Work Text:
It seemed like a good idea. Tim couldn’t put the twins’ new bikes together at his apartment because… well, the twins and Delilah were generally home if Tim was. Plus, there was no place to hide them until Christmas Day. There wasn’t much room at all for growing kids. As much as they loved renting Tony’s apartment, the location was perfect, and the rent was reasonable, his small family was quickly outgrowing the space.
He'd heard that Torres’ apartment was roomy. So, he’d asked if he could put the kids’ bikes together there. Delilah was home with the kids, and they thought Tim was working. Delilah knew he wasn’t, of course. But the kids were used to their parents’ working.
It had been a trying day, so far. It was Friday, Christmas Eve. Tim began his day at the store, fighting through bargain hunters. Delilah had suggested they buy the bicycles at least a month earlier, but Tim didn’t want to impose on Torres any more than necessary. So, he’d waited until Christmas Eve. It was almost Christmas, so surely the stores were abundantly stocked… right? And this was a great day for sales, wasn’t it? Wasn’t Christmas Eve the perfect plan? All he had to do was to pick up a couple of bikes, then go over to Nick’s to put them together, and that couldn’t take more than a couple of hours, right?
But no. Tim and Delilah had agreed not to get the same color for the kids to make certain it was clear which bike belonged to Morgan and which one belonged to Johnny. And so the kids wouldn’t fight over them. The first store had toddler bikes in blue, but not pink. It was busy, and the lines were painfully long, so Tim walked out and checked his phone for another location. That store had the bicycles in green and blue, but no pink. Delilah wanted Morgan’s bike to be pink, so Johnny wouldn’t touch it.
On to the next store. They only had green and yellow bikes. Tim rolled his eyes. He called Torres, saying he was having issues finding the specific bicycles he needed, the stores were getting busier, and the stock was flying off the shelves. At any rate, he’d be later than originally planned.
Tim's next Google search was specifically for the pink bicycles in stock. After scrolling for several minutes, he found a store that had them, but it was miles away. But off he went. He’d promised Delilah they’d get these bikes for the kids.
When he arrived at that store, they only had two pink bicycles left, but they weren’t put together yet. While he was standing there deciding, someone grabbed one of them. Tim felt he had no choice but to take the last one. Into his cart it went. But crap! They had no blue bikes for Johnny.
“This is a nightmare,” Tim muttered.
It was a thirty-minute wait to check out. But there it was in his cart, the much sought-after pink bicycle. And he wished he’d bought the blue one at the first store, which was now an hour away.
Tim took a deep breath and drove back to the first store, only to fight his way through the crowds to find an empty shelf and a sign saying, ‘Sorry, sold out.’
He called Delilah, “I drove all over to find a pink bicycle for Morgan, and now the blue ones are sold out. Can’t Johnny have a green one? They’re only going to have them for a couple of years.”
“Are you kidding me? Green and pink? Do those colors sound compatible to you? This is why I said we should buy them in October.”
“I think there was a yellow one –”
“Seriously, Tim. He is a boy. Yellow is a feminine color.”
“Again, how does it matter? They won’t even remember them in a couple of years.”
“What about photos? And other kids will tease him. No, yellow.”
“I think I saw a red one. Can he have red? It’s the same color as a fire truck. That’s not feminine, right?”
“There are women firefighters. But we can’t do red and pink. It doesn’t work. But you know what might work?”
“What?”
“Red and Green! Christmas colors. It will be adorable. We can put little elf hats on the kids and take photos for next year’s card. Doesn’t that sound perfect?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tim winced. “I already have the pink one. I had to drive to a store an hour away. It was the last one in the entire city.”
“But you kept the receipt, right? Take it back and get one red and one green. The kids will love the Christmasy feel of the gifts. Gotta go. Love you!”
Great. Okay, now he had to drive to another store and get red and green bikes. They weren’t here. Fighting through the crowd, he felt thankful to get out of there with only minimal bruising.
As the parking lot was full, he had a long walk back to his car. And he was off again. At the next store, they had red, but not green. But he stood in the line and bought the red one anyway.
“It would be cheaper to buy a can of spray paint and make the bike any color the kids wanted,” he grumbled.
Red and pink were the same color palette. They were like the fraternal twins of colors. He really didn’t see the issue. But he didn’t want Delilah to give him grief over it. He called Torres again and explained the situation.
“I’m so sorry. I hope I’m not keeping you from any plans.”
“I was going to hit the gym today.”
“Why don't you go now? I still have to drive to another store and hope they still have green bikes. That’s going to take at least an hour to get there, and another hour to buy the bike and get back to your apartment.”
Tim hit two more stores. One had restocked the pink bikes. Nice. But there were no green ones. He called Delilah back. “I bought a red one, but now the green ones are sold out. Would pink and red be that bad?”
“What other colors do they have?”
“They have white. We could do white and red, like a candy cane. How about that?”
“White for a toddler? Have you met your son? You know how he loves dirt and mud. White will never work. What else do they have?”
“Honey, please. We have to make a choice. I’ve already spent half the day driving all over town, and I still need to put the bikes together. The stores are going to be closing early, and the crowds are horrible. And please, please don’t remind me again that we should have bought them earlier. I can’t work in the past.”
“Tim, what other colors do they have?”
“Purple and yellow.”
“Johnny likes purple. He loves Barney.”
Tim could feel his brows furrow. “Pink and purple? It sounds like Barbie’s dream house.”
“Unless you want to try driving to another state and taking your chances, I suggest you get the purple. Trust me, Tim. Kids love purple. It will be great. Are you going to have time to get all this done in time to come home for supper?”
Tim checked his watch and sighed. “I don’t know. It’s getting late.” As he spoke to Delilah, he grabbed the purple bike and headed for the cash register. It seemed that the lines were insanely long despite every cash register being active. The self-service lines were even longer because all the carts were full, and people seemed to be having more issues than normal. “Maybe it’s better if I offer to take Nick out for dinner since he’s letting me use his apartment as a workshop.”
“It’s getting late on Christmas Eve. Just where do you think you can find food?”
Tim shrugged in defeat. “Maybe a Chinese place? I don’t know. I’ll give you a call later. Just… don’t hold up dinner for me. It’s better to keep the twins on their schedule. Love you.”
~~~***~~~
He finally got to the front of the line and was able to pay for the purple bicycle. Then it occurred to him that he should return the red bicycle now because the return lines were sure to be crazy after Christmas, and the last thing they needed was an extra bicycle. And of course, one of the twins would see it and decide they wanted the red one instead of what they got, because the grass was always greener at that age. Or really, almost any age. He loved his kids, of course, but sometimes he wondered what their lives would be like without kids.
Then he shook his head. Make-believe was for video games, not reality. This was his life, and he was damn happy with Delilah and the twins. His life was perfect. Hectic, but perfect.
So, on the way back to the store to return the red bike, he called Nick again to see if he was home from the gym. He was.
“I just need to return the red bike, then I’ll be there to put the other two together.”
“What happens if there’s an issue putting one of the two bikes together? You know, missing parts, bad parts. What if they’re missing the pedals, or the handlebars are bent? Isn't a red bike better than no bike?” Nick asked.
That somehow made sense. “I’ll have to store it at your place until I can return whichever one. I can’t let the twins see it, or they'll want it.”
“Just get your ass over here. I’d like to go to bed by midnight.”
“No problem. I’ll even spring for dinner. If you want to pick something up, I’ll pay you back. I should be at your apartment in about forty-five minutes.”
With that, Tim was on his way to the apartment, with one bike in his trunk and two in the back seat. His day was beginning to look pretty good.
Until disaster struck. His tire blew out.
“Shit!”
Tim wanted to cry. This day was pushing him to the limits. With his emergency blinkers flashing, Tim pulled over to the side of the road and hoped his spare was in good shape.
Although he suspected he knew the answer, he called for emergency road service only to be told they were backed up for six hours. He didn't want to wait that long, but couldn’t remember the last time he’d changed a tire on his own. Actually, he didn’t recall ever changing a tire. But Palmer had. Maybe he should call Jimmy or Gibbs for help.
He called Nick to explain the further delay.
“Just tell me where you are, dude. Cars and motorcycles are my thing. I’ll have your tire changed in a flash. You have all the tools, right?”
“Tools?”
“Never mind. I’ll bring what I need. I'm on my way.
~~~***~~~
It took several minutes, but Torres arrived on his motorcycle and got the tire changed within minutes.
“Thanks, Nick. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Not a lifesaver, a tire changer. But you are welcome. Let’s get back to St. Nick’s apartment workshop and put those bikes together.”
Tim followed Nick back to his apartment. It was a help because Nick also carried one of the very large boxes up to his apartment.
Before they got to work, Nick warmed up burritos for dinner and grabbed two drinking glasses. “I could use a drink. How about you?”
They finished off the burritos and had a few glasses of tequila along with them. Nick and Tim were both a little tipsy and feeling silly. Then Tim’s phone rang. It was Delilah. He explained about the flat tire and said he and Nick had just finished dinner and were about to get started assembling the bicycles. They had a short conversation before he disconnected the call.
Shaking his head, Tim confessed, “I’m not sure I can put the bikes together now. Look at how late it is! Where did the day go?”
Standing up, Nick patted Tim’s shoulder and began to open the first box. “Fortunately for you, I am a master mechanic. I’ll have these put together in no time. No worries.”
“You’re the best!” Tim was relieved. He’d always been better at mental work and concepts than physically trying to build anything. Johnny still had a truck that always seemed to be losing parts. Perhaps he should have Nick look at that?
“But it is late. Why don’t you call Delilah back and tell her you’re staying here overnight? You can crash on the couch. I don’t think you’re in any shape to drive.”
Tim didn’t want to feel useless, so he organized the parts and handed Nick screws and bolts as requested. Eventually, the two small bicycles were put together. Nick and Tim looked down proudly.
“What are you doing for Christmas?” Tim asked.
“I’ll be going over to my sister’s.”
“Oh, okay,” he replied, sounding disappointed.
“But I appreciate the thought.”
“What?” Tim asked.
Torres looked him in the eye. “You were going to invite me over for Christmas, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Right.”
“Timothy McGee. What is going on in your head?”
“Since the bicycles are too awkward to wrap, I thought the kids would get a kick out of you bringing them. You could wear a Santa hat and tell them you're St. Nick.”
Nick smiled. “Feed me breakfast, and I’ll play Santa. But then I’m out of there.”
“Thanks, St. Nick.”
“You’re welcome, Tiny Tim.”
~The End~
12/19/2025
© 2025 by Jacie