Disclaimer: I own ONLY AnneMarie, Fabiola, Madam Velosomikh and Madamé Císerosa.

Summary: This may be out of order in whatever way, but hey, its my story, I get to decide how it goes. ;-) Sorry if it takes a while for me to get it posted, but I've been writing it in whatever time I get between classes and stuff and I'm laptop less so its all scribbled down on paper and I've actually gotta find time to type it all up. But hopefully I'll find enough time somewhere. =) Also, I've decided to make it easier on people to let me know what they think, and give me more ideas of what to write. If you would like, I can be reached via email or Yahoo! messenger at AdorableKittens2002@Yahoo.com or via AOL instant messenger as PrincessSpzMnky . Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like. =) Happy Reading! =)

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Family Times

2 Days Later

"Tommy, I have to go to LA tomorrow. You can watch Mariah, right?" Kimberly asked, walking into the livingroom here Tommy was rocking Mariah to sleep.

"Depends . . ." Tommy answered in a soft voice.

"I have a conference call from London at 9:00, a meeting with the distributors at 11, a meeting with my backers at 1:15, and a presentation for all the company heads at 3:30."

"And two, hour and a half drives, in the middle of rush hour."

"Tommy, what's wrong?" Kimberly asked, plopping down on the couch next to the recliner he sat in.

"Nothing . . . . ."

"Liar!" AnneMarie disagreed from the other side of the room.

"AnneMarie, don't you have homework you should be doing?"

"Ok, I'm going! Geez, don't be so moody!" she protested, as she got up and left the room.

"Tommy . . . . ." Kimberly started after AnneMarie was gone.

"I'm fine!"

"No you aren't . . ." she said softly. "Tommy, talk to me."

"I just . . . . . I know this isn't forever . . . . . But when we decided to open this store, I didn't know it would take you away from your family so much . . ."

"Its only for one more week . . ."

"We don't know that for sure . . . . . I mean come on Kim, I saw you for a whole 15 minutes yesterday. And then today, you were up and gone before I even woke up! I've spent all day with Mariah, by myself, and as much as I like it, I can't help but think that you should be here too!"

"I am here Tommy! I rocked her to sleep last night after she woke up hungry, and I fed her this morning, before I had to leave . . ."

"That's not he same . . . . . We had a deal Kim . . . Neither one of us was supposed to ever be too busy for our family . . ."

"Tommy, its only for another week! What do you want me to do about it?!? Would you like me to quit my job, so I can spend all day with you and Mariah? Is that what you'd like?"

"No, Kim . . . . ."

"Then tell me what to do Tommy . . ."

"I don't know . . . .I just . . . . . I guess I just miss you . . . And I know that Mariah misses you too."

"Tommy . . . . .This isn't really about me, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked confused.

"Honey, what's going on with you? You've been really quiet the last couple of days . . . . ."

"I don't know . . . . . I've just been doing a lot of thinking about something one of the parents said to me . . . . ."

"What did they say?"

"It isn't so much what they said, its nothing I haven't heard before . . . . ."

"And what is that?" Kimberly asked.

"A lot of the students wish I was their teacher . . ."

"Tommy, you are their teacher."

"Not just their karate teacher . . . They wish I was their real teacher. Like at school . . .And I never really thought anything of it, until one of the parents said something about it yesterday . . . . ."

"So . . . . ."

"So I've just been thinking a lot about it . . ."

"What do you mean?" Tommy sighed as he rocked Mariah.

"I don't know . . . . . I was just thinking maybe I still could be a teacher . . . I never did go to college like I've always wanted to, because I was so busy racing . . . . ."

"Do you want to go back to school?"

"I don't know Kim, I just think it would be a good thing . . . I would be able to make more money. And it would make me a better influence on not only my students, but on Mariah too . . ."

"Honey, I think you would be a good teacher, if that's what you really want to do."

"I don't know Kim . . . . . I'm not sure what I want . . . . . All I want, is what's best for my family."

"Tommy, we have money, if that's what's bugging you."

"Its not about he money. I just want to do something with my life, other than just being 'Tommy the Jock' . . ."

"Well if you wan to go back to school, you know I'll support you in it!"

"I don't know Kim . . . . ."

"Its up to you Honey. I'll love you no matter what you do with your life. And so will Mariah."

"I just don't want to be away from you guys any more than I have to be."

"Tommy . . . . ." Kimberly said softly, gently laying a hand on his arm. "I think you should do what your heart is telling you to do . . . . ."

"I just don't know Kim . . . . ."

"It's a decision that only you can make . . . But Honey, no matter what you decide, I'm always going to love you. And I will always stand by your side, no matter what."

"Do you think I should go back to school?"

"If you want to . . . Jason and I got our Associates Degrees together . . . You can do it too."

"I don't know . . ."

"Well you know I'll always be here for you, when you need me."

"I guess I just have a lot of thinking to do . . . I really don't know . . . I just sit here holding Mariah, looking at how completely perfect she is, and thinking that all I want, is to give her the entire universe. There is so much out there for her! . . . . . . . . . . Mariah can grow up to be a super model or an astronaut, or anything else that she wants . . . . . And no matter what she chooses, I'll always love her and be extremely prod of her . . . . . And I can't help but think that I want that for myself too. I want my daughter to love me, and to be proud of me when she's older. I want to be her Hero Kimberly. I don't want to be somebody she looks at, and thinks, 'oh yeah, that's my Dad. All he ever did was karate.' I don't want that for my baby, and I don't want that for myself either!"

"Tommy . . . . . Mariah will always love you and be proud of you, no matter what you do with your life. She could care less wether you spent the rest of your life teaching karate or teaching chemistry. She wouldn't even care if you spent your life as an astronaut or a firefighter! She's going to love you because you're the best Dad a girl could ever have!"

"Kimberly . . . . . . . . . ."

"Tommy . . . Maybe you should take a break."

"You're right . . . . . Its getting late, I should probably get Mariah to bed, then go help AnneMarie finish up her homework . . ."

"Why don't I take Mariah. I'll put her to bed. Then I'm going to go upstairs and work on some more sketches . . . But when you're ready to get some sleep, come find me, ok?" Kimberly said, carefully lifting Mariah from Tommy's arms. "I love you."

"I know . . . I love you too." Tommy said, kissing his wife before she left the room.

An hour later, Tommy walked into his room, and collapsed on the bed. Kimberly sighed, setting down her sketches, and moving closer to Tommy. She gently began to massage his shoulders, hoping to relax her husband.

"Honey . . . . . I'm really sorry I've been so busy lately. But I promise I'll make it up to you."

"I guess I just miss you . . ." Tommy said is a soft voice, as he reached for Kimberly's hand.

"I miss you too Sweetie . . . . ."

"What time are you leaving in the morning?"

"Probably around 6:30."

"Oh . . . . . Would you like some company on the drive down? I was thinking it would give us some time together."

"What about AnneMarie and Mariah?"

"AnneMarie is getting a ride with a friend tomorrow. And Mariah will come with us . . .I know you have meetings and stuff, but we can spend some time together during the drive, and maybe have a nice dinner on the way back."

"Sure, if you'd like to come, you're more than welcome to."

"Its Friday, and Jason and I usually teach together anyway, so I think he can handle my classes."

"Whatever you'd like Sweetie." Kimberly said kissing his cheek as she wrapped her arms around him.

"So we're getting up at 5:00?"

"I guess so . . . . ."

"We'd better get some sleep then."

"Probably. Why don't you go change. I'll meet you right back here."

"Kim . . . You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do! I love you too Tommy!"

"I think I'm gonna go take a shower . . ."

"Ok . . . . Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, I'm ok . . ."

"I love you so much Kim!"

"I know, I love you too." she said giving him another kiss. "Go take your shower. I'm going to go downstairs and get some ice cream. Meet me down there when you're ready."

"Ok . . . . ." Tommy said kissing her again, then leaving the room to go take a shower.





The Next Morning





Kimberly sat in the car, putting on her makeup as Tommy drove. Tommy smiled as he looked over at Kimberly, then in the mirror, at his gorgeous little girl, sound asleep in the back seat. He felt a lot more relaxed than he had the night before. The radio softly played in the car, providing just enough background music, to be entertaining, without being a distraction. Tommy softly drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, as Kimberly hummed along to the music. Tommy turned the music up just a little bit louder, as a very familiar song came on. Winking at his wife, he took her hand, as they both began to sing along.

Kimberly:
They say we're young and we don't know
We won't find out until we grow

Tommy:
Well I don't know if all that's true
'Cause you got me, and baby I got you

BOTH:
Babe, I got you babe, I got you babe

Kimberly:
They say our love won't pay the rent
Before it's earned, our money's all been spent

Tommy:
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot
But at least I'm sure of all the things we got

BOTH:
Babe, I got you babe, I got you babe

Tommy:
I got flowers in the spring
I got you to wear my ring

Kimberly:
And when I'm sad, you're a clown
And if I get scared, you're always around

Don't let them say your hair's too long
'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong

Tommy:
Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb

BOTH:
Babe, I got you babe, I got you babe

Tommy: I got you to hold my hand
Kimberly: I got you to understand
Tommy: I got you to walk with me
Kimberly: I got you to talk with me
Tommy: I got you to kiss goodnight
Kimberly: I got you to hold me tight
Tommy: I got you, I won't let go
Kimberly: I got you to love me so

BOTH:
I got you babe, I got you babe
I got you babe, I got you babe
I got you babe

"Too bad Mariah will never remember this . . ." Tommy said, squeezing Kimberly's hand, as the song ended.

"Oh, I'm sure she'll hear your horrible voice sometime or another." Kimberly joked.

"Yeah, you just keep on showing me up over there Mrs. Oliver! We'll see who's singing Mariah likes better when she's older!"

"Oh, like its any kind of competition!"

"You know . . . I really miss this . . . I miss just driving with you . . . . . We're always in such a hurry to go places, we don't get to just enjoy ourselves."

"Its kind of nice, isn't it."

"Its nice to just spend time together again, doing nothing, just like we used to."

"We've changed Tommy . . ." Kimberly said softly.

"I know . . . . . But you know what . . . Let's make a deal, right now."

"Ok?"

"Starting right now, we're going to make time for each other every day. Even if its just to have lunch."

"Works for me! In fact, how about this . . . When we get home tonight . . . I was thinking we could dig out some of our old photo albums, and laugh at how lame we all used to be."

"You know, as crazy as that sounds, it actually sounds like a really great idea!"

"I thought so too. I've actually been wanting to go through some of those albums, I just haven't had a good reason to."

"Well we have all night tonight!" Tommy said happily.

"Yes we do!" Kimberly agreed with a bright smile, as she leaned over and kissed Tommy's cheek, then laid her head on his shoulder as they drove.





To Be Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .





"I've Got You Babe."

© Sonny & Cher 1965