AN: Here we are, another piece here. I'm on vacation this week, so I totally put up Chapter 24 this morning. If you missed it, please make sure that you read it first.
I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!
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"I am not unwell," Seven said, immediately upon entering sickbay.
The Doctor's smile was beaming. He was having a wonderful morning, Raffi assumed, and his enthusiasm—whether real or programmed— was a little contagious.
"Of course you aren't," the Doctor mused. "You have exceptional medical care at your fingertips to ensure your ongoing wellness. Right this way, please."
Sickbay was empty at this time of the morning. The intake physicals had all been completed, and nothing even remotely dangerous had befallen the ship or the crew, so there was little more for the medical team to do, at the moment, than deal with the minor problems that always arose and to update files.
Raffi walked with Seven over to one of the biobeds. With the curtain pulled, she helped Seven to dress in one of the teal gowns, and she stole a kiss from her, hoping that it would distract her from her palpable nervousness. Raffi leaned her forehead against Seven's.
"Everything is fine," she whispered. "This is only the baby growing, and that's a good thing. We want the baby to do that—a lot of that."
Tears shone in Seven's eyes, but they didn't escape. She smiled at Raffi. If the rapid rise and fall of her chest hadn't been visible, Raffi might have been convinced that she was actually relaxed and comfortable.
"Stay with me," Seven said, catching Raffi's hand and squeezing it. Raffi swallowed against the pleasant ache in her throat. She thought, briefly, how blessed she felt, sometimes, to see the absolute vulnerability that Seven allowed her to witness on occasion.
"I wasn't going anywhere," Raffi assured her. Raffi wiped at her own eyes, because she wasn't as good at keeping her tears back as Seven was sometimes. She pulled away from Seven long enough to pull the curtain back and announce that they were ready.
In an otherwise empty sickbay, they quickly had the attention of both the attending doctors.
"What seems to be the problem?" The Doctor asked, approaching a few steps ahead of Crusher.
Seven looked at Raffi, and Raffi nodded her head gently to press Seven into responding. Seven drew in a visibly deep breath and let it out. She clearly composed herself as well as she could.
"There doesn't appear to be a medical problem," she said. "However, my uniform did not fit this morning. Neither did the pants that I wore last night."
"So—your waistline is expanding?" The Doctor asked, clearly seeking clarification.
"Among other parts of my body," Seven said. "I have been taking in some additional food lately, and I believe that it is beginning to have a negative effect on my body."
"And I believe that the sudden weight gain is related to the pregnancy," Raffi said.
"Weight gain is to be expected with the advancement of pregnancy," the Doctor said. "It's hardly alarming."
"It has been five weeks since the creation of our baby," Seven said. "It has been three weeks since the surgical implantation. It is too early for me to see significant physical changes to my body from the growth of the baby."
"According to the knowledge that we have of human gestation, perhaps," the Doctor ceded. "However, we are entirely unaware of how your pregnancy may develop."
"Doctor—may I?" Crusher asked, somewhat stepping between him and Seven.
"Absolutely," the Doctor said.
Crusher centered herself in front of Seven. Raffi stepped to the side, close enough to be present if Seven needed her, but far enough away that she wasn't in the way. Raffi could tell, immediately, that Crusher's bedside manner was well-practiced, and much more natural than the programmed subroutines of the Doctor.
"Seven—are you experiencing any other symptoms?" Crusher asked.
"I do not know if this is a symptom," Seven said. Crusher nodded her head, and Raffi bit her lip. She didn't know how to communicate to Crusher that Seven could, at times, be abrasive without really meaning to be such.
"Would you lie down for me, Seven?" Crusher asked. Seven glanced at Raffi, but she did lie back on the table without argument. Crusher smiled at her. "Just relax. Get comfortable."
"I am as comfortable as I can be, given the circumstances."
"May I?" Crusher asked, moving to touch Seven.
"You are the doctor," Seven said. Raffi wondered if Crusher could sense Seven's uneasiness. Overall, when it came to medical situations, Seven tended to be nervous—never knowing what to expect, always fearing something that she might find somehow unbearably unpleasant, and being afraid of being out of control. Raffi appreciated, at least, that the Doctor and Crusher both seemed to understand that, giving Seven what semblance of control that they could.
Crusher pressed on Seven's abdomen, and Seven's reaction was unmistakable.
"Does that hurt?" Crusher asked.
"It is—unpleasant," Seven said.
"Is the pain dull or sharp, Seven?" Crusher asked. She continued to gently prod. Seven seemed to relax a bit more.
"It is—not really pain," Seven said. "It is—discomfort. Dull, not sharp."
"I touched her earlier," Raffi offered. "It felt tight."
"It is tight," Crusher said. "And probably uncomfortable."
The Doctor stepped over to the other side of the biobed, and his hands replaced Crusher's.
"The abdominal muscles are contracting," he said. "The contractions are causing the physical sensation of tightness that you experience upon touching the contracted muscles."
"It's possibly a reaction to trying to stretch quickly," Crusher said.
"It is not unbearable," Seven offered.
"I'm glad," Crusher said.
"Is it dangerous?" Seven asked. "For the baby, I mean. I remain undamaged."
"I don't think it is," Crusher said. "Just—try to relax. OK? Do you mind if we just—take a look?"
"Please," Seven said.
It didn't take long before the projection showed them a wealth of information. Raffi let her eyes glide over everything, not that she was really a professional at reading everything she saw there. Crusher and the Doctor both studied things with somewhat neutral expressions—each of them taking notes on their PADDs. Each of them was studying this pregnancy for both similar and different reasons.
"Everything appears to be just as it should be," the Doctor said.
Raffi felt herself relax. She glanced over. Seven was looking at everything very intently. Raffi felt like, with those few words, she could take in a bit more of what she was seeing without the gnawing concern of missing something that could possibly ruin so much of their happiness.
"Let's walk you through it a bit, shall we?" Crusher asked. She winked at Seven and then smiled at her. Seven was wide-eyed, but she smiled back at Crusher, and Raffi felt herself relax even more. "These are your vitals. Now—everything there is…"
"Acceptable, at best," the Doctor said, interrupting Crusher.
"I was going to say good," Crusher said.
"Blood pressure is high, respiration rate is high, yet oxygen levels are slightly below normal, pulse is high," the Doctor ticked off with a touch of annoyance or disapproval to his tone.
"Common, temporary side effects of gestational and maternal anxiety," Crusher said. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, and Crusher raised her eyebrows at him. "You won't find it in your databases, Doctor, but I assure it's real. Maybe it's a little better understood by someone who has been through the experience." She affectionately patted Seven's shoulder. "All of these things are completely normal, Seven, and they will correct themselves as soon as you relax a little."
Seven took a deep breath and let it out.
"I will try to comply," she offered, "for the benefit of the baby."
"Good—relaxing is good for your baby," Crusher said, "but your current level of anxiety isn't dangerous, either, so don't worry. This is the information that we're immediately provided on the baby."
"It is healthy?" Seven asked.
"It appears to be very healthy," Crusher said. "You can see the image here—and lots of nanoprobes are kind of blurring things. You called them…"
"Nanonannies," Raffi said, laughing to herself. Crusher laughed, too.
"It would appear to be a good name for them," she said. "They are keeping careful watch over the growth of your baby. You mentioned that your baby should be at about five weeks of growth. However, your baby—as it is now? Measures around eight or, perhaps, nine weeks of growth."
"I should not appear pregnant," Seven said. "The information that I read suggested twenty weeks of gestation was when I might expect to appear pregnant. Even with an accelerated rate of growth, our baby is still not measuring at twenty-weeks of gestation."
Crusher laughed quietly. She left the screen up for a moment, and she turned her full attention to Seven. She took Seven's left hand in hers—this time not even seeming to pay the slightest bit of attention to the implant or the presence of the tubules that had fascinated her previously.
"Seven—your body is going to go through a lot of changes. A lot. And they're all going to be wonderful, and maybe terrible, sometimes, and some of them are going to feel beautiful and others will feel absolutely disgusting."
"Paradoxical," Seven said.
"Absolutely," Crusher said. "And unique."
"Because I'm Borg," Seven said.
"Because you're a unique individual," Crusher said. "Your Borg physiology adds to that uniqueness, but you'll find that there are women who have multiple pregnancies, and every one of those pregnancies is unique. Your record says that you two plan to do this again."
"As soon as we have proper medical clearance," Seven said. "We will gain a better understanding of everything we should expect during this pregnancy."
"We will," Crusher said. "And then, we'll throw most of it out while we find out how Baby Musiker the Second wants to do things. It's possible that your body does everything differently after your Borg systems have adapted to pregnancy. Maybe the timeline for your second baby is completely different than the one your body establishes for this baby. And that'll be fine, whatever the case may be. We'll do things however that baby wants to do them, then, just like we'll do things however this baby wants to do them now."
Raffi almost wanted to kiss Crusher when she saw that Seven well and truly relaxed, her hand going comfortably limp where Crusher held it, the other lifting her head so that she could comfortably maintain eye contact with the woman and, more than likely, sneak a few looks at the screen beyond her.
"It is too early for visible changes in my body composition," Seven said.
"No, it isn't," Crusher said. "Seven—if you came in here with a dramatically extended abdomen, I would be alarmed. However, carrying a baby that is currently measuring at eight or nine weeks, I expect to see a little shift in your body composition. Hormones can cause a shift in things. You're retaining water, and your nanonannies are storing up everything they want to keep to share with your baby. I can also see from the tilt of your uterus that you're likely going to carry a little more here," Crusher said, rubbing her hand around Seven's stomach. "In front. The position of your uterus will make your belly a bit more pronounced while you're carrying your baby—but that's normal. It's just how you're going to carry your baby."
"What about the tightness and discomfort?" Raffi interrupted.
"Rapid growth, even if it's not extremely fast, is still rapid growth," the Doctor said, interrupting his colleague. "In some species, where the gestation period is very short, pain is a common side effect of pregnancy. It's usually not recorded as being unbearable, given that some species have no choice except to bear it during the time of gestation, but the pain is evidence that the muscles and tissue have to make quick accommodation for the growth. As long as Seven is not in distress, there's nothing to worry about. If it causes her problems, we can add an analgesic in with her hormone hyposprays."
"I do not require an analgesic," Seven said. "I would like to experience the sensations of my pregnancy."
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable," Raffi said. "You wouldn't just tolerate a headache to experience the sensation."
Seven raised both her eyebrows at Raffi in absolute, undeniable challenge. Raffi held her eyes.
"I would," Seven said, "and I have. I am not in any distress, and I find the discomfort to be minor. I would like to experience my pregnancy without the numbing effects of an analgesic." Seven's features softened slightly. She looked at Raffi, somewhat apologetically, and gave her a soft smile. "However—if I find it too uncomfortable, I promise to return to sickbay and request that an analgesic be added to my current prescription. Please—Raf. You know that I—that I value your support."
Raffi chewed on it a moment. She nodded her head.
"Of course you have my support," she said. "I just don't like to see you hurt. And I know how you are, sometimes, about downplaying what you're feeling. But—if you promise to take it as soon as it really bothers you…"
"If anyone would care to hear my input," the Doctor said. He waited, quietly, until he had everyone's attention. "Seven's elevated blood pressure may be owing to the discomfort or the anxiety. Elevated blood pressure can be problematic long-term in a pregnancy. However," he said, holding a finger up at Crusher as if to silence her before she could say anything, "I believe that the fact that Seven's blood pressure is not too high is evidence that she is not in too much distress over any discomfort she may be currently experiencing."
Seven smiled. She turned her head, making sure the smile came all the way to Raffi.
"Thank you, Doctor," she said. "I am not unwell."
"And your blood pressure has dropped since you've gotten here," Crusher said, "which leads me to believe it's more a result of anxiety than pain. That being said, please do let us know if you need something. There's no shame in wanting to be comfortable."
"I feel no shame," Seven assured her. "Are you sure that the changes in my body composition are fine? I do not need to restrict my diet?"
There was a bit of a stand-off where Crusher and the Doctor silently asked each other who was going to take the question. Finally, the Doctor made a show of inviting Crusher to continue.
"Absolutely not," Crusher said. "If anything, the only reason that I'm a little reluctant to say that your baby is showing at nine weeks rather than eight is its size—not necessarily the development that is showing here. The size could be a result of the simple fact that Seven of Nine makes small babies…"
"Umm—Doctor Crusher," Raffi said, putting her hand on Crusher's shoulder. She drew her attention and Raffi shook her head. "Not—she prefers Seven. Just Seven or…or Seven Musiker."
Seven smiled at Raffi.
"It's OK," Seven said. "I'm not offended. I know that my files have me listed as Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 and Annika Hansen, in addition to Seven Musiker. It's easy to make the mistake."
"It's easy to correct it, too," Raffi said.
"It is easy to correct it," Crusher agreed. "And this may be a case that Seven Musiker makes small babies, or it may be a case where you may need to actually increase your intake of food a little. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to consider adding a few more nutritious calories to your diet, and you should absolutely avoid restricting in any way."
"What about uniforms?" Raffi asked. "Is it time for a maternity uniform?"
"That's a matter of personal comfort," Crusher said. "My personal recommendation would be to move to a maternity uniform as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. You'll find it's simply more comfortable, and it will give more as you're figuring out exactly how fast the rate of growth is going to be for Baby Musiker. We have no way of knowing, after all, if the baby's progress will continue at a somewhat steady speed of growth, or if there may be days where it accelerates greatly. A maternity uniform will provide a bit more give for those situations. And, it'll do the job of breaking the ice and making your pregnancy known to anyone that you haven't had an open opportunity to tell yet."
"May I hear the heartbeat?" Seven asked.
"Absolutely," the Doctor said. "We need to record it for our files."
When they finished, both the Doctor and Crusher offered to answer any lingering questions, and then they left Raffi and Seven to finish up at Seven's leisure behind the curtain.
Seven continued to lie on the biobed for a moment. Raffi rested her hand on Seven's stomach, and Seven pressed her own fingers over Raffi's, pressing Raffi's hand down.
"It's not as tight right now," Raffi said, using her fingertips to massage Seven's abdomen.
"I'm relaxed," Seven said. Raffi smiled at her.
"I can tell. I prefer when you're relaxed."
"Please do not be angry about the analgesic," Seven said. "Please understand that—I never thought this would be possible. Not for me. I think, there are moments when I still don't believe it's true."
"It's true," Raffi said. "We're doing this—the whole thing. And this?" Raffi rubbed her hand over Seven's stomach. The evidence there was barely evidence at all—enough to make pants tight, but not enough that too many people would notice the change in her appearance. Still, Raffi noticed, maybe because she wanted to notice. "This is proof that this is very, very real."
Seven drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. The expression on her face tugged at something in Raffi's chest. For that one inhalation of breath, there was absolute peace on her features. She smiled at Raffi when she opened her eyes.
"I feel—very pregnant," she said, laughing quietly at her own admission.
"You are very pregnant," Raffi said, laughing in response. There was a certain exhilaration that she felt in contrast to Seven's absolute peace.
Seven sat up and remained on the biobed for a moment, her hand pressed against her abdomen.
"I would like to replicate a maternity uniform," Seven said. "Today. Before I begin my shift in Astrometrics."
"You can wait, if you want," Raffi said.
"I don't want to wait, Raffi. I want to wear it. I want—everyone who didn't know, to know that I'm pregnant," Seven said.
"Then—we'll go replicate one," Raffi said. "Right now."
"You don't think it's too early?" Seven challenged.
"Seven—I can't wait to see it," Raffi assured her.