Author's note: I'm glad everyone likes the way I'm writing Nikki's pregnancy, it's a lot of fun for me and I think I may have one more thing up my sleeve where this baby is concerned.
PrettyDiva: First of all, thanks so much for saying that this Tommy/Nikki pairing is actually working it's really important to me that I can show that. I only hope I write them as well in the next stories. As for what the baby's sex will be, you'll just have to keep waiting.
HarryPassionFan: My holiday was great, thanks. I thought everyone would get a kick out of the baby orbing Tommy to the back yard. And yeah, I just had to patch things up between Nikki and his mom.
Slytherin-Angel44: Don't worry, Lily is sincere about giving Nikki a chance though it won't be easy and she won't always agree with the decisions Tommy and Nikki make. I think Nikki will get along fine with Tommy's friends and as for how Kim and Kat will react. I think they'll be happy for him especially since Kim is married and has a child of her own now.
GinaStar: Thank you so much for saying that, I try my best.
Traci26: Really happy you liked that last chapter, hope this update was soon enough for you.
Abby: This baby is definitely going to have a mind of its own as already seen in previous chapters. As for what it will be, I already know but you'll have to wait at least one more chapter before finding out.
Riverkirby: I love that you love this story and baby Oliver. Yeah, I thought it was funny too that Tommy was worried the baby would orb his mother away somewhere. It would have made for an interesting chapter, I think.
Nikki and Tommy sat with Tommy's parents in the restaurant that his father had chosen where they were celebrating his mother's birthday.
"So Nikki how does your family feel about you having a baby so soon after getting married?" Lily asked
"They think it's great, we're a pretty big family to begin with so they say the more the merrier," Nikki responded.
"How big exactly?" Rick asked.
"Well my mother has two sisters and after getting married the three of them each had three children plus my oldest cousin and his wife have a son," Nikki answered.
"That must have been fun growing up with so many cousins, did you get to see them much," Rick replied.
"Everyday, we all went to school together and it helps that our houses were right next door to each other," Nikki told him.
"Sounds like a close family," Lily remarked.
"Nikki's family is great, they welcomed me with open arms despite not knowing anything about me," Tommy added.
"I suppose they won't have the same feelings towards me," Lily said.
"My family would never hold anything against you, they understand why you reacted the way you did and that's all behind us now and they can't wait to meet Tommy's family," Nikki replied.
"Well with the baby coming, I think our families will be seeing each other a lot," Rick decided.
"Speaking of the baby, I do hope you found a good doctor," Lily said.
"Of course, her name is Dr. Ava Nicolie, she's actually an old friend of the family and when I found out I was pregnant I knew she was the only doctor I wanted," Nikki replied.
"That's good that she's a friend, she'll be more apt to listening to you in the delivery room," Lily replied.
"Actually, Ava's not planning on being there for the delivery," Nikki told her.
"I'm not sure I understand," Lily responded.
"I'm planning on giving birth at home so Ava has been training my cousin Priscilla to be my midwife," Nikki explained.
"You can't be serious, why on earth would you want to do something like that?" Lily questioned.
"It's kind of like a family tradition, my Aunt Piper gave birth to my cousin Wyatt at home and my mother gave birth to me and my siblings at home and my Aunt Phoebe was their midwife," Nikki informed her.
"Tommy, you can't seriously be ok with this?" Lily asked.
"I was a little skeptical at first but Dr. Nicolie has assured me that it's perfectly safe for Nikki to give birth at home and it's what she wants so I'm fine with it," Tommy replied.
"Come on Lily, you're a nurse, I'm sure you know of lots of women who have chosen to deliver their babies at home and have been perfectly safe, it's not uncommon these days," Nikki said.
"Tradition or not, Nikki I don't think you realize how painful it's going to be, wouldn't you rather be at a hospital where you could get an epidural if you wanted," Lily said.
"Trust me, I'm fully aware of what I'm giving up by deciding to have this baby at home and I'm fine with it, women were giving birth long before there were hospitals or drugs available," Nikki told her.
"I know that but what if something goes wrong," Lily said.
"We don't live that far away from the hospital so if anything goes wrong we are fully prepared to deal with it," Tommy told her.
"So have you kids given any thought to a name for this little one?" Ricky asked trying to change the subject.
"It's been kind of hard since we decided not to find out the baby's sex," Tommy answered.
"There is this tradition of names starting with a P in my family but that was broken when my Aunt Piper gave birth to a boy but my Aunt Phoebe started it up again with Prudence, Priscilla and Phyllis," Nikki told him.
"But I see that your mother didn't carry it out," Lily commented.
"She did in a way, I'm named Nicole after her adoptive mother but my middle name is Penelope after my great-grandmother and my sister Samantha, who was named after our grandfather Sam and has the middle name Patricia to honor our grandmother," Nikki explained.
"Let's see P names for boys, there's Paul, Peter, Phillip, Parker," Rick said as he began naming off names.
"Sami suggested Pierce or Preston," Tommy said.
"What about for a girl?" Lily asked.
"That's been a bit harder seeing as how there are already so many women in my family with P names, so far the only ones we've thought of are Peyton, Pamela, or Pearl, but we're still not certain we want to do the whole P thing," Nikki told her.
"I have a friend whose granddaughter is named Paisley," Lily remarked.
"Well, whatever name you two decide on I'm sure it'll be perfect," Rick said.
A few hours later, Tommy and Nikki were back at his parents home where they were getting ready for bed.
"I guess I should have just stayed quiet about the whole giving birth at home," Nikki commented.
"Maybe but it's our decision and my mother is just going to have to get over it," Tommy replied.
"Yeah well, it's not like we have a choice considering the fact that this baby is most likely going to be born in a flash of tiny blue lights and although it wouldn't surprise Ava we'd have some explaining to do to the rest of the hospital staff," Nikki responded.
"You really think the baby's going to orb into the world?" Tommy asked.
"It happened with Wyatt and his son Matthew and with me and my siblings so I think there's a good chance," Nikki told him.
"I don't care how this baby decides to come into the world as long as he or she is born healthy," Tommy said.
The next day, Nikki and Tommy stood outside the home of Jason and Kimberly Scott where Nikki would be meeting some of Tommy's old friends.
"Are you sure they're going to like me?" Nikki asked.
"Yes I'm sure, they're going to love you," Tommy told her as he rang the doorbell.
"Well, at least Jason's the only one who knows my secret," Nikki said.
"Yeah, so if anything weird starts to happen he'll be able to help us cover it," Tommy joked.
"Great, now you've got me worried," Nikki told him.
"Relax, it'll be fine, you'll see," Tommy replied.
"Hey bro, I'm glad you could make it," Jason said as he opened up the door and gave Tommy a hug.
"Hello again Jason," Nikki said though their meeting the last time had only been a few minutes.
"Nikki, it's nice to see you again, man you two work fast," Jason said as he also gave Nikki a hug.
"That's what people keep telling us," Nikki joked as she put her hand on her stomach.
"Kimmie, they're here," Jason said as he led them into the living room where Kim was along with a few of their other friends.
"You're late Oliver but what else is new," one of the guys commented.
"Nice to see you too Rocky, is there any food left," Tommy shot back.
"You boys play nice," Jason told them.
"Everyone this is my wife Nikki," Tommy said.
"It's really nice to meet all of you, Tommy's told me a lot about you," Nikki replied.
"I'm Kimberly and this is Ella, it's so nice to finally meet the woman that could get Tommy here to finally settle down," Kim said as she held her daughter.
"Hi, I'm Tanya and this is my husband Adam and this is our son Adam Jr. and our daughter Aliyah," Tanya said.
"Hello Nikki, I'm Katherine and the loud mouth is my fiancé Rocky," Katherine spoke up.
"And we've saved the best for last, I'm Zack and this beauty next to me is my wife Aisha, we're home visiting from Africa," Zack told her.
"Where's Billy?" Tommy asked.
"He's off on some kind of research expedition for NASDA and we couldn't reach him in time," Jason informed him.
"That's too bad, I guess we'll just meet him the next time," Tommy said as he and Nikki sat down.
"So does that mean we're going to see more of you now?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, Tommy ever since you moved to Reefside we hardly see you anymore," Kat said.
"I know, I know, I kind of got wrapped up in my own life for awhile," Tommy responded.
"Who can blame you man, I mean having to put the suit on again and lead yet another team of rangers," Zack commented.
"Um Zack sweetie we're in mixed company," Aisha said.
"It's ok Aisha, Tommy told me all about his past as a power ranger," Nikki told her.
"I'll bet that's not news you expected to hear especially after marrying him only two weeks of knowing each other," Kimberly said.
"It was definitely a surprise and I gave Tommy a few of my own but then everything about our life has been a surprise including this little one," Nikki told her.
"I still can't get over Tommy having enough nerve to propose after only a few weeks, he couldn't even ask Kat on a date back in high school until I pushed him into it," Rocky remarked.
"Yes Rocky, I'll admit I was a little gun shy about asking girls out in high school but I'm older now and once I met Nikki and realized what an amazing woman she was I knew I just couldn't let her get away," Tommy replied.
"Well I couldn't be happier for you two having a new baby on the way," Kim told them.
"Kim, we're not having another baby, at least not until Ella is a little older," Jason said and he ducked as Kim threw a pillow from the couch at him.
"Any plans on the two of you moving back here to Angel Grove?" Tanya asked.
"Not likely since we just bought a house and I just got a new job at San Francisco State and Nikki already has a job there plus her entire family is there," Tommy answered.
"But we are going to make it a point to get back here whenever we can and we'd love to have you all come and visit us," Nikki told them.
"So bro, do you think you're up for the challenge?" Jason asked when all the men were alone in the living room and the women had gone to the kitchen.
"What challenge?" Tommy asked.
"I think he's referring to the wonderful challenge of being not only a husband but a father as well," Adam said.
"If you guys only knew the challenges I've already faced being married, I think I can handle just about anything," Tommy told them.
"Tommy, I don't want to be rude or anything but how much do you really know about her, I mean you haven't even known her that long," Zack said.
"Yeah, you're definitely under a love spell," Rocky joked.
"I know it might be hard to understand my falling in love and marrying a virtual stranger but I've never felt for any woman the way I do for Nikki but trust me, no spells involved here this is the real thing," Tommy told them.
"I just want to thank all of you for welcoming me here, I must admit I was nervous about meeting you," Nikki said as she sat around the kitchen table with the women.
"What on earth would you have to be nervous about?" Kimberly asked.
"Well I know you all formed this bond through your time as rangers and most of you have ended up married to each other so it's not easy being the outsider not to mention the fact that two of you are Tommy's ex-girlfriends," Nikki replied.
"The minute you married Tommy you became a part of our group," Tanya remarked.
"Yeah and you know our secret so your not an outsider," Aisha said.
"And all Kim and I have ever wanted is for Tommy to be happy and I don't think he could be any happier than he is with you," Kat told her.
"Your friends were so great," Nikki said the next morning as she and Tommy headed back home to San Francisco.
"They all really liked you a lot," Tommy replied.
"I just feel a little guilty though," Nikki told him.
"What do you have to feel guilty about?" Tommy asked.
"I know their secret about being rangers but I can't even share my secret with them," Nikki responded.
"Yeah but we're keeping your secret from them because it could put them in danger otherwise," Tommy reminded her.
"I know you're right but that doesn't make it any easier," Nikki told him.
"I'm really glad we made this trip and that my mother has decided to give you another chance and it was great seeing my friends again," Tommy replied.
"You really miss it here don't you?" Nikki asked.
"Yeah but I wouldn't trade my life with you in San Francisco for anything," he answered.