A/N: So this is unbeta'd still. you're getting two chaps tonight. i forgot to put in the other one a little bit back, i changed Nate's brother from Nick to Nolan b/c i forgot i already used that name so yeah, and i'm still looking for a middle name for Neal. How Nate eats his eggs last chapter, i know it's weird, but it's how i HAVE to eat eggs i don't like em any other way.
Sea and Sam stopped by the house quickly, to pick up Tommy before their meeting with the realtor. They were scheduled to look at five houses that day, which would take until well after lunch, so Eleanor had packed a few snacks for Sam and Tommy during their excursion into the suburbs of Colorado Springs.
They took Sea's Jeep and were on their way in moments. The realtor met them at the first house they were to look at. It was a large three story, bigger than the two of them would need, but it had five bedrooms which would come in handy, especially with Sea and Jack's parents living with them.
Sam knew why she was being dragged along, it had nothing to do with what she thought of the houses they were looking at. It was an attempt to keep her mind off of Jack and the rest of her team. They couldn't look at houses for a whole month! She wondered what else they'd come up with to keep her distracted.
"Tommy, what do you think of it?" Sea asked his son as they walked out of the house, getting ready to follow the realtor to the next house.
"It was okay, I guess. Why do we have to move, anyway?" he whined, hopping into the back seat of the Jeep.
"I already explained this to you. We're lucky the Air Force hasn't moved us before. Besides, now we'll be closer to your Uncle Jack."
Tommy crossed his arms over his chest and slumped into the seat. "I want to be closer to Jerod," he muttered under his breath.
"Thomas! One more negative word out of you…" Sea clenched the steering wheel, really not wanting to deal with this anymore. He'd hoped his son would have taken advantage of the fact that he wanted him to have input on the house they lived in. Obviously, he preferred his nasty mood over finding a house he liked.
Sam put a comforting hand on Sea's forearm. He may have been the more patient of the two, but the O'Neill temperament just had to be a genetic thing.
They went to the other four houses, each smaller than the last, and Tommy's disposition hadn't improved as they day went on. He wouldn't eat anything Sam offered him, so she ended up eating most of it. The babies were hungrier than normal and she couldn't wait to get home to eat some real food.
Tommy stormed in the house and headed straight to the room they'd taken over, practically slamming the door as he threw himself on the bed. It was so unfair! He had to move so far away from Jerod and start a new school and try to find new friends. This just sucked!
He could hear his dad talking about him through the heating vents and it pissed him off.
"Is he okay?" Eleanor asked, handing her son a cup of coffee.
Sea nodded. "He's just been a miserable little cuss lately."
The group settled themselves in the living room, Sam taking up the couch and relaxing across the cushions.
"It's the move. I remember how it felt every time my dad told us he'd been reassigned," she said softly.
Sea's eyes dropped to his hands and he shook his head. "It started long before that. He wanted to know about his mom. I guess some kids were picking on him because it's always been just me and him."
"He probably feels left out and like he's missing something," Sam suggested. Eleanor fully agreed. She'd been trying to get Sea to date for years.
"Well, he's not," Sea answered shortly. "We've been doing just fine."
"What did you tell him about Cheryl?" Eleanor faced her son, curiosity written across her face.
"What the Hell was I supposed to tell him, Mom? She didn't even stick around long enough to bring him home from the hospital!" Sea stood up, running his hands through his hair. He paced the room as best he could in the small space before flopping himself back into the chair. He got quite before softly adding, "I didn't know what to say. I told him she got scared and ran away, and that wasn't the way she should have handled it."
Eleanor got up and rubbed her son's shoulders comfortingly. This was one subject he never liked company when thinking about it. "I should go check on your father."
Sea nodded and leaned back into the chair, welcoming the silence. Sam didn't press for information. He was more open than Jack so if he didn't want to talk about it, she definitely wouldn't bring it out of him.
A/N: k tell me what you think.