Wake Up~Lams

5

"No! No school today!" Angie cried loudly, throwing her backpack down.

Frances sighed softly and pulled her hair, frustrated. "Philip, can you please get me a tissue." She said, picking Angie up. "Why don't you wanna go to school?" She asked her little sister, grabbing the tissue from her brother.

"C-Cause A-Angie wants d-daddy and p-papa!" Angie cried loudly. Frances frowned and wiped under her eyes.

Alexander had started to spend less time at home and with the kids, which was clearly only making things worse.

Philip was hardly home and when he was, he was probably passed out on his bed and getting ready to sneak out.

Angie was getting way more fussy and angry, which led to Frances calming her down most of the time. It was stressing her out and honestly upsetting her that she wasn't getting any help from her brother or father.

She was cooking dinner every night, getting Angie ready for bed, cleaning up the house, and still trying to keep her grades up.

"Let's call daddy, okay, baby?" Frances said, taking her phone out and FaceTiming her dad and giving the phone to her sister. Alex answered after a couple rings, at the hospital. "What is it, princess?" He asked softly. "Daddy!" Angie cried loudly.

"Oh baby! What's wrong? Why is Angie crying?" Alex asked sweetly. "Angie no want to go to school!"

"Aww, well that's okay, Angie doesn't have to go to school." Alex said. "Dad-" Frances interrupted. "I don't have anyone to watch her. I have school and George and Martha both have work."

Alex sighed. "Can you not miss one day?" He asked. "Not really- my grades are bad enough." Frances frowned. "Okay, honey. I'll be home in a bit." Alex said, hanging up.

Frances sighed and put her phone down, rubbing Angie's back until Alexander got there. "There, go to dad." Frances mumbled when he got home, sitting her sister down and going to grab her things for school. "Daddy!" Angie cried and ran to Alex, hugging him. "Oh, my angel, shh, daddy's got you." He said, holding his youngest close.

"Come on, Philip! We're gonna be late!" Frances called, putting her hair in a quick ponytail. "Honey, are you sure you can't stay home today?" Alex asked, needing her to watch Angie.

"No, dad. I've got a test I can't miss." Frances mumbled. "I need someone to stay home with Angie." Alex said. "Not my problem." Frances snapped a bit. "Excuse me?" Alex asked, a bit upset by Frances's tone since she was normally very calm and understanding. "You do not talk to your father like that-" he said.

"Oh please, dad, give me a break! I've been doing your job as a parent for the last four and a half months! I've been the one to make dinner and clean the house and put the kid to bed! I need to go to school today! Angie is fine! She's not sick! She can go to kindergarten!" Frances snapped.

"Oh, Frances, don't even say that you've been doing my job as a parent! I don't get you realize that we're surviving on half our usual income while still having medical bills pile up! So yes- I expect you and your brother to step up and help out because I'm busy making sure we can live!" Alex exclaimed.

"By stepping up, I expect cleaning the house every now and then and maybe occasionally babysitting but I'm doing everything! I'm acting like I'm an adult when I'm not! You're the parent but you can't grow up enough to act like it!" Frances fired back.

"Okay, we need to go to school." Philip said, having watched the fight. He grabbed Frances by the shoulders and walked out with her. She was breathing heavy and was red in the face. "I can't fucking believe him sometimes!" She complained as they got in her car.

"I know. He's frustrating." Philip agreed. "He's just worried right now-" he started before being interrupted. "We're all worried right now!" Frances snapped. "Hey, don't fucking snap at me." Philip snapped back. "I'm trying to help."

Frances took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, you're right." She sighed softly, putting her hands in her hair. "Just drive. You got me in a pissy mood now." Philip muttered, crossing his arms and slouching in his seat.

Frances frowned but nodded, beginning to drive in silence to school. One there, Philip got out, mot saying word. He slid his backpack over his shoulders and left.

Frances let out a sigh and picked at her nails.

"Come on, Angie. We're gonna go see papa today." Alex said, getting his little girl dressed in a red floral dress. "I miss papa!" Angie told Alex. "I know, baby. Daddy misses papa so much." Alex frowned and kissed her head. "But he'll be back soon. Daddy pinkie promises." Alex stuck out his pinkie and Angie held it in her hand.

Angie sniffled and laid her head on Alex's shoulder. Alex picked her up and kissed her head, holding her for a moment before he got up and left for the hospital. Once there, Angie cuddled with her sleeping papa, holding onto him. She still didn't understand what was happening but she knew that John wasn't waking up and it made her sad. Alex frowned and watched, sitting beside the bed.

Around ten, Philip left school and walked to the hospital. He was still mad and frustrated about Frances and Alex. He walked in and used his fake id to go into the room.

Alex looked at the door when someone walked in. "Philip James! Why aren't you in school?!" Alex lectured immediately, the bags under his eyes showing. Philip rolled his eyes. "Don't even start with me, dad. I'm here to see Pops." He muttered.

"That doesn't answer my question. You're supposed to be at school. How did you get here? How did you get in?" Alex asked. "Just stop." Philip muttered. "No! You ditched school! That's not okay!" Alex continued to lecture.

"For the love of god just shut the fuck up!" Philip snapped.

Alex went quiet for a moment, an awful tension in the air before Angie started to cry. "Baby, what's wrong?" Alex asked, picking her up.

"I'm hungry!" Angie sobbed loudly. "That's okay, daddy will buy you some yummy cheetos." Alex promised, kissing her head.

"Just stay with your brother." Alex mumbled, giving Angie to Philip and leaving. Philip sighed and held his sister.

"God, pops, wake up and fix this mess." He mumbled