Waking up exactly at 5:00 AM and getting ready even though it was still dark, was how Kimberly had been starting off her day for nearly the last few weeks. True, she admitted to herself that she could still be cuddling with Tommy and getting an extra hour and half of sleep. But, her father's words from the e-mail were still fresh in her mind. "All men want a prefect wife who can give them anything they want. They want a woman who wears the right kind of clothes, no wrinkles, puts their make up on perfectly, every hair is in place, goes to tanning beds and nail salons, and puts everything away perfectly. It's important to also look good on the college campus too." Keeping Tommy was at the top of her agenda. She had already lost him once due to Harry's jealously and she wasn't about to let it happen again, due to her not trying to be what every man would want "a prefect wife".
She walked over to the window to take a quick peak at the lit-up MIT campus. The previous day, a heavy snowfall was forecasted for Boston Massachusetts. All of their professors had told them that if it snowed, to tune into MIT radio station and listen for school closures. "Please don't let there be any snow," Kimberly prayed as she opened the blinds.
But, she was in for a surprise. The whole campus landscape looked as if it was a newly started painting. Most of the canvas was white, as if it was waiting for the artist to pick up a paint brush and begin painting a masterpiece. The blanket of snow that was resting on the sidewalks had footprints crisscrossing each other, while several of the janitors where shoving snow off the sidewalks. Other than the brown tree trunks the only color showing was the reddish-purple lampposts giving off a warm glow of light.
Kimberly walked over to her sparkly pink radio and flipped the one switch. Then she tuned into the MIT radio station.
"All classes on the Massachusetts Institution of Technology campus have been canceled," announced the spokesman. "It is bitter cold outside and all students are advised to stay indoors as much as possible. If you should need to go outside, we recommend that you dress in layers and bundle up."
"I guess we're going to be in here most of the day," Kimberly declared when she turned off the radio.
"Maybe, it's a good thing class are canceled," Tommy answered in a weak voice.
"Tommy, are you okay?" Kimberly asked in concerned voice as she laid out a dark pink flannel shirt, a pink tee shirt and a pair of jeans on the bed.
"I'm just not feeling well this morning," Tommy replied.
He slowly climbed out of bed and head to the bathroom. Tommy staggered as he took each step to the bathroom. With every step he took, he felt his stomach aching even more than it did when he got out of bed. Drops of cold sweat was running down his face and he started to shiver. He kept swallowing hard, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop a warm feeling rising through his chest. Just as he stepped into the bathroom felt a bitter taste at the back of his mouth. He barely made it the toilet before he emptied his stomach.
"Tommy, are you okay?!" Kimberly cried. "I couldn't help from noticing that you were shaking all over and you looked as if you were going to collapse."
"I just feel sick," Tommy answered as he got undressed and headed to the shower. "I was going to take my shower and then I was going back to bed."
"I could tell from the moment that you woke up that you were sick," Kimberly started while she watched him weakly step into the shower. "Do you want me to get in with you?"
"Sure," Tommy smiled.
Kimberly quickly threw off her night gown and grabbed some shower gel and some wash clothes; then she climbed in the tub after Tommy.
For years, Kimberly had believed showering with her future husband would be nothing but trouble. When she got engaged to Tommy, she promised herself that she would never bathe with him. There were often times when Caroline and Andrew over slept and were going to be late for work. And she would wake up when she heard her father say "Great, we're running late. I guess we're going to have to shower together to save time." Her mother would get angry and tell him "This wouldn't have happened if you sat the alarm clock or we went to bed early." That was always her alarm clock because that happened almost daily because they fought every night and they'd be arguing at 5:30 AM, just an hour before her alarm clock would wake her up to get ready for school. She could remember hearing them argue the whole time they were in the shower.
"Andrew, you are hogging all of the warm water!"
"What do you expect me to do, there is little space in this shower."
"By the time I'm ready to wash my hair, the water will be icy cold."
"Caroline, that isn't my problem is it?!"
"Give me the shampoo bottle now!"
"I need to wash my hair!"
"You can have it when I'm done with it."
"I don't care, I want it right now!"
However, showering with Tommy was a totally different experience. All she did was get the water as warm as she possibly could and let Tommy get under the spray since he was sick. But, surprisingly, he stepped back and allowed her room to get under the water with him. While they were washing off, Tommy was having trouble washing his back and she offered to wash it for him. He smiled and handed her his wash cloth and she washed his back. Before she knew it the words came out of her mouth, "Do you want me to shampoo your hair?" Tommy didn't even give her answer, he just squatted down and smiled. As she was working the shampoo into his scalp, he asked her if he could wash her back and shampoo her hair. That totally caught her off guard because she wasn't expect that and she wasn't even sick. But, she handed him her wash cloth and he gently washed her back using easy and gentle stokes. Surprisingly, she found out that he did a much better job at washing her back than she ever could.
"Beautiful, can you hand me your shampoo?" Kimberly turned around and saw Tommy with shampoo still in his hair. "Aren't you going to rinse your hair first?"
"Yes," Tommy replied when she handed him her lavender shampoo bottle. "I was wanting to shampoo your hair first. You'll understand my reason for waiting for you once I finish shampooing your hair."
Tommy squirted shampoo into her hair and started gently massage it into her scalp. To her disbelief, she found it to be relaxing as if she was at the beauty shop and had a beautician washing her hair. He was so easy and took his time and made sure he got shampoo worked into her part of her hair even the long ends. When she showered alone, she was always in a hurry and would sometimes, miss some of the long ends of her hair.
"Kim, I'm finished," Tommy purred. "We can stand underneath the spray."
"Do you want to go first, or do you want to?" Kimberly asked when she turned around to face him. "It won't make a difference to me."
"Go get under the spray," Tommy instructed. "And then turn around to face me."
"Tommy, what do you have planned?" Kimberly wondered when she turned around to face him.
He didn't answer. All he did was walk underneath the spray and pulled her into a tight hug. Kimberly laid her head on his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist.
Waves of heat went through Tommy's blood, drops of cold sweat was running down his face, his eyes were sunken and he ached all over. After Kimberly helped him get dressed into a green tee shirt and a pair of black and white checked pajama pants, he climbed back in bed and plopped his head on the pillow. Kimberly placed a cold bottle of water by the bedside. Tommy took a few sips and plopped his head back on the pillow.
"I'm going to take your temperature," Kimberly said when she shook the thermometer and placed it in his mouth.
Two minutes later, she removed the thermometer out of Tommy's mouth and carefully read.
"You have a fever of 101," Kimberly stated when she walked out of the bathroom with a wet wash cloth and placed it on Tommy's head. "I'm going to have to go out."
"Kim, what do you mean?!" Tommy coughed. "You heard what they said on the radio. Students are advised to stay indoors as much as possible."
"I know what they said," Kimberly replied putting on her coat. "We don't have any over the counter medicine that I can give you for your fever-"
"-I'll be fine," Tommy interrupted in a weak voice. "And we have enough food to last for a few days."
"Tommy, I know we have enough food," Kimberly acknowledged. "But, we don't have any popsicles, sprite, chicken soup, jello, can soup or oatmeal. And we don't have a can opener. I will also be needing to get some plastic silverware and Styrofoam cups, bowls, and plates-"
"-Kim, I don't want you getting sick too," Tommy interrupted as he let out a cough.
"What am I supposed to do then?" Kimberly asked stepping into a pair of pink winter boots. "Let you get worse. I don't think so. I won't be gone long-"
"-where are you going?" Tommy questioned as he took a sip of water.
"I'm going to the mini market," Kimberly answered. "It's only a five-minute walk and I won't be gone long."
Tommy got out of bed and took a seat in the bay window with two fleece blankets wrapped around him. He pressed his face to the window as he watched for a girl in a pink coat, a pink plaid scarf, and a pink toboggan to come walking into the building. Knowing very well, that she would have to make her way to the second floor. But, at least he would know that Kimberly had made it back in safely from the bitter cold.
"Tommy, I'm back," Kimberly announced.
"I was getting worried," Tommy replied taking a sigh of relief. "What took so long?"
"I also purchased some hygiene items and also got some milk and bread," Kimberly said as she started to put everything away. "The lines were long and I had to wait over a half an hour to check out. After I was checked out, it was getting packed."
Tommy noticed Kimberly just left the hygiene item sack in the bathroom and was just putting stuff in the freezer and refrigerator. And she wasn't putting them away as neatly as she normally would. Instead, it was more like she was just throwing them in there. He climbed back into bed and slid underneath the warm covers. Kimberly hung her coat and scarf on a peg; then she changed into a pair of pink pajama pants and climbed into bed next to him.
"How long were you out of bed?" Kimberly asked pulling the covers over her.
"Ever since you left," Tommy admitted. "I noticed something different about you. You didn't bother to put on any make up or spend a whole lot of time getting ready. And you put everything in its proper place, but you didn't put it away neatly like you normally do-"
"-that's because I was worried about you. All I could think about was helping you get a shower and getting you everything you need to feel better. Now, that you mentioned it, I should get it organized better," Kimberly said. Just as she was about to get out of bed, Tommy spooned her up in his arms. "Tommy, what is going on? Don't you expect me have everything organized perfectly."?
"No, I don't expect you to be a perfectionist," he assured her.
"When I was a kid, I'd get in trouble with my parents if I don't do everything prefect," Kimberly sighed. "My father e-mailed me after he saw our wedding announcement in the paper. He said that when someone marries for the first time, it always ends in divorce. He says that all men are the same, even you. They want a prefect looking wife who has every hair in place, wears the right kind of clothes and they have no wrinkles in them, puts on make-up perfectly, goes to tanning beds and nail solons, and one who puts everything away correctly. He even said people who have divorced parents are cursed with the same fate. I forgot to mention that Miranda is his new wife."
"Beautiful," Tommy started after giving her a kiss. "What Andrew said isn't true. I also couldn't stand Miranda either. A lot of people marry for the first time and they stay together for the rest of their lives. My parents have only been married to each other and they haven't divorced each other. You are very attractive and pretty. But, I married you because you are loyal, sweet, loving, caring, faithful, and most importantly my best friend."
"Seriously, you don't expect that of me?" Kimberly smiled with tears gleaming in her eyes. "I was just being perfect because I don't want my best friend to leave me-"
"-I will never leave you," Tommy promised wiping her tears with thumbs. "I promise to work on being neater and better organized. But, I want you to also work on relaxing and having a healthy marriage, regardless to what you father said."
"What can I do?" Kimberly asked.
"Ever since the semester started you haven't been getting enough sleep," Tommy stated. "Instead of getting up early, I want you to get the extra hour or two of sleep that you need. When we get up we can take our shower together to save time. I will give us extra bonding time. And instead of going to tanning beds and nail salons, we can go out go do something together. We haven't been spending much time together lately and I've missed you."
"I can do that," Kimberly smiled giving him a kiss on the neck.
Author's note:
In the next chapter, Tommy will finally be meeting Anton Mercer.
I also want to let all of my readers know that there will be a sequel to this story, where Tommy and Kim mentor the dino thunder rangers. Is there anything that you'd like to see happen in the sequel? If so, feel free to leave your ideas in your reviews.
