Ann: The Married Years Ch. 46

Ann let that settle in her mind for a second, the idea of her mother-in-law, who always gave the appearance of being a prim and proper, the Southern Belle type, was the one instigating what would become an orgy with her friends? And being high on marijuana at the time? It all seemed so unreal; and at the same time, she knew they shared a kindred spirit in so many ways. It was a lot to take in.

"Unbeknownst to the rest of the room, we played a couple of hands of poker, just to play. I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I got back Diane had this wicked smile. I wasn't sure... well, I was pretty sure, but she didn't say anything. We played another hand, and when Lonnie lost; he had the worst hand, he subtly took off his jacket. I looked at Diane, and she shrugged. I asked her if she was serious, and she was said she was game if I was. She knew the dress I was wearing... I'd worn it for Keith the week before. It was his favorite. I even teased him about it being his dress. She knew I wasn't wearing anything else. I knew she wasn't either. Which ever of us lost wasn't taking off shoe. I lost first."

"Oh my God," she giggled.

"Yep. So, I stood up, slipped the top over my shoulders and peeled it down to my waist. I was about to slip it over my hips when this witch of a woman named Lucinda asked me what the hell I was doing. I told we were bored with bridge and decided to play a game that was more interesting. Diane confessed it was her idea, but pleaded ignorance to the fact I wasn't wearing anything underneath. Lucinda looked at me like I was crazy and started going at me a bit, but I gave her shit right back. I stepped out of the dress right there and sat back down to play the next hand."

"So it didn't start then?"

"No, but most of the other tables started playing strip poker. Lucinda and her husband, and another couple left as soon as I was naked... jealous wives. Another couple left when the wife was down to her panties. He couldn't handle it. Diane and I were pretty sure he had a small cock and he didn't want to be outed like that. I can't blame him. None of it was planned. Diane was trying to find a way for her and I to have sex with each others husband's at the party. Things got off track when we got to Liz's house and we found out they'd just finished the basement into a rec room. There was no way to sneak away. Anyway, we blamed it on the pot."

"Good one."

"That was Diane's idea. But they knew once the sex started that we were sluts, and the night went from there."

"But again, how do you just start up?"

"I finally lost another hand," she winked.

"What?"

I lost. Diane was naked. The guys at our table weren't yet. So, I got up, made her lie on the table, and I started eating her pussy. I wasn't about to take off my heels. I looked great in them."

"Oh my God, you slut!"

"I know, right? Who would have thought I'd do something like that," she said in mock shock. "And as I did, another couple left. Another wife upset. Probably because Darren came over, pulled out his cock and dangled it in front of Diane's face. It was the first time she'd seen it, and... "

"The first time? I thought you said you were with them the week before?"

"We were, but Diane almost screwed it up. I had to salvage the night. So... she was blindfolded."

"Just blindfolded?" she questioned with a knowing laugh.

"Alright, she might have had her hands tied behind her back. And I may have paddled her. But the bottom line is she hadn't seen his cock before. And even then she didn't have sex with him at the orgy. She had pretty much every man but him. We ended up going to their house after the orgy and we swapped again."

"You had an orgy, and then you still fooled around with the Edmonsons."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Turned out it was," she giggled. "Right after I ate out Diane, I went over some ground rules. Everyone that was left scrambled out of their clothes, and we spent the next few hours in our first bridge night orgy."

"Did that happen every time after that?"

"Yes and no. The four couples that left didn't come back. Word got back to the ones that left early what happened beyond me taking off my dress. I can totally understand that. It's certainly not for everybody, obviously. There had to be some shock as to how things played out so fast that night, and the peer pressure to be a part of what happened in front of them had to be there, since we'd never discussed it beforehand. I mean, you go to a house to play cards like you have for years, and all of a sudden you end up in an orgy?"

Ann had flashes of her Super Bowl parties, and how Carol lost a friend over the very first one. Sure, Beth begged to be invited back after missing a year, and she and Carol were able to repair their friendship. But Cindy and Dale never returned; the friendship she and Carol had for years died because of that night, and all that happened was a few women doing shots and taking their clothes off. Ann thought of the most recent party and how she'd been the center of attention during a big 49er win... a dozen men cumming all over her body at the end of the game. And then, Neil made her suck off a stranger on the way home as some kind of perverse nightcap.

She looked at Betsy, and it was like staring into in a mirror. She could see herself. After all, there were three big loads of cum in her mother-in-law's hair. Sure, they were all Darren's, but the imagery was there. It was hard not to feel closer to her at that moment. It was just incredibly strange how it was happening.

"I know what you mean," Ann confessed, a knowing grin on her face.

"You do?" she asked. Ann winked in response. Betsy thought that response was interesting, and very telling, but she didn't press. If her daughter-in-law wanted to share, she would. In the meantime, she was caught up in telling her own story. "Okay. So, when we went to the bridge night the next month, things were back to normal. But it was weird, because nobody talked about what happened at the previous party."

"That is odd."

"Yeah. First, no one even mentioned that there were four less couples there, and the reasons why. That alone was odd. But even stranger was we were back to strictly playing bridge again instead of poker. And we didn't do any drugs. Hell, there was barely any drinking. Everyone seemed okay... but I have to admit I was just pretending to enjoy it. And so was Darren. It was like we were going through the motions because we had to for appearances."

"So it just stopped then?"

"Oh no. It was like there was a delayed reaction. I honestly began to think we were all just going to keep pretending it never happened. It wasn't until Gina Carns got pissed that we were forced to actually acknowledge it. We were all playing cards again, like it was our duty or something. I'll never forget it as long I live. She was shuffling a deck, and then she suddenly got so angry she stood up and screamed, and threw them across the room. She started yelling that she couldn't take pretending anymore. John, her husband, he tried to stifle her, and she went off on him. She called him a coward because he wouldn't bring it up when they got there like she asked him to."

"When they got there?"

"She couldn't believe no one had called them in the month between the bridge nights. Not one of the other couples had contacted them at all. And I got it. I'd talked to Diane. Darren had talked to Keith. But like I said, we'd become close. Plus, we went on vacation. I was in Illinois for a few days, and then to Vegas for a week. That's also another story for another time. But I guess the rest of the group kind of kept to themselves for the next month, which was very unusual. She went on this rant, accusing everyone else of ignoring the elephant in the room."

"Well I can see her point. That had to be unhealthy to keep it all that bottled up and not at least acknowledge it... even if you say it was a mistake to do it and move on. How the hell can you look people in the eye?"

"That was exactly her point. She said she was pissed that she had a good time that night and then was made to feel guilty about it afterward, like she'd done something wrong. And by not talking about it, it made those feelings grow. She demanded we talk about it so she could stop feeling the pent-up frustration. She said she was so stressed that it was making her a nervous wreck every day it got closer to bridge to the point she was physically ill to her stomach just before they left the house that night. You could see the anguish in her face. We realized then that she was right. We needed to discuss together what happened, and so we did."

"That must have been a scene," Ann replied.

"Oh, it was. But it turns out Gina only said what most of us were thinking all along. The funny thing was, after we talked it out, we came to the conclusion it had all been kind of pointless, because the people that had the issues with it didn't come back. They were the ones with the hang-ups about it. That's why they didn't come back to begin with. And even they didn't make a big stink about it. They just politely declined to come any more. They never said anything negative, and they never spread any rumors."

"Probably because they'd been part of your group for so long."

"Oh, that was definitely the reason. But like I said, my friends don't do that. That's why I lost so many here when Neil went through his divorce. I won't be friends with people that spread gossip like that. Not real friends, anyway. You have to be able to trust those you hold dearest."

"I couldn't agree more, Mom. That's what I base my whole life on."

"I know you do, dear. That's why we get along so well. And that's what was so interesting about the dynamic of that group. We all looked at each other, wondering why we didn't question how we were acting like Gina had. Keith pointed out that if we had enough courage to return, you'd think one of us would have broached the subject when we first got back together to start the night."

"So Gina was the one that got you to do it again?"

"Yeah. And it was so out of character for her. She was this demur woman... very petite and quiet. She was a first-grade elementary teacher. I'd never heard her say anything cross, ever. Or even use a swear word, to be honest. And here she is, standing in front of all of us, yelling and cursing at the top of her lungs about how she loves sex and she wants to fuck. She said she finally got a chance to live out a fantasy, and she wasn't willing to go back to the staid, dull life she lived before. When she said that bridge was boring, we all kind of heard that the same. She was blunt and said if that's all we were going to do, she wouldn't be coming to any more get-togethers. She wanted to do something more exciting. I remember her yelling that grading papers for six-year-olds was more exciting than playing bridge anymore."

"Holy shit! She was basically the opposite of the people who didn't come back the first time!"

"Right. She wasn't going to come back if we didn't do it again."

"So you agreed to start up again the next party?"

"Oh, Gina wasn't going to wait another month. She pulled out a bag of joints from her purse, took one and lit it, and took a big hit. And while it was still in her mouth, she took off her blouse... and of course you know she wasn't wearing a bra. She tossed the rest of the joints on the table and started walking out of the living room."

"Where was she going?"

"She headed toward the stairs off the foyer, and she said she didn't care if it cost her marriage or not, but she was done being the kind of wife that waited for life to happen. She intended to make it happen. With that she said she was going upstairs to find a bed, and the first man that decided to join her could have her... except for her husband. She said he'd have to find his jollies elsewhere."

"Mom, I... I don't know what to say. That's incredible. Did that mean that every party after that was just an all out orgy?"

"It was for the next couple of months. But the truth is that got old, pretty quickly. So, we kind of changed the party again. The fact was that the orgies weren't for everybody, either. I mean, I had a blast... but there were women in the group that couldn't handle it as well."

"How do you mean?"

"You said it yourself. I'm like you; I'm an exhibitionist. I really get excited being watched. But being the center of attention isn't for everyone, Anna. There are people that like their sex more defined. More intimate. And that's okay too."

"Okay, but there were what, seven other women there? How could you be the center of attention if there were so many other people to choose from?"

"One, I've never been shy when it comes to having sex. Two, Darren and I had already had sex outside of our marriage, so it wasn't the shock to us like it to most of the others. And third, I was willing to do things other women weren't in those days."

"Like anal."

"Oh my god, yes. I swear, Anna, I always thought I was some kind of pervert because I love anal sex so much. Especially when Darren really gets into it. It's hot and aggressive and I... well, I'm probably saying too much now."

"Not at all. I feel the same way. I never would have imagined that before I met Neil. Like I said, he's the only man that's ever fucked me that way. But I love it, and frankly, the rougher the better."

Betsy smiled. "Damn... me too! That's what I was going to say before I stopped myself. I can't believe how much we're alike when it comes to sex."

"So, you were popular at the parties because you loved anal."

"And blowjobs. There were a couple of wives that thought that was disgusting. So naturally, I was getting a lot more attention than some of the other women, and that made us change the focus of the party."

"Change the focus... what the hell does that mean?"

"Basically, we didn't pretend to play bridge anymore. In fact, we didn't even stay together."

"What?"

"I hope this won't come off sounding bad, Anna. I'd hate to think I'm giving you the wrong impression of us. After all, with what Neil went through -"

"What he went through has nothing to do with you and Dad. I love you guys. I'm not judging you, because I absolutely hate when people do that to me. That's one of the things that has cost me friends."

"Are you sure we're not related?" Betsy laughed, noting yet another trait they shared.

"Oh, we are, Mom. Believe me, we are. But look, you've already told me so much... and I'm fine with it. So... if you feel you need to keep some things to yourself, you know you can. I just want to tell you that I'm as thrilled that we can talk about these kinds of things as you are, because I know whatever I tell you, it will stay between you and me. But you don't have to...."

Betsy put her hand up, knowing she could trust Ann. She wanted to, even if she was divulging things that she'd never imagined she would. She loved that they were sharing, and she frankly wanted to continue. "I agree, sweetie. I agree. This is just between you and me... a mother and her daughter."

Ann nearly melted in her chair, knowing Betsy meant that. She didn't look at her as related just by her being married to Neil. She thought of Ann as her real daughter. Ann nearly teared up, but she found a way to check her emotions. "That's why I call you Mom," she finally spit out.

"And I've loved you like my own from the first time you called me that," Betsy admitted. Feeling at ease, she leaned forward a bit, a glint in her eyes. "So, do you know what a key party is?"

"No, but it sounds interesting."

Betsy told Ann a tale of how the bridge group quickly evolved into something much more intimate. In essence, it became what would be known amongst them as the Breakfast Club; and not because of the movie by that name, since the film obviously came out many years later.

As she alluded, after the two orgies, there were still some issues. It wasn't a jealousy problem. The people that had that hang up left the group well before they started the group sex again. A lot of the anxiety was unfortunately caused by Betsy, her carefree spirit and her willingness to do or try most things sexually made some of the other women uneasy. They sometimes felt pressured to do the same, although those feelings were all internal. No one was making them feel ashamed or inadequate.

It had more to do with performing acts in such a public forum. While Betsy loved being looked at, some women didn't care for the free-for-all style that group sex naturally created. Yet all the returning couples seemed to like the idea of having some sex outside of their marriage. It was exciting and new, and it was livening up their martial relationships in so many positive ways. It was the circumstances that were up for debate.

Most of the women liked the idea of a more intimate encounter, a one-on-one coupling with another man. But the idea of doing that in the same house at the same time was problematic, if not impossible. There would never be enough rooms for privacy, which was the overriding factor creating the major roadblock that was keeping everyone from enjoying a little extracurricular martial fun.

So at the end of that second orgy, they all got together and discussed ideas. It was actually Colleen White that broached the subject of a key party, and the details of how one worked. From there, they hashed out how it might be possible with the group of eight couples. In the end a compromise was struck. Instead of an orgy every month, it became a swingers' event, although that option required a bit of organization. First, the few couples with children still at home needed to find sitting arrangements. Most of them used other family members, like the grandparents. For Darren and Betsy, it was a bit trickier, since they didn't have any family in the state. Gene having moved out of the house solved half the problem. But an eleven-year-old Neil was more difficult.

Fortunately, they were blessed with a former next-door neighbor that had moved to a farm in the country. They loved taking care of Neil, mostly because they had a boy his age and it gave the youngsters a chance to stay connected. To reciprocate, Betsy would have young Brendon stay the night with Neil, giving their friends some private time of their own each month to attend to whatever adult perversions that needed to be quenched.

Betsy explained that the card group would meet every month at a different home like they always had, rotating randomly between the eight couples. That home was chosen for the initial meet and greet. Couples would arrive by a set time; Saturday nights at six o'clock. Upon walking in the front door, each husband would drop his car keys into a basket prominently placed on a small table in the foyer of the house where the party was being held. The basket was covered with a fitted black cloth, a slit cut into the material, keeping the contents hidden from sight.

At that point they'd mingle for a bit, before sitting at the tables to actually play bridge. They did that to ease tensions and to keep up appearances; more of an ice breaker than anything else. But once the clock struck seven-thirty, no matter where they were in the hands they were playing, the cards were dropped on the table.

The men would gather in a circle, and a second identical basket would be passed around by the hostess amongst the seven men who had driven there with their wives. Inside that basket were playing cards, all diamonds, from two through eight. Once each male guest had selected a card from the basket, they would hold it so only they could see it. The number on the cards represented the order their respective wives would select from the other basket.