Shadows of Your Dreams

Chapter 13

I hope you're all surviving the quarantine, and doing okay. Stay home and stay safe! Love you all xx

...

In January, Betty needed to leave for a week. She had to go to Colombia for a teaching position in a private high school, where she would be teaching the kids some advanced English. She was still a bit insecure about her accent in Spanish, but Jughead said it was cute and not at all a strong one, which helped her relax a bit.

The problem was leaving Jughead alone with the baby. Of course, he knew how to act, and would be working at home during the whole week, but Betty was still worried. He had to admit, he was too. Bea was attached to her and had separation anxiety when she left for more than a few minutes, and sometimes not even that much. And then, another problem was that Betty knew Jughead would joke around, and while she found that amusing, sometimes he needed to be serious.

Now was the second night in her small rented apartment, and the blonde was laughing at Jughead through facetime who was lying down on their couch, Bubbles curled up in between his body and the couch, and Bea on his stomach. The dog was already sleeping, mostly because of the long walk they had taken in the park, but Beatrix was very much awake, her head on the puppy's back which raised and fell in rhythm, making her giggle.

"I swear to god, Bea was cruising around in the morning and Bubbles was trying to eat her pants," Jughead mumbled, tired from all of it, and wanting to go to sleep himself.

Betty giggled at that again. Earlier that day, the guy had sent her a video of the three of them sitting on the carpet, Bubbles barking and Bea imitating her while laughing to herself. Jughead had a can of whipped cream and was feeding it to the dog (which was why she was waiting), and then when Bea opened her mouth as well, he fed her with a small amount of it, too. They had a lot of fun, but he was exhausted and just trying to get her to sleep.

"Why won't you sing something?" Betty recommended. "I always do that."

The guy smiled softly. "Baby, your voice is beautiful. Mine's not."

"Yes it is," she argued with a frown. "I loved you singing Barbie Girl."

He gave her a look which she giggled at, Jughead rolling his eyes with a smirk afterward. "Maybe if I read or something... Just, I don't think she'd understand."

"Who cares, she needs to practice words, right? Plus, I'm pretty sure she understands those small picture books, so why don't you just sit her down on your lap and show them while reading."

He smiled sadly, a soft look in his eyes. "I miss you," he said quietly. Rolling his eyes at himself, he added, "I know it's been only like two days or something, but... I really do."

Betty smiled at him. "Now who's cheesy?" she teased, making him chuckle as well. "I miss you too, Jug. All three of you, to be honest." She yawned while turning to her side and he smiled while doing the same afterward, both of them sniggering at one another.

"I think you should go to sleep, hon."

The blonde smiled, "It's only seven here, Jug. And I gotta take some notes for tomorrow's classes."

"Hm, what's the topic?"

"Just capitalization in quotation marks." He nodded, already knowing she was teaching the teenagers who wanted to study in the US in a few years or months. "But you should go to sleep, Juggie," the woman nodded with a soft smile. "Put Bea to bed and get some rest, seriously."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright. I love you, baby."

"I love you too," Betty whispered. "Give them kisses for me."