Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al and TJ) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.
The next day, Tim put the babies and Jack down for early naps to give Al and him a chance to talk to Amber and TJ before Tim left for golf. The conversation went pretty much the way Tim had expected. Amber was happy and excited to see Billy. TJ was stone-faced and not very responsive. Al tried to tell TJ that the important thing to remember was that his dad was back now and would be seeing them very soon, the next day in fact, but TJ didn't seem inclined to buy what she was selling.
Tim had dreaded having one of the kids ask why, if Billy was back, they weren't going to be living with him right away. He was relieved when neither child asked. Maybe they were happy where they were, maybe they just hadn't thought of it, either way, it meant Tim was off the hook on that one for at least a little while. He was able to spend a few hours hanging out with Coach Taylor, not thinking about anything except which club to use for his next swing.
On his way home from the golf course, Tim stopped at Billy's house and picked up some clothes for him. Then he stopped by the grocery store and picked up bread, milk, cereal, lunch meat, ice cream. You know, all the essentials. When he got to the cabin, he found Billy watching bowling on television.
"Jeez, Billy, the only thing more boring than actually bowling is watching it," said Tim, as he dropped Billy's duffle bag of clothes on the floor next to the couch and then walked over to the counter to unpack the groceries.
"Well, the choices were this, a Power Rangers movie or skiing."
"Skiing – that's the way to go," asserted Tim.
Billy shook his head. "It's the same thing, one guy flying down the hill after the next. Gets boring after awhile."
"Yeah, Billy, and each frame of bowling is completely different. At least with skiing, there's a chance of someone wiping out in spectacular fashion." Tim put the ice cream in the freezer and then sat down across from Billy.
Sensing the banter was over, Billy sat up straight and looked at Tim. "When can I see my kids, Timmy?"
"Come over for dinner tomorrow, stop by around five so you can spend some time with them before."
Billy nodded, a look of relief crossing over his face. "Do they know where I'm staying?"
"No. They don't know anything about this place. They're meant to stay on the other side of our house, toward Jay's place and, as far as I know, they do."
"Good, then I guess I'll see them tomorrow." Billy struggled to smile.
"You doing okay?" Tim asked in a concerned voice.
Billy nodded quickly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. A little hungover and tired, but fine."
Tim stood up. "Your motorcycle's out front, I brought it back here this morning."
"Great, thanks, Timmy. I appreciate that....and everything else."
"I know you do," said Tim as he left.
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The next day, the door bell rang a couple of minutes before five.
"I'll get it!" shouted Amber, racing out of the television room and toward the front door. Tim followed her, arriving in time to see her pull open the front door. Billy was standing awkwardly on the front porch, like a gawky teenager nervous about his first date. His hair was damp and had been combed down, his carefully-selected shirt buttoned all the way up to his throat.
Amber pushed open the screen door and flew into his arms. Billy stood there, slightly stunned but grateful. Tim gave him a small smile and hoped that he didn't expect TJ to react that way. After their joyous reunion, Amber grabbed Billy's hand and dragged him into the house, pulling him back to the television room. Billy barely had time to shout a hello to Al, who was starting dinner in the kitchen.
Tim hovered in the doorway of the tv room, nervous for Billy. Jack looked away from the television, shook his head and stood up, a big grin on his face. He greeted Billy only less enthusiastically than Amber did.
TJ never removed his gaze from the tv. When Billy greeted him, TJ gave a small wave, more dismissive than welcoming and turned his head to ensure he didn't catch a glimpse of his father in his peripheral vision. Billy swallowed hard and looked at Tim, his eyes hurt. Tim started to say something to TJ, but Billy stopped him with a raised hand and a shake of his head.
Billy sat down in the middle of the couch, which caused TJ to slide onto the floor and scoot as far away as possible, still never looking away from the television. Amber sat next to Billy and Jack sat in his lap. Tim went out to the kitchen and brought Cody in to Billy, who teared up when he saw how much the baby had changed in the last few weeks.
"Look at that, two new teeth," said Billy softly.
"Yeah, Daddy. He can pull himself up but he can't quite stand yet. But I think he'll be walking soon," said Amber.
Tim slipped out of the room and joined Al in the kitchen. She greeted him with a hug then went back to chopping vegetables.
"How'd it go?"
Tim sighed. "About how we expected, only TJ was even worse."
"Ouch. Poor kid. Billy knows to just give him time, right?"
"Yeah. I guess so. What's for dinner?"
"Shepherd's pie. You want to start peeling the potatoes?"
"No," said Tim with a grin. "But, for you, I will anyway."
An hour and a half later, they were sitting down to dinner in the sort of controlled chaos that Tim and Al were used to. Nicky was in his swing and Cody was in a high chair, but he'd already had his dinner so he was just gnawing on a teething cookie. Tim found teething cookies to be the most disgusting baby thing in the world, but if it bought them time to eat dinner in peace, then he would tolerate them.
Amber was practically glued to Billy's side but TJ continued to act colder than a day in Antarctica. Billy tried several times to engage him conversation but the boy barely responded. About ten minutes into dinner, TJ reached out, took Jack's sippy cup and dangled it just out of reach. Jack grabbed for it and whined.
"TJ. You have three seconds to give that back," said Al in her sternest voice.
The boy gave no indication of hearing or caring about the threat.
Al sighed. "Three, two, one. That's it," she said, getting up from the table to take the cup away from TJ and return it to Jack. "You know the rules for misbehaving at dinner."
"Yes, ma'am," said TJ and pushed his chair back from the table. Without another word, he trudged off to his room.
Billy looked at Al, his eyes wide with respect and amazement. "How did you do that? How come he didn't argue with you?"
Al frowned. "I don't know. That's not really like him at all."
Amber interrupted their conversation to tell Billy one of her stories, which took the rest of dinner and all of dessert. In fact, she had just finished it when Billy stood up and announced it was time for him to go.
"Can't you stay? At least until we go to bed?" pleaded Amber.
Billy shook his head. "No, sorry, Amby, but I'll be back for dinner soon."
"How soon?" she asked, lower lip stuck out petulantly.
Billy looked over her head at Al, then Tim.
"Wednesday night," said Al. "Your dad will be back Wednesday night. You want to walk him out?"
Amber nodded enthusiastically, the import of her mission distracting her from her sadness.
When Amber and Billy had left the room and Jack had dashed off to watch more television, Al picked Cody up out of his high chair and took him over to the sink to clean him up. Tim stood behind her, resting his chin on the top of your head.
"Well, how do you think that went?"
She considered the question for a minute and then shrugged. "At least there were no tears, right?"
Tim smiled ruefully. "It can only get better, I guess. Everybody's got to start somewhere."