Timothy strange was born two minutes apart from his twin sister, Donna. Having both parents being doctors meant they didn't necessarily spend a lot of time together as a family, but Christine and Stephen found a way to make it work. It was clear that his dad was his favorite parent, and the older he got, the more the similarities between father and son became evident. 

Their entire lives shifted after Stephen's accident. It wasn't just that he was in pain; he was depressed, and angry, and it completely changed the dynamics of the family. Timothy could handle that, even if he didn't understand what was happening. What he couldn't handle was when his dad disappeared altogether. During the time Stephen was gone, Timothy was diagnosed with autism, which wasn't too much of a surprise. His dad coming back was yet another large shift in his life, and only partly because now they knew magic was real.

Life settled back down, and the Palmer-Strange family found a new normal. Timothy--now going by Moth--had a sense of routine again, which made him happy, and he hoped life would continue like this. Then an intergalactic threat to the universe descended from the sky, and his dad was running off yet again. He promised to be back, and Moth believed him. . . But a few days turned into a week, which turned into a month, which turned into five years. During that time, Moth and his twin sister moved through middle school and into high school; they were juniors when Stephen came back. Everyone had a lot of feelings, and they all reacted differently, but Moth refused to talk to his dad for weeks. Eventually, things leveled out, and he started working on rebuilding his relationship with his dad. . again.