NAYERT

Chapter Seven-The Peeping Tom

I stood, completely stunned. I had no idea that Joey was going to ask me to marry him.

There was complete silence in the studio. Even the kids were watching us expectantly.

I shakily put my hands up over my mouth. I felt happy tears forming.

"Well?" Michelle asked, grinning broadly.

I nodded as the tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Yes," I said, nodding feverishly.

Joey broke into a grin himself and stood up. He came over to me and threw his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

I hugged him back just as tightly.

I was so happy. I can't remember being this happy in a long time.

The kids cheered. Joey gave a me a kiss before we turned to Michelle.

"Looks like I'm going to be your Aunt Emma," I grinned.

Michelle grinned back and threw her arms around my waist, hugging me. I hugged her back.

"And we're on a break!" the director called.

The cameras were shut off. The kids all stood and stretched.

Michelle turned to Joey.

"Are we going to tell Daddy, Uncle Jessie, Becky, Deej and Steph?"

"Definitely. They'll be thrilled," Joey replied, picking Michelle up in his arms.

I playfully tickled Michelle. She laughed.

"You, you little munchkin, I won't have far to go to tickle you," I said, jokingly.

Michelle giggled.

Just then, the director came over to us.

"Joey, Miss Donaldson…or should I say, Mrs. Gladstone you did a great show today. You are going to be working from now on with Joey," the director said, grinning.

"Thank you so much!" I cried eagerly.

The director winked and then headed back to the cameras. We continued to do the show. Afterwards, we headed home.

We entered the house. Stephanie and Danny were sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hey! How'd the show go?" Danny asked brightly.

"Great!" Joey replied.

I think Danny could read our expressions because he slowly broke into a grin.

"Did something happen?" Stephanie asked slowly.

"Sort of," I said, as I walked over to the couch and sat down beside Steph. "Joey asked me to marry him!"

Stephanie squealed and threw her arms around me. She hugged me. I hugged her back.

"Joey congratulations!" Danny cried as he eagerly got to his feet and shook Joey's hand before giving him a quick hug.

Just then, D.J, Jessie and Becky came down the stairs.

"Hey, how'd the show go?" Becky asked.

"Joey asked Emma to marry him!" Stephanie cried.

There were more squeals and hugs.

"Where's the ring?" Becky asked, coming over to me.

"I was going to take her out tonight to get one," Joey said, blushing.

"Well, we're all going out for dinner tonight. We're celebrating…again!" Danny said.

We all went out to a restaurant to eat. Joey and I were sitting next to each other.

Danny made a toast.

"I would like to make a toast to Joey and Emma. We're all just glad he found someone sweet, kind and caring. He deserves you,"

I felt the heat rising in my cheeks.

Then, Jessie stood up next.

"Besides finding someone sweet, kind and caring, Joey might actually be able to have normal children instead of Popeye and Yosemite Sam. I doubt Emma will want to change diapers of Popeye," Jessie replied.

We laughed and Jessie playfully punched Joey on his shoulder. Joey just blushed.

"I don't want Joey to stop his comedy act," I replied, grinning at Jessie. "At least he doesn't talk to his hair in the morning."

A low chorus of 'ooh's' went around followed by laughter.

Jessie smirked at me before sitting down again.

We began eating our dinner.

Just then, Joey went pale.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Diane Sanders," he whispered.

"Who's Diane Sanders?" I asked, curiously.

"My old girlfriend. She easily got jealous," Joey whispered. "I hope she doesn't see me."

I followed his gaze to a pretty woman with blond hair and blue eyes who caught Joey's gaze.

She waved and began coming over.

"Too late," I snorted.

"Joey! Hi! How are you guys?" she asked, brightly.

"We're good," Joey said.

I could see he really wasn't to thrilled to see her.

"Why are you all out tonight dressed so lovely?" Diane asked, peering around the table at us.

"Um, I'm engaged to be married," Joey replied.

I could see her face.

"Really? To whom?"

"Me," I replied, grinning.

I leaned over Joey and extended my hand. "Hi. I'm Emma Donaldson. Becky's sister."

She looked at me.

"Oh…Joey never told me about you," Diane said, slowly.

"We just met," I replied, still holding my hand out, but Diane didn't retaliate.

I pulled my arm back.

"You just met and already you're getting married? How long have you been dating?" Diane asked.

"A few weeks," I said.

"We just fell in love," Joey replied, his tone firm.

"Isn't that sweet?" Diane said, her voice falsely friendly and she smiled stonily.

I could tell she wasn't too happy about this whole thing.

"Yes. And we're very much in love," Joey added sternly.

Diane's smile didn't fade.

"That's lovely. Nice to meet you, Emma,"

I grinned cheerily.

Diane left.

"She was a bright one wasn't she?" Jessie asked, dryly.

"Why'd you two break up?" Becky asked, taking a sip of her soda.

"She's got a jealous streak the size of California," Joey replied frowning. "When I got into comedy, she got jealous and thought I'd be spending more time with that then her."

There was silence as we all exchanged looks.

"Of course, that wasn't true," Joey continued. "But she totally believed it."

"She's not…harmful…is she?" Stephanie asked, nervously.

"Harmful? Oh you mean like go insanely mad and try and hurt the person she was jealous of?"

Stephanie nodded.

"I honestly don't know," Joey said slowly. "But don't worry. I'm not going to let anything happen to Emma."

Diane came back over holding a half-full glass of wine. She then dumped it on my lap. I was wearing a white dress with spaghetti shoulder straps. Two strands of my hair was pinned back and fastened with a barrette. I cried out. The red wine began staining the dress.

I had borrowed the dress from Becky.

"Have a nice wedding," Diane replied bitterly as she headed off.

Joey was glaring after Diane.

"Becky, I'm so sorry," I apologized to her as Joey began dabbing the dress with napkins.

"It's okay. Don't worry," Becky said, calmly. "It wasn't your fault."

But the red wine was already set into the cloth.

"I'll have it dry cleaned. Don't worry about it," Becky continued.

"Well, look at the bright side," Joey said. "At least we know she's harmful."

After dinner, Joey took me to the jewelry store. We picked out a nice set of engagement rings. My ring had a diamond in the center and smaller diamonds set around it. Joey had a nice solid gold band on his left hand. Becky, D.J., Stephanie and Michelle all cooed over the ring.

We knew enough to keep an eye out for Diane in case she decides to do anything rash.

Everyone was eagerly planning the wedding. We decided that we wanted a small wedding so we decided to have it in the backyard.

We set the wedding for one year. Everything was set and paid for a head of time…except when to have it.

I was sleeping peacefully in with D.J. when I heard someone scream from across the hall.

D.J. and I threw off the covers and flew out into the hallway. Joey, Danny and Jessie were already at the door to Stephanie and Michelle's room. They were sharing. Danny burst into the room. Stephanie and Michelle were huddled in Michelle's bed, hugging each other and they looked completely terrified.

"Girls? What's wrong?" Danny demanded.

"There was someone looking in the window at us!" Michelle sobbed, clinging to Stephanie.

Jessie and Joey rushed over to the window and peered out. Danny sat beside the girls and wrapped his arms around them.

"There's no one out there now," Joey replied as he sat on the edge of the bed and put his arm around Stephanie.

"We saw someone looking in! We're not lying!" Stephanie cried.

"We believe you. Did you get a look at him?" Jessie asked.

"Him? It was a her!" Michelle cried.

"A her?" Joey asked, confused.

Michelle and Stephanie nodded.

"She had blond hair!" Michelle cried.

"Blond hair?" Jessie asked, looking at Joey.

Realization dawned on Joey.

"It's okay girls," Danny said.

"Girls, if you want, you can sleep in my bed next to D.J," I offered.

"Sure," D.J. said, nodding.

"Thanks Emma," Stephanie said, relieved. "Or should I say, Aunt Emma."

Stephanie and Michelle jumped off the bed and came over to me, giving me a big hug. I hugged them back.

"Where will you sleep?" D.J. asked.

I shrugged.

"You can have my room. I'll sleep on the couch," Joey said.

"Better yet…why don't we share?" I grinned coyly.

Joey began blushing furiously.

A loud chorus of 'Whoo's' went around.

"Seriously, you can take my room. I don't mind sleeping on the couch. Comet will keep me company," Joey said.

"If you're sure…" I said.

"I'm sure,"

"Let's get back to bed," Danny replied.

I entered Joey's bedroom and Joey grabbed a pillow and blanket for himself before heading down to the living room.

I climbed into Joey's bed and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early. I headed downstairs as the smell of bacon, eggs and sausage filled the house. D.J., Stephanie, Michelle, Jessie and Becky were already sitting at the table, but not Joey.

"Where's Joey?" I asked.

"Out cold on the couch," Jessie replied, grinning.

I felt myself grinning too.

"I'll get him up," I said. "Michelle? Do you still have that small air horn?"

Michelle nodded.

"Get it for me, please?"

Michelle nodded and hurried upstairs.

"Oh man…you're cruel," Becky said, roaring with laughter.

Michelle came down with the air horn and handed it to me.

"Let's go," I winked.

We all quietly trooped into the living room. Joey was sound asleep on the couch.

I tiptoed behind the couch and held the horn over him. I pressed the button.

It sounded like a ship's horn going off, but louder and sharper.

"What? Who?" Joey cried leaping off the couch and getting entangled in the blankets.

We all roared with laughter. Joey's hair was standing up on end. He was wearing Scooby Doo pajamas.

Stephanie and Michelle were snorting with laughter.

"What a pretty sight," Jessie said, laughing.

"Whose idea was it?" Joey asked, pretending to be mad.

"Mine," I said, laughing as I set the horn off again.

Joey was too busy laughing.

"Come on…breakfast's ready," Danny said, still laughing as we headed back into the kitchen.

We all trooped into the kitchen. D.J. was supposed to be going to Spain, but she decided to stay home because Kimmy hadn't passed Spanish class.

"She thinks that El Pollo is a guys name," D.J. said, laughing.

"That's chicken in Spanish," I replied, tilting my head slightly.

"You know Spanish?" D.J. asked, surprised.

"A few words…bathroom, kitchen, hello, good-bye, and what's your name?," I replied.

"What's 'bathroom'?" Jessie asked.

"El Bano," I said. "Pronounced ban-yo."

"Well, in that case, Uncle Jessie, you spend mucho time in El Bano," Stephanie giggled.

Jessie gave Stephanie a smirk.

"Quiet, El Pollo,"

We laughed again.

"Do you guys have an idea on when your wedding will be?" Becky asked, looking from Joey to me.

"Not really. It's up to Emma," Joey said, grinning.

I grinned.

"How about August?"

Joey nodded. "Sounds good,"

"August it is then," Becky said, satisfied.

"Everything's set," Danny replied softly.

"Not everything," Stephanie replied looking panicked. "What color are the brides maid dresses?"

I looked at Becky.

"Oof, we forgot that one," I said slowly. "Steph? What color would you like to wear?"

"Seriously? You're letting me choose the brides maid dress?" Stephanie asked, flattered and surprised.

"Yeah," I grinned.

"I was thinking maybe a light blue?" Stephanie mused.

"Steph, that's a lovely color!" D.J. said.

"Light blue it is," I said, nodding.

But then, this feeling rose in my chest. There was something that no one in the kitchen knew about…something about me that was kept private and I felt ashamed of.