I woke up to a kiss from Sariel, arguing with her mother that her father belonged to her and that she would be my next wife. It was a new game among the girls, competing over who would marry me first. Tariel joined in, saying I was hers and Anastácia’s.

  Everyone, including the children, knew it was just a joke, but deep down it hid a small anxiety. Don’t think that, after sixteen years, the Sekvens had solved all our problems. To them, we were following our hearts, and there was no need to rush. That didn’t mean they were inactive.

  Problems always exist; what changed was the way we faced them. The Known Universe deals with everything calmly, even with a volcano exploding over our heads. Once our lives are safeguarded, the rest can be rebuilt without despair.

  Before you ask, Donna has no active volcanoes. But what happened in those days could be considered a true volcano of emotions and events. I can hardly believe that only fifteen days had passed between the day I met Tariel and the celebration of our new life on Donna. I still wonder if I was truly sane when I let myself be completely carried away by the Sekvens’ feelings. And yet, as they must have known, I never regretted anything I did. On the contrary, I believe I am the happiest person in the Known Universe.

  That morning, after talking to Aluram, I became too curious about the cave he had mentioned and decided to go check it immediately. I went to Jazzia, where my wives were, to tell them.

  “Before you go…” Tariel pulled me onto the bed, where Anastácia was already waiting, naked and smiling.

  We were lying there, simply enjoying each other’s presence and affection, when we heard Jazzia:

  “Come in, my dear. They’re in there.” She pointed the way, drawing arrows on the walls.

  There was no time to cover ourselves. Mila entered the room, smiled, and let her dress fall, exposing her naked body.

  I was startled and restrained myself, trying to treat the moment as something natural. I glanced at Tariel and Anastácia, but they showed only curiosity.

  “What is it, my love?” I asked gently.

  “I’m here to be yours,” she said, with an anxious smile.

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  “Does your mother know you’re here?”

  “She encouraged me. She said I have to mark my territory so another won’t steal you from me.” She stepped a little closer. “But she said she didn’t know if I needed permission from Tariel and Anastácia.”

  I took a deep breath. I had been caught off guard. After all, this was new to them too.

  “Mila, you’re only sixteen. You’re still a child.”

  “Why do you say I’m a child?” she asked, frowning. “I’m not.”

  Tariel sat on the bed beside Mila and held her hand affectionately. For a moment, I froze, thinking she might pull the girl onto the bed.

  “Your species becomes adult at twenty-two,” I said.

  “At twenty-two we can have babies.”

  “AX, do you have any updates on Selium culture?” I asked, trying to understand what was happening.

  “We do,” it replied immediately. “Her mental age is equivalent to that of a twenty-two-year-old human. Selium are allowed to marry from the age of twelve.”

  “Twelve?” I exclaimed. “That’s far too young!”

  “Considering Donna’s thirty-six-hour days, an eighteen-year-old Earthling would be twelve here.”

  It made sense. Still, her body wasn’t as developed as the others’, and I had believed they were just teenagers.

  “I’m sorry, Mila. On Earth it’s different. Girls can have children very early, but they’re too young to understand what marriage and family mean. They’re still children.”

  “You have an advantage,” Anastácia said. “There’s no risk of having children before knowing what it means to be married. I’m still discovering that.”

  “None of the Reborn are children,” Mila stated.

  “Sit here, next to me,” I asked. “I understand, but I still see you, Liria, Kell, and Idril as teenagers.”

  I wondered why only Mila had approached me like that. I didn’t have to think much: Mala, Mila’s mother, was the only one among them who had not yet been touched by a Sekvens. She was the one in a hurry, full of doubts and anxiety. That revealed something strong about the others: all of them were certain they were mine. Melissa had removed the “ifs” and “whys” from them. They knew I loved them, and that was enough.

  My refusal to fully accept that they were all my wives didn’t come from lack of love or interest. Quite the opposite—I wanted it very much. I just couldn’t see how it would work. I was being practical, human, instead of accepting love. Not the limited love of a human, but the limitless one granted by the Sekvens.

  I kissed Mila’s face and held her hand firmly.

  “You are my wife. I love you, and I think you know that.”

  “I do.”

  “But in the case of you four, give me some time. Soon you’ll be more developed, and my eyes will stop seeing you as teenagers.” I smiled, aware that the problem wasn’t her body or her mind, but the culture I was raised in. “Is that okay with you?”

  “I don’t mind,” she replied, so naturally that it disarmed me.

  For a moment, I felt as if I were being rejected. And it hurt. Then she continued:

  “Just knowing that I’m your wife, that I have you, and that you’ll take care of me already makes me feel complete.”

  I laughed. It took a Selium teenager to teach me what the Sekvens had been saying and what, out of stubbornness, I refused to accept. I was focused on the physical—on touch, on sex, on presence… and not on feelings.

  The adolescent there was me.