Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tommy was only 15 when he was kicked out of the house. His YouTube career had started to kick off as he was playing in the same SMP as Technoblade. Instead of seeking help or going to an orphanage, Tommy decided he’d become his own man. An independent boy. 

He had enough money in his YouTube and bank account to afford a small apartment for a month. Tommy worked odd jobs to get himself money to put food on the table and get money for rent. He also had to stay on top of school at the same time. He had questioned whether he should quit his gaming career but decided he would see how far he could go.

Tommy soon was invited to the Dream SMP. He watched as the SMP unfolded into a roleplay server and became the most popular SMP in no time. And Tommy was the protagonist. He was grateful for his career and how he was able to pay rent for years to come. He got himself an actual gaming setup and was financially stable despite being barely old enough to legally have a job.

Tommy’s online persona may have been a boisterous, loud, and childish boy, but in reality, he grew up too fast and he hid it from his viewers and his friends. He had originally planned to tell them at some point but he didn’t want to be a bother. So it stayed that way. And he lived solitary for over a year. He pretended that his mother would call him to do chores, when in reality it was just so the other bought the fact that he indeed lived with his parents.

Nobody would have ever suspected that the youngest person on the Dream SMP was living alone.

———————————————

Tommy slumped back into his chair after ending his stream. He was exhausted after that huge lore stream. He walked over to his mini fridge and saw how he was running low on groceries and groaned. “This is the second time this week I have to go to the supermarket,” Tommy thought to himself. He grabbed a jacket that was hanging near him and put it on before walking outside.

Tommy walked around and went to the nearest Tesco’s. He was thinking about what brand cereal he should get as he kicked a rock across the pavement until he heard a soft cry. Tommy looked around to see where it was coming from and noticed there wasn’t anyone in sight due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

He walked around to see where it was coming from until he peered into an alleyway. There stood a small baby who looked no older than two years old leaning against the brick wall. She was sobbing silently and looked up at Tommy.

Not knowing what to do, Tommy looked around to see if her parents were anywhere. He couldn’t find anybody in sight and asked people around the area if they recognized her. Everybody turned him down and he had finally given up. He carried the baby and started to walk to Tesco’s with her in his arms.

Tommy went in and bought some milk formula, baby wipes, diapers, and new clothes for the baby. He took a five minute walk back to his apartment complex and gently placed her onto his bed. Tommy unzipped her old clothes and wiped her body. She had dirt and debris all over her body as well a few cuts here and there. Tommy opened his first-aid drawer and grabbed small Spongebob band-aids to put onto her small scratches. He wrinkled his nose as he took off her diaper and fumbled with a new one. He spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to put it on her until he finally succeeded. The baby looked up at Tommy and started to giggle which made him smile. “Who would abandon such a charming little girl?”

Tommy picked her up and let her drool onto his shirt and pulled up the directions to the nearest police station. The baby was clutching a small sippy cup and occasionally sipped the milk he had prepared for her. 

The walk to the police station took 30 minutes because of how he was pacing himself. The baby he was carrying had fallen asleep in his arms and he smiled seeing how adorable she was. His arms had started to ache from carrying the weight for so long, but he just pushed it off and continued.

Tommy finally arrived at the police station with the baby now waking up and immediately came up to them to explain his situation. “Uh, hello? I kinda have a baby and I don’t know who she belongs to?” Tommy said as he walked in. He slightly felt remorse knowing that he probably would never see her again. A man came up to him and instructed him to sit in one of the chairs in the waiting room to discuss his situation. 

After around 5 minutes of waiting, a nice lady came in and led him into a room. “Hello, hon, where are your parents here?” “ Shoot. I forgot about that part,” Tommy thought. “Oh, they aren’t here. I live alone,” Tommy admitted. The lady nodded slowly before typing something into her computer. “What is your full name?” the lady asked. “Thomas Simmons, ma’am.” The lady nodded again before typing into the computer again.

The lady looked at Tommy before saying, “Aren’t you a bit young to be living alone?” “Yeah, but I’m financially stable and am doing alright,” Tommy admitted. The lady nodded again before asking, “Do you know this child or did you just find her?” “I found her in an alleyway looking as if she was abandoned.” Tommy responded. He rocked the baby gently back and forth as she started to get fussy and comforted her.

The lady soon identified the baby with her fingerprint and face. She pulled up a tab with all the information and said, “The girl’s name is Elizabeth Duff. Her birthday is July 7th and she is 2 years old. Her mother died last year and her father is serving jail time for criminal records.” Tommy was shocked to hear her tragic backstory and felt sympathetic for the small child. She was too young to understand.

 “I would suggest you leave it all to us for her to go to an Adoption Centre, sir,” the lady spoke calmly. Tommy wasn’t sure whether he wanted to. He disregarded the feeling of regret as he quietly handed Elizabeth to the lady and started to walk out the door. Elizabeth saw him leaving and started to whimper and held her arms out. Tommy paused at the doorknob and looked at the lady. “Is it possible for me to legally adopt her?”

The lady looked at Tommy and raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you a little young to live on your own and raise a child?” Tommy took a deep breath and looked into the lady’s eyes. “Please, miss. I’ll raise her well.” The lady sighed and rubbed her temples before saying, “Look, kid. You’re unsuitable to be a guardian. It is illegal to adopt a child if you’re under the age of 19. I can’t help you. If you want to adopt her so bad, take her somewhere legal.” Then, Tommy had an idea. “Well, then thats exactly what I’ll do. I’m going to California and I’m gonna adopt Elizabeth,” Tommy said firmly with confidence.The lady stood there not knowing what to say until she finally spoke. “Well I suppose that is perfectly legal then..”

After hearing that, Tommy grabbed Elizabeth and ran out the door. He sprinted out with Elizabeth in his arms who was giggling from how bouncy he was while running.  Tommy scurried into his apartment and immediately booted up his PC to book flights for Los Angeles.

Tommy set Elizabeth down onto his bed before checking his PC. A flurry of Discord message notifications filled the screen. Tommy opened them up and read them.

Today, 2:24

WilburSoot

Yo tommy are you ready to stream

tommy?

if you wanna postpone tell me

Today 2:33

Tubbo_

hey

wilbur tojd me you wont resqons

you still streaming?

i assume your cdncelling

Tommy quickly typed out into the server saying that he was cancelling the stream because of having other issues he needed to deal with.

He quickly opened up Chrome and typed in everything while trying to plan. His search history was soon filled up;

Search History:

Is it legal for a minor to travel internationally alone?

How to get a passport for your child

Adoption policy in California

Cheap plane tickets to california

What to bring when travelling if you have a kid

Baby clothes for girls

How long does it take for a passport to come

Apply for passport

Passport cost

After about four hours of planning, he finally got everything sorted out. Tommy applied for getting a passport for Elizabeth as well as getting out his own from a drawer and booked flights to Los Angeles. He sighed and took a deep breath while looking at Elizabeth. “The things I’d do for you.. I’m actually doing this oh god,” Tommy thought to himself. 

Everything was settled and he tweeted out he was going on a short hiatus. Tommy picked up Elizabeth and said, “Now, we’ve got a lot of packing to do.”

Chapter Text

Tommy felt very nervous. He was literally a 16 year old who was travelling to a different country along with his soon-to-be daughter. He had a right to be nervous.

Tommy kept doubting himself thinking whether he had pushed himself too far or not, but his worries always immediately went away when looking at Elizabeth clinging to him. She trusted Tommy and he couldn’t let her down.

He handed the brand new passports to the flight attendants at the front desk hoping he’d be accepted. Surprisingly, they didn’t mention a thing and just casually printed out his boarding passes and took in his stow-away baggage. One of them smiled and monotonously said, “Enjoy your flight sir.”

Tommy sighed in relief and grabbed Elizabeth who was giddy in excitement. She was skipping across the squeaky tiles and giggling the whole way while also sometimes screaming, “Daddy, daddy, daddy! Look over there! Whoah!!” Her enthusiasm put Tommy in a good mood the whole way.

Tommy was quite lucky to be travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it may be risky and could get him cancelled on Twitter if he was caught, he thankfully wasn’t recognized in public because he had a mask covering his face. Tommy noticed maybe one or two people staring at him who slightly recognized him, but pushed it off thinking it wasn’t him. The constant paranoia didn’t wash away completely though, but he was very relieved to know he made it to his gate number without encountering anyone.

Elizabeth clutched Tommy’s hand walking while also pointing at a few Duty-Free shops with candy and toys on the way. He couldn’t ignore her puppy eyes and eventually gave in and bought a small teddy bear and a pack of M&M’s for the plane ride. “Okay, Lizzie, this is all you get okay? I’m not buying any more for the rest of the trip okay?” Elizabeth nodded with reassurance and hugged the teddy bear tightly. 

The two walked towards their Gate Number and sat down in the seats there. In a few minutes, a voice went through the loudspeakers saying, “Gate 3B is now boarding. Gate 3B is now boarding for United Airlines going to Los Angeles.” Tommy sighed and grabbed Elizabeth while walking in line to board. A flight attendant scanned the boarding passes and they walked into the airplane to find their seats.

Tommy had to keep Elizabeth from squealing in excitement. She was flailing her arms in the air and saw the many rows of seats with TVs on the backs of them. They went to their seats where Elizabeth started to tap on the window’s glass and fumble with the tray table in front of her. Usually, Tommy would be excited knowing how he rarely travelled to save money, but he was a famous teenager travelling without an adult and had a 3 year old kid with him. 

His anxiety only grew as the plane took off and showed a sign that there wasn’t any turning back now. He looked over to see Elizabeth admiring the animated safety video playing on all the TVs. She quickly fell asleep though and Tommy let her lay down on his lap. 

Before he knew it, the plane had started to arrive in Los Angeles. The loudspeaker went on and a flight attendant said, “We have just arrived at LAX International Airport. We hope you’ve enjoyed your flight, please make sure to stow away your tray tables and buckle your seatbelts. Welcome to California.” 

Tommy sighed before helping Elizabeth unbuckle her seatbelt and stretched after sitting in a chair for so long. He grabbed his luggages from above and made sure to keep Elizabeth within sight. He went outside the baggage claim and saw Elizabeth yawn. “Did ya sleep good, Lizzie?” Tommy smiled. “Mhmm.. the teddy’s pretty nice. M’ hungry.. we can get Mickey D’s?” Elizabeth yawned. She was still learning to speak fluently, so she still worded some phrases wrong. “Okay, sure. We should go to the hotel first to rest a bit, I’m a bit tired, innit?” Elizabeth giggled and hummed in response

Tommy checked into the hotel and checked his schedule. He had planned to stay in America for about three weeks to sort out officially adopting Elizabeth and also exploring the areas around him. Since he was only with her for two weeks so far, he hadn’t gotten any extra stuff for Elizabeth and planned on getting more clothes from Walmart or something. His budget wasn’t large, but he figured he could do a couple streams to pay for the costs.

Tommy planned on getting everything sorted for approval within the first weeks and just having some bonding time with Elizabeth in the last week and exploring around California. He knew she was excited to be exploring a new country and couldn’t let the experience go to waste. They had already planned to go to some places around there like the Hollywood Sign.

Tommy had enough stressing and decided to go out and buy the Happy Meal he promised Elizabeth. She was giddy with excitement and pointed at everything around there from how the people talked funny and the brilliant baby blue sky. He was kind of having an existential crisis at that point, since he had either made the best decision of his life, or the worst decision in his life.

He tucked his mask up over his nose and made sure to do the same with Elizabeth. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and started to scroll through Twitter. Tommy looked at the news about the stock market rising and dropping, but then stopped at one specific tweet. It was from a news channel claiming that the COVID-19 virus had mutated into a more contagious disease in England and was immediately closing off their borders.

Tommy had started to panic seeing the borders shut down since he had already ordered plane tickets coming back. The original plan was to only stay in California long enough to officially adopt Elizabeth. He could only stay in a hotel room for so long and the trip itself was extremely costly. Out of desperation, Tommy went onto a browser and typed, “Minecraft youtubers that live in California.” He had prayed one of them were somewhat close to him. Scrolling through he saw a few saying TapL, Joey Graceffa, Eret, HBomb, Technoblade... Wait, Technoblade. 

Tommy pulled out his discord and clicked on Technoblade and typed one simple message: “yo do you live in California” A few minutes later, Technoblade had started typing and said, “Yeah. Why do you need that info? Also, isn’t it like past your bedtime right now? Its like 3am where you live get some sleep.” Oh, right. It is. That explains why I’m so tired right now. The confirmation was all Tommy needed. He felt nervous to randomly ask the Blade to just let him live with him for an unknown amount of time. Tommy just sucked it up, took a deep breath, and typed, “mind if i crash at your place like next next week?” 

Chapter Text

It was an ordinary day for Technoblade. Claim ad revenue, play a little Minecraft, buy groceries (note to self: out of paper towels) Techno was just sitting by his monitor scrolling through some fanart until a discord notification popped up. The user above read, “TommyInnit” . Techno groaned when he saw the child’s messages and clicked on the contact.

TommyInnit

yo do you live in California    

Wait, what? Why does he need to know that?

Technoblade

Yeah. Why do you need that info? 

Techno was confused at why Tommy suddenly wanted to know, but just shrugged it off knowing it was probably some minor curiosity. Wait, aren’t the time zones apart by a lot? Techno pulled up chrome and typed in “England time”. It popped up reading 3:30 am. Man, I knew my sleep schedule was bad, but that streamer’s a child.

Technoblade 

Also, isn’t it like past your bedtime right now? Its like 3am where you live get some sleep.

Techno rolled his eyes and slumped back into his chair. It’s unhealthy for a child like Tommy to be up that late. Sure, Techno did it all the time, like at least three times a week, but he’s an adult Minecraft streamer and can do whatever the hell he wanted. Around fifteen minutes after Techno had sent that, Tommy had responded back.

TommyInnit

mind if i crash at your place like next next week?

WHOAH. That escalated quickly. What the hell? He’s suddenly asking to stay here for a bit? Didn’t England just set travel bans? Wait, this is illegal. Technoblade was beyond confused at that message. It was so sudden and he wasn’t sure how Tommy would get there in the first place. Then again, his place was free anytime.

Technoblade

Wait slow down child. 

Didnt they just set travel bans in england or something? 

This is illegal? I mean, sure my place is free I guess if your parents are fine with it

TommyInnit

yeah about that uh im kind of in california rn

surprise?

and now im kinda in a shitty situation because covid decided to be a real asshole and mutate specifically in my country

The response Techno had gotten was way more shocking than he expected. Wait, THE CHILD IS STUCK IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY? Technoblade had so many questions for Tommy. Everything now made sense, but it didn’t make it any less concerning.

Technoblade

You’re joking, right? Where’s your parents do you have anyone with you?

TommyInnit

uh no im not with my parents but I am with someone

Techno was concerned at the fact that Tommy, a famous streamer, was in a country where many of his fans live without his parents. He felt more assured when Tommy said he was with someone.

TommyInnit

can you send me your address or something so I can come there later

and uh me and the person I’m with can share a bed idc

Technoblade

Uh sure give me a sec

Do ya wanna come over like today or tomorrow since i don’t really care you seem to need help?

Techno was confused. Sharing a bed with the person he’s with? Who’d he bring with him, an imaginary girlfriend? A sibling? Nonetheless, he was concerned for Tommy and wanted to help him knowing he must be in a stressful situation at the moment.

Chapter Text

Tommy woke up with a groan and glancing around his surroundings. He was met with hotel room walls and a TV stand with a coffee maker sitting on it. Oh right, I’m in a fucking foreign country with another child. He looked to his side to see Elizabeth still sleeping on the Queen sized bed. Tommy rubbed his eyes and felt insanely tired. He looked up and checked the time to see the lights flashing in bright red reading 9:54 am. Tommy groaned again and plopped down into his sheets until a realization hit him. Oh shit, breakfast ends at 10:15 am. He jumped out of the sheets immediately and put on a jacket to wear and slipped on a pair of sandals while running downstairs into the lobby.

As Tommy walked down, he looked around to see a station with basic breakfast items. He wasn’t at all hungry, just extremely tired from the jetlag. Why did time zones have to be so complicated? He looked around and grabbed a few basic items from the breakfast area to bring back up to the hotel room. Tommy took an orange, apple juice, and two small serving boxes of Cheerios. He also snatched extra plastic cutlery and napkins. You can never be too prepared.

As Tommy was walking over to the elevator, he heard someone in the distance calling his name. Wait, what? He glanced back and just saw some people going about their day except for one teenage girl who was staring right at him. “Tommy?” she murmured. Tommy’s eyes widened and his thoughts were frantic. “Shit. How did she notice me? I’m wearing a mask that covers half of my face. Why do I have to be famous right now?” Tommy thought. He looked away briefly before twisting back around and turned on his persona. “Heyyyy, uhm, woman!” The girl walked up towards Tommy with an excited expression clutching a phone. “Hey! I’m a big fan, could I get a photo? I love the Dream SMP.” Tommy awkwardly shifted before giving a thumbs up and said, “Uhm, sure! Of course.. I think you’re really cool because you recognize my awesome face.” The girl snapped a photo and quickly waved goodbye. She left as fast as she came. Tommy walked backward into the elevator and waited for it to close. Right when it did, he slumped his shoulders in relief and leaned onto the railing. Why did people have to recognize me now?

Right when Tommy arrived back in the hotel room, he immediately rushed back into the bed, flopping down into a jumbled mess. Tommy was extremely sleep deprived from the jetlag and didn’t bother taking off his jacket or shoes. He saw that Elizabeth was still sleeping, so that was alright. He didn’t think a two year old would react well to being alone in an unknown place. Then again, he did find her abandoned in an alleyway.

—————————————

Tommy awoke again to Elizabeth poking his face and attempting to shake him. She had just woken up and had a pouty face on. “Uppp! Wake up!” She tugged on the bedsheets and jumped up and down on the bed. Tommy grudgingly went into a sitting position leaning against the bed frame. He grabbed his phone and saw the clock reading 2pm. He unlocked the phone and opened Twitter. One of the things that were now trending had his name in it. The tab showed several tweets going by with the same hashtag.

 #sincewhen

Fans spot TommyInnit in the USA. They hope that it means a new Streamer Meetup.

There was an image going viral which showed Tommy posing with the teenage girl who had asked for an autograph previously by the elevator. The first thing he noticed when looking at the photo was that it looked awful. No, correction, he looked like shit. Tommy’s hair looked a bit messy and unkempt with faint bags under his eyes. He was wearing hotel slippers and was posing awkwardly with his cereal in hand. Many people pointed out how it looked and made memes out of it. They were amusing, but also embarrassing. 

Elizabeth started poking Tommy again after he didn’t react to her other pokes beforehand. “Up.” Tommy looked over at Elizabeth crouching down on her knees continuously trying to get him to direct his attention towards her. Smiling, Tommy parted some of Elizabeth’s dirty blonde hair and gently booped her on the nose. She smiled widely and giggled knowing that she successfully got Tommy’s attention.

Tommy got out of the hotel bed and walked to the TV stand he had placed the goods on previously. He opened the box of Cheerios and grabbed a paper plate to put them on while also holding his phone. He shook the Cheerios and scattered it across the plate and handed it to Elizabeth. Tommy knelt down by her and made sure she didn’t spill any. 

Elizabeth stubbornly looked away from the plate and crossed her arms sassily. She had a stuck up face and pouted. Oh, I know what this is. Tommy groaned and proceeded to plead, “Please, Liz? For me? Cmon, it’s yummy, see?” He picked up one of the Cheerios and popped it into his mouth while exaggerating sound effects. “Mmmmmm, yummyyyy, I love this sooo much, Liz, too bad you don’t get any,” Tommy emphasized while rubbing his belly. Elizabeth reluctantly and carefully looked back at the plate before quickly snapping her head in the opposite direction once more. Tommy sighed in defeat and grabbed an apple juice box. He poked the straw in and handed it to Elizabeth to drink. She immediately snatched the juice box excitedly and started to sip it.

 “Why are children so fucking hard,” Tommy murmured. Elizabeth looked up in curiosity until she blurted, “What puck mean?” Tommy froze in place with his eyes wide when the realization hit him. Oh shit- shoot, I swore at a child, she’s gonna grow up swearing oh no I can’t swear god help me- Tommy straightened up and looked at Elizabeth carefully and spluttered, “No! Uh, bad word! Don’t say that. Like ever. Oh shiit— ake mushrooms! Shiitake mushrooms! Haha- uhm, if you say no-no words, I’m going to put you in- uh, timeout! So no swear words!” Elizabeth started giggling at how flustered Tommy was, but at least she wouldn’t try to swear. Hopefully. 

Elizabeth just finished her juice box and gave it to Tommy to throw it away. Tommy had tossed it aside and focused on trying to get Elizabeth to eat proper breakfast. “Come on! It’s really good, please? For me?” He tried but he still couldn’t get past Elizabeth’s stubbornness. Tommy grabbed a fork and put the Cheerios through the prongs. “Here comes the airplane?” He said hopefully. At last, Elizabeth took a few small bites. She clearly enjoyed it and had started to eat the rest on her own which relieved Tommy. He was already drained from parenting (why was it so hard?).

After Elizabeth finally finished her breakfast, Tommy carefully changed her diapers and scrunched up his face in disgust. It was exhausting and he had only been awake for two hours. He rummaged through his luggage to find proper clothes to wear when going outside and found a standard sweatshirt and jeans. Tommy didn’t want to wear his classic baseball tee because he was worried it’d make him attract more attention. He looked through the stuff for Elizabeth to wear and realized that she had barely any clothes to wear. Sure, he had recently purchased some clothes earlier, but they were now either dirty or too small (because he had to guess her clothes size).  When Tommy saw this, he wanted to crawl back into bed and do nothing. Planning the trip itself had been exhausting, and parenting was even more exhausting.

Tommy slid on the clothes he chose and picked up Elizabeth. “Where we going?” she questioned. “Uh, we’re going to get you some new clothes. And maybe fruit and shi- stuff,” Tommy replied. Nice save. He made sure to grab his phone and wallet while on his way out of the hotel room. Tommy walked slowly with Elizabeth clutching his finger as they walked down. He was extremely paranoid after being recognized. Being seen with a small child holding your hand in a different country as TommyInnit would most definitely break Twitter.

The mask Tommy was wearing had stretched up almost over his nose because of the fear of being spotted. Maybe if I’m outside with a child with a face covering and grey sweatshirt, they might not notice me… Tommy still had his doubts. He pulled up his phone and searched up the nearest supermarket. What kind of grocery stores do Americans have? Walmart and Target were the first to pop up and were the closest. “Okay, Elizabeth? We’re going to go to the store. It's a small walk from here.” She nodded in understanding and followed Tommy.

While walking on the route, both Tommy and Elizabeth couldn’t help but look around. LA was way different from Nottingham. The sky was less foggy and it had a warmer climate. The plant landscapes consisted mostly of palm trees which was interesting to say the least. 

When they arrived, Tommy made sure to tuck up his mask once more just for safe measures. He walked into the store casually with Elizabeth. The clothing aisle was in the front which was very fortunate. Tommy didn’t intend on speaking at all because his voice could possibly assure skeptics that he was the famous Minecraft streamer. 

He walked to the area and saw the different clothing articles displayed. “Hey, this one looks cute, don’t you think?” Tommy commented. He pointed at a shirt with pink and gold polka dots. Elizabeth shook her head in disapproval and walked to a different shirt that had a clown face on it. She smiled as Tommy choked up a laugh. “No, I don’t think so.. how about this one?” He held up a deer onesie with a zippable hood. Elizabeth smiled at the onesie and smiled at Tommy in approval this time. Tommy folded the onesie and picked out a few other shirts for later.

After what seemed like an eternity of selecting clothes, Tommy finally came down to a few. Elizabeth seemed bored of shopping which was understandable. The two walked to a cash register and waited in line. The sight of the different candies and toys displayed at the checkout area caught the eye of Elizabeth. She looked at them in awe and started to pick out different candies.

Tommy was being very impatient in line since he really wanted to get back to the hotel room ASAP. It didn’t help when he saw Elizabeth walk over and show a handful of different candies. “Oh, Elizabeth, no, we already got Candy at the airport. No more, okay?” Tommy sternly responded. Her eyes started to water and her lips started to curl. Oh no, not now. Tommy immediately knew what this was. It was one of those children tantrums. “Please??” Elizabeth whimpered. She let out soft sobs and let tears roll down her cheeks. Embarrassed, Tommy started to panic and tried his best to calm Elizabeth down without buying extra candy. He could feel the other people in line watching him.

Elizabeth’s soft cries turned into messy sobs soon, getting louder. “P-please? Daddy? I want it!” Tommy started stressing more and more as she pulled in her puppy eyes. “Okay, sweetie we can get only one if you promise to be good,” Tommy reluctantly whispered. Suddenly, he was interrupted by the person ahead of him in line.

“Uh, if you’d like I could pay for the candies? You look kind of young to have a child there, I’m just saying, not judging! Just wanted to help.” Tommy was thankful for the man’s understanding, but felt like he recognized that voice from somewhere. “So, what’s her name?” Then, it clicked.

“Wait, Eret…?” 

There was a moment of silence.

“Wait, holy shit. Tommy??”

Chapter Text

The two stared at each other in silence and in disbelief at the coincidence. A million thoughts were going through their heads in that one moment.

They know! Oh shit, I’m doomed. What do I say? How do I explain? What the fuck. I swear I’m gonna start stabbing shit. Wait, bad influence. What do they think of me? This is weird, god help me.

What? Why is Tommy with a child? Where are his parents?? What the fuck? Since when? I’m actually so confused. Does he need help? WAIT, TOMMY HAS A DAUGHTER? Does this mean he had- no, that’s weird. Surely not. This is weird, god help me.

Tommy awkwardly shuffled and looked down while holding Elizabeth’s hand. He dropped the assortment of sweets that Elizabeth had collected. “So, uhm.. hey?” He awkwardly chuckled. Eret said nothing back and only waved silently in response. 

The two were interrupted by the person behind them nudging them impatiently. Great, saved by the stranger! Tommy looked up at Eret and proceeded to put his goods onto the conveyor belt. Eret also grabbed his own bags and held them in his arms. “So, Tommy, want to visit my place maybe?” Eret questioned while raising their eyebrows. Tommy knew exactly what it meant. He needed explaining to do.

Right as they all stepped out of the store and heard the doors behind them close, Eret immediately twisted around to face Tommy. Tommy expected to hear a rampage of different questions, but instead heard Eret only say one word. “Explain.” Tommy looked away in reluctance and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Eret. “I mean, you don’t really have to, I’m not pushing you I just want to help you and everything.. so..” Eret awkwardly mumbled. 

The two were struggling to have a casual conversation with hesitation and stutters going into it. Elizabeth was impatiently tugging on Tommy’s shirt as they had talked. “Oh, uhm, Eret! I think she wants to go now, so I think I better get going?” Tommy turned the other way and attempted to escape the conversation when Eret grabbed his arm. “You know, you never answered my offer to come by my place.” Tommy raised his hands up in defeat before responding, “This is kidnapping, you do realize that, right Eret?” “Not without consent,” they responded back.

A few minutes later, Tommy found himself inside Eret’s car with Elizabeth eating candy in his lap.

 “So, is she yours?”

“Uh, yeah. Legal documents haven’t really processed or anything-“

“I mean, it was pretty obvious you seemed to be her father, I’m asking whether you.. well, created her?”

“Eret. Are you stupid? I did not!”

“I know but there’s two ways to get a child I thought you might have fucked a-“

“Language!”

“Oh right. Sorry. Kid on board. Never in a million year would I hear the Great TommyInnit say language with actual seriousness.”

“Fuuu-rick you, Eret you son of a bit- mother.”

Eret burst out laughing at this and looked into the rear mirror to see Tommy turning away in embarrassment. 

“Where are your parents, Tommy?”

“Ah, well, you’re the first one to hear this, but I live on my own. Paying my own rent and taxes.” Tommy nervously fidgeted with his fingers.

Eret pulled over immediately and looked back at Tommy. Elizabeth was lying on his lap which was still a surprising sight to see. They then displayed a serious tone at Tommy. “Tommy, why didn’t you come talk to any of us? We could have helped?” Tommy looked away. “Please, this is actually serious. Where are your parents? I can call them or something?” The thought of parents sent a sickening feeling of dread pool in Tommy’s stomach. “They left me to fend for myself at 15 years old and I never saw them again.”

Eret was shocked at this news. That the youngest person on the SMP lived alone with his own child. “Tommy, this is serious. Do we need legal documents? This is child abuse and endangerment, you don’t even legally drive yet, how on earth did you manage to get to America?” Tommy looked down at Elizabeth and didn’t say anything.

 “Do you have anywhere to go? Where are you staying?” 

“A hotel. Checked in for a few nights.”

“Do you want to stay at my place? You don’t have to pay anything.”

“Thanks, but I’m good. Planning on stopping by Technoblade’s anyway.”

“ Technoblade? You do realize he lives like 6 hours away, right? Does he know you have a child?”

“Well, I told him I had somebody else with me on my travels but I didn’t specify who it was…”

“TOMMY, You need to be more open with us. We want to help.”

At this point, Eret had started to yell. They didn’t mean to, but the situation was so crazy, that it was starting to sound unrealistic. Eret looked into the front mirror to look at Tommy again who had a guilty expression on his face. Eret sighed and directed his attention back to the road.

“You’re staying at my place. No fighting. I won’t let you go off on your own.”

“Eret but-“

“I swear, Tommy. I’m worried for you. Very, in fact. You’re in a different country, taking care of a child, no parents to help you, and I have the rare chance to find out what’s happening and help you. Do you expect me to miss this opportunity??”

Tommy was about to fight back again until Eret continued on his lecture.

“Do you even go to school anymore, Tommy?”

Tommy stayed quiet, knowing Eret had won the debate. He let out a sigh and murmured, “Okay, you win.. I’ll stay for a bit. But Technoblade is expecting me so don’t expect me to live there.” Eret gave a warm smile and started driving back to their place.

While on the way back, the two didn’t say a single thing. It could have partially been out of awkwardness, but maybe it was because Elizabeth was snoring softly in Tommy’s lap.

After a short ride to Eret’s place, Tommy followed them into the house. As they stepped inside, Eret raised up their hands and exclaimed, “So, this is my humble abode. Welcome! And, oh, let me show you where you could stay. I have a spare room.” Tommy couldn’t help but let a warm smile escape his face. “Thank you, and I really mean it. I appreciate it.” He knelt down and turned to Elizabeth. “Hey, Liz? This is Auncle Eret, okay? Say thank you to him.” She nodded in understanding and gave a big smile at Eret. “Tank you!” Eret chuckled and pat her on the head softly. “Thanks, kid.”

Elizabeth giggled and started to run around the house and explore the areas. She rolled around on the couch and threw the pillows excitedly. Eret had set up a room for Tommy and Elizabeth to sleep in for a few nights. “And, you’re all set! We’ll come by your hotel room tomorrow to pick up all your other stuff,” Eret empathized. Tommy couldn’t be more grateful. “Now, I’m gonna order us some food. What’s the kid’s preferences?” “Oh, she’ll just eat whatever I eat. As long as it tastes good.” Eret nodded at the information and grabbed their car keys and headed out. “I’m going to go out to get us some pizza or something. Make sure not to blow up the house!” Eret added. Tommy scoffed and rolled his eyes, but smiled back.

Right as the door shut, Tommy immediately ran up to wherever Eret’s streaming equipment was. He found their streaming set-up and walked carefully towards it as if it were dangerous. Since Eret had been so kind, Tommy decided to shoot them a warning message.

TommyInnit

bro

im gonna use your stream setup to stream

TheEret

Ok just don’t do anything stupid

The confirmation caused Tommy to immediately run to the PC. He booted it up and sat comfortably in Eret’s chair. He pulled up Twitch and clicked “Start Stream.” The chat immediately started to speed by and a few people had gotten the memo that Tommy was probably at Eret’s. 

HIII!

POGCHAMP

POG

E

TOMMY IS IN USA

skhsoahaow

eret beloved

IS THAT TOMMY?!

Tommy pulled off the “Starting Soon” page to reveal he was at Eret’s house. He clapped his hands together and screamed, ‘What is up chat?! How we doing today?” He smiled widely at the camera that it started to feel strained. “Thank you for the five gifted, oh, Where’s Eret? They’re out getting food or some shit. So I stole his computer.”  The chat was filled with “ lmao” Tommy bounced back into his chair and exclaimed, “I’m streaming because Eret is paying for the food and I have done nothing. All this money is going to him, so that’s great.” The chat quickly changed to spamming “ awww’s” and “ softinnit”  

Just as Tommy was about to retort that he wasn’t soft, Eret burst through the door yelling, “I’ve got the food, Mr. Innit! What’s with this streaming stuff a little birdie told me?” Tommy groaned and looked at chat. “TWITTER, YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH.” He looked back at Eret who had a smile plastered on their face. They approached Tommy and knelt down next to him. The chat soon started spamming, “ HEIGHT CHECK .” Tommy leaned towards the mic to and blurted, “Chat, we’re not doing a height check.”

Suddenly, a familiar giggle was heard that caused both of the streamers to look behind them. Elizabeth heard their playful banters and wanted to join in. Tommy looked back at the camera with worry displayed on his face. He had hoped that chat didn’t hear her, but was disappointed to find them being confused at who that was. Tommy tried thinking of a good excuse, but Eret jumped in the way. “Sorry, guys! My niece wanted to join in, so we gotta go play with her right now. Bye!” Eret grabbed the mouse and clicked “End Stream” with wide eyes.

“I appreciate the fact that you wanted to pay off the dinner, and the stream was great, but I don’t think we should do that any longer,” Eret observed. Tommy just nodded slowly before replying, “Let’s just go eat, Elizabeth is waiting.”

Chapter Text

Everyone was sitting at the dining table eating in silence. The awkward feeling seemed to be mutual between Eret and Tommy as they both seemed like they wanted to ask something. Tommy said nothing as he silently spoon fed Elizabeth while wiping her mouth occasionally with a napkin as well. She made occasional hums as she ate in either stubbornness or approval. The only sounds made were the clinking of metal utensils against their porcelain plates and Elizabeth’s giggles.

“Honestly, this sight is kind of bizarre,” Eret finally spoke. “I know I’ve already kind of said that, but you languaged me and are now feeding a two year old! I’m not sure I’d get used to this.” Tommy looked up at Eret with a proud smile as he brushed Elizabeth’s hair back behind her ear. “I never thought I’d be in this position either. At least, not yet,” Tommy replied. “Twitter would actually go crazy over this.” He pulled up his phone and went onto YouTube to find that the first videos recommended were from clip channels reading, “ TOMMYINNIT IS IN THE USA” or “ERET AND TOMMY MEET UP?!” He took this and showed it to Eret who seemed very interested at how fast people documented the news. They chuckled at it and leaned back into their chair. They looked up at Tommy who seemed to be showing his affection towards the girl. The child has seemed to have started maturing faster than anyone else. The thought was bittersweet. Eret pushed it out of their mind to focus on the future and help out Tommy as much as possible.

Eret got up and collected all the plates as they walked towards the sink. As they turned on the running water, they asked, “So, Tommy, what’s the plan?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Tommy responded.

“Y’know, the plan. As in, what do you want to do now that you’re in a different country while we’re on COVID-19 lockdown as a sixteen year old teenager who still goes to school but is also taking care of a two year old child.”

Well, that was blunt. Tommy nervously chuckled and put a hand behind his neck as he tried to think of an answer.

“Uhm, I basically wanted to come to the US because I’m not allowed to adopt Lizzie in the UK because regulations are different there.”

“Lizzie? Cute nickname.”

“OH SHUT UP DIPSHIT- Sshiitake mushrooms. I did not say the other word.”

Eret snickered as Tommy struggled to tone his swearing down.

“Okay, so basically, I arrived in the US, got myself a hotel room for like a week. I planned on coming to Technoblade’s place. Because he lives in California. Get my legal documents to adopt the kid, come back to Britain, and continue life as normal.”

“That’s a great plan and all, Tommy, but I have a few things I’d like to point out. 1, the UK is on lockdown and you can’t travel back there. 2, Why Technoblade and not me? 3, Number two was a joke. 4, Technoblade literally lives in San Francisco. Did you think about how’d you get there?”

“Now that I think about it, I’m not too well prepared when it comes to travelling.”

“No kidding.”

Eret quickly dashed out to grab a blank sheet of paper and some color pens. They audibly slapped the papers on the desk and pulled out a blue marker. 

“So, as of now, your plan here was to go from the UK over to the US to get legal adoption papers signed for Elizabeth,” Eret spoke as he drew arrows onto the paper. “And you planned on going over to Technoblade’s, but the airport you landed in was LAX which is in LA.” Tommy nodded silently. “So, how were you planning to get there in the first place? Before you coincidentally ran into me. By taxi? Uber? Train?” Tommy leaned against the table as he responded, “Well, I’ve just been making my plan as it goes.” Eret nodded their head disapprovingly. 

“Tommy, you got to have some sort of plan with how… serious this situation is.” 

“I don’t think it’s that serious..”

“It’s serious enough to be able to file a court case against your parents for child endangerment, abuse, attempted murder, and abandonment.”

Before Tommy could retort back, Eret continued.

“And you’re living by yourself! Sure, you might make a lot of money, and practically a multi-millionaire, but you need to think about your future too! You need an education, Tommy,” they firmly stated.

The tension in the room started to rise and it seemed everyone there could tell. Eret’s face looked dead serious with their mouth pressed in a straight line and lowered eyebrows. Tommy’s eyes were wide as frustration started to build up within him. Elizabeth could visibly see their anger rising and had a look of confusion and innocence on her face.

Tommy stood up from his chair slamming the table which made both Eret and Elizabeth flinch. “I’m fine, Eret! Perfectly fine! I have under two years left before any of this will matter at all, okay?!” He yelled. “Well why the hell did you even think it was a good idea to take Elizabeth under your wing in the first place?! You know you’d struggle to support her, I get it! You like her, but wouldn’t she be in better hands if an actual family was responsible for her?!” Eret retorted. They immediately slapped their hand against their mouth in regret. “Tommy- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, really.” They watched Tommy display his hurtful emotions slowly. Eret tried holding out a hand towards Tommy who immediately shoved it away. “Save it,” Tommy sneered. He looked away.

With a hurtful look, Tommy ran into the guest room that Eret had prepared for him. He had known Eret only wanted the best for him and knew he was going to be overcome with guilt later, but was too focused on his emotional trainwreck of thoughts. Tears slowly trickled down his cheeks as he muffled his screams into a pillow. Tommy didn’t want Eret to see him in such a pitiful state. It was humiliating.

He pulled up his phone and scrolled through Instagram to put his mind off of things. Some Dream SMP fanart was in his explore page along with dreamnotfound edits. As Tommy scrolled through, he found some artist recreations of the moments on Eret’s stream. Some artists had made short comic strips of the chaotic moments. He gave a small smile as his phone screen illuminated his face.

Tommy sat up on the bed and flipped over the pillow to hide any evidence of tears ever falling on it. He sniffled as he wiped his eyes and looked outside of the window. Palm trees lazily waved in the calm breezes flying by. It was just Tommy sitting there in the middle of the bed in the aftermath of crying.

The doorknob twitched for a split second until it had been opened slowly. Tommy shot up from his original position and scampered into a supposed chill pose. “Eret! Hey, uhm, I’m fine. And I’m sorry about earlier and all that-“ He looked up at who was at the door and saw Elizabeth there with a concerned expression. He watched as Elizabeth walked over with her small feet pattering against the tile floor. 

She climbed up onto the tall bed while struggling a bit silently and tugged on the sheets. Tommy took one of his hands and slowly ran his fingers through her hair. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Elizabeth hugged Tommy and wrapped her arms around his torso tightly. His eyes widened momentarily before returning the hug and gently rocking back and forth to comfort her. Tommy opened his mouth to sing a quiet tune.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray.

He whispered softly and rubbed slow circles on Elizabeth’s back.

You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take my sunshine away.

They stayed in the warm embrace for around a minute or two until Elizabeth broke free from it. “Why daddy sad?” she whispered. “It’s nothing. Just got a little upset,” Tommy replied. “I thought grown ups don’t cry?” The question made him chuckle. “Sometimes we do, but in the end, I’m still here, right?”

Elizabeth just leaned into Tommy’s lap slowly before silently falling asleep.

——————————————

The moment the words slipped out of Eret’s mouth, they immediately were filled up with regret and guilt. Eret had been so caught up in the situation, that out of their frustration, blurt out something they didn’t mean. Eret truly supported Tommy and his motives. It was quite inspiring too and they were proud of Tommy’s efforts. However, as they watched Tommy storm out hurtfully, it had been too much. 

Eret silently tapped their fingers onto the wooden dining table in the empty room. They stared down at the details in the table with a mournful look in their eyes, leaned back into the chair. The only sounds heard were the soft chirps of crickets outside and the clock hanging above ticking in sync.

After a moment of pondering, Eret decided what to do. They carefully shuffled through the hallway, nearing the guest room they had set up for Tommy previously. As Eret inched closer, they heard a soft tune being sung.

—-.....you’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take my sunshine away.

There was a muffled conversation being heard, but Eret knew to not disrupt whatever they were talking about. They waited until it was silent in the room to check on the two.

Eret made sure not to make a sound as they carefully moved the door. They peered into the room with the small opening to see Tommy looking up at the ceiling with a small smile on his face. Elizabeth lay there resting in his lap peacefully. The sight made Eret smile as they quickly walked out to give them a moment of privacy.

As Eret walked back to the empty dining room, they pulled out a laptop and quickly began typing out a plan. They searched up train ticket prices, Uber prices, lawsuit information, and the adoption requirements. As confidence surged through Eret’s veins, a smirk slowly crept up their face.

I’ll help you as much as I can, Tommy. I promise.

Chapter Text

As Tommy awoke from his sleep, it was around 6am. He still had minor jetlag, but it was probably going to be fixed in a day or two. As he groggily got out of bed and gently opened the door, he felt slightly confused to smell the aroma of bacon wafting through the air. Tommy slid down the stairs quickly to observe what was happening.

As he peered into the kitchen entrance, he was pleased to see the calming scene in action. Eret was humming a tune to themselves while cooking breakfast. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was sitting on a chair with two pillows stacked up on it as a makeshift booster. She was sipping on warm milk while looking through a Target coupon magazine curiously. Tommy gave a warm smile and walked into the kitchen casually. It was brought up to the attention of Elizabeth who waved at Tommy before continuing to look at the magazine’s colorful graphics. As Tommy took a seat at the table, he opened his mouth to speak.

“So, Eret, I thought you were a twitch streamer… what are you really?”

Eret looked up from the sizzling pan briefly in confusion.

“….what? I am a streamer, Tommy.”

“Gamers don’t have sleep schedules this good, though.”

A realization settled in and Eret started laughing when they understood the lighthearted joke.

“I woke up early knowing that you’d be jetlagged. I didn’t know whether you’d wake up early or late though.”

“Whatever you say, Eret.”

They scooped up the eggs and bacon with a spatula onto a plate as they sizzled and placed them on the dining table. Tommy smiled up at Eret in appreciation before helping Elizabeth put the food on her plate. 

As everyone started eating, Eret glanced down excitedly at a folder on the floor.

 “So, Tommy… how did you sleep?” Eret asked. “We slept well. Thank you so much for your hospitality… It means a lot,” Tommy replied as he brushed Elizabeth’s hair. “Have you thought about how you’re going to legally adopt Lizzie?” they questioned. Tommy paused at this question. He hadn’t really thought about that one thoroughly yet, but it was actually really important. Panicking, Tommy quickly pulled out his phone. “Oh shit- I completely forgot, I’m so lost in this and I have no idea what I’m doing but I-“ He was cut off by Eret who smiled warmly at him.

Slowly, they kneeled down and picked up the red plastic folder and placed it onto the table. Eret slid the folder across the table with a proud look on their face. Tommy’s face was laced with confusion, but the look on Eret’s face made him assume it was probably something good. He reluctantly picked up the folder and opened it to find some papers with a ton of small writing in it. It felt slightly anticlimactic considering he thought it might have something… bigger?

He flipped through multiple different papers and made out some words. “Terms and Conditions,” “Legal Guardian” “Adoption Requirements” Suddenly, Tommy’s brain short-circuited when he looked at what the writing actually said. His eyes widened and out of the shock,  he slammed the folder closed and looked straight at Eret who was smiling really wide. “No way…” Tommy murmured before immediately slamming himself into Eret’s chest in a tight hug. 

He was repeating thank you’s over and over as he looked through the papers once more. Eret was laughing loudly as Tommy kept on freaking out over everything. Elizabeth got up and danced around giggling when she saw everyone else in the room showing great energy. Tommy picked her up and spun her around the air gleefully. At that moment, it felt like they were the happiest people alive.

Panting, Tommy finally stopped to take in the overwhelming news and began to question Eret.

“How did you manage to do this?!”

“How can I repay you?!”

“Should we tell the others?”

Eret silenced Tommy with a small gesture of putting their hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile. “I did what I could to help you. I’m proud of you, Tommy.” Tommy immediately began to protest. “But-“ They cut him off by pulling off an energetic tone. “Say! Why don’t we celebrate this momentous occasion with some ice cream, hm?” Elizabeth perked up at the word of ice cream and bounced up and down excitedly. Tommy looked like he was about to say something before changing his mind and helping Elizabeth put on her shoes. As they walked out of the house, Tommy whispered a small “thank you,” before walking out. 

————————————————

A Few Hours Before

11:23 PM

Eret’s search history began to fill up as they searched rapidly through different documents. They began jotting down arrows, timelines,and prices from various websites. Everything was being planned out with the information from different sources started to connect.

12:47 AM

A plan was starting to be formed as Eret focused on how everything could be done as smoothly as possible. Papers scratched with info were scattered across the table in colors of red, blue, and green. They looked up at their browser to find that 16 tabs were open.

1:35 AM

Eret’s phone vibrated loudly from a discord notification. After a minute or two, they pick up to find Fundy asking if they were busy. Reluctantly, Eret types out a long paragraph about Tommy’s situation in detail. They sat there in silence staring at the send button. Leaning towards the phone, Eret deletes the whole paragraph and sets their status to “Do Not Disturb.” 

2:09 AM

A yawn escapes Eret’s mouth as they make several different purchases online. After clicking a few buttons, the printer lights up and prints several different papers. They walked to the printer and grabbed the papers with a small grin. They grabbed an empty folder and carefully slid the papers into it before placing it under a chair.

3:18 AM

Eret set an alarm for 5:30 AM on their phone and went to bed looking forward for the next few hours. They set their discord on silent before tidying up the area and turning off the lights. Meanwhile, somewhere else, a message was sent.

Fundy is typing…

I saw you were typing for a long time earlier and then suddenly stopped without saying anything

You good?

5:30 AM

The sounds of Eret’s phone alarm rang out as soon as it hit 5:30. It awoke them annoyingly. Feeling unmotivated, Eret grabbed the phone and stopped the alarm while checking their notifications. They read out the concerned Fundy’s messages.

Haha I just fell asleep on my keyboard it was almost 2am

Eret got out of bed sloppily and walked to the kitchen in a slow manner. They looked through the fridge and began to make a standard breakfast for everyone. The satisfying sizzles of bacon were comforting as it filled the silence. And who says a twitch streamer can’t cook? Eret began to hum a simple tune as they cracked an egg into the pan.

5:47 AM

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of someone downstairs humming and a sizzling pan. She carefully slid out of her father’s gentle hand on her and walked downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and saw Eret cooking something. After clearing her throat, she said, “Good morning Auncle Eret.” The sound alerted them and they turned around to see Elizabeth standing by the kitchen counter. Eret smiled at her and grabbed a pillow to help her sit at the table.

“Did you sleep well?”

Elizabeth hummed in response.

“Well, that’s nice to hear. Do you want anything to drink?”

“Milk, pease?”

Eret grabbed a milk carton from the refrigerator and poured it into a glass. They slid in a plastic straw and gave it to her. “Thank you,” Elizabeth said quietly. The gesture gave Eret a slight ego boost. Dang, I’m really good with kids!

7:21 AM

The three were sitting on a bench in a local park with McDonald’s ice cream in hand. “You won’t be able to eat ice cream this early every day, so don’t expect me to give you any sweets anymore,” Tommy joked. Elizabeth pouted her face briefly before sticking her tongue out. Tommy fake gasped in offense. “How dare you show such rude manners to me?! You will be punished with..” He lifted up his hands slowly until suddenly darting forward, “a tickle session!” Elizabeth screamed and ran behind a tree, laughing loudly.

Meanwhile, in the background, Eret pulled out their phone and recorded everything unfolding. They smiled at the wholesome sight as laughter filled the air.

——————————————

“Something’s up,” Fundy said out of the blue. He looked over at the vc he was in while narrowing his eyes at his DMs. “What..?” A perplexed Niki voiced. Fundy looked back at his DMs and clicked on Eret’s. “Have any of you heard from Eret or Tommy recently?” Fundy asked. “Uh, no. But Tommy’s in America with them right now, so it'd make sense that they would be busy doing sightseeing or something like that,” Wilbur replied. Fundy eased at this. Of course, it was that obvious! He shouldn’t have over thought it.

Fundy felt kind of stupid. Why had he thought they were keeping something from him? He brushed it off and took a sip of the water on his desk in front of him. Meanwhile, the voices of Niki and Wilbur rang into his headphones. “I can’t believe Tommy never told any of us he was going to America, that sick fuck.” Fundy choked on his water. Tommy never told any of them? 

Fundy pulled open Eret’s previous stream and replayed the end clip of it. A child was screaming and laughing in the background. He noticed how both Tommy and Eret’s eyes widened at the sound. “Sorry, guys! My niece wanted to join in, so we gotta go play with her right now. Bye!” Eret’s deep voice seemed to echo through his brain. “Hey, didn’t Eret say just three days ago that he was free and nobody but him was going to be living there for awhile?” He waited for an answer patiently. “Well, I mean, yeah.. but it was probably an unexpected visit?” Fundy left the VC and sat in silence thinking for a bit.

Something is wrong, and I can tell.

Chapter Text

 Elizabeth was sleeping on the couch after watching Cartoon Network for two hours. Tommy was also sitting there relaxed with a can of coke in his hands. He really missed it, but wouldn’t admit it. He downed it and crunched up the can and tossed it into the rubbish bin.

Meanwhile, in another room, Eret was focusing on getting everything set up. They had a pen tucked in their ear and a blank paper in front of them. With a quick finger movement, they flicked it out of their ear and clicked the pen. Soon, they began to take different notes.

———————————

Step 1: Keep Tommy and Liz in protection until Techno reaches out

Step 2: Once techno reaches out, get Tommy and Liz on train to San Francisco

Step 3: Make sure Tommy safely arrives to Techno’s house

Step 4: Once adoption documents are processed, get plane ticket back to UK

Make sure to:

• Renew Visa for USA stay
• Minimal fan contact to keep Liz a secret
• Have US currency for time being

Train ticket: $20

Plane ticket back to UK: $710

Extra cash for stay: $1000

Total Amount: $1730

———————————

Reading through the pages, Eret felt satisfied and clicked off their pen. They picked up the paper and walked into the living room. “Hey, Tommy, I have the plan all set up.. Would you be okay being on a train by yourself if you want to get to Technoblade?”

 “Of course, I’m 16, I can handle it.” Tommy reassured Eret, but honestly, he wasn’t too sure either considering how many fans would see him with a child. He had thought about excusing her as a sibling, but he had already mentioned a few times that he didn’t have any. The action could potentially get him canceled by his attempt to conceal her existence previously.

Eret shrugged and said, “Whatever you say,” before walking away. Tommy looked up and held up his newly signed papers.

 “Hey, Eret, wait!” Eret stopped and turned around to see Tommy waving the finished adoption papers and smiled.

 “Awesome, man! You’re coming with me to the centre to finish this up later.” They took the papers and walked out of the room quickly.

Right as they left, Tommy sighed in relief and laid back into the couch. He stared at Elizabeth and brushed her hair while she slept softly. Pulling out his phone, he quickly typed out a message to Technoblade before turning it off.

On the other end, Technoblade’s PC rang out with a discord notification.

I’m coming soon. Ty for letting me stay for a bit by the way

————————————

Elizabeth had awoken to see the house covered in colorful balloons and streamers. She rubbed her eyes and got off the couch slightly confused, but excited at the same time. The whole trip they had was extremely fun and she couldn’t wait for what was happening next.

As Elizabeth walked down the hall, she saw Tommy and Eret talking with a smile on their face. When the two saw Elizabeth, they scooped her up and spun around in excitement. “Hey! Your adoption papers have been set for review! Isn’t that exciting?” Eret exclaimed.

 “Guess what? We’re just.. really close to having official responsibility over you!” Her father smiled. Elizabeth was showing excitement at the time, but being the oblivious 2 year old she was, she actually had no idea what was happening. It didn’t matter anyways because at least there was a party.

“Now, all that’s left to do is get you back to England! You said you were gonna make a pitstop at Techno’s, right?” Eret mentioned.

Tommy had definitely not forgotten about that part. “You’re right. Shit.” He glanced at Elizabeth.

“Oh wait! Fu- fudgesicles, forget I said anything, you’re not ready for that word yet okay?!”

Eret laughed and teased Tommy, lightly punching him in the shoulder in the process.

——————————

The subway sounded out on the loudspeakers, “ Train to San Francisco is now boarding now.” Sighing heavily, Tommy got up off of the bench and held Elizabeth’s hand as they walked in. He walked past a train employee to go in and had himself seated at the nearest seat he could find. Elizabeth bounced over and sat next to him. As Tommy looked out the glass window, he saw Eret Eret waving goodbye in the background during the bittersweet moment.

The train doors soon closed and his decision was now finalized. There was no turning back now. The train started to move and Tommy saw Eret's figure grow smaller and smaller while squeezing Elizabeth’s hand firmly. The subway tunnels soon engulfed the train as the windows quickly dimmed to black.

Sighing, Tommy laid back into the subway seat feeling accomplished. He let his eyes flutter closed after the exhausting day and fell asleep.

———————————

Tommy awoke again to see Elizabeth sleeping in his lap and a few new people on the train. He carefully slid in a position that wouldn’t wake Elizabeth and checked his phone. They were arriving in San Francisco soon and had to prepare to get off.

“Liz,” Tommy whispered softly. She didn’t move. “Come on, we have to get off soon.” The girl let out a soft whine and murmured, “N’t now.” Sighing, Tommy picked her up and grabbed his luggage as well and waited by the door of the station to get off.

As the doors opened, the speakers sounded out in a robotic voice. “The San Francisco stop has arrived, please exit with caution.” Tommy walked out and saw the few people at the station walking around. Since they were in the middle of a pandemic, there were less people at the subway station.

He took note of that and adjusted his mask in hopes to conceal his identity from the teenagers walking around. It’d be an interesting day if twitter found out he was carrying a toddler.

As Tommy walked outside, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of freedom. It was surreal to be walking around the streets of a major American city by himself. He gasped in awe at the different styled buildings and terrain. Some Chinese lanterns were strung across some paths with vibrant colors. “Elizabeth, look!” The girl opened her eyes and looked around. 

The sight was amazingly different from the Nottingham sceneries they were used to and it was certainly an experience. Elizabeth sprung up happily and leapt out of Tommy’s arms to explore. She ran around the areas to observe the areas and pointed at a passing cable car. 

Tommy had to admit he was quite interested in the area as well. Los Angeles was one thing, but San Francisco was another. He fastened his mask and continued to follow his daughter through the landscapes.

The two skipped along the pavement to admire the styles of architecture and scenery as the sounds of a street guitarist’s music filled the air. At that moment, Tommy felt as if he had no other care in the world and was glad to finally explore the new places as tourists rather than having a mission. He smiled and pulled out a $5 bill and tossed it into the guitarist’s case. The man nodded in thanks and continued to strum.

“Look!” Elizabeth squealed excitedly while pointing towards a cable car passing by. Tommy looked at it and then back at Elizabeth and immediately knew what she wanted. He looked down at his vibrating phone and declined the call. Maybe Technoblade can wait.

Tommy grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and exclaimed, “Start skipping 3, 2, 1!” The two skipped towards the cable car station together until Elizabeth had to stop to take a breath. Noticing this, Tommy pulled off her mask gently to help her breathe. They walked the rest of the way to the benches and waited for the cable cars to arrive.

———————————

Why isn’t he responding? I know he’s seeing my messages because he just declined my call.

He clicked again. Decline.

He’s probably busy. He’s coming from Los Angeles, it’s like a road trip away. Tommy did say he’d come around nighttime.

Technoblade pulled up twitter to find some American fans taking photos of or with Tommy. There was one of Tommy asleep on a train next to a child. Curious, he clicked on the replies.

@insertuserhere

Here we see Tommy in his natural habitat

@ausername

That kid is gonna grow up knowing that they just sat next to the “great tommyinnit” obliviously

@user123

Uh guys?? Who took a photo of tommy sleeping without permission? Y’all are weird af

@EXPLAININGTOMMYINNIT

Tommy sleeps on the train next to a child

@thatoneusername

Guys what if that kid is Eret’s niece?? jkjkj… unless?

The photo seemed to have spread quite a lot and people made fanart of the interesting scene. Technoblade shrugged it off and closed twitter. That was enough social media for today. At least he knew that Tommy was actually coming over.

———————————

The colorful red cable car arrived by the pavement as other people began to get off. Elizabeth was eager to get on and immediately got onto it the moment everybody else were off. She ran to the end of the cable car to look at the back windows, but to no avail as she was too short. As Tommy tried to catch up, he saw her struggle and picked her up. The girl excitedly pointed on the golden accents of the cable car as well as the setting sun in the distance. With every up and downhill they encountered, Elizabeth was ready to brace for impact. The act made Tommy laugh until he was cut off by a sharp downhill as he lost his balance. “Aw, guess you were the smart one!” Tommy joked as Elizabeth giggled loudly. 

Tommy looked out at the setting sun and the many buildings passing by them. He let Elizabeth sit on the window ledge to enjoy their time together. He never wanted the moment to end.

———————————

The cable cars were halted to a stop at a new station. Tommy waited for all the others to get off before letting Elizabeth and him get off. He checked the time and saw that it was already 6:13 pm. Not only that, he didn't really know where they were as he had just been wandering around wherever they wanted to go.

“Hey, whaddaya say about getting San Francisco style pizza and eating in the park?” Tommy exclaimed. Elizabeth didn’t seem to get the message. Right.. she’s two years old. Tommy internally slapped himself as he rephrased the question. “Want pizza then go to the park?” Elizabeth seemed to understand that statement as she nodded her head in agreement. Tommy took her hand as they walked to a nearby pizza place.

As Tommy swung the door open, his first thought was that it felt so nice inside. The smell of fresh pizza was very prominent and it had made his mouth water. Walking into the store, he pulled out a card to be used.

After ordering the pizza, Tommy couldn’t help but notice two teenage girls at a table staring at him. They had kept whispering things to each other and looking back and forth at him and each other. This had alarmed Tommy as he pulled Elizabeth closer to him. Right as his order was ready, Tommy grabbed the box and made his way towards the exit. He was abruptly stopped by the two teenagers from before.

“Excuse me, are you TommyInnit?” One of them asked. Tommy immediately knew what they had meant by that. They were fans. And he was standing with the same child from the train twitter post. Shit. Tommy sucked up his panic and tried his best to keep his voice from shaking. 

“Yes, ma’am. It is I.” The two girls started to freak out.

 The other girl blurted, “We’re big fans and I-uh, wanted a photo. Please.” 

“Oh.. sure,” Tommy replied. He pulled down his mask and looked at their camera. As soon as the two took the photo, they ran away.

 “Cool thanks, byeee!!” They both screamed before getting out of view. Tommy immediately covered his face in embarrassment from the awkward encounter. He just hoped that nobody noticed him with a two year old kid.

Sitting on the bench, Tommy ripped a pizza slice into smaller bite sized pieces. “You can eat now, Liz.” The girl turned around and started to blow on the hot pizza bites before popping them into her mouth.

“You know,” Tommy started. “I really like your name.” Elizabeth queried her head in questioning. “You’re just like Queen Elizabeth herself. Hopefully, you’ve got the immortality perks too.” He chuckled at his own joke. Man, I’m old like Philza Minecraft. Tommy looked down at Elizabeth who didn’t react to the comment. Shit, she can’t understand me and now I look stupid.

———————————

Technoblade grunted in annoyance. Tommy had said he’d make his loud appearance at his doorstep a few hours ago, yet his presence was nonexistent. I made my bed for no reason, bruh. Despite his annoyance, there was no doubt that it was laced with some kind of concern. Tommy could have been anywhere for all he knew.

Technoblade walked over and sat on his couch, turning on the TV at the same time. The mumbles of news reports with flashy blue and red transitions popped up. While watching the news, he made sure to glance at the clock from time to time. The 10:37 PM it had red was not too promising. As he tuned into the news, his phone started to vibrate.

Technoblade picked up his phone expecting Tommy to be calling to say something like “Aye bitch boy, I’m gonna be here in 5 minutes, we’re like 10 kilometers away!” But he was instead met with a call from Fundy.

Hm, that’s strange.. usually he’d text first asking to call beforehand.

He clicked the accept button and saw Fundy’s profile picture pop up.

“Hulloooo”

“Hey, Techno! How are you doing?”

That’s a bit strange, he’s acting really weird.

“…good? Thank.. you.”

Clearly he wasn’t well suited for awkward forced conversations.

“That’s great to hear! I’m.. glad.. let’s just cut to the chase, have you heard from Tommy?”

Technoblade furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Tommy? Who is he to care? Literally nothing had changed at all, did something happen?

“..bruh. That’s what you called me for? Why don’t you just call him yourself?”

“Well- yeah, but he’s not answering my texts and he’s being really fucking ominous right now”

“Who cares? That’s just teenage behavior, leave him be.”

“Hey, when did Eret bring in a niece? That’s just so unexpected, they said that they were free the entire week!”

Technoblade thought for a good second. If that were true, the visit was probably very sudden.

“You’re so paranoid. Imagine being jealous that Tommy went to America without telling you. Bruuuhhh.”

Fundy sputtered. “Excuse you- I’m being a good friend by showing concern for him! I mean, the niece is literally the exact same one who was in that train pic of Tommy on Twitter!”

“I’m inactive on Twitter right now. I think the toxicity spread to you, careful it’s contagious.”

“That’s not the point!”

“The fact that you’re adamant enough to call me about this stupid thought is concerning.”

“Wha-“

Fundy’s voice cut out as Technoblade hung up. He chuckled to himself and swiped out of discord. Lame. Although, he did wonder why Tommy was taking Eret’s niece with him. He couldn’t believe Eret would trust him with a toddler.

Just then, a doorbell ring chimed and a loud knock followed. Technoblade groaned and got off the couch to answer it. He unlatched the door and swung it open slowly. Low and behold, there was a nervous looking TommyInnit. He then looked down and saw something- or someone else.