Chapter 52


A week later,

"He wants me to take a holiday but he won't go with me." Sasha complained, it felt so good to be openly bitchy about what was a really nice gesture on Tom's part but really annoyed her. She just wished he'd allow her some choices like in the hotel and the package but he'd already arranged it all. The man was too efficient for his own good.

"Sounds like a good idea. Some alone time might help you relax." Andrea said as Sasha was more intense than she remembered and frankly, she looked exhausted and strung out. But she was glad to take the downtime and come back to St Louis for a girl's afternoon and bounce a happy baby on her knee. Kaito gurgled adorably at her, warming her heart.

"Look, I know I can help it but honestly it's really hard when every little thing about him grates on my nerves. Not just him, it's everyone. Honestly Beth, could you chew any louder?" Sasha asked Beth.

"I could try." Beth said with a grin, not ruffled at all as she continued to eat her chips.

"I'm usually really calm and happy go lucky." Sasha said with a slow exhale as if trying to relax herself with breathing exercises. But it wasn't working.

"It's the lack of birth control and pregnancy rolled into one." Andrea offered, Beth nodded in agreement. Not that she knew much about pregnancies but she knew what it was like to have find Birth control pills that didn't make her crazy.

"Which is not fun." Kara said with an empathetic smile to Sasha.

"But it's all worth it when you hold your babies and watch them grow." Andrea said with a soft smile as she cuddled Kaito close. The baby boy enjoying the attention.

"Well, that's the hope. I'm already high risk and I'm not sure how am I supposed to survive all the restrictions and constant monitoring. I feel like I've lost all control and it's not a great feeling." Sasha said admitting to the crux of the situation for her.

"I know, but I think you have to let go to a certain extent. I know it's tough but everything balances out in the end." Andrea told her.

"I agree, you need to not get yourself worked up, try Deep breathing or martial arts of some sort." Beth suggested with a smile.

"I'm not allowed to do that anymore. According to Tom, it's too rigorious." Sasha told her with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah that's more about the safety of others not you." Kara told Sasha, she looked to Beth and Andrea who frowned. "Last time she sparred with a Cadet, she ruptured one of his testicles." Kara informed them.

"Ouch." Andrea said wincing. Beth made a pained expression while Sasha looked pleased with herself.

"One time and that cadet left himself wide open. I'm not planning to kick Tom in the groin to get what I want or to de-stress. I like that area, it's my personal playground which apparently is going to be closed soon because he's worried about keeping the babies safe." Sasha said as she snatched the chip bag from Beth and started chowing into it.

"Awh, at least he isn't worried the usual things like poking dimples or waking the babies." Kara offered with a smile. Beth snorted a laugh.

"This could be you one day." Sasha told Beth.

"Hmm, no, I'm good." Beth assured her with a casual nonchalance.

"You don't want babies?" Sasha asked her with curiosity.

"I got one and he nearly walked the other day. It was so exciting until he sat down on his bum and chortled at me." Beth said with a frustrated laugh.

"Such a tease." Andrea quipped as she blew a raspberry on Kaito's cheek earning a cute giggle from the boy.

"Yeah, he really is." Beth said with a soft smile as she looked to him, "But we were supposed to let Sasha grump on about being pregnant." she added throwing the conversation back to Sasha.

"It's not all rainbows and unicorns. Women say it's this magical experience to be pregnant. I just feel like a massive bitch with an expanding ass." Sasha grumbled.

"The bitchiness will hopefully pass, how's the morning sickness?" Kara asked.

"Terrible, but I expected that. So, I'm quite ok with it. President Oliver... he was not a fan of it which is why I was given an early mark- these chips are amazing." Sasha remarked as she looked at the packet and made note of the brand.

"They are addictive." Beth said as she snagged the bag back and stole a couple chips before handing it back to her.

"So how's everything going for you?" Sasha asked Andrea changing the topic.

"All good, nothing new to report." Andrea told them with a shrug.

"Nothing?" Sasha asked sceptically.

"I eat, sleep and work. There's no time for a social life in Norfolk." Andrea told her.

"Or you're not making the time." Kara pointed out. Andrea snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes.

"Tell that to the President, he wants to rebuild the Navy fleet overnight. It takes time and we are low on skilled workers." Andrea told them.


Mike scrolled through website looking at the rings feeling more lost than ever. It was really down to too many choices and he wanted to see them in the real world but no shops carried them. So, he was just going to have to pick something Beth would like and then get the girls' opinion before buying

"You looking at Porn?" Tom asked, Mike minimised the screen before Tom could see it and lounged back in his office chair with a smug smile.

"No, I do that at home in my study with Beth. It's a thing we like to do together as a couple." Mike deadpanned.

"TMI." Tom told him with a cringing smile.

"You asked. I heard Sasha had to go home." Mike said.

"She wasn't feeling well. Morning sickness has kicked in and Oliver told her to go home when she vomited in his trash bin. Andrea took her home for me." Tom said.

"Glad I missed it." Mike said with a wince as he'd been putting out another fire at the time.

"So, I was thinking of having a BBQ/house warming party; I'd propose to Sasha, maybe a quick wedding." Tom said, Mike looked at him for a long moment before he started laughing. "What's funny?" he asked.

"You have been laying down the law, no martial arts, no running. You push her into a spa day, now you want to push her into matrimony with zero input. You must not like your balls." Mike said with a chuckle.

"It's a surprise wedding. It wouldn't be a surprise if I told her and our doctor backed me up on the sports. I'm just trying to make everything go smoothly with as little stress for Sasha as possible." Tom told him.

"Remember when you tried the surprise birthday party?" Mike asked.

"I've broken Burk's nose before. It's no big deal as he heals fast." Tom downplayed awkwardly.

"Or the surprise belated incredibly Valentine's." Mike reminded him.

"How was I supposed to know she was allergic to macadamia nuts. She eats all kinds of nuts." Tom argued.

"I'm sure she does." Mike quipped, Tom shot him a dark look. "Look, you're supposed to know. You're her partner."

"Like you know any of Beth's allergies." Tom said sceptically.

"Cats, Horses, mould and Kiwi." Mike said without hesitation.

"The fruit?" Tom asked genuinely surprised as he'd never heard of an allergy to Kiwi.

"No, the bird." Mike deadpanned, Tom shook his head and gave a wry smile as he walked right into that one.

"You read her medical file." Tom argued.

"Nope, I do this new thing all the kids are doing. It's called 'talking', it's where two or more people converse verbally and share information with one another. It's a little uncomfortable at first but after a while you just get into and really enjoy it." Mike said somewhat mockingly.

"I talk with Sasha." Tom said defensively.

"I'm sure, but maybe you should err on the side of caution and accept that surprises don't work in your favour." Mike told him.

"This time it will work. I have a three pronged plan of attack." Tom said with a smile as he'd spent a few hours thinking it all out. Now he could share it with someone as he couldn't tell Sasha.

"Do you hear yourself right now?" Mike asked him.

"Are you with me or not?" Tom asked annoyed at the lack of enthusiasm.

"I'm with you because you're my friend." Mike told him.

"Thank you." Tom said, but sadly Mike wasn't finished.

"And because I think the fallout will be hilarious. I also hope in your elaborate three prong plan there's going to be an ambulance on standby just in case." Mike quipped. Tom glowered at him as it was not the shining support he was expecting.

"You're not giving me a chance here." Tom told him.

"I'm listening, tell me of this plan you have." Mike said mockingly with a grin.


"Does anything ruffle you?" Sasha asked Beth, Andrea and Kara had left to continue with their day leaving Beth, Sasha and Kaito to their own devices.

"Nope." Beth replied with a smile as she watched Kaito romp around the lounge room.

"How can you not get angry? I get angry when Tom looks at me for eating sugar before 10am. That was before I was pregnant. He's got a real judgmental stink face." Sasha said thoughtfully.

"I know, he doesn't seem to like me all that much." Beth said making a face.

"To be honest, Tom has high standards. It's great for building the best sailors, but he also tends overlooks or underestimates those who don't meet his expectations at the snap of his fingers." Sasha conceded.

"Well, I'm definitely in the latter." Beth said with a chuckle.

"No you're not." Sasha told her, Beth shot her an incredulous look, "You're not. You're a really great friend and you make everyone around you happy and feel cared for. It's a gift and Tom doesn't hate you. He just doesn't understand you." Sasha told her.

"I didn't think I was much of a mystery." Beth said with a frown.

"Tom doesn't understand intelligent people who decide to take a different path than their 'calling' like an engineer deciding to be a Nanny. He grew up surrounded by people who were all high achievers. You set your course and you follow it with no deviations. His brothers and sisters were all successful lawyers, entrepreneurs and doctors. His father was career Army while mom was a military wife they were a power in their married Darien who was just the epitome of the perfect military spouse." Sasha explained but Beth could see she was spiralling.

"No one is perfect. You don't have to be perfect either. You just be you as you're a beautiful and intelligent woman who speaks different languages and kicks butt- no, you rupture testicles." Beth said with a grin before they both laughed even if it was not entirely appropriate.

"I shouldn't laugh, but the guy said I was obsolete." Sasha said making her excuses even though there was a vindictive pleasure to be had in watching the man crumple and cry like a baby.

"Well, he's probably singing a different tune now." Beth said with a chuckle.

"Tom and Mike weren't happy." Sasha said more seriously as she did remember the talk they all had after the incident.

"It's not Tom's department and well, Mike is currently guarding his loins given he likes his testicles where they are and unharmed." Beth said before they dissolved into laughter again.


"That's your plan?" Mike asked an hour later, he couldn't believe he had cancelled his meeting to listen to the insanity Tom was proposing. He was also worried as Tom had an elaborate plan which looked like it was written by a man on less than 2 hours sleep and 6 litres of coffee.

"It's rough around the edges." Tom said downplaying it all.

"You have a slideshow presentation." Mike told him, which was true as Mike had just sat through it.

"I want it to be perfect." Tom told him.

"You don't want perfect. You want it quick and nasty so that it's over with." Mike corrected him.

"This isn't nasty." Tom said defensively.

"Maybe you should talk to Sasha and see if she wants to get married before the babies. Then plan a backyard wedding and let Sasha be involved in something regarding her life." Mike said as he knew from Sasha's comments of being relegated to the spa on moving day. Then there was Beth who was a little worried about the whole situation and how Tom bowled right over Sasha's wishes.

"Or I can be romantic and surprise her." Tom said.

"Sasha kicked a man so hard in the junk that she ruptured his testicle. He made some smart ass remark about her filling out in the right places. We already discussed how bad it was to surprise Sasha." Mike argued.

"He should've blocked the kick and he's an asshole." Tom said as if that meant Sasha's actions were completely justifiable.

"My point is that maybe you should not do anything that might piss her off." Mike said as he pulled out his mobile phone. "You know what, I'm going to do you a favour." Mike told him.

"What's that?" Tom asked as Mike was typing away on his phone.

"I'm going to get Beth to feel her out for you." Mike said as he sent the text barely two seconds later Beth replied. He read the message and snorted a laugh. "Beth told me to keep our collective noses out of yours and Sasha's business. You're on your own." he told Tom.


A few hours later,

"I should head home." Sasha said with a tired sigh, she really didn't want to go home as there was so much drama with the kids and dog. But she couldn't stay as there was a lot to do round the house and dinner to be cooked.

"Or you can stay for dinner." Beth suggested with a smile. She held a sleeping Kaito in her arms. Beth had attempted many times to put Kaito into his cot or play pen but he disagreed with her quite vocally about it. So she compromised, hopefully just for the one time.

Before Sasha could come up with a reason as to why she couldn't the front door opened as Sienna and Mia came into the house.

"Hi!" Sasha said.

"Hey girls!" Beth said warmly from her place on the couch next to Sasha.

"Auntie Sasha!" Mia said with a smile as she dropped her bag and came into the living room.

"Hey Mia, Sienna." Beth said, she frowned as Sienna looked upset. "Sienna, everything ok?" she asked her.

"Yeah, I'm going do my homework in my room." Sienna said as she rushed up the stairs to get away from them.

"Hey, do you mind keeping eye down here?" Beth asked Sasha.

"Yeah, go." Sasha told her, she held out her arms and Beth deposited Kaito into them. She couldn't help but marvel at how much he'd grown and how heavy he was in his sleep.

"Sienna's upset cause she and Ashley had a huge fight on the bus home." Mia said after Beth disappeared upstairs.

"Really?" Sasha asked with frown.

"Yep," Mia climbed onto the couch beside her and looked down at Kaito before she looked to Sasha, "What's a whore?" she asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Sasha asked, as she had to admit she had not expected the question.

"Ashley said it a long with other mean stuff about Beth and Daddy but I'm not supposed to talk about it." Mia told her, she wore a frown as she clearly realised she had said something that was supposed to be a secret. But it boiled Sasha's blood to think that Ashley had said something so disrespectful. Even so, she kept a lid on her anger as she didn't want Mia to feel as though it was her fault.

"You can tell me." Sasha told her.

"You didn't tell me what a whore is." Mia reminded her.

"I think that's a conversation you should have with your father or Beth." Sasha told her.


"Sienna, it's ok." Beth assured her, tears streaked down Sienna's face as she bitterly recounted her day at school. Beth's heart broke for Sienna as young girls never understood how hurtful their words could be until it was too late and usually had too much pride to apologise when they knew they wrong.

"She was so mean to me. Everyone heard what she said." Sienna told her, Beth wrapped her arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.

"I know, it's horrible but you'll get through it and if Ashley doesn't apologise- then you'll make other friends. It's probably not what you want but friends never say that to one another. They treat one another with respect and support one another. Ashley is being hurtful because she is upset with her family not you. But that doesn't mean you have to be her punching bag." Beth told her, Sienna didn't look so convinced.

"Her family is growing. It's not like it's a bad thing." Sienna mumbled.

"Exactly, she just needs time to see that on her own." Beth told her in sage manner.

"But the things she said." Sienna said in a pained, hushed tone.

"I know, and I know it's hard but don't take it to heart." Beth told her as she held her tight.


"Ashley Chandler, get your backside downstairs right now!" Sasha shouted up the stairs, Tom looked up from the dining table with a frown.

"What's going on?" Tom asked.

"Ashley and Sienna had a big fight on the playground. Normally, I'd stay out of it but given Mia asked me what a 'Whore' was and Sienna was in tears, I tend to think a conversation is required." Sasha told him a little hotly, she gently pushed Zuma away from her leg.

"What?" Ashley asked calm as could be as she came down the stairs.

"You and Sienna have a fight today?" Sasha asked her.

"No, we're cool." Ashley lied.

"Really, so want to tell me why Mia learnt the word 'whore' today and said that you shouted it at Sienna in the playground?" Sasha asked her.

"She made it up." Ashley told her in a bored tone that said she was lying and hoped that Tom and Sasha wouldn't pick it up.

"Ashley, the school called me." Tom lied, as he wanted to see how this would play out. Ashley ducked her head and gave an annoyed groan. "So how about you not lie to us and just tell us exactly what happened." he added, he pointed to the table and Ashley reluctantly sat down.

"Fine, yeah, Sienna and I had a fight. she was being annoying and I snapped at her. It's not a big deal. She'll get over it." Ashley said downplaying it, which wasn't the main problem. It was the lying and the lack of contrition.

"You called Beth a whore and said that Uncle Mike-" Sasha started but Ashley cut her off.

"I don't need a recap. Yeah, I said some stupid stuff but I was trying to woke her." Ashley informed them. Sasha and Tom looked at her with a frown.

"What?" Tom asked incredulously as he wasn't sure Ashley was speaking English correctly.

"Woke as in make her aware or awake that life isn't peachy keen just because her dad took in a factory whore and paid her to be their new mommy." Ashley drawled sarcastically. Tom blinked as he was beyond shocked which was replaced with anger and disappointment by Ashley's language behaviour.

"Ashley Marie Chandler-" Tom started but Ashley cut him off.

"You said as much to Sasha, so don't get sanctimonious on me. I'm repeating your words." Ashley argued, Tom fought the urge to scoff as he shook his head.

"I never said anything that extent. I never called Beth a 'Whore' as it's inappropriate language." Tom told her.

"But it's why you don't trust or like Beth. She's not perfect and you said she'd drag Uncle Mike down." Ashley told him tartly, something he couldn't dispute but Ashley was recounting private conversation between himself and Sasha.

"I said that months ago when I didn't know her or truly understand the world we're living in. It was very wrong of me to say that back then as it was for you to twist my words and say that to Sienna today." Tom told her. Ashley folded her arms and sunk down in her chair.

"I'm not wrong." Ashley said obstinately.

"You are wrong just like Tom was. Beth is a good person, she is my best friend, she is great with the kids. She and Mike love one another very much." Sasha told her.

"If you say so." Ashley replied with a roll of her eyes. Tom and Sasha exchanged looks as they were clearly in some seriously petulant teenage territory and he couldn't be more disappointed in Ashley than he was right now.

"Ashley, do you want to be treated as a child or an adult?" Tom asked Ashley.

"An adult." Ashley said tartly, Tom looked at Sasha and could see she was clearly restraining herself as she felt very deeply about the situation.

"Then sit up straight and look us in the eyes when we talk to you." Tom told her in a firm tone, Ashley made a face but did as he said. "I want to know what started all this." he said.

"Nothing, she was just getting on my nerves and I snapped." Ashley told him with a shrug.

"It's about the triplets." Sasha stated.

"Is it?" Tom asked, he would've preferred Ashley to say as much but wasn't going to get tied up in the semantics. He looked to Ashley.

"Not entirely, look Sienna is all about seeing the bright side of things. She thinks it's fantastic Sasha is going to have triplets as babies are awesome but I know the truth; they are really gross and noisy time sucks." Ashley told them.

"Yes, they are noisy, gross and awesome all at the same time. Look, if you think we won't have time for you when the triplets are here then we can make a pact and square away time just for you." Tom told Ashley.

"Oh, so you're going to schedule me in." Ashley replied sarcastically.

"I'm making time for you as I always do." Tom reminded her.

"No, you make time for the optics not me. Wouldn't want to be seen as uncaring to your kids." Ashley told him, he couldn't help but wonder where she had learned such language.

"I always cared about you and Sammy." Tom told her, he could tell now she was trying to manipulate him with guilt. It was working.

"Maybe but you're never here. I get the Navy took you away but you're back and you're still not here with us. You never show up for our stuff, when you do- you're always taking phone calls and now you're having triplets which means I have to compete with them too." Ashley told him.

"That isn't true." Tom argued.

"It is, and it is a competition because you have to choose between me and them or your work. But what does it matter? in a few years I'll be out of here." Ashley told him, she rose out of her chair and shook her head angrily.

"Sit down." Sasha told her in a stern tone.

"Why?" Ashley asked her.

"Why? because you wanted to be treated as adult. An adult finishes the conversation." Sasha lied but she was tired of these arguments being left unfinished. Ashley sat down ungracefully as it was clear she didn't want to be there.

"If you had a problem with Sasha and I, you should've spoken up. We're not mind readers and just because you're upset doesn't mean you're entitled to say hurtful and disrespectful to other people." Tom told Ashley.

"How can I talk to you when all you do is lecture me?" Ashley asked.

"Ashley, do you realise what you've done? You broke your school's conduct code, you've upset your oldest friend and her family and let's not forget your inappropriate language." Sasha told her.

"None of the teachers heard me as it was after school." Ashley argued.

"That doesn't make it right or get you off the hook. I'm not going apologise for having triplets. We didn't plan this but we're happy and we're taking this one step at a time. We all have to adjust our expectations and your father wants to square away time just for you and him. It's not about it being convenient or for optics. It's that he loves you and wants to spend time with you." Sasha told her.

"It's true, I love you even when I'm disappointed in you and angry at myself at the moment. We'll work through it together because we're family." Tom told Ashley.