed her a lot and spoke of our memories often.

On April tenth I got a call at work from Sandy. Sandy was my age and lived with her folks a quarter mile from Dad. She called to tell me she found Dad and that I needed to come home. I flew to the nearest big airport and rented a car. I was home the morning of the eleventh. Sandy was sitting on our front porch when I drove up. I wondered why it had to be Sandy. Why did she call? Why was she the one sitting on the front porch?

She was dressed just as she was all through high school: a long sleeved plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up near her elbows, Levis with a western belt and oval silver buckle, brown worn boots. Her hair was in a pony tail, longer than I remembered but just as blond.

She met me in front of the porch and hugged me briefly.

"I'm glad you came."

"I didn't know he was even sick."

"He wasn't. I saw him two days ago at the Builder's Center. He was cutting lumber for a special order. He smiled and waved. That night we had dinner together and he was joking around. Doc Hoag says it was a sudden heart thing and he didn't even wake up from the pain."

"That's a blessing."

"I agree. We can go to the mortuary if you want or we can talk a while first."

"Did you schedule a service?"

"Eleven tomorrow. It'll just be a graveside service. That is what your Dad wanted."

"Yes. Dad wasn't for much fuss."

"We do need to drop in on Myron if you're up for it."

"Myron Goldman?"

"Your Dad's lawyer. I know, he was your tight end in high school too."

"Wow! A lawyer. I didn't know."

"Pretty good one as far as I can tell. Your Dad liked him."

"You up for hanging with me as I get things done?"

"I cleared my very busy calendar so I could be with you, at least for the next two days."

We got in the car and by her direction I drove downtown and parked in front of Myron's office. Like most small towns, the lawyer's office was across the street from the old courthouse. Myron opened the door when we got close and welcomed us inside.

After the standard reminiscences we sat down and Myron opened a fairly fat folder.

"Nick, your Dad left it all to you. The Builder's Center, the house on Spruce Street, the pick up, his bank accounts and his debt."

"His debt?"

"Yes. He owes a total of one hundred fifty dollars, to me."

"That's it?"

"Your Dad was a great businessman. All the inventory at the Builder's Center is paid for. He has plenty of money in his accounts to pay his employees for two months, weather the Center is open or not. The taxes on the house are paid and he has owned the house for the last twelve years. No mortgage."

"I had no idea."

Myron had me sign papers and gave me copies of everything. I hired him as my lawyer. Sandy and I left and went to the mortuary. That meeting was pretty uncomfortable for me. We finalized the plan for the graveside service. There wasn't much for me to do. Dad had planned it all and paid for it in advance.

I took Sandy back to Dad's house. She handed me the key. "If it's Ok with you, I'll keep my key." She said.

"Dad gave you a key?"

"I made dinner for your Dad every Wednesday night for the last eight years."

"Oh. Why?"

"I've always liked your Dad. After your Mom passed I somehow started looking in on him and it became a habit. I'll miss our conversations."

"Me too."

"I know you called him on Sundays."

"I loved those conversations. I learned more from him than I learned in six years of college."

"I learned a lot from him too."

I hauled my suitcase into the house and Sandy went to the kitchen. I took the suitcase up to my room and unpacked. It took about three minutes. When I went back down to the kitchen Sandy was putting the final touches on dinner for three.

I sat at my regular place at the table. The same place I sat as I grew up. Sandy sat in Mom's chair, the one closest to the stove. I was about to ask about the third plate when I heard the front door open and close.

"Nick?" The female voice called out.

"We're in the kitchen." I answered. I stood. Karen Farmer came through the doorway and right into my arms. I got a kiss and suddenly she was gone. I barely registered the press of her breasts against my chest before she had backed off and plopped into the third chair.

Sandy served dinner and we ate. We talked about Dad, the town, who was doing what to whom, the various players in the town politics and the people they thought I might remember from when we all lived here together. From conversations with Dad I knew that Karen had married Ken Farmer and it lasted five years. They had no kids. I also knew Sandy hadn't married. 

As it approached nine o'clock there was a silence around the table. Dinner was long over, dishes done and the small talk had ended. Sandy and Karen looked at each other and Sandy said, "We need to prepare you for tomorrow." She paused.

"In what way?"

Karen answered, "At the funeral tomorrow there will be lots of people. Most of them liked your Dad as a good neighbor, a good businessman, a friend. Those are almost everyone in town. I suspect there will be some others from towns around."

"Most of those will be women." Sandy added.

"Your Dad was well liked."

"There's more to what you're telling me, or not telling me."

"Nick, your Dad had some very intimate friends."

"You mean the women who come to the funeral from out of town were his lovers?"

"Yes," Karen said.

"And, some of the women from town, too." Sandy softly said.

"Jesus. That's something of a shock. He never said anything to me about any women in his life."

"He didn't want you to think he quit loving your Mom." Karen said.

"Look around this house. There are pictures of her, of her and you, of the three of you together. When we go to the cemetery tomorrow you will see that the stone they share is clean. Not because the cutter cleaned it before he carved your Dad's name. It's clean because once a month from the day of her funeral he has gone to the cemetery and cut the grass, cleaned the stone and put flowers. Even in winter."

"I'm learning a lot about Dad that I didn't know."

Karen stood and said, "I need to get home. I'll see both of you at the cemetery tomorrow. After, we're all meeting at my place. There will be tons of food and lots of people who want to talk to you, Nick."

I got another kiss and she was gone. Sandy didn't move for the door. I turned and faced her without saying anything.

"Nick, can I show you something?"

I nodded. She took my hand and led me upstairs. The door to the master bedroom was closed. The door to my room was open and my suitcase evident against the wall. The door to the guest room was the one she walked to. She opened it and I saw that it wasn't exactly a guest room. There were personal items in the room. On the nightstand there was a five by seven picture of Sandy and I dancing. On the dresser a hair brush, some perfume, and a set of keys. 

I looked at Sandy and she said, "The last two years I've lived here with your Dad. I slept here every night. He slept over there in his bedroom. I needed a friend and so did he. I want to stay. Nick, may I stay?"

"We need to talk. Maybe we best go back downstairs." I hadn't let go of her hand. She led me upstairs and I led back down. We went back into the kitchen.

"Sandy, why have you been living with my Dad?"

"It's as close to what I want as I could get. I don't like living alone. You know my parents died just about the time your Mom passed. Two years later I sold their house. I couldn't live there. It was too quiet. Too alone."

"I didn't know they died. I'm sorry. You never married."

"No one has ever asked. Three men have come close and before they asked I told them no."

"Can I tell you a secret? Something I never even told Dad."

"Yes, I think so."

"I've been afraid to come back to town. I've wanted to come back, move back. I didn't want to come back like Dad was supposed to make room for me in his business and I never wanted to work for anyone else in town. He never invited me back."

Tears slid down her cheeks.

"Nick, he didn't want to impose on you. He wanted you to come back and take over the Builder's Center. He didn't want to ask you to do it because he thought you were off having the life you'd always wanted."

We hadn't communicated the most important communications of our lives. My heart ached to be able to go back a couple years and talk to him. I heard his voice in my head, "In for a nickel..."

"There was another reason I didn't come back. You."

"Me? I don't understand."

"I fell in love with you when we were sophomores in high school. You made fun of me for playing football and for thinking I was somebody. I've been intimidated by you since then. I don't think I can stay in town with you here. It would just hurt too much."

"Hurt? How would I hurt you?"

"It has hurt since I saw you sitting on the front porch this morning. I wanted to get out of the car and take you in my arms and tell you I've loved you for over ten years. I went to college and grad school and was known as the hermit. I didn't date. My heart has always been yours. If you won't love me I have to leave town."

Sandy stood and moved to my lap. Tears flowed down both of our cheeks. She put her arms around my neck and said, "I loved you in high school. I made fun of you because I didn't believe a simple, plain girl like me stood a chance with you. I'm nothing special. I didn't go away to college. I didn't go to college at all. I own one dress and it isn't fancy..."

"You love me?"

"You love me?"

"Yes!" We said in unison.

Very slowly I moved my face to hers and our lips touched for the very first time. Her lips were warm, soft and the touch changed my life. I felt her chest press against mine. I felt parts of my anatomy respond to the kiss.

When the kiss ended it was because we needed air. As soon as we took a breath we kissed again. And, again.

Her voice was a whisper. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." I echoed.

Her face screwed up and she asked, "Why would I need to forgive you?"

"For being a coward. For not coming back. For not telling you I loved you. For being a well educated idiot!"

"Oh, that." She smiled and we kissed again. When we came up for air again it was almost one in the morning. We were still in my chair in the kitchen.

"Nick, I want and need to go to bed. I don't ever want to go to bed alone again in my life. Would you like to go to bed with me?"

"Your bedroom or mine?"

"Yours has a twenty year old full-sized bed. Mine has a one year old queen sized bed."

We stood and stopped every two stairs on the way up, for kisses. In her bedroom she turned on the bedside lamp and faced me. "I want to undress you. May I?"

I nodded. She worked the buttons on my shirt and when she pulled it loose from my khakis I started on the buttons on her shirt. We kissed often. I pulled her shirt loose and she worked on my belt and then zipper. 

She giggled as she lowered my slacks as they somehow got caught on something inside my slacks impeding their removal. She held them at my ankles and I stepped out of my shoes and slacks in one move. Sandy stood back up and I kissed my way to her Levis. It took me a while to get them open and work them off. I smelled her arousal as I lowered the Levis.

"Nick, go slowly. I've waited a long time for this."

"I'm not sure what to do. I have a confession. I'm still a virgin."

"I'm sure there were a hundred girls at college who were willing to go to bed with you."

"That might have been true. But none of them wore rolled up western shirts, levis and put their blond hair in a pony tail like yours."

"This should be interesting. Two thirty year old virgins. Maybe we should call Karen. I know she knows what to do."

"Look, we don't need to be good the first time. If we aren't much good we can do it over and over until we're good at it and then we can do it more until you get sick of me."

We finished undressing and began exploring our bodies. We fell asleep exploring and woke up a few minutes after nine when the door to Sandy's room opened as Karen said, "Where is ..." She stopped when she saw us in bed together.

"Oh, my God! I knew you loved him!"

"Ahhhh, Karen could we meet you downstairs in a little while? And, could you not talk until we do?" I said. I motioned her out of the bedroom. She nodded and went.

I faced Sandy and said, "We're still virgins. Are you sure about what we said last night or would you like an out?"

"I want out of bed. I want food. I want to skip the reception and come back here and go to bed with you. If you still want me, I'm yours."

"I want you." We got out of bed and started our morning ritual. I went to my bathroom and showered. Halfway clean I thought I should have brought Sandy with me. I got out and dressed. We met in the hallway and went downstairs. Karen had breakfast going. She blushed when we walked in.

Sandy served up breakfast and the three of us sat and ate. We didn't speak for most of the meal.

I reached over and took Sandy's hand in mine. "Sandy, I don't want to wait. I want to get married to you as soon as we can arrange it. Will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes! Nick I have wanted to say yes to you since I was fourteen. Yes!"

"Oh, my God! You're serious!" Karen wanted to explode.

"Karen, you cannot say anything, to any one, today. We're burying my Dad today. On Monday you can tell anyone you want that I asked Sandy to marry me."

"And, you can say I said Yes!"

"Sandy, If I can find them, I would be honored if you would wear the rings my Mom wore. How do you feel about that?"

She jumped up and ran from the kitchen. In less than a minute she was back with a velvet box. She handed it to me.

"Your Dad and I put her rings in the box and he said when he went I was to put his ring in the box before I gave the box to you. It's in there."

I opened the box and looked at the three rings inside. Life had worn them. Love had shared the rings for forty years before Mom died. I reached for the engagement ring. Sandy's hand stopped me.

"Today is for your Dad and his memory. We didn't get engaged today. Ask me tomorrow. I promise I'll say yes. I promise I will proudly wear your Mom's ring all the days of my life."

"You're right. Today we close a chapter of the past. Tomorrow we open a new chapter."

"We need to go soon." Karen said, pointing to the clock. I gave the ring box back to Sandy and she put it back where she and Dad had put it. We went to the funeral. Lots of town's people were there and lots of people from surrounding towns too. Karen passed out papers with her address and directions so people could come for the reception.

Sandy rode with me to Karen's. When I assisted her from my rental car Mrs. Whiting watched and said, "I wonder what that's all about." We didn't respond.

I sat in a nice chair inside and Sandy brought me some food and a drink, water. Over the next three hours I met and talked with old friends, new acquaintances and customers of the Builder's Center. I also met the four people who worked for me. 

After three hours Karen and Sandy started helping people decide it was over. My employees said they would see me at work the next day. I asked why they said that. Janice said, "Tomorrow's payday and you need to sign the checks." I smiled and said I'd see them the next day.

I thanked Karen for all her help and for hostessing the reception. She smiled and said it had been hard not to tell anyone about the engagement, but she would stay quiet. We both thanked her for that and drove home. My mind was already moving into the future.

"Sandy, talk things through with me, would you?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"The house, to begin with. I haven't even opened the door to Dad's bedroom. I guess we could live ten years or so without opening that door but it seems like that's wrong. But, I don't want it to look like it has since I was six. Before we move in there I want to remodel it, paint it, get carpet, a new bed. What do you think?"

"I like the idea. After you go to the BC tomorrow and sign checks we can get started."

"I want to call someone and have all Dad's clothes and things go to people who can use them."

"I know who to call. They'll come and get all of it."

"Call them when we get home, OK?"

"Say that again, please."

"Call them when we get home, OK?"

"Nick, I am happier today than I have ever been in my life. We are going home, together."

"Another thing, we need to get married. We could fly to Las Vegas and go through a drive-thru church or we can stay here in town and get one of the churches to host the wedding. What would you like?"

"I don't want the drive-thru church, but going away and coming back married sounds good to me."

"Ok. Where would you like to go in our honeymoon?"

"I've never been anywhere over a hundred miles from right here. I would like to see an ocean. Honestly, I don't care where we go. I don't really care if we go. My dreams come true when you walk in the door late in the afternoon and say, "Hi, Honey. I'm home."

"I want to take you on a honeymoon. According to Myron we can afford it. Can I trust the four people that work for me to keep us in business while we run off and get married?"

"Yes! They loved your Dad and want to love you. Give them an incentive and they'll work hard for you. By the way, there are five people that work for you at the BC."

"There's Janice, Bill, John and Karen. Who else?"

"Me. When your Dad let me move in here I was out of work, so he brought me into the business. Janice and I handle the books. Karen is the cashier, Bill and John work the yard and stock the inside of the store."

"How much vacation time do you have accrued?"

"Let's see. I've worked for the BC for eight years and have missed six days total. I'd say I could take time off for a honeymoon and still keep my job."

"Ok, then. Let's stay in town until next Friday, fly to Las Vegas and then on to the ocean. We'll be gone two weeks. If we work it well the remodel of the bedroom will be done before we get back."

"We need a contractor. I think we should use Carl. He is a very good customer and does good work. Besides, your Dad helped him start his business."

"Could you call him and have him come over?"

Sandy got some paper and a pen out of her purse and made some notes. When we got home she went to our phone and made some calls. Two hours later Carl knocked on the front door. Sandy let him in and called me. We went to the master bedroom and talked. Carl walked into the master bath. It looked like it hadn't been changed at all since the house was built in the early 1950's. 


Consequences, Sandy Ch. 02



[Consequences are the results of actions taken or not taken. They can be intended or unintended. This story is about both kinds. I hope you enjoy this story. If the response is such that a follow-up is wanted, it will be submitted. Your votes and comments will determine if there is a follow-up. The original story got 210 votes in the first month and 15 comments.]


"Sandy, Could you come here for a minute? Please?" I released the button on the intercom and waited. A few seconds passed and her voice came from the box.

"Do I need to bring anything with me?"

"No. Arrive naked if you want to."

I heard whoops from people in the store and both smiled and blushed a little. I had again forgotten that everyone could hear the intercom.

"Nick! You've got to be more businesslike at work!" Sandy said as she closed the door to my office.

"I think the people in the store like it when I act like a love struck man."

"Act like?"

"Ok. They like it when I behave like I feel, a love-struck, crazy happy man."

"I think you're right. Mr. Wilkins was in yesterday and his wife was with him. They held hands the whole time they were in the BC. He introduced her to every one of us."

"That's what I'm after. I meant what I said to him the day I met him. I don't want customers, just friends I do business with."

"The intercom was on that day. People out in the yard heard you. We heard you in the office and the people in the store heard you directly. Since then word has spread."

"Good! Now, back to work." I explained what I needed and she helped me figure out how to have it happen. When she stood up to go back to her office she unbuttoned her shirt and rebuttoned it one-button off plumb.

"What's that about?" I asked.

"Anyone who sees me will think you called me in here to have your way with me. Makes the BC a very friendly place!" She laughed, opened the door and danced back to her office.

I had unleashed a beautiful monster.

The next day Janice brought me some papers to deal with. When I had finished she took them and headed for the door. Just before she opened it she stopped and unbuttoned her shirt, then rebuttoned it one-button off plumb. Before I could say anything she started laughing and left my office.

When she got back to her office she hit the intercom and said, "Thanks, Nick."

This could get out of hand.

Karen did it a few days later. She had come to me with an idea about improving the cashier's area. I told her it was her area. If she wanted to change it just have John build whatever she needed. "I trust you completely. You'll do the right thing."

The signs both women had put up advertising for the man they wanted got them quite a few dinners at the diner, two evenings in Bridgeport and one weekend trip to somewhere else. No long term man for either of them.

Just before Thanksgiving while we were decorating the store for fall and approaching winter the two signs disappeared.

On the way home that evening I asked Sandy if she thought we should invite everyone for Thanksgiving dinner.

"Everyone? You mean the whole town?"

"No. Bill, John, Janice, Karen and us."

"Bill lives next door to his parents. He always has Thanksgiving with them. John was dating a woman over in Bridgeport and I'm pretty sure they will be together, but I'll check. Janice and Karen would be happy to come over and a little sad too."

"I want to invite all of them. Could Bill's parents come too? Can we invite John's girl-friend? Wait. Why would Janice and Karen be sad? Because they don't have somewhere else to go?"

"You honestly don't know, do you?"

I must have had a look on my face that spoke volumes about how little I knew.

"Pull over, Nick." She waited until I put the truck in Park.

"They will be happy to come for Thanksgiving with us, because they are in love with you. They were both in love with your Dad too."

"But, they dated all those guys who answered their ads. They put up the ads!"

"God! You are just like your Dad. He didn't get it for a long time either. You just go through life giving every woman just what she has always said she wanted and not realizing that they love you for it. They also measure every other man against you and your Dad."

"You lost me. Dad gave them their jobs. I let them do their jobs and I let them know I like what they do."

"When you told Karen to have John build whatever she wanted at the cashier station she cried for two hours. All her life men have looked at her chest, used phrases like "little lady", and didn't listen to her. You show up and she says you don't even know she has tits! Then you trust her! You think she can think! You told her to have John build her whatever she wants! You tossed her completely for a loop!"

"I shouldn't trust her?"

"You did everything right! You are the man she has always wanted! And, the same goes for Janice. She worked for the propane company before your Dad hired her here. Everything she did her supervisor second guessed her over. He micro-managed her. You don't. If she and I say it's this way, then it's that way. You never look at the paychecks. You sign them. I've heard her say she knows if she made a check out for five thousand dollars payable to her and she knows you'd sign it."

"I trust all of you to do the right thing. Am I wrong?"

"You aren't like anyone any of us has known, except your Dad. Pete did the same things you do. He signed the checks without looking. He liked it when we had fun at work. He would have let us put signs up advertising for a man. We all loved him. Now we all love you."

"So they will be happy to come but sad because I'm there?"

"No. Sad because they will see how much you love me and they want you to love them."

"Oh." I know my face looked stunned. It had to. I was stunned. I trusted Sandy. She had no reason to lie to me and even if she had a reason, she wouldn't. My head just wasn't able to take in that Janice and Karen loved me. We sat in the truck while I attempted to get my head to hold what she said.

"I'm getting hungry. Please take us home. You don't need to understand it. Just get that it's true."

The truck went into Drive and we did get home. Sandy made dinner and I ate it. If someone had asked me what we ate I couldn't have told them.

Sitting at my desk the next day I was surprised by a visit from the mayor. I motioned him to a chair after we shook hands and I asked, "What can I do for you?"

"Yesterday Mike Tousand got hurt over at the park. He's eight and fell off the jungle gym. The parks people tell me we need to fix up the park equipment. Can you help us?"

"What do you need?"

He handed me a list of supplies he said his park guy had given him. I looked it over, then I looked at him. "I can help. Save me some time, would you? What deal did Dad have with the city?"

"Your cost plus ten percent."

"If that's what it was then that's what it still is. I'll have my staff price it out for you and we'll order it when we have your check."

"Can't we get the things and take sixty-days to pay?"

"I'll look at the way Dad did it and I'll give you a call, OK? I'm willing to be good to the city, but I'm not willing to lose money in the process."

He left and I went into the office where Janice and Sandy were working.

"Ladies, I just had a visit from the mayor."

"He wanted to see if he could get you to sweeten the deal on the supplies he wanted to get?" Janice asked.

"That's the feeling I got. How did Dad deal with the city?"

"He didn't deal with the mayor. If the plant manager from the high school needed something we got it for him at wholesale price plus ten percent. The city manager authorized it and we got paid within ten days of delivery."

"Why not deal with the mayor?"

"I'll show you. Please give me the list he gave you." I gave it to Janice. She looked it over and picked up her phone. A minute later she said, into the phone, "Jack, this is Janice over at the Builder's Center. I spilled some coffee on the parts list the mayor brought us. Could you fax me a copy of your list? Thanks. I'll get back to you if we have any questions. Thanks, Jack. Bye."

The fax machine buzzed twice and began to spit out the list. The list the mayor had given me was nineteen items long.  The list from Jack was twelve.

"The mayor believes he should get the same deal as the city and have longer to pay for his things."

"Order the nineteen items. Protect both lists carefully. Laminate them if you need to. Let me know when the items will be here. Ok?"

"You're going to let the mayor do this?"

"He's going to believe he's put one over on me. On us. Is he friends with the newspaper here in town?"

"No. They are not friends."

"This stays quiet. I trust you both completely. When the order arrives let me know. Thanks." I went back to work.

Half an hour later Sandy was in my office. "You did it again."

"Did what again?"

"You treated us like totally trustworthy, competent adults. As soon as the door closed Janice started crying. She said, "Did you see that? He trusts us to sit on this for ten days! No threats. He just said, this stays quiet." She has wanted to be treated like an adult her whole life. Two men have done it. Pete and you."

"I got it! Go back to work. I got it!"

She went back to work and I made a phone call. At nine-twenty the next morning Barbara from the florist shop came into the BC and delivered three bouquets of flowers each with a vase and a card. Each was addressed to each woman individually and said, "Sandy, Thank you for being so wonderful, capable and a great employee." Signed Nick. At eleven a delivery truck delivered two medium pizzas to John and Bill in the yard. The card on the boxes said the same thing as the card to the women.

When I came in at noon I was prepared to be thanked by everyone. I was wrong. Bill and John thanked me, smiling and patting their bellies. Inside I was met with silence.

I went to my office and waited.

It was after two when Sandy opened the door.

"Pete, we need to talk."

"Pete was my Dad."

Pete, Nick, it doesn't matter. You are the same guy." She sat down. "I am the most blessed woman on the Earth. I know that. However, you are in danger of losing every woman for fifty miles if I don't do something."

"Then do something. All of you are important to me."

"Do you remember loving me when we were seniors?"

"Yes! It was torture."

"Right! Every time you saw me in the hall or in home room it hurt."

"Yes! I sometimes cut home room so it wouldn't hurt so much."

"Janice gets wet every time you talk to her. For six weeks I'm sure of she wears pads every day so she won't soak through her clothes. Both of them were in the bathroom for almost an hour this morning! Crying!"

"The flowers were a bad idea?"

"The flowers were a great idea. The cards were wrong! You're dealing with women! Give me one rose and say, "I love you." I'll melt.  Give each of us a rose and say, "Good job" and you break my heart. Each of us wants you to love us."

"I love you."

"Janice needs you to love her too. Karen needs you to love her too."

"Are you telling me you want me to love them?"

"Yes! Otherwise you can't fully love me."

"Huh?"

"What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

"Hot fudge sundae."

"And every time we go to DQ that's what you get. Do you offer me some?"

"Every time."

"Why?"

"I like to share. I love to see you enjoying what I enjoy."

"What's your favorite movie?"

"Life as a House."

"I knew it! I guessed that was what you'd say. What if you found out that you were the only one who could see that movie. No one else could see it?"

"I don't think I could ever look at it again. It would hurt too much to know no one else could share in it."

"You are like the hot fudge sundae and "Life as a House." Not sharing you is a crime. Not letting others know what it's like to be with you, appreciated by you, held by you is painful. I've known Janice and Karen all my life. I love you. They love you. Nany-nany, I got him first! Is killing me. It's killing us! All four of us!"

"And you want me to send them flowers with a card that says, "Janice, I love you."

"No. I want you to use the intercom at closing, after the register is balanced, and ask both of them to your office. Sit them down and say, "Ladies, I apologize to you. I was mistaken. I believed that if I loved Sandy I couldn't show you my love for you. I love you both. If you're available I want to begin showing all three of you my love for you. I want one of you to come home with us for dinner tomorrow night and I want you to spend the night. I want to be able to focus on loving you just as you want to be loved. On another evening I would be honored to have the other of you come for dinner and stay, so that I can focus on you."

"Tell them that Thanksgiving is next Thursday and we will all work Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving from eight in the morning until eight at night. At nine on Saturday you want all of us at our house and the BC will be closed on Monday so we can spend Sunday and Monday at home. If you agree with me Honey, tell them that from Thanksgiving weekend on we are a family."

"You're serious?"

"More serious than I have ever been about anything except loving you."

"Then I'm in! I trust you. This is risky, in my mind. I may need two new employees in the morning."

"Not a chance! Just make sure you have them sit down. Otherwise one or both will fall down."

I looked at my office and saw that there were two chairs, mine and one other. I hit the intercom and said, "Bill or John to my office please."

Sandy kissed me, unbuttoned three buttons on her shirt and left my office. She passed Bill on her way out.

"Yes, Nick?"

"I need two more chairs in here. It would help if they all matched. Can you handle that for me before six o'clock?"

"Three chairs the same by six? I can do that! Is that all?"

"Yup. Thanks. I knew you could take care of it."

As he turned to go he unbuttoned three buttons of his shirt. As soon as he was outside I heard Karen laugh.

John came into the office holding the order the mayor had given us. He told me we had it all stacked and ready for pick-up. I called the mayor.

"Mayor, I have all the items you requested. However, before they can be picked up I need a City Purchase Order listing the items and with a check attached. In the future we can wait ten days for payment but this first time we need to do it this way."

"It may take some time to generate the paperwork. We need to get the playground fixed before another child is injured."

"Sounds like the perfect incentive for the City to push the paperwork through at record speed. Just give me a call before you bring the paperwork over. Who will be picking all this stuff up?"

"Jack, from Parks will pick it up. I'll see how quickly I can get you the paperwork."

"Thanks, Mayor." I hung up. I called the newspaper and spoke to the owner, press operator and reporter, Kelly Jenkins.

"Mr. Jenkins, I'd like to have a conversation with you. Just between us, for now. Can we meet somewhere private and talk?"

"How private?"

"Private enough that someone nosy wouldn't know about it."

"Is someone nosy?"

"I believe so."

Hmmmm. Remember the barn where kids used to play spin the bottle when we were young?"

"I do."

"It's far enough away that if we go after dark we could see anyone coming for a long time before they arrived."

"Seven. Tonight?"

"Yes."

At ten til six there were three new chairs in the office, with blue colored cloth pads on the seats. I hit the intercom button again. "Ladies, I invite all three of you to my office as soon as you have concluded today's business. Thank you."

At six the doors closed. At six-fifteen Janice, Karen and Sandy came into my office. Sandy said, "Bill and John have gone home. The yard is locked up."

Janice said, "The money is all balanced and we're ready to open in the morning."

Karen saluted and said, "We did eighty-seven thousand two hundred twenty six dollars and forty seven cents business today, Sir."

"Thank you, one and all. Please sit down." They did. Sandy sat farthest to my left, Janice in the middle and Karen to the right. All three were dressed in plaid shirts with rolled sleeves, jeans and boots. Sandy had a pony tail, Janice's hair was auburn and wavy down almost to her ass and Karen was almost as light a blond as Sandy but her hair was shorter, barely touching her shoulders. Twenty times a day she tucked her hair behind one ear or the other.

"Sandy and I have been talking and thinking about a problem we have here at the BC and in our personal lives. It has gotten to the point that something needs to happen. I have chosen now to begin the changes."

Karen said, "I haven't seen any problems. Am I doing something you don't like?"

"Relax. None of you is doing anything wrong. As a matter of fact the one who has been wrong is me. I came back to town carrying with me a set of beliefs that, as it turns out, are false. For each of those beliefs, I apologize. I have behaved wrongly for months. I'm sorry."

Janice started to protest. I held up a hand and said, "Please let me speak. It may be my last chance. I believed that if I love Sandy then that's it. I can't show my true feelings for either of you. So, that's what I've been doing. Sandy has shown me that that is hurting us, all of us. That needs to end." I took a deep breath.

"I love you. I love you, Sandy. I love you, Karen. I love you, Janice. I have been sharing my love and affection with Sandy. You've seen it. What I wasn't willing to see was that you were being hurt. I was being hurt too. I want to begin showing all three of you my love and affection for you. I want us to become a family." I started to take another breath.

Janice stopped me. She jumped to her feet and said, "Did you ever see the movie, Jerry McGuire?"

I nodded. She stepped up so close to me that her breasts touched my chest, her arms went around my neck and she said, "You had me at hello." Then we kissed.

As her warm, soft lips pressed against mine I suddenly was 100% sure that everything Sandy had been telling me was true. Janice loved me and I loved Janice. Not just her body, but Janice, the person, the dreamer, the woman, the bookkeeper, the little girl, the friend, all of her. I was just as sure that loving Janice made loving Sandy more possible, more available, more the right thing to do.

When the kiss ended she didn't move away. She was pressed against me from her knees to her lips and I knew she could feel my erection pushing against her belly.

Karen tapped Janice on the shoulder and said, "May I cut in?"

"Ok, but I will come back for seconds." She backed away and took a look at the bulge in front of my jeans. She smiled.

Karen moved in close and we kissed. In five seconds I knew she had the wrong last name. It wasn't right, calling her Karen Farmer. Karen Hoover, maybe. I hadn't known my tongue had roots until Karen did her best to suck my tongue completely out of my mouth! When the kiss ended Sandy squeezed between Karen and I and I got another wonderful kiss.

We stood together in my office. Four people with their arms around each other. We talked a little. Mostly we verified that openly loving was better than what we had an hour before.

"What now?" Karen asked.

"We need to decide. I don't know where either of you lives. Are you willing to come home with us and spend the night? Move in?"

"You only have a queen-sized bed. All four of us can't sleep together!"

Sandy raised a hand. "I talked to Carl today. He can and will add two bedrooms to the house and he says he can have it done before Christmas if the weather holds."

"We need to do a lot of talking before we get into construction." Janice added.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 02



"Then, both of you come home with us tonight. Have dinner and one or both of you stay the night. We do have a guest room. Tomorrow night the four of us will have dinner together again and we will spend the night. We will talk and find a way for us to be a family. On Thanksgiving we will all be on our kitchen cooking and laughing and touching and kissing. It will be the best Thanksgiving ever." Sandy said.

"I have something important to do at seven. Please, don't ask. I'll tell all three of you when I get back. One of you take Sandy home, get dinner and I think I'll be there before eight. Ok?" All three wanted to ask questions and they didn't.

Karen stepped back and unbuttoned her shirt. She pulled it out of her jeans and opened it. Her breasts were covered in black lace. "I bought this bra when you had been back a month. Every time I wear it I hope you'll see it."

"I like it!"

Janice unbuttoned her shirt and opened it. "I don't have as much as Sandy and Karen."

"You have more than I do. I like what I see."

Janice stopped us again as I headed for the door. "When you said come home with us for dinner and stay the night... just what did you mean?"

"Have you ever heard of an adult sleep-over? It's when people get into bed as a way of deepening their relationship, and they often also sleep."

"You want us to go to bed with you? You're married to my best friend!"

Sandy said, "I want this too. I know we've all been best friends for almost our whole lives and I know all three of us love Nick. He can love each of you without taking anything away from him loving me. All three of us loved Pete. He wouldn't take me to bed because he knew I loved Nick. Loving Nick is the right thing for me. I think it's the right thing for all of us. If it isn't, I'll still be the one stuck with him." She had "that" smile on her face.

Karen spoke, "Anytime you feel stuck with him, I'll take over. I've actually been stuck and Nick isn't what stuck looks like."

"Ladies, I need to go. Please take Sandy home and wait there for me?"

Sandy opened her shirt and the four of us walked out, locked up and Sandy went with Karen.

In the old barn outside town I found Mr. Jenkins. I showed him the orders from the parks department and the mayor, told him how I would mark the lumber so it could be identified and how we could get the mayor to quit. Cheating the people of the town just wasn't what we wanted. We set up our plan for what to do when and then I went home.

Three women in the kitchen produced a great dinner in record time. I was home well before eight and was greeted by three wonderful kisses. The table was set and food passed around as we ate as a family for the first time. We talked about the logistics of making it work. Except for sleeping arrangements for the weeks until the addition was done we got it pretty well worked out. We didn't talk much about the sleeping arrangements.

At ten-thirty Sandy stood up and said, "I'm going to bed in what was my room when Pete lived here. I invite one of you to join me and the other to join Nick in the master bedroom. I came home at lunch and put fresh linens on the beds."

Karen stood and said, "I need to go home. I can't sleep with either of you tonight. Don't get me wrong, I want to. I just can't."

"I have pads and tampons upstairs," Sandy said.

"Maybe I'll be comfortable in a month, but not tonight. I started today and..."

"And, we'll see you at work in the morning." I said. I put my arm around her and walked her to her car. At the car I kissed her a few times and told her I loved her a few times. She drove away and I wondered what kind of sleep she would get.

When I went back inside the lights were all off except just enough to light my way to the stairs. Sandy and Janice were upstairs standing in the hallway. I took Sandy in my arms and kissed her. It was like all her kisses. She fired my furnace.

Then she kissed Janice and made us promise to get a little sleep. She turned and went into her old room. The door closed and Janice looked at me. I hesitated for five seconds, took her hand and went into the bedroom. The bed was open, a teddi spread on the sheet and a fresh towel.

I led Janice into the bathroom and started undressing her. When her jeans and shirt were off I turned on the shower. I finished undressing her, noting the differences between her and the only other woman I had ever undressed, Sandy.

Where Sandy was blond and her skin like smooth pale silk Janice was covered with freckles. Her auburn hair set off against her very pale skin dotted with freckles wherever the sun had kissed her. It was pretty obvious the sun had never seen her breasts, belly or pubes. In the shower I discovered the sun had kissed her ass a few times.

Janice and I kissed a hundred times under the water. We washed everything, twice, and when we got out we dried each other and went to bed. As I worked my way down her body she happily opened her arms to allow me access to her breasts and I took time enjoying them. The instant I started lower she stopped me and said, "What are you doing?"

"I would love to taste you. May I?"

"You want to do that?"

"I love doing that! It's so intimate, so special. May I?"

"Yes! God, I love you! Do whatever you want."

Her legs opened and her hands held my head as I touched her lower lips with my tongue. Her back arched, she moaned and I moaned. I tasted, drank, sucked, probed and teased her for a long time. It was my intent to learn her body, to pleasure her, and have her fall asleep only after she said, "Enough!"

When I felt her orgasm getting close I backed off and let her cool a little. When my tongue stroked her clit again she exploded! A different response than with Sandy. I learned something new. Each of them would be different. She moaned, arched and seemed to want to flood us both. I drank as much as I could.

When the spasms calmed a little she said, "Oh Nick! Please be inside me."

I crawled up her body and when my cock touched her opening she thrust and I was inside. I'd love to describe how she felt holding my inside, but I cannot. She felt hot, wet and insistent. My body responded to the call and all thoughts of going slow, of varying the strokes, of anything except giving her what she wanted were gone.

When I came I bellowed like a bull. (I know because Sandy and Janice told me so at breakfast) We cuddled for a few minutes after we did some quick clean up and then fell asleep. 

At dawn I was awakened by hands stroking me towards another plunge into Janice. We laughed and kissed as we mated, the urgency gone, the pleasure present and consuming. Neither of us yelled or bellowed. Janice got up, went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. She had just come back to bed when Sandy knocked on the door.

"Sandy, come in." I said. She opened the door nude.

"I want to shower with both of you. May I?"

"Fine with me. Janice, Honey, how about you?"

"Might as well. If we're going to be family, nudity is gonna happen."

We tossed back the covers and got up. In the shower I had the pleasure of washing both of them and being washed by both of them. Janice borrowed clothes from Sandy and we all dressed. I was surprised when I parked at work and we were five minutes early. All three of us were in the truck.

John saw us getting out together and asked, "Janice, you have car trouble?"

"Nope, it works fine. I stayed over at Sandy and Nick's last night. I might move in."

"Oh." No more was said. Karen was a minute behind us and blushed every time I saw her during the day. In the afternoon Janice brought me some paperwork and closed the office door.

"Nick, can we kiss here at work?"

"My lips work. Do yours?"

She tested hers by pressing them against mine. They worked fine. "Thanks. Am I staying over again tonight?"

"If you'd like, you may. Sandy is sleeping with me tonight. If you'd like take the truck and go get some things from your place and stash them in the other bedroom, then when you stay you'll already have what you need." She smiled and turned to go. "Janice, (she turned and looked at me) I love you. Thanks for being great!"

She unbuttoned three buttons and left, smiling.

Karen spoke to Sandy near closing time. She was told to come for dinner and stay or go home but to come for dinner. She stopped and got fresh bread from the bakery. When she came in she had a suitcase. She laughed when she opened the closet upstairs. Janice had already filled half the closet.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we worked hard. Friday and Saturday we did big business and worked fourteen hours each day. We closed the BC for Sunday and Monday. I don't know what John and Bill did but Janice and I, Karen and I, Sandy and I spent a lot of time in bed. And, on the living room floor.

Before Christmas both Janice and Karen had moved in. Carl did a great job on adding the two bedrooms and a bathroom and he was helped by the four of us. That gave us a house with four bathrooms, four bedrooms, an office and a big living room. We had plenty of storage because the house had a big basement and a two car garage.

When Carl was in the BC one day in January I heard someone ask him why we had added two bedrooms to our house. He told them that I was crafty and sneaky. I charged both women rent for their bedrooms, which they paid me with money they earned working for me. I was getting my money back!

I told Karen and Janice to tell anyone who asked that they paid six hundred a month to live in our big house. Not long after that I heard Karen almost complaining to someone buying a kitchen appliance.

"Not only do I pay rent, I'm supposed to cook once a week for everyone in the house!"

The woman said, "I wouldn't do it!"

Karen smiled and said, "It's worth it to see Nick's face when he eats what I make!" They both laughed. During a slow time I went to her and said, "Do you object to cooking once a week?"

She took me into my office, closed the door and kissed me. When I was fully hard she said, "I was just cooking. Any objections?"

"No! But I heard what you said."

"If I told people how happy I am to be living with you, Sandy and Janice they'd know I was crazy. To appear normal I need to complain a little. I have complained to her about hating to cook for years. Want me to stop?"

"No. I like your cooking. And food too. I just needed to check."

"Check anytime. I like it too."

Bill came to me office. He closed the door. "Nick, all the items for the mayor are here. What shall I do with them?"

Stack them at the back of the yard and toss a tarp over them. As soon as the yard is clear after five, give me a call. Just tell me you're clear. Ok?"

"You're the boss. I don't need to know anything."

"Right after you tell me the yard is clear, you'll know everything."

"Ok." He went back to work. In the bed of my truck was a box that came to our house by UPS addressed to me. Inside was a quart of dye. Dye that only shows when black-light is shined on it. When Bill called me and told me I was clear, I got the box and went to the yard. Bill and John and I painted the dye on every piece the city was paying for. I called Mr. Jenkins and he came over and took pictures.

The next morning I looked the stack over and so did Bill. We couldn't see any dye showing without the black-light. I called the mayor and an hour later Jack showed up with a truck to take the stack. Bill loaded it while Jack brought the check into the office. It was a city check for the full amount.

When he was walking out to the truck I passed him and said, "When you use all that stuff let me know, Ok? I'd like to take a few pictures of the changes to the park."

"Sure Nick. I should be done by next Friday."

What he didn't know was that Mr. Jenkins had already taken shots of the park that week, so we could compare the before and after pictures.

After he left I spoke to both Bill and John. Bill had been told when we painted the dye on. He had not told John. John was just as outraged at the sleaziness of the mayor as Bill. Both thought the mayor was dipping into their pockets personally to get things for his personal use.

The three of us went back to work and said nothing for a week. The stack was picked up on a Wednesday. The very next day a delivery truck pulled into the BC yard and wanted to unload a big box addressed to Sandy Peterson. Bill brought the bill of lading in and handed it to Sandy. She smiled, went out to the truck and got in. They drove off. Forty minutes later she was back and smiling like the Cheshire cat.

I knew nothing. At quitting time Sandy took a call in the office and whooped! Karen, Janice and Sandy gave each other high-fives and when I came out of my office Sandy said, "We have a little surprise for you when we go home."

"Who called?" I asked.

"The delivery man."

"Then, let's close up and head home. It isn't my birthday."

"No. It isn't."

We close at six. At six-ten all three were standing by the doors, waiting for me. Bill and I came in from locking up the yard and when we got close to the doors Bill said, "How bout if I take one or two home with me tonight?"

"Invite the ones you want to go with you. You might be surprised."

"I already know their answer. If I was Pete or Nick, they'd go."

"Did you ask?"

"Nope. I hate rejection worse than being alone." He walked out the doors and was gone. All the way home I thought about Bill and being alone.

As I turned the corner and saw our house Sandy said, "Please park near the front door. I'll move your truck in a little while."

I parked in the driveway up near the front of the house. It was crowded in the truck that day because I was the only one that drove to work. We all got out and went into the house through the front door. I was given instructions and a guard. Karen shadowed me every moment. I was not allowed to leave the house or to get near any window that would allow me to look into the back yard.

I went into the living room and turned on the TV. Karen sat in my lap. It no longer mattered what was on TV. I loved being guarded. When Sandy came out of the kitchen to see what we were doing Karen no longer had on her shirt or bra. My field of vision was limited to less than a foot in front of me and my mobility was zero.

"Dinner is ready. I see you started with dessert. Again."

"Shall I put my shirt back on?" Karen asked.

"Please. Company might drop in."

Sandy turned and went back into the kitchen. Karen pulled her shirt on, without bothering with the bra. I carried the bra with me and headed for the laundry room to put it on the washer. Karen intercepted me and took the bra from me. "Nice try. We know there's a window in the laundry room. Sit." 

She pointed at my chair and I sat.

Dinner conversation was mostly about the BC. When dinner was over I asked, "Ok, dinner's over. Can I look in the back yard now?"

"Not yet. You need to be properly dressed before you can look." Sandy said.

"And we need to be properly dressed as well." We all stood. I was taken to the stairs and led half way up. Sandy above me and Janice and Karen below me on the stairs.

"Nick, take off everything. Leave everything right there on the stairs."

"What's this all about?"

"Just do it, please."

"I'll do it too," Karen said. "She had discovered she liked being nude since she moved in, so no one was surprised she was willing to undress. As she piled her clothes I piled mine and I watched her get undressed. I didn't notice that Sandy and Janice stripped too, until I was naked.

"Nicely done. Now, Nick, go back down stairs."

Janice and Karen each took a hand and led me one step. They stopped and a blindfold was applied by Sandy. Naked and blind I was led to the back door. When it opened I had a flash of fear about going out back naked, until I realized all three women were naked too. As Dad said, "In for a nickel..."

I stepped outside. It was a bit chilly. I heard a strange sound and it wasn't very far away. Then my nose smelled chlorine. My brain said "Hot Tub!" but my mouth stayed closed. Janice said, "He figured it out."

"What makes you think so?" Karen asked.

"His cock jumped. He knows!"

They all laughed and I stood there hard hoping they were right.

Two hands untied the blindfold and it fell away. A fiberglas hot tub sat right in front of me, bubbling and steaming in the evening air. It was huge! Self contained with redwood sides and lots of jets it looked a little like a huge caldron. Ok, maybe not. Caldrons are round and the tub was square. Carl had installed it and built a privacy fence so we were not totally exposed to the world.

The ladies helped me into the water and then joined me. Somehow Janice had stashed a bottle of champagne and four plastic glasses near the tub and we each had a little.

"I still don't get what we're celebrating. My birthday is in November. Sandy's is the eighth of July. Janice's is the sixteenth of October and Karen's is May twenty-second. We got married the thirteenth of April. What are we celebrating?"

"We're celebrating happiness!" Karen said.

"We're celebrating Love with a capitol "L"!" Janice said.

"We're celebrating the arrival of our hot tub and a new place to play!" Sandy added.

We sat enjoying the warmth, the closeness and Sandy said, "Did you both notice Nick did it again?"

Karen nodded. "All my life my mom reminded Dad of everything. Birthdays, their anniversary, Christmas, Dad would have missed them all! Nick and Pete memorized them."

Janice asked, "When is Bill's birthday?"

"September twenty-eighth. And John's is September eighth, the same year."

Janice gave me a high five. "He's right!"

"Janice, how many people do a hundred dollars or more business with us every year?"

"Everyone for thirty miles around. Maybe five thousand people if you count their kids too."

"Do me a favor, please. Find out how much five thousand birthday cards would cost. I don't want them to look like an advertisement, just a card from your friends at the BC."

"Postage alone will be over two thousand a year!" Janice said.

"That's Ok. I'll pay for it with the rent money I get from the women who rent rooms here."

Three women splashed me. "Ok! Ok! I'll pay for it out of my own pocket! It's just the right thing to do."

"No other business in town does it." Karen said.

"No other business says they don't want any customers."

"Only friends we do business with." Sandy added. She crawled into my lap, straddled my erection and sank down. It was an incredible feeling. We kissed and Karen said, "I've never watched them do it before. I hope the tub doesn't overflow!"

"How could it? Janice asked.

"From all the juices I'm making, it just might!"

We all laughed. Our laughter cancelled out the sound of the front door being knocked on. Since we didn't hear it, we didn't answer. Since we never lock the doors the Sheriff walked right in and heard us. He walked through the house, saw all the piles of clothes on the stairs and kept walking. He stood at the back door for long enough that he saw Sandy and I finish. All three women kissed me and then he opened the back door.

"There is too much noise out here! The neighbors have complained!"

Three women all but dove under the water. I started laughing. Our nearest neighbors were the Wilson's, both in their seventies and wear hearing aids. They were also over a hundred yards away.

"Ok. I'll just have to take ya'll in. Get out of the water and I'll cuff you together."

Sandy stood up. That had her bare from mid-thigh up and the Sheriff's eyes bugged out. "Well, don't just stand there staring, give me a hand getting out!" She stuck her hand out to him. He took it and instead of him helping her out she pulled and he almost joined us.

He burst out laughing and said, "Ok, stay in the water. I came by because I have a conversation I need to have with you, Nick. It needs to be private."




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 02



"Sheriff, I think I know what you want to talk about and it's time these ladies knew what's happening. The most private place I can think of for the conversation is right here. Ladies, help the Sheriff get properly dressed and into the water."

They giggled and Karen beat Sandy out of the water. The three got him out-of-uniform in seconds and helped him into the water. As he sat directly across from me he said, "My brain tells me to say this, I am a married man. As wonderful as it was watching Sandy and Nick couple and seeing all of you naked, I do not want anyone to touch me in any way that the pastor or my wife wouldn't approve of."

"You're safe. We also know you won't ever say anything to anyone about what happens in our happy home. You'd have to testify as to where you were when you observed our behaviors. You keep our secrets and we'll keep yours."

"Done! Now, how do we proceed with the other plan?"

We explained to the ladies what we were doing to the mayor. We got the plan coordinated and the Sheriff would talk to the county supervisors in a closed door meeting on Thursday night. Mr. Jenkins, the Sheriff and I would go to the park and the mayor's house on Thursday afternoon. Janice asked why we didn't invite the county prosecutor to go with us.

The Sheriff and I exchanged glances and he volunteered to make that happen. We invited him for dinner and he declined. Sandy got him a towel and offered to help him get dry. He declined. She offered to let him dry her. He declined. Then he asked her to walk him back out to his police car. She declined. 

After he left we shut off the tub, discussed the care and operation so we all knew about everything and then we went back inside. When we got to the stairs we laughed.

"Good thing the Sheriff is a friend." Janice said.

"I just wonder how long he watched before he came out." Sandy wondered out loud.

Karen stood beside me and said, "Could I interest you in spending the rest of the night with me?"

"You could." I looked at the others and asked, "Is there any other topic we need to talk about before bed?"

"There is a topic I want us all to think about. I don't want to talk about it for a few days, but I do want to talk about it." Sandy paused, "Bill."

Janice and I nodded. Karen looked lost. Sandy filled her in. "Bill is alone and worse he's lonely. He hasn't a clue how to create a relationship or even how to meet women. The only three women he knows are the three of us and he sees us happily with Nick."

The lights went on and Karen said, "Oh. You're right. We need to talk, but not tonight."

She took my hands and led me to her bedroom. Sandy started up the stairs to the master bedroom and Janice grabbed her hand. "Can I sleep with you? Since I started sleeping with Nick I like sleeping with someone next to me."

Sandy took her hand and led her up the stairs. They gathered all the clothes on their way. When Karen and I were in her room I could hear the soft sound of the clothes falling down the laundry chute.

Karen came into my arms and said, "Watching you with Sandy was so sexy. I've never seen anyone else do it, and since I've had you inside me I could see what was happening and I could feel it too."

"I'm sure the water's still warm. Would you like to go out and sit in the tub, just you and me?"

"Could we?"

"Only if you promise to stay naked and to let me feast on you."

She smiled and opened the bedroom door. I followed her cute and bare ass out the back door and back into the water. I sat down and she straddled me just as Sandy had done earlier. As she lowered herself I held her sides and we kissed.

We left the jets off. The sounds of her lifting and lowering herself were amplified by creating waves. We didn't care. We kissed and mated slowly. She pinched my nipples and my hands found hers and returned the pinch. Karen moaned and her pace increased.

The sensations felt so good that I felt the rapid build up to an orgasm and the sudden reality of squirting my seed up inside her! I lifted her off my lap and leaned her back so my mouth could get to her puss. I knew whatever I didn't drink from her would be in the water until I cleaned the hot tub. I also knew she hadn't cum yet.

I don't think much escaped. She tasted less like herself and more like a swimming pool, but delightfully, a swimming pool with labia, vagina and a wonderful clit. When she came she forgot we were outside and that it was late, she screamed. She stopped the scream suddenly and then giggled.

"I guess the Sheriff will be back soon."

We dried off, covered the tub and went inside. Every time we made eye contact Karen giggled. We showered and went to bed.

At six the next morning three alarm clocks went off. Karen shut hers off. I heard the one up in the master bedroom shut off but Janice's kept ringing. I got up and went into her bedroom to shut it off. When I turned to leave Janice was standing in the doorway to her room. She had a hickey on her right breast.

She blushed.

"I hope the two of you got a little sleep. Otherwise the BC could go bankrupt today."

"We slept very well, once the screaming stopped!"

"Touche'."

I kissed her good-morning and went back in with Karen to shower and get dressed. All my clothes were kept in the master bedroom closet and Karen had started picking a couple outfits for me to wear and keeping them in her room, for mornings where I woke up with her. Janice had adopted the same practice so I quit worrying about what to wear to work.

On Thursday I met with Mr. Jenkins, the Sheriff and the county prosecutor. We laid out what we had for the prosecutor and he liked it. We took him to the park and showed him what Jack had done with the twelve items he ordered. Mr. Jenkins called the mayor and found him in his office. He asked if he could meet the mayor at the Moxley farm. The mayor wanted to know what was up. Mr. Jenkins said he thought the mayor should see rather than hear. The mayor said he'd be there in forty minutes.

Mr. Jenkins then called Mrs. Moxley. She had been complaining for weeks about damage she said a dog had been doing around her place. He told Mrs. Moxley he had arranged for the mayor to come out and take a look at the damage. We knew we had over an hour before the mayor would be back.

I brought a portable black-light. We found that the mayor had used the items the city bought to build a gazebo. The items were just part of the construction but a substantial part. Pictures were taken and we were gone in less than half an hour.

I went back to the BC and gave a thumbs up to Bill and John as I parked. Inside I gave the same signal to my wives.  An hour later Mr. Jenkins came in and asked if we would allow him to leave a clipboard with a petition on it at our cash register. It was a recall petition for the mayor. He had already placed six other clipboards and petitions in businesses.

For the rest of the day Mr. Jenkins was no where to be found. The mayor called twice looking for him. I knew where he was but the mayor didn't look there. I would have bet that Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins had wrinkly skin when they finally got home.

The next morning every home in town had a copy of the newspaper on their porch. The headline read, "Mayor in Trouble?"

Just under the headline was a beautiful picture of the gazebo. I called the mayor's office at ten after nine and was told that the mayor was in meetings all day and could not be reached.

We had planned to go to the city council meeting that evening but we heard through three different sources that the meeting had been cancelled. The next day we all had newspapers again. The headline read, "Mayor resigns."

I drove by his home on the way to the BC that morning. There was a real estate "For Sale" sign in his yard. I dialed the number on the sign and got the message machine. My message was to please call me as I was interested in buying the house, if the price was good.

I figured the mayor just might be needing to unload the house quickly and I might get it cheap.

At work I parked in the yard. Bill waved at me from over by the big saw. He looked like his dog died, and Bill didn't ever have a dog. I knew the conversation about Bill needed to be soon. It wasn't soon enough.

I had no more than sat down when the door to the yard flew open and John screamed, "Call an ambulance. Bill's hurt bad!" He turned and ran out. I saw Karen turn white and grab the phone. I ran out into the yard. One look told the story.

Our big twelve inch table saw was covered in blood. Bill was on the ground with John beside him. On the table of the saw was Bill's hand. I opened the standing ice box where we kept bags of cubed and crushed ice, grabbed two bags and rushed towards Bill. I saw Karen come out the door and I yelled, "Get me two ice chests! Quickly!" She ran off to my right.

She was to Bill with the two ice chests in seconds. After I put the cloth wrapped arm in one chest, I poured a bag of crushed ice around it. I poured the other bag of ice into the other chest and put his hand in it.

Bill was conscious but out of it. He kept saying he was Ok, let him get back to work. Karen sat down next to him and held his head, talked softly to him and stroked his forehead. He calmed down and stopped trying to get up.

The ambulance rolled into the yard and parked ten feet from us. We loaded Bill and both ice chests into the ambulance and in less than two minutes total the ambulance was back out the gate. John helped Karen up. He looked at her with what I can only describe as the look a man would have if he met an actual angel.

She was covered in dirt, sawdust and blood. Her hair was a mess. To John she had never looked as good. He put his arm around her protectively. I handed him the keys to my truck and told him to take her home and have her shower and change clothes. She looked at me and said, "Is Bill gonna be Ok?"

I said I hoped so. I kissed her and told her that John was taking her home to shower and change. She nodded. He all but carried her to the truck and took her. 

I made a sign and put it out front. "No yard sales today."

Sandy and Janice took turns covering the register and after Karen had been gone an hour Sandy answered the phone. It was Karen. She had showered and changed and had John take them to the hospital. Sandy told her to stay there and call us with any news. 

John stayed too. A small plane brought a surgeon from Denver and the surgery took most of the night. We all waited at the hospital. John made sure we got fed, jumped to take care of every need or want that Karen had and asked each of us if there was anything he could do.

Sandy took me off to the side a ways at about midnight. She spoke softly.

"John and Bill both have it bad. We have to do something."

"Got an idea?"

"Yes. How will you feel if one of us takes John home and diverts his attention from his best friend?"

"Diverts? As in set him in a hot tub and then screw his brains out?"

"Yeah. Like that."

"It needs to be Karen. She had a pretty big shock today as well. Do you think she's up for what you're thinking?"

"I know how to find out. What I want to know is, what about you? She's as much your wife as I am."

"I love her. That won't stop because she loves John. A year ago I might have gone crazy in this conversation, but I see better now. If she'll do it I think it would be the medicine they both need."

She kissed me and I got hard. When the kiss ended she went to Karen and walked her back to me. We sat and Sandy said, "Karen, John needs you."

"I know. Bill's his best friend and he's been in surgery for hours."

"Karen, John needs you. He is in shock and isn't thinking well. His focus is on you. In his eyes you saved Bill. You weren't afraid to get dirty and bloody to save his friend."

"What are you asking me to do?"

I spoke. "I love all of you. I love Bill like a brother, John like a brother and each of you might as well be my wives. For the moment there's nothing I can do for Bill but wait and pray. I can't do anything for John, but you can." I took a breath. "Honey, take him home. Feed him, then take him to bed. Hold him, comfort him and if you're both willing join with him."

"Isn't that cheating? I'm married to you."

"That won't change. It just gets bigger. We were going to have a conversation about bringing Bill and John into the family. We will still have the conversation, but tonight John needs you."

"You're sure about this?"

"I'm sure I love you. I'm sure that won't change. I'm sure John needs you. I'm also sure this is up to you. I won't think any less of you if you say no."

She stood looking at Sandy and I for a long time. Tears slid down her cheeks. 

She softly said, "I'm taking John home. There's leftovers in the fridge. I still have two condoms in my purse from before Pete died. I hope they're still good."

Sandy and I hugged her and kissed her. She turned and went to John.

"John, do you still have the keys to the truck?" He nodded. She held out her hand. He gave her the keys. She took two steps and stopped. She turned back to face John and said, "Get in the truck, John."

He followed her out and I watched as he opened the driver's door and helped Karen in. She sat and turned to face him, took his face in her hands and kissed him. When it ended he didn't move.

She spoke and he slowly moved to the passenger side and got in. They left.

Janice came to me and asked, "Did you just send John home with Karen?"

Sandy and I explained and Janice said, "Then I get first shot at Bill when he gets out of here!" She turned and walked back to her seat. The conversation was done and I was sure it would never really be over.

At five the doctor came to us and said they were done. He told us the surgery went well but it would be at least a week before we knew how successfully. We should go home. He told us Bill would be asleep or drugged until the next day.

Sandy and I drove back to the BC and put up a sign, "Bill was hurt yesterday. The BC will not be open today. Your good thoughts and prayers are welcome." Sandy and I signed it and posted it on the front doors.

When we got home Janice was sitting in her car in the driveway. When we parked she got out and met us by the front door.

"I figured if we all went in together we wouldn't disturb them as much as if we went in one at a time." She said. 

Inside I gently pushed both women up the stairs. Karen and John were downstairs in Karen's room. At the door to the master bedroom I opened the door and guided both ladies inside. I quietly closed the door and when I turned Janice and Sandy were undressing each other.

When they were naked they turned their attentions to me and while I wasn't naked I was getting there. With their help I was naked very quickly. We showered and went to bed. I ended up in the middle and within seconds we were all asleep.

Waking up by being touched, fondled or swallowed is always a joy. That isn't how I woke up. The phone rang. In the process of both waking up and reaching for the phone I knocked Janice out of bed.

"Ow!"

"Sorry. Hello?"

"This is Mr. Jenkins. I need some information about the accident."

"I'd love to help you but I'm still asleep. Call back in the morning."

"It's eleven in the morning."

"We didn't get home from the hospital until about six."

"Ok. Sorry I bothered you. The Builder's Center won't be open today?"

"Nope. Maybe tomorrow."

"I'll see you there tomorrow, Ok?"

"Sure. G'night." I hung up. 

Janice was back in bed and frisky. Sandy was also frisky and said, "The thought that John is downstairs in bed with Karen has us both going."

"Are you staying here with me or going down to be with them?"

Both women froze and I could almost hear the gears turning in both heads. Finally, Janice took hold of the situation at hand and said, "All three of us would kill him. Let him get used to Karen before he finds out he can have all three of us."

"What about his parents? Doesn't he live next door to them?"

"I'm sure he'll call them when they get up. They will want to know about Bill."

I did my best to satisfy both ladies. One decided orally would be nice and the other rode me for the silver buckle. Both rides lasted a lot longer than eight seconds. 

After a shower we decided we needed food and we could nap again later, for fun or sleep. We pulled on some clothes, large t-shirts for Sandy and Janice and shorts and a tee for me. When we arrived in the kitchen Karen was cooking. She was nude. So was John.

John tried to cover himself but couldn't find anything except his hands to use. Janice laughed at his attempt and peeled off her shirt and handed it to him.

"If you are embarrassed, cover up with this." It left her nude. John stared. Karen left the stove and kissed all of us, said good-morning and asked if we were hungry.

We answered, "Yes!" in unison. She started dishing pancakes, sausage and eggs for us. Sandy poured cups of coffee and Janice sat next to John.

Three bites into breakfast Janice asked, "John, are you Ok?"

It took him a while to answer. He finished chewing and then said, "Karen explained a lot to me last night. I don't know that I believed everything she said, but I'm beginning to believe now."

I said, "John, you're like a brother to me. I've known you all my life. All three of these woman can say the same thing, except for the brother part. We all love you. Yesterday we all almost lost our best friend, Bill. You needed comfort and Karen gave it. Anything wrong with that?"

"Not from where I sit."

"And, can you see any reason that the comfort, the affection, the loving should now stop?" Sandy asked.

"God! I hope not. Karen said this was not a one-night thing."

"Did she also tell you it included all three of us?" Janice asked.

"No."

"Well, it does." Sandy said.

"As soon as Bill is able we'll have a family meeting and make some family decisions. Til then you are welcome here anytime. The ladies decide where I sleep and I think that will work well for you as well. I haven't been on the couch alone once."

"What do I tell people?"

"Nothing. We work together. You come for dinner sometimes. We have a guest room. Sometimes you stay over." I said.

"Just like that? Yesterday morning I was a lonely man. I had wanted to find a way to get into a loving relationship."

Karen added, "And, now you're deeper in than your best fantasy."

"Yeah! Is this really Ok?"

"You ask us the answer is Yes! Go over to the nearest church and the answer would probably be No. Most people are caught up in following rules they didn't make. I want to love these women. Sandy taught me that loving isn't a thing to be done in isolation. The more it is shared the better it is."

"Nick, you aren't talking about sex, are you?"

"No, John. I'm talking about Love with a capitol L. When Karen brought you home last night did she throw you on the bed and jump your bones?"

"No. We sat together in the recliner and just held each other for a long time. Up to that moment I had never felt so loved and cared for in my life."

"She was loving you."

Karen spoke, "I was loving you, Bill, Nick, Janice and Sandy. When I took you to my bedroom and undressed you, showered you, and joined with you it was to be connected to all of us. We were all connected to Bill and the doctors and I wanted to deepen the connection."

"Pete's here." Sandy said.

I looked around. If I had seen Dad standing there I would not have been surprised. I didn't see him.

Sandy continued, "When I lived here with Pete there were mornings like this, where there were people sharing breakfast in the kitchen. People who had come to Pete to be loved. He loved them and they opened up to love in ways I never saw before. Nick moved into his Dad's space and his Dad left him the legacy of love. I felt it a long time ago. I love how it feels when Nick looks at me, touches me. When I realized that we needed to open to Janice and Karen I realized it wouldn't stop there."




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 02



John picked up his empty plate and stood up, headed for the sink. His erection pointed the way. He had accepted that he was in an intimate, accepting relationship with us. I got up and the two of us did the breakfast dishes. I remembered a joke I had read on the internet.

"No man has ever been killed while he was doing the dishes."

I whispered the joke/quote to John and we both laughed. When the dishes were done Karen stood behind John and grasped his cock gently. Sandy grasped mine.

Karen said, "I'm tired, a little. Could I interest you in taking me back to bed?"

"To sleep or play?" John asked.

"Play first and then sleep."

"I would be happy to do both with you."

Sandy said, "Nick, you ate Janice this morning. I'd like it if you'd eat me and maybe Janice would like to be filled."

"Karen, please set an alarm and get us all up by two so we can go to the hospital."

"Yes, Boss." She was being guided out of the kitchen by the firm hand of John on her ass. She was not resisting.

I followed two delectable asses up the stairs and into our bedroom. 

"One at a time or both at once?" I asked.

"Start by eating Sandy, please. I'd like to watch." Janice said.

Sandy lay on the bed with her legs hanging off the side. I knelt between her legs and kissed her thighs a hundred times as I approached her treasure. My hands helped hold her legs apart. When I sucked on Sandy's lips Janice made an involuntary moan. 

"God, that looks and sounds so sexy." Janice said softly. I continued for some time. Both women made appreciative noises. 

"Come here Janice. Kneel here with me."

She was beside me inches from Sandy's wide open pussy. The sparkling juices were pooling in the opening of her vagina and we could both see them clearly.

"Lean in and taste her juices."

She leaned forward and stuck her tongue into Sandy. I knew the instant they touched, both moaned. Sandy's hips and back arched and her hands grasped Janice's head.

"Do to Sandy what you like done to you. Feel and listen to her reactions. She'll lead you to her pleasure." I moved behind Janice and reached around her to hold her breasts as she pleasured Sandy. Her hips began a motion that rubbed her ass against my cock. I had to close my eyes, her breasts in my hands and my cock rubbing in the crack of her ass felt so good. 

Sandy's breathing began to stutter. No full breaths in or out, but gasps and puffs of exhalation. 

"Now, Janice, suck on her clit, touch it lightly with your tongue."

Sandy screamed and her entire body stiffened! Janice grabbed Sandy's ass in her hands and buried her face as deep as she could in Sandy. I pinched Janice's nipples and she shook in her orgasm as well.

The shaking, noises and arched back lasted and finally Sandy screamed, "Stop! I'll die!"

Janice pulled back. Sandy let go of her head. I turned Janice's head and kissed her, tasting all the tastes of Sandy on and in Janice's mouth.

"God! Nick, I would never have had the nerve to do that if you hadn't helped. I'm so glad I got to do that!" Janice sat on the floor as she spoke, holding my cock.

Sandy slowly sat up. A sheen of sweat coated her skin. "Honey, any time you want to eat me my lunch counter is open! Nick is the best but you are incredible!"

"Oh, poor Nick. He hasn't cum in over two hours! What will we do?" Janice asked.

I stood and helped Janice onto her back beside Sandy. "What we'll do is see if I can fill you up."

Sandy guided my cock into Janice and then used her fingers to play with Janice's clit. In seconds Janice arched and came again. As I stroked into her she seemed to cum and cum without a pause between cumming. Sandy straddled Janice's hips so that she faced me. Her arms went around my shoulders and she kissed me.

Just as I felt the rush of seed jerk and shoot from me the door to the bedroom opened and Karen said, "The pastor just parked in our driveway!"

The three of us jumped and dressed very quickly. Karen borrowed shirt and jeans from Sandy. She couldn't borrow a bra, Sandy was too much smaller than Karen. We met the pastor and the same two women who had come with him before as they entered our front door.

"Nick, ladies, we have come to see if there is anything we can do. I heard that Bill got hurt yesterday and the hospital people tell me you are the contact person for him. What can we do?"

"The doctors have done their best. His friends and family need to pray for him, hold his best good in their hearts and patiently wait. Whatever is the best for Bill will be what happens."

"I was surprised when none of you were at the hospital this morning."

"We were there from ten yesterday morning until six this morning. The doctors medicated Bill enough that he won't be there until later this afternoon so I brought all of us here and had us all get some sleep."

"Oh. That sounds like a good idea."

"I may not wear the collar but I care for my flock."

"Do you know where John is?" Mrs. Kilbrew asked.

"Yes. When we came home we brought John here. We stick together. It would have been crazy to have him drive home as tired and upset as he was. He may still be asleep. Would you like to check on him, Mrs. Kilbrew?" I pointed down the hall to Karen's room.

"No, I'm sure that if he's asleep he needs the sleep."

Karen said, "I think it would be good to check him. I'll peek." She went to her door and cracked it open. She whispered a little and closed the door again.

When she came back she said, "I woke him when I opened the door, told him to go back to sleep and he did."

In another minute the pastor and his back-up were out and gone. Something didn't feel right. I couldn't identify it, but "it" was there.

"You don't like churches or pastors do you?" Sandy asked.

"Nope. Dad didn't have much use for them either. He said they spent their lives using God so they could be right and control other people."

"He just wanted to know what they could do."

"A phone call could have gotten the information. He didn't need two witnesses along. I would think that ministers have a protocol for what to do when someone is hurt bad. When Mom got sick people brought us dinners, sat with us at the hospital, ran me back and forth to school so Dad could spend his time with Mom. We never saw a pastor. The people who cared, cared because they cared not because a church said they should, needed to or must."

"Let's go to the hospital." Sandy said. We went to our rooms and dressed. I lent John clean clothes.

At the hospital we waited on the uncomfortable chairs in the hallway until a nurse came and said, "Bill is awake. You can go in two at a time."

They all looked at me and I sent Karen and John first. Fifteen minutes passed and they came back.

"Nurse Cratchet says to let him rest for fifteen minutes before the next pair goes in." John said.

Karen told us about how he looked. The doctor came and told us that they wouldn't check anything except his color and skin temp for a while but things looked pretty promising at the moment. 

I sent Sandy and Janice in. Fifteen minutes later they were back. Sandy was laughing.

"What?" I asked.

"Janice decided to cheer Bill up. She got close to him and whispered in his ear and as she whispered she unbuttoned her shirt. Then she stood up and opened the shirt. Bill's eyes almost fell out!"

"That's why you're laughing?"

"No. Janice was standing there with her chest exposed when nurse Cratchet opened the door!"

"She almost saw me!" Janice said.

"I think Bill is still laughing and I think Janice perked him up."

Bill looked at me like I was crazy when I walked into his room. As the door closed I unbuttoned my shirt and opened it. He laughed softly and said, "I liked it better when Janice did it."

"Me too."

I sat down and we talked. Half an hour later nurse Cratchet came in and said, "Time's up. You'll have to leave."

I stood up and faced her. "Bill tells me you have been very kind to him. You look over him like he is important. I want you to know that as his friend I really appreciate your care. When you get off this evening we would be honored if we could take you to dinner."

She would have been less shocked if I had slapped her. She was speechless. I asked what time we should be here to pick her up for dinner. She snapped to and said she got off at five. I thanked her again and left the room.

I let the family know that we would be taking the nurse to dinner and that we needed to do it right. Her care of Bill would be influenced by how we treated her.

Karen said, "Where can we take her?"

"There are exactly four places within fifteen miles." John said.

"Let's take her home. We can cook and cater to her best there." Sandy stood. "Wait for me." She went to the nurse's station and spoke to her. When she came back she was all smiles. "Her favorite dinner is something I know how to make. Will you all help?"

"Sure!" We all answered. Janice took Sandy to the market. John and Karen went in John's truck to get a bottle or two of good wine. I went home and started cleaning the house.

Sandy had people cutting fresh veggies and stirring things. John and I set the table and lit a few candles. At five I was standing just inside the hospital, dressed in slacks and a nice shirt. I helped her into the truck and as we headed down the road I said, "I hate to admit this but I don't know your name."

"Nurse Cratchet." She said and then looked at me, sternly.  For a few seconds I wasn't sure how to respond. "Donna White."

"May we call you Donna?"

"If I don't respond, call me nurse Cratchet. Most of the time that's who I am to people."

"I guess they don't see how seriously you take your job."

"You didn't either."

"I'm as guilty as anyone."

"What changed?"

"I realized that a man I love like a member of my family is depending on you. I'm depending on you. I realized that you already knew how important you are to his life. I was blown away."

"Wow! You're Nick Peterson, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"I knew your Dad. Great man."

"Thanks. I agree."

I parked and opened the door for Donna. As we entered the house the smells were incredible! "Oh, Sandy made chicken curry for me!"

Sandy came out of the kitchen and said, "Not me, us. We made chicken curry for you."

We sat and had dinner. For John and Karen it was their first curry. They added different things to the curry and discovered that they both loved it. John especially liked adding coconut and chocolate flakes.

When John, Janice and Karen started to clean up I asked Sandy, "Where did you learn to make curry?" 

"When my Dad was in the hospital I got to know Donna. We had dinner a few times and she taught me how to make curry."

"And, she makes a very good curry." Donna added.

"Thanks, coach." Sandy said.

We talked for a little while about Bill's recovery and rehab and about what we could do to help him heal. At one point Donna looked at Janice and said, "If you'll show him your chest again that will help."

Janice blushed and said, "I hoped you didn't see that."

"I would have been forced to act stern and mean. Truth be told, he will need your breasts as a good part of his rehab."

"How's that?" I asked.

If he gets movement back in that hand he needs to squeeze a soft rubber ball about five thousand times. That will strengthen the muscles as well as stretch them and get the circulation going. Doing it to a soft rubber ball is boring. Doing it to Janice would keep his attention I would think."

"Are you talking Janice or could all of us help?" Karen asked.

"I got the feeling Bill and Janice had a thing for each other."

"That was the first time I've ever opened my shirt for him. He's never touched me." Janice said.

"Oh. Well, if it won't upset anything go ahead. Set a chair by the door so as soon as it starts to open it'll make noise and you can cover up. I won't get upset but I'm not the only nurse on the floor."

John sat quietly for most of the evening but at that point he spoke up. "Maybe all three of you don't need to give him breast therapy. Maybe one woman is all he can or should handle."

I heard trouble. His words were about Bill. The meaning behind his words were about Karen and himself. He was being possessive. I wondered what we would do.

Donna stood up. "It's getting late. If one of you will take me back to my car I'll head home and get some sleep before I need to be back at the hospital."

Sandy said, "Donna, we have a guest room. Instead of driving tonight and in the morning, stay here. Get a good night's sleep and I'll take you in the morning. I'm sure Nick has a clean tee you can use as a night shirt if you want one." I nodded.

Donna thought about it for just a moment and sat down. "How late do you usually stay up?"

Janice said, "Depends. If we're busy doing stuff we usually knock it off and go to bed about now. But, sometimes lately we go out back and sit in the hot tub and relax before we go to bed. Would you like to sit in our hot tub?"

"I don't have a swim suit."

"If nudity will bother you we can wear t-shirts or leave our undies on, but usually we just strip down and get in."

"All of you?"

I answered, "No. John has never been here when we used the hot tub. His first night here was last night and everyone was so tired we all just went to bed."

"Is it warm?"

It's on a timer. It came on almost an hour ago. By now it's a hundred degrees. Interested?"

"Bubbles?"

"You can control the switch." Sandy said.

"May I see it?" Donna asked.

Sandy, Karen and I got up and led Donna to the back door. I turned on the outside lights and she saw the tub and the privacy fence.

"You leave the lights on?"

"One." I shut the flood lights off and turned on the small 25 watt yellow light at the corner of the house.

"Ok. I'm in. Let's do it!" She stepped past Karen and opened the door. Outside she noticed hooks on the wall, lifted her blouse up and off and hung it on a hook. Sandy, Karen and I picked hooks and did the same. Sandy was first into the water and she helped Donna get in. 

The bubbles helped us all relax. After a few minutes Donna asked, "Where are John and Janice?"

Sandy answered her. "John made some things up today. Janice is talking to him and seeing if he's willing to learn and grow or not."

"May I take a stab at what he made up?" Donna asked.

"Yes. I would be interested in what you think."

Donna shut off the bubbles. It got very quiet and she said, "You all are a family. When Bill got hurt you saw how deeply it impacted John. Karen brought him home last night and tended to the wound in his heart. She did it by treating him the way every good man wants to be treated. When he woke up this morning the only way he could wrap his head around last night was to believe he was in love with Karen."

We nodded.

"I know what I'd do if I was Janice. I'll rip his clothes off and fuck him until he cried for mercy. That would confuse him more. In the morning I'd have Sandy take him on and then I'd have Pete talk to him."

"I'm Nick."

"You're as much Pete as he was. I loved your Dad. Sandy told you that we spent time together when her Dad was dying. That's true. We also spent time here while I was loving Pete. I think Doctor Palmer in Scottsbluff, Pete and I were the only ones who knew his heart was worn out. I loved your Dad, Nick, in every way a woman can love a man. I knew then that I wasn't the only woman who loved him or bedded him. I'm not at all surprised that his son is a lover as well."

"What would you have me say to him in the morning?"

"John, you have only two choices. Number one, you can join the family and love all the women in the family or, number two, you can leave the family and not have all of us in your life at the level of intimacy I think you really want. You have until Monday morning to decide. Possessiveness is not allowed. I'd say that to him and then leave him alone to think about it. Send him home for the day. Tell him to do his laundry, clean his place, visit his parents... but stay away from all of you while he thinks. Tell him to visit Bill between four and five. I'll be there and I'll let him stay in with Bill the whole hour."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Karen said.

"I'll go check on Janice and John. If they aren't in bed I'll talk to Janice." Sandy said. She started to get up and looked at me and then at Donna.

"Donna, if you want in, you have my vote." She got out and went inside the house.

Donna looked at me and then at Karen. "Just like that?"

"Sandy has known you longer than any of us. I trust her with my life. If you want in, you have my vote." I said.

"And mine."

"That's three votes. How many does it take?"

"All of them. You need Janice's vote. Bill and John have no vote yet. John has been offered in, but obviously he hasn't decided. We had planned to offer in to Bill but he got hurt before we offered."

"I spoke with Bill. It wasn't fair because he was dopey but he told me the reason he cut his hand off was that he was distracted and not watching what he was doing. He was thinking about kissing Karen and seeing her breasts."

"I'll show them to him in the morning."

"Is there an initiation once the voting is over?"

"It hasn't been discussed."

"I need sleep and I want to be held. Will it be Ok if I sleep with Nick?"

Sandy stepped back outside and said, "What's this I hear about someone sleeping with Nick?"

"Donna just asked if that would be possible."

"Can I sleep with Karen?"

"I would be happy to share my bed and body with you." Karen answered.

"John and Janice are in her room and the sounds coming through the door are grunts and squeaks. Phase one is in operation. I'll do phase two early in the morning."

"My phase will happen after breakfast." I said. I got out of the hot tub and helped Karen and Donna out. Karen wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. When the kiss ended she kissed Sandy and took her off to Karen's room.

I dried Donna and walked her up to the big bedroom. We showered to rinse the chemicals off us and then we went to bed. She commented on how much she liked the changes we made to the bedroom and bathroom.

Standing beside the bed I kissed her, pressing against her and allowing my erection to press against her without restraint. When the kiss ended she was crying.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't ready for that."

"You weren't ready to be kissed?"

"I was ready to be kissed, but not like that. Every man kisses differently. Line up all the men I've ever kissed and blindfold me I can kiss each one and tell you who it is... except you and Pete. You felt exactly like Pete when we kissed. You even smell like Pete. I wasn't ready for that."

"I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything. Just push me onto the bed and join me! I haven't been in bed with a man since I was in bed in this room over a year ago. I want to he held."

I pushed. It didn't need to be hard. She was willing. I got in beside her and held her. A minute passed, then two.

"Are we going to mate?" She asked.

"Up to you. I cannot love you more than I do. Holding you feels really good. We can sleep and join in the morning, if you like. For tonight, I am here for you. One night soon I hope to be with you for my pleasure focus but tonight I'm here for you."

She shifted around until she was on top of me, face to face, and we kissed. After a few more kisses she rolled us over and I was on top of her. Her legs opened and I slid into her without any effort at alignment. It was as if my cock had been there before and knew the way home. I pushed and she moaned. I pushed again and she lifted her legs and aimed her hips. We made soft noises as we joined and slowly moved to enjoy each other. I tilted her hips by changing the position of her legs.

"Yes, Honey, right there! Oh yes!"




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 02



Inside her was a ridge that she and I could feel and enjoy together. At the proper angle it got us both and demanded the pace and intensity of our thrusts. 

"Soon, little girl, soon!" I said.

Her eyes opened wide and she kissed me with her entire body. As her tongue searched for my tonsils I filled her with my seed. My body shuddered and my cock pulsed over and over. Her body stiffened and her hands held my arms as her nails dug into my flesh. I didn't care.

When we calmed she said, "You knew."

"What did I know?"

"Pete told me I was the only woman he had ever said that to."

"Said what?"

"Soon, little girl, soon!"

"Did I say that?"

"Yes! You kiss like Pete. When you are inside me it's just like it is Pete! Younger, stronger but still it's Pete. Then you say those words. I love you Pete Nick. I've loved you for years and now I get to love you for the rest of my life."

She snuggled against me and went to sleep. She felt so good pressed to me that it was very much like we had done it a hundred times already. I fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.

When I woke Donna was beside me. I slowly pulled the covers away from us and slower still worked my way down on the bed until I was next to her pussy. I opened her legs and gently ran the tip of my tongue along the edge of her slit.

"Eat me Pete. Eat me every morning for the next hundred years!" I realized she was awake. I ate. I sucked, drank of her nectar, played with her lips, probed into her and slowly pushed her toward an orgasm. She lifted her legs, held them with her hands, lowered them and put her feet on my back and made the most delightful noises the entire time.

When her body trembled all over I sucked on her clit and she stopped trembling. She shook and then arched and screamed. It reminded me of Sheena of the jungle screaming. I expected to hear elephants and lions answer her scream.

Instead the bedroom door opened and Sandy said, "That was great! The whole house shook! Breakfast will be on the table in fifteen minutes. Phase one and two are complete." She closed the door and left us.

We used eight minutes before we moved. Donna kept having after shocks and saying things like, "Nick is better than Pete and Pete was the best ever."

In seven minutes we were up, showered, shaved, dried and dressed. We walked into the kitchen as Sandy and Janice put food on the table. I sat next to John. We all ate and all talked about everything except sex and family. We even talked about the weather. Karen took Donna off to work. I sent Sandy and Janice upstairs to the office to check the emails and things for the BC.

"John, we need to talk."

"Ok. Am I in trouble?"

"John, you have only two choices. Number one, you can join the family and love all the women in the family equally or, number two, you can leave the family and not have all of us in your life at the level of intimacy I think you really want."

"I'm confused."

"I know. Yesterday morning you thought you were in love with Karen. We all saw it. Now you've been loved by all three women and your head is spinning. Your choice is simple. Complicated would be to choose which one to love. Your choice is to love all of them, or none. It's a package deal. You have until Monday morning to decide. Possessiveness is not allowed. For today, you aren't going to work. I want you to go home for the day. Do your laundry, clean your place, visit your parents... but stay away for the day. Visit Bill between four and five. Donna will be there and she'll let you stay in with Bill the whole hour."

"Who will handle the yard? Bill and I both gone?"

"I'll get by. By quitting time I'll still have both hands and my head. Go home." He just sat there. "Now, John. Go!"

He went.

I went upstairs and told them to stop working. We went to the BC and Karen was opening up when we arrived. As we walked in she said, "Donna wants into the family. Do you know what she said to me? I will eat all your pussies every night if I can have one night a month with Nick."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sandy said.

"No! It isn't fair. She needs more than one night a month with Nick." Janice said.

Sandy laughed. "Of course she gets more than one night! I was talking about getting eaten every night. That sounds wonderful."

"How about at lunch time? Does that sound good to?" I asked?

"No. The hospital's too far to drive." Karen said.

When the laughter died down we were open. I cleaned up out in the yard and opened the gates. Mark Nielson drove in at about nine-thirty and parked his truck at the back of the yard. He walked up to me and said, "I spent four summers working this yard. I'm here to help. I'll be here until one and then Frank McGill will take over. We'll be here like that all week. Understand?"

"Yup. Thanks. I'll be in the office if you need me."

"No other instructions?"

"Yeah. One. Be careful of that saw."

Frank McGill did arrive just before one and Mark just got into his truck and left. I got a lot caught up and visited Frank three times. Once, I took him a Coke.

"I 'preciate the Coke, Boss but is that just a way to check up on me?"

"Yup. You came in an empty truck. I want you leaving the same way."

"If I thought you meant that I'd already be gone. I heard what happened to Bill and I knew I wanted to help. He and John taught me everything Pete didn't about working with wood and concrete. They are my friends. Pete was too and that transfers to you, Boss."

"You're married now aren't you?"

He stood taller and said, "Yup! And she's seven months gone, too."

"I'd feel better if you brought her with you. From now on the baby is in charge of when it comes out. I'd feel better of she was close enough you could take her to the hospital in a hurry."

"She understood about me needing to be here and she is a little worried."

"Call her right now. Have her pack her hospital bag and I'll send Sandy out to get her. You can go home together and come back together tomorrow."

"OK. Thanks." I walked back towards the doors. Just as I got to the doors he called out to me, "You're a lot like Pete, you know?"

"Thanks."

Inside I spoke to Sandy and gave her the keys to the truck. She kissed me and left. Karen and Janice took turns at the register. We were pretty busy all day. Folks bought stuff and talked to us about Bill. He would have been surprised at how many people thought of him as a friend.

By two-thirty Sandy was back. We set up a picnic table in the shade of the yard and put a comfortable chair beside it. An ice chest, a radio, sodas and water were put where Sue could easily get whatever she wanted. After she sat down and looked comfortable Janice came out with a small paper bag.

"Sue, this is for you. Sometimes men get focused and can't hear well. If you need someone to hear you, use this!" She handed the bag to Sue, who looked inside and laughed.

"Frank, if you hear this noise stop what you're doing! I need you." She reached into the bag and pressed the button on top of the air horn. We all jumped and then we all laughed.

We didn't hear the horn again. Sue didn't push the button.

At five business started to slow down. At five-thirty I sent Sue and Frank home. I locked up the yard. At six Karen closed the front door and turned the sign to "CLOSED."

By six-fifteen we were on the road to the hospital. I thought about getting one of the four door trucks. I resolved in my head to make some calls the next day.

When we walked in Donna was waiting for us. She looked worried instead of happy.

"The pastor and five deacons are in there with Bill and John. It sounds like fire and brimstone to me."

"Thanks for the warning." I walked past her and on to Bill's room.

I opened the door to hear the Pastor say, "Having sex with more than one woman will get you a ticket to Hell!"

"I'm surprised to hear that." I said. He turned toward me and said, "You already have your ticket!"

"How do you know? Are you the conductor on the train to Hell?"

"You'd better take me serious young man!"

"Ok. I will. Have a seat. All of you. We might as well be comfortable while we talk." Three of the men went out and brought back chairs that they promptly sat in. They obtained no chairs for Sandy, Janice or Karen. 

"Ladies, you will need to get your own chairs. It seems the men are afraid to treat you as children of God." All three turned and left the room. The pastor started up again.

"The Bible tells us God's will. It says..." I held up my hand.

"It would be unfair to the women if you said something powerful and significant and they were not here to hear it. Let's wait for them. Ok?"

When Janice came in carrying a chair I stood and helped her with it. When she sat, so did I. A few seconds later the door opened again and Sandy and Karen came in. I helped them. No other man stood or helped. When they were seated, I sat.

"As I was saying..." 

"Excuse me again pastor but I need some information. I haven't been in your church since I was a boy but as I remember when my mother entered a room the men stood. When your wife entered a room, the men stood. If a woman needed a chair a man gave up his chair and found another. Why are you treating these women differently?"

"They are fornicators!"

"Define the word for me, would you?"

"They have sex with a man they are not married to."

"And how do you know that?"

"I married you and Sandy but not the others."

"Did any of you give Sandy, a married woman, a chair? No. So your collective behavior has nothing to do with marriage. It must have something to do with sex. How many of you have seen pictures of Janice having sex with anyone? Or Karen? Or Sandy?"

None of them moved.

"Have you seen or heard any of them having sex with anyone?"

Again, none of them moved.

"John admitted that he has had sex with all three." The pastor said.

"One witness and no evidence. Doesn't the Bible demand more than one witness? Don't the courts of the United States demand more than one person standing up and saying "I did it?"

"This is not a court."

"Good. So one witness if enough?"

"Yes."

"When I was a senior in high school in this town I had sex with the woman who is now known as Martha White. The pastor's wife."

"Not true!" He shouted.

"One witness and no evidence? No. I have evidence. Bring Mrs. White here and have her examined by a nurse or doctor of your choice. She has a scar that only someone who had been intimate would ever have seen. I can draw a picture of it on Sandy and we can compare. That's more evidence than John can provide."

All eyes went to John.

"John. Do any of these women have a tattoo, a scar that you saw or felt? Is there some way you can tell us something so we know you had sex with all three?"

"No. It was dark!"

"So, no evidence only his statement. And, you believe him. Have any of you ever heard a man brag about something sexual he did with his wife or girl-friend? Ever?"

They nodded, except the pastor.

"Really pastor? You never watch television? On some of the talk shows people talk about what they say they've done. Almost every day people tell Jerry Springer about the numbers of people they have screwed. You've never seen or heard any of that?"

"I have, but I didn't believe them."

"What reason do you have for believing John?"

"He's never lied to me."

"Have I?"

"Not that I know of."

"But you don't want to believe that I know about the scar on your wife, that I know exactly how it got there. I think, pastor that you are confused. May I ask you another question?"

He nodded.

"If you boil down the Bible to it's message essence what one word is that message?"

"Love."

"Love one another. Love one another even as I have loved the church. God is Love."

"Yes."

Where in the Bible does it say limit your love? Only have two children because two is all you can love? I cannot find anything in there that says to limit my love. Bill is my employee. Can I love him? Yes! How do I know? Because I'm doing it. Are you doing it?"

"Yes! We're here because we want to save his soul."

"By attacking him in his hospital room? By telling his best friend he's going to Hell? I don't see that as loving either man. What have you done for John in the last ten years?"

"We have invited him to church events many times."

"When I was at college there was a religious group on campus and I went to a few of their meetings. At the first one three of them sat with me and got to know me. They discovered I needed a roommate or a smaller apartment. They found me one. They asked about dating, meeting women. I told them I was taken and that Sandy and I would be together as soon as I could arrange it. They didn't intrude. Have you done anything to find John or Bill a woman they could marry and be happy with?"

"No. I didn't know that was what they wanted."

"How many men have you known who liked being alone? Any of you?"

They didn't respond. "I didn't think so."

"How many men in the Bible were men of God and had sex with more than one woman?"

"I don't know a number." The pastor said.

"Is it bigger than one? Two?"

"I don't know!"

"Is it at least one? Maybe Abraham? Perhaps David?"

"Yes!"

"I get that you don't like any of us loving each other. I wonder, Pastor, if you'd mind naming the people who attend your church that you love?"

"I will not!"

"Because some of them are women?" I pointed at Mark Towland. "Do you love Mark's wife? How about his seventeen year old daughter? Do you love her?"

Mark leaned forward and said, "Yes, pastor, do you love my wife and daughter?"

"Wait! Pete is twisting everything! I love everyone, but not in a sexual way."

"Ever been alone with Mark's wife? I wonder what happened. He loves her Mark."

"I'm out of here! Don't count on my being at church on Sunday either." He got up and walked out.

"Ok. Pastor, I'm done. What was it you wanted to say?"

"I believe that you will all go to Hell!"

"That may be true.  How is that your concern?"

"I am the pastor for this community. The spiritual well being of everyone is my concern."

"If a Jewish family moves in next week are they your concern?"

"Yes."

"They don't choose to follow your beliefs or rules. What will you do to them?"

"I will work to convince them that becoming Christian will help them get into heaven."

"If they choose to stay Jewish, will you punish them? Shun them? Be rude and discourteous to them?"

"No, of course not."

"You were rude and discourteous to these three women. Because of a rumor, an unsubstantiated accusation. You haven't even asked them if it were true. You passed judgment on three women, John and probably even on me because of an unsubstantiated accusation. If the Bible teaches Love and you do that, how will God judge you?"

"I am a good man."

"Except when you condemn people. Except when you jump to conclusions and brand people. Except when you use the power you believe you have to hurt people. I'll make an offer to you, to all of you. Come to our house on Saturday evening. I'll close the BC at five and be home to greet you at six. Bring your wives. We will have dinner together and discuss Love. We won't discuss sex. We won't invite anyone to have sex in our house. I have been studying Love ever since I was ten. My Dad thought it an essential part of raising me to be a responsible man."

"I don't think my wife will want to come to your house." The pastor said.

"If you are the head of the family I'm sure you can convince her to come with you. If you aren't then maybe she should give the sermon on Sunday."

"You are bating me!"

"No. I am inviting you. Saying No to an invitation is disrespectful and rude isn't it? I want to share my thoughts about Love with you and anyone you'd like to bring."

Sandy spoke up, "We can only have ten people come for dinner besides us. There just isn't room."

"Do you accept our invitation?" I asked.

The men looked at the pastor and he looked at each of them. "I will come and so will my wife."

Each of the others responded as an echo of the pastor.

"For now, I request you leave us and let our family love Bill back to health."

In less than a minute they were gone. I looked at John and I said, "John, do not take any of that personally. I was not and will not attack you. We love you. This was the pastor's first salvo in what he wants to have as a war."

"I never heard you like that," Sandy said. "You were on fire."

Janice said, "In the middle he called you Pete."

"I noticed."

"How do we win?" Karen said.

Bill said, "We already have. I have a family that loves me. John has a family that loves him. I love every one of you. I'm in. I want in."

"Me too." John said.

"Ok. From now on we need someone here with Bill all the time. We can skip the hours Donna is here, she'll alert us of any trouble."

"What trouble?" Bill asked.

"You think the pastor will leave you or this alone? I don't."

"His righteousness will cloud his thinking and he will want to get you to see the error of your ways. He's pretty sure that once these harlots get their claws into you, you will surrender to them and be condemned."

"I'd surrender right now, if I could."

"Give us a few minutes, would you?" Janice said to the rest of us. I stood and moved to the door.

"We'll be right outside. If I knock get presentable to the public quickly."

In the hall we sat in the ugly uncomfortable chairs.

John said, "Is he going to be Ok?"

"You've been kissed by Janice. Are you Ok?" Karen asked.

John paused for a moment and said, "He'll be fine."

Twenty minutes later she came out. "He's fine. I gave him an inoculation against hellfire and damnation. Ya'll go home. Send someone to relieve me in the morning."

Sandy gave her the company cell phone and said, "Anything happens or looks like it might, call us."

We kissed her and left. She went back in his room. In the closet she found a spare blanket and she used it to cover herself as she stayed on top of the covers that Bill was under.

Donna's car was parked in our garage when we got home. She was asleep in Janice's bed. Karen took John with her and Sandy led me to our bed. We slept. At seven I was up and made breakfast. Donna ate quickly and headed for the hospital. We told her about the cell phone and she smiled. I told her I would be by at five to take over.

When we opened the BC we were surprised. Not a single person came in until almost noon. Mark Towland was the one who came in. He came straight to the office.

"You know the pastor is out to ruin you."

"I'm not surprised. Nice response to Love isn't it?"

"He was on the phone most of the night. He threatened folks if they came in here and gave you money. Funding Satan, he called it."

"Thanks Mark. I'll see what we can do."

After he left I called a guy in Bridgeport and hired his guard dogs for two weeks. They were on site before three. We closed up and went home. I called Mr. Jenkins and told him what was going on. He wanted to attend dinner on Saturday.

We settled on a video and audio recording of the evening. He had a system installed in our home on Saturday morning. I was busy on the phone most of Friday. People wanted to know when the BC would be open. I explained that what the pastor had done was a threat against us and in order to keep my family safe I couldn't open the BC. I recommended they talk to the pastor.

On Saturday I got even more calls. Mr. Wilkins called to complain that he needed some supplies for his chickens and had to drive almost eighty miles to get them. I told him what was going on and I'm sure he called the pastor.

Saturday evening we put on a nice dinner. Standard fare, nothing fancy. I made sure we had wine available, beers, sodas and sparkling waters. The pastor was not the first to arrive but he and Martha were the first to knock on the front door. Donna stayed late at the hospital with Bill.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 03



 [The original two chapters of this story were submitted in 2008. The characters wanted an update, a continuance. Here is chapter three. Chapter four will be submitted before the fifteenth of Dec 2011. ]



At the beginning of the story Nick got a phone call from Sandy to tell him that his Dad, Pete, had died. He went home to find that dad left him the family business, a Builder's Center, a house and that Sandy lived in the house. He discovered that he had employees and in short order those employees gave him the love and respect they had reserved for Pete. He told Sandy about having loved her since high school. She confessed to having said "No" to every man who came around... while she waited for him to come back.

They married and took on the operation of the BC. Within months Sandy realized that she needed, they needed to include the other women who worked at the Builder's Center in the marriage. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, they did just that.

When they realized that the two other men who worked at the BC were lonely too one of them got hurt. He cut off his hand with the table saw. The family came together to care for him (Bill) and his working colleague John. By the time Bill was out of the hospital both men were invited into the family.

A rift between a local minister and the family resulted in the break-up of two of the congregation families. As Chapter three begins: John & Bill work the yard at the BC. Janice, Sandy, Karen and Janice were the original inside staff of the BC and are all married to Nick, John and Bill. Donna is also married to the three men and she is a nurse at the hospital. Jennifer was married to Albert and they were members of the congregation that had problems with the polyamorus family. Martha is divorcing the pastor of the congregation and intends to move her children (Matthew and Ruth) and herself into the family.

*****

I called our local Ford dealer and asked about a four-door pick up. The local dealer was Claude Craig who was my center for three years when we played football in high school. He found us a year-old F-250 four-door at a dealer in Scottsbluff. We worked out a deal. I paid him ten percent over his cost and gave him the same deal for six months on anything he bought from the BC. The next day he drove into the yard in my "new" truck. He was followed into the yard by Mrs. Craig driving their F-250. He and I did paperwork and Mrs. Craig went shopping.

The deal for buying the mayor's house finalized the same day Bill got out of the hospital. Sandy and I went to the realtor's office and did paperwork for an hour. It was lunchtime when we got back to the BC. Martha was sitting at Sandy's desk, learning that job and doing the parts of the job she had already learned. Martha wore a dress, a size or two larger than snug, in earth tones and slightly more coverage than necessary to be called modest. Jennifer was standing beside Karen at a cash register learning how to do that job. Jennifer was in a skirt and blouse, both modest with the colors a bit more vibrant that the soft earth tones of Martha's clothes. They had been employed for two weeks, ever since their husbands chose being right over being married.

Neither of them had been in bed with John or with me. Neither had spent the night in the hospital with Bill either. The night after we moved Jennifer into the house she asked, during dinner, "How do I get invited into this family?"

Every face at the table looked at me. I had a mouth full of Brussels Sprouts, so Sandy answered, "You decide you love everyone in the family. You make sure no one has a marriage contract with you and you have a job."

I'd finished chewing and swallowing, so I asked, "Do you love all of us?"

She nodded and said, "I think so." She paused and then said, "Yes! I love all of you."

I asked, "Are you married to anyone outside the family?" I smiled as I asked. We all knew the answers.

"Yes, Albert."

"Until that is resolved, you are our guest. I'm sure you can understand the need for closure and being squeaky clean about all the issues as well as some of the perceptions people may have." I said.

"I'll take care of filing, unless Albert has already filed for a divorce. I also need a job."

Sandy asked, "When you were married to Albert, did you like being a housewife?"

"At first, I did. But, after a while I felt used and not taken seriously. He made all the decisions except things like which laundry soap to buy. I felt more like his servant than his wife."

I asked Sandy, "Why did you ask her that question?"

"There are a lot of us living here. I think it would be great to have someone here, doing the laundry, cooking dinner for us, taking care of us so we all have the energy and time to take care of each other."

"If that job gets me into the family, I'll take it! Obviously, Albert doesn't want to be married to a whore, so I need a better job."

I said, "My vote is we accept her application for membership in the family on three conditions. Number one, she files for divorce this week. Number two, she does a great job of taking care of us and number three she never refers to herself as a slut, a whore or anything negative again." 

She started to say something and Karen said, "She also needs to learn how to do our jobs at the BC so we can have her for back-up."

"I accept your terms!" Jennifer said. 

I remembered that conversation as Sandy and I walked back into the BC. 

Jennifer had filed for divorce within twenty-four hours of our dinner conversation. Albert had not talked to a lawyer, much less filed, to our knowledge. The house was in great shape and dinner wasn't an issue. Jennifer left the BC an hour before closing, on the days she worked there, so dinner would be waiting for us when we arrived home. 

Everyone was busy. There were at least twenty customers in the store when we walked in. We waved at Jennifer, Karen, Martha and Janice and went to our offices. 

Sandy made sure John closed the yard early and went to get Bill from the hospital. Bill's hand was healing nicely, but not one hundred percent the way it was before. He would still work in the yard, but the power tools were no longer available to him. He had lost some of the feeling and some mobility in his hand. 

One of us had been at the hospital every day and every night since the pastor and the Fire and Brimstone Brotherhood had been there. The Brotherhood had been back once, only to discover they were not allowed in Bill's room, by Bill's request. Actually it was by Bill's insistence.

We had moved Jennifer into our house the night of the dinner when Albert left her. Her non-essential stuff went to John's house out in the country. Two days after the dinner Karen saw Martha in town and asked how things were going. Martha said she was leaving the pastor and looking for where she could go. The house they lived in belonged to the church, not them. We squeezed Martha in and temporarily her children went to live with her father on his ranch.

Just after closing, the day we got the mayor's house, I used the intercom, "Please come to my office."

As soon as they were all gathered I called John and Bill on the cell. "I have good news. Sandy and I signed the papers today and the house the mayor used to live in is now ours. We can move in starting this weekend!"

Bill's voice was heard from the cell, "Which we?"

Sandy spoke, "The wives of the family have already met and discussed this. For historical reasons the room Nick and I remodeled as the master suite is still the master suite. The wives agreed it's my bedroom. My old room is now Janice's room. The bedroom downstairs closest to the kitchen belongs to Karen and the other bedroom is a guest room. In the new house the big bedroom, downstairs, is Jennifer's. The other downstairs bedroom is Martha's. One upstairs bedroom is Donna's and the other one is the guest bedroom. The basement needs to become bedrooms for Martha's kids and storage. Organized storage."

Bill asked, "What about John and me?" 

John asked, "And Nick?"

Sandy put her hand on my thigh and said, "There are eight bedrooms to choose from. Pick one. Please don't pick the same one all the time. Listen to your heart and the signals we give you. You'll probably never need to sleep alone for the rest of your lives."

John asked, "Where do I put my stuff?"

"I moved most of my stuff into the basement." I said. "Since we now have two houses we can put some things in both basements and still have room for the kids rooms. That way whichever house we sleep in has clothes and things for us."

Karen said, "In every closet of Pete's house we already have clothes for Nick. We can easily expand that to include clothes for Bill and John, too."

Sandy asked, "Could you boys build extra closets in both houses? And shelves for storage in the basements?"

"Of course we can!" John said. 

I said, "Ladies, Sit down with any of us and work out a design for what you want in your rooms. Bill, John and I will build whatever you want. We'll also build storage in the basements for all of us."

John asked, "Are we going to the new house? I've never been inside."

"Good idea." I said, "How about we call and order food delivered and we meet at the new house? We can start measuring for rugs, curtains and whatever after we eat."

After one loud minute of discussion Sandy called to have Chinese food delivered. She reminded Mr. Wong that we just bought the mayor's old house and he should deliver there and not to our other home. It worked. Ten minutes after we arrived Mr. Wong's sons delivered three bags of Chinese food.

When the mayor, ex-mayor, left town he was in sort of a hurry. He had hoped to leave town unescorted by the police. As it actually happened his wife and kids left town after he became incarcerated, awaiting trial. They took personal belongings and almost nothing else. We got the house essentially furnished, including a new gazebo in the back yard.

When the Chinese food arrived we found plates, flatware and everything else we needed waiting for us. We got Bill into the house and John went to the market and bought beverages for the house, bringing back milk, sodas, teas and coffee. We sat at the big dining table and ate. It was great having Bill back with us. As we ate I called Donna at the hospital and invited her to join us in her new home.

She arrived a little after eight. She said it took her fifteen minutes less to get to the new house. She ate and Bill sat with her. The rest of us toured the house and started making plans. Our first home was built in the early fifties. The new house was built in the late sixties. Mr. Wilkins and crew had painted the first house blue-gray with white trim. The mayor had his house painted a soft brown with a cream colored trim.

I was in a bedroom with Martha and Karen measuring when Martha said, "This is confusing! We need names for the houses. I called the other house Pete's house a minute ago. I don't want to keep calling this the mayor's house."

Sandy heard her and called out, "I like calling the other house Pete's house."

Karen said, "I would like all of us to meet out in the front yard, please." She smiled and led the way. We all followed. Following Karen was a treat as she swayed her hips with her walk. John and I stopped and got Bill and helped assure his safety as we went out in the front yard.

Karen got all of us to face the house and then she said, "Ever since the mayor had the house painted I've thought it looked like a gingerbread house!" As she said it we all could see she was right. We owned a gingerbread house! We owned Pete's house and the gingerbread house!

We all agreed it was the perfect name. Back inside we sat at the table and talked. A shopping trip was planned so wives could buy what they needed for the gingerbread house. Martha, Jennifer and Donna decided that since they would be living in a gingerbread house they would decorate it with eyelet and lace curtains and bed skirts. Each woman would pick colors from the BC for her room and all of us would paint before moving them in. Martha would confer with her kids and get their input on colors and things for their rooms.

John asked if the bedrooms would be so feminine that he would be uncomfortable being in them. 

Donna answered, "Mine'll be country comfortable and look even better with your work boots parked beside the bed." John smiled and the issue was handled, for the moment.

On the shopping trip to Scottsbluff queen-sized beds would be ordered, with bedroom furniture of each wife's choosing. We were just about ready to go to Pete's house and sleep when I saw Jennifer standing in the kitchen all by herself. I stepped up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. Feeling her warmth and the pressure of her breasts against my arms I realized I was willing to stand there with her a long time.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I was thinking about cooking for us in this kitchen." She turned and faced me, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. As her warm, soft lips pressed on my lips I knew I had already given in, no matter what she wanted. She said, "The stove is too small. The fridge is too small. There's no disposer or dishwasher. There isn't enough light."

"At work tomorrow, order what you need. You are the queen of the kitchens. While you're at it, get what Pete's house needs too. If either house needs a contractor call Carl." I kissed her again and went to talk with Bill.

When we loaded up to go home Sandy sat next to me and said, "You did it again."

"What?"

"You told Jennifer to get whatever she needs for the kitchens. No one has ever trusted her like that! She came to Janice and I and asked us what she should do."

"You told her to order what she wants, didn't you?" I asked.

"Yes, after we explained how you and Pete operate. She didn't know Pete. She knew Albert. Albert micromanaged their home and her. You trust her. Do you have any idea what it will cost to update both kitchens?" Janice asked.

"No idea. If I have to raise the rent for the tenants to pay for it, well..."

She hit me. She told me it might cost ten thousand dollars. I asked if she wanted a check or cash. She laughed and hit me again.

When we got home Martha collected the mail and we all went into the house, turning on lights, talking and starting the evening getting-ready-for-bed rituals. Martha saw a letter addressed to her from the headquarters of the church her husband worked for. She stood in the dining room with the rest of the mail on the table and opened the letter.

A few seconds later John heard a thump coming from the dining room. He was in the kitchen. He rushed to the dining room and saw Martha on the floor. He loudly called out, "Help! In the dining room!" 

He got down on the floor and began checking Martha for damage and a heart beat. She had no visible damage and her heart was beating. She sputtered and started waking up.

Her eyes opened and John asked, "Are you OK?"

Martha looked at John and said, "I didn't think he'd do it." Her voice was a whisper.

Sandy was holding the letter in her hands and said, "The pastor, her husband, has charged her with adultery in a church court. She is likely to be branded an adulteress, if found guilty. The hearing is next week in Lincoln."

"If my Dad hears about this it will kill him." Martha said. She had John help her up off the floor. He didn't let go of her.

Sandy asked, "Is your Dad's name Jeremiah Wilkerson?" 

Martha nodded.

"He's a cc on this letter. He got it today, just like you. He knows."

John said, "Call him. If you want, we'll fight this. We can go to Lincoln and fight this. You've never been unfaithful to anyone. Call your Dad and talk to him."

"I can't go to Lincoln and fight this! Me against the church?"

Sandy put her arms around Martha and said, "No! You won't go alone and it's not you against the church. It's our family defending us from lies. No one can attack any of us without all of us defending."

I wrapped my arms around Sandy, John and Martha and said, "Right now what needs to happen is for all of us to get some sleep. The BC won't run itself in the morning. Martha and I will do some research in the morning and find out how we defend the family from this. No one is to have sex with either Martha or Jennifer tonight or until this is settled."

"Why me?" Jennifer asked.

"First, your divorce isn't final. Second, you're a member of the same church. They could be charging you as well. Maybe the letter for you will come tomorrow. In any case we want to avoid problems if we can."

"Ok. I haven't had sex since way before Albert abandoned me, so tonight won't be anything new."

"Maybe you and I should share a room until after things get resolved." Martha said.

"Good idea." Sandy said. Martha made the call to her Dad and explained the situation to him. He was supportive and asked if he should attend the hearing, as moral support for her. She said, "Yes. Thanks, Daddy." 

That night John and Sandy slept in the master bedroom. Karen and Bill slept in Karen's bedroom. Donna, Martha and Jennifer shared the bedroom we were going to designate as the guest room. Dad kept a roll-away bed in the basement that we had moved into that room when Martha moved in. Janice and I shared her bed that night.

We all made it to bed at a reasonable hour and Janice made sure I knew she appreciated me once we were in bed. We tried to be quiet, but Janice seems to lose control and become vocal when someone eats her for more than a minute. I wasn't in much of a hurry and Janice screamed her pleasure... twice. When we were spooned and ready for sleep Janice said, "I'm glad I'm a wife. I wouldn't want your job."

"Job? I don't have a job."

"Yes, you do! We all look to you. You're the leader of the family. Not the Dad exactly, but like the Dad. Not the Boss either, but the Boss. The older brother, Dad, Husband, lover and I realized tonight, you're also sort of our spiritual leader, too."

"Too much! I'm just Nick. I love you all and work to have your lives be great. Please, no titles."

"How about Honey or Sweetheart?"

"Oh, I can live with either of those." She kissed me again and we slept. 

In the morning we were greeted by another Jennifer breakfast. Healthy, filling and it tasted great. We all told her how great she was, kissed her and we went off to work. Jenn stayed home and did her housekeeping things. We left her the older pick-up in case shopping for something was on her list of things to do.

Bill got lots of visitors his first day back. Karen heard him explain to a friend that he was staying with us for a while, while we waited for his healing to finish. The friend invited him to come for dinner. The friend was a single woman. Karen went into the office and spoke to Sandy then both came to see me.

Karen came through the door first and said, "We need your help. Bill was just invited to dinner by Sarah Dalby. I saw his face. He doesn't know what to do. He can't say, "Sorry, I'm sleeping with my three wives." I think you need to talk with him."

"What do you both think he should do?"

Sandy said, "I think he should accept. Go have dinner, get some pampering and find out how people feel about him. He's always been so shy that a few dinners and things and he might come out of his shell some more."

Karen said, "Sarah Dalby will do her best to get Bill into bed!"

"And, will he see her as a better choice than the three of you?" I asked. Both women shook their heads. "I don't think you have to worry. He knows what he has at home and he knows not to screw that up."

"Would you talk to him, please?" Karen asked.

"Ok, but you should talk to him as well. Persuade him to keep in mind what he already has and that dating outside the family helps the family look more like the rest of the community. Give him a hickie a few inches from his penis. He'll think twice before getting undressed for Sarah Dalby or anyone else!"




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 03



They thanked me, kissed me, unbuttoned a couple of shirt buttons and left my office. I called Bill to the office and we talked. He had been at a loss when Sarah came on to him. He told her that until he felt more comfortable driving he was riding with us everywhere he needed to go. He said that if the invitation included John then both of them could come for dinner some evening. Sarah said she would call him and set a date to have both men for dinner. 

I talked to him about the concerns Karen and Sandy expressed. I could tell he had some new feelings about Karen and Sandy caring so much about him. John called into the office and asked if Bill could come back and help him. He went immediately.

I went to Karen and said, "I just learned something about Bill. He thinks that we're loving him because he got hurt. He doesn't think you love him, that any of us love him. We're nice to him, take him to bed and treat him the way we do, all because he got hurt."

"He's wrong! I wouldn't do what I do if it was just out of feeling sorry for him! Oh wait! He doesn't know that. Bill has very limited experience with women. How do we get him to see that we already loved him before he cut his hand off?" Karen asked. 

It was quiet for almost a minute and I said, "Talk it over with your sisters. I know you can solve this." I went back to my office.

Later in the day Jenn came into my office and said, "Would you like a report?"

"Sure. I live to hear reports." I was only slightly sarcastic. She missed it or ignored it.

"I did some research and found everything I wanted for the kitchens. I went crazy and attended an on-line auction and bought two stoves, two refrigerators, two dishwashers and a set of restaurant quality pots, pans and utensils. Carl says he can do all the installations as soon as the equipment arrives."

"Ok. Is what you bought what you really wanted?"

She nodded and smiled, "Yes! 

I looked up at her and forced my mouth and face to be neutral, "So, how much did we spend?"

"With tax and delivery from Lincoln we spent five thousand three hundred forty eight dollars and change!" She showed me the paperwork. 

"A restaurant went belly up and we bought it?"

She nodded and said, "All the equipment is less than two years old! We got it all for twenty-two percent of retail!"

"Honey, I am amazed! We could open two restaurants. How much of the five thousand is for delivery?"

"Almost a thousand dollars. It's almost three hundred fifty miles."

"We need to go to Lincoln for Martha's trial. We can take our stake bed truck and save a chunk of the thousand by delivering it ourselves. Jenn, you did great! Thanks for handling it."

I got a kiss that intimately involved almost all of my body from the knees up and Jenn walked out of my office smiling. Martha came in and sat down, looking like she wanted to cry.

"What did you find out?" I asked.

"At the trial, they call it a hearing, we each can call a maximum of four witnesses. If we have physical proof it must be submitted three days before the trial. After the trial the church leaders have six months to render a verdict. During those six months I must attend church every Sunday and not participate in any church activities. If they have a bake sale I can't bake anything or buy anything. If they have a Fourth of July picnic I can't go."

"Ok. Is there an appeals process?"

"You mean if they decide to call me an adulteress can I appeal to someone above them?"

"Yes." 

She shook her head and said, "I can ask God, but the church court has no appeals process."

I sat with the information for a minute and said, "Ok. Jenn is getting things set up so while we're in Lincoln we can pick up our new kitchen appliances. You get three witnesses plus your Dad so that's four of us, counting you. Who do you want to go with you?"

"The only one in the family officially in the church, besides me, is Jennifer. She should go. My Dad volunteered to go, too. I'd like you to be there and Sandy."

"Ok. I don't see a problem with that, but you need to talk to them. I'm willing to go and testify."

"I don't want to go and I certainly don't want to testify!" Martha said.

"You have other choices. You could write them a letter and tell them you haven't done anything wrong and therefore don't need to testify. You could write and say, "Do what you will, God and I know I didn't do anything that fits within the definition of adultery." You could simply divorce your husband in regular court and ignore the summons. You could sue your husband for defamation of character. Or slander. We'd need to check with a lawyer to see which applies."

She sat in silence for at least a minute. She stood, came to me and gave me a kiss on my cheek and then left my office. We weren't in a great rush for her decision. She needed to talk the situation over with Jennifer and the rest of the family, including her Dad.

The table talk at dinner was intense and it was about the "hearing". At one point Bill said, "None of this would have ever been an issue if I hadn't gotten hurt." 

Everything at the table stopped. All of us looked at Bill and the room was quiet for a moment. Karen got out of her chair and went to Bill, got him to back his chair away from the table and sat in his lap.

She kissed his mouth and when she ended the kiss she said, "Bill, I have loved you since we were in school. You were so constant, so loving that I loved you and didn't even know I loved you. I had ideas about how being in love was supposed to be. Disney movies and romance novels had me thinking about Prince Charming and pirates and not about steady, reliable men who would focus on making life wonderful for me."

Bill opened his mouth to speak. Karen touched her finger to his lips and he closed his mouth.

"We had talked about inviting you both into the family. We had that meeting the night before you were hurt. When we saw you hurt all of us realized stronger than ever how important you are to us. You aren't an employee of the BC. You aren't someone we work with, you are someone we love!"

I spoke, "You getting hurt was like an electric shock to all of us, telling us we could not keep pretending to be normal. I think we would have gotten right here without you getting hurt. You and John would have been offered into the family. Jenn and Martha would have come face-to-face with their lives and their decisions and would have joined with us in love. In the next few months other people will see what we have and will want it, whatever it is. And, in the next few months other people will see what we have and want to attack us. You getting hurt was not and is not the catalyst for what's happening."

Sandy said, "It's Pete's fault. He started this. He loved all of us. He loved people all over. After he passed some of them came here looking for their monthly infusion of his love."

Bill said, "You're sure? I feel bad that Martha has to go to Lincoln and defend herself for loving us."

Martha said, "Bill, I'm not defending myself for loving all of you! I've been accused of adultery! I'm going because the charges are false. I've only had sex with one man in my life. One! And he's the one accusing me of adultery. I'm going to the trial and I'm going to tell the truth. God already knows I'm not guilty. I'm going to ask that the church court not only agree that I'm not guilty, but that they grant me a divorce so I am free to love all of you."

I thought about how powerful Martha was and how proud I would be to sit with her in the church court.

The doorbell rang. It surprised all of us. First because it was unexpected and second because we couldn't remember hearing it before. I went to the door and two men in dark suits stood on the porch. I didn't know either of them.

I opened the door and said, "Good evening, gentlemen."

"Does Mrs. Jennifer Parker live here?" The older of the two men asked.

"I don't know either of you. Around here people introduce themselves before anything else."

The older man said, "I'm sorry. I forgot my manners. I'm Michael Parker and this is Mark Thomas. We're from Casper, Wyoming and I'm related to Mrs. Parker."

"Have a seat there on the porch, gentlemen. I'll see if Mrs. Parker is here at the moment."

I went back inside and Jennifer whispered to me, "That's my brother. I have no idea who the other man is."

"Do you want... no. Are you willing to talk to them?" I asked.

"Sure, but not alone."

"Then all of you sit in the living room and leave open seats for them, but not together. I'll bring them into the living room."

I went back out and said, "Mrs. Parker is still here. She was having dinner with us. Come on in and you can speak to her in our living room." They both got up and followed me inside.

As they entered the living room Sandy said, "Welcome to our home. Have a seat." 

Michael Parker said, "We just need to talk to Mrs. Parker, not everyone."

Sandy said, "Please, have a seat. We have a policy in this home, no secrets. If you can't say it in front of all of us, you probably shouldn't say it at all."

He moved his hands in a motion that seemed to convey surrender and he sat down. The other man sat between Donna and Bill. Mr. Parker faced Jennifer and said, "Your husband has spoken to me often about the problem the two of you are having..."

"What problem?" Jennifer interrupted him to ask.

"You left him and have taken up with immoral people." Mr. Parker looked around the room as he spoke.

"Last time I saw my husband was here in this house. I had carried plates into the kitchen after we had shared dinner here and when I came back into the dining room he was gone. The last time we spoke on the phone he called me a whore and said I was not welcome in his home. I didn't leave him!"

"You took all your personal belongings from his home and have not even attempted to call him."

"Why would I? His exact words were, "You are not welcome in my home or anywhere I am, you whore! You're only supposed to love me and only me." If your wife Carolyn said those words to you wouldn't you think that was the end of your relationship?"

"My wife isn't part of this discussion. He told me that you wanted to have sex with other people. He says this is all about you wanting more sex."

Jennifer said, "He heard what he wanted to hear. That's not what was said. The dinner conversation was about loving more than one person. Imagine a family where all the children grew up with four mommas and four daddies. The kids would get lots of attention, lots of help with their homework, people to attend the school events and care for them when they were sick. When Momma Karen had a new baby she would have the support and assistance of Momma Sandy, Momma Janice, Momma Donna and three husbands. I agreed that that would be better than when my third child was born and Albert went off to work the next day, leaving me home to take care of two young children, a baby and my own healing. I agreed that the loving support of more than one husband would probably mean that when something needed doing I wouldn't have to nag to get it to happen. He heard all that and made it mean that I wanted to have sex with John, Bill and Nick!"

"The church doesn't agree."

"Then the church is failing it's members. Bill was in the hospital for three weeks. One of the people in this family was with him all the time. Just down the hall from Bill was Michael Cross, a member of Martha's husband's congregation. He got two visits in the six days he was in the hospital. Two visits totaling forty minutes. I'd rather be in this family than that congregation. Albert would rather be in the congregation. Now, why are you here and not Albert?"

"I thought perhaps I could talk some sense into you."

Jennifer smiled and asked, "How's it going, so far?"

"Not so well."

I asked, "Why did you bring Mr. Thomas with you?"

"As a witness."

"A witness in case Jennifer is asked to attend a hearing by the church?" I asked.

"I don't think it will get that far."

"Well, in case it does, please be aware that on the front porch there is a sign posted that states that things happening in this house may be video and audio recorded and that by entering to give up the right to expect anything you say or do to be private." John said.

"I didn't see any sign!" Mr. Thomas said.

"If you run a red light and get to court and tell the judge, "But I didn't see it" does that matter? The sign is there and you were on the porch for three minutes. Plenty of time to have read the sign." John smiled.

"He's still here as a witness." Mr. Parker said.

"Fine." Jennifer said. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

"Are you saying that you haven't had sexual relations with anyone besides Albert?"

"Is the question appropriate? What makes it Ok for you to even ask such a question of any woman?" Jennifer asked.

"I needed to ask."

Bill said, "I'll need your home phone number. I need to ask your wife who else she's had sex with, besides you?"

"You have no reason to ask her that!"

"You have no reason to ask Jennifer that same question. Do you have some evidence that she has been having sexual relations with someone since Albert abandoned her?"

"No."

I stood up and said, "Then I think you and Mr. Thomas are done here. You should drive back to Casper thinking about why you say we are all God's children on Sunday but don't act like family even on Sunday. Oh, and don't talk to your wives about living in a big family like ours. They may get to thinking about how great life could be with all that help and companionship."

Martha added, "And we may have a car or two in our driveway with Wyoming plates on them."

It took about two minutes to get them out the door and into the car they came in. We waved to them from the porch as they drove away. Back inside Jennifer said, "I love being in this family!"

The next day a letter came in the mail for Jennifer Parker. It was her invitation to a hearing in Lincoln. She called their office and said, "If you schedule my hearing the same day as the one for Martha it will save us lots of money and I'm willing to attend."

The voice at the other end of the line said, "These hearings are not scheduled at the convenience of those under review. The date and time of your hearing have been scheduled."

Martha's hearing was scheduled for the fourteenth of the month and Jennifer's was scheduled for the sixteenth.

By dinnertime that night the family had decided we'd be there and stay for both hearings. Jenn made calls and arranged for us to pick up our kitchen equipment on the seventeenth. 

The evening of the twelfth we were at the Gingerbread house doing prep before the painting started and a Dodge pick-up pulled into our driveway. I was scraping paint off a windowsill in the living room and watched a man about seventy get out of the truck. He was tall and slender, wore the boots, jeans and long sleeved shirt of a rancher and the look on his face was serious. He headed for our front door.

I called out, "We have a visitor!" Then I went to open the door. I opened it and the man said, "Evening. I apologize for not calling ahead, but I thought I needed to see for myself. I'm Jeremiah Wilkerson, Martha's father."

I opened the screen door and welcomed him into our home. The couch in the living room was covered with a sheet. I pulled it off and offered him a seat. I said, "Martha's upstairs. I'll get her for you."

"How about you and I talk first?" He asked.

I grabbed a hard backed chair and sat about three feet from him. "Ok. Let's talk."

"The stories I'm hearing are confusing to me. James tells anyone who will listen that Martha left him to join a cult! Further, he says it's a sex cult! I've known Martha all her life and that story doesn't fit with who I know her to be. I get here to town and I talk to people here and they say you and your family are great people. I got a haircut a little while ago, figuring the barbershop is the place to hear all the latest gossip. I heard about how one of your employees cut off his hand and all of you have been with him, supporting him, helping him heal. That doesn't sound like a sex cult. I want to know what is going on."

"Ok. I won't spend a minute telling you anything about what caused the rift between Martha and James. The dinner was audio and video taped. I'll set up the TV and DVD player and let you watch and listen. When you've watched, we'll answer any questions you ask."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Jennifer is making dinner and it should be ready in about an hour. Will you join us?"

"I don't want to put anyone out, but I do need a place to stay tonight. Is there a hotel or motel nearby?"

"You can stay with us. Queen sized bed, lots of towels, hot water and full access to the fridge. Oh, and a great breakfast in the morning."

"Ok, if you're sure it's not too big a bother."

I called out, "Jenn can you come to the living room for a moment, please."

She came out of the kitchen and smiled at our guest and me. "Yes, Nick."

"This is Martha's Dad. Did you make enough food that having him stay for dinner would not be a hardship?"

"Not a hardship at all. When I heard you say we had a visitor I looked out and saw his truck. When it was still here a couple minutes later I expanded dinner to allow for two more men. Janice and John have already moved things into a bedroom here so Mr. Wilkerson can have Janice's room at Pete's."

"Who's Pete?" Jeremiah asked.

"Pete was my Dad. All of us live in his house while we get this house ready for some of us. Pete died last year."

A TV and DVD were set up in what had been the mayor's old home office. I set Martha's Dad up in there and started the DVD. Jenn brought him water and iced tea. I went back to work on the windowsill. 

The door to the office opened and Mr. Wilkerson stepped out just as Jenn rang the triangle on the back porch. I would bet the triangle was decorative when the mayor lived in the house but it was an easy way for Jenn to call all of us for dinner. 

As he stepped into the dining room he asked Jenn, "Where would you like me to sit?"

Jenn looked at him and said, "If you were my Dad I'd want you next to me. Maybe the person to ask would be Martha." At that moment Martha came through the door and stopped. 

She whispered, "Daddy?"

He smiled and asked, "May I sit next to you?" As he asked I knew he was on our side. The video proved to him that Martha was the wonderful, strong woman he could be proud of.

They sat side by side and dinner was passed around the table. As things passed he asked, "Do you say grace?"

"Not like we did when I was young." Martha said. "When I first had a meal here in this family I was surprised at how they said grace. James sometimes took so long to say grace I needed to reheat dinner when he was done. Here the prayer is simple, but oh, so powerful. You turn to the person next to you and say, "Thank you." You don't elaborate. They turn and say "Thank you" to the next person and it goes all around the table. Then we all say "Thank you" at the same time."

"That's it?" He asked.

Sandy said, "When Pete was alive he taught me that prayer. We talked about it. When I say thank you to a customer in the store, I'm saying a prayer of gratitude they are in my life, doing business with us, helping me earn my paycheck, helping me buy the food I'll eat, pay for the roof over my head and a hundred other things. When I look at John and say "Thank you" it's a prayer of gratitude for all those other things and for all the special things that exist in our relationship."

"Simple and powerful. I like it." He looked into Martha's face and said, "Thank you."

Martha turned to Bill and said, "Thank you." When the thank you made it back to Mr. Wilkerson he looked at all of us and I saw his eyes were full. We all said, "Thank you" and picked up our forks.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 03



For a few minutes the noise at the table was mostly eating noise. Then John asked, "Mr. Wilkerson, if it's not prying into things that are private, why are you here?"

"Actually, I'm glad someone asked. I came here to find the truth. There are conflicting stories about why Martha and James are not together. I met with him and I met with members of his congregation. I got a haircut in town. Then I came here and asked Nick for the truth." He picked up his fork and took a bite. As he chewed John asked, "Well?"

Martha said, "If he believed I was an adulteress he would not sit here at the table with us. He would not share a meal with us. He would not pray with us." She faced him directly and said, "Thank you, Daddy."

He kissed her forehead and said, "I am proud of you. You are as strong as your Mother was. I'm sure she's proud of you up in Heaven, too."

Bill asked, "What did Nick tell you?"

"Nothing." Mr. Wilkerson looked directly at Bill and answered without much body language at all. "He showed me a DVD of the dinner you all had with James and his posse. It answered every question I had, except one. The answer to that question I have no right to ask, but they will ask in the hearing."

Martha nodded, "Have you had sex with any man other than your husband?"

He nodded.

Martha said, "No. In my life I have allowed one man inside my body for sex: James."

"I knew that was the answer. You know Matthew and Ruth miss you a lot and wonder why they are on our ranch instead of here. Can you come and explain it to them? Spend some time with them?"

John spoke up, "Mr. Wilkerson, we just bought a second house. This one. Nick, Bill, Carl and I are turning the basement into bedrooms for Martha's kids. We'll be ready for them to move in, in two weeks, maybe less. Because of the hearings we'll need to wait until a few days after the hearings to move them in."

"I don't understand. I thought you were giving her a place to stay until she sorted out her life and made some decisions." He took a breath. "You want her to stay?"

Janice answered him, "She was not born into my family, my birth family, but she is my sister. I guess you might call us sisters of the heart and soul. My life is better with Martha by my side. I want her close to me. I volunteer to help her nurture her children, teach them to be strong, loving people. Best place I know of for that is right here with us."

"Four mommas and three dads. It was on the video. What a wonderful gift to Martha's children. But, the church won't like it."

"The hearing is about the charge of adultery," Martha said. "Not about our living arrangements." There was determination in her voice.

"How do you prove a negative? Can you prove you haven't had sex with anyone except James?" Mr. Wilkerson asked.

Sandy asked, "Can you prove you haven't had sex with anyone except your wife in the past ten years?"

He looked at Sandy, then at Martha and said, "Nope. I haven't, but there have been times when either she was gone or I was away and someone might think it was possible."

I spoke up. "The hearing isn't about evidence. The hearing won't be about sex. James filed the complaint because he wants two things. He wants to tell the church, his community, that he no longer trusts Martha and he wants to be right. If he trusted Martha to live inside the vows they made when they married, he'd know she wouldn't break them. He's simply, publically, saying he doesn't trust her."

"We can't prove she is trustworthy. We will lose at the hearing." Mr. Wilkerson said.

I nodded my head. "They didn't even define adultery in the letter. Is it adultery if a man kisses a woman who isn't his wife? There are, I'm sure, men who consider it adultery if a wife dances in the arms of a man she isn't married to. Jimmy Carter said he committed adultery in his heart because he looked on a woman with lust. Is that the definition of adultery the church leaders will use?"

Martha asked, "Then, why go? James will get to be right. I will be branded an adulteress and publically humiliated if we go or not."

"Because if we don't go, if we don't protest, everyone can draw the conclusion that we agree or admit that the charges are true. Because standing up for what's right is what all of us were taught to do." Mr. Wilkerson said.

Sandy spoke up and said, "I think a letter to the church asking them to define the word adultery for the purpose of the hearing is appropriate. The same letter could be used to charge James with abandonment. Putting James to the task of justifying his actions not just attacking you."

"I walked out of dinner, not James. How can that be called abandonment?" Martha asked.

"It's not the walking away from dinner that is abandonment, it's what he did after. He made calls to the people in his congregation telling them doing business with us was funding Satan. When it came out, during dinner, you said he was not acting like a Christian, that if he didn't call everyone again and tell them he was wrong, you and the kids were leaving him. He didn't make the calls. You gave him the opportunity to be a leader and he declined. He abandoned his belief that the church and his life are about love. He abandoned his vows to you and to the church and now is attempting to put all of that on you. A synonym for abandon is renounce." Sandy stopped talking and took a drink of water.

Martha asked, "Sandy, would you help me write the letter?"

Sandy nodded, moved to where Martha was sitting and they hugged. Mr. Wilkerson watched and asked, "After the letter is written, can I offer you a ride to the ranch so you can talk to your kids?"

"Yes! I miss them so much it hurts!" She turned and faced Sandy and I, "I know I haven't worked at the BC very long, but can I have a few days off to visit my kids?"

I answered, "The BC will still be here when you get back. The family will still be here when you get back. When you're ready to come back, call and one of us will come get you."

Mr. Wilkerson spent the evening working with us on the changes we were making to the house. Martha gave him a tour and he made a couple suggestions for things the basement needed. At ten Jenn announced we all needed to head towards bed. Martha went with her Dad and gave him directions to Pete's house.

Early the next morning Jenn woke us and announced that breakfast would be on the table in fifteen minutes. Showers were mostly shared and people dressed for a day at the BC, except for Martha and her Dad. They dressed for the drive back to his ranch. At a little after seven everyone except Jenn loaded up in various trucks and headed out for their day.

Jenn cleaned up after breakfast and continued her work day. She changed the sheets on all the beds and started the first of six loads of wash for the day. As queen of the kitchens she used a laptop to keep track of what food we had available and if it was in Pete's House or the Gingerbread House. Since we hadn't actually moved into the Gingerbread House all that was there were beverages and fruit.

Sandy used email to send Martha a draft of the letter they would send to the church. By the time we closed the BC for the day Martha was at the ranch, four emails had been exchanged and the letter was ready to be printed and sent. It had been reviewed by Martha's Dad, Mom, Jennifer and me. I liked it. So did all the others. 

The letter offered the video of the dinner for both Martha's hearing and Jennifer's. It let the church know that we were treating both accusations as the same and were providing the same witnesses and evidence for both cases. The letter asked for the definition of "adultery" and "abandonment" to be used during the hearing. It also specified that both women pleaded "Not Guilty" to the accusations.

The letter was printed at the BC and at the Wilkerson ranch and sent separately from both places. After dinner everyone in the family looked at the letter and agreed it was proper and well written.

Bill asked, "Jennifer, what will you do if they decide to label you an adulteress?"

She hesitated, then answered, "Bill, I have already decided I don't care what decision they make. I'm going to the hearing to let them know that I do not accept the accusations as true or their authority to do anything to me. At the end of the hearing I plan to quit the church. I will quit because the church is treating both Martha and I in an unchristian manner."

Bill got up and made his way around the table to Jennifer. He helped her stand and he hugged her, saying, "I love you. I'm proud to love such a strong and powerful woman."

The rest of us voiced our support for her intention. John and Janice helped with cleaning up after dinner and the rest of us went to the Gingerbread House to do more work. Bill painted the walls of a bedroom with help from Sandy. I kept working on window sills that needed help. Donna worked cleaning the basement. Karen prepped another bedroom for paint. Each of us working toward a common goal and thinking our own thoughts about our family, the hearings, the two children we were about to have living with us and about love.

On the thirteenth I got a call at the BC from Mr. Wilkerson. "How about if I bring Martha with me and we meet you all in Lincoln? That way she can be with the kids a little longer."

"That will be fine, but she doesn't have to get my permission. I love her and she's already a part of the family, but I'm not in charge anywhere, except at work."

"I'm asking, not her. I want the extra time with her as much as I want her to be with her kids. I don't know what she needs to do inside the family, so I'm selfishly asking for you to make it Ok that I take her to Lincoln."

"I think that's a great idea. Let me call you right back, Ok? I need to check with Sandy about something."

"Ok."

I called Sandy on the intercom and she came to my office. "Have you made reservations for a place for us to stay in Lincoln?"

She shook her head and asked, "How many rooms?"

"One for you and me, one for Mr. Wilkerson, one shared between Martha and Jennifer. Three rooms with queen beds or bigger. Get back to me with the address so I can give it to Mr. Wilkerson. Ok, Honey?"

"I'll be right back." She hurried back to her office. 

Five minutes passed and she came into my office, kissed me and gave me a slip of paper with the name and address of the hotel in Lincoln. The note said that James was registered in a different hotel and it told me which one.

I called Mr. Wilkerson and told him which hotel he and Martha were registered in. He said he had made reservations at the Hampton Inn. I said, "James is registered there. We reserved rooms at the New Victorian for that reason."

He said he'd cancel their reservations and join us at the New Victorian. He then asked me to stop calling him Mr. Wilkerson. He said, "We're family. Martha and I have talked a lot about your family and how you all live. I'm Jeremiah or I'm Dad to all the adults in the family. To Matthew and Ruth I'm grandpa. Ok?"

"Great, Dad. We'll see you in Lincoln."

John serviced our stake side truck and fueled it. The next morning Jenn, Sandy and I would be on the road. At dinner John asked, "Who's in charge at the BC til you get back?"

I said, "No one needs to be in charge. I trust each of you to do the right thing at any moment. If there is an emergency, I have a cell phone."

Bill asked, "What qualifies as an emergency?"

Sandy smiled and said, "If someone cuts a hand off with a saw. A finger isn't an emergency."

Bill blushed and I said, "Bill, stay away from power tools while we're gone. See if we can go a few days with joy and laughter as the default rather than the pressure of "hearings", Ok?"

"Got it! We'll party while you're gone and send you the happy energy." Karen said. 

Janice smiled and said, "Tomorrow night I want Bill in my room, after we go out for dinner."

Karen said, "You're right! Jenn won't be here to cook. The food won't be as good as hers, but we can eat in a greasy spoon restaurant while they're gone!"

Bill said, "I know just the greasy spoon to visit, too."

John waited a few minutes and asked, "Jenn, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"No. Not that I don't want to, I do, but I want to honestly testify in the hearing that I haven't slept with or had sex with any man except Albert."

John smiled and asked, "The night you get back?"

"The night we het back I would love to spend the night with you. Are you sure?"

"And spend some time in the hot tub with me?" He asked.

"Only if you promise to do wonderful things with me while we're there." She was smiling.

Bill stood up and left the room. I watched and saw him find the cordless phone and dial a number. A few minutes later he came back smiling and asked Jenn and John, "You mind sharing the hot tub that night with Martha and me?"

I said, "I think that night the rest of us will sleep in the Gingerbread House, otherwise we may not get much sleep." Some laughter and some blushing seemed to just happen at our table. Jenn slept alone that night. Karen slept with me. Janice slept with John, Sandy slept with Bill. Donna was on the night shift.

Jenn was up and making breakfast before dawn. When my eyes opened Jenn was standing in the doorway to Karen's room looking at the two of us, naked in bed together. She said, "I want some of that." Then she turned and left us. Karen shared herself with me and we dressed together before breakfast.

John brought the stake side truck to the house and put our two suitcases in the back and lashed them to one side. We were dressed, fed and on the road before sunup. I drove with Jenn in the middle and Sandy at the passenger window.

We drove half an hour on country roads and then the rest of the trip on I-80. Seven hours driving later we were approaching Lincoln. We had talked about the changes to the houses and specifically about the changes to the kitchens. We had talked about the BC and ideas for changes there as well. Honestly, we had talked about almost anything to avoid talking about the hearings. I felt like any conversation about the hearings needed to include Martha. Jennifer started twice to talk about the hearings, but stopped herself and said, "It isn't right unless Martha is with us. All talking about it will do is get me riled up, not solve anything."

We found the New Victorian Hotel and parked the stake side quite a ways from the building. Since all we brought with us was some tie-downs and our two suitcases I wasn't too worried about theft. After we parked I removed the distributer cap and brain. The truck could still be stolen, but not easily.

After we were settled in our rooms Sandy asked Jenn, "Have you given any thought to the invitation John gave you?"

"You mean the one that implies he wants to have sex with me and wake up the next morning in bed with me?" Sandy and I nodded. "I've thought a lot about it. My mind has been set on fidelity ever since I was in high school. My church and the culture told me that you stay a virgin until you get married and then you only have sex with your husband for the rest of your life. Then I find out that people can and do love more than one person. It's not fiction in a book. I found I could love you. I could even live with all of you." She paused, thinking.

She said, "Then John asked the question. I had to face the reality of saying I love you includes actually loving each of you. Focusing on having your lives work for you, for us and for the family. It's not an everything except. It's everything. Yeah, I've been thinking about it."

I asked, "And?"

"I'm a little worried that John will be disappointed. I'm not a cute, thin nineteen-year-old with perfect boobs. I don't think I ever was."

Sandy smiled and said, "I worried about that, too. When Nick came back to town I was already past twenty-five. He convinced me he loved me, not my boobs, my hair-do, my boots or my tight jeans. John wants you to know he loves you... all the way. As a woman, as a sister, a wife, a girl-friend, even as a mother."



Consequences, Sandy Ch. 04



 [It's a good bet that this story will not make sense if you haven't read chapters 1, 2 and 3. This is a story about a polyamorus family. They may not live is a world that looks much like the world you live in. It's Ok. They live in a fictional world. The laws of Nebraska, Washington or Germany do not necessarily apply.]

*****

"I'm not his mother!"

"When Martha brings her kids to the house you become Momma Jenn. I become Daddy Nick. John becomes Daddy John. Every one of those changes changes all our relationships with all the other adult-to-adult relationships in the family. Being my wife changes your relationship to Sandy, Karen, Donna, and Janice."

"I'm wondering if Martha has thought about all of this." Jenn said.

"I'm sure she's thought about some of it, but perhaps not all. I haven't wrapped my thinking around being a Daddy. I know that. I have no experience being a Dad or having a child see me as a parental figure. Having a Dad doesn't qualify me for the job of being one anymore than having had my appendix out qualifies me to be a surgeon. We are all into new territory and we need to lean on each other to learn how to be who we now are."

"John was introducing me to thinking about being his wife, his lover, his sister and..."

"I don't think so." Sandy said. "John was letting all of us know that as far as he's concerned he accepts that he is loved, accepted and it's not just because Bill got hurt. He was letting you know that his interest in you goes beyond being your housemate, brother and fellow worker at the BC. He sees you as a lover and wife, too."

"I don't think he's had a single thought about a week from now he's going to be Daddy John." I said.

"Even if he hasn't thought about all that, he certainly has prompted me to think about all of it." Jenn said.

"And probably Bill's call to Martha got her thinking, too." Sandy said.

Our rooms were across the hall from each other. Martha and Jennifer in 244 Jeremiah in 246 and Sandy and me in 245. We had dinner together in the hotel dining room. I noticed we were all more than a little somber and serious as we started the meal. When the salads were gone and the main meals served Martha said, "We're acting like the church leaders have some power over us. I know I haven't done anything wrong. Each of us knows we just want to be free to love each other. The old men who will presume to judge us live in a world we have already rejected. We will attend their hearing simply to declare that we haven't done anything wrong. We haven't even done anything illegal."

"So, maybe we should talk about what being something other than normal looks like, starting right after the hearings." Jenn said.

Jeremiah asked, "Will you live with the family and accept that you are wife to Nick, Bill and John?"

As Martha answered, "Yes" Jennifer nodded her agreement.

Jeremiah asked, "Will you teach Matthew and Ruth to call them Daddy Nick, Daddy John and Daddy Bill?"

"Yes." Martha said, "And Momma Karen, Momma Sandy, Momma Donna, Momma Janice and Momma Jenn! What lucky children to have so many people loving them!"

Jeremiah looked at me and asked, "Is there going to be a wedding, bringing Martha and Jennifer into the marriage?"

"There can be. Why?"

"I'd like to be invited. I think Martha's mom would like what you are doing. It may not be the way we were raised but it seems more in line with how I read scripture than how the church does things. If I were a few year younger I might want to think about joining in a family like yours, too."

Sandy touched his arm and said, "In case you don't know it, you're already in. Your Grandpa to the kids and Dad to Martha. With your permission, I'd be honored to call you Daddy as well."

"What about your real Daddy?" Jeremiah asked.

"He died some years ago. I lived for a while with Pete, Nick's Dad, and I felt like he was my second Dad. He died last year. I think maybe I should warn you... if you accept you probably will become Daddy to Jennifer, Janice, Karen and Donna too."

"I accept."

The somber tone of the evening had lightened and we went for a walk together after finishing dinner. 

Early the next morning we met together and walked the three blocks to the Church for Martha's hearing.

When we arrived James, Albert and three other men were sitting outside the room where the hearings would be held. Only one empty chair was left in the area. None of the seated men got up and offered Martha, Jennifer or Sandy a chair. I went back to the reception area and picked up a chair, bringing it back to the waiting area. When I put it down for Sandy or Jennifer none of the other men got up. Jeremiah went to the reception area and got another chair. He and I stood. Our ladies had chairs.

The letters had specified the starting time as ten o'clock. The door to the room opened at quarter after ten and we were invited inside. The room reminded me of a courtroom. There were three tables. One table for the five men already seated at that table and two smaller tables facing the five judges. The two smaller tables had a single chair at each table. Behind the two smaller tables were eight folding chairs.

James sat at one of the smaller tables. Albert and three other men sat behind him on folding chairs. Martha saw what James had done and she sat in the other single chair at the other smaller table. Jennifer, Sandy and I sat with Jeremiah on the folding chairs behind Martha.

When everyone was seated the judge in the middle of the five said, "This hearing is called to determine if the allegations of adultery charged against Martha Simmons, wife of Pastor James Simmons are valid. This is not a court of law it is a simple hearing held to reach the truth about the allegations. James, do you have your witnesses all here and ready to proceed?" He nodded and said, "Yes, we are here are prepared."

The judge looked at Martha and asked, "Mrs. Simmons, do you have all your witnesses here and ready to proceed?"

Martha said, "We are here Sir, however we did not receive a response to our request for the definitions of adultery and abandonment that we requested. May we have those before this hearing goes any farther?"

"Yes. Adultery, for this hearing, is the act of a married woman having engaged in sexual activity with a man or men with whom she is not married. Abandonment is not the subject of this hearing and therefore that definition is not needed."

Martha nodded. The judge sitting at the end of the table closest to James asked, "James, you are the husband of Martha Simmons and you are the one alleging that she has committed adultery. Correct?"

James nodded and said, "Yes."

"What proof do you offer for this allegation?" The judge asked.

"The testimony of these witnesses, Sir." He said, turning and pointing at the four men seated behind him.

The first witness called was Albert, Jennifer's husband. He sat in the chair between the smaller tables, facing the judges. He was asked questions by the judges and answered their questions about how he knew that Martha committed adultery. 

In his testimony Martha interrupted, saying, "Objection."

Before she could voice what her objection was the center judge said, "This is not a court. You may ask questions of this witness after he gives his testimony. Please do not interrupt again."

She stayed quiet. When he was finished testifying the judge pointed at Martha and asked, "Do you have any questions for this witness?"

"Yes. At the beginning of this hearing the judge said that adultery was a sexual act between a married woman and a man or men she is not marred to. Making it more pointed the allegation is that the sex act is between me and some man other than James Simmons. My first question for you is this, what man or men do you know, for a fact, that I have shared sexual activity with?"

Albert looked at her, then at James and answered, "You said..." 

Martha held up her hand and said, "The answer to my question would be a name or names of a man or men that you know I have shared sexual activities with. Have you seen me engaging in sexual activities with any man?"

"I haven't actually seen you engaged in sex."

"Have you used any of your five senses to see, feel, taste, smell or hear me having sex with anyone?"

"No, but you said you wanted to!"

"So, you have no direct knowledge of my infidelity. Thank you. No more questions. This witness has presented no evidence I did anything."

The judge looked at James and asked, "Can any of your witnesses testify to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling Mrs. Simmons having sex with someone?"

"No, but..."

The judge held up his hand and said, "Then you don't have a witness." He turned slightly to Martha and said, "You may call your first witness."

Martha stood and said, "I brought a DVD of a dinner where James and his friends came to dinner at the home of Sandy and Nick." She pointed at us. "The discussion that evening was about love and shows why I am not living with James at this time. The conversation is the basis for why I left the dinner and had John Barnes take me home."

The lead judge said, "We have all seen the DVD and watched the dinner. There is no need for us to see it again. Proceed."

Martha was still standing, holding the DVD case in her hand. She put it on the table and said, "After I received the letter from you about this hearing I had friends volunteer to be here for me. If you watched the DVD you saw and heard the testimony of Nick and Sandy as well as seeing that Jennifer was abandoned by her husband. I am grateful for their emotional support, but I do not intend to call on them to testify."

She turned slightly and looked at us, mouthed the words "Thank you" then turned back to the judges.

"The other person sitting behind me is my father, Jeremiah Wilkerson. His support and belief in who I am is powerful and he wouldn't be here if he believed for a moment that I was guilty of adultery. Thank you, Daddy for your love and support."

The judge asked, "If you are not calling any of these people as witnesses, what are you doing in you defense?"

"I'm standing before you to tell you that the man who made the accusation of my infidelity has shown no evidence that the accusation is true. I stand here to declare before you and before God that only one man has ever had sexual relations with me. I willingly gave him my virginity on our wedding night and gave him two children in the years that followed our wedding. I have not committed adultery. My request of you, as leaders of the church is that at the end of this hearing you grant me a divorce from James. I love him but cannot remain his wife. He no longer believes that love is the key to being a Christian. He said so on the DVD and by his actions afterwards."

She sat down.

The five judges conferred and after a short conference the lead judge announced, "We do not need to meet somewhere else to give you our judgment. You need not wait six months for our opinion. Martha Simmons, there has been, is no evidence presented here to show that you have done anything that would have us label you an adulteress. In line with your request, we cannot grant you a legal divorce. That is not something we can do. However, we can give you a divorce in the eyes of the church. That we grant as of today." He stood and said, "We are concluded."

Jennifer stood and said, "Since my hearing is scheduled for day after tomorrow and the same evidence or lack of evidence will be presented, can we conclude my matter as well?"

The head judge looked at James and Albert and asked, "Given how you presented your case today, have you any evidence to show that Mrs. Parker is guilty?"

James and Albert looked at each other and Albert said, "No new evidence, Sir. But, I believe she wants to have sex with Nick!" His voice was raised and he was clearly frustrated.

The judge sat down and asked, "Albert, do you love Jennifer?"

"I did! But when she said she wanted to love Nick and live in a family like theirs I knew she wanted to have sex with him! I can't love her and share her!"

The judge looked at Jennifer and motioned her to sit down. He looked back at Albert and said, "I want you to listen carefully to me, all of you. There are many interpretations of what the Bible says. Churches have divided over the question of which baptism is the correct baptism. Can a man love more than one woman? Can a woman love more than one man? The answer is yes. Can they live together and have the relationships serve each of them? I say the answer is yes, if they are willing to work at it and work at it all the time. The church does not teach polyamorus relationships and doesn't perform group marriages. We grant Jennifer Parker's request for a divorce effective today. Legally, you still need to go through the courts. We do not need to meet two days hence. We are concluded." He turned and left the room. The other four judges followed him. 

Martha and Jennifer hugged and the rest of us gathered around them and joined in the hugs. James, Albert and their supporters gathered their things and were about to leave the room when Martha said, "James! May I have a minute?"

He stopped, turned and faced her. She walked to him and said, "I don't think you understand why we are divorced. It's not that I don't love you, I do. I'm no longer married to you because Matthew and Ruth need to grow up knowing about love and about loving. Given your actions and statements you are not the best teacher for them. I can't see you being able to teach your son about how to show a woman love, care, honor or affection. You aren't able to show Ruth how a man of honor behaves toward a woman he loves, me. I know this because I've watched you and I've seen examples of men who can do all the things I needed you to do. I believe you could be a powerful influence, a powerful teacher of love, if you were focused on that instead of being focused on being right."

Jennifer moved to be close to Albert as Martha spoke to James. She softly said, "I have loved you for a year longer than we were married. I still love you. I cannot live with you or be with you and any time you want to know why look back and remember that you called me a whore, when you knew I hadn't done anything wrong. You charged me with adultery when you knew I hadn't done anything with anyone but you. I love you, but I cannot even say I like you. Please, don't call, don't write, don't email me. We are done. The most loving thing you could possibly do for me would be to move away." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek and quickly moved away from him.

Albert said, "I'm so glad we didn't have children! I'm glad my children wouldn't have you for a mother! I still believe you wanted to have sex with Nick, John and probably Bill too when you said the things you did at dinner."

Sandy took my arm and helped Jennifer take my other arm. Martha took her Dad's arm and we quietly left the building. Martha and Jennifer were crying. Sandy was close to crying and I was holding tears back, attempting to be strong for the women I love.

Outside, we walked to the hotel and I heard Jeremiah say, "The need to be right can be stronger than a man's good sense, sometimes. Someday maybe both those men will realize what they lost today."

Back at the hotel Jennifer went to her room for a while and said she "just needed a little while to grieve." Martha called her kids at the ranch and talked to them, then she came and spoke with Sandy, Jeremiah and me. 

"I'm a little unsteady right now." She said. "The hearing went better than I thought it would. Are Matthew and Ruth welcome in the family? Really?"

I said, "I've done a lot of thinking about them and the family. I've never been a Dad. Neither have John or Bill. You, Matthew and Ruth are family. Of course you're welcome. By the time we're back their bedrooms will be finished and ready for them to move in. There will be beds, furniture and toys in those rooms. Are you ready to have them have Momma Sandy, Momma Karen, Momma Janice, Momma Donna, Daddy John, Daddy Bill and Daddy Nick?"

Her face brightened and she said, "For all the reasons we spoke of at dinner and since, YES! I'm ready for our children to be raised in that much love!"

I asked, "Have you talked to them about their new family? About having multiple Dads and moms?"

"I told them that when I came back from Lincoln we would be moving back to town, that they would be going back to their schools and that we would be living in a big house with lots of other people. I didn't say you all would be their Dads and Moms."

"Are we?" I asked.

"I hadn't thought that far, I guess. Yes, all the adults in the family are parents. I need to stop thinking of Matthew and Ruth as my kids and think of them as our kids. James always thought of me as their Mom, but when I left them with him he thought he was babysitting. Are you going to babysit them?"

Sandy said, "I was a good babysitter when I was in high school. But I was clear I was watching someone else's kids to keep them safe. Matthew and Ruth are becoming part of our family. I'll be taking care of our kids. I'll be their mom, too!"

I looked at Jeremiah and said, "That means instead of you having a daughter you have many daughters and three sons you didn't have six months ago. Can all of us call you Dad?"

"You really want me that deeply involved that I'm Dad to the whole family?" He asked.

Sandy, Martha and I nodded. 

He was quiet for a while and then said, "Ok. I'm in." Martha and Sandy hugged him. Jeremiah said he had some things to take care of and agreed to meet with us at one o'clock for lunch. He left us.

After the door closed, leaving Sandy, Martha and me alone in our room Sandy looked at Martha and asked, "Are you ready to let us express our love for you with physical affection and even sex?"

"Us?" Martha asked. The question surprised her enough that she took a step back.

"Us. I love Nick, Bill and John. I also love my sisters and you're one of my sisters. We've hugged. Am I limited to hugs because neither of us has boy plumbing or can we kiss and comfort each other, too?"

"Wow! We've talked a lot about love since the dinner at Pete's house, but somehow I never went that far in my thinking. I guess my training was pretty strong about the rules for being a girl. A normal girl." She paused.

Sandy and I stayed quiet. Martha spoke again, "I'm not a lesbian."

Sandy said, "Lesbians limit the expression of love to other women. Gay men limit it to other men. Heterosexuals limit the expression to people with different plumbing fixtures. I haven't seen Nick, John and Bill express their love physically and all that means is that I haven't seen it. I have expressed my love and affection with my sisters and our husbands. When you are ready, I am ready to share my love with you, too. I'm sure Nick is ready to give you the fullest expression of his love, physically, emotionally and spiritually. He won't push or force you. None of us will."

"So... what happens next?" Martha asked.

I answered, "I think we go get Jennifer and meet Dad for lunch." I took both women by their hands and we went across the hall to Jennifer's room. I knocked.

Martha said, "I have a key."

"We'll wait for her to answer." Sandy said. The door opened and a freshly washed face belonging to Jenn smiled at us. She said, "We can pick up the kitchen stuff any time we want!"

While we had lunch we decided to pick it all up early in the morning and head home. Jeremiah volunteered to go home, pack up the kids and bring them to the Gingerbread House. Martha wanted to go with him. A phone call home let the rest of the family know what was happening and the results of the hearings.

After dinner Martha called the kids and told them to get ready to move back to town. She wanted them packed and ready when she and Grandpa got to the ranch the next day. They would sleep at the ranch, then Grandpa and Martha would take them back to town. She promised us that she would talk to the kids about the family, about their new parents and their new home.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 04



Sandy, Jennifer and I went back to our room and as the door closed Sandy asked, "How are you doing?" I figured she wasn't asking me, so I didn't respond.

Jennifer said, "I'm conflicted. Needless to say I was planning to be married to Albert for the rest of my life, so I'm disappointed that isn't going to happen. I'm glad that if we're not going to be married, that the divorce isn't going to be a long drawn out process. I'm glad that I'm not alone. I don't need to live in a tiny, cheap apartment and work at a job I hate. I am happy that the family welcomed me and gave me a job that I love and I get to work for people who appreciate what I'm doing. All that and I'm scared."

"Scared?" I asked. "Scared the new kitchen stuff won't work? What are you scared of?"

"I'm scared I won't be a good wife to you, Bill and John. Scared I won't be a good sister, a good co-wife, with the other women in the family and I'm scared of that!" She pointed at the bed. 

I smiled and with tongue firmly in my cheek I said, "Don't be afraid of that bed. We're leaving it here when we leave tomorrow."

"She's not afraid of that bed specifically! She's afraid of getting in it with you, with me, with either or both of us. She's never had sex with anyone except Albert." Sandy said. Jennifer nodded in agreement.

"Nothing to worry about. When we gat home we'll never push you to do anything you don't want to do. You agreed to sleep with John or Bill our first night back, after sitting in the hot tub. People all over America sit together in a hot tub and then don't have sex. Some sit in a hot tub with clothes on and then don't have sex. You can do that. All any of us wants is to show you we love you, accept you and want to be with you." I said.

Sandy sat next to Jennifer on the bed and said, "They will sleep with you and Martha as gentle-men. They will hold you and tell you physically they love you without pushing. If you want to be penetrated, they will be happy to oblige. Want kissing and touching, that'll be fine, too. No pressure. They aren't in a hurry. Both of them plan to love you for the rest of their lives."

Jennifer looked at me, sitting in the chair of the desk in the room. "What about you?"

"I'm the ogre. When you come to bed with me I'll be a cave man. It will be all about my pleasure. I don't believe in foreplay. Going to bed with me doesn't take long. I will probably kiss you three times, grope you for a minute and then plunge in. Ask any of your sisters, sex with me is quick and almost painless."

Sandy laughed and said, "Don't believe him. The night I gave him my virginity he spent hours bringing my body and soul pleasure. He loves foreplay, fiveplay and sleeping holding us in his arms. I've never felt more loved, safer and cared for than I do with Nick. Bill and John are getting there, but Nick is the king!"

"How do you tell any of them you want their attention? There are more of us than there are of them. They could go weeks without sleeping with one of us."

"You invite the one you want. You step in front of Nick and say, "I'd love to have you share my bed tonight." If he hasn't already been asked the odds are very good he'll say, "What time would you like to go to bed?" And it'll happen. If he's been asked he'll say, "I've been asked, for tonight. Would you like an adult nap now or is sleeping together tomorrow night soon enough?"

"An adult nap?" Jennifer asked.

"An adult nap gets you in bed together with very little sleep on the agenda." I said.

Sandy said, "It's a euphemism for having sex. Asking "would you be interested in an adult nap" sounds better than asking, "Wanna fuck?"

Jennifer stood up and moved in front of me. She whispered, "Would you be interested in an adult nap followed by sleeping with us in this bed, starting now?"

"No. It's too soon." I said, smiling. "I need to shower, shave and get ready. Can our nap time begin in about twenty minutes?"

Sandy asked, "Husband, can your wives help you get showered, shaved and naked? Will you share the shower with us, scrub us, shampoo us and touch us as we get ready for our nap?"

"Sure." I said. I stood and took both women by the hands and into the bathroom. I started the water running and helped both of them undress. They helped me undress and helped each other as well. When we were ready we entered the shower and used the tiny bars of hotel soap to lather each other up. Sandy told Jennifer the "rules" for showering together. "Rule number one, you only wash others, not yourself. Rule number two, Anything you like, you must reward with verbal encouragement. Rule three, all body parts get clean."

No one in our shower broke any rules. All three bodies got clean at least twice, each. As I ran the soapy washcloth up and down Jennifer's butt crack she said, "No one has ever done that to me. I've washed my own butt thousands of times and it was never sensual before."

As I started to repeat the soapy slide in her crack Sandy held her close and kissed her. The reaction was strong and positive. Jennifer returned the hug and the kiss with passion and moaned into Sandy's mouth. They wiggled their slippery, soapy bodies together and then they treated me as the meat in a slippery sandwich, rubbing their bodies against mine.

When a kiss between them ended Jenn turned Sandy and used the washcloth in her hand to clean Sandy's butt crack. Sandy opened her legs wider and Jenn's cleaning extended down Sandy's butt and up, across her pussy and up to her belly button. Sandy said, "Oh yes, sister, I like it!"

When I shower alone at home, I get very clean in less than eight minutes. The three of us were in the shower for over thirty minutes. Both Jenn and Sandy shuddered in orgasm before we got out of the water.

We dried each other and headed into the bedroom. Sandy got a jar of body butter from her suitcase and we began giving Jenn a four-hand massage. The smell of coconut from the body butter smelled good to me. I assumed it was a fragrance Sandy liked. After all, she bought it. As we massaged the butter into her, Jenn moaned and made comments.

"Oh! That feels sooo good!" 

"Someone should teach all men how to do this."

"Yes! Right there!"

I made sure that while we worked the butter into Jenn's skin I also kept Sandy aroused. I caressed her often, sliding my buttery fingers wherever they would stoke her fires and I checked to see that she stayed wet.

Sandy moaned almost as often as Jenn. When my fingers left Jenn's slit Sandy's replaced them. We buttered her body and told her we loved her. We helped her spread her legs and while I probed and stimulated her vulva Sandy kissed her mouth and teased her breasts. Jenn kept her eyes closed most of the time as a willing recipient of our affection.

When I noticed her lifting her hips unconsciously and her lower belly started quivering I bent forward and licked along the lips of her vulva. Her hands shot to the sides of my head, her hips pressed up against my mouth and she yelled, "I'm going to die!" 

Two seconds after that I felt the spasms of her vulva and tasted the increased flow of her juices. Her body shook and she made guttural noises as her body enjoyed the feelings Sandy and I inspired.

Neither of us stopped touching her, but we did decrease the level of stimulation. She calmed a little, opened her eyes and whispered, "Please, fill me."

I lifted her legs and moved between them. Sandy moved and assisted me to align myself and enter Jenn. I leaned between her knees and kissed her mouth as I thrust into her as deeply as I could reach. She sucked my tongue and I felt almost as if she wanted my tongue and cock to touch inside her.

Sandy moved behind me, thrusting her hips against my butt in time with my thrusts into Jenn. She reached around me and grasped Jenn's breasts, squeezing and twisting as we mated. 

Our kiss broke for breath and Jenn said, "I love you both!" She said it loudly. Sandy said, "We love you, too!" I thrust in deeply and kissed her. We pushed together and when I was close to cumming Sandy reached between our legs and grabbed my nuts. Instantly I felt the pressure rise and my juices shoot into Jenn. Her eyes flew open and said, "I feel you! Oh, Nick!"

Sandy and I moved off Jenn and snuggled next to her as the three of us calmed down. We continued to caress Jenn and kiss her. She made noises that let us know she was happy. I got off the bed and got a small hand towel from the bathroom. I used it to clean up whatever leaked from Jenn and me. When I rejoined them on the bed Sandy and I pulled up the covers with Jenn between us and we went to sleep.

Fortunately, one of us had set the alarm for seven in the morning. It buzzed and all three of us sat up. Sandy found the alarm and shut it off. We kissed a few more times, got out of bed and started getting ready to leave the hotel.

The night before our shower took over half an hour. Our shower that morning took less than ten minutes and all three of us were clean, smelled like soap and shampoo rather than sex as we dressed. Ten minutes later we were dressed, packed and headed out the door. I knocked on Martha's door.

She answered, fully dressed. She said, "Daddy and I talked last night. We're both fine. One look at the three of you tells me volumes about what you did last night. I'm glad you all enjoyed the evening." 

She carried her suitcase out and at Dad's door she knocked. He opened and said, "Good, we can all leave together." He carried Martha's and his own suitcase and we walked together to the parking lot. 

Hugs were shared and I heard Sandy ask, "What time will we see you all tomorrow, Daddy?"

He stopped and said, "I figure we'll be at the Gingerbread House before three in the afternoon."

"We'll have some food for you when you arrive. Anything special you'd like?"

Martha said, "The kids favorite is mac and cheese."

Dad said, "A sandwich will do me just fine. Thanks."

I got the truck ready to go and we climbed aboard. Fifteen minutes later we parked at the loading dock behind the closed restaurant. Three guys met us and loaded the stoves, refrigerators and things in the back. They strapped things down and we were ready to go. Jenn was excited seeing two Viking stoves and the other great things they loaded in the truck. She kept saying we did well. She also told me they looked new. I agreed.

The stoves both had griddles, big ovens and six burners. I was impressed. 

We were on I-80 headed home before nine that morning. We stopped twice. Once for breakfast at a drive through and once for gas and lunch at a truck stop. I was glad I was driving. I could tell that if Jenn had been driving we would have been at risk of a speeding ticket.

We headed for Pete's house first. Sandy called Bill, John and Carl on the cell phone when we were an hour away from home telling them when and where we'd be. They were waiting for us with three other men to help unload. 

Jenn was in charge. The kitchen was empty. Carl and crew had emptied the room of almost everything. We positioned the appliances where Jenn wanted them and then we left Carl and his crew of five men to start hooking things up and finish work on the kitchen. Carl promised he'd have that kitchen done, with cabinets and everything in two days. We left him and drove to the Gingerbread House. Three more men were waiting to help Bill, John and me unload. We found that Carl had gutted that kitchen as well, ready to have the appliances positioned and then he would build the kitchen around them.

We called Jeremiah on the phone and sent them to Pete's house for food and then we'd all come back to the Gingerbread House to show the kids their new rooms and home.

When the truck was empty John took Bill in it and went back to the BC. They left us the four-door pick up. We went back to Pete's house. Jenn had us put a table in the kitchen so she had a work space. The stove worked. The dishwasher wasn't plumbed but the electricity was hooked up. Jenn made mac and cheese for the kids and sandwiches for the rest of us. For fun, she made two mac and cheese sandwiches. I knew she'd serve one to Jeremiah.

The old refrigerator was still plugged in sitting on the back porch until the new refrigerator was cold enough to be useful. Jenn got things to make sandwiches out of that fridge and we were ready for the arrival of Martha, Dad and the kids. Janice arrived from the BC with name tags for us. Mine said, "Daddy Nick". Bill looked at mine and when Janice stuck his "Daddy Bill" sticker on he asked, "What if I'm no good at being a Dad?"

Sandy said, "Keep telling yourself how lucky you are that you're not their only Dad. They have four Dads and a Grandpa!" He seemed to relax... a little.

When the food was ready and the dining room table set, Dad's truck parked in the driveway. I was pretty sure Jeremiah and Martha could have come into the house without making hardly a sound. The two children coming inside sounded as if twenty bison had entered the house at a run!

They stopped when they got to the dining room. Matthew looked around the room and said, "Where's my Dad?"

Martha caught up and said, "James isn't here. He doesn't live in this house. I'm not sure where he lives, yet. Remember, I told you that you both now have a bigger family? This is Daddy Nick, Momma Janice, Momma Sandy, Daddy Bill..." She introduced all of us.

Momma Jenn asked, "Are you hungry?" That got Matthew's attention diverted to food. 

He asked, "What do you have?"

"Mac and cheese or sandwiches."

Ruth said, "Mac and cheese, please." Momma Jenn showed her to the table, the bowls and the bigger bowl where she could get all the mac and cheese she wanted. She didn't need to give instructions to Matthew. Jenn put a sandwich on a plate and handed it to Jeremiah, saying, "Here's yours, Daddy."

One glance and he laughed. He looked at Martha and said, "She did it, just like you said. I got a mac and cheese sandwich!"

He shared it with Matthew. For the next while the kids and Jeremiah ate and the rest of us talked with them. We let them know that their rooms were ready in the Gingerbread House. Matthew wanted to know if he would still go to the same school. Ruth liked the answer to that question and then she asked, "Do I have to change my name?"

Martha said, "No. Your name stays just like it is until you get married. Did you want to change it?"

"Ruth sounds too old fashioned. I thought about changing it to Erin, if I needed to change it." She watched Martha's face for her reaction. Then she smiled. Martha was Ok with changing her name.

I got the calendar from the wall and asked, "When are your birthdays?"

Matthew said, "April fifth! I'll be eleven."

Ruth said, "May twenty-second. I'll be ten."

They watched as I wrote the birthdays in the proper squares on the proper pages of the calendar. I looked at Martha and asked, "And yours?"

"June twenty-second." I turned the pages and wrote her name in the proper square. I looked up and waited.

Martha said, "I'll be thirty-three." I smiled and wrote the number beside her name.

Jenn asked, "What do you want for your birthdays?"

Matthew put his fork down, looked directly at Jenn and said, "I want my Dad to live with us and love us again."

Ruth nodded her head. Martha responded, "That may not happen. Your father is angry at me. He hasn't spoken to me in weeks. I'll let him know where you both are and see if he wants to visit or take both of you to wherever he's living for a visit."

Both children had finished eating. I said, "Since you've finished the mac and cheese would you like to go to your new home and check out your rooms?" 

They both responded "Yes" and carried their plates to the sink, rinsed them and asked, "Where do we put these?"

Jenn took the plates, glasses and flatware from them and said she'd take care of them. We went out and took the four-door pick up to go to the Gingerbread House. They liked the outside and Ruth said she understood why it was called the Gingerbread House. It looked like it was made of gingerbread.

Inside we took them into the basement and to the two bedroom doors. John had used power tools at the BC and made signs for their doors. One sign read, "Matthew". The other read, "Ruth." They opened their doors and went inside. They found their toys and clothes right where they needed to be. The rooms were big, fifteen by twelve, and even though they were the same size they were not identical. Ruth's was a soft green color with a braided rug covering lots of the floor. Matthew's room was pale blue and the floor had a carpet that looked like AstroTurf. Both rooms had desks and bookshelves made by their new Dads.

John showed them the Jack & Jill bathroom and then guided all of us on a tour of the rest of the house. When we entered Martha's room the door to her closet was open. We all saw dresses, blouses and pants hanging in her closet. We also saw men's clothes. I knew some were mine, some John's and some Bill's.

Jeremiah waited until we were headed upstairs for the rest of the tour and then he asked me, "Those men's clothes, are they evidence that you plan to sleep with Martha?"

I nodded and said, "If I'm invited. Every adult bedroom in both houses has clothes for John, Bill and me, for the possibility that we may be invited to share a night with them."

"It was easy to accept the kids having multiple dads. I'm still not comfortable with Martha having more than one lover."

"Maybe if you look at us as husbands and wives rather than as lovers?"

"That may help." Jeremiah said. He smiled, but he still wasn't sure.

We joined the rest of the tour. Dad noticed the men's clothes in each room. He also noticed razors, toothbrushes, deodorant sticks and shaving gel in the bathrooms.

We let Matthew and Ruth have some time to unpack their suitcases and start settling into their new rooms. The rest of us went to the living room and talked. Jenn had a small notebook and as we talked she made notes on various pages.

Fifteen minutes into the conversation Dad asked, "Jennifer, what are you writing?"

"Notes. I keep thinking of things I need to get, things to ask my husbands to make for the houses, things to get at the market, ideas to talk to Sandy, Janice or Donna about. Just wife stuff."

"I'm impressed. Managing two houses is more than a full-time job." Dad said.

"Tell you the truth, I love it! I'm learning a lot about everyone in the family, ideas for the future and making everything work so we all get what we need."

I asked, "What ideas have you discovered since we got home?"

She turned a page and read, saying, "It would work best, at least for me, if we eat supper in each house every other day. That way I can focus on one house every other day, cook there, clean there and both houses will stay pretty clean. It will also have all of us being together every day."

I asked, "Like Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Pete's, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the Gingerbread House?"

"Yes, like that. Then I get one day a week off."

"Do you want Sunday's off?" Dad asked. I heard more in his question than which day of the week she wanted. I heard him asking about her going to church. I believed it was her choice and I believed the way the church had treated her and Martha the odds were good they wouldn't be going back.

"Sunday the Builder's Center is closed. The only one that might be working is Donna. Me having Sunday off from cooking and cleaning will let me do fun things with the family." She paused and said, "Yes! I'd like Sunday's off."

Dad stayed the night in a guest room at Pete's. Martha moved into her room and stayed the night... alone. She talked with Bill and they decided to wait a couple of days for her and the kids to get settled before Bill stayed the night with Martha.

John stayed the night with Jennifer in her new room. From the reports we got over breakfast neither of them got much sleep and he was invited back for the next night. After breakfast Dad left for his ranch and the rest of us headed for the Builder's Center. As Dad went to his truck to leave Jenn handed him a brown paper bag, telling him it was a "little something to munch on while he drove home."




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 04



I asked her later what she sent with him.

"Two sandwiches, a pear and a dozen cookies I made just for him. He's my Daddy, you know. I love taking care of everyone in the family!"

We worked and started getting into a pattern of life that had us all enjoying our big family, being parents and each other. Martha discovered she loved running the cash register in the BC. Jenn had John mount a large white board in the hallway of each house as a calendar. We kept track of all the school events for the kids and social, medical and other events for each of us. Jenn and Martha made sure Daddy was invited to dinner at least two Friday nights a month.

On a Wednesday afternoon Martha came into my office and asked, "Can you go with me to school? Matthew's teacher called and there's a problem."

"What time do we need to go?" I asked, as I stood up.

"School's out at three-ten. We should be there then, meet with the teacher and then take Matthew and Ruth home."

"Ok. Do you know what the problem is?"

She nodded and said, "He got into a fight with Ben in his class. Ben is Curt Downey's son."

"Know what the fight was about?"

"MS June says Matthew said Ben was teasing him about our family going to hell." I could hear pain in her voice as well as her questioning herself about being in the family. The two months since they moved into the Gingerbread House had been delightful as far as I could tell, but this problem had Martha reevaluating.

"Ok. Call back to the school and make sure that Ben's parents are at the meeting too. This problem will never get solved unless the two families solve it together."

Martha kissed me and thanked me for going with her. I watched her leave my office and wondered if John or Bill would have sent her to me or gone with her. They are Matthew's Dads too, I thought.

We left the BC at three. We saw the Downey's get out of their car and head for the school building as we did the same. Being called into the school brought back feelings of years ago when we were called to the Principal's office as students. I had the same feelings of being in trouble and wanting the trouble to just go away.

As Curt Downey opened the door to the main office the bell rang and the four of us jumped, followed by the noise of all the children rushing to see how fast they could leave the building. We got inside the office as quickly as we could and Curt said, "Timing is everything." We all smiled.

After a few minutes of chaos the teacher, MS June, came into the office with the two boys. She led the way into the conference room and she took the head chair. She had Ben sit to her left and Matthew to her right. The families sat on the side of the table with their son.

MS June said, "This conflict has the potential to last a long time and cause a disruption to this class all the way through high school graduation. Here's how I'd like us to proceed: We will give each boy time to explain what happened. After they explain what happened each family will be able to ask questions. Then, when the questions are done we will have a discussion about how to solve the problem, as we see it."

Curt's wife, Rose, asked, "Who decides?"

MS June smiled and answered, "Hopefully, we can agree to a solution. Let's aim at that." She went into her pocket and pulled out a quarter. She said, "To decide who goes first I'll flip a coin. Matthew will call either heads or tails. If he guesses correctly, he goes first otherwise Ben goes first."

She flipped the coin and Matthew called "Heads!" It was Tails.

MS June said, "Ok. Ben goes first. Ben, tell us what happened, beginning at when you arrived at school this morning. Remember, just tell us what happened."

Ben looked at his parents and then at MS June before he spoke. In a soft voice he said, "When I saw Matthew this morning he was walking his sister to class. They looked dorky."

MS June interrupted, "Just what happened Ben."

"Ok. I saw Matthew walking Ruth to her class. After she went inside I asked Matthew if he liked thinking about going to hell. He got upset and pushed me against the wall. I told him my Dad said their whole family was going to hell for being adults."

"Then what happened?" MS June asked.

"He hit me! He called me a heathen! He said I was the one going to hell, not his family!"

MS June said, "Thank you, Ben." She turned to Matthew and said, "Please, tell us what happened."

"When I came out of room three Ben was standing in the hallway and he said, "Hey Matthew, Why are you smiling? You know you and your little sister are going to hell, don't you?"

"I said, "I don't know any such thing! My sister and I haven't done anything wrong!" I tried to walk passed him and he blocked the way. I pushed him and he hit the wall. He called me a devil and I called him a heathen. We stopped talking and started fighting. MS June came out of her room and stopped the fighting."

Curt said, "Kids like Matthew shouldn't be in school with kids like ours. Ben's right. They probably are going to hell."

I had been holding Martha's hand and she squeezed tighter. I said, "You're right, Curt. Only children who are all just like your child should go to room six. Any child that doesn't believe just what Ben believes is a heathen and is going to hell. They should be condemned right now! There should be a sign up in MS June's classroom that has the chapter and verse showing why kids like Matthew will go to hell. Which verse is that Curt?"

Curt didn't move or speak. I waited. Finally he said, "I don't know which verses, right off, but I know living like you all live is wrong! It isn't good for the kids to live like that!"

"Is it good for a kid to have a Dad and a Mom?" Martha asked.

"Yeah! One of each!" Curt said, raising his voice.

"And everyone should believe just like you do. Right?" Martha asked.

Curt nodded and said, "Yes! That would make life a lot easier."

"So, who decides which church everyone in town must attend? There's a Catholic church, a Methodist, a Baptist, a Jewish and a Greek Orthodox church in town."

"We've never had a problem with any of them. It's you we have a problem with!"

"Why is it a problem for Matthew to have more than one Dad?" I asked.

"'Cause it isn't right!"

"King David had more than one wife. Says so in the Bible. It also says he was a prophet."

"That was a thousand years ago!"

"Actually, more like two thousand years ago, but aren't the rules the same now as when King David was alive?"

"No. The rules are different now."

"Where are the new rules written down?"

"Probably in the New Testament."

The teacher MS June interrupted, "This isn't getting us any closer to solving the problem. Ben believes Matthew is going to Hell and he's taunting Matthew about it. Taunting another student isn't allowed. I hoped the two families could find some common ground and put aside the need for conflict. Can you see any way that the two boys can be tolerant of the beliefs of each other?"

I spoke up, "I think Matthew can tolerate the beliefs of Ben as long as Ben doesn't attack Matthew for his beliefs or his living conditions. Matthew didn't choose to have me for a dad any more than Ben chose Curt as his Dad. Both were an accident of life."

"That's easy for you to say, you're not trying to teach your kid right from wrong!"

"Yes, I am! I'm teaching Matthew about love, respect, tolerance, compassion, friendliness and lots of other things as well. How about you teach your son about those things and I teach our son about them as well? How about teaching your boy not to pick on people who are different from you?"

"Cause if we allow you all to live like this around us, some folks are gonna want to be like you all!"

"Some folks?" MS June asked. "Who?"

Curt turned to his wife and said, "Her, for one. Ever since she heard about how you all live she's been thinking about it." His wife looked at the floor, her hands in her lap. She was fully cowed.

"Because of what she reads in the Bible or what she sees that might make her life better?" Martha asked.

"She thinks it could be good for Ben to have three or four Mommas and a couple a Dads."

"You don't believe it. Do you feel bad on the days when you need to work an extra few hours and you miss out on being with Ben at a school event?"

"Of course I feel bad, but he understands."

"Since Matthew moved into our family there is always someone around to help with homework. Always someone to help him learn how to become a man, play catch, go for a walk, or whatever. I think your wife sees that part of what we're doing and thinks maybe there would be benefits for her as well."

"Like having more than one husband to sleep with!"

"Unless your wife is a lot different than most women in the world, her sex drive isn't even as strong as yours. The idea that she wants two men panting after her doesn't make much sense. Maybe she sees that with three wives the burden of sex would be shared and not just her responsibility. She probably sees that all the housework could be shared too. She wouldn't be the only one cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, taking the kids to the doctor, and taking care of you. Maybe her point of view isn't focused on having sex at all."

Curt's wife had looked up and smiled as I spoke. She nodded when I was done.

"I still don't like it."

Martha said, "Curt, imagine dinner ready every night at six-thirty, no matter what else is going on. Ben is sick with the chicken pox. The washer broke and dinner is still on the table waiting for you when you get home. Imagine an evening when you have an interest in messing around and instead of needing to pray that Kathleen isn't too tired, you simply let it be known that you are in the mood and one of them will take very good care of you."

He nodded, just a little.

I said, "Now imagine a Saturday afternoon when Ben is off with grandparents and someone prepares a special adult picnic for you all. Couldn't that be fun?"

Both Curt and his wife Kathleen nodded.

MS June said, "Sounds to me like something was said and it was heard as a threat. It wasn't and isn't a threat."

I asked, "Would your family like to come for dinner? Maybe Friday evening? Bring Ben. He and Matthew can have dinner together. They can check out Matthew's new room and become friends. We might become friends as well."

Kathleen reached for Curt's hand and when she squeezed it he said, "I think we might enjoy that. Might learn more about the crazy family down the road, too." He squeezed her hand back and asked, "What time?"

Martha said, "Jenn has dinner ready by six-thirty. Come to our house on Elm, the one that used to belong to the mayor."

Kathleen asked, "Jenn does all the cooking?"

Martha nodded and said, "She makes dinner for everyone every night. She makes breakfast for each house every other day. She cleans the houses, does the laundry and buys the food and supplies for the two houses. That frees the rest of us up to do other things, like homework with Matthew and Ruth."

The meeting was over. As we walked out of the school I asked MS June, "Would you like to come for dinner tonight?"

She was talked into it. Martha called Jenn and made sure she had enough. We met for dinner at Pete's house.

Near the end of the evening MS June asked, "How do I get invited again?"

Sandy answered, "You have an invitation. To accept you call Jenn and find out which house and then on the third time you have dinner with us, you cook. Check with Jenn and she can answer any questions you might have about what foods are off limits and quantities."

She and Jenn conferred and she was on the schedule for Tuesday night at Pete's House, as a guest. After she had gone I asked Jenn how she felt about the rule for guests. She and Sandy had talked about it before Sandy spoke it and the wives club had agreed it was a good plan.

I asked, "Does the same rule apply to men guests?"

Both Sandy and Jenn smiled and nodded. Another conflict or potential conflict I didn't need to be involved in solving. I smiled and went to the back porch and intended to turn on the hot tub. I was too late. It was on and already warm.

Janice got close to my ear and whispered, "Give the water another fifteen minutes and I'll meet you in the tub." She kissed my ear and went back into the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later I went out the back door wrapped in just a towel. Janice, John, Sandy and Donna were waiting for me.

As I slid into the frothing water I said, "Thank you."

John asked, "Who are you thanking and for what?"

"All of you, for life being wonderful, for a hot tub right here and for the love that fills it."

"Amen." They all agreed.

We talked about the problem at school, about MS June and about the BC. While we talked hands played under the froth in the hot tub. I was stroked from my left and from my right. I assumed others were touched and enjoyed the touching as well. After about fifteen minutes the back door opened and Bill came out, followed by Martha.

Bill smiled and said, "The homework is done, bedrooms cleaned, kids bathed and in bed."

Martha said, "Karen is standing guard while we decided to join you for a little while."

We scooted around and very soon were joined by both our naked spouses. Martha blushed as she undressed and said, "Up until tonight Dr. Jong, Bill and the reverend were the only men who had ever seen me naked. Pardon me for blushing but my head is still getting used to the idea that this is Ok."

Hands helped her get into the frothing water. She sat down and was hidden from the collarbones down. Sandy asked, "So you and Bill shared a bed last night?"

Martha and Bill nodded. Martha said, "I'd never say this to James or in front of our children, but James was never much of a lover. I didn't know that until last night, but... but I found out my body would do and feel things I'd never known were possible." She winked at Bill who sat up a little taller and smiled a bit wider from her praise.

The conversation changed back to the BC and Martha asked if she was working the cash register the next day. 

Janice answered, "Sure. You work the check-out and the rest of us will clean and restock some shelves."

Bill said, "Don't count on either John or me for Saturday afternoon or Sunday. We think we can finish the Gingerbread basement if we get in there on Saturday and Sunday."

Martha asked, "Can Matthew help? It is his home, too."

John smiled and said, "Sure. He can help us. I haven't spent much time getting to know him and I need to."

The conversations drifted for a while and we were all quiet for a while when Martha asked, "John, if you have an evening free, I'd like you to spend it with me."

John smiled and asked, "An evening or a sleepover?"

"An adult sleepover." Martha said, blushing.

John answered, "As of this moment I have no evenings spoken for. You can have any evening you want."

"Tonight?" She asked, looking at John and then at Bill.

Bill saw her look and said, "We're all married here. At first I was worried that loving like this was going to cause friction between us. Sandy, Janice and Karen helped me understand that when I'm with any one of them I'm loving all of us. I love you. I'll still love you knowing you're with John tonight and Nick some other night."

Donna reached into Martha's lap and brought her hand out, held it out of the water and said, "Martha's all wet! I think that means she would like to go to bed with someone."

John laughed and said, "She's wet sitting in five hundred gallons of water!"

Donna stuck her fingers in her own mouth and said, "Nope, She's wet for some loving. If you don't take her to bed I'm going to!"

John stood up, his erection popped out of the water and he said, "Let's go home, Honey!"

We all laughed. John helped Martha out of the tub, helped her dry off and the two of them dressed... just enough to drive to the Gingerbread House and bed. Donna took my hand and led me to her car. All we wore were towels. We laughed and she drove us to the Gingerbread house very carefully.

We walked to Donna's bedroom and heard no tell-tale noises from Martha and John. Inside her suite we showered and got the chemicals from the hot tub off us. Donna asked, "Want me to shave?"

"Want me to dive face first into you and stay a while?"

"I'd like that very much!"

"I'd like to have the pleasure of shaving you before I dive in. May I do it on the bed rather than in the shower?"

Very quickly we were back in the bedroom and I was on my knees with a razor in my hand. Donna held her legs spread, giving me access to anything and anywhere I might wish to visit. We already knew how much I loved rubbing the shaving gel into her vulva and beginning the stimulation of her at the same time.

When all her hairs were covered in gel-foam I moved so I could kiss her face and caress her chest while the gel-foam softened her for shaving. The kisses were returned with enthusiasm. She moaned softly when I sucked her breasts.

I started shaving near her anus, stroking upwards towards her navel. I moved the razor slowly, savoring each stroke and each uncovered patch of skin. My fingers helped stretch her skin so the razor caught every hair. Her lips opened and I both saw and smelled her lubrication. 

When her lips parted she moaned again. I leaned in and licked the beads of lube from her slit. She moaned louder. I shaved the other side and took another lick. 

Donna said, "You are such a tease! I'm quivering, ready to cum and you're still giving me a shave."

"Wait until I get to the haircut!" I said.

I saw and felt her spasm. The opening to her vagina winked at me and another bead of lube slid out of her. I caught it with my tongue and wiped it up across her clit. Her body tensed and she grabbed the sheets, holding on as her body enjoyed the orgasm.

My tongue continued to please her through the orgasm and I did my best to drink in all the lube that flowed out of her. When she began to calm I finished the shaving. I used a small hand towel to wipe away the gel and then we joined.

"Please, go slowly, tell me you love me." Donna said.

I pushed in as slowly as I could manage, noticing that her back arched and her legs wrapped around my hips. My hands were on the bed beside her shoulders and they framed the sight of her breasts, moving as I thrust and she breathed. It was a beautiful sight.

We stroked to each other and moaned as we pulled apart, just enough to give us the room to thrust into each other again. Donna opened her eyes and said, "I'm not crazy."

Her hands grasped my wrists and lifted my hands off the bed, placing them on her breasts. I had been supporting my weight on my hands. I flattened her breasts and she said, "Perfect! Lean on me! Squeeze my tits!"

I did as she requested. It was hard for her to breathe. Her face changed color to a strained red and she lifted her hips driving my cock deeper inside her. I increased the speed of my strokes and increased the power with which I slammed into her. 

She looked up at my face and smiled. The closer I got to filling her with cum the harder I stroked and the harder I squeezed her tits in my hands. I felt the pressure build and then the release as my cum shot into her.

Donna squeezed out a "Yes!" as she felt me unload into her. I held myself deep inside as my cock pulsed and gave her all I had to give. When I stopped unloading Donna shifted under me and flipped us over. She stopped when she was above me leaning against my hands.

"I'd like more." She said.

"Turn round and let me lick you."

How she turned as quickly as she did still amazes me. Suddenly I was no longer looking at her face but saw her open pussy lowering itself onto my face. I felt her mouth take my shrinking cock inside. I tasted our combined juices and I sucked, to get more. Her hips moved to maximize the stimulation to her and my hands searched for and found her tits.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 04



Her hands covered mine and helped my hands squeeze her breasts, hard! In seconds she was quivering and her orgasm shook her. I sucked hard on her clit and her back arched harder.

"Oh God, Nick! Oh... My... God!!!" 

A second later she went limp. She was on top of my so I wrapped my arms around her and held her, waiting for her return. I kept getting and savoring the juices from her pussy. I licked and licked and suddenly I licked and she moaned. She was back.

She rolled off me and turned so we were face to face. We kissed a few times and she said, "Nurse Cratchet couldn't do that!"

"Nurse Cratchet doesn't live here. You do! I love you!" Two more breaths and I was asleep.

My eyes opened and my brain told me it was morning. Sunlight lit the room. I looked and saw Martha standing in the open doorway. She said, "Tonight I request you arrange for a cave man to be in my bedroom and that he ravish me."

"I accept. You can have a cave man who shaves or one with a sandpaper face. Your choice."

"John and Bill are both great lovers. Both are better than The Reverend ever was... but both were gentle and took me places my body had never been before. I've talked with your other wives and what I really want is a night where you master me, take me, leave me bruised! I want to be with a cave man who loves me, cares for me and ... and uses me."

I thought for a moment and said, "Be ready to leave right after dinner. We are not staying here tonight. Bring clothes for both of us to wear to work tomorrow."

"Where are we going?"

"You don't need to know! You need to do as I tell you to do. Make sure the kids have their homework done before dinner. Make sure someone is here for them tonight, because you won't be."

She smiled and said, "Yes, Sir." As I got out of bed Donna came out of her bathroom.

"Was that Martha?" She asked.

"It looked like her." I answered.

"I wouldn't have guessed."

"Guessed what?"

"That Martha wanted to be dominated. That Martha would be strong enough to ask for domination like she just did."

"I wonder who told her to ask me for it."

"I've been in bed with Bill and John. They are both wonderful, tender, loving men but they lack the cave man. My tits hurt this morning. Somehow you squeezed them hard enough last night to bruise me, but not too hard. I don't trust John or Bill enough to do that. I love them both and when I need the cave man I'll always come to you."

We dressed and shared breakfast. I stayed quiet, even on the way to work. At work I had Sandy give me the number for the hot tub folks. I ordered the same tub for the other house. I called Carl and arranged to have it delivered to him and for him to install it at the Gingerbread House. I called the local real estate office and asked Rose if there was a small cabin for sale.

Like most real estate people she immediately thought of a four thousand square foot estate with a twenty five thousand dollar commission. I was thinking of a one thousand square foot cabin off in the woods with a commission less than five thousand dollars. After twenty minutes we agreed on a rental property that I could rent once or twice and then she'd sell it to me for about seventy-five thousand.

She faxed me a map and a picture. I agreed it was about perfect. She wanted to know why a man with two big houses wanted a small get-away cabin.

"A man with six wives needs a place where he can be alone once in a while."

I left the BC and got a key from Rose. She went with me and I liked what I saw. The cabin was just what I wanted. It was a log cabin from a kit, made about ten years before I saw it. One floor with a basement. Wood heat and easily a mile and a half from the nearest neighbor. The main floor was two rooms. A big bathroom with a large shower a claw-foot tub and big windows and a great room. One area of the great room had kitchen appliances the rest was wide open. The basement was unfinished.

I measured. Rose watched and when she talked it was real estate talk. When I was about done she said, "I know why you want this place."

"You do?"

"Yes. The same reason Ron and I had it built. The reason it's unfinished is because Ron died. He liked wild, crazy sex and wild, crazy sex is often noisy. Screaming noisy. Out here you can enjoy yourself and never have a neighbor call the cops."

"Ok. Maybe you're right. Why not just sell it to me? Why do I have to rent it a couple of times first?"

"Ron's gone. I know about you and your family. Ron's been gone three years and I haven't dated anyone since he died. I haven't had sex with anyone in six years. I'm hoping I can convince you to let me be one of the women you bring here and play with. As long as the cabin is mine the conversation is open."

"Before I agree to any of that you'd need to be part of the family. I can buy the cabin outright, but I can't have sex with anyone who isn't in the family."

"Then let's talk about me being in the family." Rose said.

"Ok. Tell me what you think you know about us."

"Let's see. You're Pete's son. Pete had older lovers all over the county after his first wife died. He let Sandy live with him but he wouldn't bed her down because she loved you. When he died you came back, married Sandy and within a year had moved Karen and Janice in with you. Rumors were that you were fucking all three of them. Bill got hurt and while you and your women took care of him you moved John and Bill into the family. Rumor has it that when the pastor and his wife split up she moved in with you. Jennifer and her husband split up too and she now lives with you too. Unless I'm nuts you are the Dad to this big family and all the adults in the family have sex with each other whenever they want."

"There's more to it. We live together. We share everything. When Martha moved in she brought two kids with her. They aren't her kids, they're ours. To Matthew I'm Daddy Nick. The kids have three Dads and lots of Moms. You want in? You need to be in all the way to being Momma Rose. All the way to sharing everything you have with us as a family."

"That's what I thought. Do I need to sell my house? Deed my everything to the family? Move to one of your houses?"

"That can be decided by the family, not by me alone. The only place I'm the boss is at the Builder's Center. Everywhere else I'm just Nick."

"That's like telling me that Pete had sex with women he didn't love, didn't take care of. You are the head of the family. If you mentioned that you'd like them all to be named Peterson they'd all change their names. Everyone in the county knows about all of you. I want in."

She stepped close and started to put her arms around my neck. I stepped back and said, "Come for dinner. Come for dinner tomorrow night. Come prepared to talk to all the adults in the family after dinner. Can you do that?"

"Can you love me?"

"Wrong tense. Your question is about the future. Sandy changed my thinking about love after my Dad changed it from how most people think about love. I decided to love you before we met. I love you. You want that kiss? No problem. A kiss is not sexual activity on it's own. It can be a promise for the future and it can be a part of sexual activity, if we say it is."

"It's a way for me to tell you I love you. When you called this morning I was already in love with the idea of you, the idea of your family, of me being surrounded by love and by having my ass pinked once in a while by hands I can trust."

She stepped forward again and we kissed. The surrender in the kiss was powerful and left no doubt in my mind she was serious. The press of her body to mine contained nothing held back. It was clear that she was offering complete access, not just for the afternoon but forever, to her body and everything else she had to give.

I said, "I need the cabin tonight. I will open the conversation with the family tonight at dinner. I need to bring someone here tonight for some special therapy. Tempting as your offer is to be here, I have to say not tonight."

She kissed me again and I knew I would not be interrupted when I came back with Donna and that Rose really wanted into the family. We left the cabin and I took her back to her office. 

I stopped at the general store and bought what I wanted for the night. Back at the BC I stopped at the register and whispered to Martha, "Everything is set for tonight. We leave right after dinner. From the moment we leave the house you will obey me."

She turned to face me, took my face in her hands and said, "I am already yours. Whatever you want, however you want, wherever you want."

"Good! On your break, take off your panties. Come to my office and after you close the door, bare your breasts for me." I turned and went to my office. I worried about her ability to make change for the next hour. At the end of the hour she entered my office, closed and locked the door and removed her blouse and bra. She came to me and handed me her panties.

"Whatever you want." Martha said.

"Unzip me, please." I said.

She dropped to her knees between my knees and both hands unzipped me and opened my slacks enough to free my cock if that was what I wanted next. She looked up at my face and said, "Whatever you want."

"Lift your skirt and bend over my desk."

As fast as she could she complied.

"Tell me what you want!"

"To please you!"

I stood and quickly penetrated her pussy with my hard cock. She moaned and thanked me. I held her hips and fucked her from behind, deep, fast and hard. She held the edges of my desk and thrust her ass back at me, saying, "Thank you Nick! My ass is yours!"

I flooded her with my cum and sent her to the restroom with instructions to use a pad to collect my cum. I told her to be back at her register in less than five minutes. She made it back in four minutes. At closing I had Janice check the register and she had no errors.

Sandy walked to the truck with me and asked, "You're taking Martha away for the night, aren't you?"

"She told you?"

"Yes. She wants to be dominated. Nick, so do I. Maybe not as much as Martha and Donna, but I want it too."

At the truck I pressed her against the truck and kissed her. It started tenderly and increased in intensity until I ended the kiss. When it ended Sandy said, "Yes, like that! Yes, like grabbing my tits like you grabbed Donna last night."

"Not many secrets in the family, are there?" I asked.

"Maybe one or two." Sandy opened the door to the truck and climbed in. A minute later Karen and Janice climbed in too and we drove home. We ate at the Gingerbread House. As the meal was ending Matthew asked, "Daddy Nick, why do you want to sleep with my Mom?"

I looked at him and answered, "I like sleeping with all your Mommas."

"But, why?" He asked.

"Have you ever climbed up in your Momma's lap and had her hold you?"

"Yeah! It feels good."

"It feels good to me, too. Difference is that I'm too big to sit in her lap. We snuggle in bed together."

"Oh. If I want, can I sleep with one of my mommas?"

"Sure, you need to ask her in advance. You need to wear clean pajamas and agree to the other rules as well."

Every eye watched me and every ear listened.

Matthew asked, "What other rules?"

"No jumping on the bed. No singing after the lights go out. No eating food in bed."

"I don't do any of those things!" Matthew said.

"Then you won't have any troubles will you?"

"Nope."

Martha added, "One more rule. Not on a school night."

"Ok. Can I stay in Pete's house?"

"Who do you want to sleep with?" I asked.

"I want to sleep like you do Daddy Nick. I want to sleep with all my Mommas."

"Who first?" Martha asked.

"Momma Karen." He looked at her as he said he name.

Karen said, "You have clean pajamas?"

"Yup! Hulk pajamas."

"Ok. If your homework for the weekend is done and you're clean and in your Hulk pajamas, you can have a sleepover with me."

Five minutes after he was excused Ruth asked, "Do the same rules apply to me?"

Martha asked, "You want a sleepover with a Momma, too?"

"No. I want Daddy Bill to hold me all night long."

Martha recovered first and said, "All your mommas and daddies will need to talk that over. Ask us again on the weekend, Ok?"

"Ok. May I be excused?" 

She was and seconds later only adults sat at the table. I said, "Before we talk about Ruth's request I have a topic I want to talk with everyone about." I outlined the meeting I'd had with Rose and the request she made to join the family. 

Jennifer asked, "Which house? We don't have an empty bedroom, unless we give up a guest room."

"I don't think she wants to move in." I said. "She owns a house. In fact, she owns more than one. I think she wants in and wants us to spend time at her house and her using the guest rooms sometimes, too."

"I knew it." Karen said. "So did Sandy. We knew others would find out about loving the way we do and we knew they'd want it."

Sandy nodded. So did I.

John said, "Invite her for dinner. Invite her to help us finish off the Gingerbread House. We'll see if she fits."

Martha laughed and Sandy joined her. When Martha stopped laughing she said, "You know she's been thinking about the family for months. You know she's aware of the empty places inside her and that when we love her they will be filled. She's not quite sure what loving all of us will feel like, but she's sure it will be wonderful and will fill her life."

Sandy said, "I know Rose. She's been a customer for years. She was at Pete's funeral. She's been coming into the BC for months and I've caught her watching us. When she comes for dinner she'll bring a suitcase."

"Ok. Think about it and tomorrow when Martha and I show up at work we'll talk again over lunch. She's invited for dinner tomorrow night."

Martha and I grabbed our duffel bag and left. We knew Matthew and Ruth would be loved and cared for. We kissed them both Good-Night before we left. By the time we got to the cabin Martha was trembling.

I opened the door and went inside to turn on the heat. Martha went on a tour. When I caught up she was crying.

"Why the tears?" I asked.

She pointed at the bedroom. I looked and saw fresh sheets and blankets on the bed, flowers in a vase on the chest of drawers and four candles waiting to be lit. Rose knew we were coming for a special night out and she had given us a gift.

"She wants in." I said.

"She is in." Martha said.

I felt the warmth from the furnace and said, "From now on things between us will change. I already love you and I know you love me. My cave man will have reign over our intimate relationship. Sometimes he will be strong and forceful with you and sometimes he will tease you for hours or maybe days before he gives you the orgasms and feelings you crave."

"You understand me."

"Undress."

"Of course." She smiled and began taking off her clothes. I took mine off and put them in a drawer of the chest of drawers. I took her in my arms and kissed her. She surrendered completely to me during the kiss. 

"Face down on the bed, please." She put herself on the bed, face down with her legs slightly spread. I gave her safe words and my promise to take care of her always. She turned her tear covered face to me and said, "I need you to be the strength. I need you to demand that I please you, otherwise I will freeze up and not be the wife I want to be."

I remembered when I discovered that my Mom needed dad to be forceful with her. I was thirteen. He had sent me on an errand and I got back before he thought I should. He had Mom out in the barn and was spanking her when I saw them. I was stunned and watched as dad spanked her long and hard as she cried. Then I saw him enter her and fuck her almost brutally. After he came she curled into his arms and I heard her thank him. He'd known I watched and talked to me about learning a woman's needs and giving her what she needed, even if it hurt to do it.

I slapped Martha's bare butt. She thanked me. I remembered that sometimes I'd heard Mom thank Dad for spanking her. I slapped her butt again and harder. She thanked me again. I slapped alternate cheeks until both were pink and then I pushed my hand between her legs and caressed her swollen pussy.

"I love you Martha. I love you and demand that you obey me." I stroked her, dipping a finger between her lips and stroking her wetness. I withdrew my hand and waited. She didn't look at me but waited for whatever was next.

"Face up."

She rolled over and spread her legs a little wider than before. I told her I was going to pinch her nipples and her breasts and I wanted her to tell me how much it hurt. I explained the from one to ten scale to her and then I pinched her left areola behind her nipple between my thumb and the side of my first finger.

"Tell me when it begins to be painful." I squeezed and she said, "Now. Call it a two."

The evening passed with our exploration of her limits and her needs. She willingly submitted to me and allowed me to probe desires she couldn't voice, but showed her love for acts she never would have asked for. After her third orgasm I touched her anus and she moaned. I massaged her there and soon she opened to me, allowing a single finger to penetrate her depths, then two and three.

When Martha had lost count of her orgasms and was covered in sweat I slowed our exploration and moved us into the shower. I found that I had bruised both of her breasts and an area close to her right labia. She thanked me for the experience and the bruises.

I dried her and once we were back on the bed I massaged her with lotion. A few tender kisses and we slept. In the morning we dressed and found a small café where we had breakfast. As we szipped our coffee Martha said, "I don't think I want sex to always be like last night."

"How will you tell me when you want it to be like last night?" I asked.

She thought a moment and said, "I need a way to send you a signal." 

I let her think as I finished off the waffle and eggs I was eating. As I lifted the last bite to my mouth she said, "I'll buy a pair of red panties! I'll make sure you see them on me and that can be the signal for you to take me!"

"Did Sandy tell you I don't like red?"

She nodded, "Sandy told me. Janice told me and so did Karen. James thought red underclothes were only for whores and heathens, so I've never owned any."

We finished breakfast and headed for the BC. Sandy was at the register when we arrived. Martha thanked her for taking charge of the register for a while and then she took over. Sandy all but hauled me into my office. She closed the door and said, "I hope you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"MS June called this morning. She wants to know what it takes to be invited into our family."

"Matthew's teacher?"

"Yup! I invited her for dinner. I've already given Jenn a heads up that there will be two guests for dinner."

"This is something I saw coming, but way out in the future... not now!" I said.

"I've had conversations with Janice, Karen, John and Donna. They vote yes, unless we learn something really weird at dinner."

"Where can we possibly put more people? Both houses are full. Rose lives six miles from either house. I don't know where June lives."

"The problem is bigger than just them. Remember when you and Martha met with Ben's parents at school? Well, Kathleen was in this morning and talked with me. She asked questions... probing questions. I think she is considering leaving curt and joining your family."

"Oh God! Curt wants nothing to do with us! In his mind we're going to Hell!"

"Kathleen said as much. She's tired of feeling like Curt's slave brood mare."

"Ok. I've got some thinking to do. We all do. Thanks, Sandy, for telling me what's going on." I expected her to leave my office. She didn't. She pushed my chair back from my desk and sat on my lap.




Consequences, Sandy Ch. 04



"You took Martha away for the night, last night. I was Ok with it until about midnight, then I wanted to know where you were, why you weren't home and I wanted to know why you and I haven't been away since we got back from our Honeymoon."

I smiled and said, "Martha is needy. Needy in ways I'm just discovering. I thought it important to have lots of privacy to explore her needs. I didn't believe closing her bedroom door was enough privacy. I was right. You are right too. I thought about you, Karen, Donna, Janice and Jennifer as Martha and I went where we went last night. My idea was to buy the cabin and use it as a getaway spot for each of you to go with me. I'm not buying the cabin for that. I want to find a special place where I can take each of you, a place I don't share with all of you one at a time but a place where I only take you. A different place suited to and special for each of you."

"Buy the cabin."

"Buy the cabin? Not a special place I take just you?"

"Buy the cabin. Take us there when we need to have a date with our cave man. I know why Martha needed to go there. She needs to be dominated in the bedroom. Her time with James taught her to that sex is a duty and should happen quietly, under the covers and in the dark. She can't ask for what she needs, but cave man Nick can demand she be his wife and give him the willing sex partner she wants to be. I need to be with the cave man sometimes, too."

"From my conversation with Rose I believe the privacy is the reason the cabin was built in the first place. Perhaps, if she joins the family we'll get a good deal on the cabin."

"If you take her there and treat her like she needs to be treated she'll give the cabin to the family!"

"I think I'm starting to like these ideas." I got kissed a few times and then Sandy went back to work. I called Jenn and talked to her about dinner. She had already made enchiladas with rice, beans and a salad. The table had extra seating for our guests and she had arranged for Matthew and Ruth to see a new movie while the adults talked. As the call was ending she said, "I'd like some of that alone and away time too."

"I'll schedule something for us. Something special." I said.

"A cabin far from neighbors will do just fine, husband."

"Oh. I'll write that down."

We closed the BC on time and drove to the Gingerbread House for dinner. Rose was parked at the curb in front when we arrived. MS June parked behind Rose and they walked to the door together.

Dinner conversation centered around civic events and the movie the kids would be watching until Matthew turned to MS June and asked, "Are you going to be our Momma too?"

The conversations at the table stopped. June looked at Matthew and answered, "I'm not sure. I'm here to talk about it."

Ruth said, "I think it would be neat!" She turned and asked Momma Janice if she could be excused. The answer was yes. Matthew wanted to know where MS June would live if she was his Momma too.

I answered, "We don't know the answer yet. I promise we'll let you know when we know."

"Ok. May I be excused?" He was excused and went off to watch the movie with Ruth.

MS June said, "I guess that opens the conversation that has me here tonight."

Rose added, "And brings me here too."

When the two kids came back we were still sitting at the table. The movie was over, baths taken and pajamas were on both kids. They got lots of kisses Good-Night and went off to bed. Matthew got his answers before he went to bed.

Yes, MS June was going to be his momma. No, she wasn't going to live in the Gingerbread House. She had a house and was going to keep living there. Yes, he could sometimes have a sleepover at her house and she would sometimes sleepover at the Gingerbread House. 

Matthew wasn't told but it was also decided Rose would keep her house as well. She had a three bedroom house about a mile from MS June's house. All the properties would be deeded to a corporation formed with all the adults in the family buying in and being joint owners. Martha and Jenn wanted to know how they could buy in, they had nothing.

We decided they would buy in with whatever settlement they got when their divorces were final. They would be fully vested after staying for five years. I added them to our health insurance and expanded our other insurance plans to include all the cars, trucks and properties.

Rose looked at her watch and said, "I need to drive home. I have a house to show at ten in the morning. If any of you would like to come home with me I can say that I put fresh sheets on the bed and you are invited."

Bill said, "If I can show up for work at ten in the morning I'd like to accept that offer."

"Just like that?" Janice asked.

"Just like what?" Sandy asked.

"When we left work tonight there were six mommas and three dads in the family. If John goes home with Rose that officially brings her into the family. Is MS June officially in the family too? Was there a vote and I missed it?"

I said, "No, there wasn't a vote. Is Rose officially in the family? Is June officially in the family too? We need everyone to vote."

Rose and MS June went home alone. After half an hour more discussion it was decided that we needed more time to decide. We could easily decide to love them both... but the business of being family needed more discussion.

After work Saturday we all met again. We looked at MS June's house and Rose's. We talked. We ate great food. Rose's home was bigger than MS June's and close to the school, so it was decided to sell June's house and have her move into the house with Rose. One of the men would sleep in each of the three houses each night. Jenn cared for the two largest houses and helped with Rose's House. We ate dinner at the Gingerbread and Pete's house.



Consequences, Sandy



He made some suggestions and we liked them. A bigger shower, more lighting, a double sink and longer counter. If we made my old bedroom a home office we could put a doorway from the office into the bathroom and take a little room from the bedroom to expand the bathroom. Sandy had ideas about paint colors, tile colors and the like. Carl listened and made notes.

When we went down to the kitchen table Carl said, "I have to ask. Sandy has been a full participant in all this remodeling talk. What's going on?"

"Sandy will be my wife before you get the remodeling done. This is as much for her as for me, maybe more."

"Wow! Congratulations." He went back to a conversation about the remodel and I specified that I thought I could get him a good price on the lumber and things he would need. We laughed. I told him he would have a special account at the BC and he would never get the bill. His cost to me was for labor. I'd... we'd, buy the parts.

He said I'd have the plans on Thursday and a contract in my hands the same day. We asked him not to say anything about the marriage until the next day. He said he didn't know anything about a wedding.

Ten minutes after he left we went upstairs to Sandy's room and started undressing. It was a mistake. We were down to underwear when I heard the front door open and close. As quickly as we could we redressed and came downstairs. We were met by the pastor of the church Dad had attended and two women from the congregation.

"Pastor. Thank you for the service this morning. I'm sure Dad would approve."

"Can we sit?"

"Certainly." I waved at the living room and the pastor sat in a nice chair. The two women sat on the couch and Sandy and I sat on two chairs we carried in from the kitchen.

"It was one thing for your father to rent a room to Sandy. He was an older man, a widower. We are a bit more concerned about how it looks for Sandy to live here with you and neither of you is married."

"I certainly understand that concern. First let me assure you that in the time since I arrived Sandy has been a lady. We have not had sex. And, since you brought two upstanding women of the town and congregation with you we can probably attend to the concerns of the whole community right now."

I turned to Sandy and said, "Sandy, would you get the velvet box, please?"

She smiled and went to the sideboard, opened a drawer and came back with the box. She handed it to me.

"Pastor, would you please stand up and marry us? Here are the rings."

He stood and said, "The state requires a three day wait after you get the license."

"We can deal with the state tomorrow. We want to be married in the sight of God and witnesses. I assume you two women are willing to be witnesses at our wedding?"

"This is rather unusual." One of the women said.

"Unusual? Not in the least. I had some things I needed to attend to and Sandy and I agreed to wait until I was free to return home before we got married. The passing of my Dad pushed me to conclude my business out of town sooner that would have be the most profitable but concluded, none the less. Sandy and I have loved each other for many years. I see no reason to wait any longer to begin our lives as husband and wife."

"We will be honored to be your witnesses." They stood. Sandy stood next to me. The pastor was trapped and he knew it.

From memory he did a good job of marrying us. When he was done I was wearing my Dad's ring. It fit perfectly. Sandy wore both rings that had been my Mom's. They fit perfectly. I asked the pastor if he could handle the paperwork so the wedding was state legal. He said he could do that for us. I promised him a nice donation to the church for his service, both for my Dad and for us.

Ten minutes after they left I had a small sign up on the front door and another on the back door. They said: "Do not enter. Honeymoon in progress. If you value your life come back tomorrow or next week."

Sandy was naked in her bed when I opened the door. In seconds I was naked and beside her. As I slowly touched her lower lips with my erection she looked at my face and said, "Husband, make me your wife."

I don't know how long that takes, but if it takes from first contact to the ejaculation it was less than a minute. Fortunately, my recovery time was quick and we took longer the second time. We rested and napped for a little while and I was awakened by Sandy holding my cock in her hands and saying, "Husband, I feel empty and I need you to fill me up."

I did. Our phone rang at seven. Sandy answered by picking up the phone and saying, "Sandy and Nick Peterson's."

I was three feet from the phone and heard the scream on the other end. It was Karen. She volunteered to bring Chinese food because she knew Sandy didn't want to cook. Forty-five minutes later she walked right in, laughing. She read the card before she opened the door.

We had showered and dressed. Mostly. I had on jeans and a t-shirt. Sandy had on jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing else.

We ate. Karen wanted to know how we got married so quickly. Sandy told about the visit from the morality patrol and how I had maneuvered them into marrying us. We laughed and enjoyed the story. I knew it would be retold many times during the rest of our lives.

"The card says honeymoon in progress. You are going on a honeymoon aren't you?"

"Yes. We're leaving next Friday. I'll be the one who knows where we're going. Sandy doesn't even get to pack. Whatever she needs we'll get when we arrive."

The two women bubbled all over each other for almost an hour and I sat and listened. Then I yawned and stood up. Both got the message.

"Ok! Ok! I'm going. Have a nice time. You'll both have trouble walking into work tomorrow!" She laughed as she closed the door, with her on the outside. I took Sandy by the hand and led her up the stairs.

She took the jeans off and said, "They have to go in the wash. Stuff has been leaking out of me ever since our first time."

"Complain, complain, complain. We've only been married a little over six hours and already you complain."

"Oh no, you misunderstand. I'm bragging, not complaining. Next time we get dressed I will wear a pad to catch what you put in me this time. When I feel it leaking out it reminds me I gave you my virginity and you gave me yours."

She put herself on the bed and opened her legs.

"Please Sir, may I have some more?"

"All I have is yours." I climbed on the bed and fit right into the available opening. We coupled hard and fast as though we were attempting to start a fire by friction. It might have happened except she was producing lots of juices and then I splashed my own fire retardant on the fire. I couldn't help myself. I had to look to see if there was smoke.

By morning we had learned some things. We learned that the wet spot will soak through the sheets onto the mattress cover. We learned that putting a towel down is a good idea. We learned that it is less messy if I cum inside her. Sandy told me she learned that my cum tastes good. I told her that I learned that she tastes incredibly good! 

We got dressed after our third shared shower in less than a day and drove to work. We were met by applause. I sign was posted by the cash register. It read: "Under new management. New owners: Nick and Sandy Peterson!"

Everyone wanted to see the rings and hear the story. Every customer joined in the celebration. When things settled down a bit I went to the office and had a look at the books. Janice and Sandy were good at their jobs. Sandy handled inventory and special orders, cash flow in and advertising. Janice handled payroll, billing, credit accounts, and deliveries. Everything looked to be in great shape.

Near noon the intercom buzzed. Karen's voice came into the office and said, "We have a customer who is upset about his bill. Can one of you come up front, please."

Janice hit the intercom and said, "Who is the customer? I'll bring his account with me."

"Mr. Wilkins. Thank you." Karen said.

"Tell me about him." I said.

"He bought the old Mathers farm about seven years ago. He has an acre garden and about eighty chickens. Thinks he knows everything about everything. And he's willing to share his vast knowledge."

"How much business does he give us in a year?"

Less than a minute at the calculator and Janice said, "He spent eight thousand with us in the last twelve months."

"Let me handle the fellow. I won't need the file." I went out the door. When Karen saw me coming she hit the transmit button on the intercom. Janice and Sandy could hear everything that happened.

"Mr. Wilkins? I'm Nick Peterson. Is there a problem?"

He held an invoice from us in his hand. He pointed to it and said, "I bought some 2X4's last week and I had them delivered. They cost $2.18 each. I bought 43. You deliver free on orders over a hundred dollars and my total was $101.47. Look right here there's a five dollar charge for delivery. I want my five dollars back."

"Karen, what is our policy about deliveries?"

She pointed to a sign on the wall. It said, "$5 delivery for orders under $100. Free Delivery on orders over one hundred dollars net."

I smiled. "Mr. Wilkins, see the last word on the sign? It says net. Net means before taxes. Before taxes your order came to $93.74. That's why you were charged the five dollars."

"It isn't right. I was close, really close. I shouldn't have to pay delivery."

I opened my wallet and handed him ten dollars. "Mr. Wilkins, I apologize for any misunderstanding that may have existed between you and the Builder's Center. I know it won't ever happen again."

I asked Karen to get Bill and John to come to the cash register. She didn't move and in a few seconds both men were there.

"Boys, do you know Mr. Wilkins?" They both nodded.

"From now on you are not to deliver to his place. Ever! Do you understand?" They both nodded. I turned to Karen, "Karen, from now on Mr. Wiliins is a cash only customer. No credit cards, debit card, invoices, just cash and he takes whatever he buys. Understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Peterson." I turned back to Wilkins who looked about to burst. "The problem is solved. You won't ever have a delivery dispute over three dollars with us. You won. You came in to get five dollars from me that you knew you didn't deserve. That is dishonest. I don't need your business. You can leave and never come back, or you can come back and deal with us on a cash and carry basis."

"That's no way to treat a customer!"

"I don't have customers. In Chicago the Builder's Center probably has customers. This is a small town. I want a relationship with everyone I do business with. We don't stock crap. And, we don't because I won't sell crap to my friends. You aren't my friend and I get the impression you weren't my Dad's friend either. If you were a friend you would have said something about the funeral all of us attended yesterday. You didn't say anything and you didn't attend. If you were a friend you would have congratulated me on getting married. You didn't. To quote my Dad quoting someone else, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Good day to you." I turned and walked back to the office.

Karen watched Wilkins walk from the BC and hit the button shutting off the intercom. When I walked into the office both women were looking at me like I was an alien. Sandy spoke first. 

"That was a master at work. Damn. He had nothing. You cut him up, taught him a lesson and created all the future between him and the BC."

"I feel bad for him. I don't think he knows how to be a friend. I just cannot let anyone abuse my friends or our business."

When I visited the yard Bill told me that when he delivered the 2X4's Wilkins had him unload them and stack them beside his shed. And, he never said thanks.

Later in the day I called the phone company and ordered an extra phone line installed in our home and the store line as well. That way we could work from home sometimes and still be in touch with the store easily. I called my job in Omaha and quit. They said it would take a few days to send me my final check.

On Thursday Carl came to the store with our plans, our contract and a parts list. Bill and John said they would deliver everything to the site on Saturday. Carl started demolition on Friday after Sandy and I left town. Thursday afternoon she was at home and the people came from Goodwill and emptied the master bedroom. She arranged for the new bedroom furniture and bed to be delivered the day before our return. Karen would oversee the set up. On Friday morning Sandy and I went to the rental car. We had one small carry-on bag. In it were her feminine supplies. At the airport we turned in the car and Sandy boarded the first airplane she had ever been on. I sat next to her.

We flew to Los Angeles and Sandy saw the ocean for the first time. We changed planes and they announced seven times United flight 811 to Honolulu boarding at gate 66. Sandy had a window seat and watched the Pacific for hours. I slept for part of the flight.

In Hawaii we checked into our hotel and I called a friend I had known in college. He took us shopping at a non-tourist mall and we got clothes for both of us. He took us to dinner and then back to our hotel. He offered to have us stay with him but he understood when I said we were on our honeymoon.

A honeymoon is a learning experience. A couple is supposed to learn a lot about their partner. I learned that Sandy wanted to memorize my body. I learned that I hoped it took her a very long time. She learned how long it took me to recover from being inside her. She learned how to order room service. She learned to wear a tiny bikini and not be self conscious. The one she bought weighed about the same amount as a hummingbird. When it got wet she was naked, with blue triangles at the best parts.

We also learned that my favorite hobby in the world was eating pussy. I loved the taste, the fragrance, and the feel of her. She went three days without ever putting clothes on. The day before we were to fly back to the mainland we took a sightseeing bus and saw a lot of sights. The next morning we flew back to California and from there home.

It was midnight when our plane landed. Karen was at the gate waiting for us. We had a larger carry-on bag and no luggage. She drove us home. We were both excited to see what had happened while we were away.

When we were about ten minutes from home Karen started really talking. 

"Lots happened while you were gone. Sandy, to you remember Pete saying that if he was gonna live another fifteen years he'd repaint the house?"

"Yeah, he even picked the color. Wait! You didn't?"

"Oh hell no! I didn't. Bill and John did and they had help. Three days ago there were twenty men and women all over your house. We hope you like it." She stopped the car around the corner from our house. She hit a speed dial on her phone and said, "We're here." She hung up and drove around the corner.

Five seconds passed and lights came on. All around our house thousand watt lights came on and showed us our new house. It was a blue-gray with white trim. Dark blue-gray shutters framed the upstairs windows. It was beautiful. Karen pulled into the driveway and the lights shut off.

"Want to know the strangest part? The painting was organized by and the majority of the trim was painted by Mr. Wilkins!"

"What?" We both said, shocked.

"He came in last Saturday and asked to speak to you. I told him you were off on your honeymoon. He found out about the remodeling and asked if any of us knew how long it had been since your house had been painted. Then he got a crew of volunteers together to give you guys a wedding gift, the painting of your house. He paid retail and cash for all the paint. He's been here every day working."

We got out of the car and were met by Carl and his wife. They were excited for us to see what they had done, inside. We entered by the back door that leads right into the kitchen. On the table was a big envelope. Sandy opened it. It was the card for the wedding gift paint job and it was signed by all the people who helped paint.

Carl led us upstairs. Sandy opened the door to our bedroom and started to cry. Karen knew her favorite colors and had outfitted the room to perfection. We had ordered a big four-poster bed and matching dressers. Karen had put up forest green and white eyelet curtains and dust ruffle. A deep green quilt covered the bed. The walls were a pale green and the floor a freshly done hardwood.

It took a minute to remember that the big remodel was in the bathroom. I opened the door and reached for the light switch. It was amazing! White tile with green accents. The shower was five feet square and glass on two sides. The shower heads were six and a half feet high. Near the window was a trap door built into the wall. It was a laundry chute to the basement.

When I discovered the chute I turned to thank Carl and discovered that Carl and his wife had gone. On the night table next to our bed was a business envelope with Carl's business logo as the return address.

I pulled the invoice out and looked at it. It said, "one bedroom and bathroom remodel. PAID IN FULL a long time ago." It was signed by Carl and his wife.

Karen was gone too. We walked through the house and marveled at what people had done. The lights that had shown us the outside were gone. The doors were closed. We were alone in our home. It was after one in the morning.

"Nick, let's go to our bed..."

"In our new bedroom..."

"In our new house..."

"And, let's sleep until we wake up!" I said. Her hand took mine and we climbed the stairs together.

In the morning I woke first. Slowly and quietly I got up and used our new bathroom. I flushed and returned to bed. Sandy didn't wake up.

Someone downstairs heard the water run to refill the toilet and started making breakfast. The smells drifted up and woke both of us.

Sandy kissed me and whispered, "I think a burglar is downstairs."

"Smells like a burglar that can cook."

"Smells like Karen's cooking to me."

"Damn, woman! Why isn't she at work?"

"Maybe she is. Taking care of the boss comes under the heading of her job, doesn't it?"

"No. It's under your job description."

She used her hands to play with my equipment and said, "I've been meaning to ask for a raise. Seems my job description keeps expanding and I think I deserve a raise."

"Let me think about it. I'll see what comes up!"

I was already up. She rolled me on top of her and welcomed me inside the best place I had ever been. Not being satisfied I pulled away and then revisited. Slowly at first but faster and faster until both of us cried out in joy. Sandy sounded like what I believe angels sound like and I sounded like what a bear sounds like when he finds a huge hive full of honey.

As we lay next to each other enjoying the cooking smells mixed with our own fragrances the bedroom door opened and Karen looked in. Janice looked over her shoulder and saw us hastily cover up.

"Breakfast dessert is ready." Karen said. "I know you've already eaten, but come down and eat food this time." They laughed as they closed the door. We showered and dressed for our first day back. We were a little slow. We showered in our new shower together and that cannot properly be rushed. 

We sat for breakfast dressed in plaid shirts, rolled sleeves, Levis, boots and Sandy wore her hair in a pony tail. Karen looked at us and said, "They really look happy don't they?"

"Makes me wish I had a man in my life." Janice said.

"When you get to work this afternoon put up a sign. Maybe we can find you a man. Seems like a lot of them come into the BC." I said as I took my first bite. 

"How come she gets first shot at getting a man?" Karen asked.

"If you want you can both put up signs. Specify what you want and tell them how to apply. No interviews during store hours." I said.




Consequences, Sandy



"Have them meet you at the diner and buy you dinner." Sandy offered.

"Great idea." I ate the wonderful breakfast and was amazed at what it was. Karen had started crumbled sausage in a skillet, when they were mostly done she broke eggs over them and then poured pancake batter all around the mix. Somehow she turned all that over and when it was cooked it filled a platter. She served it with two forks and both coffee and juice. It was great.

When we were finished eating Sandy took Janice up to see our bedroom. When they opened the door Janice said, "Whew! Open the windows! Smells like sex in here!" All three women laughed. 

I laughed too then I called up to them and said, "Leave the windows closed. I like that smell."

Fifteen minutes later we were all on our way to work.

At about lunch time I had Janice call Mr. Wilkins and when he answered she said, "Quick, what's your favorite sandwich?"

He answered, "Turkey pastrami on rye with lots of brown mustard."

"Then don't eat lunch... Your sandwich is on it's way!" She hung up. I called the diner and Beth said she'd have three sandwiches ready in ten minutes. I picked them up and drove out to the Wilkins place. After the call he made iced tea and put a table cloth on their outside table.

When I got out of my truck he met me and took the bag of sandwiches to the table. As he walked he said, "You didn't need to bring sandwiches."

"You're right. I wanted to bring sandwiches. I want to thank you. Our home is beautiful!"

"When I left your store I was so angry at you I could have spit nails. What you said ate at me. I acted like I did because I didn't know how to be a friend. Until we came here we lived in a big city. I'd never had a friend. You showed me what was missing. When I went back to tell you Thanks I discovered you and Sandy were on your honeymoon. I just did what I thought a friend would do."

"I would be proud to call you a friend." We shook hands and sat down to eat. When he pulled three sandwiches out of the bag he looked up at me.

"Does your wife eat?"

He nodded. Then he called her and she joined us. A woman who could easily have been pretty, she was unkempt. Her dress was baggy and her hair unbrushed. She was barefoot.

"This is Kathleen. Kathleen this is Mr. Peterson. He owns the Builder's Center in town. He brought you a sandwich."

She shook my hand and sat down. When she opened the wrapper to her sandwich she said, "Thank you Mr. Peterson."

We turned our focus to lunch and when the edge was off the hunger the conversation began. We talked about how they could enjoy being involved in the small town activities. They thought that high school football was for the kids and their families. They thought little league was that way too. I promised to get them a list of activities they would be welcome to attend.

As soon as Kathleen finished half her sandwich she rewrapped the rest and went inside. Five minutes later she was back, hair brushed, dress straightened and sandals on. She looked nice. I said so.

As I drove away Mr. Wilkins stood next to his wife with his arm around her.

When I walked into the BC Sandy met me and said, "You got a phone call while you were gone. She sounded upset. I think you should call her back."

"Who?"

"A Mrs. Collard from over in Ong. I don't know her."

"And she sounded upset?"

Sandy nodded. I went into my office and dialed the number Sandy had written. A woman answered. I said, "This is Nick Peterson at the Builder's Center. May I help you?"

"Nick Peterson? Are you related to the owner?"

"Yes. I'm his son. May I help you?"

"I need to speak to your father."

"I'm sorry, that isn't possible."

"Just please have him call me when he gets back."

"He's not coming back, ma'am. He died on the tenth of April."

"Oh!" There was a long pause.

"Are you still there ma'am?"

"I'm sorry. I was digesting what you said. I called because he was supposed to have dinner with me last Friday night and he didn't come and he didn't call. I was angry with him. He was called home. I'm so sorry. I'll miss him. Your father was a very good man."

"Thank you, I agree."

"Good bye."

"Good-bye."

Sandy heard or saw me hang up and she came in.

"Who is she?"

"Dad was supposed to have dinner with her last Friday night. He didn't show and didn't call."

"Oh. How did she take the news?"

"She said, "He was called home."

"A nice way of saying it."

Over the next month there were three more calls from women who hadn't heard that Dad died. On May tenth, exactly a month after he died, a 1960 Chevy Bel-Air pulled into our driveway and a woman old enough to have purchased the car new got out. She was dressed up, all the way to gloves and a hat. I met her at the door.

"Good evening. Would you like to come in?"

"Are you Nick?"

"I am. I don't know who you are, but please come in. I like your car. If my memory serves me well we had a 61. I like the 60 even better."

She came in and sat on the couch. She looked up at me and said, "Aren't you going to tell your father I'm here?"

"I cannot. My father was called home one month ago today. I'm sorry you didn't hear about it."

She opened her purse and got a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. Sandy came in with more tissues and a glass of water. She sat next to the mystery woman and waited.

"I went to visit my grandchildren on the first of April. I got back last night. There was no way anyone could have let me know. How did he die?"

"Doctor Hoag said he had a heart attack in his sleep. He didn't even wake up." Sandy said.

"Oh. You must be the young woman who was his boarder. Sandy, is it?"

Sandy nodded.

"I'm Martha Carter. Mr. Peterson and I usually had dinner once a month, at my place. I'm sorry I just barged in this way but I'd been missing Mr. Peterson."

"We all miss him. By the way, Sandy is no longer a boarder. She is my wife now."

She beamed at Sandy and said, "If young Mr. Peterson is anything like his father you are very blessed. I've lived a long time and known two fine men. I married the first one and about eight years ago I met Mr. Peterson. Finest men I ever knew."

"Thank you. I think he is a lot like his Dad."

We walked her out to her car and watched her drive away. She was the last one. My father and I had done a lot together and the thing we hadn't done was to communicate very well. I think a lot about how Sandy and I could have been married before we were thirty. I think about all I might have learned from Dad if I'd come home right after I got the MBA. More than those thoughts I think about the legacy he left for me. He was a man people liked. They trust me because I am his son. He was a good businessman. Not the kind of good measured in how much money her made but good in how he deserved the trust and friendship her gave. 

I want to be like my Dad. Of all the people who knew him I married the one who knew him best at the end. She has promised to gently make me aware if I do something my Dad wouldn't do.

That's a story for another time, I think.