Disclaimer: The characters belong to BVE, not me.
Rating: PG-13, for some mature discussions.
Author's notes: Well, I guess... that I'm not done writing Taylor/Eric yet. This is a followup to "Inside Out" and will probably be making little sense unless you've read that first.
Blushing Bride
By Selma McCrory
Copyright 2002
"So, when are you going to propose to her?" Wes asked, leaning against the van in an irritating way. At least it seemed irritating for Eric.
"Not unless I really want my head handed to me on a platter," Eric said, irritated. It had only been a day or so since he and Taylor had announced her pregnancy to the Wild Force team, and to Wes, and Eric wished the two of them had gotten away without telling anyone. But, it would be obvious when Taylor started showing, and Wes would have been hurt if Eric hadn't told him the news. So, for team harmony, everybody knew now.
"Oh?" Wes asked, continuing to lean. "I thought you'd have done it already."
"Look... Taylor is her own woman. If she wants to get married, she'll let me know."
His teammate's grin vanished. "Maybe. Maybe not. You realize how long it took Jen and I to admit we were in love? The entire *team* knew before we did."
Eric could see the pain in Wes' face at the mention of his thirty-first century girlfriend. While Jen had wanted to come back to their time, it took official business for any of the rest of the team to come back to them. So Wes had to be satisfied with the occasional business discussion with Jen. "Yeah, well, Taylor's not Jen. She's pretty clear about things, and right now I'm not sure she wants me in her life."
Wes continued to look thoughtful. "Neither did Jen," he said simply.
Giving a sharp nod, Eric remembered how Wes had told him about how he'd not known about Jen until it was too late, where it had been obvious to the entire team. It had been obvious to Eric, too, even though he'd ignored it. Ranger team dynamics, back then, were not his concern.
"Maybe... you should ask Taylor," Wes said, clearly wanting to head off a repeat of his relationship with Jen off at the pass.
Eric grunted and nodded. *Like that's gonna happen. I'm not Wes, Taylor's not Jen, and we're not in love with each other.*
"Anyway...."
"Yeah," Eric grunted. "I get the picture."
Wes, clearly picking up at that point that Eric did *not* want to talk about it, thankfully shut up.
* * *
Taylor still hadn't gotten used to her bird escort. She wasn't sure if the avians were meant to spy on her or protect her, and she wasn't sure she cared. She couldn't communicate clearly with her Zord to find out, and she wasn't big on going through Cole, who could understand it. Cole had his own agendas, clueless though he often seemed about things, and she wasn't sure she wanted to negotiate through another culture's mindset to deal with the mindset of a big sentient metal eagle.
She was supposed to pick up Alyssa from class; to humor her teammate, the two of them were going to go shopping. Again. And Alyssa had that gleam in her eye that meant that it wasn't because of her love to shop. Taylor had groaned. *And this is why I didn't want to tell my teammates about my pregnancy,* she thought. *I *knew* this would happen.*
Pausing, she thought some more. *I wonder if Alyssa would mind if we cancelled our shopping trip?* No, that wouldn't work; the White Ranger would just get all concerned, which meant she'd tell Cole, and Taylor would be pulled aside for a little chat. She hated Cole's little chats, with his puppy-dog eyes and his earnest admonitions.
So, she was stuck going shopping, and sending her teammate home as soon as was feasible. Or sooner, if she could manage it.
* * *
Taylor was sure she'd had better ideas in her life. Alyssa, once Taylor had brought her to the mall, had immediately insisted on dragging her friend into the maternity wear department of the two department stores. And, if Taylor remembered right, there was also a maternity store somewhere in Turtle Cove mall. She quietly groaned, eliciting a concerned look from Alyssa. "You okay, Taylor?" she asked.
"Fine," Taylor answered.
"You sure?"
"Very sure," Taylor snapped. At the look at her friend's face, she immediately regretted her tone. "I'm just not into shopping today."
Alyssa nodded. "Okay." She perked up a bit. "Hey, let's go to the ice cream shop."
Taylor had to grin at that. Ice cream was one of her secret guilty pleasures, and Alyssa knew it. She gave her friend a nod, and off they went.
* * *
"So, you and Eric get anywhere?" Alyssa wanted to know. Taylor inwardly sighed; once again the team's favorite topic of talk had come up, exacerbated by the announcement of Taylor's pregnancy.
"Eric is... I'm not going to tie him down," Taylor said. "Yeah, I know he wants to be a father, but I don't want to be stuck with him for the rest of my life."
Alyssa smiled. "But you make a cute couple."
Taylor could see the non-shallow look in her teammate's eyes, and knew the comment wasn't as depthless as it appeared. "No, that's Shayla and Merrick."
Grinning, Alyssa replied, "Well, they do, too."
Trying not to sigh, Taylor said, "And much more interesting."
Alyssa just grinned wider. "Actually... it's just that we've all been rooting for you. Me and Danny, at least, and I know Max and Cole are, too."
Shrugging, Taylor answered. "I know it looks like we get along okay, but really... he's not attracted to me and I'm not attracted to him."
"Really?" Alyssa asked, a look playing in her eyes that meant that she didn't believe Taylor.
"Really," Taylor said. "We haven't talked since the announcement." But her friend's look didn't change.
As Alyssa was opening her mouth to speak, Taylor's growl phone rang.
Tbc....
Rating: PG-13, for some mature discussions.
Author's notes: Well, I guess... that I'm not done writing Taylor/Eric yet. This is a followup to "Inside Out" and will probably be making little sense unless you've read that first.
Blushing Bride
By Selma McCrory
Copyright 2002
"So, when are you going to propose to her?" Wes asked, leaning against the van in an irritating way. At least it seemed irritating for Eric.
"Not unless I really want my head handed to me on a platter," Eric said, irritated. It had only been a day or so since he and Taylor had announced her pregnancy to the Wild Force team, and to Wes, and Eric wished the two of them had gotten away without telling anyone. But, it would be obvious when Taylor started showing, and Wes would have been hurt if Eric hadn't told him the news. So, for team harmony, everybody knew now.
"Oh?" Wes asked, continuing to lean. "I thought you'd have done it already."
"Look... Taylor is her own woman. If she wants to get married, she'll let me know."
His teammate's grin vanished. "Maybe. Maybe not. You realize how long it took Jen and I to admit we were in love? The entire *team* knew before we did."
Eric could see the pain in Wes' face at the mention of his thirty-first century girlfriend. While Jen had wanted to come back to their time, it took official business for any of the rest of the team to come back to them. So Wes had to be satisfied with the occasional business discussion with Jen. "Yeah, well, Taylor's not Jen. She's pretty clear about things, and right now I'm not sure she wants me in her life."
Wes continued to look thoughtful. "Neither did Jen," he said simply.
Giving a sharp nod, Eric remembered how Wes had told him about how he'd not known about Jen until it was too late, where it had been obvious to the entire team. It had been obvious to Eric, too, even though he'd ignored it. Ranger team dynamics, back then, were not his concern.
"Maybe... you should ask Taylor," Wes said, clearly wanting to head off a repeat of his relationship with Jen off at the pass.
Eric grunted and nodded. *Like that's gonna happen. I'm not Wes, Taylor's not Jen, and we're not in love with each other.*
"Anyway...."
"Yeah," Eric grunted. "I get the picture."
Wes, clearly picking up at that point that Eric did *not* want to talk about it, thankfully shut up.
* * *
Taylor still hadn't gotten used to her bird escort. She wasn't sure if the avians were meant to spy on her or protect her, and she wasn't sure she cared. She couldn't communicate clearly with her Zord to find out, and she wasn't big on going through Cole, who could understand it. Cole had his own agendas, clueless though he often seemed about things, and she wasn't sure she wanted to negotiate through another culture's mindset to deal with the mindset of a big sentient metal eagle.
She was supposed to pick up Alyssa from class; to humor her teammate, the two of them were going to go shopping. Again. And Alyssa had that gleam in her eye that meant that it wasn't because of her love to shop. Taylor had groaned. *And this is why I didn't want to tell my teammates about my pregnancy,* she thought. *I *knew* this would happen.*
Pausing, she thought some more. *I wonder if Alyssa would mind if we cancelled our shopping trip?* No, that wouldn't work; the White Ranger would just get all concerned, which meant she'd tell Cole, and Taylor would be pulled aside for a little chat. She hated Cole's little chats, with his puppy-dog eyes and his earnest admonitions.
So, she was stuck going shopping, and sending her teammate home as soon as was feasible. Or sooner, if she could manage it.
* * *
Taylor was sure she'd had better ideas in her life. Alyssa, once Taylor had brought her to the mall, had immediately insisted on dragging her friend into the maternity wear department of the two department stores. And, if Taylor remembered right, there was also a maternity store somewhere in Turtle Cove mall. She quietly groaned, eliciting a concerned look from Alyssa. "You okay, Taylor?" she asked.
"Fine," Taylor answered.
"You sure?"
"Very sure," Taylor snapped. At the look at her friend's face, she immediately regretted her tone. "I'm just not into shopping today."
Alyssa nodded. "Okay." She perked up a bit. "Hey, let's go to the ice cream shop."
Taylor had to grin at that. Ice cream was one of her secret guilty pleasures, and Alyssa knew it. She gave her friend a nod, and off they went.
* * *
"So, you and Eric get anywhere?" Alyssa wanted to know. Taylor inwardly sighed; once again the team's favorite topic of talk had come up, exacerbated by the announcement of Taylor's pregnancy.
"Eric is... I'm not going to tie him down," Taylor said. "Yeah, I know he wants to be a father, but I don't want to be stuck with him for the rest of my life."
Alyssa smiled. "But you make a cute couple."
Taylor could see the non-shallow look in her teammate's eyes, and knew the comment wasn't as depthless as it appeared. "No, that's Shayla and Merrick."
Grinning, Alyssa replied, "Well, they do, too."
Trying not to sigh, Taylor said, "And much more interesting."
Alyssa just grinned wider. "Actually... it's just that we've all been rooting for you. Me and Danny, at least, and I know Max and Cole are, too."
Shrugging, Taylor answered. "I know it looks like we get along okay, but really... he's not attracted to me and I'm not attracted to him."
"Really?" Alyssa asked, a look playing in her eyes that meant that she didn't believe Taylor.
"Really," Taylor said. "We haven't talked since the announcement." But her friend's look didn't change.
As Alyssa was opening her mouth to speak, Taylor's growl phone rang.
Tbc....