Loosening Up Bk. 05 Ch. 05-09

Although Nancy stopped work at the end of the following week because of her VERY pregnant situation, she continued to monitor the storms in the Atlantic and Gulf, and talk to Dave about the utility's resource deployments during hurricane season. She watched hurricane Jerrod come ashore in Texas, but it was rapidly deteriorating into a tropical depression, so did little damage other than local flooding. She couldn't let go, and Dave kept telling her to relax, enjoy the time off, and prepare to be a mommy.

Erin continued to drive around the three-county area collecting stories for the local newspaper. She purposefully told Scarlett that she would never mention her presence in Florida and had put the word out at the newspaper. Erin was shorter than Nancy, but just as bulbous with baby. They were due the same day, using the same doctor, and hoping for side-by-side births in the delivery room. The synchronization wasn't a surprise since they'd both been in a threesome with Dave the night the two conceptions took place.

Dave tried to be attentive and loving to the two women but after the fourth of July, the two decided that intercourse was too laborious and opted for a pause. He still brought them to his crowded bed frequently to show his love and there was some happy oral sex for them. After all, he had his reputation as the best cuddler in the Circle to protect.

Two reasons for the crowding in the big bed were also named Cricket and Scarlett. The former had adopted Dave as her husband in the polyamorous family and setting. She willingly shared him with his four 'other' wives, and of course with the other women in the Circle and with Scarlett and a few other non-members. Cricket also became one of the most enthusiastic women in the Circle when it came to sex. She loved the sex act, relished any novelty her partner or partners – male or female – wanted to introduce, and was creative in her own right. She also confessed to totally enjoying an environment where she could initiate the sex without any stigma or judgment attached.

Scarlett was having such a fabulous time stretching her boundaries and finding deep love with so many people that she opted to extend her 'vacation' into August so she could remain with Dave, his wives, and the Circle. She was in love with Dave, in love with the other men and women in the Circle, and in love with love. She raved about the Circle and kept saying she never wanted to leave.

Cricket and Scarlett bonded in a big way. It wasn't all sex, although the two women often went into the gazebo in the afternoon and savored each other. They discovered they were soul sisters. Cricket taught Scarlett about spiritual ways and her understanding of this life. Scarlett felt uplifted and soared with happiness.

Scarlett's daughter Rose liked the Circle, too; although that might have been heavily influenced by the attention of one Matthew Prentiss. He became enamored by Rose and became a cross between a boyfriend and big brother to her. Rose declared one day that Matthew was the man she was going to marry. Matthew didn't flinch at the unexpected announcement.

Scarlett at first worried about becoming another Hollywood slut because she was so turned on and she felt so indiscriminate about having sex, unlike her 'normal' way of life at home in California. She admitted that she'd been almost monastic. Instead, she found herself relishing making love three, four, five, and even six times a day with the Circle men and women.

She teased the men, too, taunting them about fucking a movie star, and a damn sexy one at that. She'd been taught how to vamp for several roles she'd played, and she used those acquired skills to advantage in teasing and seducing the various men she wanted to bed her. Eventually, she'd been with everyone and not just to fuck, but to develop a loving relationship.

After about ten days in the Circle, Scarlett had started to talk about her career, movies, and movie making. She quietly announced to a few at dinner that she was ready to answer any questions anybody might have about the rest of her life. Everyone had respected her apparent wishes to distance herself from that part of her life for a few days of her vacation. There was not a barrage of questions, although a number of people made polite comments about how much they liked some specific movie she'd made.

One thing that impressed everybody was that she vocally thanked Cricket for 'protecting' her during the first days of her vacation. She acknowledged that she had indeed wanted to get away and forget all about her intense Hollywood life, but had passed through that stage thanks to Cricket's support. The younger woman basked in the praise.

Scarlett had the studio send her several scripts that she was supposed to review to see whether she was interested in them as future movies. Those arrived by FedEx the next day, and she'd spend part of her days on the patio reading, taking notes, and evaluating the parts. During the day, things were usually quiet around the Circle except for the nursery. There was always the murmur of babies and soothing mommies or Maddy tending the brood.

The people that did stay in residence in the Circle during most days thus became the two pregnant women – Nancy and Erin; Mike and Kat – working on their movies; Holly – working remotely for her VC company; Shelby – doing her pharmaceutical company work if she wasn't traveling; Maddy – tending the babies; Gail – working remotely for her Ohio software company; Elise – an avid reader; Cricket – working on her novels; and Bobbie – usually working in the kitchen for the evening's meal or some other occasion.

Scarlett learned about Mike and Kat's adult video making and went to watch one being filmed one afternoon. She disguised herself just for fun with a wig and some funky makeup, and dressed in summer Goth. Mike even gave her a temporary tattoo along most of one arm and on one breast. She got so turned on with the whole idea, she decided that she wanted to do what Alice had done, namely to disguise herself and make a porn video. She let Mike know her wishes and he said he'd put something together that she could do in short order.

Alice and Julie's sister came down for a long weekend and a few days on a weekend at the end of July. She arrived on a Friday, and slid right into Circle life. She showed up half naked for the cocktail hour, and didn't stand out at all.

She about fell over when she realized who Scarlett was. At first, she thought she was just a look alike, but she kept studying her and finally had to ask. "Errr, I'm late to party because I live in Ohio, but are you Scarlett Johansson?"

Scarlett blossomed into a fabulous smile, "Yes, I am. I know that you're Alice and Julie's older sister. It's so nice to meet you."

Karen stammered around for a few minutes and finally realized that no one else was paying the 'star' any great extra attention, so she finally relaxed. Scarlett involved her in several conversations, and life moved on peacefully.

When Dave, Alice, Julie and Cricket were together, Karen gave them an update about her newly expanded marriage. Daryl's girlfriend Candy had moved in with them, and gone out of her way to fit in with the three children, Karen, and Daryl. They'd had a few nights of wild sex, but mostly it had been some quiet lovemaking between the three of them because the kids were down the hall.

Karen said, "The big dread now is about mom and dad. I know they're going to find out in some way. Officially, the story for them is that Candy is living in our guest room; unofficially, she's a wife to Daryl and me. Bridget knows to keep her mouth shut, and we pray the other two will too. She's kind of into our experiment and watching all of us closely. We explained about how upset their grandparents would be and how it might mean we'd never see them again, and I think the two older kids understand. Now, if they don't misspeak or try to blackmail us, we'll be all right."

Alice asked, "Does this arrangement look like it'll last?"

Karen said, "It's too soon to tell. Daryl is still very contrite and apologetic to both Candy and me. He apparently told little white lies to both of us to justify his actions – horny guy and pussy hound that he is. Now, he's had to backpedal on all of those with the two of us. He does say that he loves both of us, especially me. He's asked for forgiveness, and he's in a mode where he tells the truth all the time about everything, even whether my ass looks fat in my purple stretch shorts."

Everyone laughed.

Scarlett and Cricket had been listening. Cricket said, "Candy will likely want to have children sometime. That will be a big turning point for all of you."

Karen looked at the young woman. "Wow! You're right. Suddenly, you've just put some of her comments in perspective. She wants them starting now. I wonder if she's still using her birth control the way she indicated?"

Julie said, "You could always ask, or you could alert Daryl, or maybe you just don't do anything." She grinned.

Karen thought, "The do-nothing option has some appeal to it. If she were to get pregnant it might put a lot of pressure on Daryl to do something different. I guess I have to hope it's not something crazy, like divorcing me and marrying her."

"What are they doing this weekend?"

"Taking the kids to Six Flags all day tomorrow, and then renting canoes on Sunday if the weather's good. Candy said she wanted to build a good rapport with our kids. They also wanted to be away from the house so that mom and dad don't show up. Just in case, they've made the guest room look highly lived in as a 'trusted' friend lives with us while her apartment undergoes some renovations."

Scarlett teased, "And those renovations are expected to last several years?"

Karen smiled at her, "That's the idea if things continue to work out as they are."

Julie said, "What'd you tell Daryl about what's been happening here?"

"I told him all of it. He knows that I made love with you and Alice and Dave, and that I had affectionate sex with several other men. He knows that my intent this weekend is to get my brains fucked out and my orgasm card updated with at least several dozen hits. He understands the philosophy of the Circle and how I've translated it into our own family, and he's committed to adjusting to those tenets as they play out for us. He did say that sometime, if we could ditch the kids, that he'd like to come and see what goes on here first hand. Candy also was very interested. She's very sexual; I think she'd fit in well here, plus all the men would enjoy her luscious body. Hell, I enjoy her luscious body."

Dave smirked, "Bring her down. We'll corrupt her hot little body with some big orgasms and lovemaking that will blow her mind and give Daryl something to live up to. Maybe you do something with me or one of the other men right next to him."

"Oh, that'd be good. He has fucked Candy and me next to each other, but seeing his wife of almost seventeen years getting fucked next to him might stir his brains into a lovely stew of emotions. Maybe one of the other men could be doing Candy, too." She grinned at the diabolical idea.

"Let's do it. Maybe in the fall."

"Let me see what each of their mindsets are then. I want them to have more of the Circle Attitude before we come down. I don't want them focusing only on the sex, although that's quite great. I want them to be focusing on the relationships and the positive interpersonal emotions that you engender with each other. I want them to rise above the sex, where those activities help elevate those feelings and compassion and caring for other people to new heights."

Dave and Alice looked at each other. Alice looked to her sister, "Are you vying for membership here?"

Karen looked surprised. "I'd eagerly accept. I figured I had an 'in' with your family and that was just fine with me, but I know that's a crazy idea, too. The interactions with the other men and women have been eye-opening, totally enjoyable, arousing, and helped move me out of my comfort zone. I really needed to loosen up."

Scarlett started laughing. "Comfort zone!?! Loosening up!?! Let me explain to you about what the past four weeks have been like for me." The movie star and Dave's sister-in-law strolled off together, both topless, and both looking hotter than sin to the men in the Circle. Dave noted they had their hands around each other's waist and their heads close together in an intimate way.

A random current in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast made a small swirl. The water was hot from baking under the summer sun about three hundred miles off the African coast and about that distance north of the equator. The up swell of warm water reached the surface and spread out. The warm air temperature accelerated the creation of water vapor that came off the surface of the ocean. The water vapor, being lighter than air, rose and created an upward current that joined others nearby from similar currents. Small puffy and nonthreatening cumulus clouds formed by mid-morning, but soon started to grow and tower over the surface of the water. Their updrafts sucked in more water vapor, which fueled the growth of the cumulus clouds and the potential line of showers. Adjacent clouds created from the same phenomena merged and air currents started a slow circulatory pattern that gradually picked up speed. Soon, the small weather system spawned some off-shoot thunderstorms as it grew and grew in intensity.

High over the ocean, in outer space, a NASA satellite that was part of the agency's Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System photographed the region at multiple wavelengths enabling various agencies using the data to discern the potential for the storm to create problems in the future. Once the speed of the winds had been established the system was given a tentative name of Weather System #417. Two days later it became a tropical depression as the system started a trek to the west. Two days later it became Tropic Storm Marco with the expectation that it would also become a hurricane within twenty-four hours.

As Hurricane Marco was being born, the final installations of the solar panels on Townhouse 2 were completed and some of the landscaping started. Some additional chaises for the core patio were added to accommodate the increased membership of the Circle and more people hanging around as guests. There were many jokes about needing a christening party for the new furniture.

As Hurricane Marco was being born, Scarlett Johansson's daughter Rose had her fifth birthday. She was feted royally with ice cream and cake, as well as various party favors. Her new older 'cousin' Matthew was there along with his younger brothers and sisters along with fifty or so adults and lots of girlish presents. Matthew invited a few of his school friends for Rose to meet. For her part, Rose stayed very close to Matthew.

As Hurricane Marco was being born, Jim Danforth experienced his first full night of romance and sex with some of the female members of the Circle. Lisa acted as the procurer and chauffeur of his partners, appreciating that she also showed up occasionally with a male member of the Circle for her own satisfaction and play. She liked getting fucked next to her usual lover.

Dave watched a special forecast from NOAA the first week in August on Hurricane Marco and the current cone of uncertainty. The forecast had been put together especially for utility companies and government municipalities. The prospects for the State of Florida were not good. What couldn't be discerned at that time was whether Marco would slam directly into the east coast, or whether it would hook around and come in from the west. The weather systems jockeying for supremacy over the western United States suggested a hook and hit from the west.

At work that week, Dave observed to Derek, who stood beside him, "The ocean and Gulf are warmer than ever so for every mile that storm travels it's going to intensify. There's basically nothing to stop it. If it gets to the Gulf it'll be worse."

Derek said with some sarcasm in his tone, "Oh, given the cone of uncertainty, I'd say that Florida will stop it, but at a huge cost. The greater uncertainty is whether it'll be a category one or category five storm when it comes ashore."

Dave turned to his office bookshelf and pulled out the Emergency Preparedness Guidelines that he and Nancy had been writing for the past year. He set the book on the corner of his desk and grimaced at Derek. Derek nodded his understanding and left for his own office. Dave went to work on utility resource deployments for the coming weeks.

That afternoon there was a line of thunderstorms sweeping over the city. The line meant over an hour of heavy rain before the storm moved on. Dave opted to stay at work instead of getting soaked running between the outside office door and his car. When the rain finished about a quarter-to-six, he darted out on the wet sidewalks and got in the car.

As Dave got on some of the main roads, they were all flooded from curb to curb. Multiple cars were stalled at one place with high water; they'd obviously tried to muscle through at fifty miles and hour, and they'd paid the price for their foolishness. Dave noted a few storefronts with someone sweeping water out of their establishment. As he neared the Circle he became aware of the slight rise in elevation. The Circle would be dry, at least that day.

Two large trees had fallen across Christian Grey Road about a half-mile from the gate to the Circle, probably from a microburst during the intense thunderstorm. No one seemed to be worrying about the trees yet so Dave turned around and drove around through a couple of other neighborhoods to the back gate entrance that Circle members seldom used. The gate allowed him entry and then he skirted the runway at Circle airport and wove up the gentle curve to Circle Drive.

Bobbie served dinner on the later side because so many people were late getting home because of the storms, flooding, and the downed trees. After dinner Dave had cleanup duty and as usual Bobbie was there helping and overseeing 'her' kitchen. Scarlett came and helped.

Dave asked, "Bobbie, if we had a real emergency, how long are we good for with the food you have right now?"

Bobbie was drawn back by the question, "Around five days without a trip to the store to replenish a few things."

Dave thought a minute. "I'd like you to be sure we could serve over three weeks of meals for the fifty of us without leaving the compound. I'm thinking of the damage storms might do, and how disruptive a large one might be to our food distribution network. Hopefully, we have the storage room for that."

Bobbie nodded and made note to herself to do that. She asked, "How soon?"

Dave replied, "Tomorrow, please. I have a bad premonition about that thing named Marco out in the Atlantic."

As Dave came out of the kitchen, he ran into Jack Anders. "Glad I found you. I have a question I know I can look up, but you'll know it off the top of your head. What's our elevation here?" He pointed downward at the concrete patio.

Jack smiled, "We're about thirty-two feet above mean sea level and nearly seven miles from the bay, and I'm guessing why you're asking. We're also in Flood Zone E, as far as FEMA and the county is concerned, and that translates to 'we are very very highly unlikely to experience a storm surge or flooding beyond some transient street flooding if drains get blocked and that type of thing'. Put another way, a lot of the city and surrounding area will be far underwater if it starts lapping on our doorsteps.

Dave asked, "I know we have a landscape service, but do any of us have chain saws or equipment to help clear the access roads to the Circle. As you might have heard over dinner, there were two trees down about a half-mile from the gate – roots ripped right out of the soggy ground."