Tim is nervous. There are two keys burning a hole in the front pocket of his jeans. He wasn’t sure who he was more nervous to ask. Lucy or Tamara. He and Lucy had talked about moving in together many times before. That somehow didn’t make this any easier. He knew she would say yes. A good portion of her stuff was already in his house.
They tell Tamara frequently that she is a welcome addition to their family, but he’s not sure if she really knows that. He’s not even sure if she will want to live with them. She is old enough to live on her own, and most kids are in a hurry to live on their own. Though he thinks with her childhood, she may want to stay with her found family as long as she can. And while Lucy told him Tamara didn’t want to be around when they started having babies, that was still a ways off.
Lucy opens the door to his house just then and he startles, stopping where he is pacing across the floor.
Lucy looks at him quizzically, “Hey...”
“Hey,” Tim shoves his hands in his pockets.
“Mmhmm…” Lucy sets her stuff down and walks over to him. “Spill it.”
“Come on, Tim, you’re terrible at hiding things. What is it?”
Tim opens and closes his mouth a few times. “…Fine. Close your eyes and put out your hand.”
Lucy raises her eyebrows at him challengingly and he returns the look. She concedes, closing her eyes and extending her hand in front of her, palm up. Tim very gently places one of the keys in her hand and she opens her eyes. “What’s this?”
“A key.” Tim states obviously.
“To what?” Lucy asks confused.
Lucy’s confusion grows. “I already have a key.”
Tim sighs, exasperated, “It’s symbolic, Lucy.”
Lucy remains confused, and looks at Tim. He looks at her expectantly and it hits her. Her eyes grow wide. “Oh! Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Yes!” He exclaims as if it was the clearest thing in the world.
“OH! Yes!” She laughs and wraps her arms around him.
Tim knocks on Tamara’s bedroom door, Lucy by his side.
Tamara opens her door, removing her headphones, “Hey!”
“Hey, do you have a second?”
“Close your eyes and put out your hand.”
Tamara looks at him with a great deal of suspicion and Lucy does her best to suppress her laugh. Lucy tried to convince him to just ask her, but he insisted on doing it this way. It seems like a “bigger gesture” this way.
“As long as you promise not to put anything creepy on me.” She says raising her open palm, before quickly closing her hand and pulling it back. “or anything gross.”
She still eyes him warily but opens her hand back up and closes her eyes. When Tim drops the key in her palm, she opens her eyes. “A key?” Tim nods. “To what?”
Tim looks baffled. Is it really not obvious? “My house!”
“I already have a key to your house.” Lucy loses it, doubling over from laughter. Tamara looks even more confused than Lucy did. “Am I missing something?”
“Yes! It’s symbolic! Do you want to move in with me and Lucy?!” Tim all but shouts it, frustrated that nobody understands his symbolic gesture.
“Oh.” The tone in the room shifts to a more serious note. Tamara looks like she might cry, and Lucy straightens herself out. “Really?” Tamara asks.
“Yes, really.” Tim confirms.
“You are a part of our family, Tamara.” Lucy adds.
“There’s a bedroom in our house with your name on it if you want it.”
“Yeah?” Tim and Lucy say in unison, smiling ear to ear.
“Yeah,” Tamara repeats, smiling back.
“Come here.” Lucy pulls her and Tim both into a family hug and they laugh.
Forever a family, they will be.
