[MarvHarvey]

Christine's Problem: Chapter 1 Part 4

The next day we started planning the canoe trip. It would be in about seven weeks, so there was plenty of time as long as we made reservations and arranged time off work. Allie and I had a canoe, and Chris used one her parents had in their garage but hardly ever used. Allie volunteered to handle the rest, consulting with Christine if and when required. It would only be much later that I would pay the price for this scheming of theirs.

The four of us got together regularly, and some times had time and energy for some games: spin the bottle was one with many variations of rewards and forfeits, plus strip twister, and naked twister, and loads of others. We never played the old classic strip poker, because one of us had bad family associations with poker and gambling – someone gambling away money the family needed to live. We didn't get into role-playing games then because we just didn't, we were busy with too many other things.

It was almost two weeks after the big announcement, and a week before the wedding, when Chris got the word on her full battery of tests. It was a relief to all: nothing serious, but a couple of small “anomalies” that would be removed surgically for closer examination – outpatient surgery in two days!

This was of course a huge relief, and so we had dinner at our house. Chris needed female contact and reassurance more than she needed the group – even me! Allie proved that she was a great girlfriend and stuck with her, Julian and I cooked and served everything, and we did it wearing red thongs and red bow ties. That was a surprise we had cooked up for the girls, and they laughed so hard they almost fell over when we took the tray of snacks and the tray with the wine and glasses into the living room. They laughed harder when they watched me going out to tend the grill! Fortunately it is mostly sheltered from the neighbours, although it didn't feel so sheltered when they locked the door on me! They only let me in after I took off the thong and tossed it out onto the grass.

After we ate – Jules and I dressed as we were – the girls went back to sit and scheme about the wedding and other things. Jules and I cleaned up and then took them tea, but they wanted to continue their private discussion, so we headed to the basement – the man cave. The girls stopped us.

“Here you two, come with us. Jules – hands on your head.” That was so they could take his thong off! Then they handcuffed both of us behind our backs. What had they been talking about and what were they doing now?

“Now come outside – its getting darker so no one will see.”

With them taking us each by the arm we obediently went outside – but Allie led us off the deck and out to the back fence and under a small tree. She whispered, “now, stand here, facing the little tree. Good, facing each other too. Chris – cuff yours to the tree, just below that little branch there. I'll cuff mine there too.” With that, they each produced another set of cuffs and attached one cuff around our manly bits and the other around the tree. We were attached too high to sit or even kneel, and a bit too low to stand up straight.

“See, Chris, it's like I figured. They are attached just a bit too low and won't be able to stand up straight so they'll have to spread their feet apart, and balance there against the tree as mosquito bait. They'll squirm a bit, it's too bad it'll be dark on 20 minutes, but we can watch them until them.”

Chris giggled at this last bit. “Allie, you are a ton of fun. Let's go sit with the mosquito coils for a bit, then go back inside to talk.”

We stood there. And at first the mosquitoes seemed to find us in pretty fair numbers, so we both shimmied and shook as we tried to reduce the number of bites we got. We could hear the girls giggling and whispering on the porch until it was dark and they went inside. We did look around at the neighbours, but didn't see any lights on or hear anyone outside. We hoped no one was sitting in the dark watching us! How long were the girls going to leave us?

At least we had time to discuss the wedding – as if our views mattered – and what was in the girls' scheming heads! And we talked about Christine's health – surgery in two days. We were both worried, but somehow confident. The big canoe trip – there were others planned for later but the wood-chopping trip was the most important – also gave us something to talk about. But again, the girls weren't telling us much.

After maybe half an hour Allie turned on the back porch light! What the hell? Someone would see our white skin in the dark. So we worried. Fortunately the mosquitoes had dispersed once it got dark, with most of the few left carried off on the warm breeze.

It was an hour later when they came to get us. We were a bit chilly by then, but after we were marched back in the house we soon warmed up – Jules and I with our heads stuck between our girls' legs and lapping away, the girls as a result of our efforts.

But this story is about the canoe trip, so tales of our other adventures and even the wedding will have to wait.