Mother's Day

[Natalia Ryder-Singh]

"Well Ethan managed to not get Trinity pregnant..." Natalia said with a smile as she tried to relax, the banter was helping take her mind off the pain. "Don't take a pregnant woman's ranting about killing her husband or anything seriously... I don't quite have mom or Nick's high pain threshold, I'll admit it, I'm a wussy city girl. And I can cry on demand, came in super handy when I was taking acting classes in high school and my freshman year in college. Then I saw the new science labs and tech center and the theater was a distant memory... "

"Then you became Natalia the Science Chick..." Nick teased.

"Says Nick the Engineering Guy." Natalia teased right back. "Aimee, if you want a good laugh, go in the AlphaTek archives, look up exactly that string, Nick the Engineering Guy... you'll see what a dork he was as a kid, before he got enhanced. His hair used to be all wild and big." she clenched her fists and grunted and shook her head. "Feels like it's getting closer... I'm really trying not to scream in pain... you'll want to drug me to shut me up."

"We'd want to do that anyway." Nick said with a wink.

"Noonian, honey... slap my brother." Natalia said to Khan.

Khan, being the dutiful husband, slapped his brother in law upside the head.

"Khhhhaaaaannnn" Nick bellowed.

"Rydeerrrrrrrr." Noonian bellowed back and bust out laughing. "Young Miss Aimee... this is not a normal family you've chosen to interact with I'll have you know."

"Of course, we're as far from normal as normal gets. I don't think we were EVER normal." Tess said and watched the monitors. "Aimee, see, look at that... that's a sign of a proper birth position, I'm thinking we should see full dilation in about fifteen twenty minutes... contractions are closer and the birth canal is starting to widen. Notice how she produces her own lubricant, it'll get wetter."

"Romulan women actually stay pretty dry until like moments before, then it's like a damn slip and slide." Natalia added. "Hey, if I'm going to be a teaching moment, may as well teach. You know... my sister Jenny, she was about your age, maybe a little younger when she started following mom on births, now she's got a clinic of her own. I tried to get into medicine, but I was more interested in the tech, that and you can't fix a human by turning them off and then back on again."

[Young Aimee]

"That's precisely why medicine fascinates me," Aimee protested. "You can't just rip out the defective parts, and hit a restart switch. Oh, by the way doctor. I wanted to let you know I got my MCAT scores back. 522... Not the perfect 528, but still respectable."

[Tess Ryder]

"Did better than I did... I didn't pass the first time around." Tess said as she held onto Natalia's hand. "I had the worst migraine before the exam, barely studied. Threw up two or three times during the exam. Luckily they took pity on me and I had a second chance, still only got a 518." she smiled at Aimee. "Always knew you had it in you. Someday this may be your hospital. Nursing staff already like when you help with rounds."

[Leo Ryder]

"As if you will ever truly retire Tess." Leo said as he walked in to Natalia's room and winced a little when he saw the stirrups already up. "That soon huh?" he pecked Tess on the cheek and put his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry I was late, kidney treatments."

"Again?" Tess whispered. "Second time this week."

"Well, my guts were completely shifted around after the fall, miracle they've been working this long." Leo whispered and smiled. "So how's our girl? Did I miss the traditional 'I'm going to kill my husband' rants?"

"Yep... and brother too." Nick said as he gave his dad a hug.

"Hey I get weepy with a hypospray." Natalia said as she felt another contraction coming on. "Ohhh gnnnuhhh... how many more of these? I want this little girl OUT."

"Bumped into Nora in the hallway, she's waiting until AFTER the birth to make her presence known." Leo said with a smirk and poked her belly. "I think she's not entirely cool with watching herself come out."

"Who would be?" Natalia replied. "I hold a Ph.D and I'm married to a genetic superman and I wouldn't want to see myself born either."

"True... I bought her coffee and a donut. She practically inhaled the donut." Leo chuckled. "Like a certain little redhead that used to make donuts in the security office disappear..."

"Stress eating... gotta love it." Natalia said and closed her eyes. "Oh... is it too late to ask for drugs?"

[Young Aimee]

Aimee chuckled, "I don't know... Let's see." She opened her medical text, "According to this, no, but I could be wrong." She glanced at Tess for confirmation.

[Khan Noonian Singh]

"We 'could' but..." Noonian said as he nodded to Tess. "Let me try something first." he went to Natalia's side and touched her hand gently. "This will work better than the drugs and you won't feel like a hippie."

"What's a hippie?" Natalia teased. "I love teasing him."

Noonian chuckled and touched a point on her hand which he massaged for a few moments, then moved onto a point on her shoulder. "These are only to be used during childbirth, not during pregnancy... but I've used these techniques for every woman I've had the opportunity to be at the birth for, and we never had to use drugs... other than a local for when the crazy thing smacked her wrist against the side of the bed while trying to swat someone. Non augment lower pain threshold than Talia."

"Oooohhkay... that's... actually feeling less intense." Natalia said as she relaxed a bit at his touch as he moved onto the points in her legs and calves.

"Granted the drugs you use now are far less intense than what they had in the 20th Century, less chance of complications and easier for her to sleep when it's all over." Noonian said calmly.

"And AImee, I do have electrical pads that can do a similar thing, but... actual touch is better, especially when it's a loved one doing it. Releases all kinds of good natural pain killers in the body." Tess said with a smile. "Have you a had a chance to practice with the suction device to clear the mouth and throat of amniotic fluid? Otherwise I'll do it and you can do the cleaning and wrapping."

"Miss Sandoval should feel quite honored to be here, given that everyone in this room is either medic trained or has delivered a child or two on their own." Noonian said with a smile as he kissed Natalia on the forehead. "That one woman in the lobby of that office building nearly named her little girl Leo."

"I kept telling her that Leo is very much a boy's name... she split the difference, there's a Leona out there that has me to thank for that name." Leo said with an amused chuckle. "Had to have been the one time I do that and there's press. Was after the Capitol attack." he glanced at Nick who looked confused. "I made the news feeds for about a day or so. 'Late President's Father Gives Birth' everyone thought I somehow had a baby - but that character limit... 'Late President's Father Give Birthing Aide in Office Tower Elevator' was the full headline. Still... sixty years of living with a woman that's delivered who knows how many thousands of kids... including our own."

"And that Aimee is how a true partnership works... you learn from your spouse, your spouse learns from you." Noonian said with a wink to his own wife.

[Young Aimee]

"Well, I guess, being with a genetically modified super human does have its advantages," Aimee said.

[Natalia Ryder-Singh]

"Has it's benefits... like he can do all the painting in the baby's room... which he promised me he'd do." Natalia said with a smile.

"I will get right on it..." Noonian said with a wince as he looked at Nick.

"We got it taken care of." Nick replied. "Just take care of the kid... you'll have that room done. Not like I got anything to go to work for anymore."

"Then you big brother... are on babysitting duty while I sleep for the next month" Natalia said as she looked at Aimee. "Think you'd like to be a godmother?"

[Young Aimee]

"Me?" She asked flabbergasted, "I uh... Well... I read Harry Potter, and I know what that means. Don't you think I'm a bit young for that responsibility? I'm only 17... Well, I'll be 17 next month."

[Natalia Ryder-Singh]

"I have a pretty good idea that you can do it." Natalia said as she bore down and shuddered. "Oh please tell me that I'm getting close enough to push..."

"Almost there hon." Tess said with a smile and stroked her hair. "Getting closer, just don't push until I tell you okay?"

"Remind me never to think that this is easy..." Natalia said and sighed as she looked at Aimee. "I like you, mom likes you, and i think I could trust my daughter with you. And it's not like Harry Potter... "