The Perfect Family

Chapter 22: Emilie

"Maddox Lincoln, don't touch that" I say as I take note of the precocious toddler making his way to the filing cabinet in the home office. It's approximately 1:20pm, and Kyson is still napping. The twins are still at school. 5 minutes later, I get a call from Ben.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, Em its Ben" he says.

"Hey, Ben. What's up?" I ask.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Listen, I was wondering if you were up to anything at the moment" Ben answers.

"Not really, no. Why?" I respond.

"Well, I thought it would be a good time to catch up. Plus, I think the kids would get along great" Ben says.

"Jack isn't home but" I begin, but not before he cuts me off.

"That's alright. I'll just come by some other time when Jack is home. Please?" Ben responds.

"Okay. What's the harm?" I say.

"Great. Be there as soon as I can" Ben replies as he hangs up.

~X~

It is about 1:30pm when Ben and Piper show up.

"Hey" I say as I hug him quickly and notice Piper bundled up in her car seat.

"Where are the rugrats?" Ben asks.

"The twins are in school and Maddox is over there watching tv. I think I hear Kyson stirring from his nap. Give me one second" I respond as I run upstairs to get Kyson.

"Sorry about that" I say as I return from upstairs with Kyson clutching a blue Mickey Mouse security blanket.

"That's okay. I know how it is" Ben says as he kisses Piper's cheek while she sits on his cheek.

Ben and I talk for about 5 minutes before we are interrupted by a phone call.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Mrs. Alexander?" A male voice says.

"Yes?" I reply.

"This is Mr. Douglas, Julia and Lucy's teacher. I'm afraid your daughter's have to come home a bit early. They've been injured. Would you be able to pick them up?" the man asks.

"Yes, of course. I'll be there right away. Thank you" I respond and then hang up.

"Is everything okay?" Ben asks.

"Ben, I'm so sorry but something has come up at the twin's school. I have to go" I answer.

"Oh, that's alright. Our kids are our priority, right?" Ben winks.

"Thank you so much for understanding" I reply as I hug him quickly and try to get the boys ready. He lets himself out with Piper in tow.

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"I'm here, what happened?" I say as I rush with the boys to the front office and find the twins sitting with Mr. Douglas.

"Mama?" the twins say in unison. As they look up at me, I can't help but be completely taken aback by what I am seeing. Lucy's got a nose bleed and Julia has a fat lip. Both of them have a decent amount of bruises on their arms and legs.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm just going to be as straight forward as possible. An incident occured in the classroom" Mr. Douglas begins. He goes on to telling me that one of the boys in the class has behavioural issues, similiar to Maddox but that is as far a diagnosis as the parents have gotten.

Apparently, the young boy has a fox plush identical to the one Julia chose to take to school and he mistook hers for his. Julia tried to ask for it back as politely as possible but he refused. Lucy attempted to help her sister but that just escalated the boy's temper. One thing led to another and before they knew it an epic battle of kindergarten proportions had ensued.

"What's his name? Maybe I could talk to his parents" I say as I help the girls get their jackets on.

"Kaden did it, mama" Julia says as she touches her swollen lower lip.

"His name is Kaden Stinson" Mr. Douglas reveals.

"Alright, thank you. I'll see if I can get in touch with his parents. I trust you'll do everything in your power to take care of this as well?" I ask.

"Of course" Mr. Douglas responds as we thank him one last time and head home.

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When we arrive home at 1:50pm, the first thing I do after getting the kids settled is call Jack to let him know what's going on.

"One more second and done. Hey hun, what's up?" Jack asks as he hits 'save' one last time and is preparing to send the final draft to Sean.

"We need to talk tonight, something happened today between the twins and another student at school" I answer.

"What happened?" Jack asks, immediately recognizing the panic in my voice.

"Its a long story. But for now lets just say it involved a fox and someone getting hounded" I reply, purposely creating a Disney themed pun to lighten the load of the heavy situation.

"Nice one. I'll be there as soon as I can" Jack responds.

"Good. I love you" I say.

"I love you too" Jack replies as he hangs up.

As I run upstairs to charge my phone and check on the kids, I hear a great level of screaming coming from the twins' bedroom. The volume is deafening. The closer I get, the louder it becomes.

"What's wrong?" I say as I burst into the room to find Julia in a feetal position, rocking back and forth while crying and screaming to the top of her lungs.

"He's going to hurt me again! Kaden is going to hurt me!" Julia screams as her face reddens, mucus runs from her nose and her bottom lip quivers.

"Oh, shhh. Hey, look at me. Everything is going to be okay, Jewel bug. I promise he's never going to hurt you again" I assure her as I take the fearful kindergartener in my arms and place a gentle kiss on her head.

"Do I have to go back to school tomorrow?" Julia asks as she looks up at me with tearfully innocent blue eyes that match mine and Jack's.

I know I won't be able to make this decision without Jack's consent, but I think he would be crazy not to think that we should keep the twins out of school until we can straighten everything out. But just for her own peace of mind I respond to Julia's question with "of course not, Julia. We have to make sure you'll be safe first".

"Thank you, mama" Julia mumurs.

"You're very welcome, sweetheart. I love you and no one will ever hurt you again as long as me and papa are here" I say as she falls asleep in my arms. I lift her back into bed next to Lucy, place a kiss on her forehead and gently close the door. I only hope I can deliver on the promise I made moments ago.