It's my birthday! I'm updating all my fics so the people who read them get a gift.
Four:
Alix rested one hand on her stomach while the other typed her question into the blank search bar. She checked her results. Cat bounded up and started nudging her hand. She stared off into the distance. This...no.
"KIM!"
There was the distinct yell that came with Kim dropping something on his foot, following by quick footsteps and her husband sticking his head into the room.
"What is it? Is there a problem?"
He glanced at her stomach before returning his eyes to her face.
"Kim, I was right."
"Uh..."
"My stomach isn't supposed to become enormous this quickly. I'm not supposed to have to buy maternity clothes yet, but none of my shirts fit."
"That shirt seems to fit you."
There was pointed silence in which Alix scrutinised Kim. He had no idea what was happening. Cat joyfully knocked Alix's lunch (an ice cream sandwich with cucumber on it) off the table, wrecking Alix's suspenseful silence.
"Kim, this is your shirt."
"Oh."
The next day, Alix sat staring at a screen while a machine poked at her stomach and Kim attempted to break her hand. The doctor, a very nice woman who was seemingly always happy, gave a huge grin while she stared at the monitor.
"Congratulations! Soon, you'll have an extremely healthy set of twins!"
Kim laughed and loosened his grip on her hand.
"Oh, that's great! I was worried it would be something like—"
Alix counted down from five.
"TWINS?"
Kim nearly fainted. His face drained of all colour. He sat so still, in that moment he could have made a fortune as a living statue. Alix smiled apologetically at the doctor. The woman smiled back.
"Would you like to take a look at them?"
She didn't wait for an answer. She just showed Alix the grainy image. Two shapes, both fairly small. One of them was kneeing the other in the stomach, and the other's response seemed to be punching their sibling in the face. Alix felt tired already.
"They'll be competing from the moment they're born, I swear."
Kim nodded.
Soon after they returned to their home, Kim sat staring at a long string of numbers. They were not his language as they were for Max, but he could tell when they didn't add up. These ones did not. They didn't have the money to raise twins and keep a dog as clumsy as Cat was. His job as a personal trainer at the only gym in the area was good, and he liked it, but there was no denying the pay sucked. His boss could pay him in peanuts, there were no other gyms close enough for him to be going everyday. Alix worked at the nearest skating rink, venues that vastly outnumbered the gym average. She skated, she taught classes, and she worked in the equipment shop. It was also an okay job, and she also enjoyed it. However, it was a teenager job. An after-school sort of a job. He knew she wanted to use the business degree she'd worked so hard for, but no-one was willing to take her seriously because of her small size and her pink hair, even though it was barely half-pink now she had grown it out so much. People were so stupid sometimes. He looked at his pay again. Gah, honestly! If someone started a half-decent gym here, they'd make a killing. Yeah, like...A gym would be good on the street of shops two blocks away...Wait. Kim stared at the numbers. Too difficult. You'd need to be Max to work this one out.
Max!
Max looked at the robot parts on his desk. His prototype was good, sure, but it wasn't perfect. It could be better. He just needed to concentrate, hard. Very, very hard. No breaks. He was using a pair of tweezers to adjust the delicate wiring, wiring that, if he did say so himself, was an absolute work of art, when the phone on his desk went off. He jolted and electrocuted himself. Once he had stopped jolting around, he picked up his phone to answer his best friend's call.
"Is the reason for this call important?"
Kim's frantically fast response went in one ear and out the other, unfortunately. Max pinched the skin in between her eyebrows and counted to five.
"Repeat and slow it down."
"Could we conceivably open a successful gym in our area with our current funding?"
"What? That statement made sense, correct?"
"...Did you have a crazy idea and then try to word it as nicely as possible so it would seem less ridiculous?"
"Absolutely. Help me, Alix is having twins."
"Coming over now."
Three hours later, Alix woke up from the nap she had been taking. After pushing Cat off her legs, she stumbled, dazed, into the living room. She ran a hand through her hair in order to push it out of her eyes, then stopped abruptly as she noticed her husband's best friend sitting next to him on the couch.
"Hi Max. Why are you here?"
"Kim required my help with a financial difficulty."
"What?"
Kim grinned widely at Alix, seeming over the absolute moon.
"WE BOUGHT A GYM!"
Alix tilted her head slightly.
"What."
Kim didn't seem to understand that Alix hadn't asked a question.
"We now own a building we're going to turn into a gym! It's really close and we'll only have to cut back on spending for a few months if we can get it up and running really fast."
Alix growled. Kim got the message. As husband and wife ran around the house, their dog happily joining in the fun game, Max collected his jacket and left. They could sort this one out for themselves.
I hope you like my birthday update. Also, if you have name ideas, leave them in a review.
~Madei
