“I hear you are expecting, that’s wonderful!”

The doctor smiled, kneeling by the pool.

The merman smiled happily as his partner looked nervous. “It’s out first brood.” He explained.

The doctor bought out the scanning device typically used for dolphins and whales that lived in the aquarium turned hospital.

Maybe it was human instinct, but the doctor put the device on the females stomach and turned it on.

“What are you doing?” The mermaid asked. “Mermaids don’t birth the kids, the males do.”

The doctor turned crimson. “Oh, really? So, like seahorses?”

Luckily the couple weren’t too offended and only rolled their eyes at the mistake.

Scanning device on the correct stomach this time, a fuzzy screen flickered.

“Oh, look! There’s a good few dozen! Are those the little hearts?”

The merman asked, mesmerised by the screen.

The doctor almost choked as, after counting, 46 teeny hearts blipped on the screen.

“That is a lot of babies.”

The mermaid looked annoyed. “We are creatures of myth and legend, you know. Just be glad that my uncle didn’t come to you guys for her brood. He had over a hundred.”

The merman absentmindedly rested his hand on his bump.

“I just hope they will all be born healthy, is all. Over half are lost to diseases, or sometimes the stronger babies eat the weaker ones…”

The doctor wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and made a mental note to ask the merpeople for more information before admitting more patients…