And a mess is not allowed

 "What could have happened so bad?" Bom still couldn't quite get it all straight. She was a little shell-shocked when Ivy's mother offered them the house, yet her mother was a bit livid about the matter. Naturally, Brian didn't rush to say anything. Of course, this was like winning the lottery. Having their own home, and in such a decent neighborhood. It couldn't be that bad.

"It's personal," Brian finally said as if it might have been his fault. He'd lived there with Ivy, back when they first got together. Of course, they were hush-hush about the matter at the moment. After all, Dan escorted Ivy here and asked if they could keep an eye on her. He thought Ivy was overdue a visit with Keanu. He wanted her to stay a night or two with them.

Of course, the conversation had only happened twenty minutes ago, but she rushed upstairs to see what this was about. Maybe Ivy wouldn't notice. After all, Keanu took her by the hand to show her all his Christmas in his room.

"What's going on?" Bom hoped Dan would enlighten her, but he was with the baby and he was crying as if something had finally awoken him.

Bom took the infant from him. It only calmed him a little. She could see Dan was restless. 

"I don't want to talk about it," Dan shook his head.

"Well, you are. I want to know if you and Ivy are..." She went and put the baby on his back in his crib. She kept smiling at him as if she were familiar with his likes and dislikes. Finally, he settled as she gently rubbed his tummy. His feet kicked in his terry cloth sleeper.

"She's..she's so stubborn." Dan finally admitted as he scratched the back of his neck.

"So are you." Bom told him they were too much alike. 

"I don't know why she turned her mother down. I..I think she blames her mother for her dad leaving, but I don't think that's true. I mean, she really is the glue that kept them a family. Maybe, maybe there was just too much pressure when Ivy was growing up. They expected her to be so much more. But it was her brother who always made the grades. He even went to public school while she went to private school." He pulled his long fingers into his dark hair, brushing his bangs away from his face. Finally, he confessed he was furious with Ivy, but he didn't know what to do. 

"I don't want her to be alone, but I think that's what she wants," Dan said he didn't know if he could fix this.