A/N: Here's the next chapter! If you haven't already, check out the news about JDF's movie getting a theater release. I really wish he was here to see this dream come true.

As always, remember to R&R!

Thanks!

Chapter Four

Who Knew

"Tommy's what?" I asked, feeling my mouth gape open as my mind tried to wrap around what Trini had just said to me. "Tommy and Kat had children?" I looked back over at Tommy and the two kids, feeling like there was a part of my brain that wasn't functioning correctly. "The oldest one is like 15?! I'm not a math genius here but I think I would know if Tommy had a kid when we were 15."

"It's a long story and I don't think we're the ones who should be telling it to you." Trini sighed, looking tired. I fought the urge to snap at her. Granted I had questions that I wanted answers to but there was no reason to attack her or my friends about it. "A lot has happened in the last two years in Tommy's life. It's complicated."

"It sure sounds like it." I breathed, frowning as I watched Tommy walk with the boys towards Amelia who was standing near the end of the parking lot. She held her arms out to Tommy who sunk into her hug. He didn't seem to be emotional though and neither did the boys. The younger boy was chattering away to the older one who seemed he couldn't care less about what his brother was saying. I tried to see any kind of resemblance of Tommy in them but I couldn't. Neither had the same shade of hair or eyes. They didn't even have the same body type as him. And then there was the question of where did these kids actually come from. If the kid was 15 or 16 like I thought, that would mean that he was conceived around the time I was with Tommy. He failed to mention knocking anyone up around that time and never even gave me the impression that he would cheat on me like that. Plus, I felt like him having a kid at 15 might have been a topic we discussed over the years.

"We should head over to the house and help set up for everyone." Jason said, breaking my thoughts. Tommy walked with his mother and the two kids towards a jeep that was parked in that corner of the parking lot. I turned back to look at our friends. "Did you want to ride with us?"

"No. I have my rental I can drive over. Should I pick anything up?" I asked. Trini shook her head.

"I think we have everything covered. Right now, he just needs support and some familiar faces." Trini gave me a small smile.

"Okay. I'll follow behind you guys then."

"May I tag along with you?" Billy asked, shifting on his foot to face me. "I can provide directions if need be."

"Sure." The four of us headed down the length of the parking lot and towards the street. Trini and Jason got into a red pick up truck that was across the street while Billy and I headed to the rental. I unlocked it and climbed in, moving everything I had flung into the passenger seat in my frenzied state so he could sit down. Climbing in, I brought the car to life and waited for Jason to drive by before doing a u-turn to follow him. Other guests were getting into the cars to leave too, some of them heading in the right direction.

"I hope you aren't offended by the lack of information provided to you." Billy said, glancing over at me. "Trini is correct in saying that Tommy expressed not telling you out of concern and not ill will."

"I get it. I know he didn't want me to rush back here." I replied, making a turn and following Jason.

"Trini has been assisting Tommy around the clock since hospice told Kat she only had a few weeks. I don't even think Trini had been home herself more than to get changed." He explained.

"Well, that's probably why she hasn't been answering my calls in the last 24 hours."

"Her and Jason have been taking turns helping Tommy prepare for today. Even with all the knowledge of it going to occur, it still felt like it happened without notice. Which brings to attention as to how you knew to come here." He said. I gripped the steering wheel tightly, following Jason's truck.

"Like I said, I heard that something happened to Tommy. I wanted to make sure he was okay. I tried calling Trini and Jason but neither answered."

"How did you hear?" Billy asked. Biting my lip, I looked over at Billy. I didn't see any kind of malice or accusation to his expression, just genuine curiosity. I reached into my pocket and held the letter out to him with one hand as I continued to drive. He took it, opening it carefully.

"I got that in the mail yesterday. I don't know exactly when I got it since my manager checks my mail for me but it was in there. I don't recognize the handwriting either."

"I understand your concern now." He said, his eyes scanning the paper. "It seems this person was trying to get you here desperately."

"Is it Katherine's handwriting?" I questioned. Billy gazed at the paper in his hand for a moment before shaking his head.

"No. This isn't her handwriting. I'm not sure whose it is. I could analyze this more and hopefully find out for you if you'd like. But I don't think there is anymore danger to be fearful of. It appeared they were trying to get your presence here for today it seems."

"Well, the heart attack and worry was unnecessary. A simple explanation that Kat was dying would have done the trick."

"Would it have?" Billy asked, folding up the letter.

"What do you mean?" He gave me a kind smile.

"Not for nothing, Kimberly, but this is the first time you've been home in years. Do you really think that if you had known Katherine was sick, you would have dropped everything to come back here? Especially at this point in your career?" I moved to answer and to tell Billy he was silly for even asking that question but found myself unable to. He was right. If the letter had just said that Kat was sick, I wouldn't have rushed here. I might have reached out to Trini to see what was going on or if I needed to come back but I wouldn't have been here like I was now. It had been over four years since I had been here and there was a good reason for my lack of return.

"I…I don't know." I said softly, guilt washing over me.

"It's not a bad thing. People often grow up and move on with their lives away from where they grew up. It wasn't expected of you to drop everything and come here. It's great you are here though." He reached over and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad to see you and I'm sure Tommy will be too."

"I don't know about that one." I muttered, making a right turn again. "So…you gonna tell me about this divorce and these mysterious kids?"

"I think Trini was correct and saying that we aren't the suitable tellers of that story. But I'm sure Tommy will fill you in if you ask him."

"I'm not asking him any of that. Especially on the day of his wife's funeral." I shot back as Jason's truck pulled up to the curb outside of Tommy's house. I parked as well about half way up the street. "I'm fine not knowing if that's the case."

"Good to see some things never change." I heard Billy mutter under his breath as we climbed out of the car. I glared over at him but he pretended to not notice as he headed up the sidewalk towards the house. I opted to go into the back of the car and rummaged through my bag for a moment. I found a long sleeved black blouse I had packed. It wasn't anything fancy but it was better than the hoodie I was wearing. I slid the hoodie off, leaving the tank top I had under it before pulling the blouse on. I tossed the hoodie into the backseat and closed the door. I jogged to catch up with Billy who was walking towards Jason and Trini. The two stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for us. I saw that there weren't as many cars here as the church, telling me that they had gone to something else or they drove slow.

"Her family opted to have a private Catholic service after the funeral. Tommy will be here after that." Trini said, almost reading my mind. I nodded, following up the steps and into the house I had just been at earlier. Inside the door, I found myself in the foyer area. The walls were painted a white color, coat racks made with iron hooks hanging on the walls on both sides of me. There were deep brown hardwood floors under my feet that led into an open floor plan of a living room and dining room. The white walls continued here but were trimmed with the same colored wood as the floors. The windows were trimmed in this wood as well, cream colored curtains hanging from them. There was a deep red colored area rug beneath a long dining room table that was covered in food that was to be served to guests as they arrived. Chairs had been removed from the table, set up along the walls to give it a more flowing feeling into the living room which was to the left. Here, there was a brown overstuffed leather couch that sat facing a large television set. Book shelves were built into the walls in the living room, books upon books in here along with various different trinkets or figurines that were displayed on the shelves. There was another rug, this time a dark brown one, under the couch here with a wooden coffee table with a table insert sat.

Adjacent from the living room was a staircase that led up to the second floor. The banister was the wood color where the stairs themselves were painted black on the top. The walls on the bottom of the stairs and leading up was white, giving it a pop of contrast as I wondered what the upstairs looked like. I didn't get long to be nosey before we headed into the kitchen area. This was a modest part of the house, clearly an area that the person who had designed it hadn't found much need for concern. There was some cabinet space with white granite countertop on top of it. Stainless steel appliances were set up and I could tell that they had been well used during their time here. The fridge was covered with pictures and other pieces of paper, held there with magnets. I could make out Tommy's handwriting on some of the papers and others had a more feminine scribble on it that I assumed was Kat's. Billy had been right. Her handwriting didn't match the one from the letter.

A shrill ringing played from my back pocket as I helped Trini and Jason begin to unload food from the fridge. Pulling the phone from my pocket, I saw that it was Shayna. I swore under my breath, glancing around for a quiet place to talk to her. When I didn't see one, I gestured to Trini to get her attention. "It's my manager." I said when she looked at me. She pointed her head towards the back door and I took the key, heading that direction. Once I was standing out on a large deck, I brought the phone to my ear and answered it. "Hey, Shayna."

"Hey! What happened? Was he the one who kicked the bucket?" Shayna's voice had asked me when I first answered. I shut the door behind me and stepped over to the stairs that led off the deck. I saw that there was a pretty decent sized backyard here with a smaller in-ground pool and what appeared to be a stream behind it. I headed towards the stream area, stepping next to a tree.

"No. Tommy's alright." I replied, taking a deep breath. "It was his wife. She died of cancer the other day." She gasped and I could picture her covering her mouth.

"Oh my god! That's awful. Were you close?"

"To his wife? No. She came around shortly before I left and kinda replaced me if you catch my drift." Sighing, I saw a larger rock down near the edge of the water and perched myself on it with my back to the house.

"Jesus, what happened?"

"Breast cancer." I replied. "I had no clue because he asked people not to bother me. I'm not sure who sent the letter though. I haven't been able to pinpoint that yet."

"And here I thought the whole world famous singing career was the interesting part of your life." She joked. I snorted, shaking my head.

"Oh, if you only knew that half of it." I said. "How are things there? Any chance you can get me a flight back tonight? I feel silly coming all this way for this."

"Sorry, champ. They feel like you're good right where you are. Besides, it's just a couple days and then you'll be on tour. Think of it as a little vacation, something you never do, might I add?"

"Yeah, yeah." I scoffed. "It's not my fault I'm always so busy."

"Sure it isn't. By the way, did you fail to mention to Tristian you were leaving?" I heard her shuffling some papers around in the background.

"No. Everything just happened so quickly, I didn't get a chance to. Besides, it's only been like eight hours. Why?"

"He called my office looking for you because the house security wouldn't let him in since you were gone." Shayna sounded amused and for a moment, I wondered if she allowed my misery to bring her joy.

"Damn it. I'll have to call him and the security guy in a minute. I should have told them that it's okay for him to be there when I'm not. Usually, he's on tour with me so it's never been an issue before."

"I'll handle all that. You just focus on being there for your friends right now. I'll send over all the information about opening night tomorrow so you're prepared."

"Thanks, Shayna. I'm going to be staying with a friend while I'm in town. I'll send you the address and how to contact me after I'm settled in tonight."

"Can do, boss lady. I'll talk to you then." She hung up and I looked down at the phone in hand. Maybe I should call Tristian to let him know what happened and that I would be needing to meet him here for the first stop. I knew he'd be understanding. But as I looked at my thumb on the call button, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It didn't feel right to call right now. I'd have to do it later when I was at Billy's.

I glanced over my shoulder at the house and noticed there was a larger garden bed set up on the bottom part of the house I didn't see before. I wondered if Kat had taken up gardening at any point of their marriage. Was this something they had done together? Maybe as a family. As I thought of Kat, my mind went to the last time I had talked to her. It had been at Trini and Jason's wedding. I had done my best to try to avoid communicating too much with her as I still felt very off about being around Tommy after our break up. But she had cornered me near the bar when I was expecting it. She asked me how I was and how things and Florida were. We made small talk and then she asked how I was enjoying being back in town. At first, I had thought that she was trying to gauge how long I'd be here for and if she had a reason to worry. I realized though that she really was just trying to make civil conversation with me because it was important to Tommy.

And that's why the 72 hours after that day make me feel more guilty some days than others.

I'm not proud of everything I've done in my life. At that point, I was just starting out my music career and was working pretty consistently. Right before coming back for the wedding, I had signed on for my first tour as an opening act. My career has always been the most important road I've traveled on, especially since everything with my Olympic career didn't pan out like I had hoped. I wasn't going to allow anything to stop this one from being fulfilled. But I hadn't imagined certain things happening when I rolled into town that would cause me to second guess everything, including my own thoughts on what I would be willing to do to our friends. I frowned at the thought, staring into the water of the stream in front of me. For a moment, I hoped that being dead didn't mean that you learned everyone's secrets. I didn't want to think about Kat learning about things she couldn't possibly want to know while in the presence of some angels or whatever beings were where she was.

I heard car doors in the distance, telling me that more people were arriving. I knew I should probably head inside to help them prepare since that is what I came to do. But I found myself enjoying sitting here and listening to the brook babble and the wind blow gently through the tree above me. It reminded me of times spent at the park during the spring, smelling the cherry blossoms as they came into bloom. Time moves at a slower speed when you're a kid because all you want is to grow up. But when you're an adult looking back, it feels like it went in a blink of an eye. Sighing, I tucked my phone into the pocket of my jeans and stood from the rock. If the decisions I made had been different, I knew this would have been a spot I'd sit in to think all the time. It was no wonder that Tommy had bought a house like this.

"I thought that was you." A voice said as I turned to head back to the house. I was a little surprised that someone was standing behind me. As I looked up, I saw that it was Tommy Oliver. His hair, though shorter now, was thick and gelled back on his head. There was a stubble on his chin that made him look more distinguished than aged. His glasses were gone now, tucked into the pocket of the suit jacket he was wearing. Even though the full grown version of Tommy stood in front of me, I felt like the teenager standing in the hallway the first time I met him. My hands instantly grew sweaty and my mouth dry. I suddenly wished I was anywhere but standing right here.

"Yeah. It's me. Sorry." I said, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. He looked at me, confused as he put his hands in his pockets.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I wasn't invited so I kinda crashed." I replied. He nodded, biting the inside of his cheek for a second.

"It's not that I didn't want you to come, Kim. I just knew you had a lot going on right now and didn't want you to feel obligated to. Please don't think I didn't want you to be here."

"I know, Tommy." I said softly, gazing up at him. He gave me a small smile.

"I'm really glad you're here."