Previously

We got home in the wee hours on Sunday morning almost couldn't get undressed we were so tired from dancing the night away , but it was a hot night so both Ricky and I did the old birthday suit thing again and climbed into bed .

We were awoken by the phone ringing at ten a.m. Of course it was Mum wanting to know how the ball went and for me to tell her what the gowns looked like.

I replied, “Mum I will ring you back in an hour when we have all woken up and had a shower and breakfast ok?!!”

“Alright dear, see that you do we have some things to discuss that are important to yours and Ricky's future in the family business.”

“Ok Mum I’ll ring back a little later, bye.”

Ricky asked me, “What’s that all about?”

I replied, “Ricky I think we are about to become part of an air charter company and so is Jenny.”

The next week it was back to uni for me and Ricky and work for the others. Mum and dad turned up on the following Sunday with a bunch of papers to sign.
Legally, we still had to do everything through Mum and Dad but once we all turned eighteen we would be company directors with full legal status.

Authors note :-

''This Chapter takes us to six years later. For me the ''Author'' of the story of Carla and her extended family, it is something I just can't close off, Carla has become part of me.

It is six years hence and it's Christmas Day 1973. Carla's extended family are all in the backyard of the Quilpie home of Bill and Donna Croft and of course the marquee is all set up as well.

Carla has been a qualified vet for over a year now and is in partnership with Ross. Ricky qualified as a teacher but the pull of the open sky was to much for him and he is now in the business and one of the pilots for Croft Air Charter which is based in Quilpie and also at Archerfield in Brisbane.

Oh, and of course they got married just after they graduated. Carla fell pregnant almost immediately and there are two little twin girls eighteen months old and as cute as can be. They are named Jean and Donna and are very hard to tell apart. They are already talking baby talk in unison. ''Scary'''

Jennifer and Billy are also married. Billy has taken over Bill's service station and repair business while Jennifer is the head nurse at the hospital. It's not that she has to work but there is no way she could just sit around, but she is also pregnant and is due in a couple of weeks time. So she will be a full time mum for a while anyway. She has become quite wealthy in her own right with the investments from her father's inheritance and that is how Billy ended up with the service station. Anyway she is having a little boy so the cycle of girls is about to stop.

Christine and Alan are also married and stayed in Brisbane only for a short while because Christine wanted to come home and be there for her parents, so they are also back in Quilpie. Christine is not nursing any more and is now the receptionist at the veterinary clinic owned by Carla and Ross. She is also pregnant but is only two months in. She will have a 'Caesarian section' the same as Carla had. Because of the surgery they both had for their little birth defect, they didn't want to risk having problems giving birth and then losing their babies.

Alan is now doing the aircraft maintenance of the fleet of Croft planes at Quilpie and is quite happy to be back home and can't wait to become a dad like Ricky.

Rita and Peter have been married for four years now and been trying to have offspring but it just hasn't happened. They are quite happy running their restaurant and going on their little camping trips. Maybe if Rita didn't try so hard she would fall pregnant too. She is all over the little twin girls when they visit her and of course she babysits them regularly.

Donna and Bill are well and truly retired now and are looking forward to spoiling their grand kids. Bella and Tony have also retired. Tony has to use a walking stick to get around because of his bad knees.

Ricky's parents are still on their five acre lot and happily retired, and are spoiling the two little twin girls Jean and Donna, running amok in the rows of fruit trees that Barry has planted over the years. These two little munchkins are truly blessed because their spirit Aunty Jean has already communicated with them and it is quite funny to watch when it happens because they think that everyone else can hear and see her as well.

It is a hot Christmas Day and we are all out in the marquee and as usual every one is talking at once. It is time to hand out the presents and seeing that we have littlies now it is appropriate to have a Father Christmas present to do the honours. Of course Jean and Donna are to be the first to get their presents and are jumping up and down while Ricky is trying to control the two little balls of energy. I have them dressed in little angel dresses with wings on their back. Their Spirit Aunty is here alongside her little nieces just as excited as they are and the vibrations that I am feeling are almost painful but I will not intervene in my spirit sister's happiness - she is part of me after all.

Brian is here and in his Santa suit. It must be hot but he insists on doing it, and the twins love it when he calls them over to the bag with the presents. I sometime wish their energy would transfer itself to me. I am still breast feeding them but that has to stop because I am getting far too tired and when I have to fly out to stations to do vet work it is pretty inconvenient to have to use a breast pump because I am leaking milk. So a few more times and that is it and hopefully my breasts wont get too sore when I stop.

Brian is of course not a priest any more and has a partner as well and she is also a lawyer and they handle all our legal matters which is quite a task these days. The family business has grown so much that it is hard to keep track of all that is going on. We employ at least fifty people now so it is quite a responsibility to have so many people depending on us for their livelihood.

Back to Santa and the twins. They both have to get the same things or there is trouble on the horizon so I bought them each a doll and clothes and two little strollers to push them around in. They seem to be natural mothers even at their age. As soon as the paper was off the dolls and strollers they were nursing them like they ere grown ups and asked me and Jenny to give them a hand to put the dolly clothes on them. It wasn't long and they were pushing them around and showing everyone their babies.

Sam ,Sandra and Mary werre also here again like every Christmas this seemed to be the place that we all congregate to, and as the years progress the family and friends will just get bigger. Sam and Sandra are going to foster a couple of young kids that have been abused sexually, one is a transsexual girl like Sam and the other is a genetic girl who has an autism problem but it is not very severe. They are both eight years old and I am looking forward to helping out in any way that I can, probably more financially than anything else.

Ricky has been told by the two little bosses that he is their Daddy and has to help push their strollers around in the back yard. We had to keep the gates closed because they would be off down the road in no time and wanting to show of the Christmas presents to all the neighbours.

Daddy obliged with a sigh and a roll of the eyes and said "Women are all the same, we men are mere servants" but he was smiling pretty big when the two little ones said “Come on DaDa.”

I thought, “Ricky is such a jelly bean, soft and sweet and I hope he never changes.”

Jean was in my mind and said, “Carla that is why we married him isn't it?”

I replied in my mind, “Jean, just as well no one heard that.” All I heard was a fit of giggles from Jean and than she was quiet. She can be quite a pain sometimes but she is half of me so I have to put up with the things she says.

Everyone sat around talking and the little ones were put down to sleep after I fed them in their own bedroom and almost went to sleep myself. It has been a long day and I will be glad to get into my bed tonight and cuddle up to my ever-loving husband. After all this time we still sleep in a cuddle and spoon position, I don’t think that will ever change.

To be continued

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