disclaimer: I don't own the power rangers. Also I don't own Zeri, Saryn, Aura and Cetaci and any other ranger from Aquintar, I read their names on Starhawk's website and thought they were kool.

timeline: Nine years after 'Better Late Than Never'.

summary: Something has it's eyes set on ranger children. Every ranger is scared of losing his or her family, especially Andros.

TF princess; Glad you liked it. Hope this is soon enough for you.

Jeanka; What type of cloaking? Well, not the one you can go through things, so it's the old one. At least, that's what my brother can tell me. I've watched some Star Trek, but I don't really know a lot about it. It is like the one in Phantom's ship, but it's been improved, so it won't fail while their in hyperspace and you can't see them when they move. Last of all, the almost divorce was before Brian was born. The story of how the made up will be in this chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it.

the-power-of-love; This is as soon as I could make it.

Protecting The Next Generation

Chapter 19

"Damn you, Deca." Andros muttered and Deca wisely kept her 'mouth' shut.

Andros was pissed, it was one and a half our after the attack and the other rangers were doing a far better job with the engines than he and Saryn were doing with the cloaking.

"Calm down, Andros. It won't do us any good if you're all worked up and cursing Deca. You should focus that energy on the cloaking." Saryn sighed.

"Cursing Deca does do me good." Andros protested. "It makes me feel better."

"And how does that help your children?"

Now it was Andros turn to sigh.

"It doesn't."

"Good. Keep that in mind whenever you want to hit something."

"Mind if I take a break?"

"Of course not. Take all the time you need."

"Thanks."

Andros walked to the other side of the room and set down with his back against the wall. As he watched Saryn work his mind began to wonder past random memories; his first encounter with Ashley and her team, Wyatt's birth, first date, prom, Paige's first steps without help, Armin's first tooth falling out of his mouth, Brian being placed in his arms by a nurse with a tired, but happy Ashley next to him, their third anniversary. His mind stopped there and he dwelled on the memory.

They had been acting that day, pretending all was well. Zhane and Karone had gone to visit his parents that day, taking Armin, Paige and Wyatt with them. Nobody but he and Ashley had realised it was their anniversary and it had been one of the rare days he didn't work. They had gone for a picnic at the lake in the forest, shared a few kisses, got into a tickle fight and one thing let to another. At that moment both of them had dared to believe things weren't as awkward and tense as they appeared to be. They had been laying there in each other's arms when his morpher had gone off. Kinwon had needed him for something and he had been stupid enough to go.

After that day the only times he saw Ashley were when she was asleep in their bed, early in the morning and late in the evening. If he had been home more those two and a half months following that day, he would have noticed Ashley's morning sickness and every other sign, but he hadn't. He had no clue until she had worked up the courage and wait up for him. That night was burned into his memory, so he still remembered it as if it were yesterday.

Flashback

Andros opened the front door, if he hadn't been half asleep already he would have noticed the light in the living-room was still on. He was hungry and tired and all he wanted to do was curl up next to Ashley and sleep, but he knew that if he didn't get something to eat now, he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes shut.

When he opened the living-room door he was shocked to see his wife curled up on the couch with a steaming muck and a book in her hands. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't even notice him entering the room.

"Ash?" He asked, but got no reply. "Ashley?"

She looked up for her book, but she didn't smile like she used to do when she saw him.

"Andros." She greeted.

"What are you still doing up?" He asked gently.

"I just want to talk to you about something."

Those words shook him wide awake.

"Why?" He asked as he watched her get up, placing the muck and book on the table.

"Want something to eat? You look starved."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Sit." She said, pointing to the couch as she made her way to the kitchen.

Andros let himself fall down on the couch, his mind pondering about what Ashley would want to talk about, though his heart had a pretty good suspicion, he just didn't want to admit that things had become so bad. That he really had let it come that far.

It didn't take long for Ashley to return. She handed him his dinner and a glass of water, before sitting back down on the other end of the couch.

"What did you want to talk about?" He asked, putting a fork full of pasta in his mouth.

"We can't go on like this, Andros." Ashley replied.

"I have my responsibilities as a ranger, Ash. You of all people should know that."

"Yes, but what you and Kinwon don't realise is that you also have responsibilities as a father. You don't see the disappointed faces of Armin and Paige when they want to show their dad what they did at school, but he isn't there. As for Wyatt, you could as well be killed and he wouldn't know the difference."

Andros was shocked by those words.

"This is no way to bring up three children and I surely won't be able to handle a fourth. Now I can give you two choices; one, we could end this right here and now and make it official I'm a single mother again..."

"I refuse to lose you or the kids, Ash, not again." Andros exclaimed.

"It's not like we would leave KO35 or anything. It's were we belong, that can't be changed."

"What's the other option?" Andros inquired.

"You could say 'no' to Kinwon a little more, so you're at home to try and restore this relationship and take care of the kids."

Andros sighed, he didn't want to lose Ashley, but saying 'no' to Kinwon would be like he neglected his ranger duties.

'And you're not neglecting you're duties as a father and husband at all by working so much." A little voice inside his head mocked him.

He knew Ashley wanted his answer now and he knew he needed to buy himself some time to think this through.

"You said you surely wouldn't be able to handle a fourth child like this. What did you mean by that?"

Now Ashley sighed. She was perfectly aware of what he was doing, but she also knew he had a right to know. It might even help him decide.

"On our anniversary things seemed 'normal', even if it was just a fleeing moment, but it was enough, Andros."

"You're pregnant." He said matter-of-factly.

Ashley just nodded in reply. At that moment Andros' mind took the decision his heart had already made a long time ago. He put his empty plate away and reached out, pulling Ashley into his arms.

"You shouldn't have had to ask me this, Ash, nor should I have to think about the answer. Being a ranger is important to me, yes, but it stopped being my priority when our relationship started to grow. You are what is most important to me Ash, you and our children. My heart has been trying to tell me that for a while now, but I wouldn't listen. I guess who ever is out there decided to open my eyes." He rested a hand on her belly as he said this. "I want to gibe this another shot and I promise to do it right this time."

When he got no reply he got worried. He pulled back a little to see Ashley's reaction to his words and smiled when he saw her peaceful and content expression. She had obviously fallen asleep. That reminded him how tired he was. He carefully shifted Ashley and got up, making sure he didn't wake her. He put away the dishes and Ashley's book before turning his attention back to her. He picked her up so carefully you would think she would break at his touch. When he held her securely in his arms he walked up the stairs to their bedroom and put her in their bed. He changed quickly and got into the bed with her. Taking her back into his arms he fell into a peaceful sleep.

It felt like he had slept for only a few hours when the chime of the com made an end to his dream. Reluctantly he got up and answered the call.

"Andros are you coming? It's..."

"I can perfectly see the time for myself, Kinwon and no, I'm not coming. In fact, don't count on me for a long time. I have a family to take care of, if you had forgotten and I've hardly had any time to spent with them. I've hardly seen them in months. From now on, my duties as a father come first, like they should have from the beginning. If you can't respect that, I suggest you make room for someone who can. Good day." With that Andros cut the connection and shut of the com system, so no one could reach them.

When he turned back to the bed, he saw Ashley sitting there, smiling her radiant smile at him.

"I see you made your choice." She said.

"I should have done that a long time ago, but I swear here and now you'll never ever be put in this position again. I'll make sure I won't let it happen again.

Ashley's smile became even brighter.

"Come on, let's try to catch some more sleep." She said, patting the empty side of the bed.

Just then the door opened.

"Mommy, mommy, I had a nightmare!" Paige sobbed.

"There's a monster under my bed." Armin cried.

The two stopped short when they noticed Andros.

"Daddy?" Paige asked.

"Come here you two." Andros laughed and pulled the twin into a hug. "How 'bout I'll scare that monster away after getting some more sleep?"

"But I'm still sleepy, daddy." Armin complained.

"I'm sure mommy won't mind if you slept in the big bed for now."

"Can I too, daddy? Can I?" Paige asked eagerly.

"Of course, sweetheart and when you wake up again we'll first scare that monster so much he won't dare to come back and then we'll see if we can find some birds to feed."

"Yay!" The two exclaimed and Andros put them on the bed with Ashley.

Just as he wanted to get back in, cries could be hear from another room.

"I think Wyatt feels left out." Armin said from his mother's arms, eyes half closed.

"Stay, I'll get him." Andros smiled.

When he returned, he placed Wyatt in the bed, before joining them and falling back into a content sleep with two of his children curled up against him.

End flashback

Andros sighed. From that moment things had gotten better and better, until they were even better than before it had all started. Brian had been welcomed in their midst and only Armin and Paige vaguely remembered the situation back then.

"Andros?" Saryn's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yeah?" Andros replied.

"I'm finished here. We should really go see if there is something we can do for the engines for we'll be caught in that gravitational pull any minute now."

The inner-ship com sprung to life.

"The engines are fixed, Andros." TJ reported. "How's the cloaking coming along?"

"Finished." Saryn replied.

"Good, then let's get out of here, before..."

The ship shook violently.

"Sugar honey ice tea." Andros cursed. (::winks at her friend Sha::) "We're caught."

A/N: Bit longer then I anticipated. What you see here is the production of having to travel to and from school with the train and the ride takes about 36 minutes. Hope you enjoyed it, I did writing it. Please review for I love to read what others think of my stories. I'll try to update again next week, but I'm not sure I'll make it for I'll be extremely busy with school. A whole week of quizzes. Who in their right mind comes up with that idea?