Christmas with the Twins
"Now?" Mark asked, looking up at Jason.
Jason sighed, shaking his head as he reached down to pick up the toddler. Mark, almost three, had been asking the same question every five minutes for the past few hours. They were running out of things to distract him with.
"Not yet, bud," Jason said, setting him on his lap. "We have to wait for Aunt Maddy and Aunt V to wake up, remember? They want to see you open presents, too."
Mark frowned, his small forehead wrinkling in displeasure as he wiggled on his father's lap. Tired from the long night before with family and friends, Mark had actually slept in to a decent hour. But it was now past nine in the morning and they had yet to see any sign of the twins. Trini was in the kitchen talking with Mrs. Rocca while Mr. Rocca had been helping Jason with entertaining Mark. But the little boy wanted to play with the prettily wrapped items below the tree.
"Take fowever…" Mark complained, pouting. "Want pwesents…"
Jason took a deep breath, glancing at the clock again.
"Alright," he relented. "Tell you what. Why don't you go wake them up?"
Mark's eyes lit up as he twisted in Jason's lap to look at him.
"Wake up?" he repeated.
Jason nodded.
"Yep," he said. "Go ahead. Cause if we don't wake them up, they aren't coming down for hours—they're teenage girls…"
Grinning, Mark slid off of Jason's lap and darted for the stairs. Mr. Rocca chuckled, shaking his head as Jason followed the little boy up to Vida's room. With Jason and Trini staying over for Christmas, there wasn't quite enough space for the girls to stay each stay in their own rooms. Jason and Trini were sleeping in Jason's old room, but the bed really wasn't big enough to be comfortable for them and Mark. So Madison was letting Mark sleep in her bed while she shared with Vida. Upstairs, Mark ran straight for Vida's room and reached for the handle. He managed to get it open and push the door before Jason caught up, so Jason just let him go ahead. He paused in the doorway, watching as Mark leapt onto the bed and tackled both of the girls.
"Ooph!" one of them exclaimed, the voice muffled by blankets and pillows.
"Ouch!" said the other.
Giggling, Mark continued to bounce on the bed as Jason watched in amusement.
"Pwesents!" he demanded. "Time to up. Open!"
"Mark, we're sleeping," Vida muttered, her head partially emerging from under her blankets to look at her nephew. "We can open presents later."
"Now," he said, trying to pull away the blanket.
His small hands couldn't get a grip on it, however, and it remained firmly over Vida. Madison shifted to look at him, yawning.
"Mark, go wake up your dad," she said. "He can play with you until we come down."
Jason snorted, walking toward the bed.
"I've been up," he said. "For two hours. It's after nine now and Mark wants to open presents. I can only distract him for so long."
"Fine," Vida muttered. "We'll get up soon…"
Jason rolled his eyes, reaching over to scoop his son up off of the bed.
"Uh-huh," he said doubtfully. "I'll believe that when I see it."
Turning, he headed for the door with the giggling two-year-old under his arm.
"Come on, Mark," he said. "We're going to go get mom and grandma into the living room while we wait for your aunts to crawl out of bed."
Reaching the door, he paused to look over his shoulder.
"Better get moving," he warned. "Don't make me come back up here."
He got two muttered and unintelligible responses from his sisters. Shaking his head, Jason headed out the door. Setting Mark down in the hallway, he followed him down the stairs. Mark ran into the kitchen calling for his mother and grandmother. A little while later, they were all gathered in the living room. But there was still no sign of the girls and Mark was getting more and more impatient. Sighing, Jason stood up from the couch and headed for the stairs.
"Jason, where are you going?" Trini asked, trying to hold Mark still on her lap.
"I'll be right back," he said. "I'm just going to see what's taking so long upstairs."
Trini sighed, but didn't argue. Upstairs, Jason opened his sisters' door to find them both still wrapped in their blankets. They hadn't moved.
"Last chance," he said. "It's time to get up. You can't sleep all morning."
"It's vacation," Vida grumbled, pulling her blanket further up. "We'll be down later."
"Later…" Madison mumbled in agreement.
"Alright," Jason said, shaking his head as he walked over to the bed. "Just remember—you asked for this."
"Asked for what?" Madison frowned, half turning to look at him.
Jason didn't answer. Instead, he reached down and grabbed the mattress. Sticking his hands underneath, he flipped the whole thing upward, dumping his sisters and all of their pillows and blankets off in a pile on the floor. Madison and Vida squealed in protests as they tumbled to the ground.
"Jason!" Madison cried, half landing on her sister.
"I'm going to kill you!" Vida snapped.
But Jason just let the mattress back down, laughing as he watched them trying to untangle themselves. During the fall their blankets had gotten all tangled up and now they were having trouble getting up.
"Just think of that as payback for all of those Christmases you wouldn't let me sleep," he grinned. "See you downstairs in a few."
"You are so dead," Vida muttered, glaring after him as she reached down to try and untangle her feet.
"Vida, that's my foot, not the blanket," Madison said, trying to move off of her sister's legs.
"Sorry, Maddy," Vida said, trying again.
Still laughing, Jason headed out the door.
"Merry Christmas!" he called over his shoulder.
Tommy groaned, rolling over as he tried to pretend he hadn't just heard someone knocking on their front door. But after a moment, the knock came again. Hayley sighed, shifting and sitting up to look at him.
"Are you going to get that?" she asked, looking at him.
"Nope," he said. "It's too early for visitors."
She rolled her eyes.
"Tommy, go answer the door," she said.
"Hayley," he muttered, opening his eyes to glance at the clock. "It's eight in the morning—and it's Christmas. They can wait until later."
She raised an eyebrow, looking at him expectantly as she pushed her blankets back and swung her legs around.
"Why do I have to answer the door?" he grumbled, half sitting up. "You're getting up anyways."
"Because you're the big strong man and you're supposed to protect me," she retorted. "So grab a bat and go see who's at the door."
Tommy snorted, finally sitting up and putting his feet on the floor.
"I don't need a bat," he muttered. "If it's an intruder I'm just going to beat them with my fists for waking us up."
"So long as you go answer the door," Hayley said, heading for the bathroom.
Yawning, Tommy stood up and headed out of the bedroom. Continuing to grumble to himself, he headed for the front door. Not bothering to look outside to see who it was, he unlocked and opened the door. He opened his mouth, intending to let whoever had woken them up have it, and then froze in surprise. Crowded onto his front porch were all of the original rangers, kids in tow. For a moment, no one said anything.
"Jason, what are you doing here?" Tommy finally asked, still surprised to see them all. "And at eight in the morning?"
He hadn't seen much of his friends lately. Over the months since his run-in with Mystic Force Tommy had been withdrawn and he knew it. But he just hadn't been able to summon the energy to make much of an effort. He'd seen some of the concerned looks when they were around and knew all of them were worried, but it hadn't changed anything. So seeing them all show up on his doorstep was a bit of a surprise.
"Well, Merry Christmas to you, too," Jason said, not answering the question. "Are you going to let us in?"
Sighing, Tommy opened the door the rest of the way to let them inside. As shocked as he was to see them, he wasn't about to leave them standing out in the cold with the kids. Once everyone was inside, he shut the door—not bothering to lock it since he knew his four would be by at some point—and turned to look at his friends again. There was a flurry of movement going on in the hall as they all removed coats and shoes, helping the kids take theirs off as well. Released from their outer garments and their parents grasp, the kids swarmed around Tommy as they all tried to show him some of the things they had gotten for Christmas.
"Alright, alright," Jason said over the noise. "Go play in the living room. You can show Tommy your toys later."
They shooed the kids toward the living room, except seventh-month-old Rose who stayed in Trini's arms. She wasn't walking yet. Tommy took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair.
"Ok, now what are all of you doing here?" he asked, looking at them expectantly. "Because I don't remember planning anything."
"Hayley invited us," Jason answered.
Tommy frowned.
"In my defense," Hayley said, joining them from upstairs. "I invited them to lunch, not to wake us up this early."
She had gotten dressed in comfy clothes and brushed her hair, pulling it back out of her face. Tommy shot a look at her but she just shrugged.
"I can't deal with this yet," he muttered. "I'm going to take a shower."
Stalking past all of his friends, he headed up the stairs and disappeared. Hayley rounded on Jason and the others as soon as Tommy was gone.
"What are you doing here so early?" she demanded. "I specifically said lunch."
"Hayley, we've all been up since at least five this morning," Jason sighed. "We had to get the kids out and moving."
"We've been up since four," Tanya said as Adam nodded in agreement.
"Same here," Kat sighed. "And Kenny wouldn't go back to sleep…"
Rocky yawned.
"Ours were up at three…" he muttered.
"And that was after we let them stay up late in the hopes they'd sleep later," Aisha added. "I didn't even go to bed until eleven."
Rocky snorted, stifling another yawn.
"I was up until after midnight putting toys together," he said. "I barely slept for two hours."
"And that is why I don't have kids," Zach grinned.
"No, you don't have kids because you've yet to find a girl who will tolerate you long enough to get married," Kim retorted. "Let alone have kids with you."
The other rangers started laughing as Zach looked at her in surprise.
"Ouch, Kimmie," Zach said, acting hurt. "And on Christmas, too. Oh, wait—you're single, too."
He grinned as she glared at him. Shaking her head, Hayley sent them all toward the living room.
"I'm going to make coffee and see what I have for breakfast," she said. "Because I don't think the kids are going to last until lunch."
When Tommy came back downstairs a little later, he found Hayley in the kitchen. She had just finished making coffee and was getting mugs out for everyone. There was also a bowl of fruit and a few boxes of poptarts on the counter. Smiling as he watched her reaching for the mugs on the top shelf of the cupboard, Tommy walked over to help.
"Let me," he said, reaching up around her to grab the mugs.
Hayley stepped back to let him get the cups, turning her attention to filling the mugs she already had and putting them on trays. Setting the last of the cups on the counter, Tommy stood behind Hayley and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder as she continued to pour coffee.
"So why are they here again?" he asked quietly.
"Because you need to spend time with your friends," she answered. "And it's Christmas. You're supposed to celebrate with the people you love."
"I love you," he said.
Hayley smiled.
"I love you, too," she said, setting down the pot and turning to face him.
She wrapped her arms around him, leaning against him for a moment.
"But you still need to spend time with other people," she added. "So come on."
Extracting herself from his arms, she started to pick up the tray of coffee mugs. But he beat her to it. Picking up the heavier tray, he headed toward the living room leaving her to just grab the fruit bowl and poptarts. She sighed, but smiled to herself as she followed him. Walking into the living room, Tommy was immediately hit by the kids clamoring for his attention as they grabbed onto his legs.
"Whoa," Tommy said, trying to balance the tray in his hands. "Careful, guys. This is heavy. I don't want to drop it on you."
A chorus of 'sorry' ran through the kids as they backed off momentarily. At least long enough for Tommy to set the tray down on the coffee table. The moment it was out of his hands they were all tugging at him again.
"Look!" Jacob insisted, tugging at Tommy's hand as he held up a toy for inspection.
Smiling, Tommy followed the little boy's tugging. The kids led him away from the coffee as the rest of the adults started grabbing mugs. Dropping down on the floor, Tommy sat in the middle of the kids as they all started trying to show him their toys. Soon they were climbing all over him, laughing. Jonathan was hanging on his back, trying to show him a small foam sword which he nearly jabbed Tommy in the face with.
"He's going to stick that up your nose," Rocky snorted.
Tommy shrugged, reaching behind him to tickle the little boy.
"Voice of experience?" he grinned, looking at Rocky.
"You have no idea…" Rocky grumbled.
"Daddy is complaining," Tommy said, leaning toward Jacob and Jonathan with a grin. "I think he needs to have some fun. Right?"
They nodded, smiling.
"Then go get him," he said.
Laughing, the twins turned and ran to tackle their father where he was sitting, their foam swords still in hand. Aisha barely snagged Rocky's coffee mug away before they hit him.
"Agh!" Rocky exclaimed in surprise.
Tommy laughed, turning his attention back to the kids. Trevor and Kenneth had both moved on from sharing their toys with Tommy to playing with them in a corner. Mark had just dumped out his small power ranger backpack on the floor in front of Tommy and showing the contents off proudly.
"Look what I got!" he said excitedly. "Grandma and grandpa got them for me."
The backpack had been full of Power Ranger action figures—the originals, of course. Tommy chuckled, imagining the look on Jason's face when Mark had unwrapped that particular gift.
"So which one is your favorite?" Tommy asked, smiling as the little boy quickly reached into the pile.
He had expected Mark to grab the red ranger, given who his father was, and was surprised to find that wasn't the case.
"This one," Mark said proudly, holding up the green ranger.
"Really?" Tommy said in surprise, shooting a look at Jason.
Jason sighed, shrugging.
"I didn't put him up to it, bro," he said. "He picked that one all on his own."
Giving Jason a doubtful look, Tommy let it go for the moment.
"So he's your favorite?" Tommy asked, looking at Mark again.
Mark had started playing with his toys, creating an imaginary enemy and having them fight it.
"Yep," Mark said.
Soon, to everyone's amusement except Kim's, Mark soon had the pink ranger in need of rescuing. But when the red ranger came to rescue the pink ranger, he got captured, too. Then Mark had the green ranger rescue them both. Tommy frowned.
"Wait a sec, Mark," he said. "Why couldn't the red ranger rescue the pink ranger?"
"Cause he needs help," Mark said. "He doesn't have a sword like the green ranger."
Zach nearly snorted coffee out of his nose at that.
"Oh, he needs help alright," he laughed as Jason glared at him.
Tommy was laughing now, too.
"Alright," Tommy chuckled. "So the green is your favorite. Which one is your second favorite?"
Mark immediately reached over and picked up the white ranger.
"This one," he said proudly. "He's got a cool sword, too."
Jason started grumbling under his breath as Tommy looked at Mark in surprise again. But after a moment, he started laughing. Mark looked at him in confusion.
"What?" he said, frowning.
"Nothing, bud," Tommy smiled. "Just having fun."
The other kids were crowding around again, wanting to play with the power rangers, too. The toys were quickly divided up among them, Tommy included, and they were soon involved in an intense battle that Mark was creating as they went. From her chair, Hayley smiled. Tommy had slowly been breaking out of his slump over the past few months, but he'd still been depressed. The surprise she'd given him the month before had been helping, but this was helping more than anything else had. He was finally laughing, really laughing, for the first time in a long time. Enjoying watching them, Hayley settled back into her chair, talking with the others as she kept an eye on Tommy and the kids.
"Tommy?" Hayley said a while later, catching his attention.
He looked up from where he was still sitting on the floor with the kids.
"Yes?" he said, waiting to see what she needed.
"Why don't you take the kids outside for a bit?" she suggested, looking at him expectantly. "Let them get some energy out before lunch."
Catching the hint, Tommy nodded and started to stand up. They'd gotten presents for all the kids and he guessed she wanted to get them out without little eyes watching.
"Everyone on board," Tommy said as he stood.
Kenneth, who had been hanging on his back, just continued to hang on with his arms wrapped around Tommy's neck. Jacob and Jonathan each grabbed a leg, standing on his feet. Mark started laughing, but didn't get up, so Tommy carefully reached down and grabbed him. He threw the laughing boy over the opposite shoulder from his sister and started hobbling out of the room. Trevor followed behind, giggling in delight as he held on to the hem of Tommy's shirt. Once they were out of sight, Hayley stood to go get the presents.
"This was a good idea, Hayley," Jason commented.
She paused, nodding in agreement as she looked at the rangers. They were all relieved to see Tommy acting more like himself. His depression had worried all of them.
"He's not completely out of it," she said. "But this is good for him. He's going to be fine."
There was a thud from the hallway by the door that was followed by a chorus of giggles.
"If the kids don't kill him first," she said. "Jason?"
"I'm on it," he said. "Rocky? Adam? Zach?"
"Wait a minute," Zach frowned. "Why do I have to go outside? None of them belong to me."
"Well, you can always stay inside and help us cook," Kim said, smirking at him.
"I think I'll go play," Zach said quickly, heading for the door after the rest of the guys. "You get bossy in the kitchen."
She glared at him, but he disappeared. Laughing, the women all headed to the kitchen to help Hayley start getting things ready for lunch.
"We're here!" Conner announced, leading the way into the house. "And we're ready to—are we late?"
He stopped abruptly in the doorway of the living room, looking around in surprise. Behind him, Ethan, Trent, and Kira stopped short, too. None of them had expected to see Jason and everyone else there yet. Everyone glanced up at them. The kids were up immediately, swarming around the teens.
"Conner, did you give us the wrong time?" Ethan asked, frowning at him. "Because we're here an hour earlier than you said we needed to be—and we're last…"
"No, I'm sure it's right," Conner said, pulling out his phone. "At least I'm pretty sure… I've got the text from Hayley somewhere…"
He started scrolling through his texts, trying to find it.
"You're not late, guys," Hayley said, coming in behind them. "They were just four hours early."
"Ha! See," Conner grinned at his teammates. "I was right."
"Alright, alright," Kira said. "You were right. But why were they so early?"
"No kidding," Ethan said, shaking his head. "If we'd been that early, we'd be dead."
Hayley opened her mouth to answer, but Jason beat her to it.
"Because our kids were awake and they wouldn't settle down," he said. "We needed to get them out of the house before they went crazy."
The rest of the parents were nodding in agreement.
"I was at Aisha's house," Kim said. "So I had to come when she did…"
"And I was sleeping," Zach grumbled. "Not that you four would know, but there's a back door to the basement at my parent's house—I spent the night there on the couch in the downstairs. Then, at six this morning, our fearless leader shows up and starts pounding on the door. Nearly gave me a heart attack!"
Jason rolled his eyes as the younger rangers snickered.
"We were up, so I saw no reason for you to still be sleeping," he retorted.
"Oh, so that's why you woke us up, Jase?" Tommy asked.
He was still sitting on the floor where he'd been playing with the kids and talking with the rangers. The kids had all abandoned their game for the moment, eager to get the attention of Conner and the other three. All four of the teens had babysat most of the kids at one point or another over the last couple of years.
"Yeah," Ethan agreed, grinning. "Haven't you heard of this novel idea called a park?"
Conner snorted as Jason shot a glare at Ethan.
"Says the guy who spends half of his time playing video games and the other half programming more or building a new computer to play them on," he said.
Ethan just shrugged, still grinning.
"Conner!" Mark finally burst out, tugging on Conner's shirt.
He'd been waiting impatiently for the adults to finish talking and sit down, but he was too excited to wait any longer. Conner turned to look at him, crouching down so he was on level with the little boy.
"What's up, little dude?" he said.
"Look what I got!" Mark exclaimed excitedly, waving his green power ranger around. "Isn't it cool? Grandma and grandpa got 'em for me."
"Nice," Conner grinned, glancing behind Mark at Tommy. "And I'll bet he's your favorite, right?"
"Yep," Mark confirmed, pulling Conner after him into the living room.
The rest of the group moved back into the living room, too. All of the kids were chattering, excitedly showing their babysitters their new toys. As Conner and Ethan dropped on the floor in the middle of the kids, Tommy abandoned his spot and moved to a chair. He caught Hayley's hand as he sat, tugging her down on to his lap. Kira and Trent took his empty spot, laughing as Rose came toddling straight for Kira. She caught the wobbling baby just before she fell, pulling her onto her lap as she tickled her. The twins were climbing on Conner now as he and Ethan looked at all of the toys the kids were showing them.
"Cool," Conner said, nodding approvingly when Mark showed them the rest of the ranger figures. "But where are your Dino Thunder Rangers?"
Mark sighed, pouting.
"I don't have them yet…" he grumbled.
"Well, we're going to have to fix that somehow," Conner frowned. "Because you definitely need them."
Jason groaned as Mark grinned. Tommy, with Hayley still on his lap, leaned forward slightly as he tried to catch Conner's attention.
"Really?" Mark exclaimed.
"Sure, little dude," Conner grinned. "Well, soon as I have the money…"
He trailed off, frowning as Tommy gestured at him with a cut-off motion.
"Umm…Anyways," Conner said slowly, trying to figure out what Tommy was signaling him. "Why don't we just play with these ones right now…"
"Actually," Tommy said, shooting Conner a look. "We were just about to open presents. Hayley wanted to wait for the four of you before we started."
"What?" Conner frowned. "What does—oh!"
He stopped, catching on to what Tommy was trying to tell him.
"Yeah, let's open presents," he grinned.
Tommy rolled his eyes, letting go of Hayley so she could stand up. The other girls had helped her get the presents out earlier while the guys were outside with the kids. They were all piled under the tree in the corner now, waiting to be opened. At the mention of opening them, the little kids all swarmed around the tree, looking impatiently to Tommy. Smiling as he stood up, he moved to sit next to the tree and started handing out presents. The kids immediately started tearing into them, too excited to wait for everyone to have theirs. Soon there was paper flying everywhere as they squealed in excitement.
"Conner, catch," Tommy said, tossing one of the presents his way. "You guys may as well open yours while you're here, too."
Grinning, Conner caught his present as Tommy tossed the other three their gifts as well. Mark was bouncing excitedly now, having opened his present to find Tommy and Hayley had gotten him the Dino Thunder ranger figures. The other kids were all excited about their gifts, too, happily showing them to their parents and anyone else who would look.
"Yeah, those are great, guys," Rocky said with a forced smile as Jonathan and Jacob came running up with another set of toy swords. "Just don't hit anyone with them."
He shot a glare over their heads at Tommy as they nodded and turned, already hitting each other with the toys. Tommy just grinned, shrugging. As the immediate chaos of opening presents died down and the kids stopped demanding that their parents open boxes and such, Mark grabbed Conner again to play with his power ranger toys. Soon, to the relief of several of the parents, all of the kids were involved. Mark had allowed Conner to use the red Dino Thunder ranger, which came equipped with the shield, and Ethan to use the blue Dino Thunder ranger, which actually came with a hovercycle. And when he put it on the ground, pulled back, and then let go, it ran for short distances on its own.
"Here, Rose," Mark said, looking at his little sister sitting on Trini's lap. "Play with this one."
Jason sighed as Mark thrust the original red ranger figure at the tiny little girl. She took it, frowning for a moment without moving as she studied the toy. Then she dropped it on the floor, reaching for another of the rangers currently lying untouched on the ground—the yellow original ranger. All of the adults, who had been intently watching this play out, burst out laughing. Mark just shrugged, handing over the toy to the little girl. Trini was beaming proudly, holding her daughter with a smile as Jason glowered at his laughing friends.
"Whoops," Ethan said, drawing attention back to the game on the floor.
He had wound the hovercycle and let go without actually looking where he was aiming. The toy bike had run straight into the fallen red ranger before losing momentum and tipping over. Everyone lost it as Jason let out a strangled cry. Conner fell backward laughing, struggling to keep breathing as he did so. The rest of the adults were laughing just as hard. But what surprised all of them was to hear Tommy flat out laughing. None of them had heard him laugh like that in months.
"Great, just great," Jason muttered, glaring around the room. "Finally get him laughing again and it's at my expense…"
"Sorry, Rex," Tommy said, still laughing. "But the look on your face…"
He lost it again, nearly doubled over in his seat. Hayley, who had left for the kitchen to check on lunch after the kids finished opening their presents, came hurrying back in. She looked at Tommy laughing in surprise and then relief. Smiling, she stood in the doorway watching until the laughter finally died down. The kids kept shooting confused looks at their parents as they continued playing, not quite sure what had been so funny.
"Lunch is done," Hayley announced, looking around the room. "All that's left is to carve the turkey."
Tommy immediately hopped up, walking over to her. He paused in the doorway, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a quick kiss.
"I got it," he said. "Why don't you go sit down?"
She sighed, rolling her eyes, but didn't argue as he headed for the kitchen. Leaving him to it, Hayley moved to take the seat Tommy had been in. Some of the rangers exchanged glances, a little confused by the exchange.
"Has anyone else noticed Tommy is acting a little strange?" Kim asked, leaning over to a few of the others.
Zach snorted.
"He's Tommy," he said. "What's there to notice? Besides, we all know he's been off the past few months."
"No, not that," Kim persisted, glancing toward Hayley.
Hayley was leaning over and talking to Kira and Trent as they watched the kids.
"He's just, well—he's doing everything for her," she said. "Hasn't anyone noticed?"
"You're right," Kat agreed. "But I don't know that it's that strange…"
Zach shrugged, leaning back again.
"He's just being the same overly chivalrous guy he's always been," he commented. "Nothing new. Just showing the rest of us guys up."
He grinned, glancing at Rocky, Adam, and Jason.
"Zach's got a point," Aisha inserted, crossing her arms as she turned to glare at Rocky. "Why don't you ever do things like that for me?"
Rocky looked at her in surprise, putting his hands up.
"I'm sorry…" he said. "Do you want me to—"
"Too late," she said, turning back to the conversation. "Anyways, now that you mention it, girl, it does seem a little odd. Hayley usually strikes me as far more independent. I don't think I've ever seen Tommy take over something for her like that…"
The others nodded. Even Zach frowned, catching on to what Kim had been getting at.
"I'm sure it's nothing," Kat said after a moment. "He's just trying to be nice."
Kim sighed, glancing at Hayley again.
"I still think something is going on," she said as Tommy came walking back in to announce that lunch was served.
A couple of hours later, lunch was over and everyone was crowded back into the living room. People were sprawled everywhere, relaxing after a full meal. Several of the kids had started getting cranky, so they were being put down for naps in the bedrooms upstairs. Except Rose. She was fast asleep on Tommy's chest, one of his arms wrapped around her to keep her in place. Hayley was curled up on the couch next to him.
"Here, Tommy," Trini smiled, walking over. "Let me take her."
"It's alright," he said, waving her away. "She's fine."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I can take her upstairs to sleep."
"It's really alright, Trini," he reassured her. "No point in moving her. She might wake up."
"He's gotta get used to it anyways," Conner inserted, most of his attention still on the game he was playing with Mark.
Several of the older rangers frowned, looking at Conner in confusion.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Jason asked, looking at the younger red expectantly.
"It means nothing," Tommy interrupted. "He's just being stupid."
Hayley rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Conner was looking at Tommy with a sheepish look on his face.
"Uh-uh, bro," Jason said, glaring at Tommy. "What does he mean?"
"It's nothing," Conner said quickly. "I just—umm…"
He was scrambling, trying to come up with a cover story. Hayley sighed.
"Tommy, you may as well tell them," she said.
"Nope," he said, shaking his head.
"Tell us what?" Jason frowned.
"Nothing you need to worry about right now," Tommy said evasively, shifting Rose into a more comfortable position.
Jason glared at him.
"Spill, Falcon," he growled. "Or I'll make you."
"Can't," Tommy smirked. "I'm holding your daughter."
"Tommy," Hayley said, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" he said. "We agreed I got to tell them. And I don't want to tell them yet."
"I don't think they're going to leave until you do, Dr. O," Ethan commented, glancing around the room. "Especially Jason. He's got that determined look again…"
All of the rangers were looking at Tommy now, waiting for him to explain.
"I don't have to explain anything," Tommy said stubbornly.
"Fine," Jason said. "Hayley?"
She started shaking her head.
"Sorry, Jason," she said. "But I promised I'd let him tell you. I told the kids."
Jason turned to glare at Tommy again. The other rangers were exchanging glances as they all tried to figure out what was going on.
"Come on, bro," Jason said. "Spill. What secret are you hiding?"
Tommy shook his head again. Hayley just rolled her eyes, draping an arm across her stomach as she shifted. Kat, catching her movement, frowned for a moment as she watched her. Then her eyes flew open wide.
"You aren't," she said, scooting closer to Hayley. "Are you?"
Hayley smiled at Kat as Tommy shot a look at her.
"You are!" Kat exclaimed, beaming as she hugged Hayley. "I'm so excited for you!"
The rest of the rangers were watching the exchange in confusion, not having caught on like Kat did.
"Kat, what are you talking about?" Aisha asked.
"Hayley is—oh…" Kat cut off, looking at Tommy. "Tommy?"
He groaned, his head falling back against the couch.
"You may as well," Hayley said. "Before she beats you to it."
"Fine," he grumbled, straightening back up to look at his friends.
He took a deep breath as they all looked at him expectantly.
"Hayley is—" he started, pausing and earning another glare from Jason. "Hayley is pregnant."
The room was silent for a brief moment as the rest of the rangers registered exactly what Tommy had just said. Then the volume doubled what it had been as everyone started talking at once. All of them were on their feet and trying to hug Tommy and Hayley. Trini got to Tommy first, giving him a hug and stealing her daughter away before he was swarmed by the others. The rest of the girls were all chattering excitedly around Hayley, already talking about things they could give her for the baby. Jason went straight to Tommy.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.
"I was going to," Tommy protested. "I just wanted to do it when I wanted to—not when someone else spoils the surprise."
He shot a glare at Conner who just grinned sheepishly, shrugging. Mark was watching the chaos in confusion, not entirely sure what everyone else was so excited about.
"And besides," Tommy continued. "I only just found out a little while ago myself. So you can't hold it against me, Jase."
Jason glowered at him for a moment and then sighed, relenting.
"So then how come you told them?" Rocky asked, gesturing to the rest of the Dino Thunder team.
"Oh, I didn't," Tommy said. "Hayley got to tell them and her parents, I get to tell my parents and all of you."
"So why hadn't you told us, then?" Kim demanded, rounding on Tommy.
He put his hands up defensively.
"Hey, I wanted to tell my parents first," he said. "And I haven't gotten to see them face-to-face yet—well, at the same time anyways. And if I tell mom first, then dad will be mad. And if I tell dad first, mom will kill me. It's not my fault they're never home together when I'm there."
They all continued to glare at him for a moment, and then let it go as they all started talking excitedly again.
"So, when did Hayley tell you guys?" Adam asked, looking at the teens.
"About a month ago," Ethan said without thinking, freezing when he realized what he had just said.
"A month ago?" Jason growled, turning to Tommy again. "Tommy!"
"It's not my fault!" Tommy protested again. "And if you tell my parents before I get to I'm going to kill you."
They glared at each other for a moment and then Jason sighed.
"I'm happy for you," he said, a smile replacing the glare. "And now it's your turn to deal with the long nights of no sleep, the constant waking up, and all of the mess."
"Dr. O doesn't sleep half the time anyways," Kira inserted. "Don't you ever hear Hayley complaining about his sleeping habits?"
Jason opened his mouth to respond as Tommy shot a look at Kira, but was interrupted by a tugging on his shirt. He looked down to see Mark looking up at him.
"Daddy, what's going on?" Mark asked. "Why is everyone so excited?"
Jason smiled, crouching down next to his son.
"Because Uncle Tommy and Aunt Hayley are going to be having a new baby," he said. "Like when we had Rose, remember?"
Mark nodded, frowning.
"But then why is everyone excited?" he asked. "Babies are no fun… They're just loud and they smell bad…"
All of the rangers burst into laughter at Mark's statement. Ethan and Conner, already sitting on the floor, fell over laughing. Rocky nearly hit the floor, as did Zach, and everyone else was laughing so hard that some of them were crying. Tommy was laughing again, too, a welcome sound for all of them. Trini was biting her lip, shaking her head as she tried not to burst out laughing, too. Jason was fighting just as hard not to laugh in his son's face.
"Oh, honey," Trini said. "That's not all babies are."
"Yes they are," Mark said. "And if they really want one, they can have Rose."
Zach really did hit the floor, falling out of his chair as the laughter around the room increased. Conner and Ethan had practically stopped breathing. Rose, awake now, looked around at the mention of her name.
"Mark!" Trini exclaimed in shock. "You can't really want to give away your little sister."
He nodded fervently.
"Yes I can," he said. "She keeps messing up my toys and taking my stuff…"
Jason and Trini exchanged looks, shaking their heads as the others continued to laugh.