Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al and TJ) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.

The next Monday, Al took over responsibility for the garage and Tim took over responsibility for the kids. For the most part, their normal routine of Al handling the mornings and then both of them splitting the bedtime duties worked well.

An adjustment had to be made to the dinner routine and it was agreed that Al would plan the meal and Tim would do all the prep work before she got home so she could cook dinner more quickly. It was also agreed that Amber and TJ were old enough to start helping out, by clearing the table, loading and unloading the dishwasher, and washing the pots and pans.

TJ and Amber had both insisted that they didn't want to drop out of the afterschool program, which had nearly hurt Tim's feelings until Al pointed out that Noah and Sarah, their respective best friends, were both in the program. Jason, Lyla and Al agreed to take turns doing the afterschool pick-up and created a complicated schedule that Tim didn't even pretend to understand. Somehow, it all worked.

By Thursday afternoon, Tim ached like he used to in his football days and was exhausted in a way he'd never been before. But he felt good, happy. Cody was starting to pull himself up into a standing position and Nicky was nearly able to roll from his back to his front as well as from his front to his back. The babies seemed to grow and change every day and Tim couldn't imagine missing any of it.

Jack remained Jack: a handful. But Tim was learning how to manage him, how to run him into the ground so he'd take his afternoon nap. Having all of the land was great because he could take the kids for walks without worrying about traffic or strangers or anything. He had an idea that it would be great to build a playground between the houses – maybe some elaborate jungle gym and a grassy area with a football goalpost, just in case he and Al managed to have a little kicker.

Tim looked at the clock and realized he had to start preparing dinner. Al wanted him to dice carrots and onions and also make a salad. Tim thought that sounded like an awful lot of vegetables, but he knew better than to argue about it.

He heard the front door open, then pounding feet as TJ and Amber came in to greet him. Al called from the door "Honey, I'm home" and then laughed. She swore that joke would never get old. Tim had thought it had limited appeal, until he saw how happy and cute she looked when she got home.

Al stepped over the baby gate and dodged Cody, who was bouncing around in his walker. She kissed Tim and then headed for Nicky, scooping him out of his swing and greeting him like she'd been gone for eight months instead of just eight hours.

"Can I have a glass of milk?" asked TJ. Al nodded and put Nicky back in his swing.

"How was your day?" asked Tim as Al poured the milk.

"I'm telling you, Timmy, I about this close to firing Jake," she said, pausing in the pouring to hold her forefinger and thumb millimeters apart to illustrate her point. She finished filling the glass and handed it TJ.

Tim put the knife on the counter and stood next to Al, rubbing her back.

"What's going on?"

"He's just such a jerk. He's giving Lauren a hard time, teasing her, making fun of her. It's been going on for weeks, apparently, and she only just told me today."

"Why didn't she say something sooner?"

"She didn't want to bother Billy," said Al sadly.

Tim thought for a minute. "Since this is a school program, can you even fire him?"

"I don't know. I'm meeting with Tami tomorrow to discuss it. Part of me really wants to fire him, since I'm so mad at him and done with wanting to deal with him. But then, the other part of me thinks I should keep him around, give him all the shit work in the oil change place and move Lauren into the main garage."

Tim nodded. "She's good enough to work in the main garage, and it'd be a great experience. But aren't you worried about looking like you're favoring her because she's a girl?"

Al sighed. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of, so it's at the top of my list of things to talk about with Tami."

Tim gave Al a quick hug and kissed her forehead. "You should probably get changed – I'm nearly done with the chopping."

"Thanks. You're getting pretty good at this domestic stuff. I'm impressed, Timmy. Really, really impressed."

Tim smiled, turned her around and gave her a gentle shove. When she reached the doorway, Al turned back and returned his smile. It might seem like a strange arrangement to anyone else, but it was clearly working for them.

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The next afternoon, the phone rang during nap time. Tim had the cordless phone right next to him and was able to pick it up after the first ring. He'd learned the hard way that it was essential to eliminate all extraneous noise during nap time.

"Tim Riggins?" asked a vaguely familiar, flirty voice.

"Yeah?" said Tim uncertainly. It had been several years since a girl had called him, sounding like that, and he wasn't sure he remembered how to deal with it. Or rather, he remembered how he would have dealt with it, but knew that the rules were completely different now.

"This is Joanie? From the elementary school?"

"What's going on? Are TJ and Amber okay?" Tim went from amused to alarmed in milliseconds.

"There's been a slight.......issue.....with TJ. The principal needs you to come in."

"Right now?" Tim looked at the clock. Nap time was meant to last for another hour at least.

"If you could," said Joanie, her voice overly suggestive in a way that would have been comical had Tim not been so concerned about his nephew.

"I'll try my best. Might be a half-hour or so," said Tim, hanging up the phone before he had to hear anything else. He paused for a minute, calculating the effort and time involved in his various options. Then he remembered. It was Friday in the off-season; Six should be working at home, watching game film, writing scouting reports and making phone calls.

Tim took out his cell phone and called Jay. He had barely gotten a chance to complete his sentence when Jay cut him off, saying he'd be right over. Tim stood outside, leaning against his truck, and waited for his friend, who arrived less than five minutes later.

"Damn, Six, what were you doing? Just sitting by the phone, waiting for me to call?" teased Tim.

"No, I was on my way out the door, you caught me just in time. A few more seconds and I'd've hefted my sorry ass into my truck and you've been out of luck."

"All right. I have no idea how long this is going to take. You supposed to do the afterschool pick up?"

Jay shook his head. "Lyla is."

"So you're cool to stay here, then?"

"As long as it takes, Timmy. No problem."

Tim thanked him and then got into his truck and drove as fast as he dared out to the school. He was a little over his half-hour estimate, but what were they going to do? Give him detention?

He found TJ sitting on the bench outside the principal's office, arms folded, legs swinging, hair covering his face. Tim paused to sit down next to him.

"Anything you want to tell me before I go in there?" Tim asked softly.

TJ shook his head and refused to look up.

"TJ? I'd really not go in there and get blind-sided. Will you tell me what happened?"

TJ looked up and Tim could see the tears in his eyes. "They said I had to go see Dr. Andrews and I didn't want to cause then I'd have to miss gym class. And besides, he's not even a real doctor anyway. It's all just talking. If he was a real doctor, then he could give you a shot or a medicine and you'd be better."

Tim sighed and put his hand on TJ's shoulder. "Doesn't work that way buddy."

Tim stood up, ruffled TJ's hair and headed into the school office, where Joanie was draped over the desk like she'd been expecting him. Tim only glanced at her, but that was enough to tell him that she had more buttons undone than were strictly necessary in an air-conditioned elementary school office.

"You can go right on in. They're expecting you," she purred.

Tim nodded and averted his eyes, then walked around the counter and into the principal's office. The principal had changed from when he was a student there, but the office was still the same, big and cavernous with uncomfortable furniture and bad lighting. Tim had spent more time in there than he liked to remember and couldn't help feeling like a fifth grader all over again.

"Mr. Riggins," greeted the principal, standing up to shake his hand. "I'm Principal Higgins, this is Doctor Andrews." She gestured to a tall, intense-looking man who was leaning against the window sill. Tim nodded at the doctor, who didn't seem inclined to shake hands, and sat down in the nearest chair.

"I'm sorry to call you in here like this, but, well, we're concerned about TJ."

Tim stayed quiet and tried to put on his best listening face. He made the decision to ignore Doctor Andrews and just focus on the principal, who was a kind-faced woman in her later fifties. Tim could see why TJ wouldn't want to talk to the shrink – the guy seemed a little creepy, to be honest.

"This afternoon, during free time, TJ drew a picture that disturbed his teacher enough to send him down here." She picked up a piece of paper from her desk, turned it over, and slid it across to Tim. He examined it carefully. It was a picture of a man on fire, inside a box. From the short stature, stocky build, plaid shirt, and short brown hair, Tim figured the guy was Billy.

"You can see, it's a little unsettling, so I wasn't surprised at all when Miss Stacy sent him down here. But I was surprised by his reaction when I suggested that he go talk to Dr. Andrews. He became quite angry, refused to go, and knocked several things off of my desk." Principal Higgins kept her voice level and soft, not allowing any accusation or judgement to creep into it, but Tim still felt as though it was still there, lurking just below the surface.

Tim pushed back his hair and scratched his head, thinking, turning words over in his head. Finally, a plausible explanation slotted into place.

"Principal Higgins, I think I know what happened here. When my wife came home yesterday, she was talking about possibly firing someone at the garage. Said that she was mad at this guy and done with him. TJ was around at the time, so he must have heard us talking. So that's what he drew – someone getting fired."

"We understand that TJ and his sister and brothers are living with you," said Dr. Andrews. Where the principal's tone was soothing and even, the shrink sounded like he was trying too hard to be soothing, which immediately put Tim on edge.

"Yes, that's right. You know about his mother and that things have been difficult, so we're helping out."

"And what is a routine day at the house like then?"

Tim narrowed his eyes and stared hard at Dr. Andrews. He wasn't sure why, but he was developing a monumental dislike of this guy and if there was one thing Tim trusted, it was his instincts.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not quite sure I understand why you're asking me these questions. Didn't you call me here today to talk about the picture and TJ acting out after drawing it?"

"Well, yes," said the shrink, drawing out the words as he steepled his fingers and looked down at Tim smugly. "And the cornerstone is understanding the big picture. The context in which the child is operating."

Tim thought he might have to sit on his hands to keep himself from decking this guy. "I'm sorry, I'm really only here to talk to you about what happened today. If you want some idea of context, then I think you'd best call a separate meeting with both my wife and me."

"Mr. Riggins, we're just trying to assess the situation here. Ensure that the child is safe and all his needs, physical and emotional, are being taken care of during this difficult time. We have a duty, in conjunction with child services, to ensure that he's cared for properly," said Dr. Andrews, a subtle shift in his tone from soothing to offcial.

Tim was done with the pompous ass and decided to direct his remaining attention toward the principal.

"Principal Higgins, I think you can see that TJ's been well-taken care of for the last several months since his mother died, with the exception of that incident with Joey McCoy. Has he gotten in any fights since then?" asked Tim.

"No."

"Hurt anyone?"

The principal shook her head.

"Made any threats?"

Another no.

"Caused any problems besides drawing a strange picture and refusing to talk to the psychologist?"

Another head shake.

"Then what's the problem,?" asked Tim, forcing himself to lean back in his chair in an effort to appear more relaxed than he actually was.

The principal blushed and looked up at the psychologist. Tim couldn't remember ever in his life having talked to anyone the way he had just now. Stringing together a coherent layer of logic instead of just retreating inside of himself and waiting for the storm to pass. The last few years with Al had definitely taught him a few things.

The psychologist attempted to stammer through an explanation, but Tim was done.

"Look, Child Services had a lot to do without investigating bullshit cases, pardon my language please, ma'am, but I'm damn angry. You drag every kid who draws a weird picture into talk to you and Dr. Andrews?"

"No, but TJ has been through some trauma and has been under extreme stress recently," said Principal Higgins, attempt to regain her composure and control of the meeting.

"Yes, so I don't think we should add to it." Tim stood up and extended his hand to the principal. "Ma'am, thank you for letting me know about this. My wife and I will talk to TJ tonight. I assure you, he's not going to set anyone on fire."

"I guess I'll just take him home then, since the day is nearly over." After the principal had nodded her consent, Tim turned and walked out without acknowledging the doctor at all.

Luck was with him, for once, as he rushed past the front desk, relieved to see that Joanie was no longer there. Out in the hallyway, he stood next to TJ.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's go," said Tim softly, holding out a hand to his nephew. TJ wiped his face on his arm, stood up, and gingerly took Tim's hand. It wasn't much, but maybe it was a start.