I'm back, baby!

I missed you all soooooo much and I'm so, soooo sorry I had to put this story on hold for a while. I promised you all I would finish this story, and I have no intention of breaking that promise.

I'll be trying to work back on a regular schedule to get at least one chapter out a week. (This past semester really through me off my writing wagon.) I promise to make it up to you all!

So here's the extra long and long awaited chapter 16:)

I hope you all enjoy it:)

Chapter 16: Surprises

Ever since Dave's appointment with Dr. Gloria, Jane's had a glowing euphoria that had become very evident to the two Strider siblings the moment they got out of the doctor's office.

All the way home that day, she had a constant smile on her face and was even humming a festive tune. Both Dave and Dirk shot her a glance as if she just found the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

"What's up with you?" Dirk couldn't help but ask as they drove up the drive way of their temporary home.

'Oh should I tell him?' Jane's mind squealed like an ecstatic fangirl, 'Oh I have too! I just can't keep this to myself. No, no I should wait. I'll wait until everyone gets here. Everyone should hear this!'

"Oh it's nothing," Jane told a little white lie, "Just pleasant thoughts, that's all."

"Alright," Dirk suspiciously said, pushing his shades up the bridge of this nose.

Dirk instantly knew she was lying. And Jane knew that he knew that she was lying. Since his teens, very few things got from under the nose of Dirk Strider, and lying was one of the first things he taught himself on how to instantly catch up on. Infact, in their high school days Jake had told him time and again that if that DJing thing didn't work out that he could would make a nice interrogator.

Dirk always did wonder in the back of his mind if he would make a good interrogator. If Jane planned on keeping her little secret a secret for too long, Dirk would soon find out.

Jane just hoped the others would get there soon before she would crack under Dirk's interrogation 'tactic'.

Several days later and so far so good, Jane had managed to keep the reason behind her glowing euphoria a secret from the two siblings.

Dave just thought she was just being plain ole Jane, just being cheerful about the holidays. Dirk however was growing more suspicious by the day.

And his curiosity was getting the best of him. But Jane done her best to keep her guard up, and somehow managed to evade Dirk's prying.

Thankfully for Jane, Mr. Egbert called them yesterday morning and told them that they would soon be on their way.

However, with the gang on the way, Jane let her guard slip.

"Whatcha got there, Janey?" Dirk asked as he poked his head above her shoulder, curious as to what she doing at the table.

"Oh honey, you scared me," Jane immediately shot her head up in surprise and quickly covered up her drawings of dresses and cute baby names, "It's nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing," Dirk said, trying to reach of the papers on the table.

Before he could get his hands on the papers, Jane quickly gathered up the papers on the table and got up from the table.

"I told you Dirk, it's nothing," Jane said as she tried to walk away from the table.

"If it's nothing then why are you hiding it," Dirk said, still trying to reach for the papers in her arms.

Jane quickly lifted the papers high above her head, evading Dirk's reach.

Right then, Dirk saw his first 'tactic'. For as long as he's known Jane, he's known that Jane is extremely ticklish.

While Jane had her arms in the air, trying to keep Dirk from seeing her secret prematurely, launched his attack.

Dirk grabbed Jane around the waist and threw her over his shoulder, dragging her down the hallway and into the laundry room to keep her from escaping.

"Dirk! What are you doing? Cut it out!" Jane cried as she tried to escape Dirk's grasp.

"Sorry Janey, you left me no choice," Dirk said as he quickly shut and locked the door behind them and plopped Jane back on her feet, "Now tell me whatchu been hiding lately, or feel the wrath Mr. Fingers."

"No Dirk, you'll have to wait until the other's get here!" Jane stubbornly protested, trying to talk some sense into the man.

"Ahhh, so there is something you've been hiding," Dirk said, moving in closer.

'Crap,' Jane thought as she realized what she just said.

"Alright, have it your way," Dirk said before he lunged his attack.

"Nonononono Dirk, please n-AHAHAHAHA," before Jane could even complete her plea, Dirk had her on the floor in an all out tickle fight.

"AHAHAHA DIRK, DIRK PLEASE STOP," Jane managed to say in her panic induced hits of laughter, "HAHAHA I'M, HAHA I'M GONNA PEEEE!"

"Tell me your secret and I'll let you go," Dirk said as he continued to tickle the squirming Jane Crocker on the floor of the laundry room floor.

Jane had stood all she could at that point, she felt like she was just one more poke away before she would be rolling in a puddle of her own bodily fluids.

"HAHAHAHA OKAY, OKAY, I GIVE! I'LL TELL YOU," Jane finally admitted.

Dirk immediately stopped his tickle crusade at once he heard Jane's plea.

"Okay," Jane panted after a few moments of regaining her breath and wiping the tears from her eyes, "I didn't want to tell you until everyone else got here, but the reason why I've been so bubbly is because..."

In the distance, the two heard a ding dong, followed very quickly by,

"Bro, Jane, someone get the door; I'm almost done with my final and I'd like to get done with this shit sometime before Christmas you know!" the two on the floor in the laundry room heard from elsewhere on the house.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the doorbell and for once she was glad Dave had such a big mouth.

"Saved by the bell," Dirk lightly chuckled as he got up off the floor and offered Jane his hand.

"I can get up by myself thank you," Jane said sitting up, stubbornly declining his offer, "I need to gather up these papers that YOU made me spew all over the floor."

"Sorry," Dirk smirked as he turned to leave the room.

"No you're not," She retorted.

Before he could leave the room, Jane lifted up her leg and gave him a swift kick in the butt.

Dirk's only response to her action was a chuckle that could be heard from down the hallway.

As Jane composed herself, she quickly gathered up all the papers that were all over the floor due to Dirk's tickle attack.

They weren't anything in particular interest, but the one paper that Jane tried to guard with all her might, had on it the wishful thinking of feminine names and detailed designs of two elegant gowns fit for a wedding. One fit for a full grown woman, and the other for a small child.

Jane stacked the rest of the papers of a shelf in the laundry room, but clenched the one paper close to her heart and then quickly folded it up and put it on her breast pocket.

"Saved by the bell indeed," Jane quietly said as she wondered into the rather loud commotion that was now emitting from the elsewhere in the home.

"Merry Christmas Dirk," Mr. Egbert greeted in his usual friendly tone of voice as he placed his suitcase next to the door, "Great to see you, how's everyone doing?"

"Hey Dad, everyone's doing great," Dirk happily returned the greeting, "Y'all make it up here okay?"

"We made it up here fine, son," Mr. Egbert replied, "Say, where do we lay these?"

"Just anyway," Dirk said, "Y'all can just lay your stuff anywhere and park it."

"Gladly," Jake said, putting his stuff by the couch before he plopped himself onto the furniture.

"Ehh, get your feet off the table English," Roxy said as she and Rose walked into the house, reprimanding Jake as he was about to prop his feet on the coffee table.

"Wow Rose, your place is huge!" Jade went on as she looking around they enormous room.

"Yeah, I thought Dave was kidding when he said they could fit all of our places in here," John added, looking amazed at the comparisons between all their homes.

"Thanks," Rose smirked, "It's been in our family for generations. My great-great grandfather was the governor of New York and representative for the state back in the day. And I think he also may have invested heavily in the railroads. He built this house to be his Summer getaway."

"Wow, that's awesome Rose," Jade happily said, "You're so lucky."

"I don't know about that," Rose said, "Hey, let's go see where the dork is."

As the trio of friends started down the hallway, the bumped into a familiar face.

"Hey y'all," Jane happily said as she met the three down the hallway from the living room.

"Did y'all make it over here okay?" Jane asked as she gave each one of them a hug.

"Yes ma'am, we did," Jade replied, returning the hug, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where Dave is would you?"

"I believe he's in his room down the hall there," Jane said pointing down the hallway toward her right, "But I think he's taking his final, so I'd give it a few before I'd disturb him," Jane replied.

"Okay, I can show them where they can stay while we wait on him," Rose stated.

"Alrighty, that'll be great," Jane said happily, "Y'all can go ramble, and I'm gonna go ring Dirk's neck and do some catching up."

"Sounds good," the three giggled as they continued on their way, already having a few ideas as to what Dirk had done this time.

"Dave has taken up residents in my old room," Rose told her two companions once they got down the hallway, "If he messed with anything, he's a dead man."

"Oh thank God," Dave breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw his final grade after he submitted his final exam. A cool 92.

"Sweet, now I gotta deal with this crap again until the end of January," Dave said as he spun around in his chair, away from the computer.

Dave slowly got up from his chair and gave himself a well needed stretch after being in the same slouched position for nearly an hour.

He was just about to head down stairs to see what all the commotion was, when his bedroom door was yanked open.

"¡Feliz Navidad David Strider!" yelled Johnathan Ebgert as he made his way through his best friend's temporary bedroom door, causing the being on the other side to nearly jump a foot in the air.

"What the hell!" Dave yelled as he jumped back at the sudden intrusion.

After having a mini heart attack, Dave turned to face his intruder(s), expecting to find a masked gun holiday gunman at his door; he instead was greeted with the site of his three nearest and dearest friends at the doorway, laughing like mentally challenged hyenas.

Dave would have been pleasantly surprised, had he not been ready to kill all three of them.

"Christ you guys!" he cried at the bunch, "Don't scare me like that! Are you trying to make me miscarry?!"

"Chill out Strider, a jump scare won't cause you to miscarry," Rose said as she composed herself.

"You ain't the one that almost had a heart attack over here," Dave said as he calmed down.

"I didn't mean to scare ya man," John said as he wiped his eyes, "But you should have seen the look on your face!"

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up Egbert," Dave as he threw his arm around John's neck and proceeded to give him a noogie, "Now what the heck are y'all doing over here?"

"We-," John said as he escaped from his best friend's clutches, "We thought we'd surprise you and we all drove up here to spend Christmas break with you guys."

"Heh, at least it won't be so boring around here for while," Dave smirked.

"Ah come on Dave, at least act like you missed us," Jade said as she gave Dave a hug and his belly more than few rubs, "I sure missed you."

Dave couldn't help it, he just had to return the hug.

"Fine," Dave pretend pouted, "I missed you guys too."

"So Dave, how's the baby coming along?" Jade asked as they settled down in the room.

"It's growing healthy from what Dr. Gloria said," Dave said placing a hand over his belly, "At my last appointment in Houston, the doctor said it was about the size of my thumb, on the ultrasound last week it looked about like the size of a baseball"

"So you're going into your 14th week?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Dave said, "Dr. Gloria said I should be able to feel it kicking soon."

"AWWWW," Jade immediately cooed over Dave's growing belly.

The few circles Jade was making on Dave's belly became a vigorous rubbing as if Jade was expecting a genie to come out of his belly button.

"Easy Jasmine, it's not a magic lamp," Dave said as he removed her obsessive hand from his belly.

"I know, it's just so cute and sweet!" Jade said excitedly, "I wanna feel it kick so bad!"

"Well maybe if you're nice, it'll kick for you sometime while y'all are here," Dave lightly retorted.

Really, he too couldn't wait for it to start kicking too. He wanted to feel the little ball of life squirming around in his belly. Just so he would know that his baby was okay and constantly growing and moving inside him.

"Your baby bump has gotten bigger since last time," Rose stated, "Pretty soon you won't be able to fit in those skinny jeans of your's anymore."

"Geez Lalonde, don't remind me," Dave retorted, "I'm already having to wear sweatpants and Bro's t-shirts whenever I go out."

"By the way, how'd you pull off going to a OBGYN like that," John asked.

"Ummm," Dave blushed, "We had to take Rose's advice..."

'3...2..'

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," erupted the room in laughter.

Dave could only bite his lip as his three 'friends' nearly peed themselves laughing at what he had to do to go undetected at what would be considered a purely 'female's' doctor's office.

"You guys are asses you know that," Dave retorted as the three regained their breath.

"See Dave, I told you my advice always works," Rose said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"At least I made a hotter chick than you!" Dave snapped back.

"Oh so did you now?" Rose shot back, "We'll just have to see about that now won't we."

Rose shot Jade a wink, Jade instantly caught onto her idea.

"Oh hell," Dave said as he knew what the two girls were thinking.

"Okay John, you be the judge here," Jade said, "Which one makes the hotter chick?"

Jade stepped aside to unveil her two 'dressed up' friends.

Rose was wearing a black lacy long sleeved tope with an ivory under shirt and an off white long straight skirt. Her hair was professionally brushed neat and tidy with a black and purple lace headband. She wore black cross earrings and matching necklace.

Dave, or more appropriately 'Danielle', courtesy of Jade, wore a red and white long sleeved top and a long ruffly white skirt. Jade fixed his hair into two cute pigtails for ironic purposes was sporting a Hello Kitty burette to get his bangs out of his eyes.

"Uhhh," John scratched his chin nervously, "I don't know."

"Ahhh c'mon man! Bros before hoes!" Dave said, earning him a swift swat on the back of head from both Rose and Jade.

"Well John, what's it gonna be?" both Rose and Dave asked the poor soul inquisitively.

"I-I don' know, okay?" John blushed as he nervously scratched the back of his head, "You-you both look, very nice," no matter how hard he tried, John just couldn't hide the shade of red his face was turning.

Rose sighed, "Well in my opinion, this isn't exactly are fair fight. I mean here I come prepared and poor 'Dani' here," Rose smirked as she shot Dave a smirk, "Has to borrow. It's like trying to fight someone who has a gun when all you have is a knife."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" was the not so secret question that both Jade and Rose asked to each other by just a simple glance.

"Hey Maaaa?" Rose asked Roxy as she stepped into the breakfast nook where the adults were discussing, "Since Dave doesn't have any proper clothes for the upcoming months, we're going to the mall to see what we can find, okay? We'll be back after while."

"M'kay Rosey," Roxy said, lifting her head up from the table, "You be clarful n be bak befor din-din."

"Got it," Rose said down the hallway as she, Jade and John shuffled Dave, or 'Danielle' for the time being, out the front door so he wouldn't be hustled by the adults in the adjoining room.

"You think it's okay to let them take Dave out without us?" Jane asked with genuine concern; realizing that this was the first time Dave had been out without either her or Dirk since the run in with Noir.

"He'll be fine Janey," Roxy said, "They won' let an'thing happen."

"Well, if you say so," Jane took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"So Jane, now that everyone's here are you going to spill your little secret or are they going to have to witness round 2 of interrogation?" Dirk blurted out, catching everyone's attention.

"What?" the other three adults around the table simultaneously asked.

"No mister jackass, you won't have to do anymore interrogating," Jane said, putting her mug down on the table, "Y'all I have some very exciting news and as I was trying to explain to Dirk," Jane elbowed Dirk in the side, "I wanted to share it with you all when y'all finally got here."

"At Dave's visit with Dr. Gloria, after you and Dave had already left the room, I asked Dr. Gloria what she thought the baby was," Jane started getting excited, "She said she won't be fully able to tell what the baby was until about the end of the 14th week, but she thinks it's going to be a girl."

"AWWWW," the three adults across from them couldn't help but screech when they finally heard Jane's forbidden secret.

However, with all the fight he put in to try to and pry her secret out of her, Jane was surprised to hear Dirk remain silent.

"Dirk, hun are you okay?" Jane shook his hand, "This is great news, I'd thought you'd be ecstatic."

Dirk was ecstatic; he had hoped, even prayed that the baby would be a girl. He was just trying to bottle his emotions up to the point where the cap on that bottle was about to blow.

"Y-yes, Janey, I am every excited," Dirk squeezed Jane's hand as he let a few tears drop onto his hand, "I was just thinking of how excited Mama would be if she were here to hear the news."

"She'd be jumping up and down," Jane said as she used her spare hand to wipe away a tear that was trying to escape down her face, imagining Cynthia's reaction to hearing the news of her first granddaughter.

"My little man's gonna have a little girl," Dirk choked, his mind being flooded with happy images of Cynthia holding her for hours on end, constantly cooing her, playing with her.

"There's no way we're letting him give that baby up," Dirk said as he composed himself once more.

"Is Dave still hellbent on giving the baby up?" Jake asked.

"He says he is, but everything you ask him about it, he always avoids answering," Dirk replied, "I wish there was someway we can convince him on his own to keep the baby."

"Dirk, son," Mr. Egbert spoke up, "Have you and Jane tried sitting him down and talking to him and personally telling him that it is alright if he decides to keep the baby."

"We've actually talked about that, Dirk and I have have," Jane said.

"But Dave isn't exactly the 'sit down and let's talk about this' type," Dirk added, "No matter how hard you try to tell him something, he won't listen to word you say. He has find out for himself, from within himself"

"Well mabe you two aren't usin' the righ' approach to this," Roxy said, "Mabe you two nee' ta start droppin' a few sublimital messages every now and then and eventually he'll ge' the drift."

"I think Dave's main concern is how he can continue school while raising the baby," Jane said.

"Well isn't the homeschooling thing going well?" Mr. Egbert asked, "Couldn't he continue with it until he graduates?"

"Is he wanting to go to college anywhere?" Jake asked.

"He's been wanting to go to this art school in New York," Dirk said, "But, the main thing is, right now, they don't offer an online option."

"Well, he's still a sophomore, they might start an online program sometime between now and then. And if they don't, there are plenty of other art school around the country that have online programs," Mr. Egbert added, "Maybe you two could get him to look up other schools besides just that one."

"Or you coul' do it for 'im," Roxy said, "You coul' look up a bunch of schols n get 'em ta send 'im emails."

"That's a good idea Rox," Jane said.

"See there, Janey, I stil got it," Roxy said right as she chugged back her third egg nog.

Jane smiled in agreeance with her drunken friend, when a glance at Dirk from the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"What's the matter hun, you look conflicted?" Jane asked as she rubbed his hand.

"Nah, not conflicted," Dirk said taking a sip of his spiked hot chocolate, "Just thinking."

"Anything in particular you'd like to share with the class?" Jane asked

"Yes actually," Dirk replied, "I think we should the baby something for Christmas."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Jane said replied, already having a few ideas up her sleeve.

"How's it coming in there Dav-I mean Dani?" Jade asked Dave on the other side of the dressing room door.

"Explain to be why I have to try on dresses? It's colder than a witch's tit outside and I won't be able to wear them until like April anyway," Dave replied, annoyed that his so called friends not only drug him out into a crowded mall two days before Christmas dressed as a girl, but also make him try on at least half a dozen dresses.

"Because, dresses are a whole lot more comfortable and warmer when you wear leggings with them," Jade reminded him, "Plus it'll be easier to pull this whole thing off."

"I'm not even that big to even wear some of these," Dave replied.

"You're going to grow into them," Jade also reminded him.

"Fine," Dave pouted.

"Let's see how you look," Jade said.

Jade could hear Dave sigh as he opened the door to reveal 'herself' in a knee length, red and white striped dress.

"I feel ridiculous and my legs are freezing," Dave crossed his arms, pouting.

"Well I think you look great," Jade gave him a reassuring smile, "A pair of brown leggings will go great with that."

"Looking sharp Strider," Rose said as she and John approached the pair with a arm loads of more clothes.

"Oh God, don't tell me you won't be to try on all those," Dave said with sheer dread in his voice.

"No, since you're lack of cooperation, John and I decided to take the liberty of just going ahead and picking things out for you," Rose replied, "This should be enough to suffice you for a long while."

"Good," Dave replied, "I sure don't wanna have to this again."

As Dave slipped back into the dressing room to change back, Jade felt her phone off.

'Jade, this is Jane. How's everything going?' read the text message.

'Hi Jane, everything's going good. We picked out a bunch of clothes for him to wear in the upcoming months.' Jade replied.

'That's great. Could I get you to do us a BIG favor?'

'Sure. What is it?'

'Please don't tell Dave, but could you pick up a little something for the baby. Preferably yellow? We'll pay you back.'

"Hey guys," Jade told the two other awaiting teens, "I have to go check out something, I'll be back in a few."

"Okay, we'll be at the front of mall when you get done," Rose said.

As Jade walked down the hall of the mall and into a baby store, she texted Jane back, 'I'd be honored too:) And don't worry about paying me back;)'

Once Jade made it into the store, she made a B-line for the newborn section, already having an idea as to what to get the baby.

"'Bout time," Dave said as he saw Jade approaching them at front of mall.

"Sorry it took so long," Jade said, " There was a line. So what all did you get?"

"We got three dresses, four long skirts, some shirts, two pairs of sweat pants, and much Strider's dismay, a couple pairs exercise bras," Rose said.

"You ought to be set then," Jade referred to Dave.

"I damn well better be," Dave sarcastically replied, "Can we go now, my feet are killing me."

"What did you have to go check out?" Rose quietly asked Jade as they walked out of mall.

Jade noted opened up her purse and shown Rose the bag from the baby store as she whispered in Rose's ear, "Don't tell Dave."

Rose nodded to Jade as the four got into the Lalonde's car, swearing her secretcy.

"There, doesn't it look adorable?" Jade smiled as she finished wrapping the baby's secret gift. It was wrapped in pale yellow wrapping paper with a silver ribbon tided around it.

"That was real nice of Jade to do that for us," Dirk said, wrapping his arms around Jane's waist, "We wouldn't have been able to make it over there in time."

"I'm still paying her back," Jane said, putting the gift in a safe, secret place for the time being until tonight when it can be placed under the tree.

"What was it anyway?" Dirk asked, realizing he didn't even get to see it before Jane whisked it off to wrap it when the four came home from the mall.

"You'll see," Jane said, "All I'm saying is that it's something Cynthia would have gotten for the baby."

"Well all that leaves out is the moon," Dirk said, resting his chin on Jane's head, "She'd gotten everything in the entire world for her first grandbaby."

Jane gripped ahold of Dirk's hand that was on her shoulder, "She's still here with us. Even in death, she'll never leave her sons, or her granddaughter."

"Mama's tear Little Man a new one for even thinking about giving up that baby," Dirk chuckled, "Maybe this gift, whatever it is, will help convince him."

"I'm sure it will," Jane said, kissing the back of Dirk's hand.

The grandfather clock in the Lalonde's living room was the signal that let the residents still awake know that it was 12:00 A.M. Christmas morning.

Dirk and Jane thanked God that Dave and other's decided turn in at the relatively early time, for them, of 11 p.m. And with the rest of their company already asleep, Jane and Dirk decided now was a fine time to play Santa Claus.

Jane knelt down and put the present under the tree, right infront of all the other presents.

"Don't you miss playing Santa Dirk?" Jane asked as she got up.

"It was funner when milk and cookies were involved," Dirk said as he plopped down on the couch to finish watching the end of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.

"Well if this works, you'll have that to look forward to next year as well," Jane smiled as she joined him on the couch.

It didn't take too long before the pair fell asleep, hand in hand as they waited for all the excitement that morning would surely bring.

Underneath the tree, the secret present consisting a yellow footed onesy with little ducks on it, with matching little hat and soft, fuzzy blanket, sat waited to be opened. On the tag, it read; 'Merry 1st Christmas, from: Aunt Jane, Uncle Dirk and Grandmama Cynthia'.