Author's Note: It seems that Jimmy and Cindy actually being fairly agreeable threw some people for a loop last chapter. This is supposed to take place after the end of the series, so the pair are a couple. That being said, they will still fight, including in this story. Maybe a bit more than is healthy – but I do think that once they were able to admit how they felt, they could be a bit more friendly (League of Villains, Stranded, Lady Sings the Blues). League of Villains and Lady Sings the Blues probably as the best examples as they don't seem to mind as much that other people are seeing them being affectionate, provided no one makes fun of them for it.

Cindy looked dejected as she entered the bus, trailing more slowly behind Libby than she normally would have. She sighed before taking her seat. "Great, all that hard work and now your boyfriend's going to completely tank my grade point average."

Libby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Ok, first off, girl you know that you could get a C or lower and you will still have at least a B plus, but more likely an A minus average, given all those extra credit reports, and-"

"But it won't be good enough! I need A pluses or I might have to go to a," Cindy shuddered, "state college!"

Libby ignored the interruption. "And second, Sheen's really not so bad if you give him the chance. He's a sweet guy, really." The bus pulled up to the curb and both girls got off. "Jimmy give the guys a ride home?"

Cindy nodded. "I think they're commiserating as well, and Neutron took his hover craft this morning. Looks like they're running late, but I have to go over to Sheen's house in ten minutes." Libby raised an eyebrow. "What? He wasn't willing to go to my house. And someone told me I don't compromise well."

"Or learn not to take everything as a challenge," Libby smirked. "Was Jimmy the one who told you that?"

"No, you did. Several times. You meeting up with Jimmy or is he coming to you?"

"Coming to me. I am not chancing that his laboratory is going to interfere with how this baby doll works." Libby examined the doll closely. "Where's yours at?"

Cindy grimaced. "Sheen said he wanted first watch. It's only ten minutes, but I can feel my future getting dimmer by the second."

"You're exaggerating. I'm telling you, this is going to be fine."

"Sure is is." Cindy's voice dripped with sarcasm. "I'll text you every time I think about strangling him."

Libby checked her cell phone and deleted a few messages to make space in the inbox. "I am really glad I have unlimited messaging, then."

Cindy was right that the boys were also complaining. "But I'm not cool enough to pair with Nick! Our kid will be a social outcast because he'll be confused about his identity!" Carl panicked. "Is coolness a dominant trait?"

Jimmy considered it. "I don't know. It's probably recessive, though."

"At least you got someone cool," Sheen cut in. "Cindy would be my absolutely last choice as a wife. And that includes Carl in a wig!"

Jimmy ignored the insult at his girlfriend's expense. Not that long ago he would have been making the same sort of complaint, anyway (well, maybe sans Carl in a wig). "This week is going to tank," Sheen crossed his arms and sunk into his seat.

Jimmy landed the hover craft in his back yard and hopped out. "Look, guys, I promise this isn't going to be as bad as you think it is. Text me and tell me how it's going. And I can look over you guys' papers before you turn them in. ...Uh, Sheen, didn't you tell Cindy you were taking the first turn with the baby?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because it's not there," Carl pointed out. "You've been cuddling one of your Ultra Lord figures the whole ride back."

"Dang it!" Sheen seemed to consider something for a moment. "Well, the week will probably go a lot faster if Cindy kills me before the project even starts."

Jimmy sighed. "Get back in the hover car, Sheen. We'll go get the doll back."

"It's not a doll, it's an action figure!"

"Sheen, I mean the doll for the assignment."

"Sorry. Habit."

"Ok, so we need to-" Libby increased her volume. She couldn't hear Jimmy over the loud wail the baby doll was emitting and she was certain he couldn't hear her either. "figure out why it's crying!"

"What?"

"WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHY IT'S CRYING!"

"NO, I DOUBT IT'S DYING, IT JUST PROBABLY NEEDS TO BE COMFORTED!"

Libby let out a long breathe before picking the doll up and rocking it. It didn't quiet. She put the key in the mouth that was supposed to signify feeding, but that didn't work either. "She must need to be changed!" This she could tell Jimmy heard, as he suddenly made a face.

"I don't know how to do that."

Libby put a hand on her hip. "Well, you're about to learn, cause I am not doing it every time." Thankfully the doll did not have a function that allowed it to mimic actual waste, so all that had to be done was to remove the diaper and put it back on. She pulled the diaper off, shook it around a few times and then expertly replaced it. "I used to help change my brother," she explained as the baby started to quiet. "All right, I guess we can start the questionnaire now: First...what is your baby's name?"

"Hmm...Albert, Thomas, Neil, Alan or Carl?"

"You want to name it after your best friend? That's kind of nice."

"What? No! After Carl Saigan."

"Ok, all of those are out. Who says this is a boy, anyway? We could go with a girl's name. Like Desiree or Christina or-"

"And why does it have to be a girl?"

"Ok, I thought we were all over the cooties stage. How about this? It's a girl, but you can name her."

"Hedy."

"Gesundheit."

"Ha ha," It was Jimmy's turn to roll his eyes. "Hedy Lamarr was an actress who was also an inventor," he pulled out his cell phone and did a quick internet search. "See?"

"She was pretty. All right, Hedy it is." Libby penciled in her answer for the first question. "Ok, next question- who is the primary care giver?"

"Gas planets, this is boring. Aren't there any more important questions on there? Like, calculating IQ or we could figure out which of our features she'd most likely have. I think I have a few punnet square maps around here somewhere..."

"Or we could focus on the actual questions?"

"Oh! Maybe I could build something that anticipates the child's needs so we don't have to waste time looking for the source. Perhaps if I modified my Neutron Encepholo-synthesizer..."

Libby was starting to think that maybe Jimmy wouldn't be the best partner for this. And her phone was violently vibrating in a way that could only say Cindy had already thought of multiple complaints from her time with Sheen.

Sheen had recovered the doll with no problems, but he wasn't about to tell Cindy that he'd lost the baby for any point of time. She'd practically snatched it from his hands as soon as he'd opened the door to let her in. "All right, we have eye witnesses that I came by, no one can claim you weren't involved and now I'll just be going back to my place to do the report on my own."

"I don't think we're allowed to do that."

"And I think that you should button your trap. I am not getting a B on this report, do you get me?! Which means I will do all the work and you will just say the lines I give you when we do the class report. Capisce?"

"I don't speak German."

Cindy sputtered for a moment. "German? I...nein" she rolled her eyes.

"I want to help," Sheen admitted, decidedly not making eye contact. "Everyone says I can't do it, and thinks I'm dumb but I'm not that bad. I can do this."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"No reason," Sheen insisted. Cindy scanned the living room, surprised by how clean it was. She had expected to at least see Ultra Lord dolls scattered all over the floor. "Who's that woman?" she asked finally, jerking her thumb at a picture on the mantle.

"My mom."

Cindy practically deflated. She remembered that Sheen's mom had passed – she'd been in class with him when he got the news, back in kindergarten. "Oh. Uh...new topic. I guess we should get started with this report."

"Ultra son!"

"Oh what now?!" Cindy complained. "Can't we just get started?"

Sheen's father had heard the door open and rushed out to greet his son. "How was school today?"

"It was ok, dad."

"You and your guest want flurp?" Mr. Estevez studied Cindy for a while. "What happened to the other girlfriend? Libby, I think?" he patted Sheen on the back. "Too much of a ladies man?"

For once, Cindy and Sheen were on the same page. Both looked thoroughly sickened by the idea. "No, we're just doing a project together. Libby is still my number one lady. Cindy is...Cindy."

"And no thank you on the flurp, Mr. Estevez. We really need to get -"

Before she could finish, the baby started wailing.

"Ah, I know this project," Mr Estevez nodded. "I'll let you get to it." He grabbed himself a flurp and headed back into his own room.

Cindy pulled the baby into her arms gently and started rocking. She got lucky on the first try – it calmed down and stopped crying. "Ok, let's get on with the questions. Question one...name?"

"Ult-"

"We are not naming a baby Ultra Lord. Or Ultra Baby or Ultra anything. Got it?"

"Got it. But Ultra Lord's secret identity name is-"

"Don't care, we're not using it! She looks like a Bethany to me."

"Aww, man, I don't want a girl. It looks like a boy."

"It does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

The pair went back and forth on the same argument for more than ten minutes. Cindy growled at Sheen when she realized how much time had passed, but rather than tear him to shreds she pulled out her phone and texted Libby.

Annoying me to no end. Haven't been able to answer the first question because we cannot agree on gender.

She waited for a moment, then heard the familiar sound of a Boys to Now song that meant she had received a text.

Girl, if you can't get over that you're never going to finish the project. Bite the bullet now or you might fail.

It wasn't what Cindy wanted to hear, but it did have a sobering effect on her. "All right, fine, it's a boy. But we're naming it what I want. He's Eric."

"All right," Sheen conceded. "Question two: who is the primary care giver?"

"Well, obviously you would be as I'd be too busy at my job as either a research scientist or a lawyer. ...I'm still keeping my options open."

"Aww, man, so you'd leave me at home to change diapers all day?! No way, I work and you take care of the baby. That's how it goes, you're trying to turn against tradition!"

They went back and forth for multiple minutes again before Cindy finally decided she'd had enough and wanted to leave. Besides, each time they fought the baby started crying again. "We'll pick this up again tomorrow."

"But we didn't even make it through question two and there are still fifty more!"

"I said," Cindy spoke through clenched teeth, "we will pick this up tomorrow. Come by my house immediately after school. And Eric is coming with me."

Your girlfriend is a controlling nut job, Sheen texted

She's not that bad. Give her a chance. You just need to find some common ground, Jimmy responded

I have nothing in common with her. Except you. And you're not my partner on this project. How's it going with Libby?

Jimmy frowned at the text. Libby was a nice girl, but she was having absolutely none of his attempts at making the project more interesting or at least more scientifically inclined. It goes he finally settled on. I gotta go. It's dinner time. Remember: find some common ground.

Author's Note: Slow going at the beginning, but I doubt Sheen and Cindy would immediately click and be able to work together. There has to be a build up. Libby and Jimmy usually get along quite well, but I'm sure being the only one of her friends who is really down to earth gets tiring for Libby sometimes.