"We have a boy and a girl," Molly said cheerfully as we made our way back to our Transit to return to Columbia Falls.
We had finished up our appointment with Doctor Wainwright and were headed out with a fair amount of joy at what we had learned in the appointment. Namely, the genders of the twin cubs growing in Molly's womb. One boy and one girl. Doctor Wainwright had also assured us that his office would contact the group that would be doing the Lamaze classes to schedule us in. We expected someone from his office to call us to let us know when we were scheduled to go in. I wasn't quite sure how some of that would work, as our cubs would probably be smaller then what they could be if Molly's pregnancy was a full nine months. It was even possible that they would be smaller then human babies because of the fact that they would be premature by human standards.
But Doctor Wainwright had explained that the idea behind Lamaze classes was quite helpful. There was some debate as to whether or not the system truly worked in the manner intended or if the positive affects of it were created by some sort of "placebo" effect, but Doctor Wainwright still though they were a good idea. After all, if a system or "medicine" worked, who cared if it was a placebo or not? Molly and I agreed with him on that. That wasn't however what we were thinking over at the moment.
"Yes," I nodded, "a boy and a girl."
"So what do you think we should do now?" Molly asked after a few moments.
"I would think that now we should begin to seriously consider what we will name them," I commented, "as now that we know their genders, we won't be guessing."
"I wasn't quite referring to that," Molly answered, "What about your parents? And Uncle Frank and Nessie and Meredeth? Joseph? Ms. Fitzpatrick? What do we tell them? Or do we leave it as a surprise?"
"I suppose that would be up to you," I commented, "what do you want to do?"
"I want to tell the world!" Molly said with a smile, "tell them how happy I am to have a boy and a girl inside me... growing... getting bigger every day... getting ready to be born."
"Then do that," I shrugged, "I'm sure everyone will be excited to hear about it."
"There's other things that we need!" Molly added, "blankets, diapers, baby wipes... do you think they've come up with something that will work well with fur?"
"I don't know, really," I sighed, "maybe... though in the case of diapers, we may need to use a cloth diaper and pins..."
"And risk poking them?" Molly gasped.
"The alternative would be to rip their fur out when the adhesives on the disposable diapers are removed," I pointed out.
Molly cringed at that.
"We may have to shave that area daily until they're potty trained," Molly said after a moment, "I don't know if they make cloth diapers anymore... and from what I remember of conversations with my parents about what I was like as a baby... they used disposable diapers... and of course, that was all before Changes' goons grabbed me..."
I sighed and nodded. Some of that made me chuckle a little bit, as our cubs would grow up in a largely human society which meant that most of their friends growing up would lack the fur that our cubs would be born with. The joke would then be when they got older. As their friends grew up and would begin to have to shave, either their face or their legs depending on their gender, our cubs would have all the ammunition in the sense of shaving earlier then those they grew up with. On the other side though, tigers were supposed to be furry and thus that might backfire on them. That did not however stop me from thinking of the joke. Even if it made no sense.
"We'll probably need a crib too," I commented after a moment, returning to more serious matters.
"I was thinking they could sleep with us," Molly answered, "place them near my chest and between us... that way if they get hungry in the night, they're already where they need to be. And we'd keep them warm too."
"Until one of us rolls over and crushes them in the night," I sighed, "we can put their crib near our bed But having them sleep with us... particularly while they're infants will be dangerous for them."
"We wouldn't crush them," Molly answered.
"Maybe... but I don't want to take that chance," I told her.
Molly sighed at that.
"So, when do you want to start stocking up on these things?" I asked after a moment, "we can even do some of that now while we're in Kalispell. Or do you know if your coworkers or Meredeth and Nessie are going to throw you a baby shower?"
"If they are, I don't know," Molly answered, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get started."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Molly and I did buy a few things to help us prepare for the arrival of our cubs, now only two months away. We both knew it would mean that our schedules would have to change a bit as things developed and Molly neared her due date. Starting sometime this month there would be Lamaze classes, likely in the evening, and next month, our appointments with Doctor Wainwright would be once a week rather then once a month because of how close Molly's due date was expected to be and because of the potential risks involved. Much of that we knew from earlier appointments and what we knew of Jacki's pregnancy, but we could also expect that much from the ultrasound images taken in this last appointment.
Molly was able to feel our cubs move inside her, and to a certain extent, that movement seemed to make her feel content and happy. That I expected came from the hopes to become a mother that she began to have while helping educate the children of Columbia Falls when we'd first moved there. And now she was an expecting mother. It was what Molly wanted, and to a certain extent, it was also what I wanted. But the ultrasound that had been taken confirmed to us and to Doctor Wainwright that the assumption that Molly's pregnancy would only be six months long. Both twin cubs were beginning to rotate in Molly's womb so that their heads were pointed down and to prepare for being born. Something that didn't occur in humans until their third trimester.
To some extent, it left Molly and I a little worried. Given that since the growth of our cubs had matched the growth of human infants in terms of the rate of growth, the fact that they would be born after a pregnancy of six months would mean that they would be three months premature, by human standards. To some extent we expected our cubs be born blind the way mundane tiger cubs were born, and that their last stages of development would occur outside of Molly, but the knowledge that they would be born premature still made us worry a bit. Especially as Molly's due date came closer. Mr. Patten's cousin, Clemens, had told us that despite being born "premature" our cubs would be strong and would do well, provided of course that they had a good doctor, and Doctor Wainwright was a good doctor and had been friendly. But to a certain extent, we were filled with a mixture of worry and excitement.
Though for the moment, the part that was excited was in more control then the part that was worried. We had bought a relatively large and sturdy wooden crib at Kalispell's Walmart and I had set to putting it together. It was in the evening after Molly's talk Mr. Patten. We had been busy with various things when we'd returned to Bandhavgarh from her fourth obstetrician appointment. Some of it was cleaning related and letting Molly's Uncle and Cousins know, as well as telling Dave and Tabby about the gender of our cubs. I assumed she'd also told Mr. Patten and Ms. Fitzpatrick about the gender of our cubs in the course of the day. And now as I was putting the crib together one late evening after dinner Molly had gotten to calling my mother.
She'd been looking up some baby names online to go along with the list of names that various students had given her and Mugdha's suggestion of the name of a mundane tigress, Machli. I don't think there was a firm decision yet, as some of our work and other things had kept us from fully discussing the names for our children. I tended to think Molly was leaning toward Machli being our daughter's name, but a firm decision hadn't been made yet. There was still some concerns about Grabar and Larceny's trial, but for the moment, that wasn't on my mind. At that moment I was focusing on how to put the crib together. The instructions were fairly easy to read, but many of the parts were small enough that my big fingers had a little difficulty in holding the parts together easily.
The crib was advertised as being sturdy and capable of holding a fair amount of weight, which was what Molly and I were looking for. Even if our cubs were smaller then human babies when they were born, probably from the likelihood of them being born premature, we knew that they would grow to be much bigger then human babies and children. That knowledge came from Molly's and my normal weights. There were few humans out there that were over three hundred pounds and none that were over five hundred that I knew of. And the humans that were in that weight range were largely overweight and obese and at risk for various forms of Heart Disease and Type Two Diabetes. Molly's normal weight was three hundred ninety pounds, mostly muscle and bone, and I was at five hundred fifty five pounds, mostly muscle and bone. Given our sizes, our cubs would eventually grow to be that big too.
While I wrestled with putting the crib together, Molly began to place the call to my mother, Polly Wayne, in Peoria.
"Hello, Polly Wayne speaking," I heard my mother answer after Molly had finished dialing.
"Hey, mom, it's Molly here," Molly answered, "I'm just calling to give you a bit of news that I thought you might like to hear."
"Oh... Molly, dear it's wonderful to hear from you!" my mother answered, "How are you? Healthy I hope."
"I'm doing well," Molly answered, "feeling rather energetic... so I suppose that will be necessary when it comes time to push."
"Are you showing yet, dear?" Polly Wayne asked, "Looking radiant?"
"I am showing a little... and George seems to think I look radiant," Molly answered.
"She glows with expectant motherhood," I said from where I was putting the crib together on the floor.
"Oh that's wonderful dear," my mother answered after Molly repeated what I'd said to her, "Jacob has arranged to get a week or so off, so we'll be up to your cabin shortly before your expected due date and will probably be there for a while after."
"That'll be good to hear," Molly answered, "Maybe you can meet some of the people George and I work with and are friends with while you're here."
"I'm sure we will," Polly Wayne answered, "the big thing for us though is getting George's father away from his paperwork. That will be the real break."
"I'm sure..." Molly half snickered.
"And I'm very excited about seeing grandchildren," Polly Wayne then continued, "I'm sure you and George will have the cutest cubs in the country!"
"I'm sure," Molly nodded, "they will be just too cute..."
"Side effects will include: impaired mobility," I snickered aloud, "blurred vision, bouts of hyper-activity, and sudden drowsiness. But it'll totally be worth it to be this cute."
Molly gave a half laugh at that.
"And anyway, I'm dragging things on aren't I?" Polly Wayne wondered as she listened to Molly and I laugh through the phone, "I'm sure you're calling for a specific reason?"
"Yes, I had my latest obstetrician appointment recently," Molly explained, "and we now know the gender of our cubs."
That got my mother excited all over again.
"Oh you do?" Polly Wayne gasped, "what are they? Boy/boy? Girl/girl? Girl/boy? Can I ask? Have you thought about their names yet?"
"One boy and one girl," Molly answered, "and already moving to get ready to be born."
"Oh congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" Polly Wayne answered, "have you thought of any names yet?"
"Well, were actually thinking of naming our daughter after Machli... a tiger from Rathambhore in India," Molly explained, "it sounds new and different... and from what George and I have found online, the tiger was tough and brave! Lost three teeth in fights with crocodiles and killed three crocodiles to protect her cubs! Who knows... maybe there is some strength in the name and our daughter will live for a long time and will be healthy in her life."
"What does Machli mean?" Polly Wayne asked.
"From what we've been told, the name means "fish" in Hindi," Molly explained, "because of the stripe markings above her eyes."
"And what of the boy's name?" Polly Wayne asked.
"That we haven't really thought over," Molly admitted, "I've been getting a lot of lists of names to consider and have been trying to sort through them."
"I was thinking about Michael," I commented, "after Mr. York."
That made Molly turn her head to me and then blink in surprise.
"Michael?" Molly wondered.
"If we're to be naming our daughter after a mundane tigress who exhibited great bravery," I commented, "why not name our son after the man who gave us our first real break here in Columbia Falls."
"Michael Wayne..." Molly mused, forgetting that she was still on the phone with my mother.
"That sounds like a good name," Polly Wayne told her, "and you'd then have the M&M cubs! Machli and Michael."
"Machli and Michael," Molly said slowly, "that's perfect! Machli and Michael they will be! Thanks, George that was a great idea!"
I only shrugged and continued working on putting the crib together.
"Of course now you have to come up with middle names," Polly Wayne spoke up.
"ARRRRRRROOOOOO!" Molly gave a groan as that would mean more thought and preparation that we hadn't gotten time for yet.
"Don't worry, this is your fifth month, right?" Polly Wayne answered.
"Yes," Molly said with a sigh.
"Then don't worry, I'm sure you and George will come up with fine middle names for your twins... Machli and Michael," Polly Wayne replied, "You still have plenty of time."
"Thanks, mom," Molly replied.
"You're welcome," Polly Wayne replied, "and again, Jacob and I looking forward to being there when your cubs are born."
"And we'll be looking forward to seeing you too," Molly replied.
There was a little bit of small talk between them, but for the most part, that was where her call to my mother ended. From there Molly turned to where I was working to put the crib together.
"Do you need any help, George?" she asked me.
"I don't need it, but I wouldn't mind getting the help," I told her, "I have an extra screwdriver in the desk over there."
Soon, Molly had retrieved the screwdriver and we were working together to put the crib together. And things looked fairly good. We had an idea for at least our cubs' first names, and we'd have some more searches to do to pick out middle names, but we still had plenty of time before we'd need to be certain on what their full names would be.