AN: Sorry for the long delay, issues with laziness and procrastination, but I am hoping now that it's SUMMER, the laziness will cease. Thanks for the all the reviews! :P

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Fight

Tommy, Kimberly and Zeke talked on the couch for a good 20 minutes. Zeke just sat in listened, with little questions, really none as his parents talked, somewhat argued a bit as they discussed the relationship of their past. Though Zeke somewhat had a feeling Tommy was his father, especially since the photos were some much alike in eyes. Zeke looked at Tommy.

"So, you really are my father?"

"Yes, I am." Zeke looked back at his mother confused.

"Mommy, why didn't you tell me before?" Zeke asked.

"I didn't know how baby."

"Is that why you were fighting before?" Kimberly nodded. Zeke looked back at his father. "Are you taking me away?"

"What? No! Son, this is not why I am here. I just want to be part of your life."

"Be like my Daddy?"

"Yes, but not like, because I am your Dad."

"Can he Mommy?" Zeke asked looking at his mother eagerly. "Can he be my Daddy?"

"Of course baby." Tommy smiled with his son as Zeke jumped up and down, sugar level still high since he and Tim had more cake upstairs.

"Yes, yes! Yes!" Zeke stopped jumping up and down. "Do you want to play with me Daddy?"

"Oh, I don't know Zeke, I mean it is pretty late and…"

"But, I'm not tired," Tommy and Zeke said together. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Not even a little bit, baby?"

"No! Besides, it's still my birthday right!" Kimberly looked at the clock.

"For 20 more minutes."

"Good, we can play then! Nothing but happiness remember Mommy."

"Yes. Go, show your father your presents then, and stop picking on Tim's bad gaming skills."

"Uh, I promise! Come on Daddy!" Zeke grabbed his hand. Tommy looked back at Kimberly as his son dragged away. He mouthed 'thank you'. Kimberly smiled with a nod.

Kimberly woke up the next morning with a slight smile on her face. For the first time in a long time, she had dreams of Tommy and the few passionate moments together too. Kimberly sighed as she hugged her pillow. She could smell the wonder smells of freshly cooked eggs, sausages and something sweet. She could not believe the events of yesterday. Not only was her baby Zeke one year older, but he had finally met and played with father for a few hours before Tommy got the pleasure of putting his son to bed. Kimberly rolled over and found it was almost 8:50. She was lucky today all she had was her one seminar class at 11, then an art show tonight. Kimberly came downstairs and gasped. Tommy was sitting at the table eating breakfast with Zeke.

"Good morning Mommy!"

"Hey."

"Hey! What are you.."

"Tim let me in. Didn't he tell you?"

"No, he didn't."

"Well, he didn't want to wake you up Mommy. Tim said you were snoring away and talking in your sleep about someone named Tiger and…"

"I was not... snoring…." Kimberly put on a smiling face as Tommy stared at her with a knowing smile.

"Who's tiger?" Zeke asked. Kimberly groaned.

"Uh, uhhh... no one, just… silly dream. So, what's for breakfast?"

"We have eggs and sausages with French toast. Daddy made it Mommy! He was amazing in the kitchen!"

"I just threw some things together."

"And Daddy makes his eggs just like I like them with cheese and tomatoes!"

"That's good baby."

"So, do you have classes or something..?"

"Just a seminar until lunch, then art show I have to host at 7. I can't believe Tim didn't tell me you were here. I was wondering why my baby didn't come and get into bed with me this morning." Zeke smiled as he continued to eat his food.

"I can take care of Thomas for you if you want."

"Sure, I think Zeke would love that today."

"Good. We're gonna have fun son."

"Yah! We can do everything in the City!"

"I'm sure Zeke would love to show you around our little, big city," Kimberly said with a laugh. "He has seen more of it than me, thanks to his uncle," Kimberly said pushing some hair from her son's forehead.

"Oh Mom! You're messing my hair up." Tommy laughed as his son tried to fix his hair back.

Tommy and son exited the cab together. Zeke had directed the cab driver to Central park. Tommy was pretty surprised how well his son knew the city. They had walked around Times Square, Zeke even convinced Tommy to buy him some stuff. Not surprising, his mother always had a flare about getting Tommy to shop even when Tommy swore he wouldn't.

"So, how many times have you been to this park?"

"Everyday!"

"Everyday? Whoa!"

"Yeah, Uncle Tim loves to takes runs through the park and Mommy let me go. Plus Uncle Tim performs around the park with his band too on the weekends for practice."

"Whoa, that's great."

"Sometimes he lets me even play his guitar on stage, but don't tell Mommy."

"Why not?"

"Mommy doesn't like singing anymore."

"Why not?"

"Ever since Auntie Trini… she says it hurts too much." Zeke walked away. "Oh, there's a spot by the lake!" Tommy smiled.

'Just like his mother, his son had a thing for lake.'

Kimberly saw Tommy and Zeke playing by the water. She smiled. She could remember just a few months ago being here with Clark. There was some snow on the ground. Oh, how so much had changed in such a short time. Kimberly found the twosome still in the park and brought lunch over to them. They were playing catch with the new baseball and mats Tommy brought when Zeke begged. Zeke's face lit up as he saw his mother coming toward them.

"Zeke, don't get too dirty, we still have that show tonight!" Kimberly yelled as she went to get another round of hot dogs for them. Zeke was playing with a few dogs in the park. His hair was getting so messed up thanks to rolling on the grass with the dogs. Tommy just smiled, watching his son.

"I wish Mommy let me have a puppy."

"Well maybe together, we can convince her."

"Nah, Mommy says I'm not big enough."

"I think you are plenty big for a puppy. I think I was about your age when I got my dog."

"Will you buy me a puppy?" Zeke asked Tommy.

"I don't see why not? And it can stay with me in California until your mother can handle it."

"Are you leaving us soon?"

"Well, son, I have to go back home eventually. My home is in California like Auntie Trini. But I can and will visit all the time."

"I don't like California."

"Why not Thomas?"

"I hate it! I hate that place! That's where Auntie Trini died. I don't ever want to go there again." Zeke walked away. Kimberly came over with the hot dogs.

"What happened with Zeke?" Kimberly asked.

"He said he hated California," Tommy said to Kimberly.

"Oh no, why did you have to say the word California to him?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"He thinks if Trini was here with us, she wouldn't have died."

"Oh."

"Just don't say California around him anymore."

"I won't." Kimberly nodded and walked over to her son.

"Hey baby, how about another hot dog?"

"Okay." Kimberly sat down with her son. She gave him a kiss on the forehead.

That night at the Art Gallery show, Kimberly stood in this gorgeous royal blue halter bodice dress she not only designed, but made the dress herself from scratch, completely handmade. It also had bands of bugle beads criss crossing empire waist and wrapping onto the plunging back neckline. Kim's mentor always told Kim if the art career ever failed, she could probably make a greatfashion designer too. Kimberly was the perfect hostess, speaking clearly, and looking beautiful. Tommy had to rush and find a nice suit for tonight. He couldn't believe how formal this place was. It was an Art Auction Show, and Kimberly in charge because her mentor and professor delegated those duties to her, wanted to take the night off. After a few hours, Tommy and Thomas were bored senseless. Tommy could see why Tim was so happy not to have to attend the show, since Kimberly gave Tommy his ticket.

"So, you two having fun?" Kimberly said taking a break to get a drink.

"Yeah," both groaned.

"Good. We'll we should be done in another hour or so."

"Great!" Thomas said.

"See any art you like?"

"Huh?"

"See anything you like, I bet I can get you a great deal."

"Oh, no… I'm good."

"Okay. Bye baby." Kimberly kissed her son as she went back to work. The evening ended with a lot of money being given out for some amazing artwork. Tommy carried her sleeping son up the stairs with Kimberly right there. She took out her keys.

"Well, goodnight Tommy."

"Yeah, goodnight." Kimberly took her sleeping son from Tommy. "Well, what's your plans for tomorrow?"

"Is this going to be a recurring thing?"

"What?"

"Taking my son…"

"Our son…"

"Our son out for the day, to do whatever he wants, then you go back to your home and what…"

"I'm trying to figure this out just like you Kim. I want to be in my son's life, I do know that ."

"Good, I want that too."

"Do you?"

"Of course! My… our son deserves his father in his life, how could you think I never wanted that."

"Because for over the past 5 years that's the way it has been."

"I have apologized…"

"And I forgive you, Kim. But that doesn't mean we don't… that we don't have some issues still to settle out. But for now, let's just go with it okay. Whatever happens, just let it flow."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Yeah." Tommy reached up and kissed the back of his son's head. He gave Kimberly a kiss on the cheek after they stared at each other for a while. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay." Kimberly opened the door and went inside her building. Tommy walked until he couldn't see Kimberly anymore going up the stairs.

"Goodnight, Beautiful."

Zeke begged and begged his father to go see the Yankees play baseball. Tommy was surprised he was such a Yankee fan, since he was a Seattle Mariners guy. But hey, loving sports is great when it starts young. Kimberly blamed it on Tim, he converted to being a Yankee back when he moved to the city back in '96 and hasn't wavered ever since.

"This is great Daddy!"

"Yeah, it was a great day to see a game."

"Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

"Oh Zeke, I don't think your father will like seeing the Yankees again!"

"I could take one more game."

"Oh really! As I recall, you always hated the Yankees."

"I didn't hate…" Kimberly looked at Tommy. "Okay, they weren't my favorite team." Kimberly arched her eyebrow at Tommy. "Fine, I hate them. My dad loved the Yankees, so naturally I went against him."

"Why did you go against your father?" Thomas asked eating his sandwich.

"Because that my beautiful little boy is what sons always do to their father. Am I right?" Kimberly asked looking at Tommy after fixing her son's Yankee cap on his head.

"You're right." Tommy smiled.

"Oh, so that's why I love the Yankees because Daddy hates them."

"Pretty much," Kimberly and Tommy said together. They both laughed.

"So, does that mean we won't be going to any more games?" Thomas asked.

"No! We can go tomorrow."

"And the next day?!"

"Of course!"

"And the next day?!"

"Sure son, anything you want," Tommy said. Kimberly looked at Tommy. She gave him that knowing smile. 'You're spoiling him.' Kimberly mouthed. Tommy laughed.

"What's so funny?" Thomas asked.

"Nothing son." Tommy took some of his son's Cracker Jacks.

"Hey! That's mine!"

"You can't share with me, your father?"

"Oh, okay," Thomas said handing the box over. "Can I ask you something Daddy?"

"Of course."

"Can you move here and be with Mommy and I forever?" Kimberly choked on her soda.

"Zeke! That is not nice to ask."

"Why not?"

"Because! I don't think your father can just jump up and leave his home just to stay here forever with us!"

"I would love that son, but my home is in Cal.. on the other side of the country. You remember how far away that is right?"

"Yeah, it's far."

"No, not that far. Just 2 planes rides away."

"I hate planes."

"He hates planes?" Tommy asked looking at Kimberly. She nodded. "Well, I'm gonna have to change that soon!"

About a few days later

Tommy wanted to take Thomas to California for a week to his home, but Kimberly refused it since she knew Tommy's place was not equipped to take on a 5 year old yet, maybe in a few weeks after Tommy got home and was able to readjust to having a son, she could let him. Especially when Thomas too has adjusted to having his father in his life. Plus Thomas hated California. That would be the last place he would want to visit so soon after Trini's death. Besides Kimberly knew Tommy too was in graduate school until May and probably wouldn't have time for her son. Tommy was furiously. They fought over this and Tommy left New York City not happy with Kimberly.

As soon as Tommy arrived home, he talked to his parents. Tommy revealed that he had a 5-year old son with Kimberly. When Tommy's mother asked when he would bring the boy to visit his grandparents, Tommy told them about the fight he had with Kimberly just before he left. His mother was not happy with Kim's selfishness with their son. She knew her son didn't have the room set up right this moment, yes, but Thomas was her grandson she would take him in since Tommy didn't go to school too far away. Kimberly felt leaving Thomas with a stranger, even his grandparents were wrong. Tommy's mother went behind Tommy's back and talked to a lawyer about her son's rights and what to do. Despite warnings from Tommy's father not to cause problems, Mrs. Oliver sent custody papers to Kimberly.

Kimberly was opening her mail one day when she came across a brown envelope from Tommy. After opening it, Kimberly gasped. Zeke came from his room.

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Nn-nothing. Go to your room."

"Mommy, what is it?"

"I said to your room!" Kimberly yelled. Zeke stormed away. Kimberly started breathing harder with each passage she read. Kimberly started crying after she flung the papers across the room.

Aisha was coming to New York City on a break to see her nephew and Kim a week, but pushed up the visit thanks to Kim's crying message left on her answering machine. Aisha got the first flight out and was in New York City from Chicago by the next morning. Tim opened the door for Aisha, letting her inside.

"Where is she?" Tim pointed to the bedroom. Aisha dropped her luggage and ran to her best friend in a tight hug. "Oh Kim!"

"Aisha!"

"Kim, you have to slow down, your message made no sense yesterday! Who is trying to take your baby?"

"Who do you think?" Kimberly asked crying.

"No, Tommy wouldn't do that, he loves…"

"He wants Zeke."

"It doesn't make sense." Kimberly went over and handed Aisha the papers. Aisha read over the papers. "I'll kill him!"

"Aisha!" Kimberly said. "I mean, I should have expected this, it is his son, of course he wants some custody. But I thought we would talk about this first, and not get the courts involved. We don't need some lawyers deciding on our child and how much time each one of gets with him. That's ridiculous! " Aisha continued reading the papers.

"Kim, you do realize these papers aren't for partial or joint custody, but are for full sole legal custody of Thomas."

"I know, I don't understand. How can he do that to me, to his son?" Kimberly took them back as she sat on the bed crying all over again.

"I'll kill him!" Aisha said again.

After lying in bed to somewhat calm Kimberly, Aisha went to make some tea and read over the custody documents. Kimberly walked into her kitchen.

"Where is Zeke?"

"He had a play date, they went to the zoo. They should be back in a few hours."

"Have you talked to Tommy?"

"Why talk to him? He wants my son!"

"Maybe he just wants…"

"Aisha! He sent me these papers!" Kimberly yelled as she lifted the brown envelope where the documents were. "I'm pretty sure I know what he wants and he's not going to get it." Kimberly tossed the papers into the trash.

At first, Kimberly didn't want to talk to Tommy, but summoned the courage and dialed his number. After a few rings, Tommy picked up his phone.

"Hello?"

"How could you?"

"Kim?"

"How could you send me those paper Tommy?"

"Papers, what…"

"Don't lie to me! Why would you sign off for full custody! How dare you think you can just take my son?!"

"Take him, Kimberly… I don't know what you think, but I…"

"You won't win."

"Kim…"

"He is my son! He is my son you hear! And you will never see him again!"

"Oh, is that right! You're going to take him away from me to lose another 5 years just because I wanted a week with him, I don't think so."

"A week? How dare you!"

"He is my son too! I deserve to spend as much time with him, if not more since you stole all those years from us!"

"You won't! I'll make sure of it!"

"Okay. We'll see about that!"

"Yeah, we will!" Kimberly slammed down her phone. Tommy looked at his phone after hearing the dial tone.

Tommy was completely confused by that phone call. He couldn't understand where Kim's anger was coming from. He had just wanted to show his son his life in California. Why would Kim be so against that? Tommy went over to his parents to discuss it.

"Hey son, what brings you home at this time of the day?"

"Hi Dad, is Mom around?"

"Hi baby! I was just about to make lunch, you hungry?"

"Uh, a bit, can we talk?"

"Of course son."

Mr. Oliver looked at his wife once she confessed to both of them what she did. Tommy couldn't believe what his mother did. Tommy's father was equally shocked and angered as much if not more than his son, since he warned his wife not to interfere.

"You sent her custody papers without my permission! You forged my signature!" Tommy yelled at his mother.

"I did what any mother would do for her son!"

"For me? You did this for me?"

"Of course baby! You needed help!"

"And you are crazy! Do you realize what you did?"

"I did what you couldn't. She wasn't going to let you take him. You needed to make her see, what you could do."

"She didn't want me to take him for a weekend! You sending her custody papers will make her not want me to see my son ever again!"

"Oh, she won't be that foolish, son."

"But what happened to discussing matters with me first, mother! This is my son and I should go about this the way I find necessary! Not your way!"

"I would agree, but with Kimberly, your mind never works with logic and sense. That girl has always had this spell over you."

"You don't realize what you did. How bad you hurt her!"

"Hurt her? You see, that is exactly why I had to do this. She has been lying to you for years! Years about your son! And right now you are caring about how her feelings are hurt because you want what you deserve, custody over your son."

"You just don't understand."

"No, you are the one that doesn't understand son. You'll see. This had to happened, but it will be a good thing in the end."

"In the end? Thanks to you, the end will not be good." Tommy went to leave.

"Son, where are you…"

" Don't mother! Do ever do this again!"

"You said it yourself! You want your son, you want to spend time with your son."

"Not this way! Kimberly was so upset!"

"Then let her be! She has taken 5 plus years away from your son's life. Don't you think that's enough?" Tommy's mother asked taking her son by the arms.

"Of course! But…"

"But nothing, son. Trust me, this will be okay in the end. I'll make sure of it." " Tommy's mother assured Tommy this case wouldn't going to court. She only sent those papers to show Kimberly, put her on notice that Thomas was not just her son, but his son as well and she couldn't keep him away from Tommy anymore.

Kimberly gets advice from Tim's band buddy, Willy. Willy called his brother, this big shot lawyer that was from New York, now working in Boston. Kimberly talked on the phone with him. Alan Shore was the good son of the Shore family. Willy, William Shore, the middle child, became the black sheep, since he dropped out of college to be in the band. Alan however warned Kimberly, no matter how strongly she believes she is the better parent and should have the most custody of the child be prepared for the court to decide against you. Everyone has to be prepared for that reality. Now, traditionally, the judicial system leans towards deciding in favor of the mother in custody cases. However, with more women pursuing full time careers this trend may be changing. It is no longer assumed that the mother is the primary caregiver. Kimberly just listened as Alan went through the system with her. Kimberly was prepared for the custody battle to take at least two to four weeks if not longer in the courts. She knew and was prepared for a time consuming and costly battle a custody case takes, sometimes these things can take a few months to prepare for.

Kimberly was about to leave to go do some errands for the Studio before picking up Zeke at the daycare at 4pm. Kimberly opened the door to see Tommy get out a cab. Kimberly was somewhat taken back. Tommy had been calling straight for the past few days, but Kimberly just refused to pick up. She would delete every message. She was still too upset to talk with him.

"Kim…. Kim, wait!" Tommy quickly paid the cab driver and got his 2 bags.

"I don't have time for this." Kimberly lifted her purse to her shoulder, but Tommy stopped her. He held her arm. "Let me go."

"No."

"No? Let me go!" Kimberly ripped her arm from his grasp. Tommy stepped back holding his hands up in defense. "Look, we need to talk."

"Talk? Now you want to talk?"

"Look, I didn't know about the papers!"

"Liar! You signed them!"

"My mother signed my name!"

"Wha?"

"If you would have just answered the phone once, you would have known that."

"But why would…"

"Because she's… she thought it would help."

"Help?"

"Yeah."

"Fine, she sent the papers, but that still doesn't excuse you, Tommy."

"Why not?"

"Because all you have to do is go to the courts and dismiss it. Dismiss this foolish case and it all goes away."

"And I want that, really I do. But first we have to really figure this out."

"There is nothing to figure out here! You are not taking my son from me."

"I don't… you know I could never do that to you."

"Do I?"

"Of course Kim. You know me."

"I thought I did."

"I didn't send those papers. And I don't want to take Thomas…"

"Zeke…"

"Zeke from you. But we have to figure out is how we are going to do this."

When Tommy's mother found out her son went to see Kimberly without a lawyer, she immediately sent one. Mrs. Oliver had a feeling that Kimberly could talk Tommy into anything given the right time alone. Kimberly and Tommy were discussing things over with Alan Shore about the custody of their son, when team Mrs. Oliver led by Mr. Dillon Lewis appeared.

"Uh, who are you?"

"Dillon Lewis, I was sent by your mother to make sure your side is just as equally represented."

"I assure you that is the only things happening there," Alan said.

"Well, I am here to make sure."

"I don't need a lawyer…"

"Exactly when someone says that, that is when they truly need one. Now, let's discuss this case."

"It's not a case, we're not going to court," Kimberly said.

"Oh." Dillon smiled at Kimberly. "We will see."

When Kimberly and Tommy couldn't come to an agreement on how to separate the year, Dillon decided the only way to truly figure this out was through the courts. Alan tried to get Kimberly and Tommy to compromise, but Kimberly felt as though Tommy was trying to force too much upon their son and Tommy felt as if Kimberly was trying to make him just a weekend Dad and Tommy refused to be a weekend Dad. That was his son and he deserved the same if not more time with his son because of the years lost by Kim's lies. Mr. Lewis convinced Tommy to just go ahead with the custody battle to ensure his rights get protected to the law.

Tommy and Kimberly had talked several times through negotiations and mediations, but only over the phone since Kimberly was still upset about his decision to take this to the courts and not keep a Judge out this fight. Tommy had told her that was his mother's wishes not his to go to court. Kimberly didn't believe him; since all he had to do was drop it immediately and they wouldn't have to continue fighting this way. Tommy couldn't just drop the case anymore. He had let the deadline pass. Tommy knew the case had already gone through to the courts, there was nothing he could do to stop it now. Tommy felt bad at first, but as the weeks went on, an angry built as Kimberly's lawyer talked about Tommy's unfitness to take care of his son, because he had no experience with dealing with family, always being a loner in his life. That pushed Tommy to keep the case going and fight just as hard against Kimberly to get his son.

Tommy was allowed some visitation before the court case requested by Kimberly. She wanted to show she wasn't a horrible mother and did want Zeke's father some rights, just not complete rights over her son. There was a lot of tension between the couple each time they saw each other. Tommy seemed to always be caught in an evil glare from Kimberly. She just couldn't believe he would truly let his parents, his mother, push this on him. Why didn't Tommy have a spine of his own to stop this?

Kimberly looked up at the clock for the tenth time in the past 15 minutes. Zeke was playing his video as Kimberly laid on the couch watching. She rubbed the top of his head often. The doorbell rang. Zeke looked back with a huge smile. Kimberly just shook her head. Kimberly sat up and walked to the door. She opened it to find Tommy standing there with a rose.

"Hey."

"Hey." Kimberly opened the door more. "Is that for Zeke?"

"No… sorry, I am late. Traffic was horrible." Tommy handed the rose to Kimberly. She smiled and took it. Tommy watched Kimberly sniff the rose, before she caught him looking at her. She dropped her smile immediately.

"No surprise there." Kimberly turned and walked away. "Zeke, your father is here!" Zeke ran from the living room straight into his father's arms.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, how my man!" Tommy lifted his son into the air high before hugging him tight. It had been a few weeks since they seen each other. Tommy had been back in California getting his legal team together for the upcoming case. He flew in for a few days to spend with his son. The custody battle would be starting in less than a month. Tommy's team had already lost one battle, Tommy wasn't allowed to take Thomas out of New York City to California. Kimberly brought over a small kid luggage from the living room, along with a duffle bag, blanket and handheld games.

"Good!"

"Good… well, see ya in a few days." Tommy took the duffle bag after putting his son down.

"Right. Have fun." Zeke took his toy from his mother. "Behave for your father."

"I will Mommy!" Kimberly bent down and hugged her son.

"Not too much ice cream and staying up late. He does have daycare in the morning."

"Yes Mommy," Tommy said. Kimberly smiled briefly before stopping. "That's twice."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just glad to know you still can."

"Can what?"

"Smile. See ya later, Kim." Tommy took the luggage from Kim's hand after kissing her cheek.

"Bye Mommy!"

"Bye…" Kimberly walked them downstairs and out the door. She saw a cab waiting on the curb. Kimberly lifted Zeke one last time into a hug. "Be good."

"I know Mommy. Don't be too sad. I'll be back."

"I know baby." Kimberly put him down after a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll call you later."

"Yeah…" The guys got into the cab. Kimberly waved them off. She felt a shiver run up her spine as she watched her son leave. What if this was to be their lives forever? Nights apart from each other?

AN: Well, whatcha think gals and guys? Feel free to tell me whatcha like and dislike so far okay... Next installment: The Custody Battle, how ugly can battles turn out to be...can there be any justice for our happy couple?

Babyee

:P