TOMMY - ONE MONTH LATER

I wake up, more uncomfortable than I have been in a while. Zedd's already up and going for the day, so I wiggle and roll myself to the edge of the bed so that I can get myself up. Forty five minutes later, I've finally managed to take care of morning business and get dressed. Well, dressed enough anyway. I find Gina in the kitchen, going over some papers with Dar. Before I can say a word, Dar slides me a cup of coffee.

"Where's Zedd?" I ask.

"He's taking care of some business. All the things that we thought of to get ready for more people here, we completely forgot that Gina's going to need an office of her own if she's running the household. Zedd's seeing to having someone build an extension."

"I don't need an office" Gina protests. "All I need is a desk in my bedroom."

"Until you have to conduct interviews or mete out discipline. Do you really want to do that in your chambers?" Dar points out reasonably.

"Use my office for now, Gina" I tell her. "I'm not going to need it for months anyway. Damn it, I hurt today."

Gina looks at me oddly, studying me for a minute as I rub my lower back. "Tommy, when are you due again?"

A quick glance at the calendar on the wall, a little quick math and- "Two months or so, why? Well, technically, it should be three, but Jacob came a bit early, so I'm guessing about the same for the twins. Again, why?"

She comes around behind me, lightly setting her hands on the worst of the pain. "Does it hurt here the worst?"

"Yeah."

"Dar, where's Pina?"

"In the garden."

"Would you get her please?" She sounds calm but I'm catching a bit of something I don't like. I'm about to question her about it, but she starts rubbing the soreness away and I'm quickly sidetracked.

When Dar returns with Pina, Gina turns her attention to the other female. "Some human females have what's called 'back labor' instead of regular labor. One of my friends in college had it and she had pains in the same place that Tommy's having them now. Would you check him please and set my mind at ease?"

Pina becomes instantly alert in a way that I don't like. "Sure. Come on, Tommy."

"I'm going to go check on the children" Gina says. "And then I'll be along."

Dar follows us to the infirmary even as I protest, "But I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

"This won't take long. You know that."

Once there, she swiftly grabs her scanner, checks the settings and scans me. She changes a few things and then scans the babies. Pina sets the scanner down and goes over to a cabinet and starts digging through her vials and bottles. "Pina? What's going on?"

"Just need to give you a quick shot, Tommy." Oh for the love of-

Before I know it, she's given me an injection of something and is running the scans again. The pain in my back eases and then goes away. I sigh in relief. "Whatever you did made the pain stop."

Zedd walks in, looking slightly concerned. "Gina said that you were in here and 'suggested' that I come by. Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine, Zedd. My back was hurting this morning but Pina got it to stop." I'm more than a bit surprised and then worried when Pina doesn't agree immediately. "I am fine, right, Pina?"

"No" Pina answers somberly. "Gina was right. You were going into labor and the children aren't ready yet."

Fear grips me. I can't lose them now! Not after all we've already been through! Protectively, I settle my hands on my belly. Zedd pulls me close as he asks, "What do we do now?"

"I've managed to stop the labor for now. I'm going to have to call Alundra and some other contacts. Right now, I'm going to have to put you on bed rest, Tommy, until I know what to do."

"Sorry, what now?"

"It's the only thing I can think of to help for now. As soon as I can get some answers, that might change, but I don't know of anything else yet."

I want to rant and rave and carry on, but I know that I have to do this. I have to protect the children. I start to slide off the table to go to the bedroom, but she stops me. "Zedd, carry him. I don't want him doing anything that isn't absolutely necessary."

Oh god this is going to be hell. Zedd scoops me up and heads for the bedroom. Dar calls after us, "I'll bring you up some breakfast in a little bit."

In a few minutes, Zedd settles me on the bed. His face is calm, but I can feel his fear. "If I'm going to have to stay in bed, I'm going to need a few things."

"Whatever you need, love."

Two hours later, I'm fed, been to the bathroom, have a stack of books on the nightstand and a TV and DVD player on a cart next to me so that I can change movies without having to call anyone. The door is wide open so that people can just come in as needed. Pina's running another quick scan on me. "Pina, I can't mate with Zedd anymore, can I?"

"I don't know for sure, but I'm going to guess not."

"Nothing?"

"Unless I find out otherwise, Tommy, you're going to have to become a professional lump." Damn it. "Just give me a few days to get answers and then we'll know."