Chapter 8: To Swallow the Frog

I was alone about a half an hour, when the door of the nursery opened, then my dad and Natalia, with the baby in her arms, came out. The baby was sleeping peacefully. Dad beamed from pride. I knew and I understood that his first blood daughter was born.

Natalia smiled at me and she said, "Your Dad and I discussed it and her name is Valerie."

I replied with genuine pleasure, "Valerie. Valerie, it's a good name. I like it. I think Kate and Becky will also love it."

Dad was pleased and explained, "I'm glad you like her name. Now Valerie is sleeping after her first suckling."

Dad was a little disturbed, and he looked at me with a sincere face, "Ben, please calm down, I love Becky, too."

Natalia confirmed what my dad said, "Ben, your dad loves all of his children equally."

I looked at two fantastically happy parents, who could still think of us beside their greatest happiness.

I was touched a little, but I could tell, "I know this." I continued, "I talked to my mom and she wished much happiness to you both and to my new sister. I know she was sincere."

Dad was silent, but he smiled, so Natalia responded first, "Thank you to her. Ben, please convey her our warm thanks."

I think this was an enormous gratification from my mom and dad appreciated it, "Ben, I'm happy now and I'm thankful for your mom's best wishes."

He looked at his new daughter and Natalia and he began to laugh, "It may be our happiness came from her."

Natalia started laughing, too, and soon I laughed with them. I understood the humor of the whole situation. Natalia, who was without any exhaust asked me to call Kate and Becky. I went to Becky's room to interrupt their study. They came with me to the living room where the happy parents and the sleeping baby waited for us.

Natalia said, "Your dad and I named our baby Valerie."

Becky was the first, "Valerie. Valerie, I like this name."

Kate said the same, "I also love the name Valerie."

I was very pleased, "I told you they would like this name."

My dad was pleased with us, "Thank you, for loving her name."

First my dad turned to me, "Ben, today we're the chefs, so let's go to the kitchen." Then to the girls, "Girls, go back to your studies."

Natalia went back to the nursery with Valerie in her arms, and Kate with Becky to study again. We started to cook something from frozen materials. Because we used the microwave frequently, we did not usually have ordinary festive meals. Natalia got some extra food to maintain her lactation.

Dad said, "She prepared this food for herself some days before. She knew the child-birth would be soon."

We set the table and we called everyone. Natalia came first and she left the door of the nursery room open to the living room because she wanted to hear her baby well. The girls arrived so we had our lunch. Natalia and Kate had been always the chefs and after the study sessions, Kate had gone to help her mom in the kitchen previously. The abrupt childbirth upset the normal timetable, but nobody complained about the modest lunch.

We had just finished our lunch when the baby cried, and Natalia ran to the nursery instantly. Valerie stopped crying soon because she got her milk from Natalia.

We discussed the morning's events. I told the girls about my mom's solid best wishes to dad and Natalia. I also told everyone mom was glad Kate was my girlfriend, and mom praised my sister and me that we helped Natalia in her labor. My dad said again this was nice from her. Kate was glad my mom accepted her and Becky was happy for the lower emotion stress between our mom and my dad's new family. I knew my dad did not forgive my mom's betrayal, but he got a true gratification from her which was important in the connection of his ex-wife to achieve a more peaceful state in his soul.

We planned the afternoon program. The younger ones would go to the indoor swimming pool after a one and a half hour learning session. I had brought my school and exercise books as usual and I studied in my room similarly to the girls. We brought our swimming dress, too, so soon we went to the pool in Kate's Prius. We wanted to stay until closing time. It was simple, because the weather conditions were nice and the streets were free of snow and ice.

After some swimming Kate surprised us and said she wanted to teach us diving. My sis and I agreed and we went to the deep pool equipped with diving boards. We went to the five meter diving platform and she explained the simple jump and she said we had to watch her dive three times. After her, we would dive using a basic method. Before her dive, she explained how we had to arrive into the water. If it was possible, we should arrive with our heads 80-100 degrees to the water surface to avoid a painful encounter.

First I tried. I was almost successful, I got a little pain on my body. When I came back, Kate explained my mistake to Becky and me. Soon Becky came and she was successful on her first attempt. Kate explained why she was successful. My second jump was good. Becky and I became good simple divers from the five meter platform. We went back into the pool and Kate did a performance from the high board. We clapped and shouted as always.

After Kate's presentation I thanked her for the training with a hot kiss and hug. She clung to me with her beautiful body and we looked for our tonsils. We forgot the world around us, but Becky laughed at us a lot, so we stopped. She said we would have two whole nights together. We were at dad's house for two nights on every second weekend, so we came on Friday evening, and went home to mom on Sunday evening. This time we had come Saturday morning, so we planned to go to school in my car from dad's house, carrying all of our school things with us.

Kate said something interesting. Becky had good talent to become a good diver - not an Olympic Games participant, but a local good athlete, so Kate would train her until she joined the diving branch of the local swimming sports club. Kate explained I was too old to become a good diver athlete, but she would train me only to enjoy diving. Kate was a fortune-teller because Becky became a diver later, not a member of the National Olympic team, but a medium level athlete. Kate taught us the principal steps and, with permission of the school and parents, she joined the diving branch of the local swimming sports club. But this was the future. We went to dad's house after nine o'clock.

Dad and Natalia had eaten dinner so we, the young ones, ate together in the kitchen. Natalia was in the nursery. Dad and Natalia moved into the room next to the baby's room. They opened the door between the two rooms so she could hear the baby well. The young occupied the first floor and we barely heard the baby's crying through the closed doors. After dinner, Kate and I went to my room and Becky went to her room. Becky said some humorous words, with full of teasing about my usual night activity with Kate. Becky said we should wait for the production of a kid. We were cheerful and laughed. Becky was good at guessing our activity because Kate and I had excellent sex practice night and early morning.

Kate and I got up first after sex at seven o'clock and did our morning routine. Then we started the breakfast preparation for everyone, Kate knew that Natalia needed extra food for breastfeeding Valerie. Becky joined to help us with the serving on the table. The happy parents got up. My dad was sleepy but, a surprising thing, Natalia was without any fatigue against the baby's night crying. She called us to look at Valerie, who had just slept soundly. She looked at the baby with undisguised pride and she told us she nursed her baby one hour before we woke up. We had breakfast and we discussed our Sunday program. We had studied almost enough, so Kate and Becky would finish their usual study for one and a half hours similar to me. Natalia and dad washed the dishes and they took care of Valerie. We did not plan the Sunday program yet at all but we only thought of a late afternoon swimming pool with diving training.

During study, Frank my friend phoned by mobile from his parents' farm that the weather conditions were good. It was cold without snowfall and their pond, which was a good summer swimming facility, was covered with thick ice. He tried one week ago and now the ice was thicker for skating. He phoned Bill and Sam. He told me they accepted his invitation and they would bring their girlfriends as his girlfriend was on the farm. Everyone would bring skates. He said I should bring Kate. I said I would take Becky too. Frank told me it was not a problem, his younger sisters would be there also. I said I would discuss it with Kate and Becky and, of course, with dad. Becky was still under eighteen so dad's permission was important. Naturally, she got the permission.

After study Kate and Becky were enthusiastic. We planned to arrive at two o'clock and, after three hours skating, we wanted to go to the swimming pool until nine o'clock. Dad agreed as long as we phoned them from the covered swimming pool that we were well. Kate and Becky went to admire the baby and to help Natalia with the lunch. My dad worked on something and he told me I did not need to help him. So I surfed on the net.

Frank phoned again with a surprising request. They heard Kate was good at figure skating so they brought two big loudspeakers to the frozen pond. He asked Kate to bring music for figure-skating, because his sisters and his mom were figure skating fans. I discussed this with Kate who had a few half-hour figure-skating files on a USB stick. Becky was fantastic happy. The lunch was very early so we could prepare everything and we went in Kate's Prius. Natalia and Kate baked a few Russian "sirnyki" pastries for a gift.

After a half hour of driving we arrived at Frank's parents. The farm was huge, they produced mainly wheat, corn and other animal feed, and produced a little biodiesel material as well. The crops were ripening at different times so the farm job was more balanced. My dad's firm bought their products and delivered the animal feed mixture which they used for local fodder grown on top for about forty cows. They separated a portion of the farm like the cow pasture. They did all the work on the farm with machines. Moreover, they went to other farms to work with special machines. They had a well-equipped cow-shed with milking machines, so his mom could manage the milking alone. They had a biogas generator with a gas tank, and a small wind machine. Frank told us he had done the half of the harvesting with their super computerized harvester-thresher in that year.