Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.
Author's Note: Thank you for all the kind and constructive reviews. Anon, I completely agree with you on Al and that chapter was actually my attempt to try to make her slightly unreasonable and cranky. I guess I undershot the mark. Anyway, hopefully, you'll see more conflict and less perfection in the next few chapters. :)
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The next week, Billy got Jack and Cody enrolled in day care and he went back to work. It went fairly smoothly, although Tim found his brother had an even shorter attention span than usual and was prone to making stupid mistakes, like trying to order 2000 oil filters instead of 200. Tim kept an eye out for him and was hopeful that things would improve.
Ever since the accident, Billy was reluctant to drive, especially if he was alone, so he and Tim were carpooling to work. This made Tim a bit crazy because Billy was even worse in the mornings than he was. On the mornings they had to open the garage early, it was particularly stressful.
Tim was also getting into the routine of Nicky's midnight feeding, which in actuality could be any time between midnight and 3am, depending on the baby, who seemed to have an uncanny sense of how best to mess up his father's sleeping patterns. It seemed like whenever Tim tried to stay up and wait for Nicky to be ready to eat, the kid would wait until 3 am. But if Tim tried to go to bed early, that would be the day Nicky got hungry right at midnight.
The first few times he was woken up, it was not by Nicky's cries but by Al's pokey elbow in his ribs and a hissed complaint. ("Honestly, if I have to wake up just to wake you up, I might as well just feed him myself.") Tim was starting to learn how to sleep less deeply, to always be half-alert for the baby.
As long as he wasn't too groggy when he woke up, Tim found he liked the night feedings. He'd enjoy the peace and quiet as he sat on the couch in the television room, usually in the dark, with George curled up next to him.
When Bruno died, Tim has been concerned that George would miss his buddy. Tim campaigned for a new puppy, but Al squished that idea mercilessly. ("We can have a puppy. Or we can have a baby. But I cannot handle both a puppy and a baby at the same time.") Luckily, with TJ, Amber and Jack in the house, George was getting plenty of exercise and attention.
Friday night's feeding happened to be on the early side. After preparing the bottle, Tim went into the TV room and was surprised to see TJ sitting on the couch, flipping through a book.
"What are you doing awake?"
"Can't sleep," replied TJ with a shrug.
"You have a nightmare or something?" asked Tim as he settled down on the opposite end of the couch.
"No."
"You just can't sleep?" At this point, Tim couldn't imagine not being able to sleep. He felt tired enough to sleep for three days straight.
"Nope. Al's taking us to the circus tomorrow." His voice was equal parts pride and excitement.
"Really?" Tim asked, surprised. It was the first time he'd heard of this plan.
TJ nodded his head resolutely and Tim noticed the way his hair flopped into his eyes. He made a mental note to remind Billy that the kid desperately needed a haircut. Mindy never liked him to look too shaggy.
"Where's the circus?"
"Midland."
"When did Al say she'd take you?"
"I said that already – tomorrow." TJ refrained from adding "duh" but just barely.
"No, I mean when did she promise you? How long ago?" Tim shook his hair out of his face and looked at his nephew, who had lost his juvenile swagger and was now staring down at the floor.
"Oh.....After....you know....The day she drove us back to school. We saw a sign and she promised if we were good and went to school for two weeks without complaining, she'd take us to the circus."
Tim tried to shrug off his misgivings about the circus promise and made a mental note to check with Al. Then he changed the subject.
"So, why aren't you playing football?"
TJ rolled his eyes and sighed. "Because when they had sign-ups in the summer, you had to be 6 and I was still only 5, so I wasn't allowed. But I'm gonna play next year."
"Yeah? You think you'll like it?"
"I know I'll like it," replied TJ with a seriousness that bordered on fierce.
"What position you want to play?"
"Defensive end."
"Really?" Tim shook his head. "Why?"
"I want to flatten the QB."
Tim smiled. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. Quarterbacks are jerks. Always bossing everyone around." TJ's face was scrunched up with disdain.
"Well, it's kinda part of their job, you know. Is it a particular QB you got a problem with?"
"Yeah. Joey. He's an asshole."
The laugh was out of Tim's mouth before he could remember that he was the responsible adult in the room and wasn't supposed to encourage that sort of language. He tried to recover by putting on his fiercest scolding voice.
"TJ! You better not let your dad or Al hear you using that kind of language."
TJ shrugged and glared defiantly. "Well, he is. I hate him. He thinks he's so great and that he knows everything."
"You been playing football in gym class or just at recess?"
"Both. I hate when I have to be on his team."
Nicky had finished the bottle, so Tim stood up and held the baby up to his towel-covered shoulder. He started to walk back and forth, gently bouncing Nicky while patting his back.
"Why are you doing that? It looks silly."
"Because otherwise, any air in his stomach would give him a tummy ache and he'd yell and scream all night."
"That's so not fair! I get yelled at when I burp."
Nicky let out a loud burp.
"Ewww. Did he just throw up?"
Tim looked at the baby and wiped his face. "Not really. Just a tiny bitt of spit-up. Better out than in, right, Nicky? Do you want to hold him for a few minutes?"
TJ looked around like he was afraid someone might see him. He shrugged, trying to play it cool, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. Tim had him sit at the end of the couch, so TJ could use the couch arm to support his own arm while he held the baby.
Tim gently placed the baby in TJ's arms, showing him how to support the baby's neck and head and explaining why his neck was wobbly and his head was soft. Then, Tim took a step back and watched his nephew as he grinned and made faces at Nicky, the baby's wide eyes tracking his cousin's ever move.
After a few minutes, Tim picked Nicky back up. "OK, TJ. Time to get back to bed."
"But," he groaned.
"No buts. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner morning will come." Tim vaguely remembered that was something his mother used to say, but it didn't look like TJ believed it any more than he had when he was that age. Nonetheless, TJ peeled himself off the couch and trudged toward his room.
Tim put the empty bottle in the kitchen sink and returned to the bedroom. He changed Nicky's diaper and then put him back in the crib. Then Tim climbed into bed and gently shook Al's shoulder.
"Al? Al, wake up for a minute there. I need to talk to you about something."
Al growled, pulled the blankets over her head and rolled over.
"Al, c'mon, this is important." Tim didn't want to wait until morning because he was sure he'd forget about it by then.
Al flopped over on her back and shot Tim a dark look. "What?"
"Did you promise to take the kids to the circus tomorrow ?"
"What?"
"The circus.....in Midland this weekend. Did you say you'd take them?"
Al rubbed her eyes. "No. Of course not. Why would I do that?"
Tim sighed. "TJ said that on the first day they went back to school, you promised to take them to the circus if they were good."
"Shit."
Tim could see Al's shoulders slump, even though she was laying down.
"Your forgot?"
"Yeah, it looks like it. When I made the promise, it seemed so far away. Like I'd have plenty of time to sort it out."
"Well, at least you know now. You can still take them, right?"
"It might be sold out."
"There must be a way to get tickets. Like a broker or something."
"Maybe." Al yawned. "Do you think you could maybe take them?"
"Why? Don't you want to?" Tim turned on his side and faced Al, watching her stare at the ceiling with a blank look on her face.
"Just don't feel like it. It's going to be noisy, crowded and smelly."
"Then why did you promise that you'd take them?"
"I don't know.... Timmy, please?"
Tim took a deep breath and let it out while he counted. When he got to twenty, he was pretty sure he had his annoyance under control. "Okay. But what if it's sold out?"
"Then take 'em to the movies or something. And bring Billy with you, would you? Just get him out of the house for a few hours."
Tim agreed and watched as Al rolled back over and fall asleep within thirty seconds, without saying "good night," "love you," or "thanks". Tim stared up at the ceiling and just hoped that he'd be able to get tickets to the circus. He didn't think he could live with the look on TJ's face otherwise.