A.N: This one came out faster . . . I think. Which is amazing since my thesis hasn't come out of hiding yet and it's due in 3 weeks, or something like that. How far away is March 9th again? Anyway, this is the one of the long awaited, at least by me, first dates. I picked Taylor to go first because I had a kick-ass idea for Amanda's thats taking a bit more time. But I'm probably about half done with that one as well so hopefully it will be out by next week. Umm so read, enjoy, review all that fun stuff.

Tommy ground his teeth as he paced his study trying desperately not to act like the boorish Neanderthal his wife had accused him of being at dinner. All because he wasn't ready to watch one of his girls walk out the door with some man. Hell not even a man, she was 16, he was 17, they are both still children. He clenched and unclenched his hands helplessly as he remembered Kim telling him they should be glad Taylor had waited until she was 16 instead of say 14 the way so many other girls her age had done. Inwardly Tommy agreed, he likely would have beaten the hell out of any guy that had even suggested, hell thought about, taking his 14-year-old daughter out on a date. If he had his way his girls wouldn't date until they were 30, if ever. Personally he'd always thought convents were a great destination.

Kim kept telling him that he was being hypocritical since when he was 16 he'd had quite a healthy appreciation for the girls. And she kept pointing to their daughters as proof of this affection but so far as he was concerned that merely proved his point. He was pretty sure he'd seriously damage any boy that got one of his girls pregnant before marrying her, he was unsure how Mr. Hart had kept himself from calling him, Tommy, out. But he knew he wouldn't be so restrained. And besides, him at 16 was a totally different story. These were his little girls. So a convent seemed like a perfect option. Kim, however, had vehemently disagreed and now he found himself pacing and waiting for some kid to come pick up his daughter for her first date. He was not amused.

Suddenly he dropped into his desk chair and buried his face in his hands. "Where in the hell did the time go?" He thought to himself miserably. He looked up at the picture of the four of them from his wedding day and tired to gel that picture of a smiling 11-year-old with the one in his mind of his 16-year-old daughter. He was startled a moment later when someone put their hand on his shoulder, but instinctively he knew who it was. Reaching up he covered the questioning hand with his own. "What happened?" He asked, voice rough with emotion. "Where's my little girl gone Kimmie?"

Kim circled the chair and curled into his lap, laying her head on his chest. "They grew up Tiger. And we have to let them."

"I'm not ready to let them go yet."

"Neither am I," Kim sighed, "neither am I."

"The Carmelites" Tommy started but stopped when she swatted him."

"No dear. We're going to let them grow up. We're going to let Taylor go out with this boy tonight and we're going to hope she has a good time. And I'm going to pretend I'm mad when you stay up waiting for them but I'll actually be thrilled. And I'll be waiting up for you to come back to bed so you can reassure me that she came home fine."

"Deal." Tommy twisted his neck a bit and dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead before laying an even more gentle hand on her slightly rounded belly. "How is Adrian's baby brother doing tonight?"

"The baby is fine. But I don't know why you're so certain we're having a boy. I'm pretty sure it's another girl."

"Self preservation" Tommy answered. "Adrian and I are a little outnumbered around here, especially since Ethan moved out. Since Kira's moving out next month when she finally drags Conner to the altar if you have another boy then there will actually be gender equality around here. Besides Adrian wants a little brother. And Jason wants a namesake."

"You give Jason a namesake and every other male ranger you've ever served with will demand one as well." Kim giggled as she remembered what had happened at the Ranger get together that Jason had hosted at his house, what used to be her house as well, the month before.

"What's so funny?" Suspicion tinged Tommy's voice. Kim giggling for no reason could be a very dangerous thing.

"I was just remembering what happened at Jason's. All of you guys sitting around arguing about who was going to name whose baby after whom and why. All of us girls found it kind of cute."

"Well Jase has a point. You named the girls after the other female rangers you served with. And they're your best friends as well. He just wants us to name one of our boys after him."

"Remember, we do that and every other male Ranger you've served with would be clamoring to be next. You think they'd applaud us for going to the effort of finding names that don't include any of them instead of only honoring a few." Kim sounded disgusted with this lack of appreciation on the part of the male Rangers.

"We could pull names out of a hat. Then it would be up to chance."

Kim glared at him. "We are not pulling our child's name out of a hat Thomas." Her eyes turned thoughtful. "We could name him after his daddy."

Tommy paled. "You want to name the baby after me?"

"Yeah." Kim eyes his pale face with confusion. "Is that a problem?"

"People might call him junior" Tommy whispered in an appalled tone.

"And you don't like that."

"No, it's terrible. It implies he's not really his own person but a mini-clone of his father. I don't want a mini-clone, it's a scary idea."

"Even though Adrian looks exactly like you," Kim said dryly.

"But he's not a junior."

"Thomas could be his middle name. Then he wouldn't be a junior."

Tommy brightened. "I could handle that. Nicholas Thomas would . . ." he trailed off when he noticed Kim was shaking her head.

"That kid from Mystic Force is Nick."

"I didn't serve on Mystic Force. I stayed far away from the scary cape wearing team." Tommy sounded marginally affronted that she would even suggest such a thing.

"And what would happen if the Legend named his son after someone he didn't even serve with?"

"Umm, his best friend would kill him and his poor widow would be forced to raise their children all alone?"

"Yep. And I don't want to raise them alone."

The doorbell ringing interrupted their conversation and reminded Tommy of what was going to occur tonight. He stiffened and accidentally tightened his hand on Kim's a tad beyond her comfort zone. "Ouch" she said, tugged on the offended appendage. "It'll be okay handsome. They're just going out for pizza and a movie. It's not like Prom or something."

Tommy turned slightly wild eyes on her. "But he's a boy. I remember being that age. You seriously think I want my little girl around me at that age?"

"I was with you at that age. You were a perfect gentleman. And should this Preston be less of a gentleman then he ought remember who taught your daughter how to defend herself."

Tommy relaxed a bit after being reminded that he and the man he considered to be his biggest competition had been the ones to teach the twins to defend themselves. "If she's forced to use what I taught her," he growled, "this boy will wish he'd never been born."

"I'm sure. Now how 'bout we go meet him so you can threaten him in person. That will no doubt be much more effective then you telling me things I already know." She pressed a kiss to his lips to let him know she wasn't mad and then slipped off his lap and held out her hand. "Coming?"

They entered the living room to find Amanda talking with a guy they assumed was Taylor's date. He was tall with the almost gangly build a lot of 17-year-old boys have. He hadn't yet filled in, he was still growing into and getting used to his long arms and legs. He had the slightly muscular build of an athlete going through a growth spurt and the skinny body of many teenage boys. His curly black hair had been grown a bit longer then was fashionable in an effort to tame it, but it didn't quite reach his shoulders. His grey eyes widened a bit in fear when he noticed the couple in the doorway.

"Dr. Oliver?" He said, surprise evident in his voice. "You're Taylor's father?"

"Mr. King. Why am I surprised? How many 'Preston's' can there be running around this town?" Tommy's voice was decidedly more welcoming then his prior attitude would have led one to believe would be possible while meeting his daughter's date.

Preston visibly relaxed at the welcoming tone of Tommy's voice before turning to Kim. He held out his hand. "Preston King ma'am."

She took the proffered hand. "Kimberly Oliver. You know my husband?"

"Yes ma'am. He's been my science teacher for the last three years. This year I'm taking his A.P Biology class as well as A.P. Chemistry."

"Impressive. So you're a senior?"

"Yes ma'am."

"What are you planning on doing after graduation?"

"I'm going to study science at UC Berkley. I haven't decided which particular branch of science I want to focus on yet. But the core classes for any of the science majors are the same so I have some time to make up my mind."

"Appease my curiosity Mr. King and tell me how it is that you met my daughter. I was unaware that senior and sophomores spent an appreciable amount of time together." Tommy was genuinely curious. The teacher's gossip network at Reefside High was usually pretty good which was part of why he'd been so nervous. There hadn't been anything that would have suggested Taylor had an interest in the young man in front of him. He'd assumed she was going to be going out with one of the boys from one of Reefside's two private schools. He was both relieved and surprised to see he was wrong.

"The squad decided to get in some extra practice by cheering at one of my track meets. We just started talking."

Before Tommy could further question this a throat cleared behind him and he watched in consternation as Preston's eyes left him and settled on a point behind him, his daughter he assumed. The disturbing part was the light in his eyes as he did so. A light Tommy recognized since it was in Kim's eyes every time she looked at him. Just as he was sure it was in his own when he looked at her. Fortunately Taylor saved him from dwelling on it overly much, at least for now.

"Sorry I'm late. Adrian hid my shoes and I had to look for them."

Preston smiled. "It's okay, the wait was worth it. And I got to talk to your parents a little. I'm sure they appreciated that. I know my parents interrogated Josh the first time he took Rose out."

Tommy turned to face his daughter and had to blink several times. This young woman was his little girl? Impossible.

Taylor had lived up to her early promise of height, ending up just shy of 5'9". However, since Preston stood at 6'2" she'd paired her pink sundress with a pair of heeled, strappy white sandals. She'd done something to her hair to make the natural red highlights stand out even more and she'd caught up most of the curls in a clip, leaving only a few to tumble around her neck and shoulders. Tommy couldn't find anything to complain about, the dress hit just above her knees and the neckline was perfectly modest but the picture she presented nevertheless disturbed him. It was a picture that made it perfectly clear that his little girl had grown up, that she was indeed a young lady now.

Preston was definitely appreciative of the image. "Wow." He said when he got a good look as she came into the room. "You look absolutely amazing." Taylor didn't respond vocally but she did flush a light pink with pleasure. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep." Taylor hugged her twin and her mother and then stepped in front of Tommy. "Do you like him daddy?" She asked quietly so no one else could hear. Tommy clenched his jaw but nodded. Taylor grinned and hugged him as well. "I love you daddy," she whispered in his ear and then she and Preston were gone.

"You approve of him, don't you?" Kim said into the silence left behind. "You let him out of here without a single threat." She explained in answer to his questioning look.

"He's a good kid. And he's always in my room during his free period and after classes. We've had a lot of good talks. I'm sure he'll be fine. If I was putting together a new team he'd be on it."

Kim looked suitably impressed. "High praise indeed."

"But I'll still be waiting up for them to return."

Kim laughed. "And the Tommy I know and love returns."

The End