At the doctor's office, Wheeler and Linka wait nervously in the exam room.
"Your pacing is making me dizzy," Linka says as she reaches her hand out to him. He takes it and she pulls him towards her.
"Sorry. How are you so calm?"
"I am not. I am ready to burst with anticipation."
"You didn't even flinch when they drew your blood."
"That was the easy part. It was peeing in a cup that was hard. I was so nervous; I could barely go and my hand was shaking the whole time."
Wheeler makes a face and pulls his hand out of hers.
"Uhh, you did wash it after, right?" He teases.
"Durak!" She says, slapping his arm. "Of course I did! But for your information, it is not like I went all over my hand."
"I know, I know. I was joking," he laughs, trying to take her hand back, but she doesn't make it easy.
"Nyet!" She says, folding her arms across her chest.
"Come on, Babe," he pouts as he pries her hand free and kisses her knuckles to prove that he had no real concerns about their cleanliness.
Their banter is interrupted by the doctor entering the room. He gives Linka a strange look and says something.
"Nyet, we have not met before. Do you mind speaking English? My boyfriend is not Russian."
Wheeler's heart pounds at the acknowledgement of him as her boyfriend, but then he reconsiders and figures she just chose the term for the doctor's benefit. Easier to classify him as a "boyfriend" than "guy she had sex with once and might be pregnant by."
"Yes, of course. My English is not as good, but I do believe I can say what I need to." He looks at Wheeler and gives him a questioning look as well. "You look familiar too. You are sure you have not been to this clinic before?"
"Positive," Linka says, worried that he is going to recognize them as Planeteers and perhaps make their news public. "I grew up in this town. Maybe you have seen me around shops or maybe you have children that I was classmates with?"
"I do not think that is it…it will probably come to me after you leave."
"Probably. Can we get on with the results?" Wheeler asks impatiently. "We're kinda anxious for the news."
"Yes, I am sorry," the doctor blushes and opens the chart he's been holding. Then his eyes widen. "Angelina Kovaleva. You are our most famous resident! A world famous Planeteer from our very own little town. And you! You are also with the Planeteers. Two celebrities in one day!"
"Yes, it is true. We are Planeteers," Linka admits.
"And we'd really appreciate your discretion in the reason for our visit…DOCTOR," Wheeler reminds him.
"Yes, yes! Absolutely. I will treat you no differently than any other patient. It is just not every day I see anyone famous in this small town."
"We understand and are happy to sign anything…after we get the results," Linka tells him.
"That would be most generous of you…but let me get on with the reason you are here." He looks over the results and closes the folder. "I am sorry…"
Linka's breath hitches and her thoughts race. Nyet, it cannot be. The test I took yesterday said "yes."
Wheeler sighs and bows his head.
"…It looks like you will have to put your Planeteer duties aside for a while, as it may be too dangerous to continue on in your condition."
Both of the Planeteers' heads snap up and look at the doctor in disbelief.
"Wait, so she's…"
"Pregnant," Linka whispers as she lets out the breath she was holding.
"Congratulations…assuming this is what you wanted to hear and not bad news."
"Nyet, it is good news," Linka says, tears falling from her eyes.
"The best news," Wheeler confirms. Ignoring the doctor's presence, he takes her face in his hands and uses his thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "The very best news."
She closes her eyes and nods, welcoming his kiss and not at all embarrassed to have an audience.
"I will leave you two alone. If you would like to schedule any follow up appointments, you can do so at the reception desk. I will also leave you a packet of pamphlets and a few prescriptions for pre-natal vitamins."
If they heard him, they didn't acknowledge him. This kiss is soft and tender, a combined feeling of happiness and relief. Linka pulls away but keeps her hand on the back of his head to keep him close. He chooses to rest his forehead against hers as he smiles.
"I should kick his ass for the way he delivered the news. I felt sick when he started with 'I'm sorry,'" Wheeler admits.
"Da, me too…I have a confession."
"Oh?"
"I took a home test yesterday. I already knew it was positive, but I wanted more thorough testing."
He pulls back, eyes wide.
"Seriously?!" But his tone is not angry. "Why didn't you tell me?! The suspense was killing me. No wonder you weren't pacing like me."
"I did not want to get your hopes up if the home test was wrong and we got a negative result from the doctor. Yana suggested I wait to take the home test until you were able to be here, but again, I did not want to have you come all this way just to get bad news again. I am sorry."
"It's ok. You were protecting me and my feelings. I'm never gonna be mad about that." He leans down and gives her a quick kiss on the lips. "Mishka brought up a good question last night. So what do you think? Did the doctor in New York get it wrong and the embryos took? You did go in a little early since there was a cancelation that opened up an appointment for you. Oh shit…that means we might be having TWO babies?!"
"I thought about that, and I asked the doctor in New York if it was possible that I had just come in too early to be tested and he assured me that was not the case. I do not think they were wrong. They were too careful and thorough about the whole process. They would not have made a mistake so big."
"So you think…?"
"We did this," she confirms, placing her hand over her still flat stomach. "Not science. Not that I would not have loved the baby any less if the procedure had worked, but…"
He puts his hand over hers and continues her thought.
"Knowing that this happened because of a moment filled with love instead of an awkward moment between you, me, and the doctor…"
"It makes it more special," she finishes.
"Yeah."
"Let us go home. My brother will be almost as obnoxiously impatient as you are," she laughs as she teases him.
"Yana probably already told him, but what about Gram?"
Linka looks at him guiltily and he puts it together.
"She already knows about the home test too?! I was the last one to know."
"Mishka does not know. Yana was seeing me as a doctor. She does not discuss what we discuss when she is with Mishka. We will stop on the way home and pick up something to drink. Mishka will want to toast to our news."
"I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with him."
"Do not even try. It is a Russian thing. He will keep wanting you to toast as long as you are able to stand," she says with a laugh.
"I think I'll use Yana's line and claim solidarity with you. After a few toasts to be social, I'll say I'm not toasting to anything until we can pop a bottle of champagne after the baby arrives."
"I am still nervous about whether or not I will be able to carry to term," she admits.
"Me too. We'll do everything we have to do to keep you both safe though. No more missions. No leaving the cabin. Bed rest for the next eight months if needed. I'll do everything for you. Maybe we can see about getting another cabin built. A bigger one now that you're gonna have a crib and eventually the kid will need a bed."
"Slow down, Yankee. I do not even know if I will still be on Hope Island. If I am to leave the Planeteers, I cannot expect that Gaia will still allow me to stay there. I will need a job to support the baby."
"Oh…yeah, ok. I never considered leaving. I mean, I was gonna take time off to get you through this and I still will, but…"
"It is ok. You do not need to leave because I do."
"I know when we talked about it a few months ago and you admitted to possibly being ready to move on, I said I would leave too if you weren't there. I didn't think about what would happen if we started a family. In my mind, I always pictured Hope Island being our home…even when we were no longer Planeteers. I don't know why I had that in my head. You're right…it's not like Gaia can create a commune for past and present Planeteers. It's not sustainable…like in the dream I told you about."
She smiles at his rambling and pulls him in for a brief kiss.
"We have a long time before we need to start planning for things like that."
"Right. Our first plan should be coming up with how we're going to tell Gi, Kwame, and Ma-Ti."
"That will be interesting," she laughs as she loops her arm in his. "Come on, I am sure someone else will be needing this room and I think I heard the doctor say we had to pick up some things at the reception desk."
"I didn't even notice he left. Guess we'll have to mail him that autographed picture."
They both laugh as they exit the room.
They spent the rest of the day in Russia sharing the "official" good news with Linka's family. Linka confessed to Mishka that she had taken a test in Yana's office and told Grandma that the results were positive, so he and Wheeler were the only ones who didn't already know the news. He pretended to be offended, but like Wheeler, was just happy to celebrate the good news.
When Linka and Wheeler returned to Hope Island, they had a lot of explaining to do. Normally, they would not have shared the news of Linka's pregnancy until she was further along, but they needed to explain the time off she'd be taking as well as come clean with what she and Wheeler had been up to these last few months.
"Planeteers, to the Crystal Chamber," Gaia summoned.
Gi squealed in excitement when she saw Linka.
"You're back!"
"I'm back too!" Wheeler protests.
"Yeah, but you weren't gone as long as she was," Gi points out.
"We missed you too," Kwame says with a placating tone.
"Thanks."
Once the original Planeteers and the two temporarily filling in for Wheeler and Linka have all arrived, Gaia defers to Wheeler and Linka.
"Go ahead."
"I'll let you go, Babe. It's your story to tell."
She starts from the beginning about how her family had been visiting her mother's family near Chernobyl in Ukraine when the reactors blew. They believe it was what caused her mother's cancer and later her father's, when miners had been called in from all over the Soviet Union and were forced to excavate the site of the accident. She was also told that it affected her fertility. She had shared this information with Wheeler one night when he caught her in a bad mood after seeing many of her friends from back home posting on social media about starting families. That's when they began their traveling and during that time, started looking at possible options for fertility treatment.
"Wait…so you BOTH have fertility problems?" Gi asks.
"Nyet, just me," Linka clarifies but sounds confused, so Wheeler explains.
"I didn't want to give Gi the details of your health when trying to explain that you didn't run off because you were worried that we didn't use protection and were scared you'd gotten pregnant…so I told her there was no chance of it because I was the one with problems."
"Bozhe moy, you two overshare!"
"Just finish your story," Wheeler urges as his cheeks redden.
"And hurry up and get to the part where you two hooked up!" Gi urges.
Linka blushes.
"I did not run away because I was worried that I had gotten pregnant. On one of our trips to New York, I had seen a doctor who was actually able to find two viable eggs. He harvested them and Wheeler served as a donor so that they could be fertilized."
"Holy shit!" Gi gasps.
"Are you saying…?" Ma-Ti trails off. He felt something was different about Linka, but could not determine what he was sensing.
"Nyet. They were implanted, but I found out later that it did not take. I foolishly left the cabin Wheeler and I had been staying in as soon as I'd received the call from the doctor that he had an opening, and could see me sooner. I did not wake Wheeler. When I returned, I gave him the bad news. Then we…consoled…each other. Emotions took over and our sadness was temporarily replaced by happiness…but then I started feeling guilty. I felt like I used Wheeler, and I felt like he should not be planning a future with me if I could not give him a child."
"There are other options," Kwame offers.
"Da, I know. I did not think it would be good enough. I know I was wrong in thinking that, but I was not thinking very clearly. I pushed Wheeler away. I ran off to Russia and left him behind."
"Left us to deal with him," the replacement Planeteer, Jason, mumbles.
"Hush!" Katie elbows him. "Sorry. Should we even be here? This seems like a conversation meant for close friends."
"Nyet, you should both be here. First, we must thank you for filling in while we were gone. We know the team is in good hands with you two as part of the future. Secondly, we have news that will affect you. As you know, I have spent the last month in Russia trying to get Wheeler to move on and forget about me. In that time, I have had many conversations with my family and my brother's girlfriend who happens to also be a couples' therapist. I actually met her as my doctor before I knew she was Mishka's new girlfriend," she recalls and laughs at the strange coincidence. "Yana helped me to see that I was being selfish and irrational and that I needed to stop making decisions for Wheeler. I wanted to call him so badly and work that out, but you know how stubborn I can be. I was embarrassed and ashamed of how I had handled the whole situation. It was a very stressful month. Then it occurred to me…with the hormone treatments I had been receiving, everything…biology related…had been consistent, like clockwork…but I was a week late. That is when I asked Wheeler to come to Russia and join me for a doctor's appointment."
"Oh my God…Linka?" Gi is anxiously awaiting confirmation.
"Are you…?" Kwame prompts.
Ma-Ti closes his eyes and smiles as his ring glows and realization hits him.
"I am sensing another presence."
Gi squeals, the others cheer and clap.
"I am pregnant," Linka finally states. She doesn't think she'll ever get sick of saying it.
Wheeler smiles widely as the others all surround them for hugs. He'll never get tired of hearing it either.
"So the procedure worked after all?" Katie asks.
Wheeler and Linka share a look.
"Nyet, we do not think it was the treatment. We would like to believe it happened during a moment of love."
"It did," Gaia says knowingly from behind them.
Their smiles widen, but no one more so than Wheeler and Linka.
"So since I'm gonna be super-protective of Linka these next few months and not let her ever leave her cabin, Katie and Jason…you just got yourselves full time jobs as the Fire and Wind Planeteers."
"Awesome! And congrats," the younger Jason says.
"Thank you all," Linka says. "I know this will mean a lot of changes forthcoming…I just feel like I need to be extra cautious."
"As you should be," Kwame says. "If there is anything you need for us to do, please let us know. I know Wheeler will be doting on you, but if you ever want to give him a break…"
"Or get rid of him!" Ma-Ti jokes.
"Or that!" Kwame continues with a hearty laugh. "Do not hesitate to ask."
"So does this mean you two are finally officially a couple?" Gi asks.
"Umm," Linka says, knowing what she feels, but looks to Wheeler for his thoughts.
"Linka knows where I stand. I'm just going to give her all the time and space that she needs, while still hovering! But going into this, even when I had accepted that my role would just be 'donor,' and I was unsure of what part I'd play in the kid's life, if any…I wanted to be more. If this kid needed a father figure, I'd be there. It was all up to Linka as to how she'd explain to the kid when it got older where they came from. Now at least we know that will be a little easier. I'm the father, not just a donation in a jar."
"Always so eloquent, eh Wheeler?" Gi teases.
He shrugs unapologetically.
"We should have a celebratory dinner," Kwame suggests.
"Yes, it has been so long since we have all been together," Ma-Ti agrees.
"I have this really awesome recipe for a no-bake peanut butter pie that my mom sent me. I've been meaning to make it and I think tonight would be the perfect excuse," young Jason says.
"I just picked some fresh fruit today. I can put together a fruit salad," Katie adds.
"Great, the rest of us will handle prep, cooking, and clean up," Gi says.
"I can help too," Wheeler offers.
"It is ok, you should just settle in after what I am sure has been an eventful few days!" Ma-Ti tells his friend.
"I think I will go lay down for a bit," Linka says.
"Do you need anything?" Wheeler asks.
"Nyet, at the moment, everything is perfect. Walk me back to my cabin?"
He smiles and nods eagerly, happy to see that she is letting him take care of her.
"We will let you know in a few hours when dinner is ready," Ma-Ti tells them.
Once at her cabin door, Linka asks Wheeler,
"Would you like to come in and rest with me, or do you have stuff you need to do?"
"I'd love nothing more than to nap with you."
"Mind if I change into something more comfortable?"
"I don't if you won't?"
"Nyet, of course not. Go get changed and meet me back here."
A short time later, Wheeler returns in a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt while Linka has opted for a pair of leggings and a tank top.
"It will be a little cozy. Perhaps you should get in first?" She suggests.
"Whatever you're comfortable with, Beautiful."
He does as she says and opens his arms for her to fit into. She lays with her back to his chest and one of his arms pillowing her head as the other is draped over her midsection.
"Comfy?" He asks.
"Da, you?"
"Yeah," he leans forward and kisses her shoulder, but feels her tense. "Sorry. Was that not ok?"
"Da, it is fine. I want us to be able to do things like this, but I think we should go slow. We skipped over this part of our relationship," she says with an uncomfortable laugh.
"Yeah, we went from friends who'd never even really had a real kiss to being horizontal in an explosion of emotions pretty quickly…but I think we've always kinda been in a relationship, but without the physical aspect of it. Even just the tamer displays of affection…we never got there."
"Da. And that is my fault for keeping that distance for so long."
"It's ok. We're getting there now. 'Better late than never,' as the saying goes."
"Are you ok if this is all I can give you right now? I know it sounds silly, but with the high-risk pregnancy, I do not want to risk any…strenuous activity," she says, slightly embarrassed.
"I figured…and I'm fine with it. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure this little one gets here safely," he says, splaying his hand over her abdomen and rubbing lazy circles over it. "As long as you're ok with me doing little things like this."
Linka puts her hand over his and laces their fingers together, then she turns her head so that she can look into his eyes.
"Da, I am ready for the little things."
She tilts her head up to give him a chaste kiss before turning back to settle in for a nap.
After dinner, the younger Jason calls the male Planeteers aside and pulls out a piece of paper that he'd drawn on.
"Here's your cabin and here's Linka's. I was thinking we could build an add-on between the two and then add doors leading from each of your cabins. The place between would be the nursey. You could each still have your own space, but shared space for tending to the baby…and if you two eventually decide to share a cabin, the vacant one can become the kid's room once they outgrow the nursery area and that can become a playroom if you want. Do whatever you want with it, I'm just throwing out ideas."
"Thanks, Jason. I like it! I'd actually brought up the possibility of building a bigger space for us and the baby, but she said it was too early to talk about that. I get her point. We don't know what we'll be doing…if we'll be staying here after the baby is born or what."
"You are thinking of leaving Hope Island?" Ma-Ti asks.
"I don't want to. I don't think Linka does either, but we can't really expect to maintain a home here if we're not actively working as Planeteers."
"There must be other roles you can fulfil though," Kwame says. "I suppose this is something we will all have to consider someday."
"I think for now though, Jason's proposed design for an addition to be built between Linka's and my cabin will be something to consider if Gaia is ok with it."
"I am sure she will be in agreement," Ma-Ti says.
"Let me know if you talk to her about it and she's cool with it. I'll start measuring the space and putting together more detailed plans to work from," Jason says.
"Thanks, Jason."
The younger man nods and smiles as he walks away. Ever since he first met the Planeteers as a kid, he's admired them. Especially the Fire Planeteer. He's honored to now be the bearer of that ring and to have received Wheeler's approval and appreciation of his proposed plans.
To Be Continued...