My eyes start to droop, immediately, and I fall off to sleep, dreaming of the big wedding we were supposed to have. Lots of guests wander about, and I find myself surrounded by children that I'm guessing are supposed to be mine. The dream starts to fade, and I awaken to find Xuves laying beside me in the bed. Morning light is pouring in through the bedroom window. The babies! Where are they?! I sit up too fast and am rewarded with sharp pain. I am unable to stop myself from crying out in pain.

         "What's the matter, dear?" Xuves asks.

        "The babies. Where are they?" I ask, feeling panic starting to flood my veins.

        "Mom has them. She kept them for you, so you could rest. Don't you remember pumping enough milk for that, last week?"

        "Oh, yes," I say, feeling my heart rate slow back down. I recall my milk coming in last week, and pumping some, to put away. Copaie custom is for the new parents to sleep while the Avia, or grandmother, takes care of the baby. It's such a relief to have twenty-four hours of rest. This is supposed to be time for the new parents to reacquaint themselves with each other.

        Which usually means another baby the following year. Xuves sits up and looks over at me. "I'm so excited! It's finally here. The day of our wedding." I say.

        "The day you officially become, mine." He whispers, lovingly, in between kisses.

         A few hours later we are showered, dressed, and the General is standing in front of us. Since I am still sore from birth, I am allowed to sit through the ceremony. The twins are the only reason we are allowed to marry. Copaie laws state that a couple cannot marry unless they first produce children. Usually, the happy couple marries the week before the first child is born, but in cases like mine, they marry right away.

       With the amount of pain, I'm still in, our wedding is smaller than we originally planned. Just Xuves, me, Faya, Amancia, and the General are attending. Amancia is sitting off to the side, under the window, holding the boys. She softly coos at them and kisses each one on the forehead. I sit on the bed, and Xuves stands next to me. In front of me stands the General, and beside him and off to the side a bit, stands Faya. The General starts off by talking about the importance of marriage and having many children.

       He then mentions the sacred act of Lending. This is when a female Copaie doesn't get pregnant within three months. When this happens, she is "Lent" out to another male. Children are very important to Copaie culture, so a female is expected to produce at least one child every year until her childbearing years end at the age of two hundred. I'm getting started a bit early, most females don't start bearing children until the age of forty or fifty, and I'm only thirty-one. All children produced by a "Lending" belong to the male who loans out his female.

         As you can imagine, this leads to a fair amount of inbreeding. Usually, it isn't a problem, while taboo on Talfar, it's not on Saltu, but occasionally you end up with sterile females. These females end up divorced and finding a job to support themselves. It's all a bit strange to me, having been raised on Talfar where monogamy is key to a happy marriage. And then the General informs us of how it's the wife's duty to keep her husband happy, in whatever way the husband sees fit.

       He pauses for a moment, clears his throat, and turns to Xuves, "Since she is of my bloodline, if you harm her, you are forfeiting your own life. And since she has royal blood, I expect to be part of the decision-making before any Lending occurs. Understood?"

      "Yes, sir!" Xuves says.

        "Now, Vos," the General says turning to look at me. "Do you agree to all the duties that are expected of a wife? All the duties that I mentioned above plus any more Xuves may come up with?"

      "I agree," I say, turning to smile at Xuves.

       "And do you, Xuves, agree to take on the role of husband, provider, and protector of both Vos and your children?" the General says, turning to Xuves.

        "I agree," Xuves says, with a smile.

        "Do you agree to keep her with child from now until her childbearing season ends? And if you can no longer give her children, do you promise to inform me of all 'Lending' choices?"

         "I agree." Xuves says, again.

        "Okay, good. I want you two to clasp arms." The General says.

           We do as instructed, clasping our left arms, at the wrist. The General takes, Faya by the hand, and places both of her hands on ours. "Do you, Faya, agree to let this marriage happen? Do you agree to let this female join your family?" He asks.

        She looks from me to Xuves, to the twins, before answering, "I agree."

         "In that case," the General stops and pulls a long piece of vine from his pocket, handing it to Faya. "You may bind them together."

        Faya binds our left hands together, and then kisses the top of each of our hands, before reciting the mother's blessing. "May your marriage be as long as the Teffle Tree is tall. And may you have as many babies as the Kalmazo Tree has branches."

         "With that, I say, you are now husband and wife. Faya, welcome your new daughter to the family. Vos, give the kiss of respect to your new Mala. And Xuves, tonight you are expected to begin the work of making a large family. You will be excused from work for the next five years. Enjoy yourselves, children." He walks over to me, takes my hand in his, and deposits two small, round, green pills onto my palm, before turning and walking off.

        "What?" I start to ask.

       "They are to kick start your reproductive system. To make sure that you will produce a baby before the year's end. It is considered bad luck if a newlywed female does not have a new baby before the first anniversary." Faya says, handing me a glass of water, which I didn't notice before. "Go on and take them."

          "But we already have two babies," I say.

          "Superstition states that it has to be a newly born baby. One conceived on the wedding night," she says turning away from me. "Come on Amancia, let's go enjoy our grandchildren." With that, she turns and walks out the door. Amancia follows close behind, with the babies. Once she leaves, Faya sticks her head back in the door. "We are going to the palace for the next few days. Have fun." She winks before closing the door.

       I'm still holding the pills in one hand and the glass of water in the other. "Do we really need to do this? I'm not in any hurry to repeat the pain of childbirth."

       "It is a tradition." He says, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, you want to be on mother's good side, don't you? And what better way to do that than to have more children." Xuves leans in and kisses me softly on the neck.

        "Alright. Why not?" I say, swallowing the pills and chasing them with water.