I watched in amusement as Joey and her friends took all sorts of pictures in our living room.  They were all dressed up with their hair and nails done, ready for the Homecoming dance.  They were doing silly poses, making faces, and doing ridiculous selfies.

"Dad, can you take some group shots?" Joey asked me.  I let out a dramatic sigh as she passed me her phone.  They had all sorts of ideas for poses, the last being the iconic Charlie's Angels pose.

"You better get going or you'll be late," I told the three of them.  None of them had boyfriends, which was perfect in my book.  Joey had never had a boyfriend, and I hoped she wouldn't for a long time.  For now, she was super focused on school and having fun with her friends.  Most dads of 14 year old girls would love that.

They found their purses and Joey came to hug me goodbye.  I'm glad she wasn't too cool to give her old dad a hug in front of her friends.  They thought I was hilarious, so I had cool dad points.

"Be back by eleven," I reminded her.

I was exhausted myself.  I'd had Alex and Jack with me all day and they'd run me ragged.  I was ready for a beer and an early night sleep.  I'd be fast asleep long before Joey came home.  She could come home at 2 a.m. and I wouldn't be any the wiser.  Luckily, she was a pretty trustworthy kid.

Pippa had taken the kids about an hour before.  They'd been fed and just needed a bath when they got home.  As I was catching up on my DVR recordings, my phone dinged with a text.

Elliott not home yet.  Is Joey @ dance?

I sat up and replied, She and her friends just left.  I'll text her and ask her.

I shot Joey a text to ask if she'd seen Elliott.  Once they'd arrived, she confirmed she'd seen him with a bunch of his football buddies.  I texted Pippa back that he was there.  Her text back included profanity.  She couldn't exactly leave to go get him with the kids there.  I offered to come watch the kids if she wanted to go out, but she declined.  She settled for calling and leaving him a heated voicemail and multiple angry texts.

I fell asleep on the couch at some point and was awoken by my phone ringing.  I recognized it as the school's number.  Furrowing my eyebrows, I answered, checking my watch.  10:00.

"Hello?" I tried to sound awake.

"Mr. Miranda?"

"Yeah that's me," I said.  "Is everything alright?"

"Well, there was a pretty large altercation between some students at tonight's Homecoming dance," the woman explained.  "Your daughter Josephine was involved.  It happened in the parking lot during the dance.  Some of the football team and a group of students protesting that girls weren't allowed."

I scrubbed my hand over my face in frustration.  Sometimes Joey just didn't know when to stop.  "Is she okay?"

"She has some minor injuries, but she's fine," the woman said.  "Would you be able to come pick her up?

"Of course," I told her, standing up to find my shoes.  I was in sweatpants and a hoodie but I didn't really care.  After finding my keys and wallet I was out the door and on the subway.

The chaperones had taken the kids to a room near the gym.  I was greeted outside and told them who my daughter was.  As I was getting more of the story, Pippa walked up, looking flustered.

"Where's my son?" she asked the woman I was talking to.

"Ms. Soo, I assume?" the woman asked.  "He's down the hall with an EMT.  His hand got pretty banged up."

Pippa rushed away down the hallway to find Elliott and I stepped forward to look in the door.  Joey was sitting with her friends.  She had an ice pack held up to her head.  She saw me standing there and gave me a pained look, hoping to garner sympathy.  I walked through the door and up to where she was sitting with her friends, then knelt down to look at her.

"Where are you hurt?" I asked her, gently removing the ice pack so I could look at her head.  She already had a bump forming.  Joey held up her right arm, showing some scrapes, and pulled up her dress to show me a pair of skinned knees.  It looked like she'd been well taken care of.  I stood back as an EMT began to plaster bandages on her knees and her arms.  When he was finished, he stood up and turned to me.

"You're free to take her," he told me.  "I'd put ointment on her scrapes for a few days and keep the bandages clean."

"Will do," I told him.  "Thanks.  Let's go, Josephine."

I didn't call her by her full name very often, so she knew she was in trouble.  Protesting was one thing, but getting into a physical altercation was quite another.  The music was still going full blast as we walked out of the building's doors and into the cool autumn evening.  I hailed us a cab and we got in wordlessly.  Joey didn't say a word to me, just held her ice pack to her forehead.  I texted Pippa on the way home, and she told me she was taking Elliott to the ER.  His hand was likely broken.

When we walked into the apartment, I was ready to tear into her.  "Couch.  Now."

She sighed and wandered over, leaning forward on her elbows.  I stood in front of the table, my arms crossed.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded.

"The football team was making fun of us and mocking us for trying to try out for the team," she said, taking the ice pack away from her forehead.  "We were arguing all evening until someone finally told a few of them to go to the parking lot so we could get away from the chaperones.  Elliott was one of them, the little...mmmm."

"And what happened in the parking lot?" I prompted her.

"We all started arguing and someone pushed someone else and then all hell broke loose," she explained.  "I don't know who pushed me, but I banged my head on some car and fell on the gravel."

"And did you get involved with the fighting?" I asked her.  "And don't you dare lie to me."

She sighed, looking down at her shoes.  "Yes.  But only because Callie got pushed."

Callie was one of her friends who was at our house earlier.  One of her best friends.

"You shouldn't have been out there in the first place," I raised my voice, something I didn't often do.  "I thought you had more sense than this, Josephine.  Verbally arguing is one thing, but you crossed the line tonight.  Why didn't you just stay in the gym?"

"Because everyone else was going!" she argued, getting upset.  "I couldn't let my friends go when I was one of the ones leading the protesting."

"Well, maybe you could have acted like more of a leader," I pointed out.  "Maybe you could have stopped people from going out there.  What happened to Elliott?"

"One of my guy friends pushed him down to the ground and he landed on his wrist funny, and I think his hand got stepped on."

"Well, sounds like he had to go to the hospital," I told her.  "He was seriously injured because of this foolishness."

I just stared at my daughter and she wouldn't look at me.  I decided we'd had enough for tonight.  She was home and she was relatively uninjured, thankfully.

"You're grounded for a month," I told her and she gaped at me.  I rarely had to punish Joey, but when I did it was usually something major.  "Get to bed."

She opened her mouth to say something, but didn't seem to be able to think of anything.  Wisely, she got up and went to her room.  I let out a sigh and wandered back to my own bedroom, exhausted.  After stripping down to my boxer briefs, I texted Pippa to see how Elliott was doing.  He had three broken bones in his hand, as well as a broken wrist.  He'd be out for the season.

I apologized for what happened and she asked about Joey.  I filled her in on what she'd said happened.  We were both exhausted and promised to talk more in the morning.  I plugged in my phone and almost immediately fell asleep.

I didn't wake up until 9:30 the next morning.  Predictably, Joey wasn't up yet.  I brewed some coffee, then went to wake her, taking an ice pack with me.  She was fast asleep, sprawled out on her back.  I sat on the edge of her bed and gently shook her arm.

"Joey, wake up," I said softly.  Her eyes slowly opened and she squinted at the sunlight.  I took a good look at the bump on her head.  "How's your head?"

She reached up and touched her bump, as if she'd forgotten it was there.  Her face contorted in pain as she stretched.

"Here, I brought you an ice pack," I said.  I gently brought it to her head and she pressed it down with her hand.  "Hop in the shower and I can help you with your bandages."

I stood up, and walked to the door, leaving her to get herself going.  A half hour later, she wandered out to get some breakfast, in fresh sweats and a shirt.  Her usual contacts had been replaced with her glasses.

After she'd eaten, she went to the couch and I helped her put on new bandages.

"How's Elliott?" she asked hesitantly.

"Three broken bones in his hand and a broken wrist," I informed her.  "He's out for the season."

"Damn," she commented.

"Yeah, there are real consequences for doing stupid stuff like what happened last night," I told her.

"It wasn't stupid," she countered, ever ready to argue.

"Protesting wasn't stupid, but getting in a fight was, Josephine.  I'm surprised at you."

"Don't you want me to stand up for what I believe in?" she asked, looking ready for an argument.

"I expect you to use more sense," I said.  "When your argument involves violence, it's no longer valid.  You've thrown away your integrity."

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue.  "You need to call your mother," I told her, standing up and grabbing the bandage wrappers.  "You're supposed to go to her place this afternoon."

"Uggghhh!" she groaned.  "She's worse than you!"

I decided to take that as a compliment. I'd been keeping her mom updated on what had happened, and she was just as pissed as I'd been.  The hard part about being the child of divorced parents was probably getting yelled at on two separate occasions.  I'd already given her an earful but knew my ex would want to do the same.

"I'll drop you off later on my way to Pippa's," I said, putting my mug in the sink.

"Great," she said.  "Then maybe Elliott can explain to you why he was pushing girls around."

I knew Pippa and her ex were trying to raise Elliott to be respectful of women.  I didn't know the whole story and whether Elliott had actually used physical violence.  From what I understood there'd been a mob of kids and I'm sure it was chaotic.  I'd met the kid a few times and liked to think he wouldn't put a hand on a girl.

I tidied up around the house a bit as Joey continued to get ready.  An hour later, we were heading out to her mother's place.  I walked her to the door.  Clarita opened it and immediately shot our daughter a disappointed look.  Joey sighed and stepped around her, going to her bedroom.  I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"You already grounded her I assume?" she asked me, crossing her arms.

I nodded.  "For a month," I told her.  "I didn't take her phone though."

"I have chores for her," Clarita told me.  "She won't be having a pleasant weekend."

I filled her in on everything I knew up until then, and told her I was going to Pippa's to help with the kids.  Clarita was a bit bewildered that Anna and Frank had left their kids to us, an unmarried couple.  Not even a couple.  I just shrugged and told her we didn't get it either; we were just following the will.  We said our goodbyes, and I was again thankful that we were on good terms and that we backed each other up.

I let myself in at Pippa's and walked into a full-fledged argument going on between her and her son.  He was arguing about not getting to do anything, and Pippa was hounding him about his horrible grades.  Jack was on his back on the floor, on his little mat, and Alex was watching a show.  I sat down with Alex on the couch, pulling her into my lap.

"Hey, kiddo," I told her, kissing her hair.

"Hi!" she said happily, watching her show.  "What have you been up to today?"

"Pippa made us scrambled eggs and we're going to the park later," she informed me.

"Sounds good," I told her, watching the show with her.  Little Jack seemed happy on his mat for now, kicking his arms and legs and grunting.  His little hands reached for the toys dangling in front of him.  Soon, he'd be crawling and we'd all be in big trouble.

I heard a door slam and Pippa stormed out and into the kitchen.  I craned my neck to look at her and saw she was still pissed.  She angrily began clearing the breakfast dishes, her face set in a frown.  I kissed Alex's head and set her back on the couch beside me, then picked Jack up and went to the kitchen.

Jack seemed happy to see me and reached for my goatee.

"Everything okay?" I asked gently as Pippa worked.

"No, everything's not at all okay," she informed me.  "Elliott's been getting worse and worse.  His grades are slipping, he's been talking back, sneaking out.  I don't know what to do with him.  And his father's not much help."

I adjusted Jack on my hip and he gurgled.  "Sorry to hear that," I said.  "If it makes you feel any better, Joey got in a lot of trouble too."

She sighed.  "Slightly.  You said her head has a bad bump?"

"Yeah, and she's got some skinned knees and cut up arms," I said.  "She'll be fine, though.  I'm wondering if we need to sit them down and mediate a conversation between them."

"Well, the boys aren't the ones who decide if they can join the team or not," she pointed out, now loading the dishwasher.  "That's up to the coach."

"And maybe the school board, if Joey has her say," I added.  I watched her as she put things in the dishwasher, her forehead wrinkled in frustration.  She was kind of adorable when she was angry.

I hated to ask, but I felt I needed to.  "Did Elliott...hit anybody?"

She stopped, grabbing a tea towel to wipe her hands.  "Yes, but he said it was just other guys.  He said he may have caused a girl to get knocked over because she was standing behind this other guy."

I nodded.  "I don't think he'd hurt a girl on purpose."

"I hope not," she said.  "I raised him better than that.  But then again I raised him to try hard at school and listen to me."

I can't be sure, but I thought I saw tears swimming in her eyes.  I set Jack down in his high chair and stepped towards Pippa, then wrapped her up in my arms.  It didn't occur to me that she might push me away, and she didn't.  She still had a lot of hard feelings towards me, but in that moment she accepted my comfort.  I heard her sniffling as I just held her.  It sucked that her ex was being so uncooperative.

I pulled back after a minute and looked at her face.  She wiped at her eyes and looked away, embarrassed.  "I'm sorry.  I'm not usually like this."

"It's okay," I assured her.  "You have a lot going on right now.  Why don't you go take a break in your room?  I've got the little kids."

She nodded, rubbing at her upper arms.  "Make sure Elliott doesn't leave."

"Will do," I assured her.  "Are they about ready for lunch?"

"Yeah," she said.  "There's sandwich meat in the fridge and some leftover mac and cheese."

I shooed her away and went to the fridge to prepare a bottle for Jack.  Once it was heated up, I picked him up and sat down on the couch again with Alex.  He ate hungrily.

"What do you want for lunch, Alex?" I asked the three year old, who was now jumping on her knees.

"Mac and cheese!" she said, predictably.

"Okay," I said.  "What kind of vegetable with it?"

"None!" she decided.

"How about some peas?" I suggested and she turned up her face.  I was determined to get some kind of vegetable in her.  I let Jack finish his bottle, then burped him.  I set him in his bouncer and he grunted with happiness.  He was easy to please.

I went to the kitchen and fixed Alex her lunch, then called her to the table.  I sat with her, sipping some water as she ate.

"When's mommy coming back?" she asked me innocently.  My heart dropped.

"Sweetheart, she's not coming back," I said as gently as possible.  "Remember, she went to heaven."

"But when's she coming back from heaven?"

I shifted my weight around, unsure of how to explain the finality of death.  "She can't, baby.  She died."

She frowned as she got some more shells onto her spoon.

"I know it's hard to understand," I said gently.  "But you and Jack are gonna live with Pippa and me for a while."

"At Pippa's house?"

"Well, you'll stay at my house sometimes too."

"With Joey?"

"Yes, with Joey."

"I wike Joey.  She pways wif me."

"She likes you too," I smiled, tucking some stray hair behind her ear.  Just then, Elliott emerged from his room, dressed in jeans and a Hunter College High School sweater.  He found his shoes near the door.

"Hey, bud," I told him.  "I don't think you're supposed to go out."

"I'm going to my dad's," he informed me.

"Your mother said you needed to stay here," I reminded him.  He muttered something under his breath, then went down the hallway to Pippa's room.  A few minutes later, he was back and told me goodbye.  I didn't ask any more questions.

"Why was Pippa and Ewwiott yewwing?" Alex asked.

"They were having an argument," I said.  "Elliott got in trouble."

"Hmmm..." she seemed to ponder.

"Do you like hanging out with Elliott?"

"Yeah, he's nice.  Can I go pway now?"

She hadn't touched her peas.  "Take three bites of peas first."

She let her head fall back as if that was the most horrible thing ever. 

"You can do it," I urged her.  "They're gonna help you grow nice and strong."

As I sat with Alex with Jack nearby, I wondered what their childhood would be like.  They'd been dealt a terrible blow early – their parents were dead.  They were orphans.  For whatever reason, their parents had chosen me and Pippa to finish the job.  What would life be like for the next 18 years or so?  Would they be happy?  Would they feel like Pippa and I weren't good enough?  That we'd screwed things up?  Would they resent that we didn't give them to family?

Jack started whining a bit, so I stood up and picked him up out of his bouncer.  He immediately stopped, just wanting to be held.  I looked at him, and he looked at me, then let out a happy baby grunt.  My heart warmed.  I may not be perfect, but I would do my best.  My absolute best.