The Best-Laid Plans – Chapter 7

Author's Notes – Refer to Chapter 1 for all the thank yous. I've really appreciated everyone that has read this so far. Here's another chapter for you. Reviews are always appreciated.

Disclaimer – Refer to Chapter 1

They stepped through the gate to a bleak world barren of vegetation. The first thing Missy noticed was how cold it was, and she gasped and started shivering. Everett turned to her and said, "What is it, Missy? What's wrong?"

Her teeth chattering, Melissa replied, "I'm cold, Ev. It's okay."

He nodded and anchored his arm tightly around her waist as they went to meet their friends. Mac walked up to them with a relieved smile on his face. "Sir, Melissa, glad you made it." He motioned to the man and woman with him. "I've had James and Peterson doing a head count. With the two of you, we have sixty-two here. And I sent Baker, Carter, Reynolds, and Harper on recon that way." He pointed to a small ridge to the north. "I didn't like the way that sky was looking and thought finding shelter would be most important since it looks like a storm is coming."

Everett clapped him on the back. "Excellent work, Lieutenant." He gazed at the people who had gathered around them. "What do we have in the way of supplies?"

"Well, we did pretty well. We have food for a couple of days, blankets, and some medical supplies. We will need to find water."

Pointing to Melissa, Everett said, "Can we break one of those blankets out for Missy?"

A voice came from behind them. It was Linda Wilson who said, "I can do you one better, Colonel." She put a thick military jacket over Missy's shoulders.

Melissa put on the jacket gratefully and turned to her friend. "What's this, Linda?"

"Lieutenant McDonald and I found a box of these in the supply room on the ship. There were ten of them."

"Oh, I can't take…"

Linda gave her an admonishing look. "Oh yes, you can. Let me continue. We gave eight of them to the injured and the people with the thinnest clothing. And then everyone voted—decided that the other two should go to the pregnant mamas. Don't fight me on this, Melissa. You have never asked for anything for yourself. I remember the first time I saw you in the Mess. Of course, I knew who you were—the Colonel's fiancée and one of the scientists. I was astonished to see you taking Mess duty. You had a warm smile for everyone, and you didn't consider any duty beneath you." She motioned to the others around her who were all nodding. "We want to do this for you and for your children."

Swiping at the tears that had come down her cheek, Missy smiled and said, "You've made me cry, Linda. Thank you."

"Yes, thank you," said Everett. "What are we doing about the injured? I hate that we don't have TJ with us."

Lieutenant James spoke up. "You've got me and Schulz, Sir. TJ's been giving us medic training, and we'll be able to deliver the babies too." She motioned to Melissa.

"Wonderful. So, about the injured?"

"Yes. Riley and Colson have the most serious injuries—both have head wounds. I've got them wrapped up in blankets. TJ had stitched them up before she was shot. Colson's stitching is fine, but Riley's has come open again. I've got him applying pressure to it."

"Good." He and Missy walked over to the two soldiers who smiled in greeting. "Hey, Sergeant, Lieutenant, how are you feeling?"

Riley replied, "I'll be all right, Sir."

"Me too," said Colson. She gazed at Melissa. "How are you feeling, Melissa?"

"I'm okay, Marla," said Missy. She glanced at the spark of lightning that flashed across the sky. "We really need to find shelter, Everett."

Ev said, "Yes, we do. Let's hope the recon team gets back soon." The group huddled together to protect themselves from the cold and the wind.

About fifteen minutes later, Everett heard a voice from a nearby ridge. He turned and saw that it was Sergeant Harper who yelled, "Colonel! We found a system of small caves just over that ridge about five clicks from here. It should be enough to shelter everyone if we break into smaller groups."

Just then, two large cracks of thunder were heard by the group as lightning flashed nearby. When one of the bolts of lightning struck the ground not far from the group, everyone jumped. Realizing they needed to move, Ev replied to Harper, "That's good enough!" He helped Melissa up and then saw the stargate begin to spin. "Guys, guys, back up."

Everyone stood up and backed away from the gate. Moments later, it kawooshed and Varro, Koz, and four other Lucian Alliance soldiers came through. As the gate shut down behind them, they walked down the ramp, and Varro headed straight for Young. "Dannic took control. These men were loyal to me."

Ev shook his head disgustedly. "Had your own little coup on the ship, did you?" He motioned to the barren landscape around them. "Not quite the idyllic paradise you painted, is it? I'm not interested in your problems. I need to get my wife and my people to safety." He turned his back on the Alliance man and yelled out, "All right, people, listen up! We're gonna move out!" He pointed to the ridge. "Go to where Sergeant Harper and Sergeant Reynolds are. Most important, stay together! Let's go!"

The injured were helped to their feet, and the group started to move in the direction of the ridge. Another lightning bolt sizzled down from the sky and hit the ground as Ev and Missy moved to follow them. Varro called to him again. "Colonel!"

"I've nothing else to say to you."

Missy looked at him, shocked. "Everett."

Her husband gave her a reproving look. "No, Missy. I worry about you and our babies first now, and our crew—not them."

Varro angrily interrupted, "We're here because I stood up for you! He would have killed you all!"

Everett gave him a challenging stare for a long moment and then offered Missy his arm—the two of them moving off to follow their group. They walked steadily up the hill until they reached where Harper and Reynolds were. Harper, who had been pointing people in the direction of the caves, addressed him. "Sir, they look pretty secure, and there's a water source about half a click away. We can send people to check it out once the storm is over."

"Good job, Sergeant," said Ev. He turned to Mac who had been walking with them. "Can you guys make sure people are sorted out once we get there? I want to make sure Missy gets up this next hill okay."

"Sure," said Mac. He pointed to the Lucian Alliance men. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Oh, I think we will, considering I will wring their necks if they try anything." He motioned to where Riley and Colson were walking just ahead of them. "Make sure they have someone to help them if they need it."

"Understood, Sir."

The others moved ahead of them, and Melissa and Everett continued to walk towards the caves with the Lucian Alliance soldiers behind them. As they walked, Missy pointed to the landscape in the distance. "I bet this is pretty when it's springtime."

Ev looked at where she was pointing. "Right now, I'm wondering if this planet even has a spring." He noticed her stop and clutch her abdomen like she was in pain. "Are you okay, Missy?"

Melissa waited until her breathing evened out and then replied to his question. "Braxton-Hicks again. I just want to sit. Are we almost there?"

"Yes, just a little bit more." He anchored his arm tightly around her waist, and they started slowly walking up the final hill.

Half-way up, Missy felt a gush of fluid come from her and a sharp stabbing pain in her abdomen. "Everett, my water just broke. I think I'm in labor."

Her husband turned to her and saw the look of abject terror on her face as she collapsed in his arms. "Oh God, no!"

He gazed up the hill and was about to call someone to help him when he heard a voice behind him. It was Varro who said, "Would you like some help, Colonel?"

After waiting for a long moment, Ev was about to respond when Missy said, "No more posturing, Ev. You can't carry me by yourself."

Everett clenched his teeth, but then, realizing that she was right, said to Varro, "Yes, please."

The other man nodded and motioned to two of his men who came around Melissa. They and Ev picked her up and began walking up the hill quickly with Ev saying, "Make a hole. Missy's in labor. Make a hole."

A few moments later, they reached the top and walked up to where Mac, Harper, Reynolds, and Baker were sorting out where people were going to take shelter. Mac looked at them in astonishment and asked, "What's wrong, Sir?"

"Missy's water broke. I think she's in labor. Where can we put her?"

Mac hastily directed them to the cave where Linda Wilson had gone. The older woman took one look at them and motioned to the back of the cave. She pulled a blanket out of the bag she had been carrying and placed it on the ground. The guys placed Missy on it, and Linda bent down beside her. "What happened, Melissa?"

Melissa gasped out, "My water broke, Linda. I'm in labor."

Taking a good look at her, Linda nodded. 'Yes, you are." She turned to Everett. "She's probably been in labor for the last day. The babies have already dropped. You need to go get Vanessa and Jessie. Now!"

"What!" exclaimed Everett? "Aww, crap!" He ran out of the cave, and they could hear him yelling, "James! Schulz! Front and center now!"

The three of them ran back in the cave and stared at Missy for a long moment. She went through another contraction and then gazed up at them. Through gritted teeth, she said, "These babies are gonna come whether you do anything or not. I would much prefer you DO SOMETHING!"

That broke the group out of their reverie and James started giving directions. "Schulz, go get the medical bag." The other woman ran out of the cave. Then James looked back at Melissa. "You need to strip from your waist down."

"Yeah, I figured that." Missy started to tug at her pants and noticed that Varro and his men were still in the cave. She looked over at her husband. "Everett."

Ev saw where her gaze had gone and nodded. Walking up to Varro, he said, "I really appreciate your help. I'm gonna take you to Lieutenant McDonald, and he'll sort out a cave for you and your men."

Varro said, "That's fine, Colonel." He glanced at Missy. "Good luck, Dr. Young."

"Thank you," said Missy.

The Lucian Alliance men left with Everett, and Missy finished getting ready for the labor and birth. When her husband returned, she told him, motioning to Vanessa, "Lieutenant James just finished examining me. She said things look really good."

Everett's eyes lit up. "Great!" He saw her go through another contraction. "I'm guessing though that we don't have any pain meds."

"No, Sir," said Vanessa. "We do have a way to cut the cords though, and we have disinfectant. And Linda here went by your quarters and picked up the outfits Dr. Park made. And…" She motioned to the blankets. "We have blankets to wrap them up in. There's one other thing." She pointed to where Melissa was sitting up and using her hands to prop herself up. "It would be useful if she had something to push against when it was time without her having to support herself."

Tenderly smiling at his wife, Ev replied, "I was planning to get in behind her. Will that work?"

"That will be perfect, Sir," said Jessie who was pulling things out of the medical bag.

"Okay." He turned to Melissa. "Baby, let me make sure Mac and his crew have things in hand and then I will be back for the duration."

Missy nodded as she said, in a breathless voice, "That's fine, but you'd better hurry."

"All right." He hurried outside and found Mac with Lieutenant Peterson. "Hi Mac. I just wanted to let you know you're in charge while I'm with Missy. Make sure you keep checking in with the different groups and especially with Riley and Colson. If there's any change, let me know, and I'll send Schulz to help you."

"You got it, Sir," said Mac. He motioned to the rain that had just started. "We should be able to send teams out when the storm is over."

"Sounds good."

"Listen, Sir. You tell Melissa we're with her. I was just thinking. There's no one else from our core group here. We don't even know what happened to them." A sad expression came over his face. "You know TJ and I got together, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"When Riley and Harper told me she'd been shot, I felt like I'd been sucker punched. I tried to get Varro to let me see her after they took you away from where we were, but he said no—said she was in surgery. From how he was acting, I thought he was more interested in having her for himself."

Everett put his hand on Mac's shoulder in support. "I know it's very small consolation, but at least he's here and not on the ship."

At that moment, they heard a scream and a voice. "Everett Young, you best get your ass back in here! Now!"

Her husband chuckled and said good-bye to Mac. Hurrying back into the cave, he went to where Melissa was. "Sorry about that, baby. Are you doing okay?" He sat down behind her and cradled her in his arms.

Missy wearily leaned against him. "Yeah, I'm okay. It just hurts. I'm trying to push two bowling balls out. Aaargh." She panted through another contraction.

Gently touching her swollen belly, Ev said, "All right guys. I know you want to come out, but can you please try and make it as easy for Mama as you can?"

After he said that, both of them felt their minds being touched and then found themselves in their empathic link. Melissa gazed at her husband and asked, "What in the world?"

Another voice came from behind them. "You asked for help, and we were given permission to give it to you."

They turned around and saw a boy and a girl who appeared to be about six or seven years old. They both had brown hair, brown eyes, and wore identical impish grins. Missy's eyes widened, and she nudged Ev. "Everett, that's our son and daughter."

The girl spoke up. "That's right, Mama. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Because of that, we were given permission to help Daddy remember."

"Remember what?" asked Ev with a curious look on his face.

Reaching out his hand, the boy touched Ev's hand and said, "This….."

Everett's mind spun back to a memory from his earliest years. He had just walked in from school and was trying to see who was home. He heard a low moan and voices from a back bedroom. Going to the door where he heard the sounds, he put his hand on the doorknob hearing his mother's voice say, "Katherine, you almost have it."

When he opened the door, he saw a woman lying on the bed, and he stared at the scene in fascination. The woman moaned again. "But it hurts, Bethany."

One of the men in the room spoke up. "I've got it," and began briskly rubbing her hips.

"Oh, that feels better. Thank you, Charles. I want to push again."

The other woman, whose name was Bethany, said, "Go ahead, Katherine. I can see the head."

Katherine pushed one more time, and Everett saw a baby come out into his mother's hands and start to cry. Bethany lifted the baby up to show the new mother. "Katherine, you have a little girl." She cleaned her up and handed her to Katherine.

At that moment, the other man noticed that Ev had come into the room and asked, "Everett, what are you doing here?"

Thinking he was going to get in trouble, the little boy started to stammer out an answer, but then his mother smiled and told his father, "Thomas, don't scare the poor boy. It's all right." She looked at her son. "Everett, these are our friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen, and Mrs. Allen just had a baby. Would you like to see?"

"Sure," said Everett. He walked over to the bed and stood next to Katherine. She folded back the blanket, and he could see the baby open her eyes. Noticing that they were big and blue, he said, "Wow! She's beautiful!"

Katherine smiled. "I'm glad you think so, Everett. Would you like to hold her?"

He eagerly nodded, and his mother helped him sit on the bed and support the baby's head after her mother handed her to him. She yawned and grabbed his finger leading him to say, "She likes me. What are you going to name her?"

"We're going to name her Melissa."

Everett then came out of the memory and back into the link. He stared at his wife with a look of utter joy on his face. "I saw you when you were first born. Wow!"

The boy said, "That's right. Do you know what to do for Mama now?"

"I do. Thank you."

"Yes, thank you," said Missy. "Will we see you soon?"

"Oh yes," said the girl. "You are very close, Mama. And everything will be okay. There might be some time when you think it won't be, but it will. We love you, Mama. We love you, Daddy."

After saying the same thing back to the children and seeing them disappear, their minds returned to where Missy was laboring in the cave. The pain of another contraction washed over her, and she leaned forward trying to ease it and gasping for breath. When she leaned back, she felt Ev's hands on her hip bones massaging them. He whispered in her ear, "How's that baby?"

The relief Melissa felt was palpable. "That wonderful, sweetheart. Thank you." She gazed at Vanessa and Jessie. "How's everything looking?"

Vanessa replied, with a warm smile, "Looking good. Let me know when you want to push, and I'll check and see where the first head is. It looks like you won't have any problems delivering them."

"Good." She panted through another contraction and continued to have them over the next few hours with Everett doing what he could to ease her pain. At one point, she started feeling the urge to push and told them, "I'm ready to push."

Nodding, the lieutenant looked between her legs and put her hand where she thought the head would be. "Melissa, I can feel the first head. Start pushing."

The other woman started pushing with her husband and friends all encouraging her. It didn't seem to take any time at all before the first of Missy's children entered the world. When the baby's cries were heard, a general round of applause was started with the people in the cave crowding as close as they could so they could see. Vanessa handed the baby to Jessie so she could clean her off. Once she had done that, she held the baby up so the new parents could see. "Melissa, Sir, here's your daughter. She's beautiful."

Everett reached out and caressed his daughter's face noticing the tuft of brown hair and the big brown eyes. "She is beautiful." He hugged his wife from behind. "You did so good, honey."

"Thank you," said Missy. Another contraction wracked her body. "Aaargh! Her brother wants to come out!"

Hastily looking back between Missy's legs, Vanessa told her, "I see his head, Melissa. One more good push should do it."

Melissa nodded and pushed as hard as she could. "Aaargh!" The cries of another baby were heard in the cave. Vanessa handed him to Jessie so she could clean him up while she finished doing what she needed to do for Melissa. Once she was done with that, Linda, who had been holding the little girl, and Jessie handed the babies to their parents to hold. Linda said, "Have you two settled on names yet?"

The new father, who had been staring down at his daughter in wonderment, looked back up and smiled softly at his wife. "I think, for this one, we had decided on Katherine Tamara; Katie for short." He gazed at Missy. "Isn't that right, baby?"

"Yes, it is," replied Melissa.

"Oh that's pretty," said Vanessa.

Jessie spoke up. "I like it too."

Linda glanced at Missy who was holding her son. "What about that one, Melissa?"

"Well," said Missy, looking at her husband hesitantly.

Ev leaned forward and kissed his wife's forehead. "Whatever you want, honey."

"Okay." She addressed the group. "I thought, in memory of the two men who saved our lives, I would name him Matthew Ronald Young." Melissa looked at Everett. "Is that okay with you, sweetheart?"

The group started clapping in approval as a few tears fell down Everett's face. "Yes, that is very much okay with me, Missy. I love you."

"I love you too."