"Surprise!" they yelled as Russell walked into the living room and he looked back at Tommy who just shrugged as Jay jumped for Russell's arms. He had definitely timed their plane arrival to give family and friends enough time to show up to their house as a surprise. He just hoped his dad would be good with it. "Happy Birthday!"
"Ganpa birtay?" Jay asked as Russell smiled at the toddler as he nodded. "Ganpa birtday!"
"Gayle- you really outdid yourself," Russell said as he walked over to give her a hug and Jay jumped to her next. "Jay…"
"Ganma!" Kira yelled as Tommy set her down and she sprinted across the room. The twins had been so excited to see their grandparents that Kimberly and Tommy had barely been able to contain them on the flight. Kim brought up the rear as she dropped the diaper bag next to the door and she slowly straightened up. Everything hurt right now, hours on the plane and upset toddlers had guaranteed she had gotten no rest.
"You okay?" Tommy whispered as their children moved from adult to adult- generally gibber gabbering and being far too excited. Luckily just about everyone in the room was a grandparent and was more than willing to say hello to them as they ran around. "Babe?"
"Side stitch," Kim muttered as she continued to try to rub it out, but soon found Tommy swatting her hands out of the way and she sunk in to him. "Thank you."
"I helped get you this way…least I can do," Tommy whispered against her ear and felt her relaxing against him. He finally felt her muscles ease and looked down to see that she had closed her eyes as she settled against him. "You need to lay down?"
"Hmm?" Kim murmured as he chuckled and gave her a gentle shake. He never thought he could put her to sleep standing up, but apparently he had acquired that skill. "What?"
"Do you need to go lay down for a bit?" Tommy asked again as she looked up at him and he saw the regret in her eyes. She wanted to be at the party, but she was exhausted from the flight. "Dad won't mind and I can handle Mom if she tries to give you crap about it."
"Thank you," Kim said as she stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss and then snuck into the hallway that led to the bedrooms. While this pregnancy had been easier, he had noticed how quickly she was getting tired in the last week and knew that he needed to up suggesting that she get rest. She would do it if he suggested it, but wasn't likely to do it on her own.
"She looks good," Martha said as she walked over to Tommy and gave her a hug. "Baby boy?"
"How do you do it?" Tommy asked as he returned the hug and she just shrugged up at him. Kira toddled over to him and he picked her up and tossed her into the air. It was currently her favorite game and he was more than happy to do it as it always elicited a burst of giggles. "How's everyone?"
"They're doing good, a little worried about the whole ranger academy thing, but good," Martha said as Tommy grimaced. He wanted to keep their families out of it, but he knew that might not be possible. Part of the reason he was out here WAS to talk to ranger families about their children joining the Academy. "How is it going to work?"
"We're building the curriculum as we go. Luckily- we've got some great help in that department," Tommy said as he tried to give her a smile, but failed. "They do get a choice about starting and continuing the training, but…"
"But Power Ranger children are some of the best candidates to be future rangers," Martha supplied and Tommy barely nodded. "When it's Marjorie's time…"
"I'm hoping we'll start to see more candidates before it would be her time. She's got a couple of years still," Tommy said as Jay toddled over to him and he squatted down to pick him up as well.
"What about your kids?" Martha asked as Tommy let out a shaky breath as he looked down at each of his children. He knew how important his family was to the Power Rangers continuing to be successful and as much as he wanted to keep them out of the pool, he knew he couldn't. He knew that there was a high chance that all of his kids would be rangers at some point in time. "Tommy."
"My family…there's more than one reason it was really important that Kimberly and I survive," Tommy whispered and he then shook his head. "You didn't come here to talk about ranger things with me. We should enjoy the party and just know that Marjorie has several more years before she'd even be considered for it."
"You call me when it's time- I'll take care of everyone else," Martha stated as she patted his shoulder and then returned to the party. Tommy looked down to see that both toddlers had curled into him and were soundly asleep. As much as he wanted to go put them down, he knew better than to disturb them and instead settled for finding a couch. He watched as his dad walked around, smiling and laughing with all of his friends and family. He hoped he would get this in his future, but for now- he was happy to have two sleeping toddlers on his chest and his wife sound asleep in the back room.
"Hey baby," Tommy whispered as he cracked the door open and saw that she was still soundly asleep. He didn't want to wake her up, but he knew her getting too hungry would mean him getting up in the middle of the night to make something. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her and she rolled towards him. "Hey."
"Mmmmm….what time is it?" He caught her as she stretched into him, but was dangerously close to the edge of the bed. Her arms looped around him and she settled her head in his lap. He didn't often see her this tired and he tried to hide his smile. He knew that she would not understand how he could possibly view her as cute right now. "Tommyyyyy."
"It's almost ten. There's still some food out- do you want me to bring you a plate?" He steadied her as she sat up and then gave him a kiss. She then sank into him again and nodded against his chest. "You're going to have to let me get back up."
"No," Kim pouted against his chest and he chuckled. She was properly pregnant tired and also at the point where she just wanted him to hold her. He didn't mind that one bit, but the twins definitely did and he had taken to stealing moments with her most afternoons between academy lessons and his dojo classes.
"I'll be right back." Tommy kissed her forehead before he laid her back down in bed. He heard her grumble, but knew she was glad that she didn't have to get up and walk.
"She hungry?" Russell asked as Tommy gave his father a look as he loaded up a couple of plates. "You're eating too?"
"Jay and Kira scarfed down most of what I put on my plate before I went to put them to bed," Tommy said with a laugh as he looked over at his dad and caught the look on his face. His mom was normally the one that had sappy looks on her face, but the handful of times he had seen it with his dad, what he said next always shocked him. "What?"
"I'm just glad that you're this happy. There was a bit there…after everyone else…I didn't know if we'd ever see you truly happy again," Russell admitted as Tommy gulped. His dad knew exactly where to hit him when it came to these talks, even though they didn't have them often. "She's really good for you. They're good for you. And it's just nice to see you like this again."
"It's good to be like this…to have her…" Tommy hastily put down the plates and wiped his eyes. His parents knew about the other prophetess being killed and they were the only ones that knew how much it had shaken him. Kimberly had an idea, but it was just different with her. He didn't feel like he could tell her how much more worried he was now than he had ever been. In the past, this was stuff he would have talked about with Jason and they would have come up with some sort of plan. There was no Jason to talk to anymore. There was just his parents and Kimberly. And while that was enough most days, there were some days when he needed more than them. "After the years we didn't talk and then the hell we went through- there's days when I don't know how she's stuck with me."
"That love doesn't only go one way, Tommy. That's how," Russell said as he gave him a hug and then put a piece of cake on each plate. "I have a feeling that son of yours is going to ask for cake."
"Probably. I better get back or she's going to be so solidly passed out that I won't be able to get her to wake up," Tommy said as Russell just nodded. He watched as his son grabbed a bottle of water and then disappeared again.
"Gayle," Russell muttered as she stepped out from the hallway and gave him a smile. She hadn't wanted to interrupt the moment, but also couldn't walk away when she heard what they were saying. "I'm just glad our boy is happy."
"Me too. Me too."