Page 41 of Gemini
“John and I managed to get you an authorization to join,” Baelor cut him off sharply. “Do not make a scenenow, or she will still go and you will not be allowed to come with us.”
“I—”
“It’s fine, Nitochi,” I said, catching his head between my hands again, turning his face so that he’d focus on me andonlyme. “Iwill be fine. We all will. I want you to come, so please…be there insilentsupport?” He frowned, looking hurt. It quickly vanishedwhen I added, “If Iampregnant, they might even be able to show it to us in my belly at some point…” I let go of one side of his face to make sure his hand was firmly placed on my stomach as I said it. “It’s not something you’ll want to miss.”
He searched my eyes for answers to questions he didn’t voice. Considering the way they lived, I doubted Gemins' pregnancies were checked the same way the humans were. Except when they were used by John and his team, I had yet to see them handle any sort of developed technology. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if all the planets in this system were in a similar situations. Were all the worlds clear and pure from pollution? From technological advancements?
“What do you mean by ‘show us in your belly?’ Is it—are they—” Baelor stuttered, his head slightly tilting to the side.
Their whole family’s attention was still on us and words ended up stuck in my throat.Why are they all staring? Is it not rude for them to stare like this?
At my reddening and gaping face, John cleared his throat, pulling the attention away. “We humans are very thorough when it comes to pregnancies and fetuses’ development,” he explained. I still wasn’t sure what he was doing here, but damn I was grateful for his presence right now. “We used to do echographies—and still do sometimes—but now, the pregnant woman is scanned and a live hologram of the fetus is created. You can see it move and even hear its heartbeat.”
They all looked at him like he was insane. I thought his explanation was pretty easy and straightforward…
“What you said was filled with non-translated words, my love,” a beautiful Gemin female said, leaning closer to him.
Wasn’t she Baelor & Nitochi’s aunt?Wait. Did that makehimtheir uncle or something?
“Oh.” John’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “What was not translated?”
“What is a…fetus?” she asked.
John nodded, relieved. “Before the baby is developed enough to call it ababy, we call it a fetus. So just anearly baby,” he simplified.
“E—cho-gra—phy?” Baelor continued, his pronunciation unsure.
“An echography, yes. It’s a medical act. We use an electronic tool to look inside the body without needing to cut the body open.”
Baelor’s eyes widened before he frowned. “How?” he asked.
John let out a chuckle. “I’ll give you a book, it’s a fascinating subject but a little heavy for dinner conversation.”
“What is scanning?” Nitochi asked.
“The same thing, but a different device and technique,” John said.
Nitochi grumbled something under his breath before he continued with another question. “Andho-lo-gram?”
The way they pronounced these unknown words was just adorable.
John just smiled at this one. “You’ll see. At least, if you behave and let the doctors do their job looking after Wendy once you all are up there.”
“Is—ho-lo-gramdangerous?” he gritted out, his hold on me suddenly a bit too tight.
“It’s not,” I said, caressing his arm, his shoulder, his face, anywhere it could help make him more relaxed. “You’ll just see an image of the baby, as clearly as if it was in the room. Hear its little heartbeat. It’s a beautiful moment.”
I had been to one of my friends' doctor visits when she got pregnant. Her man had been held up at work and she needed someone to bring her there and back home—or maybe it was just someone holding her hand as she’d been living less than a mile from the medical center and had been walking perfectly fine. No matter the actual reason, I still cried when the three dimensional image appeared.
“Will they be able to see the two babies?” Nitochi asked. “You keep sayingthebaby or—”
“It doesn’t matter how many there will be, you’ll see everything and everyone inside her womb,” John explained.
“Stop talking about my womb like it’s a five-bedrooms house please.”
John outright laughed at my comment, and most of the people around the table did the same. Some were loud, others just silently chuckling.
“Oh, Wendy…There’s a fifty percent chance you’ll have boys, which means there will be two fe—babies,” John corrected himself. “Plus, if the doctors back on Galleat did their job and took you off your birth control, you’ll be more fertile for a while. It increases the risks of multiple pregnancy.”
