Week 4 - UDC 1

16. friends

From her vantage point on the porch, Juliana saw him before Eugene did, out there on the sidewalk. He was in plain view, nonchalantly standing by their car in the driveway with his hands in his pockets. She glanced at Lillian, still watching and listening as Pete explained a way of doing fractions to Kristy that involved circles... "Did he say he would be dropping by, Will?"

"For a home study, I think," Will told her quietly. "Here to observe. Certainly doesn't look as upset as he did the first time I saw him... and really, I think if I'd not been so upset and distracted, I'd have given Harry what for, too."

She glanced up at him. "Oh?"

"My first concern was you," he admitted, wincing at her mild glare. "I know, Jules, but I still don't think any of this is fair to you."

She checked on Lillian, who waved her off out of Pete's eye line with an 'I've got this' gesture, and Juliana felt like laughing. "Maybe it isn't, but that kid right there? Needed what Lillian is doing right now... what Kristy is doing, even, just by being her."

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Remind me of something that should be obvious that I missed entirely."

She kissed his hand again and smiled up at him. "It's a gift."

17. enemies

"Doctor Blake," Alan acknowledged as he continued to observe, not really surprised that the Carpenter's oldest had noticed and glared at him.

Eugene chuckled as he joined him by the car. "Where did you park?"

"Down the street."

"Ah, so you're making a spectacle of yourself on purpose."

"No," Alan said after a moment. "This is a home visit, and I already startled the kid up there once when he was upset at the office. I'm seeing what the situation here is for myself, since I trust nothing in Harry's notes at face value."

Eugene winced at his tone. "Ah."

"Which kid is yours?"

"The four year old and the two on the porch."

Alan glanced over there... "So it's not babies in general, then. Good." He watched for several more minutes, before pantomiming a question to Lieutenant Carpenter on the porch. He nodded and went inside with a smirk.

18. lovers

Will came back out with a volley ball and took that to Alan, who called a break and started explaining a game to the younger three boys and Arnold, and then he pulled Isaac away and smiled. "Okay... I don't understand?"

"Play with your sons," Alan told him with a smile. "I need clarification from your boy, if you'll allow it."

"Dad?" Isaac asked carefully, glaring at Alan again. "Who is this?"

Will motioned back toward the porch, where Pete was still doing math with Kristy. "New social worker. You really need clarification, Mr. Jenkins?"

"Yes."

"All right." He looked down at James, Edward, and Colten, then shrugged and picked up Arnold. "Isaac, be nice. We're going to play some catch! James, you start by throwing to Colten, then go counter-clockwise... And," He looked at Arnold, so close in his arms. "...we will referee. That sound good, Arnold?"

19. family

Reluctantly, Isaac stepped back to join Alan and Doctor Blake by the car. "What do you need clarification on, sir?"

Alan studied him, taking in how adversarial the teenager's body language was. "Why you'd give an upset ten year old your Biology textbook."

Isaac paused and looked toward the porch. "Now that... Pete got spooked, sir, and ended up hiding in the closet after Mom fainted. It wasn't so much giving it to him as it was that he saw it in my hand and it was the only thing he would focus on. I managed to get him out of the closet, and then he just wouldn't give it back to me... and he was really quiet, too. More than usual. Would you like me to try to get him to join in? Kristy's probably tired of math by now."

Eugene laughed. "She's not, and if the circles I can see from here are any indication, he's telling her about fractions."

Alan nodded. "Thank you, Isaac... and no. No need for that right now. Go back to playing with your brothers and your father. He's going on deployment, after all."

20. strangers

She watched as Pete finally looked up from the notepad, saw his expression change to one of panic before going blank. "Lillian, why don't you and Kristy experiment with the pie charts some more? I want to hold Harmon."

Lillian glanced back at her with raised eyebrows, then nodded and nudged Pete. "Go on, she wants to hold him."

Pete handed the four month old back to Lillian, stood, and then Lillian handed him over again. "But-"

"Go on," Lillian urged again, smiling, and Pete stared at her momentarily before moving to stand by Juliana's chair. Juliana gently took Harmon from him and situated him on her lap, relishing that she still had a lap right then.

"He's scary," Pete finally said and Juliana glanced at him to find that while his face was carefully blank, his eyes told a whole different story. "Harry was fine, and I don't understand."

Listening to him, Juliana was instantly glad that she'd taken this situation by the reigns if that was Pete's first impression of Alan Jenkins. "He wasn't mad at you, Pete. Also, this is a home visit that I arranged with him."

Pete stared at Alan, who was now holding Lillian and Eugene's four-year-old. "I get to stay for three weeks, until deployment?"

Why did she feel like hitting her husband right now?