Now that I'm over halfway there, I think there's hope that I might actually write a chapter about each couple (eventually). Once again, many thanks to everyone who's reviewed.

Oh, the hen-folk are hatchin' while their men-folk are scratchin'
To ensure the survival of each brand-new arrival

Less than a month after Ike was born, and within just a few days of each other, Dorcas and Martha gave birth to their babies. They were two more boys: John-Benjamin, whom they planned to call Johnny, and Kenan, to be called Kenny. Dorcas had let her little sister help her pick out a name, and Jenny liked Johnny because it sounded like her own name.

After a few weeks, when the babies were old enough to be brought outdoors and their mothers had recovered, the entire family gathered at the main house for supper one evening, to see the three new babies together for the first time.

"Just look at 'em," Daniel said after supper, gazing at the three pink-faced babies sleeping side-by-side in the crib, "they look enough alike to be triplets, don't they?"

The baby boys did favor each other. Their little tufts of hair were all the same dark shade of Pontipee red. Millie had said that they should be called triplet cousins.

"They'll grow up as good as brothers," Benjamin said, slinging one arm around Daniel's shoulders proudly.

Adam stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "They'll cause a mighty lot of trouble between 'em when they get older, if I don't miss my guess," he put in.

"Aw, they'll turn out all right," Frank said, waving one hand dismissively. "Hannah'll steer 'em straight, just like Millie done with us." He tickled Hannah, whom Adam was holding on his hip, and she laughed and babbled.

Hannah was now ten months old. She could pick things up, pull herself into standing, and crawl so fast that Adam and Millie couldn't turn their backs on her for a second. Soon she would be taking her first steps and saying her first words. She was practically a miniature adult compared to her newborn cousins, and it made Adam's heart ache, in a strange way that he'd never felt before, to see how quickly she was growing up.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder towards the kitchen. The women all happened to be in there now, chatting and dividing up the leftover food from supper. He glanced around at his brothers and motioned for them to come closer. They gathered in a huddle around Daniel, looking curious.

"Say, boys, listen," Daniel said in a low voice. Even Hannah turned her head to stare at him with her big blue eyes, as if she were listening, too. "Martha and I had a fight last night."

Caleb raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? What over?"

"Well, I ain't changed Kenny's diaper, and last night, he needed changin', and Martha said I oughta."

A few of his brothers curled their lips disgustedly. "What?" Frank asked, appalled. "She wanted you to change his diaper?"

Adam felt a bit intrigued by their reaction. He knew that he didn't hold as much sway over his brothers as he once did. After all, they each realized now his idea to kidnap their sweethearts and cause an avalanche had been a mighty bad one. But now, he was suddenly curious to find out how much he could still influence them.

"Don't tell me you boys aren't man enough to change a diaper?" he asked, looking around at their disgusted faces. When they didn't answer, he went on sarcastically, "Well yeah, that sounds 'bout right. Sure, it makes a lotta sense that men who been shovelin' cow manure since they were knee-high are scared of changin' one little baby's diaper."

Daniel cocked his head at this, considering. He and his brothers had all shoveled cow manure practically since they could walk; it was part of living on a farm. When Adam put it that way, it did seem a fool thing to not want to change his own son's diaper.

But Benjamin crossed his arms. "Well, I reckon it do make sense," he argued stubbornly. "I ain't expecting Dorcas or any of the other women to go out to the barn and shovel manure, so I don't think they should expect me to change diapers. We do men's work, and they do women's work, simple as that."

Daniel looked from Adam back to Benjamin, nodding in agreement, and Adam thought that maybe he had lost this round. He was prepared to give up, but just then, Gideon spoke up.

"Gee," Gideon said quietly, looking down at the floor, "if Alice had a baby, I reckon I'd be so happy, I wouldn't mind changing diapers one bit."

His brothers immediately grew sober. Of the seven Pontipee wives, Ruth, Liza, and Alice were the only ones who hadn't had babies yet, and Ruth was pregnant, her baby due at the end of the summer, while Liza had said that she wanted to wait a while before starting a family. But Gideon had told Adam once, privately, that he and Alice had been trying for a baby, but they'd been unlucky so far. "Well, sometimes it just takes time," Adam had said, squeezing his youngest brother's shoulder. He hadn't wanted to share something so private, but he'd passed what Gideon had said along to his other brothers, not wanting them to accidentally blurt out something insensitive. The Pontipee brothers had always teased each other about everything under the sun, but Adam wasn't going to have any of them teasing Gideon about this.

Now, seeing the forlorn look on Gideon's face, his brothers' attitudes suddenly shifted. "Say, you're right, Adam," Daniel said. "It don't make no sense to be scared of changin' a diaper." He jutted out his chin challengingly at Benjamin.

Benjamin uncrossed his arms. "Yeah, and who said I was scared?" he asked, defensive. "Why, I reckon I can change diapers better than you can any old day!"

Adam forced himself not to laugh, but he couldn't help smiling as his brothers argued over who could change diapers better. Gideon lifted his gaze and met Adam's eyes behind their backs. He still looked sad, but when he saw Adam's smile, he gave him a tiny smile back.

x

"Gee, Daniel, what made you change your mind?" Martha asked him the next day.

Daniel shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Well, I reckon it's a fool thing of me to do chores like shovelin' cow manure but not want to change my own boy's diaper," he said, not wanting to tell her that these were Adam's words.

Martha smiled and picked up Kenny, who had begun to fuss. "I think he's wet now," she said brightly, as if this were the best news in the world. "You wanna try changin' him?"

Daniel suddenly felt panicked. He hadn't expected this to happen so soon, and he was half-tempted to turn and flee, but he took a deep breath. You're his pa, Daniel Pontipee, he said to himself. If you can make a baby, you can sure as heck change a diaper.

"Sure," he said awkwardly, stepping closer to them, and hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt. "Just... uh... just show me what to do."