"Theodore Jason Oliver," Theo repeated as he stared at Kimberly and Thomas. He had never thought that they would name their son after him. He had never thought that any child would be named after him after they found out they were unable to have children. "What are you going to call him?"

"Probably JJ. There's already a TJ at the Academy who is showing a lot of promise and well…it'll get confusing with you and Jason around, but…" Thomas trailed off as Theo wiped his eyes and tried to hold back the dam of emotions that threatened to spill over. "Dad. Thank you."

"I still can't believe that Mitch…" Theo trailed off as Thomas shook his head. They had decided it was best to not tell Kimberly that Mitchell had placed a do not teleport order on anything that Thomas called in for yesterday. They all felt like it was likely to tip her past her breaking point when it came to his birth parents.

"Tommy, can I…" Kimberly trailed off as Thomas took JJ out of Theo's arms and put him back in Kim's. She was tense and he didn't really know why. Whatever it was, it was manifesting itself as her wanting to hold JJ all the time and he was not going to stop her from doing that. "Hey baby, I've got less than two years with you. I have to make the most of it."

Kimberly walked out of the room and Thomas froze. He was sure that she hadn't meant to say that in front of him, but it ripped his heart out. Theo and Amelia looked up at him as he squeezed his eyes shut to not have to see the looks on their faces.

"Dad. Can I…can I take some time off from my ranger track? I…I need to be with them, as much as I can," Thomas said as he opened his eyes and found Theo right in front of him. Theo wrapped him in a strong hug and Thomas lost it. He had held it together for so long, but he couldn't hold it together right now.

"Yeah, T. As much time as you want," Theo said as Thomas nodded and he tried to gather a full breath. "Do you want her to know you're taking the time off or…"

"What's she seen, Aunt Amelia?" Thomas asked as Amelia looked at the ground and then back up at him. "Aunt Ames…"

"She knows you're going to walk away for a time. She even wrote down that you would attend a traditional university for a bit so, we…here's your enrollment package," Amelia said as she handed Thomas a class schedule and he shook his head. "It's three days a week. None of them are more than half days- best part is that it will give you all the time you're looking for."

"But the downside is I'm giving up any chance at powers…at giving her extra protection…" Thomas said as Theo and Amelia exchanged a glance before they nodded. "Is what she said…is that the right timeline?"

"She'd know better than us. We're still deciphering much of her work," Amelia admitted and Thomas let out a shaky breath, but nodded. He had thought about this a lot over the last nine months and it was the only thing that made sense. No one would understand it, but he knew it was something that he desperately needed to do.

Oct 20, 1998

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked as he walked in from class and Kimberly jerked up from the oven and gave him a sheepish smile. She had given him a card this morning that he was sure he was going to keep for the rest of his life, but he thought that that was going to be it for today. They didn't really have the money for much else. "Kimmie…"

"You've never had a proper birthday cake. It's just got to cool and be frosted, plus JJ is napping. Really well for once too," Kimberly said as she placed the cakes on top of the oven and then walked over to him. "The guys are also coming over in a few hours."

"The guys?" Thomas asked as he peeked into the nursery and saw JJ swaddled in his crib. He wanted to hold him, but he knew that Kimberly might kill him if he woke him.

"Theo and Amelia. Trini, Jason, Zack, Rocky. David and Britt. Your younger brothers wanted to come, but Theo couldn't get your parents to agree," Kimberly said as Thomas stared at her. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. He had always loathed his birthday, but to see the effort she was putting in for him hit him hard. This is how it should have always been. "I'm hoping you'll like the cake."

"You made it, I'm sure I'll love it," Thomas said as he pulled back a bit before leaning down to give her a kiss. "Thank you."

"For what?" Kimberly asked as JJ let out a cry and her shoulders sagged a bit. Colic had been kicking their asses over the last month and they both were so desperate for any peace.

"I'll grab him. I wanted some snuggles anyway," Thomas said as she perked up and he held her tightly to him. "And I was thanking you, for actually thinking of me. I'm still not used to it."

Christmas 1998

Theo, Amelia, and Doug gathered in their living room, excited to see what reaction JJ had to Christmas. At four months old, they were all pretty sure it wouldn't be much- but he had been so gleeful with the lights on the tree and all of them wanted to be here. They knew that Thomas and Kimberly had gone bare bones on things, but they weren't going to let that be JJ's first Christmas.

"Wha…what time is it?" Kimberly croaked as she walked into the living room in her pajamas and looked over to see all of them waiting on the couch. She had heard JJ starting to pipe up on the monitor and Thomas had taken all the night feedings last night.

"6 ish…we weren't sure when you were going to get up and do Christmas," Doug said as Kim nodded as she continued for JJ's nursery. She soon returned with him in his Christmas pajamas and passed him off to a waiting grandparent. "If the two of you want some more sleep…"

"Nah," Thomas said as he walked in and then sank down on the floor next to Kimberly. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Kim whispered back as she leaned against him and he wrapped an arm around her. Neither of them paid attention as Amelia pulled out a camera and started snapping pictures. They were happy to have JJ, but they only really relaxed when one of their parents was looking after JJ.

"You need a sitter," Theo stated as Thomas nodded and Kimberly glanced up at him. "We've got you for New Year's Eve."

"And I've got you for New Year's day," Doug said as Kim kept looking at Thomas and he leaned in closer to her.

"It's the best gift you could give us," Kim whispered as she pulled her eyes away from Thomas and smiled at that. "Speaking of which…can you grab…"

"Yeah," Thomas said as he leaned back and picked up a handful of gifts in the corner. He passed them to each of the grandparents and they stared at them. "It's not much, but you've done so much for us…we wanted to do something."

Kimberly stole the camera from Amelia and started taking pictures of the little family that they had. While she knew that Thomas wished his parents loved and accepted him, she was so happy to see this. She was happy to see people that loved them as they were and didn't want them to be different.

Valentine's 1999

"Tommy? Thomas!" Kimberly called as she walked into their apartment and glanced around. A year ago she had told Tommy he was going to be a father and now he hadn't even brought up that today was her birthday. She walked over to the nursery and was surprised to see that JJ was not down for his nap. Where were they?

She heard the door open and the rustling of bags. Of course, Thomas wanted to surprise her. It was something that she knew he took delight in, especially with her being a prophetess. Everytime he was able to slip something past her, she saw the joy play on his face that he had managed something that was normal. She settled in the glider and let him do whatever he was planning. There was no reason to take the surprise away from him now.

"Kim? Kim you here?" Thomas called about an hour later and she looked down to realize she had left her purse next to the front door. "Baby?"

"In here!" Kimberly responded as she saw him walk past the door and he then peeked in. "Whatchya doing?"

"Apparently, I'm failing at surprising you," Thomas joked as she shook her head. "Really?"

"I heard you come in, but I've hung out in here- so I have no idea what you're really up to. I'm fine with continuing to stay in here until you're done," Kimberly said as she reached up to pull him into a hug. "I thought you forgot."

"Oh Kimmie, I could never forget you."