A month went by with no further disasters except for one of a personal nature. As he entered the elevator at the start of another work day, the doors were halted by a paw and followed by a breathless Lt Commander Steele.
"Excuse me." He gasped as he jumped in. A second later he realized his Commander was the occupant in the elevator. "Ah, sir, I..." He started to greet Feral and halted in shock. He'd been gone for the past month as punishment for the kidnapping debacle and so was not prepared for the change in the Commander's appearance upon his return. Feral's pregnancy barely showed when he'd left but now..."Sir! You're huge!" Steele blurted and blushed at his insensitive remark wishing he had failed to catch the elevator in the first place by the annoyed look on Feral's face.
Feral's eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw. It was bad enough he felt like he'd swallowed a beach ball without having that twit, Steele, pointing it out to him. "Would you like to return to where you spent the last month, Steele?" He hissed.
Steel swallowed, "No sir. I'm sorry sir! It's just...well... you aren't that far along to be showing that much, sir! Are you having twins?" He couldn't resist asking just as he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from that swollen belly.
Sighing in resignation, Feral grunted, "I don't know. I'll find out, I'm sure, at my next OB visit." He was relieved when Steele wisely said nothing more as they got out of the elevator at Feral's floor. Steele went off to his own office down the corridor while Feral greeted his secretary briefly and stalked into his own office.
He dropped into his chair and turned to look out the window. He grimaced unhappily. His paw rubbed his swollen abdomen absently. It had ballooned out seemingly overnight and there seemed to be much more movement than he'd felt before. He was afraid Steele's observation might be accurate. It was hard enough to keep his mate from interfering but once he saw him now... he rubbed his forehead in frustration. 'Crud! That tiger will be impossible.'
Shere had already contacted him to say their new home was completed and he would be arriving within the week. He'd asked Ulysses to prepare to move from his longtime apartment to their new penthouse above Khan Industries, Megakat Division. Another tower similar to his Cape Suzette facility. He would miss the privacy of his apartment but couldn't deny the appeal to waking up beside his mate every morning.
Sighing again, he set his annoyance aside and tried to get some work done. He had an OB appointment later that afternoon. He'd know then what he had to look forward to.
Felina showed up to take her uncle to his appointment. His belly made it too difficult to drive now much to his annoyance. He strode down the stairs and struggled to climb into his seat. Felina had to pull the seat belt across her uncle, since he couldn't and snick it in. By tacit agreement, they talked shop and didn't mention anything about his pregnancy. At the doctor's office she waited down at the car though she really wanted to hear what the doctor had to say.
Lying on his back in a darkened room and wearing next to nothing, Feral fumed as he waited for Dr. Harwood to arrive. Moments later, he bustled in briskly.
"Just a minute, Commander while I get you prepped here." He said as he spread a jell on Feral's belly. "Alright let's see what we can see." He murmured quietly as he rubbed the ultrasound wand around Feral's abdomen.
On the screen next to them, Feral could make out an image or was that more than one? He squinted. He couldn't be sure.
"Okay. See here..." Dr. Harwood pointed to one form that now coalesced into a distinct shape. "Here's one and..." He moved the wand upward, "here's another." Then he moved the wand from side to side then downward, "Well...and here's one more." After searching carefully around and checking heartbeats, the doctor shut off the machine. "I have to admit I'm surprised, but the ultrasound shows clearly you are having triplets." Dr. Harwood said gravely.
Feral just gaped at him in shock. 'Triplets! Oh God no!'
Dr. Harwood gently patted the Commander's shoulder then wiped the jell from Feral's belly. "This is very serious, Ulysses. One was hard enough on your system, two would have made things even more difficult, but this...this is cause for grave concern. As a male, you already know pregnancy is a strain on a system not really designed completely to handle it as a hundred percent female is. The stress levels have now been raised phenomenally by this multiple pregnancy. High blood pressure is a serious risk. You will have to take it easy and be restricted to your office from now on. The only good news is your pregnancy will be much shorter it's normally seven months. Yours may well be only five and half months. You will find yourself confined to a bed for the last three weeks due to the very high risk of premature labor." Dr. Harwood delivered the hard facts to his still stunned patient.
Feral groaned and closed his eyes. This just couldn't be happening! If Shere had his way, Feral would never set foot in his office for the rest of the pregnancy and by what Dr. Harwood was saying, he would be anyway within another month. He really wanted to shoot that tiger for getting him into this mess! He barely heard what else, Dr. Harwood was saying, too wrapped up in the myriad of problems this new development was going to cause him.
After making another appointment within a week, he left with heavy steps back to his car and the waiting Felina. Felina stared at her Uncle as he struggled to get in his seat again. His expression was not happy. As she helped latch his belt, she quietly asked, "What did the doctor say, Uncle?"
"It's triplets." Feral said thickly, his thoughts flying elsewhere.
Felina had been snapping her seatbelt on when he answered her. She jerked her head up sharply and gaped at her Uncle. "Triplets?" She gasped.
He winced at her shocked shout. "Yeah. What a mess! Dr. Harwood says I will most likely deliver early, like about a month and a half from now and what's worse, he informs me I will be placed on bed rest for the last three weeks due to the risk of early labor." He groaned unhappily. "That means I only have a month to see to the completion of those sensitive investigations that I have been monitoring or to find someone to take them over for me."
"I'm sorry Uncle, but congratulations anyway. Look! I can help you get whatever you need to complete or at least assist the one you have taking care of it. That is, as long as it isn't Steele." She grimaced. "Isn't Khan due in this week? Do you need help getting moved to your new apartment?" Felina asked as she drove them back to Enforcer Headquarters.
"That tiger is going to be nagging me constantly once he finds out." Feral moaned. "And no, I don't need help. Shere is having movers pick up my stuff in two days. Shere hasn't told me the exact date he's arriving only that it is this week." He winced as his back tightened. He'd had more problems with his lower back aching due to the weight of the kittens. He moaned as he attempted to reach behind him and rub a particularly bad spot.
"Your back acting up, Uncle?" Felina asked concerned.
"Yes. It's been getting worse the past week." He sighed giving up trying to ease the ache.
"Well the day is almost over. Maybe you should lay down and put a heat pack on it. I'd suggest a bath but I'm worried about you getting in and out of the tub safely. Getting off your feet may help some." Felina said thoughtfully.
"It hurts to sit, stand or lay down." Feral grumbled wearily. "And you're right, I can't get in the tub much less get out of it. That will have to wait until Shere gets here."
Felina pulled into the Commander's parking spot. She unlocked his seatbelt and went around to help him get out. She provided him an arm he could grasp to lever himself out and up. He staggered a little as he got his feet under him and placed a paw on his lower back as he carefully straightened up. He bit his lip at the ache in his back and realized his bladder needed emptying urgently. Sighing in frustration, he made his way as quickly as he could for the main doors and the restroom not far away in the lobby. Many curious and stunned eyes followed his path.
Felina sighed and waited for her uncle to reappear. She felt sorry for him. She could see the toll this pregnancy was taking on him. She wished she could coax him to let her take him home right now but knew it was a lost cause. Her uncle returned and they headed for the elevators.
Back in his office, he went through the projects, reports and investigations he was monitoring trying to determine who among his officers could handle each one properly. Unless he could find a permanent placement for that twit, Steele, that moron was going to be in charge while he was on maternity leave. Sighing heavily, he realized that had to be his number one project - get rid of Steele. Gritting his teeth at a flash of pain from his back, he wished not for the first time a break from the constant ache. As he tried to refocus on his work, the bane of his existence besides the SWAT Kats, bounced into his office.
"Sir, I have that Ferguson report completed for you." Steele said briskly as he strode up to Feral's desk to deposit said report in front of him.
"Wonderful!" Feral said sourly as he took the report and reviewed it. One of the kittens began a sharp tattoo on his side. He dropped the report and pressed his side and moaned.
"Commander, are you alright sir?" Steele asked anxiously. "Should I summon medical help?"
"Shut up, Steele. It's just one of the kittens kicking me." Feral snapped as he continued to push at the active kitten to get it to move but it was not having any. "Crud!" He snarled irritably as he tried to rise from his seat to see if that would ease the kitten away but found he couldn't get up because a nerve was pinched in his leg again probably because of a kitten sitting on it. "Help me get to my feet, Steele." He finally had to ask.
Steele quickly rushed up to Feral's pedestal and carefully reached around the Commander's waist to aid him in standing. On his feet finally, some of his problems did ease off. He turned and leaned against his desk and pushed Steele away from him. "Thank you." He panted.
"Oh! One of them is really moving around." Steele said pointing to Feral's rather active belly.
Feral looked down and watched in tired fascination as his belly rippled. He could feel more than one movement as the kittens apparently shifted a bit. There couldn't be too much room in there for them to go far much less change places.
"Ahh, did you say kittens, sir? So it is twins?" Steele asked rather pleased with himself for being right.
"Not exactly. It's triplets." He sighed distractedly rubbing his belly.
"Triplets? Wow! Did you ever hit the jackpot. What does your mate think of that?" Steele shook his head in amazement.
"He doesn't know yet. He's due in sometime this week that will be soon enough for him to know about it." Feral grunted and waddled off his pedestal for the bathroom.
"Umm, do you want me to wait for you sir or leave?" Steele asked.
"You can go. I'll read it when I get back and call you if there is a need to." Feral said disappearing into his own private latrine glad for a few minutes of privacy. Returning to his desk, he decided he better finish standing up. He didn't want to summon help again to get out of his chair again today. Reading Steele's report was like reading a book. That kat could not write a short, to the point report if his life depended on it. Sighing again, he made some notations and left it for his secretary to return it. Looking at few more reports and making some decisions, he finally called a halt to the day and locked up the sensitive ones in his desk.
He put his coat on, turned and locked his door. Felina was just arriving to take him home. He was soo tired, he decided to have her stop and get take out for them. He was grateful to get home and strip his clothes that were starting to become more and more confining even though his tailor had adjusted his clothes for pregnancy. He was growing out of them again. He hoped he would get some sleep tonight but he didn't hold his breathe on it. Things were only going to get more difficult from here on out.