The day Tim had been waiting for all week had arrived, it was Carter's birthday. He couldn't quite understand it but he felt a connection to the boy and he wanted to be there on his big day. By the time lunch rolled around he couldn't contain his excitement; any day that he got to spend with Lyla was guaranteed to be a good day.

Billy drove the family to Lyla and Jordan's house, Mindy sat up front while Tim got to sit in the back seat beside Stevie. They all rolled up to the big house, balloons were tied to the mailbox that was located at the end of the driveway. There were also balloons lining the pathway that led to the backyard.

As soon as the vehicle stopped Tim hopped out, not bothering to help Mindy or Billy with the kids. He opened the trunk and grabbed the present that he had bought for Carter, and then headed into the backyard to join the party. He knew that Mindy was pissed at him for begging her and the kids to show up, he knew how Mindy felt about Lyla. He never understood why because in high school they started to get along great, something must have happened while he was gone.

Tim shrugged off all thoughts of his sister-in-law and headed through the gate and into the backyard. There was a bounce house set up in the far corner, with a few kids jumping around inside. There was a clown close to the house building balloon animals for the group of kids surrounding him. Finally in the middle of the yard were about ten kids of different ages playing football. He walked over to the table that were piled high with gifts and placed his parcel in an empty space.

Tim found his way to the adults who were standing around the table that held chips, fruits, vegetables and other various party foods. He looked into one of the coolers and found a beer, he picked one up and opened it. "How's the knee doing?" He heard from an unknown source. Tim turned around to find Jordan standing at the barbeque flipping burgers.

"It's good, thanks." Tim smiled at the man. He looked him up and down, trying to figure out what this guy has that he doesn't. He probably has a job; Lyla's big on working and as of right now Tim is currently unemployed. The guy doesn't have good hair; his hairline looks to be receding which means he's probably close to death. When it all came down to it, he had Lyla and that's all that mattered.

"Hey, baby, how's the barbequing going?" Lyla asked as she came out of the house. She waltzed over to Jordan and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Much better now that you're here." Jordon replied. He tilted his head down to give her a quick kiss and returned his attention back to the food he was preparing.

Tim cleared his throat, hoping to get Lyla's attention, she was hanging off Jordan's' shoulder and slowly glanced up at him. When she finally registered who was standing in front of her she grinned, "Hey, Tim."

"Hi, Lyla" Tim replied and flashed her a smile. He was mesmerized by the women standing in front of him. She was wearing a white V-neck and jeans, simple but somehow managed to make her look amazing. Out of nowhere Billy ran up and tackled him; he didn't get knocked to the ground but fell forward.

"The kids are looking for you, Timmy. They want to play with the big football star, so come on and show everyone what you got!" Billy said as he straightened up. He never knew that Tim was in the middle of something and pushed him towards the kids who were playing football in the middle of the yard.

"Cake and Presents!" Tim heard someone yell an hour later. By that point he had already been tackled numerous times by the kids and his knee was starting to protest all the aggression.

"Finally" Tim murmured. He joined the crowd which was surrounding Carter who was sitting at a picnic table. Everyone started singing 'Happy Birthday' when Jordan and Lyla came out of the house carrying the cake. Tim joined in and watched as Carter blew out the four candles and everyone clapped.

Cake was cut and passed around, Tim got a piece and found Billy and Mindy feeding the three kids at a small table by the bounce house. He looked over towards the crowd and watched as Lyla was handing out cake and laughing as she interacted with the other party guests. Tim thought she looked lighter and happier than he had ever seen her before and he knew he was happy for her, no matter what fool she was with.

When everyone was done with the cake, the kids sat on the grass in a circle ready for Carter to open his presents. The adults stood above supervising and talking amongst each other. Carter raced through his presents and when he finally came upon a big box wrapped in paper covered in footballs, Tim grew excited. He watched the four year old rip open the package to reveal a football helmet with the Bronco's logo on the side, a regular sized football and Bronco's jersey.

"Hold up the Jersey" Jordan stepped in pointing to the jersey that was lying in Carters' lap. The boy ignored his father and put the helmet on his head and did up all the straps, it was too big but he didn't care. When he was done playing with the helmet he threw the jersey on and stood up for everyone to see. The back of the jersey had the number 33 and Riggins written above it.

Carter looked over his shoulder and when he realized what it said and who it was from he ran over to Tim. The boy jumped up and Tim was swift enough to catch him and pick him up. "Thank you so much, Mr. Riggins!"

"No problem, Carter." Tim said laughing at the boy's enthusiasm.

"We have to go play, right now!" Carter yelled. With that Tim put him down and when the kid was finally on the ground grabbed Tim's hand and dragged him back to where the helmet was and threw it on. He then grabbed the football and dragged Tim back to the middle of the yard where they were playing football before. The other kids ran over, joining in on the action.

Tim spent the remainder of the afternoon playing football with Carter and his friends. When it began to grow dark out, kids started dispersing from the game and going home. Soon it was just Tim and Carter playing around with the football, Billy and Mindy took the kids home a while ago but Tim decided on staying. He really started to adore Carter and all the energy he possessed and the love of football.

"Carter, baby, it's almost time for bed. Say good night to Mr. Riggins." Lyla yelled over to the boys. Carter was not happy that he was being forced to go inside; he was having too much fun.

"Alright." Carter said.

Tim noticed he was a little upset and so he bent down to boy and gave him a hug. "Anytime that you want to play football, just give me a call." With that Carter smiled and ran into the house.

"What'd you say to him?" Lyla asked.

"It's a secret" Tim responded as he walked over to her. "Where's your boyfriend?"

"Fiancé. And he had a family emergency in Austin he had to go attend to." Lyla said. Tim watched her for a brief second and then began helping her clean up the mess from the party. "You don't have to do that, Tim."

"I want to."

A/N: I realized I left it off at a cliffhanger in the last chapter so I threw this one together quickly. I was really lacking the motivation to even finish this story but with everyone's interest it made me want to expand on this. The next chapter may take me a few days, but I will try hard to get it up as soon as possible. The next part I have planned will be really Tim/Lyla focused and I want to make it perfect for everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and wasn't too boring for you all. Please review and if you have any suggestions, let me know! :)