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Inside Out part 1
Look! It's a DVD commentary! And nobody asked for it! I'm too awake for my own good!
Disclaimer: Taylor, her team, Eric, and the briefly appearing Wes, all belong to BVE. Anyone else wandering about belongs to me.
The last line is my way of saying "Hi, I don't know who's going to appear in this story who's not a canon character, but when they appear, they're mine."
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.
Yeah, it's *slightly* AU to the series. Given what happens in the story, anyway.
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.
This paragraph does a great job at hinting at what's going to happen. I'm impressed at myself.
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.
Taylor's going to see a *lot* of eagles in this story. Again, they're a hint at what's going on in Taylor's life right now. (In fact, the plot bunny consisted of Taylor, a lot of eagles, and what Cole's going to mention in a scene or two.)
"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.
I love Taylor.
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?"
Of course Eric has to call here. Taylor's due for some teasing, and besides, it seemed in character for Eric to call even though he probably knew where she was.
"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 knows she's avoiding him. I have the sense that she did that the last few Sunday mornings as well.
"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.
The place Alyssa and Taylor are shopping at is, at least in my mind, my local Nordstroms Rack (a factory store).
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.
Poor Taylor. They couldn't just chat about Cole and Alyssa, could they?
"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."
Somewhere along the line, I've decided that Eric can cook. I think it's Rach's influence, though I'm not sure it's through her stories.
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.
Just slightly, dear....
* * *
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.
Yep, the eagles. 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."
Poor Cole. I wouldn't want to be the one giving Taylor this news, either.
"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?"
And Cole somehow manages to get it out. Poor guy.
"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.
Taylor's thinking well for someone who's just had that kind of news delivered to her. And don't ask me why Cole got to be the one to tell Taylor about her pregnancy - either I was having a 'pick on the Cole' day, or Princess Shayla just didn't work in this scene. (Rach made her work well when she borrowed this idea and had her doing the same to another TF character in one of her stories.)
Cole was looking at her, with his patented concerned-leader look. "Are you okay?" he said finally.
Yeah, I swear Cole has a patented concerned-leader look. I swear.
"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.*
Yeah, I wouldn't want to tell Eric this, either.
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.
Which is exactly what happened. The Eaglezord had tried to tell Taylor, but had failed, so it had told Cole, because it felt that she should know this.
So she gave up, and dialed Eric's number. She was greeted by Eric's gruff answer. "Commander Myers."
"Eric."
"Taylor."
Description, Selma, description! *buries face in hands*
"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.
Eric doesn't seem to be one who's into saying goodbye, at least to me.
* * *
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."
Taylor's a bit freaked here. Inwardly, of course. And of course she *still* doesn't want to tell him.
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."
Well, that's one way of getting it out.
"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.
Yes, Taylor = Not Happy Camper.
"How? We took precautions!"
Taylor inwardly winced. "Apparently not good enough."
I think I mention this later on in the story or the trilogy, but the reason why Taylor got pregnant is because of the way her powers worked on their biology.
"Yeah," Eric said. "Have you gotten it confirmed?"
"I just found out. Of course I haven't gotten it confirmed."
Description. Must remember description....
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."
Eric's pro-choice. He's also not stupid to try to force an active Ranger to do something.
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.
Yes, she's thinking abortion.
"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."
Of course. Or at least the non-humans know. And Cole.
Eric nodded again. "Good luck."
"I'll need it," Taylor responded automatically.
* * *
Disclaimer: Taylor, her team, Eric, and the briefly appearing Wes, all belong to BVE. Anyone else wandering about belongs to me.
The last line is my way of saying "Hi, I don't know who's going to appear in this story who's not a canon character, but when they appear, they're mine."
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.
Yeah, it's *slightly* AU to the series. Given what happens in the story, anyway.
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.
This paragraph does a great job at hinting at what's going to happen. I'm impressed at myself.
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.
Taylor's going to see a *lot* of eagles in this story. Again, they're a hint at what's going on in Taylor's life right now. (In fact, the plot bunny consisted of Taylor, a lot of eagles, and what Cole's going to mention in a scene or two.)
"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.
I love Taylor.
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?"
Of course Eric has to call here. Taylor's due for some teasing, and besides, it seemed in character for Eric to call even though he probably knew where she was.
"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 knows she's avoiding him. I have the sense that she did that the last few Sunday mornings as well.
"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.
The place Alyssa and Taylor are shopping at is, at least in my mind, my local Nordstroms Rack (a factory store).
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.
Poor Taylor. They couldn't just chat about Cole and Alyssa, could they?
"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."
Somewhere along the line, I've decided that Eric can cook. I think it's Rach's influence, though I'm not sure it's through her stories.
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.
Just slightly, dear....
* * *
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.
Yep, the eagles. 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."
Poor Cole. I wouldn't want to be the one giving Taylor this news, either.
"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?"
And Cole somehow manages to get it out. Poor guy.
"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.
Taylor's thinking well for someone who's just had that kind of news delivered to her. And don't ask me why Cole got to be the one to tell Taylor about her pregnancy - either I was having a 'pick on the Cole' day, or Princess Shayla just didn't work in this scene. (Rach made her work well when she borrowed this idea and had her doing the same to another TF character in one of her stories.)
Cole was looking at her, with his patented concerned-leader look. "Are you okay?" he said finally.
Yeah, I swear Cole has a patented concerned-leader look. I swear.
"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.*
Yeah, I wouldn't want to tell Eric this, either.
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.
Which is exactly what happened. The Eaglezord had tried to tell Taylor, but had failed, so it had told Cole, because it felt that she should know this.
So she gave up, and dialed Eric's number. She was greeted by Eric's gruff answer. "Commander Myers."
"Eric."
"Taylor."
Description, Selma, description! *buries face in hands*
"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.
Eric doesn't seem to be one who's into saying goodbye, at least to me.
* * *
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."
Taylor's a bit freaked here. Inwardly, of course. And of course she *still* doesn't want to tell him.
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."
Well, that's one way of getting it out.
"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.
Yes, Taylor = Not Happy Camper.
"How? We took precautions!"
Taylor inwardly winced. "Apparently not good enough."
I think I mention this later on in the story or the trilogy, but the reason why Taylor got pregnant is because of the way her powers worked on their biology.
"Yeah," Eric said. "Have you gotten it confirmed?"
"I just found out. Of course I haven't gotten it confirmed."
Description. Must remember description....
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."
Eric's pro-choice. He's also not stupid to try to force an active Ranger to do something.
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.
Yes, she's thinking abortion.
"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."
Of course. Or at least the non-humans know. And Cole.
Eric nodded again. "Good luck."
"I'll need it," Taylor responded automatically.
* * *
::tacklehugs::
Rach wrote an E/T story? I'm going to have to hunt that down now! ;)
Re: ::tacklehugs::
And as far as Eric and cooking goes, the only thing he's ever admitted to being able to cook in my stuff is pancakes (in fact, his toast making skills [or the lack thereof!] are something of a running joke)