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.
After Jack and Cody were in the minivan, Tim pointed the car in the direction of his house, but then sighed and turned it around. He knew he wouldn't be able to relax until he knew for certain that TJ and Amber were safe at school.
Pulling into the school parking lot, he faced his next dilemma: what to do with Jack and Cody. Al took a hard-line against leaving kids alone in the car, even if it was only for two minutes on a freezing cold day. Had he not known about Avery, he might have pushed her about being unreasonable. But given what happened to her daughter, Tim always respected Al's feelings on the matter.
The struggle this time was that it was two kids and one of them was Jack, difficult to control even in the best circumstances. Tim got out of the car and walked around to the back, hoping to find a carrier or something that would make the trip easier. Pulling open the back door, he found a double-stroller, one of the fancy kinds where the second kid sat under the first one. Tim had never understood the arrangement, thinking that the kid in the underneath seat got a pretty bad deal – no view and possibly horrible fumes, depending on the circumstances.
For some bizarre reason, that underneath seat was one of the few places that Jack was calm and quiet. He called it his cave and Tim knew that sometimes, Billy put him in the stroller and didn't even take him anywhere, just to buy some precious quiet time.
Tim set up the stroller with minimal difficulty and got Jack out of his car seat and into his cave. Then he put Cody in the stroller, took a deep breath and headed into the school. He went into the office and tried to think of what he was going to say.
"Tim? What are you doing here?" The secretary behind the counter had a pile of dark hair and wore too much eyeliner, but her face was familiar. Tim flipped through his mental yearbook, trying to both place her and figure out how well he knew her. Judging from the way she was smiling at him, he figured he didn't know her that well. J.....something with a J....Janie? Jody? Jeanie?
"Hi....Joanie. Um, would it be possible to see Amber and TJ real quick. There's a change of plans for today that I need to talk to them about."
"I don't know, Tim," she said, biting her lip and looking down. "They really don't like having the classes disrupted."
Tim leaned against the counter and gave her his best charming smile. "Yeah, I can understand that, definitely, it's just that with everything that's happened, well, they don't handle change very well and I really need to explain to them what's going on."
"Oh, yeah, I was so sorry to hear about that," she came out from behind the counter and walked around to Tim, putting a hand on his arm. "I'll take you there and have a quick word with the teacher."
Tim hoped it was a short walk because the way she was looking at him, like it was a sweltering day and he was the last ice cream on earth, was making him a little uncomfortable.
When they reached the classroom, Tim stood back from the door while Joanie went in and had a quiet word with the teacher, who nodded. A few seconds later, he was standing alone in the hallway with all of Billy's kids. Tim was so worried about what he was going to say to them, he almost forgot to be relieved that they were both safe at school.
"You guys both okay?"
"Yeah, Uncle Timmy," said Amber with a shrug, her tone clearly implying that it was a silly question. Why wouldn't they be okay?
TJ leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, staring past Tim through his too-long bangs. Tim's guilt nearly bubbled over and he tried to put a lid on it. But it was a struggle, because maybe if he had talked to Billy the way he'd told TJ he would, none of this would have happened.
"Amber, what happened this morning?"
"We were getting ready to go to school and TJ remembered he needed to get his homework signed. Then Daddy asked what the date was and looked at his watch and then he just went all funny-weird. Then it started to get late and TJ and I aren't supposed to be late, so I told Daddy we'd walk to school. I'm seven now, you know."
Tim nodded.
"Me and TJ were late anyway though. It doesn't matter, we didn't get in trouble this time."
"How did Cody get in his car seat?"
"Oh, I couldn't reach high enough to put him in his play pen and I didn't think he should be crawling around if no one was watching him."
"Good thinking. But why didn't you call me?"
Amber shrugged. "Didn't think of it."
"TJ, remember when I said you should call me if you need anything?" Tim asked.
The boy shrugged but said nothing, his eyes trying to burn holes through Tim's chest.
Tim rubbed his face and crouched down in front of them. "Look, next time, call us. We can help you – that's our job. Now... do you guys have lunches or lunch money for today?"
Both kids shook their heads.
Tim pulled out his wallet, took out two five-dollar bills and handed one to each kid. "OK, there's a little change of plans for today. Either Al or me will pick you up after school and then you're going to spend the night at our house. Okay?"
TJ shook the hair out of his face and looked at Tim, meeting his eyes for the first time. The boy gave him a half-smile and nodded.
Tim breathed a sigh of relief and hugged both kids, squeezing them maybe a little more tightly than usual. "All right, get back to class and be good, okay? See you later."