Jake's transformation was handled quite well, and Annie and Ralph were happy that he seemed happy and healthy. Annie especially so, as she would never be able to live with herself if she'd had to watch her newborn son go through life with MS. She wanted to scoop him up in her arms and hold him, particularly as he seemed to give off calls that sounded sort of like a cross between the sounds of a goose and a crocodile. However, that wasn't allowed at first as Horizon went through the procedures to make sure that Jake was vaccinated and wasn't infectious. Now, to Annie, this was a bit silly as she intended to become a Maiasaura as well, but she also had followed enough of the news to know that Horizon was just following the rules.
One of Horizon's aides handled the injection of the Animalia vaccine, which Jake did give honking protests to. He also managed to kick at her and slap at her with his tail while she held him down to do the injection. As a Maine Coon Cat Animalian, however, she was not at risk. As she finished, she patted Jake softly and turned to Doctor Stein and the Johnsons.
"There you go, he's vaccinated and everything should be fine," she said with a small smile, "And neither was he hurt..."
"He was probably more startled with all of this," Annie spoke, "Jake's just a baby... And many infants usually don't do very well with regard to needles and so forth... They're too young to know or understand that fully, so if they don't instinctively do well... they don't do well. Hopefully though, Jake won't have to worry about that until he's older."
"You work in medicine?" the Maine Coon Animalian asked.
"I was... am a pediatric nurse at Dover General Hospital in Delaware," Annie answered proudly, "though... if I become a Maiasaura... I suppose that may have to change."
"By law, it shouldn't," Doctor Stein commented, "though right now with most Animalians in America centered here in Lyre and Animalia itself... most parts of the country don't have the necessary infrastructure for utensils, furniture, and so on... You could go back to Delaware after your conversion, but YOU may still have to heavily adapt to systems not yet equipped to handle Animalians that were uplifted modern animals... let alone Dinotopians."
"Do you have a hospital here?" Annie wondered, "There may some nursing exam for the state... but I'm sure I can pass it."
"We have Horizon Light," Doctor Stein smiled, "It was originally the Lyre Clinic and would handle a lot of basic check ups and so on... though major surgical needs would be sent off elsewhere... But with Animalia and some of their more unique medical needs, Horizon worked with the hospital and put together a major expansion and renovation and they took our company name as part of it... Horizon Light. And they are fairly new... I think they actually are still filling out their staff and rotations."
By now, Annie was smiling heavily, as she came forward and scooped up Jake in her arms and cradled him. Though, she soon found that he favored a position in which his legs were under him rather than being on his back, but he gave a few sniffs and then nuzzled his head against Annie's shirt.
"Then that may be a place to start," Annie commented, "Though... Ralph and I will need to become Maiasaura first."
To that, Doctor Stein nodded and then motioned for them to follow him. Jake's transformation had been handled in a smaller and more medically designed room, mostly for the fact that with most transformations and conversions that Horizon had handled had been with adults and with teenagers with parental permission. The cases where those transformed were younger had been more due to some of the accidents that occurred when the Animalia Virus first spread through Lyre. Thankfully they'd managed to contain it to Lyre, as no other towns in Nevada, California, or Oregon had reported Animalia Virus outbreaks. Jake was the first case in which they'd deliberately transformed an infant, though given Jake having MS and the obvious desire on Annie's part to save her son, it worked under the rules regarding Project Phoenix, and Jake did seam healthy and happy. To Doctor Stein, that was a success.
They then moved toward where the main conversion rooms for Horizon were with Doctor Stein carrying two pairs of the Maiasaura strain of the Animalia Virus and two doses of the vaccine. The Maine Coon Animalian returned to her regular tasks as it was expected that Ralph and Annie could sit still for a shot after their conversion.
"So, how will you want to do this?" Doctor Stein asked, "Many couples like to be converted together... and if they're young and are married, as you are... there is a preference to double dose their partner before being vaccinated."
Doctor Stein then however looked down to Jake who was nuzzled against Annie at the moment before he continued. Annie and Ralph both noticed the Horizon Scientist's attention to their infant.
"However, in every case we've had so far with "parents" becoming Animalians," Doctor Stein spoke, "is that the children are at least old enough to be able to sit and wait in a waiting room for their parents to transform and... enjoy themselves. In some cases the "children" were even adults by the time their parents converted... as was the case with the in-laws for Animalia's Deputy Mayor."
Annie looked down to Jake, who remained nuzzled against her. For the moment he was calm and she could see and even sense that her son trusted her and Ralph, but from what she'd seen that he was far less trusting of the Horizon staff. While Doctor Stein was quite kind, Jake did seem to shrink back from him and he'd been more combative the assistant who vaccinated him as he clearly didn't want another shot. In this, Annie knew that she and Ralph couldn't transform together and leave Jake alone.
"It may be best that we go one at a time," Annie spoke as she glanced to Ralph who nodded in agreement, "You can give him his doses and then we'll trade when it is my turn. Will that work?"
Doctor Stein nodded and opened the door to lead Ralph into the room. Ralph looked back to her and she gave him a small smile. Annie knew that Ralph was far more hesitant with the idea on becoming an Animalian, as in theory they didn't NEED to have more children and thus the fact that they were at least carriers for MS wasn't that much of an issue assuming they used birth control. And as adults, if MS set in with them, it would not be as dangerous to them as it was for Jake as an infant. However, Annie knew that Ralph loved her very much and knew that since Jake WAS an infant it would likely mean that he would need nutrients that were pretty specific for the type of Dinotopian he'd become.
It was something that Annie had seen on the news over the past year as Horizon and Animalia published their findings on Animalians and how they functioned. On a certain level, it was fascinating in that it was essentially a discussion on what could be called "rushed" evolution to a level that was similar to humans. The most notable thing was that animals that weren't known for having breasts or producing milk, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians all gained them after being uplifted and human women who became non mammalian Animalians didn't lose their breasts. And with Animalia now more than a year old and with the first batches of children who were BORN as Animalians, it was being reported that baby Animalians, be they mammal or not, were nursing and gaining nutrients from it. In that, Annie figured it meant that many of the things that went in with Horizon's initial experiments, which had all been with mammals, was carrying many of those traits over to non-mammals when they were uplifted.
And as Annie looked down to Jake, she knew that he would need nutrients from her, which would require her to become a Maiasaura Animalian. And soon, she would be one, but that would have to be after Ralph went through his transformation. She looked up as she heard the door open and saw Doctor Stein come back out into the hallway.
"Is he done?" Annie asked.
"He's only just starting to transform," Doctor Stein said slowly, "with transformation types that we're confident will have no worries for, we generally don't monitor the transformation all that closely. And since we already have a Hadrosaur Dinotopian, your family's conversion doesn't fall into the category of needing monitoring. The only one that might have needed that was Jake's, but then that's also because he's the first infant that's been deliberately converted."
"A Hadrosaur?!" Annie asked, "But we're becoming Maiasauras, not Hadrosaurus."
"Yes, but remember, by scientific terminology, the duck-billed dinosaurs are referred to generally as Hadrosaurs," Doctor Stein commented, "I think it was because Hadrosaurus was the first dinosaur of that type that was found... but I'm not sure. Your species, Maiasaura is thought to be more closely related to Hadrosaurus than the other Hadrosaur that Animalia has right now. She is a Parasaurolophus."
"I see," Annie shrugged and then bounced Jake a little bit in her arms. He gave a small honk and continued to nuzzle her.
After a few moments the door eventually opened again, and this time it was Ralph emerging. Annie turned and almost found herself drooling at the sight of her husband. While it was true he wasn't human and had inhuman features, like a long stiff tail and moderately long rectangular muzzle that ended in a rather duck-like plate at the front of his mouth, he still had many human features as well, and they were all greatly enlarged. Ralph had always been very fit from doing a lot of the construction work in Delaware, usually with various companies as they needed labor, but the human Ralph had nothing on the Maiasaura Ralph had become.
In terms of height he was slightly shorter than Jeremy, though that was also taking Jeremy's horns into account. Doctor Stein actually thought that Ralph might be about the same height as Jeremy was now if one wasn't counting Jeremy's Carnotaurus horns as well. Annie also looked to see powerful and near perfectly sculpted pectoral and abdominal muscles. His biceps and triceps, his quads and his lats were all bigger and fit on him perfectly. Annie also felt herself growing rather curious at a noticeable slit between his legs.
"Everything seems to be internal," Ralph said to her, noticing where Annie's eyes were looking, "sorta like with birds, amphibians, and reptiles... It's really only mammals and some fish... like sharks... that let it all hang out."
That made Annie blush and she turned away to try and hide, though she couldn't completely as a series of happy and short honks from Jake kept her turned to her husband. Ralph chuckled and approached and gently reached for Jake. Annie smiled back and handed her son to her husband.
"Well... it seems you like my new form too," Ralph commented as he held Jake up, who happily gave another honk which Ralph gave a slow return call, "Grrrunnnnnaaaaaahhh!"
It was of a lower tone Jake's and like Jake's call sort of sounded like a cross between the call of a goose and the grumbling bellow of a crocodile or alligator. It did, however please Jake who happily returned it and soon nuzzled against Ralph. Ralph smiled and then looked to Doctor Stein.
"He will need a new diaper though..." Ralph commented, "we've made sure he went BEFORE we came here to Horizon... but even with all he's been through... he's still been pretty regular. And I'm probably going to need some new clothes too... as will Annie."
"I can make some calls to handle that, and a changing room for initial clothing isn't too far away," Doctor Stein said with a nod...
"But... first... it's my turn to join the family," Annie commented.
Doctor Stein again nodded. And again, he opened the door, this time leading Annie into the room. She noted it was more like a hotel room, but that was probably in relation the things that had been mentioned while discussing how Ralph and Annie's transformation would be handled. Couples would want some private time together. As she looked around she noted Ralph's clothes neatly folded on the bed with his shoes on the floor next to it. She walked over and began to strip down, though only to her underwear.
"This will due until after you've given me the shots," Annie said to him and offered Doctor Stein her arm.
Doctor Stein nodded and prepped her arm and then injected Annie with the syringes to begin her transformation. As he finished the second injection, Doctor Stein backed up and said, "Welcome to Animalia."
Annie nodded, though she was starting to feel rather warm. She then looked down as Doctor Stein went out. She could see her skin turning more scaly and turning to a sage brown color, just as Jake's and Ralph's scales largely were. Her fingernails were lengthening into blunt claws and further down her body was also taking on that sage brown color, along with the mottling of darker brown stripes. It was striking as many old books often depicted dinosaurs as being brightly colored with all sorts of random patterns, particularly with the largest dinosaur species that would have a hard time hiding anywhere. But from what Annie had found in her research into Maiasaura she'd also found a couple of articles on the research into the more recent soft tissue fossils that had been found that would indicate more "natural" colors to help blend in, which would make black, brown, gray, and to some extent even some shade of green would be the most common. And in her and her family's case, that was a light sage brown coloration with mottled dark brown stripes.
As her skin colors changed, she soon felt some discomfort in her feet and at the end of her spine. Her toes were merging, to allow her to stand with three toes and her feet were lengthening lightly. As she took a few tentative steps to look toward a mirror that was on the far wall, Annie had the sensation that her body was rising into the air. She was still on the floor, but it felt like the floor was getting farther from her. As her heals raised off the ground, she knew she was getting taller. That was confirmed as she reached the mirror, as the mirror was at least six feet up the wall, and already, Annie was standing above it.
"Here comes the new me," Annie smiled, "a new form to be a mom for Jake..."
Her form was clearly taller, but she could also see her muscles swelling larger and more powerful. They weren't to a point where she was losing her femininity, which was soon made clear as her breasts began to swell in her bra and her hips began to widen to match her enlarging bosom. She gave a short cringe as she could feel her underwear grow tight on her. They weren't going to last long as she felt it grow tight on her hips and chest. It was starting to pinch a bit, and in that, she quickly began to pull down her underwear and then wrestling to undo the hooks on her bra.
"And a great lover for Ralph," Annie said happily as she managed to slide out of her underwear, just in time for her breasts swelled past the size that her bra could have contained as she could see herself growing taller, larger, and more saurian.
And in fact the front of her lips were beginning to flatten and widen as some of the discomfort from before moved to her head. With a series of cracking sounds, her lips and mouth began to push forward into the rectangular muzzle that Maiasaura had. As her front teeth merged into the plate at the front of her mouth, giving her muzzle its duck-like shape, Annie felt a slight bit of pain as her skull took on its new shape and as her fair feel out. As she looked down at this, she noticed seeing Ralph's hair laying on the floor in roughly the same place. She chuckled a bit at the fact that as her hair fell out it joined her husband's hair as well.
Then as she bent down to pick up the underwear that she'd managed to get off and had left on the floor, her transformation finished as a long and stiff tail grew out behind her. She gave it a few tentative wags, and found that it could bend, but it wasn't quite like many children's books on dinosaurs which often depicted all of them having very flexible serpentine tails. She smiled and took her underwear back to the bed and placed them with the rest of her clothes. She then went to approach the door.
It creaked slightly as she opened it, but she did enough to stick her head out. She found Doctor Stein waiting with a now fully dressed Ralph and Jake with him. They turned to her and Annie could soon hear happy honks from Jake as she stuck her head out. As they turned, Annie could also see that Doctor Stein also had a set of larger pants and shirt hanging over his arm, which she guessed would be new clothes for her.
"Heh... okay... I'm, uh, ready for my vaccination, now," Annie said slowly.
"We'll be right in," Doctor Stein spoke and came forward with Ralph following. As he entered he lay the clothing hanging over his arm on the end of the bed. "I've taken the liberty of bringing in some clothing that will probably fit you."
"You have things my size already?" Annie said with some surprise as Ralph came in with Jake, who was now calling for his mother.
"As we figured out we could create Dinotopians, we've had some work and practice with various clothing designers that have set up shop in Lyre," Doctor Stein commented, "especially since there are some dinosaurs that would require a fair amount of alterations to clothing that would be needed. Our two Stegosaurs need clothing that can fit around their back plates and the two Ceratopsians would need to be able to fit clothing around their frills. For the rest it's a size issue. And since you and your husband are from a species of dinosaur that is close in size to our present Parasaurolophus Animalian, her name is Candace... so clothing that was ordered made to fit an Animalian of that size was already available."
"Interesting," Annie commented, "Maybe once we get a place... and go through the chaos of moving here... this Candace might be nice to meet... but first the vaccination..." and then Annie turned to Jake who was reaching for her from Ralph's arms, "and then I'll have lots of mommysaurus milk for you."
Jake gave a short honk while Doctor Stein handled the injection and then made his way out. He assured them that their affairs were handled and they could make their way out. As the doctor left, Ralph handed Jake back to Annie, and her infant son quickly latched onto her breast at a set of scales that looked and functioned like a nipple and Annie could soon feel milk being drawn out. That made her smile more, as she could now nurse her son and give him the nutrients he'd need, and with her now being vaccinated, her son would remain the age that he was at. They would now get a shot a new start in life as a Dinotopian family, with Jake as the baby, and Ralph and Annie as Mommy and Daddysaurus.