A note to readers:
This is a long story that unfolds chapter by chapter through the eyes of two protagonists - Mark and Elsa, and as in many of my other stories involves a growing spate of horny characters.
Every ten chapters or so I will provide a short summary at the start of that episode to bring new readers up to date (see start of Ch. 80).
This story could appear in a number of genres (Loving Wives, Incest, Lesbian, Fetish, and more) depending on the chapter, but the overall theme is Group, so I have applied this moniker to all chapters. The story is still being written, yet I intend to post a new chapter every couple of days. Enjoy.
Chapter 87 - A Birth. Discoveries. Helping a Friend
Mark
I made two long trips over the four weeks before Philip Emerson Worthington arrived in this world. On each trip I made a relatively large amount of money since some of what I was selling was from my non-public corporation: two-hundred-and-fifty million dollars is not to be sneezed at. Further, I bought three small companies that I knew I could sell in a year's time at ten-fold the purchase price, also netting out at more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
The absences for travel had made me miss my home life. Sheila had accompanied me on both trips, and we had a loving time on our overnights, and even in the stateroom on my larger plane. Nonetheless, I loved my other wives and their guy friends who lived with us.
Elsa stopped working on the Friday before she was due. Her labor started two days after her due date - December tenth. Thus, on December twelfth at nine a.m. my son arrived in a smooth delivery. I was in the delivery room with Elsa (Duh!) along with Cindy and the birthing team of doctors and nurses. Elsa requested Linda Boyd be there too; she was all smiles at the opportunity exclaiming it was far more fun than working in the ER or ICU.
Two announcements had also punctuated that month. Alice and KC both announced their pregnancies about a week apart to everyone's delight. They were both due in August or early September.
Unlike the pregnancy when I was the planned and intentional father of Philip Emerson, Alice and KC were not precisely certain who the fathers were. We had openly continued our open relationships and the understanding had been that any of the girls who wanted to become pregnant could make that effort by discontinuing their birth control. They were free to designate a baby daddy or take potluck. Alice and KC both took potluck.
As a family we'd had many discussions about exactly this outcome. The question on the table was, 'Do we care about the paternity of the family's children?' Well, not only didn't we care as it turned out, but the maternity was also going to be a shared effort. While there'd be a birth mother, obviously, all the other sisters wanted a direct role in raising each of the children.
There followed long discussions about child rearing, and the various approaches from helicopter mothers or seagull mothers to those who micro-managed every step of their child's development. The former hovered nearby the entire time the child grew up providing guidance, explanation, and hopefully and rarely discipline. The seagull mom flew by once in a while, dropped some wisdom on the kid, and flew away again. Micro-management was out of the question and had been proven a bad thing to do. No one liked any of those models, so various compromises were made.
I wisely kept out of most of the discussions, but I listened to many of them and watched the family consensus develop. For the next year, most of the discussion was moot since our child would be an infant most of that time and totally dependent on adult care.
I felt glad to see Julie Yates often stepping into the discussion, because unlike everybody else in the family, she had studied child development in college and then been a nanny and thus had hands-on experience. She could help discriminate between theory and real experiences, at least up through age five. I realized in listening to her talk how hands-on she had been for the family she had worked for before they moved away from the area.
Another area that made me respect Julie was the ease with which she slipped into the family after moving into the two family homes: the condominium in the city and The Meadows several miles outside in the country. She was accepted and welcomed by everyone, just as Celeste had been.
I wondered if one of the guys would hit on her, but nothing of that ilk happened that I was aware of. I wondered after a while if Julie even knew how to flirt. I tried to banter with her a few times, but she took everything pretty seriously. While I had small fantasies about bedding the pretty girl, I didn't push at all because that might not at all be what she wanted and I didn't want to drive her away when we needed her the most.
Julie was an avid reader. By observation, she'd have a half-dozen books going at the same time divided between fiction and nonfiction. The fiction works ranged from gothic romance to action adventure. The nonfiction usually included at least one book on child development, with emphasis on the first five years. She too was preparing for Elsa and my child.
Elsa and Julie bonded quickly and very nicely. Julie had moved in immediately, and they completed the decorating and outfitting of a nursery on the thirtieth floor of the condo and out at The Meadows in days with Alice's help. I often heard Elsa say something like 'Oh, I hadn't thought of that' to Julie when something special was recommended. Julie's hands-on experience was very useful. Without a baby to actually attend to for almost two weeks, Julie felt a little awkward to be a nanny without a ward.
While shy, Julie made an effort to fit into the family and to be present in the late afternoons and evenings when people came home from work, had cocktails, ate dinner, and then sat around to see what the rest of the evening brought. She didn't talk much, but tried to home in on every discussion, a difficult task with fifteen of us. Inevitably the rest of the evening brought some lovemaking, and that's when Julie seem to fade away.
Margo had hosted a baby shower for Elsa about six or seven weeks before the due date. To her amazement women arrived from all over the country to attend and bring Elsa and Philip some little cute gift. Since we had a reveal party at about the halfway mark, the male sex of the child in process was widely known. When I surveyed the many gifts I was surprised at how adult and sophisticated many of the gifts were - even for young teen. Someone had even given a small laptop computer!
Besides the crew from around the city and suburbs, Janet and Sandy flew in from Atlanta, and Brita flew over from Denmark - also coupling in some business meetings and a long weekend visit with the clan.
While all the excitement about the impending birth was rising to a frenzy, I also watched Celeste and how she fit into the family and her role as housekeeper, cook, and a mature and caring friend to all. She started work with us being cautious about our open sexuality. As soon as anything started that might lead to something sexual, Celeste would vanish, probably going down to her suite on the twenty-ninth floor or in a wing at The Meadows. Later, she'd come tiptoeing back into the area, peeking around corners to see whether she still needed to remain away. She told Elsa she was amazed at how long some of our sexual encounters lasted.
Shortly after Celeste and Julie started, I had emphasized to the others in the family when we were out of earshot of the two, that I didn't want our spontaneous behavior to stop. I wanted Celeste and Julie to adapt, not the other way around. Despite my comments, I did note a decrease in the lovemaking taking place in the common rooms.
