Falice

Park

Jughead ran around the trailer with the toy airplane FP bought him for his sixth birthday. He loved it. Everyday after coming back home from Riverdale Elementary he'd throw his backpack to the side and go look for the toy. It had a red paint job and small propellers that he loved to spin. He used a marker to write his name on the bottom and attached a crown sticker onto the side of it.

Jughead jumped from couch to couch acting as the pilot. It squeaked every time his foot landed in between the cushions. He fell back onto the floor after yanking his leg out too quick. He dropped the bowl of popcorn FP left on the coffee table for him. The bowl shattered into the pieces on the floor beside the table. The loud crash woke his sister up from her nap.

"Jughead!"

"I'm sorry dad! It was an accident!" Jughead shoved all the pieces into a pile.

FP came out of the bedroom cradling the wailing baby in his arms. He rocked her as he tried to go check up on Jughead. "Don't touch it you're going to cut your fingers," He warned the boy. He walked over to the mess. "Can you bring me the broom?"

Jughead nods and goes to retrieve the broom. The baby continued to cry in his arms. "It's okay. Don't cry. Don't cry," FP bounced her hoping the movement would stop making her cry. Jughead came back with the broom for him. "Sit on the couch alright. Hold your sister like I taught you okay. You have to be very careful with her head. Scoot all the way back."

Jughead sat all the way back like he instructed. FP carefully placed her into his arms. "Keep your arm there okay. Don't move."

"I got it dad," Jughead assured him.

FP sweeped all the pieces into a pile. He knelt down to push the glass and popcorn into the dust pan. He double checked the floor again to look for any more pieces. He didn't want Jughead stepping on broken glass.

"Dad"

"Yes son?" FP asked going into the kitchen. He opened the trash bin under the sink and shoved all the pieces in.

"When is mom coming home?"

"I don't know," FP said however he knew she wasn't coming back. He didn't want to break his little heart by telling him the truth. Gladys walked out on them weeks after their daughter was born leaving him to raise two kids on his own. He tried to be patient with Jughead considering he was still a growing child. He was just tired from staying up every night to attend Jellybean. He couldn't figure out how to get her to sleep through the night.

"Where did she go?"

"Is your sister doing alright?" FP dodged his question. He hoped it would distract him. "I know you're very careful with the baby."

"Is she going to stop crying? My ears hurt."

"I'm making her a bottle. She's just hungry." FP looked for the formula. He poured water into the bottle and used the scoop to pour the powder in. He shook it to mix it together. He went over to the children and carefully picked up the baby girl. He tried putting the bottle in her mouth but she would keep screaming. She moved her head ferociously. "Baby please take it."

He swayed to his sides again. He kept attempting to make her stop crying. Jughead watched him struggle. He picked up his toy airplane and tried to offer it to him. "Maybe she wants to play."

FP adored his attempt to help. He was thankful that Jellybean finally decided to drink from the bottle. He let out a sigh of relief. Jughead wrapped his arms around FP's leg. He looked up at his father. "Dad can we go to the park?"

"The park?"

"Yeah I'm bored and maybe she likes the park. I see babies there all the time."

"I'm tired Jug. Maybe another time." FP had bags under his eyes. All he wanted was eight straight hours of sleep. He felt bad having to say no but he didn't think he would be able to take him.