Strachey Mysteries Fic - Expect the Unexpected
Title: Expect the Unexpected
Author: kaly
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3025
Characters/Pairing: Donald/Timothy, Kelly
Category: movieverse
Warnings: none
Spoilers: general for Ice Blues
Summary: Donald gets an unexpected phone call, followed by a surprising conversation.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing, no money earned.
Note: Thank you to geminigrl11 for the beta.
Donald was busy trudging through an online search - which was not one of his favorite ways to pass the time - when his phone rang. Grateful for the reprieve - busy work was Kenny's domain but somehow he had the day off - Donald grabbed the handset.
"Strachey."
"Hey, Don. It's Kelly."
Blinking, Donald sat back in his chair. While he had spoken to Timothy's sister a couple of times since her first visit, it was always when she was spending time with Tim. Surprised by the call, he said, "Hi, Kelly." As an afterthought he added, "Tim's at his office..."
"Oh, I know." She paused briefly, ratcheting up Donald's concern that something was wrong. "I'm in town to see my parents, and I wanted to talk to you. If that's okay, I mean."
Something didn't ring quite right, but Donald nodded. "Sure, it's fine. Want me to call Tim?"
"No!" She took a deep breath, clearly audible over the phone. "I mean, no, I was hoping to talk just to you."
"Kelly..."
She interrupted him, saying, "I checked online, and there looks like there's a coffee shop, not far from your office. Do you know it?"
"Yeah, I know it." Donald figured he could get the story out of here there, since over the phone was proving difficult. Hoping that she wasn't in trouble, or about to drop a bombshell that would devastate Timothy, Donald asked warily, "When do you want to meet?"
He could hear traffic in the background when she replied, "Twenty minutes?"
Glancing at the clock, Donald figured he could wrap up what he was working on and just make it in time. "I can do that."
"Thanks." She sounded happy at least, if a little nervous, which helped at least ease some of Donald's worry. "See you there."
She hung up, and Donald ran a hand through his hair. The cynic in Donald couldn't help thinking the situation had all sorts of 'not good' signs pointing to it. Glancing at a framed photo of him and Timothy that rested on his desk, Donald sighed. He really wanted to talk to Tim about what might be going on, but he knew it would be better to have more facts first. Or that was what he was trying to convince himself of.
Forcing himself to concentrate, Donald found the information he was looking for with a few minutes to spare. He sent the page to the printer before grabbing his keys and cell phone. Small favors - the coffee shop Kelly had mentioned really was around the corner and he wouldn't have to fight his car.
Donald locked the door behind him and jogged down the stairs. Exiting the building, he turned right and followed the sidewalk a couple of blocks before crossing the street. There, at the corner, was a familiar sign - Mama's Café - swinging over an open doorway.
Inside, it was markedly darker than the brilliant sunshine outdoors, and Donald squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the lower light. After a few seconds, he spotted Kelly at a table in the corner. Waving in acknowledgement, Donald went to the counter and ordered his usual - coffee, black, large.
Coffee in hand, Donald crossed the mostly empty room, taking the seat opposite Kelly. She had her hands wrapped around her cup, and smiled warmly. "Thanks for meeting me."
"Not a problem." Not yet taking a drink of his coffee, Donald cut straight to the chase. "Are you in trouble?"
Kelly laughed, shaking her head. "No! Oh my God, no."
Relieved, but very confused, Donald just stared at her. "Sorry, but, then what..."
"I'm sorry if I came across that way, honest." She sipped at her coffee, looking embarrassed. "I just wanted a chance to talk to you without Tim around."
Well. That was different. Not that there was anything he could imagine she would need Timothy's absence to discuss. "Okay." He waited, and then asked bluntly, "About what?"
"You. My big brother." She waved a hand absently. "The last eighteen years."
Slowly beginning to understand, Donald relaxed somewhat. "Ah."
Kelly leaned forward eagerly, hands still pressed to the coffee mug. "I know you're a detective, and you're married to Tim, but that's it. I feel like I don't know you at all." She smiled shyly at him. "And you're important to Tim, so I'd like to."
"Nothing much to tell," Donald said, shrugging. "Been a detective for a while now, pretty much since I left the Army."
There were other things to tell. Admittedly, his life had been complicated, but there was nothing he wanted to share with a virtual stranger, family or not. It had taken him years to confess his past to Timothy, and Tim was the other half of his soul.
Someday perhaps, but not yet.
She gave him a long, considering look. "Somehow I doubt that." Donald wondered if she would press - he hoped not, he liked her well enough - and was relieved when she gave her own half-shrug. "I know there's more to you than that, but I guess I'll let you slide. For now."
When Kelly smiled, she reminded Donald so much of Timothy that he did a double take. He had never noticed before just how much they favored when they smiled. Of course, he hadn't had much opportunity to notice. When Timothy was genuinely happy - as he had been during his reunion with his sister - Donald had problems tearing his eyes away from him.
Smile fading, Kelly grew serious and Donald felt his stomach cinch. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about." She stared at her hands for several seconds, twisting the cup between them inattentively. "I've been gone so long, and I've missed so much..." She risked a glance at Donald and gave him a timid smile.
He tried to nod encouragingly, but couldn't help feeling it was partly her own fault. Yes, her parents had pushed her out the door, but they hadn't kept her from Timothy. He couldn't quite decide on how to reply, but she solved that for him.
"I know I could've come back." Staring off into space, she seemed to be staring at another time, as well as another place. Blinking quickly, she shook her head and glanced back at Donald. "And I really should have kept in touch with Tim, but..." Kelly sighed, and Donald felt a twinge of pity. "Everything went so out of control so fast and after the fight I had with our parents..."
Understanding what it was like to feel ostracized at home - though he hadn't had a Timothy on his side - Donald nodded. "You were scared."
She nodded, a surprised, if pleased, smile just touching her lips. "And angry." Laughing humorlessly, she gestured vaguely with her hands. "It seemed like so much and by the time I stopped running, stopped trying to make my point..." Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she wouldn't meet Donald's gaze. "I didn't think Tim would want to hear from me."
While Donald could sympathize with her point of view, he also knew that Tim would have given anything for that call. Clearing his throat, his voice scratchy, he replied, "He did."
A single tear fell down Kelly's cheek. "I know. Now." She brushed the tear away with the back of her hand. "I've told Tim, but just so you know, I regret it - not finding him. I have for a long time."
"He forgave you the minute he saw you." Donald reached across the table, and tentatively covered Kelly's hand with his own. Smiling, he squeezed her hand. "Trust me."
Sniffing quietly, she gave Donald a grateful smile. "Thanks. He said he did, when we talked, but... It seemed too good to be true."
Donald shook his head. "Tim's a very forgiving individual. Believe me, I should know, I'm pretty far removed from being a saint."
"You're good for him, you know," she said, her voice serious.
Caught off guard by the change of subject, Donald blinked, but words failed him.
She chuckled, a thin, watery sound. "Timmy was always so serious, even when we were little. And then when we got older, and he came out..." Taking a deep breath, Kelly seemed to consider her next words. "It was rough on him. Our parents accepted it, in time, but at first... Well, it wasn't easy for him."
Donald knew a lot of the story about when Timothy came out to his parents, but this new perspective was enlightening. But even with that, he felt a little like a voyeur, learning more from someone other than Tim. "I'm not sure..."
Seeming to recognize Donald's unease, Kelly said, "Sorry. Just trying to explain..." She struggled for words again, staring off to the side for a few moments. "It's just, he's laughed more, in the times I've been around him lately, than I remember for years as a teenager. It's... nice."
He tried to think back to the Timothy he had met so long ago. In that light, he could place a difference between that Tim, which was more than just not knowing one another yet. He was more serious early on, comfortable in his skin, but not reveling in it.
Kelly broke him out of his reverie by squeezing his hand. "So, thank you for that. I might have missed a lot, too much, but it means so much that he's been happy."
"To me, too," Donald admitted honestly, his voice rough. Pulling his hand free, Donald swirled the now-cold coffee in its mug. "Part of that is you, though." She blinked, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "And don't take this the wrong way, but what's brought you to town? Shouldn't you be down in New York this time of week?"
She looked uncomfortable at the question, glancing away. Donald had started to wonder what was going on - again - when she finally spoke. "Like I mentioned on the phone, I really am here to visit my parents. Mom called, asked if I could come and I had some downtime, so today won."
"And yet you're here."
Nodding, she grinned. "And yet I'm here. I was there this morning, and I'm going back for dinner. But I wanted to talk to you without everything being rushed, and I'd like to see Timothy while I'm here."
"He'll be thrilled to see you," Donald said, focusing on the obvious for a moment.
"Me too." Her grin faded and she gave Donald a serious look. "I should ask Tim this, but..." Kelly took a deep breath, before chewing on her bottom lip. "When he went with me to their house the first time - moral support, he called it - something wasn't right."
Donald cringed as the pieces fell into place and he knew what was coming. "Your dad?" he hazarded a guess.
Relief flashed across her face. "Yeah. I was so scared about how they would react to me, I didn't notice for a bit. But when things calmed down, and they weren't angry or upset with me and I looked around..." Her forehead scrunched, worry clear. "Tim wasn't even in the room, and when I found him, I couldn't get him to go back."
"It's... complicated." Donald sighed. He didn't want to break Timothy's confidence, but he also doubted Tim would tell Kelly the whole story right away. His partner didn't like to think about it, even after so long, much less talk about it.
"So I gathered when he clammed up." She gave Donald a beseeching look. "I talked to Mom, she told me a bit. My father always was a stubborn bastard."
For a moment, Donald just stared at her. "Um. Yeah," he finally agreed, breaking through his shock at her frank appraisal.
Her lips quirked in a very sad smile. "I ran away when I was seventeen, Donald. I'm painfully familiar with what a bastard the man can be. But that's the thing... him and Timmy were always close." She fumbled with her hair for a moment, and Donald would almost have said she looked guilty. "I hated Tim for that, back then. Just a little. It drove me crazy how easily they got on."
Donald hated hearing that, but knew Timothy would hate it more. Timothy adored his little sister, and it would break his heart - even after years of estrangement - to know he had hurt her, however inadvertently. It might even be worse for the absence.
"Now I know it wasn't just me that was the problem, and it wasn't that Tim got away with everything." She growled, the sound catching Donald off guard as much as anything had in their surprising conversation. "It just boggles the mind, the things that man will dig in his heels over. They were always so close..."
"I know." Donald could remember vividly, holding Timothy the night after he broke the news to his parents. His father's vehement reaction had nearly wrecked Tim, and Timothy's heartbreak had crushed Donald.
"I'm glad he has you. Family was always a big deal to Tim, and with our dad cutting him off..." Kelly sighed. "I'm just glad he had you to help him through. Even knowing he did, it still scares me to imagine otherwise."
Donald closed his eyes briefly, her words touching on a fear he had long ignored. He had never been able to put his finger on how Tim might have reacted to his father's reaction, had he been left alone. The drunken stupor he was working toward when he had arrived home that night had scared Donald enough as it was.
Eventually, Donald nodded and agreed sadly. "Me too."
Brightening, Kelly patted his hand. "But he had you, so we don't have to find out." She sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Though, it's my duty as his sister to warn you."
"Warn me?" Donald asked, quirking an eyebrow. This should be good, he couldn't help but think.
Grinning devilishly, a stark difference from only a few moments before, Kelly nodded eagerly. "If you hurt him, I'll have to kick your ass. I know taekwondo. I can do it." Her glare was ruined by a laugh. "I never got to do that before."
Surprised laughter burst out of Donald. That was about the last thing he had expected. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, really?"
"Yep. So just keep doing what you're doing, and we won't have to worry about the messy clean up. Capiche?"
"You really are Tim's sister aren't you?" Donald asked, shaking his head and chuckling softly. "I'm not sure I'm built to cope with two of you."
Kelly laughed, but shook her head. "I know you're already stuck with Timmy. And I'd like to think you'd be willing to be stuck with me." Her voice lost some of its certainty. "From time to time, at least."
"Oh, I know Tim would kick my ass if I wasn't."
Donald grinned, trying to be reassuring. He could tell life might be far more interesting, with Kelly back in Tim's life, as if it weren't already interesting enough. But more interesting meant never boring, and Donald was okay with that.
"Though he doesn't know taekwondo, I'll give you that."
Smiling sweetly, but far from innocently, Kelly said, "I can work on that."
"Now that I'd pay to see."
"You never know." Her expression shifted back to something more serious then. "I want to do something for him, though. Maybe try to mend things with our dad..."
Donald's heart ached at the thought - he knew exactly what she was feeling. "I know. I've tried." He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, wishing there was a magic fix, for Timothy's sake. "Nothing's worked. It's been years now."
"Maybe we can think on it? Surely together..."
She looked so hopeful, Donald couldn't bring himself to say no outright. If he were honest, he wanted an end to it as much as she did. Maybe more. Though neither of them wanted it more than Timothy. He dreaded what Tim's reaction would be - he hadn't been exactly thrilled when Donald had interfered previously, though he had at least understood why, in the end.
Torn, Donald finally said, "We'll see. But we - you - might want to talk to Timothy about all this. Give him a chance away from your parent's house, away from your father."
"Okay." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "Speaking of, I'm due back there soon. I should get going." Kelly stood, and smiled at Donald. "Thanks for meeting me. Sorry again if I freaked you out. I just wasn't quite sure how to approach you."
Picking up his mostly-full mug, Donald nodded. "You're Tim's family. I don't have any of my own, so that makes you mine, too. If you'll have me."
She looked sad for a moment, but then smiled brilliantly. Leaning forward, Kelly kissed Donald on the cheek. "You take care of my big brother, and he loves you." Stepping away, she smiled fondly. "That means I love you, too. And once we get to know one another, maybe it'll be for more than our common interest in Tim?"
"I'd like that," Donald replied, placing his mug on the collection tray. Kelly's soon joined it. Absently, as was part of his job, he noted that hers was no more empty than his had been. "Would you like to come by tonight? I know for a fact Tim won't forgive me if he doesn't see you."
Her face lit up, and Donald knew he had said the exact right thing. "I'd like that. I'll give him a call in a bit to let him know I'm in town."
Holding open the door for her, Donald smiled. "Sounds like a plan." They paused on the sidewalk, the parking lot in the opposite direction from Donald's office. "See you tonight, then. Maybe we can play a fun game of Embarrass Timmy."
Keys in hand, Kelly laughed joyfully and waved. "It's a date."
end
Author: kaly
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3025
Characters/Pairing: Donald/Timothy, Kelly
Category: movieverse
Warnings: none
Spoilers: general for Ice Blues
Summary: Donald gets an unexpected phone call, followed by a surprising conversation.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing, no money earned.
Note: Thank you to geminigrl11 for the beta.
Donald was busy trudging through an online search - which was not one of his favorite ways to pass the time - when his phone rang. Grateful for the reprieve - busy work was Kenny's domain but somehow he had the day off - Donald grabbed the handset.
"Strachey."
"Hey, Don. It's Kelly."
Blinking, Donald sat back in his chair. While he had spoken to Timothy's sister a couple of times since her first visit, it was always when she was spending time with Tim. Surprised by the call, he said, "Hi, Kelly." As an afterthought he added, "Tim's at his office..."
"Oh, I know." She paused briefly, ratcheting up Donald's concern that something was wrong. "I'm in town to see my parents, and I wanted to talk to you. If that's okay, I mean."
Something didn't ring quite right, but Donald nodded. "Sure, it's fine. Want me to call Tim?"
"No!" She took a deep breath, clearly audible over the phone. "I mean, no, I was hoping to talk just to you."
"Kelly..."
She interrupted him, saying, "I checked online, and there looks like there's a coffee shop, not far from your office. Do you know it?"
"Yeah, I know it." Donald figured he could get the story out of here there, since over the phone was proving difficult. Hoping that she wasn't in trouble, or about to drop a bombshell that would devastate Timothy, Donald asked warily, "When do you want to meet?"
He could hear traffic in the background when she replied, "Twenty minutes?"
Glancing at the clock, Donald figured he could wrap up what he was working on and just make it in time. "I can do that."
"Thanks." She sounded happy at least, if a little nervous, which helped at least ease some of Donald's worry. "See you there."
She hung up, and Donald ran a hand through his hair. The cynic in Donald couldn't help thinking the situation had all sorts of 'not good' signs pointing to it. Glancing at a framed photo of him and Timothy that rested on his desk, Donald sighed. He really wanted to talk to Tim about what might be going on, but he knew it would be better to have more facts first. Or that was what he was trying to convince himself of.
Forcing himself to concentrate, Donald found the information he was looking for with a few minutes to spare. He sent the page to the printer before grabbing his keys and cell phone. Small favors - the coffee shop Kelly had mentioned really was around the corner and he wouldn't have to fight his car.
Donald locked the door behind him and jogged down the stairs. Exiting the building, he turned right and followed the sidewalk a couple of blocks before crossing the street. There, at the corner, was a familiar sign - Mama's Café - swinging over an open doorway.
Inside, it was markedly darker than the brilliant sunshine outdoors, and Donald squinted, letting his eyes adjust to the lower light. After a few seconds, he spotted Kelly at a table in the corner. Waving in acknowledgement, Donald went to the counter and ordered his usual - coffee, black, large.
Coffee in hand, Donald crossed the mostly empty room, taking the seat opposite Kelly. She had her hands wrapped around her cup, and smiled warmly. "Thanks for meeting me."
"Not a problem." Not yet taking a drink of his coffee, Donald cut straight to the chase. "Are you in trouble?"
Kelly laughed, shaking her head. "No! Oh my God, no."
Relieved, but very confused, Donald just stared at her. "Sorry, but, then what..."
"I'm sorry if I came across that way, honest." She sipped at her coffee, looking embarrassed. "I just wanted a chance to talk to you without Tim around."
Well. That was different. Not that there was anything he could imagine she would need Timothy's absence to discuss. "Okay." He waited, and then asked bluntly, "About what?"
"You. My big brother." She waved a hand absently. "The last eighteen years."
Slowly beginning to understand, Donald relaxed somewhat. "Ah."
Kelly leaned forward eagerly, hands still pressed to the coffee mug. "I know you're a detective, and you're married to Tim, but that's it. I feel like I don't know you at all." She smiled shyly at him. "And you're important to Tim, so I'd like to."
"Nothing much to tell," Donald said, shrugging. "Been a detective for a while now, pretty much since I left the Army."
There were other things to tell. Admittedly, his life had been complicated, but there was nothing he wanted to share with a virtual stranger, family or not. It had taken him years to confess his past to Timothy, and Tim was the other half of his soul.
Someday perhaps, but not yet.
She gave him a long, considering look. "Somehow I doubt that." Donald wondered if she would press - he hoped not, he liked her well enough - and was relieved when she gave her own half-shrug. "I know there's more to you than that, but I guess I'll let you slide. For now."
When Kelly smiled, she reminded Donald so much of Timothy that he did a double take. He had never noticed before just how much they favored when they smiled. Of course, he hadn't had much opportunity to notice. When Timothy was genuinely happy - as he had been during his reunion with his sister - Donald had problems tearing his eyes away from him.
Smile fading, Kelly grew serious and Donald felt his stomach cinch. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about." She stared at her hands for several seconds, twisting the cup between them inattentively. "I've been gone so long, and I've missed so much..." She risked a glance at Donald and gave him a timid smile.
He tried to nod encouragingly, but couldn't help feeling it was partly her own fault. Yes, her parents had pushed her out the door, but they hadn't kept her from Timothy. He couldn't quite decide on how to reply, but she solved that for him.
"I know I could've come back." Staring off into space, she seemed to be staring at another time, as well as another place. Blinking quickly, she shook her head and glanced back at Donald. "And I really should have kept in touch with Tim, but..." Kelly sighed, and Donald felt a twinge of pity. "Everything went so out of control so fast and after the fight I had with our parents..."
Understanding what it was like to feel ostracized at home - though he hadn't had a Timothy on his side - Donald nodded. "You were scared."
She nodded, a surprised, if pleased, smile just touching her lips. "And angry." Laughing humorlessly, she gestured vaguely with her hands. "It seemed like so much and by the time I stopped running, stopped trying to make my point..." Her voice dropped to a whisper, and she wouldn't meet Donald's gaze. "I didn't think Tim would want to hear from me."
While Donald could sympathize with her point of view, he also knew that Tim would have given anything for that call. Clearing his throat, his voice scratchy, he replied, "He did."
A single tear fell down Kelly's cheek. "I know. Now." She brushed the tear away with the back of her hand. "I've told Tim, but just so you know, I regret it - not finding him. I have for a long time."
"He forgave you the minute he saw you." Donald reached across the table, and tentatively covered Kelly's hand with his own. Smiling, he squeezed her hand. "Trust me."
Sniffing quietly, she gave Donald a grateful smile. "Thanks. He said he did, when we talked, but... It seemed too good to be true."
Donald shook his head. "Tim's a very forgiving individual. Believe me, I should know, I'm pretty far removed from being a saint."
"You're good for him, you know," she said, her voice serious.
Caught off guard by the change of subject, Donald blinked, but words failed him.
She chuckled, a thin, watery sound. "Timmy was always so serious, even when we were little. And then when we got older, and he came out..." Taking a deep breath, Kelly seemed to consider her next words. "It was rough on him. Our parents accepted it, in time, but at first... Well, it wasn't easy for him."
Donald knew a lot of the story about when Timothy came out to his parents, but this new perspective was enlightening. But even with that, he felt a little like a voyeur, learning more from someone other than Tim. "I'm not sure..."
Seeming to recognize Donald's unease, Kelly said, "Sorry. Just trying to explain..." She struggled for words again, staring off to the side for a few moments. "It's just, he's laughed more, in the times I've been around him lately, than I remember for years as a teenager. It's... nice."
He tried to think back to the Timothy he had met so long ago. In that light, he could place a difference between that Tim, which was more than just not knowing one another yet. He was more serious early on, comfortable in his skin, but not reveling in it.
Kelly broke him out of his reverie by squeezing his hand. "So, thank you for that. I might have missed a lot, too much, but it means so much that he's been happy."
"To me, too," Donald admitted honestly, his voice rough. Pulling his hand free, Donald swirled the now-cold coffee in its mug. "Part of that is you, though." She blinked, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "And don't take this the wrong way, but what's brought you to town? Shouldn't you be down in New York this time of week?"
She looked uncomfortable at the question, glancing away. Donald had started to wonder what was going on - again - when she finally spoke. "Like I mentioned on the phone, I really am here to visit my parents. Mom called, asked if I could come and I had some downtime, so today won."
"And yet you're here."
Nodding, she grinned. "And yet I'm here. I was there this morning, and I'm going back for dinner. But I wanted to talk to you without everything being rushed, and I'd like to see Timothy while I'm here."
"He'll be thrilled to see you," Donald said, focusing on the obvious for a moment.
"Me too." Her grin faded and she gave Donald a serious look. "I should ask Tim this, but..." Kelly took a deep breath, before chewing on her bottom lip. "When he went with me to their house the first time - moral support, he called it - something wasn't right."
Donald cringed as the pieces fell into place and he knew what was coming. "Your dad?" he hazarded a guess.
Relief flashed across her face. "Yeah. I was so scared about how they would react to me, I didn't notice for a bit. But when things calmed down, and they weren't angry or upset with me and I looked around..." Her forehead scrunched, worry clear. "Tim wasn't even in the room, and when I found him, I couldn't get him to go back."
"It's... complicated." Donald sighed. He didn't want to break Timothy's confidence, but he also doubted Tim would tell Kelly the whole story right away. His partner didn't like to think about it, even after so long, much less talk about it.
"So I gathered when he clammed up." She gave Donald a beseeching look. "I talked to Mom, she told me a bit. My father always was a stubborn bastard."
For a moment, Donald just stared at her. "Um. Yeah," he finally agreed, breaking through his shock at her frank appraisal.
Her lips quirked in a very sad smile. "I ran away when I was seventeen, Donald. I'm painfully familiar with what a bastard the man can be. But that's the thing... him and Timmy were always close." She fumbled with her hair for a moment, and Donald would almost have said she looked guilty. "I hated Tim for that, back then. Just a little. It drove me crazy how easily they got on."
Donald hated hearing that, but knew Timothy would hate it more. Timothy adored his little sister, and it would break his heart - even after years of estrangement - to know he had hurt her, however inadvertently. It might even be worse for the absence.
"Now I know it wasn't just me that was the problem, and it wasn't that Tim got away with everything." She growled, the sound catching Donald off guard as much as anything had in their surprising conversation. "It just boggles the mind, the things that man will dig in his heels over. They were always so close..."
"I know." Donald could remember vividly, holding Timothy the night after he broke the news to his parents. His father's vehement reaction had nearly wrecked Tim, and Timothy's heartbreak had crushed Donald.
"I'm glad he has you. Family was always a big deal to Tim, and with our dad cutting him off..." Kelly sighed. "I'm just glad he had you to help him through. Even knowing he did, it still scares me to imagine otherwise."
Donald closed his eyes briefly, her words touching on a fear he had long ignored. He had never been able to put his finger on how Tim might have reacted to his father's reaction, had he been left alone. The drunken stupor he was working toward when he had arrived home that night had scared Donald enough as it was.
Eventually, Donald nodded and agreed sadly. "Me too."
Brightening, Kelly patted his hand. "But he had you, so we don't have to find out." She sat back in her chair, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Though, it's my duty as his sister to warn you."
"Warn me?" Donald asked, quirking an eyebrow. This should be good, he couldn't help but think.
Grinning devilishly, a stark difference from only a few moments before, Kelly nodded eagerly. "If you hurt him, I'll have to kick your ass. I know taekwondo. I can do it." Her glare was ruined by a laugh. "I never got to do that before."
Surprised laughter burst out of Donald. That was about the last thing he had expected. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, really?"
"Yep. So just keep doing what you're doing, and we won't have to worry about the messy clean up. Capiche?"
"You really are Tim's sister aren't you?" Donald asked, shaking his head and chuckling softly. "I'm not sure I'm built to cope with two of you."
Kelly laughed, but shook her head. "I know you're already stuck with Timmy. And I'd like to think you'd be willing to be stuck with me." Her voice lost some of its certainty. "From time to time, at least."
"Oh, I know Tim would kick my ass if I wasn't."
Donald grinned, trying to be reassuring. He could tell life might be far more interesting, with Kelly back in Tim's life, as if it weren't already interesting enough. But more interesting meant never boring, and Donald was okay with that.
"Though he doesn't know taekwondo, I'll give you that."
Smiling sweetly, but far from innocently, Kelly said, "I can work on that."
"Now that I'd pay to see."
"You never know." Her expression shifted back to something more serious then. "I want to do something for him, though. Maybe try to mend things with our dad..."
Donald's heart ached at the thought - he knew exactly what she was feeling. "I know. I've tried." He stared at the ceiling for a few moments, wishing there was a magic fix, for Timothy's sake. "Nothing's worked. It's been years now."
"Maybe we can think on it? Surely together..."
She looked so hopeful, Donald couldn't bring himself to say no outright. If he were honest, he wanted an end to it as much as she did. Maybe more. Though neither of them wanted it more than Timothy. He dreaded what Tim's reaction would be - he hadn't been exactly thrilled when Donald had interfered previously, though he had at least understood why, in the end.
Torn, Donald finally said, "We'll see. But we - you - might want to talk to Timothy about all this. Give him a chance away from your parent's house, away from your father."
"Okay." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "Speaking of, I'm due back there soon. I should get going." Kelly stood, and smiled at Donald. "Thanks for meeting me. Sorry again if I freaked you out. I just wasn't quite sure how to approach you."
Picking up his mostly-full mug, Donald nodded. "You're Tim's family. I don't have any of my own, so that makes you mine, too. If you'll have me."
She looked sad for a moment, but then smiled brilliantly. Leaning forward, Kelly kissed Donald on the cheek. "You take care of my big brother, and he loves you." Stepping away, she smiled fondly. "That means I love you, too. And once we get to know one another, maybe it'll be for more than our common interest in Tim?"
"I'd like that," Donald replied, placing his mug on the collection tray. Kelly's soon joined it. Absently, as was part of his job, he noted that hers was no more empty than his had been. "Would you like to come by tonight? I know for a fact Tim won't forgive me if he doesn't see you."
Her face lit up, and Donald knew he had said the exact right thing. "I'd like that. I'll give him a call in a bit to let him know I'm in town."
Holding open the door for her, Donald smiled. "Sounds like a plan." They paused on the sidewalk, the parking lot in the opposite direction from Donald's office. "See you tonight, then. Maybe we can play a fun game of Embarrass Timmy."
Keys in hand, Kelly laughed joyfully and waved. "It's a date."
end