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.

"Jack, I need you to be quiet, okay? Nicky might be sleeping and Al will be really, really mad if we wake him up. Can you be quiet?"

Jack pulled at the straps of his car seat, but Tim wasn't letting him out until he promised to be quiet. Tim felt silly, bargaining with a three-year old, but he was nervous about telling Al what happened. He was afraid she might be mad at him for taking the kids without talking to her first.

Jack finally agreed to be quiet and Tim unbuckled him from the seat, realizing the flaw in his plan as soon as Jack's feet hit the ground and he went running to the front door. Maybe he should have gotten Cody out first, but then he'd have had only one hand free. An extra arm or two would really be useful. Or maybe one of those grippy tails, like a monkey.

Tim sighed and got Cody out of the car seat as quickly as he could, then he hurried up to the door. At least Jack had the good sense to wait at the door and not open it or, worse, ring the door bell.

"Jack, no running, no yelling, no shouting, no jumping on the furniture, no jumping on anything, really, no skipping, no climbing....." Tim trailed off, trying to think of anything he was missing out.

Jack stuck out his lower lip. "No fun."

"Exactly Jack, no fun." Tim opened the door and walked into the house, calling Al's name as he did.

"I'm in the living room," she called back to him.

"Be there in a second," shouted Tim. He took Jack into the TV room, settled him in with a Disney DVD and then headed to the living room, still carrying Cody. He found Al on the couch, reading The Gathering, her eyes red.

"Nicky sleeping?"

"Yeah, just put him down for his nap. Um....it's great to see you and all, but why've you got Cody with you?" asked Al, putting her book down on the end table.

Tim sat down next to her. Cody held out his arms to her and smiled, so Tim handed him over. Al smiled back at Cody and settled him into her lap. Her expression was equal parts confusion and concern.

Tim leaned back against the couch, wishing that he could just sink into it and get swallowed up and transported somewhere else. He stretched his arm across the back of the couch and let his hand fall onto Al's shoulder.

"I hope it's okay, but Billy's not feeling too good today and I said we'd keep the kids for the night."

"Is this the not-feeling-too-good that comes from drinking too much?" asked Al.

Tim decided to ignore the peevish tone in her voice. "No...he just, well, kinda lost it....when he realized today was the day he proposed to Mindy."

"What happened?" Al' voice had softened, her irritation gone.

"The day care place called the garage to say that Jack and Cody weren't there, so I went to Billy's. He was a mess, Al, a total mess, watching their wedding video."

She looked at Tim, then looked down. "Was he drinking?"

She'd asked the question quietly, like it hurt to say the words. Tim sighed. "No, he wasn't. And that made it worse – that he could just fall to pieces like that. Jesus, Al, I thought he was doing better. I really did."

"Timmy, it's not a straight line, you know?" Al leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then stood up. "Cody's nearly asleep here, I'm just going to put him in the play pen. Back in a minute."

Tim watched her go, then closed his eyes. When Al came back, she sat practically in his lap, her back against his chest, her curls tickling his face and neck. He put his arms around her and she took his hands, lacing their fingers together.

"Are TJ and Amber at school? Are they okay?"

"Yeah. When she realized they were going to be late and Billy wasn't going anywhere, Amber decided that they'd walk to school. You know, she even strapped Cody into his car seat because she didn't think he should be crawling around if no one was watching him."

Al squeezed Tim's hand. "She's a smart kid....I wish they'd called us."

"Yeah. I stopped at the school to make sure they'd gotten there safely and told them that next time, they have to call us." Tim closed his eyes. He knew he should probably get back to work, but he didn't want to move. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, Tim's thoughts spinning in fifty different directions.

"I hope you're not mad," Tim said, his voice rough.

"Why would I be mad?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"You know, that I took the kids and said we'd keep them for tonight and didn't even ask you."

"Timmy, you did exactly what you're supposed to do. You remember, Billy asked us to be their guardians – that means we have an extra responsibility to those kids."

"Yeah, but I thought that was just if....you know....if Billy died too." Tim didn't even want to think those words, let alone say them out loud.

"Well, yeah, but it's also if Billy can't take care of them. If he keeps sliding back like today, we might need to talk to the lawyer about stepping in."

"God, we can't do that to Billy. The kids are all he has left. Do you know what would happen to him if they were gone?" Tim felt panicked at the thought.

"It's okay, Timmy. It's okay. It wouldn't be forever, and yeah, it would be horrible for Billy, but what if we did nothing and then one of the kid got hurt or worse?"

Tim closed his eyes. He didn't understand sometimes why life had to be like this, why things sometimes got worse before they got even worse. It wasn't fair.

"Look, Al, this was just once and nothing happened. And next time, if there even is a next time, Amber or TJ will call us. We don't have to do anything yet. We'd just be making things worse."

Al sighed. "Okay.....if you're sure about this."

"I'm sure," said Tim, refusing to let his mind go in any direction that would make him less sure.

"Do you want me to go talk to him?"

"I dunno. Your talks with him recently haven't seemed to go all that good."

"I guess not. But he wasn't ready to hear what I was saying then. Maybe he's ready now."

"I can talk to him." Tim tried to sound more confident than he felt. Truth was, he had no idea what to say.

"You could, but you're not in the club."

"The club?"

"Yeah. The club for people who've accidently killed people they love. It's a really shitty club, but no one else can really understand what it's like." Al's voice was quiet and even.

"If you think you can talk to him without getting into a fight...." Tim's voice trailed off.

"I think I can." She pulled his arms more tightly around her.

Tim pressed a kiss onto the top of her head and groaned as he looked at the clock. "I really should get back to work. I've been fighting with this damn transmission all morning and need to get it finished before Amber and TJ need to be picked up this afternoon.

Al squirmed around so she could look at him. Her eyes had a spark that he hadn't seen in some time. "Timmy, do you think I could go in and try to fix it. I really miss fixing cars and I feel like I'm forgetting everything I've ever learned."

Tim grinned. She was so cute when she got all excited about something. "Knock yourself out. Just remember to pick up Amber and TJ, okay? You can bring them back to the garage if you're not finished. Billy usually just lets them watch TV in the waiting room until he's ready to go home."

Al smiled. "I bet I can get it fixed and stop by to talk to Billy before it's time to get the kids from school."

"Yeah? I'll take that bet," said Tim with a smirk as he leaned into her ear to whisper what he wanted to bet. The distraction felt good, a little bit of the old normal in a sea of the new normal.