CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“I just realized...we had been talking about filming that,” Sadie said as she pulled her robe on.
“Oh. Right...shit,” Gabe muttered, pausing as he got his own clothing back on. “Oh well, nothing we can do about it now. And honestly, I kind of like that it’s going to exist in our memories only.”
“There is something kind of romantic about that.” Sadie slowly lost her smile, sighing softly. “I still feel so strange. Being romantic with another woman’s man. Sex is one thing but that was not simply sex...they won’t be angry, will they?”
“No, they won’t,” he replied. “They understand. And honestly, they’ll be happy.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. They want you to be happy, Sadie. And I when go home and tell them that I made you feel loved, really loved, they’ll be so happy for you, because they think you deserve it. And you do.”
She stared at him for a moment, conflicting emotions playing across her face like lighting across a stormfront.
“I think I need therapy,” she said finally.
“But I’m glad. I enjoy your company so much, all of you, and you’re all such good people, I want you to be happy, too.
I just...don’t know how to feel about my own happiness and the deserving thereof.
And I clearly still have feelings about how my life has turned out. ”
“We can help you get therapy, Sadie. We’re all trying to get into fixing our own mental, and physical, health. We’re all kinda fucked up.”
“You know, I would appreciate that, actually. I’m not good with this kind of thing. If you could point me towards at least the beginning of the path towards getting the ball rolling, I would be extremely grateful.”
“We’re going to have a house meeting soon about our path forward, and this is a big first step, so we will report back on our findings.”
She finished cinching her robe into place and walked up to him. He was sitting at the foot of her bed now. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.
“I would really appreciate that, Gabe, and...you have a big dick,” she replied, adopting a small, beguiling smile.
He opened his mouth to respond, but wasn’t sure how to.
“Um...thanks,” he managed finally.
She chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what it feels like to be on the other end.”
“What...oh! Me telling you you’ve got a big ass. Fair enough.”
She kissed him and then stepped back, letting him stand and pull his shirt on. “You should probably get back to your girls.”
“I could stay, if you wanted.”
“It’s tempting, believe me, but I think I need some time alone to...process all this. And come down from the high because fuck me was that a high.” She leaned over a little and glanced behind him. He knew she was looking at the big, dark wet spot on the bed. “I need to do some laundry, too.”
“I figured. All right. Um, how long before I should expect contact?”
“I’ll text you tomorrow to let you know how I’m doing.” She paused. “I must also be honest about my tendencies. I have always been an introvert, and that has only grown in the years since my divorce. I enjoy my alone time, and being social costs me more now, I’ve come to realize.”
“I understand, Sadie. I’m happy to socialize at the pace you set.”
“Okay, good. And honestly, I figured it would work out well anyway considering all the other...socializing you have to do as it is,” she replied with a sly smirk.
He laughed softly. “Yeah, that is a good point. All right, I’ll head out.”
She took his hand and walked him to the front door, where he pulled his shoes and hoodie back on. He stood in the open doorway with her and gave her a hug and a long kiss.
“I’m going to want more,” she said. “And soon.”
“Any chance you could come over to get it?” he asked.
“Hmm...yes. I think that’s fair. And then your girlfriends can watch.”
“Wives.”
“Oh. Yes, wives.” She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, then stepped back. “Now go, young man, before I pull you back in here.”
He grinned foolishly and lingered for a moment, then nodded and began heading for his car.
…
When he came home, every single one of the ladies he now shared a house with was waiting for him in the living room.
“What happened?” Ellen asked, grinning almost madly.
“How was it?” Chloe asked at almost the same time.
Gabe laughed and settled down on the couch between them and Holly. Liz and Krystal were on the loveseat, sitting together and watching and waiting just as eagerly. This was a bizarre experience, but he was surprised to find that the strangeness didn’t last that long.
He was getting used to this wonderful madness.
“We had a good date at the mall, hit the arcade, then hit a virtual reality place so we could experience an ocean thing. And then she dragged me back to her house and we had sex,” he replied.
“Keep going…” Chloe said.
Gabe laughed and hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well…”
“Oh my God, are you still shy about this?!” Krystal cried.
“Krystal,” Liz murmured.
“So it got more emotional than I thought it would. Than we both thought it would. But it wasn’t bad or anything. It was good. It’s still just kind weird to talk about,” Gabe replied, feeling like a hypocrite.
“That’s what I was hoping for,” Ellen said.
“Emotional how?” Chloe asked.
“She asked me to tell her that I loved her, and I did, because I do. But I love her differently from how I love you all.” He paused, looked at Liz. “I...you know what I mean.”
“I do,” she replied with a knowing smile.
“That’s so sweet,” Holly murmured. “Like that’s so romantic. Did she cry?”
“I feel like we’re getting into personal territory…” he said. “I’m not sure about the specifics of how much to tell.”
“It’s tricky territory,” Ellen agreed. “But I’m really glad, Gabe. Sadie is so wonderful, and she deserves to feel loved.”
“I told her almost literally exactly that, word for word, when she got nervous.”
“You know us so well,” she replied with a pleased smiled.
“Apparently. Also, uh, we didn’t film it. But Sadie said that the next time we have sex, she’ll do it here and you can all watch.”
“So hot,” Krystal whispered.
“So how was it? Like how good was it?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, and don’t lie if it was amazing,” Ellen added. He sighed. “Hey, we know you so well now, too.”
“Top five,” he replied. “And that’s what I’ll say.”
“Wow,” Holly murmured.
“That must have been insanely hot,” Liz said.
“It was. Like...fuck. It was.”
“I thought you’d spend the night, honestly,” Ellen replied.
“I kind of did, too, but she needed some time to process everything. She’s happy, to be clear. But, yeah, it was fucking amazing. Anyway, I want to have a house meeting about our immediate future. About where we’re at with our two primary goals we’re trying to tackle right now.”
“Those being...sorry, I’ve still got fucking shit memory,” Krystal said.
“Our health and our passions.”
“Ooh, need my laptop for this,” Ellen said, getting up and hurrying off.
“Ugh, I hate talking about this shit,” Krystal groaned.
“Yeah,” Chloe murmured.
“We need to,” Gabe said firmly.
They both sighed. “I know,” Krystal said.
Ellen returned a moment later. “Okay, this is good. I wanted to actually tackle this today. I’ve been looking up clinics and doctors and therapists.
” She paused. “So, are we all in agreement that at the very least all of us need to get like a general practitioner doctor, get a basic checkup, and then do the same thing with a psychologist?”
“Wait, is it a psychologist or a therapist?” Krystal asked.
“A psychologist will give us a workup, basically ask us a lot of question, evaluate us, and determine if we should try therapy, psych meds, or both,” Ellen replied.
Everyone gave responses of agreement with varying levels of enthusiasm.
“Okay, good. There’s a medical clinic maybe five minutes from here that has a good reputation.
Myself, Gabe, and Holly have already gotten our checkups out of the way there.
So Chloe, Krystal, and Liz, you all need to work with me to get that established.
And I’ve found a psych clinic also that I’ve been checking out,” Ellen explained.
“God, we’re going to overload them,” Krystal muttered.
“We are going to have some difficulty coordinating this all, I think, but we can manage it. I’m actually really good with scheduling.”
“We also need to go get tested,” Gabe said.
“Yeah. It’s going to be expensive but it’s kind of like paying for a cheat sheet,” Ellen agreed.
“Ugh, I fucking hate needles…” Chloe groaned.
“Yeah, I’m not crazy about them,” Gabe replied. “But we need to do it. We should all go get tested one more time for STIs just to be sure, and then there’s two broad-reaching panels I want all of us to test for. Depression/anxiety and fatigue.”
“Yeah, I need that one,” Krystal said immediately. “The fatigue one. So fucking tired all the time.”
“What will it actually test?” Holly asked.
“Levels in our blood. Minerals and enzymes and shit like that,” Ellen explained. “If we’re deficient in anything, it will tell us. Krystal, you might be tired all the time because your brain is wired wrong, or because you don’t have enough Vitamin D or something.”
She looked at Gabe and grinned. “Well, it sure can’t be that.”
Ellen snorted and Liz laughed. “Surely not. But it could be something we could easily correct. Like if it is a vitamin, we can literally just buy a daily supplement over the counter for like ten bucks and boom, fixed.”
“It’s that easy?” Krystal asked uncertainly.
“It can be. It might be something more complex. But it’s totally possible it could be that easy.”
Krystal heaved a sigh. “This is such fucking bullshit. If it’s so goddamned easy, why is it so goddamned hard to do?
Why didn’t anyone check this shit when I was younger?
If literally all it takes is a blood draw, a test, and a cheap pill I can pick up at the fucking grocery store?
Why do I have to fucking suffer for my entire life not knowing this? ...sorry, this shit pisses me off.”
“Short answer is capitalism,” Gabe replied.