Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.
TrueRomantic: Eventually, you'll see in this chapter. Jason would try if he had the chance, but he doesn't.
Ghostwriter: Thanks so much for the review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.
secretguest: Thanks for the review and think of Kim being more drained than injured I guess.
Daisyz: Thanks for the review. I know I put them through a lot, but they have some happy times ahead.
Now, on with the Story!
Kim's POVThese last few weeks have been rather peaceful, what with Mesogogg having to reorganize his troops after our last battle with him. Which is something we all happen to be thankful for, although Tommy and I know that there is a chance that when he comes back it will be worse than it was before that fateful day when our lives went back to normal, for once. I am still shocked that Mesogogg has not decided to try to go at it without his full power, but he does not seem tobe as idiotic aswe thought.
School ended only yesterday and Tommy and I both have in-service to complete before we can start, truly, enjoying our summer vacation. Both of us are having to get used to not having the kids around anymore, which is a relief in some ways considering what is going on in our other job and how uncertain all of it is. If something happens to call us out this summer, then that is what will have to be done, although we both hope it will be longer than that.
These last few weeks of worry about whether or not Mesogogg will soon return have tired the both of us out, although I have taken the brunt of it this time, which is to be expected after all of the things that did happen to me during that battle. I didn't realize how bad it was, until I woke up this morning, feeling exactly the same as I had when I went to sleep last night. It wouldn't be so bad if Tommy hadn't noticed it, but now he is keeping a close watch on me, as we both know how prone I am to have things happen when I get surprised about things and I have not gotten enough sleep.
I rolled out of bed and started, lazily, walking towards the closet to get some clothes to wear to work today, as I knew I could dress in jeans and a T-shirt for all they cared, the kids were gone now and no one cared what we looked like. After a few minutes I had found what I wanted, but I was feeling queasy and I couldn't really explain why I felt that way, nothing I had eaten would have upset my stomach like that this early in the morning.
While I was trying to get over it, I realized that I needed to throw up and I was going to in a few seconds, no matter what got my way, even if it was Tommy. I ran towards the bathroom, hearing the water on and prayed that Tommy had left the door unlocked this morning and he had by some miracle. After I opened the door, I headed straight towards the toilet, knowing that I had managed to get Tommy's full attention, although I didn't want to do that. I just wanted to be able to be sick in peace, but that did not seem like it was going to happen.
"Kim, you alright?" Tommy asked, as he peeked his head out from behind the shower curtain. She was now sitting in front of the toilet and he saw the remnants of what her stomach contained coming out of her mouth as he asked the question. He did not like seeing her sick and he hoped that it wasn't so bad that she couldn't go into work. They really needed the break this year, even if they couldn't tell people why.
"I'll be fine," Kim said, as she heard him cut off the shower and open the cabinet door to get a towel he could wear for a little while, as her tone of voice did not lead him to believe that statement at all. He also grabbed a rag and wet it in the sink before he walked over and sat down behind her, careful to not get in the way of the toilet if she had to throw up again. He doubted that she would just throw up once and it would be over with, but he could be wrong.
"You sure?" Tommy asked as he felt her lean back against him and he gently wiped the rag over her face and then her mouth, trying to insure that she felt as comfortable as she could, for the condition she was in. She could never figure out where he got his skills for taking care of her when she felt horrible, but his gut instinct worked ninety-nine percent of the time.
"Yeah," Kim said, trying to stand up, but the movement caused her to throw up again, as Tommy caught her before she crashed to the floor.
She could not remember feeling like this in a very long time and the last time she had it was because her whole class had the stomach virus. When she sat back against him this time, she did feel better, even good enough to hop in the shower and go to work. The look on Tommy's face was priceless, as he looked pale but was trying to be good and not become overprotective, too quickly.
"Maybe you should go to the doctor," Tommy suggested, as strongly as he could, as she stood up and headed towards the shower.
He knew that he should be getting himself dressed, but if they didn't talk about this now, then they never would, without getting in a fight and they didn't really want to do that. They had been so happy for the peace that they thought it best to not disturb it while they were enjoyng peace in their other areas of life. Principal Randall could just deal with him being late today, as he was not likely to leave right at three o'clock anyway. He was on some damn committee that she had assigned to him and he had to be at that meeting, which pissed him off even more. It just seemed like the woman was after him.
"I'm fine now Tommy. It's just a freak thing. My stomach has been known to play tricks on me before," Kim said, as she undressed and tried to pull the curtain back from the shower, before Tommy could catch any part of her body, but she was unable to do that. She might have felt fine, but she was not moving as fast as she usually did, which allowed him to do that.
"Kim, please," Tommy said, as she turned around and faced him, knowing that he was close to begging her to go. She didn't think that she needed to go to the doctor, but he was very insistent on it this time. It was funny that he just seemed to think that she really needed it, otherwise they might not know what was going on for a long time. It was like he already suspected something, but he just didn't know what it was, yet. "It would just make me feel better if you would go. I don't want anything to be going on that we need to know about."
"Okay, Tommy, but I'm sure that it is nothing. You don't have any reason to worry," Kim said as she got into the shower, but was surprised when Tommy opened the shower curtain a few seconds later and held out a telephone towards her. He knew that if he didn't watch her, she was not going to call.
"Call and get your appointment now," Tommy said, as Kim sighed before stepping out of the shower, dripping wet and taking the telephone from him.
After she had come out here, she had not bothered to get a regular doctor, for some reason she just never did, and now she could only call her gynecologist for an appointment, on something that was probably just a bad case of nerves. The thing was, she had no reason to be nervous, but she was not going to point that out to Tommy or he really would worry about her.
"You happy now?" Kim asked, as she finished the call and gave him back the phone, before she jumped back in the shower, as she was freezing from all of this.
"Thank you," Tommy said leaning into the shower and giving her a quick kiss before he went to get dressed for the day. He couldn't help but be worried that her powers were starting to have some type of adverse effect on her body and he could only pray that it was something else this time. If that was happening he was not sure how he or she would be able to take it.
Tommy's Day of In-Service"Good morning, Oliver," Dennis said, as Tommy walked past his classroom, barely paying attention to anything but the coffee cup he carried in his hands. He looked to be a little bit off this morning, which was the first time he had been like this in a few weeks, as something had obviously relieved the other bits of stress that had come down on him so hard since school had started this year. Although, Dennis highly doubted he would ever be lucky enough to find out what else stressed Tommy out more than seeing Principal Randall each day, which was torture for all of the faculty. They were good friends, but even he felt that there was a certain limit on their friendship, as Tommy held secrets that no one else would ever know about, except maybe his wife and a few select others. "You alright?"
"Yeah, Kim just woke up sick this morning. She's been kinda puny all week, now that I think about it," Tommy said, stopping to talk to his friend.
He had the sinking suspicion that it was more than just a stomach virus or her being nervous about something, as she had quickly gotten over it, but he did not want to say that to anyone until he knew the truth himself. He knew that the dojo's tournament was scheduled for this weekend and if there was any news, he would announce it at the cook out afterwards. He didn't see the point in trying to call up all of their friends, if they would be seeing them in three days, even his parents were coming to watch the tournament, which was a first in a very long time and it would save them a lot of money in the long run.
"What kind of puny, Tommy?" Dennis asked, as he had the feeling Tommy was holding something back, something that would give away exactly what was causing her behavior. Although it seemed that Tommy was choosing to avoid the truth, because he didn't want to see it at this time. It just didn't make sense why he wouldn't want to see it.
"That's what I'm hoping to find out this afternoon," Tommy said, as he heard an announcement over the intercom, calling him to Principal Randall's office. The woman had been riding his ass for weeks now, but he knew that he had not given her any reasons over the last week to call him in for a private conference. So, whatever she had to say to him was bound to tick him off, especially after the morning he had experienced already. Kim being sick always put him in a bad mood and this was sure to make that mood even worse if that was possible. "I better get going, so she won't have anything else to yell at me about."
"Well tell me the good news when you find out," Dennis said as Tommy gave him a confused glance, before continuing down the hall, towards a sure earful of talking and possible yelling. What could be good that would make Kim sick that early in the morning and then disappear for the rest of the day? He was going to have to think on that one for awhile, as his mind truly could not or maybe even would not comprehend it.
The rest of the day, whenever he saw Dennis, he tried to ask him what he meant by his last statement that he had said to him. All Dennis would say was that he would find out this afternoon and not to worry, Kim would be back to normal in a few months, which didn't really make any sense to Tommy.
The Doctor's OfficeI went through school today fine, but decided to keep my promise to Tommy and go to the doctor, as I had been able to get an appointment early that morning, while he watched me call them and set it up. I thought about what could be causing how I had been feeling lately, but kept on drawing a blank, nothing really fit.
It wasn't the flu or Tommy would have been sick by now, as it had been like this since a few weeks after we had the battle that caused Mesogogg to rebuild his troops. Tommy's cooking has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few months, so it wasn't that either, as he was the one who cooked supper last night and if I do say so myself, it was pretty good. Then there was one other thing, something that didn't pop into my mind until I was packing my stuff to head towards the doctor's office, late this afternoon.
Could I be carrying Tommy's baby, our baby, right now? Tommy and I haven't been the most careful couple in the world; maybe because of the fact that we never knew when an attack would occur or maybe because we really want kids, I know that I do and he does too. We have discussed it some, but neither of us thought that this would happen so soon for the two of us. He did say that he was willing to start trying, but we were going to wait a couple more months, to insure that Mesogogg didn't come back during the middle of my being pregnant, but our plans might have been changed by our carelessness.
"Mrs. Oliver, we are ready for you to go back," the receptionist said and Kim gathered her things and headed into the back room, not sure what or who to expect.
Dr. Jackson was new to the firm, but hopefully he or she was a nice enough person or at least someone that Kim could open up to about this and they not really try to investigate the other parts of the situation. Such as why she had been so active if she was trying to get pregnant, which was something that most other women cut down on if they were as active as she was, at least from around here. If she were to cut down on it, her own husband might be the one to act rashly, as they both had to keep themselves prepared.
"Well, Kim, it's a surprise to see you in here," Tanya said, as she opened the door, while reading the top of her chart, which made everything appear normal, in most of her tests. One look at Kim's face told her that she was just as surprised to see her there as well. The last time Kim had seen her was when they had rescued her from Divatox, which was close to eight years ago now and that had not been great circumstances. Tanya looked to not be as happy as she was back then, but Kim knew that it could just be stemming from a bad day at work, which she had, had more than her fair share of this year. The children were great, but some of the other people she had to deal with were not so awesome. "How's it been going?"
"Good Tanya, I'm just surprised to see you here too. It's been a really long time," Kim said, uncomfortably holding her arms tightly in front of her, trying to disguise any weight that she might have already gained, as she was now sure she was pregnant, all of the signs led to it. She was late, she had, had bad moods and this was not the first morning that she had been queasy, not that she had really thought about it. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to a fellow ranger about what she thought had been making her sick, though. It was one thing if the person didn't know Tommy or herself personally, as they would not know some things about their past, but Tanya did and she was not sure how to talk about what she thought might be ailing her. "Me and Tommy got married a few months ago. I'm sure Kat talked to you about that."
"Yeah, she did. So, did he make you come in here today?" Tanya asked, as Kim gave her a little nod of her head yes. She had heard from the other rangers how protective Tommy had been of Kim and was now getting a chance to see it first hand, which she thought was something she would never see happen.
Although, she had to admit she wasn't so sure about Tommy not being a ranger again. The current black ranger held every single one of his mannerisms, but this was not an appropriate time or place to ask her about that, as she never knew who could be listening to her conversation. She didn't want to put them at risk, in case they really were doing this again, which was scary to think about, knowing what it had done to them in the past.
"Yeah, he did, but I think I know what's going on, now that I've been able to think about it all day," Kim said, staring at her feet, which she was swinging on the side of the hospital bed. She shouldn't be embarrassed to tell Tanya this, just because she knew Tommy and she knew the whole story behind what had happened all those years ago, albeit secondhand, she still knew about it.
"Well, what could it be, Kim?" Tanya asked, looking over the test results and spotting a positive next to one word: pregnant.
Oh boy, she knew that Mesogogg was still at large, but maybe she wasn't an active ranger again, maybe it was just Tommy who was going out there and fighting. Although she doubted that by looking at the communicator that was resting securely on her wrist. To anyone else, it just looked like a piece of different jewelry, but to her trained eye, she knew exactly what it was and what it contained. How could she tell a ranger that they would have to stop their duties for a baby that would soon be appearing in her life?
"I might be pregnant, Tanya. We haven't been as careful as we should have been, considering..." Kim said letting her sentence trail off, as Tanya looked up and shook her head yes.
Then she saw something that not many other patients had ever done. Kim smiled, then laughed, then put her hands over her face, and cried. Tanya was confused as to what she should do, but Kim looked up in a few minutes and wiped the tears from her eyes, knowing that this was something she really wanted but she still was not sure about some things in her life.
She needed to talk to someone, but not Tommy, not yet, but who could she talk to if it wasn't him? Ms. Fanny. She'd be more than willing to listen and give her some sound advice on the matter. She thanked Tanya for the news and then scheduled her next appointment before heading to Ms. Fanny's store, hoping that she was still there. She just needed to have someone, who would let her tell them and not have a bad reaction, as she knew that Tommy might. This wasn't the exact situation that they had hoped for when they found out that they were going to have a baby, actually the best situation would be that Mesogogg was gone.
Ms. Fanny was getting ready to close up for the day when Kim walked into her store, looking to need an open ear and a caring smile. The young woman had come in several times before like this, but this time seemed different. Kim seemed to have something very pressing to talk to her about this evening, something that couldn't wait until later, as she so desperately wanted to act.
"Kim, darlin', what are you doin' here today? Nothin's wrong, is there dear?" Ms. Fanny asked, pulling up Kim a stool to sit down on and she did, rather quickly. Kim looked at her and then looked away before she began to speak about what had brought her to the store that evening.
"No, nothing's wrong, but I need some advice on how to tell Tommy something," Kim said, casting her glance between the floor and Ms. Fanny's concerned face. She had thought that it would be easier to tell Ms. Fanny first, but she was just as nervous.
"What is it dear? You didn't break somethin' of his, did you dear?" Ms. Fanny asked and that earned a small grin from Kim. Whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad if she was smiling about it.
"I'm pregnant, Ms. Fanny," Kim said, as the older woman leapt off her stool and gave Kim a hug. She was so happy for them, but how would it be best to tell Tommy?
"Sweetheart, I can't tell you how you should tell him, but I am sure he will be happy, no matter what you say. He loves you, that is what is important, and he'll be just as happy as you are about this baby," Ms. Fanny said, as Kim gave her a smile. She knew that the visit had been short, but if she was going to talk to Tommy the way she wanted to, she had to get home before he did.
"Thank you, Ms. Fanny," Kim said, as she hurriedly exited the store, to plan what she was going to do, hopefully before Tommy got home.
The Dojo"Tommy, what's on your mind today?" Rocky asked, as he threw him to the ground for the fifth time that day, without so much as breaking a sweat.
He could not seem to concentrate on anything and the advanced class was seeing something that rarely happen at all, Tommy being beat by Rocky in a matter of minutes, which was by no means a good indicator of what he would do against Jason, as they all could remember some of his fighting skills. The tournament was only a few days away and they were all trying to hone their skills, even Tommy, which they thought, was odd. He didn't really have anything to prove, not to them at least, but he might have things to prove to the people in Angel Grove, who seemed to think he was some sort of karate genius.
"I just need to get home. That's all Rocky," Tommy said, as he stood up and prepared himself to be thrown around some more, as he was in no mood to spar, even with the students tonight. Rocky was smart enough to fill in the blanks most days and he hoped today was one of those days, as he was not in the mood to explain all of it, knowing that he didn't even know the full story, yet.
"Is something wrong with Kim?" Rocky asked, trying to feel out Tommy's mood, as he was not being able to read him, he was putting too many walls up between the two of them today.
Kim was the only one that could break his concentration when it was like this and he should have thought about it earlier, but Tommy just seemed to be living in his own world and from his experience it was best to leave it that way most days. Tommy, however, was begging him to break him from his world, as soon as he could, which was odd.
"Not really, she just got up sick this morning, but she seemed fine after she threw up a few times. I don't understand it," Tommy said, as Rocky choked on the water he was drinking. Tommy was really being dense if he could not figure that one out on his own.
"Do you know what could have caused it?" Rocky asked, as he could only think of one thing that would cause that and it would mean Kim sitting out for nine months, at least.
He wasn't sure if the ranger team could afford that now, although he knew what they were forcing Mesogogg to do, rebuild his forces, which were now non-existent. It, however, was only a matter of time before he came back into full force and they would need every available ranger when that happened, even Kim.
"Not really, although you are the second person today that seems that I should know what it is," Tommy said, thinking about how similar Dennis's reaction had been to what he had told him had happened this morning. It just seemed that they were thinking of some crazy things that they thought would be logical for him to think of.
"Don't worry about it Tommy, I'm sure you'll find out tonight," Rocky said, as Tommy looked at him confused and then placed his hands over his face, in pure frustration.
"What do all of you know that I don't?" Tommy asked, as the student's in his class looked over at him, as he had practically screamed the question towards Rocky. Whew, what had gotten into Dr. O today? He didn't even have to teach school today and he was yelling like he had been in a room full of teenagers for ten hours straight or more.
"Tommy, go home, man and I'll take care of this class for the night. I have the feeling that you need to," Rocky said and Tommy headed towards his office to grab his keys and duffel bag.
When he walked back out, he had put on his glasses and was trying to figure out what everyone seemed to know that he didn't. He had been forced to don the glasses, as his vision generally blurred when he got this aggravated with something and it was doing that now, as if to let him know how close he was to exploding, although he did not plan to explode on his wife with whatever news she had to tell him.
Oliver Residence"Kim? Kim, where are you?" Tommy asked, as he dropped his duffel bag and began to search the house for his wife. He saw supper was fixed and sitting on the table, but Kim was not in the kitchen and one look into the command center showed that she was not down there either, as Alpha was quietly working on some simple projects they had for him. He, then, ran up the stairs, as he was becoming truly worried as to where she was and could only hope she was upstairs tonight. The last time he had come home and not been able to find her, she had been captured, but he bumped into her, as she headed out of their bedroom, not really, paying attention to anything. As the relief washed over him, he reached out and gave her a quick hug before taking a step back to look at her and could tell that she was really nervous about what he might ask, very soon. "Thank goodness, you're alright."
"Why wouldn't I be, Tommy?" Kim asked, as she held the home pregnancy test in her hands, but she quickly closed her hands tightly over it, although he had already seen it. Tommy looked down at it curiously, before reaching out to take it from her and she started to back away from him. She knew how she wanted to do this and him looking at it right now was not it.
"Kim, what is that?" Tommy asked, as she shyly headed towards the stairs, ignoring Tommy's question and continuing on into the kitchen, where she placed it next to his plate, very calmly. Tommy's curiosity had been peeked, but he still wanted to give her another hug and a kiss before looking at what she had placed next to his plate. He took every opportunity that he got to show her how much he cared, after almost losing her in that last battle. He didn't want something to happen and her not know how he felt about her or the other way around. They had risked it too many times in the past and they did not plan to risk it in the future. "Kim, what did the doctor have to say to you?"
"That'll answer your questions Tommy, I promise," Kim said, as he gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead before heading towards the freezer to get some ice for his drink, trying to collect himself in a fashion in which he would not have a horrible reaction if whatever it was startled him. He did not want to upset her, if it was something that she was truly happy about.
She went over to sit down at her seat, before Tommy made his way to the table. When he had set his drink down, he picked up the object sitting next to his plate and lifted it up to eye level, so he could really see what it was without having to move his glasses in one particular direction.
"Kim," Tommy said, quietly, as he realized it was a pregnancy test and felt his heartbeat quicken, as he looked up at her, hoping he was taking this in the right direction. Although he could think of no other reason that it would be sitting next to his plate and she would have reacted the way that she did. "We're going to have a baby?"
"Yes, Tommy," Kim said, as she awaited his reaction, not knowing what he would do. Within a few seconds, he had gotten up from his seat to give her another hug and then he looked at her, with concern filling his eyes. He knew that he did not want something to happen to the baby or her and Mesogogg might try doing that, as he would surely find out about her condition sooner or later.
"You know this means you can't go out there anymore, don't you?" Tommy asked, as her eyes widened with surprise at him asking her to not be a ranger while she was pregnant.
She had been planning to continue until the doctors pulled something else, but Tommy did not seem to like that idea, at all. He didn't want to risk Richard hitting her with one of those pulses and her and the baby dying because of it.
"Tommy, we can talk about that later," Kim said, as he placed one hand on her lower stomach and gave her another bone crushing hug.
They were going to have a baby and he could not have been happier, even knowing about what Mesogogg might do. He knew that he would do everything in his power to not let that happen to them. They really were what was going to keep him going and keep him fighting, for the next nine months and he knew that Kim knew that, whether she liked the idea was a different story.
"Why don't we eat in the living room tonight?" Tommy asked, as he picked up her plate and then went to pick up his as well. It might have seemed to be a question, but he was going to do it whether she agreed or not. "We can talk and eat."
"Tommy, I don't want to fight about this tonight. I just want to be happy," Kim said, as she settled herself on the couch next to him and knowing that she had gotten his full attention continued with what needed to be said, scared he would get mad. "The doctor said I can continue on with normal activities until my first appointment, then they'll tell me if they think I should cut anything out."
"If Mesogogg finds out about this, he'll go after you twice as hard as the rest of us and you know Zeltrax will come after me, so I won't be able to get to you if something happens. You won't have any help if something goes wrong in the field," Tommy said, trying to reason with her, instead of them getting into a yelling match with each other. He knew that it was not smart to add any more stress to her, but that might happen if she still insisted on going into the field with them. He felt that he had to put his foot down in that case, which was something she would probably not like, at all. She had always prided herself in being able to choose, but he didn't want he to choose this time. "And let's face it, no one would think of being a ranger as a normal activity, except us, and our friends are even beginning to wonder if we need to be taken in for a psyche evaluation because of how many times we've come out of retirement to do this."
"I know that, but if they tell me to stop anything else, then I know being a ranger has to go, Tommy and I'm willing to leave the battles if it becomes too much for me," Kim said, as she watched Tommy place his thumb on one side of his nose and his index finger on the other. On the rare occasions that he had cried, when she was not injured, she had seen him do this, but she didn't understand why he would be crying now. There was nothing that she had said that should make him cry.
"I really don't want you to risk this. Beautiful, you don't know when it's too much for you. You were almost killed last time; I cannot take that happening again," Tommy said, looking over at her as his tears threatened to spill over. He didn't want to risk their baby's life because of them being rangers, as Kim's was already in greater danger now, just by finding out she was pregnant.
"Tommy, we knew things like this could come up, but I'm not sure my staying away from the field will keep Mesogogg from coming after me," Kim said, as she placed her plate on the coffee table and carefully pulled Tommy's head down to rest on her shoulder. His tears, which should have been caused by happiness, were caused by immense worry for his wife and their child. They both knew what these creatures were capable of and neither one of them wanted to face the reality of it right away. "You are the one who always says that everything will be alright and it will be, if you just have a little faith in all of this."
"Beautiful, I said that to keep you from breaking down, many times. I can't lie to you like that right now," Tommy said, as she gave his arm a squeeze before feeling him move to look at her. "Kim, let's just be happy tonight and we can worry about everything else later."
"Alright, Tommy," Kim said with a smile, as she felt him settle one of his hands on her stomach, while he ate his food with the other. This was their choice, their baby, and they would not let Mesogogg take it away from them without putting up one hell of a fight.
AN: I know it's not long and I know that some of you may not like it, but I hope that you do any way! Feel free to review and until next time, happy reading!