All Grown Up
Chapter 1
Present Day
Kari sighed as she lit the last candle in the series of thick pillar aromatherapy candles lining the ledge around the back of her wide Jacuzzi bathtub. She stripped off her silky pink flowered bathrobe and sunk gingerly into the steaming bubbly water. Another sigh escaped her lips. She hadn't realized how tense she was until all of her muscles began to relax in the heat. After getting comfortable, she inserted her ear buds and set her iPod to Adele.
A second after she pressed play there was a knock on the door, disturbing her peace and relaxation. Before she had pulled out her ear buds the door opened and the handsome blond face of her sexy husband appeared poking into the bathroom.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were in here," T.K. said as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him and flipping the lock on the handle. "You look comfy," he said grinning goofily as he took a seat on the edge of her tub. "Want some company?"
He leaned closer so that their faces were almost touching.
"I'd love company," she said, grinning back at him. She reached up a dripping hand and wrapped it around the back of his neck, pulling his head down closer to hers.
His lips found hers in the same manner they had hundreds of times before. It didn't matter that they'd been married for almost ten years; every time they touched Kari still felt butterflies in her belly and a tingly feelings throughout her whole body. He kissed her with the same passion he showed her every day.
She moaned into the kiss anticipating what was to come. She slid her wet hands down his muscled torso to the bottom of his T-shirt and began lifting it up over his chest when a shout from the other room interrupted them, causing them both to stop and pull apart.
"Mom! Finn stole my fire truck again!"
T.K. growled, "When will they learn to share?"
Kari smiled, "When we teach them."
"What do you mean we?" T.K. said laughing, "They're calling for you."
Kari splashed him teasingly.
"Dad! Tell Finn to give me back my truck!" Their elder son Ben yelled again. Finn let out a loud cry as he began to wail.
"Now they're calling for you," Kari said smugly as she reached for her iPod's ear buds once again, sinking back into her bubble bath.
"Fine," T.K. said, heading back toward the door. "But we'll finish this later." He winked at her before stepping out to manage their children's fight.
By the end of Rolling in the Deep both her kids were crying as T.K. put them in time out until they agreed to share the truck and play together. All right, she decided it was time to give up attempting to find a moment of peace. She rose from the tub, dried off slowly, and slipped back into her bathrobe.
She meant to change into her pajamas but on her way from the bathroom to her bedroom, the doorbell rang.
"Can you get that, Kar?" T.K. called from somewhere else in the house.
Kari hurried down the stairs, wondering who would be at their door at eight o'clock in the evening. She'd be putting the kids to bed soon, and so would most of their friends who all had children around the same age as theirs.
She wasn't really all that surprised when she opened the front door to find her nephew Jon standing on their front porch. There was no mistaking Jon for Tai's son; their features were so similar they could have been clones. Their personalities, however, were somewhat different. Tai and his son were both headstrong and natural leaders, but Jon was much more focused academically and showed no interest in soccer or other sports. They all figured he must have gotten that from his mother, Mari, who had divorced Tai five years ago, when Jon had been only three years old. Tai, of course, had taken the divorce pretty hard and blamed himself and his high-stress career as a diplomat between their world and the digital world. After the divorce he purchased a home outside of the city and in the same neighborhood as T.K. and Kari where he could raise Jon (when it was his weekend and holiday to have him) in a more family-friendly environment than his old high-rise apartment.
Jon took off his helmet as he leaned his bicycle up against the brick wall next to the front door and plucked his digimon partner Koromon from the basket on the front of his bicycle.
"Hi Jon," Kari said. Behind her she heard Ben yelling Jon's name excitedly. Jon was two years older than Ben and three years older than Finn, which naturally made him their idol. "What are you doing here so late? Does your dad know you're here?"
"Yeah, he knows," Jon said as Kari ushered him inside. "I need you or Uncle T.K.'s help with a school project."
Kari wasn't surprised at that either; Tai had never been good at homework.
On their way to the kitchen they passed Ben and Finn who were sitting on either end of the living room couch with the plastic toy fire truck in between them. T.K. sat across from them, typing away on his laptop computer.
Kari led her nephew into the kitchen and sat him down at the counter, before pouring him a glass of milk and finding some of the leftover chocolate chip cookies she had baked earlier that evening. Ben followed them, taking a seat beside his older cousin at the counter and helping himself to the plate of cookies. She could hear Finn in the living room happily making whirring siren sounds as he played with the truck.
"So what are you working on, Jon?" Kari asked, leaning against the countertop across from them.
The older boy set Koromon down on the kitchen floor to socialize with Gatomon, Patamon, and Ben's partner digimon, Tokomon. Then he dug out a weathered spiral notebook from his backpack.
"It's an assignment for my school's newspaper. I want to be a writer when I grow up, just like Uncle T.K. My assignment, since Valentine's Day is in a couple of weeks, I need story about a couple that I know and how they met and fell in love." Kari couldn't help but be impressed that he was that dedicated to writing at only eight years old.
"Well I'm sure Uncle T.K. would love to help you. He writes novels, but I bet he could handle helping with a school newspaper," Kari said.
"Awesome!" Jon exclaimed, "Because I wanna write about you and Uncle T.K."
"Oh," Kari said, somewhat taken aback. "Why not write about your mom and dad?"
Ben rolled his eyes, "Because they're divorced, mom, duh."
"Or what about Grandma and Grandpa Kamiya?" Kari asked, "Their story would be a good one to write about too."
"Yeah, I know," said Jon, "but grandma and grandpa aren't famous like you and Uncle T.K. Everybody knows the story of the digi-destineds. Is that how you and Uncle T.K. met or did you meet before then? When did you know you were in love? Was it when MagnaAngemon saved you from Piedmon? Or when Uncle T.K. rescued you from the Dark Ocean? How did he ask you to marry him?"
Kari took a deep breath, feeling slightly bombarded. "You know what, it's getting pretty late. Why don't you let Uncle T.K. drive you home, and tomorrow you and your dad can come over for dinner and we can tell you the story together."
"Okay," Jon said, packing his notebook back into his bag. "I'll tell my dad!"
While T.K. drove their nephew around the block to Tai's house, Kari and Gatomon tucked Ben and Finn into bed with their digimon partners. It hadn't been a surprise to them when Ben's digi-egg hatched into Poyomon who became Tokomon and might someday become a Patamon. Ben was most like T.K., they even looked similar with long lean bodies, messy blond hair and bright blue eyes. Anyone who knew T.K. had only to look at Ben to know he was his son. Finn, on the other hand, favored Kari much more than his father. Finn had Kari's skinny frame, brown hair, and brown eyes. He was even similar to his mother in his partner digimon, Salamon. At five years old it was already clear to them that he would inherit Kari's sweet nature and his Uncle Matt's coolness, whereas Ben was more like T.K. and his Uncle Tai – hot headed and spontaneous.
She visited each of their bedrooms, made sure they were both comfortable, kissed their foreheads and told them goodnight before retreating back to her wing of the house.
Upon entering her walk-in closet, she reached for her flannel pajamas before hesitating, reflecting on her earlier moment in the bathroom with T.K. She hoped he remembered that they were supposed to finish what they had started then. Instead of grabbing the flannel, she turned to a drawer she seldom opened anymore and ruffled through the few items of lingerie she owned.
While she was deciding she heard the garage door close and T.K. enter the house. She decided on a black lace baby doll, but then decided she should probably style her hair, which had dried a little frizzy in her rush to answer the door after her bubble bath.
She listened from the bathroom as he walked down the hallway, checking on each of the boys before heading to the bedroom.
"Are you in here?" he asked quietly before shutting the door behind him.
"Yes," she replied, "are the kids asleep?"
"Yep."
After fixing her hair, Kari decided she needed a little lipstick. After the lipstick she decided she needed a little mascara. After the mascara she decided she ought to have shaved her legs earlier but it was too late for that now, but that was one good thing about being married for ten years.
When she finally deemed herself ready, she stepped out into their bedroom to find T.K. lying on the bed in his boxer shorts…fast asleep and snoring loudly.
Kari smiled and climbed into bed beside him. With a heavy sigh she pulled the covers up over them both and threw one of her unshaven legs over his before drifted off to sleep as well.