Juliet's POV

"JAY YOUR DAMN DOG CHEWED UP ANOTHER PAIR OF MY SHOES!"  Alex dumped a pair of what was once Converses in front of me.  I shrugged and patted Tré.

"Alex, he's just a puppy.  He doesn't know any better."

"He has a thousand fucking toys that you insisted on buying him at the pet store?  Why doesn't he chew those?"  I counted the dog toys on the floor.  17.  There were 17 toys.

"Maybe your shoes smell better," I suggested.

Alex rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure.  By the way, we have to go set up Joey's surprise party later.  I'll pick the cake up on my way home.  Did you wrap the presents?"

I nodded, "Yeah.  They're wrapped."

Jack burst into the house, "WHERE'S THE DOGGY?" He shouted and Tré trotted over to him.  He rubbed Tré all over.

"Who's a good puppy?  You're a good puppy.  A good, good, puppy," Jack cooed.  Tré was lapping it all up.

"Why is Jack here?" I asked Alex, "Is he going to the interview, too?"

"No.  He's going to watch you while I'm gone so you don't invite other filthy animals into our house."  Wow.  It's been two weeks since Tré wandered into our yard.  Just wow.

"I'll be back in 2 hours.  Please don't burn down the house, okay?  I love you. Supervise Jack.  Bye."  Alex left and it was just me, Jack, and Tré.

"So, what do you usually do when Alex leaves you home alone?" Jack asked me

I shrugged, "I usually watch American Horror Story and eat shitty food."

"Well, I have an idea.  Let's make cookies!" Jack said cheerfully.

"Like, from the cookie dough in the freezer?"

"No!  From scratch.  Alex probably has ingredients around here somewhere," Jack rummaged around in the cabinets and pulled out a bag of flour and some chocolate chips.

"But Alex told me not to burn down the house."

"We won't burn it down, trust me."  I didn't trust Jack on that one.  Not even a tiny bit.

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"Dude!  Stop spraying flour everywhere!"

"This is mixing, Jay.  It's not spraying."

"Look at the counter!  Just look at it!" A layer of fine white powder covered the countertop thanks to Jack's less than orderly mixing skills.

"It's not that bad.  We'll clean it up later," Jack said and finished stirring the cookie dough, "I think it's ready to put in the oven."

"Did you add all the ingredients?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"And there's no surprises?"

"Not unless you count my dick."

"Okay then," I said, "Let's put them in the oven."

About 15 minutes later the house was filled with the scent of cookies baking.  I realized this and had basically an existential crisis during our fifth round of MarioKart.

"Uh, Jay, are you okay?" Jack asked me, "You just kinda zoned out."

"I'm fine," I said, "It's just, I remember this smell.  Back from when I was like, really little.  Before..."

"Before what?"

So I told Jack my story.  Until I was about 8 years old I had a family, like with a mother and father.  We lived in a small suburban neighborhood just outside Pasadena.  I had a pretty normal life.  But then my parents left.  They just abandoned us one day.  They didn't leave a note or tell anyone where they were going, they just left.

Jesse, who was 10 at the time, said he would take care of me.  He wouldn't let me call anyone to find out what was going on, he said we could handle it ourselves.  And we did for the first few weeks.  But then the food and money ran out.  So we left the house and went for the streets.  For the next few years we spent our time hopping from town to town, surviving on whatever we could get our hands on.  Then we met Randy and Tyler and our gang was formed.

"So, they just left?  Like, without a trace?"

I nodded, "Yeah.  I have no idea where they are.  They could be dead, they could be alive, I don't know."

"Oh," Jack said, "I'm sorry, kid."

"No, it's fine.  It really is.  Don't apologize," I told him.

The oven timer beeped.

"Sounds like they're ready," I said and started towards the kitchen.

"Wait," Jack grabbed my wrist, "Can I have a hug?"

"Yeah, sure."  I gave Jack his hug.

"I'm always here for you, love," Jack whispered in my ear, "If you ever want to talk just give me a call."

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"Don't touch that!" I slapped Jack's hand away from the cake.

"But Jay! I wanna eat it!" He whined.

"You can eat it when everyone else eats it."

"But I want to eat it now. Can't I just take a little frosting off the side?" He pleaded.

"No! This is Joey's cake, not Jack's cake. Joey gets to eat it first because it's his birthday," I said, "Now get away from from it before I sic my dog on you."

"Geesh, Mom." He scoffed.

"That's it!  Tré!  Attack!" I ordered.

Tré trotted over to Jack and tried to lick his face.  What a wonderful guard dog I have.

"They're coming!" Alex said, "Turn off the lights!  Hide!"

Jack got the lights and I quickly ducked behind the couch.  He followed suit.

"This is my hiding spot!  You can't copy!" I fiercely whispered.

"I don't know where else to hide!"

"You can hide anywhere.  Just not here!"

"Both of you, shut the fuck up," Alex said, "They're almost here!"

I heard the door being opened.

"SURPRISE!" We yelled and jumped out of our hiding spots.

"FUCK!" Someone yelled and switched on the lights.

"Oh my God," Joey said, "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"It's your birthday, Joey!" I said cheerfully, "The sad times are over 'cause Jay and Alex and Jack are here!  Don't worry, I made sure Jack didn't touch the cake."

"Happy birthday!" Jack squealed and hugged Joey.

"Uh, t-thanks," He still looked a little shocked.

"Let's you guys five minutes to settle in," Alex said and herded Joey and Gerard up the stairs, "Catch your breath and get into some real clothes.  When you come back downstairs we'll have presents and fun stuff.  Okay?  Okay."

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"Open mine!  Open mine!"

"No!  Don't open hers!  Jay's a bitch, I'm awesome!"  Alex shoved me out of the way.

"Shut the fuck up!  I'm better and you know it.  This dipshit over here got chased up a tree by ducks.  I have video evidence."

Joey laughed, "I'll open both of yours.  But Jay goes first.  Sorry Alex."

"Why are you so mean?" Alex whined and then went to stop Jack from completely obliterating what was left of the cake.

Joey tore away the wrapping paper and then lifted my creation for everyone to see.

"I love it," He said.

I smiled, "Thanks."

I had cut up a piece of posterboard a made a photo collage on it.  All sorts of pictures were on it.  There was the one of all of us with Piff, a few of Gerard, a couple of pictures of me and Joey together, and a few funny ones; like the picture of Alex in the tree.  It had taken forever to make.  I'm glad he liked it.

"Jay, this is beautiful," Gerard said, "Did you make it all yourself?"

I nodded, "Yup.  All myself."

"Well, you have a really good eye.  Alex, your daughter has talent!"

Alex grinned and ruffled my hair, "I know."  He gave Joey his gift.

"Now open this one."

Alex had given Joey a book of sheet music for his ukulele.  There was even some twenty one pilots music in there.  I knew he would like that.

"What's up with this?" Joey held up a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal.

"We're going to Disneyland tomorrow!" Jack basically screamed and hopped around the room.

"I think someone's had a little too much sugar," I whispered to Joey.

He nodded, "I agree."

Jack thrust a container of cookies into Joey's hands, "Here's some cookies me and Jay made.  Don't worry, they're edible.  I promise," He took out his wallet and put a 20 dollar bill on top of it, "And here's 20 bucks.  I'll buy you something better tomorrow.  Have you guys ever even been to Disney?"

Joey shook his head, "Nope."

"I've been there, just not in a legal way." I said, thinking of the time our gang snuck in.  Aside from having to watch my every move, I remember that being a lot of fun.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

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I hope you guys like this one!  It was a lot of fun to write.  Next chapter will be Disneyland