What Was Lost: The Return Home

by superdory57

When life happens people change and time can pull apart even the closest friends. That doesn't stop the rangers from coming together when the world needs them. Will the original rangers be able to come together to save each other from themselves? Will the rest of the rangers be able to keep them safe from a threat unknown? And what does Jason's wife have to do with it?

3. Chapter 3 Friends Reuniting

Thank you for those who had found and encouraged this story so far. We do really enjoy hearing what you think and your guesses as to what happens next. I will updated regularly and i hope you all enjoy the read.

Wednesday March 28th, 2018

Reefside, CA

"I'm actually just getting to the middle school. Picking up JJ and we're heading to Angel Grove for the rest of the afternoon."

Tommy parked and got out of the car as he continued the conversation.

"If I had been at school still, I wouldn't have answered—you would have gotten a text, Conner."

Tommy rolled his eyes as he headed into the school. Conner had called as he was driving to pick up JJ. It was a half day for all of the schools, and they were taking advantage of that to make a trip to Angel Grove. JJ had agreed to try talking with Tanya and Tommy and Kat hadn't wanted to wait for the weekend. The ten-year-old had spent the previous day in Kat's classroom again as well as the half day. Though he had actually eaten lunch with his friends instead of with Kat.

"Because if I answered every call I've ever gotten during class then I'd miss at least half of it. Especially the last few days."

Reaching Kat's classroom, Tommy shook his head.

"Go back to practice," he said. "I'll talk to Kat about trying to make it to one of your games soon. JJ's been asking."

Hanging up, Tommy let himself into the classroom. JJ bounced up when he saw Tommy.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, running to give Tommy a hug.

"Hey, kiddo," Tommy smiled. "You ready to go?"

"I guess," JJ shrugged. "Can we get a snack on the way there?"

"Didn't you just eat a little while ago?" Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… but I'm hungry again."

Tommy chuckled as Kat sighed and shook her head.

"We'll talk about it in the car," Tommy answered. "Now come on or we're going to be late, and Tanya is going to yell at me."

"Tanya won't yell," Kat said, shaking her head. "Though she might scold. Let me know when you make it."

Tommy smiled and gave Kat a quick kiss. Then he took JJ by the shoulder and started steering him out of the room ahead of him. When they were gone, Kat finished getting her stuff together. She was planning to get in a workout for herself and try and relax a little while they were in Angel Grove.

New York City, NY

Letting himself into the apartment, Marc shut and locked it behind him. He didn't bother calling for Jason since he knew his dad was at work. Kicking off his shoes in the hall, he hefted his backpack and headed toward his room. He briefly paused by the kitchen, hesitating with his bag.

"I'll do my homework later," he muttered.

Continuing down the hall, he opened the door to his room and tossed his backpack inside. Shutting the door, Marc turned to head back toward the living room.

"Guess I'll watch some TV?" he sighed.

Another door opening caught his attention and Marc glanced over his shoulder to see Will in his doorway, yawning.

"Stop making so much noise," Will complained.

Marc rolled his eyes.

"It's like 3:30 in the afternoon, Uncle Will," he scoffed.

Will just groaned, rubbing his face as he stumbled down the hall past Marc. He headed straight into the kitchen. Shaking his head, Marc followed. When he caught up, Will was leaning on the fridge as he dug through the contents.

"There's no food in here…" Will grumbled.

"There's food," Marc pointed out from the doorway. "You just have to cook it."

Still groaning, Will slammed the fridge door shut and moved to drop into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Cook dinner then," Will demanded, dropping his head on the table.

Marc frowned.

"I don't know how to cook," he said.

"Then what good are you?" Will retorted. "I'm hungry and there's nothing to eat…"

"I'm hungry, too," Marc shrugged, walking over to the pantry.

He opened the door and grabbed a granola bar out of a box.

"But dad will make dinner when he gets home," he continued as he opened it. "Why don't you just have a granola bar or something?"

"I don't want your dad's fat people, need-to-watch-their-weight food," Will scowled.

Marc just shrugged again, dropping into a chair at the table with Will and taking a bite of his granola bar. Will glanced over at him.

"What kind of money you got, kid?" he asked.

"Like $3?" Marc answered, raising an eyebrow. "I can't get food with that. And it's mine anyways. Not sharing."

"Eh," Will shrugged, standing and stretching. "Put your shoes on. Let's go."

Marc stared at his uncle.

"Go where?" he asked. "I told you I don't have enough money. Are you paying for both of us?"

"Nah, I don't have any money either," Will said. "Shoes."

Marc stood slowly, frowning at his uncle as he took another bite of his granola bar.

"Then how are we getting food?"

Will rolled his eyes, pushing Marc toward the hallway.

"Easy," he said. "We find a convenience store with a hot chick at the counter. I distract her with my charm while you shove some food in your shirt and pants."

"But that—" Marc started to protest.

"Or, if you're really hungry," Will continued, ignoring Marc as he put on his own shoes. "We can just go out."

"But we still don't have money!" Marc protested as Will tossed his shoes to him.

"Don't need money if you're gonna dine and dash," Will smirked.

Marc stared at him in confusion.

"What's dine and dash?" he asked.

Will sighed and shook his head.

"Come on, kid," he said, clapping a hand on Marc's shoulder. "Put on your shoes. It's time I show you how to get by in this city."

Angel Grove, CA

Tanya was home alone when Tommy pulled into the driveway. Hearing the truck pull in, Tanya headed to meet them at the front door. She waited in the doorway while Tommy and JJ climbed out of the truck. Tommy slung his backpack over his shoulder and JJ did the same. He pulled out his phone to send a message as they walked up to the house.

"Running a little late, aren't you?" she said with a smile.

"JJ was hungry," Tommy shrugged. "I figured it was easier to feed him before we got here."

Tanya laughed as she let them in and shut the door behind them.

"Alright," she said. "JJ, we're going to go to my office so we can be comfortable. Tommy—Adam is at the dojo with the girls if you want to go there for a bit. Or you can just hang out here."

Tommy nodded and then looked at JJ.

"Do you want me to wait here?" he asked.

JJ hesitated and then nodded.

"Alright, kiddo," Tommy said. "Then I'll work on some grading while you hang out with Tanya."

JJ followed Tanya out of the room with a little encouragement. Tommy settled down on the couch and pulled some papers out of his backpack. Laying them out on the table, he grabbed a pen and started grading.

When Tanya and JJ came out a while later, they found Tommy asleep on the couch. He was still sitting, his head leaned back against the couch, with papers spread on the coffee table in front of him. They both looked at him in surprise.

"Tommy?" Tanya said softly, walking up to touch his shoulder.

At her touch Tommy jerked awake, nearly jumping to his feet before he saw Tanya standing in front of him. She looked at him with concern.

"Tommy, maybe you should spend the night tonight," she suggested. "We have a spare room—you look exhausted."

Shaking his head, Tommy took a deep breath and started gathering up the papers.

"We both have school in the morning," he said, glancing at JJ. "I don't want to have to get JJ up and moving that early. Especially since we don't have anything with us. I'll be fine."

Tanya sighed.

"Tommy…"

"Seriously, Tanya, I'm fine," Tommy insisted. "It's not the first time I've gone without much sleep. I can handle it. JJ, grab your stuff."

Tanya rolled her eyes as JJ grabbed his bag that he had left in the living room with Tommy. Finishing packing his own things up, Tommy stood. Grabbing JJ by the shoulders, he quickly steered him out of the house before Tanya could decide to argue further. She followed them outside.

"Drive safe," she said. "And let me know when you get home."

"I will," Tommy said, waving back at her as he and JJ climbed into the truck.

Once they were in and buckled, JJ turned to Tommy.

"We're stopping for coffee, aren't we?" JJ grinned.

"So much coffee," Tommy muttered as he started the truck.

New York City, NY

"Marc, I'm home!" Jason called, shutting the door behind him. "Is your homework done?"

Putting his shoes away and tucking his briefcase out of the way, Jason frowned as he turned. There'd been no answer from Marc.

"Marc!" he called.

He headed down the hall in search of his son. But he wasn't in the living room or kitchen. He wasn't even in his room. Marc wasn't in the apartment. But it didn't take Jason long to establish Will wasn't there either. Christine also wasn't home, but he'd expected her to be out this evening, so he wasn't concerned about her. Seeing Marc's shoes were gone, Jason sighed and went to the kitchen. Will's shoes were gone, too, so he assumed they were together. Not that it necessarily made him feel better.

Sending a text to Marc, he started working on dinner. He knew neither one was going to miss dinner. When Marc didn't answer after a couple of minutes, he tried calling both him and Will. Neither one answered. Jason sighed but left it for a moment. If he hadn't heard from Marc by the time dinner was ready, he'd worry.

Dinner was just about ready when the door opened, and Will and Marc came in. Will was laughing, as he pushed Marc around a little.

"You did good for a first timer, kid," he laughed.

"Did good?" Jason repeated, stepping out into the hall. "What's going on?"

Will just shrugged, kicking off his shoes.

"Nothing important," he said. "Just some uncle and nephew bonding time."

Jason raised an eyebrow, glancing at Marc. The teenager just shifted uncomfortably and didn't add anything else. Will was heading down the hall toward his room.

"Alright…" Jason said slowly. "Well, I made dinner. Come eat."

"Actually, dad…" Marc said hesitantly. "We already ate…"

Jason frowned.

"What?" he said. "What did you—"

His phone went off and Jason sighed, fishing it out of his pocket to answer it. Marc took the opportunity to start to scoot down the hall after his uncle. Jason shook his head, walking back into the kitchen to check on dinner as he answered.

"Hello?" Jason said, not recognizing the number.

A few minutes later, Jason stalked out of the kitchen.

"Will!" he shouted. "Marc! Get out here now!"

He stood in the hall with his arms crossed, scowling as he waited. Marc came out first, shuffling out of his room and not making eye contact with his father. Will appeared more slowly, leaning against his doorframe.

"What do you want, Jason?" Will sighed. "I was trying to take a nap."

"I just got off the phone with the police," Jason snapped. "Anything you two want to tell me?"

"About what?" Will scoffed.

Marc stared at his feet.

"Dine and dash?" Jason hissed. "Seriously, Will? I know this had to be your idea. Do you realize what this means?"

Will rolled his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" he said.

"I'm talking about the restaurant you two ate dinner at," Jason snapped. "And then ran out on the bill. Marc dropped his phone and ID out of his jacket pocket—and they have you both on camera!"

Marc winced, though Jason's attention was still on Will. The latter sighed and shrugged.

"And…?" he said. "What are they gonna do?"

"Nothing if I go pay the bill," Jason snarled. "But that's the rest of our grocery money for the next week! How could you do this?"

"You need to relax, Jason," Will said, shaking his head. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, come on. Every kid has done it at least—"

"No," Jason interrupted. "No, they haven't. I never did that growing up. Or any of the friends I hung out with. It's not ok. And you shouldn't be teaching my son to do it!"

Will rolled his eyes again.

"Yeah, well, you're a pansy," he retorted. "And your friends probably weren't any better. So, no surprise you never had the guts."

Shrugging again, Will spun and went back into his room and slammed the door. Jason scowled at it for a moment before turning to Marc.

"I taught you better than that!" Jason exclaimed. "Marc, that's stealing—"

"Chill, dad," Marc said, finally looking up at him.

Will's reaction had given Marc a lead to follow and he was taking it.

"Like Uncle Will said," he continued. "It's not that big of a deal. It's not like someone got hurt and I wasn't arrested or anything."

"That's not the point," Jason scowled.

"Sure it is," Marc shrugged. "Uncle Will is right. They'll let you off with just about anything as long as you're young. And, if you do get caught, you just cry and say you're sorry."

"That is not the kind of thing you should be learning," Jason snapped. "Now come on. We're going back to that restaurant so I can pay for what you stole and you're going to apologize."

Not giving Marc a choice, Jason hauled him down the hall to put shoes on again and then out the door.

Angel Grove, CA

"Tanya, we're home!" Adam called as he walked into the house.

Jazmine and Lilla ran ahead of him into the kitchen.

"Girls, shoes," Adam called after them.

The twins came running back to put away the shoes they had left in the middle of the hall. Tanya walked out of the kitchen to greet them.

"Hi, sweethearts," she said as the twins ran up to give her a hug. "How was the dojo?"

"We helped!" Jazmine declared.

Tanya raised an eyebrow as she looked at Adam.

"They helped me lock up," he clarified. "And cleaned up after they ate dinner. Aisha dropped food off for them."

"Good job, girls," Tanya said. "How about a snack and then you can start getting ready for bed?"

The girls both nodded eagerly and raced ahead to the kitchen with Adam and Tanya following.

"So, how did everything go today?" Adam asked.

"It was good," Tanya said. "I can't give you any details—"

"I'm not worried about details," Adam interrupted, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I'm just glad it was a good day."

Tanya nodded, a frown crossing her face as she paused just outside the kitchen.

"I am worried about Tommy, though," she said.

Adam shook his head.

"Tanya, he already said he didn't want to do counseling with you," he reminded her.

"I know," she said quickly. "That wasn't it. I was talking more physically. Adam, he looked exhausted."

"Ah," Adam said. "I'm not surprised. If JJ isn't sleeping, he probably hasn't been either."

They continued into the kitchen. Inside the girls were arguing about their snack. Lilla was holding an apple—apparently the last one in the fruit bowl.

"I picked it first, Jazzy," she said, frowning at her twin. "Pick something else."

"But I want an apple, too," Jazmine protested.

Adam and Tanya exchanged a look. But they didn't get a chance to intervene.

"Wait," Lilla said suddenly. "I have an idea."

"What?" Jazmine asked, looking expectantly at her sister.

"Let's get a pop tart," Lilla said. "There's two in a package. We can each have one."

Jazmine nodded eagerly and Lilla put the apple away as they ran to get the pop tarts out. Adam started to say something and then stopped as Tanya laughed silently. Snack in hand, the twins raced out to the living room to sit and eat while they read to themselves.

"I could have just cut the apple in half," Adam said, shaking his head.

"They figured it out," Tanya smiled.

Adam nodded.

"Anyways," he said. "Tommy will figure it out, too. Once things settle down with JJ, I'm sure he'll start getting sleep again. Just give it some time."

"I know," Tanya sighed. "I'm just worried…"

"We'll keep an eye on him," Adam reassured her. "Now let's get ours ready for bed."

Reefside, CA

Tommy backed slowly out of JJ's room, closing the door silently when he was in the hallway. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Finally asleep," he sighed, turning to head to his own room. "And hopefully he will stay asleep tonight."

Walking just down the hall, Tommy opened his bedroom door quietly. Kat had gone to bed while he was getting JJ settled in and he was hoping she was asleep, too. He found the light still on, but Kat was curled up in the middle of the bed with her eyes closed. Sighing, Tommy eyed the small space she had left him. He wasn't about to wake her up to try and get his side of the bed back.

"Guess we'll just be cozy tonight," he said with an amused smile.

When he was done getting ready for bed, Tommy turned off the light and climbed carefully into bed as he tried not to disturb Kat. Getting comfortable, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief that all of them were in bed and relaxing.

"By the Power let it be a good night," he murmured. "It has to be a good night."

Relaxing, Tommy let himself start to drift off. A little while later, mostly asleep, Tommy felt Kat shifting restlessly next to him. Rolling, he wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. To his surprise, she immediately tensed and jerked away. Still caught in whatever nightmare she had been having, Kat lashed out at Tommy who was too surprised to get out of the way. Tommy grunted as she hit him. Close to the edge of the bed, he tumbled off backward and hit the floor with a thud.

Kat, awake now, looked around wildly as she tried to figure out what had just happened. Blinking, she looked down at Tommy in surprise as he groaned.

"Tommy?" Kat exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry…"

Tommy just shook his head as he tried to untangle himself from the sheet that had fallen off the bed with him.

"I'm fine," he tried to reassure her.

The door to their bedroom flew open suddenly and JJ came flying in, clearly wide awake and a little panicked. He stopped a few feet inside the room, looking between his parents in surprise. Tommy, still sitting on the floor, sighed.

"So much for a good night," he muttered.

"Dad, what happened?" JJ asked anxiously.

"Just a nightmare," Tommy said as he finally managed to get back up, still partially tangled in the sheet. "Everything is fine."

Kat shot him a look but then turned to JJ.

"It's alright, sweetheart," she said. "Why don't you go back to bed? You need to sleep."

JJ shook his head, his expression very clearly proclaiming he hated that idea. Tommy sighed as he tossed the sheet back on the bed.

"I'll get the sleeping bag…"

Thursday March 29th, 2018

Reefside, CA

"Hayley, I need you to unlock this stupid thing," Tommy announced as he walked into the café. "It locked itself down again and I can't get it unlocked."

Skirting around the table where Billy was working with Izzy and Rae, Tommy headed straight for the counter where Hayley was talking to some of the students. He kept his gaze on the tablet, still trying to unlock it himself as he strode up to the counter. Rolling her eyes, Hayley took it from him.

"What did you do now?" she asked, immediately going to work.

"I opened a report," he muttered irritably. "It's the request from—from that same group as last time."

Hayley raised an eyebrow but didn't take her eyes off the tablet.

"I thought I told you not to open them on here until I had time to fix that," she said, shaking her head. "I'm working on it, but it won't deploy until I install the next update."

"I can't just ignore them. You know that."

"Just have Carter take care of it," she said dismissively. "It won't lock up their systems. They're set up to handle it. Besides, you technically shouldn't have to deal with most of these. You aren't—"

She paused, pursing her lips.

"You aren't out…" she continued after a moment.

A few of the high schoolers at the counter immediately looked over, clearly eavesdropping on the conversation. Tommy groaned.

"Not that kind of out," Tommy quickly clarified. "I am happily married and that is not changing."

"It would be an interesting—"

"Don't you dare start that," Tommy interrupted. "Kat will kill you."

The kids were snickering now. Hayley smirked but stopped.

"True," she admitted before sighing. "I wish they would stop sending these requests—they are beyond ridiculous. And whatever system they are using is clearly in need of a major upgrade."

She trailed off and started muttering under her breath as she continued working on the tablet.

"Tommy, you can come sit with us while you wait," Billy offered.

Rae and Izzy nodded excitedly, bouncing in their seats a little. Tommy glanced over quickly but shook his head before turning to pull his phone out, staring down at it.

"I'm good, Billy," he said. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. So once Hayley is done I'm out of here."

"Are you gonna wash your face when you get home, Uncle Tommy?" Rae asked, tilting her head.

Tommy froze as Hayley looked up at her daughter with a frown.

"What was that Rae?" she asked.

"Uncle Tommy needs to wash his face," Rae repeated, swinging her legs as she shifted in her chair to look at her mother. "His eye is all dirty."

Izzy nodded in agreement. Billy and Hayley exchanged confused looks as Tommy continued to avoid looking at Hayley.

"Did one of the kids at school give you pink eye?" Hayley asked.

Tommy started to shake his head, but Hayley reached out and grabbed his chin so he had to look at her. She stared in surprise.

"What happened?" Hayley demanded after a moment.

"Nothing," Tommy said, reaching for the tablet. "If you're done with that I need to—"

"That is not nothing, Tommy," Hayley snapped, holding the tablet out of his reach. "You have a black eye!"

Billy looked back over in surprise. Walking away from the girls for a moment, he joined Hayley and Tommy at the counter.

"It was a training accident," Tommy muttered, pulling away from Hayley.

Billy raised an eyebrow.

"That seems highly unlikely," he said, shaking his head. "Especially since I spoke with Jarrod while I was at the dojo this morning. He was a little concerned that you have been refusing to spar with anyone there since your absence last week."

Tommy shook his head.

"It's nothing," he repeated insistently. "Hayley, please give me the tablet so I can get back to work."

"Not until you tell me what happened," Hayley retorted.

"You don't need to know. I need the tablet to get caught up."

"Good luck, Hayley," one of the students interrupted. "We've all been trying to get the story all day. Dr. O won't budge."

"Oh, is that so?" Hayley said, raising an eyebrow.

She looked down at the tablet and then back at Tommy who was holding out his hand for it.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to hold onto this for at least the next week," Hayley said slowly. "This lockout is really causing some problems. So, I should finish writing the update and install it. And it's also due for some maintenance, so while I have it, I can work on that. I'm not sure if I have all of the parts though… You'll have time to catch up in a couple of weeks, right? Or I guess you could go all the way to—"

"Alright, fine!" Tommy snapped. "You win. Now will you please give that back? I'm already a week behind."

Hayley looked at him expectantly.

"Story first—then tablet."

Tommy groaned.

"Kat had a nightmare," he muttered. "I was too close."

"And…what?" Hayley said. "Wait—did Kat hit you?"

"Yes…" Tommy sighed.

"Mrs. O hit you?" one of the students exclaimed. "Is she abusing you?"

The group of them snickered a little as Tommy turned.

"No—and do not start that kind of rumor," he said sharply, scolding them. "It was an accident. She was asleep."

"Sorry, Dr. O," they chorused, looking a little guilty.

"What were you doing though?"

"I wasn't doing anything," Tommy said, shaking his head. "I was asleep. She was asleep. Kat had a nightmare and lashed out. I was too close. That's it. No one did anything. It was an accident."

Hayley snickered as she looked at him with amusement.

"So, how long before that fades?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Tommy snapped at her, snatching the tablet out of her outstretched hand. "I have to go—thank you for unlocking it."

Spinning, he stalked toward the door.

"Uncle Tommy, are you mad?" Rae asked with a little bit of a pout.

Tommy stopped next to the table, a faint smile on his face now. Leaning down he gave both girls a quick kiss on the head.

"At you two? Never," he said. "Your mother? Always."

With a wave, Tommy disappeared out the door. Billy turned to Hayley after he was gone.

"You really should not goad him like that," he said.

Hayley shrugged as she went back to work.

"He's a big boy," she said. "And besides—if I stopped antagonizing him after all this time, he would think something was seriously wrong with me."

Billy sighed but didn't have an argument for that. Walking away, he went back to work with their daughters on schoolwork while Hayley took some more orders.

"Kat, I'm home," Tommy announced as he walked into the house. "Hayley fixed the tablet."

He found her in the kitchen just finishing up putting in an order for pizza.

"Did she give you a hard time?" Kat asked after she had hung up.

"Oh, she did," Tommy muttered. "Along with everyone else who was there. That's why I wanted you to take it."

Kat shook her head.

"Hayley just would have asked why I was there instead of you," she pointed out. "There would have been questions."

"There were plenty of questions," Tommy retorted. "And she doesn't let things go."

Kat sighed as she gently touched his face.

"I'm sorry…" she said, guilt flashing across her face.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Tommy said, shaking his head.

Setting down the tablet on the table, he pulled her into a hug. Kat flinched and stiffened in his arms for a moment before relaxing.

"I'm sorry…" she said again.

"Don't apologize," Tommy said quietly. "It isn't your fault. It's just something we'll have to work through together."

Kat looked up at him with a small smile.

"Besides, it just gives me an excuse to use more positive reinforcement," Tommy said.

Tightening the hug a little, he kissed Kat.

"Wow… my parents never do that where we can see them," a voice said behind Tommy.

He straightened up, keeping one arm around Kat as he turned.

"That one isn't ours," he said, looking at the boy who had been speaking.

Kat laughed and shook her head as a few more boys, including JJ, crowded into the doorway of the kitchen.

"Nope," she said. "We have extras tonight."

"When don't we?" Tommy grumbled, leaving Kat to grab the tablet from the table. "Hi, boys."

"Hi, JJ's dad," the kids chorused as JJ snickered.

Tommy paused to give Kat another kiss on his way out of the kitchen. The boys scattered.

"I'm going to finish these reports before dinner," Tommy said.

"Alright," Kat said. "Pizza should be here in about 45 minutes. I ordered a veggie one for you."

Tommy nodded, his attention already going back to the tablet as he headed out of the room.

"Call me when it gets here," he said.

Angel Grove, CA

"And you are absolutely sure there is nothing you can do? Alright, thank you for checking. I appreciate your assistance. I will make sure to book three to six months in advance next time."

Jake sighed.

"As long as I get that much warning," he muttered to himself as he turned back to Kim.

Kim who was waiting patiently in a chair nearby while he was making phone calls. They were at the airport and Jake had been trying to find a place for them to stay for the night without much success.

"Sorry, sweetheart," he said. "The resort is booked. They have absolutely no openings—and they were last on my list because I figured that would be the answer."

Kim looked up at him in surprise.

"You did tell them who you are, right?" she asked. "Usually that gets something."

"I tried everything short of asking for a manager," Jake said, sitting down next to her. "Plus, I apparently need to actually apply for a membership first."

"Don't do that," Kim quickly inserted. "And membership?"

Jake chuckled.

"I would never demand a manager just because someone tells me no," he said. "And the membership thing is part of their security protocols. I'll actually look into it if you're going to want to come out this way more often. But the point is they're booked solid. It was the same at the hotels, too. Everything is apparently booked for the weekend… Something about spring break and crazy people hunting for Power Rangers. I chose not to ask for details…"

Kim snickered at the last part.

"I wish them luck," she muttered with some amusement.

"The point is," Jake said, shaking his head. "We'll probably have to go with a motel for the night."

Kim shrugged and stood.

"I've probably slept in worse," she said. "It's just one night. As long as they have clean sheets I'm happy."

Jake frowned at that thought.

"We could probably stop and buy some," he said as they started heading out.

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean they are actually clean," Kim pointed out.

"So, we'll wash them," Jake countered. "There's got to be a laundromat around here somewhere."

Kim just laughed and they went to find a cab.

"All set," Jake said a few hours later.

He sat down on the bed he had just finished making with their newly purchased—and washed—sheets and looked at Kim. She was sitting in a chair watching him in amusement.

"And just in time," she grinned, glancing at the time.

"Just in time for what?" Jake frowned.

"Dinner."

"We're going to dinner?"

Kim nodded, still grinning at him.

"Alright…" he said slowly.

"Dress in something nice," Kim said, bouncing up and going over to her suitcase.

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Care to define nice?" he asked. "Because there are levels."

"Hmm…" Kim said, thinking. "Well, we are in Angel Grove, but I'm pretty sure there is a dress code… So probably dressy but no tie necessary."

Jake shrugged.

"So, I'll be one of those cool guys wearing a sport coat but no tie," he said, reaching for his own bag.

"You can wear a tie if it makes you feel better," Kim snickered.

"Nope," Jake countered. "Because then I'll just look like I'm coming from the office. No tie."

When the car pulled to a stop a while later, Jake frowned and looked at Kim.

"What are we doing here?" he asked. "This is the resort."

Kim shrugged as she opened her door.

"This is the address she gave me," she said. "But I'm guessing the restaurant is probably open to non-guests as well. Come on."

"Wait—she gave you?" Jake asked as he climbed out after her. "Who gave you?"

"Jason's mom," Kim answered, shooting him a smirk over her shoulder as she headed toward the door.

Jake froze in surprise for a moment before quickly jogging to catch his wife.

"Is she meeting us here?" he asked.

"I told you I was going to introduce you to the moms," Kim reminded him, clearly amused by his expression.

"You were serious?" Jake exclaimed. "I thought you were kidding."

"I was completely serious when I said that," Kim smirked as she paused.

"So, you are ambushing me with the equivalent of a 'meet the parents' dinner—and none of them are actually your mom?"

"I mean, Aisha's mom is essentially a second mother to me," Kim said. "She helped take care of me after my parents left the country and I wanted to stay—for several reasons. And Tommy's mom was rather heartbroken when Tommy and I broke up. Apparently, she thought we'd be together forever."

"Kim…" Jake groaned. "How about we get back in the car and just leave? I'm sure they won't notice. We can get burgers or something and watch a movie."

Kim was shaking her head.

"They already know you're coming," she said in amusement. "There's no escaping now. They would just come find us."

"But they don't know where we are staying," Jake countered.

"They would still find us," Kim laughed. "Angel Grove isn't that big. And they know a lot of people. Now come on."

Kim took his hand and pulled him after her inside. They were the last ones to arrive. Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. Kwan, and Mrs. Campbell had already gotten them a table. After excited—or a little awkward in Jake's case—greetings, they all sat down to eat. The conversation was awkward for a little while as Jake tried to get comfortable in the group, but the four women were soon steering the conversation with ease as they interrogated the younger couple. By the time they were finishing dinner, Jake was a lot less nervous and agreeing with them as all four women were insisting he should take more vacations.

"You are always welcome in Angel Grove," Mrs. Oliver said. "I have rooms available—although I guess you two are probably staying with one of the kids."

Kim and Jake both shook their heads.

"I didn't want to put Aisha or Tanya out when we are just staying the one night," Kim said. "So, we're just staying at a motel for the night. We'll be leaving for Reefside early tomorrow afternoon anyways."

Mrs. Oliver frowned.

"Why didn't you stay here then?" she asked.

"Oh, we tried," Jake said. "But they didn't have any rooms. Completely booked. Pretty much everywhere was this weekend."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Oliver countered. "They always have rooms open for Tommy's friends. For goodness sakes, he has an entire wing—well, it's actually just a hallway—blocked out for friends, family, or the occasional visiting dignitary. It even has a private pool."

Kim and Jake both stared at Mrs. Oliver in surprise.

"Tommy has a hallway?" Kim repeated.

"Of course. He likes to make sure he has a place for friends or family who just need to get away from the public for a little while. Tommy does have a lot of friends who are public figures now, so this gives them a secure place to stay. The security in that hallway is absolute. No one gets in without permission. Not that security isn't excellent throughout the resort as a whole."

Jake looked at Kim who just shrugged. She had no idea what Mrs. Oliver was talking about.

"So, he rents a hallway?" Kim asked slowly.

"Rents?" Mrs. Oliver repeated. "I mean, I guess you could put it that way. Although that's not quite the same thing as limiting part of your resort to a specific guest list. It doesn't impact their success at all."

"Tommy owns the resort?" Kim exclaimed.

All four women looked at Kim in surprise.

"Well of course," Mrs. Oliver laughed. "What did you think I meant? That's how we got this reservation today. There's always a table for me if I want to dine here—they love it when I come to visit. Sometimes I tell the staff stories about Tommy when he was little. They love it—he doesn't."

Kim snickered, though she was still a little shocked at the revelation.

"Now, come with me for a moment," Mrs. Oliver said, standing and tugging Kim out of her seat.

"Where are we going?" Kim asked, following hesitantly.

Jake immediately got up and followed while the other three moms stayed where they were, amused looks on their faces.

"I want to check something," Mrs. Oliver said. "Come along."

"We'll order dessert while you are gone," Mrs. Kwan smiled, waving as Kim and Jake followed Mrs. Oliver out of the restaurant.

She led them out and into the lobby of the resort. Mrs. Oliver walked straight up to one of the clerks at the front desk.

"Hello, Mrs. Oliver," he said with a smile. "How can I help you?"

"I'd like to see my son's approved guest list," she said.

"Let me pull that up and check for you," he said without hesitation.

The clerk typed quickly for a moment and then spun the screen around so Mrs. Oliver could see it and scroll through the list using the touch screen.

"There you are," Mrs. Oliver said after a moment. "See—Kimberly Hart-Rosenberg."

Kim looked at the list in surprise.

"Really?" she said. "Wait—he even has my married name listed. I didn't think he'd know that…"

Mrs. Oliver shrugged.

"He likes to keep track of his friends," she said fondly before turning back to the clerk. "Is anyone using the hall right now?"

"No one is currently using any of the rooms," he answered.

"See, you could stay here," Mrs. Oliver said. "All you had to do was give them your name."

"I didn't try her name," Jake muttered. "Gave them mine because usually the name of a millionaire is enough to get something, but no. Didn't think to try my wife's name."

Kim snickered.

"I'm important," she grinned. "I'm on a list you aren't on."

Jake shot her a look as she tucked her arm in his and laughed again. The clerk chuckled at the exchange.

"We could add his name under yours," he offered. "Dr. Oliver will have to give final approval, of course, but I would be happy to start the process."

"Nope," Kim immediately answered, grinning at Jake. "Just mine is fine."

"Of course. But if he is going to visit us without you then you will need to call and set everything up ahead of time. Including getting approval from Dr. Oliver."

"I can do that," Kim said. "See honey? Now I have somewhere to put you if you ever get stranded in California."

Jake frowned.

"Why—and how—would I get stranded in California?" he asked. "I have a plane—several, actually."

"Giant storm," Kim countered. "Or alien attack. It is Angel Grove, after all."

Mrs. Oliver and the clerk both laughed at that as Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Well, she's not wrong," Mrs. Oliver said, shaking her head. "Though it has been some years since there was an attack actually in Angel Grove. Tommy had to deal with it again his first year in Reefside."

Kim looked at Mrs. Oliver in surprise but didn't say anything.

"Did you want us to prepare one of the rooms?" the clerk asked, looking at Kim expectantly.

Kim looked at Jake. He shook his head.

"We'll be fine where we are for the night," he said. "Though we will definitely keep this in mind for next time."

The clerk nodded.

"Of course," he said. "Make sure you call ahead if possible. When you check in, we will just verify your identity. And if you haven't booked ahead of time Dr. Oliver will have to confirm, but that's rarely an issue."

Kim and Jake both nodded.

"Or you can just call Tommy and he'll take care of everything for you," Mrs. Oliver inserted.

"I actually don't have his current phone number," Kim admitted sheepishly.

"Oh! Well, let me see your phone."

Kim handed over her phone. Mrs. Oliver took off back toward the restaurant after thanking the clerk again, adding Tommy's phone number to Kim's phone as she went.

"So… since Tommy owns the resort, I have a question," Kim said as they walked. "Why on Earth did he name the restaurant after a rabbit? Café de le Lapin? Really?"

Mrs. Oliver laughed.

"That was actually his uncle," she said, handing Kim back her phone. "John wanted the name to be fancy—I say snooty—so he decided to use French. And, apparently, he'd seen a rabbit that morning so that's what they ended up with. Tommy just didn't argue."

Kim and Jake both laughed as the three of them returned to the table to have dessert.

Friday March 30th, 2018

Reefside, CA

"Oh—I guess we're here," Kim commented as Rocky pulled off the road onto a somewhat hidden driveway. "This really is the middle of nowhere."

Jake chuckled in agreement. Rocky parked the van. The group of six all climbed out and grabbed their bags from the back and headed up to the house. Rocky knocked on the front door, but didn't wait for an answer before opening the door to walk in.

"Kat, we're here!" he called as he led the way inside.

There was no answer for a moment and then Kat popped out of a room down the hall, shutting the door behind her. She was wearing dress pants and a sweater which had Tanya and Aisha eying her in amusement.

"Hi guys!" Kat smiled, coming to meet them. "Sorry. I left school late today, so I haven't had a chance to change. How was the drive?"

"Nothing unusual," Adam answered.

Kat looked around the group, frowning.

"Umm… where are your children?" she asked. "Did you leave them in the cars?"

Aisha laughed, shaking her head as she walked forward to hug Kat. Tanya followed to do the same.

"We left them at my parents'," Aisha explained. "They were happy to have them."

"This way we all have a chance to catch up without keeping them from destroying your house," Tanya added.

Kat laughed, turning to Kim.

"Welcome to Reefside," she said.

Kim smiled and hugged Kat.

"Kat, this is my husband, Jake," Kim said, introducing him. "Jake, this is Kat."

"It's nice to meet you, Jake," Kat said.

"You, too," Jake answered, holding out his hand.

Kat ignored it and, to Jake's surprise, hugged him instead. Kim laughed, putting a hand up to try and smother it.

"Did you really think she was going to settle for a handshake?" Kim snickered. "Aisha and Tanya didn't."

Jake shrugged as Kat let go. Kim laughed again as she looked around.

"Come on upstairs," Kat said. "I'll show you your rooms and we can get ready to go."

The rest of the group nodded. Kat turned and headed for the stairs.

"We got three rooms ready," Kat said as they followed her up. "The bathroom is here. Sorry, but you'll be sharing with JJ."

She shot them a grin over her shoulder.

"We do every time," Rocky snorted.

Kat shrugged again.

"Kim, you and Jake can take this room," she said, opening the door. "Adam and Tanya—the one across the hall. Rocky and Aisha you can take the room next to JJ's."

They all nodded, scattering to the rooms to put away the luggage they had brought with them. Tanya came back out first, eying Kat as they stood in the hallway.

"How are you doing?" Tanya asked quietly. "You look tired…"

"It's getting better," she said. "JJ actually managed to sleep in his bedroom last night. It may have had something to do with spending the evening at the dojo with Tommy, though."

Tanya chuckled. The rest of the group had joined them in the hallway.

"So, what is the plan?" Kat asked, looking at Kim. "This weekend was your idea, after all."

"Well, I made dinner reservations already," Kim said. "So, we'll need to get Tommy."

At the mention of Tommy, Kat nodded, glancing at the time.

"Well, if we are doing that then I need to take care of something first," Kat said. "Since I'm assuming we'll be out for a bit. Do what you guys need to get ready and I'll be back soon."

Rocky and Adam exchanged a look before turning to Kat.

"Need any help?" Adam offered.

Kat shook her head.

"That wouldn't go well," she said. "They don't like strangers—they don't like to listen to me sometimes as it is. I'll be fine. But thanks for the offer."

Waving, Kat hurried down the stairs and out the back door. The other three women had already disappeared back into the bedrooms. Rocky, Adam, and Jake exchanged looks and then headed downstairs. They were ready to go. In the living room, Adam and Rocky found a place to sit while they waited for the women. Jake sat, too, but he was clearly antsy. Rocky and Adam exchanged a look as Jake fidgeted in his seat.

"You alright, Jake?" Rocky asked.

"What?" Jake said, turning to look at Rocky. "Oh. I'm fine."

Rocky snorted as Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" Adam asked. "You seem worked up about something."

Jake hesitated as the other two men watched him. Finally, he sighed.

"Alright," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I know it's stupid, but… I'm kind of nervous about meeting Tommy."

Adam and Rocky looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" Rocky said.

"It's just that—well, Kim has told me all about him," Jake said. "And she's never hidden anything about their relationship from me. I've never met him though since he couldn't make it to our wedding…But Mrs. Oliver was talking about how Kim broke his heart…"

"I'm sure she was just teasing," Adam said. "That was a long time ago."

"I know," Jake sighed. "But clearly there was something serious there at one point…"

Adam nodded and Rocky grinned, but Jake wasn't looking.

"Well, they did date for about three years," Rocky commented, leaning back in his seat. "And the breakup did kind of come out of nowhere."

Adam shot Rocky a look, but Rocky ignored him.

"Really?" Jake asked.

Rocky nodded as Jake looked at Adam.

"I mean, he's not wrong…" Adam sighed. "None of us were expecting it…especially Tommy."

"He was pretty devastated by it," Rocky added.

Adam shot Rocky another look.

"Jake don't worry about it," he said, trying to reassure him. "That was a long time ago. Just relax. Tommy is a good guy and I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

Jake took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright," he said. "So, where are we meeting him, then?"

"I'm not sure," Adam admitted. "Kim wanted this weekend to be a surprise for him so I never asked what his plans were tonight."

"My guess?" Rocky said. "He's at the dojo."

"Dojo?" Jake repeated.

Rocky nodded.

"Yeah, Tommy has a dojo here in Reefside," he said. "He's an eighth degree blackbelt, after all. So, he does like to have his own space to train and workout."

"He's a what?" Jake sputtered.

Rocky didn't answer him, but Adam rolled his eyes at his friend.

"He could also be at Anton's," Rocky mused. "There is a chance they had a meeting tonight."

"Rocky…" Adam sighed.

"What?"

"Anton?" Jake asked.

"Anton Mercer," Rocky clarified. "His friend and business partner."

"Business partner?" Jake repeated in surprise.

Rocky nodded. Adam sighed again, shaking his head.

"Yep," Rocky confirmed. "They usually have a few things going on. Some businesses and they work on projects and digs all the time."

"Seriously?" Jake muttered. "Partners with Anton Mercer?"

"He is," Rocky grinned. "You wouldn't think it from how he normally acts, but Tommy is a millionaire—or at least pretty close to it. Right, Adam?"

"I don't know," Adam sighed, trying not to encourage Rocky. "I don't ask for details on his financial status."

Rocky shrugged.

"Eh, the point is, he has money," Rocky said. "But I'd still go with he is at the dojo. He does go there most days."

Jake processed all of the information he'd just had dumped on him in silence for a moment.

"Is Tommy really an eighth degree blackbelt?" he asked after a moment.

"Well, yeah," Rocky answered, raising an eyebrow. "In karate anyways. He hasn't advanced that far in anything else yet. Though he does have several other blackbelts. Could break someone in half if he really wanted to at this point—so not generally a person you actually want to make mad."

"Rocky…" Adam groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"What?" Rocky protested. "Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"Well, no, but—"

"I didn't say he got mad easily," Rocky pointed out. "And besides, Jake doesn't have anything to worry about. What really are the chances he'd be still pining over a girl he thought was the love of his life? It's fine."

Jake was staring at Rocky now. Adam was glaring at him.

"Rocky, why do you have to be like this?" Adam asked.

Before Rocky could say anything, though, Kat walked back into the room.

"I'm all done," she said brightly, brushing some dirt off her pants. "You three ready to go?"

They all nodded.

"Perfect," she said. "Tanya, Kim, Aisha—you three ready to go?"

She called up the stairs for them.

"Coming!" Kim called back.

The three women hurried down the stairs as Adam, Rocky, and Jake stood. Kat led the way outside, locking the door once they were all out.

"Are you driving yourself?" Kim asked as they walked toward the van.

Kat shook her head.

"Tommy will have his truck," she said. "I figured I could just squeeze in with the rest of you. It's not far to the dojo."

"Don't worry, I took out all of the car seats," Rocky grinned. "And put in the last seat. There's room."

Kat laughed and all seven of them climbed into the van and got comfortable.

"Do you need directions?" Kat asked, leaning forward to talk to Rocky. "Or do you think you can find the dojo by yourself?"

He glared at her in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the driveway.

"I think I can handle it," he retorted.

The drive to the dojo was quick. Rocky saw Tommy's truck and parked next to it.

"We may as well all go in," Kat said. "It will probably take him a few minutes to get ready anyways."

Kat led the way into the dojo. The high schooler at the front desk just waved as Kat walked up.

"He's in the main gym," she said. "The little one is with him."

"Thanks," Kat laughed.

"No problem, Mrs. O," she grinned.

Kat continued on with the rest of the group trailing behind her. Jake, walking with Kim, looked around nervously. At this time in the afternoon, there were people everywhere. Some were just coming in, others were on their way out. Most were either in the middle of a class or individual workouts. Kat walked into the gym they'd been directed to and paused just inside the door to look around.

"I see JJ," Aisha commented, pointing across the gym. "He's getting good."

Kat nodded with a smile as she turned to watch. JJ was working with a teacher and a small group of students.

"Oh! I see Tommy!" Kim exclaimed a moment later.

Then she paused, frowning.

"Is he trying to kill that punching bag?" she asked, looking at Kat with some concern.

Everyone turned to look and see what Kim was talking about. Tommy was working by himself in the far corner of the gym. He didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone or anything around him, completely focused on the punching bag in front of him. Kat sighed when she saw how hard he was hitting it. Adam and Rocky exchanged concerned looks, as did Tanya and Aisha. Jake just stared.

"Is Tommy ok?" Kim asked quietly.

"Probably not the right word to use right now," Adam said, shaking his head.

One of the teachers, who had seen Kat come in, walked over to greet her. He saw where she was looking and sighed.

"Hey, Kat," he said. "He didn't say you were coming by tonight."

"He didn't know," she said. "How long has this been going?"

"Uh…" he said, glancing at the clock. "Hour and a half—going on two hours. It started with some laps and kind of turned into that. We weren't going to interrupt…"

"It's fine," Kat said. "I'll go get him. He's less likely to hit me on accident."

Kat started to move toward Tommy, but Adam stopped her.

"I've got it, Kat," he said. "He'll feel less guilty if he snaps on me than you."

Kat hesitated and then nodded. Adam jogged off across the gym toward Tommy.

"He's a braver man than me," Rocky muttered, leaning over to Jake.

Aisha rolled her eyes.

"You are such a baby," she said, looking at her husband.

"Hey, I'm not getting punched by him today," Rocky protested. "It hurts enough when he knows it's me he is fighting—I'm not about to sneak up on him in that mood."

Jake looked at Tommy and then back at Rocky.

"Maybe we should come back tomorrow," Jake said. "If he's in that bad of a mood, I mean…"

"Jake!" Kim exclaimed, frowning at him with her hands on her hips.

"What?" he protested. "Rocky's the one who said he was in a bad mood."

Kim rolled her eyes. Across the gym, Adam had reached Tommy. He walked up to him, not necessarily trying to be quiet but he was watching him closely. Tommy, hearing the footsteps come up behind him, spun in place and swung before he thought about it. Adam was prepared for that, however, and ducked.

"Whoa, Falcon," Adam said, straightening and putting up his hands. "It's just me."

Tommy stared at him for a moment and then shook his head.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, relaxing slightly.

Adam shrugged and grabbed the water bottle that had been sitting off to the side and handed it to Tommy.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Tommy asked, eyeing Adam as he took a drink. "You were just here last weekend."

"We came to visit," he said.

"Visit or check on me?" Tommy asked irritably. "Wait—we?"

Adam pointed to the other side of the gym. Tommy turned to look and saw the rest of the group waiting. Kim, seeing him looking at them, waved with a smile on her face as she stood talking to Kat.

"Seriously?" Tommy muttered, shooting a scowl at Adam. "Why?"

Adam shrugged.

"Sorry, man," he said. "Not my idea. I just got in the car."

Shaking his head, Tommy stalked across the room toward the rest of their friends. Adam sighed and followed him.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Tommy demanded as soon as he was close enough.

Kat and Kim, standing next to each other, both looked at Tommy. Kim was more surprised than Kat. Jake, thinking Tommy was mad at Kim for showing up unannounced, jumped in the way. Tommy stopped immediately, his gaze focusing on Jake now.

"It's fine," Jake said. "No need to get mad about it."

"Excuse me?" Tommy said shortly.

"I'm not going to let you talk to my wife like that," Jake said firmly.

Behind him, Kim and Kat were exchanging confused looks. As were the rest of the group.

"I wasn't talking to your wife," Tommy countered. "I was talking to mine. So, unless you think you can answer the question for her… but she is perfectly capable of answering for herself. She is also perfectly able and willing to call me out if I've stepped over a line."

"Wait—your wife?" Jake exclaimed. "You're married?"

Tommy stared at him in surprise for a moment.

"Jake, of course he's married," Kim said. "I'm sure I told you that at some point. He and Kat have apparently been married for ages—not that I got an invitation."

She shot Tommy a look, but he just scowled back.

"No one got an invitation. You want to complain about that, start a club with my mom," he said irritably. "She brings it up enough for everyone already."

Kim looked a little surprised by Tommy getting snippy with her. Jake, however, was scowling at Rocky.

"You jerk," he said, shaking his head.

Rocky was laughing too hard at this point to argue.

"Alright, what is going on?" Tommy asked, looking at Rocky. "What did you do? And would someone please explain what all of you are doing here?"

"Rocky was screwing with Jake's head," Adam sighed.

"Rocky!" Aisha exclaimed, smacking him on the arm. "Why would you do that?"

"What?" Rocky protested, rubbing his arm. "I was just initiating him to the group. It was all in good fun."

Aisha rolled her eyes as the rest of their friends just shook their heads. Kim stepped up between Jake and Tommy.

"Ok, before Rocky is allowed to say anything else," Kim said. "Jake, this is Tommy—Kat's husband and one of my oldest friends. Tommy, this is Jake."

Jake, acting out of habit, held out his hand. Tommy shook it.

"I know who he is," Tommy said. "But it's nice to officially meet you."

Jake frowned.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked suspiciously. "Have you been keeping tabs on my wife?"

Kim elbowed him as Tommy sighed.

"You do realize you're a billionaire who is on the news on a regular basis, right?" Tommy said drily. "Occasionally with your wife, too."

"Oh, right," Jake muttered sheepishly. "Umm… sorry… my bad."

Tommy just shrugged. Kat, who had decided this had gone on long enough, walked around Jake and Kim to stand in front of Tommy. She grabbed his hands and his attention moved back to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking up at him. "I should have warned you they were coming…but they wanted to surprise you and I thought it would be nice."

Tommy closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"It's fine," he said quietly. "I shouldn't have blown up like this…I was just irritated already because Carter called earlier and was getting on my case about some of the reports I haven't had a chance to catch up on."

Kat smiled and squeezed his hands.

"It's fine," she said. "I know you weren't really mad at me—or them."

Tommy smiled. Kat let go of one of his hands and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Hey, guys," he said after taking another deep breath. "Let's try this again—What are you all doing here?"

"We—I wanted to surprise you," Kim said sheepishly. "We haven't seen each other in forever."

Tommy snorted.

"Kim, it's literally been years," he pointed out. "And you have a lot more freedom to travel than I do. You could have come to visit at any time."

She scowled at him, then held out her arms for a hug.

"I wouldn't," he said. "I've been working out for a few hours now."

Kim hesitated.

"Maybe I'll wait until after you shower," she said eying Tommy as he chuckled at the look on her face.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!"

JJ came racing over and slid to a stop next to Tommy who had turned at his shout.

"What? What? What?" Tommy retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"I won a bet!" JJ exclaimed. "My friends and I were talking and they didn't think you'd keep going very long on the punching bag and I said you would and they still didn't believe me so we made a bet and I won because you were on it forever which means they each own me a candy bar!"

"Oh, good," Tommy said, eyeing him as the other adults stifled laughs. "Because that's exactly what you need right now."

"I'm gonna save them for later," JJ grinned. "If I only eat them one at a time they'll last at least a week."

Tommy just sighed and shook his head. Taking JJ by the shoulders, Tommy moved him to stand in front of him.

"JJ, I'd like to introduce you to one of my oldest friends and her husband," he said. "This is Kim and Jake."

"Oh my gosh," Kim squealed in excitement. "Tommy, he's a mini you! And he's so cute!"

Kat laughed as Tommy shook his head. JJ, however, scowled at Kim.

"I am not cute," he protested. "I'm almost eleven—that's not cute anymore."

Kat cleared her throat next to JJ and he immediately dropped the scowl.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, holding out his hand. "It's nice to meet both of you."

As Kim and Jake both shook JJ's hand, Rocky leaned over to Tommy.

"What are the chances of you teaching mine to do that?" he muttered.

Tommy snorted.

"Knowing your kids? Probably zero."

Rocky sighed and Aisha smacked his arm again. Then she walked over and gave Tommy a hug before he could stop her.

"I don't care about the sweat," she said with a smirk. "It's good to see you. Oh—and thank you for bringing my idiot home."

Tommy smiled and hugged her back.

"I'd never leave him," he said. "No matter how annoying he is."

Rocky protested as Tanya took Aisha's place.

"Sorry we sprung this on you," Tanya said as she gave him a tight hug. "But we are at least going to take you to eat now. Kim made reservations for dinner in… oh. In 45 minutes now."

"Perfect," Tommy grumbled, looking down at himself.

"Now," Tanya said, hands on her hips as she looked at Tommy. "Would you care to explain to us exactly what happened to your face? Because that was not there last weekend."

She pointed at his eye and he grimaced.

"Oh, right…" Tommy mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

He turned to Kat.

"Kat, would you like to handle that answer while I go shower?"

"Not particularly," she sighed. "But fine…"

JJ grinned as he looked between his parents.

"Yeah, mom," he snickered. "You should explain."

"And that's enough from you," Tommy interrupted, turning JJ toward the locker rooms. "You're showering, too."

He gave the ten-year-old a gentle shove in that direction. Grumbling, JJ started walking away with Tommy following.

"Use soap!" Kat called after them.

Tommy just waved in response. Shaking her head, Kat turned back to their friends. They were all looking at her expectantly. All of them had noticed the black eye almost immediately but had been trying to be patient.

"Alright," Kat sighed. "So, Wednesday night…"

A little while later, Tommy and JJ emerged from the locker room. JJ was bouncing excitedly next to Tommy as they walked toward the rest of the group. Both were showered and changed. Tommy, his backpack slung over his shoulder and carrying a duffle bag, was straightening his tie as he walked.

"Well, that's not what I was expecting," Kim commented as he walked up. "What's with the tie?"

Tommy shrugged, putting his arm around Kat's shoulders.

"I wasn't exactly planning on going anywhere but home tonight," he retorted. "And I was going to just wear my workout stuff home and shower there. So, my school clothes are my only other options."

"You don't have to wear the tie though," Kim laughed. "The restaurant doesn't require them."

"But if I don't wear it, I'll lose it," Tommy pointed out. "Because I'm not about to stuff it in a bag. Especially with my gym clothes. This is a nice tie."

"I understand that," Jake piped in.

Kim rolled her eyes.

"We should get going," Tanya said, glancing at the time. "Or we are going to be late."

The entire group moved outside to the cars. Kat climbed into Tommy's truck instead of crowding back into Rocky and Aisha's van.

"Where are we going, Kim?" Tommy asked before climbing in. "You can follow me."

"I've already got the directions on my phone," she said, waving him off. "So, we'll lead the way."

"Kim, I live here—" Tommy tried to protest.

But she wasn't really paying attention and had already climbed into the front passenger seat of the van with her eyes on her phone as she finished setting up GPS. Tommy sighed and climbed into the truck.

"She does realize we live here and could take her wherever we are going without a GPS, right?" he said, looking at Kat.

"I'm not sure that has dawned on her," Kat laughed. "But it's fine."

"Where are we going?" JJ asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"I'm not sure," Tommy answered as he buckled and turned on the car. "All I know is we are going to dinner somewhere—buckle, please."

"But we were gonna have boxed mac 'n cheese tonight," JJ grumbled. "You said so…"

"Sorry, kiddo," Tommy said. "Maybe tomorrow. I didn't exactly plan for everyone showing up tonight."

JJ sighed and his head fell back against the seat. Tommy spent the drive to the mystery restaurant grumbling about Rocky's driving.

"We could be there already if she had just told me where," he muttered. "Then Rocky would have been keeping up with me instead of me constantly having to slow down behind him…"

Kat snickered at his impatience.

"Relax," she said. "I think we're there."

They pulled into the parking lot following the van and parked. Everyone climbed out to head inside.

"Rocky, could you have gone any slower?" Tommy asked. "Seriously—I could have gone home and changed and still beat you here."

"I was trying to follow Kim's directions!" Rocky protested as the others laughed.

Kim glared at him as they started walking toward the door.

"Dad," JJ said, tugging on Tommy's sleeve. "Do we have to eat here? I know they aren't gonna have mac 'n cheese…"

"This restaurant has wonderful reviews," Kim inserted. "I'm sure there will be something you like that's even better than mac 'n cheese."

JJ scowled.

"I spent all week talking dad into making boxed mac 'n cheese," he grumbled. "Now we're gonna have fancy dinner instead."

"Tomorrow," Tommy said firmly, setting a hand on JJ's shoulder as Kim looked at them in confusion. "Now come on."

JJ sighed but didn't argue. Inside Kim gave her name and they were quickly led to a table. They settled into their seats and a few moments later their waiter arrived.

"Welcome! I'm Todd and I'll be serving you tonight," he introduced himself. "Can I start everyone off with some drinks?"

He started to turn to where Kat and Tommy were sitting, but Kim jumped in first.

"Could I see a wine list?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course," Todd nodded. "I'll grab that in just a moment."

He moved his attention to Jake and then worked around the table. When he got to JJ, the ten-year-old sighed.

"Just water," he said, still pouting a little.

"I don't think we have just water—will tap work?" Todd grinned.

"Ha ha," JJ shot back.

Kat looked at JJ.

"You can have something else, you know," she said.

"I know. But I don't want to have pop with dinner," JJ grumbled. "And I'm not having tea."

"There is nothing wrong with tea," Tommy countered, having ordered green tea for himself.

"It's gross," JJ retorted.

From the look on Kat's face, it was clear this was an ongoing argument between father and son. She didn't say anything to either one, however, she just gave Todd her drink order and he finished up the rest of the table.

"I'll be right back with the wine list," he said before turning to go put in drink orders.

Once he was gone, Kim turned to the group.

"This place has wonderful reviews," she beamed. "And I thought I'd treat us all to a nice dinner to start our weekend. So, order whatever you would like."

Tommy raised an eyebrow at Kim, but Rocky spoke up before he could say anything.

"Some warning would have been nice, though," he said. "I would have changed before we left. I'm feeling a little underdressed here."

"What he said," Adam agreed, looking down at his t-shirt with the name of his dojo printed on it. "I would have at least worn a different shirt…At least Tommy and Kat were still dressed for school."

Tanya and Aisha were both nodding in agreement as Kim looked a little sheepish.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't think about it. They don't require ties or anything like that. And Jake already dresses in business casual anytime we go out—which means I generally do, too…"

"It's habit," Jake shrugged. "I'd rather that than deal with some of the conversations with some of our friends and acquaintances that would spring up if I didn't."

"So, you have snooty friends now?" Rocky grinned at Kim.

Kim rolled her eyes at him.

"I wouldn't call them all friends," she countered. "But it's hard to avoid people like that with how successful Jake is."

Rocky laughed and Kim glared as Todd stopped by with the wine list. There was a temporary pause in the conversation as she looked through it. They all took the opportunity to actually look at their menus, too.

"So, are you saying I'm stuck up?" Kim asked Rocky when Todd had disappeared again with the rest of the drink orders.

Rocky hesitated.

"Umm… three chairs between us…" he muttered to himself before turning back to Kim. "Yep!"

Aisha smacked him.

"Rocky! She is one of my best friends."

"Right," Rocky grumbled, rubbing his arm. "I didn't think about that."

Aisha rolled her eyes as the rest of their friends shook their heads.

"It's not just you, though, Kim," Rocky grinned, shooting a look at Tommy. "Tommy's gone all snooty now, too."

"What is that supposed to mean, Rocky?" Tommy asked, shooting a look back.

"I don't know," Rocky said. "How about telling me the last time you didn't stay in a five-star resort for a weekend trip?"

Tommy started to answer and then stopped as he tried to figure out the answer.

"I don't stay in resorts during digs," he countered after a moment. "I sleep in a tent just like everyone else."

"And when was the last time you went on a dig?"

"I don't have to answer that," Tommy muttered as Rocky laughed.

"Four years," Kat supplied with an amused look on her face. "For like two weeks during the summer."

Tommy shot Kat a look now as the rest of the table joined Rocky in laughing.

"I still stayed in a tent," he retorted.

"Wasn't it only like two days though?" JJ asked. "Then you came back to stay with me and mom in the resort."

That just made the adults laugh harder.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side, kiddo," Tommy protested.

"Whoops, sorry dad," JJ grinned, clearly not sorry.

"Speaking of resorts," Kim said. "How come you didn't tell me about yours, Tommy? We would have stayed there last night instead of the motel."

"You stayed in a motel?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Kim shrugged.

"We didn't want to have Aisha or Tanya scramble to make room for us for just one night," she explained. "And everywhere else was booked. I didn't find out about you owning the resort until after we were already settled into the motel."

"Why didn't you ask?" Tommy said. "I've owned it for a long time now."

"I didn't know I was supposed to!" Kim said. "You could have told me."

"Everyone else already knew," Tommy pointed out. "And it isn't like we talk all the time. Aisha or Tanya could have told you. Actually, Trini could have, too."

"Trini said she wasn't allowed to tell me anything," Kim frowned.

"The fact that I own the resort is public knowledge," Tommy grinned. "She isn't allowed to share private information like my phone number and address. She could have told you."

Kim stared at him in surprise.

"I'm going to kill her," she muttered after a moment.

Tommy just chuckled. Further conversation was interrupted by Todd returning to the table with the rest of their drinks.

"Is everyone ready to order?" he asked with a smile.

When everyone nodded, he pulled out a notebook to jot down orders. He started with Kim who ordered bruschetta as an appetizer for the group.

"And I would like the squid ink pasta with lemon garlic sauce," she said.

"Squid ink?" Rocky repeated. "You eat ink?"

Kim sighed and looked at Aisha.

"We should take him out more," she said. "He needs more cultural experiences."

"Good luck with that, girl," Aisha laughed. "I gave up on that a long time ago."

"Hey!" Rocky protested. "You like me the way I am."

"Yes, I do," Aisha patted his arm. "I never said I didn't. I was only saying it wasn't worth the effort to try and change you."

Rocky grumbled but didn't argue. Todd continued around the table taking orders. Jake ordered pasta bolognaise. Tanya got a caprese salad with pesto sauce and Adam stuffed ravioli. Rocky ordered the pasta carbonara and Aisha got lasagna. Then Tommy ordered mushroom risotto and Kat panzanella. When Todd finally came to JJ, he just ruffled his hair.

"I got you covered, kid," he grinned.

JJ frowned as he looked up at Todd.

"Umm… ok?" he said slowly. "I was just gonna get the portabella ravioli…"

"Don't worry about it," Todd said. "I'll have the appetizers out shortly."

He left with a smile and the group went back to talking. The appetizers came out a little while later and Kim insisted everyone share. They continued talking as they ate. Kim was eager to catch up on as much as she could while she had the chance. Finally, their food came out. When a plate was set in front of JJ, he stared in surprise as Tommy and Kat both laughed.

Todd had set a plate of mac 'n cheese in front of the ten-year-old.

"Really?" JJ grinned, looking at the waiter.

Todd smiled back.

"Yup," he said. "You didn't seem super excited looking at the menu, so the cook got creative. It's an Italian restaurant, so it's not like we don't have the stuff."

"What do you say, JJ?" Kat said with a smile.

"Thank you!" JJ burst out, turning eagerly back to his food.

Todd laughed.

"Of course, kid," he grinned. "I'll be back in a bit to check on everyone."

The group enjoyed the meal, talking and laughing as they ate their food. As they were starting to wind down, Tommy caught Todd and spoke to him quietly as he dropped off a couple of last refills. Todd nodded and hurried off. When he came back a little later with the bill, Kim held out her hand expectantly. To her surprise, however, Todd handed it straight to Tommy. Kim gave him a surprised look, but Todd just shrugged and smiled as he cleared some of the remaining plates off the table.

"Tommy!" Kim protested. "This was supposed to be my treat."

"Sorry, Kim," Tommy smirked as he pulled out his wallet. "But you're my guests, remember?"

She scowled.

"You were never going to win this fight, Kim," Kat laughed. "Most of the staff here are or were students at the high school—he knows them all. Hometown advantage."

Kim glared for another moment and then sighed.

"Fine," she grumbled. "But next time it is my turn for real, Tommy."

"We'll see," he grinned.

Todd returned with a couple of boxes and Tommy handed him the bill and his card. By the time the few people with leftovers had finished boxing up their food he was back.

"Anything else I can get for you, Dr. O?" Todd asked as he handed Tommy back his card and the slip to sign.

"I think we're all set, Todd," Tommy said. "But hold on."

Tommy pulled some cash out of his wallet and held it out.

"This is for you," he said, handing some of it to Todd. "And the rest is to split among the kitchen staff."

"Thanks, Dr. O," Todd grinned, taking the money. "See you Monday."

Tommy unlocked the door to let everyone inside. JJ darted inside first and disappeared down the hall. Letting him go, Tommy walked in as Kat and their friends followed. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure the door got shut behind them all, Tommy followed JJ's path into the living room.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Tommy said, shrugging off his backpack and dropping it on the floor behind a recliner.

The living room was a large open room. On the wall to the left when they walked in there was a stand with a TV. The shelves underneath were filled with movies and games, as well as a gaming console. On the other side of the room, a large L-shaped couch and two recliners made up a seating area. A couple of bean bags were tucked out of the way next to one end of the couch. In the corner behind the couch was a small table with a couple of chairs. Papers were scattered over its surface and a floor lamp stood next to it to provide extra light. A large coffee table sat in the middle of the room. JJ had tucked his backpack underneath it and was now pulling a beanbag out. There were end tables on either end of the couch as well as another between the two recliners. There was a reading lamp on the table between the recliners and another lamp on the table at the opposite end of the couch. There were bookshelves scattered around the walls of the room with photos and other decorations filling the empty wall spaces between things.

"Yes, please do," Kat said, agreeing with Tommy as she looked around the room. "I am so sorry about the mess. I meant to clean up but…"

She trailed off as she glanced around the room before she started straightening things up. Leaning against the TV stand was a yoga mat, a couple of blocks on the floor next to it. There was a soccer ball in the corner on the floor, as well. By the table in the back corner were several pairs of shoes and a few socks just lying on the floor. The coffee table was covered in magazines and some more papers that looked like schoolwork belonging to JJ.

"Girl, relax," Aisha said, shaking her head. "Compared to my house, this place is spotless."

"Aisha, you have three kids seven and under," Kat snorted as she picked up some of the magazines off the coffee table, uncovering a tablet with a bright blue case that she set on top of the schoolwork.

"Exactly," Aisha grinned. "Your house is beautiful."

"I appreciate that, but I still want to pick up a few things," Kat said with a smile. "It is easier to deal with the mess now that he's older. I can just have him pick it up himself. JJ—your shoes and socks?"

She pointed to the pile on the floor.

"It's not all my mess, mom," JJ grumbled as he picked up the shoes and socks.

"No," Kat agreed. "But you can pick up what's yours."

Tommy, who was looking around as their friends were deciding where to sit, frowned as he looked at one of the end tables.

"Kat, someone was here," he said.

She sighed as she shot him a quick look.

"You're being paranoid," she said.

"I don't think so," Tommy retorted. "Because I certainly didn't eat that bag of cheese balls or drink that soda—and I don't think it was you or JJ, either."

He gestured at the table and Kat followed his gaze. JJ was shaking his head.

"It wasn't me," he said quickly. "I remember what happened the last time I ate an entire bag of those in one go. Not doing it again—especially with soda."

Tommy walked over and picked up a piece of paper.

"Borrowed your wifi—mine is down for the night. Thanks!" he read out loud.

"Ethan?" Kat asked.

Tommy nodded as he eyed the small mess.

"He better have a good reason for not cleaning up after himself," he muttered as he picked up the trash. "JJ—is that where your backpack goes? And why is your work on the table and not in the backpack?"

JJ grabbed his backpack in response and unzipped it.

"I didn't need it at school today," he tried. "So, I left it here. It's not due til next week."

Turning to look at him, Tommy raised an eyebrow.

"You should still take it with you. That way you can work on it in between things."

JJ sighed.

"I forgot to put it back in my bag," he mumbled. "And my tablet."

The other adults stifled laughs.

"He really is just like you, sometimes," Rocky grinned.

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Don't encourage him."

Kim, who had sat down at the end of the couch to get out of the way, picked up a sketchbook off the arm of the couch. She flipped briefly through it, surprised by the contents.

"JJ—is this yours?" she asked, holding it up. "These are very good."

Zipping his bag back up, JJ shook his head.

"That's Trent's," he answered. "I can't draw like that."

Kim frowned.

"Who is Trent?" she asked.

"One of dad's friends," JJ answered. "He's cool. And he's really good at drawing."

"I'd have to agree on that second part," Kim said, looking back down at the sketchbook.

"I'll take that," Tommy said, holding out a hand to Kim. "He's going to be out of town for a while, but I can give it to Anton next time I see him so it doesn't get lost. I'm pretty sure these are some of the sketches for his current comic. I'll let him know where it is before he panics."

Kat nodded in agreement as Jake looked at Tommy in surprise.

"Wait," he said. "Trent—as in Trent Mercer? You're friends with Anton's son, too?"

"Fernandez-Mercer," Tommy corrected as he walked over to tuck the sketchbook into his backpack. "But yes."

Jake nodded.

"I guess that makes sense," he said. "You are friends with his dad after all."

"Actually, that's not how we met," Tommy shrugged. "By weird coincidence, we met without me knowing who he was right away."

"I'm not sure that counts as a coincidence," Rocky snorted. "I'm pretty sure the first time you ran into each other it was very intentional on one of your parts."

Tommy shot him a look.

"Close enough," he retorted. "But the point is, Trent and I became friends before I ever realized he was Anton's son. I was already friends with Anton at the time—well, at least I still considered him a friend."

Kim and Jake looked at Tommy with some confusion. Kat had moved from cleaning the coffee table to putting her yoga stuff away.

"Anton was missing at the time," Tommy said with a shake of his head.

"I remember that," Jake mused. "He was missing for a long time and presumed dead. There never was a clear explanation of what happened."

Tommy didn't answer. Kat, done straightening things, spoke up instead.

"I'm going to get some drinks for everyone," she said. "Does anyone want anything specific?"

Answers of 'no' and 'anything is fine' echoed around the room. Kat nodded and hurried out. Tommy watched her go before turning back to their friends. Jake had joined Kim on the couch. Adam was watching Tanya in amusement as she claimed one of the bean bags and dropped into it with a smile. He sat on the other side of the couch. Tommy walked over to the corner to grab the couple of chairs sitting at the table in the corner in case someone wanted to use one. Rocky dropped down onto the same side of the couch as Adam, but almost immediately jumped back up with a yelp. Everyone turned to look as Rocky picked up a bamboo practice sword that had been partially tucked into the couch.

"Tommy," Rocky exclaimed, turning with the sword in hand.

"That's not mine," Tommy responded, raising an eyebrow at JJ.

JJ immediately scrambled forward to claim it from Rocky.

"I am so sorry," he squeaked, looking between Tommy and Rocky. "Dad, I swear I didn't mean to forget to put it away. I wanted to show my friends my new one and then we had to eat dinner and I forgot…"

Tommy sighed.

"Well, go put it away," he said. "And take the rest of your stuff upstairs, too."

Rocky grumbled as he sat back down. Adam smirked.

"Quit complaining," Adam said. "It's just a practice sword. It's not like it was a real one."

"He's ten—he doesn't have a real one," Rocky retorted. "Right, Tommy?"

He looked at Tommy for confirmation.

"He doesn't have any he can get to," Tommy answered. "Since he isn't allowed to use them without supervision yet."

Kat, having walked back in as Tommy spoke, shook her head. She had a bunch of glasses and a pitcher of water in her hands.

"They are locked up," she said. "But he does have his own sword. JJ has actually gotten quite good with a sword, so don't let him fool you."

Rocky stared in surprise for a moment as Adam laughed.

"That doesn't surprise me," he said.

"He hasn't disarmed me yet," Tommy said, taking some of the glasses from Kat to set them on the table.

"Oh, yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "Because that's oh so easy to do."

"I don't think the ability to disarm you should be a good measure of ability," Adam said drily.

Tommy smirked in response. Kat shooed him away from the drinks.

"I have it under control," she said, turning to head back to the kitchen. "Go sit."

He started to protest but Kat ignored him as she disappeared again.

"You should listen to her, Tommy," Tanya inserted. "You need to relax—you look exhausted."

"I'm fine," Tommy muttered.

But he did sit down in his recliner. He let out a groan as he leaned back in the chair and loosened his tie. Then he shifted, pulling his phone out to answer a text message. He sent Trent a message while he had it out.

"I feel that," Jake said, putting an arm around Kim's shoulders as he got more comfortable on the couch.

"Yep," Rocky agreed. "We're all old now."

"We aren't that old," Aisha said, shooting her husband a look from her seat.

Kat walked back in and interrupted before a debate could happen.

"Ok," she said brightly. "I already brought in water. I also have a few different wines, there is juice in the fridge, and I have beer, too."

She set the wine bottles and the beer on the table with the water. Tommy raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"When did you buy beer?" he asked. "Because I don't remember seeing that in the kitchen."

"This afternoon," she answered. "I knew they were coming so I stopped at the store after school while you took JJ to the dojo with you."

"Oh. Alright."

Kat served drinks, refusing offers of assistance from the rest of the group. Once she made sure everyone had something, she finally sat down in the other recliner. JJ had rejoined them and claimed the second beanbag. He had his tablet and was curled up looking at it.

"Alright, Kim," Tommy said. "Now that we're all comfortable—what actually inspired this trip? Not that I'm opposed to a visit, but it did come out of nowhere."

"Oh," Kim said. "Well, we were at Trini's last week after she called me and I realized just how long it had been since I talked to some of you. And then she wouldn't give me anyone's phone numbers. I still don't really understand why. It's not like I'm a stranger."

Tommy shrugged.

"Because I don't think she actually has my number on her personal phone," he said. "Really the only time we ever talk is related to work. I haven't seen Trini on a personal basis in a long time."

Kim frowned.

"But she is an ambassador for the UN—what do you have to do with that?" she asked.

"This and that," Tommy answered vaguely with another shrug. "Nothing specific."

"Just how many jobs do you actually have?" Jake asked curiously, looking at Tommy.

Tommy didn't answer right away because Kat, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, and Aisha all answered with variations on 'too many' and 'a lot'. Tommy scowled at his friends and wife.

"It's not that many—" he tried to protest.

"You aren't going to win that argument," Kat interrupted, reaching over to squeeze his hand.

Tommy sighed, muttering to himself under his breath. But he didn't try to argue the point any further. Instead, he took off his tie, draping it over the arm of the chair.

"You aren't some kind of secret agent for the UN, are you?" Jake asked.

Rocky, who had been taking a drink, choked and nearly spit it out. He started coughing and Adam reached over to hit his back.

"Breathe, Rocky," he laughed.

"No, I'm not a secret agent," Tommy snorted, shooting a look at Rocky. "I occasionally work security for Trini when she is in the area. It makes it easier for her to visit with friends and family if she doesn't have her UN assigned protection detail hovering. I got certified years ago to give her other options. Adam did, too."

Adam nodded as Jake glanced over.

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Jake mused.

"Anyways," Tommy continued. "The point is—Trini and I are both usually very busy people. So, when we talk, we talk about work. And Trini is bound by her position not to share anything contained on any of her work devices with anyone. Even old friends."

He looked pointedly at Kim. She sighed, pouting a little.

"I guess," she grumbled. "But it still feels like there is more going on then you're saying."

She sighed but didn't press as she shifted.

"Anyways," Kim said. "Visiting with Trini made me realize just how long it had been since I had seen everyone. And I missed all of you. I invited Trini, too, but she couldn't come on such short notice. Oh! Did you know she lives maybe twenty minutes from Jason? They live in the same city and they still haven't seen each other—or even really spoken—in years. That's when I decided this was ridiculous and that we all needed to see each other sooner rather than later to catch up."

At the mention of Jason, Tommy shifted in his chair but didn't say anything.

"Jason lives in New York?" Rocky asked. "I mean, I knew he didn't live in the area because his mom has complained he isn't close enough to visit. But I didn't realize he lived on the other side of the country. How long has he been there?"

Kim shrugged.

"I have no idea," she said. "Trini never said. Just that she had never been to visit him—and that she couldn't give me his address. I had to get that from his mother."

Rocky glanced over at Tommy, the look on his face clearly asking if Tommy knew the answer.

"He's been there since he graduated college," Tommy muttered shortly. "Never came back to California."

Avoiding actually looking at anyone, Tommy shifted and reached over to grab his backpack. He pulled his tablet out and stared determinedly at it. Kat, recognizing his tension, turned to JJ.

"JJ, time to put your tablet away for the night," she said. "No more games. I want you to finish your homework before bed."

"But mom…" JJ groaned, letting his head fall back as he sprawled in the beanbag.

"Homework," she repeated.

Grumbling, JJ climbed out of the beanbag and shuffled out of the room. With JJ gone for the moment, and conversation temporarily disrupted, Adam took advantage of the moment to change the subject. Most of them had noticed how uncomfortable Tommy had gotten when the conversation started turning to Jason.

"So, Kim, how long are you and Jake actually going to be in California?" he asked.

"Just the rest of this weekend," Kim answered. "Jake has to be at a conference after that. But I plan to be back a lot more often. And I'd like to get more of us together."

"So, if it's just the weekend, then what is the plan?" Rocky asked. "Because I'm still not sure there was one other than surprise Tommy."

Kim scowled at Rocky.

"A heads up still would have been nice," Tommy inserted, glancing up briefly from the tablet.

"Don't blame me," Rocky said. "I wasn't involved. She showed up today and I was told to get in the car."

"Could've texted me," Tommy retorted.

"I was driving!" Rocky protested. "Besides, the whole point of a surprise is that the person being surprised doesn't know."

"Oh, relax," Kim interrupted. "We're going to have fun."

"Doing?" Tommy asked, looking up at her.

"Well," Kim said slowly. "I would really like to go shopping with the girls. I checked and there is a mall nearby and a lot of nice stores. You guys can do something together while we're gone since I'm sure you aren't interested in the mall."

"So, probably workout," Rocky inserted. "Because we are men."

Kim rolled her eyes.

"That has nothing to do with it," she countered. "Do you want an invitation to the mall?"

"Nope."

"Aww… you don't want to go shopping with us?" Aisha smirked.

"With you? Sure," Rocky said. "With Kim? Not a chance in the world."

Kim let out an offended huff as the rest of their friends snickered.

"I'm not that bad," she protested.

"Sweetheart, you would be perfectly happy spending all day shopping," Jake said drily. "She has at least three different credit cards—not to mention all of the store credit cards—that she uses when she takes these trips."

"Ok, fine," Kim huffed. "But I'm still a lot better than I was in high school. At least now I can just buy things instead of spending hours deciding which one I'm going to buy."

"Thank goodness for that," Tommy muttered. "I spent so much time just waiting for her in high school. But I'm still not going."

Kat laughed.

"And that's why he never wants to go to the mall with me, either," she said. "But that sounds like fun, Kim. Tommy—do you just want to take everyone else with you?"

Tommy didn't answer immediately as he glanced up from his tablet. JJ had wandered back in a short time before with a small pile of schoolbooks. He was now comfortable on the floor by the coffee table, his homework spread out on the surface to work.

"That's fine with me," Tommy finally answered. "I need to go to the dojo in the morning—we have some belt tests happening. Plus, I'd like to actually get in a good workout for myself this weekend."

Jake frowned.

"But you were just working out earlier," he said. "So, wouldn't that count? You were demolishing that punching bag."

Rocky and Adam exchanged knowing looks as Tommy shook his head.

"I need an actual structured, constructive workout," he explained. "That didn't quite happen tonight…Anyways, I also need to hit the café in the afternoon. I already promised I'd be there since I've been MIA for almost two weeks."

"Café?" Kim repeated. "What café?"

"Aunt Hayley's café," JJ piped up. "We spend every Saturday afternoon there if we're home. Sometimes Sundays, too. And a lot of the weekdays after school."

Kim nodded but still looked a little confused.

"Hayley's Cyber Café," Kat added. "It's essentially a hangout for the high school students after school. Tommy goes there to offer after school help with homework. It's a nice place to relax—we could probably all meet there for lunch tomorrow."

The rest of the group murmured agreements on the plan.

"And that's actually perfect timing," Kat continued. "I needed to pick up a few things anyways. And if I go with the three of you this weekend, I won't have to drag Tommy and JJ with me next week."

"Bonus," Tommy smirked, looking at Kat.

"Yes!" JJ exclaimed. "No shopping!"

Then he paused.

"Wait—does that mean we can't go to the video game store?" he asked.

"Well, we aren't going just for that," Tommy answered.

JJ sighed.

"But that new game is out," he grumbled. "I wanted to get it—but I don't want to spend all day shopping with mom and her friends."

The adults all chuckled at JJ's dilemma.

"You can always ask Ethan—or maybe Hayley," Tommy pointed out. "Between the two of them I'm sure one of them will have the game. They'll probably let you borrow it after they beat it."

"Ok!" JJ grinned, brightening up again. "Can I call now? I'm done with my homework."

Tommy raised an eyebrow as Kat looked at JJ in amusement.

"How about you get your laundry together and check through your clothes so I can make a list for tomorrow?" Kat suggested.

JJ groaned in response.

"But I don't need anything…" he grumbled.

"Are you sure?" Tommy asked. "Because I know I threw away at least three pairs of underwear when I did laundry."

"Dad!"

"What?" Tommy smirked as the other adults snickered. "You're supposed to throw them away when they have holes, kiddo."

JJ covered his face with his hands as his face turned red in embarrassment.

"See, Rocky?" Aisha commented, fixing her husband with a look. "The same principal applies to adults, too."

"Thanks, Aisha," Rocky muttered as their friends burst into full laughter. "I'm sorry if I don't check over everything before I throw it in the dirty clothes."

She just shrugged as she grinned at him.

"Let me see your homework, JJ," Tommy said, locking the tablet and setting it down in his lap. "You finished all of that very quickly."

"It's done, I swear," JJ protested.

"Alright," Tommy said, settling back into his seat. "That's fine."

JJ frowned, eyeing his father.

"But what?" he asked hesitantly.

"I didn't say anything," Tommy said. "You should go check your clothes, though."

JJ still stared at Tommy suspiciously. He slowly gathered his books together.

"Maybe I'll double check my stuff while I make a list for mom," JJ said.

"Good idea," Tommy said with a smile as JJ scurried out of the room, grumbling to himself.

Kat shook her head.

"Well, that was effective," Adam chuckled.

"Sometimes," Tommy agreed.

"Anyways," Kat said. "So, we will take the morning to get some things done and then meet back at the café for lunch. We can do dinner here later since we'll probably spend most of the day out and about."

"I'll handle dinner," Kim interrupted. "Since my plan to treat everyone got hijacked tonight."

She scowled at Tommy who just smirked before picking up the tablet again.

"Got to try harder," he said with a shrug. "This is my turf."

Kat rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone to start making a list.

"Tommy, do you need anything while I'm out tomorrow?" she asked.

"Some more shirts for work," Tommy answered. "I lost another one a few days ago."

Rocky snorted.

"You're a teacher—what could you possibly have done to your shirt at school?" he asked.

Tommy looked up from the tablet again.

"I work in a science classroom with teenagers, Rocky," he said drily. "Chemical spills happen. Generally, there's no saving my dress shirts after that happens."

"Oh, right," Rocky said, a little sheepish. "I guess that's fair."

"I take it you ruin a lot of shirts that way?" Jake grinned.

"And ties…" Tommy sighed. "I've started taking them off whenever we use chemicals."

Jake winced at that.

"Yeah… I've lost shirts and ties to chemicals and the occasional fire," Tommy said. "It's part of the job."

Kat rolled her eyes, shaking her head as Tommy continued.

"Chemicals are the worst though," Tommy sighed. "It really is a pain when I have to try and get a shirt off that someone has spilled something on so I can follow safety procedures. Fortunately, that's only happened a handful of times over my years teaching science classes. Most spills don't require anything extreme."

Kat snorted.

"Some of your female colleagues wouldn't mind if it happened more often," she said, crossing her arms.

Tommy sighed.

"Kat, that was one time, and it wasn't my fault," he said.

The other six adults exchanged looks.

"It has definitely happened more than once—you just haven't noticed," Kat countered.

"I still didn't do anything," Tommy grumbled.

"I know," Kat said. "Doesn't mean I don't get annoyed when things happen."

"Ok, we need a better explanation," Kim said curiously. "There is a story and I need to know."

The rest of the group was nodding in agreement.

"Oh, there's a story," Kat said, shaking her head.

Tommy rubbed his forehead, setting the tablet down and picking up his phone to answer a text message.

"Kat, she was a brand-new nurse's assistant, and she had no idea I was married," he said as he was texting. "She'd never even met me before."

Kat scoffed as some of their friends frowned.

"Umm… Tommy?" Rocky said. "What about your wedding ring? I know you wear that at school."

Tommy shook his head, looking up.

"There was a chemical spill," he said. "I had taken it off along with my—watch—and my shirt so I could shower off to make sure nothing was on my skin. I had a couple of students that had to rinse off, too, and I called our nurse down to check over everyone involved. I dismissed the rest of the students, and she took the couple involved ones back to her office to call their parents."

He paused, sighing again as Kat watched him expectantly.

"I was left alone with her new assistant—an intern who was training to be a school nurse on her own," Tommy said. "She may have started flirting with me after we were alone…"

"May have?" Kat snorted. "Oh, she was flirting hard. At least until I walked in with the nurse bringing you a change of clothes. She stopped real fast then."

"I still had a t-shirt on," Tommy muttered. "The one I kept in my desk for emergencies. It's not like I was encouraging anything."

"No, but it still doesn't explain the lipstick," Kat shot back.

"Kat, it was six years ago," Tommy said in exasperation. "I told you then—I have no idea how her lipstick got on my shirt because her face was nowhere near me."

Eyebrows were raised amongst their friends. Kat sighed.

"He is right," Kat admitted. "I even checked the security cameras later. She was doing a lot more touching than necessary, but technically nothing as extreme as lipstick on his shirt would suggest."

"So, what actually happened then, Tommy?" Aisha asked, looking at him for an explanation.

Tommy sighed.

"After our nurse left with my students," he said after a moment. "I was going to start filling out paperwork while I waited for Kat to bring me a clean shirt. I wasn't sure how long she was going to be, so I had already changed into my spare t-shirt. The nurse's new assistant, Josie, stayed behind and insisted on checking on me…"

Tommy sighed, sitting down at his desk to start working on the paperwork for the chemical spill. He was glad no one had actually gotten hurt—and hoped that all of his students would pay more attention in the future. Not that he was going to count on this being the last time. Rubbing a hand across his face, he jumped in surprise when someone spoke behind him.

"Are you alright, Dr. Oliver?"

He turned quickly, surprised to see Josie still standing there. Tommy thought she had left with the nurse and his students.

"I'm fine," he said after a moment. "Did you need something?"

"I stayed to finish checking on you," she said with a smile. "Since Nurse Carol has the kids well in hand."

Tommy shook his head.

"It's not necessary," he said. "I appreciate the concern, but nothing touched exposed skin and I got the affected clothing off quickly enough that it wasn't an issue. I don't have any chemical burns to take care of."

"It is procedure to have everyone checked after an incident," she said. "It will just take a minute."

Tommy sighed.

"Alright," he said, standing up from his desk. "What do you need to know?"

"Just come sit down over here," she said, grabbing another chair.

Still thinking through everything he had to fill out before his next class, Tommy absently sat down in the indicated chair. He still had to double check to make sure he hadn't missed cleaning anything up or there could potentially be more problems. Distracted, Tommy missed Josie's question.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said, realizing she was talking to him.

She laughed.

"Long day?" she asked. "I was just double checking—you said you didn't get any on exposed skin."

Tommy shook his head.

"No, I didn't," he said. "Just the two students and I got them rinsed off immediately."

"Ok," she said, checking his arms anyways.

Tommy frowned as she worked her way up to his shoulders.

"You know, the dress shirts you wear certainly hide a lot, don't they?" she mused. "You've got a lot of muscle."

"Uh—yeah…" Tommy said, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. "I like to stay in shape. Did you have any other questions? I need—"

"Just a couple more things," she said quickly. "Is your shirt the only place the chemicals spilled on?"

Her hands were on his shoulders now and she started to massage them.

"Yes," Tommy said.

He stood abruptly, moving away from her. She looked at him in surprise. Neither one of them heard the classroom door open again.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with a smile. "I didn't mean anything… but you are a very attractive man."

"I'm also a very happily married man," Tommy said firmly.

"Yes, he is," a new voice added sharply.

Tommy and Josie both turned to look at the door in surprise. Kat was standing in the doorway with Carol. She was holding a clean dress shirt in her hand, the other on her hip as she glared at them.

"Oh, hey, honey," Tommy said. "You got here quick—"

"Do I want to know what's going on?" Kat interrupted.

"I would certainly like to know what's going on," Carol said, crossing her arms as she looked at Josie.

Josie was now looking between Tommy and the two women in the doorway with wide eyes.

"I swear I had no idea Dr. Oliver was married," she squeaked.

"To my office," Carol scowled, gesturing to the hallway. "You are supposed to be working—that means this kind of behavior is inappropriate no matter what you do or do not know. The staff has enough hormones to deal with from the high schoolers."

The two women disappeared into the hallway, letting the door shut behind them and leaving Kat and Tommy alone. Tommy huffed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Great, now I get to fill out a second incident report for that," he muttered.

"I brought you a shirt," Kat said irritably, throwing it at him before turning to leave.

"Kat—wait!" Tommy exclaimed, catching the shirt. "I'm sorry! But I didn't do anything—"

"Oh dear," Tanya said, stifling a smile as she shook her head.

"Yeah… I may have given him the cold shoulder for a few days after that one," Kat admitted sheepishly.

"And I still didn't do anything," Tommy grumbled. "You even saw video proof and stayed mad at me. Not to mention she didn't work at the school long after that."

"For good reason," Kat retorted.

Tommy shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.

"Alright," he said. "Then how about you?"

"Me what?" Kat asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You think I don't know exactly why you keep an old picture of one of my MMA championships on your desk?" Tommy asked.

"What?" she blushed, stammering. "I don't—"

"She does have one," JJ inserted. "I always thought it was a weird choice for school."

He had been standing in the doorway for a couple of minutes, a small piece of paper clutched in his hands. Kat pursed her lips as she shot a look at her son.

"Thank you, JJ," Tommy smirked.

"Are you gonna tell us why, mom?" JJ asked with a grin.

"Why can't I just be proud of your accomplishments?" Kat asked, trying to deflect.

Tommy shook his head.

"You might be proud of me, but that's not why you have that picture," he said drily.

Kat scowled and then sighed.

"Ok, fine," she muttered. "When I first started at the school some of the guys wouldn't take happily married as an acceptable reason for not wanting to spend time with them. So, I gave them a better reason."

JJ looked between his parents as their friends snickered.

"Is that why you like it when dad changes into his workout stuff before he picks us up?" JJ asked.

"No."

"Yes."

Kat and Tommy answered simultaneously, making their friends laugh harder.

"Ok, fine," Kat sighed. "Yes. But the picture—combined with actually seeing Tommy—stopped the excessive flirting! Now they leave me alone except for the occasional substitute."

"I'll put my belt on and walk the halls if that's what it takes to get you some peace," Tommy said, chuckling at her protests.

"I think that would be a little extreme," Kat said, rolling her eyes. "JJ, is that the list for me?"

He nodded, darting over to hand it to her.

"And my homework is all done, dad," he said, looking over at Tommy. "Did you still want to check it?"

"I'll check it in the morning," Tommy said, shaking his head.

"And now it's time to go do your chores," Kat said. "And you need to shower before bed."

"Mom…" JJ groaned.

"Go on," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Or do you plan on just doing chores tomorrow instead of anything fun?"

"I'm going, I'm going," he muttered, stomping out of the room.

The adults shared amused looks once he was gone. Kim shook her head.

"You two deal with a lot of different issues as teachers, don't you?" she asked.

Tommy and Kat both nodded in agreement. Kim sighed.

"I'm not a teacher, but I can understand why Kat was so irritated with that nurse," Kim said, glancing over at Jake. "And why Tommy is happy about the picture."

"Wait—what?" he said in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

Kim rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't pretend you've never noticed," she snorted. "I've seen the looks you've given some of the men who flirt with me."

Jake gave her a sheepish look in return.

"Well, yeah," he said. "But you're usually pretty good at handling it. I'd do something about it if I had to, though."

"I know, sweetheart," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "You don't always notice though. There have been a few you missed."

"Like who?" Jake frowned.

Everyone had shifted their attention to Kim and Jake now, listening to Kim. Tommy had the tablet in his hands again, half-listening to Kim's story.

"Remember that VP you had that only lasted like a month?" Kim asked.

Jake nodded slowly.

"Well," Kim continued. "I'm sure you remember how he wouldn't stop inviting himself over for dinner after his first week in the office? Which just so happened to start right after he met me joining you for lunch in the office?"

"What did he do?" Jake asked. "I remember you told me he wasn't welcome anymore, but I thought it was because he had overstayed his welcome by inviting himself over so much."

"Not so much," Kim said, shaking her head. "I tolerated him invading our home for maybe a week before he crossed a line and I refused to allow him in the house anymore."

"So, what exactly happened?" Aisha asked.

"Well, he got to find out firsthand just how much strength it takes to be a gymnast—even one who doesn't actively compete anymore—after he made some lewd and suggestive comments while we were alone."

Jake scowled.

"He what?" he asked sharply. "And you didn't tell me? Did he touch you?"

"I figured I had punished him enough," Kim said. "And you were dealing with some kind of issue at the time—I didn't want to distract you. But no. He didn't actually touch me. I never gave him a chance. But I'm pretty sure he also didn't touch another woman for weeks after that incident."

All four of the men winced at the implication.

"Kim, did you—" Rocky started to ask.

"Yes, I did," Kim said with a smirk.

"Ouch," Rocky grimaced.

"You really shouldn't kick a guy there," Adam said, shaking his head.

"Until after you've stomped on his foot," Tommy inserted without looking up from the tablet. "Instep first, Kim."

"I'm fully aware," she said, rolling her eyes. "And I never said I didn't."

"The nose is better," Adam said, sharing a look with Tommy.

"True," Tommy admitted. "Visible evidence of self-defense if you break his nose. Remember that, Kat."

He looked up from the tablet at his wife. She rolled her eyes.

"I know all of that," she said. "I have had plenty of self-defense training, thank you very much."

Tommy just grinned before going back to the tablet. Jake was looking at Kim thoughtfully.

"Is that why he resigned so suddenly?" he asked.

"Yep," Kim said brightly. "He tried to stay on, but some of the other people in the office were beginning to notice him avoiding me and he was trying to save himself embarrassment—or being fired when you finally found out."

"Apparently I need to pay closer attention," Jake muttered.

Kim laughed, squeezing his hand.

"It's fine, honey," she said. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but you will be the first one I come to if I need extra help."

"But you shouldn't have to…" Jake sighed.

"Honestly, I'm scared of any situation where Kim can't take care of it," Rocky muttered.

"Besides," Kim said, ignoring Rocky. "You cannot tell me there aren't women at the society events just falling all over you. All of them hoping you've finally decided to have an affair with one—or more—of them."

"I guess that's a fair point," Jake admitted. "Though it isn't as big of a problem as it used to be. I fend off a lot less advances than I did after we first got married. I guess most of them have finally gotten the point that I'm a loyal husband."

Kim giggled.

"Oh, yes," she said. "Because me and my friends had nothing to do with it."

Jake frowned as he eyed her.

"Do I want to know?" he asked slowly.

Kim shrugged.

"It's just society politics," she said. "Make sure to have blackmail on everyone and the ability to physically back it up if they call your bluff."

"She's right," Tommy said absently. "And that's exactly the reason I don't try to join billionaire clubs—it's not worth the effort."

"So, you are one!" Rocky exclaimed. "Ha! I knew it."

"No, I'm not, Rocky," Tommy said with a smirk.

Rocky frowned.

"But you just said…"

Tommy shrugged. Jake shook his head.

"Nah, coming from someone who is one, Tommy isn't a billionaire," Jake said. "I don't doubt he has money because of the resort and the dojo, but it's not quite the same. I mean, look at the house. It's a great house—but it's a lot different than any of my family's houses. Or probably any of Anton's."

Tommy snorted.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Money. That's why we don't leave this house."

Adam, who had been taking a drink, was the one who choked and started coughing this time. Rocky reached over to clap him on the back as he chuckled, returning the favor from earlier. Kat, Tanya, and Aisha all rolled their eyes while Kim and Jake eyed the rest of the group with some confusion.

"Anyways," Aisha laughed. "You ladies want to discuss problems with other women flirting with your husband? I can give you so many stories about women flirting with Rocky."

Rocky groaned.

"Aisha," he said. "Really? I'm a paramedic—I have to touch people!"

"They don't have to touch you back," she retorted.

"I don't encourage it," he protested. "It's that stupid hero complex thing some people have. You save their life and suddenly you are the most amazing person in the entire world. It happens—I can't help it."

Aisha sighed, leaning against him.

"I know," she said. "It doesn't mean I have to like it. But it is completely the reason why all of our contact information is kept private—and you limit the use of your last name at work just in case."

"Yep—not that it helps much when they just show up at the firehouse," Rocky muttered.

"You do probably have the most problems," Adam chuckled. "I've witnessed a couple of them."

Rocky just sighed as he leaned back.

"We don't have too many issues with the unwanted flirting thing," Tanya mused. "I mostly work from home or with family groups. Not a lot of chances for that in those situations. Adam has had a few moms at the dojo, though."

"Who get shut down very quickly," Adam said firmly.

"Kat and I haven't had nearly as many problems in the last few years," Tommy said, glancing up. "I mean, there are usually at least a couple of freshman every year, but they are easy enough to ignore at this point. They move on after a few months. And then just the occasional sub here and there."

Kat nodded in agreement.

"Anyways," she said, standing. "Does anyone need a refill on their drinks?"

"We finally figured out where all the gauze had been going when Joey came stumbling into the station absolutely covered in the stuff acting like a zombie," Rocky chuckled. "We were all trying to settle in to eat dinner and Rick didn't see him coming until he was right behind him. When he turned around and saw a mummy reaching for him, he screamed and fell backward over the chair, taking out a couple of the other firefighters with him."

The rest of the group burst out laughing. They'd been talking for a while, catching each other—primarily Kim and Jake—up on their lives. Tommy, who had mostly been listening to the conversation rather than participating in it, was now dozing with his eyes closed in his chair. The tablet was resting against his chest with one hand holding it there.

"It was great," Rocky grinned, leaning back on the couch. "Though I was momentarily concerned he was about to have a heart attack. Good thing Henry and I were there to help."

Aisha rolled her eyes as the others continued to laugh.

"That's great," Jake said, shaking his head. "So simple but effective. I would enjoy scaring a few people at the office with that—and I wouldn't even have to wait til Halloween."

It was Kim's turn to roll her eyes.

"I've heard that one before, Rocky," Tommy sighed, his eyes still closed. "You need to come up with some new ones."

Rocky scoffed.

"Your opinion doesn't count," he countered. "We see each other all the time. It's hard to come up with new stories when you know them all already."

"I'm still saving that idea for later," Jake chuckled.

Kim sighed, taking a sip of her wine.

"I've missed so much," she said. "I can't believe it's been this long since we've done this… how did we let so many years go by?"

"Girl, we've all been right here," Aisha snorted. "You're the one traveling the world. You could have come back at any point you know."

Kim sputtered but didn't really have an argument.

"Dad, can we try that mummy prank at school for Halloween this year?" JJ asked, popping up next to Tommy's seat.

Tommy jumped when JJ spoke, nearly throwing the tablet he was holding as his eyes flew open.

"JJ!" he exclaimed, catching the tablet and shooting a look at his son.

"Sorry, dad," JJ said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to scare you…"

Tommy sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Kat sighed—she had really been hoping Tommy would fall asleep.

"Alright, JJ," she said, glancing at the time. "Time to get ready for bed."

"But mom…" he whined. "It's Friday night and we have company—can't I stay up late?"

Kat raised an eyebrow.

"If you take a look at the time, you will see you already have stayed up late," she pointed out. "It's nearly 10:30. Go get ready for bed."

JJ grumbled but sighed.

"Fine," he conceded, turning to look at Tommy. "Dad, are you—"

He stopped, looking around.

"Never mind," he mumbled. "Good night."

He turned and slowly headed out of the room.

"Don't stall," Tommy called after him. "I'll be up in a few minutes to make sure you are actually in bed."

JJ stopped and turned to look at him with some surprise. Tommy didn't say anything else, he just watched him expectantly.

"Ok!" JJ exclaimed, realizing what Tommy meant. "Night mom!"

Darting back across the room, JJ gave Kat a kiss and then bolted out of the room.

"So," Tanya said after JJ left the room. "Is he sleeping in his own room now?"

Tommy and Kat exchanged a look.

"He did last night," Tommy sighed. "So, it's gotten a little better. But Wednesday was a small setback."

"Nightmare?" Tanya asked curiously.

Tommy and Kat both shook their heads.

"More of a loud thud and shout of surprise," Kat said sheepishly, looking at Tommy.

The rest of the group looked confused for a moment and then they realized what Kat was talking about. That had been the night she had accidentally punched Tommy waking up from a nightmare.

"Anyways," Tommy said, shaking his head. "We're working on it. It's just going to take some time."

Tanya nodded.

"We apologize now for anyone he may wake up tonight," Kat said. "We'll try and keep it down, but there's no telling how he'll sleep…Sorry, Rocky and Aisha. You're in the room next to his."

Rocky and Aisha both just shrugged.

"Damien wakes us up by like 3a almost every morning," Aisha sighed. "And then promptly goes back to sleep in our bed."

"So, it probably wouldn't be anything new," Rocky added.

Adam laughed, shaking his head.

"Hey—you don't get to laugh," Rocky said. "Yours are so well behaved it's scary sometimes."

Tanya and Adam exchanged a look and then laughed at Rocky.

"Just because Jazz and Lilla are quiet does not mean they behave all the time, man," Adam said, shaking his head. "They just tend to keep their arguments away from other people because they're shy."

"Adam is right," Tanya agreed. "Plus, they don't have to be wild all the time to misbehave. And Damien is only three. He'll grow out of at least some of it like ours did."

Rocky snorted.

"Like what?" he asked. "Your twins are practically angels."

"How about Jazz walking into our room in the middle of the night, standing in the doorway, and then screaming at the top of her lungs?" Adam countered. "That phase lasted a year or so. We're pretty sure she was sleepwalking since she would go right back to bed after."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Wait—what?" Rocky sputtered. "Seriously?"

Tanya and Adam nodded.

"That's why we wouldn't let them stay over for a while," Tanya said. "That would have caused utter chaos in your house. And Lilla used to go systematically through the house and empty every cupboard and drawer she could get into onto the floor… and then leave it there."

"I remember seeing the results of that," Tommy chuckled. "She moved quickly."

"Kids are weird sometimes," Kat said with a fond smile as she glanced toward the ceiling.

"And it doesn't stop," Tommy said, shaking his head. "It just changes."

"Like JJ a few months ago," Kat said. "I picked him up from the high school one afternoon—he was waiting for Tommy or I to finish while he watched football practice. The cheerleaders spent like an hour teaching him how to do cartwheels and then someone gave him a bag of cheeseballs and a soda. By the time I picked him up he had finished both. Then on the way to the car he was so excited to show me the cartwheels that he demonstrated all the way to the car—and then promptly threw up when he stopped by the car."

Tommy looked at her in surprise.

"When did that happen?" he asked.

"You got delayed by a parent-teacher conference," she said with a shrug. "So, I ended up coming to get JJ. He was fine after he threw up. Which is why I didn't say anything."

Tommy shook his head.

"Seems about right," he muttered. "He'll learn eventually."

"Maybe," Kat sighed. "I just can't believe how big he's gotten. It seems like just yesterday he was a little baby…"

"They're so cute when they're little," Tanya agreed, smiling.

Tommy and Adam both looked at their wives hesitantly. Kim was looking at Jake with a wistful look on her face, but he just put an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't look at me like that," Kat said, shaking her head when she saw Tommy's face. "I'm not saying I want another one. JJ is a handful enough."

Tommy sighed in some relief.

"I still can't believe you two have a ten-year-old," Kim said. "And I'm only meeting him for the first time this weekend."

"Again, girl," Aisha said pointedly. "You have the means to go anywhere whenever you want. You have no one to blame but yourself."

Kim sighed.

"I know," she grumbled. "He's the oldest though, right?"

There was a hesitant pause.

"He is—" Kat started to answer.

"Marc, Jason's son, is the oldest," Tommy interrupted. "He's fourteen."

Kim blinked at Tommy in surprise. Tommy shifted uncomfortably as everyone turned to look at him. He stood abruptly, locking the tablet and dropping it in his backpack.

"I'm going to check on JJ," he muttered, quickly disappearing toward the stairs.

They watched him go in silence for a moment. Then Kat sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Neither of you are sleeping well either, are you?" Tanya asked quietly.

Kat turned to look at her.

"We're managing as best we can given the circumstances," she answered after a moment. "Is it that noticeable?"

Tanya, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky all exchanged looks and then nodded. Even Kim nodded in agreement.

"Tommy doesn't usually doze off like that when he has visitors," Adam pointed out.

Kat sighed again.

"He's been having nightmares—we both have," she admitted. "He won't talk about it though… I know he's trying not to stress me or JJ out more. But being taken and used by Dr—"

She paused, realizing Jake was still in the room.

"You're talking about the kidnapping, right?" Jake asked. "I heard about that after Anton's announcement at the beginning of the week. I'm sorry your family had to deal with that—I know it would kill me if anything like that happened to Kim. It had to have been traumatic for all of you."

Kat nodded and they all sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Anyways," Jake said, standing and stretching. "I think I'm going to head to bed."

Kim looked up at him in surprise.

"Already?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jake nodded. "I'm getting tired—and I have a meeting with China in the morning I'll have to get up for."

"Oh, right," Kim said. "I forgot that was tomorrow."

She started to stand up, but Jake shook his head.

"Stay and visit," he said. "You can join me when you are all done talking."

Kim smiled as he leaned down to give her a kiss. Turning, he headed for the stairs. He passed Tommy coming back down and nodded goodnight. Tommy walked back into the living room as he stifled a yawn. He had changed out of his dress clothes while he was upstairs. Kat looked over when he walked into the living room.

"Is he settled in?" she asked.

"He's out cold," Tommy said. "Hopefully he'll sleep the rest of the night."

Kat smiled in relief. Tommy started walking around, picking up empty glasses and asking if anyone needed refills or wanted anything to eat. They all shook their heads at the question. Adam watched Tommy moving around the room, noticing he was clearly avoiding sitting down again. Kat was watching her husband with some concern.

"I'm thinking it's time for bed," Adam said, standing and looking meaningfully around the room.

"Really?" Kim said, pouting a little.

"Yes," Adam said. "We've all had a long day. It would do us all good to get some sleep."

Rocky stared at Adam for a moment and then glanced at Aisha before turning back to Adam.

"So, we're talking about going to bed right now?" he asked, glancing at the time.

"That's what I said," Adam said, raising an eyebrow.

"Aisha, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rocky asked, turning back to Aisha with a grin.

"You mean at least eight hours of sleep uninterrupted by children?" Aisha grinned back.

With a quick good night, both were off the couch and out of the room. The rest of the group watched their departure with some amusement.

"I don't know that there won't be any interruptions," Tommy said, shaking his head as he watched them go. "I hope there won't be, but…"

Kat nodded in agreement.

"Come on, Tanya," Adam smiled, holding out a hand to help her up from the beanbag.

Tanya took it with a smile and stood. Kim was still sitting on the couch, confused by the sudden desire everyone had to go to bed. Adam caught her eye and jerked his head toward Tommy who was stifling another yawn as he stacked empty cups.

"What are we doing?" he asked, frowning as he saw Adam and Tanya now up.

Kim's eyes widened as she realized what Adam was trying to do.

"Oh!" Kim exclaimed, getting to her feet. "Yes, bed sounds wonderful. And then we'll all be fresh for tomorrow."

Tommy turned to look at her in surprise.

"Alright," Tommy said slowly, looking around as Adam, Tanya, and Kim headed toward the stairs. "Sounds good. I should probably get a few things done first though. I—"

"Nope," Kat interrupted. "You need to get some sleep."

"Kat, I still have way too much to catch up on," Tommy said, shaking his head as he headed toward the kitchen. "I have grading to do, dozens of reports still to go through on the tablet—not to mention Anton asked me to help with some research for a new project."

Kat sighed.

"Tommy, no," she said. "I know you want to get caught up, but you need to sleep at some point. You can work on things at the café tomorrow."

"Kat, I already lost a whole evening of work," Tommy said shortly, setting the glasses down on the counter abruptly. "I need—"

Kat placed a hand on his arm, interrupting.

"You aren't doing anyone any good by depriving yourself of sleep," she said quietly. "I know it's been hard on you trying to deal with everything. I can help you with your grading if you need—and I'm sure Hayley will help with some of the reports. Or Billy if you ask him."

Tommy groaned, leaning on the counter as he rubbed a hand over his face. Kat wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning against him.

"Tommy…" she said quietly. "Please come to bed. Anton hasn't even brought you the files he talked about yet. We will figure the rest out."

He didn't say anything for a moment, then Tommy turned and wrapped his arms around Kat. She tensed but didn't pull away as he rested his forehead against hers.

"You're right," he mumbled. "Go get ready. I'll lock up and be right up."

Kat hugged him tighter before letting go. They walked out of the kitchen together. Kat headed toward the stairs and Tommy toward the living room.

"Where are you going?" Kat asked, frowning.

"I need to get the ranger tablet," Tommy said. "I don't want to leave it sitting out."

Kat raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"You are not bringing it to bed," she said.

"I'm just going to go lock it in the safe," he said, pulling it out of his bag before he slung it over his shoulder. "I promise."

She nodded and continued toward the stairs, stopping at the bottom to watch him. Tommy didn't argue, he just handed her his bag and walked into his office with the tablet. When he came out a moment later, he didn't have it.

"I'm going to arm the security system," he said, heading toward the front door.

He paused, frowning.

"Actually, I'm just going to partially arm it," he said. "Noise only. Just in case Kim or Jake try to go outside before we are up—they don't know how to turn it off."

"Probably a good plan," Kat said with an amused look.