Too many missing pieces/That's always been your reason


"Shit shit shit!" Boomer hissed as he ran down the stairs, doing the buttons of his shirt up as he did. "Girls? Girls we gotta get moving I overslept -" He paused as he reached the foot of the stairs; both his girls were sat fully dressed eating a bowl of cereal each at the breakfast bar. The kitchen was spotless, which it hadn't been the night prior, he'd been too focused on looking after Bubbles after her procedure and sorting the girls - so he'd left it for the morning.

Buttercup stood washing the remains of the dishes, turning to him and nodding as greeting.

"Morning Daddy." Bridget said through a mouthful of cereal. "Aunty Buttercup came over as a surprise and got us ready for school and kindergarten."

"So she did. Buttercup - thank you. Bubbles didn't sleep too great and I just, I must have missed my alarm." Boomer said, rubbing at his face tiredly, his blonde waves an unbrushed mess.

"Dude, don't worry. It's fine." She said simply.

"Don't you have enough on your plate at home to -"

"Jay can take himself off to school, Butch is at home with the triplets - and I'm not allowed back to work for the next 9 days. So, it's cool. You're off work today right?" She asked as she turned back to the kitchen worktop and took the jug of coffee off the machine, reaching for a mug for him.

"Uhh, yeah." He said, sinking down onto a stool beside Bonnie. "They've given me compassionate leave for the next 2 days."

She looked unimpressed. "They gave you 3 days? That's it?"

"They offered me 1. I asked for more. They relented to 2 days paid, 1 unpaid. If I take anymore it'll be classed as more unpaid leave." He murmured as she placed a mug of coffee down in front of him.

She tsk-ed at the lack of support for a grieving Dad to be. "Better than nothing I suppose. Well look, don't worry about the girls, I got it covered. Oh and here," She reached across the counter, handing him a packet of Danish pastries. "Breakfast. I know it's not much but I'm basically unemployed for the next 9 days so."

"No it's great - thanks Buttercup, really." Boomer said, sincerity in his voice.

"Don't sweat it." She said, taking a pastry and beginning to eat one herself.

"Daddy why is Mommy in bed still?" Bridget asked innocently, as Bonnie looked over curiously too.

Boomer's mouth made a thin line as he looked from them to Buttercup, lost. "Uhhhh, you're Mommy is just umm, she's not -"

"Mommy's not feeling too great at the minute. She needs lots of hugs, and love, and chocolate." Buttercup told them as she poured a mug of coffee for Bubbles. "So, you girls need to make sure you're giving her plenty of TLC till she's feeling better."

"Is she going to be okay?" Bonnie asked, and Buttercup nodded.

"Yeah, she will. She will be fine." She told her confidently, and Bonnie looked at ease.

"What's TLC?" The oldest of the two questioned once more. Bridget answered before Buttercup could.

"Totally Loads of Chocolate, obviously." Bridget said, matter of fact. Bonnie didn't look convinced.

"She's bang on." Buttercup agreed with a smirk; even Boomer managed to crack a smile. The green puff glanced at the time. "Right, we all done with our cereal? We gotta get to school and kindie. Why don't you both go get your shoes and coats on so we're ready to go."

"Okay." They chorused, before hopping down and whizzing off in two shades of blue.

"Thank you." Boomer said, running his hands through his hair. "I'm pretty useless at all this sort of stuff so, thanks for your help."

"You're not useless, Boomer. I'm not here because I think you're useless, you're perfectly capable - you're just going through a tough time. It's still fresh and raw. You've both just gotta be easy on yourselves and ride it out together." Buttercup told him, and he sighed lightly, nodding. "Look, don't worry about the kids today okay? I got it covered. Just spend the day just you two, look after each other and start to, I dunno, process this. Just be there for each other for the next couple of days, I'll cover everything else."

"Okay. Thank you, again." Boomer said, feeling his chest tighten with gratitude at the care she was giving them.

"Stop thanking me okay, it's what I'm here for. Blossom's working nights tomorrow so she said she can give us a hand too if it's needed. But for now just focus on each other. You feeling okay?" She asked and he blinked.

"Me? I'm fine… I mean, I didn't go through a miscarriage did I…" He murmured and she cranked a brow at him.

"Yeah you did, it's your shared loss Boomer. You're allowed to feel sad too. It was your baby as well. I know it's a harder on Bubbles cos she was the one pregnant but that's down to biology right? You're grieving too."

He nodded, swallowing hard. "Yeah. Yeah, I know."

She patted him on the shoulder firmly. "I'm gunna get Bridget and Bonnie off to school and kindergarten. I'll pick them up too, and bring them home, okay?"

He opened his mouth to say thank you again, but shut it, remembering her telling him to stop saying thank you.

"You're welcome." She said with a smile, before handing him Bubbles' coffee and the pastries, and instructing him to take them up to Bubbles while she took his two young daughters to school.


Bubbles was watching the film on the TV in her living room, but nothing was really going in. She was snuggled up to Boomer with a bowl of sweet popcorn on her lap but she couldn't recall the plot line to the film if someone had paid her to do so. She couldn't focus.

And when she glanced up at Boomer, taking in the crinkle in his brow and the small but prominent frown on his lips she wondered if he was having the same problem.

She turned away and swallowed, looking back to the TV. It had been 4 days. 4 very long, heavy days since she'd gone back to the hospital for the procedure. Her sisters had all but taken everything she may have needed to worry about over, which she'd be eternally grateful for. Since finding out and having the D&C, Boomer had been off of work, but today had been the first day he'd had to go back. Being forced into normality had been a little weird, but there was a sense of relief in it.

Blossom had had work today too, Buttercup had been with Bubbles all day with the triplets. And now the girls were in bed and it was just her and Boomer, attempting to watch a film together.

"How was work today?" Bubbles questioned, and Boomer turned to look at her with a shrug.

"It was okay, I guess. Everyone was all quiet around me." Boomer murmured.

She frowned. "How come?"

"I guess they didn't know what to say."

Bubbles looked back at the TV. "I guess not."

A small silence ensued. Boomer watched her intently as she stared at the TV screen blankly.

"I feel so empty and useless." She said, her voice hoarse and almost a whisper. "I am empty. And useless. I feel hollow. I couldn't even keep our baby alive. I didn't even know. I should have known. I should have known something was wrong."

"Don't say things like that. You're not empty, and you're certainly not useless. It's not anyone's fault, okay? You weren't to know. It's just one of those things..."

"It shouldn't be one of those things. I should be able to know why. Why my baby, our baby, died. It isn't fair." Her voice cracked a little but no tears spilled. He felt like this was worse than her crying. Now it was almost like there were no more tears left to cry.

"I know. You're right. It isn't fair." Boomer said in a quiet voice. He wished he could say something to make it better, something that might make some significant difference, but he felt like there wasn't anything he could say that would make her feel any lighter.

He felt useless too.

"I don't want to feel like this anymore." She mumbled, and he reached for her hand; she clutched at it tightly. "I just want to be pregnant again and have hope again."

His grip on her hand loosened slightly. "The doctor said you need to let your body rest and, and recover for at least 3 months before we start trying again."

"Three months is so long. Three months of feeling like this?" She asked him, her voice laced in anguish.

"Bubbles, we need time to grieve - you need time to grieve."

She didn't say anything, just swallowed hard. Her mind drifted back to Boomer's uncertainty about wanting to have another baby. It made her wonder if he was secretly relieved. She looked at him, and saw the heartache in his eyes. She wasn't imagining that. He felt it. He'd been excited once they knew she was pregnant. She knew he wouldn't wish this on them.

"You're not going to feel like this forever. It will get easier, with time. It's really early days still, it's okay to feel like this.. It's just happened." He told her, but he wasn't sure if his words were reaching her.

"Three months is a really long time to wait." She murmured, and he sighed.

"I know. But, it's what the doctor said -"

"It's too long to wait. It feels like if I could just be pregnant again -" He cut her off now.

"Being pregnant again isn't going to make what happened just go away, Bubbles. We can't just replace the baby we lost." Boomer said, his tone a little flippant.

She looked at him now, eyes a little fiery. "I wasn't saying that. That's not what I want."

He sighed. "I know. Getting pregnant again to, to I dunno, fill a void - it isn't healthy. We need time. We need to grieve. And 3 months, it's not a magic fix, is it? That's 3 months physically, as well as mentally. You need to heal, in both senses of the word."

"But how long will that take?" She whispered, her eyes becoming glassy. "How long till it stops hurting? How long till I stop feeling like they ripped a part of me out and I'll never be the same without it now?"

He swallowed back the lump in his throat. "I don't know. It could never stop hurting. We've got to learn how to live with the hurting."


Buttercup poked her head through the kitchen door and smirked at the sight awaiting her in her living room.

Butch was laid out on the floor, his t shirt yanked all the way up revealing his bare chest; around him was Emerald, Ivy, Olive, Rosalie and Bridget - and several felt tip pens. Boomer had dropped Bridget to them after taking Bonnie to school, so she'd been at theirs all morning; the five toddlers were drawing and colouring on the parts of his bare skin that didn't already have tattoos on them - and the parts that did, they were adding to.

He had his phone in his hands, scrolling through it absentmindedly as his daughters and nieces crawled over him to scribble drawings on him.

"That's one way of keeping them entertained." Buttercup commented as she grabbed her coat from the coat rack.

"I've got a million of 'em." Butch replied, not looking away from his phone.

"When we're done on the front we can roll him over and carry on on his back." Rosalie suggested, and Bridget grinned excitedly.

Buttercup chuckled with a sigh. "You sure you'll be okay with all five of them for a little bit? I mean, we won't be long. I just think we need to get Bubbles out of her house for a bit." She was meeting Blossom and Bubbles for lunch. It had been a week since the miscarriage now, Blossom had a day off and Buttercup still had several days of her suspension left, so they'd suggested taking Bubbles out to try and cheer her up and take her mind off of things a bit.

"Yeah it's all good. We'll be fine. Just go, it's cool." Butch said from the floor and a soft smile graced the green puff's features as she looked down at him.

"'K. Have fun!" She called and they all called goodbye back as she left the house to meet her sisters.


Bubbles looked down at the menu and tried to urge herself to find an appetite and choose something to order. When she looked up both her sisters were sat to her left and right peering at her, and she forced a small smile onto her face.

"There's so much to choose from." She commented, her sky blue eyes searching over the vegetarian meals. "I didn't know they had such a large veggie friendly menu here."

"Bubbles, don't stick on a smile for us." Buttercup said flatly, and Bubbles sighed lightly, frowning.

"I'm sorry. I am - I really appreciate this. I mean, we never get to do stuff like this anymore, usually someone's working or we've got one of the kids with us, it's never just us three anymore - I don't want to spend the entire lunch miserating..." Bubbles said, placing the menu down in front of her.

Blossom placed her hand over hers and gently stroked it. "Bubbles, honestly, it's fine. You don't have to put on a front - we're your sisters -"

Bubbles gasped loudly as she glanced at Blossom's hand on top of hers. "Oh my god, Blossom!"

"Whoaaaa look at that thing!" Buttercup cried, leaning over to look at the engagement ring on Blossom's finger. "When did that happen?!"

"Oh, right - I, well, I didn't want to make a big deal of it, what with everything going on at the moment -" Blossom began to burble; she'd been wearing her new engagement ring on a necklace for the past couple of days while she'd been around her sisters heavily, mostly because she didn't want to bring focus to the fact her and Brick had gotten engaged right in the midst of Boomer and Bubbles suffering a miscarriage. It seemed a little insensitive to be celebrating amidst their grief. She didn't want to rub their happy news in when they were going through a rough time.

"Blossom are you and Brick engaged?!" Bubbles asked, and Blossom nodded, smiling.

Bubbles screamed excitedly, causing everyone in the busy restaurant to look their way.

"And I'm deaf." Buttercup muttered, scratching her ear.

"I am so humiliated." Blossom whispered, going red and picking her menu up to hide behind.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry it's just such great news! We really need something to be happy about at the minute! Lemme see it again!" Bubbles asked, and Blossom offered her her hand once more. "Oh it's beautiful!"

"How did I not notice that?!" Buttercup asked, extending her hand to take a closer look at it too; Blossom obliged. "I mean it's bigger than the first one." She added dryly and Bubbles giggled.

"Be quiet." Blossom replied with a smirk. "That's one of the reasons I didn't want to make a huge deal out of it. It's not like it's a first."

"No it should still be celebrated! Oh I'm so glad for good news. Congratulations, Blossom." Bubbles said warmly; and she did genuinely look pleased for a distraction.

"Thank you." Blossom murmured, looking down at her sparkly ring fondly. "It's quite the story, actually." She said, before telling them all about Brick frustratedly asking her to marry him in Pete's-a-Pizza.

"I am never gunna let him live that one down." Buttercup said as Bubbles giggled once more.

"That is so cute though." Bubbles cooed and Blossom chuckled. "Especially from Brick. He hates that place."

"He seemed extremely unimpressed with himself when he realised what he'd just done." The redhead agreed.

A waiter came by to take their order, and all three of them suddenly picked up their menus, none of them having decided what to eat yet.

"Shall we just focus on drinks for now?" He asked, and Blossom opened her mouth to order, but Buttercup spoke over her.

"A bottle of your cheapest red wine - and three glasses." The brunette said, then looked at her sisters' startled expressions.

"Buttercup, it's 12.10pm." Blossom pointed out. "On a Thursday."

"So what, we're child free for once - and you're engaged. And Bubbles needs cheering up - what better way than with alcohol?" She smirked at her blonde sister who couldn't not smile back.

"I'm in." Bubbles agreed, and Blossom sighed.

"Fine - just one bottle."


An hour later, Buttercup poured the remainder of the third bottle of wine into her glass with a disappointed sigh. "Oh, it's all gone again."

"That's okay - we can just order some more." Bubbles assured her, patting her wrist clumsily.

"I can barely afford one.. This is going to have to go on our credit card. And like that needs anymore adding onto it.. Truth be told I should have made this meal as cheap as possible.. Instead I've basically drunk my weight in wine and eaten two desserts."

"But, we didn't order a main or a starter so there's that!" Bubbles pointed out, and Buttercup nodded blearily.

"That's true. Kind of saved money, right? Smart spending." She agreed.

"So smart." Bubbles nodded.

"Don't worry about your credit card - we'll get this. Brick, he'll get this. You both deserve all the wine, and all the chocolate in the world." Blossom said, grabbing ahold of both of their hands and squeezing them tightly. "And I wanna give you all the wine and chocolate if I can. Because I love you both so much. You're both always there for me, with all the stupid stuff I've done in my life you've both been there, and helped me through the worst bits. And you're going through a really tough time right now." She said, squeezing Bubbles' hand, who's bottom lip was trembling at Blossom's drunken but very sincere words. "And, and you have a teenager and triplets, with Butch."

Buttercup burst out laughing, as did Blossom and Bubbles.

"It's funny cos it's true." Buttercup said through her laughter. "How the hell did that happen? Four kids with Butch Jojo."

The waiter awkwardly approached their table once more. "Can I get you anything else? Or, or just the bill?"

"Oh, hi! No, we'll have umm, one more bottle of the wine." Blossom said, reaching forward to pass him a couple of the empty ones; he juggled with them and his pen and notepad. "And also three slices of the chocolate cheesecake, please. Cos it was really nice so we need more."

"Err sure, okay." He stammered, before leaving the table, the wine bottles shoved under his arms.

"So, so how are you doing at home, Buttercup?" Bubbles asked. "Since you got suspended. Has it been okay?"

"Yeah it's been fine - nice, actually. Main thing that has sucked is how short we'll be at the end of the month but… We'll figure it out." Buttercup brushed it off with a sigh, taking a gulp of her wine.

"If you need some help don't hesitate to ask." Blossom told her and Buttercup nodded a little dismissively - she didn't like having to ask for help with money. And it always felt like there was something they were short because of.

"Thank you, Bloss - but I think we'll be okay.. Somehow. We always are." She answered with a shrug.

"Was it worth it?" Her redheaded sister asked with a small giggle. "Getting suspended for hitting that guy, who hit you first, I mean."

"Oh - definitely. I mean, money wise, hell no. But everything else, hell yes. That kid had it coming, I'd said to back the fuck off so many times. I mean, like I'd be interested in anybody else. I love Butch. Like, really, I love him so fucking much." She said, her words a little slurred but very earnest.

"We know you do." Bubbles said, stroking her sister's hand softly. "You're so much happier with him, anyone can see it. And so is he, it's just so lovely. And he's doing soo well with the kids! Like, I'm kinda proud of him."

"Yeah, he's doing his best. He's such a good Dad. So good it makes me wanna shoot myself in the head for screwing things up so much when Jay was born." Buttercup replied, her expression saddening.

"Oh no, don't think like that." Bubbles said, concern evident in her rosy cheeked face.

"You can't live like that, right? Things are different now, better now. You have to focus on that. You can't dwell on the past. I mean, if I did I wouldn't have half of what I do now." Blossom said, looking down at the ring that glittered on her hand.

"I know, but - I was fucked up as hell. He's just amazing. At all of it. Seriously, you should see this man putting the triplet's car seats into the car. He does it in like 2 seconds flat, click click boom, done. It's so hot." Buttercup said, biting her bottom lip gently at the image of Butch putting the car seats in in a matter of seconds in her mind.

"Wow, that is hot." Bubbles agreed. "Boomer is useless at things like that. The last time we moved them he managed to get one of the fastenings caught in his hair." She giggled affectionately. "Gotta love him." Their wine and cheesecakes arrived and they topped their glasses up before tucking in to their third dessert.

"I can't believe I'm not pregnant anymore." Bubbles squeaked in a small voice. Both Blossom and Buttercup paused, glancing at each other then over to their blonde sister.

"I know sweetie. It's really unfair. It's really, so unfair." Blossom said, trying to clear her head a bit so she could comfort her with a more coherent and less drunk mind.

"It's shitty as fuck." Buttercup agreed, also trying to be a more sentient being.

"You know, I know I've never experienced a miscarriage, but the therapy I've been having has helped me so much." Blossom told her, squeezing her hand lovingly. Bubbles asked her if that was true and Blossom nodded a little exaggeratedly due to the tipsiness. "Oh yeah, seriously, it makes me feel like a much saner person. The pills I'm on level off the bad stuff too. I was reluctant but it has helped me a lot."

Bubbles couldn't help but smile, but it didn't meet her eyes. "I have to wait 3 months till we can even begin to start trying again, and Boomer wants to wait that long. He thinks I want to replace the baby we lost, but I don't. I don't know what I want. I want to feel better."

"You will Bubbles." Buttercup assured her.

"When?" Bubbles asked desperately, and Buttercup shrugged.

"I don't know when but, it will get easier to live with. And you've got so many people around you here to help hold you up." The green puff said, her voice confident.

"I know. I know, I'm so lucky. You guys are the best. I love you so much."

"We love you too." Blossom said, and they all leaned forward for an awkward over the table hug. The bottle of wine almost went over and Buttercup grabbed it, tucking it under her arm and effectively hugging it too.

"Look, it's almost Christmas. And it's our year to go to the Professor and Kelly's cabin in Salt Lake City, right? We'll all be there, it'll be real family time. The perfect medicine for us all right now." Blossom told her, and Bubbles nodded, wiping at the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes.

The Professor and Kelly owned a huge cabin in Utah - since Blake and Bonnie had been born, every other year they spent Christmas there as a family. In the alternating years that they didn't go down, the Professor and his wife let it out to earn some Christmas spending money. But this year it was their year to all go down for a few days over Christmas.

"Yeah, you're right. I should be focussing more on what I do have, not what I lost." Bubbles sniffled.

"It's perfectly okay to focus on both." Blossom said softly.


When Brick pulled up outside the home he shared with his family, he was greeted by an unfamiliar car blocking the driveway so he couldn't park in his usual space. He rolled his window down to try and get a look at who it was.

There was a figure standing at the door, juggling large pizza boxes in his arms.

He cranked a brow as he yanked the handbrake up and took the key from the ignition, before getting out and hovering over to the pizza delivery guy, who had turned and noticed he was blocking him in.

"Oh, sorry - my bad. I'll move - just a sec." He said, attempting to pat his front down to locate his keys.

"It's fine - I live here. Blossom Utonium order these?" Brick questioned, and the teen nodded.

"$35 bucks all together." He said, as Brick retrieved his wallet. It was unlike Blossom to order takeout midweek, he wondered what had made her order food in on a Thursday; she usually saved that as a weekend treat. A home cooked meal being a rarity most of Brick's childhood and adolescence, it wasn't a rule he was necessarily opposed to.

He paid the pizza guy, then retreated back to his car and waited for him to move so he could park properly.

Once he had, he parked up on their front yard in front of the garage and brought the pizza into the house.

It was pretty quiet inside, he noticed; he could hear the TV on in the living room, the lights were off in most other rooms. He nudged the living room door open with his foot and peered his head inside; the three pizza boxes in his arms.

Rosalie was sitting on the sofa, children's cartoons on the TV. Blake was sitting on the end of the sofa, his nose of course stuck in a book. Brick tried to locate their mother, wondering where she was.

Rosalie squealed excitedly at the sight and smell of the pizza having arrived - and the sight of her Daddy being home from work, Brick hoped, but knew the pizza had probably won over. When his daughter jumped up off the sofa, he noticed a mess of red hair that he'd originally thought was Rosalie's, and realised it was in fact Blossom's.

She was laying face down on the sofa, her red tresses up in a sloppy high ponytail that was covering most of her face. Rosalie had been sitting on her back.

"Pizzaaa!" Rosalie cried, whooshing into the air beside Brick.

Blake looked up from his book. "Oh nice - thanks Dad I'm starving."

"I didn't order it.. Is your mother alive?" Brick questioned, and Blossom grunted from the sofa.

"I'm alive. Just about. Is the pizza here?" Slowly, she sat up, looking bleary eyed as she carefully got to her feet.

"What's the matter? Are you feeling ill or something?" Brick asked, shifting the pizza's to his other hand as he looked her up and down. Blossom attempted to pat her hair down and straightened her t shirt out - she'd changed into sweatpants the moment she'd gotten home.

"No no, I'm - I'm fine." She said, as Rosalie began to push her father toward the kitchen to plate up the pizza.

"Yeah you sure look it." Brick commented dryly as he noted she gripped a hold of his arm for support as they made their way into the kitchen. "Did you meet your sisters for lunch today like you planned to?"

Blossom cleared her throat and once again attempted to refine herself a little. "Yeah, yeah we did. We may have umm, ordered some wine."

A smirk met Brick's lips as he placed the pizza down on the kitchen worktop and quickly figured out what was going on; Rosalie and Blake immediately opened a box and grabbed a slice each, being too impatient to wait for plates.

"Some wine?" Brick questioned, folding his arms across his chest. "Or lots of wine?" His wife to be was a lightweight - she didn't drink often, and when she did it really didn't take much to have an effect.

"I lost count of how much wine." She murmured, rubbing at her face.

"Blossom Utonium are you drunk?" Brick asked, mock disapproval in his voice. "Whilst in charge of our children?"

"Yeah she's totally drunk." Blake answered through a mouthful of pizza. "They all were when they picked me and Bonnie up from school, Aunty Bubbles and Aunty Buttercup too. I could hear them giggling and shouting from my classroom. She's tryna act like she isn't but - pizza for dinner - on a Thursday. You know something's up."

Brick chuckled as Blossom looked a little shamefaced.

"I am not drunk, okay?" She insisted, straightening her hair out once more and going to lean on the worktop with her hand, but missing it the first attempt. "It may have gone to my head a little bit, but I wouldn't be so irresponsible as to drink in the daytime on a school day. Especially when I have work tomorrow."

"Course not." Brick said sarcastically, and she tried not to smile as she reached for a slice of pizza. "Well, it sounds like you had a good time anyway?"

"We really did." Blossom said, smiling. "Totally irresponsible, obviously. But, it got Bubbles smiling - let me get plates, come on. You're all such messy little animals."

She hovered over to the cupboard and got the plates out; Brick watched her fondly with a smirk on his face as he grabbed a slice of pizza too.

"Can we eat in the living room?" Blake asked, and Blossom thought about it for a second, nodding with a shrug.

"Sure. Just this once." She said and Rosalie whooped as Blake pumped the air with his fist.

"See, definitely drunk." The red puffruff added and Rosalie giggled; Blossom rolled her eyes.

"I am not!"

They laughed as they zoomed out of the room with plates filled with pizza.

Brick reached for a plate of his own and piled some slices of pizza onto it, before placing it down on the table and hovering through to the hallway to take off his shoes and remove his coat.

When he returned, Blossom was still leaning against the worktop eating a slice of pizza. She looked him up and down; an alluring smile gracing her features as she did. "Hey, you gunna be around later tonight?"

Brick cranked a brow at her. "Am I gunna be around?" He reiterated; she nodded. "In my own home, later tonight?" She nodded again. "Yes, I'm going to be around… What do you - what -"

She interrupted him, sliding closer to him languidly, the hand not supporting the pizza resting on his chest. "Good. I'm gunna come find you later." Her voice was smooth as silk; Brick's face was bemused. "And we're gunna do things."

He laughed, hooking his arms around her waist. "That sounds tempting. Care to elaborate?"

"No, but you'll like it." She promised, fluttering her lashes.

He grinned. "I'm sure I will. Just how much have you had to drink?"

She made a noncommittal noise in response, leaning against him and taking a bite of her pizza. "It was a lot of wine."


Jay pushed the front door open slowly, peering his head in tentatively; he was late home, his curfew was 20 minutes ago and was expecting to feel the wrath of his mother upon his arrival. She was usually calling him if he was any later than 10 minutes, but he'd heard nothing, which was confusing; she was usually shit hot on his tail.

Butch however was much more relaxed about it.

But what with his mother currently being suspended from work they were both around, meaning there'd be zero leniency on when he got home from the skate park or the arcade with his friends after school.

Today he'd been 20 minutes late home and had no one hounding his cell to know where he was; which seemed odd to him. He opened the front door properly; the living room was empty. The TV was on regardless; but that was not uncommon in their house.

There was a loud hubbub of noise coming from the kitchen and he closed the front door quietly behind him then hovered through to see what was going on.

"Ohh Jay you're home! Just in time - I'm making pancakes for dinner." Buttercup cried upon spotting him, hovering over to him and throwing her arms around him tightly.

Jay froze, patting his mother on the back limply. "Pancakes for dinner?"

"Mhmm. Ohhhh I love you soo much! Look how tall you are now it's insane - can you just stop growing for just a little bit please! My little Jayby baby!" She cried, holding him at arms length and squeezing his cheeks.

He wrenched her off of him. "What the hell is going on?" His question was aimed at his father, who was sitting at the dining table with his sisters, a smirk on his face.

"Your mother's plastered." Butch explained and realisation hit Jay's features.

"Oh, that explains all the affection." Jay commented, before crinkling his brow at his father. "Why are you covered in drawings?" He asked him, noting the scribbles etched up the green ruff's neck.

"It's a long story." Butch brushed it off.

"Ookay." Jay mumbled. "So he's been drawn on and you're wasted?" His question was aimed at his mother now. "Nice and normal in this house."

Buttercup shook her head at him. "I am not wasted. And also excuse me, we're sorta normal, like, kinda - and I give affection!"

"I'm not complaining about the lack of affection." Jay replied, hovering over to the kitchen to get a drink.

"You know I love you you're my little Jayby -" Buttercup began again until Jay cut her off.

"That nickname does NOT need to make a comeback! Come on, you're supposed to be cooking pancakes right? Which doesn't seem like the best idea while you're drunk." Jay added, and Buttercup rolled her eyes, returning to the stovetop.

"I'm not drunk okay. I just met my sisters for lunch and there was wine. That's all. Now, there's pancakes." The green puff said, picking up the frying pan and tipping the cooked pancake onto the plate where several were already stacked. "Plus, I think I'm actually a better cook when I'm a bit tipsy."

Jay sat down at the table to wait for food; he was actually starving. "Thought you weren't drunk?" He said with a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Just shush and enjoy the pancakes. And the fact I haven't chewed you out for being late home." Buttercup replied and Jay looked momentarily guilty. "Yeah, I'm still on you even when I have had some wine."

"Did I mention how awesome you are?" Jay murmured with an innocent grin and she flashed him a dry smile.

"Not enough. Okay here we go." She grabbed two plates in each hand, all four of them loaded with piles of pancakes covered in butter and maple syrup. "Pancakes for my feral Olive Blossom Utonium," She said, placing the plate down in front of her; Olive's light green eyes lit up and she discarded her fork, grabbing a pancake with her bare hand and beginning to devour it. "Pancakes for my dainty Emerald Bubbles Utonium." She put her plate down in front of her and she stabbed a pancake with her fork. "Pancakes for my crazy Ivy Buttercup Utonium." Ivy took a pancake in her hands and shoved it whole into her mouth. "And finally pancakes for my Jayby baby Utonium."

Jay rolled his eyes as she placed his plate in front of him and scruffed at his unruly spikes. "Thanks - but enough of the Jayby baby. Jay B, the most ridiculous of names - you can really tell the difference in effort when you say all our full names in a row like that all at once." The teen commented as he grabbed a knife and fork from the cup in the middle of the table and began to dig into his mountain of pancakes.

Buttercup had hovered back to the cooker to prepare some for her and Butch. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as she poured some batter onto the hot pan.

"Their names are such mouthfuls - and they have proper middle names. I'm just Jay B Utonium - literally two letters, two sounds. You couldn't come up with anything more creative, or give me an actual middle name after someone like they got?" Jay complained, his mouth stuffed with pancakes.

Butch's brow had creased at the topic; he obviously hadn't been around to have a say in Jay's name. He didn't even think he had a middle name; himself and Buttercup didn't after all. When the triplets had been born Buttercup had wanted to name two after her sisters as they both had daughters with middles names after her (Rosalie and Bridget both had Buttercup as their middle names); Butch had suggested naming one of their daughters after Buttercup herself.

He'd never inquired about Jay's, however. Although it seemed he did have a middle name he'd just never been aware of it. Things like that would always sting for him.

Buttercup had gone a little quiet at his question too - both Jay and Butch noticed and the young boy felt a little guilty at his words. His life at home with his parents seemed so normal nowadays he sometimes forgot about the tumultuous beginnings of his life. He was suddenly regretting his words.

"Not that it matters." He added hastily. "It's just a middle name after all…"

"You do have a middle name." Buttercup said, still facing the stovetop as she spoke.

"Last I checked, 'B' wasn't a name. It's a letter. Like my first name." The raven haired teen said.

"It isn't just 'B'! I would have thought you knew... But I guess we've never really spoken about it because of Mitch. But, that's stupid really cos it's not his business what I decided to name you… And he's been - it's been like 6 years now since..." She was rambling a little; Butch didn't know if it was because of the drink or the topic of conversation.

"What do you mean cos of Mitch?" He interjected, his brow furrowed.

"I went and registered your name on my own. Mitch couldn't really come with me because he wasn't your father. And your Dad.. Well, I tried to get in touch with him but, Mitch stopped me." Buttercup began to explain; Butch knew all this, she had already told him. But Jay didn't know, and he suddenly looked angry.

"But, but why?!" Jay cried. "I mean, if you had spoken to him then things might have been different…"

"I know, that's why he stopped me, I guess. He was scared. And I was easily swayed. You were days old and I was a fucking wreck.. Don't get me wrong - I was in love with the little dude I'd just delivered. But it wasn't the easiest of births and I literally didn't know what hit me afterwards - I was messed up as it was. Having you without your Dad there got to me more than I anticipated it would.. I went alone, and got you registered." Her inebriation was bringing out a raw honesty in her that she may have hidden slightly had she not have been a bit drunk still.

"I wanted to name you John, after my Dad. Mitch liked Jacob -" Buttercup began until Butch cut her off.

"Yeah, the name of his fucking Dad. I'd have lost it had that have happened." He grumbled, and Buttercup frowned guiltily.

"Well that's why it didn't happen. I obviously wasn't going to let that happen. I did a lot of trying to keep him happy in that time. I was really scared of being alone." Both Butch and Jay frowned at her words, and a guilt consumed the former. "But I liked Jay." She continued cheerily. "So we agreed on that. Jay Utonium - no middle name, or maybe John as the middle name. But, I didn't like Jay John -"

"So you chose 'B' instead?" Jay questioned and she shook her head, turning to look at him now.

"Your name is Jay Butch Utonium."

Both their jaws dropped open. "Is it?!"

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah… I didn't realise you didn't know. I mean - it says Jay Butch Utonium on your birth certificate… Haven't you ever looked at it?" Buttercup said, looking from Jay to Butch; the latter still looked shellshocked.

"No.. I've never laid eyes on my birth certificate.. I've never really asked about my middle name either. I remember I only realised I even had a middle name when Mitch was filling out a field trip permission slip for me - but he put 'B' in the middle name section. And I asked what the 'B' was for and he said it was just a 'B'..." Jay murmured, confusion etched into his expression.

Buttercup frowned a little guiltily as she flipped a pancake over. "That's because he hated that I did it. He was so pissed with me when I came home with your birth certificate." She chuckled to herself. "I literally tried to hide it and put it away somewhere safe so he'd never know but he wanted to see it. He was pissed as hell. But, I wanted to do it. I wanted to somehow solidify who you really were on paper. I wanted your Dad's name on that certificate. That was one way to do it. Plus, when you were born I felt like some kind of fucking copier machine - I literally spat out a mini Butch, you had to be named after him."

Jay smirked, looking over to his father, who still looked stunned. "Maybe if I'd snooped at my birth certificate sooner I'd have figured it out earlier. Especially with the fact you've got 'Butch' written on your body."

"Maybe." Buttercup said with a little smirk as he referenced the tattoo she had on her hip; Butch had Buttercup in the same place - a drunken decision made some 16 years ago. "Or maybe your Mom and Dad should have just sorted their shit out sooner."

Jay chuckled now. "Yeah, maybe. Well, everything's cool now so that's all that matters… Right Dad?"

Butch turned to look at his son with wide eyes, noting he'd called him Dad once more, and nodded - he did it more often since the first time now, but it still seemed to bowl him over each time. "Yeah - yeah. It is. I just, I can't believe you did that - and that I didn't know. How did I not fucking know all this time he's been Jay Butch Utonium?"

Buttercup plated up some of the pancakes and hovered over to the table, putting it down in front of Butch and shrugging, before leaning forward to kiss him on the top of his head. "Olive, please don't put bits of pancake up your nose, you gremlin."

Olive unceremoniously snorted her pancakes back onto her plate, then began to eat them as though they'd been served to her like that. Jay grimaced. "Disgusting…"

But Butch was still too flummoxed by what Buttercup had said to respond - or maybe it was more that he was more than used to the crude way his triplets behaved.

"You've seen his birth certificate before right? It's always said 'Jay Butch' on it." Buttercup said, hovering over to get her own pancakes.

"Yeah I have but - I guess I'm just not very observant." Butch murmured as she took a seat beside him. "That's fucking amazing."

Buttercup pointed to herself with her fork. "Not a complete she-beast, huh?"

He smirked at her, shaking his head no.

"I'd say the jury's still out on that one." Jay said through a mouth full of pancakes. She stuck her tongue out at him.


When Boomer got home from work that evening he was greeted by the sound of laughter. Laughter, and a sweet, homely scent of something baking in the oven. It instantly put a smile on his face as he pushed the front door shut and removed his coat, hanging it up on the rack by the door.

The laughter was coming from the living room; Bubbles and both his daughters were snuggled up on the sofa watching a film. They were surrounded by several different candy wrappers and a big bowl of popcorn, and had been laughing at a particularly funny bit of a film.

He stood at the door and smiled at them, surprising himself by how nice it felt to genuinely smile - and then wondered how long it had been since he had done so. His cobalt eyes lit up at the sight of a real smile on his wife's face too; it was the happiest she had looked since it had happened.

"Ooh girls! Daddy's home!" Bubbles exclaimed, noticing Boomer hovering by the door.

"Daddy! Daddy! We've eaten so much candy!" Bridget cried, whizzing into the air like a sea blue bullet.

"Yeah - and Mommy came to pick me up from school with Aunty Blossom and Aunty Buttercup - and they were all crazy!" Bonnie chipped in, also getting up and rocketing into her fathers arms.

"All crazy?" Boomer queried as Bubbles put the snacks aside and got up too.

She cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Umm, we weren't crazy - we were just, uhh, happy." Boomer cranked a brow as Bubbles giggled. "We had some wine with lunch..."

Realisation hit him and he laughed. "Ohh. Some happy juice, huh?"

Bubbles only giggled in response.

"Well, I hope they drink 'happy juice' more often - cos we're having home baked cookies for dinner!" Bonnie grinned as Bubbles giggled some more.

"No no, this is just a one off I'm afraid. Mommy had a really nice time with her sisters today, and I decided life's too short to not have cookies for dinner every now and then. And cheesecake and wine for lunch." Bubbles shrugged with a smile as her daughters laughed.

"You had a good time?" Boomer reiterated as his wife hovered over to the kitchen to check on the cookies in the oven.

"I really did. It was long overdue. We should do it more often - but maybe not the 'consuming copious amounts of wine' bit." She said as she took the hot tray of cookies out of the oven, deciding they were done. "I know I'm gunna regret that bit in the morning."

Boomer laughed. "Well, I'm glad you had a good time. Seems like you needed it."

"I definitely needed it. It was really nice - did you know Brick and Blossom got engaged?! He asked her to marry him in Pete's-a-Pizza!" She exclaimed, her usual gossipy glint in her eye. He'd not seen so much life in her sky blue eyes in awhile and it was really nice to see.

"No - I had no idea! I knew he was gunna ask her but - that's great - how did we not know that? And what the fuck possessed him to do it in there of all places? He fucking hates that place!"

"I know - I think they held off on telling us because of what happened and all…" Her expression saddened considerably at her words. But then she smiled. "But I told Blossom we're so happy for them - it's nice to feel happy about something..."

"Yeah, yeah definitely… That's great. Well, I'm glad you're feeling a bit more yourself. Just seeing you more you has made me feel more.. Me." Boomer muttered and she smiled wider, linking her hands around his neck; he curled his arms around her waist automatically.

"Good. I think today has made me see I need to focus on all the amazing things we have got. Not just on what we lost." The blonde puff said, her voice small but certain. "I'm not saying I'm over it, or it's done with now or anything like that… That'll likely never be the case. Just maybe I forgot we have so much to smile about. And when that hollow feeling is taking over I need to try and focus on all those things instead. And hey," She shrugged, glancing down at the hot, delicious smelling snacks on the side. "If that entails cookies for dinner, then so be it."

He chuckled to himself, pressing his forehead against hers. "So be it. Eat all the cookies you want."

"Oh I will." Bubbles told him, picking up a warm cookie and taking a bite.