Chapter Text
The house was oddly quiet.
DJ and Stephanie were away at Honeybee summer camp for the week. Joey left a few days ago for another two week comedy tour. Deciding to use the free time to his fullest, Jesse was off with his band doing rehearsals and summer event gigs around San Francisco. That left Danny with a few days of leave he'd racked up, one and half-year-old Michelle, and a house that was echoing the silence where there should be chaos.
The silence invited moments to reflect on the past year, the family that had been built over the year and two months. Over a year of laughter and tears. Of karate tournaments, ballet recitals, and band practices in the living room. Movie nights that ended with more than one person sound asleep. Late nights coming home to Jesse writing his music and Joey falling asleep to a book. Good memories that had been built on a foundation of ruins.
The silence also invited the ghosts, the reminders of what should be here. Pam, the love of his life, that should be standing to next to him, watching the girls grow up. The ghost of her laughter that once filled the spaces between the walls of the house now growing fainter with each passing day. Of Samantha, his little sister, severely injured in the same crash that killed his wife, living in Tacoma with their parents as she tried to heal and regain a little of what she lost. The room being dimmed from the lack of her bright smile and joy she found in life. Of Jesse, missing both of his sisters, the one of his blood and the one of his heart. Danny still caught him looking at doorways, as though he half-expected someone not there to come walking in. Of Joey struggling with nightmares and depression threatening to drown him while he tried to keep the grief from overtaking everyone else.
The silence was deafening.
"How about some music, Michelle?" he asked the toddler, not really expecting much of an answer. Sure enough, there wasn't one, as she was too involved with whatever game she was playing with her building blocks at the moment. He was about to turn the dial onto a local rock station when the phone rang. "Ooh, could that be Uncle Joey, Michelle?"
"Joey!" Michelle cheered, waving a block around. Danny chuckled as he picked up the phone.
"Hello, Tanner residence. Danny speaking."
"Hiya Sasquatch, long time no hear you jerk," Samantha "Sam" Tanner greeted cheerily. A distant voice shouted through the house and Sam sighed, exasperated. "Mom says hi too." Danny grinned, knowing that wasn't what Claire was telling her middle child.
"Hey yourself, Tinkerbell. How's Tacoma holding up?"
"Still standing, unfortunately. How are all my Chickies doing? What about Jesse and Joey?"
"DJ and Steph are at Honeybee camp this week and I had some leave to use to stay home with Michelle. Jess decided to book a few summer gigs this for his band, so he's been bouncing in and out of the house with that and rehearsals."
"What about our lovely Joe-Schmo?" Danny raised an eyebrow at that. Did Sam really think she was being subtle?
"Joey's agent got him another two week tour so unfortunately you don't get to hear his Popeye impression today."
"Aw damn. I was hoping to get Kermit today."
"I'll make sure he calls you when he gets a chance. What about you? How are you doing?"
"Doing pretty good, honestly. Super glad it stopped being cold. I miss the nice temperatures back home. Been making some great progress in PT though!" It sounded like she was trying to lead into something but the news of her progress took more immediate precedence.
"Hey that's great, Sam!"
"Yeah, it's actually enough that I really want to talk to you about something big. Give me a minute to get out of the kitchen, Mom's giving me the stink eye." Danny raised an eyebrow again as Sam grunted, the sounds of Sam maneuvering her wheelchair across the linoleum echoed in the receiver. There was a soft thunk and a quiet curse. "No, I got it Mom, I promise. Thanks Daddy," was Sam's voice coming through the receiver at a distance. Another mechanical thunk and Sam let out a heavy sigh of relief. "God that's better. Ugh, PT takes it out of my hips."
"What's Mom giving you the stink-eye about?"
"Well, my progress has been so good lately that when I brought up the idea to my doctors, they agreed it was a sound idea. But only as long as I have someone helping me with day-to-day stuff."
"Isn't that why you're living with Mom and Dad now?"
"Well yeah, but Danny…shit, I really don't how to ask this of you, with all the changes you've already had to make to your routine, the household, the house itself-"
"Sam, you're rambling. Spit it out. What are you trying to ask?"
Danny heard Sam take a shaky breath. "I want to continue my PT there, Danny. In San Francisco. I want to see the girls growing up. I want Michelle to know me. I want to able to pester you and Jesse again. I want to see Joey's comedy acts and cheer from the front row. Danny, I want to come home."
Silence rang over the line. Danny felt his eyes begin to burn even as he heard his sister blow her nose. Quickly wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he answered, "I want that too, Tink. We miss you so much here."
"The only hitch is the home care. My insurance won't cover it and the doctors are insisting that I can't live alone yet." Danny's eye immediately drifted to the hallway that led to the old laundry room. He and Pam turned the room into a makeshift den a few years back and there was already a half bath across the hall from it. It would be much cheaper than renovating an entire garage…
"You won't be living alone, Sam. I have the perfect place in mind and the perfect idea to kick it off." He grabbed a nearby notepad and pen. "Tell me what you need so we can make this work."
A week and half later…
Joey groaned as he shut the front door and leaned against it. That had to be the worst damn flight he'd been on in a while. Between the quick change over and the screaming toddler, he hadn't been able to even catch a nap on the flight. His head started to pound midway through the flight. To make matters worse, the last event that was supposed to be in Tacoma was cancelled, completely ruining any plans he had on surprising Sam. His chest tightened at the thought. God, he missed her so much.
"Hey everyone! I'm home!" he called out, flinching when a sharp pain pierced through his temples. Pushing away from the door, he went to take a step down only for his foot to slide on the unexpected ramp. "Shit!" he gasped as he lost his balance and fell. Instinct kicking in, he rolled as best he could into the fall. Even so, his wrist caught at a bad angle. He hissed as the joint jammed hard and pain flared through his arm. Cradling his hand to his chest, he looked down at what he slipped on. "What the-?" He stared at the newly installed ramp. He gingerly touched the edge of it. Construction dust coated his fingers, meaning that Danny hadn't even cleaned it yet. Why had this been installed?
"Joey! Are you okay?" Joey looked up as Jesse was already halfway down the stairs.
"Just jammed up my wrist." Joey reached up with his other hand, grabbing Jesse's outstretched hand. Jesse helped him to his feet and slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Sorry buddy. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow," Jesse explained, guiding him to the kitchen. "Come on, let's get some ice for that wrist."
"Ibuprofen too. Bad flight and I have a headache."
Jesse squeezed his shoulder gently. "I was wondering why you didn't come in with a joke." Joey shrugged and collapsed in one of the bar stools. "Did you at least get to see Sammy?" Joey felt his chest tighten again as he worked his throat.
"No," was all he said. He didn't want to talk about it, at least not until he'd reconstructed a couple walls around his heart first. A cold pressure bent around his wrist, providing much needed relief against the soreness. He slid his wrist towards himself and rested his head against the icepack.
Footsteps echoed on the kitchen stairs behind him. "Michelle finally went down for her nap," Danny announced. "Hey Joey, how was-" He was cut off, by what Joey wasn't sure and didn't particularly care in the moment. He just wanted a nap himself. Maybe shower first. Yeah, that sounded like a solid plan. "How was the tour?"
"It went well. Tacoma show was cancelled last minute."
"I'm sorry, Joe. I know you were looking forward to that one."
Joey took a minute to gather himself again. In the meantime, a glass of water was set by him. Someone tapped on the counter by his head. He looked up to find two ibuprofen pills in Jesse's outstretched hand. Joey gave him a small smile and took them, chasing it down with half a glass of water. Okay, maybe part of his mood was that he was dehydrated. He downed the rest of the water and nodded silently for a refill. Jesse obliged, setting the refilled glass in front of him. "Thank you," he said, sipping the glass now. Feeling a bit better, he looked over at Danny, who had taken the other bar stool. "Where are the girls?" He was mildly surprised that his nieces hadn't dogpiled him at the door. Despite his headache, their smiles and chaos would've been a gift at the moment.
"Stephanie's playing at Harry's house for the afternoon. Kimmy's mom drove DJ and Kimmy to the movies," Jesse explained. "They were planning on making your favorite cookies tomorrow."
Joey quickly blinked away the sudden burning in the corners of his eyes. God, they really were the sweetest kids. "We can make them tonight," he promised. "So…anyone want to tell me why I slipped on a ramp by the front door?"
Danny rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick. "About a week ago, I called up the contractor that did the garage and asked him to redo some things in the house. The ramp by the front door -"
"The one by the back door," Jesse added.
"Expanded the walls of the den and turned it into a guest bedroom," Danny finished. "The half bath will need more time, but eventually it'll get turned into a full bath. Do you want to see it?"
Joey narrowed his eyes a bit. "Did my room get moved again? Because I told you if that was on the docket while I was away, to just give me a heads up." Danny chuckled as Jesse snickered.
"No, your room is still downstairs. You want to see what's been done so far?" Joey shrugged and nodded. Downing the rest of his water, he held the icepack to his wrist as he followed Danny and Jesse to the hall by the alcove. Along the way, something on the kitchen stairs caught his eye.
"Danny, why is there a fold-out stair-lift installed on the kitchen stairs?" Joey asked. He looked up at Danny and Jesse. They both shared a look with each other. "What's going on?" he asked cautiously. Why was it whenever he left, he was out of the damn loop of what was happening? Phones existed for a reason.
Danny took a breath. His stomach had been in knots since Sam called. He met Joey's eyes directly. "It's a long story, Joe. Let's go in the living room." Once they stepped into the living room, Danny settled in one of the chairs. Jesse sat on the arm rest of the couch. Joey stayed standing for the moment. "A week and half ago, a few days after you left for the tour, Sam called. She's coming home." Joey let himself drop onto the couch, the news knocking him over. "Mom tried to talk her out of it, but Sam's been missing us and the girls and wants to continue her PT down here. Apparently, she's made really great progress."
"Why wait until I got home to tell me this?" Joey asked.
"We thought since you had a show in Tacoma and were going to surprise Sam, she could give you the news in person," Jesse explained.
"If we'd known the show was cancelled, I would've flown you up there myself," Danny added softly. "Joey?"
Joey had leaned forward, elbows on his knees and hands interlaced. He'd zoned out, memories bombarding him of the hospital and currently thinking over the new layout of the house. He'd been gone for a week and half. Danny had talked about adding a guest room on the first floor before but this was a rush job. There were also a few additions that hadn't made sense…except in the context of a wheelchair being used in the house. Feeling the couch dip as Danny sat beside him broke him from his thoughts. "How much progress?" he asked softly.
Surprisingly - perhaps even a bit frustratingly - Danny shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. Sam only told me enough to start on the additions to the house and Mom's being quiet about it too. She wants it to be a surprise."
Joey let his eyes drift back to the ramp he slipped on. "She still needs her wheelchair though, doesn't she?" Danny took a breath and nodded.
"Yeah, she still needs it."