The alarm buzzes and Tim wearily opens his eyes to find the off switch for the alarm. Tim puts his feet on the ground, sitting up on his bed, stretching his arms and barely stifles a yawn.
"Better get ready for work…" Tim thinks to himself as he flexes his jaw and walks into the closet to get out the suit he's going to wear today. He picks out a black suit with a red tie and matching pants, bringing them with him into the bathroom.
Tim finds that the Shower Companion is back in it's usual spot, with '60's Millennium Rock' inside it. Tim grins to himself, pressing play and starting up the water. The first song to play is "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks, followed with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" by Manfred Mann before Tim decides he's showered enough, getting out of the shower and turning off the Shower Companion. Tim cleans his hair, brushes his teeth and then puts his suit on. After he finished brushing his hair to perfection, Tim strolled out of the bathroom to find Jubilee up and about, waiting for Tim to exit the bathroom.
"Morning, pretty lady!" Tim said as he gently kissed Jubilee on the cheek.
"Morning, baby! You sure seem like you're in a good mood today…"
"Oh yeah, after yesterday, how could I not?" Tim said with a beaming smile, holding his hands up by his shoulders.
"Well, before you rush off, I'll take the kids in today and pick them up, since you've done it two days in a row…"
"All right then, it's a deal. I should be home around 2 or 3, so I'll see you later then!" Tim said as he exits the bedroom, waving goodbye to his wife.
Tim strolls down the hall; he wonders if the kids will be up yet, since they've been up every time he's taken them to school. But as Tim walks into the living room, neither of the girls are up yet. Tim shrugs it off, thinking that by the time Jubilee is ready, the girls will be sitting here waiting for Mom to drag them off to school again.
Tim exits the house, walking over to his car parked in the driveway, unlocks his door and gets inside. As he starts up his car, the radio comes on and the announcer replacing Kent on the radio announces…
"Today is 'Oldies but Goodies' day, so we'll start off this set with that perennial classic, "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison." And the radio beats out the drums with the guitar coming into the background…
So as Tim backs his car out of the driveway, he's already bobbing his head to the beat of the song and enjoying himself immensely. As Tim is driving to work, such songs as 'The Loco Motion', 'Shout', 'Wooly Bully' float out of the speakers, making the drive seem to go by faster than normal.
Tim pulls into the Drake/Wayne parking lot, entering the building, and then entering his personal elevator to reach his floor. Tim exits the elevator, waving to Jason as he walks on by, then taking off his jacket and plopping himself down in his chair. Tim turns on his computer, logging onto the Drake/Wayne network to read messages sent to him…
Time seems to pass rather quickly, as Tim sends replies on what to do with certain projects, how to raise stock, approving up and coming projects, taking phone calls with investors and share-holders…
And when Tim looks down at the clock on his computer, he sees that it's now 2:00.
"Ah, I just love how time flies around here…" Tim thinks to himself, relieved that it's time to go home. Tim gets up from his chair, stretches, picks up his jacket and heads out of his office.
"I'm going home, Jason, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, Mister Drake!" Jason replied as Tim literally dashed down the hallway. Work was tolerable, but the sooner he got him the better. It seemed the adage of a perfect world always took place their and that's where Tim wanted to be.
Tim worked his way through the masses trudging through the main floor of the Drake/Wayne Building, making it to his car and hopping on in. As Tim started up his car, the tune 'La Bamba' by Ritchie Valens was playing. Tim pulled out of the parking lot, and was on his way home. While driving home, SRX 103, Gotham Radio played the songs "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran, "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen, and "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis. This prompted Tim to slow down a bit, as he enjoyed all these songs and he didn't want to reach home before the current song was over.
When Tim eventually got home, his stomach was growling so loud that it was drowning out the music, at least it felt that way. Turning off his car, Tim walked into the house and started rummaging through their cabinets for anything good to eat, but won't spoil his appetite later. With that thought in mind, he found a package of beef ramen noodles that would be just enough to stifle the feeling ravaging his gut at the moment. Tim laid it on the counter top and quickly went and changed into jeans and a blue T-shirt with the Peace Frog on it. Tim walked back to the kitchen and started prepping up for lunch.
Grabbing a small pan, Tim pours some water into it, sits it upon the stove, and turns the stove up to 'high'. Waiting for the water to start boiling, Tim unwraps the package, taking out the seasoning mix. Noticing that the water was now mildly boiling, he poured the noodles in, letting them soak for a few minutes before taking a fork to break them apart, now that they were wet. Stirring the noodles around as the water began to boil more and more, Tim wonders how Jubilee will react to him going out with the 'boys' tonight for bowling. He thinks that it'll go smoothly, as this world would 'make' Jubilee understand. And since the noodles are all broken up and quite flexible, Tim turns the stove off, and starts digging around for a drainer. Finding one in an upper cabinet, he puts that into the sink, takes the pan off of the stove, and pours the noodles and water into the drainer. After all the water had left it, Tim picks it up and shakes it around, testing the noodle's stickiness. Tim then grabs a bowl out, pours the noodles into the bowl, tears the top off of the seasoning mix and begins to stir it into the noodles.
Done with cooking, Tim takes the bowl, sits in front of the TV, turning it on and begins to munch and slurp on his ramen noodles.
It only takes Tim about 15 minutes to finish off his meal, glad at the fact so that he has a reason to pull himself away from a rerun of 'Judge Judy'.
"Gah, how can people watch this stuff… how can I watch this stuff?!?" Tim thinks to himself as he puts the bowl away in the dishwasher, then walks over to the TV to turn it off. With nothing to do, Tim plops himself down on the couch, looking at the ceiling.
"Times like this, I would just figure I was at home… and not in a perfect world…" Tim thinks as he closes his eyes, and softly drifts into sleep.
In the backdrop of his mind, Tim is replaying certain events… meeting with Lynx in the club, running into Ariana, his first encounter with Spoiler, rescuing Secret, and falling into the room of Jubilee. All of these events seem to swirl together a collage of memories with the song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" playing the background. Each of the girls tugging at his consciousness, trying to make room… but with Jubilee's smile and figure drowning them all out… until he opens his eyes to see Jubilee, staring down at him, with a none too amused look on her face.
"Tim, when were going to tell me about this?" She said in a harsh voice.
"Uh, about what?" Tim said as he noticed Suzie watching VH1 Classic, which was playing the Stevie Wonder music video.
"About you going out with the guys tonight? Why did you agree to go?"
"Ah… well, I was going to tell you…" Tim said as he sat up and wiped some drool from his chin.
"Yeah, will Kent beat me to the punch with him just calling to make sure you were still going."
"Ah, look, the last time was just a one-time gag. Besides, I just thought it would be fun, y'know?"
"Are you still planning on going?"
"Well, yeah…" Tim said, surprised how annoyed Jubilee was at this…
"Well, if you're going, then I'm going as well."
"I wanna go too!" Suzie said; as Tim knew there was no way in hell he was going to convince them otherwise.
"Fine, fine, we can all go."
"Good. At least with me there, I know those guys won't try anything…" Jubilee said as Tim looked and noticed that it was now 6:00.
"Man, I must've slept harder than I thought…" Tim said as he got up from the couch and stretched.
"Well Suzie, go grab your sister because we've pretty much got to leave now if we want to make it."
"Okie-dokie!" Suzie said as she skipped down the hallway and pokes her head into her and Steph's bedroom, telling her sister the news.
"Are you ready to go, Jubes?"
"You bet your britches I am." Jubilee said, grabbing her yellow trench coat from the closet. The girls come on out and grab their respective coats, with Tim grabbing a brown leather jacket coat.
"I'll drive." Tim says as he grabs his keys and heads out of the door with the family in tow. They all managed to squeeze into his car, Tim then started the engine, pulled out of the driveway and the family was on their way. Tim had turned the radio off, as he wasn't in the mood to listen to music.
"Tim, are you mad at me?"
"*Sighs* No… well…" Tim said wanting to find the right words. Was he a little annoyed? Actually, yes… he had all day yesterday with her, and he was looking forward to this being just him and the guys. But, he could understand her frustration though because he was basically waiting until the very last minute to tell her about the fact he was going out with the guys…
"Nah, I'm not. Let's just have fun, alright?" Tim says as Jubilee winks at him. The drive was rather slow, not that Tim minded, because it allowed him to listen in on some of the stuff his daughters were talking about in the back seat, as well keep a conversation with Jubilee.
A little while later, Tim and the girls arrived at "Bowl-o-Rama" and headed inside.
They walked past the arcade and the bar, towards the cashier/shoe check-in.
As Tim went up to get everyone's shoes, Tim looked to his right to see Kent running up to them.
"Hey Tim! I guess your family decided to tag along, eh?"
"Yeah, they did. What lane are you at?"
"Lane 15, and the one next to us is open as well." Kent said, understanding why Tim was asking such a question.
"Could I get Lane 16?" Tim asks as the cashier replies,
"Sure. What shoe sizes do you want?" and as Tim and the cashier banter on, Kent leads Jubilee and the girls over to where his lane is at and their lane will be at.
Jubilee looks ahead to see Bart sitting in one of the seats reading a book waiting for the game to start, and she sees Tana there, who waves at Jubilee.
"Hey Jubilee!"
"Hi Tana, what are you doing here?"
"Well, I heard that Kent was going out with the guys tonight and I tagged along because we both have this week off and I wasn't going to let him sneak away from me that easily!" Tana said, as Jubilee laughs as that reminds her of what she did with Tim.
Tim comes running up with four pairs of shoes in his hands and happily deposits them on a chair. Tim then goes and grabs two kiddie balls for Steph and Suzie, a 12 ball for Jubilee and a 13 ball for himself.
"Let me set up the terminal for the munchkins and then we can start." Tim says as he enters 2 players on their terminal and then enters their names.
"Play nice girls, and if you've got any questions, we're right here, okay?" Tim says as he walks over to the other terminal to see that he's in last place with Kent in first.
"Yeah, let's get this game going!" Kent said as he grabbed his ball and flung it down the aisle, only to get a gutter ball.
"WHAT?!?" Kent said as he impatiently waited for his ball to come back up. Once it did, he slowly creeped up the lane, and flung the ball down the center. As the ball kept going down the lane, it kept straying to the left, it looked as if it would at least get a side pin before falling in the gutter. Alas, it didn't get to the outer pin and fell into the gutter, earning Kent yet another gutter ball.
"Oh man, this sucks…" Kent mused as Tana moves up to the plate…
As everyone is doing this, Tim happens to notice that every once in a while Bart's eyes would pop up from his book, giving an annoyed look towards the two 'uninvited guests', and then go back to reading. After Tim's turn, he sat down and looked more intently towards Bart.
Tim caught the title of the book "The Haunted House on Hammer Hill" and the name of the writer 'Suzanne Greta' and upon seeing no ring on any of his fingers, it was simple to deduce why Bart wasn't happy. So Tim scooted over to Bart to talk.
"Hey Bart, how are you doing? You haven't said much here, so I was afraid you've become mute or something!"
"Very funny."
"Look, something is bothering you, I can tell."
"Look, it's nothing important alright?" Bart says as he tries to stuff his face into his book.
"Look, you can tell me, okay? I won't tell anybody else." And slowly Bart looked up from his book to see Kent taking his time to bowl, trying his best to get off his gutter streak.
"It's the fact that this was just supposed to be the three of us and before I know it, Kent's wife, your wife and your kids show up! How do you think that makes me feel?"
"Well, it's wasn't exactly planned…"
"Yeah, and neither was me being the odd man out. Thank god I brought this book…"
"Speaking of which, how is Suzie?"
"Um, ah, what do you mean?" Bart stammers as his eyes dart the other direction.
"Well, I haven't spoken to her in a while and since you're reading her book, I figured you'd know."
"Well, ah, I know she's in California doing a book signing for this book and she's due back in Gotham tomorrow…"
"How do you know this?"
"Well it's because… I'm picking her up tomorrow." Bart said, wishing the topic would change to something else.
"Well then, my advice would be to pick her up tomorrow, and maybe ask her for dinner."
"What? What… what gives you the idea that I like her? Anyway, she's always had more of a fondness towards you anyway…"
"Well, your lamenting on the fact you're the only single person here, you're reading her book, and you're picking her up tomorrow. Besides, I always thought you two had a lot in common…"
"Oh, stop it." Bart says as he gets up to bowl, glad to be dragged away from the conversation.
After he was done bowling, Tim got up and bowled. Unfortunately for Bart, Tim walked back and continued the conversation.
"Come on, what's the harm in asking? Besides, I'm just trying to help you out."
"Well, for your information, she's a best selling horror novelist and I'm… I'm a used car salesman. What would she ever see in me? And I'm in my 30's and still don't have anyone…" Bart said with a sigh.
"Look Bart, I know you're disheartened because Kent and I were lucky and found our wives early on. But just because we did doesn't mean that everyone does. Besides, think of it this way, since Suzie is a best selling novelist and such, why would she ask you for a ride, when she could easily get a cab or a limousine to take her where she wants to go. I think it's a subliminal suggestion, hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge, saynomore." Tim says as he nudges Bart in the arm.
"You really think so?"
"Hey, what's the harm in trying? Besides, I'm omniscient, so I know it's true!" Tim says as Bart rolls his eyes.
"Now, you don't have to do it, but I'd rather you did, so if we ever have a situation like this again, you won't act like such a louse." Tim says as Bart jokingly punches Tim in the arm.
"All right, alright, if it'll get you to stop talking about it…" Bart says as he gets up to bowl. Tim is feeling pretty good about himself at this point, because if he is right, then Bart and Suzie will get together, and he'll have helped create a new couple. But then again…
"Hey, who wants something to eat?" Tim asks as a unified "YES!" came from everyone. So after his turn, Tim and Bart went to the dining center within the Bowling Alley, buying everyone's dinner, and then bringing them back.
Everyone repaid Tim and the gang proceeded to eat their greasy cheeseburgers along with an assortment of different types of French fries.
After finishing up his burger, Tim thought back to the last burger he had, realizing that this one was in fact superior… not only in taste but in the sheer amount of grease within the burger.
The gang finished up the 3 games they played, with Bart winning the first one, Jubilee winning the second one, and Tana winning the third. Kent was furious that not only didn't he win any games but he didn't even break the hundred mark once, and Tim was surprised he didn't win one either. Suzie and Steph both won one game, but decided not to play a third game.
After returning their shoes and paying for the games, they began to part ways.
"Well, later Bart, later Tim and Jubilee! I'll try to see all of you guys sometime next week!" Kent said as he waved goodbye.
"Bye Kent, bye Tana!" Tim said as he waved goodbye to them and turned to Bart.
"I'll see you later Tim, and just so you know, if tomorrow night goes badly, I'm blaming it on you."
"Trust me, it'll go good. Just try to be yourself, okay? Later!" Tim said as Bart sped off towards his car.
"Well, are we all ready to go home?"
"Yep!" Suzie said as Steph said while stifling a yawn,
"Yeah, I had a lotta fun, but I'm tired…"
"Well, we're headed home now…" Tim said as he and his girls walked to the car.
"Y'know Tim, I can't believe Tana's pregnant. I thought the light was just bouncing off of her funny while we were inside, but she was definitely giving off a glow there…"
"I know, I'm just happy for both of them…" Tim said as he noticed someone doing something to his car. As Tim moved closer, he hit the car's unlocking button on his keychain, which startled the man, who was about 6'1 with brown hair.
He quickly turned around and Tim noticed that he was brandishing a gun.
"Well, well, well. This helps me a lot, I won't have to break into your car now…" The man says as he points the gun towards Tim.
"Give me your keys." The man said as Jubilee motioned for Tim not to do so, but Tim threw the key to the man anyway, which he caught in the air.
"Tim, what are you doing?!?"
"Don't worry about it, everything will be fine."
"Thanks." The man said as he looked to Jubilee.
"Hmmm… you know what, I think I'll take your lovely lady for a ride as well…" The man said as he came closer to Jubilee. Jubilee slowly put her hand into her purse and began to bring up a can of mace. When he came close to grabbing her arm, she raised up the mace to spray him. The man saw this and was taken aback, instinctively his finger started to squeeze the trigger…
When Tim came, grabbed the man's wrist with his right hand, and twisted it away from Jubilee as the shot rang out. Tim kept the pressure on the wrist, slamming his left hand into the man's arm until he let go of the gun. The man was able to get his hand loose and took a few steps back. He looked at Tim, saw his gun on the ground, and started running.
But Tim wasn't going to let the slimeball who threatened his family get away, so he ran after him.
"Tim, what are you doing?! Tim!!!" Jubilee yelled as Tim didn't listen, he was intent on getting this guy. Jubilee and the girls followed, as they wanted to make sure nothing happened to him.
Tim caught up to the man, grabbed him by his back collar and threw him against a car. The man recovered, trying to throw a punch to dizzy Tim so he could get away, when Tim leapt into the air and landed a spinning roundhouse kick to the guy's face. He fell to the ground unconscious. Tim reached into his pocket, brought out a cell-phone and dialed 911.
Jubilee and the girls ran up to Tim, having saw the entire thing. Once Tim had gotten off the phone, Steph said,
"Jeez Dad, I didn't know you knew martial arts! That was awesome!"
"Yeah, you were a regular Power Ranger! That was so cool the way you spun up into the air!" Suzie said, as Tim merely closed his eyes, trying to put away the feelings of anger that still burn within him about what this man almost did…
"Tim, when did you learn Martial Arts? You never told me you knew any self-defense…"
"Well, I've been studying in secret, I figured it would've been handy to know such things." Tim said as Jubilee hugged him and he hugged her back with all of his strength. Now, more than ever by saving his family, Tim feels content and happy.
To Be Concluded!