Parenthood pt 2, alternate

Parenthood, Part 2
Alternate version


The hospital was a short ten minutes from their house. The car ride was silent, Jen was resting her chin in her hand as she gazed out at the passing buildings, Logan was trying to watch the road and not Jen slowly rubbing her belly.
"You were daydreaming again," he said as they pulled into a parking space.
"How did you know?" She asked.
"Well you were rubbing your belly again," he said, "that usually means you're daydreaming."
With a smile she replied,
"Yeah, I don't even realize it sometimes; I guess I'm still not used to it yet".
As they began walking towards the hospital doors Logan reached for her paw and intertwined his fingers with hers.
"Even when it's over, I don't think we'll be used to it." He said.
"True," she said, "I don't think any first time parents can ever get used to it."

As they walked through the automatic doors a rush of cold air greeted them.
"Ah, that feels good", exclaimed Jen.
Oregon had been having an unusual weather pattern lately and the air temperature seemed especially hot to her.
"What are you talking about?" asked Logan "This would a good day back in San Diego, perfect weather for the beach."
"Well my little beach bum," she said, "you're not in San Diego anymore and I'm in no condition to go out in public in a bikini."
"I beg to differ," he said, "I think you'd be the hottest girl on the beach."
"Yeah, to all the pervs." She said slightly annoyed.
"Oh they're just jealous that you're not theirs." He said comfortingly, "besides, I'd be there to protect you."


The waiting room was fairly empty as they sat down. From his many pockets, Logan produced a copy of, 'What to expect when you're expecting twins'. Jen had no idea how he managed to fit so many items into one pair of pants. Water bottles, tissue boxes, sandwich's, hardcover books; it seemed that nothing was too big. With a sigh she leafed through one of the many parenting magazines that lay throughout the room. She found herself unable to read more than a few lines before becoming distracted. She soon settled on watching a new mother across the room try to calm a cranky newborn. She started wondering to herself how that if one newborn was that hard, how she could possibly handle two.
"You were daydreaming again," said Logan.
Jen looked down and saw her paw in Logan's.
"It's just…." she said, "I see that mom over there struggling with one and I don't know how I'm going to handle two… I'm just so emotional right now, I feel sad, worried, happy, tired and jealous all at the same time". She leaned over and buried her head in Logan's shoulder.
He leaned over and wrapped his free arm around her.
"It's ok, "he said comfortingly to her, "you're going to be fine, besides, you have me to help out."
"I guess you're right." She said with a sniffle

A few minutes later a middle aged cat walked into the waiting room. Looking up from her clipboard she called,
"Jennifer, the doctor will see you now."
"Baka", whispered Jen to Logan as they walked down the hall, "why can't they call me Jen like everyone else?"
"That's what they're trained to do," whispered Logan, "some people think it's impolite to not be their full name by a stranger."
"Alright then," said the nurse in a rather drab voice as she turned to face Jen, "could you hop on up on this scale so we can get your weight."
"Do I have to?" Asked Jen in a half joking way, "I'm not really sure I want to know."
"Nope, sorry," said the nurse, "doctors orders." The scale gave a metallic groan as Jen stepped on.
"Hey punk!" Said Logan threateningly to the scale. "What'd you say about my wife!? Don't make me come down there and crush you like a soda can." He was satisfied to hear Jen give a muffled giggle.
"Don't worry dear," he said to her, "I got your back."
"Alright." Said the nurse, "if you could both follow me to the sonogram room the doctor will be ready soon.

She led them to a small room down the hall.
"Ok." She said as she handed Jen a knee length dress made of surgical scrub like material.
"If you could please take off your pants and underwear, put this on and open the door when you're done. As for you sir," she said motioning to Logan, "if you could follow me out to the hall, I have a few more forms for you to fill out."

As Logan was filling out the forms in the hall he heard a familiar voice call out, "Logan, is today her checkup or are you just happy to see me?"
Caught off guard, Logan quickly moved the clipboard over the front of his pants and looked up.
"Silly boy," said an attractive young Vixen walking towards him, "I was talking about your tail wagging." With a short chuckle Logan relaxed.
"Hey Doctor Bethany, you have cruel sense of humor ya' know." He extended his paw to shake hers.
"Is that any way to treat a good friend? She said mockingly.
"Give me hug and call me Beth."
"Yeah I guess you're right," said Logan as he gave her a brief hug, "I'm just not sure how to greet you in such a formal work place; it was easier to hug you back when you and Jen were in fashion school. Remind me again why you chose to be an OB/GYN."
"Job security," she said walking towards the room, "there will always be babies to be born, plus I didn't like having to change my fashion style every time a new craze started."
She walked up to the door and gave a slight knock.
"Are you ok in there Jen?" She asked.
"Oh, sorry," called Jen, "I was so eager to sit down I forgot to open the door."
Both Beth and Logan entered the room. Jen had already changed and was sitting on the edge of the exam table.
"Oh it's so good to see you again." She said to Beth, leaning over to hug her as much as Jen's belly would allow.
"You two are acting as if you haven't seen each other in years." Logan groaned. "Four months is like a year to girlfriends," said Beth, "I saw you both for your first visit and then I was off to Africa for my vacation and then my passport was stolen and I got delayed and yada yada yada, anyways, I'm here now and just in time for your last few visits. Dear me," she said turning and looking at Jen's abdomen, "you've gotten so much bigger since last time."
"I know," moaned Jen, "can we double check that there's only two of them in there?"
"Sure," chuckled Beth, "if you could just lie back on the table we can get started." Jen positioned herself on the table as Logan pulled up a chair next to her. She reached out and held his paw and they both looked at each other and smiled.
"Ok," said Sue lifting up Jen's shirt, "I'm just going to check their positions."
She began gentle pressing on various areas of Jen's abdomen.
"Oh!" She exclaimed as someone kicked her hand.
"Yeah they tend to do that." Sighed Jen.
"No problem," replied Beth, "they don't seem to be in the head down position so it seems that they're in no hurry to get out."
She rose and pulled the ultrasound machine next to the table.
"Now for the moment you've all been waiting for," she said in a mock radio announcers voice, "especially you Logan, I can here you tail thumping against the chair." Logan turned to look back, "it's got a mind of its own, I swear." He tried to hold it in place with his free hand, but found it to be pointless. With an annoyed sigh he rose and sat down again taking care to tuck his tail under himself this time.

Beth reached for a bottle on the side of the monitor and squeezed some of its contents onto Jen's furred tummy. Jen squealed and gripped Logan's hand tighter as Beth moved the scanner around on her tummy.
"There they are," said Beth as she turned the monitor to an angle that they could all see, "safe, sound and healthy." Both Jena and Logan let out a slight gasp of awe.
"Do you want to know their genders?" Asked Beth.
"No!" Exclaimed both Jen and Logan almost simultaneously. They both looked at each other and smiled.
"We want it to be a surprise," explained Jen, "but we have names already picked out no matter what gender they are." Beth smiled.
"That's sweet," she said, "a lot of my patients seem to want the surprise." She continued with the exam, pointing out all their little details.
Partway through, Jen felt something wet drip onto her arm; she looked over at Logan and realized that he had a few tears coming out of his eyes.
"Are you ok honey?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm ok," he said as he produced a tissue from somewhere and dried his eyes, "it's just…. I'm just so happy, I mean you're my mate, my life is on the high road, we have two cubs on the way… it's just a lot to be happy about at once."
"Oh stop it," she moaned, "you're going to start making me cry."
"Damn, you two really are a perfect match." Said Beth breaking the silence.
"Oh sorry," said Logan, "please continue, oh and can we get some screen shots of this?"
"Sure" said Beth with a smile. As she continued with the exam, Logan gave Jen's paw one final squeeze.

"Alright", said Beth a few minutes later as she wiped the gel off Jen's belly, "I just need to check you and we'll be all done."
"Check me?" Said Jen questioningly.
"Yes, I need to feel if you're dilated at all," said Beth as she folded two stirrup looking things out of the end of the table, "now that you're in your final month we like to check to see if your cervix has opened up at all."
"Oh, ok." Said Jen nervously as she lifted her legs up into the holders. As Beth's pulled on a glove, Jens grip tightened on Logan's paw. He squeezed back to let her know he was still there. Jen felt herself blush and turned slightly red, as Beth's gloved entered and as a long absent pleasure rose inside her. The whole procedure was over almost as quickly as it started. Jen felt herself blush again as Beth's' paw exited.
"Ok," said Beth as she threw away the glove and turned to face them, "you're dilated to only one centimeter which is completely normal for someone carrying twins to term."
"Oh," said Jen with a sad moan, "we want to meet them so badly, but I have another month to go…"
"Actually," said Beth, "36 weeks is considered full term, your babies can be safely born whenever their ready, I'm surprised because most twins are born before 36 weeks."
"Really?" Asked Jen.
"So I could go any day now?"
"Yup," said Beth, "you could go into labor tonight or in 4 weeks, it's all just a waiting game now, just be sure to have your bags packed in advance."