Chapter 16 -- Minor Surprises
Dave, Scarlett, and Heather sat with Matt and Rose on the patio on Saturday morning -- the two mothers and the stepdad to the teens.
Dave said, "We wanted to be sure you are making an adult decision that has more to it than all your hormones talking."
The two teens laughed at his comment.
Scarlett said in somewhat serious tone, "I agree. Dave told me about what you both said on Monday night at the Circle 101 class, and I am touched, but at the same time I am worried perhaps because you are both young -- or maybe it's that I'm becoming so old."
The two teens were paying rapt attention to their parents and were surprisingly not argumentative or intimidated by the meeting. Rose said, "Mom, just so you know, Matt and I have been sexually intimate. We've been very responsible and have used all sorts of protection from pregnancy and with a couple of very safe exceptions neither of us has strayed from the other, so there has been no risk of an STD."
Heather rolled her eyes, "But there's more to a relationship than just sex. What about all the other factors that you should consider?"
Matt said, "If I had the means, I would buy Rose the biggest engagement ring ever and then marry her this afternoon. I love her with all my heart and I know she loves me. We've just been having the longest engagement in the world. If you recall, Rose declared that she was going to marry me right after we met twelve years ago." He grinned at her, "She reminds me of that fact about once a week."
Dave acknowledged, "I do recall and dismissed it as a child's fantasy. Now, you've grown to the age to make it real, and I guess nothing has changed. When you meet your soul mate, I guess you know immediately."
Rose said, "We think alike. We finish each other's sentences. We would like to live together here in the Circle instead of having to go to our own rooms alone each night. Consider this a formal request for us to live together."
The adults all sat back, a bit in shock, and looked at each other. This wasn't the discussion they expected. Dave said, "Where?"
Matt said, "We identified two bedrooms that would work for us. One is my room in our house. My bedroom is kind of small and I only have a twin bed, but that room could become the guest room if Rose and I occupied the other larger guest room with the queen size bed. That would also give us an ensuite bath. The other place is a large guest room in Miss Scarlett's house. Athena is next door in her own quarters. That also has its own ensuite bath."
Heather said, "And what will you tell your friends in school?"
Matt spoke, "They don't need to know the obvious. We are always hanging out together anyway, at least when we've been at the same school. We keep the PDAs down low, but everybody assumes we're sexual. If you're a couple in any of the upper schools it's taken for granted that you're most likely fucking like rabbits every chance you get. A few have been caught on school grounds. A few have gotten pregnant and that's why we have a Cyesis program at one of the high schools."
Rose jumped in, "We would never do that. It would disgrace us, and pose a problem for the three of you and probably the Circle. We don't want that. We are the one couple that has gone together for the longest in any of our schools. People tell us we're the gold standard. We do feel like role models to the other kids, and we've seen them modify their behavior to be more like us -- not hanging all over each other, not copping a feel at their lockers, and so on."
Scarlett said, "But joining the Circle as full-fledged members is a big step. Suddenly, you're not exclusive with each other. You indicated that you'd had some kind of sex with others. Would you care to share what that was about?"
Matt gestured to Rose.
Rose said, "I really like Toby a lot. I love him, too, but not as deeply as I feel about Matt. Several times we've gotten together with Toby and Danica. We swapped I guess you might say and speaking for myself I really enjoyed myself." She gave a slight smile but didn't sound embarrassed.
Matt rapidly added, "I think of Danica the same way. I really like her but she's no replacement in anyway for Rose. I felt our times together have been special and expressive. They told us about being with a few other Circle members and how rewarding they found the experience. I guess that's one of the reasons we want to belong as full members and not as tag-alongs to you adults."
Rose said, "Think of it this way, if we weren't related and you were meeting us for the first time as young adults, and we expressed our interest in the Circle, you'd have no qualms about having us become pledges and then members."
Matt said, "As for living together, again if we weren't related and just showed up together to ask to rent a room, you'd think seriously of honoring our request."
Dave kind of ignored their argument and said, "Rose, you are a beauty in every sense of the word. I worry that you'll become a sex toy for the men, or that they'll lure you away from Matt in some way."
Rose smiled, "I know how to say 'No'. I also talked to Rachel about what her experiences have been since she started with all of you at about the same age. She admitted to really focusing on you, dad, and then having to broaden out her focus. She said she was popular as a teen and even used to tease all the men about how they were fucking teenage pussy. She told me to call them each 'Daddy' when I got the opportunity and lay on the teenage pussy thing. She said they'd cum like crazy when she did that." Rose laughed.
Dave rolled his eyes. He could remember being with Rachel after she'd just turned eighteen and loved her teasing him that way. She even did that well into her twenties although everybody knew she was no longer a teenager.
Rose went on, "Rachel said she thought she was the aggressor rather than the men. I think I'll be the one that has to ask for what I want. I think the men will be too intimidated to ask a teen. This is the CIRCLE. The men already love me and they don't want me to have a bad experience, so they'll be cautious and standoffish. I doubt I'll be overwhelmed in any way. Besides, I want this."
Heather nodded, "I can understand that, and I think you're right." She turned to her son, "And you're ready to work at making the Circle a success the way the rest of us do."
"I am," Matt said with a smile. "Rose and I talked to Tan about service jobs on Wednesday. I'm going on 'pots and pans' in the kitchen as part of the cleanup crew alternating three and four days a week with some others from the Circle. Rose went on two teams that are each light duty -- one is patio laundry to collect, wash, and fold the pool towels three or four days a week, and the other is Dale's security team. Tan wanted her to interact with some of the others in the Circle, in that case Dave, Dale, Dev, Owen, Julie, and Kat."
Matt went on, "Rose and I both know to keep our mouths shut about how we live or the environment and culture of the Circle. If people ask, and they have, we just refer them to the newspaper articles and brush off the question. So far, that's worked. When the reality TV show goes on the air, we'll have fewer questions of one sort, but probably a whole rash of new questions we'll have to formulate answers to. Since Rose and I talk all the time, we're good at presenting a united front."
