FP attempted to call Alice once again after Charles left. Now that he knew about everything he had more of an urgency to talk to her. He anxiously waited for her to pick up. He left the breath he was holding in out after he heard the call go through. "Alice," He calmly spoke. "I'm glad you answered."
"You've met."
"Yeah, we did." FP confirmed. "I'm still bummed you left but I now understand why. I have been trying to get a hold of you after I realized how much of an asshole I was being. I'm really sorry, Al."
"A part of you was right though. I did tend to push myself away without considering your feelings."
"You felt like you had to. He would have thought it was best."
"So you're working the case too I'm assuming."
"Yeah, he filled me in. It made me worried about you though. Don't let them dare put a hand on you."
"They won't. I can fend for myself, you know?"
"I know but I don't want you getting hurt. This investigation seems far too serious to get too comfortable."
"Things are going to turn out okay."
"What about us? Where do we stand now?"
"FP," She did not want to get into this right now.
"It's a valid question, Alice. I know why it was so hard to answer before but now I know why that was."
"Can we not do this right now? Our son needs us."
"I know but there's never going to be a perfect time to talk about this. When it's not one thing it's another."
"It's a hard thing to talk about." Alice has had trouble confronting him about this. Feeling loved is different from loving someone. Just like FP she had trouble knowing whether she was loved or not.
"I understand but it's always going to feel hard if we don't try. I love you Alice and I'm very sorry for so many things. I'm not giving up on us."
"I'm not giving up either."
"So can we talk about this? I would have preferred in person but I'll take anything I can."
"I don't think I'm ready to have this conversation."
"What should we do then? We will have to at some point, right?"
"Yes, but just not now. We have bigger things to focus on."
"Al, I can't focus very well without knowing something. You're all I can think about that it actually hurts."
"FP, I can't do this right now. We have to focus."
"Why do you keep doing this?"
"Well maybe it's because I love you so damn much that I can't even dare hate you for hurting me one too many times."
FP felt a mix of emotions run through him. "It goes both ways, Al. I don't mean to pick a fight. Not at all, but we keep hurting each other when we're not trying to."
"I know."
They shared a silent moment together. He cleared his throat to show that he was still there. "Do you think we need to take a little break from each other to figure this all out?"
"I think that would be best."
"Okay," FP accepted that. This wouldn't be something permanent. "I'll always be here for you. Anything, you name it."
"I'll be seeing you soon," Alice's lip curled up into a loving smile. She knows he can't see it but it was there.
"I'll be waiting," FP smiled as well. "I'm going to miss you being around."
"I'm going to miss you too. Take care of the kids while I'm gone, please."
"Every single one. I promise."
"I know you will. Bye, FP. I love you."
"I love you too."
***
Two months went by and the moment they have been waiting for has come. The investigation was wrapping up and Alice would be coming home.
Charles ordered FP to stay put claiming that it was out of his jurisdiction so he couldn't come with him and his team. That left him antsy. He had to fight the urge to follow him. Every bone in him wanted to help.
Jughead and Betty have grown very suspicious of his behavior. The last few weeks he has been very distracted by this case. They didn't know why that was but they weren't oblivious to his lack of focus on anything other than work.
Jughead watched his father pace around his office. Betty was by his side witnessing the stressed man too. "What is it, dad? You have been off for weeks."
"Answers will come soon. Just bear with me."
"We're just worried about you, Mr. Jones. You haven't had the healthiest of habits recently." Betty has noticed his lack of sleep too. He was forcing too much energy into the investigation.
With her mother away she was at the Jones trailer more often. FP kept an eye on her for Alice that way.
"What aren't you telling us?" Jughead asked. He was getting tired of the secrecy.
FP's ears followed the sound of footsteps coming towards his office door. They were finally here. He concentrated heavily on the door, waiting for them to come in. The teenagers looked at him baffled.
The doorknob jiggled and Charles slowly opened the door to reveal himself and Alice. The look on FP's face changed. It was sweeter. It was victorious. He was happy to see her but his exhaustion was still present.
He walked closer to them. He held his arms wide open for Alice in particular. She gracefully walked up to him. He hugged her very tightly when he got the chance, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. He smiled wider when it all sunk in a little more. He happily swung her around in his arms. She grabbed his face the second he put her down and gave him a savoring kiss. They didn't care about hiding it from the kids anymore. It was their moment right now.
Betty and Jughead stood there flabbergasted by what they just witnessed. They glanced at each other to see if what they saw really happened. They then looked at the strange blond man at the door.
"You know, I missed holding you," FP told Alice. They managed to talk some things out over the phone during the last two months. There were still things left to discuss but they were looking forward to each other's presence again.
"I missed your handsome face."
Charles shifted his attention to his siblings. "Polly and the twins are resting at your house if you want to see them, Betty." An agent accompanied them home while he drove Alice separately to come here.
"Who are you?" Betty didn't know how he knew her name.
"He's your brother, Elizabeth."
"What?" She looked at her mother unsure. "This is Charles? But Chic said-"
"We don't need to retell that conspiracy," Charles interrupted. "It's really me."
"What the hell just happened?" Jughead asked on his and Betty's behalf.
"I can answer that for you, little bro." Charles stepped in. Jughead looked at FP. He put two and two together. "Alice and FP here have been working with the FBI, me."
"We planned on having a talk with you kids." Alice added.
"Yes and we will, but after some rest. You must be exhausted, Al."
"You too. Have you been taking care of yourself?"
"I've been managing."
"How about we get going then? I think we all would benefit from a nap." Charles insisted.
***
Charles kept Betty and Jughead company downstairs. He answered a few of their questions while also watching the twins so Polly could still get her rest.
"So since you're here and you're our brother, what exactly is up with them?" Jughead asked his next question.
"They did have a past. I know that but is that the case now?" Betty included into his question.
"I can't really answer that, but it looks that way, doesn't it?"
"What's it like being here? I can only imagine how complicated it is for you. Hell, for all of us." Jughead said.
"Family, it's family." Charles looked down at the toddlers sitting on his lap. They kept themselves occupied with the snack they were given. "And it's starting to become something worth waiting for."
"The goal was to bring you back into our lives. The first try got a little messy though." Betty remembered the way her mother longed to have her son and how happy she looked when she thought she accomplished that.
Upstairs Alice and FP laid next to each other in peace. "How are you feeling?" FP peeked over at Alice.
"Good. It's like things are finally going to be great."
"It should. You took down a cult and its leader. That's pretty badass."
"No, we." Alice reached for his hand. "We did it. We made our son proud."
"He's amazing." FP shook his head. "You should have seen the look on his face when you had that last bit we needed in your hands. It was like you gave him the world."
"I can only imagine." Alice smiled. She turned to her side to look at him. "I think it's about time to have that talk."
"Yeah?" FP held himself up on his elbow.
"What do you see for us?"
"So many things. I see that gorgeous smile of yours. I hear that beautiful laugh of yours. I feel you close in my arms. I'm only waiting on a yes for the girlfriend part."
"Is it crazy to think it took us this long?"
"Perfection takes time. I mean just look at that hunk of a man we call our boy."
"I didn't do that alone. He's a good mix of my boyfriend and I."
"He's a lucky man."
"You really think so?" Alice's insecurity made her question it. "I never would have thought that being with me would be considered something lucky."
"Alice," His face softened. He brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "It's a blessing to have you. There's so much to love about you. From the way you put others before you to the way you point your pinky out when you drink your coffee."
"I'm serious, FP. Why love me when you could have loved anyone?"
"Alice, do you know why I love you? It's because you bring out the best in me. You always had even when I took it for granted. You believed in me when not even I did. I've made many mistakes in my life, but somehow you always managed to be my moral compass. You opened my eyes. If I look back to just a little over a year ago I would have been wasting my life away in prison. I wouldn't have cleaned up my act. I wouldn't have made Jughead proud. I wouldn't have gotten a good steady job again. I wouldn't have met Charles. I wouldn't have had you. If anything I was the one thinking I wasn't good enough for you. You deserve the best and I thought I couldn't give you that."
"That's where you're wrong. You're the only one who has ever made me feel something. It was hard to push you away. I thought it was what I needed but it wasn't. I was wrong. If I had just listened to my heart maybe we would have had Charles from the start."
"Do you want to know why that missed date was so important to me?" FP took his chance to open up. "It was going to be like going back in time. A chance to not think about how life turned out for us but rather see what it could have been. At least in that moment. I was going to thank you for being right."
"Right about what?"
"What I just said. For being the one consistent person in my life that viewed me as more than the trailer park boy that needed a sense of direction. We're here now so that's all that matters."
Alice snuggled up closer to him. "I'm still very sorry for forgetting about that. I know it would have been something special." A yawn escaped her mouth. She had gotten comfortable that her body began to relax. "I still owe you a date. We can work something out after a nap."
"A nap sounds great right now." FP fixed himself too. Alice's eyes were already urging to close on him. "We can talk about that later. We still have to talk to the kids."
"We will after this nap," Alice placed his arm around her. "Let's enjoy this peace and quiet while we have it."
After a long nap the two gathered their present children into the living room. Juniper and Dagwood played with each other while everyone else had the family meeting.
FP and Alice stood in front of the four on the couch. They glanced at each other before they began. Betty rose her hand before they got the chance to speak.
"Yes?" Alice acknowledged her first.
"We know this is about the two of you. Jug and I have actually been talking about it ever since we got home."
"As weird as it is for us, I think we can manage. It's the least extreme thing we have had to deal with in this town. That and we already have this guy in common," Jughead pointed at Charles.
"I guess that makes this a tiny bit easier to talk about on our part." FP spoke. "We definitely are trying to make things work again."
"Charles, I know we already talked to you about this." Alice turned to Polly. "But what about you, honey?"
"You do realize who we're talking about right?" Polly looked at FP. "You know what he did."
"Pol-"
"It's fine," FP cut Alice off. "I don't expect her to forgive me. You have every right to be mad about that. I just hope you can come to be okay with me seeing your mom one day."
Polly gave him a heartbreaking look. She has had some time to think this over while they were asleep. "As much as it's hard to even look at you, you love her, right?"
"I love your mom."
"You gave her a son the way Jason gave me my twins. I can at least understand how she must feel about you too."
"So what are you saying?" Alice awaited her response. "Are you going to be okay with this? The way you kids feel matters to us."
"I'm not guaranteeing anything but give me time."
"We talked this out for the most part already," Charles said. "We're going to be okay."
"Are you all sure?" FP and Alice looked at each of them individually. The reassuring nods meant everything to them. FP looped his arm around Alice. "I still need to make a phone call and talk to Jellybean about it but thank you all for letting us do this. You have no idea what this means to us."
"We love you kids. Nothing is going to change. We will try our hardest to keep things about the same for you all."
"We know. We're not little kids anymore." Betty assured her mother. "We can handle this."
"You heard that?" Alice tilted her head back.
"I did," FP offered her a kiss.
"The only catch is no more shared siblings." Jughead spat out. "Your only pass is Chuck here." FP and Alice just laughed.
"Yeah, no need to mess with perfection." Charles gestured to himself.