Monday, our parents had left on their almost two-week-long driving vacation. And I got started building the printed circuit board. And by Friday morning, the circuit board was complete, and we would begin testing on Monday.

But, by Friday afternoon, I was a wreck. You see, Amy and I had been trying to get pregnant and couldn’t. And after some testing, it came down to my little swimmers weren’t swimming. So it looks like Amy and I couldn’t be parents. And it was my fault. Talk about tearing your heart out.

Naainish showed up on Friday to try and help me. We’d had a ceremony in the hogan, and I don’t think it helped much. But Naainish did tell us that we should visit the sacred place in the mountains. We’d made it to the sacred place on Saturday after a stop at the resort. We did have a problem finding the sacred place, and when we did, we had meditated, and I wasn’t sure if that helped. Is nothing going to help? One thing that surprised us was there were three meteorites in the hole in the rock. Why three.

After we were back at the resort, we had dinner with Aunt Ruth, Uncle Paul, Naainish, Charlie, and Jackie. We hold them what had happened with trying to get pregnant. Of course, it upset me. But for some reason, I felt better. Was talking with people helping me? Naainish told us that we need to take the meteorites to his uncle and have him make us three necklaces. But why the three necklaces?

Did the three meteorites have anything to do with the three Eaglets?

When we’d been home for a little while when the phone rang, and we let the answering machine answer it. Amy was worried that it might be important. Then she realized that we were important to each other.

And we let the phone ring until the machine answered. Then when whoever called had hung up, we listened to the message, and it was Dr. Joe wondering if we wanted to come over for dinner.

I looked at Amy and said, “I don’t know.”

“Seeing the baby?”

“Kind of. … But it might do some good. Talking with Aunt Ruth helped a bunch.”

“I guess we could go over.”

A few minutes later, I called Dr. Joe back. And he asked, “Did I catch you at something?”

“Not really, Dr. Joe. We were out in the hogan cleaning and couldn’t hear the phone.”

“Put a phone in out there.”

“No, that’s why we have the answering machine.”

“So, would you like to come for dinner?”

“Sure.”, I said. “What time?”

“Come at six, and we’ll eat at six-thirty.”

“Sounds good. See you then. “Hágoónee', Dr. Joe. - (See you later, Dr. Joe.)”

“See you then, Kai. So long.”

And we hung up.

That gave us a few hours. So I figured that I could wire at least one of the telephone plugs in the courtyard. So, I got everything together that I needed to install it. Luckily, in the terminal box, we’d marked which wires went to which electrical box, so that was easy. It took me about an hour to wire the phone outlet in a box and install that onto the waterproof electrical box under the stones. Then I wired the connections in the junction box in the laundry room. I then wired up the Trim Line phone to the plug, plugged it into the outlet, picked up the phone, and heard a dial tone. I was happy.

Then being an electronics geek, I knew the number that when you dial, it will call back the number it was called from. So I dialed that number, hung up, and a few seconds later, all the phones in the house, including the Trim Line, rang. I was happier.

Amy found me in the courtyard and asked, “Who called?”

“No one.”, I replied.

“I heard the phone ring.”

“That was me calling us.” And I went on to explain what I did. 
ing
Amy shook her head and said, “You know too many geeky things.”

“You knew that you were marrying a geek.”

“I know. And I love that geek.”

Just before six, we were pulling into Dr. Joe’s driveway, and we weren’t surprised to see Chief Tom’s car there. So, both Chief Tom and Dean Vickie were here. Remember that Vickie is the acting Dean of the School of Nursing.

 We walked up to the door, and I pushed the doorbell button. Shortly Chief Tom opened the door, and said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Kai aoó Ajie. - (Good evening, Kai and Ajie.)”

“Yá’át’ééh alní'íní, Naat'áanii Tahoma. - (Good evening, Chief Tom.)”, I replied.

“Come on in. We’re all out back.”

We walked through the house and out onto the patio. And we said hello to everyone. I saw Dr. Joe working the grill and a nice spread on the picnic table. It looked like we were having hamburgers with all the fixings.

Amy walked over to where Mary and Vickie were. And I walked over to Dr. Joe, with Chief Tom, to say hello, Dr. Joe looked at me and said, “Kai, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Why?”, I asked.

“Kai, you’re not yourself, and you seem down.”

“I guess I am down. It’s been a bad weekend, Dr. Joe.”

“What happened?”

“We’ll tell everyone at the same time.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“Okay. I won’t pry.”

“Thanks.”

I then walked over to where Amy, Mary, and Vickie were. As I walked up, I could tell by the way I was being looked at that Amy had told them. I looked at Amy and said, “You didn’t. Did you?”

“I did.”, Amy replied.

“I thought we were telling them all at the same time.”

“I’m sorry, honey.”

I turned and walked back to where Dr. Joe and Chief Tom were tending to the hamburgers. As I walked up, I said, “Amy let the cat out of the bag. So I guess I should tell you two.”

They looked at me, and Dr. Joe said, “It can’t be that bad. Can it?”

“Dr. Joe, it can. … Before Christmas, Amy and I started trying to get pregnant. But nothing has happened. We both went for tests, and … ” and I went on to give them the full story.

When I finished, Chief Tom said, “I don’t think you’ve ever told me about being attacked on campus at Ohio State.”

“Maybe I didn’t.”, I said. “It was traumatic, and I had to see a psychologist to work through it. Not to mention the surgery.”

“Wow! No wonder you’re so tough.”

“Chief Tom.”, I said. “I’m not tough. I put on a tough front.”

“No, Kai. I’ve seen you many places, and you’re not putting on anything. You are one tough cookie. Sure, you’re upset over this. But, this is the hardest thing that you’ve ever faced. And knowing you, you will face it, and in some way, you will win out.”

I just looked at Chief Tom and didn’t say anything. Then Dr. Joe said, “Kai, Tom hit it on the head. You’ve faced some hard things and come out on top, and you’ll do it with this. You need to believe in yourself.”

Then I looked at Dr. Joe and didn’t say anything for a minute. Then I said, “Dr. Joe, don’t let the hamburgers burn!”

Dr. Joe looked at the hamburgers and said, “Oops. All most! But I think we saved them.”

We took the hamburgers off the grill and carried them to the table. Just as we walked up to the table, Amy asked Mary where the baby was. And Mary said, “He’s hopefully taking a nap.”

And as soon as Mary had said ‘nap’ we heard from little Makwa or Mark. He let out a loud cry. Mary said, “Well, someone needs to be changed, and he’s probably hungry.”

Mary, followed by Amy, got up, and went into the house. And, Dr. Joe said, “Well, we might as well eat.”

“No, we can wait.”, I said.

“Everything will get cold.”

“It’ll heat back up.”, Vickie said. “Wrap the burgers in foil. I’ll put the baked beans back in the oven. And put the macaroni salad in the refrigerator. And everything else will keep.”

And that’s what we did. We waited for Mary and Amy to come back, and they’d probably be bringing the baby with them.

It wasn’t much later that Mary and Amy came back. Mary was carrying Mark, and Amy was carrying a bottle. Mary walked over to me and said, “Kai, sit down.”

Why I sat, I don’t know. But I did. Mary then handed the baby to me, and I took him. He looked up at me and smiled. I looked down at him and returned the smile. Then I looked at Amy, she smiled and nodded yes. It felt good to hold little Mark. 

Then Amy handed me the bottle, and I offered to little Mark. And he went at it like a baby possessed. As I fed him, I was able to feed myself with the other hand. At least when I finished eating, I didn’t fall asleep as little Mark did after being burped. Mary was able to take him from me and took him back into the house.

Then Mary came back out and joined us. I saw Amy and Mary exchange looks. Then Amy asked, “Kai, how did you feel holding Mark?”

“Okay.”, I replied. “Why?”

“I was just wondering.”

“No, there’s more to it than just wondering.”

“I was hoping that you seeing and holding little Mark might help you.”

“You did huh?”, I said.

“Yes, and I think it did.”, Amy said. “You had a smile on your face the whole time you were holding him.”

“It felt good to hold a baby.”

“And feeding him?”

“Yes, and feeding him.”

Then Vickie said, “Kai, we are all so sorry about the problem and wish that we could do something to help you.”

“All of you, by just being friends, help. And I know with you guys that I have a great support base. And it was like little Mark was the catalyst that I needed to see the light.

“Now, enough about me. Vickie, are you going to be the full-fledged Dean of the nursing school or not?”

Vickie looked at me and said, “Kai, you are special. And, yes, I’m going to be the Dean of the nursing school. But, it goes no further than here until President Lingham makes it official.”

I saw Amy smile. And I said, “It’s well deserved, Vickie. They couldn’t have chosen anyone better.”

I applauded, and everyone else joined me.

On the way home, Amy said, “Love, you amaze me. A baby can bring you out of your funk that way. And then you change the direction of the conversation to someone else.”

“Hey, I get tired of being the center of attention.”, I said. “How about Vickie?”

“There you go again, changing the subject.

“I knew that she’d get it.”

“Who told you?”, I asked. “The Great Spirit?”

“No, a Sialea-lea - (little bluebird) told me.”, Amy said.

“So, Vickie confided in you?”

“Uh huh. Last Tuesday.”

Monday, when I walked into the office, Dr. Joe looked at me and said, “Kai, are you sure you want to do this today?”

“Dr. Joe.”, I said. “If I sat home doing nothing, it would be worse than being here.”

“Oh! So, it’s bad being here?”

With a sly smile, I said, “Only when you’re here.”

“Oh! You’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, I am. And I don’t know why, but holding little Mark yesterday made me feel good.”, I replied. “Not one-hundred percent, but a lot better than I was feeling on Friday.

So, we started our testing. At first, things looked good, but then one of the Nixie tubes went out. We shut things down, and I started digging through the schematic and comparing it to the circuit board. I was worried that I’d installed something wrong. But everything looked good.

Then I started going over the schematic again. I started at the point where the Nixie tube was and worked backward. Then I saw it. The schematic called for the wrong part on one input to the Nixie tube. Did it damage anything other than the Nixie? I sure hoped not.

I pulled the Nixie tube, figured out what part I wanted, and went to the storage room. I told the guy at the storage room what I needed, and luckily he had what I needed. I went back to the office, unsoldered the wrong part, and soldered the correct one in place. Then I inserted the new Nixie tube into its socket.

Dr. Joe and I then fired up the project again and started the tests over. Things looked good, so we let it burn for a while. While it was burning in, I noted the correction on the schematic.

We decided that we’d wait until tomorrow to see if it could receive a signal. So at about three, we shut down the test and headed home.

When I walked into the house, I received a wonderful welcome from Amy. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a long, deep kiss. When we broke the kiss, she smiled and said, “I love you so much.”

“And I love you too, sweetheart.”, I replied.

“Want to go and visit the Eagles.”

“Sure. We didn’t make it last weekend, so I guess we’d better.”

We changed and headed to the reservoir. When we were there the area was still barricaded, I got out of the car, move the barricade, drove in, and replaced the barricade. We parked and hiked the trail to the nest site. And we waited and waited, and no Eagles. Hmm.

Finally, one of the young Eagles flew in and landed on the nest. He looked at us for a while, then one of the adult Eagles flew in and landed on the nest. He walked over, looked at us, and squawked. We visited for a few minutes, then one of the other young Eagles flew in and joined the group. And before long, the whole family was here. It feels good seeing these birds. But why do I get a feeling that they know what’s going on?

On the way to our favorite drive-in, Amy asked, “Whatcha thinkin about?”

“The Eagles.”, I replied.

“What about them?”

“I get a feeling that they know what’s going on with us.”

“If they are the couriers between the Great Spirit and us, they probably do.”

“You’re right.”

As we ate, I asked, “Are we going to do something for our parents on Sunday?”

“We kind of told Aunt Ruth, Uncle Paul, Charlie, Jackie, and I think Naainish that we were.”, Amy said. “So maybe we should plan something small.”

“If it turns out small like our wedding, it will be a crowd.”

“I hope not. Maybe plan a small open house on Sunday afternoon, and call and invite people. And have some things to eat.”

“So, who do we invite?”

“All your family.”, Amy said. “Naainish, Chief Tom and Vickie, Dr. Joe and Mary, maybe your Dean. Maybe Dr. Lingham and his wife. Maybe even Chief Kinlicheeny, and Chief Clah.”

“How about Mr. Yazzie?”

“Of course. Is he married?”

“I don’t know. How about Quah Ah, and maybe Dibe’s family.”

“Quite a list.”, Amy said.

“Yeah.”, I said. “But if we do it as an open house, it won’t be too bad.”

“True.”

“It’s too late to send invitations, so we’ll have to make phone calls.”

“And let's make it casual.”

“Definitely.”

When we were back home, we sat down and wrote out a list of people to invite. Then I looked at the answering machine, and the light was blinking. I walked over to it, rewound the tape, and played it. It was my Aunt Ruth wanting us to call. So, I called.

Aunt Ruth wanted us to plan to stay overnight on Friday. Our parents would be staying at the house. And Amy and I would be staying at the hotel or in one of the other buildings. I also told her about the open house that we were planning for Sunday afternoon at the house and asked her to call Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii and anyone else in the family. But to let us know how many are coming. She said it sounded like fun.

Tuesday, when I was back in the office, Dr. Joe and I set up some testing on the project. The first test was a simple test to see if the project circuit could detect the frequency of a transmission. And it did it quickly. Then we changed the frequency on the transmitter, and the project circuit followed it. These first tests were without the transmitter doing the frequency-hopping spread spectrum transmissions.

Then we set up a test with the frequency-hopping spread spectrum transmissions. We set up the transmitter to hop to five separate frequencies, and the project circuit picked up those five frequencies quickly and followed them. We kept increasing the number of frequencies in the hop, and the project had no problems following and remembering anything that we threw at it.

We spent a good part of the day running tests. And after some tests, I said, “I think this thing is working.”

“So do I, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “When do you want to turn this over to Los Alamos.”

“Well, our parents will be back sometime on Thursday, and that’s the Fourth of July. I’m looking forward to a long weekend. And I’d like to spend Friday with our folks. Besides, we’re going to the resort on Friday night.

“So, you’d better make it for tomorrow or next week.

“And, you, Mary, and the baby are invited to an open house. It's going to be at our place on Sunday from two to six.”

“An open house?”

“We thought it would be fun for our parents to meet the people we know out here.”

“So, who’s coming.”

“Amy’s making the phone calls. But, you guys, Chief Tom and Vickie, maybe Chief Kinlicheeny, Chief Clau, Naainish, people like that. And maybe even Dean Rutherford and Dr. Lingham.”

“That could be interesting.”

“Yes, it could. You’d better call Dr. Fontheim and see when he can make it.”

Dr. Joe picked up the phone and called Los Alamos. When he hung up, he said, “They’ll be here tomorrow at ten-thirty.”

“It sounds like they’re in a hurry to get it.”, I said.

“If it wasn’t so late, I think they would have come down today. And they were surprised that we'd finished so quickly.”

“We would have been done sooner if there hadn’t been a mistake in the schematic.”

“I know.”

“So, who are they?”

“The usual, Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllman.”

“And, I suppose that the Dean will want to be part of it.”

“Yes. And that was going to be my next call.”

I spent some time getting things ready for tomorrow. We were going to give them a demonstration before we packed everything up. Then both Dr. Joe and I headed home.

When I walked into the house, the smells were fantastic. I walked to the kitchen and said, “What are you burning.”

Amy turned around and was going to say something, but saw my big grin. Then she said, “Kai Nez, you’re going to pay.”

I just continued to grin.

Then Amy smiled and said, “You must be feeling better.”

“I am.”, I replied. “I think I’ve finally realized that I just have to accept the hand that the Great Spirit dealt me.”

“Honey, we have each other. And you are all I need.”

“And you’re all I need or want.”

Amy had made chili-stuffed poblano peppers with a side of southwestern sauteed corn, and cornbread. With her signature sangria to drink. And she’d made Azteca Cocoa Rice Pudding for dessert. It’s a little on the hot side as it has cayenne pepper in it. Oh yum!

And I did pay for my comment about what was burning. The Queen forced me to give her a foot massage.

Wednesday, when I went into the office, I was dressed in my usual clothes. The long skirt, fancy blouse, wrap moccasins, and some jewelry. My hair was in a single braid, and I had on one of the braided leather headbands with the Eagle feather. Well, maybe it wasn’t my usual dress. It was my meeting dress.

When I was at the office, Dr. Joe wasn’t there. So, I spent some time setting up a demonstration for the people from Los Alamos.

Just before ten, I heard a key in the door, and Dr. Joe walked in and relocked the door. I said, “Good morning, Dr. Joe.”

“Good morning, Kai. Is everything all set up?”

“All ready.”

Just before ten-thirty, we heard a key in the door, when it opened Dean Rutherford, Dr. Fontheim, and Dr. Höllman were standing there. They walked in and closed the door. I said, “Good morning, gentlemen. Dean Rutherford, would you please lock the door.”

“Sorry, Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said, and he locked the door.

“A stickler for security, Miss Nez?”, Dr. Höllman asked.

“Yes, sir. Especially with this project. By the way, we did find another error on the schematic. It was minor, but caused one of the Nixie tubes to burn out.”

“I assume that you corrected it, Miss Nez.”

“Yes, sir, and I noted it on the schematic that’s in the metal briefcase.”

“I figured that you would do something like that.”

Dr. Joe and I then gave the two doctors from Los Alamos a demonstration of the project. And they were impressed. We spent about forty-five minutes going over how things worked. Then we took apart the demonstration set up and boxed up everything that was going to Los Alamos in the metal briefcase, locked the briefcase, and handed it to Dr. Höllman. Dr. Höllman gave it to Dr. Fontheim.

Then Dr. Fontheim said, “Could we lock this up in here while we take the three of you to lunch?”

“Of course.”, Dr. Joe said.

I was going to say something about going out to lunch, but I guess it’s part of the political game. But, I did say, “Would you like me to drive?”

“You don’t have that ‘57 Chevrolet here.”, Dr. Höllman asked. “Do you, Miss Nez?”

“No, sir.”, I replied. “I don’t bring that on campus.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“We like the La Placita Dining Rooms.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go.”

After we locked up the metal briefcase, set the alarm, and locked the door, we headed to the La Placita Dining Rooms. Parking was a little problematic since it’s tourist season, but we didn’t have to walk too far. And we only had to wait ten minutes for a table.

Of course, we talked as we ate, but we didn’t talk about the project. But the possibility of a new project in late July. Which Dr. Joe and I look forward to it. As we were having dessert, no not fried ice cream, the Dean reached into his inside suit coat pocket and took out an envelope.

As the Dean handed me the envelope, he said, “Miss Nez, Dr. Lingham, Dr. Oshie, and I had a meeting with the Board of Regents this morning, and I think the contents of this envelope might be of interest to you.”

I took the envelope, opened it, read the letter, folded it back up, and put it in my purse.

“Miss Nez.”, the Dean said. “No comment?”

“Yes, sir.”, I said. “I’ll think about it.”

“Kai Nez!”, Dr. Joe said. “You knew that this was coming. And your smiling. You’re messing with us.”

“I can’t keep anything from you. Can I?”

I then looked at Dean Rutherford and said, “Dean, I’d be happy to accept the position.”

“Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said. “Dr. Oshie warned me that you might do something like this.”

“You do know where the money is going to go. Don’t you, Dean?”

“No, I don’t, Miss Nez.”

“Into the scholarship.”

“Miss Nez, that doesn’t surprise me.”

Dr. Höllman then said, “We knew that they were going to offer you the Research Associate position, Miss Nez. And we’re happy that you accepted it. Congratulations. Now can I ask what scholarship you’re referring to?”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said. “A while back, my cousin and I started a scholarship in memory of a Navajo Chief that we knew very well and has now passed. The scholarship is for the children of the Navajo Nation.”

“I’m impressed with someone so young doing so many things. And I can see why the university wants to hold on to you.”

We finished our meal and headed back to the university. We went to the office and retrieved the metal briefcase for the doctors, and Doctors Höllman and Fontheim headed back to Los Alamos.

“Well, that’s another project completed.”, I said.

“Yes, Miss Nez.”, Dean Rutherford said. “And it sounds like they’ll have another one for you by the end of the month.”

“That’ll be good.

“Dean, we’re having an open house on Sunday afternoon from two until six at our house for our parents. They’ve been out here for two weeks touring the west and are going back home Monday. So we thought that we’d have an open house for them to meet the people we know out here. And you and your wife are invited.”

“Thank you, Miss Nez. We’ll try to make it.”

The Dean left, and Dr. Joe said, “Kai, one of these days, you’re going to pull something like you did at the restaurant, and it’s going to come back to bite you.”

I could tell by the tone in Dr. Joe’s voice that he was being serious. So, with a deep sigh, I said, “I know. I’m going to have to learn to control my tongue.”

“Kai, you are now in an important position at this university. Your voice will be heard. There will be times when your quick, sharp tongue is needed. You have to learn to control it.”

“Thanks, Dr. Joe. I need to learn to play the political game.”

“Now, let's call it a day.”

“I’m with you on that. Are we going to see you on Sunday?”, I asked.

“We wouldn’t miss it.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“And be sure to bring little Mark.”

With that, we headed home. With a special day this coming Friday, I made two stops on the way home. The first stop was at the drugstore close to the university for a silly card. The second stop was at Cousin Ahiga’s shop for something special.

And when I was home, there was no Amy. But there was a note that said, “Hi honey. They needed me. I’m working till ten. And I’ll bring a pizza home with me. And leave the sangria alone. It’s to have with the pizza.

“I love you. Amy.”

I thought, ‘Oh well. It comes with the territory.’

I then went and put together something light to eat. Then I went into the office and picked up the papers that Amy wanted me to read. I took the food and Amy's papers out into the courtyard. As I ate, I read.

What I was reading was the first two chapters of Amy’s text for her new class. And it was impressive, not just because it was Amy writing it, but by what was written and how it was said. Amy understands the Native peoples better than I do.

I figured that Amy had an outline for this book. But I’ve never seen it. She did tell me that the desk in the office was off-limits and that if I needed anything typed that she’d do it for me.

I met Amy at the door between the garage and the house, as she handed me the pizza and kissed me, and said, “I’m going to change.”

I took the pizza and set it on the table, got two plates, two glasses, and the pitcher of sangria. It wasn’t much later that Amy, wearing her robe, joined me, and we sat side by side, enjoying the pizza and sangria. I looked at her and said, “I read the papers that you left for me.”

“I’m glad.”, Amy said. “What do you think of it?”

“I was impressed. You know the Native people better than I do.”

“Maybe it’s because I see them more than you do.”

“That so?”

“Uh huh. We have them in the ER all the time.”

“I only found one minor mistake.”

“Oh?”

“You missed a period on the last page of the first chapter.”

“Show me.”

“Find it yourself.”

“Brat.”

“Okay, it’s at the end of the second sentence.”

“Nothing more?”

“No, and I am really impressed with what you’ve done.”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, honestly.”

Amy smiled and said, “Thank you.”

As I got up, I said, “I’ll be right back.”

I went to my purse and pulled out the envelope that Dean Rutherford had given me. I came back to the table, and as I sat, I handed Amy the letter and said, “Read this.”

Amy took the envelope and removed and read the paper. Congratulations, love. And it’s an eight-thousand dollar a year position!?”

“Yes, on top of the full-time teaching position.”, I replied.

“I think that the university wants to hold on to you.”, Amy said.

“Dr. Höllman said something like that. Think we should give that eight-thousand to the scholarship?”

“Maybe part of it. But I think it would be nice to take a vacation.”

“Oh. Where?”

“Your parents loved Hawaii.”

“So, you think we need to get away?”

“Yes, and I think that we deserve it.”

“Okay, we’ll see what we can do.”

“Now, my Prince, your Queen, needs a foot massage.”

We quickly cleaned up the kitchen and put the remaining pizza in the refrigerator. Then it was off to bed for things other than sleep.

Thursday morning was here, and it’s the Fourth of July, and our parents are supposed to be back. When? When they get here. 

Amy and I were planning an impromptu, casual, open house for Sunday. Unknown to our parents, it was for them. We had a rough idea of how many people were coming, but you never knew for sure.

Right after breakfast, Amy and I went grocery shopping. We wanted to cook a special dinner for our parents. They were probably tired of eating out and cooking for themselves. So, we brought a lot of groceries back to the house. And while we were shopping, and since the open house was a casual affair, we came up with the idea of having pizza.

When we were back home, I called Nunzio's Pizza and first inquired if they’d deliver a large order of pizza to the house. Then I asked how much lead time they’d need to delivery twelve to fifteen large pizzas on Sunday afternoon to the house. They told us that it would be helpful if they knew no later than five on Saturday afternoon. I told them that we’d be in on Saturday afternoon to place the order and pay for the pizzas. Plus, there would be a good tip for the delivery guy.

Thursday afternoon, as we waited for our parents to arrive, I had some reading to catch up on, yeah it was geeky technical publications, so I sat out in the courtyard and read. Amy disappeared into the office, and I heard the typewriter going.

At about three o’clock, I thought I heard someone pull into the driveway. And when the doorbell rang, I knew that we had company — hopefully, our parents. I headed for the front door, but Amy had beat me to it, and she was hugging our parents. I joined in the family hug.

I won’t bore you with all the greetings and everything, but everyone was happy to see everyone else. My dad said, “It sure feels good to be home.”

I looked at him and said, “Home?”

“Honey, it feels like home, so it’s home.”

“Okay, daddy. Mi casa es su casa.”

We all went out into the back courtyard, sat, and just talked about the trip. We heard about the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone. We didn’t realize it, but our parents had reservations at the Old Faithful Lodge for two nights.

We didn’t mention anything about our problem with getting pregnant. We were waiting until after dinner to tell them. This won’t be fun.

Then Amy’s mother said, “It’ll be good to sleep in a real bed tonight. In fact, could we use the hogan?”

“Of course mom.”, Amy said. “But I didn’t think that you were too sure about doing that.”

“I thought about it while we were traveling, and I imagined how quiet it could be.”

“What about having to come into the house to use the bathroom?”

“I can live with it for one night.”

“So, tonight?”, Amy asked.

“Sure.”, Amy’s mother replied.

“Kai.”, my mother said. “I think that your father and I would like to spend a night in the hogan too.”

I looked at Amy and said, “Do you think we should charge hotel rates?”

“Sounds good to me.”, Amy said. “So, we charge what, fifteen dollars a night?”

“Fifteen dollars!”, Amy’s dad said. “That’s more than anyone else charges.”

“But, daddy, you also get all of your meals.”

“Daughter!”

“We’d better get started with dinner.”, I said. “Or, we’ll be eating late.”

“Is there anything that we can do to help.”, my mother asked.

“Yes, come into the kitchen with us, get four glasses, and a pitcher of sangria out of the refrigerator. Take them out onto the courtyard, sit down, fill the glasses with sangria. Then sit back and relax.”

Our mothers did follow us into the kitchen and took glasses and a pitcher of sangria back out with them. Then Amy and I went to work on dinner. For an appetizer, we went with fresh guacamole and corn chips. For the main course, we tried something new, a shepherd’s pie with a southwestern spin. The shepherd's pie included diced onion, green bell pepper, ground cinnamon, corn, and black beans with sweet potatoes on top. For a side, we made cucumber and chayote slaw. And for dessert, you guessed it, fried ice cream with honey drizzled over it, a little whipped cream, and a cherry on top.

There wasn’t much talk as we ate, but as we finished the fried ice cream, Amy went and got another pitcher of her sangria and set it on the table. My dad said, “Amy, this is the best sangria that I’ve ever had.”

“It’s Aunt Ruth’s concoction.”

“Are you trying to get us drunk, daughter?”, Amy’s dad asked.

“Maybe. It might be better if you were with what we have to tell you.”

My mother picked up on what Amy said and how she said it, so she asked, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Well, we’ve been trying to get pregnant since before Christmas, and nothing’s happened. We finally went and had tests done. Mine came out fine. But, Kai’s didn’t.

“It appears that the damage that she suffered back when those guys beat her up did more damage than the doctors at Ohio State found. So, it doesn’t look like you’re ever going to be grandparents.”

As Amy told them this, I felt the tears start.

No one said anything for a while. But I could see the look of sadness and shock on our parent’s faces. And both of our mothers had tears in their eyes. My mother looked at me and said, “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. And, there’s nothing that can be done?”

“Mom.”, I said. “No, nothing can be done about it. It’s just something that we have to live with.”

I looked at my dad, and I thought he was going to cry. So I said, “Daddy, don’t cry. One of us crying is more than enough.”

He didn’t say anything but pointed at Amy. I turned at looked at her, and she was in tears. I put my arm around her, and then we held each other for a minute. Then as I got up, I said to our parents, “Please excuse us for a minute.”

I offered Amy my hand and led her to the powder room. Once we were there, we didn’t have to say anything to each other. We knew how each other felt. We helped each other calm down and cleaned up. Then, after sharing a kiss, we went back to the dining room and sat with our parents.

I finally said, “We do have some good news. The university did offer me the Research Associate’s position, and I accepted it.”

“That’s encouraging.”, my father-in-law said.

“Yes.”, Amy said. “We feel that the university wants to hang onto Kai. And she still has the full-time faculty position.”

I saw my dad’s eyebrow go up. So I asked, “Something wrong, dad?”

“Ah, not really.”, my dad said. “It’s just strange to hear that someone of your age is both full-time faculty and has a research associate’s position like you do, and it’s even before you have a graduate degree.”

“I thought so too, but Dr. Oshie said something that hit home.”

“What was that?”

“He told me that the new position was well deserved, and it would put him and me on a more even footing. Then he said, ‘I’ve watched you work, and you have, along with being a Nádleeh -(two spirit person), a Great Spirit given talent to do research. And I wish that I had half the talent that you do.’

“That really hit home. Realize that Dr. Oshie, who I call Dr. Joe, is an excellent researcher, and hearing something like that from him makes me realize that what everyone else has been saying is true.”

“Who is this, Dr. Oshie?”, my dad asked.

“He’s my research partner and the proctor on my graduate degree. You’ll meet him on Sunday.”

“What’s Sunday?”

“Amy and I thought that it would be fun to have a small open house so that our friends out here could meet our parents.”, I replied.

“When were you going to tell us?”

“Right now. I guess.”

“Is there anything else that you’re not telling us?”, Amy’s mother asked.

“Well, we’re planning on going to the resort on Friday.”, Amy replied.

“We figured that we were going to the barbecue.”

“There’s more than just the barbecue.”

“More?”

“Uh huh. We’ll be staying the night. You, daddy, and Kai’s parents will be staying at the house. And Kai and I are staying in the hotel.”

“That’s a surprise. But a pleasant one.”

“Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul figured that you could use some of the services of the resort after your driving tour.”, I said.

“They’re right.”, my dad said with a grin. “But, remember, we need to take the motor home back.”

“We can do that tomorrow morning.”

“You going to help us clean it out?”

“Of course.”

“Any more surprises?”, my dad asked.

“No, sir.”, I replied.

We spent the evening out in the courtyard enjoying a fire, the stars, and just talking.

When our parents were ready to go to bed, the six of us walked out to the hogan. Using a flashlight, I lit the two lanterns, one on each side of the bed. Then I quickly laid a fire and lit that. I handed my father-in-law the flashlight and the ring with two keys on it, and said, “One key is for the hogan’s door, and the other one fits the sliding patio doors.”

“Do we just let the fire die down?”, my father-in-law asked.

“You can. I laid a small fire, and it should burn out in an hour or so unless you want to put some more wood on it. And you can turn the lanterns down to a dim light if you want or just turn them off when you’re ready.”

“This will be interesting.”

As Amy, my parents, and I walked out of the door to the hogan, Amy and I said, “Yá'át'ééh hiilchi'i’.”

“What does that mean?”, my mother-in-law asked.

“Good night.”, Amy replied.

And the four of us walk back into the house. My parents then went to bed. And Amy and I spent time cuddled together on one of the couches out in the courtyard.

Friday morning, I was in bed watching Amy sleep. She finally began to stir, I bent down, kissed her, and said, “Happy birthday, love.”

“You remembered.”, Amy replied.

“That’s one of the dates that I’ll never forget.”

“What are the others?”

“The day I saw you drive off with your family when you moved to Minnesota, June18, 1959. That day, four years later, when you came back, September 15, 1963. And the day we were married, September 26, 1964.”

“You even remember the dates. I love you so much.”

“They were very important to me. And I love you too.”

When we walked out into the house, our parents were up and enjoying some coffee out in the courtyard. We walked out there, and Amy asked, “So, mom and dad, how was your night in the hogan?”

“It was very nice.”, Amy’s mother said. “It’s so peaceful. I could easily get used to it.”

After breakfast, the six of us went to work cleaning out the motor home. And it didn’t take long. Then, driving the ‘57 Chevy with the top down, I followed my dad and father-in-law to the rental place.

As my dad and father-in-law were taking care of business, the ‘57 Chevy was getting a lot of attention from other customers and staff. On the way home, my dad said to my father-in-law, “Fred, I want to take the Corvette for a ride. Want to go with me?”

“Sure, Chuck. That could be fun.”, my father-in-law said.

“Why not drive the Vette to the resort.”, I said. “I know that Uncle Paul will have a place for it in the garage.”

“Okay.”, my dad said. “That’s a great idea.”

Right after lunch, we headed north. Dad was driving the ‘53 Corvette, and my father-in-law was riding with him. And Amy, my mother, and my mother-in-law were riding with me in the ‘57 Chevy Bel Air. We had the tops down on both cars.

At one point on I-25, my dad opened up the Corvette and tried to pull away from us, but the ‘57 Chevy has too much under the hood. I caught up with him without a problem and passed him. I knew dad hadn’t opened up the Corvette, because we were nowhere close to the one-hundred miles per hour top end on the Corvette.

Then I slowed back down to the speed limit. And as I did, my mother said, “That was fun, especially with the top down. Except that my hair’s a mess.”

“Mom, that’s why I always wear my hair in either a ponytail or braids.”, I said. “Especially when I’m driving one of the convertibles.”