Rating: PG-13, for some suggestive scenes and slightly mature discussion.

Author's note: I've had this plot bunny since Rach first posted up "Fire and Ice", and turned me on to the possibilities of Eric/Taylor. Even though this fic is influenced by that story, it does not take place in the same universe. It probably is also AU to the series.

Inside Out
By Selma McCrory
Copyright 2002

Taylor awoke, but not to the sounds of nature.

Even though she had a physical address in the world below, she spent most of her nights on the Animarium, falling asleep to the cries and calls of creatures and zords. But not last night, and not the last three Saturday nights previous. No, the last three Saturday nights she'd spent with Eric, first working out together and then ending up in bed together. His bed.

She had to admit that Eric wasn't as bad as he'd initially seemed, though he did have his rough spots. However, unlike the four male Rangers on her team, he was actually… interesting. A challenge. Someone who understood but wasn't someone she saw every day, unlike her teammates.

Taylor stretched and got out of bed, searching for her clothes. They were enough to tide her over, at least until she could get back to the Animarium for a change of clothing. Eric was still asleep and would likely be asleep for a while. Besides, they could have an argument later; right now she wanted to get back to the Animarium to eat breakfast.

Finding her clothes from the day before, Taylor slipped into them and with a look back, left.

* * *

Taylor found her way onto the Animarium without incident, and was shortly greeted by her zord, flying overhead. She smiled at it, knowing that she had some kind of connection to it she didn't quite understand, but was willing to accept. After her zord had passed, a smaller, almost identical call came from an eagle perched on a nearby tree. Another call answered it. *Two* eagles. Taylor had read up on the birds after she'd been chosen by the Eagle Zord, and she thought from the sound that this indicated a mated pair.

"Hi, Taylor!" Alyssa called, greeting her with a grin. "Breakfast's ready."

Alyssa's greeting alerted the rest of the team, not to mention Princess Shayla, and she was showered with various and sundry greetings, including a teasing one from Max. Taylor tried not to let Max's juvenile teasing get to her. The whole team knew that she was spending Saturday afternoons and evenings with Eric, and if Max privately had a problem with that, that was fine with her.

Her phone beeped, and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Taylor." Eric's brief greeting was layered with morning gruffness. Eric was not a morning person. "Where are you?"

"Animarium," she replied briefly.

Eric made a noise. "Couldn't you have stayed?"

"I had stuff to do," she said. "You knew that." Admittedly, it was only going shopping with Alyssa, but she still couldn't deal with being with Eric for long periods of time. As a sometime sparring partner, a sometime bed partner, yes, she liked him. But she couldn't live with him.

"Right." Eric's voice was tinged with disbelief.

"Eric, I'll talk to you later." And without bothering to say goodbye, she hung up, returning to breakfast and teasing.

* * *

Taylor was not a shopper. Whenever she shopped, it wasn't a casual sort-through of items, it was a meticulously-planned expedition to the store with a list and a glare at any salesperson that dared approach. Alyssa, however, was not that way, and Taylor resigned herself to watching the other woman as she sorted through the items. The big discount store didn't have things in any sort of order at all, so Alyssa was gleefully sorting through a rack of jeans of random sizes and styles. Not Taylor's idea of fun, though it did keep her occupied… and she doubted Eric would walk into this warehouse place. She doubted the men's section was any more sorted than the women's.

But Alyssa finally found some clothes that she liked, and Taylor wandered around aimlessly while her friend tried the clothing on. She had to keep reminding herself that this place was better than spending time at the Animarium and have Max tease her about Eric, or having to deal with Eric. And Eric knew her home phone, and seemed to have this sixth sense when she was available.

Finally, her friend and teammate made her way out of the changing room with a considerably smaller bundle of clothes, and the look that said she was finished. Which meant Taylor could get out of there. She followed Alyssa to the checkout, letting the other chat all the way to a nearby restaurant.

Taylor didn't mind Alyssa's eager chatting until she hit the team's favorite topic of conversation beyond the Orgs – Taylor's current relationship with Eric, which had displaced Merrick's speculated relationship with Shayla, at least until that Ranger was a little bit more sociable. Plus, as much of a mystery Merrick was, the team gossips seemed to prefer Eric for pure potential… especially since he was a Ranger from another team.

"So… what *have* you and Eric been up to?" Alyssa asked, and Taylor knew that despite Alyssa's best efforts, what she told the other ranger would eventually get back to the rest of the team.

"Not much… we sparred yesterday, and then had dinner, and then I crashed on his couch." Which wasn't the truth, but the team didn't need to know about what she and Eric did to work out their aggressions.

"He must be a pretty good cook."

Taylor shook her head. "Not really. We had TV dinners." Which wasn't true, either, but Eric would die if the word got out to the Wild Force team that he could cook. "It was pretty boring, actually."

Alyssa smiled as if she knew everything that Taylor wasn't telling her. "I'm sure you enjoyed yourselves."

Shrugging, Taylor answered, "He makes a good sparring partner."

Alyssa only smiled wider, but Taylor was interrupted by a bird crying in the trees. A disturbingly familiar cry. She looked up at the tree to see another eagle… no, two again. Two eagles. Behind her, she could hear someone say, "That's awfully low for an eagle, don't you think?"

She ignored the overheard comment, but wondered herself. Alyssa gazed at them. "I guess we might have some eagles nesting in Turtle Cove."

Taylor could only nod. It seemed to be her day for eagles.

* * *

As she walked into the Animarium two days later, she heard an eagle cry and inwardly sighed. She'd seen more of her representative bird than she ever really wanted to see, in several varieties. It was one of those weeks where unrelated events seemed strangely related. At least the Org attack had gotten her attention away from the coincidence. And then she'd see Eric on Saturday and she'd be otherwise occupied again.

"Taylor? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Cole asked, walking towards her. He had such an unusual expression that she found herself agreeing without realizing it, and the leader of the Wild Force team drew her aside, into the jungle.

"What is it, Cole?" she asked.

Cole looked abashed. Actually embarrassed. While it would be possibly endearing, sometimes, right now, she had better things to do than watch Cole act like a puppy dog. "Uh… I've been talking to the zords."

"And?" She asked. Cole mainly talked to his own zord, though she knew he could talk with all the other zords, as well as ordinary animals.

"Well… your zord says you've been busy."

"I have," Taylor said, starting to feel cross.

"And I've been talking to some of the eagles here."

"And?" Taylor asked.

"Uh… Taylor, do you know you're pregnant?"

"Pregnant?" Taylor echoed, before it hit her.

*I'm pregnant,* she thought. *By... Eric?* The thought was ludicrous. But she hadn't been with anybody else, and even though the two of them had done their best, it appeared that she had become pregnant.

Cole was looking at her, with his patented concerned-leader look. "Are you okay?" he said finally.

"I will be," she said, though she knew that her response didn't bear its usual firmness.

"You might want to talk to Eric."

"Talk to Eric. Right." *Like I want to talk to Eric right now.*

Cole just looked at her. Not steely, but the Cole puppy-dog expression that was his way of being stubborn.

Taylor sighed inwardly and pulled out her Growl Phone. "I will. In just a few minutes." When Cole just stood there, she added. "I have to mentally psych myself up for this, okay Cole?"

Her teammate and leader gave a small nod before finally leaving, and Taylor sat down on the ground. *And what do I tell him when I call? I'm *not* going to tell him this over a cell phone!* She just stared at the Growl Phone, knowing Cole would not let up. *Couldn't he have not told me and let me find out for myself?* she thought.

But that was an impossibility. Obviously her Eaglezord hadn't been able to communicate its concerns to her, so it had done the next best thing. It had talked to Cole. And he had done probably what it asked him to do... tell its very human partner what was going on.

So she gave up, and dialed Eric's number. She was greeted by Eric's gruff answer. "Commander Myers."

"Eric."

"Taylor."

"I need to talk to you."

"What about?" Eric sounded suddenly wary, and she didn't blame him. Neither of them was into surprises.

"Let me explain over lunch."

"All right. Where?"

She gave him a location, knowing lunch was just the beginning.

"I'll be there." With that, Eric hung up.

* * *

Taylor nervously waited for Eric outside the restaurant. She'd chosen one that was noisy – better to spring mind-shattering revelations on him – and also one that was indoors, so that nobody and nothing could report on her progress. She glared at the two eagles that seemed to be following her about wherever she went.

Eric strode up the path in full uniform. Which wasn't surprising; he was probably carving this lunch out of a busy day. It was just that she wished he'd been a little more inconspicuous. Fortunately, Silver Guardians were common enough that most people just looked at Eric briefly and then turned their attention elsewhere. Except for the tourists, of course.

"So?" Eric asked without preamble.

"Wait until we're inside," Taylor told him.

"And that will be?"

"A few more minutes."

Eric nodded, allowing this small delay. Taylor herself was anxious to get in, but unfortunately she needed a noisy atmosphere and that meant waiting a few minutes to get into the busy restaurant.

Several long minutes later, she heard her name, and the two of them went in.

* * *

"What's going on?" Eric asked, having contained his curiosity until after they'd ordered.

Taylor tapped the table for a moment before speaking up. "I'm pregnant."

"You're *what*?" Eric said, obviously making an effort not to rise. He looked as surprised as she'd felt when Cole had brought her the news.

"Pregnant." She spit the word out.

"How? We took precautions!"

Taylor inwardly winced. "Apparently not good enough."

"Yeah," Eric said. "Have you gotten it confirmed?"

"I just found out. Of course I haven't gotten it confirmed."

Eric seemed to be fascinated by the salt shaker. "But I guess your zord would know if anything would, right?"

"Right." Taylor decided that the pepper shaker was just as interesting. "We're linked. It apparently has been feeling the past few Saturdays."

"Great." Eric looked at her. "Does anybody besides you, me, your zord, and Cole know?"

"I don't know," Taylor said. *If I stay pregnant, everyone will have to know. Shayla, Alyssa, Max, Danny... Merrick, though I don't think he'd care.*

Eric didn't seem to know what to say, and Taylor struggled to find words to break the silence. She'd had her share of close encounters with guys, and Eric was only the latest. The only difference was that this time she'd been unlucky.

"So, what do we do now?" Eric said, looking at her.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Taylor confessed.

"Great."

"What, you expect *me* to make all the decisions?" Taylor demanded. "It's your child, too!"

"Yeah, it is," Eric said. "But I wouldn't be so *stupid* to presume to know what you want. It's your body."

Taylor found herself unexpectedly mollified. Yeah, Eric could be stupid sometimes. He could be a total idiot in fact. And she'd met him at a traffic stop. But he had smarts – had to be, to be a lone wolf on a Ranger team. And he seemed intelligent enough. "I haven't really had time to think about it," she said. "Cole surprised me."

A weak excuse, she knew, and Eric knew it too. She should be faster on her feet, but her relationship with him was often unpredictable. It worked wonderfully for a sparring partner and a bed partner, but not for anything reliable. Not something she wanted to deal with when facing impending motherhood... if she chose to be a mother. "I guess... I'd better let you think about it," Eric said, looking as awkward as she'd ever seen him.

"*We'll* think about it," she corrected. Much as she'd like, she couldn't let him off, and honestly, she doubted she wanted her child to have him as a father if he didn't participate. Of course, this was assuming she had a child.

"Oh, yeah. We will." Eric's voice was firm. He was stepping away, she saw, letting her make a choice... but he wasn't going to let this go completely. "We will."

Taylor looked at Eric. She had to admit, he wasn't who she'd choose for the father of her child. But he was showing surprising reliability in that one statement. Of course, being a Ranger meant that you were responsible... and Eric clearly thought he was responsible. Half-responsible, as he should be. "Yes, we will."

"So, what do we do now?" Eric asked, and this time his tone was gentler.

"I want some time to think about this," Taylor said. "Time away from you, and time away from the Animarium."

Eric nodded. "Good idea." He paused. "Might want to invent an excuse if you're going to stay away from your team too long."

Taylor shook her head. "Probably the entire Animarium knows anyway."

Eric nodded again. "Good luck."

"I'll need it," Taylor responded automatically.

* * *

But coming up with an excuse to give to her teammates meant that she actually had to go back up to the Animarium. Which was fine as far as Taylor was concerned, for she could disappear into the Animarium if she needed to, just to think. Danny and Alyssa would probably be out doing their mundane things, but Cole and Max would be there. And she really didn't want to deal with them, or Princess Shayla. But she'd have to do that.

Taylor walked out into the Animarium, greeted by half a dozen eagles. As she approached the steps up to their main area, she wasn't surprised to see Cole waiting for her. He jumped up off a projection and headed over to her. "How did it go?" he asked.

"We didn't make any decisions," Taylor said neutrally.

Cole adopted his puppy-dog expression. "You need to talk to him some more."

"I need time to *think*," Taylor told him. "Away from him, away from everybody." She paused. "Maybe even away from the eagles."

Her teammate shook his head. "They're just keeping an eye on you. The Eaglezord's kinda concerned about you right now."

Taylor rolled her eyes, and tried to send an indignant feeling to her zord. "I'm fine." She paused. "I just came up to tell you that I may not be on the Animarium for a few days," Taylor said. "But... I will be there if any Org attacks."

Cole nodded. "Okay."

There was one good thing about Jungle Boy for sure, Taylor knew. Cole didn't really push... he guided. And if his heart said that she had to be left alone, he'd get the others to leave her alone as well. She just hoped Cole wouldn't blab the news of her pregnancy around. Better remind him. "But don't tell anyone what's going on. I'd like to make up my mind without involving the whole team."

"Okay," Cole responded again. "Good luck, Taylor."

"Thanks," she said, before heading back, back to her place on the ground. She just hoped nobody would wonder why she wasn't visiting as much as usual. That would be suspicious. Max and Alyssa would notice immediately, and Alyssa would continue to pry it out of her. So, she had to come back. Just not at the moment.

* * *

In reality, Taylor found she didn't know what to do once she'd left the Animarium. She had a queasy feeling that Cole was correct, and that she needed to deal with Eric. The problem was, Eric had even less of an idea what to do next than she did. There were no rules and regulations to deal with what happened when a Ranger became pregnant, no rules she had made when she'd written the rulebook. She supposed she could talk to Princess Shayla, but that would mean telling her about the pregnancy, and Taylor wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with another person knowing.

She had the bad feeling that her problem and Eric's was going to involve two different Ranger teams. Hers, because she'd either have to leave or fight Orgs throughout her pregnancy, and Eric's, just because Eric was a Ranger and that's what Rangers did. Become overly involved in each others' lives. Besides, Wes seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to anything Eric-related.

*Mom believed in the right for a woman to choose. Dad believed that life began at conception.* Taylor had carefully tread a path, not believing strongly in either. She'd arrived into Air Force training with a drive to dedicate her life to the military and with no thought of motherhood. And now... now she was forced to think of it. She was fighting something more critical than she'd ever thought she'd fight, and she was now paralyzed by a simple matter that had plagued humanity throughout time.

Something she never thought she'd face with a lover she didn't truly love and had no intentions on spending her life with. And she would be risking this baby every time she fought. She didn't even know if the baby would be affected by her morph. She doubted a pregnant woman had ever morphed before.

Taylor was tempted to call Eric again, but that would make the Silver Guardians suspicious, and she doubted Eric had come up with any more brilliant insights than he had at lunch. She probably should get to the store and buy a pregnancy test, but she didn't know if it would do any good. How long had she been pregnant? She should have asked Cole. Of course, she hadn't really wanted to talk to Cole at that point. *I should learn to speak Zord,* she thought. *That way I don't have to filter things through Cole, though they'd probably tell him anyway.*

*I have too little information,* she realized. *Eric and I can't decide this on our own. But we also need to know how we feel, as Cole would say.* She inwardly resigned herself to seeing a whole lot more of Eric before Saturday. A *lot* more of Eric. More than she ever wanted to see of Eric.

Groaning, she went to call Eric and invite him to dinner.

* * *

She and Eric ate dinner in near-silence. She realized belatedly that it was far too soon for the two of them to figure out what to do; Eric had no better idea on what to do than she did. "So," Eric said, looking amazingly awkward, "Have you made a decision yet?"

Taylor shook her head. "Not yet," she admitted. "And every time I go back up to the Animarium, Cole keeps trying to send me down to talk to you."

Eric gave a curt nod. "Where do you want to go from here?" he asked.

"I still don't know," Taylor said. "It's not like I ever imagined being a mother."

"And being a Ranger makes it more dangerous," Eric said.

Taylor nodded briefly at that. "Exactly."

"And you didn't choose your zord. It chose you." Eric was repeating what she'd told him when they were getting to know one another.

"Yeah," Taylor responded. "I haven't talked to it yet, either."

Eric grinned tirely, the smile looking strained. "Never thought I'd have a situation like this."

"I'll see what it has to say," Taylor said.

"Do you want to be a mom?" Eric asked, leaning forward.

"I never really gave it much thought," she told him. She looked down. "I thought since I always used protection, that I'd be okay."

Eric nodded. "Well, it's not like either of us has much choice right now. You're pregnant, I'm gonna be a father."

"That isn't set in stone," Taylor said. "Can I bring a child into the world knowing that if I have to quit, that'll make the team that much weaker? That we could fail against the Orgs?"

Eric nodded again. "It's your choice. I'll back you up." The response was matter-of-fact, but Eric's expression was unreadable.

"And do you want to be a father?" Taylor asked, turning the question back on him.

"Never gave it much thought," Eric said. "Look, it's your body. If you want me to be a father, that's fine. I'll be a father. If you want to bring this child into the world, I'll be here. But I'm not stupid as to try to rule your life."

Taylor nodded at that. "Good," she said. She was about to say more, but Eric's radio beeped.

"Myers," Eric said. He listened to the person at the other end. "Wes, can't it wait?" He paused. "Yes, I know I'm ignoring my phone." Pause. "Yes, I'm ignoring my answering machine as well." Pause. "No, I'm not with Taylor." Pause. "Yes, I'm sure I'm not with Taylor. Stop laughing, Wes. I'll be right there." When he looked up, he looked tired. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Duty calls?" Taylor asked, well aware of the demands of Ranger life.

Eric grimaced. "More like, stupid stuff calls. One of the eggheads over at BioLab wants to see the heads of the Silver Guardians *now* and she's got Mr. Collins' backing, so I gotta go."

Taylor nodded.

"Look, we'll talk tomorrow about it, okay?" Eric looked like he was ready to talk about anything *but*, but Taylor let that go.

"Okay," she replied. Maybe with Eric out of the way, she'd have more time to think. And then she could go back tomorrow to the Animarium and tell Cole to bug off just one day more and let her figure out what she was going to do by herself. She could see that Eric wouldn't be the father she chose for her child; maybe she could convince him to stay out of it. Let her have her child in peace, or do what she wanted to do. He said he'd step back.

Of course, she didn't believe him.

* * *

Taylor rolled out of bed that morning, almost literally. She rose and stretched, looking out her window to check for her ever-present bird escort. It was there, of course. She wondered if the eagles and other birds actually reported what was going on or if they were there for some kind of protection. She hoped it was for protection; the last thing she needed was avian snoops. She didn't like the idea of avian bodyguards, but it could be worse. She was linked to a very large metal eagle that had chosen her to defend her planet, and right now it was being a very large metal snoop. At least Eric's zord wasn't sentient.

What she wanted right now was for nothing to happen, and fortunately, nothing was. No Orgs, no crises other than the one in her life right now. Maybe she should go up to Animarium, much as she didn't want to be there right now, and lose herself in its wilds. Nobody could find her yet if an Org attacked she'd be there for her team.

Alone sounded like a good idea at the moment.

She dressed, mentally preparing herself for her arrival at Animarium. It would be breakfast time, unfortunately, which meant the entire team would be there. But that would be normal. Cole would still look all concerned and the rest of the team would be clueless. Thankfully clueless.

Finally ready, she made her way upwards.

* * *

It was a typical morning at the Animarium as Taylor walked in to the main gathering area. Alyssa was doing her usual domestic turn, Max and Danny were joking at each other, and Cole... oh, Cole was up in a tree. Princess Shayla and Merrick must be talking together as the often did after playing for the Deerzord. Maybe they'd do something *interesting* today and get everyone's attention away from her relationship with Eric.

"Hi, Taylor," Alyssa greeted her, and with that, Cole looked down and slid down the tree. "Breakfast?"

"Thanks," Taylor said, accepting the plate automatically. She shook her head at Cole, hoping the other would wait to question her until she finished breakfast.

"So, Taylor," Max said, "Out with Eric again?"

"None of your business," she snapped. She saw Max wince. *Good.*

But Max seemed to recover after a moment, and smiled knowingly at her, his usual irritating self. Nobody else commented on her love life, however. *Love life, huh. More like... Lack of love life.*

The team resumed its usual banter, for which Taylor was glad. She was also sure that Cole hadn't blabbed her pregnancy to the rest of the team. Alyssa departed for school, Danny for work, Max to wherever. Which only left Cole, but she'd have to deal with him anyway.

"Any news?" Cole asked as soon as they were alone.

"We talked briefly, but...." Taylor replied. "We're *trying*, Cole, but it's not like we really ever thought this would happen!"

Cole gave her a solemn nod but didn't say anything more. Taylor brushed past him, moving into the wilderness of the Animarium. Other than the sounds of her escort, she was alone. The way she preferred it.

She settled down by the lake. It was peaceful, with nobody and almost nothing to bother her. Nobody to offer her advice on what she should do about this event in her life. She sat against a tree, her hands over her legs. "Why me?" she muttered.

"Perhaps... it is the way things are meant to be," came a voice from behind.

Taylor's head whipped around as Princess Shayla sat down by her, and she caught a glance of Merrick hovering close by. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

"You are not the first pregnant Ranger, Taylor."

"How did you..."

"Know you were pregnant?" Shayla asked, smiling. "I dreamed it. And then I overheard Cole."

Taylor nodded, her surprise fading. "Oh."

Shayla settled into what Taylor considered her story-telling position. "When Merrick was still a Ranger, there was a young woman named Kyna who was on his team. Kyna was the envy of her teammates, and lucky in love. She was married to a young man named Egan, and when Kyna was not fighting Orgs, she and her husband were with her team. Kyna and Egan were very close to each other, and so it was to no surprise that one day she came to us and announced that she was pregnant. We all rejoiced with her; Kyna never thought being a Ranger meant giving up the rest of her life, and even her pregnancy did not stop her desire to rid the world of Orgs."

"So, what happened to her?" Taylor asked.

"Kyna continued fighting Orgs until she was in her fifth month, and then she turned over the fight to her twin sister, Caylah. Caylah was one of those who was there when Merrick took on the mask of Zen-Aku and was one of the ones imprisoned him. Kyna was the one of the ones that was closest to me when we had to put Merrick into his prison. She and I were close until I was put into my sleep."

Taylor nodded solemnly at that, still listening to Shayla. "Kyna's zord protected her much as yours is trying to do now. The power made her stronger, much less vulnerable. And her teammates were always there to protect her. As I believe all would do now. Eric is a warrior, like yourself, as well. Egan never was, and in that I think you are fortunate."

*Fortunate?* Taylor thought, letting out a strangled laugh at the thought of that being a fortunate event.

"I know that your relationship was tentative, as Kyna's was not, but I have seen Eric. I have seen you together. This is no accident."

As Taylor bristled at that, Shayla added gently, "I do not mean that your pregnancy was not accidental, Taylor. I just believe that something was trying to help you to connect to one another."

"This was *not* the best way," Taylor said. She turned her head as Merrick left, pain clearly etching his face at the discussion. "Eric and I have no idea what to do with this child!"

"I know. But I think that you are a lot like Kyna, no matter what you do," Shayla said. "It is up to you to make the choice, and whatever choice, I think you will find it to be right."

Taylor nodded.

"Just remember, you are not alone." Shayla said. "And, as Cole has been suggesting, maybe you should talk to Eric. And maybe you should talk to the others."

Groaning inwardly, Taylor nodded once again. "I'll try," she said.

Shayla nodded gracefully in return. "I'll leave you to your thoughts," she said, before getting up and heading in Merrick's direction.

*Leave me to my thoughts, indeed!* Taylor thought. *She knows what I'll do!* She and Shayla had become close... well, not friends, but close partners, before the other zords had chosen their Rangers. Shayla knew how she thought and acted. She'd quietly done what she'd always done when she thought that Taylor was being too close-minded for her own good. She hadn't ordered, she'd suggested. And now Taylor was stuck thinking about what to tell Eric, and whether to tell the other Rangers.

Strangely enough, it made a kind of sense. Max could be serious upon occasion. Danny would hover quietly with a shy smile. Alyssa would be like the little sister she never had. Merrick would disappear for months.

"No," she said out loud. "I can't." She knew a team was stronger if it worked together, but she didn't want to tell anyone before she decided whether or not to keep the baby. At least not anyone who didn't know. Eric, yes. Cole, maybe. Shayla, maybe. But not the rest of the team.

It came back down to the same question. *Am I ready to be a mother? Is Eric ready to be a father?* Thing was, she couldn't answer yes or no to either. She was sure the Animarium could support her while she was pregnant, and so could her teammates. What she'd do to support the child after, she didn't know. She suspected Eric, out of guilt, would offer her a position with the Silver Guardians, or maybe insist on marrying her. Her face quirked up in a bitter smile. *Like I'd accept that.*

Well, she had the rest of the day to think about it, before she could see Eric again. She wasn't sure she really wanted to do that, but he'd be expecting to do something, or at least wait for her decision. And if she chose to have this child... well, what would he do? He wasn't the active Ranger, she was. The Eaglezord had chosen *her*.

The Eaglezord was now protecting her, while she made up her mind. She wondered how it would feel if she decided not to have this child. To put the problem behind her and continue on. *But what force wanted to try to bring me closer to Eric? Did something choose for me to become pregnant, or is Shayla just using the words of her own time?* she lay down, looking at the canopy.

*Kyna was in a committed relationship. She and Egan had to have known each other for more than a month... and I bet Egan wasn't as strong-minded as Eric. Not to mention Eric's a Ranger.* "I can't believe that I did that," she mumbled. She and Eric had discovered each other's physical company after their two teams had gotten together for the picnic. Actually, it probably wouldn't have happened if she hadn't gotten into an argument with Eric about self-defense. Which had led to a demonstration. Which had resulted in dinner, discussion... and bed.

And now they were tied together, by the sheer bad luck of a pregnancy. She liked Eric, kinda, but she couldn't see him as a father, and she couldn't imagine them spending their lives together, not for any reason. She knew that a child wouldn't force the two of them into loving one another. If she was to have this child, then she would... on her own. *I shouldn't have told Eric,* she thought. *I should have just left off seeing him, provoked the argument to end all arguments.* But she knew Cole wouldn't have let her. He'd have looked at her with puppy dog eyes. *I used to be tougher than this. Somebody like Cole wouldn't have affected me like this before.*

Someone like Eric... maybe. Someone who was tough, militarily minded like her, maybe. Those were some of Eric's few qualifications. She spent time with Eric because she wanted to best him someday, and he wasn't a bad partner for when she wanted to release some pent-up aggressions that she couldn't really unleash anywhere else. But he still didn't strike her as a devoted father. He was too cynical for that. So was she.

Taylor closed her eyes. *Maybe he'll cancel out on dinner. I hope.*

But he probably wouldn't. And that's where the trouble lay. Eric had, as her mother had called it, an over-active guilt muscle. He wouldn't be satisfied until she'd made up her mind. He'd support her in whatever she did. And if she went through the pregnancy, she'd never get rid of him.

She curled up on the grass. *And I still don't know what to do!*

* * *

Taylor arrived at Eric's place for dinner. Not because she particularly wanted to, but because she said she would. Because he and Cole would never let up until she made her choice.

As Eric stirred up the sauce for dinner, she watched him. She tried to imagine being here night after night. *Stop that,* she ordered herself. *You made a choice to exclude him from the child's life... if you decide to have it.* Eric wasn't bad-looking but she didn't want any child of hers to inherit his attitude.

"So," Eric said as he applied the sauce to the pasta, "You make a choice today?"

"No," she admitted. "I talked to Shayla though."

Eric brought her plate and his own to the table, sitting down opposite her. "Oh?"

"She overheard Cole talking." She twirled her fork in the sauce-covered pasta.

"Yeah?"

Taylor told him what Shayla had told her earlier that day. "So... it's been done before."

"Yeah." Eric seemed fascinated by his own dinner. "Sounds like this Kyna had a lot of support."

"Yeah." Taylor took a bite. One of the things she liked about hanging out with Eric meant that she got to eat his cooking. He was almost as good in the kitchen as he was a sparring partner. And a bed partner.

"And you? I haven't yet met a Ranger team that wasn't... clingy."

Taylor smiled at that. "You should see what we've been doing to make Merrick a part of the team."

"Yeah, Wes and Jen tried to do the same thing." His tone held wry amusement.

"Seems to have worked," Taylor observed.

Eric snorted. "It did." He looked over at her. "So... you think you wanna go through this?"

Taylor considered. "Yeah, actually, I do." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew that the pieces had fallen into place.

"Good," he answered in satisfaction.

"Good?" she echoed.

"I was kinda hoping you'd say that."

"You were?" Taylor asked, mystified.

"I was thinking it through too... and if I'm gonna be a father, it might as well be with you."

"You know that you don't have to have anything to do with this child," Taylor said, starting her campaign to sever Eric's connection to their child.

Eric snorted. "And live my life knowing that I turned my back on my responsibility? No way."

"I'm the one that's pregnant."

"Yeah, well, I'm the one that made you pregnant," he retorted. "So you'll excuse me if I want to do something to help fix things."

"I'm not a thing to fix - I'm a Ranger with a small problem."

Eric shrugged. "I didn't say you were. All I'm saying is let me have *some* responsibility for what I did."

"Fine. You're half responsible." She smiled at him beatifically.

Eric's mouth quirked up in a half-smile. "Yeah, I am." He paused. "So I wanna say about what happens here."

"Fine," Taylor said. "You can visit it in the hospital when it's born."

"I was thinking a little more than that."

"Like *what*?" Taylor asked.

"You're gonna need backup," Eric said, leaning forward. "I can provide that."

"I have my teammates," Taylor protested, realizing she'd just voiced the need to tell them.

"Yeah, you have your teammates." Eric said. "But you've got me too."

"Eric, you feel responsible. That's fine. But I'm not going to have you put your life on hold for a stupid error."

He smiled at that. "We used protection. It's not a stupid error."

"Still," she protested.

"Look, Taylor," Eric said. "I want my kid to have a father. I don't wanna be a check and a few birthday presents. Believe me, I've been there before. It's how I grew up. So you'll excuse me if I want to be a part of this."

Taylor resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I didn't ask you to!"

"I know," Eric said. "But you're gonna need all the help you can get, Taylor. And since you seem to be playing the part of Kyna, then it's my right to play Egan."

Taylor silently wondered if she could spend the rest of her pregnancy on the Animarium. "Hey, if you want to live in the past," she said, in what she hoped was a taunting tone.

"I'm not living in the past. I'm thinking about the future," Eric said. He reached his hand over to cover hers awkwardly. "Our child's future."

Wincing inwardly, Taylor responded, "Assuming we have a future."

"Well, I think that would be your job," Eric said. "'Sides, you have a whole bunch of people, human or otherwise, ready to protect you."

Taylor nodded at that, but inwardly she still wished that she'd found out before Cole did. If he hadn't, had she had a chance to do what she wanted without discussion... well, she still didn't know how she'd react, but at least she wouldn't have Eric's bad childhood being a factor in who raised the child. At least he hadn't asked her to marry him. Eric might be stupid and stubborn sometimes, and chauvinistic, but she'd seen how he reacted the past few days. Considerate, careful... someone who'd step back if she told him to step back and might not even resent it. "Yeah, I do."

"Speaking of which... I guess you should tell them, huh."

"Yeah, I guess I should," Taylor said, not looking forward to the conversation. She looked over at Eric. "And you'd better tell Wes, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess I should do that." He looked about as reluctant as she felt, and she was suddenly relieved that he was as reluctant as she was. It made things a little better. Not a whole lot better, but a bit better. And that was exactly what she needed.

"And after that... we can work things out. Maybe figure out how Kyna and Egan managed this thing."

"Maybe," Taylor said.

"In the meantime... I guess...."

But whatever he was going to say he never did, just looked at her wistfully. "I guess I should go. Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

"Yeah."

* * *

Taylor just lay on the bed. She had thought about going back to the Animarium, but she didn't want to go back up there. At least... at least until it was time to make the big announcement.

Her growl phone trilled, and she picked it up. There was either an Org attack going on, or Eric was calling her. "Taylor," she answered.

"Taylor. Got a moment?" Eric asked.

"One or two. What's up?" *And let's not say we have to postpone, please.*

"I invited Wes to lunch, at the Animarium. Your friends going to be all there?"

"As far as I know, except Merrick." But that didn't matter; Merrick kept to himself and he knew she was pregnant. When he was ready to be a team member he'd tell them. She privately doubted Merrick would ever be one of them.

She could almost see Eric nod. "Okay. I'll see you then?"

"Yeah. I'll see you at our usual place and take you up." Eric and Wes wouldn't get up to the Animarium otherwise.

"Right." With that, the line clicked off. No matter. He would be there with Wes, come hell or high water. She doubted that either of them could stand postponing the announcement. They would be nervous wrecks if any delay came up.

* * *

But their meeting went off without a hitch. Eric was there with a bemused Wes, both in full uniform. Whatever Eric had said to get him there she didn't know, but was sure Eric would tell her... maybe later. It wasn't like their secret was going to be a secret much longer.

"Ready?" she asked. The two Rangers nodded, and Taylor got them up to the Animarium.

They walked out into the main meeting area, and four surprised teammates looked up in the middle of lunch preparations. Danny looked like he'd just finished his time at his newest part-time job, Max looked like he had enough energy to light a stadium, Alyssa's backpack was tucked neatly away, and Cole gave her such a smile that she knew that he'd been worrying about her and Eric.

"Eric! Wes! Good to see you!" Cole explained. "What brings you here?"

"You could say... we have to discuss something that'll affect both teams," Eric said, catching Taylor by surprise as he caught her hand in his.

Cole's eyes sparkled as he saw the gesture. He nodded. "Come, have lunch with us," he said, motioning to where Max was trying to take his turn cooking. Trying, of course, being the operative word.

Lunch was surprisingly edible, though even Max could, Taylor admitted, could boil spaghetti without killing it. If it was a bit bland, that was okay, too. She could live with bland. She'd hate to make her announcement with garlic breath. As Danny cleared up the plates for later cleaning, the rest of the team, and Wes, looked at her expectantly.

When Danny was back, Taylor looked at Eric. They hadn't precisely worked out the announcement, they only knew they had to. "Guys..." she said, having to take a breath as all attention focused on her. "I'm... I'm pregnant."

For several seconds, everybody at the table sat in stunned silence. "Congratulations," Alyssa said, breaking the paralysis to grab Taylor in a hug.

"But who's the father?" Danny asked. Taylor unwrapped herself to nod over at Eric.

"I am," Eric said, apparently trying to hide his nervousness... and failing. Wes' face split in a huge grin as he slapped his teammate on the shoulder, and Taylor freed herself from Alyssa to find herself being crushed by Danny.

"Congratulations," he breathed, before releasing her.

"So, when's the baby due?" Max asked.

"About nine months," Taylor said. "Haven't been pregnant *that* long."

Alyssa sat down, the first to return to seriousness. "But... won't being pregnant be dangerous?"

"Taylor is not the first to be pregnant," Princess Shayla said, appearing from nowhere. "With your help, and her Zord's, she will be relatively safe."

"Then, all we have to do is keep her safe," Cole said. "For as long as it takes."

"And my uniform will help, too," Taylor said. Several heads bobbed around her.

"And we can do things to keep her out of danger!" Danny exclaimed. "Yeah!"

As her teammates began to mutter plans to keep her safe, she saw Wes nudge Eric. "So, when're you going to marry her?" he asked.

"When she asks me to," Eric retorted. "Unless I want to be castrated."

"You know how Dad'll react to the co-head of the Silver Guardians getting someone pregnant out of marriage."

"Yeah?" Eric asked. "Well, hate to disappoint the boss. 'Sides, it's not like I got his niece pregnant or anything like that." He leaned over to say something quietly to Wes.

"Think she'll go for it?" Wes said.

"Much as I like it, I want to be in one piece for the birth."

Wes nodded, and Taylor focused her attention on her teammates. They were ending their discussion, still all as bouncy as ever. Somehow, she knew everything was going to be all right.

* * *

Taylor met Eric for dinner that night. Her teammates had started throwing together an impromptu party for her and Eric, but she'd persuaded them, Max almost by force, to back off for the night. She didn't want to be with the team, not that night. The next day, things would start to be different, but that day... that day she wanted to be normal.

"So, what's the plan?" Eric asked.

"Well, first of all," Taylor said, "I'm going for one of those pregnancy test things before I go to the doctor. And then... then... we'll see how it goes."

Eric nodded. "Yeah."

"And then we'll beat the Orgs," Taylor said. "Before I become *too* pregnant." She didn't intend to be forced off the battlefield, not like Kyna was. She would see this fight to the end. No matter what the odds.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Eric was smiling.

"Yeah."

"So... what'cha think we have our own... private celebration?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a good idea."

He smiled, she smiled back, and that's exactly what they did.

-end

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