All right, this is it, honestly. Sorry for the delay, I kind of ran into a bit of a writer's block and I still don't think it turned out the exact way I wanted it to. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I'll never own the Hardy's. I called Tommy back and apparently they were "rescued." Whatever that's supposed to mean...

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Fenton didn't need to be a detective to figure out that Laura was going to ask Frank what had happened. That was probably best, though. He didn't really want to be the one to tell her and he knew Frank would only be too glad to do it. Most children Fenton knew didn't care much for their siblings, especially younger ones. But Frank wasn't "most children."

A half hour later, Laura came back down to the kitchen see Fenton sitting at the table staring into space, absently stirring some now cold cocoa with a spoon. Her mind was reeling from what Frank had told her. She walked right past her husband and took some bread and peanut butter out of the cupboard. She wasn't actually hungry; she just needed something to occupy herself.

As she spread the peanut butter, she started to think, which was what she had been trying not to do since she came down. It had only taken about ten minutes to talk to Frank. The rest of the time she had spent just standing in the hallway, trying to calm herself down. But even now it was hard to believe there was a rational, logical explanation for Fenton's...mistake.

Suddenly, before she even realized she was doing it, she slammed the knife down on the counter and whirled around. "Fenton," she said calmly, trying hard not to yell. "What in the name of God caused you to forget your son?" Truth be told, she had already guessed the answer and did not doubt she was right.

There was silence for a moment while Fenton thought exactly just how to tell her. Finally, he slowly turned around to face her. Just like he had always told his boys, he decided honesty was the best policy, though he didn't go into details.

"Some complications came up in my case and I got a little caught up in trying to find out what exactly happened." Laura could now see how exhausted he was. He looked old and it seemed like he hadn't slept for days. 'Worry will do that to a person,' she thought. But she wasn't going to just let this go.

"Do you want to know what I think? I don't want to hurt your pride or anything, but since you forgot about our son tonight, I think I'll just forget about your pride." She knew she was being childish, but didn't care. "I think you depend too much on Frank."

Fenton stared at her, astonished. "What does that have to do with anything?" He figured denying it would only make her angrier.

"It has everything to do with it!" She walked over to where the kitchen met the living room so she could see Joe. Her voice became softer. "What if Frank hadn't come home when he did? What if he had stayed at the Cohen's for the night? Would you have remembered Joe at all?"

The guilt only got worse. "I - I'm sure I would have..." he drifted off, seriously doubting himself.

Laura continued, facing her husband now. "And I've noticed that when the boys are playing outside, you depend on Frank to watch after Joe because you know damn well he will. I've even seen him help Joe make a sandwich for lunch when I know I asked you to make something for them. He's 9 years old, Fenton! You put these responsibilities on him without even realizing it." She took a deep breath.

Fenton just sat there, letting her words sink in, knowing she was right. "I don't mean to do that."

But Laura was on a roll and she didn't want to stop there. "I finally find some friends in this town and decide to spend a day away from home, just relaxing and not worrying about anything, thinking that everything was okay, and telling myself that I didn't need to call because I was just being paranoid. Then I come home only to find that I can't trust my own husband with our children! And I feel like that's something I've always known, but " She broke off.

Fenton looked pained. "Laura, please..."

She sighed and practically collapsed in a chair. "Do you know what's so useless about this conversation?" She didn't bother to wait for an answer. "I know you feel guilty and ashamed of yourself and worried, and that's exactly how I want you to feel. I can't make you feel any worse even though I want to because you already know how I feel about this." Tears filled her blue eyes. "I just don't want anything like this to happen again."

Fenton closed his eyes and when he opened them again, there was a fiery determination in them. "It won't. Ever. I promise. Things are going to change around here."

Laura knew he meant it, but she still had doubts. She just wanted to go to bed. "I guess that's the best we can do for now." She stood up and started up the stairs but stopped when she saw Joe again. "Could you please carry Joe up to his bed? That way if he needs us, we can hear him." Then she went upstairs to bed.

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The next morning was bright and sunny, leaving no trace of the storm from the night before. Fenton was the first in the household to wake up. He headed downstairs to make himself some coffee, but was passing Joe's room and decided to check on him.

He slowly and quietly eased the door open and smiled at the scene in front of him. Joe was curled up in a ball, wrapped in his blankets. Frank was sleeping on the floor right next to his brother's bed with a pillow and blanket he had brought from his own room. Fenton's smile turned into a slight frown when he remembered what Laura said about depending on Frank. He wondered if Frank had come here on his own or if Joe went to get him.

He closed the door and went to the kitchen. He was just sitting down to read the newspaper and drink his coffee when Frank came down the stairs. He avoided his father's eyes as he grabbed the box of Frosted Flakes and poured himself a bowl. He sat right next to Fenton to eat, but still ignored him.

Fenton sighed. He'd have to talk to him sooner or later. "Frank, I know you're upset with me and I'm really sorry about all this. But did you go into Joe's room by yourself or did he come and get you?"

Frank looked at his father in surprise. "I peeked into Joe's room before I came down here," Fenton explained.

"Oh," was all the boy said. He obviously still had no intent of talking to his father.

"Frank, did Joe come and get you or did you go into his room on your own?" Fenton was determined to get an answer.

Frank squirmed slightly in his seat. "I promised I wouldn't tell."

"So he did come to get you?"

No answer.

"Look, you may not understand this after what happened last night, but I want to help Joe. I know he isn't going to tell me straight up how he feels, so you kind of need to be the mediator between us."

Frank look puzzled. "Mediator?"

"That means if Joe tells you anything you think I should know, you should tell me."

"I'm not gonna break my promise," Frank said, determinedly.

"Frank, please! I didn't purposely forget about him. It was an accident. You know that, right?" Fenton was suddenly almost desperate for Frank to believe him.

Frank stared into his cereal and nodded slowly. "But that's not what Joe thinks," he said softly.

Fenton's voice got softer too. "I want to know what it is Joe thinks so I can try to make things better. You know your brother; if I were to go ask him myself, he'd get all stubborn and wouldn't tell me. You're the only one he talks to about things like that."

Frank was thinking very hard about what his father just said. He seemed to be torn between helping his little brother and never talking to his father again (like he had planned). Then with a deep breath he started to talk.

"Joe came into my room last night and woke me up 'cause he had a bad dream. He wouldn't tell me what it was about so it must have been pretty bad. I went back to his room with him and put him back to bed and stayed 'til he fell back to sleep."

"Then you went back to your own room?"

"Yeah, but he came back in a couple hours later 'cause of another bad dream. So I grabbed my pillow and a blanket and went to sleep in his room. He fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again after that."

Fenton scrubbed a hand over his face. "You could have came to get your mother or me."

Frank shook his head. "I think Joe's dreams had something to do with you. Plus, he didn't want you or mom to know about them."

His father nodded. That made sense (unfortunately). "Did he say anything else?"

Frank hesitated. "He - he said that you loved me more than him."

Fenton nearly spit out the coffee he was drinking. "What?"

"He said that you went to all of my baseball games over the summer 'cept one but you didn't go to any of his soccer games and the one you could have went to, you didn't. Plus you left him out in the rain..." he trailed off.

Fenton felt stupid for not expecting this."That's not true, not true at all."

"That's what I told him, but I don't think he believed me."

There's was silence for a few moments, both of them lost in their own thoughts. "All right, Frank. You'd better finish your breakfast and go get dressed."

Frank picked up his half-eaten bowl of cereal and said, "I'm not really hungry anymore." He dumped the bowl in the sink and ran up the stairs.

Only a couple minutes later, Laura came down, already dressed and ready for the day. Fenton watched as she grabbed a Nutri-Grain bar out of the cupboard. He knew she was purposely ignoring him, but he thought he'd try anyway. "Good morning."

She pretended she hadn't heard him. There was a creek from the stairs. Laura and Fenton looked up to see Joe standing there. Laura smiled at him. "Good morning, sweetie. Want some Lucky Charms?"

Joe nodded, looking at his father. He suddenly looked away and kept his gaze to the floor as he sat at the table.

All the guilt and shame Fenton was feeling the night before came flooding back. He felt horrible. Joe couldn't even look him in the eye.

"Here you go, honey," Laura said as she set a bowl in front of him with a glass of orange juice. "Want anything else?"

Joe shook his head as he started to eat. Laura ran a hand through his blonde curls and smiled at him affectionately. They were both doing very well in making Fenton feel like he wasn't even there.

"Hey, Mom!" Frank yelled from his bedroom.

"What?"

"Where are my jeans?"

"I put them on your dresser!"

"No, you didn't!"

Laura sighed and shook her head. "I did too," she said as she went upstairs to prove to her son that the jeans were, in fact, on the dresser, leaving Fenton and Joe in the kitchen by themselves.

Fenton watched as Joe continued to eat his cereal. He sipped at his coffee, which had by now turned cold, but he didn't really notice. Suddenly, Joe stopped and put his spoon down. He was still staring intently into his bowl, however. Concerned, Fenton was about to ask if he was all right when he spoke. "Dad, why didn't you come to my game?" He slowly looked up, his eyes wide with confusion and hurt.

His father's heart nearly broke. Fenton had expected him to ask something like, "Why did you leave me in the rain?" or "How did you forget about me?" But, no, the only thing that had mattered to the child at all was that his own father never made it to his soccer game.

"I played really hard, Dad. We won, and I made the winning goal. I did it 'cause I thought you were watching and you'd be really proud of me." He looked back down at his cereal. "You could have told me you didn't like soccer," he added softly.

Fenton was silent for a moment while Joe's words sunk in. Then he got up from his chair, turned Joe's chair around so he faced him, and knelt down so he was at his level. "Joe, did I ever tell you that I used to play soccer when I was your age?"

Joe shook his head.

Fenton continued, "Well, I did. It was my favorite sport. In fact, it's still one of my favorites. But I still like other ones, too, such as basketball, football, and baseball." He put emphasis on the last word. "I know I went to most of Frank's Little League games last summer, but you have to remember that we had only lived here for a month or so and I didn't have my agency set up quite yet. So I wasn't working."

Joe was listening intently when he realized something. "Frank told you what I said!" he said angrily.

His father held up his hand. "Hey, calm down. He did it because he wanted to help you. I asked him how you were doing because I didn't think you'd tell me."

"You didn't ask," Joe pointed out.

"Well, would you have told me if I did?"

Joe thought about it, then only shrugged his shoulders.

Fenton smiled. "Anyway, I want you to know that I don't love you any less than I love Frank. You're both my sons and I'm proud of you both, in everything you do. Understand?"

Joe nodded. He jumped off the chair and wrapped his arms around his father. Fenton hugged him tightly. "I am very, very sorry about last night. I got carried away with the case I was working on and lost track of time."

Joe let go of him. "The one with the missing guy?"

"Yep. He turned up on his own and I had to figure out where he was and what he was doing."

"Wow, that would be confusing, wouldn't it?"

Fenton laughed. "Yes, it was."

Just then Laura came down the stairs with Frank trailing behind her. "Honestly, Frank. How in the world did a pair of jeans that I know I put on the dresser end up under your bed?"

Frank looked sullen. "I don't know, Mom." Then his eyes lit up when he saw Joe. "Hey, bro. How're you doing?"

Joe smiled at him. "I'm good."

Suddenly an idea popped into Fenton's head. "I hope no one has any plans for today."

Laura looked at him warily. "Why?" At least she was speaking to him.

"Because," Fenton replied, "I have a wife who makes fantastic picnic lunches, a son who has to show me how he won last night's game, and there's a soccer field calling our name."

Frank's eyes grew wide. "Really, Dad?"

Joe grinned. "Yeah! And Frank can be the goalie!"

"It's all up to your mother, of course," Fenton added, smiling at her.

She looked doubtful. "But it's only 10 in the morning. Not even near lunch time."

"That's plenty of time to play, Mom!" Joe said. "I get really hungry playing soccer. Please?"

"Yeah, Mom. Pretty please?" Frank joined in.

A smile crept across her face. "I have to say, I want to know how you won the game."

"Yes!" Joe cried. "I'm gonna go get dressed!" He rushed up the stairs.

Within 20 minutes, the Hardy family was walking out their front door. Laura smiled as she watched Joe talking animatedly with his brother, glad he was alright. She hoped life could now get back to normal.

Or, at least, as normal as it ever got in the Hardy household.

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THE END! Hope you liked! Thanks again to all my reviewers; you guys (and gals) rock.