Best Intentions Ch. 02

"Hey you two. Just checking in. How's our future mommy doing? Sore breasts? Any signs of dizziness or unusual behaviors? Just wondering about the odds of a bun in the oven! xx"

"Is that a text from our neighbors?" Steph asked after hearing the beep. It came as surprise to hear her referring to them as simple neighbors. After all, our little adventure had turned them into a fair bit more than that. She didn't seem to feel about Jacob the same way I felt about Julia.

"Yeah, it says... well, they're asking if you are doing okay?" It wasn't entirely the truth but it was close enough. After all, Steph would probably sulk if she knew how excited Julia was for the potential pregnancy and the strong bond it would create between the four of us. The idea had me giddy as well. If Steph was pregnant, then I would be guaranteed to spend more time with Julia too.

"Yup, sure!" she replied. "It's just the usual complains, but other than that, I'm feeling fine. Why not invite them over for dinner sometime?"

"Can do," I said calmly. I wrote back and asked for them to come over in a couple days if they had time to spare. I also wrote a brief remark about how Steph did in fact complain about her bras feeling a little tight recently, and that she felt sick after eating her favorite dish. Which was rather unusual. It could be completely meaningless or it could be a first indicator of the miracle that happened.

"Sick? Feeling weird? Sounds like our brave mommy is eating for two! xx We will come over in two days. Maybe we could set up a playdate for our lovebirds? Let them enjoy each other while sober now that she's carrying his child. xx"

I choked on my morning coffee as I read the message. She was extremely forward with what she wanted, but she had a point.

The situation between Steph and Jacob was sort of an accident, but if she truly carried his baby, then it made sense for them to spend more time together. I volunteered to play the role of the dad, but Jacob would still be the biological father. We all needed to get to know each other, and to be comfortable around each other.

I just wasn't sure how to propose that idea.

"Say..." I pondered. "Would you be okay with... you know, having sex with Jacob again?"

"What? Where's that coming from?"

"It wouldn't hurt for you two to get to know each other a little better. And well, it would be a chance for you to find out what it's like to have sex with him while sober? He probably wouldn't use a condom this time either, but... compared to having his child, it seems like that wouldn't be a big deal, right?"

"I mean..." she said while she glanced down at her belly, where her shirt lay flat on her skin. We both knew that in a few weeks from now, there might be a distinct baby bulge visible right there. And he would be the father without a shadow of a doubt.

We even went as far as to check if my vasectomy was still intact, and it was. If there was a baby, it would be Jacob's without a doubt.

"I guess so... but are you sure you are okay with that? I'm still feeling new to this whole... open relationship thing," she said. It would be the easiest solution for everyone. She would still be romantically involved with me, but she would also be free to have sex with Jacob without having to feel guilty.

"It's interesting and kinda reassuring that it works out really well for them," Steph continued. "It sounds like they know way more about this stuff than we do. But I guess it works for them? Since they clearly seem happy, despite sharing their partner with others... and if they come over, they could explain it a little more..."

"Of course, yeah," I agreed. "Like I mentioned before, the most important part to me, is that you get to experience a bigger variety of things. Such as trying sex with me, and then trying sex with Jacob, and then picking your favorite. It's like the difference between Coke and Pepsi, you have to try both before you know which one you prefer."

Steph gave me a weird look.

"And based on that example, you would be Coke, or Pepsi?"

"Whichever you prefer having inside you," I teased. "Jokes aside, I would really be okay with you and Jacob doing it again. From what I heard, he might even have a higher sex drive than you. So once you two build up some chemistry, you would have someone who would always be ready for you."

"Alright, alright, fine," she said. "You convinced me to try it one more time. I guess you're right, the idea that I might be knocked up kind of makes normal intercourse sound... negligible, less important, like it's the last thing I should worry about at this point."

She gave it another long thought, and then leaned towards me.

"The only condition is that, if I don't like the sex with him, and it turns out I'm not pregnant... then you have to accept that I'm perfectly happy in our relationship. Me and you. No more open relationship and you won't try to get me to hook up with others anymore. That's fair, right?"

"Yep, absolutely! Then I'll answer the text message, and tell them you're down with the... friends with benefits thing. I will also tell Julia that if you get a negative pregnancy test in a couple weeks, then we would no longer be interested in having an open relationship. We would just want things to be normal again. Sounds about right?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Since we were in agreement, I texted Julia back that it's on.

Steph still felt reluctant about the entire ordeal. The initial plans for our future didn't involve kids. We planned to have her finish college, and then go on vacations together, and enjoy life together. None of those things would be easy anymore if it turned out that she was carrying a child. It would take up most of our time just to raise it. If there was any spare time, then Steph would probably spend it talking with Jacob and getting to know him better.

Still, I told her that we would be good parents together, even if we didn't plan for this. I also told her that studies had revealed how half of all pregnancies were unplanned anyway. We weren't some unlucky exception, this was simply how it happened for most couples.

The only difference was that we were in an open relationship with another couple. Friends with benefits. Whatever it could be called, there was now a special bond between us. It was too early to tell if this was good or bad, but it certainly was a unique situation.

As planned, after two days passed, they were about to visit us.

I woke up before Steph did, to prepare the living room for our guests.

Since we wanted the atmosphere to be warm and welcoming, I wanted to set up a few candles, some snacks, and some juice to drink. I didn't want to take any risks. I wanted this to be perfect.

Once I had everything ready to go, I returned upstairs to check up on Steph.

She had woken up, and she was standing in just her bra and panties by the wardrobe, to try and pick an outfit to wear.

"Good morning," I said.

"Hey." She glanced over to me with a tired expression. She stretched and yawned, before turning back towards the wardrobe. "I don't know. What should I be wearing? I've never had to dress with the expectation of having sex soon after. This is... weird."

She showed me two options. One was her casual home outfit with sweatpants and a comfortable top. The other was a nightgown she bought recently. It would be the first time she wore it. It was black and made of lace, so it was mostly transparent. It was also rather short and didn't seem to reach down to her thighs.

As she held it up in front of her body to show what it would look like, I could see that the nightgown was so short that a fair deal of her underwear was on display. I could see the pink fabric of her thong, and it clearly outlined the distinct shape of her puffy vulva.

Steph was so nervous with this situation that it didn't seem like she noticed that detail, certainly not from her point of view.

"Is this a test, or an honest question?" I asked.

"I'm serious!" she pouted.

"Okay, okay. Well... we already know you two get along well. Your personalities match just fine. It's the bedroom stuff which is the biggest mystery so... if you wanted to make it obvious that you accept him... why not wear the nightgown? It looks hot."

"Because it's embarrassing!" she whined. "I'm still not sure about the whole thing, not anymore, now that it's so close to happening. I can't imagine myself in bed with another guy, not while sober..."

"Don't worry," I reassured her. "I remember what you wanted. If you dislike the sex or we find out that you aren't pregnant, then we can easily just forget the whole thing. We can put it behind us. It will be just the two of us again, and you won't have to worry about having sex with anyone else ever again."

"Fine, alright... just don't forget that I'm doing this just to indulge you. And, well, because it doesn't make much of a difference now. I had sex with him once while drunk. So I guess it doesn't matter if I do it one more time while sober..." she said as her voice trailed off. She still had some doubts about this situation.

Fortunately she was still willing to play along, at least for now.

"Yeah, exactly. So I would suggest the nightgown. There would be no doubt that you are... sexually available for him. And we have no idea if they want to have a lazy afternoon and have lunch together, or if their expectation is that Jacob drags you to the bedroom immediately."

"Ugh... okay."

Steph changed into her nightgown, and the doorbell rang shortly after. She was an anxious, nervous mess but followed me downstairs. Her fingers were fidgeting with the hem of her gown as I opened the door and greeted Julia with a warm smile and a hug.

"Hey," I said. "Nice to see you again. I would say long time no see, but it's been... what, like a week?"

Jacob approached from behind his wife and entered our house first.

"Yep, something like that, I think!" He walked up to Steph, and gave her a polite kiss on the cheek. "Hello again, I hope you're feeling better."

"Oh? Oh!" she said. "Hi to you, too. And don't even mention it... it wasn't your fault, it wasn't anyone's fault, really! I guess I just had a bit too much to drink back then." There was a brief awkward silence before she decided to lighten the mood with a joke. "I hope you're not going to hold it against me that I can barely remember any details of that night..." she chuckled half-heartedly alongside her dry joke, which cracked me up.

"Darling, never change."

Julia closed the door behind herself, and smiled with satisfaction while watching us. However, she also noticed that I seemed a little nervous. She was also aware that Steph was a whole lot more than just nervous.

"It sounds like you two are still getting along well as ever. I'm glad." She looked around, as if trying to get a better idea of our house. "Before we get started, could you point me towards the kitchen?"

"Yeah sure," I said. "Come, I'll show you."

We left Jacob and Steph alone. The last thing I saw was them striking up a conversation and getting comfortable on the living room couch.

Our kitchen, and most of the house, had a very traditional look. It had polished wood flooring, white shelves and cupboards, and a beige paintjob on the walls. It wasn't necessarily my first choice, but the house originally belonged to Steph's parents after all. Most of it was unchanged.

"Ahh, very pretty," Julia commented. "But tell me, how have you been? You seem uneasy today?"

"Oh, you noticed... yeah.... well. It's Steph. I'm not sure if she is willing to play along today. Which would be fine by itself, but I'm afraid of how the whole situation might fall apart if she gets cold feet and says something she may regret later, like, that she hates how everything turned out. She might not even mean it, but the chance of her freaking out like that in the heat of the moment, that's... making me nervous."

Julia nodded quietly, and gave it a thought.

"That would be troublesome. I could think of a few ways to deal with the situation, but perhaps the simplest would be to give her the medication I mentioned a while back? She is worried for the future, she has anxiety because of what may or may not happen... it's tricky. But if we give her the medication, it would be like grabbing an eraser and making all those problems go away."

Julia reached into her purse, and retrieved a small blister package of pills.

"Ah. Yeah! The stuff that you talked about on our way back to the cars. I didn't think we would end up needing those, but now... perhaps... you might be right?"

She grabbed an empty cup, filled it with water, and then handed it to me.

"How about we do her that favor, then?" Julia began to pop one of the pills out of the packaging. It slipped out, blobbed into the water, and slowly began to dissolve. It was a good plan, there was no evidence of the help we were about to provide.

"Thanks, Julia. It's basically the same plan as before, we are just making sure that they've got an opportunity to get to know each other, right? They will spend more time together. And then things can develop from there. Can you tell me again, like... what's going to happen when she drinks this?" I peered back down at the glass I was holding, and the pill had finished dissolving completely.

Julia showed the packaging to me.

"Plenty of people use these, it's the favorite medication prescribed by therapists. They have a strong and fast-acting effect on the body." She paused and looked at me.

"In our case, for Stephanie, it will take the edge off for her. Without it, she might get cold feet in the bedroom. She might think to herself, do I really want to do this? Well, once she ingests this pill, there will be less thinking, and more doing. She will peel her panties off like a good girl instead of questioning her situation."

"Wow," I mused. It never crossed my mind that something like that was possible. "Is that why you asked if I wanted the day to be focused on them?"

"Yup, since this will make sure they're having a sweet and charming day together. It also means that we will keep a clear mind, and we can enjoy the show and maybe smoothen the ride for them a little here and there. Nothing serious, mind you, we'll just make sure they stay hydrated and get something to eat before the day is over."

She nodded and seemed satisfied with the outcome. After a brief pause she smiled back at me.

"There will be plenty of time for you and me to have fun as well," she explained with a pleased look full of anticipation.

"You mean..."

"Well, of course. You did not believe that an open relationship meant that only your girlfriend gets to have fun, no? Though I think that this time, I will be able to provide you with a little more than just my hand," she said. Her smile grew into a knowing grin. She winked at me with a confidence I hadn't seen before, and then she left the room to return to the others. By the time I cleared my mind and rushed to follow her, she had already sat down and had gotten comfortable.

Jacob was in the middle of explaining something.

"So, it's almost taken care of. Besides that, we also have to visit our oldest again soon. She's been mentioning problems with her washing machine and she said she would hire a repairman. I told her "no way I'd let you throw your money at someone to do a half-arsed job, just sit tight and your mom and me will come by in the next couple of days."

He reached for the bowl of chips, grabbed a handful, but continued talking instead of taking a bite.

"I don't think it's going to take a lot of time, but while I'm there, I might as well take my time to show her how it's done. That way she's going to be more self-sufficient in the future. I think that's important. At least until she meets a guy who is able to help her with that kind of maintenance stuff around the house."

Nobody seemed to be aware of the inner conflict I was dealing with. "Did I really want Steph to swallow this?" I thought to myself. But then, I simply sat down by Steph's side and handed her the glass of water. It was the most natural and normal gesture imaginable. She didn't know how that cup of water would be the deciding factor between if she were to stay true to herself and find an excuse to leave, or if she would end up naked in the bedroom with Jacob. It would be a seemingly tiny and insignificant decision to drink from her glass, but it would have such drastic consequences.

The decision was made moments later, when she absent-mindedly began to drink from her glass. It was one sip at a tip, but now it was just a matter of time before she drank it all.

Since I had some snacks and drinks prepared in advance, we settled around the coffee table and continued to catch up with each other. Julia talked about how she was sad that her vacation was over, but she was also happy that the past few days had been calm and peaceful for her. Or at least as calm as a nurse's job could be.

She also repeated once more how she enjoyed our hiking adventure, and that it had been a delight to see an inexperienced couple giving it a try. We continued snacking on a couple cookies and pastries in the meantime.

It was comfortable, since it very much felt like when we were gathered around the campfire and exchanged stories. Though, it really felt a lot more relaxing to be gathered around a coffee table instead and with a solid roof over our heads.

As more time passed, I began to notice Steph's upbeat and energetic attitude changing into something else. At first she only talked less and less, but over the course of just a few minutes, she became more passive and docile as a whole. She would initially give such long-winded and complex answers, but now, she was brief and without her usual drive. It wasn't like she acted bored, but rather, she acted detached and distant.

"Steph," I whispered while I gently nudged her side. "You good?"

"Yeah..." her voice trailed off as she weakly answered my question.

Personally, I had no idea what to expect from the medication and its effects. It was surprising, and intriguing, and concerning to see her behavior change like this.

It had actually worked. If I were to compare it to anything I was familiar with, I would say that she acted as if she was hypnotized. Calm, obedient, and with almost no emotion in her voice.

When I glanced back over to Julia for reassurance, she simply smiled and nodded. None of this seemed to be negative or unexpected to her. If anything, she seemed pleased with the results.

"Stephanie, are you feeling good and relaxed currently?"

"Yeah..." she repeated once more, in a similar monotone voice. This wasn't exactly the scenario I had initially hoped for, but since my intentions were to get her to try having sex... this was a foolproof way of doing so. And in the end, after enough repetitions, she may still show interest in it on her own. "This is something we are doing for her sake," I repeated to myself. We were doing her a favor.

"If you're feeling good and relaxed, are you ready to go upstairs with Jacob?" Julia asked.

Steph hesitated for only a moment before she gave a brief nod.

"I guess..."

Jacob looked back and forth between the two women with a mild look of surprise. Even he didn't seem to expect things to go so smoothly. He seemed to question it for a moment, but then decided to accept this pleasant turn of events. After all, this was what he was truly here for.

"Okay," he said. "If that's how it is, then let's get to the bedroom, shall we? Go ahead, cutie, lead the way."

Somehow, the thought that this was actually happening was driving me crazy with mixed emotions. It was getting harder to breathe, like I was choking from a lack of air, that's how overwhelming the thought felt to me. It was scary, but also intoxicating and arousing.