The Tanners' backyard was abuzz with summer activity as the family struggled to cope with a record-breaking heatwave. The twins splashed around joyfully in their kiddie pool as Becky watched over them with a delighted grin. Nearby, DJ and Kimmy sat side by side on two lounge chairs tanning. Michelle and a few of her friends were chasing Comet back and forth through a sprinkler as Joey occasionally doused them with a garden hose. Jesse, however, seemed oblivious to the sweltering heat as he worked on his bike in his signature V-neck and ripped jeans. He was equally as oblivious to the activity around him as he worked with headphones on, belting out the Elvis Presley song playing on his Walkman.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Danny was chatting with his sister, Wendy, as her pet chimpanzee rested on her hip.
"Wendy, I'm so glad you're back in town!" Danny exclaimed. "The girls miss you; you know."
"Well, after Mom told me what happened to Vicky on the cruise, I figured now would be a good time to take a couple of weeks off to come and help you out. Plus, it'll be nice to finally meet my brother's new wife! Just like it would have been nice to be invited to the wedding," she teased.
Danny chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing."
"Just like your first wedding!" Wendy reminded him with a playful swat on the arm.
Danny rolled his eyes. "Well played! Anyway, it's great to have you around. But don't feel like you have to help out around the house while you're here, okay? Just having you here is enough."
Not to be forgotten, Ginger made her presence known by vigorously shaking Danny's hand.
Danny laughed. "Yes, Ginger, it's great to have you here, too," Danny admitted.
As Ginger grew restless, her foster mother absentmindedly set her on the ground, continuing her conversation with her brother. Sensing that her escape wouldn't be noticed, Ginger hurried over to the door and let herself into the backyard.
Once outside, Ginger immediately recognized her friend Jesse from her last visit and ran over to hop on his back.
"Nicky! Alex! Get down. Daddy's busy!" Jesse ordered without looking up from his bike.
Confused, Rebecca looked over at Jesse. "Uh, Jess, both of the boys are in the pool."
Once Becky saw who had actually mounted her husband's back, she clapped her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter.
"Hey! That's a chimpanzee!" Teddy exclaimed, causing everyone else in the backyard to look up except Jesse, who was still fully engrossed in his motorbike and music.
The group gathered around Jesse to observe Ginger, who was clearly milking the attention. She began to mimic Jesse's actions of hammering and screwing against Jesse's back.
"Boys, I said get down! I'm trying to work here!"
By this point, Danny and Wendy had come outside and were enjoying the show along with everyone else.
"Aren't you going to stop her?" Joey whispered in Wendy's ear.
Wendy shook her head, giggling, with her hand covering her mouth.
"She'll get bored of it eventually!"
Joey shrugged and nodded, his gaze lingering on Wendy for a moment before he turned back to watch Ginger.
"Beck, a little help here?" Jesse begged his wife, still not looking up.
Quietly, Becky ushered the boys over to their father and encouraged them to join in on Ginger's antics. Feeling the additional weight of his twin toddlers on his back, Jesse finally turned around.
"What the- UUUUGH!" Jesse screamed.
The entire family, Ginger included, was in stitches as Jesse jumped up to a standing position.
"Ginger!" Jesse exclaimed with a crooked smile. "Good to see you again!" He bent down to shake Ginger's hand, then stood to wrap his arm around Wendy.
"So let me get this straight," said Vicky. "Your solution to me being on bed rest is to have your little sister and her pet monkey come stay with us for two weeks to help out?"
Danny shrugged. "Wendy called and asked if there was anything she could do to help, and I figured since the girls are out of school for the summer and the rest of us still have to work, we could use an extra adult around until we get into a new routine. That's all."
"Well, that was very sweet of her, Danny, but with everything we have going on right now, I feel like the last thing we need in this house is a chimpanzee! Can't she at least stay in a hotel?" Vicky pleaded.
"Vicky," Danny said as he sat on the bed next to his wife and wrapped his arm around her. "You know we don't send family to a hotel in this house! And besides, do you really think I would let them stay here with you in this condition if I thought Ginger would be any trouble? I'm telling you, Sweetheart, Ginger is a great house guest!"
"Really?" Vicky asked with one eyebrow raised, her face contorting into an amused but incredulous smile.
"Oh yeah!" Danny assured her. "She always wipes her feet on the doormat, and she's got great personal hygiene. We don't even have to worry about her using up any hot water!" Danny chuckled to himself.
Vicky sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, Darling. If you insist that Ginger won't be any trouble, I suppose I should trust your judgment."
Danny smiled and handed his wife the TV remote. "Don't you worry about a thing, Sweetheart!" He leaned over and kissed Vicky's forehead. "Besides, Wendy tells me Ginger loves her soaps! She'll be a great TV watching buddy!"
Hearing the familiar opening theme to Days of Our Lives, the chimpanzee ran in and made herself comfortable on the bed right next to Vicky, making her laugh.
"Danny, thank you for setting up the TV in the bedroom," said Vicky appreciatively. "I do enjoy reading, but a girl can only read so many romance novels before she starts to get unrealistic ideas."
"Well, who says those ideas have to be unrealistic?" Danny shot back with a suggestive wink.
"Trust me, Sweetheart," Vicky replied, "For someone who's six months pregnant, anything in those novels is unrealistic!"
The couple laughed, and Danny gave his wife one more kiss before heading toward the door.
"Well, I'll leave you two to your shows. I'm gonna go check on the girls. Ginger, you keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get out of bed, alright?"
Ginger nodded enthusiastically and waved goodbye to Danny, who then shut the bedroom door and headed back downstairs.
"So, Ginger," said Vicky, "what are you in the mood for? All My Children? General Hospital?"
Ginger began jumping on the bed and making big gestures with her arms. Vicky chuckled.
"Of course!" Vicky sighed. "The Young and the Restless! Why didn't I think of that?!" She slapped her palm against her forehead. "Silly me!" She exclaimed, pressing a button on the remote to change the channel. Once her requested show was on, Ginger settled back down.
"Popcorn?" Vicky offered her bowl to Ginger, and the chimpanzee eagerly took a handful.
While Ginger was occupied upstairs, Wendy and Joey sat facing each other on the living room sofa, playing cards and getting reacquainted. Wendy sat on her knees with one leg dangling over the edge of the couch. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail with tendrils brushing her cheeks on either side. Joey watched in amusement as Wendy nervously fiddled with the locket around her neck.
"Your grandmother gave you that necklace, didn't she?" Joey remembered.
Wendy smiled and nodded. "Yeah. For my tenth birthday. It has a picture of her and my grandpa in it. They were married for over 45 years. She thought it might bring me good luck, but considering I'm thirty-two and still single, I think that ship has sailed," Wendy scoffed.
Joey laughed. "Well, Wendy, forgive me for saying this, but I think you only have yourself to blame for that one! I mean, come on, how many eligible bachelors are you going to meet on an African Safari?!"
Wendy giggled. "Oh, you'd be surprised! Those apes can get pretty handsy!" She exclaimed, sending them both into a fit of laughter so strong that she rolled over towards Joey and slapped him on the knee.
Once they had both calmed down, they were sitting so close that their shoulders almost touched, and Joey took the opportunity to reach over and brush the stray hairs off of Wendy's face.
"You know, Wendy, you still owe me a date," he said quietly, twirling her hair absentmindedly in his fingers. "Unless!" He exclaimed suddenly, jerking his hand back, "You've got some other secret boyfriend you're not telling me about." Joey raised his eyebrows suspiciously.
"Hey, I just told you! Thirty-two and single!" Wendy raised her hands in defense to prove her innocence.
"Yes, but you could just be saying that to discourage me from asking you out again."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Joey, you know I've had a crush on you since we were kids. And I wasn't exactly subtle about it, either! Remember that one time when you and Danny were out riding your bikes and me and my friend, Barbara, followed you all the way to the playground and hid in the bushes next to the basketball court so we could jump out and scare you?"
"You did that because you liked me?" Joey asked.
Wendy shrugged. "Yeah," she admitted shyly. "Well, that, and Barbara and I made a bet that she could make Danny faint." Wendy and Joey chuckled.
"Then what are we doing here, Wendy?" Joey asked seriously. "If we both like each other, then why do things always seem to fizzle out right when it starts to get serious?"
Wendy stood up from the couch. "I don't know." She turned her back to Joey and folded her arms across her chest. "I guess, since you and Danny have been so close for so long, I've always been afraid that if you and I got together and things didn't work out, that…"
Wendy turned back to find Joey standing just inches away from her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Afraid of what?" Joey asked earnestly.
Wendy sighed. "Joey, if things don't work out between us, that could ruin your and Danny's friendship! I don't want to be the cause of that!"
"Wendy," said Joey, "You've seen the bond that Danny and I have with each other! You know that nothing could ever come between us! Do you know how many times Danny and I have gotten into a stupid fight over some girl?" Joey put his hands on his hips.
"Based on both of your track records, I'm guessing it can't be that many," Wendy teased.
Joey smiled and rolled his eyes. "Okay, so there were only three, but still, none of those three women managed to tear us apart, and I'm confident that you wouldn't either. Come on, Wendy, we're both adults here. Can't we at least give it a shot? If it doesn't work out, I think we're both mature enough to stay good friends."
"Joey, since when have you ever been mature enough for anything?" Wendy accused indignantly.
Joey gasped and leaned in towards Wendy. "I'm telling your mom you said that!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, yeah?!"
"Yeah!"
"Then I'm telling her that you and Danny wouldn't let me play basketball with you!"
Giggling, Wendy ran past Joey and scurried towards the kitchen. Joey caught up with her and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her off the ground just high enough so that her feet dangled in midair. Wendy let out a surprised yelp then descended into another laughing fit.
"Joey put me down!" She demanded as she gasped for breath between giggles.
Joey gently placed Wendy on the floor and spun her back around so they were face to face.
"You know, Joey, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were flirting with me!"
"Oh, I'm flirting with you?" Joey retorted. "Yeah, well how's this for flirting, huh?"
Joey wiggled his fingers as a warning then dove towards Wendy, smothering her in tickles. He smiled contentedly as Wendy's face grew red from laughter and she rested her head on his shoulder in an attempt to catch her breath.
"Not fair!" she whispered bashfully. "You caught me off guard."
Joey shrugged in agreement. "Well, they don't call me the Master of Surprise for nothing," he replied.
Wendy opened her mouth to scold Joey, but his cheeky grin made her blush, so she quickly darted her eyes to the floor. "Hey, your shoe's untied!" She lied, knowing he would buy it.
"No, they are not! Why would you -"
As Joey stood back up, Wendy swiftly leaned over and pressed her lips against Joey's. Startled, Joey raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn't resist Wendy's advances. Instead, he took Wendy's face in his hands, tilting her chin upward. Then he slid them down to her shoulders, pulling her in closer to him before finally resting them on her hips.
Just as quickly as the exchange heated up, the flame was doused when Joey felt a certain creature hop up on his back, clinging to both of his shoulders for dear life.
"See, Wendy? Even Ginger thinks we would make a cute couple!" Joey quipped. "And, you know, it wouldn't hurt for Miss Ginger here to have a male role model in her life!"
"Well, what do you say, Ginger? Should we give Joey a chance?"
Ginger reached over and grabbed Wendy with one arm, the other still clinging to Joey. She grinned and nodded happily, clearly offering her stamp of approval.
"Well, then, I guess it's unanimous!" Joey exclaimed. "Why don't I take you lovely ladies out for some frozen yogurt, huh? You know, Ginger, I heard they just got banana-flavored!" Ginger smiled and pounded her fists against her chest.
As the trio was about to leave through the kitchen, Stephanie and Michelle came in through the front door.
"Hey, Steph, we're going out for frozen yogurt. Can you let your dad know that we'll be back before dinner?"
Stephanie nodded without looking up from the piece of paper in her hand. "Yeah, sure, Joey. Have fun."
"Great, thanks!"
Once Joey, Wendy, and Ginger had left, Stephanie settled on the couch with her letter and Michelle sat right next to her.
"What are you reading? Who's it from?" Michelle asked eagerly.
"None of your business, Michelle!" Stephanie raised her voice slightly in annoyance. She continued reading, occasionally smirking at the contents of her letter, as Michelle leaned in as close as she possibly could to try and get a peek.
"Michelle, don't you have anything better to do than read my mail over my shoulder?" Stephanie scoffed.
Michelle shrugged. "Nope. It's summer break," she responded bluntly.
Stephanie sighed. "If I tell you who this letter is from, will you promise to leave me alone?"
"That depends," said Michelle.
"On what?"
"On how juicy the letter is!"
Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Fine. It's from Julio, that waiter that I met in Mexico. We've been writing back and forth all summer."
"Does Rusty know that you've been writing letters to another boy?" Michelle asked.
"Ugh, not you, too!" Stephanie groaned. "I already get enough of that from DJ. Look, Julio and I are just friends, okay?"
"Then why did Julio say that you have eyes that sparkle like the Pacific Ocean?" Michelle questioned.
"Michelle, since when do you know how to read Spanish?" Stephanie demanded.
"Since I started reading Julio's letters after you fall asleep every night!"
"Michelle! How dare you?! Those letters are private! Why would you even think about -"
Michelle started yelling over Stephanie, causing their father to come in to investigate.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, hey!" yelled Danny. "Girls, what's going on?!"
"Michelle's been reading my mail!" Stephanie complained.
"Michelle! You know better than to invade your sister's privacy like that! I want you to apologize to Stephanie right now."
"Sorry."
"Now, I want you to go upstairs to your room and think long and hard about how important it is to respect other people's private business. And no phone calls to your friends for a week!"
"But Dad!" Michelle whined.
Danny narrowed his eyes at his youngest daughter. "No, Michelle. No buts! You are way too old to be acting this way. Now, march!"
Michelle huffily obliged and stomped upstairs to her room.
"So, who are these letters from?" Danny asked as soon as Michelle was out of earshot.
"Hey, what happened to respecting my privacy?"
"Oh, well that only applies to little sisters," Danny retorted as he took a seat next to Stephanie on the couch. "Dads are entitled to know everything."
"They're from this friend that I met on the cruise," Stephanie explained, hoping that would suffice and her father wouldn't press the issue any further.
"Oh, that's great, Sweetheart! You know, when I was in high school, I had a pen pal from France named Jean-Pierre. He was a really nice guy, but all he ever talked about was smoking cigars and making out with a bunch of girls. I just hope he didn't mean all of them at once," Danny pondered.
"Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah, Steph?"
"Is Aunt Becky home?" Stephanie asked. "I could use some womanly advice." Stephanie hoped her use of the term "womanly" would deter her father from trying to put in his own two cents.
"Yeah. She's upstairs with Vicky sorting through baby clothes."
"Great! Thanks, Dad." Stephanie jumped up from the sofa. "Oh, by the way, Joey and Wendy went out for frozen yogurt. They said they would be back before dinner," Stephanie informed her father before disappearing upstairs.
Back upstairs in Danny and Vicky's bedroom, Vicky sat on top of the bed surrounded by piles of baby clothes as Becky stood beside the bed folding and sorting them by size. Rocket was curled up into a ball on Danny's pillow, fast asleep.
"Oh, look at these little shorts!" Becky gushed, holding up a tiny pair of cargo shorts for Vicky to look at. "Oh, I can't believe Nicky and Alex used to fit into these!" Becky wiped a tear from her eye.
"Oh, those are darling!" Vicky exclaimed. "Becky, thank you so much for lending us all of these baby clothes. Having two of everything is really going to come in handy. I won't have to do laundry nearly as often!" She and Becky chuckled.
Stephanie stood in the doorway and knocked lightly on the door even though it was wide open. The sound of the knock caused Rocket to wake up with a start, jump off the bed, and run out of the room.
"Hey, come on in, Steph!" Vicky chirped. "Your Aunt Becky and I were just going through all of these clothes she lent me for your baby brother. Look, isn't this sleeper so cute?" Vicky held up a red and white striped sleeper with a picture of The Cat in the Hat on the front.
"Yeah, it's adorable," Stephanie replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. She did her best to match her stepmother's upbeat tone, but neither Vicky nor Becky was fooled.
"Stephanie, is something wrong?" Vicky asked.
"Yeah, Steph, are you okay?" Aunt Becky echoed.
Stephanie sighed as she contemplated how much of her situation she was willing to divulge, especially to Vicky, who would almost definitely be relaying this whole conversation to her father later.
"Well, see, the thing is - " Stephanie hesitated.
"Sweetie, you can tell us anything," said Vicky as she leaned over and placed a reassuring hand on Stephanie's thigh to comfort her. "What's going on?"
"I need some relationship advice!" Stephanie blurted out.
"Did something happen between you and Rusty?" Becky offered gently.
Stephanie shook her head. "No. This is about somebody else," Stephanie admitted. "I met this guy in Mexico, and we exchanged contact information, so we've been writing letters back and forth all summer, and I think I really like him. But I still really like Rusty, so I don't know what to do." Stephanie bowed her head, partly in shame, and partly in fear of how her aunt and stepmother were going to respond.
"Aw, Steph." Becky sat on the bed and put her arm around Stephanie. "Matters of the heart are complicated at any age, but especially at yours. You're young and inexperienced. You're still learning about yourself and what you like. There's no shame in having feelings for two different people. It just means that you're going to have to make some tough decisions."
"So, this is normal?" Stephanie wondered, "Liking two guys at the same time?"
Vicky nodded. "Absolutely. But I know that doesn't make it any easier to decide between them," she said sympathetically.
"So, how am I supposed to do it? Decide between them, I mean?"
"Well, there is an old adage about how if you fall for two different people, you should pick the second one because you wouldn't have noticed them if you really loved the first one, but I think people just say that to make people feel guilty for being attracted to other people when they're in a relationship. I mean, are we supposed to just pretend that nobody else on the planet is attractive just because we're happily married? And it's a double standard, too, because men are always - Oh my God, I'm starting to ramble just like your father!" Vicky realized.
Stephanie giggled. "You really are!"
"Anyway, Stephanie, what I'm getting at is, this is, unfortunately, a decision that only you can make for yourself. There might be some truth to that saying, but if you really like Rusty and want to stay with him, there's no reason you and this other guy can't be friends!"
"Vicky's right," said Becky, "I mean, you and Harry have been friends for years and Rusty doesn't have a problem with that, does he?"
"No. Why would he?"
"Well, he shouldn't," said Vicky, "but sometimes, guys can be a little, let's say, insecure about us having other men in our lives."
"You mean jealous?" Stephanie asked.
"Oh, yeah," Aunt Becky confirmed. "Real jealous. You would not believe the way your Uncle Jesse used to react any time that we had an even remotely attractive male guest on the show. It was pathetic. You know, sometimes, I look back and wonder what made me agree to marry him in the first place."
Stephanie stared blankly at her aunt.
"But then I remember what a charmer he is and that he only acted that way because he was scared of losing me! Guys can do some pretty stupid stuff when they feel threatened in a relationship and your Uncle Jesse is a prime example."
Stephanie cocked her head in confusion. "How is this supposed to help me again?"
"Oh, right! Right. The point is if you want to stay with Rusty, then he should have no problem with you being friends with the other guy, and if he does have a problem with it, then you're better off without him."
"Your Aunt Becky's right," said Vicky, "but if you do decide that you like this other guy as more than just a friend, then you should talk to Rusty about it sooner rather than later so that you're not stringing him along."
Stephanie nodded. "Thank you, guys. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do."
"No problem, Stephanie!" Vicky replied, putting her arm around Stephanie's shoulder. "And if you need to talk it out some more, you know right where to find me!"
Stephanie laughed. "Thanks, Vicky!" She leaned over to give her stepmother a hug before standing up and giving her aunt one as well. "Thanks, Aunt Becky!"
"Anytime, Sweetheart!"
Stephanie left the bedroom and went back downstairs to grab Julio's letter. When she reached the landing, she stopped dead in her tracks and took a big gulp of air when she realized who was sitting on the sofa with Julio's letter in his hand.
"Rusty! Did we have plans today?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"Not anymore," Rusty replied coolly. He set the letter back on the coffee table and walked out the front door.
"Rusty, wait! I can explain!" Stephanie ran outside after him, slamming the door behind her.
A/N: Thank you for sticking with me through one of my busiest times of the year at work! After the recent news of Bob Saget's death, I wasn't sure I was going to have it in me to continue this story, but I'm going to do my best. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to have a new one out soon!
