Birth and Rebirth

Back at Ghostbusters Central . . .

“To the expectant parents.” Peter lifted his glass in toast. Winston had insisted on sneaking out to pick up a couple of bottles of champagne and a bottle of sparkling cider after dropping the others off. All but Jessica now enjoyed a lovely California sparkling wine. Jessica sat with her feet up again. It had been a few hours since they’d received the news. Egon, Ray and Peter had continued to relay the story of Vigo the Carpathian while Winston was out getting the drinks. Dana had even come by with little Oscar, who had recently celebrated his first birthday and his first tooth. Jessica was able to hear Dana’s side of the story, as well as getting some much-needed advice about being a new mom. She was more determined than ever to help tin ain any way she could. They had clearly risked their lives to save the world again and the world was ungrateful, just as it had been after the incident with Gozer the Gozerian. It always made her angry when the powers-that-be tried to screw Jake, Eddie and Tracey. She’d be damned if she’d let anyone else in their profession suffer needlessly due to bad press, especially after all they’d done for her family.

“I’ll come by tomorrow with my cameraman and tape your statements. Tom’s flying out tonight, so we should be able to arrive in the morning.” Peter grimaced at the mention of that most hated time of day. “We’ll make it a feature story, so you can tell the whole tale. Dana, you don’t have to be interviewed if you don’t want to be. We’ll mention you, of course. It’d be hard not to and still keep the story intact, but we’ll mention you as little as possible.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”

“Least I can do. So, I guess the only other thing I’ll need to do is to go out on a call with you guys, so I can tape you in action.”

Eddie choked on his champagne and began coughing violently. Jake’s expression was incredulous. “No.”

“Jake . . . ”

“I said ‘no’. I’ve been more than accommodating about all this, but I’m not gonna go along with that.” At her huffy sigh, he frowned in aggravation. “You’re having triplets, Jess! TRIPLETS! Dr. Barber said for you to take it easy! No calls!”

Jes’s e’s expression became one of a cobra ready to strike. “Your permission is not . . .”

“You know, Jake. We could just take her on a minor call, something small like a class 2 or 3.” Ray was trying to offer a solution to defuse the impending argument.

“You can’t be certain it’s small until you get there,” Eddie commented sagely.

“Not without a doubt, but we’re rarely incorrect,” Egon replied.

“We’d never let anything happen to her, and she wouldn’t actually be allowed to come with us into the bust,” Winston added. “Her cameraman can join us though.”

Peter winked at Jessica and played the trump card. “Why don’t you and Eddie come on that bust with us, Jake? That way you can keep an eye on her and get a little action to boot.”

“Plus all the Ghostbusters working together for the first time is definitely newsworthy,” Janine added. “It’ll add a little flare to the story.”

“What a great idea! We could make it a two-part exposé! Oh, where’s a phone? I’ve gotta call Harvey to let him know!” Janine helped Jessica out of heair air and led her into the next room to use the phone.

Jake stared after her in amazement. He’d been totally outmaneuvered again. ‘When did I lose so much control over my life?’ He sighed and looked seriously at Peter. “You will keep her safe, correct?”

Peter’s look was just as serious as he responded, “On my mother’s grave.”

Jake agreed, however reluctantly. Jessica returned to the room, telling everyone that Harvey had given the thumbs up on her story. The hometown crew said good-bye to their out-of-town guests, who promised not to return until after noon, to Peter’s relief. Peter suggested that Jake and Eddie suit up in some of Ray’s and Es sps spare jumpsuits and proton packs on the job they’d be going on. They hadn’t brought their own gear, and those were the uniforms that would fit them best. They agreed, and Jessica promised to stay in Ecto-1, where she would interview them all afterward.