I’d found out from Dean Rutherford that they were resurrecting the brochure for the university, and they still wanted me in it. That got me a little wound up. And when I’d told Ajie about it, she had made me meditate in the hogan.

As I’d meditated in the hogan, my wolf spirit gave me guidance. It had shown me that the wolf would protect me. And I’d protect Ajie, Tsé, Haseya, and someone else. I saw this someone else as a shadowy figure. Was it male or female? Was it old or young? I couldn’t tell you.

When I’d told Ajie about the shadowy figure, her comment was one of my mother's favorite sayings. The spirits work in strange ways.

We’d found out that our final adoption decree hearing would be on Monday, March tenth in Window Rock. We’d also found out that no one knows much about the new judge and that we’d be his first adoption hearing.

Ajie had planned something with the twins, and we’d spent a few evenings in the hogan with them, we’d let them do their own thing while we read or we’d play with them. Then we’d moved their crib out to the hogan, and we’d spent a whole night with them in the hogan without a problem. Would we be able to take them out to my aunt and uncle’s hogan in Window Rock when it was their bedtime, and leave them alone for a couple of hours before joining them? Maybe we’ll try that before we go to Window Rock.

We’d spent a nice Sunday afternoon with our group of friends. We’d also lined up Charlie and Jackie to watch the twins during graduation. And while we were talking about the brochure for the university, Ajie found out that the nursing school wanted to use her in their part of the brochure. Chuckle. Chuckle.

Monday morning, Ajie and I took care of the twins at six, and after putting them back to bed, Ajie and I had breakfast together. Then I headed to the university. My first class was at nine and my second at ten. I told my nine o’clock class that if they were back here before eleven o’clock that they were welcome to join me and watch the launch of Apollo 9. But they’d have to share the room with my ten o’clock class. I saw some interest.

I told my ten o’clock class the same thing. And there was some interest there too.

I finished with my ten o’clock class at ten-forty-five and dismissed them. Close to fifty percent of them stayed, and they were joined by a number of the members of my nine o’clock class. I walked over to the switch that turns on the televisions mounted to the ceiling and turned them on. By the time that I’d walked to the back of the classroom and turned, the TVs had warmed up, and we were looking at Apollo 9 sitting on top of a Saturn V rocket on launchpad 39-A. And we listened to the voice of mission control as it explained that this would be only an Earth orbit flight. Ant that it was the flight of the Lunar Module “Spider” and it’s Command and Service Module “Gum Drop.” And that there would be a rendezvous and docking between the “Spider” and “Gum Drop.”

And at eleven o’clock, we listened to the count down and watched the lift-off of Apollo 9. I had planned to watch until they achieved Earth orbit, and that’s what I did. Then I told my students that I needed to leave, and I turned off the TVs, then I headed to the office with a stop at the electronics lab.

I found Bill in the electronics lab working on the printed circuit boards. And he said that he should have them done by tomorrow morning.

I wandered over to the office, and Dr. Joe wasn’t here. So I sat at the desk and looked at the mail, which included a few new technical journals. I thumbed through them and made a mental note to go back and read them later. Then I walked down to the college’s office. As I walked in, Sara looked at me and said, “Hello, Kai.”

“Hello, Sara.”, I replied. “Anything going on?”

“Not much. The Deans not even here today.”

“Goofing off?”

“Who knows.”

“I haven’t even seen Dean Oshie today. There wasn’t some kind of meeting someplace was there?”

“Not that I know about.”

“Well, Sara, if you didn’t know about it, then it couldn’t happen.”

“Says you.”

“Well, I’m heading home. Have a good day.”

“See you tomorrow, Kai.”

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

“I know what that means.”, Sara said. “It means, see you later.”

I smiled and said, “Very good, Sara.”

I walked out of the Dean’s office and headed home. And I got home just in time to help Ajie with the twins. And I let Ajie relax as I made dinner and cleaned up after we ate.

Tonight we were playing with the twins, and we were lying on the floor doing a little belly time. As I rolled Tsé back over onto his back, I bent down, put my lips on his belly, and blew. Doing that makes a sound and vibrates his belly, and he gets excited when I do it. And so does Haseya when I do her belly. So when I did Tsé, he got all excited.

Then I rolled Haseya onto her back and blew on her belly, and she got excited.

Ajie was on the floor with us and said, “You are going to make those two laugh yet.”

“I can’t wait to hear them laugh.”, I said.

“That’ll be a fun time. And then we could have their a’wee chi’deedloh. – (baby laugh ceremony.)”

“That would be fun. But doesn’t that happen sometime around when they're four months old.”

“No.”, Ajie said. “It can happen anytime from when their around three months old and on.”

“So, anytime now?”, I asked.

“Yes, anytime. And the way they are with you, you’re going to be the one to get one or the other of them to giggle. Then you’ll have to help whichever one of them giggles first host their a’wee chi’deedloh.”

“Maybe they’ll both giggle at the same time.”

“It’s possible.”, Ajie said. “They are twins. And one might get the other one to giggle.”

“Then they’d have a dual a’wee chi’deedloh. – (baby laugh ceremony.)”, I said.

“Double the fun.”

That night after we’d tucked the twins in for the night, Ajie and I cuddled on the couch. And there was a nice fire burning in the fireplace. One thing led to another, and we enjoyed each other right there on the couch. At least there was no worry about waking up the twins.

On Tuesday, I stopped by the electronics lab to see Bill. And Bill had all of the boards ready for me. And we talked about how to stack them. He gave me some spacers to try as I built the boards, but he told me that I might need to increase the size as I added the components. I thanked him for his work. And then Bill asked, “Can you tell me what this is for?”

“I wish I could, Bill. But I can’t right now.”, I replied. “And we were lucky enough to get permission to have you do the work.”

“Will you tell me when you can?”

“Of course.”

After I left the electronics lab, I stopped at the supply room. When I walked into the supply room, the guy saw me, and said, “Dr. Nez, I have ninety-nine percent of your parts.”

“I’m surprised that you have that much.”, I said.

“I have one order that hasn’t come in yet. But should be here later today.”

“We’re ahead of schedule, so that won’t be a problem.”

“Something else that I’ve done. As I pulled the parts, I placed them in four separate bags. You’d said that you needed four times the number of parts that you had on the list because you were building four identical boards.”

“Right.”, I replied.

“Well, as I pulled the parts. Say you needed three high precision resistors of a given value. I’d pull twelve resistors and put three in each bag.”

“Great idea. It’ll save me doing it. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Dr. Nez. And I’ll call you when everything is ready.”

I thanked him again, and then I headed to the office. The office was dark, so no, Dr. Joe. I went into the office, turned the lights on, and did the other usual things. Then I dug out the lighted magnifying glass, sat at the work table, and went over all of the printed circuit boards. I know boring but necessary. I also knew that Bill had done this same thing, but I had to do it too.

Later I did get a call from the guy in the supply room, and all my parts were in. So I ran over there, retrieved the four bags of parts. I took them back to the office and locked them in the file cabinet. Then I headed home.

The next three days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were the same until Friday evening. Along with teaching, I’d worked on the project. First, I took one bag of parts and separated them by type, resistors, capacitors, etc. Then I went to work on the first of four printed circuit boards that make up one full circuit. And by the time to go home on Friday, I’d finished the first one and almost the second one. It’s slow work working from a pile of parts and a schematic.

After dinner on Friday evening, we took the twins for a walk around the neighborhood. Then we set the hogan up for another overnighter for the twins, and that included running an extension cord out to the hogan and then moving the baby monitor from the master suite to the hogan. So, after they ate at about nine, we took them out to the hogan and tucked them in. The only light was from the fire and two lanterns that were turned down very low.

Ajie and I slowly and quietly walked out of the hogan closing the door behind us. We stood at the door to the hogan and listened to the twins on the baby monitor as they fussed a little more than usual. But it quickly became quiet.

Ajie and I then cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for bed. At ten, we quietly went out to the hogan, once inside we looked at the twins and they were sound asleep. Ajie and I then crawled into bed and were quickly asleep. And that lasted until midnight when the twins got hungry. We took care of that problem and quickly had them back into bed. And the twins went right back to sleep, and so did we until a little after six on Saturday morning when the twins woke up.

We got the twins changed and fed, and then into the playpen in the big room. Then Ajie and I started getting things ready to go to Window Rock tomorrow and to the Children’s Court on Monday. And that included moving the crib and baby monitor back into the master suite. And I put the fold-up playpen in the trunk of the car.

The afternoon was nice, so we went for a walk on the river trail and sat on one of the benches for a while, just watching the water. And then we had a surprise. One of the Eagles showed up and landed in the dead tree that’s on the island in the middle of the river. We looked at the Eagle for a minute and then we pointed him out to the twins. We weren’t sure if the twins could see that far or not. But it appeared that they were looking to where Ajie and I were pointing.

Then the Eagle took off, circled us twice, and then flew north. We watched him until he was out of sight. Ajie said, “I wonder why he showed up?”

“I don’t know.”, I said. “And they should have eggs by now.”

“Maybe he came to wish us good luck on Monday.”

“He did bless us when he left.”

“Yes, he did.”

We got the twins, in their cradleboards, on our backs, and started back down the trail towards the parking lot. We thought that we’d had the timing down pat with the twins. We’d figured that we had three hours between one changing and meal to the next. We’d left the house right after their noon meal, and figured that we’d be back by three for their next meal. Just as we got back to the parking lot, the twins told us in their own way that they were hungry. And we were twenty minutes from home. Hopefully, their pacifier would pacify them for that long. Haseya, probably, but Tsé, I doubt it.

Ten minutes from the house, Tsé lost his pacifier and started crying. I pulled over, Ajie got out of the car, opened Tsé’s door, found his pacifier, cleaned it, and gave it back to him. It was quiet the rest of the way home.

We took the twins into the house, and while Ajie started to change them, I fixed the bottles, and then I helped Ajie finish changing and feeding the twins.

Sunday morning, right after the twins finished their nine o’clock meal, we loaded them into the car and headed for Window Rock. Ajie would turn and check on the twins every once in a while, and then tell me that they were either asleep or were awake and looking around. We did stop right after we exited Interstate 40 at Gallup, New Mexico, and gave the twins their pacifiers. These two are going to be good travelers.

Half an hour later, we were in Window Rock, and we stopped at the Window Rock Tribal Park to show the twins Tségháhoodzání - (Window Rock). We didn’t put them in their cradleboards but just carried them. It was a little cool on this March morning, so we only stayed for a few minutes. Then we headed to my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii’s house.

As we pulled up to the house, there was another car there, Aunt Ruth and Uncle Paul’s car. Why are they here?

We took the twins out of the car and carried them up to the front door. I pushed the doorbell button, and shortly my Aunt Ginny opened the door. She saw us and smiled, then said, “The twins have gotten so big.”

“They have.”, Ajie replied.

“Come on in.

We walked into the house and followed my Aunt Ginny to the kitchen. And there sat Aunt Ruth, Uncle Gaagii, and Uncle Paul. I said, “Yá'át'ééh t'áá ájíltso. Nizhonigó íiná aadóó hozhónahasdlíí. - (Hello everyone. It is good, and all is harmony around us.)”

We received a yá'át'ééh from everyone.

Then I asked, “Aunt Ruth, what are you and Uncle Paul doing here?”

“Honey.”, Aunt Ruth said. “You and Ajie are family. And those two precious bundles that you are holding are also family. And like with your Aunt Ginny and Uncle Gaagii, we are here to support you.

“Your mother told me that if they could be here that they would be. But they can’t be here.”

“We really appreciate the family supporting us.”, Ajie said.

I then got a whiff of a dirty diaper and said, “Ah, we need to change someone's diaper. And I need to get the diaper bag out of the car.”

Aunt Ginny reached out for Tsé and said, “Honey, I’ll take Tsé, and you get the diaper bag.”

I gave Tsé to Aunt Ginny, ran out to the car, and brought in both the diaper bag and the camera bag. Yes, we had brought some silver jewelry with us. When I came back into the house, Aunt Ruth had taken Haseya from Ajie.

I asked, “Are we in the hogan?”

“Yes, honey.”, my Aunt Ginny said. “The crib is already in there.”

As I handed the camera case to my Uncle Gaagii, I said, “Uncle Gaagii, could you put this in your safe?”

“Bring some silver with you, Kai.”

“Yes, but not much.”

As he got up, Uncle Gaagii said, “Okay, Kai. I’ll keep it safe.” And he took the camera bag downstairs.

Then Ajie said, “Aunt Ruth and Aunt Ginny, why don’t you bring the twins out to the hogan, and we’ll get them changed. And Kai, honey, could you fix their bottles?”

“Of course.”, I said.

Ajie and our aunts headed for the hogan with the twins and the diaper bag. Uncle Gaagii took the camera case to the basement. I warmed two bottles. And Uncle Paul sat and watched me.

Finally, I looked at Uncle Paul and said, “You’re too quiet, Uncle Paul.”

“Nothin’ to say.”, Uncle Paul said. A few seconds later, Uncle Paul said, “Kai, are you still going to be able to come to the Friday barbecues?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“The twins.”

“Uncle Paul, I think the twins would have fun with all the people, the dancers, and the musicians.”

“Yes, they just might.”

“They will.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Uncle Paul, do you know if anyone records the drumming and singing at the gatherings or dance companions?”, I said.

“I think so.”, Uncle Paul said.

“Could you find out who does it?”

“Sure. Why?”

“I just thought that it would be nice to have and to listen to once in a while.”

“I’ll check into it for you.”

“Thank you.”

Uncle Gaagii came back upstairs, and I went out and brought in the playpen and set that up. Ajie and our aunts came back with the twins, and our aunts sat and fed the twins.

After the twins were satisfied and in the playpen, Ajie and I helped our aunts make lunch. Then we sat, talked, and ate lunch.

I asked, “Uncle Gaagii, what do you know about this Judge Uskilith of the Children’s Court?”

“Very little.”, Uncle Gaagii said. “I understand that he was a partner in a law firm that specializes in family matters and that he’s a good lawyer. He’s only been on the bench since the first of the month. And I haven’t heard much about him. Is there a problem?”

“No, I’d just like to find out as much as I can.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

I then set up and checked the baby monitor in the hogan, and it’ll be just fine. So after their nine o’clock feeding and everyone had said yá'át'ééh hiilchi'i' - (good night) to the twins, Ajie and I took them out to the hogan and tucked them in.

When we were back in the house, everyone listened to the twin's fuss for a little bit and then fall asleep. Ajie then said, “They’re good now until about midnight.”

Aunt Ginny asked, “Are they sleeping through the night yet?”

“Yes, after we feed them at midnight, they’re good till about six, and usually we feed them and put them back to bed until seven. But tomorrow, we’ll just leave them out here in the playpen after they’ve eaten.”

“And you’re on the docket at nine tomorrow?”, Uncle Gaagii.

“Yes.”, I replied. “I guess we’re the first ones.”

“We should be there by eight-thirty.”

“That sounds good.”

At ten Ajie and I said yá'át'ééh hiilchi'i' - (good night) to everyone, got ready for bed, and then went to the hogan. We quietly looked at the twins, and they were sound asleep. Ajie and I crawled into bed and were quickly asleep. Well, I wasn’t. I laid there worrying about the judge taking the twins away from us.

We were up at midnight to feed and change the twins. And then at six on Monday morning, as we were feeding the twins, Ajie asked, “Sleep well, love?”

“Not really.”, I replied. “You?”

“Me, either.”

“Worried about losing the twins?”

“Very worried.”

“Me too.”

“I guess we’ll just have to roll with the punches.”, Ajie said.

With a deep sigh, I said, “I guess.”

After we’d fed the twins, we put them in the playpen, and I stayed with them while Ajie went and dressed. By the time she came back, Aunt Ginny was up. Then I went and got dressed.

Both of us kept it a little subdued, long fancy skirts, fancy blouses, and wrap moccasin. Both of us had our hair done in a single braid, and we wore simple braided leather headbands. I was wearing the gold and silver earrings that my grandfather had made, and Ajie was wearing the one set of silver feather earrings. We’d add what silver we were going to add before we left.

After I was back from getting dressed, everyone else was up, and breakfast was cooking. Then after a quick breakfast, we fed the twins early and then dressed them up a little. No, not the outfits that Ajie had bought them, but usual baby clothes. Then Uncle Gaagii brought the silver up from the basement, and both Ajie and I added Concho belts, bracelets, and rings. No chokers, we were only going to wear the meteorite necklaces.

At a little after eight, we loaded the twins into the car and headed for the Children’s Court in Window Rock. Our aunts and uncles followed us. It was only a few minutes until we were pulling into the court’s parking lot. We took the awééts'ááls – (cradleboards) out of the trunk and put the twins into them. Then we helped each other put the twins on our backs. The eight of us then walked into the court’s building. I was surprised as to who was standing in the waiting area, Chief Kinlicheeny was here, as was Naainish, Chief Etsitty and his wife and Ajie’s Dean, Vickie. Dr. Joe and his wife Mary, and Charlie and Jackie where here too, as well as Mrs. Biakeddy of the Navajo Children and Family Services.

We walked over to our six friends, and I said, “This is a surprise.”

“We had to come and support you.”, Chief Tom said.

“What time did you guys leave Albuquerque?”

“A little after five, but we stopped for breakfast.”

“Thank you, guys.”

I looked at Dr. Joe and said, “So, this is why you didn’t want to cover my classes?”

Dr. Joe just grinned. And I just shook my head.

Then Chief Clah walked up, looked at everyone standing around, and said, “We’re going to have a full courtroom.”

“I think we have a lot of support.”, Ajie said.

“Yes, you do. And, since I’m your lawyer of record on this, let me do the talking unless the judge addresses you directly.”

“But, don’t you also represent the Navajo Children and Family Services?”, I asked.

“Remember that I’m only a consultant to them.”

“That’s right.”

Just then, a woman walked up to Chief Clah and said, “Mr. Clah, we’re ready to start.”

“Thank you, Mary. We’ll be right in.”, Chief Clah replied.

Chief Clah then said, “Everyone, they’re ready to start, so if you’ll go into the courtroom and find a seat. We can get started.”

I watched as Ajie grabbed the pacifiers out of the diaper bag and carried them as we walked into the courtroom. The courtroom wasn’t like what I expected. There was a raised bench for the judge to sit behind, a table that I guessed was for the court stenographer who was sitting there, a desk and chair that I guessed was for the judge’s clerk. There was no place for a jury and only a small place for visitors.

We had a table in front of the judge’s bench that had four chairs around it. Chief Clah grabbed another chair and placed it at the end of the table. Ajie and I helped each other take the cradleboards with the twins in them off of each other's backs. We set the twins in the two chairs in the middle of the table, I sat between Chief Clah and Tsé, and Ajie sat next to Haseya. Before Ajie sat, she handed me a pacifier, which I gave to Tsé, and Ajie gave one to Haseya.

We sat there for a minute, then a door off the side of the room opened, and Mary walked in, and said, “All rise for the Honorable Niyol Uskilith, Judge of the Navajo Children’s Court.”

Everyone stood as Judge Uskilith walked in. He was a Navajo. He walked up and sat behind the bench. Then Mary said, “Be seated.”

Mary then walked up next to the judge and handed him a folder, and then she sat at the desk. The judge looked at the folder, then said, “I’m declaring that this is a closed session. So, anyone not involved directly in the case of Nez and Nez will please leave the courtroom.”

No one moved. And I noticed the stenographer started typing.

Then Chief Clah stood and said, “Your honor.”

The judge looked at Chief Clah and said, “It’s good to see you, Mr. Clah.”

“Thank you, your honor.”

“Do you have something for me.

“Yes, your honor. Everyone here is a friend of the court and also of Kai and Ajie Nez, and would like to remain.”

“I see that the Nezs have some interesting friends. I see Chief Kinlicheeny, Naainish Yazzie, and some others that I know. Everyone can remain as long as the Nezs agree,”

Ajie and I said together, “Yes, your honor, we agree.”

“Good. Everyone can remain.”

“Thank you, your honor.”, Chief Clah said. “And one more point of order.”

“And what is that, Mr. Clah?”, the judge asked.

“When the final adoption decree papers were filed, it was under the name of Miss Kai Nez and Miss Ajie Nez. And since then, they have both earned their doctoral degrees.”

The judge looked at us and said, “Congratulations, Dr. Nez and Dr. Nez.”

“Thank you, your honor.”, Ajie and I said together.

“Are they in the same subject?”

“No your honor.”, I replied. “Ajies is in nursing, and mine is in electrical engineering.”

“Interesting subjects Drs. Nez.” Then looking at his clerk, the judge said, “Mary, would you see to it that the necessary changes are made.”

“Yes, your honor.”, Mary replied.

Then the judge said, “So, we are here today to address the final adoption decree for these two children sitting at the table.”

“Yes, your honor.”, Chief Clah said. “They are Tsé Nez and Haseya Nez.”

“Yes, so I see.”

Then the judge looked at Ajie and me, and said, “Drs. Nez, it is unusual that we have two women who adopt children. Do you care to explain?”

As I stood, I said, “Your honor, I’m Kai Nez. And I’ve been told that you are an old school Navajo. Is this true?”

“My parents were old school Navajo, and so am I. What does this have to do with the case?”

“Bear with me, your honor.”

“Go on, Dr. Nez.”

“Being an old school Navajo then you know what a Nádleeh is.”

“I do. It’s a person with two spirits. And I know that one of you is such a person.”

Ajie and I looked at each other, then I looked at the judge, “Your honor, I feel that you also know which one of us it is.”

“Yes, I do, Dr. Nez. It’s you, Kai Nez.”

“You’re correct, sir. And I feel that you know much more, and that’s why you chose to close the courtroom.”

“Very good, Dr. Nez.”, the judge said. “I was at first surprised when I heard about you then I did some research on you and found out some very interesting things.

“I found out from our mutual friend, Naainish Yazzie, just who you are.”

I turned and looked at Naainish, and he was smiling.

“And seeing what I see in this courtroom, you and your wife have many good friends. I also found out about the scholarship that you founded. Chief Todachine was a good friend of my parents. And Kai Nez, you, Ajie Nez, and I are of the same clan, the Azee'tsoh dine'é dóone’é, or the Big Medicine People clan. And I was there when you stood up in front of the clan for Chief Etsitty. You should have been a lawyer.

“And I feel that these two children are with the best people that they could be with. You weren’t raised as Navajo, but have a better understanding of it than many of the people do. And you’ll raise the twins also to understand the Navajo.

“You both are academics and know what a good education means. And I know that the twins will receive a good education.

“Also, the reports from Mrs. Biakeddy and the people at the Navajo Children and Family Services have nothing but good things to say about you.”

I was smiling and nodding yes by the time the judge had finished. Then the judge said, “But you knew that I knew this. Didn’t you, Dr. Kai Nez.”

“I didn’t until you walked in and sat at the bench, your honor.”, I said. “Then, I knew everything was going to be fine.”

“I know how I knew all of this, but how did you know that I did?”, the judge asked.

“Your honor, there’s a saying that our mutual good friend Naainish Yazzie has taught me. And that saying is, I see things, I feel things, I know things that I have no way of knowing, yet I know.”

“I have been told that you are a special Nádleeh – (two spirit person), and you are.”

I just smiled at the judge.

The judge then looked at Mrs. Biakeddy and said, “Mrs. Biakeddy, is there anything, other than what’s in the reports from the Navajo Children and Family Services, that you’d like to share with the court?”

As I sat, Mrs. Biakeddy stood and said, “No, your honor. Except that we are very pleased with what we’ve seen and heard from Dr. and Dr. Nez.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Biakeddy.” And Mrs. Biakeddy sat.

Then the judge asked, “Does anyone else have any comments on the case of Nez and Nez?”

No one said anything. So, the judge said, “Hearing no more comments, I hereby grant the adoption request of Dr. Kai Nez and Dr. Ajie Nez for the children know as Tsé Nez and Haseya Nez. And I also order that all records of this adoption be sealed.” And he banged his gavel.

That woke up the twins. Haseya had lost her pacifier, and she started crying. Ajie retrieved the pacifier, gave it back to Haseya, and Haseya quieted down. Then as the judge looked at Haseya, he said, “I’m sorry little one. I’ve got to remember not to do that when a yázhí - (little one) is sleeping in my court.”

As the judge stood, Mary also stood and said, “All rise.”

Everyone stood. I hugged Ajie and whispered, “I want to kiss you so badly right now.”

“Wait till later, lover.”, Ajie whispered back.

The judge then walked down from behind the bench and over to where Ajie and I were standing. As he walked up to us, he offered his hand to me, I took it, shook it, and said, “Thank you, your honor.”

“It was my pleasure, Dr. Nez.”

Then he shook hands with Ajie and Ajie said, “Thank you so much, your honor. You have made several people very happy.”

“I’m happy that I could do that.”

I looked at the judge and said, “Your honor, I’d have that pain in your lower right side looked at. And soon!”

The judge looked at me and said, “How did you know that I had a pain in my side?”

I smiled, and said, “Remember when I said, that I see things, I feel things, I know things that I have no way of knowing, yet I know. That’s how. And Ajie is an ER nurse and could check it for you.”

Ajie then said, “If you have a hot appendix, you’d better get it checked right away.”

“Where?”, the judge asked.

“The nearest emergency room. You don’t want it to burst on you.”

The judge looked around, saw who he was looking for, and said, “Mary, bring me the papers that I need to sign on this adoption and then call me an ambulance.”

“An ambulance, sir?”, Mary asked.

“Yes, an ambulance.”

The judge sat at our table, and Mary brought the forms to him, then she ran to the door at the back of the courtroom. We watched as the judge signed the papers. Jackie and my Aunt Ruth came over and got the twins. And Ajie stayed with the judge. I went with Jackie and Aunt Ruth and got them the diaper bag, and they took care of the twins.

Then I went back to Ajie and the judge. Ajie had removed the judge's robes and was talking to him. And a couple of minutes later, the ambulance from the fire department was here. Ajie talked to them, and I heard her ask where the best local hospital was, and they told her that it was in Gallup, New Mexico. As they were carefully putting him on the gurney, Ajie told them, “Go easy. We don’t want that appendix to burst.”

The fire department left with the judge. And his secretary, who was a little shook up, walked over to us, and asked, “Is he going to be okay?”

“He should be.”, Ajie said. “It hasn’t burst yet, and hopefully, they’ll get him to Gallup before it does.”

“Well, he did sign all of your papers, and if you wait a couple of minutes, I’ll make copies and notarize them for you.”

“We’ll be here.”, I said.

As we walked out of the courtroom, our friends and family were standing there, and Vickie said, “That was a little intense.”

“A little.”, Ajie said. “I think that he’ll make it to the hospital without a problem.”

“Where are they going.”, my Uncle Gaagii asked.

“Gallup.”

“That’s less than half an hour from here, and it’s a good hospital. That’s where I went when I was shot.”

I spun aeound and looked at Uncle Gaagii and said, “What!?”

“You heard me. That’s where I went when I was shot.”

“When did this happen?”

A long time ago, and it’s a long story.”

“This I have to hear.”

“Not today. Sometime later.”

Our friends from Albuquerque had to go, so we said so long to them, and we received congratulations from all of them. Then Mrs. Biakeddy, from the Navajo Children and Family Services, walked over and said, “Kai and Ajie, you were wonderful clients. And like with the court records, we’ll seal everything.”

“Thank you for everything, Mrs. Biakeddy.”, Ajie said, and they hugged.

I also hugged Mrs. Biakeddy and told her thank you for everything. And the others then left, leaving just the twins, us and our aunts, uncles, and Mrs. Biakeddy. Ajie and I put the twins into their cradleboards, and my uncle Gaagii then asked, “Where would everyone like to go for lunch?”

I looked at Ajie and asked, “Do we have enough stuff with us for the twins if we need it?”

“We should.”, Ajie replied.

“Well, Uncle Gaagii.”, I said. “We don’t know the restaurants in the area. So, I guess you can pick.”

“Okay.”, Uncle Gaagii said. “Just follow me. And you’re welcome to join us, Mrs. Biakeddy.”

“I wish I could.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “But I have to get back to the office.”

Then as Mrs. Biakeddy was walking out the door, she stopped. And we saw a young girl starting to walk into the building. Mrs. Biakeddy almost shouted, “Dee Hatayhli, what are you doing here?”

“Damn.”, I said.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”, Ajie asked me.

“It’s Shideezhi Hatayhli. The twin's biological mother.”

“No!?”

“Yes.”

“What’s she doing here!?”, Ajie asked.

“I don’t know.”, I replied. Then I took Tsé off of my back, and handed him to my Aunt Ruth and walked over to where Mrs. Biakeddy and Shideezhi Hatayhli were standing and staring at each other. And Ajie explained what was going on to our aunts and uncles.

As I walked up, I said, “Shideezhi, why are you here?”

“I came to see the twins. And how do you know my name?”, Shideezhi said.

“I just know your name, and you shouldn’t be here.”

“I … I’m going out of state in the fall to go to college, and I just had to see them.”

“How do you know that these twins are yours?”

“I don’t. I’ve been over here every time that there’s been an adoption hearing for twins.”

“How would you know if they’re your twins?”, I asked.

“I just think that I would. And I know that I gave up all my rights to them to the child services people.”, Shideezhi said. “And I know that I shouldn’t be here, but I couldn’t help it. I just have to see them once and know that they were alright.”

“So you’ve been over here every time an adoption of twins was heard?”

“Yes, there haven’t been many. But I just take the chance.”

I just looked at Shideezhi for a minute, then said, “Wait here a minute.”

“Dr. Nez.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “She shouldn’t be here.”

“I know Mrs. Biakeddy.”, I said. “But remember how I can feel things about certain people?”

“Yes.”

“Believe in what I’m feeling. And I’ll be right back.”

I walked back to where everyone else was and told them what was going on. At first, Ajie was dead set against my idea of allowing Shideezhi to see the twins. But as I explained what I was feeling, Ajie relented. And Ajie finally said, “She can see them, but for only a minute.”

“And realize.”, I said. “She might not even realize that they are hers.”

“She will.”

“Speaking as a mother?”

“Yes.”

I walked back over to Mrs. Biakeddy and the twin's biological mother, Shideezhi. I looked at Shideezhi, and said, “Okay, you can come and look at our twins but only for a minute. And no touching.”

“Thank you, Dr. Nez.”, Shideezhi said.

Mrs. Biakeddy, Shideezhi, and I walked back inside to where everyone else was. Ajie was now holding Haseya in her cradleboard. My Aunt Ruth was still holding Tsé.

As we walked up, Shideezhi looked at the twins, then at me. Then she said, “These are my twins. I just know they are. And they’re a boy and a girl.”

“Are you sure that they’re yours?”, I asked.

“Yes. I can just feel that they are. And they look so good. You are doing a great job with them.”

“Thank you.”, Ajie said. “They’re easy to work with.”

I felt Shideezhi relax, and still looking at the twins, she said, “I feel better now. I know that they’re in good hands.” Then looking at me, she said, “And you’re a doctor?”

“No, I’m not a medical doctor, but I hold a PhD.” And then pointing at Ajie, I said, “And she’s a nurse and also has her PhD.”

“A nurse. Now I even feel better with you having them. And they’ll have a strong force behind them to do well in school.”

“We hope they will.”

Then Shideezhi looked back at me, got a puzzled look, “I know you.”

“We’ve never met, Shideezhi.”

“But I’ve seen you before, and you knew my name.”

“Maybe at a gathering.”, I replied.

“No. … No. … I know where. You're the lady in my dream.”

“Dream?”

“I had a bad accident when I was younger and was in the hospital. And I have a dream every once in a while. It's about being in that hospital bed and a woman sitting with me, holding my hand, and singing to me.”

I couldn’t help but smile a little.

Then Shideezhi’s eyes got big, and she said, “You were that woman!”

“Shideezhi.”, I said. “Does the name Kai Nez mean anything to you?”

“Of course she’s a Nádleeh – (two spirit person). … Oh my God, Dr. Nez. You … You’re Kai Nez.”

“Guilty as charged. And yes, I sat with you in the hospital and chanted. And we feel that I drew the Yei spirits to you to help you.”

“I can’t believe this.” And I received a big hug. Then Shideezhi continued with, “I can’t believe this, you helped me in the hospital, and now my twins are lucky enough to be adopted by you.”

“Both Ajie and I adopted the twins. And, Shideezhi, we are private people, and we ask that you keep all of this quiet.”, I said.

“I will. This makes me so happy. I knew that I couldn’t take care of them by myself. And I was so worried that they wouldn’t end up with good people. And they ended up with wonderful people.”

“Shideezhi, I don’t think Mrs. Biakeddy and her people would place any baby in anything but a good home.

“Now, young lady, you’ve had much more than a minute with the twins, and we need to go.”

“Thank you, Dr. Nez.”, Shideezhi said. “You have made my day.”

“I’m glad. Now be careful driving home.”

“I will. And thank you again. You are so wonderful.”

“And one last thing young lady.”, I said. “Remember that part of your agreement with the Navajo Children and Family Services is that you are not to have any contact with the children.”

“Yes, Dr. Nez.”, Shideezhi said. “I’ll remember that.”

With that, Shideezhi left us. And Mrs. Biakeddy said, “Dr. Nez, you took a terrible chance letting her see the twins. I was really against it. But it worked out for the best.”

“Mrs. Biakeddy.”, I said. “Remember how I can sense things about people like I did with the judge.”

“Yes.”

“If I wasn’t feeling good about her, she would have never been in here.”

“You had me worried for a while.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “But after watching and listening to this, I think that you made a good decision.”

“Thank you.”, I said. “And I think she left here a very happy young lady. And she’ll also do well in school.”

“You felt that from her?”

“Yes. Usually, I only feel things from people that are close to me or have a possibility of harming me in some way. And I felt only good things from Shideezhi. And I figure that I was able to feel things from her because she’s the twin's biological mother.”

“Dr. Nez.”, Mrs. Biakeddy said. “This has been the most interesting adoption that I’ve ever been involved in.”

“And thank you Mrs. Biakeddy for making it also a wonderful experience for Kai and me.”, Ajie said.

We again said so long to Mrs. Biakeddy, and then got everything, especially the twins, into the car and then followed my Uncle Gaagii to a nice restaurant. Of course, while we ate, the twins became hungry, so they got fed. Then the twins were taken to the restroom and changed before we went back to our aunt and uncle's house.

Back at our aunt and uncles, we picked up everything and loaded it into the car, thanked them for a wonderful couple of days, and headed back to Albuquerque. Ajie slept part of the way home, and so did the twins. I think Ajie slept because of all the stress of the adoption. I think the twins slept for two reasons. First, they’re only three months old, and secondly, it’s been a busy day for them.

Two and a half hours after we’d left Window Rock, and with two hungry kids, we were back home. And first things first, change the twins and feed them.

Then after we’d finished feeding the twins and they were in the playpen, Ajie tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and looked at her, she wrapped her arms around me, and we shared a long, deep, sensual kiss. When we finally broke the kiss, I looked into those gorgeous blue eyes of hers, and she said, “Is that the kiss that you wanted back in the courtroom?”

“Uh huh.”, I replied.

Then she looked at the twins and said, “They’re asleep.”

“Yes, they are.”

Ajie then took my hand and led me out into the back courtyard. We sat on the big couch, and it wasn’t long until we were minus our panties. And now I think I know why Scotsmen when they’re out with their ladies and at other times, wear nothing under their kilts.

A little later, we made dinner, and as we ate, I said, “I should have taken you out to dinner.”

“That would have been nice.”, Ajie said. “But, you know, just sitting here with you and having the twins nearby makes it special.”

“And you make anything special.”

“I feel il hózho´ - (the emotion of being happy) right now. The twins are with us forever. And we found out that their biological mother was happy with what has happened with them.”

“I do know.”, I said. “I also feel il hózho´. And I feel that Shideezhi Hatayhli is also happy with what has happened.”

“Yes, I was so worried when she showed up, but it turned out for the best.”

“And that’s another load off our minds. And we can go to various gatherings and dance competitions without any worries.”

“You’re right.”

A little later, we called home and filled our parents in on what happened, and they were happy that we were over that hurdle. And that they were looking forward to coming out for graduation in a couple of weeks. And when we talked to Ajie’s parents, we also learned that Bill and Bridget might also come. And that they’d let us know as soon as possible if they were coming or not.

It had been a long day, and so it was early to bed.