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.
It was early in the morning, the sky just beginning to lighten in the east when Tim woke up. Checking the clock, he groaned and flopped back on his pillow. The only thing worse than waking up early was waking up early on a Saturday when you didn't need to. Usually, Tim could roll over and go back to sleep, but he felt too awake for that.
He got out of bed, got dressed and headed out to the kitchen, where he found TJ eating a bowl of cereal while reading the back of the cereal box.
"Hi, Uncle Timmy. What does fort-a-fi-ed mean?" TJ was learning how to read and still needed to slowly sound out the longer, more difficult words.
Tim rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Too early in the morning for that sort of question. Ask me an easier one."
TJ ran his finger down the box, like he was looking for something. "Here, riddles. Where do cows go on Friday nights?"
"No idea."
"The moooovies." TJ giggled and Tim grinned. He got a bowl from the cupboard and sat down next to his nephew.
"I'm 0 for 2 in the question department. Maybe we better hold off until later."
"Okay," said TJ with only a hint of disappointment in his voice. They ate their cereal in silence as the sun came up. When they were finished, Tim put both of their bowls in the dishwasher and stood at the sink, looking out the window.
"You want to go fishing?" asked Tim.
"Out on the lake in the boat?" asked TJ.
"Yeah. Standing on the dock is just boring."
TJ nodded enthusiastically.
"Then go get dressed," said Tim, the words barely out of his mouth before TJ was racing out of the kitchen.
Tim decided he didn't feel like driving to buy bait, so he got a hot dog out of the refrigerator and cut it up into small pieces, which he put in a ziplock bag. He left a note for Al and made sure he had his cell phone in his pocket.
Then he put on his boots and jacket and waited by the front door. TJ came out wearing a sweatshirt that was about two sizes too small for him. Tim made a mental note to talk to Billy about that.
They went out to the garage and got the tackle box and fishing rods, then walked to the dock. Tim stepped down into the boat first, then tried to help TJ down, but the boy waved him off.
"I'm six, now, you know," he said, his voice full of confidence and irritation. Tim held his hands up and leaned back, half-holding his breath as TJ scrambled awkwardly into the boat.
Tim went back to the bench seat, flipped up the lid and rummaged around until he came up with one of the child-sized life jackets that Al had insisted on buying. He tossed it to TJ.
"Do I have to?" he whined.
"Yep. Boat ain't moving 'til you're wearing that."
TJ pouted but slowly put on the vest and Tim fastened the straps for him, making sure they were snug.
"Where's your life jacket?"
Tim sighed. He hated wearing the damn things too, but he could see the kid's point. He returned to the bench seat, got out a life jacket and put it on. Then he untied the boat, sat down behind the wheel and started the engine.
He piloted the boat away from the dock and headed out to a shady spot near where a creek emptied into the lake. Their path took them past Jay and Lyla's house. The exterior was nearly finished. Now all the work was happening inside. The last time he talked to Six, it sounded like the house would be finished by Thanksgiving, but they weren't planning to move in until the week before Christmas, when Lyla was on break and the high school football season had ended.
"Who's going to live there?" asked TJ, pointing.
"My best friend Jay and his family. You know Noah Street, right?"
TJ nodded.
"Well, Jay's his dad. You friends with Noah at all?"
TJ shrugged. "We play football at recess sometimes, even though he's in third grade and I'm only in stupid first grade."
"Won't be like that forever."
"It feels like it sometimes." TJ sighed.
Tim smiled and shut off the engine. He took one of the rods, baited the hook with a bit of hot dog and handed it over to TJ, who took it eagerly. Tim leaned out of the way of the boy's cast and watched as he did a pretty decent job, the orange bobber sailing through the air before landing with a small splash about thirty feet from the boat. Tim picked up his fishing rod, baited the hook and cast the line in the opposite direction. Then he settled in his seat to wait, keeping half an eye on his nephew while his thoughts wandered aimlessly.
"How long does it take?" asked TJ.
"You've been fishing before. You know it takes as long as it takes. That's why it's called fishing and not catching."
TJ giggled. "I wish it was called catching. That would be even more fun."
Tim smiled and leaned back, enjoying the sunlight on his face and watching the sparkling reflections on the water. The silence lasted for maybe ten or fifteen minutes before TJ squealed and started reeling in his line, the orange bobber barely visible beneath the water.
Tim leaned forward and watched, ready to step in if TJ needed him. In the end, the boy was able to reel the fish in all by himself, a nice-sized sun fish. TJ reached for the fish but Tim pulled him back.
"Until your hands are bigger than your fish, I'm going to have to do this part," he said as he grabbed the line. "See these fins here? They're pretty sharp, so you have to be able to stretch your hand from the top of the body around to the belly, so then you can smooth the fin back and hold it safely. See how I'm going this?"
"Yeah," said TJ, his eyes glued to the fish.
Tim held the fish in one hand and carefully worked the hook out of its mouth with his other hand. When he was done, he held the fish out to his nephew. "Go on, you can touch it if you want."
TJ tentatively put a finger on the fish's head, looking at it with huge eyes. "Now what?"
"Now, we put him back." Tim leaned over the side of the boat, put the fish under the water and then let go. He could see just a squiggle under the water as the fish darted away.
"Think you can bait your own hook?" Tim asked, handing TJ a piece of hot dog. He watched as TJ seriously and carefully set about baiting the hook, his tongue peeking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. When he was done, he cast again and then sat back down to wait.
Tim settled back into his seat, barely watching his bobber at all. Truth was, he didn't care all that much about catching fish. He just liked being out in the boat. He was especially having fun with TJ and couldn't wait until Nicky was old enough to take fishing.
"Uncle Timmy?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you get to be Nicky's dad?"
"How did I get to be Nicky's dad," Tim repeated slowly, trying to buy himself time for his brain to catch up with the situation. What exactly was the kid asking here? Where babies came from? He was pretty sure he didn't want to go anywhere near that topic.
"Yeah," said TJ, looking at Tim like he expected an answer sooner rather than later.
Tim took a deep breath, puffed out his cheeks and then exhaled slowly. The little hamster in his brain was spinning the wheel like mad this morning, but no great ideas were lighting up for him. "I'm sorry, TJ, I don't know if I understand your question. Are you asking me where babies come from?"
"No, they come from their mom's tummies," said TJ, his tone suggesting that everyone knew this. "But how is the dad the dad? Is it just because the dad is married to the mom?"
"No, there's more to it than that. Maybe this is something you should talk to your dad about."
"If my dad marries a new lady, does she become my mom?"
"Whoa, this is definitely something you need to talk to your dad about."
"I tried to ask him. He didn't want to talk about it." TJ looked down, his hair curtaining his face although Tim could hear the tears in his voice. He put his hand on TJ's shoulder.
"TJ, your mom will always be your mom, even if she's not here any more. No one and nothing can change that."
"And will my dad always be my dad?"
"Of course he will."
"What if I don't want him to be my dad anymore? What if I want you to be my dad? Like you're Nicky's dad."
Tim rubbed his face and tried to figure out how their conversation had taken this turn. "Look, TJ, your dad loves you very much. He's just really sad right now. He really misses your mom, just like you do."
"He forgot my birthday, but Amber got her birthday. She even got a great big party."
Shit, Tim thought. Billy wasn't the only one who had forgotten TJ's birthday. He and Al had completely forgotten as well. Now that he thought about it, he realized it had been in September, probably right around the time of Mindy's funeral.
"TJ, I didn't remember your birthday either. Things were really......messed up then. Everyone was so sad about your mom, I guess we kind of forgot about everything else."
TJ's feet dangled below his seat and he started to kick them lazily. "He still should of remembered."
"Can we make it up to you now? Maybe pick a different day to have your birthday this one time only?"
"No." TJ shook his head to emphasize his disapproval of the idea. "Are you sure you can't be my dad?"
"I'm sure. And I think your dad would be pretty sad if he heard you say that."
"Well, then can we all move back in with you and Al?"
"Why would you want to do that? Don't you like living in your own house, having your own room again?"
TJ shrugged. "I like my room. But Al makes much better dinners and if I woke up in the middle of the night you were usually feeding Nicky so I could talk to you. When I wake up now, my dad is never awake. And he smells funny."
"He smells funny?" asked Tim, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. Kind of like beer but worse."
He was definitely going to have to talk to Billy. Tim raked a hand through his hair and stared at the bottom of the boat, unsure of what to say next.
"I just want things to go back to how they used to be," said TJ.
"I know, buddy, I know, Me too. But that's not how it works. Look, I'll talk to your dad. I can't promise anything will change, but you know you can call me or Al any time if you ever need anything."
TJ nodded and turned his attention back to fishing. Tim leaned back, not looking forward to the conversation he needed to have with Billy.