Emma and Rose: Chapter 2

"Bunny, I'm worried." Said Jack, looking down at his stomach on the late August morning. Aster gave him a look, shaking dry from his shower while Jack stayed in bed, rubbing his rapidly expanding stomach, still wearing his pajamas.

"And why would that be Snowflake?" he asked, sniffing his mate. Nothing was off in his scent, and he looked normal.

"I'm fat." He said, pouting.

"Yer PREGNANT ya drongo." Said Aster. "Never had the fat problem before. What's eating ya?"

"Don't you think I'm a little TOO big?" asked Jack. "When I was pregnant with Hunter, I was this big late into my fifth month, not barely into my fourth. I don't think I was this big this early with Joy either."

"Probably just yer imagination."

"What if it's not?!" panicked Jack.

"Immortals don't really have health issues." Stated Aster. "We weaken, but we don't really deal with mortality."

"But the KIT might." He said worriedly. "What if something is wrong with it? What if something is wrong in me?!"

"Calm down!" demanded Aster. "Hey, if yer that worried lets measure ya. We wrote it down in that baby Book Tooth gave us with Hunter. We can see if it's far off." Jack brightened.

"If it's in my head?"

"Yer just getting the 'new baby' jitters." Said Aster soothingly.

"And if it's not?" asked Jack, looking sad.

"Then yer a damn good Mother for paying attention." Nidded the Pooka as Hunter and Joy jumped in.

"Mama!" yelled Joy, hopping onto the bed. "I'm hungry!" Hunter nodded in agreement, climbing on the bed and tiredly snuggling up to Jack.

"Blueberry pancake?" asked Hunter, looking hopefully at his parents. Joy made a gagging noise.

"Ew!" she coughed. "Banana pancakes!" Hunter stuck out his tongue and his older sister, earning an outraged huff from Joy.

"Yucky!" he said. "Blueberry pancakes!"

"Banana!"

"Blueberry!"

"Banana!"

"Blueberry!"

"Both of you, enough." Scolded Aster. Both kits shied away from Aster, clinging to their Mother.

"How about…" began Jack, feeling Hungry himself. "We make banana pancakes AND blueberry? Does that sound good?" The kits considered it a moment, as if undecided.

"Pancakes!" cheered both kits, hopping up and down excitedly.

"Why don't you get out the blueberries and bananas, and then Daddy will come make you pancakes?" Both kits cheered, hopping out the door and to the kitchen, Aster chuckling as Joy made a patch of ice on the floor.

"GYAH!" yelped Hunter, slipping and sliding down the hall. "No fair Joy! MAMA! Joy is cheating!" Aster and Jack gave each other a small smile before Jack picked up Hunter, holding his hand over the iced hall while Joy stood guiltily at the end of the hall.

"I'm sorry Mama." She said guiltily, when Jack gasped in pain.

"Jack?!" Aster was at Jack's side in the moment, he winter spirit rubbing his back.

"Ugh, my back hurts." He groaned, standing up strait. Aster had him sit at the table, beginning to share Jack's worry. He shouldn't have severe enough back pain to make him falter, at least not yet. Perhaps the way he was carrying the kit…

"Mama, why are you crying?" asked Joy, sniffling.

"I'm fine." Said Jack, wiping away the tears. "Don't worry. Mama's back is just sore. Took me by surprise." The answer seemed to satisfy the kits, as soon they were arguing about which pancake flavor was better, Jack having to help Hunter with his inhaler as the yelling set off a minor asthma attack. Finally the two were happily eating their pancakes, Both insisting their parents eat their type of pancake. While Aster cleaned up the kits, Jack dug out Hunter's baby book and a tape measure, fitting it around his waist.

"ASTER!" Aster came running, Hunter still in his paws with a towel, Joy hopping about in a pink towel behind him. Jack was looking at the tape measure, feeling ill. He was bigger. Almost five inches bigger. But, it wasn't that he was freaking out over. It was the little glimmer og blood on his thigh, the pajama pants holding the fresh stain.

"We are going to North's." He said evenly, daring the Pooka to challenge him. "NOW."

ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROTG-ROT-ROTG

"Relax Jack." Said North, Jack practically hyperventilating while Aster rubbed his back. Tooth was entertaining the kits while the yetis examined Jack, Sandy on his way. "Kit is fine. No miscarriage. A little blood sometime happens." Jack sighed in relief.

"So it's okay?" asked Aster.

"Well, I like to do ultrasound." He said. "See how kit doing. Make sure, ja?"

"What the bloody hell is an ultrasound?!" demanded Aster, ears flat against his head. He knew that when North brought up an invention, it was rarely a good thing.

"It medical tool!" said North. "Look inside Jack without open Jack up! We see kit inside womb, see if kit ill." Tooth brought in the kits, Sandy following as the machine was brought into the room, Aster immediately on edge.

"You SURE this thing won't blow up?" asked Aster, standing protectively between North's newly created ultrasound machine and Jack.

"It's cool." Said Jack, rubbing his stomach. "Humans get them all the time. We just need to see why the baby is growing so fast." Aster sighed, settling down so North could squirt the blue gel on his mate's stomach, Hunter and Joy watching curiously from the foot of their Mother's bed. Still, he gripped Jack's hand as North began to slide the microphone around on Jack's bare stomach. North glared at the screen, silently mouthing unknown words. The moved around in one spot, the heartbeat becoming loud and clear, though it sounded off.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jack, seeing North's brow furrow. Aster's ears picked up something in the heartbeats, the tall appendages strait in the air, the Pooka still as stone.

"Well I'll be Yeti's uncle!" he chuckled.

"Really?!" said Bunny, a small happy chuckle in his voice.

"What Daddy?" asked Joy, hopping up and down while Hunter looked at him questioningly.

"Yes!" said Tooth. "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing is wrong with kits." Said North, ruffling Jack's hair, Aster looking downright giddy.

"Oh, then what's…wait, did you say kits?" asked Jack, raising a brow. "As in plural? As in more than one?!" North chuckled at Jack's panic, and reassuringly patted his shoulder.

"Relax." He said, smiling. "You, my friend, are having twins!" Hunter crawled over to Aster and tugged on his fur.

"Daddy, what's a twins?" asked the six year old.

"It means instead of ONE little brother or sister, you get TWO of em." Said Aster, Jack smoothing down his fur. Hunter looked at his parents with an expression of pure awe, while Joy hopped about, the news having lost her interest.

"Mama, can we go play now?" she asked, glancing outside at the snow. Hunter looked horrified.

"No!" he said. "Snow is cold! Daddy, will you read me a story by the fire?"

"I wanna play with Daddy!" whined Joy.

"Why don't we play INSIDE." Said Aster, North already demanding the yetis fetch his latest prototypes for the children to test. "And THEN Mama and I will read you two a story." The compromise seemed to appease both kits, making both parents laugh as the two wrestled each other to get to the door first, Joy only wining because of her larger size and Hunter's lack of fighting skill.

"Sweet MiM let these two get along." Prayed Jack, cleaning the gel off his stomach.

"With those two for examples?" scoffed Aster, gesturing to their two kits. "Either they'll be bigger brats than you or they'll have peace-keeping down to an art." Jack giggled, North printing out the ultrasound pictures.

"Jack, rest." Commanded North. "You sleep lots, eat lots. Come! Will make great meal!" Reluctantly, Jack followed North while, realizing their playmate hadn't followed, Joy returned and all but dragged Aster to the globe room. When they arrived, Hunter was in the middle of setting up a create monument of lego, focus akin to that of North on a toy making spree.

"Look Daddy!" he said, turning on the electrical component and bringing the lego rollercoaster to life. "I made a toy, just like Grandpa North!" Bunny's ears fell as he heard North chuckle.

"No instructions?" he chortled, giving Bunny a shit-eating look.

"Nope!" stated Hunter proudly. "I designed it all by myself!" North picked up the kit and patted him on the head.

"See Bunny?" he said, still grinning. "Even child of Easter be great toy maker!"

Sweet MiM, proud as he was of his son's creativity and brains, a small part of him died as he realized North was never, EVER going to let him live this down.

"Don't start it North…" said Bunny warningly, not wanting to lose it in front of his kids. North stopped, smiling wider.

"Oh, and Bunny?" he said, laughing somewhat evilly. "New kits due on Christmas."

Hell yeah, he was NEVER going to be allowed to forget this.