Heather didn't know who to talk to. Her husband, Mark, had told her last week that he was OK with her occasionally having sex with other men if she wanted to! Just like that, completely out of the blue!
She was so baffled that the rest of it just kind of washed over her without really registering. It had been a confusing one-sided monologue of "hall passes," "Hotwives," "Vixens," "Stags," "Bulls," "MFM threesomes," "gangbangs," "watching," and more. She was confused, hurt, and overwhelmed. Mark tried to reassure her, but she had been so shocked and hurt by the suggestion that she have sex with other men that she felt like she didn't even know him--hadn't ever known him, in fact--not really.
But where to turn? She didn't want to tell any of her friends; it would probably be all over town in days if she did. And she couldn't imagine telling a professional who didn't know either one of them, getting impersonal one-size-fits-all advice in return.
Mark had to go out of town for work for 2 weeks, so at least she didn't have to try to think with him in the house, adding to the confusion. But being alone wasn't helping, either. Finally, she went to her parents' house for a few days. Her dad was gone for a 3-week trip overseas, so it was just her and her mother.
She had tried to put on a brave face with her mother, but, of course, her mother, (Alice) quickly deduced that something was wrong. Still, Alice just let her be, talking of plans for her own garden, the latest town gossip, and other trivialities. Heather listened with only half an ear and even less attention.
Suddenly, her third morning there, Heather spilled it all. Alice sat beside her and hugged her as she tearfully told it all between gasping sobs. Alice just listened and wordlessly comforted her.
When Heather finally got it all out and got herself under control, her mother made several statements:
"You love Mark very much." Heather nodded.
"He loves you very much." Heather hesitated a minute, but, considering, finally nodded.
"Mark's a very good man." Heather raised her head and looked at her mother hard, trying to figure out whether she still believed that. Recent events caused her to wonder.
"I've always believed he was the best man I've ever known, Mother," Heather admitted, "but how could a good man even suggest what he did?!"
Alice pondered and considered a moment, then said, "Let's go to the kitchen, I will make some coffee and hot chocolate and heat up those wonderful sweet rolls, and we'll talk." So they retired to the kitchen. Alice excused herself a few moments, then reappeared and set to work on coffee, hot chocolate, and sweet rolls.
As they sat, sipping coffee and nibbling on the luscious sweet rolls, a tap on the back door interrupted. Alice opened the door to admit Beth, Mark's mother. Beth came to Heather and hugged and kissed her, then sat beside her with hot chocolate an oversized sweet roll.
Alice broke the awkward silence abruptly, saying, "Beth, Mark has given Heather permission to have other men, sexually."
"Well, now! That's a big one, isn't it, Honey? How did you respond?" Beth asked Heather.
"I was too shocked and confused--then too angry--to respond!" Heather said with much force.
"Pretty much the way I responded when Renè offered me the same freedom, I'm afraid," Beth said, then, "How about you, Alice?"
Alice nodded and smiled wryly, saying, "Yep."
Heather looked up sharply at Beth, then at her mother. Her mouth moved wordlessly, as if to say, 'What happened to my world, my husband, my sanity?' Had she really just heard her mother AND her mother-in-law say that her father AND father-in-law had made the same horrifying speech to each of them that Mark had given to her? What could possibly be real anymore? it was as if every part of her underpinnings were kicked out from under her.
"Yes, darling, your dad offered me that same freedom many years ago. I was just as baffled and confused--and angry as you, I'm sure. I thought he was trying to make me a whore for his own voyeyristic pleasure," Alice confided.
"Daddy?!" Heather demanded, "my daddy gave you permission to have sex with other men?!"
"Yes, dear, he did," Alice responded, then considered further response.
Beth chimed in, "Renè noticed me visually appraising and appreciating a handsome, athletic young man who kept our pool and just blithely said, 'I would understand if you seduced him, dear.' Just like that. I assumed he was being facetious and I played for time, saying nothing. He said, 'You are still a very beautiful, utterly sexy woman, and half the young men in your college classes want to bed you--and all of the male faculty do!' You could have knocked me over with a feather. As he continued, I knew he had obviously given this a good bit of thought and consideration."
Heather's face and eyes asked the obvious question ('What did you think?').
"I really couldn't think, so I just listened and tried to keep calm, endeavoring to hear his words, understand his meaning, and figure out why he was saying this--rather than letting my shock, my surprise, my confusion, and my anger, cloud my mind." Beth concluded.
"Mom, how did it go with you?
What did Daddy say? How did you handle it?" Heather probed.
"I was pretty hostile, accused him of being a pervert, accused him of wanting me to have sex with other men so he could have sex with other women, asked if he wanted a divorce, and so on," Alice confessed.
"So how did you move on, Mom? How did you keep living together?" Heather asked.
"Well, we just talked our way through it, had lots of conversations about it over several weeks. He told me his reasons and his thought processes. Little by little, he convinced me that he did not want to sleep with other women, that he wasn't trying to make me a whore, and that what he wanted most was for me to get all the fun, excitement, joy, pleasure and fulfillment sexually that I wanted and needed. It took a lot of convincing, I tell you. I assured him that he was enough for me," Alice paused, then, "Later, we discussed this some more. After a while, the idea seemed to arouse us both, and it became hot, sexy pillow talk for us. We watched some Hotwife and Stag & Vixen porn videos. We read some "Loving Wives" stories that we found and liked on Literotica to each other. The upshot of it was that we left it that way for about a year, but after each venture into the subject, he assured me that--if I wanted to have sex with someone, it was all right, but to let him know beforehand. I kept telling him that wasn't going to happen."
Beth chipped in, "Renè told me essentially the same things, all focused on it being all about me and my pleasure and sexual fulfillment. He was so sincere that I believed him immediately. I had enjoyed several lovers before we met and married, so I knew what I was missing being married and faithful!" she laughed, "but I told him that I'd pass. He nodded, but said that if I ever wanted to have another man, to let him know. I guess we talked about it off and on, but there was no need for another man, and I was pretty satisfied with our sex life."
Alice jumped in, "In order for you to try to understand the process and the path Beth and I ultimately took, and to consider whether you might go down such a path, you should consider many questions--and be entirely honest with yourself in answering them. You don't need to tell us your answers, and it may take a long time before you know--or can accept your own honest answers."
"What questions?" Heather asked.
"I was getting to that," Alice answered. "Questions like:
Would you like to have more excitement, adventure, variety, fun, sensuality in your sex life, or a lot more sex than you're having with your husband?
Did you have a lover or several lovers before getting married? If so, do you miss the variety?
If you did not have lovers, if you could go back now and have several fun lovers, would you do it? Would you enjoy it?
Do you often meet or see men you find very attractive?
Do you often feel strongly drawn to other men physically and like to chat and flirt with them, even entirely superficially and harmlessly?
Do other men seek you out to talk, have coffee with you, discuss work or other issues? If so, do you like the attention?
Do you sometimes get a tingle when certain other men touch you or even brush against you, maybe even just shaking hands?