Tracey came home after a night out on the town with her friends to find her Dad passed out on the couch, empty glass on the floor beside him...empty whiskey bottle beside that. She shook her head...this was starting to become a familiar scene every night. He had always liked to drink, it had driven her Mom nuts that he would just grab a glass and go sit out by the pool and listen to Phil Collins all day. It had been different since she left though. It wasn't just a drink here or there throughout the day, now it was more surprising if there was a time she DIDN'T see him with a whiskey bottle in hand...or at least nearby.

"Dad..." she said as she shook his shoulder, "Daddy wake up...come on."

"mmph," he moaned into the fabric of the couch.

"Tracey?" he mumbled as he tried to open his eyes and keep them open. "What are you doing sweetheart? What time is it?"

She rolled her eyes as he slurred his words.

"It's time for you to get off the couch and go to bed. Don't you ever get tired of drinking so much?"

"Shouldn't that be my line to you?" he asked with a frown as he tried to pull himself up into a sitting position.

"Not that you're ever sober enough to know, but I ACTUALLY don't drink much. Well...I mean...I do but not all the time like you."

"Yeah well...you and I...we drink for different reasons sweetheart," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to ease the pain that had already started to chase away the numbness of the alcohol.

"And what's that daddy? I know why I drink...but what about you? Are you trying to kill yourself?" she said as she crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"What? No! I mean...if I was going to do that I would just go..."

"Stop!" she interrupted him abruptly, "don't even finish that sentence. The fact that you've even thought enough about it to know what you WOULD do is something that you shouldn't tell your daughter Dad! Please tell me you're not serious!"

"Tracey...I'm not going to kill myself sweetheart. I just...the drinking...the alcohol just numbs everything for a while...ya know? Makes everything hurt a little less."

Tracey just looked at her dad with sad eyes..."Why don't you do something about it then Daddy? Why don't you just go talk to Mom? I know you guys are both messed up but you can figure this out!"

Michael let out a bitter laugh..."If only it was that easy Trace...unfortunately there's a lot of other stuff at play here."

"Like what Dad? Fabian? He's not even in the picture anymore! Oh he keeps trying alright. Mom told me that he keeps calling her, wanting her to move in with him..."

"Yeah I'll just bet he does" Michael interrupted with a roar.

"The point is that she hasn't and she's not going too Dad," Tracey said with another roll of her eyes. "She doesn't want to move in with him, she doesn't want anything to do with him."

"Well that's a first..." Michael mumbled under his breath.

"Ugh...you guys are such idiots..." Tracey said in exasperation.

"Watch your mouth kid...I'm still your father."

"Well you are! Suck it up and be a dad then! You say there's a lot of other things at play but the only thing at play is your pride! Mom's too! You both know you screwed up and you both are miserable but neither one of you wants to be the one that goes to the other and apologizes! It's no wonder Jimmy and I are so screwed up!"

"Speaking of Jimmy...he's gone you know. Decided he'd be better off with your Mother so he took off..." Michael abruptly changed subjects as he laid his head against the back of the couch.

"Nice try in changing the subject Dad. Yeah...he texted me when he was on his way over there."

"You gonna leave too? Might as well make it a trifecta," Michael said as he threw a hand up in the air in frustration.

"Why do you do that? Push everyone away I mean," Tracey said as she stood up and started to pace in front of him. "I'm not going anywhere, besides I wouldn't dare leave you alone even if I wanted too."

Michael leaned forward, slowly nodding his head.

"Good...I...I'm glad Trace...I don't think I could handle another one" he said so softly she almost didn't hear him.

"Another what Daddy?"

"Another person I love leaving me."

Her heart broke a little for the man that frustrated her more than anyone she knew but was also the one that she knew she could count on whenever she needed him. She always had been a daddy's girl...she didn't know why. There had just always been a bond there, a connection that she couldn't explain. Oh she adored her mother too, even if she didn't always act like it. She even liked her brother a little...ok maybe she loved him too when he wasn't being an annoying little brat. Her father had always been the one she was closest to though. He'd always been the one she had wanted to impress, the one she wanted to make proud.

She sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She thought she was surprised when he actually leaned into her hug, but she was definitely way more surprised when she felt his shoulders shake a little and looked down to see a tear trickling down his cheek. Wow...well this was one positive about him consuming so much alcohol...he talked about things he normally wouldn't talk about and showed emotion that he normally wouldn't show.

She knew one thing though, she was going to try to bring her family back together if it was the last thing she did. She didn't know how or when but she was determined to try. Everyone was always telling her that she was a master manipulator, she smiled to herself as she held her father, maybe that would work out to her advantage this time.

Two months had passed and Tracey was no closer to figuring out how she was going to pull this off.

What I really need to do is make one of them so worried about the other that they'll forget about their pride and themselves for a minute and focus on the other, she thought to herself with a smile. She had intentionally stayed with a friend for the last couple of days so she could set this up. She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Mom...have you heard from Dad? I haven't heard from him in a couple of days and I'm starting to get a little worried!"

"What? Aren't you at the house? Has he been there alone? Have you tried calling him?" Her Mother's words came out in a rush.

"Whoa Mom...slow down. Of course I'm at the house, well not at this exact moment. I'm living there though but I've been hanging out a lot with friends the last couple of days so I haven't been home much. I tried calling him but he didn't answer," she said with a smirk as she tried to insert just the right amount of worry and fear into her voice.

"Mom do you think you could try calling him? Maybe he'd answer for you!"

"Oh honey, you know better than that. If he was going to ignore anyone's phone calls, it would be mine." her Mother replied.

Tracey sighed in frustration...this was more difficult than she thought it was going to be.

"What's going on?" she heard Jimmy yell in the background over the noise of the tv.

"Your Dad is missing...he won't answer any of your sister's calls," their Mother informed him.

"Well maybe he just drank so much that he passed out in an alley somewhere," Jimmy replied.

"Hellllooooo..." Tracey called out loudly on the phone, "I'm still here...the one you're having a conversation with...remember?"

"Sorry sweetheart," her Mother sounded stressed, "I'm just worried about your Dad."

"Good! It's about time someone else other than me acted like they cared about him for a change."

"I never stopped caring Tracey, you know that. It's just...your father he's...never mind. It doesn't matter right now. I'll...ugh...Trevor's calling again."

"Uh what? Uncle Trevor's calling? He's calling YOU?" Tracey was shocked.

"I was just as shocked trust me. This is actually the second time, he called earlier today too. Oh my g...I'm going to call him back Tracey...maybe it's about your Father. Maybe he knows something!" Her Mother sounded scared now.

Tracey was actually starting to feel a little scared herself. This was all part of her plan except for Trevor...anytime her Uncle was involved everything got a little more unpredictable. The fact that he was actually calling her Mom made her a little nervous. To say they did not get along would have been the understatement of the year. She set her phone down beside her and started chewing on a fingernail nervously.