Blended Family

Pippa

A/N: it's my birthday! Leave me a star!

I knew my son, and while he did stupid things sometimes like most teenagers, I knew he wouldn't willingly cheat on Joey.  I'd seen how he oogled over her.  When he walked into the apartment Saturday after the party, the look on his face confirmed my suspicions.  He was completely broken.

Lin and I had a quick word with him and I tried to reassure him.  He'd disappeared down the hallway about twenty minutes ago to go talk to Joey.  For once, we didn't enforce the door open rule.  They needed some privacy to talk.

Lin and I were both on pins and needles, wondering how it was going.  We sat together on the couch, making sure Jack and Alex were doing okay as they played.  Lin kept tapping his heel as we waited.

Finally, the door opened.  We didn't want to appear too eager, but I turned around to see who it was and what was going on.  Joey appeared, looking less stressed than she had been the whole day.

"Everything okay?" I asked her.  Lin craned his neck as well.

She shrugged her shoulders as she went for the refrigerator.  I glanced at Lin, and we were both wishing that she'd say more.  We didn't want to pry.  Since it was his kid, I let Lin take the lead.  He walked over to get himself a drink and started asking her more questions.  She answered, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.  Lin gave her a kiss on the head and came back to the couch with me.  I looked at him eagerly, wanting to know what she'd said.

"They're taking a break," he informed me as he sat down with a glass of water.

"A break?" I asked, confused.

He nodded and set down the glass.  "Joey said she's been feeling overwhelmed lately and needs some space."

"Space?" I asked.  "They live in the same house."

"I know," he said, rubbing at the back of his head.  "Not sure how that's going to work."

"A break..." I thought out loud.  "I thought they were really into each other."

"I thought so too," he said, and we both sat quietly for a few minutes as the little kids played.

"I should go check on Elliott," I decided, standing up, but Lin caught my hand.

"Don't," he told me gently.  "Trust me.  Elliott doesn't want to have a conversation with his mother right now."

I studied his face for a moment and he was dead serious.  I knew Elliott was growing up and he didn't want his mommy in his business, but there was still a big part of me that wanted him to need me.  He'd grown up way too fast.

Reluctantly, I sat back down and Lin draped his arm around my shoulders.  He kissed my head.  "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"He really likes Joey," I told him.  Lin just rested his chin on my shoulder and we sat there for a while quietly.

I tried to keep my mind off the Joey/Elliott situation for the afternoon but it was hard.  I'd caught glimpse of Elliott a couple times as he came out for a snack or to use the restroom.  He didn't look totally upset, but he was morose.  I gave him some space for a while, but after a couple hours I couldn't not say anything. 

I pushed his bedroom door open and he was laying on his back, earbuds in.  I slowly walked over and sat at the end of his bed.  His eyes opened and he pulled out his buds.

"Hey," I said gently.  "You've been in your room most of the day.  Everything okay?"

"I'm sure Joey told you," he said, looking at his feet.