Junior

She blamed the party.

She blamed the alcohol.

She blamed Pete Wentz.

She blamed Patrick for letting her come.

She blamed herself for thinking that that night actually meant something to him.

She blamed herself for falling in love with him.

* * * * *

"Abby! I'm home!" Patrick yelled as he walked into the apartment he shared with his younger sister.

Abrianna bounced into the living room and threw her arms around her brother. "Yes! Finally! It's about time!"

"Hey! Don't blame me. Blame Pete. He's the one who made us miss our flight." Abrianna walked over to Pete and punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" He mocked pain and held his arm.

"That's what you get for making my brother come home late," she told him.

"Aww. I love you, too," Pete said and hugged her. She gave Andy a hug and then Joe. Patrick threw his stuff in his room and came back out into the living room.

"Where's Joey?" Patrick asked sitting on the couch.

Abrianna looked around for a moment. "He's with mom and dad."

"Oh, okay."

"Who's Joey?" Joe asked.

"Our new dog," Patrick blurted out without really thinking about it.

"You never told us you guys were getting a dog," Pete noted.

"Must have slipped my mind," Patrick said and shrugged.

"You guys want anything to drink?" Abrianna asked changing the subject. Everyone nodded. She got up and headed to the kitchen.

"I'll help you," Joe offered and followed her. Abrianna pulled the various sodas out of the refrigerator and set them on the counter.

"Thanks Joe."

"No problem. So, how are you doing?"

"I'm all right. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Glad to be home." Ever since that night and that phone call, things have been awkward between the two and no one except Patrick knew why. "Look, I'm really sorry I called that night a mistake."

"You have no clue how sorry I am though." She picked up some of the cans and left the kitchen. Joe took the others and followed her into the living room. Everyone hung out for a few hours and then went home. Abrianna and Patrick went to their parents' house.

* * * * *

"Mommy!" Joey screamed and ran into Abrianna's arms.

"Hey baby. How was your day? Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Uh-huh. We made cookies and chocolate milk. And me and Kevin played in the backyard."

"Sounds like fun," she said putting him back on the ground. He ran into the living room to go see Patrick.

"Honey, when are you going to tell him?" Mrs. Stumph asked sitting next to her youngest child.

"I don't know mom. Joe made it pretty clear that he wants nothing to do with that night," Abrianna said as Mrs. Stumph put a cup of tea on front of Abby. Abrianna pulled the cup close to her.

"I still think he should know, Abby. That is his son. He does have a right to know. He may even be okay with it." They both heard Joey scream from the living room. They looked into the living room to see Patrick tickling him.

"He's okay," Patrick said looking up.

"Don't tickle me Uncle Patrick," Joey said laughing.

"Don't tickle you? Do you mean like this?" He tickled him again causing Joey to scream with laughter.

"Please just tell him soon," Mrs. Stumph pleaded.

"Okay. Just let me think about it and then I'll tell him. Okay?"

"Okay."

* * * * *

Patrick let Joe into the apartment.

"What are you here for? Not to be mean or anything."

"I'm just here to see Abrianna."

"Oh, Okay. I'll go get her." Patrick went to Abrianna's room. Joey had just woken up from his nap. They both looked up at Patrick when he walked into the room.

"Uncle Patrick!" Joey stood up on the bed and held his arms out. Patrick picked him up.

"Joe's here to see you."

"All right," Abrianna nodded her head and straightened out her clothes.

"What do you want for lunch?" Patrick asked Joey.

"Um..." He put his finger to his chin as if he were thinking really hard. "Grilled cheese!" he answered excitedly.

"Grilled cheese it is," Patrick said as Abrianna followed them out of the room.

"Who's this little man?" Joe asked Joey. Joey became shy and tried to hide in Patrick's shirt.

"Joey," he said quietly.

"Really? That's my name too."

"My other name's Mark," he told him gaining confidence.

"Let's go make that grilled cheese now," Patrick suggested.

"Mmkay. Bye Joey," Joey said.

"See you later Joey."

"What did you want?" Abrianna asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I just wanted to see you. You know, see if maybe you'd want to hang out or something for a while."

"Um, okay. Let me go grab my bag." Abrianna went back into her room and grabbed her bag. She slipped on her shoes and followed Joe out the door.

"I thought Joey was your dog."

"He is. That's just my god child," she said trying to go along with Patrick's lie.

"For real?" Joe asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"So-"

"Is there something specific you had in mind to do?"

"Wanna go to the movies? I haven't been there in a while."

"Sure."

"All right. The movies it is."

* * * * *

Before either of them realized it, the whole day had gone by.

"We should do this again. Soon," Joe said.

"Yeah, we should," Abrianna agreed. She looked at the ground and then at Joe. "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"No. Why? Do you wanna get together tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I mean, if you want to..."

"Tomorrow's good. I'll come by late morning/early afternoon?"

"That would be great."

"Will you still have Joey?"

"Yeah, he's gonna be with me for a while actually."

"Good. Then we could all do something together then."

"Yeah. Okay. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." She turned and went inside. She was really hoping he would have kissed her goodnight.

"Did you have fun?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah, I did actually. Where's Joey?"

"He's asleep already."

"He wants to hang out with him tomorrow."

"Okay..."

"He doesn't know that Joey's his."

"He probably does by now. I mean, they look just a like and no one in our family has curly hair and Joe knows that. Joey's Jewfro is growing in pretty damn good if you ask me."

"Jewfro? Nice. Thanks for reminding me that he needs a haircut."

"Just let things happen tomorrow. If Joe figures it out, then he figures it out. If he doesn't, then he doesn't."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna go to bed now. Love you."

"Love you, too. Goodnight Abby."

* * * * *

Abrianna watched Joe and Joey play cars like they've been doing it since the day Joey was born. They really hit it off and she knew that by now, Joe had felt the connection. Joey put his car down and looked up at Joe.

"You wanna see my room? My bed looks like a car!"

"Yeah, sure." Abrianna followed them into Joey's room. Joey jumped onto his hot rod bed as Joe looked around the room.

"You look just like my daddy," Joey said pointing to Joe on the Fall Out Boy poster that was hung up on his wall. Joe looked at Abrianna as she practically ran to Joey. Joe couldn't hear what she told him but he jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.
"When were you planning on telling me?" Joe asked in an irritated tone of voice.

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was scared and you made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with that night."

"I would have still helped you take care of my son. I don't know why you assumed that I was that kind of guy. I'm not that kind of guy Abrianna. Did you honestly think I wouldn't figure it out? He looks just like me!"

"I'm sorry. I just...I didn't know what to do when I found out and I made Patrick promise he wouldn't tell you. It just broke my heart when I called you and you said you wanted to forget about that night and everything because I realized that I love you and all."

"You love me?"

"Yes. I always have." She looked down at the ground.

"Oh. Well, I think we should give this a shot. See if this works out."

"You mean us?"

"Yes, us. I'm not gonna bother being mad about it because I totally understand that you did what you did to protect you and your feelings. I still wish you would have told me sooner though. I missed out on so much." Joe touched her face.

"I love you, Joe."

"I love you, too." He leaned over and kissed her.

"Mommy?" They both looked to see Joey holding onto Patrick's leg.

"Hey, come here," Joe said. Joey ran over and Joe picked him up. "You wanna go get something to eat with me and mommy?"

"Mommy, daddy and me?" Joey asked.

"Yep, you, me and daddy," Abrianna said.

"And Uncle Patrick?"

"And Uncle Patrick if he wants to come with."

"Okay!" Joe took Joey and went to the living room to put his shoes on.

"I'm glad he knows now," Abrianna told Patrick as she put her arm around him.

"I'm glad too. I just want my little sister and nephew to be happy." He kissed her forehead.

"Patrick, I'll race you to the car," Joey said and took off. Patrick went after him.

"That's not fair! You got a head start!"

"I'm little! I get one!"

Joe laughed. "He most certainly has your sense of humor."

"True but he has your heart and that's what matters. I just can't believe he actually called you daddy already."

"Seriously."

"Well get used to it. He adores you already." Joe shut the front door behind him.

"Mommy! Daddy! Hurry up!" They heard Joey yell. Joe took her hand and they hurried downstairs to their family.