Chapter 32

The following Monday, the 4th of September, was Labor Day, and on Tuesday, the 5th, we all started back with our home-school studies. Pat and I were now Seniors in high school. Thanks to the work done by the 'Book of Dreams', Shannon and Sheena were now in their Junior year of high school, while Clare and Cathleen had started their Sophomore year. Gretchen and Petra, because of their late start with the 'Book of Dreams' were only on eighth grade work at present, but were advancing rapidly with the 'Book's' help.

In the evenings, our Wives all had their Magic studies to work on. In between, there were various other things to be taken care of. Pat and I divided our time between the final harvesting, plowing under the fields, and tractor maintenance. Our Dads and Grandfather were busy with teaching. Uncles Ed and Bill were busy in the printing plant, where Pat and I helped out as time permitted.

Shannon and Sheena worked in book binding, filling in at least in part for our missing female Cousins. Clare and Cathleen were busy with their All Natural Cosmetics for the Herbal Store. Gretchen and Petra worked on the cooking and keeping the houses straight. They needed help at times because of their condition. Pat and I took them to their OB/GYN appointments once in September, and twice in October. The last appointment was on the 31st of October - Halloween.

Of course our Wives didn't know anything about Halloween, but they were very familiar with Samhain, which marks the beginning of winter in the Celtic year. It is a two day feast (holiday) that occurs on 31 October and 1 November. It is believed to mark the beginning of a whole new cycle, which starts with winter just as the Celtic day begins at midnight.

"I'm actually surprised to see you here," Gwyneth O'Leary said when she entered the examination room. "I thought you would be in the hospital by now," she finished.

"Oh, I don't know if I would want our Daughters born during Samhain," Gretchen told her. "I'm not sure I would want Daughters with 'Second Sight' as well as strong Magic Talents." Being Irish, Gwyneth was somewhat familiar with what Samhain was.

On returning home, we found our other Wives busy preparing for the festivities of Samhain. Shannon and Sheena had prepared a large tub half full of water and had plenty of apples so we could all bob for apples that night. They also had a hazel-wood rod to stir the apples with while the players tried to grab one with their teeth.

This activity would take place after the bonfire, which Clare and Cathleen had prepared in the now empty garden, had burned down. Those two had used their Magic to collect dry branches from all over the O'Connell Realm, and had a huge pile of them in the center of our garden area. All of our Wives had baked bread, made stew, and other foods for the celebration that night.

We were joined that night by our Sisters, our male Cousins, and our younger Aunt and Uncle in addition to their friends. There was dancing around the bonfire in the garden until it had burned down and was not much more than some hot coals. We adjourned to the house then for a feast of stew, roast pork, fresh bread, and vegetables. Following that, the bobbing for apples started.

Gretchen and Petra had not done a lot of dancing, and weren't in any condition to bob for apples on the floor, but they enjoyed watching enormously. The party continued until well after midnight, and we were even later getting to bed, having to clean up first. Everyone had a grand time, and our Parents had even stopped in for a short time to see what was going on.

In the morning, Clare and Cathleen used their Magic to gather as many of the ashes from the fire as they could and sprinkled some on our garden, and then on each of the fields that we planted. Since we only had the ashes from one fire, the gift of ashes to each field was more symbolic than practical, but they delivered at least some ashes to each field.

By Friday, the 3rd of November, Gretchen and Petra had begun to worry if things were all right with their Daughters. Based on what Doctor O'Leary had told them, they thought that they would have delivered their Daughters by now. Clare and Cathleen checked them and assured both women that their Daughters were fine, and would be ready to make an appearance shortly.

I was awakened at 5:30 in the morning on Monday the 6th of November, my birthday, by a panicked Shannon.

"Mike, wake up! Gretchen's water has broken, and she is having contractions. Clare is helping her change clothes. We need to get to the hospital!" a very upset Shannon told me.

I rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out of them and was getting out of bed when Pat appeared in our bedroom.

"We're on the way to the hospital!" he told us, as he quickly looked around at what was going on. "You too?" he asked somewhat in shock.

"Yes," was all I had time to say before he vanished again, and I started pulling my clothes on. Clare had finished helping Gretchen change clothes as I completed dressing.

"Are we ready?" Clare asked. She was only half dressed herself.

"You need to finish dressing," Gretchen reminded her, and then took a deep breath as another contraction hit her.

"I'll take care of Gretchen. You finish dressing if you are going with us," I told Clare, as I helped Gretchen over to sit on the bed. Shannon handed Clare her clothes, and she quickly finished dressing. We were ready to go in a few minutes. We three joined hands, as we surrounded Gretchen and cast the transfer spell.

We appeared in the receiving area of the Woman's Pavilion of the East Georgia Regional Medical Center in Statesboro. We had checked out the location previously, so we could transfer here quickly when we needed to. The attendants there took charge of Gretchen, and I went to check her into the hospital. Fortunately, Doctor O'Leary had everything set up, and I only needed to tell them Gretchen's name to get her admitted. Our family had long had an account set up here, so there was no question about payment. I only need to give them the account number. The registrar's face went white when she saw the amount that the account was set up for on the screen.

"Thank you, Mister O'Connell. I have everything here that I need. I'm printing out your Wife's paperwork in delivery now. Are you aware that a Mister Michael Patrick O'Connell is also here for his Wife's delivery?" she asked in a questioning voice.

"Yes. Pat left a few minutes before we did," I told her. Obviously, Pat had seen a different registrar. I returned to the maternity waiting room after that. Everyone was there waiting: Pat and his Wives plus my Wives.

"How long?" I asked on arriving.

"No way to tell," Pat told me. Clare and Cathleen had an intense look on their faces for a time and then they relaxed.

"They are not ready yet," Clare told us.

"Any idea how long?" Pat asked.

"No, just not yet. We will check again in a while," Cathleen told us. First Pat paced for a while, then I paced. A nurse came in around 7:30.

"You should all go to eat. Neither lady is ready to deliver yet," she told us with a smile. We all went to eat, but didn't really taste any of our food. We all paced for a while when we got back in attempts to work off the nervous energy. It didn't help any.

"Which of you is Patrick O'Connell?" a nurse asked when she came in at around 9:30.

"I am," Pat said nervously.

"Your first Daughter was born a few minutes ago," the nurse told him. A short time later she returned to inform Pat that his second Daughter had been born.

It was nearly 10:00 o'clock when a different nurse came into the room.

"Michael O'Connell?" she asked.

"Yes, that's me," I told her nervously.

"Your Wife delivered her first Daughter a short time ago," the nurse told us. She was followed five minutes later by another nurse.

"Michael O'Connell, your second Daughter was born just a few minutes ago," she informed us breathlessly.

"You'll both be able to see your Wives in a bit," she added. "We've been rather busy this morning. There was another set of twins born earlier today. That's three sets of twins today so far. That's a record!" she finished excitedly. We all sat down and were able to relax for the first time that morning. Shortly another nurse appeared.

"Are all of you the O'Connells?" she asked in surprise.

"Yes," was all that Pat and I answered.

"Doctor O'Leary sends her regrets that she couldn't come personally, but we have had an emergency birth come in. The woman was in an automobile accident and is delivering prematurely. The Doctor will be busy for a while," the nurse told us. "Someone will come to take you to your Wives shortly," she finished.

Clare and Cathleen had sat up instantly on hearing this, closed their eyes, and started a mantra. I could feel their Magic start and then increase drastically in strength for a long time, as they worked on something.

"The baby will be all right," Clare said later, as she opened her eyes. "We were able to increase the baby's lungs and other functions sufficiently for it to survive. We also helped the Mother."

"Growing babies is much more difficult than growing plants," Cathleen said with a weak smile. A nurse came in a few minutes later.

"If you'll all follow me, I'll take you to the rooms that the O'Connell women are in," she told us. We were all behind her in an instant and followed her through several hallways.

"Mrs. Petra O'Connell is in room 222, and Mrs. Gretchen O'Connell is in room 224," the nurse informed us. I instantly turned to room 224 and opened the door.

Gretchen was lying there on the bed. There were two little bundles in pink blankets being held to her breasts, and they were sucking away like crazy. Gretchen looked very tired, and had a silly smile plastered on her face.

"I have our Daughters, Michael," she said in little more than a whisper. Clare brushed past me and moved directly to Gretchen. She laid her hand on Gretchen's shoulder and closed her eyes. Again I could feel her Magic at work, but still could not tell what she was doing.

"They have given Gretchen something for the pain and it is making her very sleepy. I have used a spell that increases her rate of healing. She will be much better in a few hours, and I will cancel the effects of their medications then," Clare informed us.

The babies had finished nursing by now and were asleep. Clare touched each of them in turn. She smiled when she looked up.

"They are fine. With full stomachs, they will sleep for a couple of hours," she told us, as a nurse came in.

"I'll take the babies back to the nursery now," she told us on seeing them asleep. "Mrs. O'Connell needs to rest now. You can all return in a few hours. She'll be more awake then," the nurse told us, as she and an assistant picked up the two sleeping infants.

I leaned in and kissed Gretchen. She was nearly asleep and didn't open her eyes, but reached up to touch my face. Clare and Shannon both kissed her also before we left. We met Pat and his Wives in the hall. We all used the transfer spell to return home for a time.

On returning home, Pat and I went to inform the rest of the family of the births of our Daughters. Our Parents, Aunts, and Grandfather were all at work at the university. We informed our Sisters and Grandmothers. Our male Cousins weren't particularly interested. Our Grandmothers were but had to sit down when they realized that they were now Great Grandmothers. Our Sisters were excited at being Aunts.

On returning home, I found my two remaining wives asleep. I had no idea of when they and Gretchen had gotten up, as they didn't wake me until after Gretchen's water had broken. I joined them in bed for a little sleep myself. My Wives woke me several hours later with kisses. They had changed clothes already.

"Come eat lunch," Shannon said as I sat up in bed.

"What time is it?" I asked looking at my watch, which had stopped. I had bought a mechanical watch, but was not good about remembering to wind it.

"It's nearly 3:00 PM," Shannon told me, as I got out of bed and re-dressed. "Clare is making lunch. You still need to inform your Parents of the birth of your Daughters."

"They'll be home in about an hour. I'll go over there then," I assured her through a yawn before we headed for the kitchen. Clare had made sandwiches, and there were coleslaw and potato salad on the table as well as large glasses of milk. We took our time eating, and I reset and wound my watch.

My Parents already knew about the birth of my Daughters, and that they were now Grandparents when I arrived at their house. My Sisters had informed them of the fact as soon as they got home.

"When are you returning to the hospital to visit Gretchen?" my Mom asked.

"We'll be leaving in an hour or so. We need to take her some clothing and other personal items. We were too excited to remember when we took her there initially," I told her.

"What room is she in?" my Dad asked.