"So, how are we today?" Dr. Howard asked as Rachel settled back on the examination table.

"Hating ultrasounds. Isn't there a better process? One that doesn't involve my bladder?"

He laughed as Jack held Rachel's cool hand against his temple. He'd been fighting off his headache since he'd left town, finally breaking down at home and taking some aspirin for it. He didn't need it right now, he told himself calmly. He needed to be here with Rachel right now. He looked up when she took a quick breath, but the doctor was only spreading the scan gel over her stomach.

"Okay?" he murmured.

Rachel nodded. "It's just cold."

"Hey, warm it up next time, huh?" Jack said, but Rachel just squeezed his hand.

"I'll do that," Howard replied absently. "How are you feeling, Rachel?"

"Better than last time," she replied. "Not as nauseous, but I still get tired easily. We told my mother, and I just told Mark."

"Any plans for this weekend?"

Jack rolled his eyes and sat back, watching Howard watch the screen and take notes without bothering to explain what he was doing. "Just the Fourth of July festival; Jack's class is performing in it and they've been working hard. Oh, some friends of ours are getting married next weekend in Gotham; it'll be all right to drive there, won't it?"

"I don't see why not, unless something comes up today."

"There's still one kid in there, right?" Jack asked abruptly.

Howard turned to him with raised eyebrows, pointing at the screen and the baby it showed. "Like that one?"

Jack glared at him. "I mean, there's only one. Not two."

"Well, at Rachel's age the possibility of a multiple birth is much higher than for a younger woman, especially if there's a history of fraternal twins in either family."

"Not in mine, and Jack doesn't know," Rachel told him.

"I was a quadruplet, but I ate them all in the womb."

That made her laugh as Dr. Howard shook his head. "As far as I can tell, there's just one. It could be gas, or your uterus could have grown a bit."

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Too early to tell; you'll have another ultrasound at twenty weeks, and we ought to be able to tell then."

"I told you," Rachel murmured with a smile.

Jack rolled his eyes as he deflated a bit. "Well, I'd hoped . . ."

"If it makes you feel any better," Dr. Howard put in, "the baby's gender has been established by now."

"It could be a hermaphrodite for all I care," Jack grouched. "I just want to know."

Rachel patted his hand. "Why don't you make me two lists, Jack, one of boy names and one of girl names. Pick the ones that you like best, and then I'll pick the ones that I like best."

"Quit trying to make me feel involved," he told her as he kissed her nose. Then he turned and flicked her stomach. "Kick!" On the screen, the tiny baby turned a somersault and Jack jumped back a little with wide eyes. "Holy crap! Did you see that?!" His face lit up as Rachel groaned, and he leaned down to flick her stomach again. "Kick!" This time the baby flung a leg out and Jack cackled.

"Stop it!" Rachel said as she grabbed his wrist when he tried to flick her again. "That kind of hurts, you know."

He settled down as Dr. Howard laughed. "Any foetus is going to react to being poked, Jack. It's nothing special."

"Way to cut a guy down," Jack grumbled, but he was still smirking as he caressed the side of Rachel's stomach. "Could you feel it moving?"

Rachel laughed as she shook her head. "No, sorry."

"When you start feeling the baby move," Dr. Howard commented as he jotted more notes down, "it will probably feel like when you're in a pool and someone passes you in the water and the waves bounce off of you, except in your lower abdomen."

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you writing down there?" Jack demanded suspiciously.

"Just taking notes, Mr. Dawes," Dr. Howard murmured, never once looking at the suddenly agitated father. "Every thing's fine. I just need to write it down. I'd tell you if something wasn't right."

"No, you'd tell Rachel, because I'd freak out too much," Jack replied.

The doctor finally looked up at him over his glasses and smiled. "Well, yes. I'd tell Rachel. But every thing's just fine, and here, listen to this."

A fast swooshing noise filled the room and Jack cocked his head to the side as he listened, his mouth pulling into a frown. Then, "Is that an underwater choo-choo train?" Dr. Howard and Rachel, whose eyes had gotten big and mouth had opened into a tiny 'o', both started laughing. "What?" Jack asked. "What?"

"That's the heart beat," Howard explained as Rachel smiled up at him.

Jack's own eyes got big and he held his free hand up. "Wait. Be quiet. I need to remember this." He stared at the moving baby on the ultrasound screen as he listened intently, then knelt slowly and pressed his ear to Rachel's belly, closing his eyes as he concentrated. He felt Rachel's fingers tiptoe through his curls after a while and grabbed on to that sensation, too, committing every thing to memory. He needed to be able to recall this moment no matter what happened. This baby . . . was his baby. This was Jack Dawes' baby. This was a little Jack, or a little Rachel; a tiny playmate for the Mitzi-thing. Something he'd die --- or kill --- to protect. His baby. His. Jack's. No one else's.

"Are you asleep?" Rachel whispered.

Jack opened his eyes and stood up, squeezing her hand with a smile. "No. Just thinking."

"Of what?"

He thought fast. "How miserable I'm going to make it in about fifteen years if it's a girl." He grinned at her as Rachel rolled her eyes. "Sure, sweety, bring this Tommy boy in so I can meet him. So you're Tommy, huh? I wanna show you this great magic trick. Wanna see this pencil disappear? It will. Into your head. If my daughter's not back by ten. Nine-thirty, to be safe."

Rachel groaned as Dr. Howard wiped the gel off of her stomach, then Jack helped her sit up. "Well, I've got fifteen years and a fifty-fifty chance besides, before that happens. I can get used to the idea of you hiding out with a knife in the living room until she gets home. I think."

"I can shoot a gun as well as I can use knives; I'm not particular. I dunno . . ."

She pulled her top over her stomach and pinched his side before Jack could start seriously weighing the pros and cons of knives versus guns as a means to terrify potential boyfriends of their potential daughter. Jack's hand was warm on the small of her back as she said goodbye to the doctor, and he stayed glued to her side until they'd arrived back at her office.

"So, uh . . . anyone in there today?" he asked with a slow lick of his lips.

Rachel shook her finger in his face. "Jack, we're not having sex in my office."

He grabbed her wrist and kissed her palm, his other hand running along her hips and abdomen. "Really? Can I call you when I get home, then?"

"No. I actually have things to do today."

"Argh, you get work done without Hideki to gossip with, I forgot." Jack took both of Rachel's hands and kissed her knuckles, still smiling.

She shook her head with a return smile and then ran her hands down his chest, smoothing his shirt. "Will you make that list of names?" she asked as she looked up at him through her lashes.

Jack was a sucker for that look. He covered her hands with his, holding them flat against his chest as he nodded. "I promise, I'll work on it when I get home." Amongst other things.

Rachel beamed up at him and he got a real kiss, delicate tongue and all, for his efforts. Jack hummed with pleasure before pulling back, his fingers curled in the hair at the base of Rachel's neck. He looked her face over for a long time, making sure he had the planes and curves memorised, loving the feel of her body pressed against his and her on hands on his shoulders.

"You're not coming in with me, so quit giving me that look," Rachel finally murmured.

"I'll come in if I want to," Jack told her as he let her go. "You're not the boss of me, no matter what Susie says."

"I'll be sure to tell her that. Will you stop at the store and get another watermelon, please? I, uh . . . I sort of ate the one we had."

Jack laughed and hugged Rachel. "No problem, cupcake. How about I get two, just in case?" She thanked him and then Jack sent her inside with threats of kinky phone calls.

***

Jack had stripped down to his white wife-beater, which was already clinging to his sweaty torso. He'd figured that the younger kids would be the ones to give him trouble, but it turned out that the older group was having the most difficulty. He'd separated the class into two groups, a twelve to seventeen group that was learning to quickstep, and a three to eight group that was doing a simple, almost hip-hop routine. The whole class had voted for that particular combination: the younger kids liked to bounce, and the older kids liked to be able to get really close to each other. They were also eager to be out and about with their friends before they had to be on the amphitheatre stage at the high school to do their performances.

"Cathy, the quickstep does not requite that much genital-to-genital contact, do you understand me?" He glared at her in the mirror before turning back to Haley and Joseph. "One more time, then you can all go." He backed up and then sat next to Rachel, who ignored him in favour of the carton of raspberry sorbet she'd smuggled in. It wasn't as if he would have told her to eat it outside, but she'd made a big show of being sneaky about it, so Jack hadn't bothered to comment on it. Let her think she was clever. "I get cotton candy for this," he muttered as the students took their places and he restarted the CD player.

"Which kind?" Rachel asked innocently.

Jack turned and stared at her, but she just blinked coyly at him as one newly-manicured hand rubbed her upper thigh gently. She could have just had an itch, but then . . . Jack swallowed as his mouth started watering. Damn woman knew him too well. "Both," he finally settled on.

"Happy Fourth of July to you, too, sweety," was all she said as she turned back to her sorbet.

"Were you talking to me or the food?"

"Both," she replied with a smile.

Jack leaned his head down to kiss her neck, one hand straying to her stomach and rubbing. Rachel sighed with pleasure and arched her neck, but it didn't distract her from her treat. Jack hadn't meant it to. He took a deep breath of her hair and laughed softly when it made her twitch. She placed her finger on his cheek and turned his attention back to the class and Jack lay his head on her shoulder. He yawned when the song finished and nodded.

"All right, amphitheatre at five-fifteen, all right? If you're late I'll skin you alive and feed you to Rory."

Susie came over and climbed into his lap, having forgiven him for fathering a child. "Did you bring the altru-sound?" she asked.

"Ultrasound," he corrected her, "and yes. Who wants to see my kid?" he asked as the students were changing into their regular shoes.

"What kid?" Tommy asked.

"The one I'm going to have. Here, see? This one." He took the ultrasound out of Rachel's purse and waved it at the class, who immediately flocked over to see. The girls squealed and giggled with excitement and the boys pretended to be disgusted and not interested in the slightest. Jack just basked in their attention, one arm around Rachel's shoulder. He had to swat a few hands away when the girls decided they wanted to touch Rachel's stomach, though. "Hey, what gives, huh? Who gave you permission to touch Rachel? I don't go around randomly touching you, you know."

"Not for lack of them wanting you to," Rachel murmured. "You can't feel the baby yet, anyway," she said in a louder voice. "When you can feel it moving, I'll let you touch me, okay?"

"So back off and get out," Jack ordered them all. They almost ran out the door, all except Susie, who was resting her head on Jack's shoulder. "I meant you, too, kid," he told her.

"But Janet's with Hayden and won't let me come with them," she told him, shifting a bit so she was facing Rachel. Jack sighed. "Can I come with you and Miss Rachel, please?"

"Get used to this, Jack," Rachel laughed as she tweaked his nose, then Susie's. The girl giggled while Jack scowled.

"Where's your mom?"

"Helping Mrs. Johnson. She told me to stay with you or Janet."

Well, at least that meant Mary wasn't too drunk, if she was with Veronica. Or it could mean the exact opposite. It depended on Veronica's mood. Jack slid one arm under Susie's knees and stood up. "I know which cotton candy I'm getting first, I guess. Okay, fine. Let's go."

"I want the blue kind!"

It took Rachel's quiet laughter for Jack to understand what Susie was talking about, versus what he'd implied, and his lips twitched. "I like the purple kind," he told the little girl in his arms. Rachel slid her hand into his back pocket and he grinned as he locked the dance studio. "Let's see if we can find Tom and Helna. I may as well babysit everyone's kid today, right?"

"Right!" Susie agreed. Jack moved her to his shoulders and she laughed. "I'm taller than you now, Jack!"

"You are," he agreed absently, arm around Rachel's shoulders. "Now you're freakishly tall, instead of freakishly small."

"You rhymed!" Susie repeated him, turning the sentence into a chant that lasted until they came upon Tom and Helna at a craft booth along the main street. The Fourth of July celebration included a craft faire, vendors, and car show. Which, come to think of it, was what most of Loleta's celebrations consisted of.

"Jack, Rachel! How are you?" Helna asked with a smile for them both and a hug for Rachel. "You've gotten so much bigger!"

"I'm here for your kid," Jack told them as he reached out for the Mitzi-thing. "Hand it over."

Tom laughed. "You've got one on the way, and someone else's kid, to boot. You don't half-ass things, do you?"

Jack scowled as the Mitzi-thing eagerly reached out for him. "Just shut up and hand the kid over, all right?"

"Fine, here, take her. Keep her for an hour?" Tom asked hopefully as he held the creature just out of reach.

"Why do I want your kid for an hour? What's wrong with half an hour?"

Tom looked at his blushing wife and then back at Jack. "Blunt honesty works best on you, Jack, so here it is: I haven't had sex in a week. Take Mitzi for at least an hour or I'll ticket you for every single time I saw you driving without a license, and for the graffiti on the overpass out of town."

"I had nothing to do with that!" Jack said indignantly.

"I know. I'll do it anyway. At least an hour, right?"

Jack sighed as he took the Mitzi-thing and gave it his finger to suck on. "Fine. One hour."

"At least," Tom said warningly as he took Helna's hand.

"Call when you want it back; I might have fed it to Rory by then." Jack looked up at Susie, then down at the girl-thing and snorted as it's parents almost ran to their car. "Ugly, ugly, ugly," he chanted. The thing burbled at him, then giggled and continued making noises. "Ja-ack. Say Jack. No, wait, say 'Jack is awesome and so much better than my old man.' Come on, say it."

"That was sweet of you," Rachel said as she took his free hand.

Jack shrugged. "Are you braiding my hair again?" he asked the girl on his shoulders.

"I'm making you pretty," Susie replied. That meant that she was, indeed, making an awful mess of his hair. "Are you going to cut it? You look like a girl with long hair."

Jack laughed, the Mitzi-thing giggling in one arm, Rachel laughing on his other, and Susie balanced on his shoulders. "I'll cut it when I get irritated with it. Why? You need some hair?"

"No!" Susie shrieked with laughter. "Hey! I want a bear!" She was pointing to the stretch of game booths, tugging excitedly at Jack's newly-styled hair. "Please, Jack? Win me a bear?"

"I want one, too," Rachel said as she hugged his arm.

Jack sighed as they stopped at the rifle booth, eyeballing the prizes. "Ugh, fine. What do I get if I win something?"

"Cotton candy," was Rachel's impish reply.

"You drive a hard bargain. Hold this ugly thing." He handed her the Mitzi-thing, then lifted Susie back to the ground and watched a man have a go at the game for a while. Satisfied that he knew how to beat it, Jack forked over the four dollars he was being conned out of. "Which thing do you want?"

"The big pink one!" Susie declared as she jumped up and down.

"The purple one," was Rachel's choice.

"Picky, picky, picky," Jack muttered as he brought the rifle up and rested the butt in the hollow of his shoulder. He liked the feel of the gun in his hands. Pressure built expectantly at his temples and the moment was savoured, then he popped off five quick rounds. Five different balloons exploded and Jack set the rifle down, grinning at the open-mouthed man in the corner. "I think the ladies will take their prizes," he said smugly.

"Uh . . . yeah, sure, mister," the man mumbled as he got the toys down in a daze. He was shaking with fear and Jack just grinned and grinned and grinned. That had felt so damned good. "Uh . . . anything else for ya today?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks, friend." Rachel's hand on his arm brought him back and Jack shook the pressure away, then scrunched his nose at her. "Happy?"

She hugged her new bear against her tightly and nodded. "Thank you."

"Yeah, sure. What about you, kid?" he asked as he dropped his hand to Susie's head and ruffled her hair. "Like it?"

"It's huge!" she squeaked from behind the pink monstrosity. It was bigger than she was, and Jack laughed.

"It's because you're a midget," he told her. "Midget queen!"

"Pumpkin king!"

"Squeaky clean!"

"Jelly bean!"

Rachel laughed as the two rhymed back and forth, their hands linked together. Jack was swinging her hand, too, and Mitzi was cooing on her other hip. When they ran into Janet and the boy she was with, Jack wouldn't stop yammering until she bought him and Susie cotton candy, then claimed that since his hands were full --- raising Susie and Rachel's arms to show her --- Janet had to feed him the whipped sugar. Janet wasted no time in ditching the boy, gladly feeding Jack as she blushed.

***

"You smell like fireworks," Rachel murmured as she and Jack lay back on their blanket on the football field, watching the fireworks show with the rest of the town. Jack just chuckled to himself; he'd been lighting small fireworks off with some of the high school boys after his class had finished their routines. Rachel suspected that a few of the bursts had been a little modified, but she wasn't about to call him on it. Let him think he was clever.

"Best is yet to come," he said with a grin at Tom, who was stretched out next to him with Helna's head on his stomach. Both very satisfied parents had finally found them as Jack had been laying the blanket out, and had added their own. It had been a good thing, too, because in addition to the four adults and one baby, Janet and Susie had also piled onto the blankets, bickering about who got what glow-stick until Jack had growled low in his throat.

He'd been right; the finale was amazing and Rachel stared at the brilliant display of fireworks for a long time until her brain registered the smaller explosions. Then she turned to her husband just as he was high-fiving Tom.

"Jack . . . was that the old library?"

The man froze and Tom started laughing, then Jack turned a very pleased grin on her. "I told you they wanted my help with it," he said. "I figured, why not go out in a blaze of glory?"

Rachel laughed. "I love you, Jack. You're such a boy, sometimes."

"Oh, I think I'll have to prove otherwise tonight. You know what explosions do to me."

"What do they do to you?" Susie asked suddenly.

Jack almost jumped out of his skin; he hadn't thought she was paying attention. "They make me . . . uhm . . . want to blow more stuff up," he said without conviction.

"Like what?"

"Little girls! Rawr!" He jerked toward her and Susie squealed, hiding behind Janet. "Kaboom!" He got up and chased her around until he got bored, then flopped back down next to Rachel. "Ready to head home?" He helped her up, then caught her as someone bumped into her. "Hey! Watch it!" he shouted after them. The short woman didn't bother turning around. "Bitch," Jack muttered. "You okay?"

Rachel nodded as she rubbed her lower back. "I'm fine. Let's get the girls back to Mary, then we'll go home."

Jack was staring after the woman who'd bumped into Rachel and nodded. "Yeah. Sure."