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Claire McCallister checked her watch every few minutes whilst tapping her shoe impatiently on the ground. It was almost twelve and Theodore was nowhere to be seen. This was one of the many things that Claire detested when it came to meetings with others. It was better to be prompt than late and she had a client that she had an appointment with at twelve thirty. A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she folded her arms across her chest and began to pace back and forth. Unbelievable she thought but it wasn't long before she noticed Theodore jogging over to her.

"Whew," he breathed out and supported his weight on the wall with one hand. "Sorry I'm late. I just needed to figure out the torque of my robot's arm."

You have always been late to anything Claire wanted to remind him but why turn this meeting into a rehash of their past? It was the present that they needed to focus on and Claire wanted to accomplish as much as she could in this one meeting in a matter of minutes. "I assume that's radius times force times the sine of theta?" Claire asked as her lips tipped into a slight smile.

Theodore's eyes brightened when she said that. "You remembered?" he asked her.

Claire casually shrugged her shoulders. "I have learned a few things after living with a man for eight years and his construction for robots." She glanced at her watch once again before nodding her head. "Right, shall we have that coffee then? I have to head back to work soon."

With those words, Theodore gave his ex-wife a nod of his head before proceeding to follow her. He felt the palms of his hands beginning to sweat after being in such close proximity with her. Nervousness? Past memories? He didn't know how to explain these tumultuous emotions but he was not surprised. After not seeing someone for eight years, things were bound to be a little unwieldy.

School could not have been more of a hassle for Tobey McCallister. To him, it was bad enough that he had to spend six full hours with a group of students whom he considered were not in the intelligence status that he was, with the exception of some. He couldn't take another minute of the teacher's voice droning as she wrote on the chalkboard about today's lesson. He took a quick glance at the clock and noticed that there was only ten more minutes left before lunchtime and his one wish was to just skip it and go looking for his father. He knew that it might be a feeble attempt to do so. He had just given his mother the piece of paper that WordGirl gave him just last night and he didn't know what his mother had with it.

Speaking of which, Tobey couldn't help but feel some disappointment towards his mother. He didn't know why he was feeling that sort of emotion. He shouldn't feel disappointment towards someone who had done her best to raise him all these years, but he just couldn't comprehend why she had never said anything about his father to him. Instead, he had only believed that his father had not existed. Just that thought was enough to cause him to clench the pencil tightly within his grip and allow the lead tip to break upon the paper that he was writing on.

That small snap from the pencil caused Becky Botsford to snap out of her deep thoughts. In actuality, if she didn't have super hearing she would have still been in her dazed state. Slowly, she glanced down at her desk and noticed that she had written nothing on the blank sheet of paper of her notebook. Oh no Becky thought as she leaned forward and hide her eyes behind the palms of her hands. Why out of all the days, or why ever, did she lose her focus? There was only one reason for this and Becky knew! It was that book about Lexicon that she had stayed up all night reading, and there was more that she felt the need to discover. Just last night, she had read about the composition of the planet but the people that inhabited it, she had more to read on that.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiing!

"Okay class!" Ms. Davis announced before her students got up to leave for lunch. "After lunch we have our solar system presentations. I look forward to see what you have found."

Tobey halted in his tracks the moment that Ms. Davis said that. How could he have forgotten about that assignment?! His mind had been so warped up in yesterday's events that he hadn't given his homework any other thought!

No, no! This can be settled easily the boy genius thought as he took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He had his robots to take care of that issue and he was going to do that during recess.

Theodore tapped his finger against the warm cup of coffee as he awaited for Claire...or even himself to start the conversation. Ever since they had sat down and their drinks had arrived, there was nothing but silence that had taken over their conversation, and the trouble was that none of the two adults knew how to even begin. Theodore had a lot of time on his hands for the time being, but he was aware that Claire didn't have that luxury in her hands. She had to get back to work in a matter of minutes and he had already caused a slight delay in their meeting.

"I will make this blunt as possible," Claire suddenly spoke up, much to Theodore's relief. "I understand that the reason why you have come is to spend time with Tobey. I am a little hesitant but I have been flexible with my decision."

Why the hesitation? Theodore wanted to ask. Tobey was his son and Theodore was his father after all. Though he tried to reason with himself as much as he could when he heard Claire's words. He had to understand her reasoning behind that. After not being in his son's life for eight years, of course his ex-wife was going to be hesitant about it. How would Theodore act with Tobey? What would they talk about? Would they respect one another? When Claire mentioned that she would be flexible with her decision, it was like a weight had been lifted off the man's shoulders.

"And what decision was that?" Theodore asked her.

"At first, I wanted to refuse your offer. Why would I let someone be with my son when he doesn't know who he is?" Claire said and such words were enough to cause Theodore's stomach to flip, though he tried to keep those emotions at bay. Claire was the type of woman who never embellished her words but spoke them as she thought. It was rather admirable in a way, but at this moment, there was nothing great about it.

"A bit harsh I must say," Theodore said.

"I am true to my words," Claire spoke up and before Theodore had another chance to speak, she jumped right in and said, "but Tobey does need a father figure in his life and I am more than able to let you see him."

Oh thank heavens Theodore thought to himself as he clutched the cup of coffee in his hands and let the warmth seep into his skin.

"But the question remains what should we do when you have to travel?" Claire looked at him.

"I can take him with me during the summer," Theodore suggested.

"Really Theodore?" Claire asked him. "I don't know how often you travel nor what your work entails but I don't believe that is healthy for Tobey. He needs stability. That's why he and I came to Fair City in the first place."

Theodore let a puff of air escape from his lips. "You're speaking like he's a problematic child."

You don't know the half of it Claire wanted to say though even she didn't want to believe that Tobey was a problematic child. He just had...different ways of expressing himself and that involved robots. Though if anyone else was to call her son a problematic child, they would have to deal with her first. "No, of course not," Claire responded, "he is just..."

How else was she to describe her son without making it sound like he was a problem? No he was not a problem and she didn't want to believe it!

"He is just vulnerable," she said with a sniff as she looked towards her ex-husband. Tobey may not show his vulnerability, but it was there and a mother could always tell by that. "I do not want to see him hurt."

"Claire," Theodore said as he leaned forward and looked at her, "he is my son. I would never do anything to hurt him. I just want to get to know him better. Be a part of his life that I have missed from the last eight years. I know what I had done was wrong. I pushed you and him away to pursue to dream."

Not to mention you were rather selfish along the way Claire thought.

"But doing so, I missed out on everything as he was growing up and I want to be there more for him now than ever. Back then, I just didn't realize what was more important," Theodore finished before he glanced over at the clock that was on the wall. "I suppose you have to head back to work soon. I will not take much of your time Claire, but please, I hope we can both reach an agreement for the better of Tobey."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an amount of cash before laying it on the table.

"You know where to find me dear," he said with a smile, "coffee is on me."

Generosity.

One of the many characteristics that Theodore had, but not eight years ago.