It was a couple of days after the secret of Kate's comic had come to light before she got back to Tim regarding his offer. She gleefully approached Tim's desk and told him, "Julie said she would love for you to put together a website for us and asked me to tell you that she loves you forever."
Tim was taken aback by the enthusiasm of Kate's message, though he recognized that "love you forever" bit was intentionally hyperbolic on Julie's (or "Peaches'") part. He didn't want to admit how much it pleased him to know the women were entrusting their comic to him.
"She and I were going to meet tomorrow to talk about the next few installments, so if you're not busy, we'd love for you to join us. I'm sure she'll want to discuss the website with you. I personally don't care about the specifics of the site, but she's got some strong opinions."
Tim eagerly agreed to the lunch date—he didn't think it necessary to tell Kate that he had no plans for the weekend other than grocery shopping and that the lunch date would probably save him from spending the weekend in his apartment playing his newest computer game—and they decided to meet at a café in Old Town for one o'clock.
Tony noticed that Tim and Kate had been acting more chummy than usual, but he didn't comment on it. He also didn't comment on the fact that they would talk in hushed tones and would completely stop talking the moment someone neared them. It had piqued his interest, but he kept quiet, figuring he'd find out soon enough.
Tim tended to be habitually early, and Saturday was no different. He arrived at the small café earlier than need be and staked out a small table, ordering a soda and BLT for the time being. It seemed that Kate and her cousin were equally punctual, as they entered almost five minutes after him.
"Tim," Kate called with a smile. As he stood to greet her, he realized he couldn't remember the last time she had used his first name; probably never. "This is my cousin, Julie."
He looked between the cousins in shock. The women couldn't have been more different. Unlike Kate, who stuck to the more feminine and demure (though sensible and professional) style of clothing, her cousin looked like she had raided Abby's closet. She wore black jeans with rips in the knees along with black Doc Martins. Her top was a black tank top with a picture of Wolverine; there was also a silver chain attached to the left strap that ran down to the buckle of her jeans. Her face was free of any cosmetics, save for bright red lipstick, accentuated by the ruby stud that adorned the right side of her nose. Her short hair was a reddish-purple color and was pushed back by a black plastic headband with red roses drawn on it.
Julie ignored Tim's outstretched hand, opting to engulf him in a hug instead. "I don't know if my cousin Kate told you, but I truly love you!" she squealed. "And please, call me 'Peaches.' Everybody does. Well, except for my family members," she added with a face.
Tim was still dumbfounded as the three of them took their seats. He knew he was staring at Peaches as though she had three heads, and he knew that was rude, but he just couldn't help it. He'd had the same reaction when he'd found out that Darth Vader was Luke's and Leia's father, and, much like that time, he had a singular thought running through his mind: How on earth could they be related?
"I know, right? Hard to believe we're related!" Peaches said as though she'd read his mind. Tim blushed, making the girls giggle. "It's okay; I would think the same thing."
"It's just…I mean, Kate is so…and you…" he stammered, trying to figure out how to express himself without it sounding insulting to either woman.
Kate held up a hand, stopping the stuttering man. "It's fine, McGee. Our family thinks the same thing."
He nodded and gave both of them a grateful smile. "So the website," he began, happy to get off the subject.
"The website!" Peaches exclaimed. "Have I told you I love you forever?"
"Um…you might have mentioned it."
"Because those guys at are nice and all, but God are they restrictive!" she groaned in disgust. "They were a good starting point for Firefly, but I'm ready to take her to the next level and flesh her out a bit more. We've got enough loyal viewers that they'll follow us if we make the move."
He pulled out a pad and pencil, ready to get down to business. "What kind of layout are you looking for?"
Peaches sat back, obviously not having thought much about the specifics of the site, despite her enthusiasm. "Well, I want something that's a bit different. I mean, if I just wanted some dumb ass blog I'd sign up for one."
"Right," Tim agreed. "So do you have a specific background that you want? I can take a picture of Firefly and have it repeat along the back. Maybe we could get a collage together even. Or, of course, it could just be a solid color background."
"Definitely solid background," she said. "I think if we have a background with pictures it'll hurt the readers' eyes when they try to read the comics."
Tim nodded "Good point. I can send you the different color possibilities and you tell me which one you like best. And remember, we can always change it." He marked that much down on his notepad before moving on. "I'm assuming you want a header?"
"Yeah, Kate's working on that," she said as she nodded to her cousin. "She can get it to you when she's finished."
"And what's the name of your website?"
"Isn't Firefly (dot) com okay?"
He shook his head. "That domain name is already taken. However, I checked, and Fireflycomics (dot) com is available."
Peaches closed her eyes and smiled. "Have I mentioned I love you?"
"What about pages?" he asked with a smile. "Do you want one installment per page, or did you want multiple installments on each page?"
"One per page. And could you archive them?"
"By month and year," he assured her. "What about other pages? A history of Firefly? Bio pages for you and Kate?"
"Yes and yes!" The woman's eyes were becoming wider and wider as the conversation went on. "Also, I'm in talks with someone about selling Firefly merchandise so…"
He nodded, already seeing where she was going. "We'll set up a page for merchandise. What about comments? Do you want readers to leave them under each installment, or would you rather an all inclusive guestbook?"
She pursed her lips slightly as she considered her options. Finally, she said, "All inclusive guestbook."
They talked for almost an hour, planning out the impending website. Well, Tim and Peaches talked; Kate sat to the side, watching the conversation with slight interest. By the end of their lunch, they had a somewhat poorly drawn layout, an estimated number of pages, an archive system, and a tentative color scheme.
"I simply cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of this," Peaches gushed as the meeting came to an end.
"I'm happy to do it," Tim assured her. "I'm a big fan of Firefly…and Kate's a friend," he added shyly. He knew they had a working relationship, but he still wasn't sure whether or not they were really friends. He hoped they were.
"You've got good friends, Katie," Peaches said to her cousin.
Kate gave Tim a warm smile and nodded. "Some of them," she agreed.
The ladies left with sweet good-byes and a kiss to each of Tim's cheeks, which resulted in a very red-faced Timothy McGee.