Disclaimer: I do not own Friday Night Lights or any correlating elements.

A/N: Hi everyone! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Friday Night Lights and thought of this idea recently. What would have happened if Eric and Tami had a son instead of another daughter? Once they started their new lives in Philadelphia, how would the little boy grow up and what would he be like? Would he take after his football-coaching father or his admissions/counseling mother? And what kind of pressure would be on him? We saw plenty of that with Julie when she was in high school, so I think there's a lot to say about the Taylors' second child, especially if the child were a boy.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review and let me know what you think! I will update as soon as I can.

Rising Son

o1.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

"Jimmy!" Checking his stopwatch, Eric saw that it was already 6:59. He and his son left for school at 7:00 every morning, and like Eric always told his football players, on-time was late. Five minutes to on-time was late. "Son, you better be coming out of your room right now."

To Eric's surprise, though, the boy's bedroom door opened and Tami came out, frowning. "Honey, little Eric isn't feeling very well. I don't think he can go to school today."

"Nah," said Eric, waving his hand at her. Eric James Taylor Jr. was a tough kid. He was the youngest player on his Pee Wee football team, and he wasn't going to give off the impression that he was any less of a player. Also, like his daddy, he wasn't going to let snuffles get the best of him. "He'll be fine."

"No, Eric." Tami's voice was stern, and as Eric tried to crane his neck around her to peer into Jimmy's room, she blocked his view. "We've discussed this already. Jimmy's got a chest infection."

"Yeah, but the doctor gave him some medicine."

"It takes a few days to kick in. And it takes rest."

"But he's tough."

"He's also nine." Her tone was gentle now, and she reached her hand out to brush his cheek softly. "Go on to school now. I'm staying home with him today."

Though Eric eventually agreed and hopped into his truck, a mug of coffee in his hands, he felt that Tami babied their son too much. She always coddled him and encouraged him to express his feelings, and the fact of the matter was that Eric wanted to raise his son up to be a man. Eric's mother never coddled him the way Tami coddled Jimmy, and Eric had turned out alright. His mother hadn't done much nurturing at all, to be fair, but still, a little boy didn't need to be fussed over so much. It just wasn't necessary.

Right as he pulled into the Pemberton High School parking lot, Eric's phone rang. If that's Tami, Eric thought, digging into his pocket for his phone, and she's holwin' about how Jimmy's gotta go see the doctor because his fever is too high or something...

"Hey, Dad." It was Julie, which was strange since it was early in the morning and she had all afternoon classes. She was just about to finish up her degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Matt had finished his art program at Columbia a year ago, but Julie was working part time at UIC's writing center and taking classes part time while Matt sold his paintings and worked at the local coffee shop. Apparently he was a good barista, whatever the hell that was.

"Hey, honey. What are you doin' up so early?"

"I've gotta cover a shift at the writing center today. One of my coworkers called in sick and I could use the hours."

"Oh. Seems like everyone's getting sick lately." It was early October and, at least in Pennsylvania, the first chills of fall were starting to creep in, making late-night practices crisp and chilly. That had never been a problem back in Texas, where October was still fraught with low eighty-degree days. That was one thing that Eric missed about Dillon and about Texas. Regardless of the fact that he, Tami, and Jimmy had been in Philadelphia for five years, he still wasn't as cold-blooded as those Yankees were.

"Yeah, Mom called and told me about Jimmy. She said he has a really bad cold or something?"

They talked for another ten minutes about Jimmy's fragile health condition before finishing off with plans for Julie and Matt to come out to Philadelphia for Halloween.

"It'll be tight, but I mean, yeah, I guess we could fly over. I'm free on Fridays and Matt can take a day off, so we could spend the three day weekend with you guys." You guys. Julie had always refrained from using the term "y'all" and now comfortably spoke with that fast, slurred Midwestern accent, though she still drawled a bit on her Rs, like any true Texan.

"We'll make it work, Jules. Don't worry about it. Your mom and I can help you and Matt out." He and Tami had been doing that a lot lately, with Julie taking her sweet time finishing her degree (in English Literature that he and Tami were paying for) and Matt seeming to be stuck at his minimum-wage job. They were trying, Eric knew, and he fully supported them in all of their endeavors, but he sometimes wondered when they would be able to stand on their own.

"Okay, Dad. I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you, too, sweetie." Snapping his phone shut, Eric turned off the ignition, grabbed his duffle bag, and sipped his mug of coffee before getting out of the truck, already thinking about what he had to sort out as Athletic Director and what kind of drills he could make his team run at practice.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey, sweetheart." Easing the bedroom door open, Tami smiled over at a yawning Jimmy, who clearly just woke up from a nap. His strawberry blond hair was sticking out every which way, much like Eric's, and his hazel eyes (also like Eric's) were squinting sheepishly up at her.

"Hi, Mommy." When Eric wasn't around, Jimmy stilled called Tami "Mommy." It was their sweet little secret, and as Tami walked over to the bed and gazed down at him, she felt her heart completely spill over with love. It was hard for her to be working full-time at Braemore and to practically run her department, but it was moments like these with her son that made every single thing in her life worth it.

"Hi, honey. How are you feelin'?"

"'M okay."

"Yeah?" Moving to sit on the edge of his bed, Tami put a hand on his forehead. It burned up. "You certainly don't feel like you're okay."

"Can I still go to practice today?"

"No. You missed school, so you're missing practice, too."

"But Dad can talk to Coach for me."

"I know he can, but it wouldn't be right for him to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because those are the rules, and you have to follow them just like every other player."

Sometimes it was hard being the Head Coach's son. Jimmy knew that, and he felt it. Even though he wouldn't say anything about it, Tami knew that her son felt pressured. Philadelphia certainly didn't have as big of a football culture as Dillon did, but it was a big city and there were a lot of students, so it was popular enough. As the Head Coach of the Pemberton Pioneers, Eric had plenty of sway as it related to the Pemberton Elementary Pee Wee team. Jimmy didn't really get special treatment for it as much as he got higher expectations, which didn't help his already anxious demeanor.

"You don't have to get so upset, Jimmy." Tami moved her hand to caress his cheek, and he closed his eyes slightly, as if in a trance by her touch.

"I just don't want Dad to get mad at me." The two of them had talked a lot about Jimmy's feelings toward football and toward his father coaching. Though Tami was the Dean of Admissions at Braemore now, she still kept up with her counseling skills, and she still knew how to properly guide young people, especially her son. He had a lot of anxiety for such a young child, and as he had told her before, sometimes he constantly felt like things were spinning out of control and that he was failing at everything. It broke her heart that he felt that way about things, especially about football, and she tried her best to make him feel better.

"He won't get mad at you, darlin'," Tami assured him, now stroking his hair. "Your Daddy loves you and he's so proud of you, no matter how many passes you make or how many people tackle you on the field. We're both proud of you for everything you do."

"I know," the boy sighed, closing his eyes again and letting out a cough. It was almost time for his next dose of medicine, so Tami stood up and headed for the door, hoping that he wasn't going into one of his panics again.

"I'll be right back with your medicine," she told him, eyeing him carefully. He didn't react; he merely continued to lay there, another cough escaping his chest. But as Tami left the room and looked back behind her, she saw Jimmy's eyes back open and trained on the ceiling, a worried, serious expression nestled on his baby face.