Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.
Al woke up extra early on Christmas morning so she could take George outside. She was surprised, and a little confused, to see that Tim was not in his usual spot next to her, crowding her to the edge and stealing all the blankets.
Then she saw him stretched out on the floor, next to the puppy crate. He was on his side, a pillow bunched under his head and his hand on the door of the crate so George could curl up against his fingers. Al smiled as she watched him sleep.
Tim had argued with her about the crate, wanting the puppy to sleep in bed with them. She had insisted gently but firmly, in no uncertain terms, that a puppy in a bed was a bad idea and he would be sleeping alone if that's what he wanted.
Al crouched down next to the crate and began to pry Tim's hand off the door. His eyelids fluttered open and his look was first confused and then pleased when he saw her.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled, pulling her to him for a kiss.
She tried to return his greeting but the kiss kind of got in the way, not that she minded. When she was finally forced to come up for air, she looked at him quizzically.
"You don't have any idea what time it is, do you?"
He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Really damn early."
"Really, really damn early. You should go back to sleep."
"Mmm, I should, but this is the only Christmas I'm ever going to be engaged to you. Why waste it sleeping?" His grin was sly as his finger traced her collarbone.
She smiled back, her eyes on his mouth. George could wait a little while longer, she thought to herself.
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Later that morning, they were getting ready to go over to Billy and Mindy's. Al watched Tim put on a blue plaid shirt and fiddle with the sleeves.
"Hey, Timmy?" asked Al, sitting down on the edge of the bed so she could put on her socks and shoes.
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking of asking Mindy to be my Maid of Honor but since you're having Jason as your Best Man, I was worried that Billy maybe could feel left out."
He sat down next to her, smiling.
"What?" she asked, confused by his reaction.
"First, it's very sweet of you to worry about Billy like that." He brushed her hair back so he could kiss her neck.
She shivered a little and gently pushed him away. "We'll never get to their place if you start doing that."
He smiled and took her hand. "Second, Billy's going to have way too much on his mind to feel left out and, third, I don't think Mindy will be able to accept."
"Why?" Al's disappointment was clear in her frown..
He hated to see her look sad, so he kissed her. When he pulled back, he was smiling as he shook his head. "Can't tell you."
"Tim!" She punched him in the arm.
"Ow! Why do you have to be like that? I know you're little and you think I'm this huge brute, but damn, you are stronger than you realize."
"I'm sorry."
"If you were really sorry, you'd kiss it better," his grin suggesting, among other things, that she hadn't really hurt him.
"You're trying to distract me. Why don't you think Mindy will be my Maid of Honor?"
He was infuriating her with his I've-got-a-secret-and-I'm-not-telling smile. He watched the gears turn in her head and waited, nearly counting down until Al copped on. He was surprised she was taking this long – she was usually more on top of things.
"Oh my god. She's not!"
Tim brought up one shoulder in a half-shrug, but his face told a whole other story. Mindy was pregnant again.
"Damn if they aren't the most fertile couple I know."
"I didn't tell you though. Just go ahead and ask her and she'll probably tell you then. They just found out and she's not very far along at all."
Al started counting in her head. "When's she due? August?"
Tim nodded. "Billy didn't say, but you figure it had to have happened that weekend they went to the wedding in Austin."
"Well," said Al standing up and taking Tim's hand to pull him up. "We better aim for early July for the wedding then."