Solidarity: THFWS&TTM’s

Solidarity
Frederick was conspicuous in his absence that night at the Sanctuary, but the mood of the group in general was so buoyed by the revelation of Darcy’s pregnancy that everyone there seemed to have a shared interest in her happiness and well-being, and this mood continued throughout the weeks that followed.
“If I only knew what kind of treatment I was going to get, I might have considered doing this on purpose a long time ago!” Darcy quipped. As attentive to Darcy as Mark habitually was now every member of the group seemed to focus all of their attention and support to her.
Suki and Kali both seemed to hover at her elbows and were a seemingly endless source of massages, foot and back rubs, herbal teas and general pampering in a way that seems to come so naturally to some women. In this way, their sisterhood was enhanced as a natural bi-product that seemed to draw its energies from the lack of competitiveness or jealousy amongst the women, or for that matter, the men either.
Ash, Charles, and Merle likewise showed their support for Mark as well as Darcy. Rather than leave Mark feeling pushed out when the women surrounded Darcy, the men were able to distract Mark long enough to just let things happen.
It is all too customary for a solitary couple to loose themselves in the demands and dramas of a normal pregnancy, but they were able to balance the warm envelope of a sense of belonging to something larger than just themselves with the celebration of independence within this small group of individuals of common mind and purpose.
Mark and Darcy had decided they would get married within the month. They both had good healthcare insurance, but they figured this was a good time to embrace the obvious.
Ash finally acknowledged the giant elephant in the room long enough to simply state that as much as everyone in the group had committed themselves to higher mental and spiritual goals, a “Line Marriage” might be a logical and rational approach to giving legal and financial support to all the members of the group, including any new members…and most especially any new arrivals in the form of children.
In this way, this unforeseen but fortuitous event helped focus their attentions on the future of their way of life and beliefs, as well as their property.
Although Darcy’s current condition might be instrumental in helping to guide the members of the group in that direction, this would by no means be the sole determinant in deciding to take such a move at this time.
Collectively, both the Home for Wayward Souls as a non-profit limited legal corporation, including syndicated television rights, as well as Kali’s Tantric web site, had rendered Ash and Kali, quite wealthy; it is not at all an uncommon trend for corporate officers of non-profit organizations to earn very large salaries. If they defer initial salaries until after the corporate bills are paid for the first several years, the payoffs can be very sizable.
They both had had the foresight to hire themselves out to their own incorporations for seven-figure salaries from day one, agreeing to forestall payment (with interest) until such time as was financially feasible.
Ash and Kali wanted to be able to make that money available to anyone that they felt deserved it, without relinquishing large amounts of it in taxes (In much the same way that living trusts are set up every day in this country).
Healthcare benefits and retirement plans are available as small group insurers. It allows for the legal collective ownership of property and wealth among the living members of the family and sets up a hierarchy of leadership that allows for contingency plans in the event of contested successions.
Another quantum leap for the members of the group; all in less than a year’s time.
It was also unanimously voted to defer any DNA testing of the child. To single out one parent at the expense of the involvement of the others was deemed unnecessary and irrelevant. Once again, “the willing suspension of disbelief” was the operant principle. Happiness is a choice. This was an opportunity for everyone to be happy.
Mark was one of the strongest proponents of the choice, as was Darcy; by giving the other members of the group the opportunity for involvement and commitment according to their nature and abilities the women were also included as equally as if they had carried the child, just as the men were equally included without the necessity of singling out one male as the genetic biological father.
There have been numerous proponents of this type of marriage for many years; Robert Heinlein the science-fiction author was one of the first and most eloquent spokespersons for the concept.
Intriguingly, although no Western culture or society openly allows for a formal marriage between more than two people, polyamorous sexual unions are frequently not specifically prohibited and joint ownership of property within the structure of a corporation is perfectly legal.
The problem legally is that it is almost impossible to find anywhere in the world that will recognize the legality of various forms of group marriage or legally determined polyamorous relationships. It also goes without saying that in all of our myriad creative and imaginative ways of bonding and uniting people of common interest that specific labels, identities, and rules of engagement have a tendency to preclude individual interpretations of those boundaries, as well as their obligations and responsibilities.
To that end, let us just acknowledge that the group put almost all their creative talents into researching ways to circumvent the more litigious aspects of community property and polyamory into a viable and legally unassailable working model of libertarian functionality that did not choose to take on the religious ultra-right-wing Christian mainstream into battle, choosing rather to capitalize on the ambiguities and loopholes, if you will of our legal and civil systems to allow members of an incorporated financial entity to do as they pleased within the confines of their corporate campus, which was to be operated as a non-profit organization devoted to the research of creative methods of the pursuit of higher levels of common consciousness, social, and family educational structures.
Without adding an additional hundred-plus pages to this account, suffice it to say that the pursuit and research had a galvanizing effect on the group that surpassed even all their previous endeavors. In it, they were perfecting their own social structure and determinism with an eye for the future as well as the present. They did it logically and passionately at the same time, and in so doing, extended a moment into a lifetime union of Love and Logic balancing Romance upon Reason.
Once again, it was Homecoming Weekend and the Senior Prom all rolled into on endeavor…one mind. This was The Home for Wayward Souls at its best; when it allowed the members to focus the best of themselves onto a common goal with a common purpose, reaching one mind by way of the union of many minds.
As long as the financial and legal aspects of the corporation are sound, the private activities of the members of the corporation can remain private. It can be done, even in the state of Florida.
It was also mutually agreed to conduct a Wiccan Circle as the ceremonial rite to acknowledge the union of the members of the group. After some considerable debate, it was also agreed that Frederick be included as a member of the group within the Wiccan Circle as an acknowledgement of his celebration of sentience within their tribe.
This prompted some considerable discussion as to how the logistics of all this might be accomplished, now that Frederick was only allowed to leave the campus of the Habitat for Primate Research on Sundays, and with the accompaniment of Stanley Linderman.
There was an unknown quantity in terms of the limits of understanding and tolerance even Ash’s congregation might allow, as he had already talked (and acted) his way out of one congregation already.
Although it was true that he and Kali legally owned all rights and property of The Home for Wayward Souls, it was not their intention of become a congregation of less than a dozen members, nor was it their intention to become shackled by the mob rule of public opinion to determine how they should determine the nature and quality of the lives they were inventing for themselves on a moment-by-moment basis with their eyes nonetheless focused on their future.
The weeks turned into months as the process took its own sweet time in coming into fruition, much the same way as the swelling of Darcy’s belly foretold of new life emerging within the confines of their own familial community.