a/n: Guys...I hit 300 REVIEWS!
That is absolutely incredible and I have no one to thank but all of you. I have never had this much feedback on one of my fics before and it's so humbling. I know it might not seem like that big of an accomplishment but I am so proud of not only myself but also of all of you for sticking in there and reading each chapter. You guys make this so much fun and I love your reactions. This has been one of my most favorite fics to write so far and I am so glad that you are still here at Chapter 41! There's still so much left to Kim's story we have to get through so there's no giving up now!
On that note, I'm not sure how much I will be posting this week due to somethings going on for Jack's adoption. I will try my hardest to make at least on chapter by the weekend though!
Thank you for reading. Thank you for reviewing. Love you all!
December 19th, 2004
Olympic Valley, CA
We spent the evening eating and enjoying each other's company around the table. Trini had brought some type of Korean dessert which we ate with coffee and tea. We also made plans for the next day. Most of the group wanted to go skiing for a little bit while we were here. So, they would be going in the morning. For those of use who weren't going, we would be here getting ready for the party. I wished that I could go skiing. I hadn't been since I was a kid and thought it would be a fun adventure to do with everyone. But at least I knew I would have company with Aisha. Trini was also staying behind to help out. She said it was because she didn't want to leave us behind but I knew it had to do with her fear of heights. She could handle the skiing part but the lift was something that I knew she was terrified of.
Around midnight, we all started to turn in. I changed into my pajamas in the bathroom while Tommy helped Jason set the wood stove for the night and lock up. Marci came in from the bathroom, brushing her hair. "Do you think Trini would let me live here after I graduate? I could be like a groundskeeper." She asked, putting her brush on top of the dresser. I smiled at her over my shoulder as I pulled on my bulky wool socks on my feet.
"Probably not. It'd be worth a shot though." I replied. Grabbing my toiletries bag, I walked towards the doorway. "I'll be right back. Don't hog the bed." I pointed a finger at her as she crawled into the queen sized bed.
"No promises!" I heard her call out as I left the room. As I headed up the hallway, I heard a voice. It sounded automated and seemed to echo. I followed the source, heading over to the railing that overlooked the living room. Peeking over, I saw that Tommy was downstairs. He was alone and was standing by the fireplace. His cellphone was in his hand and I watched as he pushed a button on the Nokia.
"You have three new messages. Message one." The automated woman's voice said. There was a click and I could hear some traffic noises.
"Hi, Tommy! Good news! My sponsor parents had to cancel their plans for the weekend. I'll be able to come with you to the cabin. I know you're supposed to be leaving shortly. Could you please wait until I get there? Thanks!" Kat's voice said from the phone, her Australian accent more evident in the recording. Tommy pushed a button.
"Message erased. Next message." The voice said.
"Tommy! I must have just missed you guys. Can you give me a call with the address? I can just drive up and meet you all there. Give me a call back, alright? Love you." Kat said, her voice sounding winded. Tommy hit a button again.
"Message erased. Next message."
"Hey, Tommy. I don't know if you're getting my messages or not due to the reception. Please call or text me when you get this so I can know what the address of the cabin is. I'm really looking forward to this weekend with you. Please call me back." Kat's voice sounded more annoyed in this message. My heart sank. She wanted to come here. I wasn't going to get my wish of a Kat free weekend after all. I watched silently as Tommy stared at his phone, the automated system giving him a list of his options. I waited for him to call her back, feeling resentment. He moved his thumb, pressing a button.
"Message erased. End of new messages." The voice said before Tommy hung up. I heard him sigh and hang his head, rubbing his neck. He said something under his breath I didn't catch before he turned his cell phone off completely. When he turned to head to the stairs, I scurried to the bathroom.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of people laughing. Rolling over, I saw that Marci and Tommy were both gone. Squinting, I read the clock. It was only 8 am. Wasn't this supposed to be a vacation? I tossed the covers off of me and tossed my hair up into a bun before heading out of the room. The voices grew louder and I recognized Tommy and Jason's right away. I climbed down the stairs and found those two, Billy, Marci, and Trini sitting at the table. Each was sporting a coffee mug and there was a box of donuts opened in the middle of the table. They all turned to look up when I entered the room.
"Morning!" Jason said, wrapping an arm around Trini's chair.
"Don't you people ever sleep in?" I asked, walking towards the kitchen.
"Hard to when you're snoring in my ear." Marci said. I shot her a glare as I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
"I do not snore." I said, closing the fridge. I walked into the dining room and opened the cap of the bottle, taking a sip.
"Oh, yes you do." Jason said, nodding. "When you stayed with us, we could hear you."
"He's right." Trini said, giving me a small smile. "You do." I gave an expectant look at Tommy who was sipping his coffee.
"What?" He asked, setting the cup on the table. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean...maybe a little."
"What is this? Team up on the pregnant girl day? Jeesh. I'll just go back to bed then." I plopped down in the chair next to Marci who smirked at me.
"We still love you anyway." She said, hugging me.
"Thanks." I said flatly. Up the hallway, we heard some loud footsteps coming along with a weird swishing sound. We all looked up as Rocky walked into the room. He was wearing a neon blue snow suit, skiing boots on his feet, and large goggles on his face. He also wore some very thick and puffy snow gloves and had matching blue headband over his ears.
"Alright! Who's ready for skiing?" He said, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm pumped." Jason snorted, shaking his head.
"Exactly who will you be racing down the mountain to save the ski lodge against?" He asked, standing up. "You look like every eighties movie that has skiing in it."
"What do you mean?" Rocky asked, looking down at his outfit. "It's my Dad's. He gets a ton of compliments on it when he goes skiing."
"I bet." Marci said, finishing her coffee. Rocky frowned, walking over and sitting on the couch to pout. Everyone else rolled out of their rooms shortly after and those who were going skiing started getting ready. I made Marci promise to wear at least three layers of clothes to keep warm along with her coat. She resembled that of Ralphie's little brother in A Christmas Story when she came down the stairs but I at least knew she would be warm. Jason had run out and gathered more wood for us for when they were gone, stacking it next to the wood stove. The house was bustling with people as they started to load their skis and poles into Tommy's truck. I sat on the couch, flipping through a magazine as I watched them load up. Once everything was packed up, Tommy walked over and sat on the couch next to me.
"You sure you're okay with us going?" He asked. I nodded, closing the magazine.
"Yeah! You guys go and have some fun. We have a ton of stuff to keep us busy here. Just make sure you keep an eye on my young ward over there." I nodded over to Marci who was talking to Adam.
"I think the mountain has more to fear than she does." He replied, smiling.
"You're probably right." I leaned back into the arm of the couch.
"You coming, Tommy?" Jason called from the door. Tommy nodded in his direction before turning back to me again.
"If you need anything, Jason will have a satellite phone on him. Trini has the number for it." He said.
"We'll be fine. You should get going. You're not going to have much time out there if you waste it all here with me." I said, putting a hand on his arm. He smiled, nodding. Standing up, he bent over and gave me a hug.
"We'll be back in a few hours. Try to behave." He said, letting go of me. He turned, walking towards the door.
"Never." I called out, smirking at him over my shoulder. I shot him a wink, getting a smile from him in return. They filed out the front door, Trini closing it behind them as she gave Jason a kiss before they left. As they were loading up into the trucks, Aisha came waddling out from their bedroom.
"Are they gone?" she asked, looking out the window behind the couch. I nodded.
"About to be." I replied.
"Good." She sighed, sitting down next to me on the couch. She put her hands on her extended and round belly. "Rocky is sweet but he can be a bit much when he hovers around me. I hope these next three weeks fly by."
"Oh, I'm sure they will." Trini said, walking into the living room with a large bowl of popcorn. She sat on my other side and put the bowl between us all. She also handed each of us a roll of twine and a needle. "I can't believe it's almost your due date already!"
"I know. It seems like this year has just flown by." Aisha said, grabbing a handful of popcorn. She started to thread the needle through the pieces of popcorn, making garland. "I'll pop and the next thing you know, it'll be your turn." She said, smiling at me.
"Let's not rush it, alright?" I said, tossing my magazine down on the coffee table. "Can I ask you guys something?"
"About your pregnancy?" Trini asked, tucking her legs under her. She started her own popcorn chain, stringing it on the floor in front of her. I shook my head, biting my lip.
"No." I glanced between the two of them. My two best friends. I could trust them with anything, right?
"Ohhh. This is gonna be something good. I can tell by the look on your face!" Aisha said. She shifted, putting her feet up on the couch so she was facing me. "Spill!"
"Last night, I sorta overheard Tommy deleting a bunch of voicemails from Katherine. I wasn't trying to spy. I was on my way to the bathroom and kinda happened to find myself in the right place at the wrong time." I explained.
"Okay. Maybe they were old and he was just cleaning out his inbox." Trini said. I shook my head.
"They were from yesterday morning. She tried to get a hold of him before we left. Something about being able to go now. Then there were two others about wanting the address so she would be able to drive here herself." I replied.
"So, did he call her back?" Aisha asked. I shook my head.
"He deleted them all and turned his phone off." Aisha looked at me, surprised. "What?"
"When I had lunch with Kat last week, she told me that her and Tommy were going to get back together. They've been talking about it and she said that they were just waiting to make it official."
"Really? Why would Tommy want to get back together with Kat after what she did to him?" Trini asked. "She left him for some guy and married him!"
"I know. The guy she was with wasn't that great either. I still don't see why she would do that." Aisha said, shaking her head. I cleared my throat. Both of them turned and looked at me, realizing what they had said. "Oh! Girl, you know you aren't the same."
"Oh, no? Please tell me how it's not. Besides, at least Kat was able to leave her husband without having to be rescued." I pinched the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut for a second. "It's fine. I know I fucked up. That's not the point though. Why do you think Tommy would do that though?"
"Kim, I don't think it's that hard to figure out." Trini said, smiling at me. "I think Tommy still has feelings for you." I looked at her, narrowing my eyes.
"You're the one who told me he just wanted to be friends, Trini Kwan." I said, crossing my arms. "You stressed that point to me."
"Cause that's what I thought he wanted! Jason said that Tommy had said something like that. I figured if I told you, you wouldn't get hurt in the end." I stood up, pacing the floor by the couch.
"Do you still love Tommy?"Aisha asked. I shot her a look. "Alright. Dumb question. Why don't you just tell him then?"
"Cause my entire life is the definition of complicated right now." I said, dropping my hands to my sides. "I can't expect him to just be okay with my pregnancy and having Marci. Things were surprisingly so much easier when I just had an abusive husband to deal with. Now I have more baggage than an airport."
"You should just tell him. He can't make a decision if he doesn't even know." Aisha said. Trini nodded.
"She's right." She said. "You can't expect Tommy to make any kind of choice when he doesn't even know how you feel about it. Besides, if he didn't want anything to do with the baby or Marci, he would have made that perfectly clear by now." I looked between the both of them.
I've known Trini all of my life and I would trust Aisha with my life. Could I trust them with knowing the truth about the baby? And if they knew, would they think any less of me from keeping this from Tommy? I knew they would. Deep down, I knew that the moment they found out about the baby being Tommy's, they would think I was this horrible person and would tell him.
"You really think I should tell him how I feel?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the couch by Trini's feet. "What if he turns me down?"
"Then he turns you down. But at least then you would know and wouldn't feel like this." Aisha said. Above our heads, there was a loud buzzing noise. Aisha and I looked around, confused.
"It's the sensor at the beginning of the driveway." Trini explained. "Someone must have pulled in the driveway."
"Are the guys back already?" I asked. Aisha shook her head.
"It's only been an hour. There's no way." Trini stood up and walked over to the window. I stood up as well and Aisha looked over the back of the couch as best as she could.
"Could it be your parents, Trini?" I offered.
"I mean, it could be. I thought my mother said they were going to be out of town this weekend though." She stepped closer to the window, looking down the long driveway. "Who do we know that owns a grey Jeep?" She asked, glancing at Aisha and I. I shrugged.
"I have no clue." I replied. I could hear tires coming up the gravel road, driving slow. The vehicle appeared and I heard Aisha make a noise. I turned, looking over at her.
"I think you spoke too soon, Kim." She said. The Jeep parked and I watched as the driver side door popped open, Kat climbing out. She smiled, waving at us through the window.
"Well, that changes things." I muttered. Kat grabbed a bag from the back of the jeep before running up the steps towards the front door. Trini walked over and opened the door, allowing the girl in. She was a pink winter jacket and a pair of tight black jeans, boots on her feet. She set her bag down on the floor next to the couch, unzipping her coat.
"Hey! I'm glad I found the place." She said, smiling.
"We didn't know you were coming." Trini said, taking her coat from her.
"I wasn't planning on it but there was a last minute change of plans. Where's Tommy? I've been trying to reach him since yesterday morning." She looked around.
"He went skiing with the guys." I explained. "He's been having issues with having no service out here."
"Oh. Well, that explains it! For a minute, I was worried he was ignoring me."
"How did you find us?" Aisha asked, finishing her popcorn string. She set it on the coffee table and moved to mine that was abandoned.
"I had to go to the library to look up your parents on the internet, Trini. Luckily, I found the address for this place. It's gorgeous!" She replied, pulling her boots off. She set them neatly with the rest of our shoes on the mat by the door.
"Thank you." Trini said, giving her a polite smile. "Let me show you where you can put your things for now. We will need to change up some of the sleeping arrangements once everyone gets back."
"Thanks!" Kat grabbed her bag and followed Trini up the stairs. Once they were out of sight, Aisha threw a handful of popcorn at me. I turned, giving her a look.
"This is your chance. You need to tell Tommy how you feel before that blonde bimbo beats you to it. If you don't, Tommy just might make the biggest mistake of his life and agree to go out with her again. None of us want that. You need to tell him. Tonight." I nodded, looking back up the stairs.
"I will."
