[a/n] I own nothing. I'm seriously concerned that this is starting to drag and stuff so I will be rounding off in two or three chapters time.

Starting the next morning, I begun training Doggie to be a hands on father.

I spent time with him, patiently taking him through the steps of diaper changing, over and over again. I showed him how to heat a bottle, and how to tell if it's too hot or too cold before feeding it to the child. I stood by as he fed his pups for the first time, and I witnessed his smile as the pups latched on to the rubber teat. I helped him dress them, and bath them and put them to bed. I smiled inwardly as he begun talking to them more and more, as the pups begun to respond to his voice more than anyone else's.

It was challenging, working so closely with my son, whom I loved unconditionally; I wanted to pick him up and cuddle him, to tell him how much I loved him. It was hard helping the man I loved learn to look after another woman's children. Words cannot possibly describe the pain I felt, knowing Mitchell was my child and that Zelda and Soara were also Crugers children.

But I could see Cruger's confidence growing, and witness his relationship with his two children getting stronger and for me, that made it all worthwhile. Eventually, when the children were 3 weeks and 2 days old, my girls and I were discharged and Cruger decided to take Mitchell and Rachel out of the infirmary and into his quarters.

I was thrilled! Boom had already set up the two cots in my room, for which I was grateful. Things couldn't get any worse from here on in. It was all going to get better, and be perfect.

Man was I wrong.

It was hard work.

In the mornings I would get up and try to feed them and dress them, but I always managed to end up to underestimate the time I would need, or if I did happen to estimate it perfectly, one of the girls would be sick or refuse to get dressed, so I'd always be late to the lab. Then every so often whilst I was working I would hear one of them crying, and have to leave for five minutes which put me majorly behind schedule. I'd have to take extended break to get them fed and I could no longer to overtime when it was needed. Then during the night they'd wake up, so as a result I wasn't getting much sleep, which slowed me down the next day. Work was left half finished, some was never started. I'd do a lot of practical work wrong because I was so tired and have to scrap it all and start again.

I knew from the strain beginning to show on Cruger's face that he was not doing much better than I was.

The difficulties we were both experiencing of being single parents of twins were obvious, and it started to get me down, and I was becoming more and more tearful by the day.

One day in early August, it was particularly warm in the base; we were all sweating buckets and on edge emotionally. Unfortunately for me, today I was scheduled to be doing some particularly complex programming with DBDS.

"Why won't you work?" I snarled through gritted teeth, as the computer slowed and made an unhealthy clunking sound. "Dammit!" I hissed as the same error code popped up AGAIN for the two hundredth time.

My lab rats, Boom, Grace and Sonia gave me a wary glance as they washed up equipment. They were wise enough to stay on the other side of the room when I was irritated like this. I could feel my body growing tense as I reset the system again. A spark of pain danced about in my skull and I closed my eyes, feeling nauseous. I had not had anything to drink for hours.

Just then, a wail split the air, and I quickly identified it to be Zelda, probably crying because he had lost her pacifier or was overly hot. My eyes snapped open and I stifled a hiss of frustration. I loved my daughters so much, but having them constantly interrupting was beginning to piss me off. Boom flinched, sensing this.

I felt the wary gaze of the three lab workers without even looking. I suddenly found my eyes welling up with tears, and I felt a desperate need to get away. I stood up quickly, my chair sliding a meter or two backwards, and stormed out of the lab, away from my quarters.

"Kat!" I heard Boom call after me.

I was so emotionally wound up, that in the heat of the moment, I did not even feel guilty for leaving Zelda crying. All I cared about was getting away.

"Don't worry Boom, I'll get Zelda." I heard Sonia say, softly.

Once I had turned the corner in the corridor, I stopped trying to hold the tears back. I let them go, and sobbed noisily as the salty water streamed down my face. I didn't know where I was going. Wait - yes, I did! I was going to the rec room, to see the rangers, to see Z and Syd, whom I knew would be able to comfort me.

I halted for a moment outside the rec room doors, listening to see what they were doing, making sure I wasn't interrupting anything. Like I always do.

Jack was saying something, "... In the command centre a lot recently and I've not seen her around."

"She barely leaves her lab." That was Z talking. "Which is understandable, she's close to her children there."

I practically stopped breathing as I realised they were talking about me.

"Are you kidding me, she could take the children out of the lab." Bridge now. "The only reason she doesn't is because she can't be bothered. She's too upset."

"Well she's going to have to grow out of it sooner or later," Sky's response was short.

"Sky!" Syd sounded genuinely offended. "That's so mean! She's grieving, Isinia's death hit her hard. Besides Zelda and Soara are still young, they need her!"

"WE need her," Sky snapped.

"We have other scientists to cover for Kat!" Z was annoyed. "We really ought to be showing more respect for Kat's feelings. Don't forget what Dr Felix said, guys."

Jack sighed, "Yea, yea Kat's probably suffering from late Post Natal Depression, caused by Isinias death and also by having her work load doubled now she has a lab and a family to run. We know. It's just-"

I couldn't stand to listen to any more. I took off down the corridor once more, at an insane pace. Anger was bubbling through me. I had just suffered a massive blow to my pride and dignity. My own brother was talking about me behind my back to the rangers! They all thought I was depressed!

"Kat!" A voice shouted in warning. I looked up suddenly, just in enough time crash headlong into Doggie.

"Oof!" Doggie grunted, before taking me by the shoulders and holding me at arms length. "Kat..." I was sobbing again. "What is it?"

"The rangers..." I sobbed. "Dr Felix has been... Talking to them... Now... They're talking about... Me... Saying I'm... Depressed and I'm... Not." I struggled for breath through my tears.

"Shhh," Cruger hushed me and pulled me into a hug, stroking the back of my hair. After about five minutes I had managed to stop crying.

"You know what you need?" He sighed. I looked up at him. "A break."

"Oh, no Doggie I couldn't possibly-"

"Shush," he interrupted me. "Tonight, I will pay for a babysitter and you will have dinner with myself and the rangers. Then your girls cots can be moved into my room."

"Doggie, I couldn't sleep alone in my lab without them..." my voice wavered.

"I never said you had to. You can also sleep in my room. Then if the girls wake up, I will tend to them, and you can have a good sleep." Cruger finished.

"Doggie..." I was speechless.

"You helped me out once Miss Manx. Now I think it's time I helped YOU." He rumbled. "I have already got the camp bed out for you."

"Thank you," I breathed, unable to believe it.