Recap: On a business trip in his own plane down the Caribbean chain, Jonathan disappeared, leaving a wife, pregnant Allison, behind. Jon's business partner Matt and Allison slowly develop a loving relationship, conceive their own child, and, after Jon is declared legally dead six years after his disappearance, Allison and Matt marry. A year or so later, Jon shows up very much alive. A torrid reunion occurs between Allison and Jon with Matt's blessing, and then his participation. After that initial night of passion, Jon reveals he too has wed someone else.
*
Jon took a deep breath and began: "There's another part of my life I need to share with you – from the past few years. I didn't mean to hide it yesterday, but ... well, other events and our reunion disrupted my thinking." He paused and blurted out, "I'm married."
The statement hung on the air for at least a full minute as both Matt, and I digested the implications of what Jon had said. He was gracious enough to allow that thought process to mature.
I finally said with some enthusiasm, "Tell us about her. Where is she?"
Jon said, "You'll laugh. She's my psychiatrist's daughter; her name is Molly. We live outside a town called Basseterre – it's the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis ... with our two-year-old daughter Coral. I didn't ... I just didn't know how to tell you earlier. I was scared you'd reject me out of hand."
"Wow!" I breathed. I still studied Jon with fascination and love. Nothing he could say, even loving another woman and having a child by her, would change my love for him. In a way I was shocked, yet I felt joy that he'd found love and a life of some kind despite his amnesia.
Jon went on, "Molly is also a psychiatrist. Molly and her father teach at the medical university on the island. They also teach at some of the other universities in the Caribbean chain. Oddly enough Molly's specialty is the treatment of amnesia, so you can see how we met."
Jon paused and redirected his thought back to our situation, "Now I'm not even sure if the marriage is legal ... I mean I'm still sort of married to you ... maybe. And then I'm not sure of Molly's status when we come to the U.S., particularly since I was declared dead. Is she my wife or are you? Do I have two wives; am I a bigamist? Do I have to get a court to declare me 'alive' again – or get a new birth certificate?"
"Does she even want to come here?" Matt asked.
"We should pay back the insurance money," I noted quietly.
"Oh yes," Jon said proudly, still focused on Molly. "She studied psychiatry at Tulane – got her MD degree there. She did her internship and residency in Fort Lauderdale, so she's even licensed in Florida – and, of course, where we live."
"What about us?" I asked softly. I reached over and took his hand.
Jon shook his head. "When I left the island Molly told me to go back and ... and to be your husband – if you'd have me. She was or is willing to be the other woman, or to play any role in our lives I want ... or that you'll accept. We didn't know about Matt and you ... or the kids." He gestured to the playground where the children played on a seesaw, Little Jon being solicitous of his younger sister. I could see tears in Big Jon's eyes.
"You love her?" I asked softly. I already knew the answer from the tender way he talked about Molly.
Jon looked at me with a surprised look, "Yes, very much. She's been through a lot with me – as I slowly rediscovered who I'd been. She helped me heal and get back to normal – at least as normal as I am now." He squeezed my hand and added, "And I love you too. I always have ... I just sort of forgot for a while. When the memories started to come back, they came back with all the feelings I ever had for you." He leaned in and kissed me. Matt watched with a smile.
"What did Molly think when you started to remember me? Wasn't she horrified to find out you were married? Suddenly, all the questions started to roll into my head, one right after another." I had to bite my tongue rather than swamp Jon with my sudden awareness of the larger picture and all the implications.
"In a way she was surprised, but by then we were married, and she was pregnant. For a while, we weren't even sure if my memories were accurate – fact or fiction. Molly just accepted what came out of me – there were few judgments and little shock. Around that time, she did most of the hypnosis and brought the memories out from my damaged head. She's a remarkable woman. She's seen the love I feel for you – and for her. She knows it all."
"Why would she tolerate you coming back to me?"
"She said it's the right and loving thing to do," Jon said slowly as he stared at the children. "She's inclusive in her love, plus she knows that I won't abandon her. There's little about our time together she doesn't know about – after I started to remember, things often came flooding back in large blocks, like parts of my brain were suddenly turning back on after having been switched off for so long. She or her dad had me talk through my memories as they came. Initially, my memories were disconnected from each other – like reading random paragraphs in a book; but weeks later I'd connect a bunch of them together and suddenly they'd make some sense. Molly's father said it's like putting a puzzle together and suddenly realizing what part of the picture is about."
"Just how detailed were you – about us?" I asked with a touch of humor.
"Everything. Every detail. The love; the kinky stuff we used to do; our spats; our dating; fun places we made out; being engaged; the wedding and honeymoon; trying for a child; the house; our plans and aspirations; everything."
"That must have been entertaining for her," I said with a slightly sarcastic tone. I thought of how so many women are repulsed by the idea of kinky sex, particularly if one of the participants is their husband and the co-conspirator is not them.