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Second Gen
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"Are you sure you want to try again?" asked Danny. Sam had been pregnant twice before. They didn't have any children. "We could adopt." He had brought that up before, after the first time. Before the second time.
"I'm sure."
Danny bit his lip. The last two times had been hard. The worst part was, he was sure it was his fault. Sure that the issue was him, and his stupid not alive but not dead body. It hurt, seeing those little bodies, knowing that it had been his job to protect them, his job to protect Sam from the pain of losing them, and he hadn't. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for Sam.
But she wanted to try again. He couldn't say no.
"Okay," he said.
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They walked out of the hospital, fresh from the first ultrasound.
Sam was pregnant again, and Danny was staying close, this time. He took a leave of absence from work. Every moment was precious, every second where there was still hope was to be cherished.
Everyone walked on eggshells around them.
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A week later, Danny made arrangements to go to the Far Frozen.
If the issue was with Danny's ghostliness, then ghosts might have a solution. At least, that's what Danny thought, and Sam agreed. He wished he had thought of it earlier, but one miscarriage wasn't a pattern. It was, they had both been reassured, fairly normal.
But two? Danny knew that many wouldn't call it a pattern until they got to three, but Danny couldn't let it go that far.
Sam bundled up in her thickest winter gear, and they took the Specter Speeder. Danny flew ahead to scout, but didn't dare go far. After everything, Danny's Obsession anchored him to Sam, and there was very little give in that chain.
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"There are records of halfas having children," said Frostbite as they sat in the crystal library of the Far Frozen. Many of the books were made of traditional materials, but more were made of ice and thin sheets of metal, and most weren't books at all, but crystals readable only by those ghosts with ice cores and special training.
"There are?" asked Sam, leaning forward, desperate hope gleaming in her eyes.
"Yes," said Frostbite. "Not many, halfas are a rare kind, but some." The yeti toyed with a book-crystal. "Both with human, ghosts, and other halfas as the partners. It does seem to be more often successful when the mother is the hybrid." The last was spoken in a tone of caution, of warning.
"But that's not the only way it can be successful, is it?"
"No," said Frostbite. "But that pattern, and the circumstances of the other examples of halfas having children does lend itself to a theory of ours."
"What's that?" asked Danny, squeezing his gloves between her hands, twisting them.
"We believe that, much as in the case of the children of full ghosts, the proximity of the parent's core helps to stabilize the child's developing core, and the ectoplasm in the parent's body helps further. Surviving children are also likely to be twins, for the same reason."
"Just like Danielle," said Danny, thinking of his cousin-clone and her troubles with destabilization.
"Yes," said Clockwork.
"So," said Sam, "what should I do? Drink ectoplasm? Stabilizing agent? I mean, weird cravings are par for the course when you're present, right?"
"That might help," said Frostbite, "but it would be best if we ran our tests first." He patted Sam's hand reassuringly. "Fear not, Sam of the Very Vegan. We will figure this out."
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Danny was told to stay close to Sam. Sam was given what Danny could only call a concoction to drink. Both were told to take frequent trips to the Ghost Zone, both for check ups and to make sure the baby developed properly.
In the meantime, they kept going to the human obstetrician as well. Sam was becoming weary of all the doctors visits, on top of the strain of the pregnancy itself, but she soldiered on. Danny tried to make it as easy on her as possible, taking over chores and responsibility, keeping things clean and accessible.
Then during a routine check up, the nurse picked up two heartbeats in the womb.
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Sam was ecstatic. Danny was thrilled. According to Frostbite, twins had a better chance of being carried to term, a better chance of surviving.
Also: twins. Twice the baby, twice the love.
However, it did mean twice the work. Danny and Sam had to double up on supplies and equipment. They needed two sets of clothes, twice as much food, twice as many diapers, two baby seats...
Two names.
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They had to decide whether or not to have the twins be born in a human hospital, or in the Zone. Danny thought it would be best to go to Zone for the delivery. Frostbite and the Far Frozen doctors knew what they were dealing with, unlike the humans who would be in charge at a hospital. On the other hand, Sam was also concerned about keeping secrets and her parents. Specifically, keeping secrets from her parents.
Danny thought that wasn't a high priority, compared to the children. Sam, who at this point was feeling sanguine about the pregnancy, told him that his safety, his secret, was a priority, too.
Eventually, they decided to just go to whichever option was closer.
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Of course, no decision they made really mattered. Of course their kids would decide to be born at the height of a thunderstorm. Of course they would wind up doing this by themselves, stranded, trapped by a malfunctioning ghost shield. Apparently lightning strikes could do weird things to Fenton tech, as well as knock out power.
"Push!" said Danny, holding Sam's hand as she screamed. According to movies and such, that was the thing to do.
"Shut up!" she shouted, squeezing Danny's hand hard. He felt his bones creak under her grip.
This had been going on for a while at this point. Hours.
"They're coming," gasped Sam.
"I know," said Danny, "that's the point of all this, right?"
"No, no, no, they're coming now."
Danny let a curse slip from his lips, and duplicated himself, sending a copy to go catch the babies.
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"Wow," said Sam, exhausted and hoarse. "Okay. Babies. Yay."
"Yeah," said Danny, sitting on either side of Sam. One of him held one baby, Sam held the other. "I guess I should go see if I can turn off the shield, huh?"
"Uhuh."
One of Danny got up. The other snuggled closer to Sam, holding his youngest daughter close. He could feel the soft hum of her core against his. He stretched his senses out to feel her sister.
"We made some cute kids, huh?"
Sam snorted. "Well, duh. Of course they're cute. I did most of the work."
"That's fair," said Danny, quietly broadcasting ectoenergy to the twins. "So. Who gets which name?"
"Dawn's before Dusk," said Sam.
"Sounds good," said Danny, rocking Dusk back and forth. He started to hum.