Just a short story based on a side-comment from my earlier fics. I hope you all enjoy it.
Timeline: Within a couple of weeks of the end of "Phantom's Arc: My Way".
Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights is to be assumed to be purely the creation of the author.
Rating: T, there may be some adult themes and language.
Meet the Family
It was early in the morning when the young mother woke up in the maternity ward of Ocean Bluff. Her labour the night before had been an incredible strain on her, lasting no less than seventeen hours. She was gently wakened from her sleep by a gentle shake from the on-call doctor.
"Is he here?" She asked weakly with a weary smile on her face.
"I promised I'd wake you when he arrived." The doctor replied. "I'll just show him in."
She looked over to the door, where he stood there, looking as magnificent as he had on the first day she'd met him. He towered over the doctor at close to 6' 8" tall with a huge, muscular build, maintained through years of training, concealed beneath his U.S. Marine corp. dress uniform. He flashed a bright, white smile at her as he dropped his kit bag at the door and made his way over, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Is this her?" He asked excitedly, gesturing to the sleeping baby in her arms. His wife nodded happily.
Both of them had accepted the fact that his chosen career path would sometimes require them to spend long periods apart, but usually his wife was allowed to live on barracks, meaning she was at least in the same country, and he'd get to see her a few times a week. It was unfortunate he was required to re-assign within her third trimester and so was not medically cleared to fly out with him. This had been the first time he had seen her in almost two months, and he had missed the birth of his first daughter. He had missed her dreadfully, but seeing her there with their child had made the 19 hour flight and the sleepless night to get home.
He took off his hat, revealing his crew-cut, bright blonde hair and laid it on the bedside table, before reaching for the bundle in his wife's arms, cradling his daughter softly in his arms. She stirred and woke, though didn't cry. His wife smiled to see his crystal blue eyes light up as he looked into his daughter's tiny face, instantly falling in love with his child.
"I don't know why they say babies can't smile." He commented. "I can swear she was just smiling at me."
"She tried to stay awake, but she was just too tired." His wife replied. "I guess she took so long to come out because she was waiting for her daddy."
"Have you thought of a name Lisa?" The marine asked, his eyes never straying from the bundle in his arms. He smiled and made faces at her, desperate to see the 'smile' again.
His wife looked over to the bouquet of flowers he'd had delivered by the local florist when he realised he wouldn't be there in time. She smiled at the irony. He'd ordered lilies, despite them traditionally being a symbol of mourning because they were the only flowers still available when he phoned. He still never got the hang of converting time difference despite his constant travelling.
"I was thinking of Lily." She replied, smiling at him.
"Lily!" He repeated with a grin. He looked down at his daughter. "Lily!"
He could swear he saw her smiling again, and she squirmed, settling down into his arms, her exhaustion beginning to get the better of her.
"I think she likes it." Lisa commented, seeing the look on her father's face as his daughter drifted off to sleep again.
"Then it's settled. Lily it is." He replied, cupping his wife's cheek with his hand and pulling into a soft kiss. "I love you Lisa."
"I love you too Michael." She replied as he handed back their daughter. He placed his arm around his wife and they looked down on their child together, and dreamt of their future.
Michael was stirred out of his dream by turbulence as the plane began to circle the airport for final approach. It had now been almost twenty years since that day; his beautiful daughter was now nineteen years old. He knew she'd grown up, but much of what bothered him was how much she had grown up. That and much of it had happened in his absence.
He pulled the neatly folded letter from the pocket of his tunic and looked at it again. He had received the letter close to two months ago somewhere on the outskirts of some desert town whose name he couldn't pronounce, and so had taken to calling "Middle-East California" in the barracks. She knew she was no longer at the boarding school he enrolled her in, she told him she had left under an advanced study programme to study out with the school with tutors in a kind of home-learning programme.
She had sent him a picture of the other guys she was there with. They looked like a fun group, and she described them all so fondly that he knew she was being taken care of, but across her letters she especially mentioned someone she only referred to as 'RJ', and he knew something was going on between them. He wanted to meet the guy and make sure he was right for her, he was curious about a grown man who still called himself 'RJ', though her last letter especially had bothered him and spurred him into action, requesting leave to return home. She'd told him in a letter that she planned to marry this man.
As the plane approached the terminal and he disembarked, he hefted his kit-bag onto his shoulder. The nearest airport to Ocean Bluff was a good three hour drive away. He approached the car rental stand slowly. The girl at the counter observed him thoughtfully, biting her lower lip. He was still an attractive man, despite his advancing years. His hair was slightly greying, and he had a couple more wrinkles, but his build was still incredible. His years of service to his country had left him in incredible health. Not wanting to travel in his uniform, he was wearing a pair of black jeans and a tight grey t-shirt that gave away a fair amount of his physique.
"Can I help you sir?" She asked, not really concentrating on the forms she gave him.
"I just need something to get to Ocean Bluff." He replied, beginning to fill out his personal details and passing her a credit card. "Open ended rental. I don't know how long I'll be staying."
The girl swiped the card and began searching the database. "I have a ford that gets pretty good gas mileage."
"If it's got four wheels and an engine it'll do." He groaned, rubbing his eyes as he finished with the form. The desk clerk got a look at the tattoo on the inside of his left forearm.
"You served with the marines?" She asked. He looked at his tattoo, then back to her.
"I still do." He replied. "I'm just here to visit my daughter."
"It'll be brought round the front." She told him, handing him a ticket. "Wait by the sign outside."
Michael made his way outside, thinking about the way everything had happened. He hadn't seen his daughter in...he needed to think long and hard about that one. It was only then that he realised he hadn't seen her since Christmas well over a year previously, coming close to two years ago now. It wasn't much of a surprise her life had moved on, he knew she wouldn't be his little girl forever, but it surprised him how much it had moved on. He looked at the picture again, observing the group in it. He had memorised her descriptions of her friends and almost knew all of them off by heart.
Kneeling at the front of the picture was a young girl with glasses and wavy black hair, obviously her friend Fran. Next to her was a young Asian looking man, significantly shorter than any of the other guys, and the only one he recognised. He had met Theo once before, and knew he and Lily had been firm friends for many years. He liked him, though had to admit liking him a hell of a lot more when he figured out there was nothing romantic between them. Even if Lily's letter hadn't explained that he was dating Fran, he could probably have guessed from the picture. He had his arms wrapped around her, holding her a lot more closely within his personal space, and more intimately than would have been appropriate for a mere friend.
Behind them was a blonde guy with a mischievous grin, holding a couple of fingers over Theo's head. Obviously this was Dominic. She had told him how he had arrived a couple of months ago, and was a long time friend of RJ's who had spent many years travelling. He wasn't sure what to make of him. One minute Lily was talking about all the pranks he pulled, and all the havoc he caused, making him sound like a bit of an irresponsible idiot, but then he also got the impression from her descriptions of him that he knew when it was time to get serious, and that he was a dependable friend.
The next one was obviously Casey, standing near the back, carrying a dark-haired young woman across his shoulders, her face equal parts panic and laughter. She had described him in great detail, emphasising his passion and drive to succeed. She had described him as a fast learner with a driving passion to prove himself. Apparently despite joining the programme significantly later than Theo and herself, he had made great strides in his learning and was easily an equal to them both. She also explained that he was dating Camille, the young woman he was manhandling playfully over his shoulders. Apparently she had come into the group later on. She had taken a while to warm to Camille, regularly describing her in less than favourable terms, but the two of them had become firm friends as a result of her relationship with Casey.
Of course he recognised his daughter, though his eyes strayed to the older man standing behind her with an arm wrapped tightly around her waist and a broad smile on his face. This was RJ.
He couldn't help feeling a little anger rising in him. He wasn't how he envisioned the man his daughter would end up with at all. He had long hair, and slightly messy stubble, a sharp contrast from his own crew-cut hair and clean shaven appearance. How could a man who couldn't even look after his own appearance look after his little girl? He was skinny and wore baggy, slightly aging clothing, making him look like a tramp in the eyes of her father. He put away the photograph as the car was pulled up to the front. The car lot worker threw him the keys.
"It's got a full tank, so it should get you anywhere you want to go." He told Michael as he loaded his belongings in the trunk. The old marine just got in and pulled away from the kerb quickly, leaving the airport behind.
Back in Ocean Bluff, Fran and Camille were busy clearing up as the last of the customers left. Fran was still sidelined after Dai Shi's attack on her. She couldn't risk losing control of her fox spirit again; she was still recovering from the effects of Dai Shi's zukado power. Camille had agreed that she would stay behind with Fran any time the Rangers were needed in the city. Since they had helped the Rangers against him with the Spirit Rangers, they were now legitimate targets for him as he demonstrated by kidnapping and torturing Fran, so leaving her undefended was not an option. Camille was about to turn the sign on the door when a strong arm pushed it open and Michael stomped in.
"Sorry, we're closing up for the evening." Fran informed him. Michael wasn't paying attention though; he was getting the photo out of his pocket. Lily had written to him and asked him to come and see her a while ago, but he couldn't make it in time for his meeting with her, and he had no idea where she lived now. He showed Fran the photograph.
"I'm sorry, I won't stay long I'm just looking for this gir..." he stopped in his tracks as he recognised the two young women from the picture. "Fran?"
Fran approached him curiously, taking the photograph from him and inspecting it.
"Where did you get this?" She asked him. "What do you want with Lily?"
"Where can I find her?" He asked a little more forcefully. Camille came to Fran's side as they tried to gauge the situation, deciding if they'd need to defend themselves. "What are you two doing here?"
Then the others arrived behind him, their clothes and hair messed up and covered in slime. The latest of Dai Shi's creatures had given them a pretty wild and messy fight. Casey arrived first, throwing open the door.
"Dom, I still can't believe you did that!" He laughed loudly. "Where did you learn that?"
"I had a lot of time on my hands when I was travelling he answered, coming into the room. They both stopped, silently observing the stranger before them. Michael eyed them up curiously as purple gloop slipped off them in large droplets, onto the floor.
"Uh, guys?" Casey began. Theo stumbled in the door after them, landing back-first on the floor, laughing with relief at the victory, but his laughter quickly died out as he landed at Michael's feet, looking up at the Marine.
"Ummmm..." He began, scrambling back to his feet as he observed him.
"Theo?" Michael asked. "Casey, Dominic what the hell is going on here?"
"I might ask the same thing!" Casey responded sharply. "Who are you? How do you know our names?"
"Why did you have this picture?" Fran chipped in, holding up the picture.
"Uh...guys, I should tell you." Theo began as Michael gave them all a look that indicated he was quickly losing patience and wanted an explanation. "This is..."
Unfortunately at exactly the wrong time, Lily and RJ stumbled into the restaurant, laughing and joking about their recent victory in much the same state as the others. RJ grabbed her around the waist, wrestling her playfully to the floor as they laughed, landing on top of her.
"Lil!" Theo snapped, attracting her attention and nodding in the direction of Michael. His face was now beginning to go red, and the veins in his neck stood up as he beheld the scene unfolding before him.
"Uh...uh...uh..." She stammered, gently shoving and pushing RJ's arms away as she noticed her father's less than impressed stare in the direction of her fiancée. His gaze never shifted from the Wolf Master as he got up, allowing Lily to get up and compose herself as much as she could under the circumstance. "Hi Dad."
Lily could feel herself turning red with embarrassment as she realised that this must be a rather bizarre scene for him to come in on. She also felt a great sense of worry. She could tell by her dad's expression that he wasn't happy with what he saw. She had seen that expression before. It was the one that said half of him was happy he didn't have a weapon to hand in case he did something he regretted, while the other half of him wished his gun wasn't back at barracks, and all that anger was directed at RJ.
"Lily, what the hell is going on here?" He hissed, crossing over to his daughter, his judgemental gaze shifting between her and RJ.
"I think we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here." RJ mused, wiping his hand on one of the few clean patches on his jeans and offering it to Michael. "I'm RJ, I own this pizza parlour. We all live and work here."
Michael glowered at him, ignoring his hand. RJ retracted it understanding not only how bizarre all this must look to Michael, but also that the look in his eye suggested he might just try to rip his arm off and beat him to death with it. He guessed seeing the fiancé he'd never met before manhandling his only daughter was probably not the greatest of first impressions he could have made.
"Lily, get cleaned up!" He snapped. "We need to talk."
Lily looked around apologetically at her friends before sheepishly making her way upstairs to shower and change.
"The apartment's just this way." Theo said to the old marine, leading him into the back room. Casey came over to RJ and placed a hand sympathetically on his shoulder.
"And I though your dad was scary." He remarked heading upstairs.
"Hate to be you man." Dominic chimed in, also heading upstairs. RJ sighed and shook his head in a defeated manner, before following them, leaving Fran and Camille alone in the restaurant.
"I just mopped this floor!" Fran grumbled, seeing the mess they left behind. Camille just shrugged and made her way to collect the mop and bucket. Things were going to get a lot more heated before the night was out. Everyone could feel the atmosphere becoming more tense, and no one doubted that it was only a matter of time before someone sparked off the powder keg building between Michael, Lily and RJ. Despite how much she admired her, sometimes Fran was glad she wasn't Lily, and now was one of those times.