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Over the last few days Timothée’s physical and mental energy had been exceptionally low. He felt like he was merely dragging his feet along. He suspected that he had been seriously overworking himself for the past couple of years and the pressures of the industry were harder to ignore at this current time, when he wasn’t feeling his best anyway. Everything appeared suddenly overwhelming, and it was making his anxiety spike. After the Dune 2 London premiere had felt so drained that he had opted out off Florence’s and Haider’s offers of joining them for the after-party together with his fiancé (he hadn’t felt like continuing the farce of fake smiles) and instead he had gone back to the hotel room with Armie, where he had kind of broken down in front of the only person, he felt he could truly be his most vulnerable self with. Merely talking about his feelings and insecurities had made him feel better and as Armie had suggested during their heart to heart, they’ve spent the next days before they would need to depart for South Korea (their next stop of the Dune press tour) in bed, being lazy and resting and enjoying each other’s company thoroughly.
Slowly he felt like he was starting to come back to himself with the help of his daddy’s gentle care and guidance. Timmy was so grateful for having him by his side, they were both each other’s biggest support systems. Speaking of support systems…
One afternoon when Timmy and Armie were snuggling in their hotel bed in London and watching a movie, Armie’s phone rang with an incoming video call from Timmy’s mom. When Armie picked up, they were greeted with the beautiful and smiling faces of Harper and Ford, with Nicole standing behind them. Timmy smiled brighter without even thinking about it, his heart skipping a beat.
“Hey there, guys!” Tim said, waving into the phone as his head rested on Armie’s shoulder. He chuckled at the simultaneous squeals coming from their kids, as they waved back enthusiastically. “What’s up?”
Both Harper and Ford started talking at the same time, which made it impossible to understand them. Timmy snorted softly, while Armie fondly told them to slow down, so that they would be able to follow.
What followed was a retelling of their school day. Timmy listened with a tender smile on his lips, he loved those two so much, his heart felt warm, the pressure disappearing completely from his chest. He realized that this was it, this was what was the most important to him, his little family, nothing else truly mattered but this. And he would do his best to cherish them forever, as they deserved.
“…And then I stood next to Stacy, and I told them… I told them that they need to quit being mean to her because mean doesn’t look good on them!”
Timmy felt his heart swell with pride. “That’s amazing, Hops. Good job standing up for your friend.”
“We’re so proud of you,” Armie said, and Tim rubbed his arm affectionately before taking hold of his hand and squeezing it softly.
Harper blushed sheepishly, but she looked pleased with their reactions.
“Oh, and we watched your livestream, papa! From the premiere,” Ford exclaimed. “So cool! I saw you and daddy in that helicopter simulator! That looked so cool!” Timmy grinned. “It was cool. We should go to a gaming arcade sometime, they have simulators, too.” “That would be awesome!” Ford flailed, making Tim giggle.
“Your pants looked like disco balls, papa!” Harper comments. “I looooved them!” Tim felt immediately a lot better about those atrocious pants. “Thanks, Hops.”
“My favorite was auntie Flo’s dress though! She looked so pretty!”
“Auntie Z looked like C3PO,” Ford grinned, saying it as if it was the grandest thing ever that Zendaya looked like an android.
“And thank you for the shoutout, kids. Harper and Ford loved it,” Nicole interjected, smiling at them.
Timmy and Armie had used the opportunity that the London premiere was being filmed and livestreamed to greet Harper and Ford, knowing that they would be watching it from home.
Suddenly overcome with his love for his family and missing them, Timmy felt tears gather in his eyes and a sob ripped from his chest and through his throat. He turned slightly and buried his face against Armie’s shoulder as he cried.
“Papa! Why are you crying? Don’t be sad! Daddy, why is papa crying?”
He could feel Armie’s large hand rubbing circles on his back. “It’s okay, he just misses you guys a lot.”
“Aw, we miss you, too, papa!” The kids exclaimed.
Timmy rubbed his face on the fabric of Armie t-shirt before looking back at the phone and smiling softly.
“We love you, papa!”
“I love you, too,” he sniffled.
“Soon we’ll see each other in New York, yeah? In one week,” Armie explained with a fond smile, his eyes getting teary, too. They’d be in New York for their last stop on the Dune press tour and Nicole and Marc will be taking the kids there, to meet up with their parents after weeks of only seeing each other through the screens of their phones. Timmy couldn’t wait to see them all again. His heart felt a bit lighter after having talked to them, but he knew that he would truly feel like himself only once their family was complete again.