He did a double take when he noticed tears brimming in Tami's eyes. The next thing he knew, she was gone from the table and headed for the front door of the restaurant. Even though they were not exactly seeing eye-to-eye these days, there was nothing he hated more than to see her hurting. Eric waited a beat, placed his napkin on the table and then followed her to the exit. He found her in tears just outside the door. It was painful for him to see Tami this upset, it always made him feel like someone had punched him in the gut – it didn't matter what had caused her unhappiness, his physical reaction was always the same.

For the first time in weeks, he took her in his arms and held her, hoping to comfort her and make himself feel useful. Eric figured all this engagement business had finally pushed her to her breaking point. The whole thing wasn't sitting well with him, either; Julie and Matt were too young to get married. They were just kids! If there was anything he'd learned after all these years, it was that marriage was not easy. Hell, how many years had he and Tami been together and they still had bumps in the road. Eric knew Tami must be just as worried as he was that the kids were jumping in too early.

After standing in silence for a few minutes, Tami finally spoke, and to his surprise, her words had nothing to do with Julie and Matt:

"It's my turn, Babe."

So that's what this was all about? She was still talking about the job in Philadelphia. She spoke about how they loved each other and had both compromised for his job, "and now, it's time to talk about doing that for my job," she finished. At that, Eric dropped his arms and took a step away from Tami. He was not prepared to have another argument on this subject tonight. He thought he was comforting his wife over their daughter making a huge mistake, or at the very least, reaching another milestone that neither he nor Tami were ready for, but Tami was still on the same topic they had been for weeks: Braemore College.

He was so tired of this discussion. Why did Tami have to want this job so badly? Why did it have to be in Philadelphia? Why couldn't they both be happy to stay here in Dillon? He hated disappointing her, but he was really struggling to envision a life on the East Coast. Frankly, it scared him; there were a lot of instances over the years where Tami had ultimately called the shots, but there had yet to be a situation where Eric's career was not at the forefront of any relocation decisions.

He'd gotten pretty comfortable here in Dillon. When he turned down the job offer from Shane State several weeks ago, he'd come to the realization that he wanted to continue to shape the Lions, these young men that he had watched transform from kids with little or no hope for a future, into champions, (whether they won State this weekend or not) before his very eyes. As amazing as it was to take the Dillon Panthers to State twice, he had never felt as fulfilled as he had in his time with the East Dillon Lions. In a way, he had inherited the Panthers; they were destined for greatness before he took over as head coach. But the Lions, he had built that team from scratch, literally. Eric wasn't normally one for self-congratulating, but he was prouder of the Lions accomplishments than anything he'd ever done in his career. Even though the school board had taken away his chance to continue on with the Lions as he knew them,( with the inevitable merger of East and West,) the thought of walking away from those kids, (namely Vince,) when he knew there was so much more he could teach them, both on the field and off, just felt wrong. The 5-year contract that he was being offered was something else he couldn't ignore. He'd longed for this kind of stability his whole career, and now that it'd finally been presented to him, he was supposed to walk away? Who knew what kind of contract he'd find up in Philadelphia? Who knew what kind of position would even be available to him? All of the uncertainty made him very uncomfortable.

Where Eric was from, a man supported his family; he made sure there was food on the table. If Tami were to take this job and move them all to Philadelphia, he was afraid that wouldn't be his role anymore. Now, his salary had fluctuated while they lived in Dillon, and there was even a time while Tami was principle at West Dillon that she was bringing in more than he was. But even though it bothered him some, he still had stature in the community as a football coach that intangibly supplemented his income. Eric didn't think he'd be awarded the same benefit on the East Coast.

Eric would love nothing more than to make Tami happy. In fact, he spent most of his life with that as his main priority. He thought he'd done a pretty good job of it, too, but now he was doubting himself. He thought she'd been in the same place he was, but the discussions over the last couple of weeks had led him to believe that Tami felt she had made a lot more sacrifices than he had over the years, to the point where she was sick of it. Eric was no fool; he knew Tami wasn't unhappy in their relationship as a whole. They loved each other fully and completely, and while they'd had ups and downs over the years, he'd never been truly unhappy, either. But the thought of taking her for granted - either her perceiving him to be, or him actually (unknowingly) doing so, crushed him. He didn't know how he would have survived the last twenty-some years without Tami. She was always there to pick/build him up when he was at his lowest point. He leaned on her in more ways that he could count, and she was practically as responsible for his successes (career or otherwise) as he was. He would hate to think she didn't know how much he appreciated her.

Tami had asked him a question, and after waiting for a response that never came, she sighed in frustration, "You just can't…" and with that, she wiped her tears, composed herself and turned back towards the doors as she said, "Let's just go back inside. Come on." It never failed to amaze Eric how quickly she could put on a smile and cover her true emotions (to strangers, at least,) even at her lowest. He, however, felt frozen in place, patting the front pockets on his jeans. He wished he could turn after her, grab her by the shoulders and give her everything she wanted in a few short words (something like, "OK, let's do it,") but he was not in that place. He just could not reconcile giving up everything he knew here in Texas with happiness in Pennsylvania. So instead, he followed Tami's path back to their table and ate the rest of his dinner in silence; knowing that this fight could not go on forever. Someone was going to have to give, and it was going to have to be soon.