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."

"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?"

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!"

"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.))