Babies don't come from storks {Tempy}

The day had not started off well at all. Tobias had finally managed to capture sleep around four that morning. The wolf in him was starting to creep through his shoulders and wrists, despite full moon being three days away, making it hard for him to rest. Then at seven A.M. Anna-Marie had called him frantically about her favourite ring falling onto the s-bend of the girl's dorm. He left Caroline a hurried message that he would have to meet her at the OBGYN and would most likely be there on time.

The ring had been his stepfather's mother's and very imortant to Anna-Marie. She danced around him nervously and chided him when he lit a cigarette. Tobias had cursed at her something aweful, even though she didn't deserve it, but it made her quiet all the same.

Finally, after finishing out the ring and simultaneously unclogging the drain, Tobias hurried down to the staff parking. While fishing frantically for his keys to the Jeep, he bumped into the newest members on his list of least favourite people in the world: Agent G. "I need to set up an appointment with you today."

"Today's no good."

"Tomorrow then."

"Fine."

Traffic was dreadful and parking worse. With sheer seconds to spare, Tobias hurled himself down the street, tying back his hair, and knocking people aside. Caroline was already furious with him about not mentioning Amelia. There was no reason to stoke the fire by adding the kindling of his lateness.

The doctor's office was on the floor above a French bakery and café. His stomach rolled over with hunger. Where was Caroline? Had she already gone up without him?

Her power had settled into a routine since the rooftop incident. Silence was usually the order of the day, something she didn't mind nearly as much as she had since it was infinitely safer than the alternative. As a result, she had begun to change her own habits some. Now, she carried a small notepad with her at all times. She also started carrying earplugs, just in case.

Caroline walked through the marketplace some time before her appointment, reviewing her morning with a detached air. She'd woken up late since she wasn't about to go in to work just to have to come back to town for the appointment. A passing glance at the mirror had her going back for a second look. Yep, she discovered that she was beginning to show. Surprising, since she hadn't noticed anything prior to that morning. After steeling herself for the inevitable weight gain, she ate a breakfast of cold cereal and disquieting news reports.

Now, dressed in loose yoga pants, a t-shirt that displayed her alma mater's logo (a falcon pulling up from a dive), a zip-up sweater against the chill of the air, and sneakers, she tried to create an inner peace. Sure, there might be a lot on her plate, but it was not something she couldn't handle. Her father was set to be taken out of the hospital within a couple days, which meant that she could share the good news with her parents. Tobias had a daughter, but that wasn't all bad. It wasn't like he was cheating on her. In fact, she looked forward to someday meeting the girl and trying to see her father's stamp in her features.

The vice-principal was still thinking about Tobias's daughter when uneasiness surged through her. She couldn't place the stimulus that had led to this sudden disquietude, but it made her stop and take in her surroundings. Upon finding nothing out of the ordinary, she closed her eyes and forced her heart to stop pounding. She opened her eyes again and checked her watch. Still early. Looking around, she decided to wait for Tobias in the cafe.

---

She'd been debating whether to just go up without Tobias when he arrived. She emerged from the cafe and tapped her watch, indicating that she didn't appreciate his cutting things so close. Regardless, she swiftly pecked him on the cheek and went in to climb the stairs to the doctor's office. As she moved, she pulled out her notepad and scrawled, "Still having power issues, Sweetheart. I hope you don't mind if I keep my talking to a minimum. Brought you some earplugs, just in case."

Ripping out the note, she folded it around a package of earplugs and tossed it at Tobias with a lopsided smile.

Tobias' shoulders unwound on seeing her and he stowed the earplugs in his pocket with his cigarettes, while reading the note. "Did you not get my message? By Jesus, girls are the worst at plugging up pipes." He then returned the kiss, stubble notably rough against her smooth jawline.

As ever, Caroline looked well kept even in sweats. It made Tobias' own hard masculine lines seem to wild to be allowed. Or it could be the moon's cruel cycle. He tried to mentally wash out the fatigue as he followed her up the stairs. He did notice that she looked thicker, but decided to keep how he felt about it to himself until she brought it up. It wouldn't matter that she turned him on this size or any other. She was genuinely female, unlike what the media deemed beautiful.

The hunger that drove Nick Bottom to Titania, stole over Tobias then. In the empty stairway, he reached out for Caroline and Drew her into a rougher, lingering kiss than that of which they swapped in front of the café. Tobias did pull away briefly to look at her, ice chipped gaze full of thoughtful concern. "Should we share about what we are to the doctor? Just in case of complications?" His voice was low, soft, afraid of being over heard.

Caroline wasn't going to engage in a stupid argument about the nature of Tobias's arrival when his mere presence was all she wanted. She rifled through her bag, making sure she had her IDs and other important things. Tobias's kiss caught her entirely by surprise and she giggled at the end of it, the romance of the moment catching up with her.

Just as quickly, the feeling faded when Tobias asked her about telling the doctor about their status. Her demeanor sobered and she took a moment to think over the matter. Reluctantly, she nodded. Despite the shit going down between some radical groups of normal people and some equally radical Gifted folk, the safety of their growing embryo took precedent. If the doctor couldn't handle it, they would just have to find another. She touched Tobias's cheek and attempted an encouraging smile. When it faltered, she sighed and placed a hand on her stomach.

She was glad her parents had never decided that her Gift was a medical issue. As a result, there was no reason for it to be in her medical records. However, with this new tide of anti-Gifted sentiment, would it become a sticking point? She shifted her bag and pulled out the notebook. She wrote only two words before holding up the page for him to see.

"You ready?"

Tobias made a face, one eyebrow cocked and nose pulled forward, as he adjusted his vision to read the note. He had forgotten both contacts and glasses. "Sure enough," he said. Then, kissing her again, groped for the door and led her in. The secretary eyeballed the public display if affection and cleared her throat. With a prominent lisp she asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

There was an audible wet sucking sound as Tobias pulled away from Caroline again. The lapsed catholic in him bought a faint blush to his high cheekbones. "Right. Ehm....Caroline Harlequin." He gave Caroline a look. Should they sit down? Before he could suggest it, the door off to the side opened. An older women in a brown suit and loose bun stood smiling gently. "Ah, there you are Caroline. Come on back and we'll get started."

Tobias took comfort in the fact the doctor was a women, not knowing how he would feel if she were male and touching Caroline where Tobias only wanted himself to be. He followed the doctor down a long calmly painted hall and she lead them to a back room.

Turning to the him, the doctor said, "We haven't met. I'm Doctor Lane...and you are?" There was a small twinge between her brows as she took in his sleep dried eyes, the strong wiff off smoke, and scuffed boots.

"I'm the father. Tobias Williams." They shook hands and Dr. Lane addressed Caroline.

"It's simple blood work today, papsmear and pelvic exame. Is there anything we need to adress before you dress down?" A nurse was already in the room, changing the paper on the bed and holding out a paper robe. Tobias cleared his throat and shot another look at Caroline. Should he just blurt it out or ease into it? It was his blood that would account for more than hers. His could be poison to the baby. The same fear he had when Sam was pregnant with Amelia.

Caroline refused to be embarrassed about their PDA, though she would have preferred to make a more sensible first impression (or, in her case second impression since she'd met the receptionist before.) She smiled when the doctor emerged and followed her down the hall.

Nervous little butterflies flitted through her stomach, bouncing the walls and making her wonder if eating breakfast had been the wisest decision. She touched Tobias on the arm, hoping to draw some confidence from the tall wolf.

She watched the two others introduce themselves absently. There was something bothering her and she couldn't place it directly. The half-Cuban reviewed her day thus far until her thoughts were interrupted by the doctor's question. Clearing her throat, she answered concisely, "I'll let Tobias fill you in."

Caroline took the paper robe from the nurse and watched as the woman closed the door to allow her enough privacy to change. Not that this was necessary given the order of the day would be pretty damn invasive. She undressed quickly and slipped on the robe quickly, the paper doing very little to protect her from the slightly below room-temperature air. Was it this coolness that caused her pang of foreboding?

||Sorry, fluff post. >.> ||

This was the part Tobias hated. Why did it suddenly have to be every ones business? He played with this nose ring nervously for a minute, then said as plainly as possible, "We're gifted...will that effect anything?" The nurse behind them made a funny noise, but Dr. Lane looked thoughtfully as though choosing her words carefully.

"Science is very new to the game. I've attended a few lectures and I'm willing to work and learn if you are." Tobias nodded and she clapped her hands, calling everything to order. "Okay! Caroline, hop up on the bed here and I'll start my poking. Tobias you sit there and let Margery take your blood. Then we'll use this machine here," she indicated a monitor with a clean thick wand, "and have our first look at the embryo."

Margery rolled up Tobias' sleeve and flicked the inside of his arm once. The blue vein rose up expectantly and it reminded him of the ribbons set against pale cheeses. His stomach made its own loud opinion at the thought. "What blood type are you?" She asked stiffly, tying his bicep with a length of rubber and inserting the needle. "Or do you not know?"

"DEA seven B neg," Tobias responded automatically.

"DEA seven? But that's--"

"Yes, thank you," he said dryly. "All right Caroline?" He added, untying the band for Margery and adjusting his sleeve. The grumpy nurse filed the little tube of blood and prepped a fresh needle for Caroline.

"Lets see how the baby's getting on," Dr. Lane said after another minute of examination. Tobias slipped his hand into Caroline's and turned expectantly to the shadows on the monitor. Dr. Lane made a few noncommittal noises through her pencil thin nose. Then she said cheerfully, "Well, it looks like you're further than expected in the first trimester...but otherwise....they're fine."

The words weren't clicking as they should. Tobias blamed his lack of sleep. "How do you mean 'they'?"

Again, the good doctor smiled. "The sex is undetermined still, but yes...they. You're pregnant with twins."

Tobias lost all feeling in his legs.

Caroline focused on Tobias, ignoring the sensations of examination. She'd never liked going to the doctor's office. The pinch of the needle taking her blood brought her back to herself for a moment, but she refused to look at the fluid being drawn up into the needle. It brought back too many negative memories and emotions.

She stared at the monitor, giving Tobias's hand a squeeze. She wasn't sure what she was seeing, but the smile that had been lingering hesitantly around her mouth fell away when the doctor informed them that they were having twins.

Immediately, her power took over. Her single-word response resonated around them somewhat louder than comfortable.
"What?"

Caroline's heart rate and breathing sped up some and she tried not to freak out. She liked children. Babies were a blessing. Two were not so different than one. On the other hand, there was twice the reason to worry about. What if she and Tobias were genetically incompatible and there was something wrong with the twins? Would she and Tobias be able to care for two children? Would she have to put her career on hold?

Why did it take this to make the entire situation as real as it would ever be? She squeezed Tobias's hand again, then took a deep, quavery breath. As carefully as she could manage, she asked, "Further along? Will we have to worry about them developing properly?" She glanced at Tobias and added, "You okay, darling?"

Caroline's overloud voice was a whip against his eardrums. Suddenly his Adam's apple was too large. He swallowed and a numb, goofy sort of grin fell across his face. Meanwhile Dr. Lane took to calming Caroline. "No, no! I mean to say that you probably were already pregnant before you thought you were. Sometimes bleeding can still happen in the first months. It's actually quite normal, especially with you're....well, you're enhanced DNA."

"Dogs aren't pregnant as long," muttered the nurse gruffly from the corner. Dr. Lane let out a scolding breath. Tobias on the other hand was looking curiously at her, his head titled to one side, his thick brow raised. The nurse amended. "Doctor, he's got animal blood. Said so himself. B negative, that's human. But DEA seven....that's some form of canine."

Now the doctor took on a thoughtful tone once more. "Your blood is mixed like that? Well, it could be.....it would reason for tje twins too. You both should probably come back next month for a follow up. This may well turn out to be a special case." She and the nurse left the room shortly after to allow Caroline time to dress and to schedule a space free for their following appointments.

Tobias sat down, feeling he could no longer stand. Without thinking, he lit a cigarette with shaking fingers. "Twins," he choked out with another goofy grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

Caroline felt like snarling at the nurse when she made her dog insinuation, but she had to address the repercussions of Tobias's canine heritage. All of this stuff made her super-nervous about being pregnant, and she made a mental note to ask her mother about her pregnancies (especially since both she and her half-brother were gifted.)

She hopped off the table when the nurse and doctor left, pulling the flimsy robe off and slipping into her normal clothes. About halfway through this process, she heard the chink of a lighter. As she pulled her shirt down over her belly, she moved closer to Tobias and pulled the cigarette away from him and extinguishing it on the bottom of one of her sneakers. "Not in the doctor's office, Tobias. Light up when we get outside." She had calmed down enough to sound mostly normal, though her voice sounded a little hollower than usual.

She was silent as she tied her shoes and pulled on her sweater. How was she? She wasn't sure she had gotten enough time to process her own feelings regarding the unexpected news. "I don't know. Twins... God, Tobias. I'm not prepared for this." She didn't allow the extent of her worries to show through, but he head was reeling with questions.

Both she and Tobias had volatile temperaments and sometimes dangerous powers. What if the combination led to children that could not function within normal society? She sat back heavily against the table, her arms wrapped around her midsection. She already knew that she would stand by their children, but the current sociopolitical climate made her maternal guard go up. She regarded Tobias, trying to find something to say and failing.

Tobias rolled his eyes and picked up the cigarette. He brushed it off and tucked it behind his ear. No point wasting something useful. "It's a little late to do this...but lets call my parents? They won't mind the hour when it's for this." Whenever he wanted to chat with his family overseas, he had to think thirteen hours ahead of his own time. It was a strange thing, almost like time travel.

"It'll be fine. Everything will work out," he assured her as he continued to open doors for her. "I know how big families work. I'm the first of six." Tobias signed out and collected the information for the next appointment. He began silently calculating the cost of prams, booties and a number of other things they would need. The prospect of the amount needed to buy all these things did not slow him but excited him. "Wouldn't it be great if they were a boy and a girl....no...all children should be girls." He threw his arm around Caroline's shoulders and refrained from smoking a while longer.

Then it came again as it had come that morning: the silent creep of the wolf clawing at his shoulders and sinking into his skin. Not wanting to put her off, or even address the fact that he would become a part time father on these hard days, Tobias casually removed his grip and dropped back a few paces lighting the remains of his cigarette. He wasn't hungry anymore. A slight nausea had settled too.

Caroline moved out of the building, quietly calculating. Tobias's first question didn't sink in until after she replied to the comment he had made about the babies' genders. "If we're having twins because of... err... your genes, they'll be identical." She placed a hand on her abdomen, losing some of the focus in her eyes.

After a moment, she shook herself and added, "We can call your folks." She glanced at Tobias when he fell back to have a smoke. Worry creased her brow and she asked, "The moon, huh?" With her powers acting up, she couldn't let herself get talkative. She wanted to go over to her fiancee and draw him into her protection, but she knew better.

An image from her childhood came floating up out of the depths of memory's dark waters and she tensed. Why was this coming up now? Maybe she should seriously consider going back to therapy or something. No, all she wanted to do was run and not stop running until she felt safe again. Tobias stood nearby, but a wolf could scare off her demons. Silence blotted out the reassuring hubbub of the marketplace.

"Och, it's a trying thing today," Tobias moaned softly, rubbing his neck. He was hungry and suddenly his clothes felt very tight and raw on his skin. He smiled at the comment on the twins as it finally sank in thorough the annoying twinge in his veins. " I hope they get your nose. Especially if we have girls."

He checked the time on his watch and rubbed the tear ducts of his tired eyes with a forefingers and thumb. "It's still too early for them just now. If they're coming sooner than expected, I should go ahead and schedule lamaze classes. I'll look in on double prams too. Twins..." His grin was sloppy again thinking about it. Maybe he could be a good father. "My sisters are twins. We can do this. By Jesus, you're so sexy right now."

Sure his train of thought was erratic at the moment and his tongue put on speed but it didn't seem to matter. He sensed her tenseness and pulled her into his thin arms with gentle reassurance. "You'll be okay. We can do this." Tilting her head up, Tobias kissed her temple, then her chin and then her lips. "Lets not go back to work just yet. The school can wait...that bastard agent can wait."

Caroline smiled halfheartedly and shook her head. Pulling away from Tobias, she replied, "I'll have to take a raincheck. Only have the morning off and your new friend needs some supervision." She rubbed the back of her neck. His presence made her want to dive into the library and peruse the law section until she found a way to expel the nuisance from her haven.

She returned his kiss with gusto, a promise for what would come when they both had free time and Tobias wasn't under the moon's spell. "Come see me later, okay? I have to run. Radios, mi amor." She cast her glance lingeringly over his person, then turned on her heel and began a brisk walk across the marketplace.

||ooc: I was going to come up with a clever twist to end this already dead thread but.... Meh! To the bone yard it goes!||