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A/N at the bottom.
Chapter 48
"Well, if it isn't the Morgans." Kelly said walking into the office. "Welcome to week twenty. Jason what should we be expecting?" The doctor knew he had the answer.
"Week twenty." Jason started. "The babies should be around 10 inches long and weigh roughly eleven ounces, possibly with hair. The part of the brain that controls the five senses is developing. The vernix caseosa had formed which will protect the babies skin while in the amniotic fluid. They have eyebrows, eyelids, and fingernails."
"I have interns who can't do that." Kelly said impressed. "Because you knew all that, and your my friends, we are gonna do an ultrasound."
"Really I didn't think we got one." Elizabeth said delighted.
"Sweetie, you are having twins. Ultrasounds are standard at this point. Its gonna be the regular kind, I know you are spoiled by the 4d, we will do another of those if you make it to thirty-two weeks." Kelly said turning on the machine.
"My bladder isn't full." Elizabeth told her friend. She had given her sample before coming back.
"Not a problem, I'm just that good." Kelly grinned. "Okay. There they are." The doctor smiled. "Organs accounted for and looking good. Measurements." Kelly moved the wand. "Baby A eleven inches and fifteen ounces. Baby B ten inches and eleven ounces. Genders still one boy and one girl." She turned to her friends. "Ready to hear the heartbeats?"
"Yeah." Jason said smiling. His babies were right on track.
"After you leave here I want you to go to the lab and have some blood drawn." Kelly said hooking up the monitors.
"Gestational diabetes test?" Jason asked the doctor. "I read that sometimes with twins the test is given early." Normally it was given around week twenty-four.
"Yup. We'll also be testing Elizabeth's iron levels. Twins take more nutrients and that is one we want to make sure you have enough of. Even with the prenatal vitamins you may need to bump it up some." Kelly warned. "Okay let's have a listen."
The sounds of Elizabeth's and the twin's heartbeats filled the room. "Three distinct beats." Jason noted as he smiled at Elizabeth's.
"Our son's in the fastest, then our daughter's, and finally mine." Elizabeth was counting.
"Right where we want them to be." Kelly made a note on the chart. "I think they are over achievers like their parents." Elizabeth was due a text book pregnancy, but they wouldn't relax yet. "Have you felt the babies move yet?"
"We both have." Elizabeth squeezed Jason's hand.
With the monitors away Kelly opened one of the drawers. "Now you get to eat the jelly beans. Wait an hour and go to the lab to have your blood drawn. What kind do you want? I have tropical, soda, citrus, sour, chocolate, and for the really brave moms I have Bertie Botts every flavor." Kelly held up the packets.
"Citrus." Elizabeth plucked them from the pile.
"Still not eating chocolate?" Kelly said offering the pile to Jason, who shook his head no.
Elizabeth just shrugged as she started eating. "It's all about caramel."
"If I had known that I would have had you chomp down a few of those." Kelly looked her friend over. She was officially glowing. Like a lot of pregnant women, Elizabeth's hair was glossy and her nails were growing too. When Elizabeth finished the doctor looked at the clock. "One hour, the results will be ready in about two days. You can call or stop by. When you go home, no sex this afternoon. I want to see what happens. If you get sick I want you to call me." Kelly wanted to get a plan in place just in case.
Both Morgans pouted.
"You guys are too much. Nothing but water between now and the test." Kelly told them. "Go sit on a bench and get some fresh air. Make an appointment for four weeks, if the test comes back with an elevated level that may change to two weeks."
"See you around the corridors." Elizabeth said letting Jason help her down from the table.
"Behave." The doctor said walking out of the office.
"How does a walk sound?" Jason asked his wife.
"Like a good idea." Elizabeth wasn't overly concerned about the coming tests. She had not had any issues with either Cameron or Jake. With two babies every system was working harder, but she was confident everything was going to turn out fine. If it didn't Jason would really start the hover and the universe couldn't be that cruel.
Kelly popped up at the boardroom where Matt and Elizabeth were elbow deep in catalogs. The two were making lists of the equipment that was needed, and the equipment that was wanted. Jason had promised that if the emergency fund wasn't needed anywhere else it could be applied to the equipment budget. Matt was hoping to get a few pieces of equipment that only two other centers in the country had.
"You would think with a pregnant wife Jason would have built a neonatal center." Kelly said to be difficult.
"I'm family." Matt said sticking out his tongue. "If he didn't build something for me, his sister would make his life miserable."
"Makes sense." The doctor said taking a seat. "Take a walk Matt."
"Okay. I need to use the facilities anyway." He said looking between the two women.
"Which test?" Elizabeth was going to stop by to get her results on the way home.
"Your iron levels are low, almost anemic low, so dark leafy greens, steak, and salmon. All that good stuff. We will test again at your next appointment." Kelly told her friend. "The glucose test was fine. I wasn't sure if Jason was picking you up or not. So I figured I'd spare you the lecture in my office." Kelly laughed. "I bet he knows what your iron level should be."
"Don't ask him." Elizabeth said shaking her head. The man probably did know. "Anything else?"
"I also wanted to tell you that you can go back to the horizontal bop in the afternoon." Kelly grinned. The first afternoon Elizabeth had indeed gotten sick, so Kelly asked them to abstain a second day. Yesterday Elizabeth had felt really nauseous but hadn't vomited. "I figure you didn't want me announcing that downstairs either." Kelly's pager beeped. "Gotta go deliver a baby."
"Thanks." Elizabeth said pulling out her phone. "Hi."
"Hey." Jason loved hearing from his girl. "How is your day going?"
"Great, Kelly stopped by." Elizabeth started.
"Is everything okay?" Jason asked concerned.
"My iron levels are low, so we should stop off and get some steaks on the way home." She waited to see if he got her meaning.
"I'm picking you up?" He asked smiling.
"If you want." Elizabeth said blushing a bit.
"Yeah, I want." Jason let his voice drop. "We are going out to dinner tonight."
"It's not something to celebrate." Elizabeth laughed.
"If you think that I'm not doing it right." Jason joked. "Mom and Howie invited us, AJ and Keesha, and Emily and Matt to dinner."
"I totally forgot." Baby brain was making her forgetful lately. "I can order a steak. Where are we going?"
"The Grille." Jason reminded her. "So you get to see me in a suit."
"I am a lucky girl." Elizabeth smiled. "I will see you when you get here." She wrapped up the call as Matt came back in.
"Who is coming?" He asked taking his seat.
"My husband, at four-fifteen." Elizabeth clarified. "Kelly wanted to tell me my iron levels were low." She knew he would worry.
"What do they do for that?" May as well start learning about baby stuff.
"Right now, I have to increase my iron intake through food. If the numbers don't jump enough then iron supplements." Elizabeth didn't want to go that route, those pills could cause all kinds of stomach issues. "So I'll have a steak with some spinach tonight at dinner. Which will probably alert everyone at the table to what is going on." Having a family full of doctors could be a pain.
"Everything else is good?" Matt asked just to check. Between Elizabeth and Robin he was learning a lot.
"Everything else is good." She promised. "Are you excited about the shower?" It was in eight weeks and Carly, Emily, Keesha, and Diane had been meeting about it.
"I am. We were banned from Robin's shower, so I'm looking forward to seeing what strange female things you ladies do, that we men folk can't see." Matt laughed. Robin was also high risk, so he was doing a good amount of worrying.
"We save those for bridal showers." Elizabeth grinned. "Do you have any idea what they are planning?"
"No clue. It's all hush-hush." Matt said in a whisper. "I walked into my own living room two nights ago and got yelled at. I do know that there is some grumbling about getting you to register for gifts."
"We don't need much. I have all of Jake's things." Elizabeth pointed out.
Matt just shrugged as he added something else to their list. "Register for girl stuff."
"I'm not drowning my kid in pink." Elizabeth huffed. "Most baby stuff is gender neutral for a reason." She said reaching for another catalog. She was concentrating on the surgical supplies. All the specialty equipment that Matt and Patrick used in the OR. Having been in so often with them, Elizabeth knew what was needed. "I asked for donations to the several charities that help mothers and babies in need."
"You're still expected to register." Matt knew the family would give generously, but also wanted to buy gifts for the new arrivals. "Besides you are depriving Jason of the chance to use the pricing gun. That's the coolest part for dad. Patrick had a blast. Go register, let your friends spoil you." Matt had better get a reward for this.
"Fine." Elizabeth would let the donations offset her guilt about asking for things they could afford to buy for themselves. She would donate a matching total to several charities as well. "I will tell Jason you said we had to go shopping." She said with an evil grin.
"Nice Morgan. Get me killed before I can give you a niece or nephew." Matt said laughing.
"I'll tell Em, you were brave until the end." Elizabeth said laughing as well.
AJ showed up at Jason's office at three o'clock. "Why are you here?" Jason asked his brother. He didn't mind visits, but he didn't really like unexpected ones.
"Howie called me and asked me to meet him here." AJ looked at Jason. "He didn't call you?"
"Yes, he called Mel yesterday to make the appointment." Jason replied frowning.
"Yes, the lovely Melissa. Keesha said there is some friction with your assistant and Elizabeth." AJ looked at his brother. "My wife watched them at the groundbreaking, then she got in a huddle with the other ladies. There was a lot of whispering and looking over at Liz and Melissa."
"If your wife pisses off my assistant, I'm taking it out on you." Jason warned his brother.
"Actually Keesha likes Melissa. They had a chat." AJ grinned. "I think the ladies are planning on brokering peace. Emily mentioned that Sarah was the problem. Which is a nice way of saying self-esteem issues." AJ took the mug of coffee Jason handed him.
"Elizabeth has suffered from them her whole life." Because of her parents was left unsaid. "How much time do you spend talking about me and my wife?" Jason wanted to know.
"Me not so much, the ladies are all about Liz right now. Once the babies come this will pass." AJ predicted. "So are you thinking that Howie is going to ask for permission to pop the question to mom?"
"Yeah." Jason said looking at AJ. "After what happened the last time, we had better say its fine. He is a good guy, it's just that he isn't good enough for mom."
"No one is good enough for mom." AJ added on. "If dad was still alive he wouldn't be good enough for mom." The eldest Quartermaine child said grinning. "We're momma's boys."
Jason just laughed. "I guess so." The phone rang. "Send him in." Jason hung up. "Howie's here."
The older man walked into the room. "Hello."
"Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee?" Jason offered.
"No thank you." Howie smiled at both of them. "I want your blessing to ask your mother to marry me." There was no point in drawing things out.
Jason and AJ just looked at one another before turning their attention back to their mother's boyfriend. "Do you have a ring?" Jason asked the older man.
"No, I thought your mother would like to pick one herself." Howie hadn't ever done this before.
"You have to have a ring." AJ coached. "When are you asking?"
"At dinner tonight." Howie wanted her children to witness this moment.
"Come on." Jason said getting to his feet.
"Where are we going?" Howie wanted to know.
"My grandmother left the Morgan family jewelry to Elizabeth. There are several rings that my grandmother wore that I know my mother loved." Jason would do his part.
"Shouldn't you ask your wife first?" Howie didn't want Jason to get in trouble.
Jason pulled out his phone. "Hey, I need to give a piece of grandmother's jewelry away. Is there anything you absolutely must have?" He asked his wife.
"Who are you giving it too?" Elizabeth was surprised by this request.
"I can't say just yet." Jason had a feeling Howie was about to blow his afternoon straight to hell. Sex most likely would not be happening.
"Alright." Elizabeth said curious about the request. If Jason was giving someone a piece of Lila's jewelry it had to be a big deal.
"Okay, thanks." He heard a change in his wife's voice. Yup there wouldn't be any sex. Jason hung up and looked at Howie. "I know just the piece, you can take it and have it cleaned. I'll send you to my guy, he'll do it while you wait."
"So I have your blessing?" Howie looked at Monica's sons.
"Yes." AJ replied.
"Yes." Jason echoed. "If you hurt her you'll regret it."
Howie nodded. "I have no desire to test you."
Jason just grinned. "It's not us you will face. It's the ladies."
"Trust us, you don't want that." AJ said smiling as well. "Come on, we need to get moving." AJ wondered if it would hurt this much to give Meg away as the three men walked out of the office.
A/N: Hi All! I thought I'd let you know what future stories I have coming up. Next to get posted is a story titled Never Tear Us Apart, its a Romance/Drama. After that I will be posting Bad To The Bone which is also a Romance/Drama. Both these stories were written from reader challenges. I also have a completed one shot for each of the remaining months of the year. I'm currently writing two stories. One is strictly a Romance, for those who have been requesting such a story. The other is going to be a Romance/Drama. I also am writing the January one shot for the series. That's it for now.
Thanks for the reviews and continued support!