And Baby Maes Four

I knew it was a possibility, but we hadn't worried about it like we should have. Would I be able to be it's father like nothing was amiss? Could I accept another man's baby like it was my own?

Claire had been seeing Jake for a year, and they had been having sex since she disclosed to me she wanted to open up our marriage, see other men, branch out. Jake had been her first, and she had not used contraception, pills or condoms, and she hadn't worried about him coming in her.

It seemed to be the one thing swingers or Hot Wife people don't think about, but when the reality hits you, when your shared wife gets pregnant, you have to deal with the real world. When Claire announced that morning that she was "knocked up" and I realized it could realistically be Jake's, I thought about what was about to change for us. We had no children and a baby would impact our lives tremendously, immediately.

When the baby came Jake was at the hospital the whole time, even coming to birthing classes religiously. He sat with us on the floor learning breathing exercises and women in the class of course realized that the baby actually had two fathers. They also accepted and respected Jake's involvement, some even asking about our arrangement.

We were pretty open with two of the women, Carla and Alice, and they accepted our lifestyle without comment, without judgement. They both understood that Jake was the father and praised me for being mature enough not to hate him. Both of the women advised us to not say anything about our situation to a couple of the other women because of their religious involvement. I appreciated their advice and we were careful about talking too openly with the group as a whole.

When the baby came the three of us agreed on a name. We decided to call her Denver, figuring we would call her Dennie at home and around the family, which we agreed would be the three of us. When Denver was three months old Jake moved in with us and we agreed she would call both Jake and me daddy.

You see, Jake is black. His race was never a problem for me, and Claire fell for him so completely from the start. It was clear to me, if she had met him first, she would have been married to Jake. I understood that. I also have felt that it is possible that all along Claire wanted to have Jake's baby. I suspect that she may have secretly looked forward to be the mother of a black and white baby.

Jake always made it plain, he wanted to be a part of Denver's life, and it made me like him even more than I had before. He has been my good friend for years, and I find it comforting that a man I like is fucking my wife and is the father to the child I will learn to love.

It would be so easy for a wife's lover to shirk his responsibility and not get involved, to let the woman and her husband shoulder everything, leaving the situation and running for the hills. Doing like so many males, so self-centered they can't step up and be responsible men.

The world is full of men who fuck and run. Jake is not one of those. When he heard Claire was pregnant he came right to me and asked what we wanted to do, what she wanted. Keeping the baby was his choice and he made it clear he would be there for her, the baby, for Claire, and for me.

Denver's skin color is a beautiful Carmel shade that combines the best of both her parents. She was the perfect combination of a beautiful mother and a handsome father with dark skin and kinky hair. We did not need a DNA test to know Jake was her father.

After he moved in, after he made his choice, he took the guest room, and we worked out a chore schedule and agreed how we would share not only Claire, but the baby as well, and the responsibility of the household. I couldn't be happier with the arrangement, and as the baby grew she became more and more a part of his life, and it was more and more clear that she was a beautiful mixed-race child who was loved and wanted.

At her first birthday party, we had twelve people there who knew about our situation. One couple, Karen and Ron, were in a sharing relationship with a man named Nick. He came to the party and held 'their' baby throughout the evening. I guessed that he might also be the baby's father as well, and it was plain as new paint that they were a family, solid, secure folks who loved one another. It made us feel good about our family to know it was working well for someone else. Another couple at the party were a mixed race couple named Cheryl and Mike.

Our nighttime arrangement was that Claire would sleep with Jake three nights a week, me three nights a week, and every Sunday the three of us would spend the night in one bed, often having a night without sex, just cuddling and talking quietly before dozing off to sleep.

Our relatives have fragmented into two camps: those who support us and those who don't. My aunt tells me it can never work. She was bothered by the race situation, and she was totally against the open family idea. "Two men just can't share one woman," she says as if she has empirical evidence, as if first-hand experience has told her the truth about a group family. "And he should be with his own people," she would say emphatically.

One of my cousins is in an polyamorous relationship and is constantly calling to give us her support. She loves both me and Jake and thinks that--next to her--Claire is the luckiest woman on earth. I am not sure who is the father to her two kids, but it sure is nice to have her encouragement and support and for her to tell us how she feels.

The three of us are nudists and we often spend our time around the house without clothes. Most of the neighbors know our situation and are careful not to interrupt or intrude, being careful to not invade our privacy. I think another family down the street is also nudists, although I have never seen them at the beach or a nudist resort. Jake's race does not seem to be a problem for many of them, as we don't talk about it very often.

When Denver started nursery school, the three of us went to the open house and the teacher told us she had heard about our family. She explained she was in a two mother household and was married to her partner of three years. She said she knew it could be difficult in an alternative family arrangement like ours, but that she hoped we found support in the community. She said things had gotten easier for her and her partner, and that the neighbors were better now than when they first move in.

Claire's mother, who at first was uneasy with our family situation, and troubled by the racial element, wrote her daughter a long letter recently, telling Claire how much she loved Jake and how wrong she had been in the beginning. "I may not agree with your lifestyle," she wrote, "but I can't argue with the results. You have yourself two wonderful men. Too many of us don't even find one."

Claire called her mother and thanked her for the wonderful letter, telling her how much we loved her and how much Denver loved her all of her grandparents. "She is one lucky little girl," Claire said. Her mother agreed and they made arrangements for Easter.

On Easter Sunday the four of us gathered at my parents' house. For the very first time I felt totally accepted by all my relatives. That night we went to Jake's parents' and my mom and dad came by as well. It was a "one-big-happy family night if there has ever been one.

Last week Denver turned five and we all attended the back-to-school night and met her teachers, two young women in their late twenties. We introduced ourselves and talked with the teachers about the program. No one mention our three-person family and we drove home happy, talking about the school and two delightful teachers. It has been five years since Claire got pregnant from Jake on a Sunday night in May.

Jake is larger than I am in the male organ department, and I am somewhat sensitive knowing he probably satisfies Claire better during sex than I do. I have gotten over feelings of inferiority about the size difference and the mythology about black men being better lovers than us white dudes, but occasionally I think about it and wonder if she really does prefer fucking her black 'husband'.

It hasn't all been roses, but with Jake being such a good person it has worked out for us. His race has never been a problem for us, other than my insecurity about sexual things, but we are happy and a family, and that means a lot.

We just have a word to the wise: if you fuck without protection there are hazards you may learn to regret. Open marriages can work, mixed race unions can work, ours is proof, but the odds can work against you much of the time. We have been lucky, and our family functions well because we put in the work. Good luck to you if you aren't careful.