"Hey Tommy, you almost ready, mate?" Philza asked his youngest son when he heard an annoyed huff from the coat area.

Tommy let out a frustrated whine as he turned to his father, pulling the only partially worn coat from his shoulder.

"Its broken." Tommy informed him with a pout.

"Ah, I see." Phil nodded with a chuckle as he approached, "Let me try to fix it then."

Phil crouched down and reached out for his toddlers offered coat, trying to keep his smile mild least Tommy shift his annoyance onto Phil himself.

Tommy had been getting better at dressing himself lately with basic clothing, however his larger winter jacket was still a challenge. He could only ever get one arm in before he ended up spinning in a circle like a dog after its tail. Because of this he often deemed the coat 'broken' until one of his family members 'fixed' it for him.

It funny.

It was precious.

It was absolutely on video.

"Ok, bud, all set." Phil grinned as he zipped up the coat to Tommy's chin.

"Too much!" Tommy whined, hands grabbing for the zipper and tugging it back down.

It didn't move too much from the way he'd fully grabbed it, but he seemed to get it where it was okay at least before he lifted his arms up to be carried.

"All ready to go now then?" Phil asked, not giving in to the silent demand as he stood up himself.

Instead of being mad about the denial Tommy beamed up at him as his excitement renewed. He bounced in place a moment with a giggle as he nodded his head.

"Techie and Wilby!" Tommy cheered as he turned and started to run for the door now.

"One second Tommy, wait for me." Phil laughed once more to himself as patted himself down for a third time to make sure he had his keys on him.

It wouldn't be the first time he'd locked himself out before and he didn't want to risk it once all his kids were with him. Kristin wouldn't be home for hours yet and waiting for a locksmith promised nothing for saved time.

"Hurry dad! Gunna be late!" Tommy called from the door, still too young to work the handle thankfully.

"I'm coming Toms, I'm coming." Phil assured, admittedly debating walking slower to agitate his son just a bit more.

Tommy was speaking a lot more now and often mimicked his brothers, especially so when he got frustrated. Often mirroring Wilbur like a small golden clone.

Phil just couldn't help himself sometimes.

However, they did have a deadline to meet and a bus to catch currently so Phil allowed that thought to drop away for now.

Quickly grabbing his own coat from the wall and scooting towards the door Phil ushered them out into the crisp November air. It was still early in the month, but the chill was well settled in at this point. Enough so that there was even risk of early snow according to the weather alerts.

All the more reason to get his sons all home and inside out of the chill. Last thing they needed was for any of them to get sick.

Tommy babbled excitedly about getting to see his brothers at school as they walked. Phil was only managing to nod along with it all as he also needing to keep a firm hold on his son's hand just to keep him from trying to rush ahead. It didn't matter that Tommy didn't know where to go, he was determined to get there first.

By the time they reached the city bus stop Philza had to finally give in and carry Tommy just to keep the kid from tugging out of his grip. Which is exactly what happened the moment they reached the front the boys school. Phil had thought Tommy might be more caught up in the novelty of riding the city bus for the first time, but he'd apparently underestimated his sons pure excitement over seeing said school.

Now, Tommy had seen the school a few times, having come with either him or Kristin in picking the boys up on occasion. However, he'd never seen the inside. Today he was going to and the thought had him rushing the door as if all the joy in the world were contained within.

He only had a few years to think that before reality caught up to him.

"Tommy, don't bang on the doors. That's rude." Philza warned, trying to keep a smile from his face.

Especially when Tommy turned to him with an impatient pout and whine to match.

"Hurry up!" Tommy demanded with a stomp of his foot for good measure.

"Manners, Toms. Being excited is no excuse for bad behavior." Phil warned once more as he reached the door, his hand lingering over the handle, "What do you say?"

Tommy pouted harder up at him, popping out his lower lip with a slight tremble to it. Phil only stared back and waited, knowing full well it wouldn't take long for Tommy to break right now.

" 'm sorry." Tommy muttered as he lowered his gaze though his expression never changed.

"And?"

"...open the door, please?" Tommy asked, this time lifting his head with his puppy dog eyes on for good measure.

Phil gave a snort as he used his other hand to ruffle Tommy's curls.

"Much better, mate." He nodded, shuffling Tommy back a step as he pulled the door open for them, "Now, lets go find your brothers."

x-x

The mission of 'find your brothers' was remembered only in bursts as the pair of them wandered through the halls. Tommy rushed from door to door, pushing on them mostly in vain as he called out for the two. When not doing that he was peering in through any window or display they passed.

Phil honestly couldn't help but laugh as Tommy pointed out the trophies or artworks being shown off. He seemed so convinced they were from his brothers and made sure to tell his father about needing to take them home with them. Because obviously they were being forgotten by his brothers in the first place.

Phil just, didn't have the heart to correct him.

Not yet anyway.

As the two of them made their way closer to the arts hallway itself Tommy stopped. Phil stopped with him and waited, tilting his head as he waited for whatever new story or interest seemed to catch his youngest's attention.

Instead of tossing out words of any kind Tommy let out a squeal of delight before he took off running. He didn't slow in the slightest as Phil called out to him and so he left with nothing to do but to follow the toddler.

He didn't have to question for long what had caught the smaller blonds attention. The sound of guitar chords echoed in the hall ahead of them, growing louder with each step he took.

Tommy ran full pell-mell, giggles falling from his mouth, until he zeroed in on the correct door. Phil winced slightly as his son all but body slammed into the long window beside the door, fists already up and banging on it before Phil could even utter a warning not to.

Even at a distance Phil could see the figures inside said room jolt at the sudden noises. The startled faces within quickly turning into grins.

"Wilby! Techie!" Tommy called out as he continued to hit the window, bouncing in place for good measure, "Let me in! Let me in!"

The demand wasn't exactly needed as barely a moment later the door opened by a chuckling man with a tie. Tommy was dashing into the room to his brothers by the time Phil reached the door proper, following after with a smile on his own face.

"Sorry 'bout that. He got away from me there." Phil apologized to the music teacher with a laugh.

"No worries. We were just about finished here." The man stated as he held out a hand.

Before either adult could get another word in Tommy's voice was echoing out into the room, gushing about the 'pretty pictures' and such he'd seen on the way. Wilbur was already laughing a bit, a beaming smile on his face as he moved to put his guitar in its case. Techno was mid eye roll with an amused snort as he moved to pull Tommy off of Wil's leg, where he was tugging while telling his tale.

"An-and then, there was, it was- it had a big eye and like- a bow, a BIG one-" Tommy described with animated gestures now that Techno had detached him from Wil.

" Breathe Tommy." Wilbur chuckled as he turned to face them once more, "Use all your words."

Tommy puffed a breath at Wilbur but the smile never left his face. Instead he just brought his hands up to speak with even more animated motions.

"It was a big monster." Tommy stated as he stretched his hands up as far as he could reach.

"The cyclopes painting? Is that what you're talking about?" Techno asked and causing Tommy to spin and face him wildly with a nod.

"Like in the story! But it was bigger!" Tommy tried to explain, once more throwing his arms out to emphasize.

Phil chuckled as his boys continued to talk, Tommy leading them on from things he'd seen to what new things there were around him. Techno and Wilbur seemed content, if not enthused, to carry on with him.

"Well, they're certainly brothers." The music teacher teased, a smile crinkling at his eyes, "And I had thought Wilbur could talk fast."

"I'm pretty sure Wil is his inspiration." Phil laughed back in turn.

"Then I fear the day I teach all three of them." The teacher replied, his laugh startled out of him as suddenly the chime of a triangle rang out.

Tommy had found the percussion instruments.

Techno was covering his ears and leaning away while Wilbur just laughed and tried to ring his own triangle louder than Tommy. Tommy, of course, was thrilled by this and was spurred on all the more.

"Boys, Please" Phil started, a half amused huff leaving him while he covered his own ears, "We're trying to have a discussion."

"Look, Daddy!" Tommy called out without care for his father's words, choosing instead to hold up the metal shape as he rang it.

"I see it Tommy, and I hear it. But I think its time for something else, okay?" Phil tried to persuade in a calm voice as he winced slightly at the sharp notes.

Tommy gave a short little jump of excitement even as Techno was removing the instrument from his hands. He apparently wasn't going to wait for Tommy to be finished and Phil couldn't have been more relieved.

With the resumed 'quiet' Phil turned back to the teacher. He could hear his boys talking animatedly behind him as the other man and himself discussed Wilbur's progress thus far. The man had just barely gone over Wil's recent practices when the two adults were once more startled.

This time it was the shrill scream of a recorder.

"Absolutely not! Put that down!" Phil was quick reprimand this time.

Tommy was once more laughing as both Techno and Wilbur had yanked the thing from his hand at once. Apparently the stark reactions being amusing enough that he didn't mind the hasty take away. Nor did he seem to mind at all as Wilbur took his hand and lead him away from that particular wall of instruments.

Phil sighed with relief at that while the teacher took the moment to let out another chuckle.

"You should hear it when there are about ten of them going at once." The man teased.

"No. Just, absolutely no. There is a reason we stopped at three." Phil replied with a wheeze of a laugh.

The two shared a small back and for the jokes before getting back to their talk of Wilbur. Phil keeping half an eye on his sons now, if for no other reason than to brace himself.

Once more the two were barely over the topic of future lessons when Tommy's voice rose up suddenly in great awe.

On the other side of the room Wilbur had shown Tommy the large bass drum, which was bigger than the toddler by far. This alone seemed to put him in a state of awe. However, the second Techno had gone up beside him and hit the drum, its thick whamp of a noise bringing in a new shine to Tommy's gaze.

For the remaining ten minutes of their attempted meeting the two adults struggled to be heard over the sound of thundering drums. Interspersed between the beats were peals of delighted laughter from Tommy and his brothers.

Phil didn't mind not hearing the end of the meeting. He could just as easily message the teacher later about it. The two of them were content enough to let the trio mess around with the instruments. In turn the kids seemed just as content to lose themselves in the noise that they made.