Huxley

“They should be here by now,” I say as I pace the small airport we built close to our new house.

Tia and the babies are finally coming home today, and it’s the first time she’ll see the place. Fallon is flying them in, and Banks is with them as well. The other three husbands sit in the lounge chairs looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows toward the landing strip.

“I don’t know why you’re so nervous,” Giles says, always so damn laid back. “She’s going to love it.”

“I hope so,” I mumble, checking my watch for the hundredth time. “There are so many changes. I just...” I rub the back of my neck. “I want everything to be perfect.”

Emerson chuckles, bouncing Caroline on his knee. “We have six babies, and two toddlers now. I’m not sure perfection is something we should be striving for.”

I glance over at Beth who is sitting quietly with a coloring book and smile, knowing her easy-going temperament isn’t the norm for most kids, but grateful that so far both she and her sister have seemed to skip the toddler tantrums.

Salinger stands and comes beside me. “Have you told Tia about your plans, about what Grace and Charles are doing?”

I shake my head. “I thought Em should be the one to tell her.”

“Why?” Emerson says. “It was your idea. My parents couldn’t do it without you, or the money you gave them.”

My face heats up, never comfortable with praise. Sure, I may be the one who mentioned having the Saint Augustine survivors come live on the island, but it’s really Grace and Charles who are the true heroes.

Those women and children who didn’t have families, or safe places to return to after the Thorne’s program was shut down, had been placed in a temporary camp. A sort of limbo.

With the money I had remaining after we built our house, I purchased some property on the island and had a series of homes built. Many of the nuns, including the woman who had helped Tia escape her father’s prison, have come as well. But it’s Grace and Charles who have stepped up to help rehabilitate them into society. To help them function again after, for some, years of abuse.

Most of the children were motherless, and so their care has become a communal thing, with Grace as the matriarch.

“Your parents are amazing people,” I say to Emerson.

“They said the same thing about you.” He grins at me, then stands and places Caroline beside Beth and handing her a package of crayons.

“I think your brothers are the happiest about all this,” Salinger jokes to Em. “You should have seen their faces when those women got off the plane for the first time.”

Emerson grunts. “They’ve been warned to keep their distance.”

Giles chuckles. “How likely is that to happen?”

“Not likely,” he admits.

But there’s hope for them now, and for Mason, to eventually have a wife without having to leave the island.

After hours of debate, I convinced Miriam to shut down the lottery, and Salinger and I have been discussing how best to change the law to support women’s rights as well as the growing popularity of polygamous marriages.

While the lottery worked for our family, and for years, helped women needing an escape from the brutality of the outside world, it’s time for a change. Time for women to once again be allowed to choose their husband, or husbands, if that’s their desire.

Instead of laws that tell people what is right and wrong, Salinger is working to create a government that is shaped by the family unit, no matter how different that family may be.

While six husbands and one wife work for us, we know that it may not be the ideal for many. Opening the minds and hearts of the world to the possibilities of what family really means is our main goal.

Love. Support. Trust. Commitment.

Those are the four cornerstones of what we seek. To what we’ve created here.

And today is a new beginning for our family. Maybe it’s because I never really felt like I had a real home before, that’s made me so nervous about today. But as Fallon’s plane finally touches down, and I see my wife’s beautiful face as the door opens, I can’t help but rush to her, lift her in my arms and spin her around.

“Someone’s happy,” she says laughing against my lips.

“Happy to finally have my family home.” I set her down gently, remembering that she just had surgery a few weeks ago. “How are you feeling? Did I hurt you?”

She inhales deeply and smiles up at me. “No, I’m good. And I can’t wait to see the house. Banks wouldn’t even let me look out the window when we were flying in.”

I glance up at Banks, who carries two car seats as he comes down the plane’s steps. “Thank God, all six of them slept on the way here.”

Fallon comes out behind him, carrying another two car seats with sleeping newborns who have already grown so much in the past few weeks.

Salinger and Giles each take a car seat while Fallon disappears back into the plane, then comes out a few seconds later with the last two babies. Emerson juggles Caroline in one arm and Beth in the other, and I wonder how people in the past with multiple children and only one husband ever did this.

One of the babies starts to cry as we place them in the extra large, customized van that I purchased, which technically is more of a bus with leather seats and a high tech security system built in.

Only the best for my family.

I take Tia’s hand and don’t let go until we finally pull up the ten thousand square foot house that sits on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean.

Our house.

Our home.

“Oh, my God.” Tia’s eyes widen in shock. “It’s...” She shakes her head. “It’s huge.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Salinger says chuckling, and I roll my eyes at him, helping Tia out of the van.

There are tears in her eyes as I lead her to the wraparound porch, and through the double front doors that lead to the two-story foyer. The men follow behind us with the children.

I take in every small gasp, every smile that my wife gives as I lead her through each of the rooms, including the bedroom I designed specifically for her. I wanted her to have a special spot, somewhere she could have some privacy in a houseful of people.

There’s a small nook in the corner with a shelf full of books I thought she’d enjoy, and a plush reading chair and ottoman.

“Do you like it?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her from behind. “Anything you want to have changed, we can--”

“It’s perfect, Hux. So much more than I ever expected.” She turns in my arms and places her hands on my cheek, then leans up and kisses me.

There’s so much emotion in such a simple act. We know each other's bodies, as well as we know our own, and while I’m dying to be inside of her again, I know that it’ll still be weeks before she’s up for anything more than gentle touches. Which seems to irk her more than any of us.

Right now, I’m just happy to have her here, in my arms.

A small distant cry reminds me that I’m not just sharing my wife with five other men anymore, but with children who need her more than I do at this moment.

“That would be Devin,” She says with a sigh.

“You know their cries already?”

“No.” She chuckles. “I just know he’s the hungriest of them all. I swear he needs to feed every two hours. Banks said he’s already gained almost four pounds since he was born.”

“Then we better not keep my son waiting.” I take her hand and lead her back downstairs, where the men are each cradling a baby in their arms.

Only Blair, our littlest is still fast asleep in her car seat. I don’t hesitate to pick her up, my heart swelling with love and pride as her lashes flutter open and she smiles at me.

“Did you see that?” I say. “She just smiled.”

“It’s gas,” Banks grunts. “They won’t smile for real for another few weeks.”

I ignore him, my gaze trained on my daughter, her big blue eyes studying me intently.

“You did smile at me, didn’t you?” I coo, and I swear to God she smiles again, and my heart squeezes so damn tight in my chest.

How the hell I got this lucky is beyond me. But I know entering the lottery was the best gamble I ever took.