Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever own any part of Power Rangers, though the characters of Samantha, Rebecca, and Chris Travis are my own creations. This is just for pure fun.

Summary: Kim is married to the guy in "the letter" but she is miserable. Her husband ignores her mostly and she is stuck in the monotonous life of the suburban housewife. Is she stuck in this limbo forever, or can someone change her life for the better?

Pairings: Kim/OC, with mentions of Jason/Kat, Billy/Hailey, and Connor/Kira

Time: Post DT

A/N: kimtom4eva, yes, divorce would be the way to go, but you know I can't go down that road, at least not now!

A/N 2: The general thought is that Kim is a tough person to put up with all of Chris' crap. I agree, but I also know that the worse is yet to come, starting with this chapter. So read on and enjoy. Thank you all again for your awesome reviews!

Chapter four: Chris and the girls

Tommy's home; soon after the meeting with Kim:

Tommy had just arrived home after one of the hardest conversations of his life. He had told the love of his life that he did not want to have anything more than a friendship with her, and a friendship that would be limited at best.

It was a total and complete lie.

He had told her that he would not be the reason that her marriage ended, and that was true. For the first time in his life, Tommy cursed his morals. He ached to be with her, to hold her in his arms and to protect her against her husband or anything else that may harm her. He longed to kiss her, to make love to her, but life was not fair, he had a feeling that he would never again stroke that shiny brunette head or kiss those lips. So, he did what every man in his situation has done throughout time.

He started to drink.

He was halfway through his fourth bottle of Killian's Irish Red, and contemplating opening the bottle of whiskey in his top cupboard when there was a knock on his door. Slightly buzzed, he got up to answer it, even half hoping that it would be Kim staring back at him when he did so.

No such luck.

"Come on in guys, have a beer, or three," he said as he let in Adam, Jason, and Rocky. His attitude did not go unnoticed by his friends as they followed him into the kitchen. Adam was the first to speak.

"Jason told me that you had a meeting with Kim tonight. Are we to assume that that is the reason that you are drowning yourself in alcohol?" He looked around at the empty bottles, "and failing miserably I see."

"Isn't she always the reason?" Tommy said bitterly. "Every time I get into a mood like this it is usually because of something that Kim has done."

"The meeting did not go well?" asked Rocky, stating the obvious.

"No Rock, it did not go well. Well, it kind of did, but not really."

"Care to clarify bro?" asked Jason while opening a beer.

"She gave me the answers that I have been waiting ten years for. She apologized for hurting me. All of that is the good part. I also apologized to her for not fighting for her."

"That was your bad Tommy. If you had done that, it would be Kim here now instead of us." Supplied Adam sipping on his own beer.

"The worse part about all of this, the absolute WORSE part is that she is unhappy in her marriage…"

"Yeah, everyone can see that."

"Can I please finish Jason? Anyway, what I was saying is that she pretty much admitted that she was unhappy with whatshisname, and asked if there was a chance for us to be us again."

All three former rangers winced. It was now crystal clear why Tommy was drinking himself into oblivion. They all knew what kind of man he was, and he would sooner marry Divatox than to be the person that breaks up a marriage.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Jason?"

Tommy just shrugged. "What can I do Jason? I am stuck. I told her that I would be as much as a friend to her as her husband will allow, which can't be much I assume."

"Then that is what you do Tommy. You be her friend, be there for her when her husband is not, but do not touch her or get romantically involved. If and when they break up, then you have your shot."

Tommy knew he was right, but it was so damn hard, and so not like him to stand back and not do anything. Still, if that was what had to be done, that is what he would do.

The silence was broken by Rocky, asking if Tommy had any food. Everyone, including Tommy laughed and he picked up the phone to order pizza. Tonight was going to be a guy's night.

Kim's home; that night:

Kim walked into her home after her meeting with Tommy in a daze. It had taken her a full half hour to recover from her mini emotional breakdown beside the lake. She had always cared for Tommy, but it was only recently, after seeing him again and seeing how he had changed over the past years that she realized something else.

She was still in love with Tommy Oliver.

But she was also married to Christopher Travis, and not only that, she had two children with him. Any problems with her and Chris and the girls would suffer, and Kim was a good mother and did not want to see that. Though something did have to change, she could not keep going on like this.

"Is there something wrong Mrs. Travis."

Kim had not seen Kira, the babysitter come into the living room.

"Um, yes, I am just a little tired. Are the girls alright?"

"Sure are. I just put them to bed not too long ago, I made them dinner and we played Candy Land, though I think Samantha cheated a little."

Kim laughed, that was her girl, win at all costs. She reached into her purse to pay Kira.

"Thank you again for coming in on short notice Kira, here is a little something extra for you. Kira protested mildly, but accepted the extra twenty anyway. She turned to leave, but turned back to Kim.

"If I may say so Mrs. Travis, you don't look so good. You should really go see someone and get some help."

Kim nodded as Kira left. Once she did, she fell on her couch and for the second time in two hours, she bawled her eyes out. Kira was right, though she did not know the complete reason. Kim did need help, and the only man that could give it to her wanted nothing more than a simple friendship from her.

Four hours later, Chris came home. The lights were still on in the living room and he told himself that he had to have a word with Kim about wasting electricity. Where was she anyway? He rounded the corner from the front entrance to the living room and saw his wife face up on the couch fast asleep with red eyes and a picture clutched in her arms. When he took a closer look, he saw it was a picture of her as a teenager with her high school boyfriend.

So that's how things are. That slut has been cheating on me.

He chuckled at his thoughts; he did not think she had it in her. He left his wife laying there, not bothering to move her or even cover her. She had been upset, but he really did not care why. He went to the kitchen and pulled out his cell and dialed a number as he reached into the refrigerator to take a bottle of beer out. He took a swig as the voice on the other end answered.

"Karen? It's Chris. Yeah, she is out cold, want to see me tonight? Is that so? You have what on? That does it; I will be over in a few minutes. No, don't worry about them, they will keep. She will take care of them, she always does. Alright, see you soon. Love you. Bye."

He smiled to himself as he chugged the rest of his beer. His wife may be useless when it came to the bedroom games, but Karen Roberts certainly was not. Besides, she was cheating on him with that Tom guy. So he should not feel guilty about this. The fact that he had been cheating on her for the past six months did not seem to matter to him. Neither did the fact that he had no idea that his wife had been totally faithful to him.

His two adorable children were the furthest thing from his mind.

The streets of Reefside; two days later:

It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and Kim was taking advantage of the unusually mild September weather to get the girls out of the house. They had gone to the park, played on the playground, and fed the geese in the lake, and were now walking home down the main street in town. She had asked Chris if he wanted to go, but as expected, he had something more important to do. Something about a orthopedic conference.

Funny, there have been a lot of those lately. Kim thought.

She wondered for a brief moment if he was doing something else, but it slipped from her mind once she saw Hayley's café. She could really use a friendly face, and Hayley certainly qualified.

"Would you girls like to go in for a milkshake?"

The girls exclaimed that they would indeed, so the three women entered the cool air conditioned café. The place was almost empty as it seemed that most people were doing what Kim and her girls were doing and enjoying the weather. There were a few people sitting around in small groups, and Hayley herself was behind the bar. She was talking to someone seated at the bar, speaking in low whispers. She saw Kim and her family come in and with wide eyes spoke to the man in front of her who turned around to look Kim right in the eyes.

Tommy got off his seat and went to where Kim stood in shock.

"Hey Kim, how have you been?"

"F…fine Tommy. How are you?" Hating how inane it sounded in her head.

"I have been better, but I am sure that you understand."

She did, oh how she knew. She had a feeling that he was just as miserable as she was.

"And these must be your lovely daughters," he kneeled down so he was eye level to the girls.

"Hi, I'm Tommy. Who are you?"

Samantha looked up at her mother, silently asking if it was alright to talk to this strange man, she had been taught well by Kim to not talk to strangers. When Kim nodded, she answered.

"My name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam, everyone does. This is my little sister Rebecca."

"My name is Becky Samaaantah!" Becky said indignantly, and then she turned to Tommy and with all the dignity a six year old could muster…

"I am very pleased to meet you Tommy. Please excuse my sister, she sometimes forgets that I am smarter than her most of the time.'

Kim looked horrified, but Tommy was laughing heartily. "I can see that Becky, and it is a pleasure to meet you too, you as well Sam. You know, I teach other people about dinosaurs. Would you like me to tell you about them someday?"

"Oh yes!" exclaimed Becky. She was not exaggerating, she was the more book smart of the two sisters, and she happened to love dinosaurs. Sam gave her agreement as well.

"Good, I will talk to your mommy and maybe someday I can do that." He stood up. "Kim, would you three like to join me for milkshakes? My treat of course.'

"Chocolate!" said both girls at once.

Kim was in shock, she just nodded to Tommy and he took the girls over to a booth while telling Hayley their order.

"Are you coming Mommy?" yelled Sam?

Kim stood motionless for a second or two before walking over to where her daughters stood chatting with Tommy. One thought kept passing through her head.

Oh what I would give for that man to be their father.

I know that this chapter is a little short, but I wanted to give a little more insight on Chris' activities as well as showcase Sam and Becky and at the same time, have Tommy meet and interact with them for the first time. This is all leading to something, I promise, and it will not be pretty, but all that starts with the next chapter. Please rate and review, they rock my socks!

Teaser line from a future chapter: "I will fight. I will fight for them, and for you with every breath in my body."