manhattan mothers of multiples

The boys, bless them, have incorporated the bird and the nest and the eggs and mommys obsession into their ever growing world view. The very first word out of the blond's mouth this morning was "bird". Sometime after naps, the brunette looked up at me with those lovely blue today, green tomorrow eyes, gently took my hand in his and said, simply, "bird." I nearly burst into tears.

Before the big reveal, I explained to him that the bird might be a little scared and so we should be quiet and gentle around it. He nodded with appropriate solemnity. I opened the cover. He gasped a little and then waved to the bird.

I felt a tiny hand on my leg. There was the blond, arms outstretched in the universal sign of please include me in what you are doing right now, chanting "bird, bird, bird, bird." I bent down and picked him up. He peered into the slip and let out the faintest little squeal.

The bird looked up at us, me with a boy in each arm, got off the nest and flew away. The boys said, "bye bird" and went back to their endless task of scattering tiny pieces of cracker throughout the apartment.

I can only imagine what went through that little bird brain. There she was, a young, expectant mother, about to welcome two little ones into the world, facing the daunting enterprise of raising them in the big city, worrying about poisoned breadcrumbs in the park and taxi cabs and generally fucking them up before shoving them off the ledge, feathers crossed that she'd properly taught them to fly. And she'd spent the last however many days listening in on the insanity of our tiny apartment - all the screaming and the music and the stomping and the peeing on things and destroying of block towers - likely wondering what sort of madhouse she was perched aside. Just to learn that it's the apartment of two young mothers, with two little ones, trying to make it in Manhattan. And the poor thing probably needed a drink.

The good news is, she came back ten minutes later. When I checked on her after dinner, she gave me a look of quiet understanding.