Mia groaned as the sound cut out on her head phones. The in-flight movie was just getting to the good bit, right near the end, where the dorky but adorable and kind romantic lead ran into the female lead's wedding to declare his undying love for her and try to convince her to leave the other guy, the one that was amazingly good looking, but had been shown to be a cruel, brutish and horrible person only interested in being married to her because of her looks.
"Son of a...gun!" Mia cut herself off, quickly correcting herself as she was about to swear. The announcement came over the head phones, and the in-cabin speakers that the plane was on final approach. "Why do they always start the silly movie so late in the flight that they cut of the end?"
"Silly?" Kevin asked, opening his eyes. He had long since lost interest in the movie, and fallen asleep. He was only just starting to come to when he heard Mia's outburst. "Son of a gun?"
"Kevin, I have to mind what I'm saying." Mia told him. Kevin just laughed.
"You are aware the baby won't even have ears yet right?" He asked. "It won't be able to hear anything for months yet."
"Well, maybe it's a good idea to get into good habits now." She muttered. "Besides, you're not meant to stress out your pregnant wife. I'm upset enough they cut off the end of the movie."
"Well, I'll give you the abridged version." Kevin teased her. "The dorky guy declares his love and begs her to come with him, the big mean guy tells him where to go, but in doing so does something that makes the girl realise that everyone else was right about him all along and he's a jerk, and she ends up running off with the dorky guy to live happily ever after, roll the credits."
"You've seen this?" She asked him.
"No, I've just sat through so much of your collection, I've come to realise that's what happens in pretty much ninety per cent of all the romance movies ever made." He continued. Mia just hit him with her pillow.
"It's romantic." She stated.
"What, it's romantic to make the woman look like a clueless idiot that's suckered into marrying Attila the Hun?" He asked her. "Only to immediately throw herself into the arms of some other guy just because he's nice to her?"
"You know, you can do that with any concept." Mia answered as they fastened their seatbelts. "Let's face it, your Martial Arts movies are rarely literary masterpieces. The only thing I've learned from them is if you're related to, or know the lead character in any way, your life expectancy is non-existent, and you tend to die in the first ten minutes."
"Well, if I promise to get you that movie on DVD, would you be happy?" Kevin asked her. She just smiled.
"No, it's alright. I did see most of it." She answered as she folded up her tray and taking her headphones off, packing them away in the back of the seat in front of her. "So, I guess we'll be home pretty soon."
"So, are you tired?" He asked her. "I was just wondering...do you want to go straight to the apartment? Or do you feel up to going to see the others?"
"Well, I really don't feel like cooking." Mia said with a shrug. "Maybe we could encourage the others to treat us to a takeout night at the Shiba House."
"It has been a long time since we've seen them all." Kevin said with a little smile. "I'll make the call once we land."
Meanwhile, Emily was sitting on the couch in her new home, watching the television while Mike did some work out in the yard. Emily's neighbours, the citizens of her home town had always been a community spirited bunch, and when they had heard she had fallen ill, they all pitched in and had gone to their farm, lending whatever time they could to help with the refurbishments which otherwise Mike and Emily would never have had time to do. Mike had grown up in a very different neighbourhood, and had never seen anything like it. By the time Emily had gotten home, the place house was now gleaming, with a new coat of paint, and fully redecorated. The fields had been turned and treated, even the tools that had been left behind by the previous occupant, rusty and dull, had been cleaned up and sharpened. They would still need to be replaced eventually, but they would be serviceable for at least one or two more years, until they started earning money from the land.
Everything had been left ready for the start of sowing for the season. All in, it was a tremendous gift, one that no one had asked for any form of payment for, but Mike was already trying to think of ways to make up to them.
Emily remembered the kindness of the community. Although she had suffered as a kid, she remembered how everyone pulled together in times of need. When someone had a lean harvest and had trouble paying their bills, the rest of the town would give what they could to get them through the year. The year the Jenson's place had been flooded, everyone helped to get the farm back to working order.
The reason the kids had been different was largely a symptom of the fact that their parents worked so long and hard on their farms and the associated businesses that they were largely oblivious to some of their kids' less savoury behaviour, but in their short time here, she had noticed even that had changed. Those that never left the town tended to end up taking up their family businesses, and becoming part of the community themselves. More than one person had come to Emily and introduced themselves as some of her former tormentors and apologised for their behaviour growing up. In short, they ended up mellowing out in their old age and becoming just like their parents. Some of the people that had made her life a living hell growing up were indeed some of the ones responsible for fixing up her new home.
She was flicking through the channels, trying to find something to keep her mind off things. She was glad to be home, and she knew that she should be happy that she was healthy, that the growth the doctor had found in no way threatened her life, but it was what it cost her that hurt the most. She and Mike had always taken having a family for granted. They didn't have any immediate plans, but they always presumed that it would happen at some point. Now though, from what she understood, the procedure that had guaranteed her health had also left her unlikely to ever be able to give Mike that family.
She flicked through the channels, but found that no matter what she watched, nothing took her mind off it. It was like every channel on the box was conspiring to remind her of her situation. Documentaries covering teenage pregnancies, soap operas where every second character seemed to be either pregnant or giving birth, even the kids' channels did nothing to help the matter. She just switched off the television and threw the handset aside.
Her thoughts went to what Serena had offered. While she knew that it would be possible to adopt, the fact was any child that was not born of their bloodline would never inherit their symbol power. Serena could have kids of her own one day, which meant that the Earth Symbol Power was, for all intents and purposes, safe. It was Mike that she felt sorry for. She felt like she had cheated him, and his family out of their legacy. It seemed though that modern science, and her sister, had offered them a way out. It was possible for her and Mike to still biologically have a child, using Serena as a surrogate, a move she had suggested herself. They had a lot to think about, it was a lot for all of them to consider. However, they also knew that while the eggs the doctor had harvested would keep for a while, the longer they waited, the less likely it was that the procedure would be successful. In the end, it was a decision that they had to make quickly if they wanted to maximize their chances.
Emily's Samuraizer rang, and she opened it, seeing that it was Lauren on the other end. She answered the call.
"Hey Lauren, what's up?" Emily asked her. She had to admit that they hadn't seen much of each other in a while. She had heard through the grapevine about Lauren's legal issue, and could understand why she hadn't come to visit.
"Well, Antonio's back in town, and Mia and Kevin are coming home today." Lauren informed her. "Kevin just called from the airport to ask if they could come over for a get-together. We're all going to be there if you feel up to it?"
Emily smiled. One of the things she hated was that Mia wasn't there when she was ill. She hadn't told Mia about her illness, thinking that it wasn't as though she could do anything from Rio anyway. There was no need to spoil their honeymoon with her issues. Still, it was nice to hear that Mia was coming home. She wanted to hear all about the honeymoon, and everything they had gotten up to. Well, maybe not everything, she imagined there were some details of their honeymoon she really didn't need to hear about.
"Um...yeah, that sounds great!" Emily told her. "So...should we bring anything?"
"Just come yourselves. We'll provide everything else." Lauren answered. "So, we'll probably be eating around seven."
"We'll be there." Emily told her, hanging up. She got up, heading out to the yard. "Mike, get the car!"
"Emily?" He asked her. "What is it?"
"Mia and Kevin are coming home!" Emily told him. "We're all meeting up at the Shiba House."
"That's today?" He asked her. "Wow, I'll just get changed. I think they'd appreciate me taking a shower too."
"Um...yeah, that would probably be a good idea." Emily conceded as he got closer. Mike was starting to get used to the farm life, including the smells that went with it. "Just don't take long. Mia and Kevin will probably have pictures."
In another part of town, Antonio was enjoying being back in town. He had loved his time at JKP learning the ropes about running a restaurant, but he had to admit loving being back in Panorama City with Jayden. Lauren was helping them get the house ready for all their guests, knowing it wouldn't be long until they arrived.
They heard a knock on the door, and opened it, finding Serena and Terry standing outside. Lauren gestured them inside.
"Well, come in, don't just stand there!" She welcomed them. Serena came in first, with Terry a little way behind her, looking a little subdued. He handed a bottle of wine to Serena.
"Thanks for inviting us over." He told her. "It'll be great seeing Kevin and Mia back."
"Sure, thanks for the wine." Lauren answered. "Terry, is everything alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, things are good." He said, somewhat unconvincingly. "I'm just getting back into the books, trying to dust off the old brain cells for when the next semester starts. Taking a year out might have been cool, but medical school isn't the kind of place to take lightly."
"I guess not." Lauren agreed, showing him inside. Serena had already made her way to the kitchen to help Jayden and Antonio look through take away menus to decide what they would have.
Just before she could close the door though, she saw a car rolling in the driveway. It wasn't Mike's though. She suddenly smiled as she saw Grant getting out of the car, and beginning to unload Sadie's wheelchair. She rushed out to greet them.
"Grant, Sadie how are you both?" She asked them. "This is a surprise."
"Mia called and asked us to meet you all here." Sadie responded as she shifted to the wheelchair. "She said there was some kind of party."
"Yeah, Baron and Michelle will be here soon too, Kevin called them to get a ride home." Martin informed them. "I guess they wanted to see everyone when they got home."
"Well, the more the merrier I guess." Lauren said with a shrug, showing them inside. "Terry's around here somewhere, I guess you'll want to see him."
About an hour later, the party was in full swing. Everyone had arrived, and they were all having a good time. They had ordered, and were just waiting on the food arriving. They knew it would take a while for the restaurant to provide an order so large, so they had plenty of time to hear about Kevin and Mia's honeymoon. Antonio had helped Kevin link his camera up to a projector to show their pictures on a large screen.
"So, as you can see the city was just beautiful." Kevin said happily. "Of course, not as beautiful of my lovely wife."
"Aw...why don't you say things like that anymore?" Sadie asked her husband. Grant just rolled his eyes.
"Great, thanks for that Kevin." He muttered.
"Well, maybe this will make up for it." Kevin answered, pulling Mia in closely. He could feel her practically bouncing with excitement.
"We have some really big news." She answered, struggling to contain herself. "I'm...I'm pregnant!"
The room fell into silence as she said this. Kevin and Mia just looked a little confused at the somewhat horrified stares.
"Didn't you guys hear?" Kevin asked them. "We're going to be parents!"
Nobody answered, and they all seemed more than a little uneasy, like they had been hit with a train. A glass fell to the floor, shattering, and they all realised that Emily had dropped it.
"Emily?" Mia asked. The Yellow Ranger just got up and ran from the room, followed closely by Mike. Everyone in the room, other than the rather confused newlyweds realised what had happened. Mia and Kevin were away while Emily was at the hospital. They had only just gotten back into town. Obviously, no one had told them yet.
"What's wrong?" Mia asked them.
"Um...we're really sorry about this sweetheart." Sadie told her daughter. "There's something you need to know about Emily."
