Once again, happy Pride Month everyone!
Today was a day Molly McGee, Oliver "Ollie" Chen, and Libby Stein-Torres have been waiting for for a long time.
For context, when she was 13, Molly moved into Brighton, a suburb in the Quad Cities, with her family. It was not the first time they moved. The constant uprooting took a toll on Molly, who desperately wanted Brighton to be her "forever home". And it would turn out to be that way.
The first friend Molly made in Brighton was not a human, but rather, a ghost. He was haunting the house the McGees had just moved into. This ghost, Scratch, was bound forever to Molly.
It wouldn't be long until Molly made her first human friend. Molly also was a closeted bisexual, but coming out to her family – father Pete, mother Sharon, and younger brother Darryl – had to wait. In the meantime, Molly met an Argentine-Jewish girl named Libby Stein-Torres, who became her best human friend. Libby was also a closeted bisexual.
Molly made her first male human friend at 14 when a Taiwanese-American family, the Chens, moved in across the street from the McGees. Molly wanted to be more than just friends with the 13-year-old son in that family, Ollie, short for Oliver.
The Chens were ghost hunters, but slowly, each member of the Chen family realized not all ghosts were bad, starting with Ollie at a Halloween festival.
But when Libby noticed that Molly had a crush on Ollie, she was initially devastated, because she had wanted to be more than just friends with Molly. But then she learned about polyamory, and so Libby was determined to be with Molly no matter what, even if it meant including Ollie in the group as well.
Libby and Ollie had grown to be friends as well, and once she built up enough trust, Libby told Molly and Ollie that she wanted to be in a polyamorous relationship with them, stating she knew all about Molly's crush on Ollie and said that polyamorous relationships were common. To her delight, the three became an item.
When each of them was 16, Molly, Ollie, and Libby came out to their families that they were in a polyamorous relationship with each other, in the process coming out as bisexual.
The three had wanted to get married together, but in the United States, only pairs were legally allowed to get married, either opposite-sex or same-sex. They sought to change that. With the Chens' high-profile from their ghost-hunting TV show, Ollie and her girlfriends were able to garner support for groups of up to four people to get married to one another.
This campaigning took them throughout their entire time in college. Soon after graduation, a bill passed by the Democrat-controlled United States House of Representatives then by the Democrat-controlled United States Senate found its way to the desk of the Democratic President of the United States. This bill, which legalized the ability of groups of up to four people to become a married unit, was signed into law by the President.
With the ability to become a legally-married unit, Molly, Ollie, and Libby started planning for their wedding, which would come in a year, on the anniversary of the bill becoming law.
The three wanted everyone in Brighton to be at the wedding. Andrea Davenport, also a friend of the three, would be the maid of honor, while her girlfriend would also be a maid. Also being a maid would be June, Ollie's autistic younger sister. June's boyfriend and the autistic younger brother of Molly, Darryl, would be Ollie's best man.
Sharon would prepare numerous Thai dishes for the wedding, while Ollie's parents would prepare Taiwanese dishes, and Libby's mother would prepare Jewish dishes. All in all there would be plenty of food to go around, much to the delight of Scratch, who would soon have Ollie and Libby as housemates.
Although Libby was Jewish, she agreed to have a priest officiate the wedding.
The priest began to speak. "I understand the three here have written their own vows. I shall allow them to proceed."
Ollie spoke his vows first. "When I first arrived in Brighton, I had no idea that my future wives were friends with a ghost. My family saw all ghosts as threats at the time, given our TV show. But eventually, you two showed me and my family that not all ghosts are malevolent. Me and Molly hit it off like a couple should. But when Libby came out of the blue and asked to be included, we were happy to be part of a polyamorous relationship. Because I had such a high profile from my TV show, we helped increase acceptance of polyamory by a wide margin. And now I stand here waiting to become a husband to two beautiful young women. So I, take you, Molly McGee and Libby Stein-Torres to be my lawfully-wedded wives."
Molly spoke her vows next. "In my first 13 years on this earth, me and my family moved around a lot. But when Brighton became my forever home, I was so happy. It enabled me to meet you two fine young people, and eventually become more than just friends with you. Granted my relationship with Ollie had some complications early on, we were able to work things out and eventually include Libby in our little club. So I, take you, Oliver Chen and Libby Stein-Torres, to be my lawfully-wedded spouses."
Libby spoke her vows last. "Before Molly McGee came into my life, I was virtually an outcast. But soon we became good friends. I had my sights set on something more. I had a secret crush on Molly. But she had a crush on Ollie. But then I discovered the wonderful world of polyamory. We became a happy trio afterward. When that bill passed making our marriage today possible last year, I was very excited. We all were. So I, Libby Stein-Torres, take you, Oliver Chen and Molly McGee, to be my lawfully-wedded spouses."
The priest said, "is there anyone in this room who objects to the union of these three blessed souls? If so, speak now or forever hold your peace."
No one in the room raised an objection. It was quite clear that these three were meant to be.
The priest then said, "with that out of the way, I now pronounce you a married unit. May you three kiss each other."
Molly, Ollie, and Libby all kissed each other for the first time as a married unit. Both Molly and Libby would now take the last name of Chen.
At the reception, people enjoyed tasty food made by parents of the married unit, while dancing as a 50s-80s cover band played love songs from those decades. Molly, Ollie, and Libby were now ready for the next step in their relationship.
In two years' time, Molly and Ollie's respective younger siblings, Darryl and June, both of whom were autistic, would themselves get married. But first, they had to finish college.