I, once again, do not own Rocket Power, as I have explained for a zillion £U¢K1N times!!!!!!!! D'oh!!! Nuts!!! Mmmmmmmmmm.........................donuts! (Homer Simpson) OH YEAH: Once again, I couldn't think up a good name for a chapter, so I called it "Black Balloon" because it's the song I'm listening to right now. (By The Goo Goo Dolls.)

Well, anyways.......................

Chapter 9: Black Balloon

It was the second week of June as things began to grow tense. Reggie's stomach was very full now, and our son was expected at any time. We were all ready for his arrival; all there was left to do now was to wait. Clio went out on a Saturday and bought a lot of supplies for the baby, and Twister painted Jesse's furniture to match his room. Twister spent a lot of time over at our house since Otto and Clio went out a lot. Sometimes Twister would bring Chance, and she and Sophie would play together.

Things were good for the most part, but Reggie was beginning to have the "pre-birth blues". She had gotten pretty moody once June came by; I guess she was nervous, or maybe it was something like PMS. I really couldn't tell; only God and Reggie knew what was going on. One Friday night, for example, after ordering a pizza for dinner since Twister was at our house (Otto and Clio had gone to a Goo Goo Dolls concert.).

"Lars, I swear," she told me sternly, "If you don't let me have that last piece of pizza, you will regret it." There was only one piece left, and I had no intention of eating it, knowing that Reggie would whomp me. She had been eating a lot lately, just like any normal pregnant woman.

"It's all yours," I told her as I wiped my hand on my napkin. Twister looked at me as if to say, 'How are you going to survive this?'

"I can't believe the baby is due soon," Twister said, breaking the silence. "It's a good thing Reggie works at home to take care of it."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't leave it with you after what happened to your puppy," Reggie snapped, taking a bite of the pizza.

"I had a puppy?" Twister asked, obviously confused. As I said before, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was my brother.

"Well you have Chance now, and she's just fine," I said, sipping my Pepsi.

"That's because Otto is helping him," replied Reggie.

"But he's been out with Clio lately," said Twister. "When I got home last night, I caught them kissing on the couch!"

"Twist, you're just jealous because you've never been in love," Reggie said as she took the final bite of her pizza. I saw in Twister's eyes that she had hit a hard spot. His eyes sank low as he looked at his lap. She had been pretty moody that night, along with other nights.

About two days later, I found myself getting extremely anxious. I had thought about the fact that I was gonna be a father really soon, and it made me so nervous. I had so many questions to ask; so many thoughts in my head. So I went over to Sammy's house.

"Sam," I said as we sat on his front porch while Sherry fed Vanessa, "How did you deal with it?"

"Deal with what?' he asked.

"With the fact that you were soon to be a father?"

"I was nervous; I won't lie," said Sammy. "But the very first moment I saw my daughter, I knew that she would be OK. I saw in her eyes and in Sherry's eyes that I had everything that I wanted, and that there was no way I could lose it; my loving family.

"You'll be just fine," he continued. "I know that Reggie has been kinda moody lately, but it's just a phase that she's going through. Sherry was moody before Vanessa was born."

I smiled at this reply. I knew that Reggie and I would be OK. It was only a matter of time before the life that we created would represent forever. "Thanks, Sam," I replied as Sam scooped up Vanessa in his arms.

*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was the fifteenth of June, and still, no baby. Reggie went to the doctor, but the baby didn't come out. Apparently, he wasn't quite ready. He needed a few more days. On the ride home, Reggie was silent, but when we pulled up in the driveway, she just started to cry, right out of the blue.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, turning off the ignition.

"I've been terrible!" she replied. "I've been a beast. I've been so crabby." We walked up the steps and I unlocked the front door, where Sophie greeted us. She was grown now, but wasn't even a year old. She wagged her tail happily as we went inside. Reggie sat down on the couch and buried her face into her hands. I sat down beside her and wrapped my arms around her as she buried her face into my shoulder.

"It's OK," I replied. "Things are tense right now, but we'll be OK."

"But what I said to Twist," she said. "He's very sensitive about it, and I feel terrible!"

"He knows you didn't mean it," I said as she continued to sob on my shoulder. I kissed the top of her head as I told her that everything would be fine, for the umpteenth time.

The next day was a Saturday, and I didn't have to go to work, because I didn't have any cases to work on. I was reading the comics when Reggie came down the stairs. She smiled at me, and as I returned the gesture, a puddle soon burst right beneath her. SH clutched her stomach as she shrieked, "Lars! My water broke!"