Christmas was good. The twins were only three weeks old, but they made out like bandits. Santa Claus even brought a high chair for each of them. And Ajie and our mothers had put together a fabulous dinner. And the turkey and dressing sandwiches on the day after Christmas were terrific.

A couple of days later, my dad, Ajie’s mom and dad, and Bill and Bridget, went home. Then my mom, Ajie, and I had a talk about our dissertations. I got pushed to get busy, and I did. My mother read it, Ajie read it, and then I took it to Dr. Joe to read. Then I pushed Ajie to call Vickie to get the defense on her dissertation scheduled.

A few days later, when I went back to Dr. Joe’s house to pick up my dissertation, he suggested that I have Sara in Dean Rutherford’s office type it for me. I did take it to Sara, and she’s typing it.

We took the twins out for a walk around the house with them in their Awéétsáál or cradleboards. We did this to get them outside, and they appeared to enjoy it. They also met two of our next-door neighbors, Hosteen Tl'izilani and his wife, Jáan.

Charlie and Jackie were back in town, and they came up to spend New Year’s Eve and day with us. Charlie brought along some of his uncle’s gourmet popcorn, and we’d enjoyed popping it and munching on it. And Jackie helped take care of the twins.

The best thing we heard on New Year’s Eve was that the Governor of New Mexico had heard about our problem with a certain judge and had offered him a judgeship in the southern part of the state. The judge took the position and was out of our hair. How did the Governor hear about our problem with that judge?

Wednesday, New Year’s Day, morning around five the twins began to stir, I heard them, rolled over, and whispered to Ajie, “Tell the twins to go back to sleep.”

Ajie looked at me, smiled, and whispered, “Do you really think that they’ll go back to sleep?”

“No, I know better. You go back to sleep, and I’ll take care of them.”

“That’s sweet. But we’ll both take care of them.”

We lay there until one of them started to cry. Then we got out of bed and put on our robes. Ajie took care of changing them, and I went to do their bottles. I noticed that no one else was up. Then I brought the bottles back to the bedroom and helped Ajie finish changing diapers. Then she and I sat on the bed and fed them.

I was feeding Tsé, and his eyes were closed before he finished his bottle. After they'd finished, we put them back to bed.

When we went back into the big room, we were still the only ones up. But, it was only a quarter of six in the morning.

I followed Ajie to the kitchen. She was planning a southwest breakfast scramble with toast and juice for breakfast. So, she went to work preparing the ingredients for the scramble. She wouldn’t cook it until everyone was up and ready for breakfast. I also set the coffee maker up for my mother or anyone else that wanted coffee.

Mom wandered out about seven, and she said, “Why didn’t you two go back to bed after the five o’clock feeding?”

“No.”, I said. “We figured that we’d just stay up and maybe catch a nap this afternoon.”

“I’ll take care of the twins, and you two can nap as long as you want to.”

“That would be great.”

Mom started making coffee, and it wasn’t much later that Charlie and Jackie emerged from their bedroom. Ajie made breakfast for us, and just as we finished, we heard from the two little people. And may the Great Spirit bless my mother and Jackie as they took care of them.

Charlie and Jackie headed back to campus right after lunch. And mom took over the twins, and Ajie and I went to the hogan to take a nap.

When I woke up, by the light from the smoke hole in the roof of the hogan, I looked at my watch, and it was four-thirty. I kissed Ajie and said, “Love, it’s four-thirty.”

Ajie almost jumped out of bed as she said, “We’ve slept almost four hours.”

“Yes.”

“We’d better go check on your mom and the kids.”

“They’ll be fine.”

I followed Ajie as she walked into the house, mom was sitting and reading. She looked up and said, “You two sure had a good nap.”

“We must have needed it.”, Ajie said, “How were the twins?”

“They were wonderful. They took their two o’clock bottles like champions. I got a little argument when I carried one of them out here without the other one.”

“They have this thing about being separated.”

“That may be a problem when you want to put them in separate bedrooms.”

“I know.”, Ajie said. “And we’ll address that when the time comes.”

“Good luck.”, my mother said.

I’m not going to bore you with details of the rest of the week or the weekend, but I’ll hit the highlights. Every day we took the twins for little walks with them in their cradleboards, and they appeared to enjoy it. We even took them down to where our road intersects with another road. I can’t wait until we can take them for a walk along the river.

On Friday, Ajie got a call from Vickie. And Ajie found out that she will be defending her dissertation next Thursday at two o’clock in the afternoon. She was excited, but I could also feel her nervousness. And I’ll take care of that later tonight.

Ajie and my mom did go grocery shopping on Saturday, and that left me in charge of the twins, or was it that the twins were in charge of me. We had a good time if you can have fun with a couple of three-week-old babies.

Today was Monday the first day of the winter quarter, so I was on campus early. I taught my morning classes and then went to the office. The light was on, so Dr. Joe was there. As I walked in, Dr. Joe looked at me and said, “Well, Miss Nez, how was your New Years?”

“Well, Dr. Oshie.”, I said. “It was fun but quiet. Yours?”

“About the same.”

“So, what else is new?”

“That package on the work table is for you.”

I looked at the work table and said, “Oh?”

I walked over to the work table and looked at the package. It was addressed to:

Miss Kai Nez
c/o The College of Engineering
The University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131

But what really grabbed my attention was who sent it. The return address was:

Dr. Robert Clark
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Manned Spacecraft Center
Huston TX 77058

I looked over at Dr. Joe, and he was looking at me with a big grin on his face. Then he said, “Well, go on open it.”

“No.”, I said. “I think I’ll just take it home.”

“You wouldn’t?”

“Oh, yes, I would.”

“Kai!”

I smiled and said, “You know I won’t.”

I carefully unwrapped the brown paper and found a white box inside. By that time, Dr. Joe was standing next to me. I opened the box, and there was a wooden plaque in it. On the plaque was a picture of the Earthrise that was taken from Apollo 8. It was under a piece of glass with a fancy mount at each corner, and written on the picture was To Miss Kai Nez, Thank you for all of your help. And it was signed by – Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders. The three astronauts from Apollo 8. And under the picture was an engraved plaque that said:

EARTHRISE
Apollo 8
December 24, 1968

I lifted the plaque out of the box and looked at it. Then I just shook my head. And Dr. Joe said, “That is a really cool picture.”

“It is.”, I said. “I never expected anything like this.”

“I know. Did you see the envelope in the box?”

“No.”

I looked in the box, and there was a legal-size envelope in it. I picked it up, and like on the box, it was addressed to me from Dr. Clark. I opened the envelope, removed the letter, unfolded it, and read it.

Dear Miss Nez,

I thought that you might like to have a copy of this picture.

I also had the three astronauts autograph it for you.

Hope to see you again.

Dr. Robert Clark

“Very nice, Kai.”, Dr. Joe said. “Very nice.”

“I know.”, I said.

“Do you have time to see if the Dean is here?”

“Why?”

“He’d love to see this.”

“Why not.”

I placed the plaque back in the box and put it in my briefcase. Then I folded the brown paper that was wrapped around the box and also put that in my briefcase. Dr. Joe and I then went to the college’s offices. As we walked in, Sara looked up, and we greeted each other. Then Dr. Joe asked, “Is the Dean in?”

“He’s at a meeting.”, Sara said. “And he should be back any minute. And Kai, I should have your dissertation done for you to look at on Thursday morning.”

“Thanks, Sara.”, I said. “I’ll stop in after my classes.”

Just then, the Dean walked in. He looked at us and said, “Seeing you two together usually means trouble.”

“Not this time, Dean.”, Dr. Joe said. “Miss Nez received something that we thought that you might like to see. Show him, Kai.”

I took the box out of my briefcase, opened it, and removed the plaque. I held it so that both the Dean and Sara could see it. And Sara said, “That’s the picture that was on the front page of the paper.”

The Dean asked, “Who signatures are those?”

“The three astronauts that were on Apollo 8.”, I replied.

“Miss Nez, this is very nice. We’re talking about putting the circuits that you worked on in a display case. Would you be willing to allow us too put the picture in with them.”

“Maybe.”, I said. “But I’ll need to think about it.”

As Dr. Joe and I walked back to the office, Dr. Joe said, “You know, I could see you working for them.”

“For who?”, I asked.

“For N.A.S.A.”

“Only if it’s out here.”

“There’s White Sands down in Las Cruces.”

“No. Too far away from my people.”

“I figured that you’d say that.”

As we got to the office, we said so long to each other, and I headed home. When I was back home, I showed the plaque to Ajie and my mom, and they both loved it. And we were able to take the twins for a nice walk with them in their cradleboards. Of course, these walks were short, as it was too cold to keep them out very long.

My Tuesday and Wednesday were just about the same as Monday, except there weren’t any more packages. On Wednesday afternoon, I was seeing the nervousness in Ajie again. Tomorrow she was defending her dissertation. I’ll try to help her relax later tonight.

Thursday after classes, I made a quick stop to pick up my dissertation that Sara had typed for me, then I headed straight home. Today Ajie was defending her dissertation in front of a committee of professors at two o’clock.

When I was home, Ajie was as nervous as a cat trapped in a kennel of dogs. She’d sit, get up and pace, then sit again. Finally, I grabbed her hand and pulled her out to the hogan, and we had a quick meditation session. When we walked out of the hogan, I asked, “Better?”

“Yes, much better.”, Ajie said.

“Do you want me to drive you to the university?”

“That might be a good idea.”

As we walked back into the house, my mother asked, “Ajie. Honey, is everything all right?”

“Yes, mom.”, Ajie said. “Kai was a big help. And would you mind watching the twins while she drives me to the university?”

“You know that’s not a problem. The twins and I get along.”

“Thanks, mom.”

Just before we left for the university, I checked that Ajie had everything that she needed. She told me that the only thing that she was taking was a copy of her dissertation and a copy of her book. Ajie was dressed in a beautiful skirt suit, and she was wearing some of our silver jewelry. And of course, she was also wearing her meteorite necklace.

It was a quiet drive to the university, and the walk to the School of Nursing was also in silence. We walked into the School of Nursing’s offices. Ajie told the secretary who she was and why she was there. Then we sat and waited. Right at two o’clock, Vickie came out and said, “Ajie, come on back.”

As Ajie got up, I said, “Ayóó' áníínísh'ní, Ajie Nez. - (I love you, Ajie Nez.)”

Ajie looked at me and said, “Ayóó' áníínísh'ní aldó’, Kai Nez. - ( I love you too, Kai Nez.)”

I saw Vickie smile. I guess she has learned some of the important Navajo words.

Ajie and Vickie disappeared into the office complex, and I sat and waited.

I was just over an hour later when Ajie came out, and I asked, “Well?”

“I don’t know yet.”, Ajie replied. “They’re talking.”

As Ajie sat, I asked, “How do you think it went?”

“I felt that it went well. They thought that I might be a little immature for a doctoral, but after I defended everything the way I did, they seemed more at ease with being young. They asked some tough but good questions. They also thought that my book was an excellent text.”

“That’s good. Isn’t it.”

“Yes.”

We’d been sitting there about twenty minutes when Vickie came back out and asked Ajie to join them. As Ajie walked past Vickie, Vickie turned, looked at me, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up. I grinned.

When Ajie and Vickie came back out, I could tell that Ajie was walking on a cloud. She walked over to me. I smiled and stood up, then I said, “Hello, Dr. Ajie Nez.”

“You brat.”, Ajie said. “You knew?”

“Vickie gave me a thumbs up when she came out to take you back into the meeting. And I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

“She did an outstanding job in there.”, Vickie said. “She impressed the whole committee.”

Right then, I wanted to kiss Ajie so badly. But this wasn’t a good place for two girls to do that.

Vickie then said, “I’ll be right back. I have something for you.”

Vickie went back to her office, and when she came back, she was carrying Ajie’s book and a small box. She handed the small box to Ajie. Ajie took the box, opened it, looked at it, and said, “You shouldn’t have.”

“I just had to. You’re my first PhD as Dean.”

I looked into the box, and there was a nameplate in it. It was a gold nameplate that had a small emblem of the University of New Mexico’s seal, followed by – Ajie Nez, RN BSN PhD And that was followed by a small emblem for ΣΘΤ or Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing.

Then Vickie, as she handed the book and a pen to Ajie, asked, “Would you please autograph your book for me?”

“Of course.”, Ajie said.

Ajie took the book, turned to the title page, and wrote, 'To Vickie Etsitty, a great friend, and wonderful advisor. Love, Ajie Nez, RN BSN PhD'

Then Ajie handed the book to Vickie, Vickie looked at what Ajie had written, and said, “Thank you, Ajie. This means a lot to me.”

“Your friendship means a lot to us also.”, Ajie replied.

As we said so long to Vickie, Vickie and Ajie hugged. Then we ran over to my office in hopes that Dr. Joe would be there, and he was. As we walked in, Dr. Joe looked at us and said, “Why the big smiles.”

“Dr. Joe Oshie, I’d like you to meet Dr. Ajie Nez.”

Dr. Joe got up, walked over to us, hugged Ajie, and said, “Congratulations, Ajie. It’s well deserved.”

“Thanks, Dr. Joe.”, Ajie said.

Then looking at me, Dr. Joe said, “And, Miss Kai Nez, where does your dissertation stand?”

“Sara finished typing it yesterday, and it’s at home in my briefcase, and I’ll start going over it later tonight.”

“That’s good.”

We left the office and headed for the car, and as we did, I said, “I’d love to take you out to dinner tonight.”

“That might be a little hard with the twins.”, Ajie replied.

“I know.”

“What if we stop by Nunzio's and have them put together a couple of uncooked pizzas?”

“That’ll work. Wine or sangria.”

Ajie thought for a minute, then said, “I made some sangria earlier. So, sangria.”

“Did you need any of it to help calm your nerves?”

“No, not after you sat and meditated with me.

We left the university and stopped at Nunzio's. I ran in and ordered two uncooked pizzas. Then I went back out to the parking lot to wait with Ajie. I got in the car, and said, “You know, when I found out that you had earned your doctoral, I wanted to kiss you so bad.”

“Why didn’t you?”, Ajie asked.

“Two girls kissing in public. Not good.”

“What about here. There’s no one around.”

I looked around and said, “No, there isn’t. Is there.”

I pulled Ajie to me and gave her a long kiss. When we broke the kiss, I said, “We may be in public, but no one’s around.”

“If I get a kiss like that when I earn a degree I’m going to have to find another one to do.”, Ajie said.

I shook my head, then ran back into Nunzio's and got our pizzas. Then we headed home, and we were home in time to help mom with the twin’s five o’clock feeding.

As Ajie and mom were changing the twins, I fixed the twin's bottles and started the pizzas cooking.

When mom and Ajie brought the twins out to the big room, Ajie and I fed them, and mom looked after the pizza. Ajie told me, “I told mom all about the committee meeting and everything afterward, and I got a big hug from her.”

“We’re all proud of you.”, I said.

The twins, as usual, were chowhounds, and it didn’t take them long to finish their bottles. Ajie and I took them back and put them down for a nap. We’d let them stay up longer the next time we fed them.

As we sat at the table enjoying pizza and sangria, Ajie said, “Mom, could I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, honey, anything.”, my mom said.

“If I give you a copy of my book, would you see to it that Dean Richards at the School of Nursing at Ohio State gets it?”

“Of course, honey. And could I ask you something?”

“Sure. Mom.”

“Would you mind if I read your book on the way home.”

“I’m sorry.”, Ajie said. “You’ve never seen my book. Have you?”

“No, I haven’t.”, my mom said.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you your own copy.”

“I’d love that.”

Ajie got up and headed for the office. When she came back, she was carrying two copies of her book and a pen. She opened the first copy and on the title page wrote, ‘To Mom Young, Who is a second mother to me. Thank you for everything. Love, Ajie’ Then she opened the other one and wrote. ‘To Dean Richards, Thank you for everything while I was at Ohio State. I had a wonderful experience. Thank you, Ajie Nez, RN BSN PhD’ Then under Ajie Nez she put Amy Young in quotes.

Then as Ajie handed the two books to my mother, she said, “Here, mom. Here’s a copy for you and one for Dean Richards.”

“Thank you, honey.”, my mom said. “I’ll be sure that Dean Richards gets hers.”

“Thanks, mom.”

After dinner, I got a chance to sit and start looking at my dissertation. I skimmed through it, and at first look, I didn’t spot any problems. Then I started carefully reading it. I knew I wasn’t going to get through it tonight, so I didn’t try.

Today is Friday, the twins are one month old, and they’re going to their pediatrician for their checkup. I’m meeting Ajie, my mom, and the twins in the parking lot of the medical building at one in the afternoon. So after teaching my classes, I went to the office, and Dr. Joe wasn’t there. Good. So, I was able to spend a little more time on my dissertation. And I did find something wrong. It was something that I’d messed up. So I noted the correction.

Just before one, I locked my dissertation in the fireproof file cabinet and headed for the hospital’s medical building. When I reached the parking lot, I spotted Ajie's car right away. I walked over to it, Ajie saw me, and she and mom got out of the car. I asked, “Been here long?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “We just got here.”

“So, did you bring the stroller or the cradleboards?”

“The cradleboards.”

“This will be interesting.”

I helped Ajie transfer the twins from their car seats to their cradleboards and strap the in. Ajie and I put the cradleboards on like backpacks. My mom carried the diaper bag, Ajie carried Haseya, and I carried Tsé. We walked into the building and took the elevator to the floor where the pediatrician was. I know that we were looked at as we walked with the twins on our backs, and I know the way we, Ajie and I, were dressed didn’t help. We were in long skirts, fancy blouses, with some silver jewelry. I was wearing moccasins, and Ajie had sneakers on.

We walked into the doctor's office, and there were a few other people there. We checked in at the desk, and they gave us some paperwork to fill out. Then we found seats, and of course, before we sat, we unslung the cradleboards from our shoulders and set them on the floor.

The other mothers with children were curiously looking at us. One of the older children, a girl of maybe five years, walked over, and as she pointed at Tsé, she asked. “Why are they in there.”

“They like to be in there.”, I replied. “They feel safe.”

“What are they?”

“They’re called cradleboards.”

“Are you Indians?”

“Yes, we’re Navajo.”

“Sally.”, her mother said, “Stop bothering them.”

I looked at the mother and said, “That’s okay. She’s just curious.”

“So, am I.”, the mother said. “I hope you don’t mind. But, are they comfortable in those?”

“Yes, it’s like being swaddled. They feel protected and seem to enjoy it.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“It’s a traditional native way to carry a baby. We use them to take them for walks and bring them to things like this.”

“Are they twins?”

“Yes, a boy and a girl.”

“That’s so sweet.”

Just then, they called for us to go to an examination room. I excused us, and Ajie and I picked up the twins and followed the nurse back to the examination room. And Mom came with us. As we walk in, the nurse closed the door and said, “We’ve only had one other baby come in in a cradleboard.”

“We tried it today to see how it would work out, and so far so good.”, I replied.

“Well, we need to get them out of those, so that I can weigh and measure them.”

Ajie and I set the cradleboards on the exam table, then unstrapped the twins and laid them on the exam table. The cradleboards went on the floor. We then undressed the twins down to their diapers, and the nurse weighed and measured them. Both Tsé and Haseya had gained about fifteen ounces since birth. Tsé had gained a little over half an inch, and Haseya had gained just under a half an inch.

After the nurse left, I asked, “Does this doctor know the truth about us?”

“No.”, Ajie replied. “I figured that if they ask, that we’d use the story of my husband being in Vietnam and that you’re my cousin.”

“Okay.”

Just then there was a knock on the door, and the doctor walked in, she looked at Ajie, and said, “I'm Dr. Eve Clark. Do I know you, Miss Nez.?”

“You might.”, Ajie replied. “I’m a member of the nursing school’s faculty and work part-time in the ER. And it’s now Dr. Ajie Nez.”

“Oh, congratulations.”

“Thank you, doctor. It’s a PhD in nursing.”

“Are you the one that taught the seminar on the Native people?”

“Yes.”

“That was a good seminar.”

“Thank you.”

“If I understand this correctly, these are twins, a boy and a girl, and that you are adopting them.”, the doctor asked. “Am I correct?”

“Yes.”, Ajie replied.

“And their names are?”

“The boy is Tsé, and the girl is Haseya.”

The doctor walked closer to the exam table, looked at the twins, smiled, and said, “Well, hello, Mr. Tsé and Miss Haseya. Aren’t you both cute. I’m Doctor Clark. And I’m pleased to meet you.”

Then she gave the twins a good going over. And when she’d finished, she said, “I’m pleased with what I’m seeing. They have both put on a nice amount of weight and have grown since birth. Whatever your doing seems to be working. So, I’d just keep it up. How are they sleeping?”

“We've heard that it helps twins cope with separation trauma if they sleep in the same crib for a while, so they’re sleeping together in the same crib. And they’re also sleeping in our room.”

“Both of those are good for them. How often are they eating?”

“It’s a three-hour cycle.”, Ajie said. “So, we change their diapers, feed them, and sometimes put them down for a nap. But we also take time to play with them or take them for walks.”

“They’re a month old. So, you might want to try setting a schedule for them. Something like getting them up and into the house at about seven in the morning. And then to bed around nine. They will nap throughout the day. They can sleep in a playpen or baby seat, or you can put them to bed. But you should start a schedule with them.”

“We’ll do that, doctor.”

“Any questions, Dr. Nez?”, the doctor asked.

“No, ma’am.”, Ajie said.

“It looks like you’re doing a good job with these two. So we’ll see you back here in a month.”

“Thank you, Dr. Clark.”, Ajie said.

The doctor left the room, and we knew the twins needed to be changed. Boy, did they need to be changed! So before we redressed the twins, we changed their diapers—disposable ones.

As we were changing them, Ajie said, “It felt funny being called Dr. Nez.”

“I’d get used to it.”, my mom said.

“I guess.”

Then Ajie and mom redressed the twins, and Ajie and I strapped them back into the cradleboards, then we helped each other place the cradleboards on our shoulders, and walked out of the room. We stopped and made an appointment for one month and then headed back to the car. We knew that the twins were hungry, so when we were back at the car, we took them out of the cradleboards and gave them their bottles.

After Ajie, mom, and the twins headed home, I walked back to the office. And Dr. Joe was there. As I walked into the office, Dr. Joe said, “What are you still doing here?”

“The twins just had their first checkup.”, I replied.

“And?”

“They are doing great. Both of them grew and gained some weight.”

“That’s good to hear. And I have some news.”

“Oh?”

“We will probably have a new research project next week.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Good. I need a challenge.”, I replied.

“We have a meeting next Tuesday at two.”

“Okay. With who?”

“With the people from Los Alamos and … ”

“And who?”

“Your friend from N.A.S.A.”

“My friend?”

“Dr. Clark.”

“So, we’re doing something for N.A.S.A.?”

“It sounds that way.”

“This could be fun.”

“You look at doing this type of research as fun.” Dr. Joe asked. “Don’t you?”

“You know what they say, do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life.”, I replied. “And I love doing research.”

“So, I’ve learned. But, you also have to realize that you will also make mistakes doing research, and some of those mistakes may turn into something good. Like the microwave and super glue.”

“Good point.”

I grabbed my dissertation out of the file cabinet. Put it in my briefcase, said hágoónee' - (see you later) to Dr. Joe, and headed home. When I was back home, I wasn’t met at the door like I usually was.

I walked into the house and found my mother reading Ajie’s book. And I asked, “Mom, where’s Ajie.”

“The pictures that you ordered of the twins from the hospital came today.”, mom replied. “So she’s in the dining room working on the adoption announcements.”

“You’re going to finish Ajie’s book before you leave.”

“I know. I couldn’t wait to read it. And I’m finding it interesting. And will probably read it a second time on the plane.”

“I know. I found it interesting too.”

I went to the dining room and found Ajie. She looked up at me and said, “I thought you would only be a few minutes behind us.”

“I had to stop at the office and pick up my dissertation.”, I said. “Then, Dr. Joe told me about a possible research project.”

“That’ll be good for you.”

“Yeah. But I should be here helping you with the twins.”

“Honey, I can handle the twins.”

“I know. But I feel that I should be helping.”

“Honey! You are. And there’ll be times when I’ll need to go somewhere, and you’ll need to watch them.”

“Now that scares me.”, I said.

“Oh, come on.”, Ajie said.

“I’m kidding.”

“Brat.”

“So, how are you coming with the announcements?”

“I just got started. I’m glad that we addressed them and made the inserts ahead of time.”

“Can I help?”

“Sure. Cut out the inserts.”

We’d made inserts for the generic announcement cards that we’d purchased. They said:

We have welcomed two new members to our family. The twins are:

Tsé, our little boy, who was born on Dec. 12, 1968, at 11:51 in the evening.
He was 17 ½ inches long and weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces.

Haseya, our little girl, was born on Dec. 13, 1968, at 12:05 in the morning.
She was a little over 16 ¾ inches long and weighed 5 pounds and 14 ounces.

Ajie Nez and Kai Nez

As we put the announcements together, I noticed that Ajie was signing the inserts with our names, and was writing the information about each of the twins on the back of their pictures.

As we finished the announcements, something hit me. We haven’t heard from the twins. I checked the baby monitor to be sure that it was working. It was. Then I said, “It’s going on six, and we haven’t heard from the twins?”

“Hmm.”, Ajie said. “I wonder if the doctor's appointment messed with their schedule. They were fed about an hour late.”

“I’ll bet that it did.”

As she handed me the announcements, Ajie said, “Honey, would you run these down to the mailbox.”

I did my Queen’s bidding.

Tonight was my mother's last night with us. She was catching a flight home early tomorrow morning. So after we finished the announcements, Ajie went to work on a southwestern casserole. The casserole was made with ground sirloin, onions, tomato sauce, corn, black beans, a blend of cheeses. And biscuits that were cooked in with everything else.

And just as Ajie put it in the oven, the rest of the family was heard from. And mom said, “I’ll get them.”

“I’ll come with you.”, I said.

As mom and I were changing the twins, I said, “I’m going to miss you, mom.”

“I’m going to miss you too, Kai.”, my mother said. “And the rest of your little family.”

“And they’ll miss you too.”

After we’d changed the twins, we carried them out to the big room where Ajie met us with their bottles. As we fed them, Ajie said, “Dinner will be in about fifteen minutes.”

“These two should be finished with their bottles about then.”, mom said. “Do you think they could join us at the table?”

“Of course, they can.”

And the twins did join us for dinner. Haseya sat in her car seat next to my mother, and Tsé sat between Ajie and me. And they stayed awake the whole time. After we’d finished dinner, Ajie and mom took the twins and put them to bed while I cleaned up the kitchen.

Then we adjured to the big room. After I turned on the stereo and tuned in the university’s radio station, I laid a fire that I figured would burn until about eleven and lit it. Then we sat and talked. And again, the subject of missing everyone came up. And my mother said, “Kids, don’t be surprised if you see us in the spring. I know Ajie's parents are planning on coming out for her graduation. And dad and I may come along. And maybe Kai will be receiving her doctorate at the same time. Besides, we’ll be missing our grandchildren.”

“You really look at the twins that way. Don’t you, mom?”, I asked.

“Of course. They’re your children, so they’re my grandchildren.”

“I’m glad that you look at it that way.”

I noticed tears in Ajie’s eyes, so I asked, “Why the tears, honey.”

“At one point I was worried about how our parents would look at the twins.”, Ajie said. “But hearing mom just now and seeing how the four of them, and even Bill and Bridget, took to the twins tells me a lot. And I’m just happy that it’s worked out the way it did.”

“Honey.”, my mother said. “Let me tell you a little secret. When you first told us that you were going to adopt, I knew right off that you would have a wonderful child given to you. And in reality, you were given two wonderful children.”

“Mom, I’m so glad to hear this. It makes me feel like Kai and I are really traveling on the path that we’re meant to be on.”

“Daughter, you are. The two of you belong out here doing what you're doing.”

Ajie got up, walked to my mother, gave her a big hug, and kissed her on the cheek. Then Ajie walked back and sat next to me.

My mom then said, “Ajie. Honey. I loved your book, and I see why you used it as the basis of your dissertation.

“Thanks, mom.”, Ajie said. “It was written out of love for the Native people and in the hopes that I could get the medical community to see that the people’s beliefs can help them heal.”

“In my opinion, you got that point across. And it was in a way that you’ll make people think and try to learn more.”

“That’s all I wanted it to do, mom.”

After a few moments of silence, I said, “I wonder if the twin’s schedule is messed up.”

“You’ll shortly know if it is.”, my mother said.

“I think we’re going to try a schedule with them starting tomorrow.”, Ajie said.

“Sounds good to me.”, I said.

“We’ll need to set the playpen up.”

“I’ll go get it.”

“We need to take the tree down, and once that’s done, we can put the playpen there.”

“Okay. We’ll take the tree down tomorrow when I get back from taking mom to the airport.”

I went and retrieved the playpen from where we’d stored it in the garage. And we set it up in front of one of the doors to the back courtyard, and we’ll move it once the tree is down.

It wasn’t till a little after nine that we heard the sounds of the twins starting to wake up. We waited until both of them were crying before we went into the bedroom. Ajie and I went to check on them, and mom went to do their bottles.

When we walked into the bedroom, Ajie looked down at the twins and said, “You got your schedule all messed up, didn’t you. That’s okay. We’ll adjust it.”

“That means it’ll be Midnight, three, and six.”

“Probably.”

Mom fed Haseya, and Ajie fed Tsé. When they finished eating, I asked, “Do you think we should keep them up for a while?”

“No.”, Ajie said. “With the schedule that I want to try and get them on, this would be their bedtime.”

“Okay. You two. It’s off to bed.”

After my mother had kissed Haseya goodnight, I picked her up and carried Haseya to the bedroom. Ajie brought Tsé to the bedroom after mom had kissed him goodnight. We tucked them in and wished them goodnight.

Before we could sit down, mom asked if she could have a glass of sangria. I went to the kitchen, found the pitcher of sangria, and poured three glasses. I brought them into the big room and handed them out. Then we sat and talked until mom turned in. And Ajie and I weren’t far behind her.

Well, the twin's schedule was messed up. They were up at a little after midnight Saturday morning. Then they were back up at three. And we were up at five to get ready to take mom to the airport. And at six as we were sitting down to one of Ajie’s wonderful breakfasts, and just like clockwork, the twins were heard from. Ajie said, “Mom, you and Kai eat. I’ll take care of the twins.”

As Ajie headed for the bedroom, I got up and prepared their bottles. And when Ajie came back out with Haseya, my mother said, “Honey, I’m almost done eating. Give me Haseya, and I’ll feed her.”

Ajie gave Haseya to my mom, and I grabbed a bottle and handed that to my mom. And she fed Haseya, while Ajie fed Tsé. Twenty minutes later, mom was saying hágoónee' - (see you later) to Ajie, Tsé, and Haseya, and that was with, hugs, kisses, and tears. I had to almost drag mom out of the house and to the car.

At the airport, we had to almost run from the check in to the gate. But at the gate, we found out that we had ten minutes before boarding. I waited with mom until boarding was called, then we hugged, kissed each other on the cheek, and said hágoónee' to each other. After mom boarded the plane, I went up on the observation deck and watched until the plane took off.

When I was back home, it was time to take the Christmas tree down with the help of the twins. The twins did sit in their chairs. And they watch as Ajie and I removed all the decorations from the tree. Of course, we had to throw in a diaper change and feeding in the middle of this.

Then it hit both of us. We were alone with the twins. It wasn’t like Christmas eve day when our families went into Albuquerque to do some shopping, and my aunts and uncles showed up not long afterward. No, we were alone with the twins. It was just the four of us. But, you know, I think we can handle this.

We did keep the twins out with us for most of the day. One of the things that the twins received for Christmas was a mobile to hang in their playpen. So, we set that up for them. It has a windup mechanism that made the mobile move, and it also played music.

After we had the tree down and everything cleaned up, we moved the playpen to where the tree was. We also moved one of the overstuffed chairs. Now we could sit on the couch and see the twins in their playpen.

Before their dinner, we took the twins out for a walk in their awéétsáál or cradleboards. We went out into the backyard. And to the tree where the Eagle had been building a nest in the tree. It still looks to be abandoned. We went back into the house and gave the twins their dinner bottles, and both Tsé and Haseya finished their bottles with their eyes closed. We let them sleep in their chairs or car seats.

Mom made it home just fine. And we had our dinner. It seemed funny fixing meals for only two people. Then Ajie called her parents.

Sunday was about the same, except there was no tree to take down, and it was too cold to take the twins outside. But we played with them when they were awake. They just loved looking at us while we were feeding them, plus we also talked to them the whole time they were eating. Sometimes it was in English, and sometimes it was in Navajo. It also appears that they like the music that the university’s radio station plays. We still need to get some records.

I also finished going over my dissertation, and I only found two minor errors, and I’d take those to Sara for her to retype. Ajie and I also made some little signs for the circuits that I wanted pictures of, and we took the pictures. I was going to drop the film off at a camera shop that we knew of for developing, and because we’d have them make the enlargements of the ones that I wanted to use. Then they could make as many copies of those as I’d need.

Monday, it was back to teaching. I reluctantly left Ajie alone with the twins, but she had assured me that she would be fine. But I told her that I’d be home as soon as I could.

I taught my classes and then went to the office to see if anything was going on. As I walked into the office, Dr. Joe looked at me and said, “I’m glad you’re here.”

“From the tone of your voice somethings wrong.”, I said. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a large anti-war demonstration going on, and the University Police want everyone to stay put until it was over. They’ve locked all the doors to the classroom and administration buildings.”

“Not good.”

“No. I guess that the State Police are here too.”

I just shook my head, then picked up the phone and called Ajie. When she answered, I told her what was going on. She made me promise to stay put, and I promised that I’d stay here and let Dr. Joe protect me.

As I hung up, Dr. Joe said, “I’m supposed to protect you? You’re the Karate expert.”

“I’m no expert.”, I said. “I don’t even have my brown belt yet.”

“I’ve watched you use your knowledge. You’re an expert.”

While we sat there, I picked Dr. Joe’s brain as to what the defense of his dissertation was like. And he told me some interesting things.

Just before two, we received a call that everything was over with. Both Dr. Joe and I decided to call it a day. On the way out, we stopped in the Dean’s office, all the Dean’s staff was standing around Sara’s desk. Sara looked at us and said, “Did you hear that they made a dozen arrests.”

“No, we didn’t.”, Dr. Joe said. “Is everyone okay?”

“From what we’ve heard, there may be some broken bones and stuff like that.”

“This is getting to be too much.”, I said.

“Yes, it is.”, we heard the Dean say as he walked up to us. Then he said, “I would like everyone to go home for the day. And if you’d feel better, I’ll get you someone to escort all of you to your cars.”

I looked at the Dean, and said, “Dean Rutherford, I think Dr. Oshie and I could escort everyone.”

“Miss Nez, I don’t think that that would be good.”

“Sir, instead of taking any of the university’s officers away from more important things right now that Dr. Oshie and I should do it.”

“I don’t know, Miss Nez.”

“Dean.”, Dr. Joe said. “Have you forgotten some of the things that Miss Nez has done? And she doesn’t need a gun.”

“Oh. You’re right, Dr. Oshie.”

“Ladies, I think Miss Nez and Dr. Oshie would be happy to escort you.”

I looked at Sara and said, “First. Sara, I have two corrections that need to be made on my dissertation.”

“Did I mess up?”, Sara asked.

“No. One was a minor spelling error, and the other one was something that I messed up.”

“That shouldn’t be hard to retype.”

I opened my briefcase, took out a folder, and handed it to Sara. She looked at the papers in the folder and said, “This won’t be bad at all. I may even have it for you tomorrow.”

“That would be great.”

Then Dr. Joe and I accompanied the staff that was gathered in the Dean’s office to their cars in the staff parking lot. Everyone said, thank you. And then, Dr. Joe and I headed to the faculty parking lot.

As we walked into the faculty parking lot, we were met by two New Mexico State Police officers. Both appeared to be natives. As they walked up to us, one of them asked, “Are you, faculty?”

“Yes, sir.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“Could I please see your University ID cards?”

“Of course.”

Dr. Joe reached for his wallet, and I opened my purse and took out my wallet. Dr. Joe removed his University ID and gave it to the officer, and so did I. The officer looked at Dr. Joe’s ID card first, and said, “You’re Dr. Joseph Oshie?”

“Yes.”, Dr. Joe answered.

Then the officer looked at my ID card, and then he looked at me, then he showed my ID card to his partner, then he said, “And you are Miss Kai Nez.”

“Yes, I am.”, I replied.

“We’ve heard about you if you’re the two spirit person.”

“I am.”

“My nephew was given one of the Chief Todachine scholarships.”

“Good. Is your nephew a good student?”

“Almost straight A’s.”

“That’s awesome. What’s he going to be studying?”

“He wants to go into politics.”

“Politics?”

“Yes, he’d like to be the President of the Navajo Nation one day.”

“I guess I’d better warn Chief Kinlicheeny.”

“You know the Chief?”

I just smiled. But, Dr. Joe said, “She knows him and a lot of other people.”

As he handed us our ID cards, he said, “Have a nice day.”

“You too, officer.”, I said.

Dr. Joe and I walked to Dr. Joe’s car, and I said, “See you tomorrow, Dr. Joe.”

“Yes, you will.”, Dr. Joe said. “Let’s just hope it is more peaceful than today was.”

After I left the parking lot, I drove to the camera shop and dropped off the roll of film. Then I headed home. When I was back home, Ajie met me at the garage door, and I received a big hug and kiss. And then I had to fill her in on everything that had happened. Her only comment was, “Honey, please be careful.”

“I promise you and the twins that I will be careful.”

Later while Ajie made dinner, I had some fun with the twins by making their mobile do different things. Then, as Ajie and I ate, and the twins napped, Ajie filled me on her day with the twins. And it sounded like it went better than expected.