The Next Verse in the Science of Life

Chapter 1

"Turnabout Exhaustion"

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Ace Attorney. All credits go to Capcom, they own the rights to everything. This storyline here however is completely original and was created by me.

Second Disclaimer: Hoorah, I get to write with the Gavinners some more. Big round of applause to Stormy for creating the fops we know and love. All credit for Deston, Seren, and Raoul go to Stormy, they're her creations.

Ema's eyes fluttered open and she realized she was awake. She picked up her phone and glanced at the screen to see it was past eight in the morning. It was a treat for her to sleep in on the weekends. The pregnancy had done so many funky things to her body, messing with her sleep patterns was only one of them.

Ema's hand moved over to Klavier's side of the bed and was met with empty sheets. She figured he'd have gone for an early morning run. It was Saturday, one of the fews days he had time to work out.

She sat up in bed, a little off-balance because of her large and ever growing stomach. Ema was seven months pregnant and very, very round. Her stomach was practically its own continent. She still had two months to go, but when you were carrying twins you were going to be even bigger.

Twins. Twin girls to be exact. They'd found out a few months back when Ema went in for one of her regular exams. Ema had wanted to know the sex of the child so she could decorate the nursery accordingly. But they'd both been very surprised when the doctor's eyebrows shot up in happiness and he told them she was carrying two babies.

They'd put a lot of thought into what they'd name the little girls. After much deliberation, they decided on Kiara Elisabeth and Emma Adara. Emma was Klavier's idea (she'd rolled her eyes but complied), and Kiara was her choice.

Ema pushed herself out of bed and walked out to the living room to sit down and read for awhile. She rubbed her still sleepy eyes as she opened the book to the dogeared page. Lana had gotten her into a mystery novel series, and she was reading any chance she got.

She shifted her weight as she tried to get comfortable on the sofa. Though she'd been getting bigger with each passing week, she still couldn't get accustomed to being pregnant. Ema had always been a skinny girl, so having a round stomach was just odd to her.

But it still made her smile when she looked at her stomach and pictured the little babies safely inside her. She was looking forward to becoming a mother, even if it was earlier than she'd expected. Her mind wandered as she looked at her stomach in silence, picturing what the babies looked like.

Ema shook herself out of her stupor and went back to reading. She propped the book and her hands on her stomach and started reading where she left off.

An hour later, she was being shaken awake by Klavier, back from his run. His hair was pulled back in an uncharacteristic low ponytail, and he still had a bottle of water in his hand. He'd crouched down next to her sleeping form and was looking at her, eyes almost parallel to him.

She'd fallen asleep on the sofa, the book having slid from her hands onto the floor. She blinked and took in the realization. She grunted as she pushed herself to sit up and Klavier sat down beside her.

"Are you alright Fraulein? Taking a nap so early isn't like you." He looked at her worriedly. She'd been sleeping even more than usual. He suspected it was because of her refusal to leave work yet.

She'd been working long hours at Apollo's firm, despite now doing just desk work, and despite being seven months pregnant. Desk work was all she could do.

And much to her dismay, she'd been sidelined from forensics work in the field a couple months into the pregnancy. She was still able to do experiments at home, as long as it didn't involve chemicals. She'd asked her doctor, and he firmly told her that she was not to come in contact with chemicals in any way.

Klavier been pushing for her to start her maternity leave, but she'd been stubborn, wanting to work for a long as possible. She knew she couldn't keep working for much longer. It was become increasingly hard to do even everyday tasks, let alone everything she did at work.

But still working full time was obviously catching up on her, evident by the dark circles under her eyes and the fact she was taking a nap at ten in the morning, even if it was unintentional.

"I don't know. I don't remember falling asleep. I was reading my book, and the next thing I knew you were waking me up." Ema yawned and twisted as best she could to crack her back.

Klavier frowned. He figured he might as well push the issue since they were almost on the topic. "Maybe it's time for you to take your leave from work and stay home. The doctor did want you resting as much as possible the closer you get to delivery."

Ema blew out a breath and shook her head slowly. "Not quite yet. I still have two months left. I'm going to go stir crazy staying home all day every day until I have our daughters. Everyone's busy working, or not in the country."

That much was true. Lana had a lot to do being Head Prosecutor. Miles was over in Germany full time with his family. Alison was still living in Germany, she'd yet to move over to the States yet. And Klavier was busy prosecuting as well. Even Klavier's bandmates had been busy with their own respective jobs, and she hadn't seen them in several weeks. She'd struck up a friendship with Deston and Seren once she'd gotten to know them better. Raoul was nice enough, but he still sometimes got on her nerves.

Ema would be on her own for a good portion of the time while she was on maternity leave. And there was only so much reading, sleeping, and watching television she could do. She couldn't drive anymore, being pregnant.

Klavier frowned. She was worrying him with her working as hard as she did. "You know I don't like you working this hard Ema. You're due in two months. I hope you'll take your leave from work soon. I want the last few months to go smoothly." Klavier leaned in closer to Ema while resting his hand on her stomach. "I want our daughters coming to us safely. After everything we've been through in the past, I'm not taking chances."

Ema rolled her eyes slightly and smiled. "I know, no need to remind me twice."

Author's Notes: Ugh, I've been away from writing far too long, I was so out of practice. I'm way out of my groove, and this took much longer that I thought it would, also considering how short this chapter is. Sorry it is incredibly short, but things will pick up, I have lots to happen in this installment, we're just getting started. Hopefully chapter 2 will be less awkward and will be better! ^_^