“I think you should just go ahead and marry Devon.”
I shook my head in response to those words, even though this was the third time in the past few minutes Lindsay had said that to me. Both of us were in the tropical forest on this sunny, mid-day afternoon - hid away from everyone else. We needed the time alone together to sort things out.
“If it so important to Devon that she marries you - as you think it is, Jeremy, I think you should marry her.” A tear streaked down Lindsay’s face as she spoke those words. She then folded her arms and looked squarely at me, while also leaning up against a huge boulder to support herself.
“I love Devon very much,” I told Lindsay, shaking my head. “But I don’t love her as much as I love YOU, Lindsay. YOU are the one I want to marry. You know that.”
Lindsay wiped away that tear and countered, “I know that. But do you have any other choice now? Devon is carrying your child. The honorable thing to do is marry her.”
Both of us took a deep breath at those words. Lindsay and I both loved Devon with all of our hearts. I loved Devon enough to marry her. The only problem with that, of course, was that I loved Lindsay more. If I was to marry one of them, it had to be Lindsay.
“How is Devon getting pregnant possible?” I asked. “All of you girls are on the pill except Amy. I’ve seen to it everyday for the past year that everyone take their birth control pills in the morning.” Amy was incapable of having children because got she her “tubes tied” two years ago.
“Birth control pills are not 100 percent effective,” Lindsay informed me. “I’m not sure, but I think the number is 99.5 percent. One-half of a percent would be the failure rate.” She paused and added, “So if a man has sex with a woman who is on the pill a thousand times, there is an average chance the pill could fail five of those times.”
“I don’t want to marry Devon,” I told her. “I want to marry you, Lindsay. I love Devon. But I love you more...”
“You say it would hurt Devon so much if you told her that,” Lindsay mused, wiping a new tear away from her face. “You think she may even decide to leave us. Right, Jeremy?” Lindsay shook her head and continued, “Aside from the fact that she is pregnant with your child, I think it would be best if you marry her instead of me. I really do.”
“Why?” I exclaimed, wondering what would possess Lindsay to say such a thing.
“I don’t want to lose Devon!” she told me. “My God, I already lost Trish and Pamela!” Lindsay started crying as she went on, “I love Devon more than both of them combined! I... I couldn’t stand losing Devon. I couldn’t even stand HURTING her. If... if she is so focused upon marrying you, Jeremy, go ahead and do it. Make her happy! That way, the three of us can stay happy... and be TOGETHER!”
I hung my head as Lindsay continued, “I’ll still be here, Jeremy. You and I... we’ll be together every single day. We... we just won’t be married.” Her cries became louder as she concluded, “Y-You and... D-D-Devon will be... m-married!”
I was completely blown away by Lindsay’s words.
“How can you suggest something like that, sweetheart?”
“Because I love Devon, and I don’t want to hurt her,” she
answered. “I especially don’t want her to leave us! I... Jeremy, I can be the quote-on-quote, plaything, for you and her. I was that way for you and Pamela. I can h-handle it, Jeremy. I just want us to be together - ALL THREE OF US.” She sniffed her nose and added, “Plus, as I said, marrying Devon is the right thing to do. She’s pregnant.”
There was a long silence before I finally managed to get out, “I... I don’t know... what to say.”
“Say you’ll marry her!” Lindsay cried, suddenly becoming more upset. “If not because you’re the father of her child, at least for the sake of our relationship! It would KILL me if we EVER hurt Devon! I LOVE HER!”
Still stunned, I softly mused, “Marry her because she is pregnant? Okay. But... what about OUR plans, Lindsay? You and I were going to have a baby in three or four years.” Her eyes went wide as I added, “Remember?”
“OH GOD...” Lindsay breathed, placing both hands upon her mouth. “I... I gotta go.” Having obviously not remembered that until just now in this whole mess, Lindsay suddenly bristled past me and ran off into the forest.
“Hey! Wait!” I made a motion to follow the 19-year-old, but her words stopped me.
“LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEED TIME TO THINK!”
As Lindsay then disappeared around the bend, I dropped to my knees and took a deep, anxious breath. A moment later, I covered my face with both hands and started crying.

* * *

Why does my life have to be this way? If it’s not one thing going wrong, it’s another. I’ll never be happy...

* * *

Whenever Lindsay was upset or needed time to spend by herself, she would usually ascend to the top of a nearby cliff which offered a spectacular, panoramic view of the mansion, as well as the beach. Not very steep, the cliff was located just behind the south side of the mansion.
So despite the fact Lindsay had screamed at me - saying she needed some time alone - that cliff was the first place I went. And sure enough - five minutes after Lindsay had run away from me in the forest - I found her atop the ridge. My little angel was perched upon a park bench, and as I approached her from behind, I realized that she was crying.
“I love you, Lindsay,” I gently said, slipping around to her frontside. Frowning, I dropped to my knees in front of her as she continued to sob. “I really do. I... I love you more than anything. I want us to be together.”
“But Devon...” the teen whined, shaking her head.
“You’re really willing to sacrifice the chance of us
being married?” I softly asked. “Just so Devon is happy, and stays with us? My God, Lindsay...”
“I love Devon,” she reiterated. “I... need her.”
“I need Devon too,” were my words. “We make it seem like
she is some sort of bad person in all of this. Lindsay, you and Devon are the two sweetest, most wonderful women I have ever met in my entire life. I love both of you more than I ever loved Victoria or Pamela. My life... I couldn’t stand the thought of not having either of you in it... together.”
“Then go ahead and marry her,” Lindsay told me, trying to hold back another flow of tears. “It’s... the best way. I will be the plaything for you and her. You and her... get married. That way, all three of us will be together. And there won’t be any... problems.”
“There will be problems,” I told her. “Mostly the fact that the ones who should be married are you and I... NOT her and I.” I shook my head and added, “It wouldn’t be fair to Devon, either. Did you think of that, Lindsay? I will be married to her, but the one I’d want more would be you. I’d go into marriage with Devon, KNOWING that. It... it wouldn’t be fair to her. Or me. Or you...”
“Life isn’t fair sometimes!” Lindsay whined, making two fists and punching both my shoulders at the same time. “All I know is that I want the three of us to stay TOGETHER!”
I paused, then reached for Lindsay’s face with my right hand and began wiping away some of the excess tears with my thumb. “I want all three of us to be together too, Lindsay. As I said earlier, I need both you and her in my life.”
I hesitated before asking, “What about our plans? Haven’t you always told me that you wanted to be a Mommy?” Lindsay nodded her head as then, even more tears began to seep from her eyes. “Are you willing to give that up too, sweetheart? You seem steadfast in saying that one reason, aside from our relationship, that I should marry Devon is because she is carrying my child. It’s the honorable thing to do. Right?”
“Yes...” she whined.
“Then if I’m married to Devon, you and I can’t have any
children. We wouldn’t be married ourselves. Correct?” Lindsay nodded her head and sniffed her nose at the same time. “It’s not right, sweetheart. It’s not right at all.”
“I love Devon...” she whined. “I just want us to be together. Even... if it means... no children f-for me-me.”
“God, Lindsay...” I sighed, wrapping both arms around her slender body and embracing her tightly. Both of us trembled together as I remarked, “You really want me to marry her?”
“Yes,” she told me, shaking her head. “It’s... it’s the only way. I could never hurt Devon. I love her so much...”
For a good two or three minutes, I simply continued to hold Lindsay in my arms. I wasn’t about to let her go. She kept on crying, while I fought to hold back my own tears. Lindsay was willing to give up all of our hopes and dreams for the sake of Devon. She should be commended for this... but still, it just seemed so wrong.
But since this is my life that we’re talking about here, things quickly got worse. Much worse, in fact.

* * *

My eyes went wide as while I continued to hold Lindsay, I noticed Devon appear in the clearing just in front of me. “No...” I quietly said, as I then realized that her face was absolutely racked with tears. And, she was still crying...
“I went to the voyeur room to re-live what happened to Lindsay yesterday!” Devon screamed out, as Lindsay suddenly broke our embrace to turn and look at her. Devon stomped her foot on the ground and continued, “But in the middle of that tape, I see you and Lindsay talking... crying.”
“No...” the 19-year-old whined, shaking her head.
“ABOUT ME!” Devon exploded, full of a maddening rage.
“I TURNED THE MICROPHONE ON! YOU TWO WANT TO BE TOGETHER!
I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE MARRIED TO JEREMY!” Tears just flowed from her eyes as she shook her head. “I HEARD IT!”
Oh God...
“No, Devon!” Lindsay cried. “NO!”
For a moment, she was able to control her rage. “You know what I was thinking? YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING?” Devon paused and continued, “I was thinking yesterday and today, the three of us should ALL get married!” My eyes went wide at those words as she added, “I marry Jeremy, he marry Lindsay, and she and I marry each other!”
“This island isn’t governed by any Peruvian law, is it?” she continued, her rage building once again. “IS IT? Even if it is and they don’t allow multiple marriages in Peru, we could surely find some country that would! AND GET MARRIED THERE!” Devon covered her eyes before saying, “I thought of that yesterday and today. All of us could have been bonded together, forever! That would have made me so happy! All of us, married to EACH OTHER!”
The thought of a three-way marriage had crossed my mind in the past, but I always blew the idea off, thinking it was illegal. But Devon was right. It wouldn’t be illegal on this island. It’s not governed by such laws. It wouldn’t be illegal in certain countries, either.
I was about to acknowledge this before...
“BUT NO!” Devon exploded. “I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!” She threw her hands up in anger, then stomped her foot upon the ground once again. “IF I CAUSE SO MANY PROBLEMS FOR YOU TWO, I JUST WANNA GO BACK TO PENNSYLVANIA! RIGHT NOW!”
Devon began to cry harder as she screamed, “I just found out I am pregnant this morning! This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life! But now... IT’S THE WORST!”

* * *

I watched in stunned silence - unable to move - as Devon turned and stormed away, down the path. Lindsay got up and went running after Devon, but I just hung my head and cried.

<<<- End of Part 10 ->>>