Ch.172Epilogue: Family (1)

There was one major question.

So, it’s like this.

If this world had been the reality I used to live in, honestly, even if we got married, we probably wouldn’t have considered having children naturally. Isn’t that right?

Adoption would have been possible, or if institutionally available, we could have received sperm from a sperm bank.

Well, with adoption, you skip the whole painful childbirth process, so that’s one thing. But if we chose the option to “give birth” to a child, regardless of the conditions, one question inevitably arises.

In a relationship with four wives, who would give birth to the child?

…I thought that if I asked such a question, the girls would exchange awkward glances. That’s why I hadn’t asked this question for the past few years.

First, let me say it again: this world is not the world of my past life.

It’s a world where anti-gravity lifts vehicles, sends them into the sky, and even uses them as spaceships.

So there were more ways for women to have children than in the world I used to live in.

Besides getting sperm donations from sperm banks or finding a man to have relations with, another option had emerged several years ago.

Having a child with each other’s genes.

As for how that’s possible, I find it difficult to explain. It seems to require some incredibly advanced biological technology.

“Actually, this was being researched with purely Earth technology too. We just met the Galactic Federation before human experiments began.”

According to Ju-a, experiments to manipulate the genes of two male mice or two female mice to make them bear offspring had already been successful.

In this world with more advanced biotechnology, even more advanced techniques weren’t just dreams.

…Well, anyway.

Regardless of the technical details, the crucial question of “who should give birth to the child?” still remained.

To be honest, until the year we graduated from university after getting married, we lived quite a promiscuous life.

Well, I’m not sure if “promiscuous” is the right word to describe newlyweds, but we’re different from typical couples since there are four of us.

While the other girls basically sleep with me alone, from my perspective, I’m living with three beautiful women and having relations with them repeatedly.

How should I put this?

It’s something so enjoyable that I feel guilty about it.

In this situation—

“I’ll have one,” Hayun said very decisively.

“I want to have Jieun’s child.”

Even though it wouldn’t be a child conceived through sexual relations, hearing her say that made me feel somewhat strange in many ways.

“Same here,” Jihye said immediately after hearing that.

“Isn’t it obvious? Unless we’re in a situation where we really can’t afford it, if possible, I want to have a child too.”

Well, that’s natural if you think about it. Of course, there are couples who don’t have children because they genuinely don’t like kids, but usually, having children is a dream when you get married.

“I feel the same way,” said Ju-a.

“I’ve thought that since we got married. It’s normal to dream about living with someone you love and having children, right?”

“…”

Well, that’s how it turned out.

Okay. Actually, I expected this much. All three of them love me, and if they want to have children, of course I’m willing to give my genes.

However, there’s one problem.

“Then, what about me?”

At my question, all three voices fell silent.

Sitting around the table where we always gathered for meals in the kitchen, we were enveloped in silence.

“Uh…”

After a long silence, Hayun finally spoke.

“So, you too, Jieun?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

Let me be honest.

At first, I didn’t particularly want to give birth. This is natural if you think about it. I still haven’t completely let go of my past life experiences. Though they’ve become quite faint now, I still haven’t completely abandoned those standards.

But after getting married, my thoughts changed a bit.

How should I put it?

I finally had to fully accept that I’m a woman. Ironically, the gender of my partner didn’t seem to matter much in realizing this. These three are the only partners I’ve experienced, including my past life.

But this creates a bit of a problem.

So, it’s like this.

If my three wives need to choose genes for pregnancy, there’s obviously only one choice, right? My genes.

Even though the three of them consider each other close friends, they don’t see each other as romantic partners.

But then another problem arises.

Whose genes should I receive?

“…”

The three of them started giving each other incredibly awkward glances.

They might tolerate sexual relations, but having a child?

That’s a bit different. It means planting their genes in my body to create a child.

…It was certainly a choice hard to imagine for women in my past life, but now things are different.

I had a feeling this conversation was going to get longer.

*

It took us a bit more time to make our decision again.

The discussion continued for about three months after that.

We already had well-paying jobs, had saved up quite a bit of wealth, and my in-laws, having seen us peacefully married for several years, were ready to support us financially. Well, things were still a bit awkward when I visited them during holidays.

So having children wasn’t a big problem.

However—

“No, this isn’t right,” Hayun said, clutching her head.

“Comparing genetic superiority? That’s impossible between people who love each other.”

“Right. That’s a bit strange.”

“I agree too. We don’t raise children because they’re perfect, right?”

After discussing various things and eventually getting to genetics, the three of them clutched their heads and said this.

“…”

Actually, during those three months, I also thought hard about it. I had already graduated from university, and since my work wasn’t extremely regular, I had quite a lot of time to be lost in thought.

Still, if my three wives could reach a reasonable conclusion and come to an agreement among themselves, I was willing to go along with it. Aren’t spouses supposed to be of one mind? I thought it would be enough if we could gather our opinions together.

After listening for a while and seeing no conclusion emerging, I slowly raised one hand.

Seeing Hayun, Jihye, and Ju-a’s gazes turn to me, I carefully took a breath.

And slowly offered my suggestion.

“How about we do it this way?”

The three of them blinked.

Making sure they were fully focused on me, I slowly opened my mouth again and said:

“I’ll have all three of your children.”

“…”

That’s right. I’ve always been greedy.

I already half-forcibly married all three of them, so it doesn’t make sense to have a child with only one of them.

But I don’t intend to ignore their choices either.

So, if we’re having children, let’s have them. Of course, we should proceed slowly according to a proper plan.

“Um… that is…”

Hayun thought for a while, then carefully spoke again.

“Jieun, even for you, wouldn’t triplets be a bit difficult?”

At that, I burst out laughing.

“Ah, that’s one way to do it, but, hmm. If you all agree, how about we take our time and have them slowly?”

“Take our time?”

So, my idea was this:

One of the three has a child.

At the same timing, I also have that wife’s child.

After giving birth and getting through the most difficult time of caring for the baby—roughly when they turn two—the next wife and I have children again.

In this way, we’d have three pairs of two-year-apart “twins” in a sense.

“…”

At my words, the three of them stared at me blankly for a while.

Then they turned to look at each other.

By the time they looked back at me, their eyes were blazing with various emotions.

…

Well, in many ways, it seems the girls definitely agreed with my suggestion.

“Then… shall we go with that plan?”

Well, if we’re going to have six children, we’ll obviously need to prepare thoroughly.

There will be a lot to prepare. We might need to adjust the age differences more.

But the idea that “I would give birth to their children” seemed so appealing to my three wives that none of them rejected my proposal.

…

This is a good outcome, right?