More Than a Lifetime #7: Deliberation

Chapter 2: Third Time's a Charm

"Yes! Will you get some from the replicator?"

"I don't think it's programmed." Dukat lay down, shifting back to a sleeping position.

"But I really want some."

Dukat closed his eyes. He knew where this was going, and he didn't like it. Why couldn't she just be happy with the ice cream and the thousands of other choices programmed into the replicator? "Darling, isn't there anything else that you would like?"

"No. Right now I want sardines. Now."

Dukat had been through eight pregnancies before. He knew the futility of trying to talk through this rationally, because there was no rationale this early in the morning. She was going to bug him until she got the damned sardines, so he might as well get up and be on his way.

"Okay, darling, I'll go out and get them right now," Dukat obliged and reluctantly forced his eyes open. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and placing them on the floor. Of all the days, she had to get a craving for sardines when both Melba and Rowat were away. If only this craving had come a few hours later, when Melba and Rowat would have returned. And she had to want something that no one could find on this side of the planet. Dukat would have to transport all the way to the other side of Prime to find these things.

He stood and wandered over to the closet, found some pants and a shirt, and pulled them on. He hoped this place that he was going to was open. If not, he would have to order them to open just for him. He would have to see about having someone sell these sardines closer to home.

Xxx

The foot rub that Dukat had given Dani before he'd left for work had been pure heaven for her swollen ankles. When he'd returned with her sardines, her feet had begun to ache, so he'd sacrificed more sleep and masssaged them. His hands had worked magic, and she wished that he could have stayed home from the office today. She felt like she was about to pop.

And then she started to. Dukat had been gone for a few hours already, and the lunch hour was approaching. Dani was on her way down stairs, headed for the dining room for lunch, when something inside her changed, and she knew what it was.

She walked into the kitchen, holding her belly and breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that Rowat was there. That meant she wouldn't have to go anywhere else to find him. "Rowat," she said to him.

Rowat was sitting at the table when Dani walked in. One look at her, and he knew immediately that something was wrong. "What is it?" he asked.

"I just had a contraction," Dani told him. "I think it's time."

"Time?" Rowat repeated. "You mean time?" Dani nodded. Rowat sprang to his feet and was at Dani's side immediately. He led her over to a chair and gently seated her. "Get us a transport," Rowat directed Melba, who stood nearby.

"Yes, sir," she said, disappearing into another room to take care of the transport.

Rowat turned his attention back to Dani. "How do you feel?" he asked her.

"I'm okay right now," she said.

"Are you in any pain?" he asked.

"A little. But it'll probably get worse."

"We'll have you to the hospital shortly," Rowat informed her. "We would do a site-to-site transport, but they say it isn't recommeded for pregnant women except in cases of extreme emergency."

Dani nodded. "Sounds like you've been studying."

"I wanted to be sure I'd be prepared in case something like this happened."