by Nancy Adams
“Katelynn, this is Doctor Rodgers. Listen, after going over all your checkup results today, I'm wondering if we might be looking at twins. Please call back and let's schedule an ultrasound for tomorrow, so we can find out for sure, okay? Thanks!”
That was it, short and sweet. Get ready, Girl, because your life is about to be turned even further upside down than you ever expected!
I looked up at Nate, who was standing beside me. “Twins?” I asked again, mournfully.
And that son of a gun smiled! “Yeah!” he said, all his teeth shining out there right in front of me! “Isn't it great? We might be having twins, Babe!”
I looked at him and wanted to say, “No, it's not great! MY poor body is going through enough already, I don’t need it times two!” However, before I could get the message to my mouth to say those words, it hit me that it would be truly wonderful. If one baby is good, two would be even better, right?
I smiled. “Yes, Baby, it'll be great! And you're calling in tomorrow, because you're going with me for this one!”
“I wouldn't miss it, Love! I already called and told my secretary I won't be in, and that she can postpone everything I had for tomorrow until next week sometime, that I'm gonna be with my wife for a couple of days!”
We spent the whole evening wimbling back and forth between telling our parents and waiting until we knew for sure, and finally decided to keep quiet. That wasn't easy to do when we were both so excited, but we managed by having an early dinner and then going to our room to watch movies and cuddle. If there's a better way to keep a secret than that, I haven’t found it!
We got up the next morning, and lo and behold, I wasn't sick! I'd not been having as many morning sickness problems lately, but it hadn't missed a day since it had begun, so I took this as a very good sign! No morning sickness, must mean we're really gonna have twins!
Okay, so I'm not always logical, but come on—do I look like a Vulcan?
Nate said the appointment was for ten AM, so we went down for breakfast and I let Pierre and Cassie make us waffles with sausage, even though I wasn't really supposed to be eating sausage while I was pregnant. Hey, pioneer moms just about lived on sausage, so once in a while isn't gonna hurt me or the baby! I only had two links, so I think I behaved myself pretty well.
When we got to the clinic for the ultrasound, Doctor Rodgers was waiting. She smiled when she saw me.
“So, are you excited to find out if it's twins?” she asked, and we both agreed that we were. “We might even be able to tell you whether you've got boys or girls, today, if you want to know. Some parents do, and some don't, that's up to you. Of course, we're only at thirteen weeks, so it may not be definite, but usually we can get a pretty good idea. Are you ready?”
“I'm ready,” I said, and we went inside. The technician got me on the table and smeared goo all over me, and we were off!
“Okay,” the tech said, “Doctor says we're looking for twins, so that's the first thing we're gonna do. I'm gonna need to move around on you a lot, so we get different angles and make sure we're not just seeing the same arms or legs from a different direction, you know?”
She moved the transducer all over my belly, and we watched the images that appeared on the monitor. I squealed once, when I saw what was obviously a leg, and then we saw a clear angle of the baby from the side, looking a lot like ET, but with two arms and two legs. It looked like there was only one baby in there after all.
Then the tech moved the transducer, and suddenly there were four legs in the view, and we were definitely looking at the bottom ends of two different babies! The tech maneuvered the transducer around, and then she said, “Oh, looky there, we've definitely got twins, and it looks like they're a mix; this one is a boy, no doubt about that, and I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that this one's a girl!”
I stared at the monitor for a long moment as Doctor Rodgers confirmed it, and then I asked for pictures.
Norman
Chapter Nine
Family Management
* * * * *
“The kids called,” Kathy said as I came in that evening, “and said they've got some news they need to share. They wants us to come over at seven, and Jim and Bec will be there, too. Some of their friends, maybe.”
My eyebrows went up. “Must be some big news. Wonder if everything's okay with the baby?”
She smiled. “First thing I asked, and KK assured me that the baby is just fine, and even better! She said this is more to do with the future, so I imagine Nate's pulled off something big with Grizzly, and they want to surprise us.”
I shrugged. “Okay. Let me go get a shower, then we can have dinner and relax until time to go.”
My wife of thirty years looked up at me, and her face was twisted into a mischievous grin. “Want some company?”
She didn’t have to ask twice. We were up those stairs and into that shower together in less than two minutes, and what happened after that would shock you even more than knowing that us old farts still like to shower together!
Dinner was a light one, because if the kids had news, there would no doubt be at least some kind of party involved. Knowing those two, there would be cake or sweet rolls, or something like that, and I wanted to make sure I had room for it. I might be on a healthier diet lately, but I wasn't dead; now and then, I let myself have a treat, and there were always treats when Katelynn was around.
We drove up at seven on the dot, and there were several cars there, already. I saw Jim's car, and Corie's, and there were a couple of others besides those. We parked and went to the door, and it was opened by a young woman I didn't know.
“Hi,” she said, “I'm Melinda! I know you, Mr. Simmons, and this must be Mrs. Simmons, right?”
“Yes,” I said, “my wife, Katherine. I gather you know me from work?”
She nodded and grinned. “Yep. Personnel department, been there four years now! I handle the child care section.”
A flash of recollection hit me. “Ah, then you're Charlie Perkins' wife, right? I'm amazed we hadn't met before, or did we and I just forgot?”
We went in as she answered. “I don't think we ever actually were introduced, but we bumped into each other a couple of times in the offices. You had several hundred people you ran into there every day, so I'm not offended that you don't remember. Everyone else is here and in the dining room, so let's go on in.”
Kathy asked, “Melinda, care to give us a heads up on what this is about? We're in the dark, here.”
“If I knew, I probably would be worn to secrecy, but the truth is that I don't have a clue. KK and I got to be friends a few weeks ago, when I came out to talk about nannies, and me and her and Corie have been getting close, but she just called me about noon and said she wanted us here tonight for some big announcement. I'm guessing it has to do with the town you’re all building, but I really don't know for sure.”
She led us into the dining room, and I saw her husband Charlie sitting there with Nate and Jim and another man I didn't know. Kendall the architect was there with his wife, and I remembered Kathy telling me that Katelynn and Mrs. Williams had gotten to know each other, and I was glad. Kendall is a good young man, and I'd heard that he was another ex Marine, like Nathanael.
It would be good for Nate to have a buddy who could relate to the things war does to you. He never really talked about it much after he got home, but I know he had some bad experiences over there. Maybe he and Kendall would just be good for each other.
We joined them all at the big table, and sure enough, someone was passing around doughnuts and coffee. I indulged in both, my favorite being the big cinnamon twists with glazing. Those were awesome, and I wasn't surprised to see a half dozen of them on the tray. Nate knew how I felt about them!
There was a short period of socializing, and I got to chat with Charlie and Kendall for a few moments, while Kathy got to know their wives, Melinda and Jolene, but then Nate stood up called for attention.
“Okay, folks, there is
no doubt you're all wondering why we asked you here, tonight, and I wish I knew what movie that line actually came from.” Everyone chuckled at that comment, and he went on. “Anyway, movies aside, Katelynn and I have been doing some thinking today, and she'd like to make an addition to the town of Grizzly. Now, some of us are involved in building the town, and the rest of you are out good friends, so we wanted to share her idea with you.” He looked at his wife. “Babe?”
Katelynn smiled and stood. “Okay, I'm not any kind of architect or designer or anything like that, but something happened today that got me to thinking about what I could contribute to this project, and it suddenly hit me that the one thing you all left out is something I know you all would use; in fact, I'm really surprised I'm the first one to think about it, since I don't even play very much, but you don't have a golf course in the plans anywhere.”
We all looked at each other. I saw Kendall lean his face into his hands, as if kicking himself for not thinking of it, but she was right. None of us had thought of putting in a golf course, and I was just as surprised as anyone else. I love golf, and Jim and I had been planning to go and play a few rounds somewhere, as soon as we got time.
“So, anyway,” Katelynn continued, “I got Pierre to help me out today, and we designed a gold course, and I hope you won't think it too presumptuous of me, but I even thought of a name for it. I think we ought to call it the Twin Links Country Club and Golf Course, and Nate says he's got the perfect spot to put it, out by the lake, so here, without further ado, is our design for Twin Links! Pierre?”
A door opened, and in walked their chef, Pierre, followed by two helpers who were carrying a large sheet cake! The cake was green and blue, with brown spots all over it that I figured were sand traps, and when they set it down on the table, we all stood up to look it over.
I was amazed at the detail that went into making this cake, for I could see the way the different shades of green made roughs and fairways, the blue showed the water hazards and the brown indicated the sand traps. There were two big white areas, and I couldn't quite figure those out, but it all went crazy when Kathy and Rebecca both started squealing at the same time and ran around the table to hug Katelynn.
Suddenly everyone was jumping up and down and laughing and crying, and Jim and I and the other guys were staring like idiots, but then it hit me like a brick between the eyes: “Twin Links,” she'd said, and when I looked again at the cake, I could see that the layout resembled two babies! Those big white areas I hadn't figured out were diapers!
Nathanael and Katelynn were having twins!
No wonder the women were going nuts! I caught Nate's eye, and he was grinning like a fox, so when I got to him and clapped him on the back, he grabbed me for a hug.
“Congratulations, Son,” I said. “This is exciting—but I like the idea for the Golf Course, too!”
He laughed. “So do I. When she came up with this creative way to tell you all, I was delighted! I thought it was brilliant, and if we put the course over by the lake, there are those two hills there that will be ideal, and lend some weight to the whole 'Twin Links' name. I'm betting Kendall can design it, with input from you and Jim, and make it a course that people will love to play.”
The whole party was really about the twin babies, and Katelynn and Nate told us that it looked like a matched set, a boy and a girl. Everyone was thrilled, and there was quite a fuss about how they needed to make changes to the baby shower that was planned for a couple of months down the road. I caught Jim, and we agreed we should make it a point to be out of town that day, just to be safe.
“What are you two whispering about?” Nate asked, sneaking up behind us. I told him, and he chuckled. “Yeah, I think maybe I'll go with you. That might be a good day to go and buy grounds equipment for the course, don’t you think?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Jim said, and I agreed wholeheartedly. “Can't skimp on your golf course grounds equipment, we don't want to take a chance sending some amateur on a job like that.” He looked at me. “You've run groundskeeping machines before, right, Norm?”
“Well, not unless you count my lawn mower, but Nate, now, Nate actually worked one summer at Gleneagle and worked on the grounds crew there, right, Son?”
Nate nodded. “Yep, and I still know the difference between a Toro and a Jacobsen. I'm your guy, I know exactly the right questions to ask, namely, 'where's the coffee?' and 'who's the salesman?' Those two questions will keep us occupied for hours!”
Jim and I both laughed and agreed. We'd be in Placentia the day of the shower, looking at grounds gear!
The party wound down around ten thirty, and I gathered up my wife. I promised her she could come back the next day and be giddy about twins, and she finally gave in and went home with me.
“Twin grandbabies,” she said as I drove us home. “And one of each! Norman, I hope we're up to this!”
I looked at her and chuckled. “Honey, I think it's the kids who have to worry, not us. We can always send 'em home, if we get worn out, but they're stuck with them all the time!”
“I'm not talking about that, Silly,” she threw back at me. “I'm saying I hope we're ready for all the trips to the park and the zoo and fishing and God alone knows what else we'll end up doing with two grandkids the same age! I'm not looking for a way out, I'm trying to figure out more ways to spend time with them!”
I grinned. “And now you know the real reason I had my heart attack a few months ago,” I smirked. “Everything I was hearing from North Platte said that Nathanael was in love, and there was no way I was going to be stuck in that stuffy office once there were grandkids to play with! I had to find a way to make Nate take over, and God stepped in and intervened!”
She smacked me on the shoulder. “If I believed that, I'd be mad at you and God, both, but I don't. Things just worked out the way God always intended, I think, and that's one of the reasons why He's got that job, and we don't. We're gonna be Grandma and Grandpa, Honey, and I am all for it!”
Katelynn
Chapter Ten
Shower Time
* * * * *
There's not a whole lot that's more embarrassing than having your mother telling stories about you as a child to all the guests at your baby shower! I was doing everything I could to make her stop, but everyone was laughing about the time she took me to a movie theater when I was three and had to let me stand in the aisle and dance to the music in the movie!
“Oh,” she was saying, “I'll never forget that night! It was a throwback theater, showing old beach movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, and of course they were all about music and dancing. KK heard the music and would not sit still, so I had to let her stand in the aisle and just hold onto her. And the funniest part was, most of the people in the theater were watching her, not the movie!”
“Mom!” I said. “Can we talk about something other than me as a little girl, please? I mean, I'm not exactly a kid anymore, sitting here big as a house with a pair of wild animals inside me!”
It didn't work, of course. Corie asked about the time I tried to fly off the garage roof with a towel around my neck like Supergirl, and that set her off again.
I'd been married for five months, and preggers for six! Only three more months, one more trimester to go, and then these kids would be out here in the world with us, where I could hold them and love them and take care of them—and wish they'd let me sleep, no doubt.
The joys of parenthood, I kept telling myself. It's all about the joys of parenthood! That explained the extra thirty two pounds I'd gained, the weeks of vomiting and weeping and being stupid, and let us not forget, all the times that a little knee or elbow whacks me in the bladder, like it did all the time! I was so tired of constantly having to get up and go to the bathroom all day long that I was thinking about buying Depends and wearing them til the babies were born!
Okay, not really, but that should give you an idea of how frustrated I was getting to be. I needed to be not pregnant anymo
re, but that wonderful moment was still three months away. I was in the midst of my baby shower, with more than a hundred people scattered around my dining room (I didn't even know you could fit that many people in here, but there was actually room for more! It was amazing what Charles and his staff had done!), and I really was having a good time. If only I didn't have to go pee again at that moment, I'd probably have been in heaven!
The party was in full swing, and we were having a blast with the games. Someone had come up with an idea for one called “Pass the Dirty Diaper,” which involved taking a diaper that was full of chocolate syrup and passing from one person to the next down a line, but without using your hands! If the diaper popped open, you were out, and if you dropped it you were out, and the next person in line had to figure out how to pick it back up and get it going again. The first team to get five diapers to the end of their line won, and everyone on it got a prize.
I was on one of the teams, and we weren't doing too badly, but Melinda kept turning green every time she saw the diaper coming her way. The girl before her dropped one of them and was out, and that meant that poor Melinda had to pick it up. She tried to get it with her elbows, but that didn't work, so someone kept yelling at her to just grab it with her teeth, like others had done. She finally bent down and tried, biting into it, but then she suddenly got so sick that she threw up all over the floor.
Charles and the housekeepers were there in an instant and got the mess cleaned up, while Corie and I got Melinda into the bathroom and helped her wash up. She was apologizing constantly, and I kept telling her not to worry about it, it was a stupid game anyway, and then she started to cry. I was so surprised I didn't know what to say, but Corie caught on first.
“Oh, my gosh,” she said. “Melinda, are you pregnant again?”
The tears of shame suddenly turned into tears of pure happiness, and she smiled her way through the sobs that were still coming out of her. “Yeah,” she sniffled. “I just found out for sure a couple weeks ago.”
