Sleepless Nights

Alex was pacing the floor muttering to himself when Jo got home late one night. "Uh oh, what's wrong?" she asked as she kicked her shoes off and collapsed on the couch, "Which one did what?"

"Who d'ya think? It's Rainie. It's always Rainie. The boys are upstairs in bed; they're the good ones," he huffed on an exaggerated sigh.

Jo reached out grabbing Alex's hand to stop him as he paced by her in front of the couch. She tugged lightly and he complied dropping down onto the cushion beside her. "Ah, she is her father's daughter," she winked letting out a light laugh, causing Alex to glare at her. "What'd she do this time?" Jo sobered.

"She's late. I told her 11:30. She knows she has to be home at 11:30, and she's not here," his leg bounced in agitation as he glanced towards the front door again.

"It's only 11:38," Jo offered in an attempt to calm him.

"Doesn't matter, she's late. I knew she was gonna do this," he grumbled running his hand through his hair, "I never should have let her go."

"Alex, what is going on?" she tucked her leg under and turned to face him. She reached out cupping his cheek and made him look at her. As far as she knew Rainie hadn't been in trouble before tonight so she didn't understand why Alex was so worked up. "It's Saturday night; why wouldn't you let her go out?" she dug for clarification.

"She begged me to extend her curfew, and when I told her she has no business being out after 11:30, she pouted and whined and begged some more. I told her I wasn't budging and she screamed, 'fine ruin my life', and stormed out," he let his head fall back on the couch with a tired sigh, "Tell me again, whose idea it was to raise a teenage daughter."

Jo laughed, "That's what happens; they're born and they grow up. We can't keep 'em babies forever. And if I do recall, you were the one who flushed my birth control, and the one who bought everything pink when we found out she was a girl."

"Ugh..don't remind me. If I had only known."

Jo wrapped her arm around his shoulder massaging gently, "Who'd she go out with? Where were they going? What's the big deal tonight?" She checked her watch again noting that it was now, 11:53, and she began to get upset herself.

"She left with Gabby, Trista," he paused before saying with disgust, "Brodie...and some other guy."

"Ah ha, the boyfriend," Jo nodded finally understanding.

"Don't. Don't say that," he cringed.

"Come on, Alex, we all know he's her boyfriend." Alex hated the thought of his 'baby girl' having a boyfriend. "Where were they going?"

"To grab something to eat and then 'probably' to Gabby's to watch movies, or so she told me."

"She's never given us a reason not to trust her, Alex," Jo reminded him.

"She's never had a boyfriend before," he countered.

They both jumped up at the sound of the front door opening. "Upstairs, right now," Alex demanded thrusting his pointed finger in the direction of the stairs, "I don't wanna hear any arguments or excuses."

"We'll be in to talk to you in a little bit," Jo added softer.

Rainie scooted up the stairs in a hurry. She had been counting on her mom pulling an all-nighter at the hospital again and her dad falling asleep watching tv like he did most nights. She had been sure she would be able to sneak in late undetected.

Alex stomped around downstairs locking the doors and turning out the lights. Jo stopped him at the bottom of the stairs, "Hey, you've gotta calm down before we confront her. You're not gonna go in there yelling and screaming; that's not gonna get us anywhere." She took his hand and led him to their bedroom.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Alex laid on their bed flat on his back staring up at the ceiling cooling off as he waited for Jo to finish showering. "You ready now?" Jo asked toweling her hair as she crossed the room to stand in front of him.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she grabbed his hands giving them a tug and pulling him into a hug rubbing soothing circles on his back. She tilted her face up, and they shared a brief kiss.

"Let's go," she sighed quietly leading him down the hallway to Loraine's bedroom.

Jo tapped lightly on the door and pushed it open, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Alex rolled his eyes upon finding Rainie sound asleep.

"Alex, shh," Jo shushed him turning and pushing against his chest pushing him back into the hall. She quietly closed the door behind her. "We can talk to her in the morning."

"Watching movies with her friends, yeah right," he grumbled once they were back behind their closed bedroom door, "nobody gets that tired by 'hanging out watching movies'."

"Alex, it's after midnight," Jo countered, "She's tired. Don't go borrowing trouble. It's fine, we can hash it out tomorrow," she turned down the bed and crawled in. Alex tossed his shirt to the corner of the room and slid in beside her. She rolled close to him cuddling into his side and pressing her head to his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair calming himself.

"We can't let this go. She was out all night doing who the hell knows what with that boy."

"We're not letting it go," Jo insisted, "just for tonight. And you know, she could have been watching movies at her friends house like she told us. She came home late, and she'll be punished for it, but don't overreact Alex."

"I'm not overreacting," he argued, "She's fifteen; she's too young to be getting involved with boys. And if she was where she told me she would be, why the sneaking around?"

"Hey, don't get mad at me for giving our daughter the benefit of the doubt," Jo defended.

"I'm not mad at you, Jo. I'm worried about her. She's been rebelling and arguing more and more..."

"You mean she's been acting like a teenager?" Jo teased.

"Yeah I guess so," he shrugged, but persisted, "I remember being fifteen, don't you? I just wanna protect her."

"Oh, I get it now, you're afraid your karma is finally going to catch up to you in our daughter," she smirked.

"Shut up."

She turned serious again, "We'll talk to her. But Alex, I really think she's okay," she pressed a kiss to his chest.

"I know, I just...I... She's my little girl," he buried his nose in her hair breathing in her familiar scent.

"I know," a trace of a smile lifted the corners of her mouth.

Alex listened to Jo's even breathing knowing she was on the edge of sleep, "Jo?"

"Hmm," she hummed into his chest.

"You have had, the talk, with Rainie, right? I'm not ready to be a grandpa."

"Yes, Alex, we've had, the talk. She's not having sex. Now quit worrying, and go to sleep."

He pulled her closer tightening his arm around her. He let Jo's warm presence next to him calm his frazzled nerves. He laid awake staring into the dark for a long time. Teenagers. How had his kids grown up so quickly? He sighed knowing this was just one of many sleepless nights to come as they navigated the teenage years.