LUKE: "She won’t come out of our room, (Y/N). I-I just, I don’t know what to do…she won’t stop crying and-." You cut your husband off, "I’m leaving work now, just try to get her to unlock the door. Just stay calm, I love you." You hang up quickly and tell your boss you have a family emergency before heading home.
Once you get home you can hear your baby crying. She started kindergarten today and from the sounds of it, it didn’t go so good. Luke looks at you and immediate relief rushes to his face, “Oh thank god you’re home babe.” He kisses your lips quickly, before you knock on the door, “Keira…sweetheart it’s mommy. Please open the door, we just want to talk.” You hear a loud sob, before she opens the door. Her cheeks are beat red and her dirty blonde curls are in more of a tassel than usual.
"Oh Keira, what’s wrong?" She collapses into your arms, as you notice Luke has tears in his eyes too. It’s breaking his heart to see her like this. She’s never been this upset since the time we tricked her into going to the doctor for a check-up to start pre-school.
"O-Oliver made f-fun of my penguin bag. T-Then he p-put glue on my seat and when I sat in it my l-legs got stuck." She’s heaving between words as she whimpers, "H-He told me to go back to the zoo w-with all the other penguins."
You can see Luke getting angry as he says, “Honey, you can tell Oliver to suck a big fat-.”
You cut him off, “Glue stick because he’s a bully, right Luke?”
Luke sighs, “Yeah…a glue stick. I was thinking more of a-.”
You glare at him and he stops mid-phrase. Keira wraps her arms around her father, and he could feel his daughters tears burning his skin. You smile, watching Luke tell his little girl, “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not special or you deserve anything less than what you have. Without you Keira , mommy and daddy would be lost. We love you so much sweetheart. In the morning we’re going to talk to your teacher about Oliver, okay? He won’t bother you anymore.”
She smiles gratefully, “I love you daddy, you’re my favorite penguin in the whole wide world!”
Luke kisses his daughter on the cheek, whispering against her ear, “Let your smile change the world, don’t let the world change your smile.”
MICHAEL: "I’ll pick her up today beautiful, don’t worry about it." Your husband says over the phone as you get into your car, "Are you sure Michael? I can-." He cuts you off, "Stop being adorable, I’ve got her. I’ll meet you back at home. And oh, (Y/N), I forgot to tell you…" You smile, "What babe?" He sighs admirably, "I’m so glad to be with you, you make me realize how beautiful my world is."
You’re setting up dinner an hour later when the front door opens, only to see a fuming Michael and an upset Isabelle. Your daughter runs into your arms, wrapping them tightly around your waist. “I-I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t take it out-.” You’re not sure what Michael means until you look down at your daughters brunette locks, with a wad of gum stuck in her hair. You gasp, “Oh my gosh, what happened? Who did this to you?”
Michael’s cheeks are red, “A little cun-.” You glare at him, cutting him off and holding your hands against Isabelle’s ears, “Language, Michael!”
He sighs in aggravation, “Tell mommy who did this to you Bells.”
You’ve never seen your daughter so upset. Her cheeks are red and irritated from crying so much. “I-It was this girl Ashley. S-She said my hair looked ugly and it needed color so she shoved gum in my hair during recess at the end of the day. It w-won’t come out mommy and it hurts.” You look at Michael and ask, “Did you talk to the teacher about this?”
He scoffs, “Of course I did, (Y/N). She said that she’s going to deal with the girl tomorrow but I don’t know…I don’t trust her. Maybe if I talked to her-.”
Isabelle shakes her head, “Mommy don’t let dad talk to her, he’ll only make it worse. I just want her to like me. I feel like she hates me and I never did anything wrong to her.”
You place your seven year-old daughter on the kitchen counter, and begin to pluck at her hair lightly. Tears are still in her eyes as Michael says, “That’s the thing about people these days honey. You may not do anything to hurt them, but they’ll hurt you. That’s why whenever someone hurts you for no reason, you have to give them the big middle fing-.”
"What your father means is when people hurt you for no reason you have to ignore them. Violence isn’t the answer sweetheart." You say and by the time all the gum is removed from your daughters hair her crying has let up a little.
You smile, watching Michael pull your daughter aside before she changes for dinner. He gets down on one knee and smiles, “You know Isabelle, if you could see yourself, just for one day, you’d see how everyone else sees you. And my god, you’re beautiful my angel. I love you so much.”
