Expecting (Sollmann's and Alistair)

Selena had made an appointment the next day to see a healer. She was pretty sure that she was pregnant she just needed a healer to confirm what she thought. She loved the looked on Horst's face when she gave him his present. She was glad that he was excited about having a baby.

When she checked in they told her she would be seeing the new intern healer that was there, but they assured her that he was really good. So they took her into a room where she had to wait for him. She had told Horst about her appointment and he said he would be there as soon as he could he had something else to do.

Horst was really excited for today, they were going to see a healer. Today they would find out if Selena was pregnant. He hoped she was, he really wanted to have another child now that they'd decided on it. Maybe two or three more eventually.

He walked into the hospital, and found the room Selena was in. Rushing to it, he entered the room. "Hi honey, sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything?" he asked her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek, he took a seat next to her.

Alistair briskly walked down the corridors of Mungo's, adjusting his Healer robes slightly. He would be handling his first patients today. It was simple, an enquiry of whether the witch was pregnant or not, but extra precautions were being taken since the dreaded virus was going around. Alistair specialized more in magical curses and psychosis, but such cases had died down to a trickle in recent times, and his internship deadline was approaching. Alistair had made his distaste of sickness extremely clear, so they had assigned him this. All in all, not a bad first case.

Alistair pushed open the door and walked in, seeing the woman and her husband already seated. Alistair turned around the table and took the leather armchair behind it, facing them. It would have been polite to wish them a good morning first if all, but as always, Alistair's truth disorder kicked in. "Its not a very bright day today, so I'm not wishing you a good morning, but hopefully that will change after the diagnosis results." The clients were probably going to raise their eyebrows at this declaration, they didn't know about his condition after all, but Alistair couldn't really care. He extended a hand, tone professional, "Alistair Kane, Apprentice Healer."

Selena had been sitting awhile when the door opened she thought he would be the healer, but was glad when it was Horst. She gave him a kiss in return.

"Thats ok dear I understand, and no you haven't missed anything.". Selena sighed she was very nervous with everything that was going around and sometimes she doubted herself with this idea. But if they waited until the virus was completly gone then they would be too old for children.

Selena was glad when the door opened again it was the healer. She was a little taken back by the healers demeaner but knew she would have no choice but to have this one.

"Hello Healer Kane, and yes I hope I have a better morning."

Selena was very nervous and reached over and squeezed Horst's hand.

Horst saw how nervous she was. Hopefully he could help her relax a little bit just by being here with her. He was too, but not as much as her. Of the two of them, he was normally the calmer one...well, when he wasn't in one of his childish moods.

"That's good, glad I made it in time." he said happily. Reaching over, he gripped one of her hands in his, intertwining their fingers. It was clear to him that she was second guessing herself, but he wasn't. In his opinion, he was happy they decided to have more children and he thought it was an excellent idea.

This healer was pretty blunt, Horst just took it in stride. Getting up, he shook the man's hand firmly. "Nice to meet you, Healer Kane. Thanks for seeing us." he told him. It was true the morning wasn't the best.

When she grabbed his hand and squeezed he wasn't surprised at all. He held hers and squeezed back, reassuring her it would be okay.

The couple took his bluntness surprisingly well, a fact Alistair appreciated because it was simply difficult to work with clients who weren't well disposed towards him. After shaking Mr. Sollman's hand, Alistair got up and gestured to a comfortable armchair to the side of the room, "If Mrs. Sollman would kindly take the seat, I can begin with the diagnostic spells."

Alistair walked around the table, and addressed the man since he seemed to be the calmer one here, left hand idly spinning a glass paperweight, "Apart from the simple pregnancy diagnosis, I would request your permission for a few more spells, for checking the health of the mother and if any infection has entered the body. Its a simple precaution, but recommended. I suppose you are already aware of the virus that has been going around."

Horst watched as the man went about his job. He had a firm handshake, that was always good. Mr. Kane seemed to know what he was about, despite how young he was he had confidence in this kid. There was a look in his eyes that spoke of intelligence.

The spinning of the glass paperweight must be a habit of his, he did it without even thinking about it. "Of course, Healer Kane. You can go ahead and do all those spells. Yes I know about the virus, we almost decided not to try because of it. Do what you need to do, I know you'll do a good job." he told him, clapping him on the back.

When Healer Kane mentioned the Virus Selena got a little nervous but she sat on the table and laid back so he could do what he needed to do. Once again she started to have second thoughts about having children, but once again she was having a inner battle about it.

She let Horst handler talking to the healer because for some reason her voice could not be found. She just reached over after he shook the healers hand and grabbed it back. He could probably tell she was shaking a little.

"What needs to be done, I want everything to be ok." She choked out a little.

Horst noticed Selena thinking about the virus. It made her so nervous about this, and it made him as well. This was what they wanted though, it was going to be worth the risk having more children to love. When he made a decision he stuck with it, the decision had been made and so he was ready to move forward. She wasn't that way though, she always questioned her decisions.

Now she was shaking, and he gave her hand a light squeeze. Leaning over, he whispered in her ear, "It's going to be alright, Selena. Trust me, love." Then he sat back in his chair and let the Healer do his job, still holding on to her soft hand. To take her mind off things, he started rubbing circles on it.

Alistair smiled faintly. The couple in front of him clearly loved each other greatly. You hardly got to see this kind of affection nowadays. "If you do have a child, then he'll be born to good parents." Alistair commented quietly. He spoke what was on his mind, which wasn't always harsh.

Alistair walked over to Mrs. Sollman and withdrew his wand, holding it aloft with a steady hand. A string of Latin escaped his lips rapidly, almost indiscernible, as the wand glowed blue in perfect synchronization. About a minute later, Mrs. Sollman's stomach glowed golden gently. Or to be more specific, there were two separate orbs of light, a faint, healthy gold.

Alistair smiled again, and turned to Mr. Sollman, "Congratulations."

Selena took comfort as her husband held onto her hand as the healer came over her and did the testing. She could not help but smile when he made the comment about being good parents, maybe she would like this healer after all.

When two orbs of light came out Selena looked at the healer, "What does that mean?"

Selena had never seen that before.

Horst was shocked as he saw two orbs of light appear, both golden. Before he'd only seen one, could that mean twins? He was pretty sure that it did, and grinned widely. The kid thought they'd be good parents, that was nice.

"I think it means twins, Selena." he told her. "You're pregnant!" he bellowed, kissing her in celebration.

Alistair could barely resist an amused smile. Here there were two adults, clearly extremely mature, celebrating like they were the teenagers here, not he. But he supposed that was the joy, the elation that parenthood brought. "Yes, you're right. That does mean twins."

Alistair patiently waited for the initial happiness to die down, wand still held aloft. "If I may, may I conduct the other health tests? It is good news no doubt, but it is important to check if the mother and the children are well and healthy. And under no danger from the virus."

"Wow, our family hasn't had twins for a few generations. This is amazing." he said, stunned. He hoped they would be girls, Horst smiled at the thought of two beautiful girls running around the house. Now he sat back down in the seat next to her, still holding Selena's hand.

"Of course, of course. Do what you need to do Healer Kane." he told the man. This was so amazing, he just sat there smiling widely. In just nine months or so, they'd have two more children. There were two little miracles growing in his wife's belly.

This was slightly more complicated than the pregnancy diagnosis spell. This time, Alistair pointed his wand specifically at the centre if Mrs. Sollman's forehead, murmuring the string of Latin that was so familiar to him. A healthy pinkish-reddish glow, a good sign. Of course, there were some hints of purple around the edges, but that could merely indicate that the patient had suffered from the common cold a few days prior, nothing more.

Then Alistair pointed his wand at Mrs. Sollman's heart, the core of her magical strength, and murmured the same string of Latin. Nothing happened.

Alistair frowned, and repeated, voice louder, enunciating each word clearly. Still nothing.

Without pausing too much to think, Alistair performed the spell of his own invention, designed specifically based upon his study of the virus. There were a few tense, silent moments. Then, the spot glowed pink.

Alistair released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He would have hated to give any kind of bad news to this couple. "Everything is normal. The mother's vitals look healthy. But.."Alistair glanced back at the pink glow with a core of white. "The mother seems susceptible to infections. I would recommend you to be very careful. Don't take any unnecessary risks. A check-up after every month is ideal."

Selena was excited when he said that she was pregnant with twins, she would really be busy then and that was just what she want, to be busy. But then with twins she would probably want to talk to Horst about getting a house elf to help just incase she needed it.

When the healer went on to run different tests when he got to the one test that she was not sure what it was she got a little nervous about what was happening and when it was plain that the healer was having problems she started to have tears rold down her eyes and she was practically breaking Horst's hand when the healer told them she was suseptable to things she really got scared.

"Healer Kane, what can I do? Anything I want to be ok, I want my babies ok"

When Healer Kane told them his wife was more susceptible to things he squeezed her hand tightly. This was not news they had been hoping for. But, at least she didn't have anything right now. That at least was good news. If she was sick already he wouldn't have known what to do.

Horst nodded at what she was saying. "Yes, anything we can do to prevent her from getting sick I'll do." he stated firmly. He did not want anything to happen their twins or Selena.

Alistair was thinking about all the possibilities carefully. "Well, we don't know how the virus propagates yet, whether it spreads by touch alone, or if it is food, water, or air-borne. That's why for now I'll recommend you to take some basic precautions. Cast a Sterilizing Charm on every morsel of food you eat. Don't drink outside water. Keep away from crowded places as much as possible. Take Health and Immunization Potions regularly."

Then Alistair paused a bit. "I don't have the authority to tell you this next part, but from my personal studies, I've estimated that there might just be a Muggle component to this virus. Of course, I'm only an apprentice Healer, so the Board of Directors of Mungo's or the Head Healers aren't really interested." There was a light bitter undertone to these words. Ideas were ideas, even if they came from an intern. But of course people refused to see that.

"Anyway, I would have told you hence, to pick up a Muggle antibiotic as well. It is available at any Muggle chemist's. But then again, since I have no authorization.." Alistair shrugged. "You're free to consult a senior Healer."

Selena listened to the Healer talk about this that she could do to protect herself and she was willing to do anything. Heck she would keep herself trapped inside the house if she had too.

Selena tried to stay strong, "Well Healer Kane I have learned in my time it is usually the newer people who know what is better for people than the people who have been doing it for a long time."

Selena sighed a little, "I don't need to have someone else's thoughts I trust you and I will do what you think."

Horst nodded in agreement with his wife, what he said had made since and he trusted this young buck. If he thought those precautions would help then they would take them. Nothing would fix it if he lost his wife or the twins because they didn't listen to him. He wanted his family to be as safe as possible with all this danger about.

"I agree with Selena, for some reason I trust you. So we'll take the precautions you suggested and if you think of anything else we need to do, owl us. We can come back if needed, we want to stay safe." he said. Then, getting up, he shook the man's hand again. "Thank you, young man. You did yourself proud today. I think it's time to head home now unless you have anything to add."

Alistair's lips curved up into a smile. Few people were that uncaring about rank and position, to accept the advice of an intern Healer without question. He shook Mr. Sollman's hand with equal firmness, inclining his head in thanks for the appreciation. "Thank you Mr. Sollman. If anything comes to light, especially any vaccine for the virus, I'll make sure to owl you." Then turning to his wife. "Keep healthy and safe, ma'am."

Then with a smile, remembering his first words to the Sollmans. "Have a good morning. It was truly a pleasure to meet you."