Legacy of Faith Ch. 02

Suddenly it hit me. I raised both hands.

Karen said, "Stop Melissa. Nick's got his hands up. What does that mean?"

I answered, "It means this is all wrong. I apologize. Ever since you opened the envelope I've been acting crazy. This money is yours, Karen. The checks are to you. You don't need my input, my thoughts on how and where and why to spend or save or anything. You and Matt can live anywhere, do anything!"

"Nick's right. Karen, you and Matt are rich!" Melissa's voice added.

"No! And, I never want this to come up again. I love you both! I want to live with us as a family, wherever we live. This is our money, family money and if we do this right it's Matt's family's money when we're dead and gone."

My pencil danced on paper. When I looked up I was smiling. "Let's say we actually see just half the money. That's four point seven million in half. That leaves us with two point three five million. If we go to a bank they will give us a good rate on such a big sum. Lets just say five percent. We can have them send us a check for one hundred seventeen thousand a year forever."

"Forever?"

"Yes, because we never actually touch the money. That hundred and seventeen thousand is interest!"

"Oh my God!" Melissa said. "That's almost ten grand a month for doing nothing!"

"And, if we don't spend the money it goes back in and grows more money for us, as interest." Karen said.

We sat stunned for a while. Sanity came to all three of us from Matt. He walked in from his room and said, "I'm hungry."

The reality of day-to-day slammed back into us. Our thoughts kept racing but we cooked dinner, got things ready for school the next day, made shopping lists for the market and by ten Karen was in bed beside me.

"I'm a little worried." She said.

"About?"

"About the article I read once that people who win the lottery are broke within three years. They have no skills at managing big money. I close my eyes and see me in a dress costing five thousand dollars and without enough to buy Matt dinner!"

"Then, we take steps to prevent any of us from going nuts. If we each have a credit card with a limit and to spend more takes a family meeting, that should restrain our impulses."

"How big a limit?"

"Say we get nine thousand a month. We each have a two thousand a month limit. We never go over what's coming in and we each have plenty of spending money."

"Do we give back the hundred thousand my parents gave us?"

"I recommend we don't. They gave it from love, not really from our need. They want to participate and they want to feel included. When the time comes that they need some help, maybe we can take care of them somehow."

Karen shut off the light and turned her attention towards our bodies. Many kisses later she asked, "Is it possible to have multiple orgasms at home or just in a fancy hotel?"

"The answer is really up to you. Let's see if I can talk you into it."

She climbed on top of me and lowered her pussy to my face. Her hand gripped the headboard.

At first lick, I found her very wet and slightly swollen. I was in no hurry. Holding her hips felt wonderful. She wasn't heavy. Looking up at the undersides of her breasts was exciting, even in the dim light of the bedroom.

My mouth varied the stimulation I gave her. Licks, tongue pressure, probing into her vagina and teasing around and on her clit and lips. My lips helped push back the hood from her nub and her reaction was instantaneous, her back arched and she moaned, whispering, "I'll cum for you!"

My hands slid slowly up her sides and cupped her breasts. She pressed her chest against my hands and said, "Squeeze them!"

As I squeezed I sucked on her nub. She sat down on my face covering my nose and mouth with her wet pussy. I felt a bit of panic about dying, but knew I could lift her when I needed air. She shook, trembled and flooded my face with her juices as she came.

Her thighs clamped against my ears. I drank her juices and prayed she would lift up so I could breathe.

She leaned forward and broke the wet seal. I could breathe! She was still shuddering. I helped her lie back onto the bed and I crawled between her legs.

Her eyes looked up at me and she said, "Whatever you want, whenever you want."

"What I want is for you to cum again." I slid my cock along her slit pressing against her lips and clit as I rocked back and forth, staying outside her body.

"Inside me! Oh, Nick! Inside me!"

"Not yet! Wait for it!" Each stroke spread our combined slipperiness all over my cock and her vulva. I pressed harder against her clit. She arched. Her eyes opened wide and I slid inside her all the way!

As her mouth opened to scream I covered it with my hand. It would not be good to have Matt barge in thinking I was killing his mom. My hand muffled the first scream, my mouth covered the second. We stayed coupled for some time, moving ever so slightly and kissing each other.

We needed to change the sheets before we could sleep in the bed. There were three sets in the linen closet. Karen picked one and came back with it.

"We're buying all new linens." She meant it. I didn't argue.

Sheets weren't the only new things we bought. We didn't throw the old things away; we gave them to places where they would be used. Shelters for homeless and battered folk, drug rehab centers, my old computer went to a school. Our new home got new dishes, silver wear, pots and pans that matched, linens, beds, chairs and couches. "Notte" got a dog house made to look like our new house.

Karen decided to replace her car. It had just over two hundred thousand miles on it. She looked for a good place to give it away. She found it. The local high school auto shop teacher had a worthy student of the right age and circumstance. Karen gave the car to the teacher, who had the student overhaul it as his senior project. He did such a good job he was awarded the car at graduation. It looked brand new. Karen bought a two year old SUV. Plenty of room for all of us and Notte.

Karen took care of the inside of the house. Melissa helped with cooking and shopping. Matt and I did the yards and cars.

Just before their spring planting Walt and Ann came to visit. They had a great time. Walt spent time with Matt working with Notte, training him. It bonded the two of them as well.

At the end of the school year Karen's sisters wanted to visit. She had spoken to and visited with them often since she married Mike, but since he died we hadn't seen them very much. I tried not to have that be about me being in her life. They didn't know how deeply I was in her life.

Karen has two sisters, Erynn and Kate, both older than her. Erynn two years older, Kate four. The three never have been able to go anywhere together without turning heads. One seldom if ever saw three women who looked more like triplets. I would have wagered that all three could wear each other's clothes. Probably could have shared make-up as well.

Erynn taught high school English. Kate taught History at a different high school. As I got to know them I was told they had a habit of calling each other every morning to make sure they didn't wear the same outfits. When they went to district meetings they stayed away from each other and always wore name tags. Over drinks one night Karen shared that once, when they were in high school, Erynn double booked herself on a Friday night. A football game at their school and a church dance in another town. Karen had gone on the dance date and the guy never knew it wasn't Erynn. At the time Erynn was sixteen and Karen was twelve!

That first visit lasted two weeks. It was great. Melissa and I had worried they might figure out what all was going on, but after they left we were pretty sure they didn't have a clue. Karen verified our suspicions.

The night they left the three of us played together in my bedroom. We didn't team up often but certainly enjoyed it when we did. That night I caught something that surprised me. Karen was being eaten by Melissa as I attended to her nipples and she stroked my cock. She softly said, "Oh Erynn, that's so good."

Melissa didn't react. I heard it and it got me thinking. There had not been a single sexual innuendo, joke or inference made while the sisters visited. There was more there in their past than they were telling.

"Earth to Nick! Earth to Nick!" Karen said. My surprise and thoughts had caused a droop in my attention. I returned to the joy at hand and we played to our mutual satisfaction.

At breakfast the next morning Matt asked if Karen had hurt herself. She said, "No. Why do you ask?"

"You walk funny this morning." None of us laughed until after Matt had left the room. Karen was slightly bruised from the activities the night before.

Living with two wives cannot be called easy. I may need to amend that. Living in California with two women who think, believe and know in their hearts that they are your wives, lovers, partners and co-parents cannot be called easy. Maybe living with more than one wife is easier when there are cultural rules, laws and customs that define "how it should be." I am convinced that whatever the benefits of a society or cultural system that defines "how it should be" also limits artificially in ways we would not like. Working at having them feel wanted, needed, appreciated and loved is a full time job. I used the Internet to buy some books on polyamory, polyfidelity, and to read blogs and sites about loving more than one person at the same time. They helped me think about what we were doing and how to best make it work for us.

We settled into patterns that served us well. Melissa worked at the winery and loved her job. She helped Matt with his math homework and they read books together. Karen took care of the house and most of the cooking. We all helped around the house with taking out the trash, picking up after ourselves and doing whatever Karen asked us to help with. Matt and I did the outside work. We mowed the grass, tended the flower beds and the vegetable garden, kept the cars clean and maintained, and were thinking about painting the barn within the next year or so. I did some consulting using the computer, mostly on projects I had been part of when they were built.

During the school week, Sunday night through Thursday night, we made sure Matt got his homework done and check before dinner. After he was in bed the three of us talked, did projects around the house together or played. Most nights one of them slept with me. About once a week they "slept" together and I slept alone. We never set a pattern that could be charted on a calendar. I had read that in some poly homes the participants have a chart, "Karen on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Melissa on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, Sunday being ladies night". We didn't do that.

In our second year of living together we noticed that both Karen and Melissa were having their periods at the same time. For those four days the "who sleeps with whom" was decided by how each of them felt that night.

One Saturday morning in our forth year of living near Cambria, Matt and I went to get our haircut. First Saturday of the month. We each sat in a chair in a barbershop we had not been in before and were draped with the cloth to keep hair off our clothes when the barber asked Matt, "Well, who's the guy you brought with you?" Pointing at me.

Matt said, "My Dad, Nick Peterson."

The man looked us over, noting the big gap in age and said, "That must be why you look so much like him."

"Nope. I look like him because when my Mom had me she was married to Dad's son. He died and Mom and I stayed with Nick. Now Nick is Dad."

"Oh." The man said, looking a bit flustered. It took a while for any conversation to resume and when it finally did the subject matter for the day changed and became sports. As Matt and I left the barber said, "Come back any time. You and your new Dad are always welcome."

Back in the car Matt asked, "Did I handle that Ok?"

"You did great. You told the truth."

"On TV they say tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I didn't tell the whole truth."

"Do you know how corn grows?"

"Sure."

"Tell me."

He started and I let him go for a minute. "I think you missed something. How does any one cell in the corn know whether it's gonna be a kernel a husk or a silk?"

"It's built into the DNA."

"You didn't say anything about DNA. Could it be that the words the whole truth really mean everything you need to know right now?"

"I get it! The barber didn't need to know how my first Dad, Mike, died or about Grandma. I told the whole truth he needed to know right then."

"Adults do that often. In the military they say you have the need to know. To drive this car do I need to know what the radiator does?"

"No. I don't know."

"I don't need to know. There are things I need to know. Like, what that pedal does when I push on it."

"It stops the car."

We were quiet until we got home. He looked up at me and said, "I know a lot of things most people don't need to know. Now I know why they don't need to know. Thanks Dad."

That night Karen and I attended a concert. We went to a very nice restaurant before the concert and I happened to see the barber and his wife. I mentioned to Karen that they were there and when we were close enough Karen thanked him for such good cuts.

He introduced us to his wife, "Marsha, this is Nick and his wife Karen. I gave their son Matt a haircut this morning. Remember, he explained how his first Dad died and Nick adopted him."

Karen shook the other woman's hand and corrected the story. "I was married to Nick's son, Mike. About four years after Matt was born Mike died in an accident. We were living with Nick and Faith at the time. Faith died soon after Mike and we all stayed together. Matt decided to call Nick, Dad. He is the man who loves and helps to raise him."

Marsha pulled her hand back and asked, "You live together, but aren't married?"

Karen nodded. "Matt has his own room, Nick has his own bedroom, I have my own bedroom and Melissa has her own bedroom. It isn't a commune."

"Who's Melissa?" The barber asked.

"My new wife." I answered. "When Faith and Mike died we pulled together to stay together. Losing two people in a week devastated us all. We pulled together and held together then and three years ago Melissa and I got married. I think Matt is a good sign we're still doing pretty well."

Marsha moved a little closer. If I was reading her body language correctly she was put off thinking I was sleeping with Karen, but felt good that Karen. Melissa and I were raising Matt. They introduced us to some of their friends and we had a nice evening.

On Monday Karen needed to go to the school for a meeting of a parents and teachers committee. As soon as she walked in, back from the meeting, she called for me. I was at my computer. She told me all about the meeting and what had been said.

Talking with Mr. and Mrs. Cutter (the barber and his wife) had been like putting a story on the evening news. Karen had walked into a discussion about Matt having his first Dad die and how I was a hero for stepping up and taking care of the whole family. The story wasn't just as we had told it, but stories change with the telling. Karen was a star on the committee and they all wanted to meet all of us.

Melissa called as soon as she was off work. "Did you tell someone that Matt's Dad died and you're his new Dad?" She asked as her opening line.

"Not in those words, but yes."

"I had two different customers call and ask me if I was related to you. The first asked, "Melissa, are you living with a man you aren't married to?" When I said "No" she wanted lots of details. I didn't give her any. Seems I had forgotten to tell anyone I was married. Five minutes later the phone rang again and I answered."

"Melissa, your last name is Peterson. There's a man in town named Nick Peterson. Are you two related?" I asked who was calling and why they asked the question. Then I said, "Nick's my husband. We're helping his son's widow raise their son, Matt."

"She sighed and said, "I'm referring some customers to you. I think what you're doing is so noble." I was so shocked, Nick, I didn't know what happened. I'd have called sooner but I have six new customers and I haven't had a chance to call."

Matt came home from school and reported that his teacher had started treating him differently. Karen asked why and Matt didn't know. He did say she had changed his seat and had given him more help in math.

That night I got her Mother's wedding rings out and put them on her finger. Karen watched and went to her room and came back with the rings Mike had put on her finger when they married. I put those rings back on her finger and we declared ourselves married.

During Matt's Spring Break his grandparents asked if he could spend the time with them, and bring "Notte". Karen drove our son and his dog to the farm the Friday night that school let out. I planned to grab a bus to their nearest town on Wednesday and ride back with them on Saturday. Melissa was very busy at the winery as manager for both retail sales and wholesale so she stayed home.

We had some quiet and sexy times with the house mostly to ourselves over the weekend and Monday. I gave her two new bustiers and a teddie when she came home from work Friday evening. Even when we weren't actively engaged in sex play that weekend, she wore one of the sexy items. When we went out for dinner Friday night she wore a maroon bustier and a blouse that allowed me to catch glimpses of it during dinner. Tuesday Melissa went to work wearing a black lace teddie under her business clothes. and I started getting ready for my bus ride. The first thing I packed was a present for Karen: two new bra and panty sets.

Sisters

At about noon the phone rang. It was Karen. "Honey," she said, "Don't get on the bus. we need you here today. No one is sick or dying, but this is a family crisis and we need you and Melissa."

After I got a few details I told her I'd talk with Melissa and call her right back. Three minutes later Melissa was on her way home and I was back on the phone. We ate lunch from a drive-thru on the way to the farm.

By the time we arrived I knew the story. I had spoken to Erynn, Kate, Ann and Walt in addition to four or five conversations with Karen. My cell phone bill would be high.

Pieced together it came to me like this. A new superintendent had been hired for the school district where both women taught. In his getting to know the staffs of the various schools he noticed Erynn and Kate. Things progressed and Mr. Superintendent, Mr. married superintendent, made a pass at Erynn after a district meeting.

Someone had seen something, his hand brushing across her butt, and had reported it to the school board. It was reported that he groped Kate! The witness, unnamed, had reported that Kate had been a willing participant in the grope. Things got crazy and as a result both women had been suspended without pay, for the rest of the year. Mr. Superintendent was released from his contract. Erynn and Kate were convinced the district would never give them their jobs back and that even if they did their reputations were ruined.

That was the short version. Add hours of yelling, stomping around the house, threats against a large number of people and four and a half gallons of tears and you've got the whole story.

After about an hour in the house with all the emotions, Walt and I slipped out and went into town for a beer.

The tavern was noisy when the music didn't play and it was playing. We smiled and Walt said, "At least they ain't yellin at us!"

"When it settles down, I have an idea." I said. We sat on our stools and nursed two beers for almost an hour. A fight started and we decided that was our cue. We found a store and got two more beers and parked about half a mile from the farm.