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Dustin’s first reaction when he enters Ninja Ops is that he must be high. Must be, because why else would there be a crying baby lying on the table?
Cam, Tori, Shane and Hunter are standing around the table, looking down at the baby--what is it really? Dustin wonders. A turkey? Sensei?--and they all look nauseous. Like this is their worst nightmare, or like they’ve suddenly been put into bodies that they don’t understand how to work and can’t make proper facial expressions.
Dustin walks up next to Tori, looks down. The baby, if it’s really a baby, is wrapped in a yellow blanket, tears and snot running down its face as it wails unhappily.
Dustin looks up to his teammates, and back down at the baby, and then back up. He taps Tori on the shoulder. “Hey, could you pinch me?”
Tori looks at him, her expression a little stunned. She shakes her head like she’s trying to clear it, reaches up and pinches Dustin hard on the arm. It hurts, which means he’s not dreaming, and it hurts, which means he’s probably not high. Dustin looks back down at the table, and huh, wow, a baby.
He reaches down, wraps the blanket back around the screaming infant, and picks her up, cradling her neck until he has her pressed against his chest firmly. He coos into her ear, bounces her around a little, and her cries start to quiet. When she’s silent, he looks over at the other rangers questioningly.
“So,” he says conversationally, but quietly. “There’s a baby.”
The lack of crying seems to shock everyone out of their stupor.
“How did you do that?” Shane wants to know, and at the same time Tori says, “I think I’ve changed my mind about having kids.”
Dustin bounces the now silent little girl back and forth, pats her lightly on the back.
Cam is still staring at the table, but at the sound of the voices, he looks up, like he didn’t see anything that just happened.
“Where’d we get a baby?” Dustin asks, and it’s Cam who pushes his glasses up on his nose and answers him.
“Someone left her,” he says, holding out a rolled up piece of paper, “in a basket. By the portal.”
He holds out the paper, but Dustin makes a gesture with the hand not supporting the baby.
Cam pulls the note back, rolls it up tighter. “It says her name is Delilah, and for Sensei Watanabe to please take care of her.”
“Oh, Delilah,” Dustin coos into the little girls ear, making happy baby noises. She gurgles in response.
“I was so sure it was a trap,” Hunter says, rubbing the back of his neck. “But it doesn’t seem like a trap. It seems…”
“Like a baby,” Tori finishes, watching Dustin bounce Delilah around.
“And how long were the four of you very capable adults going to stand around and watch her cry on the table?” Dustin wants to know, keeping his voice light and happy so he doesn’t upset her.
To their credit, all of them manage to look sheepish, even Cam, and whoa, Dustin thinks, that’s a weird look on the Samurai.
He hears footsteps coming down the walkway, and he turns to see Blake stroll in happily. He stops, looks at Dustin, and his face lights up.
Blake comes towards Dustin and reaches out to touch the baby. “Oh my god, who brought the baby to work?” He wants to know, and then he’s making faces at Delilah, and Dustin laughs when she actually smiles at him. “Oh, coocha-ahbu-dabu-dabuda!”
“Is this real life?” Shane wants to know from across the room.
***
Sensei spends a few minutes examining the note when he finally arrives, while Dustin dances around with the little girl behind all of them. Tori keeps glancing back, grinning a little bit as she watches, and then looks forward with a worried look. Like if she stares too long, Dustin will drop her. It’s not entirely implausible, Cam decides, but so far Dustin has proven to be the most capable one of them all when it comes to dealing with babies.
In the universe where that makes any sense at all, Cam thinks exasperatedly.
Cam goes back to watching his father, and tries not to analyze his own feeling of stunned apprehension.
“It appears,” Sensei says after several moments, “that we must take care of this child.”
Everyone gapes, including Cam. “Dad,” he says, his voice probably a bit more panicked that it ought to be, but no one seems to notice. “You can’t be serious.”
“Quite serious, I’m afraid,” Sensei says, and he bounces off Cam’s shoulder to flip over to Dustin’s unoccupied one. “It is not so unusual, in the many years I’ve taught here, to occasionally have an infant placed in the care of the academies. As Headmaster, it is my duty to look after Delilah, and see that she finds a proper home.”
“Isn’t that what, oh, I don’t know, social services are for?” Cam asks back, watching his father inspect the little girl.
Sensei ignores him. “She appears to be healthy, but we should be sure. Cameron, would you please join us in the infirmary. I will need you to give her a check-up, if you please.” And he motions Dustin onward.
“Dad,” Cam objects again, “We’re fighting a war with insane space aliens! We’re in no condition to take care of a baby!”
“She is my responsibility, Cameron,” Sensei says firmly. “And I will hear no more discussion on the subject. Since I am not in human form, I will require all of your assistance with this task. Consider it part of your training.”
There is a small stunned silence that is punctuated by Delilah gurgling.
“Cam’s right though, she’s gonna need some stuff, Sensei,” Dustin tells him before he starts walking. “Even if she’s only here for a little while, she’ll need diapers, and a bottle, and formula, and a cradle, and probably other stuff, too. Toys, maybe.”
Sensei nods. “Good thinking, Dustin. Tori, Hunter?”
Cam looks over to see both of them stand up straight.
“I have a credit card for emergency use taped under my habitat cage. Please use it to procure the necessary supplies for the baby.” Sensei says, and then he taps Dustin’s shoulder, like it’s settled, and Dustin starts walking them down the hallway.
“You have a credit card?” Cam calls after them, annoyed. He reaches underneath the habitat and finds it, a platinum visa in his father’s name. “I didn’t know rodents were prime credit material,” he jokes, but he hands it to Hunter.
“Okay, wait, cradle, toys, fine,” Hunter says, but he looks at Tori. “What kind of diapers do we get? Or formula for that matter?”
Tori bites her lips nervously. “We could call my mother?” She offers, and Shane rolls his head around to give her a look.
“I really wish I was going to be there to hear that conversation,” he says quickly, and Tori reaches over and swats him.
“She’ll probably know better than we will,” she laughs, and then she and Hunter are heading for the stairs, her phone already in her hand.
“What are we supposed to do?” Blake wants to know, gesturing to himself and Shane.
Cam looks around, suddenly seeing lots of sharp corners and dangerous wires lying around. “Baby proof Ninja Ops?”
***
The conversation with her mother goes pretty well, and she only gets asked if she’s in trouble four times before her mom tells her the best kind of organic formula to buy, and the right size of diapers for a six month old, and then asks if Tori has anything she needs to tell her. Tori says a quick no, a thank you for the info, and hangs up.
She makes Hunter write it all down while they drive.
In the store, they grab a cart and load it up with enough formula and diapers and baby wipes for about two weeks, and then they grab a couple of dishwasher safe bottles, and a large blanket, and end up spending a ridiculous amount of time looking at cribs and cradles.
“Crib death is a very serious thing,” Tori tells Hunter when he wants her to hurry up and make a decision. “We should call Cam, ask him to look online.”
Hunter lets out a sigh, but he pulls up his morpher and rings Cam up. While they argue about cribs, Tori heads over to the toy isle, picks out a couple of soft stuffed animals, a rattle, and a little duck that sings “twinkle, twinkle little star” when it’s pushed on. She goes over the list again in her head, trying to think what they are missing.
When she comes back, Hunter is lifting down a small cradle from the top shelf. “All safe and double checked,” he assures her, and she grins.
“Are we missing anything?” She asks, and Hunter inspects the toys she picked out before shrugging.
“I imagine it’s enough to get a baby through for a week or two,” he says casually.
“We can always come back,” Tori says, and then frowns. “We’ll have to, if Sensei can’t find a good home for her pretty quick.”
“He will,” Hunter assures. “Everyone wants babies. Especially adorable little ones like Delilah.”
Tori nods, tries to put the possibility of permanent baby duty out of her mind as they start walking. She catches Hunter sneaking another toy into the cart as they head for the checkout.
When they reach the checkout, a large older woman with ridiculously shaped glasses gives them a happy smile. She stares at Tori’s stomach before inspecting all of their purchases and saying, “Starting a bit early, aren’t we?”
Tori looks up at Hunter, who looks back at her with raised eyebrows, then looks meaningfully down at Tori’s flat stomach. “I’m not pregnant,” she tells the woman quickly, realizing what she was implying.
“Oh,” she says, and then nods, “you’re adopting?”
Tori’s mouth falls open, and she hastily closes it. “We’re not, no, we’re not together.”
Hunter is starting to snicker as he pulls the card out of his wallet to hand to the woman.
“Families are made up all sorts of different ways these days, aren’t they?” The woman asks, swiping the card.
“No,” Tori says, trying to keep her embarrassment level, but ends up pointing to Hunter and saying, “He’s gay!” louder than she meant to.
Hunter gives her this look, like ‘really?’
She tries to look apologetic.
The woman, to her credit, glances at Hunter with a smile. “Well, congratulations to you and your partner then, Mr. Watanabe.”
Tori’s eyes go wide before she remembers the name on the credit card is Sensei’s, and then she has to stifle her laughter as they push their cart full of bags out of the store. Hunter plays it perfectly cool, and swats her over the head with a bag of diapers when they load everything into the van.
***
“Oh good,” Dustin calls when Tori and Hunter arrive. “She is in need of a changing, and I’m pretty sure she’s hungry, too.”
Tori pulls out a package of diapers, a tin of formula, and a bottle, and Dustin smiles.
“Just so everyone knows, I am not doing diaper duty the entire time she’s here. So either start drawing straws, or start the bribing,” he warns as he and Tori disappear into the kitchen.
“How do you know so much about babies?” Tori asks suspiciously, finding the can opener for the tin of formula while Dustin lays Delilah down on the counter top.
“How do you not? You’re a girl, isn’t it, like, in your DNA?” He asks, generally wondering why Tori wasn’t already in charge of things when he showed up.
Tori makes a face at him, sticks her tongue out, then contemplates Delilah. “I thought it was,” she admits, “but when she started crying, I just sort of froze.”
Dustin grins, discards Delilah’s dirty diaper in the trash, wipes her clean and puts a new diaper in place before he answers. “I helped take care of my young sister growing up,” he says, and then he tickles Delilah’s stomach. “And I just love cutsey-wootsey babies, yes I do!”
Tori has gone back to prepping the formula, but she smiles at him over her should as she shakes it in the bottle.
“Heat it up for a few seconds,” Dustin tells her, and she plops the bottle in the microwave. When she comes over, he steals it from her and tests it on his wrist.
When he’s convinced it’s the right temperature, he sets it down and picks up Delilah.
“Alright, here comes baby,” he tells Tori, whose eyes widen.
“Dustin,” she says, fumbling as Dustin starts putting the baby in her hands. “I can’t, I don’t know how to feed a baby!”
“Well, you have to learn sometime!” He says, and he hands her off to Tori with little difficulty.
Delilah starts fussing, so Dustin picks up the bottle and plops it into her mouth.
“Okay, so you have that arm under her, her head is supported,” Dustin coaches, watching Tori looks more nervous than he’s seen her since they were twelve and she was about to go for her first surfing lesson. “Just hold the bottle upright with your other arm, there you go. She might spit up a little, so here’s a towel,” and Dustin slings one onto Tori’s shoulder, ignores the face Tori makes as he cleans up the counter.
The others come into the kitchen to announce the finishing of the cradle, but they all go a little silent when they see Tori happily feeding Delilah, humming gently at her.
“Whoa,” Blake says, and he leans back against the wall.
She looks up at them all with a giant smile. “I’m totally doing this, guys,” she says gleefully, indicating with her head. “I’m taking care of a baby! And she’s not crying!”
***
They end up all camping out in Ninja Ops, because Cam insists he won’t be responsible for what happens to them while they’re in the zords if he’s the only one who has to get up with her at all hours of the night.
Tori has to make a lengthy excuse to her mother, saying that no, she nor none of her friends are in any sort of trouble, and hangs up quickly when Delilah starts to cry. Shane and Dustin snicker quietly while Blake shakes the rattle at Delilah to quiet her down.
Hunter leans back against the table with a smirk, watching everyone gather in around the little girl. He’s only glad that the day passed by with no incidence other than the baby, and he wonders what they’re going to do when they all have to rush off to battle. He does think, belatedly, of the alarm, and he tells Cam.
“Oh,” Cam says, frowning like he hasn’t thought of that. “Good point,” and he goes to sit in his computer chair to reprogram the alarm to be quieter.
“She’s so pretty,” Tori says, sitting back down next to Blake and reaching down to hold Delilah’s hand. “How could anyone not want her?”
Hunter frowns, feels himself get put off, but Blake, like usual, handles it the appropriate way, and not the Hunter way. “It’s not always that simple,” Blake tells her with a grin.
“Oh,” Tori says, her face going paler than usual, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean, I didn’t think…” she pauses, reaches out and touches Blake’s shoulder. “This must be really hard for you guys.”
She glances back at Hunter, who just stares back at her with narrow eyes.
Blake reaches up, grabs Tori’s hand and gives it a squeeze. “We were lucky,” he says, shaking the rattle again. Hunter sees a little hand reach up and try to grab it. “Our parents really, really wanted us, and that’s what we remember. And the fact that her parents left her here means that they really did care about her, enough to give her away to someone who can love her and give her what she needs, so it’s not that bad.” Blake grins when the baby reaches up for the rattle again, takes it out of his hand with her strong little one. “It’s actually pretty cool, I think, that we get to be a part of it. Of a family forming.”
Hunter watches Tori get sappy at Blake’s words, looks over to see Cam’s hands momentarily stilled on the keyboard, makes a note to give him a hug later when no one’s looking.
Delilah starts crying again, and Tori, Blake, Dustin and Shane all rush to comfort her with coos of affection and shaking of toys.
***
When they come back from destroying Lothor’s latest alien recruit, the last thing Cam expects to see and hear as they come down the stairs into Ninja Ops is his father, on the edge of Delilah’s crib, rocking it, singing a song Cam hasn’t heard in years.
“Nenne shita ko no,” Sensei Watanabe sings in a quiet tenor. “Kawai sa, muzo sa. Okite naku ko no tsura niku sa. Okite naku ko no tsura niku sa.”
Cam recognizes the words and the melody, and tries to figure out why it sends a pang of sadness through his chest to hear it.
“That’s beautiful, Sensei,” Tori says, and his father looks back of them and smiles, as though he was unaware that they were there.
“Yes,” he agrees, hopping from the crib to the table in the middle of the room. “It is an old song, called ‘Itsuki no komoriuta’. It doesn’t have a very pleasing literal English translation, I’m afraid, but Cam always liked it when he was a child.”
Cam raises his eyebrows, tries to look grown up when everyone turns to him, and he narrows his eyes at all of them as if to say ‘What?’
Shane still jabs him playfully in the ribs with his elbow, though.
Later, when everyone is eating dinner and feeding the baby and playfully discussing schedules for taking care of her, Sensei pops over to Cam’s shoulder as Cam works at his computer.
“You’re mother used to sing that song to you, when you were very small,” he says quietly, and Cam has to work very hard to keep his fingers moving on the keyboard nonchalantly.
“I remember,” Cam says back, just as quietly.
“I was uncertain,” Sensei says, nodding. “It was a very long time ago.”
Cam tries not to sigh as he keeps typing, but his father stays on his shoulder, unwilling to comfort outright, but offering at least his presence in solidarity, which is something.
Shane stays that night, passed out on the couch next to the crib while everyone else goes home. When Cam is absolutely certain that he’s asleep, he goes over to Delilah’s crib, and takes a seat. He reaches in and pulls the blanket up around her. He even tucks the little stuffed duck toy in closer to her.
“Nenne shita ko no,” Cam murmurs in a whispering hum, his voice less practiced than that of his fathers. “Kawai sa, muzo sa. Okite naku ko no tsura niku sa. Okite naku ko no tsura niku sa.”
Delilah opens her eyes a little at the sound of the singing, and then closes them again. Cam knows he should sleep, that he should get a bit of a nap before she wakes up screaming in an hour, but he just stays there, holding onto her little hand, humming at her.
“You’re going to be okay,” he tells her reassuringly in the quiet darkness. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but don’t worry. You’re in good hands.”
***
Blake knows something is wrong when he can hear a babies shrill screams all the way at the top of the steps that lead down to Ninja Ops. He trades a worried glance with Hunter, and the two of them race down the steps.
Shane has Delilah in his arms, and Cam has a thermometer stuck in her ear.
“What’s going on?” Blake asks, and sees the bags under the two men’s eyes.
“She woke up fussy a few hours ago,” Shane says as Cam pulls the thermometer away. “And now she just won’t stop crying.”
“She has a fever,” Cam says warily, and Hunter goes over to look at the thermometer over Cam’s shoulder.
Blake takes her from Shane to give him a rest, and Shane slumps down onto the cushions on the floor gratefully. Delilah squeals in his ear unhappily. “So what do we do?”
Cam looks grim. “We have to take her to the doctor.”
“Oh, yeah, that’ll go over well,” Hunter says sarcastically, waving a hand around. “Oh, yes doctor, of course we’re her parents, we just have no legal documentation of it! Of course we didn’t kidnap her! You can trust us!”
Cam gives Hunter an annoyed look.
“Can’t you do something for her, Cam?” Shane asks from his place on the floor.
“I’m a field medic!” Cam objects irately. “Not a pediatrician! I don’t even know what’s wrong with her!”
“What’s going on?” Blake turns at the sound of Dustin’s voice.
Tori and Dustin come walking down the steps looking worried, and Dustin goes straight for Delilah.
“Delilah’s sick,” Blake says, and he doesn’t object when Dustin takes the crying girl out of his arms.
Tori gives him a concerned look. “How sick?”
“Doctor sick,” Shane says from the floor, rubbing at his eyes. “And we’re trying to find a way to take her.”
Everyone stares at Delilah as she wails at Dustin unhappily.
“Can’t Sensei call someone?” Tori wonders, looking over at Cam. “One of his friends could come here?”
Just then, Sensei comes into the room on his habitat cart. “Unfortunately, I can’t seem to contact anyone who would be of use in this area,” he says grimly.
“So what do you do?” Blake asks, feeling more stressed by this sick little girl than by any monster he’s ever fought.
“I think I know someone who can handle it,” Dustin says, looking up and making a face. “But it won’t come cheap.”
***
“Look, I don’t care if there are five people ahead of us on this list, my baby is in pain! And I’m going to stand here, right here at your station and let her scream until you get her in to see someone, do you understand? I said now!”
The nurse behind the station picks up a phone and calls what Dustin hopes is a doctor and not security.
“I’ve got a doctor coming down from pediatrics right now,” the nurse says bracingly, “Please just have a seat for another minute.”
Kelly tilts her head and smiles. “Thank you,” she says, and she goes back to the waiting room, bouncing Delilah on her hip.
Dustin, Hunter and Blake follow.
“That was awesome,” Blake says appreciatively to her. “Scary, but awesome.”
“I’m not sure two whole weeks of the three of you working doubles is going to be enough to bribe me out of asking questions,” Kelly says suspiciously, taking a cloth out of the baby bag and whipping at Delilah’s nose.
“Hey, that was the deal,” Hunter says, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You get two weeks off while the three of us run the store, and you don’t have to worry about a thing.”
“And,” Kelly adds, in her lovably demanding way, “The store is spotless when I get back, and all the inventory is accounted for, and this trip to the spa is all expenses paid.”
“Absolutely,” Dustin agrees immediately, shooting Hunter a warning look. “You are going to have a fantastic time! And did we mention how incredibly grateful we are?”
“I still want to know how you ended up with a baby,” Kelly whispers, looking around.
“It’s complicated,” Blake says, and Kelly rolls her eyes.
“Just promise me you haven’t done anything illegal and I’m not gonna be hauled out of my seaweed body wrap for questioning?” She says, giving Dustin a meaningful look.
Dustin raises his hand with three fingers up. “Scouts honor.”
“Kelly Holloway?” A nurse calls from up front. “The doctor will see you now.”
***
Hunter can’t sleep. Blake is on duty with Tori tonight to take care of Delilah, and their apartment is empty and quiet. He doesn’t particularly want to be around others, but he doesn’t want to be alone, either.
He figures he’ll head into Ops, spend the night there with them and help out. They certainly won’t complain.
Only when he gets there, he sees Tori and Blake passed out on the couch, snuggling, Blake’s arm wrapped protectively around Tori. Hunter is about to back out of the room quietly, maybe spend some time up at the reflecting pool, when a quiet voice stops him.
“Hunter?” Sensei whispers from his cart.
Hunter doesn’t start, if only out of sheer force of will. He hates letting the wind Sensei catch him off guard. “Sensei,” he says back, just as quietly.
“Have you a problem?” Sensei asks, not even opening his eyes from his meditative position.
Hunter considers, makes sure Tori and Blake are actually asleep and that Delilah is also quietly snoozing before he takes a step forward. “Actually, can we talk?”
Sensei opens his eyes. “Now? It is quite late.”
“I can’t sleep,” Hunter confesses, “And there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
Sensei watches him for a moment, but Hunter always finds it difficult to tell the difference between the guinea pigs disapproving and contemplative looks. Hunter sometimes wonders if the real Sensei, in his human form, is any easier to deceiver.
Sensei stands, grabs his walking cane. Then he bounces over to Hunter's shoulder. “Shall we go for a walk?” He says, and Hunter nods, taking them back up the stairs.
They walk out of Ninja Ops and onto the grounds. Hunter discerns a path that will lead them close to the tree line if they walk the whole way, and he wonders about taking Sensei through so much of the rubble of his broken academy. He doesn’t say anything though, so Hunter walks.
“You had a question, I believe,” Sensei says quietly, and Hunter hates that he can’t see him, that he has to keep from looking over on his shoulder if he wants to seem nonchalant about this.
“It’s just about something you said before,” Hunter says. He keeps his hands tightly at his side, to keep from gesturing nervously. “You said that sometimes, children are placed into the care of the academies.”
Sensei doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “I am perhaps not the one you should be asking this question, Hunter.”
“There isn’t anyone else to ask,” Hunter shoots back defensively. He would have liked to have asked Sensei Omina. He knew him better, trusted him more. But he couldn’t.
“Go on, then.” Sensei says, and Hunter thinks his voice is maybe a little harder.
“I take it that those children are adopted to ninja families,” Hunter continues. “Is that what happened to me and Blake?”
“I do not know the circumstances of Blake’s adoption,” Sensei says slowly, and Hunter turns his head just a little to see Sensei looking off into the distance. “But I was consulted on yours.”
Hunter waits to see if he’ll go on, but of course, crypticism is a requirement of being a Ninja Sensei, and he doesn’t. “Was I like Delilah? Was I left?”
Sensei sighs, something Hunter rarely sees him do. It’s a sudden betrayal of how uncomfortable he is with this conversation. “No, you were not left anonymously.” Sensei says. “But trust me when I say that revealing to you the circumstances of your birth will bring you no peace. Is it not you that has often said that it does not matter? That the Bradley’s were your true parents?”
“Well, yes, but-” Hunter starts, but Sensei cuts him off.
“Then be content with that, and give the past no more of your time,” Sensei says in a very final voice, a voice that says he is finished talking.
Hunter stops walking, turns his head to look at the older man. “Sensei, I just want to know. Are my real parents alive? I won’t go looking, I promise.”
Sensei considers him. “Even if I thought that to be true,” he says, his voice quiet, and Hunter hears something else there, something like grief iced over, “This story is not mine to tell.”
Hunter looks away, tries not to be disappointed or annoyed. He does consider the Bradley’s his real parents, of course he does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to know. Delilah has brought up old doubts, old questions, and he doesn’t think he can just keep ignoring them.
It’s hard, to not know so much about yourself, when you’ve lost so much. Blake is all he has left… at least as far as he knows.
“The thing that you and Delilah have in common,” Sensei says, and this time his voice is gentle, kind, “Is that you were both taken in by people who loved you with all that they had. The full stories of our lives are twisted webs, Hunter, and sometimes we only get to see a single strand over a lifetime. If the strand you’ve been given is one full of love, then perhaps it would be best to hold onto that, instead of getting tangled up trying to see all the rest.”
Hunter lets out a sigh, turns his head to give Sensei a look for his sentimental metaphor. Sensei just gives him a tiny tilt of his head, and then hops off Hunter’s shoulder and down to the path.
“I think I will walk a while by myself,” he says gently, turning away from where Hunter stands. “Do try and get some rest, Hunter.”
Hunter watches him walk off, thinks amusedly that it would take him a whole day to get back to Ninja Ops walking like that, and then calls out, “You, too.”
***
When Sensei sighs dramatically for the third time, Cam looks up at him. “Are you even reading that?”
Sensei looks up questioningly. “Excuse me?”
Cam gestures to the book he’s sitting in front of. Sensei looks down. “You haven’t turned the page for an hour.”
“I admit,” Sensei says, stepping away from the book. “I am feeling a bit distracted.”
Cam lets out his own sigh before he asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Sensei looks over at him, gives him a small knowing grin. “It concerns Delilah.”
Cam glances over at the empty cradle. The others took her out with them today, so that she could get some fresh air. And probably to give Cam and Sensei a break, Cam thinks, but he doesn’t mind. Now that her ear infection was all cleared up, she’d been a peach to take care of.
“In the old days, before the attack, I would have simply contacted the Ninja Council, and we would have placed her with an appropriate family of ninja’s, of which there were many to choose from. Now, however…” Sensei seems to shrug. “With so many of the active Ninja’s captured by Lothor, and so many others in hiding or out of contact, I am having great difficulty finding a place for her.”
Cam purses his lips. “I know it’s not an ideal situation, but surely there is someone out there who can take care of her, at least temporarily.”
Sensei nods. “I had hoped,” he says, and then he bounces over to Cam’s desk, “To place her with Leanne Omina.”
“Leanne?” Cam wonders, remembering meeting the other Sensei’s daughter once or twice before.
“Yes,” Sensei agrees, “But she has had her hands full locating other members of the order since the attacks, and she travels far too much for it to be an agreeable situation.”
“There have to be other former Ninjas around,” Cam says, and he taps absently on his space bar of his computer.
“Most of them too elderly to take care of a newborn, and many others are in no situation to take care of a child, being sick or injured themselves. When I say that we are the earth’s last defense against Lothor, I do not say it lightly.” Sensei rubs at his eyes tiredly.
Cam has an idea, but he doesn’t think his father will like it. “What about students who didn’t officially finish training?”
Sensei looks up at him. “Leave the child with an Academy drop out?” He asks, and Cam nods. “Out of the question.”
“Dad,” Cam says, holding up his hand. “You just said you can’t find a suitable place for her with your options. Maybe it’s time to broaden the search.”
“But a drop out,” Sensei sputters, and Cam pulls up the database of ex students.
“I’m not saying give her to the student who accidentally burnt down the west wing,” Cam jokes.
Sensei facepalms. “Oh, do not remind me of that right now. You are not helping your case.”
“But there are plenty of students who dropped out for personal reasons, or to take care of their families, and not because they’d done anything wrong.” Cam says, and he pulls up a couple of students he remembers for those reasons.
Sensei turns to the computer. “Oh no, certainly not.” He says to the first candidate.
“He was only expelled for consistent tardiness,” Cam quips, clicking past him anyway. “The current protectors of the world came pretty close to that.”
“Skip all the fire ninja’s,” Sensei waves his hand exasperatedly. “If they could not be kept from setting themselves on fire, I certainly won’t be letting them near a child.”
Cam alters the search and is left with three possible candidates. “Let’s see,” Cam says, pulling up the first girl. “There’s Yvette Omidetto,” he reads, “Who dropped out in the spring of 2000… because she was pregnant. Hey, Delilah would have a playmate.”
“We’ll see,” Sensei says calculatingly. “Show us the next one.”
Cam clicks through. “Brandon Quinn,” Cam reads, “who dropped out to become a chef instead.”
“I believe I recall reading that he had just opened a restaurant downtown?” Sensei wonders, and Cam Google’s it.
“Three months ago,” Cam nods. “Well done, Quinn.”
“He’ll be far too busy, then,” Sensei says, rubbing his chin. “And the last?” He asks, and Cam returns to the database.
“Nena Williams,” Cam reads, “Who dropped out because she had been held back from getting her badge twice and didn’t want to waste anymore of our time.”
Sensei nods thoughtfully. “I remember this girl. She had great potential as a Ninja, but she had difficulty making friends here. I think it greatly impacted her training.”
“So, no objections to her, then?” Cam wonders wryly, eyeing his father.
“We will see,” Sensei says placidly, and he hops back over to his book and flips the page.
***
“I don’t think I can let her go,” Dustin says, holding Delilah tight while Tori puts a little pink beanie on her head.
“I’ll be more than happy to sleep through the night again,” Cam quips from his chair, and Blake shoots him a look.
“Oh please,” Blake says, “Pretend to be Mr. Tough all you want, but we all know you’re going to miss her too.”
Cam raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t miss her,” he shoots back, smirking. “Just her crying.”
Shane grins as he finishes packing the rest of Delilah’s supplies and toys into the large baby bag. “Do you think Nena will let us babysit?”
“Shane,” Tori scolds, taking the bag from him.
“Just once in a while,” he adds, frowning pleadingly.
“Alright everyone, settle down,” Sensei calls, coming into Ninja Ops on the shoulder of a young girl with short brown hair.
Everyone turns to greet her, and maybe size her up, Shane thinks. She looks nervous. Shane doesn’t blame her. She’s not in her ninja uniform, but she’s wearing blue, which Shane takes to mean she’s a water elemental.
“Everyone,” Sensei says, “This is Nena. Nena, these are the Power Rangers.”
“And this,” Dustin adds, hoisting Delilah up to face her, “Is Delilah.”
Nena grins. “Are you sure you want me to do this?” She asks Sensei cautiously.
“Quite certain,” Sensei says, patting her on the shoulder gently with his hand before hopping away. “I have great confidence that you are the perfect person for this task.”
Shane looks back at Cam, who shoots his father an amused look. When Sensei had announced that he had found a place for Delilah, Cam had looked particularly smug.
“She’s got lots of toys and formula in the bag,” Dustin says, and Tori holds it up. “She’ll probably be ready to start eating soft food soon, though. She likes to be carried like this,” Dustin shows her, “so that she can hear your heart. And her favorite toy is the little duck that sings. She’s just started sleeping longer than three hour intervals, but she still needs lot of naps. And her feet get cold a lot, so I made her these socks.”
“Dustin,” Shane says, placing his hand on his friends shoulder. “Maybe let Nena hold her first?”
Dustin looks down at Delilah, and gets a steely look on his face. “Right. Okay.”
He walks over to Nena, and gently hands off Delilah to her. Nena holds onto her, and Delilah gurgles happily when Nena smiles at her.
“She has very distinct ‘hungry’ and ‘change me’ cries,” Dustin continues, his voice going a little softer, and Shane shares a look with Tori. “It shouldn’t take you very long to tell the difference.”
Dustin’s totally going to bawl.
“I promise I’ll take good care of her,” Nena says, giving Dustin a reassuring look.
Dustin nods, and then keeps nodding, and then reaches down and gives Nena’s head a little kiss before stepping away and wiping a tear out of his eyes.
“Dustin,” Tori says sadly, and she wraps her arm around his waist at the same time Shane wraps one around his shoulders.
Blake takes the baby bag from Tori and walks it over to Nena. “We’ve gotten a little attached,” he explains, helping her hoist the bag onto her shoulder. “Maybe you could give us some updates, when she’s settled in?”
Nena nods. “Of course. I’ll take lots of pictures. And you can visit,” Nena says uncertainly, “when everything is back to normal around here.”
Everyone nods. “Yes,” Sensei says, “It is important that we focus on the task at hand: Protecting the Earth, and rescuing the captured Ninjas.”
Nena looks around, nods. She readjusts Delilah a little bit, picks up her little hand and helps her wave. “Say bye Rangers,” Nena says gently, and Delilah giggles happily.
Shane raises his hand to wave, and he hears “Good luck, Delilah,” from Hunter. Even Cam comes over to wave goodbye to the sweet little girl.
And Nena waves too, gives them all a happy smile, and turns to head back up the stairs with Delilah. Delilah stares over her shoulder at them, and Shane has to suck in a deep breath to keep himself from getting emotional, too.
When they’re gone, Dustin lets out a little whine, and Shane and Tori squeeze him tighter.
“We’ll see her again,” Cam promises.
***
Nena glances back at the little girl in her rearview mirror. She’s playing with her picture book, sucking on the string of her sweatshirt absently. She’s swinging her legs happily, and Nena knows that as soon as the car stops she’ll be demanding in babble to be let out to run around.
Delilah has gained the use of her legs a bit quicker than the use of her words, but that’s okay with Nena. They’ll have plenty to talk about when she gets there.
She pulls up next to a blue van, and as soon as the car is off a “Dowdow!” comes at her from the backseat.
Instead of letting her run around though, Nena carries her over to the holographic portal, much to Delilah’s dismay. When they go through, Delilah makes a little worried noise, and clings to her neck. But on the other side is a bright, bustling world that is just like Nena remembers it, and Delilah isn’t scared anymore.
And then there is Sensei Watanabe, back in human form, coming towards them with a big smile.
“It is good to see you Nena,” Sensei says, and Nena gives him a little bow. “And this must be our Delilah.” Sensei offers her a hand. “Pleased to see you again, little one.”
Delilah looks out at the hand Sensei offers her nervously, looks over at Nena to see if it’s okay.
“Go ahead,” Nena says, and Delilah let’s Sensei hold her hand for a moment.
Nena sees several teachers coming over to them, but when she looks, she realizes that no, not just teachers- former rangers, the ones who had handed Delilah off to her more than a year ago.
“Oh my god, she’s so big!” The yellow one squeals happily, and Nena laughs.
Delilah smiles at him, and Nena thinks maybe she recognizes them. Nena brushes Delilah’s wild, flyaway hair down with her free hand, and then gives Dustin a hug.
They all coo at her and comment on how adorable she is, and Nena eventually convinces Delilah that it’s okay to get down and show them all how well she can walk, and there are cheers of joy which just delight Delilah.
It doesn’t take long for her to get used to being the center of attention, Nena thinks. So different from herself.
“So,” Sensei says to her casually, and Nena glances over at him. “I trust things have been going well?”
Nena nods. “Yes, she’s a handful, but she’s wonderful. I adore her.”
“Then I see no need to break out arrangement, if you would like to continue it,” Sensei says, and Nena nods.
“Very much,” she agrees. Sensei smiles at her.
“And perhaps,” Sensei says a moment later, after Delilah falls and Shane quickly scoops her up to keep her from crying, “One day you might consider returning to complete your studies? We are considering starting a daycare program on the grounds, and as you can see you would have three babysitters quite happy to oblige.”
Nena laughs, watches Shane pass Delilah off to Dustin, whose face lights up. Delilah giggles with glee, reaches out and bumps Dustin on the nose with her hand. Dustin looks like he’s going to melt of joy. The others laugh.
“I’d like that,” Nena says back, and Sensei nods his agreement.
Just then, Blake, Hunter and Cam come over to join them, and Nena waves.
Cam and Hunter keep their distance, but Blake runs towards Delilah and exclaims “It’s the baby!”
Everyone laughs at Delilah’s startled look, but she happily hugs Blake back a moment later when he gives her an enthusiastic squeeze.
“See?” Cam says to the other former rangers gently, reaching his hand out to touch Delilah’s hand when she reaches for him. “I told you we’d see her again.”
And Nena watches the six of them smile and pass her little girl around, and she sees the look of contentment on Delilah’s face. Reunited with her saviors at last, Nena thinks.
But after a while, Delilah reaches out for Nena, with a cry of “Mama!”
And Nena takes her, holds her tight, and watches Dustin wipe a small tear out of his eye.