Note: I hope CharmingTia doesn't mind me borrowing a little something from her story. It's only for this chapter, I swear. But when I checked the TV Guide Online and saw who was on TV at the same time and day this scene takes place, I just couldn't resist (those of you who've read "The Pen is Mightier" will recognize it when you see it).

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Tuesday morning

Cole whistles a jazz tune as he walks downstairs. He's managed to tuck his son in for his mid-morning nap all by himself, and there's no one home for him to brag to. Such a shame. Oh well, he can at least reward himself by taking a break from Sarsour's case until lunch.

As he enters the living room, Cole's surprised to find Leo there, sitting on the couch and zapping through the channels.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey," says Leo, keeping his eyes on the screen.

Cole hesitates, but as Leo doesn't say anything else, he shrugs and sits beside him on the couch without another word, watching as the images change quickly on the screen.

Talk show. Who's this guy? He looks like... Too late, gone. News? I hope not, I'm in the mood for something lighter. Okay, gone. Martha Stewart? For some reason this woman gives me the creeps. Good, she's gone, too. Oh my God, please not the Teletubbies... Thank you! Moesha? Well, a sitcom would be... Oops, gone. You know, this isn't so funny when you're not the one holding the remote.

"Didn't you have a staff meeting today?" says Cole, trying to make small talk.

"Yup."

What are those people saying? Hey, that's Spanish! I can't speak Spanish, I... Okay, problem solved. What's this, a movie? It seems interesting... Oh well, it seemed interesting. Hey, M*A*S*H! I like it! No, don't do that... Damn it!

"I thought those meetings had mandatory attendance."

"They do."

Hum! Another movie? It seems... Wow, that was fast! Magnum, that's not so... Okay, gone, too.

"Why aren't you there, then?"

Leo turns to him with an annoyed look and says:

"I was dismissed early. Now, if you'll excuse me..." he motions with the remote towards the TV.

At this point, though, Cole's curiosity has been aroused.

"Now, wait a second," he says, a small grin forming on his lips. "They dismissed you from your mandatory attendance staff meeting so that you could watch TV at home? I don't think so."

Leo glares briefly at him before turning his attention back to the screen, and this only piques Cole's curiosity further.

"What happened up there? Come on, Leo, spill it out!"

"Nothing happened," Leo grunts.

"Yeah, right," Cole quips. "You know, it's not like I have to go to work or something: I have nothing better to do with my time than be on your back until you tell me what happened."

Leo sighs heavily, but still doesn't answer.

"Well, I didn't mean to try and guess, but you're leaving me with no choice..." Cole says, with an amused glint in his eyes. He scratches his chin and narrows his eyes in mock concentration. "Now, let me see: it must have been something huge, otherwise they'd never have dismissed you from one of their precious meetings."

Seeing that Leo won't respond to his taunting, Cole pursues:

"You didn't throw up during the meeting, did you? 'Cause that would've been..."

"I yelled at one of the Elders," Leo snaps.

"You... excuse me, you what?" -- Cole's eyes grow as big as possible.

"He was talking -- I don't even remember about what -- and his voice was getting on my nerves." -- Leo toys with the remote, embarrassed -- "I was wishing he would just shut up, and only when I saw everybody staring at me in shocked silence I realized that I had actually said it out loud. Apparently, really loud."

"I'm glad to see that my misfortune amuses you," he adds, sourly, as Cole bends over, laughing.

It takes a few minutes for Cole to catch his breath. When he does, Leo sighs, dejectedly:

"If it was just for the cravings and the morning sickness, I could handle it. It's this emotional roller coaster that's driving me insane. There are days when I wake up in the morning feeling just fine, then on my way to the bathroom I start to feel all sad and depressed, and by the time I'm done showering, I just wanna go back to bed, pull the covers over my head and stay there all day. Then, as I leave my bedroom, Paige accidentally bumps into me on the hallway and it takes all I have not to throw her against the wall. When I finally get to the kitchen, I find out that Piper has made pancakes, and all of a sudden life is beautiful again. How can anyone live like this? How do women handle this?"

Leo sighs and runs his hand across his face.

"You're not gonna cry, are you?" says Cole, giving him a suspicious look.

"No," says Leo, annoyed. "Just because I'm having the same experiences as women do, it doesn't mean I can't handle it on a mature, reasonable way. Like men do."

"I see," says Cole. "So, basically you're gonna ignore what you're feeling and just hope it'll eventually go away?"

"Sure," says Leo, pointing the remote to the TV again.

Cole looks at him for a while, then shrugs.

"Fine by me," he says.

Leo starts to zap again, and Cole throws the TV Guide on him, saying:

"Okay, mood swings or not, just choose a freaking channel and stick to it."

Leo gives him a surprised look and he adds:

"That's annoying! Now I understand why Phoebe always takes the remote from me."

"Okay, so what's gonna be?" says Leo. "Sports or news?"

"Leo," Cole says, giving him a meaningful look. "we're home alone."

"Oh," says Leo, when the meaning of the words sink in. "So, cartoons?"

"Sure," says Cole, standing up. "See what's on Cartoon Network while I'll get us some chips."