shimmerandsing | Just the facts.

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Just the facts.

Two weeks later, as arranged, Alison and Longshot were back in Dr. Crusher's office in the Nexus. Alison was anxious to hear what the doctor's scans and tests had concluded. She was hoping with the technology Dr. Crusher had that the doctor would be able to tell them definitively whether or not her previous miscarriage had just been a tragic combination of stress and environment as she had always thought. Or if the situation was much worse and her DNA was not compatible with her husband's. Alison would be inconsolable if that were the case.

Now, she waited -- as patiently as possible -- as Dr. Crusher set up her medical files and gathered her information for their visit. She sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Longshot was beside her in the other chair and she had a tight hold on his hand. Her thumb rubbed restlessly against the back of his hand.

There had to be good news. She needed good news.

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Alison's attention perked up when Dr. Crusher said she'd found something interesting. It didn't sound like a bad kind of interesting thing, so she didn't worry. Mostly, she was just curious.

And then when she heard what was so interesting, it took a minute for the information to sink into the right places. Most importantly, that the doctor was speaking about 'single births' as if that was no longer what they were dealing with...

"Mine is... Wait. So, you're saying... there's more than one baby?"

201 was a big number. She was a little concerned about just how many more babies they were discussing.

Longshot's grip on Alison's hand loosened. He was doing a weird math in his head. Za's Vid! Four babies! I'm never gonna be able to sleep in the same room as Ali!

"H-How many?"

Alison was too stunned to notice the slack in Longshot's grip or the distress in his voice.

Multiple babies. That could either be the greatest thing that had ever happened to them. Or, something huge that would test them to their limits. Her limits, anyway.

"Well, about 200 is the normal levels for twins at this stage in development," Beverly said as she pulled out a wand-like thing. It started to strobe a light down the long, thin sensor. She held it over Alison's abdomen. "Though that's not really a good way to tell."

She leaned back and eyed the monitor that blinked to life a little behind her. She moved the wand over Alison and the imagery changed on the monitor to follow her movements. It took a minute of adjusting the sensor's position before Beverly held it in one spot. She reached over with her free hand and turned the monitor to face the stunned couple.

"Longshot and Alison, you're now the happy parents to a set of twins," she announced blithely. She pointed at a large spot. "That is Alison's bladder."

Her finger moved down to two smaller, slightly kidney bean-shaped spots. "This and this are your two babies currently."

The hand not holding Longshot's came up quickly but just missed stifling a startled -- and amazed -- gasp. Alison's eyes widened even more as she watched the doctor's finger point out their babies. Babies.

A sound caught somewhere between a hiccup and a laugh emerged from behind her hand as she stared at the screen and her eyes brimmed with tears. Twins!

"We're having twins!" She squeezed Longshot's hand tightly and started to giggle even as tears spilled over from her eyes.

No wonder she had been having trouble standing in his vision!

"Yeah!" Longshot's eyes were riveted to the display. Two! Two was so much better than four! One for each arm.

He glanced down at Alison and saw the tears. He started to reach to brush them gently away. Except that's when his knees decided to buckle.

Well, that was the one thing that could draw Alison's attention away from the sight of two babies growing inside her. She turned her head quickly and gasped at Longshot losing his footing.

She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes and started to sit up. "Are you okay, Longshot?"

Alison was quick, but Beverly was quicker. She should have been more prepared for this, but she went right into doctor mode. The scanner got set down on a tray, and she stepped the short way around the bed. She pulled out her tricorder and gave him a scan.

She looked down at the readings. "Looks like the Daddy to be just got a little too excited. All his readings are normal. No irregularities. No change in blood pressure. Heart rhythm is a little up, but nothing in the dangerous levels."

Besides the fact he was clearly conscious and looking up at Beverly. She put away the tricorder and shifted to help Longshot back up. "C'mon, let's get you sitting up by Alison."

Alison was a little shaky herself, as she sat up fully and scooted over to one side of the exam table. Seeing Longshot collapse had unnerved her a little, but if the doctor said he was alright then she wasn't going to give in to the urge to worry.

When he was settled beside her, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled up to his side.

"Stay calm, Daddy. There's two of us. We can handle twins." She smiled softly at him.

Longshot had been fully aware of what was going on. Though he had no idea why his legs felt wobbly. He leaned a little against Ali. He took a deep breath. "Yeah. We can. And I don't have to sleep on the couch for the rest of my life."

He smiled ruefully. "So which of our little beans will call me Daddy first? The one on the left or the one on the right?"

They were magic beans, too. Had to be. They were made from pure love and devotion.

That was the first time -- to Alison's recollection -- that Longshot had used the word 'Daddy' in reference to himself. She smiled and silently thanked whoever was listening. He was finally starting to believe he could be a daddy.

"Hmmm..." She looked back over at the monitor and pretended to give it serious thought. "The one on the left."

"Of course, these are children of yours. So I doubt that one stays on the left for very long. I fully expect them to be doing back flips any week now..."

"I suspect that will be in about four more weeks," Beverly commented as she picked up the scanner again. "I can have some pictures printed out for the two of you, but before we get to the happiness printed on paper, I do have some concerns I need to share with the two of you. From my scans the last time you visited."

She held up the hand without the scanner. "Nothing that will effect the health of the babies, but it was a cause for concern for me."

Alison turned back to the doctor and frowned, concerned. If it wasn't about the babies, then he wasn't going to panic straight away. But, depending on what news she was given, she might very well panic later.

"What did your scans show?"

Longshot scratched an ear. If it wasn't going to effect the health of their babies... babies hee ... then it wouldn't be something the doctor saw in Alison's scan. Because if it was something with Alison, there would be a lot of concern.

"In my scan?" His voice was caught between hope and fear. He remembered the scanner hovering over him. He didn't recall exactly how long, but it hadn't taken anything from him...

Alison squeezed Longshot tighter and rubbed one hand lightly up and down his side. She'd really rather hear that there was something wrong with herself than with her husband. Her own pain was easier to handle than seeing him hurt.

"How much concern for you?" She fought to keep her tone even, for now.

"Longshot is fine physically. I've hardly seen anyone else in better shape." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a data padd. "Except for this."

She called up the needed data and held it out the brain scan of Longshot. It was not as detailed as she would like, but that would require more and bigger equipment. And possibly the patient's uncomfortability at having big machines near his head.

"You mentioned Longshot had his memories wiped last time." She pointed to an area that was high-lighted red. "I am assuming it happened more than once because some of the damage to certain parts of his cerebral cortex are quite extensive."

"Several times, yes. I suppose having your memories ripped away over and over would have to leave damage." Alison leaned into him and held him closer. She didn't like talking about this, because she knew it hurt him.

"I always assumed that was why he had such difficulty getting some of it back."

"At least six or seven times," he said quietly as he stared at the data padd. If his brain was damaged like that ... did it make him stupid?

He looked up at Dr. Crusher helplessly. He didn't even know how to ask.

The tone of Longshot's voice was almost unbearable for Alison. She shifted closer to him and spoke low and close to his ear. "You're absolutely perfect to me. No scans, or tests, or machines will ever tell me different."

She hugged him tighter and kissed his cheek softly. Tears prickled her eyes, but she held them in check. She wanted to be strong for him.

"As it was specified that it was your memories were taken, I believe this is an area where yours are stored," Beverly said carefully. "I am concerned at the extent of the damage. If you want me to, we can do some deeper scans than what I can do with a tricorder. With that, we can determine how to speed up the healing that is happening naturally. And remove some of the places I think are blocked."

She hit a button and seven small dots blipped on the display.

"It is healing naturally, but at a very slow rate. There is a section that looks like it was formerly damaged but repaired. If I could get a better look at that, I could work up a regimen for you to repair what has been done to you."

Alison was torn in two directions. On the one hand, she knew how important it was to Longshot that he get all his memories back and be 'whole' again. On the other hand, she really didn't like the idea of anyone mucking around with his brain any more. She had no reason not to trust Dr. Crusher. But, the whole idea made her nervous.

She said nothing, though. Only held tightly to her husband and let him make this decision for himself. If he asked her, she would give him her opinion. But, the choice was his.

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Just the facts.

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