"They're so big!" Gayle exclaimed as Kim and Tommy took the twins out of their carseats from the rental car. This time around- they had decided it was a far better decision to have their own car to get around in, especially with them planning to go see some more ranger families. Also- there was always a chance that one of the twins would need to be driven around to get to sleep and they didn't want to impose on Tommy's parents when it came to that. "How are you doing?"
"Not that look," Russell said as he cooed over his grandchildren, but saw the tenseness in Kimberly and Tommy. The last time they had been in New York, they had had to come to terms with the secrets Kim and Tommy had kept. Realizing that they were rangers had certainly made them look back at Tommy's life through a different lens. "What's going on?"
"Have you seen some of the recent…disasters in New York?" Kim asked, carefully, as Gayle and Russell stilled. They had seen it and they knew that rangers had returned, but they weren't sure what the disasters had to do with them. "We might have been at the center of both."
"Oh no. That's horrible. What caused it?" Gayle asked as Tommy grabbed their bags and ushered them towards the house. While he seriously doubted anyone out here would put it together, he didn't want to risk it. "What's the rush to get inside? It's beautiful out today."
"The rush is that if you want answers to that- we need to be inside," Tommy stated and Gayle sobered, immediately.
"There have been some changes- as you know Billy activated my prophetess powers," Kim explained as Russell closed the door and they both nodded. "What we didn't know was how powerful I am and how out of control those powers can get. Those two disasters were when my powers got completely out of control."
"And you flew out here?" Gayle asked and Kimberly grimaced. She had been rather calm for the last several months, but they never knew when it was going to get bad. The one thing that they did know was that Tommy could short circuit things now and that would buy them enough time to get the ground. "What are you going to do?"
"Retire, it'll be announced formally towards the end of the year and after that…we're not sure. There are some things we still need to figure out," Kim said as Gayle and Russell nodded. "Luckily- it seems like the kids aren't really affected by any of my craziness."
"You're in the middle of a major city. Should you stay there?" Russell asked and Tommy rubbed his face. He had thought about it quite a bit, but really hadn't had a chance to talk with Kimberly. Their conversation on the plane had been about them and was a lot more important than where they lived.
He had sold his home in Reefside, but he hadn't sold all of the land he owned. It would be a perfect place to establish many of the things they needed, but they also couldn't get a better location than New York City to establish some of the training centers that were needed. It would be safer for the population to be in the middle of nowhere, but it was easier to attract the right talent in New York City. None of the decisions that they had to make were easy ones.
"It's not that simple. The dojo is bringing in so much money and the university I'm at…it's hard to think I'll get better opportunities that will align with what I need to mentor rangers," Tommy stated as Kira reached for him and he took his daughter and bounced her as Kim walked away to make bottles. "And I have to mentor the coming teams- there's no choice about that."
"Tommy- that's a lot to expect of you after everything that has happened," Gayle said and he just nodded. He agreed. It was too much, but there was no one else that could do it.
"Gayle- how about we leave it for the week? We've been talking about it a lot and we really need to get away from it. Tommy needs to get away from it," Kim said as she passed Tommy a bottle and then gave Russell the other bottle.
"We can do that. Give her to me…neither of you needs to do a bottle or nappy for the rest of the week," Gayle said and Russell looked over at her like she was insane. "What? If they were closer we would have helped more. Speaking of…your parents?"
"Galavanting in different countries, soundly ignoring me," Kimberly seethed and Tommy let out a groan. It was another thing that they had talked about, but were not sure what to do with it. She was not going to force her parents to be in her life, but she knew that they would turn this against her some day. "If they want to be there- they will. I'm not going to make them care for me or my children, but I'm also not going to let them show up when they're teenagers and just pretend it's on me either."
"I'm sorry," Gayle said as she gave Kim a sad smile and Kim just nodded. It wasn't perfect, but it was her life and she had long ago learned to live with it.
"Uncle Tommy!" Marjorie yelled as she sprinted across the dojo and jumped into Tommy's arms. She had grown so much in the last year and he couldn't believe how much older she looked. "Did you bring the babies?"
"Kim's getting them," Tommy said as she looked around him and saw Kimberly coming in with a car seat in each hand. Normally he would help, but she had insisted he go ahead and go in to meet with the instructors. "They may have decided to take a nap on the way over. Also- I'm teaching your class today."
"Really?" Marjorie said excitedly as she looked up at him and he motioned to his gi. "Dad always said you were the best."
"Your dad was much better than me- in so many ways," Tommy said as Martha peeked her head out from the back room and then started over towards them. They had worked with Rocky's dojo partner to provide a way for Marjorie to have a claim to part of the dojo if she wanted it in the future. Until she decided- it meant they were all pitching in, in different ways to keep the dojo operational. "I'm going to talk with your grandma for a bit before class and then I think we're all having dinner together after classes wrap up."
"We are- Grandma made lasagna with all the fixings," Marjorie said as she bounced over to Kimberly and he shook his head as she leaned over to see the twins.
"Hi Martha," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and she sank into him. He knew that none of this was easy, but he was glad that they were willing to let him be in their lives. "Thank you for letting us come."
"She talks about you all the time. I think she sees you as a way to…I don't know…have some connection to her parents," Martha said as she moved away and looked up at him. "You know they would have been married for eleven years this week."
"I know, it really is just a coincidence this was when my summer break began," Tommy hedged and Martha nodded in understanding. "How are the others doing?"
"I've told Felicity she can only come if she can behave," Martha stated and Tommy gulped. He had hoped that she would have become more understanding now that there was another ranger team- but that didn't seem to be the case. He heard Kira squeal behind him and turned around to see the kids in the upcoming class making faces and playing with them. "I know that you did everything you could do. She seems happy."
"Mostly- I don't think she ever imagined being able to have this as part of her life. I know I didn't," Tommy whispered as he watched Kimberly interacting with all of the kids and saw the joy on her face. They had both taught kids when they were younger, she just hadn't had the chance to continue with it. "When does class start?"
"You've still got about ten minutes. The other instructors are really looking forward to their class," Brian said as he walked over and Tommy just shook his head. "What? They all remember the test it took to work for Rocky. I think they'd all like a chance to take you down."
"I'm counting on it," Tommy said with a loose smile as he felt a baby being placed on his shoulders and lifted his hands up to steady the baby and looked back at Kimberly. "Do I have Jay or Kira?"
"Kira. Jay is still sound asleep," Kim said as she reached over to give Martha and Brian hugs.
"Oh my goodness is she a mini you," Martha remarked as Kim looked up at Kira and shrugged. At first they had both looked so much like Tommy- now they were starting to look a bit different and she definitely did look more like her now. "I always knew you two would make some beautiful children…if you ever got over the stupid break up mess."
"I thought they were joking," one of the new instructors groaned as Tommy pulled him to his feet and gave him a pat on the back. He had gone through all of the instructors over the last hour and finally felt some of the tension go out of his body. "Seriously- how?"
"He's been at it for longer than you've been alive, you did good," Kim said as she walked over and handed Tommy a wailing baby as she tried to rock their other child. Martha was making bottles, but that was going to take a few minutes. "Brian said family will be here in a little bit."
"Uncle Tommy does this to everyone," Marjorie added and Tommy bit his lip to keep from laughing. He had missed that sense of humor, there weren't enough chances for it in their phone calls. "It's okay, Dustin."
The doors opened and Marjorie's cousins sprinted into the dojo and they looked back to see the rest of the Desantos-Campbell clans. Kimberly looked up at him and he locked eyes with Felicity who just glared at him. So she was still holding a grudge for everything that had happened.
"I'm going to go say hi since Kira is slightly less demanding about that bottle," Kim said as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss before walking directly over to the siblings.
"You're really fucking brave to come back here," Felicity muttered as Kimberly walked up to her and smiled. "Don't plaster on a smile and pretend you care."
"I do care, but I'm not pregnant this year and I'm not sure I could stop Tommy if I tried. If your plan is to finish what you started last year- I'd reassess that," Kim said as she glanced back at Tommy and gave him another smile. Anyone watching them would have thought that they were greeting each other happily, but only they knew how tense this was. "We're here because Marjorie has asked to see Tommy every time they've talked over the past year and a half- we came for her. If you have shit you want to take up with us- we can find a different time to do that."
"You'll just run away from it and not take any responsibility for your part in this," Felicity said and Kim let out a sigh as she looked at the other siblings who were either nodding or staring at Felicity like she had lost her mind. Kimberly had run from plenty in her teenage years, but there was no more running from what had happened in her life.
"I can promise you that we won't, as long as it's not here in front of all of the kids," Kimberly said as she held out her hand and Felicity stared at it. "Do we have a deal?"
"Deal," Felicity grumbled as she shook Kimberly's hand and Kira then jumped to Felicity's arms and Kim stared at her daughter as she snuggled into the woman's chest and immediately fell asleep. "Ummmm."
"Sorry about that," Kim said as she tried to pull her away but she gripped onto Felicity tighter and Kim let out a sigh. "Baby, she's really mad at mama."
"And maybe she should get over that," Martha stated as she handed Felicity a bottle and looked at Kira. "Looks like she's chosen you for the evening, Felicity. If you want to wake a sleeping baby…go ahead."
"Oh Mom- that's not playing fair," Felicity said as she gently rubbed Kira's back and let out a sigh. "But she is cute."
"She is and your niece has had an amazing time in karate class tonight. Why don't you focus on that?" Martha suggested as Felicity let out a sigh and looked over at Kimberly who gave her a sheepish smile before she gave some of the siblings hugs.
"What day is best?" Felicity asked and Kim grabbed her phone and scrolled through their schedule. They were going to have dinner with several of the ranger families this week and she knew that Tommy was going to need time to recover, but that might have to be when they got back.
"We've got Friday night, unless he's planned something I don't know about," Kim said and Felicity nodded. "We have a place where we can all talk that is somewhat neutral ground. Here's my cell- let me know if that works."