Not Home for Long

He was so glad to be home. After being stuck on the road with the rest of his band for more than a month, Tim sighed in relief when he got out of the bus and stretched out. Finally, he was home in Chicago and had some time to spend with his family before he went to Europe to promote the rest of his album. First thing he was going to do was spend time with Blythe, he had promised the girl some daddy time when he had last heard her on the phone and he planned on fulfilling his promise.

Tim didn't want to wake Erin and Blythe up, so he spends the next 5 minutes standing on his own porch, digging through his suitcase in the search for his keys. He had thrown them in the bag before he started to clean up, to make sure he wouldn't forget them, and now he was regretting it. Throwing some of his shirts out of the suitcase and on the porch, Tim pursed his lips together as his two different colour eyes searched for the silver keys.

It took another good 3 minutes before he finally managed to find them, put them in his pocket and then end up seeing that he had spilled half of his suitcase upon the porch. Quickly picking everything up in a bunch, Tim threw it all together in his suitcase, already regretting the fact that he had messed up all the neatly folded clothes. He had little trouble closing the suitcase again and then quickly pushed the key in the lock, opening the door to his home and sighing tiredly.

Pushing the suitcase against the wall of the hall, Tim soon found his way to his kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, taking several sips and taking in the little changes Erin had done to the house while he had been absent. There was another magazine scan on the fridge with magnets, and again, his blue eye seemed to be brighter on the scan.

He smiled and walked over to the small living room; he smiled at the familiar sight and lay down on the couch, trying to be as quiet as he could since it was still early in the morning. He lifted an arm up to his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment, taking in the moment. The first moments coming home after a long tour were the best.

The stress of going on stage later tonight was absent from his mind, his body started to relax, even though the aches were still coursing through his muscles and even his head started to ache a little bit as he stared up at the ceiling.

The aches were the aftermath of his stage antics, but he did not regret them. He yawned and sat up again, rubbing his eyes with his fists and then blinking, trying to find something that had changed in the living room. When he found nothing, he made his way up the stairs and smiled when he came closer to the bedroom he shared with Erin.

Before he entered however, he silently crept into Blythe's room right next to it and gave his daughter a good look. Her blond hair was hanging around her face in a mess, it was longer than he remembered and her pink pyjama sleeves were covering her little fists that were clutching on the blanket covering her front but not her back.

She was curled up in such a little ball that Tim almost didn't see her. He moved closer to her bed and bended down, giving a small kiss on her temple and stroking her hair softly for a few seconds before moving back out of the room as silent as he could.

He smiled as he closed the door to her room really slowly to make as little sounds as he could and then made his way over to his room. Even though he had tried his best to be as stealthy and quiet as he possibly could, by the time he reached the double bed he and Erin shared, she was already sitting up slightly on the bed, her eyes squinting through the darkness of the room to see who was approaching her.

"Tim?"

"Hey," he whispered, sitting down on the bed and smiling up at her, his hand caressing her cheek.

"You're home early," Erin yawned, running her hand through her messy blond hair, just like her daughter, she was wearing a pyjama of which the sleeves were way too big.

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all," she smiled, giving him a kiss on the lips, "welcome home."

Tim grinned and removed his shoes quickly before laying down next to Erin on the bed, her head on his chest as he propped himself up on a few of the pillows scattered around on the bed. He ran his fingers through her hair as she slowly fell back asleep in his arms. Tim let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over his own mind.
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Waking up, Blythe blinked the sleep out of her eyes and climbed out of her bed. It was so quiet around her; the usual sounds of her mother walking around the kitchen or cleaning up something were absent right now. She slowly slouched over to the door, one of her tiny fists still rubbing her left eye. Opening the door of her own room proved to be a problem that she soon resolved by grabbing one of the tiny chairs in her room to stand on and then turning the doorknob so it would open.

Seeing that the door to her parent’s room was open (while it normally was closed), she quietly crept to the door and poked her head in it. Her eyes lit up before she ran over to the bed and jumped on it, her body soon climbing as close to her father as she could.

"Daddy home!" she squealed, wrapping her arms around her father who woke up startled and looked around for a while before he realized who was hanging around his neck.

"Hey princess," he chuckled, sitting up so that he didn't wake up Erin and pulled Blythe closer to him, planting a big sloppy kiss on her cheek and making her giggle.

"Long home?" she asked, a little frown on her forehead as she looked into her father's eyes.

"Long enough to spoil you," Tim scrunched his nose up as he laid Blythe down on the bed and started tickling her stomach. The young girl started kicking her legs in the air, her giggles filling the whole room together with her fathers.

"Daddy, stop," Blythe giggled, trying to push her father off her. Tim grinned down at her and then lifted up her little pyjama shirt, blowing her stomach and making her giggle even more. Behind him, Erin sat up on the bed and watched her husband play with their daughter, the girl's cheeks turning red from the laughter as her eyes were squeezed shut. She chuckled and placed a hand on Tim's shoulder, pulling him back before he ended up killing their daughter with laughter.

He pouted a little from being stopped and the giggles took another few minutes to die down. Blythe grinned at her father and threw her little arms around his neck again the moment she was sure he wasn't going to tickle her again. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and nuzzled her nose against his skin, making him chuckle. Tim turned to Erin who was looking fond at the pair before raising an eyebrow at Tim’s eager eyes.

“What?”

"How about pancakes?"

"Tim honestly, you've been home for less than an hour or something and you're already planning on spoiling the kid again."

"Oh come on Erin,” Tim rolled his eyes, “I'm craving pancakes here, I haven’t had yours for weeks now and I'm sure our Princess here is too."

Tim nodded extravagated at his daughter who looked at him with curious eyes, wondering what her father was talking about until she got it and turned them to her mother, also nodding at her, an eager smile on her lips. Erin sighed and looked at her family before getting out of the bed and grabbing her slippers.

“While I make pancakes for the both of you,” Erin pursed her lips together, “could you get her dressed in some real clothes please? And by that I mean real clothes Tim McIlrath.”

“So, what doesn’t qualify as real clothing?” Tim frowned, making his wife roll her eyes and leave the bedroom without an answer. Tim grinned and turned to his daughter.

“Okay sport, now to get you in some real clothes.”

“Princess dress?” Blythe cocked her head to the side and looked at her father in the hope that he would say yes.

“I don’t think that qualifies as real clothing princess but, do you have one?”

“Yeah!” Blythe grinned before she crawled off the bed and ran to her room as fast as she could. Tim looked at her little feet carrying her all the way across the hall before she disappeared in her room.

He leaned back on the bed and waited for his daughter to come back to him with her princess dress, he stifled a yawn and hoped that she would take a while so he could sleep a bit longer. Only a minute later, Blythe ran back to him with a pink dress in her hands, crawling back on the bed and proudly showing her father her new princess dress.

“Wow, is that a real Disney dress that you’re holding there?” Tim asked with a lot of faked enthusiasm yet with a little bit of shocked mixed in it. Blythe grinned at her father’s reaction and pushed it in his arms.

“Uhu! Grandma bought it for me.”

“Well let’s put it on you then kiddo,” Tim grinned, getting out of the bed and helping Blythe off. His hand holding hers while his other was clutching on the dress. His muscles were protesting against the sudden movement but he ignored this and walked over to her room, gathering all the other necessities for Blythe before helping her sit down on the bed and helping her get in the dress.

“Look at you, you’re all pretty and stuff!” he grinned as she twirled in front of him, showing off her new dress. He combed her long blond hair and put it in two ponytails before grabbing her hand and helping her down the stairs. The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she ran towards the kitchen, yelling for her mother to look at her.

“Tim, you didn’t!”

“I did,” Tim nodded, leaning against the door frame and looking at his daughter with an amused glance as she kept twirling around in the kitchen.

“She’s been wearing it for the past week, she really needs to wear some real clothing again or she’ll get used to wearing it the whole time,” Erin sighed.

“Oh let her show it off,” Tim rolled her eyes.
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With her face full of chocolate sauce, Blythe couldn’t stop looking up at her father and grin every few seconds. Tim chuckled every time she did and even had to stop drinking his coffee for a few times unless he wanted to spill it all over the table.

Erin looked at him disapproving a few times, for encouraging their daughter so much but she led it slide because it was his first day home in such a long time. She cleaned off her daughter’s mouth and then let the girl run around free again. The first thing Blythe did was going to her father and pull his hand, insisting that he came with her to the small garden behind the house to play.

Tim followed her as soon as he could; laughing at her excitement to show him her new ball she had gotten from her other grandmother. Not to his surprise, it was also a Disney ball, covered with the portraits of all her favourite princesses. He smiled and kicked the ball to her softly, waiting for her to kick it back.

She laughed and almost tripped over her dress a few times but managed to catch her balance in the end and so keeping her dress safe from any dirt. Much to the relief and slight annoyance of Erin who needed a reason to put the dress in the laundry so that Blythe wouldn’t wear it the whole time.

They played outside for a good hour, playing more than one game with her new ball until Erin forced them inside. It wasn't one of the warmest days outside and the last thing she needed was two sick people in the house. And if Tim got sick and lost his voice, then the band was screwed for the rest of the tour so she kindly tried to avoid that with all means necessary even if it meant luring them inside with hot chocolate milk.

Finally reaching the kitchen after being ordered to come inside, Tim smiled and kissed his wife on the cheek, his hands resting on her hips as they were alone for a few minutes. Erin shot him a disapproving glance over her shoulder, telling him to keep the intimacy for another time.

"Where's Blythe?"

"Running up the stairs, claiming she needs to show me something else except her new ball and dress."

"Oh, must be her new book then,” Erin mused.

"My god I leave for a month or something and I come home and you have spoiled my child to the core."

"I didn't tell you to leave," Erin rolled her eyes, pushing a cup of hot chocolate milk in his hands.

"Well I didn't tell you to spoil my child in just a month of me not being home," Tim shot back, glaring mockingly at her.

"Then don't leave," Erin smiled sweetly at her husband and kissed him on the lips before pouring the hot chocolate milk in a bottle for Blythe.

"But I like going on tour," Tim whined.

"Daddy! Book! Read to me?" Blythe pulled on his shirt, looking up and showing him her new book. The cover was still shining but by the look of it, she had read it a lot of times before.

"Sure kiddo, let's go sit on the couch with the good hot chocolate milk your mother made us!" Tim led his daughter to the couch and placed the cup on the table next to the couch. The new book lay on his lap as Blythe crawled under his arm and sucked on her bottle, trying to get as much chocolate milk out of it as she could.

"Sam I am. That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am!" Tim frowned and turned a page, not really getting the story but Blythe seemed to enjoy it, "do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham."

He looked next to him and smiled, seeing that in the short time he had been reading Blythe had fallen asleep against him and almost spilling her bottle all over the couch. He carefully grabbed the bottle from her little hand and placed it next to his own cup, trying not to wake his daughter up from her nap. His eyes shot to the clock at the wall in front of him and he realized that it was already past noon.

“She fell asleep already?”

“Looks like it yeah,” Tim grinned, petting his daughter’s head softly and looking at her sleeping, her little thumb in her mouth.

“You missed her didn’t you?”

“Loads,” Tim looked grim, “I missed you two so much. But I promise to make up for the lost time when I come back from Europe.”

“I’m sure that you will,” Erin kissed the top of his head and assured him that they would be able to handle it. Tim showed her a sad smile and kissed her lips, resting his head on her shoulder.
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With his legs stretched out over the length of the couch and Blythe on his chest napping while listening to his heartbeat, the sight of Tim and his daughter sleeping on the couch was truly the most adorable thing Erin had seen in weeks. His arm was over her little waist, holding her safely so she wouldn't fall off the couch in her sleep and even Tim was smiling in his sleep. Erin sipped from her coffee and wondered if she should wake them up or not. It seemed too cruel to wake them up but on the other hand, it had to be uncomfortable to lie on the couch like that.

She sat down on the floor and stared at her husband sleeping, his mouth slightly open. Erin had to bite back a smile at the thoughts running through her mind at the moment. When a groan escaped Tim's lips, she was soon shaken out of her reverie to be there when he woke up.

"Erin?"

"Blythe's on your chest," she whispered back, hoping that he wouldn't disturb her. They both knew that the child was handful if she was wakened up early from her nap. Tim blinked a few times before groaning and laying his head back down on the arm rest of the couch.

"Want me to take her?"

"No it's okay," Tim smiled, turning his head so at least he was facing her. Erin nodded and sat up, leaning closer to him so she could give him a peck on the lips.

“I want you to know how much I appreciate you playing with her, right after you came off the tour even.”

“She’s my girl, I’d do anything for her,” Tim smiled, stroking his daughter’s hair and not even trying to contain the love shining in his eyes. Erin smiled, again praising herself lucky for having such a great husband.

“She missed you, a lot. Every day she would stand in front of the refrigerator and stare at one of the magazine scans, pointing at you and going ‘daddy’ at me.”

“I counted down the days until I could see her again, and sang ‘Like The Angel’ every night with her in my mind. And you too of course.”

Erin smiled and let her hand stroke Tm’s cheek, he leaned in to her touch and then slowly sat up, shifting Blythe so she as in his arms, bridal style. He stood up from the couch as slowly as he could, trying not to wake the young girl up. She muttered something in her sleep before turning her head into her father’s chest and sleeping further soundly. Tim and Erin smiled both at each other and then at their girl before Tim brought her upstairs to her bed so she could sleep further there.

If he had to be honest, which he wasn’t always with Erin nor Blythe whenever he came back from being on tour, he was dead tired. But the big eyes of his daughter when she had seen him had convinced him to push away his exhaustion and play with her anyway; knowing that he never really had much time to spend with her alone, there was always something to do.

He gladly sacrificed a few hours of good sleep to spend with his daughter instead. Besides, being on tour so much had taught him to deal with long periods of time without sleeping, even though his body was protesting against every move he made now. Again, Erin was proved right when she told him time and time again that the couch was not the perfect place to sleep on. Especially not after he had just returned from tour and could desperately use a real bed for once.

“You should go to sleep too; a nap would do you well.”

“I haven’t spent time with you yet,” Tim smiled, kissing his wife’s cheek and looking into her eyes.

“I will not spend time with you while you’re forcing yourself to stay up. You need the sleep.”

Sighing and telling himself that his wife was right, Tim pouted and found himself pushed to the bedroom by his wife’s hand on his chest. She didn’t hesitate to pull his shirt off and then push him on the bed before pulling the covers over him.

“Sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake up,” she whispered softly before kissing his forehead.

Tim muttered something under his breath before falling asleep within seconds. Erin smiled and walked over to the windows, closing the blinds and stealing one last glance at her husband before leaving the room.