We're a Wonderful Wife Ch. 10

"Deal!" gasped Kim-ly, and as the next big contraction hit Don and Tam began to urge Kim-ly, "Pushpushpushpushpush!" and with a shriek from Kim-ly little Danh Lanh was born. To Don this was very different from when Krissy was born, Krissy was just a baby, this is Don's son and for him there was a huge emotional difference.

With a pinch little Danh began to cry, his high-pitched cries reminded Don of Lanh's tiny pet goat Marissa. Don cut the umbilical cord and like with Krissy he was surprised at the strength of that cord. He gently inspected Danh insuring everything was attached, fingers, toes, little boy bits, then he handed the tiny, squalling portion of his soul to Kim-ly. Unseen in the corner two tall blond apparitions watched and shed a tear of joy for the new parents.

Although Danh was his son, Kim-ly was not his wife, he felt he shouldn't be part of this moment as baby and mother bonded, but Tam pushed him closer and Kim-ly clasped his hand in hers. "When you move back," whispered Kim-ly, "you will be there for him, won't you?"

"Of course I will Kitty-Cat" Don used the nick-name that her dad used for her years ago.

"That's really all I want," smiled Kim-ly as exhaustion overwhelmed her.

"Dad, why don't you help the nurses with baby while we clean up mommy for her visitors," said Doctor Schaeffer, and Don and Danh were swept off to another room where a crying Danh was weighed, measured and inspected from end to end. Don had been through all of this with Krissy, but with Danh it felt more personal, every whimper out of the little guy was a stab in Don's heart and he fought to keep from crying along with him.

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It was almost a week before Kim-ly felt ready to go out to dinner, Don was waiting in the kitchen for Kim-ly to "put her face on." As he waited for Kim-ly, their babysitter Chau Nguyen, Don and Kim-ly's oldest niece, was getting acquainted with her little cousin. Chau is the eldest daughter of Kim-ly's twin brother Bao and his wife, Don's old swimming teammate Rosa Mendez. Every time Don looks at Chau he's reminded how long he's been married to Lanh, Chau's parents fell for each other at Don and Lanh's wedding and married three months later, and Chau was born eight months after that.

Don was having problems believing that Chau was graduating high school next year, it seems like only yesterday she was as small as the baby in his arms. And now that Chau and her little sister Sophia who have both been babysitting for several years are teaching Don how to care for his own son. "How come you and Aunt Lanh don't have any babies?" asked Sophia, who didn't mind asking embarrassing questions.

"Aunt Lanh got sick several years ago and now she can't have babies," answered Don who was holding Danh. Danh made it clear that he was done nursing by turning his head away from the bottle that Don was holding. Because "Danh" sounds almost exactly like "Don," everyone was calling him "Little Danh" or Junior without realizing how close to the truth they were.

Don held up the tiny bottle to see how much Danh drank then wrote it down on his feeding schedule. "Now you have to burp him," said Chau.

As Don carefully lifted Danh to his shoulder the little blue tooth speaker came to life and Lanh said, "Uncle Don knows his way around a baby. He's been babysitting back here for two months."

"What are you doing Aunt Lanh?" called Sophia.

"I'm feeding a baby too."

"Uncle Don said you can't have babies!" Sophia wrinkled her nose in confusion.

"I'm borrowing one. This is Karole's baby, remember the lady came there for Christmas with us?"

"Auntie Karole!" cried Arlo who was visiting with his mother Tam.

"Yes, she lives right next door, I'm watching her little girl Krissy while she takes a nap."

"When are you coming back?" whined Liam, Arlo's older brother.

As Don shushed the boys, Lanh said, "It looks like it may be sooner than we expected. Don honey, can we talk when there's not as many ears in the room?"

Don turned to the collection of nieces and nephews who appeared to be hanging on every word. "I'll call you back in a few minutes," he chose wisely. Just then Tam led Kim-ly out of her apartment into the dining room. "Well?" asked Tam.

Kim-ly was dressed in a sapphire blue full-length dress with a plunging neckline, a string of pearls and her raven locks cascading over her shoulders. She looked nervous, like she was expecting disapproval, however Don rose and held her son to see what mommy looked like dressed up. Of course, the little guy was asleep, but Don didn't let that deter him, "Well buddy, what do you think?" Don bent and held his ear near Danh's sleeping mouth. "I agree, she cleans up really good. Let's go say nite, nite." Don carried Danh to Kim-ly who scooped him up. The tiny lad stretched his arms, smacked his lips, and went back to sleep.

After giving her son a kiss Kim-ly handed Danh to Chau while Don held her coat open for her and Tam herded the youngsters into the living room. "Ok munchkins, this is your cousin Danh's very, very first Saturday, what do we do on Saturday?"

After a pause Arlo the youngest answered, "We watch cartoons?"

"Exactly," smiled Tam, if her three boys get their chores done and let their parents get their chores done, they get to watch Bugs Bunny cartoons in the evening. Not the modern, touchy-feely flavorless woke cartoons but the WWII era funny cartoons. "Come on," she led the kids to the living room where grandpa Ralph and Grandma Sandy were watching a hockey game. As soon as the invasion began, they put on the Bugs Bunny film festival because the Winnipeg Jets were beating the living hell out of the Minnesota Wild anyhow. Arlo climbed up on Sandy's lap and Liam sat on the floor next to Grandpa Ralph while Chau and Sophia sat on the couch with a now tightly swaddled Danh between them.

Don put on his suit coat and adjusted his tie and Kim-ly looked at him up and down with approval. "You clean up pretty good yourself! That's a nice suit, where did you get it?"

Don looked a little embarrassed, "Goodwill." Deep down inside Don was still that kid that didn't have two nickels to rub together, and he felt most comfortable in secondhand clothing.

Kim-ly flattened the lapels and said, "It fits you perfectly! Come on stud, let's go set the woods on fire."

Somewhere people were appreciating the warmth of spring, in Minnesota it's still frigid even though the last day of winter was two days ago. The car started on second try and Don unplugged the block heater then they eased out of the driveway as Don hit the autodial for Lanh.

"Hey baby, I have Kim-ly here with me, is that ok?" asked Don.

"Yeah, I just didn't want little ears overhearing. I have good news and bad news. I was called into the department chair's office for a quarterly evail, everything is good with the University, in fact they give me a glowing review..."

"What's the problem?" asked Don.

"They're cutting back on speech pathology and being the new kid on the block, I'm getting the axe," sighed Lanh. "Next spring is my last semester."

"Oh wow, I'm sorry for that, what's the good news?"

"That was the good news, they're giving me a severance package to cover the last year of my contract. The bad news is that Children's hospital is cutting my hours, I'll be lucky to get twelve hours in a week" Lanh was sad about that bit of news, she really liked working with the kids and she made real progress with her patients. Many businesses don't lay people off, that costs money paying severance and unemployment. Instead, they slash a person's hours until the employee quits.

Don and Kim-ly were doing their best not to cheer and clap, Lanh loved her jobs almost as much as she hated being separated from her family and her cows. Don eventually said, "I guess I'll have to finish the basement," which was code between Don and Lanh for "getting the house ready to put on the market."

"I'll find a color of paint for the shutters," sighed Lanh. The basement is being decorated to look like a mountain cabin, including shutters for the windows, and the shutters are planned to be the last item. They're built and hung properly; they just need a coat of paint. "But wait, there's more."

"Now what," moaned Don. He hated the fact that good news comes in dribs and drabs, but bad news comes in bundles.

"Jayce was here again..."

"He didn't hit her, did he?" snarled Kim-ly. The last time Jayce was in the area he punched a pregnant Karole and Kim-ly almost went crazy trying to find him.

"No," Lanh lied, "but he did clean out her accounts, checking, savings, everything."

"I'll kill him!" shrieked Kim-ly. "I'll fucking kill him!"

Lanh went on to describe Karole's heartbreak when she went to buy formula for Krissy only to find out she had no money at all. Being someone who hates going into debt Karole never carries a credit card, she left the store weeping, a shopping cart full of needed items left behind.

"Pack her up and send her here now," said Don. He had a feeling that this was just the start of something worse. "Dad will ensure she's taken care of, and I'm sure you folks want her here too."

"I'll keep trying, but you know Karole and her stubborn streak."

After Don and Lanh said their goodbyes, the new parents drove up to Bemidji and soon 100% of the conversation was on Danh, every nuance of the child was examined and discussed, and the conversation continued as they walked through the Wilderness complex and into the ballroom. They found their candle lit table for four next to the dance floor, it was covered in fine China with dozens of glasses that Don and Kim-ly had no idea what more than two of the glasses were for. They sat close and studied the one-page menu.

"They have scallops, you said you like scallops," said Kim-ly.

"I don't want to try the scallops; Royce and Annie Brown took Lanh and myself scalloping in Florida. We caught them and cooked them up right there on the beach and they were so good! I suspect that scallops that have been frozen and dragged 1500 miles to my plate probably wouldn't taste the way I like," he replied.

"You caught scallops? I thought you dig them up," said the brand-new mother.

"No, you dig up clams. Scallops swim."

Kim-ly looked at Don like he was drunk. "Swimming shellfish? Seriously?"

"Yes, they swim," Don replied and he looked at his phone and in moments found a video of scallop divers.

Frowning Kim-ly returned to her menu. "What is Chicken Puttanesca?"

"Chicken Puttanesca is a type of stewed chicken."

"No, I'm tired of spicy," said Kim-ly. "All Little Don wanted was spicy. I was putting Siracha on my oatmeal." Back to the one-page menu. Prime rib was a choice too, but they eat a lot of beef on a dairy farm, so why bother. In the end Kim-ly decided on trout almondine, twice baked potatoes, and white asparagus while Don chose the Chicken Puttanesca on linguini.

At some point another couple joined the new parents, they looked to be in their forties and introduced themselves as Stuart and Ellie Haugen and they were from Grant Valley also, he was a banker at Wells Fargo, and she teaches elementary school in Grant Valley. Don introduced himself and Kim-ly as dairy farmers and didn't mention his doctorate in education or her CPA certification. When Ellie asked Kim-ly what she did for a living she said, "I'm a brand-new stay t' home mom and a dirt farmer."

"I swear we have met you before," said Stuart, "I cannot put my finger on where we have met."

Kim-ly smiled and pointed at Ellie "Pho, hold the jalapeno and siracha," then pointed at Stuart, "Either the fried noodles with shrimp or the combination rice bowl."

"Oh my God yes! Nguyen's Pho restaurant," cried Ellie, "Why didn't I recognize you... that baby! When did you have the baby? I swear I just saw you."

"Last Sunday, that morning when it was so cold..."

"You look wonderful!" gasped Ellie. "Your hair is beautiful!"

"Ya think? I usually just do it with a curry comb and a flat iron, but my sister did it up for me today."

And that broke the ice beautifully, as the girls talked about hair and the guys talked about the local economy, all got a complimentary glass of champagne. Kim-ly had gotten out of the habit of drinking but she did indulge this one glass as the two couples conversed and they discovered that it was Stuart and Ellie's sixteenth wedding anniversary. After that glass, the hotel brought Don and Kim-ly a bottle of champagne in a bucket but just as the waiter started to open it Don stopped him. "Thank you but no, we didn't order this."

"It's a gift sir," said the waiter as he started to uncork the champagne. A card came with the bottle showing that it was a gift from Carol Schaeffer.

"A gift from Doctor Schaeffer?" Stan's eyebrows shot up.

"Is she a friend of yours?" asked Ellie, eager to hear a story.

"No, I just met her on Sunday," said Don, but he was kicked under the table by Kim-ly.

The Haugens looked like they realized that something was up, then Stuart said to Don, "I know I recognize you from somewhere else..." then the clouds parted for Stuart, "your military retirement at the high school a couple of years ago, we were at the ceremony," said Stuart, "but I got the impression you were married to another person."

"Busted," sighed Don, "and it's weirder than you may believe. Yes, I'm still very happily married to Lanh, Kim-ly's sister." He paused and took a deep breath and continued. "If you remember how busted up I was at the retirement ceremony, my accident was really bad and that ceremony was held after a year of rehab and surgery, I honestly don't know how I survived it... it scared Lanh a lot... a whole lot... we can't have kids... we can't even adopt..."

Don was trying to explain why he was sitting at a fancy occasion with his sister-in-law and getting gifts from a well-known OB/Gyn but he was making a mess of it. Kim-ly patted Don's hand and said, "These two, all they ever wanted was children. When Don almost died, Lanh and I were horrified that he could go and there would be no one left behind for Lanh, so I carried a baby for them."

While she was speaking Don opened the card that came with the bottle of champagne and almost did a "spit take" with the sip of champagne he had in his mouth. He handed the card to Ellie who looked confused as did Stewart who handed the card to Kim-ly who was still explaining Danh. The card read "Congratulations to my favorite turkey baster baby!"

"It was kind of a hands-free operation," laughed Kim-ly.

"Kim-ly coached her older sister through three babies and she tends to keep the conversation in the delivery room... colorful," said Don. "When it was Kim-ly's turn for a baby it looks like Carol got her back."

"What are you going to do with the baby?" Ellie asked. "Legitimately he's Kim-ly's child and if she meets someone else..."

Don shrugged. "Right now, the plan is for Lanh and I to move back here when her contract expires and we'll all be living in the same house. We'll have to deal with it then."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Kim-ly. "I've had men in my life, and the only one I'm happy with is about this big," and she held her hands about two feet apart indicating Danh. Don took out his phone and showed pictures of Kim-ly and Danh taken a few days ago.

Soon their dinner arrived, and conversation turned to more adult things, like how Kim-ly became a farmer. "I was hanging out at his house," she said poking Don, "and his father put me to work."

"I built an apartment on the side of Dad's farmhouse for her sister," said Don poking Kim-ly, "and when I enlisted and we went to Germany she moved in, so dad put her to work. When she's not milking cows and running my tractor out of gas..."

"That only happened once!" said Kim-ly.

"Three times, once cutting hay, once planting corn, and once plowing the driveway while you were pregnant. Sandy told me all about it."

"Your step-mother's a tattletale," mumbled Kim-ly.

"When she's not helping out on the farm, she's a CPA and does the books for the family businesses and she and her brother have several clients."

"I love math," said Kim-ly as she tasted her trout.

Stuart looked at Don and smiled. "What are you doing now Doctor Sergeant Campbell?"

Flustered that he remembered his title, Don shrugged, "Other than babysitting, nothing."

"It's not babysitting," said Kim-ly. "Babysitters get paid."

"Ok, my accountant reminded me that the babies in my life are a hobby, our next-door neighbor in Colorado had a daughter in January and her fiancé disappeared during the first trimester."

"She's pretty cool," said Kim-ly. "I decided to keep her."

"So what are you doing with your degree?" asked Stuart.

Don shrugged, "When you're disabled getting hired is difficult, so I study, and I write. I've had a few papers published here and there, mostly on the need to concentrate on core educational values, the three Rs."

"I thought an employer isn't allowed to discriminate based on disability," said Ellie.

"They're not," said Don, "in fact there's so much protection in place for a disabled person that even if I were robbing my employer blind, they'd find it nearly impossible to fire me. They may not want to hire somebody they can't fire if needed."

Stuart and Ellie looked at each other, then Ellie leaned forward as if sharing a clandestine secret, "Grant Valley needs thinking like yours on the school board."

"Fair warning - I didn't get a degree for public office; I got it because Lanh dared me to get it."

"Who cares how or why you got it," said Stuart, "you have it. Grant Valley needs a local voice on the school board. Half of the members aren't even from Minnesota, they moved here from places like Detroit and Milwaukee."

"Well, we can't have that," smiled Don, "But I'm not going to be moving back for a year, I don't know if..."

"That's perfect, that's when there will be elections for the school board, the board supervisors and two of the officers will be running for re-election, all three are carpetbaggers."

"Do it!" hissed Kim-ly. "Go into the family business!"

"What family business?" chuckled Don.

Kim-ly grabbed Don's wrist, "Lanh is teaching at NCU, Tam is head of the psychology department at Bemidji state, Angela is teaching at UND, Sandy teaches at..."

"Sandy gives piano lessons," said Don.

"She teaches music at Grant Valley now, didn't they tell you?" scowled Kim-ly.

"Life has been kind of crazy," said Don as he scanned his memory then realized that she mentioned something about teaching during their Christmas vacation, but he thought she was giving private lessons again. Life was crazy busy then.

"Sandy... Sandra Campbell?" asked Ellie.

Hearing Sandy's full name sounded alien to Don's ears. He knew her name was Sandra, but he's never heard her called that, it's been Sandy his entire life, Sandy Robertson, even calling her Sandy Campbell still feels new and untested after a decade and a half. "Yeah, she's my step-mom."

"She's teaching at the elementary school," said Ellie. "It's not a full-time position, but she's doing wonderful things with those kids."

"Ok, I'll bite, tell me more," said Don.

"Many of the children going to school in Grant Valley are farm kids, the FFA is still the biggest club in school," started Stuart. Don remembered his years in the Future Farmers of America, he won a few prizes for his calves. "Not a few people would like to see local farmers represented on the school board," he continued.

This idea was starting to sound good to Don.

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Lanh pulled into the farmyard late Friday afternoon, she drove a rental up from Minneapolis and was excited to see the baby and Tam was at the farm waiting for her. "Got your big girl panties on?" Tam asked.