The farther into my pregnancy I got, the larger I seemed to get. I had gotten so big that we had to wean Elijah off my breasts because there was no comfortable way to for me to feed him. He had put up a fight at first, but when I had given in and fed him, the baby kicked him and he wasn't too happy about it. He was now eating mushed berries and fish that mother prepared. He was also beginning to speak more. He called Shem, "Pa," and would yell, "Now," to the girls when he wanted to play with them. As Elijah got older, Adah and Evi began to like him better. The three would spend all day playing together, running and collecting berries. Evi's leg had completely healed within a few days, but she pretended that it still hurt for the attention. She would cry when she was told to walk and someone, usually father, would carry her. She kept this up for about a week, but then she watched her brother and sister running and climbing over their father and decided to give up her act and join in.

My sickness had primarily ended and even though I carried a fairly large weight, I spent most of my time playing with the children. The girls had taken an interest in my pregnancy this time and enjoyed feeling the baby kick and talking to my belly.

Everyone was currently eating breakfast in the dining area eating together. Ham and Na'el had announced that she was with child a few days earlier so she sat a little farther back from everyone else to avoid getting sick. I was enjoying my meal and feeding Elijah some mushed berries, when I felt the baby give a strong kick towards my insides.

"Ouch!" I shrieked.

"Ila what is it?" Shem asked, rushing over to me, "is it time?"

"No it is not coming." I told him chuckling, "it just kicked hard towards my insides."

"But I thought it kicked higher this morning?" he asked me curiously.

"It did." I replied, "Right above my rib."

"Maybe you are carrying twins again." Mother suggested.

"It would make sense; you were about this size with the girls and smaller with Elijah." Shem said.

"Are you telling me I am huge?" I asked him with a glare.

"Yes but I don't mind." He replied, kissing me.

Mother slapped Shem upside the head while I scoffed and handed him Elijah.

"Ouch mother!" Shem exclaimed, "And where are you going off to Ila?"

"I am going to take a bath and a nap while you watch the children." I told him.

I kissed both of the girls on their foreheads and headed off towards the hut. I started pouring some water into the washing basin that I had started heating earlier and put some herbs in. Once the water had cooled to a nice warm temperature, I undressed and got in.

"Daughter." I heard and turned to see mother standing in the doorway, "can I enter?"

"Of course mother, would you mind added a bit more water?" I asked her.

She nodded and poured some of the hot water into the tub. She took some oils from a vial in her pocket that she had extracted from some flowers and added it to the water.

"Thank you." I told her, closing my eyes, "Do you really think its twins again?"
"Yes I do." She replied.

She poured some water on my hair with a cup and once it was wet enough, she braided it and tied the end with a string. She used to do this when I was little, just as I told her my birth mother did. I took a cloth to clean myself but she took it from my hands.

"No let me, I miss this." She said.

I chuckled in return and handed her the cloth.

"You can wash your grandchildren you know." I told her.

"Yes I know but it's different." She replied, "And I know I am not going to see them as much when you move away; or you and Shem for that matter."

"That is not true mother." I said looking at her, "it is not that far away, just little walk."

"But I do not understand why you want to be so far from us, explain it Ila?" she asked me.

"Because mother," I sighed, "Shem and I want a chance to be our own family. For so long we thought that we would never be able to have even one child and now look at us. We do not want to hurt you or father; we only wish to enjoy what we have been blessed with."

Mother looked at me knowingly and kissed my forehead. She helped me stand and wrapped a towel around me. Once I was dry and out of the tub, I put on a clean night dress and mother helped lower me onto my mattress. She lied down next to me and stroked my hair. I felt my eyes droop and finally succumbed to sleep.

When I woke later it was not mother who was next to me, but Shem. He was wide awake and his hands were caressing my belly. He must have felt me move because he looked up at me and smiled.

"I thought I told you to mind the children." I scolded him jokingly.

"I was but they are napping now." He replied kissing me, "you know how beautiful you are right Ila?"

"I am most definitely not beautiful right now." I said, point to my swollen abdomen, feet, face, neck, and hands.

"I don't mind it. It shows that you are carrying new life that we have created." He told me.

"Ma!" cried Elijah, running into the hut and onto the mattress.

"And how did you get out of your cot?" I asked him, poking his nose as Shem ruffled his hair.

"Climbed." He mumbled into my neck.

"I believe it is time for a new cot." Shem declared.

"When we move." I told him.

A couple more weeks had past and it was time for us to move. Shem had continued to keep count of how many days I had been pregnant and so far it was two hundred and fifty-three days. I was tired and tried not to move so much to try to keep the babies from coming. It had taken a while, but I finally realized that mother was right, I was having twins again.

Shem, father, and Ham had started to move our bedrolls, blankets, and other furniture, while mother and I packed up herbs, berries, bread, and fish. Japheth and Na'el kept the children busy and packed up our clothes. Mother had come to terms with our moving but she still didn't like that we were moving before I gave birth. For our first night in the new hut, mother and father had agreed to watch the girls, and Ham and Na'el were to watch Elijah so that Shem and I could be alone. It had been so long since Shem and I had lied together or even been alone, and we wanted a night before I gave birth.

Once we were all done packing, and our new home was done, Shem and I bid good night to everyone, kissed our children, and left. It took a while to get there due to my extra weight, but once we got in I gasped at how perfect it was. There was a furnace and a hearth right where you walked in and a cooking and dining are behind it. Off to the left there was a washroom and a fairly large room.

"Our bedroom." He whispered in my ear.

Off to the right of the common area were three rooms for the children. The plan was to give them each their own room until the new ones were older, then we would have Adah and Evi share and the new twins would share. Outside the hut was a beautiful little herb garden and some chairs that I had seen Shem building. He had built most of the furniture here but those chairs he built by our old hut with the girls. We also had a little coop made of wood that housed a few chickens, for eggs, and a fenced area of cattle and goats for milk. Not too far from the hut was a lake that Shem had said was clean for washing clothes and dishes and we could also fish from it. Father had allowed us to begin eating fish, eggs, and a few types of birds, but the birds and fish we killed had to be plentiful.

After the tour of our new home Shem and I went back to our room. Once we got there he moved to kiss me and I kissed him back. He pulled off my dress and gently lied me down on the mattress. The second I lied down, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach but I ignored it, thinking it was just a sharp kick. By this time Shem had removed his shirt and was on top of me, kissing my neck, his hands wandering to my thighs. I began to touch his chest and just as he moved his hands in-between my legs, I felt a familiar trickle of water roll down from my womanhood. Shem stopped what he was doing and looked up at me.

"Was that?" he asked me wild-eyed.

I gulped and nodded. He immediately jumped up and helped me into my night dress. He ran out of the room and came back a few moments later with some blankets and water. As he came back, I felt a contraction rip through me and knowing the children weren't around I let out a howl. Shem immediately came to my side and grasped my hand. Once it passed, he released my hand and went to go check on the babies.

"They're coming Ila." He told me, "I do not want to leave you alone so I will deliver them, then when I know you are all fine I will fetch mother."

"Do you know how?" I asked him through my tears.

"Yes mother taught me, just in case." He replied.

He wet a piece of cloth and placed it on my forehead. My water had broken before I really had any contraction so I knew this birth would be fast. Another contraction hit and I gripped Shem's hand.

"Breath Ila. In and out." He instructed me.

"I KNOW SHEM!" I hollered at him.

Just about every few hours he would move from my side to check in between my legs.

"I see a head Ila. You will need to push soon." He finally said, cleaning his hands once again.

I took a deep breath and as soon as I felt another contraction I pushed. Shem kept held of my hand and squeezed it encouragingly while telling me how well I was doing.

"You're doing so well Ila. One more push and the first one will be out." Shem told me, crying.

I pushed one last time and heard a shrill cry fill the room. I looked up to see Shem removing a crying baby from my body. He wiped it down with a wet cloth and swaddled it in a blanket, then crossed over and handed it to me.

"Meet your new daughter." He told me handing her over.

I took her into my arms and started to rock her. I looked at her and saw that she had mine and my birth mother's dark brown eyes, and black hair like Naameh and Ham.

"She's so beautiful." Shem said stroking her little tuft of hair.

Before I could reply I felt another sharp pain in my abdomen and grunted. Shem took the baby and but her in her cradle by our bedroll. He then came back over to me and checked on the next baby. He told me to push and I did. As soon as I started to push, I noticed something change in Shem's demeanor.

"What's wrong Shem?" I cried.

"The cord is around its neck. You need to push as hard as you can!" he informed me.

I pushed as hard as I could, feeling my face turn purple. I felt the baby slip out and Shem immediately untied the cord, but something was still wrong; the baby wasn't crying and it was a bluish-grey color. Shem put the baby on a blanket on the ground and began to blow air into its mouth. I was sobbing, trying to sit up but Shem kept yelling at me to stay down. After a few grueling moments, I finally heard the sound we had been waiting for. Shem got up and handed me the baby and went to pick up our daughter. Curious, I moved the blanket and saw that it was a boy. Shem sat down next to me and we sat in silence, staring at our newest miracles.