Chapter 24: Resolutions
I looked down into those liquid greenish-brown eyes, and felt my own watering up. The catch in my throat kept me from speaking, even if I'd had anything coherent to say. Of course I'd said it. What took me so long? This was the love of my life. The knowledge that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Tethys wasn't some sudden revelation that had only hit me at this moment. I'd known it for months. Yet I'd said nothing, made no acknowledgment. Somewhere buried deep had always been the feeling that no woman could possibly want me. Once upon a time, I might have been able to point to some evidence for this conclusion, weak though it might have been. But for the past two years at least, I'd been living with proof that this feeling was wrong. Now I had no fewer than eight women who wanted me, all at once, and all delighting in the prospect of sharing me with one another.
But ok, they liked me and wanted to fuck me. Did that mean I was the kind of person that someone would be willing to make a lifetime commitment to? By now, the obvious answer should be "why not?", but my delusional mind still could not see the obvious. But the signs had been there. Tethys hadn't been all that subtle. She'd asked to move in with me. She'd mentioned the idea of having my child. Did she need to slap me across the head with a hockey stick? She knew how I felt about her, and I would have to be well past delusional not to know how she felt about me. She was surprised and shocked now, not because I wanted that lifetime commitment, not because she'd not already known I wanted it, but because I'd actually said it out loud for the first time.
It took a few minutes, but her breathing gradually returned to normal, and after a few more sniffles she looked at me and smiled.
"You love me because of my slutty philosophy?"
"Yes, and I want to share it with you," I repeated hoarsely. "I would love for you to be my slutty wife."
She rested her arms over my shoulders. "Only if you will be my slutty husband. No more monogamy for you. If I'm a slut, you have to be a slut, don't ever forget that."
"I don't think you're the only woman regularly reminding me of that fact," I agreed.
After all the times we'd been back and forth over the idea, it still amazed me that we could be a devoted couple with multiple other lovers. Our nudist Tribe was going to be a big part of our lives for a long time to come. Maybe forever. At least I hoped so.
"You know it's going to be a nude wedding," I said.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she smiled.
"We'll have to invite your dad to come."
"It would serve him right," she growled.
The rest of our conversation was mostly banter. We weren't at the point of setting a date, or making specific plans about the location or logistics. But the important decision had been made. We were going to be a married couple. At some point, if fortune prevailed, we would bring a child into the world. The commitment was there, in principle. It just wasn't arranged logistically, and there was no real rush to doing so. Tethys only made two very specific demands.
"You realize, I think, that the marriage is going to be consummated right then and there, in front of all the witnesses and guests."
"You being you, I would never have assumed otherwise," I acknowledged.
"And everyone in The Tribe is going to help you consummate it," she continued. "I think a girl's wedding day is a good justification for a gang-bang, don't you?"
"Ok, but I go first. It's only fitting."
"Of course you do. And you'll go last, too, so you better hope it goes on long enough for you to make a full recovery."
"I'm sure some of our sexy guests will be willing to help me with that," I smiled.
"And one other thing," she said in a more serious tone. "No wedding rings. They aren't necessary in our context, and they detract from our nakedness."
"You've been talking to Mimi and Ray about this, haven't you?" I guessed.
"Yep. You've noticed they don't wear wedding rings, haven't you?"
"I think you mentioned it a couple of times," I pointed out.
"They had them in their first year or so of marriage. But they were at that nude beach near San Diego, Black's Beach it's called, and they were playing in the surf when Mimi's ring came off her finger. She looked desperately for it and couldn't find it, and she felt heartbroken. She felt like she'd somehow betrayed her vows to Ray, and he'd be mad at her. Instead, he told her that rings were just for show, they were meant for outsiders, not for each other. And he took his off and threw it into the ocean to be near hers. She says their rings will always be together in the ocean, and that's good enough for them. They haven't worn wedding rings for forty-two years, and never think about it."
"So should we have some kind of symbolic objects that we can bury together somewhere, and they'll be our spiritual bond that only we know about?" I asked.
"That's kind of romantic," she nodded. "Maybe some kind of interlocking necklace pendants, or something."