Triad Ch. 03

The two women looked at me. I smiled. "Small is good. You both know that I don't like crowds, although I tolerate them. I'm very happy right now. I too need to get used to what we've done."

Abby said, "When I spoke a moment ago, I realized I need a threesome vocabulary. In a couple setting I could say 'I want' but in a threesome situation I need to say 'I prefer.' I don't want to sound demanding or that I'm out to take over."

"I'm sure we'll all struggle with that. We're equals in this. We also have to agree that we have each other's backs. We're like the three musketeers -- one for all, and all for one."

As we walked back to the house and got near the path to Abby's summer home, Anna said, "I assume you want to talk to your parents alone."

Abby stopped and stood still a moment. She smiled, "No, I think this is a first test for all of us. Come on everyone, let's go see the 'rents and tell them the news."

* * * * *

Don and Jean Broadhurst, Abby's parents, were in their mid-forties. Both taught school: Don at City University, and Jean at a suburban Montessori school. Thus, they had the summers off although Don often taught summer classes. This fortunate chain of events was what had led to the escalating relationship between Abby and me because she was next door all the time in the summer months.

We walked in and her parents were reading on their sun porch. "Mom. Dad. You know Jim. This is Anna Pechet; you briefly met her once last summer. She's pretty well-known too."

Abby took a second deep breath, "We have something to tell you." Long pause. "We are in a plural relationship. We love each other, and plan to live together. We plan to commit to each other in a ceremony, only last night and this morning we've really already done that."

The silence in the room was so thick a chainsaw would have been inadequate to cut through it. I glanced at Abby's father. He did not look pleased. He gave me a glance that I felt sure communicated some kind of message about defiling his virginal daughter. I felt guilty, but I was here to stick by Abby's decision and to try to support her.

Jean spoke first in a way that sounded like she was thinking out loud. "Abby, you have always been intelligent beyond your years, and because of that you've been unusual time and again ... and here you are doing it again." She smiled.

Don sounded a gruff when he spoke. "Details, Abby. Details. Are you going to stop work on your master's degree? Where will you live? Is this just a flash in the pan, or is this something you think will last? Do you know these people well?"

Abby went and hugged her father. "Daddy, I wouldn't go into something like this on a whim. I love Jim and Anna; and yes, I know them well -- very well. They love me. We do have details to work out about logistics. I'm quite mobile since I've finished my coursework, but Anna is all over the world making movies and appearances, and sometimes Jim is too."

Don turned to me, "I'm very protective of Abby." Suddenly, he sounded almost apologetic; he'd slipped into his role as father-protector.

"And I am too, sir. I also care for Anna in the same way."

"You must be on an ego trip -- two beautiful women at your beck and call." He was needling me, but I didn't plan to bite on that hook.

"That's not how I see it, sir."

"Just howdo you see it?"

"I have accepted the deep and onerous responsibility for the rest of my life for the happiness of two people I love. This is now the most important job in my life, and everything else I do pales by comparison.

"In Abby's case, I have watched her grow from a pre-teen, through her teen years, into a young woman who I adore. She has been an invaluable companion to me since we met, and I reached the conclusion that I cannot live the rest of my life without having her in my life in a most constant and complete way. I feel the same way about Anna. Moreover, I am deeply in love with each of them."

Anna spoke and prevented me from going further, "I too delight in Abby. She has been an inspiration to me, and I want her in my life as a companion and lover as well. This is the third year I've been able to appreciate Abby, and in those years I have come to love her."

Don flash-turned to Abby, "Are you becoming gay?" I detected some anger in his voice.

Abby remained calm, "The term would be lesbian. I am the same daughter you raised to be a critical thinker, and to acknowledge and think about the ways we live our lives to be better people and contribute to society. I have always thought that gay, lesbian, and other arrangements were acceptable so long as no one was getting hurt or taken advantage of. Now, I am willing to accept that part of me is in love with a woman, and another part with a man, and yes, that love is physical as well as intellectual and spiritual."

Don said, "What do you expect us to do?" His tone softened slightly. He shot an arrow like glance at Abby's mother.

Abby smiled, "Love me, and be comfortable with the people I love. I suspect over time you will see a lot of them.

Jean stepped forward two steps and surrounded Abby in her arms. "Honey, we will ALWAYS love you."

To my surprise, Jean turned to me, and gave me a hug. She said, "I guess I should say 'Welcome to the family.' You are a welcome addition. Don will get used to all this. Don't worry. We support you three. This is just new in some ways for us."

Jean turned to Anna, and tentatively moved to her. Anna extended her arms, and the pair hugged. Jean laughed, "You're the first and probably only movie star I've ever met. I am so impressed with your work and career. Please consider us part of your family, as we consider you part of ours."

Anna made appropriate words back to Jean, and then went and hugged Abby's father. The move totally amazed him to the point his mouth hung open for a second. This was his daughter's sapphic lover, and she was beautiful, and an A-list movie star.

Abby nudged the boundaries a little further when she said, "The rest of the summer, I'm going to live next door with Jim and Anna -- until she has to leave. By then, we'll have figured out a lot of our next steps to being together."

To my surprise, Don said, "Anyway we can help, let us know." He actually smiled, but I had the feeling he was biting his tongue. After all, my compatriot Anna and I were stealing his daughter into a most unusual relationship fraught with dangers and pain.

Abby organized a kind of bucket brigade moving some clothes from her bedroom in her parent's summer house to my bedroom -- our bedroom. I don't think I'd seen her in such a buoyant mood except for the day before.

Later, I learned she had a brief aside with her mother. She'd suggested that she NOT just drop over at my place, but to call ahead. Abby said her mother had laughed, but agreed. She said, all things being equal, the same courtesy in the other direction might not be a bad idea. Abby also talked to her about how to deal with any reporters who might contact them.

We had Abby pretty well moved in and organized by noon. I suggested a drive out to the tip of the Cape for lunch in the small tourist town out there. The vote was unanimous, so we make the trek in my car.

We ate at a restaurant with sidewalk tables, forgetting the kind of exposure two of the three of us would face. We were almost through lunch, when a young woman came up to the table with a pen and piece of paper. "Miss Pechet, may I have your autograph?"

Anna got that amazed look on her face. She couldn't believe someone had figured out who she was, yet she sat there without sunglasses on and looking like she did in a scene from her last movie.

Before Anna could move, I suggested, "If she autographs, it'll start a stampede, and we don't want that to happen. How about if she shakes your hand?"

Anna looked relieved at the suggestion, and quickly shook hands with the girl and then averted her gaze and went back to eating. Fortunately, the girl left. Others in the restaurant, however, were now frequently staring in our direction. We finished up quickly and left, although we did take a few minutes and walk around the shopping area.

We found a small jewelry store, and ended up buying three identical decorative platinum bands. The rings were now the symbol of our threesome and the love we carried for each other. The jeweler sized them right then, and also engraved our three initials in each band -- even adding a tiny heart between each.

Back at the house, the three of us lathered up with sunscreen, and then went down to the beach. We walked a little, tossed a Frisbee around for fifteen minutes, and just lay in the sun and talked.

Anna started, "Where do we officially live?"

I shrugged, "You have a place in L.A. I have Manhattan and the Cape."

Abby said, "I have a small apartment in Cambridge, but I don't think I need it anymore. It doesn't make sense."

"We could be anywhere, right?"

I said, "I can write anywhere. Most of my work with editors and the book prep folk is by phone and email; for the movie stuff, I'm in L.A." I turned to Abby; "You said you didn't need to be near campus any longer; is that accurate?"

"Almost," she replied. "I have two projects for the fall: finish my master's thesis, and work on my novel. I can do both of those out of a laptop anywhere there's Wi-Fi. I do need to go back to campus when the thesis is finished and present the results to a committee of some faculty members, but that's kind of like a rubber stamp. After that, I can skip the graduation ceremony."

I shook my head; "I think it'd be cool if we were all there for your graduation. You finishing a master's degree a few years before normal is extraordinary. We should celebrate."

Abby argued, "But the flights are expensive, unless we're near the city."

Anna and I both looked at her as though she were a total dolt.

Anna said, "Don't worry about the flights. The jet can get us here non-stop."

"The Jet?"

"Yes. If we're coming from L.A. or anyplace like that, we'll take a charter jet. Jim or I will pay; it's not a big deal."

I nodded, "She's right. Don't worry about money. The two of us have money to burn, but don't tell anybody I flaunted it like that."

"But ... I want to carry my own weight," Abby protested.

I teased, "Then finish your novel and let's get it published. From what I read, it's good -- very good." Anna nodded in agreement.

Anna offered again, "I have lots of room in my house, plus a pool and Jacuzzi. I also have a super king-size bed that'll be just right for the three of us. The shower can even accommodate three people at once -- very cozy." She gave us a lascivious grin.

Abby tentatively said, "I'd love to try living in the L.A. area."

I smiled at how easy that one had been to resolve.

We went swimming, and then went up to the house. We used the outdoor shower to rinse the salty bay water off. The girls both got nude in the process since we were in the shadows. We then slid into the screened porch and dried off.

I suddenly had two very sexy female bodies pushing against me, and nudging me to our bed.