Chapter 9

Extended Family

The New Wilderness: Late November 2017

It was easy for the team from Johns Hopkins to rent a house for the winter in Ishpeming. The couple that owned it had had it up for sale for two years. They now lived just outside Monterrey, Mexico in one of the many expatriate American and Canadian that had sprung up. The purpose of the team of five men was to be ready to assist if anything went wrong with the pregnancies, and see to it that they got to the hospital on time. While always on call, the team did not sit idle. They volunteered their services at Marquette General Hospital. An arrangement with the county had them standing by for snow search and rescues, common this time of year. They were welcome, no questions asked. There was a shortage of trained medical personnel. Rescues were demanding more volunteers as the climate changed.

The house was well equipped to deal with the harsh winters just off 28 and only a little over an hour by snowmobile from New Wilderness. The snowmobiles were electric and powered by fuel cells. They had a range of 300 miles and ran silent. Infrared speed and range sensors sounded the familiar universal backing up signal when the snowmobiles sensed impending collision with warm objects. Capable of speeds in excess of sixty miles per hour, the alarms were necessary to keep from sneaking up on humans and animals in their path.

Ping and Alice arrived snug in sleds pulled behind the snowmobiles on December 1. Tracking monitors announced their arrival twenty minutes before they arrived. Albert and Anne were waiting, outside.

“Hi! Come on inside. We’ve got some hot chocolate and toddy if you guys need one. Let me help you with those bags.” Then, I’ll show you around. Albert always enjoyed showing his place to occasional visitors. The snow was only two feet deep, so the visitors had little trouble getting to the path Albert had shoveled.

“Gee, this is really neat! We’ve had heavy snow at Biotech, but here I really feel like I’m in the wilderness. We saw deer, moose, and snowshoe hare coming in. I can’t wait to hear the wolves howl.” Alice was gushing superlatives as she followed the others to the door.

Anne dispensed hot drinks to the visitors while Ping rushed to a playpen where Dominic was busy playing with a loud and colorful holo toy. “How’s m’boy!” she exclaimed as she lifted him out of the playpen and rocked him in her arms, hugging and kissing him. “My how you’ve grown! Such blue eyes! Such a head of hair! Such a cute nose!”

Dom put up with her overtures, smiling. When she put him down to grab a cup and talk to the others for a moment, he reached up and grabbed her pant leg. Pulling on it, he exclaimed, “Mommy Ping, Mommy Ping!”

“What Dear?” Ping was smiling from ear to ear to hear her name.

“Take me to see the bunnies—I want to see the bunnies!”

There was no stopping him; so Anne brought his parka, and Ping took him out to see the bunnies. She wanted to see them too.

“Time for a tour.” Albert announced as Ping went out with Dom on her arm. The two paramedics and Alice followed him out.

Anne was pleased to see so much commotion. She had really missed Ping. Holos were no substitute for face-to-face communication. Soon, Ping returned with a tired-looking little boy in her arms. They both headed into the little spare room to put him in his bed for a nap.

“It’s going to be a little tight in here, but we’ll manage. I want to talk to you two about that later.” They hugged. Anne was planning.

“How’s he been? He sure looks great!”

“Hasn’t been sick a day—good stock. I took him in for his immunizations in August. I’m so glad he got one for Lyme disease. He’s going to get into plenty of ticks here. Also got encephalitis. If I could just get rid of all those damned mosquitoes. The dragonflies and Purple Martins feast from May to September!”

Albert took Alice and the paramedics to the workshops, greenhouse, and experiments. They ended up out on the lake in his recently set-up ice fishing shanty. The men were impressed. Alice tried a jig and immediately caught a nice, fat bluegill. “Fifty more of those, and we’ll have supper!” Albert joked. He reached into a cabinet, pulled out his fillet knife, and, in a few moments, filleted the fish. He dropped the remains into the hole. “Food for the big ones.”

He wrapped the fillet in leaves in plastic and dropped it into a cooler to freeze and they returned to the cabin. The paramedics had to leave, so they pushed the sleds into shelters Albert had made for them so that the girls could be evacuated easily in deep snow. A helicopter would only be used in a dire emergency.

“I hope you’ll be happy here. We’re pretty isolated and winter can be confining.” Albert was testing Alice’s resolve as they walked back to the cabin. He’d seen others fail.

“Oh Dr. Repaul, I’m so excited to finally be here. I’ve admired you and your work since I gave a report on wolves in high school. I vowed to have a man like that some day—strong and independent. Instead I got Thomas—a nerd!” She laughed and winked at Albert as if she was glad to be free of him.

Albert laughed too. He was beginning to like this brash girl. He escorted her to the cabin to get settled in, and turned back to the shanty to catch some fresh fish for supper.

Inside, Alice was helping the girls. She could see, as they unpacked in the spare room that it was going to be tight. She thought out loud, quietly so as not to disturb Dominic. “We could move Dom’s crib out into the big room, but it still will be tight. Guess I wasn’t thinking when I thought one of you could sleep on the sofa bed.”

“It’s okay. I once slept on the floor for a year in college when three of us saved on housing at St Mary’s. This is Ping’s room—and Ping’s little guy. He’s staying here. I’ll camp out.”

“I think I’m going to like this girl!” Anne announced as she hugged Alice and Dominic stirred a bit. Putting a finger to her lips she whispered, “What do you think, Ping?"

“I think it’s going to work out just fine.” Ping joined them in the hug.

After unpacking the bags, they returned to the kitchen in the big room for hot-spiced apple juice Ping made. Anne poured herself some homemade wine. I’m glad I never was pregnant; don’t think I could go that long without my wine.”

“Oh, it’s easy when you know you are providing nutrition for two with everything you eat and drink. When I think of the poor starving mothers in China, I know how lucky I am.” Ping looked a bit downcast.

This was the time, Anne thought, to change the subject. “You probably have noticed that I put the eCom in sleep. I didn’t want to disturb your first few hours here. We don’t get many messages, but the interruptions can be annoying at times. I have read that pregnancy can be very stimulating—that it’s the most sexual thing that can happen to a woman, is that so?”

“Oh yes, you don’t know how many times when I was carrying Dom—when he moved or kicked. Everything was super sensitive. Some times I just got horny!” It seemed strange coming out of Ping’s mouth.

“Yes, I feel it too. Sometimes I’m sick. Other times I wish my baby wasn’t a clone so I’d have a man.” Alice agreed with Ping.

“Well, I saw this letter the other day in Cosmo and posted it to my calendar so that you guys could read it. eCom, screen on. Calendar, December 1^st. Open, letter. Page down.” Anne remained silent and reread Dr. Davis’ letter while the girls read it. Both of them got a little pink in their cheeks before they finished it.

Ping spoke first. “Are you suggesting ….” She was really flushed now.

“Yes, I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I’ve enjoyed sex more than most. It never did me any harm. Although we were loving and comforting when you carried Dom, we didn’t meet all your needs. Did you ever fantasize about Albert?”

“Well, …. yes.” Ping’s shyness was showing. “Sometimes, especially when I traveled with him, I’d get these thoughts. But, being professional, I’d put them out of my mind.”

“I was beginning to wonder how I was going to do here without Thomas. I’ve had a crush on your Albert since high school. Are you really willing to share him with us?”

Anne beamed. It was obvious she got her point across. “Absolutely! And I hope you’ll let me get so close to you that I will feel your pregnancy like it was my own. Your first, Alice, will be my first too, okay!” The girls nodded in agreement, their embarrassment magically disappeared.

“I want this to be a surprise for Albert, okay? We can spring it on him gently this evening, before the fire.” Anne reached for their hands across the table. They nodded in agreement again.

Anne picked up the messages on the eCom while the girls started preparations for dinner. Dom woke up and wandered underfoot. Anne responded to an arrival inquiry from Rao Khundi, to him know that all had arrived and were fine. They caught him in his office, working late, so everyone got to talk.

It was already dark when Albert brought the two small northern and three bluegills he’d caught to join the one Alice had earlier to the cabin. The stove had already been stoked and there was a warmth to the place he hadn’t felt before. While the fish baked on the side oven, he got out his best wine and had the girls bring him up-to-date on progress at the Biotech Center. Woolly was growing fast and waiting on his companion, Dima, still in gestation. The girls both felt honored to be a part of genetic science history. They were glad that there was no publicity.

After dinner they all retired to animal skins in front of the stove. Albert open the doors so they could watch the flames and put more wood on the fire while the women put Dom to bed. There was something magic, primordial about staring into a night fire on a cold winter’s night. Albert could only imagine what it had been like for the iceman, now safe and warm in his crib, on cold nights like this. Did he feel as warm staring into the fire? He could only imagine. Dom could not tell him.

Albert was feeling tipsy—too much food and good wine. Alice was stretched out next to him, but turned toward Anne and Ping, talking about their experiences with pregnancy. Anne said something about “not showing” to Ping. Ping pulled up her sweater and pushed down the top of her pants. Curious, he came to his elbows. Yes, her tummy was still flat. Albert could see the top of Ping’s pubic hair showing. Anne was gently rubbing Ping’s tummy.

“I am getting some swelling in my boobs.” He heard Ping say. With that, Anne pulled Ping’s sweater up over her breasts. He had seen Ping’s breasts before when she nursed Dom, but never like this. They were small and well proportioned, with light brown nipples that stuck straight out what seemed like a half inch. There appeared to be swelling around the areola where there was redness.

“My nipples are so sensitive.” Anne’s hands moved to cup Ping’s breasts, gently massaging them. Her fingers brushed those nipples and Ping reacted, arching her back and pushing her breasts into those moving hands. Ping pushed harder on the top of her pants with her left and slipped her right hand in, over her pubic hair.

Anne was pulling Ping’s sweater off when Alice turned suddenly toward him and stared straight into Albert’s eyes. That look was unmistakable as she pulled her sweater up and offered her bare left breast to him. He looked for Anne’s approval, but Anne was busy kissing Ping and fondling her breasts. He touched Alice’s breast lightly to her approving gaze and began to kiss it. He felt Alice’s hands unbuttoning his jeans and pulling down his zipper. As her hand slid in, he was erect and hard to meet it. He was kissing her mouth ….

Everyone had an orgasm. Anne had four or five He awoke later that night to find Alice warm beside him on the left and Anne on the right. On other nights it was Ping. They never used the sofa bed. Anne was happier than he’d ever seen her.

The winter passed quickly. The paramedics came every month to check on the girls. The snow pack was less, only ten feet in mid February. Albert gathered his usual store of meat, vegetables, and fish. Dominic grew into a little man, asking continuously when he would see his brother and sister. He was so active he was getting to be a bit of a pain.

In April, two weeks before Ping’s girl was due, Anne started to have problems with false labor. To be safe, the girls were moved to the Ishpeming house until they were due. Spring was everywhere in the air, but Anne and Albert felt an emptiness with them gone. Dom continually asked, “Where’s Mommy Ping and Auntie Alice?”

Albert reassured him that they were close, and that he’d see them and his brother and sister soon. They kept in touch continuously, so he could see them in holos. He didn’t quite understand where they were.

The morning of April 16, they got the call. Albert and Anne hopped onto a snowmobile, unused all winter, and with Dom tied securely on Anne’s backpack, started it up for the run to the All Wheel. They arrived at Marquette General by 1pm. At 3:43 that afternoon, Seala Esther Repaul arrived, 6.38 pounds, and right on schedule. The Johns Hopkins team stayed in the background while Ping gave up her second child to adoption to the same, loving people as her first, the Repauls.

The hospital staff didn’t know who she was. Rumors circulated about the Oriental woman giving birth to a black baby. They remembered that cute little boy, too, now so blue-eyed and blonde. She must be some kind of slut, having babies without regard to the population controls in place. Albert could see it in the nurse’s faces.

The next day, mother and baby traveled to the Ishpeming house with the Repauls. Alice, confined to bed to prevent giving birth too early, was happy to see them. She was tired of waiting and not being able to get around, but encouraged by her happy family. Ping decided to stay.

“Anne, Albert, wake up!” The emergency override on the eCom had a way of interrupting even the deepest sleep. Frightened, Dominic started crying. It was an anxious Ping calling. “She’s in labor and we are going to let her deliver here rather than risk going to the hospital!”

It was 2am, but they gathered up a disoriented little Dom and hopped on the snowmobile once again. He was easily fast asleep as their headlight danced off tree trunks and startled deer jumped out of the way on the well-marked road out. It brought back memories of many night rides in his youth, when gasoline was cheap and snowmobiles raucously split the silence of the night. The alarm worked well, sounding well before he saw anything in their path. Otherwise, there was only the sound of the rubber track gripping the crusty snow. The spring night was full of animals, so the alarm went off more often than he liked. He wished he could turn it off and run silently.

Ping opened the door when they reached the house. Alice had given up the baby two weeks prematurely at 2:17am, when the little guy backed his way out, kicking. Seti Amenope Repaul, at 5.89 pounds, was the smallest, but the loudest, of the births. Alice, weak from her ordeal, was glad that it was over.

Alice presented herself as an unmarred member of the Ishpeming volunteer rescue team. She said that she had heard of the good work the Repauls were doing in the New Wilderness and wanted to give her baby to him. The father was supposedly an Indian co-worker at Johns Hopkins. Rao Khundi emailed a release from him for the adoption.

Ping stayed at the house for three days with Alice until she was able to travel, then little babes in arms, they returned to a big celebration at the cabin.

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