[September 14]

Tami hit the ground running. On her first day of work, she spoke to a 16 year old girl who had been suspended from school for a string of bad behavior. Her mother had sent her to CCM in hopes that a counselor would help "straighten her out." In that first session, Tami learned the girl had been acting up in school because she'd been date raped. She hadn't been able to bring herself to tell anyone, and she was lashing out.

Next she met with a 17 year old high school drop-out who was living in his parent's basement. They didn't understand why he was so uninterested and so unwilling to go to school. Tami learned that he was highly intelligent and bored out of his skull, and she asked to meet with the parents later in the week to discuss options for gifted schooling.

Then she met a 15-year-old girl who had come to her session immediately after school. Her parents didn't know she was getting counseling. They were going through a divorce, and she had become a pawn in the battle.

As Tami sat in her car afterward, stuck in traffic backed-up from construction, she thanked God for her steady life. She wasn't much of a praying sort, but she prayed that evening. She'd had her share of difficulties in life, having lost her father too young, having made some poor decisions her first three years of high school, and having gotten pregnant unexpectedly, but on the whole, her life was so beautiful and stable. Her daughter was healthy and happy. Her husband was a rock. Her mother, though sometimes annoying, had been a surprising help to her over the past few years. Her father-in-law was like the father she had lost, an affectionate protector. She made a note to tell everyone in her life how much each one meant to her.

Tami inched forward the next mile before she was able to take the exit toward her father-in-law's house now. The elder Taylors had lost yet another nanny. "They keep getting engaged and quitting!" Mr. Taylor had grumbled. "There ought to be a law against nannies getting married."

He and Tami had worked out a childcare exchange arrangement. Mr. Taylor would flex his schedule to be home with Andrew on Mondays and Wednesdays, and he would also watch Julie at that time. Meanwhile, Tami would not schedule any counseling sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and she would watch Andrew those days. Karen had no classes on Fridays, and so she would allow Tami to drop Julie with her then. Because her new office was about halfway between Dallas and Arlington, Tami didn't even have to go very far out of her way. She loved that Julie was with people she trusted and who loved her, not to mention the fact that it saved money.

"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Her father-in-law asked her when she arrived. "I know Eric is going to stay and watch game tape after practice. Karen won't be home until nine tonight. I could use the company, and you'd do well to avoid rush hour traffic going back."

Tami wasn't difficult to convince. Mr. Taylor grilled some brisket, while she threw together a salad, and they drank the last two glasses in an already open bottle of wine. Meanwhile, Andrew and Julie drank milk and ate apple sauce and chicken nuggets.

"How's Karen?" Tami asked. "You guys still maintaining the balance?"

"More or less. It'll get rougher when she starts her residency next year. But I think if I just dig in and hold on...it's a season, you know."

"I know all about seasons," Tami said. "But mine's going to come around every year. Football season is even busier for coaches than for players."

"I guess so. Lots of planning."

"You should come out and watch the JV game this Thursday," she told him. "It's going to be at West Moreland High at 7."

"Well, he's coaching, not playing. You can't really watch a man coach."

Tami could. "It would do him good to know his father is proud of him as a coach."

"Well, I can't this Thursday. I have a phone conference about an important project. I'm trying to win a major remodeling contract for an apartment complex."

"Then come next Thursday," she insisted.

"It's just...that's too late for Andrew to be up. He gets cranky after 8. I'd have to get him a babysitter for a couple of hours, until Karen gets home from classes."

"Then get him a babysitter."

"May I be escused?" Julie asked.

"You may," Mr. Taylor told her. "Wash your hands and face."

Julie slid down her chair and climbed onto the step stool by the kitchen sink.

"I think it would mean a lot to Eric to see you there," Tami said. "I know he didn't follow the course you wanted him to, but he's working hard to follow his own path. And it would be good for him to feel he has his father's approval."

"I'll see what I can do." Mr. Taylor stood and cleaned Andrew's hands and face with a wet wipe and set him loose from his high chair. Julie turned off the water and stepped down. Andrew toddled a few steps, fell to his knees, and crawled after his niece to the living room. "I guess Julie took after your side of the family," Mr. Taylor said. "Andrew is not advancing nearly as rapidly. Was your father a genius?"

Tami smirked. "Why do you assume my mother isn't the genius?"

Mr. Taylor chuckled and sat back down. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I don't mean to laugh. Your mother is intelligent, I'm sure. But she's content with…small things." He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "Karen is not content with small things. But then again, neither am I. We suit each other. But sometimes it's like iron sharpening iron." He chuckled to himself. "It's good though."

Tami plucked up her glass of wine. "Speaking of my father…." She wasn't sure why this was a difficult thing to say, but after today she needed to say it. "Thank you for assuming that role. For being a father to me these past two or three years."

Mr. Taylor blinked. Her words had clearly surprised him. "It's…I…" He laughed. "Well, the truth is, I like having a daughter. And I appreciate that you're a good wife to my son. Eric's a good kid. He's the kind of young man who tries to do the right thing. And he's got a traditional streak a mile wide. I use to worry about him marrying the wrong person. For a long time, I worried that would happen, because I think he would have married anyone he happened to be dating, if he had dated her long enough, and she had wanted to get married. I don't think he would have thought much beyond - I'm dating her, and it's about that time. So it's just dumb luck on his part that he ended up with you." He stood and pushed in his chair. "We better go out there and keep an eye on them."

When Tami got home at 7:50, she found Eric eating left over lasagna in his recliner, a dribble of tomato sauce on his chin, and game tape running.

"My dad talk your ear off?" he asked her.

"No. We had a reasonable amount of conversation. I'll be home earlier on Wednesday."

"How was your first day of work?"

"Put your daughter to bed," Tami told him, "and I'll tell you all about it."

"That bad?" he asked with a look of concern.

She shook her head. "No, just that meaningful."

He smiled and popped his recliner closed.