Two months later

I watched in silence as the armed man dragged his hostage into the middle of the field and dropped him with a well-placed kick in the middle of the back, the hostage never moved again and I continued to watch as the boss and two of the team moved slowly towards him behind their shields, at least trying to negotiate the armed man down who had raised his weapon to the other man's head.

"Sierra's hold fire, Team hold!"

We all 'copied' the order and kept on watching as Spike and Sam covered the boss and made their way to the centre of the playing field so Parker could begin his spiel, the weather had taken a drastic downturn and was wild with the downpour of rain, heavy wind and the amazing thunder and lightning storm above our heads; the options for tactical takedown were officially limited due to the weather and Ed wasn't happy about it. A low rumble of thunder and then an almighty crash had me scanning across from my location and I saw where Sierra One had been position was now a burning stump from the lightning hit.

"Sierra One are you injured – come in Sierra One!" I demanded.

"Sierra One unharmed but position is compromised, Sierra Two is now in play!" he replied.

"Copy that – Sierra One's position has been compromised and Sierra Two is now Sierra One – copy that boss?" a voice from the truck called out.

I settled back to my position as I clocked Ed make his way to where Jules was and being organised to provide secondary back up as required, I turned back to the middle of the field and watched as the armed man waved his weapon wildly in the air and then take a step forward towards the boss.

"Sierra One. Sierra One – Scorpio"

I pulled my trigger and seconds later the man dropped to the ground dead and I watched as Spike and Sam made their way to the downed man and got him checked out while Parker took control of the hostage. I knelt up from my position and after securing my rifle I took a couple of deep breathes and shivered since I was soaking wet from the weather and being out in the open had turned me into a human ice sculpture; I sighed as I also realised that I had about a half mile walk to make as well and then surrender to SIU. I huffed out my last deep breath and climbed down the frame of the playground cabin and started my walk down the hill towards the vehicle staging area where I was stared at by the other cops on the scene. By the time I got to the trucks location the SIU and EMTs were checking the team and hostage for any harm while the others were removing the dead body after checking the crime scene; I walked over to where Inspector Strachan was and surrendered myself into his custody. The rest of the team were gathering evidence, talking to the hostage with the EMTs or giving statements as required for my defence; I climbed into the car and was driven back to the barn for interrogation and a change of clothes.

Three hours later after being questioned and put under notice of investigation I was allowed out of the room and headed straight to the showers so I could warm up, stripping to remove my uniform for evidence is one thing, getting warmed up was another when they just handed you your gym kit and no towel to dry yourself! After a really long hot shower and making myself a massive cup of tea I walked out of the kitchen to find the main floor busy with the change of shifts happening and the team waiting for me in the briefing room.

"Hey Mac, did SIU go alright?" Ed asked.

"Yeah all good boss, pleased to report that they are still idiots!"

He chuckled and nodded as he passed me a huge cup of coffee from the local coffee shop and a promise of a big bowl of porridge from the bakery down the road where we went for breakfast.

An hour or so later we were leaving the café and I got a message from Shelley who I was keeping in touch with since she had fainted on me while we were shopping a couple of days ago, I told Spike we needed to make a quick detour and a few minutes later we were on the road towards Wordy's house. We pulled up about ten minutes later due to the light traffic and while Wordy and Spike kept the kids occupied, I headed upstairs and was dragged into the bathroom by a really restless Shelley; I got her to sit down and calm down before she over-stressed herself and took out the supplies she had in her bag.

"Shell you need to calm down okay, let's see what happens in a few minutes alright!"

She handed me the other supplies she had organised and after a few seconds I sat down beside her and kept her occupied as we waited, she was a nervous wreck and constantly held my hands – I comforted her the best I could and kept her mind focused on the amazing BBQ we had attended a week or so ago during the heat wave we had.

"What if….I means – four?"

"Then you will have all the support you need from your family and the team!" I replied.

True enough a few minutes later she let me check the results and I showed her the little white stick that I had tested three times with different methods.

"Congratulations, you're definitely pregnant!" I said smiling.

She groaned and burst out in tears as I hugged her and reminded her of all the wonderful things she could do again and how much fun it would be to have another baby in the house – that and a full team of babysitters at her call! She eventually calmed down enough for me to go get Wordy and I left them to talk as I headed downstairs to make sure Spike wasn't misbehaving and had fed the girls – he hadn't yet since they were hyperactive about seeing us and I smiled as I headed to the kitchen. I was in the middle of making pancakes a while later and I felt hands go across my waist and onto my hips that were wiggling to the song on the radio.

"Is Shelley alright, she's been up there with Wordy for a while now!" he inquired.

"Yeah she's alright, they needed to have a little chat – speak of the devils!" I replied as they both came down the stairs.

"You alright buddy; you look like you're going to be sick!" Spike said concerned.

"You didn't tell him?" Wordy asked.

I shook my head and smiled.

"Not my place to say anything guys," I replied gently.

He nodded, looked at Shelley and then burst out in a huge grin.

"Number four!"

Spike looked at him and then me really confused, I pointed to Shell and she rubbed her tummy gently; he clocks the move and then catches on and bursts out laughing and congratulating them both. I got everyone fed as they talked among themselves and cleaned up as I watched the kids dance around the place happily – I think they were expecting another sister, I was hoping Wordy finally got a son.

Spike was still buzzing about being 'uncle' again and was dying for the time when they spilled the beans to the others in the SRU, my guess is that Shell is about four months along and we had organised an emergency appointment at the hospital the next working day that I would attend with her for support since Wordy would be busy with the kids dentist appointments. We were driving along the highway and I was humming along to the radio when Spike squeezed my hand and I looked at him, not really realising that I had zoned out.

"How did SIU go earlier, I know what an idiot that O'Brian and Strachan can be and they are major sticklers to their precious rules of interrogation?"

"Yeah it went fine once they let me have my say and explain the whole situation from start to finish, McCormick took me through everything and would contact me with the verdict next week. Strachan made a comment though that had McCormick barking mad though – I was nearly on the floor laughing!" I replied.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"That my SIU sheet is getting longer than his arm and I am only meant to be used as secondary sniper and should stick to being a medic in the team – that and not become Lane's protégé since Jules excels at everything!"

Spike looked at me and we both burst out laughing at the comments as he parks up outside the house; we managed to calm down doing some chores and then headed to bed and sleep claimed us within minutes of lying down on the mattress.

We headed to work that night in separate cars due to the possibility of me doing a triple shift to cover for a member of team four whose wife was due to have their first baby at any time, we headed inside and separated to get changed for our workouts and so I could also check my work email from the SIU. Nothing yet had come through and I headed to get changed and claim the cycle before Wordy came in and called dibs – seems all of us like the spin class Spike got us into – definitely needed to order a couple more bikes! Speaking of Wordy he eventually came in and I gave him a massive grin as I let my stress go on the pedals, poor bugger was still trying to get his head around the recent news and he came over to me and started his goldfish impression without words.

"Wordy you need to just accept the fact and when Shell and I got to the doctors tomorrow we will have more information for you; I've cleared it with Troy and I'll only have to leave the appointment if we get a call alright – so relax and enjoy the moment!"

He nodded in reply and sat down beside me on the bench press and started his own work out to the now thumping beat coming from the radio.