Batcat pregnancy

33

Bruce wasn't allowed in the examination room for the majority of Selina's prenatal visit. Instead he and Alfred sat awkwardly in the waiting room. He felt spectacularly out-of-place.

Bruce was intently studying a maternity magazine. Hidden amongst the pregnancy facts, helpful tips, recipes, and labor horror stories was a page entitled: "The Ultimate Pregnancy Checklist." It was broken up into three trimesters. At nearly thirteen weeks, Selina was almost in her second trimester. Bruce blanched when he saw how many items would still need to be dealt with from the first trimester list alone. He covertly tore out the page and stuck it into his pocket for future reference.

"Alfred?" Bruce asked, flipping through an article on baby-proofing one's home.

"Yes, Master Bruce?" The butler looked up from his own magazine.

"What color do you think Selina wants for the nursery?"

"Ah, well, that might depend on what she's having." Alfred responded. "Blue for boys, pink for girls, and all that."

"What color was mine?" Bruce asked.

He tried to picture his own dark bedroom decked out in pastels and ruffles. He couldn't see it.

"It was green, Master Bruce." Alfred's gazed off into the past. "Pale, moss green. Mrs. Wayne read that it was a calming color. She had a great fear that you might be a colicky baby."

"Did it work?" Bruce asked eagerly.

"Of course not." Alfred said with a sardonic smile. "Colic doesn't care what color the room is."

"Alfred, I -" Bruce started but was cut off by a shrill voice calling his name.

"Mr. Wayne?" A tiny, mocha-skinned nurse called from the same door Selina had disappeared into a little while earlier. "They're ready for you."

Bruce followed the nurse's instructions down the hall to the third door on the right. He knocked and waited politely to be invited in. He was afraid of the scene he might stumble upon if he entered unannounced.

The doctor opened the door and beckoned Bruce to a chair. Selina was laying on the examination table in a cloth gown with a thin blanket covering her lower half. Bruce tried not to think too much about what was hidden by that blanket.

"It's twins!" Selina said loudly before Bruce could sit.

"What?!" Bruce stumbled backward until he ran into the doorframe.

Selina and the doctor both laughed.

"You're lucky he didn't pass out." The doctor chided Selina. "That's a good way to end up with a dad-to-be with a concussion. I've had to treat one too many concussed dads-to-be."

"So it's not twins?" Bruce asked as his heart restarted.

"Relax." the doctor soothed. "We'll still need to do the sonogram first before we know, but no, probably not."

"Uh... Okay." Bruce gave Selina an unfriendly scowl.

The doctor extended her hand for Bruce to shake.

"Mr. Wayne, I'm Dr. Jiu. I'm glad to finally meet you. Your family has always been very good to our little hospital." She gushed.

"And will continue to be so in the future. If I have anything to do with it," Bruce promised, shaking the doctor's hand before taking his seat.

"How are we doing?" He asked Selina.

"So far, so good." Selina shrugged, but she reached out her hand for him to take.

Dr. Jiu pulled the gown up so Selina's stomach was exposed.

"I'm sorry, this might be cold." The doctor apologized as she squirted a tube of clear slime onto Selina's skin.

Selina's hand twitched ever so slightly in Bruce's but otherwise she didn't flinch. Bruce noticed that her pupils were dilated. With fear or excitement, he couldn't tell.

Dr. Jiu pressed the white wand into Selina's abdomen. Bruce was concerned that she might push too hard and hurt the baby. He had to remind himself several times that the doctor knew what she was doing.

After a few seconds, the little screen showed wiggling black and grey blobs. It reminded Bruce of a Rorschach. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he was fixated on seeing something meaningful on the little monitor.

A face appeared in profile. Selina inhaled sharply and squeezed Bruce's hand. Bruce was amazed at how perfectly human it looked. He had read that the baby was about the size of a mouse at this point. It would fit in the palm of his hand and yet, it was entirely, recognizably human.

He looked at Selina's face, which was also in profile, and tried to compare them. He wondered if the baby would look just like her or if it would resemble him instead. Maybe it would be a perfect blend of them both, her eyes and his nose.

Maybe it will look like my mother. The thought blurred his vision with unshed tears.

The face disappeared and the screen went back to being unidentifiable squiggles. The doctor pointed out a spot that was rapidly fluttering.

"That's the heartbeat. Don't worry, it's supposed to be that fast." Dr. Jiu reassured them. "That's a strong little heart, there."

Bruce put his finger on the pulse point in his own neck for comparison.

"The belly looks good." The doctor said as the shapes changed. "Do you want to know if you're having a boy or a girl?"

"I thought you couldn't tell for another few weeks," Selina said.

"Sometimes," Dr. Jiu replied. "But the baby's in a good position right now. I think I can get a clear shot for you. Shall we?"

Bruce nodded enthusiastically. He needed to know what color to paint the nursery.

"Ms. Kyle? It's up to you." The doctor asked.

"Selina?" Bruce looked at her. She looked like she wasn't so sure.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know."

"How about this. I'm going to write it down and put it in a sealed envelope for you." The doctor suggested. "That way you can open it later if and when you decide you want to know."

"That... That sounds good." Selina sounded relieved.

"Sex should be fine," Dr. Jiu said at the end of the visit. She looked pointedly at Bruce, whose ears started to burn, then back at Selina. "Just listen to what your body is telling you, but if you have cramping afterwards that lasts for more than a few minutes or bleeding anytime, call me. You can always call me. I'd rather hear from you too much than not at all. Congratulations on making it to your second trimester."

"Only twenty-seven more weeks to go," Selina said sardonically.