"You told him it started at ten, right?" Erin asked as she readjusted the hair tie holding back her mass of red curls. Tiffany looked toward the parking lot and nodded.

"Yes I told him." she said.

"Well it's ten and he's not here." Erin replied matter of factly. Tiffany rolled her eyes as she adjusted Parker's shin pads.

"Thank you, captain obvious." she said causing Parker to laugh.

"Captain obvious." he repeated with a mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. Tiffany sighed and kissed his dark hair causing him to squirm. "Mommy people can see you." he said.

"Sorry." she replied feeling that familiar pain in her chest as she realized her baby was growing up.

"Come on team! Gather up around me!" Parker's coach called from down the field.

"Go get 'em, tiger." Erin said with a wink. Parker laughed again and ran off as fast as his six year old legs could carry him.

"I thought you were in love with Lance." Erin said once the two women were alone and waiting on the game to start. If anyone else had said this, Tiffany would have denied it but there was no point denying it to Erin.

"I am." she said instead. Erin looked over at her and wrinkled her nose.

"No make-up, your hair is in that damn messy ponytail again, you're wearing a baseball cap and a plain green t-shirt that is too big… Not exactly the sexiest of looks." she said. Tiffany rolled her eyes.

"I never have cared about looking sexy." she replied. "My jeans fit nice." she added in defense of herself.

"Too bad you're wearing those plain sneakers." Erin replied looking down at the gray and pink shoes on Tiffany's feet.

"I cleaned my fingernails." Tiffany said holding up her hands. Erin feigned shock and put her hand over her chest.

"Yay for small miracles." she said. Tiffany looked at her best friend and sighed. Erin looked like she had just stepped off a magazine of course. Tight fitting designer jeans and a dark green t-shirt that molded to her body and seemed to have been made just for her, to accent her large chest and narrow waist. She was wearing brown high heeled boots and her make up was flawless.

"Hush about my lack of personal style and let's watch my son kick some butt." Tiffany said as the referee blew the whistle and the game began. As always the five and six year olds playing soccer was more a comedic event than it was a real game.

Parents laughed and yelled out as their kids would miss the ball, become distracted by their surroundings or seem to forget that they were playing a game all together. Tiffany was watching Parker run down the field after a very tall six year old who had the ball when she felt Erin's elbow dig into her ribs.

"Ow." she said rubbing her side, which she was sure would bruise.

"He's here." Erin said. Erin was a good four inches taller than Tiffany's five feet four inches without her heels on and so with them on she towered over Tiffany.

"Where?" Tiffany asked trying to look over the heads of the crowd around them. Erin pulled her away from the crowded sidelines and pointed toward the parking lot.

"There." she said. "I would recognize that strut anywhere. It's one of those casual struts. A confident without being cocky strut. I wonder if he even knows that he does it?"

"You have a husband." Tiffany snapped. "Quit looking so hard at Lance."

"Jealousy does not suit you." Erin said with a grin. "He does look awfully good though in those dark jeans and boots. The boy grew up into one good looking man." Tiffany glared up at Erin and shoved her back into the crowd.

"I'll make sure he see us." Tiffany said. Erin laughed.

"Oh he's already seen you." she said. "You have always dressed like a boy and worn those stupid hats and sloppy pony tails and he has always had eyes only for you…. That's how you know it is love."

"Did I really want you to come?" Tiffany spat.

"You know you love me." Erin replied. "I'm shutting up now." she added when she saw the deadly look in Tiffany's eyes. Tiffany looked back at Lance and realized that he had indeed noticed her and was walking straight toward her with a smile. She felt her knees grow weak at the sight of his smile. It made his strong jaw and cheekbones look a bit softer and his big dimples gave him a boyish charm.

Erin was right about him looking good in his jeans and boots. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and a base ball cap too and Tiffany could hear Erin mumbling about how the two of them were made for each other because neither had any fashion sense.

"Sorry I'm late." Lance said once he got to Tiffany. "I was kind of nervous." he added honestly. He didn't tell her that he had changed outfits twice before leaving the hotel and had nearly lost his breakfast on the ride to the field.

"That's okay. He's out there playing right now." Tiffany replied. She grabbed his hand to lead him to the sidelines and quickly let go when she felt sparks of awareness shoot through her. She could tell by the way his eyes had darkened that he had felt it too but he didn't say anything. She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and bit her lip as she prayed her hand would cool off… It felt as if the feel of his hand against hers had branded her.

She walked to the sidelines and she could feel his presence behind her.

"He's number seventeen on the green team." she said. Lance looked out over the crowd of running kids and he caught sight of his son… His son. The truth of those words still hadn't quite sunk in yet.

Tiffany smiled when she looked up at Lance and saw that his eyes were locked on the game. He had the proudest look on his face that she had ever seen as he watched Parker run up and down the field.

"He's a good dad already." Erin whispered to Tiffany. Tiffany put he finger to her lips as a sign to hush and nodded.

"Of course he is." she whispered back. Just then the crowd on their side of the field started cheering and Lance's cheers were the loudest of all.

"He did it! He scored!" he yelled. Tiffany looked out at the field and cursed when she realized she had missed Parker scoring a goal. She clapped loudly anyway but kept herself from yelling his name. Parker had let her know quickly that it embarrassed him when she yelled from the sidelines.

"Yeah! Go tiger!" Erin yelled and Parker's face turned blood red as he looked their way.

"He doesn't like it when you yell." Tiffany reminded her. Erin just shrugged.

"I don't care. Aunts get to yell if they want to." she replied. Lance seemed to notice Erin for the first time and he smiled at her.

"Hi Erin. How are you?"

"Doing pretty darn good." Erin replied. "I've got a husband now." Tiffany stood to the side feeling very much like a third wheel as Lance and Erin talked.

"Where is he?" Lance asked.

"Iraq."

"Ran him off already huh?" Lance asked. Erin laughed loudly and slapped his arm. Tiffany felt jealousy spark in her and wondered why these two of them acted so comfortable with each other after all this time. As far as she could remember they hadn't liked each other very much six years ago.

"So what brought you back to our small town after all these years?" Erin asked. Tiffany felt her face flame red and tried to act like she wasn't paying attention to them as she watched the game.

"Tiffany." Lance replied honestly. He wouldn't have been so honest if he had known Tiffany was listening but she seemed to be focused on the game. Erin smiled and nodded.

"You gonna hang around for a while?" she asked. Lance looked out at the field and caught a glimpse of the number seventeen among the crowd of children.

"Yes." he said. "I'm gonna stick around."

"Good." Erin said. "Parker and Tiffany both need you." Before Lance could respond to this the referee blew the whistle loudly signaling the end of the game. Parker and his team cheered when they realized they had won the game three to one but they were the picture of good sportsmanship as they shook hands with the other team.

"Did you tell him about me?" Lance asked Tiffany, bending down so his lips were near her ear. She felt her knees grow weak at the feel of his breath on her tingling ear and shook her head.

"No not yet." she replied. "I thought that was something we should do together." Lance nodded and she nearly yelped with shock when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a sideways hug and kissed her temple.

"Thank you." he said. Then he let go of her quickly because Parker was coming their way. Tiffany swore that the day had suddenly gotten a lot hotter as she blew out a long breath and tried to shake off the nerves that his touch had stirred up in her stomach.

"We won mommy!" Parker yelled happily. Tiffany hugged him tight.

"I know you did, I saw you!" she replied.

"I saw you too, tiger." Erin added. Parker made a face.

"You yelled too loud when I made that goal." he said. Erin looked broken hearted.

"But I am your favorite aunt and I don't get to see you very often. Can't you let me cheer for you?" she asked. Parker sighed and nodded.

"Fine." he said. Tiffany put her hands on her hips.

"How come she can but I can't?" she demanded. Parker looked at his mother calmly and Lance felt like he was looking in a mirror.

"Because mommy, you always call me baby boy and she calls me a tiger." Parker said as if this should have been obvious to her. Tiffany studied him for a moment and then shrugged.

"Fine then, I'll yell tiger from now on." she said.

"Mommy, Ben's mom and dad are having a party because today is his birthday so I'm leaving with them." Parker said. Erin saw the look on Tiffany's face and quickly excused herself. She wasn't grown up quite enough yet to deal with conflict.

"You don't tell me what you're going to do young man. You are supposed to ask me." Tiffany scolded.

"Fine. Can I got to Ben's party?"

"No, not today." Tiffany replied as she helped Parker take off his shin pads and cleats and change into his sneakers.

"Why not?" he demanded with a whine. "You told me I could go the other day!"

"There are some things that came up, Parker, and mommy needs to have a talk with you at home after we go eat lunch. You can go to Ben's next weekend."

"That's not fair and you know it." Parker yelled angrily. "You promised!"

"Parker, you heard me." Tiffany said tiredly as she finished tying his shoes and stood up. Parker's outbursts and rebellions had been becoming more common lately and she was getting too tired to fight back.

"You're a liar." Parker accused as he glared up at her. Lance had heard enough.

"Parker, don't speak to your mother that way." he scolded in a deep voice that left no room for argument. Parker looked up at him as if he were some sort of alien.

"Fine." he pouted and then he stomped away toward Erin who was waiting halfway to the parking lot. Tiffany sighed as she stuffed Parker's cleats and shin pads in a bag and threw the bag over her shoulder.

"So that's what it feels like to have backup." she said. Lance looked guilty.

"Sorry if I overstepped a boundary." he said. He wasn't sure just how big of a role Tiffany would want him to play with Parker. After all she had been doing the job on her own for six years.

"You're his father. Trust me, you won't hear me complain about having help. Raising a kid alone is hard work." she said and then she bit her lip when she realized that her words could quite easily be taken the wrong way. Thankfully though Lance was an understanding enough man to know that her words had not been an insult towards him.

"Haven't you had any help with him from your family?" he asked as they started toward the parking lot. Tiffany shrugged.

"A little. I refuse to let them do more than just keep him now and then or babysit when I need them to. It's my fault I was a single mother and I've never tried to make anyone else pay for my mistake."

"It wasn't all your fault." Lance replied quietly. "But that's the past and we can't change it. All I can say is that I'm here now and whenever you need anything you just have to ask."

"Thanks Lance. Most men would have hated me forever." Tiffany replied as she looked down at her feet.

"And most women would have hated me forever." he countered. "I guess neither of us are like most." Tiffany looked up at his smiling face and felt her heart skip a beat. No, he definitely was not like most.