Chapter 17

Winter was upon them again. Their larger cabin and improved facilities made the cold season much more bearable. The collective decision that they had made to be a family was paying dividends now. No longer was there any anxiety about being apart, even a short distance away, and all of them relaxed and enjoyed the bliss of extended family life.

Adam and Eve were about 18 months old now, toddling around the cabin and even going outside with their parents when the weather permitted. They had started talking a little, though their vocabulary was understandably limited. Both of them, however, were showing a great deal of intelligence and were starting to recognize letters and numbers. It was only a matter of time before they would start reading. The decision to have a comprehensive library was turning out to be a good one.

Julie and Jenny started experiencing it about the same time: morning sickness. "Oh boy," they said. "We're pregnant – again!"

Tom and George came to the same conclusion after seeing their wives starting to thrown up on the same morning. They looked at each other and silently smiled as they each contemplated their increasing family. Since there was already a boy and girl about the same age, each of them wondered what the gender mix would be in the next crop. It was pretty obvious that someday, Adam and Eve would want to get more familiar with each other. They were close now but in a sibling sort of way. After it was explained that they weren't actual brother and sister, they might even want to consider dating and eventual marriage, but that was something to be dealt with in the distant future. The next babies might be of the same gender and that could possibly create competition that would have to be dealt with separately. But, for now, the dual pregnancies were the issue.

Winter passed as it always did – slowly. The women got bigger, noticeably bigger than they had gotten with their first progeny, and that fact did not go unnoticed by their husbands. Their belly size also did not go unnoticed by the children. They were full of curiosity and expressed it in the ways that small children have done since time began. They pointed, they giggled and they pushed the expanding bellies with their small fingers and gazed wide-eyed at their mothers while they bathed. The children were still nursing, since neither Julie nor Jenny wanted to give up that pleasurable experience. Their breasts were still full of life-sustaining milk which added to the voluptuousness of their youthful figures, and provided their husbands with a delicious playground after the children had drunk their fill.

The larger bellies, though, were beginning to concern Jenny. The pregnancies were proceeding normally, or so it seemed. The only anomaly was their increased size. It finally occurred to her that she and maybe Julie, too, might be pregnant with multiples. Twins had occurred in her family but nothing was known about Julie's. If that were the case, then having both of them expecting about the same time with twins could pose some serious health issues for the family. Either one of them could handle a simple single delivery of the other, but neither one of them could assist the other if both of them were delivering at the same time! And twins?? It was out of the question. They were both scheduled to deliver in June, about 4 months away, so arrangements would have to be made for some professional help to be flown in. Thank God that there was enough time and resources for that to happen.

Winter was starting to break and the women were getting huge. Some of the winter tasks that Julie and Jenny had planned had to be put off because of their increasing size and lack of mobility. The men stepped in, gratefully, and took over the load. Even Adam and Eve were enlisted to help, though they really didn't do much except get in the way. They were joyfully included, though, as a way of keeping an eye on them and involving them in the whole family life.