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Dawn wished she could say that everything went smoothly from then on but of course, working at the ARC meant nothing of the sort happened.

Abby and Connor got married right on schedule eight months later, with only a few hiccups in the form of a misplaced bouquet and a very drunk younger brother. And when they announced just a few months later that Abby was pregnant nobody was that surprised, although Lester immediately ordered Abby out of the field.

Just two months after that announcement, it became very clear that Jenny was pregnant as well. Clear to Dawn, at least, who caught her being sick in the toilets on more than one occasion. The peaceful few months however, came to an abrupt end when the older brunette collapsed while in a meeting with Lester and Matt, and was ordered on complete bed rest at just four months pregnant.

Despite this, she was rushed into hospital several times until at six months pregnant she went into premature labour on the same day Abby went into her full term labour. While Nicholas Matthew was born healthy after a relatively easy labour, Annabelle Grace was rushed into the neonatal unit as soon as she'd been delivered by emergency caesarean, following Jenny haemorrhaging during labour.

They both pulled through though and Dawn got the impression that it was a silently unanimous decision that Belle, as she called her much to Jenny's annoyance, would be an only child… biologically at least. Once both mother and daughter were recovered, Matt and Emily announced their own engagement and Jess and Becker finally admitted they were dating (it took them long enough, Dawn had quipped wryly) and just ten months later, Dawn attended yet another wedding. In the hotel the evening before, her father proposed to Claudia who immediately accepted, to much squealing and excitement.

The next big event was the birth of Connor and Abby's second son, Thomas Stephen, six months after that. Sarah and Danny had been celebrating her return to full health with a cruise that took them around the world in six months- they returned at the baby's christening with matching wedding rings and secretive smiles.

Jess and Becker then announced that they too were expecting an addition to their family, and the brunette went into labour during the wedding reception of the new Mr and Mrs Cutter, giving birth to Luke Anthony four months before Matt and Emily's own pregnancy announcement. Their eldest son Gideon Joseph- named for both their fathers- was born five months after that.

And then Claudia announced- quite dramatically- that she was expecting a baby too. Dawn remembered in amusement how the irate brunette had yelled it across the room at her husband, who was confused about why his wife was so angry about him being busy with work until he'd processed her words, at which point Connor had thankfully had the foresight to push a chair behind him for when he fell back. Dawn was ashamed to admit she'd been resentful and jealous towards the baby and withdrawn from the group during Claudia's pregnancy, throwing herself into performances more than the ARC. Caught up in their own children and the impending birth, no one had noticed.

Her change in behaviour caused Peter to walk out of their shared home, at which point it was Sarah who realised what as wrong with the teenager. And when Stephen Connor was born, she forced Dawn to the hospital with her and to hold the new baby.

Having her baby brother in her arms changed Dawn's views somewhat, and instead of jealously she felt nothing but love for the tiny boy, although she was the first to admit that her dad having a new son instead of a daughter probably helped somewhat.

And so things trundled along relatively quietly for a while. Peter returned home, apologetic but resolute and Dawn agreed to communicate more with him while Claudia never returned to work after her maternity leave- instead she willingly became the designated baby sitter for all the children, often helped by whoever happened to be off shift and not in need of sleep at the time. About a year after Stephen was born, Jess announced she was expecting another baby and Emelia Abigail came into the world just six months later. On the day she was born, Becker finally proposed and they were married two years later, five months after Emily announced she was pregnant for the second time.

Twins Christopher Edward and Charlotte Elizabeth were born a few weeks premature but completely healthy. It was the day before their christening at six months old that Peter plucked up the courage to propose to Dawn… although not before he was threatened by every male member of their little family, including Nicky and a slightly bemused Tommy.

When Nicky was five (and three quarters, thank you very much!) Abby and Connor discovered they were expecting another baby as well- Jennifer Sarah came into the world far more sedately than either of her big brothers, and instantly had the entire ARC wrapped around her finger. Abby swore that if Connor touched her again she'd chop some important parts off, much to the teams' amusement when they overheard the conversation.

When 'Jenna' was six weeks old Peter was called up for active service - he and Dawn reluctantly agreed to postpone their wedding plans, choosing to commit to each other when they didn't have the possibility of Peter's death looming over them.

Sarah and Danny, meanwhile, had been desperately trying to have a baby of their own but to no avail. They tried everything including several rounds of IVF until eventually the doctors admitted that although they didn't know why, Sarah's body just seemed incapable of carrying new life. They were distraught and although Danny tentatively bought up surrogacy or adoption, Sarah was devastated she couldn't carry a child of her own and so the pair settled for spoiling their pseudo nieces and nephews rotten. Dawn was relatively sure she was the only one who noticed the flash of grief and pain in Sarah's eyes every time she caught sight of one of the children.

Which meant that when Danny and Sarah returned from an anomaly investigation in Africa with two little girls in tow, the ARC was equally astonished and unsurprised. Mary and Sandra were orphans, just six and two years old and adored by their new adoptive parents while Belle was just pleased there was another girl closer to her own age than Emilia or Charlotte.

With Peter still away, most assumed that would be the last of the ARC babies for a while- most of the members were older and those that were still in the field were getting ready to leave it, at least part time. Which was why when Dawn found Jenny throwing up in the toilets one morning when Annabelle was eight, she didn't quite know what to think.

The new baby was unexpected and unplanned. The doctors had advised against her having another baby and so Michael begged her not to continue with the pregnancy- Jenny refused, and at seven months pregnant gave birth by caesarean section to Daniel Liam.

Peter returned eventually from the war but not quite as whole as he'd left. An IED had rendered him blind, and for the first time Dawn found herself being pushed away from him. Thankfully, she was just as stubborn as he was and the pair married within two years of his return. Lester retired from the ARC although he kept in contact- most of the children called him and Amelia their grandparents, something he pretended didn't affect him (Dawn knew it did- she'd seen the pictures in his wallet and desk) and Jess had taken over operations.

When Daniel was four, Dawn discovered she herself was pregnant and Alexander Nicholas was born on christmas day. Her father was the only one she suspected understood the significance of the name, but he never said a word to her.

By the time Alex was ten, he'd been joined by James Elijah, named after Lester and Becker (Connor had laughed himself silly upon finding out Becker's middle name. Because Hilary Elijah, really?) and Jennie Louise, which was Jess's middle name. Ryan Daniel was seven years younger than his oldest brother and to be honest, Dawn thought that would be it from the 'first generation ARC babies', as they'd been nicknamed (although Connor insisted that Dawn's were second generation). That was until, when Alex was nineteen Abbie Stephanie Helen unexpectedly joined the troupe.

Dawn never did explain to Stephen the significance of the name and who the original Stephen was to her, although she assumed somebody had mentioned it to him. Stephen himself struggled to acclimatise to his new life- missing memories hadn't mattered while he was held prisoner with Claudia but in the real world he couldn't fit in. Just after baby Stephen was born, adult Stephen took off travelling the world. He visited every continent and would often spend several months out of contact, but would make sure he made it home for every wedding and birth and for a few flying visits in between.

And then, just weeks after Abbie was born tragedy struck. Amelia called them in tears from the hospital- Lester had collapsed at home. The team rushed up there and sat in the waiting room for most of the night, taking it in turns to leave to be with the children who had all been deposited at Emily and Matt's house- it was closest to the hospital.

Dawn read the doctors' face before he could say a word.

Lester had cancer- terminal. The stubborn man had refused to seek treatment for his pain, not realising how serious it was and now it was too late. He declined any life prolonging treatment, stating that if he was going to die he was going to do it on his own terms. Dawn was heartbroken, and ready to build a device to take her through the future anomaly to find a cure- Connor willingly volunteered to help and the pair had even drawn up plans for the device. But Lester forbid them. He'd accepted his fate and refused to let them risk themselves when they both had kids at home.

He died at home, a month before Abbie turned one.

The woman smiled sadly to herself as she closed the book, glancing up at the crowd in front of her who had been listening, enraptured. "But what happened next?" a little boy asked.

"Life kept going. The ARC had to carry on because the battle continues. There is always a new threat. But whatever it is… they'll deal with it."

The woman signed copies of the book for a few hours, until the book shop closed and she left picked up her bag and coat. "They'll deal with it huh? Sounds like something grandad would have said."

The woman looked up and smiled warmly at the man in front of her. "Hi honey! It was- it was in his portion of the memoirs. What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I was at the ARC, figured I'd walk you home."

She cupped his cheek with a soft smile. "You're a good boy Alex."

"I try." He said cheerfully. They began to walk. "The book seems popular."

"Everyone wants to know about the governments best kept secret."

"Do you miss it?"

"What?"

"The secrecy."

The woman laughed softly. "It certainly made things easier. But… no, I don't think I do. Not having to lie, to be careful about what we can say in public. I think Jenny would have had a fit if she'd been here."

Alex smiled in agreement. "That I can imagine. Hey, some of us were talking recently. We want to hold a memorial, a public one."

"I don't understand."

"The ARC is public now, yeah? Us 'first gen' kids…" he made air quotes with a humourful smile. "We all work there in some capacity, we're hailed as heroes and monsters, depending on who you listen to. But everything our parents did- or grandparents in my case- goes mostly unrecognised. I mean, the book will help but we want to do more." Alex explained.

"I think it's a wonderful idea."

"Good, because we kind of already did it." he opened the door they were in front of to reveal the crowd of people.

"Nan!" "Dad!" kids swarmed around them, only to be quickly ushered away by Alex.

"So on a scale of 1 to 10 how mad are you?" Nicky appeared in front of her, beaming. She chuckled and shook her head.

"You crazy kids." She laughed.

"You love us."

"That I do." She agreed, glancing around at them. Her kids and nieces and nephews- pseudo and otherwise- and their kids, and in the far corner was Eden, Nicky's eldest grandchild, cradling her newborn daughter.

"What'd you think Aunt Dawn?" Charlotte grinned, gesturing to the pictures of the original teams that ran across the walls.

"I think that there obviously not enough dinosaurs if you have time to do this!" Dawn grinned, hooking an arm around her as she stared around her at her bonkers family, different to how it used go be but none the less amazing. "But… It's beautiful."