A week had passed since Jordan had gone back to Austin to stay with his parents, she hadn't talked to him since. Carter had asked a few times about him but Lyla just brushed it off saying he was on vacation. Lyla had awoken early Saturday morning by her cell phone, hoping it was Jordan she picked up. She was soon disappointed; it was a friend who she volunteered with at the hospital asking her to take her shift for that day.

Lyla rolled out of bed to get ready for the day ahead; she went through her morning routine in a haze. The past week had been a blur and she was barely getting by without Jordan. She had never really been a single mother before and now that she was finally experiencing it she was drowning. Lyla never noticed how much she truly relied on Jordan and every day she found herself missing his help.

As Lyla got on her uniform for volunteering she realized that she needed a baby sitter. Jordan was hours away and their regular baby sitter was out of town, he father was usually busy Saturday mornings doing god knows what. That left one last person and she picked up the phone to make the call.

Lyla was sitting on the stairs staring at the front door; Carter was in the other room watching cartoons. She tapped her foot impatiently, her shift was starting in twenty minutes and she needed to leave as soon as possible. When she heard the doorbell ring she jumped up, grabbed her purse and opened the door.

She was not expecting to see the person who was standing in her doorway, it was Mindy Riggins. "Mindy?"

'Hello, Garrity." The blonde women responded. She was taller than Lyla and had shorts and a tank top on with shades perched on top of her head.

"Can I help you with something?" Lyla asked as she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

"I want you to stop fooling around with Tim"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Stop acting dumb, you know what I'm talking about. Leave Tim alone." Miny said as she stepped closer to Lyla.

"First you want me to tell him and now you want me to leave him alone? Why?"

"Because I said so! You don't need to go breaking that boy's heart; it's obvious you're not going to tell him so just don't!" Mindy yelled.

"You're wrong; I'm going to tell him. Tim has every right to know that Carter is his son!" Lyla shouted back.

"What?" The two women heard from behind them. They turned to see Tim walking up the pathway to Lyla's house.

"Tim, it's not what it sounds like." Mindy said stepping forward to Tim.

"Not now, Mindy. Just go." Tim said as he walked past her to Lyla.

Lyla stood by the door as Tim walked right by Mindy, the woman was in shock. She starred after him for a minute and then followed his wishes and got in her car and drove away.

"Tim" Lyla said as she walked up to him, grabbing his arm. He looked pale and like he was about to collapse.

"Is it true, Lyla?" He asked looking down at her. She couldn't say anything but replied with a nod. "I need to hear you say it."

"Yes, Tim, Carter is your son." Lyla looked up at him and she wasn't sure what she saw. Tim looked excited but scared at the same time and she felt sorry for spring this on him. "Look, Tim, I really got to get to the hospital. When I come back we can talk."

"Okay." He spat out. He was still in shock so Lyla lead him into the house and took him to where Carter was located. "Hey, Buddy, Tim's gunna look after you while I'm gone."

"Yay!" Carter yelled as he jumped off the couch and ran over to Tim and hugged his legs.

"See you boys later." Lyla said as she left the two standing in the living room. Tim was still processing the information that Lyla had just laid on him. She made a quick getaway before Tim could run after her with questions, she knew when she got home she would have a lot of explaining to do.

Lyla had left Tim standing in the middle of the living room; he didn't know what to do next. Hell, he didn't even know what to think. He looked over to the couch to see Carter sitting there, rather relaxed and not paying any attention to Tim. Tired of standing, he took a seat beside the boy. Tim looked Carter up and down and he felt stupid for not noticing the similarities before. They shared several similarities; both had green eyes, brown hair and the same nose. His smile though, was from his mother.

The similarities were there and the math added up. He felt silly for not noticing sooner, but the thought of children ever crossed his mind. He had only thought of football for the past five years, he barely dated, never finding a woman that held up to his standards. Lyla was a tough act to follow; when he was with her in high school the possibility of children crossed his mind. That was before he knew he was leaving Dillon, back when he thought him and Lyla would get married and then years later have kids.

This was happening too fast, what was going to happen next? Tim knew he wanted to be in Carters life but would Lyla allow it? What would happen to Jordan? Does Jordan know? Will they still get married? All these questions were running though Tim's mind and he didn't know the answers to any of them.

Tim looked over to the fireplace and saw a bunch of pictures of Carter so he got up off the couch to take a look. In the middle was a recent picture of Carter, Lyla and Jordan. They looked like one happy family and he immediately felt like he was intruding. Surrounding were pictures of Carter from when he was a baby, toddler and pictures from the past year. Tim realized he had missed so much of Carter's life. He wished he was there for the pregnancy and the day he was born. He missed when he started crawling, walking, talking and other every day activities. Tim was growing angrier by the minute.

"Tim?" He heard from behind him. Tim turned around to see Carter looking up at him, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing. So what do you want to do today, little man?" Tim asked as he bent down so he was eye to eye with Carter.

"Can we go play some football?"

"Sure."

By the time Lyla had come home it was already dark out and Tim had spent the whole day with Carter. They played football in the backyard for a few hours, and then Tim managed to make lunch for them. Carter then insisted on playing board games and that took them through until dinner time. After dinner, which was a kid friendly meal of wieners and beans, they got comfortable on the couch to watch Monsters Inc. Carter fell asleep halfway through the movie and Tim had ended up carrying him up to bed and tucked him in.

Instead of putting on a more adult friendly show, he ended up finishing the movie. He wasn't paying much attention to the television, but rather reflecting on the day he had with Carter. It had been the best day he has had in a long while; he felt his son had brought back a light that he had been missing since he returned to Dillon.

Tim must have fallen asleep because he didn't hear Lyla come in until she was nudging him and calling his name. He slowly opened his eyes and saw her standing over him with an upset look on her face. "Where's Carter?" She asked.

"Upstairs, sleeping." Tim said as he straightened up on the couch.

"How was your day?" Lyla sat down on the couch and turned so she was facing Tim.

"Exhausting, but I kept him entertained and we had a lot of fun." Tim replied.

"Thanks for everything, Tim. I've been struggling this past week with Jordan gone." She paused and was looking down playing with her ring. "I'm sorry, for everything."

"I don't understand, why did you keep him a secret from me?"

"I knew if I told you I was pregnant, you would never go to Texas State."

"I don't see any harm in that. I would have gladly given up football to have seen my son be born and grow up. I could have helped Billy with Riggins Rigs, I would have been just as happy here as anywhere else." Tim replied. He was hurt that she had never told her about his son and he couldn't understand why she did it.

"No, Tim. I needed you to have a future, to succeed. I didn't want to be the one to hold you back." A tear had fallen and was sliding down her cheek. He resisted the urge to wipe it away; he was mad at Lyla and knew if he touched her he would crumble.

"What about what I would have wanted?"

"I did this for you, Tim!"

"No, Lyla, you did this for you." Tim was frustrated now and jumped up off the couch and went straight to the front door. He heard Lyla follow him and he spun around. "You're not keeping me from my son, I missed out on four years and I won't be missing out on another day."

"I promise, Tim, I won't keep you from your son. But please, just let me explain."

"I think you've done enough explaining for tonight. Goodbye, Lyla." With that Tim walked out of Lyla's house, slamming the door behind him. He was too angry and had to get out of there immediately.

Tim got into his truck and instead of going back home; he went straight to the bar. He was going to get drunk tonight and not feel sorry about it. Lyla couldn't spring this life changing information on him and expect him not to react. The more he thought about it the angrier he got and he couldn't control it. In the pit of his stomach he felt he was in for some trouble tonight.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. My brain is completely fried from studying. It may take a few days to get the next chapter out, next two weeks are full of midterms.