Chapter 8: Explaining the Truth
Kimberly was sitting at a lake thinking about what had just happened to her the other day. She almost killed herself by using her Ninja Powers. Tommy and Kylie finally met and Kimberly became the Pink Dino Ranger. She sighed as she traced the bracelet around her wrist. "Kimberly?" Tommy called. She turned around and stood up. "Hayley said you wanted to talk to me?" He asked.
"Yeah, please sit down," she replied.
Tommy sat down and looked at her. "What's going on?" He asked. She took a deep breath and started to explain everything to him.
"You wanted to know why I kept Kylie a secret, well; it was true what I said before. I was really scared," she replied.
"What are you talking about?"
"I was excited that I was part of the team of my dreams. The thing was that I was missing you so much. Then there was the thing with the Machine Empire that Billy told me about. Then all of a sudden, it hit. Every morning I was nausea. I couldn't concentrate on my routine. Coach Schmidt sent me to a doctor to find out what was wrong with me. At first, I thought it was the stomach flu. Then, after my test results came back, my doctor told me that I was pregnant. I knew that it was yours, because you were the only person I slept with. I told Coach Schmidt that I had to quit or it would hurt the baby. He was disappointed, but then he knew that I wouldn't want to kill the baby. Then I called mom that was a huge mistake. My mother wanted me to give Kylie up for adoption once she was born. I couldn't do that. She hung up on me and I haven't heard from her since. Then I realized that the Machine Empire would use the baby and me as a target to get to you. So, I wrote the letter so you wouldn't have to worry about a pregnant girlfriend, school, and the Machine Empire," she explained.
She sat down with tears in her eyes. "Then when Kylie was born, Jason came into town to get me to go scuba diving so I could get my mind off of you. I had my old teammate and friend to watch Kylie while I was away. Divatox kidnapped us and well, you know the rest of that," she added.
"Kylie was born when Divatox kidnapped you? Why couldn't you tell me then?" He asked.
"Because you were still a Power Ranger," she replied.
Tommy reached over and grabbed her hands. "Kimberly, I kept my promise after all these years. The promise that I'll always love you no matter what. It's not because of the promise, it's because I really do still love you," he told her. She pulled her hands away and looked at him.
"I have an idea. How about we start over? We both changed so much," she pointed out.
"Yeah, that'd be great," he agreed.
She then held her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Kimberly Hart," she stated. Tommy took her hand in his and shook her hand.
"Hi, I'm Tommy Oliver," he greeted.
They smiled at each other, knowing that they were now starting over as friends. They were going to wait it out to see if their relationship could turn back into something more.
Kylie was playing with Kira when her parents came. She ran over and Tommy picked her up. Tommy noticed a book in her hands. "What's that, Kylie?" He asked.
"This is my scrapbook that mommy and I put together," she replied.
He put her on the ground and thanked Kira for watching Kylie before sitting on the porch with his daughter. Kimberly was watching Tommy with a smile as they looked through Kylie's scrapbook. Tommy went to the first page and saw pictures of Trini. Some of them showed Trini holding baby Kylie or sitting with a six-year-old Kylie. "Mommy took all ove these pictures when Aunt Trini came to visit," she told him. Tommy smiled as he looked at the next page to see Jason having Kylie sit ong his shoulders. He too had pictures of holding baby Kylie. "I like Uncle Jason, he always made his visits special when mommy and I found a house on by ourselves," she explained. When Kylie turned to the next page, it was showing Kylie and her mother in gymnastics.
"I don't have that many of Uncle Zack. He was always at singing school," she told Tommy.
As they continued to look through her scrapbook, of course there really wasn't all to look through, since she was only eight. It showed Kimberly with the girl a lot. Tommy then saw that Kimberly sacrificed a lot to keep their daughter happy and healthy. He remembered Kimberly saying that she gave up her dream so their baby could live. Now here she was, telling him about the daughter he never knew and she had become a Power Ranger the same time he did. Then when Kylie turned to one page, he noticed some ribbons and pictures of Kylie. "What are these?" He asked.
"These are my contest ribbons. Mommy told me that getting into gymnastics competitions will help me with my moves," Kylie replied.
"And she's right," he told her.
Tommy and Kimberly smiled at each other. Starting over was going to be perfect. Their past was put behind them and their future was sitting in front of them awaiting them with open arms. He wrapped an arm around Kylie's shoulders and kissed the side of her head. Kimberly just smiled at the image before her. Something she always wanted. All she wanted was her daughter to be with her father and she finally got that wish.