Adult Situations Ch. 81-82

Jean's parents were there from St. Louis and also got introduced: George and Tabby Muir. They were at the other end of the spectrum from the elder Ghent's. They were bubbly about how glad they were that Jean had met me, had Matthew, and was going to marry me and the rest of the family in the commitment ceremony the next day.

Gerald (not Jerry) said, "What do you mean marry 'the rest of the family'?"

I didn't want to touch that one any more than a hot branding iron. I waited to see who would respond.

Elynn bit the bullet. "Father, I love more than just Dave. I also love Crystal, Carol, and Jean, here. We are a happy loving family. That family and I are making the commitment to each other."

Martha said with a deep frown, "That sounds like you make love with the other women?" Her voice was dripping with disapproval.

Elynn forced a smile and said, "I do, and yes, we are emotionally connected and we enjoy our physical connection."

"You ... you ... have sex with these other women?" her mother blathered out disapprovingly without thinking.

I almost laughed out loud. Everyone in our conversation circle was nodding. Elynn said, "We make love, yes. Now, I see Rob Buckman is here. Let's get this rehearsal over with."

Elynn turned to her father, "Are you still willing to walk me down the aisle to present me to the rest of the family?"

Gerald frowned, "I'm not sure anymore. I don't know where we went wrong in imposing our value set on you."

"Sorry but I'm an independent thinker. No one 'imposes' anything on me that I don't want. You tried that until I was a teen, but after that it was pure rebellion. Sorry that I didn't bring you along on my journey, particularly the last few years."

Gerald and Martha both harrumphed but stood their ground.

Rob Buckman herded everyone to the flowered arbor that would be the focus for the ceremony. He talked about how he wanted the ceremony to unfold, and then we did a walk-through.

Elynn grabbed my father Ross, and he became her surrogate father to walk her down the aisle while Gerald stewed about his seriously misdirected daughter.

I saw the change and rushed over to her when that happened. "Darling, are you okay? Can I help?"

"Yes. Marry me tomorrow. I'll be damned if I let my parents upset me at this point. They're here. If they want to participate fine; if not, also fine. If they leave, even better. I don't need their dark energy trying to rain on my parade." She gave a look of pure daggers at her parents who were about fifty feet away watching the rehearsal.

I kissed her and we hugged. It was obvious to the others standing around what was taking place.

Gerald and Martha had walked about as far away as they could and still be on the patio. They were simply observers of the rehearsal instead of invited participants.

Elynn said, "I figured something like this would happen. They haven't approved of much that I did since I left for college. Before that I just kept them in the dark about how I thought. They were of the mind that I should marry a local boy and start popping out babies. Just what Appalachia needs more of, right?"

Rob Buckman made some loud sounds about starting, so I raced back to where I was to stand with Crystal and Carol as we 'received' our two new family members and started the ceremony.

The walk-through without the various readings of vows or Rob's homily went quickly. Gerald showed no remorse about abandoning his daughter in walking her to the arbor from Elynn's assigned starting point.

On the other hand, George Muir looked exceptionally happy and had a grin from ear-to-ear. Later, he and Tabby Muir told me that so long as their daughter was happy, they were. They played with Matthew whenever they weren't involved in other adult activities. I got a chance to have a long talk with them. They weren't at all disappointed that this wasn't a traditional ceremony -- even a traditional family. In fact, I got the opposite impression. They were glad at the novelty of all that was going on.

We had a somewhat traditional rehearsal dinner at Michael's-on-East, one of the more upscale restaurants in the city that often did some high-end catering for us.

Elynn's parents reluctantly followed the group to dinner, but they were a dark force, as Elynn had noted. When we sat, there was no particular arrangement, so I joined Elynn and we sat at one end of the table with her parents at the other end where they couldn't do too much damage.

I did go down the table to talk to them, launching into a somewhat one-sided monolog talking about my upcoming semester teaching three information technology courses at the nearby university. I was well-aware that I was giving them too much information, but it beat having them cast aspersions on Elynn or me or any of our family or friends.

We seemed to have reached a stasis of some kind until Elynn joined me and told them something that I guess they'd totally missed. She said, "Dave just had the ground-breaking ceremony for the engineering building on campus that he's donating."

Gerald looked at me oddly. "You're donating a whole building?"

Elynn proudly answered for me, "It's huge. It'll be the biggest building on campus when it's completed."

"How much does that cost?" he asked.

I modestly said, "A few million."

Elynn amplified, "About $40 million, and then he's paying for all the staff in the various engineering programs for twelve years. It was in all the papers here. He was even on the front of the local paper and magazines, and then on TV when they did the ground breaking."

I watched Gerald and Martha digest that fact. I don't think they realized how much money I had. They did then, and their attitude changed practically instantly. I shook my head in disappointment at how transparent their greed was.

Suddenly, I was their best friend. Martha asked her daughter whether it was appropriate to refer to me as her son-in-law. They both showed a greater interest in my prior career at Cyber Solutions. I don't think they realized that I'd been the CEO and had taken the company public until Elynn explained that to them. The concept was almost out of reach for them. They also hadn't understood that I was part of the Satanic Virus team. They'd barely heard about the situation.

The obvious transformation of their attitude after they discovered that I had MONEY was not only miraculous, it was almost nauseating. Elynn and I rolled our eyes at each other, and tried to steer the conversation back to less controversial and more neutral topics. We then returned to our seats for the rest of dinner.

List of Characters (Dramatis Personae)

Couples grouped together.

Dave Toller and Crystal Wolcott -- cyber security expert/Ross's son & flight attendant/runs Crystal Blue Photography (CBP).

Ross Toller & Trish Wolcott -- Investment manager/Dave's father & nurse/Crystal's older sister.

Greg Caldwell & Darlene Mentis -- Lawyer & nurse. She works w Trish.

Mitch & Deborah Singer -- Runs Silver's Gym & flight attendant.

Molly & Jake Walters -- private porn client of CBP & kinky husband.

Allison & William Kirby -- private porn client of CBP & husband.

Kit & Dax Morrison -- private porn clients of CBP.

Brian & Beth Wolcott -- Trish & Crystal's parents. Farm equipment sales & middle school teacher.

Carol Grainger -- video editor for CBP

Jackie Turner -- private porn client of CBP

Maitlin Westlake -- private porn client of CBP

Steve & Julie Wallace -- client of Crystal + HVAC bux. & runs modeling agency

Wendy Wallace -- Steve's daughter. College freshman.

Lisa Wallace -- Steve's daughter. High school senior.

Derek Frost -- Wendy's BF. College sophomore.

Jade & Carl Dewherst -- bride and groom

Ken Beck & Savannah Sorrell -- best man and matron of honor at Jade & Carol's wedding

Kim Stanley -- Julie Wallace's mother; Lisa and Wendy's grandmother; rich venture capitalist.

Madison Landry -- high school senior; friend of Lisa's.

Doug & Penny Rogers --neighbors next-door to Ross's house.

Stacy Landry -- Madison's mother

Paul Richards -- work colleague with Ross

Josh Kirby -- Internet trader. Bill Kirby's younger brother.

Harley Palmer -- high school friend of Lisa Wallace.

Cory Thomas -- Carol's computer date. Works at Zenith Technology.

Dale and Patricity Short -- across the street neighbors

Morgan Hunter -- friend of Josh & Allison

Tara Green -- friend of Carol. Caterer and flight attendant

Daryl Wills -- friend of Jackie Turner via CBP

Roy Marten -- friend of Maitlin Westlake via CBP

Tom Dayton -- friend of Deborah Singer

Elynn Ghent -- friend of Paul; works with Ross.

Adam and Jill Timms -- another find by Carol

Macy Clark -- friend of Tara; flight attendant.

Heather Sellens -- graduating student; future nurse; Lisa's friend

Chyanne Winslow -- graduating student; Lisa's friend

Mandy Jakes -- graduating student; Lisa's friend

Lynell Wynne -- graduating student; Lisa's friend

Daisy Gervais -- graduating student; Lisa's friend

Tom Dayton -- friend of Deborah Singer

Troy Bennett -- video editor at CBP

Temple -- video editor and photographer at CBP

Jean Muir -- AA to Cyber Solutions (CS)

Alice O'Rourke -- AA hired in Sarasota for CS

Connie and Bob Mason -- neighbors of Jean Muir

Meg Roland -- HR director at CS

Jim Manning -- Crystal & Carol's date. Retail Software

Ben Tabor -- Crystal & Carol's date. Retail Software

Russ (Rusty) Martin -- ex-Special Forces. Runs dojo. Does porn

Deke Scarborough -- ex-Special Forces. Runs dojo. Does porn

Alan Bullock -- passenger on a Tara flight; knows she does porn

Heide James -- reporter for People magazine

Don Witter -- reporter for People magazine

Tinsley Whitney Peabody -- NY socialite who wins Dave in auction

Matt Volpetti -- Adult Distribution Systems owner

Tracy Belle -- Matt Volpetti's girlfriend/fiancée

Dane Anders -- hired by CBP as editor/Cameraman

Kent Savage -- hired by CBP as editor/Cameraman

Barbie Harper -- Jean's replacement AA in Atlanta office

Chet -- Crystal & Carol's date. Detective SPD

Spence -- Crystal & Carol's date. Real estate attorney

Emily Bright -- nanny for Matthew Muir, Dave's baby w Jean

Maggie -- Appalachian Trail hiker that Dave befriends

Helen -- Appalachian Trail hiker that Dave befriends

Kitty (Katarinia) Privalova -- AT hiker that Dave befriends. Russian.

Noah and Charlotte Hall -- AT hikers Dave befriends. Teachers.

Andy and Lexi Sharp -- AT hikers Dave and Crystal befriend. Doctor and flight instructor

Brantley Holland -- Emily Bright's boyfriend. Geek Squad.

Ann Morrow -- friend of Josh Kirby. Faculty at the nearby university.

Tammy Sellens -- Heather's sister. College student

Elsa Dahlvig -- housekeeper and cook for Dave and the group

Eve Dahlvig -- Elsa's daughter. College freshman.

Rob Buckman -- university religion teacher; minister at Dave's weddings

Incidental characters are not itemized.