"You got a job, really?" Lou jumped at Sam and hugged him happily. She, Drake and Sam met at the mall, like every Saturday morning. It was something that called Sam now weekly routine. He liked meeting with the two punks.

They were two really nice people and Sam enjoyed every moment with them.
"Whoa, girl, stay cool. You´re boyfriends around" Laughed Sam as he tried to push her gently away from him.

"Good work Dude." Drake walked towards him with his hand held up high ready for a high-five. Sam gazed confused at the hand and after making some hectically undefinable gestures he laid his hand on Drake´s hand.
"Uhm… Dude?"

"Yeah?" asked Sam still with his hand on Drake´s hand.
"You should just smack the hand, not touching it… got it?"
"Oh… uhm… yep… I think I understood" Sam put his hand a bit embarrassed back down.

The whole situation felt very awkward to him. They showed him so much happiness, joy and kindness… totally unusual for him. The normal reactions he got were 'You pissing people off!', 'Get off!' or 'What are you doing here?!' This was a really nice change to the already mentioned.

"Yes, I got a job. I will be the new servicing chief for the T.U.F.F. shuttle." He meant with his chest swollen in pride.
"Uhm… Sam. There is no T.U.F.F. shuttle anymore. It was destroyed after D.O.O.M. tried to take over the T.U.F.F. building two years ago. You probably don´t know that." Remarked Lou trying not to bring Sam down.

"I know that." Sam could remember this fight pretty well. He even watched it and it was pretty entertaining. D.O.O.M. had first shut the power down to get into the building. Then they switched the power back on, hacked the security system and used it against them.

The agents were in a desperate situation until the chief finally approved the plan to overload the shuttles engines what made them explode. That not just let T.U.F.F.´s intern power system collapse it also distracted Snaptrap and his henchman long enough that the T.U.F.F. agents could strike back and arrest them all.

Due to budget problems there wasn´t enough money to rebuy a shuttle.
"But they are building a satellite funded by the government… What I should not tell you because it´s top secret" completed Sam scratching the back of his head. "Uhm I also got this cool wristcom." He tried to change the subject by showing them the wrist of his hand.

"At least you finally have a job. Oh my god we are so proud of you Sam" meant Lou hugging Drake.
"Yeah, thanks Ma and Pa." mocked Sam. "Now let us change the subject. Are you two hungry? How about having breakfast? I still have some time before I have to go. Come on, I invite you two."

Sam wasn´t the only one on this morning that was already up. Dudley also had an important date which he would really like to avoid.
He took a deep breath as he stood in front of the door.

"This will be bad… really bad…" He thought the dialogue through, again and again. And the whole thing always led to the same standard phrase. 'Dudley, what have you done?' That was a standard phrase of his mother. Every time when he made a mess this sentence came from her.

And it didn´t make it better that broke off contact to her. Not on purpose of course, but after he got out of the prison and went on his little trip he either had no time to call her or the telephone network in the country was just too bad to call. Anyway, those were no excuses for his mother.

He would get the lecture of his life. There was no way to avoid that if he knocks at the door. But he had to do that. He owed her an explanation for his recent absence.
"Are you ready to visit your grandma?" Dudley asked Sarah who stood beside him holding his hand.

The little girl nodded happily. She was with him because of two reasons. First to mitigate the coming lecture and second to get her and Peg known to each other.
"Good, then let´s go." Dudley knocked the door three times. Every time waves of fear struck through his whole body. He just hated it when his mother was angry on him.

Surprising was for Dudley that not his mother opened the door but his brother.
"Stan?!"
"Oh look who came! Hey brother, what´s up… and who is this little cute girl with you?" Stan knelt down and offered Sarah his hand which she shook intimidated.

"Well… she is my daughter." Blurted Dudley out. Stan´s face suddenly froze while shaking Sarah´s hand. He stood up again and slapped himself.
"Sorry, my brain just stopped working. You said what?"
"She is my daughter."

Stan looked down at Sarah and then back at Dudley and began to grin. He raised his fist towards Dudley and expected that he would beat it.
"And why?" asked Dudley gazing at his brothers fist.

"You have a child so that means that you scor…"
"Really Stan?!" He covered Sarah´s ears quickly. "In front of the child?"
"Yeah sorry, that was a bit rash."

"Stan!" Peg´s voice called from inside of the house. "Who is this?"
"Dudley, Mom." Stan shouted annoyed back.
"So bad?" Dudley probed.

"Oh yeah. She wants to know anything! It feels like I have no more private life. How did you survive that?"
"I tried to stay at work extra long."
Peg now finally arrived at the door and hugged her long missed son.

"Dudley sweety, where have you been? And who is this little cutie here?" Before she could shake Sarah´s hand Dudley intervened.
"Mom, we will discuss that inside the house, okay?"

"Of course." A bit confused but happy she led Dudley and Sarah into the living room with its two couches and pictures on the wall.
"Hey kiddo, do you want to go and play with uncle Stanley?"

Again Sarah nodded happily and walked together with Stan upstairs who whispered something like. "Good luck Bro… good luck."
Now Dudley was alone with his mother and the pictures that hung around in the living room.

"Uncle Stanley?" asked Peg raising her eyebrow.
"Oh great, good start…"
"Dudley?"

"Okay Mom first, what have you already heard?"
"Nothing… What happened?" Peg became nervous because she didn´t know what Dudley meant.
"Okay, then I´ll tell you everything chronologically. First of all, Kitty and I broke off our engagement…"

"Oh Dudley, what have you done?" And there it was, the standard phrase.
"Mom the whole thing is complicated..."
"Of course it is! It´s never easy but you don´t have to throw everything away what you have! I mean…" Peg to talk herself into rage and Dudley usually wouldn´t dare interrupt her but as Peg said "That is just your fault, isn´t it?" He couldn´t resist anymore.

"THAT ISN´T JUST MY FAULT! I HAD TO DO WHAT I DID!" he jumped up from the couch.
"So and what you had to do?"
"I´m not allowed to talk about that, Mom." He sighed.

"Of course…" Peg shook her head. "It´s always the same. You disappear for a month and you are not allowed to talk about it. We think that you´re dead then you come back and then tell us the most stupid story I´ve ever heard because you are not allowed to talk about it. We once told us everything Dudley! What happened?"

"Times change." Replied Dudley coldly.
"So. Can you at least tell me who this little girl up there is? Or are you also not allowed to talk about that?"

Now the really sensitive part of the conversation began. The important thing was to do that with much sensitivity. Unfortunately Dudley had the sensitivity of a fragmentary bomb.
"That´s my daughter."

Peg gasped shocked for breath. She laid her hand on the chest and breathed more uncontrolled. Dudley scared that, it looked like his mother had a heart attack.
"Mom, calm down." He rushed to the other couch and sat down beside her.

"Dudley, what have you done?" And the second time, but Dudley hoped in that moment just that these weren´t her last words.
"Well, do you really want to know what I have done?"
"No but at least that explains why Kitty left you. You betrayed her!" she coughed regaining her breath.

"I haven´t betrayed her! That happened before the thing with me and Kitty began… Mom, I know that you´re angry now or confused or anything but please take it all out on me. And when you´re finished, get to know to your granddaughter."
Peg stood up from the couch and walked, giving Dudley a silent treatment, upstairs.

That was here way of punish him. In his childhood Dudley was a really talkative kid. So if his mother denied him a conversation it really wore him down. But now as an adult it wasn´t so bad anymore. As Peg walked upstairs Stan walked downstairs. He took the place Peg left beside his brother who buried his face exhausted in his hands.

"So bad?"
"Standard phrase… two times."
"Oww…" meant Stan who´s expression showed how Dudley felt. "That means that she won´t speak to you for about two weeks."

"That´s okay, I´m not in the mood to talk anyway."
"Of course, In your situation… I also wouldn´t like to talk. So… how do you feel?"
"I thought you understand that I not like to talk right now?"
"Of course I understand, but I doesn´t care." Grinned Stan mischievously.

Dudley sighed, it was 11 am and he felt tired like it was 11 pm.
"I´m afraid Stan" he finally admitted. "I´m scared about the future and don´t know what to do. I mean my relationship broke and I´m suddenly a father... And I don´t have any clue what I have to do. Damn, I don´t even have a clue if I could fit that role. And then the whole shit with Sam. I´m really really afraid."

"Who or what is this Sam thing anyway?" Stan wanted to know.
"That´s a long story. Including a dream, a now dead creature and a time travel."
Stan replied to that just with a confused look and decided to change the subject.

"Well Dudley, I don´t think that you can do much wrong with that girl. She´s really cute and smart, too. I think she could take better care of herself with her five years than you of yourself with your 28."

"You think so?"
"Yes" confirmed Stan laughing. "And about you and… uhm… Kitty, right?"
"Right."

"Well, there was something I always wondered about. How could you have a good relationship for five years. I mean I always bet that you wouldn´t make two weeks."

"It wasn´t always easy." Admitted Dudley. "But if you´ve found the right one and if you really want it there is always a way to get everything right. I can remember days when we were angry on each other for something stupid. We yelled at each other or even stopped talking. But all of our argument lasted always for just one day. We always went to bed without being angry at each other. It was crazy but it worked. And it was wonderful. And now it´s over."

"So much effort… Do you really want to throw that away. I mean that what you had, this relationship as crazy as it maybe was, really seems like one of the few things that is worth fighting. I mean do you want to throw that all away? I bet you haven´t talked to her yet."

"Yes…" said Dudley.
"Then please, go and fight for her. Life is a struggle you can´t always win but you can always fight."
"That´s exactly what Dad said… I mean would have said." He corrected himself fast. The talk between him and his father and the afterwards death of his father was something Dudley would never tell anyone from his family. It would be too much for them.

"I know. He always said that to me." Smiled Stan thinking about his Dad. "So Dudley. It´s up to you now. Will you fight or give up?"
"Fight Stan, I´ll fight. I have to do something." Dudley stood up and ran to the door. "Please keep an eye on Mom and Sarah for me as long as I´m gone, okay."
"Sure. You can count on me." winked Stan but Dudley didn´t realize that anymore. He was already on his way to Kitty´s apartment.