Hunting Peace

We got out of there, got back in the truck, and drove on.

Once outside, we stopped at the first store with 'Sarnia' in the name, for a tourist-pic. Our first find was 'Sarnia Orthopedic Footwear'. We laughed and probably looked like idiots, but I texted our parents with the pic and "Looking forward to a highly mobile old age together."

== Chapter: Border to Border ==

At the Sarnia supercharger we got nearly full-up in 35 minutes, and the girls took bathroom breaks at the closest Tim Hortons, bringing me back some coffee.

I put the coffee in the drink holder and asked to take a nap.

Amy drove a while, then Liz, then I woke and we traded, keeping up a steady pace by only stopping for packaged food and supercharging. Pulling over to the side let us take bathroom breaks, since we really didn't want to use public restrooms in a pandemic.

There weren't very many cybertrucks yet out in the wild (at least in Canada), so as we drove we got a lot of stares from cars we passed or who passed us. Some people even gave us thumbs-up, probably for being green.

Our keep-it-moving pattern, per some back-of-napkin (and autopilot) math, meant we were actually going faster than a gas car could. That wasn't because of the EV part of it - it was the autopilot. It took the strain off being the driver. On our family trips, we'd be stopping constantly, getting fuel or snacks or getting out to walk around, etc., just to relax from the hassle of driving.

Instead, self-drive did the work, and you could sometimes take your eyes off the road for whole seconds to look at the scenery going by. It was seriously relaxing. With a 20 minute stop every 3 hours, we kept a great pace and pretty soon we were driving past Toronto, then Montreal.

Quebec was our cross-the-river point. We had been paralleling the St. Lawrence river, but if we didn't cross at Quebec, we'd have to double back later because there were no crossings past there. The St. Lawrence widened there and just turned into the Atlantic ocean.

Going through the city on the fast road, we knew we were shot for the night and decided to grab a hotel room and a shower, plus a bed, if we could get one.

Still, Quebec was a big city, and we didn't want to catch anything if this JE pandemic was already around, so we drove out of town to the north (on our way). It was about 9 pm and we were looking for a place to stay.

The small town we passed didn't have much, and neither did the next, but the third one had a hotel with two queen beds.

I wondered what was going to happen.

It technically was my (our?) wedding night.

I'd been asleep for a few naps during the day, and I suspected the girls had been talking back and forth without my overhearing things, just like they'd been whispering some of the time I was driving.

During the day, I'd texted Dad where we were. He texted back to say he'd called his credit card company to tell them it was okay that I was using it. That let us pay without using precious cash, a point of worry.

Getting parked and into our room, we brought in our things in a more sane way than we'd packed. Some of the girls' bags were in the frunk but both of them had used plastic trash bags to pack last-minute stuff instead of gym bags or backpacks.

First thing, Amy stripped off the comforter and pillows and replaced them with our own. "Air in pillows can have germs."

I wasn't quite this obsessive, but she said her dad had been specific about hotel room procedures, given the outbreak.

We had a gallon of bleach, soaked a few paper towels, and went around the room rubbing off everything we might accidentally touch. It reeked at the end, but at least we could have confidence we probably weren't going to catch something.

Liz wanted first shower.

When she came out, she was wrapped in a towel and pointed to me, so I went. When I came out, Amy (wrapped in her own beach towel) took my place and I came out to find Liz in bed already, wearing at least a t-shirt.

I came out with a towel around my waist and indecision about what I should wear overnight. "What's ... the plan?"

"Wait. We will explain in a minute, when Amy's done."

I had to wait, playing on my phone.

Amy came out, finally, the air slightly more humid in the room but far from unpleasant. The weather wasn't hot, it was nice and mild so we had the window open (mostly for the bleach smell) and I heard what sounded like a coyote howl in the far distance.

I was in one bed, Liz in the other. Amy came and sat on the edge of Liz's bed, still wrapped in her towel. Liz extricated herself, holding a towel up (the shirt wasn't that long) so they could sit side by side.

Something was up.

(duh! Of course it was, I knew something was coming)

Liz started out. This was obviously going to be a longer discussion, and I was tired.

"You may know, Kevin, I'm Jewish. It's not just curly hair and easy-tan skin. It's a big deal for me... My tradition is really... deeply important to me."

I nodded. I didn't know, but that was fine.

"When my mom died - a car crash, my dad was driving - I was 7 years old. I've lived with him being an alcoholic most of my life. When my mom's mom, 'Beebee' came to visit when I was 9, she took me to synagogue and got me started in Hebrew school. So, I'm Bat Mitzvah, I can read and write Hebrew, all that. Kinda like you, Catholics with the Latin or whatever."

She was teasing me, but Amy and I didn't bite back, it seemed too important to Liz so we stayed quiet.

"I've read Torah and Talmud, both straight through. I loved that stuff in Hebrew school, and... I just kept reading. I love it! So cool. So many great stories. So when I say this - that I'm dedicated to being a good person - I'm not just saying it like a school-kid. The Ethics we have, that I have? Being 'righteous'? That's having a vision, a profound sense of God as a Creator, a force of Good... It's, like, Seriously Important to me. So... you have context now? For this morning?"

She paused, then said carefully and looking me in the eyes, "I stood up, this morning, with witnesses, and SWORE Before God, to take you as my husband."

She paused again. I was getting the idea.

"You told me what kind of marriage contract I would have, enough before I swore to really get it - You Said It Plainly: I would be, one of two. I would not be, alone as your wife. More than that, I would be Second. First in your heart would be Amy. Then, I would be there. I knew what I was swearing to."

She looked at Amy, Amy looked back. There was a depth of feeling between them, an acknowledgement, with just a look, that there was a lot of history that needed no words.

Looking back to me, Liz said, "You swore to me, you would be My Husband. Then, you made the ceremony CLEAR, with further oaths to Amy, and from Amy to you. The rings, the vows, the kisses, the embraces. These are not random, easy things to be thrown around. It was Not an Act, not _pretend_. I know, you know that, I'm just... I want to make sure you understand me."

There's only one answer to that. I said, "I understand."

Liz turned to Amy, just as serious. "Amy?"

Amy said slowly, looking her in the eyes, "I understand. I get it."

Liz nodded. "In a lot of ways, I have it easier than you two. My tradition is pretty clear. Six THOUSAND years of history, Jews had multiple-marriage, plural marriage, whatever, all over the place, back in the day. Used to be the norm, at least - Torah talks about it, you've read it?"

Amy's head and mine were moving, yes, we knew that.

"So, yeah. I guess I'm saying I'm not _upset_ by the idea, for some reason. I mean, we're over the border now, so, some of the pressure is off. And, like, Indonesia, India, Africa, hell, a lot of the world has plural marriage. In the U.S., we act like it's horrible for some crazy reason. It's normal, just not, like, _here_, roundabouts. Well... now it is. Normal, for us. Here. We've got one."

She paused, then looked over. "Amy... did you know what he was gonna do?"

Amy considered that. "I didn't know marriage was even ... possible? I just... wow." Turning to me, she asked, "Kevin, what made you do this? Harem anime?"

She was only half kidding, and despite her small smile, Liz didn't laugh and I thought it best to not do so either.

I shrugged, "Limited options? It was the only way to keep you with me, and keep Liz safe. And, yeah, so that's what we got. I think we're safer, together, as a group. But, then, we're not in the northwoods yet. Well...[I glanced at the window] not completely, at least."

We were all silent for a minute.

Amy said, "Liz and I talked, Kevin, while you were asleep, in the car earlier. We decided... to keep the 'us' balanced, all 3, in this triangle."

They looked at each other and me.

Liz piped in and said, "We're gonna trade firsts. That's like, she gets a first, I get a first, back and forth. There's gonna be lots of firsts. So, uh..." She looked at Amy, "We're already sort-of doing that? And, we want to make that a pattern, we think."

Amy nodded at her.

I was just reacting. My weird-shit-o-meter had been charting new territory for a while.

Amy sighed and looked at me calmly, reciting off a list she'd obviously talked about with Liz already: "You said who you had 'first in your heart', that's me. Then, you said your vows to Liz first."

This was sounding like it was going to be a long list.

She continued, "Then she got another first, your first vows, to her. Then you said vows to me, the first 'un-lawful' marriage I've ever really heard of, and then I said vows to you. She got the first wedding ring, you second, but I got the ring that was from your mom, so more of a first-place win there."

Liz picked it up and said the first person (at the border checkpoint) I'd told about being married, I'd said it was her. But, Amy had known me first, which is a huge deal no matter what.

They went back and forth, reasonably amiably. It wasn't a competition. I think they were honestly trying to figure out who had more firsts.

Amy had lots more firsts. I'd known her longer.

I admit, I yawned. I'd been up all night and had maybe 3 hours of not-good sleep over 14 hours of driving.

They were still talking.

"Who gets him tonight?"

"Weren't we going to flip a coin?"

"But... how much? BJ or full sex?"

"It's a wedding night...?"

"Still."

They debated.

They stood up and went to the other side of the room to be more private.

Frankly, I didn't know what to expect, but my eyes were closing and it'd been a super-stressful day. I was worried about absolutely everything, but I couldn't fix that stuff now. I yawned again, and decided that maybe I could just get in the bed while they figured it out, then maybe lie back. I didn't have underwear on, but that was such a hassle, and I slept naked at home, so I just dropped the towel as I scooted under the covers.

It was a risk to be al-fresco, a presumption, sort-of, but I didn't want to think too hard and just went with it.

Then, I was cold, so I pulled up the covers a little more, and turned on my side, and...

I woke up some indeterminate time later, into darkness, not really awake but more like I was aware of something around me, covers shifting.

Soft warm skin came up against my back, the pillow moving slightly, and a cool hand gently squeezing my shoulder and letting go, a reassurance as much as the soft leg skin touching mine was.

In front of me, too, another blanket movement, a pushing back, warm skin, and silence.

My awake level wasn't high.

I heard a voice: "Settle down. Sleep, Kevin. Sleep. We all need it."

That wasn't a problem.

== Chapter: Shopping ==

I woke up surrounded by super-soft delights - splendiferous soft skin giving grace to mine. I'd been awake and asleep all night coping with the shifting and the sensations, so it started as just a longer awake time.

The awareness pulled me... to see it was sunny outside, and we were probably up later than we intended to be.

I was on my back, a soft butt against the side of my left hip, but my right side was covered in what I looked down to see was probably Amy's breast, under the covers. Her arm was over my chest, hugging me, and her leg was over mine.

Underneath, I could feel my hand had a little room, but had a scratchy bit on the back of my fingers.

Pubic hair.

Wow.

To be clear, I'd only ever had a small amount of middle-of-date snogging and a bit more end-of-date kissing, plus some small amounts of back-stroking feeling-around that went with snogging. At that, it wasn't even with Amy, it was with a succession of not-that-close girlfriends.

My first long girlfriend-kiss was with a fellow marching-band gal named Patty I'd dated my freshman year. Then, I dated and kissed Julie and Laila sophomore year, but that was about as far as it went.

Mostly with Julie and Laila, I ended the evening hugely frustrated and confused.

I'd only really ever kissed Amy ... when? Once in 8th grade, in a dress-rehearsal for the 8th grade play, she came offstage after finishing and hugged me fast, and kissed me on the lips, and that was that. I never had any reason or opportunity....?

I'd had opportunities, I saw that now.

And, I realized, while I'd thought of the proposal-kiss of Amy as our first, that wasn't right. We'd had that 8th-grade one. Sure, it was chaste, it was almost public, but lips touched lips.

Amy's head lifted up at my hand motion below. "Hey, sleepyhead. Awake?"

"Yeah... remembering. Kisses."

"Hmmm. I think you're right. It's about time."

She lifted her head right and shifted to bring her head to mine, and we touched lips. I suspected I had morning-breath, but I didn't really know or care too much about hers, the kiss was too good.

We moaned a little into it and I felt myself and her smile.

She pulled away and Liz turned over and the covers moved well enough for me to see down her body as she did. Her breasts were medium and firm-feeling against my upper arm, small areolas and nipples poking slightly to trace a feeling across my arm.

I would have seen Amy's boobs too, but they were mostly down against me.

Amy said, "Getting an eyeful there, aren't you."

To Liz, as she looked up at me and got situated, I said, "You are both really beautiful. I deserve none of this."

She smiled at me. I knew she'd turned over to get a kiss, too, so we moved our heads right and kissed, too, like I had with Amy, only slightly longer and with some more melting against me.

"Girls, I gotta say... Wow."

Amy was matter of fact, "We know. I'm living the dream, too."

I looked at her oddly.

"Oh, come on, Kev! I've had a crush on you for what, like, 4 years now? Five? That first time you showed up at the troop meeting, fresh out of webelos. I thought, hey, he looks interesting. It's ... kinda kept up since then."

"So..."

"So you're pretty fuckin' clueless, is what."

Liz laughed.

I looked at her.

She giggled and said, "Written all over. I think everybody knew. Not. A. Secret."

"I feel stupid."

"Yeah. Boys."

They laughed together, then looked at my face and came up to kiss me on either cheek at the same time.

Amy settled back. "You had morning wood. No longer. Doesn't matter. We sped like a bat-outta-hell getting here yesterday, and now we've slept in this morning. What's... what are you thinking?"

"Like we said yesterday, the faster we get checked in for our jobs, the less likely it is they will kick us out of the country, the better chance we have to find a lonely place to wait out the pandemic storm, at least for a couple of months, if not... longer. So, yeah, we should probably plan our route better for today."

Liz said, "I've looked. This Churchill place? It's seriously remote. We're gonna need supplies, maybe. If we're out there longer, we'll need lots of food. If we can think about what we have or not - better to get it now, this is... Quebec City, it's the last big place before..."

Amy said, calm voiced, "Minutes now, hours later. Close your eyes, no judgment, say whatever comes into your mind about possible things we'll need, super-rural, far north, Canada."

This was an exceptional idea. Amy had a lot of those.

Amy got her phone, turned on dictation. We named stuff, made a plan, and got up.

I was naked.

Amy's naked butt got out of bed in front of me, beautiful and clenching as she walked. I thought I was in a good place, just laying there watching.

Then, she turned around. BOOBS!!!!

She even put her hands over her head, widely, and cocked out a hip. "Ta Da!"

We laughed, but I looked down her body and I knew my eyes were paying her compliments.

Amy said, "Liz? Your turn. I was first for this bit. You get second."

Liz pecked me on the cheek and got up, walking away deliberately, then threw her hands up like Amy had done.

Again... WOW. Boobs!!!!!!

I was looking at, side by side, Amazing Wonderful Soft funbags of Wow... two sets!

Did life get better?

I tried a low dog whistle, more a colored-exhalation than a whistle.

Liz saw my face as I looked down, and when I looked back up at her eyes, she was grinning with kind, caring eyes back at me and said, "Thank you... Husband."

Amy said, "And... I echo that. Thank you, my Husband."

I was just looking at them, but Liz was impatient. "Things to do, Kevin. Stand the hell up now so we can stare at your hairy, manly schlong."

Amy and her laughed, but they were being nice with their faces, so I kind of shrugged and shifted out, but making sure my backside was to them as I got out of the bed. Walking slightly backwards with my hips-shoulders swaying playfully, made some 'da-da-daaaa-DA!' sound, shook my butt, and turned around, and threw up my hands with manly-fists-in-air almost-bicep-flex motions. "Ta-Da!!!"

I got actual applause!

Amy said, "Okay - Liz is right. Things to do. Pack and rack."

I beat them to the bathroom (needing it for both purposes), then got out of the way so Liz and Amy could. They already had bras and panties on, and I was still swinging. It didn't matter.

Efficiency prevailed. We did the needful, packing up, adding to a paper list of what we wanted, and it wasn't 20 minutes before we had most of our stuff in a pile ready to get out.

I had to drop off our room keycards, so we stopped by the front desk and got some advice, and found we had a free breakfast waiting that we hadn't counted on. It was worth the fifteen minutes to stuff our faces and quiz the older front-desk lady for nearby-store advice while we ate.

Sated and packed, we headed out. On the road again, going somewhere.

== ==

By Noon, we had significantly becalmed my worry over being able to survive in the wild.

I had a good idea that Mr. Brass had bought us a lot of stuff, and good stuff at that, but unless you pack your own kit, you're always going to be wondering if a novice guy knew or remembered the vital stuff you take for granted.

We looked through what we had (as best we could, if we moved it the packing would get less dense) and found we were missing ziplock bags, had way too many packets of dehydrated soup, and not nearly enough spices. I'd been camp cook a bunch (it's a Scouting task that rotates around so everyone gets a chance) and we all knew what the required staples were: baking powder, chili powder, basically a full spice rack, flour, and both compact pasta and rice, etc.

(Compact pasta is spaghetti, not giant rigatoni tubes)

The pots he'd gotten us were huge and heavy - aimed at cooking for a scout troop of 20 - so we added some more reasonable (but high-end) saucepans from (you guessed it if you're Canadian): a TIRE store.

Yes, that's right, Canada has a department store (like Target) but it's called Canadian Tire, a cross between a grocery store, Target, auto parts, and a home center store. We laughed at that, but then again, what did we know, we were stupid Americans.