Gerhart smiled, “Of course not.”
It was the men this time who sputtered to come up with a counter-argument.
Gerhart then shocked Greg by inquiring about the obverse scenario.
“What if,” stated Gerhart, “while Andy is in England, Betty starts having an affair with Steve, the foreman at the airplane factory where she works. Has she broken the terms of her pair bond?”
“What would you say?” Greg asked Gerhart.
“I would say, yes,” answered Gerhart. “She has broken the pair bond.”
The woman all vociferously disagreed with this.
“If he can get away with extra-marital copulation, then she should as well!” growled Kailey.
It somehow didn’t surprise Greg that this argument came from her. It wasn’t just what happened to Kailey in Vancouver that stayed in Vancouver. What happened to her in Atlanta had stayed in Atlanta. What had happened in Chicago stayed there. What happened in London had as well. That was why Greg would not allow Quiara to attend conferences with Kailey. Sadly, Emile didn’t know any better when it came to his wife Elodie, and sent her off to Vancouver unaware of the circus atmosphere Kailey surrounded herself with. The consequence was that Elodie fell.
Greg didn’t blame Kailey as much as he could have for her indiscretions. Kailey’s husband Radu had been banging at least one of his graduate students each year for the last decade. It was well known by the faculty of the University. Radu got away with it because of tenure and the fact that his academic reputation was stellar. Greg once did some cocktail calculations about how much Radu was spending at the University Inn in a year entertaining his lover. The amount was big enough that he wondered if Radu qualified for a volume discount. The only thing Greg blamed Kailey for was dragging Elodie into her mess.
“Ah, you’re speaking of justice, Kailey. What exactly constitutes justice?” Greg asked and shrugged. “That’s a topic for the philosophers, the criminal justice faculty, or maybe even the theology faculty to consider. There is no such thing as justice in biology.”
Kailey wanted to reply, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Greg, I want to hear more about your premise that Betty was unfaithful when Andy wasn’t. They were more or less the exact same scenario.” Greg was very surprised to hear his own wife ask that question.
As one, every head at the table swung around to look at Quiara. They wanted to know if she and Greg were going to disagree and fight. They were disappointed when they saw only open curiosity on Quiara’s face.
Gerhart broke in and answered the question, “The answer is clear, Quiara. Betty gave away Andy’s right to genetic exclusivity.”
“What if she doesn’t get pregnant?” asked Quiara. “His genetic legacy hasn’t been compromised.” Greg noted with pride that his was a superb question. Again, he was struck with admiration for his wife.
Gerhart looked at Greg. “Whether or not she conceives doesn’t matter,” answered Greg.
Quiara frowned. “Why not?” she asked.
Greg responded, “Betty knew better than anyone on earth that pregnancy was a possibility. Birth control is, at best, probabilistic. We talk of birth control in terms of percentages and not abosolutes. There are only two known one-hundred percent effective forms of birth control: complete sterilization, and the word ‘no’.”