Loosening Up Bk. 02 Ch. 01-04

Dave opened the door. "Welcome. Welcome. Come on in."

Jack immediately began introductions, "Grace and Rach, this is Dave Prentiss; and Dave this is my wife Grace and our daughter Rachel."

Daughter!?! Jack had never mentioned he had a daughter. The look of surprise on his face must have been telling.

Jack said, "Oh, damn. I did it again. Dave, I'm sorry I guess I didn't state that Rachel is an integral part of our family. I assumed you know we had a couple of kids. Our son is older; he lives outside of Austin and works in high tech while he's getting his doctorate degree in computer science. Rachel is going to be a senior in high school."

Dave adopted his 'hale fellow, well met' demeanor and brought the three guests into the house. He commented, "After this, when you visit, you don't knock; you just come in." He looked at Grace and Rachel, "That applies to all of you."

Dave assessed the three. Jack was in men's shorts and a Dave Matthews' Band t-shirt. He also carried a twelve-pack of beer. He was a tad under six feet, but wiry, and one might expect him to be high strung based on his looks, but he seemed very laid back. His hair was starting on salt and pepper with his trademark ponytail.

Grace reflected her name. She moved with a certain dignity he rarely saw in people. She was beautiful, modestly endowed, and dressed in flats, shorts, and a scoop neck top with snazzy flowers on it. She wore a couple of necklaces. She also carried a large bowl of homemade potato salad sprinkled with paprika.

Rachel looked young to be a senior in high school. She had her mother's good looks and stature, appeared to be a little bustier, had gorgeous long legs that terminated in a pair of shorts that hugged her butt and made Dave's mouth water. Rachel carried a traditional lettuce salad in a large bowl to contribute to the meal.

Dave secretly scolded himself for being interested in someone so young that she was probably jailbait. He wondered how to play the after dinner part of the evening where Rachel was concerned.

Out on the patio, more introductions were made. Alice took the salads and put them on the buffet table out of the sunlight.

To Dave's surprise, Jack, Grace, and Rachel each found themselves in different groups of people. Jack had been captured by Wendy, Kat, and Clarisse. Grace was laughing at something Ty had said as Owen, Dev, and Sean looked on. Rachel was talking to Heather, Christie, Pam, and Alice. Dave strolled over and got Grace's drink order. He returned a moment later with a glass of white wine for her.

Grace was talking about her work as an RN. She'd assisted in the delivery of triplets that morning, and the event had given her a glow. Dave allowed as how this group was going to have to start hatching babies one of these days, since the biological clocks on many of the women were due to start ticking very soon if they weren't already.

Grace asked, "How will that work within the framework of open marriages you have in this Circle? Jack said I should call you all The Circle."

She looked with curiosity at each of the men, but no one lunged forward with an answer. Dave took the initiative; "We've kind of adopted one child, Matthew; he's off with his grandmother for the night. He belongs to Heather. More directly to your question, no one has come up to the starting line yet. Do you have ideas?"

Grace smiled, "Only from personal experience and as an outside observer. My guess just from hearing about and observing the domestic nature of a few of the wives in this group is that they'll want children. I think some of the single women will, too; if not all of them. Children are the manifestation of love between a man and a woman. You all love one another.

"One issue will be whether you men or the women will care about paternity. If you don't, your get-togethers can continue as they have. If you do, then until conception there'll have to be some use of condoms or other inhibitory behavior. In the former case, the child becomes a member of The Circle and the family and parents becomes secondary. In the latter, the family is paramount, and The Circle is secondary."

Dave said, "We've never talked about that. Our wives might have a little to say about that." He rolled his eyes, and the others laughed. He turned to Grace, "What would you do?"

Grace stepped back somewhat unprepared for the question. "Oh! Errr! Uhmmm. If I had to choose, I think I'd opt for The Circle. This is your larger, extended, and intentional family. I'd want my child to grow up feeling he or she had a wealth of support from the many mothers and dads around him.

"I'd even foster that by having him stay with different couples or combinations of people as he grew up." She glanced over where Jack was talking and added, "I'm pretty sure my husband would say the same thing."

"How was Rachel raised?"

Grace laughed, "A better question might be 'How IS Rachel being raised?' She's a work in progress. She's smart as anything – straight 'A' smart, and popular in school beyond comprehension. She a bit of a jock, too; cross-country, field hockey, and karate."

"How old is she? My guess is fifteen."

"She just turned eighteen last week. She's older than most of her cohorts. I am Rachel's mother, but we're not entirely sure about her paternity. We were in love with another couple. We each had two children, and didn't worry about birth control or paternity. I think John, the man of the other couple, is Rachel's biological father. For that matter, we think Jack is the father of Ben, one of their sons. We didn't and don't care. Rachel knows, and someday, she says, she wants to do a DNA test to clear things up, if for no other reason than to have accurate medical histories of her lineage.

"Jack and I helped Rachel achieve emancipation two years ago. We wanted her to feel she was not compelled to be with us – that we were a choice she made, but that we had her best interests at heart. She was highly rebellious before then, and overnight with her court adjudicated freedom she changed into a young woman with an entirely different personality. She chooses to live with us and abide by the same house rules that we do."

"House rules?"

"Oh, things like letting people know where you're going, when you'll be back, calling if you're late, doing chores, expressing affection, and lots more. We've had lots of talks about civility."

"You and Jack certainly align with my thinking," Dave said.

"And mine," Dev chimed in. Sean and Ty echoed his remark.

Dev said, "We've verged on having talks about our personal values in this group, but never had an explicit talk about child rearing. Instead, we have occasional snippets, like with you just now, that reveal how we think. We are remarkably aligned. I think it's because of that we all want to live together. Because of that, we found each other and fell in love with each other. Also, to your earlier point, Wendy and I do want children, and right off the top I only want a healthy and happy child; I wouldn't be too concerned about whether I'd be the real parent."

Sean said, "I'm on the line. I'll talk to Kat about it. Overall, I do agree that we share the important values together. I would think that extends to child rearing, as well."

Ty laughed, "Dori and I decided to stay as a couple. We love children, but look forward to their going home by the end of the day. We have lots of nieces and nephews on both sides, just none too nearby."

Dave broke off to fire up the gas grill and start cooking the chicken and burgers. The group had done these cookouts so often that a real science had developed about how much food to prepare so that little was wasted and everyone was well fed.

Grace sat next to Dave at one of the picnic tables on the pool deck during dinner. As the last things were cleared away, she said, "I'm looking forward to our after-dinner swim."

Dave said, "We want you to be comfortable and enjoy yourself. If nudity upsets you, please just let me know and we'll tone down the skinny-dips in favor of bathing suits."

Grace laughed, "Oh no. I was told it was skinny-dips, and that's what I'm looking forward to doing. If my old body is too wrinkly for you, you may want to put on blinders."

Dave leaned over and planted a kiss on Grace's cheek. "You are sweet, and none of us will need blinders."

Suddenly, Dave had a thought, "Oh, shit! What about Rachel?"

Grace smirked, "She's expecting to skinny-dip, too."

"But ... but ... she's so young. She looks like jailbait in this state."

Grace laughed, "Even at sixteen it would be without emancipation," Grace said definitively. "One of my hopes is that someone in this group of caring people will take her under his wing and help get her started with sex the right way."

"The right way?"

"If I say 'your' way, would you get it?"

"My value set – or the other men's – is that we care deeply about our partners, if we aren't already in love with them we hold that option out as a real possibility. If we feel someone is being taken advantage of, everything stops. If there's fear or angst or other negative emotions, what we're doing stops. Is Rachel a virgin?"

Grace chuckled, "Does she have a hymen? No. Long gone from all of her sports, I guess. Has a male ever penetrated her? No. We've taught her that virginity is a state of mind. What she has is a precious gift for someone – the opportunity to be her first lover. She should choose carefully. That's part of what she's doing here tonight."

"Huh?"

"Rachel is assessing whether any of you gentlemen are worthy enough to be her first."

"But she's around all these boys her own age, and unless I miss my guess all of them – girls and boys – all have raging hormones screaming for them to have sex?"

"And she finds none of the boys worthy. If you ask her, you'll get a whole diatribe about young men and what assholes they are. She's done that assessment. She decided she wanted someone older, more caring, less conceited, experienced, that would cuddle her after the event."

Sean, Ty, Owen, and Dev all pointed at Dave.

Grace looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

Dev laughed, "Dave likes to cuddle the women he makes love to better than any of the rest of us. He sets the bar very high. Our wives tell us we have to measure up to what Dave does for them. We try and the rest of the men in the Circle have dramatically improved. He knows just the right moves to make and words to say. All the women love him. Heck, why do you suppose he has four of them happily living with him as his wives."

Ty said, "Plus, he is the master of a technique that gives women the most powerful orgasm they've ever had or ever will have."

Grace chuckled, "I think Mr. Prentiss and I need to have a private liaison after our swim a little later. I think I should also make sure Rachel gets to know him better."

"You don't think having him 'do' mother and daughter would be too kinky?" Ty teased.

"Hell no; not if what you just said is true."

"Oh, it is. Talk to the other women." Even as Ty praised Dave's prowess in the sexual department, his friend blushed a crimson color. Dave felt the flush, and realized that old habits die hard. Perhaps he still had some loosening up to do. The suggestion that he was some kind of sexual stud had embarrassed him. Despite having four women living with him, he hadn't let any of his prowess go to his head.

Grace chuckled. "I take your friend's comments in high regard."

Just as Ty, Dev, Owen, and Sean drifted away, Rachel came up and joined them. Dave had exchanged a few words with her upon her arrival, but this gave them an opportunity to talk in greater depth.

"I hear you're one amazing student in every way, and model-quality beautiful, to boot. How'd you end up as such a nice person?" Dave teased.

Rachel smiled and even blushed slightly, "I guess I had the right place in line and then picked the right parents." She hugged her mother who stood beside her. "She passed on her good looks to me."

Grace brushed off the comment with a roll of her eyes.

Dave nodded. "I guess you did."

Rachel continued, "I've been reading some spiritual books. One of them talks about soul groups. Well, the opening premise is that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. We have different experiences and play different roles with the other souls in our group. So, in this existence, I am Grace and Jack's daughter. In some other play, I may be Grace's influential grandmother or Jack's sister. In any case, we create situations for our real selves that help us learn and grow. There's a school of thought that also says those lives are all happening simultaneously, but I find it easier to think of them serially."

"That's deep. Do you have any idea what you're here to learn about? What is your life mission?"

"Not entirely," Rachel said. "I'm sure it has to do with my interactions with other people, especially people I love and am close with – my soul mates. It's through those interactions that our growth and evolution find traction on our spiritual path."

"Do you know who the people are in your soul group?"

"Not yet, but ... and please don't go all weird on me ... I think that many if not all of the people here tonight are, along with my parents. I feel a special resonance I've not felt before. Being here feels like suddenly stepping out of the mundane and boring, into an exciting and unpredictable life where every surprise is one of the best things that could happen to you. I just feel like I know everybody here and that there's this aura of love about everybody and everything."

"We are honored." Dave gestured to the others at the party and bowed to her.

Chapter 3 - Initiation

Rachel's tone rose in excitement, "My dad told me about your plan for cohousing. I think that will be such a cool community. I know he asked to belong, and I certainly want to make my own interest known. I'd love to live in that setting. I know I'm young, but I will find ways to contribute."

Dave teased, "Well, I'm sure you'll pass the test. The written part is all day next Saturday."

"TEST?!?" Rachel almost screamed. "What do you mean test?" What test? What's on it? Where do I take it? What ..."

Grace was laughing, and that signaled Rachel to ease off. Rachel swatted Dave's arm. "Rat! I believed you for a moment."

Dave pulled Rachel to him and hugged her. She hugged back. "We are making this all up as we go along. The true test is in everyone's head. You should be testing us, too. Do you really want to associate with all of us? Can you see yourself loving everyone you see?"

Grace nodded, "I know enough to believe strongly that the answer for me to those questions are yes and yes."

Rachel studied her mother. "I already feel special here ... a resonance with everybody, even the people I haven't had a chance to talk with yet. It's as though we communicated a billion words in just a glance or greeting."

Dave said, "Oh, there may be more than that. Do you know what an aura is?"

"It's like a halo but all around some people, isn't it?"

"Exactly, except there's evidence that one surrounds each of us. You emanate your aura and it extends out from you a large distance. Some people think that may be a few feet. Others believe they can feel another's aura across the country. In any case, when we meet somebody new, our auras interact on a very subtle basis. It's more than your billion words. It's every nuance of our values, principles, goals, feelings, and emotions. That communication reveals our deepest soul to each other. One book I read described it as the complete movie about our life that plays for the other person in a fraction of a second, so they know everything about us they could possibly want to know."

"I like that concept. I've been playing with my 'wheel of life' and seeing how other people align with mine. The parts are spiritual – my beliefs, values, ethics, and things of that ilk; then there's my social life – my social network, friends, support network, and healthy relationships; next is my environment – my physical surrounds both actual and preferred; my financial and wealth situation including how I work and create; my intellectual side – how I exercise my brain and engage in creative activities; my emotional side – for instance, my stress level; and last is my physical side – staying fit, but also taking care of my body and its needs."

Dave said, "You should score yourself zero to ten, say, on each of those life areas to see where you need to put some energy to improve things. You can evaluate possible life changes by seeing how they impact each area, too."

Rachel nodded enthusiastically, "I did that. I did that. I took the cohousing situation and what I knew about your group before we arrived and examined how it would impact me – good and bad. Not much bad, I might add. The good is superb. I can hardly wait. I hope you'll accept me. I accept you."

Grace said, "Easy, Rachel. This is the first time you've met everybody."

"Mom, I just know this is right."

"Errr, there are some aspects you might not be clear about." Dave wanted to be sure that Rachel was fully cognizant about the extracurricular activities in the Circle.

"You mean the sex? Hey, I'm a teenager. Do you know I have more raging sex hormones per cubic centimeter than everybody else at this party put together?"

Dave laughed and said, "I'm not so sure about that. One common element of everybody here is that they have very active libidos and very high sex drives. We'll match you hormone for hormone."

Grace laughed, "Not only that, but David, here, is apparently some kind of sex god if you happen to be one of his sex partners."

"Really!" Rachel crooned with a large grin. "Will you teach me?"

Dave looked at Grace, "Errr, this is awkward."

"Oh, go ahead. She's cute, sexy even, horny, and emancipated, ergo legal, at least in this state."

"But you're her mother," Dave pleaded.

"And I want some time with you, too. But Rachel should get preferential treatment. She needs to be with a man of your ... spiritual nature, stature, skills, and sexual nature. I think it's a match made in heaven."

"But I'm friends with Jack ... and now you. Errr, I'm married, too. I have four other women that live with me."

Rachel said, "Oh, dad talked about you. In your family you have your wife, your wife's sister, and two other women you love, one of whom is a student only a few years older than I am."

Dave nodded, "Yes, but ..."

Grace leaned in and kissed Dave, a slow, simmering kiss that soon involved her tongue snaking into his mouth and soon dueling with his as the coupling intensified. When they parted they were both out of breath. "Jack is fine with anything that happens. He's sort of hoping you'd take Rachel under your wing, so to speak."

Rachel grinned broadly at the man. "I know the basics – in theory. I need the lab work to complete the course."

Rachel leaned into Dave's other side and kissed him. She whispered, "Please make love to me."

Although a little rushed, Dave got the message; this teen wanted to have sex with him right here, right now, with no argument.

Dave took her hand and led her into the house, taking her down the hallway to the master bedroom. He glanced back as they left the patio to see a satisfied look on Grace's face, and also got a wink from his wife.

In the bedroom, he sat Rachel down on the bed. "Why do you want to have sex with a married man – and one you just met an hour or two ago for the first time – and one that's about thirteen or fourteen years older than you?"

"I don't ... or I do. It doesn't matter. I want to have sex withyou. Mom indicated you were the man that she picked. I sensed that, too; right from when we first met. Our auras communicated. Our wheels aligned and everything else. You want sex with me, I know; and I want to have sex with you – although it will be my first time with a man. I'm kind of not a virgin; I mean I don't have a hymen. I guess that left for the west coast a long time ago in all my sports. I've kind of messed around with a couple of boys, but I've never passed second base – well, maybe short stop."