Saturday morning.
'What the fuck?!' Kelly thought as she was startled awake the next morning. She looked at her watch as the sound that woke her warbled up and down the notes of some tune. Seven-o-clock, it read. The brassy song finally ended, and she wondered if this happened every morning as part of this strange retreat that Steve had gotten them to go on.
"Good morning," her husband said. "I guess they like everyone to be awake by seven."
"What was that?" she asked.
"A bugle. It was playing reveille. "
"This is some strange shit you got us in to. What the fuck happened that we have to be here?"
"It's complicated."
"Did you get caught with your pants down? Who did you fuck that they caught you and forced this on us?"
"Are you really going to complain? I guess Triston wasn't very good last night."
"Oh, he was good. I came at least four times. I lost count after that. Then he kicked me out. Said that his wife would be back and need her place to sleep. Where did you end up sleeping?"
"Here. I was with Emily Moore last night while her husband was with his daughter and son-in-law, but she wouldn't let me stay the night either."
"Mom? Dad?" came Amanda's voice from outside the tent. "Come on. They're only going to be serving breakfast another hour."
"Shit," Kelly muttered. "Alright, dear," she answered louder.
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Allison approached Kelly after she was done with breakfast as Steve walked towards the portable johns. "Have a moment?" she asked.
"Sure."
"I wanted to talk to you about how we do some of the things we do. You know that most of us are open to sex with others."
"Obviously."
"But, we don't want to have any real relationships ruined, either."
"Yeah?" Kelly said uncomprehendingly
"So, to protect that, we follow certain rules."
"Meaning that we have to do so too?"
"Not exactly. But we do expect you to honor our rules. That's why Triston didn't let you stay the night with him. Let me explain what I mean.
"First, our marriage, and for that matter everyone else's here, isn't completely open. That is except for yours, I guess. What we have is a semi open marriage. That means that Triston has a say in whether or not I fuck somebody. If he says I can't be with some individual, then I won't be with him."
"So, you make yourself subservient to your husband?"
"No. Not at all. It works both ways. I have a say in who he fucks, too. If I told him I don't want him fucking Emily, then he won't, although I wouldn't tell him not to do it with her. It's one way that we make sure that we honor our marriage and don't cheat on each other. Also, the other person that either of us would be with, has to be single or if attached, his or her significant other must know about it and be okay with us having such a time. We don't want the other person cheating any more than we do.
"Next, we don't keep secrets. Emily told us about when she and Jim first started swinging. She had kept a big secret from Jim for quite a few years about how she had sex with her sister and brother. It almost ended their marriage. So, they made it rule number one that they don't keep secrets. It can ruin a marriage just as fast as an illicit affair."
"I don't think I could tell Steve everything like that. He might not like some of it."
"That's what I mean. If he isn't okay with things, then there is a problem. That can cause marital strife. I'm not telling you that you have to adopt these rules, but you might want to consider it.
"The last thing is that we always are together at the end of the day. Neither of us will spend the night with someone else even if we have been spending time with that someone. We consider spending the night with that other person to be cheating and we don't want to do that. Coming back together as husband and wife at the end of the day strengthens our marriage bond. Anyway, that's how we do things. I thought telling you about it would help you understand why we do the things we do. I know that you and Steve have a more open relationship and we don't want to force anything on you, but I hope that you will consider our rules. Maybe at least you will stop helping your various partners cheat. In the long run, though, it's up to you."
"I'll think about it," Kelly said. "We'll at least honor your rules while we're here and not spend the night with someone."
"Thanks. It means a lot to us."
Kelly was unsure about what to think of these rules. By their definition, she had cheated on her husband. Of course, it was absolutely true that she had helped a number of men to cheat on their spouses or girlfriends. She had no idea how many of the men she had been with might be married, but knew that at least some were. Of those, she didn't know for sure how many would have been open with their wives about their extra-marital activity, but she knew many that would not. She hadn't really cared. It was there place to care about their marriage, not hers. She needed to think. She needed to process what she had been told.
The hiking trail that went around the lake was plainly visible. Motion had always been a way for her to think things through. She rose from the bench, grabbed her towel, walked to the beginning of the trail and began her hike.
It was easy, she thought to herself while she walked, to honor their rules while they were here. At least in part. Here at the retreat, everyone knew who was having sex with someone else and it wasn't hard to return to her own tent at the end of the day. But the bit about not keeping any secrets was a lot harder. She could see the point. It would keep them grounded in their marriage, and she loved Steve and wanted to be sure that they kept their marriage together. Still, how could she tell him everything?
The fact that she had fucked Triston the night before wouldn't be a bother to him. She knew that. And it didn't bother her that he had fucked Emily Moore either. They were both aware of what the other had been doing at the time, too. But what about the ones in the past? Should she tell him about them? Could she tell him about them?
Most of them wouldn't bother him in the least. A lot of them he wouldn't know from Adam. For that matter, she couldn't remember all of them either. At least not all the one-time things. But others might matter. How could she tell him about his brothers? Well, he might be okay with them. After all, he didn't really have a connection to their wives. But what about his father? Would he be upset that he cheated on his mother? And then there was his brother-in-law. She was almost certain that he would be livid about him cheating on his sister.
The thing that had her so confused was his admission the night before of having been with a few others himself. She hadn't even suspected. Yet she couldn't say much about it considering all the ones she had been with. Still, she was curious, now. If they adopted these rules, he would have to tell her who he had been with. What if it were her brother's wife? How would she feel if he had fucked Autumn? She was sure that "Wessy," as he had been called from the time she was a little girl onward since she couldn't say the name Wesley properly, could take care of his own problems. But, if Steve had been with her, did that then mean that she should tell her brother about it? Would he consider it necessary to tell his sister about her and Ethan? That was a question that maybe Allison should have answered. Maybe she could ask her about it before she decided to talk to Steve and she could make the decision then. One thing was for sure. If she and Steve adopted these rules, it would mean she couldn't do as much as she was now. But in the long run, maybe that wouldn't matter so much. And it seemed that it would be better for her marriage. That did matter. It mattered more than Autumn and Wesley. It mattered more than Ethan and Dawn. It mattered more than either of his brothers and their marriages. It mattered most. It was time to talk to Allison again and then Steve.
As she had told Kelly the night before, Allison was scheduled to do the clean up after the morning meal. She started with the tables, as she knew that some of the campers would want to be using them during the morning. Someone was sure to bring a deck of cards. In fact, several had, and a group sat at one of the tables to play a game of gin. Another table had a group that were playing a game of truth or dare. Since everyone was already naked, they tended to not bother with the small things in the dare, but start right in with the more risqué acts. Allison had just finished her cleaning when Kelly was finishing her walk. As she put the last of the utensils away, Susan Edgerton stepped up to start cooking the lunch meal.
Kelly noticed Allison walking down the steps of the mobile kitchen and made her way toward her. Before she even got to the area, the veteran camper was sitting at a table away from the other two groups so that they could talk.
"Allison," Kelly began. "I need some advice."
"I'll be happy to help if I can."
"I want to know about a scenario. If Steve and I adopted these rules, it means that I would have to be more careful of who my partners are so that I don't cause them to cheat. Further, if I have this right, I'll have to tell him about who I've been with in the past, so that we aren't keeping secrets from each other."
"That's the way it works, yes."
"He would also be obligated to tell me who he's been with."
"Yeah."
"But what if one of the ones he has been with is my brother's wife? Do I then have to tell my brother about his wife cheating on him?"
"I think that you would have to make that decision yourself. He would have to make the decision if it's the other way around, too. But the two of you should talk it over with each other before you do so, so that both of you know what is going on."
"I see," Kelly replied rather dejectedly.
"Maybe he won't want to tell his sister that you fucked her husband. You never know. He might want to keep it from her so that he isn't responsible for causing her pain."
"But you think that he should, don't you?" Kelly asked knowing that there was no sense trying to continue to hide the facts from her quite observant friend.
