A/N: Hi again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad everyone is liking it so far :) Someone pointed out to me that I forgot to include Benley, so I decided to sneak them in next even though Tuck came way before Sofia on the show. Thanks to cintiamcr for pointing out my oversight.

"Tuck, are you ready to go?"

"Just a minute mom!"

Tuck Jones quickly added the final detail to the card he was making and hid it in the bottom of his sock drawer, careful to make sure that not even the corner poked out. He was determined not to ruin the surprise, and even took a moment to wash the crayon dust off of his hands before heading downstairs.

"I'm rea-" Tuck froze at the bottom of the stairs, trying not to show his disappointment when he saw Ben standing in the living room with his mother, "Oh."

Ben recognized the look of apprehension on Tuck's face and resisted the urge to frown. There had been a lot of apprehension when he and Miranda had first started dating, but that was to be expected. Tuck had been a lot younger then, and he didn't understand why his Mom was suddenly spending all of her time with a man who wasn't his Dad. Over time the apprehension had turned into acceptance, and eventually they had fallen into an easy father-son relationship. So the sudden reappearance of that apprehensive look found Ben proceeding with caution.

"Hey man," he started with a friendly smile, "My last surgery got cancelled so I got out of work early. Is it okay if I go out with you and your mom tonight?"

Miranda did frown as Tuck hesitated, burying his hands deep in his pockets.

"I, uh..."

"What's wrong Tuck?"

"Nothing," Tuck stared at the floor as his face started to feel hot, "I just don't want to goshopping anymore."

"Well tomorrow is Father's Day, I thought you wanted to get your dad a gift?"

"I'll just make him something."

Ben finally let his face drop as Tuck avoided looking at him or his mother. He nudged Miranda, mouthing "I'll stay home", but she just shook her head. They had been on opposite schedules all week, and she was finally looking forward to spending some time together. There was something off about the way Tuck was acting, and she knew if she pressed hard enough she could figure out what it was.

"Do you feel sick?" she asked, walking over to Tuck and putting her hand on his forehead, but he ducked away.

"No! I just don't want to go!"

"We can play lazer tag after you get something for your dad," Ben offered, ignoring the look Miranda gave him.

"I don't want to."

"What's wrong Tuck? Afraid I'll kick your butt?"

Finally Tuck snapped, looking up at Miranda and Ben with angry tears in his eyes.

"I don't want to go shopping with you!"

Before either of them could say another word he stormed up the stairs and ran back to his room, slamming the door behind himself.

"What has gotten into that boy?" Miranda asked, turning to Ben in disbelief. He shrugged, trying to keep an even face to hide his disappointment. He respected Tuck's right to want to spend time just with his parents, but as someone who had started to feel like another parent to him it was still hurtful.

"He hasn't seen you all week, he probably just wants some time to hang out one-on-one."

Miranda scoffed, "He's a nine year old boy, he never wants to 'hang out one-on-one' with me. You were here with him last night, was he okay then?"

"He was fine, really excited to be going out with you tonight," Ben put his hands on her shoulders, managing a reassuring smile, "Look, I'll go talk to him, okay? I'll go apologize for inviting myself along and then you two can go out, and maybe when you get home the three of us can watch a movie. Sound good?"

She hesitated for a moment, searching his face for a crack in his otherwise understanding demeanor, but if there was one he was hiding it well. Finally, she sighed.

"Alright."

Ben gave her a quick kiss, then headed up the stairs and down the hallway to Tuck's room, knocking at the door.

"Hey Tuck, it's Ben, can I come in?"

"I guess." was the muffled reply, so he opened the door, standing in the doorway. Tuck looked up from where he sat on the bed, his face a mixture of sadness and guilt.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he offered, but Ben waved the apology away.

"Don't worry about it, I get it, you just want to hang out with your mom. It's alright, you two should go out tonight so you can get a present for your dad, I'll hang out here."

"It's not that," Tuck sighed, "I just didn't want to ruin the surprise!"

"What surprise?"

Tuck sighed, realizing that there was no way he was going to be able to pull off his surprise so he may as well just give up. He walked over to his dresser and opened the sock drawer, pulling out the card he had made earlier and handing it to Ben.

As Ben took the card from Tuck he could actually feel his heart swelling with pride. On the front beneath the words "Happy Father's Day!" he had drawn a picture of the two of them, both wearing scrubs and doctor's coats. The inside of the card read "Thanks for being an awesome step-dad. Maybe when I grow up we can scrub in together sometime". The sentiment made Ben laugh as he pulled Tuck in for a hug.

"Tuck this is great," he said as Tuck pulled back and looked up at him waiting for his response, "This really means a lot to me."

"I wanted to get you a present too," Tuck explained, "That's why I didn't want you to go shopping with me and Mom. I was going to give it to you when we got back, since I'll be with my Dad tomorrow."

Ben grinned, "Do you know what the best present would be?"

"What?"

"Getting to kick your butt at lazer tag."

Tuck laughed, following Ben out of his room and back down the hallway.

"Fine, but you're not going to kick my butt!"

"We'll see about that."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review and I will keep working on the Merder chapter. It should be up by the end of the week, so keep an eye out for it! :)