Chapter Text
“So,” Jack told the quiet night. “You’re following me.”
The night didn’t answer. It was cool and dark on the porch railing, the light from the windows spilling over the boards behind him and casting the street into shadow. It would be easier to see if he stepped down, away from the house.
The streets would welcome him if he ran. Back to places he knew, the edges and the corners where no one bothered to look. He’d peered through a lot of windows when he was younger, but always from the outside, staring into the light. Not looking out with a family at his back.
Sky’s family, he reminded himself. He couldn’t let them be hurt.
“Or Sky,” he said aloud. “Are you following Sky? It’s gotta be one of us; no one else has seen you more than once.”
No movement from the shadows, but he heard her voice for the first time. “No one’s supposed to see me at all.”
She sounded younger than he expected. Or maybe just less alien. Creepy woman following him around in the wake of a war that had almost destroyed the planet, and he assumed she was an alien getting ready to attack. He wasn’t ruling it out or anything. He was just surprised to hear her sound wistful instead of sinister.
“You tried invisibility?” Jack asked. “Great power for not being seen.”
“Yeah.” Just like that, he could see a figure in the shadows. Still no movement, but the source of the voice was suddenly clear and he hadn’t been able to see it a second ago. “Got that one.”
Jack raised his eyebrows. “Nice. That natural?”
“Depends on who you ask,” the figure said. Still darkly dressed, but he thought those were different clothes than the ones she’d been wearing at the Christmas party this morning. “It’s me, anyway. Not technology.”
“So why’d you let us see you at the party?” Jack wanted to know. “I assume you’re trying to be stealthy.”
“Too many people,” she said. “I can’t walk through them, and they’re suspicious enough to notice something they bump into but can’t see.”
Jack smiled. “We should combine powers.”
The thump from inside the house made him brace himself just before the door swung open, but it had to be Sky, because he didn’t say Jack’s name. There was a pause, and then the door closed more carefully than it had opened. “Hey,” Sky’s voice said quietly.
“Hey,” Jack said. The figure in the shadows didn’t move. Or disappear. “We have company. The woman from the party this morning.”
He could feel Sky at his shoulder instantly, hot and close and just barely not touching him. Looming, really. The way only Sky could do.
“You were right,” Jack continued. “She’s following us. And she can make herself invisible.”
“Mutant or alien?” Sky’s gentle tone was gone, and Jack couldn’t decide whether he was sorry or not. Sky had been weirdly solicitous all evening, but Jack didn’t know how to be sweet and tender for more than a few minutes at a time, so he was left feeling awkward and out of place.
Mostly he wished they were back on the base, where it was okay to joke and order people around and walk out on them when they confused him. Sky was at home on the base. But he was also at home here, so Jack was trying. He was trying hard.
“I’m human,” the voice from the shadows said. “Like you. From the future.”
Jack didn’t move. He was so careful not to react that he almost jumped when he felt Sky’s hand come to rest on his back. “From the future,” Jack repeated.
“The future of this time,” she said. “The future of mine, too. They sent me ahead; they sent you back. I wanted to… see how you’re doing.”
Sky’s fingers spread out, warm and stabilizing against his lower back. But he didn’t say anything. Jack couldn’t tell if it was because he thought Jack knew more than he did, or if he just didn’t want to tip his hand.
Sky had called for backup. Jack didn’t know when or how, but Sky was never this calm without a weapon or the promise of weapons. Since even Sky didn’t wear his blaster to a family dinner, there must be reinforcements on the way.
“Who are you?” Jack asked. He couldn’t say anything else without giving someone away.
There was no hesitation this time. “Just another genetic mutation,” she said. “The pretty ones can pass, but eventually the police catch up with you. Join or die. So I ran.”
“What’s your name,” Jack insisted.
She sounded oddly uncertain when she said, “Hyanni?”
Sky’s fingers pressed harder against his back, and Jack kept his breath as slow and even as he could manage. “Hyanni,” he repeated. “I don’t suppose you have a son.”
The moment before she answered seemed to stretch out forever. He knew what he was going to hear, but he didn't know what it meant. He’d never known what it meant. Not when all the family he had was a sister on the streets, and not now that he’d been adopted by Syd’s parents and engaged to Sky.
“I did,” Hyanni said at last. “He’s twenty years older than the last time I saw him.”
Jack tried to smile, and found he couldn’t quite do it. “Twenty-one, actually.”
Her voice was very quiet when she said, “Three weeks ago, you were just a baby.”
He had no idea what to say to that. He’d seen himself in the future, when Kat dragged him forward to help rescue both of them, and even he couldn’t reconcile the baby he met with the person he’d become. How was she supposed to do it when that baby was hers, and a few weeks later they were the same age?
“I’m not trying to be rude, here.” Sky’s tone of voice wasn’t exactly friendly, and Jack wanted to make a crack about how new that must be for him. “But what do you want?”
“I just want to know he’s okay.” Hyanni paused long enough that she was obviously breathing, steeling herself for something she didn’t know how to say. It still wasn’t enough to prepare Jack for what came next.
“I want him to know he can come home,” she said carefully. “If he wants to.”
Sky was used to dealing with shadows, and he knew how to fight for what he wanted. “Jack has a home,” he told the mysterious woman he couldn’t see. He already knew what she looked like. He knew why she was here. And damned if anyone was going to take Jack from him now, just when Sky had finally started to believe he’d stay.
Jack didn’t say anything, which might be good or bad, but Hyanni said quickly, “Of course he does. That’s not what I meant; I’m sorry. I just--”
She got stuck there, which Sky was fine with--the less she talked, the better--but it obviously appealed to Jack’s sympathy. “Hey,” he said. “Why don’t you come up here on the porch, at least. If you’re really just here to, what, check in? You don’t have to hide.”
Sky slid his hand to Jack’s hip, tapping his side just above his morpher. SPD was on its way. Jack probably knew or had guessed, but just in case. Sky didn’t want him surprised.
Jack turned into him and murmured, “Yeah, I know,” which was worth it right there.
“I can’t be arrested.” Hyanni sounded, of all things, vaguely apologetic. “If there’s any confirmation I was here, in this time, I won’t be able to come back.”
“We’re not going to arrest you,” Jack said. “Right, Sky?”
It wasn’t a question, and Jack didn’t bother to look at him this time. “Fine,” Sky said shortly. “We won’t arrest you.” Not tonight, anyway.
She stepped out of the shadows for the first time, and it was strange, but this was the moment he saw Jack in her features. He’d studied her face this morning, her dress, the way she carried herself, trying to match her to anyone or anything he knew. But now, seeing her appear casually from somewhere she shouldn’t have been, she looked suddenly and unexpectedly familiar.
“There’s probably gonna be some more people from SPD here soon,” Jack was saying. “But our word’s good. No one takes you anywhere you don’t want to go.”
She didn’t tell him how hard that would be, but Sky knew. Arresting time travelers who could become invisible wasn’t one of the standard training scenarios. Keeping her from taking Jack where he didn’t want to go was a lot more important to him right now.
“Thanks,” Hyanni said, coming up onto the porch. She moved slowly and deliberately, and it annoyed Sky that she was so obviously trying not to spook them. She even held out her hand when she got close enough, offering, “It’s nice to meet you, Jack.”
Sky resisted the urge to follow when Jack took a single step forward. He was ready for her to try to pull Jack in, to push him off, to make him disappear or crumple or any of the myriad unpredictable dangers that came with shaking hands. But they just clasped hands, with Jack saying, “Nice to meet you too,” and Sky glared at her over Jack’s shoulder.
“This is my fiance, Sky,” Jack continued. “We’re here for Christmas dinner, so his family may come looking for us. Sorry to be rude, but I don’t really want to spring you on them by inviting you in.”
“No, no,” she said quickly. “Please don’t. I really just wanted to see you. I just--they told me you were okay, but I just… I wanted to see you.”
“Yeah,” Jack said, more gently. “I get that. It’s not so bad seeing you either, you know.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. Like she couldn’t stop talking now that she’d started. “I never meant to abandon you. I couldn’t get you out, but Jen promised, she said if you weren’t with me you’d have a better chance. I’m sorry I couldn’t come back and see you before now.”
There was a car turning onto the street. No sirens, but Sky knew who it was.
“Look, no problem,” Jack said. “It all turned out fine, right? I’m okay. You’re okay. You are okay, aren’t you?”
Hyanni looked away, but she nodded yes. She looked like she was trying not to cry, which made Sky suspicious and Jack solicitous. He didn’t reach for her again, but he did ask, “Are you free? I heard they were locking people up and experimenting on them. Was that you?”
Hyanni nodded again, but she mumbled, “Not anymore. Not in the new time.”
“Good,” Jack said, as the car slowed to a stop at the Tate driveway and crawled around the turn. “So you have a new home too?”
“It’s yours too,” she blurted out. “I mean, not like this is, I know; this is where you grew up. But if you ever want to come forward, Jack, your time is 21 years after the one you left. That’s how time law works.”
Sky wasn’t convinced “time law” was a real thing, but that number wasn’t arbitrary. Jack had corrected her on the number of years, and that was what she was using as his new time. She had come back from exactly the time she said he now belonged to.
It wasn’t an accident that she hadn’t come to see him before this, after all. And she wasn’t just here to “check in.”
Jack either went for his morpher or Sky’s hand. It was impossible to tell, but their fingers ended up tangled together even as Hyanni stepped back. The car’s engine shut off, quiet in the oppressive stillness when Jack said, “This is my time.”
The car doors were opening when Hyanni lifted a hand. “Be safe,” she said. “I love you. I’m so glad you made it.” And she was gone.
Sky’s hand tightened on Jack’s, but he was still there and he just squeezed back. “Crazy,” Jack muttered. “You okay?”
Sky let out his breath in something that was almost a laugh. “Me?” he demanded. “Am I okay? What about you? What the hell was that?”
“Hey!” Z shouted from the driveway. “Since when do we have emergencies on Christmas!” She was leaning on the top of the driver’s side door, Bridge already out on the other side and the rest of the team spilling out behind them. “I thought you made a rule!”
“Yeah, Cruger jinxed us!” Jack yelled back. “See if I ever let him make the schedule again!”
“You don’t let him make the schedule now,” Sky said under his breath.
“I’m doing something wrong,” Jack told him. “We gotta tell Kat.”
“Assuming those two statements aren’t connected,” Sky said, “you’re calling her. I’ve already used up all my holiday goodwill.”
“What’s going on?” Syd asked, walking up the porch steps like she owned them. “If the emergency’s over, can we come in for drinks? We were just about to have dessert. The emergency is over, right?”
“I don’t think the way you drive is strictly legal,” Dan was telling Z.
The front door opened then, because of course it did, and Sky’s mom just stood there looking at all of them for a long moment. “Are you coming or going?” she asked at last.
“Coming,” Syd and Jack said at the same time, and Sky had to smile.
“Well, come in then,” his mom told them. “There’s not room for all of us on the porch.”
Boom had promised his parents, over and over again, that he had Christmas Eve and Christmas off. He could leave the base, even. Boom’s own team leader--his real, honest-to-goodness, team leader!--had cleared it with the base commander, and every Ranger squad had two days in a row to visit family and friends wherever they wanted.
Boom’s family wanted to visit him on the base. He was A Squad Green, now. He was a Ranger for real. And not just any Ranger, but the first string! Whether they didn’t believe he could leave or just wanted to see it for themselves, Boom wasn’t about to complain. He’d worn his green squad jacket every day since Kat gave it to him, and he was happy to give a tour to anyone who wanted one.
Especially his parents, who were eager to see everything again in light of his new position.
“There probably won’t be anyone in the lab right now,” he was telling them, as they walked up to the open doors of a well-lit and loudly humming lab. “Unless maybe it’s Sophie, who’s been helping out a lot more since--”
“Oh, look, it’s Kat!” his mom exclaimed. “Kat, dear, it’s so lovely to see you again!”
Kat didn’t look up from where she was manipulating the main holographic interface, so Boom said quickly, “I think she’s working on something pretty important, Mom; why don’t we just come back later so we don’t interrupt--”
“It’s fine,” Kat said, still not moving. “Come in, Boom.”
“Wow, I think it’s gotten bigger since we were here last,” his dad said. “Which makes sense, since it’s clearly the most important part of the base.”
“Well, that’s true,” Boom agreed, “but I think it’s pretty much the same size it used to be. Although Sophie and I did have to replace the floor after the puppy’s laser turned out to be a little stronger than we expected.”
“No more dogs,” Kat said. From anyone else it would have been a mutter, but the way she enunciated made her English clear no matter how loudly she spoke.
“Oh, is there a puppy? Is it like RIC?” his mom wanted to know. “I do love puppies!”
“Who doesn’t love puppies?” Boom agreed. “I think Sophie has the puppy tonight; it’s too bad we didn’t see her at dinner. We’ll have to try to find her after our tour.”
“That would be wonderful,” his mom said. “I want to wish all of your teammates a merry Christmas before we leave!”
“Or happy holidays,” his dad added. “If they celebrate something else, of course.”
“We’re all celebrating everything this year,” Boom said. “Jack decided that all the holidays should be represented. Of course, when he said ‘all the holidays,’ he mostly meant, ‘all the holidays that his team celebrates,’ so actually we missed some important ones, but none of the aliens can tell so I guess we’ll get them next year.”
“Some of the aliens can tell,” Kat said, looking up as the holographic matrix stabilized and became static. “Hi Boom. It’s nice to see your family again; are you giving them a tour? Did you show them the zords?”
“Isn’t it great?” Boom exclaimed. “I mean, I told them that I could leave the base but they wanted to come back and see it again now that I’ve been, well, promoted! Can I show them the zords?”
“No,” Kat said.
“Oh.” He blinked, then laughed when she grinned at him. “Oh! Right. Yes, I definitely won’t show them the top-secret runner-flyer technology. Wouldn’t dream of it!”
“Good,” she said. Before she could say anything else, the scratchy sound of an incoming comm alert interrupted.
“Landors for Kat,” it said, and Boom went for his morpher just in case. He looked at it while Kat acknowledged, his parents clustering closer. She didn’t step away from them, so it was probably okay. He was allowed to listen to his teammates’ messages, right?
Maybe his parents weren’t. What if it was classified?
“Hey, Kat,” Jack’s voice said. “Word from Mexico. Not for you, unless you heard from them separately?”
Mexico. Boom frowned, until he saw his parents looking at him, and then he nodded wisely. Mexico, of course. Jack and Kat had gone to the Mexico base. Sky had been in charge of the base for two days, and then Cruger had come back and torn SPD Command apart looking for them.
There was no Mexico base. Kat and Jack had disappeared just after a computer hack into Jack’s file that Boom recognized as Kat’s work. When they came back, all of B Squad was pretending that Jack’s altered file was real, and Boom was sure that Jack wasn’t the only one hiding from someone.
“No,” Kat said. “Nothing here. Boom’s with me, and his parents.”
Boom smiled when she looked over at him, and he waved. She smiled back, but she looked worried. A lot more worried than she’d been when they walked in.
“We’re at Sky’s mom’s place,” Jack said. “With all of B Squad, but there’s nothing they can do. Right?”
Kat hesitated. It was so unlike her that Boom wanted to frown again, but his parents were listening avidly and he didn’t want them to be as worried as Kat was. “No,” she said at last. “Have you heard anything from Commander Collins?”
“No,” Jack echoed. “Heard her name, though. From Hyanni. Kind of surprised me.”
“Hyanni?” Kat said sharply. “What’s she doing--in Mexico?”
“Checking in,” Jack’s voice replied. “Or so she said before she, uh, signed off. Any reason to doubt her?”
“No,” Kat said, but this time she sounded reluctant. “Just her?”
“Who’s Hyanni?” Boom’s mom asked. It was quiet enough that he could still hear Jack say yes, but he knew Kat was listening to them as much as they were listening to her. She obviously didn’t need any other distractions.
“Oh, Hyanni works at another base,” Boom said. “I’ve never met her, but she knows Jack.” That seemed safe, and it made his parents nod in understanding.
“Your team leader,” his dad added.
“Yup,” Boom said happily. “A Squad Red! I’ve designed all sorts of technology for him. I mean, before he was A Squad. But since then, too. Less since I started patrolling with his team, but probably more soon, now that Kat needs us back in the lab.”
“Well, of course she does,” his mom said. “You’re indispensable.”
“Right,” Boom agreed. “And she’s pregnant, so she can’t test the rocket packs or morpher upgrades anymore.”
He caught Kat glaring at him, and he shrugged. Was he not supposed to mention that? Jack had made sure everyone in the lab knew.
“Oh, she’s pregnant?” his mom repeated. “That must be so exciting! Who’s the lucky man?”
“Or woman,” his dad said.
Oh, Boom thought belatedly. Maybe that was why she didn’t want people talking about it.
It wasn’t Boom’s fault that they couldn’t talk about it, since Kat wasn’t going to say anything about Time Force on a comm channel that anyone could overhear. She assumed B Squad already knew everything. She didn’t assume they were the only ones who might be listening.
On the other hand, Boom was distracting his parents with news of her litter and probably soon an awkward explanation that there was no “lucky” person. She wasn’t sure why his parents would care, but they seemed very interested in everything that went on his life. Even peripherally.
“Nobody’s being reassigned,” Kat told the screen. It didn’t have Jack’s image on it, but Don had her morpher, so her code was being routed to the nearest active comm. “You probably won’t hear from them again.”
She said it as much to find out if Hyanni had said otherwise as to reassure Jack. The only answer she got was a cryptic, “Sky isn’t convinced.”
Sky had hovered over Jack for at least a day after his return from “Mexico.” She didn’t think Jack had even noticed, with as excited as he had been to be back. About to propose, though she hadn’t known it at the time. Sky probably disliked time travel as much as the commander did at this point.
“It’s probably Commander Cruger,” Boom was telling his parents. His tone of voice passed for a whisper among humans when he added, “But she hasn’t officially said, so better not to mention his name.”
“They’re not Doggie’s,” Kat snapped irritably.
Then she closed her eyes, realizing her mistake as soon as she said it. She was more tired than she knew if she was letting him get to her like this. He wasn’t even here and she was still ready to shout at him for the slightest provocation.
Not that the base commander was any good at “slight” provocations. His idea of subtle was running away after he pulled the pin. And then gloating from a distance.
“Sorry, what?” Jack’s voice asked.
“Uh, was that directed at me?” Boom asked at the same time.
Kat sighed, opening her eyes again. “Sorry,” she said. “No. It wasn’t directed at anyone. At least, no one who’s here. Boom, maybe you and your parents could talk about something other than me. Jack, I’m sending someone to you. Did you say you were at Sky’s mom’s house when you got the call?”
“Yeah,” Jack answered. “We’re still there. You think we need backup? The whole squad’s here.”
“No,” Kat said. “This is something else. I’ll call you back once I get someone. Don’t go anywhere alone, okay?”
“Okay,” Jack said easily. Of course it was easy for him; he and Sky were practically tied together at the wrist. “You got it. Anything we can do for you while we’re at it?”
“Don’t go to Mexico,” Kat said with a sigh.
“Copy that,” Jack agreed. “We’ll bring you back some pie.”
She tried to smile. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”
Boom and his parents weren’t talking about something else. They weren’t talking about anything at all when she turned to them and tried to apologize. “I’m sorry I interrupted,” she said, as calmly as she could. “Yes, I’m pregnant, but the children were conceived many years ago. When they’re born, they’ll be mine alone. Does that satisfy your curiosity?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Boom’s mom said, even though clearly it didn’t. “I’m sorry, it’s none of our business. But we do want to congratulate you, and tell you how wonderful it will be to know there are children around. I hope we’ll get to see some pictures as they grow!”
“I’ll make sure Boom has pictures to pass on,” Kat promised. They were at the point where just getting through the rest of the calendar year looked dubious to impossible, but she understood what she was expected to say.
“Great!” Boom exclaimed. Then he nodded seriously, and added, “I mean, of course. Because we’re a team, so of course we would share pictures. Because that’s what teammates do.”
“That’s what friends do,” Kat corrected. She definitely wasn’t as good at leadership as Jack was if Boom didn’t know that by now. “I’m going upstairs to make a few calls, all right? Take your parents to see the zords.”
“Will do!” Boom said cheerfully. “We will absolutely not look at anything top secret or classified!”
This time her sigh turned into a laugh. “Boom, that covers everything in this lab. And probably most of what you saw on the way here.”
“Right, yes,” he agreed. “Well, but we won’t remember any of it. I mean, I will, because it’s my job, but my parents won’t.”
“Oh, no,” his mom said. “And we won’t ever look at the pictures or put them up on our refrigerator or anything like that.”
Kat almost asked if she meant pictures she had taken today, while she was touring the base, or the pictures Kat had promised to send of her babies. But she didn’t really want to know. Jack had taught her something about plausible deniability after all, because she kept her mouth shut and just waved as she left the lab.
Command was empty except for Sophie, taking a shift she’d promised Jack she didn’t mind, but she turned it over to Kat without question. “I’ll take the rest of it,” Kat told her. “If Jack asks, tell him I asked you to leave.”
“Understood,” Sophie said with a smile. She might even do it. It would probably come out, Kat told me to tell you that she asked me to leave, but since Kat was only trying to hide from everyone other than Jack, it shouldn’t make a difference.
As soon as she had Command to herself, she disabled the alarms on surveillance and recording, then disabled surveillance and recording, started a system diagnostic that would slow any effort to override the shutdown, and called up a secure line. It was a lot of effort just to contact an out-of-jurisdiction police force. But then, the Silver Guardians weren’t just any jurisdiction.
“The what guardians?” Syd asked. “Silver? Do they guard silver? What does that even mean?”
“They guard the city of Silver Hills,” Sky said, handing her a drink. It turned out that his mother’s living room did have enough room for all of them, if there were no other guests and some of them sat on the floor. Fortunately for Syd’s dress, it had been an early dinner at the Tate house and Bridge and Jack were willing to sit on the floor.
“How much of a city can it be if it has ‘Hills’ in the name?” Syd countered.
“Beverly Hills,” Sky replied.
“Laguna Hills,” Z offered.
“Hillsboro,” Bridge said. When they all turned to look at him, he added, “It has three times the population of any of the other cities. And ‘hills’ is right there in the name.”
“Hillsboro,” Syd repeated. “Okay. I stand corrected.”
“And what are the Silver Guardians going to do?” Sky’s mom wanted to know. “Are they going to stand guard outside our door against an invisible woman who can travel through time, on the off-chance that she comes back while you’re not here?”
Cathy Tate was very practical. Syd liked her.
“They’re just going to look around,” Sky said. “They shouldn’t get in your way. They won’t even have to come in; they’ll just scan for chronitons outside and leave.”
“Apparently people traveling through time leave behind some kind of disturbance,” Jack said. “Kat says the Silver Guardians can detect it.”
“Which kind of makes sense,” Bridge said thoughtfully. “I mean, we leave footprints as we move through space. If time is just another dimension, it makes sense that people moving through it would leave a trail. We just don’t notice because we’re all going in the same direction.”
“How does that make sense?” Z demanded. “Time is intangible. You can’t disrupt it.”
“Auras are intangible,” Bridge pointed out. “They get disrupted all the time.”
Syd lifted her glass in his direction. “You know, that’s the best explanation I’ve heard so far.”
“Hunters are good at tracking things,” Dan said. “So they’re good at not leaving a trail when they don’t want to. Wouldn’t time travelers figure out how not to leave a trail too?”
“But we have scanners,” Bridge said. “So even if there’s no visible trail, we can detect heat signatures and DNA traces and things like that. Maybe that’s what the Silver Guardians have, but for time. Although why they have them in the first place is an interesting question that hasn’t been sufficiently addressed.”
“Yeah,” Jack said, glancing at Sky. “I got the feeling we weren’t supposed to ask about that.”
“Me too,” Sky said grimly. “I don’t like how much they aren’t telling us about this.”
“They?” Jack repeated. “Kat’s the only one who knows anything.”
“No,” Sky said. “Kat’s the only one who’s told us anything. No way are there time travelers coming and going from the city--time travelers that Commander Collins is tacitly supporting--without someone else knowing.”
“You didn’t even believe Time Force was real until last week,” Jack said.
“Wait,” Cathy interrupted. “Time Force is real too? Is that what Kylee was talking about when she called about conspiracy theories last week?”
Syd looked at her with interest. “My mom called you?”
“Yes, to let me know she adopted Jack,” Cathy said. “Which is going to make your wedding invitations really interesting, by the way. She said something about hiding him from the time police.”
“And you let that go?” Z asked.
Cathy rolled her eyes. “It was Kylee Drew. I let a lot of things go.”
Syd could feel Dan eyeing her, so she shrugged. “I think that’s a good idea. Bridge says there’s a psychological theory of non-complementary behavior, where you refuse to engage in a social construct by not providing a relevant response? That’s really the best way to deal with my family.”
She waited just long enough for Sky to raise an eyebrow at her, then smiled sweetly and added, “Present company excluded, of course.”
Jack grinned. “Present company definitely included,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Jack, were you expecting pie?” Cathy inquired.
“Oh, not you,” Jack hurried to assure her. “Just these two.”
“Are you planning to conveniently un-adopt yourself whenever you want to make fun of us?” Sky asked. “That won’t work once we’re married, you know.”
“Only one of us is wearing a ring,” Jack pointed out. “And you know Cruger’s going to throw up every roadblock he can think of. I think I have time.”
“Cruger?” Sky’s uncle didn’t look at all sure he wanted to be involved in this conversation, but he was a brave man. Syd thought Sky could have done worse when it came to father figures. “Your base commander doesn’t want you to get married?”
“Apparently it’s against the rules,” Jack said. “Which Sky forgot to mention. Either time.”
“Either time?” Cathy repeated.
Sky didn’t just roll his eyes; he looked heavenward and might as well have thrown up his hands. It didn’t stop Jack from saying, “He turned me down the first time. Too much ego, he said.”
“Which was true,” Sky interrupted.
“It was kind of true,” Bridge agreed.
“Oh, please,” Z said. “Like Sky wouldn’t have done exactly the same thing if he’d thought of it first. They’re perfect for each other.”
“I thought so too,” Jack agreed, “but you know everyone on Charlie’s team yelled at me for that? They seem to think--wait, that reminds me,” he said suddenly. “Sky, when’s your birthday?”
Syd stared at him. She wasn’t the only one.
“August fourth,” Sky said.
“Um.” Dan raised his hand briefly. “You didn’t know when his birthday was?”
“To be fair, he didn’t know when his own birthday was,” Sky said.
Syd reached out to pat Dan’s knee reassuringly. “They can’t all be me,” she said. “Although, now that I think about it, I did share my birthday with Jack. You’d think that would have made him ask.”
“Not everyone celebrates birthdays, princess.” Z looked more amused than anything, but the warning was real. “You made up mine, too, and I never missed it.”
“Happy late birthday,” Jack said. “Sky. Z. Dan, when’s your birthday?”
“September 24th,” Dan replied.
“Bridge?” Jack looked around the room. “Cathy, Chris? How many birthdays am I supposed to know?”
“You don’t have to remember my parents’ birthdays,” Sky interrupted. “Bridge’s is February 17th. I’ll make you a list.”
Jack brightened. “Great! I’m liking this engagement thing more and more. Can you get them birthday presents from me, too?”
“No,” Sky told him.
Jack’s “hostess gift” this evening said otherwise, Syd thought, studying her wine. But maybe more importantly, Sky had just called Cathy and Chris his parents. She gave Chris a quick look from under her eyelashes and saw him beaming.
That would probably cover every birthday for the foreseeable future.