One day at a time

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FP was dressed in a neat dark blouse which wasn't very usual for him. Most of the time he wore his Sheriff uniform or his flannels, but today he had an important appointment so he decided to dress up nicely. He was glad it was all over by now and he felt a big relief when he walked into his house again.

His thoughts were still in the courtroom, where he signed the papers and finally felt free after all those years. It was something that had to be done way earlier, but a divorce was the best solution since his family wasn't going to get back together.

Jughead, Betty and Jellybean were watching movie while Alice handed them over a plate with Chinese food. She didn't feel like cooking tonight so she had ordered a family bag of food, which was always more than enough, even with three Joneses  in the house. FP made his way towards the living room, so the three kids looked at him.

''You okay, dad?'' Jughead asked after swallowing his dumpling. He sighed and nodded. ''I'm a free man now.'' He spread his arms like it was some kind of victory but he felt a little uneasy. He should be happy, but all he felt like was a big failure. He had promised his kids to bring the family back together, but he couldn't do it.

Alice looked up with a frowned brow. He had told his kids, but he didn't want to bother Alice with his problems. Things had been cold between the two of them and she probably wouldn't even care about his divorce. He was too late, he missed his chance with her.

''I- uh, my divorce was finalized today.'' He explained. FP had trouble looking Alice in the eyes since it felt uncomfortable to talk about it with everyone in the room. He had told Jellybean and Jughead, who told Betty, he assumed, but apparently Betty hadn't told her mom about it.

He grabbed a plate form the cabinet and grabbed some of the Chinese food that was spread out in tiny trays on the coffee table. Jughead had paused the movie so it wouldn't disturb the conversation. FP didn't wait for Alice to answer because he didn't want her to feel forced to say something about it that she wouldn't mean.

''Are you okay too?'' He asked to Jellybean and Jughead. His son was sitting closest to him and he placed his hand on his father's back. ''Yeah, it's for the best.'' He gave his father an assuring smile and for a moment FP felt relieved because of his support. He knew Jellybean would have more trouble accepting it, but she would get there eventually.

''How about you, bean?'' He looked his daughters in the eye who lifted her shoulders up and down. She stopped eating and placed her plate back on the table in front of her.

''I don't know, I'm just getting used to everything. Living here, not being with mom... but I just want you to be happy, dad.'' She said with her sweet voice. It was a lot for her to take since she wasn't living in Toledo anymore and suddenly had a bigger family than she could ever imagine.

''Your mom and I agreed that if you want to see her that we can arrange something.'' He said to make sure that she knew she could still see her mom if she felt like it. Jellybean smiled gratefully at her dad. She stood up from the couch and sat on his lap to give him a hug, which he gladly accepted.

''I'm blessed to have you two as my kids.'' He said to his son and daughter. Jughead smiled at his sister and his dad and in that very moment he felt like he was so lucky to have them too. Even though his dad couldn't fulfil his promise to get the family together, he still got sober and got his life back on track and that is all that matters. His dad didn't screw up his time, his mom did.

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One hour later Betty, Jughead and Jellybean were going out to the Bijou to catch a movie and spend some more time together. Jellybean and Betty actually got along pretty good so they spend a lot of time bonding with each other.

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