14

Chapter 10 – Thanksgiving Revelations

Christie woke up from the sexually-induced slumber of her A-spot mega-orgasm about four minutes later. Dave kissed her and assured her that she was loved and care for. After a few more minutes to regain her faculties, Dave and Christie made love. This time, Dev and Grace watched the pair from the adjacent sofa as they cuddled together relishing their own after-glows.

Once they were through, Christie lay motionless in Dave's arms with her eyes closed. She avowed, "I love you. I'm glad we can do this together, and I'm glad we get to be together in our new homes. This cohousing thing is a great idea. You can expect me in your bed more often than not, and of course you have an engraved invitation to be in mine."

"I'm glad, and I think so, too." Dave glanced around the room to see what else was happening. He'd deeply focused on Christie for the past half-hour and lost touch with Alice and the rest of the people.

Alice and Roy were locked together in a lover's embrace. They'd apparently finished but she was keeping him inside her as they kissed and she hugged him with her legs wrapped around his lower body. Pam and Owen were in one of the large 'sex chairs' the decorating committee had bought; a chair specifically designed so that people could comfortably have sex in it.

Heather was still riding Sean. Julie was perched atop Mike's face as he fucked up into Kat on the plush carpet. Rachel rode Ty opposite them in a reverse cowgirl so everyone could see her penetration and passion, and Dori and Jack were having a slow fuck in the other sex chair, while Clarisse sat with her legs spread on one arm jilling off as she awaited a turn on his shaft.

In the background, the soft and sexy strains of station KCSM jazz played, but were frequently drowned out by the din of expletives – not in anger but in passion, lust, and pleasure; orgasmic moans; or conversations and words of affection and love between the various couples.

Dave and Christie got up and snuck into the kitchen. They got a serving tray and assembled flutes of champagne on it, and Christie carried it into the living room as her nipples pointed the way with apparent pride. Dave came behind her.

The glasses were passed out. Dave gestured to Ty, the president of the Circle Cohousing Project.

Ty stood next to Rachel, Heather, Julie, Mike, and Kat. He raised his glass. "Ladies and gentlemen. There are a great many people to toast, but I want to start with Owen Bennett, the man who brought the cohousing idea to us and then provided the resources and drive to have the project take on a life of its own. We also toast Jack over there with his dick in Clarisse's tight little pocket from behind. He had the design genius to take all our ideas and create a plan that could come to life, and that we all now live in. Of course, there are dozens of contractors as well that did great work for us.

"Now, the hard work begins. While we all loved each other before, we also had space to go and hide away from one another. Now, we are joined together in that love and in a common space of the Circle Project. Being together like this will take work, a large boatload of communication and sharing, and for some of us a real change in mindset and lifestyle.

"So, lastly, I toast to us. The daring few who choose to live together in this unique arrangement. Please remember our watch words: love, tolerance, honesty, play, resilience, and creativity."

Ty put his glass to his lips, as everyone else in the room yelled, 'Here! Here!' and then also drank to the toast.

* * * * *

The Board of the Circle Project decided on weekly meetings for a while on Monday evenings: Ty presided, Dave was VP, Wendy secretary, Julie treasurer, and Jack a director overseeing facilities and operations. There were so many details to attend to about living together and creating a group social life.

Three large white boards were installed just outside the common kitchen. This was to be the message hub for who would or wouldn't be at dinner, or other social times, or anybody's travel plans. It soon became the crews that would prepare dinner or cleanup, or who had responsibility for cleaning up the common areas. Then it became the hub for formal news that affected the Circle, such as status reports on the tenth house, the perimeter security system, and such. Owen took to noting the anticipated times there'd be a takeoff or landing on the Circle runway.

Mike also used part of a white board to note the release of various adult videos that involved Circle members. All of the women except Rachel now had released videos on his adult website. Several of the other women had followed Alice's model and chosen a disguise or mask, but Clarisse, Heather, Christie, Julie, and Grace had opted to appear 'as is.'

Julie admitted to hoping that word about her burgeoning porn career would filter to her parents in some way. She stated firmly that she wanted revenge for the way she was raised. She thought that life in a Siberian prison camp might have been more relaxed and involved fewer constraints than she endured getting to the point she rebelled at age twenty-four and decided to live with us.

Christie had been doing adult videos occasionally for several years before meeting and introducing Alice to a couple of adult video companies, one of which was run by Mike assisted by Clarisse. She still did them every now and then to supplement her income from the Club Ecstasy.

Kat had taken the job that Mike offered her as a full-time video editor and webmaster. She also appeared in disguise in several of the videos, including one where Dave, Dev, and Mike took her to the moon and back on film in a fabulous fuck fest. She was now making twice what she did at her old job doing graphics design and other computer-related things for a marketing and design company, and loving the job ten times as much.

Rachel did have a porn video shot of her when she was fucked into oblivion and made airtight by some of the men. Looking so under age and wanting to preserve the reputation of the site, the video couldn't be distributed without raising eyebrows and commanding government scrutiny, but it did receive some notoriety in the Circle and was a favorite for some of the men during some of the group social events. More than any of the other women, Rachel pleaded to do more, but Mike pushed her off until she turned twenty or twenty one, even promising that he'd do something significant on her birthday.

Grace had been a surprise. Shortly after becoming sexual within the Circle, she saw one of Alice's videos and was let in on the secret of whom the disguised star of the film was. She was mesmerized by the video, and even borrowed a copy. She admitted she'd watched the film and jilled off, but also watched every nuance of the film.

When Grace heard that Christie was going to do a video with Mike, she asked whether she could watch part of the filming. She spent the day with Christie, Mike, and Clarisse, and even got roped into manning one of the optional cameras. She could barely contain herself about the experience of watching, so Mike's offer to do a video with her took her to great heights.

Grace did her video only two days after Christie had done hers. She chose to do a M-M-F scene with Mike and Dave, and the two men turned her every which way but loose on Dave's new living room sofa. Grace loved the group sex, raved about the men's performance, and then pestered Kat until she completed the editing on the film.

Jack was amazed, if not stunned, that his wife had done a 'mature' adult video. He was immensely turned on just at the idea, and when he saw the completed video insisted that Grace do more. He loved having a 'Hot Wife'. Of course, she was willing, but Mike told her to wait until they could see how her video sold and got graded on his website. It turned out she was one of the sexier mature models, and got high grades.

Despite Heather only being twenty-five, she did what Mike cast as a 'MILF' video. He put on a little extra makeup to give her a slightly grayer appearance, even shading her hair. She looked like she'd aged ten years when he was through. She'd danced at the Club Ecstasy, so didn't care much about being 'seen' by the general public. Her mother had known she worked at the Club and hadn't squawked too much about her job. Heather said she hadn't been as revealing about her video work.

The Circle members had a monster celebration for Thanksgiving. Besides all eighteen of the clan being present, they also invited any family members that were interested in seeing the Center Cohousing Project and their family.

Thanksgiving had been declared as the 'Big Reveal' for many of the members to their family. Mike had been an orphan growing up in foster homes, but Clarisse's parents came in from outside Atlanta. Christie's sister came from Alabama. Sean and Kat's parents flew in from Austin, Texas, where they'd originally been from. Dev's mother and Wendy's parents came from Indianapolis. Ty's parents had passed, and Dori's mother and much older sister came from outside of D.C. Jack, Grace, and Rachel had no family nearby. Owen chose not to involve any relatives because they were always hitting him up for money, one thing everybody in the Circle studiously avoided. Roy invited his younger brother.

Pam's mother agreed to come down from St. Paul. Alice and Julie adamantly refused to invite their parents or older sister. The silence from that part of the country was deafening. Dave's brother and wife drove down from Dayton, Ohio. Heather's mother came from only three miles away, and of course Matthew was there. Five other children under ten were in the mix, and Matthew found he had new friends to play with.

The Center opened up all the homes in the project as well as the complete core. Some sterilization occurred to remove any flagrant indications of the sexual relationships. For instance, Mike's announcements of recent porn films by Circle members had been taken down, as well as a sexy picture taken in the sauna with most of the Circle members naked and clowning around.

There had almost been a betting pool regarding how long it would be before someone would deduce what was really going on with the Circle. Side bets had also been placed by a few about who would make the first observation.

As it turned out, Fred Atkins, Wendy's stepfather made the first relationship observation. He'd been in a smaller group with his wife along with Roy's brother Stuart, and Kat's parents. They'd been wandering from house to house, and then got to the largest on the Circle – the one that was home to Dave, Alice, Julie, Pam, Heather, and Matthew.

Specifically, they'd wandered down the bedroom wing of the home and glanced into the master bedroom. The room was neat as a pin and looked like it came out of a designer magazine, except for what uniquely stood out – the bed. From the doorway, the bed looked immense. It was immense: twelve and a half feet in width, and seven feet from foot to head! A modern headboard double the width of a king-size headboard headlined the bed, along with five large pillows lined the wall. Clearly, five people slept there.

Fred studied the bed and declared with certainty, "THAT is NOT a bed for two people."

The others looked and studied the scene, some even moving into the room so they could more closely examine the setting. That led them to also wander into the master bathroom where the large shower stall indicated that six people could easily take simultaneous showers. There were also five sinks and two toilets, along with drawers and countertops filled with cosmetics and on one some shaving gear for a man.

Kat's mother Kiki asked, "Who lives here?"

Roy's brother was in the know; "David and Alice Prentiss, Pam and Julie Prentiss, and Heather Manning-Prentiss." He was looking at a sheet of paper Roy had given him that included a map of the entire building complex. The map also called out some of the unique features in each home and the core.

She pondered, "Hmmmm. They all have a common last name. I guess they're related in some way."

Fred said, "Let's ask the others when we return to what they call the core area. This is a real oddity."

Those small observations led to a question tossed out at one of the three long dining tables set up to accommodate everybody. A common universal grace had been said by Jack Anders as everyone stood and held hands in kinship, and then the food had been uncovered and the buffet started.

After people were seated and the dining had begun, Fred learned that he was seated across the table from Pam. "Oh," he announced a little on the loud side, "we saw your house with the large bed and super bathroom. Why is everything so big?"

Pam smiled benignly, as agreed and rehearsed with all the others in the Circle. "Because five of us live there."

"And you all use one bathroom?" Fred drilled deeper, still puzzled.

"Yes, of course; it's right off our bedroom." She looked puzzled at his question.

Fred heard the word 'our' and made the leap that started the avalanche. "You mean that five of you sleep together."

Unfortunately Fred's question got made in a lull in conversation at all three tables, so it broadcast 'clear channel' around the entire dining room despite not being particularly loud.

Pam nodded, "Yes. We're married, at least as far as we are concerned." The room remained silent as every ear tuned into the conversation.

Fred persisted further, "But ... but ... but ... polygamy is against the law. Are you Mormons or something?"

Pam laughed. Three seats down the table Dave started to engage in the conversation. He spoke up, "No, we're not Mormons, but we do have a polyamorous relationship, and fortunately the government hasn't outlawed those – yet. Poly means 'many,' and amorous meaning 'loving.' The five of us love one another, but we make sure not to represent ourselves as officially married to any government entity. That's one of the reasons the women all changed their last names to reflect that love and unity, but that was only for our own benefit."

Fred stared back and forth between Pam and Dave assembling the pieces of what now was a pretty simple puzzle.

Kat's mother was sitting two seats down the middle table from Alice. She asked her, "So is anybody the 'real' wife?"

Alice raised her hand slightly, "That'd be me. I guess by default and chronology I became

primus inter pares

– first among equals. I'm the legal wife."

"And you're OK with this?" Kiki posed in a nonthreatening way. She was genuinely curious.

"More than OK. I love it. I am loved by not only one man, but three other women, and then everybody else in the Circle. I get to love everyone back to, and I've found I have a huge capacity to do that. I think we've all found that." Alice gestured around to all three tables.

The astute attendees at the dinner that hadn't already consumed too much wine or spiked eggnog immediately glanced around the tables at the Circle members. The leap from what was happening on a small scale in the Prentiss' home to what was happening involving ALL the Circle members had just been strongly hinted upon by Alice's oblique comment.

Several of the Circle members silently counted, waiting for some kind of blanket statement about the Circle's lifestyle.

Some eating and random bits of conversation took place that was unrelated to the more encompassing revelations.

One hundred and eight seconds passed before Wendy's stepfather, Bob, asked of no one in particular, "So, does that mean that you all share ... your homes with each other?"

The question was oblique enough and yet directly to the point. Dave wondered whether Bob had intentionally substitute the word 'homes' for 'each other,' because sharing 'each other with each other' was exactly what was happening on a daily basis.

Clarisse, who sat to Bob's left said, "Well, you are insightful. Yes. We love each other's company. It's one of the big benefits of cohousing."

Jack amplified from table one, "Yes, the diversity of members in age, occupation, race, family status, and so on, is a primary benefit for cohousing. You are dining in our core, a core that we all support and share. We each have our own space, but prefer to socially mix with each other, especially in our core spaces. We even share our meals together most of the time."

Julie stated, "For instance, I share meal preparation next week with Sean and Dori. We'll be eating at these tables; well, not as many of them, but here. Wendy spoke up, "And I have cleanup duty with Dave, Sean, and Clarisse."

Clarisse's mother asked, "Do you just prepare food for eighteen? That's a huge deal every night."

Julie said, "It's been rare that we're all here, plus various people have favorite restaurants they like to go to, some like Pam travel a lot, so more typically we have a dozen for dinner unless there's a birthday or some special occasion like today."

Dave waited for some kind of explosion, but none came. Separate discussions started at each table. He started to breath easier, but then realized he judged things too soon.

Fred glance down at Dave and teased, "So, you have yourself quite a harem?"

Dave finished chewing on a piece of turkey and replied, "A rhetorical question, I presume. The answer to a better question is that we chose each other. We established an intentional family. The whole Center Cohousing Project involves an intentional family. We chose each other."

"How did the project start with all of you?" Kat's father Paul asked.

Dave said, "Four of the couples here lived close to one another in another neighborhood about three miles from here. We gravitated to each other and spent almost every Saturday afternoon and evening together, as well as other times when some of us could socialize. Other people got introduced for various reasons and the group grew to what you see today."

"Will you add others?"

"Maybe. There's room for another circle of homes outside our existing Circle and we kind of have one home available for another family unit. We also have a lot of land. We are a closed and private society, so we can't just contact a realtor and tell them to get us a nice couple. We want to screen them and be sure we all fit together."

"Do you share finances?"

"No. We decided not to, but we created a pool of money we each contribute to based on the square footage of our homes. That supports the common space such as this core and will provide funds for special projects or maintenance of common equipment and land.

Kiki asked in her squeaky tone, "And you ALL love each other? Just how far does that go?"

Dave smiled and teased, "Kiki, what a kinky question. I think that's a discussion for another time and place. It really pries into the private lives of nineteen people, and I wouldn't presume to make global answers that would apply to how everybody feels or what they do. I can tell you one thing and that is that we avoid judgments, and, as was stated by Jack, the cohousing project embraces diversity."

Kiki was going to say more or try to drill deeper on the unanswered question, but Paul her husband put a strong hand on her arm to stop her. She looked surprised, but didn't say anything further. Others saw his move and wisely moved on to other subjects.

* * * * *

Many of the out-of-town guests departed Saturday afternoon after Thanksgiving. Overall, it had been a remarkable four days from Wednesday when they had started to arrive for Thanksgiving, to Saturday.

Pretty much all the relatives ended up knowing at one level or another that Circle Cohousing Project was also the Circle Group Sex Project.

The ice had been broken with some oblique questions and answers around the Thanksgiving dinner. Over the evening after the main feast and then the next two days, in much smaller groups, the revelations were made.