I nod in agreement, still reeling a little bit. It doesn’t seem like a big deal at first, but once it’s had a little time to sink in, I start to see some of the complications.
“That’s totally fine,” Marlene says, letting out a shaky breath of relief, “I completely understand that, take all the time you need.”
“Well, we also don’t really want to leave you hanging waiting for an answer, either,” he says, then turns to me, “Right, Corey?”
“Right.”
“So, tell you what, how about you let us sleep on it, and then tomorrow you come over for breakfast and the three of us can talk some more, okay?” he asks.
Marlene nods. “That sounds perfectly reasonable.”
“Good, now please sit back down and just take a breather?”
She nods again and sits, and I’m pleased to see that she’s no longer trembling. I find my eyes drawn to her belly, and for a brief moment, I imagine what she’d look like if I put a baby in it. I can just picture her soft, lush tits swollen and full, resting on a rounded belly, and the image stirs strange feelings in me.
Andrei and I had talked about kids, and we were in agreement that we wanted a family eventually, but we were also in mutual agreement that this was a “someday” thing, not an immediate thing.
I remind myself that this wouldn’t really be “my” kid. After all, she’s just asking one of us to jack off in a cup for her, right? And is that really such a big deal? It’s more than that, but simultaneously, it kind of isn’t.
“I’m glad you guys are taking this seriously,” she says, “And that you didn’t just laugh me off or something. I was kind of worried you’d be disgusted with me or something, or that this would mess up our friendship and I’d lose you.”
She blurts the whole mess in a word-vomit rush, and I can see tears glittering in her eyes. My heart breaks a little bit and I get to my feet, moving over to sit on the armrest of the chair and put my arm around her. “First of all, you should know us better than that,” I chide her gently, “And second of all, why would we be disgusted with you?”
“I don’t know, I was worried that I’d be crossing a line or something,” she says, explaining some of her conversation with Cassidy.
“You’re never gonna lose us, Marlene,” Andrei says, “So put that out of your head, all right?”
She nods, wiping her eyes, and Andrei joins us on the other side of the chair. The two of us both lean in and crush her in a hug until peals of laughter erupt from her and she cries out that we’re squishing her and she needs air.
When we release her, I’m pleased to see a smile glowing on that beautiful face. “Can I help you guys finish setting up or anything?” she asks.
“Sure, come help me set the table,” I tell her, hopping off the chair and reaching for her hand.
Andrei heads back into the kitchen to finish up with food while Marlene and I get the table set up. As we’re working, our conversation stays light and casual, mostly discussion of a TV show we’ve been watching, but my mind is a million miles away. I keep thinking about what she’d asked, and I can’t shake that picture in my head of her body, swollen with my child.
Or Andrei’s, I remind myself, but the image is no less appealing, truthfully. I’ve always found Marlene attractive, ever since we were teenagers. She’s got a stunningly pretty face, and an even better body. Her curves are soft, inviting, but dangerous. A temptation, luring you in like a siren’s song until you lose your head.
But she’d never shown any interest. In high school, I was kind of a man-whore, and she was so sweet and innocent back then, I imagine my reputation probably put her off. And by the time she’d loosened up a little and I’d calmed down a bit, she’d probably written me off in any kind of romantic sense, and the early feelings between Andrei and I were starting to stir.
I feel a little stab of guilt, the thoughts seeming vaguely disloyal to my boyfriend, but at the same time, I’m confident in where we stand, and I know better than to shame myself over errant thoughts I can’t control.
Besides, I happen to know that at least back then, he felt exactly the same way. It was yet another reason I’d never made a move on Marlene. Before either one of us had figured out our bisexuality, Andrei and I had both had torrid crushes on her that had led to a number of arguments and nearly a fist fight at one point.
So to save our friendship, we’d stayed hands-off, and here we were ten years later.
We finish setting up just in time for the doorbell to ring. I’m grateful for the distraction of other friends arriving, but unfortunately it doesn’t work too well. All night, I still keep finding my eyes drawn back to Marlene and my thoughts snapping back like a rubber band to her proposal.
And when I’m not staring at her, I’m staring at Andrei as if trying to read his mind, wondering how he feels about this possibility and whether or not he wants to say yes.
Marlene dealt one hell of a wild card to game night.
Chapter Four
Andrei
I’m up to my elbows in soapy dishwater when Corey comes back into the house after walking the last of our guests out to their car. It’s just after midnight, and everyone had slowly been trickling out for the last hour or two.
I feel my boyfriend’s strong arms slip around my waist and he presses a kiss to my shoulder. “Did you have a good time tonight, baby?” he asks.