Sam and Alice Johnson were on the way to visit Sam's parents. It was a trip that they usually enjoyed making, since they both got a long very well with his parents. This time was different; they were both somewhat apprehensive and nervous. They weren't sure how Sam's parents would react to their plea for help. It wasn't the normal request that children ask of their parents. Hell, they weren't even sure how they came up with the idea to ask Sam's parents, it must have been out of desperation. They had tried every thing they could think of to solve their problem, nothing worked. They were almost at Summerville; soon they would have their answer.
Sam pulled the car into his parent's drive way and honked his horn to tell his parents they had arrived. Soon Phil and Mary came out of the house to greet them. It was good to see them again. Alice was hardly out of the car before Mary grabbed her arm and took her to the back yard to see her new and improved flower garden. That left Phil and Sam to unload the car. They didn't mind the women running off, it gave them time to talk about their golf games, the Yankees, Sam's new law firm and all the other things fathers and sons talk about.
They finished putting the bags away and went out to join the girls in the back yard. Mary and Alice were sitting on the back porch drinking white wine and talking like two women who hadn't seen each other in over six months, which they hadn't. Sam and his dad sat down and joined in the conversation. Sam and Alice told his parents how busy her practice was becoming. The area in which they were living was undergoing a housing boom, with many young couples buying the new houses. Young couples had young children and Alice's pediatric practice was getting a lot of the new children, which was keeping her extremely busy.
Sam's law practice was also benefiting from the housing boom. New businesses were coming into the area and he was getting many of them for his clients. His office had enlarged; he had expanded to have three lawyers working with him. That was very good for a young lawyer not yet even thirty-five. Mary and Phil couldn't have been prouder of their son and daughter-in-law. They weren't surprised, Sam worked hard in high school and college, and he was always studying. They were surprised he took time away from his studies to meet Alice, but after getting to know Alice, she was just like Sam, always studying.
After Sam and Alice finished telling them about the last six months and how busy they were, Phil and Mary caught them up on their lives. For a couple in their middle fifties, they were sure busy, a trip to Vegas, one to New England and a visit to Disney World. Phil's business was established and able to get along without him for weeks at a time. This was different from Sam's childhood, when his dad was always working. Maybe that's why Sam felt very close to his mother, she was always there for him, her only child.
After they had caught up on each other's lives, Sam looked at Alice; there was a look of apprehension in his stare. Alice gave him a slight nod to show him some encouragement. Sam began to explain why he and Alice had taken time out of their busy schedule to visit Phil and Mary. He told his parents that while Alice's and his professional life were excellent, something in their personnel life was not – their sex life. He explained that both he and Alice were very much in love with each other, but their sex life was not what they wanted. They didn't get the extreme satisfaction out of their love making, not like some other people. Sam went on to explain that they both were very inexperienced when it came to love making. Both he and Alice had had only one other partner before they met each other and it wasn't very satisfying for either of them. They had tried to spice up their love life. They had rented porno movies, but they could never duplicate, with the same success, what they saw on the screen. They read books about sex, which helped somewhat, but not to the degree they hoped for. They had both came to the same solution, they needed another couple to teach them. Sam explained, that they had thought about placing an ad in the personals, but they felt it would be too risky. If they were identified, it would ruin their careers. So they came up with one conclusion, Sam paused and glanced at Alice, who gave him encouragement with a smile, and told his parents they wanted them to be their teachers.
Phil and Mary seemed taken back by their son's request. Phil wanted to know why they thought he and Mary could help them. Also, what kind of help did they want from Mary and him? He didn't know how he and his wife could explain it any clearer than a book. How did Sam think they could help with Sam and Alice's sex life?
Sam nervously cleared his throat and explained how he Alice had arrived at their conclusion. First, when he and Alice realized they needed expert help, they tried to think of all the couples they knew and how sexually happy the couples seemed. The second important ingredient was how compatible he and Alice were with that couple. The last point was how much they could trust the couple to be secretive about the arrangement. Sam explained that his parents were the only couple that both he and Alice agreed would fill all their requirements.
Phil wanted to know what Alice and Sam specifically wanted from Mary and him. After all they were his parents and the "it" seemed, to him, that Sam was suggested a "hands on" approach to the problem.
Alice, who had let Sam do most of the talking, spoke up. Her eyes were looking down at the table and her voice was almost a whisper when she talked. She and Sam had discussed this for more than a year and they tried to come up with a more logical solution, but they always returned to this solution. She glanced up and looked directly at Phil and then Mary, She told them how much respect and love they both felt for Phil and Mary. She and Sam would understand if they did not want to help them, but she asked them to listen to the reasoning behind their request.