Tommy could have sworn he had been plucked right out of a George Romero film, except instead of being the valiant hero, he was the mindless zombie. His walk could definitely earn him a spot in the next remake.

He dragged himself from his bedroom to the kitchen, where the smell of whatever was cooking was beckoning him over.

"Daddy!" Kylie let out at the top of her lungs. Her eyes lit up like it had been the first time she had seen him in forever.

Her sweet voice had Tommy feeling better already. She had the capability of turning his bad day into a good one by simply just speaking.

Kimberly looked up from the batter they had been mixing on the counter, watching Tommy hop in with crutches under his arms.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Kimberly gave him a small smile, meeting Tommy's tired eyes.

"Thanks," He murmured, a brow raised. All of the excitement of the explosion had him almost forgetting that she was staying with him while he recovered.

He wasn't quite sure what had happened the last several weeks. The last real and conscious memory had been hearing his mother arrive at Reefside Memorial to get him. After that… it was all a little fuzzy. How long had it been since then?

Kylie hopped off the counter, flour powdered on her cheeks. She jumped over to Tommy who had planted himself on a chair. He couldn't stand for very long.

"Good morning," She said, looping a gentle arm around his neck and giving him the softest kiss to his cheek.

"Morning, bunny," He returned and she wrinkled her nose at him cutely.

Kylie loved her adoring nickname that had been given to her by her dad. It had been handed to her as a result of her high energy and of course, her constant nose wrinkling. Plus, she just loooved bunnies.

"How long have I been out?" Tommy turned to Kimberly as Kylie went back to finish helping make breakfast.

"You mean how long has it been since your accident? Because you've been out since then."

Tommy groaned, "Really?"

He didn't feel as terrible as when the accident first happened, leaving him to believe it had been entirely too long.

"It's been about a month," Kimberly informed, her teeth tugging on her lip like she had just delivered the worst news possible.

"Great," Tommy sighed.

Things had been so bad. He wasn't sure what to even ask at this point. Something must have happened on the island for his body to have been this badly damaged. He also didn't doubt that the people on the island hadn't been as lucky as he had. He didn't want to discuss that in front of Kylie though. He'd wait until she had gone to bed to ask Kimberly what had actually happened.

"This place looks great," He told Kimberly, his eyes looking around his clean home.

When was the last time it had a good scrubbing? And breakfast? He'd always been so busy in the mornings to even have time to serve anything that wasn't cereal and milk.

His mornings had been spent rushing out the door with a half filled coffee cup in one hand and a 5-year-old in the other. Kylie's hair had always been thrown together in a messy bun or a half dangling attempt at a ponytail. He was always off to the races. Had he ever not been late to an event? Kylie was always late to her ballet classes on Wednesday afternoons and Tommy had always barely made it to the Karate classes he taught part-time at Rocky and Jason's dojo on Saturdays.

While it didn't feel like it, the accident had been a good thing to help slow him down. He was starting to feel fifty-eight, instead of the twenty-eight he actually was. This would be a good thing. It had to be.

"You should taste the pancakes," Kylie beamed, a smear of chocolate on the side of her lip. "Aunt Kim's been cooking every day! She's so good at it, and she says she's going to teach me how to make chocolate chips cookies so that we don't have to buy them at the store anymore!" She was almost giddy at the possibility of learning how to make her own snacks, with adult supervision, of course.

"Really?" Tommy said, his voice as enthusiastic as his daughters. "I remember when she couldn't even boil water," He whispered to Kylie who giggled, although Kimberly heard every word of it.

"Heyyy," Kimberly scoffed in mock offense, throwing a chocolate chip at his head.

"It's true," He laughed, "or did I just imagine the empty pot nearly melting?"

He caught the next chocolate chip that had been aggressively thrown at his head with his mouth. However, the sharp movement caused him to hiss at the pain radiating from his rib.

The boiling water incident had been entirely his fault if he remembered correctly. He just couldn't keep his hands off of Kimberly and he had scooped her up to the bedroom of his uncles cabin.. that was until they smelled the scent of burning metal. He didn't even know that was possible.

"Okay, you win," He put his hands up defensively, "I shouldn't have moved that fast."

"I'm pretty sure your meds are wearing off," Kimberly told him, "You just finished the last dose last night. That's probably why you're conscious right now."

"I don't want to be conscious right now," He sighed, feeling the ache subtly subside.

Kimberly shook her head, smiling at her former boyfriend. It was nice to have another adult around to have a conversation with. Of course she had loved the talks she had had with Kylie, but sometimes it was nice to talk without having to worry about putting money in the swear jar. A jar that was nearly full from Tommy's potty mouth.

Kimberly had fit right at home the last two weeks that she had spent at Tommy's house. She was making herself rather comfortable in the kitchen, slowly learning where the cups and plates were housed. And Kylie… well, she was just a treasure. She hadn't had any trouble at all adjusting to a new person in the house. In fact, she was so happy to have her Aunt Kimberly in town visiting. It was like a long sleepover that she never wanted to end.

"Ready to help me make these?" Kimberly pointed to the batter in the bowl.

"Yes!" Kylie hopped off the counter again and brought a chair next to Kimberly on the stove.

While Tommy loved seeing the image of Kylie and Kimberly together, there was a part of him that felt rather guilty that Kylie didn't have the same relationship with her mom. Natalie never reached out to him to spend time with their daughter. She'd rather spend her time chasing guys coast to coast than see Kylie. She would send a Christmas or birthday present every couple of years, months late, of course, but nothing other than that. She never cared to be a part of her life and he resented her for that. How could she not want to spend every single second with their precocious little girl? Kylie was funny and sweet, super friendly and easy to talk to, and she was insanely smart, a little too smart for him sometimes.

Maybe he didn't try hard enough to make his marriage work, maybe he had been too young to make a decision such as marriage, but that was the past. He couldn't do anything about it now, and he would do it all again if it meant ending up with Kylie.

"Mmmm, chocolate chips are my favorite," Tommy smiled as his daughter brought him a small stack of pancakes.

Kylie watched him intently as he took the first bite. Her eyes widening as she awaited his response.

"These are so good," He told her and Kylie jumped in place with excitement.

He always wanted to make her happy. He'd swallow them with a huge grin even if they tasted like cardboard if it meant that she was glowing.

"Thank you," He mouthed to Kimberly who returned a nod.

Kimberly and Kylie took their place at the table with Tommy, Kimberly finding herself directly across from him… and for a moment, she let herself imagine what it would have been like if this had been their family. If somehow along the way she had made different choices and their lives led them to this.. but that was a stupid thought. They wouldn't have had Kylie, and as much as she would have wanted her to be her own, genetics don't work that way.

Okay, what the fuck was that thought?

Tommy had been conscious for 20 minutes and she was already picturing a life with him? Please. So what if he was fucking adorable with his daughter? That didn't give her the right to drool over him. She hadn't even had one romantic thought about the guy in years. Kimberly had left her feelings for him back in 1995 where they belonged. Maybe it wasn't so much Tommy, but the thought of being a part of a family again. She didn't have that. She came from a broken home where her own mother abandoned her and left with some French guy. It was a wound that never quite healed. When was the last time she had even spoken to her? Ten— maybe eleven years..

Kimberly sighed, poking at her food with a fork.

"Don't you like it, Aunt Kim?" Kylie asked, her big hazel eyes widening.

Kimberly looked up, catching Tommy's gaze for a moment. Had she been that obvious?

She returned a small smile, "Of course I do. These are the best pancakes we've ever made."

"Then why aren't you eating them?" Kylie continued to probe.

Kylie was wise beyond her years. She was so empathetic to those around her and she could pick up the energy people were projecting. A five year old wasn't typically like that.

This was something Kimberly figured out when she received a call from work a couple of days ago. Apparently one of her gymnasts had broken a bone and had been pulled from the national competition. It was a combination of feeling terrible for one of her girls and the stress of finding a proper alternate to take the place of her student that had Kimberly down in the dumps. Kimberly tried to deflect the situation and say it was nothing, but Kylie knew different and found a way to cheer her up. They spent the rest of the day swimming in the pool while Tommy lay dormant in his bedroom. She knew she couldn't lie to her now, but she certainly wasn't going to tell her the truth.

"I'm just thinking about all of the dishes we have to do afterwards."

Kylie sat back, her head tilting up as in thought, "Maybe daddy can do them now that he's feeling better."

Kimberly laughed, "You know what? That is a great idea!"

"Aw, come on," Tommy groaned like a child told to clean his room, "I'm not feeling that much better."

Kylie giggled, her feet swaying back and forth as they dangled off the chair.

Tommy turned to Kimberly who continued just staring at her food. There was a sadness hidden behind a smile of lies. He wondered about it and if maybe he could be the one to help lift her spirits.

Author note: Hey guys! A little late but here's the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoy this update! Let me know what you think in a review or PM! See you guys in the next one!