shimmerandsing | Follow the sound of my heartbeat, now.

Once again, Alison found herself in the Nexus office of Dr. Beverly Crusher. She was laying on the exam table and trying very hard to hold still as she waited for the doctor to get her equipment set up. Today was they day they would hear their babies heartbeats for the very first time. The excitement was so overwhelming that she was nearly vibrating with it as she waited. It seemed like forever! In actuality, it was probably only about ten minutes. But, it was a very long ten minutes.

They might also get to discover what sex the babies were. Alison had spent a great deal of time with Dakota's daughter, Gloria Jean. And, with John's daughter, Lisa. Miyuki was a constant presence in their lives now, also. And she never regretted any time spent with those girls. Part of her was wishing for a couple of adorable little girls to dress up and spoil.

Part of her was also wishing for little boys to shower with all the affection her first son should have had. Two, beautiful sons to chase their daddy around the castle and learn ninja tricks that would give her premature gray hairs.

She turned to smile at the Daddy in question and squeeze his hand as he stood beside her. Whichever gender they ended up with would be perfect. And, whichever they didn't get would be what they tried for next. She had already pretty much made up her mind that one more baby, at least, was in the cards for them.

Somehow, she didn't think Longshot would require much convincing.

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Longshot nodded slowly. If they were boys, he would have plenty of time to brace for them. Though there would still be celebrating. Girls would be a reason to celebrate, too. Just no bracing for them.

"I think I told Tasha what she was going to have a bit early," he said with a rueful grin. "Guess we can find out early, too."

"Let's find out, then." Alison smiled. She didn't miss the tiny bit of hesitation in his expression and response. But, she was absolutely confident that he would be fine once he was holding his sons or daughters in his arms.

"What do you need me to do, Dr. Crusher?"

"Lie still," she answered with a smile. "It's harder to take readings if you're doing jumping jacks."

She did a quick scan of Alison overall with her hand unit. She nodded at the readings before placing the hand unit over Alison's midsection and letting it hover there. Beverly adjusted her grip so she could tap various buttons on the main unit with her thumb. It took about five minutes for the scan to get the data she wanted.

"Now, if you two will wait for a bit, I'll work on getting results."

The doctor smiled before she headed to her desk. She plopped down and touched the middle of the desktop. A small screen easily slid up and she began downloading the information from the tricorder. She was intent and quiet as she worked through sorting the data and getting a lock on the gender portion of the babies DNA.

Since the doctor was no longer scanning her, Alison sat up and scooted over to one edge of the exam table. She smiled at Longshot and patted the newly vacated space beside her. They might as well sit together while they waited.

"Wanna guess which gender they'll be?"

Longshot hopped up on the bed on the indicated spot. His feet dangled off the floor so he swung them a little bit. His heels kept bumping into the lower part of the bed. He considered Alison's question and his luck in regards to all her baby stuff so far.

"Boys," he guessed. His good luck had to end somewhere.

"I'll guess girls, then. One of us is bound to be right." She grinned and winked. Her feet swung, too, as they waited for the results. Alison tipped her head to the side and rested it on her husband's shoulder.

"I love you."

Longshot kissed the top of Alison's head. "I love you, too."

He didn't want to mention it, but these twins felt more real to him than their first child had been. The loss of that Shatterstar did not lessen any from that, but it would be absolutely devastating to lose his two magical beans.

"So, you're gonna have to think of names soon, huh?"

Alison made an amused sound and shook her head slightly so that she didn't shake it right off of his shoulder. "I think you mean we are going to have to think of names soon. Right?"

She wanted to make naming these babies a joint effort this time.

"I'm not so good at naming," he said flatly. It had come to be something like a mark of doom. He did not want to hurt himself or Alison in that way again.

"Besides, we're on Earth now, and I don't know very many Earth names. The ones I do are kinda used at the moment."

"We'll figure the names out together," she reminded him, gently. "It won't be the sole responsibility of either one of us. It's something we'll do together. Just like we do everything else that is important."

"We can get some baby name books."

He only shrugged with one shoulder. Longshot did not want to knock Alison in the head with the other. "I guess."

He was not all that enthusiastic about it. He was all for breaking odds, but some of those odds had broken him. "Should make sure they go with your last name."

Alison choked down a flash of irrational hurt. She knew he wasn't deliberately trying to upset her. So, she didn't respond to his shrug.

"They can keep my last name if that's what you want."

"I don't have a last name, so yours is better than nothin'," he said with a small grin. "Well, unless you wanted them to have the last name the clan gave me on all those papers."

Longshot was oblivious to any possible hurt he had given to Alison. He was just trying to make the odds better for their children to survive longer. And all he had to go off of was his history with children so far.

"That'll make my mother happy. If I call her." Alison didn't really want to talk anymore, so she lapsed into silence and waited for the doctor to return with their results. Hormones, she kept reminding herself. She wasn't really upset. It was just hormones.

Longshot grimaced a bit when Alison's silence lingered. Oops. He knew he was being stubborn but couldn't help it. All the loses had hurt too much. And remembering them made them feel too new.

"Sorry," he apologized softly.

He hoped the doctor finished soon before he got himself a ticket to turn the Happy Fun Couch into the Lonely Blues Couch.

"It's okay," she murmured.

She knew he was afraid of his past history with children. He had reason to be hesitant. She just wished he'd realize she had lost her only child, too. She was scared, too. But, this was something she wanted more than anything in the world. If he was with her all the way.

Follow the sound of my heartbeat, now.

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