Four years later

Tim was sitting on the steps of his home, a home which he shared with Lyla and Carter. They moved in six months after he bought it, when the house was finally restored and ready to be lived in. He had to repair a few walls, completely redo the kitchen, paint, and build a wraparound porch. It turned out amazing and Lyla said she fell in love with it all over again once it was renovated.

Carter wasn't too happy to be moving out of his old house but when Tim took him on a tour of the fifty acre land and all the activities they could do, the boy couldn't wait to move in. The two often spent their nights before dinner tossing the football around practicing plays. Carter was now eight and started playing a few years ago; he had his mind set on quarterback. As for Tim, he was happy coaching alongside Billy for the Panthers. Last season they had come close to state but fell short in the semifinals.

Tim had asked Lyla to marry him a few months after he bought the house. They got married the next month and travelled to Hawaii with Carter for their honeymoon. Lyla then had finished her studies and had gotten a job as a nurse at the hospital in maternity ward and she absolutely loved it. She loved helping new mothers and helping giving birth. "What are you thinking about?" Lyla asked from behind him as she walked down a few steps, sitting down and joining him.

"Nothing." Tim smiled at her. "How's our girl doing?" He rubbed Lyla's belly and she placed her hand on top of his.

"It could be a boy." She laughed.

"Nah, I got a good feeling it's a girl." He replied. Her belly was starting to grow, she was already six months and her belly looked huge. Tim kissed her cheek and wrapped his arm around her back pulling her into his side. They sat silently as they watched the sun begin to make its descent behind the trees.

"I better go check on our son, who knows what kind of trouble he's getting himself into." Lyla said as she pushed herself up off the step and retreated back into the house. With the mention of his son he thought back four years ago to their first meeting as father and son.

Lyla had told him to be careful around Carter; he wasn't exactly thrilled that Jordan wasn't his biological dad. That overnight he had lost the father he had known all his life and had gained a new one, one he had never met until the month before. Tim was nervous, this was the first time he would be meeting his son, officially. This was a meeting where each one knew of the other, that they were father and son.

Tim came prepared with a teddy bear dressed in football gear. Lyla had informed him that Carter was ready to meet with him. It had been a few days since she broke the news to their son and he was starting to warm up to Tim again. He wasn't sure how Carter was going to treat him, before this they were getting along great but everything changed when the truth was finally told.

Tim nervously walked up the front steps to Lyla's house and rang the doorbell. The door flew open and Carter ran into him jumping up onto Tim. Luckily he wasn't taken too much by surprise and was able to catch Carter. "Hi, daddy!" Carter said. He had a big grin on his face, one that Tim reciprocated.

"Hey, buddy." Tim replied. He squeezed his son tightly and let himself into the house. Lyla came out of the kitchen laughing at the two. "Look what I found." Tim started tickling Carter and the boy squirmed his way out of Tim's grasp. "I bought you this." Tim said, handing the stuffed animal to Carter once he was set firmly on the ground.

"I love it!" Carter responded enthusiastically. The boy reached up and dragged Tim into living room where he had cars sprawled over the carpet. "I'm glad you get to be my dad too!"

"Why's that?" Tim asked as he knelt down beside his son who was now playing with the cars, rather content.

"Because you're really cool and you play football. Also, I think my mamma likes you." Carter responded.

"I kind of like your mom, too." Tim said not able to contain his smile. "I also like you too, buddy." He sat there for a while playing with his son and he realized he hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Tim felt he was being watched and he turned around to see Lyla standing in the doorway watching him and Carter. He got up and walked over to her. "Carter seems to be taking everything well." Tim stated.

"Yeah, he does. He's a pretty resilient kid." Lyla smiled at him. "You're going to be a good dad, Tim." She put a hand to his chest and leaned in giving him a soft kiss. It was quick, like a habit, like they would do it every day for the rest of their lives.

"What are you doing out here?" Tim heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Carter standing there watching him, he had two brown bottles in his hand.

"Just thinking." Tim replied. Carter sat down beside him handing over a bottle of root beer. He looked over at his son; he was now eight and looked almost identical to Tim. He was also the best on his football team; it was natural, God-given talent. Tim never pushed him into football, he never wanted to be one of those dads who was crazy obsessed with their son's career at a young age. Instead, Carter had begged him for weeks at the age of six to finally let him play, both Lyla and Tim gave in, giving their son what he really wanted.

"About what?" Carter asked looking up at him, his eyes sparked with curiosity.

"You know, it was never my dream to go to the NFL or college. I thought that high school football was always going to be enough." He replied.

"What happened?"

"My best friend, Jason, the top quarterback in Texas got injured, paralyzed from the chest down. He was the one who was going to play for Notre Dame then eventually drafted to the NFL. I felt like it was my job to live the dreams he never got to fulfill. I loved playing college football and was ecstatic when I got drafted because I never thought I would ever leave Texas." Tim responded. He looked out over the horizon, the sun close to setting, casting a contrast of oranges and pinks.

"My dream back then was to live on a big plot of land that Jason lived on with your mom. They were supposed to get married and I would live with them and I would get one percent of his earnings. Texas Forever." Tim said.

"Texas forever?" Carter asked confused.

"It was a saying we had; me, him and Texas, forever." Tim replied.

"I like that." His son responded.

"Yeah?" Tim asked glancing down at his son.

"Yeah. Texas Forever." Carter said as he clinked his bottle with Tim's root beer bottle.

"Texas Forever." Tim replied.

A/N: Thank you SO MUCH for reading and supporting this story! I hope the ending was acceptable for everyone, I really wanted to get the Texas Forever in there, especially between Tim and Carter. Notice it's almost like the series finale? I hope everyone enjoyed the story and wasn't too disappointed with it. This was my first fanfic and I am just so grateful for the reviews and support and for it actually being read. I LOVE Tim and Lyla so you can bet there will be more Tim/Lyla fanfics from me in the future. I also have an idea for a Tulie fanfic, which may be my next story.