Haunted

Speechless

"Mom?" Maddox could almost hear his voice echoing off the walls in his parents house. Her car was in the garage so he knew she had to be home. "Mom?"

"I'm here, Dax," Clara sounded far away. Maddox started walking toward the back of the house. Clara was laying on the couch in the family room. She had her arm over her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a headache. But I have Dylan and we have to go pick up Wes from preschool soon so I can't smoke."

"Oh," Maddox sat down next to her feet. "I have to tell you something."

"And my head hurts too much to pretend I don't already know. You're making a new album."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Your dad told me," Clara moved her arm. "I'm happy for you, Dax."

"I was going to go on tour too," Maddox sighed. "I already asked Eli to come back and everything but-"

"Oh, baby, no," Clara sat up. "Is it the anxiety?"

"No, actually, I've been fine. It's, um," he paused watching Clara rub her forehead. "Are they getting worse?"

"What?" Clara opened one eye to look at him. "Yeah, they are."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"I have a prescription."

"Mom, that's a lie and everyone knows it," Maddox sighed.

"Alright," Clara lay back down.

"If you're really in so much pain why didn't you call me?" Maddox asked. "I can take Dylan and pick Wes up."

"You have stuff to do."

"Actually I don't today," Maddox told her. "And Brent's home too. We can handle this."

"Dax, I love you for offering but," Clara reached for his hand. "I'm not sure you're ready for all 4 kids."

"Well you're wrong," Maddox stood up. "How long has Dylan been napping?"

"Long enough. Go on, just try to call for help before the house is on fire."

"Mom, I can do this," Maddox was already grabbing all of Dylan's things. He found her diaper bag and stuffed it full before he went up to wake her.

"Dax, can see puppies?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, we're going to see my dogs," Maddox agreed. "Do you need a new diaper?"

"No," Dylan shook her head and brushed the hair away from her face. "Fish?"

"You can have goldfish when we get to my house," Maddox promised. "After we pick up Wes."

"Okay. Juice?"

"How about some water?" Maddox could see her sippy cup sitting there.

"No," Dylan shook her head and pushed her face into Maddox's shoulder. Maddox rubbed her back but grabbed her cup anyway.

"Let's put your shoes on so we can go," Maddox suggested.

"No," Dylan mumbled.

"Yes," Maddox picked up her shoes and slipped them on.

When Maddox got Dylan downstairs Clara was asleep on the couch. He left his keys on the kitchen table for her and took her car since it had all the carseats in it.

Finding his way to Wes's school was much easier than convincing the school to let him take Wes. Maddox had to pull up his own wikipedia page to prove he was related and even then it wasn't until they realized he had permission to pick up Aiden and Scarlett that they finally agreed to let Wes go home with him - but only after he promised to have Kylie call and tell them it was okay.