Since I forgot to add this last chapter: I do not own Power Rangers.

Ch. 2

It had been a very long walk back to the rangers' landing site, at least for Sky. Jack and Sydney constantly complained about how tired they were and wanted him carry them, despite the fact that he had two babies in his arms. The infants were a lot heavier than Sky had expected, especially after the first five miles. Normally, B-squad could cover about ten miles in an hour. As children, they had retraced the same ten miles in two and a half hours – and that was without including breaks.

Sky had received a slight reprieve when they reached the ship, since Jack and Sydney spent several minutes in silent awe of the vehicle. Then Sky found another problem: he could not open the door while carrying Bridge and Z. With a groan of frustration, he looked around for anything that might help. There was nothing; nothing but trees, dirt, and four useless children. Schuyler Tate was alone on a foreign planet with four dependents and a dangerous criminal.

Sky shook his head; now was not a good time to panic. His father would have found a way to open the door by now. Sky sighed; there was nothing to do but put one of the infants down. Sky very slowly and carefully moved into a squat. Then he tried to gently place Z on the ground. As soon as the back of her head touched the dirt, she began to scream. Sky panicked, thinking he had done something wrong. He put Bridge on the ground next to her, thankful when the baby green ranger did not join Z's shrieks. Sky checked her for any signs of blood or bruising, but Z seemed to be without the smallest of scratches.

"Why won't it shut up?!" asked Jack, yelling to be heard over the baby.

Sky looked back at Jack, realizing that the toddler probably knew more about babies than he did. "I don't know!" he replied.

"Maybe it bo-ken," shrugged Sydney.

"I hope not," Sky admitted, checking again for blood.

Jack started to jump up and down, "Make it stop!" he whined.

Jack's movement startled Bridge, and he, too, began to cry. "Uh-oh," Sydney backed away from the group. "I di'int do it!"

"That's it, this qualifies as an emergency." Sky pulled out his morpher and hit the recently upgraded speed dial one – Dr. Katherine Manx.

"Hello Sky," her voice was a choir of angels compared to what Sky was currently listening to.

"Kat," he breathed, "I don't know what to do. I think I broke the baby!"

Kat laughed, "I highly doubt that, Sky. I am sure you were very careful with your teammates. Now tell me exactly what happened."

"We finally got back to the ship but I needed to put Z down to open the door but as soon as a put her down on the ground – and I swear I was careful and I watched her head – she started crying so I put Bridge down and he was fine at first but then Jack started jumping and I think it scared Bridge and now he's crying but none of them seem hurt and I can't make them stop!" Sky explained.

Kat replied almost immediately. "Some babies just like to be held. Have you tried to pick Z up again?"

"Um…no…"

Kat chuckled, "Well try that; I promise not to hang up yet."

Sky nodded and clipped his morpher to his belt. Again, he knelt next to the infants and lifted Z into his arms. Her tears quickly subsided. "Oh boy, this is going to be a huge problem. I can't carry you forever!" He freed one hand and unclipped the morpher. "Kat? You were right about Z."

"Good; that should work for Bridge, too, if he just needs a little soothing. But open the door before you pick him up again. Now, when you get inside I want you to go through the bags. You will have to deal with some crying babies for a while, but I know you can handle them. Somewhere in there is a collapsible cradle that rocks itself; it should be big enough for Z and Bridge, plus it has a mobile. If you put them in that, it should keep them happy for a while. I know there are dolls in Sydney's bag and toy cars in Jack's. Those should also give you a little time to catch up on everything. But never, ever leave them alone for too long!"

"Thanks, Kat."

"Oh, and you will want to change them once you get inside," Kat added. "There are instructions on how to change a diaper in the book in your bag, but I can only wish you luck with Jack and Sydney. Children tend to squirm."

"Great, I'll call you if I have more questions," said Sky.

"I'm sure you will!" Kat laughed. "Good-bye, Sky."

"Bye." Sky hung up and re-clipped his morpher. With the same hand, he punched in the ship's access code and the door slid open. "Jack, Sydney, go inside," he ordered. Sky went back and picked up Bridge, who refused to stop crying until Sky tried rocking his arms a little and humming. For what was certainly not the last time, Sky prayed none of his teammates would remember this.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It had taken Sky over an hour to find everything Kat was talking about, get up the courage to re-dress his friends, put Bridge's diaper on incorrectly, put a second diaper on Bridge incorrectly, get it right on the third try, dress Bridge in a green shirt and pants with little dinosaurs on them, unsuccessfully put a diaper on Z while trying to look the other direction, actually put the diaper on her, and put her in a yellow dress with daisies all over it. Another hour later Sky had managed to put together the cradle, dress Sydney in pink, force Jack into a red pair of pants (he gave up on the shirt) and get all of his friends settled enough to entertain themselves. Barely half an hour later, Sky was on page ten of a huge book on parenting and Jack was bored. Sky went back through the red ranger's bag, found some sort of hand-held game, and gave it to Jack.

Ten minutes later Sky gave up on the book. Z and Bridge were crying, their diapers were clean, and Kat's first trick was not working. Sydney complained that her tummy was making noise, prompting Sky to call Kat about food.

"Hello again, Sky," Kat greeted. "What seems to be the problem?"

"They're hungry," he explained.

"Oh! Well, let's see…I know I put applesauce, juice boxes, and microwavable macaroni and cheese in Jack's bag. Just make a box of the macaroni for Sydney and Jack. Bridge and Z get milk. There should be formula in their bags somewhere along with some bottles. Now you need to heat the milk, but put a drop on your wrist to make sure it is not too hot," she said. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. When are those reinforcements supposed to arrive?" Sky begged.

Kat chuckled, "You are doing just fine. Call me if there's any more trouble."

Sky sighed, "Alright. Bye Kat."

"Goodbye, Sky." She hung up, leaving Sky alone with four hungry children and terrible memories of his mother's failed attempts to teach him to cook.

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After a burnt meal of macaroni and cheese, Sydney had forced Sky and Jack to 'play house' with her. Sydney had been the 'mommy,' Jack had been the 'daddy,' and Sky had been the 'baby' who left every few minutes to take care of the real infants. In his search through the bags Sky had mercifully come across several movies and a portable DVD player. Even Jack was quiet when Sky sat the toddlers down to watch Shrek. Sky took that time to play peek-a-boo with Z and Bridge, change them into new diapers and the pajamas Kat provided, and put them to sleep with several off-key lullabies.

He returned to find the movie over and an arguing Jack and Sydney. Sky separated them into 'time out' comers, like his parents had done when he was a child, and eventually got them ready for bed. That involved much running around, the realization that Sydney was not potty-trained, three bedtime stories, and the provision of a flashlight-turned-nightlight.

At nine o'clock, Sky was finally able to fall onto his own cot. He could not have been asleep for more than ten minutes when he felt a tug on his sleeve and half-opened his eyes in the blinding light of a flashlight. Once his sight returned, he could see that Sydney stood in front of him, young blue eyes fearful in the dark. "What is it?"

"I had a bad dweam, ca'I stay wit you?" she whispered.

Sky groaned. She was going to kill him later, but he rolled over anyway and let the child climb under his blanket. "Go to sleep," he ordered. Sydney shut her eyes and, to his surprise, her breathing quickly steadied into true slumber. Sky let his body relax until another tug on his other sleeve woke him up. This time, Sky saw Jack outlined by the open door. "Yeah?"

"I have to go potty!" Jack announced with his legs crossed in the obvious attempt at bladder control.

Sky sighed and carefully got up, trying not to wake Sydney. He led Jack to the shuttle's bathroom and waited outside the door. A minute later Sky heard a flush and the door opened. Jack looked very guilty, so Sky forced himself to ask, "What now?"

"Um…I missed," the toddler admitted.

Sky bit back a frustrated groan. "It's alright, can you find your way back alone?" Jack nodded. "Okay, you go back and I'll clean up. Just don't wake anyone else up." Eager to be excused, Jack scampered back through the shuttle.

Sky had barely gotten the cleaning supplies out of the closet when he heard a baby's wailing and Jack yelling at it to be quiet. Groaning, Sky began to bang his head against the wall next to the closet. It did not help his headache, but it helped him control his temper.