What's Next? -- Chapter 31

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

“Is this where you want it?” Max asked Alec a few weeks later as she held a balloon that she’d just blown up.

Alec nodded. “Yeah, that would be perfect, Max.”

“Cool,” Max said. She stepped up onto the couch in Brin and Alec’s living room and turned her head to give Zack an annoyed look. “If it makes you feel any better you can stand behind me so that you’d be able to catch me in the extremely unlikely event that I would lose my balance and slip.” She shook her head and taped the balloon to the wall before she stepped down off of the couch. “See?”

“I don’t know if that was a mood swing or if that was just Max,” Alec remarked. When Max whipped around and punched him hard in the arm, he winced. “Now that I’m pretty sure was just Maxie.”

“Call me Maxie again and I’ll rip your—“

“Max, let it go,” Zack said.

“I know,” Max said. She sighed and walked back to him and leaned up to give him a kiss. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you before.” She shot Alec a look. “Yes, Alec, that was a mood swing. Don’t worry, I still would have hit you anyway.”

“That’s reassuring,” Alec said.

“Okay, all of you can the violence right now,” Brin said as she walked into the living room with Anthony in her arms. “The birthday boy is here!”

“Down,” Anthony said. He squirmed around until Brin finally put him down. He ran over to Alec. “Daddy, up!”

“Absolutely, big guy,” Alec said. He swung his son up into his arms. “Look who’s all nice and clean and looking good! You’ll have all of your aunts and uncles eating out of the palm of your hand.” He looked up and walked up to the front door and opened it with his free hand. “Hey, come on in.”

“Thanks,” Gem said. She was carrying Andrea in one arm, a present in the other, and had a diaper bag slung over one shoulder. She managed to set the present down on top of the pile in the corner, put Andrea down on the ground, and then slid the bag off of her shoulder and put it down on the floor. She grinned and laughed as Andrea picked herself up and toddled over to where her stepsisters were sitting and started to play with them. “I shudder to think of when she grows up and starts to actually run around. I don’t know how I’ll keep up with her.”

“I hope that I’ll be able to keep up with this one,” Max said, resting a hand on her abdomen. “With the way that he or she has been moving around in there, I know this baby is going to be a handful.”

“Hey, you’re the kid’s mom so that’s already a given,” Krit said.

“Then I feel really sorry for Syl when the two of you eventually have kids,” Max said sweetly.

“Can we please hold off on the sibling rivalry at least until after Anthony blows out his candles?” Brin begged.

“Sorry,” Max apologized. “Where’s the cake?”

“I know that you’re pregnant and all, Max, but can’t you hold off on the food for just a few more minutes until everybody else gets here?” Wayne teased.

“You know, my girls over there are being a lot more mature than you are right now,” Sasha pointed out. “Not to mention Anthony and Andrea.” She grinned wickedly as she looked over at Alec. “I guess he takes after his mother, huh?”

“Biggs? Your wife?” Alec said pointedly.

“What about her?” Biggs teased.

“That’s it, I’m getting the cake,” Brin said, laughing. She went into the kitchen and came out a minute or two later holding a big cake with a single candle in it. She waited for Biggs, Sasha, and Gem to get their children before they all started to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Anthony, who blew the lone candle out easily. They cheered and Brin set the cake down on the coffee table and served it to everybody. They all sat around the living room, eating their slices of birthday cake and watching the children. “One year. Unbelievable.”

“He really is getting so big so quickly,” Syl said. “He’s going to be all grown up before you know it.”

“Please, don’t remind me,” Brin groaned.

“Gonna be a charmer with the ladies just like his old man, huh?” Biggs teased.

“Hey, he is my boy,” Alec said, grinning. “Look at him now! Only one year old and he’s already surrounded by three beautiful girls.”

“Very funny,” Gem remarked. “No, Andrea, don’t grab Julia’s doll like that. That’s not very nice.” She turned back to the other adults. “I thought CeCe was going to make it here.”

“No, she called me earlier and told me that she got stuck at work,” Alec said.

“Similar deal with Jace,” Zack added. “A private event that she was going to cover got moved up to today.” He looked at the four small children. “They get along really well for the most part.”

“Yeah, they do,” Biggs said. “It’s great. It reminds me of how close Sasha, Alec, and I were since we were babies. We were a team from the moment that Sasha arrived in Seattle from Gillette.”

“Absolutely,” Sasha said. She grinned wickedly. “You think Anthony is going to fall in love with one of the girls?”

“Sasha,” Alec groaned. “He’s barely a year old and you’re already playing matchmaker? I thought you didn’t like cr—stuff like that. That sounds like it would be Melanie’s thing. Heck, I bet she and Diane have it planned that one of Melanie’s boys will marry Diane’s daughter.”

“No doubt about it,” Sasha agreed. “But I think this is one of those unwritten mom laws, you know?”

“Hey, their kid could turn out to be a girl,” Rena said gleefully. “If the baby is…”

“Hell, no,” Max said immediately. “Sorry, Brin.”

Brin looked amused. “About the language or the other?”

“Both,” Max said.

“Do I hear an apology coming my way?” Alec teased.

“I haven’t apologized to you for anything, why start now?” Max said. She laughed and gently patted her stomach. “That’s right, kiddo. Uncle Alec’s being weird. You’ll learn that one pretty quickly, won’t you?”

Zack moved closer to Max and reached over and laid a hand on top of the one of hers that was still resting on her round stomach. “I know that you’re going to be a smart kid, so do your dad a favor and do not listen to a word that your Uncle Alec will tell you. Ever.”

“I am so hurt,” Alec said, shaking his head. “I can’t believe that you hold me in such low regard.”

“Gee, I wonder why,” Sasha deadpanned.

“Awww, isn’t that sweet?” Zane said, pointing to Max and Zack. He, Krit, and Wayne began to make kissing noises. “Look at Maxie and Zack all snuggled up together.”

Zack closed his eyes and shook his head, but Max just smiled at her brothers and gestured at them with one of her feet. “Would any of you like to get a sneaker enema?”

“Wow, really? I can get one of those?” Wayne said in mock awe. “I don’t believe it!”

“Believe it, doc,” Max said. “I am still very capable of kicking you in the ass.”

“At least it’s not just my ass that she’s obsessing about anymore,” Alec remarked.

“And on that note,” Brin interrupted. She put a big smile on her face. “Who wants to see the birthday boy open his presents?”

Anthony’s dark eyes lit up. “Pressie?”

“Oh yeah, Alec, he’s your son for sure,” Gem said.

“The world will need to watch out for him,” Alec agreed.

“No doubt,” Max said.