No Strings Attached Ch. 12

Jon cursed under his breath, that was the only way he was cussing these days. It was amazing all the little ways that having a child changed your life. And, of course, the big ones too. He had made sure that he was in bed and pretending to be asleep each of the past two nights when Alicia came home from the diner.

And each morning they had woken with their bodies entwined. Legs and arms laced and interlocked. His cock hard against her stomach, her head in the crook of his shoulders and neck. It boded the question: how long could they go on like this?

Yesterday had been his first full day with his little girl. No school to interfere. They had watched cartoons on television. He was shocked to learn that these days there were half a dozen children's channels that ran the things twenty-four-seven sometimes — no more Saturday morning before noon.

He had made them cereal for breakfast as they watched an atrocious remake of one of his childhood favorites. But Hope had not seemed to care. He had to find the originals and educate his daughter on the fine art of comedy and mystery-solving ghosts.

Then he had walked, and Hope had biked to the diner for lunch. They spent the afternoon playing in the park. Dinner was again at the restaurant. Then home to bath, read, and bed. He was not sure who was more tired, Hope or him? Being a parent was not as easy as it seems.

And if he heard it once, he heard it a dozen times: when can I have a baby brother or sister? Of course, with both her teacher and her best friend's parents were pregnant, he supposed it was no surprise. The problem was the decided lack of baby-making action. Or even the discussion of them. For all he knew, Alicia had changed her mind. Maybe she was not interested in...

But her body was. That much was for sure. The heat and wet that seeped onto his leg in the morning. The way that her nipples hardened and brushed against his chest each night. Of course, that could have nothing to do with him. He had no idea how long it had been for her. But not even masturbating in the shower before bed, each night seemed to keep his dick under control.

"Fuck," he whisper-cussed as he gave up and pulled the knot out of the tie. That was at least half a dozen attempts now. But none seemed comfortable.

He had dragged Hope out shopping this morning after cereal. Just to buy the dress shirt, slacks, and tie. Even back home, he had nothing appropriate for an occasion like this. Not only did he usually not go places with this many people, but this formal shit had never been his thing.

He frowned; how many times had his parents dressed him in some monkey suit worse than this even and dragged him to some society or political thing? At least, he had not had to force Hope into a dress. In fact, he had rewarded her with a new one for putting up with the old man's decided lack of shopping skills. It was she who had picked this get-up, in fact.

Soft, warm hands reached around his shoulders. Their gazes met in the mirror as her hands covered his. He jerked the virtually useless left one away. That was the problem. Tying a tie was always hard enough, but with just one good hand, it was almost impossible. Yeah, he needed to talk to the damned docs again.

Her fingers tugged the tie free of his grasp. "You don't need it. In fact, you could have worn jeans and a t-shirt. This isn't a formal affair."

"Now, you tell me," he sighed. "And I drug that poor kid out this morning for this crap."

Alicia chuckled, "She finagled a new dress out of the deal I see? She already has you wrapped around her little finger."

He blushed at the accuracy of her words, "It doesn't do any harm."

"I'm not saying that." Her hands on his shoulders turned him around. She unfastened the top two buttons. The damned shirt felt quite a bit better. "I don't remember my father. And I barely saw my mother and her new husband once they got married. I guess I just think it is cute."

He nodded. The silence stretched out uncomfortably between them. Was this what life was to become? Sexually charged tension, unspoken words, and only a child in common? How could he live like this? Close but never touching the woman he loved.

She had said it was not formal, but she looked stunning with her hair up in some loose ponytail thingy. Whisps of it falling free about her face and neck. She wore a flowy hippie type dress made of thin cotton material and sandals. As usual, her face was practically devoid of make-up. Not that she had ever needed such artifice. Alicia's beauty, like their daughter's, came from within.

"We should get going," she said as she turned and grabbed a light sweater from the closet that they now shared.

After that first night, she had cleared out a section in it and a couple of drawers for his things. Though most of that space was still unused. He should go back 'home,' pack up some of his stuff, and close up the cabin. But maybe he was avoiding that. Maybe things were just too tense in this new situation to be comfortable with that.

"The ceremony is at their ranch just outside of town," Alicia said. "I'll drive."

He nodded, did she realize that he could not? Well, technically, he could. But it was not a skill that he had bothered to relearn. Most of the time, he was happy to stay on his mountain alone. He liked walking into the nearest town on the rare occasions he needed something.

And when he needed to come here to the VA, he just got one of those car services to bring him. It was another of the arguments that the doctors had made for amputating his arm. With a prosthesis, he could learn to do so many other things, including driving again. Back then, it had not seemed such a big deal. But now with Hope, he was finding all those things he could not do with his damaged arm more frustrating.

Yeah, he needed to talk to the docs.

****

Alicia smiled as they approached the circle of chairs set up behind the large ranch style house. Steve's house was several miles outside of town. Its seclusion and the scenery were to be envied. The desert had a beauty all its own. Especially now.

People thought of the desert as dead. But it wasn't. It was teaming with life. Cactii offered flowers as lovely as any rose. Insects, snakes, lizards, and so much more. Maybe she was just prejudiced. After all, she had lived on the edge of it her whole life. Still, nature called to her, calmed her; it always had.

Hope spied Amy and a couple of other children from her school. She raced off to join them. She caught sight of Chris's wheelchair and noticed Stacey next to him. She walked towards them. Jon could follow if he wanted. The man had practically ignored her the whole way here, chatting with Hope as she drove.

Things could not continue like this. She could not imagine living with this kind of tension for the rest of her life. The thing was she shouldered much of the responsibility. She was the one that had chickened out when Jon dared to address things honestly. She did not have the words then or now to express how she was feeling. To reach him, convince him that the scars on his physical body did not change how she felt about him.

She forced a smile as she approached her friends, "Where's Noah?"

"He has training exercises this weekend and couldn't get out of them," Stacey replied as she looked over Alicia's shoulder.

What did she say? How did she introduce him? It was just another reminder of the uncertainty in this situation. Thankfully, Chris saved her the trouble.

"Hey, buddy, this is my partner, Stacey. Stac, this is Amy's dad, Jon."

Jon brushed past her, extending his good right hand while hiding the damaged one behind his back, she noticed. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Chris has told me so much about you."

"Don't believe any of it," Stacey laughed as she took his hand. Her eyes moved to Alicia's, "I can't wait to hear the story behind this one."

Lucky for her, a pretty young woman and what appeared to be her two beefy bodyguards chose that moment to step through the arbor of wildflowers, which would be the center stage for the ceremony.

The odd thing about them was that each of the buff guys had a brightly colored baby swing wrapped about his shoulders, and cherubic little heads peaked out of them at the audience as if this were an everyday experience for the babies.

Alicia breathed more relaxed as she signaled for Hope to join them, filling the vacant seats next to Stacey and Chris. The girls had barely settled into seats next to one another when the familiar melody and classic voice began to blast the message 'love is all you need' from somewhere behind them.

The small crowd of around fifty people seemed to turn as one to look over their shoulders for the source. They were greeted by the sight of the tall, classically handsome man with dark hair in a custom-made suit. On his arms were two glowing brides.

Sarah was swathed in a tight-fitting straight cut and heavily beaded cream dress that flared about her shapely calves. Her long dark hair was swept back from her face and off her neck, secured in a fashionable chignon. Top her head was a silver and diamante tiara. Her make-up was impeccable as she held tightly to her husband's right arm.

Mandy was almost the complete opposite. Her white dress was a loose, gauzy confection that flowed in waves about her rounded fecundity. Her blond hair flowed about her shoulders and face. Her head topped with wildflowers, and in lieu of designer heels, she was barefoot, making her seem even more petite in comparison to her two tall and glamorous partners.

The commonality for all three was the glowing look of love on their faces as they walked the make-shift aisle between the rows of seats. Each looked at the people around them, smiling and occasionally nodding at someone. Mandy even lifted her bouquet of wildflowers in a wave to Amy and Hope.

By the end of the song, they had joined the unusual assembly under the bower. The pretty young woman that Alicia had first noticed stepped forward. Her voice was surprisingly strong for someone so ethereal looking.

"We welcome you all to this special celebration of love between these wonderful people: Steve, Sarah, and Mandy. I know that for some, or perhaps most of you, this may seem unusual, odd even. But I grew up the only child of the most amazing single mother who taught me that as the song said, love really is all you need. My mother's message and life went beyond that. They were a testament to the fact that Nothing Done In Love can ever be wrong."

The woman looked to the two men on either side of her, exchanging secretive smiles with each, "But even for me, that message was not always easy to learn. In a world that for millennia has placed strictures of religion and law upon love, that has defined it so narrowly as only between one man and one woman; it is not easy to be different. To openly love as the goddess wills you."

She smiled at Steve, Sarah, and Mandy as she continued, "It had been my privilege to get to know this family over the past few months through the relationship workshops that our center operates. So, it was my great pleasure when they asked me to officiate at this commitment ceremony."

"I know personally that such is a bittersweet experience. While we come together today in celebration of love and life, it saddens me that this cannot be a formal union. That while in my mother's lifetime, we have come far enough in expanding those old definitions of love to recognize that it is not merely men who love women and women who love men. But that sometimes it is men who love men and women who love women. I am proud to live in a country that recognizes that."

She paused and sighed, "But I am saddened that we have not yet come to realize that love is big enough, deep enough, profound enough to encompass more than just two people. That for some of us, love is something that is shared intimately between three, or four, or sometimes more people. That rather than dividing us with jealousy, such relationships can bind us tighter. That love can be like ropes where more strands bring greater strength."

"It is my deepest hope that I will live to see the day that families like Steve, Sarah, and Mandy and my own can enjoy the same legal standing as marriage." She smiled as she looked around the crowd, "But until that day comes, The Danvers Foundation will continue to promote unions such as these with the words of my mother..."

"Nothing Done In Love can ever be wrong."

"But this day is not about our center, my mother, or my family. It is not even about the greater issue of equality for polyamorous families. It is about three people. Three individuals who have struggled against personal and societal norms to come to this point, to the revelation that love is all that matters. It is all we need."

"It is their story to share with you and their love we celebrate this day. Steve."

Alicia felt the tears forming in her eyes. If only it were as simple as this woman said. She and Jon did not even battle those societal stigmas as Steve, Sarah, and Mandy did. Or as Stacey, Noah, and Chris. But despite being just one man and one woman, it seemed that sometimes love was not enough.

At least not to break through some walls, she looked over at him. Would she ever be able to convince him that her love was more significant than those scars? That all she wanted was him.

The man behind those blue eyes whose pain had bored into her mind and heart across the table in the diner that night. Blue that had deepened to midnight swirls as they touched that night, two souls reaching out to steal something so precious. And in the process create something equally beautiful, she reached out and brushed a soft curl back from their child's cheek.

She wished it was that simple for them.