Chapter 20: Return of Friends

Kimberly sighed as she was walking around with Kylie sitting on her hip. Hannah was practicing her gymnastics and Kimberly was smiling at her daughter and looked over at her sons. She laughed as she watched Hunter pin Blake to the ground. "Give?" Hunter asked. Kylie laughed at her brothers as Blake flipped Hunter over.

"Not quite," Blake replied.

"Boys, be careful," she instructed.

"With their mom being in charge, those boys won't be able to hurt each other," a voice commented.

Kimberly turned around and gasped. Jason stood there with a huge grin on his face. "JASON!" She shouted. She placed Kylie on the ground and ran as fast as she could towards Jason. Jason smiled as he hugged Kimberly tight and spun her around once. She then saw Trini there. "Trini!" She gasped. she then embraced her best friend with a shriek. She then pulled back and smiled. "How are you two?" She asked.

"We're so do much better and we see that you are too," Trini replied.

Kimberly nodded with a smile. "Where did these other three kids come from?" Jason asked. Trini nudged her husband.

"Jason, did you not hear me tell you that Kimberly had adopted three kids?" Trini asked.

"No, didn't hear that part," Jason replied.

Kimberly laughed and looked over at her children. "The two boys are my sons, Hunter and Blake. The other girl is my daughter, Hannah," she informed.

"Your boys are practicing karate I see," Jason commented.

"Some, they don't know that much," Kimberly agreed.

"Well, teaching karate is Jason's hobby now," Trini laughed.

"Go ahead, Jas, I think the boys would love it," Kimberly assured him.

Jason nodded and went to go talk to the boys. Kimberly smiled at the bump on Trini's stomach. "So, when's this little guy due?" Kimberly asked. Trini placed a hand on her stomach.

"Well, the baby's due anytime now. I had to talk Jason into coming here to see you before the baby's born," Trini commented.

Kylie hid behind her mother. "Well, she's shy," Trini commented. Kimberly smiled as she picked Kylie up. "But you can see Tommy in her," she added. Kimberly nodded and she kissed the side of Kylie's head.

"Sweetie, this is your Aunt Trini. It's been awhile since you last saw your aunt," Kimberly told her.

Kylie smiled at Trini. "Hi," she greeted shyly. Trini smiled at the young girl as she ran off to playing with Hannah. Kimberly sat down and looked at her children. Trini saw the twinkle in her eyes, something that disappeared after her attack. Trini sat down in the chair beside Kimberly.

"Those four make you so happy, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, I never felt so happy. My children are my life," Kimberly replied.

"Understandable."

Kimberly looked at her kids with a smile. She watched as Jason practiced karate with the boys. Trini was impressed by her best friend's oldest son's ability with karate. However, her eyes were drawn to Kylie. "Kylie looks just like her father," Trini commented. Kimberly nodded and smiled as Hannah started teaching Kylie some basic gymnastics.

"Careful, Hannah," Kimberly cautioned.

"No worries, mom," Hannah assured her.

"So, how exactly did this whole adopting thing come into the picture?"

Kimberly looked at her children again as she explained how it happened. After explaining how she got the other three. Trini was in disbelief. "Those poor children," Trini told her. Kimberly nodded and watched in amazement as Hunter did a flip over Jason's head and knocked him to the ground. "Wow! Hunter's very good," Trini commented.

"He is. Ryan's been teaching him some moves before he went into the desert," Kimberly replied.

Trini nodded and then she felt the baby kick. Kimberly looked over to see Trini rubbing her stomach, a familiar gesture she did often when she was pregnant with Kylie. Trini smiled at her friend, but then she saw the off look on her face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, just thinking, that's all," Kimberly replied.

Trini nodded and knew what she was thinking about. "Kim, don't think on the past," she insisted. Kimberly took a deep breath and sighed.

"It's hard not to, Trini," she answered.

Trini again nodded at her friend.

When they came to the Aqua-Base, the boys were doing their homework with Hannah right beside them. Kylie was taking her afternoon nap and Kimberly was looking over some mission reports that her Rangers just gave to her. Trini came in and was in disbelief at all the things she saw. "Well, it looks like you've gotten yourself together quite nicely," she commented.

"Yeah. Even Angela's getting me through college," Kimberly answered.

Trini sat beside her friend. "Look at you, Kim. Three years ago, you didn't know what to do. Now, you're here in this amazing place helping the Lightspeed Rangers," she commented. Kimberly couldn't help but smile at that. "This is amazing, Kim. Besides the fact that you're still helping the Rangers," she added.

"Yeah, I guess I can never escape the Ranger thing," Kimberly agreed.

Trini bit her lip when she felt pain course through her stomach. "Trini, are you okay?" Kimberly asked. Trini suddenly shook her head.

"I'm not okay," Trini replied.

Kimberly knew that face. She quickly led her friend to the infirmary.

(Hours Later)

Kimberly sighed in relief when she held the newborn in her arms. She looked up at Trini and Jason. "It's a boy...poor kid," she teased. She then had Angela clean the baby and stuff before wrapping him up in a warm blanket. "Here you are, Trini," she murmured. She placed the baby into her arms and Trini smiled as she held the baby. Jason wrapped his arm around Trini's shoulder and he looked at Kimberly. "Thanks for everything, Kim," he told her.

"Now we're even," she informed.

They looked at her confused. "You guys took care of me. Now, I just paid you back," she explained. She then smiled at them. "I'm very happy for you two," she added. Then she turned and walked away. Trini sighed and looked at Jason.

"It'll be years before we get the real Kim back," she informed.

Jason placed a hand on his wife's shoulder and shook his head. "No, the Kimberly we knew was a little naive. Over the course of these three years, she's starting to grow up," he explained.

Kimberly cleaned herself up and let out a heavy sigh. Her nerves were wracked up and she walked over to her desk where a letter sat.

Miss Hart,

This is the adopting agency. We're coming over to your home to see how the children are doing during the course of the three years. Your last inspection and you will never hear from us again. This is a way we can keep contact of our children to see how they are doing in their families. We're coming to see a few things:

1. The home is suitable for the children

2. No problems have come between the children and the parent

3. Interaction around other children

We will be looking at these main things. Thank you for your time, Miss Hart. We will arrive on Thursday, 2:40 pm. Have a nice day.

Signed,

Robert James Henderson

Kimberly bit her lip. She could tell this was a hoax. Someone had turned her in for being a single mother raising four children. "Why and who would do this to me?" She whispered. She looked over at the family portrait on her desk. "I'm not losing my children. You can't take my children from me," she whispered.