The day after: An apocalyptic morning

by Jessy Cruise

  "The most important thing is that we treat this as a marriage," Paula explained. "We have to vow to honor and respect each other, through sickness and health and all of that. The only way that this can work is if there's a mutual respect and affection between us, between all of us. That includes between Christine and I as well as between you and each one of us. Just like married couples, we should vow that we never go to bed angry with each other. If we have a problem, and I imagine we will have them while we try to get used to this, we work it out even if we have to stay up all night. How's that for a start?"

  "I agree," Skip said. "Julie and I had that same rule in our marriage. We stayed up all night a few times, but we always kept that promise to each other. I think it helped ease a lot of what could have been nasty battles over the years. The urge to put it behind you and get some sleep instead of letting it linger eases negotiations."

  "I've never been married before," Christine said timidly, "but it sounds like a good idea to me. Skip and I just had a long fight with each other and it wasn't fun at all."

  At Paula's prompting, they all three officially made this promise to each other, all three saying it aloud just like a marriage vow. They then, at Christine's suggestion, made a similar vow that they would always discuss problems with each other as soon as they became problems, getting them out in the open before they could fester. Other such things followed. The vowed loyalty to each other, they vowed to always work towards common goals, they vowed to treat all children that the union produced as part of the union, not as the daughter of Christine or the son of Paula. There was surprisingly little argument or disagreement during the discussion, at least not until the subject of future members of the union was broached.

  "What?" Christine said, perhaps a little sharper than she had intended, when Paula first mentioned this. "What do you mean, other women? Where did that come from?"

  Skip wisely decided to keep a low profile during this particular portion of the conversation, although the idea had already occurred to him. Since Paula had brought it up, and since she seemed to be in reluctant favor of such an idea, he let her handle the job of convincing Christine.

  "I'm not saying that we should go out and pick up another couple of women to join us," Paula said, "but you have to keep in mind the simple math of this town. There are five women for every man. It is simply inevitable that these polygamous relationships we are spawning here are going to quickly grow to three and four women per man. If we are to achieve stability and relieve some of the sexual tension that exists here, I'm afraid that that is the only way to do it."

  "Four women?" Christine cried. "We should share Skip with two other women?"

  "If," she said, "we think that they will fit in with us and will maintain the harmony of our family group, yes, I think we should. I would think that we would have to. Of course Skip has got to have feelings for them and of course you and I have to be able to get along with them."

  Christine shook her head in bewilderment. "I'm still trying to get used to the idea of sharing him with you," she said, "and now you're talking about adding two more? That's too much to take right now, Paula. We don't even know if what we have now is going to work."

  "It's just something to think about, Christine," she said. "We'll take this thing one step at a time. I just wanted to bring up the fact that we may have to come to terms with this at some point in the future."

  Christine massaged her temples for a moment, as if trying to drive those thoughts from her head. "The possibility is noted," she said. "Let's worry about it in the future, can we? I don't even want to think about it right now."

  "Fair enough," Paula said with a smile.

  They went over a few more minor points, such as division of labor in housework and childcare, quickly reestablishing the harmony that had existed prior to the additional members discussion. Once the mood seemed about perfect, Paula then got to the meat of the Micker. "Now," she said, "why don't we talk about the sleeping arrangements."

  "Here comes the good part," Skip said with a grin, prompting both women to give him playful slaps on the arm.

  "We talked for a surprisingly long time about this earlier," Paula told him. "Not just the actual sleeping arrangements but the sexual aspects of the relationship as well."

  "And?" Skip said with anticipation.

  Paula and Christine shared an amused look. "Men are pigs," Paula said lightly.

  "Yep," Christine agreed.

  "Okay," Paula said, "first the sleeping arrangements. We both agreed that we want to have equal opportunity to sleep in a bed with you at night. We both enjoy the closeness of having our man in bed with us. Now we discussed various ways to ensure equal billing in this department, as it were, and we came to a few conclusions. First of all, neither one of us liked the idea of Christine having one bedroom and me having the other one and you changing from one to the other from night to night. In addition, the bed in my spare bedroom is not large enough for two people anyway. At the same time, neither one of us are quite ready to climb three into a bed at night either."

  "Bummer," Skip said, feigning disappointment. This prompted a few more playful slaps to the arm by his women.

  "So what we will do for the moment," Paula went on, "is put you in the King-size bed in the master bedroom. You will sleep in this bed every night. Christine and I will alternate nights sleeping with you. It will be a night-by-night thing. I get you on Monday night and she gets you on Tuesday night and so on and so forth. Jokes aside, does this sound like a workable thing to you?"

  "Yes," he said, putting the jokes aside as requested. "That sounds like the best way to go about it."

  "Now the spare bedroom," she said, "will be just that. It will be where the woman who is not sleeping with you spends the night. But remember, we are a triple, and we should otherwise act like one. The master bedroom belongs to all of us. That will be where we all keep our clothes, do our hygiene, our dressing and undressing. We need to drop the modesty around each other just like a married couple would do. We need to be able to be perfectly natural around each other. We are a triple, remember that."

  "A triple," Skip repeated, trying to keep a serious expression on his face while he contemplated the thought of two naked women walking around the house at the same time.

  "That's gonna be kind of weird," Christine said. "I mean, what about going to the bathroom and stuff?"

  "It'll be just like being newlyweds at first," Skip said. "When I first moved in with my wife, it took a while before I was comfortable taking a leak without closing the door first. She was the same way. Eventually, you just get used to it, or you don't. I mean, I got over the peeing thing, but I never could take care of the other business without closing and locking the door first. If you don't want to pee with the door open, nobody's forcing you to."

  "Exactly," Paula said. "You do what you're comfortable with and what the other people are comfortable with. I myself would prefer it if Skip continued to take care of 'the other business' with the door closed. I honestly have no desire to see him in action for that particular activity."

  "This conversation has taken a turn towards the disgusting," Christine said with a scowl.

  "Sorry," Paula said, "but the whole point was that we should learn to be comfortable around each other. It doesn't have to extend to watching each other defecate, but we should at least be accustomed to seeing each other naked and getting dressed in the morning. We should be accustomed to seeing each other in our nightgowns and with our hair uncombed and with our legs or faces unshaved. You take the bad with the good, right?"

  "Right," Skip said. "Believe it or not, there's something undeniably sexy about seeing the woman you live with in a ratty nightgown or a pair of sweats, her make-up off, her hair all messed-up. You're seeing her as no one else does."

  Christine looked at him in abject disbelief, but said nothing. Paula however, took that as her opening to bring up the next subject. "Which brings us to the Micker of sex," she said.

&nbs
p; Right on, Skip did not say. He simply assumed a politely interested expression, as if he had not been waiting for this subject to come up all night.

  "Now the simple fact of the Micker," Paula said, "is that while this is going to be the easiest aspect of the relationship for you Skip, it is going to be the hardest for Christine and I. All of these other things are almost inconsequential when it comes to jealousy and envy and all that. But with sex, that is where the problems are going to rear their heads I think. It's going to be hard for both of us to know that you are having sex with the other one since that is, whether we women want to admit it or not, a major basis of any relationship."

  "So what is the answer?" Skip asked. "Does only the woman whose turn it is to sleep with me that night get to have the sex for that twenty-four hour period?"

  "That is one solution," Paula said, "but Christine and I both agreed that it probably wouldn't work very well and would possibly make the problems worse. What if you aren't horny on the night that it's my turn? That kind of stuff happens. And what if you are horny the next night and have sex with Christine. That could very well lead to feelings of insecurity on my part. Why is he sleeping with Christine and not with me? Does he like her better? That equation could work both ways. What if Christine is not in the mood when it's her turn and then I'm not in the mood the following night when it's my turn but Christine is? So then you'd have Christine in one room wanting some love and Skip in another room wanting some love and Paula next to Skip not wanting to give any up. If we start trying to structure our sex lives, we're going to have trouble."

  "Okay," Skip said. "I agree with your reasoning. But you haven't told me what the answer is."

  "There is no answer," she said. "That is what the answer is. Sex is supposed to be a very special thing in a relationship and it should occur when it occurs in whatever manner the participants want it to occur. Christine and I agreed that we should not put any rules or restrictions on the sex part. Whenever you and one of us decide that sex is the thing to do, than do it, no Micker whose turn it is to sleep with you."

  "So whatever feels good, do it?" Skip said, liking that idea a lot.

  "Basically," Paula said. "There should be a few - let's not say rules, but guidelines."

  "Guidelines?" Skip asked.

  "For lack of a better term," Paula said. "First of all, you, as the man, should try as hard as you can not to favor one or the other of us. I'm not saying that you should keep careful track of how many times you make love to each one of us or anything, but do try to spread it out."

  "You've got two women to satisfy now," Christine said, nudging him a little. "Don't forget about one of us."

  "I can handle that," Skip assured them.

  "And another thing," Paula went on, "is that the sex that takes place should not be secretive. Remember that we're a triple and we should not be ashamed of what we do. We should try to be open about what we do in here, especially among ourselves. Both of us girls are going to have to get used to sharing you and perhaps the best way to do that is that it not be hidden."

  Now Skip was a little confused. "So are you saying that we... uh... do it in front of each other?" This was not a particularly unpleasant thought.

  "Well... I'm not saying that you should throw Christine down on the coffee table right there in front of me and start putting it to her, at least not at first. However, if I need to come in and get my pajamas out of the bedroom and you two are in there making love, it shouldn't be a problem. Or if we're sitting here after dinner and you and I suddenly have the urge to make love, Christine shouldn't have a problem if we just kind of get up and go find a place to do our business. I suspect that as this relationship goes on, we will probably shed a lot of our inhibitions and work our way to the point that we will be making love in front of each other without embarrassment. In fact, if the truth be known, I find the very thought to be somewhat exciting."

  Christine said nothing but blushed furiously, indicating that she found that thought exciting as well.

  "This is going to be quite an experiment," Skip said, looking from one of his women to the other.

  "What happens," Christine asked Paula, "if both of us... you know... want some at the same time? I'm sure that will happen from time to time."

  Paula smiled. "That's one we'll just have to work out when it comes up, won't we?"

  Dale died at 7:30 that night. There were no dramatic last words, no brief instant of awareness, he simply died, his breathing coming to a halt as his body, suffering from severe hypovolemic shock, finally gave up the battle to keep delivering oxygen to his brain. Paul watched him go, feeling helpless and impotent at his inability to do anything to prevent it. He covered him up with his sheet and then simply sat there, staring at the covered corpse while Sherri snored away behind him.

  He did not know how long he stayed that way but finally Janet's voice, gently calling his name, stirred him from his trance. He turned and beheld her standing in the doorway, her pretty face framed by her short black hair.

  "Hi, babe," he said softly, standing up and walking over to her.

  "Is he gone?" she asked, casting a look over at the bed.

  "Yeah. Just a few minutes ago. He never really had a chance."

  "You did what you could," she said, putting her arms around him, offering him what comfort she could.

  "Which wasn't a lot," he said bitterly.

  They held each other in the doorway for awhile, neither one speaking. Gradually, he began to feel a little better. Just a little.

  "Are you going to sleep here tonight?" she asked him.

  "Yes. Sherri might need me. I'm the only medical person we have. Never thought that me and my EMT card would be able to say that."

  "Do you want me to stay with you?" she asked. "I can go get us a couple of cots out of the supply room. Maybe give you a hand if you need it?"

  He smiled at her, giving her a kiss on the nose. "That would be nice," he said. "I could use a little company. You get the cots, I'll move Dale into the supply room."

  Thirty minutes later, the cots had been moved in and placed on the far side of the room and Dale was zipped into a sleeping bag and in storage. When Paul returned from washing up he found Janet had spread two sleeping bags out and was lying atop of them.

  They held each other, enjoying the closeness, and whispered back and forth, talking of the events of this most amazing day. She told of how terrified she had been, cowering with children in the breakfast room while the sound of gunfire popped continuously from just outside. He told her of his horror when he saw the condition of the wounded for the first time, as he realized that he was not equipped to deal with what had happened. Gradually, after exercising the demons of the day (partially anyway), their talk turned to the meeting that night.

  "I feel ashamed of myself now," Janet told him. "I can't believe that I was just as ready to vote Skip out of town as everyone else was. I let myself be led by Jessica. Just like Skip said, I was a fucking sheep."

  "Don't feel bad," he told her. "You weren't the only one. Jessica is an expert at twisting people's opinions to match her own. Especially when it's something that we were all taught to be opposed to in the first place."

  "I'm still not sure how I feel about it," she said. "I mean sixteen is awfully young. But I can also see Skip's point. Who are we to let Christine kill for us and then turn around and tell her she's not allowed to have an adult relationship with someone? After all, she was out there fighting for us and I was in here huddled with a bunch of kids and peeing my pants."

  "Skip does have a way of convincing people when he wants to, doesn't he?"

  "He has a way of making us take a look at who we are," she corrected. "At least he does if we bother to listen to him. What do you think is going to happen to Jessica now?"

  "She'll be kicked off the committee," he said without hesitation. "I've been complaining about her vote stacking this entire time..."

  "I know you have."

  "Yes, I guess I
did dump that on you a lot, didn't I. But anyway, now that it's become an official issue, now that there is something tangible, like deaths and invasions, to hang upon it, she's gonna go down. When everybody gets a good look at all of the things she's voted against just because she didn't happen to like Skip, or because of some other petty issue... well... we're talking about Watergate here. She's finished."

  Janet smiled a little. "I can't say I'll be sorry about that."

  "Me either."

  Silence ruled for the next few minutes as they continued to lay there with their arms intertwined. "Did you hear the latest?" Janet finally asked.

  "No, what might that be?"

  "Well, the rumors about Skip and Christine moving in with Paula were apparently correct. They all three went back to Skip's house together, walking arm in arm no less."

  Paul sighed, wishing for a cigarette. "I wish they would have given everyone a few more days before they sprang this. Freakin' polygamous relationships? Can you believe it?"

  "Actually," she said slowly, "I can. I'm afraid that it makes a lot of sense given the circumstances."

  He looked at her as if she was mad. "What?"

  "Surprised I would say that huh?" she said, a strange smile upon her face. "Believe me, I never would have thought I'd ever speak in favor of such a thing. It goes against everything I believe in about marriage and relationships. When I first heard that they were intending to do that this afternoon, I was outraged. Two women living with one man? Absurd."

  "But you don't feel like that now?"

  "It's better than the alternative that we are living with," she said.

  "The alternative?" he asked, feeling he was treading on shaky ground.

  "Let's speak freely, Paul," she said, pulling back from him a little and giving him a serious look. "You're a good man, a caring man, and I love you a lot, even more, I think, than I loved my husband before the comet. But I know that I'm not the only one that you've slept with."

  Paul looked at her aghast. Had he really thought that she knew nothing about his little trysts? He really had. And did assuming that seem a ridiculous notion now? Yes it did.