What Happened?
Tony and Tim wonder how they became suburban dads; May 2021
Tony and Tim loaded the shed-in-a-box kit into the bed of Tony's pickup truck on top of the pre-cut sheets of treated T1-11 siding. The store employee who had brought the large box out to the loading area helped them load and tie the box down. Tim thanked the man for the help and looked at his brother.
"Let's go build us a shed, Tony!" Tim climbed in the passenger side as Tony started the engine. "When we get to the house, I'll get out to open the gates and you can drive right into the backyard. Just watch out for Delilah's rose bushes. She'll banish me to the garage for a month if anything happens to them."
Tony decided to back into the McGee backyard after Tim opened the gates, figuring it would make things easier for unloading the shed kit and for getting out of the yard later. Tim guided him back, watching the rose bushes on either side with an eagle eye. Tim held up his hand, "Looks good, Tony. Stop there!"
Tony shut off the engine and waved to Tim's neighbor, Dan. He got out of the truck and Dan came over to the fence. "You guys need some help?"
"Sure, Dan. Thanks." Tim would take all the hands he could get to put the shed up in the yard. The three men took the box out of the truck bed and placed it on the ground near the concrete pad where Tim planned to erect the shed. Tony got his cordless drills, level and toolbox out of the back seats of the truck.
Tim was pouring over the directions, a look of concentration on his face. Tony went in the back door and grabbed three bottles of beer from the fridge. He handed one to Dan and one to Tim. "So what's the plan, McBuilder?"
"First we assemble the bottom frame, then the sides and finally the roof. We need the parts from the long, thin box for the bottom frame." Tim put down the papers with the directions and looked for the box in question.
Tony held up a box labelled 'Box 1' and grinned at Tim. The three assembled the bottom frame, and the side framing in about forty minutes. Having the attachments for the frame preset in the concrete helped them a bunch. Dan's wife called him home, and after he was out of earshot, Tony laughed. "He's a nice guy, but he is so stereotypically the suburban dad!"
Tim nodded, trying to read the directions for attaching the siding to the frame. After another hour of working, the two had the sides on the frame and the roof section assembled. The final step was to put the roof assembly atop the rest of the building and then attach it to the frame to hold it in place.
The brothers of the heart decided to take a quick lunch break. Tony sent a text to Ziva, 'go ahead & get lunch with D and kids. We are getting lunch here. Will text when done.' Ziva sent back a thumbs up message.
"I let Ziva know we're eating here. I told her I'd text again when we're done, so she knows when to start dinner." Tony reached for the leftover pizza that Tim had heated in the microwave.
They finished the pizza, and cleaned up the kitchen, putting their paper plates and the pizza box in the trash and rinsing the empty beer bottles before putting them in the recycling bin. "Let's go put a roof on a shed," Tim said as the two men went back in the yard.
The roof was a bit of a challenge, as the corners kept slipping out of place and Tony finally came up with the idea to move the roof from inside the shed and have one person fasten a corner as the other jiggled the roof assembly. After about an hour and one half, they finally got the roof attached. Tony used one of his drills to put on the door hardware, announcing, "We have a shed!" when he finished.
Tim high-fived his brother; they had assembled a shed without asking for Gibbs' help. Tony used his knife to cut the cardboard from the box into pieces that fit into the recycling bin as Tim put up the shelves inside the shed, and moved the lawn mower from the garage to the shed.
Tony then moved the truck to the driveway as Tim washed up. The two headed to the DiNozzo house in the truck. As Tony turned into his driveway, taking note of the two minivans, he started laughing.
Tim gave his brother a quizzical look. "What's so funny, Tony?"
"We are suburban dads, Tim. When did that happen?" Tony laid out the evidence, "I have a pickup truck with a crew cab, we both have minivans, our backyards have sheds, grills, and swing sets for the kids. How did we get so ordinary, Tim? What happened to us?"
Tim shrugged, "I don't know, but I'm not complaining. I have a wonderful wife and two great kids. We never would have thought this is where we'd be now sixteen years ago!"
"Yeah, so true. I am married to my best friend and soulmate with four awesome kids and another on the way. I wouldn't change a thing, Tim. Not one thing…"