Melody Aire's interference however proved to be longer lasting then stalling Molly and I from going into our Lamaze Classes. A few days later as Molly and I went in for our second obstetrician appointment during Molly's sixth month, we ran into her again. This time she was picketing outside the hospital as we were on our way in. She came right up to us as we were on our way in.
"Hello and good morning to you both," Melody Aire spoke, sounding fairly calm.
"Hello, again," I replied slowly, "feeling well?"
"Of course," Melody Aire replied, "God is there to protect me. As he could be there for you."
Molly and I tried to make our way into the clinic, as neither of us had any intention on seeing someone other then Doctor Wainwright for the treatment of Molly's pregnancy. If people wanted to believe that some faith based program was all they needed to deliver a child, that was their business. But most of them were probably human, and went through human pregnancies. And human pregnancies were probably the most studied of any pregnancy that there was. After all, human physicians and doctors appeared before their were really animal physicians.
But Molly was a Bengal Tigress, an Animal Person. Her pregnancy was based off of a combination of human factors and tiger factors, and mixed together with the Animatrix Serum. And as Molly's pregnancy had progressed we had seen the things that showed the "mixing" that the Animatrix Serum had done. Our cubs developed at the same rate as human infants, and as a result, while it was obvious that Molly was pregnant, she was proportionately much smaller then a human woman approaching her due date. And that was from the confirmation that Molly would give birth prematurely by human standards.
Our cubs were moving into the position that human infants took to be born toward the end of Molly's fourth month. That meant that Molly was physically getting ready to give birth. The "premature birth" would mean that our cubs would likely be born blind and practically helpless, just as mundane tiger cubs were born blind and helpless. The rest of their development would occur outside of Molly's womb. And it was doubtful that there was anything that could really be done about that, not that Melody Aire could see.
"God, I would think looks after everyone, but doesn't take time to coddle everyone," Molly commented, "sort of the punishment for the original sin of eating from the tree of knowledge."
"God loves all of us," Melody Aire countered, "all one needs to do is believe in him. If you believe, he will help you and insure that your pregnancy is a full nine months. As it should be!"
"I doubt you can prove that," I grumbled, "now if you will excuse us, we have a doctor's appointment that I do not want my wife to be late for."
"God can do more then the doctors and all their needles could ever do!" Melody Aire challenged as Molly and myself as we made our way into the hospital.
"If he does it will be through the doctors and the knowledge they went to school for," Molly answered back and continued into the hospital.
Some frustration over Melody Aire's actions ended up carrying through into our appointment with Doctor Wainwright on that day.
"There's not much I can do about her," Doctor Wainwright sighed, "Patients always have the right to choose who will treat them... and to a certain extent, that is what she counts on."
"But we've chosen you!" Molly protested.
"That doesn't mean she has to accept it," Doctor Wainwright replied, "You could file for a restraining order... but given that it would only last for another two weeks, it wouldn't do you all that much good. The best you can do is ignore her."
To that Molly and I only sighed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things then began to quiet down a little. Melody Aire continued to prove to be an annoyance, but that was all she really was. She didn't seem to have any racist agenda against Molly and I, she merely figured that faith could do more then what science could do. It lead to some fairly interesting debates when she appeared unexpectedly when Molly and I went to our Lamaze classes or to see Doctor Wainwright, but we managed to remind her that our choice was made and continued on. She then respectfully backed off.
That left only one major issue that had to be resolved. And that was Grabar and Larceny's trial. Since their apprehension, dealing with the aftermath of their crime wave had been hanging over everything. The people of Columbia Falls that had been burgled were waiting for their things to be returned and at the station, we were waiting for when we would be informed on the schedule of of Grabar and Larceny's trial. That mostly came because of the fact that my nose had been instrumental in identifying Grabar and Larceny's scents at the houses they had burgled. Agent Heer, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation and Officer Howard were both fairly certain that I would be called to the stand by the defense to explain why and how a cat could and was tracing scents. That was easy enough to do, but it would mean leaving Columbia Falls, likely with Officer Barnes driving me. If it came quickly, it could mean I'd miss the birth of my cubs... though, at present, that looked a bit remote.
All that we were waiting for at the station was conformation from wherever Grabar and Larceny would be tried. And as Officer Barnes and I came in from patrol, we were called into Officer Howard's office. He lead us into his office and sat down behind his desk.
"This will be something you two have been waiting for, I'd suspect," Officer Howard said with a sigh.
"The schedule for Grabar and Larceny's trial?" I asked.
Officer Howard nodded, "it would appear that they're finally far enough along to make progress."
Officer Barnes and I stood silently waiting for Officer Howard to give us the update.
"I just got off the phone with Agent Heer," Officer Howard answered, "He's presently in the regional FBI office in Olympia, Washington State, and Grabar and Larceny's case will be heard there. Apparently he's finally gotten some leads as to the pawn shops that Grabar and Larceny used and agents are now in the process of checking them out, and cutting the red tape as it were with regard to checking the pawn shops in Canada. So if at least some of the non-cash items that they stole are still there... there'll be a good shot at recovering them."
"That'd be good," Officer Barnes commented, "that'll give Officer Jenkins the opportunity to send out some good news messages."
"That'd best wait until the goods are found," Officer Howard answered, "Just to be safe."
Officer Barnes and I nodded.
"The big thing though is the trial," Officer Howard answered, "and that also appears finally ready to start. They'll be taking opening statements and Grabar and Larceny's pleas from there in a week. And from there we'll have to play it by ear. If they plead guilty, everything is over, and they'll be sentenced. If they plead not guilty... things will depend on how they make their arguments."
I nervously gulped.
"But, if they do plead not guilty," Officer Howard continued, "it could be at least a week before they'd get to calling you to the stand, and they would wait for you to arrive there."
"What about a personal reason to be a bit late?" I wondered, "would I be allowed to petition for that if Molly hasn't given birth yet?"
"When is she due?" Officer Howard asked.
"Well the official due date is in about a week's time," I said, "but that's where some things are still left up to chance. Some give birth earlier and some give birth later."
Officer Howard sighed, "that'll depend on the judge hearing the case... but based off what they've given me, you won't need to leave Columbia Falls for there until mid July at the earliest. You should be free to enjoy the birth of your children."
"Provided Molly doesn't crush the bones in my hands pushing our cubs out," I quipped, earning a couple of chuckles.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I returned to Bandhavgarh Cabin after a quiet day of work with the news that if I was called to testify at Grabar and Larceny's trial, it wouldn't be until after Molly gave birth. It was good news that I felt Molly would love to hear. After all, I had gotten the sense that she was the most sensitive to the prospect of me being called away. It was why I had asked Mr. Patten to act as a "second" if I was called away. But now, that wasn't necessary. I would still be home when Molly gave birth.
"Molly!" I called as I entered the cabin, "Molly!"
I got no answer. No one appeared to be there. That puzzled me a bit as the Summer Sun Program went about the same length as the normal school days went. She should be home, or at least I expected her to be at home. I looked around to see if there was a note or some sort of message that I could find to let me know where Molly was. And in the end, I found it. It was a lone note laying on our dining room table. It read:
"George, Tabby and several of the other women working at the elementary school have "conspired" to throw me a baby shower. It has me very excited and will be up at Tabby's house. I do not know for sure when it will end, so I can't say when I'll be home tonight. Don't dirty up my kitchen!"
I sighed and gave a couple of chuckles at how the note ended. Molly had claimed the kitchen as her own private "kingdom". I tried to help her where I could, but she commonly insisted that she didn't need it. I figured that if Molly was at a baby shower, I would have the opportunity to cook something for her. And so, I then moved to get changed and then go to work.
I had nearly gotten dinner finished when Molly returned home. She slowly made her way into the cabin while carrying a series of packages.
"Something smells good," Molly commented.
"That'd be dinner," I said as I came around the corner, "it's nearly finished. How did your party go?"
"Wonderful!" Molly said in an excited voice, "we're set for diapers for awhile... though we probably will have to shave our cubs' sides in order to make sure we're not pulling their fur out."
I nodded as Molly and I had agreed that we'd have to do something like that.
"They also gave me some toys for them and some children's books to read to them," Molly continued, "as well as plenty of advice from those that were already mothers."
"Oh?" I wondered, "do you think it'll help?"
"I think so," Molly nodded, "things on what to expect and so forth."
"Sleepless nights and midnight feedings," I commented.
"That isn't always the case," Molly smirked, "but even if it does... it'll be wonderful to have our cubs. We'll love them forever."
"Yes, yes we will," I nodded, "Do you need any help?"
"It couldn't hurt," Molly admitted.
I then went forward and collected some of the items that Molly had been juggling at the door. There were several bags of diapers and other such things. One of the gifts was even a specialized set of "baby wipes" that was advertised as effective for cleaning fur. It also included the store where it'd been bought. I then helped Molly carry the goods up to our bedroom and placed them with the rest of the other goods we'd been buying to prepare the birth of our cubs.
"How far away is dinner?" Molly wondered.
"About five minutes," I told her, "you got home just in time."
"I see," Molly replied, "Did you make a mess?"
"No ma'am," I said quickly. I'd done my best to keep everything clean, "and if it doesn't meet your inspection, I clean it after dinner until it does."
"Okay then," Molly responded, "let's have dinner."