Author's notes:
1. This is a work of fiction. The activities and practices described in this story are not necessarily either condoned or recommended. If you choose to do anything described in real life with real people you do so at your own risk.
2. All characters are fictional and any likeness to any living person is purely coincidental. The story is purely imaginary and, to the author's knowledge, bears no relationship to any factual occurrence.
3. This is the fourteenth chapter of the 'Mating Rituals' series – it is a standalone story but will make more sense if you read chapters 1 to 13 first (and why would you not want to do that?).
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Sophie looked around the living area where everyone in the community had gathered. She realized how important this meeting was to everyone; if the project under discussion was carried out incorrectly or if there was any leak in confidentiality, there could be severe repercussions. As she awaited the arrival of the last few people she thought of the responsibility she had to ensure everyone's safety. She looked down at her notes, the fingers of her right hand automatically twisting the beautiful engagement ring on her left hand, now another much treasured part of her adornment since she accepted Ryan's proposal four months ago.
She looked up again, mentally going around the room, seeing not only the adults but also the younger siblings who had been born in the months and years after her and Ryan. Although nobody had joined the community as an adult in the past many years, she felt sorry for anyone who did join; the complexity of the relationships were confusing even for her. Mentally she went through these as she cast her eyes around the room, trying to see who still had not arrived. There were Lance, Bel, Frank and Karen, the matriarchs and patriarchs of the community, then there were her mom, Cherie, and official dad, Al, then Matt and Carol, Wendy and Marie, Simon and Terry, and Doe, Tracy and Sue, all of whom formed the second generational tier, but even here there were complications when it was remembered that Lance, not Al, was Cherie's father as well as being her grandfather. After that it became complicated. She was the oldest of the next generation, followed closely by Ryan, Frank and Karen's son, then there was Trevor, Cherie's surrogate baby for Carol and Matt; Sarah, Karen's surrogate baby for Simon and Terry; Troy, Wendy's boy by Lance, and Ruth, Marie's girl by Frank; Kayla who is the result of Doe's wrongly calculated dates after her first fling with Lance, and finally Cherie's fraternal twins, Jessie and Damon, the result of a few nights of passion with Simon at the wrong time of the month and at 14, the youngest of the group of siblings. She thought with a flash of excitement of the coming of age parties that would be occurring during the next few years as these family members reached adulthood. The last two people, Terry and Tracy, arrived looking slightly flushed and with muttered apologies. Bel gave her a nod to let her know that she could continue, so she stood and waited for silence.
"Good evening , everyone. Thank you for giving up your free time to attend this meeting. I assure you that it is extremely important that you all know what is happening and I need your feedback on what I would like to do for a research project for one of my college courses. As most of you know, I am studying psychology and I am taking a research paper for which I need to carry out some independent research and write a paper on the findings.
"The area that interests me is us, our large family. I don't need to remind you of the origins of the family, starting with Lance, Bel, Frank and Karen, who were very accommodating to some who arrived here needing help. They were welcomed and have stayed on as full family members, the diversity of these people strengthening and benefitting the family as a whole. The younger family members, including Ryan and I, have arrived as a result of diverse relationships between these older members. As far as I'm aware, this family is unique in many ways. It is this uniqueness that I wish to investigate. The uniqueness is not simply that which occurs when a group of people with common goals live together; we had many examples of this in the 1960s during what was called the hippie commune era. Our uniqueness goes further than that and includes the attitudes and values we have and practise especially regarding interpersonal relationships. As you younger members become adults you will understand to a greater degree the significance of these relationships.
"The research I am undertaking will require me to interview many or all of you and the results of these interviews will be compiled into a research report. The questions will be focused on your attitudes and values as it is these that have allowed this community to flourish as it has. I assure you that during this research everyone will be allocated a code number and nobody will be identifiable from that unless they themselves release that information. I hasten to add that I definitely do not recommend anyone doing that. I have discussed this at length with the psychology department professors and they assure me that it will never be possible for anyone to obtain any information that may identify any particular person as once the report has been accepted, all raw data and records of interviews will be destroyed."
Sophie stopped and looked around the group, noting that all were giving her their full attention as she would have expected due to the importance of her topic.
"However, I will not proceed with this research without your full permission. In short, I am putting the future of this research in your hands. I firmly believe that in this day and age of fragmented families, research on an inclusive family that works together and has developed its own ethos and character due to the alignment of the beliefs of the individuals is of significant importance to possibly replicating such a community and maybe even extending it. As the saying goes, the family that plays together stays together, and we certainly know how to play together. You, as members of this community, may in the future have a role to play in helping to re-establish family and community living in an increasingly dysfunctional society. So I firmly believe that anything we can do to bring this goal to fruition is of benefit to humanity. That is why I believe it is important to identify the reasons why this works and the way in which individuals within the community think and function.
"So, I've said enough. If anyone has any questions I will try to answer them as fully as possible, otherwise, you will have been given a piece of paper when you arrived. On one side is written 'NO' and on the other 'YES'. All you need do is to cross out one of those and deposit your slip in the box as you leave. That way, if you object for any reason, you will be able to reject the proposal anonymously. Simply cross out the word that does not apply. I am, of course, hoping for all 'YES' votes so I am here to answer your questions for as long as it takes until you are completely decided. Do you have any questions please?"
There was silence for a few seconds than people began talking in pairs or small groups, some becoming quite animated. Sophie tried to gain some indication of what was being discussed, but without success. After a few minutes Carol raised her hand. Sophie tapped her pen on the table in front of her and the hubbub died down.
