⚠️ SPOILER WARNING ⚠️

This is the fifth book in the series... or more like a prequel before the fifth book. If you haven't books 1-4 and True Potentials yet, I suggest you go to my profile and read those first. If you've read them already or if you just really don't care about spoilers, enjoy the chapter! Stay awesome!

__________________

Ryder's P.O.V.:

Katie and I were in the process of moving into our new apartment. My parents were helping us get all our boxes moved in.

After a few years of Katie being a personal trainer and me getting a job as a sensei in a karate studio, we were finally able to afford our own apartment. It had been a long road to get here, but we finally made it.

"Ok guys, this is the last box." My dad said, setting a box down.

"Thanks for helping us move in guys." I smiled.

"Yeah, I would've had it done in a few hours, but my powers have been touch and go lately." Katie sniffled. "I wish this cold would just go away."

"Is it affecting your powers?" My dad asked.

"Yeah sometimes. I don't think it's anything serious." Katie said coughing.

"Sorry Ryder, it's Ethan's school. I gotta take this." My mom said as her phone started ringing.

She went into the other room to take the phone call.

"How's he doing in his new school Dad?" I asked.

"Not well." He frowned. "We were trying to give him a normal life by sending him to school, but sometimes his anger takes over and he has... outbursts.

"I thought he had that under control?" I said.

"Yeah, but you know how it took years for the great devourer's venom to turn your grandfather evil?" My dad asked and I nodded. "Well as Ethan gets older, his powers will get stronger and that makes them harder to control."

"Oh. I hope he's ok." I frowned.

"Lloyd, we gotta go." My mom sighed.

"What did he do now?" My Dad asked.

"I'll tell you on the way." She said. "Let's just go."

"Ok, sorry to cut this short. Will you guys be ok?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine." I gave my dad a hug.

"I wish you the best bud." He hugged me back. "Good luck."

"Thanks." I smiled.

My parents grabbed their stuff and left to go get Ethan. I hoped he was ok.

I sat down next to Katie and felt her forehead. She hadn't been feeling well for the past few days, but I had summed it up to how stressful the wedding planning has been and the toll the moving process took on us.

"Are you okay?" I looked at my yang.

"Yeah, I think I..."

She suddenly covered her mouth and immediately ran to the bathroom to throw up. I felt so bad as this had been happening for days.

"Sweetie, can I get you anything?" I asked from outside the door.

"No, I'm g-good."

But then I heard her throw up again. I knew I had to do something. I got out my phone and called my sister. I told her everything that was going on and she said she would pick up a few things and come over right away.

After about twenty minutes, Ashley walked in with her nursing bag and some other supplies.

"Thanks for coming Ashley." I said. "Katie's been sick like this for two weeks, I thought it was stress but now I think it might be something more than that."

"Are you sure it's not this?" She held up a pregnancy test box.

"What? No. There's no way that's it." I laughed.

"Ryder I'm in nursing school. From what you've told me, she has all the signs."

"No, there's no way. Couldn't it just be a coincidence?"

"That depends, are you um... you know?"

"I'm not having that conversation with my little sister." I crossed my arms.

"I take that as a yes, and if that's the case then there is always a possibility." She said.

"Whatever, just help her out please." I said as I knocked on the bathroom door. "Katie, Ashley's here. Can I let her in?"

"Yeah, that's fine." She said on the other side of the door.

Ashley went inside the bathroom and tended to her while I waited outside. I kept thinking back to that night we had. I had just asked her to be my yang and we were so happy, I guess we weren't thinking and things just happened. Maybe my sister wasn't that far off.

About 20 minutes later, Ashley came out of the bathroom with her bag.

"Is she ok? Did she take the test?" I asked frantically.

"She's taking it now, we'll know in a few minutes." Ashley said. "How are you doing with all this?"

"Oh you know, just thinking about how Dad's going to kill me." I started hyperventilating. "I mean I'm supposed to be the responsible one, I can't have a baby at 21, this is so irresponsible of me."

"Ryder breath, it's like Dad says, everything that does happen is always meant to happen." Ashley said.

"Yeah, I guess I've always seen us having kids someday, but this is way earlier than I wanted. What are we going to do?" I said as I kept pacing the floor. "Ashley, if it's positive, are you going to tell Mom and Dad?"

"Of course not. I know I can be a blabber mouth sometimes, but something like this is not my place to tell them, it has to come from you and Katie."

"Thanks." I sighed with relief, but I was still panicking.

"What are you freaking out about? You haven't even gotten the results yet."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I took a deep breath. "I could be worrying for noth..."

"Um, Ryder?"

I turned around to see Katie holding the test in her hand. Two bright pink lines staring me in the face. We knew what that meant.

"Oh... I guess we're... uhh... going to have a... a..."

"Yeah." Katie sighed.

"Well I think my work is done here. I'm only in town for the weekend so I gotta meet with Trent anyway." Ashley said awkwardly. "I'll leave some vitamins and ginger ale on the counter to help you with the morning sickness, best of luck to you guys."

"Thanks Ash." Katie said.

She grabbed her bags and left. I was so in shock I couldn't move.

"What do you wanna do about this?" Katie asked, holding her stomach.

"Panic."

"I'm serious Ryder."

"I mean, I wanna do the right the thing, but what do you want?"

"So you wanna keep the baby?"

"I would prefer to keep it, but if you want something different?"

"No, I wanna keep it too but there's something you should know." Katie said sitting down with me on the couch. "My mother died right after giving birth, and so did my grandmother and great grandmother on her side."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." I frowned.

"It's ok, it was a really long time ago, but I've always had this fear in the back of my mind." She frowned. "I do want this baby more than anything, but I'm scared. If I choose to keep it, you may be stuck raising it all by yourself."

"Well modern medicine has improved a lot since then. Maybe we should get an OBGYN to see if there's any safer options other than going through a regular birth."

"What if there isn't? What if I don't make it?" She panicked.

"If there's no other option, then we can discuss it, but whatever happens, I'll be there the whole time." I grabbed her hand.

"I wish I could say the same." Katie frowned.

"If the worst case scenario does happen, then I promise I will do the best I can to raise this baby the way you would want me to."

"Thanks but that doesn't make me feel better." Katie frowned.

"I promise, I'll do everything I can to make sure you both come out of that hospital happy and healthy."

"Thanks, but it's not in our hands." She frowned and leaned into me.

All I could do in that moment was hug her and comfort her. There was nothing I could say to make her feel better, so I just wanted to be there for her.

Katie was pretty exhausted so I encouraged her to take a nap. I debated telling my parents, but I was still so ashamed of myself. How were they going to take it? What were they going to say? I just now got to a place where we can afford a two bedroom apartment, but a baby is a big curve ball in our plans. And on top of that, Katie's scared to death and she has every reason to be.

I want to be a father, but with Katie going through this, I don't know what to do. It's like I have to choose between my baby or my yang. How am I supposed to make that kind of decision? I'm not even sure if it's my decision to make. I don't want to force anything on her, but at the same time it's not the baby's fault. What am I supposed to do?

After a lot of contemplating, I decided to call my mom. I figured she'd be less hard on me than my dad.

"Hello?" My mom answered the phone.

"Hey Mom. Is this a good time?"

"Not really, your brother got suspended."

"Oh no. Why?"

"Apparently someone was bullying a girl and he punched the kid in the face." She said. "Anyway, what do you need?"

"Uhh, never mind. It's not important. Good luck with Ethan."

"Thanks. I'll call you back tonight ok?"

"Ok. Thanks Mom."

"Of course."

I hung up the phone and decided to nap on the couch to give Katie some space to rest. Not that I could sleep anyway.

The next morning, I was able to call around and get Katie an appointment with an OBGYN. They had a cancellation and were able to take us first thing in the morning.

When we got there, Katie expressed her concerns to the doctor.

"Do you think there's any way to save them both?" I asked.

"Well if it runs in your family, I wouldn't recommend going through a birth, but you could opt for a C-section instead." The doctor said.

"Are there any risks with doing it that way?" Katie asked.

"The mortality rate is significantly lower with C-sections than with regular births because it's less stressful on the mother, the only difference is the recovery time will take longer and you'll be sore for a while. From what you've told me, it seems that you are more susceptible to complications, but if you go for a C-section instead, I see no reason why you couldn't have a healthy baby and live to raise it."

"What do you think?" I asked her.

"If it's going to save us both, I think it's our best option." Katie said. "And it would make me feel a lot better about going through with this."

"So that's it? You wanna keep the baby?"

"Yes, of course I do, especially now since I know we have a safer option."

"I'm glad." I gave her a hug.

"Alright, now that we decided you're going to be parents, let's do a quick ultrasound." The doctor said.

Katie nodded and laid down in the lounge chair while the doctor performed the ultrasound. She grabbed my hand and we looked up the screen together. The doctor pointed to a small peanut shaped blob on the screen.

"Ah, yes. From the look of this I'd say you're about a two weeks along." She said.

"Yep, sounds about right." I said awkwardly.

"Look Ryder, we made that." She leaned into me.

"I can't wait to meet them." I smiled.

"And now I know we'll get to raise them together." Katie smiled. "I'm already feeling better about this."

"I'm glad to hear it, and so am I." I smiled.

At the end of the appointment, she gave us the sonogram pictures and we left and got on the elevator. It stopped on a floor to pick someone up, but the person who got on was someone I wasn't expecting.

"Ryder? What are you doing here?" My mother asked in her scrubs. I forgot she worked at this hospital.

"Oh, hi Mom, I was just... uhh..."

"Taking me to get checked out. My cold kept getting worse and it wouldn't go away." Katie said pretending to cough. "Don't worry everything's fine now."

"Oh, ok." She said. "Sorry I never called you back last night, things are a little tense at home right now."

"That's ok Mom, we got it all figured out."

"Well ok, you kids be safe now alright?" My mother said.

"Ok thanks Mom."

As I was about to be in the clear, as the elevator opened again a slight breeze came in and blew the pictures out of my hands. My mom saw them on the floor and picked them up. She took one look at them and immediately looked back at us. I couldn't look her in the eyes.

"You're having a baby?!" She smiled.

"Umm... yeah." I sighed. "I know that this was totally irresponsible of me, but since I can't undo it, we're going to do the best we can to raise it. Please don't be mad."

"Why would I be mad? I'm thrilled." My mom hugged me. "I'll admit it's a little early for you two, but you know it's all about destiny. Your dad and I will help however we can."

"Oh, Mom can you please not tell him yet?" I asked. "I'm worried about what he'll say."

"I'll try to keep it a secret, but why do you think he'll be mad?" She asked.

"Because Dad's always going on about how I need to be the responsible one. Responsible for my team, my siblings, saving the world, and having a baby so young when I'm not even married yet, it's completely irresponsible of me. I feel like he's going to be disappointed in me."

"Ryder sweetie, your father will love you no matter what you do." My mom said. "He may be a little shocked at first, but disappointed about something like this? Never."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Positive." She smiled and pulled me into a hug. "Now how about I clock out early and we can go tell your father together?"

"Yeah, I think that would be best." I said. "Thanks Mom."

"Of course." She hugged me again. "I'm so happy for you both."

"Thanks Mrs. Garmadon." Katie hugged her.

"I know you don't really have a mom in your life, so if you have any questions or need anything, I'm always here to help." She smiled.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Katie said.

"Ok just wait here, let me go clock out and I'll take you to the monastery."

"Thanks Mom." I said.

We found a few chairs in the waiting room and sat down and waited for my mom. I noticed Katie was staring at the sonogram photo.

"Are you ok?" I asked Katie.

"Yeah, I think everything is going to be ok now." She smiled. "I just can't believe it's happening this soon, I mean, are we even ready to become parents?"

"I don't know, but at least we'll be able to figure it out together. Right?" I grabbed her hand.

"Yeah." She smiled. "Thanks."

My mom came back and walked with us to her car. I let Katie sit upfront so she wouldn't get as nauseous and I was sitting behind her. I spent the whole ride thinking of what my dad would say. He already wasn't in a good mood with everything going on with Ethan, so this news would just add to his list of problems.

After a short drive, we arrived at the monastery. We walked in and saw my dad in the kitchen. He turned around and noticed us.

"Kira, I told you that you didn't have to get off early, I could handle Ethan on my own." He said.

"I know but I ran into something that couldn't wait." My mother said.

"Oh, hey Ryder, hi Katie. Is everything ok?" He asked.

"Well, umm... yes, but we umm..."

"Kira what's going on?" My dad asked.

"Just wait, this is their news to share, not mine." Mom said.

"What's going on? Somebody tell me." My dad said, growing impatient.

"Well... we... we are..."

"I'm pregnant." Katie blurted out.

My dad's eyes lit up. I don't think he was expecting us to say that.

"Ryder Wu, is this a prank?" He asked.

"It's not a prank Lloyd. I saw the sonogram picture." My mom said.

There was a long awkward silence as Katie handed him the pictures. He stared at them for about two whole minutes.

"Lloyd?" My mom tried to get his attention.

"Dad, look I know what you're going to say, and yes this is completely irresponsible of me, but the important thing is that I'm doing the right thing now by trying to be the father this baby deserves and I think that counts for something right? I mean I know it'll be harder to get the future we want now, but..."

My dad immediately stopped me from talking and pulled me into a hug. I was immediately taken aback and he smiled.

"Congratulations." He said as he took a few steps back.

"Wait, you're not mad?"

"Of course not." He smiled. "Why would I be?"

"I thought being the green ninja was all about being the responsible one and not letting things distract you."

"It is, and because you are the most responsible person I know, I see no reason why you won't make a great father." He smiled. "It's going to take a lot of extra work to run the team and raise a newborn but I'm sure you can do it."

"Wow I... I'm really glad you're ok with this." I said relieved.

"And your dad and I are always available for free babysitting. Right Lloyd?" My mom said.

"Oh yeah, that's right. We're going to be grandparents!" My dad shouted and hugged my mother.

"But we both have full time jobs, how do we handle that and a newborn?" Katie frowned.

"Hey, we'll work it out, I promise." I kissed her cheek.

"Does anyone else know about this?" My mom asked.

"We only found out last night." Katie explained. "Ashley came over to help and it was her idea to take the test."

"Oh we still have to tell your dad." I said to Katie.

"Oh yeah. We need to do that." Katie said. "Hopefully he'll be as cool as your parents."

"I'm sure Griffin will be thrilled." My dad smiled.

"I hope so. I am his only daughter and given what happened to my mother I'm not sure he'll be too excited."

"That's why we were at the hospital earlier, to figure out a safer way for you to have this baby."

My parents looked at each other. They didn't know what we were talking about.

"My mother died after giving birth and so did my grandmother and great grandmother on her side." Katie told them.

"The doctor recommended a C-section instead, and we're going to try that." I explained.

"Well that certainly seems like the safer option given your history, but it's not a guarantee." My mother warned.

"We know, but the risks are less than a regular birth so if it means there's a chance of us both surviving we're willing to risk it." Katie said.

"You're ok with this Ryder?" My dad asked.

"Yeah, I think it'll all work out." I said. "I mean, I hope it does at least."

"I've got a good feeling about it." Katie smiled.

"Well I'm glad you got that all worked out." My mom said.

After we were done, I drove Katie to her dad's house. After saying our hellos, we sat down on the couch and told him our news.

"Dad, I'm pregnant." Katie said, holding my hand.

"Oh Katie, you know what happened to your..." Griffin frowned.

"I know, and it wasn't exactly planned, but we're already talking with a doctor on how to do this safely, so we can raise it together." Katie smiled.

"Katie, I love you and I want you to be happy, but I'm just worried about..."

"I know, but that's a risk I am willing to take."

"Well then, I'm not going to get in the way." Griffin pulled Katie into a hug. "And I can't wait to be a grandpa."

Katie smiled and hugged her father back. Even though we still had a lot to figure out, it was nice to have a little hope. Maybe this was all going to be ok.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Ninjago Generations: New Beginnings! While we go through this journey with these characters, I am saving the second half of this story for last, so everything that happens to the other characters will happen over the course of 9 months. Then Part 5 will come out.

In the meantime, I'm going to do the same thing I did when deciding Ethan's name. I have a few names written here for Ryder and Katie's baby. If you like a name, comment the word "vote." I already have a middle name in mind, but I am open to suggestions.

Boy:

Jonah

Kaiden

Xavier

Logan

Girl:

Dianna

Kristen (Kris)

Mika

Jaiden

The name will be revealed in the last chapter of this book. Have fun and Stay Awesome!