Child Brides of India

By: C. Stanton Leman

Chapter 48: Child Brides (Mgg, rom, no sex)

I didn’t expect anyone joining me for prayers, but once I was upstairs I laid out all the prayer rugs anyway. I knelt and began to pray asking for forgiveness, that my actions wouldn’t affect Emma adversely and that my family wouldn’t be torn apart by my inability to control my carnal desires.

I fervently prayed for relief from the torment of my desire for young girls and to live a life of edifying people instead of equating sexual pleasure with love.

About ten minutes into my prayers, the three girls came in, knelt and began to silently pray. Having heard them enter I didn’t turn around or acknowledge their presence, I just kept praying. I did so out of shame: shame that I’d conducted myself inappropriately and shame that I’d let my two wives down by engaging in this activity with someone other than my wives.

I could feel Priya’s eyes upon me as I rocked, silently crying and praying for forgiveness, but I hadn’t the courage to look at her.

Oh God, please unleash me from this demon of the flesh! I cried out silently. Help me to see Your will in all of this confusion!

Again and again I cried out my supplications silently, All graciousness and glory be yours Allah, the one true God. Cleanse me and cover my shame with your forgiveness and the forgiveness of my family! Bring me back into the loving arms of your fold and comfort me in my wickedness and shame!

After about an hour of these gut-wrenching invocations, I was drenched in sweat and exhausted: both mentally and emotionally. Having pleaded my case before God, I sat back on my heels, covered my face with my hands and just sobbed.

I could feel the six eyes piercing my heart as I sobbed. Priya quietly ushered Aleeya and Emma out of the room. She returned and from behind, enfolded me in her arms and softly said in my ear, “Fear not, dear husband, everything will work out. I know in my heart that it is the will of God that Emma join our family.”

Feeling despondent, I shook my head back and forth saying, “No, no, no! This isn’t right! What am I supposed to do: marry every young girl I am attracted for? There just never seems to be an end to this torment!”

Turning and wrapping my arms around her, I buried my head in her chest and cried out, “Why do I find the charms of a tender young girl to be my torment, but at the same time my deepest desire? It isn’t right, it just isn’t right!”

Priya pulled away from me and gave me a soft, reassuring smile and said, “Your torment will end, Sean. It will be over in a short while. Maybe you think you dishonored Aleeya and me, but you haven’t. Both of us know that Emma will join our sisterhood and become a part of our family.”

Touching my cheek with her hand, she again smiled and went on, “Only heaven knows why things are as they are, but I feel in my heart that this is ordained and will come to pass. Emma is the last girl/child you will desire — this I know.”

Leaning down to look in my eyes, Priya asked, “Do you trust me? Have I ever lied to you about any of this before? Haven’t my words come to pass?”

Still not relieved in any way, I replied, “No, you’ve never lied to me and everything you’ve said has come to pass, but I’m still not convinced. I broke my marriage vows today with my cousin. How can you be so accepting of this?”

Priya pulled me to her breast and said, “She’s your second cousin. By Muslim law — even U.S. law — you can marry her. The only hurdle to overcome is your parents. I suspect that deep down they’re prejudiced because the girl involved is Emma. In their eyes it’s all right if Aleeya and I are cousins, first cousins in fact; but Emma is their own flesh and blood. Your mother thinks of Emma almost as a daughter.”

Rocking me in her arms, she continued, “Emma knows everything. I now think that she’s known all along about the three of us. She’s not as innocent to intimate things as we first believed.”

Priya let go of me and sat on the floor next to me and said, “When you were talking to Mom, Emma and I talked. She’s seen sexual activity at school, talked about sex with other girls and has been masturbating for over six months.”

“Look at me,” Priya said. “She certainly knew how to get herself off today, didn’t she? She tried and succeeded in seducing you. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

Still in anguish, I shot back, “It doesn’t matter what she does or doesn’t know. The fact still remains that I should have known better. Think what you want, but when it comes right down to it, I was thinking with my dick and not my head.”

Trying to convince her I said, “Look. She’s in emotional turmoil right now. Yes she wants all those things you talked about and sometimes releasing tension through sexual orgasm helps — temporarily, but that’s not the kind of affection or love she really needs right now. You know it and I know it!”

Priya, trying to make her argument replied, “Sean. For whatever reason there is, Emma has made up her mind that she wants more from you: just like Aleeya. I told you yesterday that the two of you had made a connection, maybe not a conscious one, but a connection nevertheless. I saw it and your mother admittedly saw it.”

Continuing she said, “Do you remember I told you I didn’t want to reveal my thoughts about Emma when you asked me?”

I nodded.

“The reason,” she said, “was because I wasn’t positively sure myself until she made that comment when you got on the horse today. Then I knew. Your mother knew: that’s why she shot you that look. Right now, she may be trying to deny it, but she knows as well as I do what Emma wants.”

Continuing, Priya said, “Emma doesn’t want a cuddly affectionate cousin, she wants an intimate relationship with you like Aleeya has. She’s read between the lines and has seen what you and Aleeya have and she wants it too. If she didn’t know in her heart of hearts that you and Aleeya have an intimate relationship, she wouldn’t have been so overt in her seduction. If what you said earlier is true, she ground her little pussy right in front of your face because I think she knew how you’d react.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. We turned to the door to see Mom with her head peeking around the opened door and I asked her, “What, Mom? We’re talking.”

She wore a stern, square-jawed expression on her face as she replied, “Well, let’s finish this discussion downstairs in the study with your father.”

She didn’t wait for a reply as she shut the door and left. I said to Priya, “Well, it’s time to face the music. You might see Dad kick my ass, or at the very least, throw me out.”

Putting her hand on my shoulder as she stood, she said, “Just keep calm. If you lose control, you lose the ability to reason. You don’t have to face him alone. I’ll be there to help you.”

Feeling a sense of doom, I retorted, “Yeah, the last thing Dad’s gonna want to hear is your dreams again.”

Priya bit her tongue, but said, “It’s ordained and it shall come to pass. Have faith in me. That’s all I ask, okay?”

I nodded as we made our way downstairs.

When we reached the study, Dad was sitting behind his desk while Mom was sitting in the armchair. Priya and I entered and sat on the sofa next to each other facing the two.

Mom gave me a “You’d better be prepared to defend yourself” look, glanced at Priya then back at Dad.

Dad leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk and started out with, “Well, boy, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Looking him right in the eye, I replied, “Nothing. There’s no excuse for what I did and I’m not going to try and make one up.”

“You God damn right there’s no reason!” he shot back.

“You know,” he continued, “this is all Aleeya’s fault. If you and she hadn’t been fucking and sucking or doing whatever you two do while she screams like a little trollop in heat, this would never have happened.”

Priya started to launch in but I grabbed her arm and replied, “Look, Dad, if you want to kick my ass, throw me out or have me sit through an hour of your abuse, that’s fine. But what happened today has absolutely nothing at all to do with Aleeya. Just because you’re angry doesn’t give you the right to kick her in the teeth by politely calling her a whore!”

Sighing, Dad looked down at the desk and replied, “You’re right. That wasn’t called for and I apologize. But the fact still remains that if Emma hadn’t heard the shenanigans going on between you two, she wouldn’t have thought it was alright for her to get into the act.”

Before I could say anything, Priya cut in with, “You don’t give Emma enough credit, Father. Let me make a few things perfectly clear.”

She stuck up one finger and began again, “First, you’re right. Emma has heard Sean and Aleeya and has figured out that they have an intimate relationship. What you don’t know is that Emma has been experimenting with sex right under your noses for at least six months.

“While Sean and Mom were talking, Emma and I had a talk. She’s been masturbating for months now as a result of talking about sex with her school friends and has seen sexual activity at school among the fifth graders. Emma isn’t as innocent about sex as you may think and certainly far less innocent than Aleeya or me before we got married.”

Shaking her head, Mom said, “Jesus Christ! How can that be? She’s only eight for Christ sakes! You mean to tell me that kids that are ten and eleven engage in sexual activity in elementary school?”

Priya nodded and continued, “Look Mom… Father, I’ve done some research and here are some interesting facts: in America today, there are 770 preteens and teens under the age of fourteen that lose their virginity every single day. One out of four of those kids contract an STD. Twenty-seven percent of all girls have had sex by age fifteen and out of these, sixty-one percent have had four or more partners.”

Priya continued rattling on statistics, “One fifth of all girls have had oral sex by age thirteen, and girls with low self-esteem or are emotionally needy are four times more likely to have had sex by the same age.”

Priya continued her litany with, “What’s sad is that four in ten girls who’ve had sex say that their first sexual experience was either unwanted or non-voluntary, meaning they simply acquiesced, were pressured into it and did it out of peer pressure, or sadly were… raped. Nearly all girls said that their first time was a frightening and painfully traumatic experience. What’s alarming is the fact that the average age of newly recruited prostitutes being arrested today has now dropped to thirteen — some as young as eleven.”

Priya sat back and in a calmer voice said, “Girls today measure their self worth by how many boys like them. Their primary activity is shopping at the mall for clothes and make-up that enhance their desirability to boys. Sex is everywhere: on TV, advertising, video games, and in music — it’s everywhere! Kids today are maturing at younger ages and at a much more rapid rate; peer pressure to fit in and be cool are all contributing factors. Sadly, this isn’t happening just in America, it’s spreading throughout the entire world!”

Priya finished up by saying, “All these statistics from school and government surveys of kids that have had consensual sex. They don’t have accurate numbers regarding kids that are sexually abused by predators, family members or other people in a position of authority and become promiscuous because like rape, the vast majority of these cases go unreported.”

While Priya rattled on statistics, Mom sat in open-mouthed shock at the facts and Dad was shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair.

Mom sighed and said, “My God! What’s become of our children! I had no idea!”

Priya leaned her elbows on her knees and said, “Let’s get back to the issue at hand. Emma is looking for the same thing Aleeya was: love, security and protection. Emma deduced Sean and Aleeya’s relationship because she wants the same thing and was looking for it. Like I told Sean, Emma doesn’t want a cuddly, affectionate cousin: she wants a deeper more intimate relationship with him.”

Looking at Mom, she said, “Mom, whether you want to admit it or not, you recognized it too, but didn’t intervene. Emma knew exactly what she was doing out there today and like an experienced Lolita, set out to get what she wants. Namely, she wants what Aleeya has with Sean and even said so. She seduced him today and it was planned as soon as she knew we were going horseback riding. Mom and I both knew what she meant by her comment today, didn’t we?”

Mom had tears running down her cheeks and said softly, “Yes I saw it, I saw it at the breakfast table, but I guess I either didn’t trust my instincts or refused to see the truth. I can’t hold Sean totally responsible for what happened. It’s just that I’m so close to her and didn’t want to believe what my gut was telling me.”

Dad said in a much calmer tone, “All this may be true, but Sean, you were wrong for letting it happen.”

“In a way you’re right, Dad,” I replied. “I shouldn’t have participated. She would have gotten herself off either way, but I was wrong in participating and I told Emma that — just like I told you and Mom.”

Priya and I looked at my parents as they looked at each other when Mom said to Dad, “Well, what do we do now?”

Dad, throwing up his hands said, “I guess the only thing left to do: talk to Emma. Find out for ourselves what she has to say.”

Mom looked at Priya and asked, “Would you please go get Emma and bring her down?”

Priya gave Mom a slight smile and nodded as she rose and left. I barely looked up, dreading having to face Emma while Mom and Dad looked at each other with stunned disbelief as a result of the conversation that had just transpired.

A few minutes later, Priya was at the study door with Emma by her side. Mom got up and moved to sit beside me on the couch then directed Emma to the “hot seat”. I scooted down and Priya sat between Mom and me.

Dad, I guess, not knowing how to start motioned for Mom to begin. She took a deep breath and began with, “Emma, do you know why we’re here?”

Looking down, Emma silently nodded.

Touching Mom’s hand, Priya said, “Emma?”

Silence.

“Emma, look at us.”

Emma looked up through her tears.

“Emma,” Priya began again, “We need to talk about what happened today, and it’s very important that we only speak the truth. Understand?”

Emma nodded.

Priya continued, “Emma, no one’s is angry at you and nothing bad is going to happen if we all tell the truth. The only way we can solve our problems is with the truth, right?”

Emma nodded.

Mom cut in with, “Emma, look at me.”

Emma’s eyes met Mom’s and she continued, “What you’re feeling is very adult in nature. These adult issues include the relationship between Sean and Priya, Sean and Aleeya and lastly, how you feel about Sean and what happened and was said between you and Sean today. Do you understand?”

Emma nodded her understanding.

Mom said, “If we, meaning all of us here — including you, are going to talk about adult issues, you need to act like an adult and speak. Your feelings and thoughts are important, but we can only learn what’s on your mind if you talk to us. No more shy nodding. Talk like an adult if you want to be included as an adult talking about adult issues. Do you understand?”

Nodding, Emma said, “I understand, Auntie.”

“Good.” Mom replied, “Now that that’s settled, let’s begin. First of all, why don’t you tell us why you did what you did earlier. This isn’t the time for schoolgirl games; no bullshit, just tell the truth and nothing but the truth.”

Looking at me, then Priya and lastly Mom, Emma said, “I want Sean to treat me like he treats Leeya.”

“And how do you think Sean treats Aleeya?” Mom asked.

“Like she’s his wife.” she said pointedly as she looked me square in the eyes.

Dad asked, “Why do you think that way?”

“Their eyes,” Emma replied as she looked at Dad, “by their eyes. I see the way they look at each other: they’re married — I just know it. Even when Sean isn’t looking at her, Leeya looks at him with a very deep and intimate love.”

Mom asked, “How do you know what a deep and intimate look of love looks like?”

“I’m not stupid,” Emma began to say when Dad cut in and said, “Watch your tone, girl. You can express your feelings, but do it with respect.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can tell by the way Sean and Priya look at each other and I can see the way you, Auntie look at Poppy. I also remember how Mommy and Daddy looked at each other. It’s easy to see. Leeya looks just like that at Sean; she sometimes even stares at him with longing.”

Mom asked her, “Why do you want a relationship like that with Sean at your age?”

Folding her hands in her lap, Emma replied, “Because both Priya and Leeya have had super big hurts in their hearts and Sean married them and made them happy. Priya hurt because she’s black, Leeya hurt because her mommy beat her. Sean took away all their hurt and loved them and made them feel safe and protected. When I slept with Sean, I knew then that I forever and ever I would feel safe and protected with him.”

Looking at Priya, Emma said, “‘Leeya’s only five but she’s married to Seam, isn’t she?”

Looking back at her Priya responded, “Since we’re telling the truth, yes. Yes, Aleeya is married to Sean. But why would you want to marry Sean?”

Looking down shyly, Emma replied, “I’ve had this feeling since Priya’s party and wedding. I fell in love with Sean the night of Priya’s party. I can’t describe it, but it’s something deep down inside me that knows I could be happy for the rest of my life with Sean, Priya and Leeya. Since that night, I’ve dreamt of nothing else except to be a child bride of India just like you, Priya. I’ve studied Islam and I know Sean can have four wives. I want to be his third wife.”

Mom called her name and Emma looked up at her as Mom asked, “Why sex? Why did you masturbate today in front of Sean? Were you trying to seduce him?”

“Yes... no… yes, oh heck. Yes, I guess I was. Whenever I’m around him I get wet and tingle down there and I wanted to be with him like that so badly. I just had this feeling in my heart that he wouldn’t push me away and that I felt safe with him like that.”

Mom asked, “How long have you been masturbating?”

Emma blushed and inaudibly whispered, “About five or six months.”

“What did you say?” Mom asked. “We can’t hear you, speak up.”

“For five or six months. Ever since I learned how, I think about Sean making love to me every time I do it.”

Dad sat back in his chair and uttered, “I can’t believe I’m hearing this!”

Emma looked at him and said, “Well, you said to tell the truth. That’s how I really feel!”

Mom calmed her by saying, “There’s nothing wrong. You told the truth and I know it was really hard to do.”

I guess Priya wanting to prove her statistics with Mom and Dad asked Emma, “Where did you learn to play with yourself? Who taught you?”

Emma looked at Priya and then Mom and looked down as she said, “At a sleepover about six months ago. There were three of us and Sue suggested we take our clothes off and play a game. She told us to try something her big sister taught her and that it felt really good.”

She looked around and continued, “When she started playing with herself, we all went ‘Eeeuuuuuww, that’s nasty!’ I didn’t want to do it but they teased me, so I did it. It felt kinda good in a weird way, but not like Sue said it would. I lied after that when they asked me if I did it, telling them ‘Yeah, I do it all the time.’”

Taking a breath, Emma started again by saying, “A few weeks after that, I was feeling really bad and was just playing around in the tub when, for the first time it felt really good. After that night in the tub, I just kept doing it. I started thinking about Sean when I did it and I had an orgasm for the first time. Since then, I can always have one when I think about being with him.”

Priya asked her, “What other things of a sexual nature have you seen: you know, at school or with your friends?”

Emma acted shy talking about things covered her face and said, “We saw a fifth grade girl sucking a boy’s thing behind the gym and another time, I saw two kids doing it behind the dumpsters in back of the cafeteria.”

Dad replied, “Isn’t that a descriptive analogy: Doing it amongst the trash.”

Mom asked, “And you want to do these things with Sean?”

Emma blushed and nodded yes.

Mom sharply said, “What’d you say? I can’t hear your head move.”

Looking Mom right in the eye, Emma said with conviction, “Yes! Yes I do! I want to taste him and him to taste me. I wanna feel him inside me and have him cum inside me. There. I said it, are you happy now?”

Emma was now crying as she looked at Mom with a hint of defiance.

Mom implored her “Where did you learn about such things, Emily Marie? For Christ sakes, you’re only eight. You sound like a high school hooker. Where? How? Who taught you these things?”

“Auntie,” Emma answered, “kids talk. It’s on the Internet, it’s in the movies and it’s in all the music; everybody knows what kids and grown-ups do in private. Kids talk about seeing their parents or brothers or sisters doing it. Some kids are even doing it with family members like a brother and sister. I know one girl who says she does it with her older brother. We know who’s doing it with whom at school.”

Mom, with her hands folded on her knees asked Emma, “Why do you think the only way you can be happy is in an intimate relationship with Sean? Why couldn’t you be happy here, with Poppy and me?”

Looking back at Mom she replied, “I guess I could to a certain degree, but you don’t choose who your heart falls in love with. I know deep down that Sean is my one, true love. If they left me here, I would probably grow up and fall for some stupid guy that couldn’t love me the way Sean can. I just know it!”

Mom, almost pleading with her asked Emma, “But why, Baby, why does it have to be now? You’re only eight years old; you’re still a child. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. Why would you want to get married now? I worry that maybe one day Priya or Aleeya will be smitten by some other good looking guy and become attracted to them; it’s normal and natural when you’re young. What if either one of them wants a divorce from Sean to move on to someone else?”

Looking down and wringing her hands Mom continued, “I will worry to my grave about whether or not I made a mistake in consenting to Aleeya’s marriage. When she’s old and grey and still in love with Sean, only then can my heart rest in peace.”

I think Emma decided to take her fate into her own hands because she turned to me and forcefully said, “I love you, Sean, and I love you exactly the same way Priya or Leeya does. I want to be married to you and be your wife.”

I guess she was a little frightened by the possibility of rejection because she lowered her head and softly said to me, “I’ve lost everyone in my life that was dearest to me. You are there in the secret place in my heart right next to Mommy and Daddy. If you don’t want me, that’s fine, but I promise the world this: ‘til the day I die, I will lock up my heart forever and never let anyone get close enough to ever hurt me again!”

Mom and Dad looked crushed!

Priya looked at Emma with as the same serious face she wore on the day of her battle with Singh. She took a breath and said to Emma, “Do you honestly believe that you can threaten your way into someone’s heart while abandoning those who’ve cared for you as their very own?”

I don’t know if it was pubescent hormones or what, but Emma shot back, “Priya, it wasn’t a threat. I have a special love for Auntie and Poppy, but I can’t marry either of them or find the life of happiness I want with them. Even if I didn’t love Sean, it would be someone else later on. I’d get married, leave and live my life.”

Emma took the offensive by leaning over and asking Priya, “How many people that were your entire world have you lost? If you lost both of your parents and knowing how you feel about Sean he rejected you, what would you do? My heart can’t bear losing the last person in my life that can make me completely happy.”

Looking at mom and then Dad, Emma went on, “I love you, Auntie and Poppy with all my heart in a very special way, but it’s not the kind of love that all girls dream of finding with a guy. The only way I feel I can protect my heart from being shattered again is to make sure no one breaks my heart again by leaving me all alone.”

Looking down and crying, Emma said, “I know it wasn’t their fault, but my parents are gone and I feel abandoned and all alone. The only time I feel anything other than pain is when I dream of being with Sean, him making love to me and knowing he’ll be there for me always to keep me safe, protected and heal the pains of my heart.”

Everyone just sighed with sadness listening to her express the pain in her heart. I leaned forward and said to her, “Emma, death is a respecter of no one. I could die tomorrow; that doesn’t mean that the lives of those that love me are over or that they cannot move on and possibly love again.”

Not wanting to discuss or deal with abstract hypothetical “what ifs,” Emma looked at me with pleading eyes and pointedly asked, “How do you really feel about me, Sean? I know you find me attractive because you got excited when I sat on your lap and again today. Could you love me as a wife?”

Now it was my time in the “hot seat”. All eyes were on me, hanging on and waiting for my reply. I now had to admit to everyone the feelings I harbored for my second cousin. I took a deep breath and looked at her with love, but also with some shame saying, “Yes, Emma, I do love you, and I could love you as a wife. I’ve thought about being with you intimately many times. The first time was that night in India at Priya’s party.”

Looking up at everyone, Priya had a look that said she knew; Mom looked like she was surprised upon hearing that my first intimate thoughts of Emma began as early as our introduction and Dad looked at me with some disgust, shaking his head.

Now, being the time for total honesty I looked down with shame and said, “I don’t know why I have these feelings and it bothers me. Not that I love you, Emma, but that I find being intimate with a young girl so overpowering. I think and feel that something’s wrong with me to have these thoughts and feelings.”

With tears running down my cheeks I looked up and continued, “I live everyday in turmoil over this. What makes things more difficult for me is that because of circumstances, I have been able to legally indulge in intimacy with very young girls. On the one hand, I feel it’s not right, on the other hand, I’ve affected two lives in a very positive way and they have likewise enriched my life.”

Sitting back and looking at the ceiling, I said, “Looking back, when I first talked to Imaam about courtship when we were discussing Sarah, I felt a shudder of revulsion at the thought of marrying a child. But when my life totally changed with Priya my thinking changed. I know Priya is more woman than child, despite her being twelve.”

Looking around I went on, “With Aleeya, it was different. I wanted to be with her very much, but it wasn’t purely sexual. I never would have believed that a child has such a capacity to love in an adult way or even express themselves in an adult sexual manner, but she does. She responds exactly like a grown woman.

“I can’t explain it, but I’m now convinced that for the people involved, I’ve done the right thing and made a difference — a positive, meaningful difference in Priya and Aleeya’s lives. I just don’t want to make a huge mistake and lose everything that’s dear to me because I want Emma also. Can everyone understand me?”

Trying to make some sense of all of this, I said, “Look. I don’t know if this is one of those situations where doing the wrong thing for the right reason is true, and maybe there’s something wrong with me, but I can love these girls with a meaningful love, be intimate with them and maintain the focus to try my best to provide them with a love they’ll never find with anyone else. Does any of this make sense?”

Out of love (I guess), Dad was trying to understand and make some sense of my admission asked, “Are you attracted to all young girls, or at least a lot of young girls Aleeya’s and Emma’s age you know, see or meet?”

“No,” I replied, “I’ve only been attracted to three girls: Priya, Aleeya and Emma. I think it’s because I already have a deep caring love for them. I don’t have any such feelings for girls I don’t know or even other family members. I can’t explain it.”

Priya stepped up, conversationally, and said, “I know both of you don’t want to hear this, but I did say months ago that I had a feeling in my heart from God that there would three wives in Sean’s life. I discussed this with Aleeya last night and we both feel Emma is that third sister.”

Looking at Emma, Priya continued, “We want Emma to join our sisterhood and become a part of our family. Even in the event of Sean’s death, we have all shared the same intimate love with the same man and can better provide love and understanding for each other’s loss because our loss is exactly the same.”

Priya went on to say, “I truly believe that these circumstances have been allowed to happen, and that includes Mom and my inaction, for a reason. They say that time is the true teller of truth. If this is true, then look at Aleeya and me. We have been given a very special, healing love that has set us free to be what we are meant to be.”

Looking at Mom, Priya said, “Mom, you told me that when you love someone, you have to set them free. The love Sean has given us has set us free: free to be happy, free to heal the pains of the world that held us back, free to grow in love and finally, free to express a love in our hearts that needed someone to share it with.”

Sitting back, Priya continued, “Here are some more statistics. In New Delhi alone, out of a population of about 13.8 million people, there are an estimated 40,000 illegal child brides. Eighty percent of these are under the age of ten; the other twenty percent are under the age of thirteen. Seventy percent of all child brides are beaten, abused, raped or sold into slavery or prostitution like Haseeba was.

Continuing she said, “Eighty percent of those sold into slavery, either for work or sex, die of abuse, neglect, malnutrition, disease or during pubescent child birth. Child marriage is usually catastrophic for young girls because they are treated and abused as sex objects - not people. They’re denied love, caring, encouragement, education, medical care, proper food and clothing and even decent living conditions. Their lives end with a marriage because they are denied the right to be treated as human beings to grow: physically, mentally and emotionally.”

Leaning forward again Priya finished with, “Is that the case with Aleeya or me? Haven’t we been treated with love and had our education, emotional and physical needs as well as our mental health nurtured and encouraged to grow in love? Some people who don’t know or maybe wouldn’t understand our situation would think we’re being abused, but we simply share a unique relationship that provides for all our needs including Sean’s.”

Everyone had tears of sadness upon hearing the chilling facts Priya revealed. Mom looked up at the ceiling and got a slight smile on her face. Dad looking at her quizzically asked, “What is it Joan? What’s so funny?”

Mom looked back at us and replied, “Oh nothing. I was just thinking about a book called Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People I’d read while Priya made her last comment. It was written by a Jewish rabbi and in it, he painted a picture of life as a patchwork quilt. He said that life is like a patchwork quilt in that when we look at the top with every seam perfect, complete with different and intricate designs like the world, to make a thing of great beauty. But if you turn it over, one can see stitches that are criss-crossed, broken, hanging threads and it doesn’t seem to have any order or make sense.

“Looking at this mish-mash of confusion, one might gain understanding as to why some are crippled, retarded or defective in some way, or innocent children die of terrible diseases; why there’s abuse, murder and all the other atrocities of the world just like those broken and hanging threads. Others live lives that are seemingly different and don’t make sense to us, just like those criss-crossed threads, but it all comes together to make that thing of immense beauty we call life.”

With a sigh, Mom smiled again and said, “That why, he said, no one can understand the wisdom of God or answer the question as to why bad things happen to good people. Our duty is to live the life we’ve been given and love as much as we can, hoping we do our share and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Turning to me now with tears in her eyes, Mom said, “Sean, I don’t know why you have an attraction to these three girls: I just don’t understand it. But I do know that you have made a difference like you said — a positive difference with Priya and Aleeya.”

Looking at Dad, then at Emma Mom continued, “Emma, if I truly love you, I have to let you go if I feel in my heart that your happiness lies with Sean. I can do this because I feel in my heart that Sean will provide you with the life of love and nurturing that you need. What do you have to say, John?”

Dad sighed and shook his head. Looking up he replied, “You’re right, Joan. I can’t, for the life of me, understand how Sean and the girls can have a life together that’s beneficial to all of them, but they do. I’ve racked my brain over how a five year-old girl can not only enjoy intimacy, but also give herself willing with joy and love to a man. She’s happy, well adjusted and content with her role as a wife. She approaches sex like an adult: it’s just a normal part of her life.”

Looking at Emma he said, “If this is what you really want, then I won’t stand in your way; but I have conditions. First, until you’re married, you will not sleep with Sean or have any sexual contact with him. You can sit on his lap or cuddle, but no intimacy, understand?”

With a loving smile Emma nodded and said, “Yes Poppy, I understand.”

Priya said to Emma, “We are Muslim, and you seem to be taking to the faith. If you are to become a Muslim wife, that means no more masturbation — ever! You must control your urges and have those urges satisfied by your husband. Do you understand?”

With shy meekness Emma nodded and replied, “Yes, Sister, I will obey you.”

Mom leaned over and put her hand on Emma’s knee and said, “You’ve got your heart’s desire, now kiss your future husband goodnight and go to bed.”

With that, Emma rose and went around and kissed her Poppy, then Mom and then Priya. After kissing Priya she said, “I will obey and learn your instructions on how to be a good Muslim wife, I promise.”

Priya smiled and replied, “I know you will, but remember my instructions: no sex of any kind before marriage. Got it?”

Emma smiled and nodded yes.

She then turned to me, placed her hands on my shoulders and gave me a long passionate, closed mouth kiss and said, “Goodnight, Husband.”

With a loving smile I replied, “Goodnight, Sweetheart.”

Emma turned and left to go to bed.