"Daddy!" 3 year old blond haired, blue eyed Joe Hardy yelled out as he jumped towards his dad who had been gone for almost 2 weeks on another assignment.

Fenton just had enough time to put down his luggage to catch his youngest son.

"Whoa there cowboy." Fenton laughed as his son was suffocating him with a hug.

Joe might have been small for his age, but he was a strong, little 3 year old.

"I missed you too. So where's your mother and Frankie?" Fenton asked as Joe let go on his neck.

"Mommy is giving Frankie a bath." Joe giggled as his dad lifted himself up into the air. "I'm all clean now. Mommy gave me a bath first!" Joe stated as Fenton already could see he was clad in his blue, ducky footy-pajamas.

His laughter lit up the room as Fenton tickled his stomach.

"Fenton now, you come home without calling any of us? You worried us sick." Fenton's older sister Gertrude said with disapproval, coming out of the kitchen with a towel in her hand.

"Sorry Gert, but you know how the business is. We had a very hard case to solve." Fenton said, seeing that it didn't take that look off his sister's face.

"I still think it's highly improper to not phone your family." Gertrude said with a shake of her head. "You've had a long 2 weeks. Joseph, let your father go take a shower." She said sternly as the youngster pouted.

"But he just came home! I wanna stay with Daddy." Joe said with tears in his eyes.

He put his arms around his daddy's neck with his face on his dad's shoulder.

"Joseph, you listen to me now. Get down from there now!"

"Gertrude, it's okay. It's almost his bed time anyways." Fenton said, looking at his watch which read 7:30 pm. "I'll stay up with him for another half hour before I put him to bed." He said, feeling very guilty for making his family so worried about him.

It wasn't like he wouldn't call. When on an assignment, even a call home to your family would put not only themselves in danger, but their own family. He just didn't know what to do. He had to choose over his police duties over the people he loved the most. He heard Gertrude mumble something about spoiling his children before she left with his luggage bag.

"So how's my big boy been doing?" Fenton asked, loving the feel of being around his baby again.

"I drawed a picture today and I gave it to mommy and she said it was beaut'ful and then Aunt Ger-trude got mad at me when Mommy and Frwank was gone." Joe said all together in one sentence.

He had his head hung low ashamed of what he did.

"Why'd Auntie get mad at you?" Fenton asked, sitting them down on the lounge chair.

"I as-dently spilled my apple juice on the kitchen table.." Joe said, "..but I cleaned it up by myself!" he added since it was an accident after all.

"Well I bet she wasn't too mad since you cleaned up your own mess, and besides it was an accident." Fenton said with a loving smile.

Joe gave out a loud yawn before rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Looks like you're all ready for bed." Fenton laughed, getting up off his comfort spot to but his baby into bed.

"I'm nots sleepy. Baths jus' gets me all tired. That's why I don' like them." Joe said, making Fenton laugh as he climbed the stairs.

Joe yawned two more times while he ascended the stairs before putting his head down on his dad's shoulder. His eyes were partially closed with content that his dad's strong arms were protecting him.

"Fenton? Is that you?" Laura asked, coming out of the bathroom soaked in an old sweater with red race car on the front.

"Shhh… Joey's asleep." Fenton smiled, seeing his beautiful petite, blond haired, blued eyed wife.

"Dad!" Frank yelled out in a whisper, hearing that Joe was asleep.

He was 5 after all. 5 and 2 months old! Frank hugged his dad's waist.

Fenton smiled at his son, putting a hand on Frank's shoulder and pushing him towards his room.

"Let me put Joey in bed and I'll be right back once mommy puts you in bed okay?" Fenton said, seeing Frank nod and walked a little sullenly to his room.

Fenton sighed, wishing he could have given Frank a hug but his hands were a little full. He went into his younger son's room, walls plastered with race cars and action heroes, but next to his bed, he had a picture of all of them together. Joey had put it there early that year because he had just moved out of Frank's room into his own room. He was a little scared, so Fenton had put the picture there so if he was scared at night time, he could look at it and know his family was just right down the hall.

He put Joey down into bed. Joey moved a little bit, but stayed still. He pulled the covers up to Joey's chin, putting his son's favorite teddy bear wearing a red rain coat in his son's arms.

Joey somehow knew it was there, and held onto it, giving out a content sigh.

"Good night my little shutter bug." Fenton said with a smile, leaning down to kissing Joey on the forehead.

"G'night daddy." Joey said softly, barely awake.

Fenton brushed his hand over Joey's hair before walking out. He left the door slightly open in case Joey might need them later.

He walked next door to Frank's room, seeing Laura reading a story to Frank who was all ready for bed. Fenton stood, leaning against the door frame watching two of his loves in his life until Frank noticed he was outside.

"Dad!" Frank yelled out happily, jumping out of bed to give his dad a big hug.

Fenton picked Frank up, returning the hug and giving the brown haired, brown eyed little boy who resembled him a ruffle on the head.

"How's my big boy been doing?" Fenton asked, bringing Frank to his bed while giving Laura a quick peck on the lips.

"I've been doing great!" Frank exclaimed, but his face scrunched up in disgust at the kissing.

"Have you been taking care of Joey and your mother?"

"Yeah! I'm a big boy now after all!" Frank said, with his chest all boasted out.

"You know you've ruined our story time." Laura said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"I'm sorry, you two. Let me go take a shower while you finish up." Fenton said, leaning down to kiss Frank on the head. "Good night Frankie. See you in the morning."

"Night daddy." Frank said, giving his dad a big hug before leaning back on his mom for the rest of his story.

Fenton left the room, giving out a content sigh that he was home. Throwing off his jacket, he went into the shower and took a long warm bath before coming out with the bathroom steaming. When he got dressed and went into the bedroom, Laura was already in bed waiting for him.

He smiled and pounced on his young wife.

They both giggled and rolled around in the bed, enjoying each other's embrace.

"Fenton, you're worse than the boys." Laura laughed as she pushed her hair back in place while getting under the covers.

"So what have I missed while being away?" Fenton asked, lying on his stomach facing his wife.

"Well I'm going on a field trip tomorrow with Frankie's preschool class to the New York zoo."

"Really, what about Joey? Isn't he a little upset about it?" Fenton asked, knowing how his youngest son hated being left out.

"A little, but he's been home so much with you always gone, I'm volunteering for the Red Cross, and Frankie now in preschool. I think he's adjusting to the changes, but he did seem a little sad when Frank was telling him about all they're going to do tomorrow."

Fenton seemed to be in deep thought for a few seconds before speaking.

"Hmmm… Well I was planning to go meet with Sam to close the case we've been working on, but I think I might take him up on that favor he promised me a few months ago and take Joey out with me, just the two of us." He said, with a sneaky glint in his eye. "Sam can write the report up by himself." Fenton smiled, seeing his wife light up at the idea.

"That'd be wonderful! He'd been so depressed lately, especially with staying home with Gertrude all day. I swear that woman just gets on my nerves when she tries to discipline our children." Laura said, her face marking distaste. "I know she means well, but Joey and Frank are only 3 and 5, and she expects them to act like adults. Frank doesn't mind the chastising so much, but Joey is home with her everyday and you know he's sensitive about these things."

Fenton thought it over in his head. He knew Gertrude could be a stickler at times, but he knew his sister meant no harm. It was just that she was disciplined strictly as a child, while he was disciplined more leniently since he was the youngest son. He knew Gertrude and Laura feuded at times, but what could he do? How could he choose between sister and wife?

"I'll talk to Gertrude about it honey." Fenton said, as his wife kissed him on the cheek.

"So what are you planning for tomorrow?" Laura asked, leaning on her husband's shoulder.

"Maybe a day at the beach. We haven't been there for a while."

"That sounds perfect! I'll help you pack tomorrow morning before we wake the boys up. Joey will be so surprised."

Next Morning – 7:30 AM

"Shudder Bug, it's time to get up." Fenton said, lifting his groggy, little son into his arms.

After some persuasion, Fenton got Joey to brush his teeth and wash his face before he carried Joey down for breakfast.

"You're going to spoil that boy if you consist to carry him all the time." Gertrude said firmly as she put the newly, fried sausages and eggs along with waffles onto separate plates on the table.

Fenton didn't say anything. He only put Joey onto a seat next to his on the counter-top table.

"Good morning Dad, good morning Joey. Mom and I are going to go now." Frank said enthusiastically as he slowly finished tying his shoelaces. "Come on Mom! We're going to be late!"

Frank dragged on Laura's arm as Laura waved good bye with a good bye kiss.

Joey watched them go with a sad look on his face.

"Would you like some sausages and eggs?" Fenton asked as he sliced up the waffle for Joey.

"No thank you." Joey said as Fenton gave Joey his plate.

"Strawberries?"

"Uh huh." Joey nodded.

"Syrup?"

"Yup!"

With his waffles are covered in things he liked, Joey began to eat slowly.

"He should be eating meat Fenton. Look at him. He's so small already with him being born so early." Gertrude said, with hands on her hips.

"That's enough Gertrude. If he doesn't want any right now, he doesn't have to eat any." Fenton said with a sigh, seeing how miserable Joey looked.

His sister could be a nit-picker at times. He just wished she wouldn't always pick at his youngest so much, and his eating habits. Joey was born a little premature, but he was healthy, so everyone should be happy.

Without much else said, Gertrude stormed out of the kitchen.

When Gertrude left, Joey hoped off his seat, and head to the refrigerator.

"Where are you going?" Fenton asked amusingly.

"I'm getting milk." Joey said as he huffed and puffed to open the refrigerator door.

"Need any help?" Fenton asked, forking a piece of waffle into his mouth.

"No, I can do it all by myself."

When Joey finally opened the door, he looked around for the milk, and found it on the top shelf. With some deep thought, he decided he probably would need some help.

"Maybe I do need some help." Joey said as his dad came to the rescue to get him the milk.

Fenton smiled, getting a clean cup and pouring a glass to hand to Joey.

Joey smiled with appreciation and took the glass, but ended up spilling some on the floor.

"I'll clean it up." Joey said, grabbing a towel from the corner of the sink before kneeling down to clean, except every time he leaned over to clean up the mess he made, he spilled more milk in the cup. He ended up walking in a circle cleaning up the spills, before finally cleaning it all up to realize he didn't have any milk left.

"Daddy." Joey said with a grim look on his face

"Yes." Fenton said, trying to hold back a laugh.

He knew he should have maybe helped, but it was kind of cute how Joey kept trying to clean a spill and ended up spilling more to clean up.

"Can I have some more milk? I runned out." Joey said with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Sure baby." Fenton said, taking the empty cup and wet towel from his son's hands.

"Now that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!" Gertrude said, revealing herself from where she stood. "That child keeps spilling stuff all over the place, and doing foolish things. I'm surprised how he could still be alive if he was so dim-witted!"

Joey wasn't sure what his Aunt said, but the tone of her voice scared him and he knew she was saying bad things about him.

"Now that's enough Gertrude! NO one says things like that about my son, even my sister." Fenton said in a loud, angry voice. "I think you should leave the kitchen right now Gertrude." He said as his oldest sibling left the room fuming.

Joey started crying, knowing the yelling was because of him.

Fenton put down the things in his hands and kneeled next to his son.

"Don't cry sweet heart. She didn't mean the things she said." Fenton said while wiping the tears from his son's big, blue eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

Joey sniffled a couple times before looking up at his dad.

"Why doesn't Aunt Gertrude like me?" Joey asked innocently.

Fenton was shocked when Joey came out and asked that question out of the blue. He pulled his son onto his knee.

"That's not true. Auntie loves you very much."

"Then why's she always mad sounding at me?" Joey asked while playing with a loose string on his dad's shirt. "Am I bad? Auntie says Frankie is good. You love Frankie more, don't you?" He stated solemnly.

Fenton had to think a little while before treading on this subject.

"Well… some things like when you and Frankie are rough housing are bad, but spilling milk isn't bad. Auntie was wrong to say the things she's saying." Fenton said when his son looked at him with a questioning stare. "And no matter what Auntie says, your mommy and I love you and Frankie more than anything in the whole wide world, and we love you both just the same."

"But grown-ups can't be wrong." Joey said surprised at the thought.

"Yes we can be. I've been wrong sometimes too." Fenton said, watching the shocked expression on his son's face. "I've been wrong many, many, many times, but that's how you learn how to do things right. Nobody in the whole wide world is perfect."

"Not even you and mommy?" Joey asked.

"Not even me and your mother." Fenton said with a laugh. "But I can say your mommy comes pretty close." He said as he tickled Joey on the stomach, making the boy laugh uncontrollably.

"Now let's finish breakfast okay, because we both have big things to do today!" Fenton said while lifting Joey up and back into his seat. "Now finishes up those waffles."

"What big things do we hafta do today?" Joey asked, still not touching his breakfast since his curiosity got the best of him.

"Well…" Fenton said, while moving towards his baby. "I was thinking since your mother was bringing your brother to the zoo, why not I bring you somewhere too?"

"Really! Just the two of us?" Joey asked excitedly as he jumped up in his seat.

"Yeah, just the two of us, all day." Fenton said as Joey jumped out of his seat to give him a humongous size hug.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked breathlessly.

"It's a surprise. Now eat your breakfast. We have a long day of fun ahead of us." Fenton said, putting Joey down in his seat.

"Okay Daddy." Joey said as he dug into his breakfast for the first time in a long while.

Fenton smiled for a hundredth time since he's come home, but something was still bugging him. When he comes home, he'd have to talk to his sister about it.

"Daddy." Joey said while he was still chewing.

"Yes baby?"

"I'm still thirsty."

Fenton laughed, forgetting all about the milk that was left on the table. He took the cup that he left on the counter along with the milk and poured his son a cup which he gulped down with his waffles. When they were both done eating, Fenton and Joey both cleaned with Joey soaping while Fenton scrubbed and cleansed before putting it in the drainer.

"All done!" Joey said.

Fenton wiped Joey's hands dry before lifting him off the chair he was standing on to reach the sink.

"Now we got to get dressed, and we'll be all ready to go!"

"Race yah!" Joey said as he began to run towards to stairs, but half way up, Fenton grabbed him in the middle and flew him towards his room.

"Wooo! Captain Joseph Hardy. We're ready for your landing." Fenton said while making airplane sounds. "Ready for countdown."

"!0,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1." They both said in unison before Fenton collapsed with Joey on Joey's bed.

"Yeah! Let's do that again!" Joey said while jumping all around Fenton.

"But that'll be cutting our day short wouldn't it?" Fenton said as Joey stopped in deep thought.

"Well… Okay, let's get dressed!" Joey said, jumping off his bed to his drawers.

Fenton laughed at his son's eagerness. He helped Joey pick out a pair of knee-length swim trunks and a gray t-shirt with a surf board on the front. Joey didn't even realize what he was wearing was swim wear since he was too excited.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go now!" Joey said, while jumping up and down, and out the door.

"Got to put on your shoes first." Fenton said as he raced after Joey down the stairs. "Joey, come here." Fenton said in a stern voice.

Joey stopped running and waiting semi-patiently at the bottom of the stairs. He sat down on a step as his dad put his strap on sandals on his feet.

After some final check of what they need, Fenton raced after Joey as he ran out the door once he opened it.

"Whoa cowboy. Wait for your old man." Fenton said as Joey stared curiously at him.

"You're not a old man. You're my daddy!" Joey said as Fenton laughed. "Old mans have white hair on their face." He said with his face all scrunched up.

"Well hopefully I never turn that old." Fenton said with a twinkle in his eye.

He opened the door to his car, and lifted Joey into his car seat. Joey wiggled around a little, but settled down as the contraption lowered over his head to protect him all around.

"I don't wanna sit in here." Joey complained.

He hated being forced to be immobile.

"It'll only be for a little while." Fenton said as he picked up a toy car from the floor and gave it to Joey.

Seeing that Joey was occupied for a little while, he got into the driver's seat and started driving.

After a while, Joey started getting antsy.

"Where we goin' daddy?" 3 year old Joe asked with anticipation.

He was a little jealous that Frank got to spend the day with Mommy, but when his Daddy told him the surprise trip they were going to, he was jumping for joy. They were now driving down the street, and he was strapped in his car seat playing with his toy race car, quietly making brrrroming sounds.

"Look out the window Joey and you'd see." Fenton said, as he looked at the rear view mirror.

He saw Joey's face light up when he realized where they were going.

"The beach! Are we going to build sand castles?" Joe asked as his dad parked the car and was getting him out of his car seat.

"Take my hand baby. Don't want you to get hit by a car." Fenton said with a chuckle, seeing his youngest son hold onto his shirt tail but was jumping up and down.

Fenton went to the trunk of his car, pulling out the duffel bag full of beach necessities that he had packed the night before. After he put the shoulder strap of the bag over her shoulder, he picked his son up into his arms, because he really didn't want Joey to accidentally get run over. Laura would slaughter him and kick him out of the house. Although there weren't many people there, there were still cars driving around looking for a shady spot to park in. Before he closed the trunk of the car, he took out the ice crest and held it in his left hand while holding Joey in his right.

"Ready to go?" Fenton asked, looking over the shades he just put on.

"Absalutily." Joey said, taking his daddy's sunglasses off his daddy's head and putting it on himself. "Now I'm Daddy! The mister-ous Vestagator!" He said.

Fenton laughed, walking across the parking lot to the sidewalk that led to the beach.

"It's mysTERIous INvestigator sweetheart." Fenton laughed, seeing Joey give him a queer look.

"Tats Zackly what I said." Joey answered back.

Fenton was about to correct his son again, but instead just shut his mouth. Today was supposed to be about him and his son with a lot of fun in-between, not a grammar lesson. Besides, Joey was only 3 years old. He had a lot more time to learn later anyways. He put Joey down on the ground when he saw it was safe enough to do so.

"Race yah to the beach!" Joey yelled out, taking a head start before Fenton even had time to reply.

Fenton knew he could easily out run his son even with all the baggage he was carrying, but he purposely feigned being tired and outrun.

"I gots here first!" Joey laughed, jumping up and down on the spot he marked as theirs.

"Phew, I guess I'm starting to get old. Beat by a 3 year old." Fenton said, pretend falling on the ground in exasperation.

Joey patted his dad's knee with a pitying looking on his face.

"It's kay Daddy. I'mma gonna let you win next time and let you run first." Joey said as his dad grabbed him; swing him into the air while lying on his back.

Joe started laughing as his daddy's fingers were tickling his sides while he was holding him up in the air.

"You are a silly boy aren't you?" Fenton said, placing Joey on his stomach. "But you're my silly boy, forever and forever." He said, pushing himself up to a sitting position, but Joey was still on his lap.

Joey looked at Fenton for a little while and hugged hi dad around his waist, even though his arms didn't go all the way around.

"What was that for?" Fenton asked as his son looked up at his with his cheek on his chest.

"Tats just a hug because I love you." He replied simply.

Fenton swore he wasn't crying, but his eyes did get a little misty.

"I love you too baby." Fenton said, as they sat there for a while in each other's comfort until Joe looked up at his dad again.

"Daddy."

"Yeah Baby?"

"Can we go play now?" Joey asked as Fenton flipped him around to roll in the sand.

Joey laughed and squirmed away, running towards the water.

"Hey Joey, wait for me baby." Fenton said as he chased after Joey who ran along the shoreline of the water.

Joey turned around, scooped up a hand full of water and threw it at his dad for fun. He started laughing as his dad's shocked expression.

"Why you little…" Fenton said with his fist shaking, pretending to be angry.

Fenton reached out to grab Joey, but Joey ran towards the water, and right around him.

"That slippery little…" Fenton said as he turned around to find Joey was right behind him with another hand full of water to throw at him.

Joey laughed uncontrollably as his dad glared at him.

"That's it. If you want to play hard to get..." Fenton said as he took off running for Joey who had his eyes wide open, running for the other direction.

Fenton quickly caught up with his short legged son and grabbed him around the waist, threatening to throw him into the water.

"Don't throw me! I'll be good!" Joey half screamed, half laughed and Fenton put him down. "Let's make sand castles Daddy!"

Fenton smiled at his son, and walked over to his duffle bag to pull out all the things they needed to build a sand castle. They spent the rest of the morning into afternoon building the massive castle that ended up to be so big that Joey couldn't get out of the castle since he was building the castle of the inside.

Fenton looked down from the top of the castle at Joey who had his arms crossed looking at him.

"You trapped me!" Joey said with a pout. "Get me out, get me out!" He said, jumping up and down.

Fenton was finding it so amusing that he didn't help Joey get out until he looked like he was going to cry.

"You know what, I'm getting a little hungry. Are you getting hungry?" Fenton asked, but Joey shook his head for a no.

Fenton frowned, knowing his son's poor appetite.

"Well, it's long past lunch time and long past when we last ate." Fenton said, seeing Joey look at him with a grim expression. "Let's see, if a good little boy I know whose name is Joseph Hardy eats his lunch, we'll go get some ice cream before we go home." He bribed.

"Okay!" Joey said as he ran towards the cooler.

He pulled out his travel sippy cup and drank its unknown substance that happened to be apple juice.

Fenton took out a sandwich and handed Joey half of his, knowing Joey wouldn't eat a whole sandwich. After some pestering, Fenton got Joey to finish half of a sandwich, all his juice, and some grapes. They spent another hour playing in near the shore line with a Frisbee before packing up to leave for their ice cream.

When they were in the car, Fenton looked at the rear view mirror and saw Joey saw his head down, but was awake.

"You sleepy shudder bug?" Fenton asked while parking the car.

"Nope. Jus resting my head. It feels heavy." Joey said as Fenton got out and opened Joey's side of the car door, taking him out.

They entered the ice cream shop and Fenton ordered a vanilla ice cream cone for Joey and he ate everything else that Joey didn't eat.

Joey was about dead tired when they left the shop so Fenton carried him as he rested his head on his dad's shoulder. On the way out, they bumped into Sam who came out of a sandwich shop close to the ice cream café.

"Good afternoon Fenton." Same nodded. "Now I haven't seen this little fella in a long time. Boy has he grown." Sam said as Joey gave Sam a weak grin.

"Hi Uncie Stham." Joey said tiredly.

Sam put his big hand on top of Joey head and rubbed his head.

"Now I'm glad to run into you Fenton. I couldn't get all of the paperwork done because there are loads. The chief wants it in by tomorrow morning, and I was wondering if you take some to finish." Sam said with a serious look on his face.

"No problem. I'll do it after I get this one into bed for a nap. He's long due for one after today." Fenton smiled.

"I'm not tired…" Joey said, half asleep.

"Well, the paperwork is at the station. Mind taking a short walk to get it?" Sam asked with Fenton nodding.

They both walked towards the police station and as always, there was a huge ruckus going on in there since it was the NYPD. When Fenton entered their cluttered office, he was looking at Sam with a look of shock.

"What did you do to our office?" Fenton asked while shifting Joey to his other arm.

"Well… you see." Sam said, looking around kind of embarrassed. "Well... yah… and well… let's say there was too much to do and I have one brain and two hands, and you know how it is in here. Just got too many things to do."

"Geez... Sorry Sam." Fenton said, running a hand through is hair.

Joey was already fast asleep in his arms. He put Joey down on the couch in their office and took off his jacket, laying it on top of his son.

"Let's get this finished with before we leave. I don't think Joey will mind sleeping on the couch for a little while." Fenton said as they got down to business.

Fenton sighed. What an end to the day.

Continuation? Ideas you want to contribute? Good or Bad? PLEASE REVIEW!