Two Months Later
The Avengers were standing outside the agency's courthouse where the trial of Jane Minolta and Rutherford Mitchell versus the agents of the ministry was just finishing. The judge had just announced the verdict to the court: guilty.
"I'm thankful it's all over!" John Steed exclaimed vehemently.
"Who isn't thankful?" Emma Peel added as she smiled apprehensively. Now nine months pregnant, she noticed that it was becoming quite uncomfortable to perform even the most normal tasks like standing.
"I'm just glad that you three were with me through this whole ordeal," Cathy proclaimed, smiling briefly at her spy friends. Then she linked arms with her fiancé and beamed at his rugged face.
"Excuse, Mr. Steed, but I have a letter for you from Mother." Lola Anderson, the spy from the jail, approached the quintet. "He gave it to me as I was leaving the courthouse."
Thanking her in his charming way, Steed took the note. Lola walked off, swinging her hips sexily. Steed didn't peruse the letter but stared longingly at Miss Anderson.
"Uh pardon me, Steed, but I would like to see what the note says," Tara interjected.
"I guess the trial didn't sober him as much as we thought," Emma commented, a half frown playing on her lips.
Steed didn't hear her because he was intently scrutinising the note. In the letter Mother wrote that he wanted to see Steed, his wife, Tara, and Mrs. Gale immediately at his office, which was an abandoned library.
Steed folded the letter the letter into a tiny bundle and slipped it into his black, pinstripe suit pocket. "We have to see Mother this instant."
Dr. Martin King glanced at his wristwatch. "I don't have a patient at my surgery until one, so I think I'll come along with you."
The agents hopped into either Steed's yellow Rolls Royce, or Tara's red Lotus. Soon they arrived at the library and entered the disheveled building. Rhonda greeted them with a wave of her long hand. She began pouring brandy for all the agents, except Mrs. Steed and Dr. King. Dr. King declined out of courtesy for the expecting Emma.
Puffing one of his noxious cigars, Mother appeared from behind a tall bookshelf. "I thought you would never get here! It should have taken you exactly twenty minutes to arrive, yet you made it here in twenty-two minutes and fifteen seconds!"
"It will never happen again, you have my word," Tara assured the punctual man.
Mother seemed to believe the convincing Miss King, so he continued, "I have written a charter that-what the dash is Martin King doing here?" he demanded, disrupting his own self.
"Well, he is my fiancé, so I thought I would bring him with me," Cathy explained.
This answer seemed to suffice, for Mother went on. "As I was saying, I've written a document that gives you my permission to leave the ministry. You will need to sign your names to the paper, or it won't be valid."
The Avengers eagerly placed their signatures on the charter. "Thank you, Mother, for cooperating," Steed remarked, his voice filled with earnest gratitude. The other spies uttered similar appreciative comments, Mother seeping them up proudly.
"Just be sure to come and visit me some time," was all the unemotional man said.
The five spies, amateur and professional, exited the building. Tara wasn't certain, but she could've sworn she saw several tears spring up into Mother's eyes.
Tag
"I give you a toast to the New Avengers!" Cathy exclaimed as she lifted her champagne glass high into the air.
Miss King and Dr. King murmured their agreements as they sipped their own bubbly. Tara smoothed her exquisite and expensive dinner apparel. Her outfit consisted of a gauzy, plum blouse and royal purple pants that billowed out, making it look like a skirt.
Tara glanced around Steed's flat where they were assembled. They, excluding Basil, had just joined another ministry where the chief was quite lenient towards spies having their own spouses or lovers. It was rumoured that a certain infamous agent that Steed despised worked at the ministry. Tara couldn't remember his full name, but she did recall that the man's last name was Bond.
"Where is Steed?" Tara wanted to know. "He called his flat thirty minutes ago to tell us he was coming home, but he's not here yet."
As if to answer Tara's question, Steed entered the room in an astonished stupor. "I can't believe this happened to me!"
"Did you get framed for a gruesome murder?" Tara inquired.
"It was worse than that!" Steed cried.
"What happened to Emma Steed?" Martin King demanded.
"Yes, why were you at the hospital so long?" Cathy added. "The last thing we heard was that the baby had arrived and you were coming home to celebrate."
"I had 'gone into a temporary shock due to the unexpected surprise of having a baby,'" Steed replied.
Cathy resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. "How could having a baby be unexpected if you knew your wife was pregnant for six months?"
"Well, that's the diagnosis the doctor at the hospital gave me," Steed protested.
"I don't care what that doctor told you." Martin began, "Was the baby a girl or a boy?"
"I just don't believe what happened to me, John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed!"
Steed sunk into the chair with a loud groan.
"The baby didn't die, did it?" Tara nearly shrieked in alarm.
"No, it's even worse than that, if you can believe it; I had a baby girl! Ever since I was a boy, I've been trying to escape from little girls. Did you know I was the youngest of eight children, seven of them being female?"
Nobody answered Steed, but Tara clapped her hands merrily at the prospect and exclaimed, "Oh, I have a little surrogate niece to spoil!"
"Is her name Katherine Tara Steed as you promised?" Cathy queried in anticipation.
"Well what do you think I did: call a girl Junior after me?" Steed bellowed. John Steed poured himself an ample glass of champagne, which he drank in one swift gulp. "The worst part of it all is what Emma said to me after I discovered that my baby was female. She said in that distracting wry voice of hers, 'Steed, we'll just have to have another baby, a boy, so you can name him after yourself.'"
Everyone began to chuckle at this remark. "What did you say in return?" Tara asked.
Steed blushed absolutely red as he replied, "I turned pale and ran out of the hospital, screaming 'NO,' at the top of my voice."
With this, the entire assemblage, minus Steed, broke into a gale of laughter that lasted long into the night.
THE END
The Avengers were standing outside the agency's courthouse where the trial of Jane Minolta and Rutherford Mitchell versus the agents of the ministry was just finishing. The judge had just announced the verdict to the court: guilty.
"I'm thankful it's all over!" John Steed exclaimed vehemently.
"Who isn't thankful?" Emma Peel added as she smiled apprehensively. Now nine months pregnant, she noticed that it was becoming quite uncomfortable to perform even the most normal tasks like standing.
"I'm just glad that you three were with me through this whole ordeal," Cathy proclaimed, smiling briefly at her spy friends. Then she linked arms with her fiancé and beamed at his rugged face.
"Excuse, Mr. Steed, but I have a letter for you from Mother." Lola Anderson, the spy from the jail, approached the quintet. "He gave it to me as I was leaving the courthouse."
Thanking her in his charming way, Steed took the note. Lola walked off, swinging her hips sexily. Steed didn't peruse the letter but stared longingly at Miss Anderson.
"Uh pardon me, Steed, but I would like to see what the note says," Tara interjected.
"I guess the trial didn't sober him as much as we thought," Emma commented, a half frown playing on her lips.
Steed didn't hear her because he was intently scrutinising the note. In the letter Mother wrote that he wanted to see Steed, his wife, Tara, and Mrs. Gale immediately at his office, which was an abandoned library.
Steed folded the letter the letter into a tiny bundle and slipped it into his black, pinstripe suit pocket. "We have to see Mother this instant."
Dr. Martin King glanced at his wristwatch. "I don't have a patient at my surgery until one, so I think I'll come along with you."
The agents hopped into either Steed's yellow Rolls Royce, or Tara's red Lotus. Soon they arrived at the library and entered the disheveled building. Rhonda greeted them with a wave of her long hand. She began pouring brandy for all the agents, except Mrs. Steed and Dr. King. Dr. King declined out of courtesy for the expecting Emma.
Puffing one of his noxious cigars, Mother appeared from behind a tall bookshelf. "I thought you would never get here! It should have taken you exactly twenty minutes to arrive, yet you made it here in twenty-two minutes and fifteen seconds!"
"It will never happen again, you have my word," Tara assured the punctual man.
Mother seemed to believe the convincing Miss King, so he continued, "I have written a charter that-what the dash is Martin King doing here?" he demanded, disrupting his own self.
"Well, he is my fiancé, so I thought I would bring him with me," Cathy explained.
This answer seemed to suffice, for Mother went on. "As I was saying, I've written a document that gives you my permission to leave the ministry. You will need to sign your names to the paper, or it won't be valid."
The Avengers eagerly placed their signatures on the charter. "Thank you, Mother, for cooperating," Steed remarked, his voice filled with earnest gratitude. The other spies uttered similar appreciative comments, Mother seeping them up proudly.
"Just be sure to come and visit me some time," was all the unemotional man said.
The five spies, amateur and professional, exited the building. Tara wasn't certain, but she could've sworn she saw several tears spring up into Mother's eyes.
Tag
"I give you a toast to the New Avengers!" Cathy exclaimed as she lifted her champagne glass high into the air.
Miss King and Dr. King murmured their agreements as they sipped their own bubbly. Tara smoothed her exquisite and expensive dinner apparel. Her outfit consisted of a gauzy, plum blouse and royal purple pants that billowed out, making it look like a skirt.
Tara glanced around Steed's flat where they were assembled. They, excluding Basil, had just joined another ministry where the chief was quite lenient towards spies having their own spouses or lovers. It was rumoured that a certain infamous agent that Steed despised worked at the ministry. Tara couldn't remember his full name, but she did recall that the man's last name was Bond.
"Where is Steed?" Tara wanted to know. "He called his flat thirty minutes ago to tell us he was coming home, but he's not here yet."
As if to answer Tara's question, Steed entered the room in an astonished stupor. "I can't believe this happened to me!"
"Did you get framed for a gruesome murder?" Tara inquired.
"It was worse than that!" Steed cried.
"What happened to Emma Steed?" Martin King demanded.
"Yes, why were you at the hospital so long?" Cathy added. "The last thing we heard was that the baby had arrived and you were coming home to celebrate."
"I had 'gone into a temporary shock due to the unexpected surprise of having a baby,'" Steed replied.
Cathy resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. "How could having a baby be unexpected if you knew your wife was pregnant for six months?"
"Well, that's the diagnosis the doctor at the hospital gave me," Steed protested.
"I don't care what that doctor told you." Martin began, "Was the baby a girl or a boy?"
"I just don't believe what happened to me, John Wickham Gascoyne Beresford Steed!"
Steed sunk into the chair with a loud groan.
"The baby didn't die, did it?" Tara nearly shrieked in alarm.
"No, it's even worse than that, if you can believe it; I had a baby girl! Ever since I was a boy, I've been trying to escape from little girls. Did you know I was the youngest of eight children, seven of them being female?"
Nobody answered Steed, but Tara clapped her hands merrily at the prospect and exclaimed, "Oh, I have a little surrogate niece to spoil!"
"Is her name Katherine Tara Steed as you promised?" Cathy queried in anticipation.
"Well what do you think I did: call a girl Junior after me?" Steed bellowed. John Steed poured himself an ample glass of champagne, which he drank in one swift gulp. "The worst part of it all is what Emma said to me after I discovered that my baby was female. She said in that distracting wry voice of hers, 'Steed, we'll just have to have another baby, a boy, so you can name him after yourself.'"
Everyone began to chuckle at this remark. "What did you say in return?" Tara asked.
Steed blushed absolutely red as he replied, "I turned pale and ran out of the hospital, screaming 'NO,' at the top of my voice."
With this, the entire assemblage, minus Steed, broke into a gale of laughter that lasted long into the night.
THE END