Tzzzz…

The smell of the juicy beef patties firing on the grill was beginning to make Tommy's mouth water. The dinner that was originally scheduled with Jason and Trini had turned into a small BBQ that now included Rocky and Aisha. It was perfect because he hadn't seen his friends in weeks and Kylie could use the play time with Rocky and Aisha's four-year-old daughter, Ava. In the end, they ended up moving the BBQ to the weekend and over to Jason and Trini's house, which had more room than Tommy's place.

"The girls still not back yet?" Jason asked as Rocky walked back outside with fresh beers in hand.

Rocky handed a cold one to Jason over by the grill and another to Tommy who had been sitting at this point. The loud pop as they opened it rang in their ears, the cool bubbling making them thirstier and thirstier.

"Nah," Rocky shook his head, "We sent them shopping. I'm sure they'll take their sweet time."

"For groceries," Tommy clarified, "It's not like we sent them to the mall."

Jason laughed, flipping a patty with the metal spatula, "Have you been single that long, bro? It's shopping. Doesn't matter what it is, they're guaranteed to take their sweet ass time, spend more money than is in my bank account, and come home with everything but what they went out to get."

Rocky lifted his beer to that, "Them's the rules."

Tommy shook his head, "Well, your wives may be like that, but Kimberly is with them and she'll make sure none of that happens."

"Are you kidding?" Rocky nearly spit out his beer, "Who do you think they learned that from?"

Ah, yes. Kimberly Hart: A Memoir — Pink Ranger, Gymnast, Recovering Shopaholic.

Jason felt an upward tug of his lip, "How are things with Kimberly by the way? You two finally stop denying your feelings for each other?"

Now it was Tommy's turn to spit out his beer, "What the hell are you talking about? What feelings?"

He had no feelings— none, nothing, nada! No feelings for Kimberly whatsoever. He never thought about her, didn't dream about her, didn't fantasize about what her lips might taste like after all of these years…

Rocky rolled his eyes as he handed more uncooked patties to Jason, "Oh, right! I forgot he thinks we're idiots."

"I don't think you guys are idiots. There's just nothing going on between us."

Jason and Rocky shared a look, one that said they knew Tommy was full of shit or denial, whichever.

"What?" Tommy asked, defensively, "you don't believe me? Can't people of the opposite sex just be friends without there being something more?"

"Oh, they definitely can be," Jason said, flipping another patty, "Kimberly is like a sister to me, but she's not my real sister. We're friends. I've known her since I was in preschool and I've never even had one thought about us being something more, so it's possible, but for you two… I don't think it is."

Tommy turned to Rocky who seemed to be agreeing with everything Jason had been spewing.

"Well, you're wrong. We're friends and nothing more than that."

There was a silence between the three for a moment.

"Why though?" Rocky asked and at Tommy's annoyed face, he held a hand up,"I'm genuinely curious as to why you guys are denying anything. Is she just not your type or something?"

Kimberly would always be his type.

"Are you two forgetting that I have a five-year-old daughter? Kylie is all I think about all day. I don't have time to think about anyone else and I definitely don't have time to be someones boyfriend."

"Whoa," Jason craned his head, "No one is putting labels. I just asked if you guys finally stopped pretending that something is going on between you two— you put the label on that yourself."

All of this talk was making Tommy start to lose his appetite. Why couldn't they understand that there was nothing going on? Sure he thought Kimberly got more beautiful with age, she loved Kylie, was a perfect cook and baker, and he often fantasized about his head between her legs, but that didn't change the fact that she probably didn't feel the same way, and he was in no position to be something to anyone.

"Look, man," Rocky cleared his throat, "I get it. Aisha and I weren't even dating when she got pregnant with Ava because I was too stubborn to admit that I had feelings for her. I was given the label of father when I only wanted the label of single. The more I denied it, the more I hurt Aisha. And then after she had Ava and I saw Aisha with her…" Rocky smiled at the memory, "I wanted to add another label to that, husband."

Tommy remained quiet, the words from Rocky sinking in.

"And this is coming from the guy that said he would never get married," Jason nudged Tommy's shoulder.

"I was a husband," Tommy muttered, "or did you guys forget about Natalie?"

Jason met Tommy's eyes, "You weren't a husband, you were a prisoner. She forced you to marry her."

"Besides," Rocky added, "You weren't in love with Natalie, were you? I saw you with her and you two couldn't even pretend to like each other. I've seen better acting in porn."

"Porn, really?" Tommy turned to Rocky, his eyes near an eye roll.

"How do you think I got Aisha pregnant," Rocky gave a smug grin.

Jason took another sip of his beer, his curved up lips making the task more difficult, "I'm surprised she let you have sex with her anyway. Weren't you an ass to her?"

"I was… confused," Rocky shrugged, "and when we had Ava, I swore my sex life would be over, but it just got better."

"What's sex?" Tommy leaning back in his chair "the memory is fuzzy."

And it was. The last time he could remember being with a woman was about two years ago after a drunken night at the bar when his mother had Kylie for the weekend. He took a waitress home and it was over embarrassingly too fast.

"It's reserved for us men that don't deny our feelings," Jason chuckled and received a tap from Tommy's good leg.

"Look, I'm not denying any feelings. Kimberly is great and sure we had something once, but that was a long time ago. She has other dreams and ambitions that I'm sure don't involve me. I'm happy to still even have a job at this point. Plus, she wants to get married and have kids, I don't."

"Ever?" Jason asked.

"No way. I didn't want to get married in the first place. I have Kylie and she's all I need."

"Don't you want to give her a sibling or something? A mom?"

Tommy's nostril flared, "She has a mom… if she doesn't want to be a part of her life then what am I supposed to do about it? Natalie is the one that's missing out. Besides I feel like I make up for it, don't I? Am I not good enough for the both of us?"

Rocky held a hand up, "You're a great dad, Tommy. You definitely handled your situation better than I would have, but I would be lost without Aisha. I'm all for the modern woman, she can work and I'll be the stay at home dad, but I still struggle with the idea that nutritious food doesn't come from the freezer aisle. Braiding hair is a fucking sorcery and I'm not a wizard, I don't know the first think about what brands to use for skincare or haircare, and I without a doubt don't know anything about what a girl goes through during puberty. Are you ready to do all of the hard work yourself and not even get laid?"

"Kylie is worth it," Tommy return, standing his ground.

Jason nodded as he turned off the flame on the grill. Tommy was always as stubborn as he was and he knew why.

Tommy had been burned before by his birth parents. Rejected and pushed away. His adoptive parents were amazing and loved him like their own, but that didn't mean that the idea of being turned away didn't hurt him. That's why he struggled so much with Natalie. Tommy had been the child that wasn't wanted. He couldn't believe the same shit was happening with his daughter.

"Kim's worth it too, you know," Jason sighed, "contrary to what you believe, you can have it all."

Tommy swallowed, but his head wouldn't budge; His heart, on the other hand, was reminding him how stupid he was.

"We're home," Kimberly announced, her head peeking out the back door, "You boys miss us?"

"Sure did," Jason called back. "Foods ready!"

Two tiny heads of brown hair ran outside to where the guys had been grilling, Ava and Kylie running to greet their dads.

Tommy looked down at Kylie, two dutch braids perfectly placed on her head. "Wow, look at you," Tommy beamed, appraising each braid in his hand, "You look great! Did Aunt Aisha do this?"

"No, Aunt Kim!" Kylie twirled in place, one hand on each brain as her smile grew.

Tommy turned back to Kimberly, catching her eyes for a moment. He mouthed a thank you and Kimberly returned a wink. The action twinkled in his heart. His attention went back to Kylie and her hair. Rocky was right, that was some kind of sorcery. Maybe they had been right about more things.

Author note: Hey there! So…. I'm going to do something a little bit different and change the rating of this to M. I don't know what that means exactly, but I'm just doing it and allowing myself the freedom to explore all aspects of this story. If that turns you away then thank you for making it this far, but if you're sticking with me then I guess we're going to see where this goes. Let me know what you think in a review or PM! See you next time!