"Mom!" Sean yelled as he saw her on the far end of the hall, walking with Tommy and he sprinted off towards her. Landon was hot on his heels, with Ollie and Opal following after them at a slower clip. "Mom!"
"Hey Sean, oof Landon," Kim said as they tackle-hugged her and Tommy steadied her, thankful the helmet had already come in, even if Kim had grumbled about putting it on to go on a walk with him.
"What's with the helmet?" Sean asked as he pulled away and Kim gave him the brightest smile she could muster. She had wondered just how much Tommy had explained to them and obviously he had left out some key details.
"To protect my brain, I won't have to wear it for too long though," Kim said as she felt another gaze on her and looked up to see Ollie holding a, very sleepy, Opal in his arms. The guilt flashed across his face and she held out an arm to him. "Get in here, Oll."
"I'm so sorry," Ollie whispered as he clutched her and she just nodded against his chest. How was she willing to be so forgiving when he had nearly killed her? "I did…I did this…I didn't mean…"
"Hey, I know. You aren't the only one in the family that has done things they later regret," Kim comforted as Ollie hastily wiped his eyes and she gave him a weak smile. She knew they would talk about it more some day, but with his siblings around that would be nearly impossible. From everything she had gathered, Tommy had not told Landon, Sean, or Opal that Ollie had caused this and they were all willing to take that secret to the grave. "What's important is that you're back."
"How do I not…" Ollie trailed off as Opal let out a shriek and Tommy caught her as she leapt for Kimberly.
"Mama!" Opal yelled as she tried to push out of Tommy's arms and he tossed her over his shoulder. "Daddy- wan Mama carry."
"Mama can't do that right now baby," Kim said as she moved behind Tommy and cupped Opal's round cheeks as she pouted. "But once we get back to my room, I can hold you."
"Woom! Woom!" Opal insisted and Kim caught a glance from Tommy. The littlest Oliver had every chance of running the world, at least if how her brothers acted with her was any indication.
"How's school?" Kim asked as Sean and Landon each latched on to a side with Ollie trailing ever so slightly behind them until Tommy reached back and pulled him up next to him. The younger Olivers rambled on about the new things they were learning, but Tommy watched Ollie closest. He needed time with Kim more than any of the others and he needed time alone with her. He hoped that he would be able to do that for him in the next few days.
"I'll get you time," Tommy said as he looked ever so slightly up at Ollie and he gave him a small nod.
"Stickers!" Opal yelled as she tried to scramble off of Tommy's shoulder and he quickly lowered her to the ground as she squealed and grabbed at the pages. "Opie stickers?"
"Actually- they're for this. If you want to decorate it," Kim said as she sat down on the bed and carefully removed the helmet. Tommy had surprised her with things that the kids could use to decorate it earlier this afternoon, knowing that she would find some joy in the kids' marks being on it.
"Mama hair?" Opal whispered as she stared at Kim and Tommy brushed his hair to the other side and watched Opal whip her head up to him. "Daddy hair?"
"Oh Opal, it's just me," Kim said as she glanced up at Tommy and then stared at him. "You…I…why?"
"We can grow it back out together," Tommy said as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, muffling the sobs that she didn't realize were right below the surface. "Beautiful, you're not going through this alone."
"No- you can't put that there. It messes with the skateboarding theme!" Sean yelled as Opal let out a cry and Tommy looked down at her for a moment before pulling away. He walked over to the helmet and sat down to play referee between their youngest children so that this wouldn't devolve into an all out fight.
"You going to decorate too?" Tommy asked as he glanced at Ollie and he saw pain wash over his face. "You don't have to."
"Oh come on Ollie, you can draw something super cool," Landon encouraged as Ollie looked around at them and then slowly nodded his head. "Awesome! There's even the good markers."
"They're going to Nana and Pop's for the weekend?" Ollie asked as his younger siblings walked away from him and he looked over at his father. "Dad?"
"Yeah. I found an extra cot if you want to camp out with us," Tommy said and Ollie leaned against him and let out a long sigh. "I know. I've hurt her too and I hated myself for it for a long time. I actually still hate myself for it at times."
"Not like this though," Ollie whispered as Tommy pulled him into a hug. Ollie buried his face in Tommy's shoulders and let the sobs come.
"It's okay, I've got you," Tommy said as he held him and remembered the times when Ollie was so much younger and had clung to him like this. This time was different though. This time he realized the dangers that were in his parents' world and that they could come after him too. "I was going to go get something other than hospital food for dinner…what do you want?"
"Shouldn't you be asking Mom that?" Ollie asked as Tommy gave him a look and he nodded. "She told you to let me pick."
"Yeah, plus the only thing she really wants to eat requires me to cook for a few hours," Tommy said as Ollie gave him a confused look. Tommy was not the best cook in the world and he knew it must be bad if his mom wanted something that he cooked. "Broccoli chicken casserole. Don't ask me why, it's not even the best thing I make. What do you want?"
"Can we do pizza?" Ollie asked and Tommy nodded as he led him back into the hospital room. "Pineapple?"
"I'll get the two of you one with pineapple," Tommy said as Kim smiled at the both of them and Ollie sat down next to her while Tommy dug around on one of the tables for his wallet and keys. This room had started out neat, but now their things were scattered around on every available surface. "Rocky's going to be right outside the door while I'm gone. Hayley's being evaluated here, even though they tried to get her moved…so Rocky's here just to be safe."
"We'll be fine, go get food. I can hear your stomach rumbling from here," Kim commented as Tommy gave her a last glance and she just nodded that she would be fine.
Ollie quietly played with the edge of the blanket as he stared at his hands. What did he say? How did he ask for forgiveness? How did he even explain this to her? Would she really understand what had happened? His dad had said that he had done similar things in the past, but he felt like it couldn't be anywhere near this bad.
"Ollie, you don't have to talk with me about it," Kim said as she placed her hand over one of his and he looked up at her. It had just been them for so long and she saw the little boy that had accidentally punched her once and spent the better part of the day crying in front of her again. She could only imagine how much this was hurting him right now. "Did Dad tell you about how we've both hurt each other?"
"A bit, but he never put you in the hospital. He never took Opal and…" Ollie stopped as he clutched her hand even tighter. "I remember and I don't remember. Autumn confronted me about things but then Hayley…Hayley did something and I don't…I never want to be able to do this again."
"What you're feeling, what has happened- it's all normal when something like this happens- I confronted your dad when he was first evil and he…that's the first time he... I know…it's hard because you want to remember all of it and maybe one day you will," Kim explained as Ollie stared at her. What had his dad done? Everyone had joked about the evil green ranger, but he thought that it had been a minor inconvenience. He didn't understand the utter chaos his dad had caused back then. "Your dad was evil for longer, but I was evil in a deeper way. I remember more of what I did because of how quick it was…Tommy still has missing pieces and nightmares. The nightmares are horrible, especially if I don't pull him out of them quick enough. We want to help you…well…to not be us when it comes to this."
"I can't go back to that therapist…Mom, I…" Ollie trailed off as she gave him a smile and he let out a sigh. "You're not going to make me."
"No. If you're interested in talking to someone, we'll see who we can find that is different. Who is more helpful," Kim said as she saw the relief flood him and she slowly opened her arms. "Come here."
"Mom, I'm so sorry," Ollie whispered as he crawled into her arms and let the sobs come. He clung to her as he finally felt some of the comfort he had been so desperate to find over the last two weeks. She didn't ask anything of him and just held him, like she had when he was little. He cried himself out and felt his eyes getting heavy as he drifted off to sleep against her.
"Ol…Ollie….wake up. Dad's got pizza," Kim said as she shook his shoulder and he slowly sat up, looking over his shoulder to see Tommy and Rocky entering the room. His dad's hair had curled and he could see that he was soaked to the bone, but the pizza looked like it was still fresh. "So that was thunder I heard."
"Yeah, but the food is good," Rocky joked as he took a seat by the door and Ollie gave him a look. "What? One of those happens to be my favorite."
"Mushroom, ham, and pineapple?" Kim asked as Rocky nodded and her face lit up. "That was easier to remember than I thought it would be."
"I don't understand any of you," Tommy said as he placed a pizza between Kim and Ollie, handed another pizza to Rocky, and then had the third for himself. "I grabbed my laptop a few days ago, if we want to catch up on…"
"IronMan 3 would be fun," Ollie suggested as Kim and Tommy exchanged a glance. They had bet that he would pick a superhero movie. "Why have they never done a Power Ranger movie?"
"They don't know enough. If they looked they could find out more- we've been revealed in the past, but no one has really tried to track us down. Plus- it might be just a bit too real," Rocky said as he opened his pizza and leaned back against the wall. The Olivers stared at him and he stilled, it was one thing if Tommy pegged him with a glare, it was another when Kim and Ollie joined in. "What?"
"Almost all of that 'too real' is our lives," Tommy muttered as Rocky sobered and gave him an apologetic look. "It's okay, maybe one day we'll write it all down and pitch it to a studio so that we can retire, retire."
"That would be one heck of a 'based on a true story' movie," Rocky said as the opening credits rolled and they all settled in to watch the movie. Ollie found himself looking at the three veteran rangers and wanting to know more about their lives, but also knowing that if he opened up that door- there was absolutely no turning back.