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Despite his profession, Teddy harbored a deep affinity for the broken things, the lost items, and the mismatched pieces. Not always to save them to fix later. He just... admired them for existing.
So when he found a family that checked none of those boxes, he was confused.
Sure, maybe the Belchers were mismatched in the sense that they stood out against their peers.
And, sure, maybe Bob and Linda had a little brokenness hidden under the hood—Teddy had met Gloria a time or two... a time or two too many if you asked him—he knew there were some unspoken wounds that cut deep.
Even with these mismatched and broken pieces, they still fit together. They still worked.
That was the first surprise they ever gave him, though not the only one.
“How was the game yesterday?”
The question caught Teddy off guard. He had technically prepared Bob for last night’s hockey match in great detail (maybe too much detail, he had started worrying later in bed), but he never expected Bob to pick up where they left off.
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what this ref tried to pull.”
“Was it crazy?”
“Crazy is putting it mildly. So, get a load of this-” Teddy launched himself into a retelling while Bob’s eyes glazed over.
“Mhmm.”
Teddy knew that hum, but he continued on a long-winded rant about the barnburner he witnessed the night before. He filled in all the details for his friend, the same friend who asked about a sport he never watched.
Bob didn’t care about hockey, but he knew Teddy did.
“Teddy, wait! Before you go, hold on just a sec, oh I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner,” Linda managed to yell at Teddy, who had just paid his bill and was ready to leave.
She darted off to the kitchen, and Teddy remained frozen, half sitting on his stool and half standing to go.
“Ehhuhh...” he said to himself, alone in the restaurant.
Before his knees gave out from the awkward position, Linda bust through the swinging door and brandished a Tupperware container.
“These are for you! You were talking about those cookies you used to swipe at church as a kid, and, well, then these happened. I hope you like ‘em!”
They were hard enough to chip a tooth, but he smiled and chewed through the pain, only occasionally letting an “ow” slip through.
Linda was not a baker, but she knew Teddy loved cookies.
“So, yeah, the kids are gone all weekend for their school thing.” Linda gasped. “We should do something! The three of us.”
“Besides work?” Bob asked as he closed the register and handed Teddy his change.
With a silent request, the mustachioed man indicated to the front door. Teddy gave him a thumbs up and went to flip the open sign to closed.
He retook his seat, half expecting a shooing out that never came.
“There’s a street festival coming up,” Teddy offered. “They’re doing some kind of beer fest.”
Linda and Bob responded at the same time, the latter much less enthused.
“Sounds like fun!”
“Sounds hectic.”
“Ohhh Mr. Fuddy Duddy over here. Me and Teddy will go then, and you can wait patiently.” Linda threw her head back and laughed suddenly. “It can be like a little game! Who comes home more exhausted: us or the kids?”
Teddy shook his head.
“They’re going to be so worn out. Those school sleep away nights are no joke. One time, my childhood bully Ricky tried to do that whole ‘stick my hand in water while I’m sleeping’ bit,” Teddy laughed half-heartedly at the memory. “I turned it around on him though because he never caught me. Didn’t sleep a wink the whole weekend, but it was worth it because Ricky fell asleep reading to the blind that Sunday.”
Linda and Teddy continued to trade stories about their school experiences, some awful, some hilarious. Chiming in only to offer a dry quip every now and then, Bob counted out the register.
It felt… peaceful, watching the restaurant close around him. It felt like a home.
Even after Bob finished counting out the register, he stayed to offer more to the conversation, which struck Teddy as odd.
Closing time meant the end of their fun, but, without addressing it, the three talked even as the sun set.
“Well,” Teddy finally said. “I better get going.”
“What, why?” Linda asked.
“It IS getting late,” Bob offered. “He probably has plans.”
Teddy straightened his beanie and shook his head. “Oh no, I don’t have plans. I don’t want to be a burden.”
“WHA?!” Linda spluttered before continuing. “Teddy, nooo! We love you! No one in this family, in this restaurant, is a burden.”
“Well, the dishwasher is... a handful.”
A hand towel swung at Bob, nailing him in the love handles, and he eep-ed in surprise. With not a hint of remorse, Linda put a finger to her lips.
“Shush! No. One. Is a burden. We’ll keep talking till the cows go home.”
“Come home, Lin.”
“That doesn’t-“ “It’s what it-” “But why-“ “That’s the saying.”
“-would the cows come? We don’t live in a barn.”
Bob tilted his head. “I mean we kinda do.”
Linda raised the towel again in warning, and he put his hands up in surrender.
“The point is! Teddy, we enjoy your company and want to be here with you.”
“Not necessarily here here though, right?” Bob asked, gesturing to the restaurant. “I... DO get tired of... this. Of standing. It’s not great for my knees, or my back, or any of me really.”
“Bobby, enough from the peanuts gallery.”
“Aw, you guys, come here,” Teddy said, reaching over the counter and pulling them both into a big hug.
Linda aww’d, Bob ow’d, and Teddy couldn’t be happier.
It wasn’t until Bob’s knee hit something under the counter, knocking it to the ground, that Teddy decided to let go.
“Oh,” Bob said simply, bending over with a groan and handing the fallen item to Teddy. “The kids left this for you. They didn’t want you to be... lonely while they were away. They said some other stuff too, but that’s the gist of it.”
“It’s a Teddy Bear, like you! You get it?”
“He probably gets that all the time.”
Teddy cradled the odd looking bear. One of the eyes was bigger than the other, and the fur was a weird shade of brown that almost looked purple. If it had been from anyone else, he would assume the plush was meant as a creepy prank.
Maybe it still was a prank, Teddy thought as he poked at the thing's nose. Anything was possible with Louise, but if Tina and Gene put their name on it then the gift was probably meant with some sincerity.
The kids weren’t even here, but they remembered him.
Teddy checked himself again for panic stink but found his armpits surprisingly dry. It helped that the food had already arrived.
And that he had helped himself to a mozzarella stick. Or two. Or three. Or the whole container, but who was counting anyway?! The count can just leave it be!
A knock at the door had him scrambling, and he welcomed the Belchers in with a big smile and an opening line thanking them for coming that he had practiced in the mirror.
They all made their way inside, and Teddy’s speech continued.
“You guys have been so good to me that I wanted to uhhh... treat you all with some dinner.”
“Did you... cook?” Bob asked cautiously.
Teddy laughed a little too loud then cleared his throat and laughed quieter. “No, no I did not. I ordered from the Italian place a little ways from here.”
“It better not be from Jimmy.”
“There are more Italian places than Pesto’s, even though he does have good-”
“Teddy, that wasn’t a no. Promise me this is not from Pesto’s,” Bob pleaded.
“What kind of a guy do you take me for, Bob?” Teddy demanded, not sure how to respond with his practiced lines being interrupted. “You think I went into Pesto’s, ordered something I thought you would like, and snuck back here to switch the containers around so you wouldn’t see his logo?? Is that what you think, Bob?!”
“I didn’t until you said that!”
“Hey hey, you two, what are we doing? Fighting over breadsticks? Come on now,” Linda cut in. She tsked then clapped her hands together pointedly. “Teddy, where’s the food from? Not that we wouldn’t be thankful either way, but... you know, where’s it from?”
“Oh, Mama Tortellini’s.” Teddy ignored Bob’s grumble and focused on Linda. “I even got a couple bottles of wine they recommended to go with it.”
“Perfect! Kids, everybody, say thank you to Teddy!”
“If we say thank you, does this mean we get to have some of the wine?”
“Gene, shush, no wine until I know you’ll be a fun drunk.”
“Linda.”
“Whaaat? Oh right, a fun legal drunk. I know he will be, but I have to make sure.”
“So where is this Mama Tort’s food?” Louise cut in. “I’m starving.”
Tina turned to her younger sister and chided. “You had three packs of Garden of Sweetin’ gummies on the way over here.”
“So? I’m a growing girl, I need to eat.”
Gene raised his hands to the air. “Amen to that, sister!”
“That’s actually uhh, wow, okay.” Teddy realized the kids had unknowingly helped him find his footing again in his plans. “Uh, there’s one other surprise I was hoping to show you guys, if that’s okay?”
“Of course, Teddy! What do you got for us?” Linda asked.
Teddy swallowed hard then gestured for them all to follow him further into the living room and stood in front of a set of closed doors.
“You’ve all been such a good family to me, helping me when I needed it, offering a place for me to fit in. I wanted to show you-” Teddy sniffed and involuntarily got louder “-that all that means a lot to me. That you mean a lot to me! And so…!!”
He threw open the doors and immediately felt embarrassed. It wasn’t a spotless dining room, the shelves still overflowed with bits and bobs, but they were fixed bits and bobs that just needed to find a forever home.
The table was set with plastic plates and their food was stacked neatly in styrofoam containers at the center. He didn’t run out to get a table cloth, opting to use the beige back of an Irish banner. He should have gotten a table cloth, dammit dammit dammit.
In the split second it took him to spiral, it only took another split second for the Belchers to take over.
“Teddy!! This place looks amazing!” Linda ooo’d and aww’d with a hand over her heart.
“Yeah, you can totally walk through here now,” Tina offered, stepping into the dining room as an example and immediately tripping over her own feet. From the ground, she called out “I’m okay.”
“Personally, I miss the mess,” Louise said and shrugged. “We’re too poor for I Spy books, so this was the next best thing.”
“What are you talking about?” Gene, who had already stepped over Tina to pick up something from the shelves, asked. “I spy every day on Dad while he’s in the bathroom. For free!”
“Gene.”
“It’s inspirational! How do you keep fighting even though so much is telling you to quit? Though, it’s not as inspirational as this lovely room.”
The family shuffled further in, each still complimenting Teddy’s work in their own way. He scratched at the stubble along his neck, awkwardness at the amount of attention he received taking over but at least more powerful than the self-doubt from the room’s completion.
He wasn't sure if they got it really, but he wanted to show them that he learned. He learned his love for the broken could easily be a love for the fixed too.
Though Linda and the kids all seemed to get into an argument about whether a bike lock could be used for fishing, one figure stayed near him.
“You did a great job, Teddy,” Bob said, putting a hand on Teddy’s back.
“Ahhh, thanks. Let’s dig in before the food gets any colder. I mean, I got it delivered two hours ago, but I’m sure it’s still good.”
“Oh my god.”