Chapter One - The Prelude
My freshman and sophomore years at college were not my best, not only did my costs rise as my GPA fell but I found myself getting into crowds and dope that I was not accustomed to and it was affecting everything. I had worked hard to get to that point and I was flushing it away with what I believed was newfound freedom but in reality, was just simple indiscipline.
Luckily, and as usual, my Mom and Dad stepped in before it was too late. Although we shared costs for college, they kept me accountable and I think they purposely let me slide into an ugly place allowing me to see it before they threw a flag and pulled the plug. Those discussions were probably the most impactful of my life to date, and for that I will always be grateful. I learned and saw that too easily college can be wasted away and that time and effort is lost forever. I am not in that place anymore; my GPA remains in the 3.8 range and I am more focused now for the real future than I ever was before thanks to them.
Mom and Dad had me when they were young. They were together right out of high school and although she became pregnant unexpectedly the love was there and they have endured over 20 years now. Mom and Dad are forty and forty-one respectively, and they do stay active, have strong work lives and very often enjoy times together, away, and at play. I hope to be as full of life as they are now and as I know they will be for a very long time to come.
So, the revelations of my junior year naturally led to more time at home and away from the challenges of youth. During this time, I spent almost a dozen weekends and holidays at home with great support and influence on not only my studies and success but also on the relationship with my parents. I worked hard to recover with them that I had feared I had lost with the frivolousness of those first years at the university.
During my visits My Dad and I fell into a very natural habit occasionally of having an evening of some scotch, inevitably talking about life, loves, and the difficulties of studies and establishing a future. These talks have become very valuable to me and I not only saw my Dad in a different light from them That not only of a friend, but also as a human being and someone who I could trust implicitly. The Norman Rockwell scene of a dark room swept with deep discussion and warm drink provided much wisdom and guidance for me. These times happily continued as I went into my senior year.
One night we ventured into the realm of relationships, girlfriends, and women. Not a common subject of ours but when we did talk about the fairer sex it was usually with good information and a lot of laughs. This night turned out to be different though, one with more honesty than I expected and a level of explicitness that shocked me.
My Dad spoke much of marriage that evening, how the rainbows and lollipops are unrealistic but that marriage is just as much a partnership as it is friendship and love. As the discussion ventured on and the fourth glass of scotch was consumed, he began speaking about how important it was to sustain a marriage over time and how necessary it was to keep a marriage alive. Everything contributed to this, deep conversation, intimacy, and even time away from each other was important and played a vital part.
Then Dad took a turn, he began speaking about sex and how the spice of life was a critical ingredient to marriage everlasting. That fantasies and desires should be respected and allowed and that some compromise and understanding that each other was human and had needs that may even be thought of as flaws were included. The acceptance of that, the allowance of that was a deeper, more meaningful, and more trust invoking than many other parts.
Dad said that Mom had seen how I looked at her over recent years, and although natural she also saw it as a great compliment. He also said that she too now saw me as handsome, young, and strong, something they both were leaving but still very much loved.
Dad then began speaking about things that can make a marriage stronger, those things of absolute trust and selflessness that provided for the other even if it was against norms and values. That in many ways there were individual, human needs that could not even be met by a marriage, but if turned around, if used as a tool of strength instead of viewed as a failing, then that allowance actually contributed to the strength and vitality of the marriage immeasurably.
He continued to explain that, for them, one way they had provided that for each other was by sometimes allowing others to be with the other sexually. They both had very strong drives and vigorous appetites for change and variety once in a while and this was how they gave that to the other.
Next week would be one of those planned dates. A night where Dad would 'sponsor' another man to come in and pleasure Mom, she reciprocated at other times by bringing another woman in, or, by herself submitting to one of Dads fantasies or pleasures. I could not believe all this and I had no idea it was going on. They had exercised exceptional discretion on all of this through the years.
Dad then left me speechless when, without hesitation or doubt, he asked me if I would be that man next weekend.
"What?" "Me?" I asked.
"Yes." He simply replied. "I've known your Mother for over twenty years and I can read her like a book. I've known for some time that she has had some curiosity and interest in you. It's easy for me to recognize those interests in her the rare times they happen."
"But Dad, isn't that like, illegal."
"Not illegal if you're an adult I think." "Taboo, most definitely."
I sat there just looking into my glass of scotch and wondering if this could even be happening. My Mother was beautiful and admittedly I have had plenty of fantasies over the years like I'm sure all young men have, but this was real and possible.
"This is a choice, John; you don't have to do it." He added somehow reading my quiet.
