It broke my heart so see Joey so upset.  This was supposed to be her day.  Her celebration.  The party had gone amazingly well and everyone had been having a good time when Pippa noticed that the guest of honor had disappeared.

After we'd arrived home, Joey had gone straight to her bedroom.  The adults all met in the kitchen and we'd found out from Pippa that Elliott had been caught kissing another girl from school named Cara.  Pippa was appalled and didn't think it sounded like something her son would do.  She kept calling his phone and didn't get an answer.  He must have turned his phone off completely.

Clarita was upset that Joey seemed to be leaning on Pippa during this hard time.  After I'd gone back to talk with her briefly, she'd called for Pippa.  It was another jab in the side for Clarita and her relationship with our daughter.  I was a firm believer in getting out what you put in.  Clarita had made the life choice to work 80 hour weeks and move to Chicago.  The fact that she and Joey weren't close was on her.

Clarita left, looking hurt, and went back to her hotel room.  Pippa was getting antsy about Elliott being MIA.  She called up his friends, his dad, and no one had seen him.

"Do you think I should call the police?" she asked after midnight.  We were still in our party clothes, not able to feel like relaxing just yet.

"No," I told her.  "I'm sure he's just wandering and wants to be alone."

Pippa sighed and kept pacing the living room.  "This doesn't sound like him," she said, arms crossed.  "That girl must have made the moves on him because I know how he feels about Joey."

I certainly hoped so, but right now we had no idea.  All we knew was that Elliott had been kissing this Cara girl and Joey had found them.

Finally, Pippa got a call from Steven that Elliott had showed up at his place.  He didn't want to face Joey and wanted to give her space.  Steven promised to talk to his son in the morning.

Pippa continued to pace, still upset.  I stood up and tugged at her arm.  "Come on.  Let's go to bed."

"I'm still too worked up," she told me.  "Give me a few minutes."

I nodded and headed down the hallway.  I pushed Joey's door open to check on her on the way to my own room.  She was fast asleep, frowning.

The next day, Clarita showed up early.  Nine a.m., wanting to talk to Joey.  I was up because Alex and Jack were up, but the rest of the house was asleep.

"Clar, she's not gonna want to talk right now," I tried to advise her as she started to walk around me.  "Let her sleep."

"I'm worried about her," Clarita responded, still moving towards the hallway.  I gently grabbed her upper arm to stop her.

"So are we," I reminded her.  "She had a long, tiring night and she needs her sleep."

"I'm her mother," Clarita growled, turning around to face me.  Her eyes were angry.  This wasn't about Joey.  This was about Clarita wanting to feel needed.  She still couldn't stand that Joey was going to Pippa instead of her.

"I know that," I said softly, not wanting to upset Alex and Jack.  "And as her mother you need to wait until she's ready.  She'll bite your head off if you go in there right now."

I managed to coax her back into the kitchen and fixed her a cup of coffee.  She reluctantly sat at the kitchen bar and sipped at her drink as I tended to the little kids.

"Who are you?" Alex wandered up to Clarita curiously.

"I'm Joey's mom," she responded, smiling.

"Nuh-uh," she countered.  "Pippa is Joey's mom."

I winced, knowing that would hurt.  "Alex, have you been to the potty this morning?"

She shook her head, toying with the action figure in her hand.

"Go potty, please," I prompted her, and she scurried away.

Clarita sighed as I worked around the kitchen, cleaning up and putting things away.  She studied the liquid in her cup, not saying anything for several long minutes.  Alex came back almost immediately and I shooed her back to go wash her hands.  She sand as the water rushed out down the hallway.

"Lin, do you ever feel like we should try again?" Clarita asked me out of the blue.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her.  Was she serious?

"Clar, we tried for ten years," I reminded her.  "It wasn't going to work."

"But we're different people now," she went on, standing up.  I watched her carefully as she made her way around the counter and back to the coffee maker.  "I'm more mature and so are you.  Maybe we gave up too soon?"

I didn't really want to get into this conversation.  We had tried ridiculously hard for Joey's sake.  I didn't want her to have divorced parents but we were both so miserable.  I could see it starting to rub off on our daughter.  That's when I knew that staying in the marriage for Joey's sake wasn't going to work.  It was partially Joey's sake that we called it quits.  She deserved two happy parents, even if they had to be apart.

"Clarita, no," I tried to tell her as gently as possible.  "I love Pippa now and you...you have...are you dating anyone in Chicago?"

She shook her head, walking closer to me.  I took a step back, unsure of what she was trying to do.

"Aren't you...aren't you a lesbian?" I reminded her.

"Bi," she corrected me, and one of her hands linked with mine.  "Lin, I miss you.  I miss being a family and-"

"Morning," Pippa chimed, walking into the room.  I had been so flabbergasted I hadn't even heard her coming down the hallway.  My eyes shot up to my girlfriend and I'm sure I looked guilty because Pippa gave me a confused look.

Clarita cleared her throat and reached for the coffee maker.  "Morning."

"You're here early," Pippa commented, obviously not over the moon that she was here at this hour.

"I just thought Joey might want her mother," Clarita explained as poured another cup.  "Want any?"

"Sure," Pippa said with some hesitation in her voice.  She looked at me and I tucked my hands in my pockets.  "Thanks.  Joey won't be up for hours, I'm sure."

It was telling that Pippa knew more about Joey's habits than her own mother.  I wondered if I were to ask a series of questions about Joey who would get more right.  I had a gut feeling it was Pippa.

"Maybe we can talk," Clarita went on as she went back to her seat at the bar.  "Obviously, Elliott lives here and they're going to break up over this."

Pippa looked at me again, as if she wasn't believing what Clarita was saying.  "Well, we don't know that for sure.  I haven't even talked to Elliott yet.  I don't know if he did it."

"Well, Joey caught him," Clarita reminded her.

"But we don't know if he was just a victim," Pippa responded, not taking lightly to her son being talked about this way.  "It doesn't sound like something my son would do.  I know him."

"Right now, let's just focus on being here for Joey," I jumped in.  "She needs our support, no matter who she chooses to talk to."

"Agreed," Pippa said, going to the pantry for some cereal. 

After another awkward half hour, Clarita decided to run a couple errands and visit a coffee shop while Joey slept.  After she'd left, I think Pippa and I both felt a wave of relief.

"She has some nerve showing up here at 9 a.m.," Pippa commented as she wiped the counter down.

"I know," I agreed.  "Sorry about that.  I think she just wants Joey not to forget about her."

"She's still jealous about our relationship," she went on.  "Unbelievable."

I wasn't sure whether to tell Pippa about how Clarita had somewhat come on to me.  She seemed stressed enough so I decided not to elaborate.  Pippa began to stress clean, picking up toys and straightening the living room.  It was amazing how quickly things became messy around here with two young children.

Joey emerged around 11:00, looking subdued.  She quietly got herself some cereal and sat at the table.  I noticed she didn't have her cell phone with her which she usually had out constantly.  Word had gotten out amongst the students that some drama had happened between them.  Clarita had made me promise to text her once Joey was up.  I decided to give her a few minutes of peace before the wolf descended, so to say.

I grabbed my coffee mug and wandered over to the table, where Joey was eating slowly.

"How you feeling?" I asked her a bit cautiously.

She shrugged, stirring her cereal around.

"Pippa told me what happened," I informed her, resting my chin in my hand.  "That must've been upsetting.  You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," she said quietly, her voice somewhat dead.

I nodded in understanding.  I was the type of parent who wouldn't push her to share things if she didn't want to, knowing it would only annoy her.  However, her mother was different.

"Just a heads up, your mom came around this morning.  She wanted to come back when you were up," I told her, watching for her reaction.  Joey sighed and rubbed at her forehead.

"Can't you tell her I'm not feeling well?" she asked me.

"She wants to make sure you're okay," I said.

"I'm fine," she said tersely, standing up from her seat.  Her chair scraped against the hardwood loudly as she went to the sink to rinse out her bowl.  I paused a moment then followed her in.

"You're obviously not fine," I said softly.  "No one would be fine.  Do you want to talk to Pippa about it?"

"I just want to be left alone right now," she somewhat growled as she filled the bowl with water.  I just nodded and let her storm back to her bedroom.  I pulled out my phone and texted her mother that it wasn't a good time.  She had to leave the next day and was hoping to spend some more time with Joey.  With this drama, I'm not sure what would happen.

Clarita wasn't happy that she'd been asked to stay away but I wasn't too concerned with it.  She needed to accept that her daughter needed space.

Pippa was now on the phone with Steven, telling him that he needed to send Elliott home.  He needed to come talk to Joey and set things right.  She hung up and immediately rubbed at her temples in frustration.

"Is he coming home?" I asked her, picking up Jack from the floor.  He'd been hanging out for a while and I thought I smelled a diaper needing to be changed.  A quick sniff confirmed it.

"Yes," she said.  "He's all torn up apparently.  Said she came on to him and wouldn't back down."

I nodded, a little relieved, and hoping he was telling the truth.  I had no reason not to believe Elliott.  Other than that stupid cheating scandal with math, he and Joey were both golden.  I hoped that the kids could work this out.  They seemed good for each other.

About half an hour later, Elliott walked into the apartment looking thoroughly crushed.  I could tell instantly that he hadn't done any of this on purpose.  He looked like he was on the verge of tears.  Pippa strode over to him and wrapped her arms around her son.

"Oh, Elliott," she cooed to him, rubbing at his back.  I stood by as they hugged.

"I didn't want to, Mom," he told Pippa tearfully.  "She just...came at me.  I couldn't get her off."

"Shhh...I know, I know," she said quietly, patting his cheek gently.

"Moooomm..." he was crying softly and it was heartbreaking.

"Shhhh, I know," she told him again, then reached behind her for some tissues.  Pippa looked at me, and I could see she wanted some help.  Apparently he was also terrified I was going to kill him.  I walked over slowly, hands tucked in my pockets.

"Hey, man," I told him, holding out my hand to shake.  He accepted, looking relieved.  "I'm sorry this all went down.  I can tell you're being honest, though, and I think Joey will see that."

"How is she?" he asked, wiping at his eyes.

"She's still upset," I admitted.  "But I know she wants to talk to you."

He nodded and rubbed at his nose.  "Can I see her?"

"Sure," I told him, stepping aside.  Pippa and I watched, nervous, as Elliott walked down the hallway to Joey's room.  Would she believe him and they'd make up?  Or was this the end of Joey and Elliott?