Chapter 28: Husbandry

Chris found himself sitting alone on the back step, looking out across the massive yard, letting the sun warm him as he sipped a glass of water.    After all those months locked in a night club it felt great to be outside for a change but he dare not go too far from the house just yet.  There didn’t appear to be a fence or barrier to keep the guys in but that didn’t mean that Isadora hadn’t set ground wires to keep them from running off.  He was still having a hard time believing that he could trust Isadora.

It wasn’t long before he felt someone standing behind him, watching him.  He glanced over his shoulder to see Joey leaning up against the door frame leading into the sun room.  Neither of them said anything for awhile but there was something about Joey’s facial expression that told Chris that Joey had been looking for him and had something on his mind. Joey glanced around to make sure that they were alone before speaking.

“Lance told me about what you asked him the other night.” Joey stated, taking s seat beside Chris on the step.  It wasn’t surprising; the guys didn’t keep secrets from each other, especially now.

“I figured he would, do all the guys know?” Chris asked.  Joey just nodded.  “And they sent you out here to talk me out of it?”

“Not exactly.” Joey said taking in a deep breath.  “No one sent me but I realize that you are the kind of person that will say or do anything without thinking about the consequences.  I just want to make sure that you think about this before you act on it.  And to give you a little insider information…”  Chris raised an eye brow at Joey, this wasn’t what he expected.  “If you are going to do this, you have to do it right.  You have to lay out to Isadora everything that you want, no matter how minor it seems, and always ask for more so it leaves room for negotiations.  You also have to let her know exactly what she can expect in return.”

“Wow you have put a lot of thought into this.” Chris stated.

“Yes, we have put a lot of thought into this.  But you have to hear me out on this next part; this is where the insider info comes in to play.  You need to get Isadora to sign a marriage contract.  Now I have seen the new marriage contract … it’s not completely ideal.  That is how I ended up in the System.  Kelly and I refused to sign it; we wanted to stick to our original wedding vows and beliefs.  It basically gives you all the freedom that your new wife allows you to have, but it doesn’t change anything you still belong to her but society will recognize you as a person again.  She can still divorce you at any time, for any reason and no real reason for you to ever want to divorce her.  The only thing that changes is the System gets put into what they call Spouse mode, allowing you to go where you want and pretty much do what you want, your wife can tell you ‘no’ but can’t force you to do anything.  Surprisingly enough spousal abuse still exists so as her husband she can’t treat you like crap anymore.”

“I think I get it, basically you are free to do what you want as long as it’s okay with your better half.  So why do I need her to sign one if it doesn’t change much?” Chris asked.

“The only advantage to the contract is you can do what you want without question from other women or interference from the System, but heaven forbid you upset your wife in the process.  Also as her legal spouse you take control of some of her assets and ownership of half of everything she owns.” Joey added.

“So I get to be a real person again, access to her money and part ownership of you guys.” Chris said letting the idea sink in.  He put his head on his knee and didn’t make eye contact with his friend.  If the marriage contract gave him all that it could only mean that getting her to sign it would be challenging. 

“As her husband you can make choices for her and spend her money as long as she doesn’t get mad and divorce you.  It goes back to your list of demands.  Isadora seems like the kind of woman that sticks to her word.  It’s like a pre-nuptial agreement.” Joey explained.

“I get what is does for me but what about her? Why would she want to sign it?” Chris questioned out loud. 

“Having a husband now is like owning a Ferrari, it’s a status thing.  Not everyone can afford to have one, let alone find a guy good enough to trust with that kind of power.  Of course it comes with some tax breaks and whatever else you offer her in exchange.  She isn’t stupid; she will know why you want this and it’s likely she will be okay with it if you give her what she wants.”  Joey explained.

“Me.” Chris sighed.  The thought didn’t make him cringe as much as it might have a few days ago.  It wasn’t like she wanted to kill him, she wanted to love him and have him love her back or at the very least pretend to.  Certainly there would be sex and maybe kids, an idea that never really appealed to Chris but he wasn’t completely against it.  In this case it had its perks.

Chris thought about it, it made sense but it was still risky.  Once again all the real power would still be in Isadora’s hands.  But Isadora already has a massive company to run, surely she wouldn’t have time to deal with running their careers, but he could.  As her husband he could take full-control of the group and the guys there in, it was mutually beneficial to everyone involved.  Isadora would get money and Chris as her loving husband, and the guys would have someone in control that they could trust and turn to for help.

It was apparent that the guys were kind of thinking that same thing or they would have simply told Chris not to do it, and he probably would have listened to them.  But they weren’t saying no, they were telling him to be careful and do it right.

“I am guessing that you wish you had signed the contract with Kelly?” Chris asked. 

“Yup, if I had known then what I know now I would have signed it in a heartbeat.  But I never imagined this would last this long or be this hard.” Joey explained.

“I do have one concern left.” Chris said looking at Joey this time.  Joey was watching him with a hopeful look in his eyes.  It was apparent that at least Joey wanted this, if done correctly of course.  “If I do this, if I ask Isadora to marry me, shouldn’t I at least be sure that I can love her?   What if I am a horrible husband?”

“The fact that you even asked that tells me that your heart is in the right place.  You are concerned for her feelings just like a good husband should.  I saw you that night with Isadora at the club.  Your concern for her happiness may have been based a little on your fear of Jade but it was there none the less.  You wanted her to have a great birthday and you took care of her.  But that is really a question for yourself; do you think you can love her?” Joey asked back.

The thought had crossed his mind in the past, Isadora was beautiful, smart and successful; pretty much everything that a guy would want in a wife.  She more or less worshiped him.  She has been nothing but nice to him and the guys since day one.  Joey was also right about his feeling for her at the club; it wasn’t all faked or based on fear.  She made it easy to care for her.

“I guess I just need to spend a little time with her to see how I feel about her and to come up with my list of demands.” Chris said mostly directed at himself.  “I don’t suppose there is anything that you would like?”

“I want to see my wife and kids.” Joey simply stated as if that was all he wanted.  “I know that I might not be able to be with them like I was before but I need to see them from time to time.”  He got up and started back into the house but paused at the door again.  “One more piece of advice though…”

“Yeah?” Chris questioned.

“I wouldn’t spend too much time in the sun Casper, unless you think red is Isadora favorite color.” Joey teased.  Chris looked down at his arms to find that they were already a little flushed from the sun, maybe it was time for him to move into the sun room.  All the time spent indoors had made him pale and it would take time to readjust. 

“Solid advice, Joe.”  Chris joked following his friend inside, at least in the sun room he would enjoy the thought of being out side.  Joey put his hand on his stomach and thought out loud about what might be for lunch.  He was still getting over not eating enough, though Isadora was feeding them well he still felt like he couldn’t get enough to eat.  He left Chris in search of food but he had given plenty to think about.

It wasn’t long before Chris heard voices again as Lance and Justin approached the sun room.  They must have had the same idea; it was time to enjoy the outdoors.  Justin took a seat by Chris on the love seat while Lance crash landed into the chair.  He wasn’t graceful on while on crutches.

“Did Joey find you?” Lance asked. 

“Yeah I don’t suppose you two have anything to add to my list of pre-nuptial requirements?” Chris questioned.  Both men paused to think about it for a minute, they all more of less wanted the same things.

“I understand that Isadora has invested a lot in us, and that we at least owe her that much in return, but there has to be a better way to re-pay our debt than with sexual favors and baby making.  I would like those things taken off the table.” Justin requested.  “My body, my choice and all that.” 

Chris nodded in agreement.  There was also some truth to his logic about them needing to pay Isadora back and earn their keep.  They couldn’t expect Isadora to pay for everything and they just sat around doing nothing.  As much as she liked having them around that could get expensive.  He turned to Lance, who had his eyes fixed on the glass doors.  Isadora herself was fast approaching.  The three of them greeted her with smiles and she smiled back.

“I have a little project for you guys today.” She explained while handing out paper, pens and catalogs.  “I need to get you guys some more clothes so go through these catalogs and pick a few things out, just write the numbers and sizes down.  I’ll get them sent over.  Maybe once you are all feeling better we can go on a shopping spree.”

“Is this your clothing line?” Lance asked flipping through the pages.  Isadora smiled and nodded, it was clear that she was very proud of it.  “Stuff looks amazing.”

“Kiss ass.” Justin groaned jokingly. 

“Everyone loves a kiss ass.” Isa teased

“Can I keep theses when we are done?” Chris asked holding up the pen and paper.

“Of course.  Is there anything else you need?” She asked.  She wanted them to feel like they could ask her for anything.  It did seem like an odd request but she didn’t let that show.  “Has anyone seen Joey?”

“Try the kitchen, you may want to pad lock the refrigerator.” Chris teased.  It was nice to see her smile and joke with them, something the Jade never did.