Chapter Text
Timmy didn't realize how long the car ride would be until he pulled up the GPS. Doing a double take he couldn’t help but massage the bridge of his nose as he silently groaned. Yeah, he was doing his best to save on money until they got to Retroville… but almost 20 hours??
He couldn’t help but sigh.
After the parking lot fiasco, he couldn’t help the thought that he would fall asleep and Trixie would be at the door with some construction crew and tear down his home. It kept him in a light doze all night, so at 4:30 in the morning with close to 3-ish hours of sleep in total he packed up the last of their things, buckled the twins up, and took one last look at his childhood home.
Getting Tammy and Tommy into the car wasn’t all that hard, since they were still mostly conked out from yesterday, and the fact that they left at 4:30 made the LA traffic pretty much nonexistent.
Despite knowing this would probably be the last he would see of Dimmsdale and California as a whole, he didn’t cry, he was just so done .
So he started up the car, pulled out, and began the drive.
Most of the drive was quiet as his children slept in their car seats, and the numbness of everything that had happened in the past few months finally caught up to him, leading him to drive on autopilot for the first few hours while the sun that crested California began to bask the sunny state in its glow but did very little to affect him. It wasn’t until Tammy, who normally was the later sleeper of the two, woke with a yawn that he clocked back in.
“Morning Tam-Tam.” he whispered as she stretched in her car seat and began to look around, most doubly noting that they were in the car and not at home. Checking the car clock, he noted it was barely 7:30 in the morning and was surprised at the lack of traffic so far.
“We’re in the car Daddy,” Timmy couldn’t help but chuckle at his previous observation and replied, “Yes we are sweetheart, we’ve been in the car for a few hours now.” She nodded and took a moment to think before speaking, “We left Dimmsdale?” and Timmy couldn’t help the pool of fear that bundled in his gut. He knew what she was going to ask as he answered. “Yes ma’am, it was pretty early when we left…”
He could hear her sniffles as she whispered, “Did… did mommy-y…?” His heart ached for her as she struggled to finish her sentence. As he attempted to find something to say she burst into tears, as if she already knew the answer. She surprisingly stayed quiet but her hiccupping cries and sniffle had him pulling into the nearest In-and-Out before he unbuckled his seatbelt and turned around so he could cradle her face.
Cupping her cheek he whispered, “Oh Tamantha… baby…” and she began to cry harder, heartbroken and dejected as he attempted to wipe her tears away. “D-Daddy…” she hiccupped as he did his best to hold her, while Tommy surprisingly snoozed away, his blue race car blanket untucked from where he shifted in his sleep.
“She… she didn’t even say g-goodbye!” she cried out as her face turned red and snot dripped from her nose, turning to the glove department he grabbed a few of the napkins he left in there and began wiping her face. “Shh.. Shh, it's okay Tam-Tam, take a breath, it's okay…” he whispered again as she took hiccuping breaths.
Taking a breath himself to mentally prepare himself to talk to his daughter, Tommy began waking up, grumbling and sniffling as he rubbed his eyes. “D-dad?” He yawned, “Are we out of Dimmsdale yet?”
Trying not to get overwhelmed at the thought of two crying toddlers he nodded and attempted to explain before Tammy cried out, “And Mommy didn’t even say bye!” and burst into tears once more. Tommy, despite being a little punk of a kid, began crying in response. “H-hey, Hey it's okay! Don’t worry!” he took Tammy’s face in one hand and laid his other over Tommy’s unruly bedhead, “We’ll be alright! Yeah?” he began, “Just imagine it! You two, me, and the whole state of Texas! We’ll go see rodeos and cows, and ride horses and see cowboys!” Tammy sniffed out, “...and cowgirls?”
Timmy let out a laugh, relaxing as he successfully distracted his toddlers from a tantrum/breakdown, “Yes! And cowgirls too!” His face softened as he glanced between the two, “A fresh start will be good for us, and remember the pictures I showed you of our house?’ he smiled softly, “With the Cul-de-sac? And the yard with the big tree?” The two nodded, and he mentally rejoiced as they settled down. “It’ll be great, I promise, and when you start school again you’ll have so many friends that you’ll forget all about Dimmsdale!” He grinned at them again, “So, sounds like a plan?”
Tommy sniffed and nodded, while Tammy only shrugged. They sat in silence for a minute as Tammy caught her breath before Tommy spoke up. “Daddy… can, can we get breakfast?” Timmy jumped at the distraction and laughed, “Yes we can bud, and while we’re at it, we can go wash up and use the bathroom.”
Day one of the drive totaled to about 7-ish hours, mainly because they had to take a lot of bathroom breaks since everyone was “thirsty”. He would have driven a few more hours if Tommy hadn’t gotten so fussy, they poor boy just couldn’t sit still and Timmy was not about to deal with Tommy bothering his sister. Or worse, getting out of his car seat, the thought alone made him shudder as he checked him and the two into the motel and started up a bath.
Whenever Tommy did that usually it…. He paused his train of thought, Tammy giggling as his hands stilled from scrubbing her hair. ‘ Usually, usually Trixie got him to sit back down…’ Clearing his throat and his thoughts he finished up with Tammy, got Tommy bathed, and set the two up for bed with a movie and strict instructions to get to bed when it was done.
After hearing their shouts of confirmation, he stepped outside and sat at a table near their motel room to begin mapping out the following route for tomorrow and other important things. His pen and phone were working overdrive as he began documenting dentists and doctors offices that accepted their insurance nearby, the date their moving truck would get to their new house, the budgeting for groceries before he got his first paycheck, schools that would take the twins, daycares that would take the twins, parks, and things to do for the twins.
His pen stilled on the notepad he was writing on, the cool desert air filled his lungs and he reflected what he was doing. He was moving his children ‘ his children, Trixie doesn’t get to call them that ’ across 3-4 states; Dimmsdale was gone, no more, there was no reason to go back.
And his heart ached.
He wondered about his tree house for a few moments, filled to the brim with memories and old Crimson Chin memorabilia that he sold to get enough money to fight Trixie. He snorted and rubbed an eye in exhaustion, she always harped about how childish he was despite also being a huge comic book nerd.
Sniffing, his thoughts continued to drift. What was she doing now? Was she talking and having fun with her new guy? Or was she wallowing in bed? Was she eatting dinner whith her newly un-estranged family? Or eating a tub of chunky cookie dough ice cream, sobbing her eyes out? It was a Thursday, they usually had movie nights on Thursdays.
His kids would snuggle up to them, and she would rest her shoulder on his shoulder all sweet and loving-like, and he would cover them with their fluffiest blanket and get to hold his whole world as they slept around him and-
His shoulders started to shake as tears fell from his eyes in never-ending streams. Angrily he scrubbed harshly at his face as he attempted to suck in a breath, why was he crying? Why does he keep crying? Why does it matter ? He has his kids! He’s finally going to Texas! Why should he care ?
But the tears kept falling and he held his phone loosely as it hit him. Ah.
A notification had lit up his screen.
12:01 AM
Anniversary Today! <3
He misses Trixie.