Chapter 19

"Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on?"

Back at the shack, life settled into a comfortable routine. The girls and I took turns being the "cook of the day," and I got to sample some pretty nice cooking. Mary's mother was Italian, and she made good pasta dishes. Debbie and I were both "meat and potatoes" kind of people, and Aimee made the most amazing dishes with vegetables and fruits that I would never have considered potential meal material.

We occasionally noticed Patricia in town, the person Mary had identified as being the one that was keeping tabs on us, but we saw her less and less frequently as time went on. Although Aimee was worried about the motives of that person, the rest of us decided that it wasn't worth the risk of trying to contact her. Aimee reluctantly agreed with the family consensus.

We made occasional trips to some of the islands that comprise the state of Hawaii, and we shopped to purchase some maternity wear for Mary, who started to show after about twelve weeks. Mary had completely avoided alcohol, even though the doctor had said that a glass of wine every week or two probably wouldn't hurt. Mary's decision was one of practicality. She had never really been a big drinker, and she wanted nothing to possibly endanger the life of the "little critter" that was growing within her, using Mary's term for her unborn baby.

Charles Penet, Debbie's Uncle Chuck, gave us the name of a firm on the big island that had some first rate talent that were accountants with law degrees. We put this firm on retainer to handle the hassles of day to day life, such as working out how our various savings, "incomes," tax returns, and other things that would be difficult for us to handle on our own. At first, Aimee was the primary family contact with this firm, but as time went on, we all felt comfortable with the firm and they ended up helping out a lot in the mundane details of life.

Since all of the partners within the firm had law degrees and were therefore subject to lawyer-client confidentiality agreements, Aimee readily revealed the nature of our relationship to them. The response? The person she told laughed, explaining that the "little beach" near our house that we frequented so often was once the site of a hippie commune! After a year or so, with all the business that our family was doing with the firm, a branch office in Kanahena was opened in order to make it easier for us to visit with them when needed.

At the suggestion of the law firm, we added a few more guest houses around the property, and put older clothing of ours in them. The idea was that we should be able claim that some of the unmarried people on the property were actually living in the guest houses.

The firm also ensured that our property was properly zoned for multi-family living, so the fact that so many unmarried people were at the same place would not arouse undue suspicions, especially in the light of Mary's pregnancy. The last thing we needed was family services coming by and declaring our lifestyle an endangerment to the children.

We hired a carpenter to oversee the construction of the guest houses as well as add new extensions to the shack, which allowed us to add Debbie's desired workout room. For the first day or so, the men from the carpenter's firm seemed to love looking at the three women at the house, but to give them credit, they were professionals and did such a good job, we ended up using the same company repeatedly whenever we needed some work done with the house.

As I said before, the workout room was Debbie's idea, and she purchased a Universal Gym and exercise mats for the room. Mary taught her sisters the basics of self defense. Aimee surprised Mary, handling herself very well and warded off Mary's attacks almost effortlessly. Aimee, however, refused to attack Mary, saying that the best way to win a fight was to avoid one. As a result, Aimee didn't spar much at all, at least with Mary, since Aimee was very anti-aggressive. Occasionally I did see Aimee work out with Debbie.

Debbie also had taken self-defense classes in the past, and found Mary to be an interesting teacher. Mary taught Debbie more aggressive moves. Despite Debbie's eagerness, her progress was slow. As Mary's pregnancy developed, it became dangerous for Mary to continue sparring, so Debbie hired an instructor that agreed to come out to the shack twice a week and continue Debbie's education.

Mely and June were still around, occasionally. Both of them had a condo on the big island that Debbie purchased for the two of them, and that is where Mely stayed most of her time. June, on the other hand, took to staying more and more in one of the new guest houses on the property so she could be readily available when one of us needed her services. June was also very excited about Mary's pregnancy, and the two women were often seen together, taking shopping trips together about once a week.

The first letter arrived from Kristen (from the Goddess club), and she had told us about how happy she was to be looking forward to her first child. Mary wrote back for all of us, telling her excitedly that she was also pregnant now, and added a lot of girl talk that expectant mothers are prone to do.

When Mary was in her fourth month, William Voder sent a message to Aimee that Colonel DiPietro had more or less abandoned his investigation of the four of us, although there was still an agent on Maui that would inform him if our status changed.

I could tell that Debbie was starting to get cabin fever. Hawaii is truly an island paradise, but truth be told, Debbie loved traveling. She kept reminding me that I had promised to take her to all of the Goddess clubs, and the closest one was in Los Angeles. She also reminded us that she had interrupted a tour of her father's properties when she had met up with Mary and me in San Diego.

I polled Mary and Aimee, and found that they were all willing to take a small trip back to California and the southwestern United States, so June rented a Cessna to take us to the big island, and from there, Mely flew us to the mainland.

The Goddess club in L.A. was a bit larger than the one in Chicago. Even though the House Band wasn't playing there at the time we were there, the place was sold out and the entertainment was still first rate. The group performing when we were there had the intriguing name "Aural Fantasy," and their style of blues music was wonderful, although I didn't recognize more than one or two of the songs during the entire night.

At the club, most of us drank soft drinks (pitchers, actually) and Aimee drank apple juice. We were all willing to give up alcohol in deference to Mary's condition. Since the club had a policy of free drinks for designated drivers, our waiter declared our entire table safe!

While we were in California, Aimee surprised us by announcing that she was going to head north to do some research. June drove her to her destination, which turned out to be a midwifery school up state. Aimee took general lessons on learning how to help out with a first time delivery. The classes were fascinating to Aimee, and soon, Aimee would get her DONA certification as a doula, a term that means "woman servant."

A doula is a woman, usually one that has been through childbirth, who helps an expectant mother during pregnancy. A doula is differentiated from, say, a midwife in that a doula assists the mother before, during, and after delivery as an adviser, whereas a midwife is a medically certified professional that actually delivers babies. The role of a doula was very well suited for Aimee's disposition. Aimee took a few classes to learn more about the concept and the role of a doula in childbirth.

The rest of us spent a few days seeing the sights in Los Angeles, and when June came back (without Aimee), we all drove south to San Diego, where we spent about a week.

During our trip, June was our driver. Aside from that, we treated June as if she were a full part of our group, which she really seemed to appreciate.

In San Diego, I pointed out the hospital where I had been in a coma, and we went inside to pay a visit to the nursing staff that had spent so much time watching over me. Of course, they remembered Mary and me, and we introduced Debbie and June as our friends. The nurses were excited to hear that Mary and I had married and that Mary was expecting. She even got a free ultrasound, although I made the nurses promise not to reveal the gender of our child... Mary was the kind of person that really wanted to find out at the last moment.

We stayed at Debbie's apartment complex, staying in separate apartments. Debbie and I stayed in the apartment where Debbie had been living when we met, and June and Mary shared Mary's old apartment. We hired some people to help pack some of the things that Mary still had in that apartment and arranged for shipping of Mary's remaining stuff back to Makena. Mary (and I) had many fond memories of this apartment, and I knew that I would be sad when we left San Diego, knowing that we'd probably never stay at that apartment again.

During our week in San Diego, we visited Peter's Restaurant a couple of times. This was the place where Mary had once worked as a waitress. Peter, the owner of the place, remembered Mary and the rest of us, and we introduced him to June. The meals, of course, were as excellent as they had been before.

Another place we visited in San Diego was a place that Debbie had heard about that she wanted to see. She told us it was a barbecue restaurant, and it was supposedly a place where they filmed scenes of a Hollywood movie about the Navy that I hadn't seen.

Upon our entrance to the place, we passed through the bar. It was difficult to miss the odd collection of autographed feminine lingerie hanging from the ceiling. My impression of the place was that it was a sleazy bar, and I wondered what the attraction was for Debbie. I quickly found out that the food was surprisingly good--the ribs were simply marvelous!

During our meal, I asked my companions if any of them wanted to donate to the collection of underwear in the bar, and only Debbie volunteered, although Mary and June talked her out of it eventually.

From San Diego, June drove us to Arizona where we stopped for a few days in Tuscon, which was a city close to the army base where Mary had been stationed. Mary knew a few places in Tuscon from her time in the service, and was happy to show us all around. This was one of the few places we stopped where Debbie didn't have property, so we ended up staying at a nice hotel instead.

We continued driving east through Arizona and New Mexico to the outskirts of El Paso, Texas, where Debbie had a ranch. Like the ranch in Utah, this ranch had people working it, and we stayed at a guest house that was the size of a large house with three bedrooms. We had once been warned that this place might be bugged, so we were careful to keep our conversations neutral in case somebody might be monitoring us.

Despite the fact that the guest house had been adequately stocked in anticipation of our arrival, the three of us mostly ate out in town, and even spent a couple of nights in a hotel there.

June went to the airport in El Paso and picked up Aimee, who had returned from her doula classes, and she told everybody what she had learned, explaining the concept of a doula to us.

It was about this point that it was Mary that was starting to get restless. She kept mentioning that she wanted to get back to Makena. Aimee assured everybody that Mary's restlessness was mostly due to Mary's hormones changing and the fact that she just wanted a single place to rest and relax, much like a pregnant cat will search out a comfortable place to rest and eventually have her kittens.

I would soon learn that Aimee's educational trip would be a boon to all of us.

After spending a week in El Paso, we went to the airport where Mely met us in Debbie's jet to take us back to Maui.

Despite the fact that our latest adventure had ended, we all enjoyed the peaceful relaxation of life at the shack, which was quickly becoming our home base. Debbie seemed happier than she had been before we had taken the trip, and we all decided we would spend the rest of Mary's pregnancy at the shack, planning for the upcoming delivery. June and Mely, equally excited about Mary's impending childbirth, stayed with us also in Makena, taking up residence in one of the guest houses.

In private, I promised Debbie that once Mary's child was born, we'd continue our tour of the country, and make sure that we'd visit all of the Goddess clubs. Although I had every intention of carrying through on this promise, it turned out to be overly optimistic.

Mary looked positively radiant as an expectant mother. After she started to show, I decided to use alternate sexual positions to keep my weight off her. My reasoning was that I didn't want to do anything that might possibly endanger the new life that she was hatching. Mary and Aimee both complained that I was being way overprotective of Mary, but I already knew that. I was excited that I was going to have a child, and I couldn't wait until the delivery date. Aimee occasionally joined Mary and me in bed, and those nights were usually the most relaxing nights Mary and I spent together.

I didn't ignore Debbie or Aimee, but I did focus most of my nighttime activities with Mary, mostly to reassure her that I wasn't taking her for granted, and that I loved her even though her figure was changing. Mary's womb was expanding, and her breasts will filling out nicely, and I made every effort to assure Mary that she was still looking wonderful.

Over the next few months, I saw Patricia a few times when I was in town, usually when I was shopping. She was the person that Mary had identified as a person that had been following us. I no longer saw her as constantly as much as I had a few months earlier, and seeing her seemed more a coincidence now, rather than us catching her watching us.

Despite the fact that our family had jointly decided that it wasn't worth the risk of contact, Aimee actually struck up a friendly conversation with the woman one day at the market. According to Aimee, Patricia was easy to talk to, and readily admitted to Aimee that she was a private investigator. Aimee did not let on that she knew that Patricia had been investigating us, but after their conversation, Aimee felt that Patricia's demeanor wasn't quite natural, and the entire visit ended up worrying Aimee rather than easing her mind, although Aimee didn't explain what was bothering her.

As Mary's pregnancy progressed, Aimee warned her about the dangers of retaining water in the hot climate. She made sure Mary removed her rings from her fingers before they would swell, and Mary took to wearing her gold and platinum marriage rings on a necklace that she wore every moment of the day, keeping them "close to her heart."

I had thought that once Mary became pregnant, the other two women would also be chomping at the bit to have their own children as well. That didn't turn out to be the case. I asked Aimee about this one day.

Aimee answered, "This is Mary's time. Debbie and I have our lives ahead of us, and we want Mary to have her time in the limelight. This may be her only child, and we're all excited and happy for her. She is even starting to mother us even more than before she became pregnant. Waiting also allows us to space our children apart so that the older ones will help the younger ones grow up without too much competition."

"Sounds like you really thought this out," I said.

"Debbie, Mary, and I had a long talk after the wedding in San Francisco, and I had plenty of time to think about it when I was learning about childbirth."

I asked, "Aimee, did you take those courses in California just for Mary?"

"Actually, I did it more for myself and our entire family, rather than just for Mary, but Mary was a big part of it. My aunt that helped my mother in a similar way before I was born, and my mother told me that it was her sister that made a big difference for her. When I was studying, I was fascinated by the concept of the doula, and I wanted Mary to have the same advantage that my mother had. My aunt wasn't a doula by name, but she was a helpful influence with my mother."

I was proud of Aimee. It was obvious that her efforts were truly focused on our family.

About two weeks before Mary's due date, Debbie rented a condo near the hospital so we would be close when the time came. The delivery would be in a birthing room in a hospital that Aimee recommended in Oahu.

At five minutes after nine o'clock in the evening, on June 21, 1989, Dawn Elaine Montgomery was born, weighing in at eight pounds, nine ounces. In the delivery room was Mary, her husband, and her two best friends that she called her sisters. The birthing room wasn't too crowded, and Debbie's money went far. Aimee's doula training and our collective Empathic abilities really seemed to help Mary during the intense labor contractions that she experienced. The doctor was impressed at how smoothly the delivery went. Mary's labor had lasted nearly six hours, which was apparently a short period for a first-time delivery with an older mother.

The name Dawn had been selected by all three of the women, and Elaine was Mary's mother's name. My only contribution to my daughter's name was my being asked if I liked the name they chose.

I remember with pride holding Dawn for the first time, when a nurse handed her to me. It was obvious to me that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. At birth, she had dark hair, pudgy cheeks, and purple skin. Despite the fact that Dawn's face was contorted as she cried, I knew that she would have a smile that would light up a city. In retrospect, she could have had scales, a goatee beard, and an ankle growing out of her head, and to me, she would still be the most beautiful little girl in the world. I handed her to Mary, telling my wife that she had done a great job.

Debbie and Aimee held Dawn soon afterward, and the nurses took a very lovely picture of my daughter, naked except for a silly knitted cap that the nurses insisted on putting on her head. They could at least have given her a diaper or something; somehow I knew that picture would cause her no end of embarrassment when she got older. Debbie, who had her own camera, had the nurses take pictures of Dawn with the four of us as well, and I had mercifully made sure she was properly wrapped in a small blanket the hospital had handy.

Around midnight, the nurses came into Mary's private room and spirited my daughter away into the nursery, saying that she had enough excitement for her first three hours of her life. Not too long after that, Mary fell asleep, totally exhausted. We decided to call it a night--the nurses had told us that they would wake up Mary if Dawn woke up and needed nursing.

When we left Mary's room, we found June and Mely still in the reception area. They had already seen Dawn in the nursery, and congratulated me, although I assured everybody that Mary did most of the work. June drove us back to the condo, and we went home for the night.

Aimee fell fast asleep as soon as her body hit the bed. Apparently, she had experienced a lot more emotional drain than usual during the childbirth process. Aimee would eventually be able to parlay her experience later on when she went to get her certification as a doula.

Debbie didn't seem as sleepy as Aimee, and the two of us talked once we were at home.

I cuddled with the curvaceous Debbie. "Aimee told me that one of you will be the next one to try to have a baby. Dawn is going to be a hard act to follow."

Debbie smiled at me. "There's no rush to have a bunch of children right now. Aimee has said she was considering not having children, or waiting some time."

"How do you feel about children, Debbie?"

Debbie shrugged. "I'd like to see how it feels once Dawn comes home. Dawn is as cute as a button, and she has your eyes. I bet you she'll have Mary's dark hair."

"I think I see Mary's cheekbones in Dawn as well."

"You're really proud, aren't you, Jim?"

"I never felt that I would be looking forward to having a child until Mary showed how determined she was to become a mother. I mean, I never considered myself husband material, let alone a father. At first, I thought I would do it just for Mary, but after a day or so, I was actually looking forward to having my own daughter."

Debbie smiled. "Everybody that saw you tonight could see you were a proud new father."

"It was nice that Mary got a private room, and that Aimee secured the birthing room for the delivery, Debbie."

"Aimee thought it would be money well spent."

I nodded. "I can't begin to tell you how much that we appreciate all the stuff you've done for this family."

"We all contribute, Jim. Most of you contribute more than I do."

"That's not true!" I said, hoping that I wouldn't have to have the same conversation that I once had to have with Mary. "You are all an important part of the whole."

"I know, Jim," Debbie said softly. I could feel a wisp of Debbie's melancholia start to permeate the room. "I mean, you all go out of your way to tell me how much you appreciate me. Sometimes, however, it feels like you tell me so often that you are trying to convince yourselves."

I hugged Debbie. "No. The person we're trying to convince is you. We can all feel your uncertainty at times, my lovely Radio."

Debbie nodded her head and smiled, still holding me tightly.

I moved my face and kissed Debbie on the cheek. I continued kissing Debbie until she moved her face so that I could reach her lips and she started kissing me back.

I'm not exactly sure how long we kissed, but it was a long time. The two of us fell asleep in each other's arms.

The two girls and I visited Mary the next morning. Aimee had made some cinnamon buns, one of Mary's favorite breakfast snacks. She also brought some milk, orange juice, and some other snacks in a picnic basket.

We found Mary and Dawn in bed together. Dawn was asleep, cradled in Mary's arms.

"Hello, Gorgeous," I said after seeing the tableau. "Who's the beautiful woman that's holding you?"

"You sweet man," Mary smiled. She noticed the girls with me. "Hello, Aimee; hi, Debbie!"

I had a vase full of flowers that I purchased at the hospital gift shop, as well as a beautiful pink teddy bear and I presented them to mother and daughter. Mary oohed and aahed, and Debbie put the vase onto the night stand next to Mary's bed. Mary moved over carefully, trying not to disturb her daughter, and inhaled their fragrance. Aimee presented Mary with a stuffed pink flamingo as well.

We all said our hellos, and each of us kissed Mary, and gave a quick peck on Dawn's cheek.

"Aimee made some cinnamon buns," Debbie announced.

Mary didn't answer that, but made a yummy sound instead.

"Did they feed you breakfast?" Aimee asked.

Mary shrugged. "Bland eggs and some toast with decaffeinated coffee."

"We have milk and O.J. with some pastries," I said.

Aimee was setting up her picnic basket on one of the tables in the room. She pulled out a paper plate and put one of the buns on it, and poured some milk for Mary.

Debbie carefully took Dawn from Mary's arms, careful not to wake up the infant.

A nurse came into the room with a disapproving look in her eyes. "Only two visitors at a time are allowed."

We all stared at the nurse with disbelief.

Aimee said, softly, "You know as well as I do that this particular rule does not apply to private rooms. In addition, Mary's doctor has said that our presence here has had a calming effect on the mother, rather than the opposite."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" the nurse demanded, raising her voice.

Aimee is not a person that you can bully. When she gets angry, she doesn't yell. If anything, her voice gets softer, and she lowered her voice even more. "From your name tag, it appears that I am talking to Nurse Dennon. From your attitude, though, it would also appear that I might be talking to a candy striper who is dressed up in a nurse's costume."

The nurse looked at Aimee in disbelief.

Aimee wasn't finished. "This man here is Mary's husband, Captain Jim Montgomery," she said, indicating me. "Debbie and I are also part of her family. We have the permission of the director of this hospital that our needs would be met and that the people would be treating Mary here as a guest, and not as a sick patient. Delivering a child is not the same as being treated for a disease, and if you were a nurse, especially one on a maternity ward, you'd know this yourself. Nobody requested you to come into this room. You may now leave or show me the reason why you are in this private room, without having been summoned."

You could have heard a pin drop. Dawn squirmed a bit in Debbie's arms and opened her eyes. Thankfully, she didn't cry.

"We'll see about this," the nurse said, not wanting to back down. Nonetheless, she bid a hasty retreat and left the room.

I'm very sure that Aimee had done her homework. She had made arrangements in advance of Mary's labor to ensure we received the proper treatment. Hospitals are usually especially accommodating to people that are willing to pay cash in advance. If the nurse were to check things out, it would definitely turn out that Aimee's words were, if anything, an understatement.

"I'm sorry, Mary," Aimee said after the nurse left.

"Huh?" Mary asked, confused. "What for?"

"I'm sorry I caused a scene in here."

"That's all right."

"It is not all right that I made a scene, and I'm sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable," Aimee insisted. "I didn't want that nurse to start imposing unnecessary rules on us."

"Forget about it, Aimee," Mary said. "I'm sure the nurse didn't realize."

There was an awkward silence, but I found myself staring at my beautiful daughter, who was now awake and lying quietly in Mary's arms. Dawn's eyes were big and round and were the most amazing shade of blue that I'd ever seen, although all three girls said that Dawn had my eyes.

Debbie saw where my attention was directed, and with Mary's permission, she took Dawn from Mary, walked over to me, and handed me my daughter.

"You look amazing," I said to Dawn. "You have your mother's cheek bones."

The incident with the nurse was all but forgotten as the four of us started fussing over our little bundle of joy.

After few minutes, Dawn started to fuss. I quietly delivered her back to Mary, who decided to feed her. Aimee helped her get Dawn into the correct position (those lessons she took in California were wonderful!), and soon, Dawn was happily feeding at Mary's breast.

As I mentioned before, Mary's breasts had increased their size during her pregnancy. At this point, they were nearly the same size as Debbie's. A few weeks before, Mary had let me have a taste of her milk, which was an interesting experience. Although I wasn't a person that found anything sexual in lactation, Mary seemed to enjoy the attention.

June and Mely came in to visit for an hour or so, bringing a box of chocolates and a vase of orchids. Each of them appreciated that we allowed them to hold Dawn. They held her as if she were a delicate piece of crystal.

After only two days at the birthing center, Mary and Dawn were ready to go. Mary told me that after the confrontation with Aimee, she had never seen or heard from that nurse that had tried to limit Mary's room to two visitors at a time. With that exception, the entire nursing staff were cheerful and helpful for the entirety of her stay.

Mary had been told that walking and swimming were two exercises that would help her lose the thirty or so pounds that she had put on during her pregnancy, and she was advised not to try to starve her way back to her normal weight, since that could adversely affect her health and that of Dawn, who Mary was nursing. Another form of daily exercise, we found, was just looking after Dawn. Despite the fact that she had four people ready to dote on her, it took time before we fell into a routine.

It was easy to fall in love with a beautiful baby like Dawn, and the four of us equally shared in all the parental chores, with the notable exception that only Mary nursed the baby, being the only one properly equipped for that role. Mary occasionally found it necessary to draw her milk using a breast pump, and afterward each of us could take turns feeding Dawn with some of Mary's saved milk.

I had thought that Mary's mood swings would end after the delivery. Aimee explained that this wasn't the case. Apparently, Mary's hormones were still changing, but thankfully, we had our mind connections to reassure Mary that she was truly loved and appreciated by everyone, and we were thankful that there was no postpartum depression. It would be difficult if a misunderstanding were to go unheeded, so we were all watching over Mary almost as much as we were watching over Dawn.

It took a couple days after coming back from the hospital before Dawn's nighttime habits stabilized. Her feeding schedule seemed to be about every couple of hours, but she managed to sleep about six hours straight at night, and for about four hours during the day as a nap. We fit our lifestyle around her. One or more of us would always be with Mary during Dawn's meals, happy to talk with her. I worked out a five kilometer course along the roads around the shack where Mary could exercise, and I found myself enjoying our daily strolls, wheeling Dawn in a carriage.