A/N: So thank you for the reviews and the so far positive reactions, this is a short one, but don't worry the next chapter will be longer and concern everyone finding out. Enjoy and as always follow, fav and review :)
Chapter 23
Mia looked at Evie curiously, she'd been quiet since she came home with Jayden earlier, and Jayden was being quiet as well.
Mike caught her looking between them, and quickly tried to think of something to distract her.
"So how was shopping? Didn't have to drop them, somewhere, did you?" ask Mike.
"Oh no thank god Evie had the car, we managed to get it all in the trunk before we met up with you guys. We got some good stuff too," smiles Emily.
"Anything I'm going to like?" flirts Mike.
"Dude not at the dinner table," says Kevin with a shudder.
"There was some really nice things," agrees Mia with a smile. "Even if I wasn't initially quite so convinced about Em's."
"Like Evie said, nothing wrong with trying something new" replies Emily, "right Evie?" she asks looking at her.
Evie doesn't answer, instead chasing her food around her plate.
Mike nudges her and she blinks, "Sorry what?"
"You said its okay to try new things" repeats Emily, "With my clothes."
"Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that," nods Evie absently as she takes a bite of her food.
"Are you okay?" asks Antonio looking at Evie.
Evie nods, "yeah, I'm okay, just tired."
"You still feeling under the weather?" asks Ji reaching over to check her forehead.
"Not as much, no, really I'm on the road to recovery," assures Evie with a smile but Mike can see how forced it is and he glances at Mia who was still looking at Evie like she knew something was wrong.
"So how did you manage to get food for dinner since everyone ate it earlier?" asks Emily with a chuckle. "How are any of you even eating right now after today?" she adds looking at them.
"It's good," says Mike defensively.
"Of course you're eating," snorts Kevin. "And if you'll notice most of us aren't, as nice as it is Mentor," he adds quickly.
"Speaking of today does anyone know why my chest hurts so much?" asks Antonio rubbing it.
"I was wondering the same thing about my side," adds Kevin, "did we fight that badly over food?"
"You can all thank Evie for the actual injuries you're still feeling, she was still coherent enough to put you on the receiving end of her well-placed kicks when some tried to take what she was eating," chuckles Ji.
"So a normal reaction from Evie then" smiles Antonio all of them having seen her almost skewer Mike when he'd tried to take some of her fries looking at Jayden, but Jayden doesn't react.
Antonio nudges him and he looks up, "What?"
"Just Antonio and Kevin finding out how defensive Evie is of her food," answers Mike quickly.
"Well known fact, especially with a Nighlok spell included," answers Jayden with a small smile.
"I'm going to have double my exercise routine, I mean the amount I ate today, my body is going to hate me," sighs Kevin.
"Oh shut up, one day won't kill you Kevin, you're still hot," retorts Evie not in the mood to listen to someone complain about something so trivial when her entire world was about to be blown apart.
Everyone looks at her in surprise, not so much for the comment, but for the bite in her words rather than her usual teasing tone. And this time it was audible enough that everyone had picked up on it rather just Jayden.
Evie could feel them all staring at her but didn't care, she just rubbed her eyes, "look I'm sorry I guess I'm not as recovered as I thought" she says as she pushes her plate away and gets up walking out of the room.
Usually it took more to set her off, but she'd just gotten so angry that, that was all the others had to complain about.
She walked into the dojo and dropped her jacket and started taking her frustrations out on the punch bag. She thought telling Jayden would've made it seem easier, to know she wasn't alone in this. And she knew he needed time to wrap his head around it, but it hadn't felt any easier, if anything it felt worse, plus she really needed him to help her make this choice and that meant he needed to have wrapped his head around it.
Evie spun bringing her foot up in a brutal kick and using the momentum she continued to spin delivering three more in quick succession with enough force, that had it been an actual person, they'd have been on the floor unconscious from the first one.
She continued her brutal onslaught, her fists pounding into the bag, taking out everything she was feeling on it. Until she finally collapsed against it breathing heavily before she sank down to her knees as tears flowed down her cheeks. She was an absolute mess and she knew it. She wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy hormones, the sheer weight of the decision she had to make, or a combination.
With a sigh she wiped her eyes and pulled herself up before grabbing her jacket and walking down to her room, avoiding the others and shutting the door behind her. She was not in the mood for company.
Everyone looked around the table in confusion as the sound of Evie in the dojo reached them.
"What the hell was that about?" asks Antonio.
"I don't know, I don't think I've ever been called hot and felt insulted by that fact before," admits Kevin.
"Yeah that was, harsh," nods Emily.
Mike looked at Jayden who just finishes off his food.
"We all get mood swings, Evie more than most. I'm sure she'll talk to us when she's ready?" offers Mike, "right Ji, sometimes you just gotta leave her alone?"
"Yes, Evie can get moody at times, she'll talk when she's ready."
"Did you guys have a fight or something?" asks Mia looking at Jayden.
"No Mia, like they said just give her some space," replies Jayden, his own tone not sounding much friendlier than Evie's had.
"Buddy what is going on? If you didn't have a fight then why do you both seem to have a bee in your bonnet?" asks Antonio.
"Not everything is about Evie and me," answers Jayden in frustration as he stands up and walks out as well, the sound of his door slamming soon resounding down to them.
"Okay they must've had a fight or something, they're both way too pissed," says Kevin.
"Just leave them alone, they're entitled to their stuff, they'll figure it out. Or does anyone else want their head bitten off?" points out Mike.
"Fair point, Mike's right guys, let's just leave them to be mad and then when they're ready to talk or one of them is, then we can help them," agrees Emily and right then Mike wanted to kiss her for that response.
The others all nod and filter out of the kitchen, Ji however holds Mike back, "is there something going on?" asks Ji.
"I don't know, it's their stuff Ji, honestly, I have no idea what to do either," answers Mike and it wasn't a lie because earlier Evie and Jayden had seemed calmer, but now both were clearly anything but calm.
Ji looks at him for a moment before nodding and Mike walks out, "teenagers," he mutters shaking his head.
Mike started up a game, Antonio joining him while Kevin started teaching Emily how to play chess. Mia however couldn't keep her mind off of what had just happened. Evie and Jayden were the perfect couple, they were relationship goals. And yet right now they were acting like people she didn't even know.
She glanced at Mike suspiciously, he was usually the one putting his foot in his mouth and upsetting or pissing people off. But today he'd been the rational one, the calm one, and it was unnerving. Mike was the annoying little brother, not the mediator usually. He knew something, of that she was certain, Mike either had at the very least an idea of what was going on, and at most was completely aware of the situation.
Yet he wasn't giving that fact away if he could help it, he was being considerate about it, and trying to deflect attention from the couple in question. But Mia had no idea what he could know, or why he would be the one to know it. Because if Jayden was going to confide in anyone it would likely be Antonio. Yet he was obviously clueless too. And for Evie, she'd expect her to be more likely to confide in her or Emily if she couldn't in Jayden. Mike wasn't exactly Mr Sensitive and whatever was going on, Mia was almost certain it was sensitive.
Thing was if Mike was being as carefully cagey as he was, then he was likely on the lookout for someone to start digging. And Mia didn't know how to get it out of Mike. Emily might, but Emily would respect Evie and Jayden's privacy too much to pry and usually Mia would too. But something was up, and if their two best, if mom and dad were fighting it would affect the dynamic of the entire team.
She could ask Evie, but figured she'd likely just get her head bitten off, she and Jayden didn't have that kind of relationship, and Mike was both closer to Evie and more scared of her than he was of Mia. Meaning he'd keep his mouth shut. So, Mia had zero options but to try and figure it out on her own. Thing was she had no idea where to even start.
Evie was lying on her bed hoping some cathartic drama from Game of Thrones would make her feel better when the bathroom door opened and Jayden stepped through.
"Can we talk?" he asks.
"I'm sorry about dinner, I'm not mad, I'm just, I'm a mess," admits Evie.
"I wasn't much better," replies Jayden walking over and sitting down on the bed next to her.
"You've known for a matter of hours; I've at least had a day to process," replies Evie.
"But I'm not exactly processing fast enough for you." guesses Jayden.
"The sooner we make this decision the sooner we can act on what we decide."
"This isn't something we can just be hasty about."
"I know what I want, I think I know what you want, but this isn't about what we want," retorts Evie standing up.
"Of course it is," argues Jayden.
"No it isn't because this is so much bigger, what we have to consider is so much bigger!" snaps Evie.
"I'm aware of that, but we want has to figure in as well," retorts Jayden.
"Yes but how much so, and might I remind you I am the one this is going to effect the most," reminds Evie.
"That's not fair," protests Jayden.
"You're right it isn't but it is the truth, I am the one who is going to deal with it, be physically affected by it, who will have to step back from a sworn duty that has existed for hundreds of years. Who will have to shirk her responsibilities and who will be too blame if anyone else suffers for this fact?" snarls Evie.
"And you think I'll feel any less of the blame if it does?" demands Jayden.
"You have enough to deal with, without this. And how the hell do we live with ourselves if we choose being selfish over our sworn duty, how am I any better than my mother if I do this?" responds Evie.
"Evie for god sake you could never be like Nia, you share half a genetic code and her looks, but you as far from her as it gets."
"Samurai power is hereditary maybe being raging selfish bitch is as well," retorts Evie.
"Damn it Evie, that's not how this works, and Nia's example should have no bearing on this," groans Jayden.
"Of course it has bearing on it Jayden, it has so much bearing on it, she hated this life, so much so that the moment she got chance to be shot of it she took it. Leaving me behind in the process, she hated this life, she shirked her duties and she was the world's leading example on what not to be as a mother!"
"You cannot base every decision in our lives on her, Evie, you're ten times the woman she ever was, a hundred times the samurai, a thousand times the ranger, and ten thousand times when comes to having anything to do with family," counters Jayden.
"If that's so then you see exactly why that would have a bearing on this entire thing," answers Evie her frustration growing with each exchange, and she was once again unsure if it was the situation itself, the stupid hormones, or a mixture of both.
"How are we supposed to figure this out if all you seem to want to do is yell at me"? demands Jayden.
"I don't know, okay I have no idea, I don't know what to do, I don't know what we should do, I don't have the answers Jayden. I've had literally a matter of hours more to process this. And I haven't got a fucking clue," retorts Evie running her hand through her hair.
"Well neither do I and yelling at me isn't going to help," he repeats resisting the urge to punch the wall. This was getting them nowhere at all.
"I don't want to yell at you but you're not giving me much choice or much help," snaps Evie.
"This is getting us nowhere, we'll talk later, once we're calmer, because you are impossible to talk to sensibly when you're like this," decides Jayden throwing up his hands before either one of them said anything they regretted.
"Fine, go then!" shouts Evie.
Jayden turns and walks out of her room at the same moment Evie grabs her clock from the side of the bed and hurls it at the door just as it shuts behind him.
Turning she slams her fists into the wall, leaning against it. Her nostrils flaring as she tried to force herself to be calm. With a frustrated shout she slams her fists against the wall again before pushing off it with a huff before dropping into her chair and pulling her legs up to her chest. The fox zord landing on her knee and leaning up to nuzzle her cheek comfortingly.
Jayden stormed out of the house ignoring the others who'd obviously heard the commotion. He needed space and he needed to cool his head.
Logically he knew that neither of them were thinking rationally right now. How could they be expected too with the fact Evie was pregnant. It was a situation neither of them had any sense of being prepared for, it was a complete surprise, they were in the least opportune time possible for it. And neither had any kind of role model they could go too about something like this. Much as Ji had raised him, he had no idea about a situation like this. And while Kat was like a big sister to Evie, she'd never had to face this kind of dilemma given her tenure as a ranger was long over.
With a growl he walked out of the gates and into the forest and slammed his fist into the nearest tree.
He knew Evie was scared probably even more so than he was. And it wasn't just the idea of the baby, but that she would mess it up and hurt their child the way Nia had hurt her. And her determination not to be like Nia, plus how much she loved their team meant she was overthinking absolutely everything. She was in short, a mess and so was he.
With a sigh Jayden sat down leaning against the same tree he'd just punched and dropped his head into his hands. When did things get so freaking complicated, it sucked, it wasn't fair and right now he hated the universe for dropping this on them.
The lion zord flew out of his pocket then and landed on his arm, sensing his distress.
"I know buddy, I've got no clue either, we've got a little cub on the way, and so many other things to consider," sighs Jayden, "and Evie is freaking out too, which we both know is never a good thing.".
The lion runs up his arm and nudges him reassuringly.
"Thanks," says Jayden with a small smile before letting his head fall back against the tree with a resounding thud, not that the pain bothered him in the slightest. It was the least of what he was currently feeling.
The five rangers winced at the sound of something hitting the wall in Evie's room, followed by the sound the front door as Jayden stormed out.
They hadn't heard the specifics of the argument, but they'd heard raised voices and things were clearly not at all good between the couple.
"What do you think that was about?" asks Emily.
"Nothing good," answers Kevin, he'd had precisely one fight like that with Alyssa, and it had resulted in them not talking for a week until they'd both calmed down and heard each other out.
"Well its obviously something big, but what would have that kind of an effect?" asks Mia looking at Mike who was being unusually quiet given his love for gossip.
"Well when Alyssa and I had that fight it was because she thought I was cheating on her."
"Well I know Evie's not cheating on Jayden, given her extremely limited options, Kevin's mad about Alyssa, Em and I are more than happy, plus Evie sees me like a little brother, she's not gay so Mia's out. And no offence Antonio but Evie would break you if you were dating, and you'd never do that to Jayden," answers Mike seeing Mia eyeing him suspiciously, he was usually very in on the gossip.
"Then what could it be Mike, any ideas?" asks Mia pointedly.
Mike just shrugs, "who knows, four years together, plus everything else going on, I think they're entitled to be struggling a little," he answers carefully, feeling thoroughly smug when he sees Mia having no way to pick apart his response. Though he was concerned, they were obviously arguing about the baby, or more likely about what to do about it. And that was not going to be an easy decision for either of them.
"Any idea's Ji?" asks Antonio looking at him as he walked in from the kitchen.
"None, I have never heard the two of them fight like this, not once have they ever had a screaming match within my hearing," replies Ji. He was worried, despite everything Jayden and Evie were an extremely strong couple, completely in love with each other and had only ever had minor disagreements to his knowledge. But this, this was something deep and painful and he had no idea how to help them.