Together Again

At eleven-thirty the following Monday morning, Ash was sitting on the specialized exam bed in the exam room of his doctor’s office. He’d already had his vitals taken upon being called back, and he was relieved they were all well within a normal range, considering the stress he’d been under. So far, it seemed like he and both babies were doing just fine, but the final judgment would be up to his OB/GYN.

Still, he couldn’t help but be worried. According to Andy, his baby’d barely been conscious over the last day or so, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to the painkillers they’d given her at the hospital or not. The doctors had assured him that sleeping a great deal after a concussion, even a mild one, was completely normal, but they weren’t sure.

He guessed his worried expression was still plastered on his face when his doctor walked in, as his doctor’s warm expression immediately turned worried when she walked in. Dr. Bohn wasn’t one to show worry, nor were her partners, Drs. Hill and Park, and he knew it. If she was showing any amount of worry, either his own was showing, or it was radiating off him in waves and she could feel it. He tried to back-burner it and focus on himself and his unborn twins, but it turned out to be a futile effort.

“Ashley, what’s wrong?” she asked, immediately taking a seat on her stool and rolling it closer to him.

He shook his head, not really wanting to talk if he didn’t have to.

“I can tell you’re worried about something. It isn’t the babies, is it?” Dr. Bohn pressed.

“It will be, if I don’t hear something good from my boyfriend soon,” he muttered, gently rubbing his belly.

“You know you should talk to someone, if it could endanger the babies,” she told him.

Sighing, he looked up at her concerned expression. “One of my daughters is in the hospital back in Tennessee.”

“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry to hear that,” the OB/GYN said, gently rubbing his arm. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”

“For the most part,” Ash answered. “Last I heard from my boyfriend, she was sleeping way more than she usually does, and he doesn’t know if it’s from the painkillers or not.”

“I’m guessing she has a concussion, then.”

“That’s what the doctors back East say. A mild one, but even doped up on painkillers, should she’ve really been asleep more often than not since late Saturday afternoon?”

“Well, it depends. Painkillers, especially Morphine, tend to make patients sleep quite a bit. Additionally, her body could be making her sleep quite a bit naturally so her concussion will heal…” Dr. Bohn told him.

He couldn’t help a sigh of relief, knowing deep in his heart that she’d probably be fine.

“If she has a concussion, even a mild one, and is on painkillers, it’s perfectly normal to sleep more than normal,” she concluded.

“That puts my mind at ease a bit more,” Ash sighed, smiling as he continued rubbing his belly.

“Now, onto you,” the OB/GYN chuckled. “Considering that you’re rubbing your belly, you’re not in pain, are you?”

“Oh, that? No, it’s just an unconscious habit,” he answered, chuckling. “I used to rub my belly all the time when I was pregnant with Legacy and Magick.”

“You know that, as your doctor, it’s my job to ask,” she pointed out.

After laying him back so he was in a reclining position, but not flat on his back, she had him roll his waistband down after hiking up his shirt. There were few people that he’d willingly show off his pregnant belly to, but since she was caring for all three of them, she was one of those few. He grimaced a bit as she pressed on his belly, which made him start to wonder if he was constipated again.

Of course, that grimace sparked that very question from the OB/GYN, and he blushed furiously. He was embarrassed to say that he was so focused on Legacy, he couldn’t recall if he’d been able to take a dump since late Saturday afternoon or not. Judging by the pressure he felt, as well as the slight ache he was now aware of, he’d guess the answer was no.

Frowning, Dr. Bohn decided it was probably a good idea to put him on a gentle laxative to make sure he wasn’t, knowing it wasn’t healthy. Chronic constipation wasn’t good under normal circumstances, but with precious cargo on board, so to speak, it could be even more dangerous. This was something he recalled all too well from around the same point during his first pregnancy, and he nodded his agreement. He wanted only the best for his unborn babies, and he’d been doing a pretty good job of keeping himself healthy so far; his mind had just been on other things, but that was understandable.

During the ultrasound, the OB/GYN came to the conclusion that, even with a bit of constipation that showed up, they were all doing perfectly fine. The blood flow through the placentas and umbilical cords was just fine, meaning that the babies were getting everything they needed. Their fluid levels were healthy, which explained why they were able to move and squirm within him so easily. On top of all that, they appeared to be growing at a healthy rate, despite his not showing very much, so there were no causes for concern.

“You wanna know their genders today, if they’ll cooperate?” Dr. Bohn asked.

“I’d love to,” he answered, grinning as he nodded. “If I can manage it, think I can try Skyping my boyfriend real quick for this part?”

“Go ahead, Ashley,” she answered. “I’ll get the rest of my findings written into your chart while you’re trying to reach him.”

Nodding, he quickly pulled up the Skype app on his phone and logged in, happy to see that Andy was apparently online. He quickly tapped his contact and attempted to start a video call, biting his lip nervously as he awaited a response. Although it took a few seconds longer than he’d have liked, thankfully the younger man answered fairly quickly.

“Hey there, Outlaw,” he said, grinning as he looked at what was obviously the screen of his own phone.

“Hey, Batman,” Ash answered, returning the grin.

“You done with your appointment?” Andy asked, readjusting the ear buds he was using.

“Actually, I’m still in the middle of it,” the older man answered. “Dr. Bohn thinks the babies are big enough to tell the genders, if they’ll cooperate.”

“And this is the next best thing, since I can’t be there physically,” he chuckled, picking up on his sweetheart’s train of thought.

“Bingo,” he laughed, wincing from a kick to the rib. “Sheesh, settle down, youngin.”

“I’m guessing this is your boyfriend?” Dr. Bohn asked, smiling as she caught a glimpse of the Skype call.

“Yep. This is Andy, the father of all my children,” he answered, turning the phone around.

“Hi there, Andy,” she said, waving from where she sat.

“Nice to ‘meet’ you, Dr. Bohn,” the younger man chuckled. “Judging by his grin, I’m guessing things are going well?”

“They are, indeed. All of them are healthy as horses,” she answered. “Well, aside from a mild case of constipation, on Ashley’s part.”

“Dr. Bohn!” Her name came out of Ash’s mouth as a cross between a whine and a groan.

“As your boyfriend, I’m pretty sure he knows everything about you,” she laughed.

“Generally not things like that,” he retorted.

Andy couldn’t resist laughing at his embarrassment, especially when he caught sight of the bright red flush staining his cheeks. He managed to calm down, though, when the OB/GYN said that it was time to find out their babies’ genders and moved back to the ultrasound scanner.

The older man switched the camera he was using so that instead of the front-facing one, it was the one on the back side of his phone. He held the phone in such a way that it was almost as if his lover sat beside him, that way he could see everything. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for his arm to get tired, and he had to prop his phone up on a spare chair after switching the camera again. That gave Dr. Bohn time to squirt and spread more gel on his belly, considering that they’d wiped him off a few minutes ago.

Once the gel was spread around his growing bump, both he and Andy turned their attention to the screen of the scanner. She quickly moved the probe over where she knew their bottom halves were, soon finding the crotch of baby A. Within moments, she was able to say with certainty that it was a little boy, and pointed out how she was able to tell. Both men had tears well up at knowing they had at least one son on the way.

Surprisingly, though, when she moved the prove to the other side of his belly, they found out baby B was yet another little girl. Not that either of them had any problems with a third daughter, but they’d thought that, considering they’d had identical twins before, that’s what they were having again. Then again, the fact that they were even having twins for a second time was a one-in-a-million kind of chance. What they didn’t know, and wouldn’t for quite a while longer and without a DNA test, was that they were a very rare type of twins that were almost unheard of.

“I guess we’re gonna be setting up two nurseries this time around,” Ash chuckled, gently wiping his belly off again.

“Looks like it,” his lover agreed with a chuckle of his own.

“It might be a good idea to just set up one nursery, either temporarily or permanently,” the OB/GYN spoke up.

“Really?” the younger man asked, sounding curious.

“Twins, even one of each gender, tend to do best when they’re close to one another,” she answered, nodding. “Even if they’re just in separate cribs, they’ll likely do better than if they’re in separate rooms.”

“That’s true enough, now that I think about it,” the older man agreed. “Legacy and Magick used to give me Hell if they were put down for naps in different rooms.”

“It’s because they’re so close in the womb that they generally don’t like being separated after birth,” Dr. Bohn explained. “Twins have a much stronger bond than most siblings due to sharing their space before birth, and it’s usually shown pretty clearly, even as newborns.”

“Maybe instead of a distinct boy’s and girl’s nursery, we could do something gender-neutral,” Andy suggested. “Then we won’t have to waste time and money on two separate nurseries if it’ll be best to keep them together.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, Batman,” he agreed.

“I’m gonna letcha go till you get back home, Outlaw,” the younger man said. “In the meantime, I’m gonna try getting another update on Legacy, make sure she’s doing all right.”

“All right. Lemme know what ya find out when I call ya back,” Ash told him.

“You know I will, sweetheart,” the younger man promised.

The pair ended their video call by blowing a kiss to one another, then the older man tucked his phone back into his pocket. He quickly got himself straightened up so that he was presentable after leaving the exam room and got a hand up from his doctor. It took him a moment to actually stand up, but that was perfectly fine.

Once he was able to get up without being winded from kicks to his ribs, Ash headed out to the front desk to check out. That was a quick endeavour, and he was quickly on his way back home. He grinned as he slipped his copies of his ultrasound images into the manilla envelope he’d been given, which he stowed in the glove box. They’d be something precious to show his friends later, and that widened the smile already on his face as he cranked up his lover’s Dodge Charger to head home.

Notes