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It all started with the snow.
Tim loved it, every year. The first snowfall was always magical. The way it blanketed the yard, the trees, the rooftops and windowsills.
It was so peaceful.
So quiet.
So beautiful.
So perfect.
And since it had spent the whole night snowing, he was able to wake up before anyone else and see a perfectly untouched wonderland.
Excited, Tim threw off the blankets and hopped out of bed without even pausing to pull on his slippers. He ran to his closet and began dressing in his warmest sweater, two pairs of sweatpants, thick snow boots, mittens, and his winter coat.
His snow boots were hard to tiptoe in as he snuck past his parents’ bedroom, but the carpet helped muffle the sound and he quickly made it down the stairs and out the backdoor.
The sun was barely up and the world was dead silent. The only thing he was able to hear was the beating of his heart. His breath fogged in the air and, after a minute to gaze around in wonder, he laughed and hurried out into the yard to start rolling the biggest snowball he could.
It took a while, but Tim barely noticed the time passing. He zig-zagged across the yard, the ball growing heavier with every step until it finally got too big to push.
“Okay! That’s a good spot.” he declared, wiped his eyebrow, and started on the next snowball.
He pushed it around the yard and back to the first one, picking it up with no small amount of effort and putting it on top.
After a second to catch his breath, he started his final snowball.
This one was a lot easier to lift and as soon as it was in place he dropped to his knees and dug through the snow to find some rocks.
Two eyes.
A nose, because they didn’t have any carrots in the house.
Six rocks for a big smile, and three buttons.
“Arms!” He turned and ran to find two branches.
They weren't the same size, but they were close enough.
Done, he stood back to admire his work with a huge smile on his own face.
His snowman was done, and he looked great!
But… he also looked lonely.
So Tim started on another snowball.
And two more after that.
The snowwoman was arranged beside the snowman with their branches intertwined and then, just because it looked like it was missing, Tim rolled three more, tiny, snowballs and built a snowkid in between them.
“There!” Tim laughed and wiped his forehead again.
That had been a lot of work, but it had been worth it. His snowfamily looked happy with his work as well.
“Dick, I swear to God!”
Tim looked up, through the wrought iron fence at his neighbors.
The Wayne’s were several years older than him, so he didn't really know them well, but his parents talked about them a lot at dinner when they were home.
Mr. Wayne had adopted Dick after a circus accident so the press would tell everyone that he was secretly super nice and competent, and Jason was… secretly his son and he just told people he was adopted so they wouldn’t ask about his relationship with Jason’s mother? Tim wasn’t sure what they meant, or why Mr. Wayne would need to keep his ex-girlfriend a secret, but they always changed the subject whenever he asked.
“Just say you can’t dodge, little wing!”
Dick laughed and threw another snowball at Jason before running off again. Jason chased him down, hurling his own snowballs at the older boy, who loudly mocked both him and his aim.
“Try again, loser! Whoa! You almost had me there! Maybe try your left hand?”
“Hold still for one second!”
Dick pivoted and threw another, hitting Jason square in the chest.
“Dick!”
“Why yes?” Dick asked in an overly goofy voice.
Jason jumped and tackled him which sent both boys to the ground.
As the two wrestled and threw snow at each other, Tim frowned and glanced back down at his snow kid.
He looked kind of lonely, too.
Maybe he should make another one?
Yeah, he could make another one!
He left the fence and started rolling a new snowkid.
This one took him a bit longer, as he was starting to feel the cold seeping into his bones, but he finished it and sat back with pride.
“Boys! Hot cocoa!” Mr. Alfred called from the side door of the Wayne Manor.
Dick and Jason mostly abandoned their fight to race to the door, but still got into another scuffle when they both tried to run through the entrance simultaneously.
Tim laughed at the sight, though it was quickly silent again as the boys made it inside and closed the door behind them.
“Hmm.” Tim hummed and looked around his own yard.
It was really starting to get cold.
But something still seemed off about his snowfamily.
The scene looked too empty.
Wait! He knew what to do!
Already starting to shiver despite his layered clothing, Tim ignored his discomfort and hurried over to the snowkids, packing them a pile of small snowballs each.
“Here's one for you.” He carefully balanced one in the branch of one of the snowkids. “And one for you.” He speared another to a convenient twig sticking up from the other snowkid’s branch.
He then hurried off to find one final thing; a Christmas tree.
After some searching and digging, he unearthed a lopsided, five foot long branch that had snapped off under the weight of the snow.
He dragged it over to his snowfamily and planted the end in the ground, holding it up as he circled around and packed a mound of snow at the base to keep it upright.
It fell over twice, but he finally got it to stand on its own.
“There. Done.” He panted.
He was freezing and soaked, but proud of his work.
Time to show his parents!
He headed back inside, kicked the snow out of his boot treds, and peeled his winter gear off.
His fingers were white they were so cold, and when he looked in the mirror, his face and ears were red.
“Mom! Dad! Come see what I made.”
His voice echoed through the house, but he saw light coming from the kitchen, so he headed there after grabbing a dry jacket from the rack by the door.
His mother was in the kitchen, tapping away at her computer.
“Mom! Come see what I made!”
“I already saw it from the window, Tim. It looks very nice.” She replied, not even looking up from the screen.
Tim frowned and stood awkwardly in the room, shivering despite still being in his last layer of sweatpants and the new, warm jacket.
“... Did you… wanna come out?”
“Maybe later. I'm busy now, though.”
“Oh. Okay.” He turned and went to go find his father, but his mother called him back right before he left the room.
“By the way, Tim, I saw you dragging branches and yard trash around. Don't make the gardener’s job any harder than it already is. I want those out back in the compost when you're done playing.”
Of course. He knew he should have seen this coming, but it still hurt.
“Okay?” She prompted, glancing at him over the top of her computer.
“Okay.” He parroted back.
“Good. Go see if Jack wants to see your snowmen.”
Tim nodded and headed down the hall to his father's home office.
Jack was in his deck chair on his phone when Tim walked in.
“Perfect.” He smiled and pulled the phone away from his face and, for a split second, Tim thought he was going to hang up.
But then he pointed to a chair beside the door and asked Tim to bring his briefcase over to him.
There was a particular file he needed.
Tim did as he was told, but in passing the case over, his hand brushed his father's and Jack yanked his hand back with a startled noise.
“Dammit, Tim! Your hands are freezing!”
“I was outside in the snow.”
“No kidding.” He put the phone back to his ear. “No, I'm talking to my kid. Yeah. … Yeah, just hang on a second.”
He set his phone on his desk and unsnapped the latches on his briefcase.
“Do you want to come see what I did?”
“Busy right now, kiddo. Go play with your mom.”
“But she's-,”
“Then go play outside. You're old enough to occupy yourself for a bit.” Jack gave him the Look, and Tim lowered his head and nodded.
“Okay.”
“Good boy. Now make sure you close the door on your way out. I need to finish this call.”
Tim headed back out of the office and closed the door behind him, feeling even lonelier than he had been before.