Alice took in a deep breath, looking up at FP before she turned and headed out to the living room, leaving him back by the bathroom. "Awwwww..." She exclaimed, approaching Hal with one of the twins. "Let me take him." She sweetly said when Hal handed her the baby in his arms. "My sweet, sweet Jason." She smiled down at her grandson, slightly bouncing him up and down. "Sh, sh, sh! It's okay." She whispered. "It's okay." She played with his pacifier in his mouth until he finally stopped crying and reached a hand up to touch his grandmother's face. Alice took hold of his hand and kissed it before finally looking up and around the room. She looked toward the hall and saw FP slowly returning to the living room. They made uncomfortable eye contact until FP looked back over to Chic.
"FP." Hal said with frustration in his tone, though he wasn't exactly that surprised to see him there.
"Hal." Mr. Jones nodded once to the man and walked over to his son.
Polly walked over to Betty with Gemini in her arms and she whispered to her little sister. "What is he doing here?" She searched around the room for another guest, though she did not see one. "Is Jughead here?"
"Nope." Betty said with a care free attitude all of a sudden. "We broke up." She said loud enough for the rest of the room to hear. Her tone shown how apathetic she was becoming as she couldn't take being depressed all the time anymore. She decided not to care from now on.
"You did?" Polly asked right away.
"Yupp." Betty nodded, pinching her lips together. "We're done."
"Smart choice, Betty." Hal said before receiving a glare from his soon-to-be ex wife.
"Thanks, Dad." Elizabeth sent him an annoyed smile before turning and heading toward the kitchen. Polly followed her.
"Well..." Chic began, looking at all three other adults. "This is a little awkward." He said with a laugh, finding the drama quite amusing actually.
"Hey, Chic." FP said, putting his arm around him. "What do you say we go to Pop's and get something to eat?"
"Wait, you-" Alice started, but then she stopped, looking over at Hal.
"No, no. That's fine, Alice. Go ahead." He pointed to FP and Chic. "Invite them to stay for dinner. I don't care."
"We really don't want to impose." Chic responded, starting to feel a bit awkward but also loving it.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Polly stood beside the table where Betty sat with her head in her hands. "Hey. Why is FP here if you and Jughead are over?" She asked, rocking Gemini.
"He came over for Mom." Betty sighed with her face still in her hands.
"Mom? Why?" Polly asked, looking into the living room at the other four.
"Why don't you ask her?" Betty said in a monotonous tone. "I'm tired."
"Hey...Mom?" Polly headed back to the family room. "Can I talk to you for a sec? In here?"
Alice looked at all three men before biting her lip and following Polly back into the kitchen. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Why is FP here?" Poll whispered.
"He...just came over to visit. But I invited him and Chic to dinner." Alice and Polly both looked to Betty as she dramatically groaned, leaning over and resting her forehead on the table. "Betty, honey? Could you please take Jason, so I can get dinner started?" Alice squinted at Elizabeth when she finally looked back up.
"Fine." Betty stood and walked over to her mother, taking the baby from her. "But only because I love my nephew."
"Understood." Her mother grumbled with the same attitude. "I'll get their bottles ready, too." She said nicely to Poll, heading over to the stove.
"Thanks, Mom." Her oldest daughter weakly smiled, aware that something was suspicious.
Soon after Alice began the cooking, Hal went upstairs to his room to get away from everyone. Polly and Betty fed the babies and FP and Chic sat in the living room, continuing their conversations from earlier. Eventually, there was a knock on the door and Alice left the kitchen to answer. When she opened the door, she couldn't help but loosen her posture as her face dropped a bit. On the porch stood that one person whom she couldn't help but judge at the moment, knowing he broke her little girl's heart. Like father like son.
"Well, well, well..." She began, holding the door open with one hand. "Jughead Jones." She squinted at him.
"My dad called and told me to come over for dinner." The 16 year old readjusted the hat on his head.
"Yes, of course. Come on in." Mrs. Cooper spoke graciously, though her physical demeanor said otherwise.
After Betty's ex walked in, she closed the door and turned to see FP stand up from the couch, heading over to Jughead. "Hey, son." He gave Jug a small hug and turned to the other. "This is Chic."
Chic stood and offered his hand out to Jughead. "Hey, man."
"Hey. Nice to meet you." Juggy quickly shook Chic's hand before his eyes met Betty's at the kitchen table. "Excuse me." He left the living room before FP could protest and he entered the kitchen, followed by Alice.
"Betty, can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. Alice kept looking back at them as her cooking gradually came to a conclusion.
"No." Betty responded, finishing feeding Jason.
"Please? I really have to say something to you...in private."
"Well, I have nothing to say to you. Okay? You want Toni? You can have her now. I'm done...and I'm done caring." She returned her attention to the baby in her arms.
"Toni? This has nothing to do with Toni..." He looked around the room, almost catching Alice eavesdropping. "Toni has a girlfriend, Betty."
"Oh, good. Good for her." Betty genuinely smiled up at him. "But you no longer do." Jason had begun to fall asleep in her arms, so she stood with him and Polly stood with Gemini.
"Dinner's ready." Alice finally broke the awkward silence, cringing at the situation. She looked to Polly and Betty who were heading toward the stairs to put the babies down for bed. "Girls, while you're up there, could you please let your father know that the food is done?"
"Yes, ma'am." Both Betty and Polly said and Alice couldn't help but smile at their shocking return of manners.
Everyone gathered at the table while Alice and Betty finished setting out the dishes and silverware. At one point, Hal asked Alice if they could go somewhere and talk in private, but she refused and took her seat at the head of the table.
"So...Chic, I overheard you and Betty talking earlier." Alice began once they began to eat. "You still haven't heard about that job at the auto shop yet?"
"No. Not yet." Chic responded. "Dave said that he should be calling tomorrow. So, we'll see."
"Dave...as in Dave Habermann on the Southside?" FP asked before taking a sip of wine.
"Yeah." Chic answered.
"I know the guy. I could put in a good word for you. He's an old buddy." Mr. Jones smiled, setting down his glass.
"Oh yeah? Thanks."
"That's nice, FP." Alice added with a flippant tone.
"Polly..." FP began when the table was uncomfortably silent again. "It's good to see you. I feel like the last time I did was when you were like, what? Ten? You probably don't remember."
"I do a little bit." The new mother answered.
"I can't believe you have babies now." He shook his head, picking up some vegetables on his fork. "Man, kids grow up so fast. I swear it was just last week I couldn't get Jughead to go to grade school and now look at him...Can't get enough of school or writing." Everyone let out an awkward chuckle. "You keep an eye on those twins, Polly. Pretty soon, YOU'LL be the one surrounding your dinner table with your old high school classmates, saying the exact same thing."
"Yeah." Polly took a sip of her water. "I just wish Jason were here."
"Who's Jason again?" Chic wondered. "That kid they found down at Sweetwater River, right?"
"Yeah." Jughead quietly responded. "He's also the babies' father."
"I have no doubt in my mind that he's up in that room right now, watching over the babies, Polly." Betty tried to comfort her sister.
"I'm sorry." Chic gently smiled to Alice's second born and Polly weakly smiled back.
They ate in silence for the rest of the meal. When they were done, Alice stood to bring the dishes over to the sink. "No, no. Alice, you sit." FP started. "You've been doing everything tonight. Let the kids take care of the dishes."
"I think that's a great idea." Hal jumped in with a bit of sass in his tone, feeling a bit as if FP were trying to show him up as the better man.
"I've got it." Betty stood, grabbing her own plate and Polly's next to her.
"I'll help." Jughead stood immediately, following with his and Chic's plates.
"I'm gonna go up and check on the babies real quick." Polly said, leaving the table.
"Well...dinner was delicious, Alice." FP said, taking another sip of his wine.
"Yes, it was. Thank you, Mrs. Cooper." Chic grinned at her and her heart melted.
"So how's work over at Fred's going?" Hal asked FP as if he already knew the answer.
"Oh, umm..." FP sat up in his chair, clearing his throat. "I don't know...I haven't been back since-" He looked to Chic, then to Alice who glared at Hal, then back to Chic. He remembered Alice not wanting him to mention his stint in prison around their son.
"Since Fred finished the SoDale project. Right, FP?" Alice interrupted with an unseen wink.
"Right." Mr. Jones oddly replied while Hal squinted at him, knowing that was a lie. "Once Fred has some new projects, he'll call me." The air grew cold for a moment as he felt Hal's eyes on him. "What about you, Hal?" FP added. "How's work going for you? Anymore people's lives you've ruined or secrets you haven't told in the paper yet?"
"Actually..." Hal began, turning his attention to the woman across the table from him. "I had to fire my best employee today."
Polly returned and took her seat at the table once again. "They're still sleeping." She said with a sigh of relief, setting the baby monitor on the table in front of her.
Jughead and Betty finished clearing the table and they returned to their seats as well, continuing to send each other conversational eyes. Polly noticed and she fought the urge to ask Betty what exactly happened between the two of them. Someone else brought it up instead.
"Are you okay?" Chic wondered, looking to Elizabeth.
"What?" His baby sister asked.
"Are you alright?" He repeated. "You two seem...poignant."
"Oh, no. We're fine." Betty replied almost too fast.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, well...YOU might be fine." Jughead said with an attitude as he took a sip of his orange juice. "Some of us other people have feelings." He leaned back in his chair, putting an arm on the back of Chic's chair beside him as he stared Betty down across from him.
"Excuse me." Betty began. "'I don't have feelings?'" She ridiculously repeated him.
"Well, not at the moment." Juggy slightly tilted his head to the side as he glared at her.
"Alright." Alice propped her elbows up on the table in front of her as she folded her hands in front of her face.
"Okay, Jughead. You better watch it, boy." FP warned his son. "Don't say anything you'll regret."
"No. No. I'm done. I've got nothing else to say to her." The younger Jones boy sent Betty pained eyes before looking away from her.
"Um..." Alice looked down into her lap for a moment before she cleared her throat, looking up to all of them again. "Since we're all here, I decided now would be a good time to tell you-"
"Alice." Hal tried to stop her. "Wait."
"Hal and I have some news."
"Said the news reporter." FP chuckled.
"EX news reporter." Hal corrected. "And no...we don't."
"I'm so confused. What's going on?" Polly asked with anxiety.
"Why not just tell them now, Hal?" Mrs. Cooper rested her chin on top of her folded hands.
"Because maybe I changed my mind." Hal sent his wife wider eyes and she retracted her head, dropping her arms down from the table with surprise.
"Changed your mind about what?" Polly looked back and forth between her parents on opposite sides of the table.
"There's nothing wrong with changing your mind." Jughead chimed in, looking at Betty. "Well...not if it isn't ideal to Betty."
"Hal and I are-"
"You told me you weren't gonna join the Serpents!" Betty leaned forward, finally speaking up and at her ex across the table.
"And like I said..." Juggy leaned forward as well. "I changed my mind. You didn't have to break up with me just for that."
"Wait, what?" Chic leaned in as well.
"Wait a second." Polly said, now getting why Betty was so weird tonight. "He joined the Serpents?!"
"Really?" Her little sister ignored her. "Because my mom thought breaking up with FP for becoming a Serpent was the best thing that could've happened to her as a kid." Betty pointed out.
"You two dated?" Chic asked Jughead and Betty.
"Elizabeth!" Alice jumped in. "I never said that." She reluctantly looked to FP who put a hand to his forehead.
"Sounds like something you'd lie about." Hal said to Alice.
"Hal...This isn't the time."
"Oh, but you think it's the time to tell them about the divorce?!" He raised his voice causing the whole room to fall silent as everyone panned it with their overwhelmed eyes.
"What?" Polly was the first to break the silence.
"Divorce?" Betty teared up.
Alice let out a long, hard sigh as she put her face in her hands, not wanting it to come out so abruptly. The silence in the room hurt almost every one of them.