I was staying with Elizabeth because she had recently given birth to LeGrand. It was early morning, and I walked into her bedroom to check on her and LeGrand to see if they needed anything. Elizabeth was sitting up in bed holding something in her hands that I couldn’t make out until I got close – it was a tiny copy of LeGrand – she couldn’t have been more than two inches long. She was sleeping peacefully in Elizabeth’s hands.
I asked Elizabeth if LeGrand had a baby. She replied “Of course not – this is my baby!” She told me the baby was born in her sleep and she pulled back the blanket to show me a small spot of blood on the sheet. Elizabeth swaddled the tiny baby in a paper towel and laid it in the bassinette beside LeGrand. I realized there was another tiny baby already in the bassinette – so three babies and all three looked exactly alike! Elizabeth laughed and said that she was going to need a bigger bassinette.
I accepted this situation without question. We knew that Michelle and Anne were coming to visit the babies that day, so I wanted to bake cookies for everyone. I opened the bedroom door to go to the kitchen, but there in the hallway stood two figures in black burkas. Each person held a large picnic basket.
Before I could say anything, both pulled their head coverings off and I realized these people were Michelle and Anne. I thought perhaps they were wearing Halloween costumes. We all walked back into Elizabeth’s bedroom. The three girls joyously greeted each other and stood around the bassinette gazing at LeGrand and the tiny baby replicas. Nobody was surprised (except for me) when the girls opened their picnic baskets and began taking out more tiny copies of LeGrand. All were wrapped in paper towels and laid around the larger LeGrand in the bassinette. There were at least 30 babies in the bassinette! They pulled out their phones and began taking pictures.
Finally, I demanded to know what was going on – where did all these babies come from! In a scholarly tone, Anne explained that if you are a woman of child-bearing years and sun rays shine on your skin, you will give birth in your sleep before the next morning sun rise. Michelle told me it had been in the news recently and it’s no big deal, we just need to cover up before going outside. Elizabeth quipped, “or not!” All the girls laughed and I woke up.
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