Henry blushed a bit and replied: “It’s a term of endearment, to be sure, but yes, I defer to Gwen on most things. I like it that way, frankly. I think of her as the CEO and CFO—and she makes good decisions, so why not just follow her lead?”
Beth wasn’t quite sure what to make of this. It was not how things worked in her marriage—her husband made many of the decisions, although they were a bit more equal than some.
Finally, after a decent interval of silence: “Deaveraux. Is that French?” she asked looking at Henry.
He hesitated for a moment, but just a moment, and said, “I don’t know. Gwen is your family name French?”
It took a couple of seconds of the deliberate silence that Gwen allowed before answering. In those moments, it sank in to Beth that Henry had taken her name. Gwen saw the recognition when Beth’s eyes widened noticeably. Finally, Gwen answered. “Quebecois, so I guess it is French originally. My parents never discussed family history much, partly because I don’t think they know much of the history.”
“Oh, that’s, uh, that’s interesting.” Beth waited a few seconds before she could no longer avoid asking. “So, uh, Henry, you took Gwen’s name? That’s a little unusual.” Gwen just smiled at this and decided to let Henry answer, at least at first.
“Well, yes, I guess it is.” Henry thought for a few moments more and then said to himself, aw, fuck it, I’m never going to see this woman again, what do I care—and Gwen isn’t waving me off from talking about it. “You see, Gwen and I decided, even before we were married, that our relationship was going to be a bit different. We want to have kids, but her career is far more successful—or at least lucrative—than mine, so I will become the stay-at-home dad. A house husband, if you will. And, well, in that case, since Gwen’s career was prominent and well-established, it made more sense for me to take her name.”
Beth hesitated to probe further but couldn’t help herself. “Uh, couldn’t you have just kept your own names?”
“Yes, but then what name would the children have? And, frankly, Gwen [nodding to his wife] didn’t want it that way. We both agree one spouse really has to be the boss and that it should be her. CEO is really the right way to think about it. We discuss everything but, as I said earlier, Gwen has the final say.”
Beth took all this in, as it sounded fairly alien to her. And she sized up both Gwen and Henry again—the physical differences between them seemed to loom even larger in her mind now. Beth understood, now that Gwen was the dominant partner and Henry acceded—submitted?—to her authority. She couldn’t help but wonder how far they carried that dominant-submissive aspect of their relationship. She wasn’t naïve, after all, but she didn’t think that their sex life was an appropriate topic to ask about.
Gwen and Beth spent a good part of the afternoon chatting about various things and they grew pretty comfortable with each other as the day wore on. Henry ran any errands that needed doing and otherwise spent a fair amount of the time reading while his wife and her new friend chatted.
However, the nature of Gwen’s relationship eventually got the better of Beth. She couldn’t help but ask about it when Henry was away doing some swimming. She and Gwen had kind of become friends that afternoon, the kind you sometimes meet on a trip where you just hit it off and find them easy to talk to.
“So, I have to ask, but please tell me to mind my own business if you want, but I’m just so curious because, well, let’s face it, you and Henry are so different physically, how’s the whole bedroom room/sex life thing? I mean…”
Gwen debated her answer for few moments, while Beth’s meandered on in a circle, but then, leaning over to speak quietly, finally just decided to answer directly: “I know what you’re asking. And yes, I dominate Henry in the bedroom—sexually, too. We both love it!” Gwen leaned back and winked at Beth.
Beth hesitated for a moment, smiled in return, a little shocked that she got an answer, but not too surprised at the answer, and in some ways a little envious of how much power and control Gwen had in the marriage. Beth wished she had at least a little bit more of that in hers.
“Really?!? Wow! Huh. Um, if you’re willing, would you mind sharing a little—I’m not looking for graphic details, mind you, but I am vicariously curious about what that means and involves.”
Gwen contemplated this for a moment. If they were back home, she wouldn’t entertain this at all because it wouldn’t do for either her or Henry to be thought of as weirdos. But Beth seems nice and open enough and, well, they would never see her again after this trip.
“Hmmm. Well, let’s just say our sex life is focused on my pleasure and Henry serves me as I demand. And, yeah, there is some spanking, too. But we both just love it!” Gwen repeated, but felt no need to get too detailed.
“And, uh, are, are you on top?” She wondered about how that would go for Henry.
Gwen just winked at Beth, a clear indication of the affirmative.
“Oh, wow!” Beth couldn’t help but feel some tingle of excitement in her own nether region as she imagined what Gwen had said, as she imagined what it looked like for a such a large woman to be sexually dominating that smaller man. She herself had little experience with anything along the lines of kinky sex.
Henry returned soon thereafter and the newlyweds started to pack up and head back to the room. It was late in the afternoon, and before dinner sex was on the agenda pretty much every day they were going to be there. Beth watched as Henry did most of the work gathering and carrying.