Revelation

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Spike and Ed were in a taxi, having found what Spike was looking for. Ed was shaking her head as she said, "I think I could know you for a million years and still not know you at all."

Spike frowned. "Am I really that hard to get to know?"

"I didn't mean for that to sound as bad as it does. I was trying to say that there are so many facets to your character. But you are very much an island unto yourself. It's very frustrating to be on the outside."

Spike sighed and gazed out the window. "I feel the same way."

Ed wrinkled her brow. "About me?"

Spike shook his head. "No. About me."

Jet had neither moved nor spoken in about three minutes. Neither had Faye. In her nervousness she had begun to count the number of times Jet blinked. She had gotten up to thirteen when Jet finally spoke.

"How far gone?

"Thirty weeks." Faye watched as Jet did the math in his head. "Jet, I . . ."

"You were pregnant and you let me drag you on a bounty?"

"I didn't know. I didn't find out until I was in the hospital."

"Is the baby okay? Even after that fall?"

"Yes."

Jet's voice suddenly grew loud. "Are you sure?"

"The doctors are certain that everything's fine."

"Everything's fine . . ." Jet trailed off and went to the window, leaning his head on his forearm. "You left without telling me. If I hadn't shown up today, would you have ever told me?"

Faye's chin trembled. "Of course I would have told you."

Jet turned to face her. "When, Faye, when? When you went into labor? When the baby got baptized? At the kid's college graduation?"

Faye's eyes brimmed with tears, and then spilled over. "I'm so sorry."

"You should be sorry! Damn you straight to hell and back, Faye!"

"I knew you'd be so angry with me."

"You're damned right I'm angry with you! How dare you keep this from me, Faye! I . . . I would have done anything for you if I'd known. I would have gone to every appointment, met with every doctor, held your hand through every procedure." Jet rubbed his face with his hands. "Christ, Faye, you made me miss everything. I didn't get to hold your hair back when you had morning sickness. I don't even know if you had morning sickness. I missed the ultrasound. I missed you getting bigger. I missed the first time the baby kicked. How could you keep me away from all that, Faye?"

Faye swallowed. "I was so afraid. I was so sure that you would reject me and the baby."

"I never would have. But you didn't even give me that chance."

"I'm so sorry, Jet."

"Faye, I would have taken care of you, if you'd only let me."

Faye took a deep breath. "I think . . . I think I wanted to learn that I could take care of myself first."

Jet began rubbing his face again, and with a derisive chuckle, said, "Oh, for the love of . . . you have got to be the most irritating, annoying, stubborn wench I have ever, ever known."

Faye gave a lopsided smile. "You wouldn't like me any other way."

"No, I suppose not. So . . ." Jet looked into Faye's eyes. "Am I allowed to come over there and meet this kid of mine, or what?"

"Sure. Just don't expect a handshake." They both laughed at that, and Jet came over towards Faye. Putting an arm around her, he gently placed one of his big hands on her belly, as if she was full of crushable flowers. Faye and Jet both closed their eyes and slowly began to rock back and forth. If anyone had been there to ask, both of them would have said that they were terrified beyond belief. However, they both knew that the future would come regardless of their best efforts, but right here, right now, everything was quite wonderful.

Ed was, frankly, puzzled. Spike was both withdrawn and extroverted by turns; however, this behavior by Spike was nothing new. She'd been aware of his quicksilver moods from the time they first met, but he'd turned rather cryptic in the past few years. Ed could have chalked it up to Spike's battle with Vicious. Even Papa had said that he'd never been quite the same after that. It also seemed to grow worse with every passing birthday, and had reached a peak once he'd learned of Faye's pregnancy.

Ed didn't want to press Spike. She knew better than that. But Ed still wished that she could hook up a wi-fi to his head and hack his brain, the way Ein had apparently been able to.

At this particular moment, though, Spike actually looked serene. Ed was sitting in the chair opposite the couch. Finally, she said, "I can't believe I'm seeing this."

"It's just like falling off a bicycle."

Ed stretched. "How do you think Papa and Faye-faye are doing?"

"I haven't heard any explosions yet. Damn. Now I lost count."

The comm. beeped, and Ed leaned over to answer. After a few moments, she turned off the comm. "Well, we'd better get back over to the hotel. Family meeting."

Spike chuckled. "When I was a kid, 'family meeting' meant that I had to go and pick out my own switch."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "And you liked it, didn't you?" Spike gawped at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing. This is how I wish he'd be more often. This is when he's at his best, and I couldn't love him any more than right now.

"You are one sick little monkey, Ed."

"Are you going to tell Papa?" Ed asked with a smirk.

Spike smiled at Ed, and her heart melted once again. "I think he has enough on his plate, don't you?" And he got up and took her by the hand and escorted her back to the hotel to meet Jet, and hopefully, Faye.

When Ed and Spike reached the restaurant, they both saw Faye and Jet, sitting together at a table. Ed dashed ahead to grab Faye in a hug. Spike came up shortly, kissed Faye, and held her tight, which brought tears to Faye's eyes. Spike then drawled, "So it's okay that we all know about this, now?"

Faye laughed and sat back down. "I suppose. It's hard to hide the fact you look like a bloated horse. Here, though. This is the ultrasound I had a little while ago." Faye handed a print to Spike, who made a great show of trying to figure out which way was up.

"Are you sure you're having a baby, Faye?" Faye snorted, grabbed the print, and turned it right-side-up. Spike shook his head. "Still looks like an iguana."

Ed gave Spike a smack on the arm, and said, "It's beautiful, Faye. Boy or girl?"

Faye smiled. "I didn't want to know. I wanted it to be a surprise."

Spike handed back the print, and turned to Jet. "And how is Papa taking all this?"

Jet rubbed his bald head, and replied, "I need a drink."

Everyone laughed, and Faye said, "If I can't have a drink, then you can't have a drink."

Jet groaned, and Spike said, "My mother had a Bloody Mary or three during her pregnancy with me."

Ed sighed, and said, "All the more reason Faye shouldn't drink. And why Papa should."

The laughter continued through the evening, and Devine and his wife, Inga, came to join them. Toasts were given, gifts were presented, and food was served. There was joking, story-telling, and off-key singing.

The future was tenuously mapped out.

And Jet Black and Faye Valentine never returned to the Bebop.

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This is NOT the end. Still more to come. You didn't think I'd leave it hanging like this, did you?

This is a work of fiction, and the CB characters are copywrited by someone other than me. Please leave a review!