7. Linda's New "Family" Pt. 01

(This story, in eight or more parts, is about a group marriage. Everyone is over 19. The first part describes how the group marriage comes to exist, and succeeding parts describe how the marriage develops.)

The second year of college I moved in with the "six dwarfs" in an old Victorian style house not far from campus. I had been in a study group with them my first year and we all hit it off really well. I even went to the same church as two of them, a little presbyterian church with a woman pastor. Since these six guys play a large role in the rest of the story I will introduce them now.

One of them was Ken, tall and thin with short red hair, majoring in geology. He was a serious guy who didn't joke much and put in a lot of time with his studies. He was scrupulously honest. If a neighbor brought him a cake for a present and he didn't like it and she asked him if he did like it, he could not tell a lie. He would go through incredible contortions to not tell her the truth.

A second guy was Bill, a medium tall guy with short unkempt black hair. Bill had a very deep bass voice and was a very lay-back guy. He did his work but was always ready to relax. He told jokes but his timing was so bad that they were always terrible. He was very shy and extremely courteous.

Then there was Derek, a black guy from some little town in New England. He was quite athletic but not because he went out for sports. He just looked like he went out for sports. He was quiet spoken and very very graceful in all his movements. He talked so little I could not tell if he had a sense of humor or not, but he laughed at other people's jokes and deferred to other people in the most generous way.

Then there was Matt, a very clean cut respectable small town boy. Matt had a sense of humor, was always making puns and was very energetic. He liked to cook and was good at it. There was no awkwardness about Matt, and he had a talent for making people feel comfortable. He was so good at it that when Mormon missionaries came by he welcomed them in and made them so welcome I think they forgot to give him their spiel.

Then there was Nick, a.k.a. Nick Nature, environmental major. If you didn't know where he was, he was probably in the woods looking for frogs or something. He collected things, shells or spiders or butterflies or anything. His room was like a natural history museum. He was friendly but preferred to be alone

And finally there was Desi, from a Vermont border town. He spoke English perfectly, no accent at all, but people were always asking him where in Latin America he came from. He liked to sing. Loudly. But he had a good voice so no one minded. And he played seven instruments. Most nights we could hear him practicing in his room, one instrument or another. Also a quiet guy. He was majoring in engineering and was interested in rocket science.

I had a great relationship with all these guys. It was a first for me, having male no male friends at all other than Gary. We were like a family. But our living situation, altogether in one house, did raise a few eye brows, even though it was a pretty liberal town. The guys each had their own bedrooms on the second floor and I had the third floor all to myself. I loved it. I love my family back home but living with them was a little suffocating. Here for the first time I was free. Dorm life is OK but you have limited choices of roommate and neighbors. This was my first family of my own choosing. I loved them all. Not like brothers -- I had never had one -- but maybe like really close cousins. We were a family by any definition I knew.

Andrea asked me about it one week at lunch. We had gotten in the habit of meeting for lunch on Mondays. She was one of the militant feminist group I mentioned before and came dressed for the role. She didn't carry a gun strapped to her back, but somehow she looked like she was carrying a gun strapped to her back. It was a tense year for them as winter closed in. There had been a rape on campus and it was their mission to provide support or protection or revenge for women who needed and wanted it.

"So what is going on with your, uh, client?"

"We've talked her in to pressing charges and we will support her while she does. The courts make it hard for women. We have a fund for lawyers when necessary. We will see it through."

"So you are not taking any uh, direct action?"

"Only if necessary. We give the system a chance to disappoint us first."

We were outside at a table eating our lunch so Andrea smoking was not against any rule, not that she cared very much. "I hear you are shacked up with some guys over on Beaumont St."

"Uh, I guess so. I am living with six guys I met last year. I have my own room. We are all friends. There's no problem."

"Just let us know if there is. Any problem you can't handle on your own. I don't trust guys. Most of them. Delicate little egos. Lash out at any slight. I only found one guy likable enough to fuck."

"That's a generalization."

"Oh, I know. There are a lot of good men out there. Well, maybe a few. But better safe than sorry I say."

"These guys are good. No creepiness to them. Speaking of creepy, I haven't see Kyle around."

"Oh, he has still go his harem. But he took a break from school. The homework cut into his fucking time. Be careful with these guys, though. However good they are having only one attractive woman in the house will eventually cause problems."

As the semester went on, I could see a little of what she meant. The guys seemed a little on edge but I dismissed it as nerves over exams. They were all doing well though. Then we all went home for Christmas break, except Nick and Derek who couldn't afford the trips. Unfortunately, Gary couldn't get time off from the Tribune so I didn't see him. I still counted Gary as my best friend. He had introduced me to sex, and in a lot of different ways, and was the perfect man as far as I was concerned. Not perfect like we wanted to eventually get married, but just perfect. We fit together and made each other happy and that was enough.

When school reconvened, it didn't take long before the tension re-emerged. I didn't understand what was wrong. And then I knew. Ken proposed to me. I was so surprised I just stood there with my mouth open. For longer than I should have. He was dismayed by my silence.

"Uh, Ken. Uh, look Ken you are a great guy. And I love you. But I'm not sure I want to marry you. I don't want to marry anyone. "

"Not ever?"

"Well, who knows? Just not now for sure. I love you but not love like till death do us part."

He was crestfallen, and that touched me. He sighed. "I just didn't want to be the second to ask." Then he went back in to his room.

Second? Did that mean.....?

Yes. It did. About two hours later Bill asked me to marry him. He was so sweet about it too. I could tell he was terrified, his voice was shaking. It must have taken him days to screw up the courage. So I let him down as gently as I could and just told him I was so surprised I would have to think about it. Bill would be an easy guy to crush.

So could I expect more proposals of marriage? I was afraid I might. This was horrible and it only got more so as one by one everyone except Derek proposed to me over the next week. Five suitors for my hand? This was like some Shakespearean fantasy, beyond Shakespeare. This was a nightmare. It spelled out the ruin of our home, such as it was. How could this happen? Was I so beautiful that just every man wanted to marry me? Even I couldn't be delusional enough to think that. What was I to do? I decided to talk with Andrea.

That Monday she could tell something was very wrong. She just sat there silently waiting for me to say something.

Finally I told her. She just kept quiet, smoking her cigar, and listened until I ran out of words. More silence while she thought about it.

"The big question, the only real question, is what to you want to do? Is there any of them that you want to marry?"

"No. No. They are great guys. And I love them all. But not that way. And choosing one of them to marry would probably just break our comfortable co-existence I think."

"Yes, I think it would split up the house completely. And what do you think will happen when you say no?"

I thought about it, trying to picture their reactions. It did not look like a pretty picture in my imagination. "I think it would still break the household in two. Maybe there is no way out. I didn't think I was encouraging any of them along those lines."

"Men that age do not need much encouragement. They imagine it if they have to. What, these guys are all about 20, right?"

"Yeah, except Derek who turns 20 in March."

"Men mature more slowly than women do, and women don't mature all that quickly. They don't know their own minds. Typically."

"So I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't."

She concentrated on her cigar a while. "Pretty much, Linda. You have gotten yourself into the damnedest situation I have heard of. You can't accept one of them and you don't want to anyway. And you can't refuse them either. Don't look to me for wise advice."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. "I am just grateful you listened. That helped clarify my thinking, even if I still don't know what to do. I will let you know what I decide. When I do it. I am tempted to just run away. I could transfer to some college in Connecticut or India. If you were the churchy type I would ask you to pray."

"That is an option, of course. If you decide to run but not to far, my people will give you a place to crash for a while. And if I were the churchy type I would definitely pray. You need it. Though I got the idea from my catechism class that She would not approve of your moving in there to begin with."

"I wonder. It all seemed like a good and right thing to do. But thank you. Well, whatever I do I better do it fast. Things can only get worse."

All the way home -- I thought of the house as my home - I was worrying over what to do. I could not say yes to one of them and I could not say no either. I didn't want to say yes to any one of them but on the other hand I sort of didn't want to say no to any one of them. But I did know I was absolutely not ready for marriage. No way, not even with one of them. And then I realized what I really wanted to do.

As soon as I got home I called a house meeting. I knew everyone would be in, early on a Friday afternoon, or as much as any student's life is predictable I knew. We hadn't had a house meeting since the dishwasher broke and we couldn't afford to fix it and had to schedule the dish-washing duties. Anyway, within five minutes or so they all drifted in. Desi was eating some of the left over cake from yesterday. This was going to be a little hard to say so I figured I better just jump right in.

"Last night Ken proposed to me." He clearly hadn't expected me to make it public, especially since I hadn't answered him. "Two hours later, Bill also proposed to me. And then one by one almost all of you proposed to me. That leaves me in a pretty awkward situation. And I should add that I am overwhelmingly honored and complimented."

I paused. When Derek started to speak I motioned to him to be quiet. "Let me have my say first. Maybe you will like what I say, and maybe you won't. I just want to make a counter proposal to you all. First of all I just can't say yes to any of you. I like you all. I love you all but not in that way, not a marriage kind of way. I am not ready for marriage to any one. Second of all I don't want to say no to any of you. You all have become my best friends, and I don't want to lose you. So what I have decided is this: I will say both yes and no to all of you."

Bill looked puzzled. "But..."

I raised my hand and he shut up. I won't marry any of you but I will live with all of you like a marriage."

Bill still looked puzzled. Actually they all did.

"Look, it is all of you or none of you. I can't decide between one or another and I won't. And I don't want to lose any of you for something this ... little.I will take each of you as a ... lover, I suppose Even Derek, who never proposed, if he wants to."

Their mouths dropped open, every one.

"How would that actually work?"

"Think of it like this. I will be the great queen and you will be my harem. If it can work for a king, it can work for me."

"Yeah, but...." Bill again.

I held up my hand again and he stopped. "I will have sex with each one of you. Equally. I'll make up a rotation system and sleep with each of you on your appointed night. Six days and then I get the seventh off to myself. You'll have to share me, Equally. You'll have to not be jealous. We would have to be friends all together as we have been. Do you think you want to do that? Do you think you can do that?"

"But wouldn't that make you the house - " Bill broke off without finishing but I knew what they were thinking..

"The house whore? The house slut? The harlot? The concubine? No, I don't see why any of those epithets apply. If polygamy is AOK, then so is polyamory. It will be like a group marriage, only not a permanent commitment."

There was an awkward pause while they each thought about it. "If you want to take time to think it over you can decide soon. The sooner the better. You can have me. All of you can have me. You just have to share."

"Uh, what is the alternative?" Bill again.

"The alternative is that I move out. I already know a place where I can go. I don't want to be a cause of friction in the house. We have all been great friends. I don't know any guys that are as important to me as you are and I don't want anything to ruin it all. I don't know if you guys are mature enough to do this or not. But somehow I want to stay friends with each of you, even if I have to move out."

Silence for a long minute. Then I dismissed them. "OK, this meeting is adjourned. I think this needs to be decided soon. There is way too much tension in this house. I mean sexual tension.. So let me know when you decide. Decide carefully."

"So if even one of us says no then..."

"Then I think I have to move out. I don't mean that to put any pressure on any of you. I would only move out to keep us from falling apart. If any of you don't want to do this, I will never tell who. Be sure you really want to do this. Then let me know privately."

They all drifted out of the room, no chattering. I very much wondered what would happen. Derek stayed behind until the others had all gone, and then he said."You include me? I never proposed to you."

"True. I don't know what you might want, but I assume it would be too awkward for you to be the only one left out. I love you equally to the others, so if you want in even though you never wanted to marry me, I am good with that." I paused. "But you get the last day on the rotation." He just laughed and walked back up to his room.

I really had no idea what to expect. Ken was the one I worried about. He took church seriously. Sure enough, the next time we had a chance to speak together he asked me about how this could all fit in to the Bible and church and stuff. But I was ready, or as ready as I could be.

"Look polygamy was never forbidden. The Old Testament condoned polygamy, and the New Testament never mentions it. But in the New Testament it does say that in Christ there is not male and female. You must decide for yourself, but I am convinced in my own mind that this is acceptable in God's sight." Ken looked thoughtful. I knew he would think about it. But he might be a tough sell.

Now that the proposal had been made, I realized I was really hoping they would all agree to try it. I was looking forward to fucking them all one by one. I enjoyed sex very very much, I realized, and it had been a long time already.

By Sunday morning, they had all spoken to me and had all said yes. Ken had a worried look on his face but he just quietly said he would try it.

So Sunday night I put up the sex rotation schedule, just a list of the days of the week with a name beside it. It looked like just another chore list if there was ever a visitor. To make it look more like a chore list I put my name next to Sunday. I realized more fully how much I wanted to be having sex again.

...to be continued