Here's the next chapter! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far!
There's no real warnings but there are some cute moments in this chapter.
So, go for it and see me at the bottom!
The Manor Living Room
July
It was Christmas in July at the Manor and the women of the house including Kimberly were sitting at the kitchen table with their laptops sitting in front of them. The men had taken the kids to the waterpark in order to give the women time to do their Online Christmas shopping.
Yes, it was true that it was only July, but when the online stores starting running their Christmas in July specials, they all realized that they could save themselves a lot of frustration during the holidays by buying some of the Christmas gifts during this month…not that they didn't go shopping during Black Friday, because goodness, they enjoyed the challenge, but this did take some of the pressure off their bank accounts.
So, here they sat, kid free with their big notebooks in front of them as they all surfed the internet for the best deals, sharing their info among the group as they did.
"What's all this?" Kira asked as she descended the stairs. Melanie was currently in the nursery doing what she needed to do and Kira was happy to leave her be. The sight of a Melanie being a mother left her on edge. Not that she despised her friend, but the thought of pregnancy and what came with it really got to her these days.
"Oh it's our Christmas in July party." Kat answered. "Come join in!"
"A party?" she asked in amusement.
Kat quickly filled her in on everything and Kira laughed. "You guys think of everything!"
"We can't help it," Kim answered as she looked up from her laptop. "Thinking smart is something that comes with the territory. This wouldn't be the first time!"
"Yeah, you told us that story last Christmas." Kira said. "The one about you and the others saving Santa!"
Kimberly nodded. "Yep, that's the one, but that wasn't the only challenge we faced that season."
Kira sat down in the chair at the end of the table. "Tell me all about it!"
Kim exhaled softly and took a moment to sip her latte. "This all happened around the same time, before we had all kinds of money. It was our first Christmas in the RV and we were looking for a way to make it festive. Sure, my dad could have given us money to do this, but Tommy and I were all about testing our wings and making it on our own."
"In the months since the fire took all our material possessions we'd slowly begun to replace what we lost. Dad had given us money to get the basics like clothes and food, but for things such as Christmas, we were on our own."
"So, naturally, the only place that made sense was the discount store."
-Flashback-
It was early afternoon as they walked into the store. They'd budgeted and found they could afford about 30 bucks worth of decorations.
"Hey, look at that, Beautiful! They have these nice white Christmas trees!" Tommy said as he lifted the box from a pile in the back of the store.
Kimberly smirked at him as she inspected a box. "You sure you're not biased over the color?"
"Hey, everything looks amazing on a white background." Tommy said with a matching smirk." He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Especially a sexy pink ranger."
"Very funny, Tommy." She replied with her arms crossed in front of chest. Tommy gave her a look that made her heart melt. "Ok, enough with the puppy dog eyes. Go ahead and put it into the cart."
Tommy grinned in triumph as he carefully put it into the cart.
Kimberly could only shake her head at his childlike glee as they began to shop around for more decorations.
End Flashback
"It's hard to imagine Dr, O giving anyone puppy dog eyes." Kira commented.
Kimberly sighed. "Well, our daughter had to get that skill from someone; she sure didn't get it from me!" She grinned but then sobered up. We should have seen it coming, especially after losing everything, but we were determined to make the best of things. We thought we were past the hard times, but as we found out, the harder times were headed right for us at breakneck speeds. I won't spoil the fun we're having by dredging them up, but since it's always story time around here, I'm sure they'll come up at some point."
When Kira nodded for her to go on, she closed her laptop. "That shopping trip was just one of a few that we went on during that season. One of the more eventful trips was to a Christmas bazaar that the local community event that the local catholic charity was putting on. We'd already put up the tree at home and decorated it, though we had yet to find a good topper. They had some nice stars and angels at the discount shop, but nothing that was worth spending our waning Christmas budget on."
"We were having some fun shopping around, until the trouble started."
"What kind of trouble?" Kira asked. "Did that Zedd guy you were fighting come after you?"
Kimberly sighed. "If only. I would have taken any of those tengas or the monster of the week over my mother showing up."
"Crap." Kira said softly.
"Yep, that's what I said among other colorful words."
-Flashback-
Tommy and Kim walked around the booths as cheerful Christmas music played overhead as they swung their joined hands gently between them. There were various decorations all around them for sale and they ranged from expertly made pieces to things obviously made by children.
Tommy stopped at a table filled with candles. These were homemade and sold in mason jars with whimsical price tags hanging off them. He lifted the lid off one and sniffed it.
Instantly he could smell Christmas, it was perfect. He looked at the tag and read Evergreen Wonder.
"Hey Kim. This would be perfect for the RV!"
Kimberly smelled the same candle and grinned up at him. "I love it. Let's get it!"
"So, It's true." Said a mean voice. "You've become trailer trash." Kimberly nearly dropped the candle as she whirled around. Thankfully, Tommy had quick reflexes and caught the jar in time. He growled softly feeling his mate's distress as he looked up to see Caroline standing in front of them with a judgmental look on her face. Flanking them, to her shock, was Veronica's mom and another woman with the same uptight look on her face.
"What do you care?" Kimberly said defiantly. "You threw me out for disagreeing with that asshole you married. You let him HIT me!"
Tommy held Kimberly's hand supportively.
"Well, that's what you get for disrespecting the man of the house. You were lucky he let you stay with us."
Kimberly tried to lunge for her but Tommy reacted with lightning speed and wrapped both arms around her midsection, holding his mate back. "Enough, Kim. Don't let this bitch get to you. She's not worth the energy it would take to kick her ass."
"She let that monster abuse me and she chose him over me!" Kim's voice was getting louder.
"I know, Beautiful. But that's over and done with. The life we have now is so much better than what you had living in that creep's house."
Kimberly was crying angry tears now and she finally let him hold her close to him.
"I think you've had your say, Mrs. Douche bag. You've done enough damage. You need to walk away now."
Caroline looked like she could care less. She didn't meet his gaze, but looked like she was more interested in her nails. "Actually, I'm here with the Angel Girls Club. They still need me to work the booth. So, really, it you guys who should go."
"Then I feel sorry for the club…having such a witch in charge of it." Tommy gave her a disgusted look and then turned back to the table and held Kimberly close to him.
"So, we'll take one of the evergreens and one of the peppermints." He said looking at the young nun that ran the booth. "That should make our home smell like Christmas."
End Flashback
"Damn, did she give you any more trouble after that?" Kira asked.
Kimberly smirked. "Nah," we found out through some town gossip that the loser had cheated on and divorced her. I didn't pay much attention after that, but I heard that she married a French painter and moved to France where she's living the high life. I really haven't don't give her much thought anymore, although I'm not sure what I'm going to tell Kayla when she starts asking why she doesn't have grandparents like the other kids."
They were quiet for a few minutes, then Aisha spoke up. "Kim, you didn't tell her about what else happened that year. It wasn't all bad."
Kimberly looked down at her ring finger and then grinned.
"Wait, Dr. O proposed that year, didn't he?" Kira pressed her with an amused grin.
Kimberly grinned. "Yeah and even though the ring wasn't the kind I thought I'd get as a little girl, he was just so sweet about it. He'd already asked for permission from my dad during our thanksgiving dinner with him. He bought the ring soon after."
-Flashback-
It had been a last minute plan to have a ranger gathering soon after their adventure to the northpole. They'd rented a large cabin at the local ski lodge and even Jason, Zack and Trini had flown home on break to join them.
That night, after going out to eat, they'd come back and while they all sat around the cozy fireplace, drinking their hot cocoa, Tommy gave Kim a soft look as she sat between Aisha and Trini.
"You look like you've got something on your mind, Handsome."
Tommy nodded and looked at everyone. Then he got up and walked over to the Christmas tree and pulled out a small box from between the branches.
Kimberly's breath caught at the implication of what it could be. Silently, Trini and Aisha moved away and sat with their significant others.
"Tommy, what's going on?"
When her mate knelt before her, and opened the box, she felt her heart start pounding in her chest.
"Beautiful, before I go any further, I want to tell you that I'm all in when it comes to our relationship. I was head over heels for you and that was before we gained the Ninjetti Powers. Our soul fusion only cemented us more and I can feel through our bond that you feel the same way.
I know this is probably not how you thought things would go, and I'm sorry that I couldn't find a more romantic way to do this, but…" He paused and handed her the box with the ring in it."
"Kimberly Ann Hart, I'm asking you to be my wife. I know it's going to take a while for.."
She cut him off as she jumped into his arms and kissed him heatedly.
Tommy barely had enough time to set the ring down, before he caught her. Neither of them could see it, but silent and amused chuckles were shared as they kissed.
Finally, Jason had to clear his throat.
When they finally broke apart, Kimberly had tears in her eyes, and Tommy had a big grin on his face as he slid the ring onto her finger.
After all that, their teammates swarmed them and hugs went all around.
Later that night, as Tommy and Kim took a walk, she asked him a question that she's been pondering all day.
"How did you get Jason to agree to all this?"
Tommy smiled down at her. "I fought him for the privilege- his words, not mine. We battled, I won and now you and I are engaged."
Kimberly gave him a weird look. "It was that simple?"
Tommy winced a little bit and Kimberly looked at him in concern. "Did he hurt you?"
"Not really. I'm going to be a little sore in the morning, but you're worth it."
"Where does it hurt?" Kimberly demanded.
Tommy paused and felt the worry coming through their bond.
"Hey, Beautiful, this is the bond talking. I know you're upset, but please know that I'd do it again and again for the chance to marry you. Besides, I want to marry you knowing that I that I have his blessing, along with your dad's."
"Since he's going to be your best man?" She asked.
Tommy nodded. "Yeah, I think so, but we have a while to figure that out. I have no idea how I'll be able to hold down a job while leading the team."
Kimberly sighed and leaned against him. "Yeah, it might take a while, but I'm willing to wait till we win this war."
-End Flashback-
"It took a couple years for that wedding to happen, but it was so worth it in the end." Kimberly paused and grinned before she ended her story. "But with the wedding, a lot of traditions were started."
"You mean like kidnapping the groom?" Kira asked with a smirk.
Kimberly grinned as she sipped from her mug.
"Yeah, Jason oversaw the campaign and I'm pretty sure that throwing a cloth bag over his head and zip tying his hands and ankles was a bit overkill."
Aisha laughed. "Yeah, but Rocky told me all about the revenge when it was Jason's turn."
"I'm scared to ask." Kira said with a nervous chuckle.
"He did everything the same way that Jason had done to him, but then he upped the game by throwing the groom into the back of a rickety old truck and driving over every bump in angel grove at top speed. They put a cushion under his head and a thin blanket under him, but he felt every bump on the way to the camp site."
"Wow, brutal!" Kira exclaimed with a wince. "That must have sucked."
"They'd never complain, in case it jeopardizes their manliness." Kim added.
The women all enjoyed a laugh over that and then went quietly back to their computers. Kira watched them for a moment and then hurried upstairs to get her own laptop and credit card.
Conner was always telling her to get what she wanted and now was a good time as any to join the fun.
Ok, so after this, the waters are going to get rough, so buckle in!
See you all in the next chapter!