A Girlfriend or Two

She actually blushed and looked down at her toes.

"I can't say that I feel comfortable about it, but I am excited! And horny. Karen has promised to do it if I chicken out, but I have every intention to do this if you want me to."

"Great! Thank you, both of you."

We sat and talked about when we should do this but my thoughts were drifting to what I could do instead: a theater and a stadium with two nude girls to pose for me. Both together in the middle of the stadium, or on the stage... in a 69... or in the seats kissing and caressing...

The possibilities were many and exciting, the limiting factors were time and ideas. I was quite sure that I could come up with interesting poses to sketch that would keep me busy for a month. Well, most of them not for school purposes, but this could be a one time chance after all!

It was a week after we had done the last night posing at the stadium that Karen and Melanie came to my room together again.

"We need to talk seriously, Anders." Karen began as soon as I had let them in "There is a problem, well, two problems really."

By the look on their faces I would have guessed the end of the world was close, especially Mel's expression, but without any facts I only said:

"Sure, tell me what it is."

They sat on the bed and I stood at my desk to start the coffee maker, but Karen patted the bed beside her:

"You better sit down too before I start. This is not an everyday occurrence you see."

I finished preparing the coffee and sat down cross legged, facing them.

"Anders, do you remember what I told you at the start about using rubber if we should have all out sex?"

"Yeah, sure. You were not on the pill, didn't trust them you said, so I had to use condoms if we should do it."

I had a feeling about where this was going, after all that introduction to a 'serious talk' gave a hint.

"Yes, and you got them. We didn't need them though, since we stayed oral. We did have sex this summer though, unprotected sex with Mel first, and then with Daniel... At least I was so horny that I didn't think straight and I think it was the same with you. I'm pregnant."

Yep, it was what I thought. I can't say that I was shocked after that build-up, but it was a new idea to relate to anyway. I also thought about how she felt about it, how she would react to my response if I stood up cheering or broke down crying. Not that I had any intention to do either, but anyway.

"Karen," I said after a few tense minutes of silence "I don't know if this is what you want to hear or not, but I am truly happy about having a baby with you! I do love you, and I am prepared to take my responsibility seriously. I guess it isn't the best time with our studies and then the foreign-aid period but in the end this is what I want."

So there it was, I had told her how I felt about both her and her news. I sat and waited for her response, but nothing came. Then it hit me, she had said 'two problems'.

"What is the other thing, you mentioned two reasons for a serious talk?"

"You remember what I told you at the start about using rubber if we should have all out sex and that I don't trust the pill. Mel has proven that disbelief I have to be right. You came in her that night we were together, she was on the pill but is also pregnant. You are the father in that case too, there is no other option. For me it could have been your brother but it wasn't, I now know. Mel hasn't been with anyone else this summer."

What do you say to that? Ooops? This time I was shocked, totally shellshocked! There was no other girl that I liked as much as Mel, no-one I would have loved to start a family with as much as with her... except Karen who I had just learned was also pregnant. Both sisters at the same time and I was responsible for both. My brain circulated the same word over and over again and that was the word that escaped my mouth:

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Not the most sensitive thing to say, I know, but it covered my feelings pretty well.

It had the effect you could expect though: Mel broke down crying and Karen glared at me. I can't say that I didn't understand their reactions, like I said it was what could be expected, but I saw no solution to the situation.

Mel's sobing turned hysterical in a hurry and that at least helped to restart my brain from zero. Karen had already turned to her sister and held her tight after that killer glare she gave me, and I scooted over the bed and held them both in mine.

"I'm sorry." I said "That was not what I wanted to say, but I had a melt-down I guess. Mel, I would have loved to have a family with you under any other circumstances, I promise, but I can't marry two girls, the law says so. I will take my responsibility for you too, I will, and I am happy about this in a way anyhow, but there are complications. I don't know what to do about it right now, but we will figure something out."

My words had no recognizable effect on Mel, but at least Karen gave some sort of appreciative response, moving one arm to include me in her hug and pressing me close. What I needed right then was a reaction from Mel though, and I got nothing.

It seemed like an eternity before she calmed down, and then she curled up in a ball and fell asleep, obviously emotionally drained. Karen sat beside her stroking Mel's side with one hand,

the other holding one of mine. We didn't say anything for a while but our eyes spoke volumes of grief, confusion, happiness and much, much more. Finally Karen spoke up:

"I'm sorry about this, Anders. We were two about it, well, three actually, and it isn't only your fault. I appreciate that you are happy about our baby and that you will do what has to be done for Mel, but at the same time I could wish that we had used those condoms. If it had only been her it would have been easy: you would marry her. I know you love her too and I think you would have been happy."

"Yeah, but like I said, I can't marry you both even if I want to, so how do we solve this? I guess an abortion is a possibility but how can you make a decission like that when you want both kids deep in your heart? It is not my thing to decide anyway and I have to say that I am glad it isn't."

"That is not an option anyway, not for us. We have talked about it already and we will both go through with this, no matter what you had said. Now that we know that you want that too it is even simpler. There will be a lot of things to handle though, apart from not being able to marry, that is only a piece of paper and rings after all."

"I know. Have you told your parents yet?"

"No, and that is one problem: I think that they will be happy to hear that you and I are expecting, but not all that enthusiastic about you and Mel if you know what I mean..."

I could well imagine that and nodded, so she went on:

"All three of us are students and the births should be in march. We will have to take sabbatical years but with a bit of luck and planning we should be able to finish the spring term. I hope that we will be allowed to study on our own and do the exams only. It won't be easy but should be possible if you help. Then I guess we better start looking for that apartment for real so that we can move together the three of us. It will save some money and we will be more private when we start to show. The economy will be a problem with a sabbatical and not being able to work."

"Karen, forget the problems and the future for a moment. I want to know how you feel about this and how Mel feels, that is more important to me right now. The future will have to be what it is when it comes."

"How I feel about it? You pretty much said it yourself: I'm happy about it, delirious even, but that is without the complication of Mel. She is my sister after all and I want the best for her. If it had been her and not me I think I would have been jealous, if it had been me and not her I would have been deliriously happy. Now... I know that we can solve this one way or another, but it takes away some of the joy even though I want both a child for me and her. It's confusing."

We debated the issue for another two hours before we gave up. We had at least come to some conclusions and decided on a few things to prioritize. With that Karen was to go home to her room for the night but Mel was a problem. She was still asleep and emotionally unstable anyway: we didn't feel that she should return to her room. Karen helped me undress her and get her into my bed before leaving and then I got ready and slipped in beside her. Karen's parting words echoed in my head:

"I guess she is as much your girlfriend as I am now so do anything she wants you to do, it isn't a problem for me, but be careful with her, she is vulnerable emotionally right now. Don't let us down."

With those words on my mind I fell asleep beside my girlfriends almost naked sister, or my almost naked girlfriend? Confusing it was indeed.

The following weeks we had more or less only one thing on our minds, or several things about the same topic: what to do about the situation we were in. One idea that came up was that Karen and I would adopt Mel's child right after birth, but we couldn't see that it solved anything after all, and Mel wasn't happy about it: it was her child!

A threesome without marriage, living together as one family anyway? Possible, but would it work? How about if Mel found someone and moved out: was her child to go with her or stay with us because two of three parents were still there? Think some more about that!

What to do about informing the parents were the nearest problem in time though. The sisters would go home over christmas and would show by then. Under the circumstances they both also insisted that I would come with them and we would have to explain everything in detail, probably ruining the holidays for everyone. Better then to release the news before that, but what should be told? Everything or only part of it, but then we had to remember what we said and didn't.

Better to tell it as it was, but who should do it? If I called, their parents would no doubt think there had been an accident and be scared to death. Mel feared that she would break down if she tried, with the same result. If Karen called, she was certain that she could do it, but it didn't feel right to tell them about Mel, she said, and so we were back at the starting point. After another week of talk, the call was finally made the next saturday and if anyone had listened in it must have sounded like a comedy on TV.

"Hi mom." Karen began. Mel and I sat beside her but had trouble hearing the other side of the conversation "I'm fine thanks, we all are. How are you and dad?"

"Great. Mom, I have something to tell you and dad, could you get him to the phone so he can listen in?"

A minute later:

"Hi dad. No, nothing's wrong at all. Well, a bit troublesome to tell the truth, but it is good news!"

We had decided that it was in the end, and should be presented like that.

"Here we go then: mom, dad, I'm pregnant and should give you a grandkid come march! Hold on now, Mel wants to say something."

They changed position and Mel took over:

"Hi mom, hi dad! Come march you will be double grandparents: I'm pregnant too! Hold on, Anders has something to say too."

I took over the conversation with their, I guessed, shocked parents:

"Hi, it's me, Anders. I only wanted to say that I am the father and I will take my responsibility. I love your daughter. That means both of them in every way. Here is Karen again."

She took the phone and said:

"Tell us that you are happy to hear this now."

Then she removed the earpiece from her head as if expecting to hear a deafening shriek, but there was silence. Returning the phone to her ear she spoke again:

"Hello? I didn't hear anything, are you still there?"

"Yes dad, it is true and we are not joking. We sort of messed up this summer, well I and Anders did, but we are happy about it. Mel was on the pill but it didn't help."

"It was sort of a joke to start with. Mel and I have always shared, you know that, and we did a practical joke on Anders and he made a good comeback. Then we talked and this led to that, and we had a threesome one night."

"No dad, it was supposed to be one night only and because Mel really liked Anders. The other guys she has dated turned out to be assholes and Anders is a good guy, so she could use a good experience."

"Yes, we are aware of that, but we will both keep our babies and Anders will do what he has to do. We aren't quite sure how it will work out but we will try at least."

"Thanks, dad! We love you too, both of you. Try to calm mom now and we will talk more next time. Bye,"

Then she hung up with I crooked smile.

"At least the news has been delivered and it seems as if they both survived." she summed it up "Mom almost passed out and had to lay down, dad in the end said that it was what it was and they would help any way they could as long as there were no abortions. They wanted living grandkids to spoil, not dead ones to grieve he said."

That left one more call, to Sweden. It was more composed and I told the facts myself, but Karen and Mel said 'hi' and spoke a few words anyway. In Sweden the general view of the people living far north is that they are calm and a bit slow: nothing less than doomsday can shake them, if even that. Mom and dad asked how I had managed to do this, if it was on purpose and what would happen now, that was about it before they said that Daniel would never be allowed to go to a university abroad, and laughed.

We found an apartment with two bedrooms, one large and one small, with low rent and close to the school. That led to another discussion: sleeping arrangements. The small room for me and the large shared by the sisters? No, I would never sleep alone anyway so that was out Karen said. Karen and me sharing and Mel alone? No, she had equal rights to me, Mel argued.

We ended up sharing the large room all three and turned the smaller into a study before turning it into a crib when it was time. We moved in at the end of November, three weeks before going to Texas for christmas, and we had just about settled in before we left.

I suppose we were all nervous, and that includes Clair and Brad, their parents. Although several phonecalls had cleared the whole thing up I almost expected a variety of the 'shotgun wedding' even if I couldn't figure out how that would work with two brides and one guy, but I was definitely nervous!

Clair and Brad was waiting outside the gate when we walked out, and they hugged one daughter each before switching. There was a lot of patting bellies and 'oh-ing' before it was my turn to be greeted and that was friendly enough: Clair even kissed cheek.

"You could have been more careful, but at least you intend to take your responsibility." she whispered to me before letting go.

Brad whispered a few words to me too:

"Can't say you weren't effective at least, but you could have been satisfied with only one of my girls!"

I guess that what they really said was that they didn't like the situation but accepted it now that things were the way they were, and what else could they do?

Was it awkward to stay there over the holidays? No more than it always is when you get both daughters in a family pregnant at the same time...

Of course it was! I felt like I had a sign on my forehead with different messages, ranging from 'guilty' to 'stupid bastard' or possibly worse. All three of us got separate rooms for the stay, the same ones as last time I was there.

I'm sure Clair and Brad understood what would happen anyway, hell, they only had to look at their daughters bellies to get that, but they made the gesture to keep it decent anyway, and it would have been difficult to decide who of the girls would share my room anyway, so maybe it was for the best. In reality it meant that Mel either followed us to the guesthouse 'to talk' and never left, or she went to her room at bedtime and left ten minutes later to join us more discreetly.

I told them about the sign I felt was glued to the front of my head, and they laughed:

"You should talk!" Melanie said "How do you think it feels for me, obviously having had sex with my sisters boyfriend and having a bun in the oven as a result?"

"Or for me that allowed, even encouraged, my sister to fuck my boyfriend? Let's face it, mom and dad accepts it, to hope that they will like it is too much to ask, ever." Karen added.

"So what can we do?" I asked without any hope of a good answer.

"The same as they do, accept the situation, but also do what they don't, love it. I can't regret having a child with you, and I can't be unhappy with Mel having one either. It complicates things that you are the father in both cases, but once again, it is what it is, so be proud about being part of a rare thing."

"Now you are stretching it a bit Karen. I agree that I must accept it, and I honestly am happy to be the father of your children, both of them, but proud? No, that is taking it too far."

"How many guys do you think there are who have gotten two girls pregnant on the same night, together, and them being sisters? Not that many, I assure you, you might even be the only one in the whole world who have managed that!"

At church for the christmas eve sermon it caused a bit of interest that they were both showing but that there was only one guy. A few of the visitors recognized me from the summer and knew that I was with Karen, so that caused questions about when they got to meet Mel's guy and why he wasn't there with her.

"Oh, I think you have already met him," she told them "but you know how it is around christmas, many people wanting a visit and not enough time to please them all."

True enough, but not relevant in this case. She was getting better at keeping a straight face when avoiding to get me involved with her condition.

The morning of christmas day, socks over the fireplace for Santa to fill with presents. Yes, they kept that tradition going, even after the girls had grown up. Since no one at least believed it was Santa's doing everyone got a chance to leave a gift in peace and quiet the evening before, without prying eyes. The four I left were small and I put them at the bottom of the socks.

Straight out of bed without getting dressed (well the three of us got dressed in pajamas since we were naked in bed) everyone gathered by the mantlepiece to open one gift from each of the others, and everyone took turns patiently to let the others see what they got.

It was a mix of jewelry and other small things, not very expensive but significant in some way. I was curious about the reception my gifts would get, I felt that it might not have been a wise thing to do, now that it couldn't be changed.

I had managed to make them the last ones to be opened after all, and Brad was the first to open his: matching cufflinks in gold, one with a K and one with a M etched at one end.

"Karen and Melanie." I explained "Since I have taken them from you in a way, or at least will do so soon, I thought that it could be suitable to have them with you in some way. Maybe a stupid idea, but I hope you understand how I mean."

"I think I do, thank you Anders."

Then it was Clair's turn and she got gold ear-rings with the same etchings and a small ruby in each. I didn't have to explain again but she thanked me with a kiss on the cheek.

That left the two things that worried me most and I stopped Karen whose turn it was:

"Karen, to avoid trouble I think both you and Mel should open your gifts at the same time. Okay?"

They both got rings, in the display in the shop where I bought them they were called 'gold wedding-bands', and the shopkeeper made large eyes when I wanted two with almost the same inscriptions, only the names differed: 'You are in my heart' in both, followed by 'Anders' in Karen's and 'Runar' in Mel's.