Michelle and Lucas were grown, now, but both parents desperately wanted more kids. They tried, several times, but none of their attempts to conceive ever took root. It was extremely disheartening, and Rae had begun to think that perhaps she would be unable to bear any more children.
It was after several years, though the blink of an eye for the two of them, and it was almost frightening, the way it all happened so suddenly. The first sign was the cramps; she'd dismissed it as the start of her cycle, but should have realized it sooner. She became dizzy, tired all the time and ready to fall asleep the moment she sat down. There were physical changes as well. Her breasts became sore, and there was an increase of headaches and back pain. It wasn't until the month came to pass, and Rae realized she'd missed her period, that it dawned on her.
Having two children already, she berated herself for not recognizing the signs earlier, but once she knew, it was a short trip to the Apothecary and back, a store bought pregnancy test in tow.
The box told her to wait three to five minutes before the results would show on the little white stick, but every time she looked down at it, the results block remained blank.
Six minutes.
Seven minutes.
Eight minutes.
Rae pressed her lips together and bit back tears. She didn't know why she got her hopes up. They'd been trying for so long, without so much as even the possibility she had been presented with this time. She picked up the test and moved from the bathroom to stick it back in the box and throw it out.
She paused. Every muscle in her body froze and she slowly turned the thing right side up.
A flash of pink had caught her eye.
The tears slipped down her cheeks, but for a different reason: She was pregnant. She would want to go to the clinic back home and have it checked professionally. The store bought test wasn't fool proof, and it could make mistakes. She wanted to be absolutely sure.
She made an appointment for next Thursday, and the week dragged by. Her body slowly adjusted to the news, and every little change only reassured her doubts. She knew this feeling; she was a mother twice over, she knew what it felt like.
He caught her, heading out the door on Thursday. It sent a thrill of terror shooting through her when he met her at the front door, having come home early, and ask her where she was going.
She smiled up at him, miraculously able to keep her composure after the sudden fright. "The doctor's," she lied. "Haven't been feeling well." She pecked him on the cheek and pushed past him, out the door, and left him standing there confused. A smile spread across her lips as she walked off.
Tracy stood there for several moments, watching her leave. She did seem a little off-kilter lately, the poor thing. He'd noticed how she seemed more and more exhausted as the month wore on. Perhaps she had caught something? It was an unsettling notion, as most fairy wards didn't know how to treat human illnesses very well. He assumed she was going to pop over to her world for a check up, where they knew more about human medicine.
He was left alone with his thoughts.
—-
When she got home that night, he asked her how the appointment went.
Rae sighed, smiling tiredly at her husband. "He said he wants me back in three months for another appointment."
His movements suddenly became stiffer, more uncertain. "Is everything allright?"
She merely shrugged. "Too early to tell." was her answer.
Tracy became steadily more concerned for her over the next few weeks. She slept more, she put on a bit of weight, and she was utterly despondent to him. It was terrifying. She never kept anything from him, not anything like this. Oh, what was wrong with her, that she didn't even want to discuss the doctor's visit when the three months passed. Just that he told her to come back in two weeks for any results they might have been able to pull. His chest ached when she said this, and he demanded he accompany her this time.
Rae looked up at him, the fatigue obvious in her eyes. His poor honeybee…
Still, she agreed, lacing her fingers between his as she led them back into the bedroom to retire early for the night. There was nothing she wanted to do more now than lie down and be able to fall asleep against her husband, to hear his heartbeat and his quiet murmurings. Only tonight, his words held a tint of fear to them.
She sighed against his chest. "I'm glad you want to come with me next time." she said. "I think… I think it's important you be there for this."
And with that, she fell asleep.
—-
The Doctor's office was downright claustrophobic. It was a small room with cinder block walls and white tile floors, cluttered with furniture and equipment, and it made him wholly uncomfortable. This was nothing like the wards back home. Though, he supposed, they knew what they were doing, the human doctors…
They sat there together, his legs sprawled out in front of him with Rae curled up on the chair to his right. She leaned wearily against him, and he held her hand tightly in both of his. His fingers trembled, and he was terrified, more than anything, that this doctor's news would snatch her away from him.
He eventually joined the patient couple, coming into the room with a folder of sorts. He greeted them and flicked on a device that resembled a light table. The things he took out of the folder, he pinned to the machine so that the light shone through it and illuminated the entire picture, heightening the contrast between the black and the grey.
Tracy's heart stuttered in his chest.
It was an ultrasound.
His hands tightened around Rae's and he pulled his knees up, looking over at her suddenly, trying to form words.
"Congratulations, you two," the doctor said sweetly. "The first Trimester has been reached, and they seem to be doing well."
It was all too much for the fairy. He stopped in his frantic bid to form a complete sentence, instead settling on trying to organize his thoughts as he stared slack jawed at his wife, who had that well-known sly grin on and tears in her eyes.
"You're pregnant." he managed. She nodded, encouraging him on. He looked at the ultrasound that hung on the machine. He'd seen ultrasounds of Michelle and Lucas when Rae had had them done, but there was something entirely unusual about this one. He looked again, his heart unsure if it wanted to stop dead or fight its way out of his chest. "They." he muttered. "They. He said they…" he looked back at his wife.
"Twins." she whispered, leaning in towards him.
"Twins." he repeated. Realization seemed to dawn slowly, his eyes widening and one low gasp being sucked in before it dawned and he all but exploded. "Twins! Twins!" he nearly shouted. "Oh, mother of Mab!" he slumped back into his chair, a nervous, excited smile plastered over his face. "We're going to have twins…"
She laughed lightly. "I know, Trace." she said, taking his hand back in hers and giving it a squeeze. "Twins."