[June]

Shelley had taken to walking around in nothing but a towel when she got out of the shower in the morning.

"I'm sure she's just trying to get you to notice her," Tami complained one evening as they brushed their teeth in the master bathroom. "She's been starved for male attention for months." She spit in the sink and moved aside so Eric could spit.

"Hey," he said, rinsing his toothbrush, "you invited her to live with us. Not me."

Tami rinsed her brush and rapped it against the side of the sink to get the excess water off. "I know. And I know she'd never actually attempt to seduce my husband, but she does like the attention of attractive males." She pointed her toothbrush at him. "So don't give it to her."

He put his toothbrush back in the holder. "I make it my policy to pay as little attention to Shelley as possible. But if it bothers you, why don't you just tell her?"

She put her toothbrush beside his. "Because she'll just deny it, and then she'll turn it on me and claim that I'm insecure in our marriage, or something ridiculous like that."

Eric hit the switch as he stepped out of the bathroom. She followed.

"Are you?" he asked. "Insecure in our marriage?"

"Of course not!"

He was at his dresser now, unhooking his watch. "Because if you are, I'll be happy to," he lowered his voice, "reassure you of my affection tonight as many times as you need."

She laughed. "I bet you will." She stood behind him and kissed his shoulder. "I'll take one."

"One?" he asked.

"One quick reassurance."

"Quick?"

"I've got a book I want to finish reading tonight."

[*]

When school let out, Eric received an offer to replace an assistant coach at a 5A high school in Macedonia. "Tami," he said. "5A. I can't pass this up."

"What's the salary?"

"Teacher salary is lower, but the coaching stipend is higher, so… a little more than I'm making here. And Macedonia is cheaper."

"How many classes will you have to teach?"

"Only three history classes. In the spring semester, I'll have to teach a Shop class too."

She laughed.

"What?"

"You're….you're not exactly handy, Eric."

"I can build a bird house. I can make an ashtray. But thanks for your support."

She kissed him. "You're moving up," she said. "I'm proud of you."

"This also might be the only way we can manage to get rid of Shelley," he said. "So I'm thinking of you too."

[July]

The same day Eric and Tami got an offer on the house, Shelley moved in with a guy she'd initially met in a chat room using Tami's computer and dial-up modem.

"What's a chat room?" Eric asked in bed one night.

"It's…." Tami trailed off. "You know what, I'm not going to bother to explain. Let's just be glad she's got someplace to go."

"Have you vetted this guy?"

She snuggled up to him. "Aww…that's sweet. You're playing the protective big brother."

"I'm playing the protective husband. I don't want you upset when she ends up in pieces in someone's freezer."

Tami laughed. "He's a doctor."

"No. Not possible."

"Yes."

He turned on his side and faced her. "A real doctor? With…like…a medical degree?"

"He's an acupuncturists."

"I knew there had to be a catch."

"It's an ancient and legitimate medical practice, Eric. And Shelley's going to teach preschool again. She got a job offer." He rolled on his back and she settled her head on his chest. "I'm worried," she said.

"About what?"

"I really think we should see a fertility specialist when we get settled in Macedonia."

"Tami – "

"- If you're not willing, then I'll go by myself. We'll rule out any problems with me first."

[November]

Eric sat on the couch sipping his post-game scotch, his dark red Macedonia Matadors cap resting on the coffee table. They'd gotten a three-bedroom house in Macedonia, with a garage this time, and they'd enrolled Julie in a 5-day, morning Pre-K program at the Methodist church they now attended.

Tami sat down next to him. He smiled. He must be expecting his victory lay. He'd get it, of course, but not right away.

She put a hand on his knee. "We need to talk about something."

His eyelids fluttered. His lips tightened into that not-quite-frown he sometimes got. "What have I done?"

"Nothing, sugar." She turned to face him, knee bent and leg half on the couch. "I saw the doctor again today. She can't pinpoint any reasons I would have fertility problems."

"See, I told you there was nothing wrong."

"Except that it's been close to two years now since we stopped using birth control. 95% of couples conceive within two years."

"Then we're the other 5%. And it hasn't been quite two years yet."

"Sugar…" She put her hand on his shoulder. "I really think you need to get checked."

"Checked for what?"

"Just…let them check your sperm count."

He shook his head. "No," he said. "Nah. My boys can swim." He pointed his glass down the hall in the direction of Julie's room. "I got a cute little girl to prove it. Unless I ought to be ordering up a paternity test on her."

Tami sighed. "Things change, Eric. Or maybe we just got lucky with her."

"So lucky I managed to knock you up the one time the pill you took was defective?"

"Just consider it, Eric. Please."

"I'm not jerking off in any cup, Tami."

"Well I can…I can go in with you, you know. I can assist."

"Sexy. That's really sexy, babe." He stood up and walked to the liquor cabinet above the bookshelves where he stored a fraction of his game tape. He poured another scotch. He never had more than one. He swirled his glass, downed the liquid, and hissed.

"Don't you…" She could hear her voice hitch. "Don't you want another child?"

He slammed the glass down on the shelf. "Of course I do, Tami. I would love to have a boy someday. A son of my own I can teach football to. Or another daughter to adore. Either way. And I think Julie should have a sibling. But, damn it, there's nothing wrong with me!"

"This isn't an assault on your masculinity, Eric! Lord! You just…you can't…" She shook her head and stormed down the hall.

When she got to the bedroom, she didn't know quite what to do with herself. She paced in anger a little, then stood for a minute with her arms crossed, and then went into the attached master bathroom and took a long, hot shower.

When she came out dressed in her flannel PJs, Eric was sitting up in bed on top of the comforter in sweats and a T-shirt. She sat down cautiously on her side of the bed, feet on the floor.

"You know," he said, "I finished that game tonight – and it was a good game – my quarterback did really well – won that game at the last minute because of the play I suggested – and I thought, I bet I've made my wife proud of me. She's going to think I was pretty hot out there tonight. She's going to be really attracted to me tonight. We're gonna go home, and she's gonna be all over me." He swallowed. "Well, you were all over me all right. All over me about how I'm not …" He clenched the rest of the words down tight somewhere between his teeth.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she turned to look at him, he was looking off in the corner. "Don't be so sensitive, Eric."

He jumped out of bed and turned to face her. "You tell me you want me to talk about my feelings more. Well that's bullshit! Because when I do you just brush them off!"

"That's ridiculous!" She stood up. They squared off over the bed. "I care about your feelings! I do, Eric, but you know, I'd appreciate it if you cared about mine too. I have been worried about the possibility of infertility for months and months now. You want to talk about brushing something off?"

"Your timing, Tami! Your timing! If you wanted to talk about me jerking off into some cup, did you really have to do it the moment I've been feeling prouder of myself than I've felt in months? Couldn't you have congratulated me on my game first, couldn't – "

"- I did congratulate you on your game!"

The door eased open.

"I mean congratulate me on my game. Damn it, Tami, why – "

"- Mom? Dad? What's wrong?"

Eric froze. Tami nodded over his shoulder. He turned slowly to see Julie there, grasping her noodle-armed monkey tightly to her chest.

"Nothing, Monkey Noodle," he said.

"Why are you yelling at each other?"

"We were just…" Tami said, "Mamma just saw a shadow and was scared…so I was yelling and Daddy was yelling for me to calm down."

Julie's little brow furrowed. Eric scooped her up and kissed her cheek. "Everything's fine, Monkey Noodle. Come on. I'm gonna put you back to sleep. Read you some Dr. Seuss."

"The Lorax!"

"Yeah," he half whispered as he went through the door.

When he came back fifteen minutes later, Tami was sitting at the table before the vanity, starring at herself vacantly in the mirror. When she heard the door latch, she turned around.

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.

Tami laughed. "Jinx."

He came and kneeled before her, slid his arms around her waist, and raised his head to kiss her. "I'll go," he said. "To the…cup place. I'm sorry I wasn't listening to you and how worried you were. I just…I just thought nature should take its course. We had Julie so easily. I figured it just wasn't God's timing yet, you know? I do want another kid. I'll go, if you want me to. I will."

"Thank you." She kissed him. "You played so well tonight, babe. That last minute call…I'm glad Coach Lopez let you try it."

"I love you, Tami."

They went to bed, and Eric held her for a long while. They began to kiss, ever so slowly. She whispered in his ear, "You were damn sexy out there tonight, Coach Taylor."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered as she slid her hand into his sweat pants.

[*]

A week later, Tami called the fertility clinic to schedule an appointment for Eric. Two hours after she hung up the phone, it occurred to her that her period really should have started by now. Before she picked Julie up from pre-K, she stopped by the drug store and got a home pregnancy test.

That night, when Julie was in bed, she took the test while Eric paced anxiously in the bedroom. She emerged from the master bathroom and showed him the stick.

"What's that mean?" he asked.

"It means I'm pregnant!"

He laughed and kissed her. "See, I told you!"

"I guess we can stop having so much sex now," she said.

He frowned, and she laughed, took his hand, and tugged him to bed.