{George}

  I smiled as I opened my eyes and found myself lying in between Triple X and Branden when I woke up. After the whole ordeal with getting kidnapped and watching Eve have her little showdown with Blade I was given a month of vacation time when I got home.

  The fact that she turned into what looked like a Knight from a Renaissance Fair when she summoned her sword will forever remain in my memory. She had silver armor on and a blue cape hanging off her shoulders. The only things that were missing was the helmet, a shield and a horse for her to ride off into the sunset with.

  Since I was on vacation again Triple X and Branden suggested that we stay at Levi's house to help him take care of Eve. Although I think Levi and Eve are just fine by themselves, I had no idea that Levi had asked for help in keeping Eve occupied while he's at work until we got to his house.

  Levi had already changed the locks on the personal gym in the house and had forbidden Eve from going to the public gym. I think that's a bit of overkill because even though Eve's pregnant she's not pregnant to the point where she needs to be put on bedrest yet. From what I know of the babies that are born to the Organization are indestructible when they're in the womb. Uncle 42 made it that way so there's no such thing as miscarriages for women who are pregnant.

  Eve, being the smart woman that she is, got around not going to the gym by encouraging Zoey to turn into a Lioness so that they could go for a run together to blow off some steam.

  Today when I woke up I could hear Levi shouting, "Eve get back here!"

  Eve laughed, "If you want me then you gotta catch me!"

  "That's not fair Eve you're faster than I am!" Levi said.

  "Should we go help Levi out?" Branden asked.

  I shrugged. "I don't know. You think we should?"

  "Yeah we should go help Levi. That is the reason we decided to stay here for vacation," Triple X said. "Levi wasn't kidding when he said Eve was a handful."

  "I swear taking care of a baby is a lot easier than keeping up with you Eve!" Levi said.

  "Excuse me?" Eve growled.

  Triple X chuckled. "Okay yeah I think we should go help him."

  After we got ready for the day we walked outside our room to see Eve running past us. She was in her Lioness form and poor Levi was chasing after her.

  "Levi, why not just let her run?" I asked.

  Levi paused. "Because she's pregnant."

  "Hey where's Mommy running off to?" Zoey asked as she came up to us.

  "Your mother can't seem to stay still and relax," Levi said.

  Zoey looked at him. "Mommy hardly ever stays still except for when Grandma takes her with us to the mall."

  "She has a point," I said. I sighed, "Alright Zoey, let's go get your mother. Levi, leave this to us."

  "Yay!" Zoey cheered.

  I transformed into a Puma and Zoey transformed into a Lioness and before Levi could say anything we ran off to find Eve.

  ***

  Zoey and I chased after Eve and for some reason after she figured out that we were chasing her she turned back into a human and used her wind powers to fly up to the mansion's rooftop.

  "Aww, no fair!" Zoey whined. "Now I can't go after Mommy because I don't have that power!"

  "Don't worry Zoey, I have that power, I'll get her!" I said. I transformed back into a human and did the same thing Eve did and landed on top of the rooftop.

  Eve turned around and rolled her eyes. "You know I don't need a babysitter! I'm fine. Taking it easy isn't in my vocabulary."

  I snorted. "Yeah I know. Levi's just worried about you, that's all."

  "Oh I get that, but I'm bored," Eve said.

  Without warning she turned around and threw a punch that I barely managed to avoid. She kept throwing punches and I blocked each of them.

  "We really shouldn't be doing this, you need to go back to Levi," I said as I dodged another punch.

  "Oh come on, is that the best you can do!" Eve taunted.

  I shook my head. "There is no way I am fighting a pregnant woman."

  "I'm perfectly fine with fighting. You know as well as I do that there's no such thing as miscarriages. Not to mention I'm one of the strongest fighters there is!" Eve said. "Now throw a punch because I challenge you!"

  I groaned. "Fine then, since you insist. I swear Levi is going to have my head for this."

  "Don't worry I challenged you so you have to accept it unless you want to be known as a coward who won't fight a pregnant lady that's not even close to being on bedrest yet," Eve said.

  Once again without warning she threw a punch at me and I barely dodged it. Since this was a challenge I decided to attack by throwing punches of my own. When I stepped up and started attacking back the fight seemed like it was an even match until Eve landed a kick on my stomach that sent me flying backwards but I was able to catch myself before I fell off the building.

  She charged at me and used her Electricity Powers to shoot lightning bolts at me and I used my Matrix Powers to slow down time so I could avoid them. When I turned time back to normal I did it just in time to cancel out a couple of fire balls with my Wind Power. I summoned my Fire Powers and threw some fireballs that Eve dodged effortlessly.

  At this point the fight was pretty much blow for blow. I would use my Matrix Powers to throw out an attack and she would counter it with her Stunning Powers. There was a point in the fight where Eve used her Demon Power and Stunning Powers to trap me but I was able to break free by using my Stunning Powers to trap her. She broke free of my Stunning Powers and the fight continued.

  I had no idea how long the fight lasted but I was starting to think about ways to end this fight if that was possible.

  "I know that look," Eve said. "Keep going."

  I used my Stunning Powers to trap her to the best of my ability and just right when Eve was going to break out again I changed into a Puma and charged at her. I didn't mean to push her off the rooftop but I did and I went tumbling down with her. We both landed on the ground with a loud thud. I could hear the wind being knocked out of Eve and I felt the wind being knocked out of me.

  I changed back into a human and helped Eve get to her feet.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Considering we both fell I'm going to call this fight a tie," Eve said as she dusted herself off.

  "Agreed," I said. "There's no way I'm taking a win by fighting a pregnant lady."

  Eve groaned. "Yes I get it, I'm pregnant but I'm not on bedrest and there's no such thing as a miscarriage for Agents. The baby is pretty much as indestructible as the mother is in the womb."

  "I know that. But you really should slow down and take it easy for a little bit," I said. "Honestly, I think Levi should at least let you run around. Although it's not like he can stop you because you're faster than he is." I paused. "I just thought of something. I'll ask Branden and Triple X if there's something you can do that doesn't involve sitting still or taking a tumble off of a rooftop."

  "Fine by me," Eve said. "Until then I'll just continue to do laps around the-"

  "Actually I have some tea that you can drink to help calm you down a bit," I heard Branden say.

  We turned to look at him standing by the front door where Eve and I had fallen in front of. He didn't look happy and I don't blame him. But I can see why Levi has his hands full. I'm pretty sure there's never a dull day in this house.

  Zoey came up to us and looked at Eve and looked at the dent that she left on the ground after we fell and frowned. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be falling off a rooftop Mommy."

  "I know, I just needed to blow off some steam with a fight," Eve said.

  "I don't know why I didn't think of the tea before but you really need to relax Eve," Branden said with a look of concern.

  Eve groaned. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

  Before Eve could say anything else Branden grabbed her hand and dragged her back into the house.

  ***

  {Branden}

  "I can understand why Levi's so worried about you right now," I said as I sat Eve down on the couch in the living room. "Stay seated, let me examine you just to make sure everything's fine."

  Eve groaned. "I'm fine. Geez you guys are so overprotective it's annoying."

  "I get it, you want to move. Most Agents who are mothers are like that," I said. "I've seen it one too many times to count. Not just at the hospital either. I've seen some mothers want to go for a 5k run the day after they've given birth! It's like good grief, can you guys just take a chill pill for once?"

  Eve laughed, "Yeah my name and the word 'chill' don't belong in the same sentence."

  I rolled my eyes. "I can see that."

  I paused when I checked Eve's powers and I could tell it wasn't just her powers it was her and her baby's powers. The baby's powers seemed more unstable than Eve's were. "I think I know why you're having so much trouble chilling out."

  She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why?"

  "When you were in the hospital after developing a lot of new abilities you needed to release that extra energy right?" I said.

  Eve nodded. "Yes."

  "It's the same thing with your child. He was just conceived but he still needs to release some extra energy," I said.

  "And do you know the baby's gender?" Eve asked.

  "I can tell based on their power signature," I said. "Now, lean back so I can help you."

  She did as I told her to and I placed my hand on her belly and concentrated on the baby's power signature. A bright light came from my hand and then quickly disappeared. Eve let out a sigh of relief after I did that. "Now, I feel calmer."

  "Did you have this problem when you were pregnant with Zoey?" I asked.

  Eve nodded.

  "I see, Zoey probably just needed to release that extra energy she had," I said. "Speaking of releasing extra energy, where is Instructor Ari and Instructor Bob? Aren't they supposed to be helping you with that?"

  Eve shrugged. "I have no idea where they are. They were here for a couple of months and then after I got kidnapped they left."

  I paused. "If they left then maybe they got other assignments…"

  "Uh, Branden I need to talk to you," I heard Triple X say. He was standing by the doorway with his cell phone in his hand. "Your Boss is on the phone."

  I stepped out of the room and Triple X handed me his phone. "Hello?"

  "Instructor Branden, there's been a new change in assignments for you," My boss Sergeant Tony said.

  "Yes sir?" I said.

  "You and Instructor River will be working with Agent 36 to help her out with her pregnancy," Sergeant Tony said. "Once the baby is born then you'll go back to your regular job assignments."

  "But what about Agent 72 and the others on the team of Super Agents?" I asked.

  "Since they're going to be training and releasing their extra energy that way, the only one that needs help is Agent 36," Sergeant Tony answered. "That's everything for now."

  Without another word, he hung up the phone.

  "So what was that all about?" Triple X asked.

  I sighed, "I have a new job assignment. Apparently I get to help Eve out with her powers until the baby is born. It's a good thing I figured out that the baby needs to release their extra energy too because I don't think Levi would take too kindly to Eve falling off a rooftop again."

  Triple X's eyes went wide. "She what!"

  "You heard me," I said. "She fell off a rooftop because for whatever the reason she decided to go up on the roof and challenge George to a fight."

  "Good grief she needs to chill. Poor Levi," Triple X said.

  "Yeah he has his hands full that's for sure," I said. "I should probably go let Levi know about what's going on although he might know already."

  Triple X nodded and I walked out the door.

  ***

  {Eve}

  "Eve, what am I going to do with you?" Levi asked.

  I rolled my eyes. "I don't need a babysitter, I'm fine."

  "No, you're not fine if you're going around challenging people to a fight on a rooftop and falling off said rooftop. It's a good thing you're not a normal human because that fall would've been lights out," Levi said. "Talk to me. What's really going on in your head?"

  I paused debating about if I should tell him how I feel. My feelings right now are a little bit complicated. The thing that irks me the most is the issue with Blade. I took a breath and let it out. "You really want to know what's bothering me huh?"

  Levi nodded.

  Since we were in our bedroom I closed the door. After taking a seat at the edge of the bed I motioned for Levi to sit next to me. "The biggest issue that's bothering me right now is the whole issue about people wanting me to recognize Blade as my father. It's not just you, it's George, it's Elder Lewis, yeah I know it's weird that Elder Lewis is concerned about me because he's hardly ever concerned about anyone. Everyone looks at me like I need a babysitter or as if I could have a mental break at any time."

  "People are just worried about you because you don't know how to stay still. You had this same problem when you were pregnant with Zoey," Levi said. "One would think that being pregnant would slow a woman down a bit. I'm glad that I don't have your job. There's no way in hell that I'd be able to do that."

  "And as far as recognizing Blade as my father that's not happening," I said. "He was my father once upon a time but the moment he left me alone after my mother was killed in action that was the moment he stopped being my father. He started being a traitor. And why the hell would I want to recognize someone who abandoned their family as family?"

  Levi's eyes went wide and he gave me a look of understanding. "I think I get it now."

  I tilted my head. "Get what?"

  "You haven't had time to actually grieve over the loss of your parents," Levi said.

  I scoffed, "Seriously? Grieve over them? What's there to grieve over?"

  "When did your parents leave you?" Levi asked.

  "I was seven years old when that happened, so over thirty-one years ago," I said. "My parents left me. Why should I grieve over people who clearly didn't want to be with me?"

  Levi sighed, "Well knowing how the Organization is I'm sure your once upon a time father had his reasons for leaving. But your mother didn't leave you willingly. She was killed."

  I gave a sarcastic snort. "Once upon a time father, I like that. Because once upon a time I did call him my father but now I don't."

  "I think it's time you work on grieving not necessarily for your parents but grieving because of the feelings of abandonment," Levi said. "I mean did you even get a chance to process what happened to you as a kid?"

  I thought about it and then shook my head. My shoulders slumped in defeat in the realization that Levi was right. I never got a chance to process what happened to my parents on my seventh birthday. I mean I was taken from my room that very night in the orphanage and sent out to do an assignment. Till this day the thought crosses my mind but I just push the thought aside and continue on with life as if I never had parents to begin with.

  Levi rubbed my back trying to console me as he said, "It's okay to feel sad. I think it's time for you to be sad. Not depressed but just a little bit sad."

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm not sure I can do that right now."

  "Can't? Or don't want to? Because if not now, then when?" Levi asked.

  I shook my head. "I have no idea."

  "If you don't want to think about it now maybe we can do something else?" Levi said.

  He reached over and kissed me. I kissed him back and deepened the kiss and started taking his clothes off. I didn't want to think about anything else so I welcomed the distraction of passionate sex to keep myself from thinking.