Chapter 11-A Gift From the Heart

“I’m happy…I’m happy with you. Not memories of Kim or far-fetched dreams of her, just you. And how much I’ve come to…love you.”

-Tommy

From “In his arms” by Vespera

--

Tommy adjusted the pot of his plant a little bit towards the sun’s direction as he then took a water can from the small table in the middle of his living room and watered it.

Winter or not, even these babies need water. He thought as he walked over to another nearby plant and repeated the same process. Once he was done Tommy then put away his can and reclined on his sofa, taking in the few Christmas decorations he had put up. They weren’t much, but with a Christmas tree in a corner of the living room, a wreath hanging on the door, and a Christmas tablecloth with placemats, Tommy was about as ready as he could be.

Even though yeah, me, my students, Hayley, and Kat are pretty much the only ones here anyway, but still…

As soon as he thought Kat’s name Tommy then smiled lightly and thought back to a few nights ago when he, Kat, and pretty much all their friends were at the cyber café just talking, laughing, and having a good time.

Many were the times that Tommy would see her laugh along with everyone else at some joke Rocky or Conner would make or sometimes catch a glance at him and smile…

RING!

Tommy snapped out of his trance just as the phone blared from his kitchen. Hoping that it might be Kat he quickly leaped off the couch and hurried to the kitchen to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Tommy, hi!”

“Oh, hi mom.” Tommy replied, a little disappointed that it wasn’t Kat on the other end but still happy that it was his family at least. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, it’s going pretty well. But hey, it’s Christmas Eve, why wouldn’t it be?”

“That’s for sure.”

“So how have you been? Your father and I haven’t heard from you since Thanksgiving.”

“Well, I’ve been…pretty busy over here.” Tommy replied.

“Well, I suppose between decorating your house, putting the final grades in for your class, and showing Katherine around town…yeah, I’d say you would’ve found plenty to keep you busy.” Mrs. Oliver said which caused her adopted son to blush. Weeks ago, after Tommy dropped Kat off after having their belated Thanksgiving party he had called his folks to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. Originally he would have gone over to celebrate along with them, but sadly they were staying with his uncle (on his mother’s side) in Arizona, and it was just too far for him to make the trip, much as he wouldn’t have minded doing so. While he was talking to his folks Tommy had revealed that Kat was now living in Reefside which caused his dad to nearly choke on his root beer, but once he composed himself Mr. Oliver was pretty much ruthless in his teasing and asking his son almost the same questions that Conner and his friends were asking him when they confronted him about him disappearing while they had been battling Elsa and Felectro.

“And speaking of Katherine, how’s she doing?”

“Oh, she’s doing pretty good.” Tommy replied. “She’s gotten a little more settled in here, plus according to her the teaching job she has at the local dance school is going great, so…in all, she’s doing great.”

“Oh, that’s good. So…since it’s the holidays do you have anything special planned for you and her?” Mrs. Oliver asked.

“Um, well, I guess you could say that.” Tommy replied. “I had asked her a few days ago if she would like to have dinner sometime this week, and…she said yes.”

“Well that’s great! That’s excellent!” Mrs. Oliver said. “Is there someplace you two are going to eat or…”

“Well, at first I was thinking Olive Garden, and then I thought maybe Outback Steakhouse, but then the next day, she and I were talking and Kat wondered if we could use her apartment instead. It’s not too fancy, yet it’s nice and…”

“… hopefully romantic?” Mrs. Oliver supplied.

“Yeah. Well, I’m hoping anyway.”

“Well, I hope it goes well for you two.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“You’re still going to make it home for Christmas day, right?” Mrs. Oliver asked.

“Definitely.” Tommy replied.

“All right, great. Oh, and if Katherine wants to come along, she’s more than welcome to.”

“Thanks mom.”

“Well, I think I’ll let you get back to your preparing and whatnot.” Mrs. Oliver said. “But again, I really hope things go well for you tonight. And tell Kat I said hi.”

“I will. Give my love to dad, all right?”

“Will do Tommy.” Mrs. Oliver said. “We’ll see you Christmas Day night.”

“Count on it, mom.” Tommy replied. “Bye.”

After he put the phone down Tommy then stood in his living room for a while, wondering if there was anything else that needed to be done. Seeing as how there wasn’t he then snuck a peak at his watch which said 2:15…

--

“So are we still up for the 23rd?” Kat asked.

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Tommy replied. “What time should I come by?”

“What time do you think will be good for you?”

“Well, how about 5:30?”

“Okay, 5:30 it is.”

“Great.”

--

Not wanting to waste anymore time Tommy quickly headed into the bathroom to take a shower. Once he was done he then gelled his hair a bit, and then looked through his drawers and his closet trying to find some clothes to wear. Since he was going to Kat’s apartment he wanted to look his best, but he didn’t want to look over the top.

After looking through his closet for a while Tommy ultimately decided on a long-sleeve navy blue polo shirt and jeans. He was just getting through putting his shirt on when the phone rang again.

“Hello?” Tommy answered once he picked it up.

“Tommy, hi. It’s me, Katherine.”

“Oh hi Kat.”

“Listen, I really don’t mean to sound like a pain, but we are still up for tonight, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” Tommy replied sincerely. “I’m actually getting ready right now so I’ll be there soon as soon as I can.”

“Oh good.”

“Yeah, I just need to stop by someplace first to pick up something and then I’ll be on my way there.”

“Okay,” Kat said, already inwardly feeling giddy. “I’ll see you then.”

“See you in a while, Kat.” Tommy said as he hung up his bedroom phone and took a look at himself in the mirror.

Well…can’t go wrong with this. Or at least I hope I don’t. Tommy said as he took some Nautica cologne and sprayed some on himself. Then he went and picked up his keys before heading out the door to his jeep and taking off.

--

As Tommy was on his way to Kat’s apartment, Kat was busy trying to get everything ready.

Though she wasn’t a stranger to cooking dinner for more people besides herself (many had been the times in London where she and some of her roommates would do so) this was the first time she was doing one on an occasion that could almost be…

Katherine, come on. Don’t be ridiculous, it’s not a date. It’s just…dinner. Now granted, it’s with…Tommy, but that still doesn’t specifically make it…a date.

Despite the fact that her head was telling her all this, her heart wasn’t believing any of it for a second, and she knew it.

Shortly after she had called Tommy Kat had headed straight for Publix to get the things she needed for the dinner. Once she got back part of her worried that Tommy had already gotten there. Much to her relief, he wasn’t. So she quickly got to her apartment and then unpacked the things she bought and with her CD playing softly inside her small radio, she got right to work.

As she was busy seasoning the turkey Kat would at times look at the clock on her stove and hope that Tommy would be just a tad bit late, and it wasn’t because the dinner wasn’t ready, it was because she was wearing an apron along with her white t-shirt and blue overalls, and she wanted to be wearing something nice for him tonight, even though she knew Tommy could care less if he saw her wearing overalls or not.

Once she was done seasoning she then placed the turkey on the bottom rack of the oven (which she had already set the temp earlier) and then set the timer for 1 hr. and 45 min.

Well, that takes care of the hard part at least.

Seeing that Tommy hadn’t arrived yet and since there was still time before the turkey was done Kat took off her apron, placed it on the counter near the sink and headed to her room to change when all of a sudden the doorbell rang.

“Who is it?” She called out.

“It’s me, Tommy.”

Once she heard Tommy’s voice Kat’s eyes widened, and she quickly looked at her stove clock and saw that it was only 3:41.

He’s here already? Kat thought as she then looked at her shirt and overalls. Throwing caution to the wind Kat sighed and unlocked the door.

Once she opened it Kat then saw Tommy standing in front of the doorway with his left arm behind his back and looking as handsome as ever. Kat felt her mouth go slightly dry as she tried her best not to blush and failed miserably.

“Hi.” Tommy said gently.

“Hi,” Kat replied, still semi-entranced.

“Can I come in?”

“Oh, o-of course.” Kat said as she stepped to the side a bit so Tommy could enter the apartment.

“Oh yeah, before I forget-” Tommy said as he pulled his arm from behind his back, revealing a bouquet of carnations tightly bundled together. “These are for you.”

“Oh Tommy, they’re beautiful.” Kat said as she took the bouquet. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Tommy replied. “For a while I wasn’t sure whether to get the roses or the carnations while I was at Reefside Florist, but…”

Kat smiled. “Tommy, believe me, these are great.” She said as she took the bundle and placed them in an empty vase she had in the cupboard.

“So…how’s it coming along?” Tommy asked as he joined her in the kitchen.

“Oh, I just put in the turkey so it’ll be a while before that’s done.” Kat replied. “But fortunately though everything else (food-wise anyway) is pretty much all set.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Tommy asked.

“Well, right now everything’s pretty good.” Kat said. “Listen, I’ll be right back. I just have to go to my room for a second.”

“Oh, okay, sure.” Tommy said. “I’ll just…hang out by the living room.”

“Okay.” Kat said as she then headed to her bedroom while Tommy took the chance to take a look around. Needless to say, he was impressed. From the time he and the others first saw the apartment to now, the place had definitely undergone a massive change. There was now a sofa in the living room facing a Samsung TV set that Tommy had helped her get along with a small table in the middle. In addition, there were also a few paintings of the beach around some of the walls along with some lava lamps in the corners. Plus the kitchen had a few small touches here and there that Kat had done since Tommy and the others helped her fix the place up.

As Tommy turned his head he then noticed a big picture hanging on the wall by the hallway. Curious he moved closer to take a better look and he saw that it was a picture of himself, Kat, Billy, Adam, Tanya, Rocky, and Jason hanging out by Ernie’s beach front café.

Man, Tommy thought to himself. Where does the time go?

“Like the photo?”

Tommy turned around at the sound of Kat’s voice and when he saw her, his eyes widened and his jaw almost dropped open. She was standing by the hallway dressed in a pink tank dress which looked similar to one he had seen her wearing many years ago, with her hair falling loosely around her face.

Wow. “Uh-yeah.” Tommy said as he tried to snap himself out of it. “Y’ know, I forgot that this picture was even taken.”

“Yeah, I was sorting through some of the things I had gotten when U-Haul came by with some of my things-remember?-and I found the picture among some of my paraphernalia. I didn’t want to leave it in its bubble wrap so I took it out, and while I was looking for someplace to hang it I figured this area here would be a good place to put it.”

“Good place.” Tommy mused as he looked at the photo again. “Good times.”

“You can say that again.” Kat said as she unconsciously placed her arm on his shoulder.

As soon as he felt Kat’s touch Tommy then looked from the photo to Kat, smiling at her gently as he looked directly in her eyes. Kat for her part couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from him any more than he could.

BEEP!

“What’s that?” Tommy asked as he and Kat turned at the sound.

“Oh, it’s just the oven.” Kat replied as they both headed for the kitchen where Kat then looked at the timer. “When it beeps once, it just means that a half hour went by.”

“Already?” Tommy asked, perplexed.

“I think so. Unless the timer’s extremely fast or something.”

“So that makes it one hour and fifteen minutes to go?”

“Looks like it.” Kat replied as she looked at the timer again.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I am starting to feel kind of hungry already.”

“Me too.”

“So are there any appetizers we can have?”

“Actually, yes, there is.” Kat said with a smile. “I was able to make some salad and some bread, so if you want, while we’re waiting, we can have those.”

“Okay, sure.” Tommy agreed. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Well, if you’re able to…do you think you can set the table while I get everything ready?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

So Tommy went to work getting the silverware, plates, and napkins out and ready while Katherine was getting the salad and bread ready on her end. Once she was done preparing them she then looked at the oven’s timer and saw that it was forty-six minutes until the turkey was done so she then took a tray that had some ham in it and placed it on the oven’s top rack. She had just finished placing the salad bowl down and was just about to go back to the kitchen counter and get the bread when she saw Tommy light a match and light the two candles that were on the table.

Tommy saw her looking in his direction and smiled. “They were…right there so…”

“Oh that’s fine.” Kat said as she came back with the bread. “Well, I have to say, not too shabby, Doctor Oliver.” She said as she saw the set table.

“Thanks Kat.” Tommy replied. “But you know, you did pretty good yourself.”

“Thanks.” Kat said. “Well Dr. Oliver, your table is now ready.”

“Ladies first?” Tommy offered.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s all right. Please, be seated.”

“Not unless you sit first.” Tommy insisted.

So Kat took a seat with Tommy helping her in. Once she was sitting down Tommy took his seat opposite her side of the table.

“So how have your students been?” Kat asked as she put some salad on her plate along with a slice of bread.

“Oh, they’re doing pretty good.” Tommy replied as he took the bowl Kat offered him once she was done and put some salad on his plate. “I haven’t spoken to them in a few days, but I know they have their own lives, as well as their own families to have the holidays with so…”

Kat nodded.

Oh yeah, speaking of which, did you get the chance to talk to your folks?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, I’ve actually called them a few times since I moved here. You know, to let them know how I was doing, and of course to wish them Happy Thanksgiving and now Christmas. They were a little surprised to learn that I ended up heading back here to America, but they gave me their support nonetheless and wished me the best of luck.”

“Did you tell them that I was living here too?”

“Yeah, I did.” Kat replied.

“What did they say?”

“Well, my dad asked me if I had already known before moving that you lived here. I told him no and that it had only been after I got here that I found that you lived here as well.”

“Mmm.” Tommy mused.

“But as for my mum, she was surprised too, but her reaction was a little more lighter than my father’s.”

“What happened?”

“Well, without going into too much detail…let’s just say teasing-wise, she was ruthless, especially when I told her about tonight.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, but like I said before, they wished me the best and mum had asked me to tell you that she said hi.”

“Thanks. Tell her I said the same likewise when you talk to her again.”

“I will.”

--

(Forty-five minutes later)

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“Well, looks like it’s ready.” Kat said as she got up from the table with Tommy getting up right behind her.

“May I-?” Tommy asked as he saw Kat open the oven door to retrieve the turkey.

Touched, Kat handed him the gloves to use. Once Tommy put them on he then gently pulled the bottom rack out, then he reached for the tray with the turkey and took it out with ease. Once she saw him take the turkey out Kat then put on some spare kitchen gloves and pushed the bottom rack back in place before she pulled the top rack out so she could take the ham out.

“Now,” Kat said. “Dinner is truly served.”

--

“It’s official; I really need to learn how to cook, or at least more so than what I’ve been doing before.” Tommy said after they finished eating.

Kat smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Are you kidding me? The dinner was great.”

“Thanks.”

Tommy blushed a little bit and bowed his head a little bit before looking back at her. “You’re welcome.”

For a while the two stayed that way looking at each other from across the table until Katherine, between looking at her hands to looking at Tommy finally pulled herself out of her reverie and reached for some of the empty plates.

“Well, I’ll get these out of the way…”

“Well y’ know, I can wash the dishes for you if you want.” Tommy offered as they got up from the table.

“Oh it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. But if you still want to help…”

So Tommy and Kat took the plates they used and put them all in the right part of the double sink. Any leftover food that was still in them was taken out and put in a plastic bag which would be placed in the freezer. Tommy took care of washing the dishes and bowls while Kat placed them on the sink’s left side.

“Y’ know, sometimes I wonder how I was even able to eat a decent meal back in my grad school years.” Tommy mused once they finished. “I really don’t know how I did it, I really don’t.”

“Were you still in California at the time or were you out of state?” Kat asked.

“I was out of state.” Tommy replied as they headed for the living room and sat down on the sofa. “Y’ know, I look back on it now and I’m glad that I was in my early twenties when I started my grad school studies because if I was to go back now, I probably wouldn’t have had the energy for those long study hours that I did.” Tommy said as he remembered staying up until 2:30 AM studying feverishly for one of his courses.

“Y’ know Tommy, there’s something I’ve been wondering.”

“What is it?”

“Well…what really made you go into paleontology specifically? I mean, I remember you were very big into cars and racing in your senior year.”

Tommy sighed. Though he and Kat had talked about it a little bit while they were at Wal-Mart weeks ago getting the fruitcake for Hayley’s party, he didn’t tell her everything.

“I guess you could say that it got started really after we passed on the power. Summer hadn’t ended yet, and…you had already left for London.” Tommy said. “I was in my uncle’s stock car garage one day just thinking about a whole lot of stuff, not really about what courses I was going to take for the fall at Angel Grove U (since I already had my mind made up to go into automotive science), but everything else.” He then smiled brightly at Kat before he looked down towards his hand.

“But going back to before, I went to AGU, and then after two years of being there, I sort of found myself at a…I don’t know if you could call it a crossroads, but I was just at a point where I wasn’t sure if going into automotive science was what I wanted to do. So I just stuck to doing general studies for a while. Then during one summer when I went to go see my grandfather up in northern California I had heard from my cousin that there was a dig going on not too far from home and whether I wanted to go check it out. I was pretty much bored out of my mind, so I thought, Why not? and I went to the dig. Now I don’t know if it was because I saw an actual fossil in the flesh or the fact that I even got to touch it, or even hear the paleontologist talk about it, but once I left that dig, I then knew what I wanted to do.”

“So once summer was over and I got back to AGU I pretty much got started on my paleontology major with a vengeance. And it was actually while I was taking a class in Intro to Microcomputers that I met Hayley. And she and I hit it off very well and in more ways than one she pretty much became sort of the surrogate sister I never had.” Tommy said.

“When did you find the gems?” Kat asked.

“It was actually during my third year at the second college I went to that I had found them.” Tommy replied. “There was a dig somewhere in Montana (I checked and it turned out to be Montana after all) and me and a whole bunch of students went there along with our professor to check it out. And as luck would have it, it turned out to be this huge rock that later was theorized as the one that may have killed the dinosaurs. But anyway, while I was checking out part of the rock I saw what looked like something blue embedded in the rock itself. Curious I took a look and saw that it was actually a gem. It didn’t look shiny or anything, but it was definitely something you didn’t see everyday. Not really knowing what it was and wanting a memento to remember I took a look around and saw that there wasn’t anyone around seeing what I was doing (since my professor was talking with them over at the other side of the rock), so I then took some of the few paleontology tools I had and tried to chip the part with the gem off. Surprisingly enough part of the rock fell off and almost pancaked my left foot, but then when I took a look at the part I saw that not only was the blue gem still embedded in there, but there was also a red and yellow gem embedded in the piece as well.”

“I don’t really know what it was I was thinking at that moment, but I knew that I had found something really big, and in spite of the fact that part of me felt I should let the professor know about it, another part of me felt it would be better off if no one at the dig knew what it was I found, so I took the rock (which fortunately was as big as a soccer ball, but it weighed like a ten pound barbell), put it in my bag, and re-joined the group before anyone knew I was missing.”

“How were you able to discover what those gems could do?”

“Well, fortunately the college had an analyzer/scanning system I could use, so with Hayley’s help I went and checked out what I had found. Needless to say, Hayley pretty much flipped out when I told her I had found it at the dig and didn’t tell anyone about it, but I asked her to trust me and that I had a hunch about the three gems and if the scanner could prove what I was guessing at, then there would be all the more reason for me to keep the gems and keep them hidden.”

“So after we scanned the three gems we didn’t get anything at first, but then the energy output meter went completely off the charts once it did a full scan on each of the three gems and that’s when I realized that my hunch was correct after all. However, when Hayley asked me for an explanation as to what I might know about the gems and threatened to rat me out to my professor if I didn’t explain that’s when I realized I had no choice so I pretty much sat her down and told her everything: About the Power Ranger legacy, how it got started, how I was once one of them, and so on and so forth. She didn’t believe me at first, but then when I showed her my old zeonizers and had the analyzer scan them she basically stared at them like she was looking at the Holy Grail, and that’s when she realized why no one else could know what the gems were or what they could do.”

“Two years later I started grad school. And it was actually after I got my Masters’ that I knew that the time was going to come when a new team of rangers would need to be formed, and the gems would be needed as well, so Hayley and I got to work trying to do what we could to get the ranger energies ready, but seeing as how we had very limited equipment to use, it wasn’t exactly easy. Then I realized we could actually use the components of my zeonizers to help create what would be the Dino-Morphers, so we used those. Then I think it was about a year later that I found out that a Paleontologist named Anton Mercer was looking for an assistant to help him in his research on combining Dinosaur DNA with human technology. I quickly realized that if I could get into that program, Hayley and I would have all the resources we would need to get the Ranger energies ready, so I busted my chops and did everything I could to get in and ultimately I was able to.”

“And that’s how you were able to create the Tyrannodrones and the Dinozords?” Kat supplied.

“Yeah.” Tommy replied. “For the next few years, even after I got my Ph. D, I continued to work with Anton Mercer on digs and such, and he pretty much took me under his wing and taught me a lot of what he knew. Y’ know, I can’t say I wouldn’t have learned more about Paleontology that I already had at that point if it hadn’t been for him.”

“And then some time later, he disappeared, and then…” Kat began.

“The rest is history.” Tommy finished.

Kat sighed. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I know.” Tommy said. “Look, I’m sorry if I sounded like I was going on like a robot-”

“Believe me, you weren’t.” Kat replied. “Although I admit, I was kind of lost for a few moments, but for the most part; I understood what you said. And at least it all makes sense now as to what happened and how and why you created this team. Although there’s still one thing I’m wondering though.”

“What’s that?”

“Well…I know that we did in our own way sort of break things off, but…why didn’t you call?”

Tommy sighed as he looked from Kat back to his hands again as if trying to find the answer to a question that he had been asking himself for as long as he could remember, then after a few seconds he then raised his head and looked back at her beautiful blue eyes.

“I don’t know.” He replied softly. “I know that’s pretty much the lamest excuse on the planet, but…I honestly don’t know.”

Kat wanted to say more but since she noticed that Tommy looked as if he was going to say something but didn’t know how she held her tongue.

“Kat, I’m not going to lie to you, after you left, I was…” he then took a deep breath before he continued. “I was in a funk for a while. And it wasn’t really so much about giving up the power, but the fact that, once again, someone I really cared about was leaving.”

Kat didn’t say anything, but she continued to listen intently.

“I know it sounds pretty silly me waxing nostalgia about it now, but…those months that we went out…those were probably some of the best times that I ever had, more so than I ever thought I could have, not even when I was with Kim did I ever feel like that, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.” Tommy said as he looked at Kat eye-to-eye. “And it wasn’t just because you were there for me when I needed a friend the most, but also because…you understood me. With you I never had to worry about putting on this façade of invincibility and be ‘The White Knight’. With you I could just be…me, tarnished armor and all, and that would be okay.”

“I just felt that, since you were in London, which was pretty much on the other side the world, and I was still here in the U.S., I knew that we both had our own separate lives to lead now, and…I just didn’t want to unintentionally intrude on your life if I called. Well, there was that time on the day of ‘The Countdown’ that I got a hold of you and told you what was happening, but…” Tommy then took another breather for a moment before continuing.

“The truth is Kat, we were pretty much more than a couple of miles apart from each other, and I felt that if I called you, I just didn’t know what would come out of it, if anything. I know that sounds pretty stupid, but…”

Kat then reached for his hand and placed her right hand on top of it.

“Tommy, there has never been a moment in my life where you have ever intruded.” She said softly. “Why would you think that?”

Tommy sighed as he looked at Kat’s angelic face. “I just felt you were pursuing your dream and as such I felt, what right did I have to step into your life if you were happy over there, doing what you wanted to do, making a life for yourself, maybe…meeting someone over there…but the thing was, as much as I had missed you the first few years, and as much as I wanted to call you (regardless if you had met someone else or not), I knew that I had to go on with my life, so I just buried myself up to my eyeballs in work and…just tried to keep busy.”

Tommy almost couldn’t finish his sentence, and as much as he tried to hold it in, he couldn’t stop one tear from falling down his face. He wiped the tear off with his right hand and when he looked back at Kat her eyes looked very glassed over, like she was on the verge of shedding tears herself but trying to hold it in.

“Kat, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Kat said as she tried to smile, albeit it was a sad one. “It’s just that…maybe it might have been also partly my fault.”

“Kat, no. Don’t think that.” Tommy said as he gently wiped some of Kat’s tears, which were already starting to run down her face. “It was never your fault. I guess…I guess life happened in-between.”

“I guess so.” Kat said, trying not to break down but still looking glassed over.

For a moment the two just sat there looking at each other, trying to find some way to say what they wanted to say but not really sure how to say it. Finally Tommy decided to throw caution to the wind and take the plunge.

“Kat, there’s something I want to tell you. Well, it’s something that I should have told you a while ago.”

“What?”

Jeez Laweez, why do I get the feeling I’ll be 50 and I’ll still be nervous as hell when it comes to this? Tommy thought.

“Kat, before I knew you had moved here I had pretty much settled into my new niche here as a science teacher/Ranger called out of retirement (again)/mentor and while I was at least doing what I liked to do, which is teach and mentor, I always felt that there was something missing in my life. I knew what it was but I tried to put it in the back of my mind because I didn’t want to drive myself crazy dwelling on something that I might have let pass me by once, maybe for good.”

“But then fast forward a couple of months later, on a late November afternoon, just as I was on my way to Wal-Mart to get something for Hayley’s Thanksgiving party, I unexpectedly bumped into someone who isn’t just a special person, but she’s someone who, even after all these years, still holds a special place in my heart.”

Kat felt her eyes begin to glass over again, and when Tommy placed his other hand on top of hers she didn’t know what kept from just shedding all her tears that were threatening to break out.

“And even though it’s been only a month, the time that we’ve spent getting the chance to know each other again, and just hang out…it only proves just how special you are to me and…how much you still mean to me.”

“Tommy, what are you saying?” Kat asked, her eyes on the verge of tearing over.

“Kat,” Tommy said as he then raised his hand from Kat’s hand and gently stroked the side of her face lovingly. “I love you.”

At that moment Kat couldn’t take it anymore, her tears just completely overflowed and she started to tremble as her face inched closer to Tommy’s. Tommy’s eyes were also beginning to water over as he inched his face closer to Kat’s and then, with his hand still caressing her face, he kissed her.

Though it was a gentle kiss, and though it was held in place, it pretty much released all the feelings the two had deep inside them from the moment they saw each other again to now. Plus it was more than enough to make Kat’s heart skip a dozen beats and take flight.

Once their lips broke off, they could see that the other’s face was flushed and tears were running down both their faces like crazy.

“I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time.” Kat said.

“Me too.” Tommy said.

They spent the next few seconds just caressing the other’s faces and just looking in each other’s eyes, all the while keeping their faces close.

“Y’ know, I know that Christmas Eve is tomorrow, but I still wanted to try and get you something.” Tommy said. “But then I realized that there’s really only one thing that could surpass anything I could have bought.” And with that he then stood up with Kat doing the same, and then he took Kat’s right hand and placed it right on his heart.

“And that’s this.”

Kat, still shedding tears of happiness, just smiled at Tommy and gently took her left hand and gently caressed his face.

“Tommy, as far as I’m concerned, that’s one gift I can always cherish.”

And so the two then inched their faces closer and kissed once more, their joy and happiness now complete.