Falice

Gladys

"I'll be back later," FP pecked kisses all over Alice's face. He was in love with her smile and being the reason it was on her face. It always made him happy.

"Why do you have to leave so soon?" Alice pouted.

"Time will fly by." FP squeezed her tightly before unwrapping his arms around her. "I have to go meet Jughead and see what he's all worked up for." FP grabbed his phone off the table and pocketed it. "He sounded excited on the phone."

"Okay," Alice grabbed him by the collar and kissed him one last time. "I'll be waiting." She watched him get into his truck and waved at him before he drove back to the trailer park. He spotted Jughead walking alongside the road and he slowed down. He rolled the window down and called out his name. "I thought you were home."

"I was hoping to beat you there or at least run into you." Jughead went around the truck and climbed in. "Alright let's go. We'll see the surprise together." He giddily smiled.

"What surprise?"

"It's not a surprise if I tell you now, is it?" Jughead chuckled. FP continued to drive down the street. He spotted a familiar vehicle parked right by their trailer. He knew who exactly it belonged to. Jughead eyed it too. "Is that your mother's?"

"Surprise!" Jughead said excited. He hoped he was just as happy. "I convinced mom to come home with Jellybean. They're home, dad." He saw the happiness in his son's voice. He was excited to see his daughter again but he was not ready to see his estranged wife again. FP parked right outside and Jughead jumped out. He rushed to the door to welcome them home. The door opened and Jellybean came running out to hug him. "Jug!"

"Jellybean." She leaped into his arms and clung onto him tightly. "I've missed you."

"Missed you too," Jellybean looked around and saw her father getting out of the truck. A smile grew on his face when they locked eyes. FP held his arms wide open. "Dad!" She let go of her brother and ran to FP. Jughead moved onto his mother. "I missed you too."

"I've missed you so much, sweetheart." FP embraced her. He kissed the top of her head.

"Little too tight there, dad." Jellybean gasped. She laughed as he loosened up. "Sorry, princess. Just missed you too much." He didn't want to let her go. She fit perfectly into his arms. He looked out and saw Gladys standing at the door. She was talking to Jughead. "Sweetie, how about you go inside with Jughead? It's starting to get cold."

"Okay," Jellybean let go of him and ran up the steps into the trailer. She dragged her brother in leaving her parents outside.

"I saw that the refrigerator was empty. What did you do? Drink all the beer before we got here?" She started to walk down to where he was. He leaned against the truck and crossed his arms.

"Actually I'm in AA. Been sober for a while now." FP rolled his eyes. "Long time no see and you chose to use that as your first words?"

"Like you're any different," She scoffed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Happy to see you too," She said with sass. "I came for Jughead of course. Reunite the family. Something you couldn't do."

"Don't pin this on me," FP was very tempted to yell at her but he didn't want to with their kids nearby.

"You had the chance to go meet us in Toledo but you withdrew. You never came after you called."

"Things changed," FP looked away. He didn't want to look at her.

"Seems like it."

"I don't want to fight right now. The kids are together and I intend to keep this problem away from them. My top priority is to go in there and catch up with my daughter." He began to walk away. She grabbed his arm but he yanked it back. "First of all, problem? Second of all, our daughter."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. You can't just show up and expect me to fall into your arms. You left me when I was at my lowest instead of helping me through it and you took one of my kids with you."

"You left me no choice, FP. I wasn't going to deal with your crap anymore. It was either you grow up and fix our family or me to move on with the kids. Jughead made his choice to stay but he deserved better than this." Gladys gestured to him and the trailer. "My parents were expecting him too."

"Don't jerk me around the kids, Gladys. I'm not losing a kid again." He shook his head disapprovingly. He was not going to let it happen.

"Mom! Dad! You guys coming in?" Jughead yelled from inside. Gladys saw him coming out from the corner of her eye and pulled FP close to her. She forced a kiss onto his lips. He didn't react quick enough to refuse it. "We'll be right in," Gladys smiled at him. He walked back in and FP glared at her. "You are still my husband. We're making it work for the kids." FP didn't say anything. He walked up the steps and into the trailer. Gladys followed behind.

"Can we go to Pop's?" Jughead asked. "To celebrate the family getting back together."

FP couldn't say no to that. His kids were over the moon. "Let's go," FP walked over to the closet to grab a jacket.

Hours went by and Alice was still waiting on FP to come back. Alice heard the front door open and she was excited to finally see FP again. She hurried to the stairs from her room to look for him. There was a lot of glee in her footsteps. However it wasn't FP standing at the door. It was her daughter. "Betty, I thought you were hanging out with Jughead today."

"I was but Jug told me he had a huge surprise for his dad." She smiled widely. She was very happy to hear his family was back together like he had been planning for so long. "His mom and sister are back in town. I'm so happy for Juggie. I saw them at the diner a while ago and they looked happy."

"I'm happy for them," Alice forced a smile. "It's good to hear that the Joneses are back together." In that moment she knew she wasn't going to see FP. She wasn't expecting him to come over anymore like he said he would. "Classic FP Jones," She mumbled to herself.

"What?" Betty asked.

"Oh just that it seems as if it's been written in stone."

"Ah," Betty nodded. "I'm so happy for them."

"Me too," Alice gritted through her teeth. She felt her heart ache. She did not know that FP felt the same. He was miserable pretending to be happy. He loved his family but he couldn't keep lying. He yearned for Alice but he couldn't just leave. He couldn't leave his kids because he also longed for them to be together again.