Breaking the News (Part 1)
"Sis, mum just called." Kai yelled through the Temple of Airjitzu. "Dad is just parking the car, so Cole and I are going to now going down on our dragons to bring them up here."
The very remote location of the Ninja's new headquarters on a floating island was both a blessing and a curse. While it helped keeping enemies and fans away, it also made it rather difficult for their actually wanted guests – like the mailman, their parents, and of course Kai and Cole's girlfriends – to pay them a visit.
And while she had felt perfectly fine sailing through wind and weather during her honeymoon, the pregnant Water Ninja was suffering from severe motion sickness riding her dragon. Therefore, the Master of Earth had offered to go down with Kai to bring the siblings' parents up to the temple.
"Okay, thanks." Nya shouted back. "Take your time." She added in a more quiet voice, as she nervously checked her reflection in the mirror for the umpteenth time that morning. In honour of her parents, she had chosen a short fire red silk Cheongsam dress delicately embroidered with sea blue floral details.
"You look beautiful." Jay wrapped his arms around his wife from behind. "And don't worry, you really can't see anything yet." He reassured her, gently placing his hand on her flat stomach.
"But then, why don't we just wait a bit longer before we tell them?" Nya asked, interlacing their fingers. "Like a few more weeks... or maybe months?"
The couple had returned from their honeymoon a few days ago, and were now busy catching up with their friends and families. And they had some news to share with them...
"Because we've agreed that we would tell Maya and Ray today, before we go see my parents tomorrow. Too many people already know about the baby, and I don't want either of our parents to find out from a third party."
Nya turned in his embrace. "Or maybe you are just so bad at keeping a secret that you are afraid you will accidentally spill it otherwise..." She teased her husband, planting a kiss on his reddening cheek.
"That might be another reason, yes." Jay admitted. "Now, c'mon, we should go meet your parents outside. After all, they are here to see you."
"To see us." Nya corrected him, taking his hand. As they stepped outside, they could already see the Fire and Earth Dragons, carrying two persons each, approach the temple grounds. After flying a couple of turns around the temple, they landed safely in front of the red brick building. Kai and Cole dispelled their Elemental Dragons as Nya and Jay rushed down the stairs to greet her mother and father.
"It's not as much fun as flying ourselves, but I still enjoy a little ride on a dragon." Maya laughed, her long dark hair slightly tousled from the flight. "Your son is almost as good as you were." She affectionately told her husband.
"Almost?" Kai protested. "If that's what you think, then you can see how you're going to get down again."
"We can see about that later, my son. We haven't come all the way up here here just to worry about going home." His mother stated. "I want to spend some time with my children first." She embraced her daughter. "Nya, my dear. You look amazing, marriage must be treating you well. And I am sure, so does your husband." Maya winked at her.
"Thanks, mum." Nya smiled. "Yes, we are doing great." She then turned to give her father a hug and a kiss on his bearded cheek, while Jay was wrapped in a firm embrace by his mother-in-law.
Soon, the blacksmith couple, their daughter, and her husband were comfortably seated in the Ninja's sitting room, enjoying a glass of Zane's homemade lemonade while sharing stories and looking at pictures from the newly married couple's honeymoon.
"Oh, I have never been to these islands that far off the mainland. They are absolutely beautiful. And I can see that you two had a wonderful holiday." Maya eyed at her daughter. "I was getting really worried about you those last few days before the wedding. You were so stressed and obviously not feeling well, so I am glad you look a lot more relaxed now. And I hope you have regained your appetite..."
"Yeah, more or less." Nya blushed. "Uhm, there is something I-we need to tell you." She took a deep breath. "Mum, dad. I am pregnant."
While Ray didn't say anything and just glared at his son-in-law, Maya excitedly jumped up to wrap both Nya and Jay in a suffocating hug. "Oh, that's wonderful news, darling." She squealed. "How far along are you?"
"About eight weeks." Nya replied.
Her father narrowed his eyes. "You must have somehow recovered those Time Blades, because as far as I remember you only got married three weeks ago..." He finally stated, earning a playful nudge from his wife.
"Oh, cheer up, darling. As if anyone from our families ever believed the Kai was born three months prematurely..." Maya reprimanded her husband.
"But we were older than these kids. You are way too young to have a child."
"Dad, I am almost 20." Nya said.
"Thank you for reminding me that we have missed over 15 years of your life." Ray stood up from his seat, straightening his shirt. "Will you please excuse me for a moment, I would like to be alone."
The other three watched slack jawed as he stormed out of the room.
"Don't worry about your father. He can be a little bit hotheaded sometimes, with a tendency to overreact, but he's going to be fine. We should give him a couple of minutes to cool down." Maya tried to cheer up her upset daughter.
"That sounds oddly familiar..." Jay remarked, placing his hand on his wife's shoulder in a placating manner. "Listen, I'm quickly gonna pop to the kitchen and check with Zane about lunch, so you two can have a moment to yourselves, okay?"
"Thanks, hun." Nya flashed him a grateful smile, happy to get some mother-daughter time.
"You really think dad will be okay about this?" Nya asked. "I have never seen him so upset."
"Of course, he will. It's just quite a lot to take for us, you know?" Maya explained. "All these years, we kept worrying how you and Kai would be faring, and then, finally we were able to see that you have grown up into two wonderful young adult - without us. And now that your father has just gotten over you being a married woman, he is becoming a grandfather... no, you're definitely not a little child anymore." She smiled. "Let's give him a few more minutes, then you can try talking to him again, okay?"
"Okay." Nya nodded.
"Now, tell me, how do you feel?"
"I'm still having pretty bad morning sickness, but I'm okay-ish with eating normally during the day. Some weird cravings, but I guess that's kinda normal." Nya said. "But you were absolutely right, the holidays came just at the right time. All that pre-wedding stress definitely didn't help." She grinned. "But at least I can now blame my horrible mood back then on the baby, and nobody can be mad at me about that anymore."
"Oh, honey. No one would have blamed you for that anyway. Getting married is quite stressful, and one can easily get slightly irritable. And you were not the worst by far. The most horrible bridezilla I have ever encountered was actually Libby, Jay's birth mother."
"Thanks, mum." Nya smiled tiredly. "I will for sure tell him should that topic ever come up again."
"By the way, how did he take the big news?" Over the past couple of months, Maya had gotten to know Jay well enough to be well aware of his high-strung personality.
"Well, it's not like it was an accident, we both really wanted this to happen." Nya blushed. "Sure, it came as a bit of a shock when we found out literally just before the wedding, but Jay is really happy about it now. As am I. I am just worried he is becoming a bit too protective of me, slowly turning into Kai in that matter..."
"Sometimes men don't understand that pregnancy is a completely normal thing and not a disease. But you still need to take it easy."
"Don't worry, I've been missing out on sunrise exercise anyway, just because I feel too awful in the mornings, but I am not going to stop all my training. I actually did a good bit of swimming when we were on the boat."
"I used to do that as well, when I had Kai and you." Maya agreed. "It might just be a bit difficult to do it up here."
"Well, we were talking about fixing the pool on the Gordon estate anyway."
The Ninja had started to use the luxurious mansion quite regularly, whenever they had time off or they needed to be closer to the city.
"And it's so funny, Jay is totally convinced that the baby is a girl." Nya chuckled.
"It won't be much longer until you know for sure."
"No, we are not going to find out the baby's gender during the scan." The Master of Water shook her head.
"Why that?" Maya enquired.
"Because I am afraid to find out that Jay is right." Nya sighed. "Not that I wouldn't want to have a daughter, of course. But my child will not be gender stereotyped before he or she is even born. You have no idea what I had to go through for being the 'Girl Ninja'. While the 'real' Ninja got to show off their fighting skills, I was asked to give advice on make up and talk about my relationships. That almost destroyed all those feelings I still secretly had for Jay at that time..."
Nya swallowed hard. "No, I really wouldn't mind knowing, but I am kinda scared of what's gonna happen when the public gets wind of my pregnancy. People went absolutely crazy about our wedding – in good and bad ways – we even had to rehire Dareth just to look through our mail, because some of Jay's fans were apparently not too happy about it."
"Oh, Nya. Why did you never tell us?" Maya was shocked.
"Because we didn't want you - or anyone - to worry about it. And the majority of the mail was very nice, we got lovely cards and even some presents. And once they find out about us having baby, they'll probably do the same again. But I don't want people to send us pink stuff – sure, I wouldn't mind blue – or any gender-specific toys. If my daughter wants to play with tools, that's great."
"She'll be just like her mother." Maya smiled.
"And if my son wants to wear a princess dress and play with dolls, that's okay as well." Nya shrugged. She chuckled. "And no, he'd not be 'just like his dad'. Although that would have been sooo cute."
"Oh, I am sure Edna would have shown us lots of pictures of that." Her mother laughed. "But you could still find out the gender and just keep a secret."
"I could, but my husband can't." Nya said. "And especially not if he turns out to be right... so, we'll just let it be a surprise. And as long as the baby is healthy, I really don't mind."
"Whatever you choose, it will be the best for you and your child." Maya hugged her daughter. "I trust you to be a great mother."
Nya's face fell. "But dad doesn't..."
"That's not true." Maya insisted. "I am 100% sure that he will be just as happy for you and Jay once he has gotten over the shock."
"You think it is safe to talk to him now?"
"I'd say so." The former Master of Water replied. "Go, talk to your father. And I'll see what your brother is doing."
Nya found the male blacksmith sitting on a low wall overlooking Zane's well-organised herb garden – ironically, this was her own favourite spot on the whole floating island as well. She could see that he was looking at something in his hand.
"Hey, dad." Nya gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Mind if I join you?"
"No, not at all." He answered, so Nya sat down next to him. "What do you have there?" She asked.
Ray handed her an old, wrinkled photo showing the Smith family, it must have been taken just a few weeks before he and his wife had been abducted by Krux' alter persona Dr Saunders.
"It really wasn't your fault, you only went with him to protect your children." Nya told him. "And Kai took good care of us."
"I know that honey, but I am still sad to have missed all these years with you and your brother." He gave her a weak smile. "And now... you are a beautiful grown up woman, married to a great guy – but don't tell him I've said that, he should still be a little bit afraid of me – and a baby on the way. I have learned my lesson not to mess with time, but sometimes I wish I could go back to being that young man and father of my two adorable little kids."
"You are still a young man, dad." Nya stated.
"Oh, I know that. I have experienced what it is like to feel old, and I am still far away from that." Ray remembered the effects of his encounter with the Forward Blade. "It's more that I feel to young to be a grandfather."
"But it will be a lot more fun like this. You don't want to have grandchildren when you are too old to do anything with them, do you?"
"Nya, that's exactly the point." Ray suddenly sounded upset again. "I-I just don't know what I'll do with them at all. I have probably prepared enough bottles and definitely changed more than enough nappies to remember how to do that, but anything that comes after that... I didn't get to help you or Kai do your homework, I never had to ground you for coming home late, I-I don't know how to say no, I don't know how to make you eat your vegetables - well, good thing you have Edna for that now. And I still can't be mad at you, no matter how hard I try."
"Even now?"
"Even now." Ray confirmed. "I just want to hug and spoil you. And I will want to spoil my grandchild."
"I could really use a hug." Nya said, and Ray happily wrapped his arms around her. "But dad." She mumbled in his chest. "You know you don't have to do all those things, right? Grandparents are supposed to be fun. You can spoil them as much as you want. And they will stay with you on the weekends or for the holidays, so you can let them stay up until late because they won't have school the next day - which means no homework either. Let them eat whatever they want and send them back home when they get a stomach ache from all that junk. And all these things will make you the best granddad ever. And... even though you weren't around for quite a long time, you are still the best father I have ever had. I love you, dad." She sniffed.
"I love you too, baby girl." Ray smiled.
"I might change my mind if you keep calling me that."
"But you will always my little girl. Even when you will soon have your own baby."
"Alright." She nodded. "Just not in front of the others, okay?"
"Deal."
"Are you alright to go back?" Nya suggested. "I am starving."
"Okay, honey boo." Ray chuckled.
"Daaad!"
There will be a second part with Jay's parents :).