When the Chief returned from his trip, he looked a lot happier than anyone could ever remember seeing him. He called Princess to his office after he got settled.

"Did you have a nice trip, Chief?" she asked.

"Yes, I did, Princess. After my last meeting, I stopped by Jason's house. Sam was home alone; Jason was at a meeting with his sponsors. Sam and I had a nice little visit, and then suddenly her water broke. She called the doctor and then tried to get a message to Jason, but he was still in his meeting. She hadn't had any contractions before her water broke, but when they started they were only about four minutes apart. I took her to the hospital and waited with her until Jason arrived. I was going to leave when he got there, but he asked me to stay. I hadn't been able to see it before, but he's really grown up over the years."

"Happens to the best of us, Chief. I talked to Jason this morning. He really appreciated your visit."

"I'm glad I went. He and I had a long heart-to-heart talk while Sam was in labor."

"I'm sure she loved that."

"She played referee."

Princess laughed. "Sounds like she gets a lot of practice. It will come in handy when the boys are older."

"Yes, I suppose it will. Oh, by the way, Sam wants everyone, including Mark, to come for Thanksgiving.

"I'll add it to his calendar. I'll hog tie him if I have too."

* * * * * * * *

The next six months sped by. Jason sent pictures of the babies to Princess, saying, "They look like all the other babies I've seen."

Thanksgiving quickly approached. Chief Anderson and the group formerly known as G-Force arrived on an ISO plane instead of a commercial flight. Sam met them at the airport.

"Where's Jason?" Princess asked.

"Home with the boys."

"He's doing this willingly?" Mark asked.

"No, but he needs the practice and I needed to get out of the house."

The Chief had rented a car. Tiny and Keyop rode with him while Mark and Princess rode with Sam. As they pulled into the driveway, Princess said, "You moved. This isn't the same house as before."

"We needed more room and I couldn't climb stairs by myself when I was pregnant, so we decided to buy a one story house," Sam replied.

Chief Anderson pulled into the driveway right behind them. "I'm sure Jase is climbing the walls by now, " Sam said. She couldn't have been more wrong. When they entered the house, they found him lying on the floor surrounding by two babies, two big dogs, and a cat, reading to them.

"Hi," he said as he got up.

"Hi, how did it go?" Sam asked.

"Fine. We all got along famously. That and they've all been fed, so they didn't give me too many problems."

"Lucky you."

"Jason," Princess asked, "didn't you only have one dog before?"

"My husband, the over grown Boy Scout, found Shadow in a drainage ditch," Sam said. At the sound of his name, the big black dog wagged his tail. "Another of his admirers."

"What can I say?" Jason said smugly.

"If he gets anymore, I'll have to start a newsletter."

Tiny and Keyop got down on the floor to play with the babies. Both were miniature copies of Jason, down to the large blue eyes, and neither baby seemed overly impressed with their uncles. They turned around to look at Mark and gave him a look that reminded Princess of the look Jason used to give him when they were little and Jason was in trouble for something.

"Remind you of someone?" Princess whispered in Mark's ear.

Sam and Jason disappeared into the kitchen. "Is there anything I can help with?" Princess asked.

"I don't think so, Princess. Jase was busy while I was gone and took care of everything."

"The kids were asleep and I put the dogs outside so I could get some work done," Jason said.

Just then a piercing scream came from the other room. They took off to see what had happened. Both boys were sitting in the middle of the room surrounding by four terrified looking men. "What happened?" Sam asked.

"Darned if I know," Tiny said. "This one just decided to scream."

Sam walked over to the child in question and picked him up, holding him at eye level. "Joshua Mark, what are you up to?" The baby just wiggled and started to laugh. "That's what I thought, you little stinker."

At the mention of the baby's name, Princess cast a glance at Mark. His eyebrow went up, but he didn't make any other indication of noticing.

"What's the other baby's name?" Princess asked.

"Jared Andrew."

"How did you pick the names?"

"We each made a list of the names we liked, edited each other's lists, and then put all of the names in a bowl and just started pulling names out," Jason said.

"Very diplomatic."

"Not really. It just saved a lot of arguing."

* * * * * * * *

Jason and Sam had insisted that everyone stay with them during the visit. After dinner had been cleared away, Jason disappeared somewhere in the back of the house. He returned with a photo album. Princess recognized it as the one the Chief had when the members of G-Force were growing up, but no one could remember seeing it in years. Princess looked questioningly at the Chief.

"I brought that along during my last visit. I thought Sam might like to see some pictures of you all when you were kids."

"Sam made a couple of additions to it," Jason said as he handed it to the Chief. Everyone gathered around him as he opened the album. In the back were several new pages. There were pictures of the babies and there was a picture of Jason sitting on a hospital bed with his newborn sons in his arms. Apparently he hadn't known he was having his picture taken because he looked captivated by his children.

"He didn't know I was taking that picture until it was too late," Sam said quietly from behind us. "I hope you don't mind my adding the pictures to the album."

"Of course not," the Chief said. His eyes had grown misty. Princess looked up at Jason. He had picked up one of the babies and handed him to Mark, who looked like he had no idea what to do. The baby just smiled at him and laughed.

* * * * * * * *

Later, after everyone had turned in for the night, Jason sat in the porch swing behind the house. Sam slipped through the sliding glass door with a baby monitor in her hand.

"I thought you went to bed," Jason asked.

"I did, but I couldn't sleep." She set the monitor down and sat next to her husband. As Jason put his arm around her, she leaned against his shoulder. "I'm glad they came."

"Me, too," he quietly replied.

They sat in silence, gently swinging back and forth. The baby monitor sprang to life, letting them know the kids were awake. "So much for peace and quiet," Sam muttered as she picked it up and walked back into the house. As she turned to go down the hall, she said, "Good night, Mark."

"Night, Sam." Mark had been sitting in the dark of the living room. He got up and walked out to where Jason was sitting. "How did she know I was there?"

Jason glanced over his shoulder at the newcomer. "She knows everything. Pull up a swing."

Mark sat down next to him. He didn't say anything a first, just sat swinging back and forth with his brother. "Jason, I want to say I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For kicking you off the team. I said a lot of terrible things to you before you left. Things I didn't mean."

"I needed to hear some of them, but it didn't make it any easier." He was quiet for a few minutes. "One good thing came out of it though."

"Oh? What was that?" Mark asked.

"If I'd stayed with the team, I never would have met Sam."

Mark smiled in the dark. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't have. Can you find in your heart to forgive me?"

Jason appeared to think about it. "I suppose I can. But I'm not sure if you deserve it."

Mark turned to look at him. Jason had a lop-sided smile that told Mark he had been kidding. Mark smiled back at him. "If it isn't too much trouble, you mean."

Jason laughed. "We'll see."

FINI