Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I am hoping to fix that by giving this story a little bit more attention. Thank you for being patient.

Chapter Three

Jughead let out a long sigh of frustration, walking from the kitchen into the living room looking for an item that he needed for Josh. He turned to look at Josh, who was standing up in the playpen his head barely reaching the top watch his every move with wide eyes and a wet mouth. The item he was looking for the baby wipes. He was a hundred percent positive that he had brought the box of baby wipes with him. But he couldn't find the damn box anywhere in the trailer or his car. And he needed them at the exact moment since there was something foul coming from Josh's diaper. And he could smell it from the other side of the trailer.

He hoped that he had enough for the diaper change and he knew that he would be paying a visit to the store to get some later. But that would have to happen after he had dealt with that diaper because it could no longer wait. Jughead snatched a fresh diaper out of the bag before walking over to the playpen looking down at his son who was grinning at him.

Jughead shook his head at the boy. "You think that is funny, do you?" he asked the baby taking him out of the playpen catching another awful whiff. "Why couldn't you have saved this one for your grandpa?" he asked, cringing at the smell. He moved to the floor laying Josh down in the diaper changing position. "We have been here for two days, and he has yet to change one of your stink bombs. No, don't roll over." And Josh rolled over to his stomach trying to inch away from his father. Josh's eyes lit up at the new toy in front of him. It was the coffee table, and that was his prize. By the time Jughead had everything ready, Josh was pulling himself up. And yes! Jughead had to have everything ready because he never knew if Josh had a surprise whizz waiting for him. Jughead had lost the count of how many times he had been peed on by Josh, but he was willing to bet that the number would be nearing the triple digits by now.

"Get back here," he said wrapping an arm around Josh's little wait pulling him away from the table. Josh let his displeasure known by squealing in protest and kicking his legs hard. "You are okay," he said, placing the kid on his back and handed him his cell phone to keep him distracted long enough for the change. Josh happily took the phone and stuck the rubber corner into his mouth to chew on. Jughead worked quickly at changing the boy which turned into a bigger challenge because Josh got tired of the phone and being on his back. But in the end, Jughead won the war with Josh dressed warmly from head to toe and ready for their journey out of the house.

"We are going to the store," Jughead explained pulling up the zipper on Josh's jacket. "The air in this house is getting a little too stale for my taste and it will nice to get out for a bit. Don't you think?" he asked reaching for his jacket shrugging it on. He scooped up Josh and the diaper back, then grabbed his keys and went out to the car.

After Josh was snug and secured in his seat, Jughead pulled the small wad of cash counting it hoping that it be enough to get him some gas and wipes until he was able to get a paycheck from his new job. He felt the weight on his shoulders lessen thinking about the new job. Jughead was thankful that he was able to land something so quickly. The manager was also completely understanding of his situation and offered him the job after a brief interview. Another great thing about this job was the manager. It turned out that the manager had been a teen father himself and had been very accommodating of his needs. Pulling out of the thoughts in his head, Jughead got into the car and when he started the engine something caught his eye. The gas needle was sitting on full.

He frowned as he remembered that night of his arrival in Riverdale that his gas meter was on empty. The gas light had even been on. And he damn well knew that he hadn't been anywhere to get gas either. Jughead looked to the sky begging to the heavens that there was nothing wrong with his car because he didn't know how the hell he would get it fixed. He would have to take it to an auto place and have it checked out. But that would have to be later as he had another task on his hands to finish. He put the car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway to find a store somewhere in this town.

Twenty minutes and two wrong turns later, Jughead pulled into a parking space at the Trendy Way. He shook his head because he couldn't believe that one tiny town as Riverdale could have so many different corners. It didn't help that he drove past it twice. It was one of the only stores in the town because the parking lot was jammed. Yikes! He grimaced at the number of people going and out those automatic doors. Yes, he had a small touch of social anxiety, but hey, it wasn't his fault that most of the world's humanity sucked. He yanked the keys out of the ignition and got out to retrieve Josh out of the back seat and got ready to brave the store.

The inside of the store was even worse than the outside. There were bodies in every direction he looked and the aisles, as small as they were, had at least two families in them. Finally, Jughead found an aisle that was clear of people and shot down it while looking to the baby section. He turned the corner into the section of the cold stuff and spotted a very familiar looking blond girl trying to reach for something on the top shelf, but it was a little too high up for her to get to. Jughead walked up behind her.

"Need some help?"

She turned around at the voice and smiled when she saw that it was Jughead. "If you don't mind," Betty nodded, and he grabbed the jar and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she smiled and turned her gaze to Josh. "Hey there," she said patting the boy on his back. Josh shyly hid his face in his father's neck. Betty and Jughead shared a laugh. She held up the jar. "My mom is trying a new recipe tonight and needed this," she explained.

"You don't sound very excited about that," Jughead noted. Betty shrugged as she walked around him.

"My mom likes trying new recipes, and this one is kind of weird," Betty said as they walked along. 'How have you been settling in?" she asked him.

"It's been okay," Jughead replied and looked up at a sign. "Since I helped you with your problem, I was wondering if you would help me with mine?"

"What is it?"

"Can you show me where they keep the baby stuff?" Jughead asked, and Betty nodded.

"It's this way," Betty said pointing in the direction picking up the pace of her walking. She led him into the more quieter part of the store and turned down another aisle. "Here you go." She waved her hand toward the abundance of baby supplies before them.

"Thanks," Jughead said walking along until he found what he needed. " I have been looking all over the place for it. It is not very easy to find things here."

Betty snorted. "I know right! They could have called this place Maze Mart instead. It's like you are walking into a maze and you never know if you are ever going to get out."

Jughead picked up a few packs of baby wipes. "This should do," he said turning back to her. "Thank you."

"There you are, Honey!"

They turned to see Alice coming up the aisle. "I was looking all over the place for you. We need to get going. I need to get to the office to double check everything before printing tomorrow's issue." she said stopping in front of the two. "Hello, Jughead," she smiled warmly at the teen boy and bent down to talked Josh. "Hi there, cutie."

"Hey there, Mrs. Cooper," Jughead greeted the other woman. "Sorry about that. Betty was showing me the way to the stuff I needed."

"I see," Alice nodded placing a hand on Betty's shoulder. "Would you like to join us for dinner?" she asked him. "It's a new recipe."

Jughead glanced at Betty, who softly shook her head at him. "Save yourself," she mouthed to him.

He quickly turned his gaze back to Alice. "Sorry, I can't tonight. I have plans with my dad for dinner," he told her.

Alice gave him a look. "Let me guess, plans to have leftovers or to have food from Pop's?" she asked him knowingly. "Well, if you change your mind our door is always open," she told him turning her cart around. "Let's go, Betty," she said strolling down the aisle.

Betty sighed and looked to Jughead. "I will see you later," she smiled reaching over to pat Josh on his back. "Thanks for your help earlier."

"No problem," Jughead nodded following her out of the aisle to go pay for his item. "I need to be meeting my dad anyway."

Betty waved goodbye to him before leaving to find her mom. Jughead turned heading to the front to the checkout. After a five minute wait in line, Jughead was walking out of the store back to his car. He snapped Josh into his seat and Josh was not at all happy with that. He began to fuss, and Jughead could tell that he was ready for a nap. So, he gave Josh his pacifier which he took right away settling down. Josh was half asleep when his cellphone started to ring. He winced as he pulled it out to answer it before it had a chance to wake Josh up.

"Hello?" he answered in a whisper patting gently on Josh's stomach.

"Hey there little brother," the voice of his older sister, JellyBean, floated through the phone. "Did I call at a bad time?" she asked quickly.

"No," he said slipping out of the back seat. "Josh just went to sleep," he explained getting into the driver's seat.

"How is my sweet little nephew?"

"I haven't killed him yet," Jughead said leaning his head back in his chair.

"That is not what I meant, Jug," Jellybean scolded. "You are a great father," she told him with utter confidence. "Unlike our father."

Jughead bit his lip at hearing her speak of their dad. He knew that she was not their dad's biggest fan. "Josh is great," he answered trying to turn the subject away. "How is school going?"

"It is busy," his sister sighed into the phone. "Finals are around the corner, so everything is so cramped. I was working in the nurse's office the other day, and a student came in because they passed out from being so exhausted."

"Yikes," he grimaced at the thought. "I hope you are not getting yourself in that situation," he said.

"Hell no!" Jellybean scoffed. "If the students wouldn't let themselves get behind, then they wouldn't be passing out. That is how you pass at Stanford. You must stay ahead. Always."

"You would know."

"Also, there is a reason that I am calling," she begins in a lower voice. It was something she did when she was worried or upset about something.

"What?"

"I am not going to be able to come home for Christmas," Jellybean replied. "I have been offered an internship at one of the hospitals here. It lasts until about the third week of March."

"That is great, Sis," Jughead smiled knowing that this was something Jellybean had been working towards. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, but I did want to come home and see all of you. Especially Josh," Jelly smiled, and he could hear it through the phone. "I miss my Josh snuggles."

"Josh misses you too."

"Aww," Jelly cooed. "Hey, is mom nearby the phone?"

Jughead's heart drops into the pit of his stomach at the mention of the woman. "No, she is not," he tells Jelly.

"That sucks," Jellybean said. "I have been trying to reach her over the last couple of days, and she is not picking up the phone."

"I haven't seen her in a couple of days either. She must be working those long shifts again," Jughead lied wondering if he should tell Jellybean about the recent events in his life, but doesn't. He knew that if he told Jellybean, that she would hop on the next plane to give their mother an earful.

"Or she lost her phone again," Jellybean grumbled sullenly. "That woman would lose her head if it wasn't attached to her. Well, I need to go, Juggie. The class is about to behind, and the professor is sooo anti-cellphones it is not even funny. He often threatens to throw our phones in the toilets if he catches us."

"Okay. I will talk to you later," Jughead said ending the call. He tossed the phone into the passenger seat and started the car.

Moments later, Jughead pulled into the parking lot of Pop's. He smiled to himself as old memories of the place began to surge up in his mind. He got out of the car taking the old diner in. The only thing that changed was the time, and Jughead decided that was what he liked about the place. He got the car seat out that held a peacefully sleeping baby covered it with a blanket and headed inside out of the cold November air.

As he took his first step inside the diner, Jughead was greeted by a homey atmosphere. It was full of customers with a steady volume of chatter and clinking of silverware on glass plates. He went over to an empty booth and sat down placing the car seat next to him.

A waitress quickly came over with a warm smile. "Hello dear. What can I get you?" she asked sweetly.

"A cup of coffee please?"

She nodded writing it down. "I will be right back with that," she told him putting her pad into her apron and skirted off to another table who waved at her. Jughead busied himself by lowering the blanket a bit to check on Josh while he waited.

"You must be Jughead Jones."

Jughead looked up to see a dark-skinned man standing next to his booth. The man was wearing a warm, jolly smile. "That is me," he said to the older man. "And you are Pop Tate."

"So you do remember me," Pop chuckled, his grin widening. "I was afraid you wouldn't. Stand up here. Let me get a good look at you," he said. Jughead laughed as he got out of his seat. Pop Tate shook his head. "The last time I saw you, you were a small boy, and now you tower over me."

The waitress appeared with a cup and poured him some fresh coffee. "Sorry about that. I had to wait for it to finish brewing," she explained apologetically.

"That's okay," Jughead said sitting down pulling the cup to him. "The fresher, the better."

Pop laughed heartily. "You are a smart lad too. Dottie," he turned to the woman. "Make sure whatever he orders is on the house."

The offer floored jughead. "You don't have to that," he said to Pop, but Pop wouldn't have it.

"That is old nonsense," Pop said to Jughead. "Take it as a welcome home present from me. It is really good to see you back here. Your old man kept saying that you were supposed to come in here today. He has been talking about nonstop since he got here this morning. Your dad is one of my hardest working people."

Dottie cleared her throat beside him. "Excuse me?" she said to her boss. "What about me?" she teased in a kind manner.

"Oh my good old Dottie," Pop said laying a hand on her shoulder. "You are my best waitress you know that and FP is my best cook. There is no jealousy needed."

"There is no jealousy here," Dottie said pointing her pen at him. "I am just making sure you don't forget the facts, old man."

Pop raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you just call me old?" he asked her. "If I remember correctly, that you are older than me," he pointed out.

"Only by a year," Dottie replied swatting him on the arm.

"Now you are trying to wound me," Pop pouted. "If you keep this up, there will be no one left to keep this place open."

"Like that would be a crime."

Jughead laughed as he watched the two go back and forth with their banter. Josh sneezed catching Jughead's attention as well as Pop's and Dottie's.

"What do we have here?" Pop walked around to the other side of the booth bending down to look inside the car seat. "Is this baby yours?" Pop asked curiously. Usually, Jughead would be annoyed by the question, but he could tell that Pop meant no harm.

"He is," Jughead nodded lowering the blanket so that they could see him a little better.

"He is adorable," Dottie smiled and sighed when she heard her name being called from across the diner. "I will be back for your order," she told him and went to see to the people who needed her.

"Dottie is right. He is handsome, but don't tell her I said that," he whispered to Jughead. "I will never hear the end of it." Pop looked up to the front when the bell rang, and he nodded to the newcomers. "I am afraid that I must tend to my other customers. I will tell FP that you are here," he offered Jughead. "Welcome back." He repeated, walking away from the table.

A few minutes later, FP came out from the back and sat down in the booth across from Jughead. "I was wondering when you were coming in," he said with a tired sigh.

"I had to make a pit stop," Jughead told him taking a sip of his coffee. "Or I would have been here sooner."

"You drink coffee now?" Fp questioned eyeing the cup as Jughead set it down.

"Can't live without it," Jughead sighed looking around the diner. "Is it always busy like this?" he wondered.

"It's only like this because it's Sunday and lunchtime," Fp explained. "It depends on the time of day. Have you ordered yet?"

"No. I don't know what I want," Jughead told him just as Dottie returned to the table with her notepad and refilled Jughead's cup of coffee.

"Have you decided yet?"

"Dottie, we will have two cheeseburgers with a double side of onion rings, and two chocolate shakes," FP told her. Dottie nodded and went to turn in the new order. "Just to warn ya, these cheeseburgers are like crack. You are hooked with one bite. It used to be your favorite when you were little."

"I do love cheeseburgers," Jughead laughed as he fell silent as his thoughts turned to his latest car trouble.

"What's on your mind?"

Jughead shrugged his shoulders. "Just thinking about everything," he breathed lowering his head into his hand. "Do you know where I can go and have my car looked at?"

"There is a garage just around the corner from here," Fp answered pointing to his left. "Just beyond the tracks a ways. Why? What is going on with your car?"

"My fuel gauge isn't working right. It's gone out on me before," Jughead explained. "It says it is on full when I know it is empty, but I haven't been anywhere to get gas."

"I have," Fp said as Dottie returned to their table with two plates of piping hot food. The smell of the burger made Jughead's mouth water.

"You boys enjoy these and I will bring you your shakes," Dottie smiled and disappeared once again.

"Mmmm," Jughead hummed taking a bite out of an onion ring. "They don't have anything like this back home," he said and then the words Fp had just spoken sank into his brain. 'Wait, you have? When?

"The other day while you two were sleeping," Fp replied with a shrug. "It also has four brand new tires on it as well. I noticed when I brought your stuff in that your old tires were looking a little bald, and getting there, I needed gas."

Jughead swallowed his food roughly. "You didn't have to do that," he told him as he didn't know how to process this new information.

"Sure, I did. I couldn't have my grandson driving around in a car that isn't safe. One of those tires were ready to blow out," Fp said, and Pop Tate came up to the table with their shakes.

"Two chocolate shakes. One for the kid and one for the grandpa."

"Grandpa?" Fp huffed. "I reckon you saw the kid over there?" he asked Pop.

"Sure did," Pop nodded. "I will see you guys later," he said turning around to walk back to the front. "Grandpa," he chuckled as he went. The bell rang again, and Pop's voice floated through the place.

Fp looked to Jughead. "Didn't your mom ever do stuff like that for you?" he asked.

Jughead had to put his burger down and looked to his dad. "If you didn't get it yourself, you didn't get it," he answered sourly. "If you didn't need it, you didn't get it," he finished. Jughead looked down at his food, and for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel like eating.

Poor Jughead...

More is one the way! Maybe in the next few days. I have had a lot of inspiration arise for this story and it has grown into something a little bigger than an average day story of mine.

Later.