*****046:

Gerald came in sometime in the night. Rafe and I were both awake, still laying side by side, but talking softly. Gerald came and sat in front of me, his clipboard in hand.

"Why are you still here?" He asked me with a smile in his voice. Gerald has a good bedside manner-- for a bull-dog.

I smiled tolerantly. He waved the clip board. "Your test results."

"May I see them?"

"In a moment." He assured. "You are contracting about three times an hour. This is normal. Please don't interrupt me, now, I'm the doctor in this case, okay?" I think he was tired of me trying to preempt him, since I am actually a more experienced doctor than him. He proceeded to tell me every single level and what medication he recommended. He explained that I was not my mother, and should not be trying to duplicate her extraordinary pregnancy experience thirty years ago. It was unheard of, and ninety-nine percent of similar cases did not turn out the way hers had.

"I'm sending you home on bedrest, Aubrey, with a monitor, and the directions to gain another twenty pounds. Your levels are all borderline--- gestational diabetes is right up there. I need you to reduce stress. You are so close to so many issues." He was speaking in lay man's terms for Rafe's benefits and then calmly handed the clip board over to me so I could determine treatment if any for myself.

I could hardly believe the results.

I was fine.

Many women by this time in a multiples pregnancy would be on supplements and anti-contraction drugs. They'd probably be hooked up to a terbutaline pump to prevent contractions, complete bed rest and bi-weekly visits to the office. All things that in my opinion cause undue stress, and hardship on the mother's body, and give her the impression that things are wrong, and keep her in a higher state of concern.

And since most multiples in this day and age were fertility induced, things were probably wrong. But those whose bodies had naturally conceived were more likely to be able to naturally carry. In my opinion. I reiterate--- this is my opinion only. No medical studies have ever concluded this, there aren't enough naturally conceived multiples in the quad and quint or above range to actually study them beside their peers.

I handed the clip board back to him, and my eyes crinkled on their own, into a jubilant smile.

"Best advice, Doctor?" He asked me.

"Stop stressing out."

"Have a blessing." Rafe added with a meaningful nod. "And stop stressing out."

"Agreed." He said and stood, shaking down his slacks. "Unless something changes, I'll see you next week."

When he left Rafe helped me up. We'd slept all night there on that bed, and we had been very comfortable. How weird was that? It wasn't even a big enough bed. And there had been no real moving around, and yet we'd both slept fine.

And I knew--- it was reminiscent of when we'd slept in the bunk on the tour bus, platonically, cuddled like this, close and secure.

"You're just going home? Just like that?" Rafe asked me, his eyes light on my rumpled clothing. Sometime in the night, he'd taken off his jeans. Now he was buttoning them up. His shirt was wrinkled--- very unlike him, and his hair was messy-- facial hair not trimmed. He'd never looked hotter.

"I am, just like that." I kissed him, my heart beat accelerating tenderly as I rubbed his shoulders. He stretched on his tip toes, his shirt riding up, and I was privileged to see the downward spiral of dark hair on his lower stomach. I felt that heart turn from tender, to turned on, in seconds flat.

"Baby, baby, let's go home." He took my hand.

"Are there people outside?" By people, I meant our security and the paparazzi.

He shrugged and nodded. "Your mom was here last night. They were likely waiting for her. She's amazing."

"She gave you the oils, didn't she?"

"Yeah, and then she left, and she pointedly guarded your inner virtue, whispering on her way out, no sex."

I grunted, laughing. We'd been sexually active in one way or another the whole time, but even I knew that it was best right now if we abstain until closer to the due date, so as not to induce labor-- not that it had ever been proven to induce labor-- there were many, many benefits of sex helping natural labor. Just didn't want to go into it right now.

We made our way outside, and were pleasantly surprised to find that absolutely no one was waiting for us. They'd all been told that we'd left in the middle of the night. There wasn't even any visible security, although Rafe assured me they were there.

Everything had gone undercover.

Rafe had the van. I got in and we went home.

Just like that.

*****