Disclaimer: I do not own Total Drama, or anything canon to the franchise. The kids for the couples are mine.

Chapter 15: Tyler and Lindsay

"Okay, Tyler, just a bit further."

"Yeah, babe, I know."

"Alright, Dad, easy…"

"Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"Daddy's going to be alright, honey. He just needs to stay off his leg for six to eight weeks, and then he'll be as good as new."

"Right over here… and, you're good."

Tyler moaned as he planted his bottom on the comfy, luxurious couch in the living room. Nothing felt so good like easing the pressure off his legs in his current condition. As he unwound, he watched as his wife and his son gently lift up his leg, and slid a footrest underneath it.

"How does that feel?" Lindsay asked her husband.

He gave her a loving smile and replied, "It feels great. Thank you, all three of you." He glanced around at his family.

Lindsay smiled back. "You're welcome," She said, and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. After kissing her spouse, she stood up straight. "Now that we got that figured out, I need to reschedule some stuff. You just rest. If you need anything, just call for me or James, and if both of us are busy, ask the butler or the maid." She walked back to the front hall of the house to pick up her purse, and dug out her phone as she went down another hall. "Hey, Beth, you know Tyler got that injury? Yeah, we're going to have to reorganize…" A door closed, and her conversation could no longer be heard.

James tugged at his shirt collar. "I've got stuff to do too, so I'm heading up to my room. Like Mom said, just holler if you need something, okay?" Without waiting for a response, he jogged up the nearest set of stairs.

With the exit of his elder child, Tyler glanced at the young girl standing beside the couch. "Looks like it's just me and you now, sweetheart."

"Can I help you too?" She asked, blinking her big brown eyes innocently. He smiled at those eyes of hers.

"Sorry, Penelope, but you're not quite big enough to help out with stuff I'll need. When you're bigger, if I get sick, or if I get hurt again, then you can help." He explained as he pulled her in for a side hug.

"Okay."

As they hugged, Tyler got an idea. "Hey, you like coloring, right? Why don't you draw something? It can be anything you want. I know I'd love it."

"But, I don't have my crayons." The five-year-old pointed out.

"Not a problem," He cleared his throat, "James!"

"Yeah, Dad?" He heard his son shout back from upstairs.

"Can you bring down Penelope's crayons and some paper? She wants to draw something to help me feel better!"

"Sure, just a sec!"

It took a minute or two, but James appeared from the house's upper level with some sheets of paper and a couple boxes containing all the possible crayons his little sister could need.

"Thanks, bud." Tyler thanked him as the teen set the drawing tools on the coffee table in front of them.

"Yeah, sure." As quickly as he came, James once more disappeared upstairs.

Penelope got down next to the table, and sat on her knees, picking up a crayon and started coloring. As she did so, Tyler got comfortable and switched on the TV. He flipped through the channels until he found a show that would be appropriate with his daughter in range. The show was a children's cartoon. Aside from sports and fashion shows, Tyler and Lindsay only really watched cartoons because they amused the married couple much more than any live-action show could.

Tyler, after all these years, finally found his place in sports. When he was a teenager, he was just going through an awkward stage of clumsiness. No sooner than he got out of that awkward stage he became a force to be reckoned with. After trying many different sports once more, he found that his athletic ability was in basketball, one of his favorites. While in college, his surprise comeback attracted a lot of attention, and he became a desired player for a lot of professional basketball teams. Eventually, he sided with whichever one made him the happiest and allowed him to be close to Lindsay as well. A lot of girls were willing to date professional basketball player Tyler, but he only yearned for Lindsay, the same sweet blond-haired girl that dated him ever since they met. After a quick engagement, they were married, got a big house thanks to Tyler's basketball contract and Lindsay's work as a fashion designer, and had their two kids.

Lindsay popped in from down the hall, chatting away on her phone as she wandered upstairs for a moment, coming back down with an outfit in hand. "I know, Jen. I know… Well, I don't have anyone else that I know would take his invite in his place. I suppose James or Penelope could come with me. James might be interested, but Penelope is a kid; I don't know if she could stay awake that late… Just give me a few days, and I'll get back to you. Say hi to Tom for me, and tell him that I'll see you two with Beth in a couple days."

He watched briefly as his wife walked around the house, and sighed in dismay. Thanks to his injury, he wouldn't be up and around like her all that much. He was feeling pretty low; being up and active was one of his favorite things. With his leg in a cast and having to use crutches to get around, it would be more difficult.

After a little while of drawing, Penelope put down a crayon she had been using. "Done, Daddy." She said, looking up at him.

"Okay, what do you have?" Tyler inquired as he muted the show he was watching, curious as to what his daughter had drawn to cheer him up.

She picked up her drawing, and Tyler hoisted her up onto his lap.

"It's you, and me, and Mommy, and James. Look." She pointed to the people on the paper.

Tyler glanced at the drawing. It was no secret that whenever Penelope drew, she had a bit of a knack for drawing really well. Her teacher occasionally praised her for being one of the best drawers in the class. Looking over her work, he could definitely see his family in the picture. In the picture, he was sitting on the couch with his casted leg upon a pillow sitting on the footrest, and wore a smile as he gazed at his family off to his right. Beside him, Lindsay stood behind a chair that Penelope was sitting in and was brushing her hair. Both mother and daughter appeared to be enjoying the activity. Finally, on the other end of the drawing was James, who appeared to be dribbling a basketball next to a high hoop. He seemed content with what he was doing as well. That last part puzzled him. Not once has he seen James with a basketball except when he was a little kid.

"See," Penelope repeated, "That's you. That's James, and that is me and Mommy." For emphasis, she pointed to each person.

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I see that, sweetie." The confusion about his son remained. "Um, Penelope, what is James doing with a basketball? He doesn't play that."

Penelope mirrored his confusion with her eyes. "Yes, he does. He plays basketball a lot."

"When?"

"When you and Mommy aren't home, or too busy. He likes to play by himself so when you and Mommy leave to go somewhere or are working really hard, he goes outside to play. Butty and Maddy know he plays it, but he doesn't want you, Mommy, or me to know. I watch him sometimes, and he doesn't know I do." Penelope explained, completely unaware she had just told a secret that her brother did not want to reach his parents' ears, or hers for that matter.

The revelation had Tyler stunned. His own son was playing basketball by himself, and he did not know about it? Questions started to roll into his mind. When did James start doing that? How long has the butler and the maid been keeping the secret for him? Why didn't James want him to know? Did James not know how proud his father would be that his son was playing his sport? He wanted to know all the answers. Come to think of it, he could hear the sound of a ball bouncing off of things.

Penelope tilted her head to the side. "He's playing it again."

It sounded like it was coming from the driveway. They had a hoop suspended over one of the garage doors. He had to see for himself.

With all his might, Tyler grabbed his crutches, and got to his good foot. Quickly carting the crutches over to the front side of the house towards a window that would let him get a view of the driveway. Penelope sat on the couch with her drawing, watching her father leave the couch. When it was clear to her that he was not coming right back, she picked up the TV remote and figured out how to un-mute the cartoon on the screen.

Penelope was the five-year-old daughter of Tyler and Lindsay. She had both Tyler's brown eyes and brown hair. An adorable little thing, she practically defined innocence. Though neither of her parents were ever particularly bright outside of their fields of expertise, she was bright in general. For a child her age, she understood that her parents weren't the best, or like any of her friends' at school. She knew that her parents were not the best at cooking, driving, or cleaning, which was why they had their butler and maid to do those things for them. That did not mean she loved them less. She loved her parents just as much as any of her friends loved theirs. Her parents led exciting lives, and she was always happy to join them, whether it was going to one of her daddy's basketball games on a school night, or flying to Milan for one of her mommy's fashion trips. She also loved her older brother, James. Whenever her parents were not around, he was there for her most of the time. If her mommy couldn't help her pick what to wear to school any day of the week, he would step in and help her find the right thing to wear. Though he liked to spend some time alone, James was a great older brother to have. Her family might not be the best at most things, but she thought they were great at what they could do.

Meanwhile, Tyler hobbled over to the window, and tried to take a look outside without being spotted. If his son found him watching, then he would never be able to see his son in action.

Outside, James dribbled a ball back and forth between his hands as he shuffled around the driveway. Once he found he was at a good enough spot, he picked up the ball with both hands and threw it up at the basketball hoop above.

The ball hit the back board, and dropped down through the hoop with a swish. Quick to recover the ball, James started to dribble again, not once glancing up in Tyler's direction. Tyler savored every moment of it. If he even thought that James was going to spot him, he ducked away from the window. His heart felt like it swelled every time James recovered the basketball.

"Hah… my son plays basketball… How about that?" Tyler chuckled to himself, hopping back over to the living room.

Later that evening, the family sat down at the dinner table as the butler set out plates of spaghetti and meatballs.

"Thanks, Jeremy." Tyler thanked him as he was given his plate.

"You're welcome, sir," Jeremy nodded in acknowledgement, "hope you have a quick recovery."

"Thanks, that means a lot." Tyler answered, and the butler left the family to eat in peace.

James sighed as he twirled some spaghetti around his fork. "Sorry that you're benched for the rest of the season, Dad."

Tyler gave his son a smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Stuff like this happens all the time to sports players, and I happen to bounce back pretty quickly."

"I can already see that." James snorted playfully.

Taking a sip from her cup, Lindsay swallowed, and joined the conversation. "Well, everyone else feels sorry for you too, and hope that you can get back on your feet pretty soon."

"Thanks, Linds." Tyler gave his wife a thankful smile. It was good for him to hear that all his friends were wishing him a great recovery.

Lindsay surprised many. She was never the brightest bulb in the room, but yet, she surpassed expectations of many people she had known and didn't know. After Total Drama came to its end, Lindsay made her mark on the world outside of reality TV by designing her own line of clothes ranging from tops to boots to headwear. Lindsay-brand bandanas were her biggest hit above all. It shouldn't have been that much of a surprise since she passed with her highest grades in her academic history in classes like Fashion. As she continued to set new trends, which were always supported by the famous fashion blogging duo of Tom and Jen, she also made time to see her athlete of a boyfriend when he found his niche in basketball. It was tough and confusing, but with Tyler's help, she learned all about the rules of basketball and began to watch his games or even watch games with him. Often she didn't have a team she was cheering for, and would simply cheer when someone made a basket or protest when someone made a foul. When Tyler in the game, however, was a different story. In Tyler's games, she would only cheer and protest in his name. Their relationship went smoothly, and they ended up becoming one of those current celebrity married couples. Becoming parents was a whole new game for Lindsay though. Since she never had any babysitting experience, she often had trouble raising her children even though she had read the parenting books and attended the classes. Beyond feeding, bathing, and dressing her children fashionably, she was no parenting expert. Luckily, Tyler and the help was there to assist her.

Dinner continued on in quiet, and Lindsay had to repeatedly clean Penelope's face of pasta sauce.

It wasn't until James spoke up that the table had become noisy again.

"Hey… Dad?" He spoke up uncertainly.

Tyler looked up from his plate. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking… I know I never really played before, but I think, I think I want to join the basketball team." James said, staring his father with his blue eyes.

The statement was so unexpected that Tyler was practically thrown for a loop, and the piece of meatball he was eating suddenly went down the wrong pipe. He started coughing to force it back up and go down the right pipe. Lindsay came around, and patted his back. Eventually, it went down right, and the coughing stopped.

"You want to join the basketball team?" Tyler inquired after taking a cleansing swallow of water.

James shifted his shoulders in uncertainty. "Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, the school basketball season is coming up soon…"

As much as he wanted to ask about the basketball-playing in the driveway, Tyler had to hold back so James didn't know that he was spying on him. Instead of asking about driveway basketball, he asked, "Why do you want to join basketball?"

"Well," James glanced down at his plate and twirled spaghetti around his fork absentmindedly, "I don't know. It's just that I thought maybe I should give it a shot. You play basketball so you could probably help me practice, and since you're benched for the rest of the season, it would give you something to do in your spare time since you can't practice yourself. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and since you hurt your leg, I guess I just thought the time was right to ask." He glanced up. "That okay?"

"Of course, it's okay! My son playing basketball? How cool does that sound? My son taking after me and getting into sports. That sounds awesome, James! I'd definitely help you practice and make the team!" Tyler cheered happily.

His son had to blink in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Tyler was bursting with excitement by this point, keeping in mind his hurt leg. "We need to start practicing right away! You already eat healthy so that's a start. Good nutrition helps you be in shape for sports."

James was starting to feel slightly embarrassed by his father's enthusiasm for his big question. "I know, Dad, I know."

James was Tyler and Lindsay's eleven-year-old son. He had Tyler's brown hair, and Lindsay's brown eyes. His personality was an interesting mix of both his parents'. At a young age, his mother taught him about how to dress well. He knew the rules of fashion like the back of his hand, such as no socks with sandals or no Christmas apparel outside of the holiday season unless it was July. In his room was a full closet of clothes, each and every article being a part of an outfit. If there was one thing that James liked, it was having an outfit for every occasion; he had an outfit designated for visiting the beach, an outfit for his dad's basketball games, an outfit for one of those days at home, even an outfit designated for when he was sick. Along with his mother's fashion sense, he also had a fondness for sports that wasn't as great. Since his dad was a basketball player, he felt drawn towards basketball as his favorite sport. He couldn't even sit down and watch any other sport, he could only watch basketball. He played a bit of basketball with his parents when he was little, but that sort of faded up until two years back when he developed the desire to play basketball again. He was pretty embarrassed about leaving it and coming back to it, so he kept his little hobby a secret. Not too long ago, he started to feel drawn towards school basketball, something he hadn't ever noticed before. His friends at school had no idea he was interested in it, and he wasn't sure how they would react if he told them he was considering trying out for it. Once he popped the question at dinner, he was concerned if he had done the right thing.

"Both of my guys playing basketball? Eeeee! I have to tell Beth!" Lindsay squealed.

Tyler held up a hand. "Easy, Linds, he hasn't even tried out for the team yet. Once we find out if he made the team, then you can tell Beth."

Lindsay pouted. "Oh, alright…"

Penelope glanced around the table, from her disappointed mother to her happy father to her embarrassed brother.

"So, are you going to tell Mommy and Daddy about you playing basketball outside now?" She asked her brother.

James whirled around to face his sister across the table. "How do you know about that?!"

Tyler and Lindsay are here! One of the best Total Drama couples! Also, mentions of characters from the Ridonculous Race which is coming up soon! Did you catch them? Read again to find them if you didn't. Anyway, the next couple has the richest girl on Total Drama! Until next time!