As anyone in a long-term relationship will know, keeping one partner happy can feel like a full-time job. So you may not envy people who have to keep things on an even keel with another person at the same time - particularly if your partner's dating them too.
WATCH BUDDY, ROSE AND LAUREN EXPLAIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP BELOW:
That's exactly what a polyamorous family of two women and one man are doing in California, USA as they are now expecting their fifth child together.
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Buddy and Rose Sullivan and Lauren King, all in their mid-30s, share a king-size bed in their San Diego home and already have four children between them - with plans to get married as a trio.
"We are pretty much like a normal family expect there is an extra mother and we have a lot of kids," said Buddy.
It all started when Buddy and Rose started dating while at university before the pair got married and had two sons: Owen, seven, and James, aged five.
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Although the pair were happy with staying together, they discussed bringing in someone to spice up their sex life - leading bisexual Rose to get in touch with her ex-girlfriend Lauren.
The pair started hanging out again as friends before Lauren met Buddy and their two sons. The three agreed they had the right chemistry and decided to make a go of it in the bedroom.
"The question is always 'How's the sex?' and, well, you've seen pornos with threesomes and obviously it's great," Lauren said.
"We don't have a schedule, it's always spur of the moment and when we do it's always the three of us - it's never boring, it's definitely exciting."
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While none of them were looking for a relationship, quickly they found they had a deeper attraction - Rose and Lauren fell in love again and Buddy and Lauren also found a connection.
The three are now in a committed 'triad' with Lauren saying that the arrangement 'just worked out'.
"People ask 'are you guys open?' or 'would you be open to dating somebody else?' and there are some relationships like that, but we're not like that. We're closed - which means it's just us three and everything is equal," Lauren said.
"For us it's polyfidelity so we're just us. There's no open ends."
Together the 'thruple' had two more children - with Lauren giving birth to a biological son, Damien, and Rose having her own son Ryan, five months apart in 2016.
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Even though it wouldn't be legally binding, the trio now plan to marry after Rose and Buddy proposed to Lauren. The three believe that having a ceremony would help them show their love for each other and prove that their status isn't just a phase.
"Being married I just think it means that we're all together - like we're in this forever, till the end and all in it as a family," Rose said.
"Obviously we can't be married on paper with Lauren - we can still do a ceremony, which we're planning on doing. Lauren can also change her last name to Sullivan."
Lauren is currently expecting her second child with Buddy - yet another baby boy, due in April this year.
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The three are now beginning legal proceedings so they can share equal responsibility for all their children. The process, which will see Lauren and Rose become step-parents to each other's kids, will be a first in California and will take them up to five years.
In the meantime though, the family are focused on welcoming their fifth child and bringing up their kids in the right way. Can't complain about that.
Buddy said: "We are just normal people. I know we have a unique situation that we are in, but our goal as a family is pretty much the same as everyone else's. We want to raise our children to be good people and do good and be successful in life and have their own families."
Lauren added: "People always assume I love one person more than the other and I don't. We all love each other equally and that's what makes our relationship different."
Featured Image Credit: BarcroftTopics: News, Interesting, US News, california