Chapter 10: Babies and Other New Arrivals

Late April-May, 1986

[CJ was now babbling his little head off as we loaded Linda into Mary’s Caravan to head to the hospital!]

Luckily, this was not totally unexpected. Dr Adrianne Meyers, the girls’ OB/GYN, had warned us during Linda’s last checkup, that it was not uncommon for twins to be born two to five weeks early. That being said however, it didn’t stop Bob and I from hitting all the panic buttons. Luckily the girls were taking it in stride. Sarah, Jamie and Greg said they would stay behind and clean up the mess, as well of taking care of little CJ.

Dr Meyers met us at the hospital and we followed her to the maternity ward. It was a good thing we didn’t waste any time as within 20 minutes Linda gave birth to two healthy if not somewhat small babies. Erik Robert Swenson and Olivia Iris Swenson came into this world weighing 6 lbs .3 oz. and 6 lbs .1 oz. respectively. Bob and Mary had both been in the delivery room with Linda. Bob survived much better than I did when CJ was born and actually cut both umbilical cords.

While the nurses were cleaning the babies up and moving Linda to her room, Bob caught up with me in the waiting area. The two of us then went to the cafeteria for some coffee. For doing as well as he did in the delivery room, he seemed pensive while we were having our coffee.

I asked him what was wrong.

“Nothing really, Charlie. They’re both a little jaundiced, due to being a bit premature ... it’s just that ... neither Olivia nor Erik ‘said’ anything to me or Linda. You know, like CJ did to you when he was born. I could’ve sworn for the last couple of weeks that they were both talking to CJ whenever he was laying on Linda’s belly.”

I had to think about that for a second before saying, “You know, CJ’s very first words were actually a message from Zeus. You remember what Zeus told us, that CJ would have much of the same abilities that I had. You also have to remember that it may take some time for any of the other babies to develop any of those skills.”

Bob sighed, “I knowww.” He then chuckled once, “I guess I was hoping they would be just like CJ and come up with funny names for everybody. I couldn’t wait to hear what they might call you!”

I grinned, “I know, ‘Bobo’! I see you’re really warming up to that name.”

“How could I not? And your little guy is going to get a nice hug and kiss on his little forehead when I get home. I can’t believe how he knew what was happening before any of US did. I just know he had to have been talking to the twins just before Linda’s water broke. Anyway, let’s go upstairs and see my new kids!”

When we arrived upstairs, Linda’s chest was a very busy place. She had Olivia on her right breast and Erik on her left. Both were hard at it, busily nursing, with Linda smiling contentedly while holding them. Even Mary was smiling sweetly. Little Olivia was the first to stop and Mary looked at Bob, “Okay Dad! Let’s see if you do as good as Charlie did, burping her and changing her first diaper!”

Bob looked like a deer in the headlights. The nurse started chuckling, “Yeah, Dad, come on over here, I’ll give you a hand.”

He was tentative as he picked her up, then laying her on his shoulder, patting her back lightly. He was treating it like he was diffusing a bomb! After she let out a cute little burp, dribbling some excess milk on him, he took her to the changing table. When he started wiping her little bottom, the nurse yelled, “STOP,” and Bob jumped like he’d just been shot!

“WHAT?” He gasped, putting his hands up.

Giggle, “Sorry Mr Swenson, but you NEVER wipe a girls bottom from back to front! You ALWAYS wipe from front to back.”

By now Linda and Mary were laughing and nodding their heads in agreement. I looked at Bob, just as confused as he was.

Trying to think, Bob asked, “Huh?”

Mary came over and put her arm around Bob’s shoulder, “You DON’T want to get any ‘poo-poo’ into her little ‘pee-pee’ area, Daddy. You really should get boys to wipe that way too, although it isn’t as critical. Girls don’t have any ‘obstructions’ to keep the poop out of sensitive areas!”

“Ohhh shit! I guess I never thought of that.” He looked down at an almost sleeping Olivia, “Sorry Little One, Daddy almost messed up!” He then finished putting on a clean diaper before carefully picking her up and placing her in her bassinet.

“You ready to do your son, daddy?” The nurse asked cheerfully.

“I guess. I already know one thing to watch out for... ‘old Face-full’!”

The nurse was giggling as Bob showed much less trepidation when it came to burping and changing little Erik. He even waited for the fountain before putting on the fresh diaper. He almost looked smug, laying a now sleeping Erik in his bassinet, right next to Olivia’s.

“Very good! You know, it just about looked like you knew what you were doing. You even wiped front to back! I wish more ‘dads’ would learn to help change a baby’s diapers. Sadly, many men don’t do that.”

Mary just smiled, “Charlie’s changed our little guy’s diaper just as often as I have. He even gets up in the middle of the night sometimes to fetch CJ and bring him to bed so I can feed him.”

“You ladies are very lucky. MY husband has NEVER changed even ONE diaper. He says it’s too gross.” The doctor said wistfully.

Shortly after the doctor and nurse left, Linda looked at Bob, then me, “Bob, sweetie, would you mind terribly if maybe Charlie spent the night with me? You know, to maybe speed up my and the babies’ ‘healing process’?”

Bob chuckled while nodding, “That’s fine, but, you knowww, I could go and get Jessica, who could heal you a whole lot faster!”

Linda’s eyebrow furled then her eyes shot wide open, “OHHH, well, I don’t know if I want to be a VIRGIN again! I’m sure the doctor is going to want to check me out before I leave the hospital. That MIGHT be a little hard to explain! Speaking of Jessica, we should probably tell her AND let our parents know that they have two new grandchildren! I really want to get out of here tomorrow.”

Since the babies were asleep, and Linda was also feeling tired, the three of us headed home to tell everyone the good news. Iris and Ray were thrilled with the news and glad that both babies were healthy except for being a tad jaundiced. Mom and Dad were equally happy and all four of them promised to be over as soon as Linda got home from the hospital.

True to his word, the first thing Bob did when he got home was to pick up little CJ to give him a nice hug and a kiss on his forehead. Sarah was lamenting the fact that Linda was now finished and she couldn’t wait for her turn to be a mommy. Even Jamie groaned, “Aaaarggh, and I’ve got another MONTH to go after you deliver, Sarah! It really sucks to be this horny and have the guys refuse to really fuck me hard because they’re afraid of hurting the baby.”

Sarah took CJ from Bob and headed for the couch. She giggled, “Okay little man, you tell Sissy she can come out whenever she wants to. But the sooner the better!” CJ was giggling and mentally talking a mile minute. Exactly what he was saying to his unborn sister was anyone’s guess, however.

Sarah had been quiet for a while before she summoned me, “Charlie? Could I talk to you about something?”

“Sure. Are you feeling okay?”

She nodded, “Yes, other than being more than ready to unload our daughter, I’m fine. This has to do with Emmy, Sally and Bill ... and I guess Gracie and Ed too.”

I knew immediately where she was going with this. I sat down next to her, cuddling her head in my lap while gently stroking CJ who was babbling away on her belly.

I smiled at her, “You think it’s time to ‘re-bond’ with our neighbors?”

Her beautiful emerald eyes were gazing into my soul, “I do ... I hate not being able to share all these wonderful things with Emmy. I know you’ve been much more guarded about our abilities since we’ve reacquired them, but, Emmy trusts both Bill and Sally. Do you still doubt Bill’s ... integrity?”

“No, not like I did before our cruise last summer. Truthfully, it’s more of a matter of trying to decide whether or not to give Ed and Gracie all of their old abilities back. I’ve also been debating with myself whether or not to give Ed one of my remaining ‘gift’ packages. We’ve all just been so busy, trying to get a better handle on the true extents of our new abilities. Things have been so hectic lately, I’ve just forgotten about it.”

“Sooo, you’re saying there’s a chance?” Sarah smirked with a cute giggle.

“Yeah sweetheart, let’s plan on a little get together when Linda gets home with the twins. After the parents leave, we’ll all sit down with our neighbors and have a talk about our relationship and we’ll see what happens. Okay?”

She started raising her head to kiss me, so I leaned down to give her a warm sideways kiss.

Mary was smiling, having heard the entire exchange, “Are you hungry CJ?”

“Hungry Mama!” He giggled as Mary pulled off her top, revealing her two leaking breasts.

Sarah pulled me in for a deep kiss and giggled, “That’s what I mean Charlie! I wish Emmy could share the joy that we all feel when little CJ flashes things like that.”

“I just don’t want to get their hopes up that their kids might ever be able to do that. Bob is already disappointed that neither of his twins communicated with him in any way yet. I’m pretty sure that if little Olivia and Erik can’t communicate with us, then Sally, Emmy and Gracie’s kids won’t be able to either.”

“Do you think little ‘Sissy’ will be able to communicate with us? Sometimes when CJ is laying on my belly I feel like I can understand some of what they’re trying to say to each other.”

I smiled, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she can even though the twins don’t appear to be able to yet. Speaking of Sissy, have you decided what name you want to give our daughter?”

Sarah grinned, “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to name her Abigail Lenora Swenson/Reynolds. Abigail or Abby was my grandmother’s name and Lenora is the female form for Lenny. My grandmother showed me more love when I was growing up than my parents ever did and your dad has been more of a father to me than mine ever was.”

I was touched and knew that Dad would be too. I squeezed Sarah tight and after giving her a very tender kiss, told her I loved the name.

Greg and Jamie volunteered to give Bob a ride back to the hospital so they could see the twins. The plan was that Bob would stay with Linda until after visiting hours and then he and I would ‘change’ places. He already had received permission to stay overnight and I would use the ‘Chameleon’ gift to take his place. I was pretty sure this was going to be a long night for me as both of the twins would need feeding at least two or three times overnight. With that being the case, I decided that a nap would be in order.

Right at 9:00pm, Bob gave me the all clear and he popped home and I popped into Linda’s room. I smiled at her before ‘changing into’ Bob. She told me that the nurse’s aide would be coming shortly to check on the twins and help get them changed and fed.

She whispered, “They’re very concerned that they are both still a little jaundiced.”

I grinned, “Well, maybe we should ‘fix’ that!”

She beckoned me closer, then pulled me into a smoldering kiss. “I love you, Boss. You got it in one! Then, you can crawl in next to me and see how much healing you can give me. I REALLY DO wanna go home tomorrow. They keep saying another day or two, because of the jaundice.

We were just separating when the nurse came in to see if we needed help feeding and changing the twins. Olivia was fussing, so I picked her up and could tell she needed changing. The NA (Nurse’s Aide) was surprised when I placed little Olivia on the changing table and began changing her diaper. She even giggled as she watched me wipe her little bottom from front to back.

“I see this isn’t your first time, Daddy, you even got everything perfectly clean and a nice tight diaper. Mama’s got a real prize with you!”

I chuckled, ‘Well, my big brother has a three month old and I’ve gotten some practice! Earlier, I was told about wiping little girls so as not to cause an infection.”

“Wow! More hubbies should be like you. Why don’t you give this one to Mama, then you can change your son?”

I grinned at Linda as I walked Olivia over to her. I kept my hands on Olivia so Linda and I could ‘heal’ her while she began hungrily latching onto Linda’s milk swollen titty. The NA was going to have the nurse check the twins out after their feeding. After feeling Olivia’s little body get warm, then cool off, I picked up little Erik to change him too.

Erik was just wet, so the change went quickly.

Linda giggled, “You must have forgotten to wait the last time you changed him, dear.” She winked, knowing that Bob had rushed his last diaper change.

We repeated the healing process with Erik, before I took my seat beside her bed.

The NA went to get the nurse while the babies were nursing.

When the regular nurse came in, she took Olivia and Erik to the changing table to do her examination. I watched her facial expression closely as she kept checking their charts and looking at Erik and Olivia’s eyes and skin color.

She looked at Linda and me, “I can’t believe how much their condition has improved from just a few hours ago! Their skin has gone from yellow to flushed and their eyes are clear and bright. I almost don’t need to do the blood test, but, with any luck, this may be the last one. If this comes back like I think it will, you’ll be able to take them home tomorrow.”

Linda and I just smiled, knowingly. I was hoping our being together would have just as pronounced an effect on Linda. With the exception of changing the babies’ diapers, I never let go of Linda’s hand.

The night went quickly, what with feedings every two hours and by morning, Linda was feeling good and the babies blood tests came back nearly perfect. The doctor did a quick examination of Linda and was amazed that for just delivering twins, her ‘female parts’ showed very little signs of having done so.

By 10:00 am, we were on our way home. There we found Sarah lying on the couch with CJ chattering away on her belly. When Linda and I came in the front door, Bob took little Erik and I was carrying Olivia, to give Linda a break. We took them over to introduce them to CJ.

Then things became interesting. I had forgotten that I still looked like Bob.

Sarah and Mary began giggling which caused CJ to look at Bob and me with a very confused look on his face. “Bobo too?”

Now everyone was laughing as I instantly turned back into myself. CJ’s little eyes got very big and he said, “Daddy Bobo?”

Linda and Mary had to take the little ones from us, afraid that we might drop them since we were laughing so hard. Sarah sat up so she could hold CJ while Linda and Mary brought Erik and Olivia over to see him. CJ kept looking back and forth between Erik and Olivia, not quite sure where these two little strangers came from. Linda said, “CJ, these are your cousins Erik and Olivia.” CJ held his little arms out and the second he touched Erik, his mouth made a perfect ‘O’ and he flashed, “Bubba!” Then he touched Olivia, “Sissy too?”

What happened next, blew us all away. Both of the twins flashed, clearly, “CJ?”

The three of them then started babbling, mentally, like long-lost friends. We couldn’t understand any of what they were trying to say to each other, but we could definitely hear their mental ‘babbling’! We were then further astounded when CJ flashed a mental picture of two sleeping babies then, “Bubba, Sissy tired, Daddy.”

You could have heard a pin drop as both Bob and Linda’s mouths were catching flies. Bob rushed over to re-take little Erik from Mary. The little guy was almost asleep as Bob kept saying, “I’m your daddy Erik, I’m your daddy!”

I kept watching CJ and could tell he was trying to ‘explain’ to Erik that Bob was his daddy. Just as Erik’s eyes were closing he managed to flash, “Daddy Bobo, love Daddy Bobo.”

The look on Bob’s face was priceless. He had tears streaming down his face, he was biting his lip and looking at me in wonder. He kissed little Erik, hugging him and said, “Yes Erik, I’m your daddy and I love you too!”

About that time, Linda was looking into Olivia’s tired little eyes and said, “I’m your mama, Olivia.” Again I heard CJ mentally babbling and then Olivia, nearly asleep herself, flashed, “Love you Mama Lee la.”

Mary, Greg and Jamie were laughing with me, with Mary saying, “Hey, that’s what happens when a 3-month old tries to teach a 2-day old!”

Greg clopped Bob on the back, chuckling, “Give it a few days, buddy, I bet Erik will come up with a good name for Charlie!”

“Yeah ... probably something like ‘Daddy’, knowing MY luck!”

MEANWHILE, ON A LARGE ISLAND JUST NORTH OF HAITI

“Lorenzo, Lorenzo, Lorenzo ... Tell me ... WHY didn’t I just kill that bastard Locuro after his first job?”

Senor Garbanza, er, Rafael, sir, we needed him to get the fuel we so desperately require for our boats!”

“Yes my brother, and just WHERE is that fuel NOW? Not to mention 30 of my boats and 150 of my best men?”

“Um, well, perhaps we should not have tried to capture that yacht? We may have spread ourselves too thin...”

“BULLshit! That was a pleasure cruise with a tiny crew! We had them outnumbered 3 to1!”

“Yes, but they had some kind of rockets or something. Our men never had a chance.”

“And the tankers? What’s this crap about something capsizing EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN BOAT!?”

“That, I do not know, Rafael. Locuro kept babbling that some unknown force had flipped over all of our boats ... WHAT, could have done that?”

I knew I was going to have to get Viktor in on this and I was dreading EVERY fucking minute of it. The fucker was scary-evil. He was the one who set us up on this island and somehow convinced the Island Governor to give us free reign and sanctuary here. Giving him 40% of our booty was a small price to pay for his protection and help. Our next payment was due and the fucking American Coast Guard seemed to have discovered we were based here and were now patrolling the waters around here incessantly. They’d already stopped and reclaimed another 25 of my stolen boats and arrested all of the crews! The damned NSA had taken one of my supply islands and stolen back over three hundred thousand gallons of my fuel and supplies.

Viktor was my last resort to bring a stop to this madness, before they found my other island depot.