Chapter 1

We had arrived home today after a two month sailing trip to Europe, with a side trip visit to Chuck’s island on the way back. Tiny had made sure we were all welcomed back in style with the big tent, our favorite caterer, and a bunch of announcements.

All of us were having a good gab fest when Tiani came to get Chuck. A few moments later, I could see some commotion near one of the doors. I saw Chuck and his girls half carrying Frieda out. I said, “Something is wrong with Frieda. We should go find out.”

Shawna said, “I’ll bet she’s going to pop. She’s been acting funny for a couple of days. I think it’s past her time.”

I tried to push my way through the crowd and when I made it outside, I saw the taillights of Chuck’s big cart going around the corner.

Chuck

When Tiani came to get me, she just told me that I should come to help Frieda. I didn’t know what the problem was, but any of the women who claim me are important to me.

When we reached Frieda and the rest of the women in our group, Frieda was standing spread-legged, leaning against a table with a puddle between her feet. One of the ladies near us said, “Her water broke, you need to get her to the hospital.”

Holy shit! Now what do I do?

Frieda gave me a chance to think as she let out one of the most pained groans I’ve ever heard. What should I do to help her?

Brandy and Lisa solved that problem, Lisa told me, “Help Frieda out to our cart so we can take her home and to the hospital.”

Brandy added, “Be gentle, she’s having contractions.”

As I drove us to the back of the development where our house was, I kept thinking, ‘Hey, Buddy, you’re about to be a dad.”

Lisa, who was in the seat next to me, turned to watch Frieda, who had Julie next to her comforting her and giving her instructions. In the third seat were Tiani and Brandy; Nancy and Judy were in the fourth seat, with Gina and Maria in the last seat facing backwards. Another cart was following us as I pulled into the driveway.

Lisa said, “I’ll get the Expedition for some of us. The rest of you get the other SUV and follow us in.” Lisa told Maria, “Go get Frieda’s hospital suitcase.” She turned to Julie, “What do you think, should we call the paramedics or do we have enough time?”

Julie said, “I think we have time to drive to the hospital, usually a first time mother doesn’t give birth rapidly. Her contractions are big, but not that frequent.”

When the big Expedition was pulled out, Lisa told me, “You and Julie sit with Frieda, I’ll drive.”

We were on our way with Brandy in the front seat with Lisa. Julie and I were in the middle seat with Frieda, and Nancy, Judy, and Tiani were in the back.

The trip was going to be at least twenty minutes, possibly thirty, if traffic was bad. It was Friday evening and it was only a little after six.

Frieda was leaning back in Julie’s lap, with her legs across mine. She had a blissful smile on her face as she held Julie’s and my hands. She closed her eyes and groaned again, and I could actually see her stomach contract as her legs stiffened. She squeezed my hand, smiled, and said, “I hope our babies are okay, I’ve really tried to be sure I was healthy with them.” She groaned again and said, “That was a big one, I feel pressure down there.”

Julie had a concerned look on her face and said, “Lift her skirt and look at her vagina.” Wrong move. As soon as I pushed her skirt up I saw what Julie expressed, “She’s crowning; she may have this baby really quick.” Julie petted Frieda’s head, “Frieda, Honey, don’t push, even when you have your contractions, try not to push. Let’s get you to the hospital to have your babies.”

I was spellbound as I could see a hairy something trying to push out from Frieda. I looked up to see how far we were only to see we were not even halfway down to Martin Luther King where Women’s Hospital was. We should have taken my Chevy with the lights.

It was right about that time two county police cars came up beside us. The driver’s window came down, so Brandy pushed the button to let hers down.

A deputy hollered out his window, “We’ll run interference for you, let’s get your lady to the hospital. Mickey said you were on the way to Women’s, right?”

The two Sheriff’s cars sped ahead with lights blazing and siren blaring. As usual, not all cars moved aside quickly, but with a spotlight in the non-yielder’s rear view mirror, they pulled over. We were turning onto MLK Boulevard when Frieda gave an even louder groan and a small head came out Frieda’s stretched opening.

There was nothing else I could do but begin catching the infant as it slid from Frieda, who gave a happy groan. Tiani handed me some Kleenex so I could wipe the goop from the newborn’s nose. I could see the little face wrinkle up and snort more goop from her nose. That followed with a very loud squall, squeal, cry, or something noisy from the baby. Nancy had pulled a baby blanket from Frieda’s hospital case that I laid the baby on.

Now what do I do? In training we were told to sever the umbilical cord and clamp it off. But they didn’t discuss twins. What if cutting the cord would harm the other twin?

Julie asked, “Do you know how to tie the cord off?”

“I thought you were supposed to clamp it, then cut it.”

Julie frowned and asked, “Do you have a clamp?”

I shook my head, “No Ma’am, what should we do?”

Julie dug in her purse, pulled out a small knife that must have been very sharp. She was about to cut the cord, rather long I thought, and told me, “Pinch off the cord and hold it while I tie the cord as close as I can.”

Julie’s dexterity was perfect as she used the very sharp knife to cut the cord, then tied the cord into a knot close the baby’s belly. As soon as she finished that, she tied the end that was sticking out of Frieda’s vagina, and that’s when those of us who were in position to see, saw another hairy head start pushing out.

Frieda said, “I’m sorry, Chuck, I’m sorry, Julie, I can’t hold her in, she’s moving, she’s coming. I’m trying not to squeeze.”

Julie looked up at me and said, “Get ready for your next daughter.”

I handed the first crying baby to Nancy and accepted some more Kleenex and another baby blanket. I could hear Brandy on the phone advising the hospital that Frieda was giving birth in the car and they should be prepared for us.

I couldn’t believe this, the second baby didn’t come out slowly; she slid right out into my hands. I mean it was like she was on a slip and slide. I cleaned the nose and mouth, but this one wasn’t making faces or crying. Julie said, “Hold her upside down. You’ve seen the movies, pat her bottom to get her going.”

I didn’t have to give the baby a welcome to the world spank. As soon as she was upside down, her little face screwed up, turned red, and she announced her presence to the world. As soon as I lay her on the baby blanket, Julie had me pinch the cord again and repeated the slicing and tying. That’s when she told me, “Get ready, we may have to deliver the placenta. It’s going to be messy. Hand the baby to Judy, Tiani do you have a plastic bag or something?”

Tiani asked, “Will a Publix plastic grocery bag work?”

Julie said, “I don’t know what a Publix is, but a plastic grocery bag should work.”

We were almost to the hospital, just a couple of blocks to go. I could see the lead Sheriff’s car blocking the intersection so we could pull into the side street where the emergency entrance was.

Frieda gave another groan and Julie said, “Be ready, this is going to be messy. See if you can hold it and try to get it all in the bag.

It was messy and a huge mass of placenta came out into my hands. I funneled the mass into the grocery bag with Tiani’s help. The tiny girl was leaning over the seat to help.

Julie was comforting Frieda, who complained, “I want to hold my babies. Please let me hold them.”

Nancy held the baby over the seat for me to give to Frieda. The infant had quit its loud crying and was making some noises that almost sounded like purring. Judy handed me baby number two and I helped Frieda cradle the infant in her other arm. She asked, “Which one was first?”

I pointed to the one in her right arm. She said, “Who has a magic marker or a Sharpie? We have to mark her because she is Farah. This other creature in my left arm is Sarah.”

Brandy had been digging in her purse and came out with a Sharpie. She handed it to me as the car slid to a stop. As someone opened the door, Julie said, “Put a little x on her foot. That way you can tell them apart.”

I no sooner handed the pen back to Brandy before I was being pulled from the car. Two attendants were there to take the two babies. Another two helped Frieda from the car and put her on a gurney they had brought. We had drawn a crowd of people in white, green, and blue hospital staff scrubs when I asked, “I have the placenta in a plastic bag, what should I do with it?”

One of the women staff held out her hand for the bag, as others were pushing Frieda into the emergency entrance. I was a little dazed from the experience as the rest of our entourage and two Sheriff’s deputies gathered around the Expedition. Julie said, “Come on, let’s go help inside. You’re the dad; you get to be with her.”

Mickey was hugging the two deputies as I followed the white coats and blue and green suited hospital staff. I heard Lena say, “Tina is going to be so mad that she wasn’t here for the birth. She’s been saying she was going to do it, but Chuck and Julie did it.”

Inside the hospital, there was a frenzy of activity as a pediatrician checked over the two infants. They were weighed, foot printed, tagged with a tiny ankle band, and cleaned. When they were wrapped up in a new clean baby blanket, the two babies were placed in Frieda’s arms. She had her legs up on some foot rests while the gynecologist made sure Frieda had passed everything and her insides were okay. The smile on Frieda’s face was beautiful. She looked a little tired, but she was smiling.

In just a couple of minutes, a nurse pointed to me and Julie before telling me, “We’re going to take Frieda up to a room. You can come, or her mother can come, but only one.”

Since I was confused at the comment about Frieda’s mother, the nurse pulled on Julie and said, “Let’s get you up there to help. We need to put diapers on the babies and you can write their names on the ankle bands.”

I finally got it together and followed. At the door, the nurse with Julie said, “Go to the waiting room. I’ll be out to get you in a minute.”

While I was standing in front of the door waiting to be summoned, the rest of our family came into the waiting room. They all wanted a hug to let me know they were happy for me. Gina had Giovanni and Sophia with her. Giovanni looked bored, but Sophia was excited. Gina and daughter gave me a hug with everyone else. Giovanni asked, “Should I shake your hand or get you a cigar?”

That gave me a smile and laugh. “Thanks, Gio; a handshake would be good.”

The little boy looked at me very seriously, “Now that you have two little ones, will you send us home?”

I knelt, gathering the two children into my arms. “No Gio and Sophia, you two are my kids now too. You can’t go anywhere unless it is to visit. You have a home and I hope I can be a father to you.”

Both of the kids hugged me and Sophia softly said, “Papa.”

Gina was kneeling now and hugged the three of us with tears in her eyes. She mouthed, “Thank you” to me.

Lisa was standing behind Gina, smiling along with Brandy and Tiani.

A nurse came from the double doors and asked, “Who is what Frieda called the rest of the Fab Five?”

The four remaining girls giggled, but followed the nurse. She stopped and turned, “Only Dad right now, come on, your daughters are waiting.”

I gave Frieda a gentle hug as she was cradling both of the girls. She smiled at me and said, “Thank you, this is what I was put on earth to do. I’m going to be the best mom in the entire world and I now have two little ones to prove it.”

A nurse came to the bed and opened the gown Frieda had changed into. She wiped Frieda’s breasts with something, then placed who I thought was probably Farah on one breast, and Sarah on the other. The nurse milked or expressed a couple of drops from each breast, and using her finger, wiped some of the milk on both of the little girls’ mouth. Both began smacking their lips and were soon nursing.

Another nurse came in and announced, “There is a huge crowd in the waiting room to see the mom and the two new babies. Let me suggest that dad and your mother stay, and we rotate about four visitors at a time for a while. Frieda smiled and nodded, then turned to Julie, “You are, you know, kind of like my mother that I haven’t had. You fawn over me, you give me advice, you help me when you’re around, and now you’ve helped deliver my babies. I like that. I like you being my mom.”

Julie leaned over and kissed Frieda on the forehead. “I like being your mom.”

When the other four of the frantic five stepped into the room, they were overcome by the sight of Frieda sort of sitting up with an infant at each nipple. I don’t think they were eating; only occasionally making a sucking noise. The peaceful look on Frieda’s face told it all.

The four girls wanted to hold the babies, of course. The nurse who had remained because she knew what was coming said, “Let me show you ladies what to do after nursing. I see two of you are close to birthing too.” She picked Farah up and gently put her on her shoulder and just rubbed the infant’s back for a little while. A soft burp announced the baby was done. She then gently put the infant into a bassinette next to the bed. She looked at me, “Okay, Dad, let’s see you give it try.” She saw my hesitation, “Go on, pick her up gently and remember to support her head. Here, let me put a little burp cloth over your shoulder.”

The four other girls looked on enviously as I put the tiny creature on my shoulder and imitated the nurse by rubbing on Sarah’s back. This was having a huge emotional effect on me. She gave an almost silent burp, so I gently put her into the other bassinette. Both of the little ones were asleep.

Frieda held out her arms for a hug, so I gently gave her one. She winced when I held her too close, and while cupping under her now enlarged breasts, said, “These babies are a little sore, be careful with me for a while.”

I stepped back while the five girls jabbered about everything imaginable for a couple of minutes. Brandy finally said, “We have to let more people in to see your babies. We’ll be right outside if you need us.”

Those four left and four more instantly entered the room. This time it was the Asian sisters, Maria, and Lena. They all hugged and kissed Frieda before oohing and aahing over the babies. They exchanged a few words before exiting and another group came in.

Tina burst into the room, followed by Gina, Giovanni, and Sophia. Tina ran to Frieda and told her, “You were supposed to wait for me. I could have gotten off work early if you had called, but I guess you didn’t have a lot of time.” She turned to Julie and me, “I talked to the gynecologist and she said you two had done a great job delivering the babies and even the placenta.” She gave Julie, then me, a hug and kiss and said, “Good job.”

The next four were Sue, Mercy, Juanita, and Kathy. They were really excited. Sue kept saying, “Oh boy, now we have babies again. This is so much fun.”

I could feel Mercy probing and just smiled at her. The feeling stopped when I looked at her as she blushed.

Next came Glenda, Mickey, Sandy, and Mandy. They were very effusive about how great it was to have twins.

They were followed by Peaches, her two girls, and Pops. They were very happy to see the babies as well as Frieda.

This kept on until I swear everyone in the park had come to look at Frieda and the babies. The nurse finally said to Julie and me, “How about giving the new mom a chance to nap. We’ll be waking her in just a little bit to feed the babies again. Go get some rest; you’re going to need it. I’m sure your new family will be sent home with you tomorrow.”

After some sweet kisses, Julie and I left and were greeted by almost everyone who had passed through the room. Steve said, “We haven’t finished the food, and we still have some announcements to make. “Let’s go home, enjoy some food, and listen to people brag. I’m sure you’re going to want to get to bed early, as tomorrow is going to be a big day. It will be very exciting to have your new babies at home.”

As we left the hospital, Sue said, “Don’t forget that you have to bring the babies over to the patio for all of us women to spoil. We still have the cameras and monitors, so there is always a place for the babies to rest.”

Lisa wanted to drive so I got into the right front seat of the Expedition. Julie and Maria were in the middle, while Gina and her two kids were in the back. Tina had Lena and the Asian sisters with her, and four of the Fab Five were in the other SUV.

We went straight to the patio where Tiny handed me a tall glass with clear liquid. As I took a big drink, he handed me a box of cigars. He said, “Here, I got you a couple boxes. Since you have twins, I guess you have to give two away to all us guys.”

I ate and made sure all of my family ate. I didn’t feel like drinking much and didn’t even finish the Beefeaters. While everyone was relaxing, Tiny used the microphone to make some announcements. “Hey, everyone, listen up for a minute.” He paused for a couple of seconds as people shifted around to look toward him.

“You know this meeting was called to order to welcome our world travelers back home. I have to say that whenever Steve travels, our companies’ revenues skyrocket. Perhaps he should just travel all the time.” There was a lot of applause and hollering.

“Because of the arrival of a couple of new residents, I’m going to cut this short. First, I’ve probably told everyone, but we have just experienced two of our best months ever. S&S is totally in the black, as is Quality Wear. The air and boat charter services are booked solid, giving us a real bonanza.”

“I need to let a little of the cat out of the bag. You all know about Chuck’s island, and how Mark is down there using a lot of our skilled construction people to build the island’s infrastructure. I’m told that they are expanding their construction and will need every available man for the coming jobs.” The roar was deafening.

“Next, I have some news that is going to knock your socks off. Our financial advisor has given our 401K plan a huge boost. We were involved in a joint investment project that we just sold. Our fund has just deposited, listen to this, one billion, one-hundred and fifty million dollars.” There was hush as the amount sank in.

“Listen again, folks, we just deposited One billion, one-hundred and fifty million dollars.”

The crowd began murmuring louder and louder, until they were applauding, whistling, and hollering as loud as they could.

Tiny finally held up his hand and said, “Your fund has just guaranteed retirement for everyone in the fund. This is big, beyond big. Part of that money is going to the Quality Wear 401K plan as we used some of their money. But know this; your retirement is complete now. So you old codgers, you can retire in style. We still need you, but I want to make sure you know your options.”

As the noise settled down, Tiny said, “There is one more announcement. For that I’m giving the microphone to our resident birdman, Wes.”

Wes stood up and smiled at everyone. “This is not as big as the big 401K deposit, but it will affect the company in a positive way for a long while. This past week, we negotiated a license agreement for the use of our twin engine experimental aircraft. It seems several companies here in the states and in a couple of other countries want our model. We’ve been flying the heck out it, putting it through more than can be expected of an aircraft and it has passed everything, proving our engineering and construction methods are the best.”

Wes happily paused, “How this is going to affect the whole company is that we will have to build a separate plant for our composite material. We can probably join it with the fiberglass people, but our composite material is known as the absolute best, just as our aircraft designs have been declared better than expected. My friends, we are looking at long range employment for all of us.”

Now the folks applauded and cheered.

Wes handed the microphone back to Tiny, “One more. Most of you have probably ridden on one of our charter fishing boats and/or one of our sailboats. We’ve added that huge yacht, a couple of smaller sailboats, and a couple of more big sport fishing boats. Surprisingly, we are still booking trips even though fuel costs are way up.” Tiny paused for effect, “Here’s the scoop; we’ve outgrown the yacht club. They have even asked us if we could reduce our boat inventory by half as they need the space. Instead of blowing off boats and business, we have purchased the main gulf dock just north of Clearwater and we are going to build our own yacht club. We’ll have enough room for all of our boats, as well as for a lot of boat owners who want a fair deal for dock space. You may want to know how big this is. It’s really big, when you start talking about the Gulf shore area. The beaches in this location aren’t all that good, and we have to do some major construction to build hurricane proof facilities. We can’t protect the boats, but we can protect our docks and buildings. This is going to take about six months to build. I’m told that we need a lot of men down in Costa Rica, but we also need a lot of men right here. So, go tell all of your construction friends who are on welfare that if they are willing to work, we have a job for them. Oh, and it starts last Monday.”