Hearts are Wild
Disclaimer and Author's note: I don't own Outlaw Star…too bad; I've got loans to repay in about 7 months. Okay, as an explanation, because I'm sure you're wondering….the chapter titles are poker references (which I'm sure you've figured out). The Ace is the highest card in the deck, so naturally, you can't beat it. I chose "Ace of Hearts" as chapter one's title because I'm of the opinion that knowing you're going to be a parent is the greatest feeling in the world….can't beat it, right? Maybe I'm just bias…anyway, here is chapter two.
Chapter 2 – Two of a Kind
Gene had never thought that 9 months could pass more slowly, but pass so quickly as well. It seemed like his excitement for his child to come made time drag on forever, but thinking about how much had to be done before the birth; 9 months didn't seem long enough.
Gene watched Melfina flip through pages of nursery room borders, every now and then highlight a choice. In her 6th month, Melfina was active and healthy as always. She rested a bit more often, but was generally in good spirits. When she and Gene had first thought about what kind of doctor to see, they both immediately thought of Dr. Imara Chatrelle, the Cloae-Cloae constructologist who had helped in Melfina's care during her stay at the hospital. Chatrelle was a telempath, which meant she could feel and sometimes absorb the emotions of those around her.
"I should have known something was up." Dr. Chatrelle purred excitedly as Melfina sat down. "The excitement is overwhelming between you two."
"You're okay, aren't you?" Gene voiced his concern. He recalled the last few times the doctor had encountered too strong emotional waves; it had nearly caused Gene to break his wedding vows to Melfina. But Dr. Chatrelle had told him it was nothing to feel ashamed about and that it had been more Melfina he'd been with than her.
"I'm fine, Gene." Dr. Chatrelle said, sounding exasperated but pleased at his concern. "You should be fussing more over your wife than me. Now, to answer your question, yes, I am fully qualified to be your doctor and deliver your baby."
Melfina smiled and Gene could see the tension leave her body. It was clear that she'd hoped Dr. Chatrelle would agree.
"Gene, if you would step outside, I'll give Melfina an examination to double check the pregnancy and see how everything is going." Dr. Chatrelle said. "Then, you can come back in and we can discuss your strategy."
Gene waited in the hall. At one point, Dr. Luchise came by. Taking note of Gene's composure, he asked when the baby was due.
"Mel is in there now with Dr. Chatrelle." Gene said. "I'll know soon enough."
"Excellent." Luchise said and gave Gene and enthusiastic backslap that nearly sent Gene to the floor. "Looking forward to see the outcome."
About an hour later, Dr. Chatrelle called Gene back into the room. Melfina was glowing in motherly pride.
"Everything looks good." Dr. Chatrelle said. "Melfina is about 6 or 7 weeks along and it's only a guess, as it is in any situation, but your baby will be due on or about September 3."
"Labor Day on Earth." Gene groaned at the pun nature had played.
"Melfina, I suggest that you go against your nature and allow your husband and friends to do more for you, instead of the other way around. Please understand I must ask this; Is this your first child?"
"Yes." Melfina blushed at the medical insinuation. Gene squeezed her hand and she smiled back at him. "Gene is the only man I've ever slept with."
"All right then." Dr. Chatrelle said. "I'll expect to see you back here in about 5 weeks. If you have any concerns or problems, contact me."
And no problems had come up, other than Gene driving Melfina crazy with his mothering her. At first, Melfina had enjoyed his attention. She had cravings at odd times of day.
"Gene. Are you asleep?" Melfina asked. Gene snorted awake and looked blearily at her.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Gene asked.
"I'm fine." Melfina hedged. "I'm just hungry."
"Okay." Gene said. "What do you want? Sandwich? Soup?
"Egg rolls." Melfina said.
Gene had been willing to go out at 3 in the morning to the local Chinese place, The Golden Dragon, for egg rolls. The owner, Mr. Shin, looked hassled at being awakened, but when he saw Gene's tired expression, he smiled.
"First time Father, right?" Mr. Shin asked.
"Is it that obvious?" Gene grumbled.
Mr. Shin laughed and came back with a bag of egg rolls.
"This is all so much." Gene sputtered.
"It's all right." Mr. Shin said with a noncommittal wave. "I've been there before. Have three sons and a daughter. My wife wanted chicken chow mien at odd times too. She even sent me after lasagna at 3 am. The guy there was very nice. I'll give you his number, just in case."
Melfina laughed when Gene came in and told her the story. Gene fell asleep while Melfina ate. When he awoke, Melfina had cooked up an omelet for him.
"Sorry about this morning, Gene." Melfina said. "I really appreciate you going for me."
"Don't sweat it Mel." Gene said as he stifled a yawn. "I want you to be able to depend on me."
After awhile, Gene's desire to wait on Melfina hand and foot was becoming a bit much.
"Gene, Dr. Chatrelle said everything was fine." Melfina sighed. "I'm perfectly capable of cooking a meal."
"I just want you to take it easy is all." Gene said. "I'm not a bad cook."
In truth, Gene was not a bad cook. He was a terrible cook. The chicken and dumplings could have passed for an impressionist work of art, but definitely not dinner.
"Gene!" Melfina cried. "Dinner is ruined! Why don't you make yourself useful and don't be useful!" Melfina stormed up the stairs and slammed the door to the bedroom.
Gene angrily threw the burnt dinner away, announced to the crew that pizza was being ordered and went for a walk. After awhile, Gene returned, cooler and feeling genuinely remorseful for his actions. He knocked on the door of the bedroom. Melfina was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Hi Mel." Gene said. Melfina turned.
"Hi." she said back. Gene sat down beside her and took her hand. She allowed him to take it and she squeezed his gently.
"I'm sorry." Gene said. "You're right. I shouldn't have tried to make dinner. I just wanted to help you out."
"I know, Gene." Melfina said soothingly. "But I'm pregnant, not helpless. And there will be plenty for you to do in the next few months. And I'm sure there will be times when I can't cook and I'll need you to. Or to do the laundry or anything."
"I think you should teach me how to first." Gene said with a sheepish grin.
Melfina laughed and Gene joined her. When Jim came up to see if they wanted to eat, he found them both asleep, Gene resting against Melfina with his hand upon her belly.
"Gene, did you hear me?"
Gene snapped his head up. Melfina was staring at him, holding up a pattern.
"What? Sorry, could you say that again?"
"I asked you what you thought of this pattern."
The pattern was pastel colored with teddy bears on rocking horses, teddy bears playing cowboy, teddy bears having a tea party. Gene gave it a thoughtful look.
"You don't like it?" Melfina asked.
"Well, it's not that." Gene said. "I'm just thinking about whether it's more for a boy or a girl."
"The book says it's for both." Melfina said.
"What others do you have in mind?"
They spent the next hour pouring over the pattern book. Everything that Gene liked, Melfina didn't and vice versa.
"Well, we could just do something plain." Melfina said finally. "Have neutral colors, like this one." She pointed to a red and white gingham border.
"That could be nice. I like it." Gene said. "Do you?"
"I thought it was pretty, but I wasn't sure I wanted to go so plain."
"I think this will be perfect." Gene smiled. "And we can have fun with the rest of the furniture that way."
"Yes." Melfina was nodding thoughtfully. "A white furniture set with red gingham sheets and a nice red lamp…" she trailed off, imagining how the nursery would look.
"And it will go great with us too." Melfina said with a laugh. "Our baby will know he's a member of the Outlaw Star crew for sure."
Gene laughed with her and picked her up in his arms. He found he couldn't lift her as high as he used to and settled for swinging her around the room an inch off the ground.
"Have you decided what you'll name the baby?"
Jim was peeking into the nursery.
"Well, if it's a boy, we thought of Jack." Melfina said. "And for a girl, we were thinking of Hilda."
"Jack was my dad's name." Gene explained. "And Hilda was something of a mother to Melfina, so it seemed fair."
"Oh, I liked the name Lily." Jim was clearly disappointed.
"Well, we'd like to get everyone's opinion for a name." Melfina said. "We haven't really decided yet."
"Okay, well, I have a gift for the baby." Jim said shyly. He held out to them a small cylinder box encircled by a gold band. Jim pressed a button on top of the box and the holographic image of a bird appeared. It seemed to fly against the ceiling and around the room.
"Jim, this is incredible!" Melfina breathed. Gene was speechless.
"I'm glad you like it." Jim said. "Gilliam helped with it too."
"Jim, I don't know what to say." Gene looked as though he might cry with appreciation. "This is really incredible."
"Just consider the name Lily." Jim said with a smile and left. Melfina and Gene continued to stare at the bird until the box wound down and the bird faded.
At the end of 9 months, Melfina found she had a harder time walking around and doing things. She rested more often and seemed constantly close to tears. Gene did his best to comfort her, but learned eventually that it was better to simply leave Melfina alone when she was like that. The nursery was finished and Melfina liked to spend her time in the room, humming and rocking in the chair. Suzuka came in with a large candle that smelled of apple crisp.
"It'll make the baby's room smell nice and it will help Melfina feel a bit more relaxed." she explained.
The names had been decided upon. All of them had agreed that Jack would be a great name for a boy and Gene had felt that his father would have been pleased to see his name carried on. As for a girl, they eventually chose to name her Crystal.
"It's a pretty name and it's kinda the same thing as calling her "Hot Ice." Jim said. Gene agreed.
Dr. Chatrelle stopped by the Starwind Garage every couple weeks in Melfina's final trimester to check Melfina's progress and guide her in how to breath and push for a birth. She applauded the nursery and said that everything was going very well for Melfina.
"Even her moodiness?" Gene asked in a whisper.
Dr. Chatrelle grinned at him. "You've held up well under the pressure Gene and Melfina is going to have a very healthy birth."
And that very healthy birth came about a week later at 5 am.
"Gene." Melfina called in a hushed voice.
"Mel, we've probably bought Mr. Shin out of egg rolls." Gene said sleepily. "Can I get something else for you?"
"No, Gene I'm not hungry." Melfina said and Gene looked up at her. "I think we should call Dr. Chatrelle."
It took all of two seconds for the impact of what Melfina had said to fully awaken Gene. He sat up and turned on the light.
"Are you sure?" Gene asked.
"Very sure." The two rolled out of bed, Melfina rolling more than Gene and Gene quickly walked down the hall to wake Suzuka. Suzuka awoken with no problem and nodded her assent when Gene explained to her the situation.
"I'll let the others know. You drive safely." Suzuka said firmly. Gene nodded and met Melfina at the door. She was dressed in cotton and had her hair pulled back in a braid. The suitcase was backed and waiting by the door for them. Melfina was breathing slowly and calmly, the way Dr. Chatrelle had showed her. The road from the garage to the hospital was empty this time of morning, save for a few diner owners who made their way sleepily to the business for the breakfast crowd. There were one or two joggers out and about on their way to the gym before going to work.
"Almost there, Mel." Gene called over the roar of the car engine. "How are you doing?"
Melfina didn't get a chance to answer before she was struck by a strong contraction. She groaned but breathed through it. Gene made a mental count in his head. 10 minutes passed before the next contraction hit. They arrived at the hospital and Gene saw Melfina inside to the desk.
"Hey buddy, you can't park your car there." a technician snapped at Gene.
"I'll move it in a second, just let me help my wife here." Gene snapped back.
"Go ahead Gene." Melfina said. "I'll be fine for a moment."
Gene moved the car and hurried back. Melfina was no where to be seen and the nurse at the check in desk had gone. The technician was roping up a cord to a mechanical lift.
"Did you see which way they took my wife?" Gene asked the man.
"They took her up to maternity." the technician answered in a voice that clearly told Gene the man thought anyone should know that. Gene was too concerned about Melfina to lose his cool with this man. More like a kid.
"All right, which way is maternity." Gene asked.
The technician pointed down a hall and Gene heard him utter a small insult when Gene didn't thank him.
The signs toward maternity took Gene only so far before he began to search rooms. Asking a nurse on the floor where Melfina Starwind was, she led him to room 218. Melfina was laying bed, eyeing the monitor and breathing steadily. Dr. Chatrelle was not yet there.
"Is Dr. Chatrelle on her way?" Gene asked.
"I'll check sir." the nurse said and departed. Gene moved to sit beside Melfina. Her skin had the glistening of sweat as her contractions came closer and closer together. They were nearly 6 minutes apart when Dr. Chatrelle arrived. Another contraction hit Melfina and she squeezed Gene's hand, causing Gene to wince in pain. Dr. Chatrelle wrinkled her nose and made a soft sound.
"Oh, sorry about that." Melfina said is a breathy voice.
"Oh, no problem." Dr. Chatrelle said. "That was just like a pinch. But Gene, for your sake and mine, maybe you should let go before they get worse."
Gene let go and laid a hand on Melfina's head.
"You can stay in here if you'd like Gene." Dr. Chatrelle said. "I'm just going to listen to see how the baby's doing."
Dr. Chatrelle took a small device and made small circles over Melfina's swollen belly. Gene watched the monitor. He saw the same thing that Dr. Chatrelle saw, even without any medical experience.
"Is that two heartbeats?" Gene asked Dr. Chatrelle. Dr. Chatrelle was silent a moment, staring in complete surprise at the monitor that clearly showed two distinct lub-dubs of two separate heart beats.
"Yes, Gene, it is." Dr. Chatrelle and she turned to smile gleefully at him. "Congraulations, Daddy. It's twins!"
To Be Continued….
Okay, much more excitement on the way. Hope you're all enjoying the story. Keep up the reviews and chapter 3 will be here as soon as I get it done.
Stay cool minna! From here on in, this will be fun!
