Olivier stared blankly at the mirror in the bathroom, letting her hair drape into the sink so the chunks of vomit could be washed off. Her face was even paler than usual and her cheeks looked a little green. Her stomach was in knots and her mouth tasted awful. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed under a massive pile of blankets with a heating pad and a tall glass of water and sleep. She hadn't had morning sickness once during her whole pregnancy, but of course now that she was at a public place that she couldn't leave right away and was meeting her doctor for the first time, naturally now would be the time for her to start.

It's not too late to back out, right? She thought, moaning again. That vomit had come out of nowhere. Usually when she was going to throw up she knew about it beforehand, but this had been so sudden she'd barely had time to bend over. Dr. Dodo was going to need a new pair of shoes. And she was probably going to need a new doctor, since she had probably caused him to form the worst possible impression of her, what with her projecting already-digested food onto his feet without so much as a how-do-you-do.

"Olivier?" Riza's voice was barely audible over the sound of running water. "Are you okay?"

"I'm wonderful, why wouldn't I be?" she barked. She switched off the water and sighed. The smell still lingered and the ends of her hair and clothes were wet, but she was about as presentable as she could be in this situation. Best get the rest of the visit over with so she could go home and sleep.

"Are we all better and ready to go?" Dr. Dodo asked as she emerged from the restroom. His shoes had been wiped clean, but there were still spots of orange and he smelled almost as bad as she did. Funnily enough, he didn't seem upset. Maybe when you were a doctor, you stopped being sensitive to things like vomit.

"Fine." Olivier ran a hand through her hair, wishing her stomach would stop aching. "Just make this quick."

Dr. Dodo snapped his fingers. "Don't you worry, it'll be faster than a runaway roach." God, he sounded like a clown. "Just sit down right there and I'll ask you about your health. Then we'll get to the physical stuff. Hopefully you'll be feeling better by then."

Olivier wrinkled her nose a bit. He had a funny accent that she couldn't place. Cretan maybe? She was surprised he was still being friendly; if she'd been in his shoes (literally), she would have been pissed. She returned to the big chair, Riza taking the smaller one beside her. Dr. Dodo grabbed a clipboard and ran over a sheet of paper with a pen.

"First off, you've never been pregnant before, right?"

"No." Olivier eyed the myriad of equipment in the room. What in the world was all of this used for?

"Any STIs or STDs?"

"No. And before you ask, I'm not sexually active. Haven't been for years." Riza raised an eyebrow at that one, which Olivier tried to ignore. Commanding a fort didn't leave her with a lot of time for getting laid, and it wasn't particularly something she missed.

Dr. Dodo scribbled away on his clipboard. "Any symptoms been sneakin' up on you? Besides morning sickness, I mean."

Olivier shook her head. "No. That was the first time I've been sick."

"Oh, it was?" He raised an orange eyebrow. "So you're a nervous nelly then, huh?"

Olivier rolled her eyes. "No! Although I will admit I'm not happy to be here."

"Aw come on, I'm not that bad," he joked. "I'm a nice guy."

"We'll see about that," Olivier said.

He grinned. "Yes we will. Have you sprung any leaks?"

Olivier made a face. "What?"

"Has anything leaked from your vagina?" Riza asked bluntly.

Why would he ask it like that? "No, nothing."

"Alright, good." From the way the clipboard was turned, Olivier could see his chicken scratch handwriting. It was even worse than Buccaneer's. "Any allergies?"

"No."

"Special medical conditions that you've been diagnosed with?"

"No."

"Have you ever been a victim of abuse?"

Well I have been stabbed and shot by Drachman spies on more than one occasion. But she knew he meant domestic abuse, so again she told him no.

"And are you mentally competent?"

Olivier scoffed. "What do you think, idiot?" Riza cringed. Dr. Dodo laughed.

"Sorry, I have to ask that. The clipboard demands it."

"Are there any other ridiculous questions like that one?"

"Now I have to ask you about your menstrual cycle."

"What about it?" she asked guardedly. Olivier hated any mention of Aunt Flo. Women had been denied the right to participate in combat for too long because of it.

Dr. Dodo talked with his hands. "Well, what's it like? Are you regular? Is your flow light or heavy? That kind of thing."

Olivier huffed. This was never a pleasant thing to talk about with a man. Especially one that insisted on acting goofy. He was reminding her of Mustang and she didn't like that. "It's irregular, I never know when the damn thing will show up. Every time I think I know, I'm proven wrong. I'm normally fairly heavy and only bleed for about five days. After that it's spotting, if anything, for the next two days." The one good thing about getting pregnant was that she hadn't seen it for two months.

Dr. Dodo nodded. "That's what I hear from a lot of my patients. Something about bleeding for a week a month and getting bloated breasts and bellyaches that doesn't sit well with the ladies. Now, last question. How are you feeling in general? Any complaints, worries, questions?"

Olivier didn't mince words. "When does the thing come out and how bad will it hurt?"

"We'll find that out when we do the ultrasound. As to how much it will hurt, that depends on the size of the baby, how healthy you are, that sort of thing. Anything else?"

"Are there any vitamins she can take or anything like that to make sure the baby's healthy?" Riza asked. Olivier glared at her. Riza wasn't her mother.

"Yes, I plan to give you some prescription prenatal vitamins after the visit. Take one every day with a meal. Now if there are no more questions or concerns, I'm going to check your blood pressure. Just hold still while my instrument gives your arm a good hug." Olivier wanted to punch that idiotic smile off his face.

Olivier lay back and tried to relax as he wrapped the padding tightly around her arm. She hated the way Riza and the doctor were staring at her. It was too awkward. She kept her gaze on the ceiling and tried to ignore the squeezing motion on her arm. She wondered why these people couldn't just be satisfied with checking the copies of her medical records at Central Command.

"Mm, everything looks good. Now we need to check your weight and I need to collect a urine sample from you. Then we'll do the Pap Smear and the ultrasound."

Olivier barely stifled a groan. "Is a Pap Smear necessary?"

"Yes, it's essential unless you just recently had one. When was your last?"

"A year ago," Olivier answered, her heart sinking.

"Then yes, you're going to need it. Don't worry, it won't take long. I do them every day, several times a day. I know vaginas like the back of my hand."

Olivier shot a glare at him, not amused by his weak attempt at humor, and stepped on the scale he gestured to after removing her shoes.

"Hmm. Not bad, but it seems you're just a bit underweight. That's not good for you or the baby. Eat some of that chocolate you girls like so much."

Olivier hated chocolate and hated him for assuming otherwise. "I'm already going to gain weight just from being pregnant, why do I need more?" It wouldn't do to have too much fat on her when she returned to Briggs.

He wagged a finger. "It's vital for any pregnant woman to be at just the right weight for her size, Miss Armstrong. Have you been doing any strenuous exercise?"

"Just walking. That's all."

"How long?"

"A couple of hours. It varies."

Riza bit her lip. Dr. Dodo shook his head. "That's way too much. You need to cut back to about one hour, two max. And it's important for you to eat right too. Lots of fruits, vegetables, grains, water and yogurt. Obviously no alcohol, no refrigerated meat, nothing with raw eggs, no fish, no more than twelve ounces of coffee per day, and no lettuce or cabbage. The important thing is resting and not exerting too much energy."

"I can assure you the energy I exerted while walking was a small fraction of what my body can do."

"Ah, the alpha female type, huh? I had a feeling." Dr. Dodo had a wide gap between his two front teeth that was painfully obvious whenever he smiled, which was nearly every second. He lived up to his name quite well. He reached out to pat her stomach and she bristled. "When you give that up, you can go right back to working yourself silly. But right now you've got a fragile little soul in there and it can't handle being bounced around too much."

Olivier scowled.

"You've only got seven more months," Riza reminded her, though her tone was forced. "It'll be over before you know it."

"That's easy for you to say, considering you can still go and do as you please." Olivier shot her a glare. Her stomach was still in a tizzy and her bad mood was growing worse.

Several more questions and an extremely awkward urine sample later, the dreaded moment came.

"Shall we get to the Pap Smear?" Dr. Dodo asked. The way he said it made it sound as though the procedure was something to look forward to. Not that he would ever know, considering he was always standing in front of the examining table and never lying on top of it.

"Fine." Olivier gritted her teeth as he turned to his tools lying on the counter. Riza sat back down and averted her eyes as Olivier began to undress from the waist down. When the lower part of her body was fully exposed, Olivier awkwardly sat down on the cold metal table, crinkling the white sheet that had been placed over it. Just for a second, Riza glanced to her, and at the sight of her reaction to seeing her naked, Olivier wanted to smack her, and she wished she'd taken Riza up on her offer to leave. She snatched the sheet Dr. Dodo had started to hand her and placed it over her legs, not wanting him to see any more than was necessary.

"You really don't like this, do you, Miss Armstrong?"

It's General Armstrong. "What was your first clue?"

"Hey, come on. At least it's better than going to the dentist and having your teeth pulled. Right?"

"Like hell it is. I'd much prefer having someone's hand in my mouth than between my legs."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. This won't take long though, I promise. Just put your feet into the stirrups for me and I'll make it quick and dirty. But not that kind of dirty," he said, winking his eye. Riza giggled. Olivier rolled her eyes.

There they were. The dreaded stirrups. She slowly scooted down and lifted her legs, careful not to let the sheet fall off, and bent her knees so that the lower portion of her legs and feet would fit into the cold metal, hating the way she could feel herself opening up as she did so. She winced as Dr. Dodo carefully inserted the rubber duckbill-like tool that would keep her folds spread. This position was so foreign to her and "uncomfortable" did not even begin to describe it. And to top it off, the room was freezing and she was getting a draft where she shouldn't have.

"That's a good girl. Now just relax and try to think about something else."

That was quite possibly the most useless advice Olivier had ever heard. How could she ignore the fact that a strange man was touching the most private part of her and putting something inside her? Her heartbeat increased. She hadn't had sex in years, what if he was too forceful and damaged something? She tensed as his hands slid between her legs and under the sheet, prodding the spot where she assumed her uterus was.

His head popped up from behind the sheet. "Sweetheart, relax. I promise you I'm very careful. If you're tensed up it's only going to feel worse. Just lie still and leave all the work to me."

Much as she loathed him for it, Olivier knew he was right. She scrunched her eyes tight and took a deep breath, attempting to focus on relaxing her pelvic muscles. Stop being a baby, it's just a little pressure. You've been through much worse. The doctor at Briggs was used to her dreading her yearly physical and over the years had managed to develop just the right touch so that Olivier almost didn't even feel it. She sorely missed that now.

"This'll just take a second…" Olivier lifted her head and craned her neck, but she couldn't see what he was doing over the sheet spread across her legs. She wanted to see the speculum, know what she was up against. And to make sure he wasn't putting anything else inside her. But she couldn't, so she laid her head back and sighed. Her eyes snapped open when she felt a hand squeeze hers. Riza was smiling softly at her. It was then Olivier noticed she had gorgeous eyes. That Mustang prick is getting so much more than he deserves.

"It'll be okay," she said softly. "And thank you."

Olivier snatched her hand away, furious that Riza was seeing her act weak. This would kill her reputation if it ever got out. "Of course it will be okay. It's just a routine physical," she muttered.

"Even so, I get that it's uncomfortable.

"Don't worry ladies, it'll be over in just a minute. Now relax, and…" Olivier returned her gaze to the ceiling.

"Here comes the train! Choo-choo! Into the tunnel!" He looked up and froze as he locked eyes with two women who looked like they would love nothing more than to eat him for breakfast.

Olivier pushed herself up with her arms and made him look her in the eye. "Just. Put. The stick. In my vagina already, and be done with it! Halfwit."

He looked sheepish. "Sorry, just a little joke I use to lighten the mood." A few minutes of uncomfortable pressure later, the Pap Smear was finally done and Olivier dressed herself as fast as possible while Riza and Dr. Dodo talked prenatal vitamins in the hallway.

"Please tell me we're finished here." Olivier said when she was fully clothed again. She still wasn't feeling much better. The room smelled awful and made her feel trapped. It was tiny, barely bigger than a prison cell, and the walls were an ugly orange-cream color. The pictures on the wall that showcased parts of the body ravaged with disease and the boxes of needles weren't helping.

"Now we just have to do the ultrasound and then you can go. Just lie back on the chair and pull your shirt up for me. I promise you this will be painless."

"See to it that you treat me like an adult this time, or I won't be able to say the same for you," Olivier said, settling herself in the chair, glaring as he connected wires and pressed buttons, readying the machines. She'd just gotten dressed and now she had to be half-naked again. This is probably why he's grinning like a fool all the time.

Riza was focused on the sonogram. Her heart jumped. Ultrasounds brought up bad memories for her. Please let this one be healthy and make it through the pregnancy. Please.

"Ready?" Dr. Dodo asked. They both nodded. He squirted the gel onto Olivier's stomach. She shivered a bit from the cold and he gently pushed the scanner through it. Instantly an image appeared and the two women strained to see it. After the scanner was moved around a bit and the picture changed, all three of them gasped.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is," Olivier groaned.

Riza covered her mouth. "No way. That can't be. This…this can't be happening." Her lip quivered and she felt her eyes begin to water. "There has to be some mistake. Are you sure your machine is right, Doctor?"

"I'm afraid it is what it is, ladies. Nothing I can do about it," he shrugged. He turned to Olivier. "I assume you can tell what that picture means too?"

Olivier snarled, frustrated. "It's fairly obvious. I knew this was a bad idea."

She regretted saying yes more now than ever.