A/N: I know this will disappoint some, but I am going to have to wrap this story up. It's over 130,000 words now! I originally planned to end this story with Eric and Tami graduating from college and Eric getting his first job, but somehow it kept rolling past that point, and I've had trouble finding a natural ending, but I think this will be a decent enough round-up point. Some day, I may revisit this backstory and bring some of the characters here (such as Eric's dad and Andrew) into the show's timeline. But it's time to draw this one to a close. Thanks for reading, and please comment!

[Monday, April 26, 1993]

Eric sat in a recliner he'd picked up in March from the Salvation Army. He was grading history papers and half watching ESPN, because it was draft day.

Tami was sitting on the couch, reading a book about how to relate to teenagers. Julie, who would be three in less than three months, was sitting on the floor by the coffee table, humming and coloring. She was talking in complete sentences now, sometimes paragraphs. Her speech had taken off dramatically over the past two months. She still said her r's like w's, but, other than that, she had all of her sounds in already. At the playground, people kept asking Tami how old she was.

Eric shook his head and wrote something in red pen. "What an idiot," he said. "This kid couldn't even get 20 percent on a multiple choice test of 50 questions by guessing."

"I could," Julie said.

"I bet you could, Monkey Noodle."

"Are you expecting any Bears to be drafted today?" Tami asked him.

"The Broncos supposedly want Bonner. Stumpy's automatically eligible by now, and he played fantastic last season. but given that he didn't even get invited to the Combine, he's not expecting to make it."

"I know. I talked to Gretchen a week ago."

"They're still dating?"

"They're living together, now, sugar. I told you that back in December."

"Oh. Yeah."

She shook her head, marveling that he could not remember that. "What did you and Stumpy even talk about the last time he called you?"

"Football." Eric circled a grade on the paper he was working on, put it at the bottom of the stack, and began scanning the next one.

And pick #292 of the draft for the New York Giants goes to – well, now, this is quite unexpected, said the ESPN announcer on the TV.

Eric put his papers aside on the end table near his recliner.

This individual was graded 'will not be drafted' by the College Advisory Committee. I don't think anyone saw this coming.

Eric popped his recliner shut and leaned forward, watching eagerly.

"Who are they talking about?" Tami asked.

"I don't know. They need a wide receiver, though."

Well, he is a New York boy by birth and breeding, the other announcer said.

Eric stood up.

The next pick of the draft goes to the fifth-year, Baylor Bear's tight end Giovani Ki-ay, Ki- how do you say this?

"Caiazzo, you idiot!" Eric shouted, with a huge smile on his face.

Chaw-az-zo, I think, the other announcer said.

Giovani Chow-as-zo of the Baylor Bears! The announcer shook his head. Well, I bet his family and friends are happy today.

Tami and Eric laughed and embraced.

"What happened?" Julie asked.

"You remember Uncle Stumpy?" Eric asked her.

"Maybe," she said.

"Well, he's going pro!" Eric kissed Tami with excitement. "I've got to call him and congratulate him. Do you have their apartment number? I only have his cell phone."

Tami wondered when they were going to get cell phones.

They both went to the kitchen, leaving Julie alone with the crayons – never a good idea with a preschooler. They called Gretchen's apartment, and stood face to face, the phone between them, so they could both hear and talk.

Gretchen answered. "Stumpy hasn't stopped yelling since they announced it," she said. "I think I'm going to go deaf."

"I stopped long enough to propose!" Stumpy shouted in the background.

"Yeah. Okay. You did," Gretchen agreed.

"Wait. What?" Tami asked. "Are you two getting married?"

"Might as well," Gretchen replied. "I mean, he is going to be making a shitload of money, right big boy?"

"A shitload!" Stumpy shouted in the background. "We're going to need a prenup!"

"Romantic, sweetheart," Gretchen said. "Very romantic." She returned her attention to the phone. "New York does have some interesting culture. I wouldn't mind living there. Shock everyone when I look like I look but talk like a Texan."

Stumpy came to the phone. "Eric, man, I'm sorry. You deserved it more than I do."

Eric put the phone to only his ear now. "Nah, man. You had a great season last fall. You deserve this. By the way, can I borrow a couple hundred?"

Tami could hear Stumpy's laugh filtering through the phone. She didn't hear what he said, though.

"I don't know," Eric replied. "You know, the CAC isn't always right about those grades." He paused. "Congratulations. On the draft and your engagement." Pause. "Nah. I don't think you're crazy to marry her. I mean…if she makes you happy." He looked at Tami and smiled. "It's good to be with someone you love. Hell, better even than being in the NFL." Pause. A chuckle. "Yeah, a quarter of a million doesn't hurt." Pause. "Sure I will. Just don't have it during football season." Pause. He handed the phone to Tami. "Gretchen wants to talk to you."

Gretchen asked if Tami would be her maid of honor, to which she replied with a strong affirmative. "It's probably going to be an alternative wedding, though," she said.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Tami asked.

"I was thinking we might do a Goth theme."

Stumpy came on the line. "She's full of shit, Tami. We're having a traditional Catholic wedding. With all 40 of my cousins in attendnace. And she's going to agree because I'm going to take her on whatever honeymoon she wants, and we're going to throw cash in the bed and roll in it."

Tami laughed. Gretchen came back on the line, and they talked awhile longer before exchanging goodbyes. When Tami hung up the phone, she wrapped her arms around Eric's neck and kissed him. "Better than the NFL, huh?" she asked.

"We have good life," he told her. "I didn't hope to be here…I had a fantasy of being in the NFL, but...I didn't know how good an ordinary life could be."

Tami kissed his lips. "There's nothing ordinary about us," she said. "We've got something special."

[April 27]

The next evening, Tami came home from work with a bottle of sparkling white wine and invited Eric to the balcony after Julie was in bed.

"Are we celebrating Stumpy getting drafted?" he asked.

"That and maybe something else," she said. "The director said the ministry will pay for me to take a couple of classes a semester, if I want to slowly work on my master's."

Eric turned his gaze from the trees, which were shedding yellow and brown leaves, to her. "In psychology?"

She shook her head. "In administration."

"Why administration?"

"They want to groom me to replace the assistant director. She'll be retiring in two years. I'd still get to continue counseling two days a week, but then I'd also be doing work on the administrative end three days a week."

"Administration," Eric repeated, sounding a little confused.

"Well, I think maybe I have a natural knack for administration. I mean, I had some big ideas back when I was a secretary at the Baylor Admissions Office too."

He smiled. "You always do have big ideas, babe. Lots and lots of ideas."

"So maybe I should nurture that gift, grow it, even if I think I'd rather be counseling. And this way I can do a little of both. I can continue counseling and also assist with the admin stuff. It would be a full-time job. But Julie will be in kindergarten by the time I start doing that. Until then, I could keep working part-time."

He looked both proud and doubtful at the same time. He had an expression as though he thought she might be pulling a prank on him. "They already want to groom you for that position? After less than a year of working for them?"

She shrugged. "I've made some suggestions to streamline some things for the counseling ministry. The director found them to be helpful. He was very impressed."

Eric laughed. "You just needed a chance. Someone gives you a chance, and you prove yourself right away." He snapped his fingers. "It's a lucky person who takes a chance on you."

She smiled. "Well, I'm glad you took a chance on me back in high school."

He leaned in a little closer. "I'm glad I did too," he whispered.

They kissed for awhile. She pulled away and asked. "So what do you think? About me going back to school?"

"Hell, if they're paying for it, go for it. When it's not football season, I'll be home more. You can do evening and Saturday classes. Just take two in the spring and two in the summer, but none in the fall. I need you in the fall."

"You need me all the time, sugar."

"Well, can't argue with that. But I need you in the fall."

"That could work," she said. "I could get all 36-credits in three years that way. But they said if they're going to pay for my degree, I have to commit to work for them for at least a full year after that. That locks us in here for the next four years. What if you have to move for a better coaching opportunity?"

"I like where I'm working. I think I can be varsity QB coach in a year or two. So I'm not looking to move."

"What if someone offers you a job in Houston or Austin or some other city that's really appealing to you?" she asked. "I know you want to move up to a higher division. If a job like that comes your way, I don't want to start this degree and not finish, or have to back out of my commitment and pay the ministry back for tuition."

"Tami, this is a great opportunity for you. Stuff like this doesn't fall in people's laps every day. Look, I'll promise you four years in this area. Maybe I won't stay at Bowie, but I promise I'll stay in the area. Maybe I'll end up at a school in Dallas or Fort Worth, but we can live halfway and commute. We aren't staying in this apartment forever anyway."

"Four years?" she asked.

He nodded. "But then if after that something better does come along for me somewhere else - "

"- We'll follow the coaching job."

"Is that fair?" he asked.

She nodded. "I think that's fair."

He raised his glass to her. "Can we officially toast now?"

She smiled and raised her glass.

"To my beautiful, brilliant wife, who is going to be an...assistant director?" When Tami nodded, he concluded, "To you, babe, and to this opportunity."

They toasted and sipped.

She set her glass down on the table. "It's good to be moving toward something."

He set his glass down and took her hand between their chairs. He squeezed it. "Moving toward something together," he said. "That's what makes it feel so good."

She smiled back at him, stood, and took the two steps over to ease herself onto his lap. His arms enveloped her, and he breathed in her scent.

It felt so very right to be here, Tami thought, on this tiny balcony attached to the cheap apartment they called home. It was a simple moment, but a perfect one. While her daughter slept soundly and safely inside, Tami was where she belonged, in her husband's arms, with the challenges of the past behind her, and the future stretching out before her like a tapestry of possibilities.

THE END