Tommy faltered each time those little nudges of new memory fluttered into his head, giving a view of what might have been. It helped him know what he was doing, and he liked seeing them, smaller or cranky or just with a version of him that they cared about.

Thomas took a little longer to finish, but Tommy got the feeling it was mostly because he was courting the extra attention from him, which made him smile. He put the plate aside when the little boy was done though, helping clean them up a bit - even if the fruit smooshing was probably just gonna mean they'd need it again - and then gave Thomas his fruit too.

As they ate and cleaned up, both kids just talked. Tommy could pick up words or general meanings sometimes, but for the most part it was just happy noise - fussy now and then when they didn't want more, or wanted something he wasn't giving them. It was sweet and kind of oddly soothing. It probably wouldn't be the first time they threw a fit over something, but for the moment, it was just nice.

He laughed, wiping another spot of peas off Teddy's chin with the tip of his finger, and then dotting that on the towel too, dropping down to sit next to him. "You did good with them. They're happy," he said quietly.