Adam sighed as he walked up the last flight of stairs to his apartment. His dinner had not gone as he had planned or wanted. Cassie had been madder than a hornet when he walked in at six-thirty. She had let him have it, even going so far as to bring up his first time. He had made sure to tell her that he had been sick the last time, but she wouldn't hear it. He had stopped her from talking when she brought up his friends. His friends were his friends. He always tried to keep his friends and his girlfriend separate.

Cassie had gone on and on all during dinner. Adam had listened to her rant then paid. She wanted him to come back to her apartment. He declined and started a whole new fight. She wanted him to spend the night some time. He argued that he couldn't leave his sister alone at night because his mother would kill him. She said his sister was old enough to take care of herself, but he didn't see it that way. He put her in a cab and felt her anger at his back as she pulled away.

Normally they would get dessert at a little ice cream shop. Adam popped in and bought a tub of his favorite. He sent Rocky, Jason and Tanya a text. He wasn't sure if Tanya would be able to come because she might be out of the county on another dig. She had joined her parents in Africa after she got her archeology degree. She was still one of his best friends so he would include her in all of this.

As he walked back to his apartment, he thought over the last month and a half. When the relationship started, Cassie had been a wonderful person to be around. She loved to laugh and they did random things on a whim. They were always together. She came to the dojo and helped with the cleaning and whatever else she could get her hands on. Even when she found out that Rylen was working there, she never had a problem.

Up until a month and a half ago, she had been sweet. His mom wanted him to marry her. Then she changed. She was really irritable and nagged him about everything. Tonight had been the worst. She started in on Rocky giving his girlfriend everything. Then she jumped on Jason and Rylen living across the hall and how she was certain Rylen was after him. He had tried to assure her his best friend wasn't after him but she wouldn't listen. He finally got annoyed when she jumped in on Katie. That was when he put her in the cab and left.

He had no idea what was wrong with her. So he was going to run it by his friends. Tommy used to tell him he acted like a girl when he would talk about everything with his friends. It was and would always be a joke. He still talked to his friends about everything.

When he walked up to his door, he tried to the knob. It was locked. Katie was smart in she always locked the door when he wasn't home. He fished his keys from his pocket, stuck the key in the lock, and turned it. He heard the click and turned the knob. As the door swung open, he heard familiar voices. Katie was sitting in the chair talking to Rylen and Jason who were on the couch.

Jason smiled up at Adam. They had known each other since their days in high school. Jason had been the first Red Ranger before Rocky had taken over. Jason had gone to the World Peace Summit in Switzerland. He and the other two had done some good at the meetings. Then he had come back to help them when they really needed it. When he once again lost his powers, he had gone on to bigger and better things. He was now a nurse at the community hospital.

He had a perfect relationship with Rylen. He worked odd hours and dealt with hard cases that left him worn out. They didn't go out very much because of it. Adam and Rocky had asked Rylen one day why they were always home when they called. She had answered that because of Jason's work they really different have time to go out. When they did, it was always just the two of them.

From what they heard, the couple never argued. If they did none of them heard anything about it. Their policy was to keep their disagreements to themselves. It worked for them.

"Hey, buddy," Jason said. "Your date must have been bad for you to call us."

"Let me dish out the ice cream and we'll talk," he replied.

Katie popped up from her seat and followed him into the kitchen. He smiled at her then the two of them worked quietly to fill four bowls with frozen sugary goodness. He grabbed two bowls and she grabbed the other two. Just as he was handing the bowls to everyone, the door flew open. Frankie and Rocky were arguing as they came through the door. Katie got up once again and went to the kitchen. She came back with two more bowls of ice cream. She handed them to her brother and friend.

"Sorry we're late. We went to dinner and Frankie was hitting on the waitress," Rocky said.

"I thought you had a girlfriend," Jason replied as he shoveled ice cream into his mouth.

"Eh, we broke up a week ago. She said something about me never having time to spend with her," Frankie replied. "So what's the big emergency?"

"I think it might have something to do with Cassie," Rylen said. Everyone looked at her. "Do you remember telling me to call Cassie because you were going to be late?"

Adam nodded as he swallowed the ice cream he had shoved in his mouth. "Yeah. Was it that bad?"

"Adam, she accused us of having an affair. I asked her why she would think that when I had a boyfriend, and she got this snippy little attitude. She told me it was a decent cover up but that I better be happy she was a nice person." She stuck her spoon in her mouth then yanked it out immediately. "I mean I've had plenty of opportunity to cheat and I haven't."

Rocky looked to Jason. "You knew all this?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I know all about it. We don't lie to each other even if we have issues. It's always straight laced."

"I wish I could have a relationship like that," Adam said.

"What happened?" Katie asked as she put her feet in his lap.

"I was late to dinner. I had Rylen call her to tell her I was running late. When I got there, she was fuming already. She laid into to me immediately. I never got a word in unless I was defending whoever she was talking about. Mostly it was about Rylen and Katie. I don't know what's going on. She's been irritable for a month and a half."

Katie and Rylen looked at each other over him. He looked between them. Having his sister live with him and his friends living across the hall meant they hung out together a lot. They had developed their own way of silently speaking.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Have you thought about Cassie being pregnant?" Rylen asked.

He sputtered into his bowl. He looked to his sister who seconded his friend's motion. "Firstly, I don't like my sister thinking about sex and babies. Second, no. I have never thought about it."

"Well, mood swings can be a part of pregnancy."

"How would you know all this?" Rocky asked. Rylen and Jason looked at each other. "You're pregnant now?"

"No, but I have been."

Katie began bouncing in her seat. "Really? When?"

"Four months ago," Jason replied. "Unfortunately we lost it."

Adam looked at his friends. "None of us knew any of this. Why didn't you tell any of us?"

Jason slipped his arm around Rylen and rubbed her shoulder. "It was a personal choice. We didn't want to worry anyone else. It was too soon into the pregnancy for us to know anything but it was still rough. She spent three days in bed. Fortunately I got off to spend with her. It's amazing when you tell female nurses your girlfriend lost your baby how much they'll do for you."

"What happened?" Katie asked. Rylen looked at her. "How did you lose it?"

The other woman shrugged. "They don't know. We went to the hospital because I was having severe pain in my abdomen. It was then they found out I was having a miscarriage. I stayed in the hospital for a day and a half. When we went home, the nurses Jase works with had food for us."

"I still wish we had known. We would have come to check in on you," Adam replied.

"We just wanted to be alone," Jason said. "We wouldn't have let you in the house."

"Gee, thanks. So you think Cassie could be pregnant?"

"All you have to do is ask. The worst she can say is no."

Adam set his bowl on the table and buried his face in his hands. When he scrubbed them over his head, his hair stood up on end. This was not something he wanted to be discussing now. But based on what his friends had just told him, he had to think about it. Rylen knew more about it because she had gone through it.

"What do I do if she is?" he asked.

"You have two choices. You can stand by her or you can walk away. You won't do the latter because Dad taught you better than that," Frankie said as he set has bowl on the table and crossed his feet at his ankles.

"The only thing you can do as of right now is talk to her, Adam," Rocky said. "If Marisol told me she was pregnant, I would stand behind her."

"You'd do the same for me," Katie said.

Adam reached over and pulled her down in his lap. "Don't even think about it. But yes, I would."

"Then all you have to do is ask. If you want, I can ask," Rylen said.

"No thank you. I'm already in trouble because I asked you to do something for me. I'll ask next time I see her."

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Around midnight, Katie headed to bed. She was going out with her boyfriend the next day and had no idea where they were going. Adam and Frankie were very unhappy with that but the guy made their sister happy. Rocky and Frankie left a few minutes after Katie went to bed. Rylen and Jason stayed long enough to help clean up the little mess they had made then excused themselves to go across the hall to their apartment.

After he had showered and put on clean clothes, Adam lay in bed and thought about the day. He had had an excellent class only to have his mood dashed by Cassie. He needed to figure out what was going on with her before he could decide on what to do. He loved the girl. There was no doubt about that but he didn't want to be in a relationship with someone who was always so angry.

Rylen had told him when he started dating Cassie that there was some underlying thing going on with the girl. He thought she was overreacting but now he was rethinking all of that. If she was pregnant that might help him understand her mood swings. But that wouldn't explain why she thought Rylen was after him. They were business partners and best friends. He didn't want to ruin a perfectly good friendship.

He had to talk to Cassie soon because this was going to eat him alive. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep but he tried anyway.