The Bat,The Twins And The Sunset.

I arrived home one crisp, clear January afternoon,pleasantly surprised to find hubby returned early. As it was in those days, we honored such an unforeseen trinket thrown in our laps with much tipple and titillating abandonment. As our waves crashed to imaginary celestial shores and fireworks winged up into the skies, I startled as something skimmed the top of my head, big enough to ruffle my hair. We jumped up bewildered, pulling sheets over our vulnerable nakedness.  Once more, a dark shape fluttered across the room, seeking some place to rest for a while.  It was a bat.  Hubby and I looked to each other confused.  Where had this creature come from? There was nowhere to hide or rest in the small six tatami room which held only a bed.  And I had watched enough Hammer House of Horror movies to glean that bats do not normally take a cruise on a bright,sunny day.  I remembered my grandmother, one particularly stormy night as we sat huddled by her coal fire, snatched from our dreamy strands, eating toast with real salty butter and slurping hot chocolate, that bats are magical creatures. It was believed they carried the souls of babies to their new Mother`s womb. I reiterated my beloved Gran`s yarns, sliding open a nearby window wide.  The bat flew over, scuffling my hair for the last time,flew up, away and disappeared.

Two,three weeks later,I felt off.  I couldn`t quite put my finger on it.  It was on Valentine`s Day, after a sonogram that a doctor turned to me solemnly and stated."We have to talk." Petrified, almost in tears, with nails drawing blood from hubby`s palms,  I hastily repositioned the little scraps of lacy material I used to wear called knickers and sat down for the consultation. I...or rather `we` were pregnant with twins to which I promptly burst out into very loud tears. I cried, much to the doctor`s relief, because the tsunami of happiness,delight and wonderment  that now coursed through my entire being needed some physical outlet. "Twins", the doctor confirmed in English. "Twins?" hubby asked. "Twins!" the doctor confirmed. "Twins?" hubby asked again this time in Japanese to which the doctor re-confirmed again but in Japanese and so this went on for a good five minutes.  Hubby and I, not daring to believe the amazing hand that Destiny had dealt us.  "You never do anything normally," hubby suddenly remarked.Then to the doctor,"She never does anything normally!" Feeling slightly indignant I countered.  "Excuse me! It does take two,you know!" To ,which the doctor said " Actually, it was you! The twins are fraternal. Two completely separate egg sacs!" 

And so Batboy and Batgirl were born,silently, deep inside of me.....before they were born to this outside world.  Only then, we referred to them lovingly as The Bat Babies.  Bat Baby One and Bat Baby Two. Their `handles` even at the hospital where we became quite the celebrities when I was rushed in at 33 weeks with severe pre-eclamsia.  At 37 weeks, all drips were reversed and I was induced.  It was five am and I remember watching the sunrise herald in a new day.  The day my babies would open their eyes for the first time and take a sneaky peek at this outside exterior. The one in which their Mummy and Daddy had been waiting with bated breath for their arrival.Complications arose involving cords, lack of space and an emergency C-Section was scheduled. 

I awoke eleven hours later, weak, mouth parched, a nurse by my side.  I had lost so much blood during the procedure that a hysterectomy had been advised, only halted by my body,suddenly ceasing it`s suicidal exsanguination.  It had been a close call of which only my poor husband had been conscious throughout. The nurse hastily rushed to pull the blinds across the most vivid sunset I`ve ever experienced. A vibrant college of reds and orange fingertips caressing the entirety of the room, finally calling attention to the little snapshot propped up on my bedside table.  A snapshot of two little pink bodies, snuggled up against each other,  tiny,fragile fingers curling against one another. An extremely kind gesture from the ICU nurses.

I adore sunsets. I adore sunrises even more.  Some internal clock never fails to awaken me just as the gong strikes and the sun minces her way across the skies, unfolding her vast wings and encompassing the land with her bright glow. Nature`s brilliance, here to remind us of the possibilities abound each new day brings. That the sadness experienced today may be the launchpad of unexpected bliss and dreams tomorrow. Interwoven intrinsically like night and day. In a few hours, I will witness another day dawning, the day my Batboy and Batgirl will turn seven. Seven.....I sigh. It was only yesterday I  approached their incubators,  sat in a wheelchair, shell shocked at the two,tiny bodies screaming in hunger.  How could such little things be so angry at the world already.  My arms outstretched, helpless, debating which one to pick up first, to feed first, to hug first, to declare my undying love and devotion to, to read all those wonderful stories from my childhood, to swing high in the air, whose toes to tickle first in my own rendition of `This Little Piggy".

This evening hubby told. Batboy and Batgirl to go to sleep quickly. That way, morning would arrive soon  with birthday presents waiting to be torn open.  Whilst on the landing I heard Batboy hiss to Batgirl. " If you don`t shut up and go to sleep,I am going to stick my finger up my bum and make you smell it.."  In a few hours, another sunrise, another day. There I will be sat. Herbal tea in one hand, pondering what  breathtaking feats will be beheld, what adventures will unfold, what possibilities will present themselves in a light to be grasped by hungry minds, what chance encounters will shape friendships that blossom into lifelong affection. And in reply to the breeze that rustles the curtain......."Happy Birthday,my little Bat Babies..."