Power Rangers 1. Chapter 1

Six years flew by as Tommy and Kimberly attended college and finished within six months of each other, mainly due to the fact that Kim had to forego her first semester because she was still recovering from the disease that she had battled for more than a year. Tommy had his degree, surprisingly, in paleontology and Kim had a degree in childhood physical therapy. They were happy together, giving up the wild nights that most experienced during college for nights alone in the comfort of each other's embrace. Leukemia had left Kim weak for the first several months of their marriage, but her strength slowly came back and although she still tired out before he did, it was nothing like what it had been at first. That night, as she set the table for supper, neither of them knew just how much their lives were about to change, again.

"Kim!" Tommy called as he walked in the front door and placed his bag on the floor before loosening his tie and slipping off his shoes. He had finished his master's a few months earlier and was working on his doctorate. They had both been fortunate enough to get full-rides to college, but it was rough living with only one paycheck and he could tell that the stress got to Kim sometimes, but she never said anything about it. She knew that he would have a job soon enough, when the doctorate was finished. He still didn't feel like it was right and that was why he had started looking for a job again, just to help get them by until he could really provide for them.

"In the kitchen!" Kim yelled as he smiled and walked over to his second favorite room in their house. This house that they lived in they had built themselves over the past two years and although it was still a work in progress, it cost them a lot less to live here than renting a place and building at the same time. "How was it today?"

"I found a job that is willing to let me work on my doctorate and hire me before it is done," Tommy said as she turned around to face him and threw her arms around him in excitement. She knew that he had been trying to do this for a long time, but most jobs insisted that he have the doctorate before they would even look at him. "It's at Reefside High School."

"You're going to be a teacher?" Kim asked, incredulously, as Tommy barely nodded his head yes and she just shook her own. She couldn't really believe it, but it would make things easier on them and that was what he was trying to do right now and she knew that. They wanted to start a family, but he could not see them doing that if she was the only one working. "Well, I guess we will have to start working on getting your classroom together soon."

"But not before we celebrate our anniversary right," Tommy said as he kissed her on the cheek and then pulled out a box from his back pocket.

"We said no presents this year," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. "Tommy…"

"It's not much and I saved up for it because I couldn't stand the thought of you getting nothing," Tommy said as Kim kissed him on the cheek and she then walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a small box of her own. "Hold on…"

"It didn't cost anything Tommy, so it's not really a present," Kim said as he looked over at her expectantly and she realized that he was not going to open his present until she had opened hers. She quickly undid the wrapping paper and smiled when she pulled out the charm bracelet, which had several charms filled in, but room for many more to be added. "Thank you...now it's your turn."  
"It's really light," Tommy said as he tore open the paper and then opened the box to find a stick with a plus sign on it. He knew that it looked familiar, but he was not sure why. "Am I missing something?"

"It's a pregnancy test Tommy," Kim said as he looked over at her and he begged her to tell him that what he was thinking was not right. It was not that he didn't want kids, he just didn't want to get his hopes up. "I'm about eight weeks pregnant…according to the doctors."

"Kim…" Tommy whispered as he threw both of his arms around her and held her close. "When?"  
"This morning, one of the other therapists made me go," Kim said, bashfully, as she looked down at the floor and then back up at him. "Dr. Calloway wants me to come back in next week so that he can do some more thorough tests and an ultrasound, but other than that he just gave me vitamins."

"Have you told anyone?" Tommy asked as Kim shook her head no. Her co-workers didn't really count, since she knew the only people that mattered to him were the people that they had once been rangers with and their parents.

"You should be the first one to know, it's only right," Kim said as he reached down between them and placed a hand on her stomach and just smiled. "Come on, I'm hungry."

"Am I going to have to hear that for the next eight months?" Tommy joked as Kim shook her head no.

"You were a little bit late tonight, so I'm just hungry, it's got nothing to do with the baby," Kim said as he picked up his plate and headed for the living room, with her right behind him.

"Well, I guess it was more than a fifty/fifty chance," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She had never been on birth control during their marriage and Tommy had only worn a condom every now and then, and they had only consciously started trying about three months ago. She didn't view that as luck, she viewed it as something else entirely.

"We may have just gotten lucky, Tommy. Let's face it, we've been married for six years and I've never been on birth control, odds are I would have gotten pregnant before now," Kim said as Tommy just looked over at her.

"So it could be luck either way Kim, but it's ours and that's all that I care about," Tommy said as she leaned over to give him a hug and then felt him kiss her on the forehead. "When do you think we should tell our parents?"

"They're coming up tomorrow evening, we can just tell them about all of it then. There's no use in calling them tonight just to have to see them tomorrow," Kim said as Tommy nodded. He was not sure what she was going to be up to tonight, considering what this day must have taken out of her. Admittedly, he was tired, but he knew that it did not truly compare to what she was feeling. She kept up a pretty solid front in front of him, but he knew that emotional days like today took more out of her than any others. "I'm all right, Tommy."

"I know, but I worry about you anyway," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head and reached over him for the remote. They both were tired from their days and an evening in front of the television in peace was what they most needed. That, however, was not what they were going to get as five minutes into CSI both of their cell phones rang simultaneously.

"Hello?" Kim said picking her phone up off the table and waiting for the other person to respond.

"I got her!" Jason yelled as Kim looked over at Tommy. That did not sound good and she could not help but wonder why Jason was yelling to other people that he was on the phone with her. "Put me on speaker phone, we need to talk to the both of you."  
"Who is we?" Kim asked as she did as he asked and Tommy's phone stopped ringing.

"Me, Kat, Billy, Trini, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Zack, basically any of the rangers that you ever worked with," Jason said as Kim looked over at Tommy who closed his eyes and placed his plate on the coffee table along with hers. Neither of them liked the way this sounded and they both knew what might come next.

"Fire away, Jase," Tommy said as he leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes.

"We have a problem, history is about to repeat itself," Jason said as Tommy barely opened his eyes and looked over at Kim who was shaking her head in denial. This could not be happening now, not when they were about to start a family.

"What history is about to repeat itself?" Tommy asked as Kim stood and walked to the back portion of the room, so that she could stare out into the woods. She knew what was coming next and she knew what they were about to ask of Tommy. That was the only reason that they were calling here tonight, on their anniversary.

"The way we became rangers is about to repeat itself, maybe not exactly, but pretty damn close," Billy said as Tommy did a double take, confused that Billy had just sworn. "Zordon mentioned it to me years ago and I never really gave it a second thought until a couple of months ago when we came up to Reefside to work on the teleportation base in your basement. The mentor, he said, would be a former ranger. The rangers would be teenagers, just like us, pulled into it not by their own choosing, but by mere coincidence. The monster will have the same obsession with Earth that Rita and Zedd did, the powers will be similar, they'll be dinosaur based. Tommy, we think that it's going to be you and we think that it is going to happen very soon."

"What would possibly make you think that?" Tommy asked as Kim looked back at him and he gave her a sympathetic glance as she sat down in one of the chairs that faced the outdoors.

"Kim wouldn't by any chance be pregnant would she?" Billy asked as they heard something being dropped and Tommy swearing as he jumped up to try to wipe the water off of him before he was thoroughly soaked. As their eyes met she barely nodded, telling him to go on and ask what he needed to know, because she honestly didn't trust her mouth to say those words.

"How did you know?" Tommy asked as Billy just shook his head. That had been the one thing that they had hoped not to hear, because it sealed their fate, it tied them to these new rangers, whoever they might be and put them in a world of danger.

"We went digging around the Command Center today, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle, that was when we discovered the actual account that Zordon gave, saved to the main platform. It hadn't crossed my mind that I might have forgotten something, but obviously, I had and obviously it was really important," Billy said as Tommy just hung his head and covered his eyes. He now had no doubt that this night would end in them just going to bed, instead of any sort of romantic interlude. Neither of them held back from the other, but on nights like this, he knew better than to try.

"Shit," Tommy swore under his breath as he just shook his head. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I can't tell you when or even how, but I can tell you it will be soon," Billy said as Tommy nodded and willed himself to look over at Kim, who had silent tears streaming down her face. He hated that this was happening to them, he hated that she had just had one more thing placed on her shoulders, he hated that he couldn't make this stop. He knew she understood but for once that was not good enough, for once he wanted her to tell him that he couldn't do this, but he knew she wouldn't. He knew that she would be there beside him, when they started taking care of the next set of rangers. "I'm going to let you go and by the way, happy anniversary."

"Thanks," Tommy said hanging up as he stood and walked over to Kimberly and wrapped his arms around her as the sobs finally broke loose and she cried on his shoulder.

"This isn't fair, Tommy," Kim cried as he gently stroked her back and just held onto her tight. There was nothing more that he could to do make her feel better about this, but it would be just fine. They would make it through this, they had to.

"I know, but we'll be fine, I promise," Tommy said as he kissed her on the cheek and slowly pulled back from her, giving her plenty of time to cling to him if she needed it. "Come on, let's go to bed and pretend this never happened."  
"I'm really tired," Kim whispered as he just nodded and smiled that smile of his that said he already knew that.

"I didn't say let's go have sex, you need some rest baby and so do I," Tommy said as he picked her up and carried her down the hall to their bedroom. One day it would be upstairs, but for right now, it was situated at the back corner of the house, next to a small room, that would soon become a nursery. "Happy anniversary, Kim, I hope that it wasn't too bad."

"It was fine Tommy," Kim said as she watched him strip down to his boxers as she put on a silk nightgown and climbed into bed next to him. "I think we got a pretty good present for it."

"Yeah, so do I," Tommy whispered as he placed his arms around her and settled his hands on her stomach as she snuggled against him. Although it was not what they had expected, it was a very normal day for the Oliver's. Sadly, they had both hoped that this sort of 'normal' day would never return.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tommy, let me up," Kim murmured as she tried to push his arm off of her, but he just held her closer and she fought the urge to throw up all over him. She had had occasional morning sickness so far, but this morning it had hit full force and she needed Tommy to move, quickly. He, however, was oblivious of how she felt as he continued dreaming. "Tommy…"

"Mornin'," Tommy whispered as he gave her a kiss on the cheek and noticed that she was desperately trying to push his arms off of her.

"I'm gonna throw up," Kim whispered as he let go of her and she jumped over him and ran for the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet as she threw up and looked over to the side to see him standing in the doorway. As she hung her head over the toilet, she felt a cool rag on the back of her neck and tried to fight the urge, before she threw up again.

"I'm sorry," Tommy whispered as she looked back at him and swallowed the throw up that had been making its way up her throat. She did not wish to have it happen again. He had taken care of her too many times when she was hunched over a toilet like this, he shouldn't have to do it again. "How many mornings has it been like this?"

"The last week has been pretty bad, not this bad, but bad enough. That's why Mandy made me go take a test yesterday," Kim said as she closed her eyes and felt herself being picked up. It was Saturday and Tommy had no intentions of making her go anywhere that she did not wish to go today. With their parents coming up tonight, he knew that there were certain things that she needed to prepare, but he was going to try to get her to let him do it instead. She needed rest, he was sure about that and he knew that this was the only way that she would get any. "I'll be fine in a little bit."  
"I know, but while you're getting over that, I'm going to fix some breakfast and bring it back here," Tommy said as she smiled over at him and he kissed her on the cheek. "Sleep, rest, read, do whatever you want, but you have to relax."

"Am I going to have to expect this out of you for the next eight months?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she just shook her head as she laughed. He had always been a little bit overprotective, but it was nice to not have to worry about a thing right now and that was something that she needed after last night. She was shocked enough that she was pregnant and even more shocked that that somehow made the two of them the next mentors for a ranger team. It just didn't seem to add up in her mind that those two things would even be related, but somehow they were and as she reached over to her nightstand for her notebook she sighed. Life never seemed to give them what they wanted, but they always got through it somehow.

"It's not much," Tommy said as he walked by in twenty minutes later and spotted her on the bed with a book in hand and his pillow hugged to her chest. He then placed the tray on the bed between the two of them and she smiled up at him. He had known to stay away from anything that might be remotely spicy or upsetting for her stomach and had cooked toast, cheese grits, eggs, and bacon, although she doubted the bacon was for her as it made her stomach reel.

"You really are too good sometimes Tommy," Kim said as she gave him a kiss and he reluctantly pulled away as he walked over to the closet to dig out some old jeans and a t-shirt. "Where are you going?"

"No where, I need to mow the lawn in a little bit and then I'll help you with whatever you need help with," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. "Don't Kim, I'm scared to death about what is about to happen and if it does I don't want anything to happen to you and the baby."

"I know," Kim said as she saw Tommy wipe his eyes and he quickly pulled on his jeans and then threw on the t-shirt before climbing back into bed with her and taking a piece of toast as well as a couple of strips of bacon. "I knew that bacon wasn't for me."  
"Yeah, I have to have a little bit of meat," Tommy said as she picked up a plate and then slid her bacon onto his.

"I just need the belly so that I don't have to balance this in my hands," Kim said as she pretended to 'sit' the plate on her non-existent stomach and Tommy chuckled. He could almost imagine her sitting there like that in a few months and could not help but smile. This was the life that he had been searching for all his life and with her everything was complete. He had never even thought of someone else to be his one and only and he knew that was a rare thing nowadays.

"You'll get that in time," Tommy said as she nodded and reached over to brush a stray strand of his hair off of his forehead. It was times like this when she was reminded of why she had always loved Tommy and why she had married him fresh out of high school. He knew her, he knew the things that made her tick and just like the breakfast that he had made to suite her needs, he did that in every aspect of their lives together. "What are you thinking?"

"Why I love you," Kim said, simply, while Tommy pushed himself up in to a seated position and scooted over next to her before pulling her into his side. "It's just surreal sometimes, Tommy."  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tommy said looking down at her and then giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Can I do something weird?"

"Like what?" Kim asked as she looked up at him and he gave her a sheepish grin.

"It's just something that I've always wanted to do when you were pregnant," Tommy said as she barely nodded and he gently pulled away her plate and place it on the nightstand, along with the other food before he gently pulled up her teddy to reveal her flat stomach and he quietly laid his head against it. She watched him curiously as he whispered words that she could not hear before kissing her stomach and then slowly working his way upward until he kissed her gently on the lips.

"I don't think you're cutting the grass anytime soon," Kim whispered as she started working at the button on his jeans and he stared down at her.

"When will I…" Tommy trailed off as she pulled his shirt off and then quickly got rid of her teddy.

"Later," Kim said, firmly, as she pulled him into a strong kiss and he wrapped his arms around her and flipped them to where she was on top, partially because he was always afraid of crushing her and now partially because of the baby growing inside of her as well.

* * *

"Tommy, Kimberly, how are you?" Charlotte asked as Tommy opened the door and she gave both of them hugs in turn. Every once in awhile they got together up here, away from the hectic pace of things in Angel Grove and they always enjoyed it immensely.

"We're doing good, her parents are in the living room if you want to go join them," Tommy said as Charlotte looked over at him and then at Kimberly before just shaking her head. Something was going on here, she was just not sure what it was. "Hey Dad."

"It's good to see you two," Daren said as he reached over and gave Kim a hug before turning back to his son. "How is the job search going?"

"We have a lot of things to tell you tonight, we'll get around to my job then," Tommy said as his father nodded. It had always bothered him that Kim was having to foot most of the bills while Tommy continued his education. He knew that the two of them were perfectly happy, but it was rough and living paycheck to paycheck was not something that he liked to see from his son.

"Kim, honey, you look tired," Melody said as Kim sank down into the most comfortable chair in the living room as Tommy sat down on the armrest. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine Mom, really," Kim said as she leaned her head against Tommy's leg and closed her eyes. She hadn't felt great all day today and had actually taken Tommy up on his offer to let him do most of the stuff needed. He knew that she just needed some more rest now than usual and after they went to the doctor next week things would be spelt out more clearly about what she would and would not have to do.

"I heard you mention news, what kind of news?" Eric asked as Tommy looked down at Kim and she just nodded that he could go ahead.

"Well, we have a couple of things to tell you. First I got a job at Reefside High School teaching science and second, you're all going to be grandparents soon," Tommy said as Charlotte and Melody's mouths dropped open as they both struggled to find words while the fathers simply gave the both of them a good look before nodding their approval, although it was just a little bit late for that.

"Are you sure that you are even in any condition to carry a child?" Melody asked as Kim picked up her head and stared over at her. She had not thought that her mother would ask that sort of question, she thought she'd ask all the normal grandparent-to-be questions. "I don't mean that I don't want you to have children, it's just with your health."  
"I'm fine Mom, I've been in remission for six years. We asked before we started trying and the doctor told us that he saw no reason for us not to," Kim said as Melody just nodded.

"I'm really going to be a grandmother?" Charlotte finally asked as Tommy smiled over at her and nodded his head yes. "I can't believe it."

"Is anyone else hungry?" Daren asked as Charlotte looked back at him and he shrugged. He had not had a decent meal today and he was looking forward to something that he did not have to worry about cooking himself.

"Don't you worry, we'll eat soon enough," Charlotte said as she rose from her chair and walked over to give Kim another hug. "I always knew that somehow you'd be the one who would carry my grandchildren."

"Dad?" Kim asked as he had yet to say anything and she waited, afraid of what he might say.

"I'm just reminiscing about finding out that you were going to be born," Eric said as he smiled over at her. "The two of you will make great parents."

"Yeah, that's what we've been told," Tommy muttered as Eric just shook his head. "Come on, into the kitchen, I don't like to keep hungry people waiting."

"It's only your father," Charlotte said as Tommy shook his head that that was not the truth. "Well who else?"

"Me," Kim said as she gave her a sheepish smile. "I haven't been able to hold much down today, but I'm actually hungry now."

"Honey, you know that you are going to have to work on all of that," Melody said as Kim nodded her head that she knew. She knew she would have to gain weight and didn't think it would be a problem.

"You're going to be teaching?" Charlotte asked as that part of the confession came back to mind and Tommy barely nodded his head that that was the truth. "Who was stupid enough to let you do that?"

"Charlie," Daren said as he saw the glint in her eyes and could tell that she was just picking at Tommy.

"Some Principal Randall, she didn't seem to mind that I didn't major in education. She was actually just happy that I knew enough about the subject to be able to teach it," Tommy said as Charlie nodded and then dug into her food along with the rest.

"This is good Kim," Melody said as Kim laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I didn't cook any of it," Kim said as every eye shifted to Tommy, whom they were all sure only had the ability to burn water before this very moment. "He's a better cook than any of you would ever guess."

"I'd say," Melody said as she nodded her head towards Tommy, who merely shrugged. He had done this to help Kim out and he didn't mind it, it actually kept his mind off of what had been said last night, which he and Kim had yet to truly talk about.

* * *

"You seem like you have a lot on your mind son," Daren said as Tommy looked over at him and shook his head that it was nothing, although he knew his father didn't believe it. He had come to terms with the fact that his parents probably knew about him being a ranger all those years ago, but he did not dare to say anything about what was about to happen, now that things were about to happen again.

"I've just had a lot of things on my mind lately," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and grabbed his hand silently. He just squeezed her hand and most of the others at the table did not notice any of it, except Tommy's mother.

"Like what Tommy?" Charlotte asked as he looked over at her and shook his head that he didn't want to talk about it. "Tommy…"

"It's been rough for him to get a job and it's been stressful, but everything will be fine," Kim said quickly as Charlotte studied Tommy and then went back to her food. They would definitely talk about this later on tonight, but she did not want to ask about it in front of Kim's parents. She doubted that they knew anything about their daughter's past life as a Power Ranger.

"So, how far along are you?" Melody asked and the conversation from then on out was steered towards the baby that they had just found out about and what exactly they planned to do with their lives from then on out.

"Tommy, what's really going on?" Charlotte asked as Eric and Melody had left heading on their own ways a few minutes earlier and she felt it safe to ask.

"Mom, don't worry about it, it's nothing that we can't handle," Tommy said as Kim was cleaning up in the kitchen as she talked with Daren, who seemed to know that Charlotte was going to interrogate Tommy at the first chance that she got.

"I do worry about it Tommy, there are things in your life that scare me," Charlotte said as Kim and Daren walked in with Kim carrying a bowl of strawberries, still not quite full from their meal.

"It's nothing worse than what we've faced in the past," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and then back at Charlie.

"It wouldn't hurt to tell them," Kim said as Tommy shook his head that he could not do that. "If you won't I will, Tommy. They already know about us being rangers, they've done a pretty good job with that secret if you ask me."

"Okay," Tommy said looking up at his parents and taking in a deep breath. "There is a chance that history is about to repeat itself and that we'll be the mentors to the new team."

"How soon are we talking about Tommy?" Charlotte asked as Tommy shrugged. He didn't know and even if he did, he didn't see how it would make things any better on the two of them. "You don't think it's going to be eight months do you?"

"No, I don't," Tommy said as Kim reached over for his hand and he gently took hers in his and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Are you okay?" Charlotte asked looking over at Kim as she nodded that she was fine. "I guess that there is nothing that we can do about this, is there?"

"No, things have been set into motion that we can't change and I don't want the two of you involved. It's enough that…" Tommy trailed off as he looked over at Kim. They all knew what he was thinking and he did not have to verbalize it to get his point across.

"Come on Charlie, we need to get on the road back home, it's going to be late enough as it is when we get in," Daren said as Charlotte barely nodded. She could tell that Kim and Tommy had not really talked about this and it seemed that they were just trying to avoid it and she did not blame them at all for that, but she knew that they were going to have to talk about it sooner or later and she had the horrible feeling that it would be tonight.

"I'm not ready for this," Kim whispered as he reached over and took a strawberry from her.

"I don't really want to have to deal with this either, but we'll be okay, Kim," Tommy said as she wiped her eyes and he reached over and just pulled her into his lap. "I didn't ask for this to happen."

"I know, neither of us did, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened and we're going to have to deal with this and having a baby and building the house…" Kim trailed off as he looked up at her and she found the pity in his eyes and felt his lips on hers as she struggled with her emotions.

"We will be fine, you let me worry about the house and the rangers. You just worry about that baby you're carrying," Tommy said as she smiled down at him as he gently rubbed her stomach. There was nothing that would even hint that she was pregnant yet, but it soothed her nonetheless to know that he cared so much for this child. "You tired?"

"Just a little bit," Kim said with a yawn as he stood up with her still in his arms and walked to their bedroom. He had every intention of laying her down in bed and then walking back out, because he needed to work on some things. However, he found himself far too tempted as she removed her clothing to put on a nightgown in its place. The work would still be there in the morning, so he climbed into bed with her, slipped his arms around her and quickly fell asleep. It was the last peaceful night that the two of them were to have for a very long time, but no one would have ever known that by looking at them.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who would be calling so early?" Tommy muttered as he picked up the phone and managed a groggy hello. He honestly just wanted to throw it out the window, but he doubted Kim would appreciate having to repair something else in this house.

"Hey, it's Billy, we're on our way up to help you with a Command Center, we'll be there in about an hour," Billy said as Tommy let out a groan and then looked over to make sure that he had not woken Kim up. He wanted her to get as much rest as she could before she woke up, he had the feeling that every minute was going to count later on. The morning sickness probably wasn't going to wear off for several months and from what he had heard now was the most important time for her and the baby. This was when things needed to be stress free, or as stress free as they could be for the wife of a Power Ranger mentor.

"Couldn't you have called last night and told me this?" Tommy asked as he walked out of the bedroom and gently closed the door behind him.

"No, not really, we were still getting together all of the necessary materials," Jason said as Tommy just let out a sigh. He could not believe that this was happening to them and that their friends seemed so gun-ho, willing to help out at every turn when all he wanted was for them to tell them that there had been a misunderstanding and that they were not going to be working with a ranger team after all. "And could you have Kim cook some breakfast for us?"

"You're better off stopping somewhere on the way and picking it up to-go, she's probably not going to feel too hot when she wakes up and the smell of food makes her feel sick," Tommy said as Jason just let out a sigh.

"All right, that will delay us up to a half hour, but if you think its best…" Jason trailed off as Tommy heard Kimberly scramble out of bed and then retch over the toilet.

"It is, but I gotta go," Tommy said, hanging up as he threw the phone down on the couch and walked back to their room. He found her in the same condition that she had been in the morning before, only this time, if possible, she looked worse. She was pale and her hands were shaking. He had seen her like this before, but it was only after she had chemo treatments. "Stay still sweetie."

"Where were you?" Kim asked before she threw up again and he walked over to the sink to wet a rag and grab a ponytail holder for her hair.

"I got a phone call from Billy and I was hoping that you would stay asleep long enough for me to creep back in and lay back down," Tommy said as Kim shook her head, trying to reorient herself. "Do you want anything for breakfast?"

"Not right now, I'll get something after my stomach has settled down," Kim said as she forced herself to stand and walked over to the shower and turned it on. "What was the call about?"

"They're on their way up here to work on the basement I guess," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him and he held up his hands in his own defense. "It wasn't my idea, they were already on their way when he called."

"I'm going to kill them," Kim said as he nodded that he would certainly allow her to do that if she wished. He was not thrilled at the idea of spending a Sunday working on a Command Center that he was not even certain they would need.

"I won't stop you," Tommy said as she stripped off her clothes and climbed into the shower. He turned and walked back to the kitchen to fix breakfast for the both of them, hoping that she would be up to eating after the shower. If not, he would have a good breakfast for himself.

"Hey guys!" Trini said brightly as she walked in the front door and received a cold glare from Tommy. "What's wrong?"

"Don't you dare act like you don't know what's wrong," Tommy said as Trini stared at him. Tommy rarely was in a mood like this one, but when he was all of his friends knew to just give him some room and he would usually work it out in a couple of hours.

"It's just a little ranger team for you to look after, it's no big deal. It's not like you haven't done worse than this in the past," Trini said as she felt another glare hit her and looked over to see Kim standing in the living room in a pair of loose sweat pants and a t-shirt that was definitely at least ten years old. Kim was pissed, there was no other way to describe it and Trini could easily see how Tommy was in such a bad mood. "We are going to help you."

"Tri…just stop, you're digging yourself a hole that you aren't going to be able to get out of," Kim said as Trini shrugged before waving the others in, who had wished to avoid Kim and Tommy's nasty moods, but they were not going to be that lucky. It seemed that neither of them was going to let up on this, in hope that it would all be taken back after they all saw exactly how against it they were.

"Hey guys," Jason said as he got a double glare and he then looked over at Trini. She was supposed to calm them down enough that none of them would have to endure this sort of treatment.

"I tried, but they aren't buying the bull crap," Trini said as Jason just sighed and headed for the kitchen so that he could go downstairs. He knew better than to try to deal with Kimberly or Tommy when they were in this kind of mood. "Is there anything that we can do?"

"Tell us that the prediction isn't true," Kim said as Trini just shook her head that she couldn't and Kim just shook her head. That was the only thing that was going to make her feel any better, but none of them could say it without lying to them. No, they didn't think it was right that their two most experienced and tried rangers should have to do this, but who else could say that they had been through everything that they had gone through and that they made it out to the other side all right? That was what these kids were going to need and that was why all the other rangers had been ruled out so quickly. They just didn't have the stuff that it would take to make these rangers understand it all.

"I'm afraid that you can't help us then," Tommy said as he passed Kim a plate and she smiled up at him before sitting down in the living room and eating the food.

"You couldn't fix us anything?" Billy asked as Tommy glared at him and he quickly turned and walked downstairs. None of them wanted to piss them off anymore than they could help. They were going to need them to be at the top of their game when it came time to train the rangers. From what information they had been able to dig out, they knew that it was going to be one hell of a fight and it was a fight that they must win.

"They don't seem to be taking this well," Rocky said as Aisha looked back at him with a look that clearly let him know how she felt. "Sorry for stating the obvious, but I really couldn't help it."

"I wouldn't be too happy myself if I heard that I was going to be in charge of a ranger team and on top of that my wife is pregnant. They haven't had it really easy, but I'm sure everything will be fine once it's all settled down some," Jason said as he reached for Kat's hand.

"Yeah, but how long will it take them to settle down? We can't be waiting for that," Billy said as he sneezed. It was obvious to him that Tommy had not come down here since the last time that they had worked here and that had been forced upon them as well.

"I think they'll come around when the team is put together, but until then, I don't really see it happening. I wouldn't blame them if they were holding out for no team showing up, it would definitely be easier on them," Trini said as they all looked over at her.

"Come on, they wouldn't think that we're pulling their leg, do you?" Aisha asked as Trini shook her head no. She knew that Tommy and Kim knew that they were serious about this, but there was nothing else that they could do to really make them accept their fate. "Then what is it?"

"They still have hope, a hope that they can have a normal life together," Kat said as Aisha just shook her head. She loved the both of them, but she knew that it was slightly unrealistic that they would ever have a completely normal life again, but she definitely understood them wanting it. It was something that she had wanted more than anything in the world for years, but she had come to terms with the fact that she was never going to have it, like most rangers she was going to be stuck in this life for a very long time to come.

"It's not going to happen," Aisha said as the others nodded.

"But you can't force someone to realize something like that, you just have to let them discover it on their own," Billy said as Kim and Tommy walked down the stairs, both in old clothes, ready to work.

"Okay, someone needs to crawl under and work," Billy said as they all looked around the room and their eyes landed on Kim. She was the only one that was small enough to comfortably fit in there.

"Do you have any idea how stressful this is?" Kim asked as she crawled down under into the steel tubing to connect whatever needed to be connected, although she could not understand why she was picked.

"We know, but the two of you can handle it," Trini said looking back over at Tommy, who was still wondering how Kim had been elected to crawl around under there in the first place. Hadn't they mentioned that she was pregnant?

"And a baby at the same time?" Kim asked as none of them responded. They knew all too well that there was no correct answer to that question, no matter what they said. "That's what I thought."  
"But the prophecy makes it clear that certain conditions must be met and now the two of you have met them," Billy said as Tommy passed Kim's waving hand a wrench.

"Why didn't Zordon tell us himself? Why did he only tell you?" Kim fired away as Billy looked over at Trini for some help, but she was refusing to look anywhere besides the floor. She had wondered that herself and had not been able to make much sense out of it anyway.

"I don't think Zordon knew who it would be, he merely thought that people from our team of rangers fit the mold of the prophecy," Billy said as Kim stuck her head back out and glared at him.

"So why did you only remember it now?" Kim asked, almost viciously, as she snatched the part from Billy. "And I don't understand why I have to be the one crawling around."

"Things started to fall into place a couple of years ago. You moved away from Angel Grove, Tommy got a job and you found out you were pregnant. In any other order we would just be laughing at a stupid prophecy," Billy said as Kim looked for the nearest metal object to throw at him. "You're going to need me to finish this, Kim."

"She was already pregnant before I got the job," Tommy said hoping against all hope that this statement would make the entire prophecy untrue and that their friends would turn this into a day of celebration or something that was not in the least bit stressful.

"You got the job before you knew that she was pregnant. Until that moment, she was not pregnant in your mind," Billy said as Tommy sighed and Kim crawled back out. "We're not done."

"I am, someone else can do this since we'll be mentoring your precious rangers," Kim said as she stretched out her back and Billy let out a sigh.

None of them had thought that they would take it this badly, but they could almost understand it. They had been bombarded over the last couple of days with this news as well as the fact that Kim was pregnant and that Tommy had a new job. None of them could say what they would do, but they all knew that Kim and Tommy would reach deep down when the time came to build up the next ranger team.


	4. Chapter 4

The first day of school rolled around with an odd sort of anticipation. Some of the students had seen the young science teacher in his classroom and had only thought about whether or not they would be lucky enough to be in his class. The principal highly encouraged him to participate in the extracurricular activities of the school, but Tommy had to politely decline. He honestly had far too much work to do at home without worrying about a sports team to coach.

"Have a good day Tommy," Kim said giving him a hug before walking out the front door. She had to be off to work and knew he would be leaving soon as well.

"I'll try, how late are you working today?" Tommy asked as he grabbed his bag and then locked the front door behind him.

"I think that I'll be off around four, it just depends on how many kids come in today," Kim said as Tommy nodded. She was roughly four months pregnant now and he could barely see a bump starting to form under her scrubs, but only when he looked at it the right way. To most people, it would just look like she was gaining some weight, not that she was nearly four months pregnant.

"Okay, I'll probably beat you home, but that's all right," Tommy said giving her another hug before pulling himself up into his jeep. They had long given up on her ever taking his jeep anywhere and now that she was starting to have a difficult time maneuvering that way, they took her car everywhere that they could. He couldn't help but smile as he saw the small changes every day. This was what he had dreamed of having and what he desperately needed to keep him on the right track. "Have a good day sweetie."

"I will," Kim whispered as he pulled out of the driveway and watched Kim climb into her car in the rearview mirror. He was worried about this day, but he was sure that everything would work out all right, if it didn't then he was just going to have to work at this teaching thing until he got it down.

"Good morning," Tommy said as he entered his already full classroom. "Am I late?"  
"Nope, we just wanted to find our homeroom early," Cassidy said with a smile and a wink as Tommy just sighed. Part of the reason that he had stayed away from education until now was the fact that he knew teenage girls would hit on him for no good reason. Hopefully these girls would get the point once they saw his wedding band, but he knew that some kids wouldn't, no matter what he did.

"You know, they didn't tell me anything about that," Tommy said as he sat down and just shook his head. "But I guess we should start with some basics."  
"Your golden rules or something?" Cassidy asked as Tommy shook his head no.

"You'll get that in class, what I mean is that you can ask some questions about me because you are going to have to deal with me for the rest of the year," Tommy said as Cassie's hand shot up in the air.

"How old are you?" Cassidy asked as Tommy held in a laugh.

"24," Tommy answered as another girl raised her hand.

"Where do you live?" Tina asked as Tommy noticed several girls taking out a piece of paper.

"At 224 Nickerson Dr.," Tommy said, waiting for the inevitable question that would stop all of these questions. He had purposefully chosen not to spread the word that he was married before school started. He wanted the kids to find out from him and not try to figure out ways that they would be able to keep him away from her right away.

"Are you single?" Cassidy asked as Tommy held up his left hand to show them all his wedding band. Several of the girls faces fell and he had to keep himself from smiling too broadly.

"I've been married for six years," Tommy said as he dug into his back pocket for his wallet and the picture of Kim he always carried with him. It had been taken a couple of years ago and it was one of his favorite pictures of her. She just looked so happy and no one could ever tell by looking at it exactly how sick she had been only a few short years before, of course he neatly folded himself out of the picture. He did not need to see anymore of himself than necessary. "You can pass it around as long as I get it back."

"She's pretty," Kira murmured looking up at Mr. Oliver as he smiled. "You have any kids?"  
"She's four months pregnant with our first," Tommy said as Kira smiled.

"Why'd you wait so long?" Cassidy asked as Kira glared daggers at her, but Tommy decided to answer the question any way. They might as well know the truth about why he would be out so often. Kim still had to have blood drawn every so often to insure that she was still in remission and he rarely missed those appointments and Ms. Randall had agreed to that as part of the terms for hiring him.

"She had leukemia throughout our senior year and we both wanted to make sure she was in remission before we had any kids," Tommy said as Cassidy's jaw dropped. She had not expected it to be something like that, she had expected problems with their fertility or something of that sort. She had never known anyone that had survived cancer, not many people here seemed to be afflicted with the disease. "That's another reason we got married right out of high school."

"You're not from around here, are you?" Conner asked as Tommy shook his head no. "Where are you from?"  
"I'm from Angel Grove, it's about a two hour drive from here," Tommy said as Conner nodded.

"We played them in soccer last year," Conner said as Tommy nodded. "You play soccer?"

"No, I was never that coordinated. I mainly did karate and I played football for a couple of seasons," Tommy said as Conner nodded. He would not have guessed those sports by looking at him, but he was sure that most people wouldn't think that he could play soccer either. "Now I'm surprised none of you have asked my name. I didn't post it outside for a reason."  
"We don't really need to ask, it is on the top of our schedules," Cassidy said as Tommy nodded. He had expected as much, but knew most kids never read it completely. "Dr. Oliver."

"I'm not a doctor yet, I've still got a couple of years before that happens," Tommy said as Cassie just nodded and smiled her sickly sweet smile.

"What does your wife do?" Kira asked, fully prepared to smack Cassidy, but trying to keep her temper in check.

"She's a physical therapist and she won the Pan Globals in the winter of '95. She found out she was sick a month before the Olympic Trials, but she's not too bitter about it, it got us back together, so we're both pretty lucky," Tommy said as they all stared.

"What's her name?" Kira asked as she saw Tommy look over at the door for a moment. He was not sure if he wanted to answer the question, some of these kids had surely heard of her, they were the right age to just remember it.

"Kimberly Oliver, her maiden name was Hart," Tommy said as Cassie let out a shriek.

"Kimberly Hart, the Kimberly Hart? She was amazing; everyone wondered where she went before the Olympic Trials. Why didn't she open a gymnastics school?" Cassidy asked as Tommy carefully thought about the answer. Sure Kim had been considered as a shoo-in for the Olympics, but even now the disease had left her weak and there were days when she would come in completely exhausted and while she loved gymnastics, her priorities in life had now changed. She knew that she could no longer participate in the sport she loved without a higher risk of physical injury. Her endurance just wasn't what it used to be in that aspect of her life. He had always encouraged her to go back and coach, but for so long she couldn't, because she had to pay the bills and help them make ends meet while he continued his education.

"The first six months we were married were a struggle, I was in school on a scholarship, but she was still recovering, and I had to work a couple of jobs to make ends meet. I graduated a semester early and started my master's, she graduated on time and went to work," Tommy said as they all nodded. "I've started my doctorate, but it was too much to ask her to be the only one working for the next few years, that's why I took this job."

"So you're not a teacher by trade?" Cassidy scrutinized as Tommy just nodded his head. There was no use lying to them.

"I never planned to teach anything more than karate, but I can tell you that I know this textbook backwards and forwards, I helped develop it while working on my master's," Tommy said as the kids closest to the shelves that housed the books snatched them up and began searching for his name and sure enough it was on the inside book flap along with three others. "We never thought that it would be anything more than a paleontology for dummies book, then schools started asking for it as a textbook and the next thing we knew, we were supplying it as a textbook."  
"You just don't look that smart," Conner said, promptly sticking his foot in his mouth as half the class groaned.

"Up until a few years ago most of the people that know me would have agreed with you, but I found something I liked in college on a whim when I decided to take one paleontology class my first year, after that I changed my schedules and my degree. Trust me, my wife thought I had lost my mind when I came home and told her that I wanted to be a paleontologist," Tommy said as many of them laughed and the bell rang that ended homeroom. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing most of you during the day, so think up any other questions you want to ask."

"We can do that," Cassidy said with a smile as she strutted out and Tommy just shook his head. He doubted that she thought he was serious about how much he cared for Kim, but she would find out the truth soon enough. Kimberly was the one woman that he could go through all of this with and still think that his life was well worth it all.


	5. Chapter 5

"Tommy!" Kim called as she walked in the front door. She had cut her day a little bit short because she had grown more tired than usual as the day wore on. Her co-workers took it well enough when she left early like this because she had covered for them more days than they could count when they were running late for work or their kids had a recital. That was just the type of person that she was and they were more than willing to help her out when she needed it.

"Upstairs!" Tommy called back as Kim placed her purse on the floor and then drug herself up the stairs. They had had the upstairs dry walled a few weeks back and she was certain that Tommy was painting, although she could not understand the obsession that had overtaken him. He had decided that they needed to finish the house sooner rather than later and she had agreed. She just wished he would tell her why.

"How was your day?" Kim asked as she stood at the door of the bedroom with a rag over her mouth and nose. He had opened a window, but some of the fumes were still getting to her. He had done his research and gotten paint that shouldn't bother her or the baby, but neither of them had counted on the fact that her sense of smell would be magnified by about a hundred.

"It was all right. Supper should be done in a few minutes, I just came up here to try to finish this off," Tommy said as he placed the roller back in the tray and walked over to give her a hug. He felt the way that she sunk into his arms and he knew that could only mean one thing, that she had had a rough day. He just hoped that he was wrong about that. "You okay?"

"I'm just tired, Tommy, today was kinda rough," Kim said as Tommy walked back in to pick up the tray, which was empty, as well as the brush and roller.

"Let me wash up and then I'll take care of you," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. She was sure that a good night's rest would cure everything that was wrong with her, but she knew that Tommy would not hear of it.

"What did you make?" Kim asked as she removed the rag from her face and followed Tommy down the stairs, wishing all the time that he had nothing in his hands so that she could use him as balance instead of the railing.

"It's just a pizza, nothing to get too excited about," Tommy said as Kim smiled and walked into the kitchen as he headed for the washroom sink. As he washed the tray out, he felt a small tremor which made him pause for a moment, he then felt the earthquake as it hit and felt as he was teleported somewhere. "Kim!"

"I'm fine Tommy," Kim said as he landed next to her and they both looked around to see who else had joined them in their basement.

"What's going on?" Kira asked as Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance. Tommy recognized the kids as some of the tenth graders that were taking his class, but other than that he could not remember their names to save his life.

"Give me a second," Tommy muttered as he walked over to the screen and pulled up a wide view of Reefside. He hoped that there would be nothing to alarm him, but the plume of smoke that he saw rising from the park was the ominous sign that he most dreaded to see.

"The park?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes and she shook her head.

"Dr. O, what's going on?" Conner asked, more persistently than Kira as they all watched as he looked down at his wife and then gave her a hug before facing them.

"We both hoped this wouldn't happen, but it has. The three of you have been called upon to become Power Rangers," Tommy said as their mouths fell open in shock and they watched as Tommy pulled out his old morpher which still held onto his Ninjetti powers. All rangers with those powers still held onto the morphers at all times, even if they were not supposed to be called up ever again, they all knew they might have to do it someday. "It's morphin' time, white falcon!"

"Your powers will be slightly different," Kim said as Tommy pulled down his mask and they slowly realized that this was not a joke. There really were Power Rangers and they had just been selected as the newest generation.

"There's no way, we don't know karate or anything that could remotely help us," Ethan said as Tommy reached for Kim's hand to hold her steady before leading her over to a seat.

"Well, it looks like you're going to have to learn and fast," Tommy said as he pulled out a box which held three dino gems. "These are yours."

"But how do we know…" Kira trailed off as the yellow gem shot out towards her while the red and blue gems did similar things to Conner and Ethan respectively.

"What if we don't want to do this?" Conner challenged as Tommy looked back over at Kim, who looked close to passing out at any moment. This sort of stress was not good for her or the baby and he wanted to alleviate it as soon as humanly possible.

"Then he will," Kim said as Conner looked over at her and wondered for the briefest of moments who 'he' might be, but by the look in her eyes, he knew that she could only mean Dr. O. It did not comfort him any to know what Dr. O would do if they didn't do this, he had too much on his plate already. "If I was in any other condition, I'd do the same."

"What do we need to do?" Kira asked, having decided that she could not back out of this, not knowing that she would just be handing the powers over to someone who needed to be able to focus on his wife instead of the battles that would be raging.

"There is a teleportation program in your communicator, it will take you to the battle and bring you back here when it is done. Your morphing call is Dino thunder power up, ha, after that the powers will do the rest," Tommy said giving them a brief demonstration and they nodded. "Now go, we'll be able to hear you if you need anything."

"Okay," Ethan said, skeptically, as they sailed out of the room and Tommy powered down and squatted down in front of his wife.

"I just need to lie down, Tommy," Kim whispered as he nodded and then carried her over to the couch and gently placed her there. "Thanks."  
"Don't worry about it," Tommy said as he sat down on the floor next to her and they both listened to the noises of the battle that was raging. They could tell how things were going without even looking at the screen and were not surprised when they heard a startled cry.

"Dr. O!" Conner yelled as Tommy rested his head on the couch.

"Let me guess, you now have a twenty story version of the monster in front of you," Tommy said, although his voice seemed magnified to the rangers.

"Yeah, how did you…" Conner began as Kira let out a groan.

"Call upon your zords, they will come and you just have to trust them from there," Tommy said as he almost heard them ask what zords were, but Ethan trusted in him enough to call upon his zord and thus the other two came as well.

"Our food is burnt by now," Kim said as Tommy barely nodded that that probably had happened, but from what he could tell the electricity had gone out upstairs and maybe, by some miracle the pizza would not be completely toasted by the time they got back up there. "I need a hug."  
"Okay," Tommy whispered pulling her tightly into his arms and feeling her roll off the couch to sit in his lap. "Try to get some sleep, sweetie."

"I'm not tired, I just feel sick," Kim whispered as he nodded and heard the explosion that meant the end of the monster and slowly moved her back onto the couch so that he could stand to greet the rangers.

"Hey guys," Tommy said as they landed in front of him and turned to look over at him. Their suits did not hold the scorch marks of a battle tested ranger, but he knew that would come in time. This was their first time out and he doubted that whatever this thing was wanted to do more than test them this time. He was sure that next time would be much worse. He needed longer to teach them how to do all of this, but he was not going to get that luxury and was just going to have to do sparring sessions between monster attacks to try to get them caught up.

"What the hell was that?" Kira yelled as she pulled off her helmet and glared at Tommy. This had not been her idea of what being a ranger would be like and if this was what it was like, she was not sure that she liked it at all.

"That was just a warm up, you're suits aren't even burned," Kim said looking up at them from the couch. "You're going to have to learn, quickly."

"We didn't ask for something like this," Conner said as he glared at Tommy who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"We never asked for it either, I was fourteen when I first became a ranger and the only reason I was not a ranger longer than him was because I went to the Pan Globals, you are going to have to learn," Kim said as she sat up and forced herself to stand and then jogged up the stairs. She did not want to throw up down here.

"Kim?" Tommy asked as she tried to open the door and found herself trapped. "Here."

"Sorry," Kim muttered as she turned away from them with the trashcan and threw up.

"You have a choice, but if you are going to quit, we've got to know now, because now that there has been an attack we need rangers, even if it's not you," Tommy said as the three of them looked at her.

"I guess it could be fun," Kira muttered as the other two looked over at her. "Will it be like this every day?"

"Sometimes worse," Tommy answered, honestly, as they stared at him.

"You get used to it," Kim said as Tommy wrapped his arms around her and she closed her eyes. She just wanted for him to make all of this go away, but she was not sure that he could do that anymore. "Why don't you eat supper with us and then we'll try to figure out what you are going to do."

"Supper?" Conner asked. "After that earthquake?"

"I had put in a pizza, so that ought to have been cooked around the time that the power went out," Tommy said as he walked up to the door and pushed on it. "Guys, can I get a hand?"

"What are we going to push off of it?" Conner asked as he and Ethan each stood next to Tommy.

"No clue, but I can't move it on my own," Tommy said as the three of them pushed and they heard the refrigerator slide off the door. "Great."

"Tommy, don't worry about it right now. Whatever it is can be replaced," Kim said as Tommy looked down at her and then looked up into the kitchen. The fridge didn't seem to be too damaged and he would just set it up on the right side as soon as he could. "You may want to call your parents and let them know that you are all right."

"I doubt that they can even answer their phones," Kira said as Kim looked over at her and she then grabbed the cell phone that Kim was holding out for her.

"Go change, I'll finish up in here," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded and she reached over for him and he gave her a hug. "Guys, one more time?"

"Sure," Conner said as he and Ethan lifted the refrigerator upright and Tommy then helped them push it back over to its place.

"Tommy!" Kim yelled as she jumped away from the being that was standing in their bedroom. "Tommy!"

"Go ahead and call for dear Tommy," Mesogogg muttered as Kim crept towards the door. "He can't come in here."

"Tommy!" Kim yelled desperately as she heard Tommy pound the door and she stared up at him in horror. "Please, no."

"Going after Tommy is so easy," Mesogogg said as Kim tried the handle herself and found it locked. "You can't go anywhere."

"Get in the bathroom Kim!" Tommy yelled through the door as she wondered what he might be doing. "Just do it!"

She dodged into the bathroom and then heard an explosion that surely meant the door had been blown off its hinges. She could only imagine what was happening out there, but knew better than to leave the bathroom until Tommy called her out.

"It's okay," Tommy said knocking on the bathroom door and she opened it a smidge to look up at him and then threw it open and jumped into his arms. "It's okay sweetie."

"I can't do this Tommy," Kim muttered as she looked down at her stomach and he reached over to place his hand on top of it.

"We'll be fine, I'm sure that Billy can find a way to keep them out of here," Tommy whispered as he picked her up and walked into the living room. "Kira, can you sit with her while I get supper together?"  
"Yeah," Kira said as Kim shuddered as he released her. "Mrs. Oliver?"

"Call me Kim," Kim said as she hugged her arms around herself as she shook. "I just want the baby to be safe."

"It's going to be fine," Kira said as Kim looked over at her.

"He knows too much," Kim said shaking her head.

"I'm sure this has happened before," Kira said as Kim shook her head no.

"I've been captured before, but it has always been in the middle of nowhere, they've never come to my home," Kim said as Tommy walked back in with a couple of plates as Conner and Ethan followed him. They were sure that they could not take Kim's emotional distress as well as Kira.

"It's only happened once," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. "When you were sick and I was captured, they came to my home."  
"Okay, I forgot about that," Kim said as Tommy passed her a plate and sat down on her other side. He was still worried about how this would affect her, but did not want to make a big deal out of it with the kids here. He would talk to her after they had all left later on this evening.

"We're staying," Conner said after asking silent permission from the other two to offer their services. He could see that the two of them were probably some of the greatest rangers in their prime, but right now they couldn't do that, they had their family to look out for.

"Thanks," Tommy said as they all looked over at him. Although they were teenagers they could see the gratitude in his eyes as he placed his hand on Kim's knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was a very small guarantee that Kim might be kept safe from all of this. He just hoped that she never had to encounter Mesogogg again, because this time had been too close for his comfort. He had no clue what the being might do next time, but he didn't want to think about that. If he had it his way, there would not be a next time.


	6. Chapter 6

"How are you doing?" Kelly asked as she walked down the hall with Kim and Tommy.

"Just tired," Kim said as Tommy gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. He couldn't help but admit that he was a little bit worried about her. The last few weeks had been hard enough as it was, what with getting the rangers going and school starting. He was not around nearly as much as he wanted to be and he was sure that it was affecting her. Things were falling on her shoulders that he had been able to keep away from her over the last several years and this was the worst time for that to happen. She needed to have things kept as stress free as possible over the next few months.

"It's normal, you may want to consider having your hours cut," Kelly said as Kim just shook her head that she could not do that. She needed to know that she would be able to be of some sort of value to someone besides Tommy. She knew he didn't care if she worked, but she had to do it for herself and he understood that. "Kim, your co-workers would cut you some slack if you didn't come in a couple of Friday's a month."

"I know, but…" Kim trailed off as she looked over at Tommy. He could tell what she was thinking about and he hated it when she remembered those months of being in and out of the hospital with one treatment right after the other. But those days were over and things were much better now for the two of them.

"Mrs. Oliver, it's good to see you again," Dr. Calloway said as Kim walked over to the bed and laid down on it. "How have you been feeling?"

"Tired," Kim answered, honestly, as Dr. Calloway looked between her and Tommy.

"Have you been sleeping well at night?" Dr. Calloway asked as Kim nodded her head that she had been sleeping just fine. Tommy could attest to that, as she had been dragging him to bed at around nine every night and sleeping until his alarm went off in the morning. Then she would drift back off until her own went off and she had to force herself to get ready for work. "Has the morning sickness gone away?"

"Not completely," Kim said as Dr. Calloway nodded and then pulled over the ultrasound machine and lifted up Kim's shirt. Over the past month Kim had put on a healthy amount of weight and it was becoming much more obvious that she was pregnant.

"The baby looks just fine, but I do advise you to get some more rest Kim, even if it means sitting down at work or telling the others that you are just too tired to do whatever it is at the moment. You have an excuse to be tired, use it," Dr. Calloway said, firmly. He knew the woman well enough to know that he was going to have to get his point across before she would do what he said. "I also want for you to start cutting back your work load. Just a Friday off every other week and if Dr. Peterson has a problem with it, send her to me. You have to take care of your body and it's not that you haven't been doing that, but something is starting to get to you and I want to keep the baby safe and I'm sure you do too."

"At home?" Tommy asked as Dr. Calloway smiled over at him. He had seen husband's like this before and he was always grateful when they were there. It made things so much easier on him when he had to set down the laws of the land.

"At home she should just take it easy, you don't have to wait on her hand and foot, but try to take the stress out of your marriage if you can," Dr. Calloway said as Tommy nodded. It was something that would be nearly impossible for him to do, but he would try, that's all he could do at this point. "Now, do we want to know the sex of the baby?"

"Yes," Kim said as Dr. Calloway nodded and repositioned the ultrasound, trying to find evidence of a boy or girl.

"It looks like you have a boy," Dr. Calloway said as Kim smiled up at Tommy. She knew that he wanted a son and she was happy to know that it was a boy. "But I don't have the best angle and the baby is not letting me get a good angle either, so next time, I'll check again and make sure. Now, let me check everything else out."

* * *

"Dr. O, we have a situation on our hands," Conner said as Tommy was driving back from the doctor's office to the school. Her appointment had been at ten that morning, so he still had a full day of school left before he could go home to her and celebrate their news.

"What kind of situation Conner?" Tommy asked patiently, as he knew it could be anything from just a couple of tryannadrones to a full blown monster attack.

"Something happened to Kim," Conner said as Tommy slammed on his brakes and ignored the car behind him as they blew their horn loudly at him. His world was crashing down around him as he asked the question that he already knew the answer to. If the kids were calling him, it could only be one thing and that was something that he thought he would never have to face again after Divatox.

"What happened Conner?" Tommy asked as he tried to regain his ability to see as everything was blurry. He was furious at himself for letting it happen, furious that he was the reason that it had happened in the first place. If she had not been married to him, whatever it was would not have happened and he knew that. Deep down, he knew that all too well.

"She's been…" Conner started as Tommy let out a desperate yell as he tried to force the agony that he was feeling out of him, although he had known what it probably was, it was still no better to hear it. To know that his better half had been taken away from him and he had not been able to stop it.

"Don't you dare say it, there is no way," Tommy said as Conner just shook his head as the others gathered around. They could hear the desperation in his voice and they knew that he could not manage to just send them in. This was going to have to be something he handled on his own. He could not risk his wife by sending in people that might not be able to do the job. "I just left her five minutes ago."

"She was captured right outside of the hospital, Billy called because an alarm went up at the Command Center saying that something had happened to her," Conner said as Tommy punched his steering wheel and allowed the tears to flow freely from his eyes. That was not what he had wanted to hear, he had wanted Conner to lie to him, but the boy was not going to do that. He had not figured out that that was the way that they got Tommy and Kim through things like this, a small lie every now and then, in order to keep them from going insane.

"I need to call Randall and tell her that an emergency has come up and that I can't come in, you guys head to the Command Center once you get a chance," Tommy managed as he let go of his communicator, ceasing all communications with the rangers. He then leaned against his steering wheel and sobbed. They had not come this far for him to just lose her now, when things were finally starting to get settled down in their life together.

* * *

"I have scanned everything and she stuck in Mesogogg's lair," Billy explained an hour later as he tried to keep an irate Tommy from jumping on the first teleportation wave that he could find and going to her. That was not going to help them any if he went in there without a plan and more importantly without any powers. "You are not protected if you go in there."

"And she is not protected right now, she's pregnant Billy, she can't even fight back. She can't take them hurting her, it could cause her to lose…," Tommy trailed off, barely holding himself back from yelling at Billy, who was his only help at the moment. "Send me in there…the kids can't take it."

"Thanks Dr. O," Conner muttered as Tommy looked over at him, in no mood to explain why he did not trust him with this.

"She wouldn't want you to do this," Billy said as Mesogogg flickered up on the screen and they all looked over at it.

"I have something you want very badly, don't I Mr. Oliver?" Mesogogg leered as he stepped out of the direct path of the camera and allowed him to see Kimberly. He could tell that she had not been harmed, but he was worried nonetheless. She was in some maniacs care, miles away from him, in a place where he could not even attempt to go. "Now, you will do what I say and nothing will happen to her."  
"What is that?" Tommy asked as he folded his arms. He did not want to make a deal with the devil to get his wife back, but he might have to.

"The Dino Gems in exchange for your unborn child," Mesogogg said as Billy and Tommy exchanged a glance. He did not say Kimberly, he said the unborn child, what was going on here?

"Why not Kim?" Tommy challenged as Mesogogg cackled.

"I thought she would make a very good wife for me," Mesogogg said as Tommy nearly jumped through the screen. They all could swear that Mesogogg must feel the hatred that was going through the glass, because they all knew that they could feel it very well. "You have until tomorrow at noon to bring us the gems, then the fun begins."

"Don't touch them!" Tommy yelled as the screen went back and he collapsed into the chair. This was not really leaving him with any options, not that he had had many in the first place. He had just hoped that Mesogogg would not ask for their powers, that was the one thing that he knew they could not give up. "I can't lose them Billy, I can't."  
"I know," Billy said as the young rangers looked at their weeping mentor in shock. He had always been a strong person and they had never doubted that that would change in the least bit, until now. "What are you going to do?"

"The only thing I can," Tommy said as he picked up his morpher and gently rolled it back and forth between his hands. There had been a time when it had been a comfort to know that he had this morpher in his possession, now it was just another burden. "I'm going to have to go in there myself…with powers."

"Your Ninjetti powers only have a feeble connection at best," Billy said as Tommy just shook his head. He knew that he could use them when he had to, just like Kim could, most of the others just didn't wish to touch them at all, not that he blamed them. They were some of the strongest powers that he had ever had and also the one set of powers that had plagued him with problems throughout the years as he switched from one set to another 'better' set. He would always be the white falcon, no matter what other set of powers he held.

"I have a fairly strong control over them, I should be able to hold onto them long enough to get her out," Tommy said as Billy looked over at him.

"What about you?" Billy asked as Tommy just shook his head. He didn't matter, he just had to save her. That was all that mattered to him right then. "If they make it and you don't, she'll never forgive herself."

"What other choice do I have? If I don't do this he'll kill her," Tommy said as Billy barely nodded and then started punching in the teleportation codes. He could see that Tommy had made up his mind and he could only hope that this would not have a repercussion that would last for years to come.


	7. Chapter 7

"He'll come," Mesogogg muttered as Kim let out a groan. He fully intended to leave her unharmed, as he knew killing Tommy's wife and unborn child would only make things worse. He had to get Tommy here and get the powers from him, after that there would be no harm done to any of them, at least not directly.

"He won't risk you hurting the baby," Kim said as Mesogogg could only stare over at her. She was supposed to be fully unconscious and the stress was supposed to be kept to a minimal, now those plans were changing and he was afraid to give her another injection for fear that it would cause damage. The medicine he had used would not hurt the baby in the least bit, that had been the point of using it, but with her awake, there was always a chance that something could go gravely wrong.

"He'll risk his life for you though," Mesogogg said as a shimmer of light landed next to Kimberly's bed. She could barely focus on the color, but knew that it was not white, which made her wonder who it was. The last several times that she had seen him teleport, it had been white, the color that he was most at home with. "Dear Tommy's here."

"Tommy, who's Tommy?" Andros asked as Kim looked up at her friend and TJ's successor. He looked like a much younger version of the man she married, still equipped with the long brown hair that she loved. How he had known she was here; she didn't want to know, but she was glad to see a familiar face. She knew that it meant that she was safe, nothing was going to happen to her or more importantly, the baby. "Now, Mrs. Oliver, let's get you home."

"You cannot take her!" Mesogogg yelled as Andros picked her up and morphed to give himself some added protection. Mesogogg planned to send something at Andros, but knew that harming Kim would mean a sure death for him. He might have been hell bent on the Earth's destruction, but he would like to survive to see the aftermath if the truth was known.

"Oh yes I can," Andros said as he teleported out, shocking Tommy, Billy, and the rangers as he landed in their Command Center. Billy had been fully prepared to teleport Tommy in, but now it seemed like he didn't need to. Somehow Andros had been able to get there and get her out without any of them noticing it. "You need to keep a closer eye on your valuables."

"Just put me down," Kim said as Andros nodded and placed Kim on the floor and she attempted to hold herself up, but was caught by Tommy instead. She was extremely drowsy and felt that she needed a couple days rest and then she could go back to her normal life.

"Are you okay?" Tommy whispered as Kim nodded and he held her tight to himself. He was not sure if he could believe that, but he did not seen in obvious external injuries.

"He didn't want to hurt me, it was weird, I've never experienced anything like that," Kim said as Tommy looked at her. He saw the glazed look in her eyes and it scared him. What had Mesogogg done to her? "He just wanted the gems."

"What did he give you?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged, she had no clue, other than the fact that it had knocked her out for awhile. "Come on, you should go to the doctor."

"Let her sleep if off Tommy," Andros said as Tommy looked back at him. That was the absolute last thing he thought he should do at this moment, considering what the medicine might be doing to the baby. "What he gave her will not hurt her or the baby, his intent was to harm you."

"Explain to me how this would harm me," Tommy said as he walked Kim over to the couch and made her sit down with little coaxing on his part. She was exhausted and he just wanted her to get the rest that she so desperately needed right now.

"He had a machine there to attack you with when you came…he thought I was unconscious when he explained it to Zeltrax," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. "It'll never be safe for you to go there."

"Even with powers?" Tommy asked as Kim shrugged. She hadn't exactly asked questions as she pretended to be unconscious, she figured that she was safer that way. "You want to go catch some sleep?"

"I'm fine here, just let me get comfortable," Kim said as Tommy pulled her over to him and she laid down in his lap. The kids were scared of what was happening, but Tommy was taking it fairly well. They all felt he would have his breakdown after they were gone.

"Who is he?" Conner asked, curiously, as Tommy looked over at Andros. He had forgotten that Andros was even there after Kim was placed in his arms. It did not seem odd to him for someone to just pop up out of the blue, but the kids would have to get used to that. They didn't know enough about Tommy's stint as a ranger to be able to understand it yet.

"Andros, I guess we can all forgive Tommy for forgetting to introduce me," Andros said with a smile. "I was the successor of his successor."

"I'm kinda confused, you're a Power Ranger too?" Conner asked as Tommy politely laughed at their ignorance.

"You haven't shown them a history?" Andros accused as Tommy shook his head no. He hadn't had the time to do something like that considering that they had had battles almost every day. Between the battles, he was trying to take care of his wife, finish the house, and grade papers; he had not even thought about them needing a ranger history until this moment. "Come on, Tommy."

"We've been busy," Tommy said looking down at Kim who was soundly asleep against him and tried to keep from moving around too much as she needed this rest.

"Why have you been busy?" Andros asked as Tommy looked away from him. He had forgotten to send out the 'we're having a baby' e-mail to every ranger known to man. He didn't think it necessary, but it was now obvious that he should have done just that, then there would have been somewhere around fifty to sixty people watching out for her. "I know she's pregnant, but that's only because I can tell by looking. Why weren't we informed?"

"I have a lot on my mind," Tommy mumbled as they looked at him, as they could see that it was much more than what they imagined. It was not the stress of the ranger team or the fact that he was soon going to be a father, it was something else, something that they hadn't seen in Tommy's eyes in a very long time. "Her yearly checkup is in two weeks and she's been exhausted lately…I'm worried it might be back."

"She's five months pregnant Tommy, what do you expect?" Billy said as Andros walked over and squatted down in front of Kim, who was now sleeping soundly.

"I only detected the baby when I first got to her, thank goodness I didn't go in there shooting at everything in sight," Andros said as he placed his hands squarely on Kim's shoulders. This was one benefit that he had coming from another planet, he had skills that they would never even imagine. "She's exhausted Tommy, worried about you and the baby. Something else is off, but it's not her blood cells, most likely she has a cold. Everything will be fine. You didn't make it this far to lose her now."

"You sure?" Tommy asked as Andros nodded his head yes.

"I know you'll still go to the doctor, but trust me that she's fine," Andros said as Tommy just nodded. It was nice to have a reassurance, but he wouldn't fell better until the tests came back with the same answer.

"Dr. O, is there anything else we can do?" Conner asked eager to get out of the Command Center and back to practice.

"Yeah, I have a video on there of our history, I think you should watch it and then head on home. I'm gonna get her settled in upstairs, it's been a long day," Tommy said as they nodded while he stood to carry his wife upstairs.

"Why didn't you tell them the entire prophecy?" Andros muttered, viciously, as Billy looked over at him.

"I'll tell you when the kids are gone, the last thing we need is for this to get back to Kim and Tommy. We're still trying to figure out a way to stop it," Billy said as Andros just shook his head and sat back to watch the video. He knew that he was probably going to kill Billy later when they discussed it, but he was right. Kim and Tommy certainly didn't need to hear this second-hand, they needed to hear it from the source.


	8. Chapter 8

"You have some explaining to do because all I know is that I get this nice little video prophecy from you and the next thing that happens is that she is captured. I didn't even know she was pregnant until I got there, my plan had been to go in firing, but I'm glad I didn't now. What the hell is going on here?" Andros yelled as Billy looked down at the floor, and for the first time Andros noticed that Billy looked tired and if possible, more stressed than Tommy and Kimberly combined. What was going on? Why was Billy so stressed when this was just a normal day on the job for all of them?

"How would you suggest telling them that Tommy is supposed to die? I don't think either of them would take it well and Tommy has always feared losing her, but it's not been the other way around in a very long time. If we can keep him out of the battles there is a good chance nothing will happen to him and things will just go on like they've been going for years," Billy said as Andros just stared at him. Were they even talking about the same man? It would be almost impossible to keep Tommy out of the battles, especially if they captured Kim, they both knew that.

"Have you told him, at the very least?" Andros asked as Billy shook his head no. He didn't think that they could risk telling Tommy, it would just cause more problems that they could not solve. "You need to, he'll keep himself out of trouble that way."

"If he finds out, there's no doubt about what will happen to him, he won't make it. We just have to keep it a secret and do what we can," Billy said as Andros sighed. He did not like hearing this sort of thing from Billy because he knew what it meant for them. They were going to have to perform a miracle and keep Tommy out of the field at all costs.

"Were you really going to send him in there?" Andros asked as Billy looked over at him. He did not wish to answer that question because he knew that he couldn't have kept Tommy away much longer. He knew that Tommy would have teleported himself in without a second thought if Billy hesitated too long.

"It was either tell him or send him, as long as he is ignorant he has a chance to make it through this," Billy said as Andros shook his head. He had interpreted this in a slightly different fashion.

"Kim needs to stay ignorant, Tommy is free game, it mentions the partner can't know. I.e. Kim, you should tell him, just in case," Andros said as Billy just shook his head. He knew Tommy would tell Kim and then it would happen. They could not let this happen, they just couldn't. They needed Tommy to be around for the next generation of rangers, otherwise they would utterly fail.

"And what's the first thing Tommy will do when I tell him?" Billy asked as Andros suddenly understood. "That's why I can't tell him, that's why it's too dangerous."

"Well, if anyone can beat the odds, it's the two of them," Andros said as Billy nodded. He just wished the odds didn't look so bad.

* * *

"Hey sweetheart, you feeling any better?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head yes. She was just barely able to keep her eyes open and could tell Tommy was worried. He had thought that the medicine would have worn off by now, but obviously it hadn't and there was nothing that they could do about it, unless he convinced her to go to the hospital. "Maybe we should go…"

"And how would we explain me getting drugged? Everyone would assume you did it, just let me sleep it off like Andros said. If I'm still not better tomorrow, we can go," Kim said, impatiently, as Tommy barely nodded. He did not feel like testing her stubbornness tonight. He had a few things to do and wanted a guaranteed bed to sleep in. It was bad enough he had to work right now, he needed her to at least like him right now.

"Okay, get some rest baby," Tommy said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be back up as soon as I can."

"All right," Kim murmured as she drifted off to sleep before he had even left the room. He looked back at her sleeping form and smiled, even if the day had been bad, they were safe and that was all that truly mattered.

"Hey guys," Tommy said walking down into the Command Center with sandwiches for the both of them. They had saved him a lot of worry and grief tonight, so it was the least that he could do for them, before he interrogated them.

"She okay?" Billy asked as Tommy nodded his head that she was all right, maybe not super but good enough for him to not truly worry.

"What's going on that I don't know about?" Tommy asked as they exchanged a glance and then began working in different areas. They did not want to tell him, they did not wish to face the rough truth. "Guys, you might as well tell me."

"Why?" Billy asked as Tommy folded his arms.

"Because I'll find out sometime soon, no matter what you do to try to stop me," Tommy said as Billy and Andros looked at each other. "I've got the best ranger connections of anyone that has ever been a ranger, I'm sure I can find someone to tell me."

"You can't tell Kim," Andros began as Tommy looked over him. Through their six years of marriage he had not kept a secret from her for more than a few days and usually those were surprises he had for her and nothing else. This did not sound like that sort of secret, this sounded like the type of secret that he would deeply regret even agreeing to keep.

"Can you explain to me why?" Tommy asked as Billy sat down and placed his head in his hands. Tommy had enough on him without knowing this, why did he have to be so stubborn and back him into this corner.

"If you do, you'll die," Billy mumbled as Tommy looked between the two of them. Neither of them wanted to tell him, he'd have to ask exactly why he'd die.

"Why would that happen?" Tommy asked as Billy took in a deep breath. There was no turning back once he told him, there was no more protecting Tommy without his knowledge, there was just the hope that Tommy would do what needed to be done.

"We didn't tell you everything that we found in the prophecy," Billy said as Tommy pulled up a chair and sat down. He was not sure how much more he could take in one day.

"What else is there?" Tommy asked as Andros pulled up his own chair to sit down in.

"You'll die if you go into combat with them. That's why I was so hesitant to send you to get her today, we need you to make it through this to win against him, because I think there's something you know that's valuable, you just haven't thought of it yet. Plus, we all want you to live to see that baby grow up," Billy said as Tommy looked down at his feet. This was not the news that he had imagined hearing. He had thought more along the lines that he would have to become a ranger for them to survive, not that he could never step a foot into battle again.

"Now I understand why I can't tell Kim," Tommy said as he placed his head in his hands. "What else do I need to know?"

"If you tell her, it will happen, somehow," Andros said as Tommy sighed. That was definitely something he didn't wish to hear. He would have liked to be able to share this with his wife once their son was born, but obviously even that was out of the question.

"Just until this team is done?" Tommy asked as Billy nodded his head in a noncommittal sort of way.

"Until the next team has their powers and you are out of the loop again," Billy said as Tommy nodded. He had taken this pretty good for a man that they all thought would explode at the thought of him dying early.

"I'd kill to go back in time," Tommy said as he just shook his head. "I want to be able to go back and change this fate."

"Go back and not get married, not love her, not decide to have children…Tommy you would probably do the same thing all over again, otherwise you would ruin the both of your lives trying to keep this from happening and you'd lose her," Billy said as Tommy just nodded his head. He couldn't imagine going back and taking away all the things that he loved so much. "I guess you couldn't do that…Tommy, I hate that you can't tell your wife, but I want you to be able to make it, we all do."

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Tommy said as Billy and Andros nodded. They could see what had settled on him, but they knew he was determined to make things work. He couldn't imagine leaving her back then to avoid this now. His life would have been incomplete without her here beside him.


	9. Chapter 9

"I called in for you today," Tommy said as Kim rolled over and made herself sit up. She was still exhausted from the events of the day before and was glad that Tommy had taken the initiative to call her work, otherwise she would have gone in and been completely miserable. It was times like this when she was glad that he knew her so well and that he sometimes knew was best for her better than she did. "I want you to get dressed and then we'll go."

"Where are we going?" Kim asked as she stretched and he heard her back pop, which caused him to wince. He was sure it was a relief for her, but it was no relief for him knowing that she probably hadn't slept well.

"Angel Grove, I need to visit home and Principal Randall was pretty understanding, but she thinks that I'm out because you're sick," Tommy said as Kim laughed. She was more than happy to be his excuse, if she was able to spend the entire day with him uninterrupted.

"Glad I can be an excuse, do you mind if I shower, I just crashed once I got back yesterday," Kim said as Tommy nodded that was fine. After everything had settled from last night, he knew that he had to do some things. There were places to show her and things she needed to know, just in case. Now why he'd tell her this now, he didn't know, but he'd figure that out between now and when they got to their old stomping grounds.

* * *

"The Command Center?" Kim asked, skeptically, as he nodded his head that she had assumed correctly. This did not look good to her, but she wanted to give him a chance, he at least deserved that before she went off the deep end on him. "Explain it."

"I just wanted to show you some things that I have never had a reason to," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded. She didn't understand why he would do this when she was five months pregnant, but it was obviously important to him, so she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until this was over or he said something incredibly stupid, whichever came first.

"Okay," Kim said as he reached for her hand and she placed her other hand over the baby's kicking foot. Tommy still had not been able to feel the baby kick, but she was sure that would not last much longer. The Command Center surrounding them was dark and she felt that something was wrong. Tommy never did anything like this, he kept the stress away from her when he could help it and now he was purposefully adding more to her shoulders. This was not like him and it worried her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just the…I need you to see some stuff," Tommy said as Kim pulled away from him and stared up at him as the lights switched on. He could see the pain in her eyes and he had to remind himself that if he told her the real reason for this, he had no chance at survival.

"No, something is wrong, you don't just bring me to the Command Center for the hell of it, Tommy, you always have a reason. What's going on?" Kim asked as he reached over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"I just want to make sure you know all of this, I don't want anything to happen to me and you not know about something important," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him.

"Are you planning to die in the next few months or something?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no. He was not planning it, but he was now staring at chances that did not make him feel comfortable. He would rather be safe than sorry, but he was not sure that she would take that idea too well. "Then why are you acting like this Tommy?"

"It's just something Billy said that's got me worried," Tommy said as she folded her arms and glared at him. "Kim, please, if I tell you something bad will happen."

"I'm your wife!" Kim yelled as she grabbed her stomach and grimaced. She had not truly been mad at him since she found out she was pregnant and knew she had to calm down as nature was giving her a one shot warning. "Don't touch me Tommy."

"Baby, I'm trying…I just need to do this, please don't ask why, because if I tell you…"Tommy trailed off as Kim looked over at him. She had never seen him pleading with her like this before and it made her realize that she was going to have to do what he asked and just accept whatever was said.

"How about we just do what we came here for and go back home," Kim suggested as Tommy tentatively reached for her hand and she shook it off. She would decide when she was ready for him to hold her again.

"Zordon left more for me to do that you know," Tommy said as Kim followed him further into the Command Center, where the lights slowly sparked to life as they walked into each new section. "Besides the team this Command Center was left in my care, I'm supposed to be a mentor to any ranger team on earth, even if inadvertently, I only found that out last week. I'm never supposed to be a ranger again, but could be called on to fight. I am supposed to continue to discover power sources until our child…"

"Our child? Our child does what?" Kim asked, hysterically, as Tommy just stood there as the revelation hit him. He could not believe that he had not seen this earlier when he had gone over the reasons again and again. Everything had to do with this baby and if their son were to become one of the world's next best rangers, Tommy was going to have to survive to see that day.

"Takes my place…that's why I have to…"Tommy murmured as he sat down with a dull thud. "I'm so sorry Kim."

"You didn't know?" Kim asked as she carefully lowered herself to the ground.

"No, it kinda just fell into place when I started telling you. I guess this is what I'd know and why I still need to be around," Tommy whispered as Kim looked up at him.

"So he did tell you that you were going to die?" Kim asked as Tommy just nodded his head yes. He had no clue that she had known this for so long and he did not know how she stood knowing it. "Zordon warned me years ago Tommy, right after you gave up your turbo powers about what might happen."

"You knew?" Tommy asked as Kim nodded her head sadly that she had known for all this time. "Will I?"

"He didn't tell me that, only that our time could be short, too short for us to really be able to have a family, I guess we're lucky that you've made it this far, he said if you live to see your first child born, we'll have a long life together," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her.

"Is that why you've been so worried?" Tommy asked as Kim just nodded her head and he placed his arms around her. "I'm not going to leave you."

"I know," Kim said as she rested against him. "This kid is going to have a lot to learn from you."

"I'll be around, I promise," Tommy said as he kissed her on the cheek and she silently rested against him. She then felt the baby kick and guided Tommy's hand over in the hopes that he could feel it. He smiled, knowing what he was supposed to feel, but still being unable to truly feel anymore than a tiny flutter, which was better than nothing. It comforted him to know that their child was safe, now he just had to live to see his birth.


	10. Chapter 10

"Dr. O, is your wife feeling any better?" Cassidy asked as he walked into his homeroom the next morning and just shook his head. He had not thought that that would be the first thing asked of him when he walked in. He also had not thought that Principal Randall would tell them exactly why he was out the day before.

"Yeah, she just had a rough day yesterday. So what did the sub cover?" Tommy asked as the class looked around at each other and he folded his arms across his chest. He did not like he was seeing and hoped that they would find an answer quickly, but none came. "I take that as nothing."

"Nothing you'd ever teach us, but it was interesting. It was an odd theory about Power Rangers and where their powers emanate from. It seems like there has never been just one source," Cassidy said as Tommy glanced and Kira and Conner who were rather pale. They had no idea how Dr. O might get them out of this without revealing too much, that was why they had sat in silence yesterday while the others asked question after question from the substitute.

"The suits show the difference in powers, what they are based on can sometimes be affiliated with the suit as well, I can remember some Ninjetti rangers from my junior year of high school and some dino rangers before that, but you learn more about rangers from their zords than their uniforms," Tommy said as the class stood enthralled, even Kira and Conner had never put the connection together until now. "And before you ask, I lived in Angel Grove for about eight years, so I know a thing or two about the Power Rangers."

"So the current rangers have dinosaur based powers?" Cassidy asked as Tommy saw an odd light in her eyes and decided to answer this question carefully.

"Probably, but only the rangers know for sure, even when I was your age, we could only speculate by what we saw," Tommy said as Cassidy nodded.

"Do you think there is some sort of science to how ranger teams are formed?" Cassidy asked as Tommy smiled. He knew the answer to that, but he couldn't answer her honestly in order to get out of this without anymore suspicions.

"I think it is more luck than anything else you will ever hear about, but that's only what I think. You'd have to find out the identity of one of the real rangers to know for sure," Tommy said as Cassidy nodded. She didn't see how that would be hard, investigative reporting was her specialty.

* * *

"You know Cassidy is going to try to find out who we are now, right?" Conner said, that afternoon as Tommy sparred with him in the basement. The kids had just accepted that he wanted to be closer to home in case Kim needed him. He had other reasons, but until the kids asked, he was not going to tell them. They definitely did not need to know that there was a chance that he might die.

"I know, but we're pretty good at keeping ourselves hidden, all of you just have to learn to tell a truthful lie," Tommy said as Kim walked down the stairs and he put up his hands to call a time out. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Kim said as she gave him a hug. "We've got a problem."

"If it has to do with Mesogogg…" Tommy trailed off as Kim shook her head that that was not the case.

"Your cousin is getting married tomorrow, I have nothing to wear and we haven't got them anything. Your mom is going to kill us," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head. He did not know how he could have forgotten the wedding, it was only the sole event that his mother had been talking about for weeks. He was not too excited to go to it and by the sound of Kim's voice she would rather have taken on a hundred Lord Zedds than go to this particular wedding.

"You take Kira and go shopping, I'll take care of the gift," Tommy said as Kira looked over at him in shock. One, she hated shopping and two, shouldn't he be going with his wife?

"I don't want to," Kira said as Tommy glared over at her this was not so much a suggestion as it was an order, "but I can."

"Tommy, they need to practice, I'll be fine, I should only be out a couple of hours at the most," Kim said as Tommy looked between her and Kira. Kira was desperate to work out because she needed it. She was constantly struggling just to keep pace with Ethan and Conner during the fights and from what she had seen of the older rangers, the female rangers had never had a problem with that before. "I'll also have my phone on if that makes you feel any better."

"Okay," Tommy said as Kim gave him another hug.

"What do you want to get them?" Kim asked as Tommy looked over at her.

"A box of…" Tommy started as Kim laughed. He had momentarily forgotten the kids were there and they didn't know his cousin. This was her third marriage and she had had two children so far. He just didn't want this poor guy to get caught up in the mess.

"I'll throw a couple of those in as well," Kim said as Tommy covered his face. "25?"

"Yeah, at the most expensive place you can find," Tommy said as Kim laughed and then forced herself back up the stairs.

"She's getting bigger," Kira commented as Tommy nodded and a smile crept onto his face.

"It's just getting to where I can feel the baby move, we didn't know if we would be able to have kids for awhile," Tommy said as Conner gave him a confused look. It was obvious to him that they could have kids, so why had they ever wondered about the fact that they might not be able to? "They were afraid that the chemo would affect her ability to have kids, maybe it did, but we didn't really start trying until around April."

"How are you going to keep on doing this?" Kira asked as Tommy shook his head. He didn't really know, but he found it useless to say that to the kids.

"I don't have much choice about it, we've been rangers or worked with rangers for years. Kim doesn't like it, neither do I, but someone has to do it," Tommy said as he stood in front of Conner. "Come on, I want to have supper ready for her by the time she gets back."

"I doubt that you can cook," Conner said as he kicked toward Tommy, who merely dodged it before laughing. He was definitely not the only person that had doubted his culinary skills in the last few years, but according to Kim, he was actually a decent cook.

"Well I guess that I'll surprise all of you, if you wish to stay for supper," Tommy said as he swept Conner's feet out from under him. "You have to learn to concentrate, even when someone is talking to you. The monsters like to taunt you and I doubt that you'll keep your mouth shut while they do that."

"I never said that I was going to be great at this," Conner said as Tommy just shook his head.

"No ranger ever thinks that they are doing a good job while they are actually doing it, it's not until years down the road, when you sit down with your friends that you realize that you actually did a decent job," Tommy said, speaking from personal experience as he continued to hammer the red ranger. He knew the responsibility of being a red and did not wish to ever be in those shoes again. He had been the red ranger for awhile, but it had never really suited him, he had always been more comfortable when he wore white.


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you going to show me what you got?" Tommy asked after the rangers had left and it was just the two of them. Usually when she bought some item of clothing, she would show it to him right when she got home, but he knew that she felt odd in her new body. He just wanted to take that away, but he didn't know how he might be able to do that. He had been thinking up ways for the last few weeks, but they all seemed too lame or too weak or too much like someone else and he knew that would not help him any.

"I'm pregnant Tommy, it's not like I look wonderful in anything," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her in shock. He couldn't believe that she thought that she was not pretty; it was something that boggled his mind. He had gotten hints that she was feeling that way, but so far she had said nothing to him about it. Now he knew he had to do something, as much for her sake as his own. "What are you giving me that look for?"

"You're crazy…you are still beautiful," Tommy said, seriously, as Kim looked over at him and just shook her head. She didn't feel like it anymore, even when he looked at her, she thought it was different. His eyes lingered in areas that they never had before and she thought it was because he was trying to figure out what she would like after. That was actually something he didn't care about, but she didn't believe that. "No, I'm going to prove it to you."

"Tommy, you don't have to do that, it's just hard sometimes when I look in the mirror and it's not that I'm not happy to be pregnant…I just don't see what you can see in me anymore," Kim said as Tommy's mouth dropped open.

"Put on the dress for me, please," Tommy said as Kim barely nodded and then walked back to their bedroom to change. He was still trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say to make her feel better. He had told her it didn't matter to him and it didn't, he was happy that she was carrying their child, a child that they were not even sure that they were going to be able to have until they found out she was pregnant. An extra twenty or thirty pounds didn't matter to him and the belly, well that just came with it, but he had the feeling if he just said that he was glad that she was pregnant with their child that she might hit him. She needed more from him right now and he was trying to rack his tired mind for whatever might be what she needed.

"It's not anything special," Kim said as she walked out and he could not help but smile. She had not tried to hide her stomach and he could even tell that it was still a little bit big on her and that she was going to eventually fill it out. She had not let him see her without clothes on for the last couple of weeks and he was astonished that her stomach was not the only thing that had grown, but managed to push that thought right out of his head. Kim would kill him if he said that thought aloud and that was not what he was trying for here. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," Tommy said as he stood up from the couch and then placed his arms around her.

"You're losing your mind," Kim said as Tommy shook his head that he wasn't, he still thought her beautiful, he always would. She could have walked out in a potato sack and he would have thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. "First when I had no hair and now when I'm eating everything in sight and gaining this. You must have hit your head on a rock one too many times as a ranger."

"It means our child is safe, it shows me that we can have kids, I have wanted this for so long and to see it happening…I think I would think you were beautiful if you stayed like this forever or if your hair had never come back, I just love you," Tommy whispered as he heard her sniffle and he gently coaxed her to look up at him. He had not meant to make her cry, but if he had gotten his point across, it would not be as bad on his spirit. "What? You thought I just loved you for your looks?"

"Sometimes," Kim whispered as he gently laughed and then kissed her gently. He knew that she was more emotional than she had ever been in the past, but he had never imagined that sort of confession from her. Sure, everyone had their insecurities, but he thought that he had always made it clear that he loved her for her, not for what she looked like, but for the person that she was, for the way she made him feel, the way she looked at him. The fact that he thought her beautiful was just a plus, it was the person that she was that had won his heart.

"Now, can I see what you really look like, Kim?" Tommy asked as she nodded her head that he could and then pulled him towards their bedroom. She did not trust that the rangers wouldn't show back up in the middle of this and although she would have normally done it in the living room, that thought made her decide against it. It was fine if Tommy saw her, but she did not want anyone else to right now.

"You might not like it," Kim whispered as Tommy just shook his head. He honestly doubted that he could dislike anything about her.

She pulled the dress up over her head and let it fall to the floor before turning around to face him. Her stomach had a couple of stretch marks, as even at five months pregnant, this was bigger than she had ever been in the past. The bra she wore was barely able to contain her breasts and although Tommy knew he shouldn't, he could not help but reach around her and unfasten her bra as well. His eyes drank in his wife's form and when their eyes finally met he smiled. He had never seen her look so beautiful in the past.

"You can never again think that I don't think you're beautiful," Tommy said as he allowed his clothes to join hers on the floor and then gave her a kiss. "May I?"

"If you want," Kim said as Tommy just shook his head.

"No, this is about what you want, it doesn't matter how seeing you like this makes me feel if you don't understand it and are going to do this just to please me," Tommy said as Kim looked up at him and then looked away. "Explain it to me…please."

"I just don't feel like you should want me anymore and it's hard to fathom that…" Kim trailed off as he just shook his head and pulled her in close. "We haven't since I really started showing."

"I know, and it's not because I haven't wanted to," Tommy muttered as she laughed and he placed his hand on her bare belly. "Come on, let's lie down and we can decide."

"How can you always be so understanding?" Kim asked as he pulled back the covers and crawled into bed.

"Because there was a day when I thought I wouldn't have you anymore, it kinda put things in perspective for me," Tommy said as she rolled over to face him and gave him a gentle kiss.

"May I?" Kim whispered as he looked over at her in shock and then smiled as she moved herself over him and he leaned up to kiss her. This day had not turned out so bad after all.


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey Mom," Tommy said as he gave his mother a hug and she laughed. It had been a couple of months since she had seen her son and she could tell that Tommy had gained a few pounds, but it was not in a bad way. She had always thought him a little bit on the skinny side and was sure that when Kim worked off the baby fat, he would tone up again. He was just enjoying the fact that Kim kept quite a bit of food around the house now, like every good husband should while their wife was pregnant. "What's so funny?"

"I would think that she would have made you buy another suit by now," Charlie said as Tommy laughed as well. Kim had been bugging him to replace the suit that he owned, but he saw no need. He did not dress up nearly enough to have a good reason for it.

"Come on, it's my good luck suit," Tommy joked as Charlie just shook her head. His father had had a suit like that as well, and it had wound up getting burned somewhere along the way. "Where's Dad?"

"Where's your wife?" Charlie asked as Tommy chuckled.

"Bathroom," Tommy said as he folded his arms. Kim was starting to get to where she had to go more and more often and he was sure that had everything to do with the baby. "And your excuse is?"

"He got roped into hanging some last minute decorations that Heather just had to have. I swear that child is going to put her parents into an early grave if she keeps this up," Charlie muttered as Kim walked over to the two of them. "When do you go back to the doctor again?"

"We just went," Kim said as Charlie glared over at Tommy. She had told him to keep her in the loop of what was going on with the baby, but no, her son obviously forgot that one.

"Forgetful child, you should know better by now than to tell me to tell you anything…especially something that you deem important," Tommy said as Charlie laughed. He had a point, but she was not sure if she wanted to let him off the hook just yet.

"So, am I having a grandson or a granddaughter?" Charlie asked as Kim laughed. She had never thought that she would be so anxious to know that. It was just not in her nature, or so she thought.

"You can just wait to find out," Kim said as Charlie shook her head. That was definitely something that she could not do.

"I know the two of you know, so by law you must tell the grandmother to be," Charlie said, crossing her arms as they both laughed.

"The doctor thinks it's a boy, but he wants to make sure next month," Kim said as Charlie gave her a bear hug.

"Darren will be thrilled! Another little boy…what's that look for?" Charlie asked as Tommy had placed an arm around each of them as they walked to take their seats in the church.

"It's a long story Mom," Tommy said as Charlie let out a disgruntled sigh, those words from Tommy were never a good sign.

"A long story that bears repeating?" Charlie asked as Tommy shook his head no. "Those are the worst kind."

"No kidding," Kim said as Charlie walked around Tommy and grabbed her arm.

"We are going to talk while he goes and collects Darren," Charlie said as Tommy nodded and then walked towards the reception hall. It was the same church he had been married in, so he knew it well enough, he just couldn't imagine what his mom had to say to Kim. "How's he been?"

"Great, last night…" Kim trailed off, suddenly embarrassed to continue. This was his mother, for heaven's sake, not Trini or Aisha. She should not be having this type of conversation with her of all people.

"Kim, I may be his mother, but I'm also a woman, I understand," Charlie said as Kim blushed a deep red. "That good?"

"Yeah," Kim barely muttered as Charlie smiled. "He made me feel a lot better about this."

"You know he'd love you no matter what," Charlie said as Kim nodded and their husbands walked up to them.

"Remind me to have a long talk with Kelli after this," Darren said as he pulled on his coat and just shook his head. "She is not paying for another of Heather's weddings."

"You don't think it'll be the last?" Charlie asked as Darren shook his head no as Jack and Miller ran up to Tommy. The boys adored him and he tried to spend some time with them when he came to Angel Grove, it was the least that he could do to give the rest of the family a break from their babysitting services. "Tommy…"

"Hey Aunt Charlie!" Jack yelled with a smile as Tommy picked him up and then plopped him down on the pew before doing the same with Miller. They'd have to sit between him and his father, so hopefully they would behave.

"What did my mom have to say?" Tommy whispered as he placed his arm around Kim and she just shook her head. "You're not going to tell me?"

"I don't think you'd want to know the answer that I gave," Kim said as Tommy stared at her and then she sighed. She might as well tell him here, where he could not make a scene out of it. "She asked how you'd been."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. "What did you say?"

"Great and then I said the words last night and stopped," Kim said as the design on her dress suddenly seemed to attract more attention than it deserved.

"Oh, Kim, I'm sorry," Tommy said as she just stared up at him. "She asked me lots of questions similar to that and I've walked myself into the same situation. You okay?"

"A little embarrassed, but I'm fine," Kim said as she looked down at her belly and then over at him. "Put your hand right here and see if you feel anything."

"Just the baby kicking like normal, why?" Tommy asked as Kim grimaced and he then moved his hand over slightly. Her stomach was hard and although he could feel the baby kicking, this was something else. "You okay?"

"No," Kim whispered back to him as he placed his arm around her and pretended to lean in to whisper something to her. "We need to go, Tommy."

"Okay," he whispered as she reached for his hand and then closed her eyes, something was not right, but she just didn't know what it was. "Hang on, I'll get Dad to help us out."

"Okay," Kim said as Jack slid down next to Kim as Tommy moved over in the seat next to his father.

"I need you to help me get her out of here," Tommy whispered as Darren looked over at him, full of concern. "Quietly."

"Okay, come on, we've only got a couple of minutes," Darren murmured back as Charlie looked over at the both of them. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

"Okay," Charlie said as her two men moved over to Kimberly and she watched them as Tommy helped her stand and then Darren managed to find a path that led them out of the doors.

"Tommy, how are you?" Heather asked as they walked through the back doors and past the bridesmaids. Kim was extremely pale and he knew that he needed to get her to the nearest hospital as quickly as humanly possible.

"Good Heather," Tommy said, trying to continue past, but utterly failing as she reached over and grabbed his arm.

"Leaving?" Heather asked as Tommy looked over at his father, who now had a hold of Kim's other hand. They both could tell that whatever it was had hit her suddenly and she needed medical attention quickly, especially with her history.

"My wife doesn't feel so good, so we're going to have to call it a day, sorry," Tommy said as Heather's eyes widened and she then marched over to Kim.

"You look fine, why are you leaving my wedding?" Heather all but yelled as Kim gave her a dazed look. She felt nauseous and tired and her stomach was in knots, she just needed to get to the doctor.

"Back off," Tommy said as he stepped between the two of them and gently pulled Kim along, her waddle seemingly more pronounced than it had been only a few minutes earlier. "Where do you need to go?"

"Hospital," Kim murmured as Tommy looked over at his father, who held up his keys as an offering and Tommy then nodded. He was in no state to drive and calling an ambulance to the wedding was the last thing that they needed to do. "I feel like I'm going to pass out."

"Just stay with me," Tommy coaxed as he followed his father to the car, half carrying Kim.

"Tommy, what has the doctor said about her health?" Darren asked as Tommy placed her in the back of the car.

"He said she was fine, she goes to the oncologist next week," Tommy said as Darren got on her other side. The woman was not heavy by any means, but he could tell his son was still hesitant to pick her up, there were far too many people around.

"Pick her up Tommy, she's not going to make it much longer and I don't want anything to happen to that baby anymore than you do," Darren said as Tommy nodded and then scooped her up. "Your mother is going to kill me."

"Thanks Dad," Tommy whispered as Kim clutched to him, before leaning away and becoming violently sick. The last time he had seen her like this, she had been in the midst of fighting for her life. He only hoped that these were not symptoms that it had returned. "Baby, calm down, everything is going to be just fine."

"Please, just…" Kim trailed off as he slid her into the back seat and then sat down next to her before she laid herself down in his lap.

"I know, we'll hurry sweetie," Tommy whispered as she promptly fainted against him and he let out a sigh. He had hoped she would be able to make it until they got to the hospital.

"Well, come with me Mr. Oliver," Dr. Mendez said as Tommy was surprised to see the man. Surely they would not call him in if this was just some routine pregnancy issue. The thoughts of chemotherapy, radiation, and many other treatments started running through his head. He was not sure what he would do if he lost either of them now. "I've found something you need to know about."

"It's back, isn't it?" Tommy asked as Dr. Mendez shook his head no. He was glad that he did not have to deliver that sort of message to Tommy, at least not today.

"Did her OB ever mention the possibility of twins?" Dr. Mendez asked as Tommy's mouth dropped open. Twins? How could the doctor have missed a second baby for so long? "I take that as a no. It seems like they have been hiding behind each other all this time."

"Twins?" Tommy repeated as Dr. Mendez nodded his head in confirmation. "But why were you called in?"

"Her history , they always call in an oncologist when someone with a history comes in like that and I thought you might want to hear some good news from me for once," Dr. Mendez said as Tommy nodded that he definitely appreciated it. "I haven't told her yet."

"She's going to kill her OB," Tommy said with a smile. "Can I tell her?"

"That's why I told you first," Dr. Mendez said as Tommy smiled. "I went ahead and took blood, next week you'll only have to come for the results."

"Thanks," Tommy said as he walked past Dr. Mendez and into the room. "Hey, sweetie."

"What's wrong?" Kim asked as she barely opened her eyes in greeting. "Tommy…"

"It looks like we're having twins, that's why you're stomach was so tight, small contractions," Tommy said as Kim's eyes widened. She had never thought about twins. She had thought he would be telling her the cancer was back and begging her to begin treatments as soon as possible. She knew that she would decide against the treatments, it would be the only way that their child would have a chance to live. "They want to keep you overnight since you passed out."

"Does Dr. Calloway know?" Kim asked as Tommy smiled.

"I'm sure he's being notified about it as we speak," Tommy said as Kim nodded. "Get some rest, I have to go do damage control with my mom."

"Not happy we left?" Kim murmured already half asleep.

"Something like that," Tommy whispered as he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. She looked so peaceful, in a way that he had not seen in ages. Ever since the rangers had shown up, she had been silently stressing, now was the time for him to take it all away again and he had to do that, he could not risk her life or the lives of their babies.


	13. Chapter 13

"Thomas Oliver! How dare you walk out of your own cousin's wedding! I was left there alone to explain all of this to Kelli and John!" Charlie yelled, rising to her full height as Tommy just sat down in the seat she had vacated. Manners be damned at this point, he was in an emotionally shocked state and had just barely managed to hide it from a very tired Kimberly.

"Twins," Tommy muttered as his father looked over at him and Charlie continued to lecture the boy. Darren could have sworn that he heard him utter the word 'twins', but that would be foolish. Surely they would have known well before now that she was pregnant with twins. "We're having twins."

"Hold on, did you just say twins?" Charlie asked as Tommy nodded his head that that was indeed the case. "Why didn't you tell us before now?"

"Because I only found out about five minutes ago myself. She's wiped out and they said they're pretty sure that her fainting spell was just from pure exhaustion, her stomach was from some preterm contractions. I just don't get how Dr. Calloway could miss an entire baby," Tommy said with a sigh, this certainly threw another kink in things. There was no way that he could take more classes in January with her having twins, he'd be lucky if he got the normal course load without any problems. "I'm scared shitless."

"You'll be a great father," Charlie consoled as he just shook his head. He was sure that he was going to royally screw up his children's lives with the fact that he had once been a ranger. He did not want either of them to have that responsibility on their shoulders and now, he had no clue which one of them it would be, unlike when he thought he was only having a son. "Come on, we didn't even know you'd be our child until Sam called us that day. You've had a few months to think about it already and by the time it happens, everything will be all right."

"But two children at once…" Tommy trailed off as he placed his head in his hands. "What about day care and the house is only half-finished…she wants to take time off to really be a mom, but…"

"Now might be a good time to open that gymnastics academy she's always talked about," Charlie said as Tommy sighed. He had thought about that too, but he didn't think it wise to suggest it now. It just seemed like another thing to add to their never ending list of issues. "How much have you managed to save?"

"A good bit, but it's still not enough. The equipment alone will cost all our savings and the building needs some major work," Tommy said as Charlie nodded.

"Does she know that you bought the building?" Charlie asked as Tommy shook his head no. "How did you do that?"

"Race money, the couple of Busch races brought in enough. She just told me to keep it, do what I want with it. I bought the land for the house and the building and she never asked why. I've got a lot of work to do before she can know about it," Tommy said as Darren just shook his head. Although Tommy wanted to fix the place up on his own, there was no longer time for that. He had to work quickly and try to get things ready before the twins arrived.

"Time to tell her son, because the longer you wait, the more it'll be on you. You've both wanted this, it's been her dream for years. Give this to her and she'll be able to watch the kids and you'll get money from the business," Darren said, logically, as Tommy looked over at him. He did not know if his pregnant wife would buy into this being the best thing for them when it had no guarantees.

"And who might help me set it up and buy all of the equipment?" Tommy asked as Charlie laughed. "Mom, I'm serious."

"You don't think that Jason hasn't been itching to get you a gym of your own? Every time he sees me he asks about that and Kim, of course," Charlie added as Tommy shook his head. Leave it to the two of them to be thinking about this for him.

"I can't believe we're having twins," Tommy said as Charlie placed a hand on his back. "I'm happy, I really am, but this is scary as hell."

"We've gone over this before, now go take care of your wife," Charlie said as Tommy looked between them, scared. "You've handled everything else in your marriage, go take care of this."

"You took awhile," Kim said as she woke up to the sound of him trying to silently close the door. "What's wrong?"

"Just worried, Kim, I wasn't expecting this," Tommy muttered as his hands shook, while he fiddled with the blanket lying over her. "It's better news than the cancer being back, but…"

"What is it?" Kim asked as he reached over and took her hand in his own.

"I'm scared," Tommy whispered as he looked down at the floor, between himself and the bed. He hated himself for being so upset about it all, but after she passed out, things started coming into perspective for him. This pregnancy was dangerous for her and he had not realized that until now. He couldn't lose her, that was one thing that he knew for sure. He was sure that she wanted more children, but he didn't even know if he would be able to stomach the idea of seeing her like that again while she was pregnant.

"What about?" Kim asked as she reached over and lifted his chin to where he had to look at her. The mix of emotions running through his eyes scared her. She had not see him like this in years and the last time she could remember was when she had woken up from her coma. "Tommy…"

"You, the babies, us, your job, daycare; I'm scared shitless Kim," Tommy said as she smiled. She knew that was what he was thinking, but had hoped that he would not doubt himself. He was going to do just fine with all of this, he had on everything else in their lives. "I also need to tell you something."

"What's that?" Kim asked. Her husband sure had horrible timing with news, but he obviously felt that he needed to share this now.

"You know that Busch money that I won?" Tommy started as she nodded her head. She, more accurately, remembered how she had bitten off most of her fingernails while watching. Tommy loved it and actually had a good bit of skill, but he felt a distinct need to be close to her and that life didn't allow it unless she traveled with him and that could only happen if he made the Cup series. It was too big a risk, so he returned his focus to school like he never had in the past. "I bought a building in downtown Reefside with it."

"You bought a building?" Kim asked, carefully. Why in the world would he do that?

"It would be a nice place for a gymnastics school and a dojo," Tommy said as she stared over at him. He could not seriously be adding that to their plate right now. "I wanted to wait until things were in place, but Mom convinced me otherwise."

"How, exactly?" Kim asked as Tommy sighed.

"Jason, it seems he's been wanting to help open another dojo and I know you wanted to stay home with the baby, but financially…we'd need the dojo to survive, but you could work your own hours. You know, toddlers during the day, older kids in the afternoon. I'd be there after school and…" Tommy trailed off as she placed a finger over his lips, tired of his ramblings.

"Jason will help?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "And you want to do this, you really want to? We'll have a tough couple of months at the beginning and my job has the perks of insurance and everything else, but I don't love it."

"I know and you've been providing for me for too long, can't I do that now?" Tommy asked as she just nodded. She had known one day he would want to do this and had patiently waited. She was surprised he thought now a good time, but with twins she knew that they were both going to need a job, no matter how much they hated the idea. "You tired?"

"Yeah, can you get the lights?" Kim asked as Tommy stood and walked over to the door in an attempt to find a light switch. Obviously hospitals thought it funny to not place them in an obvious place, like by the door.

"I can't find it," Tommy said as she groaned and he then kicked off his shoes and pulled his body out of the long sleeve shirt he had yet to shed, for his parent's benefit. He crawled into the bed that was all but forbidden and pulled her into his body. "Sorry, but this is the best that I can do."

"Better than the light being off," Kim whispered, prompting a smile from his lips. She dozed off immediately and he watched as people passed by the open room. Upon seeing Kim's parents walk by, he stiffened. The last time he had been found in a hospital bed with her, he had been yelled at. He just hoped that there would not be any repeat performances here today.


	14. Chapter 14

"I got here as soon as I could, how is she?" Melody asked as she approached Charlie and Darren. Against her better judgment, she decided to tell Melody the announcement. Tommy was not going to be a good person to talk to about it, he had just been hammered with the reality a few moments before and although he was happy, he was still shocked, to say the very least. Over the last several years Charlie and Melody had gotten to know each other better and she knew that the woman would take out her frustrations on Tommy if she felt that he was being unsupportive in any way and that was something her son did not need today.

"She's very pregnant, with twins," Charlie said as Melody dropped the flowers she had in her hands. It suddenly seemed like that was not going to be enough to make her daughter feel a little bit better. "She is also exhausted beyond belief right now. Tommy hasn't even asked us back there and I don't think that he will. He's trying to hold up a good front for her."

"He doesn't want twins?" Melody accused, as Charlie crossed her arms and glared at the woman. She would not sit there and allow her son to take a verbal beating because he was apprehensive about becoming a father. Every man went through it and considering what had just happened, she could not blame Tommy in the least bit.

"He does, he's just shocked about it. You'd think in the last five months someone would have noticed a second baby, but obviously that didn't happen," Charlie said as Melody stared at her. She had known Charlie would defend her son, but she had never truly crossed her before about any of Tommy's actions. "He's scared about becoming a father and I don't blame him."

"He's great with Ally," Melody said as Charlie nodded. Tommy was indeed wonderful with kids, but this was different. At the end of the day, the children wouldn't go home to their parents, because they would be his children.

"How scared were you when your first came along?" Darren asked as their wives were only going to continue this until one of them snapped and he would like to prevent them making a scene at the hospital.

"Scared shitless," Eric muttered as Melody and Charlie looked over at him. He knew that he had possibly landed himself in a pot of hot water, but he understood what Darren was doing all too well, Melody and Charlie needed to calm down quickly. "Well, I was. You'd been carrying him for nine months and suddenly one day, boom, I'm a father. It takes a little while to get used to the idea.

"Where is Mr. Oliver?" Dr. Calloway asked as he entered the waiting room. Dr. Mendez was an old friend of his, so he had done the honor of calling him in to see his mistake in person, instead of letting him read it on the fax machine tomorrow morning.

"He went back to Kim's room," Charlie supplied as Dr. Calloway nodded and Melody moved to follow him back. She just wanted to see her daughter and make sure that she was all right.

"Let her go, Charlie. Tommy can deal with it on his own," Darren said as Charlie sat down and he couldn't help but smile.

"And if Tommy doesn't, Kimberly will. She's not one to be fussed over without good reason," Eric said as Charlie looked between the two men. Neither of them understood that this was definitely something to fuss over.

"And passing out from exhaustion is not a good reason?" Charlie asked, as Darren sighed. They'd all have to tread on thin ice with her about the subject for a little while.

"Let Tommy take care of her, he's good at it," Eric said as Charlie stared over at him. Obviously, he had not picked up the warning signs that Darren had about this subject.

"He is under enough stress with everything else, he might let us help them," Charlie said as Darren shook his head. He honestly doubted that Tommy would let them do anything for Kimberly. He had always felt a responsibility to look after her, even when they were broken up. She should know that Tommy was not going to let them help unless he couldn't do a thing for her.

"Honey, he wouldn't let us help him when she was recovering from the transplant, he's not going to let us help now," Darren said, gently, in order to still have a place in bed tonight.

"They threw me out!" Melody yelled, indignantly, as Charlie gave her a sympathetic look. "My own daughter threw me out!"

"What did you say, Melody?" Eric asked, knowing that his ex-wife had probably brought it upon herself.

"I walked in and the both of them were lounged out on her bed. She needs rest, not to share a bed with her husband! He has absolutely no clue how to treat a sick woman," Melody fumed as Darren grabbed Charlie's arm and shook his head. Let Tommy's name take some bashing, Melody had never fully forgiven them for the fact that Tommy had stayed with Kim after the transplant. Although they all thought it was over, every time Kim got sick, something like this happened.

"You told them this?" Eric asked as Melody nodded her head and he sighed. "Who told you to get out?"

"Kim, why would my own daughter not want me there?" Melody asked as Tommy walked out to them with his hands on his hips. He looked pissed and considering the fact that he was barefoot, in a hospital, wearing only his undershirt and dress pants confirmed it. He walked around like that in his own house, but he never did when he was going to have to be in front of people.

"Why upset her like that?" Tommy asked, much more calmly than anyone expected. "I want an answer from someone, because my wife is in there crying and I don't know what the hell is going on."  
"She needs space to recover Tommy, not you lying there with her, practically spooning for all the word to see!" an irate Melody yelled as Tommy's eyes narrowed before he walked over and sat down in front of her. This had to end now, after six years of marriage, she still didn't trust him and he was tired of it. He had done everything that Kim suggested and it still came down to this every single time and that had to end, now.

"Melody, I need you to understand something," Tommy said, quietly, as Darren looked over at his son, trembling with the will to keep himself calm. "I'm her husband and I've been that for six years now. She's not going to run to you every time something happens, hell she doesn't even tell me half the time, unless it's really bad or I notice it first. I need you to let us handle her health, if we need help, we'll ask, but until then don't. And the next time you catch the two of us asleep in a hospital bed together, remember that she'll have just been through labor, so there will be no need to freak out."

"It's not safe for her," Melody argued as Tommy stood and crossed his arms.

"It's also the only way she'll get any rest in a hospital bed and that is what she desperately needs right now," Tommy said as he looked over at Kim's father and then his own parents. "Thanks a lot guys."

"Oh, anytime honey," Charlie said as Tommy just shook his head. He knew his mother was antagonizing him and for good reason, but he was tired of this. Every time she went in the hospital or had a check up, she would have a monumental fight with her mother and that had to stop now. Kim couldn't take it anymore and he could not stand to see her like this one more time.

"She's calmed down some," Dr. Calloway said to Tommy from outside the room. He had not dared enter without Tommy there, as she was only likely to throw him from the room next. "Does that happen often?"  
"Only when she's in the hospital," Tommy whispered as he let out a sigh. "Give me a few minutes with her and then you can come in."

"Okay," Dr. Calloway said, only too glad to accommodate the request. He was going to need Kim calm to take a good look at what he'd missed. He had never missed a second child for this long, the first month of so, maybe, but five months was absolutely ludicrous.

"Hey," Tommy whispered as he sat down beside her and she then leaned into him. Her body was exhausted, she just found out about the twins and now her mother had yelled at her for having Tommy in the same bed with her. It was certainly better than her not getting any rest, but now she was afraid to invite him back. "You okay?"

"I hate this Tommy," Kim murmured as he nodded. It was all that she could do to reach up and give him a kiss, to let her know that he really was there. "What did you say?"

"It's time for her to let me take care of you," Tommy said as Kim smiled. She was so tired and felt like lying down again. She had a feeling her hours were about to be cut to none, but in all honesty, that would be all right. Part of her benefits package dealt with pay while on bed rest/maternity leave. She'd use it until Tommy got the dojo up and running, then she'd give her two weeks' notice and go to the job that she loved. "Dr. Calloway is here, so if you can stay awake a little bit longer and let him look at the babies, it'd be nice."

"Okay," Kim murmured already drifting back off to sleep.

"Not going to last is she?" Dr. Calloway asked as Tommy shook his head no. "If you don't mind, I still wish to do this."  
"It's fine," Tommy said as he gently reached to pull the hospital gown up over her stomach, thanking God that she had decided to stay under the covers. Although he knew this man had seen more of her body than he wished any man would, he did not care to actually say anything about it.

"Nothing I haven't seen," Dr. Calloway said, gently, as Tommy looked up at him, he knew that, but he was not going to let him see anything right now if he could help it. "It's my job and trust me when I say I am only interested in my wife getting any sort of pleasure from me."

"I know, it's just…" Tommy trailed off as Dr. Calloway brought over the ultrasound machine.

"Hmm… let's see if I can find that little bugger," Dr. Calloway said, gently moving the probe over Kim's stomach as she dozed on Tommy's shoulder. "Okay, that's baby number one, see if I can push him out of the way enough to see the other one."

"Can you tell?" Tommy asked, quietly, as their son finally gave up and moved out of the way.

"It looks like a girl, Mr. Oliver," Dr. Calloway said as Tommy smiled. As much as he wanted a son, he also wanted a chance to have a miniature Kim running around their home as well. "She looks healthy enough and now I've got to set up the ground rules with you."

"Okay," Tommy said, hesitantly. The last time ground rules had been brought up in a doctor's visit, he had had an empty (and thankfully cold) frying pan thrown at his head. Luckily Kim had missed, but he still had had a long week on the sofa before she forgave him.

"No sex, its' dangerous for the babies," Dr. Calloway said as Tommy crossed his arms and scowled. If that was rule number one, he would rather someone else be murdered for telling her that. "I'll explain the uterus contracts during that particular activity, which has a most pleasurable outcome for your wife, but during the later months of her pregnancy, it can cause her to go into labor. With multiples, you don't want to take your chances. She needs to be able to carry these babies as long as she can."

"She's not going to like that," Tommy said as Dr. Calloway smiled. He had a feeling it wouldn't stop, but thought it necessary to warn him strongly against it.

"Also she is not to work more than 20 hours a week and I'll talk to her boss about it. She is to have the next week off to recuperate and I'd suggest you call in for Monday off, at the very least. Also, in her twenty-sixth week, she will be placed on bed rest. She had a very small frame and I want her to be able to make it to at least week thirty. The babies will have a very good chance to make it if she can hold off until then. The longer she is able to hold them, the better off they'll be," Dr. Calloway finished as Tommy nodded. "Do you wish for me to inform her sometime next week?"  
"Yeah, otherwise I'll have to dodge kitchen utensils," Tommy said as Dr. Calloway gave him a knowing smile.

"Never tell a woman bad news in the kitchen," Dr. Calloway said as Tommy laughed. The older man had no idea how many times he had heard that in recent years. "Get some rest and watch out for her."  
"Don't worry, I will," Tommy said as he gently moved Kim over and then crawled in next to her. Dr. Calloway did not miss the fact that Kim had already settled her head on his chest before he was even able to lay down. The two of them were certainly a special pair, the likes of which he had never seen before.


	15. Chapter 15

Kim was released from the hospital early Sunday morning and Tommy took her home without another thought. He knew she would make amends with her mother soon enough, but he was not going to speed the process along. The last thing she needed was another yelling match with her mother at the moment. Her body was so tired and when he placed her in bed, she fell asleep almost immediately.

"Dr. O!" Tommy's communicator sounded, just as he had pulled off his pants to get in the shower. He was tired, had a 5 o'clock shadow from hell and only wanted to take a shower and crawl into bed with his wife. He hoped that whatever the rangers were calling him for would not be too serious.

"This better be good Conner," Tommy said as he reached down to pull his pants back up.

"Would Kira being captured be good enough?" Conner asked as Tommy let out a sigh. Those were not the words that he had wanted to hear from Conner, he had been hoping that this was some sort of weird mistake or that he had some stupid question to ask. This was not a stupid question, it was a crisis that he had hoped these rangers would be able to avoid somehow.

"Get to my house as soon as you can," Tommy mumbled as the boy ended the communications. As he walked back towards his bedroom, he was surprised by Kim as he opened the door. "Why are you out of bed?"

"I gotta go," Kim said, pushing past her husband and waddling over to the toilet. "Something wrong?"  
"Kira's been captured," Tommy said with a sigh as Kim just nodded her head. She was nowhere near awake and by the time she figured out what had been said, he'd be busy making plans for the boys to rescue her.

"Are you leaving?" Kim asked as she stood, washed her hands and then started back to their bed.

"I'll be downstairs," Tommy said as he helped her into bed and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Yell if you need anything."

"Rest should cure me Tommy," Kim said, politely, as she felt him gently squeeze her hand before leaving the room.

* * *

"Slow down and repeat that again," Tommy said as Ethan and Conner had been yelling the events at him. He was surviving on a few hours of sleep, in a hospital bed and was in no mood for yelling of any sort. As they both started back up, he held up his hands before looking at the both of them. Conner had called him, so he hoped he knew what had happened, because he just wanted to get this over as quickly as possible. "Conner, you tell me what happened. I am barely conscious right now."

"What's wrong?" Conner asked, distracted by their mentor's admission of being human. The glare he got told him the answer was of no importance and that they were better off figuring out what was going on with Kira, then he might tell them what had happened to him. "Sorry, we went to the park this afternoon, next thing I know, I'm being attacked and all I can hear is Kira yelling for me. By the time the tryannadrones let me go, she had disappeared. I didn't even see an invisaportal open up."

"Okay, so why pick on you instead of me?" Tommy thought aloud. He was sure that Mesogogg would love to target him, but for some reason he didn't this time. Sure, Conner was growing more formidable with each battle, but there was still no reason to attack him personally. He had done nothing to piss Mesogogg off, while Tommy's existence was enough to piss many evil beings off, he should have been killed by now if you asked any of them.

"He doesn't want to die," Conner supplied as Tommy just shook his head. That had rarely stopped beings in the past for coming after Kimberly, even Mesogogg had made that mistake. He just hoped that he had learned from the past experience that Tommy had ranger connections that would scare most monsters into submission.

"I'll start scans, then contact Billy, he should be able to help us," Tommy said moving to the console and letting out a sigh. His wife was upstairs sleeping, pregnant with their twins and he was down here talking to a damn ranger about another one that had been captured. Why did this always happen to them? Why couldn't they have some peace in their life? Was that too much to ask?

"Is something wrong?" Ethan asked, as Tommy looked back at him.

"She's pregnant with twins and now the shit is hitting the fan," Tommy said as he placed his head on the desk. He could go to sleep right there, except he was sure that he would get poked by someone if he did. "I've had a grand total of five hours of sleep in the last forty-eight hours."

"I'm confused," Conner said as Tommy looked over at him. The poor boy had not been able to deal with Kira being captured and he had thrown his own personal problem in his face. He sucked at this mentoring thing.

"Yesterday she passed out and they discovered that she's having twins. I'm…I'm scared shitless, so last night I got about two hours of sleep. The night before…well that was my own fault," Tommy murmured, not willing to play out his sex life with a couple of teenage boys. They would be more than happy to hash out the details, but Kim would kill him, although that was TECHNICALLY in the category of overworking herself, not that he would have time to point that out.

"What did you do Friday night?" Conner asked with a wicked smile as Tommy glared over at him. He was in no mood to deal with this, but he figured that he could gross the boy out and he'd leave him alone.

"Fucked my wife senseless," Tommy growled as Conner's eyes widened. He did not think that Dr. O would tell him the truth. He had thought he would scurry around the edges of the truth and then get them back on subject. "Damn it, Conner, do you wish to keep talking about my sex life or find Kira?"

"Dr. O, you might want to see this," Ethan said as Tommy turned to face him. Tommy let out a sigh upon seeing the position on the map.

"Conner, come with me, you get in touch with Billy," Tommy said as Ethan nodded and Conner followed Tommy upstairs. He had no clue what was about to happen, but his mentor had just blown his lid.

"Dr. O, sorry about that…I didn't think…" Conner trailed off as Tommy just sunk into the chair in the kitchen.

"We'll talk later Conner, when I've had a good night's rest and can think clearly. You have to go get her. Teleport in, grab her and get the two of you out of there. I need to go wake Kim up, I'm gonna need her help," Tommy said as Conner just stared. That was all the instruction this great ranger could give him? Basically go in there and don't get himself killed, that was wonderful advice. He could have thought of that on his own. "Conner, I can barely keep my eyes open, so trust me on this. I need to talk to my wife."

"Okay, Dr. O," Conner said as he teleported out. Tommy prayed he hadn't sent the poor boy to his doom.

* * *

He landed in a dark hallway, every part of his ranger sixth sense standing on end. He knew he was in deep shit here and if he got caught before he got to Kira, Dr. O would eat him alive. Hoping that a sound would attract his attention, he moved slowly up the corridor. Kira's voice could not be heard and he was trying to gather himself. This was not good, he had no sort of experience, the only one that did was Dr. O. Why wasn't he here?

"Hands off scum bag!" Kira yelled and Conner spun around on his spot. He could hear her and he ran for the room. He had no idea who might be in there as well, but Kira was and that was what was important.

"What are you doing here?" Elsa purred as Conner leaped up kicking her in the jaw and solidly knocking her out. Upon hearing the commotion Mesogogg opened the door to find the red ranger standing in front of him. Through pure shock, Conner managed to slip by Mesogogg and over to Kira.

"Why aren't you morphed?" Conner murmured as he pulled her from the straps.

"Took my gem," Kira muttered as Conner teleported away, they could get the damn gem back, but they couldn't get her back if they lost her.

* * *

"Kim, honey, I'm so sorry, but I need your help," Tommy whispered as he sat down next to her and she sat up to look at him. Her body was begging her to get some good rest and she thought he understood.

"Why?" Kim asked, already falling back to sleep next to him. He smiled and then decided to just let her sleep, if Kira was really freaked out about it, then he'd wake his wife up and deal with her wrath.

"You're back quick," Tommy said as he walked into the kitchen and saw that Kira looked deathly pale. "Are you okay?"

"They took her morpher," Conner explained as Tommy just shook his head. This was not something that he wanted to hear from them. "Is she going to be all right?"

"Once we get her morpher back, she'll be fine, until then take her over to the couch," Tommy said as Kira looked up at him from Conner's arms. "Rest, Kira, I'll try to get Kim to come out here and talk to you about this mess."

"What's wrong with Kim?" Kira asked, weakly, as Tommy signaled Conner to carry her into the living room and lay her down on the couch.

"Stay with her, I'll tell Ethan to call of the dogs," Tommy said as Conner nodded. The fact that Tommy had not been able to coax his wife out of bed worried him. Kim must be exhausted and it went without saying that Tommy was only running on fumes himself.

"Conner, why does Dr. O have a beard?" Kira asked as Conner smiled over at her. No matter how exhausted she was, she'd noticed something like that.

"Kim was in the hospital yesterday, they're having twins," Conner said as he sat down in front of the couch and Kira placed her hand on his shoulder. He was slightly surprised that she would do that here, but he took it in his own and watched as her hand glowed an eerie shade of yellow. She was losing her powers and he could do nothing about it. He suddenly could empathize with Dr. O about how he had felt all those years ago.

"I'm sorry Conner, I couldn't hold onto it," Kira said as Conner turned to face the tired yellow ranger.

"Rest Kira, it's all right, we'll get your gem back," Conner whispered as he gave her a kiss on the forehead and then heard Dr. O clear his throat. His head fell down as Dr. O smiled. The poor boy didn't know how to deal with this and the only one that did was himself. He was too damn tired to really be able to talk to him at the moment.

"Guys, I need to rest, you watch her, if she starts floating around or exploding things, come get me," Tommy said as Conner nodded. Dr. O was barely able to walk and he was sure that he wouldn't last much longer. "Hey baby."

"What's going on Tommy?" Kim asked as he crawled into the bed and her arms immediately wrapped around him. She had slept fine the night before, but was still exhausted beyond belief. "Why didn't you shower?"

"You missed Kira being captured, didn't you?" Tommy said, quietly as she looked over at him in complete shock. How had she missed this? "I mentioned it when you came in the bathroom, but you looked like you were out of it."

"Tommy, go shower," Kim said, almost disgusted, as Tommy laughed aloud. "Tommy! You are disgusting!"

"Kim, I don't think I'll be able to hold my eyes open much longer. I'll shower when I wake up," Tommy said as Kim pushed him away. "Kim please, I'm tired baby."

"You stink. Go shower!" Kim yelled as Tommy sighed before forcing himself out of bed and walking to the bathroom, this time shedding his clothes as he went. He'd be damned if Kim did not let him sleep this time. His body desperately needed it. "Do not tempt me Tommy Oliver!"

"Tempt you with what?" Tommy asked as he spun around. The look in Kim's eyes let him know he was in trouble and he was surprised when she walked over and pulled him into the bathroom. "Kim, the kids are in the other room."

"Point is?" Kim asked, turning on the shower and stripping down at well. He did not think that this was right, but all of the stress of the last few days made him forget. His wife was doing things to him that she had not done since they found out she was pregnant.


	16. Chapter 16

"They've been in there for awhile," Conner said as Ethan laughed. They both were having the same thought, which was scary to admit, but they were teenage boys.

"Guys, leave them alone," Kira moaned as her head throbbed and she pushed herself up. She needed to throw up all of a sudden and Conner and Ethan were in her way. "Move!"

"Kira, are you okay?" Conner asked as he watched her trail down the hall into the guest bathroom. He was worried about her, but he was trying to keep himself calm and not worry about it. It was important that they kept themselves secret for as long as they could. They both knew the hell his friends would induce upon her when they found out. "I'll check on her."

"Leave me alone Conner," Kira moaned as he stood in the doorway and watched her hurl. His heart reached out for her and he wet a cloth and walked over to her. He rarely saw her sick or even agitated about anything, but right now she was both and he didn't understand why. He didn't know how her powers being taken away could do this to her. "Let me throw up on my own."

"Don't you think that will work with me," Conner said as Tommy walked out of their room looking slightly less tired, but more tired in an odd way.

"Check on her Tommy, you know how rough it is when you are losing your powers," Kim said as she took a step into the hall in a bathrobe and Conner laughed. So he and Ethan had been right about what they were doing.

"I need to go to bed," Kira murmured as she leaned back against the red ranger and he coughed loud enough to get Tommy and Kim's attention. He didn't want to break them out of whatever they were having, but he knew that Kira was not a happy camper and needed to get some rest, at the very least.

"Is there anywhere that she can sleep?" Conner asked, indicating the barely conscious yellow ranger in his arms.

"Our bedroom is fine," Kim said as Tommy looked back at her. He had been hoping that she would at least let him get a nap before he really had to deal with the kids. He was barely functioning and was about to reach the point where it was going to get ugly. "It's not like either of us are going to sleep good right now."

"I could…" Tommy grumbled as Kim folded her arms and then he just shook his head. The couch was not bad when they pulled it out, if she would let him do that. "Come on, let's get her to bed, then we'll talk to the two of you."

"Okay," Conner said as Tommy lifted the teen from his arms and she let out a groan of pain. Conner followed him more out of worry for Kira than anything else.

"How is she?" Conner whispered as Kim had waddled into the living room as soon as Tommy picked Kira up.

"Roles switched," Tommy muttered as Conner's eyes widened. "Don't tell her, she'll kill me if she thinks ya'll know about it or anything that we've done lately."

"Come on, didn't you before you were…" Conner trailed off as Tommy shook his head no. Kim was going to kill him, she was really going to kill him when she found out about this and he just hoped that she wouldn't. He had not experienced a bad mood swing from her, but he was sure that she was capable of it. "Wow."

"Come on, let her rest and we'll talk with Kim. She's going to explain to you what happened and I'm going to explain to you what you'll have to do to help her," Tommy said as Conner nodded. He still had a hard time shaking the thoughts that Tommy had implanted from his head. He had always thought Dr. O had been somewhat of a ladies' man in high school, obviously this was the woman that he had loved for all those years. "You need anything?"

"Some water please," Kim said as he nodded and Ethan just shook his head. He was shocked at how Kim looked now. He had heard of the 'glow', but now he actually believed that it happened. There was a reason that Dr. O loved this woman and even if it didn't have to do with how she looked, she still was a beautiful woman, not that he was dumb enough to tell Dr. O that. He didn't really want to get himself killed anytime soon.

"Dr. O wasn't a ladies' man," Conner muttered as Kim looked over at him and he realized, a little too late, that he had spoken in front of Kimberly. "Sorry, just kinda had a revelation."

"Tommy had one other girlfriend, after he dumped me. Then I got sick and came back, by then they had broken up, poor boy, so shy about women," Kim said with an evil grin, as Conner and Ethan laughed. Tommy then walked back in, only to get 'the look' from his wife and had to stop himself from physically shuddering. What had he done to deserve that? "Why would he think you were a ladies' man?"

"Kim, he never said anything, it was just the picture I had in my head. You can't blame me with the way he looks," Conner said as 'the look' switched over to him. It was going to be a very long day if she stayed this aggravated.

"Kim, I get hit on all the time, you should understand why a teenager might think that in the past I was good with women," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head.

"Next thing I know, you'll be talking about our sex life with them," Kim said as Tommy choked on his drink and Conner and Ethan exchanged a glance. Kim, however, was absorbed enough in the baby kicking her in the ribs to not notice their odd behavior.

"Okay, Kira losing her powers," Tommy stated evenly, as Kim reached for his hand and placed it on her upper stomach.

"That is your son beating the living crap out of my ribs," Kim said with a smile as Tommy laughed.

"No, it might be your daughter," Tommy said as Kim looked over at him. She had known about the twins, but she didn't know that the other child was a girl. "Dr. Calloway did an ultrasound and finally got her brother to move out of the way so that he could see her."

"She doesn't move that much, Tommy, only when the other one fights with her," Kim said as Tommy laughed. The two of them needed to just be able to talk, to be normal parents-to-be and enjoy all the settle nuances that were occurring with her body. At this point they didn't care who was there, they just needed to talk about the babies like normal parents would. "I noticed a couple of times that I was getting beat with more hands than normal, now I understand why."

"So Kira," Conner said as Kim gave him a bashful smile. She felt bad for the boy, he loved her and had not even realized it yet. The others were so ignorant of it, but having gone through it before let her see the symptoms better.

"I had a similar thing happen to me when I was a ranger. My power coin was stolen and my powers ripped from me. The yellow glow is an aftereffect of the initial separation. In a day or so that will calm down enough that she can be in public. You'll have to watch her, carefully. Don't stress her out, don't let her get caught in a battle, she's not in any condition to deal with either. She may have a couple of morphs left, but I'm not asking that of her and neither should you. You're down a ranger until we can get the powers back," Kim said as Conner placed his head in his hands. This was not what he wanted to hear from their mentors. He had wanted to hear that this would be a quick fix. What Kim was saying sounded like it was going to be an ordeal just to get her to the point to go back to school, anything after that would just be an extra.

"How are you going to get her parents to agree to let her not go to school?" Conner asked, as he doubted the Ford's would really want to listen to any explanation of her disappearance.

"The same way we did with ours. She's staying here until it's safe for her to go back home. It's one thing if her powers destroy bits of the Command Center, but her home is another thing," Tommy said as Kim let out a sigh. She had certainly put on quite a display when she had lost her powers and Tommy had not been much better. Her power removal, however, had been a tad bit more violent.

"So you've had it happen?" Conner asked, rather stupidly, as Tommy watched Kim just nod her head. She obviously felt sorry for the boy to just answer the poor boy's question without a retort. They both were fairly tired and she looked like she needed to go back to bed. He wanted to do that himself, but the kids were there as well and they needed to watch out for them. "And you survived?"

"Yeah, but just barely," Kim said as Tommy looked away from her. He still had nightmares about it when he had a bad day and a worse day had her dying, him not being able to save her. That was still the biggest fear that he had in life, no matter what anyone said or thought, he'd die for her and she knew that all too well. That was why she never wanted to give him the opportunity to do something like that.

"I don't feel so good," Kira said as she stumbled out of Kim and Tommy's room, glowing yellow as Tommy stood up and Conner quickly followed him. Kim, although she wanted to help, just got out of the way. She knew what might happen if a power burst hit her. "What's happening?"

"Get her downstairs, Conner," Tommy said as he walked over to Kim. "Let me get you back to bed."

"I'm fine, I'll just sit down on the couch," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her and then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Be calm Kim, I'm sorry about this, but I've got to take care of the kids," Tommy said as Kim pulled him down for a quick kiss. "I don't know how much longer I can do this."

"We need you to," Kim whispered placing his hand on top of the baby's kicking foot. "Our son needs you to do this."

"But…" Tommy trailed off as she lifted his hand upwards and rested it on her heart.

"I'm still here, you'll make it Tommy," Kim said, firmly, before he slowly stood and walked downstairs. He just hoped that she was right about all of this.


	17. Chapter 17

"Make it stop!" Kira yelled as a burst of energy shot from her body and Tommy and Ethan ducked for cover as Conner just sat in shock on the couch, ignoring everything around him.

"I can't Kira," Tommy said as the girl screamed out and Kim peeked downstairs to see what the commotion was about. When she saw the sparks that were flying, she turned right back around, she knew that it was getting ugly down there and that Tommy had reached the end of his rope. He was going to do something that they had both thought might be necessary one day, but had hoped that Conner and Kira would reveal themselves. "Conner, come here."

"What?" Conner asked rising from his position on the couch. He wanted to hold her, to comfort her, but no one here knew about them, not even Dr. O or so he thought.

"I need you to take care of her," Tommy said as the boy looked at him in shock. He had no clue why he would think that he had such a good pull on her. "You are the only comfort she has here. Now it is time that you do what you can."

"Are you leaving?" Conner asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. He was barely able to keep his head up anymore and he had no clue how many hours he had been trying to calm the wailing yellow ranger, but he was not going to be able to help her. She needed Conner to admit what they were, in order for her to have a chance to get any better. "You can't."

"I am no help here, you are the only help for her, so it's time for you to drop these pretenses and do what you can to help her," Tommy said as Ethan looked between the two of them, knowing that there was some sort of internal struggle for the both of them. He had never seen the two of them look like this, but there was nothing that he could do but stare. If either of them was to lose control now, all hell just might break loose. "I don't care if you love her Conner, but she cares for you, please help her."

Conner then walked the three steps over to Kira and gathered her shaking form in his arms. They watched as her tremors calmed and the energy bursts diminished as well. She was still glowing yellow from losing her powers, but she was calm. She felt safe and that was something they couldn't take away from her when she was in his arms.

"Conner, when did you get here?" Kira mumbled as Conner looked up at Dr. O and his face clearly said to lie to her. She did not need to know that he had just sat to the side and watched her as she screamed because he was afraid of how the others would react. He just needed to help her and then he could admit the truth to her later.

"Just now, I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier," Conner said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. She looked exhausted and was barely able to hold herself up, even with his help. "Rest Kira, I'm here now, everything will be fine."

"Thank you," Kira whispered as she fell asleep against his shoulder and Tommy smiled at him.

"Do you think I can leave now?" Tommy asked as Conner nodded and Ethan just stared. He was not sure that he understood what had just happened here, suddenly Kira was calm and it was all because of Conner.

"So what is it between the two of you?" Ethan asked with a smile as Conner continued to run his fingers through her hair, lulling her to sleep.

"We've been dating for the last year, but nobody really knows about it, even the soccer team doesn't know about it. I couldn't put her through that," Conner said as Ethan sat down next to the gurney and looked between the two of them.

"You know you're going to have to now, she's going to have it rough if you don't," Ethan said as Conner nodded. He already knew that, but he was not sure how to break it to her. His friends would make her life a living hell and right now she didn't need anymore added to her plate. "She's one of us and you like her. Don't throw that away for them."

"Why do you think I would?" Conner asked as Ethan tried to think of a polite way to put it. He did not want to be killed by an irate red ranger.

"You've hidden it for a year Conner. She's fine with it, I can tell, but you aren't ready to tell them. For some reason she has let this continue, but if you walk into school tomorrow and act like you have the last three hours, she'll do more than glow yellow," Ethan said as Conner nodded. He didn't think Kira would be up for school tomorrow, but if there was one thing he'd learned from Dr. O, it was that there were times when you had to act like everything was all right. Tomorrow would be one of those times for all of them.

"My friends are going to crucify me," Conner said as Kira rolled over in his arms, obviously trying to get more comfortable and Ethan just shook his head.

"They aren't your friends if they can't accept her," Ethan said as Conner looked over at him. Ethan had a point, but he could not imagine making this choice without her agreement.

"I'll have to talk to her," Conner said as Ethan nodded. He was sure that Kira would agree to it. She seemed ready enough to let the secret out.

* * *

"You left them?" Kim asked as Tommy re-emerged into the kitchen and just nodded his head. She had seen her husband this tired on rare occasions and knew it was best for the both of them to get him in bed quickly. "Come on, you look like you need a nap."

"Coming with me?" Tommy asked as she nodded. She felt rested enough, but could always lie down with him. "Kira's doing better."

"That's good. What did you have to convince Conner to do?" Kim asked as he ran his hand up and down her spine, merely out of habit.

"To act like he cares about her in front of others," Tommy said as Kim smiled. "Hopefully he'll take the hint and continue it tomorrow at school."

"Aren't you staying home?" Kim asked as he nodded his head that he would indeed be home the next day. "Do you even think Kira should go to school?"

"If Conner behaves himself she'll have no problems, the glowing will be gone by then if all goes well," Tommy said as Kim nodded. "Besides, they'll bring her back if something happens."

"That's what I'm scared of, you don't need that kind of exposure Tommy," Kim said as she rolled over to face him and found him fast asleep. She smiled as she silently rolled back over to her other side and snuggled against him. If anyone deserved a quiet evening away from this, it was her husband and she hoped he'd be able to survive without any problems.

* * *

"Conner?" Kim murmured as she awoke in his arms and then looked around the room. "Has it stopped?"

"For right now it has," Conner whispered as Ethan walked back down with a bag of cookies and some juice. "Kira, we're going to have to tell people about us."

"That's fine," Kira said as she put her head on his shoulder and started to doze back off.

"Kira, I mean tomorrow," Conner said as her eyes blinked back open and she could only stare at him. "You were getting worse until I decided I didn't care who knew about us. I don't want for anything to happen to you tomorrow."

"As long as you're sure, I never thought it was a good idea to not tell your friends," Kira said as Ethan smiled at them as he watched Kira nod off and she lightly snored as Conner smiled down at her.

"She took that well," Ethan said as Conner nodded. He was surprised that she didn't put up more of a fight, but then he remembered the draining effect of losing her powers. "They'll get over it Conner, it's not like they've never met Kira before."

"But the few times they have, they've ripped into her, she can't have that placed on her right now," Conner said as Ethan just shook his head. If he had not seen Conner's lips move, he would not have believed him capable of this sort of compassion. That was when he understood that Kira was not a passing phase, this was the woman that Conner imagined spending the rest of his life with.

"Don't screw this up Conner," Ethan said as Conner gave him a confused look. "You rarely get a second chance at love Conner, ask Dr. O."

"Why?" Conner asked as Ethan laughed.

"Because he dumped his wife when they were our age and I'm sure he thanks God that he has her by his side now," Ethan said as Conner nodded.

"They love each other, why would he do that?" Conner asked, stupidly, as Ethan smiled. This was the point that he had been trying to make all along.

"And you love her, need I explain the similarities any further?" Ethan asked as Conner just shook his head. In all reality, he was seeing more than that, but he did not want to tell Ethan that. It would just be more proof that he was right.

"Conner, can you take me home?" Kira asked as she looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Let me ask Dr. O," Conner said as he stood up and walked out of the Command Center. He hoped that she would be able to leave, but knew that Dr. O might not think it best.

* * *

"Tommy, wake up," Kim whispered as he rolled over and just placed his arm around her. "Tommy…"

"What?" Tommy muttered as he looked up at her face and saw the barely concealed pain in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I have a cramp in my back," Kim said, calmly, as he sat up and then moved to where he could sit behind her when she sat up.

"Where?" Tommy asked as she sat up as straight as she could and he felt for the clump of tight muscles until she visibly stiffened from his touch. "Okay, I'll try to rub it out."

"Thank you," Kim whispered as they heard a knock at the door and she looked back at him.

"Probably one of the kids," Tommy muttered as Kim stretched against him and had to stop a groan from exiting her throat as his hands rubbed a particularly sore place.

"Come in," Kim called out after regaining control of her voice.

"Sorry to interrupt," Conner said as he saw the two of them and Kim just shook her head.

"I have a cramp Conner, what do you need?" Kim asked, kindly, as Tommy looked over at her and let out a little hmph that only earned him an elbow in the ribs.

"Can I go ahead and take Kira home, she's tired and wants to get some rest," Conner said as Kim looked back at Tommy. She was sure that he wanted to send the kids home as soon as he possibly could, but she did not dare mention that to Conner. That would just start one more discussion that she did not want to have with the teen.

"Is she still glowing?" Tommy asked as he buried his face in Kim's hair, which caused her to give him an odd look.

"No, she's not," Conner said as Tommy turned his face back towards Conner and rested his head on Kim's shoulder. He could feel the cramp starting to relax, but it was not nearly enough for her to be able to relax.

"Go home, Conner," Tommy said as Conner barely nodded and then turned to walk out as quickly as he could. He could tell that he was interrupting something, even if both Kim and Tommy claimed it was nothing. The two of them were too good at keeping secrets for him to believe that it was only a cramp in her back.


	18. Chapter 18

"This isn't home," Kira murmured as Conner pulled his car off the road at an old abandoned warehouse. He needed to talk to her and hoped that she would be up to it, even if it was just to nod in agreement with what he said.

"We need to talk," Conner said as Kira groaned. He should know better than to have a soul searching talk now; she had just done good to walk herself to the car. "Actually, I need to talk."

"Conner, could it wait? I'm exhausted," Kira whispered as she took the effort to look over at him and he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"If I thought they'd leave you alone, I would leave this alone," Conner said as she managed to sit up straighter and he scooted over to her side of the car and gathered her close. She felt so weak in his arms and he could not help but mentally sigh, if only he had been able to get her gem. He had been too worried about getting her out of there safely to even think about attempting to get the gem. "No matter what happens or what they say, I need you to know that I care."

"Conner, I know that," Kira said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"But I've never told you this," Conner said as she looked up at him, startled by his seriousness. "I love you."

"I…I love you too," Kira whispered as she gave him a chaste kiss. She still had a headache from hell and he was surprised that she even did that in response.

"You're okay?" Conner asked as she nodded her head yes. "I'll take you home now."

"Thank you," Kira whispered as he gave her another kiss before he moved back into the driver's seat and headed back down the road.

* * *

"Conner! How was your weekend?" Jeremy asked as he walked over to Conner's car and was surprised to see Kira step out of the passenger's side. She looked like death warmed over and he knew that there had be a good reason for Conner to do what he was doing now. He was about to put himself and Kira through hell, but obviously he thought it would be worth it. "What's going on?"

"Hi Jeremy," Kira said, quietly, as Jeremy stared at her as Conner grabbed her hand.

"Conner, chat, now," Jeremy said as Kira sat down on the hood of his car and rubbed her face with her hands. She had not slept good last night, although she was exhausted and her only hope was that Conner would be able to comfort her some today. "What the hell is this?"

"My girlfriend?" Conner asked as he folded his arms and silently challenged Jeremy.

"I didn't think you'd tell the whole school before senior year. Why now?" Jeremy asked as Conner sighed.

"She needs me right now and I don't give a damn what the rest of the school thinks, Jeremy. You're one of my best friends and you accept it," Conner said as Jeremy sighed. He had thought she might be a passing fancy, but with each date Conner had become more serious about a girl that did not really fit into their world.

"Hey there, why are you here?" Alex leered as he walked up to Kira. He knew the girl well enough, but for her to be sitting on Conner's car was something that did not quite fit.

"Waiting on Conner," Kira said as she rubbed her temples. She felt nauseous and her head was spinning. She just hoped that whatever Jeremy had to say would not be too harsh and would be something that Conner could survive.

"You should leave, he doesn't wish to see you," Alex said as Kira looked at him for a brief moment before she was pushed off the hood of the car.

"Conner!" Kira yelled as the guys closed in around her. She felt sick and was currently about to throw up behind all of them.

"Shit," Conner murmured as he and Jeremy ran over to the group of guys. "Leave her alone."

"Why should we?" Alex asked as he grabbed her breast and Conner decked him before he even knew what had happened.

"Don't you ever do that again or I'll kill you," Conner murmured as he looked down at Alex as Kira had retreated to Jeremy's arms. He was the only person there that she knew remotely well and when he had pulled her close, she had not even tried to pull away. She was far too sick to do that at the moment.

"Come on, that little whore puts out enough for more than you to enjoy," Alex said as Jeremy passed Kira off to Ethan, who had walked up moments before.

"Conner, don't!" Kira yelled as he looked back at her and saw that she was struggling to keep control of the powers that were being torn away.

"You okay?" Conner whispered as he gathered her in a hug and placed his head on top of hers.

"Yeah, I just feel sick," Kira said as he barely nodded. He knew that he needed to get her inside and away from this mess as soon as he could, although he wanted to beat Alex to a pulp right now, he could not do that. That was going to have to wait for later, when things were nowhere near as bad.

"Let's get out of here," Conner said as he grabbed her hand and gently pulled her along. "See you in class."

"Yeah," Jeremy said as he noticed Kira's inability to move without him, which he found quite odd. There was something else going on here to make Conner tell everyone about them. "What were you thinking?"

"He's dating a musician, not a cheerleader, something must be done," Alex said as he finally stood up. "I didn't think he could punch that hard."

"They've been dating for over a year and you just grabbed her boob, you're lucky he didn't knock you out cold," Jeremy said as the soccer team looked at him in shock. How could they not know this about their captain? This was something that should have been spilled long before now. "He did it because he knew this would happen and you had to go be a jackass about it just to prove him right."

"What's wrong with her?" Alex asked as Jeremy shook his head.

"I wish I knew," Jeremy said as they turned to go into the school. "But you'd do some good to apologize to her."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Alex murmured as Jeremy nodded and walked on. He was going to let them think on this for awhile.

* * *

"Tommy," Kim whispered as she rolled over to see his side of the bed completely empty. "Tommy."

"Bathroom," Tommy said as she scooted off her side of the bed and walked over to the bathroom. He was shaving as she walked in and he stopped for a brief moment to smile at her. "How were they last night?"

"He moved around a lot, she just slapped him around a little bit," Kim said as her stomach cramped and she reached for his hand. "I'm too small for this."

"Go lay back down and I'll get you some breakfast," Tommy said as Kim shook her head that she was fine. "You stomach just cramped, go lay back down."

"I'll see you in the kitchen," Kim said as Tommy looked over at her. When was she going to learn to take care of her body?

"She's got to take it easy," Tommy muttered to himself as he finished shaving and then washed his face.

* * *

"What do you want?" Kim asked as she moved from one cabinet to the next and he walked up behind her and gently held her still. "Don't say it Tommy, just let me do this."

"One more cramp and you're lying down on the couch," Tommy said as she smiled back at him.

"I'm scared," Kim whispered as Tommy put his arms around her. "What if I can't carry them to term? What if they have something wrong with them because we've not know for so long? What if…"

"Shh…you'll never answer what ifs, so don't worry about it Kim. You're going to have to take it easy, but you'll be fine, they'll be fine," Tommy said, firmly, as she looked up at him.

"But what about you?" Kim asked as the tears streamed down her face. So that was what was really bothering her.

They hadn't talked about the prophecy since that day at the Command Center and it was eating at her. How could he be so calm? How could he just sit there and let things go? It was one thing when they were having one child, but now they knew they were having two. She was scared to death of losing him and that was something he had to understand. If not things were going to get worse for them.

"I'll be fine, the kids haven't asked why I haven't gone out with them. I'm not going to do that, I don't think I could stand myself if I left you with all of this," Tommy said as she barely nodded and wiped her eyes. She still didn't feel much better, but Tommy was trying so hard to keep himself alive, work with the rangers, teach, open a dojo and still have time at the end of the day to hold her and tell her that everything would be fine. He was being stretched thin and she knew that she needed to cut him some slack. "Why don't you let me cook, sweetie? You look tired."

"I slept twelve hours yesterday, I shouldn't be tired," Kim said as he smiled over at her. "You want to sleep?"

"No, I'm trying to get you off your feet, stubborn woman," Tommy joked as Kim smiled before sitting down at the table. "That's better."

"You are one lucky man," Kim said as he looked over at her with a confused glance. "I didn't have access to a butcher knife."

"Maybe you are the one I should look out for, not Mesogogg," Tommy said, jokingly, as Kim smiled. He was trying his best to make light of this, but she knew that one day, soon, things would happen that neither of them could stop and it would determine whether or not he was going to see his children grow up.


	19. Chapter 19

"Was today rough for you?" Conner asked as he stood next to Kira's locker and she took a look at him. Rough was a polite way to put it, she had had almost every person at the school make some sort of snide comment about her. Conner didn't have to deal with that as whatever he said was readily accepted. "I'm sorry."

"We knew they'd be like this Conner," Kira said, weakly, as he took her stack of books and she gave him a weak smile. It was all that she could manage and all that he could stand to see. She was hurting again and he knew that all she wanted was to get home and go to sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Conner asked as she just shook her head. She was sure that he didn't want an honest answer. She had thrown up twice today and felt weak at the moment. She had no clue how Kimberly and Tommy had survived this when it happened to them and she hoped that Kim would be able to help her out today with some advice.

"I'll survive," Kira muttered as he slipped an arm around her and felt her struggle not to heave up the little food she had forced down today.

"You gonna be okay to make it to Hayley's? I have practice this afternoon," Conner said as Kira nodded. She didn't want to worry him, but she was going to teleport to the Command Center as soon as she could, just to be on the safe side. "Rest and I'll see you there."

"McKnight," Alex said as Conner walked up next to him on the field and began stretching his tired legs. "You still mad about this morning?"

"Don't talk to me Alex," Conner said as Jeremy walked over and stood between the two of them, scared of what Conner might do to him.

"Come on, she's just another notch in that belt of yours," Alex said as Jeremy grabbed Conner's arm to keep him from pummeling Alex. "Why else would you date her?"

"You don't even know her! All of you just think that she's a whore! I've never had sex with her because it's not what she wants! Get to know her before you sit there and tell me she is only a notch in my belt," Conner finished in a growl before he stormed away from practice and Jeremy just shook his head.

"You knew?" Alex asked as Jeremy nodded his head yes. "And you didn't tell us?"

"He wanted to protect her from this and I knew that you'd do this if I told you, so I really don't give a shit that he wanted to keep it a secret from all of you. I might not really like her, but Conner loves her. Maybe all of you should give her a chance," Jeremy said as he walked away from the group. He needed to get Conner calmed down before he killed someone.

"Conner wait up!" Jeremy yelled after his retreating back as he jogged to catch up with him. "You gonna let them think about that?"

"Yeah, otherwise I'll be put in jail for murder and I don't think that Kira would appreciate that at the moment," Conner said as Jeremy looked over at him. Something was definitely going on here and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

"What's wrong with Kira?" Jeremy asked as Conner looked over at him. He had never seen so much concern in Conner's eyes before concerning any girl that he had dated. "Is she pregnant?"

"No, I was serious about us not having sex. She's just had a rough couple of days," Conner said. That was the understatement of the century, but he couldn't tell Jeremy was it really was. He knew that he wouldn't understand.

"Conner I know it's more than that. She looked like death warmed over this morning," Jeremy said as Conner looked over at him.

"I'll be sure to tell her that you said that," Conner said as they reached the lake and Jeremy looked over at him. "I love her, I know you guys may hate her, but I can't imagine spending a day without her."

"You might have to do just that," Mesogogg said as he landed behind them and Conner whirled around. It always seemed that this happened when he just needed some time away from everyone.

"What is he?" Jeremy asked as Conner glared at Mesogogg, he had spotted Kira's gem in his hand and he was going to get it back if he could manage it.

"You don't know who I am?" Mesogogg bellowed as Conner pushed Jeremy to the ground before he took the forced of the blow meant for Jeremy. "You do this for everyone?"

"Get out of here," Conner muttered as he twisted his wrist and his morpher appeared. The rules of morphing were clear to him but Mesogogg was not leaving him much of a choice in the matter.

"What?" Jeremy asked as Conner looked over at him. "Are you crazy?"

"No, now get the hell out of here!" Conner yelled as the blue ranger landed and looked over at the two of them before Jeremy sprinted off. "Give her gem back."

"You're going to have to try harder than that," Mesogogg said as Conner morphed and launched into an attack. Ethan had never seen Conner fight like this before, he had always been a calm fighter, Kira had had all the spunk. It was now obvious to him that Mesogogg had definitely pissed off the red ranger. "Ah, have I made the red ranger mad?"

"Kiss my ass," Conner murmured and was surprised when he saw a black streak land next to him.

"What the hell?" Tommy asked as he looked around and saw that he was in the middle of a battle. He knew that he was in trouble, but how was he going to get out of this alive?

"Mr. Oliver, so nice to see you again," Mesogogg said as Tommy looked over at him as the red and blue rangers stared. "You want this?"

"Not particularly," Tommy said as Conner looked at him. If anything Dr. O looked scared to be here and this was not like him. He always seemed confident in the past, even when he had no powers.

"Why aren't you at home?" Conner asked as Tommy just shrugged his shoulders. This was not what he thought they meant by him being pulled into battle.

"I got teleported here for some reason," Tommy said as Mesogogg and the tryannadrones began circling them. "I'm not supposed to fight."

"Why?" Ethan muttered as their backs were forced together.

"A stupid prophecy," Tommy said as Ethan nodded. He had the distinct feeling that it was more than a prophecy, but he did not think it wise to ask about it. "But I guess I'm gonna have to do this one more time."

"What's that?" Conner asked as Tommy pulled out a morpher and he stared at it. "Dr. O, you can't."

"Like hell I can't, we need that gem back," Tommy said as he morphed and they were surprised by the Ninja garb that appeared.

"And Kim?" Conner asked as Tommy took in a deep breath. He knew that she must be watching him and would kill him if Mesogogg didn't.

"She knows that I love her," Tommy muttered as he closed his eyes and steeled himself to fight.

With every blow the veteran ranger made his presence known to the others. Mesogogg had never thought him this good of a fighter, but as he rounded on him, Mesogogg laughed. The blaster he held could stop any ranger in their tracks, especially one with only partial powers remaining.

"Dr. O watch out!" Conner yelled as he saw Mesogogg fire and Dr. O collapse. Little did Conner know that he had already retrieved Kira's gem when he had been in hand to hand combat with Mesogogg earlier.

"Tommy…" Kim muttered under her breath as she watched in the Command Center, ignoring the pain in her stomach, she continued to stare at the screen. "Stand up, come on, get up."

"Dr. O," Conner said as he knelt beside him and Tommy offered over the gem. He was not sure of the injuries he had, but he knew it was more serious than anything else he had ever experienced.

"Make sure Kira gets that," Tommy said as he forced himself to his feet and almost felt Kim's sigh of relief. "You've got to get me out of here."

"I can't teleport him Conner," Kim's voice came out as Tommy's face tensed and he heard Kim's barely audible groan.

"What's wrong?" Tommy asked as Conner looked over at him. How could he tell that something was wrong by just her voice?

"Just come home to me," Kim whispered as Tommy nodded. He could not believe he was hearing this desperation in her voice again.

"I will," Tommy said as Mesogogg fired at him again and he ducked the firing squad. "Damn it. Call Kira in!"

"She's on her way, Tommy," Kim said as he looked around for the signature yellow light.

"Run," Conner muttered as the older ranger barely nodded. He knew that this was his only chance to get away from here. "Good to have you back."

"Kim's in trouble," Kira whispered to Conner as she took the gem from his hand. "We've got to get Dr. O home."

"What do you mean by trouble?" Conner asked as Kira morphed and launched a kick at the nearest tryannadrone's head.

"Contractions," Kira muttered as she continued to fight. She had seen Kim's face and although she was good at ignoring her body, her eyes still gave her away. "It's good to be back."

* * *

"Power down," Tommy muttered as he ran into a clearing and took in a deep breath. When Jeremy emerged from the shadows, Tommy let out a startled yelp, he had been sure that he was alone.

"A power ranger?" Jeremy asked as Tommy closed his eyes, trying to fight off the waves of pain that were washing over his body.

"Jeremy don't ask," Tommy said as he looked up at the boy and then saw he was staring open mouthed at him. "I just need to get home."

"I have a car not far from here," Jeremy offered as Tommy threw up and then shook his head. He was going to need something a hell of a lot faster than that.

"She's in pain," Tommy muttered before Jeremy looked around. "My wife, damn this sixth sense. I need to teleport."

It was as if he had spoken the magic words as he found himself flying through the air towards his home. He landed in the room that he had left his wife in and ran for the Command Center. He felt like hell, but that was nothing in comparison to what she must be felling by now. The nausea was horrible to him and he hoped it was his imagination that his stomach was cramping.

"Kim," Tommy muttered as he walked downstairs and she looked over at him, pale and scared. "Do we need to go to the doctor?"

"I'm not sure, I think so," Kim whispered as she looked at him and saw that his face mirrored her emotions perfectly. "What happened?"

"The damn rangers teleported me in because they didn't have any back up. I'm linked to them somehow and now I know why I'm supposed to worry, they have the power to pull me in," Tommy said as he felt her hand wrap over his and he shook himself from his frustration. "Sorry, doctor?"

"I'm better now," Kim whispered as he looked hard at her and watched as the tension left her body. "The babies want to make sure that you're alive when they come, then they won't have to worry about growing up without a father."

"I'm sorry," Tommy said as she nodded. Her body was aching, but the contractions had stopped, which was something that she was very thankful for. "Are you sure that you're fine?"

"Yeah, don't you feel it too?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded. He not only felt relief, but felt that she was no longer in pain and holding onto the babies for a little bit longer. "We are going to be fine Tommy, just don't go out again. I don't know if I'll be able to hold them off another time."

"Beautiful, I'm so sorry," Tommy said as her hand tightened over his and he looked over at her. "I'll talk to the kids, it's something that they might as well know about."

"Dr. O," Conner said as they landed in the Command Center and carefully looked between their mentors. Kim's face was still streaked with tears and Dr. O looked as if he was ready to kill all of them, although he had no clue why.

"You can't pull me in like that again," Tommy said, calmly, as Kim gently squeezed his hand and then waddled back up the stairs.

"We didn't," Conner said as Tommy let out a sigh. He knew the kids hadn't made a conscious decision to bring him in, but it had happened any way and it couldn't happen again.

"But you did Conner, I watched all of it until Kim sent me in and somewhere along the way you subconsciously asked for help and that meant Dr. O, not me," Kira said as she then looked over at Dr. O and smiled. "Thanks for getting my gem back."

"Just don't lose it again," Tommy said as Kira gave him a thorough stare.

"Why aren't you supposed to fight?" Kira asked as the others looked at her. "I saw Kim's face where she came down here, so answer the question."

"There is a prophecy about me and my children that states that I must survive until their birth in order for the rangers to have a chance," Tommy said as the kids nodded. "Kim knows, although she isn't supposed to and I can't imagine leaving her with the babies or losing her."

"So your kids?" Conner asked as Tommy let out a sigh. This was what he really had a problem with if the truth be known.

"One of them will take over for me when the time is right," Tommy stated, evenly, as the door crashed closed and he looked over at each of the kids in turn before they all sprinted up the stairs, only to scare the hell out of Kim, who was cooking supper.

"Something wrong?" Kim asked as Tommy shook his head no and she laughed. "Sorry about slamming that shut, but I can't bend that way anymore."

"You and Kira go rest, we'll cook," Tommy said as Kim relinquished her pot and spoon before heading to the living room with Kira in tow.

"Kira gets to rest?" Conner asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "But she's better."

"Just because she got her powers back does not mean that she's better. It takes time to adjust to having them back after they are ripped away from you, plus Kim only gets to talk to me most days," Tommy said as they looked over at him. "She'll be on bed rest in about six weeks and I'm going to have to work on getting a dojo up and running. Kim has always wanted to stay home with the kids once we had children and that will let her, in a way."

"You…you'll never leave her, will you?" Conner asked as Tommy shook his head no. He was sure that the kids would appreciate this one day, but right now, they were just trying to distract him from cooking.


	20. Chapter 20

"Dr. O, you haven't been here in quite a while," Cassidy remarked as Tommy walked into homeroom in his normal school teacher attire, minus the tie. Kim had managed to disentangle that from him and it was the only thing that he could not find this morning after their little interlude.

"My wife has been in the hospital," Tommy said, calmly, as he sat down and looked out at the classroom full of kids. Some of the kids knew far too much about what had happened to Kim, but he was not going to go into great detail if he could help it.

"What happened?" Cassidy asked as Tommy's eyes narrowed, he didn't really want to talk about that here if he could help it. He had a purpose for what they had found out to be used later in the day. "Dr. O, you've been gone for quite a few more days than you thought you'd be gone."

"I'm saving the news for class, I managed to get a video of her ultrasound, so we will watch that," Tommy said as they sat there in shock. Most of their teachers would never do something like that. "Unless you want to study about dinosaurs…I could always arrange it."

"No, it's just that no one really talks about their family to students," Kira said as Tommy just nodded.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I am not like most teachers here," Tommy said as the bell rang to end homeroom and send them on their way to their first class of the day.

* * *

"I wonder what his wife looks like," Cassidy said as she walked towards her last class of the day. It had been on her mind all day that they were going to finally meet Dr. O's wife, in an odd sort of way, and she could only hope that Kimberly was not as pretty as she had looked in that picture.

"You saw the picture," Kira said as Cassidy laughed.

"I mean now, with the huge belly and swollen feet and everything that comes along with a baby. Come on Kira, she can't be as pretty as she once was," Cassidy said as she walked into Dr. O's classroom and saw Dr. O laughing with a woman with whom he was holding hands.

"Kim, my son will stop beating you up soon enough," Tommy said as she crossed her arms as he continued to laugh. They had to head to Dr. Mendez's office as soon as school was out for the test results. Dr. Mendez had called to let her know it was ready and Tommy had somehow cleared his afternoon. He knew how hard it was for her to drive for a long amount of time now and he honestly wanted to be there with her if things weren't good. He knew that she wouldn't make it home if it was bad. "What? Do you want me to give him a stern lecture?"

"Yes," Kim said, grabbing her ribs again as Tommy smiled and then bent down and muttered something to her stomach. "Maybe he'll listen to you."

"One day, but not today," Tommy said as her face tensed and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Hello Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said, a tiny bit too loud, as Tommy looked up from his wife and over at the teen. If he had it his way she would not have to deal with the snooping reporter wannabe, but he knew Kim could endure it. She was much stronger than she looked.

"Good afternoon Cassidy, take a seat and I'll introduce her once everyone is here," Tommy said as Kim looked over at her girl and her mouth fell open. She had been dead wrong about how Kim would look pregnant. "You want to sit?"

"I'm fine Tommy, it feels good to stand up for a little while," Kim said as he just shook his head and then grabbed her hand again. Neither of them found it odd in the least bit, they had been together for so long that they didn't think anything of it. "What are they doing today?"

"I'm talking to them about the babies," Tommy whispered as she looked up at him. "It's a hell of a lot more interesting than bones to them."

"Okay, but only this once," Kim said as the bell rang and the kids all seemed to quiet down faster than normal.

"All right, I told some of you this morning that we'd be looking at my wife's ultrasound today. We still are, but I'm going to have to leave a little bit early," Tommy said as the kids groaned.

"Sorry guys, my oncologist called this morning and he has my test results," Kim said as their eyes shifted to her. "Did you just think he knew another pregnant woman?"

"Kinda," Jeremy answered as Kim smiled, trying not to laugh at him.

"So for those of you who haven't figured it out, this is my wife, Kimberly," Tommy said as many of the students smiled.

"How far along are you?" Cassidy asked as Tommy walked over to the television and Kim pushed herself on top of his desk, thankful for the maternity jeans.

"Five months," Kim said as Cassidy looked at her and then gave her a confused look. "When is that from?"

"The other day and you can really see them," Tommy said as Kim just shook her head. "You slept through it."

"Don't remind me," Kim said as Tommy pressed play and went to sit down next to Kim. For the purpose of actually making this a class, he would have to stop and point out anatomy as well as the little girl's hand before the doctor finally got Kicker to move.

"Okay, this is our boy, he likes to kick, as you can see," Tommy said as the kids laughed while Kim had her eyes glued to the screen. He knew that she was probably going to cry, but she was allowed with her hormones being so out of whack.

"Does he have three hands?" Beth asked as Tommy paused the video and they all took a good look at it. They all could see three hands, but no one else was willing to say anything else.

"Since you saw it what do you think?" Tommy asked as kids looked between each other. They did not want to offend their teacher with their responses.

"Your child has three arms," Jeremy said as Kim covered her mouth and Tommy fought to keep himself calm.

"One possibility," Tommy said as he saw the wheels turning in some of the kids minds.

"Twins," Beth finally said as Tommy nodded that that was a possibility as well.

"Okay, we'll keep on watching," Tommy said as Kim reached over for his hand and he was surprised to feel her shaking. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just want to see the other baby," Kim whispered as Tommy nodded. He had planned on showing it to her tonight, but Dr. Mendez's call had changed his plans slightly.

"I thought you went to a gynecologist for a baby," Andrew said as Kim looked over at Tommy and then back at the boy.

"I have an appointment with my oncologist, you know a cancer doctor," Kim said, when the boy still looked confused.

"You had cancer?" Beth blurted out as Tommy paused the video again and looked over at Kim to see how she was taking this. There were times when she could talk about what happened and other times when she would close up just thinking about it. "Sorry, it's just that I didn't think you'd be able to have kids after something like that."

"You can and I've been in remission for five years and they tentatively call that cured. It's a little bit harder to get pregnant and I had to check with the doctor before we could try, but it's possible," Kim said as Tommy's hand pressed gently against her back. She was doing fine, but he didn't want to listen to this right now if he could help it.

"The baby is fine though?" Beth asked as Kim nodded her head yes.

"As long as I don't have a relapse in the last four months, there should be no problems with the baby," Kim said as Tommy looked down at the floor. "But I think he doesn't like the idea of talking about cancer right now."

"Oh, sorry Dr. O," Beth said as Tommy barely nodded while he watched Kim press play and the doctor finally managed to move Kicker out of the way.

"That is our little girl," Tommy said as Kim's eyes watered and she reached over for some Kleenex.

"So that's why you're so big?" Cassidy asked as Tommy glared at her. He had just gotten his wife comfortable with her body and now Cassidy had to go and ruin that.

"Yes, two babies tend to do that," Kim snarled as Tommy laughed. He was pissed as hell, but Kim was taking this well enough for a woman that he thought was about to fly off the hinges.

"We found out about three days ago that we're having twins. Now who can possibly explain why we did not know all this time?" Tommy asked as the kids looked over at him. That was not a question that any of them truly wished to answer.

"The other kid magically appeared?" Someone guessed as Tommy laughed and Kim slid off the desk and waddled around to his chair, which was slightly more comfortable.

"No, afraid it doesn't work that way," Tommy said with a laugh as Kira watched Kim watch Tommy. She knew the both of them well enough to know what they were thinking. Kim was watching him, but it was the smile on her face that showed her love for him. The other girls in the class probably wouldn't agree, but maybe Dr. O would help himself out by giving her some affection. "But what do you think is the most likely reason?"

"The doctor just missed the baby," Kira said as Tommy looked over at her and she smiled. Kim was still watching Tommy lazily from the corner of her eye, but had gone back to feeling the babies kick.

"For five months?" Tommy questioned as she shrugged. Even she thought that sounded ridiculous, but it was the best explanation that they had now. "Tonight's assignment is simple, go online and find one case where multiples were found after five months by ultrasound. Tomorrow we'll see what you've come up with."

"We've still got thirty minutes left," Conner pointed out as Dr. O was walking around the room, gathering his things.

"I know, but we've got to get going in about five minutes, so if you have any questions for Kim, you can ask," Tommy said as the girls exchanged glances and then Cassidy went in for the kill.

"What's he like?" Cassidy asked pointing over at Tommy and Kim gave her a confused look. "You know, besides being hot."

"You really want to know the answer to that?" Kim asked as Cassidy nodded her head yes and Tommy nodded that she could go on. He doubted that she would reveal anything about the two of them that he would not reveal himself. "He's a good husband, a tad bit forgetful sometimes, great at karate, takes care of me. He's my best friend."

"Nice to know," Cassidy said as she watched Dr. O give her a one armed hug and linger long enough for all of them to know it had touched him as well. They never said things like that, they just knew it, but it was nice to hear it every once in awhile. "So what do you know about Power Rangers?"

"What?" Kim and Tommy exclaimed as they bolted apart.

"You're from Angel Grove, right?" Cassidy asked as Kim just nodded her head. "Well yesterday there was a reappearance of an old ranger."

"Come on Cassidy, give it a break," Jeremy said as Cassidy looked over at him. "The poor guy only was brought into this mess because the rangers needed help."

"And how many times has a ranger from the past showed up?" Cassidy asked as Kim nudged Tommy and he reached over to rub her back.

"Quite a few," Kim spoke up as they all looked over at her. "That ranger isn't the first. I can remember a time when all the reds got together for some reason."

"Yeah, those guys must be ancient by now," Conner said as Kim folded her arms and glared at him. "Come on, you think they are young?"

"They might be, no one knows," Tommy said as Kim huffed, Conner was going to get a piece of her mind the next time that she saw him alone. She was one of the oldest rangers and at 24, she was definitely not ancient. "Guys, be good until the bell rings. Mr. Myers is going to check in on you, so don't act up all right?"

"Okay, Dr. O, it was nice to meet you Mrs. Oliver," Cassidy said, turning on the charm as Kim nodded and smiled while Tommy gently guided her out of the classroom.

"You know that I'll have to say what I think of you now," Tommy said with a smile as Kim just shook her head that there was no need for him to do that. "Why not?"

"Because you remind me everyday Tommy, not just every once in awhile," Kim said, finding it comforting after their rocky past that they were here today, just trying to make it to tomorrow.


	21. Chapter 21

* * *

The ride to Dr. Mendez's office was quiet, as it always was. They both knew that this time there was much more at stake if the test results came back with a poor result. Tommy knew she'd refuse treatment and it would kill him to watch her go like that, just to save their children. He knew he couldn't beg her to do it for him, when she would never forgive herself for what it would do to the babies if she survived and they didn't.

"Are you worried?" Tommy asked as Kim barely nodded her head yes. "It'll be fine, Kim."

"You are always the positive one when it comes to finding out the results, you worry for weeks ahead of time," Kim said as he placed his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. He hated these visits as much as she did, but he always felt a need to make her feel more comfortable. "Thanks, Tommy."

"Come on, let's get this over with," Tommy said as he walked around to her side and helped her out. There were definitely going to be problems with continuing to use his jeep much longer for any sort of traveling. He could see the pain in her face as her feet hit the ground and knew that her car probably would have been better, but it was too late for that.

"Dr. Mendez is always glad to see you," Karen said as Kim and Tommy walked up and she gave both of them hugs. "And look at you, when are you due?"

"Mid-January, but I don't think they'll let me last that long," Kim said as Karen gave her a confused look. "I'm having twins."

"Twins?" Karen asked as Kim nodded. "He insists on the gown, as usual."

"For the love of God," Kim muttered as Karen left the room and Tommy took a few steps back. He did not want to get into her firing path if he could help it. "It's not like to will cover all of me anymore."

"Kim, you might want to get used to it," Tommy said, gently, as he helped her out of her clothes and into the gown. The first time he had ever helped her like this had been the day he proposed. He had been scared to death to help her then, knowing that she might not want him to view her body. Now he did not think so much as do for her what she needed. It came along with being married to her as she had gone through all of this.

"Thank you," Kim whispered as he secured the tie and she turned around to face him. "You won't leave?"

"I promise, he'll have to have security haul me out," Tommy said as she smiled as they heard Dr. Mendez clear his throat.

"How are you doing?" Dr. Mendez asked as Kim walked over to the bed and slowly forced herself onto it. Any linear movement was hard for her now, as everyone that knew her was realizing. "I guess the better question is have the babies looked after you?"

"Kicker seems to feel my ribs are target practice," Kim said moving her hand over his pounding feet. "Sleepy only fights back when he invades her space."

"Well, your test results were not bad Kim, I've seen much worse from you before, but there is cause for concern. Your levels are up slightly," Dr. Mendez said as Kim closed her eyes and clutched to Tommy's hand. She felt as if she was going to be sick and knew that Tommy was keeping a calm façade for her sake. "It can partially be attributed to the pregnancy, your hormones are all over the place Kimberly, but I want to take some more blood and do a CAT scan just to be on the safe side. I want to disprove these results if I can."

"Today?" Kim asked as Dr. Mendez nodded his head yes. "Are you sure that I can even do a CAT scan with the babies?"

"You can, I checked with the gynecology department and they assured me this will do nothing to the babies," Dr. Mendez said as Kim nodded and then looked over at him. "I don't think it's a relapse Kimberly, but we have to make sure, especially with you being pregnant."

"You know I'll refuse treatment," Kim said as Dr. Mendez barely nodded. He had had no doubt that Kim would refuse treatment, but he knew that it would kill Tommy if he lost her and the children because of the disease.

"Until they are born and in ten weeks, you could have them if there is a reason to take them early," Dr. Mendez said as Kim nodded and Tommy let out a shaky breath. He needed to be alone with his thoughts and a toilet, but that was not going to happen anytime soon. "I'll get blood and then we'll get you in the scanner."

"Okay," Kim said, quietly, as she looked over at Tommy and saw the years rolling down his cheeks unchecked. "Tommy…"

"I'll be fine, Kim," Tommy whispered as he continued to stare at the ground, he could not bring himself to meet her eyes.

"Look at me," Kim gently prompted and he forced himself to lift his eyes and meet hers. "Nothing is for sure yet, we've gone through this before."

"But not with…" Tommy started as she gave him a very weak smile. It was killing him to even think about choosing between his unborn children and his wife, she could only hope that he wouldn't have to do this, it was just a bad day when he took the blood the last time.

"Call Jason when we get home, it'll make you feel better," Kim said as Tommy nodded and Dr. Mendez stuck her in the arm, which caused her to flinch, but otherwise not do anything else.

"You'll have to come back in for the appointment next week to get the results," Dr. Mendez said as Kim nodded. The young couple in front of him had been through far too much and he hated to do this now, but he could not ignore the facts that something was a little bit off with Kimberly.

* * *

"You'll be fine?" Tommy asked as she laid down in their bed and nodded. It had taken longer than either of them expected, but Dr. Mendez had told her not to worry and she wasn't. Tommy, however, was a nervous wreck and doing enough worrying for the both of them.

"Yeah, go call Jason," Kim said as Tommy gave her a kiss on the cheek and nodded that he would.

"Jason," Tommy said as he heard someone pick up the phone.

"Hi Tommy, Jason's not home at the moment," Kat said as Tommy groaned. "You could always call him on his cell phone."

"Can you ask him to call me when he gets home?" Tommy asked as Kat set the plate down that she was drying and walked into the front room. Jason had asked her to keep all his phone calls away tonight, but it seemed that Tommy was desperate to speak with him.

"He just walked in," Kat said as Jason looked over at the outstretched phone. "It's Tommy and he sounds like someone just stole his puppy."

"Hey," Jason said as he gave his wife a hard look and accepted the phone. "What's going on?"

"It might be back," Tommy stated as Jason lost his grip on the phone for a moment and then scrambled to pick it up. "Yeah, my reaction too."

"You don't know for sure?" Jason asked as Tommy let out a slow breath. "When will you find out?"

"Next week, we were brought in to do extra lab work today. I can't lose her Jason," Tommy all but sobbed as Jason took in the news.

"I know, you sound like you need to talk to her, not me," Jason said as Tommy's eyes narrowed. He needed someone who could comfort him, because he was having to throw all of his energies into comforting his wife at the moment.

"I can't upset her Jason, I've got to be strong for her, otherwise she'll… I have to decide which is more important, but she's not going to treat herself if she is given the choice," Tommy said as Jason nodded.

"And you are thinking that the two of you can have more children, but you can't get her back if she dies," Jason said as Tommy nodded miserably. He knew it would earn him a spot on the couch to say that to Kim. "Tommy, go hold your wife and tell her that everything will be fine. You are her only comfort."

"I don't know if I can," Tommy said as he felt her hand resting on his back. "Hey."

"I can't sleep," Kim whispered as her arms reached for him and he pulled her in tight.

"I'll be off the phone with Jason in a minute," Tommy whispered to her as she nodded and continued to hold onto him.

"Be strong Tommy, it's probably just a false alarm, everything will be fine," Jason said as Tommy nodded. "Tell Kim I said hi and to take care of herself."

"I will," Tommy said as he hung up and looked down at his wife. "I can't lose you."

"Tommy, we'll make it through this," Kim whispered as she looked up at him. "I need you to not let me go."

"I don't plan on it," Tommy whispered as his arms wound around her and he pulled her into a kiss. He tried to put everything he felt for her into that one action and heard the sigh of contentment that left her lips when they parted. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Kim whispered as he gently lifted her and carried her to their bedroom. She was asleep before he placed her in bed and he smiled as he watched her sleep soundly. He honestly doubted he'd get any sleep tonight and school tomorrow would be hell for him, but he'd somehow survive. He had no choice about it at this point.


	22. Chapter 22

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Tommy turn off the damn alarm clock," Kim grumbled as she rolled away from him. So it was going to be that kind of day. Kim may have been happy last night, but she was in a mood from hell this morning.

"Okay," Tommy responded, forcing himself from under her arm and walking to the bathroom to shower off and get ready for the day from hell. His students would most likely be excited with the assignment, but he wouldn't be able to show it, not today. He was living in a world of despair until Dr. Mendez gave them the results of the new test. He was in for a very long day and could only hope Kim's mood would improve before he returned how this evening.

* * *

"Kira, can I talk to you?" Alex asked as Kira looked over at him, although she was much better, she still felt some of the side effects.

"I guess," Kira said, hesitantly, she had been waiting for Conner, but it looked like Alex was attempting to make amends and she was going to let him. He had never been a jackass to her until yesterday.

"I'm sorry about yesterday; it was just a shock to see the two of you together," Alex said as Kira nodded.

"And grabbing my boob?" Kira asked as Alex froze. How did she know it was him? "Conner decked you, so I had a pretty good idea of who had done it."

"I can't explain that," Alex said as Kira folded her arms and he let out a sigh. He knew he was going to have to explain it to Conner or Kira one of these days, he just hoped not today. "Can I just apologize for one thing a day?"

"I guess, but I'm not the one you have to repair your friendship with," Kira said as Alex sighed. He had hoped Kira would not say something like that to him. "Conner is not going to accept a quick apology."

"I know, but I was hoping you'd soften him up some," Alex said as Kira shook her head that she couldn't, he was going to have to do that on his own. He turned to walk away knowing that Kira would not help him and he was in for a very long day.

"Alex, thanks," Kira called after him as he gave her a half smile. Maybe she would help him out, inadvertently, at least.

"What did he have to say?" Conner asked as Kim jumped around to face him. "Sorry, you feeling better?"

"Some and he apologized Conner," Kira said as Conner just stared at her. "Either you got to him or Jeremy did."

"Or he doesn't want me to kick his ass," Conner commented as Kira nodded as he grabbed her hand. "Are you really all right? You look pale, Kira."

"I'm still nauseous, but otherwise I feel fine," Kira said as Conner looked over at her. He had thought that the cure would have been immediate. "You are lucky we've never had sex, otherwise I'd think I was pregnant."

"Me too," Conner said as Ethan walked up to them and watched as Kira's face paled even more. "You okay?"

"Tell Dr. O I'm studying my breakfast," Kira said as she sprinted off to the bathroom.

"Where's Kira?" Tommy asked as Conner walked up to him in the hallway without his girlfriend. "Sick?"

"Just a little bit. How was your wife's appointment?" Conner asked as Tommy grimaced.

"Talk to you later, go on," Tommy said as Conner nodded. The entire class was going to ask now, but he'd live or he'd break down crying. No matter what he did at that moment, he knew that he was going to cry about it sometime today. He needed to be alone and have a good cry about what he was about to face, but he was not going to get that pleasure.

"Dr. O, are you okay?" Kira asked as she walked up to the door and he looked over at her. "I'm still sick."

"My suggestion is for you to take it easy and come visit Kim tonight or tomorrow. I…she needs some female company," Tommy said as Kira nodded, something was wrong with Kim, she could tell.

"And you need a chance to beat up a punching bag?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded. "Okay, I'll try to get away from Conner this afternoon and actually relax. He is trying to be a good boyfriend, but it's a little…"

"Yeah, I know, now get inside before the rumor mill can heat up," Tommy said with a laugh as Kira nodded and walked inside leaving Tommy to collect himself. He was going to have to go through talking about their findings all day today when all he wanted to do was be home with his wife. He wanted to make love to her, hold her, and finally roll out of bed when neither of them could stand their hunger any longer. "I might as well get this over with."

* * *

"One more class," Tommy muttered to himself as the kids started filing in, leaving papers on his desk as they proceeded to their desks.

"It's not good to talk to yourself Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said as Tommy settled down in his chair and took in a deep breath. Tears were the least of things that he had been battling today, a phone call home at lunch had proven that Kim was in a horrible mood and that the couch would be more comfortable than his bed tonight.

"So, did anyone have much luck?" Tommy asked as they shook their heads no. "So the papers?"

"Mostly explain how before ultrasound technology it happened very often, but now it's almost unheard of," Cassidy said as Tommy nodded. He wanted to push through all of this as quickly as possible.

"How was her appointment yesterday?" Beth asked and his eyes dropped to his desk as he placed his hands over his face. He had known this question would come, now how was he going to respond? "Dr. O?"

"Don't make him answer," Kira growled as Conner and Ethan looked over at her. What did she know that they didn't?

"Thank you Ms. Ford, but I will," Tommy said, collecting himself as he looked up at all of them. "They've discovered that her cell counts are elevated and are doing more tests."

"What does that mean?" Conner asked as Tommy shook his head and wiped his eyes. Why did his red ranger have to be so dense sometimes?

"It means that if the cancer is back, there is a very good chance I'll lose her," Tommy whispered, not looking up at them as the class went silent. None of them knew what to do for him or if there was anything that could make him feel better at this point.

"And the babies?" Beth whispered as they saw his shoulders shake and she immediately regretted even muttering it. "Dr. O…"

"I don't want to be a single father," Tommy managed before he let out a quiet sob and the kids stared. They had never thought they would see him cry, much less hear him sob like that. "But you didn't come here to hear about my personal problems."

"But there is a chance that nothing is wrong, right?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Then focus on that."

"I was able to in the past, but I can't imagine losing her and still having the twins," Tommy whispered as there was a knock at the door and Tommy looked up to see Dr. Mendez standing there. His heart sank at the look on his face and he forced himself to stand and walk to the door.

"I thought I might find you here," Dr. Mendez said, good naturedly as Tommy closed the door behind him and continued towards an area a little further up the hall. "Tommy, I've gotten some preliminary results back and I need to ask you some questions."

"Okay," Tommy said, slightly confused as to why, but hoping it would clear things up nonetheless.

"Have you been working with the recent…people in uniform?" Dr. Mendez asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Has anything happened to her?"

"Yeah, she was captured a couple of months ago," Tommy said as Dr. Mendez sighed.

"Did she come back with any sort of problems after that experiment?" Dr. Mendez asked as Tommy's eyes widened. "Whatever they drugged her with spiked her levels because the scans show nothing, but don't tell her. I need to make sure first."

"So I can go home and…" Tommy trailed off as Dr. Mendez nodded his head yes. "She's in a mood from hell though."

"Well, that's what women do when they're pregnant. Now can you finish your class without dissolving into sobs?" Dr. Mendez asked as Tommy looked over at him.

"If my wife has a better chance at living then I think I'll be all right," Tommy said as Dr. Mendez nodded. "But why are you in Reefside?"

"Because I came to speak with Dr. Calloway about her condition, plus the two of us have known each other since med school. It was Dr. Calloway that suggested the fact it might be a delayed reaction to some sort of medicine. You're a very lucky man," Dr. Mendez said as Tommy nodded. He did not need to be reminded about that. "I'm sure you already knew that."

"Yeah," Tommy said as he walked back to his room and the kids scrambled for their seats.

"So you were a Power Ranger?" Cassidy asked as Tommy glared at her and Conner, Ethan, and Kira looked ready to bolt, lest they be accused as well.

"Why would you ask that?" Tommy asked as Cassidy replayed a portion of his conversation and Tommy just shrugged. "That just says that I work with uniformed persons, not that I was ever a Power Ranger."

"Give up Dr. O, we all know you're a ranger," Cassidy said as Tommy crossed his arms and glared down at the girl.

"And how would you know that?" Tommy asked as Cassidy held up a picture of the white Ninja ranger. "White ranger?"

"Look very closely at his hand," Cassidy said as Tommy looked and saw nothing out of the ordinary and he knew the suit better than most.

"Would you say what I'm supposed to be looking at," Tommy said as Cassidy groaned and pointed at the third finger on his left hand. "Cassidy, I'm not the white ranger and a little bump in the fabric doesn't prove it."

"Then why is it that he mentioned your wife being captured?" Cassidy asked as Conner grabbed him by the shoulder and imperceptively moved his head to not rise to the bait.

"Tommy!" Kim's voice floated up as they all looked around and he silently cursed himself for not turning on the alarm to his communicator that day. "Tommy Oliver!"

"I'm in class, hold on," Tommy said as he let out a sigh.

"Well, I thought you might want to know that Mesogogg is attacking the city," Kim said as the connection died and he groaned. That was the last thing that he needed to hear right now.

"She in a bad mood?" Kira asked as Tommy nodded. "So what are you going to do?"

"Go, I'll take care of them," Tommy said as Kira, Ethan, and Conner grabbed their things and ran from the room.

"You are!" Cassidy yelled as the rest of the class sighed. They could care less that Dr. O was or had been a Power Ranger. "This has to be released."

"If you put my wife under an ounce more stress than she already has, I'll be certain to let the monster's run rampant in your neighborhood," Tommy said as they all watched as Cassidy sniggered. "You think it's funny?"

"Your wife is a cow. How do you expect her to look after she has the babies, Dr. Oliver?" Cassidy asked as Tommy watched his hands tense and a few of the guys moved to his side, just in case he tried to do something stupid. They all had the feeling that Cassidy had just pushed the right button to launch him into space orbit.

And they were right.

"The mother of my children, the woman I have been in love with since the moment I laid eyes on her, the woman that has given up so much for me and you stand there and tell me I won't be able to stand her once she has the children! Have you lost your mind?" Tommy roared as Cassidy took a step back from her irate teacher as the rest of the students stared in shock. He had gone flying off the hinges and he wasn't done just yet. "And if you tell the media I'm a ranger, just wait until Kim is no longer pregnant, because I promise you that the hell she can inflict is worse than mine."

"Sure, Dr. O," Cassidy said as Kim landed in his classroom and looked around in shock. She had no clue how she had wound up here.

"Kim?" Tommy asked as she looked up at him and then around the room. The fact that she was still in her pajamas did not bode well for anyone that was within a foot of her.

"Which one of them was saying it?" Kim asked, as Tommy tentatively pointed at Cassidy and she rounded on the girl before Tommy or anyone else could stop her.

"The babies!" Tommy exclaimed as he heard random words coming from her mouth and even watched as she started glowing pink. "Everybody down!"

The blast that radiated off her body was enough to break all the glass in the classroom and make Tommy cringe, as the kids screamed out in terror. Kim, however, started to faint as Tommy caught her and she shook her head to get her senses back about her. She could never remember her powers doing that before when she was upset, and Tommy gently sat her down in a desk as she took in deep breaths. When the kids finally raised their eyes to look at her, they could almost feel the heat from her gaze and knew that she was still murderous.

"Tommy, we can't be revealed, think of what would happen to all the others and they couldn't…" Kim trailed off as Cassidy finally sat up, as she had taken some of the energy directly.

"Kim, how did you get here?" Tommy asked, quietly, as she shrugged her shoulders. She had no clue how it had happened.

"Just take care of her Tommy because I swear that I'll kick her ass once the babies are born," Kim said as Tommy looked over at Cassidy, who saw Kim's eyes as they focused on Tommy alone. Everyone in that room knew that she would make good on that promise.

"Cassidy, come with me," Tommy said, firmly, as he walked out the door and Cassidy followed him without delay. He looked ready to explode, again. "Tell me what you are going to do."

"Reveal you," Cassidy said as Tommy nodded and let out a sigh.

"Okay, Kim will kick your ass and I won't stop her," Tommy said with a smile as he walked back inside and faced the students. "So, I am a Power Ranger, now I trust all of you to fervorently deny that fact, but Cassidy plans to reveal me, at the very least."

"What?" Kim yelled as Tommy smiled over at her. "Four months and I will kick her ass."

"I won't stop you," Tommy said as the kids looked at the two of them. They felt like killing Cassidy right now as well, but the look in Kim's eyes told them that she was going to do something bordering on cruelty.

"Since you've told us, can we see…" Jeremy asked as Kim laughed.

"Your white uniform is tighter now," Kim said as Tommy glared at her. "What, you have a butt now and you're not going to catch me complaining about that."

"He's the…wow," Beth muttered as Kim nodded. "But we're sworn to secrecy?"

"No, you just have to deny it, especially for Kira, Conner, and Ethan. They need the help more than I do," Tommy said as Kim laid her head down on the desk and was soon back to sleep. "And lie for her, no one needs to know that she was a ranger."

"Will she really get Cassidy back?" Jeremy asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. He had no doubt that Cassidy would regret the day that she crossed Kimberly. Many people had lived that in the past and he didn't wish it on anyone, but Cassidy deserved what she got.

"How long will I have?" Tommy asked, wanting to get Kim home before the shit hit the fan.

"The evening news starts at six, I'd think you'll only have until then," Beth said as Tommy nodded and then squatted next to his wife. He hated to wake her and risk her wrath, but they had to get out of here.

"Wake up sweetie," Tommy whispered as she lifted her eyes to him and gave him a sleepy look. "I'll carry you if you'll get out of the desk."

"Where are we going?" Kim asked as he smiled. She was so tired and he wanted to ask Dr. Calloway to go ahead and put her on bed rest or at least make sure that she was on even less hours.  
"Home, before the shit hits the fan," Tommy said as she nodded and he pulled her to her feet before scooping her up.

"Dr. O!" Jeremy called to his back as he approached the door.

"Yeah," Tommy said as he turned around with Kim already falling back asleep in his arms.

"I didn't tell her," Jeremy said as Tommy smiled.

"I know, Conner told me what you said to him," Tommy said with a smile before he walked out of the classroom. He knew this would be the last time he could do it without a hoard of people at the door and now the word had to be sent out. The most powerful Power Ranger on Earth was about to be revealed.


	23. Chapter 23

"What's going on?" Jason asked as he landed in Tommy's living room to see every Power Ranger known to man standing somewhere in the crowded living room. "Kim?"

"She's sleeping Jason, let her be," Kat said, gently, as he looked over at her. He was wondering how she had gotten here before him and why she was here in the first place. "Tommy's going to be revealed today as a ranger."

"What?" Jason yelled as a hush fell over the other rangers and Kim let out a dissatisfied whimper as she pulled a pillow over her eyes. She was tired and just wanted a few minutes of peace and quiet, which seemed to be too much to ask of them. Every single one of them that arrived seemed to have the same reaction to the news. She was not thrilled that their identities were about to be revealed, but there was absolutely no use in yelling. "He's just letting it happen?"

"He can't kick a student's ass Jason, as much as he may be tempted to do just that, he can't," Billy said as Jason's eyes narrowed.

"So why are all of us here?" Jason asked as Tommy emerged and smiled. "I don't like the look on your face."

"We can all still morph, right?" Tommy said as Jason stared at him. "When they show up to hound me, I say we give them a show."

"Reveal ourselves?" Jason asked as Tommy shook his head no. "Then what in the world are you thinking about doing?"  
"Reveal how many Power Rangers that they still have no clue of the identity of, it'll at least give them something to think about," Tommy said as Jason smiled. That might actually work or if it didn't, they'd have a good laugh about it later.

"How is Kim?" Jason asked as Tommy just shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it right now, there was far too much going on that he had to worry about as well. "Should I let her sleep?"

"Yeah, the babies are getting to her," Tommy said as Jason nodded.

"How are we going to do this?" Jason asked as Tommy smiled.

"Kim will answer the door, says I'm not here, they turn around to leave and here we all are. After we say every color that we've ever been and what number we were, we'll see what they do," Tommy said as Jason smiled. The plan was simple, but definitely enough to scare the shit out of any unsuspecting person.

"And your kids?" Jason asked as Kira, Conner, and Ethan walked over.  
"We want to kill Cassidy, but I guess we'll have to settle for scaring the hell out of her," Conner said as Kim tossed a pillow at them and Tommy fought the urge to laugh.

"Baby, are we bothering you?" Tommy asked as she reached for a book and chunked it at him, missing him by a good margin because her eyes were closed. "Okay guys, down to the Command Center before she goes for a frying pan."

"I swear," Kim started as he gave her a quick kiss and she looked up at him. "You trying to kill me?"

"No, I just want you to be able to be comfortable and hopefully this will scare the ever loving shit out of them and they'll leave us alone. How are little ones doing?" Tommy asked as Kim just shook her head. Her stomach was tighter today, but she was sure it was because of them finding less space to move each day. "You up to this?"

"Yeah, Tommy…" Kim trailed off as she let out a sigh "…can we really deal with this now?"

"I don't think we have a choice about it," Tommy whispered as there was a knock at the door and Tommy quietly teleported downstairs as she took in a deep breath and walked over to answer the door. She could hear the various morphing calls and smiled as rays of light started plopping down in the front yard.

"Hello," Kim said with a smile as she opened the door and the camera zoomed in on her face. "Is there any way that I can help you?"  
"Hello, I'm Cassidy Cornell with Reefside News, we're here today to reveal to the world the identity of the Power Rangers. This is Kimberly Oliver, wife of teacher Thomas Oliver and former pink ranger. Please tell me Kimberly, why the secrecy?" Cassidy asked as she finally looked the woman in the eye and her glare stopped her cold. The cameraman only managed to hold the camera still because she had not wheeled on him.

"Is there honestly a need to tell you why we need the secrecy?" Kim asked, in a dangerously low tone as the rangers watched from a distance. Next to Tommy, Kim was one of the most lethal fighters the world had ever seen, but the fact that she was pregnant kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.

"Yes, of course Mrs. Oliver, you and your husband have had the pleasure of secrecy for far too long. What effect has this had on your marriage?" Cassidy probed as Tommy took a step closer from his place, knowing that Kim could snap at any moment.

"It has had no effect on our marriage and I would like to know why you think that we're rangers," Kim said, pointedly, as Cassidy looked over at her. She was full ready to take charge of this interview and send Cassidy crying home to her mother.

"The white ranger that appeared yesterday for a brief period at Reefside park has been identified as none other than Thomas Oliver, your husband. Doesn't it bother you in the least bit that he masquerades around as a ranger while you are with child?" Cassidy asked as Kim folded her arms and set her with another death glare, but this time Tommy decided to intervene. Kim looked ready to kill and he would let her if he thought it would end all of this, but it would only make it worse.

"Go inside Kimberly," Tommy instructed, calmly, never removing his mask or even adjusting his uniform. The only thing that he did was shift his eyes to her and she barely nodded. That was when the cameraman made the mistake of trying to follow her inside. "Back off buddy."  
"Yeah right," the man said as he lifted his eye away from the camera and was shocked at the sight of the white ranger standing behind him with his arms folded as Kim escaped inside and quickly locked the door. She was terrified of what might happen, but she knew Tommy could handle it. "Holy crap!"

"What, you didn't think that I would have some pull?" Tommy leered as Cassidy almost dropped her microphone before sticking it in Tommy's face. "You see Ms. Cornell, you only thought you found out the identity of the Power Rangers. Rangers, why don't we give her something to think about?"

As he said these words the rangers seemed to appear from out of nowhere, lining themselves up by color and number in that particular color. The helmets that hid their faces were their only protection, but they knew that no one would dare to try to take it off. That would definitely constitute them killing someone.

"Now, since you already know who I am, I might as well do this," Tommy said as he reached up and pulled the mask away so that his face was revealed. "Start down there, oh and you'll have to find out all their names before you'll get the faces."

"What?" Cassidy asked as she stared at the line of rangers. She had all of five people and only two of them had showed their faces. She honestly doubted that Kira, Conner, and Ethan would, they were the serving rangers.

"You heard me, all you will get is a color and a team. Red, why don't you start," Tommy said as Jason smiled under his helmet. To see Tommy without the mask made him a little bit uneasy, but they all understood why it must happen. For him to reveal himself, would possibly save them from having to reveal themselves later on.

"The first red ranger and the gold ranger," Jason said as the camera briefly stopped in front of him.

"The second red ranger, the red ninja ranger, and zeo ranger three, blue," Rocky said with a wicked smile pulling at the corner of his eyes. He was loving the fact that they were not able to see them and yet hear all this information.

"Second turbo red ranger and the blue space ranger," TJ said.

"Red space ranger," Andros said.

"Red galaxy ranger," Leo said with a slight snigger.

"Red Lightspeed Ranger," Carter said.

"Red Timeforce Ranger," Wes said.

"Quantum Ranger," Eric said.

"Wild Force, red ranger," Cole said.

"Red ranger, ninja storm," Shane said.

"Crimson ranger, ninja storm," Hunter said.

"Dino Thunder, red ranger," Conner finished as the camera panned down the line of reds. The numbers weren't adding up in Cassidy's mind, but she was not going to ask about it just yet.

"Yellows next," Tommy called as the girls stepped out and they all met Cassidy with a steely glare, what she had done to Kimberly was something that they desperately wanted to make her pay for.

"The first yellow ranger," Trini said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"The second yellow ranger and the yellow ninja ranger," Aisha said, copying her friend's stance and Tommy smiled. The women were going to glare Cassidy down before she made it all the way down the line.

"Zeo ranger two, yellow and the first turbo yellow ranger," Tanya said.

"The second yellow turbo ranger and the yellow space ranger," Ashley said.

"Yellow Galaxy ranger," Maya said.

"Yellow Lightspeed Ranger," Kelsey said.

"Yellow Timeforce Ranger," Katie said.

"Wild force, yellow ranger," Taylor said.

"Yellow ranger, ninja storm," Dustin said.

"Dino Thunder, yellow ranger," Kira said, evenly, before sending a glare through her visor that Cassidy could surely feel.

"Black next," Tommy called as they nodded. He was at the end of the line of black rangers as the first white and then the pink rangers started before the blue and then other random colors that had been seen over the years.

"First black ranger," Zack said with a smirk almost evident in his voice. He was enjoying watching this girl twitch.

"Second black ranger, black ninja ranger, zeo ranger four green, and green turbo ranger," Adam said.

"Wild Force, black ranger," Danny said.

"Now you have me. Green ranger, white ranger, white ninja ranger, zeo ranger five red, and the first red turbo ranger," Tommy said as Cassidy's mouth dropped open. "Why so surprised?"

"Everyone else is their first ranger color," Cassidy mumbled as Tommy smiled.

"Everyone else wasn't an evil ranger either Cassidy," Tommy pointed out as her eyes widened in fear.

"Wild Force, white tiger," Alyssa said as she smirked. "Oh and I've been asked to give the history for the first pink."

"Why's that?" Cassidy asked.

"She currently is in no condition to morph, but trust me, she'll be back up to kicking ass in a couple of months. She was the first pink ranger and the first pink ninja ranger," Alyssa said as Tommy nodded his approval, he could only imagine what the viewers were thinking at this moment.

"Second pink ninja ranger, zeo ranger one pink, and the first turbo pink ranger," Kat said with a smirk of her own.

"Second turbo pink ranger and the pink space ranger," Cassie said.

"Pink Galaxy ranger two," Karone said.

"Pink Lightspeed ranger," Dana said.

"Pink Timeforce ranger," Jen said.

"Blues, if you please," Tommy said with a smile evident in his voice.

"First blue ranger, blue ninja ranger," Billy said.

"Blue Turbo Ranger," Justin said, glad that he finally fit into the uniform that he had called his own.

"Blue Galaxy ranger," Kai said.

"Blue Lightspeed Ranger," Chad said.

"Blue Timeforce ranger," Lucas said.

"Wild Force, Blue ranger," Max said.

"Blue ranger, Ninja storm," Tori said.

"Dino Thunder, Blue Ranger," Ethan said.

"What do we have left?" Tommy mused. "Let's see, green and silver and violet. Lovely colors."

"The second green turbo ranger and the black space ranger," Carlos said.

"Green ranger, Ninja storm," Cameron said.

"Silver space ranger," Zhane said.

"Titanium ranger," Ryan said.

"Wild Force, silver ranger," Merick said.

"Wild Force, purple ranger," RJ said with a wicked glare.

"Now, before you go saying you've revealed the Power Rangers, I'd take a look at this tape again and you'll find out, you have a long way to go before you know who we truly are," Tommy said as he silently placed his gloved hand in front of the camera and looked over at Cassidy. "I hope you are happy Ms. Cornell."

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Cassidy asked as Tommy laughed.

"Because I'd hate to be the one paying for the damages that you are about to cause," Tommy said as all the rangers teleported out and she stood there in confusion. What in the world was he talking about?


	24. Chapter 24

"His last threat makes no sense to me," Cassidy said as the other news anchors tried to help the young girl figure out what the ranger had meant when he had told them that they would pay for the damages.

"It is probably an empty threat, we have all seen our fair share in this line of work, the only question is why would he stoop to that? He has more than enough fire power to take care of all of us easily," Alyssa said as Cassidy looked over at her. She hadn't really thought about how powerful the rangers were, only that she wanted to reveal them. "You have just stirred up a hornet's nest and I can only hope that you are ready to deal with it."

"Come on, this has to be one of the best stories ever," Cassidy said as they all nodded. "Then why do you all look so depressed?"

"Because they still have more secrets than we will ever be able to unearth and now the rumor mill will start up about what they really are like. Sometimes a journalist has to know when to just let the people rest in peace," Alyssa said as Cassidy sighed. So they didn't think that she was right to do this either, but it was her one chance to break into the world of journalism and she had had to take it, no matter what the consequences were.

* * *

"Are you ready for school?" Kim asked as she waddled over to the front door with him that morning. She felt bad for him and she knew that there was a chance that he would lose his job because of this, but she knew why he had to do it. If he hadn't revealed himself, there was a very good chance that the rangers would be held up by the public and the teens didn't need any more pressure. They just needed to do their job and not worry about what people knew about them.

"I will be, Jason is coming up to help me with the dojo this afternoon, so I'll be getting in late," Tommy said as she nodded and then stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. She did not feel that good this morning and wished that he could stay home with her instead of going into work, but knew better than to ask, especially since she'd be quitting her job soon. They needed his paycheck until the dojo could start bringing in money for them. "Be good for Mommy."

"They will be Tommy," Kim said as he stood up straight and then gave her a quick hug.

"Call me if anything happens," Tommy said as she nodded that she would. A phone call from Dr. Calloway last night now had her officially on bed rest and he had taken care of calling her work beforehand. Dr. Mendez had called as well, but his call was to basically make sure that the stress of being revealed as a ranger was not too much for either of them.

"I will, but we should be fine," Kim said as he leaned down to give her another kiss before walking out the front door, to a horde of reporters.

"Mr. Oliver, how is it that you have been identified as a Power Ranger?" one reporter yelled.

"Does your wife agree with your horrible past way of life?"

"Does being a ranger increase your sex drive?"

"Can you tell us, how did you gather the rangers so quickly?"

"Are the rumors true that you will be posing for Playgirl?"

"How does your wife deal with your inflated ego?"

"Is she really pregnant with twins?"

"Why can't your wife be seen?"

"Was your wife really a ranger as well?"

"Are you going to stay with her after the babies are born or are you going to move on to someone else, now that you are famous?"

"I will stay with my wife," Tommy muttered into the nearest microphone before he reached his jeep and had to gently beat the reporters away to get inside. Kim looked poised to kill from her position at the front window, but otherwise he was not too worried. The real hassle was going to come when he got to school. He was sure that these reporters would follow him there as well. And they were probably nothing compared to what was waiting for him.

* * *

"Oh my goodness," Kira said as she and Conner got out of his car and they stared at the group of reporters on the front lawn of the school. To her surprise, all of the students were avoiding them like the plague. It seemed that Dr. O's plea to the students had paid off, but Cassidy was still desperately trying to get them to talk.

"Yeah, I hope Dr. O is already inside," Conner said as Kira nodded her head in agreement. She did not want to think of what would happen to him if he had to go through that swarm.

"How are you?" Jeremy asked as he walked up next to Kira and Conner and they looked over at him. "I saw the little performance last night."

"That was all Dr. O," Kira said as Jeremy nodded as he watched Conner pull her closer and he looked between the two of them.

"Something has changed," Jeremy said as Conner just shook his head and laughed. "You didn't, did you?"

"Do not ask that question in front of me," Kira said as Jeremy gave Conner a look that clearly said that this was nowhere near over with, but he would respect Kira's request.

"I'll see you around," Jeremy said as he headed one way and they headed towards Dr. O's room.

They arrived to a fairly empty room and were surprised to see that Dr. O had yet to arrive. When the first bell rang, the students were slightly worried that he might have gotten caught outside in the group of reporters, but when the second bell rang, they were certain of it. Soon they heard the sound of running footsteps and shouts coming towards their room and were not the least bit surprised when Dr. O sprinted inside, slammed the door closed and then dug out his keys to lock it. One sleeve on his shirt was ripped and the buttons had been ripped off by some aggressive reporter.

"Good morning, class," Tommy said as he tried to regulate his breathing and then looked down at his clothing. He had known that he would suffer some damage, but he had hoped it would not be this much. "Kim is going to kill me."

"It's just a shirt, Dr. O," Kira said as Tommy pulled down the sleeve and they could all see the bruise developing on his shoulder. "Okay, she might kill you."

"Yeah, so how were your nights?" Tommy asked as the kids watched as the reporters continued to pound on the door and he calmly walked over to his desk and pulled out a stack of paper and some tape. He was not going to deal with the cameras all day if he could help it.

"Interesting, my parents suddenly seem to think that you are some sort of hero, don't know why," Tammy joked as he laughed. "So, it really is true?"

"Yeah, but as you can see, I'm the only one that really is going to have to deal with it," Tommy said as they all nodded.

"Why not let the identities of the others be known?" Jackson asked as Tommy let out a sigh and looked out at the kids.

"Because I can handle it and so can my wife, the two of us have been doing this for a very long time," Tommy said as they all nodded and noticed that he was shaking his head. "Hopefully I'll survive all of this."

"What do you mean?" Tammy asked as Tommy just shook his head. His two rangers knew what he meant and they both felt that he was facing more danger than he had been before.

"People are known to do crazy things when they find out too much information about rangers," Tommy said, hoping they would buy the explanation and they did, although he was not sure how much longer that would last. "If they were smart, they would remember that some of the other rangers had been revealed as well."

"But you are a good target?" Conner asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Why?"

"Don't you think they'd rather know about someone like me, who has been on more ranger teams than a person should have to be on or someone like the new guys?" Tommy asked as the bell rang to end homeroom and he looked over at the kids. "Escape quickly."

"Okay," they chorused, knowing that he was going to slam the door on the reporters before they had a true chance to corner him.

* * *

"Shit!" Tommy yelled as the mats landed on his hand and he began jumping up and down like a little kid. "That's all I needed today!"

"Tommy, calm down," Jason said as Tommy glared over at him. "We just have to get this set up and then all that will be left will be the floor mat installation," Jason said as Tommy grunted. He wanted to see his wife sometime tonight and Jason was not understanding that at the moment. "Are you missing your wife?"

"Yes, she's about to go to bed and I'd much rather be at home with her at the moment," Tommy said as Jason looked over at him and then reached over for his arm to stop him.

"Go home, we've got most of it done. I've talked to the mat guys and they'll be in on Saturday," Jason said as Tommy half nodded. He was more interested in getting home to his wife than anything else. "You'll be here Saturday?"

"As long as you call me on Friday night," Tommy said as Jason nodded. He didn't want to let Tommy's memory fail them on something like this. "Thanks."

"Your wife has been good," Jason said as they walked back to the front of the building. "No phone calls."

"She's probably sleeping Jason," Tommy said as Jason yawned. "You can take a room back at our house for the night."

"I think I'll take you up on that," Jason said as they walked outside into the silent street. Tommy had told him about his ordeal today and he was surprised that he had been able to get any peace at all this afternoon. "Don't tell me that they are at your house."

"Oh God," Tommy muttered as they both hopped in their cars and Jason just shook his head. He could not believe that Tommy was this worried about her. Kim could take care of herself.

* * *

"Please, if you would leave, I really need some rest," Kim said as she opened the front door at ten o'clock, prepared to cuss them out. She was tired of them knocking at her door and they had kept her up much later than she had intended.

"Does your husband normally spend his nights away from home?"

"How does it feel to be pregnant while your husband gallivants at all hours of the night?"

"When are you due?"

"Do you worry about him leaving you?"

"How is he in bed?"

"Enough!" Tommy yelled as he walked through the crowd and over to Kim, who was slightly shaken by all of the questions. "I have had enough of you bothering my wife, leave."

"Dr. Oliver where have you been?"

"Have you been cheating on your wife?"

"Who is your mistress?"

"Leave!" Tommy bellowed as the reporter's stared at him and he glared at all of them. "I am not some celebrity that has to deal with this because I want fame. I want no fame, I want a normal life, so leave my property before I throw you off of it."

"So all Power Rangers have this bad of a temper?"

"No, but you are threatening my wife and my unborn children's well being and kindly asking you to leave is not working," Tommy said as he stepped to the front door and Kim gently grabbed his hand.

"Okay, break it up!" Jason yelled as he walked through the crowd. "He's a Power Ranger, so what? Go run after someone that actually has a controversial life."

"Who are you?"

"Friend of the family and I must admit that you are doing detrimental damage to her health as well as the babies. As a health professional, I must insist that you leave," Jason said as he blocked the door to let Kim and Tommy quickly escape inside before slipping inside and slamming the door in their faces.

"Go to bed, baby," Tommy whispered as he kissed her on the cheek and she just shook her head. "Why?"

"Our parents are here," Kim whispered as Tommy looked down at her. She was exhausted and the babies had been fighting all day, obviously sensing her stress. When their parents' had arrived, she had almost lost all self control. She was so relieved to see him that she didn't even know what to do. She really just wanted him to hold her as she fell asleep, but she doubted that that would happen with the way their parents' were acting. "I need you to get your son's attention."

"How?" Tommy asked as she reached for his hand and placed it on her belly. "They want to talk to me?"

"No, my mom wants to yell at you," Kim said as Tommy groaned. He did not want to deal with all of this at the moment. He had hoped that Melody would have kept her distance for a couple of days. "Hi, Jason. Thank you for pulling us out of that. You need a bed for the night?"

"Yeah, can I call Kat to let her know?" Jason asked as Kim nodded her head yes.

"Come on, you need to get this over with," Kim said as Tommy walked with her into the living room and heard her mother screech.

"Thomas Oliver! Why in the world would you put my daughter in this kind of situation! You married her and then you bring this Power Ranger crap down on her! What the hell are you doing!" Melody exploded as Tommy slumped down in his chair and pulled Kim into his lap.

"Melody, I've been a ranger since we met," Tommy said as Kim looked back at him and then encouraged him to rub her aching back.

"Mom, I knew what I was getting into, I'm tired and neither of us has had an easy day today. You have got to learn that he has my best interests in mind," Kim said as a foot kicked her sharply in the ribs and she cringed.

"Your best interests! Have you not looked outside today Kimberly?" Melody yelled as Tommy gently settled her back against him and began rocking her to sleep. She did not need this from her mother and he hoped that Melody would get the message quickly.

"Melody, what did you want me to do? Blatantly ignore the fact that the media figured out that I was a ranger or admit it and hope that they get over it quickly? There was no good way to handle this, but I hope that I've given them enough to think about for awhile," Tommy said as her glare deepened and he just glared right back. He was aggravated, that much was clear, but Kim's head now resting on his chest kept him from truly raising his voice.

"What about your children?" Melody shrieked as Charlie, Eric, and Daren all moved away from her. They were sure that Tommy was going to let loose after that insult.

"One of my children will take my place, so let's just say it might be easier if they always know that I was a ranger. It certainly would be better than throwing it at them when they turn eighteen," Tommy said as Melody's mouth dropped open and Tommy did not waste any time scooting to the edge of the chair and standing up to carry Kim back to their bedroom. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes, just let me get her settled in."

"Tommy!" Melody yelled as Eric grabbed her arm and shook his head to not follow him. "How can the three of you just sit there?"

"Because yelling at Tommy has never done any good, except to piss him off," Charlie said as Melody looked over at her. "He's my son and I know that boy better than almost anyone else. All you have done is aggravate him Melody."

"Did all of you know about this or something?" Melody asked as the other three exchanged a glance.

"I've had my suspicions for a long time Melody and let's just say that this doesn't really upset me. He's a good man and just because you think that Kimberly could have done better does not mean that you should continue to impress your horrible attitude on the boy," Eric said as Melody looked over at him in shock. They had both agreed never to speak about that in front of Tommy or his parents.

"Done better?" Charlie all but yelled as Melody looked over at her and just shook her head.

"Let's face it Tommy can be less than stable some times," Melody said as Charlie's eyes widened.

"Less than stable!" Charlie shrieked as Tommy walked into the living room from the kitchen and sat down next to his dad.

"What is Mom shrieking for?" Tommy asked as he sipped on the drink in his hand and his father just shook his head.

"Eric just mentioned that Melody thought Kimberly could have done better than you," Daren supplied as Tommy just shook his head. He had always gotten that impression from Melody, but he had sincerely hoped that she would learn to accept him.

"Yes, less than stable, what with the brief stint in NASCAR, then paleontology, now teaching and opening a dojo. He is not a very stable man," Melody said as the three men sat back to enjoy the show, as Jason peeked his head in and decided that he was better off just going to bed. He did not want to chance being dragged into this as well.

"He has always found a way to provide for them, maybe it was a little bit odd at times, but he always found some way to make sure there was food on the table and enough money to pay for the necessities of life," Charlie fired back as Tommy registered just how loud the two of them were being and he doubted that Kim would sleep much longer if they kept it up.

"If you want to continue to fight about my qualifications as a husband, could you do it a little bit more quietly? I would hate to imagine would Kim would do to either of you if you woke her up," Tommy said with a smile on his face as they both stared at him. When did he arrive? "Melody, I'm glad that you are finally venting some of your frustrations towards my job as a husband, although doing that to my mother is rather counterproductive."

"Tommy, I didn't…" Melody started as Tommy held up his hand.

"No, you meant every word of it. I may not be the picture perfect husband that you expected for Kimberly, that can cater to her every need and insure that she never has to lift a manicured hand to do any sort of work, but I am the man that she loves. I have spent all day today defending my relationship with her, insisting that I will not leave her, do you know how hard it is to have people questioning that? Do you know what it's like to come home and hear them yelling questions at her about whether or not I have a mistress? No, she shouldn't have to deal with it, but we're here for each other, that is all that matters. If I don't meet your standards, I frankly don't give a damn," Tommy said as they all stared at him. He looked furious, not necessarily with them, but with the entire situation.

"Did you think this would be easy?" Daren asked as Tommy shook his head no.

"But I didn't think that they attack this part of my life, I thought they would leave her alone for the most part," Tommy said, as they all looked over at him. "I guess I was wrong about that."

"Well, it's not the first time," Melody said as they all glared over at her. It was going to be a very long night with the way that she was acting. Tommy had hoped to get to sleep at a decent hour, but he now knew that he would not have much of a chance to do that since he was going to have to defend all of his decisions to Melody until he could pacify her worries.


	25. Chapter 25

The week continued much in the same fashion as the first day, with reporters waiting for him outside his home and at the school as well. Kim could brave leaving the house while he was a school but she rarely had a reason to do so, what with strict orders to stay off her feet and allow Tommy to do all of the shopping activities for the house. The day had come and gone for the final installations at the new dojo and both of them were thrilled at the prospect of actually being able to open it sometime soon. For the meantime, the karate side would only be used and then once Kimberly had the babies, they would open up the gymnastics side for use as well. All these plans, however, hung in a very thin balance, because until they knew if the cancer was back, they could not do anything concrete.

"Mr. Oliver, Kimberly, so nice to see you again," Karen said with a smile as they walked up to her. "How are the little ones doing?"

"Sleeping at the moment," Kim said as she smiled over at the older woman. The two of them had gotten stares on the way up, but Karen did not seem to care what the news had reported about them, just about Kimberly's health and well being.

"Do they like to kick you a lot?" Karen asked as Kim nodded her head yes and Karen smiled. "Active babies are good babies, they let you know that they are there and like to get upset with you when you don't pay attention."

"Tell me about it," Kim said as she looked back at Tommy, who had remained very solemn. He just wanted to find out what was going on so he would be able to deal with it. "I'll be fine Tommy."

"I'll believe it when I get the test results Kim," Tommy said as Karen looked over at the normally optimistic Tommy with a slight frown. He was rarely like this, he took everything in stride and was Kim's rock when things got tough, but right now her rock was crumbling.

"What is wrong with you?" Karen asked as he sighed. Why was it that Kim had to have a nurse that knew the both of them so well?

"The last week or so has been pretty hectic," Tommy answered as Karen nodded her head that she understood or at least that she had seen the media coverage that was playing day and night of his every move. It was rough to be thrust into the public spotlight, but they had done it to protect the others and that was the most important thing.

"Well, you did what you had to do and it may not have been pretty or wise or acceptable to most people, but you saved a lot of your friends from going down this same road sometime soon," Karen said as Tommy looked over at her. "I've known for years, it didn't bother me to hear that the two of you were rangers."

"Karen, we said no talking about the r word," Dr. Mendez said with a smile as he walked in and held up a copy of her test results. "How are both of you today?"

"Tired," Kim said as Tommy stifled a laugh. "What?"

"I think you forgot a couple of things, sweetie," Tommy said as she glared over at him and he could not help but laugh at her expression.

"Are you aching to sleep on the couch tonight?" Kim asked as he continued to laugh and Kim crossed her arms across her chest as she waited for him to calm down.

"You wouldn't kick me out of bed because you can't sleep without me there," Tommy pointed out as Kim nodded that that was true and then looked over at Dr. Mendez.

"Can we have the results?" Kim asked, knowing that Tommy was not going to ask for them.

"Yes, Kimberly it seems that the increase in your levels was caused by a medication that was given to you several weeks ago. The delay of the reaction was such that when you passed out, it had affected your levels as well. They are back within normal range, but I want to test you again as soon as you have delivered the twins. If everything is fine then, then we will go back to the six months schedule that we have had for the last couple of years," Dr. Mendez said as her eyes widened and he laughed. "What, you thought it was back?"

"Yeah," Kim muttered as she broke down in tears and Tommy just pulled her into him. He knew the relief that she was feeling, but for some reason it was getting to her much more than him.

"Tommy, how has it been?" Dr. Mendez asked. He felt bad that Cassidy had gotten the condemning information from him and he wanted to help them, somehow.

"The press won't leave me alone, but they've backed off her, so it'll be all right. Dr. Calloway called and said that she's on bed rest," Tommy said as Dr. Mendez smiled. "I can only guess that you had something to do with that."

"I do what I can, now there is a group of reporters outside the building waiting for you. What do you want me to do?" Dr. Mendez asked as Kim looked up at Tommy.

"Our car is in the parking garage, we should be fine but a distraction to get them to miss the car would be nice," Kim said as Karen and Dr. Mendez smiled, conspiratorially, they had a plan that was going to be more fun than anything else.

"If we act like we know more than we do?" Karen asked as Tommy nodded to go ahead. It couldn't hurt them any to put more information out there. "You two better get going, we'll take care of the reporters."

"Dr. Mendez, is it true that you treat Kimberly Oliver?"

"Yes, I do and you will be glad to hear that her condition is stable, but she needs to not be disturbed or bothered at the moment," Dr. Mendez said as he was pressed from all sides by the reporters.

"How has being a Power Ranger affected her ability to recover?"

"This has not affected her negatively, she has had more stress placed on her at times, but she has been dealing with that for years."

"Are they truly happy together?"

"They are a happily married couple and I even remember their wedding. He had long hair and hers had just started growing back from the chemo, not that that it important. They were the happiest couple I have ever seen and they still are, for the most part."

"Are you suggesting that they have marital issues?"

"No more than the usual couple does, they have a way of working things out without it becoming a huge problem."

"Were they rangers when you treated her?"

"At the time they both were retired from the ranger world, around the time they got married, I believe he became a ranger again. As far as I know, she has not been a ranger in years," Dr. Mendez said as Karen looked over at him and nodded that he could wrap this up whenever he wished. "One more question and then I must go back to my other patients."

"Do you treat any other Power Rangers?"

"I only know of those two and that is by the mere chance that she dropped her power coin one day several years ago. I put two and two together and figured out what they had been. I will tell you one thing, I've never been more thankful to a patient as I am to the two of them," Dr. Mendez said before hastily retreating inside with Karen right behind him. "How'd I do?"

"Good enough to buy them about ten to fifteen minutes of peace," Karen said as Dr. Mendez smiled. "She's gotten bigger in the last week."

"Yeah, but with two babies it makes sense," Dr. Mendez said as Karen nodded. "You know John didn't have a clue until about two weeks ago?"

"Has he ever missed a baby before?" Karen asked as Dr. Mendez shook his head no. "Did she not show that much early on?"

"No, but it seems that the son is protective of the daughter," Dr. Mendez said as Karen nodded.

"Story of their life," Karen muttered as he laughed.

"Yeah, you ain't lying," Dr. Mendez said as Karen just shook her head and stepped into the elevator. She knew she would laugh about this day years from now, but right now she knew that Kim and Tommy were suffering for a past that was much too hard to deal with.


	26. Chapter 26

"Class dismissed," Tommy said as he bowed to the kids and they bowed back. "Good job today, I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

Christmas break had come and the kids were all excited to get away from the dojo. He had a couple of things to grab before he went home and Kimberly had been uncomfortable all day long, so he knew that the time was getting close for them to have the babies. They had been lucky and over the last two and a half months she had not fainted again, although she had released her powers a couple of times from pure frustration, but that couldn't be helped. The media had hounded them for the first month or so after they had revealed themselves, but now they were old news and he was thankful for that. He did not want to worry about beating off a mob of reporters when it was time to get her to the hospital.

"Dr. O?" Conner questioned as Tommy looked over at him. He had noticed him hanging out in the back of the room and could not believe the look on his face now. It was obvious to him that something was wrong, but he had no clue what it might be. "Kim's in the hospital."

"And why did you wait until the end of the class to tell me that?" Tommy roared as the Conner in front of him shifted into Mesogogg.

"It's time that you come with me, Dr. Oliver," Mesogogg said, grabbing Tommy by the shirt and pulling him out of the room before the invisaportal opened and they were whisked away.

* * *

"Where is he?" Kim asked as Jason and Billy exchanged a glance. She had left a message with Conner and he was out in the waiting room. Why was Tommy not there with her then? Something about this was not right, they all could feel it. "I can't have the babies without him."

"You're not going to," Jason soothed as Billy left the room to gather what Conner had done. Kimberly looked close to an emotional break down and they both knew that that did not need to happen right now. She needed to be able to keep herself together and focus on delivering the babies.

"Conner, didn't you tell Tommy that she was in labor?" Billy asked as Conner gave him a confused look. He hadn't seen Dr. O since he left school this afternoon. "Weren't you at the dojo?"

"No, I had a game," Conner said as Billy looked around at the rangers and the older rangers all seemed to be thinking the same thing. He had been captured and if Kim didn't deliver at least one of the babies soon, they might lose him.

"If I don't go back in there, she'll know something is wrong," Billy said as Trini nodded and stood to leave. "Take Zack and Rocky with you."

"Okay," Trini said as the two men stood and followed her out. "You know you're the fire power, right?"

"Yeah, but we've got to find him first," Rocky said as Trini sighed. She did not need that pointed out to her at the moment.

"Well," Jason said as Billy barely shook his head and Kim looked over at him to see the look in his eyes.

"What's happened?" Kim asked as Billy looked over at Jason who looked to be begging him to lie to her. She did not need to hear the truth. "Tell me the truth Billy."

"Captured," Billy muttered as her eyes widened as a much more forceful contraction hit and she yelled out.

"Oh my baby!" Melody cried as she barged into the room and Kim wrenched her eyes away from Billy as her mother started to hug her, but she pushed her away. She did not want to be touched by anyone but Tommy and he was the one person that could not be there. "Kimberly!"

"Don't touch me," Kim ground out as Melody stared at her, as Kim turned her gaze back to Billy.

"Trini, Rocky, and Zack are on it, they'll get him here before you have them," Billy reassured as she nodded and took in a deep breath.

"Where is Tommy!" Melody screeched as Kim looked up at her mother, looking ready to kill at a moment's notice. She was in enough pain to be murderous and the fact that her mother was likely to go on a rampage about Tommy was not going to help things.

"Captured," Kim muttered as she glared over at her mother. "Leave."

"Kim, you need someone to look after you," Melody said as Kim's eyes narrowed and she looked at the boys. "Can you handle her?"

"Of course," Jason said as Kim watched her mother leave and her hand tightened over Jason's as he looked down at her. "We'll find him, don't worry."

"I know," Kim said as she reached over for Billy. "I can't lose him now."

"Yeah, we know," Billy said as he brushed her hair back and then looked over at Jason. It was going to take all of their combined resources to calm her. "You worry about having the babies, we'll find Tommy."

"Hurry," Kim muttered as Billy nodded and then left the room. The labor was moving faster than anyone thought it would and they had to get him back soon.

* * *

"What do you want?" Tommy ground out as Mesogogg had him strapped to the table and he pulled against the restraints, testing them.

"Your life," Mesogogg said as Tommy gulped. He could feel that something was wrong with Kim, but he did not know what it might be, unless the babies really were on their way. "You see, your children will be nothing without you to raise them. They will not be able to bring around the next generation of Power Ranger's without you there."

"Why wait until now?" Tommy asked as Mesogogg looked over at him. Didn't he know about the prophecy? "Why not kill me earlier?"

"I tried by pulling you into battle, but that did not work, now I have you and your wife is in labor. As soon as one of you children is born, you will be indestructible by evil, so I only have a few minutes to do this," Mesogogg said as Tommy concentrated on a question that would keep him talking and take his mind off killing him. He just needed to buy Kim some time. He wished that he could be there to see their first child born, but he knew he'd have to stall Mesogogg to even get that chance.

"Indestructible?" Tommy asked as Mesogogg went about setting up the laser and Tommy took in a deep breath. He had not been gone long enough for the rangers to even suspect that something was wrong.

* * *

"Kim, are you ready to push for me?" Dr. Calloway asked as Kim shook her head no as the tears streamed down her face. Tommy was supposed to be here, he was supposed to be holding her hand and telling her that everything was fine. She could not do this without him, there was no way to do this without him. "I know you want Tommy here, but this baby is not going to wait for him. The second one might be more patient. Come on here comes the contraction, push!"

"Ah!" Kim screamed as the pain rippled through her body and Jason whispered in her ear how good she was doing and to keep going.

"Again," Dr. Calloway said as she fell back to rest and felt Jason pick her back up.

"Come on, Kim, a couple good pushes," Jason whispered as she took in a deep breath and began pushing again.

"Good girl," Dr. Calloway said as Kim leaned back against the pillows and took in a deep breath. "Jason, come here."

"Yes sir," Jason said as they walked a short distance away and he looked him directly in the eyes.

"You've got to keep her pushing, I'll take care of everything else. She moved the baby, but she's still a long way from having it," Dr. Calloway said as Kim's cries signaled another contraction. "Come on."

"Looks like we have a screamer," Allie said as Jason felt Kim's muscles shaking uncontrollably. The physical effort must be more than anything that she had ever done before and he knew that emotionally she was already drained. Tommy was gone and they might not have any way of getting him back.

"Jason," Billy's voice said as Kim and Jason looked at his wrist. "Get the baby out."

"What?" Jason said as Kim pushed again and Dr. Calloway could see the determination in her eyes.

"She has the baby and Tommy's safe, if she doesn't soon…we can't get to him," Billy said as Kim let out an almighty wail and Jason ended the transmission.

"Her body can only go so fast," Dr. Calloway said and then was surprised that Kim was having another contraction. "What the hell?"

"How many?" Kim asked as Dr. Calloway stared at her. She was barely able to focus on him, but he knew that she would hear the answer.

"Three or four if the baby doesn't get stuck at the end," Dr. Calloway said as Kim gritted her teeth and dug deep inside to push harder. Every thought that she could remember later held Tommy in it. From their first kiss, first time, the look on his face when he found out about the babies, it was all there as her motivation. She needed him to live, she needed him to be able to be there because she could not do this alone.

"Almost there, Kim," Jason whispered as she let out a gut wrenching cry and the baby's head delivered and Dr. Calloway held her still for a moment.

"One more good one Kim," Dr. Calloway said as she nodded and pushed the baby from her body as she let out a wail.

"He will be so proud of you," Jason whispered in her ear as Kim looked up at him and felt the baby be placed on her chest. "Rest now, you'll have to do this again."

"Ask," Kim said as the crying baby began to calm in her arms before being whisked away by a nurse.

"Is he alive?" Jason asked as they all looked at him, of course the baby boy was alive. Didn't he hear him crying?

"Just in time," Tommy said as he landed in the delivery room and tears filled his eyes. He had hoped to arrive before either child was born, but that was not to be.

"Out!" Allie yelled as Dr. Calloway, Jason, and Tommy looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Hey," Tommy whispered reaching over to pull her into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"You're alive?" Kim asked as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"You saved me Kim," Tommy said as she gave him a confused look. "Another minute and I would have been dead."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked as she felt a small contraction and took in a deep breath.

"Don't worry about it right now. Jason can you tell the others I'm fine?" Tommy asked as Jason nodded before giving Kim a quick squeeze.

"You were wonderful," Jason said as Tommy looked over at him and smiled. "Good luck Tommy."

"Thanks," Tommy said as Kim reached over for his hand and gently squeezed it. "How are you?"

"Okay," Kim said as Dr. Calloway brought over their boy and handed him to Tommy.

"Hey there," Tommy whispered as Kim let out a moan and he reached for her hand. "How bad?"

"Not bad yet," Kim said as she looked over at her baby cuddling in his arms. "Was it a boy or a girl?"

"A boy, baby," Tommy said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. "Kim, hold on a second, they've got to take him back."

"You've dilated already," Dr. Calloway said as Kim looked over at him. "You don't feel the urge do you?"

"No, can I have a little while?" Kim asked as Dr. Calloway nodded and he motioned for the nurse to come with him. He could tell that they needed a few moments together.

"Kim, I'm so sorry," Tommy whispered as he threw his arms around her and he held her even closer. "He got me at the dojo, but I'll be fine from now on Kim."

"It's okay Tommy, the baby…I didn't want to have him without you," Kim said as he looked over at her and saw the pain in her eyes.

"But now I'll be here, don't worry about it," Tommy said as she grabbed his hand and threw her head back in an attempt to not push. "I'll go grab Dr. Calloway."

"Okay," Kim muttered and was surprised when Dr. Calloway came in quickly.

"You ready to push again?" Dr. Calloway asked as Kim nodded her head yes. "Tommy, hold onto her hand."

"I wouldn't imagine letting go," Tommy whispered as she let out a moan and he moved in to hold her tighter. He could not have imagined her going through all of this alone and he was thankful for his friend and even more thankful that she had been able to have the first baby quickly. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving her alone for the rest of her life.


	27. Chapter 27

"It's good to be home," Kim said as she carried in a car seat and Tommy carried in the other. They were starting to get the hang of two babies, but it was still very bumpy. "Tommy, I can't believe that you're here.

"Yeah, neither can I," Tommy said as he placed his car seat on the floor and she reached over to give him a hug. After the pain had worn off and she could think again, she had freaked out about what had nearly happened. Tommy had not been able to leave her side since then, not that he was complaining. He wanted to be with her. She had her hands full with trying to feed the babies and hold them and change them and he had helped wherever he could.

"Surprise!" the living room yelled as they turned on the lights and Kim and Tommy jumped. They were shocked to see these people in their home.

"Kim, Tommy, we thought you should be welcomed home properly," Melody said as Kim looked over at her and then reached out to give her a hug.

"We have to talk, Mom," Kim said as Melody looked at her and then over at Tommy with a glare. "He had nothing to do with this and we still have to talk."

"Okay," Melody said as Tommy looked over at his wife before he bent over to pull Aiden out of his car seat. The little boy was every bit as active now as he had been in the womb.

"Someone feels left out," Charlie said as Tommy looked over at her and saw her pointing over to Gracie's car seat. "You want Daddy to hold you sweetie?"

"Kim, you hungry?" Jason asked as he brought over a plate and she gratefully took it from him. She had blatantly refused to eat at the hospital and was glad that they had thought far enough ahead to get her food.

"Jason, I never had a chance to really thank you," Kim said as he just shook his head that it was nothing. "No, Jason, he wouldn't be here if you hadn't helped."

"Come on, Tommy would have done the same thing for me," Jason said as Kim looked over at her husband to see him juggling both babies as the grandmother's insisted on photos. "What are you going to talk to your mom about?"

"How she treats Tommy," Kim said as Jason gave her a look. He was surprised that she wanted to tackle that today. "But don't you change the subject on me mister. Tommy and I were thinking of an appropriate way to repay you."

"Raise them right," Jason said as Kim glared at him and he smiled. "What is it Kim?"

"Do you want to be their godfather?" Kim asked as Jason looked at her in shock.

"Kim…I didn't even think the two of you would want that," Jason said as he gave her a hug. "And I'd love to."

"Jason, do you want to tell them our news?" Kat asked as Kim and Tommy looked at them. They had been married for a couple of years and it had been a contested subject as to who would have the first children.

"We're going to have a baby," Jason announced as all the men converged on Jason as the women did the same with Katherine.

"So this is why you were so weepy about the twins?" Kim asked as Kat nodded her head yes as the shorter woman gave her a strong hug. "You can have all the practice that you want."

"Thanks, you're looking good," Kat said as Kim looked down at her body. She honestly hadn't had a chance since having the babies. A small pudge was the only indication that she had ever been pregnant. "How does it feel?"

"Weird, but he's been great," Kim said as the girls smiled.

"Not that you doubted that for a moment," Trini said as Kim laughed. "So after you almost killed him, everything was all right?"

"Yeah, I don't really remember having Aiden. Dr. Calloway told me he had never seen anyone do what I did. I remember once Tommy got there and Gracie hurt like hell," Kim said as Tommy deposited said child in her arms. "But they were worth it."

"So which one of them do you think will be the ranger?" Aisha asked as Kim shrugged. She honestly didn't care, but she knew Tommy would rather it be Aiden, as Gracie was going to be very protected.

"Your rangers said they're sorry that they couldn't make it," Tanya said as looked over at her in confusion.

"Why?" Kim asked as they all exchanged a glance as they heard an odd yell from Tommy. "Tommy?"

"Sorry, honey, I gotta go," Tommy said as her eyes narrowed and she passed Gracie off to Charlie without a second thought.

"I'm coming with you," Kim said as they all looked at her as they finally understood her intentions.

"Kimberly you can't!" Melody yelled as Tommy passed Aiden over to his father. "You just had two children!"

"Mesogogg deserves my full wrath for almost taking my husband away," Kim said as she stretched her back and then popped her neck.

"Kimberly, I forbid you!" Melody yelled as Kim looked over at Tommy and smirked. He was not even going to tell her not to do this, he knew that she needed this and he may have wished for better timing, but he knew that she needed to do this. She knew her limits and knew that she could definitely handle this.

"You forbidding me won't stop me anymore," Kim stated as she reached for her morpher that Tommy held in his outstretched hand. "It's morphing time!"

"Feel good?" Tommy asked as Kim barely nodded her head, rejoicing in the feeling of the powers coursing through her veins. "Come on."

"He's a horrible husband," Melody muttered as Eric and Daren exchanged a glance. This had led to an argument last time and today did not seem any different.

* * *

"Dr. O?" Kira asked as a white streak landed next to her and a pink streak followed. "Kim?"

"Where's Mesogogg?" Kim asked as they looked at her. Shouldn't she be resting, considering the fact that she had just had the twins?

"Kimberly," Mesogogg murmured as she whipped around with her eyes flaring daggers at him. "So the day has come."

"Anything you don't want me to do Tommy?" Kim asked as he shook his head no. He doubted that Mesogogg would last long with how mad she was.

"How good is she?" Conner asked as he wound up fighting next to Tommy.

"Amazingly good," Tommy said as he heard Mesogogg's yelp and he fought not to laugh.

"Retreat!" Mesogogg yelled as all of his minions began running for the invisaportal. "This is not the last of me!"

"It soon will be," Kim said as Tommy and the others walked over to her. "I still want to send him back to the scum that he emerged from."

"One day you will," Tommy said as he gave her a hug and they were all teleported back to their home.

* * *

"Kimberly! How could you!" Melody yelled as Kim yanked down her mask and then pulled off her gloves and threw them down.

"Take the babies upstairs," Kim muttered darkly as Darren and Charlie did as they were asked. "This is the last time that you are to question me or Tommy about our life. If you don't like him, that's fine, but I will not have my children influenced by this."

"Kimberly, you put your life in danger," Melody said as Kim's eyes narrowed as they all started to feel waves of energy cascade off of her body.

"Kim, calm down," Tommy whispered as he placed his hands on her shoulders and she looked over at him. "I don't want things exploding."

"Then it might be best for me to go outside," Kim said as Tommy nodded as she powered down and headed outside. "I'm not done yet, Mom."

"He just allowed you to waltz out there after having two children!" Melody shrieked as Tommy watched Kim. He did not want for her to kill her mother, but he wanted to see what she was going to say.

"Enough!" Kim yelled as Melody looked over at her in shock. "It was my choice to go out there, my need to do that! Tommy knows better than to tell me not to do something when I am determined. He knows me, Mom!"

"Kimberly, he doesn't take care of you properly!" Melody yelled as Tommy wrapped Kimberly up quickly to keep her from moving towards her mother.

"He doesn't take care of me! You are just mad because he replaced you as the caregiver and provider and he does a damn good job with it! He's taken better care of me than you ever did and he knows me Mom! He knows me, he knows that I don't want a life of being pampered! Give up on the idea that I am a princess and want all the things that you wanted! I am not you!" Kim yelled as she clung to Tommy's arms before turning around to face him and cling to him.

"Kimberly, you can't be serious," Melody said as she attempted to touch her but Tommy shook his head that she shouldn't. Kim was likely to tear her apart if she touched her at the moment. "What have I done?"

"You have to accept him, because I won't have my kids growing up and hearing every other word about him being how horrible he is," Kim said as Melody looked at her in shock. "They have to be able to have him as a father, there is too much at stake if they have an outside influence saying he is horrible."

"How can that be?" Melody asked as Tommy calmly released Kim and nudged her to go inside. He could handle all of it from here.

"I have to train the both of them because one day one of them will replace me. The last thing we need is for one of them to go evil on us because they are wrongly influenced," Tommy said as Melody stared at him. "I warned you last time that you needed to just let it go or you'd do irreparable damage and you may have already."

"I never meant…" Melody started as Tommy just shook his head. "Let me guess, it doesn't matter what I meant."

"Bingo, not to her," Tommy said as Melody looked up at him in shock. "Melody, I never wanted it to come down to this, but Kim can't take it anymore. She has had to deal with it for too long and right now it is just too stressful for her. You know how much I love her, you just need to leave it alone and unless she comes to you and says that she hates me, leave it alone. She loves you, she really does, but it's been hard lately."

"She's my daughter, I just want to look after her," Melody said as Tommy put his arm around her and nodded.

"I know that, but she's got me to look after her now, Melody," Tommy said as Melody nodded and Tommy was surprised as he walked in to have a baby placed in his arms. "Kim?"

"Burp her, I have to feed Aiden," Kim said as Tommy nodded and picked up a blanket to burp the baby on.

"So things are going to be wild for the next few years?" Jason asked as Tommy laughed.

"Try the next eighteen to twenty years, Jason," Tommy said as Gracie let out a burp and Jason looked down at the small baby, surprised she could make so much noise. "Then we'll have to deal with our history again."


End file.
