Timmy was the one who awoke. Susannah, Sam and Viki found Timmy and Frank sitting on the floor playing CandyLand. Viki bent down to Timmy. She placed her hand under his chin and gently turned his face up towards hers. Viki's heart always melted when she looked into those huge innocent eyes. She kissed Timmy on the forehead.

"How's my sweet boy?"

"Look! I'm almost winning. I'm gonna find the candy castle."

"I can see that," Viki told him. She stroked the left cheek of his upturned face.

"Timmy is certainly a very good player," Frank acknowledged. He smiled at Timmy.

When the game was finished, Susannah asked Timmy if he would talk to her for a while. Timmy was happy to. He waved good-bye as Frank left the room for his post outside the door.

Timmy sat on his bed, cuddling up in Viki's arms. "Timmy, do you know Thomas?" Susannah asked. Timmy's face got very serious. He looked down without answering.

Viki held him tighter. "Sweetie, does that question upset you?" Timmy continued to look down without answering.

"Are you afraid of Thomas?" Susannah pressed. Timmy shook his head. "Is Thomas ever mean to you or to the others?" He shook his head again.

"Can you tell me why talking about him upsets you?" Susannah continued to push.

Timmy leaned into Viki and hung his head down against her. "Daddy hates Thomas the most. He gets punished real bad. We don't want daddy to think we're him. Sometimes he don't come out for a real long time. Miss Perkins says that's good and we shouldn't talk about him. Mommy likes Thomas a lot."

Susannah continued cautiously. "Timmy, how does Daddy punish Thomas?" Viki felt Timmy stiffen in her arms. She cast Susannah a warning look. "It's okay, sweetie, you won't get in any trouble for telling me."

"Daddy once grabbed me cause he though I was Thomas. I don't want to go there. I don't want to go!" Timmy cried out. He buried his head in Viki's shoulder. Viki rubbed his back.

Susannah sat down on the bed, sandwiching Timmy between Viki and herself. "Okay Timmy. Sweetie, we won't talk about Thomas anymore right now. Okay?" Susannah promised as she stroked the back of his head.

Sam, who had been quiet through Susannah's questions, wanted to take Timmy's mind off of his painful memories. "Hey pal, do you think you could draw me a picture of the stuffed horse that Santa brought you? I would really like that?"

Timmy stayed snuggled in Viki's arms for a few more minutes. Then he turned around and asked Sam, "Do you really want me to draw a picture for you?" ,p> "I want you to very much," Sam confirmed.

Timmy got his crayons and some paper and sat on the floor with them. After he had been drawing calmly for a while Susannah asked. "Timmy, do you know what January second is?"

"Todd's birthday," Timmy replied calmly.

"Is it your birthday too?" Susannah asked. Timmy shrugged his shoulders. Timmy was still calm. Susannah continued. "Do you or Todd or any of the others like to have a party on your birthday?"

Timmy dropped his crayon. "NOOOO! Daddy will get real mad if we have a party. Daddy gets extra mad on Todd's birthday. We weren't supposed to be borned. Daddy gets real mad. Daddy gets real mad!" Timmy curled up into a little ball.

Susannah sat down on the floor next to Timmy. She rubbed his back. "Shhhh, it's all right sweetie, you don't have to have a party. No party. Shhhh." Timmy calmed down again. After a while he snuggled into Susannah's arms. She rocked him gently for a few minutes.

Susannah approached the subject in a different way. "Does anyone do anything special for Todd's birthday?"

"Mommy makes a cake and puts candles in it. We have to eat some of it quick and throw it away before daddy comes home. Mommy buys us a present but we have to hide it so daddy don't see it. Daddy'll get mad at mommy too if he finds out. Mommy kisses us and says 'Happy birthday darling, I love you very much.' I don't want mommy to get hurt," Timmy whimpered as some tears fell.

Sam and Viki had to fight to keep themselves from crying along with Timmy. "Mommy won't get hurt Timmy. I promise. It'll be okay," Sam assured him.

"Is that because mommy's far away and daddy can't find her?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, pal." Sam joined Susannah and Timmy on the floor. "Timmy, do you think I could have a hug?" Sam asked. He needed to hold this child in his arms.

Timmy let go of Susannah and snuggled up to Sam. Sam held him tightly. After a while Timmy remarked, "I'm glad Mommy is far away. I don't want her to get hurt too."

They all exchanged looks. They realized that Timmy was willing to put his mother's well being before his intense need for her. Sam kissed him on top of his head and said, "You are such a good boy."

Some of the anger Viki felt for Barbara melted as she thought of this weak but terrified woman trying to give her child some kind of happiness on his birthday. Even if she had to put herself in danger to do it. Viki pictured Barbara and Todd trying to scarf down a piece of cake and celebrate Todd's birthday quickly, never really getting to enjoy either because of the constant fear of the very real danger that they faced. The thought of this woman and child living in absolute terror of Peter brought tears to Viki's eyes.

Timmy was out for the rest of the day. Susannah took him to the art room where he happily finger-painted for a while. With Dave stationed outside the door, Susannah left Timmy in the care of Laura, the art therapist. Susannah had a surprise in mind for Viki and Sam and she needed to arrange some things.

To Viki's surprise, Kevin stopped by to wish her a happy New Year. Hugging him, she asked him what his plans were for the night. He told her he and Cassie would be spending a quiet night together at home. Kevin asked Viki about her plans. "Sam and I will be here for the night." Viki explained about Todd's current condition and that he panicked if he came back and she and Sam weren't around.

For a moment Kevin felt some of his old resentment towards Todd for keeping his mother sitting vigil for him, even on New Year's Eve. He then thought about why Todd was so terrified and his newfound sympathy returned.

Turning to Sam, Kevin said, "If my mother has to be here for the night, I'm glad she won't be alone." He turned back to Viki and asked, "So who's out today?"

"Right now, Timmy," Viki answered. She could see Kevin was happy to hear that.

"Where is he, in Susannah's office?"

"No, he's in the art room. Would you like to visit with him?"

"Sure," Kevin answered, surprised by the fact that he really did want to visit Timmy again. Something about the little boy had gotten to him.

Laura was washing Timmy's hands off when they entered the art room. The smock he had over his clothes was covered with finger-paint and his face was smudged with it.

"Timmy is a very enthusiastic finger-painter," Laura said smiling. She then took a fresh washcloth to his face. Timmy turned around and saw Kevin standing there with Sam and Viki.

"KEVIN! You really came back again," Timmy exclaimed. A giant smile covered Timmy's face. He started to head for Kevin.

Laura held him back. "Whoa! Hold it there mister. You don't want to get Kevin full of paint?" She quickly finished washing his face off and then carefully took the paint-coated smock off of him. Timmy squirmed impatiently.

Once she was finished Timmy headed for Kevin. Kevin walked towards him, realizing Timmy still had the IV pole to contend with. Timmy surprised Kevin by throwing his arms around him. "I thought you'd never come back again." At first Kevin stood still, his arms at his sides. He then instinctively hugged Timmy back.

Kevin was shocked when he realized just how thin Todd had become. Even more than he had been able to tell through the clothes and pajamas he had seen Timmy in. He could practically feel every bone in Timmy's upper body.

"How's my new buddy doing?" Kevin asked.

"Wanna see my paintings?"

"You bet I do," Kevin answered.

"They're still wet so they didn't get hanged up yet. Laura said it was okay to make a big mess with the paint. She said I wouldn't be punished. Laura helped me spell the words on my paintings," Timmy chattered on, taking Kevin's hand and pulling him over to a long table with three freshly done finger-paintings drying on it.

Sam and Viki followed them to the table. One painting was of Mr. Rabbit. The second was of Timmy holding a brown and white fluffy dog. He had "ME AND RANDY" written under each figure respectively. The third was a picture of a dark haired man. "MY BESTEST FRIEND" was written under it. Timmy looked at Kevin.

"See! it's you," Timmy pointed to the third picture and then added sadly, "It don't look like you too much cause it's hard to draw good with finger-paints."

For a moment Kevin didn't trust his voice. He did not understand why Timmy got to him the way he did. Viki noticed how touched by the painting her son was and she stood next to him and rubbed his back.

"Timmy, that is the best picture I have ever seen. I think it looks a lot like me. Do you think I can have it when it dries?" The total joy on Timmy's face was heart wrenching. It took so little to make this child happy.

"Kevin likes my picture! Kevin likes my picture!" Timmy said in amazement to Sam, Viki and Laura.

"Of course he does, baby. You draw very well," Viki said.

"How long before it dries?" Timmy asked Laura. "I'm afraid it will take some time Timmy."

They could see that Timmy was disappointed. "Oh course, I could stay around and visit with Timmy while it dries. If he wants me to," Kevin said, coyly.

"YEAH!" Timmy shouted happily and jumped up and down.

Timmy turned to his "bestest friend."

"Kevin, do you want to see the playroom? They got lots of toys. Tom plays with me sometimes. He says they got . . ." Timmy thought for a minute and then continued, "neat stuff in there."

"Well let's go to the playroom," Kevin said.

"Timmy, let me check first and make sure the playroom is available," Laura reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Sometimes other people like to play in there and then I have to wait," Timmy informed Kevin.

Laura came back and said, "All clear! Go ahead Timmy."

Timmy took Kevin's hand in one hand and his IV pole in the other. He was getting used to wheeling it along with him. They headed for the playroom. Timmy showed Kevin some of the cars, blocks, trains and stuffed animals. They finally settled down to play with the remote cars. Timmy was not very good at working the remotes. It was not really age appropriate for him. Tom had tried to teach Timmy how to use the remotes, with little success. Kevin had Timmy sit in front of him, Timmy's back to him. Kevin held Timmy's hands and manipulated Timmy's fingers while they both operated the remotes. He could not believe Timmy's happiness at being able to make the cars move around the way he wanted them to, for the first time.

Kevin was surprised by the good time he was having. He loved being with this child. He also could not believe how easy it was to separate Timmy from Todd in his mind. Dave came into to let them know that Timmy's dinner had been brought to the table in the day room.

Timmy wanted to stay and play some more. Alan told him he had to close the playroom up for the night now, anyway. "You know, I would really like see if the picture you made for me is dry. Why don't we go to the art room before it closes too and if it's dry we can take it to your room?" Kevin suggested.

Timmy brightened up and said, "Okay."

The picture was still slightly damp, so they took it to Timmy's room and laid it flat on the bed. "I'll bet it will be all dry in the time it takes you to eat dinner," Kevin stated.

"I'm not hungry. Do I have to?" Timmy whimpered.

"Sweetheart, you need to eat something. Why don't we go see what you've got for dinner?" Viki suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea to me," Kevin declared.

"Okay," Timmy agreed.

Viki lifted the lid off the plate. "Chicken fingers and mashed potatoes! Timmy you like chicken fingers and mashed potatoes," Viki reminded him.

"No, I like alphabet spaghetti," Timmy protested. He remembered the game he and Kevin played last time.

"Then I guess you don't want to play the chicken finger game?" Kevin asked innocently.

"Yes I do. What's the chicken finger game?" Timmy asked, his eyes wide. Sam, Viki and Kevin smiled. Timmy was precious to them.

Kevin had to think fast. "Okay Timmy, this is how you play the chicken finger game. For every chicken finger and spoon of potatoes you eat I have to tell you a chicken joke. Do you like chicken jokes?"

Timmy giggled and nodded. "All right then, let's see. You have five chicken fingers here so I have to come up with five jokes. Hmmm, you drive a pretty hard bargain." Timmy giggled again. Kevin soon realized that no matter how silly or dumb the jokes he made up were, Timmy was loving them.

One by one, Timmy ate the chicken fingers and took spoonful after spoonful of the potatoes until they were gone. Kevin not only enjoyed watching Timmy burst into giggles at every joke, but he enjoyed watching his mother and Sam cringe at the silliness of them.

Timmy had a strawberry cupcake for desert. He handed it to Kevin and offered, "You can have it. It's the best part so I want you to have it." Kevin was touched by Timmy's gesture.

"You know what friends do with cupcakes?" Timmy shook his head. "They share them. Here," Kevin said as he picked up the plastic knife that was on the tray and cut the cupcake into two pieces, a larger and smaller piece.

When he handed Timmy the larger piece, Timmy said, "You can have the big one."

"Don't you know? That's one of the rules of the chicken finger game. The person who eats the chicken fingers gets the bigger part of the cupcake and all the milk."

Susannah came into the room. She was surprised to see Kevin back so soon. She came over and stroked Timmy's head and seeing the empty plate she said, "Hi sweetie. I see you had a good dinner."

"Kevin played the chicken finger game with me and now I get the big half of the cupcake," Timmy informed her as he took another lick of the strawberry icing.

"Well Kevin seems to do wonders for your appetite," Susannah observed. She patted Timmy's head.

Timmy took Susannah's hand and Kevin's hand and led them back to his room and over to the bed. "Look! I drawed this and Kevin likes it and wants to keep it. Kevin likes it! He didn't punish me for drawing it and he don't think I'm stupid."

Timmy's words made Kevin shiver with anger at the thought of Peter punishing and humiliating this child for drawing a picture.

"That's an excellent picture. I can see why Kevin would want to keep it," Susannah complimented.

Timmy headed back to the table and finished his milk and licked all the icing off the cupcake and asked Kevin if he wanted to do another puzzle. Kevin discreetly looked at his watch. "I think I have time for one puzzle," Kevin told Timmy.

Susannah and Sam could see how pleased Viki was as she watched Kevin and Timmy together. Viki was very proud of Kevin. She knew he overcame a lot to be able to be objective and compassionate towards Timmy. She also was saddened when she realized what a good father Kevin would be, if he had been given the chance to raise his own son.

"Timmy, it's soon time to put on your PJ's and get ready for bed," Susannah reminded him. She knelt down to where Timmy and Kevin sat on the floor.

"Can't I stay up and play with Kevin?"

"Timmy," Kevin began, "I have to go soon anyway."

Kevin could see how sad Timmy looked at the thought of his leaving. "You know I want to get home so I can find a very special place to hang your painting. I want it in just the right spot so I can see it all the time."

Timmy's huge smile turned to a fearful expression. Timmy started to cry.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Viki asked, not understanding this sudden change.

"I don't want Kevin to get hurt," Timmy wept.

"Why do you think Kevin will get hurt?" Susannah pressed.

"If he hangs the picture up his daddy'll hurt him."

Kevin put his arm around Timmy's thin shoulders. "Timmy, not all daddies hurt their children. Some daddies are very good. My daddy is very good. He would be very happy to see me hang up a picture that my very bestest friend painted for me."

Timmy put his head on Kevin's shoulder and looked up at him and asked, "Are you sure you won't get punished?"

"Yes, I'm very sure. I think I'm going to hang it in the bedroom, so it will be the first thing I see in the morning and I will think, 'This is the picture my best buddy Timmy made for me.'"

Timmy threw his arms around Kevin and said, "I love you Kevin."

Kevin felt tears burn his eyes. "I love you right back buddy," Kevin patted Timmy's back. Kevin could not believe the words coming out of his mouth and even more startling to him, he couldn't believe he meant them.

They had all gone back to Timmy's room so Kevin could pick up his painting and Timmy could start to settle down for the night. Timmy was sitting on the bed. Kevin was standing next to it admiring the painting. Terry brought in a juice cup with Timmy's medication mixed in it. One of the new medications Susannah prescribed had a stronger taste than the old one and getting them, especially Timmy, to take it was becoming a struggle. Unfortunately, getting them to take it pill form would be even more of one.

"Noooo! Please don't make me," Timmy started to cry.

"Come on pal, just drink down quickly. It won't be so bad," Sam coaxed.

"Timmy, it's your favorite. Pineapple juice," Susannah reminded him.

"I don't like it anymore," Timmy said as tears continued to flow down his cheeks. "His medication is in there. It makes any juice taste bitter," Viki whispered back.

"Do you think you can get three more cups of pineapple juice?" Kevin asked, still whispering.

Viki went out to the nurses station and came back with the additional juice cups. Sam and Susannah were still trying to coax a crying Timmy to drink the juice. "Do you mind if I try?" Kevin asked Susannah.

Susannah stepped away, gesturing for Kevin to try. Kevin placed the juices on the table and pulled it near the bed. He sat down next to Timmy and put his arm around Timmy's shoulders.

"I'll bet that tastes pretty nasty, huh?" Timmy turned his tear stained face to Kevin and nodded. "See the problem is, is that nasty old juice is good for you, and you need to drink it. Do you know what I do when I have to drink something that tastes bad?" Timmy shook his head. "Here, I'll show you,"

Kevin opened up one of the pineapple juice cups Viki brought him. "Now this one is the bad tasting one. This one is the good one," Kevin opened up another juice cup. "See, I have a good one for you too," Kevin opened the last juice cup and placed it on the table next to the one with Timmy's medication in it. "Now watch. I'll show you how I do it." Kevin noticed Timmy had stopped crying and was all eyes as he watched Kevin's every move.

"Okay, here's the nasty one," Kevin said and held his nose closed as he drank his supposedly "nasty" juice down in one quick gulp. "Now without letting go of my nose," Kevin said in a nasal twang that made Timmy giggle, "I drink the good one." Kevin drank down the other juice. He then let go of his nose and said, "Now all I taste is the good juice. Okay Timmy, it's your turn. Now you do it."

Timmy hesitated for a moment but then picked up the "bad" juice and held his nose and drank it down quickly. He then drank the untainted juice. He slowly released his nose and with a surprised look on his face admitted, "I just taste pineapple juice now."

"There ya go! See, that wasn't so bad." Kevin declared. Viki stroked her son's head and said, "Yeah, sometimes he does."

Grateful that the ordeal of getting the meds down was over, Susannah said, "All right now young man, it's time to get those teeth brushed and get into your pajamas and get to bed."

"Can you stay till I go to sleep?" Timmy begged Kevin.

Even though he knew he'd be keeping Cassie waiting, Kevin agreed. "Sure, you go get ready for bed and I'll be right here."

"Sam do you want me to get Dave to help him or do you want to do it?" Susannah asked.

"I think Timmy and I can manage," Sam said smiling as he helped Timmy to the bathroom.

Timmy asked Kevin to put him to bed. Once Timmy was tucked in, he sleepily asked Kevin, "Are you really gonna hang my picture up?"

"A picture of me by my bestest friend, you bet I am. I love that picture." Timmy smiled and turned on his side and went to sleep.

Kevin stroked Timmy's head and whispered, "Goodnight buddy." He then walked over to Viki and kissed her on the cheek and said, "Happy New Year mom. I love you."

Viki hugged Kevin and said, "Sweetheart, thank you for everything."

"Kevin, I want to thank you too," Sam said, patting Kevin on the back.

"You're very good with him," Susannah added, "I'll be using your 'juice game' with him from now on."

Embarrassed by their gratitude and still feeling slightly ashamed by his previous attitude towards Todd, Kevin just shrugged. "It's the least I can do for my bestest friend." Kevin then carefully rolled up Timmy's painting and left.

Susannah looked at her watch. It was just a little after eight. She knew there was still a ways to go before midnight, but thought she'd spring her surprise on Sam and Viki now so they would have some time to enjoy it. "Will you two excuse me for a few minutes. I'll be right back," Susannah said to them. She went to her office to make sure everything was in place and then took some medical journals and paper work that she had been meaning to catch up on from her desk and headed back to Todd's room.

On the way back Susannah stopped outside Todd's room and told Dave that she would be staying with Timmy tonight instead of Sam or Viki. She also asked him to stay at Timmy's bedside while she took Viki and Sam to her office. She told him what she had planned. Both Susannah and Dave smiled broadly at Susannah's plan.

Sam and Viki were surprised to see Dave enter the room with Susannah and to see the stack of papers and journals Susannah had in her arms. "Can you both come to my office with me?" Susannah asked as she put her workload down on the table.

Sam and Viki looked at each other, neither knowing what was going on. They followed Susannah to her office. The outer office was empty, as the secretary was gone for the day. Susannah handed the key to her inner office to Sam and said, "Go on in."

Taking the key, Sam looked questioningly at Susannah as he opened the door. He and Viki stepped inside. They could not believe what Susannah had done. Under the banner that read "HAPPY NEW YEAR," they saw a table set up with candles and champagne glasses. A bottle of champagne chilled in an ice-filled bucket. The table was set beautifully, with fine china and silver. Plates of food sat under silver-domed lids. A television and CD player had been set up.

"My God, Susannah! What have you done?" Viki could not get over it. Viki's eyes were shining like a child's in a toy store.

"Man, I don't believe this," Sam said, looking around. "I know you both don't want to be too far from the hospital in case Todd comes back. I didn't want you to miss out on your first New Year's Eve together. I will stay with Timmy. I'll be right there in his room. You two can relax and have a nice dinner and watch the ball fall down if you like. There's a collection of CDs, many of which can be danced to," Susannah said, in a "hinting" tone.

Touched beyond words, Viki hugged Susannah and said, "How can we ever thank you?"

"Yeah," Sam muttered, nodding his head. He was also left at a loss for words by Susannah's kind gesture.

Viki held Susannah by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Susannah are you sure you want to spend the night 'baby-sitting?"'

"I'll be just where I want to be," Susannah replied.

Viki hugged Susannah one more time. Susannah headed for the door. She called out, "Happy New Year," and headed back to Todd's room.

Viki hugged Sam and commented, "I can't believe Susannah did all this!"Mo< "The more I get to know he,r the more I realize how different she is from Nora," Sam remarked. Viki nodded in agreement.

Sam looked Viki in the eye and assured her, "He'll be all right with her. We are just down the hall from him. You can relax."

"I know," Viki agreed then added, "You know what? I'm starving!" They then sat down to the gourmet dinner Susannah had delivered and hoped, for just a few hours, they could release their minds from the torment "their kid" was in.

Susannah spent most of the night catching up on her work. She stopped at eleven-thirty and turned on the TV she had asked Dave to bring into Todd's room. She was watching the crowd in Times Square as they waited for ball to drop. At eleven-fifty she heard Timmy crying out and saw he was thrashing about.

"Timmy, wake up sweetie. You're having a nightmare. Timmy, come on wake up," Susannah called to him as she gently tapped his cheek.

Timmy woke up and looked around, clearly frightened. "Hi sweetie. It's Doctor Hanen. You're right here in your own bed and I'm here with you. You're safe. No one is hurting you."

Timmy sat up. He was still not sure where he was. He looked around. Susannah sat down on the bed near the headboard. She put her arm around Timmy. "Can you tell me what was scary in your dream, sweetie?"

Timmy looked around again. He was still not sure he was safely in his room. Finally, he calmed down a little. He curled up next to Susannah and rested his back against her. His head rested on her shoulder. Susannah put her arm around him.

"Okay sweetie, see you're safe. Did your dream scare you?"

Timmy nodded. "The big mouse was gonna eat me all up."

Susannah hugged him tighter. "A big mouse?" She pressed. "Uh huh, a big mouse on the wall. He had big teeth."

Susannah realized he was dreaming about his time at the lodge and Asa's moosehead. "Oh sweetie, I'm sorry being at the lodge scared you so much. That wasn't a mouse. It was a stuffed moosehead. It wasn't real. Remember, Sam showed you?"

"No, it was a big mouse. He comes out in the dark," Timmy insisted.

Susannah wondered if Timmy's shared some of Thomas' memories or if Peter ever put him in the shed. If so, was he confusing his memories from the lodge with being locked in the storage shed? He said Peter once thought he was Thomas.

"Does he come out in the storage shed?" Susannah asked.

Timmy turned around, still in Susannah's arms, and buried his face in her shoulder. "I don't wanna see the big mouse anymore," he cried out.

"Okay, you don't have to." Susannah rubbed his back. "Shhhh, see, you're in your room. The big mouse went away. No more mouse."

Timmy turned around again. He continued to lean against Susannah. He once again leaned the back of his head against her shoulder. Susannah stroked his head. "Try to go back to sleep sweetie. I'll be right here with you.

Timmy noticed the TV. "I wanna watch TV with you."

"All right, you can watch too," Susannah agreed.

"What's that?" Timmy pointed to the set. ,p> "That's the big ball in Times Square."

"What's that?"

"Times Square?" Timmy nodded.

"It's a place, sweetie. It's in New York City. Do you know where that is?" Timmy shook his head.

"Well, it's a place about two hundred miles from here and every year, on New Year's Eve, they drop a big ball at midnight."

"Because they're clumsy?"

"No, sweetie," Susannah laughed.

"They want the ball to drop. It's the way they celebrate the New Year."

Timmy thought about if for a few seconds. "Is that like the year's birthday?"

"Yes, kind of," Susannah answered. She smiled. She was enjoying the way Timmy looked at things.

"Where's Sam and Viki?" Timmy sounded like he was getting upset.

"They're in my office. Timmy, they're on a New Year's Eve date, so we won't bother them. Okay?"

"What's a date?"

"A date, hmmm, let's see. Well, sometimes, when two people like and care for each other a lot they go out together and it's called a date. So tonight Sam and Viki are each other's date because they love each other."

Timmy thought for a moment. He turned his head up to look at Susannah. "Then I'm your date," Timmy figured out.

Susannah hugged him tightly. "Timmy, you are the best New Year's Eve date I ever had," Susannah told him honestly.

"I am?"

"You are sweetie." Susannah assured him.

Timmy noticed the countdown and asked, "How come they're counting backwards?"

"They count down to one and when they get to one it will be 1999.

"Oh," Timmy answered. He yawned. His eyelids were getting heavy. Susannah saw he was getting sleepy again. By the time the countdown ended and the ball had dropped Timmy's eyes were closed and he was sleeping once again.

Viki and Sam allowed themselves to have a good night. They enjoyed the dinner Susannah had ordered for them and had spent most of the evening in each other's arms. They danced slowly to the music Susannah left for them. They sat on the couch and watched the ball drop. At midnight they kissed each other passionately.

They sat there, snuggled in each other's arms until about one-twenty in the morning. They then headed back to Todd's room to relieve Susannah.

They smiled at Dave, who was posted outside the door and wished him a happy New Year. They quietly walked into the room and smiled at the scene before them. Susannah was still sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. She was sound asleep and Timmy was sound asleep in her arms. His back was still leaning against her and the back of his head still rested against her shoulder. The only light in the room was coming from the TV. The sound of the TV had been turned to low.

Viki and Sam looked at each other and realized they were not needed in Todd's room right now and headed for the lounge. They could rest in comfort there.

"She really does love him," Sam stated.

"I know she does," Viki acknowledged with a big smile.

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