“Maybe a few more minutes?” I asked.

“A few more minutes would be fine,” Emmy replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. “It gives me more time to enjoy the view.”

Angela beamed at the idea of Emmy enjoying the sight of our afterglow. “Em, how is your song going?” she asked.

“It is coming along,” Emmy said, stroking my back and butt. “I want to get it just right, but…”

“It’s a nice, strong butt,” Angela said, seeing where Emmy’s hand was resting.

“It is true,” Emmy agreed with a big smile. “I love that you two are both so very athletic. I love to touch you both and feel your muscles. It excites me every time I see either of you nude.”

“Maybe I should go back to being naked at home?” Angela suggested.

“I would never get any work done,” Emmy lamented.

“The struggle is real,” I agreed, playfully hooking one of Angela’s nipple piercings with my tongue.

“Hey!” Angela objected, pushing my head away from her boob. “I’m really sensitive right now!”

“Sorry, not sorry,” I smirked. “I can’t help it if you’re just too damned sexy.”

“It is true,” Emmy greed with a shrug. “She really cannot help it at all.”

“Go take your shower,” Angela said, shoving me off her. “We need to nourish ourselves so we have enough energy for tonight.”

“What is happening tonight?” Emmy asked, puzzled.

“Tonight the two of us are going to screw you absolutely senseless,” I replied as I got up.

“Because you missed out this afternoon,” Angela added.

“Then perhaps I may need extra nourishment, too,” Emmy said, her eyes lighting up as she got a clear view of Angela’s still puffy lady bits.

“Maybe so,” Angela agreed, hooking a foot under Emmy’s armpit to pull her forward.

I wanted to stay and watch, but I did the responsible thing and ducked into the tiny little bathroom for my shower.

When I emerged, Emmy was sitting up, gently running her fingertips up and down Angela’s thighs. I leaned in for a kiss and smelled Angela on Emmy’s lips.

“Have a nice snack?” I asked.

“It was delicious,” Emmy agreed. “But it only makes me want more.”

“I guess I need to shower now,” Angela groaned, trying to muster the energy to get up.

“I’d offer to help you with that, but that shower is too small for me by myself, much less the two of us,” I said, giving her a hand up. As she scooted past me I took the opportunity to steal a kiss.

“I do love her very much,” Emmy said while I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a warm long-sleeved merino wool pullover that Emmy and Angela had gotten me for the trip. “And I love that you two are so very compatible.”

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Antonio got arrested that day,” I agreed.

“She is wonderful. We are very lucky to have her in our lives,” Emmy said. “She is so sweet and caring- she will be a wonderful mother. The best that any child could ever ask for.”

I was just tying my shoes when Angela emerged from the cabin’s tiny bathroom, drying her hair with a big, fluffy towel. Seeing Angela like that, nude and damp, Emmy dropped down to her knees in front of her and wrapped her arms around Angela’s thighs. Emmy rested her cheek against Angela’s tummy and just held her like that for a long moment, bemusing our dark-haired beauty.

She reached down and stroked Emmy’s snow-white hair tentatively at first, but then with more emotion as Emmy just continued to hold her tightly. Even though Emmy’s face was pressed against Angela’s sculpted abs, I thought I saw a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

“Mi cariña,” Angela said softly, continuing to stroke Emmy’s hair. She tossed the towel aside, then lowered herself down to Emmy’s level, murmuring endearments in Spanish.

I settled down behind Emmy, scooting up close so that I could take both of them in my arms.

Emmy continued to cry in that silent way of hers as Angela and I held her tightly. We stayed like that for a while until Emmy’s body stilled, her sobs eventually stopping.

“I am sorry,” Emmy apologized. “I have been feeling very emotional recently.”

“Never apologize for loving so much,” Angela said, kissing away Emmy’s tears. “Never, ever apologize for that.”

After another minute or two, Emmy made to stand up, so Angela and I gave her a bit of room.

“Angela, I do love to see you naked, but you do need to get dressed or we will be late for dinner,” Emmy said, stroking Angela’s long, thick hair.

Angela smiled in that wide-eyed, open way of hers. “Is it cold up in the dining area? Maybe I could just go like this, to save time.”

“While I am certain that everybody would love that very much, I think you would freeze,” Emmy said with a sparkling laugh, her melancholy mood dispelled.

Angela laughed, too, then gave Emmy another kiss. “Maybe next cruise should be someplace warmer?”

“I’m liking the idea of us getting our own yacht more and more,” I said as Angela slipped on a warm pair of leggings.

“That would be a dream,” Angela sighed as she continued to get dressed.

Angela and I followed Emmy to the small ship’s dining area in the stern. The back and both sides were enclosed with canvas and clear vinyl against the evening’s cool dampness, with area heaters keeping it nice and warm. We were in fact the last to arrive, the other passengers already seated, though the meals hadn’t actually been served yet.

The steward took our drink requests and left us menu cards for the night’s choices.

Glancing around at the other passengers, I noted that there were quite a few empty seats. I’d read that the Narcisse’s capacity was for twenty passengers, and obviously our trio was taking the space that would normally be for four, but there must have been a few more empty cabins as well, since there were only thirteen of us at dinner.

Musing on how the low attendance for the last cruise of the season was what had allowed me to book it on such late notice, I was pleased that the small ship would have that much more room for the rest of us.

Most of the others were old enough to be retirees, but there was one family of four with young parents and two boys who looked to be twins. The boys, who couldn’t have been any older than nine or ten, kept sneaking glances at Emmy all dinner long. I’m certain she noticed- she always noticed things like that- but she acted as if she didn't.

Dinner was superb, confirming the reviews I’d read online. The dessert was especially memorable, a raspberry chocolate cheesecake as good as any I’d ever had.

After dinner we found ourselves in the salon, relaxing with glasses of wine. Emmy got to talking with the mother of the twins while their dad supervised the two boys working on a big jigsaw puzzle.

Angela and I cuddled together in a big overstuffed armchair with a picture book about Alaska’s Inside Passage.

As I flipped through the pages, Angela put her finger on a picture of two grizzly bears.

“I don’t know if they look cute, or terrifying,” she said.

“I’m one hundred per cent sure that depends on the context,” I replied.

“I guess so,” Angela agreed, slipping into a thoughtful silence.

A while later, Angela said in a quiet voice, “I think Emmy got her hopes up too high with the lab in Korea.”

Surprised by the non sequitur, I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I think that she thought it would be quick and easy, and we would be pregnant by now. I think that she is depressed because she had her hopes too high, but now there’s no… There’s no sign it’ll happen anytime soon, and she’s worried it might not happen at all.”

“Have you talked to her about it?” I asked, surprised.

“No, Emmy… She doesn’t really like to talk about things like that, you know?”

“Yeah, I really do,” I said with a sigh.

“I think maybe it has to do with her Moon-Kissed thing,” Angela said, looking across the room at Emmy. “She’s worried that she won’t be there for her daughter for very long.”

Suddenly things clicked, and I realized that Angela was probably right. “And she thinks that you’ll be the one who will be there, who will be our girls’ mother after she’s gone.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Angela agreed, her voice soft with sorrow. “I hate that she won’t see a doctor about it. I really hate it.”

“I don’t understand why not,” I agreed. “She’s never actually explained it to me at all.”

“She won’t tell me, either,” Angela said, and I could hear the tremble in her voice. “She changes the subject every time I bring it up.”

I kissed Angela’s hair and gave her a squeeze. “We need to gang up on her and get her to explain,” I said.

“Tonight. You pin her down and I’ll question her,” Angela agreed with a wry smile.

“It’s a plan.”

I looked up from the book when I heard the first notes of a strummed guitar. Emmy was sitting with one of the older couples, her guitar in her lap. Happy with the tuning, she started into some of the classical Spanish-style guitar I’d heard her play so many times before. Everybody in the room quieted down to listen as Emmy plucked the familiar melody whose name I’d never learned.

As Emmy continued to play, quite a few of the crew crowded into the ship’s salon to listen, drawn by the sound of the music.

“She is so amazing,” Angela breathed, cuddling in a bit closer. I reached up and pulled the folded woolen plaid blanket from the top of our chair and draped it across the two of us, making it cozier.

“I love you so much,” Angela said with a grateful smile. “You and Emmy. You’re both so perfect.” She took my hand in hers and kissed my knuckles, then pulled it under the blanket and rested it on her sweater-clad breast. She smiled up at me again as I gave her boob a gentle squeeze. “I’ll love you always.”

We didn’t talk to Emmy about the Moon-Kissed thing that night, I’m ashamed to say. We did screw her senseless, though, letting her know in a very physical way that we loved her beyond any measure. Sometimes these things can be said best by not saying anything at all.

I woke early the next morning and slipped out of bed as quietly as I could, finding some good hot coffee in the dining area. As I sipped my juice of the bean and looked out over the rail out onto the misty, glass-smooth waters of the little cove we’d anchored in for the night, one of the older passengers joined me.

“Nice and peaceful,” he said. “Really quiet.”

“It is,” I agreed.

“Funny,” he said, sipping his coffee. “It wasn’t last night. Half the night, the people in the cabin next to ours, well, to put it plainly, were having loud sex.”

I turned to look at him. “I’m guessing your cabin is right next to ours?”

“I can’t complain too much, though,” he said, still looking out over the water. “It did inspire my wife some.”

“I’m glad we could help in that way,” I said, smiling at the absurdity of the conversation.

“Do you think you guys are likely to make that kind of noise every night? Because I think there are some empty cabins, and we could change,” he said.

“Probably not every night, no,” I said. “But definitely some nights.”

We said nothing for a little while, then he said, “My name’s Hank, and my wife’s name is Jo. We’ve been wanting to do this trip for a few years now, and this was finally the year it all came together.”

“Leah,” I said. “I’m sorry if we’re ruining it for you two,” I said, meaning it.

“No, that wasn’t what I was getting at,” he said. “Last night, when Emmy played the guitar… That was unexpected. Of course, we knew who she was when we all got in the van, but for her to just play like that, not because she was getting paid, but just because she loves to make music…” he trailed off, searching for the right words. “It made it extra special. I don’t really know her music, her band, you know? Not my style, really, but she’s everywhere, on magazines, billboards, all that. To have her just sit down and play for a dozen people just because she wanted to…”

“She does love to play for people,” I agreed.

“It shows,” Hank said. “It really does.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she plays every night,” I said, sipping my coffee.

“Jo, last night, she was asking me about the three of you,” Hank said after a few moments. “I told her I thought you were in some sort of polyamorous relationship. It sure looked to me like the three of you all love each other.”

“We do,” I agreed.

“How do you avoid jealousy issues?” Hank asked, turning to face me.

“We haven’t really had any,” I said with a shrug.

“Consider yourself lucky,” Hank said. “Real lucky.”

“I absolutely do,” I agreed. “I consider myself the luckiest girl on Earth.”

Hank snorted in amusement at that, then turned back to look out over the water.

After a few minutes we were joined by another of the older passengers, a guy I’d seen talking to Emmy the night before.

“It’s a beautiful morning,” he said by way of greeting.

“Jack, this is Leah. Leah, this is Jack. Him and his wife Teresa are from Portland, like us,” Hank said.

“Pleased,” I said, offering my hand, which Jack shook.

“Leah, I talked to your wife last night,” Jack said. “I’m a film maker, specializing in nature documentaries. Emmy and I had a good conversation, and I’m thinking of maybe doing a short film about her on this cruise. It’d be just an interview, really, interspersed with a few of her songs.”

“If she’s O.K. with it, then I’m fine with it, too,” I said.

“Emmy said, well, she said that she would be O.K. with the idea as long as it was limited to just her, and just about the music. She didn’t want to make it about her home life or anything like that,” Jack explained.

“Reasonable,” I said.

“Right,” he agreed. “All I want is to capture a little bit of what we all saw last night- the artist, performing in an intimate setting. We all of us last night felt it was something special, something we may not ever experience again. I want to give that same feeling to people who watch the film.”

“Leah said that Emmy might actually play every night,” Hank said, leaning back against the rail.

“Back home, we have big dinners every Wednesday night, usually ten, fifteen people over, and Emmy plays pretty much every time,” I said. “She loves to perform, and she loves it most of all when it’s a small crowd.”

“She’s an incredible talent,” Jack agreed. “A gift like hers is meant to be shared with the world.”

The three of us stood there in companionable silence, enjoying the misty morning, the trees on the shoreline vague shapes through the fog.

“Hey, babe,” Angela said as she joined us, standing on her tiptoes for a kiss.

“Ange, this is Hank and that’s Jack,” I said. “This is Angela.”

Both guys said their hellos as Angela cuddled up against me. “What are you doing out here?” Angela asked.

“Nothing much, mostly just enjoying the quiet morning,” I said. “Em still in bed?”

“Yeah, she’s not gonna get up anytime soon,” Angela said.

“Long night?” Hank asked.

“He and his wife have the cabin next to ours,” I explained to Angela. “Apparently we kept them up, too.”

“Oh, no!” Angela said, blushing like a schoolgirl. “I’m so sorry!”

“No big deal,” Hank said with a grin.

“I’m gonna go get some orange juice or something for Emmy. See you later!” Angela said as she bolted inside.

“So, um, how does that work?” Jack asked. “I mean, the three of you…”

“Legally, Emmy and I are married, but emotionally and practically, all three of us are. Emmy and I think of Angela as our wife, call her our wife, and as far as we’re concerned, that’s what matters. Angela’s mom and dad call me and Emmy their daughters-in-law… You get the idea,” I explained.

“And there’s the downside,” Hank joked. “Two mothers-in-law!”

“What a nightmare!” Jack agreed, raising his coffee cup in a toast to the other man.