Mommy Mouse (sequel to City Mouse)

Chapter 17: Thunder and Lightning

Because of Henry's nightmares, Dr. Bernstein had requested a rush on the genetic testing results. It probably didn't hurt that she was a minor celebrity herself, an ob-gyn to the stars, whose patients included the elite and very wealthy of New York City.

She had told Henry and Mouse that there were some unusual markers in Henry's profile that necessitated further testing, but that there was nothing to worry about.

"Please, the reason for these tests is to allay your fears, not produce new ones," she told the couple. "What I want to do is get Leo in here to check a few things, if that's okay. The little one you're carrying is much too small to test yet, and drawing blood from Leo is by far the easiest course."

"But Leo's only this baby's half-sibling," Henry said, looking at Dr. Bernstein in concern. "What could you learn from him? And what's wrong? What aren't you telling us?"

"I knew this would happen," the doctor said, shaking her head. "Listen, you two, and especially you, Henry. You listed your background as Anglo-Irish, but you show some genetic markers for things we usually only see in people of Eastern European Jewish descent, that's all."

"You mean like Ashkenazy Jews?" Mouse asked. Both Henry and the doctor stared at her. "One of my roommates was an Ashkenazy Jew," she explained. "It's really interesting, so I did a little reading." She turned to Henry. "I don't think there's anything to worry about, though, Henry. I mean, and correct me if I'm wrong, here, Doctor, but isn't there only a problem if they reproduce with each other? Isn't it a recessive gene?"

Dr. Bernstein nodded.

"And you, Mouse, don't have the marker, so it's not an issue, but it's safest if we test Leo, and run an amnio on your baby in a few weeks," she explained. She turned again to Henry.

"Basically, when we did your panel, we came up with more questions instead of answers, and we don't like questions in my business," she said with a laugh. "So we want to do an oral swab on Leo and get those questions answered, that's all." She spread her hands. "So relax, nothing to worry about, okay?" She turned her head to include both Mouse and Henry in her next remarks. "And the fastest, least expensive, not to mention most accurate tests available are through those companies you see on TV, believe it or not, so that's who we're going to use. Ancestry, Gene23 and all that?"

"Really?" Mouse asked.

The doctor nodded, smiling. "Like pregnancy tests. We have a stack of the same ones you guys use, the ones you buy at CVS and Duane Reade. Sometimes what's available to the consumer is best. So bring Leo in here, we'll do a buccal swab, and see what's what, okay?"

So they'd brought Leo by and swabbed his mouth, which made him laugh, and put the whole thing out of their collective minds. Just taking action seemed to have helped Henry, as his nightmares subsided, and he was once again able to sleep through the night.

Lovely, colorful September moved onto cool October, and Mouse's pregnancy moved along as well, though she continued to feel sick most of the time. She lost some weight, which worried her men, and Henry finally decided to take a mental health day off from his busy job and spend a grown up day with his wife. He carefully didn't tell Leo that he wasn't going in to work, or Leo would've been clamoring to play hooky with them.

After they dropped Leo off at school, Henry told Mouse that he was off that day, and so was she.

"Henry, that's ridiculous, I can't, I have so much to do--" Mouse began. She saw the look on Henry's face, and resolutely stopped talking. They then spent the day kicking around the city, looking at museums and galleries, which Mouse had actually never done before. It was thrilling for her to walk into the world famous SoHo Gallery and be greeted by Willelm Manfred himself. She tried to remember every detail for Travis; he was an avid photographer himself, and would want to know all about it.