EPILOGUE

Kimberly

"A little more to the right," I say as I step back to take a long look at the frame Tommy was trying to hang up in the nursery.

It was a watercolor of an elephant that we had received from Jason and Trini for my baby shower. I loved elephants and I knew that this little peanut would too. Yes, I'm calling the baby peanut because we don't know what we're having. After discussing it with Tommy, we agreed on waiting until the birth to find out the sex. It really didn't matter to us what we had. We just wanted to build our family. However, what I wasn't planning on was going past my due date. It's almost the end of January. The snow is already starting to melt. Where is this kid already?

Tommy chuckles a little, "Kim, at this rate we're going to be grandparents before I get it to hang right."

I groan, but mostly because I've found myself to be entirely too annoying in recent weeks. Nothing is ever good enough for me. The ice cream that I love? Too sweet. The house? Too hot! My favorite maternity leggings that have done nothing but love and support me the last six months? Too scratchy. I'm irritable and cranky and— Darn it, I think I have a right to be. I'm nine months pregnant and this baby doesn't seem to be wanting to make its debut any time soon. I'm exhausted.

"I know," I huff, but I still stand by my decision that it needs to be perfect or the baby will hate me. "Maybe we should take it down and move it somewhere else."

Tommy shook his head. He brought the frame down and rested it against the wall on the floor. "Babe, we've put it on every single wall in the room. I don't think it'll make a difference where we put it."

He was seeing right through me.

He reaches for me in quick strides, gently stroking my cheek, "What's really going on?"

I opened my mouth a few times but closed it just as fast as it opened. That was a good question, one that I didn't entirely know the answer to. What was going on? I. Don't. Know. Okay, maybe I did know, but I was too scared to admit it.

I needed a trip to the looney bin because I was not being my normal self. I'm always cool, calm, and collected. I'm fun Kimberly and I'm always excited and up for new things. I don't even recognize myself right now. I feel like I've been taken over by an alien and my thoughts, words, and actions are not me! My body is not me.

But then I have to remind myself that I'm pregnant, not diseased.

Tommy and I have worked on our relationship so much since we've been back together. We communicate. Can you believe that? We make a real effort to have discussions that can make an impact and strengthen our relationship. The days of barking at each other are long gone and when we feel like we can't come to a healthy resolution ourselves, we go to therapy. I've never been happier. Our relationship has never been healthier. This is the environment that I want our little peanut to grow up in, not what we had before. This baby came at the perfect time. I'm a huge believer in fate and this was just a huge gift from the universe.

"The baby is going to hate this room," I muffle a sob and I see the corner of Tommy's lips curve up.

He's used to my emotional outbursts by now. I cry at least three times a day. The most recent one was because I dropped a pretzel on the floor and I couldn't reach it… I felt slightly pathetic.

"No, they won't," He says, brushing my stray tears away, "this room kicks ass."

Tommy and I— well, mostly Tommy, renovated the nursery like we always planned. The ugly paneled walls that came straight out of a seventies porno was finally pulled out. We opted for a soft gray for the walls and cream accents, which perfectly compliments the elephant watercolor we received. Since we decided on keeping the sex a surprise, we didn't go heavy with the pink or blue, something that I was actually happy about. What a gross social norm. Why do we decide at birth what colors a child should use based on what's between their legs? That's why I was stuck with being the pink ranger, change my mind! Zordon may have been otherworldly, but I bet he didn't think twice about making me the pink ranger. He was just lucky he didn't have balls for me to kick.

Where the hell did that come from? Ugh, do you see what I mean? I'm not myself.

"You say that but then they'll take one look at the room and wish that they had popped out of another vagina," I continue, my sniffles coming out in full force.

His chest vibrates and a laugh escapes him. It's not funny! I would kick him if he wasn't so damn gorgeous.

He pulls me into his chest, or at least as close as he can with my swollen belly, and I settle on using the steady drumming of his heart to help me relax. Yeah, like that will do anything. I'm a mess, but I'm lucky to have Tommy on this wild journey with me. I wouldn't want anyone else.

"Kim, I love you, but do you know how insane you sound right now? This baby will love this room because you poured your heart, sweat, and many, many tears into it."

I let out a real laugh against his chest. Yes, I've shed many tears in this room.

"What's really bothering you?" He tilts my chin up so that I can look into his eyes. "Is it really the room? Do you want me to repaint it? Maybe change the light fixture? Or maybe a different rug?"

I look around the room and take it all in. The gray on the wall is beautiful. The room is bright and airy. The rug is soft and I already spent hours rolling around on it with Tommy, talking about how our lives were about to change forever. The room was… perfect. It was.

"No," I shake my head and bite my lip.

For the first time in a long time, Tommy looks genuinely concerned. "What is it, baby? Tell me and I'll fix it."

I feel the tears prick my eyes again. Frickin hormones! And yes, I'm not saying fuck because I have this huge fear that the baby can hear my thoughts. I need to keep everything clean and that includes my huge potty mouth.

"I'm just… scared," My chin trembles at my confession.

There! I said it.

"I'm a big fat chicken and I'm terrified of being a mother… of having someone depend entirely on me and me doing everything wrong. I've never even had a dog before. What if I'm not cut out for it and I fail them?" As soon as those words flee my mouth, I can't shut up, "What if I can't produce enough milk or I get the baby blues? What if our baby doesn't bond with me? What if I spent my whole life wanting to be a mother and our baby hates me so much that all they do is cry when I hold them? What if—"

And that's as much as I can say before Tommy leans in and shuts me up with a kiss. He's good at shutting me up and I don't mind it when he uses his lips to do it.

I moan into his mouth and feel the rush of heat pool at my center. I know it's not possible to get pregnant twice, but by the looks of how often we went at it, it sure looked like we were trying to. We made up for the three months we were apart, and the few months before that where we had stopped being intimate. Being pregnant just made things better. Sure it was more difficult, but it made it exciting because we had to find new positions. I think I was a little self-conscious of my growing body at first, but Tommy never stopped looking at me like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. One look from him and I was swooning.

Tommy pulls back a little and gives me that same smile that makes me melt, "I'm sorry but I know how you get."

"Mmm…" I murmur into his lips, "I don't mind but thank you for stopping me. I think I was getting a little carried away."

His lips fall on mine once more and he then tugs me over to the glider on the corner. He sits down first and then pulls me to sit on his lap. His hands wrap around me and rest on my belly, where he softly rubs it.

"Talk to me," He says before brushing a kiss to my shoulder. He rocks the chair a little, allowing the gentle sway to calm us, "Where is all of this coming from?"

I relax a little, "I don't know. I think I've always had this in the back of my mind. I'm just scared that I'm not going to be the mother that our baby deserves."

"Kim, you'll be an amazing mother. Don't doubt that for one minute."

I shake my head, "You don't know that."

His legs spread out, stopping the chair from moving back and forth. He shifts so that he can face me directly and I swear it looked like I just told him I peed in his cheerios. "I do know that. Did you hear yourself right now? You were only concerned with the baby. Never once did you talk about the pain, the sleepless nights that we're going to have, the change on your body. You were concerned about how the baby would be. You are the most selfless and giving person I have ever met. You're kind to everyone, even the assholes that don't deserve it, and you have so much patience. I don't know how you do it. I'm so lucky to have you as my wife and this baby is even luckier to have you as their mother. There is no doubt in my mind that you will ever be anything other than perfect."

Tears! Frickin tears!

The way he spoke to me, like he's never been more sure about anything in his life, is what resonates with me. He'd bet every penny that I wouldn't mess this up. I love this man and I mean—wholeheartedly, singing in the shower, dancing in the dark, listen to his boring dinosaur talk— love this man.

"You really have that much faith in me?"

"Of course I do." He gives me a sly grin, "Besides, my super sperm are programmed to only impregnate the most amazing woman in the universe. They seek only the best of the best."

I had to roll my eyes at that, although it was cute. That's the Tommy that I married.

"That's good to know," I giggle and then press a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."

I feel more at ease with Tommy's words. He always knows exactly what to say and while I'm not entirely confident in my abilities of being a mother, I know that I'm not alone. Tommy will be there every step of the way.

I hear him laugh a little more behind me, his hands still gently rubbing at my belly and I pray this baby decides to come out soon. I'm a few days past my due date, but my doctor wanted to wait and see if I would go into labor on my own before deciding on an induction. I have two more days before modern medicine will intervene and I'm hoping that it doesn't come to that. There are always more complications when it's not done naturally. I don't want to put the baby or myself through that.

"There she is," Tommy murmurs into my hairline when we feel the soft stretch of my belly.

I straight up scoff, like he's somehow said the most offensive thing he could ever say to me, "She?"

His face is nothing but sheepish, "Oh yeah, I think the baby is a girl."

He sucks his lip in his mouth and I can't help but glare at him.

"Tommy Oliver, I can't believe that you've been thinking about this behind my back."

"Oh, please, like you haven't been imagining the baby being a boy. I saw you looking up boy names in your baby book."

Guilty. Okay, I really don't care what we have. Boy? Girl? It doesn't matter to me because I will love this baby just the same, but I've been having this weird feeling that we're having a boy. Call it mothers intuition or whatever, but that's what I feel… so I've been secretly referring to the baby as he, but as soon as that thought comes into my mind it's immediately erased.

"Okay, busted," I smile and he nuzzles his nose into my neck. "But we shouldn't speculate. It takes away from the surprise."

"Fine," he throws his hands up, "but we both know I'm right."

I shake my head but say nothing else. He's going to be so wrong, I just know it. However, who's right and who's wrong is immediately forgotten because I feel his hands tenderly massage the knots on my neck and back.

Godddddddddddddd! His hands are fantastic. He just knows exactly how to move them to have me falling into a puddle. I have sounds I didn't even know I could make coming out of my mouth as I throw my head this way and that. It's a mixture of pain and absolute rapture. Did I mention that I love this man?

"Mmmm…" I hum, feeling the stress melt away like the snow outside our window.

He continues working the muscles on my back and I can't help hissing and groaning… even moaning, at the relief.

I turn back to see Tommy biting his lip, clearly liking my reaction.

"What?" I giggle when I find that he can't take his eyes off me.

He shifts a little under me, trying to somehow save face from the firmness growing in his pants, "You just sound so fucking hot right now."

I cover my belly like if that will stop the baby from hearing the words coming out of Tommy's mouth. "Shhh…" I tell him.

"You really think that will help? I've said worse in the bedroom."

That is true. Tommy has whispered every naughty word there is in the English language. 'It's the language of love,' he's told me.

His hands move to my back, but I'm not quite sure if he's doing it for my pleasure or his own. I think he likes the sounds I'm making and I'm getting a kick out of making him squirm.

"What do you say we take this massage to the bedroom?" I give him a wink and his jaw quickly falls open.

One of the quirks of being pregnant is that I am always in the mood! Day or night? Yes! Afternoon? Even better!

Tell me a time and I'll be there!

"Is that even a question?" He looks at me as if I don't already know the answer.

I laugh in return. This is what I need to get my mind off the fact that this basketball size baby will destroy me. Maybe this will be the last time my lady bits still look this good.

I try to stand, although the enormous round belly makes it difficult, and I feel a rush of warm liquid gush out of me.

I freeze! What was that?

I look under me and I see Tommy's pants are soaked. The light wash denim is now medium wash.

What is that? What. is. that?

Did I pee myself? I don't think so because I don't feel like going to the bathroom? This is all happening so fast and then it suddenly clicks. Oh My God!

Holy mother forking shirt balls!

"Damn, you're that excited, huh?" Tommy grins and I realize that somehow he's oblivious and finds this as a win. "We don't have to go to the bedroom. We can just do it right here."

He has no idea.

I slapped at his chest and I swear I would have normally laughed, but something was telling me that the gush has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we were just about to have a nooner.

We're going to be okay. We've practiced this before. We have everything packed and ready to go.

"Tommy," I say as gently as I possibly can, "don't freak out, but I think my water just broke."

Tommy

"Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" Kimberly screams out and my head sinks into my shoulders.

What was it that she wanted me to do? Don't freak out? It's too late for that because I'm freaking out!

I look around the hospital room and see several nurses and a doctor at the foot of the bed coaching Kimberly on when to push. They had introduced themselves, but honestly, I can't for the life of me remember a single name. They're speaking back and forth to each other, saying god knows what, and I can't help feeling a little helpless at the moment because I can't exactly do anything but whisper encouraging words into Kimberly's ear.

I'm sure my voice is the last one she wants to hear since I'm the one that did this to her.

Since the moment Kimberly said her water broke, my mind and body have refused to cooperate. I nearly threw her off of me when she first told me and then I tried packing bags that we had already packed. I ran back and forth from room to room looking for I don't even know what. I had rehearsed this in my head a million fucking times. I was the leader of the Power Rangers, I know all about strategy, but this… I was out of my element.

I knew I had to remain calm for Kimberly and the baby, but I was doing a piss poor job. In fact, she was the one that had to calm me down. I felt like a failure. Our baby wasn't even born yet and I had failed. I tried to not feel sorry for myself because I knew that I had to get out of my head and be there for my wife, but holy hell it was hard.

I called Jason and he promised me he'd let everyone know and they'd come down to the hospital. I somehow managed to think straight and get everything we needed loaded into the car. Luckily, I didn't make the mistake of driving fast. I drove a normal speed and got us there safely because that's really what's most important.

I looked over to my wife on the passenger side and she was doing those deep breathing exercises we had learned from her Lamaze class. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth. She was god damn beautiful. I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

Ms. Cool, Calm, and Collected disappeared as soon as we got settled into our room. The contractions were getting closer and closer together and she was having difficulty relaxing. It was my turn to step in and be the sane one, although I was trembling on the inside.

Thirty minutes later and she was fully dilated. It was go time.

"You're doing amazing, Kim," I kissed into her hair and the pain etched on her face morphed into a smile.

Her knuckles were bone white as her hand gripped around mine. The pain in my hand was nothing compared to the pain she was going through. She was going through this pain because of me… because of our baby. I said it before and I'll say it again, Kimberly is the most selfless woman that I have ever met.

"3…2…1… and rest," the nurse to my right said and Kimberly threw her head back onto the pillow. She used this time to catch her breath, but she couldn't really because another contraction started up again. "Okay, Kimberly, I need a big push this time. A huge one. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes," Kimberly didn't hesitate once, although I wouldn't blame her if she did.

My hand went numb again when she leaned forward and gave another push. I have no idea where this strength keeps coming from, but damn… this girl is a fucking rockstar.

Her teeth are bared as she pushes through another contraction, the sweat beading up around her temples.

"Baby has hair," one of the nurses exclaims, her smile is wide like this is the first time she's experiencing the miracle of childbirth.

I don't know what it was, but that fucking got to me. I suppressed a sob because this wasn't about me, but fuck! It was difficult. And like the piss poor job of not freaking out, I also did a piss poor job of keeping the tears in. I had to close my eyes and blink the tears away. I had to be strong for my wife and our child.

Somehow, in the madness, Kimberly laughed. There was pain interwoven but there was laughter. I opened my eyes and hers were also filled with tears. I'm not sure if they were from pain or joy… I think a little bit of both.

"You're doing a great job, mama," the nurse across from me tells Kimberly, "We're almost at the finish line but we need one more push, okay? The biggest one you have given us."

Kimberly nods again and gives herself a huge exhale of confidence. The pain must be unbearable, but she says nothing. Again, I don't know where she gets it? Do women have an unlimited supply of strength that I don't know about? Can they pull some out like I pull a bottle of beer out of the fridge? Fuck, they are the superior sex.

Not once in this whole situation did Kimberly ever doubt her abilities, ask to be knocked out, fully lose her cool, or wish death upon me… although she might have thought that last one.

My eyes were locked to her face while her face twisted in one of absolute pain. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like that—or ever will! The room was silent besides Kimberly's grunts of strength, pushing our baby out into the world. It sounded like my head was underwater.

But as quickly as I was pushed down, my head was lifted and I heard just about the most beautiful thing I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. I thought Kimberly's singing voice was beautiful, but the sound of our baby wailing its little lungs out had me blubbering.

"It's a boy!" The doctor beamed.

A boy? I have a son! Can you believe that? I have a son! I'm a father!

I opened my eyes and saw the baby immediately brought to Kimberly's chest. The nurses gathered to one side and began cleaning him off. He was beautiful. All slimy and covered in I don't even know what, his hair was slicked this way and that, and he was the most beautiful shade of pink that I had ever seen.

Kimberly held on tight to our son but she managed to throw her head back into the pillow, needing those three seconds of rest while the tears dripped down her face.

"Would you like to cut the umbilical cord, dad," the doctor asked me.

Dad? That's me!

I nodded but I couldn't keep my eyes off my son and wife. Somehow I managed to cut the cord and I immediately went back to Kimberly's side. She reached for me when I got closer and I threw my arms around her and our baby.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I kissed into her hair, "I love you so much."

She giggled, the tears continuing to fall and I wiped them off, knowing they were of happiness.

I looked to our son, who I never imagined could encompass so much of my heart with one simple look. His nose was perfectly turned up, just like Kimberly's and his lips were pink and full. He was the cutest baby I've ever seen and I'm not being the least bit biased here. I don't know how long I held on to them. Maybe it was a minute or an hour, time seemed to slow down for a moment.

"Congratulations," the nurses and doctor smiled at us as they were cleaning everything up. "He's beautiful."

He takes after his mom is what I was thinking, but I couldn't even speak. I wanted to say thank you to them too, but there weren't enough words to express my gratitude for helping my wife bring our son into the world safely.

Instead, I opted to stand up and throw my arms around them. I hugged the nurses and the doctor like we'd just won the Super Bowl, and I'm sure they thought about calling security for a moment, but I didn't care. I'll be the crazy one!

We were left in the room by ourselves to help us with the bonding experience, but I don't know if that was even necessary. I hadn't even held him yet and I was immediately bound to him for life. This was my son. My boy! Mine… ours!

He had settled down now and done all of his crying. A crying baby is cute, but a sleeping baby is even cuter. Kimberly managed to make some room for me on the bed with her and I just held them both. I've never been happier than this moment. I have everything I've ever wanted.

None of this would have happened if Kimberly and I didn't work on our problems. We went through what we had to go through to lead us right to this moment and while I hated it at first, I'm so glad we did.

"What are you thinking?" She whispers because neither one of us dares to talk loud enough to wake up our baby.

"That this is what happiness feels like," I answer, kissing her temple.

She leans into my touch and I hold on to her tighter, "I'm pretty happy too. Did you think we would ever end up here?"

I think about it for a moment and smile, "I knew it the moment I saw my shirt and jeans sitting in your drawer on the night of the storm. Don't think I didn't see both of them in there."

That was the moment I knew she still loved me. She might not have said it that night, but I just knew. I was going to say something about it then but didn't. She had taken the clothes from me and I knew it had to have been for a reason.

She throws her head back, a giddy laugh escaping her, "I thought you might not have noticed."

"They were my favorite jeans, of course I noticed," I tickled her side and our son stirred a little.

Kimberly rocked him a little and he went right back to sleep. I get it, buddy, her arms are amazing.

"What do you think we should name him?" I ask.

We hadn't really discussed any baby names. We always just agreed that we'd know when met him and now that the time had come, I had no idea. I turn to Kimberly and wait to see if she comes up with an answer.

She chews on her lip a bit and then turns back to me, "What about Levi?"

Like my jeans?

I laugh a little and then realize she's serious."Levi?"

"Levi Oliver," She smiles back at me and I look down at our son.

I actually love it. He looks like a Levi… whatever the hell that means.

"Levi…" I say again, testing it out. When he stirs, I feel like it was decided. "Levi, huh?" I stroke his dark curls, falling more and more in love with him with every second that passes. "Welcome to the family."

The End

Author note: Okay, for real I'm done now! I just read a surprise pregnancy book and had this surge of inspiration. Don't tell my professors that I wasn't studying. Anyway, I just love this story and the whole first person aspect of it. I think you'll see a lot more of that from me in the future. Goodbye for now! Happy New Year and whatever other holiday pass until you hear from me again! See ya!