"Where's my room?" Austin asked as he ran in the front door as Tommy followed him with a couple of bags of groceries. Jessie was taking everything in slowly and Tommy didn't know what to think of it. He was going to have to ask Kim how to deal with Jessie, but he was sure that they would get along well enough given some time.
"Upstairs," Tommy said as the boy scrambled up the stairs and Jessie followed him as Tommy quickly emptied out the bags of groceries before running up the stairs. He could tell that Hayley had been by as their suitcases were sitting in their respective rooms, although neither of them were in there. "Jessie! Austin!"
"In here!" Jessie yelled from his room as Tommy opened the door and saw the both of them jumping on his bed and he just smiled.
"Come on, let's eat supper, then both of you need to get to bed," Tommy said as they looked over at him.
"When can we call Mama?" Austin asked as he grabbed Tommy's hand and then all started walking back downstairs.
"After supper," Tommy said as Austin nodded.
"What about a bath?" Jessie asked as Tommy looked over at her and realized that Kim probably still helped the both of them take baths and there was really no choice about Austin, he could only imagine what he would do alone and now that Jessie had the cast, she needed help as well.
"After you call your mom," Tommy said as Jessie nodded and she ran ahead and pulled herself up into his big chair and began rocking back and forth. "Go play with Jessie, okay?"
"Okay, Tommy," Austin said as he ran after Jessie and Tommy walked into the kitchen and began looking around for the macaroni and cheese. From what he had gathered, the both of them loved macaroni and cheese and corndogs, which was definitely simple enough and it was something that he could eat as well. In about twenty minutes the food was done and he could hear the two of them playing in the living room, so he did not have to worry.
"Supper's ready," Tommy announced as the both of them sprinted past him. He was sure that they were starving, especially after the time change, it couldn't be fun for the two of them.
"Tommy, can you cut up my corn dog?" Austin asked as he sat on his knees and picked up the fork that was well oversized for his little hands.
"Yeah, Jessie, can you handle yours?" Tommy asked as he began cutting Austin's food into more manageable bites. Jessie had already put some ketchup on her plate and then squirted some on Austin's plate as well. She had been watching after her brother since he was born and although her father had hit her mother more than once, she had only been hit one time, when she was defending her brother.
"Tomorrow's Saturday, right?" Austin asked as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Can we go to the park?"
"We'll see," Tommy said as Austin nodded and started happily eating at his food. Jessie quietly ate her own as Tommy watched the both of them. He was not anywhere near hungry yet, but he had his food sitting in front of him any way. He would eat it after he got them to bed and had had a long talk with Kim.
"Mama always takes us to the park on Saturday," Austin mentioned as Tommy looked over at the little boy. He could understand why Kim had said that he was a little bit like her. He was going to keep on about something until he got his way, not that going to the park was a bad thing. It was just a little bit out of his normal routine.
"We'll see," Tommy said again as Austin sighed and Jessie looked over at Tommy.
"He won't stop until you say we'll go," Jessie said as Tommy smiled over at her and barely nodded.
"Your mom was the same way. She begged me to do things and she didn't stop until I agreed," Tommy said as Jessie looked over at him. She knew that Tommy was one of her mom's friends, but it seemed like they were something more, at one time.
"So why aren't you our daddy?" Austin asked as Jessie and Tommy both looked over at him in shock. "You love Mama, right?"
"Yeah," Tommy said as he decided it best to stick with honesty. He knew from experience that kids could tell when you were lying much better than adults. "But we're only friends."
"I don't think
so," Austin said as he looked up at Tommy and just shook his head. "You still love Mama."
"I do, but it's not the same,"
Tommy said as Austin just shook his head.
"Austin, Mama said that Tommy was a friend, so of course he loves her. Friends love each other," Jessie said, trying to keep her brother from picking at Tommy all night. The poor man knew nothing of kids and now he suddenly had a six year old and a three year old living with him.
"Okay, Jessie," Austin said as he looked between Tommy and Jessie. They both could tell that he would come back to this later and Tommy had a feeling it would probably be when Kim would be there.
"Where am I going to go to school?" Jessie asked as Tommy looked over at her.
"Reefside elementary, it's on my way to work, so I'll drop you off and Hayley will pick you up in the afternoon's," Tommy said as Jessie nodded. He could tell that that had been a concern of hers, especially considering how much her life had been turned upside down in the last week.
"Will people like me there?" Jessie asked as Tommy's eyes filled with concern as the little girl stared at her plate. He had no clue why she would think that the kids wouldn't like her there.
"I'm sure they will," Tommy said as Jessie looked up at him and he felt like his heart was being pulled out of his chest. He had never seen a kid look so desperate to be accepted. He could not help himself as he stood and walked over to her and gave her a hug. She at first pulled away from him, but after a moment she threw her arms around him and sniffled as she cried. "Hey, it's going to be fine."
"I don't like meeting new people," Jessie said as Tommy squatted down and looked her in the eyes.
"I'm new and you're not doing that bad," Tommy said as Jessie nodded but she still looked scared to death. "Maybe when we go to the park tomorrow we'll meet some of the kids in your class."
"Maybe," Jessie said with a small smile as Tommy gave her another squeeze.
"Adda girl, go ahead and finish up your food and then we'll call your mom," Tommy said as he looked back over at Austin, who had somehow managed to get some of the macaroni in his hair.
"I'm done!" Austin sang out as Tommy looked over at his clean plate and then walked over and picked the macaroni out of his hair. "Can I call Mama now?"
"Yeah, we'll go call her while Jessie finishes up," Tommy said as Austin jumped down from his chair and started to run out of the room, but Tommy caught him and hoisted him up over his shoulder.
"Mama!" Austin yelled as he heard someone pick up on the other end.
"Hey sweetie, how did you like the plane?" Kim asked as she sat down in the kitchen and began filing through the papers that her lawyer had given her today. She had already filled out more than half of them, but she did not have to strength to fill out anymore.
"It was great! The plane was like swoosh and the lady gave me some wings and Tommy he's really nice, he's taking us to the park tomorrow!" Austin exclaimed as Kim shook her head. Poor Tommy had gotten more than he bargained for with Austin. "When are you coming out here?"
"It's going to be a couple of weeks, but I promise I'll be out there as soon as I can," Kim said as Austin finally stopped bouncing on the bed and sat down next to Tommy as he got quiet. "It's the soonest I can come baby."
"But you are going to come, right?" Austin asked as Kim let out a sigh. Austin didn't really know how Jeremy was and he didn't understand why they had to leave. Kim just couldn't risk him growing up in that and knowing that there was a good chance he would act the same way.
"Yes, I'm going to come baby, I promise," Kim said as Austin looked up at Tommy.
"And we'll be a family?" Austin asked as Kim gave the phone a confused look. She wondered why he was talking about family so soon. "You, me, Jessie, and Tommy?"
"Tommy is just a friend, Austin," Kim said gently as Austin looked up at him and just shook his head that that was not true.
"No, he's not. He's like the daddy," Austin said as Tommy froze and Kim closed her eyes. She did not want to break her son's dream, but Tommy was in a relationship and this was just a favor to her, nothing more. After the divorce, Tommy would not be anything more than a friend.
"Austin, he's just a friend," Kim said as Austin again shook his head no. "Is Tommy there?"
"Yeah, he's right here," Austin said as he handed Tommy the phone and jumped off the bed and ran towards the bathroom, with Tommy hot on his heels.
"I'm so sorry, Tommy. He's having a hard time figuring out that Jeremy isn't going to be around anymore. Jessie taking it a little bit better, but not much," Kim said as Tommy nodded.
"I'm going to let you talk to her, once I have chased the little hellion down," Tommy said as Kim laughed. "Then we have to talk later on tonight. I think there are some things that you left out about your kids."
"Okay," Kim said as Tommy handed off the phone to Jessie and then ran after Austin, who was now jumping up and down on the couch. "Hey, baby."
"Hey Mama," Jessie said as Kim heard her let out a sigh.
"How was the flight?" Kim asked, as she was sure that she would not get the same description from her as she got from Austin a few minutes earlier. Jessie was generally more calm about things that Austin found absolutely fascinating.
"It was all right. The flight lady was nice and Tommy is nice too. He's takings us to the park tomorrow and he's going to help me meet some of the kids that are my age," Jessie said as Kim nodded. Jessie did not like meeting new people, although once she got to know them, she was a completely different kid. "Mama, why isn't he our daddy?"
"Because your mama was stupid," Kim said as Jessie nodded her head that she agreed as well. "You'll have a good daddy one day, I promise."
"Okay," Jessie said as Kim hoped that she could keep that promise to them. "Well, I'm gonna go, Tommy's going to give us a bath and then we're going to bed."
"Okay sweetie, good night," Kim said as she heard the phone click on the other side and she let out a sigh. The fact that both of her children were already taking to Tommy well was good, but she just had this feeling that this was going to spell utter disaster for the two of them only being friends. Her kids were not going to want to leave him, especially when he was the only man that they had ever known to give them a stable life.
