By the time Joey pulled up
in Dawson's driveway, she was in a bad mood. But when she saw her old friend's
handsome, familiar face in one of the large multi-paned windows by the door of
his huge Victorian home, grinning, her spirits lifted considerably.
Dawson threw open the door
and rushed over to her. He enfolded her into his strong, warm embrace and held
her tightly. "God, I've missed you. It's been too long." He whispered.
Hugging him back, Joey
smiled. "Missed you too, Dawson."
He stepped back, his hands
on her shoulders as he examined her. "Let's see . . . Your hair is longer,
you're a bit taller, and you're more beautiful, but you need to gain some
weight." He said.
She looked him over. He had
grown taller too, since their height difference was the same. His hair was a
little shorter, he had a tan, and he looked very healthy and fit and happy.
"You look good, Dawson." Joey said, nodding.
"Thank you . . . I'm so
sorry about—"
"I got your card, Dawson,"
she stopped him. "It's okay and I understand why you couldn't make it. I don't
want to talk about it right now."
Dawson nodded and changed
the subject. "Are these little beauties Casey and Aliya?" He asked, nodding
towards the car.
Joey sighed in grateful
relief; glad he didn't press the issue. "Yes they are."
"Casey got so big." He said
in amazement. He hadn't seen her since she was born. He'd been in California
for the past four years, and hadn't seen Aliya at all, except for in pictures.
Joey opened Casey's car door
and gestured her out. "This is Uncle Dawson, Case."
"Hi." Casey said shyly.
"Hi, Casey . . . You have
the most beautiful eyes."
Casey lowered her head.
Everyone told her that, but it still embarrassed her. "Thank you."
"Have you decided if you're
going to stay here or at a hotel?"
Joey shrugged. "I'm not going
back out into that traffic."
Dawson smiled
sympathetically. "It's rush hour."
As Joey unlocked the trunk,
she shot Dawson a look of disbelief. "Since when did Capeside have rush hour?"
"I was told it was since
they built that one of those big new shopping malls here last year."
Joey frowned in thought, and
then her eyes lit up. "They fit a Multiplex Mega Mall here?" She asked
incredulously. Casey's gold eyes lit up with excitement. The Multiplex Mega
Mall was a gargantuan of a mall; complete with the biggest, hottest, most
talked about clothing, electronic, hardware, and toy stores. But what made this
mall unique was what it had that other malls didn't have, or didn't have in
their size. It had a gigantic arcade, a roller-rink, a cinema with fifty-five
screens, a fitness center complete with basketball courts, tennis courts, a
track, and batting ranges, even an indoor/outdoor pool and a huge
rollercoaster. There wasn't one in Manhattan, because there wasn't any space,
but there was one in Queens. It was packed any day and time of the week, at any
season. Whoever came up with the idea was rich, and had gotten even richer. She
and Pacey had taken the kids there numerous times, and they all loved it.
"Yes they did." Dawson
answered. "Andrea works there."
Refusing the urge to roll
her eyes, Joey posed Dawson with another question. "Where did they find space
for it?"
"I'll
show you. The streets are a little different now."
Joey
shook her head in disbelief. You leave a town for eight years and all of a
sudden it's a goddamn city. "I don't think I want to go," she told him. "Can
you . . ." She motioned to their belongings that were sitting in the trunk.
"Of course." Dawson walked
over to the trunk and began lifting out their bags. Joey went around the side
and picked her sleeping child out of her car seat.
"She's beautiful, Joey."
Dawson said, gazing at the little girl as he laced the strap of a duffle bag
around his shoulder and picked up two suitcases.
"Thank you." Joey closed the
trunk and tried to pull one of the suitcases out of his hand. He moved them
both out of her reach.
"Come on inside." Dawson
said.
He
led them in to the house and kicked the door shut behind them. They were in a
very warm, inviting foyer, and there was a door on each side. "Closet," he
said, nodding to the one on the right. He nodded to the one on the right.
"Bathroom."
They
walked past the foyer into the living room. To the left was the kitchen, and to
the right were stairs and a hallway. "There are two doors in the hallway, one
leads to the basement, the other leads to the side of the house, which of
course, leads to the backyard. There's a door to the backyard in the kitchen.
The bedrooms are upstairs, mine and Andrea's, Seven's, and the guest bedrooms.
The guest bedrooms and mine have bathrooms, and there's another one next to
Seven's. I'll show you when we get up there. Come on."
"How
old is Seven now?" Joey asked, following him upstairs and keeping an eye on
Casey to make sure she followed.
"Five."
"He's
five-years-old, Dawson?" Joey asked in surprise, remembering when he was just a
baby. She also remembered asking Dawson why he was being named Seven, and he
told her that he wanted to name him after Steven Spielburg, his childhood idol
and current mentor and friend, but Andrea wanted to name him Kevin. So they
compromised. Then she remembered that she had been pregnant with L.J. around
the same time, and she shoved the thought out of her mind before it went any
further.
"Yes
he is." Dawson replied, pausing on the landing to adjust his hold on the
suitcases before continuing up the next flight.
"Where
is he?"
"In
his room with his little friend Elliott from next door. I told them to come
down, but they was too busy playing." Dawson shrugged.
"Elliott, huh? I bet you
loved that, didn't you?" Joey teased.
Dawson shot her a glare.
Joey grinned and looked around once they reached the second floor. There was a
balcony straight ahead, and to the left, there was a hallway. Dawson led her
down the hallway and into the second door on the left.
"The
other door on the left is the other guest bedroom. The girls can sleep in here,
or in the other one if you want. But this one is bigger, and I figured you'd
want to put the girls in here." He said, putting down their bags.
She
nodded and headed to the queen-sized bed. "You're right, I would. Thanks." She
said, laying Aliya down in the middle of the bed and removing her shoes. It was
a little warm in the room, so she left her on top of the covers.
"We
have central air, but Seven has one of those summer colds that's going around
here, so we don't want it to be too cool in the house right now," he explained,
reading her mind. "If it gets too hot, we have a bunch of fans in the
basement."
Joey
smiled at his clairvoyance. "Thanks, Dawson. It'll be okay. Right, Case?" She
asked her daughter.
Casey
nodded vigorously. "Uh huh."
Joey
grinned at her and picked up her suitcase. "Which bedroom is mine?"
"Right
this way." He said. She followed him next door and she dropped her suitcase on
her double bed.
"Andrea's
and my room is right across from this one. Across from the other bedroom is
Seven's. The door at the end of the hall is the bathroom." Dawson told her.
"Just make yourself at home. I'm going to get Seven."
Casey
climbed on to Joey's bed and looked up at her. "How long are we staying here?"
She asked.
"About
a week. Maybe two."
"That's
long," Casey mused, chewing on her lower lip, swinging her legs. "Daddy won't
miss us?"
"Daddy
will miss you terribly. We'll call him whenever you miss him, okay?"
"Uh
huh."
A
little boy raced into the room and stopped. He had a head full of springy blond
curls and direct sapphire blue eyes, like Andrea's. "Who are you?" He demanded.
Another little boy came in the room, and just stood there, as if he was invisible.
He had dark brown, wavy hair and huge unassuming brown eyes.
"Who
are you?" Casey shot back.
"You
first."
"You first."
"You first!" The
little boy insisted, rubbing his nose with his sleeve. Dawson appeared in the
doorway and met Joey's eyes. Joey shrugged. She was curious to watch how they
interacted, and wouldn't interrupt until it got out of hand. Dawson did the
same.
Casey
shook her head. "No way."
Seven
gave up. "I'm Seven."
"I'm
four."
"No,
my name is Seven." He said, rubbing his nose and sniffling. He sneezed.
Casey
wrinkled her nose. "What kinda name is that?"
"Casey."
Joey warned.
"Your
name is Casey?" Seven asked, sniffling again.
Casey
nodded proudly. "That's right. My name is Casey Josephine Witter."
"Where are you from?" Seven grilled,
catching her accent when she said Witter like 'Widdah'.
"I live in Noo Yawk Siddy.
You wanna make somethin' of it?" Casey challenged.
Seven wrinkled his own nose.
"I heard it's bad there."
"Seven." Dawson warned.
"It's bad only if you're a
stupid ugly boy with cooties from Massatoosits naymt Seven." Casey said
haughtily.
"Okay, that's enough," Joey
said. "Apologize, Casey."
"I'm from California." He
clarified.
"Big deal."
"Apologize, Casey."
"Not to that guy." She said
defiantly.
Dawson smiled. "I see she
takes after Pacey."
Joey rolled her eyes. "Does
she." She agreed. "Apologize, Casey." Joey told her daughter for the third
time.
Casey clamped her mouth
shut. Dawson shook his head. "It's okay, Joey. Seven here needs remember his
manners too. Seven, this is Aunt Joey and that's her daughter Casey. Her other
daughter, Aliya, is in the other bedroom asleep, so keep your voice down."
Seven nodded and glared at
Casey. Casey stuck her tongue out at him when her mother wasn't looking.
"Who this?" Joey asked,
looking at the little boy who hadn't spoken a word.
"That's my friend Elliott."
Seven informed her.
"Hello, Elliott." Joey said,
smiling at the little boy.
"Hi." He said softly.
Suddenly aware of the other
boy's presence, Casey stared at him. He stared back. Seven looked from his
friend to Casey and made a face. "Stop making googly eyes at each other, that's
nasty." He commanded. Joey grinned. Seven reminded her of Pacey.
Casey didn't seem to hear
him. Neither did Elliott.
Seven tried again. "Hey,
Casey, come play with us."
Joey watched her daughter
blink a few times, and then look at Seven. "Okay," Casey said simply. "Can I?"
She looked up at Joey.
Joey nodded. "Have fun. Play
nicely." She warned her.
Casey
gave her a mischievous little grin and slid off of the bed. The threesome left
the room, and Joey looked up at Dawson and grinned. "That girl . . ." She said,
shaking her head.
"She's
adorable." Dawson complimented, going over to sit beside her on the bed.
Joey
shifted over to make room for him. "Thank you."
They
sat there talking, Dawson talking about his new project, Joey about her job.
When they'd exhausted both subjects, Dawson looked at her searchingly.
"What?"
Joey asked, knowing he had something to ask her.
"Are
you okay, Joey? I mean," he explained when she began to bob her head up and
down, "are you really okay?"
"I'm
fine, Dawson." She gave him an over-bright smile.
Dawson
eyed her levelly. "I've known you all of my life, Joey. Although we're not
romantic soulmates, we're soulmates just the same. Don't bother lying to me."
Joey
nodded. She knew it was true, he knew it was true, even Pacey knew it was true.
In the beginning of their relationship, Pacey had been a little suspicious and
jealous whenever Joey went out with Dawson by herself, but he had grown to
trust them both.
A
cloud of sadness descended over Joey as she thought of Pacey, and Dawson saw
it. "What's that about?" He asked softly.
"What?"
"Whatever
you just thought about that brought that look to your face. That's one of the
things that's bothering you," he looked at her carefully. "But there's
something else."
Joey
shifted under his intent gaze. Suddenly, a soft gasp escaped from him lips, and
a new tenderness settled over his features. His eyes soft and sympathetic, he took
Joey's hand in his.
"My
God, Joey," he whispered. "You haven't cried about your son yet, have you?"
Joey
could handle screaming matches with Pacey as well as weeklong silent
treatments. She could not however, handle the gentleness and compassion of her
oldest friend. Struggling to fight her tears back, Joey shook her head. "Wow,
Dawson," she said lightly, trying to laugh. "I didn't know that soulmates had
the ability to read into each other's psyche. You should've told me that a long
time ago. It could've come in handy."
Dawson
was not amused. "Joey. Come on."
For some reason, the phrase
brought to Joey's mind the image of Dawson when they were teenagers. They were
on the dock, after his parents' remarriage. Fighting back tears of his own,
Dawson stopped her in the middle of what she was saying, and basically told her
to stop wasting time and go to Pacey. The first completely unselfish act Dawson
ever did; was also the most hurtful to himself, and the most life altering for
Joey. If she had stayed with Dawson, she would probably be married to him, as a
lawyer probably with her own firm, content in her life. She wouldn't have had
the best summer of her teenage life, she wouldn't have a job that she loved,
and she definitely wouldn't be not only content, but also deliriously happy as
she is now. Well, was—until L.J. died, until her entire life turned
upside-down.
"Dawson,
I love you." Joey said softly.
"I
love you too, Jo. I always will. But you—"
"I
can't talk about this. Not now. Not now, Dawson." Joey said, shaking her head
slowly. "Please, not right now. Please."
Dawson sighed. "If that's
what you want."
Joey heard Aliya calling her
from the other room, and thankfully rose to her feet. "Thank you, Dawson." She
told him, before leaving the room.