Hey, guys. I'm back with the next chapter. This is where Ben sees what kids he will be expecting, and the names they'll be getting. Lots of fluff in this one. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks, and let's get to it.
The whole healthy regiment had been grueling for poor Ben. Ever since he secretly announced to Nick and Judy that he was expecting, the bunny and fox duo, mostly the bunny, had put Ben to the ultimate health test. For twenty-four hours a day, Judy had force-fed Ben food like salads, carrots, and berries. There were the occasional meats like crickets and fish. Zero sweets, though. At least, not when Judy was around.
Nick was right beside or behind Ben as they went running across the parks, on the treadmill, and on the beach in Sahara Square. The kids helped out, too. They made sure Ben stayed on his toes, and if they caught him laying around on his estimated time to lose weight, they'd go straight to their parents, and have him back on his feet, in no time.
That's how Ben spent the last six months. Six months of grueling weight-loss training, even though that wasn't gonna help much from showing around the midsection, where the baby was growing. Everyone at work was surprised at how much Ben was putting into this regiment of his, even the chief couldn't believe his eyes and ears, but went straight back to not caring.
...
Six months flew by like the snap of the fingers, and today was gonna be a special day for Clawhauser. Today, the doctor was going to examine how many babies he would be having, and what their gender was gonna be. The overexcited cheetah barely got enough sleep at the thought of seeing him, her, or both for the first time.
Normally, Clawhauser would sleep through his alarm clock whenever he had time off work, but today was different. Ben got out of bed, and changed into a red t-shirt and black sweatpants. The cheetah took a look in his bedroom mirror, and smiled.
The cheetah had slimmed down quite a lot. Ben's arms and legs were the first to shrink, as they went from fat to skinny in an instant. Much of Ben's torso area had greatly shrunk. The cheetah still looked a tiny bit curved around the hips, but he wasn't that big. The one thing that changed the least was Clawhauser's head. Granted, some of his cheeks had shrunk a bit, not much, but enough to make it impossible for Ben to hide food in his fat.
Clawhauser grinned happily he finally motivated himself to lose so much weight, that it didn't cause him to tire out when running; even if it was his friends who helped with most of the motivating, sometimes. But, the cheetah grinned his proudest, as he looked in the center of his reflection.
The result of what happened on his first case back on the field had made it pretty presentable in the last six months, as Clawhauser rubbed a paw over his baby bump. Ben jumped a little, as his paw felt a tiny kick or two from his tummy. Ben cooed at the little life growing inside of him.
"Just a few more months to go, baby. Oh, daddy can't wait to see you! You're gonna be the most gorgeous cheetah anyone's ever seen!" Ben squealed, affectionately, as he felt another kick.
"Well, no time like the present." Ben commented. The father-to-be left to call Nick and Judy, but stopped to pull up his shirt, and took one last parental look at his growing tummy in the mirror.
...
An hour later, Nick and Judy had driven Ben to the hospital. The kids, Cody and Shiela, didn't have school, what with today being a Saturday. So, they tagged along, despite their childhood anxieties about hospitals.
The adults sat down in the waiting room, while the kids played with the toys the hospital provided for children to take their minds off their fears of pointy things like shots.
"Mr. Clawhauser, Dr. W. will see you now." said a dingo nurse.
Ben walked in, waving to the Wildes for good luck. Clawhauser found the wombat doctor sitting next to a mat, and an ultrasound machine.
"Ready to see your baby, pops?" Dr. W. gave a wink.
Ben nodded happily, and laid down, pulling up his shirt. Dr. W. applied the special gel that made seeing with the ultrasound clearer to his belly. Ben stifled a giggle at the cold and tickling sensation. The doctor placed the wand on Clawhauser's belly, and began scanning. Suddenly, the monitor revealed a slight blurry image of a small body.
"Oh, there it is! That's your baby." the doctor exclaimed, excited.
Ben stared at the image with wide eyes. Then, those eyes welled up with tears of joy, and he covered his joyful, smiling mouth.
"Oooh, hi baby!" Ben squealed.
"As you can see, there's the head, round ears and all, and there's the tail." The doctor pointed out. "Then, we've got the arms, body and legs right there. Oh, I think I see what gender it is. You've got a baby girl."
"A girl? A baby girl!" Ben squealed, again.
"Oh, wait a minute. I think I see something else." Dr. W. said, focused. The wombat moved the wand toward the right side a little, and then another tiny body came into view on the monitor.
"Would you look at that, it's twins. Plus, this one's a boy, to boot!" Dr. W. said, excitedly. "You are one lucky cat, Mr. Clawhauser."
"A baby boy, too?!" Clawhauser gasped, with joy. "Oh, hey buddy! I've only seem them for one minute, and already I'm in love with them! They're the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life!"
"Well, they both seem to be doing healthy. Just keep up with what you're doing. Less time on your feet, balance what you eat, and etc." said Dr. W.
"Thank you, doc. Thank you for letting me see this miracle!" said Ben, tearfully.
"Just doing my job, Clawhauser. Be careful going home." said Dr. W., wiping the gel off Ben's stomach.
Ben walked out, and the Wilde's immediately surrounded him with concerned looks, which Ben eased by his cheerful expression and excited news.
"The babies and me are doing just fine. They're twins, a boy and girl!" Ben squealed.
Judy squealed, happily. "Oh, Ben! We gotta start coming up with names, right away!"
"Sure, but can we do this at the park? I wanna get some fresh air. Plus, I have this craving for cookies. There's this stand there with the best cookies I've ever had." said Ben.
"Are there oatmeal and raisin cookies?" Judy asked.
"Oh, yeah. They're so chewy." said Ben.
"Can we get chocolate chip, mommy?" Shiela pleaded.
"Just one each." said Judy, much to the kids' chagrin.
...
It was a clear and sunny spring afternoon, with a gentle breeze blowing across the trees. People walking or jogging by themselves, or with friends that chatted along the way. Kids ran around the park, playing catch with all sorts of balls, to flying kites. Families sat in the shade, in the midst of family picnics.
Ben was sitting next to Judy and Nick on the park bench near the fountain, while they watched the kids play tag with a group of other kids. Ben munched on the last of his oatmeal cookie, then jumped at a sudden feeling in his belly.
Ben put his paw on his stomach, and felt it. It wasn't a kick, but more like a small bounce. Ben smiled as he realized one of the babies was hiccuping.
"Ben, are you okay?" Judy asked, concern in her voice.
"Oh, I'm fine, Judy. I think one of the babies just started hiccuping." said Ben.
"Oh, I remember that with Cody and Shiela." said Judy, reminiscing her own pregnancy with her kids. "All that stuff like the morning sickness, cravings, mood swings, and contractions. They suck, but they're worth it. When you become a parent, Ben, you're always gonna love them and want to treat them like they hafta be shielded from the world. But, there are some times you gotta learn when to put your foot down."
"Oof! Probably before they do, first." Ben said, as he rubbed the spot when he felt a strong kick.
The exhausted Cody and Shiela came back to the bench, wanting to take a break from running around.
"Hey, Uncle Ben. How are you feeling?" asked Shiela.
"Okay, kids. Better than okay. The cubs just started hiccuping and kicking." said Ben.
"Oh, is it okay if we feel?" asked Shiela. "Mom, is that okay?"
"Of course it is! They're your new little cousins." said Ben.
"Just don't go jumping on his belly, okay kids?" said Judy. "That would seriously hurt the babies."
"We won't. We'd never do that to uncle Ben or our cousins." said Shiela.
Cody and Shiela curiously and carefully leaned their ears and paws onto Ben's baby bump. Shiela grinned as she felt a small thump from inside Ben's belly. Cody's face lit up with awe as he felt the cubs moving from inside the cheetah's bump.
"Say, uncle Ben? How'd the babies get inside you? Ma always said that only girls could have babies." said Cody.
"Oh, well, me and you're folks we'll tell you that story when you're a little bit older." said Ben, dodging the question.
"What's a little older?" asked Shiela.
"Twelve, maybe fourteen, tops." said Nick. "It's not that long a wait."
"Aw, okay." The nine-year-old fox kit and six-year-old rabbit kit replied, with those cute and pouty faces.
"Alright, kids. We better drive uncle Ben to his house. The big guy's had a big day, and he's gonna need all his energy for when he chooses names for the cubs." said Nick.
"Actually, I just already came up with some names." said Ben, grinning. "Let's see, I was thinking for the boy, Eric. Then, for the girl, Anna. Short for Annabelle."
"Oh, those our great names, Ben. They sound so cute, and they just fit so well." said Judy. "Well, let's help you up, then it's back to our car."
...
Evening came, and Ben insisted the Wilde family stay for dinner. Spaghetti and dung-beetles for the boys, and a caesar salad with chopped carrots for the girls. After dinner, the Wildes left, telling Ben to call them in case anything happened, at all.
Ben made it to his bedroom, laid on his bed, and turned on his TV. The cheetah was just in time to catch his favorite movie, 'Finding Nemo'. Ben could already feel the tears coming into his eyes. Just watching Marlin together with his son, Nemo, only filled his heart with joy and mind with joyful thoughts of him and his future kids.
Ben imagined taking Eric fishing, and playing catch. Then, there was playing 'pretend-princesses-and-knights' games with Annabelle. Then, there was sitting down and watching movies like 'Finding Nemo', together. Just like a real family.
Another thought came to Ben's mind, as he pulled out something from his bedside drawer. It was a stethoscope he bought at the pharmacy, about a week ago. The cheetah put the plugs in his ears, and rested the tiny drum to his belly. Ben slowly and gently moved the stethoscope over his belly, when he heard it.
A tiny heartbeat. Then, another heartbeat. The two sounds synchronized beautifully in Clawhauser's ears.
"I couldn't have asked for anything better to happen to me, and that's you, kids. Daddy loves you so much." Ben said, joyfully tearing up, again.
It didn't take long until the sound of his cubs' gentle heartbeats lulled Clawhauser to a gentle sleep. Six months down, and five more to go...
Well, that's it for this chapter. Lots of fluff in this one. Hope you guys like the names I picked up for the kids. Next one will be the last one, where we'll finally get to see the kids being born. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
I own nothing, including the movie and characters of 'Finding Nemo', except a few OC's. All rights go to their original owners, Disney and Pixar, respectively. No copyright intended.
Thanks, and stay tuned for more of this fanfic.