Rated M for Everything. Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Please Read and Review.

-x-

CHAPTER SIX

Play It Cool

Tommy's House

Saturday, June 23rd, 11:15am

Reefside, CA

2010

She stopped as she saw him, the back door swinging shut behind her. "Morning."

She hadn't been expecting him up yet. The gang had gotten home around 6am. Tommy had ended up driving Jason's car with half of them, while Billy drove the rest. Then Tommy had driven her and him back to his house.

Patricia had been asleep with Miles on the couch when they'd arrived. Fortunately for everyone, Grandma and grandson had had a long night too, and it wasn't hard to convince the toddler to go back to sleep in his own bed. Tommy asked his mother to stay for coffee and breakfast in a few hours. She declined, bid them both adieu and took off an hour after that. Kim and Tommy then retired to their rooms, the assumption being that everyone would most likely be down for the count for at least a few more hours. Long enough to recharge. Or as long as Miles stayed asleep. Whichever came first.

As it was, Kim could hardly master the measly three hours that had passed since she had stepped behind the guest room door. Having had a contemplative drive home to rouse her anxious thoughts alongside the rising light of day.

"Morning," he said.

Kim swallowed thickly as he folded his arms across his bare chest and leaned against the archway, a t-shirt he'd not bothered to put on yet in his hand. The grey sweatpants he wore slung dangerously low on his hips. She might have thought him deliberately baiting her, if not for the yawn he suddenly let loose, which caused him then to release his arms and scratch his head, remembering his shirt. He tossed the garment on carelessly.

Kim gave a tiny chuckle as his tousled hair became further mussed with the action.

He graced her with a goofy, tired smile. "You sleep okay?"

"All things considered." She lied. "The guest bed is very comfy. Thank you again."

That was true.

She pointed dumbly at the countertop. "I was just about to make some coffee but— well, the trash was pretty full so I took that out. But then I didn't know where new bags were so—"

If he noticed her unnecessary explanation, he didn't show it. He simply nodded and moved past her to fish out a new bag from under the sink.

"Oh," she frowned, feeling like an idiot. "I could have found those."

"You didn't have to do that, but thank you." He rubbed her arm congenially before moving behind her to line the new bag inside the can.

Kim exhaled and pulled out a new filter from the drawer beneath her and loaded it into the basket before grabbing the bag of coffee grounds from the freezer.

Tommy smiled as he watched her scuttle about the kitchen. "But you've figured out where all the coffee stuff is…"

She shot him a sheepish grin. "Only after the first few days…" He laughed.

He was staring at her. She smiled self-consciously as she moved to fill up the carafe with water and returned back to the machine. "What?"

"I had fun last night."

She smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Well, I'm glad to hear it."

"You and the girls looked like you did too."

"Oh god…how bad was it?" She set the coffee pot back onto the hot plate and flipped the button to begin brewing. She turned to lean against the counter next to him.

"You don't remember? You didn't drink that much…"

She bit her lip, ducking her head as she recalled their antics on the dance floor. All of their antics.

She gave him a playful smack to his chest. "No, I mean—did we look like complete idiots?"

He smirked catching her hand. "Not from where I stood."

She nodded, suddenly very interested in their entwined fingers as he held her hand against his chest. "Yeah, I seem to recall you watching very intently…"

"I was still recovering from the first dance."

She looked up at him cheekily, "You said you'd dance to a slow one, so…"

He smiled. "And you promised to go easy on me…" He leaned in. "If that was easy, I'm not sure I'm ready for you to go hard…"

He ran a finger along her chin before tipping her face up to meet his better.

He leaned in further, his mouth hovering above hers. They both smiled, eyes fluttering shut. His breath fanned her face as she licked her lips in anticipation.

"Daddy, daddy, I'm hungry!"

Tommy's eyes shot open to meet Kim's wide ones. Tommy pulled away as they heard Miles approach.

Tommy cleared his throat. "Hey buddy, good morning."

Miles' tiny feet smacked against the hardwood floor.

Miles came to a slow stop as he entered the kitchen. He looked up at his father eagerly, "I'm hungry."

Tommy nodded. "Yeah, I heard ya bud. Whatcha want?" He lifted the boy up into his arms and bounced him around.

"Pamcakes," Miles mumbled, rubbing his eyes as his focus shifted to Kim. "Hi."

Kim smiled. "Good morning."

"G'morning," Miles tried to repeat back. "Daddy makes good pamckaes."

Kim nodded. "I bet he does."

"Can you make pamcakes?"

Kim gave him a very serious face. "Oh, you bet I can."

"Can I have yours?"

Kim smiled. "Sure." She looked up at Tommy.

He shrugged and set Miles back down on the floor. "You wanna show Kim where everything is to make pamcakes?"

Miles grabbed Kim's hand and dragged her to the fridge first. She helped him open the door as he pointed to the eggs and butter.

"And a milk," Miles said. Tommy came up behind her and grabbed the carton from the door. She closed the fridge with her hip as Miles padded over to the other end of the kitchen.

Tommy set the milk on the counter beside the stove as Miles dove for Tommy's legs and pulled at them, forcing the man to stand further astride.

"Hey bud, what are you doing?" Tommy laughed as he hobbled.

The little boy insisted on taking the particular route through his father's legs to reach the bottom cabinets beneath the stove.

"I'm getting bows," Miles said.

Tommy turned to Kim as she brought the butter and eggs over to them.

"Bowls," Tommy clarified. Miles was practically inside the cabinet as he clanged the metal containers together. Kim laughed as Tommy stumbled backward.

Miles made his exit the same way he demanded entry, crawling in between Tommy's legs as he emerged with his bounty in hand.

Miles stood back up to hand off the bowls to Kim.

She took them with a small curtsy. "Thank you, sir."

Miles bowed with an aggressive nod.

Kim pointed to an upper cabinet in a guess. "Umm, dry ingredients?"

Tommy pointed to the correct one. Kim nodded, opening the door to gab the salt and sugar.

She reached for the flour and baking powder to no avail. Tommy saw Kim's struggle and moved to assist.

Miles latched onto his calves and stood on Tommy's feet, clinging to him as the man tried to walk across the kitchen.

"Miles, dude," Tommy sighed, limping as he dragged the child with him.

Kim laughed as Miles tugged on Tommy's sweat pants.

"Buddy, Kim needs me to help her grab the high stuff, ok? I need my legs to do that."

"Pick her up like me, daddy," Miles said.

Tommy shot him a confused look. "What?"

Miles looked up at Kim. "Daddy pick me up. And then I get high stuff!"

Kim nodded. "Oh, well that's nice of him, but I'm a bit bigger than you, honey."

"Barely," Tommy snickered. Kim shot him a weak glare. Tommy laughed harder.

Miles frowned. "But daddy said you—he help get high stuff."

Kim nodded. "That's ok. He can get it for me."

Miles stomped his foot. "No!" He turned on his father and began an ineffectual onslaught of punches to Tommy's legs. "Pick her up like me!"

Kim bit her lip to keep from laughing. Miles was technically throwing a tantrum, and as cute as the reason was, it would do no good to seem like she was encouraging him.

Tommy's eyes went wide. The punches hardly hurt. It was more the grating tone coming from the child.

Tommy bent down and held the boy's fists. "Hey now, that's enough."

Miles wrenched his hands from his father's grasp. He leaned in and pressed his forehead against the larger man's. "Daddy! Do it!"

Tommy sighed. He blew a raspberry in the boy's face and stood back up. Miles laughed as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

"Well, you heard his highness." Tommy smirked. Miles jumped up and down, pointing to the higher cabinets, beaming and clapping.

Kim glanced over her shoulder as Tommy stood behind her. He cleared his throat as his hands settled on her waist. He hoisted her up as she reached for the elusive jars.

Tommy slid her body down the front of him as he released her. Kim steadied herself as she set the ingredients onto the counter.

Tommy leaned in and whispered into her ear. "I'm not sorry for that," he said.

"Good," she whispered back, she backed into him with a playful nudge.

He let out a low growl and squeezed her hips.

"Okay, daddy. Kimbree makes pamckaes now," Miles said, tugging on his pant leg once again.

Tommy turned on him. Laughing evilly as he scooped the boy up in his arms. Miles laughed hysterically as Tommy flipped him over, snarfing noises into his hair.

"Let's go get you washed up," Tommy said, easily tossing and catching the boy like a ball.

Miles laughed, unfazed at being thrown around. "M'ok. Then we umm, we pamcakes!"

Tommy rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Yes. Then pamcakes," he drawled. "Good lord, bud. Is that all you care about?"

"Yep, yep, yep!" Miles chanted, scaling up Tommy's chest and snaking around the man's shoulders.

Tommy shook his head in feigned disbelief. "You are a pamcake monster!"

Miles nodded, his butt in Tommy's face as he crawled onto Tommy's back. "Yep! I'm want Kimbree's pamcakes!"

Tommy smirked. "Oh, me too, bud."

She shot him a warning look as he gave her a wink.

A tiny errant hand smacked him in the face. Tommy laughed as he carried Miles out and down the hall.

Kim snickered. "Kid's got good aim." She turned to start on breakfast.

-x-

Tommy set his fork down over his plate, swallowed his final bite and grabbed his coffee before leaning back in his chair. He sighed contentedly. It was hard not to let his mind wander, watching the scene before him.

Miles chomped away at his slimy pancake, all the while talking Kim's ear off about dinosaurs. The three of them at the table eating breakfast together.

Oh, stop it. He thought to himself. Are you trying to piss off the volcano?

He looked up as Kim's laughter broke his reverie.

"Oh honey, come here," Kim said. She grabbed a napkin and rushed it to the sink.

Miles laughed with his mouth full as Kim tried to wipe off all the syrup he'd managed to acquire on his face.

"What, you gotta hole in your chin?" She teased the boy, "How do your miss your mouth every time?"

Miles' giggles made Tommy's heart soar as Kim playfully shoved the whole napkin in the boy's face. Miles chomped at the napkin before letting it drop.

"Eww," Kim feigned being grossed out, tossing another napkin at the boy.

Bits of chewed up dough and syrup slid as the boy continued laughing.

His laughter turned to coughing. Kim's face dropped as Tommy nearly jumped over the table to come up beside the boy.

Kim and Tommy flanked the toddler as Kim gently tapped Miles on the back.

"Arms up, buddy," Tommy said. Miles' eyes were wide with fear as he lifted his arms.

"What should I do?" Kim asked.

"Just—give him another thump."

Kim gave his back another firm smack. Miles hacked up whatever had gotten stuck, flying out across the table. His tiny face red as he coughed once more. His eyes bleary as Kim wiped up the mess he'd spit out.

"There you go, bud," Tommy exhaled calmly, grabbing another napkin to wipe the boy's face. "We got it."

Tommy rubbed his back soothingly as Kim returned to his other side. She held a straw in place as she presented him his cup of juice.

"Take a slow sip, okay?" Kim instructed.

Miles nodded as he held onto the glass with both hands. Kim kept the straw pinched between her fingers to hold it steady.

Kim nodded as Miles pushed away the cup. The boy looked up at his dad. Tommy smiled and grabbed the boy's face, placing a firm kiss to his forehead.

Tommy smoothed the hair out of Mile's face. The boy sniffled and caught his breath.

"You scared me, bud," Tommy told him.

Miles blinked back at him. "M'sorry."

Tommy smiled. "Hey, it's okay. Remember when you asked me why I cried about the baseball game?"

Miles nodded. "You said happy tears."

Kim laughed softly as Tommy nodded to the boy. "That's right. And how that was different than about Mommy?"

Miles frowned. Tommy still didn't know if Miles completely understood the situation between he and Heather. But he figured the boy knew enough to know that his mommy didn't live with his daddy anymore.

"Sad tears," Miles answered.

Tommy dared to look back at Kim, a momentary shot of embarrassment at the admission.

She bit her lip and gave him her own sad smile. Tommy looked back at Miles.

"That's right. So, just now, I was scared you were hurt. Not mad."

Miles nodded. "Not mad."

Tommy tweaked the boy's nose. "Not mad."

Miles smiled and turned to Kim. "You not mad too?"

Kim returned the boy's smile and leaned into him. "Not mad too."

Tommy mussed the boy's hair before bending over to kiss the top of his head.

Miles stood up on the chair, waving for his dad to return to his level. Tommy bent over. The boy clapped both his sticky hands on Tommy's cheeks and pulled the man's face directly into his.

Tommy winced as he felt the syrup on his face

"I'm want to watch movie now," Miles mumbled.

Tommy sighed. "Okay bud, come on." He lifted the boy from the chair.

Kim moved to clear the table. Tommy grabbed her arm. "I'll do them later."

She followed as Tommy led them into the bathroom.

Kim leaned against the frame as Tommy set the boy atop the bathroom sink. He braced him with one hand and turned the faucet with the other.

Kim grabbed the washcloth hanging above the sink and handed it off.

"Thanks," Tommy said, holding the cloth under the water for a moment.

Miles turned to face her. "Hi."

"Hi," she chirped back.

"I'm got surp on me," Miles explained to her. Tommy shut the water and held the towel at the ready.

"Okay, bud, come here," Tommy instructed. "Miles, face me, please."

Miles stuck his hand in his mouth and smiled impishly at Kim.

She pointed back at Tommy. "Look that way, honey."

Miles shook his head. Tommy grabbed his chin and made him face him, "Bud, eyes on me."

Miles stayed, still trying to sneak a look sideways as Tommy wiped his cheeks.

Tommy sighed. "Hand out of your mouth, man."

Miles let it drop as Tommy finished cleaning the boy's face.

"I know Kim's hard not to stare at buddy, but we gotta get you cleaned up, ok?"

Kim rolled her eyes. Tommy smiled slyly, looking nearly identical to the little boy. He didn't need to see her face to know how she'd reacted.

He tossed the towel into the tub and turned the water back on, working a lather of soap onto both his and Miles' hands.

"Kim, could you grab me another towel? They're in the closet behind me."

Tommy shuffled over a step, the narrow passage cramping them in together.

Shutting the real door behind her, Kim moved back to the slender closet panel in the corner and grabbed another towel. She stopped when she saw the monogrammed initials HLO and TJO sewn on the cloth.

Turning tightly in the small space, she managed to slip behind Tommy and took a seat on the toilet.

Miles leaned forward as Tommy helped him rinse his soapy hands with his own.

He shut off the water as Kim held out the cloth. He took it with a grateful smile.

She smirked. "Nice towels."

He snickered as he dried off his and Miles' hands.

"They were a wedding gift," he explained. "Neither of us wanted them but I figured, whatever. A towel's a towel, right?"

"You could always cut them up and use them for shop rags," Kim said sweetly.

He turned to her in surprise. "Ooh, mrow," he growled playfully, "Kitten's got claws."

She shrugged innocently. "I'm just saying,"

Miles snarled, mimicking his father's growls, his hands up like claws.

"Now look what you've done." Kim said.

Tommy laughed and tossed the towel carelessly over her head and into the bathtub as he'd done before.

"Better?" he asked her pointedly. Kim rolled her eyes as she made to stand.

"Movie, movie," Miles chanted as Tommy set the boy onto the ground.

Kim followed as they turned the corner into Miles' bedroom.

The toddler ran for the shelves where his tapes were stored.

"Miles, you remember how to put the tape in?" Tommy fluffed up the pillows inside the fort of blankets they'd created from his bed and glanced over his shoulder.

Miles shook his head, holding out the cassette he'd selected.

Tommy sighed and turned to the boy. "What are we watching?"

"Robin Hood."

"Always a good choice," Tommy said.

Kim scanned the toddler's bedroom. A sort of soft, denim blue color graced the walls, decals of dinosaurs placed randomly along the bottom border. Candid snapshots of Miles in his still very brief lifetime hung in various frames. Tommy hadn't missed any chance to take a photo. Her eyes landed on the small dresser against the opposite wall. A picture of Heather in the hospital, holding onto a newborn Miles sat inside a black frame. Tommy must of have taken the photo, given his absence in the shot. Kim's heart lurched a bit.

"Okay bud, let's try this again. First we turn the TV on," Tommy said.

Miles smacked his hand against the power button as the old set buzzed to life.

"Good, and then what do we do?"

Miles pointed. "Put the tape in the veesar."

Tommy nodded, and lined the tape up to the VCR slot. "Like this?"

Miles nodded and shoved the cassette with both hands. Tommy gently chided, "Easy, bud. That tape's older than I am."

The tape slid into the machine and disappeared behind the flap. In a matter of seconds the slightly warbled title card appeared on screen.

"You did it, buddy. Alright!" Tommy held his hand up as Miles slapped him a high five.

"You watch with me?" Miles asked as Tommy led him back over to his pillow fort.

"Daddy needs to wash the dishes cause somebody made a mess this morning."

Miles looked up at him nervously. "Oh no!"

Kim laughed, catching Miles' attention. "Kimbree you watch movie with me?"

"You get started bud," Tommy cut in, "We'll be back in a minute, okay?"

Miles rolled his entire head and collapsed against a large orange cushion inside his sanctuary.

Tommy shook his head at the boy's dramatic reaction and headed for the door.

"He'll be out in the first ten minutes," He laughed, moving his way back to the kitchen.

She took one last look at the little boy before turning back to follow Tommy.

He was at the sink when she reentered the kitchen, a stack of dirty dishes beside him.

"I take back everything I said before," she said. She bussed the cups and mugs. "It's barely two. I totally get feeling worn out."

She set the cups on the counter. "I don't know how you do it."

"I don't either sometimes." They shared a laugh. Tommy set another scrubbed plate into the right hand sink.

He glanced over as Kim took the dish without a word and dried it off with a towel before nestling it into the drying rack.

"So, did you and Heather—was this like, your house together?"

He smiled as he ran the sponge along a dish. "Yes and no. I bought this place when I got the teaching job, so before we started dating. And she had her own place up near Sacramento. After we got married she wanted to live there but because I was the one working while she was pregnant, we stayed here. So, this place wasn't bought with her in mind but, yeah we lived here together for a bit."

Kim nodded. "So is any of this inside her handiwork? I know your mom did the guest room but—"

"Oh god no. This is all my mom." He snickered. "My stuff is everywhere but, mom either moves it when she thinks I'm not looking, or just tells me she's changing it."

Kim giggled. "That's sweet of you to let her do that."

"Let her? I have no say in this. I'm lucky my whole house doesn't look like a bed and breakfast by now. One day, I swear I'm gonna come home and everything's just gonna be gone."

Kim laughed. "Switched out for wicker and gingham—"

He laughed. "Lace curtains and patchwork—"

Kim feigned in delight. "Ope, and a little sign that says like, This kitchen is made for dancing—"

He was crying he was laughing so hard. Kim smiled as he handed off the last few dishes, drying them tenderly as she set everything into their slots.

Tommy shut the faucet. Kim turned to him with the towel unfurled and dried his hands off for him. He had a far off look but was smiling. She folded up the towel neatly and hung it over the drying rack.

She waved a hand in front of his face. "You ok?"

He shook off his daze and looked back at her. "I didn't—this has been nice."

"What has?"

"This," he motioned between them. "I was hoping we'd get along like this again."

He gave her a playful punch in the shoulder. "And seeing you with Miles is just—it's like you've always been around."

Kim leaned against the counter next to him. "Well, he's taking his cue from you."

He looked at her. "You think?"

She nodded. "Of course. You welcomed me in without hesitation, why wouldn't he, right?"

Tommy frowned. "What about the other day when he just ran up to you and said hi? He just marched right over to you and made his mind up. I like her. She's pretty."

Kim laughed and nudged him with her hip. "What can I say? Like father, like son."

He snickered. He turned to hover over her, trapping her between his body and the counter. His arms braced on either side. He smiled.

"I like you. You're pretty," he whispered.

"I like you too—" she whispered back.

His head dropped down to meet hers, their breath mingling in the nearness of their mouths.

"You don't have to call me pretty," he said huskily.

"Okay," she breathed.

His lips were on hers in a second. His arms encircled her waist, hoisting her up as her legs wrapped around him. They were both vaguely aware of the slight rattle against the collection of dishes behind them. Didn't matter. Nothing broken? Good.

She snaked her hands behind his neck as he stumbled to lead them through the archway, their mouths refusing to relinquish their discovery of the other. They spilled into the living room, him knocking his leg against where he though the couch should be before falling onto it, Kim pulling him down along the way. He propped himself above her, enough to keep from crushing her beneath his weight. She craned her neck up and pulled his face back down to hers. Their lips crashed together once more in frenzied and excitable swipes. He nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth. She sucked on his. Their tongues swirled about, teasing and dancing inside one another's mouths. They ripped away for another quick moment to catch their breath.

"God, I missed you," he panted, coming back to kiss her jaw and down her neck.

She threw her head back into the couch arm as she arched into his kisses. "I missed you too."

He lifted her shirt to expose her stomach, his mouth peppering kisses along her happy trail. He lifted the shirt further to expose her breasts and lapped at the rounded flesh lazily before latching onto a nipple and sucking. His left hand stroked her thigh before stopping for a moment at the waistband of her shorts. He teased her as his finger traced the edge.

Her hips bucked as he tugged at the elastic. He released her breast and returned to placing a path of kisses down her stomach until his face met her heat. He sat back and pulled at her shorts. She lifted her hips to help him. He only got the shorts and underwear far enough down for her to spread her legs before his mouth quickly landed on her mound. He flattened his tongue and ran it up the length of her center.

She gasped and clutched his hair, pulling him back for another kiss. She bruised his mouth with her own.

She reached between them and fussed with his pants. He propped up on one elbow so he could free up his other hand to help her get his pants down.

His hard shaft bounced out of its confines, lightly thumping against her stomach. She reached for it as he lifted himself up, helping her to guide his member into her.

He ran the tip along her slick center easing himself in. She grunted as he smirked. She grabbed a firm hand around him and pumped him for a moment, every time pulling him into her a bit more.

He slid the rest of the way. She cupped his bare ass to push him harder into her. They both groaned as their bodies adjusted to the sensation. It was tight and hard and at a weird angle the way they were splayed across the couch, but it felt so fucking good.

He pulled out slowly before thrusting back into her. Kim whimpered as he repeated the motion again and again.

He grunted in satisfaction, his breathing laboring with every push. She swirled her hips around as he ground against her. Her nails dug into his backside and he hissed, stabbing her with a punctuated thrust.

"Oh god," she moaned, aimlessly rubbing and clawing at his back. His arms started to buckle and he flexed to lock them down.

"Faster," she breathed. "Faster." He pumped harder.

"Jesus, Fuck, Kim," he muttered.

"Daddy!"

They stopped cold. His head immediately fell onto Kim's shoulder.

"Oh fuck me," he groaned pitifully into her skin.

"Daddy can you come here!" Miles whined from down the hall.

Tommy lazily moved his head to the side. "I swear to God, that kid better be bleeding from his eyeballs…"

Kim laughed into his shoulder. The sensation sent a shiver up his spine. He moved his mouth to whisper in her ear. "Oh god, Kim, don't laugh, I'm still inside you."

"Daddy I'm scared!"

He tore his face away and lifted his head a bit, "O-Ok buddy. Umm—"

He looked back at her. "Damn it. Kim, I'm hard as a rock I can't walk in on my son like this—"

She smiled up at him and brought her right hand up to smooth out his brow.

"It's okay, you just—get yourself—I'll go, yeah?"

He nodded but made no attempt to move as Kim cleared her throat and called out to the boy.

"Hey, Miles, honey? Your dad has to go to the bathroom, can I help instead?"

"Okay..." Miles sang out.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Tommy sighed and kissed her. "Thank you," he said.

She smiled and whispered. "It's fine, we'll finish this later."

He shot her a glare. "I should hope so."

Kim moaned and shot him a warning look when he twisted his hips into her one more time.

He looked down at her, serious as ever. "If he woke up just in time for that one scene, I swear to—he's seen this movie a thousand times, he knows the rabbit makes it—"

Miles called out again. "Kimbree are you coming?"

Tommy sighed. "She was about to, you tiny bastard." He collapsed on top of Kim once more.

They both laughed, sprawled clumsily on the couch while his three-year old son needed soothing down the hall.

He reluctantly pulled away, groaning as he sat up painfully. His erection still throbbing as he carefully made to stand. Kim sat up once freed from Tommy's weight, pulling up her drawers and shorts once more before straightening out the rest of her appearance as best she could.

She looked over at him as he walked bow-legged toward his bedroom door.

She reassured him quietly. "You know, it could have been worse. He could have walked in on us."

He turned to her before he reached the knob. "Meet me in the shower in ten?"

Kim bit her lip and nodded. He smiled goofily before disappearing behind his bedroom door.

She shook her head with a laugh and made her way down the hall toward Miles.

-x-

Miles had officially fallen asleep for an afternoon nap. Satisfied he was down for the count for at least another hour, Kim and Tommy reunited in the shower.

Kim laid on her back, Tommy's spare robe she wore splayed haphazardly around her as he laid on his side, spooning along the length of her as his right hand lazily danced about her smooth skin. Mindlessly tracing random shapes up and down her stomach, along her sides, up into the curve of her breasts.

It felt good. To have the weight, the warmth of another body next to him again. And for it to be Kim, well…he hadn't expected any of this—hoped for it, perhaps—but it certainly made it that much better.

"I love your arms," she said, following the curves and valleys created by his muscles.

"Oh yeah?" He already knew that. But it never hurt to hear it again.

"I mean, you were always muscular," she mused, "But now you're like, beefy."

He smiled into her neck and placed a soft kiss there, "You like it?"

Kim gave a small snort. "Yeah, like, a lot."

He propped himself up on his left elbow to face her better. "Well you," he started, bowing his head to kiss between her breasts, "Are every bit as sexy as I remember."

He moved the plush fabric out of his way to kiss her stomach. "But it's still better somehow…"

Kim laughed as his breath tickled her skin. "Cause I'm an adult now and I know what I'm doing?"

He laughed and pulled himself up to meet her face. "Well, yes there's that," he said. "I'm not even gonna ask about the blowjob in the shower, it'll just piss me off."

Kim laughed as he fell onto his back beside her. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have slept with other people since we dated."

"Well I haven't," he teased. "Heather had Miles through immaculate conception."

Kim snickered. The mention of Heather knocked a little wind out of her sails. But she'd been curious to hear more about his relationship with the woman. Now seemed as good a segue as ever.

"What happened with her?"

Tommy turned his head to face Kim, "What do you mean? We already talked about it at dinner, didn't we? Like, why we got divorced or—"

"Yeah but that was like, recently," she said. "I meant before now. How'd you meet? When did you get married? When did you decide to have kids? All of it."

He quirked an eyebrow. "You really want to know?"

Kim nodded. "The other night was the first time we've talked in over ten years. I only found out about your divorce a few months ago from Trini. Hell, I only found out about your marriage at Trini's wedding!"

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I left you out of my life for so long I just—" he sighed. "At first, I didn't know how to include you. And then as more time passed it felt kinda dumb, ya know? Like, why would I keep you posted when I never saw you?"

Kim turned to face him better. "It's okay, I get it…"

She ran her hand along his jaw and down his throat. His adam's apple bobbed as he spoke.

"But we were better friends than that. I should have kept in touch."

Kim shrugged. "I didn't really make much of an effort either."

She slowed her hand, splaying it across his chest. He brought his own hand up and rested it on top of hers.

Kim smirked. "So, spill it."

Tommy closed his eyes for a moment. "Kat set me up with Heather right after you and I broke up."

Kim's eyes widened. "Oh wow. So, you've known her for a long time?"

"I met her a long time ago." He clarified. "Billy and Kat took me skiing—just to like, take my mind off of—everything."

Kim made a noncommittal grunt.

He spared her a glance. "Are you sure you want to know all of this?"

She rolled her eyes. "You can maybe gloss over the parts about me being an idiot."

He smiled, placing a gentle kiss on her hand before resting against his chest once more. "So, Billy and Kat took me skiing cause my heart was shattered to a million pieces—"

Kim shoved him and pulled her hand away. "You're an asshole," she groaned.

He laughed and pulled her hand back. "I'm just kidding. Kind of. "

He was still laughing. She shot him a dirty look.

He smiled. "Anyway, Heather was this big-shot skiing champion, right? Well, we kind of just bumped into each other one day and hit it off. She offered to show me the slopes, and it felt like something might happen, but, I didn't—I couldn't trust what I was feeling. Kat and Billy told her a bit about our break up—and I was pissed at first cause, the last thing I needed was pity, ya know?"

"That's—yeah…"

She wanted to commiserate about Mark, but the fear of distracting Tommy held her off. She was too curious about Heather to stop now. She settled for nodding instead.

"Kat thought she was being a good friend. She set up this whole romantic dinner date for me and Heather. It was a complete disaster. Zordon and Alpha kept calling us in and I had to bail out over and over again, but I couldn't tell her why, naturally, and she got pissed and basically told me to go fuck myself."

"Not that I would even know what that was like but," Kim frowned. "It was hard to date outside of the team back then, wasn't it?"

"I wouldn't know either," Tommy smirked. "But yeah. That whole mess was kind of how Kat and I started dating…"

Kim snickered. "Well, I'm glad Kat was there to pick up the pieces."

Tommy laughed. "Are you trying to turn me on?"

"Me getting jealous does it for ya, huh?"

He leaned over and snuck a kiss. "Kind of."

She smiled beneath his lips. "Go on…you and Kat, blah blah blah, How'd you reconnect with Heather?"

He rolled back over and sat up a bit higher in the bed, propping a pillow behind him. Kim scooted herself up into his arms, resting her head on his chest.

He draped his left arm over her and absently played with the robe covering her body.

"Heather and I ran into each other by chance. When I started working at the high school. I got asked to chaperone the sophomore skiing trip and we headed up to Mt. Shasta for the weekend. She was the skiing instructor. I guess meeting again under similar circumstances, it—I don't know, rekindled something. Like we'd been given a do-over, I guess."

Kim snorted indelicately. "We should all be so lucky…"

Tommy smiled. "We had been dating for about a year when she got pregnant with Miles. She was not…entirely happy about that. So I proposed, thought maybe she'd feel differently about having the kid if we were married. I mean—this is what we were heading toward anyway, right? It just all came a bit out of order and faster than we thought it would."

Kim sat up. "Wait, so Miles wasn't planned?"

Tommy gave her a bashful smile, "No. Having Miles definitely changed things."

"How so?"

Tommy shrugged. "She had to put her skiing career on hold. Which, as she had made very clear, she'd never wanted to do. And then after Miles was born, I kept working and she stayed home and took care of the baby."

He shook his head. "I think it was a bit of a culture shock. I tried to help her, where I could. We tried to get things back to normal but everything became a fight. She thought the gang hated her, and why didn't we ever hang out with her friends? When she said she was exhausted, I asked my mom for help. That pissed her off even more. We completely stopped having sex. She thought having the baby had wrecked her body and that I didn't find her sexy anymore. But every time I tried she—she didn't want to risk getting pregnant again. It got to the point where I couldn't even look at her without feeling guilty."

Kim watched him as his thoughts clouded his features. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled sharply.

"It sounds like there was a lot of …resentment," Kim said carefully.

"Yeah, I think there was," He snickered. "Crazy thing is, there's a part of me that understands why. She'd dedicated her whole life to skiing and she had all these sponsorships and commercial deals that she had to give up or turn down—"

Kim sat up and held up her hand. "Hold on. It's ridiculous for her to have blamed you alone."

She had some experience in this matter. Tommy was hardly a saint, but he was undoubtedly one of the most admirably selfless people she'd ever known. He would never want to stand in the way. His encouragement is what drove her to leave for the Pan Globals in the first place. He effectively let her go so she could pursue her own aspiration. He let Kat go so she could fulfill hers too. For Heather to even insinuate—it was enough to drive Kim crazy.

She seethed, feeling personally affronted. "I'm sorry, but as a professionally athlete, if you don't want to get pregnant or get others pregnant, and if doing so really would jeopardize your career like that, there are plenty of precautions you can take."

He smiled at her ire. He liked feisty Kim. Not only for the way her anger helped him assuage his guilt, but because it reminded him of how she'd always been just as protective of him as he was of her.

"Damn, where were you at my divorce hearings?"

Kim snorted. "And also, Hello! You weren't some random guy at a bar, you were her boyfriend. If you guys weren't using birth control, what did she think was going to happen?"

Tommy's face contorted suddenly, giving Kim a worried look. She waved a hand to dismiss him.

"I'm on the pill, we're fine," she grumbled. He audibly sighed, grateful she'd caught his intent. She clucked her tongue and held up her chin in disdain.

"Unlike some people, I know the consequences of my actions."

Tommy whistled. "Wow. You really don't like her, do you?"

Kim gave him an incredulous look. "Had no reason to until the other day. Barely knew her to hate her, except for obvious reasons."

He smirked. "I like this side of you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah well, can you blame me? All those not-so-subtle jabs…"

Tommy sighed. "I told myself I'd stop making excuses for Heather after we were separated but, in fairness, you gotta know that was all just ego, right?"

Kim scoffed. "How?"

"She's threatened by you, Kim," he laughed, "She always has been."

"Again I ask, how? This was the second time we'd met!"

Tommy smiled in surrender. "Ah, but not the second time you've come up in conversation…."

Kim frowned at that. She probably could have guessed that. Kim might have fallen out of touch with Tommy, but that didn't mean the rest of their friends had. And he and Heather had been together since before Trini and Jason started having their summer hangouts, it stood to reason that the woman had heard about her. If not from Tommy himself, then definitely one of the gang.

Heather knew Kim and Tommy had dated, he'd told her as much. To what great detail, that was uncertain. But the woman's calculated remarks left little room for interpretation.

"It pisses me off that she apparently knows all these things about me and I know virtually nothing about her." Kim said.

Tommy shook his head. "You know all you need to know about Heather, believe me. And anything you don't, I'm happy to tell you. But you gotta know, everything that was ever said about you was always positive. Which was clearly the problem."

Kim had the good grace to look bashful at that. He smiled and ran his fingers along her cheek.

"As Heather got to know more of our friends, you came up a lot, naturally. But then after the baby, and when she and I started fighting—I know Jason was just being protective but—sometimes he can come off as an asshole."

Kim snickered as Tommy went on, his hand dropping to rest on hers once more.

"She knew we had dated but—well, basically, Jason poked the bear. He made some stupid comments in front of Heather about me and you and it pissed her off. So we got into this huge argument where she grilled me about all the details of our relationship. So I told her everything I thought was fit to print. And I guess after hearing it all she'd decided that I was still too...sentimental about you."

Kim snickered. "What about Kat? She had no problem with Kat?"

Tommy chuckled. "Heather was actually excited to see Kat again at first. When she found out Kat and I dated, then she got kind of nasty. Heather's always been a bit jealous, come to think of it, even when there was no need to be. But she had more opportunity to see me with Kat over the years. See there was nothing going on. And then of course, after Kat got together with Billy, she completely backed off. But with you, well—all she had was what she heard and her own imagination I guess…."

Kim couldn't help but laugh. "I just—I just don't get it. Like, even if you did talk about me fondly or whatever, I wasn't there. I was literally not there. How was I a threat to this woman?"

Tommy shrugged. "Heather was always so confident everywhere else. Like, cocky almost. It was super hot, actually. When we met, she had this huge crowd of fans surrounding her. And she stopped for me. I mean, I accidentally bumped into her but—she was so cool and like, easy-going about it. She smiled and excused herself to talk to me. We joked about how she should start wearing a disguise. I was a bit star-struck. I don't usually get like that, ya know? I mean, maybe if I met like, Bruce Lee or something but—I don't usually care how famous someone is."

Kim knew this to be true. Tommy was never one to gush at stardom. But it also drove her a bit batty how naïve he could be sometimes. As if his wonderment toward Heather had been about celebrity. The man had been a superhero for so long, she worried he sometimes forgot he was still human. And a man, at that.

"And then she like, dared me to go skiing with her," he laughed. "Like I was any competition. We stopped at a ridge at one point, just to check out the view. I don't know, we had a moment and then it was gone. I got nervous, told her why, and she shut down after that. And then when he tried to have our date, that was enough to pick her back up, I guess. But then after all the false starts she just, well like I said. I didn't hear from her again. It was basically the same when we started dating. She liked to act like she was more carefree than she actually was. Or maybe she was and I somehow spoiled that. I don't know. She didn't always avoid talking about serious stuff—but whenever I'd even mention my past relationships she just—she'd just kind of short circuit."

Kimberly poked a playfully accusing finger into his chest. "I thought you said you liked women acting all jealous?"

He laughed and caught the offending finger and pulled her in closer. "I said I liked it when you did it."

Kim shook her head knowingly. "Is this how you talked about me with Heather? Cause I'm starting to see what gave her the wrong idea…"

He smirked. "No. I think what we're doing right now was what she was always worried about."

He caught her chin in his hand, bringing his lips in to meet hers. The kiss was soft for a moment, sweet pecks and slow brushes against each other's mouths. Kimberly's tongue darted out and pried his mouth open wider. He happily accepted it, rolling his along hers as he sucked on her mouth.

She sat up on her knees, neither breaking their embrace, and climbed onto his lap before sitting down to straddle him.

He sat up, his left hand splayed across her back to hold her steady and his right hand moved to push the robe off her shoulder.

He broke away to catch his breath and bent his head to kiss her neck and the bare skin he'd just uncovered.

His right hand came up to cup her breast, kneading the soft round with long nimble fingers before dipping his head down further to flick her nipple with his tongue.

Kim mewled softly as his tongue went to work on her other breast, his right hand still massaging and groping while his left hand remained fastened tightly to her back.

"What are we doing right now?"

Her hands flew to his head as he bathed her with his tongue, her fingers raking through his hair.

"I don't know," he panted, pushing her gently onto her back, his mouth trailing to her stomach.

"Me either," she laughed breathily as his tongue dipped into her belly button before dragging the wet muscle slowly back up the length of her torso.

He climbed up her body to meet her face to face once more. Her hands came up to cup his face and pulled his mouth down onto hers.

He kept himself propped up on his left arm while his right hand brushed against her side.

She shivered as his hand snaked in between them before his fingers landed near the soft downy curls. He turned his hand over and ran his knuckles lightly over the top of her heat.

She broke the kiss as her breath hitched. He dragged his hand over her inner thigh and teased her, his hands grazing her center, but never fully touching it.

He massaged the muscles of her thighs firmly, kneading the skin with deliberate pulls.

"God, I can't stop touching you," he gasped, lowering himself once again and kissing her inner thighs. He buried his nose in her curls, inhaling the musky scent of her arousal and placed a kiss, allowing his tongue to sneak out just a bit.

She bit her lip as her hips bucked into his mouth. He laughed and flattened his tongue, dragging it roughly over her nether lips. He continued to massage her folds with his tongue, long flat licks, then back in again with short quick darts.

"Oh…" she mewled softly.

He latched onto her clit again, kissing and sucking at the nub while his tongue made tiny circles.

She grabbed the sides of his head, and he let her, undeterred as he continued to penetrate with his tongue. He dipped in hard and deep, keeping his tongue as flat as he could.

Kim inhaled and she licked her lips. Her throat was going dry as she panted along to Tommy's ministrations. "Oh, god…Tommy…."

She fisted his hair in her hands, the stubble on his chin adding to the scratchy sensation as his tongue lapped hungrily away.

She gritted her teeth, her eyelids fluttering as her walls throbbed with every lick of his wet muscle against her.

She bucked again reflexively, sharp pulses radiated from her apex up her spine.

She was right on the edge. The beginnings of that telltale ripple emerged. His left hand splayed across her lower abdomen as she convulsed, orgasm tearing through her.

Her arms dropped dumbly from his head, rolling mindlessly to her sides.

She licked her lips and swallowed hard. Tommy kissed her inner thigh, wiping his face against her skin. He crawled back up to face her once more. Her eyes were screwed shut as he hovered above her, ghosting his lips lightly over her face and back down to her neck.

She blindly reached a hand up to massage his scalp as he nuzzled her ear with his nose.

"You ok?" he smirked into her hair, leaning back onto his side to watch her.

She sat back up and swung her legs to dangle off the side of the bed. "I'm actually kind of dizzy."

She made to stand. Nope. Her traitorous legs buckled as she collapsed back onto the mattress.

Tommy smiled and turned onto his back, his hands self-satisfyingly resting behind his head.

She shot him a scowl. "You can wipe that smug smile off your face anytime."

He grinned wolfishly. "Why would I? Look at yourself right now. Do you know what this is doing for my ego?"

She rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed. "Shut up."

She turned to face him, nestling into his side. He brought a hand down to drape over her back, idly playing with the ends of her hair.

She mumbled into his chest. "Do I wanna know how you got so good at that?"

He laughed. "Well, I'm an adult now and I know what I'm doing."

She shoved him halfheartedly as he kissed her hair.

"If it helps, I really like going down on you," he said.

Kim buried her face even further. "God, hearing you talk like that weirds me out."

Her head snapped up to look at him. "17 year-old Tommy would never have talked liked that."

He craned his neck to look at her. "Of course he didn't," he said. "I could barely kiss you without coming right then and there."

Kim's face scrunched up in embarrassment. "Oh my god," she mumbled.

He just kept laughing. "It's true. Just holding your hand made me want to explode."

She tossed herself onto her back and covered a hand over her face. "Yeah well, you didn't always act that bashful. But you definitely couldn't talk about it like you do now."

He shrugged, returning his hands behind his head. "There's no point in being embarrassed by any of it anymore. I've watched a woman give birth. Nothing is as graphic or explicit as that."

Kim turned her head to look at him and smiled. "What was that like?"

He smiled, staring out absently as he recalled the memory.

"It was gross. It took forever. It was scary. And it was awesome. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head. Panic not the least of which but, then when you see the head start to come out? And then the tiny hands? Oh, forget it! Everyone's crying. Heather was sobbing, from exhaustion, mostly—but relief too, I suppose. And the baby's of course crying, this bloodcurdling scream that would normally send you off a cliff but—and then I'm crying from adrenaline and fear and joy…"

Kim sniffled, a teary smile plastered to her face as she watched him. He looked back at her and wiped away the tears with his thumb.

"Hey," he whispered, "Now why are you crying?"

She shook her head. "I just—I just really liked your story…"

He laughed. "Happy tears?"

She gave an indelicate chuckle as her tears kept falling. "And sad ones too, I guess."

They fell silent for a minute. Each consumed by their own thoughts, the dreams and wishes they'd kept tucked away for so long, each believing that the things they'd wanted in their youth were no longer up for grabs.

He gave her a small smile. "Can I admit something to you?"

She nodded.

He tucked a hair behind her ear. "You know how I said all sorts of things ran through my head?"

She swallowed a lump in her throat, suddenly wondering just how risky of a confession Tommy was about to make.

He licked his lips and let out a shaky breath. Apparently Kim wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"I thought about—what it would have been like if—"

Kim shook her head and laid a hand to his cheek. "Stop," she whispered gently.

He looked back at her, his eyes darting back and forth between her own, searching for something.

His voice cracked. He asked, more to himself. "God, why did we wait so long?"

She knew what he meant. If they had maybe reconnected earlier, made amends or… Kim shook her head. She didn't know why either.

Kim sat back. His eyes were brimming.

"My life is—" he sighed. "Sometimes I think—we could have—"

She wiped at his tears with her thumb.

"I know, "she nodded. "I know but—Miles, is amazing!"

Tommy choked on his sobs, a small smile creeping onto his face. Kim smiled back, tears now forming in her own eyes.

She ran her hand gently across his features again. "He is amazing," she hit her point harder, "and you wouldn't have had him with me."

He swallowed thickly as he stared back at her, letting her words hit him.

"As hard as it is to admit, Heather is part of why Miles is so wonderful," she said. "I would never want you to lose that…"

He coughed out a small laugh as his tears fell unbidden. She smiled back at him, bleary eyed as well.

They stared back at one another for a moment longer.

He loved that kid. And he knew Kim was right. Like it or not, Heather was a part of him.

Kim sighed as he snuggled into her. He shut his eyes contentedly as she massaged his scalp. Her nails raking up the back of his neck and playing with the dark chocolate spikes atop his head. They stayed like this for a moment, the profundity of all they'd said just now lingered in between, as if another body lay there with them.

Finally, the tension ebbed, and the uninvited party dissipated, though neither broke the silence right away.

Kim studied him as she watched her fingers comb through the tufts of his shorn locks. Each pass loosened the curls that naturally grew, the ones he often straightened and styled with gel.

"I thought I would miss your long hair more but—" she brushed her fingers through again. "This suits the adult you…"

His lashes fluttered as he remained completely pacified by her ministrations. He smiled ruefully when he thought about her words.

"That was Heather's suggestion, to cut it."

Kimberly snapped her hand back in an instant, sneering as the tranquil moment vanished. "Never mind. I miss your long hair."

He laughed in spite of the disruption to his peace, Kim's light laughter easing any worry that his comment had truly ruined the mood.

"I'm just kidding" She returned to stroking his head, "I really do like it. Good call, Heather…"

He snickered. "Guess not all of her ideas sucked."

Kim snorted and bent down to kiss his temple.

He smiled as he rolled onto his back. Kim settled down beside him.

"So, what do we tell everyone?"

He looked over at her. "What? You mean about us?"

Kim nodded.

He sighed. "I really don't want everyone to know our business."

Kim bit her lip. "Me either. Not—not right now anyway…"

She curled up against him, his arm folding around her.

"So, I guess we just play it cool for now?" He said.

She looked up at him, a sudden spark of mischief in her eye. "And then we come back here and all bets are off?"

He smirked. "Deal."

-x-