The rest of Molly's fifth month of pregnancy went rather quietly. Molly's womb continued to grow with each passing week, becoming more and more gravid as the week's passed. The sight of that pleased both Molly and I as we were both eager for the day when our cubs would be born, even if there were some details that scared us a little. The possibility of being called to Washington State still loomed over both of us, but so far, that hadn't happened yet. And with my parents coming out from Peoria and Mr. Patten acting as a "stand in", just in case, I was confident that if that happened, Molly would be in good hands... even if I would be at risk of getting her claws later.
The greatest single "plus" to the situation was the attention that Molly's pregnancy had attracted. Just about everyone in Columbia Falls knew that the children were excited to see that the "Tiger-Lady" was going to have babies. The term baby or kid or child wouldn't really apply for our cubs, as they were terms that were applicable to humans... and unlike Molly and myself, our children would not have a past as humans. They would be tigers from the moment they were born... or conceived, depending on where one decided "life" began. But even if the terms didn't apply, neither Molly nor I corrected anyone on it. Occasionally we even used those terms ourselves.
That probably was from the years that Molly and I had spent as humans. We were used to human terms and phrases. As a result, we accepted them when people used them, especially considering how much we had invested in trying to be accepted in Columbia Falls, accepting the use of human terms was considered to be the price of acceptance. Molly and I had come to accept that we weren't human and never would be human again, but that didn't mean we would insist on people using animal terminology. That would simply be too weird. And if that meant having people as Molly or I about our "kids", and how Molly was feeling, and about what sort of things we were doing to prepare for our "kids"... we were more then prepared to indulge them.
A lot of that interaction came at the Lamaze classes that Molly and I were attending as per Doctor Wainwright's orders. They were only once a week, but we were picking up a lot from the instructor, Jennifer Litt. And in fact, much of her teachings weren't always strict "do this and do that" to Molly. Some of it also included planning out what would be done when the day that Molly went into labor arrived and so forth. Some of that was a bit difficult as I still had my work, and while the schools weren't too far away from letting out for the summer, Molly would still have the Summer Sun Program to help with and still felt very energized.
"You two certainly are in a pickle," Jen Litt said as we finished explaining the situation to her, including the details of Grabar and Larceny's trial, "I've seen some things on the news about them... but for the most part they seem to have gone off the map that they've been caught."
Molly and I nodded.
"And you're certain neither of you can stop working?" Jen Litt inquired.
"My chief knows of Molly's pregnancy and would probably let me leave as soon as he or I find out Molly was in labor... but I doubt I'd be allowed to simply take a month or so off while waiting for Molly to go into labor," I sighed.
"What about you, Mrs. Wayne?" Jen Litt inquired, "surely your district would give you maternity leave..."
"I might have the option of that... but I'd need to recheck my benefits package to make sure," Molly said slowly, "even still... I can still keep going... and its a school with human sized things. Nothing in it would be heavy lifting... at least not heavy lifting for me."
Jen Litt didn't immediately answer.
"If it happens when I'm at school, one of my coworkers will surely call the hospital and hopefully will also call the police to get George," Molly spoke, "and since things that we've heard so far is that I will still be looking at around twenty hours of labor to go through, it isn't like we're counting seconds."
"And if you aren't at school?" Jen Litt then inquired.
"Either George or his parents will drive me to the hospital," Molly answered, "and if it's George's folks, they'll make sure he knows I'm going into labor. For the most part, I think we have all the contingencies covered. The pickle has more to do with which one and the tings related to Grabar and Larceny's trial."
"And if your husband is called away?"
"I've asked a friend of Molly's to fill in for me," I answered that question, "if that happens, and with my folks coming out, I'm sure that there would be plenty of knowledge present to make sure our cubs are born healthy."
"Hopefully, you're right," Jen Litt sighed, "I suppose there isn't all that much that truly can be done to make things easier... though that's probably true in every pregnancy. I would still urge you to do the best you can to simplify the process as much as possible. This needn't be something as complex as conquering the world. Giving birth is a relatively simple concept... the only complexity would be if a C-section were needed, and Mrs. Wayne, your hips are plenty wide enough to give birth naturally."
Molly looked down toward her sides for a moment.
"Don't worry, Molly," I told her, "they're nice hips."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As things moved forward toward Molly's due date, things at work remained largely quiet. So far the only "big" thing at work had been waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop when it came to Grabar and Larceny's trial. So far though, there was still no indication that anything had happened. In fact, very little in the way of an update from Agent Heer to our station had even come in yet on things related the non-cash things that Grabar and Larceny had stolen. To some extent, it seemed as though many of the victims had given up and had accepted that they'd never get their items of jewelry, antiques, or other things back. Grabar and Larceny had done the job of pawning them off where someone wouldn't suspect the goods as being stolen too well. But then, that conclusion had more to do with the fact that Officer Jenkins wasn't being swamped with requests for information on stolen goods.
Agent Heer could still be in the process recovering the goods that the two Black Rat thieves had stolen. And that in and of itself could be a tough thing. It was believed that the two Rat People had gone into Canada during the course of this latest crime wave, which to a certain extent was easy to do. The US/Canadian border was the longest single "undefended" boundary anywhere. This had been due to largely friendly US/Canadian relations, post War of 1812, and this might have allowed Grabar and Larceny sell what they'd stolen easily. In theory this would also allow Agent Heer to track down the stolen goods, as I didn't think relations between the US and Canada were too bad, but it would mean a different system of red tape to negotiate through when it came to cooperation between the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or local Canadian Police Units... and that went over my head.
"I'm sure they'll let us know if anything comes up," Officer Barnes commented as we made our way out for our morning patrol.
"Hopefully," I nodded, "though I'd wish they'd send us a schedule on this sort of thing... Molly and I have a lot riding on when this trial will be."
"Yeah, they're called twins," Officer Barnes laughed, "now... I know there isn't much time between me becoming a parent and you becoming a parent..."
"You've said you've helped Officer Jenkins out and done lots of things for Megan before you admitted that you liked her," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but a lot of that was simply being a good neighbor," Officer Barnes replied, "and being friendly with a neighbor when I had free time..."
"From the way Officer Jenkins has talked about things, they hovered on the fringes of dating several times," I quipped.
"And if she hadn't joined the Department, it might have moved to dating earlier," Officer Barnes answered, "she's smart... loves Megan to death, cares for her mother, understands police work... and isn't too hard on the eyes. Sure she may have made mistakes in the past, but don't we all?"
"And yet you wouldn't date her openly after she joined because you're always trying to remain professional," I reminded him.
"Anyway," Officer Barnes spoke, realizing that the conversation was getting away from the advice he was trying to give, "What I'm trying to say is that having kids is a very proud moment... I may not be Megan's biological father... but as far as I'm concerned, she IS my daughter. I used to be friendly to her because she was the child of a friend from work and a neighbor... but now... after all the developments in me and Officer Jenkins' relationship... it's far more then that."
"Parental pride and that," I commented.
"Yes," Officer Barnes nodded, "It's sorta grown on me... and it should be there for you and Molly too. Regardless of whether or not you're called to Washington State. Your kids will be there long after you get back. And you'll see them grow, look at you bright eyed after building a tree house or a swing or something and say... "Mr. B..." sorry... day dreaming for a moment."
"Mr. B?" I wondered.
"Megan's word for Barnes when she was two or three," Officer Barnes answered, "I'd actually helped Officer Jenkins put together some sort of porch swing for her mother. Megan saw me putting the stuff together and making small talk with her mother and called me Mr. B."
"Cute," I commented.
"It's still Barnes to you," Officer Barnes said to me after a moment.
"Of course," I shrugged as we rode along.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And of course toward the end of the month, Molly had her fifth obstetrician appointment. I went along of course. And to some extent the day brought about joy and excitement and some nervousness. True, Molly and I were making great progress with the Lamaze classes and Jen Litt had told us that we were progressing well with the lessons and that we should keep practicing. But the nervousness was there. Because Molly was due to give birth at the end of her sixth month, we would begin having the appointments weekly now to make sure that everything was good and nothing had deteriorated. And those risks and details had both Molly and I on edge a little bit as we went through the beginning processes of the appointment, including the weigh-in in the beginning.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," I said to Molly and nuzzled her softly, "we haven't had a bad appointment yet."
"No, but anything can happen," Molly said weakly, and sounding nervous.
I nuzzled her again.
"Everything will be fine," I told her, "Doctor Wainwright told us that all of this would be a precautionary measure."
Of course I did have some of the same worries that Molly was feeling, but it wouldn't do either of us any good to have both of us end up being nervous nellies. Especially when we hadn't gotten any scientific indicator that there was anything wrong with our cubs. Every appointment we had had indicated that our cubs were healthy.
"You're sure, George?" Molly asked me.
"Doctor Wainwright's done a wonderful job so far," I told her, "I think..."
"Oh you can leave it at saying I did a wonderful job," came Doctor Wainwright's voice as he came into the room, moving the ultrasound equipment that he used for looking at our unborn cubs. Molly and I looked to him as he entered. "Sorry, I just caught the end of that... and felt it seemed like a good line to use."
"It's alright, you have done a wonderful job," I told him, "being proud in your work isn't a crime."
Doctor Wainwright then nodded and then turned to Molly, "Well, my dear, it would appear that we're getting closer and closer, aren't we?"
"Yes," Molly nodded.
"Ready to be a mother?" Doctor Wainwright asked.
"I think so," Molly answered, "George and I have been looking forward to parenthood."
"A new adventure for all who undergo it," Doctor Wainwright nodded, "So... what seemed to be your concerns when I came in..."
"Mostly worried as to whether or not our cubs will be healthy," Molly answered, one paw resting on her womb, "my due date is getting closer... and we start going into the weekly schedule next. Some of that has me nervous that their could be a problem."
"Ah... jitters," Doctor Wainwright chuckled, "well, don't you worry, Molly. Even though you are the first Animal Person pregnancy I've treated, everything I can see is that you've been very healthy. Most of the things that have us worried with your case has more to do with the fact that biologically, the Animatrix Serum has you more tiger-like then human-like in that your cubs will be born prematurely by human standards."
"We can't avoid that," Molly said weakly.
"No Animal Person can," Doctor Wainwright nodded, "and based off of what I've seen, Molly, is that your body and your cubs are getting ready to give birth. Even if its premature by human standards... something, be it how tigers have evolved or some combination between the Animatrix Serum, human and tiger DNA, or maybe something else that we can not pinpoint yet would tell me that everything will be fine."
"You're sure?" Molly asked.
"Positive," Doctor Wainwright answered, "everything I've seen in the tests, in listening to the heard beat, in seeing what your cubs look like on the ultrasound would indicate that both you and your cubs are healthy. Our worries... and the weekly appointments for the next month... is all simple precautions and chart monitoring. And I can say simply that you and your cubs are very healthy. You should be proud and excited."
"I am!" Molly gave a smile.
She then pulled Doctor Wainwright into a friendly hung before he could do anymore.