PART II:
6 Months Later...
Cayden walked into his father's dojo. He had just gotten back into town from his spring break trip down to Florida.
"Hey, dad!"
Tommy got up. "Hey, Cayden. How was your trip?"
"It was awesome! Mark and I had a great time!"
"Great. Hey sit down. There's something I need to talk to you about."
Miguel sat down. "What's up, dad?"
"So you remember when the other rangers and I went to the middle east?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Well, I befriended a Marine over there. He was injured in the battle and has been undergoing intense physical and psychological therapy. He is going to be coming to live with us for a few months while he is on a leave of absence."
Cayden's eyes went wide. "Wait, a Marine?"
Tommy nodded. "He doesn't have any family left, so I told him he could come live with us until he found a place of his own."
Cayden nodded. "So when does he get here?"
"Next week. He's also going to be helping out here at the dojo."
"Cool. Well, I better get going. I'll see you at home."
Tommy nodded. "See you later."
The following week, Cayden was working out at the dojo when Tommy came out of the office with a guy in a soldier's camo uniform.
"Cayden, can I talk to you?"
Cayden turned around. "Yeah, dad."
"Cayden, meet Sergeant Miguel Ortega."
Miguel held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."
Cayden smiled and shook the soldier's hand. "You too."
Over the next few months, Miguel kept extremely busy. He helped out the family in various ways, like going grocery shopping, taking Tommy's youngest son JJ to and from school, and also helping Cayden out with his football workouts and classes.
One Saturday, Miguel and Cayden went for a walk in the park. Miguel was in his camo. Miguel spoke first.
"You know your dad told me a lot about you."
"I know. How much did he tell you?"
"He did tell me that he made you a Power Ranger, and that he's very proud of you. Heck, he is very grateful that he has you for a son."
"Man, I had no idea."
Miguel put his hand on his friend's soldier. Cayden turned to him.
"Miguel, I gotta admit, I was a little concerned when dad told me that you were coming to live with us. But now I see that he was right to do it."
"That means a lot. Thank you. I've got a long road ahead of me and I'm gonna need people like you in my corner."
"You got it." suddenly a thought crossed his mind. He looked up "Hey bud, can you wait here? I've got a phone call I need to make."
Shortly, Cayden returned. "Hey, Miguel. There's somewhere special I want to take you."
Miguel looked at Cayden. "Okay."