Title: Threads
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing: Speed/Tyler
Rating: PG
Summary: Futurefic. The definition of family.

He thinks their names would look good on an invitation. He knows that's never going to happen – they're way past that point anyway, and knowing Tim he'd probably think going to the trouble of exchanging vows was redundant. Then there's the whole Florida part of the equation, so he knows it's not even worth bringing up.

Still, though, their names would look good together. Tim and Tyler. Tyler and Tim. There's a certain…rhythm to it, and he grins helplessly when he pictures their names printed together on expensive ivory paper. When he catches himself wondering if Tim would prefer 'Timothy' on something so formal he knows he has to stop.

"Are you even listening?"

At the sound of the voice Tyler blinks and drops the invitation on the table, wiping what he's sure is a goofy grin off his face and looking up at his sister. "Of course I am."

He can tell by her expression that she doesn't believe him, but he doesn't really care because he's her only brother, and in their family that means she has to love him no matter what. When he smiles reassuringly she rolls her eyes, so he stands up to rest comforting hands on her shoulders. "Relax, everything's going like clockwork. If you stress yourself out you're just going to break out in hives or something and then you'll look gross in your wedding pictures."

She shrugs out of his grip and turns to look at him, frowning as she adjusts the lapels of his tux for the thousandth time. "What are you still doing here, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be at the church with the rest of the guys."

He knows better than to roll his eyes at her – he already got the lecture from their mother on how it's her wedding day and she's allowed to freak out if she wants to, and he knows if he got to have a wedding day she'd be the first to let him freak out. So instead he just pulls her hands gently away from the front of his tux, glancing down to make sure she hasn't actually worn holes through the material. "I'm going. Just as soon as Tim's ready. He's going to ride over with me, I think he'll be more comfortable hanging out at the church than he'd be here with all the girls."

"Well where is he? I swear, Tyler, if you're late…"

"I'm right here," Tim says from behind them, and Tyler looks up to find him standing in the doorway. "What's the problem?"

"There's no problem," Tyler answers, grinning over his sister's head at the picture Tim makes in his black suit, their daughter balanced on one arm. That's exactly how he's been imagining Tim all morning, only in his fantasy they're the ones standing at the front of the church. He turns his attention back to his sister long enough to brush a placating kiss across her cheek. "See? No problem. We'll see you there."

He's across the room before she can think of anything else to panic about, grabbing Tim's free arm and dragging him out of the kitchen and toward the front of the house. When they reach the foyer he stops long enough to look his family over, reaching out to straighten the ruffles of a tiny pink dress. "God, you two look perfect. I should let my mom shop for her more often."

"You sure she's not going to be too cold in this thing?" Tim asks, frowning down at the baby balanced on his hip.

"She'll be fine," Tyler answers as he pushes them toward the front door. "It's not like we're going to be outside all afternoon."

"What about your sister?" Tim asks after he straps the baby into the car seat they borrowed from Tyler's cousin, climbing into the passenger seat and turning to look at Tyler.

"What about her?"

"Is she going to be okay? She looks like she's about to burst something."

"Yeah, she's fine. It's just nerves." Tyler smiles reassuringly, but Tim doesn't smile back and he knows the other man isn't buying it. Spending a week watching his sister freak out hasn't exactly been relaxing for either of them -- he has a feeling Tim's going to need a vacation after their vacation, but he's glad he didn't offer to let Tim stay home while he went to his sister's wedding alone. Tim's the biggest part of his family, after all, and he wants all his family with him for this.

And it might as well be his wedding with the way he's acting – he grins at the thought and shakes his head, remembering the invitation still lying on the kitchen table and how easy it was to picture their names printed on the paper instead of his sister's and her fiancé's. But even if he and Tim never say the words out loud in front of a bunch of witnesses, they're already way ahead of his sister in all the ways that count. Like the two-year-old babbling to herself in the back seat, dressed in what Tim refers to as the 'pink nightmare' his mother bought as soon as he called to tell her they were all coming to the wedding.

He pulls up in front of the church and turns off the engine, reaching out to stop Tim when he reaches for the door handle. "You sure you don't mind sitting by yourself?"

"It's a wedding," Tim reminds him, giving Tyler the look that lets him know Tim thinks he's being ridiculous. "There's not a lot of audience participation. Besides, I've got Emma to keep me company."

"Tim, she's two."

"She's a better conversationalist than most of the adults I know." Tim grins, that lopsided smile that Tyler can't afford to think about right now because if he does he really will be late, and then his sister will kill both of them.

He settles for a quick, chaste kiss before he lets Tim out of the car, handing him the keys after Tim gets Emma back out of her car seat and closes the door. When they're inside the church Tim heads into the still-deserted sanctuary, and Tyler watches him walk down the aisle before he heads back to the sacristy to find the rest of the groomsmen. For just a second he finds himself wondering how much it would take to get Tim to agree to go through with it – not a big church wedding, but something official, just so they'd have the piece of paper with their names on it.

As soon as he catches himself thinking it he shakes his head and forces his legs to carry him to the back of the church, turning on his friendliest smile while he shakes hands with all the groomsmen he hasn't met yet. And it's not that he doesn't like his soon-to-be brother-in-law – he does, Gary seems like a nice enough guy and Tyler can tell he's in love, and that's good enough for any brother. But they're not friends, and Tyler doesn't know any of the other groomsmen -- although he's pretty sure he went to high school with one of them -- so he's just as glad when the music finally starts and they're lined up at the front of the church waiting for the procession.

The rest of the church is focused on the door, waiting in a sort of anticipatory silence for the bride to finally make her appearance. And he's proud of his sister, but Tyler finds himself scanning the bride's side of the church anyway, trying to pick Tim out of the crowd before the wedding starts. He's about to give up when he finally locates Tim and their daughter, sitting wedged between Tyler's mother and his uncle Bernie. He must look as surprised as he is, because when Tim catches his eye he shrugs a little and inclines his head slightly in Tyler's mother's direction.

It's possible that she only asked Tim to sit with the family because she wanted the baby right next to her – she's even more into the whole grandparent thing than Tyler ever thought she would be, and he's hoping his sister will hurry up and have kids of her own so his parents won't follow through with their threat to retire to Miami. Still, he knows his parents like Tim, and he has a feeling the reason Tim's sitting right up front is because he's part of the family.

Part of the family – Tyler's family, and he swallows a surge of pride at the sight of the two of them, Tim trying not to smile and the baby tugging on his tie. Just for a second Tyler almost believes that this could be them, that he could ask and Tim would say yes, because they've already pretty much done it anyway, so there's no reason not to make it official. But he can't do anything about it now, because the bridal march is starting and he knows what his sister would do if he interrupted her wedding to propose to the man his family already pretty much considers his husband.

After all, his first challenge will be to convince Tim to dance with him at the reception. If he can do that, he can talk Tim into anything.