The Tozier's were all gathered around the dinner table for another one of their famous game nights, which was named Tozier's Family Fun Night. It occurred every Friday night after Richie's stand-up show, which played into 2 a.m. in the morning. Jesse and Luke never minded it though, because it just meant that they could stay up all night as they watched their mom and dad battle it out with each other once it always ended up being just the two of them going head to head.

"You're going down, Tozier!", Ashley slammed the game piece on the gameboard, watching as Richie glared at her through squinted eyes.

"Oh, I wanna be.", He smirked at his wife, causing her to pick up a different game piece from the box and chunk it at him. "Hey!"

"Not in front of the kids, Rich!", She shouted back with a slight chuckle after, causing him to grin widely at her. "Now, choose your path."

"I'd rather be playing arcade games.", He quipped.

"You say that every game.", Carrie Tozier called out from the living room, causing the four of them to turn their heads towards her. "It gets annoying, Rich."

"Shouldn't you be out with Charles? Or is it Henry?", He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at his sister, then being taken aback once Ashley jumped up from the table.

"Holy fuck! I won! In your face!", She started dancing around the kitchen while Richie stood up, placing his palms on the gameboard. His eyes scanned the entire board, trying to calculate whether or not she won fair and square.

"I- How!?", His eyes met Ashley's from across the room, who had already popped a champagne bottle in the kitchen. "I want a rematch!"

"Dad, you suck.", Jesse commented from the side of the table, laughing once Richie glared at him. "Just own up to it like the man you are."

"You're grounded.", Richie blurted out, not knowing what else to say.

"You can't ground him for speaking the truth.", Carrie laughed from the couch. Richie looked over at Luke, wanting to see if he'd take his side.

"Dad doesn't suck, Jess.", Luke helped Richie out, causing him to smile widely at his youngest child. "He's just not as good as mom."

"Hey!", Richie exclaimed, watching as Jesse gave Luke a high five. Richie looked back over to Ashley, seeing that she was smiling at the two of their children. "They are so your kids."

"Well, you're the one who trash talks almost every little thing. They just picked up your habit, so that's on you, babe.", She replied back to him, causing Carrie to laugh. The two of them looked over at her, seeing her walking towards them.

"She's not wrong."

"Nobody asked for your input, Carrie.", Richie glared at her. The two siblings always had something smart to say to the other, mainly because of the fact they both were trash talkers and had to say something rude to one another. Ashley never really understood why they did so, until she had two kids of her own. She was an only child, so the only person she ever got smart with was Richie. Aside from him, she couldn't quite remember who else she had always playfully bickered with during her childhood, but she had a feeling she had a best friend aside from Carrie.

"Oh, don't start.", Ashley looked at the two of them, earning giggles from her two sons. "And you two don't start either."

"Hey, so I have this really intense show tomorrow, Ash.", Richie spoke up, causing her to nod along in amusement.

"Is that so?"

"It'll be later than usual. I'll be going on for a few hours and well, I'll need you to be there. Carrie can watch the kids and then later on we can-"

"Richie, babe, you had me at later than usual. No need to explain it.", She giggled softly, walking towards the table as Jesse and Luke were arguing over who gets to start the next match in the game. "Besides, it'll be like a little getaway for me. I'm definitely in."

"Alright, so you're leaving me with Luke Skywalker and Jesse and his girl.", Carrie stood up from the couch, making her way into the kitchen as Ashley furrowed her eyebrows at her comment.

"I'm sorry, what? Jesse doesn't have a-", She paused mid sentence, glancing over at Jesse who was scratching the back of his head nervously. Her eyes widened, mouth agape as she stared dead at him. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Mom, don't make it weird.", Jesse groaned in embarrassment while she cleared her throat.

"No, no. I'm not gonna do the mom thing and make it weird.", She assured him, but excitement for her oldest son only built up inside of her. She was happy for him and glad that he was happy, or at least she hoped he was happy with this girl. And as she held in her excitement even longer, it had eventually bursted out. "So..."

Jesse looked up towards his mother, noticing that look in her eyes that spoke otherwise. "Mom.."

"I'm so happy for you, sweetie.", She wrapped her arms around him, causing him to whine.

"Mom, you're making it weird."

"Ash, babe, give him some space.", Richie chuckled softly as he gently pulled her closer to him. "He's growing up. He's got some hormones."

Ashley rolled her eyes at her husband. "I know that, Rich."

"Sorry, Jess.", Carrie whispered, which made him look up and glare at her playfully.

"You did that on purpose.", A small smile rose from his lips, causing her to smirk.

"Maybe I did, but you will never know. Now, what time will she be over?"

"Ten.", Jesse answered.

"Is she nice?", Ashley asked Carrie, but then was shocked once she heard her other son speak up.

"Can we stop talking about Jesse's girlfriend? We all get that he has one now, so please... stop talking about it."

"Honey, we're just happy for him.", Ashley frowned as she watched her youngest son roll his eyes.

"Whatever.", He got up from the table and left the kitchen, heading straight for his room. Ashley furrowed her eyebrows as she heard him slam his bedroom door.

"Is he okay?", Ashley asked Jesse.

"Some kid called him gay on the bus today.", He stood up from the table, shrugging his shoulders before he tried to head off to his room. The three adults in the room all stopped him.

"Whoa.", Carrie stepped in front of him, then Ashley placed her hand on his shoulder and made him turn around. Richie stood up from the seat and stared at his oldest son as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Come again?", Richie furrowed his eyebrows.

"I told him not to worry about it.", Jesse attempted to defend himself, but to no avail; the three of them just weren't over it. "Okay, okay, okay. It's some kids that have picked on him continuously and try to say he has a crush on his best friend."

"Alex?", Ashley asked seriously, then glanced over at Richie who had a confused look on his face as if he was trying to remember something. She sighed, glancing back at her son as she placed her hand on Richie's back and rubbed circles over the thin material he wore. "Well, I would think that if my son was gay, I'd know."

"Well, I'm sure he's not gay. You don't have to worry about it. It's just some kids teasing him.", Jesse spoke softly, giving his mother a half smile. Of course, he didn't think Lucas was actually gay, being that he always talked about girls with him. And as he thought more into it, he realized that the only thing his brother would say about girls, was that they annoyed him. Then again, it's normal for preteens to think that way about the opposite gender. So he wasn't too worried about it.

"I'm gonna go talk to him.", Ashley insisted, but Richie stopped her.

"No, I will.", He sighed softly, glancing down at her with a smile. "He needs to hear from his father about something like this. Boys always get their mother to nurture them, but they need to know that their father is there for them, too."

"You're right. I just worry about him, babe.", She frowned softly, bringing her right hand up to the bridge of her nose and pinched it gently. "I just want him to know that we love him and if this so called crush over Alex is real, then that's okay as well."

"Wait, you're okay with this?", Jesse asked out of shock. His friends parents' would never agree with something like this, but he always knew his parents were different in many ways. Now he knows just how different they are from most parents, at least he thinks he knows exactly how different they are.

"Why wouldn't I be?", Ashley asked seriously, watching as Jesse shrugged his shoulders as he scratched the back of his neck.

"I just- I never know what he goes through at school because he never talks to me about anything. He just keeps to himself and Alex is the only person he ever talks to, so I know it's gotta be weird for people to accuse him of this."

"Jess, he's your brother. So what if he likes Alex? It won't change the way I look at him. He's my son and I love him no matter what.", She responded back to him while Richie left the room to go speak with Luke. "Even if people don't agree, you've gotta be there for him if this is true. He doesn't need his older brother – whom he looks up to – to just make him feel like an outcast."

"I know."

The rest of the night, Richie sat in his youngest son's room just talking to him about everything. He even opened up about how he was attracted to both males and females, yet Luke still didn't say anything about those rumors being true. He brushed it off and just avoided the conversation, but he appreciated his father trusting him enough with his secret that he had kept from his sons. For years, Richie fought with his conscience about coming clean to Jesse and Lucas, but he never won. Of course, he didn't want to have his children look at him any different from before, but he was still their father and Luke didn't care about what gender his father liked.

Ashley knew that one day the truth would come out, but she never thought that her son would be a victim of being bullied about his sexuality. She never wanted her kids to have to go through the torture her and Richie went through as kids. And if she was honest, the only thing she remembered from their childhood was the bullying. Yet, she had also remembered good times between them, but all that the two of them even remembered was themselves. Everything that didn't involve their love was nothing but a blur and they couldn't quite wipe it clean for better vision of their past.