New Perspectives

Chapter 1

It had rained the night before, leaving big puddles all around, just ripe for the jumping. Given that it was summer, in a few hours, when morning faded and the heat was back in full force, they would all evaporate and be gone. So it made perfect sense to the little boy to jump in the next one he passed.

The woman that was holding his hand immediately let it go and began to reprimand him, telling him how bad he was behaving. The man on his other side just laughed and told his wife to calm down; it wasn't that big of a deal. And it really wasn't. No one had gotten muddy or anything; just a little wet, really.

"Now, Vinny," the woman was saying then as he moved to grab her hand again. "What are we not going to do when we get there?"

"Mmmm…not be loud."

"That's right."

"And…behave."

"Uh-huh."

"Uh…not bother Auden or Eli 'cause they're really tired and stuff."

"Good boy."

The man just laughed slightly. "Now he just has to follow those, eh, Karen?"

"He's more than capable, Joseph."

"I don't get why I gotta go," Vinny told them both. "Babies ain't that fun."

"This is your little cousin, Vinny. You should be excited."

"Well, I ain't," he told his grandmother. "At all."

"If you're going to cause problems, Vinny, go ahead and tell us now," Karen told him as they walked down the street. She figured walking over was the best plan of attack, as it would give her and Joseph a chance to ram home to their grandson just how important it was that he behaved.

"No," he told her, squeezing her hand gently as he swung it slightly. "I wanna see Auden. I ain't seen her since…since…I don't know since!"

"She had the baby, Vin," Joseph told him with a sigh. "You know that. And then, when she and the baby got home, they spent a few days alone, just them, Eli, and Auden's mother. You know Victoria."

"Ms. Vicky," Vinny said with a nod of his head. "She's 'ight."

Karen rolled her eyes while Joseph just smiled over at his wife. So far for them, the summer had been wonderful. Their daughter Linda had given birth to a very healthy daughter while Auden had her son with no problems whatsoever. So much had been going on that the two of them hadn't even had a chance to argue with one another in about a month, which was pure heaven for Joseph. After all, he was usually wrong in all the fights. Or more over, Karen told him he was wrong. Which was totally the same thing, right?

Right?

It was Auden that greeted them when they got to the apartment. She just opened the door, hardly smiling as Vinny rushed to hug her. She knew, after all, that his love was short lived. It was his hate that you had to watch out for.

"Hi, Auden!"

"Vinny," Karen hissed. The little boy just giggled before letting Auden go.

"Sorry," he whispered then before skipping into the apartment. "Hi, Auden."

"Hi," she said before looking at Karen and Joseph. "You didn't bring Thisbe?"

"She isn't with us, dear," Joseph said, patting her on the shoulder as he came into the apartment before sitting down on the couch. "Where's Eli? At work?"

"Napping," Auden said as Karen came in as well. Vinny had, after a quick search of the kitchen, came back into the living room with a slight frown. He had been hoping for some reason that Ralph was hiding in the house, but a quick search had turned up no results. Huh. "So is the baby."

"We're sorry," Karen said, smiling at her. "I just wanted to come over to make sure everything was okay. I know your mother had something to take care of this weekend and I didn't want you to feel alone."

"No, it's fine," Auden said. "Everything's fine."

But it wasn't. A normal person could tell just from her tone alone that things weren't fine. And, considering she knew her son so well, Karen was sure that he was at the heart of the problem.

Still, Vinny was just a little boy. And he took people like Auden, who took such good care of him usually, at her word. Hopping over to her, he giggled as he wrapped his little arms around her.

"Vinny, not now, okay?" Auden pushed him away gently before patting him on the head.

"I came all the way here for you, Auden," Vinny growled then, frowning. "Grandpa! I'm ready to go! Auden's mean!"

"Vinny, be quiet," Karen shushed while Joseph fished around, trying to find the remote. Auden only sighed.

"The TV's out," she told the man. "Sorry."

"Really?" Joseph grinned at her then. "Whose your provider?"

"Huh?"

"I'll just go ahead and take care of it for your guys," Joseph told her as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I just need the overdue bill and-"

"I don't-"

"Joey-"

"It's not like when were kids, Karen," Joseph told her. "You have to have television to get by now. And with Auden home with the baby all the time, what do you expect her to do?"

"Really, it's not that big of a deal," Auden assured them while Vinny, noticing the attention was off him once again, let out a loud whine.

"Vincent," Karen corrected once again, frowning at him. "I thought that you told us you would behave?"

"I just wanted you to play with me!" he yelled at Auden then, crossing his arms defiantly. She only sighed, patting him on the head once more. "No! Stop touching me! I don't-"

It didn't take long for another crying to start off, further in the apartment, down the hall. That made Vinny freeze and then get that sheepish smile on his face.

"Is that the baby?"

Auden groaned before walking off, headed to go get it. Karen quickly followed and, when Vinny tried to as well, Joseph got up to pick his grandson up. It was becoming a harder task, as Joseph was getting older and Vinny was only getting heavier.

"You have been a very bad boy," Joseph told him as he took him over to the couch. Setting the boy down, he said, "Why would you do that? Huh?"

"Auden wasn't paying 'tention to me."

"She doesn't have to, Vinny. You're not her son. You know that."

The little boy made a noise then, looking off then. Joseph just sighed before heading out of the room, no doubt off to tend to the baby. God, Vinny hated the fact that he ever wanted that stupid baby to be around. It was turning out to suck. Really, really suck.

Karen and Auden were in the baby's bedroom, or so Joseph could hear from the hallway. They had left the door cracked and were speaking softly to one another as they no doubt tended to the infant. Joseph's main objective for coming over that day was to see his grandson, but he didn't want to interrupt his wife and Auden. So instead, he went ahead and decided to take care of his little side mission.

"Your baby was crying."

His son didn't move as Joseph entered the room. Just laid there on his stomach, shirtless, with his eyes closed. That annoyed Joseph though, as he knew there was no way that Eli would be able to sleep through the sound of the baby crying and his father talking.

"Hey," Joseph said again, closing the door softly behind him as he headed over to the bed. "Get up. Eli. Get-"

"No."

"I'm talking to you. Get up."

"I'm sleeping," Eli grumbled, shifting on the bed. "Leave me alone."

"Jake tells me that you haven't been going to work."

"Jake's an annoying little-"

"Eli."

"What do you want, Dad?"

"Your mom and I came to visit because, according to a few people, you've been doing nothing for three weeks."

"According to what people?"

"That's not the point, son."

Groaning, Eli moved to sit up before getting out of the bed. Walking over to his closet, he began to get dressed. "I've been doing stuff just fine, thanks."

"Heidi was over here yesterday."

"I'm aware."

"She called to tell Karen to check up on Auden today because she was going busy at work and she knew that someone should. You know, because the whole day she was over here yesterday, you stayed in your room the whole time, sleeping. As you have this whole time, or so Auden told Heidi."

Eli snorted as he pulled a shirt over his head. "I tried to help. Dr. Victoria West continually called me a drunk and told me that I was too incompetent to help. So you know what? If Auden wants her stupid mother around, that's fine. She made her choice."

When he was close enough, Joseph reached over and slapped the back of his son's head. Eli immediately jerked away before turning to face the man.

"What the-"

"You both made that baby, Eli," Joseph told him simply. "And now you're both going to take care of it. So either get your ass up from now on when he cries or else get your ass back to work. I know that you got fired from that stupid burger place. And I also know that you should be fired from your job at the bike place. But Clyde is too kind of a man to do that. Then again, Auden should have broken up with you by now, but she's too kind to do that."

Eli glared at the man then before shaking his head and heading out of the room. While he went towards the living room, Joseph went over to the other bedroom when he left the one he was in.

"You two finally got him quiet, huh?" Joseph asked as he walked into the other room. Karen and Auden were both standing over the baby's crib, though the boy was currently in his mother's arms, sleeping once more. "Eli's up, Auden."

"Great," she mumbled while Karen just rubbed the other woman's arm.

"Cheer up, honey," Karen told her gently. "Joseph wasn't too good at caring for Steven at first either."

"Are you kidding? I was the best at it," Joseph said, holding out his arms to Auden then, nodding his head towards the baby. She sighed before slowly moving to handover her son. "Eli just needs a kick in his butt, is what he needs."

Auden looked upset then as she stared at Joseph. "You didn't say something to him, did you?"

Instead of answering, the man just looked down at his grandson, smiling slightly. "Was he fussy last night?"

"No more than usual, no," Auden sighed. "I just, you know, wish that Mom didn't have to go."

"We're not far, sweetheart," Karen told her then. "All you have to do is call. Right, Joey?"

"Of course. You know that."

"Eli doesn't want-"

"Neither of us cares much for what Eli wants at the moment, my dear," Joseph told her, glancing up from the baby for a moment. "Believe me."

She made a face at that before reaching to take her son back. "He's just been going through a hard time."

"Of course," Karen agreed before glaring at her husband. "Joseph, why don't you go make sure that Vinny's okay? Huh?"

Joseph sighed before nodding. "I'll go talk to Eli about getting that TV turned back on, huh, Auden?"

"Really, you don't-"

He just held up his hand before walking out of the room without another word. Karen rolled her eyes before looking back at Auden.

"Have you showered today?" Karen asked, reaching out to take her grandson once more as he let out a slight whine. "Auden?"

"No," she said as she handed her son off. "I haven't had a chance. I just-"

"Then go take one, sweetheart," she told her. "It'll make you feel better. Promise. And when you're feeling better, the baby will feel better."

"You guys just got here though and-"

"Joey's probably going to take Vinny back home soon. We were just bringing him over to see you. He's been whining about seeing you for days now," Karen said with a shake of her head. "I'm staying though."

"Karen, you don't-"

"I want to," she assured her. "Now go take a shower, okay?"

The young woman glanced at her child one more time before nodding and heading out of the room. Karen took a few moments to swaddle the baby better before heading out of the room as well, though she went back into the living room.

"I think I've got things settled here, Joey," she told her husband, who had his wallet out, getting his debit card out. Handing it off to his middle son, who was no doubt going to use it to pay the television bill, her husband merely smiled.

"You sure, Karen?" he asked as Vinny rushed to her side, no doubt ready to go as well. "I can stay. I-"

"Take Vinny out to get lunch," Karen told him. "He was a relatively good boy, wouldn't you say?"

"I want chicken nuggets," Vinny said, as everyone was expecting. "Is that the baby?"

"Yes," Karen told him softly. "Remember, use your quiet voice."

"Baby's suck," Vinny told her simply, shaking his head. "Can we go get chicken nuggets now?"

It wasn't until Vinny and Joseph were both gone that Karen sat down on the couch next to her son. He had gotten his television bill paid by that point and was staring aimlessly at the TV, a void look on his face as he watched some sports game. Karen just sat there, holding her grandson, trying to find the right thing to say.

"You should go put him back in his room, Mom," Eli said simply, still not looking at her. "Put him in his crib."

"Baby's just don't need to lay in their cribs all day, Eli," his mother scolded softly. "They need stimulation. And he's so calm right now. Look at him."

He hardly glanced before letting out a long sigh. "Whatever."

"You know, Eli, everyone is sick and tired of your attitude. You're the one that wanted Auden and the baby to live here."

"Where else would they live?" he asked. "She's my girlfriend and he's my son."

"You just haven't been very involved is all. Not to mention, you need to get back to work. Eli, you can't-"

"You guys, like, don't even give me a chance to try," he complained then, shaking his head. "You just always decide that I'm not trying and then yell at me about it."

"No one is yelling at you, Eli. You just-"

"Dad is. And you're wanting to. But it's complete bull."

"Don't you talk to me like that, Eli Joseph."

He stood up then before heading off, no doubt back to his bedroom. Karen was only glad that he did not slam the door on his way out, as that would have disturbed the baby, the last thing she wanted.

"You're home late."

"What? You think I was out on a date or something?"

Joseph shook his head as his wife came into the room. "I'm assuming you left Auden okay?"

"Eli left and didn't come back, so I just stayed long enough to get the baby down."

"He'll be up again."

Karen nodded, closing their bedroom door behind her. "He'll sleep through the night soon enough though. That's the main goal right now, yes?"

Still, her husband just laid on the bed, watching as she changed for the night. "Did you eat?"

"Yes, Joey. It was the only way to get Auden to eat."

He sighed slightly. "I ran into Wallace today, while Vinny and I were at lunch."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. Eli has got to go back to work, Karen."

"He's on maternity leave."

"For men?"

"I'm sure that's a thing now. Equal rights and all."

"Karen-"

"I know, Joey. He has to work."

"We're not going to be funding their lives."

"You're the one that paid the TV bill."

"And the internet bill."

"Joe-"

"I just feel bad, Karen."

"I know."

"Auden just always seems so sad."

"Neither of them really wanted to have a baby, Joey."

"It shows."

"Horribly."

"Yet now he's here," Joseph finished. "They're both going to have to get over it."

"I wish Victoria had stayed longer."

"She'll be back, right? As soon as she can?"

"I hope so."

"Auden has to learn to take care of the baby herself," the man pointed out as his wife headed into their master bathroom. "We need more toothpaste."

"I'll go to the store tomorrow, I suppose."

"And I'll go have another chat with our son."

"You're not going to force Eli to do anything," she told him. "There's no way for you to."

"He just needs to wake up."

"He's trying, Joey."

"Trying." He snorted then before rolling onto his side. "I'll set the alarm, huh? Seven?"

"Five."

"Kare-"

"I need to get up and go over to Eli and Auden's."

"Why is it that we're always the one taking care of kids we didn't have?"

"Don't' get sour now, Joseph. You'll do just as much for any of the kids as I will. More even."

"I know," he agreed with a sigh. "We're not too good at this discipline stuff. With them or with ourselves."

"How could we be? We cut one of them off and we're cutting our grandchildren off. It's impossible."

"Not for some people."

"Evil people can do that. Yet we're not evil," she told him before closing the bathroom door. He just laid there, waiting for her to come back to him. It wasn't until she had and they were both settled once more that he spoke.

"You talk to Linda today, Karen?"

"Mmmhmm. Did you not?"

"Didn't get around to it," he told her as they laid there, facing one another in their bed. Their bedroom was completely dark, save the light from the alarm clock on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. Shifting closer to her, Joseph said, "I wish she lived closer."

"Then other days you wish that they all lived very, very far away."

"Yeah, well."

She smiled in the darkness, reaching over to poke her husband in the chest. "You've got to stop talking to me, mister."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I have to get up in the morning. You? You're gonna sleep all day, aren't you?"

"As long as Vinny let's me."

"Mmmm."

"Wish we'd tossed him over to Heidi for the night."

"Joey."

"Well."

He made her laugh then, as he always made her laugh, which only made him smile, moving to kiss her head. Karen rarely liked when he did such a thing and pushed his chest gently, protesting halfheartedly.

"Go to sleep then, Karen," he said, rolling onto his other side then, giving her his back to stare at. "I've got things to do in the morning as well."

"You always do, Joey."

So they laid there then, for a good forty minutes probably. It always took Karen longer to fall asleep than her husband, so he had no doubt drifted off by the time it happened. Still, the loud bang they both heard echo through the house startled both of them. Karen bolted up while Joseph moved to get out of the bed. They both stilled for a moment though before they heard the moan.

"Jake," Karen said then, relaxing slightly. Joseph was still tense though as he headed to their bedroom door. "Joey, it's Jake. He's probably drunk and tripped or something. Don't-"

"That boy," he grumbled, opening their bedroom door then. "He's probably scared the fire out of Vinny. Go back to bed, Karen."

"Joe-"

"I'll take care of it. Go back to sleep."

She hadn't been asleep though and they both knew it. She could lay awake for hours before she finally got truly settled. Still, he was her husband and she found it good to let him have his big "man" moment at least once a week. It made him feel good about himself, after all, and it was an easy thing to give up.

So Joseph left the room, not shocked when he found his youngest son in the living room, sprawled out on the floor. Flipping on the living room light, he immediately went over to the young man, glaring down at him.

"Hey, Daddy," Jake said, waving slightly as he moved to sit up. This was easier said than done though and he ended up just slumping back onto the ground. "Didn't know you were home."

"You didn't know that I was home at, oh, midnight? If not later?"

"…Yes…no…uh…"

"You woke your mother and I. Not to mention Vinny, I'm sure."

"I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Get up and go to your bedroom. Then, don't come out until tomorrow morning. And when you come out, either go into work or try and make this up to your mother and I by cleaning the house. You hear me?"

He had to help the boy stand up, though as soon as he did, he just sent him on his way without a kind word. His boys, especially his youngest two, were very trying and the man was starting to lose his patience.

After seeing his son off, Joseph headed down the hall as well. He knew, of course, that Steven would not get off work until much later and figured that it was a good time to do a wellness check on Vinny. He was afraid that the little boy had been woken up and was scared.

He wasn't though or so Joseph discovered when he went into the room. He was just sleeping in his bed, curled up with his favorite stuffed animals and a very, very uncomfortable kitty, who meowed when he saw Joseph. Smiling, the man crept over to the bed and gently lifted his wife's kitten off the bed. The poor cat was scared out of his mind, as Vinny was very frequently his biggest torturer. Most of the time it was accidental though, as like most little boys, Vinny had yet to learn the difference between rough play and homicide. It was truly sad, honestly.

"Look who I brought to sleep with Mama."

Karen was waiting up for him still, the lamp at her bedside on by that time. She smiled slightly as her husband came back into the room, bearing her cat. Gently shutting the door behind him, Joseph quickened his step over to the bed.

"Jake's okay?"

"More than okay."

"Joey-"

"Here's your kitten," he said simply as he laid the feline down on the bed. The frazzled animal rushed over to Karen's side, snuggling against it. She smiled before looking up at her husband.

"Bed now?"

"Finally," he groaned as she switched the lamp back off while he just climbed back into bed. "Just gotta be careful not to squash your baby, huh?"

Karen scratched between Gambit's ears. "You hurt my cat, Joey, and it won't be pretty."

"I liked Ben better."

"He was a good dog," Karen agreed softly, shifting on the bed. "I really have to sleep now, Joey."

"I know," he sighed. "And if I happen to accidentally turn off the alarm while you sleep-"

"Joseph-"

"Night, Karen," he sighed, shifting on the bed as well before shutting his eyes. "Love you."

"I love you too."

"So is this where the princess resides today?"

"Mr. Joseph!" Thisbe rushed to the man as he walked into her mother's shop, wrapping her arms around him immediately. "Hi!"

As it was the height of summer, Clementine's busy time of the year, Heidi could only call out a greeting to Joseph, as she was busy with a customer at that very moment. The man hardly glanced at her though as he smiled down at her daughter.

"I heard that you wanted to come spent the day with," he told the little girl then who just giggled, bashful as always.

"Yes," she said shyly. Joseph just reached out to pat her on the head.

"Well, you're in luck," he told her. "Because I wanted to spend the day with you."

This only made her even more excited, but Joseph just smiled before calling out to Heidi that he was taking the girl. Then, holding out his hand, he waited for her to grasp it before they set off.

Joseph had many chores that day, or so Thisbe found out. First of all, they went to get Vinny from his job down at the taco shack. The two children feigned their normal pretend hatred for one another, though they quickly became friends again as they bonded over the ice cream cones Joseph bought them. They soon found out though that those were just rouses to keep them calm through the next phase of chores, which included a trip to the bank, the hardware store, and some stupid flower shop which stunk to the high heavens for both children.

It all turned out okay though, because for lunch they got pizza. Which, though it was not chicken nuggets, was the next best thing. Right behind ice cream of course, which they had already gotten, so really, the day had been a pretty stellar success.

However, later in the day, much to Vinny's chagrin and Thisbe's delight, they stopped by Eli and Auden's house. Thisbe had been to see the baby many times at that point and was used to the quiet rule. Vinny though had to have it explained to him again, this time with a consequence if he did something wrong. He was told by his grandfather that, should he not behave, he would lose all of his superhero action figures, which was a pretty dang big deal when you really, really thought about it.

Thisbe and Vinny stood at Joseph's side as he knocked at the door, the little girl holding the man's hand once more. Vinny stood off to the side, despondent as he weighed the options in his head. Grandpa couldn't be serious about taking away his toys…could he?

"What are you guys doing here?"

Thisbe ran passed Eli as he opened the door. Since the baby had arrived, she had fallen in love with her sister, more so than Eli. No one was too sure what had happened, but suddenly it was Auden that Thisbe wanted to hang on constantly, not her boyfriend. Eli was good, yeah, but he was no longer great to Thisbe. That was, like, the first time since she was probably twenty months old.

"We came to visit."

"Mom left and Auden's asleep. So is the baby. So-"

"That's actually great," Joseph said. "Because I don't want to see either of them."

The man sighed. "Dad-"

"The kids are going to sit in the living room and watch that TV that I paid the bill for, yes? And then you and me? Why, we're going to go into the kitchen and we're going to have a discussion of sorts."

"And if I say no?"

Joseph just stared into his son's eyes. "You won't."

And so, after putting on some kid show and explaining to Vinny and Thisbe that they were to sit on the couch and behave, the father and son headed into the kitchen. As always, there was a pot of coffee in there, which Joseph immediately went to get a cup for himself. Eli only sat down at the table, wanting to get it all the hell over with.

His father took his time though, standing over at the counter for a long time, though Eli knew he was doing nothing; he took his coffee black as night. He was like Auden in that way.

"You know," Joseph began when he finally sat down at the shabby kitchen table. "When your mom was pregnant with-"

"See, the thing is, Dad, I don't care. I don't care what you have to do say. I don't-"

"I don't care either," Joseph told him, taking a sip from his mug. "I really don't. You and Jake have been a thorn in my side for years. And you've been even worse recently, since you stopped drinking. And now that the baby's here, the child that you made, you've become even worse! I don't care anymore, Eli, about you or Jake."

"Then why are you-"

"I care about Auden. I care about your son. I care about your mother, who for some reason cares very much for you and your younger brother even though you both treat her horribly."

"I don't-"

"You do." Joseph shook his head. "She cares so much for you boys and you still-"

"Stop lumping me in with Jake. I am not Jake."

"No, you're not Jake. Jake knows how not to get women pregnant. Lord knows how he figured that one out, but he has."

Eli let out a short huff then. "What is your point, Dad? What do you want?"

"I want a lot of things. At the moment though, I want you to go back to work."

"You-"

"Or at the very least, the very, very least, tell me exactly why you won't."

Eli snorted then, looking down at the table. "Why should I? Auden doesn't work and no one's all pissed at her, are they?"

His father took a moment then, just staring at his son. Slowly, he said, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Shaking his head, the older man let out a long breath. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" Eli was getting more annoyed by the minute and was about done with the whole thing. "I don't know what you people want from me anymore. You wanted me to quit drinking, so I did it. Happy? Happy?"

"Three weeks. You haven't gotten drunk in three weeks. Since the baby was born. You've gone three before and fallen right back down. No one's holding their breath, son." Joseph stood then, sighing slightly as he did so. Leaving his coffee mug behind, he said, "Get back to work. This is the last time I'm going to tell you."

"And if I don't?"

Again, there was no need to respond with a serious answer to that.

"You will."

"Dinner was good."

"Mmmm. I wish I knew that Thisbe and Vinny weren't going to stay for it though."

"That's okay. We have leftovers now."

"Sure."

"And it's nice sometimes. Just us eating. You know?"

"I'd have made it more special, is all I'm saying, had I know."

Joseph laughed, standing there next to his wife as she washed the few dishes from the meal. "I spoke with Eli."

"I know. He called."

"Kare-"

"I told you to leave it alone."

"I can't. You know that. Not when he's acting that way."

She let out a soft sigh, shaking her head as she stared down at the sink. "So anyways, Steven and I were talking today."

"About what?"

"Well, he went into work late, so when I got back from the kids' apartment, he told me that he was thinking about…you know."

"I know what?"

"Moving out, Joey."

He smiled, going over to the fridge then to grab a beer. "That sounds great."

"Joseph."

"What?"

"He can't move out yet."

"Yet." Joseph popped the tab on his beer before taking a sip. "It's been way over a year now, Karen."

"I know. I just-"

"Why do you want Steven here?"

"I don't," she told him with another sigh. "It's just that I don't want Vinny alone with his father."

"And why's that?"

"Steven's not ready to be a single father, Joseph. You know that. And I just think that Vinny should stay with us. He-"

"If it was up to you, all our children and all their children and eventually all their children would live with us until we both died."

"If that's my perfect world, why are you being so rude about it?"

"Karen-"

"You know that you love Vinny too."

"I do," Joseph said then. "I readily admit it. I love him just as much as all my other grandchildren. And it's because I love him that I think he should either be with his father or his mother. Neither of which we are."

"Joe-"

"Are you afraid, Karen? Of being alone with me?"

"Not afraid, no."

"Every time Jake tries to leave, you sabotage him. Then Steven came to town with his children and you welcomed them all back in."

"They're my kids, Joseph."

"We're so close though, Karen, to being alone again. We haven't lived completely alone since-"

"Since we were kids. I know."

"This is the point of life, Karen. To keep going with it. It's time for us to be alone. They can come visit, the kids can. Of course they can. That's fine. But living with us? I'm really getting tired of it."

"You're just a grumpy old man now."

"Is that it?"

"That is it."

He took another sip from his beer before going to stand next to her once more, setting his can on the counter.

"We're completely alone tonight."

"Until Jake comes home at, oh, three in the morning and wakes us both up."

"Until then," he agreed before running a hand up her arm. "Hey, do you feel…good tonight?"

"Not that good."

"Kare-"

"Was that what the flowers were for?"

"No," he said coolly. "I had to talk to Jamie so I went into her shop. I saw some Dahlias and knew they were you favorite so I got them for you. Gosh, Karen. We're not kids. I can buy you things without wanting something in return. If I wanted something I would ask."

She sighed. "Yeah. I-"

"So…I'm asking."

"No, Joey. Not tonight. I haven't slept well, I have a headache, I'm worried about Auden-"

"Then we won't, Karen. Never mind."

"Joseph-"

"It was just a suggestion. More trouble than its worth at this point, I'm sure."

She let out a long sigh as she finally finished with the dishes. "Sometime next week, maybe. Or something. I'm just not…into it tonight, Joe."

"It's fine. I told you, it's fine." He picked his beer back up. "Do you want to watch a movie then? Or something?"

"I just want to take a bath and go to bed, honestly."

"Then go do that." Joseph grinned as her when she finally turned to face him. "I'll be in the living room, watching TV. Or a movie maybe."

She patted his chest as she passed him then, no doubt headed off to their bathroom. "Don't stay up too late, Joseph."

"Never."

And so he was alone for some time after that, his wife retiring for the evening, leaving him alone for a few hours. He truly had planned for them to spend the evening together, but it was no matter then. Hardly ever did he get to watch certain DVDs, as they were rated R and Vinny was always around. And when the boy wasn't, Karen was. If they watched a movie together, it had to be one of her choosing. Always. So yes, being alone at times did have its benefits. They didn't always weigh out the other options, but still a good evening all around.

That's what he was doing when Steven got home sometime late that night. He had burned through a few DVDs and was working on the next one by the time his oldest came through the door. Steven, not used to anyone, but his knucklehead younger brother being up at that hour, paused for a moment.

"Late night, Dad?"

"I've had later," he told him son simply as the man came into the house, locking the front door behind him.

"Mom didn't kick you out, did she?"

"Oh, no," Joseph said from his chair, shaking his head back and forth. "Vinny spent the night at Heidi's, so I finally had a chance to watch some movies without being interrupted."

Joseph didn't keep his son up much longer than that, though the man did tell his father before he went to bed that it was late and he should probably turn in for the night as well. Still, Joseph finished his last movie before heading to bed himself, figuring Karen was already asleep anyways; she would have no idea how late he stayed up.

When he finally got to their bedroom, he was careful as he undressed and walked around the room, not wanting to wake his wife. She was curled away from his side of the bed, breathing softly. It was not until he laid down on the bed as well that she rolled over.

"You are going to be a monster in the morning," she whispered softly to him. "Not getting any sleep."

"Who needs sleep?"

"You need sleep." She shifted again, this time getting closer to him, so that she was lying on his pillow. Joseph, now losing a lot of room do to this, just smiled. "I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow."

"You need it."

"Maybe not though." She sighed. "Auden needs me. Shawn isn't too fussy, but-"

"We'll see," he mumbled, shutting his eyes then. "Night, Karen."

She lazily ran a hand down his chest and stomach. "Goodnight, Joey. See you in the morning."

He shifted onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Yeah. The morning."