AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey there everyone! I hope you're all enjoying these Emotional Family reunions so far :) Now there's only two reunions left to go and next up it's Joy's turn to meet her parents!
Now seeing as this is Joy and we all know how hyper she can get when she's really excited…then again, when isn't Joy super excited? It's like she's permanently stuck in party mode! Anyway what I mean to say is expect lots of crazy hyper energy in this reunion! You'll probably feel tired after reading this chapter purely from Joy's exuberance!
Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed up till now :) You guys are awesome and I really appreciate your wonderful feedback!
I want to give a special thanks to Tripledent – your reviews have inspired some of the content in this chapter, (you suggested that Joy should play her accordion when she meets her parents as well as noting that she must have been quite a handful as a baby…I can assure you she is very much still a handful as you shall see!)
I hope I managed to portray her character well in this. I have done my best and this is how I imagine a reunion with the Joy Family might play out…
Once again it's time to reveal some secret names…and as you probably can guess from the previous three reunions, Joy and her parents all have names beginning with the letter "J".
Enjoy everyone :)
Svinorita.
Chapter 12.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon in late summer and the Andersen family had ordered some Chinese takeout for dinner.
As Jill cleared the table after their meal, her husband; Bill walked into the room after watching the evening news and announced casually, "I've just checked the weather forecast and they are predicting only a few more nice days remain this week before the rain sets in."
Jill and Riley both gave him questioning looks as Bill beamed at them happily, his broad smile betraying the fact that he was about to share another "brilliant" idea with them.
"So I was wondering, if you girls don't have any other plans for tonight…"
He trailed off deliberately, his smile growing broader as he let them stew in suspense for a few seconds.
Finally, Bill pointed to himself dramatically and proclaimed, "Then your Special Event Organizer Extraordinaire here, may have some suggestions up his sleeve for some Friday family fun!"
Jill held up her hand in a blatant gesture to quell her husband's enthusiasm.
"Now you just hold on there handsome…" She opposed mockingly.
She wrapped an arm around Riley and declared, "You always get to pick our pre-weekend family activities! This time we girls have decided what we're going to do tonight!"
She narrowed her eye at Bill. "And whether you like it or not Mr. Extraordinaire, you are going to go with the flow!"
Jill glanced over at Riley and winked knowingly at her. Riley smiled back excitedly, realizing where her mother was going with this offer…
Jill looked back at her husband and stated, "These girls want to have some fun! So we've decided that we'd like to go to the summer carnival!"
Bill couldn't hide his disappointment as he gave his wife a wounded look. "Oh is that so girls? You know I had something else planned for us…"
"Well tough!" Jill exclaimed stubbornly. "Whatever it was, you had better shelve that idea for now because our minds have already been made! Isn't that right Riley?"
Riley nodded eagerly at her mother. "Absolutely!"
She shot her dad an apologetic shrug. "Sorry dad. But the carnival will be in town for only a few more days and mom and I really want to go!"
Jill nodded in agreement. "That's right! We feel like going on some rides and eating popcorn and cotton candy…and if you've still got what it takes Mr. Sharp-shooter, maybe you could win us some stuffed animals in the skilled shooter game?"
Bill crossed his arms and glared smugly at his wife. "Oh, is that a challenge Jilly?"
Finally he nodded in consent, a devilish smile on his face as he bragged, "You're on girls! Let's do it! By the time tonight is over, I am going to fill this whole house with stuffed animals!"
XXX
While the Andersen's were getting ready to go to the carnival, inside Riley's Headquarters a tug-of-war was taking place amongst her Emotions as they fought for control over the console. Everybody was trying their best to keep Joy away from the buttons and levers, as they feared that her hyperactive energy might cause Riley to have a heart attack from over-excitement!
As if the thrill of meeting her parents tonight wasn't enough to make Joy bounce off the walls from sheer exuberance, Riley's mom announced that the family were off to the carnival, the result of which was the same as throwing accelerant onto a raging bonfire!
Upon hearing that wonderful news, Joy's enthusiasm had soared to a whole new level of hyper!
The yellow Emotion was squealing with delight and running around the room like a kid on the mother of all sugar highs and the other Emotions were at their wits' ends with trying to calm down their ecstatic leader!
Even Anger, who had tried to keep his temper under control all day because he knew how special tonight was for his yellow coworker, finally couldn't contain his agitation any longer.
"Holy popcorn Joy!" He yelled as he intercepted the laughing yellow projectile racing towards him at full speed. A small flicker of flames ignited on his head as he grabbed her by the arms and shook her firmly.
"Shouldn't you be focusing on getting ready to meet your parents? We can manage things at the console without your input right now!"
Joy beamed at him like a maniac and cupped his face in her hands.
"Get ready you say? HA! I was practically born ready! All I need to do is grab my accordion and I'm all good to go!" She exclaimed.
With that she planted a kiss on Anger's stunned face and twisted out of his grip nimbly. Laughing with jubilation, Joy performed several cartwheels in quick succession across the room, her energetic tumbling so impressive that it would have made an Olympic gymnast look like an amateur!
Meanwhile in the outside world, the Andersen's were already at the carnival and Bill had a deep frown of concentration on his face as he aimed a cork gun directly at a sweet-looking Betty Boop plush at the Sharp-shooter game.
Riley was standing beside him, her eye trained on the same plush toy and a weapon in her own hand as she went up against her father to decide who the better marksman (or marksgirl) was. Jill was standing off to the side egging her daughter on with encouragement.
Inside Headquarters, the Emotions had all gathered around the console in anticipation, ready to help Riley win against her old man. Unfortunately, in their eagerness to assist Riley, they had temporarily forgotten about Joy, who was still jumping and dancing around the room with as much exuberance as ever…
Suddenly, just as Bill was about to pull the trigger and nail Betty Boop, Joy bounded up to the console and slammed her hand enthusiastically on the controls, hitting several buttons at once before the other Emotions could stop her.
This resulted in Riley lurching sideways clumsily and bumping into her dad at the exact moment he pulled the trigger on the cork weapon. The pellet shot past Betty Boop and nailed a big grinning Bugs Bunny toy right between the eyes, knocking him clean off his perch and leaving Betty unscathed.
Bill groaned irritably and snapped, "Riley! Look what you did! You messed up my shot!"
Back in Headquarters, Disgust turned to face Joy with a scowl as she mirrored Mr. Andersen's words. "Joy! Look what you've done! I had Riley aiming at Betty Boop, and thanks to you, Bill won us Bugs Bunny instead!"
Joy laughed dismissively, doing her best Bugs Bunny impersonation as she answered, "Eh…what's up doc? There's nothing wrong with Mr. Wabbit!"
XXX
After a couple of hours at the carnival, the Andersen's decided that it was time to head home. They had enjoyed a fun family evening, going on rides and eating popcorn and cotton candy until all three had gotten tummy aches.
During the drive home, Jill turned to her daughter and whispered, "It's a good thing that your father didn't live up to his sharp-shooting potential and win us many prizes. Now we don't have to worry about rearranging the furniture to make room for all his trophies!"
Riley giggled and replied, "Yeah! All he got was a giant Bugs Bunny!"
She narrowed her eyes and taunted, "Which begs the question…who gets to keep the rabbit?"
Bill scoffed from the driver's seat. "Oh very funny! If you hadn't knocked into me young lady, we could have won Betty Boop instead!"
He shook his head. "Anyway it doesn't matter. The most important thing is that we all enjoyed ourselves! But if you girls can't decide on who gets custody of the bunny, then why don't we put him up in the study where everyone can enjoy him?" He offered lightly.
Riley smiled back happily at her father. "Yeah that sounds fair. I think we should do that…"
XXX
One hour later, after Bugs was settled into his new home and everyone had showered and changed, Riley and her parents retired to bed to sleep off their junk food binges and recover from all the thrills and excitement of the day.
Up in Headquarters, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness all held their breaths as Joy skipped up to the Recall Tube with her accordion in tow. Before exiting Headquarters and heading to Family Island, Joy turned around and waved energetically at her weary coworkers.
"That's all folks!" She declared happily. "At least for the rest of you it is…I'm off to meet my folks!"
She turned to the Recall Tube and stepped inside, her voice trailing off as the suction drew her upwards. "Mommy! Daddy! Here I come! Yippeeee!"
As soon as she was gone, the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
Disgust yawned loudly. "Finally! Some peace and quiet! I'm exhausted from watching her jumping around all day!" She commented.
Sadness nodded, giving a silent yawn in response. "We better go and get some sleep before Joy comes back and tells us all about how wonderful her family reunion was…"
Anger grunted and quipped, "I'm not exactly a new age kind of guy, but after all that hyper-excitement I think I need to meditate to calm myself down before I can get any sleep!"
With that, the three Emotions walked out of the room wearily, leaving poor Fear behind to take Dream Duty. The purple Emotion grumbled something under his breath about how unfair it was that he was stuck doing Dream Duty tonight when he was just as exhausted as the others!
Without even bothering to make himself a cup of tea, he collapsed on the sofa and gazed tiredly at the monitor.
Apparently Dream Productions had been inspired by Riley's trip to the carnival, and particularly in her prize, as they were currently showing some Looney Toons cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd…
Fear gave a relieved sigh and closed his eyes as he curled up comfortably on the couch. It didn't look like Riley would be getting any nightmares tonight…how could she after such a fun and exciting day?!
Seizing the chance to catch some much needed rest himself, Fear decided he had at least 2-3 hours to sleep before Hurricane Joy comes back and wakes everyone up with her eagerness to tell them all about her experience with meeting her parents…
XXX
Meanwhile on Family Island…
The atmosphere was similar to that leading up to New Year's count down! And the moment Momma and Papa Joy reunited, there was certainly no shortage of Emotional fireworks!
The two parent Emotions made their ways towards the center of the Island from opposite directions. As papa Joy walked up the hill overlooking the parkland that was the heart of Family Island, his breath was taken away by the beauty he saw waiting for him near the big willow.
Momma Joy looked up at the beaming face of her long lost husband and she felt as though her heart would burst from happiness at the sight of him.
In the blink of an eye, the two Emotions ran towards each other, arms open wide and massive smiles of euphoria on their faces.
They fell into each other's loving embraces, laughing and shedding tears of joy (literally!) at the overwhelming feeling of being reunited after twelve years apart.
Finally, Momma Joy pulled away gently and cupped her husband's beaming golden face in her hands as she gave him about a million kisses in her enthusiasm.
"Oh Julius!" She whispered in between smothering him with kisses. "My Caesar of Love! I have missed you so much!"
Papa Joy (Julius) laughed happily, pulling away slightly from his wife's warm embrace, his face now covered with lipstick marks from her frenzied kissing.
"Ah Juliet! My one and only love!" He said cheerfully as he ran his fingers through her soft brown hair fondly.
"If I could, I would sweep you into my arms and carry you all the way to Verona! Then we could sit on a balcony and laugh as some poor Romeo tries to get your attention!"
Momma Joy (Juliet) giggled like a smitten schoolgirl and gazed into Julius' blue eyes with adoration.
"Oh we'd laugh all right! There's not a Romeo charming enough in the whole world who could win me over…"
She smiled fondly and stroked his blue hair as she whispered, "Because my heart has already been conquered by this Caesar of Love!"
Julius nodded proudly, his eyes sparkling with admiration as he took Juliet by the hand and spun her around playfully.
"Hey you know what?" He announced as Juliet giggled at his antics, her happiness making the golden aura surrounding her glow brighter than ever.
"Why don't we sing our special song? You remember the one Juliet? It was the song we sang to each other the night we first met?"
Before Juliet could answer, Julius started singing, doing his best to imitate Sonny's voice: "Baby…I got you babe…!"
Juliet smiled warmly and joined in, making her voice sound like Cher's as she sang along with gusto: "Cause you got me and baby I got you…"
They looked into each other's eyes and launched into the chorus together: "Baby…I got you babe!"
All of a sudden, the two Emotions were accompanied by some accordion music playing in tune to their singing. Whipping around eagerly, the proud parents got their first look at their daughter, as Joy skipped up to them whilst playing her accordion energetically, the biggest smile either of them had ever seen spread across her cheerful yellow face.
Juliet felt her heart beating rapidly as an overpowering sensation of love flowed through her at the sight of her smiling, happy little girl.
"There she is Julius!" The proud Momma breathed to her husband, her voice full of adoration as Joy stopped in front of them, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement as she looked at her parents.
"Meet our precious little Jewel! Our sparkly, gorgeous gem has arrived!"
Juliet opened her arms invitingly, tears of happiness flowing down her face as she called, "Come here baby! Give your Momma a hug!"
Joy gave a squeal of delight and dropping her accordion, she ran into her mother's warm embrace, her whole body trembling from happiness as she began jabbering excitedly, "Momsy! You are so pretty! You smell really good! Oh wow! Your shine is so bright…!"
Juliet laughed and kissed her daughter's shiny blue hair as Joy prattled on like a machine gun about how awesome her mother is.
"Okay…Okay sweetie…calm down…" Juliet urged as she tried to quell her daughter's hyper-excitement long enough to admire her closely.
Joy reined in her enthusiasm a little and squeezed her mother tightly. Juliet gave a surprised grunt from the strength of Joy's hug.
"Jewel…? Jewel! Momma can't breathe sweetheart…!" She wheezed breathlessly.
Joy released her embrace and looked apologetically into her mother's eyes. "Oh sorry Mommy! I'm just so excited to see you!"
Juliet smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair playfully. "I know my little Jewel! I love you so much sweetie!"
She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against Joy's, making her burst out with laughter.
"AHEM!"
Mother and daughter stopped their cheerful greeting and turned to see Julius, who had a mock frown on his face as he cleared his throat and ventured, "Do you think you have any hugs left for your good old dad Jewel?"
Joy (Jewel) smiled reassuringly and pounced on her father like a tigress, wrapping him in a warm embrace.
"Of course Daddyo! I never run out of those!" She exclaimed as she squeezed her father tightly.
Unlike Juliet, Julius didn't seem to mind having the life crushed out of him by Joy's ecstatic hug and he returned her gesture with equal gusto, all the while showering her head and face with kisses.
After several moments, the father Emotion pulled away gently and, placing one hand on Joy's back and the other behind her knees, he swept her off her feet and tossed her high into the air. Joy squealed in delight as he caught her safely. She remembered Bill playing this game with Riley when she was a baby and now her father was doing the exact same thing with her!
"Whoohoo! Yes! Do that again Daddy! Higher! Higher!" she chanted as Julius gathered his strength and tossed her into the air again, catching her safely and repeating the action a few more times.
"This is fun!" Joy exclaimed as she begged her father to do it again.
As much as Julius enjoyed seeing his daughter having fun, he was beginning to get tired. After all, this game is usually played with infants...and Jewel was not a baby anymore! He couldn't ignore the fact that his arms were starting to tire and he didn't want to accidentally drop her!
So after a few more throws, Julius gave his daughter a regretful look and put her down gently.
In a slightly out-of-breath voice he puffed, "If I throw you any higher Jewel, the stars might catch you and then you'd have to stay in the sky and become their queen! Plus your old dad is not quite in his prime anymore…I'm afraid that I'm not as strong as I used to be."
Joy nodded in understanding and kissed her father on the cheek affectionately. "That's okay Daddy! I still think you're awesome!"
With that, Joy laughed and started doing some cartwheels around her parents out of sheer happiness.
Julius turned to his wife and whispered admirably, "Juliet, you picked the perfect name for this sparkly little gem!"
Juliet nodded proudly. "Well that was easy! From the moment she was born, our girl reminded me of a precious Jewel!" She explained.
She laughed at Joy's playful antics as she cartwheeled past her, giving her a high-five with her foot as she tumbled past, giggling the whole time.
Juliet looked back at her husband. "There are jewels for love and jewels for anniversaries. They come in all colors of the rainbow…red, green, blue, and so many more…"
She gazed lovingly at Joy as she finally came to a stop in front of her folks with an enthusiastic, "TA DA!"
Reaching out her hand, the mother Emotion stroked Joy under her chin and said, "But this is the brightest, happiest Jewel of them all! I think it's very fitting, don't you honey?"
Joy clapped her hands in elation. "Oh it is! It is fitting and I love it! I love it! I love it!"
She dashed from her mother to her father and back again as she gave each high-speed hugs and kisses.
Suddenly she stopped as her eye fell on her accordion, still lying on the ground where she'd dropped it earlier. With a whoop of delight, Joy bent down and scooped it up excitedly.
"Hey! Do you guys want me to play my accordion for you?"
Without waiting for an answer, Joy began playing the tune from "Don't worry…be happy!"
Her parents looked on with admiration, nodding their heads to the music as they relished their daughter's skill and enthusiasm with that odd instrument.
Suddenly the melody changed as Joy switched to playing "If you're happy and you know it…"
Then midway through the song, she started belting out a couple of polka-sounding melodies which got her parents dancing along to the catchy beat.
After about half an hour of music and dancing, Julius and Juliet both sat down under the willow, feeling a little overwhelmed by their daughter's energy and vigor. Regardless, their eyes were filled with pride as they watched Joy twirling and dancing gracefully before them, their hearts feeling as though they would burst from love and happiness!
Julius smiled fondly. "Oh, sweetheart! You are such a talented little musician!" He praised.
Jewel laughed and agreed in a cheerful voice, "Yes I am! I am!"
Then, fixing her parents with a fond look, she began making up a song on the spot especially for them: "I love my Mommy! I love my Daddy! My mom is a queen. My dad is a king. And we all can sing…"
Joy's parents looked at each other and exchanged a nod as they joined in with their daughter's singing, "We bring joy to each and to all!"
Joy beamed with excitement as she put down her accordion and remarked, "Hey, maybe we should form a band or something!"
Julius chuckled lightly at this suggestion. "What a wonderful concept my little Jewel!"
He looked away and sighed sadly. "Unfortunately we can't stay together all the time sweetheart…we each need to help bring joy to the lives of our hosts. Without us, they could never experience happiness!"
For the first time tonight, Joy felt a twinge of sadness surface in her otherwise upbeat mood.
"Oh right…" She mumbled as she remembered the time she and Sadness were lost in the Mind World and Riley was left without joy in her life. She could never put her host through something like that again…
Julius noticed his daughter's sudden decline in cheerfulness and he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "But now that we know how, we can meet here again from time to time!"
He smiled warmly at her and ruffled her hair playfully, causing Joy to giggle and push the sad thoughts out of her mind.
"And from now on, we can sing the song you created for us whenever we're feeling a little down! It could be like the Joy Family Anthem!"
Joy looked into her father's kind blue eyes and smiled in appreciation. "Yeah, that's a great idea! Let's do that!"
Juliet watched the father/daughter bonding moment with fondness, her heart swelling with pride at the sight of her family. She waited patiently for a few minutes before leaning towards Joy and whispering excitedly, "I made you a little gift Jewel! Something small to remember me by…I hope you like it!"
Joy rubbed her hands together in anticipation as her mother reached into a hidden pocket of her dress and pulled out a beautiful little bracelet.
Smiling, she handed the bracelet to her daughter, who accepted it with trembling fingers. It was made of many colorful beads strung together, all of them depicting various symbols associated with happiness: there was a yellow smiley face, a little sun, a star, a flower, a butterfly and a love heart amongst other things.
Joy gave a cheerful laugh and hugged her mother gratefully. "I love it! I love it! Oh thank you Mommy! It's so beautiful!"
She turned to her father and showed her present to him excitedly. "Look Daddy! Oh wait till I get back to Headquarters…Disgust is going to be so jealous!"
Julius nodded his head in agreement. "It sure is beautiful Jewel! Your mother can turn anything she touches into beauty and joy!"
He gave his wife a look of pure admiration. Juliet blushed and looked away shyly, a small smile of appreciation on her lips.
Meanwhile, Joy put on her new bracelet and held her arm out in front of her, admiring the way her mother's gift caught the moonlight and reflected it into tiny glittering diamonds of light, so that now she really did sparkle like a Jewel!
Julius watched his daughter fondly, a broad smile appearing on his face as he ducked behind a row of bushes and retrieved the gift he had hidden there earlier. Now he felt it was the right time to present his daughter with a little surprise of his own…
Joy was still admiring her bracelet when she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw the smiling face of her father as he stood before her, his hands hiding something behind his back.
"I also have a little gift for you sweetheart! It's nowhere near as great as your mother's present, but I think you'll enjoy it…"
He trailed off and chuckled softly, causing Joy to bounce up and down expectantly.
"Oh what is it? What is it? Show me Daddy!" She chanted excitedly as Julius revealed the small box of chocolates he'd been hiding behind his back.
"You see, I've always had a bit of a sweet-tooth and I thought that you might have inherited a similar trait from me?"
He offered her the box and said, "So I decided to bring you a box of my favorite chocolates!"
Joy clapped her hands and did a little jig on the spot from unbridled happiness. "Oh I love it! That's awesome!"
She accepted the gift eagerly, never taking her eyes off the box as she asked her dad, "Can I start eating them now? Please?!"
Julius nodded and was about to reply, but Joy didn't bother waiting for an answer. Like an over-excited child at a birthday party, she ripped the packaging apart and proceeded to stuff her face shamelessly.
"Yummo, Yummo, Yum, Yum!" she commentated in between mouthfuls, her parents laughing at her enthusiasm.
Within seconds, Joy had polished off the whole box. She gave a loud burp of satisfaction, which only made her parents laugh harder.
"Oh! Pardon me!" Joy apologized, giving them an innocent shrug. "Those where delicious Daddy! I wish I had some more…"
Julius gave her a wink and tapped the side of his nose with a finger. "You know Jewel, I just might be able to make your wish come true…"
Joy looked on with ever mounting elation as her father ducked back behind the bushes and produced another box of chocolates!
He handed her the box, his voice sounding a little sheepish as he admitted, "You see, I wasn't sure if I should be expecting one or two little bundles of joy when I arrived here tonight…"
He shrugged. "So I decided to bring two boxes…just in case!"
Joy snatched the box from his hands and started ripping off the packaging with as much vigor as before. "Wow! Thanks Daddy! You really are the greatest!"
Before she could get stuck into the second box of chocolates, Juliet stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, concern in her voice as she ventured, "Sweetie? Don't you want to save some of those for later? I wouldn't want you to give yourself a stomach ache…"
Joy looked up at her mother, her blue eyes full of mischief and replied, "No way! If I take these back to Headquarters, Disgust will want to eat them herself!"
With that, Joy turned her attention back to her prize and resumed stuffing her face eagerly.
Juliet leaned towards her husband and whispered in his ear, "Julius honey? Couldn't you have kept that second box hidden? I really don't think our daughter needs any more sugar…at this rate, we'll be dragging ourselves back to our hosts on all fours by the end of the night!"
Julius smiled and shook his head dismissively. "Oh come on Juliet! Look at her! She's having the time of her life!"
He gestured to Joy, who had just about finished the second box and was now rubbing off the chocolate smudges from around her mouth with the back of her hand.
Juliet gave a sigh of resignation and nodded slowly. "I guess you're right honey…I love seeing our little girl so happy! I am so proud of her Julius!"
"So am I Juliet! So am I…" Julius agreed, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders as they both watched their daughter lovingly.
After a few minutes, Joy had finished cleaning off her face from her chocolate binge and fixed her parents with a radiant smile.
"Okey dokey! That's what I'm talking about!"
She threw one arm around her mother's neck and the other around her dad's, kissing them each on the cheek in turn as she declared, "I love you Momsy! I love you Daddyo!"
Then she grabbed them both by the hands and started pulling them into the clearing, her face beaming with delight as she announced chirpily, "Now let's dance!"
The parent Emotions gave each other weary looks as they allowed their excitable daughter to drag them along. Despite the fact that they were all Joy Emotions, Julius and Juliet were both beginning to feel a little drained towards the end of the night.
Their daughter on the other hand, showed no signs of tiring. In fact, it appeared to them that Jewel could keep up her playful antics endlessly!
And they really didn't want to spoil her fun…
So without complaint, the tired parents spent the next hour dancing with their lovely daughter, their laughter rolling off the hills of Family Island and echoing around the Mind World.
XXX
By now it was well after midnight. Julius and Juliet both collapsed on the grass in exhaustion, as Joy kept dancing with as much energy as ever.
She bounded up to her parents and pulled them by the arms.
"Come on you guys! Let's dance some more…" She coaxed cheerfully.
"Oh we'd love to sweetheart…but it's getting late and we should be returning to our hosts soon." Julius panted, sweat drenching his blue hair as he gave his daughter an apologetic look.
Juliet tried to catch her breath, her chest heaving from overexertion as she gasped, "But we want you to know that we both adore you more than anything else in this world Jewel! You fill our lives with even more joyfulness!"
"If that's possible for Joy Emotions like us?!" She added with a cheerful laugh.
Joy helped her parents to their feet and drew them together into a massive family hug. "I love you both so much too! You are the best parents in the whole world and I will never forget this night for as long as I live!"
The three Emotions relished each other's embrace, their combined golden auras shining so brightly, that Family Island could be seen glowing like a midnight sun from Headquarters!
Then with a few departing kisses, they said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Julius and Juliet dragged themselves to their respective hosts' Headquarters with aching feet. But both had huge smiles on their faces, their hearts filled with pure love for each other and their sparkly, happy Jewel…
As Jewel made her way along the path leading back to Headquarters, she began playing her accordion, skipping in time with the lively and uplifting melody as she pictured the smiling faces of her parents in her mind. In a cheerful voice, she sang the song she had made up with her family during their reunion, (the Joy Family Anthem as her father; Julius had called it) all the way home.