Carol looked at the kitchen wall clock as she heard the door of Kit's Chevy slam. She was home a little earlier than usual…
   Carol stared into the half finished salad as she put down her paring knife. She dreaded the coming session with her daughter, but there was no way to avoid it.
   "Hi, Mom – what's for dinner?"
   The cheery greeting made Carol smile as she turned to see her pretty blonde daughter. "Kit, you're as bad as a man. The first thing you're interested in when you get home from work is food."
   The girl laughed. "I guess you're right. That's what Daddy always asked about first, wasn't it? Well, I don't blame him – what are we having?"
   Carol pretended to be angry. "Hopeless. You're absolutely hopeless. I don't blame Jack for being disgusted with you. I can say one thing for your father – he was interested in food, but there was another subject that he was even more serious about…"
   The mention of her boy friend's name made Kit suddenly serious. "Oh, Mom – let's don't even talk about Jack now. The more I think about it all the more I see that it wouldn't work. I guess I should feel lucky that I found out about his tastes before we got married. It would be terrible to have found it all out afterwards…"
   Carol was displeased with herself; she had not intended to bring up that subject until after dinner. But suddenly she decided to go ahead with it. "Kit… honey, sit down for a minute while I finish this salad. I want to talk to you about something… about Jack. Maybe things are not nearly as bleak as they seem."
   The young girl looked at her mother closely, puzzled by her words. "Oh, Mom – you just don't know. You weren't there. I haven't even told you everything he said – all the things he wanted to do. It was just awful. It still makes me shiver to think about the things he likes."
   "Kit – sit down. There are some things we have to discuss. I had intended to do it later, but we may as well do it now. Sit down."
   The young blonde made no further comment as she put her purse on the table and slipped gracefully into a chair across the table from her mother. Carol had been standing as she prepared the salad and she too sank into a chair. For a moment mother and daughter looked at each other without speaking.
   Carol took a deep breath and plunged in to a task that she did not relish. "Honey, I talked to Jack last night. I went to his apartment, in fact…"
   "Mother! How could you? How could you do such a thing? I don't want you to go to him begging him to take a girl that he's obviously not satisfied with…"
   "Oh, cut it out, Kit." Carol's beautiful face wore an unaccustomed frown. "It wasn't like that at all. Wait until you hear the whole story. You're going to be damn glad I went before this is all over. Or do you want to peck a typewriter in that silly real estate office until some boy with no more money than you have marries you and gives you four or five babies in a row? Now hear me out, and look at all this from a realistic point of view for a change…"
 

***

 
   Almost an hour later Kit was still dazed as she stood up and moved uncertainly toward the coffee maker on the stove. "Mom, I… I just can't believe it. Any of it. That you want to give your body to him, or that he would want both of us under those circumstances, or that you would expect me to go for a plan like that. Us living there and having him take both of us. It… It's perverted."
   Carol shook her head wearily. "Give me another cup of coffee, too. You're so stubborn you've given me a headache. Kit – it's not perverted, it's practical. You've got to see that."
   "Practical? That's a funny word for it." Kit poured both cups and slumped back down in her chair. "Mom, what you're telling me is that I should marry Jack, and let him fuck me while he uses you for all the other kinds of sex that he likes. On nights when he didn't fuck me you'd suck his prick or let him fuck you in the ass or anything else he wanted. I'm using your words now; my vocabulary doesn't seem to be complete enough to cover the situation…"
   "Kit – do you love Jack? If you do, you should see this as a way to avoid losing him. I admit it's a little unconventional, but the point is that you're in love with an unconventional man. And, believe me – it won't be long until your point of view changes and you see things the same way he does. That will happen, I promise you it will. And when it does you'll thank me for the rest of your life for not letting the whole thing blow up in your face now. All this is if you love him, I mean… if you don't, I don't want any part of it, either. Damn it, do you love him or not?"
   Kit was suddenly very quiet as she stared at her mother. When she finally spoke her voice was so low that it was almost unintelligible.
   "Yes, Mom, I do. That's the trouble, I do love him…"
 

***

 
   The drive had been a silent one. Carol did not force a conversation; she realized that, despite a firm decision, her daughter was still torn with doubt as her crucial moment approached. The plan did ask a lot of the pretty young girl…
   "Gee, it feels funny to be coming to Jack's apartment like this. I've been there once, and he fucked me, and you've been there once, and he fucked you. And tonight he wants to fuck us both – in front of each other. It's weird. You can say what you want to, but it's unnatural. I know it is."
   Carol restrained her impatience as she pulled into a parking slot. She tried to remember whether the Lincoln next to her was the same one she had parked by before. Then she turned her attention back to the increasingly nervous girl at her side. "Oh, honey, relax. Relax and enjoy what we're going to do. After all, baby, sex is about the nicest thing there is, and you can take my word that Jack is far above average. I suppose in a way that's what's caused the problem. Well, better a man a little oversexed than one undersexed. So just relax and enjoy it when he gets that big prick in you. Believe me, that's a feeling that you should savor, not dread…"
   Kit opened her mouth and then decided that the chances of making her mother understand were negligible. And, though it was hard to admit even to herself, she was thinking about the exquisite sensations that she would again experience. If only it were not under these circumstances…
   The pretty young blonde sighed as she got out of the car and closed the door.
 

***

 
   "Kit, I have to admit I'm a little surprised. Pleasantly surprised. Somehow I didn't think you'd go along with your mother's plan." Jack was grinning as he brought the seated women their drinks. "Martinis again, if that's okay with you two. Seems like I've been on a martini kick for a month."
   The young girl was silent as she accepted her glass. Carol spoke as she took hers. "This suits us, Jack. I like martinis and Kit drinks very little anyway."
   "I may get drunk tonight. I may have to take all this." Kit's voice was petulant.
   Jack looked at her narrowly. Her attitude was not what he had hoped for; obviously her acceptance of the situation was grudging. She would have to be shown the error of her ways; the sooner she was made to understand her exact place in the scheme of things the better for all concerned.
   His voice was friendly, and at first both women missed the veiled threat in it. "Kit, baby, you don't seem too happy about it all. Now, I want to be sure – do you or do you not want to take part in your mother's plan? Answer carefully."
   Kit's voice sounded slightly cross. "I'm here, aren't I? I don't pretend to like everything about the situation…"
   "The crucial point is whether you accept it, not whether you like it. You'll come to like it, in time… Now – the point at the moment is that I'm not entirely satisfied with your attitude and I intend to change it. As a first step in that direction I want you to understand more clearly your place in all this. Stand up, Kit. I want you to raise your skirt, slip your panties off, and show me your cunt."
   Jack's unexpected demand shocked both women. Kit stared stupidly at him, too numbed to reply. Even Carol did not react with typical promptness; her first thought was that Jack was not handling Kit in the right way.
   "Kit – I told you to do something. Is it possible that you failed to hear me?"
   The startled girl finally found her tongue. "Jack! What's wrong with you? How can you say such things – and in front of Mother?"
   The man closed his eyes in disgust for a moment, then took a long sip of his drink before he replied. When he spoke there was a weariness in his voice. "Alright, Kit. I'll go through this one time, and no more. If you want to marry me you'll have to accept me as I am, because I have no intention of changing, at least any further than the concessions that I've already made. You know what those concessions are – I've agreed that I'll expect only straight fucking from you; the refinements I'll get from Carol. But I do expect to be obeyed without question when I tell you to do something. What I want now involves only a look at your cunt; it certainly does not violate our agreement. Kit, you have to decide, once and for all. Either you'll have to do what I want, without questions and delay, or we'll have to forget the whole thing. Am I loud and clear?"