I do not own Rocket Power.

Chapter 4: Blessing and Disaster

Being as Reggie was now two months pregnant, we decided that we would get a puppy to play with the baby, after seven months of training. We lucked out when Sputz's golden retriever had puppies. We got a girl puppy and named her Sophie. She was a very rowdy puppy, but my Auntie Lee was a professional dog trainer, and she trained the dog/ Everyday she would come over and teach Sophie the basics. Sophie wasn't a dumb dog; she caught on pretty fast. But we wanted her to be very gentle with the baby.

One night, Reggie and I were snuggling on the couch while watching TV. Sophie was asleep in her puppy bed, so we didn't have to watch her. "All of this is happening so fast," Reggie told me after The Simpsons had just gone off.

"What, the run of the show?" I asked, confused. She just chuckled at me and smiled.

"No, everything with the baby. From finding out to planning to the dog; everything is changing so fast." I kissed her cheek as she patted her somewhat-swollen stomach. It had only been two months, but her pregnancy was beginning to show. She then looked up at me, and I kissed her passionately. But it didn't last long because Sophie had barked. We looked over at her as we saw her running towards us. We sat upright just in time for her to jump right on Reggie's stomach.

"Are you OK?" I asked as she clutched her stomach uncomfortably.

"I'm fine," she said after a minute. "Just really hurt." Sophie walked up to Reggie and laid her head on Reggie's lap as if to say that she was sorry. We only had that dog for two days, and already she was warming up to us. Reggie smiled and started to stroke Sophie's head. Sophie looked up at the both of us with the sweetest puppy eyes as I started to stroke her. I happily put an arm around Reggie, joining my two favorite girls and me. If not two, then my three favorite girls, depending on the baby's gender.

Over time, Sophie had become very gentle. My Auntie Lee was very impressed and said that she had never had a dog learn so quickly with her. I knew that Sophie would be the perfect companion for the baby. The two would get along great. Sophie was probably great with kids. We weren't sure, so we took her to our old friend, Sam Dullard, for a visit. Sam was married to Reggie's friend Sherry, and they had a one-year old.

"Sammy, it's so great to see you!" Reggie greeted him when we first got there. They shared a quick hug, and then Sam shook my hand as he greeted me.

"Reggie, you look different," Sam said to her, looking at her closely. "What happened?"

"Sammy, out of our group of friends, you and Sherry won't be the only parents," she replied as a wide smile spread across his face. I took Reggie's hand in mine as she said this and smiled.

"Congratulations!" Sammy said as Otto, Twister, and Sherry, holding her little one, all stepped out on the porch. Of course everybody congratulated us not only on our little one on the way, but on our puppy as well. Chance then ran out of the door and she and Sophie sniffed each other's behinds, like all dogs do. We all continued to talk for a minute, and then we went inside the house. Unfortunately, Reggie tripped on the steps and landed right on her stomach, probably hurting the baby. Her face turned red as she clutched her stomach; she had fallen really hard. I helped her up as I asked her if she was OK. She said she was fine, but she appeared to be uncomfortable.

When we got inside the house, Sherry sat her daughter, Vanessa, down in the playpen as I put Sophie in there. We stood there and watched the two. Sophie walked up to Vanessa and sniffed her face. Vanessa put her hand on Sophie's head, and Sophie licked her face.

All throughout the day, Sophie played with Vanessa, gentle as ever. Sophie was the perfect dog for a baby. Of course, Chance joined the two and they played. Chance was also unbelievably gentle with Vanessa. Maybe if Twister could actually fall in love and get married, he'd have a kid for Chance to play with. But poor Twister. He had gotten rejected so many times by girls that he just stopped bothering to ask them out.

Anyways, throughout the day everything went fine, but around six o'clock that night was pure chaos. No, Twister didn't get drunk again; something worse happened. In the middle of a conversation, Reggie started breathing heavily. She clutched her stomach as she grunted in pain. This wasn't usual considering she wasn't even three months pregnant yet, but she did fall pretty hard down those steps. I asked her if she was OK, and she said that she was fine, but the pain held on for another thirty minutes. Sam suggested that she go to the hospital, see what was up, and then come back to pick up Sophie afterwards. So we did so.

I waited in the waiting room for about an hour, when the doctor called my name with a rueful look on his face. "Rodriguez?" he asked as I stood up. "I have some bad news for you." My heart suddenly felt like it had stopped beating and my whole world came crashing down. I had no idea what was wrong, but I knew that something terrible had happened.