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Jordy started laughing even harder.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“Just because Cornelia is bisexual, doesn’t mean she automatically would want to be romantically involved with Kate and Priscilla. That’s like assuming you would be interested in Mehmet the tour guide because you are both heterosexual.”
I blinked. “Oh. Good point.”
Harrison came trudging into the room wearing gray sweatpants and a black tank top. He opened the fridge, pulled out the entire chicken casserole from dinner, and began digging into it with the serving spoon.
“Archer’s explaining his family to Trish,” Jordy said.
Harrison roared with laughter and returned to his room with the casserole.
“Anyways, that’s only five of my parents,” Archer went on. “When I was a toddler, Cornelia began a relationship with the bartender at the local pub, Ambrose.”
“Does Ambrose sleep with anyone other than your mom?”
“No. He’s involved with her and nobody else.”
“Okay…” I replied.
“And finally, there’s Hector. He and Camilla have a sexual relationship, but not romantic.”
“Like, friends with benefits?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“If he’s just a hookup, why include him in your family unit at all?”
Archer shrugged. “They’ve been doing it for at least twenty years now. And they are still quite good friends, and everyone else is quite keen on Hector. He’s a savvy Whist player. He’s been spending holidays with us since I can remember.”
“That’s a card game they all play,” Jordy explained.
I shook my head in confusion. “I’m struggling to picture all of this.”
“It helps when you see it drawn out.” Jordy slid his piece of paper over. It was a visual of all seven points connected with lines, like a constellation. There was an hourglass shape, with Pierce in the middle. The left triangle of the hourglass was Priscilla and Kate connected to Pierce, while the right triangle was him connected to Cornelia and Camilla. Another line shot away from Cornelia to a point labeled Ambrose, and a similar one extended away from Camilla to show how Hector fit into the equation.
“Okay, this makes more sense,” I said.
“It looks like a molecule, which is why people in that community call it apolycule,” Archer said.
“Why not just say that you have two parents, who are swingers?” I asked.
“Because I don’t have two parents who are swingers,” he said patiently. “Camilla lived in the same house as us growing up. When we moved from London to Stratford when I was four years old, Priscilla and Kate moved in with us. All of them raised me equally. And as I got older, Ambrose and Hector spent more holidays with us, and eventually became family, too. Although both of them feel closer to uncles than direct parents.”
“His situation is what made us comfortable raising Kaylee together,” Jordy chimed in. “After hearing about them—andmeetingthem at Christmas seven years ago!—it didn’t feel so weird for the three of us to raise a daughter.”
“Perhaps I was overly sensitive when you sent your text,” Archer admitted. “Saying that polyamory is just an excuse for people to sleep around. Perhaps that is true of some people. But in my case, I’ve spent the entirety of my life surrounded by love from my parents. All of them. I consider myself lucky because of it.”
I reached across the table and touched his hand. “That’s really wonderful. Anyone would be lucky to have what you have. I’m sorry I was so quick to judge. Is it awkward having to think about all the complex ways your parents have sex?”
“Yes,” he said, deadpan. “It is even more awkward needing to explain it in painstaking detail to someone else.”
I winced. “Yikes, I bet. I don’t even like thinking aboutmyparents that way, let alone with a whole bunch of other people who… yeah, I’m going to stop that train of thought right there, because I’m already grossed out.”
Archer adjusted the deck of cards on the table. “Regardless, that’s why I have a hard time taking Twilight and other romance novels seriously when a girl is struggling to choose who to be with. There’s an easy solution if you’re willing to put aside your jealousy! Now, how about one more game of Dutch Blitz? Jordy and I are tied for first…”
We played another game—which Archer won—and then went to bed. Our house here was set up with two separate wings on opposite ends of the living area, and Jordy and I had strategically been given rooms in the same wing, away from everyone else. That meant we didn’t have to beperfectlysilent, a luxury that we quickly took advantage of.
