AN: Spoilers: about 15 months after the wedding in FNL S3 finale. These characters are not mine.

Garrity's name flashed on his phone. Hey Lyla, Tim answered.

May as well get it over with, he thought, sighing.

Yeah, Ashley had her baby, Emma, six months ago. She's beautiful.

And yes, I'm the father. He'd been teased by Smash about that at the state banquet before, but now it was true. And it felt amazing to say those words.

I don't have a good explanation other than the fact that I was drunk and you weren't around. I owe you a big apology, but I know you'll never forgive me. Not that you should.

He listened, rubbing his eyes. They talked for a long while.

Billy came home and was getting a beer out as he heard Tim say, You shoulda told me. I had a right to know. At least we coulda talked it over.

The conversation went on another ten minutes, sometimes heatedly, and Tim rang off.

Shit, Tim said. That was Garrity.

So she knows about Emma? And Ash?

Tim nodded. Yeah, and she's pissed as all get out, like I expected. She has a right.

But you wanna know the worst thing? He paused, took a deep breath.

Remember awhile back when she had to help her dad on some big family thing, and she went awol for like five days?

He took a long slug of beer, sniffled. She was pregnant then. Had a procedure to take care of it.

Billy covered his mouth with one hand and said nothing.

Tim was pale as a sheet. That was my kid. She had no right not to tell me. Shit, I woulda wanted to keep the baby. At least help make the decision.

He couldn't believe that God-fearing Lyla had actually drifted so far from her religion.

And, ironically, he—the sinner—would've done everything he could to convince her—the Christian—to carry the baby to term.

Their relationship was turning out to be betrayal after betrayal. And he was shocked and hurt that Lyla chose to do what she did.

She probably didn't tell Tim because she really didn't want the baby. HIS baby. Maybe Lyla didn't truly love him.

If she had kept the baby, he would've proposed, like he had with Ash.

Lyla would've become Mrs. Riggins and had their dreaded white trash baby, as Buddy said.

Then it dawned on Tim.

Mr. Garrity convinced her to get rid of it. He knew it in his bones; only something as strong as Buddy's hatred of Tim could've swayed Lyla, even if she was a lapsed Christian.

It pained him to think how much Buddy hated him. Kinda like his parents all over again.

Tim regretted that infidelity had ended his relationship with Lyla, and now this.

And as angry as he was at her, it hurt to think what she had gone through without him there. He was overwhelmed with emotion.

He had loved her throughout his life, more than anyone else in recent years.

He felt they'd saved each others' soul in a way, and were forever bound by that. Even if things got bad.

And as much as people thought he was just promiscuous, he always had it in the back of his mind that sex was about more than gratuitous pleasure. That there was a larger imperative.

Procreation. It was unspoken, and it was definitely physical. Just like Tim.

He had so much to look forward to now, mainly the result of that evening of pleasure with Ash.

But his and Lyla's unborn child… that would haunt him for life.

Tim. Bro, you okay buddy? Billy's voice snapped him out of his fog; his face was knit with tension. He handed Tim a beer.

Yeah, yeah Billy. Lotta shit's gone down this year, huh.

But then he started thinking about sweet Emma and Ash, and he felt better immediately.

AN: It gets cheerier next chapter, I think!