Chapter 28
As the weeks passed Trance's days consisted of eating, sleeping or battling morning sickness. Luckily, the work she and Harper had done in hydroponics made it so the plants didn't need much additional care. Rommie was handling Med-Deck while Trance adjusted to her new condition. Beka and Dylan were taking longer shifts on Command so she could get past her nauseous mornings first, before coming to Command. Harper had been training a new helper in the machine shop to help with maintenance and repairs. So he was able to check in on her pretty frequently.
Rommie kept her on the electrolyte infusers because every time they removed them for any extended period Trance's levels would get dangerously low. Rommie seemed puzzled and worried about this, "How do your people normally combat this electrolyte depletion problem? I'm sure they didn't use infusers hundreds of years ago."
Trance sighed, "They didn't. There is a type of melon we crave, they grow all over Tarn Vedra. But we can't get there, besides you've found a perfect alternative."
Rommie frowned, "To keep your electrolytes up yes, but without a sample of the melon I don't know if you are missing out on other valuable nutrients that you'd get naturally from that melon."
Trance patted Rommie's hand, "I think you're giving me terrific care, and remember, The babies are half human. And when it comes to the care and feeding of humans I can't think of anyone who knows more than you Rommie."
Rommie rested her hand on the now perceptible bump of Trance's pregnant tummy. "Four weeks and they are already reading as if they are two months old, in human terms of course. At this rate you'll be full term in three and a half months. I just want to be sure we are doing all we can to help them develop healthy and strong."
Trance laughed, "If their activity is any indicator then they're fine. Even now I can feel the fluttering of their movements. It's kind of like having butterflies in there."
Rommie looked puzzled, "Humans don't normally notice perceptible movement until the third or fourth month. Even at your accelerated gestation rate you shouldn't be able to notice movement for another two weeks yet."
Trance smiled, "Does it surprise you that Seamus's children would be more active than average?"
Rommie laughed, "No, I guess not. In fact that sounds about right, now that you mention it."
Trance became thoughtful, "To be honest, until I started feeling them move around in there, I was still having a difficult time believing it was true… I'm really going to be a mom."
Harper was back in his shop, showing Freddie (his new recruit) the engineering ropes. Harper had high hopes that Freddie would be able to take over some of his duties by the time the twins arrived so he could spend more time off duty with his family. Freddie reminded him a lot of himself when he first joined Beka's crew. In general, he was over excited and over eager to please. Freddie was running across the room when Harper grabbed his shirt as he was running past him. "Hey, whoa there buddy, haste makes waste."
Freddie paused, "Huh?" Just then he dropped the container he was holding, CRASH! His eyes got wide and he looked at Harper.
Harper just laughed, "My point exactly. You need to slow down, sometimes doing things fast just means they don't get done. It's better to take the time, when you have it, to do things right the first time." Harper grinned, "Not that I always take my own advise, but I'm learning to be more careful. After all I've got a family to think about now."
Freddie nodded, "Yeah, you must be really happy, with a baby on the way and all."
Harper nodded, "Yeah, and Trance is really special too. She makes me a better person."
Harper and Trance had decided not to announce the fact that she was pregnant with twins to anyone other than the command crew. Trance already felt like the crew was handling her with kid gloves and it was driving her nuts. She'd even scolded one of them. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid." The poor kid was embarrassed to death, thinking he'd offended her. She could only imagine how much worse it would be if they knew there were two babies in there, and not just one.
Harper had been good to his word, whenever she had any food cravings he'd rush off to get her whatever she wanted. All she'd have to say is,"(Something) sounds good right now," and off he'd go to get her some as fast as his feet would carry him. Even in the wee hours of the night if he felt her stirring he'd ask her if she were hungry. She knew she was being spoiled, but she had to admit she enjoyed his extra attention. He even gave her back and foot massages to help her relax before bed.
Harper carried a special flexi with him now. A scrapbook with images from each of Trances scans. He loved to look at how quickly their children were growing, it blew him away how fast they were forming. Trance walked into the machine shop while he was viewing her latest scan. Rommie had automatically downloaded it to his flexi, per his instructions of course. He looked up, "Hey, I just got the latest download. How are you feeling?"
She smiled, "Tired, a bit queasy, the usual."
Harper walked over to her, wrapped her in a hug and kissed her. "Honey, I'm glad you came by," then he turned and motioned her attention toward Freddie who was blushing slightly, "Trance, I'd like you to meet Freddie, Freddie this is Trance. He's learning the ropes so I'll be able to spend more time with you and the new arrival, when the time comes."
Trance shook Freddie's hand, "Hi, glad to meet you. I hope my husband is teaching you how to be safe too."
Freddie nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Harper, he is. In fact he was telling me to slow down and be careful just before his flexi beeped him."
Trance grinned, "Baby pictures. And you can call me Trance."
Harper grinned, "Well, since I couldn't be there for your scan today… yeah, I had Rommie beep me when she downloaded the images. Can I help being the excited, dad-to-be?"
Trance kissed him on the cheek, "I love you, you nut. I'll be in Hydroponics for a while, come by and get me when you're ready for lunch and we'll eat together OK?"
Harper grinned, "You've got it, it's a date!"
Trance giggled at him as she left, "Bye guys!"
Harper turned to Freddie, "I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the universe." With that he pulled his thoughts back on track, "OK, realignment of the slipstream runners, you ready?"
Freddie nodded, and they were off, tool belts clinking in unison as they went.
