"It feels just like my incision is ripping open," Cindy moaned. It was the evening after the twins' birth, and Cindy was standing up for the first time. The nurses had insisted that she walk the length of the hallway, that mobility was important to prevent blood clots from forming in her legs.

"Come on, girl, you can do it," Gary encouraged her. She grabbed her IV pole in one hand and, leaning heavily on Gary, slowly made her way down the hall, inch by painful inch. When she returned to the hospital room and eased onto her bed, the nurses and Gary cheered, but Cindy burst into tears.

"I'll never be back to normal again!" she cried.

"Oh, nonsense. You'll be be-bopping around here in no time," one of the nurses said.

"Ha! Yeah, right," Cindy muttered.

"So, shall we raise Jonathan as a Jew and Rebecca as a Christian, like I heard they did on some program about pioneers?" Gary asked.

"That was Nellie and Percival Dalton on 'Little House on the Prairie,' and no, I think that would be silly."

"Oh yeah, Carly used to watch that show all the time. It was one of her favorites when she was a few years younger."

"I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid too. I think it would be a much better idea to do like Margaret's parents did in 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." Raise them in both traditions and let them decide for themselves when they get older."

Gary looked at Cindy in surprise. "Carly read all those books, too." They both laughed.

"You seem to have an awful lot in common with Carly when it comes to TV shows and books," Gary commented.

"Well, we are only eleven years apart."

Gary rolled his eyes. "And you just couldn't resist reminding me of that fact."

Cindy thought quickly. "Well, you watched 'Gilligan's Island' when you were a kid, didn't you?"

"Every single episode, dozens of times each."

"So did I, but Carly's a little young to remember that show, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so."

"Well, there you go."

"Thank you, Cindy, I feel ever so much better now." They laughed again.

Unfortunately, Carol Brady and Sylvia Greenberg arrived to visit their new grandchildren within a few minutes of each other later that day.

"Rebecca is Carly all over again," Sylvia remarked. "And Jonathan, what a handsome little man. Before you know it, it will be time for his bris."

"His what?" Carol was taken aback.

"His circumcision ceremony. All Jewish baby boys are circumcised on their eighth day of life. It's in the Torah."

"But that's crazy! Cindy isn't Jewish. Marcia had Mickey's done right in the hospital the day after he was born. There's no need for all that fuss."

Sylvia looked outraged. "Well, I'll have you know..."

"Both of you get out of here, right now!" Gary snapped. "If you're going to argue, you'll just have to take it somewhere else. I'll not have my wife upset when she's just had major surgery."

Sylvia glared at him. "Well, I never..."

Carol gave Cindy a pleading look, but the look on Gary's face said that he meant business, so both women stepped into the hallway.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear all that." Gary held Cindy close. "Right now all you should have to worry about is your own recovery and getting used to being a new mommy."

"Ah, my knight in shining armor." Cindy snuggled up to him.

Rebecca began to whimper. "I think somebody's hungry." Gary picked his daughter up and handed her to Cindy to be fed. Her brother joined her a few moments later.

"We will have to make a decision about that soon," Gary said. "They'll be around with the surgical consent forms shortly."

""Why does it have to be on the eighth day?"

"It's in the Bible, dear. You guys have the same Bible we do, well sort of, anyway." He grinned sheepishly.

"I don't remember that part." Cindy looked at her sleeping son. "Poor little guy."

"Jake came through his like a trooper."

"He didn't have much choice about it, did he?"

Gary laughed and tousled Cindy's hair.

Cindy stood with Gary in the synagogue, holding both twins. The Greenbergs were there too, and so was Cindy's obstetrician brother Greg. Carol Brady's main concern had been that the bris was not going to be held in a medical setting, and she had feared the possibility of complications such as bleeding or infection. After talking it over, Gary and Cindy had decided to ask Greg to be there for the ceremony. Carol still wasn't completely comfortable with the ceremony taking place in a synagogue rather than a hospital, and Sylvia resented Greg's presence, feeling that it undermined the rabbi's position, but Gary had reminded them both that it was his and Cindy's decision, not theirs. Cindy knew how important it was to Gary that the ceremony take place in as traditional a manner as possible, and Gary appreciated Carol's concern for her grandson's safety.

Gary took little Jonathan in his arms and held him while the rabbi performed the actual procedure. Neither Gary nor Cindy were able to watch. Little Jonathan cried, of course, and after it was over, the rabbi handed him to Cindy so that she could comfort him while Gary held his sister.

Afterwards there was a blessing with wine and challah, followed by a celebratory meal, but Cindy was too concerned with her tiny son's comfort to pay much attention to anything else.

By the time Gary and Cindy were ready to go home, little Jonathan was asleep like his sister. Gary and Cindy placed both babies in their cribs, and Cindy watched them sleep for awhile before joining Gary in the den to await the return of Jake and Carly from school.