We had fun introducing the twins to our parents and Bill and Bridget when they arrived to spend Christmas with us. We received a call from Aunt Ruth, and she and Uncle Paul, Aunt Ginny, and Uncle Gaagii when coming down on Christmas eve.

On Christmas eve morning, all six of our out of town visitors decided to go into Albuquerque for a few hours. And Ajie and I were alone with the twins for the first time. It felt nice to be just the four of us.

My aunts and uncles came down earlier then we’d planned for. And they had fun meeting the twins. Then we found out the reason for the early visit for my aunts and uncles. They’d found out who the judge was that would be hearing our final adoption decree, and it wasn’t good news for us. He’s transphobic. He was very prejudiced against transgender people. Like me. Was this going to interfere with the adoption? Several people were working on this problem. Would the judge recuse himself? Would someone step in? Would we lose the twins? We might not know until the time of the adoption decree.

Before Tuesday night’s dinner, Ajie and I had meditated in the hogan. We’d both had the same vision, a vision of the Indian Maiden sitting under a tree with the wolf standing beside her, which means that he’s protecting her.

Dinner was fun. We had the whole family here, Ajie and me, the twins, my parents, Ajie’s parents, Bill and Bridget, and both sets of my aunts and uncles. We’d sung happy birthday to the twins, after all, they were two weeks old. Then my Aunt Ruth asked if we’d learned anything when we’d meditated. And I’d told her about the vision with Indian maiden and the wolf and what it meant.

When I finished, I looked at my father in law, and he was giving me a funny look, so I asked, “Dad Grant is there a problem?”

“All these spirits and visions, I just don’t get it.”, Ajie’s dad said.

“Daddy.”, Ajie said. “It’s something that we’ve learned a lot about since we came out here, and we’re still learning. Do we see these visions? Yes. Do we believe in them? Yes. Have they helped us? Yes. Do we completely understand them? No. And neither of us thinks that we ever will completely understand them.”

Then I added, “At first I had problems accepting the spirits and visions. But I’ve accepted them because I have experienced them. To me, and I think to Ajie, they are real. The native people believe in them and have for many hundreds of years. So there’s something to this.”

“Kids.”, Ajie’s dad said. “This is strange to me. But the two of you are smart people. And I don’t think either of you would go blindly into something like this and accept it as you do. So I may not understand it, but I’ll accept that you accept it.”

The twins had fallen asleep well before this discussion started, so Ajie and I took them and put them to bed. When we came back to the table, we talked more about other things, then around seven, my aunts and uncles headed back to the resort. My Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii were spending Christmas with my Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul.

I knew that there was going to be another TV broadcast from Apollo 8 tonight at about seven-thirty. So I turned on the TV and found a station that was covering it. All of us sat and watched the twelve-minute coverage and listened as the three astronauts read passages from the Book of Genesis.

I’d brought something home from the university and had it in the safe in the garage. So after the coverage of Apollo 8 was over. I went out to the garage and retrieved a metal briefcase out of the safe. When I walked back into the big room, I said, “I have something to show all of you.”

Bill was the first to see something, and he said, “That has a N.A.S.A. emblem on it.”

As I set the case on the coffee table, I said, “What’s in it used to belong to them, and now it belongs to the university.”

“You stole it?”, my dad said.

I looked at my dad and saw that he was grinning. So, I said, “Actually, it was given to me to take of for the university.”

“So, what’s in it?”

I opened the case, took out one of the printed circuit boards, held it up, and said, “First this. This is the guidance module that’s onboard all of the Apollo space crafts from Apollo 7 on.”

Then pointing to the module that was mounted on the bigger printed circuit board, I said, “And this is the module that I designed and built.”

“What’s that do?”, my father in law asked.

“It’s the brains of the thing. It’s doing the guidance of the spacecraft.”

Then I took out the other printed circuit board and the breadboard circuit, and said, “First we design the circuit or schematic, then we build a breadboard circuit to see if it's going to work, Then we design a printed circuit board, and build the circuit on the printed circuit board. We retest everything, and if it works as it should, we’re done.

“N.A.S.A. then took our board and married it with other circuits and produced the complete guidance system.”

My dad looked at what I was holding and said, “I’m impressed.”

“Kai is using this as the basis for her dissertation for her doctorate.”, Ajie said.

“Yeah.”, I said. “And then I’m going to have to defend it in front of a committee.”

“Honey.”, my mother said. “Knowing you. If you believe in it, and I know you do, you will defend it to a fault.”

“We’ll see.”

“And we’ll come back out for your graduation.”

“I’ll bet that Ajie has hers first. She’s already published.”

“We’ll come out for hers too.”

Then Ajie asked, “Are you going to want pictures of the circuits for your dissertation.”

“That might be good.”, I replied. “And with the way you’ve been taking pictures of the twins, I figure you have good color film in the camera.”

“I do. We can take your pictures and then take the film to the drug store.”

“I’ll want eight-and-a-half by elevens for the dissertation.”

“We can do that.”

I put everything back in the case and took it back to the garage. Then Ajie and I cleaned up the kitchen and started the dishwasher.

Just like last night, by nine o’clock, our visitors were starting to yawn, and both sets of our parents were in bed by nine-thirty. Bill and Bridget did stay up, and we watched the coverage as the Apollo 8 came out of its Moon orbit and headed back to the Earth. Bridget then helped Ajie with feeding the twins. Then after Bill, Bridget, and the twins went to bed, Ajie and I stayed up long enough to put presents under the tree.

As we cuddled together in bed, Ajie whispered, “Honey, are you okay?”

“I think so.”, I whispered. “But now I’m worried more than ever.”

“I know, sweetheart. But, if the people working on this are the people I think they are, it’ll be solved.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“But, no matter what happens, I’ll be here for you.”

“I know you will.”

We kissed, cuddled closer, and were soon asleep.

It was Wednesday, and it was Christmas. The twins had us up for a two o’clock feeding, and then it was back to bed. At five we were up with the twins again, as I took care of the diaper brigade, Ajie went and got their bottles started. Then she came back to the bedroom. When she did, she said, “Wait until you see what’s under the tree.”

“What?”, I asked.

“Wait and see.”

Ajie picked up Tsé and said to him, “Merry Christmas, mommy’s little boy.”

As I picked up Haseya, I said, “Yá'át'ééh Késhmish! Shik'is awéé’ Haseya. - (Merry Christmas! My little Haseya.)

Then Ajie and I carrying the twins walked out into the big room, and everyone was there, and we received a “Merry Christmas!” from everyone.”

Ajie and I said, “Yá'át'ééh Késhmish! - (Merry Christmas!)”

Our mothers took the twins, Bridget got their bottles, and they fed them. Then I got a look at the Christmas tree, and there were two wood highchairs, one on either side of the tree, one had a pink ribbon on it, and the other one had a blue ribbon on it. And there were also several packages there that hadn’t been there when we went to bed.

Ajie and I walked over and looked at the two highchairs, The one with the pink ribbon had a tag on it that said, “To: Haseya From: Santa Claus” and the tag on the one with the blue ribbon said the same except that it was to Tsé.

I looked at everyone and said, “Thank you, Santa Clause.”

My mother then said, “We know you won’t need them for another six months or so, but when you need them, you’ll have them.”

When our mothers had finished feeding the twins, and they were back in bed, we opened presents. I’m not going to go into detail, but everyone received some beautiful things. The twins did receive some cute outfits. The outfits were all too big, but they’ll grow into them. They also received some toys.

After we’d finished opening presents, Ajie and our mothers got the turkey ready for the oven and started it cooking. We skipped our lunch, but the twins didn’t. Bridget was sweet enough to help me with the twins with their eight and eleven o’clock feedings. And our mothers did the honors at two. With dinner at three, maybe the twins would give us a chance to enjoy a hot meal, but then again, it would be fun to have them at the table.

The twins did join us for dessert after we adults had our wonderful dinner. A dinner of turkey with sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, a green bean casserole, rolls, a relish dish, and cranberry sauce. Dessert was pies. An apple, a cherry, and a mincemeat pie. Only my dad, Bridget, and I had the mincemeat pie. And the twins had their bottles.

After dessert, and twins were put down for a nap, the women, and that included me, cleaned up the kitchen. The men found a football game on TV, and after the kitchen was all cleaned up, the kitchen crew joined the men in the big room. And we discovered that Bill was the only one still awake. I guess the big meal has gotten to them. My mother in law shook her head and said, “Happens every time after a big meal, especially if it’s turkey.”

“I think that it’s just because it was a big meal.”, Ajie said.

“They did stuff themselves.”, my mother said.

No one except the twins, Bill, and me had anything more to eat on Christmas day. The twins had their bottles, and Bill and I had a piece of cherry pie with some vanilla ice cream.

The best thing that happened on Thursday was the turkey and dressing sandwiches made with rye bread. They’re almost better than the big meal on Christmas. Almost.

Everyone but my mother was heading home early tomorrow morning, and I figured that they’d want to do something. But everyone wanted just to visit. And the twins, when they were up, were entertaining and kept everyone's attention. Even both of the grandfathers had fun feeding them.

Friday morning was an early up for everyone, and when hasn’t it been for us since the twins have been here. For breakfast, Ajie put together a southwest scramble with toast. And my dad made coffee for whoever wanted it.

Not long after we’d finished, my dad, Ajie’s mom and dad, and Bill and Bridget left for the airport. There were a lot of tears and hugs as we were saying so long and they were leaving. We had the twins up so they were able to say hágoónee' - (see you later) in their own way. We weren’t going to the airport with them since they had rented a car, and we had the twins to contend with.

After they’d left, I took a walk out into the back courtyard, and then to the backyard. I stood there looking at the mountains and thinking about some things, from the twins, to classes that will be starting soon, to the judge hearing our final adoption decree, to Ajie’s and my dissertations. And how I missed seeing our families all of the time.

I’d been standing there for a few minutes when I sensed someone walking up behind me, I turned, looked, and it was Ajie. She walked up and asked, “Honey, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”, I replied. “I just needed to come out here, clear my head, and think.”

“Think about what?”

“Lots of things, us, our families, classes starting, that damn judge, our dissertations. Stuff like that.”

“I know. Lots of things going on.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been thinking too.”

“Oh?”

“More so about our families, us, and the twins. And you know I think I want to finish my doctoral while your mother is here.”

“Why?”

“I just feel that it would be better. Vickie might have to schedule it for when you’re in class or something. And your mother could watch the twins until one of us is back home.”

“Good thought. Call Vickie.”

“I will. Where does your doctoral stand?”

“I’ll give it to you to read and make comments on. You may not understand some of it, but most of it, you will.”

“Also, you might want your mother to read it?”

“I’ll do that. Then I want Dr. Joe to read it.”

“Still want me to type it?”

“If you’ll have the time.”

“I’ll make time. Besides, if I have a question about something technical, you’ll be handy.”

I turned and looked Ajie in the eyes, and said, “You know I still love those amazing blue eyes of yours.”

She smiled and said, “I still love everything about you.”

We kissed.

We then walked back inside just in time for the twin’s eight o’clock feeding. Ajie and I did diaper duty, and my mother took care of the bottles. Then Ajie and my mother took care of feeding the twins. I went and retrieved my dissertation, looked it over, and then walked back into the big room where Ajie and my mother were with the twins.

The first thing I did was turn on the TV as Apollo 8 was supposed to splash down at about nine o’clock local time. Then I sat down with the four of them, placed my dissertation on my lap, then I said, “Mom, this is my dissertation. I’d like you to read it while your here. It might be, in parts, too technical for you to understand. But I’d appreciate it if you would read it.”

“Honey.”, my mother said. “I’d love to, but I’m afraid that it might be too technical for me.”

“Could you scan it and see if any spelling errors jump out at you?”

“That I can do.”

“Thank you. After you finish with it, Ajie’s going to read it. Then I’ll have Dr. Joe read it. And then Ajie is going to type it for me.”

We then settled back and watched the coverage of the Apollo 8 splashdown. And everything appeared to go by the book, and they were picked up by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.

Then Ajie and mom took the twins back to their, or our, bedroom and tucked them in. When they came back out, my mother said, “Kai, give me your dissertation, and I’ll give it a good look.”

I handed mom my dissertation, then Ajie and I went and stripped all the beds except ours and remade them. And then we washed all the dirty linen. And of course, the twins were up in the middle of all of this, and we took care of them.

As we were eating lunch after taking care of the king and queen of the diaper party, my mother said, “You were right about being technical. There’s a lot in there that I didn’t know the spelling of. But from what I see, it’s excellent. And I only found one spelling mistake, and I noted it”

“Thanks, mom.”, I replied.

Then Ajie took my dissertation and said, “Okay, my turn. And Kai, you get to make dinner when it’s time.”

“Okay by me.”, I replied.

Ajie being a speed reader, had my dissertation read well before dinner time, and I noticed that she made a couple of notes on my paper. When she finished, she handed the dissertation to me and said, “There were a couple of things that I wasn’t sure of, so I made a note of them.”

I took the dissertation from her, looked through it, and found her notes. One I explained to her that it was as it should be, and the other three, I told her that I agreed with her thoughts.

Then Ajie asked, “When are you going to give this to Dr. Joe?”

“Probably when I’m back on campus.”, I replied.

“And when’s that?”

“When school starts on January sixth.”

“No, don’t wait that long. Why don’t you give Dr. Joe a call now.”

“Okay, I will, but after you call Vickie.”

Ajie walked over to the phone, picked up the receiver, and dialed. Then I heard her say, “Hi Vickie. It’s Ajie.” … “It was fun. Everyone loved the twins.” … “They slept through most of it.” … “What I’m calling about is my dissertation.” … “Let’s get my defense scheduled and sometime in the next two weeks if possible.” … “I see. It’ll have to wait until school starts.” … “So there’s a chance of doing it the first week of school?” … “I was hoping to do it while my mother in law is here.” … “So we don’t have to schedule it around Kai’s teaching.” … “Afternoon would be best.” … “Let me know as soon as you know something.” … “Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”

As Ajie hung up the phone, she looked at me and said, “Call Dr. Joe.”

So, I called Dr. Joe. And twenty minutes later, I was sitting at Dr. Joe’s dining room table, and we were talking about Christmas. Then I hit him with the information about the judge being transphobic. Dr. Joe looked at me and asked, “Who’s transgender?”

I just pointed at myself.

At first, he looked at me a little puzzled, then he shook his head and said, “I still find it hard to believe that you’re not a woman.”

“Believe me.”, I said. “I’m not.”

“And this judge could stop the adoption?”

“Yes. But people are working on it.”

“Is it a judge here in Albuquerque?”

“No, he’s in the Navajo Nation.”

“Is he a Navajo?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t he understand people like you?”

“Nádleeh? - (Two spirit?) I don’t know, but he should.”

“Wow! I hope that this doesn’t hurt your adoptions.”

“Me too.”

“Let me know if there’s anything that I can do.”

Then to change the subject, I handed Dr. Joe my dissertation and said, “Let me have it back as soon as possible, and Ajie will type it for me. Plus, I’ll have some pictures for it.”

“Pictures will be good. I’ll read it as fast as I can. Can I write comments on this?”

“Of course. Ajie already has. I’ll just rewrite those pages.”

It took me longer to make it back home. Our talk about the judge had got my mind working, and I needed to cool off before I got home. I was so tempted to go up on the Crest, but that’s a long drive, and Ajie would probably get worried. So, I took a long way home.

When I walked into the house, Ajie saw me and asked, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“I told Dr. Joe about that damn judge.”, I said. “And it just got me mad again.”

“Went for a little ride, didn’t you?”

“Had to.”

“That’s fine, love. I understand.”

“I figured that you would.”

The only thing that happened on Saturday was that afternoon, we received a phone call from Charlie and Jackie, and they were back on campus. And we made arrangements for them to come up on Tuesday, which is New Year's Eve, have dinner and spend the night.

After lunch on Sunday, I heard from Dr. Joe, and I need to run down to his house to pick up my dissertation. My mother suggested that I take Ajie with me to get her out of the house. So after lunch, Ajie and I drove down to Dr. Joe’s house.

When we arrived at Dr. Joe’s house, we were met at the door by Mary, and she was carrying their son, Mark. The first thing she said after greeting us was, “Where are the twins?”

“They’re home.”, Ajie said. “Kai’s mother is watching them.”

“It must be a big help having an extra set of hands with twins.”

“It helps a lot. But these two are amazingly easy to work with. One of us can change or feed them, and the one that’s not the center of attention just waits their turn.”

“That’s amazing. Come on in. Joe’s in the living room.”

We followed Mary and Mark into the house and to the living room. We were greeted by Dr. Joe and sat with him, while Mary put little Mark down for a nap. As Mary walked out of the room, Dr. Joe said, “Kai, who wrote this for you?”

“Huh?”, I said. “I wrote it. Why?”

“Kai, after reading this, I’ll be surprised if anyone on the committee will even try to cut it apart. And you should have no problem defending it.”

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that good.”

“Kai, I know that I’ve kidded you a lot about being Dr. Nez. But, the depth of information, the detail, and the writing style of your dissertation says Dr. Nez.”

I just looked at Dr. Joe.

Then Dr. Joe added, “And I agree with the comments that Ajie made.”

“So, I need to have this typed?”

“Yes. And nothing against Ajie, but the secretaries in the Dean’s office are excellent at typing technical papers. And they have special typing elements that they can use for the technical symbols that you’ve used. And, yes, it’ll cost you, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Okay, I’ll go see Sara right after the first of the year.”

“Sara, yes. After the first of the year, no. Sara should be in the office tomorrow. I’d go see her.”

“Okay. I’ll go tomorrow.”

“And if you’re going to include pictures, be sure to include it in the table of contents.”

“I’ll do that.”

We stayed and visited with Dr. Joe and Mary for a little while. Then Ajie decided that we’d better get back to rescue my mother.

As we were driving home, I asked, “Do you think that there’s any way that we could put labels on the pictures to tell what things are?”

“Like what?”

“I guess something like, ‘Apollo Spacecraft – Guidance system’ and ‘Apollo Spacecraft – Guidance computer’ and stuff like that.”

“We could type up the labels on a piece of heavy paper and cut them into strips. Then we can place them any way that you want.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

When we were back home, we found my mother sitting on the couch and feeding both twins at the same time. Using the baby seats from the car was a good idea. And Ajie asked, “So how were they?”

“They were wonderful.”, my mother said.

“I thought they might be.”

“Ajie, I’m going to look over this dissertation before dinner, and make the changes that you suggested.”, I said. “That way, I can run it to the university first thing tomorrow and see if Sara will type it for me.”

“Okay.”, Ajie replied. “We won’t bother you until dinner’s ready.”

I took the dissertation and disappeared into the office. I worked over the things that Ajie had suggested, and Dr. Joe had agreed with it. And I added pictures to the table of contents. I don’t know how long I’d been at it, but I was sitting there thinking to myself, ‘Well, I guess it is what it is. I hope it works.’ Then there was a knock on the door, and I heard Ajie say, “Honey, we’re about ready to put dinner on the table.”

“Thanks, love.”, I said. “I just finished, and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay.”

I put my dissertation into a manila envelope, walked out into the garage, and put the envelope in the safe. Then I joined Ajie and my mother for dinner.

Monday at breakfast, we reminded my mother that Charlie and Jackie were coming for New Year's Eve and then spending the night. Ajie’s mother said, “I don’t want to be a fifth wheel, so I’ll stay in my room and take care of the twins.”

“Mom!”, Ajie said. “You won’t be a fifth wheel. Charlie and Jackie are laid back like we are when it comes to New Years'. We play cards, make popcorn, maybe drink a little sangria as a toast, and just watch TV.”

“Okay. We’ll see.”

Then I said, “I wonder if Charlie ever got any of his uncle’s popcorn?”

“I don’t know.”, Ajie said. “Why did you think of that?”

“I don’t know. It just popped into my head.”

“Kai!”

“What?”

“Popped into your head. Popcorn popped into your head.”

I grinned and said, “Sorry.”

“His uncle’s popcorn?”, Ajie’s mom asked.

“His uncle is a farmer and grows gourmet popcorn.”

“I see. Don’t tell your father.”

“Oh yeah. The popcorn eating king.”

After we cleaned up the breakfast dishes, I headed for the university. And talk about being deserted, there were very few cars in the faculty parking lot, and walking across campus was like walking through a deserted city. I walked into the engineering building and saw lights on in the Dean’s office area.

As I walked into the dean’s office, I saw Sara sitting at her desk, she looked up at me and said, “Kai, what are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”, I replied.

“Me! Why?”

“What do you charge for typing a doctoral dissertation?”

“A dollar and a half a page.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s the going rate.”

I handed Sara the manila envelope with the dissertation in it. She opened it, removed the dissertation, and looked at it. She went through it looking at each page, and as she did, she commented, “Your handwriting isn’t too bad.” … “You’ve used some special things which I should have on one of the IBM golf balls that I have.” … “This shouldn’t take too long. When do you need it?”

“When you have it done.”, I replied. “I don’t want to rush you.”

“I won’t guarantee it. But I should have it done sometime the first week of classes.”

“You have my home phone number if you have any questions. Don’t you?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Sara replied.

“Plus, I’ll check in with you when I’m on campus.”

“That’ll be good. I’ll be working on this at home, but I’ll bring it in with me so you can check on it anytime you’re here.”

“I wondered if you did the typing here or not.”

“Not on company time.”, Sara said.

“What’s not on company time?”, I heard a voice say. I turned and looked, and it was Dean Rutherford.

“Dean, why are you here?”, I asked the Dean.

“Someone on this college’s faculty has to work.”

“And I figure that’s why Sara’s here.”, I said.

“You’re right.” Dean Rutherford said. “So, why are you here, Miss Nez.”

“I brought my dissertation for Sara to type.”

“Finally going to do it.”

“Yes, can’t let Ajie beat me.”

“Oh! She’s working on one too?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“Yes sir, in nursing.”, I replied.

“So, both of you will be ready for winter quarter graduation?”

“It’s possible.”

“Oh, how are the twins?”

“They’re doing amazing.”

“That’s good to hear.”, the Dean said. “I’ve got to run. I’ve got a meeting.”

“See you next week, Dean.”, I said.

“Have a Happy New Year, Miss Kai.”

“Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel! - (Happy New Year!), Dean Rutherford.”

“I take it that’s Navajo for Happy New Year.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Dean left, and I asked Sara to make me a copy of my dissertation before I left. She did that, put it in a folder, and handed it to me. Then I said, “Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel!, Sara.”

“Happy New Year, Kai.”, Sara replied. “See you next year.”

“Yes, you will, Sara.”

I left the university and headed home. I stopped at the end of the driveway and got the paper and the mail. And when I walked into the house, I found my mother and Ajie in the big room feeding the twins.

As I walked over to them, the twins looked at me. And I looked at them, smiled, and said, “Yá’át’ééh, she'awéé' Tsé dóó she'awéé' Haseya. - (It is good my baby Tsé and my baby Haseya.)”

Ajie asked, “So what’s Sara going to charge you for the typing?”

“A dollar and a half per page.”, I replied.

“Not bad.”

“As long as it doesn’t go a hundred pages.”

“It shouldn’t. Mine wasn’t anywhere close to a hundred pages, and yours looks like it may be just a few more pages than mine.”

“We’ll see.”

After lunch, Ajie ran to the grocery store to pick up things that we needed for New Years'. And the diaper guy showed up with a fresh supply of diapers.

We did something with the twins right after their two o’clock feeding. We bundled them up, strapped them into their Awéétsáál or cradleboards and took them outside. The sun was out, and it had warmed up, besides the twins were bundled up. The Awéétsáál can be worn as a backpack, so I picked up Tsé in his cradleboard and carefully slung it over my shoulders. Then I helped Ajie with Haseya. As we walked out of the house, Ajie was walking behind me so she could watch Tse’s reaction, and my mom was behind Ajie so that she could watch Haseya’s response.

We knew that the twins couldn’t focus on things more than twelve inches away, so they wouldn’t see much. We just wanted to take them outside. Ajie said, “Kai, Tsé is trying to look around.”

“That’s great.”, I said. “Is the sun too much for him?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Haseya seems to be enjoying it too.”, my mother said.

As we walked around the backyard, Ajie started singing.

We slowly walked once around the backyard and then took them into the hogan. Then we went back into the house, took them out of the cradleboards, and put them down for a nap.

As we walked back into the big room, Ajie said, “That was fun. We need to do that as much as we can.”

“We can do that.”, I said. “As long as it isn’t too cold or raining.”

“That would be good for them.”, my mother said. “The more stimulation that they have, the better it is for them.”

Today, Tuesday, is New Year’s Eve, and Charlie and Jackie were coming up for dinner and to spend the night. So we spent the day taking care of the twins and cleaning the house. As Ajie made sangria and put together the fixings for dinner, which was frybread tacos, I wanted to change the mid-term and finals for my classes, so I worked on the mid-term tests and would do the final exams later.

It was another somewhat warm day, so after their lunch, we bundled the twins up again, strapped them into their cradleboards, and took them for a walk, but this time we walked around the house and then down the driveway to the street. As we made it to the mailbox, a car was coming up the road. It was too early for Charlie and Jackie to be here. As the car pulled even with us, it stopped, and it was our neighbors, Hosteen Tl'izilani and his wife, Jáan. They stopped, and Hosteen rolled down his car window and said, “Hello, you two. Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel! - (Happy New Year!) How are things?”

“Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel! We’re doing great. How about you.”

“Where great.”

Then Jáan asked, “Are you just carrying the awéétsáál - (cradleboards) for fun?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “We have two new members of the family with us.”

With that, Jáan jumped out of the car as she said, “I have to see.”

She ran around the car, and by the time she got to us, Ajie and I had taken the cradleboards off and were holding them. She looked at the twins and said, “Ajie, I didn’t know that you were pregnant?”

“I wasn’t.”, Ajie said. “We’re adopting them.”

“That’s wonderful. Are they twins?”

“Yes, the boy is Tsé, and the girl is Haseya. And they’re just three weeks old.”

“They are just so cute. Be sure and let us know when you have their A’wee Chi’deedloh - (Baby Laughed Ceremony).”

“We’ll do that.”

Jáan talked to the twins for a minute, then said to us, “We’ll see you later. Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year!”

Jáan got back in the car, they waved and drove up the street and into their driveway. Then Ajie said, “That was fun.”

“It was.”, I replied.

Then we put the cradleboards back on, and I walked over the mailbox. There was no mail, but the Albuquerque paper was here. I happened to look at the paper, and there was a full-color picture on the front page of the Earthrise picture that was taken by the Apollo 8 astronauts. I showed it to Ajie, who said, “That is a great picture.”

“It is.”, I said. “I’d love to get a copy of the picture.”

“Well, you’ve got a contact at N.A.S.A.”

“I do. Don’t I.”

“Yes, you do. Just ask him, and I’ll bet that he’ll send you one.”

“I just may do that.”

We walked back up the driveway to the house, and took the twins to the master suite, and put them down for a nap. When we walked back into the big room, my mother was sitting and reading. She looked at us and asked, “So, how was your walk?”

“Fun.”, Ajie said. “The twins met our neighbors.”

“That’s good.”

Then I unfolded the newspaper and showed my mother the picture on the front page, and said, “And this is the Earthrise picture from the Apollo 8 mission.”

“That is some picture.”

A while later, we heard the ding from the driveway. I looked at the clock and said, “That should be Charlie and Jackie.”

As we heard the ding-dong, Ajie and I got up and walked to the front door, and just as we got there, the doorbell rang. I opened the door, and it was Charlie and Jackie. Ajie and I both said, “Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel! T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (Happy New Year! Please come in.)”

Charlie, carrying a suitcase, smiled, and said, “Yeah. What you said.”

“We just said, ‘Happy New Year. Please come in.’”

“Then Happy New Year to you.”, Then as he handed me a bag, he added, “And Merry Christmas.”

I took the bag, a cloth bag, and looked at it. On it was stenciled, ‘ Hamilton Farm’s Gourmet Popcorn.’

“What’s this for?”, I asked.

“Remember that one New Year’s Eve when you were making popcorn, and I talked about getting you some of my uncle’s popcorn.”

“Of course.”

“It took a while, but now you have it.”

“So, he sells all of his popcorn himself?”

“No, they have a little farm market that my aunt runs and sell it there. They also sell it at some of the local stores, but most of it goes to a large supplier of popcorn.”

As Jackie handed a bottle to Ajie, she said, “And here’s some cooking oil that he sells.”

I looked at the bottle, and the label said, ‘Hamilton Farm’s Gourmet Popcorn Oil’

“Thanks, guys.”, I said. “It looks like we’re having gourmet popcorn tonight.”

“Can’t go wrong with that.”, Charlie said.

“You know the funny thing about this?”, Ajie said.

“No, what’s that?”, Charlie asked.

“We were just talking about your uncle’s popcorn and that New Year's Eve.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Kai just said that your uncle’s popcorn just popped into his mind.”

Charlie looked at me and asked, “Are you clairvoyant now, Kai?”

“I sure hope not.”, I said.

Even though they’d met before, when we walked into the house, we reintroduced my mother to Charlie and Jackie. Then Jackie asked, “Where are the little ones?”

“Taking a nap.”, Ajie replied. “But they’ll be up soon.”

“I can’t wait to see them.”

Ajie went to work on supper with the help of my mother and Jackie. I showed Charlie the stereo, and we picked some music to listen to. Then he and I talked about the Apollo flight, their trip home, and other things. Just before Ajie was going to start making the fry bread, we heard from the twins. And I said, “I’ll take care of them.”

Then Jackie said, “Can I help?”

“Sure. I hope you can stand dirty diapers.”

“I have younger brothers and sisters.”

Jackie and I went back to the master suite, and as we walked in, she said, “You did say that they were going to sleep in the same crib and in your room. How’s that working?”

“It’s been good. And I think we sleep better too.”

We walked over to the crib, and the twins were looking up at us. And I said, “Here we have Haseya and Tsé. Tsé is the old man. He’s fourteen minutes older than Haseya.”

“They are so cute.”, Jackie said. “Do their names mean anything?”

“Tsé means rock and Haseya means she rises. I know we’re going to call Haseya Hana. It was my grandmother’s name. Tsé we may just call him Tsé.”

“I think that Rock might be a good nickname for him.”

“We’ll have to talk about that.”

We changed their diapers, and yes, they both had stinky ones. Then with Jackie carrying Haseya and me carrying Tsé, we walked out to the big room. My mother carrying their bottles, asked, “Do you want me to feed them.”

“I’d like to feed Haseya.”, Jackie said. "If I could?"

"Of course you can."

As Jackie sat, my mother gave her a diaper for a burp cloth and a baby bottle. Then I handed Tsé to my mother, and she sat and fed him. I went to the kitchen to help Ajie. Charlie was already there, setting the table for dinner. Ajie put me to work helping with the tacos.

Ajie had it timed almost perfectly, just as my mother and Jackie took the twins and put them to bed, Charlie and I started making the fry bread, and Ajie worked cooking the fixings. A short time after my mother and Jackie joined us, we were ready to sit down. Along with the frybread tacos, Ajie had a corn casserole that was made with corn, red bell peppers, and jalapenos. And the five of us drank sangria.

As we ate, Charlie asked, “Kai, I know how much you like sangria and also ginger ale milkshakes. If you had to choose one of those as your favorites, which would it be?”

I thought for a minute, then said, “Now that’s a tough question to answer.”

“Which is it?”

“I think it would depend on what I was eating. If it’s something like we’re eating now, it would be sangria. If it’s hamburgers and french fries, it would be the ginger ale milkshakes.”

“Come on. Pick one.”, Charlie said.

Again I thought for a few seconds, then said, “Okay. A ginger ale milkshake made with sangria,”

“Kai!”, Ajie said.

“I’m sorry.”, I said. “But I can’t pick one or the other.”

I saw my mother smile, then she said, “Kai, I’ve never known you not to be able to make a decision.”

“Well, mom, that’s one.”

We finished, then made dessert. Yes, it was fried ice cream. Ajie had made the vanilla ice cream balls earlier. So as she coated the ice cream balls with a mixture of cornflakes and cinnamon, then I’d deep fry them for about ten seconds. And there was honey and whipped cream on the table to top them with.

After we’d finished, Charlie said, “Ajie, you outdid yourself, that was one amazing meal.”

“Yes, it was.”, my mother agreed.

“It was nothing.”, Ajie said.

After everything was cleaned up, my mother sat in the big room and read. And the rest of us went to the dining room and played cards. We finally heard from the twins at about eight, Ajie and Jackie went to take care of them. And Charlie and I went to make popcorn.

Charlie watched as I pulled out an eight-quart pot with a lid, a measuring cup, the popcorn that Charlie’s uncle had grown, also the popcorn oil, and a paper bag. After the first batch was finished, I looked at it and said, “That popcorn really pops big and is pure white.”

“That it is.”, Charlie said. "And I like the way you make popcorn. Especially putting it into a brown paper bag.”

“My dad taught me that. It helps mix in the salt and removes excess oil.”

I dumped that the first load into the paper bag. And then I made a second batch. After I finished the second batch, I dumped that into the paper bag. Then I melted some butter in the pan. Then as Charlie shook the bag, I drizzled the butter over the popcorn. Then I slowly added a little salt as Charlie continues shaking the bag. I’d add some salt, stop, and we’d check it and kept adding salt until we were happy with it.

I got an old newspaper, set it on the table, and set the bag of popcorn on the paper. Then I retrieved five bowls. The first one to the table was my mother, and she dug a bowl full of popcorn out of the bag, tasted it, and said, “This is wonderful popcorn.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Young.”, Charlie said.

Ajie and Jackie, carrying the twins, walked out of the big room where they’d been feeding the twins and tasted the popcorn. Ajie said, “Yum.”

Jackie said, “This is almost better than yours, Charlie.”

“What!”, Charlie said.

“I said almost.”

“Okay.”

Charlie and I took the popcorn and bowls into the big room. Ajie and Jackie took the twins. And my mother followed with a pitcher of sangria and glasses. Then I turned on the TV and found a station that was covering the New Year’s Eve celebration. And we sat, ate popcorn, drank sangria, watched TV, and talked. The twins were asleep in their car seats, and we let them stay with us.

At one point, my mother said, “Kai, I need to take some of this popcorn home to your father.”

“You’ll spoil him and then he won’t be able to get more.”, I said.

“Maybe you can.”, Charlie said. “My uncle said that he’d be willing to ship it if the buyer would pay to ship it.”

“That would work for us.”, I said.

“I think that would work for us too.”, my mother said.

“And, mom, I’ll give you some to take home.”

“Thank you.”

“Charlie, would you contact your uncle and see what quantities that he’d sell his popcorn and oil. And what the shipping would be from him to here and to Columbus?”, I asked.

“Sure will, Kai.”, Charlie said.

The twins woke up a little after eleven, and my mother and Jackie took care of the diaper detail. As we were feeding them, the phone rang, and I said, “I wonder who the heck is calling at this time?”

“Answer it and find out.”, Ajie said.

I got up and walked to the phone in the kitchen, picked up the handset, and said, “Hello, Nez residence.”

And I heard, “Hello, Kai. It’s Aunt Ruth.”

“What’s wrong, Aunt Ruth.”

“Nothing, honey.”

“Why are you calling so late?”

“We have a bunch of people here and just heard something that I think you need to hear.”

“Okay, what is it?”, I said.

“Let me have you talk to Chief Clah.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“Okay.”

“Hold on.”

A second later, I heard, “Hello, Kai.”

I knew the voice, and I said, “Hello, Chief Clah. What’s up.”

“Kai, you and Ajie have some powerful friends.”

“Why what happened.”

“Someone put a bug in the Governor of New Mexico’s ear.”

“Governor Black?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Chief Clah said.

“What happened.”

“Well, the Governor got wind about what was going on with your adoption.”

“About the possible problem with the judge?”

“Yes, so he did something.”

“What?”, I asked.

“There happened to be a state-appointed judgeship open, and he offered it that judge, and he took it.”, Chief Clah said.

“You are kidding me?”

“No, Kai, I’m not kidding. He’s now out of the picture. He’ll be down in Las Cruces by the end of January. And, he turned in his resignation into Chief Kinlicheeny, and it’s effective tomorrow.”

“Oh! Thank the Great Spirit.”

“I don’t know how much the Great Spirit knows about it. But, I feel that the problems are over.”

“Does the Governor know about this judge?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Chief Clah said.

“And he still appointed him to that post?”

“He who appoints can remove.”

“Oh.”

“So if the judge screws up, the Governor can toss him out.”

“Has anyone been appointed to replace him?”

“Not yet. The Chief might have some ideas, but if he does he’s not saying.”

“So, it will be up to Chief Kinlicheeny.”

“Yes, and it’ll happen well before you need to see them.”

“Chief Clah, thank you so much for letting me know. Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel! - (Happy New Year!) Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)

“Nizhónígo Nináánááhai Dooleel, Kai. Hágoónee'.”

I hung up the phone and just stood there for a minute. Then I walked back into the big room. Ajie gave me a puzzled look and said, “We only heard half of that conversation. But, was it what I think it was about?”

“It was.”, I said.

I walked over and sat next to Tsé, who was in his car seat next to Ajie and sound asleep. Then I said, “Aunt Ruth called, and I ended up talking to Chief Clah.”

“So what’s going on? We heard some names tossed around.”

“Ah.”, Charlie said. “Should we leave?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “You don’t know about this, but we found out that the judge who was assigned to hear our adoption decree has a problem with people like Kai.” And Ajie went on to tell Charlie and Jackie the story of the transphobic judge. And they were shocked.

Then Ajie looked at me and said, “Now, Kai, what did Chief Clah tell you.”

“It appears that Governor Black got wind of our problem with the judge. He had an opening in a state court in Las Cruces, and he offered it to that judge, and the judge took it. So, he’s out of our hair.”

Ajie got up, came over to me, sat on my lap, and said, “Thank the Great Spirit.” Then she kissed me.

When we broke the kiss, I looked at our company and said, “Sorry. But it’s a major problem solved.”

“Honey.”, my mother said. “It’s all right.”

“It sure is.”, Jackie said.

Then Ajie asked, “Is there anyone to take his place?”

“Not yet.”, I replied. “That’s up to Chief Kinlicheeny. And Chief Clah said that there would be someone appointed well before our adoption decree.

“Now, I need some sangria.”