Disclaimer: Aidan, Jenny, Marieke, Zora, Kaden, Chandra, TJ Junior, Diego, and Murchadh are mine. Aura is Starhawk's. The rest is owned by Saban or Disney.

Ashley Hammond/Astro Yellow: Yes, I see all the trouble you go through. :P Stupid mosquitos.

Juzblue: Thanks. Jenny made me laugh, too. :P

Jn Cpl Scarlett: Thanks. Nothing too drastic, but there's something.

DizneeDol: I totally did update real soon. Here's more. :P

Mz. Daydream:Thanks. It's so much fun to see Andros with his kids.

Jenny: You've pretty much got the twins personalities down. If you don't like them, I let Marieke choose who was who. :P

Melissa: Yup, twins again. And I own Jenny and Marieke:P

Chapter 3

"All right," Andros said, settling himself comfortably on the couch. "What do you want to hear about first?"

"How's Cassie doing?" Ashley asked, a wistful look on her face as she sat down on the couch lengthwise, her feet ending up in Andros's lap. "It's been so long since we've seen them..."

"I left as soon as I could," Andros said, "so I didn't have much of a chance to talk with her, but TJ said that she, Chandra, and TJ Junior are all doing fine. TJ said that they'll start TJ Junior in preschool next year."

"Sometimes I wish KO-35 had preschool," Ashley murmured as Jenny scrambled into her lap. She moved her feet off of Andros as Marieke climbed up into his arms. "Chandra's walking now, right?"

"For almost a year now," Andros said.

"It's been that long since we've last seen them?" Ashley said, a sad look creeping up onto her face. "We used to be so close, all of us..."

"We still are, Ash," Andros said softly, reaching out to squeeze her hand for a moment. He leaned back again as he added, "We just live farther apart."

"I miss them," Ashley said simply.

"This was supposed to be a surprise," Andros said, suddenly looking sheepish, "but you look like you could use some cheering up, so I invited them all to come visit us."

"You did?" Ashley's eyes lit up. She leaned over Jenny and Marieke to wrap her arms around his neck. "Thank you."

"And not just TJ and Cassie, either," Andros continued. "Carlos, Aura, Diego, and Murchadh."

"Is Uncle TJ coming to visit?" Jenny asked.

"Yes he is," Andros told her. "And Aunt Cassie, Uncle Carlos, and Aunt Aura, and all of your cousins."

"There's only three of them," Jenny protested. "That's not that many."

"What about Zora and Kaden?"

"But they're our real cousins," Jenny said. "That's different."

"When are they coming?" Marieke asked.

"Well..." Andros glanced at Ashley. "They can come whenever you want, if you feel up to it."

"Andros, I feel fine," Ashley assured him good-naturedly. "Just as long as they're not here right before I have the baby."

"What baby?" Marieke asked.

"Oh," Ashley said, grinning. "I guess we can tell Aidan later."

"You're having a baby?" Jenny asked.

"Yes." Ashley nodded. "You girls and Aidan are going to have a baby brother or sister."

"I want a sister," Marieke said immediately, and Andros laughed.

"Mommy doesn't get to choose," he explained. "It could be a boy."

"But it's a girl," Marieke said stubbornly.

Ashley laughed. "You can't argue with her," she said. "She takes after you."

"When will the baby be here?" Jenny asked.

"In about five months," Ashley said, taking Jenny's hand and placing it on her stomach. "Until then, the baby lives inside here."

"It's inside of you?" Jenny asked. Ashley nodded, and Jenny's eyes widened.

"Can I name the baby?" Marieke asked.

"Uh..." Ashley glanced at Andros, hoping he'd come up with an answer more quickly than she, but he only shrugged at her. "You can help, but Daddy and I get to choose."

"Naming a baby is something that you have to think about for a long time," Andros told her, finally thinking of something to say, and added, "You can help shop for the baby, though."

Ashley shot Andros a grateful look as he succeeded in changing the topic. "We'll go right now, as soon as you girls are ready."

"Can I get new shoes?" Jenny asked.

"Jenny, we're shopping for the baby," Ashley said. "Daddy doesn't want to go shoe shopping."

"Says who?" Andros demanded, glancing down at the girl in his lap. "Marieke, do you want shoes, too?"

She nodded instantly. "Can I get the pretty shiny ones with glitter?"

"No glitter," Andros said firmly. "But pretty and shiny is fine."

"Zora gets glitter shoes."

"And Aunt Karone has magic to clean up all the glitter," Andros reminded her. "Go get ready."

"Okay," Marieke said. She paused and looked at her twin. "Jenny, where are my shoes?"

"They'll be down sometime in the next century," Ashley remarked, sighing lazily as their daughters disappeared up the stairs. "Andros, you hate shopping."

"I know," Andros said, sighing heavily. "But I love all of you."

Ashley smiled and twisted around so she was leaning back against him instead of the arm of the couch. "We love you too."

"So what do we need for the baby?" Andros asked. "We've got to have some stuff left over from Aidan and the twins."

"We've still got the cribs," Ashley said. "And the high chairs, I think. And enough stuffed animals to bury the poor kid under."

"What about clothes?" Andros asked.

"Well..." Ashley tilted her head back to look at him. "You can never have too many clothes."

Andros tried hard to turn his smile into something else, but couldn't quite manage it. "Don't we need to know whether it's a boy or a girl before you buy an entire wardrobe?"

"Just a few things," Ashley pleaded. "You wouldn't want your child to be naked for the first week of its life, would you?"

"It wouldn't be naked," Andros protested indignantly. "I'd give it a blanket."

"Much better," Ashley teased him. "They make stuff that both boys and girls can wear, you know."

"I know," Andros said. "How about just half a wardrobe?"

"The red half or the yellow half?" Ashley asked with a knowing grin.

Andros laughed. "Do we do it on purpose, or do they just look just in our colors?"

"Both, I think," Ashley said. "All ranger kids do, no matter how many colors their parents wore."

"We're ready!" Marieke announced, her blond-streaked brown hair flying out as she jumped the last five steps to the ground, followed immediately by Jenny.

"Careful," Ashley warned. "We don't have time to go to both the hospital and the mall."

"The hospital smells funny," Jenny said, wrinkling her nose. "I don't want to go there."

"Then let's go buy clothes for your baby brother or sister."

"Our sister," Marieke said firmly.

"And don't forget shoes," Jenny added.

"Come on," Andros said, taking the twins by the hand and leading them to the hovercar as Ashley locked the door. "Let's go."