Happy Endings Are Only Fairytales
by
AnaElise

Disclaimer: Come on people, you know the drill.
Summary: All of our actions have consequences and Syd's actions cause her to become pregnant. But is everything as it seems? And where does this put Sky? I guess that happy endings are only in fairytales.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Chapter One - Everything Comes at a Price

Sky was happy.

It didn’t happen too often and when it did he rarely showed anyone, but he was happy.

He finally had everything he wanted: Gruumm was gone, he was promoted to red ranger, and he finally had the girl.

After the defeat of Gruumm and Jack’s leaving, Bridge had stayed with the team for a couple more months before realizing that his real calling was creating the technology behind the ranger’s successes.

Z too, had left active ranger status to work more in human/alien relations issues in other galaxies and was often gone for months at a time.

Sky and Syd were the only ones still in active ranger status but even with the original team disbanded, they all kept in touch with each other almost daily.

As for relationships among the team, Bridge and Z were starting a slow courtship and Jack and Aly were in the midst of planning their wedding for the following spring.

That left Syd and Sky.

It was a common rule around SPD that fraternization among cadets of the same squad was strictly forbidden. And you didn’t need to be the SPD handbook know-it-all to realize this.

Failure to abide by this rule resulted in a dishonorable discharge from the academy and SPD.

But that never stopped the rumors.

The rumor mill of SPD had always been working overtime when it came to cadets Tate and Drew, however, nothing had yet to be proven about a relationship between the two.

There had been countless storylines and scenarios on how and when they would get together.

Most thought that Sydney would leave to restart her music career as well as a relationship with the great Sky Tate.

Everyone assumed that when they got together there would be fireworks and parades and general media brouhaha.

But contrary to popular belief, the red and pink rangers were surprisingly subtle.

They had managed to keep their relationship on the down low for over five months now.

What was even more surprising is the fact that they had now kept their intimate relationship on the down low for the past two months.

No one realized that the pink ranger spent most of her nights in Sky’s room rather than her own.

It was their “unmentionable activities” last night that had Sky in such a good mood this particular morning.

Younger cadets often joked that the only way he could be that happy is if he got laid, then laughed again at the absurdity of the idea.

Sky, who had ideas about their topic of discussion, only smiled thinking once again about how happy he was that he had found Sydney’s other piercing.

He had never had a fondness for body jewelry until he had slept with Sydney.

Sky smiled once again as he sat down at his desk in the command center for monitor duty, his grin causing other cadets to stare in amazement.

Sydney, on the other hand, was not having such a good morning as she sat on the exam table in the medical ward.

This was going on the second week of her waking up nauseous and vomiting.

At first she passed it off as a bout of food poisoning but now she wasn’t sure anymore.

“Well, it’s not food poisoning at all.”

Dr. Felix came out of his office staring at what Sydney could only assume was her medical charts.

“I don’t know what else it could be, Dr. Felix, I mean, I feel fine the rest of the day…”

“Is there any possibility that you could be pregnant?”

The color immediately drained from the pink rangers face.

“Well, of- of course there’s a slight possibility—”

“Would you like me to take a blood test?”

Sydney just stared.

They had been so careful. She couldn’t be pregnant. There was no way!

She slowly nodded her head.

“When- when can you have the results back?”

“I can have them back to you within the hour.”

Sydney nodded once again. She had a lot to think about.

Later that night Sky was looking for Sydney.

They usually ate dinner together in the cafeteria unless they had patrol or a prior engagement, and Sky knew for a fact that Syd didn’t have anything until the following morning.

He found her as she was exiting her room.

“Hey I missed you at dinner, are you okay?”

Sky wasn’t sure but he thought he saw a flicker of fear when he looked in Sydney’s eyes.

“Yea, yea, I’m fine. Ummm Sky, can you take a walk with me?”

Sky’s radar was immediately turned on.

Syd was acting particularly jumpy and she had the ‘we-need-to-talk’ face on.

She steered him to the park. Sky had rarely felt awkward around Sydney but the walk had been in complete silence and it was anything but comfortable.

As they got to the spot under their favorite tree Sky broke the silence.

“Care to tell me what’s going on?”

Normally Syd liked that about Sky, he didn’t mess around, got straight to the point.

This time, however, she could have gone for a little avoidance of the subject at hand.

Oh well, he had asked, the moment of truth.

“I’m pregnant Sky.”

Sky knew the rules; he knew what could happen to their careers. But he also knew he didn’t want to be the red ranger forever. He wanted a family and a house and a dog and right now his girlfriend, the woman he was in love with was saying she was with child.

“Syd, that’s amazing!”

Syd looked shocked for a moment; this was not the reaction she was expecting.

“I, I can’t believe it, a baby, you’re pregnant!”

“Sky wait—”

Even thorough Sydney’s interruption Sky just stood up, a goofy grin on his face.

“A baby!” he put his hands on his head still trying to get a grasp of the situation.

“You’re pregnant! I’m gonna be a father!”

“Sky--”

“Wow, a father.”

“SKY!”

Sky finally looked at her, his smile causing Syd to look down in shame.

“I said I was pregnant, I never said you were the father.”

[AN: I'm so glad I actually got to use the word 'brouhaha' in a story. Life's little pleasures.]

Chapter Two - Explanations and Apologies

Sky was conflicted about what to do next.

His mind was pulling him in all sorts of directions and he didn’t know which one to follow.

One part of him just wanted to walk away, leave her alone and go think by himself to compose his thoughts.

But while on some level he wanted to hurt her by walking away, another greater part, his gentlemanly side, was against leaving a beautiful, pregnant woman alone in a public park at twilight.

Another part of him, he was ashamed to admit, wanted to hit her. Slap her and make her tell him she was lying. That he was the father.

He knew though, that he could never hit her. No matter how much he didn’t wan the news to be true.

He still needed confirmation though. Needed to know who would be beside this woman in the delivery room if not him.

“How do you know it’s not me?”

She didn’t look at him.

She just stayed seated on the ground looking at a small pebble she was twirling through her fingers.

“Dr. Felix said I’m three months pregnant and I’ve only been sleeping with you for two.”

“But we’ve been a couple for five.”

She all but whispered her reply.

“I know.”

“What happened?”

Syd could tell that he was really hurt by this. He was slipping into his interrogation voice. The voice he used to protect his emotions. He had never needed to protect himself from her before.

Tears started to fall down her face.

She had to pull through, she had to do this, for him. It had to be done. He might even thank her someday.

“One of my old friends called me and asked me to dinner. I thought it was just a friends thing but after dinner we went back to his place for coffee and one thing led to another.”

“… and me? What about me?”

Syd still wasn’t looking at him. He really wanted her to look at him.

“It was a one time thing Sky; it was never going to happen again. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Too late.”

Sydney started to sob after that but quickly stifled. Sky took a deep breath and continued.

“What are you going to do Syd?”

“I plan to tell Cruger and quit. Then I guess I’ll get an apartment on the other side of town.”

Sky gave a small laugh.

“What? You’re not gonna move in with your parents? You’d choose to live in a one bedroom apartment in downtown New Tech rather than your breakfast in bed mansion?”

Syd chose to look up at this comment.

“I called my parents already, they said that I got myself into this mess and I have to live with it. They’re choosing to disown me. Don’t want to ruin their social status but having an unwed mother and bastard child.”

Sky frowned at this.

“Are you going to tell the father?”

Again she looked down.

“Yes.”

After a long silence Sydney stood up and looked Sky in the eye.

“I’m sorry it had to end this way Sky.”

As she turned to leave Sky put his hand on her shoulder.

“Where does this leave us?”

Sydney smiled a sad smile.

“You deserve better than me Sky.”

Chapter Three - Goodbyes and Hellos

As soon as she was out of Sky’s sight she ran.

She needed to leave, get out of there by morning, evening if at all possible.

She had the resignation papers on her desk ready to be signed. She just hoped Cruger wouldn’t ask too many questions.

She questioned herself on telling Z the truth but then stopped herself. Z was still on a mission and wouldn’t be back till next week, plus Sydney was still in the mindset of the less people that knew the truth, the better.

As she ran through the halls of the academy, deep in thought, she wasn’t particularly watching where she was going until she ran straight into Bridge.

Startled by their sudden confrontation, both fell backwards with force.

“Syd, are you okay? You were running faster than I think I’ve ever seen you run in training. Of course I haven’t been training with you for a while but from what I remember you didn’t always run that fast and never as fast as you were just running right now when you just ran into me.”

As the shock from her fall started to wear off through Bridge’s rambling, the reason why she was running in the first place came back in full force.

She frantically looked around making sure Sky wasn’t close by.

“Sorry Bridge, I – I have to go.”

Bridge didn’t need his gloves off to tell Sydney was scared. He could feel the fear rolling off her in waves so when she turned to run the rest of the way back to her room he took off his glove.

Her fear hit him the hardest, but after that he found she was also confused and had feelings of regret and hurt. But what was most strange was that he also felt a very vague life force as well.

He was pretty sure no one else was in the corridor and even if they were, to have that vague of a signature would usually mean someone was pregnant.

He knew he certainly wasn’t pregnant and the only person nearby was Sydney and she wasn’t pregnant…

Bridge needed to find Sky.


----------------------------------------------------

Sky was very predictable and it normally didn’t take long to find Sky.

Tonight was no different.

If he wasn’t in his quarters he would be training, or in this case, thinking.

Bridge knew that Sky had the most thought clarity when training, and right now it looked like Sky had a lot to think about.

At the moment he was, quite frankly, beating the stuffing out of one of the punching bags in the back corner of the training room.

Bridge cautiously walked up to Sky, whose face looked more menacing than when he had been fighting Mirlock.

“You wanna talk about it?”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth Sky took a swing at him.

Now since Bridges resignation from his ranger duties he still kept in very good shape.

He had probably gotten better since the defeat of Gruumm, but at the moment all the training in the world couldn’t stop Sky.

Bridge was barely surviving just dodging Sky’s rapid fire fists, let alone ever getting a counter attack in.

“Sky!”

As Bridge tried to dodge another punch he lost his balance and fell back against the side wall.

He covered his face with his arms, awaiting the final blow.

He flinched when it instead connected with the wall beside his left ear.

Bridge chanced a look from between his arms and saw Sky vacantly staring at his now bleeding knuckles.

Bridge slowly started to relax.

“Sky…”

With that Sky slowly closed his eyes and sunk to his knees, his face in his hands.

The great Sky Tate, holder of the vast majority of records set at SPD, one of the most up and coming greatest red rangers in history, was on his knees crying.


------------------------------------------------------

Sydney was not fairing much better as she threw all of her belongings into boxes and suitcases.

Her tears then disturbed her vision as she hastily filled out her resignation forms.

Even through her tears the entire process took less than two hours.

After everything was packed away she dried her eyes and set off to Cruger’s office.

Once inside his office she wasted no time getting straight to the point.

“I’m resigning, immediately.”

Cruger just stared and considered her for a moment. Her eyes, usually bright and playful, were now void and red from crying.

She was different and something was wrong.

“And your reason for this seemingly spontaneous, rash decision?”

“Personal reasons”

Her tone never changed and her posture never shook.

“Cadet Drew, I’m going to be frank. This is an awful path you’re putting yourself on. You are a gifted officer, a gifted ranger. Your resignation will not help you and whatever personal problem you have.”

“With all due respect sir, this is my decision.”

It was disconcerting seeing Sydney so stoic. She was barely looking him in the eye, merely staring off to the other side of the room. She was starting to remind him of Sky.

“Sydney, I beg you to reconsider, don’t throw away your future.”

He normally wasn’t so emotional towards his cadets, but B Squad had become the children he had never had. He knew that Sydney was more that she appeared. She had to be to have stuck it out this long at SPD. He also knew that she had a secret love of biochemistry and was very brilliant when it came to some of the technology of their mutant abilities. Many scientists had even come to her for advice on experiments of their own and just wanted her input. After her ranger days Cruger planned on asking her to stick around as a scientist.

And now she was throwing that away?

“Who are you running from Syd?”

Sydney visibly flinched at his comment.

Sydney had always assumed Cruger knew something of her and Sky's relationship and had kept quiet about it, but he couldn't know about this. No one could know about this.

“I’m not running from anyone sir.”

“Then why the sudden change?”

Syd sighed and closed her eyes fighting back a wave of tears.

“It’s personal sir.”

Cruger sighed and nodded.

“Very well. You are discharged as of tonight. You can leave in the morning.”

“I actually had planned to leave tonight sir.”

She no longer stared at the wall but straight into his eyes.

“You have appropriate living quarters?”

Sydney looked at her feet.

“Yes sir.”

“Very well, tonight then.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As her hand reached for the door, Cruger called out to her.

“You are always welcome here cadet.”

She gave a small smile as the door closed.

“No I’m not.”

-------------------------------------------

As Sydney took her first steps out of the academy she suddenly realized that despite her claims to Cruger, she had no place to go.

Her only thoughts were of getting away from SPD, getting away from Sky.

But now that she was on the street with the moon slowly rising to its peak in the night sky, she was starting to regret her impulsive decision to leave that night.

She had no where to go, no where to live.

She couldn’t go home, couldn’t get an apartment this late at night, and with the annual New Tech cultural festival this upcoming weekend, all the hotels would be full.

There was only one option.

She walked the long road up to his doorstep.

She was armed with only a duffle bag of essentials. She was still unsure of how she was going to get the rest of her stuff out of SPD. Maybe she could get Bridge to help her out with that. But that was a project for tomorrow.

Now though, she was standing on his doorstep.

She hated coming to him, groveling for a place to stay, but she had no choice at the moment. She rung the doorbell hoping he was still awake.

So much for false hope.

He opened the door with a yawn.

“Syd?” he said through bleary eyes “What are you doing here?”

She took a deep breath as she replied.

“I need your help Jack.”

Chapter Four - Home Alone

Jack’s business of giving clothes and food to the homeless of New Tech was doing very well. He had gotten a lot of community support and the company was still going strong after this long.

He and Aly had even bought a small old warehouse which they had turned into apartments for people who weren’t fit to live on the streets.

It was not a large place by any means but it was comfortable.

When you walked into the metal entry way, it still had the look of a metal warehouse but with a homey touch.

The common room was the first thing you noticed, with a few mismatched couches, an old television set, and a sound system.

When you looked up instead of a ceiling you would find metal catwalks crossing to either side of the building.

There were also catwalks surrounding the warehouse walls. Sydney could only assume that the doors that were also surrounding the warehouse were apartments.

It was an unconventional home but a home all the same. Jack fit in well here.

“What do you need Syd, are you okay?”

Jack had concern etched across his face.

“Jack, I’m fine, I just need a place to crash for a few days until I get my own apartment.”

Jack sighed and ushered her inside. This was going to be an interesting conversation.

Suddenly, Aly’s voice could be heard from the second floor balcony.

“Jack is everything alright… Sydney,” her voice changed from concern to confusion. “Sydney, should I set a room up for you?”

“Oh no Aly. I just need a place to crash for a few nights, I can just sleep on a couch or something, I don’t want to take up a room that someone needs more than me.”

Jack knew someone was up now.

The Sydney he knew would never take an old couch over a bed.

This was big.

“Nonsense. We still have a lot of rooms with it being summer and all and you are welcome to stay as long as you want. I’ll get a room ready for you.”

And with that, Aly turned and went into another room.

Jack chuckled. “Just take the room. There’s no stopping Aly when she gets started.”

Syd gave a small laugh and started to look around, all the while ringing her hands together, nervous about the next question she was sure he was going to ask.

“Syd, what’s wrong?”

“I quit SPD.”

Jack stared at her for a moment.

Looks were deceiving when it came to Sydney Drew. While it didn’t seem like it at first glance, Sydney was just about as devoted to SPD as Sky was. So for her to quit so suddenly and spontaneously was a shock to say the least.

“Any particular reason for it?”

“I’m pregnant.”

Once again in a matter of under thirty seconds she had managed to floor him.

Sydney refused to look at him through her entire confession. Jack thought this was a good thing seeing as his jaw was now on the floor.

“Um, well, uh, congratulations?”

“This is a disaster Jack, congratulations are not in order.”

She looked up at him with a sad face and went to sit down on the couch to then put her head in her hands.

Jack didn’t know what to say so he merely let her continue.

“My parents disowned me, I had to quit SPD, Z’s not here to talk to, I’m in this alone!”

“What about Sky?”

Sydney looked over at the opposite wall, still avoiding his face.

“He’s not the father.”

Her voice was barely a whisper but he was still sure those were her words.

He sat down on the couch and wrapped his arms around her as she started to cry.

After she had calmed down a bit he asked his next question.

“Who’s the father?”

“He’s, uh, an old friend.”

Jack could hear her tears starting up again so he quickly changed the subject away from the father.

“So, why did you need to quit SPD? I’m sure Cruger would have kept you on as an instructor or something.”

“I just couldn’t stay there!” she shouted before her voice dropped to a whisper again. “I couldn’t face him.”

“Sky?”

Syd merely nodded.

“You’re staying here.”

Syd looked up at his very blatant command.

“Jack, I only need to stay until I can find another apartment.”

“No, you’re living here, a baby’s gonna cost a lot of money and you need every penny.”

“Jack, I’ll survive. I have a lot of money saved up in my savings account and a few trusts that I can get money from. People need this place more than me; I’m not just going to save money when there are people with no money, homeless!”

Jack stood up in front of her and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You can pay for your food but that’s all I’m taking.”

From his tone of voice Sydney could tell she was not moving out of here unless she snuck out and even then he would probably drag her back kicking and screaming.

Sydney sighed.

“Fine, but I’m helping you with the company. I’ll volunteer, go get stuff, ask for donations, anything, but that’s my final offer.”

Jack smiled. “Fine. You look tired, Aly probably has your room set up by now, why don’t you sleep and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.”

Sydney smiled the closest thing to a real smile since the start of this whole ordeal.

“Thanks Jack, you’re amazing you know that?”

Jack flashed her his cocky smile. “Yes, I’ve been told a few times.”

Sydney laughed and shook her head. As she reached for the door knob that would enter her room she turned to Jack.

“Um, Jack, I still have some stuff at the academy and I really don’t want to have to go in there again…”

“Consider it done by tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks Jack.”

As Syd turned back to the door she was startled as it opened to an equally startled Aly.

Aly was the first to gain her composer.

“Your rooms all set up, if you need anything just call.”

“Thanks Aly, you really didn’t need to do this.”

“Oh it’s no trouble at all, stay as long as you like.”

And with a smile and a wave Jack and Aly went into their room and shut the door.

Sydney then entered her room. It was small, but cozy. With a double bed and a chair in the far corner and a small bathroom with only a square standing shower, a toilet and a sink in another corner and a small kitchenette in the closest right corner. It wasn’t much but she could work with it. It was a home now, home to raise her child… alone.
 

Chapter Five - Big Guys Don't Cry

Bridge had never seen Sky cry before.

It was a very disconcerting site, and, truth be told, a little scary as well.

Sky was strong. He was invincible. To see him cry meant something monumental. Something bad.

Bridge, being in such close contact, could feel that Sky was really confused and full of self hatred as well as sadness.

That was also bad. Sky had always been confident, sure of himself. For him to now hate himself was bad.

Bridge was running out of good adjectives to describe this situation. It was just overly bad.

The only thing that Bridge could think of that was the cause would be Sydney and the baby. But why would Sky be sad about a child? Was it his child?

Everyone knew that physical relationships between squad members were off limits but who else could the father be? Bridge had a hunch the two were dating and it wouldn’t surprise him if they were having sex, but a child?

And why would he hate himself for having a child?

Sky had often been disappointed in himself but Bridge had never felt such a deep hatred running through the red ranger’s veins when it was directed at himself.

Bridge was also confused about how to comfort Sky.

This was Syd’s area of expertise, comforting those around her, especially a certain red ranger.

Bridge was the comical one, the mechanical genius, the one anyone would go to for the perfect stack of buttery toast.

“I wasn’t good enough for her.”

Bridge was quickly snapped out of his reverie by Sky’s quiet confession.

“I wasn’t a good enough boyfriend so she had to find it in someone else.”

“Syd? So you guys were dating? I always thought you would be good together but we didn’t actually think it had happened but I guess it did, well not anymore I guess from how upset you are—”

“Damn it, Bridge! She’s pregnant with another man’s baby!”

“…”

Bridge was speechless. He couldn’t remember the last time he was speechless. He couldn’t see Syd doing that, to Sky especially. She had always been in love with him.

Something just sounded wrong about this whole thing.

“Oh well, it doesn’t matter. She said so herself, I’m better off without her.”

“Sky… this doesn’t sound like something Sydney would do, I mean, I know I haven’t really seen her in a while and you probably know her better but this is Syd we’re talking about. Are you sure you got the story right?”

Sky suddenly stood up and started pacing, waving his hands wildly around.

“Yes Bridge I got the story right! Why would she lie? She knows I’d be there. I would never deny my own child!”

“Well maybe you should calm down and try talking to her again…”

“Bridge!” he screamed “Don’t you get it!? It’s not my child! She cheated on me! She’s quitting SPD, going to the father, and having the child that should have been mine! And I’ll never have to see her again!”

And with that he stormed out of the training room and back to his quarters.

Bridge merely stood there rubbing his now throbbing headache. This would be so much easier with Z here.

Z would know what to do. She always knew what to do.

But she was gone for the moment and wasn’t scheduled to be back for another week.

Bridge sighed.

This was going to be a long week and Bridge really hoped Sky wouldn’t kill any one during that time period.

For as much as he would pretend not to care, anyone could tell he was hurt.

Bridge would need to pray for any cadets that were going to have a class with Sky…

Chapter Six - Realizations and Confrontations

-Three months Later-

Adjusting to a new situation was something that Sydney had become accustomed to.

She had to leave her pop star, model, wealthy lifestyle for the life of uniformity, strict guidelines, and bad cafeteria food.

But she had survived.

She was a survivor.

She had no intention of this turning out any differently.

She had to admit though, that she could now understand why Jack left.

She had been helping Jack and Aly with their company all throughout her pregnancy and felt a new sense of worth and meaning. Granted, not as much as when she worked at SPD, but very close.

She got to work more with the people she was dealing with. Saw their gratitude and thankfulness firsthand instead of just through the newspaper articles.

Another plus was that she got to wear whatever she wanted, instead of the drab SPD uniform.

But overall, she was happy with how things were going… at least, considering the circumstances.

Jack and Aly had been overly helpful and providing.

She realized now that it does indeed take a village to raise a baby.

Aly and Sydney had already gone out baby shopping and had a small corner of Sydney’s apartment set up for its arrival.

Jack had even come with Sydney to the doctor for her ultrasound. He was even kind enough to go out at three in the morning for monkey chunk ice cream when she was having a craving.

As for the rest of her friends, Sydney really had had little contact with them.

Bridge had tried to talk to her multiple times but she had been evasive about the issues and ended up making an excuse for her hasty departures.

Z had come back and also tried to talk to her, being a bit more successful than Bridge in getting some information, but it was still difficult to talk about for Syd.

Sydney had had no contact with Sky since they last talked, when she told him he wasn’t the father. She had tried to pick up the phone and call him so many times but each time she chickened out the moment she heard his voice.

“Hey Syd, can you do me a favor?”

Jack’s voice startled Syd as she was sitting in his office. She was acting as secretary while he was out with Aly helping to build a new shelter downtown.

“Umm, sure Jack, name it.”

“Well, you see, you’re really not gonna like it but I really need you, and if I could ask anyone else I would but I can’t and this needs to be done today—”

“Jack, you’re sounding like Bridge, just tell me what you need.”

Jack sighed and looked at his newly cleaned desk. Syd really was good to have around.

“Look, someone from SPD called and donated some stuff to the shelter. They can’t take it here, though, and Aly and I can’t get away from the construction.”

“Jack you know I can’t do that,” Sydney whined. “Have someone else do it, or just go get it later.”

“Syd, I can’t have someone else get it, they don’t know the complex like you do, and you know how SPD regulations require that anything kept out for over a day is trashed. I need this Syd, this is a lot of stuff that will be good for the shelter.”

“Jack, I’m five months pregnant, I can’t be lifting all those boxes.”

“I know, that’s why I need to you to supervise. I called Cruger and he said that he can spare a few cadets to carry stuff for you and all you need to do is tell them where to put it and drive the truck.”

Sydney stared with her arms crossed and a look of reluctance on her face. Once in a while a group of cadets would get clothes, equipment, and sometimes even furniture together and donate it to Jack’s shelter, knowing that he was a past SPD Red Ranger. They usually had a lot of stuff but it had to be packaged and given to the shelter quickly because of lack of space at SPD.

“Look Syd, I talked to Z and she said that he will be training some C Squad cadets until three, so that gives you three hours. That’s plenty of time.”

Sydney sighed. Knowing full well the he he was talking about

“Where are the keys to the truck?”


-----------------------------------------------

Sydney was ready to kill Jack.

When Jack said that Cruger had gotten some cadets to help he didn’t mention that Cruger had only gotten four cadets to help her with over fifty boxes of clothes, two couches, an old food replicator, a half dozen end tables, and a large multi heater.

No wonder he gave her the big truck.

So not only did it take longer than three hours, but she had to help carry some of the lighter boxes as well.

And that’s how Sky found her four and half hours after starting.

Actually, found her isn’t so accurate of a term, more like ran into her.

Thankfully Sydney was not knocked down but the box she was holding full of clothes fell to the floor, its contents now strewn across the hall.

Sky immediately went to the floor trying to pick up the lost contents.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you and—”

He finally looked up at her standing before him, her eyes sporting the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.

Sky immediately looked at her stomach, a small lump protruding from it before he quickly looked away.

Desperate to fill the awkward silence Sky started the conversation.

“So, is this for Jack and Aly’s shelter?”

She was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to make of this situation before she answered.

“Umm, yea, I’ve been helping them out, volunteering for them, and Jack asked me to get some stuff, from here, today.”

She was rambling and she knew it. All she could think to do was smile sheepishly and look down.

Suddenly though, Sky became angry.

“Wait, so Jack is letting you carry this stuff while you’re pregnant?!”

This was not a reaction Sydney had been expecting.

“Sky, it’s not heavy, I’m fine. I know my limitations.”

This did not seem to settle his insecurities.

“Yes, you know your limitations but you’ve never been pregnant before and it’s different. You shouldn’t be lifting anything in your state! I can’t believe Jack let you do this. He’s been reckless and irresponsible before but this?!”

He continued his rant by throwing the clothes into the box all the while mumbling about Jack and nerve of him and such.

To say Sydney was surprised would be an understatement. He was mad at Jack for letting her carry a box? She would have thought that he would have given her the box and walked away as fast as he could, but after he had put all the clothes back in the box he picked it up and asked her where the truck was, all the while mumbling about Jack.

After he had put the box in the truck and had closed the door he looked at her again.

“Jack didn’t let you drive the truck here too, did he?”

Sydney looked sheepish and replied quietly.

“Sky, I’m pregnant, not physically handicapped.”

Sky huffed.

“Give me the keys, I’m driving you home.”

Sydney was outraged. How dare he treat her like a child!

“Sky I drove the SPD jeep through massive explosions, I think I can handle a U-Haul truck through five PM rush hour!”

“Sydney, just give me the keys and I won't have to talk to you again.”

They both seemed to calm down at that statement.

Sydney just stared in his eyes, so full of hurt and anguish. Hurt and anguish that she had caused.

She took the keys out of her jean pockets and placed them in his outstretched hand before heading for the passenger door.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ride home was quiet. The only sound that permeated the air was the quiet lull of whatever radio station was playing in the cabin of the truck.

Sky’s thoughts raced. He knew that she could take care of herself but now she had a baby to take care of as well and she had to be extra careful. Why was the father letting her do this? She should be at home getting anything she wanted from this man. Not sitting here, with him, in a truck, bringing clothes back to Jack’s shelter.

And why in the world was she still so drop dead gorgeous?!

“So where are you living now?” he asked with a timid voice.

He didn’t know why he wanted to know. He just needed to know that she was being taken care of.

“I’m living in one of Jack and Aly’s apartments in the old warehouse they restored.”

Sky’s eyes got very wide at this and he even took his eyes off the road for a moment to merely stare at her while she kept her gaze straight ahead.

“But... where… I mean, the father? You’re living… in one of their homeless shelters? You should…”

“Sky, I’m fine, I like it there, and Jack and Aly are great. Once in a while there are some other people living there too, usually single mothers, and I like talking to them. I’m fine.”

“But… what about the father? Why aren’t you living with him?”

Sky still could not seem to get a grasp on the situation. Sydney did not live in places that were the equivalent to a homeless shelter, even one owned by Jack and Aly.

“I, uh, never told him.”

Sydney was suddenly afraid that Sky would swerve off the road at that confession.

“You WHAT?!”

“Sky, he doesn’t need to know. I’m fine.”

“Who the hell are you trying to convince Syd? Me or yourself?”

They had finally reached the warehouse where they would drop the stuff off.

As Sydney opened the door and moved to get out she turned to Sky.

“Sky, it’s my problem let me deal with it in my own way. Thank you for helping me out.”

She climbed down, closed the door and went off to talk to the men that would unload the truck.

Sky waited a moment to get his bearings together before he jumped out of the truck.

It was still light out and a nice day so he decided to walk back to SPD. It wasn’t long, only three or four miles, and he would still be back in time for the end of dinner.

It was also a route that went right past Jack’s office.

“Jack, what the hell where you thinking letting Sydney carry those boxes today?!”

“Hey to you to Sky.”

After having plenty of time to sort his thoughts on the walk to Jack's office, Sky had already set out his speech.

“I’m serious Jack, I run into her today, first off, surprised as hell that she’s there, holding a heavy box of clothes no less!”

Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Sky, I never told her to carry anything, and if she was carrying something I think she knows her limits.”

“.. and then to find out that she’s living in one of your apartments?! Where’s the father? Why haven’t you encouraged her to tell the father?! The baby needs a father!”

It really was fruitless for Jack to continue arguing when Sky had clearly already made up his mind about the entire situation but he tried anyway.

“Sky I have told her to tell the father but I can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do. And as for the apartment, she came to me, asked to crash for a night, and I gave her a place to live instead.”

“… and I still can’t believe that you let her carry that stuff, she could have hurt herself! She’s six months pregnant for god’s sake!”

“Wait, what?”

"I said she's six months pregnant, Jack, and you still let her carry those boxes!"

"Six months?"

“Yes, Jack, six months, you'd think you'd know more, living with her and all, and yet you still let her carry all those boxes for you! I can’t believe you would be that irresponsible—”

Sky continued to shout at him for another fifteen minutes. As usual, Jack merely zoned out thinking of other things. Something was wrong with this whole scenario. He needed to talk to Sydney

After Jack had sufficiently assured Sky that Sydney would no longer carry anything heavier than a pillow, Sky headed back to the academy.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Jack made a phone call.

“Hey Syd, will you meet me at Lily’s in ten to have dinner?... Alright cool…Cya there.”

He had a few questions for his best friend, and they would best be answered on a full stomach.


------------------------------------------------

Dinner was amazing as usual. Lily’s had the cheapest good food in downtown New Tech but it was hard to find unless you knew where to look.

Jack of course only knew it because it was the only place that wouldn't throw things at him when he begged for scraps at the kitchen door.

Jack waited until after dinner to start the conversation he was sure would probabley end badly.

“So Sky came to me today, said he ran into you at SPD…”

Sydney laughed a little and flipped her blond curls over her shoulder.

“Yea, yelled at me for carrying a box of clothes, and then yelled at you for letting me.”

“Yes well, Sky seems to think that you are six months pregnant, but when I last talked to you, you said that you had just reached five months.”

Sydney’s face immediately dropped from her carefree smile to a look of fear.

“Well, he must have heard wrong or not counted right. I haven’t talked to him in three months Jack.”

“We both know that’s a lie Syd. Sky doesn’t forget things like that.”

“Well then maybe you heard him wrong!”

Sydney was flustered and Jack knew it.

“Syd, I asked him twice, he knew what he was saying. But what I want to know is why you’re so adamant that one of us heard wrong.”

“I’m not adamant about anything Jack!”

“Then why are you yelling, people are staring.”

Sydney looked around and found that yes indeed people were looking at them, curious to the couples quarrel. She suddenly quieted and looked down at her hands.

“What did you tell him?”

“If you mean, did I correct him? No I didn’t, I wanted to talk to you first and find out why he thinks you’re six months pregnant when truly, you’re only five months along.”

Sydney stayed quiet for a few minutes before looking in her purse and taking out some money.

“I’ll pay for my own dinner.”

She pushed the money in front of him before quickly getting up and leaving the restaurant.

Jack sighed before digging in his pocket and slamming a few bills on the table as well. He was soon chasing after Sydney.

“Syd, Syd, come on, talk to me. What’s really going on here, Syd?”

“Just leave me alone Jack!”

Who knew that a pregnant woman could walk so fast?

He ran up to her and grabbed her arm to face him.

“Syd, why does Sky think that you are six months pregnant?”

“Jack just drop it.”

“No Syd, you’ve been vague about who the father was this entire time. I’m one of you’re best friends and that list really seems to be dwindling lately. Just tell me what’s going on!”

Sydney was stubborn but everyone knew that Jack was too, maybe more so. He was determined to find out what Sydney was hiding.

“Sydney, come on, why does Sky think you’re six months pregnant?!”

Syd whirled around to face him.

“Because he needed to be sure that he wasn’t the father!!!”

She screamed her response and was now breathing heavily. Other people nearby gave them odd looks before moving on. Jack couldn’t think what to do, he merely kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to think of something intelligent to say. It was Sydney who first gained her bearings.

She sighed and started walking again, staring only at the ground.

“We started to become physical five months ago; I guess that’s when I conceived. I just needed to make him think that there was no chance he was the father, so I added a month.”

Jack still wasn’t all that sure what to say about this so he just asked the obvious question.

“Ummm, okay, why?”

Sydney sighed but continued quietly.

“Sky does not need a child right now, he’s in the peak of his career, he’s got everything he’s ever worked for! It would be selfish of me to take everything from him because of this.”

After the initial shock had worn off Jack became angry. He did not think he had ever been so mad at Sydney in his life. Her logic was all wrong. The Sky he knew would love having a child, especially a child with Sydney, the love of his life. The fact that it was unplanned would only prove to be a minor setback, a reason to re-strategize, nothing more.

Jack tried to calm down, he needed to be calm to talk to her.

“Sydney, what are you thinking? This is Sky’s child! You have to let him decide this.”

Sydney spun around to face him, her eyes flashing with anger.

“Yes Jack, it is Sky’s child. But the fact that it is Sky’s means that he broke the rules. He broke SPD regulations to have a physical relationship with a member of the same squad, with me!”

Her eyes were now beginning to mist over with tears.

“He will be dishonorably discharged from SPD, from his dream! All because I told him to give in to me and his desires.”

Jack looked on her with pity as she continued her rant.

“I will not be looked on, in five years, with eyes full of regret! I will not put my child through that! At least this way he keeps his dreams and I get my child!”

She ended with tears streaming down her now clear face, devoid of any makeup, looking exhausted.

Jack took her in his arms as she continued to sob.

“You know,” he said, still holding her, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Sky as happy as he was whenever he was with you.”

She looked up at him still not convinced.

“Sydney, he has other dreams than just making it to red ranger. He wants to settle down at some time with a wife and a family, he wants that with you.”

Sydney sighed.

“Jack, I’ve thought about this…”

“Syd, you gave this no thought! You came to me mere hours after you found out you were pregnant!”

Sydney was once again angry. He wasn’t listening, he didn’t understand, no one could.

“Jack, I made a split second decision. Like I’ve been trained to do since I started at the academy. I thought about everyone involved and this is the decision I came to. And every day since then I have gone over my thought process again and again! Don’t tell me I didn’t think this through! I’ve been thinking about it almost every second of every day for the past five months!”

Sydney took a deep breath before continuing.

“This is my decision and my decision alone, Jack. I would… appreciate it if you didn’t mention this to anyone. That includes Aly, Z, Bridge and especially Sky. If I do decide to tell anyone it will be of my own accord.”

“Syd, you can’t just not tell anyone…”

Sydney was beginning to get angry again.

“Jack, I swear to God, if you tell anyone I will go so far away where you can never find me and I will never talk to you again!”

It was a pitiful argument and they both knew it, but they also knew that Sydney would do as she threatened without a second thought. She would do what she wanted and Jack could do nothing except sit back and watch helplessly.

Jack sighed.

“Come on, lets get home, Aly will be waiting.”

Sydney made no move to follow him.

“Jack, I need your word. You need to swear to me that no one will know about this.”

“Syd…”

“Your word Jack!”

He was silent as he contemplated his options. Sky deserved to know. Syd deserved a husband. He deserved not to be on Sky’s hit list.

“I won’t tell.”

Sydney smiled.

“Thank you so much Jack—”

“But you should still tell him.”

Sydney’s face once again fell. Jack was satisfied to stare back until he turned around and started heading home, Sydney right behind him.

Chapter Seven - Abundant Uncertainties

Sky’s fears had still not been eased.

Jack was doing an awful job with Sydney. He should be getting her to open up, figure out who the father was.

Instead she was lifting heavy boxes, driving huge trucks, and living alone.

In any case, if Jack wasn’t going to find out who the father was, Sky would.

It really wouldn’t be difficult, just a simple matter of checking the entrance log to see who requested to see Syd about six months ago.

Really, why didn’t he think of this earlier?

So Sky set to work.

With his status as Red Ranger it was easy enough to get the documents without too much eyebrow raising. Now just came the tedious work of combing through them without mistakes.

A simple task for one such as himself.

Sky continued to look through the files for a couple of hours. Looking for anyone that had come to academy asking for Sydney. He even extended the time period a bit.

No one out of the ordinary ever came to see her; a few visits from her mother, father, some of her spoiled rich girl friends, no one that could be the father of her child.

Well maybe the guy didn’t come to the academy. Maybe she went to meet him. Yea, that sounded plausible.

Every time SPD personnel came or left the academy they had to use a card and swipe that through the system as well as provide a hand and retina scan.

This was to make it harder for intruders to infiltrate SPD.

It also made it easier for Sky to see when Sydney left the academy.

So after retrieving some more files he set to work.

Searching, once again, for any signs of Sydney’s name.

It proved to be futile as well because even after double and triple checking his work, he could find nothing out of the ordinary.

Every departure or arrival coordinated with times that friends or family had stopped by.

There had been a few others but after a closer observation, proved to be times that he and Sydney had gone out together.

Maybe she had snuck out. It would be difficult but do-able.

But when he looked back at what she had said she told him that she hadn’t expected it to happen. It had just been a date with an old friend and they just went back to his place for coffee.

Why would she need to sneak out for that?

Unless she lied.

Maybe it wasn’t an old friend at all but someone she knew.

She had been shady about the entire father thing in general

Who was to say she didn’t make up the entire “old friend” thing altogether?

Well the only people that she really knew that she wouldn’t have to leave the academy for were SPD personnel.

She didn’t seem overly close to any cadet in general lately.

And she hadn’t acted weird around any cadet or vice versa.

After an incident like that you would assume that someone would act differently around the other.

So that just left the people she was closest too.

Him, Bridge and Jack.

She had already established that it wasn’t him.

Bridge would never bend his allegiance to Z plus he was very bad with guilt and would have cracked by now.

That left Jack.

It had been odd that she ran to Jack first and was still basically living with him.

But if it was him wouldn’t it be weird with Aly around?

But who else could it be?

Jack had been to the academy to get some stuff for the shelter six months ago so something could have happened between them.

Would they both betray him like that?

Jack had always known that Sky had liked Sydney.

But there was no doubt that Sydney was a knockout.

Every guy at the academy had wanted her at some point in time. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that Jack liked her too. They did have that mission together on her birthday.

Every second that went by had Sky convinced that Jack was the father.

And every second that Sky thought Jack was the father had Sky’s anger getting closer and closer to boiling over.

Suddenly he lashed out and punched the nearest wall. A large dent was apparent the second he pulled his hand back and his knuckles now had a thin coat of blood covering them.

The blood was strangely calming.

To see the dark red substance dripping through his fingers had a euphoric effect on him.

He couldn’t understand the feeling and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

He just knew that he didn’t want to clean up the blood just yet.

Instead of cleaning the blood up or punching anymore walls out, he decided on a walk.

Sky wasn’t really sure where he was going he just decided that his feet would take him where he was meant to go and that would be that.

He ended up at the park.

A favorite spot of his and Syd’s… when they were together.

He knew he was getting delusional when he saw a petite blond at the foot of the creek they often sat at.

She was even sitting under the leaning cherry tree that they would always sit against.

Syd use to always fit so perfectly up against him as he sat with his back against the tree just talking or sometimes just sitting in silence, enjoying each others company.

As he drew closer to the famed spot he realized that he wasn’t delusional and that it really was Sydney up against the cherry tree.

As he approached her she smiled and blushed, still uncomfortable around him despite their long friendship before her pregnancy.

It was then that she noticed his bloody hand. It was no longer freely bleeding but the blood was still there having not been washed off or taken care of in any way.

“Oh my God Sky, what happened to your hand?”

“Oh, well, I, uh, ran into a door.”

Sydney looked at him with a look of obvious disbelief. Everyone had their moments of klutziness but Sky was an exception. He never even tripped over his own feet.

“You shouldn’t have left it go like that.” She replied and immediately took his hand and began to drag him down to the creek.

While the creek water certainly wouldn’t be the best thing for a wound, it needed to be washed up.

When they got to the edge of the small creek Sydney sat down on her knees and began taking off her white cotton jacket, revealing the blue maternity short sleeved shirt.

She wet the sleeve of the jacket and began to wipe the blood off of Sky’s hand. He resisted at first to her touch but soon came to enjoy the small ministrations and feel of her soft hand beneath his.

The excess blood was soon gone and his hand now clean. Sydney dropped his hand placing her own in her lap and looked down. Talking to him used to be so easy. Now she was even afraid to bring up the weather.

“You could have just told me who the father was.”

Sydney snapped her head up at this comment.

“…What do you mean?”

She was suddenly scared.

Jack couldn’t have told him. He promised he wouldn’t tell.

“I wouldn’t have gotten mad, I just wanted to know.”

“Sky, I, who told you?”

Sky looked at her, pain clearly written in his eyes.

“No one told me, Syd, I figured it out on my own. I just wish you would have told me.”

Sydney’s heart started to race. Her breathing becoming ragged. He was never supposed to find out.

“Sky, I’m sorry, you never supposed to know, I was just trying to protect—”

“Does Aly know?”

Syd was confused at this statement. Why would Aly care that Sky was the father.

“I mean that’s got to put a strain on her and Jack’s relationship, now that he’s going to be a father.”

Sydney closed her eyes and smiled. Her heart and breathing rate returning to normal.

Finally she looked up at Sky, shook her head still smiling.

“Sky… Jack is not the father of my child nor will he ever be the father of my child. Jack’s one of my best friends and in a serious relationship, I would never want to ruin that.”

Sky sat there contemplating for a moment.

Jack wasn’t the father.

While relieving as that information was it also posed more questions. Who else could the father be? And if she didn’t want to ruin Jack and Aly’s relationship by starting her own relationship with Jack, then why did she ruin her own relationship with him by cheating on him with an unknown stranger?

Sky suddenly remembered something she had said.

“Who are you trying to protect by not telling me the father?”

Syd looked startled by the question but quickly composed herself.

“Sky, please let it go, let me handle this.”

Sky sighed.

“Syd, you can’t do this alone, you need someone to help you and not just Jack and Aly. This baby needs a father and I want to know that you’ll be taken care of.”

Sydney closed her eyes to repress the tears.

Why couldn’t he hate her? She had done one of the worst things you could ever do to Sky Tate. She betrayed him. Not only that but she betrayed his heart. He trusted her to faithful and she had gone and stabbed him in the back.

At least that’s what he thought.

She had been sure, so utterly sure that she would tell him he wasn’t the father and he would leave, not SPD but her. He would be polite in social situations but nothing cordial, nothing that could ever be confused with affection. And yet here he was telling her that he wanted her to be happy, comfortable, even after everything she had done.

He was being too wonderful for his own good.

She was doing this for him, damnit and he wasn’t making it any easier!

“Who’s the father Sydney? Please tell me. Tell me and I’ll leave you alone.”

He was quiet for a few moments before he continued in a whisper.

“I just need to know who will look at your beautiful face every morning and get the life that I wanted.”

She wanted to tell him.

Wanted to shout at him that he was the father. That she would never betray him by cheating on him with another man. Other men didn’t even come close to what she had sitting right in front of her.

She wanted to tell him.

But he had a job. An amazing job that he had worked his entire life to get to. He did not deserve a dishonorable discharge at her expense.

He might say that he didn’t regret his decision but he would. He would regret getting his fling of a girlfriend pregnant and needing to quit his job to be a father.

She didn’t want to see that look of regret aimed towards her, and especially towards her child.

She couldn’t let anything deter her from her plan, she would only regret it in the end and she planned to live her life with no regrets.

“Sky, I can take care of myself and that’s what I plan to do. Please move on, you deserve better. Just forget about me, forget about the baby, and move on.”

She hated walking away from him and it was getting harder each time she did it. She seemed to be walking away from a lot of people lately.

Why could no one understand why she was doing this? This was the best thing for everyone and yet everyone was trying to change her decision.

She was doing the right thing.

All for him.

And those were her thoughts as she once again stood up and walked away from the only man that had ever been for her.


Chapter Eight - Listening Through the Open Door

-Four Months Later- 2:34 AM-

Bridge and Z were talking quietly in the common room in the early hours of the morning.

Z had just come back from another mission and was causally enjoying a rare quiet moment with her boyfriend in the quietness of the empty common room.

The topic of conversation was quite obvious; in fact, it was a popular conversation starter all around the academy.

Because when a woman such as Sydney Drew leaves the academy, the population takes notice; especially the male population.

“I don’t know Bridge the entire thing just doesn’t make sense.”

Z was continually fretting about the position of her best friend, because despite their petty arguments, Z had gained a soft spot for her pink roommate and was very frustrated that even through the seven months she had known about Sydney’s pregnancy, Sydney had let nothing slip.

Z suspected that Jack knew who the father was because he had suddenly stopped talking about the issue with her. This concerned Z even more.

“Z, you of all people know how stubborn Syd can be, I mean she’s been your roommate ever since you came here and everyone knows you two didn’t get along very well at first. If she doesn’t want to tell us she won’t. I think we just need to let her go, support her and let her do her own thing.”

“And what about Jack? Why isn’t he talking to me about it anymore?”

“Z, she is living in one of his apartments, maybe she told him—”

Z suddenly gasped and stood up so fast that she knocked Bridge off the couch.

“What if Jack’s the father?!”

She was almost in hysterics over the fact and suddenly started pacing around the empty common room.

Bridge rolled his eyes in his position on the floor.

“Jack is not the father Z.”

Z stopped pacing. That was the shortest sentence she had ever heard him say.

Bridge continued.

“Well, you said you thought that Jack knows who the father is right? Well, if he does and it is him, why would Aly still be there? Jack would never be able to stay in a relationship like that without telling her the truth and yet she’s still there and living with Jack. And Aly doesn’t strike me as the type of girl that would stick around despite all that.”

Z was dumbfounded. Bridge was making sense.

She quickly shock her head and brought herself back to the subject at hand.

“Well if Jack’s not the father than who is?”

Bridge shrugged and sat back down on the couch.

So much for making sense.

Z sighed and sat down as well arms crossed across her chest. The entire situation was extremely frustrating to her.

Bridge thought she had dropped the subject after a few minutes of silence. He himself had given up on finding out who the father was. Sydney knew how to handle herself and she also knew that Bridge would help her if she needed it, and he wasn’t doing any good to her by patronizing her constantly.

“She told Sky that the father was an old friend, right? But Sky checked the files and found that she hasn’t gone anywhere unusual and no one out of the ordinary has come to visit her, right?”

Bridge sighed. “Yes Z, that’s what Sky said.”

Silence once again.

Bridge was contemplating making himself a batch of buttery toast when Z spoke up once more.

“What if Syd lied?”

“Z, why would Syd lie? What does she have to lie about? We’re all friends here, she doesn’t have to hide anything from us.”

“But what if she was lying to protect someone?”

Z was just staring at the opposite wall, obviously thinking but not seeing.

She started to get very excited, Bridge decided to stay silent and let her finish.

Then it happened. Z squealed. Bridge didn’t think anything that girly had ever come past Z’s lips before. She sounded like Syd after finding the “cutest little pink dress EVER!”

“Oh my gosh, Bridge! Sky’s the father!!!”

She practically screamed it. Bridge was surprised, and slightly scared, at this new side of Z.

“Bridge, it totally make sense! Syd doesn’t want Sky to know he’s the father because it would break the rules and ruin his career!”

“What rule? Why would it ruin his career?”

“She didn’t tell him because he would obviously want to claim it but he’d have to quit being red ranger!”

“Why would he quit?”

“And this explains why she seems to be a late in her delivery of the baby. If what Sky believes is true she’s already nine and a half months pregnant, but if she added a month she’s really only eight months pregnant!”

“Wait, she’s late in delivery?”

“I mean, with the handbook code of no relationships within teams, he would be dishonorably discharged from SPD, forever!”

“You read the handbook? There’s a no-relationship code?!”

“So now Syd’s gonna raise the baby alone so that Sky can continue his dream.”

“Wait, you read the handbook? AND there’s a no-relationship code!?”

“Bridge,” Z whined. “why aren’t you more interesting in my theory?”

Bridge was starting to get hysterical.

“Because you read the handbook! And apparently there’s a no-relationship code! So that means that we’re breaking the rules! We’re going to be dishonorably discharged and put out on the streets and we won’t have any money and we couldn’t buy toast or food or clothes or toast!”

“Calm down Bridge. The code is only for people that are on the same team or squad, because apparently it would put the rest of team in jeopardy. I think it’s just a stupid rule personally. So relax, no one is being discharged or going without toast.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“So, what do you think about my theory?”

“What theory?”

Z smacked her hand to her forehead and sighed. She was glad to be back.


---------------------------------------

Unknown to Bridge and Z, Sky had been standing in hallway when he heard Z’s scream that he was the father.

He had been listening and Z’s theory made sense, even if Bridge didn’t see it.

Sydney would do anything to help him get his dream, she had told him so even when they were just friends. But to go to the extent of this?

Didn’t she know that she was more important than his dream to be red ranger? More important than SPD?

He needed to talk to her.

And as much as he wanted to go over to her right this second, he knew she would be asleep, especially with the baby.

He would talk to her in the morning, first thing.

He wouldn’t let her go through this alone, not matter her protests about him being red ranger.

He wouldn’t abandon her, or their baby, ever.

Chapter Nine - Nothing Worthwhile is Ever Easy

Sky woke up early the next morning.

Earlier than usual that is.

He had run out of things to do by 5:30, that included getting ready, morning workout, showering, eating breakfast and finishing all his reports that were due next week.

Now he was bored and restless.

And he still didn’t know what he was going to say once he went over to Syd’s.

He had barely slept last night just thinking of the countless conversations that he could possibly have with her about this.

He didn’t know if she would be mad, excited, angry, frightened, relieved, or any combination of them.

He just hoped she didn’t run.

That would be the worst possible case scenario.

He wasn’t sure if he could find her if she didn’t want to be found.

Sky still wasn’t entirely positive that he was indeed the father of Sydney’s child, but (as much as he hated to admit it) Z made a lot of sense.

Syd had been sketchy from the beginning about the father but Z’s theory put everything together.

He was really quite embarrassed that he hadn’t thought of it before Z; he equated it to emotional stress from Syd leaving.

The next three hours were spent planning out possible conversation scenarios in his head until Sky felt it was acceptable to go over and talk to Sydney.

Once in front of her door though, he started having second thoughts.

What if he really wasn’t the father?

What if she was just quiet about the father because it was nobody’s business?

What if she just didn’t want him to be the father?

Just as he was thinking of leaving, her door opened and out came… Jack?

Jack and Sky were content to stare at each other for a few seconds before Sky was the first to react.

He grabbed Jack by his shirt and shoved him against the door frame, anger evident on his face.

“What the hell are you doing in Syd’s apartment?!”

Jack was unable to react to Sky’s sudden outburst. He had not even fully comprehended that Sky was even there… at Sydney’s apartment… at 8:30 in the morning.

“Sky? What the hell are you doing at Syd’s apartment?”

“I – I – came to talk to her! Now what are you doing here?”

“Syd forgot her key and Aly and I are going to be out for most of the day, I had to use my master key to get in and then find her own key. Can you let me down now?”

Sky visibly calmed down tremendously after that. He even managed to look a bit sheepish as well.

As Jack was brushing himself off and smoothing out his shirt Sky spoke up.

“Um – where is Syd?”

Jack didn’t look up; content to finish smoothing out the wrinkles on his red t-shirt.

“She had a doctors appointment today, short checkup, and Aly and I have to go to Techwell today to help with a neighboring shelter’s annual soup kitchen.”

“I know who the father is.”

Jack dropped Sydney’s key and immediately stopped messing with his shirt.

“Wh- what?”

“I’m the father, right?”

Jack’s jaw had dropped to the floor. He didn’t know what to say. This was the one thing he didn’t want to deal with. He knew that helping Syd keep this secret was going to be trouble, but did he listen to himself? NO!

Sky knew he was right. Jack's face was enough to convince anyone.

Jack sighed. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”


--------------------------------

It was a silent ride to their destination, the only point where anything was said at all was when the car came to a standstill in the middle of city traffic and even then they only spoke to quietly curse under their breath.

The reason for the traffic jam was due to four car pileup a mile up the road, and still two miles away from the hospital with no other route until a turnoff, seven blocks up the road.

“Shit.” Sky cursed again and slouched in the passenger seat.

At that moment Jack’s cell phone started to vibrate. As he looked at the caller ID he unconsciously glanced over at Sky. It was Sydney.

“Hey Syd, look I know I’m taking a while with the key but there’s a major traffic jam and I— Syd what’s wrong”

Jack suddenly had a concerned look on his face.

“Jack what’s wrong with Syd?” Sky was erect in his seat also looking concerned.

“Syd, come on, talk to me why are you crying?”

“She’s crying? Jack why is she crying?”

Jack rolled his eyes at Sky and continued to try and talk to a sobbing Sydney.

“Wait, you’re what?! No, no, no you’re not due for another two weeks why are they inducing labor!?”

“They’re WHAT?!”

“The baby’s upside down?”

“There’s something wrong with the baby?!”

Jack covered the phone with his hands.

“Sky, I recognize that this is your child and you’re worried about Sydney and I’m going to say this in the nicest way possible considering your situation… Shut. The hell. Up.”

Sky turned towards the road and crossed his arms over his chest and sulked. He was planning all the possible ways that he could run Jack over with his zord while also trying to listen in on their phone conversation.

“Syd, Syd, you need to calm down. The doctors will take care of you and I’ll be there as soon as I possibly can, okay. Just remember all the breathing techniques you learned, you’ll be fine. You’re strong.”

Jack closed the phone and sighed.

Sky was immediately snapped out of his brooding.

“Alright what’d she say!?”

“The ultra sound found that the baby is trying to come out upside down. They’re inducing labor because they say it’s big enough and it’s easier to turn around now. The doctors are going to start in the next ten minutes.”

“Well we’re never gonna get there in time what are we gonna do?!”

Jack sighed again and slammed his hands against the steering wheel.

“I don’t know Sky.” He answered quietly.

“Well what about you’re SPD siren?” Sky was grasping at straws.

“Sky, I quit SPD. The only thing they let me keep was the socks and the little packets of soap they gave me.”

“Damn it!”

Sky sat back in his seat again.

“I am going to be at the birth of my child Jack.”

“Well that's very unlikely if you stay in this jeep.”

“You're right.”

And with that Sky open the door and started running, swerving in between cars in a sprint.

Jack smiled.

“Good luck Sky.”


------------------------------------

Syd was in tears.

Not because of the pain from the birth either.

Okay maybe that was a little part of it.

But because of the fact that she was alone.

Jack wasn’t here, Aly wasn’t here, Bridge and Z would be working and she was too scared to call them anyway, and she was pretty sure that Sky wouldn’t want to come. He would do it if she asked him, but he wouldn’t really want to be here and she wasn’t going to force him.

Another contraction hit and she was thrust once more into more pain and more tears.

She once again chose her focus point of the only picture in the entire room.

The picture was of a father and child on a beach with their backs turned facing a setting sun.

The man had short blond hair and was wearing a light blue shirt holding the child in his arms as if protecting them from everything bad, even time which would inevitably cause the moment to end.

It made her think of Sky, and how he would hold their child.

It was a shame it would never come to pass.


---------------------------------------

As the contraction came to an end Sydney was soon aware of a loud commotion happening outside.

The doctor and nurses noticed it too as all their heads turned to stare at the door in silence.

Everyone jumped as the door was slammed open, the voices suddenly magnified. A man was followed by three other nurses as he entered the room, a determined expression on his face.

Sky was not one to be deterred.

He walked over to Sydney’s side, nurses yelling and shouting behind him but all he could see was the woman in front of him, her face glistening with sweat.

Syd looked into his eyes. He knew, he knew everything. She didn’t know how he found out or how she even knew that he knew, but she was glad he was there.

She gave him a small smile before he kissed her, a light but passionate kiss that they had both been without for almost seven months.

The commotion around them ceased but neither noticed.

As they both pulled away for air he was the first to speak.

“Nothing was going to stop me from being by your side.”

She smiled up at him and was about to reply but a contraction intervened.

Syd instead reached out and Sky grabbed her hand.

Her labor lasted two and a half hours. Her baby was turned around without any difficulty and born a healthy seven pounds, twelve ounces and twenty-two inches long.

Jack finally arrived an hour into the birth. He had been picked up by Z and Bridge thanks to SPD intervention on the accident.

Syd was understandably exhausted and had taken a nap.

As she awoke up from her short nap she saw Sky sitting in a chair holding their baby. He seemed to be humming a lullaby and rocking it gently.

As Sydney looked upon the sight she was brought back to the only picture in her room.

After thinking about it she decided that she liked this picture a lot better. You could see Sky’s face, his expression on looking upon such a beautiful sight. He looked like the happiest man in the world.

And on looking just a bit closer you could also see the lines of determination. Determination that nothing would happen to his child. He would protect it from anything that dared to cause it harm.

Syd liked that expression. It made her feel safe, knowing that their child would be just fine.

She was no longer worried about SPD and Sky’s future. She was even wondering why she even considered those things problems. Sky would always love her and their child, even if he had to make a change of lifestyles.

They would be just fine.

Even if it was just her, Sky, and their beautiful newborn daughter.
 

Chapter Ten - Epilogue

Sky was happy.

It didn’t happen too often and when it did he rarely showed anyone, but he was happy.

He finally had everything he wanted.

Really this time.

He and Sydney were together now as husband and wife, their anniversary approaching two years.

They lived in their own house on the outskirts of New Tech.

Sky still worked at SPD, not as red ranger but as a teacher. He taught the new generations of cadets the art of piloting.

Cruger was obviously not happy when he found out two of his best cadets had broken a class one offence of the SPD handbook but after a stern talking too to both Sky and Sydney, he agreed that their past records showed outstanding behavior in the past and he would let the offence slide with only minor punishment.

Sky was demoted but easily gained back his rank within the year.

Sydney was once again offered a position within SPD and this time, after much consideration, she agreed.

She now teaches part time as an instructor in the art of stealth and surveillance.

The rest of her time is spent as a mother, to her and Sky’s beautiful daughter, Gabriella Renée Tate.

Ella for short.

Ella was her mother in every way. She had her luscious blond curls, an oval face and bright blue pools of blue eyes.

But even with her mothers looks, Syd never forgot to remind Sky that Ella had all his mannerisms.

She liked things to be in order, even at the age of three.

Her room was always spotless, and Sydney had even caught her organizing their DVD collection a few times.

She had Sky's pout as well.

When ever something doesn’t go as she plans, she scrunches up her nose just so that Sydney swears she’s an exact replica of Sky.

Ella had a certain weakness, however, that she definitely attained from her mother.

She had her mother’s love of all things having to do with fashion, including makeup.

At the age of three Ella never left the house without a shade of lipgloss on.

Her preschool teachers even expressed concerns at how much she reapplied during storytime.

Sky and Sydney didn’t let her wear any other kinds of makeup at such a young age but on certain occasions Ella could convince her mother to give her a makeover before bedtime (it didn’t take a lot of arm twisting as you can probably imagine.)

And that’s how Sky found them after coming home from a long day at SPD.

They were in Syd and Sky’s room with Ella sitting on the stool of Syd’s vanity table.

Syd was very carefully applying some colorful shade to his daughter’s eyes.

He personally didn’t approve of letting his daughter wear makeup at such a young age. He thought it would teach her that the entire world was all about material things and how you looked.

But then he saw Ella’s face and how it lit up at seeing herself in the mirror and all past thoughts went out the window.

Syd turned out just fine, didn’t she?

Ella was sitting perfectly still as Sydney put on the finishing touches on her eyes.

When Syd had finshed Ella turned around and smiled the same smile that Syd had used that had first attracted Sky to her.

It was then that Ella realized that her father was standing in the doorway.

“Daddy!” She quickly raced over to him and was swept into his open arms. “Daddy, daddy, don’t I look pretty?”

“Ella, I think you’re the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen.”

She giggled and he set her down.

“Now go get yourself ready for bed and I’ll come in and tuck you in.”

“Okay, night mommy!”

Sky and Sydney both chuckled as their child scampered off to her room.

Sky stared at his wife from across the room. He slowly walked over to her and then wrapped his arms around her slim waist.

“I love coming home to this.”

Sydney smiled.

“I love that you can come home to me.”

It was then that Sky kissed her.

He still believed that happy endings were only in fairytales. But his ending was as close as you could get.

The End

 

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