Topic: First Look

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:46 EST
With summer promising to make itself known on the air, spring at King's Cove had been a windy affair so far. It certainly made painting outside nothing short of a nightmare, and finally Lena had given in, setting her projects aside until the weather calmed down a little. Not that there wasn't plenty to keep her occupied in the meantime. The men of the Cove were being subjected to every crackpot theory on how to have a successful pregnancy anyone could think of, with both Helena and Jasmin expecting, but thankfully, no one had argued yet. Besides, today was a milestone of sorts for the Kings - they were heading into Rhy'Din city, to have the first ultrasound scan that would tell them everything was progressing normally.

"Have we decided if we want to know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Lena asked Tommy curiously, curled up in comfort on the passenger seat of his VW van.

"I dunno. Have we?" he asked, flashing a silly, dimpled grin over at her from the driver's seat. It was just like Tommy to toss a little humor into an otherwise serious subject, but he had his own thoughts on the matter and wasn't sure if it was up to him to decide. Just the idea of being able to see the baby this early on was new to a man who was still working on getting caught up with Rhy'Din. He was still pinching himself every morning he woke up to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

She laughed fondly, absentmindedly twisting a hank of her hair into a braid to pass the time as he drove them into the city. They could have brought her car, but for some reason, she'd wanted to give the van an outing. "Well, it depends if you want to know," she teased her husband. "I'm happy either way, but you might want to know in advance if you're having a son or a daughter. And we don't know if Jaz and Jack have decided to know in advance yet, either."

"Do you wanna know what I'm getting you for Christmas?" he asked. While it might seem like a random question, there was a point to it. "Jack will want to know because that's Jack," Tommy predicted, glancing from time to time from his driving over to her. "Do you want to know?" he asked. Though she'd already said she'd be happy either way, that really wasn't much for him to go by.

Lena considered the question for a moment. "Huh. I guess knowing would kind of be like knowing what you're getting for Christmas," she conceded with a faint smile. "Maybe I could know and keep it a secret from you. That way, you'd still get the surprise." She grinned at him, agreeing with his comment on Jack. "I hope they get a girl this time around. Jack's not ready to have a son yet."

"And as soon as you start buying baby things in pink or blue, I'd have my answer," he pointed out. He arched a brow at the remark about Jack. He hadn't thought about it much, but she was right. Jack had grown up with a military father and a couple of older brothers. It would be good for him to be surrounded by females for a change. "I think you're right. He never really got along with his dad or his brothers, but I'm not sure he'll know what to do with a daughter, either." For that matter, Tommy wasn't sure he'd know what to do with a daughter.

"I'm not that obvious, am I?" Lena laughed, shaking her head as she abandoned her braid. "No, everything will be multicolored, to keep you guessing right up until the last minute. Unless you want to know, of course." Tucking her hair behind her ear, her smile softened as he passed comment on Jack. "It'd do him good to have a little girl to dote on for a while," she mused. "Better than spending the first few years of a little boy's life worrying too much."

He chuckled at her question. "Do you really want to know?" He knew her pretty well by now, but he wasn't sure she could keep a secret that big from him until the baby was born. Anyway, all he'd have to do is tickle it out of her, if he really wanted to know. "I'm sure Jack and Jaz will do fine," he remarked, pretty confident about that. Himself as a dad" Now that was another story, but he kept that to himself for now. They'd been over it a few times already, and Helena seemed sure he'd be a great dad.

Smiling, she rested her temple against the headrest, watching him as he drove. "Yeah, I think I do," she admitted. "I know a lot of people like to be surprised, but ....I don't know. Maybe I just like the idea of being prepared. At least if we know, we'd only be arguing over one set of names, and not two."

Tommy frowned thoughtfully. Lena had always been the practical one, while Tommy was mostly a free spirit. He acted first and thought about things later. "What makes you think we'll be arguing about names?" he asked curiously. The fact of the matter was they hardly ever argued about anything.

To be fair, she was a lot more impulsive these days than she had been when they had first met, but the prospect of a baby had brought out her cautious, always ready for anything side. "We might not argue, but it would simplify things, wouldn't it?" she asked gently. "I don't mind not knowing, moonbeam. Not if you don't want to know. I'm just too practical for my own good sometimes, I know."

Tommy couldn't help but have mixed feelings about it. While it certainly made more sense to be prepared, knowing took away the element of surprise, but this wasn't about Christmas or birthday presents; it was about their child, their son or daughter. "I know I'm not very responsible about some things," he started. He had a tendency to live life as it came, and there was nothing wrong with that, but now that they were married and having a child, he knew some things couldn't just be left to chance.

"You're responsible about the necessary things," she reminded him. After all, he ran a business perfectly well, and he took care of her in a way no one else ever had. Her hand gently touched his arm. "Really, Tommy, I don't mind not knowing. I want you to be happy, that's all."

"It's not that important, Lena," Tommy argued, sighing as that didn't come out the way he wanted to. It wasn't the baby that wasn't important but the decision they were facing. "Tell you what, if Jack and Jaz are gonna know, then we should know, too. It seems only fair. And like you said, we can plan better. There's no point in getting our hearts set on a boy, if we're gonna have a girl, right?" he asked, almost as if he was trying to convince himself, more than her.

Her fingers crept up his arm to stroke into his hair, listening as he seemed to be talking to himself more than to her. "Let's see how we feel when we get in there," she suggested, offering up a compromise, of sorts. "Maybe seeing the baby is all we need, right now. We'll know better when we're in there together."

"Okay," he replied, though he would likely go along with whatever she wanted. It really just wasn't worth arguing over, and they were going to find out sooner or later, so why not sooner" At least that way they could prepare and not have to worry about everything being either yellow or green.

"How did we get so serious all of a sudden?" she asked with a playful smile. "Did we already get over the frankly mind-boggling fact that there are three people in this van?" She chuckled, touching her hand to her midriff. Though the bump didn't show beneath her clothes - not yet - it was there, and it had been the source of a great deal of speculation over the past few weeks since it had made its appearance.

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:46 EST
"Are you sure there's only one of them in there?" he teased with a smirk, though he secretly hoped they were only having one child at a time. It was going to be hard enough having one, without thinking about having two. This from the man who had teased her about having half a dozen boys before they were through. He pulled the van into the clinic's parking lot and pulled to a halt. Looking over at Lena, he laid a palm against the tiny swell of her tummy. "Whatever happens, Midge ....boy, girl, twins ....we're in this together and we always will be." It wasn't the most romantic declaration of love, but he hoped she knew what he meant by it.

"I hope there's only one of them in there," she laughed, her hand covering his over the tiny swell of her womb, fingers stroking against his skin. She nuzzled to him tenderly, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Of course we are," she promised in return. "And in a couple of years' time, you'll be teaching this little one how to swim and surf with their daddy."

"That's a given," Tommy replied with a smile, once he'd kissed her back, his hand lingering against her tummy a moment longer. "I guess I'm just a little nervous about being a dad. That's all." He'd already confessed that he didn't want to be anything like his own dad, and Lena had assured him that he wouldn't be.

"You're allowed to be nervous," she assured him with a warm smile. "I'm nervous, too. I can't quite imagine myself with a baby, not yet." It didn't help that it was ridiculously easy to imagine Jack and Jasmin with a baby or three. For all that the other couple on the Cove were a little ditzy at times, they seemed to have things relatively well put together in their own little world.

Tommy touched his fingers to her cheek in a soft caress, a warm smile on his face. "You're gonna be a great mom, Midge," he promised her. They were not just words; he really believed that. "You remember when I told you I wanted six sons?" he asked with a smirk.

Giggling, she tilted her cheek into his touch. "I remember a few conversations on the subject," she teased thoughtfully. "At one point, the phrase "baker's dozen" was being thrown around, but I do honestly think I might rebel after eight."

He laughed. Now that they were actually having a baby, he wasn't sure he could imagine them with one, much less six. "What was I thinking?" he said with another laugh. "Come on, Midge. Let's go see if we're having a little Midget or a little Moonbeam."

"Aye, aye, Captain King." She dropped a kiss on his cheek for good measure, and began the task of getting herself out of his van. As much as she loved the brightly colored VW, Helena was not a tall person, and as such, she tended to have to jump when it came to dismounting from her husband's vehicle. Not that she minded, but when she was more heavily pregnant, it was going to be an entertaining thing to watch, certainly.

"Wait there!" he told her, pocketing the keys and hopping out of the van to go around and help her, even if she wasn't really showing much yet. He wasn't quite as much a worrywart as Jack, but he knew she always had trouble getting in and out of the van even before she was pregnant. "We should have brought your car," he said as he helped her out.

Laughing, she waited patiently to be helped down onto solid ground, feet dangling for a moment before she stood comfortably again. "Are you kidding" In a few weeks, I won't be able to get into the van at all, I'm not giving up my last few chances to cuddle up on the front seat with you!" She grinned, closing the door firmly behind her before wrapping her arms around his waist in a tender embrace. "I love you, you know."

He smiled, his arms going around her as hers went around him. "I know," he replied, leaning close to touch his nose to hers. "I love you, too. Both of you," he added with a smile. It was hard to believe sometimes that they were having a baby. Every morning when he woke up, he had to thank whatever Gods were watching over him for giving him Lena.

"Both of you, of course," she agreed with a smiling nod, disengaging one arm to turn and head into the clinic with him held close by her side. She was nervous about the scan; despite Vicki's best attempt to talk her through what would happen, there was still a little voice in her head that kept suggesting that perhaps she'd done something wrong and the baby wouldn't be all right, after all. It was mildly ridiculous to worry that way, but she couldn't help it.

Tommy sensed her nervousness, but didn't want to add to it by admitting to his own worries. For a man who liked to live life like a free bird, he was taking this whole family thing pretty seriously. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be okay," he promised her, leaning close to kiss her cheek as they made their way into the clinic.

"I know," she lied with a smile, but given how awful she was at lying these days, likely he saw right through it. She tightened her arm about his back, squeezing for a moment in apology for that little lie. "I can't help being nervous, moonbeam. We're going to get a look at our baby."

"And our baby is gonna be beautiful," he told her, pausing a moment to pull her around to face him. "I know because you're beautiful." He smiled his lopsided smile. "And I'm not too bad looking either, if I do say so myself," he said, hoping to lighten the mood. "Relax, Midge. It's a baby. People have been having babies since the beginning of time."

"Not too bad looking," she scoffed, laughing once again. He always managed to make her smile, at the very least, no matter where her mood had gone. "You're gorgeous, and you know it." She grinned, rising up onto her toes to kiss the tip of his nose. "We should stop stalling, or we're going to miss our appointment."

He smiled, happy to have made her laugh. He had made it his mission in life to make sure she smile and laughed every day. Life was really too short to spend it worrying and fretting over every little thing. "I thought I was Tommy," he teased, crossing his eyes at her when she kissed his nose. "Yes, ma'am. After you."

"You're mine, and that's what counts," she smiled. Even a year ago, such a possessive statement might have been a little beyond Lena, but since marrying Tommy, she'd grown more easy in her right to state that he was hers as much as she was his. She blew him a kiss, leading him to the reception desk to sign in and ask for directions. After, embarrassingly, promising that she had a full bladder, they were directed toward the radiography suite, to wait for the technician to be ready for them.

He smiled, no argument there, following along, hand in hand at her side until they finally reached the waiting room and could relax for a while until the technician called them. All of this was new to him - technology back home hadn't quite come this far yet.

Settling into a seat, Lena groaned softly, shifting to make herself comfortable as she laid her head on Tommy's shoulder. "You know, I think you should have a word with your baby," she informed him with comically feigned annoyance. "It would be quite nice to start a day without throwing up for once."

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:47 EST
"I can try, but I'm not sure that's the baby's fault, Lena," he said, tilting his head toward her and lowering his voice, though he wasn't sure why. He felt as though he should whisper, for some reason, as if he was worried about being eavesdropped on.

"I need someone to blame, don't I?" she chuckled, stroking her hand against his cheek as he lowered his voice, understanding that feeling even if she didn't share it. "The sooner this morning sickness crap is over with, the better."

"If you're gonna blame anyone, you should probably blame me," he pointed out, but he was smiling. It was his fault she was pregnant, after all. He smile faded a little, knowing how much she'd been suffering with feeling sick the last few weeks. "I'm sorry, Midge," he told her sincerely, wishing there was something he could do about it. "Have you asked if the doctor can give you something for it?"

"Oh, stop apologizing," she smiled, batting at his arm. "Everyone goes through it, it's completely normal. It's just annoying, that's all. And the ginger tea is helping." She leaned over to kiss his jaw, trying to reassure him a little. No wonder she was envious of Jasmin - the woman hadn't had a single episode of morning sickness at all yet, aside from one explosive reaction to the smell of slightly gone off cream a couple of weeks ago.

The door across from them opened, and a technician in green scrubs smiled at them. "Mr. and Mrs. King" This way, please."

"Mr. and Mrs. King," Tommy echoed, whispering it back at Lena with a smirk and a wink. "Don't we sound important?" he teased, as he moved to his and pulled Lena up with him. He hoped the morning sickness would pass soon. Though he might not admit it, he worried about her and didn't like seeing her so ill.

She giggled as he drew her up onto her feet, holding tight to his hand. "You're the King of King's Cove, of course you're important," she teased him in return, following the technician into the suite. The collection of instrumentation was a little intimidating there, but the technician herself was warm and smiling, giving out instructions in an easy-going manner.

"12-week scan, yes" If you'd like to slide up onto the bed there, Mrs. King, and uncover the treasure, we can get started."

He was about to point how how King wasn't his real name, but what did that matter" No one in Rhy'Din would ever know the difference or care. He'd reinvented himself as Tommy King years ago back in California, just as Jack as reinvented himself as Jack Smith. Their real names and lives prior to California no longer mattered. He was Tommy King now, and there was no looking back. Tommy's eyes widened a little at the array of instruments and equipment, most of which he'd never seen before. He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the technician's sense of humor. "Can I stay or should I wait outside?" he asked, unsure what the norm was. Things were a lot different back in 1975.

"We encourage you to stay, if you want to," the technician assured him with a smile, moving to usher him inside and shut the door. "A lot of fathers like to be right there through the entire process, including the birth."

There was a grunt from the table as Helena heaved herself up onto it. "You'd better stay," she warned her husband. "How am I supposed to know if I'm asking the right questions, if I'm blubbering over the sight of our baby and you're not here to make me laugh?"

He would have helped her onto the table if he could have figured out how without embarrassing her, his attention distracted momentarily by his conversation with the technician. "I'd like to stay," he admitted, chuckling a little at Lena's remark. "How am I supposed to know what the right questions are?" he countered. This was as new to him as it was to her.

"Then take a seat, Mr. King," the technician smiled at him, gesturing for him to make himself comfortable on the stool beside the examination table where Lena was now lying, unbuttoning her jeans and lifting her top to display the tiny bump that was only really visible when she lay down right now. "My name's Libby," the tech introduced herself warmly. "It's all very simple. I'm going to put some gel on you, and use this wand to find where your little one is hiding. We'll measure them, and make a more accurate guess for your due date, and if you want to know, I can make a pretty accurate guess as to the gender as well. Is that okay?"

Tommy settled himself on the stool and reached for Lena's hand. There was no way he was missing this, and not just because he wanted to be there for Lena, but because he was not only just as interested in seeing the first images of their son or daughter, but he found the whole thing pretty amazing. "You can actually see what?s going on in there?" he asked, curiously.

Libby chuckled as she got out the gel. "Well, it's not as clear as a television picture, but you'll be able to make out the baby," she explained. "I'll take the best images and print them out for you to take home. But the image is pretty good."

Lena let out a yelp as the technician squirted the gel onto her bare tummy. "That's cold!" she complained laughingly, shaking her head to dismiss the apology, raising her eyes to the monitor that started up as Libby took up the wand to begin the search for the inhabitant.

Tommy laughed at Lena's reaction to the gel. So far, it didn't seem too bad, though she had been complaining about having to relieve herself for the last half hour or so. He leaned closer so he could get a good view of the image, both hands wrapped around Lena's. "Can you tell if it's one or two?" he asked, assuming she could from what she had already told them.

"Sorry," Libby apologized about the temperature of the gel with a smile, gently tilting the wand as she pressed it into the little swell of Lena's womb in search of the baby. It took a moment to differentiate the different shadows on the screen, but finally she grinned, pointing to a shape. "There we are," she told them. "Just the one. And it looks like they're sucking their thumb."

Lena peered at the monitor, trying to ignore her bladder's insistence that she really wanted to pee, and her mouth fell open as the shapes formed something coherent. "Oh my goodness ..."

Tommy tilted his head, trying to make sense of the picture on the screen. There was definitely a shape of some sort there, but he'd need a little help to try and sort it out. "I'm not seeing it," he admitted with a small frown.

"Here, let me clarify it a bit ..." Libby tapped a few keys, adjusting the set of the wand, and the shadows behind the shape deepened, offering a clearer outline of a little head, and a tiny fist very close to it.

Lena stared, her mouth still open. "Oh ....it really is sucking it's thumb," she breathed, her hand groping for Tommy's as she watched, enthralled.

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:48 EST
He took her hand again, leaning even closer to get a better look at the picture of their baby on the video-screen. "He or she," Tommy corrected, not particularly liking their child being referred to as an it or a they. That decided it for him right then and there, though he looked to Lena for her thoughts. "Do we want to know?"

She looked up at him, tearing her eyes away from the screen to meet his gaze. The decision was right there, in his eyes and in hers. "I think we do, don't we?" she asked him, biting her lip as the wand shifted over her stomach. Libby was quietly making notes and calculations as they came to their decision, entirely too good at her job not to know when to keep quiet.

"I think we do, too," he said, smiling back at her and giving her hand a light squeeze. It had been a while since he'd felt this excited and nervous, and it surprised him a little, but they weren't just watching some random picture on a television screen - it was their baby up there - the child they'd made together. A son or a daughter, and in that moment, Tommy realized it didn't really matter which so long as their baby was healthy and happy.

"Let's have a little looksee then, shall we?" Libby mused, easing the wand around to investigate a little. When she found what she was looking for it, it was so obvious she didn't really need to point it out. Lena was already laughing as the technician chuckled, pointing out the salient part. "I think we can safely say that you have a son."

"Is that a ..." Tommy stopped just short of actually saying the word for the tiny baby's even tinier appendage. If he was seeing things right, there was no mistaking the fact that they had made a boy. "Well, I guess pink is out," he said with a chuckle.

Lena giggled, her free hand pressed to her mouth as she grinned. "Looks like it," she agreed, watching as Libby drew the perspective back up again. In front of their eyes, their son removed his thumb from his mouth and stretched, little arms reaching far before contracting back into a more comfortable position. "Oh gods ....baby, we made a boy ..."

There wasn't much that shocked Tommy King, but the sight of their son on the screen and the realization that what they were seeing was actually a picture of what was going on inside Lena's womb left him speechless. "That's ..." he broke off, at a loss for words to describe how he felt about what they were seeing. Amazing wasn't quite the word he was looking for, but about the only word that seemed to fit. "It's a boy," Tommy echoed quietly. "We're gonna have a son."

"Who will be making his appearance around the twentieth of December, by my calculations," Libby told them both, well used to the awe that usually accompanied the first scan. Second scans were more fun, in her opinion, but that was usually because the parents were generally finding more to laugh about in the pregnancy by the time the second one came around. "Just in time for Christmas."

Tommy smirked. "I'll try to resist suggesting Nicholas," he said, eyes dancing with merriment as he winked to Lena, though Nicholas King did have a nice ring to it. Nicky King" It was only one of thousands of names they'd be going over in the next weeks and months. "If that's not the best Christmas present any man could ask for, I don't know what is," he said, touching an affectionate kiss to Lena's cheek.

"Or Noel," Lena added, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "I'm not wrapping him up and putting a ribbon on him for Christmas morning." As Libby snorted with laughter, running back through the images to select a few good ones for the couple, Helena touched her hand to Tommy's cheek. "How about we keep it a secret until Jack bursts trying not to tell us what they got?" she suggested - Jack and Jasmin were, after all, due their own scan in just a little while.

"Or Chris," he added another possibility to the list of names that would likely grow much bigger before it got narrowed down. He chuckled at her suggestion, knowing Jack well enough to know he'd likely be bursting with excitement to share their own news. "I don't think we have to worry too much about that. Jack won't be able to keep it a secret for more than five minutes," he said with a smirk.

She laughed once again, jumping as Libby offered her a wad of soft paper. "Sorry, I forgot you were here," she admitted with a chuckle, wiping the gel off her skin before putting herself back to rights. "Where are the toilets here?"

Grinning, Libby handed Tommy the little envelope containing their scan pictures, and gave Lena directions to the toilets. "And congratulations."

Tommy took the envelope from Libby before helping Lena off the table, smiling his thanks at the technician. "Thank you!" he told her. He might have even suggested naming the baby after her, but Libby wasn't a very good name for a boy. He slid an arm around Lena's waist, having a very hard time not shouting for joy, beaming a grin from ear to ear and looking like the cat that just ate the canary.

Tucked into her husband's one-armed embrace, Lena was wearing a grin almost identical to Tommy's as they left the radiography suite, half-torn between suggesting they wait around here for Jack and Jaz to arrive and get done, or going out for lunch to pass the time before they could pounce on their friends and demand to know who else was going to be arriving around Christmas time. Which brought another subject to mind. "You know, I don't mind Chris," she mused, hugging her arm about his waist. "Christopher King, not Christmas King."

"And I don't mind Nicholas," he said with a smile. Ironically, there were female versions of both names, though they wouldn't know whether Jack and Jasmin were having a boy or girl until later that day. "Christopher or Christian?" he asked, wondering if she had a preference. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and then we'll get some lunch?" he suggested, knowing they had a little time to kill before Jack and Jasmin met up with them.

"Christian's nicer," she mused, wincing as he reminded her about her full bladder. "You had to say it, didn't you?" she laughed, reaching up to kiss him affectionately. "Be right back, baby. You decide where we're eating." She winked at him, slipping away to make use of the facilities.

Now that they knew they were having a boy, Tommy wanted everyone to know it. He took out his phone while she was away in the bathroom, tempted to text Jack and share the news. He actually started to type a message into his phone before debating against it. He felt like he was ready to burst with excitement and wondered if he'd have felt the same way if they were having a girl. No, he decided, he would have been happy no matter what they were having. Just the thought that they were having a child was enough to send his heart soaring. They'd have a girl someday, too. He'd give Lena a daughter, too, if it took the rest of his life to do it.

It didn't take long for Lena to rejoin him, clasping her hand into his as they made their way out of the clinic. It wasn't much of a surprise to see a familiar Love Bug pulling into the parking lot - or rather, to hear it coming. Jaz was going to have to get rid of that rust bucket of hers before the baby came, or there would be mutiny. Helena chuckled as she leaned into Tommy. "Maybe we should just find somewhere and wait for them to join us before we order," she suggested.

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:48 EST
"Or we could order and they can catch up," Tommy countered with a grin. He couldn't wait to tease Jack a little, though he was genuinely as happy for the other couple as he was for himself and Lena. Jack, who was really too tall for the car, unfolded himself from the passenger seat and waved at their friends before opening the door for Jasmin and helping her out.

"I guess so," Lena agreed with a giggle. "I am kinda hungry." She waved to Jack as he climbed out of the car, trying not to laugh too obviously as Jasmin was almost bodily heaved up and onto her feet. "Gods, if it's that hard to get up now, imagine what she's gonna be like at the end of summer," she snickered to Tommy.

"Imagine what you're gonna be like at the end of the summer," Tommy replied with a smirk. "Hey!" he called over to the other couple. "We're gonna grab a bite at the pizzeria down the street. Be there or be square!" Jack looked a little nervous and just a little flustered, looking to Jasmin to see if that was agreeable with her.

"Make it round, and we'll be there anyway," Jaz called back, looking just as nervous as Jack but apparently coping better with the feeling. She winked at the other couple, giving Jack a gentle tug toward the clinic.

Lena snickered softly, rolling her eyes. "I hope she brought tissues," she murmured to Tommy. "At least we didn't cry."

Tommy was tempted to call over that he knew something they didn't know, but he didn't want to upset their friends anymore than they already were. "What are they so nervous about' It was a piece of cake!" For him, anyway. "Come on, Midge. It's close enough we can walk." He handed her the photos from the ultrasound so she could tuck them in her purse before they headed for the pizzeria.

She laughed as he commented on their friends' nerves. "Well, I was pretty nervous going in," she reminded him, tucking the photos away as they headed along the street. "You know, before your son flashed us with everything he's got. He didn't even take us to dinner first."

"It is pretty impressive for ....How old is he now" Three months. Like father, like son," Tommy quipped, grinning proudly, though it would still be some months before their son was born. He slid an arm around her shoulders as they headed down the street. "Round, huh' Sounds like Jasmin wants pizza."

"Well, you're going to be responsible for making sure he doesn't wave it at just anybody," Lena giggled affectionately, tucked comfortably under his arm as they walked along. "Just promise me one thing, okay' We're not gonna even talk about naming him David." It might have seemed odd, to take against a single name, but there was a reason Desmond, Jonathan, and now Helena had all vetoed that particular name.

"Deal. No Juniors either," he told her, not that he hated his name so much, but he was already a Junior, named for a father he had never really gotten along with very well. Tommy didn't know all the gory little details about Lena's father, but he knew enough to know they had that in common.

"Deal." She nodded firmly, quite happy not to go that way with their children. She might not know the details of his reasons, but there was a Junior in the Grangers who was more than a little heinous himself. "No mushrooms on the pizza, I think Jack would possibly try and strangle us if Jaz had an allergic reaction today," she added with a low chuckle. "That is, if he has all his motor functions under control by the time they get out."

"I should have brought the smelling salts!" Tommy remarked with a snicker. He knew that wasn't quite fair, but it was a well-known fact that Jack was the emotional one in the group. If there was a chance of anyone crying, Tommy's money was on Jack. As for himself, he felt like shouting at the top of his lungs, but thought that might just draw the wrong kind of attention.

Lena laughed, pushing open the door to the pizzeria to let them both inside. "Maybe he won't faint," she predicted, deeply fond of Jack. He was probably her closest friend, in all actuality. "Maybe he'll be so excited he'll start vibrating, like you." She flashed her husband a teasing grin.

"Vibrating?" Tommy echoed with a puzzled look on his face. "I don't know about that, but I am excited. Can you blame you?" he asked as he held the door open for her and followed her inside. "We're gonna have a boy," he whispered, bumping his hip against her own with a smirk.

Bumped, she lurched a little, turning a laughingly indignant smile onto him as he whispered to her. "Darn tootin' we are," she agreed, tweaking the end of his nose affectionately. "Let's sit down, I want to look at the picture again."

"Me, too," he admitted with a soft smile, leading her toward a booth for four to wait for their friends. Hopefully, Jack and Jasmin wouldn't be too long and they could compare photos of the children who would be born to them by the end of the year. For Tommy, it was like a dream come true. "I love you, Lena," he told her softly, using her real name for once, instead of the silly nickname he'd given her, brushing a kiss against her cheek.

Sliding in on one side of the booth, her smile turned tender as he kissed her cheek, leaning into him fondly as she sighed, feeling the familiar wave of absolute contentment that had been hers to enjoy since they'd tied the knot eighteen months before. "I love you back, Tommy," she promised him, all that love there to see in her eyes and hear in her voice as she drew out the little envelope for them to pore over the very first pictures of their son.

"I could never imagine myself as a dad," he confessed, his fingers tangling with hers. "You don't think she made a mistake do you? It's really a boy?" he asked, not wanting to get their hearts set on a boy and then have a girl, though he hoped to have a daughter someday, too.

Leaning into him, Lena spread the shots on the table in front of them, giggling as she pointed to the one that showed off their son's assets in clear relief. "I don't think she's wrong," she laughed quietly. "It's her job, isn't it' Besides, we don't have to buy anything that specifically boy until we have the other scan at 20 weeks, and I'm sure by then it'll be even more obvious."

"It looks pretty obvious already," Tommy admitted, as he leaned close to take a better look at the photos. "So, do you think we should tell anyone or let them be surprised?" he asked. The only person he had to worry about was Jack. Everyone else who mattered were all Grangers.

Lena's finger stroked gently against the image of their son sucking his thumb, finding it somehow easier to imagine holding him, actually being a mother, now that she knew they were expecting a little boy. "I don't know," she admitted with a quiet chuckle. "We'll have to tell Jack and Jaz, if only to even the odds when they blurt their news out to us. But I don't think we should announce it. Maybe just tell people if they ask us?"

"Or we could wait until the next scan," he suggested, though he knew there was a slight flaw with that plan. If Vicki or Piper got a hold of those photos, all bets were off. Though Jon and Desmond might not notice the obvious, it was a sure bet Vicki and Piper would.

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:49 EST
"Mmm ....we should probably hide this picture of our little man's little man, then," she teased him fondly, looking up as she nudged his arm. "Unless you think we should blow it up and stick it on the side of the house for a few weeks. You know, just in case anyone we know hasn't heard we're expecting yet."

He laughed. "Well, at least we probably wouldn't have to tell anyone then," he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Have you talked to Dru lately?" he asked, nodding his thanks to a waitress as she dropped off a couple of menus.

She shook her head. "Not since they got back to Rhy'Din about a month ago," she told him with a gentle shrug. "Have you noticed that' They go to ground for a few weeks when they get back here. It must be awful, living with so many eyes on you all the time."

"Maybe we should have them over sometime," he suggested. In all honesty, he hadn't really gotten to know her brothers very well, but he'd become rather fond of Dru during the short while he and Jack had stayed at Willow Manor. "Anyway, the house is almost ready, so they should be moving in soon." Tommy smirked. "Just in time for surfing season."

Lena giggled once again, remembering the look on her husband's face - not to mention Jack's - when the little princess had taken to the waves like a natural last year. It was a shame she hadn't taken pictures; she was pretty sure Tommy had never looked so stunned in all his life, and would never look that stunned again. "Just in time for them to show off your new designs."

"Are you thinking of asking them to do some free advertising?" he asked with another smirk. He'd never suggest it himself, and he knew how both Dru and Josh guarded their privacy when they were in Rhy'Din, though they weren't afraid of getting up on stage at the Shanachie from time to time. Few in Rhy'Din knew Dru's true identity, and Tommy was perfectly happy to help her keep it a secret.

"Oh, come on," she laughed, nudging him once again. "Even I know a pretty girl on a surfboard pulls in a fair amount of interest." She raised a brow teasingly at him. "Unless you don't think my little sister is pretty?"

Tommy laughed again. "I haven't met a Granger yet that isn't good looking. Must be in the genes or something." It was true - the Grangers were a good looking family. He had yet to meet a single one that was anywhere near plain looking, and their child was going to benefit from those genes.

She grinned, leaning into him as her eyes strayed back to the pictures on the table in front of them. "He's going to be as handsome and smart as his daddy is," she predicted warmly. "And hopefully not as clumsy as me." Not that she was clumsy, exactly, but even Tommy had to admit Lena had a tendency to fall over what wasn't there at the best of times.

"Handsome I won't argue with. I'm not so sure about smart," he said, lifting a hand to touch her cheek. "You're not clumsy. You're adorable," he told her quietly, but then he was biased.

Giggling, she lifted her chin to kiss him tenderly. "I love you," she told him, for the umpteenth time that day, nestling close in the booth. "Are you going to feed me, or are we waiting for Jack and Jaz before we order?"

"I think we're expected to order a pizza," he replied. "What do you want on it?" he asked, looking over the menu. Cheese and pepperoni went without saying, and mushrooms were out, since Jasmin was allergic to them. If they ordered now, the pizza might be ready by the time the other couple arrived.

"Any objections to red onion?" she asked curiously. It wasn't as though they hadn't shared onion breath before, but she always asked. "And green pepper?" They might be having pizza, but vegetables were a part of that. They could at least pretend they were being vaguely healthy with vegetables on top.

"I'm okay with it if you are!" If she was going to have onion breath, so was he. "We could always get half with and half without," he suggested, in case Jack and Jasmin didn't feel the same. "And a pitcher of root beer!" he suggested, though he wasn't the one that might have heartburn later.

She laughed, rolling her eyes at his excitement. "Half and half sounds like a plan," she nodded with a smile. "That way you don't have to pretend you actually want to eat the green bits if Jack decides to join me."

"I like onions!" he insisted, though he wasn't as keen thrilled with green pepper. "Do you think our kids will like each other?" he asked out of the blue, with a thoughtful frown. Nothing was really out of the blue when it came to Tommy; he'd likely been thinking about it for a while now.

"Of course they will," she insisted with a smile. "They'll grow up together, like siblings but in different houses. They won't always get along, but then, I don't always get along with Des, Jon, and Dru. Doesn't mean I don't like them, or love them. Just means that sometimes I can't stand being in the same room as them." She winked at him cheekily.

"I never had any siblings," he pointed out, unsure if he'd told her that before or not. Robby and Jack had been like brothers, but he hadn't met them until after he'd left home. "No cousins either. I'm an only child from two only children. Pretty sad, isn't it' My mom always wanted a girl, but ..." He shrugged, not explaining further.

"You've got Jack," Lena pointed out gently. "Family isn't always about who you're related to, moonbeam. We build our own families out in the big wide world." She stroked his cheek affectionately. "I'm sure your mom loved you, even though she wanted a girl. Maybe next time we'll have a girl, and we can name her after your mom."

"No, I mean, she wanted a second child," he explained. At least, that's how he understood it. It wasn't something that was discussed openly or very often. "She would have liked you," he told her, smiling softly, but before he could say any more, the waitress was there asking for their order.

"We'll make up for it," Lena promised him softly. "And even if we can't, our little boy will have a cousin right there to grow up with. He won't be an only child, even if he doesn't have brothers or sisters." She kissed his cheek gently as the waitress arrived, giving the woman their order with a friendly smile.

He waited quietly while she placed their order, making sure not to forget a pitcher of rootbeer, before turning back to the subject at hand. "What was it like having a brother? You and Jon seem pretty close," he said, tucking the photos of their son back into the envelope for safe keeping.

Her smile was, perhaps, a little sad as she answered. These memories belonged only to her now, since Jon had lost his past when he had been shot. "I don't really know how to describe it," she admitted. "I always had a friend right there, someone I could confide in and hide behind, if I needed to. We drove each other crazy, but no matter what we did to each other, if someone outside laid a hand on me, or on Jon, we were right there to back each other up."

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:50 EST
"I'm glad you had someone like that," he told her with a soft smile, a little envious, though she was right in that he had Jack now, and he couldn't ask for a better friend than that. "I hope our kids are that close someday," he added, knowing just having siblings didn't ensure they'd be close as was evidenced by Jack and his brothers, but Tommy blamed most of that on Jack's father.

"It's because of you that I got that relationship back," she reminded him gently. She had no secrets from Tommy; he knew, even better than Jon, about her reaction to losing her brother, and how she had failed to deal with it until she had needed him to talk her through the loss of Tommy himself. "Even if they're not that close, they'll always be friends," she predicted softly. "You can't grow up with someone and not always have their back."

"I don't know. Jack didn't get along that well with his brothers. He doesn't talk about it much, but I got the feeling he got picked on a lot," Tommy told her. He only knew what Jack had told him, and that hadn't been much. It didn't really seem to matter anymore anyway, except that their family backgrounds had helped make them who they were.

She nodded slowly. "I can only talk about what I know," she admitted, "but our kids aren't going to be forced to do anything with their lives that they don't want to. They're not going to blamed for every misfortune that ever happens, and they're not going to be afraid of us. Ever."

"No, we'll probably spoil them rotten," Tommy agreed with a grin. He couldn't imagine himself being anywhere near as stern as his father. He thought he was more likely to be a pushover, but he didn't think he had to worry about that just yet.

"Well, maybe not rotten," Lena laughed along with his grin. "We're gonna have to have some rules, or the animals are gonna suffer at the hands of grabby toddlers."

"We'll be fine, Lenabug. I'm not worried," he assured her, leaning close to touch a kiss to her lips and almost falling off his chair as a shout went up behind them in an all-too familiar voice.

"It's a girl!" Jack shouted as he pushed his way into the pizzeria, tugging Jasmin behind him, both of them slightly out of breath as if they'd run the entire way from the clinic to the pizzeria. He was grinning from ear to ear as he turned and picked Jasmin up in his arms and spun her around. "We're having a baby girl!"

Startled by the sudden arrival, Lena found herself laughing at Jack's wild enthusiasm even as she reached out to steady Tommy before he tipped over entirely. "Congratulations!" she called out, but there wasn't much room for a response just yet.

Jaz was too busy laughing herself as she was spun about, her feet dangling above the floor as she hugged her husband close.

Tommy couldn't help but laugh at his friends' reaction. "I'm guessing it's a girl," he remarked, with a grin, eyes dancing with amusement. He and Lena had guessed their friends might be having a girl, but there was no way to know for sure until now. "Just one, Jack?" Tommy called over at the other couple. He could only imagine what his friend's reaction might be if it had been twins.

"Oh, thank gods, it's just one," Jasmin laughed, poking at Jack until he put her back on her feet. She claimed his hand, tugging him to slide into the other side of the booth Tommy and Lena had claimed. "That gel was cold!"

Lena giggled, nodding in solidarity. "I know!"

"Why?" Jack asked, looking a little dumbfounded as he slid into the booth beside Jasmin. "What's wrong with having twins?" he asked, poking at Jasmin's side. "Double trouble," he teased.

Tommy chuckled. "One isn't enough for you?"

Snickering, Jaz caught her husband's hand as he poked at her, nipping the end of his finger affectionately. "One at a time, I think, is pretty good for us," she told him cheerfully. "Besides, we don't wanna get too far ahead of these guys, or they might never get out of bed!"

Lena's mouth dropped open indignantly at that comment. "Hey now," she protested through her grin. "We're not the ones who had to learn how to lock the front door because of the number of times people have walked in on us on the floor or tables."

"No, you're the ones who had to learn how to call first or use the doorbell!" Jack teased back with a grin. He had a tendency to be something of a worrier, but there was no denying he was happy. There would be time to worry tomorrow.

"Congratulations," Tommy offered, keeping their own news a secret for the moment. "Do we get to see a picture?"

"We'll show you ours if you show us yours," Jaz countered with a teasing smile. There was no denying that she was happy with the news herself; it was rare to see her quite so brightly lit up from the inside, but the sheer delight was pouring off her today. She pulled an envelope out of her bag, waving it teasingly under Tommy's nose.

Tommy chuckled as he made a swipe to grab the envelope out of Jasmin's hand. "Just for that, I should have ordered mushrooms," he teased. The envelope holding the scans of their son was still on the table, just under his hand. "You can guess what we're having," he told her with a wink at Lena as he handed their envelope over.

"That photogenic, huh?" Jaz said impishly, yelping as Lena smacked her hand. "It was a compliment!"

Lena rolled her eyes, sticking her tongue out at her cousin as she nudged Tommy to get a look at Jack and Jasmin's little girl.

Tommy opened the envelope and pulled out the scans of Jack and Jasmin's little girl, leaning close to Lena to let her take a look. The photos still didn't look like much to him, but there was no hint of an extra appendage on this one.

Jack beamed a grin from ear to ear as Tommy and Lena looked over the photos. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Lena bit her lip as she smiled. She couldn't help being amused by Jack's obvious delight in the prospect of fatherhood, but it was going a little bit further than silly to say that a baby not more than five centimeters big was beautiful. "She's gonna do her mom and dad proud," she nodded to Jack, leaning close to Tommy to peek at the pictures. She knew the exact moment Jaz found the incriminating scan photo of their son, however. There are few sounds more infectious than a Granger trying without much success not to laugh out loud.

There was no denying that Jack was a proud papa, and no way anyone would be able to convince him that his little girl wasn't beautiful, even if she was mostly just a blob on the paper at this point. At least, he didn't go so far as to say she had her mother's eyes ....yet.

"She's lovely, Jackie. Looks just like you," Tommy teased, having a hard time making much out of the picture but a vague outline of a baby.

Jack wasn't quite sure what it was that Jaz found so funny, but he was a little distracted with the whole idea of being a dad to figure it out. "Thanks!" he said, before realizing Tommy was teasing. "Hey!"

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:50 EST
"I'm pretty sure yours is gonna look just like you, Bum Fluff," Jasmin managed finally, nudging Jack to point out that particularly blatant image of Tommy and Lena's unborn son. "He's already acting like you. You're gonna have your hands full, Lena."

Helena snickered softly, something else having occurred to her. "What, you mean you won't have your hands full with him?" she asked her cousin innocently. "There's only so long you can play doctor without some parts getting curious, you know."

"Except for the thumb-sucking part," Tommy pointed out with a grin.

Jack was just starting to catch on, eyes narrowed as he took a closer look at the scan of Tommy and Lena's baby. "Wait ....Is that a ..." he broke off, not wanting to give that particular appendage a name in front of the girls.

"You bet it is!" Tommy replied proudly. "That's my boy!"

This sent Lena off into peals of giggles, as Tommy proudly announced the gender of their baby, and Jasmin glared at her, mildly horrified that she was already accusing their unborn children of exploring together a long, long time into the future.

"You, Helena King, are a pain in my *ss sometimes," she accused her cousin, rolling her eyes.

"It's bound to happen," Tommy agreed, to which Jack looked horrified.

"Not with my daughter, it's not!" he exclaimed, which sent Tommy into gales of laughter. Jack blushed, as he realized they were just teasing and he relaxed a little. "Anyway, they're cousins, so no hankypanky."

"I never told you about the time Jon dated Correy, did I?" Lena mused impishly as she looked at Jack, carefully putting the scan images back into the right envelope to switch back with the other couple.

Jack furrowed his brows, wondering if Lena was teasing again, while Tommy covered his ears. "Lalala, I can't hear you. I don't want to know!"

Jack seemed to still be figuring out whether Lena was teasing or not, while the women swapped scans. "I'm not sure I do either," Jack murmured.

Giggling, Lena shook her head, tucking her own envelope safely away. "Don't worry, I won't go into details," she promised. "We already ordered, by the way. Should be here any minute now."

"Oh, thank the gods," Jasmin sighed exaggeratedly. "I'm famished. I had to drink a whole bottle of water before we set off, too. That didn't help."

Tommy didn't seem too bothered by Lena's remark about her brother, but Jack was still puzzling over it, though he thought it was none of his business, whether it was true or not. "No mushrooms, right?" he asked, knowing Jasmin's allergy.

"No mushrooms," Tommy confirmed, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms. "So, are you gonna tell anyone or keep it a secret?"

Jaz considered this for a moment, looking at Jack curiously. "We didn't really discuss that," she mused thoughtfully. "We were too busy running down the street, whooping like kids." She grinned at Lena, who chuckled.

"Yeah, and I'll bet you both drowned Libby with happy sobs while you were in there," she teased the pair of them affectionately.

"Not drowned, exactly," Jack admitted with a blush. "We haven't really decided yet. What are you gonna do?" he countered, turning the question around on them.

Tommy shrugged, uncrossing his arms and sliding one around Lena's shoulders. "We haven't decided yet either, but we're thinking about waiting until the next scan."

"You know, so we don't get buried in blue everything," Lena added with a smile, leaning into Tommy as his arm wrapped about her. "I'd kind of like our son to grow up not thinking the whole world expects him to be predictable."

Jaz blinked, surprised but impressed, looping her own arm around Jack's neck as her other hand played with his against the table. "That's not actually a bad idea," she admitted, looking to her husband. "I don't know about you, but pink really isn't a favorite color of mine."

"We don't have to tell anyone, until they're born really. It could just be our little secret," Tommy suggested, looking from one to the other. It was a little tempting to make a secret pact with each other, though he wasn't sure how long it would last, especially once some of the bolder cousins started pestering. Miranda came to mind, as well as Vicki.

"Apart from Dru and Josh," Lena pointed out. Her little sister missed out on a lot when she was away from Rhy'Din, and she would miss the birth of both babies because of her royal duties.

"Right," Tommy replied. It was only fair they told Dru and Josh, especially since they'd be moving to the Cove sometime soon.

"I've been thinking about that actually," Jack said, leaning forward, just as their pizza and root beer arrived.

Smiling, Jasmin drew him back out of the way as the wide pizza was put down between the four of them, brushing a gentle kiss to his temple. "Oooh, peppers," she breathed. "How did you know?"

"I am, of course, magic," was Lena's answer to that as she snagged a slice for herself. "Thinking about what, Jack?"

"She's psychic," Tommy replied with a grin. "Didn't you know?" He scooped up a slice for himself and for Lena.

"Well, I was just thinking," Jack started, looking at the other three. "I know everyone probably assumes we're gonna have each other for godparents, but what do you think about Dru and Josh?"

The two women paused, meeting each others' gaze for a moment with a faint smile before Jasmin answered. "I think that's a great idea," she told her husband proudly. "You know some cultures have two sets of godparents" But I kinda like the idea of having just one set for the first baby, at least, and I really like that they'd be the little princess and her husband."

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:51 EST
"For both kids or just yours?" Tommy asked, not quite sure what Jack had in mind. The thought of godparents hadn't even occurred to him yet. "What about Jon or Desmond" Won't they feel left out?" he asked, though it was likely they'd have more than one child, if he had anything to say about it. Jack and Jasmin seemed like the logical choice to him, though Jack had a point. They were pretty inclusive as it was, and it was a good way to make Dru and Josh feel like part of the family.

"Jaz makes a good point," Lena considered around a mouthful of pizza. "There are some cultures that have two sets of godparents for their children. So why can't we both ask Dru and Josh, and then you and I could ask Jon or Des this time?"

Jaz nodded, looking to Jack with a smile. "We could ask Kaylee and Taylor," she suggested warmly.

"What's a godparent supposed to do anyway?" Tommy broke in curiously. He obviously didn't have much experience in this regard being an only child from a small family. Jack exchanged looks with Jasmin, unsure how to answer that question, before he had a chance to reply to her suggestion.

"Uh ..." Lena looked slightly flummoxed by Tommy's question herself, looking hopefully to Jasmin, just in case her cousin knew the answer.

Jaz looked at the three of them, trying hard not to smile. "Your godparents are a safety net," she told them. "They're like honorary aunts and uncles, if they're not related to you. They're part of the family, and just like any family, if anything happens to your parents, they're there to look after you. That's why it's such an honor to be asked, guys. Asking someone to be a godparent, it's you saying "you're the only person I trust to look after my child if I can't do it anymore". It's a big deal."

"Okay, so, we're supposed to pick someone we'd want raising our kids if we can't do it?" Tommy asked, looking to Jasmin for clarification. "Because if that's the case, I'd pick you two," he said, taking a bite of his pizza.

"Yeah, but who would be your second choice?" Jack asked.

There was a moment of silence as this question was considered. Then Lena spoke up quietly. "If I could, I'd pick Humphrey," she said, her expression a little forlorn, knowing as well as anyone that the Old Man would not live long enough to raise children to adulthood now. But she knew what he had tried to do for her and Jon when they'd been children.

"But Humphrey is too old," Tommy dared to say what Lena had not, a small frown on his face. Even he had become fond of the Old Man. "Maybe you should ask Jon and Vicki," he suggested. "You two grew up together. He's as close as you're gonna get to Humphrey."

"It's not like you have to decide today," Jack pointed out before taking a bite of his pizza.

"And it's not a decision that belongs only to me," Lena added, smiling gratefully at Tommy as she leaned into him. "Like Jack says, plenty of time."

"Sooo ..." Jaz glanced between them, stealing a large piece of pepperoni off Jack's slice with a grin. "I guess the big question now is ....who gets to tell Asha she's not allowed to sleep with the baby?"

Tommy had to snicker at that. Lena's cat seemed to think she was the queen of the house, despite the fact that they had a dog now, too. "Not me," he replied. "I don't think she likes me very much."

"That's because you probably smell like Luna," Jack pointed out. Luna was the name of the dog Tommy and Lena had adopted recently.

"And sawdust and ozone and sea salt and everything else he picks up in a single day," Lena chuckled, glad Jasmin had changed the subject to something silly. "She's a snob. And she likes Luna, amazingly. I swear, she's got that dog trained to sleep in just the right position so she gets to sleep all snuggled up with her!"

"The only time she likes me is when I'm feeding her!" Tommy pointed out with a smirk. He didn't really care one way or the other if the cat was fond or him or not, so long as Luna liked him. It was no secret that he favored the dog over the cat.

"Well, at least, we don't have to worry about that with Milo," Jack remarked.

"Yeah, we just need to worry about him dragging our baby girl out of the crib by one foot because he wants to play with her," Jasmin laughed. She was fairly sure Milo wouldn't do that, but he could be pretty stubborn at times.

"Or knocking Luna up when she's in heat," Lena pointed out with a snicker. "Wouldn't they make interesting puppies?"

Tommy laughed, unable to imagine what kind of puppies might result from the pairing of a golden retriever and a Belgian sheepdog. "I'm not sure interesting is the word for it," he grinned.

Jack blushed for some reason, ducking his head a little as he and Jasmin had had this conversation before. "We should probably get him fixed," he admitted. Though the thought of puppies was a tempting thought, they were going to have their hands full in a few months, as it was.

Jasmin made a face at that. "Do we have to' He's not exactly aggressive, is he?" she pointed out. "And he just thinks Luna smells weird when she's on."

Lena choked on a mouthful of rootbeer, spluttering to clear her airway before she added to this, "At least you don't live with a dog who thinks cramps are the worst thing that will ever happen to her every three months."

"We don't have to," Jack replied. "But sooner or later, we're gonna have to decide if we get him fixed or risk him and Luna making puppies."

Tommy shrugged. "It's fine with me, if it's fine with Luna."

"I think she'd make a cute mommy," Lena mused, rolling her eyes as Jaz chuckled. "No laughing, we get joint custody. That means you guys have to do some of the parenting too."

"So, I guess we'd be the puppies' godparents," Jack said with a smile.

"Why don't we just leave it up to Milo and Luna and see what happens?" Tommy suggested, though that might be tempting fate a little.

"We'll be drowning in puppies," Jaz predicted with a low laugh. "Could make it a gimmick for the shop - one free puppy when you spend over four hundred gold, something like that."

Lena burst out laughing. "Gods, we'd have more business than we could cope with if we did that!"

Helena King

Date: 2015-06-12 13:52 EST
"What would we call them' Belgian retrievers?" Tommy asked with a chuckle, still having trouble imagining it in his head. Would they be golden with long fur and pointed ears or black with floppy ears or some other mixture"

"We could give them away as prizes in a surf contest," Jack suggested mildly.

"I'm not gonna let Luna be eternally pregnant just for the sake of the shop," Lena laughed, smacking Jasmin's hand.

"What did I do?" the other woman protested laughingly, shaking out her hand.

"You started it," Lena giggled, shaking her head. "New topic ..."

"Wait a minute," Tommy interjected. "I think Jack's onto something."

"I am?" Jack asked, arching both brows.

"Yeah, a surfing contest," Tommy said with a grin. They'd been tossing around the idea for a while, and now that it was nearly summer, it was time to start seriously thinking about it.

"Well, we've got friends and contacts in enough places," Jaz pointed out. "We can cater an event, and get security for it. I bet we could get a fair to camp out for a day on the beach, too."

Lena nodded in agreement. "No prize money, though," she added, remembering Tommy's words on this very subject from more than a year before. "We could get trophies made."

"No, no prize money," Jack agreed, understanding Tommy's concerns about that. If they did host a contest, it would be just for fun. They didn't want anyone taking it so seriously they might get hurt or killed the way Robby had.

"Yeah, the only thing is this is our beach, and I don't want people thinking they can camp out here whenever they want," Tommy pointed out - at least, not at the private are of King's Cove.

"So we hold it on the public beach," Lena pointed out. "The Cove itself belongs to the Granger family, but the rest of the beach, beyond the rocky spur to the north, that's public property, as far as I know. It's far enough away to keep people from thinking they can just walk all over our peace, and close enough that they'll be able to find it."

"It could work," Jack said. "And it should help bring business into the shop."

Tommy nodded agreeably. "Then I guess we just have to pick a date," he replied, looking to the other three for suggestions.

"You guys know the tides better than we do," Jaz pointed out with a smile. "I'm just a musician, I can't read the sea. When do you think would be the best time of year to hold a surfing contest?"

The two men looked at each other and replied in unison, "When the moons are at their fullest."

"Morning is usually the best time for surfing," Tommy pointed out, though that wasn't exactly what Jaz was asking. "We'll have to look at the tide cycles and decide when we want to do it, but so long as the weather cooperates, we should be okay."

As this rather confusing array was trotted out for them, Jasmin and Lena looked at one another and, in an echo of their husbands' reply only moments before, said together, "August."

Both Tommy and Jack chuckled as the decision was made in unison, once again. "August it is," Tommy said, lifting his glass of root beer to offer up a toast. "To babies, puppies, and surfing."

Jack lifted his glass as well, adding, "To friendship and the future."

"To King's Cove," Lena added with a smile, raising her own glass as she tucked herself close beside Tommy once again.

"And to family," Jaz ended their round of toasts with a nod, taking a sip from her glass.

Because, in the end, that was all that really mattered to any of them. Family.

((These four never fail to make me giggle! Many thanks to my partner in crime!))