Marrying Into Polygamy

When I met Julia, I certainly didn't have any notion that her family was much different from most. Yes, I know that sounds like a fucking cliché, but it is true. What did I know about these things? I'm a Turkish immigrant, for God's sake! I definitely didn't think that by dating this seemingly conservative girl from a supposedly strict family, that I would be on the verge of deviating from what was socially acceptable into a lifestyle that was so taboo that it was banned in every state of the Union.

I had heard about the large family that Julia had, including her 11 sisters, but I just thought that she was Catholic or something. Religion hadn't come up much, especially since I hadn't seen the inside of a mosque in a dozen years. I was about as Muslim as half of the Muslims in and from Turkey: it was a rite of passage for young Turks to observe the formalities of the Five Pillars and such. There was nothing more to it, unless you counted the mandatory circumcision, and I don't recall that since happened to me so young.

We were at ASU, which was a very nice campus indeed, but certainly diverse enough that I had met some Mormons. They were official LDS, however. They seemed very polite and friendly, but rather dull to my point of view. Hell, they don't even use caffeine, which for a Turk is unthinkable! Chai is a major part of my culture, after all. I had heard once or twice about the Fundamentalists, but not very often. I certainly didn't expect to run across any in my lifetime, as I thought that they all lived on the Utah-AZ border.

Mind you, Julia and I got a bit freaky now and then, but she had always refused to actually have sex with me so far. This was a bit frustrating, but I was promised sex if my meeting with her parents went well, so I accepted the situation with good grace. The promise had been made some weeks before, which indicated that she was obviously quite serious about me for some time now.

On the plus side in my view, it suggested that she cared a great deal for me and evidently wanted me in a sexual way. On the minus part, however, she obviously held out for a long-term commitment. Then again, the adoring attitude that she showed me in general and her eagerness to suck my cock were major compensations for me. I still found it strange that she didn't think of fellatio and cunnilingus as sex, but the Clinton definition was apparently popular with young Christian adults in America these days. I didn't agree, but I wasn't about to dispute an interpretation that was to my own benefit. Call me flawed, but I am a flesh-and-blood straight guy with hormones.

So, there I was, en route to a small Arizona homestead with a large family on it. It was the farthest thing from the hustle of downtown Phoenix (or downtown Istanbul, for that matter). Julia and I shared the RV that her parents loaned her for the purpose of the trip (I still don't know she convinced them to go along with this). On the way, she offered me yet another gift to thank me: anal sex. She spread her ass-cheeks that night after a proper cleansing (I was a bit stunned that she had brought an enema for this journey, but didn't complain about it for health reasons) and surprised me by sliding her already lubed asshole onto my hard dick. I had been expecting the usual favors, a hearty blowjob and a sweet taste of her delicious sex, so I was already hard enough for her.

"Take me, Fazil! Take your favorite girl!" Julia squealed, which stunned me a bit.

I was a bit unsure of what she meant by "favorite girl". Had she found out about my trysts with other girls on campus? Was she okay with them because she knew that it was hard for a man to do without pussy for weeks at a time? Why would she be liberal in some ways (anal, oral, and evident lack of jealousy), but conservative in others (no profanity, no PIV sex until we were more committed, and a determination to get married and have me meet her parents)? She dressed quite modestly and behaved like a lady in public, but borrowed an RV with me for the visit to her parents and went commando while doing so! She even wore lingerie that night.

If the fact that my college girlfriend eagerly rode my cock with her ass, but refused to say words like "fuck me" while she did so bothered me, I tried to overlook such things. She was a lot wilder in some ways than many women who happily cussed like sailors. Julia claimed to be a virgin, but she apparently didn't include anal sex in that definition of "purity". For a man who was used to having easier access to vaginal sex than anal, it was a heady experience indeed.

At least she didn't play games like many women. She told me upfront that she planned to save her vaginal cherry for a man who loved her deeply. To her, it was apparently the issue of the virginity and its unique status that made it different from engaging in "sodomy". The latter was less respectable, so it wasn't anything romantic or spiritual to be reserved for love in her mindset. I had gone to her dorm in the full expectation that night of having to cool my jets or look elsewhere. Instead, I had been literally blown by Julia.

It is true that I might seem like scum to some folks, but by now, I was falling rather rapidly for Julia. She could tell, and evidently let my flings with other girls slide. Her long, curly blonde hair and baby blue eyes didn't hurt her, nor did her lustrous legs and appealing ass. However, her enthusiasm for me was the main thing. Her overall perspective, aside from her firm refusal to put out vaginally, was one of a passionate and submissive lover. To fail to respond to such displays of ardor would be something unimaginable to me. The hidden romantic in my personality emerged more often with Julia than with most women. The cynical side of me still dominated in many ways, but it had a tougher fight at this point than ever. I also had the strong desire to protect and provide for her, which I am sure that she noticed as well.

The warm greeting that I got from her family was not as enjoyable as the reception that I had the night before, but at least they were accepting of me. No one seemed resolved to "convert" me, at least not yet. If they assumed that I was an Arab instead of a Turk (a confusion that frankly irritated me, as I could imagine that it irritated most Arabs, too), they didn't make the mistake of saying so. The people who lived there were quite large in numbers, but that Julia had warned me about already.

What particularly shocked me was the heavy female majority on the homestead. There was by far a larger ratio of women to men, which made me wonder why, of course. I had heard about polygamy, of course, as it was still practiced illegally by many Kurds in my native country. That didn't mean, however, that I was familiar with it in my daily life. I was a modern, secular Turk from Istanbul, not a devout Muslim living in the countryside.

To say that I felt a bit outnumbered understated the issue just to a small degree. Even so, the women were at least as friendly as the men, if not more. Julia's mother referred to them as her "sisters", so I just assumed that they had taken in a lot of in-laws. I got a few strange looks when I addressed a couple of them as Aunt Martha and Aunt Sandra. I meant it with respect, of course, so they forgave the oversight on my part. I was also puzzled by the fact that none of the women seemed to have husbands or children of their own. At least, that was my impression. Things didn't add up well. As I didn't picture these women being lesbians, something seemed odd about the whole situation.

Julia's father, Alfred, made a point of treating me like an equal, at least in most ways. He was a bit protective of his daughter, of course, but he didn't totally act the part in the usual way (then again, I hadn't actually met too many fathers of the women that I dated in the past). Maybe it was difficult and exhausting to try to keep track of so many girls, but there was a bit more to it in my estimation. My studies of Criminal Justice had given me more than enough clues that aspects of this man's life were not quite normal. He didn't seem worried about the idea that I had probably been intimate with his daughter, but perhaps he thought along the same lines that she did about sex.

"Now, where are you from, again?" he finally confronted the question that was obvious in his face. I was used to this one, so I naturally handled it like the expert that I was by now.

"Istanbul, Turkey. I'm here on a student visa, but I hope to stay. I'm actually studying Criminal Justice with an eye toward a career in law enforcement of some sort. Don't worry, I'm not just out for a green card or any such thing. I promise you that much. I'd swear it on my faith, but I am not as pious a Muslim as I could be," I explained breathlessly.

"So, would you perhaps consider visiting some of our services, Fazil? We're Christians, but not in the usual sense. There are a few things about my church that are kept secret for a good reason. They're not wrong, but the world doesn't understand us, as they didn't understand the Lord and His Prophets. We live according to some principles that are not popular in this world, my friend. Who knows, but you might receive a revelation of your own. It's been known to happen. My grandfather came here from England and discovered the Principle that separates us most from those outside our church," Al inquired more specifically.

"Is that why Julia wanted me to meet you so much? It wasn't just to see if you would judge me, but vice versa as well?" I pondered after I heard his speech. The light bulbs had started to go off in my head, particularly in regard to her hesitation in terms of losing her final cherry. She didn't want to lose it to a close-minded bigot.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged, my son. I don't approve of everything that goes on in the Gentile world, but I try to be understanding of human differences. After all, I believe in the Golden Rule. If I want someone else to accept and understand me, I need to do the same for him or her. I am not an idiot. I know that Julia has gotten a bit free in a sexual sense, but I respect and appreciate that she has chosen to keep her womanhood itself pure for the man that she loves.

"If a man can see past both the conservative clothes and the sexual favors that she does provide for him, without losing interest because of either, then he is a wise man and deserves such a treasure as my daughter if any man does. She's not a hypocrite, son. She just has enough common sense to know that just because she is being chaste in the biblical sense doesn't mean that she has to deny herself everything of a carnal nature. Or deny the young men that she likes, for that matter. Julia is would be a great wife for a young man, I am sure," Al encouraged me.

"I believe so, sir, or I wouldn't have agreed to meet you. I am a bit curious as to what exactly is going on here, but I will keep an open mind," I stammered, a bit thrown by his remarks. What exactly was he and the rest of Julia's family planning, anyway?

"Well, I am very happy that you are interested in joining our family, as is Julia's mother. Though not as pleased as Julia is, of course. She keeps bragging on you, after all. I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about, Fazil. Oh, and call me Al. You're in Arizona now. We're a little less formal about these things, us cowboys and cowgirls, that is. Tell me, are you familiar with the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon?" Al replied quite cryptically.

"Yes, I've met some LDS folks. To be honest, none of them have been as relaxed and welcoming as you guys, however. Are you Mormons, too?" I queried, a bit puzzled since they didn't behave like any other Mormons I had met, and I didn't recall Julia acting like a typical Mormon that I had seen, either.

"Yes, we are true Saints. We follow the real teachings of the authentic Apostles and Prophets. We don't kowtow to the mainstream dogmas of the Utah Temple. Does that clarify things a bit?" Al explained, only making things even more confusing for me.

"So, you're a splinter sect of the Mormon Church? Well, I don't know much about LDS theology, but you seem nice enough. Do you also follow Brigham Young and consider him a true Prophet?" I wondered, since I had read a few things about there being some question as to Young's rightful leadership.

"Yes, that we do. Young was second only to Smith himself in speaking the Truth, Fazil. That's not our issue with the official body. It started much later than Young's time. In fact, we regard the Church as it presently exists as being apostate for rejecting the Principle laid out by both Smith and Young.

"Before I continue, let me ask you something. Are you fully prepared to commit yourself to joining this family and helping to protect it against those who would seek to harm it, Fazil? You said that you were planning to be a cop. Are you capable of standing with us against those who would oppress our religious liberty?" he looked especially serious, but still ultimately friendly and frank by now.

"Sure, though I don't know most of you very well yet. I love Julia and want to protect her and provide for her. She knows this and should know by now that I am willing to marry her," I answered, albeit distinctly perplexed. This man's talk sounded a bit paranoid, to be honest. Why would nice people like Al and Mary Anne have enemies?

"Well, if you're going to marry into a family, I suppose that you deserve to know that our way of life isn't exactly legal or condoned by most of society. You also deserve to know that Julia has every intention of living the Principle herself, with you as her husband. It is her moral duty to try to ensure the immortal soul of the man that she loves, you see. It is also her moral obligation, which she happily embraces, to bring many spirit-children into the world of flesh, for this is the purpose of the Principle. Conversion may take some time, but she firmly believes that Scripture which teaches that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by his wife and the wife by the husband, as do I.

"I hope that you will at least consider joining our church. In the meantime, of course, I will continue to respect your beliefs, except that I am not sure that you have any. Which is why I am more open to you, in fact. I have been aware for some time that you were not especially devout in your faith. I knew that you were nominally Muslim. I just didn't know the nationality for certain. In any case, the very act of living the Principle is an act of faith and will bring you closer to God. The Lord ordained the Principle ever since our father Adam brought Eve into the Garden with him," Al continued, not sure if I quite got the hint.

To illustrate his point further, he called for Mary Anne and the rest of her "sisters" to meet with me later that afternoon, right before supper. He also brought out both a KJV and a Book of Mormon. He then produced another book, which he informed me was the Doctrines and Covenants, "prior to the 1890 apostasy," in his words.

"I now wish to present our future son-in-law with his brides-to-be," Al formally announced, which startled me, especially when I noted the plural noun, "brides" instead of the more obvious singular.

"Much as Laban said to Jacob, so I say unto you. It is not our custom for the younger to be given away before the elder. However, since you love one of the middle sisters, you may wed her with my blessing on one condition: in order to be accepted into the family as our son-in-law and the husband of one of our middle daughters, you must also become the husband of her older sisters. You must accept the Principle in practice, if not yet in faith. I like you and respect you, but we need to know that you have a vested interest in protecting and supporting all of the way. If you are at risk, too, then you will not seek to harm us, even if Satan should do something to drive a wedge between us.

"So, Fazil, will you step out and take a chance, a leap of faith, and do as we ask? It is our sole condition, and then you will be totally welcome in our family. Can you do this, for the love of Julia, the woman that you admitted to me that you love so much? Can you agree to take her sisters to wife, just as you take her to wife? For, you see, she does want to marry you, but only if you will embrace a union with her sisters as well.

"To help you decide, perhaps you should hear what Julia wants to tell you," Al declared, clearly earnest about what was no longer in doubt. It all became evident now. Julia's family was Fundamentalist Mormon. They were polygamists. The "apostasy of 1890" was the Woodruff Declaration that suspended the institution of plural marriage in the LDS church.

"Fazil, to be honest, I wish that I could have told you sooner, but I had to be sure that you knew and loved me. I wanted to know that you did not see me as merely part of an unpopular religious sect. I don't want you to think that I am trying to force you into this. You can walk away, and I'll still love you. But I will have to put that love aside and find a man that God sends to me, since it will be clear that you would not have been that man. No one will hate or blame you for turning this down. But this is the only way that I can marry you in good conscience, and I truly believe that you want to me as much as I want to marry you.

"If you reject this, please don't do so out of some politically correct principle of equality of the sexes or marital fidelity. Submission doesn't equate with inferiority, nor domination with superiority. Nor do I believe for a second that you have been exclusive with me or would be. I haven't let it bother me, since I consider it a test of my ability to temper jealousy, instead of letting it rule. I would be sharing you if we marry, one way or the other. There was no sense in raising an issue of it.

"But don't insult my intelligence by pretending to be monogamous. You're smart, but you're not slick enough to hide all of the clues that you are a tomcat, Fazil. You told your lies, and I told mine, but let's stop them now. Please, don't claim to be faithful when you never planned to be. It's not an issue for me, anyway. Just be honest about it. The main differences between the Principle and the lifestyle that you intended to practice while being married to me are that the Principle involves complete intimacy and honesty with one's mate, as well as that the Principle is a religious institution.

"The only reason not to accept this is that it is illegal. You would be breaking the law and risking possible prosecution. I won't lie to you about that. In your case, it would mean possible deportation, but be assured that I would never abandon you if you lost your green card for that. I would follow you wherever you went, as would my sisters. That is part of any true marriage, plural or otherwise. If I take vows to you, I will not forsake you because you were persecuted for doing what I asked of you in the first place. Nor would my sisters, I am sure. It might also cost you a career in law enforcement, since you would technically be a criminal. On the plus side, there are other professions available to one with such training and education.

"I want to be sure that you're accepting or rejecting this for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons. So, Fazil, what do you say? I'm not asking you to convert. That's a matter of religious belief. I am asking you to share a life with me, and if it happens to be on terms that I ask for, let me assure you that I will be submissive in most things to you. Furthermore, it is not as if you have any moral or practical objection to it, beyond a law passed to appease the Federal Government way back when this state was still a territory. If it matters more to me than to you the number of wives that you have, why not grant my request? Well, Fazil?" Julia urged me, half-pleading and half-reasoning, a combination that was more than a match for any feeble protests or objections that I could manufacture to slow down the decision-making process.