Monica's Art Class

Chapter Eleven

It had been a long engagement. Three years had passed since Dennis proposed to Lenora. The two of them were back from their honeymoon and the art class had decided to have a dinner at Angel and Len's to welcome them back. As Monica and Shawn pulled up to the house they knew they were the last to arrive.

As she parked the car, Monica noticed Shawn check his watch. "We're not late," he said.

"It's been awhile since any of us have seen them," Monica said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess we're all just excited."

Shawn chuckled, it was a warm and comforting sound that Monica had come to cherish. She took off her seat belt, leaned over and hugged him.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just for being you," she said.

As she exited the car she looked down at her hand and the engagement ring on her finger. It was still hard to believe that at forty she was finally going to get married. Her other hand went down to her belly where the other big news she had for their friends inside was now growing.

Her life with Shawn was wonderful so far. He had graduated and had managed to get a well paying job in physiotherapy at a local hospital. He had always said that he wanted to help injured people to walk again and that was exactly what he was doing. Monica was still teaching art out of her house that was now Shawn's home as well as her's. Between the two of them they had enough money to live comfortable and raise a family.

Monica mused about meeting Shawn's parents; a lovely couple who loved their son and who would undoubtedly love their grandchildren as well. They still had some worries about the age difference between Monica and Shawn, but their love and trust for their son led them to accept Monica as their future daughter-in-law despite this.

"What's the smile for?" Shawn asked as he came around the car and offered her his arm. He was dressed in a grey suit with a white shirt and a black bow tie.

"I was just thinking of us and the news we have for everyone," she answered. While keeping her one hand on her belly she took his arm with her other.

They walked, arm in arm, smiling at each other, to the door. Just as Shawn was about to knock on the door it opened to reveal Angel.

"Hi!" Angel cried out as she hugged Monica. She then quickly turned to face Shawn causing her red skirt to twirl. "Hello to you too!" she cried out in the same way she had to Monica as she gave him his own hug.

Monica looked down at herself, suddenly not happy that her red summer dress matched the colour of Angel's skirt and blouse. She immediately chided herself for being petty and smiled back at Angel.

Angel ushered them into the house and they both followed. Their host sashayed across the floor in front of them, her hips swinging from side to side.

"Dinner isn't ready yet," she said without looking back, "but everyone is in the living room relaxing."

Monica heard Shawn laugh beside her. "Angel, you just love to walk like that don't you?"

Angel looked back over her shoulder at him, never once halting her movement forward or ceasing to swing her hips. "How on Earth could you tell?" she said with a huge grin.

Monica joined in on Shawn's laughter at this point. The two of them followed Angel's swinging hips as she led them into the living room. Sitting on one of the two couches were Ellie and Mark, while the other was occupied by Dennis and Lenora; all four had drinks in their hands.

Everyone's eyes turned to look at Monica and Shawn. Smiles and waves were exchanged as the two of them moved to the couch where Lenora and Dennis sat. The two newlyweds stood up to hug Monica and Shawn.

"What drinks do you want?" Angel called from the doorway.

"I'll have a rum and Coke," Shawn called back.

Monica touched her belly again before responding. "Just water for me," she said.

"No alcohol?" Angel said, her head tilting to the side with a puzzled look on her face.

"I can't," Monica replied. Her hand was still on her belly, but was now moving in a very protective manner.

Ellie was the first to respond. "Oh my God, you're pregnant!" she shouted as she leaped to her feet and dashed across the room. She threw her arms around Monica and Shawn in a big hug.

Everybody else was soon surrounding Monica and Shawn to offer their congratulations. Angel dashed back to the doorway and shouted for Len to come to the living room. He arrived a short whole later wearing a white apron over a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Angel," he said with a tone of annoyance when he first entered the room, "you know I'm not presentable yet; I'm still cooking."

His annoyance quickly disappeared when he heard the news. His arms were soon wrapped around Monica as he gave his own congratulations. He apologized for his appearance, explaining that he didn't want to spill anything on the good clothes he would be wearing for dinner while he was cooking. He then politely excused himself and made his way back to the kitchen.

Angel disappeared through the doorway right behind Len and reappeared minutes later with the drinks Shawn and Monica had asked for. All present then settled in to converse and relax as they waited for dinner to start.

About fifteen minutes later Len walked back into the room, this time dressed in a pair of brown dress pants with a blue shirt and a black tie. "Dinner is ready," he announced with a clap of his hands.

When Monica entered the dinning room she gasped; Len had outdone himself. Sitting on the table was a feast of delicious looking vegetable dishes of all kinds. To the side of the table, on a serving cart, was a large fish that looked like it had been stuffed and baked. Monica was seated on one side of the table with Lenora and Ellie with Shawn, Dennis and Mark on the other side; each across the table from their significant other. Angel sat on one of the table's end, opposite the end with the serving cart.

Len wheeled the cart around the table, serving each person their portion as he went. After he served everyone he took his own portion and seated himself at the other end of the table from Angel.

"Everyone enjoy," he said with another clap of his hands.

The rest of the dishes were passed around and everyone's plate was soon filled with food. The conversation around the table was pleasant, but there was an undertone of anticipation that built as the evening progressed. Considering what usually happened when this group got together, it was not hard for Monica to guess just what things were building to.

After everyone had finished the main part of the meal, Len cleared the table before serving desert. Monica hummed with pleasure when she saw cherry cheesecake being served, a favourite of her's.

"I love this," she said between bites, "cheesecake is such a passion of mine."

"We know," Angel said with a mysterious smile.

"Shawn told you didn't he," Monica asked as she looked at her fiancee with a smile.

"Yes indeed, Shawn did tell us," Len said as he leaned back in his chair with his hands folded behind his head, a satisfied look on his face. "I needed to know."

"Thank you," Monica said. She moved another bite of cheesecake to her mouth after saying this.

"What Len meant was he needed the information in order to give the guest of honour her proper desert," Angel chuckled, the mysterious smile returning to her face.

Monica nearly dropped her fork when she heard this. "I'm not the guest of honour," she stated, her mouth hanging open. "We're here to welcome back Dennis and Lenora," she continued as she looked from face to face at her friends around the table, her fork still hanging in the space between her mouth and her plate. "That's why we're here isn't it?"

"Yes and no," came a reply from Shawn, "we're all happy to see them, but this week a special anniversary passed that we all wanted to celebrate."

"There was an anniversary this week?" a now very confused Monica replied.

Shawn leaned back and roared with laughter. "We have to be one of the most anti-stereotypical couples ever." His eyes, which were filled with humour, passed from friend to friend around the table before he continued. "I'm the one who remembers all of the anniversaries and Monica is the who who forgets them all. If you believe the stereotype, that should be the other way around."

"I remembered the forth anniversary of the day we met," Monica said somewhat defensively even though she had to admit to herself that he was right. Once she said this she looked at her fork and finally moved it and her cheesecake to her mouth.

Shawn got to his feet and walked around the table to Monica's chair. Once there he knelt down and kissed her cheek. With an amused smile and a twinkle in his eyes, he said to her, "That was last year and it was the same anniversary of the day we all met. That's what we're celebrating tonight. You've clearly forgotten this year."

"Oh," Monica said, taking another bite of the cheesecake as she blushed. She waited until she had chewed the cake and swallowed before continuing. "Well OK, maybe I did."

Shawn laughed, kissed her cheek again and returned to his seat. He spent the rest of his time, as he ate his own cheesecake, looking at Monica and grinning. Monica playfully stuck her tongue out at him just as she was about to pop the last piece of cheesecake into her mouth.

After desert was finished Len began to once again clear the table. As he was doing this Angel ushered everyone into the living room.

"Why the secrecy?" Monica asked once everybody had settled into their seats with their drinks.

"Sorry," Shawn said, "it was my idea. I wanted to see the look of surprise on your beautiful face."

"Well you've surprised me," Monica said, leaning forward, her eyes locked onto Shawn's. "What do you have planned for this guest of honour?"

"Len will be your guide," Shawn replied with a chuckle. "You'll find out more once he's done in the kitchen and joins us."

Monica leaned back into the couch and looked around at the faces surrounding her. Angel was sitting on the couch with Monica and Shawn. On the couch across the room sat Dennis, Lenora and Ellie, with Mark sitting on the armrest. They all had the same mysterious smiles on their faces. It could only mean that they had been planning this for awhile. Monica relaxed and absorbed the atmosphere of anticipation and excitement that was building. What it was building to she was no longer sure of, but she couldn't wait to find out.

Time passed slowly for Monica. She did enjoy the conversations she had with everyone, but the wait to find out what was planned for her soon became agonizing. She found herself clock watching and continuously turned her gaze to see what time it was. Finally, Len entered the room. Monica looked at him, anticipating the unknown of what was to come.

"Monica," Len said, addressing her as he rubbed his hands together, "you are tonight's guest of honour. Please step into the center of the room."

Monica got to her feet and and stepped over to where Len was indicated she should stand. He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. The room's two couches were on either side of her and she could see the smiling faces of everyone. They all looked like they were waiting for some cue to do something.

The cue came when Len spoke next. "It is time to honour our guest."

Everyone in the room got to their feet and surrounded Monica. Their hands were suddenly everywhere on her body, caressing and squeezing her flesh tenderly. The straps of her dress were lifted and then dropped over her shoulders. The dress itself was soon pooled on the floor around her feet, leaving her in a red, frilly bra with a matching pair of panties. In this state of dress she began to feel mouths join the hands, kissing and licking. A high level of heat was building between her legs as the hands removed her bra and panties. She stood naked, surrounded by her closest friends and lovers.

The touching, the kissing and the licking continued for a few more minutes, the heat between her legs continuing to build as those minutes passed. Slowly, everyone began to retreat back to their seats with Shawn's touch being the last to leave her. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before backing up to his own seat on the couch. Monica stood there, shivering with need.

"Put this on," Len said as he walked from behind Monica to stand in front of her. He was holding open one of the white life model robes from the guest bedroom at home.

Monica slipped her arms into the sleeves and smiled as Len lifted the robe onto her shoulders. She wrapped it around her body and moaned as the fabric came in contact with her hard nipples. She could feel the juices already leaking from out of her pussy as she excitedly waited for what was next.

One by one all six people on the couches got up, gave her a hug and left the room. Ellie was the last to leave. She giggled and waved at Monica as she made her way through the doorway.

"See you soon," she said as she skipped out of the room.

After Ellie disappeared from view Monica was left alone with Len. He sat on one of the couches and motioned for her to sit beside him. When she did he took her hand in his and looked her in the eyes.

"This is a night in which we're all going to thank you," he began. "It's my turn first and I'd like to thank you for the changes I've seen in Angel, particularly in the past couple of years."

"I knew what sort of woman Angel was when I first started dating her. I knew she wasn't the sort of woman I could ever expect absolute fidelity from. I did demand absolute honestly through and she's always given me that. I love her and while I could live with that compromise, I can't say that it was something that truly made me happy."

Monica squeezed Len's hand with her own and covered it with her other hand. "I'm sorry Len, I didn't know."

He covered both of their hands with his own and smiled. "It's alright because it's mostly stopped since your class get togethers started. Angel no longer goes out at night looking to pick up strange men. She sticks to sex only within our marriage and your group now. It's a fidelity of sorts and more than I could have expected even a few years ago."

"You've been involved in your open marriage as well though," Monica said.

"Yes and I'll admit to having some fun," he replied with a slight blush, "but I've never been one to go out and sleep outside my marriage with somebody Angel and I didn't know first. That was the thing I never liked Angel doing and the thing I could never convince her to stop."

"But she has stopped now," Monica said. This was more a statement of fact than a question.

"Yes, and that's thanks to you." Len hugged Monica after saying this.

After the hug, Len tugged on Monica's arm, indicating that she should stand. She did so and followed him as he led her out of the living room and up the stairs to the second floor. At the top of the stairs were two doors leading to the master bedroom and the upstairs bathroom. Len led Monica past these doors and down the hallway.

As they walked Len continued to speak. "In each of the three upstairs bedrooms your friends are waiting to show you their thanks and their love. The first pair, Ellie and Mark, were brought together through your class."

Just as Len finished this last sentence the two of them stopped at the door to one of two upstairs spare bedrooms. As Monica stood in front of the door she thought of Len's words and wasn't sure she deserved the praise she was getting from him. She thought back to the first evening of this adventure, the evening when she posed for her students for the first time. A part of her had enjoyed the thrill of manipulating people into doing something; a thrill of control. She'd become a better person since then, thanks to her friends and lovers, but looking back, she didn't like the person she was then.

"Monica?" Len's voice brought her back from her inner thoughts. He was standing in front of her waving a hand in front of her face. "Are you alright? You seemed lost in thought. I'm not boring you am I?"

"No I'm fine," Monica replied. She placed a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Your words just had me thinking about the recent past."

"Very well milady," he responded, bowing and waving his hand at the door, "the first step of tonight's adventure awaits inside."

Monica smiled and opened the door. Within the small bedroom, that had a brown theme to the bed, rug and walls, stood Ellie and Mark. Both wore robes identical to the one Monica wore. Ellie walked forward, grabbed Monica's hands and pulled her further into the room. Once through the doorway Monica looked back over her shoulder at Len.

"Have fun," he said through the small remaining space between the frame and the door just before he closed it.

She turned her attention back to Ellie who continued to pull her until the two of them reached the bed. Ellie then sat down and patted the mattress beside her. Monica took the hint and settled down onto the mattress where Ellie had indicated her to sit. Mark joined them, sitting next to Ellie, with both of them looking at Monica.

While still holding Monica's hand, Ellie began to speak. Her face had a seriousness to it that Monica rarely saw. "I liked Mark for awhile; a real long while. I didn't do anything about it though because I was stuck in the thought that the man should make the first move. Then you and Angel began your plans and I knew I had to do something."

"Your actions forced me to move and to make decisions; forced me to decide if Mark was more important to me than the social conventions that were holding me back. I became a stronger person because I questioned those conventions. Doing it once made it easier to do it again. I'm thankful to you for the strength your actions gave me."

Mark got up and moved to sit so that Monica was now between him and Ellie. Monica turned her body to face him as he began to speak. "I've always been shy; really painfully shy at times, especially when it comes to girls I like." He briefly stopped, looked and Ellie and blushed before continuing. "Your actions made Ellie believe that she should make the first move in our relationship. Without you she wouldn't have done that and my shyness was preventing me from moving."

"If you hadn't done what you did, I doubt either of us would have moved toward the other and we wouldn't be a couple today. We were both just teenagers when we started your class. Today we're adults, both of us in out early twenties and we're on a path together. The path was made possible by you and I thankful to you for it."

"Good speech," came Ellie's voice from behind Monica. There was more than a hint of pride in the tone of her voice.

"Thank you," Mark said. His smile lit up his entire face as he stood up and walked to the pile of his and Ellie's clothes in one of the room's corners. "There's just one more thing I have to do before we both show Monica just how grateful we are." He picked up his pants and retrieved something from his pocket.

Looking over her shoulder, Monica received a shrug and a puzzled look from Ellie. Realizing that Ellie was just as much in the dark as she was Monica turned her head back to see what Mark was doing. He was moving back across the room, whatever he had retrieved from his pants was hidden in his balled up fist.

"This seemed like an appropriate occasion to do this," he said as he knelt down on one knee in front of Ellie. He opened his fist, palm up, revealing a sparking, diamond engagement ring. "Will you be my wife Ellie?"

Eyes wide, Ellie leaped to her feet and covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she shouted as she bounced up and down on the spot in excitement.

As Monica watched Mark slip the ring onto Ellie's finger she thought of all the things that had changed for the two of them in the past few years. Mark's father had a heart attack about a year after the art class had become a group of lovers. Fortunately, Mark's father had prepared his son well and Mark was able to take the role of owner of the family florist business with very little difficulty. Ellie had moved in with Mark and the two of them helped each other to look after Mark's mother, who sadly still hadn't recovered mentally from her husband's sudden death. Ellie herself was now the head waitress at Len's restaurant.