Zordon Says Chapter Twelve:

Jaslee frowned as she noticed a group of her friends bunched together, whispering. They had been doing that a lot lately and they always went quiet when they realize that she was listening. Today was no exception.

"It's going to be so much fun," Emily stated, only for Rose to hiss, "Careful, Jaslee's right behind you."

"What's going to be fun? Can I come? I'm sure Mommy will let me," Jaslee asked, excitedly, what were they up to?

Rose shuffled her feet, "Every year there's a Daddy daughter dance. We didn't want to tell you about it because you know, you don't have a daddy and we don't want you to feel bad."

They were unaware that Tommy and several parents arrived in time to hear Jaslee insist quite loudly, "I do have a Daddy."

Tommy froze, wondering what Jaslee would say, was she talking about Luke, come to think about it, he had never heard her call Luke Dad, she had always referred to him by his first name. Rose spoke, "I know that, but your Daddy's a bad guy, even the power rangers are after him, and power rangers only go after super bad guys."

Jaslee screwed her face up in anger before shouting, "Luke's not my Daddy! Tommy is!"

All of the adults turned to look at Tommy, who gave them a bewildered look, he didn't know what to think about the outburst. Jaslee, however, wasn't done, "Tommy tucks me in at night, and reads me stories, he takes me to the park and the museum, he took me 'trick or treating', and he took care of me when I didn't feel good." Jaslee thumped herself on the chest, "and in every tv show and book I read, that's what a daddy does. So Tommy has to be my daddy!"

Tommy was well aware that everyone was watching him as he came up to Jaslee, picked her up and left the room, "So what was that little lecture about daddys about?"

"There's a Daddy-daughter dance, but they didn't want to tell me because I didn't have a daddy." Jaslee looked down and growled, "I'm tired of not having a daddy. Some of the others tease me about it. So I had to tell them that you're my daddy to get them to stop!"

Tommy closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to say. Just tell her what you feel, you need to follow your heart on this one.

"Why didn't you tell us that the kids teased you about not having a dad," Tommy asked, "We could have dealt with it. teasing others for being different is naughty, you should have told your teacher."

"Are you Mad?" Jaslee asked.

Tommy shook his head, "No, I'm not, just disappointed that you didn't trust me enough to come to me with your problems."

Jaslee frowned before asking, "Would you be mad if I start calling you Daddy?"

Tommy was taken aback by the question, "I don't have any problems with that, but I think we need to talk to your mother about it first."

…

Kim was triple checking that she had everything she needed for the weekend getaway, she looked at the eight-month-old that was crawling around at her feet, "Tommy was right, I am packing more to go for a weekend than I packed to move."
Just then the front door opened and Tommy entered with Jaslee, "Why don't you pack what you want to bring, remember it's a long car ride and we will be gone until Sunday night. I need to talk to Mom."

Kim smiled as Tommy picked up Inya, preventing her from emptying one of the suitcases again, "We need to talk," Tommy said, "Jaslee asked if she could start calling me Daddy."

Kim's eyes grew round, she hadn't expected that she had figured that if things did end up working with them she would sit the girls down and explain that Tommy would be their new dad. She hadn't expected them to be ready to move on before her. They had only been on the one date if you could call it that, "What did you tell her?"

Tommy shrugged, "I wanted to see how you felt about it first. I honestly would love for her to call me Daddy, but I don't want to upset you."

Kim's mind was whirling, Jaslee wanted to call Tommy Daddy, something she never did for Luke, and Tommy was okay with it. He didn't have to let Jaslee call him that, he could explain why he wasn't her daddy, that he had to marry her mother before he could become her dad, but he didn't, he wanted to talk to Kim about it.

"Tommy," Kim finally said, "I'm not going to prevent the girls from moving on. Maybe this is a sign that things are going to work out for us. Maybe we should try going on a date by ourselves."

"So you're okay if I give Jaslee permission to call me dad?" Tommy asked.

Kim nodded her head, "yes, but I think we should talk about this over dinner or something."

Tommy froze, realizing what she was saying, "Are you asking me out?"

Kim shrugged, "It depends if you want to consider it a date or not."

…

Tommy glanced at the back seat through the rear view mirror, Jaslee, sitting in the middle, was coloring in a book she had packed while Ellie played with her doll that she now packed everywhere. Inya was giggling as she tugged on the toy attached to the handle of her car seat.

He smiled at Kim, who was trying to find her phone, finally, she found it and answered, "This is Kim."

There was a pause and then Kim stated, "Are you sure, Ninja is good at hiding."

In the back seat, Ellie opened her backpack and a black head peaked out of it before Ninja jumped out and climbed up to the front. Kim stared at the kitten that had jumped onto her lap, "Hayley, don't worry I found him."

Tommy glanced at the kitten, "Would you like to explain why Ninja's in the car girls."

"He fit!" Ellie exclaimed as Ninja crawled over to Tommy and started to climb his leg, causing him to swerve.

Behind him, a police car turned on his sirens and started following him.

Tommy groaned as he pulled over and the police car pulled up behind him. He leaned over and felt for the kitten, picking it up by its scruff. "You, mister, just got me a ticket."

Just then the police officer knocked on the window, Tommy nearly burst out laughing as he recognized the officer. He rolled down the window and handed the officer the kitten.

"Why are you handing me a cat?" TJ Johnson demanded.

Tommy groaned, "Because the cat is responsible."

TJ Johnson gave him a look, "Do you honestly think that I'll buy that?"

"Do you honestly think that people are impressed that you were baked into a pizza?" Tommy countered.

TJ Johnson groaned, "Okay, so in our line of work, anything is possible, can you explain how the cat is responsible."

"I didn't check the three-year-old's back up before we left," Tommy explained.

TJ did a double take, "Last I checked you haven't dated in almost ten years, how do you have a three-year-old?"

"Kim and I are dating?" the last part was a question to Kim, who shrugged.

"I guess so," Kim replied, "I haven't thought about it much."

"You think you're dating?" TJ asked, "I know as power rangers we lead confusing lives, but I always knew if I was dating someone."

Tommy placed a hand on TJ's shoulder, "Yes, I know, but you don't have a murderous ex-husband chasing after the girl you're dating."

TJ shook his head, "Are you coming to the party Saturday?"

"We wouldn't miss it," Tommy replied with a smile.

TJ nodded, "Well," he looked the kitten in the eyes, "Sit still and don't distract the driver, understand." He wasn't sure but he thought that the kitten actually nodded and looked ashamed. TJ shook his head and handed the kitten back to Tommy.

As they pulled away Kim asked, "What party?"

Tommy shrugged, "Just a power ranger gathering that we do every year."

Kim fell silent, looking out her window. "How did I get so disconnected from you guys that I didn't even know about the yearly reunion. I didn't even know that Jason and Trini got married, let alone had a kid."

"Then I better not tell you about Billy's twins, or little Summer and Brock," Tommy joked.

"Billy had twins? With who, last I heard he was on Aquitar?"

Tommy chocked, "Was that really the last time you heard from us? He only stayed on Aquitar for maybe two years, he and Kat got together soon after we broke up."

Kim nodded, "And who are Summer and Brock?"

"Summer is Adam's and Tanya's daughter, and Brock is Rocky's and Aisha's son."

Kim shook her head, "I can't believe that everyone has changed so much."

"The one thing that you need to remember is that their love for you hasn't changed." Tommy insisted.

….

A/N: And Kim asked Tommy out and Jaslee called Tommy Daddy for the first time, tell me what you think. Sorry it's short but I have a cold and the baby found my candy stash.