Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made.
Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:
No To Date Nights - The Party Night - Project Partners - Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks - Prom Night - A Trip To Remember - First Meetings - Something She Loves – Protective Morans – Samurai In Harwood County – Rainy Days – Luck Had Nothing To Do With It – Ranger Support – Parents and Children – Hero Without The Spandex – Emma's Night – Emma's Mother – Bait And Switch – After Death – A Stormy Day – A Date For Tensou – A Mother's Advice – Mending Fences – Executioner Named Revenge –Those Three Words – On The Fourth Day – Babysitting – Tiger- A Fresh Start – On the Mountains – Looking Ahead – The Rangers' Recovery – Daughter's Nightmare – Megaforce: With Great Power
For Vanessa, recovery was slow, but it was happening.
She could still remember the horrific train accident. She remembered the fear she felt when she knew there was nothing she could do to save herself. She remembered the pain as soon as the bomb went off. She remembered hiding and bracing herself for what would come. She had been tossed around, crushed, beaten up, and then left for dead.
Truth be told, Vanessa had been sure she was going to die. There hadn't been a doubt in her mind that her injuries would kill her. She would bleed out before the paramedics and firefighters found her. She remembered praying she would die quickly so she wouldn't have to suffer. She remembered the agony she felt as she waited for her final moments to fall upon her.
But they never arrived. Instead she heard a faint cry and instantly recognized it as Gia's. As much as she wanted to die she had to fight for her daughter. She couldn't leave her like this. She had no way of calling out to Gia so she did all she could. She tapped against the ground and hoped to get her attention. Gia soon found her and from that moment onwards Vanessa had been fighting to stay alive.
Even weeks later, it was a tough fight, but it was getting easier. Vanessa had a little more energy every day and was following her doctor's instructions to a tee. She would wake up very stiff in the mornings, but getting out of bed and walking around, even for just a few minutes would help.
But today she had something else in mind. She had heard Emma and Jordan getting up that morning to go on a date and Claire had to get back to work. That meant Gia would have to stay at home and take care of her.
She made her way downstairs and heard the TV playing in the living room. Gia was likely keeping herself busy. Vanessa walked to the kitchen, pulled out her recipe book and smiled when she opened it.
It had been her mother's day gift when Gia had been just a little girl. The recipe book was full of ideas and instructions for fun meals and desserts. Vanessa remembered she had loved baking with her daughter when Gia had been very young and decided now that she had some time on her hands she would get back to that. She set the book down on the counter and then made sure she had all the ingredients she needed. As she found them, she set them on the counter.
She wanted to make cookies. They were Gia's favourite. She needed a baking pan. She opened the cabinet over the fridge to pull one out but with her weak, stiff muscles she couldn't quite manage. She banged a few pans together and made enough noise for Gia to come in.
"What are you doing up?" Gia asked and then helped her mother with the pan. Vanessa smiled.
"I wanted to make cookies."
"Haven't we eaten enough junk food?"
Vanessa held up the recipe book, "I don't know. Have we?"
Gia smirked. She set the pan down and pulled out the cooking spray. "Have we got all the ingredients?"
"On the counter."
"Are you sure you're up to this, mom?" Gia asked and brought a chair over from the table so her mom could sit. Vanessa nodded her head.
"I've got plenty of energy."
"Are you sure? And you've taken your medicine?"
"Don't worry about me, Gia. Preheat the oven. I'll start mixing the ingredients."
"If you're sure… wait, mom, don't lift the flour. It might be…"
Gia was too late with her advice. Though Vanessa had managed to get the flour from the pantry to the counter, she wasn't able to move it from the counter to the island. The bag slipped out of her hands on the floor, where a cloud formed between the two Morans, covering them both in white dust. Vanessa to Gia guiltily.
"I probably should have let you lift that."
Gia started to wipe the flour off her clothes, "Well, I guess we were going to get messy anyways."
She reached over, picked up what was left of the flour and set it down on the counter so her mother could use it.
Then Gia started to crack some eggs into a bowl. Vanessa glanced over and watched her daughter.
"One hand. Nice."
"You taught me," Gia nodded. "I guess I just never really forgot."
"When have you ever forgotten anything?" Vanessa teased.
-Megaforce-
"Shoot…" little Gia muttered after trying to crack an egg. To her disappointment the egg, shell and all, fell into the bowl. "This is stupid."
"Come on, Gia, why don't we try again. Remember, crack it gently over the bowl," Vanessa put another egg in her daughter's hand. Gia smashed it against the side of the bowl, sending egg and shell in once more.
"Mom!"
"Gentle, Gia," Vanessa chuckled and gave her daughter another egg. This time she helped her control the break. "See, like this. A few gentle taps and there."
Gia watched her mother break the egg with one hand. Her eyes widened.
"Whoa. How did you do that?"
"I told you. A gentle break and then you…"
"No, one hand. I wanna do that."
"You have to learn to break the egg with two hands first. Here, we need one more egg, why don't you… Wow, Gia! Way to go! And with one hand?"
"I did it! And look, mom, no shell!"
"You're a quick study. So what's next?"
"We have to blend it all together," Gia said and tried to reach for the mixer on the counter. Her mother pulled it away from her to check with the recipe.
"Well, that's what the book says…"
"I want to do it!" Gia held her hands out. Vanessa looked down at her. She wasn't sure it was safe to let her four year old daughter beat the ingredients together. Gia's egg cracking lesson already meant they were short on ingredients. If she lost control of the mixer and spilled the bowl, they wouldn't get any cookies. "Mom…"
"I think I should do this part."
"You said I could help!"
"Yeah, but Gia this is the part that mommies do."
"The instructions don't say that. Please, please, please."
"I can't resist that face," Vanessa said. She passed the mixer to Gia, "Alright, hold it tight. We're going to start it off slow and then… AH! Gia! Shut it off!"
Vanessa flipped the switch off and then sighed loudly. The wet ingredients for the cookies had splattered out of the bowl and made a mess on the counter and floor. She turned to Gia to give her a stern look. Gia shrugged, reached up and with her little finger wiped off some of the splatter from her mother's face. Then she ate it.
"It'll taste yummier when they're baked."
Vanessa smiled. She looked down at the bowl and saw there was still enough left to bake.
"What have we learned?"
"Start off slow," Gia said and turned the mixer on to the lowest setting. When all the ingredients were blended together, Gia and Vanessa made little balls out of the dough and placed them on the baking pan.
"Can you read the recipe and tell me how long they bake for?"
"Ten minutes."
"Don't guess, Gia. Read the book…"
"Ten minutes," Gia insisted. Vanessa put the cookies in the oven and walked over to check the book. She saw the time she needed and turned around to set it on the timer. Then she noticed Gia had her arms crossed over her chest and she was shaking her head.
"What?"
"How long do they bake for?"
Vanessa sighed, "Ten minutes."
"So?"
"You were right again."
"I told you," Gia smirked. She peeked through the window, "Can we eat them?"
"They'll need time to cool down," Vanessa said and lifted Gia up. "Then I was thinking we could have them for dessert after dinner."
"After dinner?" Gia whined. "Mom…"
"Well, I just figured you would be so busy playing with Emma until then…"
"Emma? Is Emma coming over?"
"Your dad should be coming back from picking her up."
"Where are her parents going this time?"
"Business trip."
"Is she sleeping over?"
"Three days."
"YES! Best day ever! Cookies and Emma's staying over! You're the best mom ever!"
Gia threw her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tight. Vanessa chuckled and hugged her daughter. Just then, the door opened. Gia started to squirm.
"Emma?"
Vanessa set her daughter down and Gia ran for the front hallway. Vanessa followed her and saw the girls hug each other.
"Guess what!" Gia cried as she helped Emma with her bag. "You're staying over for three whole days!"
"I know!" Emma smiled. "I brought lots of toys!"
"I made cookies too!" Gia added. "They're baking now! Mom says we're having them after dinner!"
"Yes! You're the best, Mrs. Mom!"
"Thank you, Emma. How about you two girls go upstairs and play? I'll call you when dinner's ready."
Vanessa watched the girls run off upstairs and chuckled. She stopped when she heard her husband tapping his foot.
"How messy is the kitchen?" Joe asked.
"Broken eggs, flour spill, wet ingredient splatter and some dishes. You can clean that up, can't you, Mr. Mom?"
"When do you think she'll learn how to pronounce Moran?"
"I think it's cute she calls us mom."
"Cute if you're a woman," Joe sighed and hung up his jacket. "At least tell me you made enough cookies for me?"
"More than enough. I relied on Gia to make the recipe again. She tripled the ingredients again."
"Again?"
"She definitely does it on purpose. She must know."
"Was she right with measurement?"
"Every time," Vanessa nodded. "You bake with her next time. See for yourself."
"Hey, as long as I get my cookies, she can triple, quadruple, or even… five times the recipe if she wants."
"Quintuple," Vanessa corrected her husband and then sighed, "Gia taught me that…"
"Hey, I don't mind being outsmarted by my four year old, as long as I get cookies."
-Megaforce-
"Do we have to wait for dessert to eat them?" Gia asked as she put the cookies in the oven and set the timer. She turned around to her mother and saw her staring off into space. "Mom? Hello, mom? Alright, I guess I'll just eat all the cookies without you."
"What? Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Of?"
"Baking when you were little. You know, your father and I knew there was something special about you when you'd triple the ingredients for these cookies."
"You knew I was doing that?" Gia chuckled. "Well, if I knew I was getting away with it, I'd have done more. You know, I should have known something was up when you'd let me pour in the whole bag of chocolate chips while complaining dad was always spoiling me with sugar."
"Well… you can never have too many chocolate chips."
"They're peanut butter cookies, mom," Gia chuckled.
"Your point?" Vanessa smirked. "So, the usual?"
"Usual as in what?" Gia asked. "We wait for after dinner to eat the cookies, or we leave the mess for someone else to clean up?"
"Obviously we're not cleaning this up," Vanessa said and gestured around the kitchen to the flour, the cracked eggs and the chocolate that spilled during baking. "We're eating the cookies as soon as they cool."
"So I still have time for a shower?" Gia said and ran her fingers through her hair, "I still can't get the peanut butter out…"
"Go shower. I'll make sure they bake."
"Thanks, mom."
"Oh, and Gia," Vanessa called before her daughter left the room, "What if we invited Jake for dinner, tonight?"
Gia smiled brightly and nodded her head, "You're the best mom ever."