Slytherin-Angel44: The activities with the Bunsen burner will probably come out in the next chapter. Have you ever read Janet Evanovich's books? They crack me up; they're supposed to be mysteries, but they read more like comedies. The character "Grandma Mazur" talks just like that: always talking about men's "packages" and "a pip of a story".
Chan-Valerte: Yay! I'm glad you'll keep the reviews coming, because I love to read 'em!
Gigletrig: Yeah, poor Billy. I suppose I could have had Kim warn him about their grandmother's personality, but that would have ruined the surprise. Anyhow, keep reading!
GinaStar: I know I haven't said much about the cancer or any of the pregnancies recently; that's been by design. There will be some mention of both in this chapter and the next one, though.
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Kim grabbed one of the paper plates and a fork and cut off a slice of her mother's anniversary cake. If she had to deal with her grandmother's shenanigans, she needed sugar. Suddenly, though, her wristwatch chimed, signaling that it was time for her to take her tea. Realizing she didn't have her tea things, she grimaced and turned to her brother.
"Uh, Billy?" she began, turning his attention to her. "I forgot my tea things in the car. Can you go and get them for me?" She handed him a set of keys, hoping he'd realize that those were not the keys to the Expedition but to the bungalow, and would teleport back to Baltimore to get the pot and leaves for her. Luckily, understanding gripped his features and he grinned at her.
"Sure thing, Kim. Be back in a sec." He kissed her on her hair and headed out the door.
"You have to have your brother go and get your tea out of the car?" Aunt Ellen asked suspiciously. "There's a perfectly nice cafeteria that serves tea right here in the hospital."
Kim winced. "I'm sure they do, Aunt Ellen, but my doctor says that this tea will help with my nausea." It was a half-truth, anyhow. She didn't want her aunt, grandmother, and cousins to know she had cancer. At least, not yet.
"Nausea? What nausea?" Of course, Kim thought wryly. Leave it to Aunt Ellen to focus on the nausea part of the explanation. Luckily, Stephanie intercepted.
"Mom, it's none of our business. It may be something as mild as the flu." Apparently, no one knew about the pregnancy, either. Kim sighed; she and Steph would need to have a long talk sometime during this visit. Fortunately, Kim was spared from having to explain anything right then, because Billy returned, carrying a small box, a large box, her laptop case, and her briefcase.
He handed her the small box and set the other things down on the floor beside her. "I thought – since we may be here for some time – that you might want to work on that project your boss has you doing," he said by way of explanation. Kim nodded and pulled the teapot out of the box in her hands. Billy measured the correct amount of leaves into the pot and took it away from her. "I'll go find some hot water to add to this." And he was gone again.
Bobby – the medic sitting on the floor beside her – grabbed the canister of tea leaves and examined it, sniffing. "You said you'd been in Baltimore the last few months?" he questioned, eying Kimberly, who nodded cautiously. "That wouldn't happen to be at Johns Hopkins, would it?"
"Why?" Kim asked, eyes narrowing.
"Well," he began, sniffing the leaves again. "These tea leaves are medicinal, but not really used in the treatment of nausea. In fact, they generally cause nausea, not lessen it. Most recently they've been used experimentally in the treatment of some forms of cancer."
"Cancer?" Stephanie asked, shaking her head emphatically. Billy chose that moment to come back through the door with Kim's teapot. "You must be mistaken, Bobby. My cousin doesn't have cancer, do you, Kim?"
"You mean you never told them?" Billy asked, setting the pot on a magazine on one of the side tables and pouring some of the scalding liquid into a Styrofoam cup. He handed the cup to Kim and stood up. "Why didn't you at least tell Stephanie?"
"She didn't tell us because it's not true, Billy!" Stephanie cried, indignant.
"Babe," Ranger soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Cupcake, calm down," Joe demanded, stilling Steph's leg with a hand on her knee. "I'm sure your cousin will explain everything."
Kim sighed, hanging her head. "I was diagnosed with Leukemia in September," she murmured so quietly only Stephanie, Ranger, Joe, and Bobby the Medic heard her. She glanced up and noticed the tears welling in Stephanie's eyes and the two men on either side of her tightening their grips on her cousin.
"I'm so sorry, Steph; I really should have told you, but things have been so hectic the last few months, with treatments and my pregnancy and my boss has me working on a book, and another friend has me doing a research project, and some psycho's trying to kill my parents…it just never occurred to me to call."
"Pregnancy?" Aunt Ellen asked, making the sign of the cross in front of her. "Why me? Other people don't have nieces that get themselves pregnant without the benefit of a husband."
Why does she always focus on the one thing I try to glaze over so she won't focus on it? Kimberly asked herself irritably.
"What about the psycho that's trying to kill your parents?" Grandma Mazur asked, popping into the conversation. "Tell us about that. I bet it's a pip of a story."
"Alright, everyone. Enough!" Billy demanded, whistling through his thumb and forefinger to get everyone's attention. It worked; everyone snapped their heads in Billy's direction.
"Yes, Kimberly has Leukemia. She didn't call because – like she said – she's had a lot on her plate. Yes, she's pregnant. She and her fiancé Tommy intentionally started trying to get pregnant after she was diagnosed with Leukemia so that, if the worst happened, at least we would still have some small part of Kim still here with us, and they were lucky enough to get pregnant right away. They are getting married, probably on the same day that my fiancée Trini and another couple we know will be getting married, but we don't have a date or location or anything set yet. Kim or I will call Stephanie when we have that information for you.
"Yes, there is a psycho after our parents. Our mother called Aunt Ellen last night, so I'm sure you all know about our stepfather Pierre being killed yesterday. The same guy that had him killed is the one that's trying to kill our mom and dad. He's trying to get to us through them. Mom would have been here today with us, but she and Dad are in a safe house right now, at our request. Any questions?"
"I actually have a question for Bobby-the-Medic over here," Kim piped up. When Bobby turned his amused glance to Kimberly, she continued. "How did you know that my tea leaves are used to treat cancer?"
He nodded, chuckling. "Fair question. My dad's actually a Radiologist at Johns Hopkins. Maybe you've met him: Dr. Robert Brown?"
Kim shook her head. "I'd like to say that I have, but since I'm not doing Chemo or Radiology, I really would have had no reason to meet him." Kim finished the tea in her cup and headed over to the table where the pot was. She poured the last of the tea into her cup and returned to her seat in front of Stephanie.
"You're refusing treatment?" Valerie asked, placing her now-sleeping baby in the carseat. "Can you do that?"
Kim shook her head emphatically. "I never said I was refusing treatment, Val; what do you think the tea things are? I just said I'm not doing Chemo or Radiology. I'd kinda like to not give birth to a radioactive baby."
"You're so thin, Kimberly," Steph murmured. "You look like you weigh less now than you did when I was in California two years ago. Is that good for the baby?"
Kim smiled wanly. "I was really sick for the first few months. The leaves I was given for treatment made me really sick, and coupled with morning sickness, I wasn't keeping anything in. In fact, I was expelling more than I took in." At Stephanie's wrinkled nose, she laughed softly.
"I ended up losing a total of twelve pounds in three months. But when I hit that three-month mark, my temporary OB/GYN and my Oncologist collaborated to mix my cancer treatment tea with some tea leaves that would quell my nausea. That was about a week and a half ago, and I haven't been sick since. I've gained back another pound, so I am gaining the weight back, and hopefully after the New Year I won't look Bulimic anymore."
"You lost twelve pounds?" Stephanie demanded. At Kim's confused nod, she continued. "You only weighed about 105 to begin with, Kimberly."
"Yeah, I know…I'm 95 now. I'm a stick," Kim sighed. "Has anyone heard anything on Uncle Frank?" At that moment, however, a doctor entered, blood staining his blue scrubs. Everyone sitting slowly stood and gave their full attention to the doctor.
"He did well. He was lucky; the bullet hit an artery, so he could have lost much more blood, but it lodged there, so it was really holding the blood in. Which, in a nutshell, saved his life. Anyhow, you can see him now, but family only please."
"How long should he stay here, Doctor?" Billy asked as Aunt Ellen, Valerie, and Steph slipped out of the room.
"He should probably stay here for a couple days, just to be on the safe side of things."
Billy nodded. "Thank you."
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An hour later, Uncle Frank was resting peacefully and Vinnie and his wife had gone home. So had the majority of Ranger's men, and Joe Morelli left, too, claiming he had work to do. And Valerie and her new husband – whose name Kimberly had found out was Albert Kloughn – and their broad of children had gone, too. That left Aunt Ellen, Grandma Mazur, Billy, Kimberly, Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, and Lester.
"Kim, you can stay with me," Steph offered. "I don't have a spare bedroom, but the sofa's pretty comfy."
"In that case, Billy," Aunt Ellen spoke up, "You can stay with us. Stephanie's old room is available, and we would enjoy the opportunity to get to know you better while you're in town."
"Just tell Grandma to stay away from Billy's package," Kim instructed her aunt. "She may end up trying to measure it like she did to Kenny that one time." Billy paled, while Stephanie, Bobby, and Lester were on the floor, rolling with laughter. Kim couldn't see them move, but could feel the vibrations of laughter coming from Ranger and Tank, as well.
"Who is Kenny?" Ranger asked, tactfully crossing his legs as he leaned up against the wall.
"He's mine and Billy's older half-brother," Kim replied, giggling slightly. "He's about Steph's age. Grandma got a hold of him one night when we were visiting her, pulled down his pants, and held a ruler against him. I think the poor guy still has nightmares."
"Hey, I had to make sure he was healthy!" Grandma Mazur protested. "As it was, there's gotta be something wrong with that boy. Four inches just won't cut it with most women."
Lester howled even louder while Kimberly covered her ears. "Omigod, Grandma, too much information!"
"Kimberly, you can drop Billy off at our house later. You remember the way, don't you?" Aunt Ellen inquired.
"Yes, Aunt Ellen, I remember the way. We'll probably buy dinner and have it at Steph's apartment, so Billy might be a little late. Don't wait up." Aunt Ellen nodded and ushered Grandma Mazur out of the room.
"Kimberly, don't you dare leave me alone with those two," Billy demanded desperately.
"Relax, Billy. Kenny was like 16 when Grandma did that to him, and he's never been as strong as you are. You can hold her off," Kim assured her brother, patting his shoulder.
"Hey, Kim, what are all these little boxes for?" Steph asked. Kimberly paled as she turned around. Stephanie had the large box that Billy had brought with her tea things earlier, and had opened it to find all the smaller lead boxes inside. She was opening one of the small lead boxes now.
"No, Steph don't open…that," she finished as the lid was flipped open and the seven Dino Gems were revealed. Billy looked at her inquisitively. Kim just shook her head imperceptibly.
"Wow! These are beautiful. They must be worth a fortune!" Stephanie announced, gazing at the multi-colored stones.
"Yeah, they're priceless," Kim murmured, heading over to her cousin.
"You didn't steal them, did you?" Stephanie asked, flipping her gaze to Kim.
"No, I didn't steal them," Kim muttered. "A friend lent them to me because he wants me to conduct some research for him." She reached to take the box from her, but Stephanie turned away and reached for one of the stones.
"This one looks kinda like Kryptonite," Stephanie exclaimed, reaching for the green one. "Maybe we should try it on you, Batman, to see if anything happens."
"Kryptonite was Superman's weakness, not Batman's, Babe," Ranger replied, the corners of his mouth turned up. Stephanie's hand closed around the green gem and a flash of green light emitted from the gem.
"Holy shit!" Stephanie exclaimed, dropping the gem and all of the boxes onto the floor. "That thing was alive!"
"Bombshell, I hate to break it to you, but rocks aren't alive," Bobby announced, bending down to pick up the contents of the box. He glanced curiously at Kimberly as he picked up the various morphers, gems, coins, and discs and placed them all back in the large box before standing up and placing the box easily under his arm.
"Thanks," Kim said quietly, head down. "Wait a second!" she snapped her gaze back up to her cousin. "The gem flashed. You said it was alive."
"It was!" Steph insisted. "It was sort of…"
"…pulsing with energy," Kimberly finished for her. At Steph's emphatic nod, Kim sighed. "Shit! We need to get back to your apartment, where we can have this conversation in private." She turned to Ranger. "Since you and your men were here when this all happened, you can come, too. But this information is top secret. You can't share it with anybody else. Nobody in your organization, not my aunt or uncle, not even Joe Morelli."
The corners of Rangers mouth tilted up again. "Morelli and I aren't exactly the best of friends, Dr. Cranston," he stated. Kimberly took that to mean that he would keep the secret, and Ranger's almost imperceptible nod confirmed it.
"Damn ESP," Stephanie muttered. Billy and Lester picked up the remaining boxes, while Ranger grabbed Kimberly's briefcase and laptop case, and the group headed out the door.
"Where should we pick up dinner?" Kimberly asked once they were in the parking garage.
"Honestly Kim, you don't need to pick up dinner for us," Steph protested.
Kimberly ignored her. "I kind of have a hankering for a Pino's pizza. I haven't had one in forever."
Stephanie hesitated. "Pino's would be good," she finally admitted.
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An hour later, and the seven of them were settled comfortably in Stephanie's living room with three pizzas and seven meatball subs from Pino's, plus a six-pack of caffeine-free diet cola for Kim and a case of beer for everyone else.
"OK, Kim. Spill," Billy demanded. "Why do you have all those Power sources, and what does Zordon want you to do with them?"
"Maybe we should start with telling Stephanie and the guys that we're Power Rangers, and explaining who Zordon is," Kimberly retorted.
"Yeah, start there," Steph requested, eyes shifting from one cousin to the other. "And explain why that green rock flashed and hummed at me."
Kim spent the next hour and a half explaining what she knew about Zordon's project for her. She pulled the large box toward herself and, pulling each Power source out one by one, explained how it worked. When she got to the Wind Discs for the Ninja Storm team, Stephanie jumped.
"I've seen those things before!" she exclaimed.
"What?" Kim asked, confused.
"Yeah! Remember when I visited you in Stone Canyon two years ago? When you were just hired as a Paleobotanist for BioTech?" she asked.
"Yes," Kimberly replied slowly. "What does that have to do with these discs?"
"I was driving through Reefside on my way up to see you and stopped for a cup of coffee from this cybercafe place, and took a walk under a bridge while I drank it. I saw those three discs lying there in the grass, so I picked them up and put them in my pocket. They're in my jewelry case right now; should I go get them?"
Kim nodded. "That would probably be wise."
When Stephanie returned, Kimberly compared the three discs she brought out with the three that were in the lead case, and found that they were identical. Excitedly, she placed them all back in the lead case and closed it.
"I'll work on transferring the Power back tomorrow," she announced. "For now, I'm beat." It was almost midnight at this point. "Billy, you ready to go back to Aunt Ellen's?"
"We'll drop him off, Dr. Cranston," Bobby offered, gesturing to himself and Lester.
"OK, that would be great. Thanks guys," Kim replied, getting up to hug her brother.
"Are we going running in the morning, Kim?" Billy asked. For the past few months, the twins had made it a point to do their morning run and workout routine together at least once a week.
Kim nodded. "There's a park halfway between here and Aunt Ellen and Uncle Frank's. Mr. Brown and Mr. Santos will show you where it is. Meet you there at 5?" Billy nodded.
"You can call us Lester and Bobby instead of Mr. Santos and Mr. Brown," Lester offered.
"Then I'm Kimberly instead of Dr. Cranston," Kim retorted.
"And I'm Billy instead of Dr. Cranston," Billy added. "We should really do something about that. Three Cranstons in the world, and we're all doctors. Yeesh!"
"You guys are crazy, going running at five in the morning," Stephanie pronounced.
"I keep telling you, Babe," Ranger grinned. "The body is a temple. Even your cousins can appreciate that. Of course, the fact that they're superheroes might have something to do with that." He turned his attention to Billy and Kimberly. "Do you two mind some company in the morning?"
Billy and Kim glanced at each other, shrugged, and shook their heads. "Nope. You're more than welcome to join us," Billy offered.