Kim shifted as the alarm went off, trying to roll over so she could turn it off, but something heavy was holding her down.
She reached out, feeling something warm and strong draped across her. She snorted, Tommy was pinning her down to the bed.
"Tommy," she groaned, tugging on the arm, which only tightened its grip on her waist, "Come on, it's time to get up."
"Mmph..."
Kim shook her head as she carefully removed herself from the grip of her husband, turning off the alarm clock, "Come on Handsome, time to get up."
"Mmph, five more minutes," Tommy groaned, rolling over on the bed.
"You're going to be late for school."
"I've graduated," Tommy insisted, "They can survive without me."
"You're the teacher..."
"Substitute," Tommy pointed out, "Totally different, I'm tired."
Kim chuckled softly as she slid out of bed, "Well I'm sure that Dr. Mercer would be willing to watch your class for you today."
"No, he tries to turn them against me," Tommy muttered, "Can't let Mesogog know that I'm..." whatever Tommy was going to say was cut off by a pink blur running into the room and jumping on the bed.
"It's today, it's today!" Jaslee shouted, jumping up and down on top of her father.
"Oomph," Tommy grunted, "What's today?"
"The trip to the zoo, silly," Jaslee announced, "I'm going to see all types of animals."
Kim glanced at Tommy, wondering how he would deal with this, was he going to overreact with extreme paranoia, or would he be okay with their daughter going with her school to the zoo.
"Wish I could go," Tommy confessed, "I love the zoo, but I have to make sure that my students know what kind of dinosaur Littlefoot is."
"He's a Longneck," Jaslee giggled, "Even I know that."
"True, but you, my dear," with that Tommy got out of bed and picked her up, "are smarter than the average teenager."
"I am?" Jaslee asked.
"Yep, now let's get some breakfast."
…
Kim had just barely sat a plate of pancakes onto the table when her head suddenly started to squeeze itself. She instinctively rose her hand up and started to rub her temples in the hope of relieving some of the pressure.
"Beautiful?" Tommy asked nervously, standing up to help her into a seat, "Are you feeling okay? You just lost all color."
Kim opened her mouth, only to quickly clamp it shut again when her stomach suddenly decided to lurch. Instead, she shook her head no.
"Let's get you to bed," Tommy insisted, "Then I'll call Ms. Mercer and see about getting a sub for today."
"Tommy, you can't just not go to work today just because I'm not feeling well."
"Actually I can, you're not feeling well, and if you're down for the count who going to make sure that Inya doesn't rearrange the furniture so she can climb it to get the cookie jar."
"What about the Zoo Trip?" Jaslee interjected, "I need a packed lunch."
Tommy turned to their oldest who had her bottom lip sticking out in a pout, "Help me get Mommy back in bed, then I'll help you make a lunch."
…
Jaslee was super excited as she climbed into the van while Daddy pressed a phone to his ear, "Yes, Elsa, I know it's last minute, but can you get a sub for my class… No, I'm fine, it's Kim, she's not feeling well… I don't want her having to take care of the girls by herself while she is sick… Yes, of course, I'll be back tomorrow… I'll call tonight if it doesn't look like I'll be able to come in… Yes of course… I'll see you then," with that her father hung up and smiled at her, "So today's the big Zoo Trip, huh."
"Yep," Jaslee said, "The babies are coming tonight," she announced, "They weren't supposed to come until later, but the storm came early."
"What Storm?" Tommy asked as he climbed into the driver's seat.
"The storm on the radio," Jaslee insisted.
Tommy frowned, Jaslee had been right about everything so far, so she must be telling the truth, he might just pick up a few things in town and hope no one asked questions, but first, he turned on the radio.
"A large front is moving into the area with a ninety percent chance of rain."
"See, I told you, the storm is coming tonight and so are the babies."
Tommy turned off the radio again, "Okay Jaslee, you're right about the storm, but let's not talk about the babies with your friends until after they come, okay?"
"Okay."
…
Tommy was surprised that no one gave him a weird look when he stopped by the store after dropping Jaslee off. He had Ellie and Inya with him, but he was buying stuff for even younger infants. Newborn-sized diapers, blankets, onesies, even a new car-seat, after all Jaslee had been quite clear that they were going to have twins arriving.
The lady at the check out counter smiled as she rang things up, "I take it you're having twins," she announced, scanning a pink footie pajama that said Princess and a blue pair that had a truck on it.
"Yeah," Tommy said, absentmindedly.
"Don't worry," the lady insisted, "Twins like coming early."
"Great, thanks," Tommy said, grabbing the bags, he had been gone for over an hour and a half, and he really needed to get back to check on Kim, and find out what else they were saying about the storm that was blowing in.
…
Kim wasn't sure that she had ever felt this rotten before, not even after Inya was born with all of her complications, she wasn't in pain, but she certainly didn't like moving, and she seemed to be cramping all over.
Tommy had insisted that he stay home and take care of the girls for her, which just the day before she would have found annoying and frustrating, but today, having another adult willing to take care of the girls was wonderful. Hopefully, this wouldn't last much longer and she'll be back on her feet tomorrow.
Just then Tommy entered the room, "Jaslee has a theory on why you suddenly got so sick."
"The babies?" she guessed.
"Yep, she says that the storm came early."
Kim nodded, "I was just watching the news, they were talking about the storm, it's going to be a big one, it already knocked out power in Stone Canyon and is headed this way."
"Anything on Angel Grove?" Tommy asked, turning to the tv that was in their room.
Kim shook her head, "No but Stone Canyon is more rural than Angel Grove, could be that they already restored power to Angel Grove."
"I'm going to go check what we have for food and make sure that the generator works, I've only used it a handful of times and I don't want the girls getting cold," Tommy announced, standing up, "Especially if the babies do arrive."