At the barbecue on Friday, there were a lot of special guests, and we learned from Naainish about the A’wee Chi’deedloh or the Baby Laughed Ceremony. And during our meditation at the bonfire, while she meditated Ajie had heard, “awéé’ at’ééd dóó awéé’ ashkii” which translates to, a baby boy and a baby girl. Was the girl having a boy and a girl twins?

Saturday Ajie, Jackie, and I had run up to Mrs. Benallie’s clothing shop in Santa Fe and walked in on a theft just as the guy was running out the front door. He’d run into Jackie and knocked her down, breaking her arm. I’d been able to grab the guy and make sure that he fell down the steps in front of the shop. He got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. And Ajie and I took Jackie to the hospital so that she could have her broken arm set.

Back at the resort, when I’d told Charlie that Jackie had been hurt, he sprinted to my aunt and uncle’s house to check on Jackie. Then we talked Jackie into soaking in the thermal pools because we thought it might help her arm heal quicker. Like they’d helped my dislocated shoulder. But she couldn’t put the cast in the water.

On Monday, I was back at the university working on the project for Los Alamos. And Ajie had called the people at the Navajo Children and Family Service and told them that we were very interested in adopting the twins. They were happy to hear that we were interested in doing the adoption.

Tuesday, it was more work on the project. Then for dinner, a trip to Nunzio's for pizza was called for, then a beautiful Sunset up on the Crest, and finally milkshakes and french fries at our favorite drive-in. While we were at the drive-in, we found out that our favorite carhop had gone to Canada. Damn war.

Back home, there was a message from Mrs. Biakeddy of the Navajo Children and Family Service, and she gave us the names that the girl had chosen for her twins. If the twins were boys, she’d chosen Tse and Sik’is. If the twins were girls, she’d chosen Hozshona and Haseya. Two of those names were shared with my relatives, Tse was my great great great grandfather’s name. And Haseya was my grandmother’s name. Why did the girl pick these names? Was it just by chance? Were they old names from her family? Or what?

Ajie liked the names Tse and Haseya, and I think if the twins are a boy and a girl that she wants to use them. Do I?

Ajie and I had spent the night in the hogan, which is also known as Her Majesty’s Bed Chamber. And when I awoke on Wednesday morning cuddled with Ajie’s naked body, I thought, ‘I’m so lucky to be married to this woman. Thank you, Great Spirit.’

Then I just laid there listening to her breath. Finally, she started to wake up, so I kissed her on the cheek. She rolled over, looked at me, smiled, and said, “Good morning, lover.”

“Good morning love.”, I replied.

We kissed. Then Ajie said, “I thank the Great Spirit every morning for having you.”

“And I also thank Him everyday for having you. You are so special.”

“So are you love. We’d better stop this, or we’ll never get out of this bed.”

“That would be fine by me.”

“I know. But we both have to go into the university today.”

“I know. I’ve got to finish that project.”

“Come on. I’ll start breakfast while you shower.”, Ajie said.

“Come and shower with me?”, I asked.

“If I do, neither of us will make it to the university.”

“So.”

“Come on. Up and at ‘em.”

After an excellent breakfast, we headed to the university in separate cars. Ajie would probably be back home before I was.

I beat Dr. Joe into the office. I then dug everything out of the file cabinet and went to work on the circuit. Dr. Joe walked in half an hour after I had, and after our usual greetings, I asked, “Did you get the test circuits finished?”

“Sure did.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“Good, I should have this done before lunch, then I want to carefully go over it, and then maybe we can do some testing this afternoon.”

“That would be great. You sure did this quickly.”

“What this does might be secret, but getting it to do what they wanted it to do was easy. Just a few little twists and turns on a fairly common circuit.”

Dr. Joe shook his head, then said, “Dr. Nez, I’m buying you lunch.”

With a sly smile, I said, “Hmm, where can I find surf and turf?”

“Kai!”

“Okay, cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake.”

“That’s more like it.”

At about eleven o’clock, I sat back and said, “Ready for lunch?”

“Done already?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“Yep. I want to take a break then look for missed or cold solder joints. Then we can start testing.”

Dr. Joe and I headed over to my favorite drive-in, and after we ordered, Dr. Joe asked, “Is your favorite carhop here?”

“No.”, I said. “He’s in Canada.”

“What!?”

“Yeah. He told Ajie and me that he’s just had it with all the war crap.”

“I guess some people are doing that.”

“Yeah. He was worried that all the antiwar demonstrations were going to turn violent.”

“He has a point.”

When we were back at the university and in our office, I used a lighted magnifying glass to go over the breadboard connection by connection. It took me a little over an hour. Yes, I’m extra careful. Then as I installed the final integrated circuit, I said, “Dr. Joe, are you ready to test this thing?”

“Only if you are, Dr. Kai.”

“I am that.”

We started using a meter to see if we were getting the readings we expected, and we were. We finally applied power to the circuit and checked some test points, and things looked good. I wanted it to cook for an hour before we started using the test circuits on it. So, I found a magazine that I hadn’t looked at before and started looking through it.

I was three-quarters of the way through the magazine when I saw it. Then as I tossed the magazine across the room, I said, “Damn it!”

“What is wrong?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“That circuit that I’ve been working on for my doctoral?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“It’s written up in this damn magazine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”, I said. “I guess that work is down the drain.”

“It happens.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Too many interruptions.”, I said. “I didn’t even get a chance to protect my intellectual property.”

“Next time.”

“If there is a next time.”

“Kai! We’ve talked about how important a doctoral is to you.”

“I know. It’s just so damn frustrating.”

“You just aren’t used to failure. It happens to all of us.”

“Not used to failure? Yeah right. What about not being able to father a child.”

“Kai, I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about, Dr. Joe. It’s nothing that you did.” … “I need to go for a walk.”

I got up, grabbed my purse, and walked out of the office. I walked around the university and ended up by our old apartment. There were already some people moving in. Then I walked over to the Duck Pond, sat on a bench, and stared at the water.

I sat there for about fifteen minutes, then I said out loud, “Okay, dummy. Enough of this feeling sorry for yourself. You’ve got work to do.”

I got up and walked back to the engineering building. As I walked into the office, Dr. Joe looked at me and said, “Are you okay?”

“Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself. Yes.”, I said. “Let's start testing this thing.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Dr. Joe and I started putting the circuit through its paces. And things looked good. Then just before four, the phone rang. And Dr. Joe answered it with, “Hello, Dr. Joe and Miss Nez’s office.” … “Oh, hi, Ajie. Yes, she’s here, hang on.”

As Dr. Joe handed me the phone, he said, “Kai, it’s your better half.”

As I took the phone, I frowned at him, and said into the phone, “Hi, honey, what’s up?”

Ajie said, “I won’t be home until after eight. I’m working a half shift from four till eight.”

All I could say was, “Oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Bad day.”

“Did something happen to the project that you’re working on?”

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”, Ajie asked.

“You know that project that I was working on for my doctoral.”, I said. “Well, Dr. Joe received a new technical journal, and there was an article in it about the circuit. Someone has already done it.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Honey, it’s not your fault. I just wanted to be alone with you tonight.”

“I’ll tell them that I had something come up and can’t do it.”

“No, they need you.”

“Not as much as you do.”

“Honey, I’ll be fine. I took a walk around campus, sat at the Duck Pond for a few minutes, and I shook myself out of the mood that I was in.”

“Can you meet me at four-thirty for dinner?”

“At the hospital cafeteria?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Ajie said.

“I’ll be there.”

“Ayóó' áníínísh'ní. - (I love you.) Hágoónee' - (See you later.)”

“Ayóó' áníínísh'ní aldó’. - (I love you too.) Hágoónee' - (See you later.)”

As I hung up the phone, I said, “I’m meeting Ajie for dinner at four-thirty.”

“That’s fine, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “We accomplished a lot today. And there’s always tomorrow to finish it.”

“Thanks, Dr. Joe.”

We put everything away, and at four-thirty, I was walking up to the hospital’s cafeteria. Ajie was waiting for me, and as I walked up, I said, “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.”, Ajie said. “Let’s get some food and a place to talk.”

Ajie and I went through the food line, got our food, and found a private corner. And I told her what had happened and what I did. Then I said, “All I wanted to do tonight was sit and cuddle with you.”

“I know sweetheart.”, Ajie said. “I’ll be home as soon as I can, and then we can do that.”

“I’ll survive. Is there any sangria?”

“There’s some left from the other day. It should still be good.”

“You need to teach me how to make it.”

“I’ll do that.”

After we finished dinner, I walked Ajie back to the emergency room, and I wanted to kiss her so bad. But I couldn’t. So we said so long. And I headed home.

As I pulled into the driveway, I stopped and grabbed the newspaper and the mail. Then as I walked into the house, I looked at the answering machine and nothing. I looked at the mail, and there were a couple of bills and a letter from our financial advisor — stuff for later.

I found the sangria in the refrigerator and poured myself a glass. Then I went out into the courtyard, walked to the gate in the wall, opened it, and walked out into the backyard. I looked at the desert to the west, and then the forest to the north. And then I did a double-take when I saw a big bird in the tree that’s just over the property line in the National Forest.

I ran inside, set the sangria down, grabbed the binoculars, went back out, and looked at the bird. It was a big bird, and it was either a Bald Eagle or a Golden Eagle. I wasn’t sure which.

Ajie’s camera. Where’s Ajie’s camera? In the office? Maybe. I ran back into the house and to the office, and looked for the camera. I found it hanging in the closet, then I found her telephoto lens, and swapped the lenses. Now, hopefully, there was film in the camera, and the Bird was still there. I checked the film, and yes, she had color film in it.

So I headed back to the backyard, and luckily the bird was still sitting in the tree. I looked through the viewfinder. Fortunately, this is a single-lens reflex camera. So, I was looking through the telephoto lens. I zoomed in as tight as I could, focused the lens, and took half a dozen pictures. Then the bird left. And he flew north.

Seeing this bird gave me feel good.

I went back into the courtyard, picked up the glass of sangria from where I’d set it, and took a sip. Not as good as fresh, but not bad. I sat on the couch and thought about today. It had its ups and downs.

Then I thought about names. The names we might use if we adopt the twins. Grandma's name, Haseya, came to me. It was one of the names that the girl had chosen.

I picked up the phone and called my Aunt Ruth. When she answered, I told her about the two things to do with the adoption. First about Ajie hearing, ‘awéé’ at’ééd dóó awéé’ ashkii - (a baby boy and a baby girl)’ while we were meditating last Friday. And then finding out the girl had chosen names for the twins. And she’d chosen Tse and Sik’is if they were boys. And if they were girls, she’d chosen Hozshona and Haseya.

And then I told Aunt Ruth, “Ajie likes Tse and Haseya.”

There was a long pause on Aunt Ruth’s side, then she said, “Tse and Haseya?”

“Yes.”, I said.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Ajie likes those names.”

“We were wondering if Grandma Devereux had an anglicized name?”

“She did. It was Hana.”

“Hmm. Haseya. Hana. Not bad.”

“No, not bad at all.”, Aunt Ruth said. “What about an anglicized name for Tse?”

“Ajie was thinking of just using Tse.”, I replied.

“Tse Nez, I like that.”

“So do I.”

We talked a little longer, and Aunt Ruth told me that Charlie and Jackie were terrific employees and that they were welcome back. I was happy to hear that. We finally said, hágoónee' - (see you later) to each other.

Ajie was home at about eight-thirty, she took a quick shower and joined me in the courtyard. There was just enough sangria for us each to have a glass. Then I told her about the big bird in the backyard and taking pictures, and she was excited to get the pictures developed.

Then I told Ajie about talking to Aunt Ruth about what she had heard when we were meditating last Friday. And that Aunt Runt had told me that Grandma Devereux's anglicized first name was Hana. Ajie did the same thing that I did, and said, “Haseya. Hana. … Hmm. I kind of like that.”

“I did too.”, I said. “And I think that Aunt Ruth did too.”

We sat, sipped on our sangrias, and cuddled for a while. Then Ajie said, “Come with me, lover.”

“Where?” I asked.

“To bed. You need a good foot massage. And I’ll guarantee that you'll forget all your troubles.”

Thursday, we’d promised Charlie and Jackie that we’d come up to the resort and help them pack. But this project for Los Alamos was getting in the way of that. So Ajie was going to the resort to help Charlie and Jackie, and I was going into the university.

Again this morning, I beat Dr. Joe into the office. I got everything out of the file cabinet and onto the work table. I hooked everything up but didn’t turn anything on. I was going to wait for Dr. Joe.

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Joe walked in, carrying a cup of coffee from the faculty dining room. I looked at him and said, “Don’t tell me that you broke that new coffee pot?”

“No.”, Dr. Joe said. “Mark was sick and kept us up most of the night. So I needed some more coffee.”

“I can do this. Why don’t you go on home and get some rest.”

“No, I’ll be all right. But I may ask you to run and get me another coffee.”

“I’m not your secretary.”

“Kai, as a friend.”

“If you put it that way.”

We powered up the circuit, and everything looked good. We then added the two test modules that Dr. Joe had built, and we ran the circuit through several tests. Dr. Joe would adjust the input, and I’d read the meters on the output. And we’d track what we were doing. We spent the morning doing this. Dr. Joe never mentioned coffee.

Just before Noon, we decided that everything was looking good, and we’d let it burn with a nominal input until about four. And if everything looked good, then we’d call it done.

After we had everything set and it was still looking good, Dr. Joe said, “Would you like me to run and grab us some lunch?”

“Really?”, I said.

“Sure.”

“But, you’re the Ph.D., and I’m the lowly research assistant.”

“Maybe, but you’re the real brains of the outfit. And that’s Research Associate.”

“Okay. Want to do hamburgers again?”

“Why not. So you want a cheeseburger, fries, and a milkshake?”

“Let's make it onion rings instead of fries.”

Dr. Joe made a food run, and I babysat the circuit.

When Dr. Joe was back, and we were eating, I told him about the big bird that was in the backyard yesterday. And he asked what it was. I told him that we weren’t sure if it was an immature Bald Eagle or a Golden Eagle, but I’d taken pictures.

Then I mentioned the possibility of a boy and girl twins because what Ajie had heard. Dr. Joe said that if he wasn’t a native American and understood the spirits that he’d say we were crazy. But that Ajie may have had the spirits give her a hint. And I agreed with him.

At four o’clock we checked everything. All the meter reading were looking good, and nothing was overheating. So I looked at Dr. Joe, smiled, and asked, “Do you want me to call Dr. Fontheim at Los Alamos and tell him that we’re finished?”

Dr. Joe smiled back and said, “Be my guest.”

I went over to the desk, found the phone number, picked up the phone, dialed nine for an outside line, then dialed the main number for Los Alamos. When that was answered, I asked for Dr. Fontheim. When he answered, I said, “Hello Dr. Fontheim, this is Kai Nez. We’re done.”

“Done!”, Dr. Fontheim said.

“Yes, sir. Done.”

“Oh! Ah. I need to make a couple of calls. And I’ll call you back.”

“We’ll be here.”

We hung up, and I said to Dr. Joe, “He’s going to call me back.”

“Okay.”, Dr. Joe said. “I guess we wait.”

We didn’t have to wait long. Fifteen minutes later, the phone rang. I answered it with, “Dr. Oshie and Miss Nez’s office. This is Miss Nez.”

I heard Dr. Fontheim say, “Miss Nez, will nine tomorrow morning work?”

“Work for what, sir?”

“For us to come and pick it up.”

“Yes, sir. Nine will be fine.”

And we hung up.

“They’re coming at nine tomorrow?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“That’s what he said.”, I replied.

“That’s good for me.”

“Me too. Our friends are moving back from the resort to their married student apartment tomorrow. And, with Jackie’s arm being broken, Ajie’s up at the resort right now helping them.

“So, tomorrow, the guys from the resort should be here around eleven to move them in, and I’d like to help.”

“I understand. You going to help me move?”

“Huh! Your moving?”

“No, just thought that I’d line up help well in advance.”

I frowned and said, “Dr. Joe!

After Dr. Joe and I had everything packed away, we called it a day. And we headed home.

Later as I pulled into the garage, Ajie’s car was there. And as the garage door closed, I saw Ajie standing at the entrance to the house. As I walked up to her, I received my usual hug and kiss. And I said, “I’m surprised to see you home this early.”

“When I got there, there was a whole bunch of the resort’s staff helping them pack.”, Ajie replied.

“That’s good.”, I said.

“It was. Aunt Ruth told me that everyone liked both Charlie and Jackie. And I guess Francisco talked with your uncle about getting Charlie on staff full time.”

“Really!”

“Yes.”

“That’s really nice.”

“I thought so too.”

“We got the project done today.”, I said.

“That was quick.”, Ajie said.

“It was pretty straight forward.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes, they’re coming up at nine tomorrow morning to pick it up, so I should be able to be at Charlie and Jackie’s apartment by eleven.”

“That should work. They should be leaving the resort at about nine.

“Now come in here, and I’m going to teach you to make your aunt’s sangria recipe.”

“This will be interesting.”

“No, it’s easy. It’s just getting it the way you want it.”

We walked into the kitchen, and there was a green apple, two oranges, and a lemon on the counter along with a large pitcher, a bottle of red wine, and a bottle of brandy, a bottle of honey, and a stick of some sort.

Ajie put an apron on me, then said, “Dice up the lemon, the apple, and one of the oranges. And cut the other orange in half.”

“Do I need to peel them before I dice them?”

“No, but wash them all first.”

I did as she requested, and when I finished, I had a nice pile of fruit pieces.

“Now.”, Ajie said. “Put all the pieces of the fruit in the pitcher.”

I did as she requested.

Then she said, “Pour both the wine and the brandy, all of it, into the pitcher. Then squeeze the juice from the orange that you cut in half into the pitcher.”

I did that.

“Now add the cinnamon stick and stir it up.

“Now taste it, and if you want it a little sweeter, add a tablespoon full of honey. Stir it well. Then taste it again. And keep doing that until it’s the way you want it.”

I added two tablespoonfuls of honey to it. I liked it. Ajie tasted it and had me add a third tablespoon full of honey. Then she had me cover it and put it into the refrigerator. She said that it should sit for a few hours so that all the flavors would blend. But, it should be good by the time we finished with dinner.

After we’d had dinner and cleaned up, Amy had me get the pitcher of sangria out of the refrigerator and two big glasses out of the cupboard. I added ice to the glasses and poured the sangria over the ice. I sipped mine, and said, “Not bad. But not as good as yours.”

Ajie sipped hers, and said, “It’s not bad. I think it could be just a little sweeter.”

“That’s what it is. It needs more honey.”

“But just a little.”

We carried the glasses and pitcher out into the courtyard, and just had a nice evening.

Friday morning when I got dressed, it was a little fancier than it was the last few days. A bit more jewelry. The hair is a little fancier. And the fancy wrap moccasins. Before I left the house, I took an envelope out of the safe and put it in my purse.

When I got to the office at eight, Dr. Joe was there, and when I walked in, he looked at me and said, “Don’t wear that when you’re teaching.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.”, I replied.

We got out everything that Los Alamos had given us. We slipped the breadboard circuit into an unused anti-static envelope before we put it in the briefcase. Then everything from our folders to the test circuits went into the briefcase. And we locked it.

Then I asked, “Does the Dean know that they’re coming?”

“Yes.”, Dr. Joe said. “It was only proper that I told him.”

At just about nine, the phone rang. Dr. Joe answered it, and when he hung up, he said, “They’re in the Dean’s office.”

I picked up the briefcase, Dr. Joe set the alarm and locked the door as we walked out. We walked down to the Engineering College’s office, and Sara wasn’t there, but Jerry, one of the other secretaries, was. She said, “Hello, Miss Nez. Dr. Oshie. They’re back in the Dean’s office, and they’re expecting you. Go on back.”

I said, “Thanks, Jerry.”

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

Dr. Joe opened the door, and we walked in. Not only was the Dean and Dr. Fontheim there, but so was Dr. Höllmann, Head of Research at Los Alamos.

After we exchanged greetings, I set the briefcase on the conference table, and we opened it. Dr. Fontheim picked up the circuit in the anti-static envelope, and said, “So this is it?”

“Yes, sir.”, I replied.

“How did you finish it so quickly? We figured that it would take you at least three weeks.”

“In reality, it’s a simple circuit with a couple of twists and turns. And once those twists and turns were figured out, it went together quickly.”

“That’s amazing. And as always, your construction is amazing.”

“Thank you. I like to do neat work. It keeps errors to a minimum.”

“That’s why we call her the Queen of Integrated Circuits.”, Dr. Joe said.

I looked at Dr. Joe and frowned.

“Shouldn't that be the Doctor of Integrated Circuits?”, Dr. Höllmann said.

“We think so.”, Dean Rutherford said.

I just shook my head. Then said, “I know it’s important to receive a Master’s Degree or Doctoral Degree. But, I don’t need those to do the job that you ask me to do. Can I teach the subject as well as use my skills to complete a research project? Yes.

“I may never earn either a Masters or a Doctoral. But I’ll continue to try.”

“Miss Nez.”, the Dean said. “I heard what happened with the project that you were working on. I wish that you had completed that for your dissertation.”

“Yes, sir, so do I.”

Dr. Höllmann said, “Miss Nez, we’ve also heard of the problem. Is there anything that you’ve worked on that you feel would make a good doctoral dissertation?”

“Yes, sir.”, I replied. “But, I think it may still be classified as confidential or maybe even secret.”

“What was that, Miss Nez?”

“What we did for the Apollo Project.”

Dr. Höllmann looked at me in thought. Then he looked a Dr. Fontheim and said, Dr. Fontheim, is that project still classified?”

“I’m not sure.”, Dr. Fontheim said, “But, I can check.”

“Miss Nez, what would you need from us to use that?”, Dr. Höllmann asked.

“One of the completed circuits or preferably the original circuit that I built.”, I replied. “And one of the documentation folders would be helpful, so I wouldn’t have to do it from memory.”

“Why do you think that this would make a good doctoral dissertation?”

“As far as I know, it was never done before or since, and what it was done for has never been duplicated.”

“Do you think that this circuit has possibilities of going into other things?”

“Yes, sir, I do.”, I said. “That circuit could easily be turned into an integrated circuit. And I can see all kinds of applications that it could be used in.”

“Interesting thoughts, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Höllmann said.

“A lot of good has come from the space program. When it’s been allowed out into the public sector.”

“Dr. Fontheim.”, Dr. Höllmann said. “See what you can find out and let me know.”

“Yes, sir, I will.”, Dr. Fontheim replied.

I looked at the Dean, and asked, “Dean Rutherford, will that project work for a doctoral? It was done here and for Los Alamos.”

“Miss Nez, did you do all the work on it?”, Dean Rutherford asked.

“Ninety-nine percent. Dr. Joe helped with the testing.”

The Dean looked at Dr. Joe and asked, “What do you think, Dr. Oshie.”

“Dean.”, Dr. Joe said. “I shouldn’t say this with her here. But, I’ve watched her work, and she just amazes me one how quickly she can solve a problem and design a circuit. And I feel that what she did for the Apollo Project was one of her best.”

“Well, Miss Nez.”, the Dean said. “I would say that the Apollo project would be acceptable for your doctoral work. We’ll just have to wait and see what Dr. Fontheim finds out.”

“I guess we will.”, I said.

Then Dr. Höllmann said, “Miss Nez, I’m curious about something.”

“Yes, sir.”, I replied.

“Did you ever figure out what this current project was for?”

“Not completely, sir. But I have a good idea.”

“Care to tell?”

“No, sir. We were told not to.”

Dr. Höllmann smiled and just nodded yes.

As Dr. Joe and I were saying so long to our people from Los Alamos, I said, “Gentlemen, we’re ready for another project.”

“It won’t be long, Miss Nez.”, Dr. Fontheim said.

“That’s good to hear.”

As the meeting was breaking up, I took the envelope, that had been in the safe at home, out of my purse, and handed it to Dean Rutherford. The Dean took it, looked at it, and asked, “What’s this, Miss Nez?”

“My resignation.”, I replied.

“What!?”

“No, it’s the key to our office.”

“Miss Nez, one of these days, you are going to give me a stroke.”

“Sorry, sir. I just needed to break the seriousness of the meeting.”

“Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “You’ll never learn. Will you?”

“Probably not.”, I replied.

I noticed our two visitors from Los Alamos, who were usually very serious, had smiles. I smiled back at them.

As Dr. Joe and I walked back to our office, he said, “Well, Kai. It looks like you might have your project for your dissertation.”

“Could be. But you worked on that too.”

“As your advisor, you did ninety-nine percent of the work. Besides, I’m your proctor for your graduate work.”

“I guess you could say that.”

“I can.”

When we were back at the office, Dr. Joe asked, “Did you really figure out what this last project was for?”

“Maybe.”, I said.

“Kai, did you or didn’t you?”

“Mmm. Maybe.”

“Kai!”

“It would have helped to know what other parts there were to the final unit. Whatever that was. But, in all honesty, I don’t know.” But I have an idea who it’s for.

“Should I believe you?”

“Yes, we both know what our circuit did.”, I said. “But not knowing where the input comes from, or where the output goes, makes it all but impossible to know what the final unit does.”

“You’re right.”, Dr. Joe said.

Then I grabbed my purse and said, “I’ll see you on Tuesday unless I need to be here on Monday.”

“As long as you have everything you need for your classes, you’re good to go.”

“Oh! Shoot. I forgot about the handouts for the new class.”

“Go find ‘em.”

I ran out of the office and down to the Dean’s office, and still no Sara. So I asked Kelly, “Kelly, do you know if Sara has some paperwork for me?”

“Did you look in your mailbox, Miss Nez.”, Kelly said.

“No, I haven’t.”

I turned and walked to where the faculty mailboxes are. And there was a manila envelope in it. I took it out, opened it, and looked at what was in the envelope. It was the handouts that I’d asked Sara to fix for me. I looked at them, and she’d made the corrections and made the copies that I needed. Thank you, Sara.

When I walked back out to where Kelly was, I asked, “Where’s Sara?”

“She off sick, Miss Nez.”, Kelly said.

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”

“She just has a bad cold and should be back on Monday.”

“Thanks. And thanks for reminding me about the mailbox.”

“No problem.”

I left the building and headed for the parking lot. Then I drove over to the apartment that Charlie and Jackie were moving into, actually our old apartment. Ajie’s car was already here, as was Charlie and Jackie’s car. I parked on the street, but not in the fire lane side.

I walked up to the apartment, and the front door was open, I stuck my head in and yelled, “Anyone home.”

“Hi, Kai. We’re upstairs.”, I heard Charlie say.

I ran upstairs and found Ajie, Jackie, and Charlie in our old bedroom. They were talking about curtains and shades. Ajie said, “Kai, I took the roll of film to the drug store, and the pictures should be ready Wednesday.”

“Thanks.”, I said.

We then heard a beep beep, and I said, “I’ll bet that’s Uncle Paul.”

We looked out the window, and it was the truck from the resort. Uncle Paul had ridden down in the truck with Francisco and two of the guys from the resort. It didn’t take long to move all the boxes and furniture from the truck into the apartment. When the guys from the resort were ready to leave, I went outside with them, slipped each of them a few bucks, and said thank you for your help.

Then I said to Uncle Paul, “Thanks for helping them move back.”

“No, thank you, Kai.”, Uncle Paul said. “Thank you for sending them to us. The two of them are hard workers. I hope that they’ll be available next summer.”

“We shall see. I know the university likes Charlie.”

“I know.”

I went back into the apartment, and Jackie was sitting on the couch looking tired, so I said, “Jackie, are you okay.”

“Just a little tired. This cast is a pain.”, Jackie said.

“I bet it is. Did the thermal pools help at all?”

“I think they did. It’s not getting much sleep with this cast on that’s the problem.”

“Yeah. That could be a problem.”

Ajie and Charlie came down from upstairs. And Ajie said, “I told them that they could stay with us tonight, and we could all come back tomorrow and help unpack. And they didn’t want to do it.”

I first looked at Charlie, then at Jackie, and then I said, “Guys, Jackie’s just told me that she hasn’t slept well since she got the cast on. And that’s not surprising.

“Why not come up to our place, relax, try to get a good night's sleep, and we’ll all come down here tomorrow morning with you and start fresh. I’ve been told that people get a goods night's sleep in the hogan.”

“Kai.”, Charlie said. “You have a way of talking people into things.”

I smiled and said, “So I’ve been told.”

About an hour later, the four of us were walking into the house.

It was too early for dinner, but no one had lunch. So we decided on an early dinner. But first, we sat out in the courtyard for a little while and relaxed.

Ajie finally asked, “How was your meeting?”

“It turned into an interesting meeting?”, I replied.

“How so, or can’t you tell.”

“I can tell you about part of it.”

“Ah.”, Charlie asked. “I think we came in on the middle of this, can I ask what meeting?”

“Oh. Sorry. Sure.”, I said. “We’d finished a project for Los Alamos, so they came to pick it up. Usually, those are a quick thing. But this got a little deeper.

“Now, let me tell you one thing before I go any further. I’d been working on a project for my doctoral, and had put a lot of time into it. But the other day I was looking at a new technical journal and found that someone had already done what I was working on. So that tossed that project right out the window.”

“That’s not good.”, Charlie said.

“You’re right. But it happens.

“Now, while we were talking with the people from Los Alamos, they asked if there was a project that I’d done that I could use. I mentioned that the one for the Apollo Project would be a possibility, but that I thought that it was still classified. And they said that they’d look into it.

“I figure that even though we did the work for NASA through Los Alamos, that the circuit belongs to NASA. So this may be a long shot. But the Dean liked that idea.”

“With the Dean liking the idea it makes it a possibility.”, Ajie said. “Doesn’t it?”

“Yes, maybe a slim one.”, I replied.

“Let’s hope that this will work.”

“So this is worth doing?”, Charlie asked.

“Everyone says it is.”, I replied.

“Jackie, do you feel like taking a run to the grocery store with me?”, Ajie asked.

“Sure.”, Jackie said.

“Honey, while we’re gone, why don’t you and Charlie check out the hogan and make sure that it’s okay for them.”

While Ajie and Jackie were gone, Charlie and I went out to the hogan. We checked the kerosene in all the lanterns, laid a fire, and I remade the bed. When Ajie and Jackie were back, and while they made dinner, Ajie had me make sangria. As I was working on it, I asked, “Charlie, you and Jackie are both twenty-one, aren’t you?”

“I am.”, Charlie said. “And she will be in a few days.”

I looked at Jackie and said, “Ah. Close enough for tonight.”

“I’ve had wine before.”, Jackie said.

“This a little more than wine. It also had brandy in it.”

“I’ll give it a try.”

We had a nice dinner of salmon, sweet potato, and asparagus. Then we went out into the courtyard with four glasses and a pitcher of sangria. We sat, watched the stars come out, sipped sangria, and talked.

One thing that I said was, “Charlie and Jackie, I heard a rumor from more than one person that they’d like you are the resort next summer.”

“I heard that too.”, Charlie said. “Francisco said he’d like to have me full time.”

“I heard that too. It’s something to think about.”

“We are.”

After we’d accompanied our guests to the hogan, lit the fire and the two lanterns on the bedside tables, and said good night, Ajie and I went back to the courtyard for a little while, then we went to bed.

As we were cuddling in bed, Ajie asked, “So, do you think that Los Alamos will come through with that NASA thing.”

“It’s a slim chance.”, I said. “It still may be classified. NASA may want to keep it for themselves. Or something else.”

“What if it falls through?”

“I just may give up on the doctoral.”

Ajie rolled over, pushed me onto my back, and yen looking at me with those magic blue eyes of hers, said, “Lover, I know it can be discouraging. But you are smart and will figure this out.”

“Do I really need a doctoral?”, I asked.

“No, but you deserve it. I see people with a Ph.D. that don’t have half the talent that you do and are no way as smart as you are. And they flaunt it like they're someone special. I can see you with one, and people will look up to you because you earned and deserve that degree. To you, it will mean something. Like your fathers does to him.”

“You would bring up my dad.”

“Aren’t you proud of him? I am.”

“Of course, I am.”

“Don’t you think he and your mom will be proud of you?”

“I guess they will.”, I said.

“No guess lover.”, Ajie said. “We’d all be very proud of you.”

“Like I’ll be proud of you?”

“Exactly. Now lover, out of the funk and back to being my Kai.”

I pushed her over on her back, leaned down, kissed her, and … 

As we were eating breakfast on Saturday morning, Jackie told us that she’d had the best sleep that she had in over a week. Then we headed to the university and Charlie and Jackie’s apartment, and before lunch, we had the apartment all set up. And for lunch, Charlie treated to pizza at Nunzio's.

We dropped Charlie and Jackie back off at their apartment, and Ajie and I decided to drive up to Santa Fe to see if the guy was able to fix my moccasins. We listened to the university's radio station on the way, and there was some talk about the war in Vietnam, and things didn’t sound good.

When we walked into Mrs. Benallie’s shop, as it usually was on a Saturday, she was busy. And it wasn’t her that spotted us, but her sister, Mrs. Hatathli, she runs the beauty shop next door, and when she saw us, she shouted, “Kai Nez!”

Of course, everyone looked, and Mrs. Benallie said, “Kai and Ajie. It’s good to see you again. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

I said, “Yá’át’ééh - (it is good), Mrs. Benallie. Mrs. Hatathli.”

I walked over to Mrs. Hatathli and received a hug. Then I asked, “Mrs. Hatathli, do you know a Niyol Hatathli?”

“Yes, he’s my brother-in-law. Do you know him?”

“We met him earlier this year at a dance competition when Ajie’s brother and wife were here.”

“He did mention something about meeting you and some girl from Scotland.”

“That was Ajie’s sister-in-law. And your brother-in-law does some nice work.”

“He does.”

As Mrs. Benallie walked up, she said, “Kai, I have your moccasins.”

“Was he able to fix my wrap moccasins?”

“Yes, you’ll love what he did.”

“Show me.”

We walked with Mrs. Benallie and Mrs. Hatathli to the front counter. Mrs. Benallie took a box from under the counter, set it on the counter, and removed the lid. On top were the regular moccasin, as Mrs. Benallie took them out, she said, “He put a little thicker sole on these.”

Then she took out the wrap moccasins and handed them to me, I took them, looked at them, and said, “Are these the same moccasins?”

“Yes, he went over them very carefully, cleaned them up, and put thicker soles on them too.”, Mrs. Benallie said. 

I looked them over, and they were like brand new. And I said, “He did a wonderful job.”

Then Mrs. Benallie said, “You should have seen him when I told him who they belonged to. He handled them with kid gloves.”

“Why?”, I asked.

“He knew that you were a Nádleeh. And he took extra care with them.

“And when either of you are ready for a new pair of moccasins, I’d have him make them for you. He does wonderful work. His business card is in the box.”

“Well, keep him in mind.”

As Mrs. Benallie was putting the moccasins back in the box, I asked, “What do I owe you.”

“Nothing.”, she said.

“Nothing! Don’t do that. I have to pay for his work.”

“Kai Nez, what you did that day when the guy tried to steal from me was worth more than what he charged to fix your moccasins.”

“Sike Yazzie used to do this to us. Please don’t you do it too.”

“Kai, if that guy would have gotten away with that jewelry, it would have been a lot more than what was charged to fix your moccasins. Plus, you’ve brought a lot of your friends here.”

“What am I going to do with you?”, I asked

“Buy all your clothes here.”, Mrs. Benallie said.

“We do.”

I picked up the box and thanked Mrs. Benallie. Then we said hágoónee' - (see you later) to her and Mrs. Hatathli. And as we got in the car, Ajie said, “You know we’ve never seen Niyol Hatathli’s shop.”

“You’re right.”, I said. “We have time, do you want to stop?”

“Sure, do you know where his shop is?”

I opened my purse, dug around for a minute, and pulled out his business card. After I looked at it, I said, “Yes, he’s on East Palace in downtown Santa Fe.”

“Let’s go. Then we can stop at the Pink Adobe for dinner.”

We drove into downtown Santa Fe and found a public parking lot. Then we walked out onto East Palace and started looking for Niyol Hatathli’s shop. It didn’t take us long to find it. We walked in and saw Mr. Hatathli talking to a customer. So we looked around, and he has some beautiful things. Mr. Hatathli kept glancing at us. Then he said, “It’s Kai Nez. Isn’t it?”

“Yes.”, I replied. “And no rush, we’ll look around.”

“I’ll be with you shortly.”

It took him about five minutes to finish with the customer. Then he walked over to us. As he did, I said, “You remembered us?”

“Forget a Nádleeh?”, Mr. Hatathli said. “Never. Especially one that had a little Scottish girl with her.”

“Kelly.”

“So, what brought you in?”

“We were visiting your sister-in-law. And decided to stop in and see your shop.”

“You know, Haloke?”

“Yes, she shares a shop with her sister, and we buy most of our clothes there.”

“Good place.”, Mr. Hatathli said.

“It is.”, I replied.

“Look around and ask if you have any questions.”

Ajie and I took our time looking in his cases. While we were looking, a couple of other customers came in and left. There was a case at the back of the shop that grabbed our attention. It contained what looked like older silver jewelry. We spent a long time looking in that case. After a customer left, I asked, “Mr. Hatathli, is the work, in this case, yours?”

“No.”, Mr. Hatathli said. “It’s part of my collection.”

“And you leave it in the store!?”

“No, it goes in the safe, with everything else, when I close.”

“Could I look at a couple of the pieces.”

“For you, yes. Sike Yazzie told me that you know your silver.”

“Maybe a little.”

Mr. Hatathli unlocked the case, opened it, and took out a whole tray that had nine lovely pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry. Ajie and I took our time looking carefully at each piece. Of course, I checked for the maker’s marks. All of these pieces had one, and none looked familiar.

There was a second tray that had a dozen pieces on it, and we asked to see that. Mr. Hatathli put the first tray back and took out the other one. This tray had bracelets and rings on it.

Ajie and I carefully looked at these. As I picked up a bracelet, Ajie picked up a ring. We looked at them, then looked at each other, and I whispered, “This has Grandpa Tse’s mark on it.”

Then Ajie whispered, “So does this one.”

“Really?”

As she handed me the ring, she said, “Look.”

I looked at it, and it was Tse’s mark.

Mr. Hatathli walked over, looked at what we were looking at, and said, “An old master did those. I just wish I knew who it was.”

“It was Tse Nez.”, I said.

“Are you sure.”

“Very sure. It’s one of the three maker’s marks that I know very well.”

“Who is this, Tse Nez?”

“My great great great grandfather. And we found the registration of his mark.”

“Really!?”, Mr. Hatathli said.

“Yes.”, I replied. “We just found out about him a little while ago.”

“Do you have any of his work?”

“A few pieces.”

“Are any of them for sale?”

“No, just the opposite. The family is trying to collect all the pieces that we can find from my two grandfathers.”

“Who’s the other grandfather?”

“Kilchii Nez.”, I replied. “The son of Tse Nez.”

“I’ve heard of him.”, Mr. Hatathli said.

“You wouldn’t be interested in selling either of these two pieces?”

“Mmm. I don’t know. It’s the only two that I have with that maker’s mark.”

“I wish I had one of Kilchii’s pieces to trade.”

“I would do that. I know I don’t have one of his.”

“Well, maybe sometime in the future, we can work something out.”

“Maybe we can,”, Mr. Hatathli said.

"And if you decide to sell either of those two pieces. Please give me first shot at it."

"I'll do that."

“I’m sure we’ll see you again, Mr. Hatathli. Hágoónee'. - (See you later.)”, I said as we left.

“Hágoónee', you two.”

As we walked back to the car, I said, “At least we know where two of Grandpa Tse’s pieces are.”

“Yeah.”, Ajie said. “And Mr. Hatathli’s work is really nice too.”

“That it is.”

We drove over to the Pink Adobe and had a wonderful dinner. No sangria for me, as I had an hour's drive home from here. But that didn’t stop Ajie.

As we drove home, Ajie said, “You make better sangria then they do.”

“I do?”, I said.

“Yes, yours is sweeter, and I think we use a better brand of brandy.”

“Good to know.”

Sunday was the last Sunday before classes started, and we wanted to enjoy it. After breakfast, we decided to take a hike up on the Crest, so we dressed in our hiking clothes, filled the water bottles and put them in the backpack along with the blanket and some snacks. We pulled the long guns and sidearms out of the safe along with the boxes of ammunition. And we put all of that along with our hats and hiking staffs in the trunk of the car. Then we took the thirty-six-mile drive to the top of the Crest.

When we were there, we decided to take the four and sixth-tenths mile-long La Luz and Crest Spur Loop Trail, which uses parts of these two trails. We pulled the guns out of the trunk and loaded them. Then we strapped on our sidearms, slung the rifles on our shoulders, and I carried the backpack for the first part of the hike.

There are some spectacular views from this well maintained, well-marked trail. To the west is the desert that runs towards Arizona, and you get glimpses of the tramway. To the east, you see the east slope and maybe Texas. And the trail runs through some beautiful stands of trees. There’s even a stone building up here. And of course, when we weren’t talking, Ajie was singing.

As we hiked, we ran into four hikers going the opposite direction. One of the guys asked, “You carry guns?”

“Sure, there are bears up here, and we’ve seen them.”, I said. “And there’s also been reports of mountain lions. Plus, we had a Ranger recommend that we carry them. Luckily we’ve never had to use them. And most of the horseback riders carry sidearms.”

“Bears and mountain lions!?”

“Yes. Our closest call was this spring with a mother bear and two cubs. She bluff charged us.”

“How far are we from the parking area?”, one of the other guys asked.

“About a mile and a half.”, I said.

“You didn’t see any bears or mountain lions back that way. Did you?”

“No. Just keep talking and making noise, and you should be fine.”

“That’s why she was singing.”

“Yes.”

We said so long to the other four hikers and continued on our way.

Then we found a beautiful place a little way off the trail to spread out our blanket and take a break. We sat, enjoyed our snack, and drank some water. Then with a beautiful view to the west, we enjoyed each other.

After we’d picked up everything and were back on the trail, Ajie said, “I’ve been thinking about the names the girl came up with for the twins.”

“What about them?”, I asked.

“What if what I heard while we were meditating was wrong, and she’s not having a boy and a girl.”

“Do you think you heard it wrong?”

“I’m not sure. We were both chanting when I heard it. And it was said very softly.”

“What do you want to do?”, I asked.

“Do you think we should have three sets of names ready?”, Ajie said.

“It might be a good idea.”

“I liked the boy’s name and the girl’s name that we’ve already chosen. But I didn’t care for the others that the girl had chosen.”

“So, you’re saying we need to think of two more names, a boys and a girls just in case?”

“Yes.”

“Any ideas?”, I asked.

“Not really.”, Ajie said. “But, I do love Haseya and Tse.”

“I know. I do too. Do you have any ideas?”

“I love the name that you gave Vickie.”

“Sialea-lea.”, I said.

“Yes, little bluebird.”, Ajie said.

“Yeah. I think it’s cute.”

“It is. But do we use it as a name for one of the girls.”

“Why not. A lot of people have the same name. And I don’t think Vickie would mind.”

“I think that she’d be tickled.”

“So, Sialea-lea would be the second girl’s name?”, I asked.

“Yes.”, Ajie said. What about a boy's name?”

“I’ve always liked Mr. Yazzie’s first name.”, I said.

“Sike?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t that mean he-sits-at-home?”, Ajie asked.

“Yes. But Mr. Yazzie never sat at home.”

“No, he didn’t. So, Sike for the second boy’s name?”

“Fine by me.”, I said.

“Me too.”, Ajie replied. “And you know, we need to hike like this whenever we need to discuss something.”

“Being out here does clear your head.”

When we were off the Crest, we stopped at the drive-in for a late lunch, then we drove up to the Jemez Canyon Reservoir to visit the Eagles, and only the two adult Eagles were there. And we visited with them for a little while.

Back home, Ajie put me to work making a pitcher of sangria while she wrote down the three sets of names for the twins. For boy’s Tse and Sike. For girl’s Haseya and Sialea-lea. And if they are a boy and a girl, Tse and Haseya.

The sangria passed Ajie’s test. Then we just relaxed out in the courtyard until dinner time, and dinner was fry bread tacos.