A/N: Hi everyone! I know. I suck as a person when it comes to updating. Raising a toddler drains the very life force out of you. But I am hoping to make more updates quicker. Here is another chapter. Please let me know what you think! :)

Chapter Seven
These Days

Sleep didn't come easy that night even though I felt exhausted. I tossed and turned, my mind shifting between thinking about my little spat with Tristan over him not liking how I didn't tell him I was leaving and him badgering me about moving in with me. I couldn't even answer myself why it rubbed me wrong on such a level that I couldn't explain it to him. I just couldn't see myself allowing another person into my space like that yet. It felt invasive and too soon I suppose. But he was right about wanting to be together and I wanted to be committed to him. It wasn't like we've only been together for a few months. Did I see a future with him? It was something I hadn't really considered before I guess. I've been so busy with my career and this tour, I really hadn't put much thought into anything else in my future besides that. When I did think about my future, I saw being on the road and singing sold out shows. I never thought about having a person there with me. Maybe he was right about me being afraid.

When I wasn't tossing and turning because of Tristan, my mind was on Tommy. The conversation I had with Billy right before heading to bed played on repeat in my mind. Tommy and Kat started having issues with their marriage around the time Trini and Jason got married. That very thought made my stomach do a summersault around the room. I suppose I had been foolish to believe that something that happened in the past could stay right there in the past. To think that moving on from something had just been easy enough to forget about it, start careers and pretend it never happened. Only, it didn't happen here. It had been enough to cause an issue between Tommy and Kat, big enough to cause more damage to their already established damage.

The thought was still on my mind when my eyes opened after my pathetic three hours of sleep. I groaned, sitting up and glancing at the clock. I had to be at Tommy's in about an hour and a half. I ran my hands over my face, bending my knees under the covers. I pulled them close to me, resting my arms on top and my chin on my forearm. I didn't know what I was going to say to Tommy today. I felt like I needed to say something to him about the last time I had been in Angel Grove. Closing my eyes, I sighed.

When Trini and Jason told me they were getting married, I was over the moon excited for them. Trini asked me to be her maid of honor but the issue was that I was already living in Nashville and was in talks with Big Machine about getting one of their smaller record deals. I wasn't able to fly back and forth for her bridal appointments. She said she didn't care as long as I was there for the big day. I agreed but I then found out that Tommy was going to be Jason's best man. I wasn't shocked because they are best friends. Tommy is pretty much everyone's best friend for good reason. I was worried though because I hadn't seen Tommy since I had left California to join the Pan Global teams and had broken up with him. I wasn't sure how he would act around me and how he would feel having to interact with me with our duties at their second in command for all the wedding duties. I also knew that he and Kat had gotten married (I had skipped that wedding) so I didn't know if she was going to be annoyed with us needing to be walking together and at one point dancing together.

When I came into town, I arrived early to make sure I could be there for all the events and to help out with all the last minute things. I was surprised that Tommy greeted me with a hug like we were old friends and we picked up right where we had left off. It was like we had never had any kind of romantic issues or a break up between us. As the week progressed, things for the wedding went swimmingly and Tommy and I worked together to help them get things together. We even drove two hours to go get last minute replacements for Jason's tux after a freak accident left him with only half of it. We reconnected on that drive and it reminded me exactly why Tommy and I were such good friends.

It also reminded me why I fell in love with him in the first place.

As soon as I realized I was beginning to have feelings for him again, I did my best to try to distance myself from him. It was hard because we still had about four days left until the wedding and we were seeing each other every single day. The night before the wedding, Jason and Trini had a joint night out to celebrate. Kat opted not to go because she wasn't feeling well. I did my best to just stick with Trini and Aisha, avoiding Tommy like the plague but at some point, he managed to find me by myself and asked me if he had done something. I tried to play it off like it was nothing but I could never lie to him. I told him the truth and that I still had feelings for him. I made sure that he knew I didn't expect anything out of him though. He was married. I wasn't an idiot. He didn't say anything. He sort of stared at me for a moment before we were ushered off with the rest of the bridal party.

The next day was the wedding. Everything went off without a problem. It was a beautiful day full of love, laughter, and memories. It felt like with everything being kept to a schedule, I didn't even have a spare moment to think about Tommy. That all changed though when we were ushered to the dance floor to join Trini and Jason for their first dance. Tommy and I did our best to avoid talking altogether but it was just too awkward. Then the small talk just felt out of place. It was like I was standing with a stranger again, something that left a burning feeling in the pit of my stomach. Finally though, as the song started coming to an end, he asked to talk to me towards the end of the reception just so we could clear the air. I was relieved, hoping we could just find some common ground and forget what I had said to him.

After Jason and Trini headed off to their night away, Tommy and I stayed behind with the rest of the wedding party to help pick up. When I noticed that things had been nearly done, we made our escape and found ourselves on the beach behind the hotel we were at. We walked the beach for about an hour, talking about things and agreed that our time together had passed. We were better off as friends and that we were at a good place in life to be able to build on that.

We then promptly went back to my hotel room where we spent the next six hours sleeping together.

Reaching over, I grabbed my purse from under the bedside table and pulled my cell phone out. I noticed that it still read the time from Nashville on the little screen, saying it was a little before 11 am there. I scrolled through my contacts until I found Shayna's name and then I clicked the call button. It rang twice as I brought it to my ear before she answered.

"Well, hello there. How are you doing?" Shayna asked, sounding chipper. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh, you know." I replied, yawning. "How'd the meetings go this morning?"

"Good. Everything is set for the opening night and everyone sends their condolences."

"I highly doubt the latter." I said flatly, smirking. She snorted.

"Alright. So, maybe I added that part. But they did say that they understood why you couldn't be there today. They just expressed their concern and how important it is for you to be there for opening night."

"Trust me. I will be there, come hell or high water." Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. "Have you heard anything from the tour bus on how they are making out?"

"Last I heard, they were about half way there. I'm sure they will be rolling into town sometime tomorrow morning. Why? Didn't Tristan tell you when they'd be there?"

"I mean…yeah." I said, trailing off.

"Uh oh." She said, the sound of shuffling paper on her end coming to a stop. "More trouble in paradise?"

"No. We just had this stupid spat over nothing. He was just upset because I didn't tell him I was heading here. I mean, I get it. I'd be worried too but the last thing on my mind was to tell him where I was when I found out what happened."

"I think he was just worried about you. I'm sure everything will blow over once you see each other. It always does. Tristan never stays mad long." She said, "Besides, I'm sure this is just one of his ways of trying to prove his point that you need to live together."

"Sure is." I muttered. "He said it would have made this easier."

"Maybe it would have. Communication would be easier if you were under the same roof all the time."

"But then I'd have to worry about him being here 24/7 when we weren't on the road and I'm not sure if I want that."

"Kim, I think you need to think about the big picture here. In the future, when you think about what you want in your life, what do you see? Do you see a life with Tristan?"

"That's the thing, Shayna. I don't see a life with anyone, really. I just see myself standing on stage. My music is my life right now and it's so hard not to see that as my entire future. Him asking me to think about anything else right now is just not fair. I don't think it's in my wheelhouse right now."

"Then maybe the two of you need to figure out if you are on the same page like you think you are. Sometimes, two people can move at different paces in a relationship. It's okay if you aren't at that level yet and he is. You've been through different things in life that cause you to deal with things differently. I think you need to focus on what you need to focus on right now and worry about those other things later. Right now, this tour comes first and everything else second."

"Exactly! Now I just need him to see that." I sighed.

"Girl, you just gotta square up." She said, causing us to both laugh.

"I can't with you." I giggled, shaking my head. Glancing at the clock, I saw I had to get moving. "Listen, I gotta go. I'll give you a call this afternoon."

"Alright. I wanted to go over some things with you then anyway. Have fun!" I hung up, setting my phone in my purse. I made quick work of showering and getting dressed, opting for a pair of light tan khaki capris and a pink and white floral tank top. I chose to pin my hair back in a bun before jogging down the stairs where I found Billy sitting at the table again. This time, he was reading the paper, a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced up when he heard me on the stairs, smiling in my direction.

"Morning! How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Fine." I lied, returning his smile.

"Really? I thought I heard you moving around quite a bit." He said, gesturing to his coffee cup. I nodded. He set it down before standing and heading into the kitchen. He returned with a small coffee cup, setting it down in front of the chair across from him. I sat, seeing that the coffee inside was the perfect caramel color. I took a sip, noticing just the hint of hazelnut in the warm liquid. The boy genius, now a man, could still make a good cup of coffee.

"I had a lot on my mind I guess. It took a while for me to settle down and fall asleep." I set the cup down, sitting back in the chair.

"That's understandable. You did a great deal of traveling and discovered some shocking things yesterday." Billy said. "You've also had some large responsibilities on your shoulders given your career. Anxiety is a normal thing to expect."

"I just kept thinking about everything changing since the last time I was home. I know that is what's supposed to happen but I just feel awful for not being here."

"Kim, leaving the nest is part of life." He smiled at me. "You were able to start an amazing career, something that might not have been possible if you had stayed here. You can't spend your life, regretting the things you weren't here for."

"No but I can feel guilty about not knowing that Katherine was dying or that you guys were dealing with that." I crossed my arms and set them on the table. "I know there's nothing I could have done differently but I still feel like I should have at least been here or something."

"We just want you to be successful. Especially Tommy. That's why he told us not to tell you anything. You can't be hard on yourself. Katherine wouldn't have wanted you to drop everything that important anyway."

"I know." I sighed, taking another sip of my coffee. "Kat's not the only thing on my mind but I can handle the rest. Once this whole tour gets off the ground, things will be much better. I can't wait for tomorrow night to get here."

"I see it's sold out." Billy commented, giving me a smirk.

"Really?" I questioned. He nodded, cocking an eyebrow.

"You aren't aware if your shows sell out?" He asked.

"Not until the day of typically but it's only happened to me a couple of times before. My manager never said anything to me about it when I talked to her on the phone. How did you find that out?"

"Jason tried to get tickets for it." He replied. "We all wanted to surprise you and come to support you for your first show. But the tickets were all sold out when he called down to the arena."

"Aw! I wish you guys would have said something sooner. I could have pulled some strings or something." I said. "It's really sweet you all wanted to be there."

"Well, as it turns out, Jason has to work that night anyway and he couldn't get it off. We will have to try to get tickets for another stop along your tour."

"Yes! I would love to have you guys there to see me at one of the shows." I glanced over at the clock and saw I had to get going. "Oh! I should be off. Sure you don't want to tag along?" I asked, standing up.

"Unfortunately, I have some things I need to take care of here. But I will see you later. Please tell Tommy I send him my best."

"I will. See you later, Billy." With a wave, I headed out the front door where my rental car was parked in the driveway. I pulled my cell phone from my purse as I climbed it, pulling up Shayna's number.

"Why, hello again." She said when she answered.

"Hey. I need a favor."

On my way to Tommy's, I stopped at a little bakery and grabbed a coffee crumb cake. I wasn't even sure why but I knew I didn't want to go into this empty handed. So, with the crumb cake tucked into the crook of my arm, I climbed up the front steps of his porch and rang the doorbell. What followed was an unexpected series of loud bangs accompanied by yelling. I heard more commotion follow behind it as well, convincing me the house might be under some kind of attack. Worry filled my chest for a moment, thoughts of someone in there attacking Tommy and the boys. I heard footsteps approaching the door and the lock on the door unlatched. It swung open, revealing Tommy standing there. He was looking rather disheveled and annoyed, what appeared to be flour smeared on the front of the black t-shirt he was wearing and the blue jeans on his legs. There was also something wet on his shirt and face that was dripping down. His feet were bare and his hair was a bit less unkempt than I usually see it.

"Hey. Is this a bad time?" I asked.

"No more than usual." He replied, the annoyed look on his face disappearing as he gave me a small smile. "Come on in and join the nut house." Stepping to the side, he allowed me to enter the house. I noticed that everything from the day before was gone, including the extra tables and chairs. It was more roomy now but felt like something was missing as I looked around the living room/dining area. Above us, I heard a loud thud that was followed by yelling as Tommy shut the door behind me. He swore under his breath, the both of us glancing at the ceiling. "I'll be right back. Feel free to make yourself at home on the back deck. I have to break up World War 3 up there it seems."

"Okay." I watched as he jogged up the steps and disappeared. I headed out of the dining room and into the kitchen. I saw that there was a large flour mess in here, some of it on every surface of the room it seemed. I noticed there was something in the oven now and there was a large bowl soaking in the sink. Continuing through the kitchen, I went out the back door and onto the deck. Here, I saw there was now a whole lawn furniture set up in the one corner. It was a black wicker with black and white plaid pillows on the two bench sets. In the middle was a matching coffee table with a table top. There was a tray with two coffee cups flipped over on them, two little matching plates next to them. I set the cake down on the table and sat on the bench to the right of the coffee table. My phone chirped as I did. Pulling it up, I bought it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey. It's Shayna. I'm calling from the office because my phone died. So, I have some good news and bad news. I wasn't able to get all your friend's tickets for Pasadena. However, I did manage to scrounge up four backstage passes for that show and I was able to get you enough tickets for everyone for your show in Vegas in a few weeks. I even managed to get a couple hotel blocks for it. Do you think that will work for you?"

"You're a rockstar." I said, smiling. I couldn't wait to give the tickets to Billy and Trini. I figured Billy could bring a date with him and the four of us could hang out afterwards when my show was done. Then, everyone would be able to come out to Vegas to see me.

"That's why you pay me the big bucks. I'll have everything with me in the morning when I land."

"Great. I can't wait to see you! You'll love it out here."

"I hope so. Call me if you need anything else, okay?"

"Thanks, Shayna." I hung up, shoving the phone back in my purse as Tommy came out the back door. I saw he had changed, now wearing a gray t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans that were flour free. His hair was brushed now and he looked more put together. He smiled, coffee pot in hand.

"Sorry about that. Teenagers are such a handful. I have no clue what Zordon was thinking." He said, setting the coffee pot next to the tray. He grabbed the cups and poured some of the hot liquid into each cup.

"Free and easy labor." I replied. Tommy chuckled, nodding his head.

"That's for sure. Here you go." He handed me one of the coffee mugs. I took it, scooping some of the sugar for the bowl on the tray. I mixed the warm liquid, adding creamer as well. Tommy made his own coffee, adding two sugars like he did when we were kids.

"So, what seems to be the issue today?" I asked, sitting back against the cushions of the couch. Tommy laughed, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well, Ethan was making scones in the kitchen to have with our coffee. Xander wanted to help but Ethan didn't want the help. NAturally, it turned into an argument. When you rang the doorbell, things exploded with them yelling at each other and my kitchen looking like the Pillsbury Dough boy was murdered in it. They're fine now but they have their moments where I feel like I have a referee shirt on."

"I'm sure they mean well though. They've been through a lot recently and I think that plays a lot on a kid, even if it's not their biological parent."

"They sure have. Those poor kids have been the wringer." I took a sip of my coffee, setting it down.

"How did you even end up with them? I know we talked about it a bit before but the circumstances of the whole thing must be something extraordinary to land you with them."

"You could say that." He muttered, scratching the back of his head. "They came in as students about five years ago. They were living with their grandmother at the time who had custody of them because their mother was having some problems. She had been a young mom that got wrapped up with the wrong guy after Xander was born. She stopped sending Ethan to school and Child Protective Services came to investigate. They discovered the house was in shambles and that she was leaving Ethan to take care of Xander for weeks at a time with no food while she would go off on this drug fueled bender. I felt bad for them so I offered to let them attend our after school program for free since grandma was having issues paying for karate lessons as it was. Things were going well, Mom was in rehab. She was doing her best to change her life around. Got a job, a car. Was doing visitations every other day and on the weekends."

"What happened?" I asked, dread in the pit of my stomach.

"Grandma died unexpectedly. She had a heart attack in the middle of the night and the boys found her the next morning. CPS stepped in again, saying they were going to send them to foster care until they found somewhere for them to go. I stepped up and said they could stay with us so they would be able to stay together. They were with us for about three months. It wasn't easy at first but they adjusted quickly. Ethan went to school every day for the first time in a long time and Xander wa able to connect with people again. When CPS wasn't able to find anyone else who was kinship, they made the decision to allow them to return to Mom since she had done so well with her progress." Tommy sipped his coffee, crossing a leg over the other. "We helped them transition. I drove them to school and home after the program at the dojo. I still helped with homework. Things were really going well. After about four months, I thought they had finally found the place they needed to be. But then the neighbors found her in the backyard, dead from an overdose. She had taken them to school and came home to relapse. Never made it inside. The kids were at the dojo when they came to tel them."

"Oh my god." I whispered, covering my mouth. "How awful."

"CPS said they were going to send Ethan to stay in a teen home while Xander went to a foster home in San Francisco. I couldn't let them split up after everything they've been through so I said they could come here again. I didn't even ask Kat first. They've been here ever since. About 18 months after that, they were cleared for adoption and I finalized everything shortly after that."

"Wow. That's incredible. Those boys are lucky they ended up in your dojo, Tommy. I can't believe everything they had to go through so young. No wonder they have issues with change."

"They are strong kids. Sometimes, they have their moments though. They've been through a lot of therapy and court mandated services to help them. Ethan used to have a lot of outbursts but it's been a long time since that's happened. I was worried with Kat and what that would bring but I think it will pass quick."

"You know, it looks good on you." I said, smiling at him behind my cup.

"What?" He asked.

"Being a Dad."