My Dean, Dean Rutherford, had asked me to be part of a new brochure that the university was putting together. I agreed to do it. But I had some serious reservations when I ran into a group of the University’s upper management at the faculty dining room, and the Dean passed around the brochure from the resort. But, luckily, Ajie, being the level headed one of the bunch, got me to see that it wasn’t as bad as I imagined it was.

But what was bad was when I made a beginner's mistake in building the printed circuit board for the current project for Los Alamos. I was mad at myself. But, I was finally able to see the errors of my way and fixed the problem. The circuit finally passed a twelve-hour test.

One good thing that Ajie and I did was to attend a parenting class at the hospital. We picked up a lot of useful tips. One of the tips that we were given may keep me from visiting the Queen’s bed-chamber. It was to have the twins sleep in the same crib and in our bedroom.

Ajie had asked, “Now, when are we going shopping for things for the twins?”

As soon as she said that, I got up and ran for the bathroom. I made it just in time to lose my dinner and the sangria into the pot. Ajie followed me, and once I finished throwing up, she took a cold washcloth and wiped my face with it. Then she asked, “Honey, are you all okay.”

“I don’t know.”, I replied. “I’ve felt kind of off all day. And then this just hit me.”

Then I threw up again.

Ajie felt my head and said, “You do feel warm. I want to take your temperature. Do you think you can hold it under your tongue, or do we have to do it the other way?”

“Other way?”, I asked.

“You know. The ah … rectal thermometer.”

“Do it.”

A few minutes later, Ajie read the thermometer, and said, “You’re running a temp. It’s 101.7º.”

“Is that high?”

“I’d say so.”

“But why am I cold?”

“How else do you feel?”, Ajie asked.

“I feel like hell.”, I replied. “My whole body aches.”

“Love, I think you’ve got the flu. Quick onset, fever and chills, body aches, vomiting.”

“Oh, no. I’ve got classes to teach.”

“No teaching for you for at least a week. I’m going to call Vickie and have her cover for me tomorrow. Do you want me to call Dr. Joe?”

“I guess you’d better. But why are you calling off?”

“To take care of you, my love.”, Ajie said.

“You don’t have to.”, I replied.

“Oh. Yes, I do. Do you want to stay here for a little while or go crawl into bed?”

“I’ll stay here for a little while. The cold tiles feel good.”

Ajie went and got me a pillow, then said, “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Okay.”

The next thing I remember was Ajie waking me up with a, “Come on, sweetheart, let’s put you to bed.”

And the next thing I remember after that was waking up and feeling like I’d been run over by a truck. I just laid there.

Ajie walked in a few minutes later and said, “Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“It’s not a good morning.”, I said. “I feel like hell.”

“You will for a few days. Did you get the flu shot as I told you to?”

“No, I forgot.”

“Well, you don’t need one now. And you know that there’s a flu pandemic right now and it wasn’t a good thing to miss getting the shot. So from now on, you’ll get yours when I get mine.”

“Yes, Dr. Nez.”, I replied. “What time is it anyway?”

“Almost noon on Friday.”

“Noon! What about my classes?”

“I talked to Dr. Joe.”

“What did he say.”

“He’s stopping by later today to pick up your class notes so that he can teach your classes next week.”, Ajie said. “And I figure the notes are in your briefcase.”

“Yeah, they are. But what about today?”

“They canceled your classes for today.”

I shook my head, which I shouldn’t have done. It hurt.

As I held my head, I said, “What do we do for this?”

“Rest and fluids. And we have something that will help reduce your aches and pains, and your temperature. I’ll give it to you when you think you can keep it down. But first, I just want to give you some water to see if you can keep that down.”

Ajie helped me sit up and drink some water. Then as she helped me lie back down, she said, “If you can keep that down, I’ll give you something for the pain.”

She turned on the clock radio and told me just to rest. I closed my eyes, and I think I slept for a while.

When Ajie came back in, she said, “Dr. Joe was just here.”

“Why didn’t you tell me he was here?”, I asked.

“Why. You’re sick. He didn’t want to see you, but he did tell me to tell you to get well quick.”

“I didn’t even hear the ding from the sensor in the driveway.”

“I know. I turned them off so that you could rest.”

Later Ajie told me that while I was sleeping that Lieutenant Zimmerman and his sidekick Ranger Franklin from the Albuquerque Parks Department showed up to swap out the time-lapse camera with another one. And she said that Zimm had told her that they’d let her know about the pictures.

I’m not going to bore you with the weekend or the following week because it was boring. Ajie did nurse me on Saturday and Sunday. She did go into the university on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to teach her classes, and she’d come home right after she finished teaching her classes. So that left me alone with my misery in the mornings. Ajie did lay down the law and told me that I needed to be sure to drink a lot of liquids and no sangria.

On Monday, I was still having chills, so I laid and lit the first fire in the fireplace in the big room. Then I cuddled up on the couch under several blankets and slept or watched TV. As the week progressed, Ajie allowed me to have some jello, and broth, then some easy foods.

By Friday, I was feeling a lot better and getting cabin fever. And when Ajie came home from the university, she looked at me and said, “You want to get out of the house. Don’t you?”

“You know it. I’d really like to go to the resort.”, I replied.

“I don’t know about the resort. We don’t want to give the flu to your aunt and uncle. But we can go out for dinner if you like?”

“You’re right about the resort.”, I replied. “And I’d love to go out to dinner.”

“But, only to the drive-in and I’m driving.”

“Do you think we could also go for a walk?”

“Let me take your temperature and see if it’s still down.”

“Bring the oral thermometer this time.”

Ajie had taken my temperature this morning and it was 98.6º just like it was last night. When she was back, and as she stuck the thermometer in my mouth, Ajie said, “If it’s still normal, I think you’d be fine.”

A couple of minutes later, as she pulled the thermometer out of my mouth and looked at it, Ajie said, “98.6º. We can go to the drive-in, and then maybe, just maybe, for a short walk.”

“Okay, Dr. Ajie.”, I said. “You’re the boss.”

I behaved myself for the rest of the day. And as it’s the first of November, the high-temperature today was 63º, and when the Sun set, it could quickly drop to 40º. Before we left for the drive-in, we changed into our hiking gear, no shorts, but pants, coats, and hats.

As we were sitting at the drive-in enjoying our cheeseburgers, french fries, and milkshakes, I asked, “When I got sick last Friday, you’d asked me something. What was it?”

“Oh. I was just wondering when we could go shopping for things for the twins?”, Ajie replied.

“That’s right. But wouldn’t it help if we knew what sex they were.”

“True. But we could get the basics.”

“Basics?”

“A crib, a changing table, baby bottles, strollers, and everything that we would need for them. And look into diapers and maybe a diaper service. And there is a baby store downtown.”

“A diaper service?”

“Yeah, they come and pick up the dirty diapers and leave clean ones.”

“What do you do otherwise?”

“Oh, with cloth diapers, you rinse out the dirty diaper in the toilet and then wash them in the washer and dryer. Then there are disposable diapers like they talked about in that class, and those you just throw away.”

“And you’re preference is, M’lady?”, I asked.

“I think for convenience, like when we’d go to the resort with them, I’d like the disposable ones.”, Ajie replied. “But, I think that the cloth ones might be softer on their little rears. But, I want to look into it a little more.

“Have you looked into baby monitors?”

“I started to.”, I said. “But with them being in our room at night, we won’t need a room to room monitor for night time. Maybe one that has a portable receiver where we could carry it around when they’re napping. Let’s wait and see what they have at the baby store.”

After we finished our dinner, Ajie drove us over to the river trail parking lot. As we parked, we noted that there were only four other cars there. Then as we got out of the car, Ajie said, “We’re only going as far as the first bench unless you get tired before we reach it.”

“Okay. Just being out of the house feels good.”, I replied.

“I bet it does.”

We slowly walked north along the east shore of the Rio Grande River. We know this trail very well. When we reached the first bench, we walked over to it and sat. Ajie asked, “How do you feel?”

“Okay.”, I replied. “Just a little tired.”

“We’ll sit here for a little while, and then head back.”

“Okay.”

“But I’m sure glad about one thing.”, Ajie said.

“What’s that?”, I asked.

“That what Naainish told us about each other didn’t hold true this time.”

“What did Naainish say?”

“That we share everything.”

“What didn’t we share?”, I asked.

With a little smile, Ajie said, “The flu.”

“Not funny, love.”

We’d been sitting there quietly for a few minutes, and I’d been concentrating on the water. When Ajie said, “We have company.”

Looking around, I asked, “Who?”

“Look at the dead tree on the island.”

I looked at the tree, and two Bald Eagles were sitting in it looking at us. I couldn’t help but smile. We sat there and looked at each other for a few minutes, then the Eagles took off circled us twice and headed north. Ajie and I got up and slowly walked back to the car.

As we headed home, Ajie asked, “So, how do you feel?”

“Honestly. A little tired, but not bad.”, I replied. “Just being outside and seeing the Eagles helped.”

“I thought it might.”

When we were back home, I laid and lit another fire in the fireplace in the big room, and Ajie and I cuddled together on the couch, listened to the radio, and watched the fire.

We let the fire burn itself out. Then we went to bed.

Saturday morning, we were up early. After breakfast, we called my aunt and told her about me having the flu and that we wouldn’t be up this weekend. She told me to take it easy and rest.

The only thing exciting that happened today was when the mail came. Ajie went out to get the mail, and when she came back, she handed me the bills and a letter from our financial advisor. Then as she gave me a manila envelope, she said, “This was by the front door. I think it’s from Lieutenant Zimmerman.”

I took it from her and read the note on the front that said, Kai, Sorry that we missed you. The enclosed pictures are from the first camera, and it got some excellent pictures. Zimm”

I opened the envelope and took the pictures out. There were about a dozen, and they showed the Golden Eagle working on the nest. Ajie was looking over my shoulder and said, “Nice pictures from a camera like that.”

Then I noticed an envelope in Ajie’s hand and asked, “Who’s that for?”

“Me.”, Ajie replied.

“What is it.”

“It’s from my publisher.”

“Open it.”

I watched as Ajie opened it, she smiled, and said, “Wow!”

“Wow. What?”, I asked.

“It is from my publisher.”, Ajie said. “And it’s an advance check for the book.”

She handed me the letter. I looked at it and the check, and said, “It looks like you have some nice mad money.”

“Nope.”

“Nope? You earned it, so it’s yours.”

“Love. Do we need it?”, Ajie asked.

“No.”, I replied.

“I’d rather put it to a good cause.”

“Like what?”

“Maybe donate to the American Adoptions’ birth mother scholarship. But I’d like to keep it local if possible.”

“And if you can’t keep it local?”

“Put it in the Chief’s scholarship.”

“What about a scholarship for the girl?”, I asked.

“We did want to do something for her.”, Ajie replied.

“We did.”

“Let’s do it, so it’s just for her.”

“We’ll look into it Monday, and we’ll add what we were going to give her.”

“That’ll make a nice fund for her.”

“But, how do we make it, so she doesn’t know that it’s us giving it to her?”, I asked.

“Maybe talk to our lawyer.”, Ajie said. “And see if we can set up a scholarship where she won’t know where the money is coming from.”

Sunday, we decided just to stay home. Ajie worked on her dissertation, and I worked on my class presentations. I was feeling well enough to go back to teaching.

The only thing out of the ordinary that happened was that instead of us calling our parents as we usually do, they called us. We were sitting in the big room when the phone rang. I answered it, “Hello.”

“Hello, Kai. It’s mom. Are you over the flu?”, I heard my mother say.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”, I asked.

“Nothing, honey. We just decided to call you.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Ajie’s parents are here, and we thought we could do this with one phone call tonight.”

“Okay. Here’s Ajie, and I’ll grab one of the extensions.”

As I handed the phone to Ajie, I said, “It’s our moms and dads. They’re together, and they decided to call us.”

I ran over to the extension in the kitchen, picked it up, and we started talking. The first thing they wanted to know was how I was feeling. I told them that I was feeling a lot better and that I was planning on going back to the university tomorrow.

Then we talked about a bunch of things. Then Ajie’s mother said, “Kids, Kai’s mother and I have talked. And we’re going to come out to help you when the twins arrive.”

“Mom.”, Ajie said. “We appreciate it, but you don’t have to do that.”

“We know that we don’t have to do it, but we want to help you. I’m going to come out first and stay two weeks, then Kai’s mother will come out and stay at least until Christmas. Besides, we want to get to know our grandchildren.”

Ajie looked at me and mouthed, ‘What do we do?’

I shrugged my shoulders and mouthed, ‘I don’t know.’

Then my mother said, “Kids, with two babies, you’re going to need help for the first few weeks. Please let us do this.”

I looked at Ajie and nodded yes.

“Okay.”, Ajie said. “You’re probably right. We’ll need the help. So, yes, we’ll welcome the help.”

“Thanks, honey.”, Ajie’s mother said. “When is the girl due?”

“Around the first of December. And from what we’ve heard, they’ll probably keep the babies in the hospital for five to seven days.”

“Are they going to be in separate rooms when they're home?”, my mother asked.

“No. The parenting class that we went to recommended that the twins sleep in one crib and that they sleep in our room.”

And we went on to talk about the reasons for the one crib and being in our room. And once we explained it, our mothers agreed that it sounded like a good idea.

Then my father, who, along with Ajie’s father, had been listening to all of this, said, “We’d also like to buy you the cribs and other baby furniture.”

“Daddy.”, I replied. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, we do. The grandpas have to contribute to this in some way.”

“Okay, daddy. We’ll see if we can find the Rolls Royce of furniture.”

“Kai!”

“We’ll keep it down to a mild roar.”

“You’d better.”

The six of us talked a little more, then we said good night to our parents. Afterwards Ajie and I talked about our mothers coming out to help with the babies. Eventually, we agreed that it might be a good thing.

Monday morning, I walked Ajie to her class, and then I went to the office. The lights were on, so Dr. Joe was there. I walked in, and Dr. Joe asked, “Feeling better, Kai?”

“You’d better believe it.”, I replied. “I’ve never felt so bad in my life.”

“I figured as much. I know how you hate missing a class.”

“You’re right. I know how important it is to the students. So how did it go.”

“It was all right. I could tell you that your students missed you.”

“Why?”

“They just didn’t seem happy with me there.”

“It’s probably just your imagination.”

“I don’t think so.”

“So, did Los Alamos pick up the project?”

“Yes, on Monday. They were happy to have it, but missed you.”

“No new project?”

“Not yet. But I don’t think it’ll be long until we have one.”

“Good.”

I went to my first class and apologized for not being there all last week. And I could tell that my students were happy that I was back as was my second class.

Ajie was waiting for me after my second class. We were going shopping.

A short time later, we found the baby shop in downtown Albuquerque. We parked in a city parking lot and walked to the shop. As we walked into the shop, we looked around, and there were a lot of things.

It wasn’t long until a saleslady walked up to us and said, “Hello, ladies. I’m Martha, how can we help you.”

“Hello, Martha.”, Ajie replied. “My husband and I are adopting, and we need just about everything.”

“I see. How old is the baby?”

“They’ll be newborns when they come to us.”

“They?”

“Yes, twins.”

“Oh, how nice. Do you know if they’re boys or girls?”

“We don’t know.”

“Well, let me show you around.”, Martha said.

Martha gave us a guided tour of the store, and they had some beautiful things. We saw a crib that I think that both Ajie and I liked. There was also a dual-seat stroller that would probably be a good thing to have. We looked at baby bottles and bottle warmers, playpens, diapers, diaper pails, changing tables, and all kinds of toys. And then there were the clothes; clothes for boys and clothes for girls.

As we finished the tour, Martha said, “So, are we looking at separate cribs?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “We took a parenting class at the hospital, and they suggested placing them in the same crib. Something about the traumatic separation after being together for nine months.”

“We’ve heard that. And we’ve had a couple of our customers with twins that have done that, and they say that it worked well.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Let us walk around a bit, and we’ll come and see you.”

“That’ll be fine. And we do deliver.”

Ajie and I walked around and looked at things. By the time we’d left the store; we’d purchased a crib, a crib mattress, a changing table, a playpen, a dual seat stroller, and a bunch of smaller, but necessary, things. And they were going to deliver them tomorrow.

We’d also looked at baby monitors. And there were a couple that were wireless. I looked them over and chose the one that I felt was the best. We’d take it home with us, and if it didn’t work, we’d bring it back.

After we left the baby store, we decided that we’d missed lunch, so that called for a stop at our favorite drive-in.

When we were home, we decided to try the baby monitor. We took it and set it up in the master suite. Then I loaded the portable receiver with batteries. And right off there was a minor problem, as soon as we turned on the receiver we were hearing one of the local FM radio stations on it. Luckily this baby monitor had a way to change the frequency, which we did. And it was quiet. Then Ajie said something, and we heard it loud and clear on the receiver.

So, as Ajie sat in the master suite and sang, I wandered around the house to see where I could hear her or not hear her. I was able to hear her everywhere inside the house. I then wandered around outside. And not until I was about halfway between the back of the house and the National Forest did the signal fade out. Then I went to the hogan, and the signal was still good.

I went back into the master suite and told Ajie what I’d found out. And that I was happy with the baby monitor and the range that it had.

The only thing that happened on Tuesday, other than teaching, was that the baby furniture was delivered. And Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey and became the 37th president of the United States. Would this be a good thing or a bad thing? Time will tell.

The rest of this week was as normal as it could be for us. Along with teaching our classes, taking our grad level classes, and Ajie working in the ER on Thursday, we assembled the crib. Once we had that assembled, we tried placing it and the changing table in our room to see how it would fit, and it worked well. So, the crib and changing table would be in the master suite.

On Friday afternoon, we headed to the resort. And when we got there, we had to tell my aunt all about my bout with the flu. Then we talked about looking at baby things. And my aunt asked, “You’re going to need two cribs up here, aren’t you?”

“Maybe only one.”, Ajie replied.

“Only one?”

Ajie went on to tell Aunt Ruth about the twins sharing a crib. And Aunt Ruth thought it was interesting.

Ajie and I wanted to soak in one of the thermal pools before dinner. So we headed to the bathhouse and changed into our bathing suits. It felt so good, even though the air was cold, to slip into a warm pool. It wasn’t ski season yet, so we had the pools to ourselves.

After we’d run to the showers, showered, and dressed, we headed back to the house. When we got there, there were two unfamiliar pickup trucks parked next to our car. As we walked in, we found, Aunt Ruth, Uncle Paul, Naainish, and Quah Ah sitting around the kitchen table.

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.)”

Naainish replied, “Yá’át’ééh ałní'íní, Kai dóó Ajie. - (Good evening, Kai and Ajie.)”

“Is one of those pickup trucks yours, Naainish?”, I asked.

“Yes, the other one was totaled.”

“I imagine that it was.”

“Your constant reminding to wear a seat belt probably saved my life.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

“So am I.”, Quah Ah said.

I was feeling something again between them. Should I say something? No, I’ll wait.

Aunt Ruth and Ajie put together a nice dinner for the six of us. And after we’d cleaned up, I asked, “Quah Ah. Naainish. Would you like to go for a walk?”

“It’s cold, but we have coats with us.”, Quah Ah said. “Where do you want to go?”

“Up on the cliff. I want to check on the tree.”

“I’ve heard of this tree, and I’d like to see it.”

“Coming with us, Naainish?”, I asked.

“If I must.”, Naainish replied.

“You must.”, Quah Ah said. "You need the exercise."

A short time later, we were hiking up the cliff trail. The full Moon was just two days ago, so there was a lot of Moon light to hike by. It was a slow hike as Naainish was slow. At the top, Naainish walked over and sat on some rocks. I looked at him and asked, “Naainish, are you okay?”

“Yes.”, Naainish said. “I’m just not used to a walk like that yet.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have suggested this.”, Ajie said.

“No, it’s all right. I just need to work on building up my strength.”

“Also, spend some more time in the pools while you’re here.”

“I’m planning on doing that.

Quah Ah then said, “You can see forever from up here.”

“You can.”, Ajie replied. “Kai and I love to come up here for Sunsets and Sunrises.”

“Not to mention seeing the wolves and hearing the coyotes.”, I added.

“Wolves?”, Quah Ah asked.

“Yes. Usually in the morning twilight, and we’ve even had one approach us a couple of times.”

“Kai.”, Naainish said. “Remember that you are a special Nádleeh. – (Two spirit person.) That you have the spirit of the wolf. That wolf sensed your spirit and was just seeing who you are. If he just walked away, he was happy.”

“He just walked away.”

“Everything is good.”

“Where is this tree?”, Quah Ah asked.

“Over this way.”, I said as I started walking towards the tree.

Naainish got up, and the four of us walked towards the tree. When we got to the conservation area signs, Quah Ah said, “We can’t go in there.”

“You’re with us.”, Ajie said. “So, you can.”

We walked up to the fence that was around the tree. And then I told Quah Ah the story of the tree. From the original dead tree being hit by lightning, to us taking pieces of it back to Ohio and planting one little piece. And how that piece had sprouted and grown. Then bring the small tree out here and planting it.

Quah Ah smiled, nodded her head, and said, “The Great Spirit does move in strange ways.”

“Yá’át’ééh. - (It is good.)”, Naainish said.

“Naainish.”, I said. “I’m going to ask you something. If you don’t want to answer me, just say so.”

“Kai, I have nothing to hide from you.”

“I’m feeling something more than friendship between you and Quah Ah. What is it?”

I saw Naainish and Quah Ah look at each other. Then I saw Quah Ah nod yes.

Naainish looked at me and said, “Quah Ah is my daughter.”

“Your daughter? You’re a Navajo, and she’s a Puebloan.”

Quah Ah then said, “Naainish is my father, and my mother, Naainish’s wife, was a Puebloan. She died in childbirth, my birth. My maternal grandparents raised me in the Taos Pueblo with Naainish’s help. He saw the medicine woman in me and brought it out.”

“I guess I asked.”, I said.

Ajie looked at Quah Ah, saw that she was crying, and walked over to Quah Ah and held her.

I looked at Naainish and said, “I’m sorry, but I’ve been feeling something between the two of you for a long time.”

“Kai Nez.”, Naainish said. “I knew you were, and I’m surprised that it took this long to say something. And I feel that I should have told you long before this.”

Quah Ah then said, “Yes, we should have. You are good people and good friends.”

“But I brought hurt to both of you by asking that.”

“Kai, no, I now have special people that I can talk to about it. Since my grandparents passed, there wasn’t anyone but Naainish that I could talk to before now.”

We stayed there for another minute or two, then started back down to the resort. We went back to my aunt and uncle’s house and went inside. Then I asked, “Naainish, where are you staying?”

Very quietly, Naainish replied, “In the remote hogan.”

“Naainish, what did I tell you about staying there.”, Ajie said.

“I’m all healed up.”

“Possibly true. But you’re still not back to normal. You need to stay at the house for a little longer and use the thermal pools.”

“I have been using the thermal pools. Haven’t I Quah Ah?”

“Yes, he has. I’ve seen to that.”, Quah Ah said. “I’ve been here with him most of the time. But, keeping him out of that hogan is impossible. It’s a special place to him. He feels the spirits there. And honestly, I think it helps him.”

Ajie looked at Naainish for a minute then said, “Naainish, I know you feel better at the hogan. So, go there when you feel a need to. But don’t do it too often.”

Naainish smiled and said, “Yes, Dr. Ajie.”

We walked back down off the cliff and to the house. Uncle Paul had a nice fire going in the fireplace, and the six of us spent the evening just relaxing and talking.

When Naainish and Quah Ah left, I knew where they were going. Yes, to the hogan.

And when Ajie and I were cuddled together in bed, Ajie said, “You know, it didn’t surprise me to find out that Naainish and Quah Ah were father and daughter.”

“Me either.”, I said. “I was feeling a closeness between them that I’ve only felt between you and your father.”

Ajie rolled over, looked at me, and said, “You’ve felt that between my dad and me?”

“Uh huh.”

“You’ve never said.”

“I knew you felt it, so I didn’t think that I needed to.”

“Who else?”

“Other than your mother and my parents, and you’ll probably never admit this to him, but you also feel close to your brother.”

“I do. And I’ll never admit that to him.”