J.M. NORTHUP's BLOG

Saturday, January 4, 2020

Excerpt From TALLY: A Polyamorous Romance

A MMF ROMANCE ABOUT LOVE


EXCERPT

“Kode, Tally, and I are together now.”
“Like, together-together?” Jazz demanded confirmation, “As in, sexually?”
“Yes, Jazz, yes.  That is what I said, isn’t it?  Tally wants to have a child, so she asked us –”
“And, you said yes,” she interjected, posing a statement rather than a question.  She abruptly released him and began actively pacing the length of her office.  “I mean, of course, you would.  You’d do anything for Tally – Kode, too.”
I’m not sure if she means I’d do anything for Tally and Kode, or that Kode and I would do anything for Tally.  He shook his head to clear his thoughts.  Not that it matters, he decided, watching Jazz intently.  Honestly, both are true statements.
The large woman squealed with delight.  “I knew it!”  She punched her fists in the air, and then danced a little jig, as though she were jogging in place.  “When?”
“What?”
Diving forward, she latched onto him again and asked, “When did she ask you?” Before he could reply, Jazz chuckled and slugged him in the arm.  “It was during lunch, wasn’t it – the other day when I went home for a nooner, right?  Tell me I’m right!”
Rubbing his arm and grimacing, he nodded.  “Geez, Jazz.  Did you have to hit me?”
“I knew it!” she proclaimed confidently.  “No wonder she asked so many questions about my custody case.”
“What custody case?”  Lex wondered.  Now, what’s she talking about?  For such an accomplished lawyer, she has the attention span of a gnat.
Waving her hands between them, she ignored his question.  “So, that’s why you came to me for advice.  You want to know if it’s legal for the three of you to live together in the State of Minnesota because you want to be one big happy family.  Am I right?”
Lex just nodded.  Why does she seem so happy about this?  I mean, she’s acting like she just won the lottery.  I don’t understand.  After all, this doesn’t have anything to do with her, so why does she seem so invested? 
“Well, I can answer that with a definite maybe!”  She stared at him with wild eyes, looking as though she expected him to jump for joy at her less than satisfying response.
“Maybe?”  Lex’s mouth gapped open.  Maybe; what the hell kind of answer is that?  He unconsciously shook his head.  “What does that even mean?”
Jazz dropped into her desk chair with an audible thump.  She vigorously rubbed her hands together and grabbed a pen.  Then, the woman began to scratch notes on her legal pad as she answered, “Well, it depends on how you want to handle things.”
“Jazz, I swear –”
She interrupted before he could finish his threat.  “Lexi Love, cohabitation is tricky.  See, according to statue 609.34, it’s still against the law in Minnesota for any man to have sex with an unmarried – or single, as the law states it – woman, because it’s considered fornication.”
He could feel himself deflate.  “Oh.”
“Now, hold on,” the red-haired giant ordered, dramatically reaching in his direction.  “There’s more.”
“Great,” he replied, though his voice sounded defeated even to him.  If we can’t cohabitate with an unmarried woman, then that rules out Tally moving in with us, which sucks.  None of us want to raise our child in a split household.  “So, are you saying Tally needs to be married to live with us?”
“Well, yes and no.  I mean, if she were married, the rules would change.  It would no longer be an issue of fornication.  Instead, it would fall under the 609.36 statue of adultery.”
“Adultery?  You’re saying adultery is against the law?”  Lex felt stunned.  “Like, we could be prosecuted even if it’s consensual?”
“Yep,” Jazz confirmed.  “That’s what I’m saying.  Dude, if you were prosecuted under the current law, you could get nailed with one year in prison, fined up to three thousand dollars, or both.”  The large woman turned her gaze to the side, and rambled, “Actually, the law still considers anal and oral sex to be illegal, regardless of gender or marital status.  That falls under Statute 609.293 and –”
“Jazz, focus!”  He rubbed his forehead in frustration.  “Why are you telling me this?  It doesn’t help our situation.”
“Ah, but it sort of does, my friend.” 
When he looked up, meeting her blue gaze with his steely stare, he could feel the excitement emanating from her. 
“See, the law doesn’t account for every situation, so there are ways around it.” 
“Wait,” Lex shifted in his seat.  “What are you saying?”
The corners of her mouth pulled slightly upward.  “The law only stipulates that fornication is when a man has sex with an unmarried or single woman.  It doesn’t account for a man’s marital status or incidents involving same-gender relations.  Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Jazz didn’t wait for a response before she continued.  “Furthermore, limitations on the adultery law clearly state that prosecution cannot commence unless – and this an important part – a complaint is filed by the husband or wife involved.”
The light suddenly turned on.  Genius!  I could just kiss my brilliant Amazon!  His smile broke into the largest grin his facial muscles could produce.  “Let me get this straight.  If Tally were married, it would be legal for us to cohabitate together as one family because we’d no longer meet the law’s definition for fornication.  And since none of us would press charges against the others, we wouldn’t have to worry about adultery laws either.  Am I correct?”
“Yes,” Jazz nodded, “You got it exactly right.” 
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