"Are Y'all sure about this?" Tim asks as he slips on his prosthetic. He was wearing a pair of shorts which he didn't normally do. Chance took that as a sign that Tim was becoming more comfortable around him.

"Yes, we're sure." Chance smiles as he works on Tim's cane. He was putting a different foot on it. A wider one that would make it easier to walk with on the sand. It prevented the cane from sinking down into the sand.

"Come on, Tim, it'll be fun." Kirstie says.

"Whatever." Tim smirks as he rolls his eyes.

"If you're set on losing weight, we want to help." Patch says in sign language.

"That's right and walking is great exercise." Kirstie adds.

"Maybe for you but for me, it's very painful." Tim says as Chance hands him his cane. "Can't I just starve myself? It would be much easier."

"No." Kirstie laughs.

"We'll help you, Sweetie. We can just walk a short distance today and each day we'll try to go a little farther." Chance says.

"I lub walking on da beach." Adam smiles. 

"Well, I guess I'm as ready as I'm gonna be." Tim sighs as he stands from the couch. 

The entire 'family' including the two dogs walk out onto the beach. Tim was glad that he had Chance, Patch and Kirstie for support. His will-power sometimes could be a little weak.

"Which way do you guys what to go?" Kirstie asks as she slips her arm around her husband's waist.

"Well, we can walk down to the pier. I've walked down there before." Tim answers.

"Sounds good." Chance says as he takes Tim by the hand.

They began to walk up the beach. Adam and Emily skip ahead followed closely by Mack and Satchmo. 

Patch made sure to keep a watchful eye on his daughter and wouldn't allow her to get too far ahead of them.

Kirstie would call out to their daughter from time to time telling her to slow up. She was doing her best to calm her husband's nerves.

"She's safe, you know, you can relax a little." Kirstie says quietly as she looks around at Patch with a slight smile. "Adam is with her and so are Satchmo and Mack."

Patch glances around meeting her smiling eyes. He smiles and hangs his head. He was hoping that Kirstie would not pick up on his nervousness but she knew him too well.

"Am I over-reacting?" Patch asks.

"No. You're just being a dad." Kirstie says with a smile as she takes him by the hand.

"How are you holding up?" Chance asks as he and Tim walk side by side up the beach.

"I'm okay, so far." Tim answers with a nod.

"I love that you decided to wear shorts." Chance smiles. "You look sexy as hell in them."

Tim rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

"I'm being serious." Chance smiles.

"I don't make it a habit. People tend to stare sometimes and it makes me a little self-conscious." Tim says. "And Jenika never wanted me to wear shorts. I guess my leg grossed her out."

"Well, she was a b*tch anyway." Chance says causing Tim to chuckle.

"LOOK, TIM! A JELLO PISH!!" Adam shouts as he and Emily stoop down to look at the small stranded creature.

"IT'S GOT A LITTLE FISHY IN IT!" Emily shouts. "IS THAT HIS DINNER?!!"

"Is it still alive?" Kirstie asks as they join the 'kids'.

"Da jello pish? Or da pish inthide da jello pish?" Adam asks.

"The jello...uh..the jellyfish." Kirstie giggles.

"I tank tho." Adam says.

"Adam, let's go see if we can find something to scoop it up with so we can put it back in the water." Chance says.

"Otay." Adam nods. He and Chance walk over toward the sand dunes in search of something they could use.

"Y'all hurwy. Don't let it die!" Emily calls out as she looks sadly down at the sea creature.

"We may be looking at a future Steve Irwin." Tim smiles as he watches the little girl try to care for the jellyfish.

"Who's Steve Irvin, Uncle Tim?" Emily looks up while shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Steve Irwin. He was a guy that loved all animals. No matter how creepy or dangerous they were. He tried to save as many as he could." Tim answers.

"Cool." Emily smiles and turns her attention back to the little creature.

Chance and Adam returns after finding a piece of plank that had washed up on the beach and got hung up in the sea oats on the sand dune.

"Be careful." Emily warns as Chance carefully scoops the jellyfish onto the board. "Don't hurt it."

"I'm not, Sweetie." Chance says. "Would you kids like to do the honor of setting it free?"

"I'm too short to wade out in da water." Emily says. "But Adam can."

"Weally?!" Adam asks with a huge grin.

"Just be careful, Pumpkin." Tim says as they follow Adam to the water's edge.

Adam wades out into the ocean. When the water was above his knees, Tim calls out to him that that was far enough.

"Bye, Mista Jello Pish." Adam says as he slides it off into the water.

"BYE! YOU GO HOME NOW!" Emily shouts as she waves.

"Great job, guys." Kirstie smiles as she takes her daughter by the hand. Emily reaches with her other hand and takes her daddy's hand and begins to skip along between her parents.

"We thaved da day." Adam giggles as he wades out of the water.

"Yes, you did." Tim smiles as he and Chance wait for the man-child. "A regular superhero."

"Yeah!! I Bat Man!" Adam giggles as he runs ahead holding his arms out in front of him pretending he was flying.

"Uh, he does know that Bat Man doesn't actually fly, right?" Chance whispers.

"To him, all superheroes fly." Tim says with a smile as they continue to walk toward the pier.

They walk out onto the pier to rest a bit while leaning on the railing. Patch picks Emily up so that she would have a better view.

"How are you doing?" Chance asks when he noticed that Tim was breathing a lot heavier than the others were.

"I'm good." Tim answers as he runs a hand through his hair while not making eye contact. He was definitely lying.

"You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?" Chance asks, turning to face his lover.

"Uh, maybe." Tim says with a slight smirk still not making eye contact.

"Are you hurting?" Chance asks with a concerned look on his face.

"Walking in the sand is not an easy task. It's a little tiring." Tim says, avoiding the question.

"Babe, answer the question. Are you hurting?" Chance tries again.

"Some." Tim answers softly. "Walking back is going to be a little more difficult. But I can do this."

"I'm here to help you, you know that." Chance says as he leans forward giving Tim a soft kiss.

"I know." Tim smiles as he gently rubs his thumb across Chance's cheek.

"WHOA!! DID YOU SEE THAT!!??" Emily screams with excitement as a stingray flies out of the water and lands making a huge splash.

"DAT WATH AWTHOME!!!" Adam shouts.

Kirstie feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulls it out and sees that she had a text message from Kevin.

"Guys, Kevin is inviting us over for a cook-out tonight." Kirstie relays her text. "Guess we need to head back home."

"That sounds like fun. I miss Kevin." Patch signs after letting his daughter down on the pier.

"Honey, he's only been gone for a day." Kirstie giggles as they make their way off the pier.

"I know but still." Patch chuckles.

Halfway home, Tim comes to a complete stop. He could barely take a step. His prosthetic was beginning to hurt his amputation like hell.

"Baby, you need some help?" Chance asks with a worried expression.

"If you don't mind?" Tim asks.

"Of course, I don't mind." Chance says as he takes Tim's arm and puts it around his neck. He then slides his arm around Tim's waist to help keep most of the weight off his leg. "Lean on me, when you're not strong. I'll be your friend, I'll help you car..ry on." Chance begins to sing. 

Once again, Tim stops and slowly turns his head to look at his lover.

"Shut up." Tim says, trying to hide the smile.

"I love you, you grumpy asshole." Chance laughs.

*********

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