On Saturday evening, the Joneses arrive at an expensive two story home on the north side of town. As a kid, these were the kinds of houses Jughead wished he could live in, the type of families he wished he had and he still feels guilty for it.

"You sure about this," Jughead questions as FP rings the doorbell.

"Alice is good people, you'll see," he offers, giving his shoulder a firm squeeze.

Seconds later, the door swings open, a weapon of a woman driving a playful glare into his father's eyes.

"Really FP," she scoffs, "over twenty years of friendship and you have the audacity to ring the doorbell every time."

"Hello to you too Ali cat," he winks, shoving playfully past her into the house.

Alice rolls her eyes before landing on the tiny bundle of blankets in Jughead's arms.

"This must be your boy. Jughead," she addresses confidently. "Alice." She offers her hand and Jughead shifts his arms to shake it politely while supporting Finley with his other hand.

"It's uh, nice to meet you Mrs. Cooper," he stammers, feeling overwhelmed by this entire situation.

"Alice, please," she insists with a light chuckle. "Well, come in." She waves them into the living room where she takes the diaper bag from Jughead's shoulder and sets it on a nearby arm chair.

"Where's my girl," FP calls back from the kitchen, where he's taken liberty to pick at the ham resting on the stovetop. Alice quickly slaps his hands away and Jughead can't help but chuckle at the scolded look on his father's face. He's never seen him so happy and a part of him is glad that his mother left him.

"Your girl," Alice mocks, "Is next door working on a class project with the Andrew's boy."

FP scrunches his face is disapproval.

"Oh stop it. He's a good kid," Alice rolls her eyes. "Jughead sweetie, I set up a pack and play in the other room if you'd like to lay him down for a bit."

"Uh, yea, thanks," he calls from the couch before getting up to do just that.

As gently as possible, Jughead releases Finley into the pack and play and creeps away, careful not to disturb him. As he backs out into the hall, he swiftly taken down by a foot caught on his ankle.

"Jesus christ," he whisper yells, wincing with the contact of his tail bone to the hard wood floor.

"Sorry, sorry. Oh god, I'm so sorry." The frantically apologizing blonde quickly gets to her feet and hoists him up by his elbow. "Are you alright? I didn't see you. I'm so-"

"Sorry," he laughs, rubbing his tender backside. "Yea, you said that."

The blush that crosses her cheeks is painfully adorable and he can't even begin to be mad for such a foolish incident.

"You alright," he asks gently.

"Yea, fine," she nods, "I just-" she doesn't even finish her sentence before bolting up the stairs, leaving Jughead confused and intrigued in the hallway.

Jughead comes back into the kitchen, where Alice has set the table for dinner. FP is completely at ease in the kitchen, floating around Alice as they work together to bring food to the table. Something about it strikes him as romantic, but he passes off the thought quickly.

"There you are," FP beams. "Fin lie down alright?"

"Yea, he's out like a light," Jughead nods, leaning back against the large white island at the center of the kitchen.

"Would you mind fetching my not so sneaky daughter for me," Alice requests, earning a brow raise from Jughead. "Her room is at the top of the stairs."

Jughead hesitates for a moment, only moving when his father nods in the direction of the stairs. He climbs up the steps cautiously, before knocking on the closed door at the top. There's no reply, so he tries again and still, nothing. Taking a deep breath, he pushes the door open just a crack.

"Hey, uh-"

His words die on his tongue. The jumpy girl from the hallway is now slumped down on the floor at the foot of her bed, bawling her eyes out and he has absolutely no idea what to do. Should he run and just pretend he didn't see anything?

"I'll be down in a minute," she sniffles, dabbing at her tears with the sleeve of her sweater.

Jughead nods, and he means to leave, really, but he can't. He can't just leave her like this.

"Are you alright," he asks gently as he moves cautiously to sit beside her on the floor.

"I will be," she nods, hiding her face as best she can.

"You want to talk about it," he offers.

Her eyes lift to his, a doubtful gaze lingering on his before she drops her head back into her hands.

"It's stupid," she mumbles.

"Nothing that has you this upset could be stupid," he assures her, daring to rest a gentle hand between her shoulder blades. She only shrugs in reply, probably in hopes of shrugging him off, but he's determined to get it out of her. No one with such bright eyes should shed this many tears.

After a few moments of silence she takes in an audible breath and shifts to face him.

"I told my best friend I like him," she says, cringing at her own words.

"Ah," he nods. "And that didn't go well?"

"Not at all," she snorts, wiping at the last of her tears.

"His loss," Jughead shrugs, earning a shy smile from the girl. "I'm Jughead by the way."

"Betty," she says softly.

"Well, uh-" Jughead clears his throat, "I think dinner's ready."

"Right. Yea," she nods, "I'll be down in a sec."

Jughead makes his way back downstairs quickly, but apparently not quickly enough. He's met with two sets of questioning, freezing in place under their gaze.

"I uh, she was just-"

"I knocked over the vase on my dresser and Jughead was so kind to help me clean it up," Betty cuts in, a bright smile plastered on her face as she descends the staircase.

"Well, thank you Jughead," Alice smiles before waiving them over to the table.

Dinner goes smoothly and conversation flows more comfortably than Jughead had ever imagined possible. He's never been one for small talk, but he's learning quickly that the Cooper women have a knack for quick conversation.

As Alice begins to clear the table, Betty gets up right away to help. Thinking it good manners, Jughead carries his own plate to the sink before a shrill cry puts him on high alert. He quickly sets his plate on the sideboard and hurries for his son in the next room.

"Hey buddy," he coos, reaching into the pack and play to lift him out carefully. "I bet you're hungry, aren't you little guy." He nuzzles his nose into Finley's downy hair and presses kisses to the top of his head.

A light snicker from the doorway startles him and he turns around quickly to find Betty leaned against the doorframe.

"Mom mentioned you have a baby, but I've got to say, you don't come off as a baby talking kind of guy," she teases.

Jughead's face flushes pink, "Yea well, babies make you weird," he laughs. "I think it has something to do with their squishy little faces." His fingers come up to gently pinch one of Finley's cheeks and Betty lets a silent laugh through her nose.

"What's his name," she asks gently as she peers around his shoulder to look at the baby in his arms.

"Finley," he replies quietly, suddenly feeling vulnerable with what feels like an incredibly personal question.

"He's adorable," she coos. "Can I hold him?"

"Uh, I don't know," he replies nervously. "I just- My dad's the only one that's held him. I'm kind of a nervous wreck if you haven't noticed."

"I haven't," she smiles, "but I get it."

"He's just so little," he explains unnecessarily.

"How old is he," she questions, gently grazing his itty bitty fingers with her index finger.

"A little over a week," he whispers, afraid to break the strange intimacy of this moment with her.

"Hey," FP's voice cuts in, startling them apart. "You kids want pie," he questions, raising a brow as he glances between them. "Alright," he nod suspiciously when neither answers, the both of them looking terribly guilty for unknown reasons. "Well, pie's on the table." Neither teen misses the shake of his head as he laughs his way back to the kitchen.

Betty offers an apologetic smile before making her exit. With a sigh of relief, Jughead scolds himself for getting caught up in a moment with yet another girl before heading out to grab a diaper for Finley.

The moment he sets foot in the living room, he wishes he hadn't. His dad's eyes are on him like a hawk and he swears he can hear him thinking 'Boy, you know better.' He does his best to ignore his dad's stare as he rifles through the diaper bag, then takes Fin back into the next room, diaper in hand.

"Your daddy is an idiot," he mutters to a squirming Finley. "That's right buddy, a big dumb idiot. Daddy needs to keep it in his pants for once in his life, yes he does."

"Yes, he does," he hears from behind.

FP makes his way towards him as Jughead turns slowly to face him. "You got enough on your plate boy. Christ, he's barely out of the womb."

"I wasn't- I swear, I won't try anything," he promises as he carefully picks Finley up from the blanket he'd laid on the floor.

"I know," FP nods, offering a semblance of a proud smile. "Let's go say goodnight to the girls. I think we could all use some shut eye."

That following Tuesday, FP takes the day off from work to get Jughead enrolled at Riverdale High. With FP's encouragement, he uses it as a trial run and reluctantly leaves Finley with Alice. She had of course been completely overjoyed at the opportunity to snuggle up with a fresh human, as she put it, and Jughead is slightly less concerned than he had been with the original idea. Still, he is a mess of nerves throughout the enrollment process and even manages to spell his own name wrong, twice, on the application. As they finish up, Jughead is asked to step into the hall so principal Weatherbee can speak with FP privately.

The halls are weirdly quiet with the knowledge that the classes are in full swing. It's the sort of quiet that has his gut feeling hollow, yet weighted somehow and he's quickly growing anxious. His mind is flooded with worries for his infant son and it's as if time is standing still.

"Jughead?"

Snapping out of his stupor with the sound of his name, his eyes land on none other than Betty Cooper, bounding towards him with a smile.

"Hey," she grins as she takes a seat beside him on the wooden bench outside Weatherbee's office.

"Hey," he greets casually, but his stomach is already doing strange flips.

"Are you going to be going here," she asks with honest intrigue.

"Uh, yea," he nods, "Dad wants me to finish school so-" he trails off, earning a nod from Betty.

"Is Finley with my mom," she questions, sounding almost cautious.

"Yea," he nods slowly, "I'm going crazy."

"I promise you he's in good hands," she assures him, her hand coming to rest just above his knee.

"I know." He returns her smile and covers her hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

It's at that precise moment that FP emerges from Principal Weatherbee's office and Jughead's stomach sinks.

"Hey, there's my girl," FP grins wildly, "aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Betty rolls her eyes, "yes grandpa."

"Watch it missy," he laughs, "this grandpa isn't gonna take it so easy on you next time we play pool."

"Ooh, I'm scared," she laughs as she backs down the hall before turning sharply on her heels. She gives one last stick of her tongue over her shoulder before disappearing through a set of doors.

FP's previously playful eyes land hard on Jughead, his gaze scolding and his stance disapproving.

"Nothing happened, I swear," Jughead tells him with urgency.

"Didn't look like nothing to me," he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Dad, I swear," he reiterates. "She asked how I was doing with leaving Fin. That's it."

FP only nods, his eyes remaining doubtful, but he lets it go for the time being.