The Wisdom of Solomon

To the reader:

This story could have been submitted under a couple different categories but my editor suggested Interracial Love. I tend to go along with those suggestions. My editor also said it might be a bit controversial. I hope so.

Thanks jo for doing the hard work of editing and making everything better.

Day 1

"Tony wake up, I think my water just broke."

"Wha? Huh? Yeah, okay, I'm up."

Tony jumped out of bed and promptly tripped over his shoes. After getting back on his feet he pulled on his pants, a t-shirt, and his old loafers. Shari slowly waddled into the bathroom clutching her soaked nightgown between her legs.

"Babe, bring me a clean pair of underpants, will ya?" came the voice from the bathroom.

Tony picked up her clothes from atop the hospital bag they had prepared and also got a clean pair of underpants from her drawer. Upon opening the bathroom door he found his lovely wife standing in front of the full length mirror with her legs apart, toweling off her legs and hairy crotch. The reflection of both sides of her very pregnant body was comical to look at; well at least it was at that moment for Tony. A wide smile broke out on his face.

"Don't you say a single word, buster. Just help me put on my clothes and let's get out of here."

All the while he helped he had a broad smile, but he didn't say a word. He knew if he made one of his usual weird, funny remarks she would jump down his throat and probably start crying. Her hormones had been so screwed up in the last month or so that no matter what he said she would either go ballistic or start crying. Either way she would no longer be the sweet, beautiful wife that he married, just some hormone charged gargoyle that he wanted to avoid at all cost. Throughout her pregnancy her emotions had been out of control. Shari spontaneously cried for no apparent reason and at times she danced around the house with joy. Her sex drive was out of control also. She had more orgasms in the last nine months than she ever had in their entire first year of marriage. She was insatiable, not that Tony ever complained. The term 'basket case' described her best.

As they drove to the hospital Shari was definitely uncomfortable. She shifted her broad backside all over the front seat and scowled every time they had to stop for a traffic light. After all she was as big as a house. Tony was very careful to say so only when she wasn't around. She was carrying twins and when one wasn't doing the tango in her belly the other seemed to be training for a marathon. Hopefully the dancer was the little girl and the marathoner was the little boy. They found out a couple months ago that one had a penis and the other one didn't.

At the hospital, Tony wheeled his very uncomfortable wife into the emergency room and passed her off to a nurse, kissing her on the lips before leaving to fill out the paperwork and for a minute of rest. He entered the maternity ward waiting room thirty minutes later and a nurse escorted him back to Shari's room. She looked more at ease now that she was lying down. And from the look in her eyes she had also received an epidural.

"Hi Babe," she said with her crooked little smile. "Dr. McCoy was here a minute ago and said I wasn't fully dilated yet. It'll be another hour or so before I'm ready. He ran away to deliver another baby just before you came in and said he'd be back when it's my turn. I've had the epidural so the back pain is gone. I'm supposed to watch the fetal monitor there and see when it spikes. That will be a contraction and I've got to do my breathing exercises when I see one. Hold my hand, I'm kinda new at this."

He took her hand in his and gently kissed her fingers. They smiled and looked into each other's eyes all the time knowing, without saying, exactly what was in their hearts.

Shari and Tony had always been in love. From the first day they met their universe was in harmony, the planets aligned, it never rained when they went on a picnic, and there were always short lines at Starbucks. They made love for the first time a couple weeks after meeting and even the sex was cosmic. Tony found just the right spot to make Shari climb the walls in ecstasy and Shari could do things with her tongue that one only reads about in magazines. From the very first time they did anything and everything, there was no hesitation for either of them. If one person wanted to try something new, they did it with enthusiasm and loved every minute of it. One day they just started saying "when we're married." There was never the traditional proposal where Tony gets down on one knee with a ring and proposes. They just knew that they would be married and one year later they were.

In the first year as a married couple they wore out one mattress and the springs on the old couch they bought at a garage sale. They went to work every day but when they were at home they were like two rutting goats. Even their next door neighbor asked with a silly smile about the "unusual animal sounds" coming from the house.

Needless to say there was a lot of smiling at Tony and Shari's house. Their biggest smile came when Shari found out she was pregnant. She showed Tony the little blue test strip and they hugged and cried. After calling their parents, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbors, and anybody else that they could think of, they went out to a little romantic Italian restaurant and sat behind the candle in the Chianti bottle and held hands. But when they got home they were naked and in bed within minutes of locking the front door. The celebration continued throughout the night as one long kiss. When their lips weren't together Tony was kissing her nipples and her belly and the soft warm folds where his child was going to make its debut. Shari would also lick his nipples and belly and wrap her tongue around his cock as it slid deep into her mouth. Even when Tony was on top of Shari with her legs wrapped around his hips they kissed continuously. It was almost like somebody welded their lips together. The only time they broke their kiss and came up for air was when one said "I love you." And they said it a lot that night. At dawn they each sheepishly called into work and took a sick day.

Another contraction jerked Tony back from the past.

It was close to two hours later when Shari was wheeled into the delivery room with Tony tagging along behind. "Okay, let's get this show on the road," the elderly doctor said with a broad smile. "I've got a golf date at nine that I don't want to miss." The nurse and the aide just rolled their eyes toward the ceiling at his attempt at delivery room humor. Tony only hoped he was joking but wasn't sure. Shari just laid flat with her legs spread and her feet in the stirrups.

"Okay, Tony you stand next to Shari and hold her hand," the doctor instructed. "She's probably going to squeeze pretty hard so be prepared and don't let her break anything. You don't want to miss the action if you have to go off and get a bone set. Now Shari, you just push when I tell you to, and only when I say to. Any other time I want you to relax and breath just like you learned in class. Everybody know what to do? "

Everybody nodded, even the nurse. The aide also nodded as she went about preparing the two bassinets.

The doctor worked between Shari's legs for what seemed to be a long time when he looked up over her distended belly and said, "Okay Shari, now push."

The muffled grunt and screwed up facial expression said that she was pushing with everything she had. It must have been like trying to push a bowling ball through a straw.

"Okay, now stop," the doctor commanded.

Shari fell back and continued to do her rhythmic Lamaze breathing as the doctor went back to working between her legs.

"Okay Shari, push again."

Her expression changed again and the grunt was louder. She must have been holding her breath as she concentrated on expelling one of the babies.

"Stop."

Again she fell back and did her rhythmic breathing. The sweat was starting to drip down the sides of her face when the nurse took a towel and wiped her off.

"One more time, please."

Her face turned beet red as she grunted and pushed with everything she had. All at once the doctor stood up holding a tiny red baby coated in slime and said, "You can relax for a minute. Say hello to your son." He cradled the newborn in his hands so everybody could get a good look while the nurse clamped and cut the umbilical chord. Then he passed the slimy, red, squirming baby off to the nurse who put him in the bassinet and started cleaning. Tony and Shari smiled from ear to ear.

"That's little Brian," Shari said between breaths. Her face was glowing, but it may have had something to do with the sweat running down her cheeks. She reached out and stroked Tony's cheek and blew him a kiss.

"We're not done yet," the doctor said with a little twinkle in his eye. "You've still got one waiting on deck. Okay, when I say push I want you to push like you did on that last one. Hopefully we can get by with only one."

Everybody relaxed as the doctor went back to work between Shari's legs.

"Okay, Shari, push hard."

She grunted and pushed with everything she had. This time her face turned so red it looked like an overripe grape aching to explode.

"Stop. Wait a minute."

Shari relaxed and gasped for air.

"Okay, push again but this time don't hold your breath."

Shari pushed and grunted and took an occasional breath. The doctor stood up holding another dark red slimy baby. But this time he looked down at the child and then up to the nurses. They all exchanged knowing glances as he held up the little girl for inspection.

"It's a girl," he said as he handed the little girl off to the aide while the nurse severed the umbilical cord.

"Bria," Shari said with a wide smile.

The doctor did his suturing and clean-up work between Shari's legs quietly as the nurse and aide finished cleaning the two newborns. Tony wiped Shari's face and the only sound in the room was the hum of the air conditioning. When the nurses were done they put little Brian in Tony's arms and put little Bria in Shari's. Then stood back to watch what happened next.

Shari and Tony were all smiles as they looked at the little bundle in their arms. Tony looked down at Brian and started to cry. He then looked over at Bria and his smile vanished. He looked at Brian and then Bria and a worried expression appeared on his face. When he looked at his wife he saw that her expression had changed as well. She looked very worried and seemed nervous. Both Tony and Shari continued to look back and forth between the two babies. It was apparent to everyone now that the two newborns looked completely different. Brian was a typical newborn, slightly red skin, bald, and pudgy features. Bria however had the same pudgy features but her skin was much darker and her head had a tuft of curly black hair. Brian's features were of a white baby and Bria's features were of a black baby. Everybody was thinking the same thing. Nobody was smiling any more.

"Okay Shari, it's time to take you to the recovery room and the babies to the nursery. Tony you can wait in the waiting room and somebody will tell you what room your wife is in when she's ready." The doctor turned and walked out pulling off his latex gloves.

Tony looked up as the nurse took Brian out of his arms and the aide took Bria from Shari. Another nurse entered and said, "Mr. Mason, follow me please," while yet another started rearranging Shari on the delivery table.

With a final glance back at his wife's worried expression, Tony walked out with his escort.

"Uh, I need to talk to the doctor for a minute," Tony said stripping off his hospital gown as they walked. The nurse must have been anticipating this because she walked him around to a little duty station where the doctor was sitting in front of a computer monitor.

"Uh, doc, what's going on?" Tony stammered.

Dr. McCoy stood and looked into Tony's face and said with a serious expression. "Mr. Mason, I'm not a hundred percent sure what's going on. I have my suspicions but I can't say anything until we run a few tests. There are a series of tests that I'm going to order and they should give us some answers. I wouldn't worry for now because from everything I see both babies look healthy and strong.

"Doc, do these tests have anything to do with DNA testing?"

"Actually they do, we want to find out if there are any genetic markers that indicate problems like Down's Syndrome or a number of other lesser known conditions. Like I said, I can't tell you anything now without doing the tests but as soon as we have the results we'll call."

There was a long, uncomfortable pause as the two men stood together in front of the computer. Tony had a number of thoughts and fears rattling around in his head but he didn't exactly know how to broach the subject. Finally he just said what he was thinking.

"Doc, since you're going to do the DNA tests will you be doing a paternity test as well?"

"Not usually, unless you think it's necessary. I'll order it if you want."

There was another long, uncomfortable pause before Tony sheepishly said, "Do it, please."

Dr. McCoy put his hand on Tony's shoulder and said, "I will. Now go to your wife. She's probably wondering where you got to. Go!"

Tony went back to the recovery waiting room and sat in a beat up old orange chair. He sat thinking about what he saw and what he feared. Thoughts were not his friend at that moment.

After sitting for an hour letting every possible bad scenario wash over him the nurse came over and told him where Shari was. He sat for a while longer before going to the men's room and washing his face. The walk to her room was slow and deliberate almost like a condemned man taking that last walk to the gallows. He didn't smile. He had lost the will to smile. When he finally saw his wife she was asleep. Her head was back and her mouth open with spittle running down her chin. "At least someone can sleep peacefully," he thought.

"We had to give her something to help her sleep," a voice said from behind Tony. He turned and saw the ward nurse standing there looking at Shari. "When she got here she was acting irrational and started hyperventilating. She kept asking for you and when you didn't show up right away she tried to get out of bed and find you. We couldn't have that so we got her doctor to prescribe something. She'll sleep and rest comfortably now. You should probably come back in the morning."

Tony's eyes went back to his wife lying in the bed. He stood in the doorway for a long time trying to decide what to do. One thing he didn't want to do was talk to Shari, so he turned to go home. On the way out he passed the nursery and stopped to look in. In front and to one side were two bassinets, one labeled Mason Boy and the other Mason Girl. He just stood and stared at the two sleeping infants. This should have been the happiest day of his life, but it wasn't. Clouds of doubt darkened his day. As he looked at the little boy his heart lifted and he knew what joy was. When he looked at the little girl his heart broke. He couldn't understand why. He had too many questions with no answers and it was killing him. He had no way to figure out what to do, so instead he just put his head down and walked away.

Day 2

When Tony got to the hospital the next morning his whole family met him in the lobby. Shari's parents and his mom and dad were sitting with his sister and her husband and everybody was talking animatedly and smiling. There were hugs all around when he came in but he didn't smile much. After a few minutes Tony led the family to the elevator and up to the maternity ward. A host of smiling people crowded around the viewing window and blocked the view inside. They were looking and pointing at the new addition to their own families. When Tony and his family inched up to the window they saw that the two Mason babies were far away from the window and they couldn't get a good look at either of them. They could only make out blankets wrapped around something with tiny wiggling arms. One of the nurses mouthed to the crowd, "which one is yours?" and Tony pointed at the little boy. The nurse scooped him up and brought him as close to the window as she could. The oohs and aahs started. A minute later a second nurse picked up his little girl and brought her up beside her brother. The oohs and aahs stopped as everybody got to see the two side by side. Every family member turned in unison to look at Tony with stunned expressions. Tony couldn't handle their looks so he just walked away.

Eventually, Tony showed up at his wife's room. She was sitting up in bed looking out the window. When she heard Tony at the door she started crying.

"Babe, where have you been?" she said through her sobs. "I was worried when you didn't come back yesterday. I don't know what you're thinking and I'm worried. Talk to me please."

Tony just stood beside the bed with his hands in his pockets looking down at her. He couldn't think of anything to say. His mind wouldn't work and he couldn't get his mouth to form words. Finally he summed up everything he was thinking and feeling in three little words. He mumbled, "I don't understand."

Shari reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him closer. He didn't move. Her hands crawled up his stomach and chest like a spider as she tried to reach up and grab his face to pull it down to her. Tony still didn't move. Shari's tears were flowing heavily now.

"Babe, listen to me. I don't understand what's going on either. Something's wrong, I don't know what it is, and I'm scared. They brought them in here this morning for their feeding and it's obvious that Bria is different from Brian. If they hadn't put her in my arms yesterday in the delivery room I would have sworn that they got them mixed up in the nursery. They didn't. Brian looks like you and Bria is, I don't know what, a stranger maybe. I asked the nurse to explain why they look so different and she said the doctor will come in and explain what's going on this morning. I'm scared that something's wrong with her and I think you're thinking the same thing. We just have to wait for the doctor to talk to us."

The sadness in Tony's heart wouldn't go away. His wife was thinking exactly what he was. She was worried too; he could hear it in her voice. And her sobbing said that she felt the same heartache he did. He still didn't know what to do.

A strange voice in the room startled them both back to reality. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Mason? I'm Dr. Lin. I'm the staff geneticist. I specialize in genetic health issues. I understand you've got some questions and concerns about your daughter. I'll try to answer any question you have. Now before we begin let me tell you that I talked to Dr. McCoy about your pre-natal care and your delivery yesterday. Everything he told me seems absolutely normal. Even the amniocentesis looked normal. So how can I help you?"

Neither Tony nor Shari could say anything. They didn't know how to ask the question. Finally Shari spoke up. "Doc, tell me what's wrong with my daughter. I don't understand what's going on here. Is there something wrong with her?"

The doctor looked puzzled. "I don't understand. From everything I see you have two very healthy babies. Dr. McCoy ordered a battery of DNA and genetic marker tests that will show any abnormalities, but they should be routine. You may want to ask for a complete DNA mapping on both of you. That may help give you the answers you want. But frankly, I don't see why you think there's something wrong."

"Did you see them?" Tony asked rather pointedly.

"Well, no I didn't. I just looked at their charts and lab work and talked to your doctor."