Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek. You should all know that by now. It's quite sad really when you think of it; every time I have to write a disclaimer I have to admit that I don't own Star Trek. *Sigh*
A/N: Sorry for the late update. I had one of my six brothers' engagement party last night. Didn't get home until quite late.
So you should all know at least one of the baby's names. If you have no idea… you should probably start the story from the beginning. If you still have no idea… just keep reading, I'm sure you'll figure it out. The other child is a mystery. Ooh, how intriguing. Don't let me take up more of your time. On with the story…
Reviews are like long walks on the beach; beautiful and peaceful, until you realise that the tide has come in and you're stranded on a small sand island. Please, don't be like the tide. Be the beautiful, peaceful view.
Origins: The Journey Begins
Chapter 19: One Just Isn't Enough
STARDATE: 2236.119 (Fri, April 29th, 2236) [1 Day old]
It was April the 29th, the day after the birth. Miotep was ordered to stay overnight at the hospital just so that she and her day-old twins could be further tested and monitored before they were sent on their way.
Normally, after the birth of a child, Miotep would beg for an early discharge. When she had given birth to her first child, she stayed back the extra days without any hassle, she was new to parenthood and the doctors and assistants were very helpful. However, after her second child was born she was almost on her knees begging to be let go. She had a small family waiting for her, all she wanted to do was escape from the confines of the white-walled maternity suite.
However, this time was different. She had nearly died during the delivery. Given the circumstances, she was happy to oblige to the doctor's orders and stay an extra night. Miotep was surprised that she was allowed to go home this early after a painful delivery such as hers. Then again, she wasn't the only woman in the labour ward that had an unusual, painful birth.
The hospital treated a vast variety of species and was one of seven hospitals on Earth that treated illnesses, infections, deadly diseases and unknown viruses from across the galaxy. Miotep was glad she was acquainted with Dr Rehema Buhari before she became an intergalactic doctor.
Dr Rehema Buhari was a specialist in midwifery and paediatrics. She never limited her studies to human physiology; she also became well versed in the physiological structures of Andorians, Betazoids, Ferengis, Orions, Cardassians, Rigilians, Tellerites, and even the lesser known Romulans and Vulcans. These were the basics. She studied much more humanoid species which made her work vastly recognised throughout the galaxy.
Miotep was currently lying on the medibed, and the twins resting in their cribs against the wall when Nurse Chandler entered the suite. Her short, chubby frame wobbled as she made her way around the room, humming loudly as she went.
"Good Morning, Mrs Uhura. How are you this morning?" Nurse Chandler asked as she checked Miotep's vital signs on the monitor by the head of the bed. She was short, so she had to stand on her tippy-toes to become eye-level with the screen.
"Much better, thank you," Miotep responded with a smile. Upon hearing their mother's voice, both of the twins simultaneously started to wail.
"Oh, dear me." Nurse Chandler chuckled and turned to check on the twins. Each twin had a small crib to themselves. Although they were not born prematurely, both of the girls were small in stature. The first baby weighed in at five pounds, two ounces, while Baby Two weighed in at four pounds, fourteen ounces.
Nurse Chandler looked down at the crying babies. She never grew tired of baby watching, even if they were crying like banshees. She bent down and picked up Baby One.
"Have they been fed this morning?" The nurse asked as she turned back to the mother, Baby One tucked in the crook of Nurse Chandler's arm. Baby One had momentarily stopped crying as soon as she was picked up. However, as soon as Baby One realised that it wasn't her mother who was carrying her she started to wail once more.
Miotep looked up at the clock above the entry. 7:15 a.m.
"No. Not yet. I'm aiming for 7:30." Miotep answered the nurse who had begun swaying from side to side. The crying from Baby One started to cease, but the wails from Baby Two grew louder.
"Whoo, doesn't she have a set of lungs!" The nurse chuckled as she handed Baby One over to Miotep while she bent over the next crib to grab hold of the wailing child.
Baby Two may have been smaller than her twin but she was just as loud, if not louder. The cries settled once Nurse Chandler picked her up from the crib. The nurse danced gently around in the open space, trying to calm the child in her arms.
It didn't work very well. The child was still crying. "Her lungs are getting a very good workout. She'll make a great singer one day." Nurse Chandler said cheerfully as she stopped dancing and tried to rock the child back to sleep.
"I don't find that hard to believe," Miotep responded as she settled Baby One into the crook of her right arm.
"You have singers in your family?" Nurse Chandler turned to Miotep with excitement clearly written on her face.
"You could say our whole family sings," Miotep answered. She didn't mind the nurse's curiosity, besides she really wanted someone to talk to. After being cooped up in the hospital with no one but doctors, a little conversation was definitely what she needed.
"Really?" Nurse Chandler questioned, curiosity tipping her over the edge, "Do you sing?"
"I do. Not professionally, but I don't mind performing every now and then." It was only after she had finished talking that she realised how stuck-up she sounded. She winced slightly at herself.
Nurse Chandler just smiled, knowing full well that Mrs Uhura was not a self-absorbed woman.
Miotep quickly spoke again, trying to move the conversation on, "My husband sings too. And my children."
"Oh, how delightful! A whole family of singers!" Nurse Chandler exclaimed as she looked down at the sobbing baby in her arms.
"You could say that," Miotep said as she shifted Baby One into the crooked of her left arm and began cooing at her. The door to the suite opened and in came Ahadi.
Seeing his wife holding one of his babies made him smile broadly, showing his straight, white teeth. "How are my girls?" He asked the room as he came to stand next to the nurse who was swaying erratically to try and calm the cries of the child.
"Mother is fine but the babies are hungry." Nurse Chandler replied, never taking her eyes off of the child in her arms.
"May I?" Ahadi asked the nurse with an extended hand.
Nurse Chandler smiled and handed the sobbing baby over to the father. Ahadi cradled the baby with both hands, calming her cries with his warm, soothing voice. He then shifted the baby until she rested on his right arm. Using his free hand, Ahadi pulled the blanket down to identify which one of his daughters he was holding. There on the soft golden-brown skin of the infant was the dark, small, star-shaped birthmark.
"I've got Baby Two." He said, trying to contain his happiness.
"And how would you know? These babies are identical." Miotep called from the medibed. She had managed to calm the baby in her arms. She was, after all, an experienced mother.
Realising that his wife had not seen the birthmarks, Ahadi became gleeful. He thought about pranking her, after all the times she had pranked him, she deserved it. He looked at her tired face. He was too caring to pull a prank on his wife so early after the birth. He decided to tell her straight up about how he could tell the difference.
"Not quite. Shuffle over a bit." He said gesturing for his wife to move over. She complied and managed to shuffle over to give her husband enough room to sit alongside her on the medibed.
"You have Baby One." He began, but Miotep just stared at him. She was not going to fall for another one of his stupid jokes. "Before you say anything, this is not a joke. I'm being completely serious." Ahadi added. He even had that serious look on his face. Maybe he was telling the truth.
Now intrigued, Miotep leant closer to the baby in her arms. Ahadi did too. His large dark hand came to the side of the baby's head. Without hurting the child, he gently turned the head to the side and folded the ear forward revealing the small discoloured birthmark behind the baby's ear.
"And Baby Two doesn't have a birthmark?" Miotep asked, now looking over at the sleeping baby in her husband's arms.
"Actually, she does. But it's in a different spot." Ahadi pulled the blanket down once again to reveal the star-shaped birthmark on the infant's chest.
"It's a star," Ahadi confirmed with a smile.
Miotep smiled at him in return. The child in her arms started to cry again, which in turn, made Baby Two start to cry. Soon the room was filled with the tiny howls of the babies.
Miotep looked at the clock to see that was now 7:30. She shifted slightly to hoist her night shirt up. After moving Baby One to the other arm, she brought her up so she could latch on to her left breast.
After the baby had successfully latched on, Miotep motioned for Ahadi to place Baby Two in her vacant arm. With the help of her husband, she managed to get both of her girls suckling at the same time.
After the girls had been fed, Ahadi and Nurse Chandler helped burp and calm the babies into a peaceful sleep. They had just set the twins back into their respective cribs when the door opened up to reveal Dr Buhari.
The doctor walked in and took a seat at the foot of the bed and waited for Ahadi to join them before she began to speak. The nurse was dismissed and the Uhura's were left alone with the doctor.
"I have some good news and some bad news." The doctor began. She had come to be good friends with this family, particularly with Miotep, so it was hard for her to explain to them the seriousness of this situation.
Ahadi and Miotep both visibly flinched at the sound of 'bad news'. Ahadi sort out his wife's hand and squeezed it gently. Miotep looked at him then back to the doctor. She nodded her head slightly to signal the doctor to proceed.
"You are fine, there is nothing wrong with you or the babies," Doctor Buhari began, "That's the good news."
Miotep's first thought was 'If that's the good news then how bad could the bad news really be?' But no matter how many times she focused on the positives she couldn't help but wonder what the bad news holds.
"So, they're ok?" Miotep asked, her voice full of concern.
"In essence, yes." The doctor replied and noticed the parents sigh in relief.
"Then what is it?" Ahadi asked. He wasn't demanding or angry, just deeply concerned for his twins.
"I injected you with a hypospray to help speed up the delivery, and at first, the hypospray looked like it wasn't going to work at all. The hypospray wasn't meant for you, but for the babies and they just didn't react to the hypo. However, after Baby One was delivered, when your life signs were declining and you were… unconscious, the hypospray finally kicked in." The doctor explained.
"So the hypo did work?" Miotep asked.
"Yes." She answered boldly. "There was a reason why it took so long to finally kick in though."
Both Ahadi and Miotep leant forward slightly in anticipation.
"Ancient Blood." The doctor said with a small smile.
"What?" Miotep asked as she tried to grasp the concept.
"Ancient Blood?" Ahadi echoed. He looked at the small smile on the doctor's face and gave a short snort. "You're kidding right?"
"I'm a professional, Mr Uhura." Doctor Buhari stated.
"Yeah, and I'm a flying penguin," Ahadi answered shortly.
"Ahadi!" Miotep scolded.
"You can't be serious," Ahadi stated as he looked at his wife and the doctor. "Ancient blood is the most unrealistic thing I've heard."
"It's true. Therefore, realistic." Doctor Buhari explained. "Look, Yes. You are a direct descendant from the last Pharaoh of Egypt. Ancient Pharaohs were known for their unusual blood. At one stage, they were thought to be the descendants of the gods themselves, due to the fact that they could be cured of almost any ancient disease. Your twins have this type of blood running through their veins."
"So what does this have to do with Baby Two and the hypospray?" Miotep asked as she tried to piece together all of the information.
"And why didn't Baby One get affected?" Ahadi added, now somewhat calmer than he was before.
"The hypo was for the babies when they were still in utero. Baby One was delivered before the hypo started taking effect. Baby Two, however, got the grunt of it. Because her twin wasn't in the womb with her to share the hypo, Baby Two got double dosage."
"Oh, my God, is that bad?" Miotep said, her heart starting to race.
"Well, it's not good to give such a young infant so much, but in this case, it's the best thing that could've happened." The doctor informed.
"Okay…" Ahadi drew out the word. "So this is the bad news?"
"Yes… and no. Yes, it is the bad news. Baby Two had double dosage, that is bad. But the good thing is because of the double dosage Baby Two was able to kick start your life signs. It's because of the double dose that you're sitting here in front of me now."
"Wow." Ahadi managed to say, seeing as his wife was speechless.
"So, are you saying that Baby Two's 'ancient blood' is what delayed the hypospray's effects?" Miotep asked after a decent silence.
"Yes. Baby Two's blood had trouble distinguishing whether the hypo administered was good or bad. It took a while for it to figure out the hypo was good, but in the end, it all worked out for the better." The doctor explained.
The Uhura's simultaneously leant back into the medibed. The doctor continued, "Baby Two is healthy. She won't have to take any hypos daily, she won't need to have regular check-ups, she won't even have any disadvantages. It's was just a reaction, and now that her blood knows that particular hypo it won't take that long to take effect the next time she is in need of it."
The Uhura's nodded their heads as a sign of understanding. They felt relieved. The bad news wasn't that bad after all. Ahadi was trying to hide his smile, his twins were going to be fine. He looked over at his wife who was smiling widely at him. She was definitely relieved. Her girls were healthy.
"I'll leave you two for a moment to let this all sink in." Dr Buhari said as she rose from the seat and proceeded for the exit. She paused at the door and turned back to the parents. "Oh, and by the time I come back I hope I don't have to refer to the twins as Baby One and Baby Two." She chuckled as she left.
Ahadi looked to his wife. "How are you going?"
"I'm okay. I'm just glad that they're both healthy." She said through her smile. So the twins have ancient blood. Sehale is allergic to corn and Nanenna has a fear of flies. The Uhura's are anything but normal.
"Me too." Ahadi sighed, and they both fell into a comfortable silence.
"Zantiri," Miotep spoke after a couple of silent minutes.
Ahadi just stared at his wife. "Your grandmother?"
"Mm-hm," Miotep responded and thought back to when she was a little girl. Zantiri was Big Mama's mother. Zantiri had been a major part of Miotep's childhood. Whenever Big Mama and Baba had to go to a conference, Zantiri would look after Miotep and Ashantis. They would build pillow forts in the lounge room, bake cupcakes, have baths while dressed in their clothes. To Miotep, she was known as Binti; a sweet, loving old woman who never stopped having fun. She had passed away a couple months after Nanenna was born.
"I thought you were going to name one of them Zoraya?" Ahadi asked, now completely confused. As soon as they found out she was carrying twins, they agreed to name a child each.
"Yes, I was, until I saw the birthmark behind the ear. It's very similar to the one Binti had." Miotep said, looking back at Ahadi.
"We could still name the other one Zoraya?" Miotep asked. Ahadi's head whipped around to face her.
"I… I already thought of a name." He said quietly. Miotep heard him, though.
"That's ok. We agreed to name one child each. Baby One will now be known as Zantiri Zoraya Uhura." She smiled widely. "That way you can still name the other twin. You also get to choose a middle name, seeing as I went ahead and named Baby One without you."
Ahadi smiled as he spoke. "I'm so glad you named Baby One."
"Why is that?" Miotep asked as she studied her husband's face. He looked like the Cheshire Cat with that ear-to-ear grin he had plastered on his face.
"Because the name I have chosen means 'star' in Swahili. It goes with the birthmark." He grinned as he realised that his youngest daughters were named because of their birthmarks.
"Nyota," Miotep answered. The name rolling off of her tongue.
"Miotep Uhura," Ahadi added.
"Yes?" Miotep asked.
"Miotep Uhura," Ahadi said again, realising his wife had not followed the thread of thought.
"Yes, what is it?" She said, now a bit irritated. She was missing something here, she could tell.
"Nyota Miotep Uhura," Ahadi replied with a smile.
"Oh, no you don't." Miotep retorted.
"Oh, yes I do. You said that I could give her a middle name too because you named Zantiri Zoraya." Ahadi said feeling chuffed. "Besides, I didn't get all 'huffy' when you named Denahi Ahadi Uhura after me."
Realising her defeat, Miotep sighed, "Fine. But when Nyota gets in trouble, you're the one who gets to call out her full name. I don't want to come across as a bad mother and stuck-up; having to yell out my own name to a disobedient child."
"How do you know she's going to be disobedient? She could be heaven's angel." Ahadi said.
"Honey, these girls are Uhura's. They'll be disobedient at some point in their life." Miotep smiled slightly.
"So that's a yes then?" He asked. "About the name?" He added.
"Yes." Miotep rubbed her forehead. She couldn't believe she was letting him get away with this, but she did promise him.
"Nyota Miotep Uhura." Ahadi cooed at the baby.
