running out. We don’t have enough women, enough girls, to survive many more generations. We can’t figure out how to change that. But we have figured out how to make better men. It’s not much, but it’s something.”
“Better men?”
“For a very long time now, women who care about the future have been trying to make sure that only the gentlest males—the ones who are most agreeable and least aggressive—impregnate us. Of course, we also want them to be intelligent, healthy and good-looking. That’s a bonus. And because there are so many more males than females, we have the luxury of being choosy. That’s why pre-marital evaluations are so important. We can also be very selective once we’ve married our husbands and know each of them more intimately.”
“So you know for sure who fathered David and Simon and Ethan?”
“I have a pretty good idea. But the truth is all of my husbands, for the most part, are better than average when it comes to preferable traits. Can you imagine how bad it would be for women if the men who outnumber us were mostly greedy, domineering and not too bright? Unfortunately, we’ve still got enough of that type causing trouble. But it’s not as much of a worry as it could be.”
I let this sink in for a while. We just lie there, each of us lost in her own thoughts.
“Everyone would know that Uncle Seth was the father if you had a baby by him, because his skin is so dark. The baby’s skin would probably be dark, too,” Rebekah proudly observes.
“That’s true. But it wouldn’t make a difference in our family. I doubt anyone would even notice.”
“David didn’t come from Uncle Ryan, did he?” she continues, without missing a beat.
“That’s not something I’m going to discuss. It’s private.”
“Well even if he did, David and I wouldn’t be related by blood, wouldn’t be cousins, because it wasn’t Papa John who fathered me. Everyone knows that, whether they’re supposed to or not. David is no more related to me than some strange man I’ve never met. That means there’s no logical reason why he can’t be my husband someday. Besides, he has the qualities I would choose to pass on to my children. He’s the only one I’ll ever agree to marry.”
“Rebekah,” I say with a deep sigh, letting her name hang there for a while. “You know that’s not the way things work. There are laws now, stricter laws than ever. Even if you both weren’t part of the same family, our family, David can’t get married until he’s at least 25, and you have to get married when you’re 18. I agree with you that life isn’t fair. It isn’t. But you and David would be considered criminals throughout the Great Lakes Coalition if you tried to break the marriage ordinances. You need to get that idea out of your head, and so does David.”
“Are there other things I need to know, secret things?”
“No. Not right now.” I’m not about to tell her how birth records are kept and used, how matches are made, how the most personal aspects of her life will be out of her hands. Oh, she’ll be given some choices, when the time comes. Prior to her first marriage, she’ll likely be introduced to a few suitable matches. She can pick the one whose face she likes best, or the one who has the good fortune to make her laugh, or the one with the best body. But not David.
I’ll try talking to her more later. I’ll have her for two more years, until she’s 18. I’ll eventually get through to her. And we’ll all have to work on David.
For now, though, I’ll put baby Ethan to my breast again. He should be awake again soon. I’ll kiss his sweet head, be thankful he’s still a baby, and wonder to myself whether it would have been better for him if he had been born a girl.
I think not.
Chapter 9
Susannah
What Love’s Got to Do With It
Here’s my theory. Humans have become incrementally more
“Better men?”
“For a very long time now, women who care about the future have been trying to make sure that only the gentlest males—the ones who are most agreeable and least aggressive—impregnate us. Of course, we also want them to be intelligent, healthy and good-looking. That’s a bonus. And because there are so many more males than females, we have the luxury of being choosy. That’s why pre-marital evaluations are so important. We can also be very selective once we’ve married our husbands and know each of them more intimately.”
“So you know for sure who fathered David and Simon and Ethan?”
“I have a pretty good idea. But the truth is all of my husbands, for the most part, are better than average when it comes to preferable traits. Can you imagine how bad it would be for women if the men who outnumber us were mostly greedy, domineering and not too bright? Unfortunately, we’ve still got enough of that type causing trouble. But it’s not as much of a worry as it could be.”
I let this sink in for a while. We just lie there, each of us lost in her own thoughts.
“Everyone would know that Uncle Seth was the father if you had a baby by him, because his skin is so dark. The baby’s skin would probably be dark, too,” Rebekah proudly observes.
“That’s true. But it wouldn’t make a difference in our family. I doubt anyone would even notice.”
“David didn’t come from Uncle Ryan, did he?” she continues, without missing a beat.
“That’s not something I’m going to discuss. It’s private.”
“Well even if he did, David and I wouldn’t be related by blood, wouldn’t be cousins, because it wasn’t Papa John who fathered me. Everyone knows that, whether they’re supposed to or not. David is no more related to me than some strange man I’ve never met. That means there’s no logical reason why he can’t be my husband someday. Besides, he has the qualities I would choose to pass on to my children. He’s the only one I’ll ever agree to marry.”
“Rebekah,” I say with a deep sigh, letting her name hang there for a while. “You know that’s not the way things work. There are laws now, stricter laws than ever. Even if you both weren’t part of the same family, our family, David can’t get married until he’s at least 25, and you have to get married when you’re 18. I agree with you that life isn’t fair. It isn’t. But you and David would be considered criminals throughout the Great Lakes Coalition if you tried to break the marriage ordinances. You need to get that idea out of your head, and so does David.”
“Are there other things I need to know, secret things?”
“No. Not right now.” I’m not about to tell her how birth records are kept and used, how matches are made, how the most personal aspects of her life will be out of her hands. Oh, she’ll be given some choices, when the time comes. Prior to her first marriage, she’ll likely be introduced to a few suitable matches. She can pick the one whose face she likes best, or the one who has the good fortune to make her laugh, or the one with the best body. But not David.
I’ll try talking to her more later. I’ll have her for two more years, until she’s 18. I’ll eventually get through to her. And we’ll all have to work on David.
For now, though, I’ll put baby Ethan to my breast again. He should be awake again soon. I’ll kiss his sweet head, be thankful he’s still a baby, and wonder to myself whether it would have been better for him if he had been born a girl.
I think not.
Chapter 9
Susannah
What Love’s Got to Do With It
Here’s my theory. Humans have become incrementally more
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