Chapter 4

Tuesday, February 17th, 1987

Hill Valley

6:02 P. M.

Josie didn't really know why she was sitting here, in Dr. Master's office, as he looked over the results of some tests he had given her. Now that she had her own vampire doctor, she didn't need the services of a human one anymore. But Dr. Gardner/Wells had told her that it would be a good idea if she kept seeing him. "It would look odd if you just suddenly canceled," he had explained. "It might even raise his suspicions again." It had been a good point, and had convinced her to keep coming.

Finally, Dr. Masters looked up with a grin. "Everything seems to be progressing normally in your pregnancy, Josephine. Dr. Wells has informed me that he's seen cases like yours before. I'd turn you over to him if he had an office in town, but as such, he's agreed to work with me in treating you."

"Great," Josephine smiled back. "I'm really glad to hear my baby's okay. I've had trouble with pregnancies in the past."

"All the tests say you're doing great. Although there is a small discrepancy -- our tests indicate you're about a week short of Dr. Wells's estimate."

Josephine frowned, puzzled. "Huh. He said he was almost positive that I was a month pregnant."

"Well, our tests aren't infallible. We'll be able to see more clearly soon," Dr. Masters said, a bit carelessly. "I want to schedule you for an ultrasound when you reach 10 weeks."

Josephine's eyes lit up. She had been fascinated when Clara had showed her the pictures of Jules and Verne in utero. Now she had a chance to show off pictures of her baby! "Terrific. Let's see, ten weeks and I'm about three weeks along. . .the middle of April."

Dr. Masters checked his calendar. "I'm doing an ultrasound with your sister Clara April 12th. I think I could fit you in afterwards -- provided you can get out that early."

"I can make arrangements. I know Clara won't mind. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I believe we're all set here, then. Have a good day, Josephine."

"You too." Josie left the office, humming softly to herself.

At the end of the hall, she bumped into Dr. Gardner. "Hi. How's it going? He hasn't been any trouble, has he?" she asked, referring to Dr. Masters as if he was a naughty child.

"No, he's been great. He's a very good man to work with, very patient and understanding." He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "I finished up that diet plan I told you about."

"Thanks." She read it over and whistled. "Whew! I don't think I've consumed that much in my entire life! Good thing I sent Marty off to the butcher's!" Softer, she added, "And a very good thing I work in a blood bank."

"I'll admit I was kind of generous with amounts for that reason. Dr. Masters told me everything concerning your tests was okay."

"Yeah, except for that week off thing. I wonder what that's all about."

Dr. Gardner frowned. "I really don't know. Your lifeglow is just that much stronger there. I wouldn't worry about it overmuch. We'll get the record straight at the ultrasound." He patted her on the shoulder. "Keep safe, Josephine."

"Thanks. I'll see you later." She headed on her way. Doc was waiting for her at the door, in the DeLorean, trying to look casual. "Everything's wonderful, Emmett," she told him, hopping in. "The baby is fine, and Dr. Gardner got the diet plan to me today."

"Good." Doc started driving, letting himself breathe again. "Whew! Truth be told, people make me nervous. Especially now that I have a 'twin.' I was just waiting for someone to come up and ask where I got my scar."

"Yeah, we're really going to have to do something about that," Josie frowned. "You could head to the future and get some sort of plastic surgery. We wouldn't care."

"I know, but -- really, I don't know. I'll have to think about it." He changed the subject. "Those old biddies get around fast. I heard a couple of people whispering about your pregnancy while I waited. I don't get why they have to pick on you."

"Same reason I think they pick on your other self," Josie said, rolling her eyes. "Makes them feel important. I'm not going to let it get me down. Better some nasty rumors than the ugly -- and possibly paradox-inducing -- truth."

Doc had to agree with that. "Yes, I heard from Doc-2 and Clara that a number of people put them down for having another baby so soon. They even admitted to me that they were tempted to get an abortion."

Josie went stiff in her seat. "What?" she whispered, sounding absolutely horrified.

Doc frowned. "Josie, are you all right?"

"Why would they want to kill their baby? Why? It may not look like much of anything, but you're destroying a human life." She shivered. "I'm sorry. It brings back bad memories. I've seen many children die."

Doc stopped the car briefly to hold her. "It's all right, Josie. I understand. They just weren't sure they could handle the pressure of having another baby so soon. They decided against it, you know." He studied her face. This is more personal than she said. Someone young and close to her died, no doubt.

Josie overheard his thought. "You're right. I'm still not ready to talk about it, though. I don't even want to think about it right now. Right now, I just want to be happy that we're having a baby, and that the baby is healthy." She kissed him.

"Sounds good to me."

Tuesday, February 17th

6:21 P. M.

The butcher looked at the pair of teens oddly, putting the bottles of cow's blood into a bag. "Now, tell me again. These are for recipes?"

Marty and Jennifer both nodded, Jennifer hiding a yawn. "Our parents recently got some books on foreign cuisine, and they want to experiment. Don't ask us why, I'd be happy with a nice burger or something like that."

The butcher grunted. "Sounds a little loony to me too. Come back and tell me how it all turns out. You've got me wondering."

"Sure. Thanks a lot." Jennifer grabbed the bag, and they headed out, leaving the butcher to start chopping meat again. "Quick, what recipes do you think contain blood?" Jennifer whispered to Marty. "We're gonna have to go back!"

"I don't know! We'll have to pick up something at the library I think," Marty whispered back. "I hope there are recipes that require blood. Otherwise we could have a nasty situation on our hands."

"Maybe Mom would know. I'll ask her once we get home."

"Why not ask her now?"

"She just got back from the doctor's, Marty. She deserves a few minutes alone."

The walked in silence for a moment, not having any particular destination. "Do you think the appointment went well?"

"Yeah. Mom would have let us know if it hadn't."

"Yeah, that's true." There was another pause. "Jennifer?"

"Yeah?"

"I -- uh --"

Just then, the DeLorean pulled up. Marty wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed. "Hey kids," Doc greeted them. "How's the shopping going?"

"Great," Jennifer reported, holding up the bag. "We got four bottles of the stuff."

"How did the doctor's visit go?" Marty asked.

"Fine. The baby is doing great," Josie smiled.

"Here, let me take the bag off your hands," Doc said, taking the object in question from Jennifer and storing it carefully in the back. "We'll meet you back at the house."

"Sure thing," Marty nodded. He reached in and gave Doc's hand a quick squeeze. "See ya."

"Bye." With a parting wave, Doc and Josie drove off. Jennifer watched them go with a slight frown. "A baby in the house. What do you think it'll be like?"

"The reverse of what Clara told us. Instead of keeping us up all night, he'll keep us up all day," Marty kidded.

"Marty, I'm serious. I'm wondering if he'll ever grow up! Vampires aren't supposed to age." Both of them pictured a forever-baby vampire and shivered. "Wouldn't that be nice to have around for the next century or so. . . ."

"Cheer up, Jen. I think Dr. Gardner would have warned us if they did. No vampire would let themselves get pregnant if they didn't." They walked casually into a dark alley. "I guess we--"

Red alert! Red alert!

Marty and Jennifer stiffened. They had sensed humans behind them while they were walking, but had dismissed them as just wanderers such as themselves. Now, though, they could smell that the group had followed them into this alley, effectively surrounding them. They turned slowly, their sharp eyes picking up symbols written on jackets, and knives hidden in pockets. Both of them knew immediately what had happened. They had walked into a gang's territory.

And this was the gang.

One boy stepped forward, grinning. "Hey, the big M! How's it hangin' McFly?"

Marty stared at the fellow teen. This was one ugly kid. His clothes were the dirtiest he'd ever seen, and decorated with metal studs. He had yellowish, rotten teeth and a single tuft of black hair on his head. His tone had been casual, but his eyes were cold. "Do I know you?"

There were snickers all around. Jennifer moved a half step closer to Marty. "Whatsa matter, McFly, lose your memory? It's Needles. Course, you and your girlfriend don't know the guys. But you will." He ambled closer, pulling out a Swiss Army knife. "After all, this is our turf."

Marty hadn't heard a word past "Needles." His eyes narrowed. "Needles?"

"Yeah. Now, since this was just one time, we'll let you off easy. But you and me still have a score to settle about a race. You made me look like an idiot, racin' nobody."

"Douglas Needles? Match's kid?"

Needles looked a little surprised. "How'd you know my Dad's old nickname?"

Marty's hand snapped out and pinned Needles to the wall by his throat. The gang leader let out a soft squeak as Marty glared at him with pure and utter loathing, eyes glowing faintly and fangs slightly extended. "If you ever come by this part of town again, I'll rip you a new one. Twice. Got it?"

Needles nodded quickly. Marty released him. "Get out of here. And don't come near me or Jennifer again."

"Sure," Needles squeaked, scrambling toward the mouth of the alley. One of his fellow gang members snarled at his weakness and turned to Jennifer. She promptly vamped. The guys screamed and ran for it, almost tripping over one another in their haste. Jennifer giggled, then looked over at Marty. "Old grudges die hard, huh?"

Marty nodded, cooling down to embarrassment. "He's just lucky he's not 3-D's kid. I might not have given him a warning." They spread their wings and took off. "Jesus, I hope Marty-2 doesn't know him too well."

Tuesday, February 17th

7:37 P. M.

Marty-2 did know Needles pretty well. Instead of being upset at his errant twin, though, he found the whole incident very funny. "Maybe he'll stop bugging me when we meet up in college. We share an English class, and he's always trying to get me in trouble. He's almost worse than Biff!"

"Oh no. Nobody's worse than Biff."

Jennifer-2 looked thoughtful. "I don't blame you for what you did, but it just occurred to me -- you're really the only McFly who isn't bugged by a Tannen. Seamus had Buford, George had Biff, and the kids will have Griff, poor things."

"I still can't believe Biff managed to successfully breed," Jennifer shuddered. "What woman would want him?"

"I'd have to say a masochist." Marty shook his head. "I feel sorry for your future children. Although if we think Mom having a baby is weird, you guys having kids. . . ."

"Yeah, and they both look like Marty, no less," Jennifer-2 agreed. "I think my only contribution was Marlene's sex and their eyes."

"Well, the boy's name too, now."

"The boy? I thought his name was Marty Junior," Marty said.

Jennifer-2 made a face. "Marty Junior reminds me of that future I saw where we got married in the Chapel O'Love and Marty worked for Needles. Marlene's okay, but I definitely want to change his name."

Josie looked down at herself. "I wonder who our baby will look like. Me or you."

"Simple genetics, darling," Doc said with a grin. "I'm leaning toward myself, mostly because of my brown eyes. The hair's a non-factor, we both have -- well, I had -- blond hair. If you were dark-haired, like Clara, ours might look something like Jules."

"I wouldn't mind that," Josie smiled back. "I think he'll be on the tall side, too. You're six-foot-one; I'm five-foot-six."

"Do you think he or she might be born with wings or fangs?" Doc-2 asked, curious.

"If he had fangs, I'm not breast-feeding him!"

"There's a thought. I'd be willing to bet he or she would have at least little wing-buds."

Clara laughed. "If that's the case, your baby book is going to read something like 'Baby's first word, baby's first step, baby's first flight' --"

"'Baby's first lifting his stroller," Marty-2 added.

"'Baby's first climb up the wall,'" Marty chuckled.

"'Baby's first victim,'" Jennifer chimed in.

"Stop making fun of your new sibling," Josie scolded, although she was laughing too.

Marty gently patted Josie's belly. "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl. I'm hoping for a girl, so I'll be off the hook with the name."

"You could go into the future and find out," Jennifer-2 suggested.

Doc and Josie shook their heads. "We want to meet our new child through the natural course of time. We could care less if it's a boy or a girl."

"Yeah, but we don't use the time machine anymore," Jennifer complained. "We should go somewhere."

"We've got all of time at our fingertips, and we just stay here," Marty agreed, looking annoyed.

"If you'd been through my time travel experiences, you'd be happy to stay in your own year," Marty-2 said. "I personally think Jennifer lucked out because she was unconscious so much."

"Oh, I'm flattered," Jennifer-2 said sarcastically, hitting him lightly.

Doc looked toward Doc-2's garage, where his DeLorean time machine was parked. "Frankly, I miss traveling through time myself -- we did so little of it. However, I'm still worried about the glitch in the car that brought us to this reality. The last thing I want is to get lost in the space-time continuum. And, of course, it could be dangerous for Josephine to travel in her condition."

Josephine heartedly agreed with that last bit. "I'm worried enough for the baby. Let's not make it worse. What say we promise you a time trip after the baby's born?"

"Okay," Marty said, mollified. "Past or future?"

"Well. . . ."

"How about both?" Jennifer asked eagerly. "Same trip, two times."

"We'll discuss it later."

Josie looked down at herself. "Emmett, do you think I'm gaining weight?"

Doc hesitated, not exactly sure what she was aiming for. "Ah --" He ran his hand up and down her belly a few times. "Well, yes, maybe a pound or two."

Josie grinned widely. "Now I don't have to worry about that diet plan. Thanks honey." She kissed him.

Sunday, April 12th, 1987

Hill Valley

5: 29 P. M.

"A pound or two" was no longer adequate to describe Josephine's weight gain. During the past month, she had begun to fill out quite a bit. She held her much bigger belly as she waited in the hospital for Dr. Masters to be done with Clara. "I'm never going to see my waist again, am I?" she joked with Dr. Gardner, waiting with her.

"You're luckier than most women, to tell the truth. Those pregnancy pounds will come off pretty quickly." He patted her back. "You'll be back to normal in no time."

"I hope so." Josie smiled and blushed. "I guess I've been giving my friends a hard time lately. I cried through half of March. Poor Emmett was walking on tip-toes around me most of the time."

Dr. Gardner chuckled. "All women go through that, Josephine."

"Clara seemed okay while she was pregnant with Jules. I haven't see anything with Verne either."

"You weren't with her every moment of the day. She might have put on a company face."

Josephine conceded the point. She rubbed her belly a bit self-consciously. "Damn, I hope the baby's healthy. I keep worrying about him/her getting sick."

Dr. Gardner leaned in and took a close look. "That lifeglow is still brighter than normal. I don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one."

"I'll take it as a good. I don't want to think about the bad right now."

Clara waddled into the waiting room, followed by Doc-2 and Jules. "Everything's fine with Verne," she said happily. "Jules couldn't get enough of looking at the screen."

"Baby," Jules said proudly, poking Clara's tummy.

"Right, that's where the baby is. Very good," Clara praised.

Josie had a thought. "Have you thought any about sibling rivalry problems?"

"Well, you've always got to expect some sibling rivalry," Clara said wisely. "But neither Emmett nor I think it will be a major problem. After all, they're going to be very close in age." She frowned at her, asking with her mind what she couldn't verbally. Are you worried about your Marty and Jennifer?

Josie read her thoughts and nodded. "I'll explain later," she said quietly.

Dr. Masters appeared. "We're ready for you, Josephine."

Josephine got to her feet with a small grunt. "Do any of you want to come along?" she asked, winking at Doc-2.

"Do you want to go with her honey?" Doc-2 asked.

"I don't feel like going all the way back there. You can go if you want," Clara smiled, taking Jules.

"Okay, back in a second." He disappeared behind the men's room door.

A minute later, Doc appeared, smiling. "Okay, lead on."

Josie caught his hand as they left the waiting room. Nice make-up job.

Thanks, honey. Clara applied it and I think it covers my scar quite well. I just wish my double hadn't chosen to wear a green shirt today. I'm feeling uncomfortable.

It's only for a little while. How are the kids?

Waiting impatiently at home. They almost insisted on coming with me, but I told them that if anyone spotted Jennifer. . . .

Hey, we only wanted to be as close to the action as possible, interjected Jennifer.

To tell the truth, I don't like being left alone for too long either, Marty admitted embarrassedly.

Josie smiled. Well, in a few months, you won't be left alone for a long time. If you don't mind babysitting duty, that is.

I used to baby-sit my mother all the time. How hard could an actual baby be?

Josie and Doc grinned at each other as they entered the room where the ultrasound was to take place. A nurse helped her onto the bed and uncovered her belly. She used a pen-like device to rub jelly all over her stomach. "Eep! It's cold!"

"Sorry," the nurse apologized. "Helps reduce friction."

"That doesn't make it any less cold."

The nurse finished up and turned on the monitor. Dr. Masters picked up the transducer and started running it over Josie's belly. An image quickly appeared on the screen. Even though the picture quality was horrible, Josie could make out a tiny human form in a little sac. She squealed with delight. "My baby!"

Doc shared the image with the teens as he smiled broadly. "He looks pretty cute for ten weeks."

"Is he okay? Is he healthy? Oh, he just moved!" Josephine's face was glowing with happiness. "Is it a he?"

"It's hard to tell," Dr. Masters admitted, squinting. "But I do think it's a he."

As he moved the transducer around, Josie noticed some sort of mass near the baby. "What's that?" she asked, exchanging her pleased tone for a concerned one.

"I don't know. . . ." Dr. Masters investigated. The mass turned out to be a sac.

A sac with a fetus inside.

Josie's eyes went wide. Before she could say anything, Dr. Masters moved the transducer again. This quickly yielded another little fetus. Three fetuses, all in a row.

Triplets.