Child Brides of India

By C. Stanton Leman

Chapter 24: Deciding Aleeya’s Fate (Mgg, rom, no sex)

I awoke uncovered in the same position in which I had fallen asleep: naked on my right side spooning tightly against Aleeya’s tiny butt. I had a tingling erection, which was still held between her closed legs and wedged between her baby fat labia with about three inches protruding out the front of her vulva. Pretending to be asleep, I barely slit one eye open to see Aleeya’s raised head up in her hand talking to Priya softly as she stroked the exposed part of my erection. I closed my eyes again to listen and enjoy her playful fingers.

“When I marry Sean, will he put his thingy in my poopy hole like he did with you last night?”

“Only if you think you might want to try that. Only you can decide if you want to do that and other things husbands and wives do.”

“Will he make a baby in me?”

“Someday, Baby, someday.”

“How?”

Aleeya had since ceased stroking my dick, concentrating on her conversation with Priya.

“There’s a special place where a husband and wife join their bodies together to make a baby.”

“Where is this special place? Will he put his thingy inside my body?”

“Yes, Sweetheart, he will, it’s a very special place between your legs near where you go pee-pee from.”

“Then he’ll put his love juice inside me?”

“Yes, Honey, he will. That’s how Sean will put a baby inside you when you’re old enough to have a baby.”

“What’s it feel like when he puts his juice inside you?”

“It makes you feel all warm and wonderful inside. It’s like feeling his love pour inside you.”

“Will it hurt when he puts his thingy inside me?”

“It may hurt the first time because your body has to stretch open to fit him inside. Your body is very small and it might be painful at first, but after a few times, it will begin to feel wonderful. Don’t worry about that yet. Do you trust Sean?”

“Yes, I trust him more than anyone.”

“Then you’ll have to trust Sean. If he thinks you are too small and it will hurt you too much, he won’t try to put his thingy inside you. He doesn’t ever want to hurt you, so when he thinks it’s time and you’re big enough to fit him inside you, he’ll ask you if you’re ready to try. Does it scare you a little?’”

“A little, but I can take the pain of Momma’s beatings. I love him so much Priya and I know he would never hurt me. I know I’m not supposed to know these things, and I’m not supposed to love a grown up this way, but Sean just fills me with tingles when I’m near him. When I hear the grownups start to talk about these things, they send me away. Why would you share your husband with me and let me do secret things with him?”

“Sean gives me tingles when I’m around him too. I want to share him with you because I love you and I love Sean. I know you need to love Sean as much as I do and that we can make each other happy.”

“You and Sean have made me happier these two days than I ever dreamed I could be,” Aleeya replied and began to cry.

Priya stroked her face and asked, “Why the tears, little one?”

“I don’t want this to end. I‘ll go back home today and I know Momma will beat me because she thinks I told on her. Daddy will go to work as he always does and I’ll be left all alone again with her.

“It’s not just being naked and doing secret things that make me happy with you and Sean, it’s everything: the closeness, the hugs and kisses. I can talk to both of you about anything and you don’t hate me. You letting me be naked with Sean and doing that special thing just made me feel that you don’t think I’m a stupid, silly girl and you’re teaching me that these feelings for Sean are special. I feel so safe in his arms, like no one could ever get near me to hurt me. I like the secret things we did; it only makes everything seem so much more special. I will just die not being able to have these feelings again. I’ll just die!”

“Sweetheart, sometimes these things take time. You need to be brave and know that Sean and I love you and will bring you into our family as soon as we can, but you need to be brave and hold on to those special feelings of love and know that one day soon, you’ll be with us forever. Can you be brave for us? Can you bear it just a while longer?”

”I’d take a hundred beatings to be back with you and Sean. I want to grow up and have Sean put a baby in me someday. I know he would never hurt our baby like Mommy hurts me. Will you help me?”

“I’ll do what I can to help you.”

As Aleeya was carrying on her conversation, she was subconsciously moving herself along my shaft and was starting to get a little wet in the process. She looked down between her legs, and I think she started to notice because she asked Priya, “Can I ask a secret question?”

“Sure, sweetheart, you can ask me anything.”

“How come when I feel Sean’s thingy between my legs, I get all wet down there? Am I peeing myself?”

“No, Darling, you’re not peeing yourself. It’s your body telling you that you want your husband in your secret place. It’s your heart telling your body you have a special feeling of love for your future husband.”

Aleeya looked down again, and there was a drop of precum resting on the head of my dick. She asked Priya, “Is Sean’s thingy crying?”

Priya giggled and said, “No, it’s saying he loves you.”

She swiped the drop away with her finger, and with a naughty look on her face stuck her finger in her mouth and replied, “His love tastes sweet to me.”

Priya giggled and said, “I think so too! We have to get up now, but I have to tell you something and you have to obey me, do you understand? It’s very, very important.”

“I’ll obey you, Priya. Tell me what a wife is supposed to do.”

“Listen and obey me or you’ll sin against God. Allah says it’s a sin to touch ourselves down there to make ourselves feel good. Only your husband can do that. No matter how much you want to have those feelings again, you have to wait until you’re married. Do you understand? And remember, what you did with your husband is a secret between us.

“I have to pray to Allah for forgiveness because I let you and Sean be together like you’re married to him, but I love you so much and believed that you needed to feel this special love. It is my sin, not yours. Don’t worry about it, everything will be all right.”

“I understand and I’ll only let Sean touch me there when the time is right.”

“Be brave and all things will work out for you, me and for Sean to all be together soon. I don’t know how we’ll do it yet, but we’ll find a way. Just be brave. Can you do that?”

“I trust and believe you, I’ll be brave.”

“Okay. Let’s get up and wake up our husband so we can get dressed and say prayers before breakfast. Come on now, let’s get going!”

“Okay, I have to go pee really bad!” and with that, she was off like a shot to the bathroom. Priya went in and the two girls playfully showered to the sounds of giggles and fits.

They both came into the bedroom wrapped in towels and told me to go take my shower. When I’d finished and came out, both girls were sitting on the edge of the bed silently looking at me.

I looked at them both quizzically and asked, “What?”

Priya and Aleeya looked at each other and giggled, and Priya said, “Well, we’re waiting….”

Still in the dark, I asked, “Waiting for what?”

Priya looked at Aleeya and said, “You tell him. Don’t be shy. Tell him what I told you to tell him.”

I looked at Aleeya and she pulled her shoulders in, covered her mouth as if very shy and said “We’re…” she turned to Priya for help, and Priya whispered in her ear. She giggled again, and said, “Your wives are waiting to see your beautiful naked body and watch you get dressed.”

She then turned her head and buried it in Priya’s side and giggled some more. I laughed and slowly dropped my towel to two clapping girls and began to get dressed.

We said morning prayers and went downstairs to breakfast and Mom. She was just getting off the phone and said, “That was your father. I called him yesterday after I got back from the park with Aleeya and he’s on a flight here as we speak. He said he was using a private jet that he had a time-share with some other executives and would be landing in about ten minutes. He said he already has a car waiting to pick him up. He’ll be here in about an hour, tops.”

Shocked, I asked her, “What did you tell him?”

“I told him there was a crisis involving possible physical abuse of Aleeya by a family member and that you and Priya were involved and he needed to be here, that’s all: no specific details.”

“What’d he say?”

“First, he was shocked, and then got very sad. He just asked if you and Priya were handling things properly and I said that Aleeya’s been here with the two of you until we got to the bottom of it all. He said you did the right thing and to keep things as they are until he gets here. That was the whole conversation.”

We sat and ate breakfast, and Aleeya got progressively quiet. Mom asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I don’t want to go home. Can I please stay here and live with Sean and Priya?”

Mom, feeling sorry for her but also wanting to be honest replied, “I’m sorry, Sweetheart, but you have to go back home with your parents. You have a home to go to.”

“But Mommy will beat me! As soon as Daddy goes to work, she’ll punish me because she thinks I told about the beatings. Please let me stay, please!”

Priya laid her hand on Aleeya’s and said, “Remember what I said about being a brave, big girl?”

Looking down, Aleeya whispered, “Yes, I remember.”

“Can you be a brave, big girl for me and Sean?”

“I’ll try, but for how long?”

“I’m not sure, but hopefully, not too long. Sean and I will come see you every day, all right?”

“You promise?”

Priya and I both said together, “We promise.”

We were just finishing breakfast when Dad walked through the door. He hugged us all including Aleeya and we went into the dining room for coffee and to talk. He turned Aleeya around, picked up her dress and saw her bruises and shook his head saying, “What’s in the mind of a person who would hurt a defenseless child like this? It’s beyond all rational reason,” as he hugged her to his shoulder.

At that moment, the front door bell rang. Pita, our maid, went to answer the door and as soon as she opened it, we heard a woman yelling and barging into the house, pushing Pita to the floor. Priya said, “It’s Aunt Tallie.”

Mahmoud looked frantic as he tried to grab Tallie’s arm and restrain her as she yelled at Priya in Tamil. She broke free from Mahmoud’s grasp and lunged past Dad for Aleeya. Aleeya took off running into the living room and as she tried to round the coffee table, her sandal caught on the rug. Aleeya fell forward in a semi-prone position and she stuck out her hands in front of her to break her fall, but her foot was stuck in her sandal and she hit the corner of the table right in the center of her groin area.

She rolled off the table with a piercing scream onto her back. She doubled over into a fetal position holding her vulva with both hands. I rushed to her, sliding on the floor to a stop next to her. I picked her up in my arms, and she threw her arms around my neck screaming, “My pee-pee hurts, my pee-pee hurts so bad!”

I looked at her groin area and her dress was starting to show a one-inch stain of blood between her legs. With everyone crowded around me, I yelled, “Get the hell out of the way!” I carried her to the dining room table, sweeping everything from the table onto the floor and laid her down.

Mom was standing next to me along with Priya as Mahmoud and Dad held Tallie by the dining room entry. Mom turned to everyone and yelled, “Get out! Get out all of you! Go to the living room! Priya, stay here with me and help me calm her down while I see what’s wrong with her. Now all of you out - now!”

Mahmoud and Dad dragged Tallie to the living room and flung her onto the sofa. Dad went to the den and called Adib, and told him he needed him and Salima to get over here right away, Tallie had hurt Aleeya. Click. Dad returned and said he’d called Adib and that he didn’t even have to wait for a reply Adib was off the phone that fast!

About ten minutes later, Mom came back into the living room and looked around at Dad, Mahmoud and I. She wouldn’t even look at Tallie as she began to speak. She said, “Her hymen has a good sized tear, but it’s not completely torn away and she has a small scrape on her right labia; she won’t need any stitches. She’ll be very sore for a few days so she shouldn’t be on her feet. Walking will only irritate the cut.”

Looking at Mahmoud, she said, “Your daughter is staying here! You better make damn well sure your wife doesn’t show up here again or I’ll beat the living shit out of her myself! Do you understand?”

Looking down in shame, he nodded his assent.

Tallie began to question Mahmoud as to Aleeya’s condition and when she’d been told, she began screaming again in Tamil. Priya came into the room holding Aleeya in her arms and translated Tallie’s ranting by saying, “She says her daughter is now a whore with no maidenhead to give a husband. She also says that Aleeya has brought shame upon the family name and cannot be offered in marriage because she’s no longer a virgin. It’s Aleeya’s fault for being a disobedient and disrespectful child who has shown everyone her rebellious whorish nature.”

Dad told Mahmoud, “If you don’t shut her up, I’ll knock her teeth down her throat!”

Mom looked at Tallie and back at me and I’ve never seen my mother with her face in such a state of rage. I then turned to look at a man that I had come to respect and love as my own blood relative, and he was a broken man, his hands burying his heaving, sobbing face. I knew what I was about to ask might rip at his gut, but I had to know, so I said to him in a calm but firm tone, “Mahmoud. Mahmoud, look at me.”

He slowly lifted his tear streaked face to look me in the eye and I asked him, “Why do you cry: for your daughter’s safety or the loss of a piece of skin that has no meaning whatsoever on your daughter’s virtue?”

“For my child, my poor, innocent child. I am to blame for all of this. I turned a blind eye as my wife punished my child for our lot in life. Instead of loving her as a gift from Allah, I resented her because, in my selfish pride, I wanted a son. My daughter is not a whore, she’s an innocent baby, but I know she will endure a terrible pain that’s not of her making because finding her a husband will not be easy, even though it’s not her fault. That’s just the way it is in our country. It’s the same as if she were scared on her face. Her heart and spirit are pure, but people will only see the blemish.”

The front door bell rang: it must be Adib. Pita was afraid to go to the door, so I told her to go clean up the dining room and I let Adib and Salima in. Priya had taken Aleeya up to our room and left her on the bed to rest. Priya said she told her that she needed to translate for me, but that I would protect her and wouldn’t let her parents come near her and that she was safe.

Priya returned and was standing beside me while Mom was sitting in the armchair seething with so much anger, her face was flushed and she had her fists clinched on her knees shaking. Dad sat on the arm of the chair rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

As soon as Priya had explained to her parents what had transpired, Aleeya’s condition and what Tallie had said. Salima fell to her knees and cried out a sorrowfully moan.

Adib fell to his knees and embraced his wife trying to console her. “Allah had cursed this innocent child as punishment to expose your black heart and sins, Tallie,” Salima shouted. “You shall pay whatever sum is required to find her an honorable and good man - even if you have to sell yourself as the whore you claim the innocent fruit of your womb to be.”

“What does she mean?” I asked Priya.

She whispered to me, “Because she cannot prove she’s a virgin, Aleeya’s parents will have to pay her future husband a large sum of money to compensate him for her shame. He will still probably treat her poorly.”

Looking at Adib and Salima, Mom spat out, “Did either of you know anything about the abuse this poor child has been suffering? You should see her little body: her back and thighs are bruised with stripes like she’s been beaten with a switch and her little butt is black and blue - all because she wets herself!”

Dad jumped up like he was going to punch someone and yelled out, “Is that what this is all about? All because a four year-old wets her pants?”

Both Adib and Salima shuddered and Salima said, “We had no idea! When we saw the bruise on her leg the other night,” Salima looked at Tallie with fierce betrayal and continued, “you told us she fell playing on the swings.” Looking at all of us she continued, “I’ve never had a reason to see her undressed to see any other bruises.”

Adib turned to his brother with a questioned, pleading look and asked him, “How, Brother, how could you have not seen your child’s pain and protected her and shown her she was your heart? How could such s thing happen to a child in our family? We have always looked upon Aleeya as a source of great joy and light in our lives. My heart is breaking because of the pain this poor baby will have to endure her entire life because of the treachery your wife has committed upon her.”

Mahmoud was still sitting on the couch with his head down crying; Adib stood, went to stand beside his brother and angrily grabbing him by the hair, jerked his head up to look him in the eyes and angrily asked, “What are you going to do with this despicable, child beating piece of shit?”

Dad pointed to the front door and spat out, “Get her the fuck out of my home!”

Mahmoud looked at Tallie, who was looking at everyone in fear, said to Adib while looking at her in disgust, “I will drag her to the Imam in shame and divorce her this very day, and she’ll be on the street by nightfall. As far as I’m concerned, she can survive on her back, servicing the curs on the street.”

Falling to her knees, Tallie began begging for forgiveness, but Mahmoud pushed her to the floor saying, “Betraying the trust and love of your child is worse than if you’d sold your wares on the streets in front of our house. You shall never lay eyes on that child again. To her and to me, you no longer exist.”

Adib hugged his brother’s head to his chest and said, “I feel such sorrow and my heart aches for your pain and that of your child, but go now, and do what needs to be done to rid your life of this curse in your life.

“Allah will provide a way to bring back the happiness and hope you’ve worked so hard to provide for your child and He will bring peace again to your heart. Our God will not forsake your child. Have faith my brother that Allah, in His wisdom and mercy will provide the means to heal all things and bring damnation to the mother He entrusted His creation to protect. Now go, do what must be done according to our faith.”

Mahmoud dragged a pleading Tallie from the floor to her feet and left the house. Everyone in the room just looked at each other in silence, not knowing what to say next. Salima looked at Mom and asked her, “Has she been here since the party?”

Mom said, “Yes. Priya and Sean have been caring for her, but I took her to the park yesterday and she told me everything. She’s frightened to be alone with her mother and lives in abject fear. She said that Tallie told her she wouldn’t even buy her any new clothes because she’s only piss them up and ruin them. She berated and mentally and emotionally abused the child by telling her that she’d grow up to be, and I’m using Aleeya’s own words, ‘A pissy whore who cannot control herself.’”

Dad’s mouth dropped an asked, “She called that little girl a whore?”

Salima gasped and uttered, “I can’t believe that a baby could be humiliated that way. How in heaven’s name could she hide it so well? None of us ever suspected what she’s been going through.”

Mom answered, “She’s in such fear of reprisals from her mother she’s kept it silent to keep from being beaten.”

Adib looking puzzled said, “But when she’s around everyone, she’s so loving and affectionate, especially with Sean. I don’t understand though, why she asked Sean to marry her several times? If I remember correctly, she’s asked him that question twice. It’s not a question a four year-old would repeatedly ask, except maybe in an isolated incident as part of a playful childish joke.”

Dad, shaking his head said, “I thought she was joking also, trying to act grown up like Priya.”

Mom went on to explain, “Aleeya is a very, very smart and observant child and she’s looking for protection, love and security. What she longs for most is someone who will accept her because her mother has engrained in her mind, by continual verbal, psychological and physical abuse, that she’s not lovable because she can’t control her bladder.

“Aleeya looks at Priya, who is still a young girl not too much older than her, and sees that Sean protects and loves Priya and makes her happy. She sees that Priya’s parents have allowed Priya to get married to be happy and wonders why her parents don’t want the same happiness for her. She thinks her father loves her, but she knows he resents the fact that she’s not the boy he wanted and leaves the nurturing to her mother because, as she said, ‘Taking care of children is women’s work.’ Sean has somehow sensed she was needy and shown Aleeya love and acceptance and she feels safe and protected with him. That’s why she always clings to him when she’s around him to be held and cuddled.

“She told me she knows Sean will protect her and love her, even if she makes mistakes like wetting herself. She feels accepted, loved, and protected and that he thinks she’s very special even if she makes mistakes.

“She wants to marry him because she’s been taught through her faith at home and during the events leading to Priya’s wedding that marriage is a holy bond forever and that if she were married to Sean, she’d have his love, protection and acceptance all of her life. In her childlike way, she’s really in love with him. She trusts him completely. She sees him as the only one in her life that can heal her heart and make her feel safe enough to give her love to and have it returned.

“She’s so terrified she wouldn’t even sleep in a room by herself or with me: she only wanted Sean. She’s slept with Priya and Sean, and to try with her limited understanding of Islamic law regarding marriage, to willingly place herself in a position so she has to marry Sean because he’s seen her dressed in only her panties. She’s heard us women talking to Priya before her marriage that only a girl’s husband can view his wife in such a state of undress. Otherwise, she believes she’ll become what her mother has engrained in her to believe she’ll become: a whore.

“She was so explicit when she told me from the bottom of her heart that she feels at peace and protected from the pains of the world in his arms. She says she knows that husbands and wives do secret, private things and that she feels safe enough to even do these secret things and asked me to explain them to her. I told her she wasn’t ready or needed to know what these things were, but she said she wasn’t afraid to be married to Sean. That’s why she wouldn’t let him put her down the other night, even falling asleep in his arms. At four, her spirit has chosen whom to trust with her ‘inner child within’. In my opinion, she’s very near an emotional breakdown. After today, she might even withdraw from all of us except Sean.”

Adib looked at Salima and said, “What’s to become of her?”

Salima looked at Priya and said, “I don’t know where to go from here. I just don’t know.”

Dad, shaking his head said, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, God help us!”

Mom, seeing no use to try and solve this problem right this moment, said to Adib and Salima, “I guess the best thing to do is wait. Let’s see how Aleeya will react to all of this. We can keep here for a few days, by then we’ll all have time to think this through and try to come to some kind of decision. Adib, Salima, I think you should contact the rest of the family and let people know what’s going on. Mahmoud’s been hurt by this also and will need your family’s help and support.”

Salima asked my mother, “Can I see her?”

Mom smiled and said, “Okay, let’s see if she wants to see anyone. Sean, Priya, you come with us. John, you come also.”

Adib plopped down on the couch in a stupor and stared off into space as we went upstairs. I knocked on the door and asked Aleeya if we could come in, and I heard through the door, “Okay.”

We entered the bedroom to find Aleeya lying on her side, holding her groin. We went to the bedside and Salima sat next to her and asked her, “How do you feel child? Are you all right?”

Aleeya started to cry and said, “Go away, Auntie, don’t look at me, I’m a little whore.”

Salima bent to embrace her, but she painfully rolled over to face the other way. Salima started rubbing her back and said, “Your mother said some terrible things that aren’t true. You’re not a whore, you’re a little girl whose been injured that’s all, nothing more. You’re still the innocent little Aleeya that we all love and adore. Can I hold my favorite niece? Can you give Auntie a hug and a kiss?”

Without a reply, Salima gently pulled Aleeya onto her lap, hugged her to her breast and kissed her forehead. Aleeya started to cry and said, “Now no one will want me, not even Sean. I can never marry anybody anymore. I just wanted to be happy like Priya.

“No one understands me except Sean and Priya. They know how I feel. If everyone loves me so much, how come only Sean knew how I felt? How come only he knew what I needed? He saw into my heart and protected me and made me feel safe. No one else saw, but he did!

“To everyone else, I’m just a stupid and silly baby girl that acts all giggly and happy, but it was all an act. I tried to save my father’s face by hiding the hurt, but I can’t anymore, it hurts too much and my heart feels broken! Sean is the only who one saw it and made me feel important. To him, I wasn’t a stupid, silly girl who doesn’t know what real love is, but I do. I do.

“You think I don’t see how much you and Uncle Adib love Sarah and Priya? I know I’m supposed to get the same love from my Momma and Daddy, but Sean knows what I need. He loves me and makes me feel I deserve love like anyone else. He’s the only one who saw the love in my tiny heart as a precious gift that’s bursting so much to give. He treasures it as he treasures me, and if you take me away from Sean and I lose him, my heart would be torn away. I’ll have no one safe to love.

“Everyone thinks I don’t know how to love, but I do. I know that love is supposed to make us feel safe inside and it’s supposed to take the hurt away when we’re sad. It’s supposed to make us feel special to someone. But Sean has taught me that what’s so wonderful about love, is that love never hurts, it heals.

“Please Auntie; let me be Sean’s second wife. I know that Priya comes first, but Sean has so much love to give, he’s found room in his heart for me too. Priya would be like my sister and help me grow to be a good girl and a good wife and help her take care of Sean. I promise not to pee in my pants anymore. I can be a big girl! Please, Auntie, I know I’ll just die if I can’t be with him!”

Tears were streaming down Salima’s face as she heard her little niece pour out her heart. Mom and Dad were holding each other crying as she spoke. Salima hugged Aleeya’s head to her chest and replied, “But Aleeya, now you’re not alone any more. We know your pain and we’ll all try to help and understand you now. Sean isn’t the only one who can love you and protect you. You now have your family to help you. Think of all your cousins, especially Sarah and Priya, and your Me Ma and Uncle Adib and me. We’ll all love and help you just like Sean will.”

Crying out, Aleeya replied, “You don’t understand! It’s not the same! Sean knows my soul like Uncle Adib knows yours, and Sean knows Priya’s, and Uncle John knows Auntie Joan’s. You think that I can’t see the special love people have when they’re married, but I do: it’s easy to see when you’re looking for it! I know I’m still small and stupid. I can’t even write or spell yet, but my heart knows where it’s safe. How can I make you see?”

Dad was holding my crying mother and listened to the little child’s pleas. Sniffling with tears, Dad, with his head on my Mom’s shoulder said, “Out of the mouth of babes… Why does it take a child to tell us what’s most important in life?”

Sighing, Salima kissed her forehead and said, “I’m trying to understand. I really am. You get some rest and we’ll talk about this later when you feel better, all right?’

“Are you mad at me? Do you think I’m a stupid, little baby too?” Aleeya asked, looking up.

“No, Sweetheart, I’m not mad. Not mad at all. I only wish grownups could understand things like you; then little girls like you or even big girls wouldn’t have to suffer so much pain. You sleep now and get some rest. You’re safe now, here with Sean, okay?”

“Okay. You won’t leave me will you, Sean?”

No, Sweetheart, I’ll never leave you,” I replied softly with a smile.

Salima laid the child back down on the bed and I covered her up and kissed her with a peck on the lips and said, “Now get some sleep, we grownups need to talk”

Aleeya smiled, nodded and closed her eyes. We left her to rest and went back downstairs. I whispered to Priya on the way downstairs to keep silent unless asked our opinion, and she nodded she understood

Pita had cleaned up the mess I’d made in the dining room and I apologized profusely for the both treatment she’d endured and for the mess I’d made and she was gracious in accepting my concern for her.

We sat, and Pita brought us all tea as we sat to continue talking. Mom said, “Well, I told you how she felt, and this whole ordeal has only reinforced in her mind her dependency on Sean. She also feels Priya understands and will accept her as a sister wife in a polygamorous marriage with Sean.

Dad put in with, “We can’t even consider that as an option. She’d just a baby! I think it’s a ludicrous idea that wouldn’t conceivably be worth talking about!”

Mom looked at him and said, “John, you promised. For now, John, let’s just talk things out and consider every option, even ones we might not think at first are the best possible solutions. Leave your emotions out of it and look at things objectively. Can you keep quiet and do that for me, and especially for Aleeya?”

“Alright, Joan,” he replied. “For now, it’s only talk, and I’ll listen.”

Mom looked at Salima and Adib and began, ”Adib, Salima, is there anyone, anyone at all in the family that can take Aleeya in and care for her, even if we pay them for her support?”

Adib looked at Salima and Salima put her head down and shook her head no. Adib said to my Mom, “Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s no one. It’s not the money issue, it’s the space. All of our family is poor, barely making ends meet and live like most Indian families in crowded conditions. Sadly, Aleeya will not only require a place to live, but special attention and care that my family is not trained or able to give her. It would mean devoting more care to her at the expense of other family members. They would, understandably, not wish to neglect their own children for Aleeya. They are mostly uneducated. Our family is the only one with any higher education, and Sarah and Priya will be the first college graduates of all the children. Salima and I don’t have any room for her until Sarah and Haseeba go off to off to college, but that won’t be for another eight or nine months.”

Mom thought for a moment before broaching the next topic she know Dad was going to get emotional about and began with, “I’ll be completely honest and give you John and my views on this next topic that we have to at least consider. First, neither John nor I believes in polygamy at all. The thought of sharing my husband or me with someone else is something I personally, and I believe John would ever be able to deal with. Second, even though it’s condoned and practiced in the Muslim faith, I don’t know the procedures of how a multiple wife family is structured or the rules governing such practices - or for that fact, how they even work.

“Since Aleeya is only four, this practice must be, to some degree, common knowledge and has at some time been discussed so that a girl this young has any knowledge about such things. I have noticed that no one else in your family that I’ve met practices polygamy.”

Salima interrupted with, “That’s because of two reasons. First, a man must be able to equally support all of his wives and none of our husbands have the means to do so. Secondly, it’s not as common a practice as non-Muslims widely believe. Most Muslims are like any other couple of another religion, find happiness with one spouse and live contented and fulfilled lives with one partner.”

Mom continued, “The most distressing issue I see in this situation concerns her age. When Sean, John and I were discussing the Muslim view of a marriageable age for girls when Sean was deciding to meet with Sarah, the Imaam told Sean that the recognized age was eight or nine. Aleeya obviously falls way short of that mark. How would a marriage to a child that young work?

“As for intimacy, I know that even at four, she has all the equipment a grown woman has, only smaller. If Aleeya was stimulated sexually… say either manually or orally, she would feel and gain pleasure from the experience, but what about consummation of the marriage? She’s certainly way too small to be penetrated to have actual intercourse. Are these marriages valid without actual penetration?”

Adib looked around at all of us and began to explain.

“Islamic law states that actual penetration need not be mandatory to consider the marriage consummated. If she and her husband spent the night together as man and wife and even if no penetration was made, her giving herself to her husband for the purpose of sharing marital communion such as fondling or oral sex constitutes her fulfillment of her wifely obligations. She has given herself to her husband as much as she’s capable of, the same as Priya did by having actual intercourse.

“A husband’s duty to a child that young is that she is his wife. He is to be kind and gentle with all of his wives. He’s not to force her to do something she doesn’t want to do or will hurt her physically or emotionally. No man hurts his own flesh, and he’s to care for her as he would his own body.

“Obviously, at Aleeya’s age, a husband would also be as much a father figure to her as a husband. He’d be responsible for seeing to her needs and caring for her as a father would: not only her physical needs like shelter, food, clothing and medical care, but also her education and emotional well being; but with the added dimension of intimacy (on some level) in their relationship.

“In any marriage with multiple wives, the first wife has total authority and controls the household. She must first agree to allow her husband to take another wife. The second wife is always subject to be obedient to the first wife in trust. The first wife cannot use her authority to dominate, punish or be cruel, but her authority is to provide order and fairness in the home, recognizing her sister wife’s need to spend intimate time with their husband. Usually, the first wife will dictate the scheduling of intimacy in fairness to all these needs.

“The first wife is to protect her sister wife’s rights and needs as she does her own. In a case like Aleeya, the first wife would also be somewhat like a mother figure who trains the girl to grow up healthy, happy and adjusted in her life as a married young girl to help share in the duties of the home, raising all the combined children as equals and caring for their husband.

Dad sat silent. He looked like his entire world was torn apart and said, “This can’t be happening, it just can’t be happening. It’s too much to even think about…”

After everyone sat in silence for a moment, looking at Adib, Dad asked, “What of the legal ramifications of this? You and Sean came within a whisker’s width of being prosecuted for child abuse with Priya and she’s eleven! How could anyone possibly get away with marrying a four year-old without going to prison?”

Mom looked at Dad and answered him by saying, “When I was in the park with Aleeya, and hearing her thoughts as to how she felt she could be happy as a second wife, I began to think of the very issues you just brought up. Legally, if Sean were to marry Aleeya, it would be a Muslim marriage only. The Indian government, and most definitely, the U.S. government would declare this marriage null and void and Sean would definitely be prosecuted for it. But if Sean were to legally adopt Aleeya, by law, he’d be her guardian and could lawfully get her an American passport as an adopted child of a U.S. citizen, without the Indian or American governments being the wiser. This would present the problem that Aleeya could never openly recognize Sean as her husband and she his wife, but what goes on behind closed doors is another matter.”

Dad looked at Mom in shock and said, “That would mean living a lie to the outside world. What if she or someone in the family let it slip? Everybody’s life would then unravel.”

Mom replied, “John, people live lies everyday: men and women being married with secret lovers, wives letting men raise children believing they’re his, kids having secret sex lives under their parent’s noses, people who secretly embezzle money from their employers. These are lies that destroy people’s lives, but what if the lie saved one? You once told me that sometimes we do the wrong thing for the right reason, wouldn’t this be one of those cases?”

Dad looked at Mom as though he’d been pierced through the heart. I knew, and he knew exactly what Mom was referring to with her last comment. He hung his lead in silence, not knowing how to answer.

Mom took his hand in hers and pleadingly looked in his eyes and said, “John, I’m trying my best to do what I feel is right as any woman who’s a mother would do for a child who’s been abused and hopelessly floundering on the edge of an emotional breakdown and looking for the chance to find happiness. If the circumstances were different, and I felt there was another way, after twenty years of marriage, you know I would be appalled at a four year-old child getting married, but in this case, I believe that in this country, with this culture, it could work. The only things left to be determined are the details. First, Adib, do you think that Mahmoud would give Aleeya up for adoption and would he consent to giving her hand to Sean?”

Salima nodded and looked at Adib and he said, “I think if it would make her happy, he would. He knows Sean and Priya would love and care for her and never abuse her. She wouldn’t have to endure the shame that trying to later find her a husband would bring, and that Sean could provide her with a life of opportunities she would never have with someone else.”

Mom turned to Priya and said, “You know, Priya, you are a daughter to me and to John, and I shall always see you as Sean’s soul mate. The two of you share such a special love for each other that very few in life ever realize. How do you feel about the thought of sharing your husband with someone else, even a girl like Aleeya?”

Priya looked at her parents, then at Mom and Dad and said with a gentle smile, “You’re right. Sean and my souls are one. Neither life, or death, or anyone else will ever come between us. We have enough love to have Aleeya as part of our family. Sean’s love for me is different than his love for Aleeya will be and I believe he is capable of loving us both with a special love, never denying each of us what we need.”

Salima asked her, “Child, do you fully understand what you’re saying? You will have to be a mother to her as well as a sister who shares your husband’s bed. Can you do this without jealousy or remorse, but in love?”

“I know in my heart, Momma, Papa that this is right and Allah will bless and sanction our family. Aleeya could never take from me what’s not hers to have. Sean’s love for her will be as special to her as his is to me. This is the right thing to do.”

Dad looked at me and asked, “Son, if this comes to pass, it will all hinge upon you. Can you love this little girl as a little bride, be a father figure to her and still maintain the loving bond you share with Priya? She is your wife and your prime responsibility is to her. Can you give each of these girls what they need to maintain a special love for each of them without destroying all of your lives? You realize that the mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of two women’s lives hangs in the balance?”

I looked at all of them and then at Priya and began, “Priya and I discussed this in detail last night. I truly believe, and I told Priya, that my very breath and strength come from my unquenchable love for her. It may, on the surface, sound unfair to Aleeya, but I could give her the love she needs in life, but my soul belongs to Priya. I would be in this together with Priya and we would both decide what’s the best way is to include Aleeya in our family, but we would never feel as though she was not an equal partner in our love. Does that make sense?

“There is a love in Aleeya’s heart for me and in mine for her, but she’s not capable of giving what Priya and I need from each other. Each has their own gift to give; and as a whole, we believe will make the bonds between Priya and me, Aleeya and I and between all three of us much stronger over time.”

Dad looked at mom, then around at all of us, and said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but as crazy as it seems, it seems to be the best solution under the circumstances.

“Adib, Salima, can both of you accept your daughter and niece being married to Sean? What about the rest of the family? If this happens, can they be trusted to keep this a family secret?”

Salima said, “My father had two wives, my mother being the second wife. My father and his first wife were killed in a car accident. The family will sanction and accept Sean marrying Aleeya knowing that she’ll be happy. The women will also help Aleeya grow to be a good wife. They’ll kept this secret as a family issue, not wanting to bring unwanted attention to Muslim customs and put anyone’s life in jeopardy. Mahmoud will be happy for Aleeya and do what’s necessary.”

Mom looked at Adib and said, “Call Mahmoud, and make the arrangements for the adoption and marriage. John and I, along with Sean, Priya and the both of you will make all the marriage arrangements. John, go call the lawyer and have the adoption papers drawn up immediately. Dad rose and went to the den to make the call.

Mom, trying to put a happy face on things, smiled and said to Salima and Priya, “Well, it looks like we’ve got another wedding to plan! Priya, some birthday present, huh? A sister wife!”

“And Sean, don’t you dare come to me and tell me you’re exchanging wedding vows with a newborn babe in a crib!”