JC: Ed Biggers Part 4: Adjournment Chapter 11 By Lazlo Zalezac Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004 Fascinated, Ed sat in the kitchen watching Shauna dancing as she cooked. It was amazing how much she was like Marguerite in the kitchen. Not for the first time, he asked, "Tell me again, how much time have you and Marguerite spent in the kitchen together?" "Just the past ten days." "And she taught you to dance like that while you are cooking?" With a smile at the comment, Shauna replied, "A woman has to watch her figure." Shauna had weighed in well over two hundred pounds when Ed met her the first time in New York. Now she was down to a hundred and forty pounds. She looked good, but she was still a little large for her height. George and Walt had already been by the kitchen several times. They had dropped hints that they wouldn't mind a midnight visit from her. Their suggestions had clearly surprised the black woman and she was seriously considering taking them up on their offers. Ed smiled and said, "No, that's our job. We'll watch your figure for you." Shauna couldn't believe that Ed made that comment even though she knew he wasn't a racist or a sexist. When she had arrived at the house, a black man had met her at the door. Convinced that he was a servant, she wondered if there wasn't a subtle overtone of racism in the house. Later when she learned that he was actually one of Ed's husbands, she was shocked that Ed had never mentioned that one of his husbands was black. She asked, "Are all the men in this house horny?" She had just finished asking the question when Leroy entered the room. With an easy laughter, Leroy replied, "I've just been ravaged by Ling and Kelly. Horny is the last thing on my mind." Laughing at the comment, Shauna corrected herself, "Is everyone in this house oversexed?" Cathy had come into the kitchen in time to hear that remark. With a great big smile, she said, "Hey, I resemble that remark." Shaking her head, Shauna returned to dancing while she cooked. It was an hour to lunch and already everyone was gathering in the kitchen. She couldn't believe how welcome they had made her feel. It was her opinion that a kitchen was supposed to be the center of a house except when it was time to cook. Ed turned to Cathy and said, "Hey, how are things going with Lynn?" Shaking her head, Cathy answered, "She nearly fainted when she ran into John Carter and realized who we were." "Are we that intimidating?" "Not really, you guys are just too well known. It's like finding out you work for a movie star," answered Cathy. "Oh," replied Ed still unused to the idea that people looked at him like he was some sort of celebrity. He had that problem when he and Linda had gone to the cabin. The locals had been afraid to talk around him until, with lots of effort, he had finally broken the ice. With a sigh, he said, "John has it even worse." Shauna turned and looked at the crowd of people in her kitchen. By now, it was Ed, Leroy, Cathy, Kelly, and Ling. Exasperated, she said, "How do you expect me to cook with this crowd in here?" From the door, Marguerite said, "You tell them girl." Realizing that the chef wanted everyone out of the room, Ed suggested, "How about a swim?" In mass, the family members showed up in the poolroom. As everyone stripped there was significant teasing and joking. Within seconds, they had all entered the water. Beth and Little John came into the poolroom with Linda watching over them. There was a small wading pool for the children set up in the corner. As they played in the pool, the adults took turns watching over them. In the larger pool, the three wives were dunking Ed and John while Leroy watched from next to the wading pool keeping an eye on Beth and John while the children were busy splashing each other. With a twinkle in their eyes, the two children turned and started splashing Leroy with abandon. Leroy laughed and moved to the edge of wading pool and splashed back. The kids loved it and giggled with the abandon of children having fun. The rest of the staff arrived, with the exception of Shauna and Lynn, and started stripping. It wasn't long before they had joined the family in the pool. At that point, a major water war broke out between family and staff. There was laughing, shouting, and gasps of surprise as splashes were exchanged. From the wading pool, the kids were laughing at the antics of their parents. This kind of activity was nothing new to them. As far as they were concerned, adults were kids that were large since they played all the same games as the kids and took the same degree of pleasure in those games. The great thing was that their parents knew all kinds of new games and were continually teaching them to the kids. Daddy John had just introduced them to Hunt the Bug Eyed Monsters where they would fly space ships looking for aliens to shoot. Amidst this fun, Lynn entered the room to call everyone to diner. She had been warned that the family tended to be naked in the poolroom, but she had not realized the full implications of that warning. On entering the room, she froze in shock as a dozen naked people played in the pool and covered her mouth with her hand to hide her embarrassment. The mission that had sent her to the room forgotten. Leroy, noticing Lynn standing at the door, went over to the young woman and asked, "What do you need?" Staring at the largest cock that she had ever seen, Lynn was unable to answer. This was the most unusual situation that she had ever encountered. As much as she wanted to view this as some sort of sexual frenzy, she could see that this was the same kind of activities that people in bathing suits would be doing in a pool. There wasn't the least sign of an erection. Recognizing that the young woman was not going to answer his question anytime soon, Leroy called out, "Ed, your assistant needs you." Climbing out of the pool, Ed walked over to Lynn. Her eyes slowly moved from Leroy to Ed and focused on his cock. The hand that had been covering her mouth moved lower to cover her breasts and her other hand moved down to cover her pubic area despite the fact that she was fully clothed. A tugging on the hand covering her pubic area caught her attention. She looked down to find Beth looking up at her. Beth, with the innocence of a properly raised child, said, "You're funny." "Huh?" "You're just standing there staring at my Daddies." Recognizing the source of the young woman's discomfort, Ed kept his distance and asked, "Was there something that you needed?" It was Beth's comment that brought Lynn back to the real world and she answered, "Lunch is ready." Ed turned and called out, "Lunch is ready." Everyone scrambled out of the pool and rushed over to the towels. Lynn stared at the variety of bodies present in the room. She couldn't believe that Marguerite, a large woman, was as comfortable being naked in front of so many men as the gorgeous Linda. There were cocks of all sizes and shapes. She slowly backed out of the poolroom and ran to the kitchen. Once he was dressed, Ed helped Little John get his clothes on. Despite the fact that he was almost two and a half, he still had problems getting his tee shirt on and getting his shoes tied. He often got his arms lost inside the tee shirt when putting it on. Little John asked, "Why don't I get shirts like yours?" Surprised by the request, Ed answered, "I'm not sure. If you want these kinds of shirts, ask your moms to get them." "I can do that?" asked Little John surprised that he could have a choice over what he wore. "Of course you can. You are a person and have a right to control what you wear," replied Ed. It was a very thoughtful Little John that followed Ed to the dining room. He wondered if he were to ask that he be allowed to wear dresses if they would allow him to do that. It would make an interesting experiment. The family and staff gathered around the table for lunch. Shauna brought out a large tureen of soup and set it on the buffet counter. She made several trips as she loaded the buffet with sandwiches and warm meats. The kids climbed up on their tall chairs at the table to wait for their meal to arrive. Shauna brought out hot dogs for them and set the plates on the table in front of the two kids, watching as their eyes lit up in pleasure. Going through the line, everyone gathered around the table. The typical over dinner meal conversation started. Lynn sat at the end of the table watching these people enjoying their food, teasing each other, and talking about important events with equal enthusiasm. The conversation came to a sudden halt when Little John announced, "Mommy Kelly, Daddy Ed said that I could wear whatever kind of clothes that I want." Surprised by the volume of the announcement, Kelly turned to Little John and said, "That's right." "I want to wear dresses like Beth," announced Little John as he watched his mother carefully to assess her reaction. Lynn burst out in giggles that were immediately halted when she saw the looks that others around the table gave her. She couldn't believe that they would take the request seriously. Shauna, a little older and more experienced, waited to see how the family reacted. Her mouth fell open when Kelly answered, "Okay." The request to wear dresses had the tone of a lie, but Ed recognized what Little John was attempting to establish. He wanted to know if they would impose boundaries on him. Ed cautioned, "However, you might consider that people will start treating you strangely because of that." The reaction of Lynn had not been lost on Little John. He was not harmed by her reaction since it wasn't really important to him, but she could not have known that. Frowning, he asked, "You would let me wear dresses even if other people would not treat me nicely?" Smiling at the suggestion that they would allow harm to come to him, John answered, "We would let you do that only if you really realized what kind of treatment you would get. Knowing that, you wouldn't be able to get angry when you were treated badly." Shauna leaned forward realizing that they weren't exactly talking him out of his choice, but were explaining about cause and effect. When you did something of which others wouldn't approve, then you had to expect the consequences and to deal with them. It was far wiser advice than what she would have given a child. She, like most parents, would have just answered that he couldn't and that would have led to a tantrum on the part of the child. When Little John looked over at Ed, he noticed the smile on his face. He knew that Ed understood that he had lied when he said that he wanted to wear a dress. Ed confirmed this when he said, "You don't really want to wear a dress. You wanted to find out how we would react when you asked to do that." "Yeah," replied Little John embarrassed at having been caught in a lie. "You could have introduced the topic in a less confrontational manner." "What's confronshunal?" "Confrontational means that you ask in a way that requires a direct yes or no answer without room for explanation." "I still don't understand." "For now, let me say that you might have found out the answer to your question in a better way." Beth frowned and asked, "How?" The master of confrontation, Ling, answered, "He might have said that Ed said that he could wear any kind of clothes that he wanted. That could have been followed up with the question of what would we say if he wanted to wear a dress." Linda answered, "We could have explained that after he knows the facts of his request that we would say that it was okay." Shocked by the sophistication of the discussion, Shauna asked, "Do you kids understand what your parents are saying?" "Of course," answered Beth. "Pretty much so," answered Little John. Returning back to the discussion, he said, "Daddy Ed told me that I could wear the clothes that I want. What would you say if I were to ask for shirts like Daddy Ed and Daddy Leroy wear?" "I would have to answer that I'd be happy if you would wear shirts like that. People would see how grown up you are," replied Ling. "So may I?" "Of course," replied Ling with a smile. Already her son was learning how to ask for things in a positive manner. The conversation around the table returned to normal as though nothing had happened. Little John sat in his chair and turned to Kelly. He asked, "Mommy Kelly, everyone says that if it harms no one, then do it. When I asked to wear dresses, Lynn laughed at me. I didn't care, but it could have hurt." Sitting back in his chair as quiet settled over the room and all eyes turned to Ed, he answered, "You have met the first years at the Druid College." "Yes." "You know that sometimes they don't behave well." "Yes." "Consider Lynn as being a first year. She is still learning the rules of proper behavior." As he giggled, Little John replied, "She's wearing clothes. It is hard to see her as a first year." As Lynn blushed, Ed shook his head with a smile on his face. There wasn't a proper reaction to that statement. All eyes glanced at Lynn wondering what her reaction would be. Beth saved them from the embarrassing silence that had settle over the table when she asked, "How come so many people don't know how to behave?" The question was a good one and John leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. In a very serious tone of voice, he said, "Most people never learn how to behave in a proper manner. Their parents don't know how to behave and they can't teach their children how to behave. As a result, they stomp around their life crushing the feelings of other people, treating them as objects, and destroying themselves in the process." The children were quiet for a long time as they considered the answer. Lynn had taken offense at the statement and said, "Are you saying that I don't know how to behave?" Looking over at her with eyes that missed little, Ed asked, "Do you want the truth?" "Yes." "Are you sure? The truth often hurts." "Yes," demanded Lynn getting angry with Ed for his delay. "Then I would have to say that you don't know how to behave. You don't think about the consequences of your words or actions on others. To laugh at the innocence of a child is not acceptable behavior for a well-adjusted adult. One of the rules in our house is very simple. If it harms none, then do it. The other rule is to protect the weak from the strong. Children are at a significant disadvantage to adults. Adults should do everything in their power to protect their children from harm." Flushed from the criticism, Lynn slowly found her anger heating up in a rolling boil. Any minute, she was going to loose her temper. She started to say something, but Ed held up a hand to stop her. "You have been raised within a society that views evil as entertainment and love as obscene. Within the norms of that society you are a good person, it is just that we live to a much stricter moral code." The comment stunned Lynn particularly considering the harsh rules under which she had been raised. Did she view evil as entertainment? Did she view love as obscene? How could he say that? She asked, "Do you really believe that I view evil as entertainment?" "Do you watch films in which people hurt each other? Murder, rape, blackmail, and deceit are common topics in films today. That's evil." Leroy, having seen her reaction to their nudity, added, "You turn away from people playing with each other because of their lack of clothing." The reminder of the activities that she had observed in the poolroom caused a blush to spread over her face. In fact, she was the only one in there that had seen anything sexual in their actions and she knew it. Grasping for some way to justify her actions, she stuttered, "That's the way the world is." "That is why we say that the majority of people do not know how to behave." Sitting back in her chair, she asked, "If I'm so evil, why do you waste your time with me?" After glancing over at Ed, Cathy answered, "Because there is hope for you." Nodding his agreement, George said, "You might want to apologize to Little John for your laughter." The idea of apologizing to a two-year-old child was totally unheard of in her family. That everyone around this table expected that of her undermined her anger. They were treating these kids like adults. Seeing the expectant looks on the faces around the table, Lynn finally said, "I'm sorry for laughing at you." Having been around Ed too long, Little John gave a caricature of a wink and said, "That's okay. Next time you have to stand in the corner until you know what you did wrong." The entire family laughed at the joke as Little John had lots of practice standing in the corner. Shauna couldn't believe the sophistication of the children in managing a conversation. There was no way with the exaggerated wink that Lynn could get angry about his comment. Having finished eating, Ed and John winked at each other. John asked, "Who wants to Hunt Bug Eyed Monsters?" Ed, Leroy, Little John, and Beth all raised their hands. Laughing, John asked, "Who wants a horsy ride to the play room?" Little John and Beth raised their hands. Ed picked up Beth and put her on his shoulders. As he galloped out of the room, Beth shouted, "Giddy-up!" John lifted Little John on his shoulders and took him out of the room, bouncing as he went. Leroy went out and headed directly to the playroom to make sure that anything that might not be appropriate for the children was out of sight and behind locked doors. The wives watched the men leave the room knowing that they would take the long way to the playroom. Kelly said, "Now that the kids are out of the room, we can talk." Ling laughed as she added, "Yes, it is so hard to get all three men out of the way. Thank goodness for the children." Lynn was still puzzled by what she had learned over the dinner table. Unable to restrain herself any longer, she said, "You treat the children like little adults." Kelly was about to make a comment that they didn't treat the men like adults, but held back the quip. It was clear to her that Kim was very confused by the discussion over the table. With discrete looks around the table, the staff eased out of the room until only the three wives, Lynn, and Shauna remained. Kelly said, "We treat them like people and not like adults. They are never out of reach of a responsible adult. They don't get into trouble because we never give them the opportunity." Linda added, "We don't treat them like property that we can force into little roles that aren't for them." Shauna said, "You don't seem to tell them no very often." The combat trained Ling answered, "In fighting, you can use the enemies actions against them. You don't have to overpower them. We don't overpower the kids. We let them know the facts and allow them to come up with their own 'no.' When they test the facts, then they learn the truth for themselves. That's the easy way to teach kids right from wrong." Kelly nodded and asserted, "If you tell kids lots of rules without explanation, the kids don't learn why doing something is wrong. The rules will seem arbitrary and they will spend all of their time trying to find the exceptions. Our rules have no exceptions. The kids can understand them and apply the rules in the manner they understand them. When they violate them, we explain the violation so that they understand the rules better." There was a long moment of silence before Lynn said, "My parents would have yelled at me for demanding an apology from an adult." In terms of childhood, Kelly had been raised in the most permissive family while Ling had been raised in the strictest. It was Linda that answered, "There are millions of adults that harm children and don't apologize. Most of the abuse is simple and doesn't leave long term scars while some is horrendous. We are against abuse in all forms." "Okay, I'll buy all that. But you've got to admit that being naked around your kids is wrong," said Lynn. "Why?" "Because it is!" Kelly sat back and looked at Lynn realizing that her upbringing had probably been very strict but misdirected. Raised amidst rules that were rigid and enforced over the least little infraction. Nudity was obscene. Licking her lips, Kelly said, "John once told me that clothes are the first lie that people tell each other." "Clothes are a lie? I never heard such nonsense." "You've seen Ed in his robes and you've seen him in jeans. What would you have thought if the first time you saw him, he was in blue jeans?" asked Kelly as she smiled at the young woman. She had actually thought about asking her how she would have considered him if he had been naked. "I wouldn't have been so overwhelmed by him." "Yet it is the same person," remarked Linda. Nodding her agreement, Shauna said, "I worked for him for almost a week before I saw the robe and the effect that it had on people. I had gotten to know him as a person first. I'm glad that it was that way." Kelly said, "Each time you dress, you are selecting which lie you want to tell the world." The statement was only half-accurate as far as Ling could tell. She commented, "It isn't so much an outright lie, but it is a half truth. You wear a suit and people think you are a businessman, and they don't see that you are actually a family man, a sportsman, or a pilot. Naked, you are not hiding anything nor are you presenting a slanted view of yourself." Linda said, "You see the nudity as obscene, but is the little dingle between the men's legs any more obscene than the nose on their face?" "Those men don't have little dingles," remarked Lynn only realizing what she had said once the words were out of her mouth. The comment provoked a good degree of laughter around the table. Each woman said something to the effect that her powers of observation were quite good. Blushing furiously, Lynn looked down at the table. Kelly laid a hand on her arm and said, "Don't be embarrassed by your reaction to the men. Even I had that reaction to John the first time I saw his cock. When Ed visited the Two- Sided One, his cock grew in size. Boy was I surprised by that." "Don't you think that it ruins the magic of sex to see people naked?" "Not at all. You see mouths every day. Does that destroy the magic of a kiss?" Lynn was quiet as she thought about what made it wrong for a child to see their parents naked. She was so inhibited that even her boyfriend had not seen her naked except in the dark. There had to be something that went beyond her upbringing that made it wrong, but she couldn't identify it. All she remembered were her parents telling her that she should be ashamed when she was undressed. Ed returned to the dining room and said, "The kids are still hunting bug eyed monsters. I have been sent on a mission to bring back some refreshments." Realizing that meant she was supposed to help him, Shauna stood up and went into the kitchen. Ed, looking at the women in the room, asked, "What?" Kelly giggled and then said, "Oh, we were just considering your dingle that dangles." Ed looked down to see if he had left his zipper down again. There was no such problem and he was confused by the reference. Shaking his head, he remarked, "What about my dingle?" "Nothing." Shrugging as he realized that this was girl talk, Ed replied, "Okay." Lynn stared at the tabletop the entire time, unable to look at Ed. He was about to say something when Shauna came out with a tray containing little jars of fruit juice. Accepting the tray from Shauna, Ed said, "I'll leave now and you can get back to your girl talk. I'll be back to listen outside the door." Laughing, Kelly retorted, "No men allowed." After Ed left, Lynn asked, "I don't understand you." "What don't you understand?" "I just find everything here confusing. You treat little kids like adults. The adults act like kids. You walk around naked without shame. Even Marguerite, who is large, was naked and wasn't embarrassed by her body," answered Lynn as she slumped down in her chair frustrated by the total absence of inhibition. "Why would Marguerite be embarrassed by her body? She's beautiful," asked Kelly totally perplexed by what Lynn had said. "She doesn't look thin and beautiful like you three." "Thin and beautiful are two different things. I know that the men in this house love having sex with her. Her body is soft and yielding in bed. She is an enthusiastic lover and knows how to have a good time," replied Kelly. "She's slept with your husbands?" Ling smiled as she remembered how the staff had fought to get that job benefit, particularly since she had been one of them that fought for that right. She said, "It's a job benefit. The men fought against it, but they were out voted." Lynn shook her head and said, "This is too much for me. When are they going to expect me to sleep with them?" "Never," replied Kelly as Ling and Linda nodded their agreement. That was not the answer that she expected and she repeated it, "Never?" "Never." "What? Am I not good enough for them?" "You aren't interested. As a result, they'll never say or do anything that would make you uncomfortable." At that, Lynn stood up and announced, "I'm going back to work. I think I've heard everything that I need to hear." After Lynn left, Ed returned with the tray and empty bottles. Setting them on the table, he asked, "Did she get overloaded?" "Yes," replied Kelly with a sigh. She looked at the door through which the young woman had just passed. "I don't think she'll ever accept the lifestyle that we have here." "She's a secretary in my consulting company. There's no need for her to accept our lifestyle. It would be nice if she would learn to expand her horizons, but that isn't for us to force upon her." Kelly frowned and said, "It's a shame that she was damaged so severely by her parents. Inhibited, adrift, and insulated to the point where she can't even imagine what it is like to live." Linda shrugged and said, "She's normal as far as a lot of people are concerned." Smiling as a sudden idea crossed his mind, Ed asked, "Does she know that you are a Druid?" "No." "It will be interesting to see how she reacts to that."