Chapter 6: A Family Affair

Nine days after they had sailed off into the dawn of their honeymoon — Casa Hartley awoke to find the familiar Catamaran moored to the dock within the protective shelter of the breakwater. Chad was an early riser by habit and he first noted things amiss when he padded down the stairs to the kitchen to make the first pot of coffee of the morning. Except there was already a pot, freshly brewed. He turned when he heard footsteps climbing the stairs from the basement level, to find Bobby groggily making his way into the kitchen. The boy didn’t even notice him standing nearby as he grabbed a cup and filled it.

“Back early, aren’t you?” he asked. Bobby turned in surprise to see his father standing next to the fridge.

He nodded with a grunt and accepted the creamer when it was handed to him. “Yeah, we had to turn back a day after we reached Tobago,” he replied. His voice was heavy with fatigue. “Poor Tai got food poisoning and hasn’t been able to keep anything down since last...” he blinked in confusion. “What is today anyway?”

“Tuesday,” Chad replied. “She gonna be, okay? Should we take her to the urgent care center?”

Bobby shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not sure. She’s sleeping right now. At first, she had a fever and then she got seasick.” He looked timidly towards the stairs. “Don’t mention that to her though. Frankly, the last few days have been hell for both of us,” he mumbled tiredly. “I’ve been at the helm for three straight days. Thank God for Simrad or I’d have gotten us lost at sea or run aground.”

They both turned when the twins came down the stairs, yawning tiredly. Jessica and Jennifer both smiled brightly when they spotted him and took turns hugging him.

“We thought we heard voices,” Jen said as she filled the electric kettle and plugged it in. Jessica grabbed a cup and went straight for the coffee.

“What brought you back early, Bobbers? Certainly not the weather,” she asked as she doctored her cup with cream and sugar.

“Tai is sick as a dog,” Chad answered for him.

That brought both women up short and they gazed at their son-in-law with concern. “What on Earth are you talking about?”

Bobby filled them in, “She fell ill four days ago. We had just reached Tobago and started snorkeling when she turned green and started chumming the ocean with her lunch.” He nodded towards the stairs, “She’s sleeping at the moment, but I think she needs to go see the doctor this morning.”

The women looked at each other in the way only identical twins can — communicating silently before setting their cups down and heading for the stairs.

“Um, Mom?” he called after them, “I don’t think you should wake her up. This is the first time she’s slept since we headed back...” he stopped after they disappeared downstairs. “Don’t say I didn’t warn them,” he muttered to his dad.

“Tai, stop being dramatic and drink this,” Jennifer demanded firmly, handing the Jamaican girl a glass of fizzing water. “It will settle your stomach so we can get some food into you.”

Jessica slipped her arms around the girl and pulled her into a sitting position before stacking all four of the pillows behind her back. The brown girl moaned tiredly but took the glass offered. After a sip she made an ugly face and a dry retching sound, pushing the glass back at the red-headed woman. “Oh god, that is awful! No, thank you I’ll pass...”

“No, you won’t!” Jennifer retorted, pushing the glass back. “Drink it. All of it. Now! You can have a glass of water to wash the taste out of your mouth once you finish.”

With a sulky sigh, she obediently drank the seltzer down, making terrible faces the entire time. Jen refilled her glass from a pitcher and handed it back. “One more.”

“I’m not thirs...” she started with a whiny tone, wilting under the stern matronly gaze of the two mother hens, surrounding her. She set the glass back on the table and belched. “Now I have to pee,” she complained irritably, throwing back her thin blanket.

“Good,” Jessica said sweetly. They followed her into the bathroom and watched as she lifted the oversized UCCI t-shirt she borrowed from Bobby’s dresser, and sat on the toilet. She glared up at them as they watched her expectantly.

“Are you afraid I’m gonna fall in, Mon?”

Jessica produced a white plastic tube with a blue tip. She removed the blue cap revealing a paper strip and handed it to her. “Pee on this end for 5 seconds,” she ordered.

“You’re not serious!” The Jamaican girl replied scornfully as she studied the wand. “There ain’t no way I’m pregnant!” But she obediently held the test strip under her flow. “I been on Depo since I was fourteen,” she grumbled, handing the test kit back.

“When was your last shot?” Jess asked as she replaced the cap and set the wand on the counter.

Tavia sighed with exasperation. “I don’t know exactly when. It was after the big storm when I went up to Georgetown with my dad to get all the dredging permits filed.”

“So, December or thereabouts?”

“Yeah, Mon. Now you gonna watch me wipe too?” she growled.

The twins turned away as they studied the calendar on Jen’s phone.

“They completed the survey of Grifun and returned here on the 17^th,” Jess mumbled. “That puts her shot within this week here...”

The toilet flushed and the Jamaican girl stepped over to the sink to wash her hands. “See?” she scoffed as she dried her hands and returned to bed. “Ain’t even been five months yet,” she grumbled as she punched the pillows down and sat with her back against the headboard. “My belly feels better now!” she reflected happily. “I’m hungry!”

In the bathroom, the twins looked up at the tester and then at each other. Nothing needed to be said between them as they looked once more at the results.

“Tai,” Jennifer called out. “You normally get your Depot shots in Kingston, is that correct?”

“Yes, momma,” she replied respectfully.

“And they are good for six months?”

“Yep. And I never miss an appointment. January ... July. January ... July. Lather — rinse — repeat.”

“And last December you got the shot here in GC?” Jess continued the interrogation.

“Yes, momma,” Tai repeated smiling. She was going to love having two Mommas from now on. “I didn’t want to trouble my dad to take me back to Kingston when I could get the same thing here for a few dollars.”

The twins stepped out of the bathroom together and walked over to sit on either side of the bed, facing her. “Except for one little thing, baby girl,” Jess told her as she patted the girl’s leg beneath the covers.

Tavia looked sharply from one to the other, noting their smug but sympathetic expressions. “What are you two on about?” she demanded warily.

“The Commonwealth doesn’t offer 6-month shots,” Jennifer told her gently, touching her other leg. “Nobody should, because of the long-term complications.”

“Your Depo shot was only good for three months,” Jessica concluded, “Three and a half ... tops.” She held up the positive test to the stricken girl who suddenly seemed to lose her lovely mahogany skin tone. “Congratulations.”

Tai’s shriek echoed through the manor, covering the sound of Bobby’s coffee cup smashing against the floor above them, and the startled barks of the three dogs awakened in the living room.

It was a toss-up between who was most shocked at the revelation. Tavia remained in bed hugging her knees and rocking herself, mumbling, “Imma gonna be a momma. Imma gonna be a momma,” repeatedly — while her young husband sat apoplectic at the foot of the bed staring into space. Jennifer and Jessica consoled the distraught girl while Genevieve sat with her former ward, rubbing his back. Kurt stood calmly nearby observing everyone and everything. The two puppies — Gonzo and Cockle, whom they kept from Tappy and Elvis’ litter, were sprawled out on the comforter doing their best to absorb some of the nervous tension in the room by their simple presence.

The heavy sliding door that led to the beach hissed open, admitting Dr. Ashante, followed by Chad. The Professor gazed about the room before his eyes settled on his tearful daughter who was surrounded by a protective ring of moms and pups. She pressed her lips together tightly when she saw his soft and compassionate expression. Then she blinked back tears and rose carefully from the bed to reach out for him. He seemed older as he swept the girl into his arms and held her while she sobbed into his chest.

“There now,” he murmured, “Tuck up, lass.”

“Imma gonna be a momma,” she blubbered in his arms. “Daddy, what am I gonna do?”

“Well now...” he cleared his throat. “As to that, I can only speak from experience and I wasn’t much of a role model back then, sad to say.”

She wiped her nose on his heavy shirt and sniffed, “What do you mean, Daddy?”

“Well, um...” he replied uncomfortably. “You see your mum and I weren’t much different in our situation than yours. And she was two years younger than you when I knocked her up with you.” He coughed with embarrassment. “And me being a struggling grad student with nothing to his name but a boat and a pocket full of questions...”