Arrivals in the Maternity Ward

Chapter 2
Chapter 2

Chapter Description: To become the perfect bone marrow donor for his newborn daughter, Stan let himself regress into a newborn and change his very DNA to become Emily's twin. With the operation behind them, will the little family find much deserved peace in the maternity ward or are more problems waiting for them? Second of four chapters of the main story! Based on a chat with an AI about the proper treatment of age regressed people ... I wasn't disappointed. Thanks to Areat for going through it and helping me with the polish.

Maria wished she could get some rest, but despite the tiredness she felt in her very bones, the worries about her husband and daughter hardly let her close her eyes. For what felt like the hundredths time she studied the room, despite there not being much to see. A window showing the world outside, a tv she hadn’t the slightest intention to switch on. White walls, a cabinet the robot nurse had put her clothes in and a roll fronted cabinet at her side containing amongst other the private documents.

It feels so empty, Maria thought. Why did I insist on a single room?

The answer was that she thought Stan would want some privacy. She couldn’t imagine how it felt for him to have become a newborn, but she knew he would prefer some solitary with just the three of them. As she heard the faint cry of a newborn in the room next door, she felt that at least she was in the place she belonged to right now, having other mothers nearby, though not in her situation, was a relieve. Dr. Bush had given her this choice to be placed into another wing, but at the same time noticed that the maternity ward with its staff consisting of robot nurses, was most likely better suited for them, given the relative easiness of the operation.

The normality this promised had let Maria to favor this station and the promise of a single room had convinced her, as she had just wished to rest. Yet, it also meant there was no one to talk to and right now she felt the need to share the burden of the day’s events with someone … anyone, but she didn’t even have close enough relatives or friends to call and speak about it. The staff of the maternity ward just being robot nurses meant no hope for human warmth from them and …

The door opened and Dr. Meyer entered with a reassuring smile.

“Mrs. Lockney, I have good news,” he proclaimed. “The procedure was a full success.”

A boulder fell off Maria’s heart and it made a jump, when she noticed two transparent newborn hospital cribs being pushed in by a robot nurse. Occupied cribs.

“Emily?” She wondered. “Stan?”

Dr. Meyer nodded, leaving space for the cribs to be placed next to her bed so she didn’t have to stand up. She bowed over them, seeing the two newborns sleeping there, dressed in identical onesies which left their diapers and curved legs free. The rewriting of Stan’s DNA to make him the perfect bone marrow donor to their daughter had worked perfectly. With their faint blond hair and the same innocent look on their sleeping faces, they truly looked like twins. Maria wouldn’t even have been able to tell who was her daughter and who her husband, if not for the pink plastic identification wristband on Emily’s right wrist and the electronic monitor device on her left ankle, both lacking on Stan.

“Both will be sleeping for a while,” Dr. Meyer explained. “The bone marrow donation went smoothly, but now they need time to recover.”

Maria’s eyes laid on her daughter. “She is truly healed?”

“The first tests indicate this, yes,” the older man explained with a smile. “We will of course monitor it, but I’m very optimistic.”

Her eyes wandered to her husband. “And Stan … he looks so tiny.”

“The regression and operation means he needs time to recover. We will return him to his adult state before you leave the hospital,” the doctor promised. “Until then … he has the reflexes and instincts as your daughter, but don’t worry, his mind remains unchanged.”

“How am I supposed to take care of him?”

“Just like with Emily,” Dr. Meyer noticed firmly. “Stan needs your support during this time. Show him you are there for him.”

Maria nodded weakly, realizing for the first time this meant her husband would truly need the same attention as her daughter, despite his mind not having changed.

“You’ll adapt and it is just for a short time,” the doctor explained warmly. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call the staff. The robot nurses are there for you, day and night.”

Maria nodded again, at least she would have no bad conscience to call them at any time. She looked at the robot nurse who stood a bit aside to give them personal space but was close enough to respond if called. That all the nurses in the maternity ward were androids like this one suddenly seemed like a great boon for her husband, who would most likely react better to be cared for by androids than a real person.

Finally, the doctor and the robot nurse left Maria alone with her husband and newborn daughter. Looking over the crib the new mother for a moment wondered if it had been a mistake, if this newborn boy wasn’t really Stan but a perfectly normal newborn belonging to a mother on the station. This seemed so much more likely than this was her husband and …

Maria took a deep breath and tried to release the tension she still felt. The tension which let her mind go wild for a moment. Hesitantly she touched her regressed husband’s soft cheek, feeling not the ghost of a stubble usually home there. As she moved a bit closer she could smell his shower gel and after shave. No newborn smelled this this! It was Stan. This full realization made her relax. It wasn’t what the easy birth and peaceful first moments Stan and she had prayed for their daughter, but at least they were all healthy and in a few days he would be back to normal.

“I’m so proud of you,” Maria whispered to her husband.

The regressed man stirred slightly in his sleep, his innocent face frowning, but he didn’t wake up. Looking at the two newborns in their transparent cribs, Maria managed a weak smile. Everyone in little family would be fine, she just had to trust in it.

***

Stan and Emily were still sleeping peacefully, when there was a knock at the door, which thankfully didn’t wake them up. Maria looked up and saw a robot nurse entering. There was something about the design she couldn’t put her finger on. An approximation to the traditional human nurse. Human like, but not near the uncanny valley. The friendly face with the shining blue eyes. She even had a name tag. Luna.

“Hello Mrs. Lockney,” the android greeted her. “How are you and your family?”

Looking down into the cribs, she noticed with relief that neither Stan nor Emily were showing any reaction to the voice.

“They are still sleeping and I …” Maria hesitated, realizing how heavy her eyes felt. “I’m close to it …”

“Perfectly fine. It has been a long day for you,” Luna noticed. “Still. I’m afraid there is a problem we need to take care of.”

“A problem?!” Maria instantly felt a fear rushing through her veins, pushing away any tiredness. “Dr. Meyer told me the tests were fine!”

“Oh no, please don’t worry. It is not about Emily,” the robot nurse was quick to try to calm her down in a soft voice. “Unfortunately there seems to have been an error with your husband transfer here.”

Maria looked into the crib where Stan was still sleeping.

“Error?”

“I’m afraid he can’t stay.”

Maria looked at the android with wide eyes. “What?!”

“The maternity ward is for mothers and their newborns,” Robot Nurse Luna explained patiently. “No other adults, not even husbands currently being patients in the hospital, are allowed.”

Maria looked from Luna to Stan, sleeping in his transparent crib and back.

“You realize he currently has the same biological age as our daughter?” She asked with all the calmness she could muster.

The android’s eyes made a quick check.

“Indeed,” she admitted. “I’m programmed with the knowledge of age-regression-process. Still, according to his file he is an adult and the safety regulations of this maternity ward are clear. We must take into account the well-being of all mothers and newborns.”

Maria forced herself to relax, taking a deep breath. Screaming wouldn’t help in anything but wake up Stan and Emily.

“Given this special case,” she began. “Can’t you make an exception? Find a loophole? He did all this for our daughter and look at him. Stan will now need the same help as Emily over the next days.”

Robot Nurse Luna checked her protocol for a way out of this dilemma. The policy was firm. The safety and well beings of the inhabitants of the maternity ward could under no circumstances be compromised, especially that of newborns. Despite his biological age, Stan Lockney was an adult according to his file and had to be treated such according to her programming, which meant he had no place in the maternity ward. Still, the situation caused stress for this mother, something which had to be prevented, too.

Luna checked the regressed man sleeping in his transparent crib. He was indistinguishable from other newborns, especially Emily, who was now his genetic twin instead of his daughter, the same way his wife was genetically now … Her calculations stopped. The way this could work was unorthodox, but robot nurses were programmed to innovate if necessary for the well-being of their patients.

“I might have a solution,” the robot nurse noticed. “We could create a new file for him.”

“A new file?”

“One of him as a newborn. Your son and Emily’s twin”, Luna explained. “Born just minutes after her, as this is when he regressed to his current age.”

Maria couldn’t believe it. “My son?!”

“He is so genetically already.”

“Yes, but …” She didn’t know what to say.

“It would allow him to stay here with you and you to act in his interest while he can’t speak.”

Maria looked at Stan still sleeping in her crib. This felt wrong and she knew he wouldn’t like it, but she was so tired. She didn’t want him to be separated from her in his situation, but neither did she want to be transported to another station. After this day she just wanted to rest and the maternity ward was the very place she wanted Emily to be.

“Only for his stay here?” She asked.

“Of course!” The android assured her. “Once he returns to his proper age, there is no more need for it.”

Maria closed her eyes.

“Fine,” she gave in. “Create the file.”

“For this I have to bring him into the registration room to get his data,” Luna explained. “For his own safety.”

Maria looked at her a long time, then at Stan, finally she nodded wordlessly.

“We will hurry,” Android Nurse Luna promised and began pushing the transparent newborn crib with Stan in it out of the room, only to stop half of the way to the door. “What is his name?”

“What?”

“Under which name shall we register him?” The android clarified.

Maria closed her eyes. She felt so tired. A name appeared in her mind.

“Dylan,” she said.

“Dylan Lockney it will be,” Robot Nurse Luna noticed, as she pushed the crib with its sleeping passenger out of the room. “Don’t worry you will soon have your little one back.”

“Just remember Stan is really my hus …” Maria stopped as the door closed behind the robot nurse.

She took a deep breath. Maybe she could use the time to close her eyes. It had been such an insane day and … It hit her like an electric shock. Dylan! This was the name they had wanted to give Emily had she been a boy! Naming her husband this, even temporary … why hadn’t she insisted on Stan Junior or any other name?!

“Oh Stan,” Maria whispered, letting herself fall in her bed. “What have I done?”

***

Robot Nurse Luna pushed the crib with the regressed man through the floor of the maternity ward. She had already registered him in her private files as Dylan, but the official part would have to be done in the designated registration room they now entered, just as with any newborn arriving here. The room was softly lit with a computer on a desk, prepared for the necessary paperwork. Robot nurses had direct access on the files, but for security reasons needed contact with this computer to create them.

Looking at the still sleeping newborn, Luna initiated a direct Bluetooth link. With the connection established, she started the process of creating a new file for Dylan Lockney, born just a few hours ago, in the hospital’s medical records system. His parents were Stan and Maria Lockney, his (twin-)sister Emily. As time of birth she used the time his age regression had finished, nearly, but not quite the exact time of Emily’s birth, making him a few minutes younger than his sister.

Still, to complete the registration she needed his length and weight. While her sensors were capable of collecting the data with perfect precision, regulations demanded using the proper instruments, this being the newborn scale measuring tape already in the room for this purpose. The robot nurse leaned over Dylan’s crib and gently removed his onesie and diaper, not even waking him. She then picked up the newborn and placed him on the scale.

The digital sensor showed 3,3 kg and a length of 49,9 cm. A near perfect match to Emily, as was usual with twins. Completing Dylan’s hospital file while standing over the naked newborn on the scale, allowed her to order the creation of a plastic identification wristband and the electronic monitor device. These would easily identify him as son to Stan and Maria Lockney as well as brother to Emily, to whose files she added him as relative for regulations.

Still, this was only the beginning of a proper registration process, so she gave the silent order and immediately the printer next to the computer sprang into action to create a very important document. Its sound, along with the feeling of air on his skin, made Stan wake up. The total confusion over where he was and what had happened made his legs and arms flail wildly. The regressed adult was obviously confused, so she found it necessary to explain.

“It is all right Mr. Lockney,” Robot Nurse Luna informed him gently, as she picked up the birth certificate and wrote the necessary data – name of the newborn, place and date of birth, weight, height, and parents – on it. “We are just registering you for the maternity ward, so you can stay here.”

His eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but only a faint wail came out of his toothless mouth. As he noticed this, he grew excited again, causing his legs and arms to flail, which in turn let the scale he lied on vibrate slightly. It was clear he protested as good as he could.

For a moment the robot nurse felt confused by different categories the little human in front of her inhabited and how to best proceed. Her medical files were up to date in regarding age-regression. She was programmed to treat those changed by it according to their original age. This meant she would have to respect his obvious wish to stop the registration. At the same time he just got his new file as a newborn. A file which was the base of his treatment by her, enabling him to stay in the maternity ward.

Luna’s primary mission as robot nurse of the maternity ward was to protect newborns. Newborns didn’t know what was good for them, so their wishes aside from hunger, potential pain and the need for a diaper change were not important for their treatment. These opposite objectives in her programming created a problem as she tried to take both his current physical age as well as his status as the adult Stan into account. Not finding a direct solution she tried to find an answer using Asimov’s laws.

The first law of robotics: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. The words formed  the basis of her and every other android’s programming. The second law of robotics: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

This brought much needed clarity to the android. She would respect the wishes and adult feelings of the regressed adult Stan as much as possible, while ensuring his safety as newborn as was her mission. Finishing his registration was essential to not let harm come to him, so she had to ignore his obvious wish to end it. In accordance with this she picked up the birth certificate. It was nearly finished but for one important detail.

“It will be quick,” she promised the still squirming Stan, as she pulled out a large inkpad and began putting ink on it. “You don’t have to worry at all.”

With this she took hold of his ankles in one hand and gently pressed his soles on the ink pad. This actually calmed him, either by the strange feeling on his feet, which were so much more sensitive than they had been when he had still been an adult or just by confusion about what she was doing. Either way, the android quickly pressed the feet on the birth certificate, creating a perfect print.

“Look there. Isn’t this a nice birth certificate?” She asked. “It means you will be Dylan while you stay with us. Isn’t this a nice name? Maria chose it.”

Obviously the regressed man didn’t think so, for while she still securely held is feet, cleaning them with baby wipes, he again flailed with his arms and tried to articulate protest only to make normal newborn sounds.

“I’ll dress you, now,” Robot Nurse Luna informed him to calm him down. “And while you rest I will enter the remaining data.”

With this she picked up the newborn she internally already ran as Dylan. He squirmed, despite the android’s gentle touch and looked unhappy despite her explanation. The part of her programming which was activated by his biological age and his new file strongly advised padding him on the back, gently carrying him around in her gentle but soft embrace while talking to him and singing lullabies, yet based on the adult file of Stan she connected to him, she chose a different way.

“Your daughter is fine. The bone marrow was accepted perfectly,” Robot Nurse Luna informed him.

This made him stop and look at her with wide eyes.

“You are siblings during your stay here, you know?” This made Dylan squirm again. He opened his mouth to protest, but Luna gently laid a finger on his tiny lips. “This is necessary so you can all stay together. It is protocol I’m afraid. And the sooner I’m finished the sooner you will be back with them.”

Again his protest stopped, though he still scowled. Not wanting to have him become excited once more, the android put the regressed man in his crib and dressed him, first into his diaper, then into his onesie. His stiffness betrayed his reluctance, despite he sure had to see the necessity of both. Luna calculated that only the wish to be back with his family prevented him from protesting as a real newborn would. This seemed to prove the success of her approach of appealing to his adult reasoning, but at the same time something in the depth of her programming labeled it as wrong. She had no time to explore this corner of her code, though, as the registration process was far from over.

Following the protocol, Robot Nurse Luna next dutifully sent a scan of Dylan’s birth certificate to the vital records office. This made sure he got the citizenship, could be enrolled in school and access healthcare and government benefit. Following this she sent the data to the Social Security Administration along with a request to give him a social security number. The android was aware that Dylan would not need this, that as Stan he already had one and that he would be turned back into an adult maybe even before registration in this database had been completed. Yet, the protocol allowed no exceptions for any babies having been born here and according to his file Dylan had been.

Last was an update of the medical records as part of his hospital records. As Luna expanded the file she found another problem. The medical records were incomplete, as the newborn assessments hadn’t been done as they had with Emily. A warning of the highest priority flashed in the android’s mind! A grave error, as it meant potential danger for his health might not have been discovered. Even the fact that he had become a newborn by age-regression didn’t come close for a justified excuse in her categorization system.

It needed to be remedied at once! Of course she was completely capable of doing these assessments herself, but protocol demanded a doctor to do it, so she checked online the schedules and found Dr. Sanders having room for an appointment. The android formulated a request for an assessment, but hesitated when faced with the question if adding a link to Stan’s file. Looking at the regressed man in his crib, she decided adding the file of his adult version would be unnecessary or even a distraction for the doctor. This assessment was only meant to check his health as a newborn and had nothing to do with his previous or future adult state.

Satisfied she sent the request.

In this moment Robot Nurse Ophelia entered. Luna wasn’t surprised, as the local network that connected all robot nurses, informed them about their current position of their sisters, what they were doing and if they needed help, allowing a quick reactions in case of emergencies. In this case the box Ophelia put on the table next to Luna contained just what she had requested. With her sister already leaving to attend other duties, Luna picked up the box and walked over to Stan.

“Look here Mr. Lockney,” she told him, taking out a blue plastic band and an electric security tag out of the box. “Your plastic identification wristband and electronic monitor device for your ankle. With this you will be safe as any newborn in the maternity ward.”

Despite using his family name in an attempt to show she respected his adult identity, the regressed man made protesting sounds. The robot nurse didn’t understand this. Obviously he wasn’t happy with being a newborn, but he had decided to undergo the age regression himself. Surely he had to understand that these measures of identification and protection only served his safety?

Seeing this as another case where his safety as newborn superseded his wishes stemming from his adult identity, Luna decided to ignore the protests. She fastened the blue plastic band, with his and Maria’s name, his date of ‘birth’, sex, some numbers and barcodes safely on his right wrist. The android then fastened the security tag on his left ankle, allowing the hospital’s security network to read his basic vital signs, to track him anywhere in the hospital, and to raise alarm should he be removed from the maternity ward without proper authorization.

As if to proof this, Stan tried to remove the plastic band with his other hand and the security tag with his other foot, only to fail. Luna had fastened them loose enough to be comfortable but tight enough to not be removable even if the regressed man still possessed his adult dexterity and strength … for how else would they serve their purpose of ensuring a safe identification? Not just his dexterity and strength was gone, but also the muscle control proofed to be on the level of any other newborn, as the robot nurse registered through his uncoordinated movements which made him mostly fail to even touch these objects.

“These aren’t removable by newborns,” Luna gently told him. “They are firm so you don’t get lost, handed over to the wrong person or are even stolen.”

This made the regressed man hesitate a moment and look at her angrily. Still he resumed his effort, with a rising level of frustration making Luna question if his ability to reason had been affected by the age-regression. An electronic notification stopped the robot nurse’s watch over Stan’s futile tries. Dr. Sanders had agreed to conduct the newborn’s assessment in the examination room one.

“Time for your very fist check-up on this station. We need to make sure you are healthy after all,” she explained, as she began pushing his crib out of the room. “Don’t worry. Dr. Sanders is a professional and once this is done, I will bring you back to your wife asap!”

***

Lying in the crib as it was pushed out of the room, Stan had problems believing the android’s words … indeed he had problems believing all what was going on right now. He was in the maternity ward? And how could Maria have just let her take him? And why a new file? Even if it was necessary … couldn’t she have waited with the registration until he was awake? And then the name! How could she have chosen the name Dylan … the name they would have given Emily had she been a boy? He knew he was genetically his own daughter’s twin now, but this …

Stan’s thoughts were interrupted when he became distracted by his surroundings. Everything was so big, the lights a mile above him and the floors impossible long. As he looked down through the transparent walls of his crib the floor appeared to be the levels below him. He knew he was in the maternity ward, but had no idea how it was structured. He knew Maria and Emily were somewhere close, but he had no idea where and neither how he could possibly get there on his own … he hated to admit it, but he felt scared, alone and so very helpless … he couldn’t even ask for help!

Maybe it is good I have them, the regressed man thought, with difficulty moving his head to look at his plastic identification band and security tag. Besides, Dr. Sanders will see I’m really and adult and don’t need an assessment.

Already the robot nurse pushed Stan’s crib into another room. From his perspective it looked just like most of the hospital rooms he had been in this morning. An examination bed, cupboards, a desk … behind the latter a female doctor looked up from some papers and smiled.

“Well, who have we here?” The woman Stan knew had to be Dr. Sanders asked, standing up.

“Dylan Lockney,” Robot Nurse Luna answered dutifully.

How much he already hated this name!

“And how does it come that our newest arrival hasn’t had his assessment, yet?” the doctor asked, standing over Stan and looked down at him with a smile. “Did you slip through?”

“He had a bone marrow transplant to his sister,” the android explained. “Emily Lockney suffered from mykor anomaly. With the operation happening shortly after birth the assessment wasn’t conducted on him.”

Stan couldn’t believe what he had just heard. The android lied … or rather didn’t tell the truth. The doctor needed to know that he wasn’t just a newborn. Angrily he tried to say something simple as “No!”, only to have a newborn protest sound come out of his toothless mouth. Frustration made him flail his limbs, a pathetic show caused by some part of his brain transforming his emotion directly to action.

“Well, this brave little man seems healthy,” Dr. Sanders noticed with a smile. “Let’s make sure he is.”

With this she gently picked Stan up from his crib. Again he felt a rush of fear as he was carried and saw the floor so far below him, feeling nearly relieved when he was placed on the paper towel cover of the examination table. There she began unbuttoning his onesie.

“You take the notes?“ Dr. Sanders asked the Robot Nurse.

“Of course,” Luna confirmed, moving over to the table with the notes.

Stan noticed with horror how the doctor removed his diaper, holding him by the ankles and lifting his butt just enough to pull it away. He felt himself becoming red with shame. Of course there was nothing against being naked in front of a doctor under normal circumstances, but this …

She has to notice that I’m not a normal newborn, Stan told himself. There has to be some signs …

“We begin with the APGAR Score,” Dr. Sanders said. “The torso and extremities are pink as they should be. The pulse …” She pressed two fingers on Stan’s left arm and counted. “155 .. Slightly excited. The face is unhappy but active.” Stan made a grimace, noticing the woman taking a stethoscope out of a cupboard. She pressed it on his chest, nearly covering all of it with its metal feeling so cold that he instinctively flailed in protest, only for her holding him safely in place, using just one hand. “Normal breathing and heart rate. APGAR Score 10 out of 10. We have a normal, healthy newborn boy. Now the rest.”

Stan’s protest intensified when he opened his mouth, but only managed to get out a short wail.

“Skin shows no signs of jaundice,” the doctor continued, not giving the protest of her patient any thought. “The abdomen is symmetric, no signs of problems with the liver.” Dr. Sanders propped his stomach. “And flexible. No sign of anything swollen.” Carefully she took hold of his hands and then toes. “No abnormal digits.” She turned him around, having him lie on his stomach, the left part of his face on the ground, his legs crouched under his body. “The spine is closed.” She went over it with a finger of her gloved hand, making his sensitive skin tickle, only to continue by touching the hips. “No dislocated hip.”

Stan had enough. If he managed to crawl just a few centimeters, maybe she would noticed something was off! He pressed his tiny arms on the grounds … and didn’t even lift his face a centimeter. As he tried using his legs all he managed was briefly removing them from the under himself, kicking out. The regressed man made a short, frustrated wail and already the doctor placed him back on his back.

“Head shows now deformation … Normal open fontanelles.” Doctor Sanders noticed upon inspecting his head and gently touching the part where the parts where the scull had not yet fused, leaving it flexible enough to get through the birth canal. “You must have had a really quick birth Dylan. Straight into your mommy’s arms.”

I had none!, Stan thought angrily. Why don’t you notice it?

Maybe there was nothing to notice. Stan hated the idea, but if he was biologically the same as any other newborn … if he had fontanelles, as even the bones of his skulls weren’t fused yet … then there was no hope she would notice anything. Best he could wish for was to have it be over quickly and be soon back with Maria. Thus he tried to relax when the woman with her gigantic face and green eyes looked straight into his eyes.

“Two clear baby blue eyes,” she noticed, beginning to turn his head slightly to the right and then left. “Perfect ears, cheeks and nose. Nostrils are open”

Stan almost felt flattered, when he saw her pull out a measure band and place it around his head.

“Head circumference is 36 cm,” the doctor noticed, continuing by measuring his chest. “Chest 31 cm circumference.”

Stan already thought he had been through the hardest part, when Dr. Sanders put away the measure tape and grabbed his ankles with one hand. His eyes widened and his mouth opened wide, when he felt her touching his penis.

“No hypospadias or urethral opening on the ventral side,” she noticed. “Is a removal of the foreskin planned?”

“Not according to my data,” Robot Nurse Luna answered. “Is one necessary?

“Mhh…” She studied his most private part even more closely.

For a brief moment Stan feared the might order one right here and there … and weren’t those on newborns made often without anesthesia?

“No,” the woman answered much to Stan’s relief.

His relief ended seconds later, when he felt her grabbing his scrotum and pressing it slightly.

“No inguinal hernia, hydrocele or solid mass,” she declared. “Both testicles are where they should be.”

Stan felt too shocked to even protest and already she had given his crown jewels free again. Still, she held his ankles firm upwards and began gently spreading the buttocks aside.

“Patency of the anus seems to be given,” Dr. Sanders noticed, taking something of the cupboard. “Let’s check his temperature.”

Before the regressed man fully comprehended what she meant, he felt a cold feeling and an intrusion where none should ever be.

“37,3°,” she read after what seemed like an eternity. “Perfectly fine.”

For Stan nothing was fine. Too hurt by this indignation, he could no longer control himself and began crying in loud protest, trying to wrestle himself loose, which didn’t even begin to threaten the doctor’s hold of his ankles.

“Note a healthy set of lungs!”, Dr. Sanders noticed with a smiled.

“Noted,” Robot Nurse Luna confirmed.

This made Stan even angrier! Wasn’t this android programmed better? How could she allow this to happen?! He cried louder, but despite the infantile rage he felt no tears were coming out of his closed eyes. She did something with his legs, telling the android something with Barlow and Ortolani, by flexing his legs and moving them. His wailing filled the room and he hoped that someone … anyone would notice it … he would scream until his lungs hurt, he would …

Stan’s crying instantly stopped, when something entered his mouth. Stunned he opened his eyes fully to see the doctor having put the index finger of her plastic gloved left hand into his mouth. He felt the finger touching the inside of his mouth and inspecting it. The regressed man wanted to spit it out, instead he sucked on it. He tried to stop it, but found he couldn’t no matter how hard he tried.

“No neonatal teeth, no clefts. The palate is intact and strong in front, soft in back. No cysts. The tongue is extended beyond the lower gum.” Dr. Sanders touched the toothless gums, as she most likely had with hundreds of newborns before. “Perfect mouth. Sucking reflex is strong. I will now test the other reflexes.”

With this she removed her index finger from Stan’s mouth. To his surprise, his need to suck more was so strong, that he found himself instinctively protesting the removal of the finger again without being able to stop himself. It only stopped when the woman grabbed his hands with her right and he noticed how they vanished in hers.

She could crush them without even trying hard, Stan realized.

Instead doing so, she carefully pulled him upwards. Automatically he held tight, his elbows winkled and his head held straight.

“Hypertonic,” she noticed. “Very good.”

Carefully she put her left hand under his head and let go. By reflex alone, he felt his hands open and arms extend and then retract.

“Moro reflex is fine,” Dr. Sanders noticed.

With this she lowered him completely, only to have one finger touch the palm of his right hand. It closed instantly and without Stan being able to prevent it.

“Palmar grasp reflex present,” the woman said to the robot nurse, only to smile at the regressed man whose hand didn’t accept his order to let go. “A strong grip you have!”

Gently she removed her hand finger from his still tightly locked hand and moved it under his toes of his left food. Upon feeling it they tried closing around it, just as his fingers had.

“Plantar grasp reflex strong.”

She stroked the bottom of his foot from the heel upward along the outward part of his foot and his big toe bent back, while the other toes spread out.

“Babinsky reflex is there, too.”

The doctor turned his head to the left and Stan felt his left leg and arm on extending, while that on his right side flexed.

“Tonic Neck reflex normal.”

Now she began stroking his right cheek. In the very moment, he began opening his mouth and moving his head into this direction very much against his will, but without able to prevent it. He felt the irresistible urge to suck anything which would now enter his mouth, but was relieved when nothing did.

“Rooting reflex is there.”

She turned Stan on his stomach again, but this time let his legs spread out. He had no idea what she was testing and couldn’t turn his head to look back. Suddenly he felt a pressure on the sole of his left foot and by reflex pressed against it. He also moved his hands and arms as if to crawl.

If I can move she might think it strange, he hoped.

Next she lifted him up, carefully held his head and had his feet touch the soft paper towel cowering the examination table.

Even better, if I can show her I know how to walk she has to noticed it!, he realized and concentrated. Just a bit …

Indeed his legs moved and his tine feet touched the soft ground. It felt strange, but it was definitely a walking movement.

“Crawling reflex is normal,” the doctor instead declared, placing him back on his back. “Stepping reflex, too.”

Reflex?!, Stan wondered. No I know how to walk … I …

Then he remembered from some of his preparation courses for Emily that newborns had such a reflex. But he had tried to walk on his will and not on reflex or instinct, hadn’t he? The sudden realization that he didn’t know, that most of his actions and movements seemed to be now controlled by reflexes and instincts outside of his control hit him like a brick.

“I declared Dylan Lockney a healthy baby boy,” Doctor Sanders said, before adding in a sweet, playful voice. “You did so very good little one, yes you did!”

Stan knew he hadn’t done anything but react and realized how much he was a prisoner of his own body now. At least it seemed to be over, for the woman dressed him back into his diaper … was he thankful for this?!

“Before I forget,” Dr. Sanders began, turning to the robot nurse when the pulled his right arm through his onesie. “He is already vaccinated, isn’t he?”

This made a chill run through Stan’s spine. Sure the robot nurse knew he already got his shots ages ago and …

“I fear the newborn isn’t,” Luna noticed truthfully.

The doctor made a serious face.

“Any objections from the mother?”

Stan’s vague hope someone would ask Maria evaporated in an instant.

“No,” the android explained. “His sister got her shots.”

“Then it is about time for him. Can you arrange this?”

“Robot Nurse Ariel is already on the way.”

Dr. Sanders shook her head. “What did we do without you?”

“Please doctor,” the android replied in a modest voice. “I and my sisters only optimize the hospital’s functions a bit.”

Damn toaster!, Stan thought furiously, glaring at the android. A real nurse … a human nurse wouldn’t put me through this!

As the regressed man glared on Luna, he failed to notice that Dr. Sanders got busy, taking something out of a cupboard. It was only when she grabbed his left food that he looked at her and discovered her cleaning the heel with a wet cotton ball. It was disinfected, as he could smell the strong smell of alcohol, strangely sharp and obnoxious in his nose. Before he could wonder what she was doing, he saw her grab something out of his limited field of view and suddenly he discovered a needle in her hand. Before he really understood what was going on he felt a sharp pain in his heel. He cried out in shock and indignation, but the woman was too experienced to think much of it.

Where as an adult the skin of the heel was too thick for the needle to penetrate, his skin now was almost as thin as on the rest of his body, meaning a short pick was all that the doctor needed. Pressing slightly, allowed fresh red blood to spill forth. She cleaned this first blood away with a bit of paper towel as it might be contaminated with tissue fluids and then pressed again. For this she then grabbed the filter paper containing the newborn’s data she had prepared before he had been brought into the room. Holding this filter paper she allowed allow tiny pearls of blood to be soaked in each of its five circles as she pressed it against the heel. This being done she handed it to Luna who had, with perfect foresight and knowledge of the procedure, soundlessly stepped besides her, now that she was no longer needed entering the data of Dylan’s assessment into the computer.

“I doubt there will be anything we wouldn’t have found before,” Dr. Sanders noticed, putting a plaster on the wound. “But no risks in the maternity ward.”

“Indeed!” Luna agreed seemingly whole heartedly.

Stan had forced himself to calm down – crying would only make him appear more like a real newborn – when the door to the examination room opened and another robot nurse entered. She held a silver tablet and as she lowered it to the doctor, he could clearly see the vials and syringes.

Please no!, the regressed man thought.

But there was no evading it. Dr. Sanders cleaned parts of his upper legs with alcohol-drenched wet cotton balls, filled the syringes and injected one in each. It was the first dose of Hepatitis B vaccine and then a vitamin K shot. Stan knew this from his and Maria’s preparation for Emily’s birth, but this knowledge did little to help him. Clenching his tiny fists and mustering all his strength, he somehow managed not to cry upon the pain. Still, the exhaustion over this assessment was too much for his body and slowly the world went dark for him, as the doctor put plasters on the puncture sites. At the same time he felt his diaper growing warm.

***

“And he is asleep,” Dr. Sanders noticed, watching the sleeping newborn on the examination table as she threw away the syringes and empty vials. “Sometimes I wish I could fall asleep as easily as our little patients.”

“He had an exciting day,” Robot Nurse Luna noticed.

“And now a full diaper,” the doctor commented as she carefully picked Stan up and put him into his transportable newborn crib.

“Shall I change him?”

The woman looked at the sleeping newborn, a picture of pure innocence.

“No,” Dr. Sanders decided. “Bring him back to his mother. She will be waiting for him already. Changing his first diaper will allow them some bonding. Remember to tell her he will be thirsty once he wakes up.”

“Of course!” The android assured her.

With this Luna pushed the crib out of the examination room. She was quite satisfied with the results of the assessment. Stan was a healthy newborn, properly registered as Dylan and safe through the plastic identification band on his wrist, the security tag on his ankle and the vaccination in his veins. Sure, he hadn’t stopped making his misgivings over every step clear, but so would any real newborn and in both cases their safety superseded their complains.

The latter principle was only reinforced by Dr. Sanders handling of the regressed man. Gentle and professional, she had proven in every step her qualification as a doctor. Informing her of the newborn’s status as at the same time the adult Stan, would have only risked distracting her and such not giving him the best care. In this very moment Luna could sense via wifi the assessment being finalized by the doctor in the network and added to Dylan’s medical file. The latter now complete, meant it was finally on one level as that of Emily, as it was proper for twins. Glad to bring the good news, the android pushed the crib into Maria’s room.

“And here he is,” Luna declared.

“Thank god!” Maria said, relief clear in her voice. “It seemed so long and …”

Her eyes which followed her sleeping husband’s crib as he was pushed in, widened in shock as she noticed the plastic identification band around his wrist and the security tag around his ankle.

Just for his safety, she tried to convince herself. Stan will understand it is for his best.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” the android noticed, stopping the crib next to the bed and Emily’s crib. “Here is his birth certificate.”

Luna handed the woman the document.

“Birth certifi…”

Maria stared at it in disbelief. The birth certificate of Dylan Lockney. A perfectly normal birth certificate just like the one of Emily. His size, weight, the ink-print of his little feet, date of *birth* and parents … she was his mother in an official document!

“Was this really necessary for registration?” Maria asked, resisting the insane urge to tear it to shreds.

“Every newborn gets one,” Luna explained calmly. “Can I fasten your new plastic id band? It will include his data.”

Maria looked for a short moment back on the document. She had come this far, hadn’t she? After her quick, wordless nod, the android cut the old band from her wrist and fixed a new one firmly on it. Studying it she realized she could read every time she wanted that she was now the registered mother of twins according to the hospital’s database.

“I assure you, the registration was no problem at all. You husband can now stay in the maternity ward in his temporary role as Dylan and he will be safe in our care as every newborn is,” the robot nurse declared cheerfully. “I’m also glad to inform you his assessment showed he is a perfectly healthy.”

Maria looked up from the wristband. “Assessment?”

“The newborn assessment,” Luna explained, not quite sure why the human didn’t understand. “Every newborn get one. Your husband didn’t get one before, so for his safety one was conducted. Luckily a doctor was available at once. He was quite exhausted afterwards and fell right asleep.”

“He was awake during it all?!”

“Newborn sleeping cycles are very random,” Luna explained as if this was the issue.

Just for his safety, Maria repeated this thought as if it was a mantra. Everything is done just for his safety. He will understand.

The woman stared at the robot nurse and then at her regressed husband sleeping in his crib, wondering if she somehow could have accompanied him during this ordeal.

“What is about the plasters?”

“Blood tests, the results you will get as soon as they are available. Also hepatitis b vaccination and vitamin k.”

“Vacci …” Maria didn’t finish the word, but closed her eyes.

“Every newborn …”

“… gets one.” Maria completed the android’s sentences. “Sure. But again, were they necessary?”

Robot Nurse Luna went through all the files of this particular aspect of age regression she could find.

“There is a debate. The immune system isn’t really restarted by the regression to a younger age, but weakened according to the new status,” she summarized. “Stan’s shots might still have been effective, but given Dylan’s immature immune system new shots were the safer option. Every newborn’s safety is paramount in the maternity ward.

Maria looked at the newborn that was her husband and almost reluctantly touched his face. Luna tried to calculate her thoughts, but found her systems didn’t have enough data about her to do so. In a way her resistance in this topic mirrored that of Stan. As a robot Luna found both not logical in this, but given Maria’s status as an adult and his registered mother in his temporary identity as Dylan, her system’s advised offering her the opportunity to formulate her opinion in a way her regressed husband couldn’t.

“You didn’t object Emily’s shots,” Luna noticed. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Emily is …” Maria sighed, giving up to argue about what couldn’t be changed now. “I guess not, but he won’t be happy.”

“I understand and take full responsibility,” the android declared. “Can I help you in any way?”

Maria shook her head.

“Should you need something just press the button,” Luna informed her. “Before I leave I have to tell you a diaper change is needed.”

Maria’s eyes widened as she looked first at her and then at the crotch of Stan’s onesie where his diaper was clearly visibly.

“I can’t change his diaper!”

“If you feel weak …”

“He is my husband!” Maria said, visibly trying to keep her voice low for Emily’s sake … and Stan’s ... and that of the rest of the maternity ward. “Try to keep this in your system. There are things I don’t want to … It wouldn’t be good for our relationship. Can’t you process this?”

Indeed the android’s files regarding adult relationships showed a potential burden if a partner had to change the other’s diapers. At the same time, the relationships between parents and babies was a different case entirely.

“Currently he needs a diaper change, just like Emily would,” she tried gently. “You are his registered mother, so …”

“I’m not his mother!” Maria replied firmly. “You do it!”

Sensing that arguing would only lead to more stress, Luna dutifully took the supply consisting out of a fresh diaper, a changing mat, baby wipes, diaper cream and diaper powder out of a side trolley and placed it on the free adult bed next to Maria’s. She then picked up the sleeping Stan, putting him on the changing mat and opened the crotch of his onesie, pulling it just back wide enough to allow her opening the diaper.

The sight surprised her. It didn’t disgust her – as an android she was beyond such basic human emotions – but analyzing the content of the diaper made her realize it was different from that of normal newborns. The latter’s’ first poo was black to black green, thick and sticky in consistency and unformed, like spray. Stan’s though wasn’t even green or yellow like later newborn poo was supposed to be, but a solid form similar to that of older babies or even adults eating solid meals.

A remnant of his adult digestion, Luna realized, as she carefully cleaned his buttocks with baby wipes. No reason to worry, but good it is out and can’t harm him. Later poo should be increasingly normal.

Making an entry for Stan’s next used diapers to be checked on normal digestion, the android put the used wipes into the dirty diaper and then closed it to be disposed, before placing a fresh one under his clean bum. She followed this by putting baby cream and baby powder on his front and behind, before gently lowering his buttocks onto it closing the diaper around his waist. The regressed man didn’t wake up, nor when she closed his onesie and put him back into his crib.

“All done,” Luna told Maria, who had watched the process reluctantly. “I’ll leave now. The doctor told me to remind you that he will be hungry when he wakes up.”

“What do you …” Maria began until to suddenly understand. “No! I can’t breastfeed him!”

“A mother’s milk is essential for newborns,” the android explained. “I can provide a bottle with donated milk, but this would just be milk of another mother. Milk which might be in need for newborns whose mothers can’t lactate. The alternative would be formula, but this wouldn’t be optimal for his immune system. A sickness would mean we have to delay the process of age-progression.”

Maria looked down at her regressed husband and touched her breasts, probably without even realizing it.

“Just leave,” she told the robot nurse.

Without a word Luna obeyed and soundlessly left the room.

What she had implied about the risk for the newborn’s health by the formula and the risk of shortage of donated breast milk hadn’t been completely the truth, but no lie either. Aside this, skin contact, his mother’s warmth and voice during breastfeeding was important for any newborn’s health, no matter what how long the newborn would stay this way or what he and his temporary mother might think. It would most likely also help them bonding as mother and child for the duration of Stan’s age-regression.

Programmed with the importance of a strong bond between mother and newborn for the latter’s health and development, fostering this bond was one of the robot nurses’ goals. Also programmed with understanding and analyzing the relationships between the parents of the newborns, Luna was aware that this would at least temporary stress their relationship as husband and wife. Still, the safety of Dylan the newborn with his mother had priority over the complications it might bring for the bond between Stan the adult and his wife. Based on this, nudging Maria in the right direction appeared more than justified. She was certain the natural instincts of both would take care of the rest.

***

Maria looked at her husband sleeping in his crib and wondered how she could possibly take care of him. How she could …

How can I breastfeed him?, she wondered. How can I breastfeed him like …

She looked at her daughter, sleeping in the transparent crib next to his. Emily already had had her fill and fallen back to sleep just minutes before the robot nurse had brought Stan in. The feeling of this had been indescribable for her. A connection coming close the one she had felt with her daughter when she had still been inside her what was just hours ago, but felt so much longer ago. The feeling of her weight in her arms, the toothless mouth closing around her areola and sucking. The smell of her daughter, of innocent and tenderness ...

Maria looked at her regressed husband, in his onesie, his new diaper clearly visible under it. The identification plastic band around his right wrist, declaring him Dylan, her son, just as its counterpart around her wrist declared her his mother. The security tag on his left ankle, with both legs bend as if just as Emily he had just come out of the soft confines of the womb. This thought made Maria touch her belly. As she looked down to it, her eyes fell on her wedding ring. It was a symbol of her and Stan’s connection. An eternal promise to be there for each other no matter what.

But what does this mean now?, she wondered, as she watched her regressed husband lying in the crib.

As if he had heard her thoughts, Stan stirred, yawned and finally opened his eyes. Baby blue eyes fell on her and widened as he realized whom he saw. He opened his toothless mouth and Maria understood she wanted to say her name, but all that came out was a slight coo.

“Oh Stan,” she said, carefully picking him up. “It is all right, you are safe now.”

The regressed man frowned a bit and his wife realized she had used the same tone she would have used for Ellen if she had woken up upset. Silently she swore herself to fight these instincts to do so, though she couldn’t help but feel his weight to be just the same as that of their daughter.

“I know it must have been a shock to you,” she began, using her normal voice. “I didn’t want you to be registered this way, but the stupid robot didn’t give me much of a choice. Either this or another station for you … us. Maybe I should have called a human doctor but … I was just so tired and wanted us all together in a place that is good for Emily. Please forgive me. It is just until they change you back.”

Stan still frowned, but the mentioning of their daughter’s name made him look around. Maria smiled, turned and lowered her upper body a bit, allowing her husband in her arms a perfect view on Emily in the transparent crib below.

“Look, our baby,” she told him. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

With relief she noticed her husband showing a slight smile, as he watched her. To her it served as a reminder how similar the two now looked with their fine blond hair.

“She is fine thanks to you,” Maria explained. “We still have to get the final results, but it will be all right.”

Feeling Stan relax in her hands brought a smile to her face. This was when she noticed something else. He licked his little lips and opened his mouth to make smacking sounds. His tiny hands were clenched to fists and as she watched he brought his right one to his face to chew on it. The preparation courses had told her what these signs meant and she had just a bit ago seen them on Emily. Stan was hungry.

Does he realize he is doing this?, Maria wondered.

But no, the way he still looked at their daughter he was probably too distracted to control his movements, allowing his instincts to take over. Knowing this needed to be addressed she carried him over to her bed and held him in her arms as she sat on it.

“You are hungry Stan, aren’t you?”

With an expression of surprise on his face he looked at her, only to give a small nod a moment after. She gave him a soft smile. What would come now wouldn’t be easy for him … or her.

“I fear there is but one kind of meal for you now,” she said.

A puzzled look hushed over his face which turned to shock, as Maria pulled down her hospital gown and opened her nursing bra. He made sounds indicating protests, squirming in her arms.

“I know Stan, but there is no better alternative,” she told him. “Please, it will remain between us.”

His protest ebbed a bit, but Maria couldn’t say if due to her words reaching him or to his instincts taking over. She noticed how his eyes were fixated on her breasts, especially her areolas. His little tongue licked his lips, most likely without him even noticing.

Not saying a word, she moved him closer to her right breast, exactly in the position Emily had been in before. It came natural, just as with their daughter and just like their daughter, his little hands laid on her breast. She could see primal instincts and hunger wrestle with adult dignity in his eyes, until finally he moved closer and his toothless mouth closed around her nipple. It should have felt different from when she had done it with Emily, but to Maria’s surprise it didn’t. Instincts kicked in for her just as for him and his weight in her arms and warmth on her breast felt just perfect. The softness of his newborn skin added another layer.

Yet, still she could smell his adult smell. His deo, after shave and even shower lotion. She was thankful for this, as it helped her not allowing herself to think of him as a newborn. Despite all of this he was still her husband and these smells reminded her of his strong embrace.

He needs it … he needs me so I will be there for him, she decided as she could feel him suck, adding a silent vow. This won’t change anything between us.

***

“You are hungry Stan, aren’t you?”

For Stan it was this question which instantly changed everything between himself and Maria. For he was hungry, but as he nodded and his wife gave him a soft smile, he didn’t expect her response.

“I fear there is but one kind of meal for you now,” she said.

Shocked he watched Maria pull down her hospital gown and open her nursing bra. He tried to protest, but only managed these newborn sounds which sounded so pitiful in his ears, so he tried to move, but hardly changed his position in her arms.

“I know Stan, but there is no better alternative,” she told him. “Please, it will remain between us.”

There has to be an alternative, Stan thought. Formula or …

His thoughts stopped, when his eyes became fixated on the on Maria’s bare breasts. They were gigantic, intimidating … irresistible … Stan realized he licked his lips, but this realization quickly faded from his mind. The sight of the brown areola with the erected nipple became the center of his attention, as everything else seemed to cease to exist. He even believed to smell it. A full smell, promising life, nourishment, warmth and protection. In this moment he felt a desire … a need for her overtaking him stronger than any desire he had felt for her before.

Stan didn’t register if his wife was speaking or not, only that the breast suddenly came closer. A tiny voice in his head protested as his position shifted in a way to bring his head in position, but it was as insignificant as his own tries to talk. Already his hands touched Maria’s breast and he felt the softness of the flesh and the fullness in it. As tiny as his hands were, they seemed perfectly in place there.

One last time a part of himself tried to resist, but then he saw a single drop of milk appearing on the top of the nipple and the last bit of resistance was carried away like a leaf in a storm. The regressed man moved his head nearer, opened his toothless mouth wide and closed it around the areola, at once feeling the nipple with his tongue. He sucked as instinctively as he had when the robot nurse had put her finger in his mouth, but this time it was how it was meant to be. Warm, sweet milk filled his mouth and throat, calming him more than anything he had felt since turning into a newborn. A strong scent filled his nose at the same time. Both together sent one simple message as he closed his eyes and continued to suck: It was as it should be.

To be continued …