British Eddie watched the scene unfolding before him from a dark corner. All of this time he had been looking for the Manticore kid's weakness and it had been right in front of him. He knew that they had been trained to be the perfect solider, to kill without hesitation or emotion. Somewhere along the line, these particular ones had made friends and by the looks of the couple by the pool table, fallen in love.
Eddie had received word that the dark haired girl by the pool table with her boyfriend was worth a lot of money. Only if she was brought in alive and in one piece. A request had also been issued for her redheaded sister, whom Eddie had never seen. Chances were that the sister was close by.
"Are you two going to play pool or just use that table as a leaning post while you two chow down on each other." Original Cindy stood, hands on hips watching Max and Logan passionately kissing each other as though they had been apart for years instead of one day.
"Leaning post!" They both replied before returning to their kiss.
"That's the first time they've come up for air in the last half an hour." Sketchy nudged Cindy. "What the hell did you get them to drink?" He sniffed at Max's glass of beer. "Smells like normal beer." He sipped the brown liquid. "Tastes like normal beer."
"Fool." Original Cindy smacked Sketchy across the back of the head. "That is normal beer. Those two are high on each other."
"I know I told you to make the most of your time together, but I think I speak for everyone when I say, get a room." A now familiar British accent rang out from behind them. When they all turned around, they came face to face with a very pregnant Jondy.
Original Cindy walked over and hugged her friend. "Amen to that. You look good girl." Jondy raised her eyebrow at Cindy. "I look fat. I can't even remember the last time I saw my feet and I have an excellent memory."
Max stood with Logan behind her, his arms around her waist. She had never seen her sister look so beautiful. Jondy glowed radiantly. Although it was obvious that her sister was pregnant, she certainly wasn't fat. "Cindy's right, you look good." She reached out and hugged her sister. "Have you been to see Dr Carr?"
Jondy nodded. "Baby is on schedule and everything appears to be going as it should." She sat down beside Sketchy. "I don't suppose you two noticed you were being watched?"
Logan frowned. "Watched? By whom?" He tried not to be obvious as he looked around the room. "I can't see anyone, can you?" He whispered into Max's ear.
Max focused her eyesight on the darker areas of the bar. She could see someone shrinking further into the shadows. "British Eddie's playing hide and seek." Max spotted Alec walking over to greet Jondy. "I think it's time to leave."
"Hey, mother to be." Alec gently hugged Jondy, frightened that he might hurt her or the baby. 'You look ready to pop." Suddenly he felt the baby kick him from inside the petite redhead. "What was that?"
Jondy giggled. "My son wasn't amused with you commenting on my expanded figure." She took Alec's hand and held it on her stomach. "That's your nephew kicking you."
Alec looked at her in wonder. "He feels strong. Doesn't that hurt?" He'd never been this close to someone who was expecting a baby before.
"Sorry to interrupt this Kodak moment." Max tapped Alec on the shoulder. "I can only see the one Steelhead, but I'm not keen on waiting for his buddies to join him." She saw the look on Alec's face. "You felt the baby kick, didn't you?"
Alec nodded. "What do you want to do?" He was still astounded at feeling the unborn child kick him.
"Logan's gone to get the car. I need you to get Jondy out of here and back to Logan's." Max had explained everything to Original Cindy. "Make sure you don't get followed Alec. You have precious cargo with you." Max walked into the ladies room and climbed out the window and straight into Logan's car where he was waiting for her.
Logan made sure the way was clear before pulling the car out onto the road. "So much for a quiet night out with friends." He joked with Max. "Remember when a quiet night out didn't involve both of us climbing out of bathroom windows?"
Max giggled. "Yeah, it used to involve me climbing up the side of a building to rob it."
Alec stopped by Joshua's place so that he could make sure they weren't being followed. After leaving Jondy in Joshua's capable hands, he did a quick drive around the block in Jondy's car. When he got back, Alec found a fascinated Joshua staring at Jondy's swollen stomach. "What's up with him?"
Jondy patted Joshua's hand. "Joshua was under the impression that babies were made in test tubes." She had become so used to seeing her canine friend when she visited Seattle, that sometimes she forgot he had spent most of his life trapped in Manticore. Life outside was still strange and new to him.
"Think of it this way Josh," Alec managed to get Joshua's attention away from Jondy's stomach for a moment. "Jondy is the test tube."
This made perfect sense to Joshua. He helped Jondy to get out of the chair she was sitting in. "When will the baby arrive?" He was so excited.
"In the next couple of weeks." Jondy loved seeing Joshua like this. He was like a child looking forward to Christmas. "We'd better get going. I'll come and see you in a couple of days." She hugged Joshua goodbye.
Back at Logan's apartment, Max had started to pace. "What's taking them so long? They should have gotten back here ages ago."
"Alec probably just wanted to be certain they weren't being followed." Logan was trying to stay calm as well. Who knew what the Steelheads would do if they got their hands on a pregnant X5.
The sound of the door opening instantly erased their concerns. Alec and Jondy walked in, totally unaware of how much they had alarmed Max and Logan. Alec helped Jondy ease into a chair. "There you go. Delivered safe and sound." He kissed Jondy on the cheek and headed back out the door. "Gotta blaze." He waved goodbye over his shoulder.
Max slumped down beside Jondy. "What took you guys so long? I was starting to get worried."
"Alec wanted to make sure that we weren't followed, so he dropped me off with Joshua while he did a circuit around the block." Jondy tried to get comfortable but it wasn't easy.
Logan went and fetched a couple of pillows for Jondy. "How did he react to the change in your appearance?" He realized this was something different for Joshua to observe.
Jondy struggled not to laugh. "We had the 'Where do Babies come from' talk. He only seemed to understand when Alec explained that I was the test tube." She wasn't exactly sure whether or not to be insulted.
Max's jaw dropped. "I should have remembered Joshua's only ever known about genetically engineered children. The whole doing it the natural way is completely foreign to him." Then she began to giggle herself. "How do you end up with all of the heavy discussions with Joshua?"
Jondy shook her head as she leaned back against the pillows Logan had positioned behind her, so that she was more comfortable. "I don't know. I suppose it's good practice."
Logan raised his eyebrows. "I guess that's one way to look at it. The guest room's all made up for you when you're ready." He had assumed that she would stay there considering the lift was broken again at Max's apartment building.
"Thanks. You know I can stay with Original Cindy. I can still climb stairs." Jondy didn't want to intrude. Max and Logan looked as though they had plans for just the two of them when she had walked into Crash tonight.
"You're staying here." Logan said firmly. He knew Max would feel better with her sister staying there. "Why don't I fix us something to eat." He walked into the kitchen leaving the two sisters to talk.
In the morning Jondy eased herself out of bed. Her back was aching again, usually walking around helped a bit. She showered and dressed feeling a little better.
"Morning." Logan walked into the kitchen where Jondy had started clearing the dishwasher. "Leave that Jondy, I'll do it later." His hair was sticking up on end as he had just climbed out of bed. Logan had been working on his computer most of the night, so Max had decided to sleep at her own place.
"It's alright. I don't mind." Jondy needed to keep busy. She had never been one to just sit down and relax. It wasn't in her genes. She finally sat down beside Logan and watched him enhailing his cup of coffee. "You really aren't a morning person, are you?"
Logan glanced up and smiled. "What gave me away? My face in my coffee or the grunts I'm giving you for answers?" He noticed she was rubbing her lower back a lot this morning. "You alright?"
Jondy nodded. "I'm not used to carry this extra weight on the front of my body. It's sort of taking it's toll on my back. One of the joys of being pregnant." She got up and walked into the living room and started rearranging the cushions. "Why don't you go and shower and change. Then we can go and meet Max for breakfast."
Logan frowned to himself. Jondy was acting a little strange. "Alright. I won't be long." He headed for the shower, not really wanting to leave her alone for too long. He phoned Max while the shower was heating up and arranged for her to meet them.
Breakfast was a happy event and Logan began to wonder if he had been concerned over nothing. The three of them started walking down the quiet street back towards Logan's car. Logan felt the two women stop. He slowly turned to see what the problem was. They were both looking around them, searching for something. "What's wrong?"
Max took hold of Logan's jacket sleeve. "Get Jondy outta here now." Then she heard a noise behind her. "Too late."
British Eddie and his crew surrounded them. Each of the Steelheads were armed. "Long time, no see." Eddie eyeballed Max. "Did you miss me Sweetie?"
"You call that an English accent?" Jondy didn't have time to mess around with these morons. Her water had just broken. "Have you no class?" Moving quicker than any woman in her condition should have been able to, she grabbed Lux at the base of her neck as she had been trained to. "How about I start removing your girlfriend's back bone. Metal or bone, it's still manageable."
Max had pulled Logan with her behind Birdy, whom she had grabbed in the same hold that Jondy had on Lux. "You don't mind if we don't stick around with you, do you?" There was something about the look on her sister's face that told Max, they needed to get out of there fast.
Logan reached around Max and took Birdy's gun. "We'll be leaving now." His car was only a few feet away, but he didn't want to turn his back on the Steelheads.
"The women are worth too much money to me, mate." Eddie was brimming with confidence. "Seeing as Red over there is expecting a sprog, I could probably up the price on her." He held Logan's gaze. "You on the other hand are just spare parts."
"Eddie, she's breaking my spine." Lux could barely get the words out. Jondy's grip was getting tighter and tighter. It was the cold, expressionless look on Jondy's face that was really frightening Lux.
Tuck was starting to get nervous. He had a terrible feeling that they'd all be dead before they could even fire off a shot. "Eddie, do something. They'll kill all of us."
"Not before I kill him." Eddie took aim at Logan. As he was about to pull the trigger, the sound of someone walking down the street whistling caught his attention.
Logan took the opportunity to fire the gun he had taken from Birdy and shoot the gun out of Eddie's hand. Max wrenched Birdy's arm out of it's socket and threw him to the ground. Alec appeared out of nowhere and knocked Tuck flying.
Alec looked up and saw that Jondy still had a death like grip on Lux. "Hey, you ok?" Lux looked as though she was about to fall unconscious. Delivering a kick to Tuck's face, knocking him out Alec walked slowly over to Jondy. "I think you can let go now."
Jondy released her grip and let the woman fall to the ground. "Get me Dr Carr now." She spoke through clenched teeth. "I'm in labor."
"Oh God." Alec had no idea what to do. "Max! She's having the baby." He swung Jondy into his arms and headed towards Logan's car. "When you called me and asked me to pick you up so that those two could have some time alone together, this wasn't quite what I pictured."
Logan slammed the handle of the gun into Eddie's face. "Guess you're not going to get that money after all." He ran over to the car, closely followed by Max. "How far apart are the contractions?" He didn't really want to have to deliver Jondy's baby in his car.
Alec looked over his shoulder at Logan. "Put it this way, do either of you know how to deliver a baby? Cause I don't think she's going to make it to the other side of town."
"Fine." Max pulled Alec out of the car. "You get yourself to Metro Medical. Find Dr Sam Carr and get him to Logan's. We'll take Jondy back there, it's closer." She watched Alec race down the street. "I'm guessing he's got transport." She looked over at Logan who was climbing into the driver's seat.
"The speed you guys can run." Logan started the car up as Max climbed in the back with Jondy. "He'll probably get there faster on foot." Although he wanted to get Jondy back to his apartment as fast as possible, he also wanted to be sure that they weren't followed.
When they pulled into the car park of his apartment building, Logan quickly parked the car and picked Jondy up out of the backseat. "How are we doing?" Jondy was trying to breathe through the contractions, so all he got in reply was an annoyed look. "I'll take that as a hurry up answer."
Max ran ahead and pushed the lift button. The doors opened a couple of seconds later. "The contractions are getting pretty close together. This baby wants out now." She was worried about Logan and herself having to deliver the baby. If there were any complications with the birth, they could loose Jondy and the baby. It wasn't something she could face thinking about.
Alec raced into Metro Medical and up to the front desk. "Dr Sam Carr. Where can I find him?" Any other time, he would have started to chat up the pretty nurse on the other side of the desk.
"Dr Carr is in surgery." The nurse smiled at Alec. "I'll get another Doctor for you." When Alec shook his head, she frowned. "Are you alright?"
Alec glanced down at the nurse's name badge. "Listen Kellie. My sister is probably giving birth in my brother-in-law's apartment as we speak. She won't accept any other Doctor. Only Dr Carr." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess they bonded."
"I'm sorry, but Dr Carr could be in surgery for hours." Kellie calmly explained. "I could probably check and see how the surgery is going to get a better idea of when he will be out."
"Thanks. That would be great." Alec dialed Logan's apartment. The phone was answered on the second ring. "Max, the Doctor's in surgery. I'm trying to find out how long he'll be. How's Jondy doing?" He could hear somebody yelling abuse in the background.
"Well, the contractions are right on top of each other. Jondy's not going to be able to hold on much longer." Max looked towards the guestroom. "I didn't realize Jondy even knew that sort of language."
"Look, I'll get Dr Carr there as soon as I can." Alec heard Logan call Max. "Do your best until we get there." He hung up the phone when he saw Kellie coming towards him.
Back at Logan's apartment, Max scrubbed her hands and grabbed some clean towels, carrying them into the guestroom where she had left Jondy and Logan.
"Do you even know how to deliver a baby?" Logan sat behind Jondy and gently rubbed her back. "Cause I know exactly zip."
Max looked up at him. "It's not my strong point, but we can't exactly take her to the hospital and get another Doctor. White would be there in seconds."
Jondy was exhausted. Her red hair was sticking to her damp face and neck. "You know what, I've had enough. The baby can stay in there. I'm going home." Her lovely face screwed up in pain. "Oh God, here comes another one." She grabbed hold of Logan's free hand.
"I want you to push with this contraction." Max was trying to calm her sister down. The problem was, she was panicking too and she had a feeling that Jondy was crushing Logan's hand.
"You push. Why the hell couldn't Devon be here for me to blame all of this on?" Jondy knew that she was being unreasonable and wasn't really making sense, but she was in pain and didn't care.
"So blame me." It was the first thing Logan thought of. "You want to blame someone, blame me. I'm here doing nothing. I might as well be useful."
"I don't care who you blame, just push." Max ordered. She shot Logan a grateful look as Jondy started to push. "That's it Jondy, I can see the head."
"If Devon weren't already dead, I'd be killing him for this." Jondy growled out between clenched teeth. "This is the last time I try to cure a gay man from shock in a cave."
Logan was struggling not to laugh at Jondy's ranting. "Come on Jondy, you're doing great." He gently pushed her hair off of her face.
Max hated to see her sister in so much pain, but had to admire the way Logan was handling the whole thing. "That's right Jondy, you're doing great. Now I need you to push again. If you can get the shoulders out, I can help you."
"You want both shoulders out?" Jondy looked shocked at the request. "You don't want much do you?" She got a better grip on Logan's hand and started to push.
"Come on, Jondy, you know what to do." Logan had a feeling she might have to tell them how to help her.
"Of course I know what to do." Jondy grumbled as she pushed. "I don't have to be happy about it though, do I."
Logan chuckled. "I guess you have a point. I can't say I'd want to swap places with you." He tried to look innocent when Jondy looked up at him in disbelief. "What? You think if men were willing to go through all this, women would still be the ones having the babies?"
"He's got a point." Max could see the shoulders. "Ok, I'm thinking another big push should get the baby out with a little help from Aunty Max."
"Oh great. More pushing." Jondy didn't know how much more of this she could take. She'd never been this exhausted before. "Ok, here goes nothing." She took a deep breath and pushed.
"It's a boy." Max pulled the baby free of his mother and wrapped him up in a nearby towel after cutting the cord. She beamed at her sister, who was laying exhausted in Logan's arms. "He's beautiful." She looked down at the screaming baby. "What are you going to name him?"
"Can we decide that later?" Jondy took hold of Logan's hand again. "I don't think he was alone in there." She tightened her grip.
Logan was slightly confused. "You're still having contractions?" He looked over at Max, who actually looked quite shocked. "Twins?"
At that moment Original Cindy and Bling walked in "Damn, our timing sux." Original Cindy looked up at Bling. "We missed the whole show." She flinched slightly when Jondy shot her an evil look. "I'm kidding."
Max handed the baby boy to Bling. "Stick around. We're about to get a second show." She turned her focus back to her sister. "Come on Jondy, we're old pro's at this now. Let's see if your baby boy has a brother or a sister."
Bling heard Asha in the next room. He tugged on Original Cindy's arm. "Come on, let's go boil water or something."
Asha's jaw dropped when she saw the baby in Bling's arms. "Whose baby is it?" She took a step forward to look at the tiny baby.
"Jessica's." Original Cindy went into the bathroom and got a damp cloth and a fresh towel to clean the baby up. "I thought she wasn't due for two weeks yet."
Asha looked towards the spare room where Bling and Original Cindy had come from. "She's just given birth? Here?"
Bling nodded. "Baby number two is on it's way out now. Good thing Max and Logan seem to know what they're doing." He held the tiny child as Original Cindy cleaned him up.
Asha felt quite shell shocked. "Who's the father? Where's the father?" She never heard anyone mention him any of the times she had seen Jondy in passing.
"Devon." Original Cindy made faces at the baby, who started chuckling at her. "Yes, we know he was gay. It was a life and death situation." She added before Asha could ask.
A few minutes later Max came out carrying another baby. "It's a girl." She handed the baby to Original Cindy. "Can you two hang onto the twins? I'm just going to help Jondy freshen up, she's pretty exhausted."
"No problem, Boo." Original Cindy smiled down at the baby girl. "Jessica sure does make beautiful babies." She looked up at Max. "How is the new Mom doing?"
Max smiled sadly. "She wishes Devon was here. Apart from that and being really tired, I guess she's alright." She went back to her sister who was making sure that she hadn't broken any of Logan's fingers.
Asha watched Bling and Original Cindy with the babies for a moment before heading for the kitchen. She kept herself busy making coffee and sandwiches, so that she felt useful.
The front door burst open and Alec and the Doctor burst into the apartment. Alec skidded to a stop when he saw the babies in the arms of Bling and Original Cindy. "She's had the baby already? Hey, where did the extra one come from?"
Sam walked over to check the babies. "It's possible that she was hiding behind her brother when I did the scan." Sam was satisfied that both children were fit and healthy. "Well, they appear to be fine. Where is the new mother."
"She's in here, Sam." Logan came out of the guestroom. He flexed his hand and winced. "She sure has a grip on her." He turned and walked back into the room followed by the Doctor. Logan had stripped and changed the bed while Max was helping Jondy in the bathroom.
The new mother was now sitting up in the changed bed with fresh bedclothes on. "So where are my children?" Jondy hadn't got her strength back, but she was still commanding.
"We'll go and get them while Sam's giving you a check up." Max took hold of Logan's hand and went back into the living room. "Ok, hand over my nephew and niece. Mommy is calling."
"Can we go and see her?" Original Cindy lay the baby girl in her Aunt's arms. "Or ain't she up for too many visitors?"
"I think it'll be fine. Just try not to tire her out." Max couldn't believe she had just delivered two babies. "I'll phone Julia and let her know she's got two new grandchildren. Then I'll go and get Joshua."
Logan looked down at the baby boy Bling had handed him. "You do the phone calls, Max. I'll go and get Joshua once I've taken this little fella into his Mom."
An hour later, Joshua sat beside Jondy on the bed. "You made them? They're so tiny?" His face was full of wonder.
Jondy beamed at him. "They didn't feel so small when they were coming out. Would you like to hold one?"
"No. Might break it." Joshua looked terrified. The babies looked so fragile.
"Hey, if Joshua gets to hold one baby, then I want to hold the other one." Alec poked his head around the bedroom door, a cheeky grin on his face.
"Come over here then." Jondy rolled her eyes as Alec sat the other side of her on the bed. "You take Tinga." She moved her arm slightly so that Alec could pick the baby up easily. "Joshua, you take Ben. Just put one hand under his head and the other supporting his body."
Joshua did as he was told. The baby boy blew bubbles at him and then smiled. "He likes me." Joshua's face broke into a huge smile.
Max and Logan watched from the doorway. "Tinga and Ben." Max murmured the baby's names to herself. Jondy had chosen the perfect names. She felt Logan's arms go around her waist. "How's your hand?"
Logan flexed his hand a couple of times. "I've got the most of the feeling back in it now. Not to ruin this happy moment, but how the hell did those Steelheads find us? I'm sort of guessing it was White who offered the money for capturing you and Jondy."
Max leaned back into Logan's arms. "I figure that they don't know where we live, otherwise they'd be breaking down the door. It must be where we had breakfast. We go there a lot. It wouldn't be too hard to find someone who had seen us there."
"Then we'll just find somewhere else to have breakfast." Logan kissed her neck. "Or I could just make us breakfast. Of course, that would mean you'd have to stay long enough in the morning to eat it."
Max smiled up at him. "I could probably manage that." She giggled. "I think Normal actually expects me to be late. You could try and get up earlier, but I know you're not a morning person."
"I know, but you're worth the effort of getting up early." Logan heard someone moving behind them. Looking over his shoulder he saw Asha. "Hey. How long have you been here?"
"Somewhere between the first baby being born and the second." Asha felt completely out of place. "Have you got a moment to track someone down for me?"
Max felt Logan hesitate. "Go ahead. I'm going to start kicking everyone out so that my sister can get some sleep." She reluctantly stepped out of Logan's arms and walked into the guestroom.
It was close to midnight when Asha finally left with the information she had needed. Logan stretched his tired limbs and walked into the living room. He smiled at the rare sight of Max fast asleep on the sofa. Carefully picking the sleeping beauty up, he carried her towards his room, stopping briefly to check on Jondy and the twins who were also sleeping peacefully.
Gently laying Max down on the bed, Logan removed her shoes and tucked her into bed as though she was a child. Shedding his own clothes, he crawled into bed beside her. Instantly, she cuddled up to him. It seemed so natural as though they had been together for years. Kissing the top of Max's head, Logan drifted off to sleep, still amazed at the two little miracles that they had brought into the world that day.
British Eddie held the phone away from his ear. He waited for the yelling down the phone to stop before bringing it back to his ear. "Although we don't have the X5 women, I do have some interesting news for you and it is only a matter of time before we find them again." When Eddie didn't get a response, he continued. "The redhead is pregnant." The phone went dead. Eddie shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Mr White seemed to take that well."
THE END
