A/N: So here we go, decision time let me know what you think :)

Chapter 26

Evie woke up to the smell of cooking, for a moment she had no idea where she was and then the previous day's events came back to her and she sighs rubbing her eyes.
She walked into the kitchen and saw Kat cooking pancakes, "Morning, how are you feeling?" she asks.
"I'm okay, physically at least," replies Evie though she wasn't loving that she'd gone to sleep in her jeans.
Kat walks around the counter and hugs her, "it's going to be okay Evie, we'll figure this out, even if figuring this out means I have to bounce both Ji and your Blue's heads off of tables," she assures.
Evie slumps against her, she had no idea how much she'd wanted someone to say that to her until this moment, a soft laugh escaping her at the second part.
"Where's JJ?" asks Evie.
"It's Saturday, he's having a lie in," replies Kat.
"Right."
"I called Ji last night, Jayden's going to come here today and you two are going to talk. And then you can both go home."
"Just Jayden?"
"Just Jayden."
"We've only got one option Kat," sighs Evie as she sits down.
"No, you don't, which is why I wanted you to talk here. Because I was thinking and there might be a way to get around your concerns," replies Kat.
"How?" asks Evie.
"I'll tell you both once Jayden gets here, now he mentioned dizziness and headaches, I assume you haven't been to the doctors yet?" asks Kat.
Evie shakes her head, "haven't had time" she replies.
"Okay, well headaches and dizziness are usual early symptoms of pregnancy, especially with how active you are. You're going to need to compensate for that with the right sort of foods. Have you been sick?" asks Kat.
"No, my stomach gets a bit buggy around fish and it makes me gag, and only one actual issue of throwing up."
"Good, anything else?"
"Not really no, just tired," replies Evie.
"That sounds pretty mild," nods Kat.
"Guess so," says Evie.

Kat hands her a plate of pancakes, setting the syrup next to her and Evie digs in.
"Do you know how far along you are?" asks Kat.
"Not specifically" admits Evie with a sigh, "But going off when the symptoms started maybe a month" she adds.
"Still early days then," nods Kat.
Evie nods and feels tears start to pool in her eyes and she wiped them away, "I keep crying," she sighs.
Kat sits down next to her and takes her hand, "mood swings come with pregnancy, and with everything else, crying is perfectly okay" assures Kat.

They finish up their breakfast and Evie is helping Kat to clean up when there's a knock on the door.
Evie looks up sharply and Kat squeezes her shoulder before walking over and opening it, revealing Jayden stood on the other side.
"Hi," he says.
"Hi Jayden, come in," says Kat stepping back.
Jayden walks in and sees Evie, walking over he pulls her into a hug, "I'm sorry," he murmurs.
Evie hugs him back, "Not your fault."
"Not yours either" promises Jayden kissing the top of her head, "We'll figure this out."
"Why don't you two take a seat, and talk this out. I'm going to wake JJ up," says Kat as she walks upstairs.

They sit down on the couch and Jayden looks at Evie, "What do you want to do?"
"I want this, but if we do this, it puts everything else in jeopardy, Ji was right about that," sighs Evie.
Jayden takes her hands, "No this is our decision Evie, forget about everything else, and lets ask ourselves. Are we going to be able to live with it, if we did end this pregnancy?"
Evie sighs and shakes her head, "I don't want to have to do that."
"Then we won't, we'll figure something out," assures Jayden wrapping his arm around her.
"But what? Kevin and Mike came to blows last night, you've got enough problems with Deker, we've got Dayu and Serrator never mind Octoroo and Xandred to contend with. And if I suddenly disappear, they'll want to know why, they'll get suspicious and if they figure out, I'm pregnant, it opens a whole new can of worms," warns Evie. "Or worse what if me not being there means someone else gets hurt? If we keep the baby and someone else suffers, even if we succeed, what if we resent the baby? I'd rather resent myself than our child?" asks Evie, "I mean what if, what if I am like her, what if I'm not meant to be a mom and I screw our kid up the way she screwed me up?"
Jayden cups her face, "You could never be like her, and you will be a great mom. But you're right, the Nighlok will wonder, Deker especially, and he knows about us, and seems to understand humans enough to make an accurate jump," he admits with a sigh.
"So you don't disappear," answers Kat as she walks back into the room.

They both look at her in confusion, "What do you mean?" asks Evie.
"Well let me let you in a little secret, something men never seem to understand. It will be another few months before there is much of a difference in how you look, it won't be obvious even in your ranger suit that you're pregnant to anyone until possibly your fifth month. And for the record right now your baby is tiny, its barely even there, and it is well protected. Now I get that Jayden, you might want to bubble wrap her as will the others, but I was still dancing until well into my second trimester without much issue. Now you'll need to be careful about any hits, but for the next couple of months at least, you should be fine to go into battle, though I would see if your tech friend can programme your morpher to maybe give you a bit more protection around your stomach. If that is what you choose, it will hopefully keep any Nighloks off the scent that there is anything different about you," smiles Kat.
"Really?" asks Evie.
"Really." nods Kat reassuringly.
"Also I came up with an idea last night that might work for you, when you do start to show or have to sit out, you can stage it to look like you take a bad hit, if you can keep up the charade it should buy you some time in order to not let the Nighlok realise anything is wrong," suggests Tommy as he walks in after Kat pulling on his jumper.
"Or you might defeat Xandred in a couple of months, I terrified poor Tommy while I was pregnant," smiles Kat.
"Scary," agrees Tommy.
Evie can't help but laugh at that before looking at Jayden, "Could we do it?" she asks, "Are you going to be able to focus enough to not try and jump in front of me every time?"
Jayden bites his lip, "We don't have any other option that lets us keep the baby, do we?"
"Not one I can see," admits Evie.
"Then if this is what it takes, I'll suppress every natural instinct I have" says Jayden, though he knew it was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done. He hated sending Evie into battle as it was, never mind sending her in knowing that she was pregnant.

"Is the baby really safe?" he asks looking at Kat.
"It isn't until later months that the baby really begins to develop right now, it's the size of a fruit and I don't mean a big one. Something I would advise, is that you go to the doctor, find out how far along you are. The dizziness can be managed and I'm sure you've dealt with worse than a few headaches. Get the prenatal vitamins, and then make sure you register with an OBGYN," answers Kat.
"You haven't had any other symptoms" admits Jayden.
"But what about the risk to the baby itself, I mean something could still go wrong right?" asks Evie.
Kat sighs, "There is going to be risks, especially in the earlier days, once you reach about week 13 is usually when most people tell others about their pregnancy. And if that baby is even half as tough as mom, I think you'll be okay.
But yes, there will be risks, you could miscarry for a number of reasons, a bad landing, a bad hit, a side effect of a Nighlok spell. And I won't lie, I would put you in the higher risk category based on your status as an active ranger. And miscarriages can cause problems to the mother as well, especially if they are traumatic."

"But what about the others?" notes Jayden.
"If they want what is best for Evie and the baby, then tell them to reign things in. In certain situations, Evie is going to need to be careful, avoid any hits to the stomach if at all possible. And if you're going to land badly, try not to let it be on your front," replies Tommy simply. "The whole point of the ruse is so none of the Nighlok realise there is anything different about Evie, and if you're all be overprotective then they'll think something is up. So it needs to be business as usual."
"Can I really do this?" asks Evie looking at Kat.
"You're not crippled by morning sickness and as long as you're more careful and you take care of yourself, and avoid fish when fighting. You should be alright, you're as skilled as you've ever been Evie, the baby doesn't change that. And you've got a way to go before it starts altering your shape enough to affect your equilibrium. If you're careful, I think you can pull this off," soothes Kat.

"Then that is the plan we go with," decides Jayden, "Ji can keep an eye on you as well with your blood pressure and stuff."
"You really think he'll want to help with this?" asks Evie standing up and starting to pace.
"He reacted badly last night, and he knows it. Mike gave him a very thorough verbal lashing and he was just as concerned when we realised you were gone. If this is what we decide to do, then it's in his interest to facilitate it so we can still do our duty," replies Jayden. "And despite how it probably sounded last night, he doesn't hate you, Evie. He's disappointed in us, but let's be honest any parent probably would be."

"And Kevin?"
"He can like it or lump it, he apologised last night and I think Mia managed to talk some sense into him too. But Mike, Emily, Mia and Antonio are behind us one hundred percent," promises Jayden.
Evie nods and takes his hand, "If we can have both, I want both. And if nature takes a different course, we'll deal with it."
"Then you've decided?" asks Kat.
"We're having a baby," smiles Jayden.
"We're having a baby," agrees Evie with a smile.
Jayden stands up and picks her up spinning her around before setting her down and kissing her softly.
Evie returns it and feels the relief course through her, they had a plan, and they were doing this, together.
Kat and Tommy share a smile as they look at the younger couple.

"I made a doctor's appointment for you while I was upstairs, it's today at 11," says Kat.
"You did?" asks Evie.
"I hoped you'd agree to my plan, if not then I wanted to give you the chance to talk it over with a doctor."
Evie hugs her, "Thank you."
Kat just hugs her back.
"Fancy some food?" offers Tommy looking at Jayden.
"Yeah, I may have forgotten breakfast."
"Come on Kat did some pancakes earlier" he says.
Jayden nods and follows him into the kitchen.
Kat looks at Evie, "you can do this" she assures, "and I will help however I can" she adds.
"Thanks" smiles Evie.

Tommy looks over at Jayden, "How you feeling?"
"Happy, confused, worried, freaking terrified," admits Jayden.
"For the next few months, you're not going to be able to help Evie with a lot of what she is going to go through. The changes in her body, the havoc the hormones are going to wreak with her, and you're not going to be able to do a damn thing. So, be supportive, but do not smother, Kat almost took my head off when I tried that with her."
"How am I supposed to send her into battle with Nighloks, when she's pregnant?"
"Because if you don't, she's in even more danger. You have to remember that the best protection is if no one knows there is anything different. I know it'll be hard; I won't pretend it won't be. But Evie is capable, she's smart, and most importantly she wants this baby. And that is a protective instinct no one but another parent could ever understand, usually. After what Nia did, Evie is not going to put your child in any kind of danger if she can avoid it," assures Tommy.
"I know that, I just wish we didn't have to think like this."
"You can do this, you and your team, between you, you'll defeat Master Xandred and now you have more motivation than ever to do it within the next few months," smiles Tommy.
"Save the world, have a baby, universe want to dump anymore huge responsibilities on me?" snorts Jayden.
"Hopefully not," chuckles Tommy as she he finishes up the pancakes and slides the plate over to him as Evie and Kat walk into the room, Evie now in fresh clothes and feeling better for it.

"We'll go to the doctor's appointment and then we'll head home."
"You sure you're alright to be on your bikes? We can give you a lift?" offers Tommy.
"No, but thank you, for everything. Sorry for turning up like I did," apologises Evie.
"You're always welcome, we're just glad you came here," assures Kat. "And if anyone at home does give you any problems, well Tommy knows how to rough up rangers when it suits him," she teases winking at her husband.
"Well Kat here has a real knack for throwing a wrench in things as well," retorts Tommy with a smile.
"Either way we've both spent our evil time knowing how to scare idiot teenagers, or unrelenting mentors," nods Kat.
"Can't believe it didn't occur to me to check here," admits Jayden.
"I'm sorry I left how I did," adds Evie.
"With how it all went down, I don't blame you. No one does, though took some convincing for anyone to think you of all people had disappeared," assures Jayden.
Evie lets out a hollow chuckle, "How was the mood?"
"Tense, I may have told Kevin to leave me alone when he tried to apologise and I haven't really talked to Ji either. Mike was worried, he wanted to come with me today, but Em convinced him it needed to just be us. Mia was trying to keep the peace, and I think she might've also started compiling a list of baby names for us. Antonio, he was just trying to help."
Evie just nods, they'd made the decision, now they had to deal with everyone else, and that was the part she was dreading.

Evie sat on her bike outside the doctors looking at the ultrasound, the tiny black blob on it that was her baby.
"This is really happening," she says.
"Yep, our little blob, right there," agrees Jayden with a smile as he looked at it.
"We're not calling it little blob," says Evie.
"There is no other word to describe it Evie," chuckles Jayden.
"It's our baby we can't call it little blob," protests Evie.
Jayden just smiles before biting his lip and looking at Evie.

"What? I know that look, that's the I'm about to say something she won't like look?" asks Evie.
"I need you to do a couple more things for me Evie."
"Such as?" asks Evie.
"You do not under any circumstances for me, or anyone else take a hit. If I think things are getting to hairy and you're in too much danger, I reserve the right to pull you out of the battles. You do not go out on your own, in any situation at all. And if you feel like anything, anything at all I don't care if its spotting, cramping or anything else, you tell me. No toughing it out, no soldiering on, you tell me," stipulates Jayden.
Evie looks at him and nods, "Alright."
"Good, pinky swear," he says holding up his hand.
"Jayden-" starts Evie.
"Nope, pinky swear," repeats Jayden.
Evie sighs and links her finger with his "I pinky swear."
Jayden nods and pulls on his helmet, Evie pocketing the picture and doing the same. Next moment they're both kicking them into life and heading for home.

A couple of hours later they were pulling through the gate and Evie looked up at the house pensively.
They move their bikes into the garage and walk back out Jayden lacing his hand with Evie as they walk inside, as they get to the main room they see Antonio, Mike, Mia and Emily sat together.
"You're back," squeals Emily as she jumps over the back of the couch, or rather tries to but instead trips on it and lands on the floor.
"Ow," groans Emily.
Jayden and Evie hurried forwards and helped her up, Emily immediately throwing her arms around Evie, "You're home," she smiles hugging her tightly.
"I'm home Em," smiles Evie hugging the younger girl back, as Emily stepped away Mike pulled her into his arms, "Please do not ever disappear like that again" he murmurs.
"I'll do my best," assures Evie as she hugs him back.
"I'm sorry if I didn't speak up last night," says Antonio as he looks at her.
"Not your job," replies Evie.
"Whatever you want to do, we're behind you" smiles Mia as she hugs her.

Kevin walks into the room a moment later eyeing them cautiously.
"Kevin," greets Jayden wrapping his arm around Evie.
"I'm really sorry for what I said last night Evie. I had no right to judge you and no right to go off on you like I did. It wasn't my place and I should've been more supportive," apologises Kevin.
Evie looks at him, "Okay," she says not quite feeling like she wanted to just hug and make-up.
Ji walked in then and Evie leaned back against Jayden, his arm tightening around her.
Ji sighs though he had to admit he couldn't say he blamed Evie for her reaction.
"It's good to have you home," he says.
"Have you guys decided?" asks Mia gently.
Jayden and Evie share a look, "We have," nods Evie.

Everyone sits down, "so?" asks Mike.
"I'm having the baby," says Evie. "We've both agreed neither of us wants to abort it, regardless of the reason or logic. But given the fact not only would my stepping aside leave the team vulnerable and down a ranger, but it'll make the Nighloks suspicious as well. They'll wonder where I've gone and why, so the safest way to protect the baby and me, is by making them think nothing has changed. Save Deker none of them even know Jayden and I are in involved, and it's such a foreign concept to the Nighlok none of them are ever likely to even follow that line of thought. Right now, the baby is tiny, and I can still do everything I've always been able to do. We continue like that."
"So you're going to keep fighting, and we just act like it's all normal?" clarifies Mia.
"Essentially, yes. No one tries to protect Evie in any exaggerated way, no one mentions the baby outside of the house, and we continue as if nothing has changed with a few precautions of our own," confirms Jayden
"Such as?" asks Antonio.
Evie pulls out her samuraiser and throws it to Antonio, "I need you to do a little upgrade for my samurai suit."
Antonio looks at her in confusion and then his eyes widen in realisation and he smiles, "Your child will have the best possible protection I can programme" he assures as he instantly gets to work.
"Also Evie eases up on training, and she no longer takes hits for anyone else. If things look like they're getting to bad, I reserve the right to pull her back. She does not go anywhere on her own. And if you're willing Ji, you keep close monitor on her blood pressure, and the other checks you can actually do," continues Jayden looking at Ji hopefully.
"Of course," nods Ji.

"But what if it takes us longer than however many months you've got until you start to show?" asks Kevin carefully. "Nighlok might not see subtleties but they'll notice if you start to appear visibly pregnant."
"If it reaches that point and Evie's pregnancy can no longer be hidden successfully, then she fakes a bad hit in one of our battles. And we let the Nighloks believe she was badly hurt and that is why she's out of the fight," answers Jayden.
"How long is that likely to be?" asks Mia.
"Ultrasound shows I'm about six weeks along," replies Evie, "According to Kat, I'm unlikely to start showing in any way that is obvious until at least the second trimester."
"Can you really make this work?" asks Mike looking at Jayden especially, they'd had this conversation and neither liked sending their girlfriend into danger. Never mind if she was pregnant with his child.
"It's not going to be easy, but this is the only way we can feasibly keep the baby without raising suspicion, and as Tommy put it. It gives us a whole new motivation to take the Nighlok down once and for all", answers Jayden knowing exactly what Mike was thinking.

"So we act as thought everything is status quo, no jokes, no hints, no talk of the baby. No one asks if I am okay unless there is a reason too. No one tries to block me, or help me unless I actually need it. And no one insinuates I can't do everything I've always been able to. Deker managed to notice the subtle differences that marked out mine and Jayden's relationship and we know Dayu was human once too. So, we cannot afford to give any hint there is anything different. Because if the Nighlok figure out I'm pregnant, then I get a gigantic target on my back. So I know it's going to be hard, but when we fight, we do it as though nothing has changed," reiterates Evie.
"But how do we not act like you're not growing another tiny human, that you don't have something important we want to protect?" asks Emily.

Evie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the picture before showing it to Em, "You see that tiny dark blob in the corner?" she asks.
Emily looks at it and nods.
"That is all the baby is right now Em, its nestled safe and sound inside layers of protection and barely even has a heart rate right now. But the only way to make sure it gets bigger and gets the chance to grow into a fully functioning little person, is if we do this. So, can you do it for that Em?" asks Evie gently.
Emily looks at the picture and then at Evie and nods, "Absolutely."
"I told you the day we found out about it, I'm right there with you" smiles Mike.
"Sooner we defeat the Nighlok, the sooner I can start baby shopping for you. Until then I shall contain my enthusiasm," promises Mia.
"Anything for you guys," nods Antonio.
"I said I'd be supportive and if anyone could pull this off Evie, it's probably you," admits Kevin.
Finally they look at Ji who stands up, "it is my responsibility to look after the rangers. And that includes the first member of the 19th generation as well. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it," promises Ji with a small smile.
Evie and Jayden both return it.

"But aren't you still at risk, I mean isn't miscarriage still a risk?" asks Mia quietly.
"It is, especially for the next few weeks. There's a reason most couples don't start telling people until they're out of the first trimester," answers Evie.
"So which bit of this is the baby?" asks Mike trying to decipher the ultrasound picture.
Evie sits down next to him and points to it, Mia crowding around too while Jayden smiles and walks down to his room dropping the leaflets that the doctor gave them down. And setting Evie vitamins on her bed.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted," comes Ji's voice and Jayden turns.
"You had every right to be disappointed, this was an accident, any parent would be disappointed never mind with what we have to do," replies Jayden, "But Mike was right, you blamed Evie more than you blamed me. And that wasn't fair on her, because it does take two, I'm as much to blame for this as she is."
"I know, I just, I don't know why I did. And you're right it was not fair of me to place more blame on her," nods Ji.
"Then I'm not the one you need to be apologising too. We knew you'd be disappointed in us; we'd accepted that, and we figured you'd be angry, but I did not expect you to tear Evie apart like that. Why should she have been the smarter one? I'm the one who's had the thought of kids, it hadn't even crossed Evie's mind in anything other than an abstract form. But me, I've pictured them, I've wondered, I know it's something I wanted. We screwed up, we know that and we aren't trying to deny it, but can you really do this Ji. Without judgement or anger?"

Ji sighs, he loved Jayden and he loved Evie, like they were his own children. But perhaps he'd always favoured Jayden a little more. He'd known him since birth, Jayden had been much easier to handle than Evie had been. But that hadn't been Evie's fault, and now they had a wonderful relationship that Ji treasured.
Yet he had been more than ready to dump more blame on Evie that he had on Jayden. He hadn't even realised he'd done so until Mike had pointed it out to him. And it had made him wonder, were there times over the years when he'd done it without even noticing.
He had a different relationship with Jayden than he did with Evie. Jayden trusted him unconditionally, he knew that. But with Evie, with Evie it had always been more of a balancing game, knowing when to push and when to pull. And now he'd need to do that more than ever. Because Kat was right, Evie was more fragile now, not physically necessarily, but mentally. Her hormones would wreak havoc on her moods, leading the already mercurial woman to be even more so, it opened up a whole new set of concerns for her. And it would need to be handled delicately or he could irreparably damage his relationship with Evie and he didn't want that.

"I can and I will, and if it any point it seems like I am not, please let me know. If this is what you both want, then I will do everything I can to help you both," promises Ji.
Jayden nods, "Thank you" he says before sighing and rubbing his eyes, "This is going to be so hard."
"It is," nods Ji.
"Not just the baby but trying to pretend that I am not going to be ten times more worried about Evie in this situation."
"Evie is smart and strong and resourceful. If anyone could weather this storm, I don't doubt it's her," replies Ji reassuringly.
"I hope you're right and I hope Deker doesn't figure this one out or we are screwed," says Jayden.
"As long as you do not discuss the baby outside of the house, and take nothing with you that could give it away. I doubt he will even suspect. Your mother didn't begin to show until she was almost six months pregnant, if all fairs the same for Evie, then hopefully the Nighloks will be dealt with before anyone can even tell."
"Hopefully," nods Jayden before he walks past Ji and back down to the others were.

Mia was now debating with Emily over whether it would be a boy or a girl.
Evie walks over to him and Jayden smiles pulling her into his arms as he looks over at the others, Mike, Kevin and Antonio were still finding the ultrasound utterly confusing, as Mia and Emily's debate waged.
"Our strange little family," smiles Evie.
"And it's going to get one more member," nods Jayden.
"We can do this right?" asks Evie.
"We can, I hope and think," replies Jayden.
Evie just leans against him, they'd do this, they had too. Provided fate didn't take a different course, her hand coming to rest on her stomach. They could do this.

A/N: So don't worry there will be more of a conversation between Ji and Evie, and Kevin too, but figured this needed to be done first :)