a/n: Here's our next chapter! Sorry for the delay. School is kicking my ass. Hope you enjoy!
November 23rd, 2004
Angel Grove, CA
It took some time but after the first few days, the three of us adjusted to living together. Tommy was able to find a good routine to help him keep life as normal as it used to be for him without worrying he was under our feet. He even learned Marci's bathroom schedule fairly quickly. This was partially due to the fact she had blindly walked in on him getting ready for the shower. Since then, we've all learned a thing about boundaries and how to use the lock on the door.
Tommy's property was cleared by the fire department about a week later. We went over as a group and picked through the rubble to see what we could find to salvage. There wasn't much really. We did find his fireproof safe with his important documents inside. And surprisingly, his clothes that had been in the dryer were saved from the flames. He was relieved just to have something of his to put into the bins we had brought. All in all, we had about three bins worth of stuff that was salvageable. Most of it needed a good cleaning and airing out to get rid of the smoke smell. It was heartbreaking to stand in the middle of the pile where the dojo used to be and see the twisted bits of metal that were his fridge and shower. I watched as Tommy bent over something a few feet away, picking it up. He ran his thumb over the item before shaking his head and shoving it into his pocket. I didn't get a chance to see what it was though before we moved on to the next section.
The following day, clean up crews came and took out the rubble. Trini and Jason were also finally able to move back home. It took weeks and nearly $10,000 to repair and replace everything. I couldn't help much since I was pregnant but I was able to help with decorating and some painting of the trim as long as they kept the house open and aired out enough. The house looked great, feeling more homey now than it did before. The guilt I felt about them having to do this was still there along with the lingering wonder of who could have done this. There had been no clue or leads in the case and the police department had pretty much declared it dead in the water. It bugged me that they couldn't get the answers they wanted about what happened and why. It also creeped me out to think there was someone out there who had done this to them and had possibly tried to kill Tommy. That investigation was still ongoing but it seemed that they were going to rule it an accidental gas leak. That didn't sit easily with any of us, so we made a rule that no one was to travel without someone with them.
Can we talk about how annoying that rule got REAL quick?
I knew it was an important thing to agree with and I didn't want anyone to get hurt. But with Tommy now not having a job or anything to do until he received his insurance money, it left him a whole lot of free time to hang out. By hang out, I mean hovering around the theater while I was at work. It wasn't bothersome and I knew what he was doing but it was a bit over the top being with him all day at work and then at home. At the theater, he has started helping deconstruct the sets from the Music Man and started helping build new ones for the next production of RENT that was opening in April. He always made himself busy but he wouldn't let me run across the street to the coffee shop without him in tow. He did the same with Marci. Either him or Jason would drive her to school and then Aisha and Trini would take turns picking her up. She was loving it though. She was able to spend time with Aisha, her idol. And of course, Jason. I'm pretty sure she was under the impression that her crush was a secret but I could see it now each time she was around him.
I wasn't the only one who was getting the chaperone treatment. Rocky and Adam were stuck to Aisha like glue, something that was getting on her nerves at a quicker rate than mine. I heard her chew out Rocky about it three times since it started but he was never one to give up too easily. And Trini also had Jason as a tail, Billy hanging around when Jason had to do other things. He also had some more free time with the dojo being down and out. Our group was spending a lot of time together and I wished it wasn't because we were all on edge about whether our houses were going to end up in Oz or not.
"Marci!" I called out, bending over and grabbing the metal pasta strainer from under the counter. I heard her footsteps on the stairs as she bounded down them. She walked into the kitchen, stopping in the doorway.
"What's up?" She asked.
"Will you do me a favor and chop up the cheese and pepperoni for me?" I replied, turning the burner off under the pot of boiling water that was on top. It clicked off and I set the strainer in the sink.
"You want me to cut the cheese." She said, grinning at me as she grabbed the cheese knife from the drawer next to me. Walking over to the fridge, she set the knife down on the table and opened the fridge door.
"You should take your show on the road." I said over my shoulder as I carefully picked up the pot and dumped the contents into the strainer. Steam billowed up above my head as the noodles dumped into it. I set the empty and hot pan in the other part of the sink and turned on the cold water, running it over the noodles.
"You'd miss me too much. Besides, I reserve my talents for entertaining the masses here." She scooped out the brick of cheese and the stick of pepperoni from the top shelf of the fridge and closed the door. Sitting down at the table, she cut the wrappers off of each and started cutting. "Where's Tommy?" She asked. "If you bend over, are his feet going to dang out of your butt?"
"He's working out in the garage." I replied, shooting her a glare. "And shush."
"What? It's true. Guy needs a hobby." She popped a piece of cheese in her mouth as she sliced the brick.
"His house just blew off the face of the Earth. I think he gets a free pass. Besides, he's keeping busy. Just wait until we're all crammed inside one house for Thanksgiving."
"You guys go way out for a holiday about turkey genocide." Marci mused. "Our family never really celebrated it. Course, we hated each other year round. No reason to get together for one big dinner."
"Thanksgiving is always a blast with us. We all get together, Trini cooks amazing food, and we just enjoy each other's company. This is only my third Thanksgiving with everyone. We started it two years before I moved to Miami when my mother moved to France. They continued the tradition after I left. I'm excited about being back for it! And you'll get to be there too. Wait until you try Trini's turkey. It's delicious. And Aisha's sweet potato casserole is the best I've ever had. Rocky makes this dish too that his grandmother taught him. I can't wait to eat tomorrow."
"Yeah. You're not pregnant or anything." She laughed, smiling over at me. "I'm excited to. You guys really feel like more of a family than my actual family ever felt. I'm happy I can be here and I'm extremely grateful that you let me stay here with you."
"I'll need a free babysitter eventually." I said, shrugging my shoulders. She snorted, rolling her eyes. I turned the water off and made sure the noodles were all cooled off. I tapped the strainer, getting rid of the access water. I shook the strainer above the sink, the droplets falling into the sink. Once it was dry, I poured the noodles into the large mixing bowl next to the sink. Marci scooped the cheese and the pepperoni into a smaller bowl and walked it over to me.
"What are you making?" She asked, eyeing the bowl. The noodles were three different colors; green, orange, and the typical yellowy beige. I poured the contents of her bowl on top and grabbed the large bottle of Italian dressing that was on the counter.
"Crap salad." I said, squeezing the contents of the dressing into the bowl. She raised an eyebrow at me.
"I mean, it probably won't taste that bad." I laughed, shaking my head before stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon.
"My grandfather used to call this type of pasta salad crap. He could never remember the name of it or how to describe it so he'd call it the salad with all the crap in it. We always called it crap salad after that."
"I like it." She said, looking into the bowl. "Smells good at least."
"It'll be better with the grape tomatoes and the olives." I replied, setting the spoon down. "It's the only thing I could really think of to share."
"I think it'll be a hit. How are you feeling? I heard you in the bathroom this morning. Still fighting that morning sickness?" She asked, taking the dirty dishes from me and putting them in the sink. I nodded, sighing.
"Yes but thankfully, it's not as bad as it was in the beginning. I'm grateful to be out of that stage."
"Look at that. Not puking can be your reason to be thankful this year." She said, grinning at me.
"I'm sure I can think of a few more things than that."
The next day, I woke up to the smell of eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls baking downstairs. I rolled out of bed and made my way down there where I found Marci sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in hand. I walked into the kitchen and saw that Tommy had been the one cooking. He was stirring some eggs in a bowl and dumped them into a hot frying pan. As he did, he looked over his shoulder and saw me standing in the doorway.
"Morning! How'd you sleep?" He asked. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, dark green tank top on his torso and green flannel pajama pants on his legs.
"Fine. And you?"
"Alright. It's a tradition of mine to make breakfast and watch the parade. Hope you don't mind." I smiled.
"I haven't seen the parade in years. It sounds like a wonderful tradition."
"Great. Go sit down and I'll bring you out some breakfast." He said, holding up a spatula.
"Let me grab some coffee and I'll be right out of your hair." I walked over to the coffee marker and grabbed an empty cup from the cupboard. I poured myself some, the one and only cup of coffee I would be allowed to have. Living with Tommy and Marci was like living with the pregnancy police. They monitored everything I did and made sure it went by the standards given to me by not only my doctor but also those books Trini had read. If I wasn't the one who had helped Tommy unpack, I would have thought he had snuck a few of them home to read with the amount of facts he would read off to me whenever I did something that went against it.
"So, what's the story with those pots and pans in the garage?" Tommy asked, stirring eggs around the pan while I added sugar and cream into my coffee.
"They were Trini's grandmother's. I stole them from their house when it was trashed to see if I can't fix them up. I was able to get most of the paint thinner off of them but I'm having trouble buffing all the other stuff off." I explained. "I was hoping to give them to her for Christmas."
"I can help you. I'm sure it's nothing we can't figure out. She's going to love that." He said.
"I hope so. I think it would be a good way to have a piece of what they had before everything happened. Those pans mean the world to her and I want her to have them back in the same condition they were in when she first got them."
"We can take a look at them tomorrow." I scoffed at him, giving him a look like he had two heads. "What?"
"Did you forget what tomorrow is?" I asked. He looked at me confused.
"Friday?"
"Black Friday. The most important shopping day in the world. My butt will be walking around the mall until I can't take it anymore." Tommy rolled his eyes, scooping the eggs onto a plate.
"How silly of me to forget your favorite day of the year. How can I ever make it up to you?" I grinned.
"You can come with me and help me carry all of the baby stuff I'm going to be getting." He smiled back at me, the bacon popping in the pan in front of him.
"I think I could manage that."
"The parade is starting!" Marci called from the other room. I grabbed my cup of coffee and headed into the living room.
After eating and watching the parade, we all took turns getting in the shower and getting dressed. To my dismay, the dress I had been planning to wear didn't fit over my bump. I had to dig through and find something else, settling on a burnt orange sweater dress that had been my mother's and a pair of black tights. I didn't like the fact I was wearing my mother's old clothing but I had to admit it was cute and fall-like. I pinned the top of my hair back and put a light layer of makeup on, wanting to feel pretty for the festive occasion. I saw Marci and Tommy both felt the same way. He had dressed in a dark grey knit sweater with a pair of khakis while Marci wore a long black turtleneck with a matching leather belt around her waist and a slate pencil skirt. She matched her whole outfit with some knee high black heeled boots. Her hair for the time being was now orange, a soft but bright tone of the color.
Climbing into Tommy's truck, Marci carried my salad for me as we drove over. It was a short drive and when we arrived, I saw that everyone else's vehicles were already lined up along the curb. Climbing out, we walked up the sidewalk towards the front door. Tommy rang the doorbell and it opened seconds later, revealing Trini behind it.
"Hi!" She said cheerfully, smiling. She wore a brown a-line dress that had ruffles in the skirt and a rope tied around her waist. Her hair was down and her bangs were framing her face in the best way imaginable. "I'm glad you guys made it."
"Where else would we be?" Marci asked, shrugging her shoulders before walking in the door. Trini took the salad from her and shot me a grin before following behind the teenager. Tommy and I followed them, him shutting the door behind him once we were inside.
"Let me take your coat." He said, gesturing to my jacket. He helped me slip it off and hung it on the coat hook next to the door. In the house, I saw that all the guys were hanging out in the living room. Jason had put some good use to the insurance money, investing in basically a home theater. There was an even bigger television now and he had picked out wrap around black leather couches for the room. All of them had their eyes glued to the screen and I could tell they were watching football without even having to look at the TV. Something happened and Rocky and Jason jumped up, letting out loud cheers while Zack and Adam shook their heads. I noticed that Billy was missing from the group though.
"Where's Billy?" I asked Adam who stood up to give me a hug.
"He's hiding from all of this in the kitchen." He replied. Tommy slipped in and sat on the couch next to Jason who promptly handed him a beer. I made my move, heading through the livingroom and into the kitchen where I found all the girls standing as well as Billy. Aisha was sitting at the table, eating from some of the snacks Trini had set out. She was looking rather round these days, her now seven months pregnant. She looked lovely in the red dress that she wore and her braids tied back. Marci was talking to her, showing her something from a book that she had brought with her. Billy was standing in the other part of the kitchen, talking to Trini. He had a tan suit jacket on and some slacks, a beer in hand. He smiled when he saw me, walking over and giving me a quick hug.
"Hey, Kim. You look lovely." He said, kissing my cheek.
"Thanks, Billy. You look quite handsome. I see you were the smart one to hang out with us."
"You know how well I understand football." He replied.
"Probably about as well as we can understand you." I said, smirking at him.
"Try being here all day and having to listen to Jason set up the sound system for it." Trini said, opening up the over to check on the turkey. "I've been hiding in here since 7 am."
"Thankfully, Tommy only woke us up early to watch the parade." I replied. Behind me, I heard movement in the bathroom and the door opening up the hall. I turned to see who it was and was surprised to see someone standing directly behind me.
"Hello, Kimberly." Katherine Hillard said, smiling at me.
