Fourth Year After Ch. 02

"How important is that to you?" I asked.

Maria said, "Important enough to know that you can't be first in my life, and that's what I think a husband should be. Neither can Tina be my wife. But a primary relationship that isn't incestuous and can let me have you and Tina and even the rest of your family as secondaries, will help keep my heart in balance. Be an anchor, if you will."

"Okay, so how do you find someone who'll be open to you being involved with us like that?"

Maria paused then answered, "I already have, I think. I am going to ask Ginger to marry me. I've fallen in love with her, Drew, and I think she has the same feelings for me. I just have to get her to see it, in the mix of everyone else she's been involved with. I know she's having a hard time right now, distinguishing attraction, lust and love with so many people, but I wanted you to know that's my goal. The whole concept of primary vs secondary relationships was actually her idea, something she threw out there during one of our conversations about our interactions with this group marriage of yours."

I said, "Huh. So, does that mean the two of you would join our group with a public-facing marriage as cover?"

Maria said, "I don't think joining is the answer, not as fulltime members of the household. Even if I weren't Tina's sister and your aunt, preventing any public connection as a polyamorous group, I think that would interfere in Ginger's relationships with her family, including your friends Jean and Duke. It is probably best if we remain as guests. Any of that can be worked out once I get her to say 'yes'."

"Get who to say 'yes' to what?" Patti asked, as she came down the stairs in her bathrobe, then sat next to us on the couch.

Maria said, "I'm asking Ginger to marry me. To be each other's primary relationship, so that it's easier for us to manage our secondaries, which can't be public due to some of the incest involved. Me with Drew and Tina, Ginger with Jean and her kids."

Patti considered that for a moment, then said, "That's genius." Patti ran to the stairs, and shouted, "Amber, get down here!"

Amber came down the stairs, holding KJ to her breast, with her nightgown on one shoulder, and sat in the armchair nearest the couch. "Okay, so what's so important I couldn't finish feeding?"

"Maria's going to ask Ginger to marry her," Patti responded.

"Oh, my god, that's simply perfect," Amber said.

Maria smiled, and said, "I'm glad this is going over so well. You actually haven't said what you think of the idea, Drew. What are you thinking?"

I said, "What matters most is that you and Ginger be happy, and if getting married to each other is going to do that, I'm all for it. I would only want you to join our marriage if that made you happy, too, but I can see the reasons for staying out of it, too."

"Now I have to tell Tina, Henry and Toni," Maria said.

They were all very accepting of the news, figuring that this was perhaps the best solution for all concerned, not an expansion of our marriage, but an alliance with a new one.

~~~~~

March 1, 2016

Toni's 40th birthday fell on a Tuesday, so Patti, Amber and I each took a vacation day, so I could watch the babies while Amber and Patti treated Toni to a spa day.

She was going to come home to a surprise party with the Barnes and Cooper families there to celebrate, plus Ginger and a couple of friends from her days in retail. Uncle Dave chose to stay home.

Maria and Ginger arrived together, holding hands and being affectionate. Watching Grandma Marion's face when Maria introduced Ginger to Grandma Anna as her girlfriend was priceless. It didn't sound like Ginger had accepted Maria's marriage proposal, at least not yet. I wasn't about to pry, but Mom confirmed later that Maria had asked, and Ginger was still thinking about it.

Toni wasn't really fond of celebrating her birthday, not having her own biological family to celebrate with, but given that it was a milestone year, Toni was expecting a party on the following Saturday, so was caught completely off guard.

I didn't even have to ask to know what her birthday wish was as she blew out the candles on her cake. For her sister's daughter to come seek her out. Toni knew her as Faith, but expected her name had been changed either by CPS or through adoption. Wherever she was, her 18th birthday was April 2nd.

~~~~~

March 5, 2016

Over dinner Friday, Henry said, "A month ago, Carmen told me about a property in the northern suburbs. It was formerly part of a ranch, where most of the ranch land was sold off some 20 years ago, with a lot of that turned into subdivisions since then. There are roughly 30 acres left, bordered on two sides by a creek, with mature trees planted along the property lines. You can't see another house at all."

Patti said, "I assume you had a reason to reject it before now? What was it?"

Henry answered, "Oh, it was so overpriced, given the condition of the main house, it wasn't worth mentioning it. They finally dropped the asking price by 30%, enough to make me think we should consider it. The main ranch house was expanded over many decades pretty haphazardly, utilities are atrociously outdated and structurally it probably wouldn't survive another twenty years without more work than it's worth. It makes more sense to knock it down, so it shouldn't be counted towards the property value at all. If anything, the demolition costs should be included as a negative. The former dairy barn was remodeled into garage and workshop space when the ranch shut down, and is in solid shape. It will give us room for all our cars and then some. It will give me room for all of my dad's metalworking equipment, for instance, so I can finally get it all out of storage. They more recently built a guest house behind the main house for the parents to live in, but they've recently passed on. Combined with the family's children moving away, that spurred the sale."

"So, did you have something in mind to replace the main house?" I asked.

"Of course, although I want to consult with both Duke and the family about the design. What I picture is to design around having an interior courtyard, with the guest house staying detached to its north, and the new house wrapping around the other three sides, with the main entry to the south. Put an inground pool, hot tub and sauna into the courtyard and it would have complete privacy. Each of the two wings would have a master bed and bath, with one wing having three kids bedrooms and one and a half baths and the other having two kids bedrooms, one bathroom and an office. At least, that's what I envision. I'll accept any feedback the family has, of course."

"Why would we need the guest house, if we would have 7 bedrooms in the main house?" Toni asked. "Why not knock it down, too?"

Henry chuckled, "I'm thinking of Sandy's triad, or Maria and Ginger being able to stay there, or at least say they are. Or it might host the double queen or otherwise provide a safe place for intimacy away from the kids. We've talked about needing that in the future."

"When can we go take a look?" Mom asked.

"How about tomorrow?" Henry asked. "We can go after dropping the kids off with the Taylors for the night. I'll arrange it with Carmen and ask Duke to meet us there, too."

~~~~~

March 6, 2016

"I'm glad you asked me about what you have in mind," Duke said, as we all walked around the beautiful property, escorted by Carmen, who had arranged the tour. "By trying to surround the courtyard but not totally enclose it, you'll probably have some airflow problems, as the wind tries to pass around and between the buildings. Under the wrong conditions, someone walking toward the guest house could get blown over."

"So, what would you suggest instead?" Henry asked.

"If you want to retain the guest house but not directly connect it to the main house, we still need to span the gap between the two houses in a way that encloses the courtyard. A pair of glass walls from each wing to the corners of the guest house should do. Add a retractable glass roof overhead that also connects to the guest house, and you gain year-round use of the pool, and allow the glass roof to connect to the rooflines of the new house and guest house to direct rain away from the courtyard."

"Cool idea," Toni said.

"Alright, family. What do you think?" Henry asked. "Should we move forward on an offer?"

We all agreed quickly. Carmen put in our offer to the owners, and it was accepted even faster.

"How long do you think it would take you to draw up the blueprints we'd need?" Henry asked Duke.

"Um, Henry, while I have my license, I'm bound by a non-compete contract that keeps me from working outside my firm for the first three years of my employment, and I've only been there 21 months. That's how they make back their investment in training me. Texas doesn't usually allow non-compete clauses, but the firm is in several other states, so those laws apply."

"I totally get that, Duke," Henry said. "This will be through your firm, but I've already talked to them and asked that you be in charge because of our level of comfort with you. So, how long? Do you think you could do it in 3 weeks? That's about how long it would take to close and do demolition and site prep. Then about four months for actual construction, and a move-in date around August 1st?"

Duke's eyebrows shot up. "That's an ambitious construction schedule, but I could certainly have blueprints ready in three weeks, if you're able to make yourself available for presentations and approvals."

Patti said, "Dad, Sandy and I are due August 20th. Won't that be cutting it close if the construction does get delayed?"

"That's exactly why I'm shooting for August 1st rather than August 15th or September 1st, Patti. It's not like we have a move-out date for the three houses, anyway. We're not selling them, we're renting them out, after we move. So, if we do get delayed, we just stay put until after the babies arrive. Only after we move do we list the houses for rent."

"You're going to rent them out this fall?" Duke asked. "Can Jean and I rent Center, and maybe buy it from y'all down the road? We're doing well enough professionally to afford rent on something about that size, while we finish saving up for a down-payment."

"Why that house, Duke?" Mom asked. "All three are about the same size, but Center would have the highest rent, because of the pool, even though it's a two bedroom, not a three."

Duke smiled, saying, "Well, this will probably sound silly, Mrs. K., but Jean was skinny dipping in that very pool before she came into your kitchen naked the day we first met over the computer. It's part of our love story, like remembering the restaurant where you went for your first date. I think of that every time I visit you guys. If you're not going to be living there, I'd love to be the one who is."

Mom responded, "Oh, that's not silly, Duke, that's sweet. I've got a lot of memories tied up in that house, too, and would love knowing that family friends were living there so we could visit. Are you going to be okay having me for a landlady?"

"I don't see a problem, Mrs. K.," Duke responded. "If I can put up with Drew being my landlord, too, we'll be fine."

"Oh, you. Will you please just call me Tina?"

"Sure, Mrs. K.," he said, smirking.

~~~~~

Author's Note: Next up, another dramatic Spring Break, and more...