Few Answering Quintuplets' Needy Cries

"I was in shock. I was angry. I was so scared," Dickens said. "I cried and cried, and when I told Noval, he cried, too. How were we going to take care of five children?"

To make matters worse, Davis was laid off from his job at the warehouse. He wants to work, but to look for a job he'd have to leave Dickens home alone with the babies. The Davis Quintuplet Fund was set up by the University of Maryland Medical Center at M&T Bank, 22 South Green St., Baltimore, Md., 21201. But less than $1,000 has been donated so far, mostly by a small circle of family and friends.

Dickens and Davis are undaunted.

"Would I like more help? Sure, and a minivan, too," Dickens said, smiling as she looked up, her hands folded in prayer. "But regardless, I will never look at these babies and say, 'It's too much. I can't deal with it.' I chose to have them, and Noval and I, God willing, can take care of them."

They were sitting on a sofa, feeding three of the babies and changing their diapers. Davis held one baby in the cradle of his arm while using his chest to keep a bottle in the infant's mouth. He'd just fed and burped a second and was now balancing that baby in the palm of his other hand. When Dickens finished changing the diaper on a third, she took the baby from Davis's palm and placed the one she'd changed in a blanket next to her.

Two more infants will soon join the juggling act. The parents say they are ready. But they have only four hands.

Not enough.

E-mail:milloyc@washpost.com