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PAGE 2

*****

Jam Pony X-Press

12:30 p.m.

"There's my two favorite people" Cindy remarked as Max came

through the door-less entry.

Cindy walked over to her, and laid a hand on her belly.

"Hey Jesse, how's my boy today?" The baby kicked in response,

Max cringed, but Cindy smiled "He's a tough lil frigger,

'cmon do it again baby"

"Don't teach my son how to fight, that's MY job" she teased

removing her coat, and hanging it on the back of "her chair"

When it had become apparent that Max could no longer *sit*

on a bicycle Normal had given her a sort of "sorting" job.

She would hand people the boxes and they would deliver them.

Next month she would be taking her maternity leave, one that

she made Normal re-instate by crushing his windpipe, but for

now she still wanted to work.

"Sorry about being late Normal" she said sitting down

"It's gettin' harder and harder to get out of bed in

the morning"

"Don't worry about it" he replied

Max looked at him in a 'say what' gaze "You goin' soft boy?"

He shook his head "I am still the reigning God of all, but

in your case I'll be a little lenient"

"I'm flattered" she remarked dryly.

Skethcy waltzed up to them "Got any for me today Max?" he

asked leaning on the handles of his bike.

"Yep" she said tossing him a small box "This one's headed

for the corner of Dovan and Wesser"

He took it but made no move to go "So how's Logan?"

"He's fine dude, but you better get outta here or you

won't be" she threatened lightly.

"Still have that attitude" he remarked. She yanked him down

by the collar of his shirt.

"And I could haul you're ass easily with all this extra

weight I'm carrying"

"Sorry" he remarked pitifully as she let him go. He took his

bike and the box and left hurriedly.

*****

The rest of the morning passed by basically normal. At twelve

Max took her break with Cindy like always.

Max was starving and finished her food in about forty seconds.

"Damn girl" Cindy remarked "You sure pack in allot of food"

"I know" She replied wiping her hands off on her napkin "I'm

ALWAYS hungry nowadays"

"You must be" Cindy said picking at her sandwich "'cause

food from Earls' Cafe isn't exactly fine dinning"

Max smirked, brushing some crumbs off her pants. She stood

up to throw away her empty plate and gasped.

"Oh shit" she muttered doubling over

"Max what is it, what's wrong?" Cindy asked standing up.

"I think Jesse wants out" she said through gritted teeth

Cindy was alarmed "You've still got one month left"

"Yea I KNOW" Max replied and gasped as more pain hit "But you

try telling *him* that"

"Okay girl, just take it easy" Cindy said helping her up and

grabbing her coat "I'm gonna drive ya to the hospital" she

maneuvered Max to the door

"Somebody's gotta call Logan" Max gritted out

"I got that" Cindy replied and shouted at Normal

"Yo Norm-Norm, call Logan and tell him his wife is

havin' a baby"

"Already?" Normal was just as surprised as Cindy.

"Yea already" Max called out "Just give him the message

'kay? he already knows which hospital"

The whole Jam Pony crew stopped to watch, and Max would

have told them to stop gawking, if she didn't feel like

someone dropped an A-bomb in her stomach

Max and Cindy slowly made their way out to the parking

lot

"Your car or mine?" Cindy asked

"I personally don't give a fuck which one" Max managed

while trying to breath.

Cindy steered them towards Max's Impala.

"You got a better ride then me" she remarked as she helped

Max in the car and raced around to the driver's seat.

"Just hold tight suga" Cindy said lookin' at her friend

"Original Cindy's got your back" she floored the gas and

sped off.

*****

Logan and Bling were still chatting away when the phone

call interrupted their conversation.

Bling answered it.

"Hello?"

"This is Normal, who am I speaking to?"

"This is Bling" he replied, wondering why Max's boss

would call here, but he didn't want to alarm Logan, so

he waited for the conversation to play itself out.

"Oh, well is Logan Cale there?"

"Yea" he remarked looking at Logan "He's here"

"Could you inform Mr.Cale that Max has left for the

hospital"

"NOW?" Bling shouted making Logan shoot him a look.

"Yes that is correct" Normal replied and hung up.

Bling did the same. He turned to face Logan

"Max went into labor"

Logan looked at him shocked "It's one month early"

"That's kids for ya, they never do what you want them

too" he replied.

Logan hastily jumped up and retrieved his jacket.

"I'll drive" Bling told him, and Logan didn't disagree

*****

Seattle General

Maternity Ward

Upper Seattle

3:30 p.m.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my wife, she was brought here

by a friend" Logan said all in one breath to the woman

seated behind the desk.

"What's the name?" she asked not bothering to look up.

He was about to respond when Original Cindy's voice called

out to him

"Logan, over here"

He and Bling rushed over to her.

"How's Max?" Logan asked

Cindy gave him a look that made him uncomfortable "What is

it Cindy?"

"Logan" her tone was completely dead panned "Max had a seizure

on the way up here, it was brought on by her contractions"

Logan's heart stopped, and it was awhile before he could

find his voice "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, it wasn't too long, and she had her meds

with her"

Cindy's statement lifted the rock that was in his throat.

"And how about the baby?"

Here Cindy did not reply so soon "They don't know yet,

they're running tests, the doctors say they have to see

if" here she paused "If he will have any neuro damage"

"What do you mean 'damage?' Logan asked, his voce rising

"I don't know, I ain't know doctor" Cindy responded and

added in a lower tone "They're sayin' he might not even

live"

<This is suppose to be one of the happiest moments of

my life, but it's turning into a nightmare>

He looked back up at Cindy "Where is she?"

"Room 102, just down the hall" she said and he didn't

even look at her he just ran down the white corridors.

Cindy turned towards Bling "You got a few bucks guy?

'Cause something tells me that the coffee machine down

the hall is going to be seeing allot of us"

Bling nodded and handed her a five, and they walked there

in silence.

*****

"Is he okay?" Max's voice was anxious, as she felt the familiar

sweep of the ultra sound move over her stomach. She was somewhat

comforted when she heard the sounds of Jesse's hearbeat. The

seizure had hit her out of no where, and she was terrified

about what the outcome could mean for him

<"Jesse, JESSE! the young Max cried to her sister as the

doctors hauled her away to the back exam rooms. An op yanked

her back "Get back to your training 32, the doctors will

take care of that one">

The high risk OB/GYN that had been called after Max was

brought here looked at her for a moment.

"It's to early to tell right now" he said as Logan burst

through the door. He took a minute to compose himself,

before walking over to where Max lay on a hospital bed.

"Hey you" he bent down and kissed her "I got here as

soon as I could, or rather Bling did, *I* would've killed

someone"

She smiled slightly "Logan I had a seizure" her voice was

trembling.

He drew his forehead down towards hers "I know" was all

he said.

"I take it you're her husband" the doctor's voice made

him turn

"Yes I am" Logan replied and added more importantly "Is the

baby okay?"

"As I was telling you're wife just before you came in, it's

hard to tell at this moment. The seizure, she said lasted

only a few minutes,but to a fetus, it only can take that long

to cause damage to it's brain" his words seemed so cold to Max.

This baby was not an 'it', HE was her son.

"When will you learn more?" she asked

"When we get the results of the tests back Mrs.Cale, I'll be

able to give you more information" he responded.

She nodded "And for future reference my SON'S name is Jesse

so please refer to him that way" her tone was sharp and hard.

The doctor cringed slightly, and she felt some small

satisfaction in knowing that she still could knock'em

down.

"I have my rounds, the tests will be back in about an hour"

he nodded to both of them and left the room.

In all this time Max had not had anymore contractions.

When it became obvious that they induced her seizures, the

doctors had given her medication to stop them, while deciding

on the best plan of action.

Max was not in any physical pain, but that was not the case

on her emotions.She could not sit still, every few seconds

she would change positions in the bed, fiddle with the IV

needle in her arm. After about her fifth time around Logan

stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Max, you need to calm down" his tone was strong despite the

fear he felt in the pit of his stomach.

"I can't fucking calm down Logan!" her words we're angry,

not really at him, but at the circumstances they found

themselves in "Our son may have brain damage, hell he even

might DIE and you want me to be cool and collect?" she was

shouting at him now, admitting the thing that scared

her the most. <It wasn't suppose to be this way>

She looked up at him with such sadness that it took his

breath away

"Why is this happening now?" her voice was just a whisper, and

Logan wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know what she meant.

"What baby?" he asked as gently as he could she wouldn't

misinterpret it. He rubbed her arm in a soothing gesture

with his right hand.

She melted into his touch for a moment before going on

"Lydeker tried hard to make the perfect Alpha female, strong,

fast, but his creation had a flaw" she was speaking about

herself, but she did so in a way that made it sound like

a clinical analysis, it was a tactic she learned at Manticore.

She didn't have to deal with the pain if she separated herself

from it.

"Your seizures" Logan finished for her

She nodded, her eyes clouding over "Yea the ONE thing that made

his Grade A prototype a dud. But he kept training us, even the

ones like me. I remember how he use to talk about 'breeding' us

like we were dogs with a pedigree or something" here she gave a 

humorless

laugh "I use to watch every day as the ops would take

girls into what they called the "Fertilization chamber" Some

we're even as young as 11, but they didn't care, so long as they

had their cycle. There were doctors there that would inseminate

them with the sperm from the Alpha Males" she suddenly gave a

passionate sob, making the EKG monitor jump sporadically.

"I think you need to stop" Logan said. More stress was something

that she did NOT need right now.

"No, I NEED to get this out" she reached out and touched his

face.

He grasped her hand with one of his "Okay, but if you get into

deep, I want you to get out"

She nodded before continuing, to tell him the story of why

she chose their son's name, remembering a dark hell hole

called Manticore

"One day they took some of us away from training, me, Brin,

Jesse and Lil. We didn't know what was going on, but knew we

had to follow orders. They led us to the Room, and told us to

undress. There we're metal exam tables everywhere, and they

made us lie on them, and they stuck this long metal tube in

our-" here she had to stop, the memory becoming to much.

Logan noticed her hands were shaking, so he covered them

with his own, letting her know that she wasn't alone,

grounding her back to the present.

Max went on "the tubes were placed in our-" she searched

her mind for a word that would take away some of the edge

"*bodies* Each one contained sperm from a select group of

Alpha males. Most were from mine, X-5, but there were a few

from the X-12 section" She gave a slight laugh lacking all

humor "I guess he wanted to hybrid his hybrids"

Logan just looked at her, appalment on his face "How

old were you?"

Max searched her memory for a moment "It was a few weeks

before we escaped, so I guess I was about nine, yea that's

right 'cause I  remember I had just gotten my period a few

weeks earlier, we we're all early developers"

Logan was lividly raged. How could they have done that

to children? Little girls? to HIS girl?

Max squeezed his hands a little and continued with

her dark tale

"After it was over we were returned to the block

operator. The insemination had been a success, we were all

pregnant. I later learned that Zack was one of the ones, '

picked' to be a stud" her voice was full of malice "But we

we're young, and the constant physical exertion took it's

toll, both Brin and Lil suffered miscarriages.

But Jesse, she carried the baby almost four months, when

she had a seizure and it triggered early labor, the doctors

tried to save the them, but it was too late, Jesse died because

of complications, and the fetus choked to death on it's cord.

They didn't even bury her, they just cremated her with the baby

still inside. Lydeker said that he didn't want the world to know

of his mistake. I had to watch it, I myself was three months

along, and after it was over I snuck away to the sergeant�s

quarters and swallowed a whole bottle of aspirin. I passed out,

and when I came to I knew I had succeeded in my goal by all the

blood on the floor"

"You aborted the child?" Logan asked gently, there was not a

trace of anger in his tone, but his mind was seething.

"I felt it was necessary at the time" she answered "I was

afraid that something like that would happen to me, because

I had seizures like Jesse did. We knew no such thing as

motherly love, we we're just knocked up to produce more of

our genes, and when I did what I did, I rationalized it by

telling myself that I was defective, and my offspring would

be too. But now" she paused with a hand on her swollen abdomen

"There are no guards, no cold rooms, I have a child that I

*want* to keep and this happens" tears leaked down her face

Logan pulled her into a embrace, placing himself next to

her on the narrow hospital bed.

"Why would Manticore give me this body, this fucking heat

cycle to create a child whose only purpose was to die?" her

question was so heart breakingly sad, and her next words

were so soft, it might have been the creaking of the bed

"I didn't even get a chance to hold him"

Logan had heard enough, he pulled her back and look her

full in the face "You will Max" he said half gently half

firmly "You will, I will, Manticore may have given you the

genes but *we* created the baby. Jesse *will* live okay?"

his voice was raising slightly "You have to believe that"

"I want to" Max replied "But, I'm scared"

"I am to Max" Logan responded "But if we give up on him

now, he *is* as good as dead, and your sister deserves to

have her memory honored through this baby, and Jess doesn't

desrve to die so young either"

Max looked at him in understanding "Let's hope"

"I don't hope Max" Logan told her "I know"

*****

55 minutes later

Max had exhausted herself by taking for so long, so Logan

insisted that she take a nap. She objected at first, but

then realized how tired this ordeal made her. Logan laid

down beside her, and she curled around him and fell

asleep almost instantly.

He just watched her. She looked so innocent when she slept.

It was hard to believe that someone with those gentle features

could take on Ninja warriors and haul the ass of every sleeze

in Seattle without even batting an eyelash.

She must have felt him looking at her because her eyes

soon opened, looking into his.

Logan smiled at her "good nap?"

"Yea" she replied stretching "What time is it?"

"5:00" he responded brushing a stray lock of hair from

her face.

The door opened and the OB walked in the room.

Max, who had been still somewhat sleepy from her nap became

wide awake. She locked both eyes on the man in the white lab

coat, and felt Logan's arm go across her shoulders.

"I just got the results of the tests in" the doctor said

holding up a manila envelope "JESSE shows no signs of

neuro damage, or any other risks that might threaten his

life"

Max broke down and Logan hugged her, relieved "Thank God"

He kissed her with deep emotion before looking up at the

doctor

"What happens now?"

"Giving that she was in active labor when she arrived we can't

send her home, however in light of the risks of her delivering

vaginally I think it would be best to do a Cesarean" the OB

responded

Logan nodded satisfied with his statement.

"Let's get it on then" Max said with renewed energy. Her

child was all right. He would live to learn the story of his

namesake.

<You lost this time Lydeker>

*****

OR reception

6:45 p.m.

"What do ya thinks takin' so long?" Original Cindy asked

pacing around the row of chairs for about the fifth time.

"Beats me" Bling said watching her "I'm single remember"

She laughed a little and plopped down beside him.

"This is unreal huh?" Cindy asked looking at him "My girl is

going to be a mama"

"I know" Bling admitted "It seems just yesterday that Logan

was bitchin' that being alone sucked, and now he's finally

re-married and he's a breath away from being a father"

"Word up" Cindy said "Max was like that too, all 'I don't

need no man' and even though Original Cindy's into True Love

she knew lyin' when she saw it" she smirked. "They grow up so

fast"

"To true" Bling agreed.

The doors swung open and Logan came out, still dressed in the

scrubs that the had to wear to be in the OR.

Bling and Cindy stood up.

"7 lbs., 6 oz" Logan said proudly displaying the pink bundle

in his arms. His little eyes were closed, and his face was

pinched but to Logan he was beautiful.

"Oh my god" Cindy said looking down at the baby "Look at him"

She stared at Jesse for a long time "He's perfect Logan"

she stated "He looks just like you" she grasped a tiny hand

in hers and squeezed it.

"No I thinks he resembles his mother more" Logan stated

looking down at his son "He's got dark skin, and brown

eyes, plus when he came out he cried so long that the OB

said his lung power was exceedingly well off"

Cindy laughed "Oh yea he IS like my girl all right" she

paused and then added "How's Max doin'?"

"She's a little tired, and sore, but overall she's fine"

Logan replied.He walked over to Bling

"So how do you like the goods?" he said holding up his

tiny burden.

Bling laughed at his statement "He's fine lookin' to me" he

touched the head of the sleeping newborn "Remember how I said

at your wedding you done good?"

Logan nodded

"Well, Bling went on "You did even better now"

Logan smiled, and kissed his baby's head "Oh yea, I'm

two for two"

At that moment the OR doors opened and Max was being wheeled out.

She made the orderly stop for a moment, and looked over at the

people around her "Wow, what a party" her voice sounded tired

"It's all for you baby girl" Cindy stated walking over to her.

She kissed her on the cheek "Ya made it out alive" she teased

"Barely" Max quipped lightly looking over at Logan holding

their baby. "But, if this is what escaping death feels like,

I can live with it" she reached out and touched, at least

tried to touch Jesse's head.

Logan moved closer, the anesthetics were still keeping Max's

body numb from about her collarbone down so she couldn't

go anywhere. He kissed her softly "you and me both"

Bling walked over to her as well and kissed her forehead

"I'm proud of you girl"

"I'm lovin' all this attention guys" Max said through a yawn,

"but,I'm kinda drifting here" her eyes began to close. Now

that it was over, she allowed herself the luxury to sleep.

"All right suga" Cindy said "I'll come back later, right now I

gots to spread the good word" she offered Max another friendly

kiss on the head and went in search of a pay phone.

Bling said that he would come back as well, he knew that they

wanted to be alone with their new baby, and Cindy would probably

have the whole Jam Pony crew descend upon them soon enough, so he

bowed out.

As he passed Cindy he heard snatches of her conversation with

Kendra

"Kendra you should seen him, he looks just like Max" "Mmhmm,

brown hair and brown eyes"  "Of course it's Logan's kid" "Just

because he looks more like our girl doesn't mean their doin' the

'whose your daddy' game"  "Logan has brown hair too 'kay?"

Cindy caught the sight of Bling lookin' at her "Now you got me

people starin' at me. Gotta go, tell the gang, and make

sure that Normal hasn't gone and fired me, Jess don't need a

poor auntie" "You to suga" she hung up and faced Bling

"Kendra thought Max had a little action on the side?" he asked

Cindy nodded "I love my chica to death, but sometimes she's a

little off" she said taking the coffee he offered her

She took a swig appreciatively "This is good shit"

Bling sipped his and nodded "I sorta wheedled a doctor here to get

it for me from the lounge, being a PT has it's perks"

"Good man" Cindy said taking another drink of the hot liquid.

Her eyes scanned over at a cute looking doctor in green scrubs

"'Scuse me Bling" she said taking one last drink before setting it

down "Auntie Cindy could use another lil pick me up" she began

walking over to the woman.

Bling left her to do her stuff and retreated down the corridors.

*****

Three Weeks Later

Max checked her position as she blew by Bling and sunk the

ball in at the three point line.

"That's game" she called out triumphantly.

Bling took a minute to compose himself "That ain't right, that

makes twice in a row" he wiped the sweat off his face with his

shirt.

"It's not my fault that I got game boy" she sauntered up to him

and got up in his face.

"You just can't handle the pressure" she teased

"I can handle it Max" Bling said in his defense.

There conversation was halted when Logan approached them, cradling

Jesse in his arms.

"I hate to break up such a good post game argument, but one of the

players is needed by her son"

Max laid down the ball and wiped off her sweat with one arm. She

walked over to Logan and grinned at the sight.

"Don't my boys look cute" her statement made Logan smile.

Logan was wearing a NY Knicks Jersey underneath black athletic

shorts, and Jesse was dressed in a smaller basketball jersey that

Bling had custom made for him.

"He's hungry again?" Max's voice had a loving, but slightly

exasperated tone.

"Yea" Logan said handing her their son "I offered to help but,

he turned me down"

Max laughed at this "Daddy's a idiot huh Jess?" she kissed him

on his small face, before leaning over to kiss Logan, a deep

passionate kiss with her tongue, her teeth, every aspect of

her mouth. She pulled away, after lack of air.

"But daddy's got a hell of a good mouth so he's forgiven"

she grinned at him seductively.

"He can here you babe" Logan said with a gentle firmness "You

have to curve you're language" he leaned down towards the

child's face

"Mommy has a good mouth to Jesse, she just has to tone it down

sometimes"

Max smacked him lightly "Okay, me and Jess got a date" she

walked over to one of the benches and sat down. Her hands moved

to lift up her blue tank top.

Jesse gave a small cry.

"Hang on sweetie" Max lightly scolded the impatient

infant "Mommy can only go so fast" She finally got her

squawking son positioned at her breast and felt him start

to feed. Jesse's soft baby breath was warm on

her exposed skin.

She sucked in her breath as he exerted more force on her to

obtain his meal.

"You wanna ease up a little down there?" she said to the

greedy baby "I kinda need those later"

After he was done, she replaced her tank over her chest, and

placed him on her shoulder patting his little back to get him

to burp, which he did, loudly.

Max laughed at this, before standing up. "Okay kiddo, the bar

is now closed" She searched around for the baby carrier, but

couldn't find it. Leave it to Logan to leave no spot for their

son to sit on out here.

"C'mon Jess" Max said, draping him across one shoulder

"Let's go ask daddy where he put you're VIP seat, so you

can watch mommy beat the sh- I mean the snot out of Uncle

Bling some more" she caught her foul language before she

spoke it. He would have plenty of opportunity build his

'other vocabulary' later, so he didn't have to learn from

her right now.

She walked back out in the middle of the court, where

apparently no one had been playing ball in her absence.

Rather she found her man, and Bling talking to a young

woman about her age.

"Hate to interrupt" Max stated stopping in front of them.

"You weren't" Logan responded looking at her "We were

just talking"

"We meaning-" Max asked.

Bling caught what she was saying "Oh, excuse me, I have

no manners today,Clairce, this is Max, Logan's wife"

"Nice to meet you" the woman said, extending out her hand.

Max shook it, carefully holding the baby with her other

arm "You too"

Jesse coed softly, as if he wanted to be introduced also.

"All right, I'll tell, her" Max said to him "This little

seed is our son Jesse"

Clarice smiled "Happy to meet you there" she said to

the infant.

Jesse coed again, making Logan laugh "He's such a lady

killer for a three week old"

"Wonder where he gets it from" Max teased before adding

"Baby, didn't you bring his carrier out?"

Logan nodded "I think so, why?"

"'Cause I can't find it" she replied "And I can't hold him

AND kick Bling's ass at the same time" she had forgotten to

tread lightly on the language, but one slip now and then wouldn't

hurt anything.

"I'll go look for it" Logan said, and went in search of the

needed item.

"I'll hold him for ya Max" Bling said "Even though you made

that remark about my ass kicking"

Max carefully passed him the baby "That remark is soon

to be reality" she teased.

Jesse settled comfortably on Bling's shoulder, his babbling,

and cooing ceased.

"Now why can't he do THAT at three in the morning?" she said

Bling chuckled "He's just like you Max, a night owl" he held

Jesse above his head "Ain't that right little man?" Jesse

giggled.

"I have to be" Max responded "He keeps us up so late" She

looked towards Clarice "You got any one of these?"

She laughed and shook her head "No, not yet, I gotta find

a guy first, and there�s the whole loosing you're figure

thing, although I must say you look damn good for just

recently having one"

Max smiled at her statement "This is a good woman Bling" she said,

focusing her attention back on him "You kids outta get together"

Bling didn't say anything as Logan came back with the carrier.

"I guess I never took it out of the car" Logan admitted sheepishly.

Max playfully knocked him upside the head "What the hell am I

gonna do with you?"

Logan caught her hand as she was pulling it away and yanked

her close to him, setting the carrier on the cement,and wrapped

both arms around her waist.

"I have my suggestions" his tone was low and seductive by her ear.

"Logan" she began relaxing in his embrace "We're on a basketball

court"

"I'm into new things" he murmured

Max smiled at this "It would give whole new meaning to the

phrase 'I got game'

"Woah there now" Bling interrupted "This is a little x-rated

for your son to here"

"He's gotta learn eventually" Max said teasingly. She pulled

out of Logan's embrace, and retrieved Jesse from Bling. "But

I guess some things are better learned later" she finished and

set him down carefully in the seat.

After seeing that her son was secure she picked up the

carrier, and looked back up at Bling

"Right now all he needs to learn is how bad I can knock

you around in a basketball game" her voice was teasing

Bling looked at Logan "Your woman is dissin' me boy, aren't

you going to do something?"

Logan shook his head "You forget I have to go home with her later"

Max laughed at this "Good man" she said to him, spotting

Original Cindy at the benches that lined the side of the court

"My baby sitting service has arrived" Max stated turning

towards Clarice "Sorry for such a short meaning, but I need

to deliver a package to my girl over there"

Clarice laughed lightly "No problem, I have to leave as well,

it was nice meeting you" The two women shook hands again, and

Clarice walked to her car parked by a large maple tree.

Max pounced on Bling again "Really guy, you need to shack up

with that one"

"Max" Bling had a warning edge in his tone

"I'm just sayin' is all" she interrupted "as I recall

YOU did the same thing to us" she indicated her and Logan

"and look what happened" this time she pointed to the baby

carrier she was holding, where Jesse had managed to

fall asleep through all the conversation.

Bling had to laugh at her remark "You got me there" he

answered honestly.

He dribbled the basketball he was holing a few times "Go give

Jess over to your girl there, 'cause me and you gots business"

he had a competitive edge in his tone.

"Ooo.." Max's voice was full of her trademark attitude "Wanna

loose some more huh? well if that's what your trip is" she

finished before walking over to Cindy.

"You made it" Max said approaching her friend. She set the

carrier down on the bench beside Cindy.

"Uh huh" Cindy said lookin' up at her "I wouldn't do this

for know one but you boo. I had me a rendezvous with this

well built blonde at the farmer's market, but, I had to tell

her that I had to meet my guy" Cindy turned to Jesse who was

still asleep. She traced his forehead gently before continuing

"And suga, blondie was a little pissed 'cause she thought I

was bi" Cindy finished looking back up at Max.

"Sorry about ruining, your moment" Max said apologetically

Cindy waved her off with one hand "Don't worry about it

baby girl,'cause youz alwayz been my woman above the rest,

and this boy here, well if I don't watch out I might cross

over to the other realm"

Max laughed lightly at Cindy "He's a keeper huh?" she sat

down next to her son, stroking the small amount of brown

hair that was covering his

head.

"Defiantly" Cindy responded looking at Jesse again "You

and Logan make nice lookin' babies together, you outta

think about doin' it again"

"Oh no" Max said raising her hand "I got my hands full

with this one, plus it'll be awhile before I do the whole

pregnancy thing again"

They grew quiet as Logan walked up to them, he smiled over

at Cindy

"Thanks for coming on such short notice Cindy" Logan said "Max,

gets a little, how shall I put this - "competitive" when it comes

to this game, and with ME having to make sure she doesn't kill

Bling over there, there's no one to watch Jess"

"Don't worry about it" Original responded "Max is my home

girl, and you and the little seed are her boys, so it's all

good, I DO have a favor to ask of you"

"What?" Logan asked

"Since, I'm doin' you a service, you need to sell Max on my

idea of giving Jesse some more family to play with" Cindy

responded.

Logan gave her a shit eating grin and walked up to Max, laying a

hand on her shoulder "You oughta listen to her on this one baby"

he finished waggling his eyebrows at her.

She just shook her head standing up "I'll think about"

"Right now, I gotta attend to something"

"Take'em down Max" Cindy said with a smirk.

Max nodded in reply, and looked at Logan "After this game is

over, I'm gonna be all sweaty, so I'll need a hot shower" her

tone was low

Logan caught what she meant, and a ripple of desire went

through him. They haven't had sex in weeks. Oh sure they kissed,

and cuddled, but because of her c-section the OB had outlined no 

intercourse

for until her incision healed. That was two weeks ago.

Max was up and around she was still off work for about three more

weeks, and well, they had to do SOMETHING to occupy all that free

time.

Max saw the desire in his eyes as well. It's the first time

she felt truly turned on in weeks. Her estrogen levels had been

all over the place lately and she had been acting like some fuckin' 

sissy 

ass

teenage girl. She knew that it would pass eventually,

her OB said in about two to three weeks after delivery, but when

she caught herself loosing it over a damn Hallmark card commercial

on TV she wanted to literally suck all that excess female hormone

out of her body and flush it down the crapper.

She had been getting better though. When Bling had asked them

to come shoot hoops with him, she had taken the opportunity

to re-aquatint herself with her OTHER baby, the gray one with

crome and leather handle bars.Logan offered to take Jesse in

his car, knowing how much she missed ridding the Ninja.

It felt great too. Just like before, the wind in her hair,

the feel of leather seat under her legs. Well it wasn't

QUITE like before. Then she didn't have her husband and

infant son trailing her by a few miles.

The streets of Seattle WERE how she remembered it though,

with the Black Market booths and the street sleeze. When she

slowed to a stop at the end of a four way street one of them

approached her. He was tall, wearing a red bandanna, trashy

jeans and a plaid shirt underneath a navy blue

cotton jacket.

"Hey chicky chicky" he said running his eyes over her body

appreciatively "That's a nice hog, you got there, but I gots

a better way for you to feel vibrations in between your legs"

he was positively leering at her.

Obviously he didn't see her wedding ring on her right hand,

or he didn�t give a shit. Max figured it was the latter,

'cause the "locals" didn't discriminate. She was starting

to get pissed. Not only was he de-grading her, he ACTUALLY

thought he was gonna score.

"Hey" Logan's voice came from out of the window of the

Aztec. He had obviously caught up with her. Now normally

she wouldn't mind when he defended her, but she had enough

of that in the last few months. She was sick of being the

'weak little woman' But, Logan was very much aware of

that fact because the next words out of his mouth were:

"Stop hitting on my wife before she makes something bad

happen to you"

Max felt relieved, and looked at the scuz "You heard

my man" she said with a growl.

Scuzz obviously didn't care, 'cause he tried to grope

her "What's a little thing like you gonna do, 'sides give

me some of that sweet sweet love, and  no offense doll buy

your man needs to mind his own business"

The traffic light changed color.

"Green light" Max announced she revved up the Ninja, making

sure her baby backed up enough to nail the guy in the balls

with her back wheel before going forward.

The guy doubled over cursing

Logan slowly wheeled the car over to him "Told ya" was all he

said before following Max down the road.

Max came back to the here and now and looked at Logan

"Does my plan sound good?" she asked locking eyes with him.

"Oh yea" Logan replied "Plus it saves water" his voce was husky

"Always Mister Practical" Max said with a laugh, leaving them

and walking over to Bling

"Let's go" she said stopping in front of him, and snatching

the ball. She began to dribble it down the center of the court.

"You forgot to check it" Bling said

Max threw the ball hard at his chest, where it landed with

a loud thud "Check"

Bling just shook his head and bounced it back to her

"NOW let's go"

She grinned as the game got underway.

Logan watched her from the sidelines.

"She does love to strut her stuff huh?" Cindy said looking up at

him with a smirk.

"That's the truth" Logan responded "But that's why I love

her so much" he walked over to the game in progress.

After he left Cindy turned to Jesse who was now awake.

"Jess" she began turning the carrier so that he faced her

"Your aunite met such a nice woman earlier, but she blew her

off to see you" She tickled the baby's stomach and he giggled

"But, I don't mind, she was a little to built for me, plus I

don't think that was her real hair  color" she talked to him

like he understood "Can you say 'bleach blonde'?"

Jesse just stared at her quizzically. Cindy turned her eyes

up to the court. Max had obviously won the game of Horse cause

she was doin' her victory dance and Logan came up behind her

and spun her around in circles.

Cindy watched this observantly, turning back to the baby

"Your moms and dad love each other a whole lot baby boy"

Cindy's mouth pulled back in a grin "I think I'd better

check on you tonight,'cause I think they gonna love each

other a WHOLE lot tonight as well" she finished.

*****

End 

This took a while to complete. I originally planned to have

Max miscarry the baby because of a seizure, but I'm such a

softie I couldn't DO that to even an imaginary child. Plus

then I would have to get into that whole angst thing, and

depression that women undergo after miscarriages...it was

just to deep. I DID add a little drama with the whole birthing

thing though...didn't want this to be just all mush and sap.

I hope you enjoyed it. 

ChoicesII pg.1