Read Online CLONER : a Sci-Fi Novel about Human Cloning (A Captivating Story about Reproduction Outside the Womb and Identical Humans) by Emma Lorant - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Emma Lorant
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her bump, and folded her hands in an attitude of prayer.
CHAPTER 6
‘Quite the little shrimp, isn’t he?’ Rita’s loud voice dismissed the newborn she was weighing. ‘He’s only just on five and a half pounds.’
‘He’s two weeks early,’ Alec said coldly. ‘I’m much more worried about his being all right until the special unit arrives. They’re taking their time, aren’t they?’
‘Your little lady pipped them to the post, old man. But we won’t need them now,’ Witherton said. ‘This chappie’s very fit. Look at that hold!’
The new infant gripped the doctor’s hand in such a vice that he could support his own weight. As the doctor demonstrated this feat to Lisa the baby’s big blue eyes seemed to gleam, then wink conspiratorially at her.
‘Doesn’t he need special care?’ Alec was clearly mystified at the sudden change in attitude. ‘I thought anything under five and a half pounds was considered delicate.’
‘It isn’t really just a question of weight. Anyway, he’s virtually there.’ The doctor smiled, as though he personally had been responsible for producing a lusty child. ‘He may be small, but there’s no mistaking those lungs - he could become an opera singer with a pair like that!’
‘He’s certainly going to be a six-footer,’ Rita said, reading the tape measure she was placing from the top of the baby’s head to between his heels. ‘He measures fifty-eight centimetres. That’s nearly twenty-three inches.’
‘Really?’ Witherton went over to look. ‘That’s quite unusual,’ he told Alec. ‘The average is more like twenty.’
‘And just look at those eyes!’ Lisa thought she could hear admiration in Rita’s tone. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was focusing from about four feet. Looking me over.’
Lisa lay back, watching, listening. They weren’t paying any further attention to her. They’d delivered her safely; they were now busy with the new baby, absorbed in their own world. Whatever problems they had anticipated hadn’t appeared. But she knew there was more to it than that - another human being more. She could feel further life stirring within her: a sudden turn as, she imagined, the second baby engaged his head in the birth canal.
Was it another baby? Or was she simply so determined to have twins it was a sort of pseudo pre-birth experience?
‘The bump doesn’t seem to have gone down that much,’ she tried out softly.
‘What, dear? I’ll bring your baby over in a minute.’
‘There still seems to be quite a bump,’ Lisa repeated, raising her voice a decibel. Her unsteady nervous quiver confirmed for Lisa that she was still convinced she was about to produce a second infant. Was she courting disaster with her obsession?
‘Just extra fluid, I expect. There did seem to be a lot of that.’ The midwife glanced at the new mother over her shoulder, her tone bored and long-suffering. ‘You’ll get rid of it in no time.’ She brought the baby over and patted Lisa’s shoulder. ‘What are you going to call him?’
‘Janus,’ Alec announced. He walked after Rita, peering at his new son. ‘He’s even smaller than Seb was.’ He smiled indulgently at Lisa. ‘My wife goes in for small babies,’ he explained to Witherton, ‘but then she’s quite a dainty little thing herself.’
‘A cup of tea would be most – ’
‘The second one’s coming,’ Lisa gasped, bearing down. She’d been right, and this time even the medical profession couldn’t dismiss what was happening.
Rita, caught in the act of sitting down, stood up again. ‘Second one?’ She laughed. ‘Doesn’t like to give us time to get our breath back, eh, doctor? It’s just the afterbirth, my dear.’
Witherton had approached Lisa rapidly. One last strong push and the baby’s head crowned.
‘It is another one! My goodness!’ The doctor was clearly delighted. ‘And you had no idea, of course.’
The actual birth, quicker even than the first,
CHAPTER 6
‘Quite the little shrimp, isn’t he?’ Rita’s loud voice dismissed the newborn she was weighing. ‘He’s only just on five and a half pounds.’
‘He’s two weeks early,’ Alec said coldly. ‘I’m much more worried about his being all right until the special unit arrives. They’re taking their time, aren’t they?’
‘Your little lady pipped them to the post, old man. But we won’t need them now,’ Witherton said. ‘This chappie’s very fit. Look at that hold!’
The new infant gripped the doctor’s hand in such a vice that he could support his own weight. As the doctor demonstrated this feat to Lisa the baby’s big blue eyes seemed to gleam, then wink conspiratorially at her.
‘Doesn’t he need special care?’ Alec was clearly mystified at the sudden change in attitude. ‘I thought anything under five and a half pounds was considered delicate.’
‘It isn’t really just a question of weight. Anyway, he’s virtually there.’ The doctor smiled, as though he personally had been responsible for producing a lusty child. ‘He may be small, but there’s no mistaking those lungs - he could become an opera singer with a pair like that!’
‘He’s certainly going to be a six-footer,’ Rita said, reading the tape measure she was placing from the top of the baby’s head to between his heels. ‘He measures fifty-eight centimetres. That’s nearly twenty-three inches.’
‘Really?’ Witherton went over to look. ‘That’s quite unusual,’ he told Alec. ‘The average is more like twenty.’
‘And just look at those eyes!’ Lisa thought she could hear admiration in Rita’s tone. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was focusing from about four feet. Looking me over.’
Lisa lay back, watching, listening. They weren’t paying any further attention to her. They’d delivered her safely; they were now busy with the new baby, absorbed in their own world. Whatever problems they had anticipated hadn’t appeared. But she knew there was more to it than that - another human being more. She could feel further life stirring within her: a sudden turn as, she imagined, the second baby engaged his head in the birth canal.
Was it another baby? Or was she simply so determined to have twins it was a sort of pseudo pre-birth experience?
‘The bump doesn’t seem to have gone down that much,’ she tried out softly.
‘What, dear? I’ll bring your baby over in a minute.’
‘There still seems to be quite a bump,’ Lisa repeated, raising her voice a decibel. Her unsteady nervous quiver confirmed for Lisa that she was still convinced she was about to produce a second infant. Was she courting disaster with her obsession?
‘Just extra fluid, I expect. There did seem to be a lot of that.’ The midwife glanced at the new mother over her shoulder, her tone bored and long-suffering. ‘You’ll get rid of it in no time.’ She brought the baby over and patted Lisa’s shoulder. ‘What are you going to call him?’
‘Janus,’ Alec announced. He walked after Rita, peering at his new son. ‘He’s even smaller than Seb was.’ He smiled indulgently at Lisa. ‘My wife goes in for small babies,’ he explained to Witherton, ‘but then she’s quite a dainty little thing herself.’
‘A cup of tea would be most – ’
‘The second one’s coming,’ Lisa gasped, bearing down. She’d been right, and this time even the medical profession couldn’t dismiss what was happening.
Rita, caught in the act of sitting down, stood up again. ‘Second one?’ She laughed. ‘Doesn’t like to give us time to get our breath back, eh, doctor? It’s just the afterbirth, my dear.’
Witherton had approached Lisa rapidly. One last strong push and the baby’s head crowned.
‘It is another one! My goodness!’ The doctor was clearly delighted. ‘And you had no idea, of course.’
The actual birth, quicker even than the first,
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