My husband and I got out of our car and walked in silence the short block to the townhouse we'd never visited before. It was about 7:30 on this fall night. The air was cool and crisp. I nervously fiddled with my purse as we walked.

The conversation that started it all took place about three months ago. One evening my husband, Chris, and I were lying in bed after making love. We lay on our sides facing each other, his hand tickling the soft skin of my neck. We were playfully flattering each other about how much we enjoyed what just took place and how good the other person was at giving pleasure. Then all of a sudden he blurted out, "Do you ever miss being with women?"

Now this isn't as random a question as you might think. Before we decided to marry we discussed with each other our significant, previous relationships. Chris told me he had slept with three other women before me, and I related that I'd been with two men before him. Neither of us were shocked that we weren't the other's first, as we never professed to be completely chaste.

Chris was quite shocked though when I told him that back in college I had had relationships with two girls. I told him it was just a phase I had gone through, and he asked many questions that day, but we didn't discuss it much after that. While I hadn't believed he'd forgotten about the conversation, I'd assumed he'd decided to let the subject die.

This is why the question took me by surprise. I was a little flustered and my immediate response was a lie. "I thought you'd forgotten about that," I said.

"How could I forget?" Chris responded rhetorically.

I decided I'd better be honest. "Well, I sometimes think about it." I hastily added, "But not like, you know, all the time." I smiled nervously as his hand moved from my neck down to my exposed hip. He propped himself up on one elbow and rested his head on his hand.

"Well, you know if you're interested in still trying any of that..." he began.

My eyes went wide in shock. I had to admit the thought had occurred to me from time to time, but I would never do anything behind Chris' back. The fact that he had never brought the subject up told me he wasn't that intrigued by it. He seemed satisfied with our love life; I certainly was. Even after the birth of our first child almost a year ago, Chris seemed as interested as ever in me and my body. I was a little self-conscious about the changes that took place in my shape with the pregnancy, but he didn't seem to mind. He even said it aroused him. Besides, on the subject of another woman in our life, even if he did consent to it, I wasn't so sure I wanted to start something like that. Once you do it, you can't take it back. It could change our marriage forever in ways we could never foresee.

This had been the way I'd looked at things up until that night. However, as Chris explained his thoughts to me that evening I began to rethink my earlier positions. He told me he'd be interested in seeking out another woman to share in our lovemaking only if I was. For some reason I didn't want to seem over-eager. Perhaps in the back of my mind I was thinking that there had to be some downside for me if he was so interested in it. Was there an ulterior motive? I know that's a horrible thing to think about when pondering an offer made by one's spouse, but I've known many men and even the most loving and trusting sometimes don't always have your best interest in mind. We decided to sleep on it and discuss it later.

After a couple days of pondering, we came to an agreement that we would pursue my husband's idea with one ground rule. If either of us, at any point, decided that this wasn't what we wanted we would stop and the other person would accept that decision as final.

Overcoming the hurdle of making a decision wasn't the hard part though. While one reads about swingers and threesomes in magazines and on the internet, the number of single women willing to engage in this type of activity, we realized, wasn't exactly a large universe. We couldn't think of a single woman we knew who we would dare approach. So we turned to the anonymity of the internet. We found numerous websites advertising local hook-ups for swingers, but in the end there was a lot of false advertising. The few women that we did find on these sites that lived nearby weren't exactly what we wanted either. I wasn't about to let just anyone into our bedroom.

After a few weeks of failed attempts, I tentatively suggested we might have better luck looking for other couples. At first, Chris was put off. He said he was absolutely not interested in getting in bed with "some other dude," as he put it. I was greatly relieved. I have to admit that the idea of my husband getting it on with another guy wasn't arousing in the least bit. I suggested to Chris that we could always find a couple that was of the same mind and that most of the "sharing" would take place between me and the other wife. I wasn't sure I would like the idea of being with another man anyway.

He still wasn't sure, but I convinced him that he would never have to engage in anything sexual with another man. I also reassured him I wouldn't want to get physical with another man, only the man's wife.

We left it at that and submitted our names and criteria to one of the websites to see what type of response we'd get back from couples that lived nearby. A couple of days later we received an email from Sam and Carey. They lived just over the river in the city. They were in their early thirties and married like us. They sent us a picture of themselves and we did the same. Sam and Carey seemed like a completely normal couple from their picture and emails - the type of couple we might see at our local grocery store or in the park. They didn't seem like freaks. They told us they were interested in meeting us and that they had met another couple online that had similar interests. After a few emails back and forth to make sure we were both on the same page we agreed to meet them and the other couple out for drinks to determine if anything beyond that was possible.

********************

The next weekend, Chris and I arrived at the selected bar to see that Sam and Carey were already there. We didn't often go out in the city since having our baby, so after getting a baby sitter, just going out was a nice little treat for us. They were seated in a secluded corner of the establishment at a short coffee table surrounded by two plush love seats up against the dark-paneled walls and two overstuffed chairs.

As we walked towards them, my mouth went dry and my fingers nervously fidgeted with the material of my skirt. Soft piano music played in the background. Our new acquaintances stood and greeted us. Carey was all smiles. I tried not to give away my nervousness, but felt for sure my hand was cold as she took it.

"Hi Carey, I'm Erica, it's so good to meet you," I heard myself say.

I turned to greet Sam; his eyes met mine and I felt myself blush. He was quite handsome in person. We shook hands, and Chris and I took a seat on the other couch. As we exchanged pleasantries, it seemed to me the other three were a lot less nervous than I. As Carey started to tell us a little about the other married couple that would be joining us, I looked over our new acquaintances sitting across from us.

Sam had dark brown hair cut short, chocolate eyes, and was of average build - not thin, but not over-weight either. He made eye contact with me while his wife spoke. I felt myself blushing again and turned to Carey. She was a perky girl, with a slight Southern accent. She was quick to smile as she talked, a trait that was immediately disarming. Her light brown hair fell down past her shoulders and her blue-gray eyes looked out through black-rimmed eye glasses. Her figure, like her husband's, was well proportioned. While it wasn't easy to determine while she was sitting down, it looked like she was pretty curvy where it counted, certainly not petite.

As we chatted, a server came by to take our drink order. Carey explained they had found John and Olivia, the other couple, in the same way they had met us.

"Sam and I figured we all might as well meet together and if we all get along, then great," Carey explained. "If not, no harm done. Or, if you only hit it off with John and Olivia, you four can continue getting to know each other without us," she added with a friendly smile and a wink.

"Oh...I...surely, not..." I stammered.

"We're not encouraging that, of course," said Sam with chuckle, saving me from having to come up with a response.

John and Olivia arrived just as our drinks did. I was a little taken aback. If Sam and Carey were the epitome of 'the average neighbor', John and Olivia were definitely a 'head turning' couple. I felt flattered that they would consider us as potential lovers.

After greetings and introductions were exchanged they sat in the two empty seats. John and Olivia appeared a little younger than us and Sam and Carey, possibly late twenties rather than early thirties. They were both much trendier dressers too. John was tall, with dark, short hair, and looked to be in fit condition. He wore black slacks and shoes with a blue dress shirt that hugged his chest. Olivia was striking in a cosmopolitan sort of way. She, too, was tall, with straight, dark brown hair falling down to her shoulders. Her white blouse fit snugly on her slim frame and contrasted nicely with her knee-length black skirt and bronze skin. Tall black boots nearly touched the hem of her skirt.

The conversation flowed freely. As I sipped chardonnay, I felt my nervousness ebb. I'm not sure whether it was the alcohol or the friendly banter but I became more and more comfortable with these people as the evening went on. They didn't appear to be judging my appearance, which was a big worry - you don't know how much I stressed about what to wear. We learned a little more about each other such as jobs, how we all met our spouses, and how long we'd all lived in the area.