Andy laughed lightly and took the prints out of the envelope. She scanned them for any text, and grinned when she saw a little note down at the bottom. There was an area of the ultrasound circled, and a little arrow pointed to it.

"'Merry Christmas,'" she read aloud, "'It's a boy.'"

"Baby Riley. I knew he would be the oldest!" He said and kissed her neck before sliding the necklace around her skin and clasping it. The necklace was a small silver chain with an A on it, and a small vintage locket. "I know we'll be good parents, and I'll try to not spoil him and we'll be fine. And da-- I really REALLY love you. I'm so glad I've got you. And Happy Christmas. Empath is... staring. And they're talking about us." He said and grinned.

Andy jumped slightly when she felt the necklace around her neck. Raising a hand, she touched it gently. Her fingers lightly traced the design on the locket, and she could feel the little stones in the 'A' charm.

"It's beautiful..." she murmured. She paused when she felt the little stones again. "What are these?"

"If I tell you, you can't take it off and give it back." He said and turned her to look at him and he pressed a kiss to her lips and then grabbed her hips and pulled her closer. "Diamonds, expensive but they shined the most. And no, I won't tell you how much I spent on it." He said and then smirked, knowing they had an audience behind the glass, able to see them behind his girlfriend. "Now I was gonna wait, but..." He kneeled down and slid a silver band around her finger. "It's not an engagement ring, but it's a promise. I promise to be here for the birth, for our son, and until you want me gone, I promise I'll love you. And I promise if you let me stick around I'll get a real ring on this finger. Just wait this out with me?" He said and then saw her grandmother smiling. "You're supposed to say yes..." He muttered and held his hand lightly.

Andy was surprised when he slid a ring onto her finger. She definitely hadn't been expecting it. After a moment, she smiled and kissed him.

"If I wanted you gone, you would be already," she said softly. She heard some giggling from the doorway and looked over her shoulder. "What do you all want?" she asked, but it was a half-hearted snap.

"They want the word yes from your lips. Come on, conform with society." He said and grinned, standing and raising an eyebrow. "Just say yes, no tiptoeing around the words." He said and then kissed her quickly once more and then looked at her family. "Come on, my headaches have subsided. It's time for me to go sleep... I'll see you in the morning." He said and touched her stomach briefly then went to open the doors to get inside.

Andy returned the kiss and laid her hand on top of his where it rested on her stomach. She kind of wished that the baby was already kicking, but he wasn't.

"Yes, then," she said to him. "And it's time for me to go to bed, too. We need to be able to get up early, the kids don't wait any longer than seven in the morning." Not that they would even wait that long, not when they might be able to badger him into getting up. He was the newest 'member' of the family, and therefore didn't know how to resist them yet. "Don't let them coerce you into getting up any earlier than that."

"I'm a man, I can handle kids coercing!" He said, not knowing just how much of a lie that could be. He kissed her quickly and waved to the others. "It wasn't a proposal! Just letting you know." He said and then looked at her grandmother and gave a small frown. He nodded to her and the woman stepped outside and he followed quietly. "You're a seer." She said and he bit his lip. "Only sounds." He told her and she nodded.

"You just havent developed it completely yet." She said and grinned. "Riley is going to be a very cute boy, but his sisters will be cute also, don't be so adament on making things come out the way you've heard them, all good things will come to those who wait." Nathaniel frowned, confused but nodded.

"Alright...?"

"Just as you will lose your powers, your child will gain them."

"Wait, lose?"

"You've got to lose something to gain something. It's the circle of life." The woman said and Nathaniel bit his lip, nodding. "I'm going to bed, it's been nice talking to you." He said, his mind in a daze. He'd lose his powers?!

By the time Andy got back to her bed, she found Rachel, Jake, and Amelia already curled up and asleep there. Rolling her eyes a bit, she used her power to move them each over a little so she had enough space to climb in. It didn't take her long to drift off to sleep. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted. It seemed like only a moment later when she was woken up by being poked in the arm.

"Andy!" That was Rachel. She got poked in the arm again.

"What time is it?" she asked as she opened her eyes. All three of the younger kids were sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at her.

"Almost seven," Rachel replied. "We've been up for ages! can we wake up the grown-ups yet?"

"Santa came!" Jake added, excited. "I see-d all the new presents!"

"Uh huh!" little Amelia nodded. "Santa came!" Sighing a bit, Andy sat up. They weren't going to let her sleep anymore, she knew that. Immediately, three pairs of eyes went to her stomach.

"Are you really having a baby?" Rachel asked doubtfully. Andy nodded.

"I really am," she replied.

"How do I know you don't just have something stuffed in your shirt or something?" Rachel challenged. Andy raised an eyebrow and slid her shirt up over her belly. Rachel's eyes widened a little. She looked like she wanted to reach out and touch Andy's stomach, but she stopped.

"Go ahead," Andy encouraged. "You won't hurt him."

"Really?"

"Really." Rachel hesitantly reached out and touched Andy's stomach.

"Me too!" Jake exclaimed.

"You too," Andy nodded. Jake patted her stomach a bit, then looked at the clock. It read 7:06.

"It's after seven!" he said, jumping off the bed. This seemed to snap Rachel back to reality, and the three kids started bouncing in place.

"Can we wake up the grown-ups now?" Rachel asked. Andy almost said no, but decided against it.

"The rule is no earlier than seven," she said. "It's after seven. You're safe."

"Yay!" The kids ran off to wake everyone up. Getting up, Andy stretched a little and followed them.

Nathaniel moved from the doorway he'd watched the scene and then went towards his girlfriend. "It's like going back to Boy Scouts sleeping on the floor with a bunch of guys." He said and then moved to pull her legs off the bed and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, soon-to-be-momma. I wanna watch you open presents." He said and squeezed her hand with a wink. "The kids are cute... Well they have their moments. By the way, your grandma is strange, cryptic and she kind of scares me."

Andy let him pull her to her feet and gave him a kiss.

"What are you doing awake?" she asked. She grinned. "The least you could do is let the kids wake you up." Waving a hand at her suitcase, a wrapped gift flew into her hand. She gave it to him. "Here. I figure I should give you this now, before everyone is distracted by the kids ripping paper." She'd gotten him a satellite radio for his car, since his last one was lost in the accident a few months back. If he was going to blast radio all the time, he may as well have the good stuff.

Nathaniel held the heavy box and raised an eyebrow. He slipped the paper off as he explained. "I had a... nightmare about the future. Don't worry about it." He said and smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead then gasped. "Sweety you didn't have to! The cheap thing in my car.... babe. Thank you. Thank you, Merry Christmas, I love you, it's perfect." He said and smiled. The radio was thoughtful and he could understand her problem. What do you buy a guy who can afford everything? You buy him something he wants, not needs. "It really is perfect."

"Just like you didn't need to get me the necklace," Andy pointed out, giving him a kiss. "Merry Christmas." She gave him a hug. "After all the presents are opened and everyone is distracted with the ultrasound prints, do you want to talk about the nightmare? I hear that helps, sometimes."

((ack~ sorry it's so short~))

"No, it's fine. I've just watched too many weird science geeky movies." He said and smiled. "Come on!" He said starting to sound like one of the little kids. He'd never really had a family to enjoy Christmas with, so he wanted this time to be awesome. He wanted to see all the kids faces and all the adults just be happy for a time with no worries. What can go wrong at Christmas?

"Then come on," Andy said. "They're waiting on us to start with the presents." Andy took his hand and pulled him into the living room where everyone was waiting.

"It's about time!" Jason said. He glared at Nathaniel. "You weren't doing anything with my sister were you?" Andy rolled her eyes.

"As if we would tell you anything, Jason," she pointed out.

"No." Nathaniel added for Jason's sake. He touched his girlfriends hand before some weird flashback or fastforward of Jasons life would spring to mind. "Alright, we're all here. Dig in." He said and her grandmother clapped to release the kids. The kids started digging through the presents, delivering them to their owners. He watched everyone gain presents and thought the ones being placed in front of him were for Andy since her pile was already huge. However when the presents were all passed out and the kids started plowing through their own, Nathaniel looked down. Nate. Yeah, the package said Nate. It wasn't the first time it had been shortened that way, but he preferred Aniel when it came to nick names. He shrugged it off and looked at the presents in front of him, then at Andy.

"Why... how... Nevermind... I'll just open them."

"You don't question such things in this family," Andy said as she unwrapped some of her gifts. She raised an eyebrow when she saw both an oversized sweater in the box and a tiny onesie with the words 'mama's boy' written across it. "Thanks, Danny," she said sarcastically. Her cousin just shrugged, but didn't defend himself. Shaking her head, she went to open her other gifts.

"The onesie is cute. And funny when you find out he turns out... rainbow-y. Not that I mind, I'll love him all the same." He said and went through the presents. He got a multitude of books, and some random shirts. He got gift cards and then he got something he'd never expect from someone he didn't really know. He got a box labeled 'things you'll need in your car.' He opened the box and saw random assortment of items and he raised an eyebrow. "Okay... Psychics, you gotta love 'em." He said and laughed. "Thank you everybody, I'm glad I could be apart of th-"

"HOLY COW! Nathan... Nathaniel got me 100 dollars to Toys R' Us!"
"I got one to Wal Mart!"
"I got one to GameStop!"

Nathaniel sighed and bit his lip. "I wasn't aware of how much a normal present was... is that too much?"

"A little, but that's alright," Andy said as she went through her own gifts. She got a few more gifts that contained something for both her and the baby, but they were more general than what Daniel had given her. She set aside the things for the baby, making a mental note to pack them up later so they didn't get left behind. Reaching behind her, she picked up the envelope with the ultrasound prints and passed it to her left, to her parents and her brother.

"We're shopping together next time." He said and laughed, wrapping an arm around her and flicking through things she got. "That looks like a torture device. Ahhh binkies!" He muttered and then laughed. "I can not wait to have this kid." He said and kissed her shoulder, smiling as the kids were STILL tearing through their presents, having a multitude more than the adults.

Andy leaned against him a bit, one hand going to rest on her stomach. She could feel how round her stomach was starting to get, but she didn't mind. It was Christmas, she was in too good of a mood to feel bad about her waistline getting bigger. Absently, she reached into her stocking and pulled out a little piece of chocolate and popped it into her mouth as she watched the kids open the rest of their presents. She blinked when her grandparents handed her one more gift. She opened it and gasped when she saw the small, handmade quilt.

"It's beautiful," she said as she took it out. It was wonderfully soft, and it was done in different shades of blue. It was obviously a baby blanket. "Thanks."

[[Sorry it was happy for a tidbit too long... Gotta mix it up.]]

Andy had made Nathaniel smile wide when she accepted the quilt. He nodded to her grandparents and slid a hand over her stomach. "Hey everybody? I think I hear the Christmas parade down the street." All the kids shot up and started putting on their shoes and running out to the sidewalk so Nathaniel and Andy were alone, with her grandparents. His oh so awesome plans... "Riley is going to be a great kid. Too bad I won't be there at the birth." He whispered and pulled away from her. He glanced at her grandparents. "You know it, I know it... And Andy you have to know that I am going to stick with you. I can't tell you what's going to happen to me, but know I love you and our son. And..." He sighed, looking at her grandparents. "I've got to go pack, I'm getting the call soon. I'm glad I got to be with your family for a night... Sorry about next year, you can use my house of course. You know the codes." Andy's grandmother nodded. He hugged her and then shook hands with her grandfather. His cell started ringing and he cringed. He answered it as he stared at his girlfriend as he spoke.

"Nathaniel Lee?"

"Yes?"

"This is the SS. We need your assistance."

"I know." Nathaniel said, aware of the fact he had probably done this all wrong.

"When can you be here?"

"My plane leaves in an hour and a half. I should be there in 8 hours." He said and then the man on the line hung up.
Andy's grandparents moved to the kitchen so their granddaughter could be alone with Nathaniel. He kneeled beside her. "I love you. So much. You've got to trust me though, I'll be back."

"Nathaniel?" Andy asked. "Nathaniel, what's going on?" He hadn't said anything about having to leave... "You promised to be there when our son is born," she reminded him. "You promised to be there. What's so important that it will keep you away?" She was starting to get upset now. She had no idea what was going on, just that he was going somewhere and leaving her behind while she was pregnant.

Nathaniel bit his lip and took her hand. "I can't tell you. But I promise I'll come back. I am not quite sure when but I know I miss the birth and I know I miss next Christmas. Andy... I want to be there, you have no idea how bad, I just... This isn't exactly a... People know about me, alright? People know I'm useful, and I love you and I want you with me. But for right now... I can't be here with you. You've just got to remember I WANT to be here. I just can't." He said and then touched her hand and sighed. "I can only tell you what I know. And it's not much. I'll be out of the country, and I'll be saving... somebody. I just... I have to do this. I can't let somebody die when I don't have too." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"And then what?" Andy asked. "Are you just going to keep running off at random?" Softer, she added, "How can I be sure you're going to come back?" She hated the fact that he was going to be gone, and she hated even more that he wasn't going to be there when their son was born. "You could have said something before..."