When You Read Between the Lines

As Faith took time unlocking the door, Joe tapped his fingers on the side of his thigh. He had felt apprehensive ever since his drive to the airport. His heart thundered in his chest as she turned to him, holding the door open with a smile on her face. Forcing a smile, he walked in while holding his breath. Faith turned to the living room and he closed his eyes when he heard her gasp of surprise.

“Lizzy?”

“Hey… sis,” Lizzy said, standing up, no emotion shown on her face.

“Why… What… How did you get here?” she asked. Lizzy’s eyes drifted to Joe. Joe was looking down at his feet. Faith looked from Lizzy to Joe, then, back to Lizzy before resting her eyes on Joe. “Joe?”

“Yes?” he asked his voice soft because he was unsure as to whether or not she was happy or angry.

“You did this?” she asked softly, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“Well… yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his head and grabbing her hand with his free one. “I had to do something. I couldn’t stand being with you and seeing you miserable because of what was going on with Lizzy.”

“I can’t believe you came,” Faith said, turning to Lizzy. She walked over and gently wrapped her arms around her younger sister. Joe could see Lizzy stiffen at the touch but slowly she was able to hug her sister back. “Do Mom and Dad know you’re here?”

“I don’t think so…” Lizzy said, looking to Joe.

“They don’t. I called them this morning and asked if they were going to be home around this time. Meg said they would most likely be shopping so I asked her to leave a key in the flower pot for me so I could surprise you with something Faith. Little did they know it would be a surprise for them, too.”

“Babe… I can’t believe you did this. Thank you,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a kiss on his lips. Joe smiled when they pulled away and placed his forehead on hers.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he whispered, placing a feather light kiss on the top of her head. Just then they heard a car pull into the driveway and all three dark haired heads whipped to the front window.

“Act casual,” Faith said, taking Joe’s hand and leading him to the couch.

The two of them sat on the couch while Lizzy sat on the chair. Joe hesitated to stand and go help Meg bring William in but Faith set a hand on his knee. With one touch he knew that he didn’t have to, that Meg had been doing this for awhile. It seemed like all three were holding their breaths as they waited for the parents to enter.

“Hey, you two. We’re home,” Meg said, pushing William in.

“Hey,” Joe called.

“Hi Daddy,” Faith said.

“Hi Mama,” Lizzy said… she was the only one who called their mother that. Casually Joe turned his head to see if there was a reaction and saw Meg slowly turn towards the living room.

“What’s… wr… wr…” William tried to say but couldn’t get it out. Meg put her hand on his shoulder before slowly walking into the room. He clearly saw her lift her hand and do a head count multiple times.

“She’s really here,” Faith said quietly, a huge smile on her face.

“Oh!” Meg cried, opening her arms as Lizzy walked into them.

“Hi Mama,” Lizzy whispered as Meg placed kisses all over her forehead. When they pulled away, Joe saw Lizzy turn and wipe a tear or two from her face before turning back to her father. “Daddy…”

“B… Baby… gi… girl,” he choked out as Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight.

“Daddy, Daddy, oh Daddy… I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she sobbed over and over again, her body shaking as William attempted to wrap his arms around her.

Joe felt Faith’s fingers entwine with his. Turning his head to the right he saw she had reached up to wipe tears from her face. He twisted his body around to pull her close to his body. His arms wrapped tight around her as she clenched onto the front of his shirt.

“Listen,” he whispered into her ear and she nodded her head. “I’m going to go…”

“No,” she said quickly, looking up at him. “Please stay.”

“No, I have to go. This is time the four of you need. I don’t want to intrude. Okay?” he asked and Faith nodded her head. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too,” she whispered, leaning up to give him a kiss. Joe gently stroked her face before turning to leave. He felt cool fingers wrap around his wrist and he turned to see Meg holding him.

“William wants to say something,” she said softly. Joe turned and walked over to William.

“Th… thank… you… f… for… br… brin… bringing… my… f-fam… family… back… to…together,” William said as Joe squeezed his hand.

“Of course,” Joe said, smiling down at William. Slowly Joe backed away, a tear dripping down his own face as he watched Lizzy walk up to Faith and give her a hug. Quietly he pulled the door shut and walked to his car calling Charlotte on the way down.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

“Can you meet me at the mall?” he asked as he climbed into the car. “I need your help.”

“Sure. When?” she asked as Joe started the engine.

“Is now okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you by the fountain.”

“Okay, thanks. See you in a bit,” he said before hanging up the phone and pulling out of the driveway.

****

Christmas decorations hung from the ceiling of the mall and music played as Joe waited at the fountain for Charlotte to arrive. Tapping his foot he kept checking his watch to see how long it was taking her to get there. Finally, looking up he saw her coming towards him, a smile on her face as her curly blonde hair bounced on her shoulders.

“Hey,” he said, standing up and smiling at her.

“Hey, is everything okay? You sounded kind of funny on the phone, like you were upset or something,” she said as they started aimlessly walking around the mall.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Lizzy got here today is all. I just left Faith’s house.”

“Ah, I understand, it was a sob fest.”

“Yeah, basically,” he said letting out a slight laugh as he turned into a random store.

“So what is it you need my help with this evening?” Charlotte asked as she picked up a bottle of perfume to sample.

“I need to find a Christmas present for Faith… but I don’t want to get her something too extravagant.”

“Because…?”

“Well… we are buying a new house. And I’m going to be buying her an engagement ring soon enough. Do you need another reason?” he asked and she playfully shoved him with her shoulder.

“No, that’s reason enough. Well… in that case… I think a nice pair of earrings would do the trick.”

“You think so?”

“A girl can never have too many earrings,” she said, leading the way out of the store and through the mall to Macy’s. Skillfully she made her way straight to the jewelry department. Joe was grateful she was there; otherwise he wouldn’t know what to do.

“Thanks so much for doing this, Char,” he said as he looked down through the display case glass searching for the perfect pair.

“Anytime,” she said, standing next to him and scanning the assortment of earrings. “So um… how’s Nick been doing lately?”

“I don’t know. We’re kind of not talking,” he said, his eyebrows scrunching together as he tried to figure out why she would be asking.

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“No reason,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I was just wondering how he was doing.”

“Oh, well, you’ve just never seemed to care before,” Joe said, turning his head to look at her and he saw her bite her lip.

“I know,” she said slowly. “It’s just… I was thinking about him last night. How he doesn’t really have anyone to talk to about all of this. I just feel bad for him.”

“That makes one of us,” Joe scoffed, resuming to looking through the glass.

“You don’t feel bad for your own brother?” she asked, a bit of incredulity in her voice.

“No. He brought this on himself because of the way he treated Faith.”

“Did you ever stop to think that their marriage failed not because of how Nick treated her but because they just didn’t work out together? They weren’t meant for each other. You and Faith are meant for each other but because she and Nick weren’t, nothing worked out in their favor. They were blinded by what they thought was love for one another. No one ruined this marriage, Joe. Fate ruined it.”

“What’s going on here Charlotte?” he asked, completely overlooking her last statement. Her eye movement, the fury in her voice, the blush rising to her cheeks. The way she hesitated to answer him… “You… you like Nick.”

“It’s not that,” she said, letting out a sigh. “I just… it must be awful to be alone, to be ignored by your own family.”

“We’re not ignoring him. He’s ignoring us.”

“Have any of you tried talking to him? Besides your mother,” she added as Joe opened his mouth to answer.

“Not that I know of,” Joe said quietly, looking down at his feet.

“I think he just needs someone to talk to. Someone who isn’t part of the family or a therapist or something.”

“And you think that someone is you?”

“Sure,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “I’m better than no one.”

“But you and Nick barely know each other. You met once.”

“But I know enough about him from you to know that he doesn’t deserve this. No one deserves this. Please… just give me his phone number and I’ll see if I can talk to him,” she said and Joe’s eyes moved to the jewelry case. “Please.”

“Fine,” he whispered, not looking at her. She put her hand on his arm and tapped her finger on the glass in front of them.

“Those… would be perfect for Faith,” she said quietly, walking around the case to find an employee to take the earrings out.

****

On Christmas Eve, everyone gathered at Kevin Sr. and Denise’s home for the annual family get together. The entire house smelled of Christmas ham and Bing Crosby’s crooning voice was heard through the stereo speakers. Joe stood in front of the tree with his arm wrapped around Faith’s waist as Meg introduced Lizzy to his parents.

Laughter was heard across the room where Frankie was talking to Kevin and Danielle. The only person left to arrive was Nick. Joe had noticed the look on his mother’s face as she looked at the clock sitting on the mantel of the fireplace, wondering where her fourth son was. Finally they heard the door open one more time and Denise smiled when she saw Nick’s curly head enter the house.

Every head turned to welcome Nick but not a word was spoken when they saw a second person walk in. Her blonde hair cascaded down in front of her face and the only sound heard was Bing’s voice ringing in their ears as Nick took her coat. Joe’s arm slipped from around Faith’s waist as the two walked into the living room where the rest of the family was.

“Everyone, you remember Charlotte,” Nick said, his hand on Charlotte’s back as they walked into the room. Charlotte smiled at everyone before landing her eyes on Joe whose lips formed into a thin, straight line. He felt Faith shift nervously beside him.

****

“What are you doing here?” Joe hissed into Charlotte’s ear as she stood in front of the tree admiring the ornaments. She jumped a little, his voice having scared her.

“Nick invited me,” she said quietly. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“I thought you just wanted to help him, not date him.”

“We’re not dating,” she sighed. “For Christ’s sake, Joe. I called him that night after you and I were at the mall and went to visit him the next day. While I was there he asked if I would come here with him because he felt comfortable talking to me. Can you imagine how awkward this is for him?”

“Can you imagine how awkward it is for everyone else? We had no warning of this Char.”

“Well excuse me for not informing you. This is exactly the reason why I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d tell me not to come,” she said, raising her voice slightly.

“Damn well I would have,” he said angrily. “This isn’t good Charlotte.”

“No, Joe, only you think it isn’t good. What Nick needs right now is a friend and if I’m the person he wants as that friend than I’m going to be there for him. I can’t promise nothing will happen because then I’d be a damned fool. Just trust me, alright? You’re the closest thing I have to a best friend and I’d really appreciate it if you’d stop talking to me this way.”

“Do whatever you need to do Charlotte. Just know that I’m not going to approve of any of it.”

“I don’t need your approval. You’re not my father,” she spat at him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to be rude.”

She turned from him and walked over to where Nick was, talking to Kevin. Joe frowned as she casually linked her arm through his and turned from the sight, shaking his head. He heard someone walk over to him and quietly stand there.

“Is everything okay?” Faith asked in a whisper.

“Everything’s fine,” Joe said, turning to look at her. Her eyes were etched with concern as they raked across his face. “I promise.”

“Okay,” she said, linking her fingers with his and squeezing his hand.

“Dinner is ready,” Denise said as she and Danielle carried bowls of food to the dining room table.

Joe and Kevin went into the kitchen to help move things as everyone else took their seats. Joe and Faith were across from Nick and Charlotte. Everyone’s attention was brought to Kevin Sr. who stood at the head of the table. Slowly the talking ceased and everyone joined hands around the table as he said grace. Once he was done everyone started reaching for food and filling up their plates.

Chatter and laughter filled the room as everyone enjoyed themselves. Under the table Faith kept her hand on Joe’s knee as she ate. Joe couldn’t help but glancing over to Nick and Charlotte every once in awhile. Nick was actually smiling for the first time in months as he talked to her and Charlotte kept blushing.

“William?” Meg asked and everyone’s heads turned towards her. That’s when they noticed that William was coughing abruptly and having trouble breathing. “William!”

“Kevin, be careful!” Joe said as Kevin went over to give him the Heimlich. Frankie had already run into the kitchen to dial 911.

“Mama, what do we do?” Lizzy asked, tears dripping down her face as she watched her father struggling to breathe.

“I… I don’t know,” Meg whispered, her hands hovering over her husband whose face was turning purple.

Sirens were heard outside and Kevin Sr. opened the door and ran outside to meet the paramedics. Joe turned to find Faith and saw her backed up into the corner of the dining room, her hands over her face. Her body shook with sobs as she watched the Huntington’s slowly prevent her father from swallowing.

Paramedics followed Kevin Sr. into the house with a stretcher and carefully lifted William onto it. They hovered over him for a moment, trying to remove the obstruction and soon he was being bagged as they led him out to the ambulance followed by a tearful Meg. The Jonas’, Faith, Lizzy, and Charlotte stood in silent shock for a moment before hustling about to get to their cars to head to the hospital.