"Touch me," Jadzia whispered. It had been a long day, and she felt exhausted. Thrown across her bed, her body felt like it weighed a thousand kilos. Or five kilos, the voice in the back of her head said. That's how much more than usual she'd weighed the last time she'd asked the computer.

"You are very demanding," joked Worf, but he put his hands on her shoulders. They were rough, but had a good pressure to them.

"I only do it because you listen," she said defiantly, turning to look him in the eye, but her defiance was lost in a wave of dizziness, and she put her head down. Worf looked concerned.

"You are not feeling well," he stated.

"I'm just tired," she replied, trying to convince herself as much as him, "I worked a double shift today, and before that I played with Kang when I should have been sleeping. And my back hurts. I've been lifting boxes."

"Am I making it feel better?" Worf asked, resuming his massage.

"Yes," smiled Jadzia , as a flash of cold stole through her and she shivered. Gingerly, he flipped her over.

What does he want now, she thought in a stupor as he pulled down the covers and invaded her torso with his hands, I'm not up for this. To her surprise, he was gazing down at her with a piercing expression when she opened her eyes.

"You're pregnant," he said in a voice that was slightly accusatory.

"I... I don't know," she said wearily, "I have been feeling off," but in her mind there was no doubt. Ever since she'd weighed herself, the truth had been stewing at the back of her mind.

"Tomorrow we will see Dr. Bashir and find out," Worf stated more gently. There was a hint of a smile on his face as he stroked her belly.

Jadzia shivered, and Worf wrapped a blanket around her and held her in his arms. In her dizziness, she thought of the day she'd brought Kang home for the first time. He had been so sweet with those little fangs. Babies weren't so bad, really ...

****

The couple waited for two hours outside of the infirmary, and Dr. Bashir's uniform was dirty and he had blood smeared on his face when they saw him. Another shipload of casualties had just come in from the Gamma quadrant.

"What can I do for you two?" he asked with an exasperated expression that made it clear that if they were there for another set of 'recreational' injuries, he was going to turn them away.

"Jadzia has been feeling ill," Worf said, "I think she may be pregnant."

"That's easy enough to find out," the doctor responded automatically, reaching for his tricorder. His face soured as he began to scan.

"You're almost three months in!" he sputtered, "Why didn't you come in before now?"

She sat stunned for a moment, her head feeling as heavy as a crate.

"We've been trying for more than a year now," she lied, "and after awhile we gave up."

She didn't think she could stand the look on Dr. Bashir's face if she told him that she hadn't really been thinking about it. And certainly, she wasn't going to tell him about their relationship problems when Worf had first arrived.

"Well, you should be scanning yourself every two weeks while you have those enzymes in your body," he responded rapidly with annoyance in his voice, "You can set the computer to do it for you."

With that, he walked across the room, and punched a few buttons on a console.

"There," he said, "That's all it takes." He picked up the tricorder and kept scanning.

"Now, you're seriously anaemic," he continued, his voice growing harsh "I'm surprised you're still walking and you could have hurt the baby. I'm going to give you some medication."

He walked over and pushed a hypospray into her back. She felt some of her dizziness lift almost immediately.

"You will need to take another one of these in fifteen minutes, and then another every six hours after that." He handed her a PADD,

"And here's a diet I want you to follow, I don't think you've been eating properly."

Jadzia looked up, hoping for some congratulations or kind words, but the doctor's face was stern.

"You can go now," Dr. Bashir whispered, "Come back in three days."

"You don't want me to stay for the next hypospray?" she asked.

"It's all on the PADD," he replied, "Worf can give it to you unless he can't handle basic mechanical instruments--"

"I'm sure we'll be fine," she interjected before he could finish. Dr. Bashir continued.

"Honestly, I don't know what you're doing, getting yourself into a state like this. Just because I didn't give you the enzymes this time doesn't make it any less risky!"

"I'm sorry," Jadzia said, "I wasn't thinking."

"That's a fact," the doctor spat and motioned them out the door.

"I wonder what is wrong with him?" Worf asked as soon they were out of the infirmary, "He is usually very cheerful."

"Dealing with all those casualties must be stressful," she suggested, although she was wondering the same thing. Then she had a thought.

"One second," she said, running back into the infirmary. Dr. Bashir was leaning exhausted in a chair.

"I'm sorry I'm in such a bad mood," he moaned as soon as she walked in, "I haven't slept for two days."

"I was just wondering if it's a boy or a girl," she asked quietly. He grappled for the tricorder beside him.

"A boy," he said, holding it out tiredly in front of him.

Worf grinned when she told him, and she smiled a little too. She promised herself that she was going to take extra good care of this one, she was going to protect him and she wasn't going to ignore him no matter what he did .

*****

Jadzia hoped that Dr. Bashir would be back to normal the next time she saw him, but he wasn't.

"I still think you're being irresponsible," he told her over lunch.

"How so?" she asked, a bit shaken.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, there's a war on, " he said ostentatiously.

"And?"

"You should be focusing on other things"

"Other things than family? Julian, in the end I'm going to have to do the things I want in life, war or no war."

She had been considering telling him the truth, that the pregnancy was a surprise, but now she felt defensive.

"You could always have one after the war's over," Dr. Bashir replied dismissively.

"Julian," she said kindly, "I'm almost thirty-six. I don't know how much longer I'll have."

"You know there's technology to help with that," he interjected.

Jadzia knew what he was talking about. She had taken a tour of the leading fertility centre on Earth when she was at the academy, and had found it quite disturbing. The place was so institutional, with rows of identical canisters, petri dishes, artificial wombs and cradles that she was surprised the babies didn't turn out identical. Meanwhile, everyone who worked there thought they had the best job on Earth. She called the place the Happy Human Factory.

"No, I am not sending in my nail clippings so they can make me a kid like a pair of custom slippers," she spat.

"Once they get over the initial distaste, most couples find ..." Dr. Bashir stated, like he was reading from a textbook.

"Anyhow, I'm sure Worf would have religious problems with it"

"That's his problem," the doctor snapped, "And that's another thing you should be worried about. I've heard that Worf's mental state hasn't returned to its normal level of excellence." A slight bit of disdain in Dr. Bashir's voice made it clear that he hadn't thought much of Worf's mental state in the first place.

"He's really doing quite well ,considering."

"Did he not kill a captain not too long ago?" Dr. Bashir sneered.

"He had never been anything but a good father to Kang!" she exclaimed angrily, not wanting to pursue the issue, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd been replaced by a changling!"

With that, she stood up and stormed off.

****

Luckily, everyone else was more enthusiastic.

"They'll be twin terrors!" Cheif O'Brien remarked, but he acted like it was a good thing.

Major Kira was all smiles when she told her, and brought her a Bajoran charm that was supposed to ensure the child good health. Jadzia didn't really believe in those things, but it was a nice thought and wore it anyways.

Captian Sisko looked concerned when she told him.

"You know I can't spare you for the upcoming mission," he said unhappily, and she knew why. Twenty percent of the officers that had been around when she was pregnant with Kang were now dead.

"That's okay," she said cheerfully, "The drugs Dr. Bashir gave me are making me feel a lot better." She tried not to think about the doctor too much.

"Still, I wish things were different."

"Who knows," she quipped, "The Dominion might surrender before then. "

Captain Sisko laughed. There was some chance of that.