After Valentine's Day, many people are celebrating new engagements.
In the meantime, at least one other segment of the population is wondering when — or if — they'll ever get the right to marry.
The Davises, a polygamist family living in Aurora, say they wish people in polyamorous relationships could have their union legally recognized.
Currently, polygamist marriages are illegal in every state.
"I'll say this — the social stigma, I think, also leads into the legality of it," said April Davis, who is in a relationship with Nick, Jennifer, and Danielle. "There's such a social stigma to this kind of relationship, that the legal part of it never even gets brought up."
The Davises have shared their story on the TLC show Seeking Sister Wife in an effort to break that stigma.
Nick and April have been together for about 15 years. They added Jennifer and Danielle to their partnership as time went on.
"We saw that it (the show) was a great opportunity to show other people that they can do this too, that they shouldn't feel any shame or embarrassment or anything from them wanting to live that kind of lifestyle," said Jennifer.
The family lives together in one home. They recently celebrated the birth of Nick and Jennifer's daughter, Vera.
As their family grows, so do their concerns about their lack of legal protections.
Married couples get several legal benefits because their union is recognized legally.
Those benefits include inheriting a share of a spouse's estate, obtaining health insurance through a spouse's employer, tax breaks, and more.
"Do we want plural marriage to be legalized the way that we live it? Absolutely," said April.
Family law attorney Maha Kamal of the Colorado Family Law Projectsays legalizing polygamy could have its challenges.
"I don't see that changing anytime soon," she said. "I have not seen any legislation come through."
Kamal said the entire family law system is built on the idea of every child having two parents. For that reason, much of the law would have to be changed in order to accommodate polygamy.
"I just don't know if that's something that the public is ready for," said Kamal. "If any, you know, representative or senator would want to put it forward just given how the system works right now."
While it's unlikely that plural marriages will be legalized any time soon, Kamal said there are ways for people in plural relationships to get some of the same protections as married people, but they'll have to do it piece by piece.
For example, a process called Allocation of Parental Responsibilities can allow parents to share legal responsibilities of a child with another adult.
"If two parents were to come in and file jointly and say, 'We'd also like this other caretaker, or this this person in our lives and our family to have parental responsibilities,' that is certainly a venue, an option, to explore," said Kamal.
People in polygamist relationships can also create contracts on how to split the ownership of property.
Powers of Attorney can help them handle each other's affairs.
Will and trusts can help them choose who will receive their belongings when they pass away.
Still, the Davises hope that one day they'll each be able to marry one another, and not have to worry about cobbling together their own legal protections.
"Once more people are accepting of this kind of family, or any kind of family... then I think we would get to a point to where more legal services and options would be available," said April.
Until then, they'll be doing what is most important
"We love each other," April said. "You do get love three times as much, because you have all this love in the house altogether."
