There it was. The inevitable. The inescapable. That little flickering blob of grainy black and white sludge made her puke in front of powerful people. She watched the doc as he worked the machine, but he didn't seem alarmed that anything was wrong. He seemed delighted, in fact. Maybe he was to caught up in playing with his equipment. And Ranger... he was gone over the moon.

She shouldn't have let him see it.

"Ah! There! Knew we were missing something." Putney thumbed a few keys and they got audio. Mostly it was whooshing, but underneath that, in time with the little flicker... "Heartbeat."

"That's right. I know it's hard to make out because it's still early, but here's the head. Right now I'm just measuring crown to rump, that might give us another data point to guess gestational age." He moved the wand for a better and different angle. "Kiddo's running from it. Hold still, baby. Let me measure you."

Another gut punch as Noel realized... It wasn't an "it" at all. It moved. It was trying to get away. Already it had things it wanted, or didn't want. Already it had... feelings.

Ours was what Ranger had breathed in awe. Like it was as easy as adding 1 and 1 and everything would be okay.

"When- How long until you can't do normal things? Running. Lifting weights. Bending over. You know. Cliche pregnancy woes." Basically how long could she sit on this ticking time bomb and maybe pretend it wasn't there?

"Running?" He was typing, rolling a ball connected to the monitor, clicking to mark a spot and measure, and otherwise distracted as he answered. "I've seen ladies in the city marathon who are hella pregnant. You can run recreationally the whole time so far as I know. I think if you keep eating healthy you don't have to sit out of your normal everyday activities. No roller coasters or alcohol. No smoking or drugs. I have a pamphlet if you're interested."

"I'm... interested." She chanced a look at Ranger.

Heartbeat. There was a heartbeat. The sound was odd and not the most readily discernible, but it was there. There was a heartbeat. Each new thing the doctor showed them was one more thing that had Ranger convinced that they needed to keep the baby. It was too real for him to see as not his child. He could see it, hear its heartbeat, and now it was running away from Putney’s probe. A quiet laugh slipped out as Putney tried to get the baby where he needed it to measure it.

Noel asked about how long she could keep up business as usual, activity wise. While he kept working away measuring and doing what Ranger could likely only guess was pregnancy math, Putney answered. He specifically addressed running, but also answered in general. He even said he had a pamphlet if she was interested.

Which she was.

There was an attempt made to control his face and its level of excitement. There really was. The problem was that when Noel said she was interested it pushed Ranger’s already full excitement tank to overflow. So he had a grin, that was powering through his attempts to contain it as his eyes lit up. He knew that he was in favor of Noel having the kid. It seemed Noel was at least entertaining the idea.

”Yeah?” Ranger asked Noel when he wrestled some control of his face. He knew that having that conversation in front of Dr. Putney wasn’t the best place, but talking around it was okay. ”Y’r Interested?” He wanted to know where Noel was on the issue. That seemed about the best way as any to ask while they waited on Putney to do his measured, pregnancy math.

He was so gone, trying not to show it, but totally in love.

On one hand, she was a tiny bit insulted that he loved so easily. On the other hand, she was so into it. If a grainy blobby promise of a baby made him make that face, she could only imagine what the actual thing might do. He'd likely split in two.

The idea was still growing on her, but she couldn't see it, couldn't imagine herself with a child in arms, let alone her child. But him… she could see him. She saw him with the dogs, he would crazy spoil a child. She could watch and fall even harder every time.

The sound of a cruddy printer brought Noel back to the here and now.

"This one is for you."

Noel accepted the black and white. It was just as blobby in still form, but had measurements that said 9w2d and identified the heart rate as 163.

"I'll uh, take it under advisement." Had she even seen a baby in her working memory? Survey said no.

Noel held up the paper for Ranger, trying and failing to be nonchalant. His reactions were everything here. Maybe he'd seen a baby this decade.

There was a little clean up, but really the baby seemed to account for any and all symptoms she'd come in with. She got her pamphlet and her pants. Both of those helped immensely.

Doctor Putney printed something and handed it to Noel. Ranger assumed it was a still from the ultrasound. Noel looked at it before she held it out to Ranger. His guess was correct. Ranger took it and looked at it. Sure, it was not much to look at. Basically a black and white picture with a weird bean in a space… But it was their weird bean in a space!

Ranger rolled his hand closed and placed it in front of his mouth. Their kid. Maybe. Hopefully. What he saw in that picture would one day be a little rugrat in the world. Their rugrat. When he looked from the picture to Noel he saw that she was doing much better to mask anything she felt than he was. That was fine. Ranger could be excited enough for the both of them.

”Thank y’, Dr. Putney.” Ranger said while still looking at the picture

“C’mon, Michael. Call me Charles.”

”Thanks, Charles.”

“You’re welcome. Here’s hoping I don’t see any of your people for a while.”

”I’ll… Uh… Yeah, I’ll see what I can do.”

Putney left the room and Ranger stood there holding the picture and looked to Noel. It was just a bean picture but Ranger could almost see the future. Him, Noel, their bears, and a kid. Maybe a son, maybe a daughter. It didn’t matter, Ranger’s gender preference was ‘healthy’. ”Y’ probably already know what I think about it… I can see a future with us an’ a kid. After seein’ this I- I… Cain’t see it bein’ terminated.”

”How’re y’ feelin’ about it?” Ranger asked as he leaned against the exam table.

It was so cute to see him off kilter. This guy was unflappable and yet here was was. Flappin.

"I think my problem is that I have no experience. Zero. Less than zero maybe? Is that-? Is that possible? I don't have family or experience with family. I can't think back and remember what my mother did with me. I have a hodge-podge of self-satisfied soccer mom memories, but most of that's older kids. But babies? I mean, they don't come out walking and talking. I haven't even seen? A baby? Outside of a commercial?" She took her time getting her boots and shirt settled as she talked. Her pamphlet took a place of honor in her phone memory. She took a picture of each page before it got lost or damaged. "I'm sure commercials are really true to life."

The picture? She let Ranger hold the picture.

"I can't see terminating. Like, I... I just can't feel good about that right now. But I also can't imagine going forward. I see the past, and as far as all this kind of stuff goes it's blank."

There was one thing, one small glimmer of something.

"I can imagine it for you, though." She nudged him with her shoulder as they made their way out. "You could totally be a dad. Your face back there was... uterus exploding? Lady part melting?" It was near impossible to name, but she'd do almost anything to see that look on the regular, and it seemed there was a really selfish way to get there. Possibly the worst reason to have a kid in the history of ever.

"Paint me a picture, Hunter. Tell me what it's gonna be like." Not what it "might" be like. What it would be like. She could deny it all she wanted, but on some level, her mind was already made up.

The issue Noel had… Made sense. Her having no memories of family or babies. Ranger felt that if he didn’t have good memories of family and experience with children and babies, he might have a less positive reaction. ”I don’t have a lot of personal experience with babies either. What I do know is they aren’t easy, but people I know who’ve had them… They have all seemed able t’ manage no matter how unprepared they seemed goin’ int’ it. Through all the late nights an’ stress, they seemed t’ have so much joy in their life f’r it.” Ranger idly tapped his hand on the table as he thought about what he was saying, ”Y’ don’t know what t’ do. I maybe only have a little more of an idea. Together- Together I’m certain we could do it. We’re both the type t’ rise t’ occasions.”

The thing that excited Ranger was when Noel said she couldn’t see terminating it. That meant carrying the baby to term. Having their baby. It might not be the final decision, but for the moment that’s what it seemed was the course. Noel said that she couldn’t see the future with everything for herself but she could see it for him. As they walked out she said how he could be a dad and how his face was… Uterus exploding? Ranger had to laugh at that.

”Glad I could… help?” Ranger said, before looking at her with a dumb smile on his face ”Meltin’ y’r lady parts with my face.”

Ranger wasn’t sure how to describe the future he saw. It felt so far off that it wasn’t specific. There were so many places it could go. ”It’ll be… exciting, full on new challenges... I see us in a different place, somewhere with more room for us, the bears, an’ our kiddo. Maybe somewhere with some grass? A tree or two. Us, flyin’ by the seat of our pants an’ keepin’ everythin’ goin’. A healthy kid who knows nothin’ but love in a world that is safe f’r them because we make it so… It’ll be happy an’ joyful full of smiles an’ laughter. It won’t always be easy, but it’ll be worth it.” The longer he spoke the more sure he felt of what he was describing. ”An’ in spite of all challenges we’re a team. Both there t’ help each other, lean on each other, an’ provide f’r the kid.”

As they approached the car, Ranger held out the keys, ”Let’s pretend he only spoke t’ me. If y’ wanna drive, y’ drive ‘er an’ let’s get y’ some ice cream.” Ranger knew it had bee nrough, and was still rough for Noel. Maybe an overly powerful ponycar would help her.

"Shut up!" She gave him a shove because he'd said that on purpose knowing full well that his face melting her lady parts was some of what got them into this whole mess. She still wasn't used to it, but he left her laughing as they gamboled down the sidewalks, significantly less burdened than when they'd shuffled in to see the doctor.

"That was more like a wash of rose colored paint than a picture." And damn. A tree? That sounded like straight out suburbs. And expensive. Teamwork, at least, was where they excelled. She could see that part of it.

"Providing for sounds easier than-" loving. She was all too happy to imagine Putney had only spoken t Michael. She snatched the keys rather than finishing that sentence and went for the driver's side, quickling running through her phone for an ice cream place.

How could she love it? What if it was terrible? She couldn't just return it to the store.

"What about Christmas? You got a plan for a tree? Traditions?" Family traditions. With a thrill she realized that they were a family. Noel had tried to throw him something specific and happy. Something to help him untangle the knots she was tying in her guts.

Noel's notes had said that she was not to drive. Apparently she'd proven that she couldn't before, but that was from the time when she was old. Now, her memories were filled with offensive and defensive maneuvers and she was more fluid at manual than the Ranger was. She waited for a car to pass and backed out of the parallel parking in one roll, shifted, and they were slinking between cars and weaving through traffic like the cat this wonderful machine was was named for. Her phone called directions, but honestly the trip was short. New York was in no short supply of great ice cream.

She twisted and put her arm across Michael's seat so she could line up the boot of the car for entry into a tight parking spot.

Noel was right, Ranger’s description was very idyllic. Ranger made a show of frisking his pockets, patting them down and then running his hands along his belt. ”Only color I think I have right now.” There was that saying that you should shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars. Ranger preferred a much simpler expression. Aim small, miss small. If he set his sights on a goal more perfect than possible, then reality could land a little closer to where he shot for than if he had dreamt of something less.

The keys were snatched out of Ranger’s fingers. He had to laugh. Noel was all too happy to take him up on that offer. So happy that it stopped her mid sentence. Almost lazily Ranger made his way to the passenger side of the car while Noel went for the driver side, phone in hand looking for ice cream places. Ranger thought he knew where Noel was going with her truncated sentence, they could circle back to it later. They had time to discuss things.

When Ranger got in he felt odd sitting in the passenger seat. He had ridden in it before, but he was neither drunk nor in Noel’s body. Almost as odd as him being unable to make the car do what he wanted it to. It was 765 horses of power that his old self had purchased because he could make use of it. Now… Now Ranger was learning to work it all over again. Noel on the other hand was not so handicapped. Ranger was comfortable with Noel driving Mr. Daisy.

There was the question about Christmas traditions. It caught Ranger off guard, he had not thought so far ahead as specific holiday traditions. ”Uh… We’ll make our own traditions. I’ve always been partial t’ real trees. Maybe I go out an’ chop one down. Find us the perfect tree. Bring it back an’ we decorate it. Maybe a Lone Star at the top,” Ranger couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he said it, ”some lights, an’ a few ornaments. Nothin’ so over the top as what my parents did. Y’ could hardly see the tree f’r the ornaments and it glowed like the Sun… We’ll hang stockin’s an’ fill them on Christmas Eve. Help the kid have a magical time. Maybe it’s just us, maybe we invite over those closest t’ us t’ eat an’ be merry on Christmas Eve? I’m not sure. We’ll do what feel right though, makin’ the holiday our own. Maybe we shut out the rest of the world? forget BlacTac an’ SUPER an’ all responsibilities f’r a time.”

It was hard to plan traditions. They would just have to do things and keep what worked. Christmas was about family, and if Ranger was doing his pregnancy math right, they would be a family of three by Christmas. For the first time in years, Ranger would be celebrating Christmas with a family… With his family.

When Noel put her arm across Ranger’s seat when she turned to back the car into a spot, Ranger met her eyes and smiled. Before she could take her arm back after the car stopped, he took her hand in his before leaning forward to give her a peck. A promise of more kisses to come. ”We might be gettin’ ahead of ourselves though. Before we think about Christmas, maybe we should think about makin’ this official.” Ranger, still hilding Noel’s hand, rolled their hands over as he brought them up. He stopped with their hands between their faces, the tattoo of a wedding ring facing Noel. ”Gettin’ married f’r real. Legally. Common law isn’t a thing here like it is back home.”

Handsome Pantymelter McSuaverson caught her hand and proposed which was seemed like a foregone deal considering the tattoos. "I mean, obviously I'm not opposed." She planted a light kiss across his knuckles since they were there and accessible and part hers. She may have felt a bit proprietary of them.

It seemed like she was turning out to be the voice of reason in these lofty dreams, though.

"You're not thinking anything crazy, right? Just small? Or just us?" She tried to search his eyes and make sure she wasn't breaking some expectations he might have been forming. "It'll have to be courthouse. I can't scrape up enough bodies to fill to fill a church, and I don't have anybody to show off for. I'd probably light on fire just crossing the threshold, anyway." And a dress? Forget it.

Noel turned to exit the car, but had to wait for cars to finish passing before she could even attempt the door.

”I’ll take that as a yes.” Ranger said with a smile. The answer and the kiss to his knuckles—of the hand that had a ring tattooed on—was sufficiently yes-ish. Ranger brought her hand toward his lips and kissed it in reply.

Had Ranger not spent a week in Noel’s body he would have questioned if she was a mind-reader. No sooner had he begun to envision what they might have for a wedding did Noel ask about it. He had not been picturing anything grand. He had seen them, in a small church or a chapel, a handful of people. Her in a white dress, him in a tux. Instead of a normal reception they could crash somewhere playing music to dance to.

”Somethin’ small. I couldn’t see us havin’ anything large. Just us an’ a few people.”

Noel said it would have to be a courthouse.

Ranger climbed out of the car. They could continue the conversation as they went. There was ice cream to procure for Noel. ”While it’ll work an if it’s what y’ want we can do it, I was hopin’ f’r somethin’ a little more than a courthouse. Somethin’ with a bit more character. It doesn’t have t’ be a church though. Somewhere in Central Park could work. There’re nice enough places there. No combustion. An’... Maybe we could get y’ somebody t’ show off f’r. We’ve got a kid on the way, we’re gettin’ married, what better time t’ find an’ try t’ bring family back in’ y’r life’?” Maybe many other times were better, but few more exciting.

As they walked Ranger moved next to Noel and put his arm around her. The how was less important. He was happy to be with her. If they could make it work, and if Noel was up for it, they could do a little more and make it memorable. 

Something small was a relief. Something at all was not. "I don't want the attention." But that wasn't why they'd be doing it, was it? Noel went to loop her arm in his only to find that his arm was already around her shoulders and that was even better. She could imagine him with shined up shoes, ready to dance.

The phrase 'we've got a kid on the way' still didn't sit on her tongue right. It wasn't that it was untrue, it was just unbelievable. Noel swallowed hard as she reached for the door to the ice cream store. She didn't open the door straight away. She felt like she had something to say first.

"You know... once upon a time, I think that having- or even the idea of having a kid... that was maybe the worst possible thing." She was still nervous bordering on scared. Her world was shifting whether she was ready for it or not. And yet—"I think it's... possible. With our set up. Not what I would have picked and I'm still freaking out. But... possible, y'know? Before it was very impossible."

A satisfied customer armed with a waffle cone in each hand approached the other side of the door so Noel pulled it open for them.

"You're really good at making the impossible happen."

Which reminded her. "So I hope you're good at planning weddings because you're the only one with opinions on them other than 'ew' and I'm going to blow up like a watermelon and I'm not getting in a dress hella pregnant." Ugh just thinking about it made her both want to roll her eyes and hide in shame. Talk about a trashy shotgun wedding. She forced a smile. "And you want to find a family in there too, huh?"

She did step into the shop then. There was ice cream to be had and that was the least stressful possibility she'd had to face all day. The printed menu was not long, but there was a whole section of mix-ins.

"I want a cone with black walnut ice cream and toffee bits. He's paying." Like it mattered. They were a joint household at this point.

When they reached the door to the ice cream shop, Noelreached for the door, but didn’t open it. Instead she spoke. She let Ranger know her feelings on having a kid, and how they had changed. How the very idea of having a kid had changed to something possible. It was clear that the idea still freaked her out, even if she hadn’t said it.

Ranger nodded and gave a small smile. After they allowed a customer double fisting waffle cones to leave, Ranger let Noel continue and his smile grew as she spoke. The smile turned into a look of surprise. The planning of their wedding had just been thrust upon him. He had ideas, sure, but it was just a snap vision in his mind. It wasn’t something he had been planning his whole life.

The wedding would have to be sooner than later. Do it before Noel would look like she was smuggling a watermelon. Delay it enough to do the necessary things like finding Noel’s family, finding Noel a dress, and securing a venue. Invitations would be easy. BlacTac people, a couple of Ranger’s cousins—he had no immediate family anymore—, and anyone from Noel’s family that they tracked down that she wanted to invite. Maybe Evelyn could help with making it accomplishable?

”Yeah. What family I have left an’ any family of y’rs we can find.” Ranger said as they entered the shop. ”Okay. I’ll plan it. Somethin’ small. Nothin’ over the top. Y’ just get the dress an’ I’ll take care of the rest.”

At the counter Noel ordered and indicated Ranger was paying. That drew a chuckle. When Ranger was asked what he would have, Ranger said, ”Lavender honey, in a cone,” and reached for his wallet. It was not what he’d had the last several times that he had gotten ice cream, but he remembered it being a favorite.

The ice cream paid for, the kid working the counter went to work scooping ice cream into cones and handing them over the plastic covers that divided him from them.

”Is there anythin’ y’ f’r certain do not want?” Ranger asked after he was handed his ice cream and they made their way to a table. ” I’m thinkin’ it’d be just friend’s an’ family in a small venue. A brief ceremony followed by dancin’. Small, simple. F’r us... an’ a chance f’r me t’ show y’ off.” Ranger smiled at the last part. ”If there’s somethin’ y’ just cain’t see yerself doin’ ‘r bein’ part of let me know. I’ll work around it.”

Having offloaded all the responsibility for the wedding felt like escaping from a significant looming burden. She simply let it move on like a dark sky that suddenly cleared of threatening rain. Not her problem. She only had to show up. In a dress.

"No tux for me?" She was only kind of kidding there. Dresses were a necessary evil at times and she could admit the necessity of a dress on the girl at a wedding. But, maybe she could get away with a short dress. Or a not-white dress. If she was walking around with a bowling ball between her legs, it'd be impossible to claim virgin white.

Noel received her cone first and, tempted as she was to secret it away to a table so she could inhale it at record speeds, she decided she should wait on the Ranger instead. He had paid for it, after all. She took a politely sized lick, much more ladylike than she was feeling at the moment.

"I don't want fireworks. I think "something small" sort of precludes fireworks, but I suppose I could be clear there." What else was an absolute no-go? "No unicycles or swords." Was his ice cream sort of purple? She compared Michael's cone to the options until she came up with a best-guess match since she hadn't been paying attention to his order. Lavender honey sounded... something. She'd have to steal a bite. "We probably shouldn't be flying somewhere fancy either. Or flying at all."

Was she something to show off? Maybe like calling dibs, he'd claim her in public with a kiss, which was one step up in classiness from a lick. That was also fine. She'd let everyone know she was his gladly because she'd cast her lot in with him already. This baby was the biggest plank in the foundation of the rest of their lives. They would always have shared DNA between them now. Some people used that to entrap a man.

And yet, between the two of them, he seemed the happiest about it all.

"Did you always want a kid? Or come around to the idea just recently?" They wandered to a table tall enough to stand at or take a stool. Noel opted to stand, but she did fish out the brochure she'd been given. She should probably ferret out a timeline for when she would be rendered completely useless and maybe learn a thing about the nebulous idea of what might come in the "after" part. This wasn't like a puppy where if things didn't work out, she could just drop it off at the pound.

Although... Orphanages existed. But Michael wouldn't let that happen.

Ranger laughed ”One of us has t’ wear the dress. I figure y’d look better in it than I would.” That was the rule with weddings, right? One of them wore the dress and one wore the tux. How else would people know it's a wedding, the invitations?

Noel was handed her ice cream, and while she waited there with Ranger for his, she provided her list of ain’t-happenings. No fireworks, no unicycles, no swords. Also, no flying anywhere.

It was a shame that Texas was nixed by the last one, but there were some places in New York City that Ranger felt could work. Several were in Central Park. A lack of swords was fine by him, the last time him and swords were at the same wedding he needed stitches. Granted, that might happen differently given his new power. Unicycles? Ranger hadn’t even considered that possibility and at the mention of it had to wonder if that was something people actually did.

”Deal. An’ I’ll hold off on a cannon salute.” Ranger said and licked his ice cream as a way of punctuating the statement. ”That said, I think y’ an’ me have different definitions uh simple.” Ranger stopped and thought about it for a moment. He had a history of not half-assing and all but literally moving mountains as if it was all in a day's work. ”Huh… Uh… Small an’ simple from other people’s perspective.” Ranger amended his previous comment.

Ranger was taking another lick of his ice cream when Noel asked if he had always wanted a kid.

”I… Guess recently?” Ranger paused to consider it more. ”I think I always saw my life as too dangerous t’ have one… but, it actually happenin’... It’s like it’s the thing I didn’t realize I really wanted in life. Not just that it’ll be my kid, but you an’ then the kid makes us a family.”

Ranger watched Noel fish out the brochure as they both stood at the table. ”What’s y’ pamphlet say t’ expect?”

Cannon salutes were strictly frowned upon in city limits. She didn't have to read the rules to know that much was true. So that was likely best that formality would be left off of their nuptials. His realization about what "simple" meant cranked up the nerves again.

"I'm assuming—maybe falsely,—that your own wedding would be the one time you're serious?" She couldn't even say it without it being a question. They'd sort of botched Sideshow's wedding. It hadn't been for a lack of seriousness, but they were going to screw this up too, weren't they?

And in the long line of things they were screwing up... now they were adding a child.

Noel realized that she'd been reading and rereading the same line for a while now. She set the pamphlet down and slid it over to Michael so he could read some of it for himself. It was that, or risk ruining her appetite for ice cream. She had her priorities.

"This is unreal. I can't believe we're doing this. That that is gonna have to happen." She stabbed a finger at the "head engaged" diagram that marked the "Labor & Giving Birth" section. Like, the bones were recognizable, but the everything else looked really terrible for everyone involved. Noel was going to continue to ignore the whole "family" thing. Or maybe she'd need to rent some movies or something. The idea of her mothering something was laughable in a despair kind of way. Not even her dog looked at her as an authority figure.

"The FAQ says this cooking a baby thing takes 40 weeks. We're 9 weeks in? Geez. That's almost into the second part. I think most of the limitations kick in for the last one." How long could she hide it? How long could she pretend it wasn't happening to her?