A friend to all is a friend to none

 Bom wasn't sure how she could fix this. On one hand, it was great to have her step-brother just across the hall in the same apartment building. But she did have her hands full. Sort of. Busy with his little girl Niah and Keanu (who became fast friends). Of course, Joon was pretty blue these days, too. Even if he did find a job that paid better than hers and Brian's combined. He worked at the airport.

Of course, this made Brian a little bitter. He always knew that Joon never liked him anyway. 

"Why is Brian making such a big deal about it?" Ivy was still angry lately. Nothing seemed to calm her.

"Oh, it's just Brian," Bom did her best to smile about it and was happy they were all still employed. Sometimes, it did feel like she was the only one working on being happy. There was a lot she could be mad about, but she wasn't.

It was a wonder that her step-brother would even talk to her. Maybe he wasn't so mad at Brian anymore either. Although, she knew he'd been furious with him ever since Brian got together with Ivy so long ago. And that had already passed. He didn't seem so upset now. Funny, he'd always treated Ivy like a little sister. Of course, their parents had always hoped that Joon and Ivy would have married.

It sounded like a fairytale now. Of course, Ivy hadn't even seen Joon.

"You haven't trained that husband of yours yet?" Ivy gave her the eye as if she better get on the ball with her Brian.

"Oh, he's pretty well trained," she just laughed and went on to work with the kids and the cookie dough. They made shapes. 

Of course, she'd never thought she was like that with Brian. She'd never asked him to do something he didn't want to do. After all, he was rather agreeable.  They'd been friends first. Possibly just on the rebound, but it worked. And she wasn't sure there was anything to fix with Brian. They were after all happy together.

"I'd never know it," Ivy frowned as if she hated Brian and always would. 

"Look, how far you've come," Bom smiled as if she would be positive or else. "You're going to have Dan's baby."

Ivy said nothing but hugged herself.

"Look, you can enjoy this time. You can. You are exactly where you want to be," Bom reminded her that it wouldn't be like it was with Hope. Naturally, Bom took care of Keanu on weekends now. And she made it possible for Ivy to come over to see him. Hopefully, stress-free. Although, Ivy looked as if she wanted to break down and cry.

"What if something goes wrong this time?" It was as if Ivy couldn't quite swallow the bitterness of all this.

"Don't..don't think about it," Suddenly, Bom found herself in tears. She remembered how worried she'd been when Ivy left like she did and how she ended up with Lenny. It felt like something one would have watched on DATELINE now. 

Yet, she knew ruts were hard to get out of. She'd been in one herself. But there were possibilities. They were endless.