Author's Note: I am aware that this is very short. I've been in a slightly difficult spot in my life where all I felt like was angsty emo stuff. And since I realized I didn't actually have a chapter where Tommy and Kim brought Dan home I had to write this up. And angsty and emo don't really go hand in hand with bring home babies. So it took me a while to get this out.
In addition, I leave for vacation on Tuesday, June 29. I will be gone until Tuesday July 13. So please don't expect a chapter before that date. Or probably on that date. I do have chapters after this written, but since I'm now delving into Power Rangers: Dino Thunder territory I have to watch all of the episodes again and transcribe some. So…bear with me. It might take a while.
Chapter Fifty – Two: Bringing Home Baby
(Mostly Internal Musings Because I Got Lazy)
Date: April 24, 2004
It was interesting having a baby to care for. Tommy and Kim quickly realized that they had no real idea of what to do despite the fact that they had taken numerous classes and scoured the internet. Luckily for them they had Laura.
Kim figured her sister was a God send seeing as she came over any time of day whenever she got a phone call. The new parents were suddenly introduced in all things baby care, but perhaps the most frightening to Kim was giving Dan a bath.
"Seriously, I've done this like five times now," Laura told her. "You're going to have to clean him yourself eventually. Both of you."
"Tommy doesn't even get to try," Kim said.
"Hey! I'm not going to drop him! He's my son."
"You said we should just hose him down," Kim said pointedly.
"I was joking," Tommy stressed.
"I'm not doing it this time. Kim, take him. I'll be talking you through it this time," Laura said, handing Dan over.
Kim bit her lower lip but began to follow her sister's directions.
There were suddenly a lot of firsts in their lives. Dan's first smile, his first yawn, his first yawn at home, his first nap, his first car trip, and more.
Everything was documented fully. If the other Ranger teams had thought that Kim and Trini were very particular about the way the photo album looked, they were going to be wholly unprepared for how Dan's baby book looked. The Oliver family digital camera was always out and anything interesting Dan ever did was photographed, printed, glued in the book, and dated.
In Dan's first four days on the planet thirteen pages had already been filled in.
They took pictures first thing in the morning (what's Dan wearing today?), during the day (Oh look! Dan's killing his dragon toy!), at dinner (Dan really doesn't like Mommy eating), and at night (Look! He's sleeping!).
Tommy was fairly certain that Dan was getting tired of it, but he wasn't going to stop his wife from doing what she wanted. Usually that resulted in him getting smacked and her doing it anyways.
Having a child was strange though. Nothing about it had been real until they brought him home. He'd realized that he was going to have a kid, someone else that was going to need protection, another innocent. He had understood and internalized.
But this was much different than what he had imagined. He knew without a doubt in his mind that if any alien or monster or demon or anything at all ever hurt his child, there would be hell to pay. There was a fierce need and desire within him to protect, more so than it ever had been when he was a Ranger. His family and friends had always been his top priority. Ever since he had met Kim she'd been at the top of his list, even after their breakup. Now Dan was tied with Kim at the top of the list both holding the highest and most important place in his heart.
Next time on Power Rangers: One Little Change
"Thunder Ninjas shouldn't go near water!" Blake was protesting as Tori dragged him into the water.
"Then you came to the wrong place, bro," Shane laughed.
"This should be amusing," Cam said, settling back into one of the many beach chairs set out under one of the many umbrellas.
"He's going to drown," Hunter commented idly.
