Quaranteam Ch. 25

"Going to present someone from the base?" Andy asked, suspecting it was the reason for the uniform.

"You got it," she said, picking up the remote as she pushed a button as the image changed to a rather stern looking blonde woman in her mid forties with a hawkish nose. "I want to introduce you to Captain Tracy Bells, sir. She's a... y'know, we could do the whole thing, Ash, or we could just..."

"It's yer call, Niko," the Irish redhead said to her, a conspiratorial grin on her face.

Niko nodded, then motioned for Ash to come and join her, which she did, throwing Andy completely off guard. "Look, I'm not pitching Captain Bells to you, Andy," Niko said with a smile. "Because frankly, she's got a giant stick up her ass. I don't really have anyone to pitch you at all, to be frank. That's not why I'm here. It's a pretense."

Andy tilted his head to one side. "Then why are you taking up a pitch slot?"

"Well, it seemed like the best time that Ash and I could get you all to ourselves. For this," she said, pushing the button, as the image changed. In its place was a selfie that clearly Niko had taken just a day or two earlier, of her and Aisling. They each seemed to be holding something in their free hands, and just as it was dawning on Andy what they were, both girls spoke at the same time.

"WE'RE PREGNANT!"

Andy pointed a finger at Aisling, who nodded, then over at Niko, who nodded as well, then kept jumping his fingertip back and forth between the two of them as they both kept nodding, wild smiles on their faces. "What, both of you?"

"Yep!" Niko said, giggling, as both her and Aisling started walking around the table, one on each side of it, closing in on him like a planned maneuver, leaning against the table, pinning him in his spot.

"Most of your girls have synched up their time clocks, love," Aisling said, "So it was bound to happen to a couple of us at the same time. Niko and I are just glad it's us first."

"Well, we sort of made sure that we were," Niko giggled.

"I thought you were both on birth control still!" he said, although the smile on his face made it clear he wasn't upset. "Did everyone stop taking their birth control?"

Aisling shook her head. "So far, I think we're the only ones who have."

"We both stopped taking them a few months ago," Niko said. "When I started seeing and hearing the horror stories about the hospitals while I was working on base, I knew that this was going to happen, this or something like it, so I told Aisling and we just stopped taking our birth control pills, and well, here we are!"

"I ran into town for the tests Saturday morning, and wouldn't you know it, two buns in two ovens, all from one chef!" Aisling said, as Andy wrapped his arms around both of them, hugging them intensely tight.

"And you're both happy? I know you both did this intentionally, but sometimes people get second thoughts. I'm not! Getting second thoughts that is. I mean, I'm happy, I promise you I'm happy, but I want to be sure you're both happy."

"We're ecstastic, hon," Niko said to him, nuzzling her face against his cheek. "We weren't sure when the best time to tell you would be, but when the whole pitching process started, we wanted to be sure you understood that maybe getting a nanny into the house wasn't such a wild idea."

"Who knows?" Andy asked.

"Just us and you," Aisling said. "We haven't told anyone yet."

Andy kissed Niko, then Aisling, then Niko again, then Aisling again. "It's damn nice to have to some good news for once. So, should we go get lunch and tell the rest of the household?"

"Sounds good to me," Andy said. "Niko?"

"Absolutely," Niko said. As they headed towards the door, she leaned over and pushed the button on the remote, changing the slide so it was a black screen again with the words "Next: Piper."