The Rabbit's Den

What Rabbit

After the small, ragged conversation with Dr. Mullens, Trixie was confined to her room the next day. After breakfast she asked Cyrus if she could go to the T.V. room and he simply said no. It was still late morning when Petra popped her head into the room. "What did you do?" she hissed as she slid in and shut the door behind her. "Ruffled a few of Dr. Mullens feathers. " She laughed amused for the first time since she had been there, "And defiantly ripped some of Mrs. Mullens out." Petra's face glowed with shock, "He's married?" A giggle escaped her.

The smile that was firmly planted on Trixie's face couldn't budge, "I think I have an idea. I need your help since you're here." Petra rushed to the bedside, "What do you need me to do?" Trixie glanced down at the straps, "I need you to loosen these to barely holding on." She grabbed the straps at Trixie's wrists, "No, Petra. At the base of the bed." She nodded and knelt down to the ground, it didn't take long, but it felt like they would be caught at any moment.

"Done!" Petra said as she popped back up smiling. Trixie's face suddenly turned serious, "I have to tell you something." Petra took her hand and held it, "Okay." She took a deep breath before continuing, "Dr. Peterson is my father." She stopped for a second, "Kind of." The look Petra gave her wasn't just confusion, but she couldn't decipher it. "What do you me kind of?" She asked her. She shook her head not really knowing herself, "Dr. Peterson is the man who abandoned me, before Jacque and Milly took me in. I always thought he was my father, but I just found out he isn't my real father. I don't know what is real anymore Petra."

As Petra opened her mouth Cyrus walked into the room, "You can't be in here Petra." He said as he stalked towards her. "I'm sorry." Petra said with a bit of fear in her tone. She walked around Cyrus and left to the T.V. room. When she turned into it she came face to face with Dr. Peterson. Even though he had a kind demeanor the information Trixie had told her came to mind. "Miss Petra, I came to take you to the babies. We have a couple questions about your pregnancy and immediately after the babies were born." She nodded and followed him to the nursery.

She was permitted to feed and hold the babies for a brief time before Dr. Peterson asked her to follow him to his office. Sitting in the hard plastic chair a shiver ran up her body. Dr. Peterson opened her file, and with pen in hand began to ask her his questions. "Did you have any difficulties with your pregnancy?" Petra shrugged, "I felt sick through the whole thing, and I did have some bleeding that Dr. Mullens said bedrest would correct." He nodded as he wrote. "After birth, did the babies lose any weight?" She thought about this for a moment and shook her head, "No, actually they started gaining weight immediately. Almost a pound each in the first two weeks." He peered at her suspiciously, "You had access to a scale?" She nodded again, "The midwives had one for the babies." He made a hmm sound as he wrote in the file. "And they continued to gain weight the whole time?" Petra again nodded growing irritated with the same question asked in another form.

"What is the importance of this Dr. Peterson?" Petra snapped, taking him away from writing mid note. "You gained a significant amount of weight during your pregnancy, the weight was too much for your cervix. It came on too fast for your body to adjust, that's what cause the bleeding. Additionally after birth babies generally lose several ounces and gain it slowly back throughout the next two months. Their rapid growth is a bit of a mystery." He began to write again. "But they're okay now, right?" She asked concern for her twins growing. "We honestly do not know, they both are showing physical and mental milestones for infants months ahead of them. " He finished writing and looked back to her, "It seems they will be ready to adopt out by the time they are five months if they continue at this rate. I need a sample of your breast milk, we aren't sure if something in them or something in you is contributing to their accelerated development."

Petra had no words for the thoughts and feelings she was having. The midwives had made comments at the hutch about the babies being slightly particular but never had concerns that they made to her. She gave Dr. Peterson a sample of her breast milk then was quickly dismissed out of the office. Making her go back to the T.V. room, she was not allowed to go back to either of her girls.