Love is Strange (Epilogue)

I woke to an empty bed in an unfamiliar place. Blinking, I rose to look around in confusion. My gaze naturally gravitated toward the noise on the other side of the room. That’s where I found my wife, moaning softly as she lightly bounced atop my best friend. His wife was there too, sitting on the bed beside them watching the two with wide-eyed fascination. Even now, after countless times watching her husband and my wife, Rebecca still had the most innocent fascination with it.

She was adorable.

Seeing me stir, Emma looked over at me, a wide smile on her face. “Morning, sweetie,” she said with an air of innocence.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “Morning,” I grumbled. It took a second to remember where we were. Hawaii. We were on vacation with Mike and Rebecca and it seemed like I had a bit too much to drink last night.

Sliding out of bed, I shuffled over and grabbed a robe.

“Not going to watch?” Emma asked, her innocent act dropping in surprise.

“I need some air.”

She was already lifting herself off Mike. “I’ll come with—”

I waved her off. “Come find me after you two finish.”

“But—”

“You seriously going to let Rebecca down like that?” The girl went red, shrinking down at the mention of her name.

“Please don’t tease her like that,” Mike said with a laugh. “Come on, Emma, I’m close.”

Sighing, she returned to riding him and I wandered outside. It was a beautiful morning and I leaned against the wood railing, content to enjoy the rising sun and soft crash of waves.

A lot had happened in the four years I’d been married to Emma. As things got more serious between Mike and Rebecca, he eventually told her about his history with Emma and me, emphasizing that it was no longer like that since he started dating her. I really must attract weird people, because Rebecca’s first reaction was to tell him to ‘show her.’ She was fascinated by it. I don’t know what exactly, because I don’t think she took pleasure in watching him and Emma together. She just wanted to observe it in an almost clinical way. Sometimes she would play with Emma’s breasts, but otherwise, she left the two to enjoy themselves as she watched. It was like the mechanical aspects of the whole thing were the interesting part, rather than erotic stuff.

Mike was completely lost, having no idea why his girlfriend was so fascinated with watching him and Emma when they hadn’t even had sex yet. Mike was a regular guest in our bedroom because of it, so there were positives. Almost every double date ended with Mike and Emma together in some way, sometimes with me joining them, other times watching with Rebecca. Was it weird? Absolutely, but I was the last one to cast judgment on someone being weird. The important thing was she made Mike happy and seemed happy herself. It happened less often once the two started having sex, thank god. Finding out Rebecca had been a virgin until that point didn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Man, did they make the cutest couple though.

I was an amazing matchmaker.

The wedding had been nice. Emma had wanted it to be a small, private affair but my mom vetoed that. Her precious adopted daughter was marrying some lame son she once loved, long ago in distant memory, and needed to be celebrated. It was as close to perfect as something could be, and I think Emma was happy she had allowed Mom to convince her to go all out. Stefan was a sobbing mess as he walked her down the aisle, and I got to meet Emily’s mystery boyfriend I was beginning to think she made up.

The engagement and later marriage didn’t change our relationship much. Considering how things had gone sideways, Emma continuing to sleep with other men might seem foolish; but while our relationship may have changed we hadn’t. I still found Emma irresistible when she was basking in the post-orgasmic bliss of another man and she loved teasing me about how great her lovers made her feel. Things weren’t the same as before. The ring on our fingers was more than a physical display of affection. It represented a promise that we would never repeat what happened. Anything we faced, good or bad, we would face together.

I knew things were on the right path when I took my beautiful wife home after the wedding only to have the teasing vixen stop me cold in the bedroom. The look on her face when she told me it didn’t make sense for the groom to consummate the marriage was the same cold indifference that inexplicably attracted me to her in the first place. After all, they called it the best man for a reason. And with that, she promptly kicked me from the bedroom.

My marriage starting with my wife and best friend in bed together might seem disgusting or pathetic to other people, but this was us. As cold as she had been, we had discussed it at length and everything was agreed to long before the wedding. So when I spent the first night of my marriage sitting outside the bedroom with Rebecca listening to my new wife’s passionate cries, I didn’t despair. I’d never felt more loved and understood.

Emma got me.

Just like I knew she would use this night to fuel her own twisted pleasure for months. Something she used to great effect over our ten-day honeymoon.

Mike married Rebecca the year after. A quiet affair just like the reserved woman he had fallen for. Even after all this time, the woman was still an enigma. From what I got from Mike, she was fairly traditional in her mindset about sex but she never stood in the way of Mike and Emma having sex from time to time so long as she was there to watch. She was happy with Mike, and I knew she was everything and more to my friend. If they were happy, I was happy. Getting to share my wife with my best friend every so often was a happy bonus.

Mike wasn’t the only one to get married. Sarah shocked us all by announcing she was moving with her long-time partner overseas. It wasn’t a marriage exactly, but Sarah never was the marrying type. That she had been close to a guy for this long was a testament to...something. I always assumed they had an on-again off-again sort of thing when the reality had been them having an open relationship that sometimes meant hooking up with another person for weeks or months before returning.

That had been an emotional goodbye for them. Emma and her had always been close, especially in college. The night before she left, we had a farewell party to see her off. Classic Sarah fashion, it had been a wild party. Her boyfriend—partner—didn’t seem to mind her hooking up with the multiple guys that were there. He even seemed a bit exasperated when she dragged him into bed with a girl or two.

There was a moment when Emma and Sarah disappeared for an hour. I had a suspicion about what happened, but I never asked and Emma never brought it up. I knew she would tell me if I asked, but I let her hold that secret. Whatever had gone on between the two, it had mentally prepared her for the airport tear fest as they went their separate ways. They still communicated on an almost daily basis, but it wasn’t the same. It was always the little things, like not being able to just call and chat. Time zone differences could be a bitch when you lived on opposite sides of the planet.

Last summer, James and Lilian finally tied the knot after years of my dumbass brother dragging his feet on the subject. Lilian ended up proposing to him, saying she didn’t want to wait forever for the idiot to wake up and realize they were all but officially married anyway. Like Emma and I, their marriage wasn’t strictly monogamous only instead of men joining them in bed, it was other women. The big thing that changed with marriage was Lilian stopped sleeping with other men, but she enjoyed sharing my brother with other women too much to stop.

I could relate.

After the honeymoon ended, I officially entered my father’s company and started busting my ass to prove I had what it took to be promoted. Emma had a job for a few months, but all it did was stress her out. Took me a few weeks, but I finally convinced her to quit and not bother finding a new one. I made enough money for both of us, and the last thing I wanted was for her to be unhappy. Emma took up a few lovers, and we had a blissful four years. I loved coming home from work to find my wife enjoying herself with another man knowing she set the situation up for me. Sometimes I watched or joined in. Other times, I let them be and had a private moment with her after he left.

We were much pickier when it came to who she slept with after we got married. All of them understood the relationship dynamic between Emma and me and respected it and they were all fine with me joining in or watching. Watching had evolved in a way. There were still times when I watched from a distance, but Emma liked when I took a, ‘present but uninvolved’ stance. That could be as small as holding her hand while she enjoyed her lover or something more intimate, like holding her while her lover pleasured her. I discovered nothing turned her on more than us having a slow, passionate make-out session while another man worked his magic between her legs.

Our relationship had always been odd. Emma understood that I enjoyed making love to her when she was already sexually satisfied, so she found men who could do that. Nothing beat coming home from a long day of work to find my wife resting comfortably with her lover in ‘her room,’ before taking her back to our room and making love. Of course we still had our moments alone, and those were every bit as great as her having fun with other guys.

Four years of marital bliss, and I wouldn’t change any of it.

I don’t know how long I had been reminiscing when Emma joined me. She held her fuzzy white robe tightly around her as she brushed hair from her face with the other.

“I thought you would enjoy waking up to that,” she said with a pout.

I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her in. She instantly leaned into it and together we enjoyed the presence of each other as we watched the sunrise together. I could understand her disappointment. These days, Mike and her were only together like this for special occasions. I worked with him every day and we still went out on double-dates every week or so. Emma and Rebecca almost had a friendship as close as Mike and I did at this point. Even if we were all comfortable with the arrangement, it seemed like we had silently agreed to keep our relationship dynamics mostly platonic. Which worked out fine. It made moments like these all the more special—especially when I joined them. I still had plenty of threesomes with my wife’s other lovers, but there was something special about sharing her with Mike.

I knew something was up when Emma joined me. Four years of marriage and nearly six years of relationship before that made me confident I had some idea of when something weighed on her. Leaning over, I kissed her head.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

She sighed. “I was going to bring it up after vacation…” Pulling away, she faced me but didn’t meet my eye. “These past four years have been great.”

“Hmm. I sense a ‘but’ in there.”

“It’s not like that. I don’t regret anything. It’s just… The past few months I’ve been feeling… I don’t know how to describe it. Unfulfilled?” My eyes widened. “Not sexually,” she said with a laugh. “Though that is a big part of this. I love playing around with my guys and all the stuff I do with you, but… that’s all my life is. I’m basically a fuck toy. A happily married one, but one just the same.”

“Emma—”

“I know you enjoy that, and I enjoy it too, but my life for the past four years has been taking care of the house and having sex with guys. It’s fun and I’m happy to do it...”

“But you want something more.”

She nodded.

“You wouldn’t be saying this if you didn’t have something in mind.”

Another nod.

“And?”

She bit her lip softly, glancing out at the beautiful sandy beach. Her eyes came back to me, blue sparkling as I felt like I would fall in love with her all over again.

“Maybe… well… have you given any thoughts to us having kids?” It was like the world froze. She mistook my stunned silence for something else. “I know it would be a big change. For both of us. For our sex life. But I really think—”

I grabbed her, squeezing her tightly before I spun her around a few times. Releasing her, she looked frazzled.

“We should get started right away!” I said excitedly.

“Right away?” she repeated, still looking disoriented from my outburst. I was already pulling her back into the house we had rented for the week. She laughed. “Isaac, it doesn’t work like that. I’m still on the—”

“Practice, Emma! Lots and lots of practice!”

---

Watching our child grow inside my beautiful wife was life-changing. Watching my wife change was something else. Emma was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Our relationship was as healthy as ever. Pregnancy made her irresistible in ways that I couldn’t keep my hands off her. She always seemed to have an excuse not to sleep with other men though. At first it made sense. She was trying to get pregnant and there was no way in hell she was going to risk someone else knocking her up, even if they used condoms.

But then it was other things. She didn’t feel up to it. She wasn’t comfortable showing off her incredible body to others when she started to show. I didn’t mind, fully expecting things to go back to normal once the baby was born.

Only once I saw her holding our precious baby boy did I realize the full extent of the change Emma had gone through. Looking at her radiant smile, the pure joy on her face as she held him… Emma was no longer just my wife.

Emma was a mother.

Seeing her was like seeing perfection for the first time. Nothing in my life would ever compare to that moment.

And when I finally got my chance to hold him, my world forever changed. My world had changed—no—our world had changed. Looking up, I gave Emma the goofiest smile as I held the cutest, most precious thing in my life.

“I made this,” I said proudly.

Emma groaned, her smile not fading a bit. “Fucking dork.”

---

“Emma. Emma. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken care of a little one. I raised two of them, remember?” Emma took a deep breath, nodding. Stefan looked at his grandson and smiled. Even with him approaching two years old, the size difference beyond comical. “Me and William are going to have a great time! Knock back a couple of beers, watch the game—”

“Give him back,” Emma said, reaching for him.

“Honey, he’ll be fine,” I said, grabbing my wife and pulling her toward the door. “Probably.”

“We are making a horrible mistake. Papa Bear is a terrible influence.”

“Emma…”

Stefan chuckled. “Have fun you two. Oh! While you are out, might want to get to work on a sibling!” Emma groaned, but I was finally able to get her moving. “Enjoy your night out! William and I will be just fine. Won’t we, boy? Yes we will!”

She sighed. “Bye, Papa Bear.”

It was a chilly evening as we stepped outside and walked to the car. I glanced over at Emma.

“You didn’t tell him?”

“I wanted to give it a few more weeks. It’s still early,” she said, hand automatically going to her stomach.

My eyes widened. “Wait, we were waiting?”

“Wait, you told someone?”

“Mike.”

“Of course you told him. How is Rebecca?”

“Due any day now. Has him on pins and needles since she is home alone during the day.” I sighed. “I wish I could give him a week or two off, but the project he is on is at a critical point and he’s the only one I trust with it.”

Getting into the car, I started it and started us toward the restaurant. Mike and Rebecca were going to meet us there. We had talked about it being just us tonight, but knowing our friends were about to be extremely busy once the baby was born, we opted to enjoy the night with the two of them. Besides, I knew Mike was stressing out and needed to unwind.

“You know, maybe after dinner we can get a hotel. You and Mike… You know. Like old times.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh?” Emma said with a seductive smile. “And what makes you think Mike and I haven’t already…?” Her smile grew, voice dropping. “After all, whose baby do you think this is?”

It got me for a second, but that teasing smile gave it away.

Fucking minx.

“Tease.”

She giggled and rested a hand on my leg. We both understood though. That part of our life was over. To be honest, I didn’t miss it. It had been fun and exciting, but now? I had my wonderful wife who satisfied me in every way possible and a beautiful boy who was the center of my universe. Soon, I would have another son or daughter to expand my world just a little bit more. If we needed some more spice, Emma was always happy to adopt a role—especially if it meant teasing me. Not to mention we had copious amounts of videos of her squirreled away if we really wanted to turn up the heat.

Sitting at a red light, I looked over at my wife. She was dazzling in the city lights. Catching me staring, she smiled. “What?”

I had a big smile on my face. Probably looked like an idiot. Or a creep. “I love you.”

With a quirky smile, she looked like she was about to answer, but thought of something better. Her smile grew.

“I know.”

End

(A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed! Thank you for all the support.)