The day is warm and pleasant. A nice cool breeze is carried through the streets from the beach. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and the streets are almost empty here in the suburbs. It is just… idyllic.
You get off the bus and look around. The street is lined with small houses with white picket fences in front, green lawns and mailboxes with last names stenciled on them. One of the mailboxes has your name on it. And the house now belongs to you. Two stories, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two kids’ rooms, a pool and a gazebo in the back. It is empty for now, but not for long.
This is the house you will be living in with your new wives. Three of them. Even ten years ago this would have sounded wild, crazy. But by now plural marriage is normalized. The government had to take drastic measures to try and get the population back to sustainable levels. The Population Replenishment Authority, or the PRA, sequences the genes of every citizen, and some get chosen for the Program. Males are paired with multiple women of child-bearing age and the newly formed families are expected to have as many kids as they can.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement. But drastic measures had to be taken. And conservatives that had seized power in the country during the crisis were very against artificial impregnation, expecting every child to get raised in a family, even if the family is not exactly traditional.
So, here you are, standing at the door of your new home. The young women, now legally your wives, should be inside. Your new life is about to begin.


As you step to the door, you can hear feminine voices inside. You fish out the key from your pocket and push it into the keyhole. The lock clicks open, the door swigs silently on well-oiled hinges and the voices fall quiet.
Three pretty young women step out into the hallway. You stare at each other for a second.
The girls are quite attractive. One on the left is tall, slim, and has long black hair. She is dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. The middle one is slightly shorter, has wavy blond hair and “Hello! You're here at last! I’m Hanna, nice to meet you,” the blond girl breaks the silence. Her voice is soft and pleasant, and her smile is bright and friendly, “This is Jennifer and Elizabeth!”
Hanna gestures towards the black-haired girl first, and then the redhead.
“Sup!” the brunette greets you with a nod and a small smile.
“Call me Liz,” the redhead in the sports outfit says, “And, erm… I am going for a run, need to clear my head…”
Liz squeezes past you and out of the house.
“I think Elizabeth is nervous, don’t take it personally,” Hanna says quietly, leaning in.