Pippa and I knew we had to be careful.  We still didn't really want the kids having to worry about a relationship between us.  For now, we snuck into each other's rooms at night and stole kisses when there were no kids around.  It was our little secret.

Pippa's nightmares were subsiding and I liked to think I had a little something to do with it.  Sometimes she whimpered in her sleep and when I rubbed her back she'd calm down.  When she did wake up screaming I held her tightly and pressed kisses to her head.

We were careful but something was bound to happen at some point.  One night Alex woke up from a nightmare and wandered into Pippa's room seeking comfort.  She climbed onto Pippa's bed like she'd done before and found me in there as well.  She didn't seem to mind or understand.  We both talked to her gently as she recounted her nightmare.  Pippa assured her it was okay and rubbed her back until she fell asleep again.

I woke up to a kick in the balls.  Thank you, Alex.  Once I'd adequately recovered and saw that Alex was awake, I scooped her up to take her to the kitchen for breakfast.  I happened to come across Joey in the hallway as we walked out.

"Why were you in Pippa's room?" she asked me.

"Just getting Alex," I fibbed.  Alex was clueless but Joey was old enough to realize that Pippa and I were sleeping together now.  She eyed me suspiciously but continued back to her bedroom to change.

It was hard not to freely kiss and touch Pippa.  As I held myself back yet again that morning I began to wonder why we were still keeping things a secret.  Joey and Elliott were old enough to realize their parents dated other people.  I'd had other women around Joey before and I'm sure Pippa had done the same with Elliott. 

After everyone had left for school I caught Pippa's wrist and pulled her onto my lap on the couch.

"Ooof!" she said, draping her arms on my shoulders.  I looked up at her, admiring the view as my hands rubbed at her lower back.

"This is killing me," I told her honestly.

"What?"

"Keeping my hands off you around the kids," I said.  I had always been an affectionate person.  It went against my personality to not touch her and show her I felt.  "Do we really need to keep it a secret anymore?"

She seemed to ponder that for a moment.

"I mean...would Elliott have a problem with it?" I posed.

"I don't think so," she said.  "Would Joey?"

I shook my head no.  I had a feeling she was onto us anyway.

She shrugged her shoulders.  "Why not then.  We should have a family meeting tonight."

That made me smile.  "Family meeting?  What is this, the Brady Bunch?"

She laughed and ruffled my hair.  "You know what I mean.  I don't think we should just start making out in front of them.  We should officially tell them."

"I agree," I said.  Jack started crying, interrupting our moment.  Pippa went to get him and I started cleaning up the breakfast dishes.

After dinner we had Joey and Elliott come back to the table.  We served them cheesecake to make this a little easier to swallow.  I didn't think they'd had a problem, but a little cheesecake never hurt anything.

"What is this?" Joey asked us.  "We haven't been fighting."

"It's not about that," I assured her, looking across the table at Pippa.  "We actually have some news for you."

"Don't tell me you're pregnant," Joey said, looking straight at Pippa.  She looked a little embarrassed.

"No," Pippa said firmly.  "Why would you think that?"

Joey shrugged and took another bite of cheesecake.  "Obviously you guys are together now."

Pippa and I met eyes.  Were we that obvious.

"What makes you think that?" I asked my daughter.

"Googly eyes," she informed me, pushing her fork into her dessert.  "You've been looking at each other all the time."

Elliott was nodding in agreement.  "Plus I've seen you come out of each other's rooms sometimes."

Pippa flushed with embarrassment but I chuckled, running my fingers over my goatee in amusement.  "Fair enough," I said.  "So, are you both okay with it?"

They looked at each other and shrugged.  "I guess," Elliott said and Joey  mumbled something similar.

"Great," I drummed my hands on the table with relief.  "Let us know if you have questions.  I'm an open book."

That was painless enough.  Pippa and I both got up to finish the dishes as the kids ate their dessert.  The other two were supposed to be down for the night.  Joey disappeared to her room to do homework, along with Elliott a few minutes later.  I got out my own laptop to catch up on some emails on the couch.  Before I knew it, it was almost 11:00.  I powered down my computer and set it on the coffee table, then stood and stretched.  Pippa must have already gone to bed.

I wandered down the hallway and saw my daughter's light was still on.  I knocked gently then pushed the door open.  She was on the floor, work spread out all around her.  She didn't look anywhere close to being done with whatever she was working on.

"Joey, it's almost eleven," I told her.  "You almost done?"

"No," she said, not looking up from her work.  I stepped inside, crossing my arms and looking down at her papers.

"What are you working on?"

"Mock trial stuff," she said, then tucked her pencil behind her ear.

"Mock trial?" I asked.  "When did you join that?"

"Last week," she said.  "Mom wanted me to try it."

I was concerned she was taking on yet another extra curricular activity.  She already did two sports, debate club and yearbook club.  I'm sure this was Clarita's idea.  She'd been the classic overachiever.  Graduated both high school and college with a 4.0.  I loved that Joey had a drive, but this seemed a bit much.

"Well, give it 15 more minutes," I told her.  "You need your sleep."

"Okay," she agreed.  I stepped out and started getting ready for bed.  I pulled out my book to wind down.  I gave Joey another 20 minutes before checking in on her again.  She was still picking away.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight, kiddo," I told her.

"I'm almost done," she said, eyes on her notebook.

"Then you can finish tomorrow," I reasoned.  "Into bed."

She ignored my request so I gently grasped her upper arm and started to pull her up.

"Daaaad!" she protested, but I continued to pull her up.  I guided her to her bed and pulled back the covers.

"Bed," I told her firmly.  She groaned in protest but laid down in her bed.  I pulled up her covers and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  On the way out I turned off her light.

Joey was a kid who needed her sleep.  Teenagers were supposed to get 9 hours, but she regularly got less.  In the morning she was practically falling asleep at the table.  She got up and grabbed a Coke from the fridge, then popped it open.

"Josephine," I called to her.  "Not for breakfast."

She looked at me, incredulous.  "I have two tests today."

"If a quiz is a quizzical, what's a test?" Elliott asked from the table.  Joey rolled her eyes at him and chugged back some soda.  I snatched it from her hand as I walked by.

"Hey!" she protested.

"No soda for breakfast," I reiterated, then started drinking the rest of the can.  Do as I say, not as I do.  "Do you have anything after school today?"

"No," she said, gathering her heavy backpack.

"Why don't you come straight home and get a nap in," I suggested to her as she adjusted the straps on her backpack.

"Dad, I'm not five," she said, ever the protestor.

"I know," I said, taking another sip.  "I'm just concerned you're not getting enough sleep."

She didn't answer and I was pretty sure she wouldn't take my advice.  After the kids had left, I shot Clarita a message to express my concern.  She admitted she'd encouraged Joey to join the mock trial team.  I agreed to let her try it for a while and see how things went.  If she started to overwork herself, which she had a tendency to do, we'd pull her out.

When I got home from doing errands in the late afternoon I found Joey asleep on the couch.  I was glad she was getting some extra shut-eye, but I don't think she did it on purpose.  Still, I let her sleep and had Alex play in her room so she had quiet.

Joey woke up around 6:00 and was pissed that she'd fallen asleep.

"Daaad!  Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, gathering her things at the coffee table.

"Obviously you need more sleep than you're getting," I pointed out as I finished putting dinner in the oven.

"I don't have time for naps," she said, heading for her bedroom.

"Hey," I called her.  "Come here for a sec."

She set her pile of schoolwork on the island counter and looked at me, waiting.

"I called your mom earlier," I told her.  "You joined mock trial and that's fine, but if you start to overwork yourself like you did last year you'll need to drop it."

"Dad, don't you think I'm old enough to know my limits?" she asked me, sounding very adult.

I smirked.  "I hope you're getting there, but I'm not so sure.  You don't have to work yourself to death.  You're only fourteen.  Save time to be a kid."

She rolled her eyes at me like I didn't understand.  She picked up her pile of books and notebooks and disappeared to her bedroom to get her work done.  I'd have to keep a close eye on her.  I wasn't exactly a great role model on this.  When Hamilton was running I worked like a dog and struggled to maintain a work/home balance.  Joey ended up staying with her mom a lot and I'd felt like I missed a lot of my daughter's life that year.

Joey ate her dinner quickly then scurried back off to her room to finish her work.  We'd discovered that Elliott and Joey were actually in some of the same classes.  They weren't always in the same class period, but two of them overlapped.  This was helpful for Pippa to get on her son about homework and projects.

That night I again had to force Joey to go to bed.  I stayed up a few minutes after leaving her room to make sure she didn't get back up.  She fell asleep almost instantly. 

I crept into Pippa's room, where she was up reading a book.  I climbed in beside her, letting my hand find her belly as I kissed her.

"Hey beautiful," I told her between kisses.  I was so glad we weren't trying to hide this anymore.

"Hey," she smiled into the kiss, setting her book aside.  She laid down on her side facing me as we continued to share slow kisses.

"You know," she stopped me.  "If we're going to sleep in the same bed every night we might as well move into one.  Then Alex and Jack can both have their own room."

"True," I told her, but my mind was elsewhere.  She laughed as I moved my body on top of hers and our kisses became more insistent.  End scene.