Chapter 7

Tim woke up early the next morning. It didn't surprise him. He rarely was able to sleep in, and with Tommy there, Tim was just worried enough about rolling over and perhaps knocking Tommy off the bed that he didn't relax quite as much as he might have otherwise.

But he wouldn't trade this for the world. He sat up and looked at his son, still sleeping peacefully. Yesterday, had been a long day, full of exciting things, but still very long, especially for a five-year-old boy who wasn't quite used to it. It was no wonder that Tommy had completely zonked, given the opportunity. Today, they'd have more time just driving. They'd be seeing the Statue of Liberty first thing and maybe a swing by Central Park. Then, it would a long drive along the coast over to see the sights and get to Boston. As Tim sat there, he reconsidered the wisdom of pushing that much. It would be easier on Tommy if they didn't. Maybe they should be willing to wait until tomorrow morning to get to Boston. Just in case it took longer to get up there than they thought at the moment. But then, it would also be nice to have a free night. Plus, it might be easier for Tommy if Tim was there the first night he was with his grandparents. Maybe, it would be good to see what Tony thought.

Quietly, Tim got up and then, he got ready for the day, trying not to disturb Tommy. Let him sleep as long as possible. However, Tim also left the door open so that he could hear when Tommy woke up. He didn't want him to worry because he was alone in an unfamiliar space.

He went out of the bedroom and saw that Tony wasn't up yet. Grinning at this opportunity (and half-tempted to wake Tommy up just so he could jump on Tony), Tim crept over to the door, but he tripped just a little at the last minute and Tony sat up.

"Morning," Tim said, giving up instantly so that Tony didn't decide to get him back just for thinking of it.

"What time is it?" Tony asked, yawning.

"About 6:30. I'll need to get Tommy up soon, but I figured it would be better for him to get a full night of sleep after yesterday."

Tony nodded and rubbed his face.

"Probably a good idea."

"Yeah. When you're more awake, I wanted to talk about that."

"Okay. Sure. Just give me a few."

Tony got up and went into the bathroom. While he was waiting, Tim walked back to the living area of the suite. It was really nice having the separate spaces. He would never have thought of that as an option, but if they could find it again for other times, that would be nice.

About ten minutes later, Tony came out, fully awake and dressed.

"So what's up?"

"I was thinking that maybe we shouldn't focus on trying to get to Boston today. I was thinking that we should take it a little bit slower and then, if we need to, we just get another hotel room and then, drive over to Delilah's parents' place tomorrow morning. We'd stay long enough for Tommy to remember that he's staying. Then, we could still get on our way north tomorrow but it would be easier on Tommy."

Tony didn't answer directly for a bit, forcing Tim to say something else.

"But if it was close, we could still stay there tonight, have breakfast with them in the morning and get on our way, a few hours earlier. What do you think?"

"We're not so pressed for time that we couldn't take a little extra if we needed to. So basically you just want to have the options open."

"Yeah. I don't want to get Tommy so tired out that he can't have fun."

"He'll have fun. Don't worry about that. But...speaking of not having fun..."

"Yeah?"

"What was with you when we were driving into Philly yesterday?"

"What do you mean? I had a moment where I just got a little nervous is all. It's nothing."

"Didn't seem like nothing," Tony said.

"Well, it was," Tim said, feeling a little irritated. "That car was going a little crazy and I didn't want to get caught up in something like that. I didn't want an accident because that guy felt like he had to show off. I was a little nervous, but I was fine."

"Are you sure?"

Tim sighed and stood up.

"Tony, I don't always need saving," he said, almost angrily.

"Daddy?" came a worried voice from the bedroom.

Tim instantly turned away from the conversation (since he wasn't enjoying it anyway) and hurried into the bedroom. Tommy was sitting up in bed, looking a little scared. Tim smiled.

"Good morning, Tommy. How did you sleep?"

Tommy smiled when he saw Tim, but Tim could see he was a little uncertain still. Waking up in a strange place wasn't his usual situation.

"Do you remember where we're going today?" Tim asked, sitting down on the bed.

Tommy crawled out from under the covers and sat by Tim, a little too close for it just to be simple. Tim knew that Tommy had lost his confidence for the moment.

"Do you remember?" he asked again, putting a comforting arm around Tommy's shoulders.

Tommy thought about it and then nodded.

"Where?"

"The lady we can walk inside. She's a huge statue."

"She's called the Statue of Liberty," Tim said. "And you're right that we can actually walk inside her. We won't be able to go up into the top, but we can walk around. It's in New York City, but it's on an island."

"How will we get there?" Tommy asked.

"On a boat."

Tommy giggled. "Won't you get sick?"

Tim smiled. Tommy had already picked up on the fact that his father got seasick, and Tim was glad that, so far, Tommy didn't seem to have inherited it.

"No. It's a short ride. I'll be fine."

"When do we go?"

"Once you're ready," Tim said. "So go potty and get dressed and then, we'll get breakfast and go."

Worry over, Tommy happily jumped off the bed and scurried into the bathroom. Tim pulled out some clothes for Tommy to change into. He should probably make sure that Tommy took a bath that night...if only so that his in-laws didn't accuse him of not taking care of his son. Tim smiled at the thought. Virginia was pretty understanding and Michael was mellow most of the time, but occasionally, Tim felt like they suddenly realized that they were supposed to be difficult to their son-in-law and they razzed him about things.

Tony hadn't come into the bedroom and Tim was regretting his flash of temper, but there were times when he felt like Tony thought he had to always be having a crisis of some kind. And while Tim could easily acknowledge (or not-so-easily) that he had been in a state of crisis for far too long, he was doing really well. His family was doing well. His job was going well. Everything seemed to be in pretty good balance. It was a stressful balance at times, but it was good. He liked his life and he didn't need Tony to be thinking he was on the verge of falling apart again simply because he had a moment of nerves.

Tommy came out of the bathroom.

"Did you wash your hands?" Tim asked.

Tommy turned around and walked back into the bathroom.

Tim smiled and rolled his eyes a little. It was such a simple thing, but Tommy had to be reminded to wash his hands far too often.

Tommy came back out and ran over.

"Smell my hands, Daddy! They're clean!"

"I believe you, Tommy," Tim said.

"Smell my hands!"

Tommy shoved his hands in Tim's face and Tim smelled the scent of hotel soap.

"Good. Now, get dressed and then, we'll call Mommy before we go and get breakfast."

Tommy nodded and quickly got out of his pajamas and into his clothes. Then, he climbed onto the bed and sat on Tim's lap while Tim called Delilah. He smiled when her face came on the screen.

"Good morning," Tim said.

"Mommy! We're going into a statue today!"

"Good morning," Delilah said, grinning at Tommy's excitement. "Are you having fun?"

"Yes! We ran up steps and saw a bell!"

"Sounds like fun."

"And we saw horses on the beach!"

"Really? Where was that?"

"Assateague State Park," Tim said. "We should go out there again sometime. It was really nice out there."

"Could we get my wheelchair onto the beach?"

"We'd figure something out," Tim said, grinning.

"How was the aquarium?"

"It was good," Tim said.

"There were sharks, Mommy!" Tommy said. "And I touched a... what was it, Daddy?"

"A horseshoe crab," Tim said.

"Wow. That sounds fun. Here, let me get the girls. Evelyn, Esther. Your dad and brother are on the phone. Come and say hi."

There was the sound of running feet and then both Evelyn and Esther were pushing their faces into the camera.

"Da! Da!" Esther said.

"Hi, Evelyn! Hi, Esther!" Tommy said, waving.

"Wave to your brother," Delilah said.

Both girls waved frantically at the phone.

"Are you doing okay?" Tim asked.

"Yes. Everything's fine so far. Make sure you remember to call Mom and Dad and let them know when you'll be there."

"I will. If we take too long in New York, we'll probably wait until tomorrow morning to get there. Tommy totally zonked out after yesterday and I don't want to wear him out too much."

"Okay. Just remember to call. They might get grumpy."

"I will. Okay, Tommy. Time to say bye!"

"Bye, Mommy! Bye, Esther! Bye, Evelyn!"

"Wave bye-bye, girls."

Both twins waved at the camera again. There was another round of good-byes and then they hung up.

"Okay, Tommy. Let's make sure we have everything and then we'll go and get breakfast, okay?"

"Okay!"

Tommy began to look all over the room, making sure that they had everything. He searched in every nook and cranny, as if the bags had exploded their contents all over the room in the night. Tim chuckled and just focused on getting the bags ready. Then, they went back out into the main part of the room. Tony was there and already packed up. He raised a significant eyebrow at Tim. Tim shrugged a little and felt uncomfortable, knowing that he'd overreacted to Tony's concern. Then, Tony smiled and looked at Tommy.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes! In the statue!"

"Okay, let's go and get some breakfast," Tony said.

"I want a piggyback!" Tommy said.

"Ask your dad if he'll carry my bag, then," Tony said.

"Daddy, carry Tony's bag!" Tommy ordered.

Tim raised an eyebrow and Tommy looked a little sheepish. As the oldest child, he'd started getting a little bossy and both Tim and Delilah were trying to make sure that he didn't become the bossy child everyone disliked, especially when he was usually so sweet-natured.

"Daddy, will you please carry Tony's bag?" Tommy asked.

"Yes, I will."

"Thanks!"

Tony smiled and handed Tim the bag. They went down to the free continental breakfast and Tim let Tommy tag along with Tony as they picked out their options. He made sure that it wasn't just sugary cereal that Tommy got, but thankfully, Tommy did like toast and he did like eggs. He was also a good eater which helped. Sometimes, Evelyn would be very stubborn about eating, but she always got hungry later on. Tommy never gave them that trouble, not even when he was excited. He might eat too fast, but he'd always eat.

Tim decided that he needed to be a good example and so he bypassed his own usual sugary cereal in favor of eggs and hashbrowns and even some yogurt with granola. He did snag a doughnut (no sprinkles), though, along with his coffee. Tony got a bagel and a banana and some mixture of eggs that might be called an omelette. Maybe.

They all ate quickly and cleaned up after themselves. Tim made Tommy go to the bathroom once more while Tony checked them out.

Then, they got into the car and started on their way to New York City and the Statue of Liberty.