Natasha watched Joy's lifted mood all afternoon. It had been a while since she had seen Joy truly excited about something.
After lunch, Dom returned to the office and well Lulu didn't come home for lunch as usual, which was really odd, so they were back to being mother and daughter alone at home.
Natasha caught up on some work while Joy watched tv and coloured in her colouring books. She was bored when she heard her mother's phone ring as she spoke to Chloe.
"Hey, my darling, there is someone who wants to talk to you." Natasha turned to Joy and smiled, she was certain that Joy would be ecstatic once she heard who was on the other line.
"Who is it mommy?" Joy asked surprised as Natasha switched on speaker mode as handed her phone to her and urged her to say hello.
"Hello." Joy said.
"Hello Joy." Ethan's voice came from the other side of the line.
"Ethan?!" Joy gasped shocked.
"Yes, it's me, how are you Joy?" he asked.
"I'm good, very, very, very good." Joy said bubbling.
"That's nice." Ethan said.
"I'm good too by the way." Ethan added.
"Oh Natasha, isn't this so cute? I was surprised when Ethan said he wanted to talk to Joy." Chloe's voice came from the background.
"I know right, it's so cute and I'm sure that Joy is really happy to be talking to Ethan right now." Natasha responded.
"Ooooh, I see Ethan starting to frown already, let me leave before he takes out his embarrassment on me, talk to you later Natasha." Chloe said as she exited the room.
"See you later Chloe." Natasha smiled.
"My darling, I'm going to go get a snack from the kitchen, I'll be back soon." Natasha said, she placed her laptop on the coffee table and stood up.
"Okay mommy." Joy smiled.
"Finally, I thought they were never going to leave." Joy heard Ethan sigh from the other side of the line.
"What, why did you say that?" Joy asked.
"Because my mother is annoying." Ethan said.
"You should not say that Ethan." Joy said.
"Be quiet dummy, you're starting to sound like her." Ethan said.
"I don't like it when you call me dummy, you're very mean Ethan and I don't like it." Joy frowned.
"Fine, fine, sorry, before you go rushing to your mom and reporting me." Ethan scoffed.
"You don't have to be so mean, if you wanted to be mean why did you ask to call me?" Joy asked frowning. She never understood Ethan, he could be so sweet and nice sometimes and the other times he was well... Ethan.
"Because I wanted to tell you how much fun I'm having over here." Ethan said as he fed Pluto a treat.
"Ooooh that's nice, what do you do on the beach?" Joy asked.
"Well, swim, surf, my grandad is teaching me how to surf." Ethan said proudly.
"Really?" Joy asked.
"Mhmm, he's a pretty good surfer, but I always end up wiping out." Ethan said.
"What's that?" Joy asked.
"Wipeout, as in getting thrown off my surfboard." Ethan explained.
"Ahhh, you have a surfboard?" Joy asked.
"Yes, I do, my grandma made one especially for me, she carved my name in it." Ethan said proudly.
"That's so cool, I wish I could be over there and see you surf Ethan." Joy smiled.
"Of course you do, I'm the best at surfing." Ethan held his head high.
"I thought you said that you wiped out?" Joy asked confused.
Ethan frowned, Joy was asking the wrong question. "And so? What if I did wipeout? It doesn't mean I'm not good dummy." Ethan replied and Joy frowned.
"But if you wipeout, it means you fall down and if you fall down it means that you're not yet that good." Joy said, she was sure of this. Ethan was confusing her.
"Not really, if you fall down it could just be a mistake, it does not mean that you are not the best." Ethan corrected.
"Okay, if you say so." Joy said. "So, are you having a lot of fun with Pluto and everyone?" she asked.
"I am, I have the most fun, it's so fun here." Ethan said. "In fact, it's so fun that I should not be talking to you right now." Ethan said.
"Hmm, okay, then why are you calling me?" Joy asked.
Ethan frowned and shook his head, Joy was being very annoying and asking very annoying questions as well.
"Do not mind that, what is going on with you?" he asked.
"Oooh well, I have very, very good news to tell you my mommy and daddy—" Joy gasped when her mother's phone started vibrating in her hand, she was startled.
"What is it Joy?" Ethan asked after hearing her exclaim.
Joy removed the phone from her ear and saw that her mother was receiving another call, at that same moment her mother walked back into the room.
"Mommy, your phone is ringing." Joy said.
"Oh, thank you my darling." Natasha said, she collected her phone from Joy. "Oh, it's the store." She said.
"Ethan dear, I have to take this call, but I'll text you the number of the landline so you can continue talking to Joy." Natasha said quickly.
"Okay aunt." Ethan replied.
Natasha smiled as she ended the call and answered the other one.
"Yes? hello, mhmm..." She said as she walked out.
Mere moments later Joy heard the landline ring. She rushed to the kitchen and answered the phone.
"Hello." She said.
"It's me dummy." Ethan said. Joy frowned and shook her head, he was so annoying.
"Stop calling me that." She said.
"Anyway, what is the good news you wanted to tell me?" he asked.
"Oh yes, my mommy and daddy said that since I'm lonely all the time, we are going to go on a mini-vacation and go to my grandma, grandpa and grandpappy's house on Saturday." Joy said jumping up and down, she was remembering how excited she was.
"That's nice." Ethan said.
"I know right? I cannot wait to go, my daddy said that we will spend a week there and I cannot wait because Alfred is at my grandpappy's house because he hurt his back." She said.
"That's worrying, is he alright?" he asked.
"He's better now, it was my fault he got hurt because I was running around too much and he was trying to catch me." Joy frowned.
"It's not your fault, it's not like Alfred is an old man, his bones are weak, that's just how old people are. My grandad and grandma also can't carry heavy things." Ethan said.
"I know, but I should not have been running around that much." Joy said.
"Don't sound sad, it's annoying." He said.
"Okay... so how is Pluto?" Joy asked.
"She's fine, but she's a bit less energetic right now." Ethan said turning to Pluto who was sleeping in her little bed.
"Aww, but why?" Joy asked.
"I don't know, maybe she's missing home a bit." Ethan said.
"I miss you guys too." Joy said.
"I thought you said that you guys would be back soon, well it's been soon and you're not back yet." Joy frowned.
"It's not been that soon dummy." Ethan said. "I want to stay a while longer, I don't get to see my grandparents often so..." he said.
"I understand, well I still miss you, even though you are a little mean." She said.
"Well I don't miss you at all." Ethan said and Joy frowned.
"Anyway, bye bye, since you don't miss me I'm going to watch some more cartoons." Joy said about to hang up the phone.
"Wait!" She heard Ethan said.
"Yes?" she asked.
"So, how is your friend, what's her name again... Clarita?" Ethan asked.
Joy beamed and put the phone to her ear, she walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"Yes, her name is Clarita." Joy nodded.
"Well she is fine, I haven't seen her since we went on summer break, she went on vacation with her parents and so did Prince and Leon and I think that it will be a long time till we see each other." Joy explained.
"I see, which means I will be back before they get back." He said.
"So, when exactly are you coming back?" she asked again.
"Maybe in a week or two. It depends, my dad is really happy here and so is my mom and I am happy too, but it gets boring being all alone and I can't leave the house and take Pluto out for walks without an adult since I don't know this place well." Ethan whined.
"Aww, that must be very annoying." Joy said.
"You don't know how annoying it is, maybe that's why Pluto is so bored, she cannot go out walk and play like usual." Ethan said.
"Aww poor baby, Pluto, I'm sorry you miss home and can't play." Joy said, Ethan smiled.
"She says thank you." Ethan said and Joy giggled.