"You're fine if I take him to the lake tomorrow?" Tommy asked as Kim gave him a confused look. She was sure that he had told him, at least twice, that she was good with them having a boys day out at the lake. "And you don't want to come?"

"I'd love to come, but he wants time with just you," Kim explained as she settled down on a bench next to one of the tables on his porch and she felt him sit down behind her and leaned against him. This had become their routine on switchover day, to sit together on the porch after Ollie had passed out and have a little bit of time to themselves. They had tried to find other ways to spend time with each other, but it just hadn't happened. "It makes me happy that you want me there too, but it's his time."

"We don't have to keep splitting time like this," Tommy whispered as he settled his chin on her shoulder before kissing her cheek. He started rocking her slowly back and forth and she completely relaxed against him. There was a part of her that wanted nights like this to never end, they hadn't gotten a lot of peace lately and she felt most at peace when he held her like this. "We…I…I just want both of you around."

"I know and we'll get there. Plus I promised Trini that I'd keep Sandy tomorrow so that she and Jason can get away for the day," Kim said as Tommy let out a sigh, so much for convincing her to come along with them. "I know, but we can really talk about it in a couple weeks."

"By the time we get to that weekend we're going to have to talk for 72 hours straight," Tommy muttered as she let out a laugh at his grumpiness as his arms tightened around her.

"I'm sure we'll find time to do more than talk," Kim whispered as she felt Tommy tense and she gently rubbed his thighs as she felt some of the tension leave him. They both were walking a tightrope right now and it was only a matter of time before one of them fell. They both were just hoping that they could make it to then without losing it. "I should get going."

"Stay," Tommy whispered in her ear and she glanced back at him and saw the stress on his face. This was more than him being horny, something else was concerning him today. She knew how many cold showers he had taken after these nights and he had never asked her to stay before. "Please."

"I want to, but I don't have any clothes here and I'm going to have to leave at around 5 am to get to Trini and Jason's by the time they want to head out…" Kim trailed off as he shook his head. "What? I don't have to leave by then?"

"No, I…this isn't going to sound good, no matter how I say it. Can I show you?" Tommy asked as she nodded and he then pulled her to her feet. They walked back to his bedroom and he nodded towards his closet. Kim gave him a confused look as she walked over, turning on the lights as she went. She stared as she noticed a handful of clothes that would definitely fit her, but she also hadn't bought them for herself. And she hadn't left them at his house either, these were brand new. She glanced back at him as she picked up a pair of buttery soft yoga pants, before turning to go through the other items. "After you got hurt last time…I…I just wanted you to have a few things here. As much as I love you in my clothes, I know you feel better in things that fit."

"And you went shopping?" Kim asked as she stared at the clothing. Tommy had never been one for shopping, even for himself.

"Aisha helped," Tommy admitted as he stood in the doorway and watched her carefully. He'd given Aisha a small budget and she had surprised him at the amount of things she bought for Kim. He didn't know if now was the right time to show her and as her silence grew deafening the fear welled up inside him. Had he pushed things too far? Had he misread everything that had been going on between them? "If this is too much we can just pretend this conversation never happened."

"It's not that. How much do I owe you?" Kim asked as he just shook his head and she glared up at him. "Tommy."

"I did this on my own, you owe me nothing," Tommy said as he walked into the closet and slipped his arms around her waist. She leaned back and stared up at him and he could tell she was trying to decipher something on his face. "I need to go check on a couple of things. You can stay or head out- I'm okay with either."

"What are you worried about?" Kim asked as he paused in his bedroom and let out a sigh. Of course she would be able to read him this well, she was one of the only people in the world that could tell when he was worried. "I know you want me here, but you're asking because you're worried. What's going on?"

"It's…it's a gut feeling," Tommy said as he turned to face her and she just nodded before turning back to the closet and grabbing one of his t-shirts. "You're not going to push it?"

"No. The last time I didn't listen to one of my gut feelings- I wound up evil. So if you have a gut feeling that I should stay tonight. I'll stay," Kim responded as she tossed on one of his shirts and then walked into his bedroom. He stared at her as she walked up to him and pulled him down for a kiss. His hands found their way under the hem of the shirt and he fought down a growl. God, this felt good- this felt right. He pulled her in tighter and lifted her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Dad! The toilet's overflowing!" Ollie yelled and Tommy hastily pulled away from Kim while giving her ass a squeeze. Kim quickly slid down his body as they both struggled to pull themselves together. "Dad!"

"Coming!" Tommy yelled over his shoulder as he gave Kim a lust filled look and when they locked eyes, he saw that her look matched his own. "Sorry."

"Go. We both know he'll come in and we'll have way too much to explain," Kim said as Tommy stole one more kiss and then quickly left his bedroom. She let out a sigh as she stared at the closed door. Tommy's gut feelings were legendary and it worried her that he was this concerned about her safety. If she was honest with herself though, it also thrilled her that he just wanted her here.

"Dad…did you used to come here with Mom?" Ollie asked as he sprinted up to him as Tommy got the kayak settled in the lake. He had been promising for a few weeks that they would make a trip and he had finally gotten the time away from the dojo to bring him here.

"Yeah, why you ask?" Tommy asked as Ollie pushed a picture in front of him and a wry smile spread across his face. He wasn't sure who took the picture, but the both of them were sitting on the pier with her settled in his lap obviously talking about something that Kim had found annoying. He hadn't known that his uncle had kept that photo after all these years. "When things got rough with being rangers, we'd come here to get away."

"So why didn't Mom come today?" Ollie asked and Tommy let out a laugh. Of course Ollie actually wanted Kim to tag along when Kim was insistent that they get some father/son time. "Dad?"

"She's babysitting Sandy," Tommy said as Ollie pouted and he forced back another laugh. "Next time, we can make sure your mom tags along too. So, I'm going to get in first and then you can hop on."

"How do we not flip?" Ollie asked as Tommy checked his life jacket and then made sure that Ollie's was secure as well. He knew that Ollie was a good swimmer, but it was starting to cool down in this part of California and the water was frigid.

"We're careful and I weigh a good bit more than you, so I should be able to hold it level," Tommy explained as he climbed in and then held out his hand to Ollie. Ollie clumsily dumped himself into the front of the boat, but Tommy managed to keep them upright and they only got slightly wet. "There's an island across the way that we're going to go explore."

"What's on it?" Ollie asked as Tommy began paddling across the lake and Ollie leaned back against him, obviously a bit uncomfortable, but putting up a brave face.

"Don't know. The last time I went over was to go camping about five years ago," Tommy said as Ollie just nodded and he weighed his options. "We can just paddle around if you'd rather do that."

"I want to help paddle," Ollie said and Tommy then realized it wasn't discomfort. Ollie didn't feel like he was pulling his own weight. "I can help."

"I know you can. You help a lot, but I only brought one paddle. We can switch out," Tommy offered and Ollie's face lit up as Tommy put the paddle in his hands. "Okay. You're going to hold it like this and then put the blade in the water just a little bit in front of you. You're going to pull back and when your hand hits my leg- you'll do the same thing on the other side."

"Like this?" Ollie asked as he slowly stroked from side to side with the paddle. Tommy gently corrected his hands and twisted him back a bit more before he did a few more strokes.

"Like that. Just like that," Tommy said and he watched the pride swell up in Ollie as he stuck his tongue out and focused on the cues Tommy had given him. He fully expected that he would get tired quickly, but he plodded along and soon they were bumping against the shallows near the island. "Wow Ollie- you did great."

"Thanks, Dad."

Tommy stilled as Ollie jumped out of the kayak and ran over to the shore and he then forced himself to follow him. He'd not pressured Ollie to call him dad, but he realized that over the last two days he had only called him dad, never Tommy. It seemed like he'd made the choice and was sticking with it. He let out a shaky breath as he quickly wiped his eyes, this was what it felt like to finally be dad.

AN: I'd love to know what you think of this story! Open to concrit as well as normal reviews.