A/N: I hope you like this chapter better.

Ch. 10

Soon enough we were allowed to get a group together so that I could see the Healers. Mel also wanted to go with me to get some things for the baby. She thought it was about time we prepared. It was a fairly female group since they are the ones on this planet that usually care for the young. The exceptions were Ian and Jared. While we all stuff ourselves into the van, we discussed things the baby needed.

"The baby will need a place to sleep like a crib," Mel suggested.

"And a soft place to be able to play like a playpen," Lily added.

"Toys. The baby will definitely need toys," Sunny added.

I gave an exacerbated expression to Ian. Where are we supposed to put everything?

"I have a great idea," Ian said, "let's stop worrying Wanda."

"Well the first things are food, clothes, and diapers," Trudy explained. "Everything else could be gotten as the child grows."

We headed to a different healing clinic than I went to with Burns. I didn't feel like explaining to Healer Acid where I had been. This clinic was fairly large. The others wanted to try and blend as much as possible with the soul hosts. Mel was very interested in speaking with some souls to see how they regarded the idea of having a human child. Several were accepting of placing a soul in the baby as soon as that was a possibility, but there was a few that were thinking of trying to raise a human. They found it as a challenge to teach the young one to act appropriately. I assumed those couples had hosts with fond memories of children. I remember how difficult it was to fight against memories and the emotions that come along with them.

It was my turn and Ian and I went into an examination room. Ian became excited. The Healer, Healer Blind to Sight, touched my belly, measuring it and locating where exactly was the baby's head. The baby began kicking and Ian started boasting on how good his kid will be at soccer.

"Really Eyes Forward," that was Ian's false name, "that is what you want your child's calling to be?" I asked in a very soul-appropriate tone.

"We need all the players we could get," he whispered in my ear.

"I'm sure he or she will be just like you," I commented. "And nothing like me," I added under my breath.

The Healer squeezed some jelly on my exposed belly and put the sensor on top of it. The picture of the baby instantly appeared and Ian just stared.

"Wow, look at that," he said in awe. We listened to the steady beat of its heart.

"By the size and development of the baby, I'm positive you are 36 weeks along. You really should make your check-ups more regular. Stay put for a while. At least until the baby is born," Healer Blind advised. The story was that Ian and I travelled for his calling. He was an athlete for one of the soul soccer teams. Healer Blind didn't watch sports games. He was told we weren't able to go to prenatal visits often enough, because of the team's travels. I claimed that I always felt fine so I never made it a point to go. Healer Blind of course disapproved.

The Healer took my weight and took a sample of my urine to be sure my sugar levels were low. After asking several questions about my diet, he gave me a clean bill of health and we were allowed to go.

"Before you go, I was just wondering what you plan to do with the child. Just for the records, are you going to have a soul inserted or are you going to wait?" Healer Blind asked.

"We are going to wait," Ian answered quickly. "It may not happen at all," he mumbled.

"You're going to leave it human?"

"Eyes Forward," I said calmly. "We really need to discuss things before we answer."

Ian looked at me. He realized what he said may seem suspicious to the Healer.

"We really haven't dealt with this topic yet," I lied to the healer. "But we are in agreement of waiting. I want to see what a human baby is like first."

"Oh well. There are quite a large amount of couples that choose this path. They always give up after a month. We'll see how you feel after it cries in the middle of the night and starts soiling itself," Healer Blind guaranteed.

"I bet we could last longer," Ian whispered under his breath.

"What was that?" the Healer queried.

"How much longer? You know until we could go?" Ian reiterated.

"You're free to leave now."

We got up and the Healer grabbed my file and placed it in the pocket on the door, so that the administration could put it away. As he left, Mel came around the corner and took the file. We all kept walking right out the door.

Next on our agenda was shopping for the baby. We drove out to another town, in case someone may have notice what Mel did. Jared pulled into a parking lot of a huge store that was wall to wall baby products on the first floor. The second floor contained children and adult clothes. We all split up into twos and threes. The boys went together. Sunny and Mel together, and Trudy, Lily and I were grouped together. Ian and Jared went straight to the boy toy section. I know Ian knows that there is a 50/50 chance of having a girl, but I guess men always think boy first. Sunny and Mel went shopping for clothes. Trudy reminded them to think gender neutral, but I caught Sunny pulling some dresses off the rack. My group went for the food, diapers, and furniture. Trudy advised me on which crib and playpen I should be looking for. She said I needed one that allowed me to work the locks with one hand. I didn't understand why until she explained that the other hand would be holding the baby. That was something only a woman with experience with babies would think of. When I get back to the caves I planned to ask her about that.

When everyone was done and I made Ian put half his stuff back because he picked things for an older baby (storing them would have taken up precious storage space that could be used for food), we headed upstairs to get some clothes for everyone. Jared and huffed as the women went to try on the items they selected. We all got some extra stuff for the others in the caves.

When we girls were done, Mel and I got a surprise. Ian and Jared had selected a few "essentials" from the lingerie department. My face turned beet red when I saw them. How was I supposed to wear these frilly red and black two pieces and still look good with this bulging belly? Mel just took hers and smiled at Jared.

A/N: How was this chapter? R&R please.