Darker London-Uncover what is underneath...

Joe woke up at around eleven to find his legs hopelessly entertwined with Jordan's. He looked over at her and he gave her a sleepy smile. "Mmmm. Hi."

( Secrets )

Julian had assured his father he was alright and he had returned to his own home, though Joe had told Renee to watch out for him. They had had a long talk about how things just never really got better because even if Julian dealt with his issues of addiction, Damon still wasn't there. Joe said he knew. Jordan wasn't either. Julian was going to struggle until he dealt with his feelings of abandonment and betrayal, which wasn't easy when heroin promised to take all the pain away. He didn't want to be crowded. Joe understood. It might make Julian feel like he was already failing to have his father constantly looking over his shoulder. And if he was already failing, why not fail more? Joe still worried.

( Happy New Year )

Joe stirred in his hospital bed and when he finally opened his eyes the first thing he saw was his wife curled up at his side. Then he noticed the hospital room around him and he was thankful he had seen Jordan first. Had he not, he probably would have panicked about where he was before memory filtered back down and he remembered why he was in an unfamiliar bed.

( Morning )

After seeing how very tired his son was, Joe had offered to have Aislinn stay in London for the week while Julian and Damon just focused on studies. And to his immense surprise and relief, Julian had agreed. Joe knew the decision hadn't been easy for Julian, and he had taken a very long time to say goodbye to his daughter before leaving on Sunday afternoon. But he would see her again in a week. And Joe would call Julian every night to let him know everything was alright.

( Well shit... )

The second Joe set foot inside his home, he dropped his briefcase on the floor and he shrugged his jacket off. Jordan heard the front door close and she trotted into the living room to greet him, a sweet smile on her face. "Jaida's asleep. She was making the cutest sound before! I clearly have nothing to fill my days with..." Jordan laughed at herself and Joe watched her, completely enchanted. He had been married to her for over twenty years, and she still made him feel like the lovestruck teenager he had been when they had started dating.

( On Love )

Jordan found Joe sitting on their bed with his head in his hands. His hair was sticking out from between his fingers, and he looked beyond miserable. And it was little wonder why. He had lost his job for doing the right thing, and they didn't even have the resources to fight back. And now they might lose their home, and Joe felt like a failure. Jordan knew he was anything but. Slowly she walked over to sit beside him and she rested a hand against his back.

( Forever )

Things were getting tighter and tighter in the Littleton household, though Joe was trying as hard as he could to ignore that fact. The truth was that he still did not have a steady job, no matter how hard he tried to get one. And while he was doing accounts for the hospital and Deirdre's theatre, there was only so much work involved in it. And Joe knew they would give him money for nothing, but it wasn't exactly ideal. Jordan was going to go back to work as a teacher, but now she had to wait until after her surgery and recovery to do so, and with those bills too...supporting six people was a lot different than supporting three. Even if two of the people were very small. Babies were expensive despite the fact that they didn't take up much space. And Joe was beginning to wonder just how the hell he was going to keep the electricity on through the next couple of months.

( Bread bandits! )

Joe was doing a rather fine job at not panicking outwardly, or so he would say himself. Inside, he felt as if one false move might rip his soul right out and he didn't know if he would be able to get it back in there again. In the past year he had panicked about his son more times than he could count. He had been terrified of losing Julian for more days out of the year than he had known he wouldn't, and that was a harsh reality. He hadn't worried about losing Jordan. He had known she was always there. They had been married twenty years. She was always there. Her constant affection and support made it hard to believe that the day might come when she might not be there. Jordan was Joe's wife. His love. His partner. His everything.

( Oh, Littletons! )

Being the father of a gay son had meant that Joe had worried for his safety when he got on the train each day. He worried about things that parents of straight kids didn't necessarily think about. Was his son going to be beaten up because he didn't want to have sex with girls? Was he going to contract some horrible disease? Was he going to grow old alone because he couldn't find anyone to be with? Every parents feared those things, but Joe figured, and with reason, that he feared them more. The one thing he had never entertained a thought to fear, was Julian getting someone pregnant as a teenager. He was gay.

( Grandpappy Joe )