Fact or fiction? Fiction mostly, but ... well, think what you like.
IT'S a long time ago now, but the nineteen-seventies is an era that remains fresh in my mind as if they were last year. We thought it a time of great change, with the so-called 'free love' phenomenon a huge seismic shift in social attitudes, a shift which we considered unique. In reality, it was just a one on the Richter scale and no greater than the many decades since. Perhaps it was simply that we were undergoing change - personally that is. Getting married and having children is probably as big a change as you get. But we didn't miss out on sexual freedom because of it. This is our story:
We were married at quite a young age; me 23 with my bride even younger at 18. We were married after a very short relationship, just four months, with our first child already conceived. It was 1969 and pregnant brides were not an unusual occurrence then and even less so these days with more options for girls in such circumstances. Firstly, sexually active girls now find it much easier to avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place with the pill for prevention, and for the really desperate, an after-the-event termination.
None of that was available to us then, though I can now say with benefit of hindsight; thank goodness, as it has all turned out well. Secondly, a child 'out of wedlock' does not carry the stigma it once did, with plenty of single women making a deliberate lifestyle choice to be single mothers.
In the sixties, contraception was basically limited to a condom (usually only obtainable via an embarrassing encounter with the chemist shop girl), or the withdrawal method. Both relied largely on the male to ensure compliance and protection, and as anyone can tell you, in the heat of passion, even the most reliable males can be very unreliable. Such was I, and the resultant marriage was one commonly referred to as a 'shotgun marriage' for reasons obvious to most people.
Fortunately, my in-laws were understanding and very supportive of our circumstances facilitating a quick marriage. And I mean quick! Even though Hayley was not yet even three months gone, we had a white wedding, church service and a reception to follow. Many friends and relatives who were not aware of our circumstances were surprised when we had our first child only seven months later. Premature? Yes, you could say that!
I'm also very pleased to tell you that the young 18 year old girl whom I married then is still my wife today, and that the unplanned pregnancy resulted in our first beloved child now 38. Two years later, an equally loved sibling followed. We had become a nuclear family; two plus two.
Our marriage had its little ups and down as most do, though mostly ups, and here we are today settled into a comfortable domesticity, close to both our children and probably closer to each other now than we have ever been.
But let me tell you a little more of Hayley: She was not a beauty in the classic sense, but she was certainly attractive, and I found her desirable. She lived at home in suburban middle class circumstances, and although it was mostly a loving environment for her and her older and younger siblings, there were tensions; her mother and father did not enjoy a happy marriage. Hayley would tell you that it was often a stressful place where she remained on edge because of her father's moods, moods that often result in verbal and occasionally even physical violence against her mother. I think such an environment resulted in her passiveness and a predisposition to avoid conflict.
As a very young girl, she had apparently been a little on the plump side, but that changed as she blossomed into maturity. When I first met her, she was slim, about five foot two, long dark hair, blue eyes and fair complexion, small breasted (ah, my preference), and took pride in her appearance. She tended to wear the very short skirts and dresses which were a fashion of the sixties and which occasionally gave you the tantalising flash of white panties (if you were careful to watch for it that is). I suppose that sounds a bit tame today, but then it was erotic pure and simple and it used to drive my hormones wild.
Even though she was just 18 when I met and married her, Hayley was not a sexual innocent. She may have appeared the virgin goodie-goodie type, but she had lost 'that' years before during sexual encounters with a couple of high school boyfriends when she had 'gone all the way'. Upon leaving school and starting work at age 16, she had an older boyfriend of driving age (who had a car), and sex was a regular part of their relationship. This of course was academic to me as I wasn't even on the scene at the time, but Hayley subsequently told me all this on an occasion when I asked out of curiosity.
In the two years prior to meeting Haley, I was overseas completing my Military Service. We went there as the 'The Virgin Soldiers' but quickly learnt what a wild time could be had for young lads who finds themselves to be 'cashed-up' soldiers in a third-world country where anything went.
A boozy night out at our preferred bar a few miles out of camp was almost always followed by a visit to The Butterfly, our preferred house-of-ill-fame, where the madam would parade a dozen of her girls for our selection. The girls were young, mostly attractive, compliant, and available for a relatively small amount of money. Most did not speak English so, apart from a smile, there were none of the usual niceties such as a friendly conversation, just straight up to her room for a pure uncomplicated unadulterated fuck! I think they call that a symbiotic relationship, we both worked hard to give each other what we wanted; me sex and she money, with the concept of exploitation never entering my head.
Thinking back, what amazes me about those times is that I never used a condom or ever withdrew before ejaculation. A few of my mates wore a condom, but even then, only for their protection. Venereal disease, mostly gonorrhoea was around, not epidemic mind, but occasionally someone would be 'pissing razorblades'. I was dumb enough to have no fear of this but lucky enough never to catch a dose, and those that did would go along to the RMO for a course of penicillin shots which quickly cleared it up. Of course this was before such life-threatening diseases as HIV.
Occasionally I think of those girls and feel a nagging guilt. Leaving my seed in so many in such a care-a-less way makes me wonder what may have happened to them, but there's no way to ever know. Perhaps not knowing is better.
I first met Hayley through mutual friends soon after my discharge from the Army. She was still going out with the boyfriend with the car (a much better one than the one I owned incidentally) but I soon discerned her interest in me.
One evening, a small group of us were playing a ball game on a local sports oval adjacent to where Hayley lived. As it got dark, the others drifted off one-by-one leaving just Hayley and me. I recall that she threw the ball and I caught and ran with it. She chased me (as I had hoped she would), and eventually caught me (as I intended she should). We both fell to the ground mock-fighting for the ball, and my hand 'slipped' and found its way to her small firm breasts and in a just few moments I had her practically naked and I, that is we, were having sex for the first time. It was like The Butterfly really, it happened as easily as that.
Within days the boyfriend was dumped and our relationship continued. From then on, Hayley and I saw each other daily, and hardly a day passed when I didn't enjoy her small firm breasts usually culminating in intercourse. It was the climax of my day -- no pun intended. I was still not wearing a condom, nor did I withdraw.
***
HAYLEY did not work in the early years of our marriage as we had two pre-school children to care for and, with shift work and overtime, I made good money. Our neighbourhood at this time was one of those 70's estates, all new houses and young families. We made friends with our neighbours and through work social events, with work colleagues and their partners too. Shift work was okay but it involved either going to bed early for an early get-up, or working all evening and getting home very late.
Although we shared a marital bed, Hayley and I often slept in it at different times, though she never rejected my late night advances if I woke her in a stimulating way.
Often, if our shifts ended at the same time, I would go for a beer - or several - with a workmate, Lenny, older than me by a few years. Hayley and I had socialised a little bit with Lenny and his wife Jane, but more often it was just he and I having a drink after work. Lenny was a bit of a larrikin, a ladies man. He was also a more seasoned drinker than I and much less cautious about driving after a skinful than I. If it had been a particularly heavy session, I would suggest that he drop me off on his way home. I would somehow collect my car the following day. This was never a problem to him, it was on his way home and it suited me.
One evening late, we both arrived at my house a little worse for wear to find Hayley still up, but in her dressing gown ready for bed. With the boldness of several beers in him, Lenny pulled Hayley toward him, sat her on his lap and said
"C'mon here; let's have a feel of those lovely little tits I've heard about".
Had I ever mentioning this to him? I honestly couldn't remember. Hayley's first reaction was one of complete surprise;
"Lenny.....!" she exclaimed.
But in a second, as his hands boldly slipped into her gown to fondle her breasts, I saw a look in her eyes that I recognised: Lust.
I had no idea this would or could happen, but when it did I was surprised by my feelings, no anger nor jealousy, in truth I found it strangely arousing. Lenny was attracted to my wife. I didn't know it then, but that was the start of our open marriage.
