Tim woke up on the couch the next morning. The house they were in was only a two bedroom and he was nowhere near ready to share a bedroom with Kelly yet, so he slept on the couch. Kelly tried to argue with him that she should be the one to sleep downstairs, but he wouldn't hear it. He would never push his wife out of the bedroom like that, no matter how angry he was.
Tim immediately heard movement coming from the kitchen, followed by the smell of bacon. He got up and walked to the kitchen where he found Shannon cooking. He wasn't surprised that it was her. Kelly couldn't cook to save her life and Gibbs… Well, he just couldn't picture Gibbs in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone.
Sensing another presence, Shannon turned around to see Tim in the doorway. "Hey."
"Hi," Tim greeted.
"I didn't wake you, did I?" Shannon asked.
"No. I'm always up pretty early. It comes with the job, I guess," Tim said as he came further into the room
'Did you sleep alright down here?" Shannon asked.
"As well as I would've been able to sleep anywhere," Tim said. He hadn't slept great, but it had nothing to do with where he slept. He'd just had a lot on his mind. It had been a really rough day and it didn't seem like it would get any easier anytime soon.
"Yeah, I know. A lot has been asked of you in the last twenty-four hours. There hasn't even been enough time for us all to sit down and really discuss everything," Shannon said. They'd had to get out of dodge so fast that sitting down and talking things out just hadn't been an option. Instead, she'd had to bluntly tell her husband and son that they had to leave without even giving them time to process it all. It wasn't fair.
"What's to discuss? You were pretty clear," Tim said before going over to the cabinets and pulling out a coffee mug. He then poured himself a cup of the already made coffee.
"I had to be. I'm sorry. There's just not much time for talk when you're fighting for your life and the lives of everyone you love. I didn't know how safe we were, so there was no time to sit down and discuss things. Believe me, I know how hard it was for you to just go with the flow because I had to do it too. Nick didn't exactly give me time to think when he declared that the only way for us to stay alive was to go on the run," Shannon said.
"You had time to explain it. Nine years ago," Tim said bitterly.
Shannon sighed. "Tim, you know we were only trying to protect you, right. We love you so much that we just didn't wanna see you in the life we were forced to live. I wanted you to have a better life."
"Yeah, I know that now. I didn't know it nine years ago. Neither one of you gave me any reason for leaving. You were just gone. The most I got from Kelly was a letter that didn't explain a thing. I didn't even get that from you. I racked my brain for years trying to figure out why? Had I done something to make the two of you stop loving me or had you never cared in the first place?" Tim asked as his voice began to break. He hated this. He'd wanted anger while having this conversation, but all that was coming was pain.
"Oh, honey, the answer is neither. We both love you so much. I've considered you my son since practically the moment I met you," Shannon said.
Tim took a deep breath to try to contain his emotions. "Yeah, you said that. I told you about my parents. I told you how they were to me. You have any idea how hard that was for me? I've never told anyone about that, not even Kelly." Honestly, he wouldn't have even told Shannon, but she had been there one day when he received a call from his father. He was a wreck afterwards and she saw him. She wouldn't let up until he told her what happened.
"I do know how hard it was for you. I was there. I saw what one conversation with your dad did to you. I had half a mind to go out and kill him for hurting you like that," Shannon said. She remembered that day very clearly. Tim had gotten a call from his father. She could hear the screaming from the other end of the line. Tim had become more and more broken by the minute. It had torn him apart. That angered her more than anything because she'd already considered him hers.
"And you told me to forget him. You told me my parents didn't deserve me. You told me you loved me. That was the first day that I really saw you as a mother. You'd acted like I wished my own mother had. And then one day, you were gone and I wondered if that was all a lie," Tim said with pain in his voice.
Shannon closed her eyes sadly. She was afraid even back then that he would think that. Her biggest fear was that by leaving, she would be crushing his self-esteem, and she was right. "It wasn't a lie. I love you so much. I always have. You're my son. Leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I didn't see any other way. It was the only way I could protect you from this."
"I didn't wanna be protected. I wanted to be with you and Kelly," Tim said.
"I know, but you would've had to leave everything behind. Your friends, your family, your dreams for the future, everything," Shannon said.
"That happened anyway," Tim pointed out.
"Yes, it did. I was naïve. I thought that if we cut ties, you Reynosa Cartel would leave you alone. I guess it was just wishful thinking. I just wanted you to have the chance of living your life without looking over your shoulder," Shannon said.
Tim shook his head in frustration. "You don't get it. I don't care about that. I mean, it bothers me that I had to leave my sister, but all I wanted was to be with you and Kelly. If you'd told me the truth and actually given me the choice, I would've chosen you guys.
Soon they both heard footsteps. Seconds later, Gibbs entered the room. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Tim said before taking his cup of coffee and heading for the living room.
Gibbs watched him leave and then turned to his wife. "What did he say to you?"
Shannon sighed. "Jethro, I'm going to say this once. Stay out of it. There are things that Kelly and I need to work out with him and that has to be done without interference. So you need to back off. There's coffee in the pot," she said before going back to her cooking.