The best thing out of receiving my doctorate was the frybread tacos that Ajie made for dinner, followed by fried ice cream.

I’d called Dr. Clark at N.A.S.A. to find out about getting permission to add the article that was in the technical journal about the circuit to my published dissertation. That wasn’t a problem. Dr. Clark had also told me that N.A.S.A. was attempting to patent the circuit, and Dr. Joe and I are listed as the inventors.

The twins had started to sleep through the night. Was this going to continue?

We’d had another visit from the Navajo Children and Family Services ladies, and we learned that we should have the final adoption decree hearing for the twins sometime in March. And that will be in Window Rock, Arizona, in front of the judge for the Children’s Court. I’d thought it would be Probate Court?

Of course, work had continued on the project, and it was moving right along. It was to the point where we were talking to the technician that designs printed circuit boards on how to make it fit in the footprint that N.A.S.A. needed.

Ajie and I tried an experiment with the twins. We’d tried to see if they’d sleep in the hogan so that when we went to Window Rock, we could stay in Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii’s hogan. All I can say is that experiment was a failure.

Saturday morning, it was a little after five when we heard from the twins. This was nice, getting five hours of uninterrupted sleep. We did our usual routine with the twins, and then we had breakfast. As we ate, Ajie said, “It’s supposed to warm up into the 50s today. Want to go for a walk along the river?”

“Sounds good to me.”, I said.

“Good. Then I’ll go grocery shopping right after we finish breakfast.”

“Do you want me to go?”

“No, I’d like to get out of the house for a little while.”

“I understand. It’ll give me a little one on two time with the twins.”

“They’ll love that.”

So, right after breakfast, Ajie headed for the grocery store, and I cleaned up the breakfast mess. Then I went to play with the twins, and they were napping. So, I found a nice station on the stereo, and we had a quiet time. I read.

At about nine, the twins started to fuss, so it must be time for a change of diapers and a bottle. I walked over to the crib, looked down at them, smiled, and said, “Well, hello, you two. Have a nice nap?”

They smiled at me. I picked up Miss Haseya and checked her diaper. And she needed changed, so I took her back to their crib. When I came back out, I picked up Mr. Tsé, and I didn’t need to check his diaper, I could smell it. So I took him back and changed both of them.

Then it was back to the big room. I’d taken Haseya with me and put her in her seat. Then I went back and got Tsé, and as I was putting him in his seat, he grabbed my one braid and wouldn’t let go. I kept saying, “Tsé, let go of my hair.” or “Please let go.” And he wouldn’t.

So I had to try and find Tsé’s little stuffed bear while I carried him, and he pulled on my braid. I finally found his bear and offered it to him. He let go of my braid and took the bear. Then I quickly flipped my braid onto my back so that he couldn’t grab it again. Then I took him to his seat and went to make their bottles.

It wasn’t long after I’d finished feeding the twins and had put them in their playpen that Ajie was home. As I helped Ajie bring in the groceries, I hold her what Tsé had done to me. She laughed and told me that he’d done that to her. And that’s why she was wearing her hair in a single braid. I just shook my head.

After lunch, Ajie and I changed into our hiking gear, and then we loaded the twins and their new awéétsááls - (cradleboards) into the car. This will be the first time that we’ve used the new awéétsááls. We drove to the parking lot for the river trail, and like last time there were a number of cars here. We put the twins into their cradleboards, and they did have more room in these. We each helped the other place the cradleboard on to our backs and headed north. Ajie was quietly singing as we walked. We walked a little beyond the first bench before turning around.

As we turned around, there was another couple that wasn’t far behind us. As we walked, we got closer to the other couple, and I thought that they might be natives. And the closer we got to them, the more they looked like natives. Then as we walked up to each other, the guy said, “Yá’át’ééh. - (It is good.)”

I smiled, and I think that Ajie was also smiling, and I said, “Yá’át’ééh alní'ní'a´a´ dóó bik'iji'. - (Good afternoon.)”

The guy then said, “Seeing the cradleboards, I figured that you were native. And I took a chance that you were Navajo.”

“We are. And I think you are too.”

“We are. I’m Jáan Hatahle, and this is my girlfriend, Aiyana Adakai.”

“Nice meeting you. I’m Kai Nez, and this is my cousin Ajie Nez. The twins are Haseya and Tsé.”

“We thought that it was interesting that you were out for a walk using the cradleboards. I’ve never seen them off the reservation before.”

“We like to hike, and we felt that it would be a good way to introduce the little ones to the outdoors.”

“That is neat that you’re doing that.”, the girl said. “And from what we saw, they seemed happy.”

“They are.”, I said. “They get excited every time they see the cradleboards.”

“Can we see them?”

“Of course.” And Ajie and I turned our backs to the other couple.

The girl asked, “How old are they?”

“Just about eleven weeks.”

“They’re twins?”

“Yes, a boy and a girl.”

We turned back around, and the guy looked at me and asked, “You look familiar.”

“Do you go to the university?”, I asked.

“Yes, we both just started this year.”

“We’re both on the faculty there.”

“Wait. You did the thing on the Apollo launch.”

“That’s me.”, I said.

“That was interesting.”, the guy said.

“Thank you. Where are you from?”

“Over near Tuba City.”

“And you came all the way over here for school?”

“We wanted to get away from over there.”

“What are your majors.”

“I’m going into mechanical engineering, and she’s in education.”

“Good. I’m an instructor in the electrical engineering program, and she’s an instructor in the nursing program.”

“It’s good to see that you’re going to college.”, Ajie said.

“We both tried for the scholarship that someone started in honor of an old Chief.”, the girl said. “We both got good grades, but neither of us got one of the scholarships. But it made both of us think that it would be good to go to college, so we worked hard, saving money and trying to get money in other ways. And here we are.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Then the girl looked at me and said, “Wait. You were on the front page of the school paper this week.”

“Guilty as charged.”, I said.

“You earned your doctoral or something like that.”

“My doctoral.”

“I’m impressed. And someone with a doctoral out hiking with their children along the river is so cool.”

“Earning that didn’t change me. I’m still myself and enjoy the out of doors.”

Then Ajie said, “We’re going to have to get going. It’s about time for these two to eat.”

“I understand.”, the girl said. “I’ve got three younger sisters. It’s been fun talking to you. Hopefully, we’ll see you again. Goodbye.”

“Whoa.”, Ajie said. “We never say goodbye. It’s too permanent. We only say so long or hágoónee'. - (see you later.)”

Both the guy and the girl smiled and said, “Hágoónee'.”

Ajie and I both said, “Hágoónee'.”

As we quickly walked towards the parking area, Ajie said, “It was interesting hearing that the Chief’s scholarship lit the fire under them to go to college.”

“It was.”, I said. “I wonder how many other students that’s happened to?”

“We’ll never know. But knowing that it’s happened to just those two makes me feel good.”

“Me too.”

As we put the twins into their car seats, we gave each of them a pacifier in hopes that it would keep them satisfied until we were back home. We’d just turned onto our road when we heard Tsé get upset. Ajie looked at him and said, “He’s lost his pacifier, and I can’t reach it.”

A minute later, we pulled into our driveway and the garage. While Ajie took care of Haseya, I found Tsé’s pacifier, cleaned it, and gave it back to him. Then Ajie and I did the diaper/bottle thing. So now, both of the twins were dry, clean, and fed. The twins were happy, and so were we.

Sunday, it had turned cold again, so nothing outside with the twins today. So, Ajie and I did things in the house, took care of the twins, read, played with the twins, listened to music, and so on.

On Monday, after teaching my classes is was back to the office. When I walked into the office, Dr. Joe asked me to call Dr. Clark at N.A.S.A. about Bill designing our printed circuit boards.

I did Dean Oshie’s bidding, and when I reached Dr. Clark, I said, “Dr. Clark, this is Dr. Nez.”

“Good morning, Dr. Nez.”

“Good morning.”

“What can I do for you?”

I went on to explain that we were at the point of needing to design the printed circuit board for the circuit and that we’d like to use an employee of the university to do that. And that he’s been with the university for years and was a wiz at designing and making printed circuit boards.

“I thought that you could do that, Dr. Nez.”, Dr. Clark said.

“I can.”, I replied. “But what will take him a day or two to do would take me a week or more to do. He can look at a schematic, see the board that he needs to design and put it on paper.”

“He’s that good?”

“Yes.”

“He can work on it as long as either you or Dr. Oshie are with him while he’s working on it and has access to the schematic or the breadboard that you’ve worked up. What’s his last name?”

“Thank you. I think it’s Peterson.” Then I said, “Dr. Joe, Bill’s last name is Peterson, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Peterson.”, Dr. Joe replied.

“Dr. Clark, yes, it’s Peterson. Bill Peterson.”

“Thank you, So, your that close on this project?”

“Yes, we’re in the final stages of testing on the breadboard circuit. And if all goes well, we may start the build next week. The only problem we ran into was fitting it into the space we were given.”

“And you’ve solved that?”, Dr. Clark asked.

“We think so.”, I replied. “We’ll see after the final printed circuit board is designed.”

After I’d hung up with Dr. Clark, I looked at Dr. Joe and said, “Dr. Clark said that Bill could work on the printed circuit boards as long as one of us is with him when he has access to the schematic or the breadboard circuit.”

“We can do that.”, Dr. Joe said. “I’ll just be here when you can’t.”

I took out the breadboard circuit and everything else that we needed to run our tests. And we went to work on testing.

A little over an hour later, there was a knock on the door, and Dr. Joe said, “Who is it?”

“It’s Dean Rutherford, I have someone with me, and we need to speak with Dr. Nez.”

“Yes, sir, give us a minute.”

I shook my head and asked Dr. Joe, “Do we have anything to cover this with so we don’t have to put it away?”

“Hang on.”, Dr. Joe said.

Dr. Joe went to the closet and took out a lab coat and handed it to me. I took the coat and covered the work table with it. Then Dr. Joe walked over to the door and opened it. It was Dean Rutherford and someone else.

As they walked in, the Dean said, “I hope we didn’t interrupt anything.”

“We were just running some tests on that circuit that we're designing.”, I said.

“Sorry. We won’t be long.”

“That’s all right, Dean.”, Dr. Joe said.

“Dr. Nez, do you remember, last fall, us talking about a brochure for the university?”, the Dean asked.

“Yes, sir, I do.”, I replied. “But, I thought that it had been tabled.”

“It had. But it’s been resurrected.”

“Oh.”

“And this is Mrs. Hathaway. She’s been chosen to put the new brochure together, and she wanted to meet you.”

I looked at Mrs. Hathaway and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hathaway.”

“Thank you, Dr. Nez.”, Mrs. Hathaway said. “I saw the brochure that you did for that resort, and I’d have sworn that you were a professional model.”

“No, that was me about three years ago.”

“You’re still just as pretty.”

“Thank you.”

Then Dean Rutherford said, “The reason that we wanted to meet with you, Dr. Nez, was to let you know that we’re going ahead with the brochure. And we still want to use you in the brochure.”

And Mrs. Hathaway added, “And we’re interested in your photos from the Apollo presentation, and from the Dean congratulating you when you earned your doctoral. Plus, we’d like to take some at graduation when you’re hooded.”

“I didn’t know that they’d taken pictures when I did the Apollo presentation.”, I said.

“They were able to pull a couple off of the tape of your presentation.”

“Oh.”

I then looked at Dr. Joe, and then I looked at the Dean, then I looked at Mrs. Hathaway and said, “I guess I can do it.”

“Thank you, Dr. Nez.”, the Dean said. “Now, we’ll let you and Dr. Oshie get back to work.”

“Thank you, sir.”, I said.

Dr. Joe walked to the door with the Dean and Mrs. Hathaway, and he closed and locked the door after they’d left. Then Dr. Joe walked back over to me, looked at me, and said, “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

“No.”, I replied. “But, I thought that the brochure was a dead subject.”

“Obviously not.”

“Obviously. But why me?”

“Kai, you’re news.”, Dr. Joe said. “You’re the first woman to earn a doctorate in engineering at the University of New Mexico, your presentation on the Apollo launch was wonderful, you’re pretty, you’re smart, and you’re young. So you make the obvious pick to represent the College of Engineering in the brochure.”

I shook my head and said, “I came out here to just be myself, maybe work on my masters, and blend into the woodwork. And the complete opposite has happened.”

“Kai, you need to just accept it.”

“I guess.” Then as I pulled the lab coat off the work table, I said, “We’d better get back at it.”

Dr. Joe and I worked at testing the circuit until about four-thirty. And as we walked together to the faculty parking lot, Dr. Joe said, “I’ll talk to Bill tomorrow morning about doing the work in our office.”

“Okay.”, I said. “I think that we should be ready for him on Wednesday if things keep going like they are.”

“I’ll tell him that. Could he start before you get there?”

“Sure. All he needs is the schematic, and that’ll be in the file cabinet.”

“Good.”

“And if he finishes the design by Friday, he could start doing up the printed circuit boards on Monday.”, I said.

“How many sets are we going to need?”, Dr. Joe asked.

“We need to build three complete circuits for N.A.S.A., but I want to build a fourth. So we’ll have him make six sets of printed circuit boards just in case.”

“Sounds good, Kai.”

A little later, as we walked up to Dr. Joe’s car in the parking lot, I grinned as I said, “Have you checked the battery recently?”

“Kai!”, Dr. Joe said. “You taught me a lesson that I have to take good care of the car so that it’ll take care of me. So, yes, I check it at least once a month.”

“Good boy. See you tomorrow, Dr. Joe.”

“See you later, Dr. Kai.”

I shook my head, then I walked to my car and headed home.

I took a long way home to think. When I pulled into the garage, no one met me at the door to the house. So, I walked in, took my briefcase to the office, and walked into the big room, Ajie was feeding the twins. I walked over, kissed Ajie. Then I looked at Haseya, touched her nose with my index finger, and you could see the smile in her dark eyes. Then I said, “I missed you, little Haseya.”

Then I walked over to Tsé and took the bottle from Ajie without pulling the nipple out of Tsé mouth. Then I sat on the couch next to Tsé, touched his nose with my index finger, and there was also a smile in his dark eyes. And I said, “I missed my little Tsé too.”

Ajie, with a fake pout, said, “Didn’t you miss me?”

I looked at Ajie, touched her nose with my index finger, and said, “And you, young lady, I missed you the most.”

Ajie smiled and said, “And when you’re gone, I miss you more than you’ll ever know.”

Ajie and I leaned together and kissed.

After we’d finished feeding the twins, we put them in the playpen and went to work on our dinner. As we worked, Ajie asked, “Honey, are you okay?”

“Sort of.”, I replied.

“Okay, sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“Do you remember last fall when they were talking about doing a new brochure for the university?”

“The one where they wanted to use you in the section for the engineering college?”

“Yes.”

“I thought that they decided not to do it.”

“That was last fall.”, I said. “Now they’re going to do it, and they still want to use me. And they want pictures of my hooding ceremony along with some others.”

“Well love, you are news.”, Ajie said. “How many women do you know that have received a doctorate from the College of Engineering at the University of New Mexico?”

“None.”

“None? There’s you.”

“Am I a woman?”

“Honey, don’t go there.”

“I know.”

“You’re in that frame of mind again. And that’s not good, my love. So do you know what you’re going to do after dinner?”, Ajie asked.

“No, what?”, I asked.

“You are going to go out to the hogan and meditate.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are. You know that it always helps you.”

“You’re right.”

“I’ll finish dinner. You go set up the hogan.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I went to the master suite and took down the wall hanging of the four sacred mountains, then I went out to the hogan, lit a couple of the kerosene lanterns, cleaned out the fire pit, and laid a nice teepee fire. I then laid the rug next to the fire pit. I turned the flames down in the lanterns that I’d lit. Then as I walked back into the house, I was smelling something wonderful. Ajie had made a nice southwestern chicken stir fry with a side of southwestern rice. And there was sangria to drink.

We sat and ate and talked about anything but the university. After we’d finished, Ajie said, “Go on out to the hogan, and I’ll clean up.”

“Are you sure?”, I asked.

“Yes, it’ll be no problem.”

“Okay. I’ll be back.”

I got up, kissed Ajie, walked into the big room, looked down at the twins, and said, “You two be good for mommy.”

Both of the twins had a twinkle in their eyes.

I walked out across the back courtyard and through the gate to the hogan. The lanterns that I’d left burning in the hogan provided just enough light for me to see to light the fire. I walked over to the fire pit, knelt, picked up the long match that I’d placed there earlier, and lit it. I put the lit end of the match into the tinder, which quickly ignited, the tinder got the kindling going, and then the bigger pieces of wood ignited.

I sat back on the rug and looked into the fire. After a minute, the wolf prayer came into my head. And I quietly said,

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

Then I sat their quietly, feeling the spirits of the fire, and my spirit, the spirit of the wolf. I knew that the spirit of the wolf would show me the correct path to take and protect me as I walked that path. I also knew that the spirit of the wolf would help me protect Ajie, Haseya, and Tsé. And there was someone else there. A fourth for me to protect? Who is this?

I closed my eyes and meditated for a while. When I finally opened my eyes, the fire had burned down to ashes. I stood, stirred the ashes in the fire pit, turned off the lanterns that were burning, and locked up the hogan as I left. It was really dark outside.

As I walked into the house, Ajie looked up from her reading and said, “Good. You can help me put the twins to bed.”

“Is it that late?”, I asked.

“Yes. It’s just nine.”

“I was out there that long!?”

“Yes. Did it do any good?”

“Yes, I’ll tell you about it after the twins are in bed.”

We took the twins back to the master suite, changed their diapers, and brought them back out and fed them. Then after they’d eaten, we took them back to the master suite, tucked them in, kissed them, and told them, “Sweet dreams.”

Then Ajie and I went back out into the big room, and I told her about what went on in the hogan. And then I told Ajie, “I had a vision of a wolf helping me protect you, the twins, and someone else.”

“Someone else. Who?”, Ajie asked.

“Good question.”, I said. “All I saw was a shadowy figure, and I couldn’t tell if it was male or female, or young or old.”

“That’s strange.”

“What did mom always say?”

“Yeah.”, Ajie said. “The spirits move in strange ways. But what are they telling us?”

“I have no clue.”, I said. “Where’s Naainish when you need him?”

“Well. Maybe someplace down the path, we may find out. But, now, how do you feel about the other problem.”

“I’m feeling good. I’m just going to go with the flow and let the wolf protect me and show me the path. And help me protect you and the twins.”

“That’s good. I hope that we’re over that hump.”

“I think we are.”

On Tuesday morning, when we got up with the twins at five, I felt different. Was I feeling il hózho´ - (in balance and beauty with the world)? I felt like I knew where I was going and why. And I think Ajie picked up on it as she said, “You sound chipper this morning.”

“I feel that way.”, I said. “I think that the time in the hogan, with the spirits, did the trick.”

Ajie didn’t say anything but just smiled.

We changed the twins, then fed them and put them back to bed. I gave each of them a kiss and whispered, “Hágoónee', yázhís. - (See you later, little ones.)”

Ajie and I then had breakfast, and I headed to the university at about seven. Ajie would get the twins up right after I left.

I taught my classes. And as I walked into my grad level class, I caught the professor out of the corner of my eye as he looked at me, smiled, and nodded yes.

Then after my grad level class, I walked over to the office, and it was dark. So I unlocked the door and walked in, then I locked the door, reset the alarm, and turned on the light. As I set my things down, I noticed a note on the work desk, it was from Dr. Joe, and he told me to call home.

So, I went over to the desk and called home, when Ajie answered, I said, “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, sweetheart.”, Ajie replied.

“So, what’s up?”

“I heard from Mrs. Benallie this morning.”

“Oh!?”

“We have a date and time for the hearing with the judge.”

“And?”

“Monday the tenth at nine.”, Ajie replied.

“Wonderful.”, I replied.

“Should I call Aunt Ginny?”

“Sure. Tell her we’ll be over on Sunday before lunch.”

“I’ll do that. Do you want to call Chief Clah and see if he’s going to be there.”

“I can do that.”

“Do you think that we should take the playpen?”

“We should. But even folded it up, it won’t fit in the trunk of either car.”

“I think I saw one at the baby shop downtown that might work.”

“I’ll stop and take a look on the way home.”

“Okay, sweety. See you when you get home.”

“Ayóó' áníínísh'ní, hágoónee'. - (I love you, see you later.)”

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

For those of you that don’t remember, Chief Clah is a lawyer and is the Navajo Nation’s War Chief and their Attorney General. He’s also an advisor to the Navajo Children and Family Services. And he’s a friend.

We hung up, then I dug Chief Clah’s business card out of my purse and called his Albuquerque office. And he was in. When he answered, he said, “Congratulations on your PhD, Dr. Nez.”

“Thank you, Chief Clah.”, I replied.

“So, what can I do for you today?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they’ve set up the final adoption decree hearing for the twins at the Children’s Court in Window Rock.”

“Yes, it’s on Monday the tenth of March at nine. Correct?”

“Yes, sir. So, you’ve heard.”

“I have. And I’ll be there.”

“I’m happy to hear that. What do you know about this Judge Uskilith?”

“Not much. He starts hearing cases on March first. And you’re the first adoption that he’ll be hearing.”

“Is that a good thing?”, I asked.

“We shall see.”, Chief Clah replied. “But don’t worry. From what I’ve heard, all the reports on you, Ajie, and the twins are very good.”

“I hope that you’re right.”

“I think I am. And I’ll see you on the tenth.”

“We’ll see you then. Hágoónee' - (see you later), Chief Clah.”

“Hágoónee', Dr. Nez.”

I hung up the phone and sat there for a minute in thought.

Then I retrieved everything from the file cabinet and got it set up on the work table. I was about ready to start testing when I heard a key in the door, I looked up just as Dr. Joe walked in, and I said, “Well, good morning to you, Dr. Joe.”

Dr. Joe stopped in his tracks and said, “What did you do now?”

“Nothing.”, I replied. “Why?”

“You’re too chipper this morning.”

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

“When you left here yesterday, you weren’t exactly in a good mood.”

“That was before the spirits and I had a nice chat last night. My wolf spirit showed me the path that I should walk, and it’s the one I’m walking.”

“Kai, if I wasn’t a native and didn’t believe in the spirits, I would say that you were certifiably crazy.”

“Well, I am crazy. Aren’t I?.”

“I guess you are.”

“No, Ajie made me meditate in the hogan last night. And my wolf spirit did show me the correct path and that he’ll protect me.”

“That’s good.”

“Also, this morning, Ajie got a call from the Navajo Children and Family Services, and we’re having the final hearing for the twin's adoption on March tenth.”

“Then, you won’t be in on the tenth?”

“No, I won’t, and I’ll cancel my two classes that day. And we’ll be going over to Window Rock on the Sunday before.”

“I’m glad that this will finally be over for you and Ajie.”

“We are too. Then the twins will be official members of the family. We just have to hope that the judge agrees with the people from the Navajo Children and Family Services and doesn’t take them away from us.”

“He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

“You never know until you’re in front of him. The people from Family Services tell us that the court usually follows the report from them, but you never know. Plus, he’s a new judge, and no one knows much about him.”

“He’ll find in your favor.”

“I hope that you’re right. Let’s get on with this project so we can give it to Bill tomorrow.”

Dr. Joe and I started running the necessary test to be sure the circuit meets the specifications that we were given. And by four o’clock we were happy, and we headed home. Well, I did make a stop at the baby shop and looked for a folding playpen. And I found one that when it’s folded up will fit perfectly in the trunk with room for the necessary luggage.

When I was home and found Ajie feeding the twins, I said, “I found a folding playpen that fits into the trunk, and I picked up another mobile. I’ll store them in the garage until we go to Window Rock.”

“Good.”, Ajie said. “But, instead of putting it in the garage, set it up in the hogan.”

“Why?”

“I got to thinking about the way the twins reacted to us leaving them when we tried it before.”

“Being a psychologist, now are we?”

“No, a mother. The other night when we were seeing if the twins would sleep in the hogan, we may have pushed it too soon. The twins had only been in the hogan once before. And they may have looked at it as a strange place. Plus, it’s remote from the house and very quiet.”

“You might be right.”

“I think we need to introduce the hogan to them slowly.”

“How?”, I asked.

“We set up the new playpen in the hogan, even put the new mobile up.”, Ajie said. “Then we’ll take them out there, and you and I will eat our dinner out there with them while they’re in their playpen. Then after dinner, we’ll just stay out there with them and maybe read or play with them.

“Then, when it’s their bedtime, we’ll take them back into the house, clean them up, take them to the big room to feed them, and then put them to bed in their crib.”

“It could hurt to try.”, I said.

“And for now, we’d never leave them alone in the hogan except for very short periods.”

“Okay.”

“Go and set up the playpen in the hogan, get a fire ready to light. And light a few of the lanterns. That way, it won’t be dark in the hogan when we take them out there.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

I did as Ajie asked. And when I came back in, I saw that we were having a chicken salad for dinner. It was something that we could easily eat while sitting on the bed.

At six, we changed and fed the twins, then we carried them out to the hogan and put them in the new playpen, and I wound up the new mobile. They appeared to enjoy it. I turned up the half a dozen lanterns that I’d lit earlier, and I also lit the fire. Then while Ajie stayed with the twins, I went and brought out our dinner.

As we ate, Ajie said, “You know if we’re going to eat out here like this every once in a while, we might want to get TV trays?”

“But, there’s no TV out here.”, I replied.

Ajie turned to me to say something, but saw the grin on my face, hesitated, then said, “You are a brat.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

As we ate, I told Ajie that I’d talk to Chief Clah, and he would be there. But, he didn’t know much about the new judge. And when I told Ajie that we’d be the new judge’s first adoption case, Ajie looked at me and asked, “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Chief Clah didn’t think so.”

“I sure hope not.”

“We’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“And if he finds against us, be ready to grab the twins and run away.”

I looked at Ajie and said, “Let’s not even talk that way.”

Ajie just shrugged her shoulders. Then she told me that she’d talked to Aunt Ginny and that they’d have lunch for us on Sunday. And that the crib would be in the hogan.

I asked, “Did you tell her that what we’re planning with the twins might not work. But that we’re working on it.”

“Aunt Ginny laughed when I told her what we’d done. But was happy that it looked like it might work.”

Then we watched the twins enjoy their mobile. I took the dinner dishes into the house and cleaned up the kitchen. I was almost finished when Ajie came into the house. I looked at her and said, “I thought that we weren’t going to leave them alone.”

“I’m doing it just long enough to grab a book.”, Ajie replied. “Then I'm going right back. Hopefully, they’ll learn that if we leave that we’ll come right back. And when you come back out, make a fuss over them.”

When I walked back into the hogan, I went over to the playpen and did make a fuss over the twins. Then I went over and stretched out on the bed with Ajie and read.

At one point, I glanced over at the twins, and they were napping. I poked Ajie and pointed at the twins, and she whispered, “I know.”

Just before nine, the twins started fussing. It was time for their feeding. Ajie and I got up and walked over to the playpen. Ajie picked up Haseya, and I picked up Tsé. And we carried them back into the house, cleaned them up, and fed them. It was the twin's bedtime.

After we’d tucked the twins in, I went back out to the hogan and closed it up. Then I came back in and sat with Ajie. As I sat, Ajie said, “That went well. I guess the twins just needed to know that we’d be there for them.”

“I guess they did.”, I said. “Were you serious about the TV trays?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’ll try to find some on the way home tomorrow.”

“Try the used furniture store.”

“That’s just where I’m going to start looking.”

On Wednesday, when I’d told my classes that there wouldn’t be a class on Monday, March tenth, you could see little smiles on some faces. But I saw those smiles fade away when I said, “And since we have a lot of information before finals and we have one day less to cover it, the lectures will be a little intense. And that starts today. Take good notes.”

I’m not going to bore you with the things that happened at the university over the rest of the week. Except to tell you that I received an education watching Bill designing the printed circuit boards.

While I sat with Bill on Wednesday, I worked on a parts list for this project. And when I had it finished, and Dr. Joe was here, I went to the supply room and handed the guy there the list, he looked it over and said, “Dr. Nez, this is quite a list.”

“It is.”, I replied. “And I need four of each.”

“Ouch. There are a few things that I’ll need to order. When do you need this?”

“Early next week.”

“Well, I’ll try to have it for you Tuesday as long as all the parts arrive.”

“I’ll take what you have by then.”

“Okay. Let me get at it.”

Then on Friday afternoon, Bill told us that he’d come up with a design of four printed circuit boards stacked to make the entire circuit that would fit in the footprint. Then he went back to the electronics lab and started making the boards. It had taken Bill two and a half days to do the design.

At home on Thursday and Friday evenings, we had the twins back out in the hogan. And we even played with them on the bed, and they seemed to enjoy themselves. At nine on both of those nights, we took them back into the house and put them to bed in their crib.

Saturday, after we’d done some basic housework, including replacing the firewood for the hogan and also filling the kerosene lanterns, and taking care of the twins. We made lunch. Then since it was a nice day, it was off for a walk along the river.

We took along the cradleboards, and when the twins saw them, they knew we were going out. We drove to our favorite parking lot, and on such a nice day, there were a number of cars there. We got the twins out of the car and put them into their cradleboards. Then Ajie and I helped each other place them on our backs, and we headed north along the river.

It was a nice walk, and we met a lot of nice people. As we were walking back south, Ajie asked, “Want to try something tonight?”

“What?”, I said. “To see if the twins will sleep in the hogan?”

“Yes. But I think that one of us would need to be with the twins at least until they're sound asleep. And then we’d also spend the night in the hogan.”

“It’s worth a try. But I’d hate to have to move the crib back to our room at midnight.”

“I don’t think we will.”

When we were home, I stopped at the mailbox and grabbed the mail and the newspaper. Once we were in the house, it was time to change and feed the twins. After they were fed, we put them in the playpen. Then I happened to look at the answering machine, and we had a message.

I went to the answering machine, rewound the tape, and pressed play. It was Vickie, and she asked Ajie to call her. And the conversation went something like this.

Ajie said, “Hi, Vickie. It’s Ajie.” … “We took a walk along the river.” … “They loved it.” … “At noon tomorrow.” … “It sounds like fun. What can we bring?” … “Are you sure?” and they went on to talk some more.

When Ajie finally hung up, I asked, “So, where we goin’?”

“To Vickies and Chief Toms. They’re having everyone over for lunch tomorrow.”

“Even the kids?”

“Yes. And little Mark will be there too.”

While Ajie was talking to Vickie, I had opened the mail, and the letter from our financial advisor was interesting. So after Ajie had finished telling me about lunch with our friends, and as I handed the letter from our financial advisor to Ajie, I said, “Read this.”

Ajie took the letter and read it. Then she looked at me and said, “Seven!”

“Yes, it looks like the trust fund can handle seven scholarships this spring.”

“That’s wonderful.”

After dinner, Ajie and I moved the twin's crib out to the hogan, and I got the hogan ready, as Ajie watched the twins. At nine o’clock, we took the twins out to the hogan and tucked them in. I lit the fire in the fire pit, then turned down the kerosene lanterns. We both stayed with them until about ten, then Ajie and I took turns getting ready for bed. I went last, and when I came back out to the hogan, I locked up the house and closed and locked the hogan’s door.

A little after midnight on Sunday morning, we were woken up by the twins getting restless. We got up, and I turned up a couple of lanterns that I’d left burning low. Then we carried the twins into the house and cleaned them up, fed them, and carried them back out to their crib in the hogan.

Ajie and I climbed back into bed and listened as the twins fussed a bit and then went to sleep.

We didn’t hear a peep out of the twins until about six in the morning. Ajie and I laid there for a few minutes listening to them, then we got the twins up, cleaned up, fed, and into their playpen in the big room. Ajie then helped me move their crib back into the master suite, and Ajie and I got dressed, then ate breakfast.

As we ate breakfast, Ajie said, “That was good last night.”

“It was.”, I said. “They slept just like they were in their own room.”

“All it took was getting them used to being in the hogan and knowing that we wouldn’t be far away.”

“Now, we’ll see what happens when we go to Window Rock.”

“I’ll call Aunt Ginny and tell her that we’d like to stay in the hogan.”

At a little after eleven, Ajie and I loaded the twins into the car and headed to Vickie and Chief Tom’s for lunch with our friends. Along with the normal things that you take with you when you travel with three-month-old babies, we also took the new fold-up playpen and their cradleboards.

As we pulled up to the house, we saw that Dr. Joe and Mary, and Charlie and Jackie were already here. Ajie and I got the twins out of the backseat and walked up to the door. We didn’t even have to ring the doorbell because the front door opened as we walked up. We saw Vickie standing there smiling, and she said, “There’s those two cuties.”

“Thanks, Vickie.”, I said. “But I think that the twins are cuter that Ajie and I are.”

“I was talking about the twins, Kai.”

“Ignore her, Vickie.”, Ajie said. “She’s just being a brat.”

Ajie handed Haseya to Vickie, Vickie took her, looked down at her, and said, “There’s that cutie. Come on in.”

We found everyone, including Dr. Joe and Mary’s son Mark sitting around the kitchen table. Jackie jumped up and took Tsé from me. Vickie handed Haseya back to Ajie. Then while Ajie and Jackie took the twins and changed them, I warmed up two bottles and helped Vickie with lunch.

As we were eating, Ajie asked Jackie, “Jackie, with both of us having to attend graduation on March twenty-third, we were wondering if you and Charlie would … ”

Ajie didn’t get to finish because Jackie interrupted her with, “We’d love to!”

“That was a quick answer. But, love to what?”

“Sorry, but you were going to ask us to watch the twins. Weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“We love those two and would love to help you. What about for rehearsal?”

“Both sets of grandparents will be here then, so the grandmothers get the first pick on that day.”

“That’s fine. But we’d love to watch the twins for you on Sunday.”

“Thank you.”

I’d watched Charlie through this exchange between Jackie and Ajie, and I saw him first roll his eyes, then shake his head and smile. He and I made eye contact, and I smiled. And I think that he knew what I was thinking, and that was Jackie will make a great mother.

Then I asked Vickie, “Vickie, what stirred up the interest in the university’s brochure again?”

“Partially you.”, Vickie replied.

“Me!?”

“President Lingham knew that you earned your PhD, and he decided that the university needed to capitalize on it. So he got it going again.”

“Why did it get dropped to start with?”

“The person doing it left the university, and it just got forgotten.”

“But why would I jump start it?”

“You’re news, and you’re a first. You’re the first woman at the University of New Mexico to earn a PhD in engineering. Ajie is also a first.”

“Me!?”, Ajie said.

“Yes, you.”, Vickie said. “You are our first PhD in nursing. And I’m going to love hooding you. Dean Milford is even coming back to participate.”

“Wasn’t Dean Milford the Dean of the nursing school when I started?”, Jackie asked.

“Yes, she was. And now she’s the Dean Emeritus.”

I looked at Ajie and said, “You’re more important than I am.”

“No, I’m not.”, Ajie said.

“Ajie.”, Vickie said. “We’d like to use a picture of your hooding ceremony in the university’s new brochure.”

Ajie shook her head and said, “I know it won’t do any good to say no. So, okay.”

“What’s this brochure?”, Charlie asked.

“It’s something the university sends out to prospective students and others.”, Chief Tom said.

“Yeah, and they’re using us to attract new students.”, I said.

“Not a bad idea.”, Charlie said. “Two smart, pretty, native girls. That would get my attention.”

That got Charlie a punch in the arm from Jackie. And he responded with, “Well, they are.”

“I know.”, Jackie said.

“Well, so are you. Except that you’re not a native.”

With a grin, I said, “Now. Now. You two. No fighting in front of the children.”

Then Vickie said, “Come with me, Ajie and Mary. I have a surprise for dessert.”

“We’re having fried ice cream?”, I asked.

“Not quite that elaborate.”

Vickie got up, followed by Mary and Ajie, and they came back carrying small bowls, a couple of plates stacked with cinnamon crisps, and a big bowl of fruit salad. And that makes a good finish to any meal.

We took care of the twins at about three, and then our group broke up at about four after a great meal and fun conversation.

We were back home before five and got the twins settled into their playpen in the big room. I got a fire going in the fireplace and put on a record.

Tomorrow is Monday and another day at the university, and we’ll have to see how Bill is doing on the printed circuit boards.