Pieces of you.

[shimmerandsing]

Aside from their initial visit, the rest of the visits Alison and Longshot had made to see Dr. Crusher had been exciting and pleasant. Tiny heartbeats and surprise twins. Things had always gone well and been fairly painless.

This one promised to be somewhat less appealing. Not baby-wise, of course. The twins were still growing healthy and strong. Alison had felt no pain or discomfort so far -- aside from a little morning sickness. The tea the jonin had given her was helping. She was anxious to see another ultrasound to see how big they'd grown.

But, this would also be the day that Longshot allowed the doctor to give him deeper brain scans to test the depth of the damage Mojo's constant mind wiping had caused. Her husband had been anxious about it for the last two days leading up to the visit. Alison had done her best to keep him occupied and not thinking about it. Her new habit of narrating everything she was doing for the benefit of the tiny lives growing inside her had been a constant source of amusement for the household. If the books said they could hear sounds, then she would give them sounds, darnit.

She had to sleep, though. And she kept waking to a husband with haunted eyes. If there was something she could do to ease his pain and fear, she would gladly do it. But, all she could offer was support.

They'd arrived to the visit with a portable DVD player borrowed from Lisa and a stack of new films neither of them had seen. Alison also brought some children's books to read to him so that they could pick out favorites to read to the babies. It was all she could think of to do for him.

Comments

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly had spent nearly all her time since the last visit getting permission to get the needed equipment to perform the intensive scans on Longshot. She had seen so many loops that she was sure Jean-Luc put in her way to dissuade her that she almost had a self-satisfied smile at getting past all of them. She may have liked being a doctor more than an administrator, but she had been the head of Starfleet Medical for a little while and had gotten some idea on how to maneuver around those problems.

She greeted the couple with a smile. "Hello, Alison. Hello, Longshot. Come in and have a seat."

She gestured them toward the examination table and the chair beside it. "How have things been since your last visit?"

All the equipment needed for Longshot's scan was in a back room. Beverly figured the prenatal care could be handled first.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Doctor Crusher." She smiled and set her armload down in a chair.

"I've been good. Morning sickness has kicked in pretty significantly, though." Alison hopped up onto the exam table and laid down. "And, at least one of them has developed some unnatural taste for whole, white milk." She made a face.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot didn't see the equipment to poke inside his head, so he was a little less fidgety than he should be. That did not stop him from peering around to see if any brain sucking leeches were going to pop out. "Hiya, Doctor Beverly."

The Mojoworlder plopped down in the chair beside the exam table. He absently picked at a thread sticking out from his pants. "I've been okay. Though Alison gets ice cream cravings at 2 in the morning. Is that normal?"

He asked only because a few hours later, it all came back up.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison blushed. A lot. And managed to smile a little at Beverly. "I guess it's become a pattern..."

Definitely time to put a limit on the cravings she indulged. She didn't really like sending her husband running all over the place, anyway.

To distract herself, she looked down at her shoes and wondered how long it would be before she couldn't see them anymore. All the more excuse to go barefoot, she supposed.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

It was a good thing that Beverly had enough professional decorum to not chuckle at Longshot's question or Alison's reaction.

"That's probably perfectly normal for Alison. every woman has different cravings. It doesn't harm anything if she's moderately indulged." The doctor smiled as she pulled out her tricorder.

"Now, did you two want another recording from this visit? I still have all the equipment necessary for that."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Yay! A subject change! Alison smiled and nodded at the question.

"I would like that, if it's not too much trouble. See how much bigger they are and all. The books I've been reading said we might be able to see fingers and toes growing by now...?"

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot fidgeted a little. "Yes, please."

He had been distracted enough by his own discomfort that he hadn't really paid attention to Alison blushing. He could focus on the babies. That was better than the idea that the doctor would do all that scanning and ... not be able to help him because Mojo had ruined him entirely. The Mojoworlder swallowed.

"Will... Will me being a Mojoworlder change anything about the pregnancy? Or anything. Uhm. Like will it be like a regular human birth or what?"

Stupid questions but it was good enough for distraction.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

It was a fair question, as far as Alison was concerned. She was curious how their different genetics would affect the pregnancy.

"We're curious what to expect."

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly plucked the handheld unit out of her tricorder. "That's a good question. I don't know right off hand. I've never run into anyone like Longshot in terms of genetics. I don't know his people's normal pregnancy cycles. It could be like a normal human pregnancy. Thus far, it's progressing like one. Or things could change due to Longshot's genetic influence."

The doctor motioned for Alison to lay down so she could begin the routine scan. "Let's see where we're at. We'll play it by ear for each visit."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison settled back against the exam table and concentrated once again on not squirming. She wasn't nervous at all, but everything about her babies was exciting to her. She couldn't wait to see what the scan would show this time.

Baby heartbeats! Fingers and toes!

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot watched Alison settle back and then the doctor begin her scans. Those weren't so scary. Then again, those scans were not boring holes into his babies' skulls. He scratched his nose and turned his attention to the monitor. Images would pop up there.

He couldn't stop one of his legs from bouncing nervously as the screen flickered to life. The Mojoworlder squinted at the images to try to figure out if his children still had tails.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison's gaze was fixed on the monitor as well. Tails didn't worry her. She knew they would be gone in time. She was looking for fingers and toes. Four or five?

She drummed her own fingers on her hip as she waited.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly let the hand unit hover over Alison's midsection as she pointed out things on the monitor with her other hand. "Well, I guess that answers some of the questions there."

Beverly pointed to the little elbows. "Those usually don't appear for another week in a baseline human pregnancy."

She shifted the view a bit. "And you can make out the toe rays here. The toes haven't formed but you can get a good idea of how many are going to form."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Faster was good. Faster was very good. The sooner she got to hold her babies in her arms, the better.

She smiled at the babies tiny elbows and couldn't help a tiny wiggle of excitement. They were so cute!

And toes! She laughed aloud when she saw the teeny tiny toes. Four of them... just like their Daddy's. One of Longshot's cutest features, in her opinion.

"You did it again, Daddy." She smiled at him.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot blinked. "What'd I do?"

He looked at the screen. Four was perfectly normal. There was even four fingers... though Longshot hoped that the fingers grew into those larger fingertips.

As he watched, something made him pause, blink, and rub his eyes. He reached over to tug on Dr. Crusher's smock lightly but never took his eyes off the monitor.

"Doctor! Can they wave? Because the one with the bits bulging between his legs just waved..."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"The babies inherited your four fingers and toes. Rather than my five." She chuckled softly.

Then she was distracted by his exclamation. A wide grin appeared on her face as she watched the monitor.

The baby might have been waving. Or just enjoying having an elbow. Either way, it was awfully cute.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

"Yes, they can wave. Both of them are probably doing plenty of moving now, but Alison can't feel it just yet." She grinned a little that they had the wave recorded for future playback.

"Something the two of you might want to get is a humidifier for your bedroom. Nasal congestion and nose bleeds can be a part of pregnancy. That will help if Alison gets a stuffy nose. Her body hasn't quite gotten the hang of this baby making yet."

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Alison restrained a squeal of delight. She really had to try not to disrupt the scan. Baby wavings!

"I think we still have one, somewhere," she answered Beverly without looking up from the monitor. "From when Longshot was sick a while back. I'll find it when we get home."

Nosebleeds would be no fun. And probably upset her husband.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot eyed his wife. She was making odd noises and they were not having sex. This pregnancy thing did strange things to the woman he loved.

"Getting sick wasn't fun. I got hit in the nuts with a sai and then fell into cold water." He nodded and turned back to watching the monitor. This could be watched the rest of the day. Then maybe he could escape getting put on that table and his brain poked.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"It was a training accident," she supplied helpfully. "Martial arts." It was the truth, but didn't give away the ninja part if her husband chose to keep it a secret.

She still hadn't looked away. The first few glimpses of their babies had been wonderful. Comforting and confirming. These looked more like real babies. And they moved! With the miscarriage behind her, seeing her babies healthy and squirming around was an intense relief.

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

Beverly raised an eyebrow and did not inquire further. She was not exactly sure where the 'nuts' were in terms of anatomy. She may have to look into historical slang terms.

The doctor let the recording go for a few more minutes before she pulled the hand unit away. She put the tricorder into her smock pocket and pulled a hypospray off a nearby tray. "Now, Alison, have you been taking the folic acid and vitamins as we discussed?"

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

Awww! No more baby pictures. Well, that was alright. She had them on a recording.

"Yep. Every day. I usually take them around lunch, so the morning sickness doesn't get them." She sat up and turned so that her legs dangled off the side of the exam table. Her feet swung slightly as she waited for the injection. She didn't like needles, but whatever she needed to do for her babies she would do.

[sonofarize.livejournal.com]

Longshot tried his best not to sigh when the monitor went black. That meant it got closer to time to put him on the table. He hunched forward in the chair and absently picked at his teeth. The talk was between the ladies. He had to get ghosts of fat blobs out of his head.

[light-in-sound.livejournal.com]

"I've been trying to eat healthier. My diet's usually not too bad anyway, but we live in Japan now and a lot of the food is vegetable heavy and well prepared, so..." She trailed off and shrugged. She was trying to learn to cook the food, too. But, that probably wouldn't interest the doctor.

"And, I bake. Often." Understatement. She couldn't help it!

[bcrusher-md.livejournal.com]

"Well, keep doing what you're doing. You're progressing well. Just remember with twins you want to gain weight early. It becomes healthier for the babies." Beverly pressed the hypospray against Alison's neck and released the medicine into her system with the hypo's small hiss. "That's just another cocktail to help you along. No major deficiencies from your readings. But considering your previous history and unique genetics, it can never hurt."

She gave Alison a comforting smile as she dropped the hypo into other smock pocket.