Letters to Isabella

four.

Ross' POV

"Isabella get back here now!" I shouted to my eleven year old daughter as she stormed up our creaky staircase with her books and rucksack in hand. "Wait until your mother gets home! She will not be happy about this!"

"Whatever!" Isabella screamed back in a reply before the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut and locking echoed throughout the entire house.

Rocky peered over the top of the staircase with a sandwich in his mouth. "Hormones already? I thought she was still a baby."

I rolled my eyes before beckoning Rocky to join Bailey and I downstairs and heading out into the kitchen to prepare some warm tea for the three of us. "She was walking home with some guy named Dean. If Bailey hadn't of told me I wouldn't have caught her in the act."

"Oh come on man, it's just a guy -"

"I don't care if it's an alien, Rocky! She's too young to be walking home with guys yet, friends or not, as her father I am not happy about it and I do not approve. My decision is final."

My older brother rolled his eyes and took a seat opposite Bailey, handing him one of his spare sandwiches which my son happily took from him. "You must have annoyed her a lot if she's come home in a mood like that."

As Bailey chewed on his sandwich he decided to explain the situation to Rocky. "Dad pulled up on the sidewalk to pull Isabella back into the car. All the kids around us saw everything."

I handed them both a mug of tea each and pulled a chair up at the end of the table. "Okay, thanks Bailey for making me sound like some psychopath. I did not pull her into the car, I simply forced her to get in."

Rocky shrugged his shoulders and took a sip from his tea. "Same thing man."

"It is not!" I replied in frustration. "Whatever... I'm in the right this time. I don't want her mingling with guys outside of school... you saw what happened to Laura."

"Dude, she's nearly twelve years old! The last thing on her mind would be -" Rocky paused and smiled awkwardly at both Bailey and I. "anyways, give the girl a break. She's a Lynch, she knows what she's doing."

I trusted my daughter, of course I did. She was exactly like her mother - an A grade student, her brain absorbed information like a sponge to water and she carried a strong head on her shoulders. The people I didn't trust however? The boys.

I'd been a young boy myself and I'd had my fair share of crushes and girlfriends. I knew how the mind of a pre-teen boy worked and I wasn't going to rest easy in my bed if I knew there was even the tiniest chance of Isabella mingling with any of these boys outside of school.

"Ross... if it's cool with you I was wondering if maybe we could go and visit mom and dad before the funeral on Saturday?" Rocky asked, his swollen eyes finally returning to their normal size again. "They have no idea about Bri's... you know... I think it's only right if I tell them in person."

I smiled at my older brother and nodded. "Sure man. They seem to be on vacation a lot lately but I'm sure they'll be there Saturday... maybe it's best to give them a call first though, just in case."

My parents had basically gone AWAL since Bailey had been born and given us no explanation as to why. They would frequently check up on Rydel to make sure that she and Maddison were okay and then they'd travel off somewhere and not tell any of us about their whereabouts until we'd finally find out from a quick Facebook post that we'd only just managed to see. All we could do was sigh and hope that they were enjoying their lives together without any of us kids hanging on to them.