Joy struggled in front of the mirror in her bedroom as she was brushing her hair. It was so difficult and her hair was just getting tangled.
Alfred who was starting to get worried that Joy had been gone for over thirty minutes now quickly rushed upstairs.
He could not stop his mind from racing with countless deathly possibilities such as, what if she had drowned while taking a bath? Or what if she tried to wash her hair and got soap in her eyes? Or what if she choked in the water?
There were just too many dangerous things that could have happened to her while she was alone in the bathroom.
"Joy, Joy, where are you?" Alfred shouted as he walked into her room panickily only to find her standing in front of the mirror as she attempted to brush her hair.
"I am right here Alfred." she replied, her big brown eyes blinking in confusion.
"Oh, what are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm trying to brush my hair, but it's too hard!" she complained.
"Oh, let me help you with that." he said as he smiled and took the brush from her as he proceeded to brush her hair.
"Why did you look so worried Alfred?" she asked looking at his reflection through the mirror.
"I was not worried Joy." he said laughing sheepishly.
"Oh but you were, you looked so worried and you even shouted my name." she plainly reminded him as he laughed.
"Well okay, I do admit I was a little bit worried, I thought that maybe something happened because you were taking too long." he replied as he untangled her hair.
"Oh but Alfred, I am a big girl, I know have to bathe myself, and brush my teeth, and dress up." she smiled.
"That you do, I am sorry for thinking you could not take care of yourself." he said.
"It's fine." she smiled.
"So what way do you want me to style your hair?" he asked.
"Umm, I don't know, just put it all up, that's what mommy usually does." she replied.
"Alright, up it is." he smiled as he put her hair up into a little bun.
"Does that look better?" he asked as she nodded.
"Much better, thank you." she smiled.
"So, what do you want to do now?" he asked.
"Go outside and feed Meggie, come on." she smiled as she rushed out of her room and Alfred followed after her.
...
The sound of Joy's giggled as she fed Maggie seeds resounded in the outside garden.
Alfred smiled as he watched her run around with Maggie in the garden.
She ran around so excitedly and it seemed that her energy flowed to the chicken who also ran around.
"You're such a good girl Maggie." Joy giggled as she picked her up and smiled ruffling her feathers.
"Alfred, can I take Maggie inside with me?" Joy asked as she fed her some more seed.
"Oh, I don't know about that Joy, you know the rules, your mommy doesn't like it when she scratches the furniture with her claws." Alfred replied.
"Awwww... well okay." she said.
"Then can I go to the park with her to play? I want to take her on a walk?" she asked.
"It's too early to take her for a walk Joy, maybe in the afternoon, it won't be good for you to be out in the sun all day." he replied as she frowned.
"Okay, then what exactly can I do?" she asked, she was feeling bored already, if only Ethan and Pluto were here, she would have gone to their house to play with them.
"Well if you're tired of playing outside with Maggie, you can go inside and watch tv for a while." he said.
"What do you say?"
"Okay." Joy replied, watching tv would at least be more fun than being trapped in the garden.
She wanted to be able to run around and be free, but she was trapped here, and Alfred didn't want to take her out.
"Wonderful, come now, I am sure you're favourite shows are on." he smiled as she put Maggie down and followed after him as they made their way back inside.
...
Alfred sat back in the armchair sipping some nice hot tea as Joy watched television while seated on the carpet, which seemed to be her favourite place to sit in the living room.
He smiled to himself, everything was going on perfectly. Joy was not hard to watch at all, he wondered what Dom and Natasha were worried about? Spending half a day with her was a piece of cake.
Alfred sighed in relief as he took another sip of his tea when suddenly Joy got up as if told to and she turned to him and began to jump around.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
"I am bored sitting down all the time, I want to do some exercise." she said as she jumped up and down, Alfred almost felt himself getting dizzy as his eyes followed her.
"Umm, I don't know about that Joy, stop jumping, it's making me dizzy." he said as he set the saucer on the table.
"Okay, okay, but play with me Alfred, try to catch me." she said giggling as she took off.
"Joy, come back here, stop running so fast, don't fall down!" he exclaimed. He quickly got up and followed after her.
"You can't catch me." he heard her giggle as she had already left the room he just entered.
"Joy!" he called, oh he was not as fit as he used to be. He was already panting, his heart was racing and he could not catch his breath.
"Joy, I'm being serious. I don't want you to get hurt." he panted as he continued following after her. She ran into another room instantly, the giggles leading him to her location.
It was at this moment that Alfred for once in his life cursed how big this house was, he was unable to catch up to her.
"Joy Mary White, get back here this instant before you get hurt!" he demanded as he wheezed as Joy was cornered in Dom's office.
She turned around and faced him giggling, her eyes lit up brightly.
"Joy, stop running, you might fall down and hurt yourself and it won't be nice." he said attempting to catch his breath as he scolded her.
"Oh but Alfred, I don't fall down like a baby, I run around all the time and I never get hurt." she said as she ran to him and he carried her making her giggle.
"You are so naughty, so very naughty making an old man like me run around like a chicken." he laughed as she giggled.
He tried to throw her up in the air like he used to do when she was little when suddenly he heard a crack, a crack that a man his age should not hear.
"Ouchhh." he cried out in pain unable to stand up straight again. He almost dropped Joy if not for the fact that he held her tightly.
"Alfred, what's wrong?" Joy asked worriedly as Alfred breathes heavily.
"Alfred, Alfred, what's wrong?" she asked in a panic.
"Oh nothing Joy, just a small crack I heard, I'm completely fine—I just nee—Ahhhh" he cried out again as he tried to stand up straight.
"Alfred! You're hurt, you're not fine." she said as he let go of her and she tried to help him but she did not know how.
"My dear girl, I am fine, I just need to sit down." he smiled through his pain, he did not want to terrify the poor girl.
"No you're not." she said her eyes brimming with tears.
Alfred felt his pain increasing, he found it even harder to remain standing.
"How can I help you Alfred? Tell me how to help you." Joy cried.
"Stop crying Joy, that's how you can help me okay?" he smiled as she sniffed and nodded wiping away her tears.
"Now, can you try to get me to the couch over there?" he asked as she nodded and tried to support him, but she accidentally stepped on his foot causing him to cry out in pain even more.
"Sorry! So sorry Alfred." she shouted.
"What in the world is going on here—Oh Alfred? What happened?" Lulu asked as she walked into Dom's office, she could hear the shouts from outside.
"Lulu, thank goodness you're here, I think I sprained my back." he replied.
"Oh dear, let me help you." she said instantly moving to support him.
"Joy darling, can you go get me a pack of ice from the kitchen?" Lulu asked as Joy nodded and instantly ran off.
"Oh Alfred, what happened?" Lulu asked as she helped him to the couch and he sat down.
"Oh my dear, I seemed to have forgotten that my body is not as able as it used to be." he chuckled as Lulu looked worried.