Chapter 5

"Daddy! Horses!" Tommy said, pointing to a sign.

They'd only been driving for about two hours, but that was the least Tommy had said at once in all that time.

"Oh, there are supposed to be wild horses out here somewhere, aren't there," Tim said. "Chincoteague or something like that."

Tony nodded. "I've never been. Want to check it out?"

Tim smiled. "Well, the road trip can't start without an unplanned stop, right?"

Tony looked back at Tommy and then at Tim. "That's right. Okay, let's go."

"Are we seeing horses, Daddy?" Tommy asked, eagerly.

"We're going to try, Tommy. I don't know if we'll find them, but we're going to look," Tim said. He didn't want to guarantee anything. He was used to disappointments occasionally happening on these trips, but he didn't want Tommy to be disappointed if they couldn't find any horses.

They came to an intersection and saw a sign pointing the way to Assateague Island National Seashore. Tony turned and headed east. Tim figured that they'd get to see the ocean, even if they didn't get to see any horses.

"You think he'll be disappointed?" Tony asked in a low voice as Tommy looked out the window, watching for anything exciting.

"I hope not. He'll get to see the ocean, though. That'll be something, even if it's not horses. I want this to be fun for him," Tim said.

"It will be. Horses or no horses."

Tim smiled and started to answer, but Tommy had a question. Another one.

"Daddy, is that a horse?" Tommy asked, pointing out the window.

Tim looked out where Tommy was pointing.

"No. Tommy. That's not a horse. That's a bird. I think it's a crane."

"What's a crane?" Tommy asked.

"It's a bird with really long legs and big wings. It eats stuff in the mud."

"Ew!" Tommy said, giggling.

"It eats fish, too," Tony added.

The crane suddenly took off as they drove by, spreading its long wings and tucking up its long legs.

"Wow!" Tommy said.

Then, they got to the bridge going over to Chincoteague Island.

"Daddy, is this the ocean?"

"Nope. Not yet," Tim said.

"Where's the ocean?"

"We're almost there, Tommy," Tim said.

"Why isn't this the ocean?"

"Because it's right in between two pieces of land, Tommy. The ocean goes on for a lot longer. It's bigger."

"But what's on the other side of the ocean?"

"Another continent."

"What's a continent?"

"It's a really big piece of land. We're on North America. That's a continent."

"What's on the other side of the ocean?"

"Europe and Africa."

"Oh."

Apparently satisfied, Tommy went back to looking out the window.

"See? That's what I couldn't do," Tony said.

"What?"

"Be so patient with all the questions. I mean, I love him, but does he ever stop?"

Tim laughed. "He has to sleep sometime."

"Yeah. Maybe. I wouldn't be surprise if he just kept asking questions in his sleep, too," Tony said.

"Well, if it happens, we don't hear it in our bedroom. So I guess we'll find out," Tim said, grinning.

"Oh, great."

"Daddy, is that the ocean?" Tommy asked.

"Nope. Not yet. Tommy, I'll tell you when we're at the ocean," Tim said.

"Okay."

"Will that work?" Tony asked.

"I doubt it."

"Ah."

"Doesn't hurt to try, though."

And Tim was right. On their way to Assateague Island National Seashore, Tommy asked if they were at the ocean at least five more times. The only time he didn't ask was when he couldn't see any water at all because they were in the middle of the island. Tim was tolerant simply because he knew that this was how Tommy showed his enthusiasm. He wanted to know all about everything and Tim didn't have it in him to suppress that curiosity, that desire to learn. He wanted Tommy to keep that for as long as possible.

"Daddy, do you see any horses yet?"

But that didn't mean that it didn't sometimes get a little irritating.

"Not yet."

"Okay."

Tony followed the signs to a beach access road and finally, the Atlantic Ocean spread out in front of them. Tony found a place to park and then, Tim met Tony's look and smiled.

"Okay, Tommy. We're at the ocean," Tim said.

Instantly, Tommy started craning his neck to see out the windows. Tim didn't want to make him wait, but he had to make sure that his son didn't do something foolish.

"Before we get out of the car, though, I need to give you some rules, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Tommy said.

"First, you can't run away from Tony and me. You have to be with one of us all the time, and don't ever run out into the ocean. We'll wade in the water, but it's not like a pool. So you need to be with us. Now, what are the rules?"

"I stay with you and Tony and I don't go into the water."

"Good. Let's get out."

Tim turned to get out of the car and he saw Tony looking at him with a strange expression.

"What is it?" Tim asked, pausing.

The expression vanished.

"Nothing."

"Daddy, I want to get out!"

Distracted, Tim let the matter drop. He got out of the car and opened the door for Tommy. Normally, he trusted Tommy not to go running off, but on this trip, where he was so excited about everything, Tim wanted to make sure that his son didn't go darting into traffic...or into a rip current or something.

Tommy jumped out of the car and Tim watched with amusement as Tommy clearly reminded himself of the rules and didn't go running off as he obviously wanted to do.

"I don't see any horses," Tommy said.

"We'll have to look. Maybe they slept late today," Tim said.

He took Tommy by the hand and the three of them walked to the beach. Tim paused and took off his shoes and socks. Tommy was excited to copy him. Tony also followed suit and they began walking along the beach. Every so often, Tommy would slip his hand out of Tim's and dig down into the sand with his fingers and then throw the sand around. A few times, Tony grabbed Tommy and ran into the shallow water, Tommy shrieking with delight as the waves broke just enough to get them wet. Then, he would bring Tommy back out and they'd resume their course along the beach. After about twenty minutes, Tim stopped and knelt down. He put his arm around Tommy's shoulders.

"Tommy, look over there," he said, his voice soft. He pointed further down the beach. "Don't shout. We don't want to scare them away."

And sure enough, there were four horses out on the sand, nibbling at the grasses poking out of the dunes.

Tommy didn't say anything at first. He just sucked in a delighted breath and watched, entranced as the horses ate.

"These are the horses the sign was talking about," Tim said. "They're wild, so we can't pet them or feed them, but we can look at them, and even take pictures."

"Can I take a picture, Daddy?" Tommy asked.

Tim pulled out his camera and helped Tommy point it at the horses. Then, Tommy started taking photos.

"Look, Daddy! There's a baby horse, too!"

Tim nodded. The horses weren't particularly large. In fact, they seemed rather small in comparison to the horses he had seen other places, but these horses were interesting nonetheless. These four were all pintos.

"Okay, you two," Tony said. "Let's get you both in a picture with the horses in the background."

Tim smiled and picked Tommy up and put him on his shoulders, forcing Tony to back up a few more steps to get them both in the frame with the horses behind. After that, they got Tommy to take a picture of the two of them. It mostly worked. Tommy liked the novelty of taking a picture more than trying to get a good one. And then, Tim sat down in the sand and he and Tommy sent a couple of the pictures to Delilah.

After that, it was time to walk back to the car. Tim knew that Tommy wouldn't want to leave yet, but they'd have lots more to see. As they walked back, Tim didn't make Tommy hold his hand the whole time, but he watched Tommy like a hawk, just to make sure that he didn't go running into the water.

By the time they got back to the car, they'd been there for almost an hour.

"Okay, Tommy," Tim said. "Let's have a potty break and then, we need to get going."

"No!" Tommy whined.

"Yes, Tommy. Remember, if we don't get going, we can't get to the aquarium," Tim said. "You wanted to see the fish. Remember?"

Tommy stood there, deciding if he was going to be upset and then finally, he nodded and they headed for one of the port-o-potties after putting their shoes back on. They all did their business quickly and then jumped into the car and started back to the highway to get on their way.

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

He'd always loved seeing Tim as a dad, but it was interesting seeing Tim consistently being a dad. Tony's views of Tim as a dad had mostly been in the context of visits to the house which were relatively short. What he was seeing was Tim as a dad who was a little overprotective but endlessly patient and who was devoted to his kids. While Tim's recovery had allowed him to see friendships with people outside of his family as something he deserved to have, he had never lost that connection to his family, the people who meant the most to him. And that made Tony see more than ever how special it was when Tim said Tony was a part of the family.

Tony couldn't suppress a pang, but Tommy's incessant talking kept him from remaining in the doldrums for long. He asked the most ridiculous questions sometimes.

"Daddy, do the horses chase the cranes so that the cranes trip and fall and then, they can laugh at them?"

Tim laughed. "I don't know, Tommy. Maybe they do, but the cranes could just fly away."

"Maybe the horses don't let the cranes fly. Maybe they trip them when they try to fly."

"Why would they do that?" Tim asked.

"Because it's funny!"

"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" Tim said.

The drive to the National Aquarium in Baltimore wasn't silent by any means, but it was uneventful. The traffic was much lighter than it probably would have been at this time of day on the main roads. However, once they got to downtown Baltimore, things slowed down considerably.

"Look at all the people, Daddy," Tommy said. "Where are they going? Are they going to the aquarium, too?"

"Probably not," Tim said.

"Boy, I hope not. We'd never get in," Tony said.

They really weren't getting to the aquarium at the ideal time, but still, Tommy was starting to pull against the seatbelt, craning his neck for his first view of the aquarium.

They managed to get a parking spot relatively close to the aquarium. Then, they got out and headed for the main entrance. Tony smiled as Tim took a firm grip on Tommy's hand as they walked to the building. It was funny, yet endearing, to see Tim so careful about his son. It wasn't that Tony thought that Tommy should get to just run around wherever he wanted, but this was the first time Tim was taking Tommy on a trip like this and he was clearly a little nervous. Tony figured that his job was to make sure they all still had fun, no matter how much Tim might worry.

Predictably, Tommy started pulling at Tim's arm.

"Daddy, look! A boat!"

Tim had a grin on his face as he let Tommy pull him along.

"It's a ship, Tommy," Tim said.

Tommy either didn't hear him or just ignored him. Instead, he kept pulling Tim down the sidewalk until they were beside the two-masted ship moored beside the aquarium.

"Why don't you and Tony stand in front of the ship, Tommy," Tim said, pulling out his camera.

Tony picked up Tommy and pretended to be throwing him into the harbor. Tommy shrieked happily while Tim had just a glimmer of worry on his face. He still smiled, though, and quickly took a picture. Then, Tim got someone walking by to take a picture of all of them with the Chesapeake behind them.

"Okay, Tommy. Are you ready to see the fish?"

Tommy began jumping up and down with excitement. He grabbed Tim's hand again and began pulling him toward the aquarium entrance.

"Tommy, you're going to pull my arm out of its socket. The building isn't going anywhere," Tim said, but he was smiling as they walked.

Tony followed along behind, feeling a little wistful. As far as he could remember, he never had this kind of experience. Not with his family anyway. Watching Tommy get Tim's attention as they walked inside, Tony couldn't help but be slightly jealous. Jealous of a five-year-old. Tommy was having the life Tony had always felt was what kids should have. He'd never admit it now. He'd never have admitted it in the past, but this was what childhood should be like. Adventure upon adventure...with someone always there to keep you safe.

"Are you coming, Tony?" Tim asked.

"Just waiting to see you lose your arm, Probie," Tony said, smiling.

Tim laughed, but he had the slightly-confused look on his face and Tony knew he wasn't completely fooling him, but he also knew that Tim wouldn't want to have a serious conversation when Tommy was around, so he didn't worry about it.

Once they got in and paid the price to enter, Tim took Tommy over to the Blue Wonders pavilion. They started at the beginning and began to work their way up the five floors of exhibits. First, they saw the Blacktip Reef. Tommy ran to the glass and pressed his hands and face against it. Eyes wide as he saw the fish swimming around and the larger sharks. This time, Tim knelt down beside Tommy and began pointing out the sharks.

"There, Tommy! That's a blacktip reef shark."

"Wow."

Tony came over to join them and he began softly humming the Jaws theme. Tim glanced up at him.

"Very funny, Tony," Tim said. "No great whites here. These definitely aren't as big as the mechanical shark they used in that movie."

"Oh, it was real," Tony said.

"Right."

"What's that, Daddy?" Tommy asked, suddenly, pointing out a large ray swimming along the bottom.

"I think that's a stingray," Tim said.

"Why don't the sharks eat the fish in the water with them?"

"I guess they don't like how they taste," Tim said.

"Why not?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

Tommy stared for a little while longer and then he was ready to move on. They went up the escalator to the next level where the Living Seashore exhibit was. Here, Tommy could actually touch some of the animals and he was eager to do so. Tim helped by lifting him high enough that he could touch the smooth skin of a stingray.

"What's that, Daddy?" Tommy asked, pointing.

"That's a horseshoe crab," Tim said. "It lived at the same time as the dinosaurs."

"Wow! How did it not die?"

"We don't know, but look at that shell. That would keep it from getting eaten."

One of the horseshoe crabs came close enough that Tim could help Tommy reach over and touch it.

"Come on, Tony," Tim said. "We'll make room."

Tony edged closer through the crowds of people swarming around the place. Tommy tore his eyes away from the pool and looked at Tony.

"Tony, touch the animals! They're weird!"

"I think I can do that," Tony said. He touched the stingray as it came close, and he touched the horseshoe crab.

"It's weird!" Tommy said.

"Yes, it is. Very weird."

Those weren't as weird as the moon jellies, but they all touched those as well. Tommy was fascinated, but he was also a little kid who had boundless energy...and a short attention span. So after a little while at the touch pools (longer than looking at the sharks), he was ready to move on. Since this part of the trip was really for Tommy, neither Tony nor Tim tried to stay longer. The exhibits were amazing, but the aquarium was close enough that they knew they could go again another time.

They continued up until they got to the tropical rain forest on the fifth and final level. The rain forest was full of birds, but there were displays with snakes, monkeys, frogs, even a tarantula. Again, Tim let Tommy dictate how long they looked at each animal. All along the way, he was simply making sure that Tommy could see the animals and tried to answer the incessant questions. Tony participated as well, but mostly, he was enjoying watching Tim and Tommy in the never-ending seesaw rhythm of question and answer.

"Daddy, why are the frogs so blue?" Tommy asked about the blue poison-dart frog.

"That lets anyone who might want to eat them know that they're poisonous."

"Why are they poisonous?"

"It protects them."

"But the blue is pretty. Why is blue bad?"

"Blue isn't bad. It's bright and no animal would miss it."

"Oh."

Then, on to the next one.

"Daddy, could I hold the tarantula?"

"No, Tommy. No one gets to hold the tarantula."

"It looks fuzzy. Is it soft?"

"I doubt it."

"Why does it look fuzzy?"

"I'll bet that it's prickly like a cactus. No one would want to eat it."

"Ew! No one eats spiders!"

"But other animals might."

"Oh."

And on.

"Daddy, what's that?"

"It's a sloth."

"What's a sloth?"

"It's a kind of monkey."

"It doesn't look like George."

"George is a different kind of monkey."

"Does the man in the yellow hat have a sloth?"

"Nope. He just has George."

"Do you think he wants a sloth, too?"

"Maybe. But sloths are really slow. He might get bored with a sloth."

"But he wouldn't get in trouble like George does."

"Probably not."

Tommy stared hard at the two-toed sloth.

"Maybe there's a man in a green hat and he has a sloth."

Tim laughed. "Maybe."

"Will you look, Daddy?"

"Later."

"Okay."

After they finished the Tropical Rainforest, they walked back down on a slowly winding staircase through Shark Alley, where sharks swam all around them. Tommy was still full of questions, but there were times when he was just standing there, staring at the sharks. Occasionally, either Tim or Tony would lift him higher so that he could see the sharks as they swam by.

Once they got down to the ground floor again, they went over to the dolphins and then to the jellies.

Finally, they were all hungry and Tommy had his fill of fish. So they headed for the gift shop.

"Okay, Tommy. You can pick one thing for yourself and then you can help me pick out something for your mom and your sisters," Tim said.

Joyfully, Tommy went around the gift shop, wanting everything, while Tim was firm enough to keep him down to one. Tony was glad that he didn't have to worry about keep a five-year-old focused on the fact that he could only buy one thing. In the meantime, he decided to buy some souvenirs for his family. He decided to do t-shirts for Grace and Daniel. Then, he found a turtle necklace and he decided to get that for Jo. He looked over and saw that Tim was still preoccupied with telling Tommy that he only got to pick one item for himself.

Good. Tony walked over to the shot glasses and decided to buy one for Gibbs. It would give him an excuse to stop by and check on him. Tim still almost never mentioned Gibbs and Tony had respected that, never bringing him up either. But he still couldn't give up on him and so, every so often, Tony would make an unannounced visit. Gibbs never complained. He never said he liked it, either, but he never complained.

By the time he'd chosen his souvenirs, Tim had three stuffed animals in his arms and a book about sea diving. ...and then...

"Curious George at the Aquarium?" Tony read.

"I couldn't resist after all Tommy's questions," Tim said, sheepishly. "And it's really cheap."

"So is the diving book for the girls or for Delilah?" Tony asked.

"Well, actually, it's for me," Tim said, reddening slightly.

"You planning on learning to scuba dive?"

"Not particularly. I just like seeing the pictures. Now, if we don't get out of here, I'm going to end up with a real python curled around my neck," Tim said.

"Your hands are pretty full," Tony admitted. "Well, let's get going. Tommy, did you have fun?"

"We saw fish! And the sloth! And the sharks! I touched a jelly!"

"Sounds very successful," Tony said.

They paid for their purchases and left the aquarium. Once they were back out in the sun, they had to make a decision.

"So do we press on, all the way to New York today or do we stop after the Liberty Bell?" Tony asked.

Tim looked at Tommy and then looked around and then, looked at his watch.

"I'm not sure that I want to push Tommy that much. It's one thing for us to do really long days, but this is Tommy's first trip. So let's do the Liberty Bell, and then find a place to stop for the night before we get to New York."

"Sounds good," Tony said.

"It's pretty good so far, isn't it?" Tim asked.

"Well, it definitely is for Tommy," Tony said. He held out his hand just low enough to Tommy to reach and Tommy gave him a high five.

"Are you enjoying it, too? I mean, I know that..."

"Don't worry about it, Tim. This is fun for me, too. Now, let's get back to the car, get something to eat and head for the Liberty Bell."

"Tommy, are you ready to eat?"

"Yes, I'm hungry!"

They walked back to the car and Tim took over the driving as they headed out of Baltimore, stopping only to go through a drivethru and get some fast food.

Then, it was on to Philadelphia.