"How the hell did he find her?!" Betty slammed her mug down on the top of her desk. Three droplets of coffee splashed over the sides, and slid down onto the wood. Betty's skin tingled where the liquid met her hands. "This is insanity."

It was a sentiment Director Lincoln shared, and his own eyes flashed with anger as he looked down at her. He pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed. "Nobody should have been able to find her."

"Well, they did." Betty had the obscene urge to rip the computer monitor off the desk and throw it clear across the office. "And now one of our agents is dead and a key witness is in the ICU." And completely unwilling to testify against Hiram Lodge, Betty added internally.

She didn't need to say this out loud. Lincoln was well aware of their difficult predicament. He was the one who had to call Agent Ackles' family. Betty had been able to faintly hear his wife's sobs over the receiver…

But the FBI was not going to roll over and admit defeat. There'd been too many missed opportunities to arrest Hiram, and they would do everything they could to put him behind bars.

Hopefully for good this time…

…..

Jughead's arms locked around Betty almost immediately after she walked into the living room. She buried her head in his chest, and breathed in the faint smell of coffee that permeated his shirt. Exhaustion was nearing its inevitable take over of her brain - though that was to be expected; it was nearing three in the morning.

"You didn't have to wait up…" Betty grumbled into Jughead's neck.

He responded by hugging her closer. "How could I not?" He leaned back, just enough to gaze at her face. "You want to talk about it?"

Betty shook her head slowly, and disentangled herself from Jughead's embrace. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about dinner… did the kids end up eating?"

"Yeah. I got them Pop's, and they were too excited about going there twice in one day to question my lack of culinary expertise. Come on, I saved you some." Jughead put an arm around Betty's shoulders and steered her towards the kitchen. "Also, you don't need to apologise, Betts."

Betty leaned into him. Logically, she understood his statement to be true. And yet, every life threatening situation she found herself in through the FBI only reaffirmed how dangerous the risks she took were.

Would the next reported death be hers?

…..

While Betty spent the next few weeks juggling meetings with the FBI, Jughead started the routine motions of releasing his next book…

Jughead wasn't one to pay attention to rumours; it was why he tended to avoid social media. He wasn't as famous as the typical movie star, but his public notoriety often meant he was linked to some scandal or another.

Not just his own scandals - once, Jughead's name had popped up in an article about a much loved member of the Harlem GlobeTrotters because some low quality gossip site was trying to imply said athlete's wife was cheating on him (she hadn't been, but the article had caused the couple stress nonetheless). The wife in question was Caitlin Sherman - a colleague and casual acquaintance of Jughead's who was likewise signed to Visionary Publishers. Jughead - or more accurately, FPJ3 - had been listed as an 'ex' of Caitlin's; though really, they'd only gone on three dates, one of which had involved the consumption of far too many whiskey sours… even so, the fact that Jughead was even being linked with Caitlin after almost a decade had passed since their brief fling was nothing short of infuriating.

Betty had suggested he stop reading the articles altogether. He couldn't fault her sound advice.

It wasn't the only time Jughead had avoided social media for fear of finding slam pieces about himself. When he first published Deadbeat Dad, Jughead had actually deleted several apps from his phone in an attempt to avoid any negative backlash. He'd given exactly one interview on the book, but had cut it short when the journalist asked questions about Cora that were far too personal.

His agent, Sam, had wisely decided not to force him into any more public appearances.

But Jughead was now set to release another book. He'd written most of it over the Summer, in the hours between putting the kids to sleep and joining Betty in their bed. It was… different to the rest of his novels. There was no true 'mystery' to it; no crime that was begging to be unearthed, or nefarious authority figures lurking in the dark.

No, his latest book was… well, it was expressive.

Perhaps he'd been inspired, a little, by Dean. His college best friend had finally published his own book - a rather explicit tale that would give Fifty Shades of Grey a run for its money. Jughead had been touched to discover Dean had dedicated the story to him, and was equally amused when he'd finished reading it in full.

Jughead's new book, entitled Get Creative, drew some inspiration from several of his romantic experiences. But there truthfully wasn't a single character that he'd based on anyone in particular. The story followed two college roommates who were pining for the same girl - a girl who, unbeknownst to the roommates, was hooking up with them both.

But along the way, the roommates started to develop confusing feelings for each other… and ended up in a complicated love triangle that terrified and thrilled them all. None of them wanted the situation to end… and so they individually decided, in order to get what they wanted in spite of social norms, that they'd have to, as the title suggested, get creative.

Sam believed it was a sex-positive book, and Jellybean (after reading the manuscript) thought the book was promoting alternative relationships and polyamory. Jughead wasn't so sure he was 'promoting' anything, merely writing about a type of relationship he knew existed. Though he did have to admit that he was rather pleased with himself for writing his first ever threesome scene, and successfully ending the novel on a joyous note with all three characters happy to continue their triad relationship after graduating college.

He dedicated Get Creative to Dean. After all, aside from Archie, Dean was his best friend. Plus, it was Dean who'd introduced the world of polyamory to Jughead. Jughead still felt that he himself was solidly monogamous, and should anything ever happen to Betty he would likely never wish to pursue another person romantically in his life… but his brief experience with being part of a polyamourous web hadn't been a bad experience. On the contrary, it was one of his tamer relationships, however brief it was.

The only problem was that Get Creative was drawing a lot of publicity. And not just because it had sparked rumours that he was cheating on Betty with Dean (Jughead probably should have anticipated that tidbit of scandalous gossip). Some of the more recent pieces of gossip about 'FPJ3' centered around his apparent likeness in a book that had only recently been published.

A book that had been written by his ex-girlfriend Jessica.

Sam had initially been less than thrilled with Jess' book release. "I know I say any publicity is good publicity, Jones, but her portrayal of you is bad for business…" Sam had said over their initial phone call to discuss Get Creative's publication.

Jughead ran a hand through his hair and gripped his phone a little tighter. "I know it looks bad, Sam. But I've read her book. The similarities between me and her male love interest are miniscule at best."

But that hadn't appeased Sam's stress - not even slightly. "When you can convince the tabloids that 'miniscule' similarities aren't worth gossiping over, you let me know. I'd like to have a chat with them about their slam pieces on Caitlin…"

Jess' book, Written in Silence, seemed to be heavily based on the first years of her life post college. She mostly denied it, of course (any sane person would if they feared a lawsuit could be imminent), but a distressingly large number of readers had connected the character 'James' with Jughead.

Jughead didn't particularly care that she'd based a character on him, but her apparent portrayal was… less than ideal. James was rather a massive fan of hallucinogens (which frustrated Jughead immensely considering it was Jess who had been near-obsessed with drugs during their relationship), borderline emotionally abusive (Jughead wasn't even going to think about that ridiculous idea), and left Jules (the character seemingly based on Jess) just as he was gaining fame.

And, most unfortunately, the plot point in which 'James' had cheated on 'Jules' with his sister was the one that had gained the most speculation.

He was certain Jess was merely trying to be deliberately obscene with her narrative. Most of the book was entirely fictionalised, and the few similarities to actual events were so far removed they barely resembled reality. And yet, just enough readers had connected the dots between Jughead and Jess' twenty-three-year-old selves and the tumultuous relationship between James and Jules; and Jess wasn't exactly being subtle about it all.

Jughead frowned as he read through an interview Jess had given to the New York Times. She'd talked extensively about her love life and how past relationships had influenced her creative choices.

I learned a lot about myself after I finished college. The biggest thing, I'd say, is that you should only invest time in people who actually want to invest in you as well. Jess had said to the reporter. If my college boyfriend taught me anything, it's that you can't always trust the people you love. I guess a lot of my inspiration for James and Jules came from that relationship - these two characters are clearly toxic for each other, and until Jules gets out of that situation, she isn't able to grow as a person.

Jughead had to resist the urge to bang his hand against the kitchen table, but couldn't hold in a sigh as dropped the newspaper in front of him.

Betty, who'd been holding Bethany on her hip and stirring spaghetti sauce in a pot on the stove, peered over her shoulder to look him over. "Why are you glaring at the newspaper?"

He kept his eyes in front of him. "Just not happy with the state of the economy." He said dryly.

Betty's lips twitched as she turned back to the stove. "Who are you having an affair with this week?"

Jughead turned his head to watch Betty. Bethany was tugging on a strand of her hair, and gurgling as she stared down at the pasta sauce. Betty paused her stirring to plant a kiss on the baby's forehead, and some of the tension left Jughead's shoulders. "Well, it depends on whose hot-take you read. This affair is real meta and spans about fifteen years; the top choices are currently you and Jellybean. But I think saying I'm having an affair with my wife is a little nonsensical."

Betty giggled for a moment, then abruptly turned around. The ladle dripped a spot of sauce onto the kitchen tiles. "Wait, did you say Jellybean?!"

"Yeah, Betty. Didn't you know I was cheating on Jess with my sister? Last time I checked I only had one of those."

Betty's eyes widened in horror. "Someone actually wrote that?"

Jughead rolled his eyes. "I'm not convinced the website it came from isn't satire-based, but yeah. Jess' book suggests the main character's college boyfriend was cheating on her with his sister." His lips flattened into a line. "Unfortunately, since I'm the college boyfriend Jess had in real life, a lot of people have come to some wild conclusions."

Betty dropped the ladle into the pot, and hurried over to the kitchen table. "Are you okay?" She asked kindly, and placed her free hand on his shoulder.

Jughead smiled up at her. "Oddly, this isn't the worst thing I've seen written about myself. I guess being called an 'incestuous adulterer' is slightly better than a 'wife beating child abuser'. Though thankfully, I haven't seen that resurface. Yet."

"This'll all blow over, Juggie." Betty squeezed his shoulder, then grimaced as Bethany tugged harder on her hair. "Can you take her for a minute? If I don't keep stirring the sauce it's going to stick to the bottom and she's being really handsy tonight."

Jughead reached his hands out to take the baby before Betty had finished speaking. "Handsy? Must take after me."

Betty snickered as she settled Bethany into Jughead's lap. "You know," Betty began as she made her way back to the kitchen, "whichever news article said your sordid affair with your step-sister lasted fifteen years were grossly exaggerating. I think it only took us… what, ten years to figure our relationship out?"

"Approximately." Jughead joked as he bounced Bethany on his lap. She giggled as she smacked the table with her tiny hands.

All thoughts of ridiculous news articles and slam pieces about his love life were forced out of his mind as he watched Bethany reaching for the newspaper. He slid it closer so she could grasp it in her fists, and watched in amusement as she began to scrunch and rip the pages.

"Good girl." He mumbled. Bethany looked up at him with her bright blue eyes and grinned. She made some more gurgling noises and stuck her tongue out while she focused on the paper, and Jughead became content in watching her.

Of course, merely minutes later he was reminded that his placid little six month old wasn't the only child in the house.

"Daaaaad!" Jordan's disgruntled voice called out from down the hallway. "Emma keeps messing up my trains!" A shrill shriek of laughter echoed through the house seconds later. Jordan's voice raised higher. "Make her get out!"

Jughead groaned and shifted Bethany against his chest. "Let's go save your brother." He murmured.

Jughead peered into Jordan's bedroom and assessed the scene before him. Emma was still giggling as she slipped away from Jordan. The annoyed seven year old chased his two year old sister around his bedroom; she had a green plastic train in her hands, and a devious grin on her face as she scurried up onto his bed. The green train, Jughead knew, was Jordan's current favourite - given to him by Jellybean for his birthday, it had been a point of contention for the siblings since it's unboxing.

Emma, for all her cute smiles and doll-green eyes, seemed to know exactly how to annoy her older brother. And messing with his favourite trains was a simple way to do so.

"Emma." Jughead said, his voice deep with disapproval.

Some of Emma's mirth evaporated as she dropped the train onto the comforter. She put her hands behind her back and stared at Jughead with wide eyes. "I didn't touched it."

"Come out of here, and leave your brother alone." Jughead said firmly. Jordan had already seized the train and clutched it to his chest as Emma obediently climbed to the floor and made her way to the doorway. "Go see if Mommy needs help, okay?"

"I help!" She said cheerfully as she moved out into the hallway, entirely unconcerned with the glare Jordan was shooting her.

Jughead took a step into the room. "You alright, Bud?" He asked gently.

Jordan frowned, but nodded. He moved towards his book shelf and returned the train to its home in front of the Harry Potter novels (only the first three - Betty still thought number four would be 'too scary' for him). "Emma is so annoying, Dad." He said ruefully, and readjusted the train into the right position.

Jughead sighed and leaned against the wall. "She's only two, Jordan, still a baby. She doesn't understand yet. One day she'll grow up and you two will be the best of friends."

Jordan made a disgusted face. "No way. River is my best friend."

Jughead reached out and ruffled Jordan's hair. "I know she annoys you right now, but this phase isn't going to last. She really wants to play with you, she just hasn't figured out how to play properly yet."

Jordan shrugged. "Still annoying."

"I know, Bud." Jughead said gently. "But she's still your little sister. You need to look out for her sometimes too."

Jordan looked up at him incredulously. "I'll only look out for her if she leaves my trains alone."

"That's fair." Jughead conceded. "I'll make sure she stays out of your room tonight, okay?" Jordan nodded, and relaxed slightly. "Now, do you want to help me set the table?"

…

As the end of September loomed closer, bringing with it the promise of an early Winter in Riverdale, so too did the date of Caleb Carter's son's birthday party in New York.

Jughead weighed up the pros and cons of letting Jordan go in his head for days before he even broached the topic with Betty.

"It'll be convenient timing." He said solemnly as they sat in their porch chairs, overseeing the backyard. Jordan and Emma were well-passed their tiff and were building sandcastles with an old bucket, while Betty rhythmically pat Bethany's back as the baby slowly drifted off to sleep. "I need to talk to Sam in person and fine tune a few things for the book launch."

"And Cora's mother won't be there." Betty said knowingly.

Jughead pursed his lips as he listed a con of the event. "Her other brothers will be though."

Betty's eyes drifted over to the sandpit. Emma handed a plastic shovel to Jordan, and Betty smiled as Jordan animatedly thanked his sister. "You know… it would be nice to get away from Riverdale for a couple of days. Work's been… a lot lately."

Jughead tilted his head to the side. "Still no luck with gathering more evidence against Hiram, then?"

Betty shrugged. "We still have a lot on him. Election fraud and the like, but… he deserves to be put away for life and I'm just not convinced that's going to happen. So much of his dirty work has been done by others - others who are too scared to testify against him."

"Classic mobster behaviour."

Betty exhaled. "You're telling me."

Jughead reached out and rubbed Betty's knee. "Sam has a few publicity stunts he's been planning… he seems to think the only way to combat negative publicity is to 'distract' the internet masses by presenting the information in a way that'll work to our advantage."

Jughead had considered Sam's ideas - they would hopefully overshadow anything Jess had implied about him, but there was a bigger reason that Jughead wanted to start to get his fans excited about his new book.

Namely, if they were interested in Jughead's new book… then perhaps they would stop talking about the TBK documentary that heavily involved his wife.

The documentary was set to be released at the end of November. If Jughead played his cards right, he'd be able to officially release Get Creative around the same time. Jughead had no idea what the documentary in its entirety was going to hold, but the trailer had enough details to suggest they'd definitely be talking about the FBI Agent who took down TBK.

If he had managed to write something good enough to somewhat distract people from the documentary… well, he had to at least attempt to do so.

Betty interrupted his train of thought. "The only other thing we need to consider - I completely forgot: I told FP we'd watch Chandler that weekend. He's taking my Mom away as a late anniversary surprise." Her cheeks blushed. "To be honest, he was so sweet and awkward I just said yes without even checking our calendar. They've never gone away before, just the two of them. And I know FP's been saving up for years for this."

Jughead smiled and turned to face her properly. "That's fine. I don't mind bringing him with us…"

…

Sam's grand plan for social distraction began with Visionary Publishers announcing an extremely early release of Get Creative to fifty lucky readers. Jughead then had to sort through several hundred online requests before he decided to close his eyes and pick the recipients at random.

The excitement generated amongst his fans was… extreme.

Jughead tentatively downloaded Twitter again when it became apparent his fans had lost interest in most of the hearsay about him and Jess. The early release was having the desired effect: the chosen fifty readers were anxious to receive their early copies - unsuccessful applicants to the release were holding out for spoilers and preparing to read book reviews - and the books' delivery date coincided with the week of Kaine Carter's birthday in New York.

Very convenient timing for Jughead. He could discuss the particulars of the limited release's success with Sam in person, engage in what Sam asserted was a long-overdue book signing, and even agreed to a podcast interview with the guys from The Chat. That could all be achieved in the first day of his presence in New York - then, after Kaine's party, Jughead fully intended to ignore work and focus entirely on Betty and the kids for the remainder of their mini-vacation.

Unfortunately, as the weekend approached, Jughead discovered an unexpected side-effect of publishing a new book. The early release of Get Creative seemed to bring with it a renewed interest in Deadbeat Dad. And suddenly, rumours were again circulating about Jughead - and this time, they weren't just about his relationship with Jess; this time, they were about his relationship with Cora.

It seemed the media was once again divided between an active show of support for Jughead, and the speculation that Jughead was profiting off of the anguish he'd allegedly caused his ex-lovers.

The only good thing, he supposed, was that at least his 'scandalous' books were temporarily stopping the chatter about the TBK Documentary. And for Jughead, that made it all worth it.

He could put up with rumours and opinion pieces about himself - what he couldn't tolerate was the lost and distraught look on Betty's face whenever TBK popped up on the internet or television. Yes, thought Jughead, I'd much rather be dealing with petty exes than have my wife be consistently re-traumatised by public discussion of the serial killer who tortured her for a month.

For that, he could definitely put up with gossip videos.

It seemed, however, that Sam wasn't nearly as laxed about Jughead's scandalous image.

"Please, for the love of God, just say something to defend yourself when you're on that podcast." Sam had practically begged him. "I don't think all this ridiculousness is going to affect book sales, but at the end of the day, Jones - you're nothing like what these people are saying about you. You've been silent about your books for almost two years - at this point, anything you say about them will make headlines. Use that to your advantage."

While Jughead was still anxious about speaking publicly about Get Creative, the idea of using his online platform to get people talking about his books instead of his wife's kidnapper was suddenly very appealing. The interest in the topic was there, maybe Jughead just had to give it a little nudge. Perhaps he could even clear his own name in the process…

The night before he and Betty planned to leave for New York, Jamie from The Chat reached out to him via text.

Hey man, sorry to do this to you but is there any chance of us recording the podcast tonight? Your Agent doesn't want it to be live, and we need time to edit things out before it gets released tomorrow.

Jughead tilted his head to the side. That was unusually insightful of Sam - if it wasn't a live interview, there was less chance of anything negative getting out there. Especially anything negative about him or Betty.

Jughead agreed, and asked for fifteen minutes to help Betty get the baby to sleep. Once Bethany was snuggled up in her crib, and Betty had kissed him on the cheek after requesting he didn't make her wait too long (she gave him a suggestive smirk as she wandered into their bedroom), Jughead set up his laptop and earphones to get ready for the Podcast.

He wasn't sure, exactly, what he could expect from the interview, but he tried to keep calm as he joined The Chat's Zoom Meeting.

The cheerful face of Joel appeared first. "Forsythe - good to see your face back on our screen. How long has it been, man?"

Jughead smirked, and tried to squash the nausea that reared its head. "I am pretty sure the last time I was on your podcast I was still in my twenties."

"So was I." Joel snickered. "Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, right?"

"That's definitely how old my son thinks I am."

Joel laughed completely at that. "Thanks for coming on here on such short notice - and for just coming on at all. I know you haven't really done much press since you released The Pariahs, but we've been getting a lot of requests on our and Discord chats to have you back on the show."

Jughead felt himself becoming more at ease. "Thanks for having me on."

A cheeky look came over Joel's face. "Jamie didn't want me asking you this, but he's not here yet and I'm too curious - what brings you back to our podcast? I know we're not exactly winning any literary critic awards."

Jughead tensed up. "Is this being recorded?" He asked tentatively. When Joel confirmed it wasn't yet, Jughead said: "Honestly, when I left my ex-wife, I had so many people dissecting my relationship, my parenting, my divorce, my ex-wife's criminal proceedings… It caused me and my family a great deal of stress. It felt like people were excited about how bad things were going for me and Jordan. But… one night when I was trying to get him to sleep I listened to your podcast… I think the episode was called The Jones Situation—"

Jamie's frantic voice and face had popped up on the screen by then. "Damnit, Joel! I told you not to ask him about his ex!" Joel's eyes flashed with guilt.

"It's okay - he didn't, actually." Jughead said soothingly. "I was just about to say - your podcast was the only mainstream media outlet I came across that was at least trying to be respectful. You reported the facts, didn't speculate too much - I appreciated it from a journalistic point of view. And also…" Jughead cleared his throat. "I appreciated that you weren't writing me off as some kind of crazy abuser. I was getting a lot of hate because of my ex-wife's arrest, and because of the delayed release of Deadbeat Dad. Your podcast was refreshing."

Both men were silent for a moment. "Jeez, Forsythe… Well, we're happy that we didn't contribute to your stress." Joel said diplomatically.

Jughead told him it was fine.

"So, before we start - your Agent Sam requested that we note down which topics we aren't allowed to discuss on air. Do you mind getting the ball rolling on that?" Jamie looked expectantly at the camera.

"Look, honestly, the only thing I refuse to talk about is the Trash Bag Killer." Jughead said seriously.

Both men nodded, but neither demanded clarification. "Okay." Joel added. "When we open the Discord chat for this episode, I'll block any words that relate to TBK so we can keep the topic from coming up."

Jamie cut in. "If there's no other stipulations, I'll open up our Discord chat and start the recording. Only our top-tier Patrons can see this episode being recorded before we release it tomorrow night, and they've been great in the past about not leaking the information."

"Go ahead."

Twenty minutes into the Podcast interview - after several hilarious conversations and questions from Discord that Jughead was happy to answer - they finally sank into a discussion of the hard hitting questions that Jughead had been anticipating.

"So, not to bring the mood down, but you've been getting dragged on social media over the last month or so." Joel noted. "And not for the first time in your career. A few of our listeners are interested in getting your take on Jessica Reyes' new book Written in Silence."

"We've heard rumours that she based a large part of her book on her relationship with you." Jamie added. "Obviously, there are rumours, and then there's the truth - so, we were curious what you had to say about some of the negative attention you've been getting."

Jughead felt uncharacteristically nervous. He took a quick breath and pushed through the nerves to answer. "Honestly, I have way bigger problems than what people have to say about their perception of the relationship I had with my ex-girlfriend from college, who, incidentally, I only dated for eight months." Jughead said honestly. Joel snorted, and Jughead continued: "Besides, it's not like I married or had a kid with her."

Jamie nodded his head. "Speaking of… are we allowed to talk about Deadbeat Dad?"

Jughead swallowed. "We can… but, just to be clear, I've never made any claims that Deadbeat Dad is a factual account of real events."

Joel looked like he was choosing his words carefully. "Is it true that the book was inspired by your own divorce and subsequent custody battle?"

"Honestly?" Jughead said. "No. It wasn't. I know a lot of people like to believe that I wrote it as some kind of revenge narrative to get back at my ex - but in actual fact, I wrote it before we… separated." In fact, the book had been the straw that broke the camel's back for Cora - or in Jughead's case, the typewriter that broke the husband's arm. "Any similarities are, therefore, coincidental."

"Can I ask what the real reason was for the delay in Deadbeat Dad's release?"

"Without going into too much detail… at the time, I was scared that anything I said or did would make me lose custody of my son." Jughead admitted. He forced down the negative emotions and mild panic that welled up when he recalled that time of his life. "When we announced that Deadbeat Dad was going to be released, it got such massive backlash that I refused to sign off on its publication. My agent wasn't happy about it, but my lawyer advised me to essentially 'shut the hell up' about the topic until the court case was all over. I didn't want to do anything that could risk jeopardizing the case against my ex. I couldn't talk about it, write about it - nothing."

"I do remember all that." Joel mused. "You copped a lot of heat in the media. Some people found your refusal to comment publicly on the trial as an expression of guilt."

"I'll admit that I stayed silent purposefully. I only cared about protecting my son, and that still drives my reasoning for refusing to publicly discuss… our past." Jughead said fiercely. "Now, I'm just wary of saying anything that'll negatively affect him in the future. He's going to be able to see all of this shit one day, and I don't want anything I say to upset or alienate him."

"Is there anything you wish the public knew about Deadbeat Dad that you haven't been able to say until now?"

Archie's words of encouragement flashed through his mind ( "Men can be victims too, Juggie."), as did Sam's adamant pestering that he 'defend himself'. Jughead didn't want to talk about his relationship with Cora. He hated to dwell on it, and he didn't want to publicly berate his son's birth mother, no matter what the circumstances. And yet…

"Yes." Jughead swallowed again as the words flowed out of his mouth. "I know there's been negative speculation about my portrayal of spousal abuse. I've heard every critique from 'it's unrealistic' to 'it's glorifying domestic violence'. While I can't speak for all people who have been in relationships that left them feeling… powerless, I can say that the incidents of emotional, mental and physical abuse that occur in Deadbeat Dad are based on real accounts of what happens in real life. I can testify to the feelings of being weak, of not being enough for your spouse, of believing you're a bad parent and a waste of air because the person who is meant to love you more than anyone else tells you so every day. The gaslighting, the threatening to take the kids away, or threatening to call the police and make false allegations - these things really happen." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And sometimes it takes years for the victim to realise that what they're experiencing is domestic violence. Yes, I am aware that it is more common for men to be the abusers, and women to be the victims - but I can't write about that. That's not my story to tell."

"Well said, Jones…"

To Jughead's relief, they didn't press him for more details on Cora, and the conversation moved on to somewhat lighter topics.

"So, circling back to our earlier topic - your ex-girlfriend wrote a book." Joel said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Jughead smirked. "That she did."

Jamie chimed in. "And if New York Minutes is to be believed, your secret lover also wrote a book."

It took a moment for Jughead to realise what Jamie was referring to, then he grinned. "That's been the funniest rumour I've seen so far." Jughead laughed. "I have three kids, I teach high school full time and I'm running an online newspaper. If I had the time to have an affair, I'd probably have used that time to write dozens more books by now. But while I have the opportunity - in my own defense," maybe Sam would be proud of that statement, "I'd like to go on the record and say that I've never cheated on anyone. Ever."

Joel gasped in mock horror. "You mean to tell me you aren't secretly boning up-and-coming smut writer Dean Daniels?"

"Sorry to disappoint your listeners, but no." Jughead laughed, and the others joined him.

"I have to admit I am disappointed to have that theory debunked."

"So is Dean, from what I can tell." Jughead joked. "He's been enjoying keeping me updated about our alleged romantic exploits. I've gotten no less than five links to twitter pages sent to me that discuss our 'affair' just from him this week."

Joel was grinning. "So he's being a good sport about it all then?"

"Oh yeah, he thinks it's great. He's been bonding with my sister over their newfound notoriety as my rumoured 'lovers', much to their girlfriends' dismay, I'm sure."

"Oh we're gonna circle back to that sister comment, but for now the question that I'm getting on Discord is this: did you or did you not have sex with Jessica Reyes on the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park?"

Jughead withheld the groan that wanted to be released. That was another 'true event' that Jess had written about in her book. Though technically, it hadn't been on the bridge. It had been under it… "I'll have to leave that one up to your imagination."

"You're killing me here."

"Jess included some plot points in her book that were at least 'inspired' by truth. We were definitely adventurous, I'll give her that. I have read her book, and have obviously seen a lot of the speculation surrounding it." Jughead said calmly. "It's a fictional book, and I'm sure Jess will ultimately say the same. I noticed some similarities to factual events, but they're limited to very vague inspirations of reality, not the reality itself. I can confidently say that Written in Silence is not so much 'based on a true story' as people have been led to believe. At least where I'm concerned. I have no idea whether the boyfriend she had after me had incestuous tendacies, though."

Jamie was clearly holding in laughter. "So you didn't cheat on her with your sister, then?"

Jughead snorted. "I might not be the poster boy for morality, but even I'm not that disgusting."

"Thank God. I was worried we'd have to censor your answer. It just seemed so plausible, you know?"

"Oh totally plausible and not creepy at all."

"Well there you go, guys. A comprehensive denial of claims that FPJ3 cheated on Jessica Reyes with his sister." Joel said solemnly. "I can't believe that's a real statement that came out of my mouth. What a time to be alive."

"That rumour upset me when I first heard it, but now I've come to realise that whoever wrote it was just gunning for clicks to get ad revenue. As a fellow journalist, I understand." Jughead shrugged. "It's hard to be too upset about it while my sister finds it all so funny. She sent me a screenshot last night - she changed Betty's contact in her phone to 'sister-wife' and mine to Christopher Dollanganger."

Joel let out the kind of laugh that resembled an over-stimulated seal. "Oh my God. Can we get your sister on the podcast? That's legendary."

Jughead shook his head, but his voice betrayed his amusement. "I don't know whether I'd trust her with that kind of power. She might break the internet."

Joel wiggled his eyebrows. "She'd have quite the inside scoop on a lot of the topics you've avoided, I'm sure."

Jughead ran a hand through his hair. "Well, she certainly knows the truth about all these rumours, that's for sure." The idea of Jellybean being given serious questions on a podcast and being expected to use anything other than dark humour and sarcasm to answer said questions was a terrifying thought.

"Where do you think that incest rumour even came from?" Jamie mused.

"I have a fair idea…" Jughead cleared his throat, recalling the angry words Jess had thrown at him years ago, when they'd been in the middle of breaking up. "Again, there's always the possibility that Jess had a boyfriend after she dated me who liked his own genetics a little too much." The hosts both snickered. "But if she was basing 'James' on me in any way, the only link I can make is that I am currently married to a woman who technically became my step-sister when we were twenty one."

Joel gasped. "The Horror!"

Jughead felt tension leaving his shoulders. "So, if that's a link people want to hold onto as 'proof' that everything Jess wrote is real, there's not much I can do about it." A little confidence was coming back to Jughead. "I'm very happily married and I'm not ashamed of my relationship in the slightest."

"Aw, you're getting all cheesy on us, Forsythe."

Jughead shrugged, though his cheeks were becoming warm. "It's true though. I love my wife - she's the strongest, kindest, most beautiful woman I've ever met. She's an amazing mother and partner. And she's a total badass." Any lingering anxiety left him. "People seem to enjoy speculating about our relationship, and I'm sure they'd be salivating if something went wrong between us. But the cold hard truth of it is that me and Betty aren't threatened by these bizarre gossip channels on YouTube, or character hit pieces on low-quality news websites."

The remainder of his interview involved some discussion about Get Creative. Joel had managed to obtain an early release copy from an acquaintance, and had several questions for Jughead about the events of the story. "What inspired you to write about polyamory?", "What's the significance of the Iowa setting?" and "Would you classify this book as erotica or coming-of-age? Or neither?" were all questions Jughead took his time answering. Jughead answered most of the questions the Discord chat gave him, in fact, and only needed to ask for one question to be cut out of the final recording - not because it was offensive, but because it gave away the book's ending.

Jughead was smiling contentedly as he closed his laptop at the end of the call. He'd always enjoyed talking about his work with people who were actually interested in the narratives' deeper intentions. Getting back into the world of press releases and interviews hadn't been as terrible as he'd anticipated…

"Sounds like that went well." Betty's voice came from behind him.

Jughead pushed his chair out from the table so he'd have more room to face her - then abruptly paused as he noted her attire had changed significantly from the yoga pants and oversized shirt she'd been wearing when he started the interview. Now she stood close to him, a satin robe covering her arms but completely open at the front, giving Jughead a complete view of the lacey purple underwear she was wearing.

Underwear that seemed to be flying solo and missing the matching bra Jughead knew existed somewhere in their bedroom.

Jughead tried to keep his eyes on her face, but the sheer amount of skin she was revealing was causing quite the distraction. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I think it was a great interview overall. Plenty of opportunities to discuss my book and clear up some rumours."

"Excellent." Betty said quietly. She walked closer to his side; the robe opened wider with the movement. "I was feeling a little… inspired, listening to you talking about your new book."

Jughead looked up at her as she loomed over his seated body. "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm." She hummed. Slowly, she leaned forward and placed a hand on Jughead's shoulder. "Indeed. In fact…" she slowly lifted a leg and draped it over Jughead's lap so that she was straddling him. Jughead swallowed as she slid further up his legs. "I think that maybe we should get a little…" she leaned in towards his ear; he felt the heat of her skin through his thin shirt, and the warmth of her breath against his neck as she whispered: "Creative."

Jughead slid his hands beneath her robe to wrap his arms around her warm body. "How could I possibly deny my wife when she's so…" he planted a kiss at her neck, "inspired?"

Betty smirked as she captured his lips. It wasn't long before Jughead stood, lifting Betty with him, and carried her into their bedroom - her legs locked around his waist, gripping him with a heat that would only scratch the surface of how hot their bodies would become that night…

…

Jordan was buzzing with excitement during the entire drive to New York.

Jughead was truthfully surprised by how much of the city his son remembered; Jordan described Washington Square Park in great detail to Chandler, who was almost as enthused about the trip as his nephew. Of course, the eleven year old would never admit to being such a thing as 'excited' about a park - he was apparently far too mature for that.

Jughead routinely checked the rear-vision mirror to keep an eye on the kids. Jordan and Chandler were happily talking in the back row of seats; Chandler occasionally asked Jordan if he'd seen things like the Statue of Liberty or the Brooklyn Bridge on his last trip to New York City over a year earlier. Emma had long fallen asleep clutching a squishy watermelon to her chest, but Bethany was wide awake and reaching up to the ceiling, kicking her little legs excitedly.

"What's Beth looking at?" Jughead asked idly as he turned his eyes back to the road ahead.

Betty turned around to inspect the baby. She smiled affectionately and turned back to face the road. "One of her sensory toys fell on the floor, and the sun is shining through the window, reflecting off the toy's mirror and projecting a star shape onto the roof."

Jughead let out a gasp of a laugh. "At least it's keeping her happy."

"Yeah." Betty agreed. She let out a happy sigh. "She's a really good baby, Jug. Don't you think so?"

Jughead's lips twitched. "Maybe we're just desensitised because the other two are so… loud."

Betty laughed. "It's crazy to think Emma is already walking and talking and finding ways to pester her siblings. Wasn't she a newborn just yesterday? What happened to my little giggly toddler? Look at her, Juggie. She's almost a whole child now."

Jughead did spare a glance for Emma in the mirror, then flicked his eyes over to Betty. "They do grow up quickly, Betts. It's both fun and terrifying." He admitted. "I mean… Jordan's almost closer to ten than he is to five."

Betty pressed her head back against the car seat. "No, stop. I can't even think about them growing up. Becoming adults. What are we going to do with ourselves when we don't have little kids running around anymore?"

Jughead kept his face neutral. "Well, for one we'd have the whole house to ourselves…" he said suggestively. "Maybe we could institute a new clothing optional rule…"

"Oh, stop it." She laughed. The sound of her joy made Jughead grin.

Their hotel room gave Jughead 'The Shining' vibes. Jughead loved it, but Betty rolled her eyes when he joked about the hallway stretching ominously before them. Chandler asked innocently why there was no Floor 13, and regretted it instantly when Jordan gave him a grave face and began telling a 'true ghost story' involving a mysterious secret hotel room that held the souls of eleven year old boys who wandered off from their families.

Jughead couldn't have been prouder.

He loathed leaving Betty and the kids alone, but the faster he met with Sam and got all of his work commitments out of the way, the faster he'd be able to join them all again. In any case, Jughead was certain if his wife could handle bringing down serial killers she could survive taking four kids to the park.

As Jughead made his way out into the hotel hallway, Betty considered letting Jordan and Chandler explore the building. There was an old ballroom on the ground floor, and she'd noticed a set of spiral stairs leading down below the lobby when Jughead was checking in.

She thought back to her own childhood; her, Jughead and Archie spent hours playing make-believe and coming up with new and imaginative ways to creep each other out. Jughead once had Archie convinced that there was a werewolf in the forest that was napping in his treehouse throughout the day, and had been mad at Betty for two whole days when she'd guiltily told Archie the truth.

She could picture Jordan and Chandler using ghost stories to scare each other as they traipsed around the hotel. She was sure Jordan had plenty more Jughead-influenced anecdotes to keep the pair of them amused…

But they were in New York. It wasn't Riverdale, but the crime rate in this part of the state was still too high for Betty to consider letting any of the kids out of her sight. And in any case, she knew Jughead was still nervous about having Jordan so close to Cora's family without being around to supervise him.

She filed 'hotel escapades' away in her brain, and set to work hyping the kids up about an outdoor adventure.

Betty kept Bethany and Emma in their stroller as she walked towards the park Jughead recommended. It housed a playground that was shaped like a person and designed by an artist named Tom Otterness. When she showed a picture of it to the kids, Jordan seemed particularly enthusiastic about the 'slides for legs' and wondered if he would be able to climb all the way to the top of the playground's head.

Jughead seemed relaxed when he met them for dinner. The end of his meetings started their 'official' weekend getaway, and Betty was impressed with Jughead's planned activities.

The kids loved eating at Benihana, and Betty loved getting cute pictures of them excitedly watching the theatrical Japanese chefs. Even Bethany enjoyed herself, giggling and clapping as Jughead attempted to use chopsticks with mixed success.

Dessert at Baskin Robbins even got Betty excited; New York City was so different to Riverdale that even seemingly 'regular' fast food chains were a novelty.

It was much later, as Chandler and Jordan were fast asleep in their bunk beds, while Emma laid nestled in between Jughead and Betty, and Bethany babbled at her parents from her portable Pack n Play, that Betty first sensed Jughead's anxiety. She looked over at her husband and caught him frowning at his phone screen.

"What are the masses of the internet speculating about now?" Betty asked nervously.

Jughead sighed. "Nothing… bad I guess." He mused, pursing his lips. "'FPJ3 denies cheating allegations in podcast interview' seems to be the recurring headline. They at least quoted me accurately."

Betty smiled and rolled onto her side. "Well, guess we can sleep at night now."

Jughead let out a gasp of a laugh, but kept his eyes on the phone.

"Is there… something else bugging you?"

Jughead locked his phone and placed it on the nightstand. "I'm just nervous… I didn't mention Cora by name, but… I talked a little about domestic violence and the like. I'm waiting for some idiotic journalist to start making wild claims about our marriage…" He shuffled onto his side to face Betty, and ran his hand across Emma's hair. "It was kind of a… relief to talk about it, you know? But considering we'll be seeing her family in the morning, I'm just hoping it doesn't come back to bite me on the ass. I don't want Jordan to hear anything from them that will confuse him."

Betty sighed. "We can still bail on the party, if you want. Take the kids to Times Square or something - they might like the giant McDonalds sign…"

But Jughead shook his head. "No, no, it'll be fine. I'm just worried, you know?" He looked down at his sleeping daughter. "We can't hide the truth from the kids forever…" He said wistfully.

Betty placed her arm on his shoulder. "We'll tell them when they're older." She said earnestly. "And hey, I'm proud of you for speaking up for yourself."

Jughead gave her a small smile.

…

Both parents were wired to the point of bursting by the time they made it to the trampoline park on Long Island. In the reception, none of the Carters were present, so Jughead kept calm as he signed safety forms for Chandler, Jordan and Emma and paid the admission fees.

"Ready to face the cavalry?" Betty asked, nudging Jughead's shoulder with her own.

Jughead breathed out a gust of air and nodded as he led them through the doors.

The first Carter family member they spotted was Cainon, whose eyes widened so fast upon seeing the Jones family walking into the trampoline park that he resembled a surprised puppy. His shock quickly turned to anger - but instead of approaching, he turned his blonde head to the side and glared at another member of the Carter family.

It was Caleb, who visibly grit his teeth and waved dismissively at Cainon. He turned and his eyes scanned the park until they landed on Jughead. Behind him, Cainon stormed in the direction of a group of mostly-blonde adults.

Jughead swallowed and walked towards Caleb.

"Jughead, Betty. Glad you guys could make it." Caleb said. He was tense, but sounded genuine. "Hey Jordan." He quietly said to the young boy standing close to his father. "And… Emma, is it?" Emma tilted her head curiously and reached up to take Betty's hand. "Sorry, I can't quite recall…"

Jughead took pity on him. "This is my brother, Chandler." He said and indicated to the eleven year old beside Jordan, who seemed to be in a state of mutual intrigue and alarm. "And the little one is Beth." He added. The baby in question was happily sucking on a fistful of Betty's hair, but Betty seemed oblivious to her while she waited to see what would unfold.

"That's right, I remember now." Caleb said, and cleared his throat. "Kaine's over at the big trampoline that looks like a UFO." He pointed in the opposite direction, and Jughead noted the presence of no less than fifteen kids jumping on the half-walls in the circular trampoline structure.

"Can we go Dad?" Jordan asked, a pleading tone in his voice as he stared up at Jughead.

Jughead nodded. "Yeah, go and play." Jordan barely waited for the words to leave Jughead's mouth before he grabbed Chandler by the wrist and practically dragged him towards the 'UFO'.

There was a tense moment of silence before Jughead scratched the back of his neck. "Your brothers don't look particularly happy to see me." He said knowingly, and nodded towards the group of Carter family members.

Caleb glanced over his shoulder and sighed before looking back at Jughead. "I decided not to tell them you were coming. A bit of a surprise can be nice, don't you think?" He lowered his voice and leaned closer. "I was a little worried they'd tell our mother, honestly."

Jughead nodded. "Well, I appreciate it."

Betty took Emma and Bethany over to the toddler friendly area, and kept a cautious eye on Jughead as he remained with Caleb for the duration of the kids' playtime. Caleb's wife joined them, and while the three of them all looked tense, none of them were frowning. Although Cora's other brothers seemed content to steer clear of Jughead for the time being, Betty couldn't help waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But by the time a friendly and enthusiastic worker began calling over the kids that were part of Kaine's party group, still no-one in the Carter family had confronted Jughead or Betty. Betty tentatively led Emma back over to the party group and followed Jughead inside a separated room.

Jordan seemed thrilled - he sat beside another one of his cousins who seemed closer to his own age, and cheerfully ate nuggets with the other kids. Betty leaned closer to Jughead as they hovered on the edges of the room, Bethany cuddled into her shoulder. Chandler stayed dutifully by Jordan's side, and Betty wondered idly if his sudden protective streak had a hidden agenda. It was an unspoken and well-known secret in the Jones family that Betty wasn't Jordan's birth mother - could Chandler be trying to make sure none of Jordan's Carter cousins told him something that might make him question his family? Chandler was surely old enough to remember most of the events that transpired after Jughead moved back to Riverdale - after all, he and Jordan had lived with Chandler for over a year after Jughead's divorce.

Betty was still watching the kids, and smiling wryly at Chandler's blushing face as he struck up a conversation with Kelly Carter, when it became apparent that Cora's brothers weren't going to keep giving Jughead the silent treatment.

"How can you show your face here?" Cainon whispered harshly.

Betty jolted and faced him - but Cainon was glaring at Jughead, who squared his shoulders and kept his gaze even.

"Caleb invited us." Jughead said simply. "And Jordan wanted to come."

Cainon's frown only deepened. "Still, you had the audacity to try and insert yourself into our family-"

"I'm not inserting myself into anything. My son wanted to see his cousins again, so that's why I'm here."

Cainon snorted. "Does he even know these kids are related to him?"

Anger started to build in Jughead. "I'm not going to justify-"

A newer, less gravely voice cut in. "What's going on here - is there a problem?"

Jughead and Betty turned to the new voice; it was Carlisle. He towered over the other adults, and Cainon looked up at him in annoyance. "The problem is that our idiot brother invited this trailer trash to our nephew's birthday."

Carlisle's frown matched Cainon's instantly, and his voice stayed at a harsh whisper. "Yeah, about that - I'm not particularly impressed, either. In fact, I'd almost say that you've outstayed your welcome, Jones."

"I'm not interested in arguing with you-" Jughead started, but another voice interrupted him. This time, it was welcome.

"Whatever you three are bickering about, it ends now." Caleb said firmly. "It's my son's birthday, and I'm not having it ruined with petty fighting about something we can't change."

Cainon scoffed. "Are you insane, Caleb? Where do you get off inviting him here?"

"We're not having this conversation." Caleb asserted.

Carlisle tried for calm diplomacy. "He completely cut our nephew off from his mother. Our sister. And you expect us to all stand here being civil?"

"The courts cut him off from her - and you both know damn well why." Caleb said furiously. "Now all of you just shut up and make yourselves look happy. The kids are starting to notice something's wrong, and I'm not having this go south because you can't put your differences aside for family's sake."

"He's no family to me-"

"Carlisle."

Carlisle and Cainon both fell silent, but neither managed to completely lose their glares by the time Maria Carter brought out the birthday cake.

…

"All things considered, that could have gone worse." Betty said calmly, then took a sip of her coffee.

Jughead tore his eyes away from Jordan; his son was standing alongside Emma and Chandler, and all three kids stood at the edge of a large pond in Central Park, throwing little pieces of corn to the ducks. The ducks noisily quacked and splashed, and Emma intermittently threw corn into the water then ran back to Betty. It was a cycle that amused Jordan and Chandler to no end.

It was as Emma toddled back to take another handful of corn from Jordan's bag that Betty had made the statement.

Jughead sighed and bounced Bethany on his knee. "It certainly wasn't the worst case scenario. Though I could have done without all the glares and snide remarks."

"Did you expect anything less, though?" Betty asked wryly.

"Not really, no." He said, and they both snickered.

Betty placed her coffee cup on the seat beside her. "The kids are all sweet, at least." Betty mused. She watched as Jordan handed Emma the bag of corn, and smiled as the toddler shook it in her hands.

"Caleb's kids are sweet." Jughead corrected. "Carlisle's kids are entitled little shits, and Cainon's are mouthy monsters."

"Cainon's kids are six and four."

"I stand by my statement." Jughead said, and Betty shook her head. "But… I am glad we went. Jordan seems happy."

They both watched as Jordan tried to explain how to feed the birds, making tossing motions towards the water. Emma looked up at him curiously, then threw the entire bag into the pond. Chandler laughed hard, and hunched over to wrap his arms around his stomach. Jordan audibly groaned and put his hands over his face.

"Well, he did seem happy." Jughead said, unable to keep the grin off his face. Jordan crouched down at the edge of the pond, and reached his arm out to try and grab the bag. "Jordan, leave it Buddy. The ducks will swim up to it." He called out.

But Jordan determinedly reached out further.

"I'll get him." Betty said calmly, then stood up to join the kids at the edge of the water.

Before she could take a step, however, Jordan lost his footing and toppled over into the pond.

The panic didn't set in right away. Jughead stood up and readjusted Bethany against his shoulder as Betty hurried over to the edge. Jughead moved quickly as well, anxiety rising up as well as sympathy for Jordan - he was going to end up cold and wet, and likely wouldn't be impressed with the sudden turn of events.

But seconds after Betty kneeled down and reached into the water to grab Jordan she turned her head sharply to look back over her shoulder. "Jug, he's stuck."

Jughead stiffened and rushed the final steps to stand beside Betty. "What do you mean?"

Betty's hands were submerged, and she grit her teeth as she leaned back and pulled. "He's caught under something."

Jughead wordlessly handed Bethany to Chandler and sank to his knees beside Betty. When he shoved his hands below the water's surface, he came into contact immediately with Jordan's back, and leaned down further to grip his waist. He tugged - but Jordan barely budged.

That's when the panic set it.

The whole ordeal didn't last much longer, but the few seconds that it did were agonising. Jughead leaned down further and completely wrapped his arms around Jordan's waist and then in a sudden burst of energy Jughead threw himself backwards. There was a snap as Jughead landed on his back - out of the corner of his eye he noted a thick tree branch now sticking out of the water - and the air got knocked out of his lungs as Jordan's body weight slammed against his chest.

Jughead heard the sound of Bethany starting to cry, but his focus was on the gasping, coughing child in his arms.

Betty kneeled beside them. "Are you okay? Jordan, Honey, talk to me." She said quickly, her hands pushing wet hair away from his eyes and filtering across his jacket.

Jughead forced himself to sit up, and adjusted Jordan in his lap. He looked down at Jordan's face - Jordan's blue eyes were wide, and he stared ahead unblinkingly at Betty. His shoulders heaved up and down as he caught his breath, but he remained frozen.

Jughead squeezed his arms. "Are you alright, Buddy?" He asked, his voice catching in his chest.

Jordan swallowed, then slowly turned his head to look up at Jughead. "I'm… okay." He choked out. He remained motionless for a moment before he turned around completely and wrapped his arms around Jughead's neck.

…

Betty and Jughead stood inside the ensuite in their hotel room. All four kids were asleep, but neither of the adults could relax enough to consider laying down. The door was slightly ajar, just enough for them to hear if any of the kids woke up.

"He seems alright." Betty whispered. "He was spooked, for sure. But… it looks like he's fine now."

Jughead leaned back against the sink and shook his head. "How can he just be fine after that? I'm not fine."

Betty took a step closer to him and placed her hands on his arms. "He was stuck for less than a minute, Juggie… as far as he thinks, he fell in the water and his dad pulled him out again."

Jughead looked down at the ground. "He doesn't know how to swim."

"He didn't need to know today, okay? We were both there." Betty squeezed Jughead's arms. "But we can take him to get swimming lessons when we get home. Emma too, while we're at it."

Jughead nodded slowly. He slumped forward and moved his arms around Betty's waist. She slid her hands up his arms to rest on his shoulders, then leaned her head against his chest.

Jughead held her tighter. "You don't think… that he'd remember…"

Betty held him tighter. "Don't even think about it, Juggie. He wasn't even one year old when that happened. Too young to even form memories."

Jughead still felt his throat constricting. "Too young to develop fears, though?"

Betty stayed silent for a long moment. "Phobias can be caused by a lot of different things, especially in children." She tilted her head to look up at him. "He wasn't scared of the pond, Jug… he just didn't like falling into it. It was an accident, but he's alright now."

"If we weren't there…"

"Then he wouldn't have been there either, Juggie." She placed a hand on his face and stroked his cheek. "I know, it's scary. How many times did our parents warn us not to go too close to the edge of Sweetwater River when we were kids in case we fell in and got caught on a rock or a tree branch hidden beneath the surface? No one actually thinks it'll ever happen."

"It happened today…"

"I know, and it was scary. I was scared too." Betty said honestly. "And I know Jordan being trapped in a body of water is something that would bring up bad memories for you too, Jug." Jughead slowly nodded. "But hey - we had a good day with the kids, there were a few minor catastrophes, but everyone survived. And tomorrow, we can do something a little more… peaceful. Or at least, we can do something that is far, far away from any lakes, ponds, rivers or creeks."

Jughead gave Betty a small smile. "I think I was more terrified than Jordan was today."

Betty kissed his cheek. "That's how I know you're a wonderful, caring, nurturing father." She placed her head against his chest. "Today was a hiccup, but we'll be okay."

…

Two weeks later it seemed that, contrary to what Betty hoped, there could be some lingering effects of Jordan falling in the pond…