"Daddy! Pinkly's stuck in the dishwasher again!"

Brian had never been quite sure how his son had managed to train a dog to jump into various electrical appliances, but then again, he spent half his time rescuing his little Maltese from the things his son told the dog to go into- so it was really a lose-lose situation for them both.
"OK Tyler, don't do anything! I'll be down in a second!" he yelled from the bedroom, putting his arm over his eyes as his slowly opened them, squinting in the harsh sunlight.

Ew. Daylight.

Beside him, Lacey stirred and sat up. She looked very white, almost as if she'd just seen a ghost, and as soon as Brian opened his mouth to ask her if she was OK, she ran into the bathroom, the horrible sounds of retching floating out in a vomit symphony. He rolled his eyes, knowing that it was yet another illness his wife had come down with, and slowly got out of bed. He would go rescue his dog, put Tyler in front of the TV and then check if Lacey was OK.

But by the time he got out of the bedroom, Lizzy was already half way down the stairs, waving him back to his own bedroom.
"I've got Pinkly, Bri. Go check on Lacey!" she said, pointing him in the direction of the place he'd just come from and without even bothering to protest, he turned right around and walked into the bathroom. He was used to hearing her throw up, especially when she'd been pregnant with Tyler, and he gently started to rub circles into her back, soothing her.

"Bri-Bri...why do I feel like shit? I don't wanna be sick" she whined like a small child as he pulled her into his lap, stroking her hair like he always did when she was sick. He kissed her cheek and watched as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"I know honey. Why don't you just take today off, hm? Liz and I can handle Tyler for one day- you just rest up and focus on getting better, OK?" he said and she nodded, almost falling asleep in his arms.

For her, it was the best place to be. She felt safe in his arms, the way she'd only ever felt in the arms of her brothers and her father. It was something about the male figures in her family- that they all were looking out for her in someway. She let Brian pick her up from the floor and carry her over to the bed, tucking her up like she was Tyler.
"Just sleep, OK? I'll get Jimmy to send Jamie over with supplies later on" Brian said, kissing her forehead and watching her almost collapse in relief and exhaustion.

He worried about her. Still.

Downstairs, Lizzy had rescued Pinkly from the dishwasher and was cleaning dishes while Tyler ate a bowl of cereal, pestering her with questions about her job. As Brian walked in, hugging his sister tightly, he saw Jimmy's truck pulling into his driveway. The man was already smiling, and Brian could only guess that he had some news.
As predicted, a few moments later, Jimmy burst through the door, somersaulting into the kitchen and landing flat on his face as Jamie followed, shaking her head at her husband.

"Why do I always marry the insane ones?" she asked herself as Lizzy walked over to hug her, kicking Jimmy lightly in the ribs as she went.
"Hey! She gets a hug and I get a kick in the ribs? Geez, Mini-Me, NYC really does change people" Jimmy grumbled as Lizzy hugged him too, getting lifted off the floor as Jimmy pretended to dance with her.

"Lacey's upstairs, Jamie. She's not doing so good, so it's just the four of us today" Brian explained and with a knowing nod, Jamie disappeared upstairs, calling Lacey's name softly.
"So what's your big news?" Brian asked.
"You know me too well, Haner. How's my favourite little dude doing?" Jimmy replied, ignoring Brian's question altogether and kneeling down to Tyler's height, who high fived him.
"Pinkly got in the washing machine today!"

"Good work, little bro. Next step's the kitchen sink, OK?"

"OK"

Jimmy smiled again and stood up, only to be confronted by the annoyed expressions of Lizzy and Brian, both of whom had their arms crossed.

"Oh yeah. Jamie's pregnant!"

The room erupted in laughter and cries of happiness as the two siblings ran over to Jimmy and hugged him tightly, knowing that once there was another Sullivan running around, things were going to get a hell of a lot more hectic, and a lot more energy was going to be used up running after it.
Suddenly, Brian's phone rang, and as he left the room to answer it, Jimmy looked over at Lizzy, who had suddenly calmed down.
"Mini-Me, what's wrong?" he asked softly, trying not to let Tyler hear their little conversation.

She shook her head, hoping to change the subject altogether, but he persisted, prodding her in the side until she sighed.
"Zacky came over last night"
"I thought you and Zacky were OK now? You had a little reunion in this very kitchen just a few days ago!" Jimmy said. Lizzy sighed.

"That was before he kissed me. And told me he'd leave Anna for me"

That stunned Jimmy into silence. But before either of them could say anything about what had happened last night, and what a strange man Zacky was turning out to be, Brian walked in, slightly pale in the face.
"That was Zacky's mom" he said quietly, staring at the other two as the colour drained from his face even further.

"Zacky's gone missing"