Wee! Thought I wasn't gonna make it, did ya? ^_^ Not that anybody cares. But anyway.
The Third Candle
A Promise Almost Fulfilled
~*~*~*~*~
Professor Hojo flicked on the laboratory light as he and Lucrecia walked into the room. He gruffly gestured for her to sit on the lab bed and went about preparing the equipment. Lucrecia complied, unhurt by his brusqueness; that was just the way he was.
And in a few short weeks, her baby would be born.
She could just imagine the butterflies in her stomach fluttering around her unborn baby. She was going to be a mother. She thought she had understood what that meant when Gast had first given her the joyful news, but the power of that realization grew with every week that passed. She was going to bring a life into this world, a little child that her mother's heart knew would do great things.
"Lie down," Hojo snapped, and Lucrecia complied, flinching as Hojo rubbed a cool gel on her rounded belly. After she adapted to the cold, however, she found the gentle, rhythmic motion soothing.
Thump! She giggled as the baby kicked, startling the professor. Hojo glowered at her stomach as if to scold the baby and moved to the sink to wash his hands of the gel. He came back with the ultrasound machine, and began to move the paddle around her stomach, trying to get a good look at the child.
"How does he look?" Lucrecia asked.
"Fine, fine," Hojo muttered distractedly, his focus completely on the ultrasound screen. Lucrecia subsided, waiting patiently for the professor to finish.
Ten minutes later found the professor content with what he saw.
"Well, Ms. Voris," he said, putting away the paddle. "The child looks fine. Perfect health. I take it you still wish for the gender to be a surprise?"
Lucrecia nodded.
"Yes, please," she said.
"Very well then." Hojo took a towel and began to wash the gel off her stomach. "And how are you feeling?"
"I can't wait," she replied. "I'm really excited."
Hojo arched an eyebrow.
"And physically?" he asked pointedly.
Lucrecia blushed.
"Fine, fine," she said. "A little weak, but I suppose that's normal."
Hojo nodded.
"I see," he said, and jotted something down on a pad of paper that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "You may leave now."
Lucrecia nodded as she slid off the table carefully. She walked out the room, closing the door behind her, and leaned against the wall, heaving a sigh of relief. She then smiled down at the bulge of her belly and rubbed it gently.
"Only a few more weeks, little one," she whispered. "I can't wait."
~*~*~*~*~
Wee!! Only another week of Advent (and plotless ficlets) before I can get to the Christmas edition! A plot! A point! Yay!!