Then the twins had given us a present. They started sleeping all night, from nine one evening until five the next morning. Thank you, Great Spirit.

And leave it to Bridget, who was here for our graduation, she’d gotten Haseya to laugh. Then Bill got Tsé to laugh. Then I’d gotten upset at Naainish when I’d found out who could and couldn’t host the twins Baby Laughed Ceremony. But Ajie straightened me out, and I apologized to Naainish.

Our graduation turned out to be interesting. To start with, Ajie’s father is a college basketball geek. And when he’d found out that our ceremony was going to be held in ‘The Pit’, which is the home to the University of New Mexico’s basketball team and one of the county's best college arenas, he’d gotten excited.

Both of our mothers are staying until after the twin’s Baby Laughed Ceremony to help with it. After everyone else had left on Monday morning and since I wasn’t going into the university today, Ajie, our mothers, and I started planning the ceremony. And they'd gone shopping and left me with the twins.

After Ajie and our moms had left, I’d walked over, looked at the twins, and said, “Well, kids, mom’s gone. What kind of trouble can we get into?”

The twins had looked at me and smiled.

Then I noticed that one of the twins had given me a present. I got the whiff of a dirty diaper. I looked at the clock, and it was about time for them to get hungry. So, I took both of them back to the master suite, put them in the crib, and changed them. They both had stinky diapers. Then I fed them. They got sleepy, so it was into the playpen for nap time.

While the twins slept, I started making phone calls to invite people to the Baby Laughed Ceremony. Some of them I had to explain what the ceremony was and that it was the baby that gave gifts to those who came. So, no gifts. I also explained that it would be an open house from two to four in the afternoon.

When lunchtime rolled around, Ajie and our mothers weren’t home yet. So, the twins and I ate lunch together.

After lunch it was nice outside, so I decided to take the twins for a walk. I bundled them up and carried them one at a time out to the garage where the side-by-side stroller was. I opened the garage door, and we walked down the driveway to our street. Then I headed towards the cul-de-sac end of the street. This route took us past where Hosteen and Jáan Tl'izilani, one of the children of the owners of the company that had built our house, lives.

After we’d walked around the cul-de-sac and started heading back down the street and we were getting close to the Tl'izilani’s house, I saw Jáan Tl'izilani checking the mailbox. As we got closer to her, I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'ní'a´a´ dóó bik'iji', Jáan.- (Good afternoon, Jáan.)”

She looked at us and said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'ní'a´a´ dóó bik'iji', Kai.” Then looking at the twins, she added, “These two have grown.”

“Yes, they have. They’re almost fifteen weeks old, and we’re having their A’wee Chi’deedloh - (Baby Laughed Ceremony) this Sunday. And of course, you and Hosteen are invited. And be sure and tell the rest of the family.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! What time’s it going to be?”

“From two to four. And hopefully, these two will stay awake that long.”

“At the house?”, Jáan asked.

“Yes.”, I replied. “And it may be in the hogan or if it’s nice it’ll be in the back courtyard. And it’ll just be an open house.”

“I’m so happy to see so much happiness in my in law's house.”

“I’m so glad that we can bring happiness to the house. So we’ll see you then?”

“Of course you will.”

“Good. Hágoónee', Jáan. - (See you later, Jáan.)”

“Hágoónee', Kai.” Then looking at the twins, Jáan said, “And hágoónee' to you two also.”

Jáan walked back up her driveway, and the twins and I continued our walk. We walked past our driveway and didn’t get much further when we saw Ajie’s car coming up the road. I stopped, and Ajie pulled up next to us, rolled the car window down, and said, “I see that you’re out for a walk.”

“Yeah.”, I said, “The twins said they’d like to go outside.”

“Oh, we go from laughing to talking in less than a week. Do we?”

“Sure, these two are smart.”

“Come on back to the house and help us unload the car.”

“Okay. Leave the garage door up when you get there.”

Ajie drove off, and the twins and I turned around and headed back to the house. As we walked into the garage, the grandmothers grabbed the twins and took them into the house. And I helped Ajie carry bags and bags of stuff into the house. As we carried our second load into the house, I asked, “Why so much stuff?”

“Well, we figured that since they both laughed that they both have to hand out gifts.”, Ajie replied. “So, we need two of everything.”

“I guess.”

“We do. Plus, we made another stop.”

“Where?”

“The record shop. And you were right. They do have a great selection of records.”

“You probably cleaned them out.”, I said,

“Not quite.”, Ajie replied. “But we’re going to have to get a tape deck.”

“Why?”

“I found something that I know that you’ll love.”

“What's that?”, I asked.

“They had some cassette tapes of some of the native singers and musicians.”, Ajie replied.

“Really!?”

“Yes, and we listened to a little bit of a couple of them, and they were well done.”

“It sounds like a trip to the electronics store.”, I said. “So what else did you get at the record store?”

“Oh, just a couple of albums.”, Ajie replied.

“Like what?”

As Ajie handed me a bag, she said, “These.”

As I looked through the albums, I said, “Nice. Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis. And another good one Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan. Oh cool, Bayou Country by Creedence Clearwater Revival. That’s all?”

“Those and the four cassettes.”

“You did well.”

“I thought that you’d like them.”, Ajie said.

“I do, and I can’t wait to hear the cassettes.”, I replied.

“You still have a couple of hours ‘till supper.”

“Are you hinting?”

“No, I’m telling you to go and find a cassette deck.”

As I got up, I said, “Your wish is my command,”

I went and grabbed my purse, kissed Ajie and the twins, and said to our mothers, “I’ll be back.”

“Drive carefully, honey.”, my mother said.

As a final thought, as I walked towards the door, I said, “A fresh batch of sangria would be nice.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”, Ajie replied.

When I made it to the electronics store, I ran into the same salesman that I’d dealt with when we’d bought the system last December. And he remembered me. I told him that we were now in the market for a good cassette deck. He took me over to where they were and showed me some of the new ones. As we talked, I told him that we’d found some native music from some local groups, and it was all on cassettes.

He then said, “I’m glad to see that. More of the native peoples should record their music before it’s lost.”

“I know.”, I said. “One day, it’ll be gone when the old musicians are gone.”

“There are people who do recordings that would be happy to come to where they’re playing and record it. And if it’s good and sells, the musicians would make some money out of it.”

“I know some musicians, and I'll tell them the next time I see them.”

“Have them come in and see me, and I’ll point them in the right direction.”

“I’ll do that.”

When I left the shop, I had a Pioneer dual-deck cassette deck. Both decks could play and record. And if you had it set up correctly, it would play Deck A, and when Deck A stopped Deck B would start playing. And of course, you could record on Deck A what was playing on Deck B, and vice versa.

When I was home, I walked into the house with the box under my arm. Ajie saw me and said, “It looks like you found something.”

“I did. It’s a nice deck.”

“Well, get it set up.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

That got me a frown. But I went to work, putting the cassette player into the cabinet and hooking it up to the amplifier with the good cables that I’d bought. When I finished, I asked Ajie, “Where’s one of those tapes?”

She got up, walked over to the counter, picked up the cassettes, and brought them over to me. As she handed them to me, she said, “Your pick.”

I looked at the cassettes and chose one. I turned on the amplifier and the cassette deck, and everything lit. I put the cassette that I’d chosen into the deck, pressed play, and the tape started to move. I slowly turned the volume up on the amplifier until the VU meter started to register, and we were listening to flute music.

It was very nice and soulful. And I said, “Nice choice.”

“Thanks.”, Ajie said. “One of the others adds drums to the flute, and one of the others has some singing. And the fourth, I think, may have been recorded at a dance competition.”

I rotated through the other three cassettes, and they were also nice, and the one that she thought had been recorded at a dance competition, must have been. The drumming and singing were loud.

Then Ajie had a surprise for dinner. Salmon steaks, sweet potatoes with butter, brown sugar, or sour cream, and some nice vegetables. There was no fried ice cream for dessert, but she’d found a nice apple pie, which got some vanilla ice cream added to it.

After the twins were taken care of, and since it was a nice evening, we decided to sit out in the back courtyard. And we included the twins in that. Before we went out, I went out and started a fire in the fire pit.

We stayed out until just after Sunset, and then it started to cool off quickly. That’s living in the high desert for you.

Once we were back inside, I gave the list of people that I’d called to invite to the Baby Laughed Ceremony. She looked it over and said, “You got a lot done, honey.”

“I tried, and I figure that some people, like Aunt Ruth and Aunt Ginny, will tell others.”, I replied. “How many are you figuring gifts and food for?”

“That’s a good question. I’m looking at possibly fifty or so. And then double it for the gifts that the twins give out.”

“Double it?”

“Remember, each person should receive a gift from each of the twins.”

“That's right."

Tuesday, it was back to the university and to work on the project. I did tell Dr. Joe about the cassette deck and the tapes of Native music. And he found that interesting. With the project, I was able to build all three of the third printed circuit boards, and successfully tested all three of them. And that made me happy.

As I was leaving the university, I stopped at the bookstore and picked up a couple of things. Then I headed home.

When I was home, and after greeting everyone, I saw all these small pink and blue favor bags on the dining room table, and I asked, “What are all the favor bags for?”

“Those have the rock salt in them.”, Ajie replied.

“The three of you were busy.”

“Yes. We also have many small gift bags that we’ll put the favor bags in along with a piece of candy and a small gift.”

“You’ve got this handled. Don’t you?”

“I hope so. I also got a few announcement cards to send to people, like Bill and Bridget, that can’t be here, and I’ll type up something explaining the A’wee Chi’deedloh – (The Baby Laughed Ceremony).”

“I like that.”, I said.

“Plus I thought that we’d have something sitting out that explains the A’wee Chi’deedloh.”, Ajie said.

“I like that too.”

“So, what’s in the bag that you’re carrying?”

“Oh, that. Let me show this to our mothers at the same time.”

We walked into the big room where our mothers were. Then as I pulled something out of the bag that I was carrying, I said, “I figured that the grandpas might like something to remember their trip to ‘The Pit’ by.”

Then I unfolded what I had, and it was a t-shirt with a picture of ‘The Pit’, the University of New Mexico’s basketball arena, on it. It also had ‘I survived The Pit – U of New Mexico Basketball.’ printed on it.

And I added, “And I have one for each of them.”

Our mothers smiled, and Ajie’s mother said, “Grandpa Grant will love it.”

“So will Grandpa Young.”, my mother said.

On Wednesday, I finished the final of the four units that make up the total circuit. When I finished, I sat back. Dr. Joe looked at me and asked, “Something wrong?”

“No.”, I replied. “I’ve got all four boards done for the three circuits. Now all I have to do is stack them, interconnect them, and then we can test them.”

“Good. How long on that.”

“If everything goes right. Knock on wood. Maybe Friday.”

“So, maybe set something up to turn it over to N.A.S.A. for next week?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Let’s wait and see how things go tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to stop at the hardware store on the way home and pick up some Locktite.”

“What for?”

“If this thing weren’t going into space on the top of a rocket I wouldn’t worry about it.”, I said. “But with using spacers between the four printed circuit boards, I want to keep the launch's vibration from loosening them up.”

“Your mind is always working.”, Dr. Joe asked. “Isn’t it?”

“I guess it is.”, I replied.

On the way home, I stopped at the hardware store and went into the hardware section where all the fasteners were, and there was the Locktite. And they had both blue and red. With the blue, if they needed to, they could easily take the circuit apart with hand tools, but it should keep it from vibrating apart. With the red, you’d have to heat up the part before using tools to take it apart. Heating up a printed circuit board isn’t a good thing. So I went with blue Locktite.

When I pulled into the garage at home, Ajie met me at the door with a big kiss and a hug. She walked with me as I dropped off my briefcase in the office then walked into the big room. Our mothers were sitting and reading, the twins were napping, the stereo was tuned into the university’s radio station, and there were many pink and blue bags sitting on the dining room table. Then I said, “It sure looks like the three of you were busy today.”

“We were.”, Ajie said. “I think that we’re ahead of where we need to be.”

“That’s a good thing. I should take you three out to dinner.”

“Yes, you should. But, there are two other people to consider.”

“I know, the twins. How about if I run and get pizza?”

As I was leaving the house, Ajie was calling Nunzio's and ordering pizza for us.

I made the trip as quickly as I could, and when I was back, Ajie had had the foresight to preheat the oven, so it only too a minute or two to warm the pizza up a little. And we had a nice dinner.

That evening we had belly time with the twins, and we had both of them laughing. And now when I blew on their bellies, it brought laughs from the twins.

Thursday at the university, I started putting together the first circuit for N.A.S.A. This involved stacking and interconnecting the four printed circuit boards plus attaching the plugs to hook up the power, the five sensors, and the seven displays per N.A.S.A.’s requirements. I was very happy that Bill, the guy that designed the printed circuit boards, had made it easy to interconnect the boards and wire in the plugs. And all in all, it went smoothly, and we had time to run the test on the circuit, which also went well. It’s beginning to scare me again.

Well, I could tell you that things went as good on Friday as they had on Thursday. Well, they didn’t. They went better. I was able to put together two of the complete circuits, and when I finished the first one of those, Dr. Joe ran the tests on it while I built the third and last circuit. And the tests were as good on the third circuit as they were on the first two. Scary.

As Dr. Joe and I were leaving the office and walking to the parking lot, I said, “After I drop our mothers off at the airport on Monday morning, I’ll be in to the office to give those three circuits another going over. And if I’m happy, we can call Los Alamos.”

“Shouldn’t we call Dr. Clark at N.A.S.A.?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“I don’t know. But I’d think that it might be best to follow the so-called chain of command.”

“So, let Los Alamos call Dr. Clark?”

“And that way, everyone will know what’s going on.”

As Dr. Joe and I were saying hágoónee' - (see you later), I added, “On Sunday afternoon, I hope.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Bring little Mark.”

“We’re planning on it.”

Later, when I walked into the house, Ajie greeted me with a big hug and a kiss. Of course, I returned it, then I asked, “Where are the grandmothers?”

“It’s a nice day, so they’re sitting out in the courtyard reading.”, Ajie replied. “And I think the weekend is supposed to be nice, so we’ll be able to use the courtyard for the ceremony and then have munchies and drinks in the kitchen.”

“Good. I’d rather sit outside on a nice day than in the hogan.”

“Speaking of a nice day. We haven’t been up on the Crest to see a Sunset for a while.”

“Who would we take?”

“Maybe just ourselves.”, Ajie said with a sly smile.

“Oh, some cuddle time.”, I said.

“Uh huh. I’ll see if the grandmas will watch the twins.”

“Is there a doubt.”

We had an early dinner as we needed to leave at five-thirty to be up on the Crest by six-thirty. And at about a quarter after six we pulled into the parking lot at the top of the Sandia Crest. Of course, it was colder up here then at the house a mile below, and there was snow on the ground up here, maybe a foot of snow. I’m glad we wore our winter coats, hats, and boots.

We decided not to get out of the car, but to sit, watch the Sunset, and, yes, cuddle. It was a nice sunset. But it was nicer to be cuddling up with Ajie.

And, yes, on the way home, we made a detour to the drive-in, for two orders for french fries, and two ginger ale milkshakes. Plus, it was warm enough down here to sit and enjoy the food with the windows rolled down. It was about 60°F down here, and about 30°F up on the Crest. And they’re also skiing up on the Crest.

Saturday, it was clean the house. I also made sure that there was plenty of firewood at the fire pit and the big room's fireplace. I also picked the music for tomorrow, the cassette with the flute music and the cassette with the flute and drum music. I could flip the tapes to add more time if we needed it.

As we cleaned we’d take a break every time the twins let us know that they were hungry. Or anytime we wanted a break, we’d go and play with the twins. So, everything got done, but what would usually take a couple of hours took longer. And Ajie and I made frybread tacos for dinner.

Sunday was the twin's big day. The first thing that I did was run to the grocery store and pick up a couple trays of cupcakes and a few boxes of cookies. Then I picked up some helium-filled balloons for the mailbox. When I was back home, I carried everything into the house and set them on the dining room table.

Charlie and Jackie were the first ones here at Noon. They came up to help. The first thing that Charlie and I did was hang a banner over the front doors, that Ajie had hand-lettered that said, ‘Yá’át’ééh. T'áá shoodí wóshde´e´’,’ which translates to, ‘It is good. Please come in.’ Then we tied the helium filled balloons to the mailbox.

We then set up the courtyard with the twin's car seats so they could sit up. And we brought out all the gift bags and placed them behind the couch that the twin’s car seats were on. That would make it easy for Ajie and me to replenish the supply of the gift bags that the twins handed out. Of course, we had toys out there for the twins, as well as their pacifiers.

Then Charlie helped me lay fires in both the big room’s fireplace and in the fire pit. Then I went out and turned off the sensors in the driveway and front courtyard gate. We didn’t need to hear the ding and ding-dong as people came and left.

Ajie and I changed into long skirts, fancy blouses, and wrap moccasins. We added several pieces of silver jewelry, but not too much. We both had our hair in a single braid, and we both wore the headband with the Eagle feather. Both of our mothers were in long skirts and fancy blouses.

A little after one, Ajie and Jackie took the twins back to the master suite. When they came back out, Tsé was wearing the clothes that Ajie had bought for him. It was a pair of white linen pants, a bright red shirt, a red headscarf, and the baby-sized moccasins that Dibe Bylilly had given him.

Ajie had dressed Haseya in the fancy skirt, fancy blouse that we’d gotten her, and the baby moccasins that Dibe had given her. Haseya’s hair wasn’t long enough to braid, so it was straight with a cute beaded headband.

The two grandmothers and Jackie had to take pictures of the twins and us.

Our mothers, Charlie, and Jackie, were going to serve as greeters and seeing to it that there were always cookies, cupcakes, and drinks available.

A little before two, I started the cassette player and set the volume. Then we took the twins out to the courtyard and got them settled in. We figured that they wouldn’t be happy being in their seats for two hours, so we may be holding them for part of this.

Just before two, we heard voices, and we knew that we had guests. It was both of my aunts and uncles. They came out to the courtyard and said to both of the twins, “Yá’át’ééh, yázhí. - (It is good, little ones.)”

The twins perked right up. Then we tried to get Tsé to hand Aunt Ruth a gift bag, and he wouldn’t do it, so I did it for him. And we did the same for my other aunt and both uncles. Ajie did the same with Haseya.

Then my aunts volunteered to help our mothers with the food. My Uncle Paul took my Uncle Gaagii out to look at the hogan.

Part of this ceremony is supposed to be a lesson about being generous, so I kept trying to get Tsé to hand a bag to someone, some times he wouldn’t take the bag, and sometimes he’d take the bag and not let go of it. This little guy has some kind of a grip.

Over the next two hours, we had many people come and go. Of course, Naainish and Quah Ah, Chief Kinlicheeny and his wife, and Chief Clah and his wife came.

The whole Tl'izilani family, who’s father had built our house, stopped in. There were Hosteen and his wife Jáan from next door. Sani “Sam” Tl'izilani and his wife, Ooljee. And Sam’s sister, Dezba, and her husband Bisahalani “Hal” Tso, who is a state senator.

President Lingham, the president of the university, and his wife came. As did Dean Rutherford and his wife. Chief Tom and Vickie came and went. Dr. Joe, Mary, and little Mark came, and we knew when they arrived, as the doorbell rang.

Dibe Bylilly, Hal, her fiance, and her parents even came. And so many more. Some of the people from the School of Nursing and from the Emergency Room where here. Many of these people I didn’t know.

Ajie and I figured that the twins would quickly get tired of all of this, but they seemed to like everyone talking to them. Dibe made a big fuss over them. And the twins did make it through the whole two hours.

Most everyone had left by four, and Tsé fell asleep in his seat. Ajie got up and picked up Haseya, I got up and picked up Tsé, and we took them to the bedroom. We undressed them, checked their diapers, and both of them were wet. We changed them, put their regular clothes on, and left them sleeping in their crib.

As we walked back out into the big room, both sets of my aunts and uncles where still here, as was Naainish and Quah Ah. My Uncle Gaagii said, “Kai, that is some hogan you have. I love the way it’s lit with the kerosene lanterns.”

“Thanks, Uncle Gaagii.”, I said. “Some of the ideas came from your hogan.”

“I’m glad that you didn’t run electric to it.”

“So are we. But it makes it a little tough when we want to spend the night out there with the twins, and we want to put the baby monitor out there.”

“That could be a problem.”

“A long extension cord takes care of it.”

“And I liked the music that you were playing.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“Ajie found that at a record store in Albuquerque. I wish more of the native people would record their playing and singing before it’s lost to time.”

“That would be good.”

“The guy at the electronics store told me that he knew people that would record it.”

“That’s good.”, Aunt Ruth said. “We’ll have to see if anyone that we know is interested.”

“Let me know.”, I replied.

“Now.”, Aunt Ruth said. “There is something that the twin’s great aunts and uncles would like to do, and that is present the twins with their first prices of Navajo silver jewelry.”

“That’s not necessary, Aunt Ruth.”, Ajie said.

“Yes, it is. It’s a tradition that the yázhís - little ones receive their first silver about now. These aren’t anything made by their grandfathers and Tsé’s namesake. But they are two nice pieces, and we found two pieces made by Mr. Yazzie.”

“Mr. Yazzie!”, I said. “Where did you find those?”

“None of your business.”

With that, Aunt Ginny handed both Ajie and me a small gift bag. Ajie and I opened the one that she was given first, it was for Haseya. She took out a card that had two small earrings attached to it. We looked at them, and they were gorgeous. Aunt Ginny said, “We thought these would be good when you pierce her ears.”

“Thank you guys.”, Ajie said. “These are gorgeous.”

“Remember, Kai.”, Aunt Ruth said. “These belong to Haseya.”

“Yes, Aunt Ruth.”, I said.

Then I opened the bag for Tsé and took out his jewelry. It was a man’s necklace but in miniature. It was a loop of black leather with a clasp. The pendant was amazing. It was round with a wolf howling at the moon and had a silver feather on it. And what wasn’t part of the design was cut out. I looked at the back of it, and it had the small ‘s’ that shows that it’s sterling silver, and Mr. Yazzie's marker’s mark was hand engraved. Since it’s sterling, I knew it wasn’t old. He’d probably hand-engraved his maker’s mark because of the size of the piece.

“Hmm. A wolf and a feather.”, Naainish said in a questioning way.

“Is that something important.”, I asked.

“It may be, Kai. We’ll have to wait and see.”

I just nodded, yes.

Then Ajie asked, “Would everyone like to stay for dinner?”

“Honey, you don’t need to do that.”, Aunt Ruth said.

“It’s no problem, I’ve got a couple of pans of chicken enchilada casserole, a cilantro-lime rice dish, and sauteed corn. All we have to do is cook it, and that won’t take long.”

Charlie and Jackie were going to leave, but we talked them into staying. And Ajie, with Jackie and Aunt Ruth’s help, put a marvelous meal on the table.

As we ate, I asked, “How many people do you think we had?”

“We had one hundred gift bags for each of the twins, and it looks like there’s twenty or thirty left.”, my mother said. “But we could count up the signatures in the guest registry, and it would give us a better count.”

Ajie got up and retrieved the guest registry. When she came back, she sat and started counting. When she finished, she said, “Seventy-seven.”

“That was a lot of people.”, I said.

“It was, but they weren’t here all at the same time. All the cupcakes are gone, and most of the cookies are too.”

“Those were good cupcakes.”, Uncle Paul said.

“How many did you have, Uncle Paul?”, I asked.

“Only one.”

“Uh huh. Only one.”

“Well, maybe I did eat Aunt Ruth’s cupcake.”

“Abízhí! - (Paul!)”, my Aunt Ruth said.

“They were good.”, Uncle Paul said.

“I didn’t get one.”, I said.

“Don’t worry.”, Ajie said. “I set one back for each of us.”

“What was the symbol on the cookies and cupcakes?”, Jackie asked. “I see it on a lot of things here in New Mexico.”

“That’s the Zia Pueblo Sun symbol.”, Naainish said. “And it’s been picked up by many of the native peoples, and it’s even the symbol on the New Mexico state flag.

“What it represents is the Sun’s life-giving ability with warmth, healing, and peace. It is said that the Sun was trapped in a box, and a raven released it and gave it back to the Earth. And ever since it has given the people light, life, and warmth.”

“I just learn so much by just sitting here and listening to everyone talk.”, Jackie said. “Thank you, Naainish.”

Naainish just smiled and nodded.

I was surprised that everyone stayed and helped clean up the house, and that included Naainish. Doing that gave Ajie and me time to take care of the twins and put them to bed at eight. Everyone but our mothers were gone by nine, and our mothers were flying out early tomorrow morning.

The twins surprised us and slept until five on Monday morning, and our mothers were already up. We had time to have a nice breakfast after the grandmothers fed the twins and put them back down for a short nap after saying hágoónee' yázhí – (see you later, little ones) to the twins.

It was a tearful hágoónee' between Ajie and me, and our mothers. Then I drove our mothers to the airport and stayed with them until they boarded their flight. And as I usually do, I went up on the observation deck and watched the airplane take off. Then it was off to the university.

With classes starting tomorrow, the campus was starting to get busy. You know, it was fun seeing all the students on campus. I even saw some of my students, and I got a “Hello, Dr. Nez.” from some of them. And I returned a “Good morning.”

As I walked into the office, Dr. Joe was there, and I said, “And, a good morning to you, Dr. Joe.”

“Well, Dr. Kai, aren’t you in a good mood.”, Dr. Joe said.

“It just feels that way. The students are back. The twins have had their baby laughed ceremony. I also feel that we’ve completed another research project. And, I feel il hózho´.”

“Okay, I’ve heard il hózho´ before. Remind me what it means.”

“Simply, it’s the emotion of being happy. And having good luck, good fortune, and prosperity.”

“That’s a good feeling to have.”

“Yes, it is.”

I locked the door, got out the circuits for N.A.S.A., sat at the work table, and went to work going over the three completed circuits. I ran a few tests and got the results that I expected. So, by Noon I was happy and said, “Dr. Joe, do you want to call Los Alamos, or do you want me to?”

“Be my guest, Dr. Nez.”, Dr. Joe replied.

As I walked over to the desk, Dr. Joe relinquished the desk chair to me, I sat, found the phone number to Los Alamos, got an outside line, and dialed it. Once I got through the main switchboard at Los Alamos, and to Dr. Fontheim's office, I said, “Yes, this is Dr. Kai Nez from the University of New Mexico is Dr. Fontheim in.”

“Yes, Dr. Nez he is.”, Dr. Fontheim’s secretary said. “Please hold.”

A minute later, I heard Dr. Fontheim say, “Hello, Dr. Nez. How are you?”

“Hello, Dr. Fontheim.”, I replied. “I’m fine. And you?”

“I’m fine. Do you have some news for us?”

“Yes, sir. The project's finished.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. When can we get together?”

“I’m available any day after eleven.”

“Good. Let me make some phone calls, and I’ll call you back.”

“I’m going to grab some lunch, and then I’ll be here.”

“It’ll take me about that long to make arraignments.”

“Give me a call when you know. So long, Dr. Fontheim.”

“I will. So long, Dr. Nez.”

As I hung up the phone, I said, “Interested in lunch. Dr. Joe? My treat.”

“Let me guess. The drive-in.”

I grinned and said, “You know me too well.”

We drove over to the drive-in and had a good lunch. What makes a good lunch, you ask? A double cheeseburger with pickles, an order of french fries or an order of onion rings, and the required milkshake. And that milkshake should be ginger ale.

When we were back at the university, we stopped in the engineering school’s office. Sara was there and said, “Hi, Kai. Hello, Dr. Oshie.”

We both said, “Hello, Sara.” And Dr. Joe added, “Any messages?”

“No messages, Dr. Oshie.”

We walked over and checked our mailboxes, and nothing.

We went back up to the office, and I read one of the latest technical journals while waiting for the call from Dr. Fontheim. Then about an hour after we’d been back, the phone rang. Dr. Joe answered it, “Drs. Oshie and Nez’s office. This is Dr. Oshie.” … “Yes, Dr. Fontheim, she’s here. Just a minute.”

Holding the phone out, Dr. Joe said, “Kai, it’s Dr. Fontheim.”

I got up, walked over, took the phone from Dr. Joe, and said, “Hello, Dr. Fontheim. This is Dr. Nez.” … “Yes, Wednesday at Noon here in the college office.” … “Yes, Dr. Oshie should be available.”

I looked at Dr. Joe, and he was nodding yes.

Then Dr. Fontheim asked if Dean Rutherford would be there. And I told him that I wasn’t sure, but that I’d ask. We said so long and hung up.

“So, Wednesday at Noon.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Yes, and I’ll stop by the Dean’s office on my way home and see if he’s available.”

I did stop in the Dean’s office, and Sara called back and told him that I was here and that I like to see him. As Sara hung up, she said, “He’ll be right out, Kai.”

“Thanks, Sara.”

The Dean walked out of his office and said, “What can I do for you, Dr. Nez?”

“Our people from Los Alamos and possibly Dr. Clark from N.A.S.A. will be here Wednesday at Noon to pick up the latest project.”

“So it’s finished?”

“Yes, sir.”

He smiled and nodded, yes. Then said, “I’m so glad you came out here, Dr. Nez.”

“So am I, sir.”

“Any chance that we're going to lose you in the near future?”

With a smile, I said, “I seriously doubt it.”

“Good. You’re not only doing good things for yourself by what you do. But it’s also helping the university.”

I just smiled. Then said, “Thank you, Dean Rutherford. I’ve got to run.”

“I understand, Dr. Nez. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

As I turned to leave, I said, “Yes, Wednesday at Noon.”

As I walked to my car, I thought, ‘What good things for myself? I’m doing all of this because I love doing it, not for the recognition.’

When I was home, my love greeted me at the door with a big hug and kiss. Then I asked, “Where’s the yázhís - (little ones.)”

“Taking a nap.”, Ajie replied.

“I need a glass of sangria and just to sit out in the courtyard for a little while.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I just need to sit in a quiet place for a while.”

“You want to be alone?”

I looked at Ajie, smiled, and said, “No, I want to be with you.”

“Go on out, and I’ll bring us out some sangria.”

I went out and sat on the big couch in the courtyard, and Ajie shortly joined me, bringing two glass of her sangria. I took the glass, took a swig, and it was almost as sweet as Ajie’s kisses.

We sat there for a little while, just enjoying the out of doors. Finally, I said, “Do you know what the Dean said to me today?”

“No, I don’t.”, Ajie replied. “What?”

“We were talking about a meeting on the project with the people from Los Alamos. And he asked me if there was a chance of me leaving the university any time soon. I told him that I doubt it. Then he said, good, you’re not only doing good things for yourself by what you do. But it’s also helping the university.

“I do what I do because I love what I do, not for recognition. Just tell me that I’m doing a good job every once in a while.”

“Honey.”, Ajie said. “Some people have a different way of saying you’ve done a good job. You just have to learn to accept it.”

“Maybe. But it makes me feel uneasy at times.”

“I know. Just realize that the twins and I love you and what you do.”

“I know, love. You three are so special to me.”

We were able to sit and relax for a little longer, then the two little ones were heard from. So it was off for a diaper change and some food. But instead of sitting in the big room to feed the twins, we took them, their seats, and all, out into the courtyard and fed them out there.

After the twins had eaten, I sat with them, while Ajie made us a nice chicken salad with creamy cilantro dressing for dinner. And we ate dinner in the courtyard and kept the twins' company.

Tomorrow the twins were in for a new experience. Ajie started teaching her new class at eight tomorrow morning, and I was going along and would be in the office until Ajie’s classes were over. So, the twins would be spending a few hours in the child care center at the university. And since she was teaching classes at eight and nine, and I didn’t have a project to work on, we decided to drive in together. And then carry the twins to the child care center drop them off. And then meet up there after her nine o’clock class to pick up the twins and drive home together.

We also heard from our mothers that they were safely home. My dad loved his t-shirt from ‘The Pit’, and I guess my father-in-law loved his so much that he put it on right away. The cookies that we sent home for Bill, Bridget, and our fathers were well received, as were the gift bags.

It was a little before seven on Tuesday morning when Ajie and I loaded the twins into her car and headed for the university. We parked as close to the building where the child care center was as we could. We had to wake the twins up when we took them out of the car. We also had a diaper bag, which I carried, with all the things that they’d need to have to take care of the twins for a few hours. I also carried Tsé, and Ajie carried Haseya.

We walked across campus with the twins, and there were a few people out and about at this hour. We walked into the building where the child care center is and were met by two staff members. One of the women asked, “Are these are the twins that are new to us?”

“Yes, they are.”, Ajie said. “And I think all they want to do is take a nap.”

“Let me find their paperwork, and then we can take them back to the crib room and find them a couple of cribs.”

“They’re used to sleeping together. So one crib would be better.”

“That’s interesting. Well, if they sleep together at home, that’s what we’ll do too.”

The woman found our paperwork and said, Let’s see, Tsé Nez and Haseya Nez. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And we’ll have them regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from seven till ten.”

“Yes, and there may be other times. And we’ll make arraignments as far in advance as we can.”

We followed the two women back to the crib room, and we saw two cribs side by side that had Tsé’s name on one and Haseya’s name on the other. And the woman said, “We’ll just type up a new name tag with both of their names. Do they sleep on their stomachs or backs?”

“On their backs.”, Ajie replied.

“Good, we’ll note that on their name tag.”

Ajie and I placed the twins in the one crib. We both kissed them, and said almost together, “Yá’át’ééh shi awéé’ at’ééd dóó awéé’ ashkii. Ayóó' áníínísh'ní.”

As we walked out of the crib room, the one woman asked, “Were you speaking Navajo to them?”

“Yes.”, Ajie said. “We’re teaching them both English and Navajo.”

“What did you say to them?”

“It is good my baby girl and my baby boy. I love you.”

“That’s cute.”

I handed the woman our diaper bag and said, “We’ll be back to get them right after Dr. Nez teaches her nine o’clock class.” Then I handed her a piece of paper and said, “This is my office extension number. I’ll be there until about ten, and then I’ll come back here.”

As the woman took the piece of paper, she said, “That will be fine.”

As we walked back towards the car to pick up Ajie’s briefcase, Ajie said, “It feels strange leaving them like this.”

“I know.”, I said. “But they’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.”

Now, since the engineering school and the nursing school have relaxed the dress code for teaching faculty, Ajie and I were dressed in the same way. Long skirts, fancy blouse, and wrap moccasins. We went light on the silver jewelry. And our headbands were simple braided leather ones.

Back at the car, Ajie grabbed her briefcase, and I walked with Ajie to her classroom. As we walked up to the classroom door, I asked, “Nervous?”

“Not really.”, Ajie replied. “I’m feeling good about this.”

“I’m glad.”

We said ayóó' áníínísh'ní - (I love you) to each other, and I headed to the office. The office was dark, so I let myself in, and settled down in the desk chair to read for the next two hours.

About a half an hour later, Dr. Joe walked into the office, and I said, “Moring Dr. Joe.”

“Good morning, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “I didn’t think that I’d see you today.”

“I decided to come in with Ajie and help her with the twins.”

“Any problems leaving them?”

“For them, no. For Ajie and me, yes.”

“It’s hard leaving them for the first time.”

“It is, but it’s only for two days a week unless Ajie works in the emergency room, and I can watch them.”

A little after nine, there was a knock on the door, and Dr. Joe said, “Come in.”

The door opened, and it was Sara, the Dean’s secretary, and she was carrying two boxes. And she said, “These just came in, and the Dean asked me to bring yours to you.”

“What are they?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Business cards. The university had all new ones made for all full-time faculty.”

“Okay, I guess.”

Sara set one box on the desk where I was sitting and the other one the work table where Dr. Joe was sitting. And as she was leaving, I said, “Thanks, Sara.”

“No, problem, Kai.”, Sara replied.

I looked at the one that was attached to the front of the box of my cards. It had the school logo on it. And said in bold black letters, ‘The University of New Mexico’ and under that was my name, ‘Kai Nez, PhD, Research Associate’ and under that was, ‘The School of Engineering’ and under that was ‘Department of Electrical Engineering.’ And after that was our mailing address and phone number.

Then I looked at Dr. Joe and said, “And just what am I supposed to do with these?”

“Hand them out to all of your friends and relatives.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“You’re no help.”

“Maybe just keep a few in your purse. You’ll never know when you might need one. And you can always use the back to write notes on.”

I opened the box, and a business card holder was laying on the top of the cards, and it had the university’s logo on it. I took a few of the business cards out of the box and put them in the holder, and dropped that into my purse. Then I put the box of cards into one of the file cabinets.

Dr. Joe then handed me one of his business cards, I looked at it, and it was identical to mine, except for the name. And his name was listed as, ‘Assistant Dean Joseph Oshie, PhD.’ I handed him one of mine.

Just before ten, I said, “See you tomorrow, Dr. Joe.” And I headed to the child care center and found Ajie talking to one of the staff. As I walked in, I said, “You beat me.”

Ajie looked at me and said, “The first day of a class on a new subject, so it was short.”

“What are you teaching?", the woman asked Ajie.

“It’s a course offered by both the medical school and the nursing school on working with the native peoples.”, Ajie replied.

“That would be good to know.”

“It is.”

As I looked at the woman, I asked, “So, how were the twins?”

“They were wonderful. It’s like they're on the same schedule.”

“They’ve been that way since day one.”, Ajie said.

“That should help in taking care of them.”

“It does.”

I opened my purse, took out the business cardholder, removed one of my business cards, and as I handed it to the woman, I said, “You might want to put this with the twin’s records just in case you need to get ahold of me when I’m on campus.

The woman took my business card, looked at it, and said, “Could we have another one so that we have one with each of the twin’s folders.”

I took out a second card, handed it to her, and said, “No problem.”

“When did you get those, Kai?”, Ajie asked.

“Just this morning.”, I replied. “I guess the university got them for all the full-time faculty.”

“Nice.”

“If you say so.”

“Can I have one?”

“Of course.” and I handed one of the cards to Ajie, who put it in her purse.

We then went back to the crib room, and the twins were sound asleep, and Ajie said, “I hate to wake them up. But they’ll probably fall back asleep on the way home.”

I picked up Haseya, she wiggled around a little bit, opened her eyes, looked at me, smiled, and closed her eyes. I figured that the same thing happened with Tsé when Ajie picked him up. Then I grabbed the diaper bag, we said so long to the lady, and headed to the car.

At the car, we carefully put the twins into their car seats and strapped them in. Then we headed home, and on the way, I asked, “So, how did the classes go.”

“Better than I thought they would.”, Ajie replied. “I talked to them about the class and what we were going to be covering, gave them a reading assignment, and answered some questions.”

“It’s good that you didn’t have any problems.”

“I wasn’t expecting any. And it was interesting when I had the class introduce themselves. There’s a real mixture of nursing students, medical students, nurses, and doctors in both classes.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how they interact with each other.”

“Yes, it will.”

We were back home just in time for the twin's lunch. So after we changed them, we took them out into the courtyard and fed them. I think they like it out in the courtyard.

When they finished with their lunch, we took them back inside and put them in their playpen. Then we fixed our lunch.

Tuesday afternoon was just do housework, take care of the twins, and relax. We did take the twins for another walk in their side-by-side walker, and that was just around the neighborhood. They seem to like using the stroller.

The Queen requested a foot massage tonight, and we were able to accomplish it without waking the prince and princess who were sleeping in the next bed.

Wednesday, I had morning classes to teach, but not until nine. And Ajie wasn’t teaching today. So, that gave us time to make a nice breakfast. Yes, frybread breakfast tacos. And it also gave me time to dress up a little for my Noon meeting.

I was wearing almost what I wore to teach in, but I wore a fancy blouse instead of a plain one. I also wore wrap moccasin instead of the plain moccasins. And my skirt was also fancy. This look also called for a fancy Concho belt.

Ajie helped me put my hair into two braids. And to start with, I went light on the silver jewelry, and the headband was plain. But I had more silver with me in my briefcase.

As I was getting ready to leave for the university, I helped Ajie move the twins from their crib to the playpen, and I said to the twins, “Hágoónee', yázhís. Ayóó' áníínísh'ní. - (See you later, little ones. I love you.)”

Ajie walked with me to the car, and as we were saying so long, I said, “With this Noon meeting, it’s no telling what will happen. I figure that the meeting won’t take long, but knowing the Los Alamos bunch, they’ll want to go out to a late lunch. So, there’s no telling when I’ll get home.”

“We’ll just play dinner by ear.”, Ajie said.

Before I got in the car and headed to the university, Ajie and I shared a long kiss.

I was on campus with enough time to just make my nine o’clock class. I taught that and then my ten o’clock class. Then I headed for the office.

Dr. Joe wasn’t there, so I let myself in. The first thing I did was get together everything for the project and put it in the metal briefcase. Then I read for a while. Dr. Joe finally showed up, and he had some paperwork to do, so I just sat there and read.

Just before Noon, I changed my headband to the braided leather one with the Eagle feather. I added a couple of silver and turquoises bracelets. I also added two rings to the two that I was already wearing. And I was happy with the earrings that I was wearing. They were the silver feather ones. I did add a choker to the ever present meteorite necklace that I wear. And that was the choker that both of my grandfathers had made together.

I know Dr. Joe was watching me as I added the jewelry because he was just shaking his head. I looked at him and said, “What?”

“What do you mean, what?’, he asked.

“You’re sitting there watching me and shaking your head.”

“I’ve never met a guy than can be such a girl before I met you. And it still amazes me that you can do this. And yes, I know, it’s the female spirit that does this with you.”

I smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Then as I got up, I said, “You ready to go.”

“Sure. Let me grab my suit coat.”

Dr. Joe got up, slipped on his suit coat, and we headed to the Dean’s office. As we walked in, Sara saw us and said, “Your guests are in the meeting room.”

“Thanks, Sara.”, I said.

Dr. Joe and I walked back to the meeting room. Then Dr. Joe knocked on the door, and we heard a, “Come.”

Dr. Joe opened the door for me, and we walked in. And as I figured along with the Dean, there was Dr. Fontheim and Dr. Höllmann from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Dr. Clark from N.A.S.A. And after our usual greetings Dr. Joe and I joined the other at the table.

Then Dr. Clark said, “So, you’ve finished the circuit already.”

“Yes, sir.”, I said.

“Any problems?”

“Only one and that was fitting it into the footprint that was required.”

“Oh. Let me see what you did.”

I set the briefcase on the table, opened it, took out one of the completed circuits, and set it down in front of Dr. Clark. He picked it up, looked it over, and said, “Very clever, Dr. Nez. Stacking it that way.”

“Thank you.”, I replied. “But most of the credit for that idea goes to Bill, who’s a whiz at designing printed circuit boards.”

“But why such a small footprint?”

“It’s what the requirements called for, Dr. Clark.”

“Dr. Nez, are you sure?”

I dug the specifications out of the briefcase, found the page where that information was. Then as I handed the specifications to Dr. Clark, I pointed to the size requirements, and said, “Yes, sir. I’m sure.”

Dr. Clark looked at what I was pointing to, shook his head, and said, “You’re right, Dr. Nez. I need to make a phone call.” Then looking at Dean Rutherford, Dr. Clark said, “Can I use the phone in your office, Dean Rutherford?”

As the Dean stood, he said, “Of course, Dr. Clark.”

Dr. Clark, carrying the specifications, followed the Dean out of the meeting room. I looked at Dr. Joe, and said, “Uh oh.”

“Don’t worry, Dr. Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said. “Dr. Clark will find out what’s going on.”

The longer the Dean and Dr. Clark were gone, the more worried I became. And I think Dr. Joe knew it.

Finally, about twenty minutes after they’d left, Dr. Clark and the Dean walked back into the meeting room. I was confused. Dr. Clark was shaking his head, and the Dean was smiling.

The Dean and Dr. Clark sat at the table. Then Dr. Clark looked at me and said, “Dr. Nez, when they transcribed the specifications for your documentation, they made a mistake. That footprint should have been double what it was.”

I sat back, crossed my arms, sighed, and said, “So, we need to go back to the drawing board.”

“No, Dr. Nez, you don’t. I spoke with the people who are in charge of that part of Skylab. And at first, they were upset with what had happened. But, when I explained what you’d done, they were surprised. And they can use it the way you designed and built it.”

I uncrossed my arms, leaned forward, and asked, “Really?”

“Yes, they can use the space that you’re giving them for something else.”

“Well, something positive came out of this.”

“Yes, it did, Dr. Nez.”

“I’m glad.”

As I expected, we talked for a little longer, and then Dr. Höllmann suggested that we go out for a late lunch. Dean Rutherford and Dr. Joe jumped at it. But, Dr. Clark said that he needed to get back to Houston. We discussed the transportation logic. Then Dr. Clark asked me, “Dr. Nez, could I trouble you to drive me over to the Kirtland Air Force Base, there’s a plane waiting for me there. The people from Kirtland were kind enough to drive me over here, so I was hoping to get a ride back.”

I looked at Dr. Joe and Dean Rutherford and said, “Well, if you two ride with Dr. Höllmann and Dr. Fontheim to the restaurant, I’ll run Dr. Clark to Kirtland and then meet you at the restaurant. Then I’ll drive us back here after lunch.”

“You sure that it isn’t a problem, Dr. Nez.”, Dr. Clark asked.

“No problem, Dr. Clark.”

As we got up from the table, I put the one circuit and the documentation back in the metal briefcase, closed, and locked it. and handed it to Dr. Clark.

Dr. Clark made a quick call from Sara’s desk, and then we all headed for the parking lots. Dr. Clark and I got into my car and headed for Kirkland. When we got there, the guard at the gate checked Dr. Clark’s and my identification, and Dr. Clark told him who he was and that there was a N.A.S.A. plane on the base for him. The guard made a call, and shortly we were on our way. I followed Dr. Clark’s directions, and we drove right up to the flight line and a twin-engine passenger jet with N.A.S.A. emblems on it.

As we drove up, I said, “So, they flew you up here for the meeting?”

“No, I flew myself up here.”, Dr. Clark said.

“It must be nice to have a pilot's license and the use of a plane like this.”

“It is.”

“So, you flew up by yourself?”

“No, the policy is that we have to have a co-pilot with us. And he’s standing by the plane.”

“Well, it was good seeing you again, Dr. Clark.”, I said.

“I wanted you to drive me over here for another reason, Dr. Nez.”

“Oh?”

“I have something for you, and I wanted to give it to you privately.” With that, Dr. Clark reached into his inside coat pocket, took out an envelope, and handed it to me.

“What’s this?”, I asked.

“Open it and see.”

I opened the envelope, took out what was inside, and unfolded it. I looked at it, looked at Dr. Clark, looked back at the paper, and said, “Me?”

“Yes, Dr. Nez, I feel that you’d be an ideal candidate.”

“But, I’m not a pilot.”

“We’re also looking for scientific people like you.”

“I don’t think I could pass the physical.”

“Why not, Dr. Nez?”

“There’s more to me then meets the eye.”

“Well, I’ll leave that application with you. And just think about it.”

“I’ll think about it, Dr. Clark. But I don’t think it’ll happen.”

We shook hands and said so long.

What had we been talking about? An application to become a N.A.S.A. astronaut. I just sat there in thought for a minute.

I then drove back into Old Town Albuquerque and, you guessed it, to the La Placita Dining Rooms. And I left the envelope in the car.

I found Dr. Joe, the Dean, and our people from Los Alamos, and we enjoyed a good lunch. We also talked about another project. And Dr. Fontheim told us that they’d have something for us very soon.

After lunch, we said so long to the people from Los Alamos and the Dean, Dr. Joe, and I got in my car. Before we started back to the university, I pulled the envelope, that Dr. Clark had given me, out of where I’d placed it, turned and handed it to Dr. Joe, who was sitting in the back seat. Dr. Joe took it and asked, “What’s this.”

“Open it and see.”, I said.

A few seconds later, Dr. Joe said, “Where in the hell did you get this!?”

“Dr. Clark gave it to me. He said they’re looking for scientific types and that he feels that I fit the bill.”

“What is it?”, the Dean asked.

“Let the Dean read it.”, I said.

Dr. Joe handed it to the Dean. The Dean looked at it and said, “Dr. Nez, are you going to become an astronaut?”

“Do you think I could pass the physical?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Dean, who am I?”

“Oh. Yeah.”, the Dean said. “That might be a little problem.”

“It would be a big problem.”, I replied.

We headed back to the university, I dropped the Dean and Dr. Joe off and headed home. As I drove, I couldn’t get the thought of the astronaut application out of my mind.

And as she usually does, Ajie met me at the door from the garage to the house. After we shared a hug and kiss, she looked at me and said, “You’ve got something on your mind.”

“I do.”, I said. And as I handed her the letter, I said, “Read this.”

She took the envelope, looked at it, and said, “This is from N.A.S.A.”

“Yes, Dr. Clark gave it to me today.”

“What is it?”

“Look inside.”

Ajie opened the letter and took out what was inside, unfolded it, looked at me, then she said, “Astronaut.”

“Dr. Clark said that he thought that I’d fit into the program.”

“But, you’re not a pilot.”

“That’s what I said. And he told me that they were looking for scientific types like me.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I probably couldn’t pass the physical.”

“Probably true.”, Ajie said. “Besides, I don’t think that I’d like you doing it.”

“I didn’t think that you would.”, I replied. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to move.”

“Move to where?”

“Houston.”

“Why, Houston?”

“That’s where the Manned Spaceflight Center is.”

“I’ll stay here.”, Ajie said.

“Me too and so will the twins.”, I replied. “Speaking of the twins. Where are they?”

“Napping in the playpen.”

“How about a walk along the river before dinner.”

After the twins were up, changed, and fed, we loaded the side-by-side stroller and the twins into the car and headed for the river. When we were there, we loaded the twins and a diaper bag into the stroller and headed north along the river.

We figured that we wouldn’t see the Eagles, they were probably busy with any Eaglets that they may have had. But, we were surprised when we reached the first bench. I looked at the island with the dead tree on it. And I said, “Ajie, is that an Eagle in the dead tree?”

Ajie looked and said, “Yeah. It’s like he’s waiting for us.”

We walked over to the bench and I pointed out the Eagle to the twins. Then as we usually do, Ajie and I sat on the bench to visit with the Eagle. But it turned out to be a short visit. The Eagle took off circled us a few times, and then as he headed north, we saw a feather fall from him. I quickly got up and headed to the river. I wanted to catch the feather before it went into the river.

I made it to the river, and I was glad that I had hiking boots on. I had to go a short way into the river to grab the feather before it hit the water. I looked at the feather, and it was a tail feather in prime condition.

I walked back to Ajie and the twins, and showed the feather to Ajie. She looked at it and said, “It was like he knew we were coming today and waited for us. Then he left a feather for us. But why?”

“I don’t know.”, I replied.

We showed the feather to the twins, they both grabbed for it, but we wouldn’t let them have it. Then we continued on our walk and went back to the car. As we got the twins situated in their car seats, I looked at the time, and said, “How about the drive-in for dinner?”

“It sounds good.”, Ajie said. “We should be able to do it before these two get hungry.”

We headed to the drive-in and had a very nice meal, and the twins behaved themselves. Of course, the pacifiers helped. But as soon as we were home, it was time to take care of them. And later that night, I also took care of her Majesty, the Queen.

Thursday was almost the same as Tuesday, except I had a nine o’clock class to teach in Introduction to Computer Design. So, Ajie, I, and the twins drove into the university together. After both Ajie and I had taught our classes, we picked up the twins at the daycare center and headed home.

Maybe we can do this until we get another research project.

Friday I was the only one going into the university, I had nine and ten o’clock classes to teach. After my ten o’clock class, I stopped in the Dean’s office to see if there was any mail.

As I walked in, Sara saw me, smiled, and said, “Kai, I hear that you’re going to become an astronaut.”

I looked at her, frowned, and asked, “Where did you hear that?”

“The Dean.”

“Sara, I’m not going to be an astronaut. I’d love to go into space, but it won’t happen. And I wish the Dean wouldn’t spread rumors.”

“I think he was kidding about you becoming an astronaut.”

“Did anyone else hear him?”, I asked.

“No, he just told me that you’d been given an application to apply.”, Sara said. “And I knew he was kidding.”

I looked at Sara and said, “I did get an application handed to me by the guy from N.A.S.A.”

Sara looked at me in surprise, and said, “I thought the Dean was kidding.”

I just shook my head no.

“You’re not going to do it, are you, Kai?”, Sarah asked.

I just smiled a little, shrugged my shoulders, and walked out of the Dean’s office.

I did stop by the office to see Dr. Joe, but he wasn’t there. So, I just headed home.

When I pulled into the garage, Ajie wasn’t standing at the door. I walked into the house, dropped my briefcase off in the office, then went looking for Ajie. I looked in the big room and only found the twins napping. Then I went into the master suite and no Ajie.

I walked out into the main part of the house and no Ajie. Then I saw her walk in through the gate in the back courtyard. I walked out into the courtyard to meet her. We exchanged a kiss and hugs. Then I asked, “What were you up to.”

“Oh, I thought that a night in the hogan might be fun.”, Ajie said. “So, I was straightening it up a little bit.”

“That might be fun. When do you want to move the crib out?”

“Any time.”

“Okay. Let me change, grab some lunch, and then we'll do it.”

“You change, and I’ll get us some lunch.”

Before dinner, we’d moved the crib out to the hogan and hooked up the baby monitor. Then at nine o’clock, we put the twins to bed in the hogan. When we joined the twins at ten o’clock they were sound asleep.

Ajie and I crawled into bed, and she got amorous. And the Queen received much more than a foot massage.

It was about five in the morning on Saturday when we heard from the twins. As we were getting up, something was different. But what?

We took care of the twins, put them back to bed, but we stayed up and fixed breakfast. I was sitting there, still trying to figure out if what I was feeling was real.

We brought the twins in from the hogan at about eight and put them in the playpen. Then Ajie went grocery shopping. And when she was back, I helped her carry everything in from the car and put it away.

After the twins had lunch, they took a nap. And as Ajie was working in the kitchen, I walked in, took her hand, and said, “Come with me, young lady.”

“Where are we going.”, Ajie asked.

“Just out back.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

I led Ajie out through the back courtyard and through the gate to the backyard. I maneuvered her so that she was in front of me. I put my arms around her and pulled her close. We were looking out over the desert to the west of us.

I then asked, “Honey, are you really happy out here?”

“You know I am.”, Ajie replied. “I have you, we have the twins, we have this beautiful house, we both love the university, and we have some great friends. Are you happy out here?”

“Yes, and I’d be happy anywhere as long as I was with you. And you know how we’ve wondered about the things that appear in threes. Like the meteorites, the necklaces, the Eaglets, and stuff like that. And now the third tail feather for apparently no reason?”

“I know it’s been a puzzle.”

“Well, I think I’ve solved the puzzle.”

“Going to tell me?”, Ajie asked.

“Of course.”, I replied. “Every morning when I wake up, I feel the spirits from the twins, I feel your spirit, and I feel my two spirits. But this morning there was something different.”

Ajie turned around, looked at me, and said, “Something different?”

“This morning, I wasn’t sure what it was. But now I’m one-hundred percent sure.”

“So tell?”

As I placed my hand on Ajie’s belly, I said, “You’re pregnant.”

Ajie’s eyes got big, and she stammered, “I’m … I’m what!? How!?”

“You’re pregnant. How? I think it might have been what you and I did last night. And then maybe one of my little swimmers just got lucky.”

Ajie’s arms wrapped around me, and we shared a long kiss. When we broke the kiss, Ajie said, “But, from what we’ve heard, your little guys shouldn’t be able to that.”

“I know. But it’s obvious that one did.”, I said.

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

“I’m not telling.”

“Brat! You’d better tell me.”

“Well, you’d better tell Haseya … ”

“Tell Haseya what?”, Ajie said.

“Tell Haseya that she’s going to have a little brother.”, I said.

Ajie’s face lit up as she said, “A boy! That’s so wonderful.”

We just held each other for a few minutes, kissed again, and then walked back into the house hand in hand.

We walked over to the playpen, and the twins were just waking up. Ajie and I looked down at them, and Ajie said, “You two are going to have a baby brother in nine months.”

The twins looked at Ajie like they knew what she was saying. But, we knew they didn’t.

Then Ajie looked at me and said, “Oh my Great Spirit, we’ll have three in diapers at the same time.”

I smiled and said, “Sweetheart, like with everything else, we’ll get through it.”