Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm back with the next chapter and I hope you're all excited. Well, I'm not going to waste any more time blabbing. Let's get on with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, any of its series, or any of its characters. Also, this plot was inspired by the 2008-2010 storyline of Days of our Lives. However, I do own all made up characters and parts of the plot that I changed or made up myself.
"Heated Arguments"
Kimberly took a deep breath to hold back her tears as she stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in the corner of her room. She was dressed in a solid black dress that stopped just below her knees with long black sleeves that fanned out near the wrist like the bottom of a wedding gown. She wore a black hat as well along with a pair of black gloves and black boots. It was raining outside, which made her mood sink even lower.
Tommy poked his head into the room and smiled at Kimberly before stepping inside and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Well, don't you look beautiful?" he said as he kissed her cheek. "If only it was a happier occasion."
Kimberly nodded before reaching a hand behind his head to lean back and pressed her lips to his. Their lips melted together perfectly for a few short seconds before she broke the kiss.
"Let's do this." she sighed before forcing a smile. Tommy nodded before taking her hand in his.
Suddenly, giggles could be heard down the hall followed by a set of tiny approaching footsteps. Kimberly smiled as Jacob burst through the door and ran to hold onto her legs.
"Get the monster mommy!" he giggled as he tried to hide behind her legs.
Kimberly looked up just as Billy came through the door breathing heavily. "Your son does not like getting dressed." he laughed as he held up a small black shirt. Kimberly shook her head before releasing Tommy's hand to take the shirt from Billy.
"Come here buddy." Tommy said as he picked the boy up and walked him over to stand on Kimberly's vanity stool. The little boy giggled as Kimberly walked over and slid the shirt over his head.
"There you go." Kimberly smiled before kissing him gently on his forehead. "Now you're all dressed. Let's go get your coat so we can go."
"Are we gonna see Grace momma?" he wondered aloud.
Kimberly choked back a sob before swallowing the oncoming tears and smiling. "Yeah buddy. We're gonna go see Grace."
The Ignalis Mansion
"Collin, are you sure I'll be welcome at this funeral?" Katherine asked as he clasped her pearl necklace around her neck.
"Of course darling." he replied before placing a light kiss on the nape of her neck. "The funeral is open to anyone in the public who knew Grace. She would've been your stepdaughter had she survived and we'd known about her."
Katherine nodded before turning around to admire her husband's dark black suit. Her eyes rested on his face where bags clung on for dear life beneath his eyes from a severe lack of sleep. He'd been beyond stressed this past week trying to juggle his part of the family business and dealing with the baby's death.
"Honey, are you sure you want to do this?"
Collin nodded before clearing his throat. "Of course darling. I wasn't there for the first few months of Grace's life, but I'm certainly going to be there for her today. She needs to know that even though we never met, I truly do love her."
Katherine nodded. Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in." she replied.
The door swung open and one of the nursemaids stepped in carrying Neveah who was dressed in a black dress with red polka dots on the skirt. A cute headband with a red rose on the end was wrapped around her growing brown curls.
"There's my little princess." Collin cooed as he lifted the four-month-old baby from the woman's arms. Grace's head moved lazily to the side as she nuzzled her head into her father's chest. Collin's eyes filled with tears as he leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to the baby's temple.
"Why couldn't she see?" Collin muttered as he nuzzled the infant's cheek with his nose.
"What are you talking about Collin?" Katherine asked as she grabbed her black handbag.
"Why can't Kimberly see what a great father I am? I just don't understand."
"No one really understands why she did what she did honey. Regardless of her reasons, she committed an inhumane act by keeping your daughter away from you. I wouldn't even dream of doing such a thing."
"Thank goodness you see the good in me." Collin said as he stared at her gratefully. "I know you would never keep my child from me. You would never deliberately try to control my life."
Katherine smiled nervously before walking to hold the door open for her husband. "Shall we be off darling?"
Collin nodded as he exited the room with Katherine. The two of them descended the staircase and had their coats and Neveah's coat on in record time. They walked outside to find the limo parked at the bottom of the stone steps while Ignacio stood, holding the door open for his masters. They thanked him as they climbed inside and next thing they knew, they were speeding down the road towards the church.
Ten minutes quickly passed and soon, they'd arrived at the church. Several cars aligned the streets, one of them being a funeral car, and people were slowly filtering into the church dressed in black attire. Through the tinted windows, Collin spied Jacob being carried by Billy into the church, Trini and Jason close behind, as Kimberly and Tommy walked inside the main wooden doors, their hands intertwined.
Collin's blood began to boil at the very sight of the woman. Whether she was the baby's mother or not, she had no right to be at the funeral after everything she'd done. It was her fault the child had died as far as he was concerned.
Collin was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Katherine calling out to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"We're here darling. Would you like me to carry Neveah inside?"
He said nothing, but he handed the child to her mother before exiting through the door Ignacio was currently holding open.
The couple ascended the stone steps, all eyes on them, as they made their way inside. The hall was filled with mourning people and a few angry faces as Katherine and Collin made their way towards the sanctuary. Just as he prepared to follow Katherine inside, he spied Tommy at the opposite end of the hall ducking into a room by himself.
"Would you excuse me darling?" Collin said as he began to walk away.
Katherine raised an eyebrow as she watched him shuffle through the crowd. Maybe he had to use the restroom?
Collin pushed his way through the crowd as he made his way towards the wooden door he'd seen Tommy go through. Just as he was about to make his entrance, a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Collin?"
Collin turned around and his eyes narrowed at the sight of Jason, Trini, and Billy.
"Get your hands off me Jason." he snapped as he shot the three of them a warning glance.
Jason removed his hands and held them up in defense. "Look, I'm sorry man."
"Don't you dare tell me you're sorry." he growled. "Even though we haven't been on good terms as of lately, you were still one of the best friends I ever had Jason. Regardless of whether we were cool or not, you should have told me about my daughter."
"It wasn't my place to tell you."
"But it wasn't your place to keep it a secret either. How would you feel if you knocked your ex-girlfriend up and she didn't tell you until the baby was dead?"
Trini instinctively wrapped her arms around Jason's right before resting her head on his shoulder.
"I wouldn't know what I'd do Collin because I haven't been placed in that position."
"You'd want someone to tell you." Collin said, his voice dangerously low."You sicken me. All three of you do. I don't care how good of friends you are with Kimberly. Someone should have told me that Grace was my daughter long before she died. You can rot in hell for all I care."
Collin turned on his heels before marching into the room, leaving the three other adults stunned.
When he walked into the room, he was standing in the secretary's office right outside the priest's quarters. The secretary was off duty, her desk abandoned. Collin spied the door to the priest's office slightly ajar. He walked over and peered through the open space and spied Tommy leaning against the edge of the desk, his hands in his lap as he stared down at the floor. Collin didn't spot anyone else in the room but the former FBI agent, so he decided to make his move.
Collin pushed the wooden door open, causing Tommy to lift his head. At the sight of the angry father, Tommy sighed and stood to his feet to face him, his head held high. The door slammed loudly behind Collin as he slowly walked over to the man, his hands shaking as he neared closer and closer. As soon as Tommy was within reaching distance, he pulled his arm back and swung forward, his fist striking Tommy across the face.
Tommy stumbled back slightly after the fist contact and he rubbed at his jaw. Just then, the door opened again and the two of them turned around to find Kimberly standing in the doorway, her mouth open in shock.
"Oh my God!" she said in disbelief as she spied Tommy rubbing his jaw and Collin's fist still shaking. Kimberly ran past the shaking man to aide Tommy. "What on earth are you doing Collin?"
"This whole time." Collin growled. "This whole freaking pregnancy, you knew and you helped her."
Collin pointed a finger at Tommy as he glared daggers into the man's eyes. "You helped her with my daughter and you kept her from me."
Tommy regained his composure as Kimberly stood closer to him, afraid of what the enraged man was going to do.
"Just stop it!" Kimberly hissed. "This is not his fault. Okay?"
Kimberly turned to Tommy to look him over for any damage. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Tommy glared back at Collin before looking at Kimberly. "Yeah, I'm alright." he said before Kimberly turned back to Collin.
"Don't blame Tommy." she said. "I'm the one who lied to you about Grace. This is my fault. Not his."
Collin smiled in disbelief as he ran a hand over his face to try and keep himself together.
"Collin," Tommy spoke, "now is not the time or the place for this."
"I'm quite aware that this isn't the time or place." he snapped. "You can blame yourselves for that."
"Tommy was just trying to help me." Kimberly sobbed.
Collin nodded. "Oh, he helped you alright. He helped you keep my daughter away from me. My daughter who is dead and I will never get the chance to know."
Kimberly stared at him sadly as he aimed a finger at her. "A terrible injustice has been done and I'm going to make damn sure that it's remedied." he warned her.
"There is no injustice here." Tommy said, trying to get Collin to see the truth. "What happened to Grace was a mere tragedy that could not have been prevented."
"Oh, no?" Collin said as he ran a hand through his hair. "Did she have proper prenatal care? Did she have all the right checkups? What about when you came back to Angel Grove Kimberly? Who was watching Grace then because it sure as hell wasn't you?"
Kimberly sighed as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I left her at the convent with Tommy and the nuns. I wouldn't have left her with someone I didn't trust."
"You shouldn't have left her with anybody!" Collin shouted. "You should have left her with me damn it. I am her father. I would have loved her and taken care of her. I wouldn't have hid her from existence because I was ashamed of her!"
"I was not ashamed of my little girl Collin!" Kimberly shouted back. "I loved her and I wanted to protect her from having a father like you!"
"From me?" Collin shouted in disbelief as he inched closer to her. "I didn't abandon her Kimberly. I wasn't ashamed of her existence, but most importantly, I'm not the one who killed her!"
Kimberly gasped in disbelief before slapping Collin across the face, snapping his head to the right. Collin turned back to face her with rage in his eyes before striking her back, making her fall to the floor in pain. Just as he prepared to hit her again, Tommy got in between them and shoved Collin away from Kimberly.
Collin came charging back ready to attack Tommy. "You were an accomplice!" he shouted as he grabbed onto Tommy's shoulders and tried to knock him into the desk.
Kimberly remained on the floor trying to stop the room from spinning as the sounds of the two men struggling against each other could be heard. Just then, the door swung open and Jason came in with Trini and Billy right on his tail.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he shouted as he went to break the two of them up. "What the hell is going on here?"
Trini and Billy instantly went to Kimberly and helped her onto her feet. Her cheek was swollen and there was a partial hand print engraved in red on her cheek. Trini tried to examine it, but Kimberly would flinch at her touch. Billy took Kimberly into his arms and hugged her while Trini went to help Jason with the two brawling men.
"Get off of Tommy right now!" she shouted as she helped Jason pry the two of them apart. After several more seconds of heated shouting and fighting, the former red and yellow rangers managed to pull the two of them apart.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Jason shouted. "We're at a funeral for Christ's sake and you're pounding on each other?"
"You people are sick!" Collin spat as he glared at him. "Every last person that helped her with this plan can go to hell. You all are accomplices and you're going to rot in hell for what you did to my daughter!"
With that being said, Collin stormed out of the room.
"Kim?" Tommy said as he rushed over to take her out of Billy's arms into his own. "You are you alright?"
Kimberly nodded as she looked up for him to examine the welt on her cheek. "I'm fine." she said through her tears.
"You shouldn't have hit him Kimberly. What were you thinking?"
"After everything he said to me, how could I not hit him? I did not kill my daughter Tommy! How could he even think of accusing me of something so horrible?"
"You let him get to you Kimberly." Trini said. "He's angry with the fact that Grace is gone and we kept her from him. He's always going to be angry, meaning he's always going to be making assumptions whether they're true or not. You just have to learn not to let those accusations get to you."
Kimberly nodded as she wiped her tears away. "You guys are right. I was so stupid."
"You were standing up for yourself." Jason said. "Zordon would be so proud."
"Zordon?" Tommy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He's…an old mentor of ours." Kimberly explained with a sad smile.
"Right." Billy nodded. "Well, let's head to the sanctuary. The funeral's going to be starting soon."
Kimberly sighed. "Let's get this over with so we can say our final goodbyes to Grace."
"And so we can get away from Collin." Trini added.
The five friends exchanged glances before heading out of the priest's office.
Author's Note: And so ends another chapter. I really liked writing about the brawl between Tommy and Collin even if it wasn't a jam-packed action scene lol
Anyways, go ahead and leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Then, sit tight and wait patiently for the next chapter. Until next time guys!
