blackamber- WOOO! I updated!! and it's a long one too

Bryan- I thought you had midterms?

blackamber- I do, but I'm bored!

Bryan- Well, if you fail it's not my fault

blackamber- (beaming really happily for some reason) Of COURSE it is!

Amy- usual disclaimer

Brook- Also, any of you who may have watched Now and Then in their childhood, may recognize, or may not depending if you remember or not, a line tha is said between Amy and Brook.

Courtney- ENJOY!

"Hey Amy," Claire's voice came from behind her as she relaxed on one of lawn chairs in the Carters' backyard, watching Sadie work alone on her control.

"What?" was the apathetic reply.

"I have to run a few errands and Matt's out for the day, could you possibly watch Keith for me?" the older blond asked, smiling in a similar way as Norah did when she wanted something; the same smile that no-one, not even Amy, could say no to. "And you can always think of it as practice."

Amy sighed, pretending to watch Sadie and Anubis weave through the pylons she had Kaylie set up, since Norah wouldn't let her bend over for any reason. "Fine," she answered.

"Thanks!" Claire squealed, dumping her son into Amy's arms.

"Wha- now?" questioned Amy in slight shock.

"Well, yeah. If it weren't now I would wait for Matt to finish his clinical today," Claire answered.

Amy always found it easy to forget that both Matthew and Claire were doctors, she looked down at the small blond boy in her arms, "You are going to be one spoiled kid," she commented dryly.

"You got that right," Claire beamed waltzing towards her truck, "take good care of him."

Amy didn't feel the need to respond; she just stared at the baby in her arms. She couldn't deny how much the baby looked like her mother and privately prayed he'd turn out like his father; she would feel sorry for Matthew if he had to deal with two Claire's, even if one was smaller and a boy.

She ran a tender finger through his dirty blond tuft at the top of his head, earning a tiny giggle from the baby. She smiled down at him; her grey eyes locking with his green ones. He giggled again and reached a chubby hand up towards her. "Well, you certainly are an attention grabber," she teased with an easy smile.

Sadie looked up from her practice and over at her master. She smiled vigorously, "You're going to make a great mom."

Amy looked over at her, "You think so."

Sadie nodded, her black locks bouncing as she did so. "You're so patient and caring; you have so much to offer a kid. You taught me a lot."

"You're not a baby though," Amy remarked, "it's different."

"Well, that's what Tala's for, right?" joked Sadie, "to vent to and let loose all of your mood swings on."

"A flaw in your theory," said Amy with a roll of her eyes, "he's not here for me to let loose all of my mood swings on."

"Oh right," Sadie said, smiling like a chersire cat and fighting the urge to laugh slightly.

"Sadie," Amy's voice was deathly serious, "what do you know?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," lied Sadie, "nope not a thing." Her voice was shaky signaling that she was caught for something.

"What did you do?" demanded Amy, trying to keep her tone calm as to not startle Keith.

"I didn't do anything!" That was at least, she had only thought up the idea and suggested it to the others.

"Oh really?" inquired Amy, raising a brow.

Sadie knew the look and squirmed uncomfortably. Another reason why Amy would make a good mom, maybe not in her children's eyes, she had a look that kids squirm under; of course they only squirmed if they had done something or at least contributed to the doing of something.

"Sadie," this time, there was a warning tone in her voice.

"I merely made a suggestion, that's all," she admitted, "we didn't actually do anything."

"What suggestion did you make?"

"Ummm, I don't really remember, it was a while ago."

Amy wasn't convinced, and her look vocalized this.

"I suggested that we should Tala since it didn't look like you were going to."

"And did you?"

"No!"

Amy nodded, she could see that Sadie was at least telling the truth at that point. "Who did you make this suggestion to?"

"Courtney, Melissa, and Kaylie."

Amy cursed slightly, Mel always seemed to find ways to avoid her when Amy had questioning to do; it was as though she had an internal alarm system that told her that Amy wanted to talk to her about something none too pleasant. As for Courtney and Kaylie, well Courtney was immune to the look and could lie straight through her teeth without Amy being able to detect it and Kaylie also had ways of avoiding the truth. She didn't know how she did it, but it was almost like she could dodge the truth with something very close to the truth but not entirely it. It was confusing to think about it. Come to think of it, her entire team, as she had grown up with them, had discovered ways to hide when they were lying to her.

Guess it's something one learns when they're with a person for a while, she thought with a sigh, turning her attention back to Keith and saying, "You still have training to do, don't slack off now."

"But we've been at this for hours!" complained Sadie.

"And you have yet to perfect it," Amy's automatic response came, "remember what I said when I first took you on? 'I'm not going to go easy on you nor am I going to allow you to cut corners. You will work until you reach perfection, I will accept no-"

"You will accept no less from your apprentice. I know, I know," Sadie grumbled, retrieving her Anubis blade and getting ready to run the course again.

"Later I will teach you balance," stated Amy, beginning to bounce Keith on her lap.

"How?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Sadie struggled to stay atop the black gelding as he circled the arena. She was riding bareback while holding a pole with weights at either end across her chest. "What does this have to do with bey-shooting?" she demanded as she almost fell off again.

"It teaches balance," responded Amy from her seat in the arena.

Keith seemed to be enjoying Sadie's balancing act, for he laughed and clapped as she finally lost her balance and fell into the dirt.

Sadie let out a frustrated groan, getting back to her feet and panting.

Indy came to a stop beside Amy, his ears pricked forward; he seemed to be enjoying himself as well.

"I can't get it right!" howled Sadie, obviously upset. Amy hadn't made her do training like this for a long time and realized that she had forgotten most of what she was taught, in the physical department, once she actually began bey-shooting.

Amy seemed to notice this as well, hence why they were going back to the basics of control and now teaching her how to balance herself.

"You're focusing on too many things at once, making yourself all the more unstable. Get back on Indy," Amy ordered, nodding to Brook, who was helping her with this exercise.

Sadie groaned, but did what was asked. She rode him over to where Brook stood waiting with the pole.

"Sit deep into his back; bring your center of gravity lower, closer to the ground," instructed Amy as soon as Sadie was settled with the pole across her chest again. "The taller you are the higher your center of gravity and the easier it is to push you over. Lower your center of gravity, and you become firmer, more stable."

Sadie followed Amy's orders, trying to lower her center of gravity. It wasn't as easy as it had sounded, and she didn't feel the least bit more stable.

"Separate your hands more," came another order, "your arms should not be able to touch your chest, they should be out by your shoulders."

Readjusting her arm placement was even harder for Sadie, mostly because the pole was heavy.

"You'll get used to the weight in time," said Amy, noticing her struggle.

"In time?" Sadie echoed, that meant that she would be doing this more often. She groaned again.

"If you can circle the arena three times without swaying beyond the natural movement we'll call it quits for today; if not, we'll keep going until you can."

Sadie gulped, but she was determined to end this torture as early as possible.

Brook led Indy forward into a walking gait, then left Sadie to do the rest on her own. That meant, if for whatever reason, Indy's pace quickened, Sadie would have to adjust accordingly. Sometimes, Brook wondered if this was really for training or if Amy just had fun making Sadie do stuff like this.

Claire waited in the arrivals portion of the Toronto Air Port. She wasn't surprised when Kaylie and Melissa had come to her the day before, asking if she could pick a certain someone up if he were to arrive sometime in the near future, she had over heard the girl's plan of reuniting their stubborn friend and her boyfriend. She surprised, however, when Tala had called her cell asking if she knew any numbers for a taxi off the top of her head.

Apparently, before he left, he leafed through Amy's phone book and thought she would be the safest person to call. He had a feeling that Brook, Courtney and the Carters may not be able to keep to themselves that he was coming, especially Norah, and he really didn't want to talk to Melissa or Kaylie again.

So now, here she was on her 'errand' waiting for the soon-to-be father; the thought still made her grin like a maniac. (A/N: not that she isn't one) She'd have to remember to welcome her new 'brother' appropriately. Like all the members of the Carters' house- Silver Fang, former intern, or family alike- she viewed them all as her family. Claire, was obviously the eldest sister, followed by Amy and Brook, and then, personality wise, Kaylie –even though she was the youngest of the Silver Fang team- then Courtney, Melissa, Emma, and finally, her little Keith. Derek and Norah were of course the parent figures of this family.

Heck, Claire saw them more as her family than her real parents, but then again, her parents were all the way over in Australia and she had come to Canada for PHD and decided to stay. Getting adopted into the Carters ever growing family of misfits through her internship. She and Matthew were supposed to move back to Australia after her internship was complete- him wanting to see the outback and she thinking she wanted to go home. In the end, however, she didn't want to leave. She had a new life here; she had found the perfect home away from home.

Hmmm, I guess that means I'll have to also see Kai as my brother as well, she considered, though technically she should already be seeing him as a brother. Watch out Kai, I may make you the uncle of my kid too. She giggled at the thought.

An announcement blared out the arrival of the flight from Russia, and she rose from her seat, heading to the luggage retrieval area. Tala had told her that he was bringing Nicol and she knew all to well how much Nicol hated flying. Knowing it would take a while for the passengers to disembark, she had decided that if the luggage came out first- which rarely happened- she would retrieve the husky who was no doubt in panic mode by now.

Sure enough, Tala and- much to her surprise- Kai arrived before the first piece of luggage entered the circuit.

"So, how was the flight?" she asked, good naturedly, wondering what possessed the boy to bring Kai here when it was obvious he was going to flip. He should have waited at least until after the kid was born.

Tala shrugged, "Decent."

Claire could detect a hint of worry in his character and smiled, Don't worry, you'll get to see her soon enough, though I'm not too sure how she'll react.

"Where's my sister?" Kai demanded, suspiciously.

"She doesn't know you're here. The master minds behind this plan didn't think about telling her," Claire explained, quickly jumping to retrieve the Air Port designated travel cages. As soon as she opened the door, Nicol bounded out, clearly happy to be free. "I wouldn't be surprised if she killed them when we get back."

"She's doing okay?"

Claire looked at Tala and smile; she knew exactly what he meant. "Uh-huh, both Derek and Matt have checked her out and say that everything's normal. No difficulties so far, although, depending on the day and what state she wakes up in she has been cursing a lot."

Kai was evidently confused by Claire's answer. "Did something happen? And who's Matt?"

"Nothing you should worry about," stated Claire with a wink, "and Matt's my husband."

"Oh yeah, Amy mentioned you had a kid," Tala commented, trying to keep Kai from figuring out too much and asking too many questions.

"Yup, my little Keith," the proud mother beamed, "Amy's watching him right now, I'm hoping that having the presence of a three month old will be enough to prevent her from exploding."

"Will she be that mad?" asked Tala, suddenly wondering if he should have come.

"Not at you guys, no," Claire assured, "but for a certain four others I can't be so sure."

Tala's brow furrowed in confusion, "Melissa and Kaylie were the only ones who talked to me though…"

"Ah, but Sadie and Courtney were also behind it. She won't let them off scot free."

"This is because I suggested that they call Tala isn't it!?" Sadie cried as she picked herself up off the ground for the umpteenth time.

"Maybe," said Amy, examining her nails as Keith laughed once more at Sadie's unfortunate fate.

"You're so cruel," Sadie continued, mounting Indy again, she knew if she refused to do anymore she'd get an earful… and possibly worse- once could never tell with pregnant women.

"Suck it up," Amy growled as Brook brought Indy once more to a walk.

"Aren't you being a little harsh?" Brook asked, taking Keith from Amy.

"Oh, this is nothing compared to what I used to have her do in Russia. She's just gotten lazy. And besides, we are enjoying ourselves," she said, motioning to Keith, "aren't we Keith?"

As though agreeing, the baby let out a squeal of joy.

"See?"

Brook smiled and shook her head, watching as Sadie managed to complete one and half circuits. When she focuses, she does fine, she thought, it's when she gets close to completing the task that she gets excited and loses that focus; that is when she face plants and has to do it all over again. Maybe this does have some benefit.

If Sadie could learn to stay focused on what she was doing, instead of letting excitement and other emotions rule shooting style, then she could, without a doubt, challenge Amy and put up, at the very least, a decent fight. Perhaps, that's what Amy really wanted; not for Sadie to learn balance, but to learn self control and focus.

Brook sighed, and as she often had done in the past, she wondered why it was her who had been the team captain, and not Amy. Amy was certainly qualified for it, maybe even more so than Brook was, but she had refused to step up to the plate and insisted that Brook was better suited for it.

Maybe, it's because of everything that happened back then. She was still fighting to free herself from those places and she felt she couldn't help her team succeed, when she couldn't even help herself.

It's a good assumption, Brook, Madeen voice purred in Brook's mind. (A/N: it appears Hien is not the only one who invades people's minds…)

Brook smiled and refocused on what was happening around her in time to hear Sadie give a triumphant 'Ha!' and 'there!' as she finished her third circuit around the arena.

Amy smiled, rising to her feet, "I am impressed." In her mind, Amy was more than pleased with her apprentice; she knew that if Sadie had just focused she could do the task set before her. "Well done."

Sadie beamed and let the weighted pole slip to the ground, as to not spook the horse that she was riding. She knew how vulnerable she was atop a some-hundred-of-pounds animal, whose weight was mostly muscle, and that she had nothing to really cling on to should he take off. She swung her leg over Indy's back, dismounting and giving him a praising pat.

"This means I'm done for today, right?"

Amy nodded, as she heard the sound of Claire's truck pulling up the drive. "It appears my role of babysitter is done as well."

As Sadie skipped into the house via the back door, Amy led Indy back into the barn; taking Keith from Brook and letting her groom him and get him settled in his stall. Had she done any of that manual labor, Norah would see to it that she never enters the barn again until her kid's born.

"You know is this kid doesn't come soon, I am going to reach in and yank it out myself," she growled in a serious tone as her stomach was assaulted by said kid.

"Well, that will be pretty," Brook laughed, "but I think you should leave the delivery of the kid to the professionals, a.k.a. Derek or Claire's husband."

"Fine, I'll get one of them to do it."

Brook laughed harder at this, "Good luck with convincing them that it's what's best."

Amy sighed, following Brook back outside of the barn and towards the house. That's when it happened; the familiar barking and seeing the familiar blue eyes of her beloved husky who was racing like a mad animal towards her. "Nicol!" Amy shrieked happily as the dog jumped up and down around her, "easy boy."

She didn't even stop to question how he got there, but she was happy to see him. Forgetting Norah's rule about bending over, handing Brook Keith, she hugged her husky tightly, ruffling his ears and planting a kiss on the top of his furry boy. "Oh, my Nicol," she cooed, tears, that she knew were caused by the mood swings, began to pool around her eyes.

"Amy…"

Amy's eyes widened, That voice!

She looked up, her grey eyes widening as they locked with the sapphire blue ones of Tala. The tears that had only pooled at the sight of Nicol, were now freely flowing as she stared at him. And she smiled somewhat awkwardly as he rushed towards her.

"Tala," she breathed as he embraced her, tightly yet also carefully.

He began to kiss her as though he thought he'd never see her again, kissing her lips, forehead, cheeks and neck; she didn't protest even kissed back if he lingered on her lips long enough for her to.

Oh how he missed her, the feel of her body, her scent; everything. And judging from the way she was acting, there was no doubt that she had missed him just as much.

He stopped his greeting short, remembering something. He took a step back and took her in, bump and all. He grinned widely, "So it's true."

She smiled and nodded, stroking the bump as though to confirm it without words.

Tala placed his hand over top of hers, looking at her with such devotion that she thought she'd burst. Carefully, she slid her hand out from under his, letting his hand rest alone on her stomach. She watched has his brows creased, staring at his hand, and then his eyes widened as the baby kicked. He looked at her almost in alarm.

"Th-that was…" he sputtered.

She nodded, "Your kid has been doing that a lot lately." There was a teasing annoyance in her voice.

"My kid…" he echoed, looking back at his hand that was still resting on her stomach. "Amy… you should know that…"

"So, this was where you were," she heard Kai's voice and stiffened, she noticed Tala do like-wise. "What are you two-" he paused, getting a good look at her.

Amy smiled sheepishly, flushing a deep color and moving her arms in front of the swell as though it would hide it from her brother.

Kai clenched his fist, staring at the two. "TALA!"

blackamber- Uh-oh... don't you just LOVE cliffies

Tala- I hate you

blackamber- NOOOOOOOOO!! T T (world shatters) My favorite character... hates me...

Amy- He didn't mean it... it's just you do this a lot...

Kai- Please tell me I get to kill him

blackamber/Amy- NO!

Kai- WHY ARE YOU TAKING HER SIDE!? (points to blackamber)

Melissa- 'Cause she's an angry pregnant woman who needs Tala to be alive so that she and him can have more nights of love mak-

WHAM!

Melissa- (runs to blackamber) WAHHHH!! AMY HIT ME AGAIN!!

Bryan- Seeing as I'm the only sane one right now, R&R

blackamber- WE'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THIS!! YOU CANNOT DO BOTH!!

Amy- (rolls eyes) Fine, R&R