Loosening Up Bk. 10 Ch. 16-20

"Earlier, you said that Rose's mother was Scarlett Johansson. She did a video? She's an A-list movie star."

"She was slightly disguised. The video was distributed emphasizing that the actress bears a really close resemblance to the movie star; thus, proving the old adage, 'If you can't hide from the truth, bury them with it.' The online comments about the video often claimed that the actress bore no real resemblance to the movie star, and that the hype about the video was pure hyperbole." He chuckled.

"Does your face ever appear? Sometimes I guess they hide the men's faces with pixels or with masks."

"I have been shown here and there, but it's not a big deal. I'm not concerned about my reputation outside of the Circle, and it won't keep me from making friends or getting a job. What's that old line: 'Those that matter don't care; and those that care don't matter'."

"I may have to dip my toe in that body of water and do a video. You've just stroked all of my exhibitionist genes and made my crotch wet again. Is Mike approachable?"

"Oh, very. He's always looking for new talent. With the university nearby he has a built-in source of talent, but he loses potential models as soon as they graduate. He rarely has to advertise for models; they come to him by word of mouth. Talk to him, if you visit. If you want, I'll set something up for you. What were you thinking?"

Gabbie took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "I was thinking of doing more than visiting, if it's all right with you. I was thinking of moving to Sarasota and becoming a pledge to the Circle." She stole a quick look at Dave to see whether he was shocked and about to discourage her. "You talked about loosening up a few nights ago. That's what I want to do - loosen up. I also want to feel loved. I'm certain that I need the Circle. I have a lot of love to give, too. On top of that, doing a video with Mike and hanging out around the Circle seems like the perfect prescription for achieving those goals."

Dave leaned in a kissed her. "I think that's a sterling idea. I fully support your interest in the Circle. We are careful to explain to the Circle that their pledging is more for them than for us. The idea is to get to know each of us and see whether we are the friends and lovers you want in your life. If we are, tell us and join as a member. If you find you're at odds with too many people and-or with the philosophy and behaviors on which the Circle is based, then you won't be happy with us. I'm on the road for another few months, so if you want to start pledging before I get back to Sarasota let me know and I'll be sure the right people are there to catch you and help you integrate into the place."

"Will I be able to do it and still work as a flight attendant?"

"If I'm not mistaken, your airline flies out of Tampa. The airport is about a fifty-minute drive from the Circle. As we talked about, Ken Toomey and his wife Patti also live in the Circle. I met a woman in North Carolina who is another pilot for Atlantic Aviation. She's likely to move there, too, and become a pledge, if she hasn't already."

"A woman pilot in the industry is very rare. You mentioned that you, Alice, and Pam fly that Cessna Citation I saw Rose and Alice leave in."

"Oh, there's a Circle Flying Club, and we're up to about fifteen members. Several of us are jet rated in the Citation, and Alice and Pam are also rated on Owen Bennett's Gulfstream 650LR and working on their type ratings for a Boeing 737-700. They're already second-seat rated for that one. Of course, that plane requires two pilots."

"And if I wanted to learn to fly?" Gabbie grinned.

Dave laughed, "Then you want to talk to Doug or Pete, also Circle members. A few others have their instructor's ratings, but probably don't have the time. Doug and Pete bought another small airport about ten miles from the Circle and our own little airport. They run the place, teach, do charter flights, and even have a couple of agriculture pilots that fly out of there, as well as a chapter of the Civil Air Patrol."

"Is there anything the Circle doesn't have?"

Dave kissed her again very tenderly and whispered, "Yes. You."

Dave sent Gabbie Carson off on a flight back to Philadelphia on Monday morning from Dayton airport. She was able to get a 'dead head' seat on another airline and had to be at work the next morning. She'd be able to hitch a ride back to her home in Delaware from her roommate who was working on a red-eye flight from California to Philly. Their parting was teary on her part, but he promised he'd see again and even be one of her lovers again after she moved to the Circle. He also urged her to re-read Cricket's book now that she had so much of the white space about the Circle filled in by all their conversations for the past week.

Dave spent the rest of the day at the Air and Space Museum. When he realized he'd only covered a small portion of the exhibits, he called his friends in Cincinnati and told them he'd be delayed another day. The Museum was a pilot's paradise, especially if one appreciated some of the old and unique airplanes that had been made.

Late the following afternoon, Dave made a speed run to the home of Martin and Sasha Hedrick, old Circle members from almost the start who'd been unable to leave their jobs in Ohio and live in the Circle. He was welcomed like the prodigal son. This was the first time in ten years since he'd last seen them.

Dave had met Sasha and Martin through his brother and sister-in-law. When Aaron and Shelby started to loosen up before they moved to Florida, and they wanted to experiment with another couple they really liked near home, they chose their friends that lived near them at the time. What set them apart from many others after a few months is that Martin impregnated Shelby - producing their child Linda Jean, and Aaron did the deed with Sasha - producing a beautiful child named Katie. They were aware of the cross-fertilization, but didn't make much of it.

Sasha had been a mail-order bride from the Ukraine. Martin, a consummate nerd and expert in robotics for a company near their home, had picked her from an online website and after an email correspondence and many long telephone calls, she came over to live with him for six months to see whether they'd be interested in marrying each other for the rest of their lives. Four months after they met face-to-face, they were married. Sasha became an American citizen a few months later.

Martin and Sasha were a very handsome couple, even ten years after he met them for the first time. Martin was tall and muscular, and a naturally commanding figure. He was also humble and somewhat shy. Sasha had gotten him to work out, and they'd both worked on loosening up and being more 'hep' as she called it in her cute Russian accent. Sasha was a blonde knockout, but very unassuming and self-deprecating; she could easily have modeled for Playboy or Penthouse and been in her comfort zone.

Sasha had become the co-owner of a spa in Hamilton, Ohio, as well as distinguished herself as a physical therapist, massage therapist, and become certified in a string of other beneficial therapies for her clients. She was a favorite for doctors to recommend patients needing PT in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky. Her clinic had over thirty people working for her.

Aaron and Shelby had been up to Ohio to see them several times in the last decade, but they hadn't come south because of their demanding jobs and changing family situation. Of course, for the trips they brought the children so that they could see what paternity had produced in the other couple. The Ohio couple hadn't come south for many years, and Dave learned another reason that evening. Dave had been with the couple many years earlier when they were able to visit the Circle.

After many hugs and kisses at their door, Martin helped Dave unpack the motorcycle and bring his gear indoors. Some gear got stashed in the garage of their large house, and the rest migrated to the guest room Dave was assigned.

Dave commented, "This house is huge for the three of you. It's beautiful."

Martin smiled, "Thank you, we do love it. I should explain about the size, and you of all people will understand, I'm certain. You see, Sasha is not my only wife. I have four others that you'll meet shortly when they return from their various jobs. There are more children than Katie, as well, so the place will soon be overrun with rug rats for a few hours. I guess you could say I've been busy."

Dave grinned, "Well, congratulations."

Martin chuckled, "You inspired me - or I should say 'us' - Sasha and me. We have replicated the Circle up here in Ohio, only we call it the Ring. We all wear identical bands of devotion to each other, and Sasha, my other wives, and I are not the only people in the Ring." He showed a ring on his hand. "There are about thirty others. We don't have a common geography the way the Circle does, but we have been talking about it. Aaron told me about your Atlanta Association and also Mark Worthington's extended family, and your interaction with it. I've been looking forward to your visit, to explore a similar connection or linkage."

"I'm blown away. Of course, we're interested, although you are kind of far away from Sarasota."

Martin chuckled, "The Ring has one thing that I think the Circle has wanted for a long time, namely we have more males than females. Besides my family, there are twelve women and twenty men who are members of the Ring. Another woman is considering joining - a pledge I think you call them. There are thus thirty-eight of us. My family throws the numbers off in favor of females."

"That's fabulous. I applaud your initiative."

Dave and Martin walked back downstairs to where Sasha was now talking to someone. He said, "I think you'll have quite a following before you go back to your touring. We are grateful beyond words that you can spend almost a week with us. Some of us will usually be around to keep you company during your stay. I know most if not all of the women are hoping to be romantic with you."

In the kitchen, Sasha lit up as the men entered and so did a pretty and young woman in her early twenties. Sasha said, "Dave, this is Kim Hedrick. She's one of our wives and the most recent to join our family about a year ago."

Kim greeted Dave with a hug and then a kiss on the lips and another hug. She was very affectionate and held his arm as they parted as though that was her station. She cooed about the TV show and Cricket's book, which everyone had read and treated like the Bible in the Ring. She amazed Dave by quoting lines from the book where Dave had been quoted about some feature of the Circle or any group similarly organized and based on nearly identical tenets.

Sasha presented Dave with a wine cooler, having remembered his preferences for well over ten years.

Five minutes later, a twelve-year-old boy appeared carrying two grocery bags. He set them on the counter, "Mom said you needed these for dinner. She has more." He started to run off to another room.

"Todd, slow down. This is David Prentiss. He's from Florida and will be visiting over the next week with us."

"Cool. Do you live near Disneyworld?"

"About ninety minutes away, actually," Dave replied. "I haven't been in years, but many of my friends go every year and take a bunch of our children."

A woman in her mid-thirties, closer in age to Martin and Sasha appeared with more groceries. Dave scurried to help her get them to the counter. She said, "Hi. I'm Amy. I've been waiting years to meet you. I have met your brother and his wife, so you can trust that I already love you just based on that background."

After a few pleasantries, another woman appeared with an eight-year-old girl tagging along. Jill and Kristen, Dave learned. A third woman appeared with two children, one that turned out to be Sasha's. The woman was Van or Vanessa, and the children were Susan and Laurie, both about six years old.

Martin received many kisses from the women and had hugs for the children. Dave got kisses from each of the mothers, plus he felt more than welcome and even flirted with by each of them, including Sasha. Martin seemed to even encourage the interactions with Dave, especially when Kim and Jill both made it a point to hold his arms or hands, even occasionally allowing them to rub against their breasts.

Dave sized up the women with one word: gorgeous. The five of them were like a handpicked group of the prettiest women in the world - each one a swimsuit model, but from a cross-section of ages. They each had an air of professionalism about themselves, but also an aura of serenity and spirituality.

The house seemed to have carefully orchestrated routine that flowed around Dave like a gentle current. The children were almost instantly fed and allowed to do their 'own thing' in a dedicated room that included a television and various project tables. Todd, the ten-year-old boy, helped organize the younger kids so that they were doing something that pleased them. He obviously had referent power, because in a minor disagreement Dave noted that Martin carefully backed up his authority with his own.

As the kids ate and played, the adults enjoyed cocktails in the kitchen and then dinner in a large dining room at a formal table. Dave asked over dinner, "Is this routine or because I'm here?"

Amid laughter, Kim said, "This is how we do it every night except when there are some crazy events of some kind, like PTA meetings or something. We're clear for the next week, so this is what it'll be. Occasionally, one of us will be late from work or have an evening meeting of some kind."

Jill explained, "There's a master calendar online that we all keep up to date with each of our schedules. If there are conflicts such as two of us needing Martin for an event at the same time, we negotiate things out at a dinnertime or in some other way. We were curious how the Circle did it?"

Dave explained, "We also have an online calendar, but it's really for Circle-wide events or notices or alerts, such as someone's parents being on the premises or a subgroup taking some of the children to some outing. Remember, we home school them, so there are what we call school events that cut across the various age or grade levels - trips to a museum, aquarium, and such. Other than that, we each have our own or family calendars. My family tends to be the busiest with ten wives, so I'm very sympathetic to conflict management when you get a fairly large group."

"How do you handle some situation when one of your wives wants you at an event - like a Christmas party or business social? Do you all go?"

"No, we don't flaunt the 'Ten Wives' situation. I'll go with one of them, although occasionally another will go along. For instance, at some of the premiers of Scarlett's movies I'll be her husband. If Cricket was involved, she'll be on my arm, as well. SincePeoplemagazine did an exposé on Scarlett's extended family - the Circle, we're not a secret, but we still don't rub people's noses in it."

Jill said, "We're the same. Most of the kids' teachers know there are multiple moms, for instance. We all cross-parent our kids, so we know what's going on. There's never an excuse for a teacher not being able to reach one of us if there's some situation."

Dave asked, "Do your kids all go to public schools?"

"Yes. If we had more kids and the resources, we'd home school, too. I like that idea, especially since the evangelicals have too much of a voice in the curriculum. The science and history syllabi in this state are travesties of how the real-world works. It's truly antediluvian."

"Oh, I know all too well about the impact they have on the population."

Jill said, "If I remember, from reading Cricket's book, your family had some major confrontations with what used to be our Bible Church."

Dave rolled his eyes, "That understates what happened - seriously. There are currently six men in prison serving long terms for what they did. One of them survived getting shot as he tried to escape a kidnapping attempt. They were all caught red-handed in one way or another."

"Please tell us the story," Kim pleaded.

Dave retold the story about Alice, Julie, and Karen's parents, how they went ballistic about their lifestyle, and then how they'd tried to kidnap Karen's youngest two children. He told of Nikky's disguise and substitution for Christiana, the kidnapping, shooting, and the subsequent jailing that included the children's grandfather - the instigator and funder of the kidnapping. He also told of the pastor of the church returning with mortar rounds and grenades to wreak havoc and even death on the Circle, and how he later got captured just before he was going to kill Alice in retribution for losing his livelihood."

Sasha said, "Those events were all in the news a great deal up here in Ohio. You'd think people would learn their lesson, but they dug in even deeper. Their attitude is one of the reasons we try to keep a very low profile with the Ring. We don't want any of them to focus on us. Right now, they're still at war over same-sex marriages despite the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling."

"Do you have any same-sex couples in the Ring?" Dave asked.

"One. Two men, but they're more bisexual. They're very loving and very sexual in the most delightful way. How about the Circle?"

"The Circle has several lesbian-oriented combinations, but the women are also bisexual; I guess just like your friends. They like the opportunity to play in the larger playground when they want."

Jill and Kim cleared away the dinner dishes as the others talked. Dave offered to help, but was rebuffed. Kim appeared with a carafe of decafe coffee, and everyone had a cup as they sat.

As the cups emptied, they were whisked away to the dishwasher. Dave noted the family had two of them side-by-side in the large kitchen. Sasha and Vanessa swept into the kids' area, and helped them clean up and then got them organized for bedtime. Apparently, several stories were read, and everyone got tucked in and kissed by the right people for sleepy time to commence. Most of the children shared a room with another child despite there being guest rooms available.

When the adults of the family were together again in the living room, Kim and Vanessa came and cuddled with Dave. Dave posed, "Is this planned?"

Kim giggled, "No, just that we got you first. I hope you don't mind the two of us being with you tonight. You have a reputation of being able to deal with two women, at least that was what your brother told us when he was here last. He dealt with us, too."

Dave smiled and each of them, "There's some truth to that rumor."

Kim stood, "Then come with us. It's bedtime."

Dave visually checked in with Martin and Sasha. They smiled at the trio, and Martin gestured for them to leave with a chuckle, as though he knew something Dave didn't. Sasha stood and went to Dave and gave him a kiss. She told him, "Don't make extensive plans for tomorrow. You and I are going to be here alone, and I have lots of things for us to do." She smiled mischievously and whispered in his ear before pulling on his earlobe with her teeth, "Sexual things."

Jill was in line for a bedtime kiss, and then Amy. Both of them really got into the kiss with him, demanding lots of tongue time and placing his hands on their breasts so he'd get the 'availability' message loud and clear. Both were braless beneath the peasant tops they were wearing.

Martin went around turning off lights and locking up the house. The six of them went up the stairs and to a different bedroom.

Dave told Kim and Van, "I don't expect special treatment during my visit."

"But we WANT to be with you. No one is forcing us, and Martin and Sasha certainly didn't even hint that we should do this. We have the same principles here in the Ring that you do in the Circle. We're free agents. Just so you know, we did feel out the others to be sure this was all right. We all agreed to our usual open marriage rules."