Page 55 of Grin and Bear It

“Hey guys, this is my girl, Colleen, and her friend, Ellie,” Dale broke in. “Nash Walker and his crew are very taken with Ellie and she’s come around to the barbie this arvo to talk to some other people who’ve managed to make a poly relationship work.”

Well, actually, it was more like Colleen had made me come with her, but… potato, potahto.

“Oh!” A slim, elfin-looking woman with white-blonde hair jumped to her feet enthusiastically. “Ooh! Ooh! I know what this is!”

“Holly, sit down and shut up,” the red-haired woman said to her, laughing.

“But they… and she…” Holly pouted, but she sat back down.

“I’m Natalie,” the red-haired woman said, holding out the hand that she had free and I gave it a shake. “And this fine young man is my son, Sven.”

“Myson,” the blue-eyed guy said, smugly.

“And this is one of my husbands, Lars.”

Blue eyes got to his feet and shook my hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie. So you only just met the Walkers?”

“Ah, yeah,” I said. “Only the other day and we’re…” I shook my head, because I wasn’t sure myself, so I decided to go with the facts as they currently stood. “I’m their nephews’ teacher, not their girlfriend.”

“Yet.” The gorgeous guy who’d been holding the other baby first shot me a sly smile. “You’re not their… girlfriend,yet.”

“Right, right…”

“Quit it,” Natalie said. “Ellie’s probably feeling all flustered as it is, without you dickheads annoying her. Now, it’s time foryouto go to your daddy…” She laid baby Sven in Lars’ arms and for a moment he stared down at his child with all the love in the world in his eyes. Then he took in a breath and looked at Natalie accusingly.

“Did you just hand me the baby after he pooped in his nappy?” Lars asked Natalie.

“Shitty nappy tag,” she said, with a wicked grin. “Tag, you’re it!”

“So, are we gonna talk about this?” Holly said, bouncing up again to come and stand beside Natalie. “Like the care bear stare and the ‘I’ll do everything for love, including that’ and the Twilight thing with Renesmee and—”

“No.Youare gonna shut up. Like, right now.” Natalie gave her a steady look and Holly’s mouth snapped shut. For about a second.

“My god, Nat, you’resomumma bear now. Is this what happens when you have crotch goblins? Like, you’ve just pushed a football out of your vagina and probably shat yourself in the process, so you have no more fucks to give anymore? Because maybe I’d be open to having kids if that’s the case.”

“You’d have to find someone willing to impregnate you first,” Natalie shot back. “Nicky boy isn’t up for that job.”

“Not unless my name was Bubba and I had a ten inch—”

Natalie slapped a hand over her friend’s mouth. Holly’s eyes sparkled as she kept on trying to talk from behind Natalie’s hand. Natalie rolled her eyes and gripped her tighter.

“No!” she said firmly. “Bad Holly. Now be good or I’ll find something more permanent to shut you up with.”

“What, like this?” Holly pulled her head away to mimic blowing two dicks at once, only for Natalie to give her a shove and then look at us with a shrug of her shoulders.

“So, back to you, Ellie,” Natalie said briskly. “Your head must be spinning right now. Lemme guess, the guys took one look at you and then fell all over themselves to try and get your attention?”

“Ahh, kinda.” I shuffled my feet in the grass. “I mean, only two of them have said anything and I’m not used to that sort of attention.”

“It’ll come,” she said, then placed a gentle hand on my arm. “Trust me, you’ll have all four of them making declarations as soon as they think you’re up for it.”

The certainty in her voice evoked a complex array of emotions. She talked about this like it was all perfectly normal and to be expected, as if my journey was going to be exactly the same as hers. That voice of confidence settled something inside me, making me feel, for the first time, less like Alice who’d tumbled into Dickland by accident.

“But how…?” I looked around the back yard again, looking more closely at the ones that I now realised were poly family groups, and trying to find some clues to help me to understand what Natalie was getting at. I’d read a little bit about poly relationships. When we’d been told that Maddox and Knox’s parents were in one, I’d wanted to make sure I was sensitive to the boys and not using any terms that were offensive. But there’d been none of this idea—that it was just going to happen, almost as if it was predestined—in any of the interviews I’d read. Everything I’d come across before now had been all about the importance of communication and working around jealousy and—

“Yup,” Holly said, with a big smirk. “One minute you’re a sad panda and then the next you’re bent over—” She started thrusting wildly, slapping the arse of her imaginary partner.

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