Exercising Prudence

NOTE: This story is from the point of view of an old farmer's wife retelling a bit of her life that she has never revealed before. The scenario is that one of her children has discovered that she has an incompatible blood type with the man she had always known as her father, and she is curious to find out the truth from her mother, who is now in her 80s and a widow.

The year was 1921. Flappers were fashionable, but I was not. I was a lowly farm girl who had just pricked her finger on a needle whilst trying to mend a skirt that she wore to church. We only had a few sets of clothes in those days, you know, and I had ripped my skirt on a thornbush walking home after Sunday service. So I had to mend it.

"Ouch," I remember saying as I sucked the blood out of the wound. "William, stay out of that."

The reprimand was to my youngest brother, William, who was 3 at the time. As the oldest of 9 children and a girl, I was more than partially responsible for the well-being of the little ones. It was mid-afternoon in the summertime, and I was 19 years old. I only had two sisters then, and they were 9 and 11. They were out in the garden with my mother, the older boys were out working in the fields with Father, and the youngest boys were in the house with me. Soon Mother would return and begin to fix dinner, and after we had all eaten, I would usually be allowed to go for a walk if one of my suitors came calling. I was hoping that one of them would.

I had two suitors in those days. Mother and Father never discouraged them from coming 'round. After all, I was 19, and it was about time for me to be married and be off having children of my own. The Good Lord knew I had enough experience with them. But I'm rambling. Let me tell you about those boys that doted on me like bees on a flower. They were first cousins, which wasn't all that uncommon in those days, for cousins to be after the same girl. Often brothers would be vying for the same girl's hand. Their names were John Davis and Edward Taylor. They looked alike, being cousins and all, and since they were both 21, any travelers who came through often thought they were brothers or even twins. Both of them had dark brown hair and blue eyes. Both were tall, lanky, and set to be good farmers when they married and came into land of their own. We even all went to the same church. It was no wonder that I was having a hard time deciding which one to marry, they were so alike.

But let me get back to my... what's that? What did I look like? Well, we didn't exactly have cameras back then, but I'd always been told I looked like my name: Prudence Grace Lawrence. I was tall, slim, somewhat tanned from working in the sun. I had auburn hair and blue eyes and my mother always commented that my figure was something to be proud of. I suppose it was. I had a well-defined waist and long legs. I could sing well, dance well, and wasn't afraid of hard work. Those were all good traits to have back then in a farming community.

Now, any more questions? No? Good. Back to the story.

Dinner was eaten in due time, and just as Mother settled in to tell stories to the littlest ones while she sewed, a knock came at the door.

"Prudie, dear, will you get that? If it's John or Ted, you may go walking. Just be back before it gets too late."

"Yes, Mother," I answered as I steadied my steps toward the door. I was sure it was Ted – he had a softer knock than John did.

I was right, and he asked me if I'd like to go for a stroll. Of course I said yes, and soon we were making our way down the dusty path in front of my house. If we had walked far enough, we eventually would have come to his house, but we never made it all that way. We generally wandered down toward the creek. It was a small creek, but it had a nice, grassy bank that we could sit on and talk or kiss. If we really wanted privacy, we'd disappear into a wheat field and get lost in each other for hours. It was times like those that girls really enjoyed wearing skirts instead of pants... both Ted and John had been up my skirt more than a few times. It wasn't right or proper for a girl to be doing that, but I knew some of my friends from church had been doing the same thing for years, so I didn't feel nearly as guilty as I probably should have as a good Christian woman.

Now, you'll note that I said we 'generally' wandered down toward the creek. For some reason, Ted seemed to have a destination in mind on this particular day. I wasn't worried or suspicious in the least – I was just glad to be out of the house with him. He also seemed to be preoccupied with something on his mind.

"Prudie, you know I love you, right?"

"Yes, Ted, I know, and I love you, too," I answered truthfully.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Ted. What's all this about?"

There was no answer for a few moments. Then he began again.

"But you love John Davis, too, don't you?"

I pondered this question for a moment, wondering how to reply so that I wouldn't hurt his feelings, when he smiled.

"I know you do," he said. "It's okay if you do. But do you trust him as well?"

"Yeesss," I replied slowly, wondering where this conversation was going.

"So which one of us do you want to marry?"

I had been dreading this question, even though I had known it was coming. I didn't have a ready answer for either of the boys on that count, and I wasn't sure when I would have, either. They were just so alike. I decided just to tell the honest-to-goodness truth.

"I don't know, Ted. I'm sorry. You see... you're both just so alike that I can't pick a favorite between you. I suppose I'll marry the one who gets my father's blessing first, but I hate to think of either of you being disappointed."

I thought Ted would be upset, but his eyes seemed to glow at my reply.

"I thought you'd say that," he said. "I plan to ask your father's blessing on Sunday, if that's all right with you. I've even talked to John about this, and he's all right with it, too."

I was shocked, too shocked to notice that he was leading me into a grove of mature fruit trees that we'd never been in before, but that John and I came to regularly. The grass was thick and soft between the trees, and the shade was welcome from the hot summer evening sun.

"How is John OK with it? I mean, I'm glad that he is, but how did you manage to... does he have another girl in mind?"

"Oh, no," Ted grinned. "He's in love with you. Why don't you ask him yourself?"

He motioned toward a nearby tree, where John was sitting. He seemed to be waiting for us, but I couldn't imagine why he would be doing so. I also couldn't figure out how Ted knew about this place. I was just naïve enough at that age that I couldn't imagine what those boys had in store.

"John! Hello... what are you doing here? What are we doing here?" I asked the boys in turn, embarrassed at being caught in such an awkward situation.

"Don't be shy, darling," John said. "Come sit down."

He patted the ground beside him. I looked over at Ted for his permission – after all, I was supposed to be out with him this particular evening. He nodded, and I sat, legs tucked primly under me, trying not to say anything to make the situation more uncomfortable. I didn't realize how comfortable those boys already were.

Ted sat down on the other side of me, and I began to feel just the least bit excited. Here I was, smuggled away into the shady woods, with two handsome young men who were both interested in me. What girl wouldn't be intrigued, tell me that? You can't? I'm not surprised.

"Have you told her yet?" John asked Ted.

Ted shook his head. "Not all of it. I was just telling her that I was going to be the one to marry her, but she wanted to know why you were OK with it, so I told her to ask you herself."

"So you haven't gotten to that yet?"

"No."

I was beginning to feel slightly dizzy, but being the eldest child had taught me something about how to handle such situations. I took charge.

"What ARE you boys talking about? John, WHY are you OK with me marrying Ted?"

John grinned. "We're going to share you, if you're all right with that."

"What?" I asked. I couldn't figure out his meaning for the life of me.

"Sure," Ted interjected. "I'll be your husband, but John will be the confirmed bachelor who comes over for dinner several nights a week. Nobody will suspect anything, because he's been your beau, so they'll just see it as your way of making it up to him that you didn't marry him, and I'll be seen as kind for allowing this to go on."

"That's right," John continued, "and everybody will assume that I'm a bachelor simply from choice since you didn't marry me."

"Well, I understand the whole arrangement, but I don't understand how this is sharing me. I'll still be Ted's wife and have his children and be living with him and everything like that."

Ted smiled and looked at John, who grinned.

"I don't think you do quite understand," John said as he began to lean toward me. I began to back away, thinking that Ted would be quite jealous, when I felt Ted's hands on my waist and his lips on the back of my neck.

My entire body went rigid, and I quickly escaped the boys' embraces.

"What... what are you doing?" I panted, confused and alarmed as I scooted three feet away to the nearest tree.

"Sharing you," John replied simply.

"Do you trust us?" Ted asked again, and the meaning of John's phrase began to dawn on me. I felt my body warm as I realized that I would never have to truly choose between my two lovers, and any children I ever had would look the same no matter who the father was.

"Come back over here," Ted motioned to me, and I crawled back between them, content to let the chips fall where they might this time.

Ted's hands immediately snaked around my waist, sending chills up my spine. He began to kiss the back of my neck again and John leaned over me to kiss my lips. I had never imagined having both boys fondling me at once, and the sensation was incredible. Ted's hands slid up to my breasts and began to massage them carefully, and John slipped a hand up my skirt and pressed against my wet panties as his kisses grew deeper and more intense.

Just as I began to feel completely overwhelmed by the boys' ministrations, Ted began undoing the buttons on the back of my dress, kissing as he went. I slipped my arms out of the short sleeves and John pushed my bodice down from my breasts. The boys laid me down on the soft grass and took one breast each in their mouths, kissing and suckling on them in their own way – Ted more gently, John using his teeth a bit. It felt so good that I began to moan.

As if there was a plan, John immediately let go of my breast and pushed my skirt up to my waist while Ted took over massaging both breasts. John tugged my panties off and laid them aside. Then he took off his pants, revealing his erect penis to the world and to Ted. At this point, I don't think I was even aware of much that was going on.

John knelt over me and thrust his penis into me in one rough shove. I almost screamed, but Ted put a hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.

"Shhh," he said as he pushed his tongue into my mouth and kissed me. I kissed back, harder than I ever had before, making moaning noises as John pumped back and forth inside of me.

A few moments later, John and I climaxed together – that was a fabulous feeling, feeling the pressure building up inside of me until I could take it no more, and knowing that John was at the same place – and the boys switched places. Ted was gentler than John was – he took his time getting inside of me, since he knew I would be slightly tired from John's efforts. John, on the other hand, was now all revved up. He began nibbling all over my body and whispering sweet nothings into my ear. His work got me quite excited again, and by the time Ted entered me, I was ready to go.

John continued letting his hands and mouth rove over my skin while Ted worked at making me climax multiple times... it was a fabulous evening. By the time Ted came, the sun was beginning to set behind the horizon and we all knew we had to go, but none of us wanted to leave. At last, however, Ted rose and muttered something about having to get me home by dark, and the three of us rose reluctantly.

I rearranged my dress and rebraided my hair – having it braided at all times kept it from tangling and looking mussed – and the boys donned their pants. John came over and wrapped his arms around me, looking deeply into my eyes as he thrust his tongue into my mouth for one more passionate kiss before disappearing through the woods toward his parents' house. Then Ted and I began the long walk home. I had a bounce in my step that I knew wasn't there before, and I'm sure my mother noticed it when I got home, but I didn't mind. She couldn't possibly have known why it was there.

Ted and I were sure enough married a few months later, and we moved into a small house of our own. A month or so after that, John managed to move into the house next door and we began our family. John and Ted shared me from day one, and I must say, I never objected.

So that, my children, is how you may have different blood than Ted. But we never knew or cared whose children you really were – you might say you have two fathers rather than one. They both certainly took care of you, didn't they? That's more than a lot of people today can say about ONE father... so now don't you feel loved?