From an observer looking in, it looked as if Ella was taking the standoff with her father fine, but Joe knew it bothered her. Any worry he had of losing her was pushed to the back of his mind, because instead of pulling away she stayed with him every night. Caleb didn't mind, because with Ella helping Joe shop, and they put decent meals on the table. They had become a little family - a somewhat unconventional family.
Even at school, Ella made no effort to hide they were a couple. The Monday morning after the big reveal, they drove into work together. Joe lingered in the music room, trying to assess Ella state of mind. He had spent the whole weekend waiting for her to break down, but she never did. Christa stopped in and was surprised to see them together. Joe had just pulled her into a quick hug, as he was about to go to his classroom to get settled for the day.
Eyeing them she smiled. "How was your weekend?"
"Good. I told my father and Joe's still alive."
Joe laughed. "With all my body parts."
"We should go on a double date sometime." Christa suggested enthusiastically.
Ella shook her head. "I'm not sure. Remember I dumped Dylan..."
"Who cares? He has me now. I'm going to meet the mystery girlfriend. There's a work thing and she's supposed to be going. I'll give you the dirt."
Ella laughed. With the worry about telling her parents, Joe wasn't surprised she hadn't told Christa about Tony and Ava.
"There is no dirt. She's my sister."
"What? Really and you didn't know. Why was it a mystery?" Christa rubbed her hands together.
"They were getting together at the same time I was going through a rough patch... missing Joe."
Joe quickly added. "The reason for everything is me and the fact I left her." He waved. "Have a good day."
He left them to talk about him. He couldn't help but smile which was what he was doing when he came across Karen.
"Someone is happy this morning. My guess is the little soprano is the reason for that smile."
Joe smiled. "Technically she's a mezzo-soprano."
Karen laughed. "You must have it bad, because I don't even know what that is."
Joe did have it bad, but as the days passed, he worried Ella was going to break. When she arrived at her uncle's house, she had tears but also an odd calm about her. After some insistence, she shared his lobster roll but refused the pizza. Her appetite was one indication she wasn't feeling as confident as she let on.
Joe had loved his visit with Nick and Sara. Bridget and Jack had grown while he was busy ruining his life. Bridget warmed his heart by remembering him. Fiona was practically a newborn when he had last seen her and she went to him, as if he was not a stranger. Nick's family was special to him, because it was at their wedding Ella chose him.
Ella had missed two Sundays with her family even when Joe had tried to convince her to go on her own. She insisted she wasn't interested, unless he was welcome. Her stubbornness was hurting him, because he had never wanted to take her away from her family. Meanwhile, Ava wasn't helping, because she kept calling to report on Tim's mood.
The closest Ella came to breaking down was when Ava told her their parents were arguing. As far as Joe knew, Tim and Julie never fought. Joe suspected Tim was too smart to argue with Julie, because she would always win. Unlike Ella, Julie Burke did not let her emotions rule her. She just loved with her heart and thought with her brain. Meanwhile, Ella often thought with her heart.
Ella hung up the phone and dramatically said, "It's all my fault! My father is sulking and angry with my mother over me. What if they get divorced?"
Joe wanted to laugh. "They are not getting divorced over one argument. Call your mother. Talk to her."
It took some convincing but Ella called Julie the following afternoon. She insisted on having her phone on hands-free, so Joe could hear for himself.
"Mom, Ava said that you and dad are fighting."
"Oh darling, your father is having trouble coping with your announcement. He's feeling sorry for himself and is a bit difficult to be around at the moment. I feel bad for Nick and Sara, because they deal with him all day and then he's been spending more time than ever with Fiona. He'll come around."
"When? When I have three kids and ..."
Joe smiled at her and decided he'd have to ask her about their three kids. He was thinking two might be nice. Raising a teenager was exhausting, so he wasn't certain he wanted to do it many more times, especially when he would be older.
"If it takes him that long then we will have a fight. We're fine. He just needs some space to pout."
"But he insulted Granny."
"Granny's fine. These things have a way of working themselves out. Your father will always love you."
Joe watched as Ella avoided her own family while putting all her energy into the new family they had created with Caleb. His brother had been more than patient, but he was definitely on the verge of telling Ella to stop mothering him. Joe kept holding his breath and shaking his head, in a quiet warning to his brother.
It didn't surprise him when Caleb showed up in his classroom. "You have to do something about your woman. She's a psycho. Now she's making my lunch and look at this!" Caleb held up a little note telling him to have a good day. "You know I was jealous of kids who got notes like this when I was six, because my mother was too busy being yelled at by my father to even pack me a lunch. I am not fucking six!"
"I know. Can you help me out and I'll try to fix this?"
"What do I need to do?" Caleb eyed him skeptically.
"Get her to take you someplace. Maybe to the mall. You could use some new clothes."
"What the hell is wrong with my clothes?"
Joe wondered what was right with them - black concert tees and worn out jeans. "You'll need clothes for your chorus concert. She'll be all over it and then you could have dinner together, you know, to bond."
"Bond! What are you on drugs? And you worry about me!"
"Just help me out so I can try to fix it."
"Does she even have an apartment anymore?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure why." Joe secretly wanted nothing more than for Ella to officially move in, except for her and Tim to reconcile, of course.
"I'll do it, but I'm not giving her the right to grill me on my personal life."
"Do you have a personal life, because as far as I know, you sit in the basement at a house where you may or not be friends with the girl who lives there."
Joe hadn't realized the lunch period was over and students had filed in. Alexa, one of his juniors looked a bit uncomfortable to be overhearing his personal business, but it didn't stop her from taking a good look at Caleb on his way out the door. Joe sighed. The kid was good looking why did he hang out with Gaby, who didn't even like him.
Ella was excited at the prospect of shopping with Caleb, Joe felt guilty, because she would soon learn it was not fun. Nonetheless, he used the time to drive to the town where he had once lived. He had been to the medical building a few times but never had he felt so uncertain and nervous about his visit.
Feeling like a stalker, he waiting until almost five o'clock before entering. The receptionist didn't look pleased to see him, most likely because she was hoping to go home in the next few minutes.
"I was hoping to have a word with Dr. Burke... err um... Tim."
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No, it's..." he was about to say personal, but he heard his name and looked up to see Sara.
"Are you not well?"
"I was hoping to have a word with him."
She sighed and nodded. "Come on."
Sara put her head in a doorway. "You have a visitor. Please be nice."
The look of surprise on Tim's face when he saw Joe made Joe step backward, but Sara pushed him forward.
"You need to talk for Ella's sake."
Tim cleared his throat. "He's got five minutes."
Joe was happy with five since he thought he would have zero. Suddenly, he'd forgotten the speech he had rehearsed in his head.
"My biggest regret was keeping El away when I went home to see my mother. I immediately found out she was dying and she was pressuring me... with guilt. The night I got drunk, I was feeling extremely low. I was a fool to believe her it was too soon. She obviously was already pregnant. It was a carefully planned trap and I fell right into it."
"You should have asked for help. I would have come."
"She had doctors. She was dying. What could you have done?"
"You needed someone on your side."
"When I woke up, I was so ashamed. I didn't even remembered the night before. I was in the house I grew up in on the wrong side of the proverbial tracks and all my doubts about being good enough for El came back. I know now it doesn't matter, because she loves me... even after I acted despicably, she loves me."
"You've stolen my daughter."
"I don't want to. I missed you second only to El. You were like a father to me."
"On Sunday, we all gathered at church for the first anniversary of my father's death and my daughter wasn't there."
He shocked Joe. "I didn't know. She never told me. I would have encouraged her to go. One of the things I love about her is how close she is to the family. That was the part I fell in love with first before I even knew her. I watched her all summer at the lake playing with her cousins, hugging you and her uncles, and talking. So happy and beautiful."
"You took her happiness away."
"With all due respect, Dr. Burke, it's you who is threatening her happiness now."
"I think your five minutes are up." Tim stood. He was giving Joe a strong message.
"Thank you for seeing me." He turned to leave. It was only then he realized he had stood the whole time. He didn't choose to as a means of intimidation.
Feeling like he'd made a grave mistake, he turned back. "I meant to sit. I was too nervous. Ella's happiness means everything to me."
He quickly sprinted through the office, before he ruined everything. He was instantly filled with regret. Instead of driving home to worry alone, he dropped in on his best friend.
Owen teased. "You decided to venture inland."
"I went to talk to Tim."
"Again to propose?" Owen asked, excitedly.
"No, to ask for forgiveness. He hasn't accepted the news I'm back very well. I need him to for Ella's sake. He's forced her to choose me over him."
"Man, you're a frigging soap opera."
"I don't want to be. If I don't have enough of my own problems, I hwve Caleb being secretive. If the kid gets in trouble again."
"What do you think he's into?"
"Maybe nothing... some girls pants, but I'm not even sure about that."
"The kid's smart and he loves you."
"He doesn't!"
Owen laughed. "He does. He looks up to you, but only when he thinks no one is paying attention."
"Whatever." Joe didn't believe his friend.
"So you didn't sway the old man with your charm?"
"I'm not his type." Joe felt defeated. "I didn't tell her what I was doing."
He looked at his phone and saw Caleb was at the mall.
"I supposed I should head out to face the music from Ella Burke."
"She'll forgive you. Even though she treated me like the plague, I watched out for her. If she forgave you for marrying the bitch she'll forgive you for seeing her father. I think it took balls."
"Tell Caleb. He doesn't think I have any."
Owen laughed. "He knows you've got 'em, he just thinks Ella is leading you around by them."
"Like that's better?" Joe scoffed.
"It's true. Just like Nat has got mine. That's love."
Joe just shook his head and preferred to think of Ella and his balls in a very different context.