A/N: Regarding the "nonexistence" of Eric and Tami's parents on the show that one guest review mentions—It's seems clear from what Eric says in season one that his dad is still alive ("My Dad still thinks I should have made it to the NFL") and from what Shelley says that Tami's mother is still alive (To Julie-"You should send a thank you note to your grandmother for those boobs."). I also assume they live in Texas, because when Eric doesn't want to move to PA, he says, "Our *family* is in Texas." He can't just be talking about the nuclear family, since Julie is no longer settled in Texas and if he and Tami and Gracie move, that's irrelevant. So I assume the extended family is in Texas, but their visits all occur off camera (except Shelley's). They come for Gracie's christening, but they are in those church pews somewhere. The Taylors visit family in summer. Maybe the parents come for Christmas – all off screen. So I'm not planning to explain their nonexistence, though I may work them into the course of the season in stories some time.

[October 19, 1991]

The Bears were back at the home stadium once again, this time battling Texas A&M.

"Which one was your high school sweetheart?" Gretchen asked her.

"The defensive end. Number 52. McArnold."

"I can't really see him from here," Gretchen said, "But I'm pretty sure Eric is hotter."

"So am I," Tami agreed. Julie, now almost 15 months old, was sitting up in a seat this time, the one her grandfather would normally have taken. Tami had strapped a portable booster to it, and had Julie strapped in, with cheerios on the tray before her to keep her busy.

"It's good to trade up," Gretchen told her.

Mo sacked Eric again, for the second time in four years, and did his little victory dance. Eric shook his head. Mo approached him, and the two got in each other's faces, knocking helmets together. Tami wondered what Mo had said. The referees pulled them apart, and Eric was temporarily benched.

"Think they're fighting over you?" Gretchen asked.

"I think Mo's probably over me by now, Gretchen. I'm memorable, but I'm not that memorable."

"I bet he insulted your honor and Eric was defending it."

Tami snorted. "More likely he insulted Eric's honor."

Julie begged to be let out of her booster seat in the third quarter, which was when the coach put Eric back in. She walked back and forth along their row, Tami allowing her to get up to five seats away in either direction before calling her back. Julie flirted with the spectators, got gobs of attention, and eventually crawled up into Tami's lap and fell asleep just before the fourth quarter.

Baylor lost, 34 to 12.

"I'd like to beat Mo's team just once," Eric muttered when he got home that night. He didn't go to any after parties, but he'd taken his sweet time in the locker room, and Tami had already put Julie bed and changed into her night sweats.

"What did y'all fight about?" she asked.

"It wasn't a fight."

"Well you butted heads. Like those dinosaurs. That butt heads." She'd been reading about them to Julie from one of the books she'd been given for her birthday.

He laughed. "We exchanged a few words, that's all." He smiled at her. "Did you like that 70 yard pass I threw?"

"That was quite impressive," she told him and kissed him.

They made out on the couch for a while before retreating to bed, where they made love playfully. As they lay cuddled naked together afterward, she said, "You're in a good mood." He was usually disappointed and irritated after a loss.

"Coach said there were scouts in the stands today, and they were probably impressed by my arm."

She ran a hand along the sinews of his arm. "You do have a spectacular arm," she said.

He laughed and kissed her. "And then Mo got in my face, told me I never could beat him at anything, and I thought, well…I got Tami. Nothing he can ever do can hold a candle to that. I got Tami."

"You didn't say that to him, did you?"

"I didn't say anything to him, Tami, I swear. He got in my face."

"Looked like you got in each other's faces."

"Maybe. A'ight, yeah, but I didn't say anything. I just stared him down."

Tami just shook her head. Boys, she thought, and she was suddenly glad she'd given birth to a daughter.