Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al and TJ) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.

The next morning, while the kids were eating their cereal, Al and Tim sat down at the table with them. Tim looked at Al and gave her a small nod. They'd agreed that she'd do most of the talking on this one, since she was more alert in the mornings. The important thing was that they were both in agreement on what needed to be done. The bottom line was that TJ just couldn't act like a brat to get out of family dinners.

"So, Uncle Timmy and I were talking last night and we came to the agreement that we need to change the way the rules work a little bit and we want you guys to understand what these changes."

"You're making more rules?" asked Amber.

"Nope, just making a little change to how the rules we already have work. So, up until now, if you misbehaved, you were asked to stop doing whatever it was and if you didn't stop, you got sent to your room for a time out, right?"

TJ and Amber both nodded.

"That's not going to happen anymore. Now, if you don't stop doing whatever you're asked to stop doing, there's not going to be a time out. Instead, you're going to lose your TV time for that night. And if you keep doing it, you'll lose TV time for the next night. I have a very good memory – so don't think you can act out and I'll forget that you've lost your future TV time."

TJ groaned. "But what are we going to do if we can't watch TV?"

"Great question, I'm so glad you asked. You're going to sit at the kitchen table with either me or Uncle Timmy and write an apology for whatever it was you did."

Amber shrugged noncommittally. Tim could tell she didn't really care about the rule change. She rarely got in trouble anyway. TJ, on the other hand, was not pleased at all. He groaned and dropped his spoon in his cereal, where it landed with a thud.

"You're kidding, right? About the writing? You can't make us write anything. This isn't school." he said.

Al shook her head and looked at Tim.

"TJ, we're serious, deadly serious about this," said Tim, fixing his nephew with a pointed stare.

"I don't believe you," TJ said.

"Try me, pal," said Al, her patience frayed to the breaking point. "Just try me."

Tim looked from his wife to his nephew, determination carved into each of their stubborn faces. Tim dreaded what could happen the first time the new rule had to be enforced. He was afraid it wasn't going to be pretty at all.

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On Saturday afternoon, Billy came over a couple of hours before dinner. Al had suggested that maybe he'd be able to play football with TJ. Tim had thought that sounded like a wildly optimistic plan and he was disappointed to learn that he was right. TJ didn't want anything to do with Billy, not for football or ice cream or anything, really.

TJ's loss was, however, Amber's gain. She took Billy's hand and dragged him back to her room to play tea party or something. Tim didn't want to go too close to the door lest he get pulled into the game.

At dinner, TJ again sat as far away from Billy as possible, but at least he was using reasonable table manners. Pretty soon, Amber launched into one of her stories. Tim never tried to follow these stories anymore, but he could see that Billy was making a real effort, furrowing his brow and nodding in the right places.

"Hold on a second, Amby. Sarah's your best friend. Kelly is her frenemy but who's this Susan girl?" asked Billy. Tim was impressed he'd managed to pick up so many names. Sarah was the only one he recongized.

"Why do you care?" asked TJ, his voice sharp and his eyes angry. "You're never going to meet them because you're just going to be gone soon anyway."

"TJ, don't talk to your father that way. Do I have to remind you what the new rules are?"

TJ gave Tim a half-shrug and bent his head over his plate, but he was just pushing the lasagna around. He didn't appear to have eaten much of anything.

"So, like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," said Amber, stressing the last two words while glaring at TJ.

"You're a daddy's girl. That's so babyish and annoying. Noah Street told me that he thinks being a daddy's girl is about the worst thing ever. Seriously," said TJ, rolling his eyes. Amber's face turned red and she started to cry, fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

"That's it, TJ. You've lost your TV time for tonight," said Tim.

"Can't I just leave the table instead?" whined TJ.

"No, you know the new rules. Now, please, eat your dinner and behave before you lose even more TV time," said Tim, struggling to keep his voice calm and even.

TJ slouched over his plate but kept his mouth shut for the rest of dinner. Still, his outburst had cast a pall over the room and no one really enjoyed dinner very much, except for Cody , who obliviously chewed away on his disgusting teething cookie. Amber stopped crying almost as quickly as she'd started, but she was subdued and couldn't be drawn into continuing her story.

After dinner, TJ and Amber cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. TJ tried to slink off to his room, but Al caught him by the shirt collar and steered him back to the table. Billy looked around the room uneasily and announced that he was leaving and would be back for dinner on Monday.

TJ theatrically hurled himself into a chair and picked up the pencil Tim had set in front of him. He then picked up a piece of construction paper and started to complain. "I can't write on this. I need the paper with the wide lines with the dotted line in the middle, like we use at school."

Al went over to her backpack and pulled out a notepad with perforated edges. "It's your lucky day, TJ. I just happened to stop and pick some up on the way home yesterday."

Tim hid a smile behind his hand. He wasn't at all surprised that his wife had anticipated that they'd been enforcing the new rules so soon.

Tim sat at the table across from TJ and watched the boy squirm and delay. Finally, TJ sighed, picked up the pencil and began to write. When he was done, he slid the sheet across the table to Tim, who picked it up and read it: Dear Amby, I am sorry I made you cry. And I lied. Noah never said that. Love, TJ.

Tim nodded and then carefully tore out the page and passed the notebook back to TJ.

"What? I'm done," said TJ.

"No, you're half done. Your sister's not the only one whose feelings you hurt. You also hurt your dad's feelings and you owe him an apology."

TJ shook his head and crossed his arms. "No way. That wasn't the deal. One apology. I didn't even say anything to him."

Tim rubbed his face, took a deep breath and counted backwards as he let it out. "You're a smart kid. You know that what you said was mean, both to Amber and to him."

TJ shrugged and looked up at Tim defiantly. "I'm sorry I made Amber cry, but I'm not sorry if I hurt his feelings because he hurt mine first."

Tim looked up over TJ's head at Al, who was standing in the doorway holding Nicky. "Stay here, TJ. I mean it," Tim said as he got up and went into their bedroom, Al following closely behind him.

"I don't know what to do. I can't force him to write the note or to feel sorry," said Tim in hushed tones as he paced back and forth in their room.

Al bounced Nicky on her hip and tried to keep up with Tim. "I don't know, Timmy. I guess we have three choices: 1– make him sit there until he writes the note. 2 – give him a choice of either writing the note or losing tv time or 3 – let him off on a technicality."

Tim sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "What do you think we should do?"

"Give him a choice, I guess."

Tim nodded and muttered to himself, then went back to the kitchen. Before he could say anything, the boy handed him an apology. Or, at least it was sort of an apology: I am only a tiny bit sorry I hurt your feelings cos you hurt mine first. Timothy John Riggins.

"Can I be excused?" asked TJ.

"Yes. Brush your teeth, wash your face and then go to your room and put your pajamas on. One of us will be there to tuck you in soon," said Tim.

After TJ had left, Al came back into the kitchen. Tim handed her the note. She read it and let out a little chuckle. "Wow, he really is his mother's son."

"I guess so," said Tim, thinking about how TJ seemed to be a mixture of some of the most frustrating traits of both his parents. Tim had a bad feeling that these new rules were going to be as painful for him and Al as they were for TJ.