>2 weeks later<
Will's POV:
Nico has his first ultrasound today and I was really excited. I couldn't wait. Nico had gotten bigger. He was not happy about that. What did he expect at 9 weeks and 4 days? He barely had a bump and I could put my hand over the little curve. One of the things everyone knew about Nico was he was always really skinny and he had a heart attack when he learned he had gained weight. It was a sensitive subject for him. He liked things being the same and didn't like change. His weight was one of those unchanging things. This was hard on him.
"Nico are you almost done in the bathroom?" I asked
"No. I'm never coming out." Nico said
"Come on please baby." I asked "You already came out once."
He opened the door and touched his stomach. I wanted to kiss his stomach and watch it swell with my baby. I wanted him to get big and feel the kicks. I wanted to feel his body and rub his aching self. I wanted him to be happy with my baby in him. I hated seeing him so sad and unhappy with himself.
"I have gotten really f-fat." He said sobbing "I l-look like a p-pregnant h-hobbit!"
"No no no no. You are just getting bigger, because the baby needs room to grow. You aren't fat you're...uh...pregnant. You don't look like a hobbit. You look so handsome and you take my breath away every time I look at you." I said
"That was smooth." Nico said after he calmed down
He stared at me. I knew what he was doing. He was looking for a lie. He was pretty good at it too. He let a small smile play on his lips. He was glowing with youth. At night sometimes, I would wake up to him cuddled against me and his bump was pushing on my abs. I could sometimes even feel him shift against me and at time I would find him laying on his side protecting his bump.
>At the Ultrasound<
Nico was sitting on the bed with pillows around him. His bump was showing, because Artemis had made him pull up his shirt. He looked so beautiful. Artemis had a small ultrasound machine and the little wand.
"Okay so I am going to put this gel on your stomach. It will be cold." Artemis said
Nico shivered a little. I grabbed his hand and gave it a small squeeze. Artemis was using mortal ways of doing things, because she didn't want to harm the baby. While godly ways worked for us, we were afraid of harming the baby. I didn't want Artemis to use godly ways.
"I can see uh...1 baby I think. I need you to relax Nico. Everything will be all right. You need to stop clenching you're stomach, because the machine can't get a good read. If it isn't we gods and goddesses will do what we can without tempting fate." Artemis said
Nico shook his head no. I made sure he was looking at me when I kissed his lips. He melted and his lip trembled. I held him as close as I could to me without getting the gel on my clothes. I stroked his hair and I let him muzzle against my chest.
"I'm afraid. What if my past experiences with everything have hurt the baby or babies? I would never be able to live with myself if they died. My job right now is to protect they/them. If I can't protect they/them, then I have already failed as a parent." He said
It broke my heart. I can't believe how afraid he was. He really just wanted our baby safe. I realized if he didn't feel safe the baby wouldn't either. I held out my hand and Nico took it. I rubbed my thumb over his hand. He leaned in and I rubbed my hand over his face. Nico became relaxed after a little while. I whispered in his ear and made him blush. Artemis moved the wand.
"Okay, I see two...three babies. Congrats you are having triplets!" Artemis exclaimed
Triplets. Oh no. That's a whole lot at once. I can't- I don't- Three? We are only two people and getting up at night for three babies who all are crying. That's going to be hard. Nico looked over at me with a smile on his face. The next thing I saw was darkness.
Nico's POV:
Will had just calmed me down when I heard the best news.
"Okay, I see two...three babies. Congrats you are having triplets!" Artemis exclaimed loudly
I looked over at Will with a smile, but he looked at me and then slumped back into his chair.
"Will!" I said my excitement turning to fear
I moved over quickly. I grabbed his head and sat him up. He was still in the chair next to me, but I was afraid of him falling. My shirt was ruined by the gel, but all that mattered to me was my future husband being okay. Artemis came over and put her hand on Will. He woke up with a start bumping my nose hard. I grabbed my nose as it started bleeding.
"I'm so sorry!" Will exclaimed grabbing a towel and putting it under my nose
Artemis smiled and healed my nose. My shirt, stomach, and nose were magically cleaned.
"Please sit back down. I need to give you the pictures and I need to check you." Artemis said
I sat back down and Artemis started to feel around my stomach by pushing on specific spots as if she was feeling for something. Will watched me carefully not letting her touch me too hard.
I winced when she pushed on the side of my stomach and Will asked her to touch me lighter. For a moment his eyes flashed with anger and he wrapped his arms around me protecting me. She nodded and gave me ultrasound pictures of the babies.
"Okay, so a few thing. Lift no more than 25 pounds. 10-13 pounds. If you have to 25. Don't use bleach and try to use less cleaning products. The fumes are not good. Avoid any roller coasters, climbing high or doing a lot of training. No cleaning a little box or cleaning after your dog." Artemis said
>After the ultrasound<
Still Nico's POV:
We walked out hand in hand. In one hand Will was holding the ultrasound pictures we got. Artemis took them and they turned out great. We got into the car and sat for a minute. He reached out his hand and rubbed my stomach. I could see my stomach had softened and I now had a bump. It was definitely there and different from my usual all bones frame.
"We should tell everyone at Sally and Paul's anniversary. All the kids will be there and everyone." Will said "Then tell them we are having three babies. We can also show them the ultrasound pictures."
"Okay. I can't wait until tomorrow night. I know most of us don't drink, so I am bringing some Sparkling Apple Cider. I can have that and so can everybody else. Can we bring three bottles, Sunshine?" I asked "Can we also photocopy the ultrasound pictures? I want to send one to Mom and I want to put the others in the baby books. We need three. Oh wow! Three of everything!"
"Can we also give one to Sally and Paul? Can we give the others the ultrasound if they want them?" I asked
"Whatever you want, Neeks." Will said