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, Todd Billingsway, and all of the characters featured as karate competitors, as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.
secretguest: I know, but there were other things that I had to do first.
TrueRomantic: Thanks and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Ghostwriter: Yeah, but they're grown up a tiny bit since then and Tommy wasn't in his right mind, as you could tell. I know, but there is a third story that will be coming out in a few weeks.
XRachX: Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you liked Kat's reaction, I was not sure how some people would take it.
A Little Bit of Relaxation
Tommy's POVThe tournament went well for us this morning, with a few of my teams winning and a few losing, miserably, but I think they all enjoyed it, no matter what the outcome was for them. They at least got to compete against some people that they did not know and that let them find out what they were made of, in some ways, although some of them had a hard time with it. I have never seen Charlie that worried about something in my life and I honestly wonder if that was what I was like before missions, but they would just not tell me that. If it had anything to do with Kim, I can almost guarantee it, but there is no telling how I acted back then.
Kim's been getting tired over the last few hours, as the strain of getting up at three o'clock this morning sick has finally caught up with her. This was the first morning that she really was not able to get over it quickly, which isn't a very good thing for either of us. I know that she is having to physically will herself to stay outside and stay awake until we tell our friends the big news. I don't know what she is going to do after that happens, but I doubt that she will stay awake much longer and I doubt that our friends will be willing to leave until they have all of their answers. I know that there are some things that they will needed to know that no one else can ever hear about.
"Tommy, you did wonderful up there today. You were a little bit tough on Jason, but you did good," Martha said as she gave her son a hug and then turned to look at Kim, who was leaning heavily against Tommy's side with drooping eyelids. She noticed that her daughter-in-law had been fighting fatigue the entire day, but she had somehow managed to keep herself awake throughout the tournament and now the barbecue that they were holding. Something seemed to be a little bit odd, but she knew her son would explain it all, sometime. There was no way that he could have not noticed how she was acting, so he must know what was going on if he wasn't worried about her. "And you, missy, need to get some more rest. You look positively worn out."
"I know, Martha. I just couldn't go back to sleep after I woke up this morning," Kim said looking at her mother-in-law and giving her a weak smile.
She was sleepy but she knew it was only a matter of time before Tommy told them about the baby on the way. Then she would really have to fight the fatigue, as she was sure there would be a few people that wanted to congratulate them and some who might have more questions than any other things. The questions would not be that bad from some people, but she hated knowing that her ranger friends would have the hardest questions to answer. Namely the ones that had to deal with whether or not she would ever fight again.
"Kim, come here for a second," Jason said, as he and Billy had both come to the conclusion that she was pregnant but they wanted to hear it from her, before they kept on assuming something of that magnitude.
If they were wrong then they would come up with some sort of excuse as to why they asked her about it, but it seemed that they both doubted that they would be wrong in this case. She was just acting too much like a pregnant woman and Tommy was certainly doing a good job of being the worried husband, which made it more obvious to them. If Tommy had not been as worried, then they would have thought nothing about it, but he was barely able to keep his eyes off of her for more than a few seconds right now.
"Okay," Kim said pushing herself off of the chair she had been sharing with Tommy and walking over to Jason and Billy. She looked to be apprehensive as to what they might ask her as she walked over to them. They just seemed to be itching to find out something and she knew them too well to lie to them about whatever they asked her.
"Little sister, promise you won't lie to me when I ask this; I know that you want to tell us all at once, but I need to know," Jason said, putting his arm around her and watching her examine her shoes carefully before looking up at him. He also couldn't help but notice that she leaned on him more than he thought she ever would after she started dating Tommy. She was exhausted and he just hoped that this would explain it all to the two of them.
He didn't really want to hear that they were up all night doing research on what was going on with Mesogogg. That, alone, would make him mad, as they needed to rest just like everyone else. They had, had enough sleepless nights because of them being rangers and they hoped that they were not having any more now. They were supposed to be trying to relax, instead of trying to prepare themselves. They would have time to do that later, as he knew Billy was supposed to be helping them some.
"I won't, but I don't like the sound of this, Jase," Kim said, as Billy and Jason looked at each other over her head before Billy decided to ask the question. He was the least likely to be punched by Kim if he was wrong, as they both knew that Kim was more than willing to add another bruise to Jason's arm. Jason would also be able to hold Kim back if she became mad about all of this and they both knew that, which was why he already had his arm around her, just in case.
"We're just wondering if you're pregnant," Billy said, quietly, as Kim stared at him before glancing over at Tommy, who was watching them carefully, knowing that they could have to talk to her about a multitude of subjects.
Why couldn't he just come over there and save her from this situation? She didn't want to have to tell them before everyone else, but they had been able to figure it out, so she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't lie, although she was very tempted to try to get away with it for just a few seconds longer, but she knew that they would not buy it at all.
"We were going to tell you later today, but I might as well tell you that you've guessed right," Kim said, as Jason gave her and hug and then noticed Tommy walking up behind her with a smile on his face, although it could not mask the worry in his eyes.
He had carried that look many times before and it did nothing but insure to all of them that she would be taken care of, no matter what else happened. There had been guys that she had dated before him that seemed to careless about what happened to her, but he did care and that was what ultimately got his approval from all of her, and eventually his, friends.
"You alright?" Tommy asked quietly, as she yawned and nodded her head yes. He knew that her getting this tired was not a good thing, but he would be able to take it. He could not avoid thinking about the fact that she had been up since a God forsaken hour this morning and that was probably what helped cause it, besides her being sick. "You don't mind if I steal her away for a few minutes, do you?"
"Nope, she's all yours," Jason said, as he noticed Tommy had put his arm around her and was carefully eyeing her sleepy form.
They had all seen Kim that tired before, but this time, he knew, it was different from all of those other times. It was not caused by the stress of a battle that they had just had; it was just her body begging her to slow down some. That, however, was something that Kimberly Oliver would never do, unless she was forced to do so by someone and that someone might have to be Tommy. He seemed determined to keep the two of them safe, no matter what it took to do just that.
"I know that you need to get some rest, so I think we'll just go ahead and say this to them now. Then you can go lay down if you need to," Tommy said, as she nodded and then he gave her a quick hug. They were both nervous about telling their family and friends, but it was something they had to do, as there was really no explanation other than her having a baby for some of the changes that would occur to her. They knew that they couldn't put it off any longer, as they had already called her parents and they were sure that they would tell someone who knew someone, eventually and neither of them wanted any of their friends to find out from anyone but the two of them. "Everybody, can I have your attention for a few seconds?"
"Sure," Conner said, as Kira smacked him on the back of the head before focusing on whatever their leader had to say to all of them.
She knew that there were quite a few people there who were not rangers and it could not be completely ranger related, although he could say something that was semi-ranger related, if he wanted to. He was someone that had the skill to make it sound important enough that no one would ask if they didn't understand and those that did knew to wait until they were away from everyone else to ask their questions. They knew much better than to ask a question while anyone that did not know that they were rangers was around, although Conner had almost forgot several times, which caused him quite a few bruises.
"Thanks for the verbal conformation, Conner. Kim and I have some news that we need to tell all of you. I guess that there is really no way to kinda give an introduction to this, so here it goes. A few days ago Kim went to the doctor and we found out that we're going to have a baby," Tommy said, as Kim smiled up at him and then really looked out at their friends, hoping they would be able to take it all right.
The ones that were rangers looked excited for about two seconds before it hit them what else that meant for them and no one else there. She was out, as simple as that. There was no questioning that Tommy wouldn't let her set one foot in the command center if she intended to morph and it might kill him to do that to her, but he would do it, in order to protect someone that they didn't know yet. They had to protect the baby and in order to do that, they would be down a ranger if Mesogogg came back while she pregnant, which was a scary thing to have to deal with.
"A grandbaby?" Martha asked, as she stared at Kim and Tommy as they both nodded towards her and she quickly stood up to give Kim a hug. She felt the girl sway a little at the swift movement and could tell she was clutching onto one of Tommy's hands, for the extra support she needed from him. "That's why you're tired?"
The tiredness seemed to have more to do with something like morning sickness, although the rangers were also thinking of what her powers might be doing to her and the baby right now. They had never had a ranger become pregnant while they were still able to morph, actually they had never had a ranger become pregnant at all, but they'd make it through. This happened to be the two people that had nearly destroyed everything precious to them, only to find it right when they would be able to salvage everything and they were not going to let it go unless they had to.
"Among other things, yes," Kim said, as she gave her a stern look and then pushed her gently down into the chair that was behind her. Kim had often wondered where Tommy had gotten his protectiveness from, but now she saw that his mother had the same trait. It would have been funny if she had not been so thoroughly exhausted, but she knew that she needed to rest, no matter what anyone else said.
"You have to watch out for yourself and that little one now, so you get all the rest that you need. Tommy can do more work around the house if that is what it takes and you tell me if he doesn't do something that you ask him to do," Martha said, as Kim smiled and knew that, that little speech gave Tommy more power with his argument and she resigned herself to tell him that she was going to sit back.
She couldn't keep up the argument that she was needed out there and although it would kill her if something happened to the baby, she knew that it would do the same thing to Tommy and her in-laws. She couldn't do that to them or herself, for that matter. She had wanted to have a child with Tommy for so long and now that she was pregnant, she knew, deep down, she didn't need to risk any of it.
"Tommy," Jason said, calling his attention over to the guys and he walked over there feeling them carefully judging each of his subtle mannerisms. They knew him just as well as Kim did, if not better when he was this worried, and he could tell that they were all trying to figure out how it was best to talk to him now.
"What?" Tommy asked, as they laughed at the question he was asking them and how apprehensive he sounded. He imagined that they would not be too happy about all of this, but they would deal with it or they would deal with his wrath, they knew that much. He was excited about it and there was no need for any of them to get aggravated with him, he just was happy that they were going to have a baby.
"We're not going to criticize you, we just wanted to tell you congrats," Zack said, as Tommy stared at him for a second before giving him a hug. "Hey, Tommy, can't breathe man."
"Sorry," Tommy said, as they laughed and then he turned serious, as they saw how nervous he was. He was trying to hide it from them, but he was doing a horrible job at it. He, usually, was able to manage it but he could no longer do that and they wondered if he was losing some of his sharpness as he got older or if this was something that just made him more nervous than anything else.
"So, when is her due date?" Billy asked, as they all noticed he was trying to be calm, but he wanted to drag them inside, spill all his worries to them, and then come back outside as his normal self.
"End of February, beginning of March," Tommy said, as they nodded and he knew that they understood that they really did have a full nine months to wait before she would have the baby.
If something happened during those months, they were sure that Tommy would be looking out for her first and for the rangers second, which was alright, they didn't expect any less from him. He had made the point that she wouldn't have to choose about being a ranger if a baby came a long and they were now making it a point that he wouldn't have to worry as well.
"Call me any time you need me," Jason said, as the others nodded that they felt the same way.
If a battle was to break out, they were all willing to put on the pink uniform, in order to help protect one of their own, even if the guys hated it. They had to admit that they would rather one of the girls put on the uniform, but Kat might not exactly be willing to try to get those powers, just to have to give them back. Kim and her exchanging powers again just did not seem good for the two of them at all. They didn't want for things to become confusing and that seemed to be the easiest way to keep it from doing so.
"Don't worry. I will if I need you, you know that," Tommy said, as Kim wandered over and leaned against his bare shoulder. Some of the guys smiled as he gathered her exhausted form in his arms and cautiously pulled her in front of him. She looked as if she could fall asleep in his arms and was more than willing to do that if he would let her.
"So Mama's doing alright right now?" Trini asked, as she stood next to Jason and the other girls walked over, as they had been watching Mrs. Oliver talk to Kim, which they were all fine with letting her do. She had the right to tell Kim some advice and to warn her about over stressing herself, which they were sure Tommy was doing already, just because of the way that he was. If he hadn't done that, they would honestly wonder if something was wrong with him, as he never allowed a situation this serious to not have some serious discussion go along with it.
"Yeah, just tired," Kim said, wearily looking up at Tommy, silently begging him to tell her to go inside and take a nap, as she was likely to fall asleep standing up right now.
"Go take a nap. We'll be fine out here and I'm sure that everyone will understand," Tommy said, as he knew that their friends would probably stay the night or at least for a few hours after everyone else left, so they could clarify everything that they needed to. There was a lot more that they needed to know, that was frankly no one else's business, but they couldn't really tell anyone that. If they did, then they would have to explain what in the world they were talking about.
"Thank you, Tommy," Kim said giving him a kiss on the cheek, before turning to go inside, having to stop to answer some questions every few feet as she headed towards the door.
"So, we're staying tonight?" Adam asked with a smile as Kat laughed at the expression that was settling on Tommy's face.
"Yeah, unless you don't have some things that you need to talk to us about," Tommy said, leaving it hanging as they all knew that he could not say much more if he wanted to make sure that nothing happened to all of them.
"Works for me," Aisha said, as the female's decided they were going to go off and talk about this, as the guys had other things that were sure to come up in their conversation with Tommy that would disturb them more than anything else.
After the Barbecue"Hey sleepyhead," Tommy said with a smile, as Kim walked down the stairs and was carefully pulling her hair back into a rather messy ponytail.
She seemed to be rested, but if she was to sit still much longer, then she would fall asleep against his side again. He could tell by looking at her that, that was true and they all knew that by the look on her face as well. She might have had a chance to rest, but her body still wanted to sleep a great deal more.
"How long did I sleep?" Kim asked, as she went to sit down beside Tommy on the couch, as she noticed the other rangers were hanging around the living room. They seemed to have been waiting to get the two of them in the room together before they started having the important conversational topics come up. If only one of them was there, then they wouldn't have the full story come out and there was no need to ask all of this twice.
"A few hours," Tommy said, as she looked at him wondering if what he said was really true, but it had gotten much darker outside, so that led her to believe that that was true.
She had only planned to sleep for about fifteen minutes, but her body had kept her asleep for much longer than that. Well, considering what time she had rolled out of bed this morning, she was not really surprised about all of it and she had a feeling that her friends weren't all that mad about it. They had dealt with much worse over the years and she was sure that they would deal with worse if they kept on being rangers. It just kinda came with the package, which was not something that they would willingly admit to.
"So, what do you know about Mesogogg or is it more of the same right now?" Kat asked, as Tommy closed his eyes at the mention of everything else that was going on in their life.
It would not have been a problem if he was gone, but he was still there and none of them were sure what Tommy would do if something were to happen to Kim or the baby. He had already had his nerves pushed one time, he couldn't have them pushed again. If they were then he was likely to go on a one-man mission and they did not like the sound of that at all. He would not think rashly and would possibly kill anyone that got in his way, even his friends. He had usually been able to calm himself down, but from the experience of the last time that she had been captured; they all wanted to highly suggest to Mesogogg that he never try it again.
"We know that his tryadrone resources are now non existent, but he still has his main cohorts helping him. None of them look to be too willing to turn away from him, although Richard is the shakiest of all of them. He is still a full human, unlike Elsa and Zeltrax," Billy said, as he had been doing a great deal of research with Alpha, as Hayley had not completely recovered from the mental distress that their last problem had caused.
She had been avoiding the command center over the last few weeks, but she would soon be going back down there to help with the modifications that need to be done. They did not trust Tommy to do them alone and now they really weren't going to let him, as him blowing up the house with his wife in it was never a good idea.
"We also know that my powers will protect me some if Richard or one of the other's attack me, but from what Alpha has found out, I don't need to morph at all. There is no telling what the power surge might do to the baby or me right now. I just can't risk something like that happening," Kim said quietly, as they all stared at her, wondering how she was able to be so calm about it. When she looked up, she wiped her eyes to try to keep from letting it bother her anymore, but they could all tell that it was pulling at her heart to have to say it. She didn't want to admit that she just couldn't be a ranger, no matter how much she needed to sit on the sidelines and watch.
"So, we really are one ranger down out there? It's not just talk, you really can't go out there?" Conner asked, knowing what the answer would be long before Tommy said anything to him.
It was obvious from the beginning that she was not going to be with them, but the bigger question was would he be willing to go out there with them right now. If he wasn't, what were they going to do? They needed him to be out there with them, at least some of the time. He was the person that boosted their team moral, when no one else could manage to do it.
"At least one ranger down. I'm not going out there unless you really need me to help you. You know how I feel about risking things and this is something I can not risk," Tommy said, as several of the rangers nodded that they agreed with what he was saying, although the Dino rangers were staring at him, wondering how he could abandon them now. He had to be losing his mind to say that he would not help them at all.
"Whoa, you're not fighting either? I thought that it would just be Kim if something like this happened not you, too," Kira said, as she noticed that Kim had given him a suspicious look, but she knew that she was not going to be able to talk him out of it. He looked determined, he wanted to keep his wife safe, and staying at home during the battles would help with that some, although there were bound to be times that he would be needed out there. It just never seemed like he was going to get a true break from all of it. "What happens if we get down and we can't get in touch with you? Dr. O, we can't leave here without knowing that you'll come help us if we really need you."
"That shouldn't happen and we all know that he will come," Hayley said, looking over at Tommy. They had talked about updating Tommy and Kim's communicators and now they were in the process of doing just that. It didn't matter where Tommy was, they would be able to reach him, and they would be able to get him out there, if it was absolutely necessary to do so. There were some times when he needed to stay at the dojo or the school, as to not arouse anymore suspicion, but he would leave if it was absolutely necessary and the same went for Kim, up until now. Now, she would be teleported places only if there was a threat to her that she could not get away from by some other means. They didn't exactly know what teleportation would do, but it would not be as bad as morphing, they were sure of that much. "We've done some modifications and it should make it much easier for us to get in touch with him, if we have to."
"What happens if Kim's captured by Mesogogg now?" Trent asked as they looked over at him for a few seconds.
No one else would have been willing to ask about that, but it was his father and he did not want to know that he had caused someone's death in the back of his mind when he was fighting him. If he did that, he didn't know what he would do to his father and Tommy got the impression about what he was thinking. He hated knowing that Trent knew whom he was going up against, but they had no choice but to deal with it.
"The same thing that happened last time. We'll do whatever they ask to get her back, safely, and then we'll worry about ourselves. We have to look out for others first and ourselves second," Tommy said, gripping Kim's hand as he struggled with his own emotions.
This was one topic that he had hoped to avoid, but it came up now, which was better than later in some respects. He was going to become more emotional as all of this went further along and he could hardly bare to think about it happening now, but it happening later really worried him. Right now she could still fight some and not worry about it harming the baby, but as the baby grew, then she would have to worry about that very thing.
"But Alpha will teleport her out of harm's way if he detects it in time," Billy said, as he had talked with Alpha about that very thing, although it had not been in the context of her being pregnant. He was going to have to do some tests to insure that the teleportation would not do anything to the baby, but other than that, everything would go the same as planned or so he hoped.
"I just want to know one thing," Jason said, as he had been keeping quiet, as he knew that all of this needed to be said. His question was about as ominous as Trent's, but they had to face the harsh reality that it might come true. There was no telling how long it would take Mesogogg to come back and if they didn't deal with it now, then they would never truly deal with it. "What happens if we have to fight Mesogogg before the baby is born? We'll be down one pink ranger as is, I don't know if it is good for us to be down two."
"Ya'll have to fight. You don't have a choice about it," Kim said, as Tommy looked at her and started to object to her statement, but he knew that everything that she was saying was true. He would have to fight then, no matter how much he wanted to stay with her and try to keep Mesogogg from messing with her and their baby. She could take care of herself and they all knew that, although it some times did land her on the gurney in the command center. This time, though, they could not deal with that happening. Tommy would lose his mind this time and they all knew it. "I can take care of myself and I highly doubt that Hayley and Alpha will let me out of the command center if that happens. Listen, you can not shun your duty because I'm pregnant. I don't expect any of you to act any differently than you did when we fought together, I just won't be out there, simple as that. There is nothing that we can really do about it now."
"Why does that sound hard to believe?" Aisha asked with a smile, as they all knew how Kim was when she was in a situation like that.
Alpha and Hayley might have to lock her in the command center closet, as they knew how she would start begging to go out there. Especially if something happened to Tommy, then they probably wouldn't be able to control her, but they would because they were asked to or at least they would try to control her, somehow.
"Because we all know how Kim is when things happen," Tommy said, as he knew that they had still not resolved the problem of whether she would fight at all.
"I promise, I'm not going out. I want this baby too much to not do what is needed to be done. I won't set one hand on my morpher until after the baby is born, I promise," Kim said, with a tinge of sadness in her voice, but Tommy gave her a firm hug before smiling down at her.
They had all thought that Tommy and Kim had already worked this situation out, but it was now obvious that they had not. None of them could imagine why she would even want to go out there now, but there were some reasons that popped into their brains. She had never liked letting Tommy be out there without her and it was possible that she was willing to risk things to keep him safe, although he was not willing to let her do that.
"Thank you," Tommy whispered, where no one else could hear him. Several of the other rangers were surprised to see how Tommy was reacting, but they knew that they had, had their fair share of problems before now.
"Hey, I know that this is crazy to say, but I think that we're going to go ahead and go home. I don't know how much more news I can take in one day and it seems that we could talk about things for hours," Kat said, as Adam nodded in agreement. Several of their other friends got up at the same time, preparing themselves to leave, as they knew that they really had only so much that they could do. It was now their waiting game to play, no matter how much they disliked it.
AN: There is only one chapter left, I hope that you like it and feel free to review!