"Mama! Daddy's home!" Austin yelled from the front door as Kim looked up from the stove and nodded over at him. "Can I get the door?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Kim said as she saw Tommy's car outside and knew he would be at the door soon enough. "Jess, you okay?"
"Yeah," Jessie said as Kim barely nodded. It was not like Jessie to be as quiet as she was at the moment and that had Kim worried. "Mama, why do people come after Daddy?"
"It's hard to explain Jessie," Kim said as she heard her boys laughing in the hallway. It didn't seem to matter how long Tommy had been away, he always greeted the kids the same way a big hug and usually a tickle.
"Daddy!" Jessie yelled upon hearing the other two and then ran off, forgetting the worry that she had had only seconds before. Kim wished that she could have the memory of a child, but she was unable to forget things just because Tommy came home. She knew all too well that there could be a day when he didn't and that scared her more than anything in the world.
"Hey, pumpkin," Tommy said as he scooped her up in his other arm and then walked into the kitchen with the both of them. "It smells good Kim."
"Thanks," Kim muttered as he looked over at her and saw the worry in her eyes as he dropped each of the kids into a seat. Something was bothering her and he was not sure what that could be.
"You okay?" Tommy asked as he gave her a hug and she shook her head no. "You wanna talk later?"
"Yeah," Kim whispered as he released her and then went back to the kids. He knew that whatever it was, she was not going to tell him in front of the kids. It would wait until tonight when they were alone in bed.
"Daddy, you want to see the picture I've colored?" Austin asked as he bounced up and down in his seat.
"How about after supper? I'm kinda hungry," Tommy said as Austin gave him a sharp look. "I promise that I'll look at it Austin, but Mama's worked so hard to get all of this ready, we should eat it while it's still hot."
"Okay," Austin said as he sulked, but only for a moment, as Kim placed his plate in front of him and he then grabbed his fork and knife. No one would ever say that he was a picky eater.
"You going to tell me what was bothering you earlier?" Tommy asked as Kim looked over at him and he pulled her in close. Her eyes always gave her away and at the moment, she looked more scared than he had seen her look in the last year.
"Something Jess asked," Kim said as she took in a deep breath. She did not want to tell him this, she didn't want to speak what she was sure might happen to him. "She asked why people always come after you. I don't really have an answer for that one, no matter how much I think about it."
"Kim, don't. All it will do is make things harder on you and right now, you don't need that. Are you sure that's it?" Tommy asked as she placed her head on his chest and just held onto him.
"I worry that you won't come back one day," Kim said as Tommy stared at her. How in the world could she possibly think about that right now? Why? It didn't make any sense to him that she would even have to think this way anymore. "Tommy, you know the chances of you getting captured are far greater than the teenagers. He knows you Tommy, he knows what you can do. I just don't feel good about this."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but right now don't think about it. I don't like the sound of it myself, but there is nothing that we can do to change this. We have to face him or chance that we'll all be revealed," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head.
"It would almost be better if they just revealed us and didn't hang the information over our heads. Then we'd finally be free of all of this," Kim said as he wiped the tears away and she tried to calm herself back down. "Damn hormones."
"You're not that bad," Tommy said with a smile as she just shook her head. He had yet to experience one of her mood swings and she doubted he would think that it was 'not that bad' after that. "What?"
"I have mood swings from hell Tommy, even Jeremy didn't dare cross me when I went on a tirade while I was pregnant," Kim said as Tommy smiled. "What?"
"I don't plan on provoking you Kim," Tommy said as her face softened and she gave him a chaste kiss. "How is your schedule tomorrow?"
"Not too bad, I'm only going to be in court until mid afternoon at the latest. Then I'll pick up Austin and head to the dojo," Kim said as Tommy nodded.
"I don't know why I've never asked this, but why didn't you handle your own divorce?" Tommy asked as Kim looked away from him. She had thought that question might come up one day.
"I hadn't practiced in years and I didn't really plan on it either, but it's different here. They actually seem to give a damn about what they're doing," Kim said as Tommy nodded and shifted himself into a more comfortable position with his arm draped across her abdomen. He gently ran his hand up and down, not thinking about it or even really trying to feel anything but her presence. "You think you're going to feel something?"
"No, it just always calms me to do this," Tommy said, without stopping as Kim hesitantly reached for his hand and ran it over the tiny bump that she had found this morning. "Oh."
"Yeah, a couple weeks and people will be able to tell I'm pregnant. You know we still need to really tell the others," Kim said as Tommy nodded. He had known that for awhile, but he didn't really want to think about it. There was no telling how they would react to the news.
"I know," Tommy said as her arms settled around him. "So that's why you coached in Maryland?"
"Yeah and it had better hours for the kids. I could take care of them during the day and in the afternoon take them with me to the gym. He never liked going there," Kim said as Tommy nodded, knowing that if that gym was like most others, they would not tolerate the belittling of a coach on the gym floor. "We better get some sleep."
"Is that a hint that you're tired?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes and he reached over and squeezed her hand. "Sleep, I've got some stuff I have to do before I can."
"Tommy," Kim groaned as he just shook his head that it would do her no good to beg. "Fine, I'll see you in the morning."
"I wish that I didn't have to do this," Tommy said as he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead as she jerked away from him. It was going to be a long nine months after all.