Jenny yawned and approached the door to her apartment, which had been knocking for several minutes now. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" she belted out. It was getting late, and she had meetings to go to tomorrow.

She opened the door and gasped. "Samson?"

He barreled past her, looking around her living room, tapping his feet. "You could have called, Jen."

"Now, Sammy," a thin Caucasian woman said as she entered slowly.

Jenny turned to see her and smiled briefly. "Hi, Lena."

"I mean it, Jen," Samson continued, his voice filled with frustration. "I mean, I know Foster doesn't want to talk to us, but you could have called."

Jenny stared at him like he had completely lost his mind. "What are you talking about?"

Lena shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Sammy, hold on --."

"No, Lena!" he shouted. "I want to know why we weren't called!"

"Time!" Jenny barked, making the "time out" gesture. "I don't have the slightest idea what anyone's talking about, so let's handle this one step at a time. Why doesn't Foster want to talk to you, Samson?"

"He an' Bobby are having a zing," Lena whispered.

"For the eight-hundredth time, we are not having a thing!"

Jenny rubbed her forehead. It was too late at night to be dealing with this level of yelling. "Alright, step two: why would I need to call you?"

Samson gawked at her. "You don't think I love Foster enough to care that he's been mugged?"

Jenny flashed a look of puzzlement to Lena. "Mugged? When did this happen?"

"You don't even know?" Samson demanded in an accusatory tone.

Lena stepped between them and stretched out her arms. "Everyone, calm down."

"I will not calm --."

"It didn't happen, Sammy!" Lena blurted out in a panic. "Nothing is wrong with Foster!"

Samson glared at his ex-wife. "What?" he grumbled after a few moments of stunned silence.

Lena sighed and turned to Jenny. "I am so sorry, Jenny. I told 'im Foster was mugged because I was tired of seeing him wallow in his own self-pity at 'ome."

Samson sat down on the couch, breathless. "I was … I was not --."

"Yes, you were!" Lena shot back. "Everyone has been trying to make a diff'rence, except you. Zis is not the one I married, Sammy. My Sammy would have left ze 'ouse and not act like nothing was 'appening."

Samson stared at the floor. His voice was almost emotionless. "What do you want me to do, Lena? Hold the governor ransom until that asinine proposition gets repealed? Move the entire family to a more suitable country?" His voice began to waiver. "You're confusing me with Bobby, again."

Lena moved closer to speak, but Jenny stopped her and sat down beside Samson, speaking in a tender voice. "Samson, you don't have to do something melodramatic. Just be a family."

Samson chuckled. "I can't."

Jenny shook her head. "There are countless families in this country who aren't legal for one reason or another. Either they're illegal immigrants, they're polygamists, or … or they're gay. But they still exist. They take the risk because their families are worth more than anything."

Samson looked at her, pleadingly. "And you think I don't feel that way?"

Jenny smiled sadly. "I know you feel that way, Samson," she replied. "I feel that way too – but Foster has rejected me. Totally. Nothing I do makes him happy. Despite everything I've done, I know you can sympathize with the hurt I feel to be denied a chance at family. It doesn't only apply to people in your situation." She paused, pointing at herself. "I've lost my entire family: father, husband, and child. I have absolutely no one left. Only my friends can keep me company." She chuckled, tears welling up in her eyes. "And now with everyone's success, I don't even see them as often as I used to."

Lena, horrified, sat near Jenny on the floor, caressing Jenny's thigh. "I am so sorry, Jenny," she said. "Is zere anything we can do?"

Jenny shook her head and shrugged. "I'm afraid I'm giving up, Lena." She sniffled. "I'm just getting tired of the whole thing," she added softly.

Samson stared at Jenny in silence for a long time. No one else spoke, either. Finally, he asked quietly, putting an arm around Jenny, "Why didn't you call us?"

Jenny placed one hand on his arm and smiled. "You two have too much going on. I didn't want to add on to it."

"Jenny --."

"I've been thinking of moving, retiring from the rat race," Jenny said, interrupting Samson. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I was … going to let Foster keep the apartment as soon as he found a paying job. He's a bright kid. I'm sure he can keep it up." She paused. "I am empty, Samson." She glanced at Lena. "Everything that ever brought me joy has just been … nothing … lately."

"What about zerapy?" Lena asked, realizing that things were darker for Jenny than they thought.

Jenny shook her head. "I'm going to group, but everyone seems to be learning some trick to make things better. Foster refuses any of my suggestions. It's just not working. Even Rachel realizes it."

"Rachel?" Samson and Lena ask together.

Jenny nodded. "She's the owner of Bitterman Bank here in Manhattan. It got caught up in the real estate fiasco and we've butted heads more than a few times. I think she likes what's happening to me. She thinks it's justice."

Lena crossed her arms in indignation. "Sounds like she is a bitter ol' hag."

They heard keys fumbling outside the door. Jenny quickly wiped her eyes. She whispered desperately, "I don't want this conversation reaching Foster."

Foster entered and nearly gagged when he saw Samson and Lena in the living room. "Uh, what are you guys doing here?"

Lena, trying to push the conversation with Jenny out of her mind, smiled and leapt over to Foster, hugging and kissing him. "Oh, we just wanted to stop by an' say 'allo."

Foster chuckled and pushed her away playfully. "Right. You guys were just in the neighborhood, right?"

"Yeah," Samson replied slowly. "We wanted to see how things were going, son."

Foster shrugged sheepishly and smiled. "She totally digs me, Samson," he replied proudly. "I know I'm so the guy to fix all her problems."

Jenny cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Who?"

He told her, "She only knows her initials. Anyway, I gotta look up someone for her. She's looking for a friend of hers from the Class of 1980 here in New York. I guess she'll hang with her or something until she can get her own place." He pulled out his cellphone. "I've been web searching, and the only valedictorian I could find was some chick named Kinderman."

Jenny had a flash of recognition. "I know that name. It's Rachel's maiden name." She stood up. "Rachel brags about her high honors all the time."

Author's Note: In case anyone's forgotten, Foster, Samson, Bobby, Lena, and Arturo are from Tinseltown on Logo. Piggy and Kermit are from various Muppet properties, as is Jenny (she's from Muppets Take Manhattan) and Rachel Bitterman (from It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie) ... none of which I own.