AN: It's a holiday weekend in the states- so here is my traditional second chapter!
"I'm sorry," Thomas said as they walked into their apartment and she looked back at him. He knew that that was not nearly enough to get him off the hook, but he hoped it was enough that she would talk to him. After him giving her the silent treatment for two weeks, he wouldn't blame her if she did the same thing. "Can we…can I…"
"I thought you would take a few hours to calm down, maybe a day. I don't know how I am supposed to just be fine with you skipping out for two weeks and only showing up because Robert and Theo forced you to," Kimberly said as the tears finally spilled over and he felt his stomach cramp. He hadn't disappointed her like this before and he hated knowing that was what he had done now.
"Amelia," Thomas muttered as Kimberly gave him a confused look and he let out a sigh. "Amelia was the one that tracked me down today. Can I explain?"
"Explain what? Things got tough and you just disappeared. You may have walked in and out of this house, but you weren't here," Kimberly agonized and he took in a deep breath, but continued to maintain eye contact.
"You're right," Thomas whispered and he watched the steam sputter out of her. Apparently, she hadn't thought he would say that. He wasn't even sure what he was saying at the moment, he just knew that he had to take this pain away. He had to do what he could to make it right. "I don't know how to handle this. I can't do any of the things that I know how to do, to make this go away. And I thought…I thought maybe someone else could save you. And then I thought that if that wasn't possible, that I could protect myself from the pain by putting my walls back up. I thought I could figure out a way to do that and still be with you, but I can't."
"What are you saying?" Kimberly trembled as he let out another long sigh. "Tommy…please don't do this."
"I'm not going to walk away. I can't. Even if I thought about it a lot over the last two weeks," Thomas admitted as he sat down on the couch and stared ahead of him. He hated to say those words, but he felt that he needed to lay it out. If he was going to have a chance at her trusting him, there was no holding back on what had been going through his mind. "I don't know how to lose you when I've barely had you. I thought we'd have decades and now…what…five years?"
"Probably less," Kimberly said, leaning against the wall and watching him carefully. "I don't want this to happen. I want what you want and I keep…I keep trying to see a way that this won't be what happens, but I haven't seen it. And I didn't want you to find out about this in class or from anyone else."
Thomas stared ahead of him as he took that in. Every time they talked about details, it just got worse for him. He already knew there would never be another woman like her in his life- you didn't get two soulmates. And now to hear that it was less time than he thought. It was hard, but there was no running away if he wanted to have a chance to have the time that they were going to be given, whatever that was.
"Thomas," Kimberly switched as she squatted down in front of him and grabbed both of his hands. She could see how much he was struggling to stay with her and not run away from what she had just said.
"Tommy," Thomas corrected as she stared at him. As far as she knew, he only tolerated the nickname because she said it to him. She had seen him tell others to call him Thomas and now he was insisting that she call him Tommy. "Please, just stick with Tommy."
"Tommy, I need you. I really wish right now that I didn't, but I do. How do we make this work?" Kimberly asked and he studied their intertwined hands.
"You know that I can't just let you go. They'll have to stop me from trying to get to you…when…" Thomas trailed off as Kim nodded. She hated that that conversation with Theo had been necessary, but she was glad that she had had it first. She could only imagine what Thomas would ask Theo to do when it came to giving him a chance to save her. "I will try to find a way so that…so that this doesn't happen."
"I know and maybe you will, but I needed you to know that in the event that you can't- I don't want you to come with me," Kimberly said as he let out a shaky breath. "You're not going to get off the hook for how the last couple of weeks have been this easy."
"I figured as much. I…I didn't know before Amelia grabbed me," Thomas muttered as she gave him a confused look. "Jason told me you had an appointment today- I didn't put two and two together. If I had figured it out…they wouldn't have had to come find me. It's still on me that you didn't feel like you could just tell me, but- they didn't force me. I just want you to know that."
"I'm going to need a bit," Kimberly responded and he leaned over to give her a quick hug and then stood up to go to their guest room. He had taken up residence there over the last couple of weeks and he would respect that she needed some time now.
Thomas woke up to the sound of gagging and he clumsily moved towards it. It had been a week since they'd talked and although he was slowly repairing things with Kimberly, he was waiting for her to invite him back to their room. He saw her leaning over the sink and let out a sigh. She had done a good job of hiding the morning sickness from him, but something must have set her off this morning.
He walked over to her and rubbed her back as she continued to gag. He glanced around at what was out and noticed they had forgotten to put up the chicken from the night before. He grabbed it and quickly tossed it in the trash before he started searching for something that might settle her stomach. The only thing that was different in the fridge was lemonade, so he grabbed it, poured a cup and hoped as he placed it in front of her.
"Thanks," Kimberly mumbled before she threw up again and she let out a groan. "Can you take that out, out?"
"Yeah," Thomas said as he grabbed the garbage can, walked to the front door, and then placed it outside their apartment. He would run it downstairs after he was sure she was okay. He went back to the freezer and pulled out a bag of peas before he placed them on her neck. The sigh of relief he heard let him know that that was helping. "Do you want to lay down?"
"Bathroom. This…it's going to be awhile," Kim murmured as she turned her face towards him. He scooped her up and walked them to their bathroom. She scrambled out of his arms as soon as they got to the bathroom and dove for the toilet. He glanced at his watch to see that he was going to be late for class and stepped out to give Theo a quick call. When he returned, she was resting her head on the bathtub, obviously too tired to move. He sat down next to her and she opened her eyes to look at him. "Can you come closer?"
Thomas was shocked for a moment, but then maneuvered himself to where she indicated and she buried her face in his chest. He gently rubbed her sides and then heard her breathing even out. He pulled back enough to see that she had fallen asleep against him and he looked around to see if there was a way to move her back to bed where she could actually rest. Unfortunately, this bathroom was far too small and he could just barely fit where she had asked him to. He let out a sigh before he pulled her in a bit tighter and tried to get as comfortable as he could. If this was where she needed him, this is where he would be.
"What…what time is it?" Kimberly asked as she blinked up at him and he gave her a smile.
"Not sure. I've not gotten up since you passed out," Thomas said as she stared at him and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. "It's stopped the morning sickness in its tracks though, so that's a win."
"Amelia. I have lessons with her this morning and I…" Kimberly tried to scramble away, but he held her still. "Tommy- I need to go."
"I know, you're just really close to hurting me if you get up that way," Thomas said as she noticed where her elbow had landed and grimaced. "Let me get up first and then I'll help you."
Kimberly watched as Thomas slowly and carefully crawled out of where he had been sitting and stood up. He did a quick back stretch before he reached down and pulled her to her feet. When she glanced back at the space she realized just how cramped it had been for him. Why hadn't he gotten more comfortable?
"You were the one that needed to be comfortable, not me," Thomas whispered as he heard a thundering knock on the front door and let out a groan. He yanked his shirt off and passed it to her as she stared at him. "Here- go lay down and I'll be right back."
"What…what is this for?" Kimberly asked as he paused and looked back to see her holding up his shirt.
"It smells like me and your stomach calmed down as soon as…" Thomas trailed off as there was another knock and he gave her an apologetic look before running off.
"Mitch. Stop," Sally said as she grabbed his arm and he flung her away. Word had gotten back to him that Thomas was going to be a dad and he had utterly lost it. "They're supposed to be at school. We should just go."
"John said they never left this morning. They're here," Mitchell growled back at her as Thomas threw open the door and stared as his mother pushed herself to her feet. Mitchell turned on him and Thomas held up a hand. "You do not tell me to wait."
"I'll talk to you out here, but you're not coming inside," Thomas said as he grabbed his keys and closed the door behind him. "What do you want?"
"I had to find out that you're going to be a father from one of the mentors," Mitchell said as he reared back and slapped Thomas. Thomas slowly straightened up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You are ruining our legacy!"
"I think you did a pretty damn good job of doing that on your own. Who told you?" Thomas asked as Mitchell slammed him into the wall and Thomas didn't fight back. He knew that Mitchell wanted him to rise to his bait and he was over it. "Who told you?"
"Theo," Mitchell said as Thomas shook his head and laughed. There was no way that Theo told his father, especially after Christmas.
"Try again and how about the truth this time," Thomas replied as the door squeaked open and he glanced over Mitchell's shoulder to see Kimberly peek her head out. She looked woozy and he could tell that his t-shirt was not working well enough. He quickly ducked out of Mitchell's grasp and moved around him to her. "Hey…I promise I'll be right in."
"You do not get to walk away from me!" Mitchell yelled as he grabbed Thomas and pulled him out of the way, just in time for Kimberly to throw up all over him. Sally stepped between Mitchell and Kimberly, blocking his access to her.
"Mitch- stop. She's not feeling well and all you're doing is making things worse. We should go," Sally repeated as she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away. He moved around her and Thomas slammed him against the wall. "Thomas…"
"You should listen to her and leave," Thomas whispered in his father's ear as he pinned him firmly by the neck. "You will never touch her or our children. And I will never be you- go."
"Tommy," Kimberly uttered as she grabbed his arm and he eased off of his father a bit. Mitchell gasped for air, but Thomas held him still. "Just come back inside."
"I've got him," Atlantis spoke up as Thomas glanced over his shoulder and then completely stepped away. "Mitch- I've warned you."
"He will not ruin my family this way," Mitchell started as Thomas turned away and ushered Kimberly back inside. Atlantis could handle his father, that was his job. His job was to make sure his family was safe.
"Here's what…you…missed…" Theo trailed off as Kimberly answered the door and he stared down at her. "I thought Thomas would answer."
"He's cleaning…I…there's some smell that is just…it's bad," Kimberly rambled as Theo chuckled and then gave her a quick hug. "What?"
"I know he messed up, Kimmie. But the fact that he is willingly cleaning to try to get rid of some smell…you have never seen his room at…" She gave him a sly smile as she motioned for him to follow her inside and he looked around in shock at how much Thomas had been doing. "You're not just doing this to get back at him?"
"No, but I might be milking it a bit," Kimberly confessed before she gagged again and then sprinted off.
"Hey, Dad," Thomas said as he tossed gloves in the sink and walked over to grab the paperwork he had. "Mitch stopped by today."
"He did what?" Theo exclaimed as Thomas glanced over towards their bedroom and Theo motioned for him to continue.
"Who else at the Academy knows she's pregnant?" Thomas asked, calmly, as Theo shook his head. "Someone else knows, because Mitch stopped by to deliver his congratulations."
"I've told no one, I'm sure Amelia and Robert haven't either. There's a note in her records, but those aren't accessible by Academy mentors, only by the prophet cohort. That's why we put it in her records, not yours." Theo walked over to Thomas and placed his hand on his shoulder. Thomas was tense and while he could see that things were better, it was not good enough for the stress of that encounter to go away. "There are a lot of people at the Academy that are more loyal to your father than to any of us though."
"Then put out the message that our business, is our business and remind them that one day they'll work for me. Mitch has no need to know anything about my life anymore."
"I'll make sure that gets out. I didn't think that anyone would purposefully go tell Mitch…well…anything really."
"Tommy," Kimberly muttered as she leaned against the door jam and they spun around to face her. She looked worse than she had a few moments ago, but she was only focusing on Thomas. "I'm sorry Theo…but…"
"It's fine, you both look like you could use some rest. We're here if you need us," Theo said as he gave Thomas a quick hug. "I'll lock the door behind me."
"Thank you," Thomas called as he walked over to Kimberly and she leaned against his chest. The dry heaves settled and she calmed against him. "Has this been the worst day?"
"Yeah…I don't know what it is and…just stay here." Thomas picked her up and she wrapped her body around his, clinging to him in a way that made him sigh with relief. She might feel horrible, but he finally felt useful again. He didn't realize how much that had been something that was bothering him. He couldn't fix her dying, but he could fix how she was feeling right now.
"I'm sorry that I walked away like I did. I'm not going anywhere, ever again." Thomas laid her down on their bed and she snuggled closer to him. Her body completely relaxed and he pulled back enough to look down and see her eyes fluttered close. He wasn't sure if the next several months were just going to be her sleepily clinging to him, but if it was- he was going to love every minute of it.