Life after the Lottery Ch. 83

"Dawn? Your hair has never been cut?" Clarie asked.

"No. A slight trim every few years if it splits, but that is it."

Claire looked over at Ann.

"I'm the rebellious one!" Ann said and laughed.

"Future leaders never have their hair cut," Enolia added.

"When we were in Arizona last year, we saw a lot of Native Americans," my dad said. "You three do not look like most of them. I always thought that all Native Americans came over on the land bride from Russia thousands of years ago."

"Cherokee are not of those people," Enolia said.

"Then where are the Cherokee from?"

"We are not of those Native people. Some say the true Cherokee Ancients come from across the sea. But that was many thousands of years ago."

"Across which sea?" My dad asked.

I knew this was an area a bit off-limits for white people, so I jumped in.

"There have been some recent genetic studies of the Cherokee in North Carolina. They maintain more of the original DNA than those in Oklahoma. Those in Oklahoma have intermixed a lot. Cherokee were known to marry between tribes to maintain peace. Some of these new DNA studies have found a large amount of European and Asiatic DNA."

"How would they have European and Asiatic DNA?" My dad continued.

"It is unknown at this point. One interesting theory based on the DNA is that they are the lost tribe of Israel. It has been reported they are more Jewish genetically than the European Jewish. Some DNA may point to South America or even Northern Africa. Some researchers say they have been here for well over 13,000 years."

"What?"

"Just a theory. They are not sure where the original Cherokee came from, so Enolia is right. They are not of the Bering Land Bridge as most all other Native Americans are."

"Interesting."

"One thing is certain. All the white people that claim they have DNA that shows they descended from a Cherokee Princess are full of shit!" I said and laughed. Enolia giggled. "There is no positive Cherokee DNA marker to make that assessment. Other Native Americans have a positive DNA marker."

"Well said, my son," Enolia added.

Thankfully, that ended it with my dad.

"Grandmother and I are going upstairs to prepare our medicine," Dawn said. "You'll need to take it to Linda and Rachel. I feel like I am going pop, too."

"Are you going to make it until 6:00?" I asked.

"I'll make it. I hope! I need to remind our babies!"

Dawn smiled at me.

"Can I help?" Amy asked.

"Sure, little one," Enolia said proudly. "It is time for you to learn also."

The three of them got on the elevator.

"I didn't mean to jump into the conversation as to where the Cherokee originally came from...but that is a bit off-limits to us," I said.

"Us?" My dad asked.

"White people!" Ann exclaimed and laughed.

"How did they sneak the limo past you?" Charlie asked.

"I don't ask questions when I see Dawn spending $100,000! Does anyone want anything from the kitchen?"

They were all good. I stood to head that way.

"Hey, David. Come with me. I have something for you."

"Meow!"

He followed me to the kitchen. I grabbed the milk.

"I moved your bowls. Let me show you where they are."

"Meeeeoow!"

He followed me to the pantry.

"They are in here," I told him as I poured him some milk. "I also got you a litter box since you will be here a lot. It is over there."

"Meeeoooow!"

"You're welcome. I'll make sure someone knows where your food is."

I returned to the kitchen, put the milk away, and grabbed some water.

"Whoever is here this evening...David's cat food is in the pantry. Make sure he gets fed."

"Thank you, James," Claire said.

"Tell David I'll take care of him, too!" Sylvia said.

"Did you hear that, David!!"

"Meow!!" We heard from the pantry.

"That cat is weird," my dad said.

"Probably part Cherokee!" Ann said and laughed.

*****

Dawn, Amy, and Enolia came off the elevator just before 9:00 and walked to the den.

"Here it is. Don't mix them up!" Dawn said. "This red container is for Linda. She needs to take it at 4:30. The blue one is for Rachel. She needs to take it at 10:30. I will write it down so you don't mix it up."

"I got it. Red for Rachel...blue for Linda. Got it."

Dawn rolled her eyes.

"I got it," I said.

"James! I'll call them and make sure! Amy, this one is yours. Sam, here is yours. Amy, honey, you need to take yours now."

I took the bottles and drove over to Linda and Rachel's. I got out and walked to the front door, and went in. Linda and Rachel were sitting on a big sofa in their den with Christmas paper all over the floor. I walked to them.

"Looks like you two had a good Christmas."

"We have been having fun all morning," Linda told me.

"Are you two going to make it?"

"We don't know. We think we are going to pop!" Rachel said.

"Is that it?" Linda asked.

"This is it."

"I still don't know how she does it."

"Well, Dawn and Enolia just mixed them up this morning. Rachel, yours is the blue one. Take it at 10:30. Linda, yours is the red one. Take it at 4:30. Or did I get that mixed up..."

"James!" They both exclaimed, and I laughed.

"I'll be at the hospital starting sometime after noon with Rachel," Linda said.

"I wouldn't let anyone there see you take yours. How are you two getting to the hospital?"

"Stan and Jeanine are taking us. They will be here soon for Christmas Breakfast...and to wait," Rachel said.

"Dawn said you two would have about an hour or so once you feel the first contractions."

"Okay. I hope she is right. I have heard stories about hours of labor," Rachel replied.

"Give me a call before you leave. I'll try and be with you two when it is time. Unless you don't want everyone at the hospital to know..."

"You think I give fuck!" Linda exclaimed.

"Grouch..." I told her.

"We want you with us if you can, please," Rachel said. "We don't care what anyone says."

"I will be there then."

"Are you taking your new bus?" Linda asked.

"I guess. I'll need it to get us all back home. Are you going to get one?"

"I'm thinking about a big Benz like Dawns."

"A nice Escalade may be more practical. The backseat of her Benz is two single seats."

"We'll see."

"I have a Christmas present for you two and a housewarming gift."

"Did you get the print made!" Linda exclaimed.

"Yes. I am having it mounted on canvas so you can hang it up."

"I can't wait to see it," Rachel said.

"It came out very well. I need to check it for dust spots."

"It will look so good up there," Linda said.

"It will. It is one of my favorite photos. You both look hot and sexy in it."

"We know!" Linda said.

"I didn't change anything on it. You can see a little of your nipples."

"That is fine. That is what makes it so hot."

"You are starting to be like Dawn. She has never had any issues with people seeing her nude."

"Has she always been that way?" Rachel asked.

"Pretty much. After we met and started dating and going out, she wore a lot of clothes that revealed a lot. Nothing provocative or trashy. She just doesn't care...that is not exactly right. She likes men to admire her but doesn't care if people have an issue with the way she dresses."

"Did you ever have an issue with it?"

"Not really. I have always told Dawn since I met her that she was perfect and had an incredible body. It embarrassed her for a while until I asked her why she showed off her body so much if she didn't think she was hot. She said she didn't think of herself as hot, just female and pretty."

"It is hard for me to hear her say she doesn't think she is hot and sexy when someone tells her. She is the epitome of female form. She is the hottest woman I know," Linda said.

"I know," I added.

"One day, you will have to tell us about the first time you two had sex."

"That is some story! It was more than just us having sex. I kept embarrassing her as I looked at her. Remind me to tell you about that weekend."

"After the first of the year, I am going to talk to Dawn about you being in our photo!" Linda said and laughed.

"You'll make me do it, won't you!"

"You bet!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I better head back. Call us when you are leaving for the hospital."

I left them and went back to the house. Dawn was on the sofa talking to Enolia and Amy. I sat across from them. Enolia smiled at me.

"Linda is getting cranky."

"Give me a few minutes, and I will be!" Amy exclaimed.

"I told them I would be with them if I could."

"You will be able to do that," Enolia said. "You are supposed to be there."

"Depends on when Rachel delivers after lunch."

"You'll have time."

"Don't tell the girls what Rachel has," Dawn said.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"I already know they have a boy and a girl."

"They are!" Amy exclaimed.

"But you don't know who has what!" Enolia said and smiled.

"Can I tell Linda what Rachel has?"

"Of course!" Dawn said.

"Who has the boy!?" Amy exclaimed when she asked Dawn.

I left Amy pestering Dawn and went to the kitchen. Samantha was there trying to eat a little of something. I checked on her.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yes. Trying to eat little."

"Are you ready for all this?"

"I am! I can't wait. Three babies in the house is going to be a big change."

"It sure will. Do you think Sylvia will be able to handle all of them?"

"Sure. One of the three of us will usually be here too...plus you get to help," she said

with a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it," I replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I am going to become a homebody. Time to settle down and be a father. I'm sure our family will grow and change."

"You'll be a great one...dad!"

****

Things settled down a little as I picked up wrapping paper.

"All right, everyone," Dawn said. "Are we all going to the hospital with Amy and waiting?"

"Honey, will you all be comfortable there all day?" Ann asked.

"They will have rooms ready for the three of us. We can rest while we wait. What about you all?" Dawn explained.

"I am going when you leave!" Ann exclaimed.

"Us too!" My Dad said.

"I'm not missing anything!" Charlie stated.

"Sounds like we are all just waiting on Amy."

"Geez! No pressure! Thanks!" We all laughed. Amy didn't think it was funny.

"Grandmother, you ride with us in the bus," Dawn told her. "I have told them you had to be there with us. Clarie, are you taking your car?"

"Yes!"

Amy would sit, then get up. Then sit, then get up...she finally sat next to her mom and held her hand.

"Honey, just sit and wait," Grandmother told her.

"Baby is kicking!"

"It wants out!"

"I think you are right!"

She tried to sit but kept getting up and then back down.

*****

Sylvia and I were going over some things that I was about to take out to the new Escalade. We had been loading up things in the new bus.

"Dawn!" Amy exclaimed as she sat with her mom and Samantha.

"Is it time?" Dawn asked.

"Yes!"

"Right on time," Grandmother said.

I looked at my watch, and it was 10:30. Everyone kept up with Amy's contractions until a little after 11:00. They decided it was time to leave.

We got my girls to the new stretch Escalade, and they all got in slowly.

"This stretch is going to come in handy!" Dawn said.

"We'll need it to get back home," I told them.

My dad and Charlie shuffled the baby car seats around to the back row, and my girls strapped in as best they could.

"We will meet you there," Ann said.

Enolia stood there with Ann.

"Grandmother, ride with us," Dawn told her. "Claire, get in the backseat."

Enolia winked at Dawn and climbed in the back.

"Ready?" I asked.

"YES!!" Came from Amy in the front seat next to me.

"Okay! Let's go!"

I pulled away and headed to the hospital. Amy would cry out every few minutes.

*****

When we were getting off the interstate to go to the hospital, I saw Dawn calling someone as I looked in the mirror.

"I told you noon!" She exclaimed and laughed into the phone.

"We are on the way. Amy is in labor...I told you...and you owe me $500!"

"Really! You think I will be wrong on Sam and me! That will be three!"

"About an hour...about noon...you want to lose more of your money!"

She hung up.

"Dr. Emma is headed to the hospital."

"I hope she hurries!" Amy exclaimed.

"You have time," Enolia told her.

My cell rang, and Dawn answered it as we pulled into the hospital parking lot.

"Okay! You will be right behind us! Amy is ready to go!" Dawn hung up. "That was Linda. They will be leaving for the hospital soon. I should have made a big bet with Linda!"

"She knows better!" Samantha exclaimed and laughed.

Dawn made another call as I pulled in. One of the nurses we knew was waiting with a wheelchair when I pulled up at the ER.

"Curb service?" I asked.

"Of course!"

I got out and helped all of them out. Amy sat in the wheelchair as she cried out. They waddled into the ER as I found a place to park the stretch Escalade.

I hurried to the ER after I parked.

"This way," a nurse friend of ours said when she saw me walk in.

We walked a little way down the hall past the ER beds. Amy was sitting on the edge of a bed as Dawn and Claire sat with her and held her hand.

"Where is Samantha?" I asked.

"Where else? Bathroom," Dawn replied.

"She better hurry!" Amy exclaimed.

"Sam! Hurry up! Amy has to piss!" Dawn yelled and laughed.

"All right!" Came from behind the bathroom door.

Enolia giggled at them.

"Not funny, Grandmother!" Amy exclaimed.

"I know, honey, but you should enjoy this time."

*****

When Amy was coming out of the bathroom, their doctor walked into the room.

"Do you have my money, Dr. Emma?" Dawn asked, teasing her.

"I'll take it off your bill!"

"Oh, no! I want the cash! Part of the bet was you had to get a $500 bill for me when you lost! I am going to frame it!"

"Where will I get one of those!"

"You can get them...for about $650! I saw a couple of very nice ones and sent you a link on eBay!" Dawn explained and laughed.

Amy laid back in the bed, and they hooked up all the monitors as their doctor felt her stomach for a few minutes.

"Head down...ready to go," her doctor said.

"You were doubting me?" Dawn asked and laughed.

"How far apart?"

"About six minutes," Claire said.

"Oh! This baby is in a hurry!"

"You better get ready. You have about 20 minutes," Dawn said. The doctor looked at her.

"Dawn..."

"Have any more money?" She asked.

"What about you, Samantha?" Dr. Emma asked.

"I guess 3:00. Like Dawn said."

"We'll see!"

"Be careful, Emma! I saw a couple of nice $500 bills on eBay for about $650 each. Or, you could just combine two and get me a $1,000 bill!" Dawn teased her.

"One will be enough!"

"You want to go double or nothing?"

"No!"

"I am going to see if Rachel and Linda are here," I said and left.

I saw them wheeling Rachel down the hall. I followed them.

"Is your doctor here yet?" I asked.

"Not yet!" Linda said. "I told her 1:30."

"Dawn's doctor doubted her. I think she is out $500!"

"Ours will be here very soon. I just called her again!" Linda said.

"How are you doing, Rachel?"

"Pain!"

"How far apart are they?"

"About 15 minutes," Linda said.

"Amy is at five minutes. Enolia said in 15 minutes or so. Maybe you'll be enough later I can be there."

"You better be since you knocked us up! I am going to hold your balls!" Rachel exclaimed.

The nurse helping her into the bed looked over at me. I didn't know her.

"I'll be back. I'm going to check on Amy."

I giggled as I left the room. The nurse was still looking very confused.

"How is Rachel?" Dawn asked when I got to them.

"Fifteen minutes apart."

"An hour or so...if I timed it right."

"She said I better be there because she was going to hold my balls!"

Dawn and Claire laughed, and so did her nurse.

"Dawn? Anything I should know?" Her nurse asked.

"James is the father of Linda and Rachel's babies too...but keep that to yourself for now, Kelly."

"Oooo-kay."

The nurse looked at me and smiled.

"Did all of you plan it this way?" She asked.

"Yep!" Samantha added. "It was a wild weekend!"

"Sam!!" Dawn exclaimed, and they laughed.

"Sounds like it!" Kelly said.

"Make sure you explain all this to me later," her doctor asked. "And your potions!"

"We will! It's just a natural prostaglandin with some extras," Dawn told her.

"Maybe you can teach me how to make it! What we use is not this accurate!"

"Making it is not hard. But, Emma, each dose is made specifically for the person."

"What is different for each one?"

"The chemistry is simple, but I have to adjust each mixture for the person getting it."

"What is different for each person?"

"Dr. Emma...I have to adjust other ingredients for a person's specific...energies. I also have to bless it."

"Oh, the energy thing again!" She said and laughed. "What do you do when you bless it?"

"I ask my Ancestor Spirits to bless the delivery and make it uneventful."

"Does that make it different for each person?"

"I have ingredients that tailor it to the person. If I didn't do that, it wouldn't be much better than what you use."

"You'll have to explain it to me one day. Oh? If each dose is tailored to the person...who made yours, Dawn?"

"My Grandmother." Enolia smiled at her.

"I still think what you make should be studied?"

"Can you use compounded medicines?"

"Only if you can make it from something that is FDA-approved!"

"I'll research it. I may be able to use it in my research for my Ph.D. There are only about ten different ingredients that are mixed for a specific person, but they are herbs and such and not FDA medications."

"You know...things like eye of newt, wing of bat, horn of toad, chicken lips," I said.

"Not funny today," Dawn said as Emma laughed.

After Dr. Emma left, Ann came in.

"Are you ready, honey?" She asked Amy.

"Yes!"

Enolia was holding Amy's hand. I was sure she was helping her with the pain.

"James, come here," Enolia said. "Take Amy's other hand."

I did as Claire watched.

"Now, close your eyes and feel her energy and mine."

I did for a few minutes.

"Do you feel what I am giving her?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you take over."

I helped Amy as best as I could.

Right at noon, they rolled Amy to a delivery room. Dawn and Samantha got a couple of nurses to wheel them to the rooms they had for them. Claire followed Samantha. They took Enolia and me and put us in gowns and everything. We had explained that Grandmother had to be there for the delivery. Our doctor and nurses didn't give us a hard time because Dawn had explained it all to them. Amy was crying out when we went into the delivery room.

"Shouldn't be long now," Dr. Emma said. "James? You still don't know?"

"Nope."

"I would have thought you would have used Dawn's crystal ball!"

"She hides it from me."

"I think you'll like how it all comes out! No pun intended!"

She giggled, and that made me nervous.

"Just get it out!" Amy exclaimed.

Dr. Emma watched all the monitors for a bit, then went to work. I held Amy's hand as Dr. Emma kept telling her to push. Then finally...

"And James, this is your first girl!" The doctor said as she held the baby.

They did what they do to the baby, then laid her on Amy.

"You have a very healthy girl, Amy. She is definitely like her mom with all that red hair!"

I was looking to see if she was fair-skinned or darker because of what Dawn had told us. She had her mother's fair skin and a head full of red hair, like her.

Amy was smiling and looking between me and the baby.

"She is beautiful, honey," I told her.

"Nurse, this is the baby's wrap," Enolia said and gave the nurse the wrap for the baby.

"Oh, this is pretty," Kelly said.