Book IV: Avi Dragon

Triplets

Angel was worried that her diminutive frame wouldn't support triplets. The elder Kaplans were thinking of the wedding, and the tour after that.
   Avi was just glad it wasn't eight again. Oh wait, yeah, that was only a couple of weeks ago!  He'd forgotten, because she was a dragon when she laid the eggs. He hadn't even told his parents about it, because they'd been on tour, and then he'd appeared in her hospital room, and all of that drama ensued.
   Gwinn asked if they wanted her to examine Angel, as well as the baby.
   "Yes, please," he said. Angel looked at him askance. He knew he'd have some explaining to do later, but he needed to know she was okay.
   "Well, let's get the little lady out of the way first, shall we? I've a feeling she'll be in better shape than her mum." She aimed a Look at Avi that he felt he'd earned. If he'd been in his dragon form, his earflaps would've been at half mast.
   She didn't cut any corners in her examination, anxious as she was to make sure her only Celestial Dragon patient was in good health. It would do the dragoness no good, if her daughter were ailing. Best to get the baby sorted first.
   "You say she's down to one breastfeeding a day now? Perhaps you ought to wean her before you get too far along. Her weight and length are good for her age. It should go o'er fine."
   Angel nodded, though she wasn't sure how well Menolly would take it.
   "Right, then. Your turn, milady. Where can we go?"
   Shelly suggested the bedroom that they shared. They left the baby with her, while Gwinn led the younger couple into the bedroom, so she could have a word with the pair of them. Nobody liked the sound of it, but the elder couple felt the younger could use a wake up call. They were more likely to listen to a doctor than their parents.
   "Two weeks? Maybe three? That's what you think is a proper recovery time?" Her green eyes sparked between both of them, but only one showed remorse. Her patient didn't seem to know what she was talking about. 
   Angel's eyes darted between them, somehow feeling that she was in some sort of trouble.
   "And how's it you don't know what I'm talkin' about, young lady? I thought you were the same Angel I've been treating."
   Avi rubbed her back while she sat on the edge of the bed. "She's supposed to forget things sometimes." He pressed a kiss into her hair, trying not to cry. "She wasn't born a dragon, so her brain isn't wired to handle..." he had to pause to contain his emotions.
   "Forever."
   His eyes met Gwinn's, tears shimmering perilously close to his lids. "She'll live forever, but she won't remember all of it. She can't." His voice turned bitter when he repeated Gabriel's words: "limited storage capacity."
   Angel's eyes were wide, confused. Forever was too big to comprehend, so they all focused on the immediate concerns.
   "Anyway, to answer your first question, I, ah... I sort of forgot about that. She was a dragon when it happened, completely different from the Angel I married. Do... do you think the... damage merged too?"
   Gwinn shrugged. "Only one way to find out. I gather you know the drill?"
   Angel nodded at the floor. She stood and dropped her leggings in one swift move, and bounced back onto the bed. She lay back, her knees pressed together until the last minute.
   That was always the worst part: letting your knees loll wide. She hated being that exposed, even if it was for something as beautiful as pregnancy.
   Avi held her hand throughout the examination. It was gentler than a traditional medical exam, because Gwinn had the Sight, but she wasn't as gentle as she could have been. She had to test the extent of the trauma, learn what to expect this time round.
   Finally, she stood and removed her gloves. "You're positive this woman is Angel."
   He helped her sit up. "For the last time, yes! I watched them... merge." He had to suppress a wave of emotions, and illness.
   "Well, then, tell me how it happened, 'cause this woman hasn't given birth in... what, a decade or so?"
   Angel nodded. "That I know of, yes. It's been a very long time." 
   Gwinn had Avi relate what happened in that hospital room, in excruciating detail, until she was positive she knew how to approach her patient's care. She wasn't happy with her conclusion, and it showed.
   "From what you've said, and from the exam I just performed..." She gritted her teeth. "I don't think the injuries transferred over. Clean slate. I don't even see the knot on her skull." Her hand flapped toward Angel's head, defeated. "An' I was there for that!
   "However, this does not, and I mean not mean you two can plant a new crop every couple o' weeks postpartum. After this lot, you. Need. Rest! If you disobey this time, ye may have ta find a new doctor, an' good luck wi' that!" She shook her finger in their faces, scowling as fierce as any Gaelic gladiator ever did.
   Angel was blushing at her colorful euphemisms, as was her husband. He secretly doubted that Gwinn would leave them, but he didn't want to put his wife's life in danger; or that of their children.
   Their children. They were about to have three more beautiful children! His hand snuck around to her belly, spread wide over what he could reach. His temple rested against hers, joy zinging down the link until she felt full to bursting.
   "Don't think I don't see that. Enjoy it while it lasts, boyo. Make the most of it, so yer not tempted to do it again any time soon."
   Their blushes deepened.
   "I gather your parents don't know about the octuplets?"
   Angel's legs clamped together. "Octuplets?!" Her head swiveled to look him in the eye. "I had eight babies, not even a month ago?!" What they'd been saying finally sunk in to her dazed brain, and she didn't like what she heard.
   "They were eggs, and you were a dragon, but... yeah... Sorry, I forgot..."
   She leaned away from him, aghast. "How could you forget about that?"
   He cupped her face, smiling a sad smile. "They were taken away before I got to see them, and the other Angel didn't even seem fazed by it. She was nothing like you. It feels like you're two completely different people." He touched his forehead to hers. "Then I met you, the real you, and everything else just faded away."
   Gwinn's voice cut into the tender moment with the sharp precision of a knife.
   "You got lucky."