Topic: Revelations and Surprises

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:27 EST
After Stas' little performance the night before, AJ felt absolutely no shame in being as loud as possible as she went about her morning routine. She had already deliberately bounced her way out of the bed with a loud morning greeting, ripped the sheets off him, and opened the curtains wide to let the sunlight in, giggling to herself. And why not, she thought to herself as she gargled loudly. He'd earned it.

Stas had been sleeping comfortably, stretched out and warm under those blankets. To have them suddenly whisked off, had him curling up into a ball instantly. The loud greeting was taken with a covering of his ears and scrunching up of his face. The sunlight is what did it though. Leaping off of the bed, he ran into the bathroom, retching into the toilet. Groaning, afterwards, he lay on the cool tiled floor. "Ah God..."

"Something wrong, sweetheart?" AJ asked from her lean in the doorway, making no move to help him as he groaned. Arms crossed over her chest, there was a certain amount of satisfied enjoyment in her eyes. He'd been making her life as difficult as possible since she got pregnant, why shouldn't she enjoy his discomfort for a little bit"

He merely grumbled and raised his arm to flush the toilet. It took three tries before he was finally successful. Still, he remained curled up around the toilet. "Sick, can't move." He groaned and curled his hand up beside his face. The tiles were cool against his hot face and he did not want to move, even if he could.

"You're not sick, you're hungover," she told him mercilessly, finally taking pity and grabbing a glass of water from the nightstand for him. She knelt down beside her groaning husband and held it in front of his face. "Drink this ....you'll feel better when you're not so dehydrated. Trust me, I've been where you are plenty of times."

He lifted his head and looked up at her, pitifully. Spittle caked the corners of his mouth and his lips were dry. Holding out his hand, he took the water. Slowly he moved to sit, the water being sipped as his other hand held his head. "What was in that drink last night?"

"Three types of very alcoholic spirit," she informed him. "And you had two of them." Despite her uncompromising tone, she was gentle as she pulled him to his feet and helped him back to the bed. When he was settled, she ran her fingers gently over his nose. Thankfully, whatever Maranya had done had also reduced the swelling and bruises he should have been sporting. "Why did you drink it if you can't hold that amount of liquor?"

Grunting and groaning in protest as she helped him to the bed, he frowned and shook his head as he lay back on the pillows. "You shouldn't be lifting, Amelia." The water was sipped and then he shrugged. "Tasted like Kool-Aid."

"You should have been drinking Kool-Aid, not that," she told him firmly. "And you can't complain about me helping you back into bed, not after what you put me through getting you back home last night."

He put his hand to his eyes, closing them and rubbing until he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "A...Ow!" He cried out and sat bolt upright. "What is wrong with my nose?" Yes, he was going to ask her to lay off until he felt better, but that sharp pain was enough to wipe that plea right off of his lips.

"You don't remember?" she asked sweetly. "You honestly don't remember falling face first onto the floor of the Inn" And then face first onto the bar when I pulled you back up again?" She shook her head, snorting with laughter. "I was never this bad ....You broke it last night. Maranya set it for you again with that nifty magic she's got going on there."

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:28 EST
"Would I ask if.." he shook his head and let his hand fall to the bed. He wasn't meaning to get snippy, but he really felt like crap and now his face hurt, too. "Go ahead, tell me what else I did last night." He sighed and curled his knees up so that his feet were flat on the bed. "And don't sugarcoat it."

"Well, I hope you remember the conversation about pee, because I'm not repeating that," AJ informed him, sitting down onto the bed beside his feet. "Keep drinking that water, you want at least a couple of pints in you before you'll start to feel better ..." She handed him the glass again. "You drank two Revved up Traffic Lights, and started to pass out, which is how you ended up face first on the floor. And while I was holding you up, you started talking about someone called 'Stacey', how comfortable she was, and that she shouldn't do whatever it was she was doing because your mom was coming. Then you passed out for real, and groped Sivanna when she helped me pull you up. We put you in a cab, I brought you home, and the cab driver helped me carry you up here. And when he was gone, you got very frisky, and passed out on top of me, still muttering about this 'Stacey' girl."

He took the glass of water and sipped it slowly. That is, until she mentioned Stacey. He sputtered the water, and was quick to bring the back of his hand up to wipe the dribble from his chin. "Oh dear lord." He grimaced and shook his head. "And Dora, did I mention Dora, too?"

"Yeah," AJ nodded, the look on her face completely unreadable. "While holding onto Sivanna's boob," she added. She honestly could not wait to see how Stas would react to seeing the elven cleric after hearing about this.

"Ah God." He put the water down and grabbed the blanket. Hiding his face within the velvety folds, he was as red as he'd ever been. "I'll never be able to step into that clinic, ever again." He curled up then and put a pillow over his head. "Don't tell me anymore. Please."

Laughing, she crawled up beside him, pulling the pillow off from over his head. "There isn't anymore to tell," she assured him with a smile. "Apart from the singing, but that wasn't so bad. "And you have to go to the clinic, I've got a scan today, remember?" She stroked her fingertips against his cheek gently. "Or would you rather stay here and fantasise about Stacey and Dora?"

He pulled the pillow back over his head and huffed. "Not funny, Amelia." He kept his back to her as he curled up into a tight ball. "Not funny at all. They were girls from middle school, ok?" He was growing angry in his hungover state. Very agitated indeed.

"And you're not going to tell your wife why the name that comes to your lips when you're dead drunk isn't hers?" she asked rather sharply. Screw his hangover, she had a right to know this.

"Ah God, Amelia. Please." he groaned and that pillow was now tightly pulled around his head. "If you're going to accuse me of cheating on you, just do it. If not, then stop talking about it, ok?" He searched for the blanket and pulled it up to his shoulder.

"Oh, for god's sake!" Her temper snapped, and she rolled off the bed, moving to pull clothes out of the closet. "You are not the only person in the world who has ever had a hangover, you are not the only person in the world with stories in their past that they would rather not talk about, and you are certainly not the only person in the world feeling sorry for himself right now. I've told you pretty much everything - you even know about Harry, for god's sake, and I definitely don't want him to come and hug me when I'm drunk!"

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:29 EST
"There's nothing to tell!" He flung the pillow across the room in her general direction. Yelling, he sat up. "They were girls in middle school. Middle school, Amelia! I was too clutzy and shy to approach them, ok" Nothing major, no first kisses or anything like that. I fantasized about them, ok" Notice the ED on the end of fantasized" Past tense. History. Forget it." He lay back down and curled another pillow around his head.

"Funny how someone you fantasisED about in middle school is the first person you want when you're drunk!" she yelled back at him, throwing the pillow back before dragging a brush through her hair. "I worked in a bar, I know the truth comes out when people get drunk, and do you have any idea how much it hurt not to hear my name" Not to mention how humiliating it was that everyone else heard you, too?"

"What truth, Amelia" That when I'm drunk I turn into an 8 year old boy again?" He groaned and kept the pillow over his head. He was absolutely fuming and his head was pounding. The shouting on a dry throat only cuased it to become red and inflamed. "At least you don't have to see them, every day, like I do. Since when were you so worried about your image, anyway' Is that why you married me" Doctor's wife and all?"

The look she gave him was filled with hurt and flaming anger, if only he could have seen it. "I cannot believe you just said that ....Never mind, I have an appointment. Try not to lose the day feeling sorry for yourself," she shook her head, spinning away and out of the door before anger turned to tears in front of him. Still Maranya would be proud of her. She didn't rebreak his nose.

He grimaced as the door was slammed behind him. Slowly sitting up, he ran his hand through his touseled hair. Frowning and smacking his dry lips, he reached for the glass of water. "Blow it out your nose." he grumbled and got up out of the bed. He trudged to the bathroom and refilled the water glass. After it had been drained and refilled, he went about relieving his baldder before scooting off to bed. He was grateful that he didn't have to work today. Water glass was nearly drained, once more, before his head hit the pillow.

AJ only felt one pang while she was at the clinic, when she looked at her baby - baby, singular, not the nightmare scenario of triplets Stas had been teasing her with - and thought about how excited he had been about seeing the Sprog clearly for the first time. Thankfully, though, the radiologist seemed to be aware something wasn't right, and had tissues on hand for the inevitable tears that fell. About three hours later, after a very long walk and a lot of thinking, AJ slipped back into the house, avoiding the bedroom entirely and heading for the garden, where she curled up next to Gypsy, her rabbit, and told her all about the scan, even showing her the pictures.

By this time, Stas had been up and puttering around the house. Physically, he was feeling better. But he should have warned Amelia about his temper when he was ill. He tried to eat, unsuccessfully. A bowl of cereal was dumped into the drain and the bowl and spoon washed and put away. Next he tried his hand at suturing the dummy in his office. Still, no good. His hands shook and he made a terrible knot in the string. Nothing he could do was going right. He heard the door open and close, and knew she was home. She had every right to avoid him, and he granted her space. When the time was right for her, then she'd come to him. Until then, he had to wait for the fall out.

When, finally, she had stopped crying into the rabbit's fur and calmed down enough, AJ made her way back into the house, stopping to wash her face and remove the evidence of her tears before she went to Stas' office. She knew he'd be in there, he wasn't anywhere else. Lifting her hand, she pause for a moment before knocking. "Stas" It's me. Can I come in?"

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:30 EST
He stood when he heard the knock and went to the door. Opening it up, he pulled Amelia into his arms. "I"m sorry I was such a bear this morning. Forgive me?" He looked into her eyes and even though she'd done a thorough job of scrubbing her face, he could still see the tears. "I'm sorry, Amelia."

She didn't resist the hug, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her face into his shoulder with a low sigh. When he drew back, she looked up at him, and inwardly swore at herself as her lip started trembling again. "You missed the scan," she whimpered softly. "And you were so excited about it. If I hadn't been so insistant, you would have been there, and ..."

He brought his finger up to her lips to silence her, then lowered his head to replace his finger with his lips. A tender kiss was given, then he leaned his head back. "I was being a jerk, Amelia. Wasn't your fault. And we can have another scan done. Privately, and together. Ok?"

She nodded, rising onto her toes to return his kiss softly. "I'm sorry I was such a pain," she apologised quietly. "But it hurt, you know" And I wanted to know - I still want to know why this girl's so important to you."

"I know, but truly, she's not anything but a memory. Somebody in my subconscious. I was only eight, Amelia. I guess she was my first crush. Really, nothing more than that. She is in my past. You are my future. And that's all that matters to me."

"And Dora?" she asked, tilting her head curiously. "Because you can bet Sivanna's going to want to know what it is about her that reminds you so strongly of Dora that you felt you had to hold on somewhere inappropriate." Her lips twitched, but she did make the effort not to smile at that memory.

"Same thing, they were twins." He shrugged, really they meant nothing to him. Nothing but a distant and faded memory. If it had been a picture, it'd be faded and frayed around the corners. "So, where's the pictures?"

"Here." She dug a hand into her pocket, pulling out the little roll of pictures from the scan she'd had that morning in the midst of their combined temper tantrum. They were clearer than her 12-week scan, and even AJ could make out the baby without help. "She offered to tell me what sex the baby was. I ....I didn't know if you wanted to know or not, I told her I didn't want to know."

He released her and took the pictures. Stepping slowly back into his office, he wasn't looking at the sprog, not at all. What he was looking at was the name at the bottom of the picture. "Ryan, baby." Sitting down into his leather chair, he smiled goofily. Slowly he started going over the pictures with a trained eye. And there it was. Lifting his eyes, he grinned. "You sure you don't want to know?"

She moved to perch on the arm of his chair, one arm wrapped in absent affection about his shoulders as he looked over the scan. "I'm not sure anymore," she admitted with a smile of her own. "Not only because it's going to be really hard for you not to let it slip, because you're such a dreadful liar," she dropped a soft kiss on his forehead, "but I guess it's because I'm getting a little tired of calling the baby 'it' all the time. It's starting to feel like I'm going to give birth to one of those hairy creatures from the Addams' family."

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:31 EST
He leaned against her a bit, elbow nudging her bump, when she sat down. He perused the photos carefully, with a trained eyes. "What the hell?" He frowned a bit, pushed the pictures away, then brought them up to his nose. Reaching into his desk drawer, he grabbed a magnifying glass and took a closer look.

"What' What is it?" AJ leaned over him, peering through the magnifying glass too, though she really did have no idea what she was looking at. "What's wrong?" Her hand dropped to lay against her little bump, worry suddenly clouding her hazel eyes as she looked from the scan to her husband. "Stas?"

His jaw dropped open and he placed the magnifying glass down. He then held the photos up and traced along a shadow. "Look, there. He's hiding behind his sister." He grinned, not realizing he just gave out two very big secrets that she may not want to know.

AJ's jaw dropped, her eyes widened, and she very quickly took a seat on the closest thing to hand - Stas' lap. Hand trembling, she lifted the scan to her eyes, peering into the indistinct black and white picture. "She ....she said there was only one," she stammered, glancing at him with slightly panicked eyes.

"Were you crying, Amelia?" He curled his arms around her and took the photos. They were layed upon his desk. "During the ultrasound, were you crying?" He canted his head to look into her eyes. "Be honest with me."

"Crying" Uh ..." Way to go, Stas - for possibly the first time in her life, AJ was utterly speechless, her gaze flicking back and forth between the scan pictures and her husband in disbelief. "Uh ....yeah ....but ....two ...?"

"Mandy's good at what she does, but when there's emotions running high, she gets caught up in it. I can guarantee that she was sniffling into a Kleenex after you left." He chuckled softly and held her close. "yes, I see two. But we'll do another scan before too long to make sure." He gave her a kiss to the cheek.

"But ....twins ....Stas, I can't be having twins!" The slight panic in her eyes had become quite wild by this point, and she held on tightly to his shoulders, staring into his eyes. "I can't even look after myself properly, I might have been able to manage one baby, but ....twins"!"

"Amelia..." he laughed and brought his hands up to cup her cheeks. "Do not worry so much. You're married to a doctor who delivers babies. If you'd like I can get you a volunteer shift at the clinic to work in the nursery. Will teach you everything you ever needed to know about babies."

"I'm going to look like a beached whale," was her next coherent sentence, delivered in an utterly horrified tone of voice as she stared into the middle distance. But it was quickly followed by the slow realisation of something else Stas had said. Hazel eyes lifted to his searchingly. "He is hiding behind his sister?"

"You are not." he shook his head and laughed. Holding her, he rubbed her back reassuringly. He gave soft kisses to her temple. "Um, generically speaking, of course. Hard to tell with those shadows." He smiled plainly then.

She stared into his eyes, and a very slow smile lit up her face. "But you don't say anything unless you're sure," she murmured, her smile growing. Her hand fell to her bump again, and this time she stroked it affectionately. "A boy and a girl? The guys at the clinic and the studio are going to love that ....two kids to spoil rotten!"

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:32 EST
The fact that she didn't out and out call him a liar had him smiling. The second fact that she was warming up to the idea had him smiling even more broadly. "Then we can get you a tubal and we'll be all set." He joked, of course. If she'd allow it, he'd keep her pregnant as often as he could. "Your parents are going to have a heart attack."

"You are not binding up my bits, Stas Patrick Ryan," she informed him primly, then burst out laughing, hugging him tight. "My parents, what about yours" Your mother'll throw a fit when she finds out about this!" She was practically bouncing on his lap, echoing the excited flutter in her belly that she knew he couldn't feel. Not yet, anyway. "When can we get another scan, to be sure?"

"Binding your bits?" He laughed at that and shook his head. "No, mom won't freak. She told me she dreamed you were having twins." He nodded again. "And we can go whenever you like. Up to you, Amelia."

"Now?" She was up and off his lap in a flash. She wanted to know now, this minute, an hour ago. Yes, she was a little excitable, but come on ....she could be carrying twins, how exciting was that' Her hand curled into his, pulling him up and out of the chair. "Wait - your mom predicted this?"

"If you..." And she was off! He got up and started to move to his closet where he kept his spare set of scrubs. "Yes, she did." He nodded and pulled the mauve pants into place.

"You're going to smuggle me in and do the scan yourself?" she laughed softly. Her hands were still on her bump, stroking at the side where she could feel the baby - possibly babies - making its presence felt.

"Yes I am." he grinned and finished getting dressed, that quick. It was something he was used to when he was on call. "Come on." he grabbed her arm and began tugging her out of the house and down the porch. He, too, was eager. He wanted to see everything for himself. And if what he saw on the pictures were true, he'd give the technician a dressing down for it.

She barely remembered to grab her bag as he tugged her through the house, almost running along beside him with a little laugh for the excitement they were both feeling from one another and feeding off. "What if someone catches us?" she asked, slightly out of breath as she scurried along just behind him.

"Do you honestly think anybody's going to say a word" I'm the obstetrician on call most of the time." He laughed, hurrying them along. "And they all know I missed the scan this morning. They'll be expecting us."

Sure enough, not a one of the staff on duty so much as batted an eyelid when Doctor Ryan led his giggling wife into the clinic and up to the pre-natal unit. AJ knew the way well enough; she came here almost too often for her liking, but she let Stas lead the way, blushing at the knowing grins that came their way from the nurses at work.

And, sure enough, the ultrasound room was ready and waiting for them. They knew it was just a matter of time before the giggling and loving couple would be gracing their doorways once more. As he prepped the machine, he tossed a gown over to her. "You know the drill by now." Chuckling, he placed the gel into the warming tube.

AJ Ryan

Date: 2009-08-09 03:34 EST
"Yeah, yeah, yeah ..." AJ was already shedding her bag and t-shirt, kicking the door shut before she removed anything else. Gowned and covered up, she hopped up onto the bed, bracing herself. No matter how long the gel was warmed for, it still felt cold to her.

Once the door was closed, he dimmed the lights. The monitors were placed at the crest of her belly to gain the rapid rhythm of the heartbeat. And Stas heard an echo. He smiled and lifted the gown. Placing latex gloves on his hand, he squirted the gel onto one palm and rubbed his hands together. It was a trick he'd learned in med school to keep women from jumping off of the table from the icey coldness of the gel. Then he slathered it onto her belly. "Aww, look. It's shiney."

"You're real funny, Doctor Snazz," was AJ's flatly amused response. "Shiney, slimy, sticky ....it's goo, and it's disgusting," she insisted with a grin. Her head cocked curiously. "Did I really just hear an echo, or am I too excited to be objective about this?"

He laughed softly and nodded. "Yes, thoroughly disgusting, but fun to play with." He swirled his fingers around her belly for good measure before taking off the gloves and picking up the wand. "I think I heard it, too. Now shh...and keep your eye on the monitor." His own eyes turned that way and he clicked the button to start recording as the wand was placed on her belly.

There was no need to tell her twice ....probably no need to tell her once. AJ's eyes had been turned towards the monitor from the moment Stas pulled his gloves off. Her lip was caught in her teeth as the scattered image appeared on the screen, and she smiled all over again on seeing her child - children - whatever - doing whatever it was they did to pass the time in there.

Stas stopped the wand and clicked a button with his thumb. Canting his head, he continued to look around with the wand. It glided smoothly over her skin. Another click here, another click there. One picture had him stopping and moving to the small console. He typed in something in rather small letters and made a box around the baby's heart. Then he moved back and continued his search for the hidden twin.

"Kicking," AJ whispered to him, watching the screen in fascination as the wand moved around over her belly. She didn't pretend to understand how he knew what he was looking for, but she trusted him to find it, whatever it was.

"I see that." he smiled warmly and continued his search. "Aha!" he moved the wand almost to her side. "There it is, do you see it?" He stopped the picture and moved to the console to point out what he saw. "Two heads, two hands." He grinned broadly. "Twins, Amelia!"

"Oh my sweet ever-loving aunts ..." She stared. Yes, there they were ....two hands, two right hands, waving at them from the screen, and she could clearly make out the profile of two noses, as well. "And did you get it right, is it a boy and a girl?" she asked, still in that whisper, as though raising her voice would somehow make this startling little miracle not be true.

"Do you want to see?" He moved the wand down further, as the babie's heads were still up near her diaphragm. Slowly He moved the wand to the first pair of legs. "There you are, hung just like his daddy." He grinned, and made a box around the genitals, typing in the word "boy" And then he moved to the other. "Dainty as her mommy." he grinned and did the same for his daughter. When he was finished, he smiled and lay the wand down. "There you have it." He chuckled, then leaned down to give her a tender kiss. "I love you, so much, Amelia Ryan."

"My mother is going to kill you, Stas Ryan," she answered in an identical tone of voice, before creasing up with laughter. Her eyes strayed back to the image on the screen, to their babies, and she sighed happily. "Oh god, let me wash this damn stuff off before I congeal ..." She slid off the bed and over to the sink, grabbing a paper towel to wipe the worst of the gel off before applying a generous amount of soap and water to finish the job. "Are you, you know, absolutely sure?" she asked as she got herself dressed again. "There's just two in there, they're not multiplying at a terrifying rate?"

He laughed at her tone and helped her from the table. The instruments were cleaned off and he retrieved the video tape from the machine. Then it was all wheeled into it's own little closet. "I am positive, Amelia. And you saw it, with me." He turned to push a button so the still frames that he took were printed from the console on the counter. He turned to give her an incredulous look. "You have to be the silliest woman I've ever met."

"What?" Butter would not have melted in her mouth as she looked at him innocently, pulling her t-shirt back down again. "I don't know anything about what goes on in there, all I know is that they have a bad habit of holding parties at 2 in the morning." She threw the gown into the linen bag and picked up her own bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "So how long do you think you'll be able to keep this quiet from them out there?" She jerked her thumb towards the door with a grin.

He chuckled softly and waited for her to finish getting dressed. "Two am, huh' Well I guess I know what I'm in for once they're born." He put his hand in the small of her back and pulled the door open. "Not..." he was cut off by a sea of smiling and laughing faces. En masse, and in perfect synchronization, they yelled out. "Congratulations!" Stas laughed at the staff that he'd worked with and became close to, his face flushing. "Long..." He grinned and waited for the Red Sea to part before leading her from the room.

"Geez, you guys really don't do the confidentiality thing with me, do you?" AJ laughed at the gathered staff waiting for them, waving off the congratulations and greetings in favour of getting out of the confines of the clinic as quickly as possible. "What's the betting Maranya knows already?" she laughed, wrapping her arm about his waist as they walked.

"No, nosey creatures that they are." He chuckled and led her from the clinic. The photos and video were stashed into his smock's oversized pocket. "And I'd say it's about ten to one, with the odds growing higher every moment." Chuckling, he put his arm around her, rubbing the small of her back as he led her out of the clinic, both of them grinning like complete goofs. Looked like their little family was going to be a little bigger than expected.

((A collaboration between AJ and Stas Ryan.))