What Happened in the Morning...

The Big News

*ONE YEAR LATER*

One year has passed since the couple married and everything's been going great. They decided to move to Metropolis into an apartment. Alice became a housewife, spending time at home cleaning the cluttered mess of open boxes and organizing the gifts given to them during the wedding. Meanwhile, Ratchet continued fixing ships but with a lot of new clients that offered enough bolts to support them. Anyway, everything was going well until one day when he came home and found her on the couch, grabbing onto her abdomen in pain.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Is your wound bothering you again?" She looked at him.

"No, nothing like that," she reassured him. It's more like a cramp." Ratchet sighed in relief.

"So it's nothing serious, right?" Alice shook her head.

"No nothing serious." Or so she thought...

She continued having cramps for the next couple of days, and one day she had an excruciating headache that plagued her the rest of the day. She became worried when her feet became extremely sore when she walked and she felt very light-headed whenever she stood up. She had a hunch about what was going on but she was hoping it wasn't that far. But the only way to find out was to take a test. Once her husband left for work, she dug around some of the smaller boxes to find a gift her mother left for her. With the box in hand, she went into the bathroom to find out if her hunch was right...

................

That evening when Ratchet returned home from work, he found Alice sitting on the couch, nervously holding onto a white object in her hands.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked. "What's that you're holding?" Alice stared into his eyes and took a deep breath before telling him.

"Remember those cramps and headaches I got a few days ago?" Ratchet nodded. "Well...there's something I need to tell you..." She gave him the white object and saw his eyes grow wide.

"Ratchet, I'm pregnant..."

Sure enough, the white object that she gave him was a pregnancy test, and it displayed two lines on the screen, which meant it was positive.

"I went to the doctor to confirm it was true and he said I'm three weeks along." Recovering from his initial shock, Ratchet managed to give her a warm smile while rubbing the back of his neck.

"So...so I'm going to become a dad, right?" She nodded.

"Yes you are."

.............. 18-20 weeks later

About four or five months later, Alice entered her second trimester; the baby was growing pretty fast. Of course, this was  very stressful for both Lombaxes, especially on the mother, who was constantly getting sick since the baby was relying on her nutrients in order to survive. This was no help to her own immune system; that was why she felt so weak and tired all the time. Ratchet mostly scrambled to find the proper nutrients for both her and the baby. Ever since the Lombaxes disappeared from the Polaris Galaxy, certain foods containing vital nutrients for their kind stopped being produced, which didn't make things any easier for Ratchet. This continued for a few months until her next appointment with the doctor. Hopefully he'll know what to do.

Once they arrived at the doctor's office, it was only 15 minutes they had to wait until the doctor was able to to see them.

"Why hello," he said pleasantly. "And how's everything?"

"Everything's been fine, for the most part. But it's been a little hard to keep her healthy;  I'm having a hard time finding the right nutrients."

"Oh no worries. I have someone I can call that can send you supplies." Ratchet internally sighed in relief. But here were a few questions he had to ask him.

"I have a question, Doctor. How did she become pregnant in the first place? I mean, we haven't done anything except sleep together and that's about it." The doctor pondered at the question.

"Maybe it was by chance. You see, your species has a high fertility rate, which means chances of a pregnancy are above eighty percent. So the slightest contact could've caused this."

"I was just curious about it. I mean, I'm thrilled to become a parent, but I just didn't understand how it happened."

"Well, now you know. So everything's been okay for the most part?" he asked.

"Pretty much yes," Alice said while rubbing her stomach lovingly. "I've just been very tired for the most part."

"That is understandable. Pregnancy is a very tiring thing, especially since you're so young." It was true though; she was only 16, going on 17, so she was pretty young to become a mother. "Are you ready for the ultrasound?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said. The doctor then applied the ultrasound gel onto her belly and turned on the machine.

"Excited to see the gender?" he asked. Alice nodded while she lied down onto the bed. He then took the device and pressed it onto her abdomen, where the supposed baby was. But no one was expecting what showed up onto the screen. There wasn't one but two fetuses on the screen, which meant...

"Congratulations. You are expecting twins." The couple gasped as he delivered the news. They couldn't believe it; Twins?! The couple shared glances before turning back to the doctor, their joy melting away after seeing the solemn look on his face. Ratchet quickly grew concerned.

"Is something wrong, doctor?" He looked at the anxious couple.

"It's beautiful that she's expecting twins but...now her chances of surviving labor are slimmer."

"What do you mean slimmer? Is she going to die?"

"It's not certain yet, but she stills has a solid chance. Assuming everything goes smoothly, the babies should come out healthy. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't let our guard down. Considering her age, her pregnancy is very risky and the risk of a premature birth is high. She has to be at least eight months before it's safe for the babies to be born. If they come before then, not only will they not have a good chance but there is a chance we'll lose the mother as well." Ratchet started breathing heavily.

"So there's a chance I'll lose Alice AND the twins?"  he asked in between shaky breaths. The doctor nodded.

"Yes. Sixty percent of mothers who give birth at this young age don't survive." The couple was devastated; Ratchet glanced over to Alice, whose eyes looked weak and tired from carrying the twins for so long.

"As long as she stays healthy, she will have a fighting chance." Ratchet nodded.

"You have my solemn word. I promise to take care of her for the next couple of months."

"Okay. Now be careful, you two. I'll get you that person to send you supplies."

"Will do, doctor. And thank you." And with that, the couple exited the office and returned to their apartment. Ratchet sighed as he made his way up the stairs. This is going to be harder than he thought...

..............

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter's a bit short. I wanted to finish it before I had to go to sleep. And this chapter was inspired by a story I read on deviantArt: http://hotredsparkles.deviantart.com/art/Truth-Beneath-the-Skin-Prologue-323814547 . Anyway, I'm taking requests on what the children's names should be (I realized I forgot to mention the genders: one boy and one girl.) So if you have any ideas, just comment on this chapter and I'll see what I can do. See you in the next chapter!