Chapter 139

February 4, 2018

Dear Ms. Diary,

We had a large breakfast with which to send Inez off on another museum jaunt. I marveled to myself how much more open Inez has become of late with both the family and the group. When we sat to eat, Lana forced her way between Meka and me, then insisted we had to put our chairs close enough together so that she could sit between us, half of her on each chair.

Inez responded, “Hey! No fair. If she gets to do it, then...” She stood, forced her way into Dad’s lap, ostentatiously stuck her tongue out at Lana, then said, “So, there,” and sent her a raspberry.

“Behave, children,” Carol admonished. “Do I have to put you in time-out?”

Inez ducked her head, replying, “No, Mom. I’ll be good,” then picked her head up and sent the table a wicked grin.

Gracey marveled at her mom, then said, “It’s so good to see you really happy, Mom. I haven’t seen you like this in ... maybe forever.”

“That’s what lots of good sex will do for you.”

Most of the girls – and Brett – did not know how to respond to that, but Meka, Celeste, and the Go5 laughed. Lana allowed herself to laugh once she saw us laughing. I glanced at Kim as she was shaking her head with the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

Inez followed that up with, “While I wasn’t kidding, you were supposed to laugh,” as she grinned at Brett.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure how to react. Try me again when you get back to make sure I’ve learned the lesson. Nowhere else are ... witticisms about ... sex allowed in ... groups of such disparate ages. I guess I haven’t quite taken the ... compound and its ... open attitudes to heart. One would think that after what I had to wear last night – and today, I’d have clued myself in.”

Inez responded, “And, my, do you look fine in that get-up. I almost gave you a wolf whistle. Next time, I won’t hold back.” Her face turned serious as she said, “Brett, I’m glad you’re our girls’ friend. You fit well with them, and you give them a chance to figure out how better to interact with boys your age. Of course, like the girls, your maturity level is not typical of your age. However, most of the interactions they have are with three fathers, most of those, obviously, with Charlie. Those are, of necessity, different than their interactions should be with their peers, even though, some of the time, they interact with Charlie as peers, even though those situations are still slightly different.

“My main point, Brett, is that they need lessons about dealing with a guy as a friend that could be something else as they explore various types of interactions. You’re still around, so they must not be doing too badly with you. And I like you. I hope these girls don’t drive you off, as they could do far, far worse than you. I know. I did find one far worse, but I finally found a guy that I like on all levels, and I’ve got my butt in his lap.” She shrugged as she added, “I must share him, but, so far, even with sharing, I’m much, much happier and more satisfied with Charlie than I’ve ever been with a guy.

“As Sandy said yesterday, if I were your age and in your school, I’d be interested in you, even if I did have to share with these girls. I haven’t figured out all the ins and outs of sharing a great guy with other women, but I have learned that the biggest hurdle is not how you deal with all those girls, but how all those girls deal with each other pertaining to you.”

Brett’s eyes went huge, so Inez added, “We’re well aware of what all your girl ... friends want, and I’d be surprised if they hadn’t told you precisely what that was. Have they?” When he nodded red-faced, she continued with, “Good, because it does them no good to surprise you with that two months or two years down the road. How do you feel about what they want?”

Although still very red, he kept his head up and his eyes on Inez’s as he answered, “It still feels a bit ... unreal. However, relevant to something you said, I don’t think those girls could scare me off, as the prize they offer is ... so much more than I could imagine not that long ago. It wouldn’t be a dream come true, as I’ve never had dreams that wonderful. I’m ecstatic just having their friendship. Their hopes? I try not to dwell on those, as I’d never get anything done.”

“You’re still sleeping with them. Yes?” When she saw his face go even redder, she added, “I meant that in the original meaning of the word. While they don’t tell us everything, they tell us the truly important bits. And do you know why they keep us apprised of stuff like that?”

He nodded and replied, “The main reason, is that the Go5 love their parents, all five of them, and they don’t want you to be surprised.”

Inez’s face went soft at Brett’s words, then she smiled and responded, “Exactly. If we didn’t know you slept with them – apparently by random selection. Yes?” He nodded, she smiled at him again, then said, “If we didn’t know you slept with them, then it would be a very large and ugly surprise if one of us encountered that. Oh, I think none of my sister-moms would have gone crazy and when they found that everyone was clothed appropriately, things would not have been too horrible for our daughters. However, we wouldn’t have let them off easily, either. Fortunately, our girls learned relatively early on that they would get a lot more leeway in a lot of things if they followed the few rules and let us know what they were doing. We’ve now had at least two years of that sort of behavior, and they’ve rarely messed up badly enough to require ... umm ... counseling from a parent. We now treat them as adults. You probably already know that, but we think that the occasional reminder is important.

“I know both Sandy and Carol have told you that you’re all welcome here anytime. I add my welcome to theirs. You’re a good bunch of proto-adults, and I’d be happy to consider you both friends and as additional great kids of my own.”

Brett quickly looked around at the girls, then replied, “Thanks, Inez. We all appreciate both the welcome and how you treat us. I suspect your actual daughters have told you this, but all the ... non-residents of the group look upon you as something like wonderful extra parents. Thanks for all you do for your extra kids. For myself, while most of the country’s population would think the five of you are setting a horrible example and encouraging behavior in which kids shouldn’t partake, the lessons we’ve taken from this odd household are the importance of cooperation; a sense of humor; and, most importantly, love for all members of the household. Thanks for those lessons.”

Inez stared at Brett for a few seconds, lifted off Dad’s lap, walked around the table to stand by him, then said, “Please, stand.” When he did, she asked, “May I hug you?”

His face showed his surprise, which also went pink, but he looked into Inez’s eyes and nodded.

She hugged him tightly for about five seconds, then stepped back a little while holding his arms below the shoulders, looked him levelly in the eyes, and stated, “You’re a wonderful young man and I’d have no qualms welcoming you into the family if that time comes. I truly hope you can hang onto these girls no matter what comes, as I suspect that if you can, it will be worth whatever angst it may cause you in the transition from a friend that’s a boy through boyfriend to husband.”

She turned, walked to Gracey, and whispered something in her ear. Gracey’s eyebrows rose, and her eyes widened. However, she nodded her head emphatically and said, “Go for it.”

Inez smiled, then put on a more serious mien and walked around the table to an approximate position intermediate among Dad and the Moms.

Looking back and forth among them, she asked, “Here in front of our large and growing set of great kids, lovers, and friends, I ask you if I may join your marriage?”

There was silence in the dining room for a split second, then a variety of vocal reactions to Inez’s proposal. Sandy’s eyes shone, but she said not a word, but turned to see Charlie’s response, as did I. Dad was grinning, his blue eyes shining. I caught motion out of the corner of my eye, so turned to see Liya walk up to Dad.

“Listen up, folks!” When all eyes were on her, Liya said, “As for the marriage of Carol to Sandy and Charlie, adding Inez to that marriage cannot be sanctioned by any religious or secular authority. However, these wonderful people are happily in love, and I see no reason why Inez should be excluded from the certainty, the backbone this four-way marriage will provide her. I’m very happy for Inez, particularly so because she is one of the four moms, along with one incredible Dad, that helped me see my way through my angry late-preteen years, which also enabled me to find friendship and love with not only Gracey, Beth, and Rhee, but with all the rest of you. Inez, my second mom, I’d like to present to you your husband and wives, Charlie, Sandy, and Carol. May the four of you hold the love through all your days I see in your eyes now.”

I could not help it. Tears began sliding down my cheeks, but when I looked around, I noted that I was not alone in my emotional state. Gracey was radiant, despite the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Inez held up her hands and waited for quiet, which was not long in coming.

“Thanks, everyone, for coming to my wedding. I’m sure glad I sent the invitations in time!”

There was much laughing.

“I just want to say that my new husband and wives managed to worm their way into my heart at a time when I was in it mostly for the sex.”

There was much laughing.

“As I returned from various trips, these three were always here for me, asking me about the good parts of those trips, as well as the less-than-good parts. We had been friends, although not great friends, before they asked me if I’d like to be one of Charlie’s girlfriends. Oh, my. Despite how gaga I was about Charlie, I was concerned because those women saw their marriage as a three-way marriage, not just two women married to the same guy. They married each other, in addition to Carol marrying Charlie, and that’s what concerned me. I have ‘known’ [air quotes] all my life that I was completely heterosexual, but they recognized that I had qualms about that girl-on-girl stuff. They didn’t push it, but slowly upped the intensity of their casual, friendly touches; back pats; and back rubs. I gradually became less squeamish, then began enjoying them, although I still had my line in the sand.

“I stand before you now, a different woman than had jumped at the chance to ... jump Charlie’s bones. I’m now married and, although I head out on the road again today, there’s more than enough time before I leave for me to consummate my marriage with my husband ... as well as with my wives.”

Over the tumult Inez’s words caused, Meka bellowed, “Weren’t you already having sex with them?”

“Of course. But that was just living in sin. I’m married now, and I need to consummate that marriage. In order to take care with young ears, once you kids have cleaned up after breakfast, you might want to vacate the premises ... or put up with one ... or more happy woman’s squeals of delight!”

That caused more tumult, but Meka bellowed over that, too, saying, “Good thing you’ve got a larger bed in there!”

On the way to the J, Rhee said to Gracey, “I’ve never seen your mom like that.”

“I don’t remember her ever being like that. She was ... giddy! But I’m so happy for her.”

Brett piped up with, “What amazes me is how ... open she was about ... sex. You’ve told us that they were all involved, but I’ve never heard any of them be so ... explicit. They obviously know you girls are having sex with each other, but it’s ... Just ... wow.”

“Yes,” I responded. “They ... mainly Inez, just brought sex out into the open in the compound. When Inez started in on that, I looked quite a few times at Dad and the Moms, and they did not look like they objected to any of that. Gang ... or whatever, I suspect that this is the new status quo, so be prepared for further like this. And, yes, Brett, they do know about us girls. What truly surprised me was her discussion with you. You’ve now said something twice, although in different ways, that we couldn’t scare you away. Although you didn’t say this, specifically, it felt to me like you were telling us that having us as wives was worth almost any price. Is that what you meant, or did I incorrectly infer that?”

His face went pink, but he looked me in the eyes, saying, “That’s about what I meant. Beth, I’ve loved you since first grade. In order to be standing right here next to you, here and now, I had to change almost everything about me, had to ask my cousin for help, and had to tell her my very embarrassing story. I’ve been working very hard to get to a point where I could comfortably talk to you. While I was making that effort, your group went from four pretty girls to five pretty girls, then you added more in the past few months, including that cousin of mine who knows all my embarrassing stories.

“I’ve now told that same embarrassing story about why I became horribly shy with girls to all the others. I must suffer through embarrassing discussions with some of your mothers, particularly Gracey’s today. I had to realize and take to heart that the four mothers that will be resident here know full well what you girls told me you want. At the time, I would have greatly preferred it if none of your parents knew that.

“I began the efforts to change myself because I wanted you, and I knew that, as pretty as you are, as outgoing as you are, as wonderful as you are, that you would have boyfriends, even ... lovers [he went even redder], and you’d be gone out of my life if I didn’t make an effort to change and make an effort this year. While some might interpret that I was doing this for you, that’s not right. I needed to do that for me, so I could have a chance to be your boyfriend, and I’d have gone through more work, more effort, and more embarrassment to have you love me. Now, that possibility is in sight, yet the possibility has changed all out of proportion to what I had hoped would be possible, that I could be your boyfriend. But look around us. All these pretty girls, including my pretty cousin that I’ve loved nearly as long as I’ve loved you, have said they all want me, to be with me. I would have gladly gone through more just to be with you, yourself. While I can imagine some out-there things that I might need to overcome, I can’t imagine anything that would keep me from wanting you ... and all these other pretty girls.”

I nearly kissed him hard but managed to turn my head and put it on his shoulder as I hugged him harder than I’d hugged him before. I whimpered a couple of times, but he held me with his left arm while he petted my back with his right.

He whispered, “This ... just this ... is worth all the effort I’ve made ... and more. I love you, Beth Williams.”

I broke down. Not dramatically, but I quietly cried on his shoulder as he held me while he continued to pet my back. The girls went on into the house, leaving us in the yard, Brett holding me up for quite some time. As I calmed, our juxtaposition reminded me of something I’d thought about a few times this winter.

“I have a question. The answer doesn’t matter much to me; I’m simply curious. Your dad is much taller, and your mom is taller than you. Are you going to get taller?”

“I don’t know, but Dad thinks I will. He told me that he had a growth spurt when he was 16 and 17. He told me, and I quote, ‘You probably won’t be a shrimp by the time you graduate.’”

I laughed into his neck, then lightly kissed it.

I inhaled deeply, then, as I gently stepped back and he released me, I said, “Thanks for putting up with us not knowing what to do about various stuff, nor how to do it. We’re not leading you on. We’re all in love with you, but some of us must figure out some stuff and how to make this work. We don’t want you to be a doormat, but we truly want you with us when we figure ... us out.”

“Let me put it more clearly, Beth. I’m here ... for good ... unless you tell me sincerely that you and/or the girls don’t want me. I’m in your classes. I’m with your soccer teams. I’m in your houses. I’m even in your bed. I’m not leaving of my own volition, no ... matter ... what!”

I stared into his eyes for a long time, searching for ... something, perhaps some indication that he did not mean what he had just told me, perhaps for something in there to reach out and smack me for not believing that he could be as accepting as I hoped with all my being he could be.

Finally, after no epiphany seemed forthcoming, I said, “I ... I’ve always had problems accepting that others thought so much of me. I’m just me, a slightly-taller-than-average ninth-grade girl who’s trying to navigate through turbulent waters. Everyone seems to look to me to be a leader, and I so often feel completely inadequate to the task. Now, the boy I’ve hoped for seven years would be more like that boy I met in first grade that I liked so much is standing in front of me, telling me he loves me.” I sniffled, wiped my eyes and nose on my sleeve, and added, “That boy is telling me that I’d have to order him to leave, no matter what I might say or do.”

I tilted my head back, lifted my face to the sky, though with closed eyes, and breathed deeply. After a minute or so, I tilted my head back down and opened my eyes.

“Brett, if I had my way ... if we had our way ... you, me, and all those other girls in there would already be weeks into a deep sexual relationship. I already have that with the girls, but I so much want you there ... in that bed, making love with me ... and with all of us. Brett, we want sleepovers to be clothing-not-permitted. We want a big pile of girls ... plus Brett ... in bed. We want you living with us in the J. We want to make love with you in every room in the house. We want to have you whenever and wherever we want, with as many or as few of the girls as we want.

“Are you saying that you want that so much, that nothing else before, during, or after matters enough to cause you to turn away from us so long as we love you?”

He looked into me for a half-minute, then said, “I think you’re finally getting it.”

I stood there, looking at him, looking into him, trying to find any suggestion that he wasn’t telling me the entire truth. He just looked steadily into me with those hazel eyes, those eyes that were so warm and could express so much. Those eyes had only one message for me: He loved me. He loved ... us. It was so hard to keep myself from throwing myself into his arms and kissing him and allowing that to lead us to other things I wanted: His hands on me with no clothes on. His penis moving inside my vagina. Our bodies connected on the grass here in the backyard.

Instead, I closed my eyes and wondered how I could deserve such love, such trust ... and whether he really could overlook the months-long... ‘affair’ that my sister-friend-lovers and I had with my father, with that ‘affair’ continuing into the present ... into the future.

What I said was, “Hold me,” as I stepped into his arms.

We had problems figuring out what Brett would wear to The Cold Sweets. His fine ass was just a bit too obvious in my soft short short. Then Gracey had an idea. We had to traipse back over to the W where most of our clothes were.

The four parents were just coming out of their room -- clothed, though most of them scantily so – as we entered the back door.

“How was your wedding ... morning, Inez?”

We girls could probably have been knocked over by that proverbial feather when we realized that Brett had asked that impertinent question.

Sandy and Carol cackled, while Inez preened, answering, “It was all I hoped ... and more. Before I got married, my lovers did well by me, but now that they’re my spouses, they pulled out all the stops. That was so much better than my only previous wedding ... time period, that we could consider it to have been in a different universe. My wives were particularly ... amorous and adventurous, and I can say with certainty that the scared little woman who thought girl-on-girl sex could not be good is dead and gone. They really know their way around a woman, although that’s probably not a surprise. Then that gorgeous man and his ... gorgeous equipment sent me to the outer planets twice more. I am one very happy and very sated bride.

“How was your morning?”

There was much laughing, but again, Brett surprised us to our cores.

“It was good. We talked about what those girls want, and how I’d react if there were, say, histories to discuss. Then those girls decided... [he began turning pink here] that my, and I quote, ‘fine ass’ was too obvious in Beth’s shorts, so we’re here because Gracey thinks she might have something suitable for me for a skimpy-clothes trip to surprise Katie at the store because all the girls, even the three women, are looking forward to showing Katie their bellies and the lower portions of their boobs. What I don’t understand is why that matters. Katie’s been in the shower with them all. Presumably, she’s seen all these delicious and hard soccer bodies lathered in soap.”

The parents howled, while we girls just looked incredulously at Brett.

Mom said, “Apparently, Brett has let himself off his chain.” She turned to Brett and added, “Good. Perhaps you can keep them in line. You’re certainly smart enough, charming enough, and ... delicious enough to do the job. I have high hopes for you, young man.”

“Thanks, Sandy. I particularly appreciate such words from you.” He turned to Dad and said, while getting red again, “Since you and I seem to have ... similar size requirements for ... underwear, I was told to ask you if you had some ... an option with more coverage and in black.”

Dad’s blue eyes shined at Brett as he answered, “They’re quite a handful, but you seem to have learned the most important lesson: Don’t sweat the small stuff. However, never ignore that voice in the back of your head that tells you they’ve gone too far, and don’t be afraid to put your foot ... or both feet ... down.” Dad smirked at us girls, then said, “Come on in. I’m sure we can find something suitable.”

Upstairs, Gracey went dredging deep into a suitcase.

“Got it,” she exclaimed, coming nearly bodily out of that large suitcase with a black, spandex short with legs about mid-thigh long. She handed the short to Brett, then said, “We’ll do this like we did yesterday. We’ll face the wall so you can try that on.”

“Yes, my love.”

Gracey stared at him for a few seconds, then pulled him into a tight hug for a few more, released him, then asked, “You love me?”

“Yes, Gracey, I do. Although I’ve not spent much time with Celeste, so I haven’t fallen head-over-heels for her as I have for the rest of you, I love you, Gracey, as I love all the soccer-team girls.”

Kim squeaked, “Y-you l-love me?”

“Despite that you were hard to know for a while, since you’ve been spending so much time with us, I’ve fallen for you, too. I don’t expect a ... sexual relationship with you like these girls have not quite promised me, but when I look at you, I see a very pretty girl that’s made a lot of difficult changes in her life and, although she’s still having problems, has become a very interesting and lovable young woman. I liked the Kim on the soccer team. I love the current Kim. She’s attractive in more than just looks.”

She stepped over to him and hugged him hard.

After a minute or so, she stepped back and said, “Don’t be too sure you won’t have a sexual relationship with me. I don’t know that will happen, but I can see that it could come to be.” She looked into his eyes, then added, “I wish I’d met you before I met James. Of course, you’d have been 12 or so and that wouldn’t have worked. Right now, this week, I’m not looking for, nor am I interested in a male lover. If and when I become interested ... in having a male lover, you’d be on my shortlist ... my very ... short ... list of suitable options. I hope there’s a place in your huge heart for me if I find myself in need of it.”

“It’s there, Kim, waiting for you.”

She looked around at us girls who were focusing solely on her, then responded, “I’m beginning to learn that it’s possible to be in love with more than one person at a time, that there are ... people who seem... [she looked straight into my eyes briefly] to have an infinite capacity to love. I’ve seen that with at least some of these girls, and you seem to have that, too. I doubt any other guy I’ve ever met, save for Charlie, would be even close to right for these girls. [I winced internally at that.] You may well be right for them and, perhaps, even for me. Thanks for your ... lovely words, Brett,” after which she stepped to him and gave him a peck on his right cheek.

We eleven ... young women turned our backs to Brett so that he could don Dad’s undies and Gracey’s bike short. Fortunately, the brief Dad gave him was thin, so wasn’t obviously bulky under the bike short, but firm enough that his goodies were not ridiculously obvious.

As we were carefully investigating how things looked, Meka said, “You’re going to have to take Sandy up on her offer to buy you some ... sexy clothes if you’re going to continue to do skimpy-clothes events with us. Are you and Lana staying here tonight?” When he nodded, she said, “Perhaps we could have another excursion to visit Katherine this afternoon after we’ve sated our ice cream desires.”

Heather responded, “Let’s do that. Sandy told the girls that we could use our ... clothes account to get stuff for them. I’m sure she’d be okay using that account for you, too. She really likes you.”

“Done,” Meka stated in a manner that the discussion was closed. “We’ll take the Sprinter to The Cold Sweets, then take our favorite boy to get him some sexy duds so we can drool over him even more and so he’ll be prepared for the next skimpy-clothing meal at the W.”

After we all hugged Inez goodbye and as we piled into the Sprinter, Brett asked loudly, “Why are the ... group’s four parents so ... seemingly unconcerned by the ... strong ... sexual overtones to nearly everything in the compound?”

Celeste responded, “Hold on a sec. Let me get into the right ... space.”

She stood from her seat behind Brett, walked around his bench seat, worked her way past Cera, then plopped herself into his lap.

“Sex, done right, is incredibly enjoyable. Some of us would be happy if we could spend most of our time with people we love having sex, making love, and telling the people we love that we love them. Parents enjoy sex, too, with some couples having active sex lives well into old age. Perhaps not as frequently, but sexual loving is one of the ways couples tell each other that, age and extra weight and warts and all, they still love each other. The parents are far from old age and obviously have a very active sex life. They obviously enjoy it and they probably like the reminder of it as they wear risqué clothing. They’re also comfortable enough with their sexuality and with their daughters, some of their friends, and their daughters’ and friends’ future boyfriend to allow them not only to allow those daughters and friends to see them in skimpy clothing that shows off their assets, but also to enjoy seeing those same daughters and friends in similar clothing.”

She interrupted her explanation, leaned in, and kissed Brett, to his great surprise, which caused him to pull back. She looked him in the eyes waiting for him. From my vantage, I could not see his face, but she waited patiently, not saying anything, not moving, just waiting. He finally got the message and moved his face to hers and kissed her, and she kissed him back ... hard for nearly a minute.

When she pulled back, she said, “Do you like sex, too? You certainly get nicely excited by at least some aspects of it, and I can feel your response on my butt. No! Don’t be embarrassed. It’s a normal response. Tell me the truth. Do you enjoy it “when you’re sexually excited? Do you enjoy having a hard cock?”

He went scarlet but nodded.

“Do you enjoy seeing the ... us girls in skimpy clothing? Do you like me sitting here in your lap with virtually my entire belly and some underboob in the open for you to ogle? Do you enjoy it when a pretty girl sits in your lap and kisses you and feels your nicely hard cock under her ass?”

Perhaps even more scarlet, he managed to nod again.

“So do we. So do I. So do the parents. Now, about those parents. You’ve probably never seen parents remotely like them. Yes?” When he nodded, she continued with, “Neither have I. Do you see what their parenting style has effected? Do you see young teenaged girls here that don’t seem to know what’s involved, that giggle when anyone talks about pussies or cocks or sex? Or do you see a family with five young teenaged girls that are comfortable with who they are, comfortable with the fact that they like sex, comfortable with showing off their bodies? The feeling of excitement doing that is their reward for doing that. Although the parents are older, the excitement is precisely the same. The excitement is the same for 21-year-old physics students. It’s an endorphin high that is oh, so nice. Rather than cause their young, teenaged girls to fear those feelings, to be scared of sex, they’ve raised girls that revel in those feelings, yet have mature-enough personalities to indulge in it only when it’s safe. Unless you mess up, none of those girls will be adding to the teenage-pregnancy statistics. Yes, they can enjoy those feelings, but their parents have helped them understand them, and accept them for what they are.