"A Babyshower? Do I have to come?" Jug asked Dot.
She chuckled, putting her hands around his waist. "Most definitely, Juggie. I'd imagine you are an amazing Babyshower planner."
"And you'd imagine right," he said, smiling back.
"Great, then it's a date," Dot said.
"That it is," Jug said, kissing her. "Well, it's getting late. I should get home."
"Yep. Just across the street," Dot laughed.
"See you tomorrow," Jug said.
"Yeah," Dot said, slowly letting go of his hand.
"Bye," he said as he walked out the door.
Just then Octavia walked past him into the house. "Hey, Jughead," she greeted as she set down her things.
"Hi," Jug smiled back, then walked away.
Octavia closed the door, smiling at her daughter. "Well, what were you two lovebirds doing?"
Dot rolled her eyes amused. "Talking, Mom. Betty and Veronica are throwing Polly a Babyshower."
"Oh yeah," Octavia said, sounding somewhat unimpressed.
"You think it's a bad idea?" Dot asked curious.
Octavia sighed speaking again. "I'm kind of siding a little with Alice on this one."
"You want Polly to give the baby up for adoption?" Dot asked outraged.
"No, not that. But, Polly might not be as ready as she thinks she is. You, my little mouse, were born when I was nineteen. I thought I could conquer the world, or at least manage to raise you. Your dad was with me and your grandfather was, despite first doubts, on my side too. At first, everything went as smoothly as it could be for a teen mom. But then that accident happened and as much as I wanted to hold on to your father, I quickly realized that I was living in this American Dream bubble. Husband, children, job, house with garden and dog, and all of that although I had never been seriously in love with someone other than your father. You, I don't regret one second, but having you that early, I kind of do. So, no, I don't think it's bad to force Polly to give the baby up but throwing her a Babyshower, as nice as it is, might not make life easier for her. She's going to have to work for that happiness every day while finishing high school and dealing with the fact that the baby's father was murdered."
Dot stood in front of her, having quietly listened to the story. "I do believe in Polly. And I do hope the Coopers come around."
Octavia nodded. "I hope so too. For Polly's sake. And the baby's," she added. Octavia reached out her arms and brought her daughter in for a hug.
"You know we can still get that dog," Dot mused into her mom's shoulder.
Octavia laughed. "Oh no, your cat is enough for now."
On Friday afternoon, Dot walked over to Archies house to meet with Jug. She closed her cardigan as it was getting colder outside. This year had passed by pretty quickly even though it seemed to have been going on forever at the same time.
She was about to knock on Archies door when he and Archie cut her off. "Woah!" Archie exclaimed after almost running right into his friend.
"Hey," Dot greeted with a laugh.
"Hey," Jug beamed, walking ahead to kiss Dot on the cheek.
"Where are you headed?" Dot asked.
"To my dad's construction site. His crew just bailed on him to work for Clifford Blossom, so we're rounding up some of the guys to help him until he finds another crew," Archie explained.
Dot shook her head, growing enraged at the news. "Well, anyone walking out on your dad is a moron and they don't know what they're missing out on."
"Exactly," Archie said.
"Well, do you need a strong woman to help?" Dot asked.
"You wanna haul in stones with us?" Jug asked, crooking an eyebrow.
"Is Kevin coming?" Dot asked.
"Yeah," Jug replied.
"Then I think I got this," she said, grabbing one of the helmets and putting it on her head.
"Dorothy Cahill, will you be theWendyto myBob the Builder?" Jug asked, holding out his arm.
"Would I ever decline an offer like that?" Dot asked, linking in with him.
"You know, I admire your will to help. They really had to convince me on this one. Well, mostly cause of, you know..." Kevin said to Dot, nodding towards Moose as they walked towards the trailer.
"You'll be fine. You've got Joaquin now, right?" Dot asked.
"I guess. Maybe I just wasn't all into lifting bricks on a Friday afternoon."
Dot laughed. "Come on, you're a strong-willed man. You can lift a brick or two. Besides, I'm glad I'm not the only one who won't be balancing stones on their head," she said. Then held her hand up to give him a high-five. "Don't let me down, Keller," she added. He smirked as he gave in and high-fived her back.
As the group unloaded more equipment, Fred and Hermione exited the trailer, probably having heard the commotion outside.
" What is this?" Fred asked a little confused.
"Your new crew, reporting for duty," Archie told him.
"I appreciate it, I do, but isn't there something more important you need to be doing? Like going to school, playing football?" Fred asked.
"We can work after practice and on weekends. Until you find a new crew. Help keep things on schedule. Come on, Dad. I worked for you the whole summer. And these guys -" Archie said. Dot playfully cleared her throat. "And girl-"
"We're bruiser studs, Mr. Andrews," Moose said, then turned his attention to Jug. "At least some of us are."
Hermione and Fred turned away, whispering about something then turned back. Fred sighed. "All right. Here we go," he said and guided them to their workplace.
"You sure you're up for this?" Jug asked.
Dot sighed. "Recently life hasn't been so great, for anyone really, so I think doing some heavy lifting might relieve some of that tension and maybe I get to hit something with a hammer, so that's pretty much a jackpot situation."
Fred told them what needed to be done and the group started hauling stones. Kevin and Dot were lifting one of the heavier ones together when one of the guys walked by.
"Hey, you two! Looking good, looking buff. We should get you on the team."
"I prefer my contact sports one-on-one, you know, like Boxing," Kevin said.
"I think I'm gonna stick to singing," Dot joked. The boys laughed and then went back to it.
That went on for a few hours. When the day's work was done, Dot could already feel every bone in her body and knew she would be sore tomorrow.
"Hey, guys, you were a life-saver today. I appreciate it. Hard hats go in the bin, and there's sodas in the fridge," Fred said.
"Crap! Hey, guys, I forgot my phone," Moose said, then ran back outside.
"This was my workout for the year," Dot joked.
Before they could wind down for the evening, the group heard a bunch of noise outside. Then screaming. They ran out.
"Stay back!" Jug warned Dot when they saw Moose on the floor and two guys beating him up.
"Okay," she whispered, staying back out of fear. Too many things were flooding back into her mind a that point. Her hands began to shake. When the thugs drove off, Dot yelled down. "What happened?"
"Moose is hurt. Get the first aid kid!" Fred yelled back.
"On it!" she yelled, running to the trailer on shaking legs. This was too much for her. She felt like she was going to pass out. And yet, her feet carried her inside. She snatched the first aid kit from the wall and ran outside to where the bother boys had hauled Moose. She began to work on his wounds immediately, surprisingly growing beyond her fear.
She was still busy patching him when Sheriff Keller arrived at the scene, climbing out of his car clearly in a huff given the way he slammed his car door shut. "What the hell happened?"
"Moose, over there, he caught a couple of guys working over my equipment with a crowbar and then they got the drop on him," Fred explained.
"Who were they, vandals?" Sheriff asked. Dot fought the urge to shake her head as if every day vandals would go out of their way to destroy some equipment at a construction site.
"Cliff Blossom has made it abundantly clear he would love nothing more than to see this whole project go belly-up," Fred informed him.
"I doubt that Blossom's gonna hire some thugs to bust up your site and beat up some teenagers," the Sheriff said. There was no doubt in Dot's mind that he just wanted to avoid any bang-up with Clifford. After all, it was obvious that he was in their pockets.
"Maybe it wasn't him. I mean, this is Serpent territory, right? Maybe it was them. Pissed that they had to leave 'cause of this project," Archie suggested.
"Serpents?" Kevin asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Archie replied.
"When I worked at the drive-in, the Serpents never bugged me," Jug said.
'They did bug me.'Dot wanted to say but stayed out of the confrontation.
"Did you see any snake tattoos, anything on their jackets?" Keller asked Moose.
"It happened pretty fast," Moose told him.
"All right, I'll talk to Blossom, but I mean I don't think we'll get anywhere unless we can ID these guys," Sheriff said.
Dot rolled her eyes. She was sure it was the Blossoms. The Serpents may be vengeful, but immediately beating up teenagers didn't seem like them. At least from what Dot had heard.
"That is such bull. If this was Clifford Blossom asking for help, you would say yes," Archie said enraged.
"Archie," Fred warned.
"What, Dad? It's true." Archie told him.
"It's also not helping," Fred reminded him.
"I'll see what I can do. Kevin, let's go," Sheriff Keller said. Kevin waved Dot a quick goodbye and got in the car with his dad.
"Okay, you guys can go home too," Fred said.
Dot looked up at Moose. "Hey bud, you think you're gonna be okay?"
"I'll be fine," he assured her.
"Come on, man. I'll take you home," the other guy in the bunch whose name Dot still didn't catch said as he and Moose walked off.
"I think we should go too," Jug said to Dot as he grabbed her hand.
Dot watched the party with a smile on her face. Betty and Veronica outdid themselves and Polly seemed to be having fun. Jughead walked next to her, setting down a rack of food on the table a little too hard. "Jug," she warned. He smiled at her as he pulled her in for a kiss. "It's so nice of you to do this. Especially after everything that has been happening."
"Well, what can I say? Baby showers are just my thing," Jug said sarcastically. Dot laughed.
Then, the unthinkable happened. Alice Cooper, previously so against her daughter keeping her baby, walked in and greeted her with a hug. And just as fast as this sweet moment happened, it was overshadowed by the arrival of trouble.
Cheryl, her mom, and her grandmother made their own special entrance. "We're here!" Cheryl announced as she pushed a stroller towards Polly. "No big deal, it's only the best stroller money can buy."
"So expensive," Polly said, trying her best to sound thankful, though it was clear she was uncomfortable.
"All I ask in return is that you make me your baby's godmother," Cheryl demanded.
"Oh jeez," Dot mumbled. Betty cleared her throat.
"Kidding!" Cheryl said. A nervous chuckle escaped Polly's mouth. "So not kidding," Dot heard Cheryl say under her breath. "Come on, Nana Rose, let's get you a good spot by the food," the redhead said, wheeling her grandmother away.
Penelope stepped closer to Polly. "Polly. Let me begin with an apology. When I first heard about the baby, my initial instinct to embrace the baby but not you was wrong. I hope you can forgive me."
Polly nodded, smiling at the grandmother of her child. Dot couldn't help but not trust her. The Blossom family was sneaky and untrustworthy.
Nana Rose soon called Polly over for an 'aura reading'. "This necklace reads the baby's aura. Predicts the sex."
"Nana has dementia and gypsy blood," Cheryl explained to the bystanders.
"Oh!" Nana Rose exclaimed.
"What? Is my baby okay?" Polly asked alarmed.
"Babies. It's twins. One of each!" the elderly Blossom informed her.
"This is occultism at its most ludicrous," Alice whispered to Betty. "But I'm grateful to be here." she quickly added when her youngest daughter shot her an amused glance.
This went on for a few minutes and then the gift-giving began. Octavia handed Betty their present. The two women had previously picked out a cute hand-made hat and a little Panda plush toy.
"Aww! How cute, thank you guys!" Polly said, smiling at the two.
"You're very welcome," Octavia said smiling back.
"Okay, now Mom's," Betty said, grabbing the bag from the floor.
Polly pulled out the gift smiling. It was a nightlight with an angel on it. "It's my nightlight. From when I was a little kid," Polly said, smiling at it. "How did you? Where did you even-" she asked, unable to string a single sentence together.
"I saved it. I know how much you loved it and how it made you feel safe. And I wanted you to be able to pass it down to your own baby one day," Alice explained.
"Open ours next, dear," Penelope said when suddenly Archie rushed into the apartment and walked straight to Jughead. Dot raised an eyebrow, quickly following him.
"You were protecting him. That's why you didn't tell me," she heard Archie say a little too loud.
"Relax. What happened?" Jug asked confused.
"Did you know that Jughead's father is a Serpent?" Archie asked Dot. The girl shook her head, looking at Jug. He looked away in shame. "That's why he tried to stop me from going to the bar, so I wouldn't find out. After everything my dad has done for you-" Archie said enraged.
"Archie, I can explain, okay?" Jug asked.
"Not now," Dot growled under her breath.
Betty and Veronica joined the trio, the anger apparent on their faces. "This is Polly's day, so you two need to check yourselves. I mean it," Veronica told them.
"Archie-" Jug tried.
"No, save it," Archie said.
"Come on," V said, leading Archie out of the door.
Betty walked back to her mom and sister. Dot lingered on for a moment, looking at Jughead. When she realized he needed a minute she stepped back to the group. She didn't know what to think of Jug's dad being a Serpent, but her dad wasn't an angel either.
Just when Dot thought the drama for the night was over, a new wave of thunder rolled over the party when the Blossoms offered Polly she would live with them at Thornhill. Alice, of course, was completely against it and ended the night in another big discussion. Finally, Polly ended the fight by storming to her room in a fit of anger. The shower ended shortly after. Octavia had just left when Dot saw Jug standing outside the apartment building.
"Hey," Dot said, walking towards him.
"Hey," he said as if he didn't know how to start the conversation. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you my dad was a Serpent."
"It's okay. Nobody's family is perfect, right?" Dot asked.
Jug smiled a little. "I guess."
"But, I would appreciate it if you told me stuff like that in the future. More about yourself. I mean, all I do is babble about myself constantly. Stop me some time and tell me something about yourself," she said. Jug nodded. "And maybe, just maybe we could talk to your dad. If he is a Serpent and Jason did deal for them like Polly said, maybe he knows more about it," she suggested. "That would also give me a chance to meet him," Dot added quickly.
"No, no, no. This is Blue & Gold business only," Jug said.
"Fine. But he's going to have to meet me officially one day."
The trailer park looked a little run-down, but not like the worst place to live. The duo stopped before a trailer Dot assumed to be FP's. Jug hesitated. Dot grabbed his arm. "Hey, you can do this," she assured him. "I'm with you," she added, smiling gently at him. He took a deep breath, went up the stairs to the door, and knocked.
FP opened the door, looking at his son and Dot surprised and a little confused. "Jughead!" he exclaimed, letting the two inside the door.
"Dad, Dorothy Cahill. Dot, this is my dad," Jug introduced them briefly.
Dot stuck out her hand. "Hello, nice to meet you. For real this time," she said, smiling at him.
"Nice to meet you too. You're Octavia's kid, right?" he asked, shaking her hand.
"Yeah. I am. You know her?" Dot asked.
"We were friends, back in the day," he informed her.
"Oh, that's great," Dot said. Her mom never talked much about her childhood in Riverdale. Her teen years in general.
"Um, why don't you guys sit down?" he finally asked, cleaning some stuff off the couch.
"This isn't really a social call," Jug told him.
"No. I didn't expect it would be after Archie showed up at the bar," he said.
"We know the Serpents had some kind of drug thing going on with Jason Blossom," Jug told him straight on.
"What? Where'd you hear that?" FP asked.
"Jason's girlfriend," Jug replied.
"The kid needed some money to get away. A clean-cut kid like that, no one's gonna suspect him of running, so we helped him, he helped us," he explained, sitting down on the couch.
"Jeez, Dad. Did you tell the cops that?" Jug asked.
"What do you think?" FP asked right back.
"Well, they know now. Polly told them. So if they haven't been by yet, they will be," Jug explained.
FP gave him a look. Clearly, he wasn't expecting this. Jug was over it, Dot could tell. She knew she had to damage control.
"Did you ever talk to Jason? Personally?" she asked.
"My guys gave him some product. When it wasn't delivered, we figured he'd took off with our stash, until Jason's body was found at Sweetwater River. Anything else you wanna ask?"
"Did you have anything to do with Jason Blossom's death?" Jug asked him outright.
"You really think I could do that?" he asked back.
"It's the Dark Ages, Dad. I don't really know what to think anymore," Jug told him.
"I'm not a perfect father, Jughead, no getting around that, but I'm no killer," he told him. Jug seemed at a loss. He muttered a quick goodbye and walked out the door.
"Well, thank you anyway. I'm sorry for all of this, the tensions have just been really high in general today," Dot told him.
"I figured. I'm guessing you and Jughead are a little more than just friends?" he asked.
Dot nodded, hoping she wasn't blushing. "Yeah."
"Could you keep an eye on him? Make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble like you're other friends did today?"
"I think Jug knows his boundaries. At least when it comes to the Serpents. But, of course. I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."
"Thank you," he said, which Dot assumed was his way of saying goodbye. "Greetings to your mother."
"Goodbye," Dot said, walking out after Jug. "Are you okay?" she asked when she caught up to him.
"I don't know what to think anymore," he admitted.
"Do you really think he did it?" Dot asked.
"Do you?" Jug asked back.
"No. I don't," Dot replied, trying to regulate her breathing. She wasn't totally sure FP was entirely innocent of the crime. Maybe he wasn't the culprit, but something was clearly going on.
"Okay," Jug said, giving her a kiss. She could tell he knew she was lying.