Twelve Week Scan [Brennan]

[niki]

25th January 2009

Niki woke up excited today. Why? Because this was the day of her first scan. This was the day Niki and Brennan would be able to see their baby for the first time on a little monitor. Today would be the day they would find out if their baby was indeed healthy and exactly how far into her pregnancy she actually was. Niki was still suffering from mild morning sickness which she had found strange, because it had never lasted this long when she was pregnant with Micah. So when she had her initial feeling she was pregnant all those weeks ago, she now had another initial feeling that she may be carrying more than one baby. She couldn't be sure, so she never voiced her opinion to Brennan about it, instead, holding off until the scan proved it or not.

She had already got showered and dressed. Brennan was no longer in the bedroom so she decided he must be in the living room already. So she began to walk down the stairs slowly and as she reached the bottom, she could see Brennan sitting on the sofa. She walked in and sat down beside him, turning to him slowly with a smile on her face. "You ready to see our baby?" she asked grinning, as she put her arm on her stomach.

She was now twelve weeks pregnant, which was three months, and already she had a nice swell in her stomach. More than she had with Micah, which was another reason why Niki was certain she may have been carrying twins. Again she kept this from Brennan, because if the scan proved they were having twins, she wanted it to be a surprise for him, not to have Niki spoil it for him before they even got there.

Their appointment at the clinic for the scan was in a half hours time, even with Brennan discreetly flying them both there, they would have to think about leaving soon, Niki hated being late for anything, particularly appointments for the doctors or hospital, or anything to do with the school for that matter. Micah was round visiting Molly again, it would seem the two of them were virtually inseparable these days. Not that it bothered Niki, the more time Micah and Molly spent together, the more time Niki and Brennan had to themselves and Niki wasn't about to complain about that.

"You ready to go then Brennan?" Niki asked him giving him a smile, and leaning across to kiss him gently on the mouth. Niki loved Brennan with all her heart, and she particularly loved spending time with him. He was pretty much the best thing to happen to her since she had DL in her life. Now she had Brennan, Micah and the new baby or babies in her life, so to Niki life was simply perfect once again.

[brennan]

Brennan was having a dream. No, this wasn’t a dream, this was as much of a nightmare that the man would ever receive, or ever had received in his lifetime.

The man sat next to his wife, his precious angel. But his Angel, his Niki, wasn’t in the pristine condition that he always imagined her to be in. The two were in a hospital room, a normal birthing room that should not have scared Brennan. No, the room didn’t scare Brennan, at least not this time. What scared Brennan was Niki. His wife lay on the small bed beside him. She was draped in the nightdress that the hospital made many pregnant women wear when birthing. Her stomach was distended to the point of making her belly seem like a huge blimp. Brennan was sitting beside her, holding her hand. Her hand gripped his in a vice-like grip that was, quite possibly, sucking the life out of his, but he didn’t care. Niki was in pain. The whole bottom half of the hospital bed was bathed in blood. The babies weren’t coming out right, and there were no doctors around to help the woman. Brennan was preoccupied with whispering words of comfort to his wife, busy soothing her, and busy smoothing her sweat-filled hair. Her face was contorted in rage, but with each moment, the man could see her strength wane. The children--yes, two of them--were killing his angel. Niki grew pale, her breaths coming out in ragged gasps, and she looked at him with pleading eyes. She couldn’t speak, but Brennan knew what she was going to say, ‘please, don’t let me die.’ Brennan wanted to scream out, ‘I won’t, never!’ He saw her gasping, saw her swollen stomach heave up and down, saw the contractions rip through it. He couldn't bear to watch, and yet he had to, because he loved Niki too much not too. Right before she died—Brennan knew she was going to die—

[/i]

—the man awoke in a cold sweat. ‘Damn, not again.’ Brennan thought. This was the third time this month he’d gotten that nightmare. There was nothing he feared more than Niki, Micah, or the unborn baby dying—but Niki most of all.

It took a moment for Brennan to calm himself down. It took an even longer moment to realize that it was, after all, only a nightmare. But Brennan’s overactive mind told him Niki’s spot in bed was empty. He rolled over, fear gripping him, but the muffled sound of water coming from the bathroom calmed his senses. The man sat up and rubbed his temples, then the stood and dressed.

Today Brennan was going to face his fears. In Brennan’s dream, Niki was having twins. If Niki were to really have twins, then Brennan would try with all of his might to keep his wife, his Angel, alive. He didn’t want to have to write, ‘My Beloved Angel,’ on a tombstone any time soon. Besides, ‘Angel’ was just a nickname, and for Niki to really turn into an angel would make Brennan loose his mind. Niki might have been strong when DL died, but Brennan wasn’t strong enough to live after Niki’s death.

Ready, Brennan made his slow way down the stairs, listening but not really noticing the creak at the top stair. He remembered the first night he’d ‘met’ Niki. And how that brief moment of love had gotten him this far. Don’t get Brennan wrong—he loved Niki with all of his heart—but what if she’d never gotten pregnant? Would Brennan have ever felt compelled to marry Niki? Maybe, of course, but they’d probably still have been boyfriend and girlfriend.

Brennan sat on the couch, still worrying about his dream, when he heard the telltale squeak of that stair, and he turned. What met him was the most beautiful being in the world. Niki brought a smile to his face. She was clothed modestly, but with a slightly flowing shirt, ‘as to hide her bump,’ he thought, smiling. She sat down next to him and asked him if he was ready. ‘No,’ he thought inwardly, but on the outside he was the epitome of fatherly nervousness. “I do want to see it, hon.” He said, and kissed her just as she kissed him. He loved her too much to lose her.

“Are you ready?” He asked, and stood, bringing her up with him. He hugged her, reveling in the feeling of the baby lump she had as it pressed up against him. There was his baby in there. He was determined to forget the dream, determined to be happy today. “I love you, Niki.” He said, slight nervousness entering his tone. He hoped Niki would suspect it would be because of the baby scan today, not because of his dream. “Shall we go?”[/blockquote]

[niki]

Nikiwas gloriously happy today. She couldn't be any more happier if she tried. Today she was going to see her and Brennan's babies. Yes babies, that's right, because even though it hadn't been confirmed yet, she knew she was having two. She could just tell. As pointed out earlier, the signs were there. More morning sickness, fuller face, rounder belly soon into the pregnancy, all very early signs of the fact she was indeed carrying two babies and not just one. The signs were different to when she was carrying Micah, and even though that was now quite a good few years ago, there wouldn't have been much of a difference between carrying one child all those years ago to now, right? Well that was what Niki thought anyway. She was certain she was having twins now. The longer she thought about it, the more she began to believe it and now she couldn't wait to get it confirmed.

Niki smiled as Brennan said he did want to see it, referring the baby to an it simply because they weren't aware of the sex yet. As he kissed her back she took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure you do want to see him or her" Niki said, finding it difficult to hold back the fact she was certain they were having more than one baby. She wanted Brennan to see that fact on the scan screen, not because she had a hunch no matter how much she knew that hunch was true, or should be true.

"I'm ready" she said brightly when he stood up bringing Niki up with him and hugging her to him. She hugged him back also, enjoying the feeling of her slight baby bump leaning against Brennan. She made sure not to hug too tight however, she didn't want to harm the babies, although hopefully they would be made of strong stuff just like both their parents.

When Brennan said he loved her, she noticed a slight change in his voice, she wasn't sure why his voice would change, she hoped there was nothing bothering him. Normally they wouldn't keep secrets from each other, but if there was something worrying him, she wished she knew about it. Okay, so maybe keeping back the fact she had an idea they were having twins was a secret, but it was only to keep it more of a surprise at the scan later. She decided to put the voice down to nerves over the first scan, after all, she'd been there before, but Brennan hadn't.

"I love you too Brennan, and everything is going to be just fine" she said with what she hoped was reassurance in her voice. Even if there wasn't really any need for reassurance, but if Brennan was feeling a little unsure in anyway at all about anything, then hopefully the reassurance in her voice would help him to feel better. She smiled at him again when he asked if they should go. She nodded her head before she even spoke, "Yes, let's go" she said softly a she hugged herself to him, waiting for him to fly off with her.

[brennan]

Had it only been a month or so that Brennan had fully pledged his love to Niki? Had it only been a month? And now Brennan was having these horrible dreams about Niki dying. But he was determined to give Niki her day, because it was Niki he lived for now. Brennan couldn’t possibly live for himself anymore now that Niki was in his life; now that Niki was pregnant with his child… or, and Brennan cringed at the thought, his children.

Yes, Brennan loved children. And yes, Brennan loved Niki. So, yes, Brennan was scared stiff when he thought about Niki dying right in front of him, grasping his hand, moaning, groaning, bleeding. And he, powerless, could do nothing. He did not take powers into play when thinking about this dream, and dreams like this were nightmares solely because powers that could help would now hinder. Brennan was alone in his grieving, and he knew he should tell his beloved angel, his wife, but he did not know how to phrase it. He did not know how to come out and simply state, “You die.”

Niki’s husky voice broke through his anxious, father-nervousness figure. He shook himself out, both mentally and physically. No, his nightmare would not take over his soul, at least not yet. ‘No,’ he decided, ‘You will never take over, not in a million years.’ He told his brain, and the brave part of his brain stood up then and took control. So did the loving side as he gazed over his wife.

Gently, Brennan moved a piece of hair out of Niki’s face and pushed it behind her ears. He knew what she was waiting for, and he could no longer deny her that. “Giddy-up!” He cried, and, in one fluid, but exceedingly careful, movement, he had situated his love into his arms. He was carrying her much like he was the day she fell into his arms—quite literally—and fell in love with him. This was his favorite way of carrying her.

Then they were off, through the open window that Brennan had conveniently left open, and in the sky. The sun was bright this morning, but Brennan paid no heed. “Shield your eyes!” He joked to Niki, and nuzzled her cheek with his for one brief moment before booming off into the atmosphere. The time passed so quickly that, if you hadn’t carried a watch, you’d think the flight had only taken a couple of seconds. As it was, the flight had only taken fifteen minutes, and the two had gotten to the hospital with extra time to spare. After gently touching down, Brennan set down Niki, and smiled at her, “Didn’t rile you up too much, did I?” He asked, hand on the woman’s back as if to support her if she fell.

[niki]

In contrast to the horrible dreams Brennan was suffering which Niki wasn't aware of, Niki was having dreams of a very happy future together with Micah and the twins. They were in the same house, and outside in the garden. Micah was playing football with his baby brother, and Molly was playing tea party with little Adelaide (the name they had chosen to call their little girl, their little boy was called Aiden), it really was a lovely picture. Brennan was sitting in a swinging chair, with Niki on his lap, and he had his arms wrapped around her whispering into her ear how much he loved her and their family.

Niki had been having the same dream for about the past week, maybe even two, another sign that she was certain she was having twins. Still unsure whether she should bring that subject up to Brennan or not however. She certainly loved her dream, and she would be happy to have it over and over again. All she cared about was having healthy babies.

She was now just waiting with a smile on her face for Brennan to take her in his arms so he could fly her to the clinic for their baby scan. She was so excited about it, and very nervous at the same time. She wanted to see their babies, yes she definitely sure they were having twins, but she was also a little scared that it might show there was a problem. Something she truly hoped would never happen.

When he said 'giddy-up' she wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned at him, before leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. She was so in love with her angel, he was everything to her. Her was her life. Their family was her life and Niki would do everything she could to protect that family with her all her might and let's face it, having superhuman strength, Niki had a lot of might to give.

He soon soared out of the window into the bright sun, he had joked with her to shield her eyes, but all she did was lean closer into his face, it was all the shield she needed. However, she decided to come away with what a lot of people would probably think was a really corny and cheesy line, "Don't worry, I'm already blinded by your love for me" she was pretty certain if anybody could have heard it, they would have been asking for their sick buckets. But Niki didn't care.

After flying for about fifteen minutes although it certainly didn't feel like that, time never felt how it really was when she was in Brennan's arms, they touched down outside the clinic, or as near to it as possible so as not to show his ability too much to the general public. He had his hand on her back as if to steady her. When he said, he didn't rile her up to much did her, she just shook her head, "Of course not, every flight with you is always smooth" she replied grinning at him and then she took his hand.

"Come on, let's go in" she said as she opened the door and started to head toward the room where they would carry out the scan, and then she turned to make sure he was following behind her, and hadn't changed his mind about seeing their baby, babies and decided to wait outside, although, she could still feel his hand in her own.

[brennan]

It was hard for Brennan to keep his mind on other things, for that was what he was trying to do. He thought first about his parents, and how they’d raised him. Raising children brought his mind back to Niki. Then he thought about his first job—it was at a grocery store. But buying groceries reminded him of Niki. He remembered then about the time he’d helped birth a foal, but anything having to do with pregnancy irrevocably drew his thoughts to Niki. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘video games will rid my mind of the dream!’ So he thought about the Halo series and of how Halo 3 was awesome. But when his mind wrapped around Call of Duty 3, and killing humans (like Niki), his mind sprang back to his pregnant wife. He tried to do anything he could to think of in those agonizing fifteen minutes in the air in order to stop his horrifying nightmare thoughts.

So into finding some safe house from the dream, Brennan did not hear Niki’s cheesy line. But he was not so absorbed that he did not see the hospital. On the contrary, a knot had grown tighter and tighter in his stomach ever since he first laid eyes on it. But, despite what his heart had told him to do, Brennan continued onward. The knot exploded when his feet touched the ground. He felt as if he’d die right then and there. When he asked his question, it was to see if he were actually awake. He didn’t actually need to pinch himself to know that he was awake, alive even.

Then, when Niki took his hand, he felt reality settle in. And he realized something.

‘I’m worrying too much!’ Brennan thought, and laughed out loud. He squeezed Niki’s hand, “We’re off to see the wizard!” He joked, not sure if his voice would crack or not.

Brennan wondered if he were actually walking along willingly or if Niki was using her superpower to drag him onward. Nevertheless, he crossed the portal from the outside world to the inner sanctum of cleanliness. He suppressed a shudder. This place was a horrible, death-filled, needle-infested place. Yet he was here. But he was with Niki, his beloved angel. And, he forced himself to think this happily, he was with the baby, or babies. He forced himself to go onward, though many things were weighing down on him. First was his obvious dislike of hospitals of any kind, second was the horrible nightmares (or, rather, nightmare numerous times), and third was the fact (and it was quite obvious) that he was a first-time father.

Finally, they arrived at the prenatal screening thing, or whatever it was called (frankly, he didn’t care). He took control then, and pushed Niki into a seat gently. He told her he’d be right back, picked up the paperwork everyone had to fill out (seriously, they should know everybody by name, and even their pet’s names), and strode back over to Niki. He sat next to his angel and peered at the form.

“Okay, let’s see. Name: Niki Sands. Age: Does it matter? Sex: Yes, please!” Brennan whispered loud enough only for Niki’s ears as he shielded the paperwork from his wife. His face bore a happy smile. Suddenly he was forgetting his dream, replacing it with reality. He would much rather take reality over a scary dream any day.

[niki]

Brennan was quiet for such a long time Niki began to worry. She was worrying whether he really was ready to be a father or not. Oh he seemed overjoyed at the idea she was pregnant when she announced it, but today, the day of the scan he seemed really, really quiet and she couldn't deny it was worrying her a little. What could have got him so worried? Was it the idea of fatherhood? Yet he seemed to get on well enough with Micah. Or was it that he had been having nightmares and decided not to tell her about it?

She was about to ask what was wrong when he suddenly spoke, but his voice didn't seem as it usually was. She frowned a little as she looked into his eyes. "What's wrong Brennan?" she asked him as she looked down at her feet. She really hoped it wasn't anything to do with the pregnancy. She knew it wasn't her, because they were both very happy together, that much she was certain of. "I know you're trying to sound cheery but there's something different in your voice."

This was supposed to be one of their happiest days, seeing their baby (or as far as Niki is certain) babies for the first time but if Brennan wasn't really happy then Niki couldn't be happy and if Niki couldn't be happy then it couldn't be the happy occasion it should be.

However he continued to walk with her, as he squeezed her hand, and once they were in the room, Brennan sort of just took over, making Niki sit down as he went to collect the relative forms for filling out like you had to do at every hospital or doctor thing.

He started speaking out loud the questions which needed answering and that's when Niki saw the Brennan she knew and loved come into play. She wasn't sure if he was actually writing down the answers he was saying, but she found she didn't care, so long as he was back to his normal joking self that was good enough for her.

When he read the sex question out, meaning male or female he said 'yes please' and this made Niki playfully slap him on the arm and laugh. "You really should behave you know" she told him and then tried to look at the form he was trying to shield from her. She shook her head and then leaned in to whisper in his ear, "to be honest I'd have put twenty four seven, seven days a week, four weeks a month, twelve months a year to the sex question" she teased with a laugh. Well if you can't beat them join them right?

Besides Niki wanted to make sure Brennan really was relaxed and back to the way he always used to be. When Brennan was uncomfortable, sad or worried about anything, then Niki automatically felt the same way. It was like they both had a connection, like twins.

[brennan]

Brennan wasn’t sure when he stopped believing the nightmare and started believing the reality. The nightmare was horrible. Niki died nearly every single time—even if she never actually died in his dream. Blood, pale skin. The stark whiteness of the hospital room always threw him off. He hated hospitals. Niki’s laboring breath was the worst, though. Those gasping breaths tore into his very soul every time she took them. They, probably alone, were the things that sunk him deeper than he would have liked to go. The only thing that was needed was a clown in the corner. Not a happy peppy clown, but a clown sort of from the book (and/or movie) ‘It,’ the clown from ‘It.’

The reality was better. Niki was happy, was alive. Her skin was pink, healthy. There was no blood besides the blood cells blown to a million times their original size on some posters, but that didn’t count. The walls weren’t stark white but instead a sort of off-white color tinged with pinks and blues… a bit better than white, but not by much. Niki was smiling at him again, apparently relieved that he was back to his normal self. And her breath was normal, coming out in steady streams, not gasping wheezes. There was also no clown—oh, wait; there was a clown in a poster. The clown, however, was not the ‘It’ clown, but it was a clown nonetheless.

Brennan would readily choose the latter option—and he did.

Besides, Niki seemed to be happier whenever he was happier. Brennan never wanted to see Niki sad. It pained him, even, to see her a tiny bit sad when her hormones were acting up. Then the man realized that, because he was placing too much fait (or whatever one could call it) into the wrongness of the dream that it was killing him just because he was making Niki sad. These were all subconscious thoughts, actions. He was only now actively choosing his side. His side was much easier to choose here than, say, choosing a side between Primatech and Pinehearst.

Brennan actively (though, really, it wasn’t that hard) chose the side that made Niki happy.

Her good-natured response to his playing made him snort with barely contained laughter. He smiled and, still covering the paper, shielding it from her eyes, pretended to mark off the answer he’d previously ‘written down.’ He was using a pen after all. “Alright then. I like that answer better anyway.” He meticulously ‘wrote down’ every letter, not even forgetting the commas. In truth, he’d only written down 6 letters: ‘F-E-M-A-L-E.’

Brennan scanned the rest of the packet. He only did the stuff he knew about (and that the stupid doctors should know about, too!). He growled, but good-naturedly, to Niki, “They should know all of this stuff, or do they think that we’ll forget our… well, your… name?” He then handed her the packet and pen, “I give up. You can finish the rest.”

[niki]

Niki didn't know what had got Brennan so down but he wasn't for telling her she noticed and she wasn't going to push the issue. Maybe he was just having those first time father fears, she had them herself when she was pregnant with Micah. Well not the first time father bit, for her it was first time mother, but you get the idea.

So naturally when he started to goof around with the form they had to fill in it made Niki feel a lot more relaxed. When she had said what her answer to the sex question would have been she laughed as Brennan snorted. Well some of the questions on those forms were hopeless, a maternity form asking for the sex of the patient, if you were pregnant, then naturally you were a female, right? Unless there had been some miraculous change Niki wasn't aware of and men were actually able to have children now.

She watched as Brennan wrote down her answer, or at least pretended to write down her answer. She didn't really think for one minute he would actually write what she said, but she laughed along with him anyway. "Thought you might have liked my answer" she said with a wink.

"Well of course they should know, but you know what they're like it's all 'customary'" she said using her fingers for quotation marks when she said the word customary. He then gave up and handed her the form with the pen. "Fair enough" she said and laughed, it only took her a few moments to fill the rest of the form out. "It's stupid, not like I haven't filled one of these out plenty of times before" she said, as she stood up and handed the form back to the woman on the reception desk to which she was told to take a seat and somebody would be with them shortly.

She sat back down again beginning to feel a little bit nervous as they waited to be called into the room. She began to play with her fingers, she just wanted it over with, even she was beginning to get a bit worried about the outcome of the scan. Just then her name was shouted out over the tannoy speaker thing.

She slapped her hands on her knees, "Well, that's us" she said to Brennan giving him a smile, as she stood up and held her hand out to him to take. She wanted to see their baby. Or babies, as she was certain they were having twins.

The room was only about a two minute walk from the waiting room they were in, and the doctor came out and greeted the both of them at the door. "Hi, my name is Kate Ford, and I'll be looking after you, come this way" she said, as she held her hand out and Niki shook it, and then Kate held her hand out for Brennan to shake.

She pointed to bed, so Niki made her way over to it, and hoisted herself up. Kate then looked at Brennan, "You can come round here to the side, you'll get a perfect view" and then she proceeded, to lift up Niki's top and spread the cold ultrasound gel across her stomach. She then lifted up the paddle and pressed it down onto Niki's stomach, "Alright, you ready to see your baby?" she asked with a smile, Niki looked up at Brennan with love in her eyes, and grabbed his hand.

"I think we are" she said, as she slowly looked away from him and brought her eyes to the screen. Niki could already see the slight movement that a baby would make at that age, it was wonderful.

[brennan]

Life, inexorably, ends.

But the circle of life keeps going, a never-ending timeline of life and death. The old die, but every day young are born. Most of them found themselves at hospitals near the beginning as well as the end of their lives. Hospitals were, for pessimistic Brennan, a place of death, despite the life they held. He swore he could smell the death in the place. He disliked hospitals. They were always too sterile, like they were trying to disprove the notion that death was held inside its walls.

But here, in this wing of the hospital, the smell of death was overridden by the smell of life. There was a faint smell of baby, and Brennan liked it. He loved children, so why had he been so adamant about believing his nightmare? Nightmares only came true if one believed in them. ‘Well,’ Brennan thought disgustedly to himself, ‘It was your fault in the first place.’ And he had it right. He shouldn’t have listened to himself.

When the loud speaker called Niki’s name, Brennan blinked. Was it their turn already? Hospitals were notorious for having their patients wait hours—or at least whenever Brennan was in a hospital it was. But now it felt like it had been only minutes the couple had to wait for. Niki stood and offered her hand to him. Brennan blinked again and then, while smiling, accepted the hand. He stood and followed Niki through the maze of doctor’s rooms and hallways. He was really just wandering dazedly, half a step behind his wife.

The doctor woman who greeted them said her name was Kate Ford. Huh, strange name. Brennan felt Niki drop her hand from his, and he felt strange. It was as if Niki were leaving him, but really he knew she was just situating herself on the bed-thing. Brennan stood there awkwardly, waiting for someone to tell him what to do. Finally, Miss (Mrs?) Ford told him where to stand. He didn’t feel quite so awkward anymore. He stood next to his wife, and his hand slipped unconsciously into hers.

“Alright, you ready to see your baby?” Miss (Mrs?) Ford asked, pressing the whatever-it-was onto Niki’s stomach. That statement was sort of ironic, seeing as the paddle was already on Niki’s stomach. It would have made more sense to ask before the paddle was on it.

“Babies.” Brennan said slowly, not emphasizing anything. He said it almost frankly, as if there was no doubt about it. He said nothing else, for there was nothing else to say and Niki had already answered the doctor for him. Yes, they would have twins. They’d have Adelaide and Aiden. Brennan fixed his eyes on the screen. He could see nothing much, only some sort of twitching, but that could just be Niki’s contractile muscles.

‘Huh,’ Brennan thought, ‘How do people make a living looking at this mumbo jumbo?’

[niki]

Niki had been waiting for this moment for quite some time now, the first time they would see their baby, or in Niki's mind, babies. She was still one hundred percent certain they were having twins, she just felt so different this time around. She was bigger for a start, she had much more of a swell at this stage than she did with Micah, and she was craving more than she ever did when she was pregnant with Micah too.

So when Kate Ford, Mrs as Niki noticed the name badge saying Mrs. Kate Ford, asked if they were ready to see their baby, Niki went to say 'babies' but Brennan beat her to it. Niki looked up at him, and blinked, but had a smile spread across her face. "How, how did you know?" she asked him, even though she still at this point wasn't completely sure whether they were having twins or not, even if she did feel different, she hadn't told him her suspicions, so how did he know?

The gel felt cold on Niki's stomach, and it had been a long time since she'd had to feel that sensation. She looked at the monitor, and saw some movements herself, but at twelve weeks, their baby still too small to properly make out. That was when Kate Ford began to smile widely, "Well, well" she stated, as she heard the sound coming from the monitor, caused by the paddle on Niki's stomach.

"Can you hear that?" she asked them both, as she looked from Niki to Brennan, having not heard Brennan state babies only seconds before. "Heart beat very strong, and not just one, there are two strong heart beats in there" Kate said, as she then pointed to the monitor to two small, what Niki could only describe as weird shapes. "You're having twins, a little early to tell the sex just now I'm afraid, but there are definitely two babies in there" she explained, as she kept pointing to the two little weird shapes constantly moving around.

"Well, how about that Brennan" Niki began, taking in a breath, "First time father, and having twins" she continued, as she felt a tear escape her right eye, it was simply amazing. She couldn't believe it.

"Isn't it just amazing?" Niki asked as she constantly looked from the monitor to Brennan. They had created life, they had created two lives. Niki couldn't wait until the say she could bring them into the world.

[brennan]

Brennan waited a couple seconds to see if Niki caught on with his reasoning of ‘babies.’ She did, and asked him how he knew. He smiled, his smile possibly wider than Niki’s. Nightmare behind him, Brennan was a ‘new’ man. Really, he was just the same man, just Brennan. He leaned forward and kissed Niki once on the cheek. “How did I know? I just did.” Brennan answered.

Brennan didn’t look at the monitor, only at Niki, his gaze loving, and a soft smile on his face. Suddenly the doctor asked the question of ‘could they hear something?’ He heard it, the ‘bum bum,’ ‘bum bum’ of a small heart, already beating on its own. Much better than that, there were two ‘bum bum’s. Brennan looked up at the monitor then, and saw the two small masses. His smile widened and he gripped his wife’s hand.

When Niki spoke, he looked down at her, and he noticed a tear escape her eye. He laughed, and with his free hand he wiped the tear away. “No crying, love. You’re fine!” When she asked if this was amazing, he nodded. She was constantly looking at him and then the monitor. He smiled. Her husky voice had gotten almost high-pitched.

“Look at them.” He stated, and laughed again, a low chuckle more than a full-blown laugh. “They’re so tiny! Hard to believe somethin’ like a baby comes out of those peas.”

[niki]

Niki smiled when Brennan kissed her on the cheek, but she hadn't said a word to him about expecting twins, how could he possibly have known? So when she had asked how did he know and he replied saying he just did, Niki could only sigh gently and roll her eyes. Typical man's answer that was. But Niki couldn't care less, she was so happy right now. "Well aren't you the clever one?" She couldn't help but say. It wasn't as if he knew she was bigger at this stage than she had been with Micah, nor the fact she had been suffering morning sickness longer than she had been with Micah, because Brennan hadn't been around then. If it weren't for those signs, Niki would have been none the wiser either.

Niki couldn't stop staring at the monitor and then back to Brennan, it was just magical. The fact she was even carrying one of his children was amazing, but to be in fact carrying two, well it really was just wonderful. Niki was the happiest she had been in a very long time. The heartbeats were strong, and there didn't seem to be any problems from what Kate Ford had said, so everything looked good.

"Everything looks fine for now Mr and Mrs Sands." Kate said with a smile, "Come back again in six weeks, and we'll be able to determine the sex then if you wish to know." Kate added, as she pressed a few buttons and Niki could see something being printed off on the table. That must be their scan photos she thought.

"I know I'm fine, I'm just happy Brennan." Niki said referring to the tear which had escaped, she was about to wipe it away, but Brennan had beaten her to it. So she just smiled. Niki just looked lovingly into Brennan's eyes as he seemed in awe over the image on the screen.

"Yes, they are tiny, just now, it's amazing how big they can get." Niki said with a slight laugh.

At that point, Kate took the paddle off of Niki's stomach and rolled down her top, and then walked over toward the table, a few seconds later, she was back with an envelope and a DVD. "There you go happy parents, scan photos and a DVD of what you've just seen on the screen. I'll see you again in six weeks." Kate said as she opened the door for Niki and Brennan to leave.

Niki gently swung her legs round and left the chair bed, and gave Brennan a smile as she took his had, "Thanks Kate, see you in six weeks." Niki replied as she walked out the door which had been held open for her and Brennan.

[ooc: figured since the thread started in February and the timeline on the thread is January and we're now into June and May timeline - we should wrap it up soon, Niki will be about seven months pregnant by now or there abouts. LOL]