Quills: the Rise of the Northern Matriarch-Chapter 96: Strict Limits

"I will be out in one second," Talan called out. Today was his birthday and the day when he would learn the gender of his child. Talan finished his work on the medical software and closed his Interface as he heard a knock on the door. He did not know why he was so nervous. He took a deep breath and stood up and straightened his clothing. He was twenty years old, and he was going to be a father. He knew he had support, he had the knowledge from being with the family for over a year now. He was there for Kelly's birth. He woke up some nights when Nora fed her. A small version of him and her would be coming in under twenty-eight weeks. That was a short amount of time. He approached the door as she opened it.

"There you are handsome. Come here, birthday boy." Nora said as she came into the office. She turned on the light before hugging him. "I am excited to see the new scans. I know I can go anytime, it feels so special waiting for these milestones." Nora said as she melted into his arms. She ran her fingers through his hair and planted a big kiss on his lips. "Mmmm." Nora said.

"Another one, please." Talan said as he wrapped his arms around her. Nora pressed her lips into his and he kissed and sucked them. He enjoyed the brief one on one moments they stole away from the others together. He looked at the goddess in his arms and tickled her side a little as he smiled at her as she giggled.

"Hey, I already have problems with peeing myself now with baby Talan. They have taken up residence on top of my bladder." Nora said as she pouted. "Just kidding, that was nothing. Are you ready?" Nora said, cocking her head to the side. Talan seemed really stressed out recently. She knew he was working really hard on creating a new operating system for the technology inside their body. He was making a version that took all the archaic punishment tools and grading systems out of it. It had to have versions for protection. Which took up Kai and Kadir's time for consultations. Kadir was like this when he was starting off his independent venture. Talan nodded to her and took her hand.

"Are Kai and Kadir done with their work today yet?" Talan asked. He smiled reassuringly at Nora. She looked further along than she should be. Had she gained weight?

"No, it will be just us. They are busy, again." Nora said with a sigh. He expected to see Kai at this particular appointment since Solina had offered to take care of most of the liaison with Lara by creating mutual allegiance to protect their children mutually. It would be good for them to have more solidarity. Kadir, Liem and Cerez decided that the other children would need more security than the allegiance and enlisted Kai's assistance. They were teaching the Droids military training, another avenue for the Droids. Nora's mimicry and logic program created possibilities. Teaching a willing, but dumb piece of equipment was complicated. They walked hand in hand down the hallways as the doors automatically slid open on their way to the Clinic to find Janel and Kai already talking.

"Happy Birthday Talan!" Janel said as he came closer. He pulled a small parcel from his pocket. He had braided a bracelet out of hide for Talan for his birthday."This is for you. I made it myself." Janel said smiling as he handed the package to the handsome young man. "Monil sends his thanks for the toys you sent Van." Janel said to Nora.

"We should have dinner soon as a family. I miss Monil and Van." Nora said as the four of them walked into the clinic, past his reception and into a room. Talan helped her on to the scanner bed. The scan was always quick.

"Wait, I am here. Do not let me miss out." Kai pushed his way into the room, winded. Nora beamed at him. Her disappointment was waning.

"Alright, let's see who we got in here. Interesting. It is good that you waited. It looks like we have two again. A male and a female. You are outnumbered now." Janel said with a laugh.

"A son and a daughter. Congratulations Talan." Kai said, slapping his shoulder. Talan froze.

"How did the scanner miss this?" Talan said as he looked at the image. He felt his heart pounding in his chest. He was pissed at the flaw in the programming and shocked.

"Sometimes the scanner misses one before nine weeks. Nora had her first scan at six weeks to confirm the pregnancy.

"Finally, a boy, this is such great news. He is going to be spoiled." Nora said happily. Talan started to grin widely. Nora gave him such happiness. Now he was getting a second name and two children. The big goofy grin spread across his face. Nora smiled back at him. He moved and grabbed a copy of their images. He spun the image around looking at the small avocado-sized infants. He was invigorated and inspired by his children.

"Thank you, Nora, they are the best present I have ever gotten." Talan said happily. Nora laughed loudly.

"I believe you gave them to me." Nora said, smiling.

"This being your fourth pregnancy in such a short span of time requires a lot more care. You need to take care during resting this pregnancy. As your doctor, I recommend that you do not do any strenuous work like cooking, cleaning, heavy lifting, running or intense activity. As always for intercourse, please carefully adhere to the guidelines strictly." Janel advised Nora. This broke the atmosphere.

"What do you mean, Janel?" Nora asked.

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"You will have to greatly limit your activity this time. I am sorry to break this part of the news with you. Travel might be out of the question as well." Janel said with an authoritative tone.

"Alright. I guess I will have to let you all dote on me like when I fell and hit my head the first time. At least my head will not throb this time." Nora said.

 'It might be nice to paint and play instruments. Perhaps Monil could teach her the more sophisticated style that he played on the Teere. They would have to rethink child care for the next five months.' Nora thought. Kai looked at her with a worried look, her last pregnancy was really hard on her. Her interface blocked pain and that caused her to over do it. He worried whether she would actually take his advice seriously this time. Janel pasted another monitor on her. Talan was jarred back to reality and felt anxiety creeping into his heart.

"This time you have to take it easy. Cooking like you did last time would be too risky, Nora. Even childcare." Kai said with a nervous look on his face.

"That was a couple of years ago now. Do you remember your last couple of cycles when you were carrying Kelly? You were miserable and in a lot of discomfort." Kai looked at her with concern in his eyes. Talan remembered how tired she was and her sore back and edema.

"We will rearrange our schedules. Do not worry." Talan said.

"It is alright, I can stay put and follow instructions. We will get through this. I will not give you a hard time on this." Nora said, a little sad that she would have to reduce what she did for some time. It meant that she would have to find alternative ways to spend her time."It is going to be so boring. There is so much I want to do," Nora whined.

"I will need to hire someone to take over for me in the entertainment office. Does Monil know anyone trustworthy in the business?" Nora asked Janel. Nora knew how hard it could be with a new infant. You will have to get up in the middle of the night, even at nine months. Even though she had plenty of support, it was still exhausting. Janel and Monil only had each other to count on. Van was still very young at nine months. She could not do that to her best friends.