CHAPTER FORTY NINE – Daughters

Over the last week Jughead and Betty have been working through the aftermath of him reading her diary entries from the course of her pregnancy that had resulted in Jughead breaking down and crumbling with the guilt.

Every instinct that he'd listened to in the past, every instinct that told him to leave and to flee when the going gets tough had been in overdrive that night as he read through the full scope of Betty's world that he had left her in, reading through all her pain and her distress at not knowing how to track him down, along with her consequential struggle through her pregnancy.

However, they'd faced it. They'd faced their own pain and their own guilt. They'd come crumbling down that day through the intense emotions, but it had marked a new beginning and the fresh start that they have so desperately needed not only after four years but also since rekindling their relationship.

They felt like they'd been through the hell that they needed to work through and face, and yet they had made it out the other side together.

They felt closer than they ever have before... They felt better in themselves... They felt their scars that they've been carrying through four years of pain finally beginning to heal... And, they felt confident in their future, together.

It had been just what they needed both individually and as a couple.

So, the weekend following their breakthrough, Jughead and Betty had decided to sit down with and try to explain their relationship to their three-and-a-half year old daughter that they share.

They'd begun with watching Tangled with Bailey; one of her all-time favourites. Then, afterwards, Betty and Jughead stayed sitting down with their daughter to try and test her comprehension on the movie and to try and explain their relationship to her in a gentle manner.

"So, you know Rapunzel and Flynn Rider don't you, Bailey?" Betty begins, running a hand through her daughter's golden locks.

"Yep! 'Punzel's hair's so pretty..."

Bailey grins as she looks up to her mother from where she is sprawled out across the two of them. The little girl is slouched comfortably against Betty with her head resting against her mother's chest while her legs are draped across her father's lap.

"Did you see how they started off as friends and then they fell in love?" Betty probes as she looks down to her daughter then across to her boyfriend with a little smile, consequently missing the way that Bailey's face scrunches up at her mother's question.

"No, they didn't like each other, mummy... Horsey didn't like him, too."

With Betty's attempts to explain their relationship being thwarted by their daughter, Jughead bites his lip, struggling to contain his laughter as Betty bumbles after Bailey's dispute.

"Well they didn't like each other at the very beginning of the movie but they started helping each other and they became best friends. Then, they fell in love."

This time, Bailey nods in approval of her mother's recap with a solid: "Yep!"

Nodding along with her daughter, Betty gains a little more confidence this time and after receiving Bailey's approval and agreement on her retelling of the plot, she steers the discussion back in line to where she'd been trying to.

"Well, Bailey, you see Daddy's a bit like Flynn Rider and mummy's a bit like Rapunzel. Except we have always, always been friends. But, now we've fallen in love just like they did, too..."

Both Betty and Jughead look down to their three-year-old, watching her intently after Betty tries to explain their relationship to her as delicately as possible. Neither of them is too sure of how she will react or how much of it she will comprehend, but both of Bailey's parents are watching her like a hawk during the moments that pass after Betty's explanation. They are watching and waiting to see what she will say or do next...

"Okay."

That is all that comes from the little girl when Bailey finally speaks up, distractedly reaching out to touch and play with her mother's loose golden locks of hair.

Both Betty and Jughead remain sitting in silence, glancing to each other and then back to their daughter. They allow the silence to pass for a few moments, giving Bailey plenty of time to speak up if needed before Jughead takes a turn to ask her the next question.

"Do you have any questions about that, Bailey?"

As her bright blue eyes fly upwards to look at her father, Bailey just shakes her head in answer to his question.

Meanwhile, with her attention fixed firmly on her little girl as she watches her intently, Betty lowers her voice down to a gentle whisper as she strokes Bailey's cheek delicately and lovingly, looking to her daughter with concern.

"Bailey-girl? Are you okay?"

"Yep!" is the simple response that comes from the three-year-old as she looks up to her concerned mother with a little smile.

However as she treads very carefully with extra caution, Betty's eyes narrow on Bailey, watching her even more intently and examining the little girl that she knows so well. She doesn't want to brush over it if Bailey is hesitant to speak up and she wants to reassure her of any concerns that she may have come up with.

"Are you sure? It's only going to be a really little bit of a change but you are the most important thing to daddy and me, Bailey. We only want what's best for you, okay? So, are you sure you're okay, sweetie?"

In her loving concern, Betty fails to note the fact that she seems to be far more concerned about the issue than her daughter is through her innocent eyes where everything in the world is just that much simpler.

So, looking up to her mother with bright eyes and a smile, Bailey just gives Betty a reassuring nod in response.

"Yep! The boy in Tangled and 'Punzel were happy when they falled in love. Mummy and daddy can be happy, too!"

Bailey's answer instantaneously produces an enormous smile across Betty's face that leaves her in awe of her daughter's kindness after her caring answer that she returned to Betty. In amazement and wonder of the size of their daughter's heart and her care for them, Betty looks up to her boyfriend filled with pride.

Then, Betty leans down and presses a kiss to the top of Bailey's head, wrapping her in a tight cuddle as Jughead's arms too come around his girls, holding the two of them as Betty whispers into where she's just pressed a loving kiss to the top of her daughter's head.

"We love you so much, our little girl."

From within her parents arms as the three of them cuddle up together on the lounge, Bailey gives her mother's reassuring comment a little, unimpressed pout, suddenly trying to wiggle free from the embrace and squirm off the lounge.

"I'm a big girl now" Bailey retorts with her hands on her hips, standing in front of the lounge that her parents are still cuddled up on after she had squirmed free and away from them.

Then, without another word, the little three-year-old goes racing off towards her bedroom, moving onto the next thing after the discussion that had her parents a whole lot more worked up than Bailey herself.

So, finding themselves with a moment of privacy, Jughead presses a kiss to Betty's temple with his arms still wrapped around her tightly as they had once been cuddled up on the lounge as a family of three.

"See, that wasn't so bad. A whole lot of fuss for nothing..."

With a little pout at Jughead's complacency, Betty glances up to him with her green eyes wide with interest.

"Seriously though, how do you think that went?"

Jughead's just about to speak up and reassure the young mother that it went well and reiterate that they were approximately a million times more concerned about explaining their relationship to Bailey than Bailey herself was. However, before he has a chance to speak up, the three-year-old girl comes blazing back into the lounge room just as quickly as she had left it, standing in front of her parents on the lounge that the three of them had been sharing just minutes ago with a question coming to her mind after their explanation of their rekindled relationship to her.

"Daddy? Did you have to cut mummy's hair like the boy in Tangled, too?"

#

The following day is FP's Friday to have Bailey.

Betty and Jughead had arranged in advance for his father to look after their daughter a little longer than usual, with the plan being to collect her just after dinner today, despite the fact that Betty only had a morning shift at Pop's and Jughead would finish work at three with The Riverdale Register always traditionally having an early minute on Friday afternoons.

They'd made the plans with Bailey's grandfather seeing as Jughead and Betty had set other arrangements in place to have coffee with the three-year-olds other grandparents after work that day, planning to finally face up to and share the news of their rekindled relationship with the Cooper's.

After all, it has been growing difficult for the two of them to keep their relationship quiet now that Jughead is working for Betty parents at The Riverdale Register, too, just as she does externally between caring for Bailey and her shifts at Pop's.

Consequently, it's been hard to remember to keep their hands very much to themselves on the frequent -and increasing- occasions that Betty's brought Bailey in to The Register to see her dad at work or on the occasions that she has had to either pick up from or bring in hard copies of her own work to the office. Too, Jughead has had to ensure that he keeps any love heart emojis and kisses on his phone away from his girlfriend's mother's eagle eye, without raising any suspicion in doing so.

While both Betty and Jughead are terrified of her parents and the prospect of their disapproval over their relationship again, all in all, it's too hard to continue trying to hide it any longer.

After approaching the Cooper family home, the two stand inches apart on the other side of the door as Alice hauls it open after their second knock, revealing her daughter wearing a feigned smile and her newest employee standing beside her looking tense and uptight.

"Betty! Jug-head... Come in" Alice greets formally in a curt manner, closing the door behind the three of them after her guests walkthrough. "Come through to the living room. I've made tea."

Betty follows her mother's direction, trailing through her childhood home that she knows so well, guiding Jughead through behind her.

However, when the two of them reach the lounge room and the two double-seater lounges, the young couple share a panicked look, trying to determine what to do about the situation, seeing as the whole reason that they are paying her parents a visit is to tell them about their relationship. But, neither of them want the appearance of the two of them cosying up on the lounge together to reveal their news to her parents before they have a chance to. In the end, though, Betty pats down on the seat beside her, figuring that if her parents know that the two of them made a baby together, they can sit beside each other on a lounge.

"So, you wanted to talk..." Alice prompts as she neatly takes a seat across from her daughter and newest employee, looking between the two of them, questioningly.

"Where's dad? He should hear this, too" Betty simply returns, looking to the empty seat beside her mother, receiving a little eyebrow raise and a pout in response.

Without another word, Alice gets up and walks off, bellowing out for her husband who surfaces a few minutes later, filling him in as he strolls across the room.

"The kids would like to talk to us, Hal."

There seems to be a far greater insinuation in Alice's voice at one word in particular, to which Hal just nods, knowingly, his face growing more serious almost instantly as he takes a seat beside his wife.

Like ripping off a bandaid, Betty takes a deep breath, rubbing her moist hands up and down her pants, preparing to bypass any small talk and just cut to the chase. However, her mum speaks up first, with a frustrated eye-roll and a sigh of exasperation.

"Good God. Don't tell me you're pregnant again, Elizabeth..."

Instantly Jughead and Betty share a horrified wordless glance with each other, gawking at her mother's suggestion.

Then, as soon as she can recover from her shock, Betty speaks up and answers her mother's insinuation confidently.

All of a sudden, just having to tell her parents that they are dating seems that much easier.

"I'm not pregnant. Jughead and I are just here to tell you that we've been seeing each other... We're together again."

"And?"

Betty shoots her mother a questioning look, confused over her raised eyebrow.

"And, what? We're dating again..."

Looking at her daughter, Alice studies Betty closely like she's trying to read her, as if searching for anything else.

"Is that all?"

"Um, yes... Is there supposed to be anything else?"

Betty looks at her mother questioningly, trying to work out what she seems to be missing out on and why, to which she just receives an eye roll and a complacent wave of a hand from her mother.

"Oh, give us some credit... That's not news. We figured that part out a while back. We just weren't sure why we didn't deserve the common courtesy of being told about that. So, we assumed that your news must have had to be a little more substantial than that for you to decide to finally tell us; something like a baby or that you're moving in together."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you?" Betty replies, her response sounding a little incredulous, almost as though she's raising a question as she continues trying to keep up with her mother.

However, despite the unexpected reaction to their news, Jughead's view is still fixed firmly on the ground as he dodges both of Betty's parents gaze.

After all, Jughead knows that he's not Hal Cooper's favourite person by any stretch of the imagination and only since offering him a job has Alice Cooper been able to speak to him without being snaky. He knows that they both blame him for leaving Betty to raise Bailey single-handedly for the first three years of her life. But, he can't blame them, though. After all, he blames himself, too.

Then, all of a sudden, after sitting through his wife and daughter's banter over the last few minutes, all of a sudden Hal gets up abruptly and begins to pace around the room.

"You're making a mistake, Betty. I respect Jughead as a writer but not as your boyfriend. How badly did that boy hurt you? How tough was life for you through your pregnancy and after you had Bailey? He skipped town without so much as breaking up with you, only to leave you in that mess."

Placing a reassuring hand on top of her boyfriend's, Betty doesn't so much as flinch as she looks up and looks her father in the eye, preparing to fight him on their news.

"Yes, he hurt me and the way he left broke me. But that is more complicated than it appears and besides that is between us. The fact of the matter is that we've both dealt with that and we're ready to move past that. Nobody else has the right to hold onto the past if we're not."

The other three who are watching the middle-aged man storm around his lounge room can just about see him huff. This time, Hal tries another tack, knowing his daughter's absolute dedication to her own daughter.

"This is going to end badly again, Betty... Think about Bailey, too."

"I am thinking about my daughter. Again, what happened in the past is between Jughead and I. Since he's found out that she exists, Jughead has been nothing but an excellent father to Bailey. She shouldn't be deprived of a family just because of what transpired between us in the past."

Hal is just about to speak up again and dispute his daughter's argument, preparing to come from another angle when he is silenced by his wife who speaks up this time, looking over to the sheepish young boy on their lounge and then back to her husband.

"Give the boy a break, Hal! He did not know that she was pregnant. He never left with the intention of putting Betty in the situation she ended up in. Have you ever thought that we're crucifying him for something that he had no idea about when perhaps all he ever wanted was the best for Betty?"

Alice's explanation just about makes it sound as though she knows better without saying so. After all, she does know better.

However, Alice's argument sends two pairs of eyes over in her direction as both Betty and Jughead gawk at their latest supporter who hasn't finished, turning back to both her daughter and then her newest employee and co-worker.

"Never mind him... Jug-head, Elizabeth, I support you."

#

While her parents are at her other grandparent's home, Bailey is thrilled to have spent the day with her beloved grandfather.

Their day began with taking Hot Dog on a walk to the park after breakfast along with a stop at the playground, followed by a game of schools. Bailey had gone down for a nap after their lunch of cheese toasties, leaving FP to tidy up after the three-year-old cyclone that had torn through the small trailer.

However, just moments after he has finally tucked her colouring book away neatly, there's a loud knock at the door. FP barely has a chance to race to the front door of his modest trailer before it begins to open, revealing the last person he'd expected to see on his doorstep as she invites herself in.

"Jellybean!"

The surprise on FP's face is instantaneous as he strides over to the other side of the room, wrapping his arms around his daughter who's done a fair bit of growing in the five years since he last saw her.

"Look at you, my girl! I can't believe how much you've grown... You've blossomed into such a beautiful young woman."

As FP examines his daughter, looking her over, he sees more of his son in her than he used to, seeing Jughead's grin reflected on his sisters face as she flourishes against her father's compliments and remarks.

Then, FP is sent into a flurry, wanting to offer her drinks, ask her questions and ensure that she knows that she's welcome to stay for as long as she wants.

However, FP quickly is halted from his greetings with his daughter as he catches the faint sobs from further within his small trailer, distracting him from his daughter's presence.

"What's that noise, dad?" Jellybean asks as her face scrunches up with confusion.

FP knows exactly what that noise is, coming from Jughead's room. So, quickly holding a hand out and gesturing for his daughter to stay and not go anywhere, FP quickly heads down the hallway and into the small room where the noise is originating from to see his granddaughter sitting up in bed.

"Bailey had a bad dweam, grandpa..." the little girl murmurs softly through gentle whimpers, rubbing her damp eyes with her fists.

"Oh, come here sweetheart. It's okay... You're okay, Bailey..." FP coos as he scoops his granddaughter up and into his strong, protective arms as the three-year-old nestles her head against his shoulder, seeking the safety of her grandfather.

As he rubs the little girl's back and rocks her within his arms, he slowly gets up from where he'd sat down on the side of his son's bed in the room Jughead shares with his own daughter.

Then, he gets up and walks out to where JB has quickly made herself at home, grabbing herself a coke from where she's now seated on the lounge with her Dr Marten clad feet resting up on the second-hand coffee table as she channels surfs on the TV that is riddled with static.

However, Jellybean's attention is instantly pulled away from the screen as she hears the heavy footsteps coming down the hallway as FP returns to her, with Bailey in his arms.

Then, instantly upon catching sight of the three-year-old FP is carrying who has her head resting on his shoulder, along with a look of horror that floods the teenager's face with her eyes glued on the small child in her father's arms.

"No way, dad... Did you have another kid?"


I'm back! Sorry there was such a gap between chapters but I've spent almost the last month overseas in a bunch of different countries with little/no wifi. Anyway, I flew in this morning and wanted to get this one up as soon as possible to compensate. Thanks for your patience. After this, my chapters and updating will get much more frequent again.

Also, big thanks to everyone who left a review on the last chapter. I haven't had a chance to read them before today :) I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, too, with Jellybean's appearance along with the Coopers and Miss Bailey being told about Betty and Jughead in two very different ways. I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter.

Next chapter: Jellybean's return shakes up FP and Jughead's worlds.