Chapter 4

One month later...

"Okay. I think we've got everything we need," Tim said, staring at the bags by the door.

"Tim, you do. You have the essentials. Anything else can wait."

Tim looked over at Delilah.

"I just want this to go well. I don't want to scare Tommy off of hanging out with his dad."

"I don't think there's anything you could do that would scare Tommy off at this point. Stop worrying and just focus on having fun."

Tim smiled, but then, got his usual worried feeling.

"Are you sure you'll be okay with the girls by yourself and everything? I mean, I know that sounds bad, like you're not capable but..."

Delilah reached out and grabbed Tim's hand. She pulled him down and kissed him.

"Tim, stop worrying. If I need any help, Laurie said she'd be able to come over. The girls are almost three years old. I'm not going to force the potty training while you're gone and everything else will be fine. You go, have fun, and don't get into an accident while you're driving."

Tim smiled sheepishly.

"I know. I'm sorry I'm being so wimpy right now. I didn't expect to be worrying so much that..."

"I get it. Don't worry. It's fine. Now, go and get Tommy. I don't know if he really woke up, even though I woke him up three times."

"Well, it's not even five a.m.," Tim said. "I'm not surprised he had a hard time getting up. I'm surprised that you got up this early."

Delilah rolled her eyes but smiled and shooed him toward Tommy's bedroom. Tim went in and, sure enough, Tommy had not really got up. Tim sat down on his bed.

"Tommy? Are you ready to go?"

Tommy's eyes cracked open.

"Yeah," he said, sleepily.

Then, his eyes closed again. Tim decided that it would be easier just to put him in the car and let him sleep. It would make the first couple of hours pretty quiet, but that was okay. There would be plenty of noise later on. Tim was feeling very awake at the moment and Tony had promised to drive the first leg from Norfolk. So, instead of working on getting Tommy to wake up, he got him dressed and then carried him out of his bedroom, draped over his shoulder. Delilah raised an eyebrow.

"Might as well let him sleep," Tim said. "When he wakes up, we'll call."

"Okay. Drive safely, and have fun!"

"We will. Love you."

Then, Tim opened the door, took Tommy out to the car, strapped him in his booster seat in the back, making sure that he was as comfortable as possible. Then, he put the bags in the back, got in the driver's seat and started on their way.

The road trip had officially begun.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"You should see if Tommy wants to eat something for breakfast before you guys get on your way," Jo said. "Even if he eats something in the car, you'll be having plenty of junk for the next few days."

"Are you implying that we don't eat well when we're traveling?" Tony asked, with a grin.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm implying."

"What are we going to do while you're off playing around?" Grace asked, a little grumpily.

"Enjoy your summer vacation?" Tony suggested.

"We're going to meet them at Monticello next week," Jo said. "Then, we'll have a little mini trip on the way back."

"Oh, great. A history lesson."

Tony raised an eyebrow at Jo. Grace had only decided that this trip wasn't fair in the last couple of days and had started grousing about it at every opportunity.

"Hey, I'm going to be back, you know. It's only a week, and then, you can go back to complaining about being bored," Tony said. "And then, it'll only be a couple more months and you can go back to complaining about having to go to school."

"Breakfast will be ready in about five minutes," Jo said. "We won't wait for Tim and Tommy, but we're going to leave some food for them, just in case. Got it?"

Daniel nodded. He'd said very little about how he felt about Tony's trip, but they'd all known about it for weeks. Tony suspected that Grace was worried about Tony leaving since it was the first time he would be going somewhere without the family, but she wouldn't admit it yet. He and Jo had talked about it and decided that it was best to let her get out her feelings as she wanted to and then, if necessary, address them in more detail.

"I'm just going to check my bag and make sure I didn't forget anything," Tony said. "Be right back."

"You'd better be. I won't leave you any eggs if you're too slow," Jo called after him.

Tony just waved over his shoulder and headed for the bedroom. He started checking through his bag and then, he heard someone come behind him. He turned around. Grace was standing there.

"What is it, Grace?"

"What if you don't come back?" she asked.

"I'm coming back," he said.

She shook her head. "Sometimes, people don't come back. Sometimes, they just go away and leave you."

Tony opened his arms, offering comfort that Grace was rarely willing to accept. Sometimes, she would, but not often. He knew it, but she was clearly upset and this would be the time to try it. And it worked. She ran over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Grace, it's always possible that something could go wrong, but guess what."

"What?" she asked, in a muffled voice.

"The one thing you never have to worry about is that I'll leave you on purpose." He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "I love you, Grace. This is not a way for me to get away from you. This is just a vacation. Tim and I have been doing this for years. I don't want to lose you."

"Promise?"

"Absolutely. I promise," Tony said. Then, he grinned and held out his hand. "Pinky swear."

As he'd suspected that brought a smile to her face and she shook his pinky.

"Now, let's make sure that Jo isn't going to really take all the eggs."

"I don't like eggs."

"Then, I'll eat your eggs and you can have toast."

"And bacon!"

"And bacon, but we'll have to share that," Tony said, putting his hand on Grace's shoulder as they walked back to the kitchen.

And she didn't try to brush it away.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Are we there yet, Daddy?" Tommy asked for the millionth time.

"Almost, Tommy," Tim said, striving for patience. "About ten more minutes."

Tommy had awakened about halfway to Norfolk. Once he had remembered what they were doing and that the trip had started, he had started talking about anything and everything, punctuated with asking if they were almost there.

Finally, though, he could see Tony's neighborhood and he happily followed the GPS directions to get to Tony's home. It was an actual house. Jo had insisted that they get a house with a yard and they had been able to afford a place outside Norfolk.

"Are we there yet, Daddy?"

Tim pulled up to the curb.

"Yes, Tommy. We're at Tony's house. Are you ready to get out?"

"But what about the trip?"

Tim turned around.

"We have to get Tony before we go on the trip, and we're going to take a bathroom break, too."

"Okay."

Tim turned off the car and got out. He walked around to let Tommy out and they headed for the front door, Tommy zooming ahead toward the front door. Tim jogged after him.

"Tommy, slow down!"

Tommy got to the door and started knocking.

"Tony, time for the trip!" he shouted.

"Tommy, you don't have to shout," Tim said, getting to the door.

Then, the door opened and Tim smiled.

"Hi, Daniel," he said. "Is Tony here?"

Daniel nodded and stood back to let them in without saying anything. Tony had told him that Daniel was still having some struggles, but that he was answering the door was a step forward.

"Hey, Tim! Come on in!" Tony called. "We're just finishing breakfast."

Jo came out of the kitchen.

"Tony's busy trying to eat all the eggs. Why don't you guys have some breakfast with us?" she said.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude. We had doughnuts in the car," Tim said.

"That's definitely not enough. Come in."

Tim took Tommy by the hand and they walked into the kitchen. Tony was clearly almost finished. Grace was eating a piece of toast, and it looked like there were enough eggs for about ten more people.

"Tommy, have a seat," Tony said. "Have some eggs and keep me company."

Of course, Tommy was happy to do that, but Tim made him go to the bathroom first. Then, he climbed up on a chair and began to eat the eggs and toast that Jo put in front of him.

"Tim, sit down," Tony said. "We have time."

"Are you sure?" Tim asked. "We have a long way to go."

"Positive. Sit!" Tony said, grinning.

"So he orders you around, too," Grace said.

Tim smiled and did as he was told.

"Yep. Ever since the first day I met him. He's never been able to stop."

Grace sighed heavily, but Tim also noticed that she was sitting right next to Tony and didn't really seem upset. Tim just chuckled and took some food as well. Then, Jo brought in Sam.

"You haven't seen Sam since just after he was born," she said. "Look at how chunky he's getting."

Tim smiled. "He's definitely chunky. Jo, you'd better hope he takes after you. With all the tall people in this house, you'll be lucky if anyone can find you."

Jo laughed. "It just gives me a chance to sneak up on everyone because they can't see me."

Tim reached out and took Sam's tiny hand in his. Then, he smiled as Sam automatically grabbed hold of his finger.

"He's cute," Tim said. "And he doesn't even look too much like you, Tony."

"I hope you're not saying that my son looks like a girl."

Tim laughed. "No, but you can definitely see the Korean genes. And he's very cute."

"Well, you can't take him, Tim. Don't get any ideas," Tony said.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I think Delilah would kill me."

"Well, eat up, Probie. We're burning daylight," Tony said. Then, he got up from the table and carried his plate to the sink.

Tim rolled his eyes but he finished off his eggs, grabbed an extra piece of bacon and took his plate to the sink.

"Are you done, Tommy?" Tim asked.

"Done! Let's go!"

"Take your plate to the sink," Tim said. "But be careful. Don't drop it."

Tommy piled his glass, utensils and napkin onto the plate and carefully carried it to the sink.

"Good job, Tommy," Jo said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Tommy said. "Let's go, Daddy."

"I think someone is just a little bit excited," Tim said.

"Hey, don't all your names start with T?" Daniel asked, suddenly joining the conversation for the first time.

Tim looked over and nodded.

"Yep. Tommy, Tim, and Tony."

"Is that on purpose?" Grace asked.

"No. I don't think Tony even knew my first name for the first year I worked with him. I was always just McGee. Then, I barely had a name at all. I think it took seven years for him to consistently remember that I have a first name. His memory is getting better though."

Both Grace and Daniel laughed at that.

"Hey, no trash talking me to my kids. They have enough ammo as it is," Tony said as he came back into the kitchen. "You ready?"

"Let's go, Tony!" Tommy said again. He started pulling on Tim's arm. "Let's go, Daddy!"

"Are you ready?" Tim asked.

"Absolutely."

Tony walked over to Jo and gave both her and Sam a kiss. Then, he hugged Daniel and squeezed Grace's shoulder.

"See you all at Monticello in a week," he said.

"Have fun, Tony," Jo said, holding up Sam and making him wave. "You, too, Tim."

They left the house, with Tommy pulling at them to go faster to get to the car.

"Tony... Come back," Grace said, from the front porch.

Tim was surprised when Tony just smiled and walked back to her. He spoke to her in a low voice and then she went back inside.

"What was that?" Tim asked.

"Just a little anxiety about people leaving her. It's happened too often for her to be ready for it yet. This will be good for her to see that people can leave and come back, that they want to come back to her."

Tim nodded.

"You're amazing, Tony. I don't know if I could do what you're doing."

Tony laughed a little weakly. "I don't know if I can do what I'm doing, either. I just keep doing it for lack of a better plan."

"No, I mean it. You're doing a great thing for those kids."

Tony just shrugged. "Well, we're burning daylight. You still want me to drive the first leg?"

"Yes. Give me a break. Maybe a little shut-eye."

"With Tommy in the car? I doubt it."

Tim looked and saw that Tommy had already got into his booster seat. He shook his head and smiled.

"You're probably right. Well, we'll see, but I'll let you drive anyway."

"All right."

Tony got in the driver's side and Tim got in the passenger side after checking to make sure Tommy was actually buckled in.

"Okay," Tony said. "Who's ready for a road trip?"

"ME!" Tommy shouted.

"And where are we going first?" Tim asked.

"Aquarium!"

"Then, let's get to it," Tony said. He turned on the car and pulled away from the curb.

Off on their next adventure.