Month 8

"Showers of joy…come girl or boy."

Natara and Mal sat on the gorgeous table outside as people mingled and socialized, laughing breezily. Every five seconds, someone would come up to the couple and congratulate them about their bundle of joy that had yet to come. And then they would all hug and share news and then the next couple would come up. That's just how baby showers worked.

Except this baby shower was extra special to the Fallons. Not only was it their baby shower, it was also May 12. And that meant that Natara's due date was in exactly one month. There were tons of preparations to do, of course. Mal and Natara had already painted the baby's room yellow, because yellow was a neutral color for a girl or boy. They wanted it to be a surprise, so the birth date would be more exciting.

"Mal!" Ken walked up to the couple and sighed. "I've been trying to find you everywhere, buddy!" He then looked at Natara and grinned. "Hey there, beautiful. How are you feeling?"

Natara returned a warm smile. "Fine, thanks, Ken."

Mal stood up and gave Ken a quick man-hug. "Hey, man. Glad you could make it."

Ken nodded. "This is really nice, you guys. Oh, Natara, I left your gift on the gift table. It's from all of us at the SFPD. Nothing on your registry was left to buy, so we just went out and picked a little surprise up. Hope you don't mind."

Natara could only smile. "Thanks, Ken. It means a lot. Enjoy yourself right now, though…there's lunch over there…" she pointed to a small clearing where Kai and Amy had volunteered to barbecue a meal and serve it. They seemed to be getting along quite fine, until Natara noticed Amy smack a hot dog on Kai's face. She sighed. "…and the dessert should be out in a few minutes."

Ken gave the couple a thumbs-up sign and walked off, calling: "Thanks…see ya later!"

Mal took Natara's hand as soon as Ken was out of sight. "I'm still in shock that your dad bought every item for you that was on the registry."

"I know," Natara nodded and sighed. "I really feel bad for arguing with him so much before…I want to get in touch with him, but I just don't know what to say. I even have his number in my phone stored on the SIM card, but I haven't dialed it in years. It's just so…I'm just an awful daughter."

Mal shook his head wildly and wrapped his arm around Nat. "No, you're not. You just need to call him, that's all." He kissed her cheek.

Natara opened her mouth to say something, but gasped when she saw Captain Yeong walking up to them. "Mal. Look who's coming." She whispered under her breath.

Captain looked the same, except both Natara and Mal could tell her hair had gotten grayer and she appeared pretty worn out as well. However, she stepped up to the couple and smiled. "Natara. Mal. Congratulations, you two." She shook Mal's hand and gave Natara a quick hug.

"Th-thank you, Captain." Mal's voice cracked. It was kind of embarrassing to him for a minute, but the awkwardness passed when Natara stood up. It was kind of hard to do, though, her stomach was larger than ever.

"Good to see you here, Captain. Really, it is." She didn't know what else to say.

Captain only nodded. "Thank you, Natara. I'll be back at work tomorrow, Mal, so you don't have to be Captain anymore…though, I'm sure, you did a fantastic job. I didn't have any complaints from anybody about your work, except for one from Mayor Holland. Something about a cat in his yard…?"

Mal opened his mouth to argue.

Captain cut him off. "…I don't want to know, Mal. Good job, though. I definitely would consider making you Captain if I ever step down." She then gave the couple a small wave with her hand. "Anyway, I have to go take Annie to cheerleading. It was nice seeing you two."

Natara swallowed hard. "All right, Captain. Bye!" She smiled in a friendly way.

Mal waved. "See you later."

Captain nodded and walked away. The couple could tell she had lost quite a bit of weight from the two months they hadn't seen her, but she seemed the same on the inside. Captain was tough…she'd pull through.

Mal broke the long silence between him and Natara. "You know, Nat…Captain Yeong coped with Jennifer's death well. But, I'd never be able to cope if I lost you."

Natara only smiled. "Mal, you'd cope."

"No I wouldn't."

"Yes, you would."

"No."

Natara smacked Mal's arm.

"Ow!" he gritted his teeth and frowned.

"Did you recover from that?" Natara pointed to his red arm.

Mal nodded, still furrowing his brow.

"Good. Then you'll be able to recover if I died. You're a tough guy." Nat giggled.

Mal ignored her and pulled her in for a long kiss.