At the end of the week, I was finally feeling good enough to go to the drive-in for dinner and then take a walk to see the Eagles. Plus, we talked about what we may need to purchase for the twins.

Ajie received a letter and a check from her publisher. And we received some pictures from Lieutenant Zimmerman of the Golden Eagle in our backyard. Then we heard from our mothers, and they want to come out and help with the twins when they arrive.

When I was back teaching my classes, I think my students were happy that I was back.

We finally made it up to the resort for a weekend. Being November, it was cold, but it was still nice to soak in the thermal pools. 

We were surprised to find Naainish and Quah Ah at the resort. We took them for a walk to show them the little tree up on the cliff. While we were there, I asked them what their relationship was. I know it’s none of my business, but I’d been feeling something between them, and it had been bothering me. I was utterly shocked when I found out that they were father and daughter.

As we were eating breakfast with my aunt and uncle on Saturday morning, I asked, “Are they having the gathering again this year?”

“Of course.”, my Aunt Ruth said. “The last Thursday of November. Going to go?”

“Of course. It was a lot of fun last year.”

“It always is. I have a flier for it here, someplace.”

“Good. I want to be sure that Chief Tom and Vickie know about it, as well as Dr. Joe and Mary.”

“What about Charlie and Jackie?”, Ajie asked.

“Of course. They had a lot of fun last year, and I don’t think that they're going home until Christmas.”

“I’ll find that flier for you, and we can make some copies.”, Aunt Ruth said. “So, what are you going to do today?”

“We thought we’d run up to Taos.”, I said. “But first, I want to soak in one of the thermal pools.”

Later after we’d soaked in one of the thermal pools, we changed into long skirts, blouses, wrap moccasins, added a little jewelry like Concho belts, bracelets, and rings. I went with the Concho choker, and Ajie didn’t wear a choker. We both went with plain leather headbands, and both of us had our hair in a single braid.

Since it’s November, both Ajie and I had worn the blanket coats that we’d purchased from Mrs. Benallie. So we were going to be warm walking around Taos.

As we were leaving the house, I told Aunt Ruth, “We’ll be back in time to make all of us dinner.”

“Honey, you don’t have to do that.”, Aunt Ruth replied.

“I know. But we want to.”

“Okay. But there will probably be six of us.”

“Naainish and Quah Ah?”

“Good guess.”

An hour later, as we were pulling into Taos, I said, “You know I just got a sad feeling.”

“I did too.”, Ajie said. “Mr. Yazzie?”

“Yeah, I really miss him.”

“Me too.”

We parked in downtown Taos, which was easy since we’re between tourist season and ski season. Then we walked around town window shopping. But we stayed away from where Mr. Yazzie’s shop had been.

We walked down a street that we’d never been to before, and ran across a large shop called Antique Consignments. We wanted to go in, but at this time of year, they were only open from Noon till five. So we had an hour to kill. How do you kill an hour? Eat lunch. So, we headed over to Doc Martian’s Restaurant for lunch.

At a little after twelve, we were walking into the Antique Consignments shop. As we looked around, we figured out that people that had things to sell would consign the owner of the shop to sell it for them for a percentage.

As we looked around, there were somethings just placed on tables, and other things were placed in locked cabinets with glass fronts. We looked around and found some interesting things. Ajie found what looked like an old woven basket when she looked at the back, and you could just barely see where it said, Made in Japan. Ajie set it down.

When we got to the back of the shop, we found one of the cabinets with something interesting in it. It had half a dozen pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry in it. They looked like they could be old. There were three beautiful bracelets and three rings. Plus, there was a cloth pouch. I looked at Ajie and said, “Think we should take a closer look?”

“Couldn’t hurt. It does look old.”, Ajie replied.

I walked over to the lady that was sitting at the counter and said, “Could we look at something that’s in one of the locked cabinets?”

“Of course.”, the lady said. “What number’s on the door?”

“G12.”, I replied.

“Oh, that’s one of my cabinets. Is it the silver jewelry?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve had those for a long time. I picked it up at a sale and figured that it would sell quickly and it didn’t.”

“That’s strange. Maybe we’ll take it off your hands.”

“That would be nice.”

The woman and I walked back to Ajie and the cabinet, and the woman unlocked the cabinet door. Then I asked, “Do you mind if we take a close look at the silver?”

“No, go ahead.”

Ajie and I started looking at the silver. I tried not to act excited by what I was seeing. And Ajie was also able to contain her excitement. After I looked at the six pieces of silver, I picked up the cloth bag, and the woman said, “They just gave that to me when I bought the silver. It looks like tools of some kind.”

I opened the bag, and Ajie and I started looking at the tools. They were silversmiths tools. The tools that were used to put designs in the silver, and I explained that to the woman. Then I asked, “What would you want for all six pieces of silver jewelry and the cloth bag of tools?”

The woman thought for a minute then said, “Seventy dollars.”

“Let my cousin and I talk for a minute.”

“That’s not a problem.”, the woman said as she walked away.

When she was out of earshot, I whispered, “Do you believe what we found?”

“It’s amazing.”, Ajie said.

“I’d like to pay her more than what she's asking, but I don’t want her knowing what we’ve found until we have a sales receipt.”

“How much are you thinking?”

“I think to be honest with her, one hundred and fifty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Those six pieces of silver are worth more than even that. Then there’s what’s in the cloth bag. But I’m going to haggle with her a bit.”

“Do it.”

Knowing that these vendors like to haggle, when I walked over to the woman, I said, “Fifty dollars.”

“I can’t do fifty.”, the woman said. “How about, sixty-five?”

“Hmm. Fifty-five?”

“Sixty.”

“Okay, we’ll do sixty.”

And we shook hands on it. Then I said, “I need to run to the bank. Didn’t I see a Bank of Albuquerque just down the street?”

“Yes.”, the woman said.

I left Ajie with the woman, and I went to the bank. When I was back, the woman had made out a detailed receipt. Then I said, “That silver is worth more than sixty dollars. So, we’re going to pay you one-fifty for it.”

“One hundred and fifty!?”

“Yes. What you have here is old silver made by an old master.”

“How do you know?”

I picked up one of the bracelets and showed her the maker’s mark. And, the woman asked, “What does that tell you?”

“It tells you who made this piece, and all six pieces have the same maker’s mark.”

“So, how do you know that it’s old?”

“That maker’s mark belongs to my great-great-great-grandfather, and it’s hand engraved, which tells us that it’s one of his early pieces.”

“Your grandfather. What was his name?”

“Tse Nez. And he was a Navajo silversmith.”

“I’ve had that silver for over two years, and no one else saw that.”

“That’s amazing.”

“What about the cloth bag?”

“Those were some of the tools that he used.”

“Are they worth much?”

“Not like the jewelry. They mean more to his family or a collector.”

“So, you won’t resell any of this?”

“No, we won’t. The family is trying to find all of his work and work of his son. And we have a place to display it so that others can see it.”

I counted out one-hundred and fifty dollars to the woman; she modified the receipt for us and handed it to me. Then she put everything in a bag for us. We then thanked her and said so long.

As we walked down the street, Ajie said, “I don’t believe what we found.”

“I know.”, I replied. “I had problems controlling my excitement.”

“Me too. And finding Tse’s maker’s marking tool in that cloth bag was amazing.”

“It was. I wish we could show these things to Mr. Yazzie.”

“I think he knows.”

“He does.”

“Cousin Ahiga will be surprised.”

We headed back to the resort, and when we pulled up to the house, the two pickup trucks were there.

As we walked into the kitchen, we saw Quah Ah and Naainish sitting with my aunt and uncle. Ajie and I together then said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello everyone. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

“I was beginning to wonder if you two were going to make it back in time to make dinner.”, Uncle Paul.

“We have something better than dinner.”, I said.

“There’s nothing better than dinner.”

I looked at Uncle Paul, shook my head, then Ajie and I walked up to the kitchen table where everyone was sitting. I set the paper bag on the table, and, one by one, I took out the piece of silver jewelry and set them on the table.

Aunt Ruth asked, “Where did you find those?”

“At a shop in Taos.”, Ajie replied.

“What shop?”

“A place we’d never been in before called the Antique Consignment Shop.”

“I’ve never heard of it. Whose work is it?”

“Grandpa Tse Nez’s.”, I replied.

“Are you sure!?”, Aunt Ruth asked.

“Look at the maker’s mark. They’re all hand engraved, so they’re also some of his early work.”

My aunt and uncle each picked up a bracelet and looked at it.

Quah Ah asked, “What’s this maker’s mark?”

I explained to Quah Ah about the maker’s mark and showed her one on one of the bracelets.

Then I pulled the cloth bag out of the paper bag, opened it, and as I took something out of it, I said, “This cloth bag was with the silver and contains some silversmith tools. We weren’t certain that they belonged to Grandpa Tse, but then we found this.”

As I set the tool that was in my hand on the table, I said, “This was the pièce de résistance. This is Grandpa Tse Nez’s marker’s marking tool.”

“This must have cost you an arm and a leg.”, my uncle said.

“We haggled the woman down to sixty dollars, but to be fair to her we paid her one-fifty.”, Ajie said. “We felt that finding the maker’s marking tool was worth that and more.”

“You kids made a real find.”, Aunt Ruth said. “Did something call you to this store?”

“Not like last time.”, I said. “It just looked like a fun place to look around in.”

To keep Uncle Paul happy, Ajie, Aunt Ruth, and I made dinner for the six of us. Then Ajie and I went and watched the Sunset up on the cliff. We couldn’t talk Quah Ah or Naainish into going with us. After all, it was cold.

When Ajie and I were back at the house, everyone was sitting in front of the fireplace, enjoying the fire. Ajie and I took our coats back to our room, and when we walked back to the living room Quah Ah looked at me and asked, “Kai, could we talk?”

“Of course, Quah Ah.”, I replied.

She got up, and we walked to the kitchen and sat at the table. I looked at her and asked, “What’s wrong, Quah Ah?”

Quah Ah looked at me for a minute then said, “After the other night when Naainish and I told you that he was my father, I’ve felt that I can talk to you.”

“Of course you can. I sense that something is troubling you.”

“Kai, since I learned that my mother died during my birth, it’s bothered me. I feel that it was my fault.”

“Quah Ah, it’s not you’re fault.”, I said. “These things just happen.”

“I know, but it just eats at me.”, Quah Ah said.

“I’m not a psychologist, and I don’t know how to approach this.”

“Kai, Naainish has always said that you’re a special Nádleeh, that you have the spirit of a wolf. That you can help people.”

I looked at Quah Ah, and thought, ‘Can I help her? How do I help her?’

Then I reached my hands out to her and said, “Give me your hands.”

Quah Ah reached her hands out, and I took them in mine. Then I said, “Close your eyes.”

As she closed her eyes, I closed mine. We sat there quietly for a minute or two, then the Wolf Prayer came to me, and I quietly and slowly said:

Spirit of the wolf,
You who wanders in wildlands,
You who stalks in silent shadows,
You who runs and leaps
between the moss-covered trees,
Lend me your primal strength
and the wisdom of your glowing eyes,
Teach me to relentlessly track my desire
and to stand in defense of those I love,
Show me the hidden paths and the moonlit fields,
Fierce spirit,
Walk with me in my joy,
Guard me as I move through this world.

Again we just sat quietly holding hands. I slowly opened my eyes, and Quah Ah’s eyes were still closed. We sat there for another minute or two, then Quah Ah slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. Then Quah Ah said, “How do you do this?”

“Do what?”, I asked.

“Make me feel like I do right now.”

“Quah Ah, I don’t know how I do what I do, I just do it.”

“Whatever you did, you helped me see the truth. The truth that my mother’s death wasn’t my fault and that I shouldn’t blame myself.”

“I’m glad, Quah Ah. I could feel your hurt, and it wasn’t good. I was feeling that you were close to doing something that wouldn’t have been good.”

“You’re right, Kai. It’s been eating on me for a long time. And I’m so glad that you found out that Naainish and I are father and daughter. It was like it opened a door for me. A door that’s allowed me to let you help me.”

“Quah Ah, I’m here for you. No, Ajie and I are here for you and Naainish.”

“And, thank you for that.”

Quah Ah and I walked back into the living room. Naainish looked at me, smiled, and nodded yes. We sat down as if nothing had happened.

Later, when Ajie and I were cuddling together in bed, Ajie asked, “What did Quah Ah want to talk about?”

“She had something that was really bothering her.”, I replied.

Ajie rolled over, looked at me, and asked, “Care to tell?”

“She’s been blaming herself, for a long time, for her mother’s death.”

“That’s not good.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Did your sensing something between Naainish and Quah Ah have anything to do with this.”, Ajie asked.

“I think it was the spirits telling me that she needed help.”, I replied.

“That was a good thing, then?”

“Yes, I think she was close to doing something that would have made us all sad.”

“Oh?”

“After all of these years, it had become almost too much for her.”

“And she was thinking of … ”

“Yes, of harming her self.”

“That would have been very sad.”, Ajie said.

“Yes.”, I said. “And she wouldn’t have been able to go to cloud spirit’s adobe in Blue Lake.”

“Isn’t that were the Taos Pueblo people believe their spirits go when they pass?”

“Yes.”

“That would be sad.”

“Very sad.”

“So, you helped her?”

“I hope so. Both she and Naainish seemed to think so.”

Sunday morning, when we were up, we walked out to the kitchen and found Aunt Ruth and Naainish sitting at the table. Naainish looked at us and said, “Yá’át’ééh abiní, Kai dóó Ajie. – (Good morning, Kai Ajie.)”

I looked at Naainish and asked, “Is it a good morning, Naainish?”

“Yes, Kai. It’s a perfect morning, thanks to your wolf spirit.”

“What did my wolf spirit do?”

“You know very well what it did, Kai Nez.”

“It helped Quah Ah through a very dark time.”, I said.

“Yes.”, Naainish replied. “It helped her see the errors in her thoughts about the death of her mother, which I’ve tried to show her many, many times. It took someone with the spirit of the wolf to open her eyes.”

“Where is Quah Ah?”, Ajie asked.

“She needed to go back to Taos.”

“We didn’t get to say hágoónee' - (see you later) to her.”, I said.

“You will see her again soon.”, Naainish said.

Right after lunch, we headed back to Albuquerque and the house. But we did stop to see the Eagles. Only the two mature Eagles were there, and as we usually do, we visited for a few minutes. We never did see the three Eaglets. But we were happy to see them, and the Eagles were happy to see us.

Back at the house, we caught up on our housework, laundry, grocery shopping, and replenishing the firewood. While we were grocery shopping, we looked at baby food. We know that the twins will be four to six months old before they start on solid food, but it was interesting seeing what foods were available. We also looked at baby formula.

After I’d finished my classes on Monday, I went to the student mailroom and found Jackie’s mailbox, and that wasn’t easy. I took one of the copies of the flier about the gathering on Thursday, November 28, that I’d written a note on. The note said, “We’re going. And we would like the two of you to go with us again. It will be the same as last year. Stay at the resort and go to the gathering on Thursday. Let us know if you can make it. Hágoónee'. - (See you later.) Kai and Ajie.”

Then I went to the office, and Dr. Joe wasn’t there. So I placed one of the fliers for the gathering on his desk. And I knew that Ajie was going to give a flier to Vickie.

Ajie was home when I got there, and after our usual greeting, she said, “Call Dr. Joe.”

“Did he say about what?”, I asked.

“No, just that he needs to talk to you.”

“Okay. After I change.”

Ajie followed me to the bedroom, and as I changed, she said, “I gave the flier on the gathering to Vickie, and she said that they’d be there.”

“Good. I think they’ll enjoy it.”

“Me too.”

“I also heard from Jackie, and she said that they would love to do what we did last year.”, Ajie said.

“Great.”, I said. “I wonder if Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul are going away like they did last year?”

“We’ll have to ask.”

After I’d changed, I called Dr. Joe. When he answered, I said, “What’s up, Dr. Joe?”

“Well, hello to you too, Miss Nez.”

“Sorry, Dr. Joe.”

“Okay. First, thanks for the information on the gathering. We’ll try to make it.”

“I hope you do. It’s a lot of fun.”

“So you’ve told me.”, Dr. Joe said. “Now, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?”

“Nothing so far.”, I replied.

“Our people from Los Alamos are coming for a meeting at one.”

“A new project?”

“They didn’t say. The only thing was that they wanted to be sure that you were there.”

“Oh? No clue?”

“No.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

“I guess. See you tomorrow, Kai.”

“That you will, Dr. Joe. That you will. Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”

“See you later, Kai.”

As I hung up the phone, Ajie asked, “What was that about?”

“The people from Los Alamos are coming up tomorrow.”, I replied.

“A new project?”

“We’re not sure. The only thing for sure is that they wanted to be sure that I was there.”

“I guess that you’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Good guess, my love.”

For dinner, I grilled a couple of pieces of salmon, and Ajie put together a bowl of southwestern rice and some asparagus. Then we sat out in the courtyard until it got a little too chilly for the way were dressed.

As we were getting ready for bed, Ajie said, “My Prince, the King is on a Quest come and visit my bedchamber.”

Ajie slipped a robe over her naked body and walked out through the courtyard to the hogan. I quickly closed up the house and joined my Queen in the hogan. She had already lit a couple of the kerosene lanterns. I quickly laid and lit a fire in the fire pit. Then I crawled into bed with her. And …

Tuesday morning, since I was allowed to teach in my long skirts and fancy blouses, I went to the university almost dressed for this afternoon's meeting. For my classes, I went light on the jewelry but had some things to add in my purse. 

After my morning classes, I went to the office and spent some time looking at some of the new technical journals until Dr. Joe showed up. Then he and I went to the faculty dining room for lunch. Then just before one, I add a few more pieces of jewelry, including a choker, two bracelets, and three rigs. Then Dr. Joe and I headed for the dean’s office.

Sara was sitting at her desk as we walked in, and we exchanged our usual greetings. Then Sara said, “Your visitors are here, and the Dean said to tell you to go on back to the conference room.”

When we walked up to the conference room door, Dr. Joe knocked, and we heard, “Come in.”

Dr. Joe held the door open for me, and we walked in. Of course, Dean Rutherford was there, as were Dr. Fontheim, liaison between the university and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Dr. Höllmann, head of research at laboratory, and Dr. Millman, Assistant Director of the laboratory. I thought, ‘This must be something big with Dr. Millman here.’

We exchanged pleasantries. Then I asked, “So, gentlemen, do you have a project for us?”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said.

“So, what do you have?”

“This one is just for you, Miss Nez.”

I looked at Dr. Joe, he raised an eyebrow, as did the Dean when I looked at him. Then I looked at Dr. Fontheim, and said, “Just for me? Dr. Oshie and I are a team.”

“Yes, we know. But this is only for you.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“It would require you to come to Los Alamos to do the work as we can’t allow this project off-site.”, Dr. Millman said.

“Ah. How would I do that?”

“We have temporary quarters for outside contractors.”

“You mean live there while I work on this?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that. I have a commitment to the university. I have classes to teach.”

I saw a little smile on the Dean’s face.

“We could fly you in and out every day.”, Dr. Millman said.

“What do you mean?”, I asked.

“We’d fly you from Los Alamos to the university every morning and then back after your classes.”

“Fly me how?”

“By helicopter.”

“Helicopter? I don’t trust those things.”

“Why is that?”

“Anything that’s held together by something that they’ve nicknamed the Jesus nut. I have absolutely no trust in.”

“What is this Jesus nut, Miss Nez?, Dr. Höllmann asked.

“It’s anything that is a single point of failure and when it fails the consequences are catastrophic.”, I replied. “And on a helicopter, it’s what they call the single nut that holds the rotor blade to the helicopter.”

That got a little chuckle from Dr. Joe. But, Dr. Höllmann asked, “You’re serious. Aren’t you, Miss Nez?”

“As serious as a heart attack.”, I replied.

“I can see that we’re not going to talk you into this.”, Dr. Millman said. “Are we, Miss Nez.?”

“No, sir. You are not.”

Dr. Millman looked at Dr. Höllmann, and said, “Plan B, Dr. Millman?”

“I guess.”, Dr. Millman replied.

“Gentlemen, why just me and not Dr. Oshie and me?”, I asked.

“We just felt that you could do this quickly by yourself.”, Dr. Höllmann replied.

“We work as a team.”

“We know that, and it’s a good team. But the fewer people that know about the internal workings of this, the better.”

“Do I even have the security clearance to work on this?”, I asked.

“We’re not worried about that right now.”, Dr. Höllmann replied.

“I see.” And I thought, ‘Just what the hell is this thing?’

Then looking at the Dean, Dr. Höllmann asked, “Dean Rutherford, what is the most secure room in this building?”

“It would be, Dr. Oshies and Miss Nez’s office.”, Dean Rutherford replied. “It’s on the third floor, the door is steel and has a secure lock on it, there is an alarm system directly to the university’s police department. Plus there’s the high-security fireproof file cabinet.”

“Who has keys to the room?”

“Just the three of us.”

“How about the file cabinet?”

“The three of us.”

“Could we see the office?”, Dr. Millman asked.

“Of course.”, Dean Rutherford said. “Right now?”

“If we could.”

As he stood, Dean Rutherford said, “Of course.”

The six of us went up to the office, and I unlocked the door and opened it, then I went in and reset the alarm. And everyone else came in. The three men from Los Alamos looked around and asked questions.

When we finished, Dr. Höllmann said, “If we allow Miss Nez to work on this, as I think we will, I’d want her to have the only key to the file cabinet.”

“No, problem.”, Dean Rutherford said.

“Also, when she’s working on this, she is to be the only one in the room.”

“Is that a problem, Dr. Oshie.”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“No, sir.”, Dr. Oshie replied.

“Miss Nez, are you willing to take on this project?”, Dr. Höllmann asked.

“Well, sir.”, I said. “Not knowing what this project is, all I can say is that I’ll try.”

“Again, you can not talk to anyone about this other than Dr. Fontheim, Dr. Millman, or myself. Understand, Miss Nez.?”

“Of course, sir.”, I replied.

“It’ll be delivered at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon. And, you, Miss Nez, will have to sign for it. Then you will be escorted to this office by the people who deliver it, and they will watch as you take it into your office.

“And, by the way. You will be reverse engineering this.”

“Sir?”, I said.

“We need to know what it does.”, Dr. Millman said.

“I see.”

“Now, Miss Nez and Dr. Oshie, if you’ll excuse us, we need to go back to Dean Rutherford’s office and speak with him.”

Dr. Oshie and I say so long to the people from Los Alamos. And as our office door closed, I said, “Now, what have I gotten myself into?”

“Good question, Kai.”, Dr. Joe replied. “I guess you’ll find that out tomorrow.”

“I guess that you’d better give me your key to the file cabinet.”

Dr. Joe took his keys out of his pocket, removed the key for the file cabinet, and handed it to me. I took it, put it into my purse, and said, “I’ll put this in the safe at home.”

“Good place.”, Dr. Joe said. “Now, where did this Jesus nut thing come from?”

“That’s what they call it, Dr. Joe.”, I said.

“That threw them for a loop.”

“Good. They threw me for one when they brought up me staying at Los Alamos. My first priority, after family, is to my students.”

Later as I was leaving the office I stopped by the Dean’s office, and I asked Sara if I could see the Dean for a minute, she called back to his office, then she said, “Go on back, Kai.”

I walked back to the Dean’s office, knocked on the door, and I heard a “Come in, Miss Nez.”

I opened the door and walked in. The Dean said, “What can I do for you?”

“I’ve got Dr. Joe’s key to the file cabinet, so I figured that I should get yours too.”, I replied.

“I guess you should. Going to put them in the safe at your house?”

“Might as well.”

The dean got up and went to the closet, opened the door, took a set of keys out of his pocket, and unlocked the door of a key locker. He opened the door, removed a key, and closed and relocked the door. Then he walked over and handed me his key to the file cabinet.

Then Dean Rutherford said, “What do you think of this project, Miss Nez.”

“Sir.”, I said. “I won’t know until I get my hands on it.”

“Do you think that you’ll have a problem reverse engineering it?”

“I hope not. I grew up taking things apart to see what made them work.”

“Then, maybe you won’t.”

“I wasn’t happy about them wanting to live at Los Alamos while I worked on this.”

“I know, and so do they. They told me that you have a strong commitment to the university.”

“It’s who I made a promise to. A promise to teach. And the students are more important, to me, than Los Alamos is.”

“I know. And I think that they do too.”

I left the Dean and headed home. When I was home, so was Ajie. As I was getting out of the car, she ran out, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a long, deep kiss. And I said, “I love a welcome home like that.”

“I love giving you a welcome like that.”, Ajie said.

“Wait till I tell you about today.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Let me change, and I’ll tell you.”

“I’ve got dinner cooking, so I’ll be in the kitchen.”

I changed and went to the kitchen, sat at the breakfast counter, and watched Ajie cook. Finally, she turned around and asked, “Okay, what happened?”

I told her about them wanting to stay at Los Alamos to work on this project. And she said, “Not without me.”

“True. I wouldn’t want to be without you.”

Then I told her about them offering to fly me back by helicopter every morning to teach my classes and how I felt about that. Ajie laughed when I mentioned the Jesus nut.

Then I went on to tell her what was finally decided and that I was the only one that could work on it. Ajie then asked, “What is this all about?”

“I don’t know.”, I replied. “And if I did, I couldn’t tell you. But, I’ll be reverse engineering it. What ever it is.”

“What the heck is reverse engineering?”

“That’s where you take something that exists, tear it apart, and figure out how it works. And with this I’m doing it without having any idea what it does.”

We had a very nice dinner then sat out in the courtyard until the Sun had set, and at that point, it started to cool off. So we went into the house and cuddled together in the big room. And I asked Ajie, “Honey, are you still happy with this house?”

“Very much.”, Ajie replied. “How about you?”