One of the other reasons that we went to the resort was to take a hike in the mountains near the fire tower. So, on Wednesday morning, we'd left the resort early and drove to the fire tower. We'd hiked the main trail to where we’d found the cross trail that would take us to the sacred place, but we couldn’t find the trail. Maybe the spirits didn’t feel that we needed to find it.

We'd hiked a little further away from the fire tower and then headed back. And it appeared that it was just in time. The cold front that was supposed to arrive after dark had sped up and was now almost here. We'd made it to the fire tower, climbed up the ten flights of step, and found Paul Goodfellow, the fire watcher. We'd weathered the storm with him and had an experience with St. Elmo’s fire. Ajie appeared to be more relaxed with this thunderstorm than any other. Later, when we were back at the resort, Naainish told us that spirits had shown us that we didn’t need to find the sacred place.

The next day, Thursday, we were still at the resort. The only things that we did was fill out the adoption application, relax, and cook dinner for my aunt and uncle.

Friday, we'd gone to the shooting range, and that evening was the barbecue. Along with the things we do there, we'd sat down with Chief Clah and his wife, Mai, and had gone over the adoption application. Chief Clah said that we’d done an excellent job, and he was surprised when he read our financial statement.

At the bonfire, as Ajie and I meditated, I had the vision of the Indian maiden, the wolf, and the Eagle. The wolf had his head on her lap, so he was at ease. So, as Naainish would say, ‘It is good.’

We were back home on Saturday after stopping to visit the Eagles. Then on Sunday evening Ajie and I had sat by the fire pit in the courtyard and meditated together. And I'd decided to have one more go with doing research for Los Alamos. Is this the right decision? We shall see.

As Ajie and I were eating breakfast on Monday morning, I said, “I just realized that the last barbecue of the year is only two weeks away. Where did the summer go?”

“It’s been a busy summer.”, Ajie said. “And it looks like we’re not going to make it to Hawaii this year.”

“Sorry. But, you’re right, it has been a busy summer.”

“And classes start on the eighteenth of next month.”

“Right. Are we ready for this?”

“I hope.”, Ajie said. “Plus, there may be a child in our future.”

“Have we bitten off more than we can chew?”, I asked.

“I don’t think so. We have a way of making things work.”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

“That we will.”

Both Ajie and I were going into the university today. Me to talk with Dr. Joe, and Ajie to work a shift in the ER.

Later as I walked into the office, Dr. Joe was there, and he just watched me as I walked in and over to the work table. I set my purse on the work table, sat in the chair, and folded my arms across my chest. Dr. Joe sat back in his chair and said, “Uh oh.”

“Did something happen?”, I asked.

“With your body language and the look on your face, something did.”

“Not really. Did something happen here?”

“No. So why the look?”

“Just to get a reaction out of you.”

“Kai!”

With a smile, I said, “Good morning, Dr. Joe.”

“Good morning, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Joe grumbled.

“Your aunt and uncle said to say hello.”

“My aunt and uncle?”

“The Fairbrothers.”

“Oh, where did you see them?”

“They were on their way to Arizona and stopped Friday night at the resort for the barbecue.”

“I wish I’d known. We would have come up.”

“We didn’t know either. It was a surprise.”

“So, did you decide on the Los Alamos thing?”, Dr. Joe asked.

I sat back in my chair, and in a serious way, said, “Well, … yes, I did.”

“Care to share?”

“I’ll give them another chance. But it’s the last one. If anything, anything at all happens, I’m just going to walk away from it.”

“I can understand that, Kai. And I may walk away with you.”

“Think of your family first.”, I said.

“You need to think about your family too.”

“There’s just Ajie and me.”

“Yeah, right now. How about when the adoption goes through?”

“Oh yeah. That wouldn’t be good.”

“No, it wouldn’t.”

Then Dr. Joe said, “So, how was your vacation?”

“It wasn’t a vacation.”, I said. “And we almost got caught in a thunderstorm while hiking in the mountains.”

“That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not. But luckily, we got to the fire tower before the storm did. And stayed there with Paul until the storm moved out.”

“How high up were you.”

“I’d guess the tower is somewhere around seventy-five feet tall. And you can see forever in all directions from the top.”

“So, you were inside the storm?”

“Oh yeah. You could feel the electrical charge in the air, and we were visited by some St. Elmo’s fire.”

“That would have been interesting to see.”

“It was, and it appeared as a ball and moved around the cab.”

“Cab?”

“That’s what they call the building at the top of the tower. And the fire watcher lives there during the summer.”

“Sounds like a fun job.”

“Paul, the guy at this tower, is an instructor at one of the California universities and does this in the summer. He says it gives him time to write.”

“So, when do you want to talk to Dean Rutherford?”

“Any time.”, I replied.

Dr, Joe picked up the phone and dialed the Dean’s office, and I heard, “Hi Sara. This is Dr. Oshie. Does the Dean have time to see Miss Nez and me.” … “Okay. I’ll hold.” … “In ten minutes. That’ll be fine. Thanks, Sara. Bye.” and he hung up the phone.

And I said, “Ten minutes?”

“Been eavesdropping, Miss Nez?”

“How could I help but eavesdrop. I’m sitting right here.”

Dr. Joe just grinned. And I shook my head.

Ten minutes later, we were walking into the Engineering College’s main office. Sara saw us and said, “Hi, Dr. Oshie. Kai. Go on back.”

“Thanks, Sara.”, I said.

We walked back to the Dean’s office, Dr. Joe knocked, and we heard a “Come.”

Dr. Joe opened the door, and we walked in, the Dean looked up and said, “Dr. Oshie. Miss Nez. Have a seat.”

As we sat, the Dean added, “No, problems today, I hope.”

“No, sir.”, Dr. Joe said. “Everything is fine.”

“That’s good to hear. So, what can I do for you.”

“Go on, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Dean Rutherford.”, I said. “I’ve had time to think over what went on with Los Alamos, and I decided that if they have anything for us and they want me, us, to work on it. That we’re ready for it.”

“That’s good to hear, Miss Nez.”, the Dean said. “But, am I sensing a but in your statement.”

I looked at Dr. Joe, then back at the Dean, and said, “Dean, like I told Dr. Oshie, I’ll give them another chance. But it’s the last one. If anything happens, I’m just going to walk away from it.”

“There isn’t much more that I could ask of you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Should I call Los Alamos?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“Yes, sir.”, I replied.

“I’ll do that. When would you like to get started?”

As I looked at Dr. Joe, I said, “I guess as soon as possible. Right, Dr. Oshie?”

“That would be good.”, Dr. Joe said.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything.”, the Dean said.

We said so long to Dean Rutherford and went to the faculty dining room to get something to drink.

When we were sitting at a table with our drinks, Dr. Joe said, “Kai, Are you ready for the fall quarter?”

“I think.”, I replied. “I’m only teaching the classes that I taught last year. And have to check to see that nothing has been superseded. But since the latest edition of the book was published at the beginning of last school year, we should be fine. If not, I’ll put out a handout.”

“Want to do more classes?”

“I could. But, I’d need time to prepare. Why what do you have in mind.”

“It’s going to depend on how heavy the research load is. But, you are such a good researcher and instructor. I was thinking of you doing the Independent Study course.”

“What’s involved?”, I asked.

“Approving the student’s topic and then grading their paper.”, Dr. Joe said. “And providing a little guidance if needed. There’s also an Honors section of the class.”

“Would you want me to do both?”

“Possibly.”

“That might be interesting.”

“You only have two class meetings, and then have office hours for counseling.”

“How big are the classes?”

“Not that big. The regular class has between twenty and thirty, and the honors class has maybe five or six.”

“If you want to, let’s do it.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s see what Los Alamos throws at us before we make a final decision.”

“You’re the boss.”, I said.

“You finally realized that!?”, Dr. Joe said in mock surprise.

I looked at him, grinned, and said, “At least as far as anyone else is concerned you are.”

With a deep sigh and shaking his head, he said, “Kai!”

When we were back in the office, Dr. Joe took a folder out of his desk drawer, and as he handed it to me, he said, “These are the guidelines that we hand out for the Independent Study course. Look them over and be sure you want to do this.”

“Do you mind if I take them home?”, I asked.

“No problem.”

“I’m going to go and work on my project.”

“Which one?”

“I need to figure out what kind of sensor I want to use on the driveway. An infrared electric eye or maybe an inductive loop detector buried in the driveway. And I’m leaning towards the inductive loop.”

“Why?”

“An animal coming up the drive wouldn’t set it off.”

“Good point.”

“I found a good description of one with a schematic, and I think I can breadboard one together once I find all the pieces and parts.”

“The Allied Radio Catalog should have everything you need if the local stores don’t have it.”

“I know. I just got the new catalog. But today, I think I’m going to just run the cable from the house to where I want the loop.”

“That’s a lot of digging.”

“Not in sand.”

On the way home, I stopped by the hardware store and started looking at shovels. One of the guys from the store walked up and asked if he could help. I told him what I was up to, and he suggested a flat spade and maybe a triangle hoe. After looking at them, I took both the flat spade and the hoe.

And after running the cable from where I figured would be a good place in the trees to mount the control box to the garage, I’m glad I took both the spade and pointed hoe. I used the hoe ninety percent of the time. The only problem I ran into was with the roots when I was in the trees. I also buried plastic conduit and ran the cable through it in places where a car or truck would drive over it. Now all I had to do was build the unit, the loops, and install it.

When Ajie was home, I had a nice dinner almost ready. And after she had her shower, we were sitting down to dinner, and I filled her in on my day. And she filled me in on hers.

Ajie was most interested in my talk with the Dean. And she wasn’t surprised when I told the Dean that if anything happened that I was going to walk away.

Then I mentioned that Dr. Joe and I had talked about the Independent Study course in Electronic Engineering. And she was excited about me being asked to do it.

I’m not going to bore you with all the details of what went on over the next three days except to tell you a little something about each day. But, Tuesday was the most interesting of the three and will be more than just a little something. On Tuesday, I found all the parts that I need for the inductive loop in two of the local electronic supply stores and had started building the breadboard circuit.

Then after dinner, we heard from Chief Clah. He had given our adoption application to Mrs. Biakeddy. And that had gone over it together. Chief Clah said that Mrs. Biakeddy never said anything, but he could tell that she was impressed. And that the Navajo Children and Family Services people would like to do a home visit this coming Friday at one in the afternoon.

I turned, looked at Ajie, and told her, “They want to do the home visit this Friday at one.”

Ajie looked at me, smiled, and said, “Sounds good to me.”

Then I said into the phone, “Chief, one on Friday will be fine. Can I ask you a favor?”

“You’d like me to be there.”, Chief Clah said. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, I’d feel better if you were.”

“Kai, there won’t be any problems. But I’ll be there.”

“I’m glad. Is there anything that we should do?”

“Just be yourself.”

“Something to drink?”, I asked. “Maybe a snack.”

“That might be good.”, Chief Clah said.

“How many will there be?”

“Probably Mrs. Biakeddy and two, maybe three, others.”

“And they’ll all be natives.”

“Yes, everyone that’s with the Navajo Children and Family Services is a member of one of the local tribes, and most are Navajo.

“And, Kai, I would be the male, Kai. But, don’t be surprised if the Nádleeh Kai comes up.”

“So they know that about me?”, I asked.

“Kai, the whole Navajo Nation knows about you in one way or another.”, Chief Clah said. “And I’ve never heard anything bad.”

“Well, I guess we shall see you on Friday a little before one.”

“I’ll be there about twelve-thirty.”

“Oh, do you know how to make coffee?”, I asked.

“Of course. Don’t you?”, Chief Clah asked.

“No, we don’t drink it. But we have a coffee maker from when our parents were here. And I’ll pick up some good coffee.”

“Does your grocery carry bean coffee?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll check.”

“If they do, pick up some good bean coffee and have it ground to the type of coffee maker that you have. And I’ll make it when I get there.”

“Okay, they also have a good bakery, and we’ve learned that one of the ladies is a Navajo, and she makes some great pastries.”

“Good. So, I’ll see you Friday. Hágoónee', Kai.”

“Hágoónee', Chief Clah.”

As I hung up the phone, Ajie said, “So we need to get some coffee and pastries for Friday?”

“That’s what Chief Clah said would be good, and he’ll make the coffee when he gets here.”, I replied.

“We’ll need to get some coffee cups or mugs.”

“If you want mugs, we can get them at the bookstore.”

“Or, we could get cups.”, Ajie said.

“We could.”, I replied. “Maybe we should think of getting a good set of china.”

“We could do that. And you know, we could make small blueberry fry breads for a snack.”

“Hmm. And they’d be fresh.”

As we were getting ready for bed, I said, “You know. I’m getting nervous about this home visitation thing.”

“Why?”, Ajie asked.

“We’re going to have strangers in our home. They’ll be looking around and asking questions. And they hold our hopes of adopting in the palms of their hands.”

“Honey, I think we hold those hopes in the palms of our hands. It’s up to us to provide a good look into our lives without going overboard. We also need to answers the questions that they ask as truthfully as we can.”

And Ajie, as only Ajie can, took my mind of the home visitation.

Wednesday, Ajie and I went into downtown Albuquerque and to the big department store. We picked out a nice, but not fancy, set of china. And on the way home, we stopped at the grocery store and picked up coffee and ground it. Then when we were back home, all the new dishes went into the dishwasher. And Ajie started going through the house to be sure that everything was in its place. Along with helping Ajie, I finished building the inductive loop detector and the loop that needs to be placed in the driveway. I’ll do that tomorrow.

Thursday, Ajie was working the day shift in the ER, and she left me a list of things to do. So, after I finished Ajie’s list, I did a temporary install of the breadboard circuit, and I installed the loop in the driveway. When Ajie was back home, and we’d had dinner, I had her help me test the loop detector. As Ajie drove her car repeatedly over the loop, I adjusted a few things. Then I hooked up the loop detector to the other part of the chime in the kitchen. Now when someone drives in the driveway the chime goes ding, and when they walk in the front gate the chime goes ding-dong. I’ll do a permanent installation later.

Now, today, Friday, was the day the people from the Navajo Children and Family Services were coming for a home inspection. I could sense Ajie’s nervousness. She was like she was on a mission, everything had to be perfect. I finally had to corral her. I sat her down and said, “Love, everything is looking good.”

“It’s got to be perfect.”, Ajie said.

“Honey, it is.”

“Did you lay fires if both fire pits?”

“It did that yesterday.”

“Do we have everything for the blueberry frybread.”

We’d gotten that two days ago.

I took Ajie's hand and led her out to the hogan. As we walked into the hogan, I said, “Sit by the fire pit.”

“We don’t have time.”, Ajie replied.

“We have time. Go and sit.”

Ajie went and sat by the fire. I lit the fire, then sat at the fire, but across from her. I looked at her and said, “Love, you need to relax. You are getting yourself too worked up.”

“You’re right.”, Ajie replied.

“Meditate with me. It’ll help. Look into the fire and listen to its spirit.”

I watched as Ajie looked into the fire, and I started a quiet chant that came to me. And Ajie picked up on it and joined me. When we finished the chant, I looked up at Ajie and asked, “Feel better?”

“Yes.”, Ajie replied. “Thank you.”

“You were just getting too wound up, and that wouldn’t be good with those people coming.”

“I know. And it took you to see it. Ayóó' áníínísh'ní, Kai Nez. - (I love you, Kai Nez.)”

“Ayóó' áníínísh'ní, aldó. - (I love you, too.)”

As we got up, I said, “I’ll come back out later and re-lay the fire.”

“You don’t need to.”

“Yes, I do.”

We went back into the house and changed. Amy put on a long velvet skirt and a fancy blouse. Then added a pair of wrap moccasins. She braided her hair into a single braid. Her hair is so long that the end of the braid almost reached her waist. Then she added one of the simple braided leather headbands. For earrings, she used the ones that my grandfather had made, the round silver piece with the gold feathers. She wore the beaded choker that we’d been given to her when she was made an honorary member of the clan. She added a couple of bracelets and rings. One of the rings was one of the rings that Mr. Yazzie had made. And a Concho belt.

I changed into Kai’s male clothes. So I didn’t have much of a choice. Wrap moccasins, white linen pants, and the ribbon shirt. Ajie braided my hair into a man’s braid. I added one of the other Concho belts, plus a couple of bracelets and rings.

We went back into the main part of the house and just did things until it was time to start the blueberry frybread. While Ajie got started with the frybread, I dug out the coffee maker and cleaned it up. Then we had lunch.

Ajie and I had just cleaned up from making the frybread when we heard a ding from the chime in the kitchen. I looked at Ajie and said, “That should be Chief Clah.”

“You think?”, Ajie said.

About a minute later, we heard a ding-dong from the chime as Chief Clah walked through the front gate. Ajie looked at me and said, “I like this.”

“I thought you might.”, I replied.

Then the doorbell rang. Ajie and I walked to the front door, and I opened it, and it was Chief Clah, so I said, “Yá’át’ééh, Naat'áanii Clah. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good, Chief Clah. Please come in.)”

“Yá’át’ééh, Kai dóó Ajie. - (It is good, Kai and Ajie.)”, Chief Clah replied.

Then Chief Clah said, “It still amazes me every time I see this house.”

“You haven’t seen the hogan yet.”, I said. “Have you?”

“You’ve added a hogan?”

“Yes. We needed a traditional Navajo house.”

“But we may have gone a little overboard.”. Ajie said.

Chief Clah followed us through the house and out through the back courtyard and to the hogan. When he saw the hogan, the Chief said, “A little overboard?”

“Well, we build it from the design that the original owners of the house had drawn up. And we added to the interior. It’s kind of a guest house with no plumbing or electricity.”

We walked over to the door to the hogan, I opened it, and we walked in. I lit a couple of the lanterns so that the Chief could look around.

The Chief did look around and said, “Can I stay here?”

“Any time.”, Ajie said. “We charge the going hotel rates, but you do get a free breakfast.”

“That sounds like a deal.”

We went back to the house, and Chief Clah got busy making coffee, and I watched him so that I could make it the next time we had company. He complimented us on our choice of coffee by saying that it was an excellent coffee. You couldn’t prove it by me.

Just before one, we heard a ding from the chime in the kitchen. The Chief just looked at me. And, I said, “That should be our visitors.”

“Huh?”, Chief Clah said.

“We never knew when someone was coming. So, I put a sensor in the driveway, and that’s what you just heard. Plus, there’s one at the front gate.”

And just then we heard a ding-dong. And the Chief said, “I assume that’s the sensor at the front gate.”

“Good guess.”

“Who did this for you.”

“No one. Did you forget that I’m an electrical engineer?”

“I did forget.”

“Plus he loves to tinker with things.”, Ajie added.

Just then, the brass bell in the big room rang. The Chief said, “I’ll let you two answer the door.”

Ajie and I walked to the front door, and I opened both of them. Standing there was Mrs. Biakeddy and three other people. And those three were noticeably native Americans, so Ajie and I said, “Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’. - (It is good. Please come in.)”

“Hello Kai and Ajie.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Thank you.”, I said. “It’s also good to see you.”

“Is this really your house?”, Mrs. Biakeddy asked in a friendly way.

“Ours and the banks.”, Ajie replied.

“It’s very nice.

“Kai and Ajie, this is Mrs. Chee, Mrs. Deschinny, and Mr. Uskilith they are part of the Navajo Children and Family Service's home visitation team. Everyone this is Ajie and Kai Nez.”

I was getting a bad feeling from one of them, but I wasn’t sure which one. But Ajie and I exchanged greetings with them. Then I invited them to follow us into the house. As we walked into the big room, Chief Clah met us. Mrs. Biakeddy said, “Chief Clah, what a surprise.”

“Hello.”, Chief Clah said. “Kai and Ajie asked me to be here as a friend.”

“That’s fine. Kai and Ajie, would you show us around the house. We need to see everything, including the basement, the garage, and the yard.”

“We don’t have a basement.”, I said. “But we’ll show you everything else.”

Chief Clah joined us as we started the tour with the three bedrooms, one of which was our office, then it was to the master suite. While we were in the master suite, Mr. Uskilith asked, “If you sleep here and the child is in one of the other bedrooms, how will you know if something is wrong?”

“A wireless baby monitor.”, I replied. Hmm, is he the one that I’m having a bad feeling about?

We walked out of the master suite across the big room to the dining room and then to the kitchen. At that point, Chief Clah started the coffee. Then we went out into the garage passing by the laundry room. Mr. Uskilith spotted the safe and asked, “Why the safe?”

“To keep important things safe.”, I replied.

Mr. Uskilith just gave me a strange look. Then asked, “Are there guns in the house?”

“Yes, locked in that safe. We only use them when we’re hiking in the mountains.”

“Do you plan on taking the child with you when you hike in the mountains.”

“Of course.”, Ajie said. “How else are they going to learn about Mother Earth and the animals.”

“I know how you’re going to answer this.”, Mr. Uskilith said. “But, won’t you be afraid to take the child into the mountains with you?”

“No, we know how to interact with the animals whose home we’re visiting. And the child will learn from us.”

Then Mrs. Biakeddy noticed the two cars that were covered, and said, “Four cars?”

“Yes, two of them are classics. Chief Clah has invited us to join the Albuquerque Classic Car Club.”

I saw Chief Clah roll his eyes. Then Mr. Uskilith asked, “What do you have?”

We walked over to the cars, and as I removed one of the covers, I said, “A 1957 Chevy Bel Air.” Then as I removed the other cover, and I said, “And a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster.”

“Two real classics and one that is rare.”

“You know your cars, Mr. Uskilith.”

“Yes, but I’m a Volkswagen man.”

“Everyone to their own love.”

Then we walked out of the garage and to the back yard. I pointed out the property line of our yard, and I told them about the national forest and pueblo land behind us. One of the women asked, “Are you planning on fencing in the yard?”

“No.”, I replied. “Why would we do that?”

“To protect the child.”

“If the child is properly taught there’s no need for a fence.”, Ajie said. “Besides, the land is not ours. We are only its caretakers. The caretakers of it for future generations. And a fence shows ownership. The land should be free.”

Then we walked over to the hogan. When they saw it, Mrs. Biakeddy said, “A hogan?”

“Yes.”, I said. “We had it build because it’s a traditional Diné – (Navajo) home. And yes, we realize that it’s not like what you’ll see out in the Nation. We use it for ceremonies and as a fifth bedroom.”

We took them inside, and I turned up the lamps that I’d lit earlier. Our four visitors looked around. And then we walked back into the house through the back courtyard and into the dining room.

Then one the woman, Mrs. Chee, who had asked about fencing in the yard, said, “I’m concerned about all the fireplaces I’m seeing. There’s one in each bedroom, one in the big room, a fire pit in the hogan, and a fire pit in the courtyard. Aren’t you afraid of the child being injured?”

“Mrs. Chee isn’t it.”, Ajie said. “Again, if the child is properly taught, there won’t be a problem. Think of the children out in the Nation where they cook every day over an open fire. Is there a problem there? No. And that’s because they are taught from the beginning to respect fire.”

Mrs. Chee didn’t have a reply. Hmm.

Chief Clah then said, “The coffee should be ready. Why don’t we sit at the dining room table, have some coffee, and talk.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said.

“Kai and I also have a treat.”, Ajie added.

Our four visitors sat on one side of the table. Chief Clah poured the coffee, and Ajie and I delivered it to the table. Then I carried over a bowl of sugar and a pitcher of milk. And Ajie brought the spoons. Then Ajie brought over the plate of blueberry frybread, and I brought over plates. Ajie, Chief Clah, and I sat across the table from our guests.

As we enjoyed the frybread and coffee, we talked. And I was finally sure who was not happy with us. It wasn’t Mr. Uskilith, but Mrs. Chee.

We talked a while longer, then I said, “When the four of you first walked in the front door, I sensed that one of you had a problem with us. At first, I thought it was Mr. Uskilith. But, now I realize that it’s Mrs. Chee.

Looking at Mrs. Chee, I said, “Mrs. Chee, what is your problem with us?”

She looked at me, then said, “What’s my problem with you. You’ve come out here from back east and pretend to be one of us. You pretend to be a Navajo. And you Ajie Nez have no Navajo blood and you Kai Nez only have one-quarter Navajo blood.

“You come out here and work your way into our lives. Now you want to adopt our children. What is your agenda?”

Chief Clah started to say something. I stopped him, and said, “Mrs. Chee, we don’t have an agenda. Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, you are an academic at the University of New Mexico, as is your wife. And you’ve somehow worked your way to be accepted by the Navajo people.”

“Do you read the Navajo Times?”, I asked.

“Of course I do.”, Mrs. Chee said.

“Do you remember seeing my name in the paper?”

“No. Why should it be there?”

“It’s been on the front page a few times.”

“I don’t remember.”

“A few years ago we came out here to visit my grandmother, who was very sick. That same year we met Chief Todachine. I also found out from a medicine man by the name of Naainish Yazzie, that I was someone special. I found out that I was a Nádleeh.

“Since then, I’ve become a member of the Navajo Nation and a member of the Big Medicine People clan, and Ajie was also made an honorary member of that clan. We asked for none of this. It was given to us. I was made a Nádleeh by the Great Spirit when I was born. And we were given the names Kai Nez and Ajie Nez by the tribal elders, and they are now our legal names.

“We fell in love with the people and the land, and it appears that the people have fallen in love with us and accepted us.”

I had watched Mrs. Chee’s eyes get bigger and bigger as I talked.

I continued with, “We fell so much in love with the people that when Chief Todachine passed, we started the Chief Todachine Memorial Scholarship for the children of the Diné – (Navajo). It was started to not only honor Chief Todachine but to help the children pursue their dreams so that they could help their people.”

“Now, Mrs. Chee, do you know who we are?”

“Oh, Great Spirit.”, Mrs. Chee said. “Please help me. I had no idea who you were. And I’m so sorry.”

“Mrs. Chee.”, Ajie said. “Kai loves his people, as do I. We will never do anything to hurt them. We only want to help them. And now, since we can’t have children, we would like to adopt a Navajo child and try to help them reach their full potential and hopefully help their people. We have much love to give and need someone to give it to.

“All we ask is to be given a chance to do that. And that is in your hands and the hands of the selection committee.”

“Ajie and Kai, you know that I knew most of this.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “But, I wanted the home visitation people to come in here with a clean slate, so I didn’t tell them anything. I’ll admit to the members of my visitation team that the first time that I met Kai and Ajie, I was taken by them. And when I met them, I met the female Kai. And the male Kai and female Kai are so different that you can’t see any similarities other than their love of the People.

“I felt right off that they would make good adoptive parents. And after being here today, I know that I’m correct in my feelings.”

Mr. Uskilith said, “After reading their application, I was skeptical about them. But after meeting and talking with them today, I’m no longer skeptical. I feel as Mrs. Biakeddy does that, they will make good adoptive parents.”

Mrs. Deschinny, the one member of the home visitation team that had remained quiet through all of this, finally said, “I’ve stayed quiet through this because I remember seeing Kai Nez at the meeting where the Big Medicine People clan was choosing a new chief. I knew who she was. And, yes, I said she. Because when I saw her there, she was a girl.”

I looked at Mrs. Deschinny, and said, “Yes, I presented as a girl then, as I do most of the time. Mrs. Deschinny, isn’t the definition of a Nádleeh someone who is changing, someone who has two spirits, someone who sees the world through the eyes of a man and a woman at the same time. I have a strong female spirit. And when I’m here in New Mexico, that spirit is very strong. She wants to be seen. And as all Nádleehs wish to do, she wants to help her people. So I become her to help her help the people.

“Naainish Yazzie has taught me, and Ajie, many things. He’s shown me the way of the Nádleeh. A few years ago, I knew nothing about it.

“I’m sitting here now as a man, and that is hard for me. But my female spirit is helping me do it. She wants us to adopt a child as badly as I do. She sees my, no, our need to have a child in our lives. She knows that we will love and nurture this child, and hopefully bring the best out of them.”

The four members of the home visitation team sat there and looked at me. Finally, Mrs. Biakeddy said, “I knew most this, but, Kai and Ajie, I didn’t know how strong your feelings were or about the Chief Todachine Scholarship. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised by everything I saw and heard here today.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing wrong with these two adopting a child. And I will say so in my report.”

Mrs. Deschinny and Mr. Uskilith agreed with her. But Mrs. Chee was still in shock, but she finally said, “I can’t believe this. And I’m so sorry that I acted the way I did. I didn’t connect you with the Kai Nez that is the Nádleeh. I’ve had my eyes opened to somethings today that, even though I’m a Navajo, I didn’t understand. And now I also see that the Nez’s will make good adoptive parents.

“And this house, since that’s why we're here, will provide a child with a wonderful place to grow up. The only drawback that I see is there are no close neighbors that might have children for them to play with.”

With a smile, I said, “Mrs. Chee, first, I don’t even understand the whole Nádleeh thing. And if you ever do come to a complete understanding of it, please tell me.

“And we know that we’re a little remote here. We wanted it that way, away from the city noise and light pollution. No one can build behind us because it’s National Forest land and pueblo land. We can’t even see our neighbor's houses. Besides, the children of both neighbors are now adults. But depending on the age of the child, we will find children of his or her age group to play with. Working at the university, we have access to their daycare facility, which Mrs. Biakeddy is aware of.”

“So am I.”, Mrs. Chee said. “It’s a wonderful facility.

“And I, like the rest of my group, feel that you will make excellent parents, and my report will reflect that.”

I looked at the four people sitting across the dining room table and said, “Ajie and I want to thank the four of you for coming today. And we hope that the selection committee will accept your reports and that Ajie and I, in the near future, will be able to adopt a child.”

“Thank you for having us.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “You have a wonderful house, and you’ve addressed all of our questions. And I know our report to the selection committee will be favorable.”

Ajie, Chief Clah, and I walked with our visitors to the front door. And as we were saying so long, Ajie and I said, “Hágoónee' t'áá ájíltso. - (See you later all people [everyone].)”

And we received a “Hágoónee' t'áá ájíltso.” from them.

As I closed the front door, I leaned against it and said, “I’m so glad that’s over.”

“It wasn’t that bad, honey.”, Ajie said.

“Says you.”

“It wasn’t.”, Chief Clah said. “The two of you handled everything very well. Even the naysayers were handled in a good way. And you did that in a way that helped them see the error of their ways.”

“Thanks, Chief.”, I said. “I just spoke my mind.”

“That you did.”

We went back to the kitchen, and Chief Clah made another pot of coffee. And when that was done, we sat out in the courtyard talking about our next steps. And that came down to waiting for the selection committee's decision.

Then I asked Chief Clah, “Chief, I have some intellectual property that needs protecting. Do you know anyone that does that?”

“As far as protecting it.”, the Chief said. “I don’t do it, but I know a patient attorney that might do it. I’ll find out and let you know.”

“Thanks, Chief.”

When the chief was leaving, we walked with him to the front door, and said so long. As we watched him walk across the front courtyard, Ajie said, “One step closer.”

“Getting excited?”, I asked.

“Aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ready to go?”

“As soon as I change.”, I replied.

“Well, hurry up. Everything is packed.”

“Okay. Why don’t you get the silver out of the safe while I change.”

“Okay.”

I quickly changed out of my male clothes into my female clothes that I usually wear to the barbecue, and we headed to the resort. Today was the next to the last barbecue for the year. I could miss this one, but not the next one.

Ajie walked with me as I closed up the house. We went to the hogan, and she helped me extinguish the lanterns that I’d lit for our visitors, and then we locked up the hogan. That was followed by checking the house and locking it up. We closed but didn’t lock the front gate. In the garage, I decided to turn off the two sensors that I’d installed. I didn’t want something happening with them while we were gone, besides the one in the driveway was only temporarily installed. I needed to put it into a better waterproof box.

A couple of hours later, we were pulling into the resort and up to my aunt and uncle’s house. Naainish’s pickup truck was here. As was another car with Arizona plates on it, it was my Uncle Gaagii’s car, so he and my Aunt Ginny were here too.

We walked into the house and found everyone, where else, but in the kitchen. Ajie and I together said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello everyone. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

And we got a resounding, “Yá'át'ééh Ajie dóó Kai. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello Ajie and Kai. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

We got hugs from my Aunt Ruth and Aunt Ginny. Then my Aunt Ruth asked how the home visitation had gone? And we gave them the details. Then my Uncle Gaagii asked who was there. I told him, “There was a Mrs. Biakeddy, a Mrs. Chee, a Mrs. Deschinny, and a Mr. Uskilith.”

“Do you know what Mr. Uskilith's first name is?” my Uncle Gaagii asked.

“No, we never heard it. Why?”

“I had a Uskilith work for me in the police department. He was a detective.”

“This guy did come across like a cop. And he likes Volkswagens.”

“That’s him. Was he okay?”

“He was nice once he saw the two classic Chevys. Why?”

“He could be a little heavy-handed. Did you tell him that you were related to me?”

“No, but you were listed on the application as my uncle.”

“So, he probably knows.”

“He probably does. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all.”

I’d been watching Naainish out of the corner of my eye as we’d talked about the home visitation and adopting. I finally looked at him, and asked, “Naainish, nothing to say.”

“Kai.”, Naainish said. “I’ve watched you and Ajie grow. You are very mature people and are ready for children. I am sorry that you can’t have your own. But the two of you will treat any child as your own. You will love them as you do your people. You and Ajie will make wonderful parents. It is good.”

I smiled, and said, “Thank you, Naainish. Coming from you that means a lot to us.”

“Are you two about ready to go to the barbecue?”, my Uncle Paul asked.

“Almost.”, I said.

“Well, get going. And we’ll see you there.”