Epilogue

Three weeks later...

It was a Sunday morning and Tim was sitting on the floor of the living room with Esther and Evelyn. Tommy was still napping and Delilah was, too. Evelyn had awakened very early from her nap and she had insisted on waking up Esther as well. So now, Tim was quietly entertaining them.

"Da, blue!" Esther said, emphasizing nearly every letter of the word, sticking out her tongue with the l.

"Good. Evelyn, what color is this?" Tim asked.

"Blue," Esther said. Again. Everything was blue right now for her.

"No," Evelyn said. "Red."

Then, they started gabbling at each other in the language that Delilah had started calling Twin. That there was meaning to the gabbling was obvious as Evelyn held out two blocks to Esther and lifted each one. Esther took them and gabbled back. Then, Evelyn looked at Tim.

"Dad. Red!"

"Good, Evelyn," Tim said. "Esther can you show me the yellow block?"

Unerringly, Esther picked up the yellow block. That was why they weren't worried about her vision. She knew what colors were, but right now, the word for every color was blue. Evelyn knew quite a few words for colors, and in a fit of whimsy, Tim had decided to teach her chartreuse. Delilah had asked why. Tim had countered, why not?

They kept up the colors and then Tim took some time building towers for Evelyn and Esther to knock down. They often barely let him get anything built before they were swiping at the blocks and toppling what little was there.

Delilah came out a little while later, followed by Tommy who also wanted to build and destroy towers. Delilah got onto the floor with the girls and then gave him a look. Tim knew what she silently telling him. So he got up and pulled out his phone. He dialed a familiar number and waited as it rang.

"DiNozzo," Tony said, sounding distracted.

"Are you busy, Tony?" Tim asked.

"Hey, Tim. I will be for ten more seconds."

There was silence for about twenty seconds. Then, Tony was back.

"Ha. Done."

"With what?"

There was a pause. "Well...I started..." He sounded embarrassed. "Jo convinced me to see a therapist for a little while. He's making me write some stuff down every day and I was just finishing when you called. So I'm glad for the distraction."

"About the stuff with your dad or something else?"

"It's about Dad, but for now, I'll beg off giving details."

"That's okay. I understand."

"Yeah, you probably would. Oh, but since you called, we've got the court date for next week. Finally."

"Any chance it won't go through?"

"There's always a chance in foster care. Someone materializing out of nowhere to make the kids even more miserable because the judges don't seem to care about the individual children, just about the mandate to always keep families together." There was another pause. "Sorry, Jo is infecting me with her passion."

"There are worse things," Tim said.

"True."

"But congratulations. If you need anything from me..."

"I'll let you know, but hopefully, what we'll need is for you all to come down here and celebrate."

"Gladly."

"Good. Now, what did you call for?"

"Well, not yet, you understand, but in another year or so, maybe it'll be time for another road trip."

He could hear Tony's smile.

"Any place you have in mind?"

"Banff. In Alberta."

"That's a long way."

"We'd have to fly out and rent a car. We could still do plenty of driving that way."

"What is there in Banff?"

"Glaciers, blue lakes, more glaciers, cool hikes, rivers. Scenic stuff, but no oceans. No whales."

"I think I could handle that. ...and maybe by then, Daniel will be ready and we can make it all the guys. ...except Sam."

"Sounds perfect."

"It does. Tim?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Tim was surprised and he smiled, feeling touched.

"I thought that was my line."

"Maybe it is but it's mine, too."

"What are friends for?"

"Not just friends. Family. That's why I'm grateful."

"Anytime, Tony. Anytime."

"I know. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They said their goodbyes and Tim had a moment of staring at his phone and wondering what had triggered that, but then, he decided it didn't matter.

Family was what mattered.

And friends who became family, no matter how.

FINIS!