"So? How're we doing?" Vicky leaned over Timmy as he typed away on her laptop and reviewed several documents.
"Gimme a sec..." he had been working on this for a few hours now and really wanted to get done what he needed to get done, but his girlfriend's needs came before his friend's needs. "I don't even know why you have me do this. I'm not a computer expert. You're probably better suited to this than me..."
Vicky hummed in his ear and put her arms on his shoulders. "Maybe... but I do so love to watch you work..."
Timmy shuddered slightly as he felt her warm breath on his neck. "Keep that up and it might be hard for me to concentrate on this..."
"Good point." Vicky stood up and began to move away, but was pulled back by Timmy.
"I didn't say stop."
"You suggested I was distracting you..." Vicky spoke with a tone of mock-hurt.
"I didn't say I didn't like being distracted..." he grinned at her.
"Y'know, maybe Tootie was right about this whole 'fraternization' thing... I've seen the way you stare at me when I walk around here. Undressing me with your eyes... tsk, tsk Mr. Turner."
"My father is 'Mr. Turner', you can call me Timmy."
"But Twerp suits you so much better..." she purred into his ear, eliciting another shudder.
"That again?" Timmy continued typing away, despite Vicky's attempts to tear him away from what he was working on. "Can't we just go with Timmy and stick with it?"
"I'm sure you have a nickname for me that you use when I'm not around..." she was rubbing his shoulders now.
"Yeah, you're right." he finished what he was doing and powered down the computer, then spun the chair around to face her. "My girlfriend."
"Not very imaginative..." she positioned herself in his lap so she was straddling him. "A lack of imagination like that really ought to be punished..." she lowered herself closer to him so her lips were just barely brushing against his. "Don't ya think?"
"Hold that thought." Timmy leaned back and put his index finger on her lips as he took out his cellphone and began scrolling though his list of contacts.
Vicky responded by headbutting him very lightly and keeping her forehead resting against his. "Make it quick."
"I'll do my best. Aren't you worried about Jenna or someone else coming in here?"
"Well, seeing as how I locked the door earlier and told her that I was not to be disturbed... I think we should be good for a while..."
"You just think of everything, don't you?"
"Except for random phone calls my boyfriend has to suddenly make, evidently."
"I promise I'll be quick." Timmy ghosted his left hand across her hip, causing her to squeak in surprise.
"Stop tickling me! You don't get to mess with me like this, get me all excited, then make me wait!"
"Think of it as... payback. For all the times you messed with me as a kid." he smiled at her maliciously, then pressed the call button on his phone.
"Who are you calling anyway?"
"Need to talk to AJ. Me and Chester haven't heard from him in months and apparently he stopped keeping in touch with Tootie too. I just wanna make sure he's alright, I said I would for Tootie."
"You sure do a lot for her..."
"Jealous?"
"Not in the slightest. You still do more for me. Besides, Tootie needs all the help she can get with Baldy being away at College."
"That's why I'm calling him, he needs to make more time for her and Sammy. Nevermind making sure they're taken care of, at least for a little while."
Vicky watched as Timmy waited for his friend to pick up. She was suddenly reminded of something she said to Tootie at the mall a few years back.
"Vicky... he's a really great guy!"
"You say that now, but when he breaks your heart..."
The words echoed in her head. "Breaks your heart..." "Oh no..." when Vicky had a bad feeling in her stomach, it was usually a bad sign.
"Is this AJ?"
She was shaken from her thoughts by Timmy's voice.
"Hey man, it's Timmy, how've you been? We haven't heard from you in a while..."
"Oh... it's been... good. School has been keeping me busy..."
"Too busy for your friends?"
"Well, I-"
"What about Tootie? And Sammy? Why haven't you called them?"
"I've... been busy... that's all..."
"Well... we were worried about you, thought something might've happened..." Timmy was cut off by Vicky as she kissed him, but AJ didn't seem to notice.
"I'm fine, really. Stop worrying so much."
For someone who claimed everything was fine, his friend sure was being evasive... "Okay... well, could you call Tootie and tell her that everything's fine? She hasn't heard from you in weeks!"
"Um... about that..."
"Yeah?" Vicky was becoming increasingly amorous and Timmy's resolve was beginning to crumble.
"I... I'm not coming back."
"Huh?" Timmy held his arm out in a gesture for Vicky to stop. "What now?"
"I've... met someone else... over here. I wanna start fresh."
"What-" Timmy swallowed back the bitter taste forming in his mouth. "What about Tootie?"
"It's... it's over. I'm staying in New England."
He wasn't sure of... anything at the moment. How this happened, how genuine AJ was, if at all... "How- how can you do this to her?! To your daughter?!"
"Pfft! Look at that little girl! She may be Tootie's, but she ain't mine!"
"But she is yours! What do you think, Tootie and I were screwing around? So she doesn't look like you all that much, why should that matter? She's yours and Tootie's your girlfriend! How can you- I never thought you'd do something like this... you're supposed to be the smart one in our group..."
"That's why I'm staying here. I have a future here. I-"
"Unless you take back what you've said to me today... unless this is all some stupid April Fool's day joke... I'll make sure you don't have a future, you get me?" a clear sign that his girlfriend was rubbing off on him, he never went around threatening people, especially not his friends...
"Is that a threat? Timmy, I wanted this conversation to go amicably, but if-"
"It's a promise. You come back and be the father and boyfriend that you're obligated to be, or else. You don't get to knock up my best friend, tell her how much she means to you, spend years together with no problems... And then just check out on her! Where the hell's your honor?!"
He heard AJ sigh loudly from the other end. "You know what Timmy? We're done. Don't call me again, not ever."
"AJ?! AJ! Don't you dare-"
CLICK
"Son of a..." Timmy ended the call and slammed his phone down on Vicky's desk, then slumped back in the chair.
"That... didn't sound good..." Vicky's face held a worried expression.
"No..." the brunet beneath her sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It didn't."
"What's up?" Vicky moved closer to lean her forehead against his again.
"That was AJ. He... he isn't coming back to Dimmsdale, says he found someone over there, wants to start over. He isn't coming back for Tootie... Just... He's just gonna wash his hands of... of his life over here! Not just Tootie, everyone. Me, Chester... Sammy... Who- What kind of person does that?"
"What?!" Vicky's beautiful pink eyes blazed with angry fire.
"He doesn't think Sammy is his... he's staying over there, with some new girl he just met... Dammit! How... how am I supposed to tell her, Vicky? I wanted to sort things out, to make things right! How am I supposed to tell her?!" he hadn't asked for this, it wasn't supposed to go like this... He could feel that annoying prickly feeling at the corners of his eyes... She'd never let him hear the end of him crying at work... Yet he looked up at her to find a softer look than anger.
Now wasn't the time for anger, or revenge, or hatred. And it certainly wasn't the time for her to tease him for being on the verge of tears. "It isn't your fault Timmy. You just wanted to help..." she pulled him close and into a hug. "We both have to be strong, but you especially do. Tootie's going to look to you for support..."
"I know..." Timmy wrapped his arms around her. "You always give the best hugs..."
Vicky chuckled. "I'm just full of surprises... for an evil babysitter..."
"It's getting harder and harder for you to keep up that image... but seriously, what are we gonna tell Tootie?"
"You mean what are you gonna tell Tootie. I'm going to go murder Baldy."
"No, you're not."
"Try and stop me." Vicky stood up but was quickly pulled back down onto Timmy's lap, landing so her back was to him. "Grr... when did you become so strong?"
"I only said I'd make his life miserable as an empty threat to scare him into coming back, I'm not gonna let you throw your life away and go to jail for murdering him. He isn't worth it."
"But I can scare him into coming back..."
"You really think that'll work? Scaring him into being a good father and boyfriend? He won't be the person they need, he'll just be the person we forced into taking care of them..." Timmy rested his chin on her shoulder. "You're right, Tootie needs someone right now, she needs me; but I need you. So let AJ do what he wants for now, Karma will see to it that he gets what's coming to him."
Vicky relaxed in his arms and quietly sighed. "I told her this would happen... but I never meant..."
"I know."
"Well... we'd better go tell her... I can't believe we have to do this. He's too much of a coward to do it himself... Your choice of friends is poor..."
"I can guarantee Chester wouldn't do something like this. He and Veronica have been together since her birthday party that Trixie took me to."
"And AJ and my sister have been together for the same amount of time. Maybe Blondie's just not ambitious enough to try it." Vicky shrugged.
"Or maybe he's not a douche."
"Perhaps." Vicky wriggled out of Timmy's grasp and stood up, then made for the doorway. She left the office and stopped at Jenna's desk. "I need you to hold down the fort for me, something important has come up, I probably won't be back today. If you're able to work, you'll be paid time and a half."
The blonde girl looked up from her computer(which was playing some video of a cat yelling at something). "No problem boss, good luck with... whatever it is you need to do."
"Thanks. Timmy? C'mon, we gotta go!"
"Coming!" Timmy exited the office and locked the door behind him, then followed Vicky out to her car. "You want me to call Tootie first? Make sure she's at the house?"
"Yeah." Long as her boyfriend was around... Getting revenge on Baldy would be near to impossible. And murder was obviously out of the question. Not because she couldn't get away with it, just that it was too much paperwork and phone calls to have to deal with. She'd have to find a... relatively non-violent solution to the problem... and wait until Timmy was asleep.
Timmy took out his phone and called Tootie's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Tootie..." there was no way she wouldn't pick up on how depressed he sounded, not if he was aware of it himself.
"Timmy? Is everything okay? You sound... I dunno, down..."
"It's been a shitty day. You and Sammy at home?"
"I'm on my way back, just picked Sammy up from kindergarten, why?"
"Me and Vicky are headed over there now. Just stay there, okay? We... we have to talk about some things..."
"Alright... I'll see you when you get here..."
Timmy pocketed his phone. "There's no version of this where things are gonna go smoothly..."
"No, I don't think so. All we can do is tell her what the deal is and be there for her..."
"Do you think... I'd make a good dad for Sammy?"
"Where's this coming from?" Vicky looked at Timmy quizzically.
"A few days ago, Tootie said that with AJ being gone so often, Sammy might start to see me as her dad... and with what just happened... Do you think I would be able to fill that role?"
"I don't see why not... you're great with her and she seems fond of you, but... is that something you think you're ready for?"
"No, not really. It's just something we might have to do. With AJ gone, Tootie's gonna need to find a way to support herself, she might need to leave Sammy with us more often."
"Hm. Good point, I hadn't thought of that... We'll see, I could always support them, it's not like I'm scrounging to get by..."
"I doubt Tootie would want that. She'll want to show that she can support herself."
"Yeah..." Vicky chuckled. "I taught her that she needs to be able to stand on her own two feet at times."
They arrived at Vicky's house and got out, first Vicky, then Timmy after a few hesitant seconds. "You ready to do this?"
"No... Are you?"
"Not really." Vicky shrugged as she opened the door and went inside, followed by Timmy. Both found Tootie sitting on the couch with Sammy, watching TV.
"Hey Toots, Little Lady." Timmy waved at them.
"You guys made it, is everything-" Tootie began to stand up, only to be cut off by...
"Auntie Vicky!" Sammy sprang from the couch and ran over to Vicky, wrapping her arms around Vicky's legs.
"Hey there Twerpette!" Vicky crouched down and picked up the little girl.
"Aw jeez... this isn't gonna become a regular thing, is it? I thought I was Twerpette?" Tootie pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.
"That was back when you had a crush on Timmy. You're just Tootie now. I had thought about calling her squirt, but that would be infringement."
"Infringement?"
"Long story." Vicky rolled her eyes.
"I'm not a Twerp..." Sammy pouted.
"You are at this height." Vicky hugged her niece close.
"Don't worry Sammy." Timmy ruffled her hair slightly. "Vicky giving you a name like that just means she loves you."
"Oh... Okay! I loves you too Auntie!" Sammy wrapped her arms around Vicky's neck and hugged her back.
"Tootie... mind coming into the kitchen with me?" Timmy placed his hand on Tootie's shoulder.
"Huh? Uh... yeah, sure. Vicky? Mind keeping an eye on Sammy?"
"No problem!" Vicky brought Sammy over to and placed her down on the now vacant couch as Timmy and Tootie went into the kitchen, then sat down next to her.
"So." Tootie followed Timmy into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "What's up? You sounded like something was bothering you when we talked over the phone."
"Ah... where to begin..." Timmy sat down opposite Tootie. "I had a talk with AJ..."
"This doesn't sound like it's going to pan out into good news..." Tootie said solemnly.
"...Yeah." Timmy sighed and rubbed at his forehead.
Tootie sighed in return and stood up, then went to the fridge and produced one of those odd drinks that Timmy had tried at Veronica's party. "Want one?"
"I'm trying to cut back. And neither of us are old enough to drink anyway." Timmy smiled slightly.
"Like that stopped us then... I doubt you've had anything to drink since that party anyway... You know what? I think I'll stick to soda, alcohol just makes me depressed before news like what I think is coming..." Tootie returned the alcoholic drink to the fridge and instead grabbed a can of soda, tossing one to Timmy before closing the door and sitting back down.
"She already has some idea... Well of course she does! AJ not calling or keeping in touch? Sure seems like he'd either be dead... or seeing someone else..."
"So. Is he dead? Or..."
Timmy took note of the hopeful tone in Tootie's voice. Did she hope that he was dead, rather than...? "You know he's not dead Tootie. I told you I talked to him..." Timmy opened his can of soda and sipped from it.
"But you felt the need to keep Sammy out of earshot..."
"I figured this'd be easier if we took it one step at a time... Look... AJ's not... he's not coming back."
"What do you mean?"
He thought it would be the hurt in her voice that would tear at his heart... But it wasn't. Because there was no hurt. He didn't know that AJ would leave Tootie, but it seemed that Tootie had had her suspicions for a little while now... He thought the relationship between his two best friends was built to last, he thought the love that they felt for each other was real. He thought... he didn't know what he thought. But now he realized that even with fairies in the world and all the good they could do, some things couldn't be changed or fixed. No matter how much he wished he could fix this, it was something that was outside his control.
"I talked to him today. He's met someone else over there, he plans to 'start fresh' with her. He's staying in New England and he asked that I never call him again. I guess he also expected me to be the one to tell you. He doesn't even believe Sammy is his..."
"How- how can he think that?! I wouldn't-!" her previously neutral tone and expression changed to frantic disbelief.
Timmy reached across the table and grabbed Tootie's hand. "I know you wouldn't, I know." he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb comfortingly and gestured with his eyes toward the living room, hoping that she understood.
Tootie nodded. "But- I- I..." tears began to well up in Tootie's eyes. As ready as she had thought she had been for this news(news that she had been mentally preparing herself for), here she now was, crying her eyes out like a little girl... Like she was ten again.
Timmy got out of his seat and put his arm around her. He had to be strong for Tootie. He had to. "It's gonna be alright... I'm not going anywhere and neither is Vicky. You still have us. You'll always have us. I promise." They were both losing something now, he was losing his friend... But Tootie... She was losing so much more... Her boyfriend, the person she said she loved, that supposedly loved her, the father of her child, and one of her best friends(or so she thought).
"Fuck it." Tootie shrugged out of Timmy's embrace and got out of her chair, returning to the fridge and opening the freezer this time. "Hope you've still got your ridiculous tolerance..."
Timmy watched as Tootie pulled a large bottle of some clear-looking liquid out of the freezer. "What's that?"
"Vodka, courtesy of my mom. I've heard it's good for taking the edge off." Tootie screwed the cap off and grabbed a couple of glasses.
"Tootie? I don't think-"
"And I don't give a fuck. I need a drink." Tootie poured herself a glass of the clear liquid, then did the same for Timmy and handed it to him. "Don't make me drink by myself..."
Timmy sighed and took the glass. "Fine, just a bit."
In the living room...
"So uh... how's school going?" Vicky looked at Sammy.
"It's good! Francine hasn't been bothering me since you hurt Francis and everything's been going... well, good I guess!"
"Glad to hear it. And your friends? Rachel and...?"seemed Vicky still had a mental block for remembering kids' names.
"Atty, his older brother is Chester. Atty told me that you used to babysit him?"
"Yeah... Feels like it was a long time ago. Your auntie was a different person back then..." Vicky slumped back into the couch. Timmy assured her that he had forgiven her long ago... And that his friends had done the same, but that didn't keep the occasional pang of guilt from nagging at her. "Timmy told you that I used to babysit him and his friends, right?"
"Yeah, he told me that you could be mean sometimes, but that you had a good heart... What does that mean?" Sammy looked up at Vicky in confusion.
Vicky giggled at that. "It means that your auntie's boyfriend is way too nice and forgiving..." the older of the two red-heads looked in the direction of the kitchen. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing. I was... pretty mean when I was a teenager. I guess I never realized how awful I was until I saw Francine's older brother bullying him. When I saw Francis hurting Timmy, I decided I had to help him, and-"
"Timmy told me you saved him back then... Did you?"
"Is that what he told you?" Vicky asked, clearly amused at how her boyfriend tended to put her up on a pedestal when he talked about her, like she was the greatest person in the world for doing something that anyone else would've... "Maybe I did. Bad as I was, I couldn't stand by and let someone hurt him, I was his babysitter, it was my job to keep him safe..."
"Is that why you saved Timmy? Because it was your job?"
Unlike most of the people she talked to(of whom there were very few), Sammy was not sly in her questions, there was no hidden meaning behind the little girl's questioning. She genuinely wanted to know if Vicky did what she did because of her job. "Back then? Yes. I realized that Timmy had it rough enough without me being... how I was to him. It wasn't until a few years later that I began to like him... I think he might've liked me before that though."
"And you two fell in love?"
Vicky chuckled and shook her head at her niece's innocence. "Eventually, yes. Your auntie's always been stubborn when it comes to that word... But this is more than you need to worry about at your age Sammy. How long have you known Rachel and Atty?" she really hoped her niece wouldn't pry about her dodging the subject, she still didn't like bringing up her past.
"Not too long. We all go to the same kindergarten class. I think Atty's the same age as me, but Rachel's a little younger than me. She said her sister and Atty's brother are in love or something."
"Really? Wonder if your friends are gonna follow in their siblings' footsteps..."
"Atty and Rachel? No... Those two are always fighting... I don't think so."
"Oh, if you only knew..." "I'm gonna go check up on your mom and Timmy, you stay here, okay?"
"'Kay!"
Vicky stood up and gave Sammy the TV remote, then ruffled her hair as she walked by and went into the kitchen. "Smells like a party in here." Vicky deadpanned upon seeing the bottle of vodka, now three-fourths empty. "Is that mom's?"
"That's what she told me." Timmy sat at the table and massaged his temples. "Tootie's out like a light."
"And how drunk are you?" Vicky asked in an amused tone. She knew Timmy could handle his alcohol better than most, but he had never had vodka before, not to her knowledge anyway.
"Not as drunk as you think." Timmy held up the glass he was using. "Started filling this with water every chance I got. Only had one glass of this stuff... Are you supposed to drink this with something? Because it tastes awful straight."
"You generally don't drink for the taste... You drink for the effect." Vicky took the bottle of vodka, capped it, then returned it to the freezer.
"I know, I know. I'm weird. How's Sammy?" Timmy took his and Tootie's glasses and put them in the sink.
"Blissfully unaware of how drunk her mom is. You sober enough to go keep her company while I try to figure out what to do with Tootie?" Vicky leaned down and lightly slapped Tootie on the cheek, to no avail.
"Told you. I'm not drunk." Timmy went into the living room while Vicky continued trying to wake up Tootie. "So what were you and you're auntie up to?"
"Just talking about you!" Sammy looked up and grinned cutely.
"Not surprised." Timmy chuckled as he sat down next to the little red-head. "How am I- Ugh..." he wanted to bring up what was on everyone's mind, but how was he seriously supposed to tell this little girl that her father had essentially washed his hands of her? Of her mother? "Dare I ask what about?" Maybe now wasn't the best time...
"Just how my auntie saved you a while back, and how you two love each other."
"Oh boy... Your auntie's telling you about love now?" Timmy raised his voice enough so that he was sure Vicky heard him.
"Sammy, remind your auntie to slap her boyfriend later... Also, tell that Twerp to get in here!" Vicky called from the kitchen.
"Be right back." Timmy stood back up from the couch and returned to the kitchen. "What's up?"
"Help me carry this lush into the living room. Can't get her to wake up right now, and she probably needs to sleep this off anyway..."
"Can't do it yourself?" Timmy raised an eyebrow at Vicky and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I can, but I've got you to do my heavy-lifting for me. Not to mention the fact that this is your fault, you could've stopped her."
"I could've-" Timmy put Tootie's arm around his shoulders and hooked his own arm under her legs, with the other to hold up the rest of her. "But I think she needed this, and she was gonna have it one way or the other. Better we're here for it so we can take care of her, rather than not."
"I might be a little jealous. When are you gonna carry me bridal-style?"
"Soon as you get over your fear of commitment." Timmy deadpanned as he carried Tootie into the living room. "That was a joke, by the way."
"Good thing too. Talking to your boss like that could have very severe consequences." she followed Timmy into the living room, and then walked past him to pick up Sammy.
"Is Mommy okay?" Sammy looked back and forth between Timmy, her mother, and Vicky.
"Don't worry, Twerpette. Your Mommy's just had a long day, and she's tired." "Hopefully she doesn't question the odd smell about her..." "Why don't we go up to your room and play with some of your toys?"
Sammy's eyes lit up at this as she looked at Vicky. "Yeah! C'mon, I got some new ones that I wanna show you!" the little girl twisted out of Vicky's arms and landed on her feet, then darted up the stairs before stopping and looking down. "C'mon Auntie!"
"I'll be up in a sec, just need to talk to Timmy real quick, 'kay?"
"Okay!" Sammy disappeared from the top of the stairs.
Vicky now turned her attention to her boyfriend and inebriated sister. "What do you wanna do about her?" Vicky pointed at her sister, who had woken up enough to use Timmy as a pillow, before resting her head on his lap and evidently falling back asleep.
"Dunno. We certainly can't leave her and Sammy alone... When are your parents coming back?"
"Not for a few days. Ever since your mom and dad found out about us, they've been hanging out with our mom and dad a lot more, and that includes going on vacation with them." Vicky shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, a clear sign that, while this was her family they were talking about, she was becoming annoyed. "I guess we'll have to keep an eye on things here for now... Which means you're gonna miss work-"
"It means we're both gonna miss work. I can't take care of Sammy and Tootie by myself..."
"I know... Just... just keep an eye on Tootie... And keep her away from the alcohol!" Vicky pointed at Timmy seriously. "I'll keep an eye on Sammy until she tires herself out, then I'll put her to bed, sound like a plan?"
"Barely." Timmy grinned cheekily at the red-head.
"I'm gonna hit you." Vicky shook her head as she went up the stairs to Sammy's room. She mentally prepared herself for... She wasn't even sure. Probably a few hours of playing with dollies, or the little play oven she was sure Tootie bought for her, so when she entered the little girl's room, she was surprised as a controller flew at her, nearly hitting her in the nose. "Whoa!" thanks to her quick reflexes, she caught said controller.
"You know how to play this, right Auntie?" Sammy smiled at Vicky as she held a controller of her own and pointed at the TV screen, which displayed the title screen of some game.
"Video games? Now, that... That I know how to do." "You might have to teach me a little bit..." Vicky smirked as she sat down next to her niece.
Downstairs...
Timmy shifted slightly and pulled Tootie's glasses off her face, placing them on the table next to the couch as his phone began to vibrate. "What now?" Knowing his luck, Chester wanted him to come hang out... or Vicky's daycare was on fire... or... or something. "Hello?"
"Hey Timmy, just wanted to make sure you and the boss were okay."
Oh good, it was Jenna. And from how it sounded, the daycare center wasn't on fire. "Hey Jenna. Yeah, me and the boss lady are okay. Just a little family emergency. You okay to hold down the fort?"
"Oh yeah! Everything's good here, no worries!" the girl replied happily. "So you two probably won't be back today?"
"Doesn't look that way... Vicky'll probably call you in a bit to let you know what's up, but from how it sounds, you might have to become temporary manager for a few days." He didn't know for sure if that's what would happen, but it seemed pretty likely.
"Oh, alright then! I should be able to, should it come to that. Good luck with whatever it is you two are dealing with."
"Thank you, bye Jenna."
"Bye Timmy!"
Timmy hung up his phone and tapped it against his forehead a few times. "That girl is way too upbeat..."
"Not your type or something?" Tootie mumbled out, apparently having been awoken by Timmy's conversation.
"Sorry I woke you, just work stuff... And no, she's not my type. I'm dating my boss, remember?" Timmy rubbed Tootie's shoulder. "How're you feeling?"
"Drunk." there was a slight slur to her words, but at least she was honest.
"Want me to bring you up to your room?"
"You?" Tootie giggled. "Like you could carry me... You're too scrawny..."
"How do you think you ended up on the couch?"
Tootie lifted her head a few inches off Timmy's lap and looked around. "We're in the living room? Well... I stand- Or lie, corrected." her head dropped back down onto Timmy's lap. "You make a good pillow..."
"Gonna have to put that on my resume. 'Good Pillow'. So you're good here?"
"I'm more than good..." Tootie wrapped an arm around Timmy's waist and closed her eyes.
"Great... Looks like the crush is still alive and well in her mind..." He counted himself lucky that Vicky was both extremely confident in herself to the point that she knew that Timmy knew he'd have to be an absolute moron to cheat on her, and that she trusted him(he hoped) enough to know he wouldn't even think about cheating on her in the first place. "...Do I even want to know what you're thinking about?"
"Oh, don't worry, it's naughty..." Tootie rubbed her head against Timmy's legs... Then sighed. "I know. You love Vicky. I'm not gonna screw that up for you... But can you please just lay here with me for a while?" she didn't lift her head up; didn't look at him... But he could feel the warm dampness on his thigh.
"Only if you stop crying. You know I don't like seeing you like this." Timmy lifted Tootie up so he could see her face, and found it to be streaked with tears, eyes puffy and red.
"No promises." she chuckled humorlessly as she stood up from the couch, allowing Timmy to lie down and stretch out before laying back down in front of him herself and burying her face in his chest.
"This is officially pushing it." Timmy mentally scolded himself as he put an arm around Tootie to keep her from falling off the couch. He was positive that Vicky would never let him live this down... Assuming she didn't attempt to kill the both of them for what they were doing... The brunet released a huff through his nose and closed his eyes. "Might as well get comfortable..."
Several video game/sleeping on the couch-filled hours later...
"Auntie... You cheat..." Sammy placed her controller on the floor and rubbed at her eyes tiredly.
"Nope. I don't cheat." Vicky remarked victoriously. "I just don't pull any punches. To go easy on somebody is to disrespect them, you gotta give it your all."
"Wish you would've let me win..." Sammy pouted and looked away.
"Ah well... Next time. I promise." Vicky shut off the game system and picked her niece up. "Now, I think it's time for munchkins to go to sleep, don't you?"
"But! I'm not tired!" Sammy shouted, then yawned. "Reallys!"
"I can't figure out why I'm not convinced... It's ten-thirty, munchkins like you need to go to bed."
"What about you? Aren't you going to go to sleep?"
"Not yet. Your Auntie has some grown-up business to take care of, I'll sleep once I finish with it." Vicky laid Sammy down on her bed and pulled the covers up over the smaller red-head. "Goodnight Sammy."
"Goodnight Auntie, thanks for playing with me." the little girl turned over on her side, but kept her gaze fixated on Vicky.
"Anytime Twerpette." Once more, Vicky ruffled Sammy's hair, then went out into the hallway and shut the door to her room. "Time to go check up on the two lovebirds..." Descending the stairs, Vicky shook her head at the sleeping(and embracing) forms of her sister and Timmy. "Were I a more insecure woman, I might have a problem with this." she watched as Timmy stirred slightly in his sleep. "Luckily for the both of you, I'm not." Vicky walked past them and grabbed her car keys off the end table, then began to walk by again, but stopped as she looked down at Timmy again. "You'll never forgive me for what I'm gonna do..." she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "If you really want me to stop, better stop me." she slowly pulled away, then stepped back toward the door. "Alright then."
Vicky took a last look at Timmy and Tootie, then went out the door and shut it behind her. "O-kay... Guess we're doing this..." the red-head got into her car and closed the door, then started it and pulled out of the driveway. While she wasn't entirely sure where MIT was exactly, that didn't really matter, when Vicky was determined, nothing was going to stand in her way. Not Timmy, not Tootie, not even-
"Where are we going?"
"Gotta go pay a visit to Timmy's-" Vicky looked to her right to find Sammy sitting in the passenger seat, looking up at her. "Wha- Why aren't you in bed?!"
"You didn't read me a bedtime story! I can't go to sleep without a bedtime story..." Sammy relaxed into the passenger seat and pouted. "I told you I wasn't tired..."
"Wha the- Okay, I'm driving you back to your house, then I'm going and taking care of my grown-up business, and you're staying in bed, got it?" Vicky pulled into a driveway and turned around to begin the short drive back to her house.
"But I wanna come and do grown-up stuff too! I'm a big girl!"
"Yes... you are, but this is something your Auntie needs to do alone. So I need you to go back to bed and-"
"What are you going to do?"
Vicky sighed as she stopped the car and butted her head against the steering wheel. "I need to teach Timmy's friend a lesson about taking care of... his girlfriend."
"Are you gonna hurt him?"
"I might have to."
"But... did he hurt someone else?"
"Not... physically... But sometimes, emotional hurt can be worse than- Oh, why am I telling you this anyway? You've got your own kid stuff to worry about..."
"Timmy says I'm smart though! And so does Mommy!"
"You are smart... But this is over your head. I might have to do a bad thing and hurt Timmy's friend, and I don't want you to see that..."
"But... isn't it wrong to hurt people?"
"It is... but sometimes you have to hurt people when they've hurt someone else, and Timmy's friend is hurting more than just his girlfriend..."
"Timmy and my mom say it's wrong to hurt people though, even if that person hurts someone. Two wrongs don't... Um..."
"Two wrongs don't make a right. I know..." While Sammy was her niece, and Vicky did want the little girl to follow in her footsteps to some degree, there were certain mannerisms that she knew the smaller red-head could do without. She didn't want Sammy to become a bully like she had been to Timmy and his friends. There were enough mean people in the world. And she didn't want her to end up a loner like her... Though how much of a loner Vicky was could be debatable. That was thanks to Timmy though... without him...
Vicky put the car in drive again and drove back to her house. "It's not worth it."
"Not worth it?" Sammy asked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You're right. Timmy's friend can't hurt his girlfriend anymore, so as much as I want to go and teach him a lesson, I won't. It isn't worth it." Vicky pulled her car back into her house's driveway. "C'mon, we both need to get to bed... I mean it this time."
"Okay..." Sammy got out of the car and shut the door, then was quickly scooped into Vicky's arms and carried back into the house.
Vicky shut the door and tiptoed over to the loveseat adjacent to the couch, then sat down with a huff. "What a day... We adults can get pretty silly, right Sammy?" she looked down only to find that Sammy had already drifted off to sleep. "Guess... I'm just a big softie..." Vicky relaxed and closed her eyes.