Moushkas:

I'm glad you're enjoying it! (That goes for all of you!)

I have no knowledge of Ohio beyond what I've Googled. I've had so many county maps of Ohio up on my computer in the past few weeks, you'd think I were running for public office or something. I don't end up using the vast majority of what I research, but I like to try to keep things somewhat realistic (and yet it's a story about werewolves; there goes the realism…).

Edit: for my Metric-unit readers: 23 lbs, 2 oz is roughly 10.49kg

xoxoxo

"Alex Hummel?" A pretty little nurse in light blue scrubs with white flower prints poked her head out from the back room of the doctor's office. Paul Karofsky had been able to find a reputable doctor who specialized in unhumans. He was located nearly two hours from Lima, but the growing werepup needed a physician and it was probably about time David saw a doctor who understood the differences between werewolves and humans.

Kurt shouldered his messenger bag and placed Alex on the floor. Kurt, David and Alex followed after the nurse. The nurse led them to a pastel-yellow painted examination room. The nurse kneeled down beside Alex. "Hi, handsome." She slowly extended her hand to Alex, giving him an opportunity to smell her. "Do you mind being picked up?" She glanced up at Kurt and David, looking to them for the answer.

While David nodded, Kurt responded. "He loves being picked up. He's a cuddler."

"Up we go!" The nurse lifted Alex up onto a counter, placing him on one of the curved scales used to weigh babies. The nurse watched the scale settle on the correct weight, before making a notation in on her clipboard. "Twenty-three pounds, two ounces at five and a half months? You're gonna be a little guy, aren't you?"

"Little?! According to a graph I found, he's in the 95th percentile for his age."

The nurse continued taking notes on her clipboard. "Ninety-fifth percentile for human babies. Werewolves are always bigger than their human counterparts." Kurt couldn't argue that. David was always significantly larger when he was Wolf. "Ok, I'm going to go get Doctor Blanchard for the rest of the exam, all right?" Without waiting for an answer, the nurse stroked Alex's back and left the exam room.

Dr. Blanchard was prompt in returning. He was an older, yet sturdy, black man, with long dreadlocks tied behind his back. He introduced himself, shaking hands with David and then Kurt. "So, who are my patients? This little guy, of course." Dr. Blanchard rubbed Alex's muzzle, prompting Alex to open his mouth and start gnawing gently on the doctor's hand. The doctor took it in good stride, even going so far as to wrap his fingers around Alex's lower jaw and shake him back and forth, a little. Alex yipped happily at the doctor once he took his hand back.

"And this big guy." Kurt nudged David with his elbow.

Dr. Blanchard looked over the clipboard the nurse had been carrying around and checked some of the information. "All right, so Alex was born September 6th? That makes him…" Dr. Blanchard started counting off on his fingers. "September 6th to February 20th…he's about 24-25 weeks or so. Weight-wise he's a bit small. He's alert, bright-eyed, curious, and has a clear coat; that's all good." Dr. Blanchard pulled out an ear thermometer and waited patiently while it measured his temperature. "Temperature's good. Ears look clean, too." Blanchard placed one hand on top of Alex's muzzle and the other below. Using his thumbs, he pried Alex's lips apart, eliciting a small growl from Alex. "Teeth are clean; gums are a healthy pink. Alex is looking pretty good. How's his mental development? How much does he understand of what you say?"

Kurt thought that over. It was hard to condense his son's existence into a few sentences. "He's known a bunch of individual words and short phrases for months now; 'no,' 'yes,' 'come,' 'drop it,' different people's names, places, events, colors."

"Colors?" The doctor seemed pleasantly surprised by that. "Werewolf pups usually develop the ability to differentiate between colors very slowly."

David smiled proudly at his son. "Kurt reads to him a lot, so he picks up a bunch of stuff."

The doctor nodded approvingly. "Excellent. Reading to your child is one of the best things you can do for them outside of the basics."

"I'm a little nervous, though. He still hasn't changed into a human baby, yet. My werewolf baby book says he should start being able to change between four to five months. He's almost six months now."

Blanchard frowned and looked Alex over, massaging Alex's sides to feel for any abnormalities inside Alex. "Every baby develops differently. There's usually a window in which it's perfectly acceptable for a baby to develop certain abilities. Rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, talking…every baby develops at a different rate."

"Yeah, but there comes a time when the parents should start worrying that their baby isn't developing on time." Blanchard nodded. "When should we," Kurt gestured to himself and David, "start worrying?"

The doctor sighed. "We're nearing that point." Kurt squeezed David's hand, nervously. "How often do you demonstrate for him?"

"Demonstrate what?"

There was a momentary look of confusion from the doctor, "Uh…the change?"

"David can't just change back and forth. He can't even remember what he does when he changes." With the hand that wasn't holding David's, Kurt patted David's arm.

"Most werewolves have difficulty controlling the change. Even still, you know when the full moon is going to happen; Alex should be there when you change, so he can see what happens."

Kurt winced in distaste. "But it looks so painful. I don't want to traumatize my baby."

"You won't traumatize Alex; it's perfectly natural for werewolves. It's possible Alex doesn't even realize he can change…actually, it's probably pretty likely." Dr. Blanchard picked up on the lack of surety in Kurt and David's expressions as they looked at each other. "Look, studies have shown that parents that read to their children produce children that are stronger readers. Parents who do sports with their children, typically have children who are more active. It's the same with the change; you need to show Alex what it is that happens between the time you're…" The doctor gestured to David, "you and when you're a werewolf."

David ran his fingers through his hair, thinking over what his and Alex's new physician was saying. "I…we can try it during the next full moon, but if it freaks Alex out…he'll eventually figure out how to change on his own, right?"

"Same as if he didn't have a werewolf in his life, I suppose." Dr. Blanchard went over to a cabinet and pulled out a small black case with Alex's name on it. "Now, I'm assuming Alex hasn't gotten any of his vaccinations, yet?" He flicked the latches on the case and opened it up, revealing an arsenal of syringes. Kurt flinched and shook his head. "Given that his immune system isn't all it's cracked up to be, yet, we'll need to get him on track for his full set of vaccines; HepB, DTap, IPV, PCB, Hib, rotovirus and eventually his MMR and varicella. Most of these have to be given in several doses over the course of months. I'm only giving him five of the shots today."

"Only."

Blanchard stroked Alex's back and hummed soothingly to him while he pulled out the first vaccine. It took Alex by surprise so much, that Blanchard was already finished with that shot by the time Alex whipped around to bite at whatever had just bit him. Blanchard, realizing that Alex was not going to cooperate nicely with him, pulled on a pair of leather, bite-resistant gloves. The second shot wasn't too much of an issue, either, as Alex was too busy trying to get away from the doctor to fight back. The third shot, Alex was able to catch the doctor and chewed angrily on his gloved hand, trying desperately to defend himself. The same thing happened with the fourth shot, though this time Alex tried crab stepping away from the needle while biting down on Blanchard's hand. For the final shot, Alex stood still, shaking and whimpering. As Blanchard pulled the syringe back, Alex saw his opportunity and lunged forward, catching the doctor around the wrist, below the glove, and breaking the skin.

"Alex!"

Blanchard calmly gripped his bleeding wrist before heading over to the sink to rinse the wound out. Given Alex's size, the puncture wounds weren't large, but he must have nicked him just right, given the amount of blood. Blanchard barely batted an eye as he placed a slip of cotton batting over the wound and began wrapping an ace bandage around his wrist. "Now, Mr. Karofsky, do you think we'll be able to get through your physical without any bloodshed, or am I going to have to get a muzzle out?"

David was pale, not picking up on the doctor's jovial tone of voice. "I am so sorry. He can't pass on 'the bite' yet, he's too young, but I am so sorry."

Blanchard shrugged. "When you're one of the only doctors around to deal with unhumans, you get used to the occasional bite…or scratch…or curse. Had a young witch in here place a curse on my 'fields and livestock.' All the plants in the waiting room shriveled up and died. I figured no biggie. I get home, every last piece of roughage in my refrigerator and yard had turned brown. She also made my cat lose all his fur. You get used to it after a while."

Kurt shook his head disbelievingly. "I'm sorry, but what would convince you to work with unhumans if that's the kind of treatment you get?"

"You'd be surprised. Most are extremely grateful for my mere existence. Alex is a baby; he doesn't understand what he's doing. As far as he knows, he's defending himself." Almost to emphasize the doctor's point, Alex, tail between his legs, slunk to the corner of the counter and sat, his back to the wall, growling in quiet discontent to himself. Blanchard opened a clear glass jar on his counter and pulled out a strip of beef jerky. Handing it towards Alex, the little pup immediately perked up and slowly edged closer to the doctor, tiptoeing just close enough to grab the jerky between his front teeth and quickly retreat to the corner. "I started as a veterinarian, but when my grandmother got older and no doctor would help her, I realized I had a higher calling. I went back to school and have been taking care of unhumans, ever since."

"Your grandmother?" David narrowed his eyes curiously. "Are you an unhuman?"

Blanchard smiled an awkward half-smile. "I'm a bultungin: a hyena-man."

"Your kind has a worse reputation than werewolves."

Blanchard nodded, sadly. "Yes, and our reputation is just as fabricated as that of the werewolf. I've spent the better part of my life educating my fellow doctors on unhumans; trying to help them separate fact from fiction. Unfortunately, there are still very few that are willing to help unhumans, except beyond the absolute minimum. Sadly, the relationship between unhumans and the medical profession is so poor that very few unhumans are willing to even trust the doctors that would be happy to help them."

"When I was pregnant with Alex, I was too afraid to go to the hospital; David delivered Alex for me. Even if I had known David's father worked at the hospital…I probably wouldn't have gone. All it takes is one rogue nurse or prejudice doctor. Thankfully, David's such a good Boy Scout. He saved me and Alex." Kurt eyed up his boyfriend, smiling at him longingly like a new crush. David just turned pink and looked down at his feet.

The doctor was quiet and thoughtful, nodding slowly at Kurt's account of Alex's birth. "So, David, when's the last time you've seen a doctor?"

"My father's a trauma surgeon…and an orthopedic surgeon, I think. He's been acting as my general physician since I got bit." David began tugging off his shirt as the doctor approached him with a stethoscope.

Pressing the cold metal against David's chest and instructing David to 'take a deep breath,' Blanchard joked "So in other words you haven't seen a doctor since you were bit. I have infinite respect for what surgeons do, but it's not the same as what a general physician does. Another deep breath." Blanchard moved the stethoscope. "Breathe normally, now…Your lungs sound good." Opening a drawer beside the bed on which David sat, Blanchard pulled out a blood pressure cuff.

"It must take a lot to become an unhuman specialist…I mean, only an unhuman specialist can really do…well, anything to do with unhumans. And there are so many different types of unhumans, and then you probably have to know a lot of different types of medical practices, not just the general stuff."

There was a shrug of nonchalance from the doctor. "It's not too different from being a veterinarian. The only real difference is that now my patients can tell me where it hurts." He chuckled at his own joke. "It requires a lot of schooling, though."

"What kind of schooling?" Kurt saw a light of curiosity in David's eyes he didn't see all that often. It wasn't casual curiosity that David was trying to satisfy; it was something more. Something Kurt wasn't sure he could put his finger on. "There isn't exactly a school you can go to in order to be an unhuman specialist, is there?"

"Not as such, no. There are several popular paths, for the few of us willing to go through it all. You can do what I did: start with a veterinarian degree, then get a bachelors of medicine or bachelors of surgery, and then continue on to get your doctor of medicine. It's about 12 years of schooling, not including residency; there's a little overlap between the veterinary and human area of study. You can also do it the other way; become a doctor first and then a veterinarian. I also know of a few colleagues that have gotten their doctor of medicine degree and then gotten a bachelor's of biology. There's no real governing body, as of yet, but I don't know anyone who recommends that last path of study."

"I assume you recommend the path you took?"

Blanchard thought about that, "Actually, if I had to go back and do it all again, I'd have started out with my doctor of medicine degree. Since unhumans are technically humans, you legally have to be a board certified doctor to work with unhumans. The veterinarian degree is optional, but exceptionally useful. I know of a few practicing physicians that have been slowly getting their veterinary degrees while actively working at a hospital or in a smaller practice."

"Do you enjoy it?"

xoxoxo

Alex was curled up in his car seat still chewing on the strip of beef jerky that Dr. Blanchard had given him in lieu of a lollipop. His little tail thumped happily against the plush, lambskin side of his seat.

Kurt was lounging in the passenger seat, his shoe-less feet up on the dashboard. "You were awfully chatty in there."

"It was interesting."

"I'm sure it was." Kurt smiled at David.

David must have spotted him out of the corner of his eyes, because he looked away from the road long enough to return Kurt's smile, with an edge of suspicion to it "What?"

Kurt shook his head, "Nothing…I just like seeing you happy. I don't see that a whole lot, lately. You seemed happy talking to Blanchard."

"I like talking about unhumans."

"No…no you really don't. You always look awkward and…constipated when you're talking to the guys over at Dalton. It's like the unhuman version of alcoholics anonymous; necessary, but not fun. You really liked talking to Dr. Blanchard. You like talking about doctor-stuff."

David, his lip quirked up in a half smile, kept his eyes on the road. "My dad's a doctor; I grew up with this stuff. It's natural to me."

"My dad's a mechanic. I know cars; they're natural to me, but that doesn't mean they interest me. Doctor-stuff interests you."

David's smirk broadened. "I dunno what you're talking about."