ASGC 'Verse: Valentine's, Taylor-Kinney Style, Part 1
A/N: A long, long time ago, I wrote a fluffy (almost) angst-free BJ story. And when it was finished, I promised oneshots in which I would continue to visit this fluffy, feel-good universe. See? I keep my promises. Although I’m not really sure if any of you will even remember the story. In case you need to refresh your memory, this link will take you back to the first chapter of A Storm’s Gonna Come. I hope you enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day to you all. And Happy Birthday to the two little girls I based Alex and Emma on. They‘re turning 6 today.
A/N2: Post was too long. Had to split it. You'll find the link to the rest of it at the bottom of the page.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: None. As usual.
Beta: The amazingest Silvia (silvaofhope) worked her magic again. Thank you so much! And pet0511 worked her magic too. I'm indebted to you, Pet. You know what you did for me. Thanks a lot.
Disclaimer: I’ve read somewhere that, since disclaimers have no legal footing, they’re merely an expression of the author’s guilt. And I still don’t feel guilty. Shame on me. Nope, doesn’t work either.
Valentine’s, Taylor-Kinney Style
Present, February 2014
If he’d wanted to be precise, Brian would have been able to pinpoint to the minute the time that his day had started to spiral downwards: It was at exactly 6:30 AM, when his alarm clock had ripped him not-so-gently from a particularly juicy dream involving his favorite silk necktie that was not being used to complete a perfectly tailored business attire, some of their very expensive toys from their very exquisite toy chest, and an extraordinarily limber blond. The Great Alarm Clock Massacre, as Brian would later refer to this particular morning, had only happened four hours prior and already this day couldn’t have sucked more, in Brian’s opinion - and really, whose else mattered?
The first thing that was ‘wrong’ about this particular morning was the fact that he had to wake up in his huge bed alone, for the third time in a row. Justin had gone to New York to oversee the final organizing stages of what would become the first exhibit in their new gallery that was already expected and talked about excessively among the art critics and connoisseurs in the New York art world, as well as watched with a critical eye by almost anyone who mattered or proclaimed himself as such. According to his detailed schedule, Justin should have been back yesterday already. However, things were not running as smoothly as expected and he had called Brian the day before to tell him that he would need to stay a day longer and arrive in Pittsburgh International sometime today, probably in the late afternoon. Brian had grumbled something unintelligible in response, not wanting to be obvious about it and thus let Justin in on the already way too well-known fact that his mornings sucked when there was no one around to suck him.
The morning had continued in its determinedly sucky way when Emma refused to eat breakfast and sulked all the way to preschool. Brian knew she was being difficult because she missed her daddy, and at age four she had no other venting option than to be moody. He tried being patient with her and managed, mostly because he could sympathize immensely. And if he hadn’t been the parent and designated driver, he probably would have happily joined her in her sulking. Pulling up in front of the private school, he got out and walked around the car to open the door for Emma who was making no effort to move and get out by herself. Alex meanwhile unclasped the safety belt around her seat and got out of the car on her side of the vehicle, pulling hers and Emma’s little bags with her. She stood patiently on the sidewalk while her dad was trying to persuade her sister to get out and enjoy the day with her friends.
“Em?” Brian bent his knees and cowered down to be eyelevel with her. “Emma?” He tried again but she refused to look at him as she continued to stare down in her lap, lower lip stuck out in an image so reminiscent of a pouting Justin, Brian almost laughed if it hadn’t been so sad. “Don’t you wanna go in and have fun with all your friends? Look, Alex is already waiting for you.” He tried, glancing at his other daughter through the side window where she stood watching the two of them. When that didn’t work, he tried another tactic. “Miss Allison said you’d be making Valentine’s presents today. And you want to have a present for your Daddy when he gets back, don’t you?”
Emma didn’t move but Brian saw her raise her eyes and look at him sideways. The greenish aquamarine in her irises was so pronounced today, the way it would get when she was really upset about something, and Brian’s heart clenched a little.
“Daddy will be home today when I come to pick you up at Grandma Deb’s. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled if you had a present for him.”
Emma finally turned her head and looked with her big sad eyes directly in Brian’s. “He’ll be back today?”
Brian nodded. “Yes.”
“Promise?” Emma wasn’t convinced.
Brian closed his eyes briefly and prayed to every deity known to man that the fucking gallery shit would clear up by midday so Justin could get on his plane. “Promise.”
Emma graced him with a tiny smile and extended her arms towards Brian. “Okay.”
Brian sighed in relief and strapped her out of her seat, pulling her out of the car. She clung to his neck a little more desperate than usual and Brian hugged her back fiercely before walking around the vehicle and setting her back down beside where Alex was waiting.
The moment he put her down, Emma spotted some of her friends behind the fenced wall and waved frantically at them, calling out a greeting to announce her arrival - though really, it was somewhat redundant. In true Emma fashion, all sorrows from only ten seconds before were already forgotten as she dashed through the opened iron wrought gates. Brian looked after her before glancing down at Alex and catching her rolling her eyes. He bit his lip to not laugh out loud and bent down to give Alex a hug.
“Look out for your sister?” He asked Alex as her little arms came around his neck. She nodded into his shoulder.
“Bye, Daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek before disentangling herself and straightening up.
“Bye, Precious.”
She smiled a quick sunshine smile at him before turning around and walking the path after Emma.
“Daddy?” Alex called back halfway through the gate.
“What is it, baby?”
“Is Daddy really coming back today?” She asked simply.
“He said he would.” Brian replied, wishing he could be surer of it.
“Okay. Can you make him? Because Emma is really upset.”
“Come here,” Brian motioned her back to him again and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m gonna try.”
She nodded again before Brian released her and she walked across the school lawn.
Brian straightened his jacket and tie, and returned the smile and wave from Miss Allison who stood at the entrance of the school building, ushering her students inside.
Arriving at Kinnetik half an hour late due to an unlucky coffee-car-incident at a red light, which forced him to take a detour to the loft to grab a clean suit, he was greeted by a stressed out Cynthia who didn’t bother with pleasantries before she attacked him in the lobby.
“Kevin has fucked up the boards from yesterday again.”
“The ones I already approved of? How is it possible?”
“Yes, the very ones. He thought he might improve the background color or something, I didn’t go into detail.”
“But they were already approved of.” Brian stated unnecessarily.
“I know. You have to fire him.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s telling me not to fire people too overhasty?”
“He fucked up the boards!” Cynthia exclaimed. “The ones I’m going to need in about,” she glanced at her watch, “two hours.”
The truth was, Kevin had already received two warnings for being out of line; he obviously didn’t fit into the Kinnetik team and it was high time Brian threw him out. The only reason he’d kept him so long was because certain people forced him to believe in granting second chances. The problem was, Kevin was already on his third.
“Get Ted to do it.”
“No,” Cynthia protested. “He’s way too soft for that. He’ll probably end up writing him a letter of recommendation.”
True. There were things Ted was extraordinarily good at. Unfortunately, firing people was not one of them. And Brian knew better than to suggest Cynthia do it herself. At least not while she was still wired and angry about his latest fuckup. The poor guy would probably end up without his balls. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but he figured the paperwork would be a bitch and he really did not need that.
“Alright.”
They reached Brian’s office and he looked around for his assistant before adding her absence to the exceedingly long and still growing list of things that made this morning less than stellar.
“Where’s Lauren?” Brian asked irritably.
“I’ve had her send over to the art department to help the guys reverse what Kevin did. She saw the boards last before he mutilated them and knows what they should look like.”
“I need my coffee.” Brian stated blandly in a, in his opinion, perfectly logical explanation why he couldn’t tolerate Lauren not being there.
“Looks like you’ve already had one.” Cynthia said with a wink to his shirt and suit that were ruined in the coffee-car-debacle on the way over.
“Fuck.” Brian muttered, remembering. “I need to change. Tell Kevin I want to see him in my office in twenty minutes.”
The next few hours continued to piss him off. Angry clients called to express their unhappiness with their current sales figures, incompetent interns had never heard the word cool applied to colors before, which made Brian think of the last competent intern he had worked with and who had been so painfully missing from his daily routine this morning. And then there was the general stupidity that seemed intent on manifesting itself in the people around Brian today, and continued to beat a path to his door and make his day less than bearable.
By 10:30 AM he was ready to pay indecent amounts of money for anyone willing to shoot him, when Lauren announced Justin on line one. Having learned from the last four hours, Brian dreaded the worst and wasn’t disappointed.
“Morning, Honey.” Justin’s voice dripped with sarcasm and Brian suspected Lauren had given him an advance warning.
“Cut the shit.” Brian cut in. “Just tell me.”
Justin hesitated only a second. “Ehmmm, I think they need me here a couple more days.”
Brian pinched his nose with his right hand as the fingers of his left clenched tightly and angrily around the receiver, making the white on his knuckles contrast sharply with the tanned skin.
“Why can’t Arianna do it?”
“From Europe?” Justin asked. “It was either I go to France or she. I believe you were the one who decided I should go to New York and she should take care of the opening in Saint-Tropez.” Justin replied.
Brian remained quiet because he had nothing to add to the facts. It seemed like the better deal at the time - to have Justin only a few hundred miles away instead of a few thousand. But as it turned out, New York felt just as far away as Europe and Brian had to fight hard not to copy Emma’s morning behavior. Oh, fuck, Emma.
“I’m sorry I won’t be there for Valentine’s Day.” Justin said but Brian was mentally kicking himself for his words this morning.
As bad as it already was, and as worse as it was about to get with another morning of waking up without Justin, and being reduced to jerking off in their shower, alone, late in the evening, and dealing with morons for staff and even greater morons for clients, and overbearing family members - Brian would deal with all of that when the need came. But the worst of all would be admitting to Emma that her daddy was not yet back from New York, wouldn’t be for another couple of days, in fact. Brian was really not looking forward to seeing the disappointment in her huge trusting eyes and being cast as a liar from hereon. Maybe he would somehow be able to turn it into a fib?
“Brian?” Justin treaded carefully, guessing his confession had made Brian temporarily speechless with anger. “Brian, I don’t care if you didn’t get me anything for Valentine’s,” he tried to joke.
“Fuck, Sunshine!”
“What is it?” Justin asked, suspecting there was more.
“I promised. I promised Emma.”
“Promised what?”
“That you’d be back. Today. She was throwing a fit at the breakfast table, refusing to eat. Then she wouldn’t talk to me or Alex. And I promised her you’d be back.”
Justin was quiet for the longest time. “I’ll call her.” Justin finally said. “I’ll call her at Debbie’s and explain. I’ll tell her not to be mad with you; I’ll tell her that it’s completely my fault.”
Brian nodded; unaware that Justin couldn’t see him. No matter what Justin was going to say to her, it wouldn’t erase the look of disappointment on her face that he’d be greeted with when he went to pick the twins up from Debbie’s house.
“This sucks, Sunshine.”
“I know.”
“Get a gallery manager?” It was a request slash demand that was not made for the first time. Ever since the first time the idea came up to convert part of the former museum building that was to house the New York branch of Kinnetik into a gallery, Brian demanded Justin hire a gallery manager. But the blond was too picky and no matter how many people applied, he always found something wrong with them.
“How long did you take to find one for Kinnetik NYC?” Justin retaliated, as usual.
Brian had nothing to say to that because Justin was right. When they’d moved to New York almost three years ago, they had plans to only stay for a year at the most. But because Brian couldn’t find a suitable applicant to turn the reins over to, they had ended up staying almost two years. Eventually though, things had worked out perfectly. So well in fact, that Brian didn’t need to break up the dynamic Ted-Cynthia duo. It would be hypocritical of him to rush Justin to make a decision. So he shut up.
As Justin knew that he wouldn’t receive an answer to his last question, he changed the topic and amended. “I’ll take care of Emma, Brian. It’ll be okay.”
“Alright.” Brian said, because there really was no other way to respond.
“I miss you.” Justin whispered into the phone.
“I miss your cock.” Brian replied with a hint of sarcasm and defiance in his voice.
“Love you. Later?”
“Later.”
Brian hung up and sighed. The constant drum behind his eyes had finally developed into a full blown headache and he searched his desk drawers for the bottle of aspirin. Shaking out three pills, he swallowed them dry before walking over to the refreshments cart and downing half a bottle of water. He’d barely managed to sit down on the white couch to allow himself a minute’s rest when the phone buzzed again.
“A Mrs. Sterling on line two, Mr. Kinney.” Lauren announced his next caller.
“Who the fuck is Mrs. Sterling?” Brian asked her.
Lauren replied, “From the Mt. Lebanon Montessori School and Academy?”
That was the twins’ preschool. Brian breathed through the terror threatening to freeze up his heart and picked up the phone.
“Kinney?”
“Mr. Kinney, it’s Margo Sterling, I’m the director of the Mt. Lebanon School.”
“Are Alex and Emma alright?” Brian asked before the pleasantries could take over the conversation.
“Oh, yes, Mr. Kinney, they’re quite well. I’m sorry if my call suggested otherwise. There has been a tiny episode though and I would like to ask you to come over here to discuss it properly.”
“What kind of episode?”
“Nothing of too big importance. Just a minor misunderstanding between your daughters and another student. We like to address those issues with the parents present. It has proven to be the best way of action to deal with similar situations.”
“I’ll be over in thirty minutes.”
“My assistant tried to get a hold of Mr. Taylor. Will he be able to join you?”
“No. He’s in New York this week,” Brian explained.
“Well, I guess, then it’ll be only the two of us,” Mrs. Sterling replied.
“I’m on my way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kinney.”
Brian slammed down the phone, cursing Cupid and everyone else who was responsible in the making of this day and slipped into his coat before leaving a message with Lauren that he’d be gone for an hour or maybe longer.
What the fuck was an ‘episode’ supposed to be? Brian wasn’t firm in the parent-teacher-slang and felt like he lacked some serious update to the parenting vocabulary to be able to translate the code. Apparently, he’d be facing Mrs. Sterling unprepared and unarmed. He only hoped he would come out of it with his mind and body intact. So far, he wasn’t providing too much of a challenge for anyone who set out to destroy him, Brian mused. The thought of Justin acting as his full-body armor suit kept him moderately entertained through his entire drive to the school grounds.
Arriving at the school, he made his way through the brightly but tastefully painted corridors into the director’s secretary’s office. He remembered the way from his earlier visits to the school during the application process. Stepping through the arched doorway, his sight immediately caught of Emma who was sitting on a bench, letting her legs dangle back and forth. A young woman with a pretty and friendly face sat beside her and Brian guessed she was the secretary; he didn’t remember her and guessed she must be new.
As soon as Emma’s eyes caught sight of Brian, she exclaimed, “I didn’t do anything, Daddy!” Her eyes were wide as saucers and Brian knew that she spoke the truth. Whenever Emma actually did do something, she would proclaim exactly the same words, only she would squint when doing so and Brian hoped it would always be this easy to tell when she was telling a lie.
The young woman who was sitting beside her, stood up to greet Brian. “Mr. Kinney, I presume. I’m Amanda Davis, Mrs. Sterling’s assistant.” She said extending her hand, voice friendly and calm. “She would like to talk to you. You can go in right away.”
“Where’s Alex?” Brian asked, shaking her hand in greeting.
“She’s with Mrs. Sterling. Go on, I’ll wait here with Emma.” She smiled encouragingly and Brian stepped through the massive oak door after knocking once but not waiting for an answer.
Mrs. Sterling’s office was decorated like no director’s office Brian had ever seen. It was colorful and could have rivaled Debbie’s love for gaudiness, only it was coupled with an interior design that didn’t look like something that was spawned by the Muppets during an orgy while tripping on a particularly good batch of crack. Strangely enough, Brian was relieved. When Alex or Emma were called into the director’s office, he didn’t want it to be some stuffy place and a frightening experience for the girls. As it turned out, Mrs. Sterling sat unceremoniously with Alex on the floor, quietly engaged in what Brian suspected was an educational lesson masked as a fun game.
He cleared his throat to make his presence known and both, Mrs. Sterling and Alex, looked up. Alex scrambled to her feet and ran into Brian’s arms while Mrs. Sterling stood up and arranged her clothes. Brian picked up the little girl and listened to her talk without taking a breath.
“Miss Allison said we should talk to Mrs. Sterling. But I didn’t do anything. I swear. Steve was mean. And I didn’t lie, Daddy. You told me not to lie and I didn’t.” She finally stopped to take a breath when Brian scooped her up in his arms.
Brian felt torn and desperate. The thing that irritated him most, besides the fact that he couldn’t make heads or tails of the jumbled speech, was that it wasn’t like Alex to talk a mile a minute. That was a skill Emma was the residing champion of. Hell, he’d never expected to be called into the headmistress’ office because of Alex. Emma - maybe; she could get wound up in something where she wouldn’t budge. But Alex? Not in a million years would he have expected this. He wondered what could have happened that had Alex so riled up. Being watched by Mrs. Sterling didn’t help matters in the slightest as he was already feeling like the worst parent on the planet, even though he had no idea what he was ordered to the school for.
“What happened?” Brian asked, not sure whether he was addressing Alex or the director.
Mrs. Sterling smiled benevolently at Alex and motioned for Brian to take a seat across from her behind the heavy desk. Brian set down, placing Alex on his lap and listened to the woman.
“It appears that there has been a slight misunderstanding between Alex and another student which lead to a spat. You see, the students were asked to make Valentine’s cards and the teacher, Miss Allison, was moving around, helping those children who couldn’t sign their cards completely on their own.”
Brian held back a comment on the lack of ideas the teachers displayed in letting the children make Valentine’s cards. He also didn’t comment on the fact that the shitload of money he was paying the institution was used to brainwash his kids into pliable citizens that would later join in the commercialism and consumerism that was the propaganda of Valentine’s Day.
Brian didn’t know whether Mrs. Sterling saw him scowl, but if she did, she kindly refrained from commenting and continued unperturbed. “Anyways, as you can imagine, there was lots of commotion; that’s why Miss Allison, Alex’s and Emma’s teacher, didn’t hear the argument when it started. Alex had already finished her card and since she can read and write pretty well on her own already,” Mrs. Sterling sent a proud look in Alex’s direction, “she decided to sign it to make it a very special gift for her daddies, isn’t that right, sweetie?” She directed the last question at Alex.
Alex nodded gravely, a very serious expression on her face, before she melted further into Brian’s embrace.
“Maybe the whole situation will become clearer once you see what started it.” At that, Mrs. Sterling passed the self-made card in question to Brian and he looked at it. It was a fairly standard, red and white card, with a big, slightly misshaped, heart on the front. When Brian opened it, the text inside read ‘I love my two daddies’ in dancing capital letters. Brian had never thought he could be touched so deeply by something so humble and felt a lump in his throat the size of Arizona. He swallowed hard around it, took a shaky breath and pressed a kiss on Alex’s hair, moved by her simple words, and she burrowed her face into Brian’s shoulder, looking sideways at Mrs. Sterling from under long lashes.
Mrs. Sterling watched the emotional exchange with a soft smile. “Apparently, a boy in Alex’s class read the card and said to Alex that she can’t have two daddies. He then proceeded to explain that one can only have one daddy and one mommy.” Mrs. Sterling explained.
Alex lifted her head from Brian’s shoulder and, becoming agitated, interjected - big Justin-blue eyes focused solely on Brian. “I told Steve I have two daddies, Daddy. But he didn’t believe me. And he called me a liar. But I do have two daddies,” She insisted with a vehemence in her little voice that tolerated no contradiction, waving her small hands, palms up, in front of her for effect. “And I told him so. And Steve said, ‘Then you’re not a family.’ He said, ‘A real family is a daddy and a mommy and a kid.’ But Grandma Deb and Auntie Em, they always say we are a family. And they wouldn’t lie to me. And I said to Steve that I too have a family. And that I do have two daddies. And it’s way better than him because he only has one daddy!” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, an angry pout firmly in place. Brian found she was beyond adorable in her outrage and smoothed a soothing hand across her hair again.
“Mr. Kinney, the boy, Steve, he didn’t say it in a vicious way. He meant nothing malicious by what he said. He was simply confronted with a family structure that was unfamiliar to him. Please know that we do encourage and promote all kinds of ethnicities, religion, race, or alternative family structures among our students.”
Brian nodded at that. He knew. That was one of the reasons why they had chosen this school after returning from New York.
“You see, Mr. Kinney, the little quarrel resulted in a small fight when Emma somehow got involved into the argument. She has quite a temper, as I’m sure you are well aware of.”
Again, Brian nodded. Yes, he was aware, though he tried hard not to grin proudly at that. One did not want to cross Emma when she was on a mission, especially when it involved her sister.
“Emma can be very… protective when she feels wronged. And she and Alex are, understandably, very close. I guess she felt she needed to come to her sister’s rescue, even though Alex managed quite well on her own. As you can imagine, it got very loud between the three of them and the teacher wasn’t able to quiet them down immediately. Also, we usually try to give children room to solve little spats on their own. But Mr. Kinney, we do not tolerate children getting violent. That’s why we called you. Maybe it would be best if you talked to the girls while the incident is still fresh on their minds?” Mrs. Sterling suggested.
Brian felt a surge of barely controlled anger at the insinuation. He and Justin and the girls may not have been the traditional family, but Brian wouldn’t let anyone even imply that the way they chose to raise their kids left anything to be desired. He was fuming.
“Alex would never become violent! And neither would Emma.” Brian protested vehemently, and then turned to Alex. “Did you or Emma hit Steve?” Brian asked, disbelief clearly etched in his voice. Alex stared up into his face, eyes huge and mouth slightly agape. She shook her head slowly, lips forming a ‘No’ but no sound came from her lips.
“That settles it, I’d say.” Brian pronounced, knowing that Alex was telling the truth. Nobody should ever say that he didn’t know his daughters.
“No. Alex didn’t hit anyone. But she did shove Steve and we do not allow our students to lash out physically.”
“What did Steve do?” Brian simply asked.
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Sterling was flustered.
Brian chose to address his daughter. “Did Steve try to shove you or your sister?”
Alex shook her head again. “But he grabbed my card and I was afraid that he would rip it so I pushed his hand away. I didn’t hit him.” She assured.
“Mrs. Sterling,” Brian began, addressing the headmistress again, “I can assure you that violence is not tolerated in our household either. The way I see it - it’s not my kids who need to be talked to.” The clipped tone indicating this conversation was over.
There was no way Mrs. Sterling could have missed the hint and she hadn’t. Immediately backpedaling, she hurried to clarify what she had meant by her former statement. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Kinney, if what I said led you to believe I was implying an error on your part, because I wasn’t. That was never my intention. I was merely suggesting taking this incident as a lead in for a discussion about conflict resolution? It was in no way a critique on your style of raising your children.”
Brian nodded, accepting the apology but still feeling something ugly simmering just underneath his carefully measured and deceptively clam surface. He tried to detach himself a little from the situation to get an objective perspective. He didn’t intend to run into Mrs. Sterling like he did. Only it was hard to remain cool when it felt like she was critiquing Emma and Alex’s behavior, which he thought was totally appropriate and justifiable. Brian sighed. This talk was just the cherry on top of this shit sundae of a day. He squeezed the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn’t resting on Alex’s back, feeling his headache return despite the three aspirin he took earlier.
The woman smiled sympathetically at him.
“I’m guessing you’re not having the best of days?”
Brian nodded in affirmation, recognizing the peace offering and accepting it. Despite everything, she was a nice lady and Brian wouldn’t have liked to elaborate on what an agony it was to be forced to start the day without his usual morning workout. Alex began squirming in Brian’s lap before she pulled away a little and looked at Brian, eyes widened in question and a frown creasing her forehead.
“Are you mad, Daddy?” She asked.
“No, Alex, I’m not mad.” He comforted her. “I am tired.”
She reached out and lay a palm on Brian’s forehead, imposing her wisdom on her father, “When you’re tired, you need to lie down and take a nap.”
“I’d really love that, sweetheart.” Brian replied, managing only a tired smile.
Alex pinched his cheeks lightly and pulled at the corners of his mouth with her fingers until he graced her with a smile that she deemed satisfactory in intensity.
Mrs. Sterling had watched the gentle exchange of words and gestures with a smile. “Mr. Kinney, please don’t think we’re making today’s incident into more than it was - a twist between children. As you’re well aware, I’m sure, we like to involve parents in the school’s everyday happenings and today was just another one of those things that every parent has to deal with on a daily basis.”
“Of course.” Brian conceded and asked, “Do you want me to sign them out for today?”
“Not at all. They are very welcome to stay until pick-up time.” Mrs. Sterling smiled again to communicate that she meant it and stood up, escorting Brian to the door. “You have two very bright girls there, Mr. Kinney. You should be very proud.” She smiled at him encouragingly again and Brian felt weirdly reassured.
He was. But Brian only had enough energy to nod at her compliment.
He was still reluctant to let go of Alex and carried her in his arms. Alex’s head lolled on his right shoulder and as Brian walked past the director on his way out, Alex sent a brilliant smile in Mrs. Sterling’s direction, waving at her with the Valentine’s card she was still clutching in her hand, and Mrs. Sterling smiled and waved back. That girl was really something, she thought fondly.
In the privacy of a deserted classroom, Brian listened to the whole story again, told alternately by Alex and Emma. Brian sat on a way too small chair listening carefully to Alex who sat opposite from him on a desk. Emma’s patience had been put to a hard test when she needed to sit still in the director’s assistant’s office and she was now running in zigzag circles around the tables and chairs.
“And Steve’s card was really stupid,” Emma called from the back of the classroom as the issue was raised once more.
“And now it’s not a surprise anymore,” Alex pouted, holding up the card she made.
“Of course it is,” Brian protested. “It was a huge surprise and I loved it. And Daddy hasn’t seen it yet. I bet he’ll be just as surprised as I was.”
Alex only shrugged, still a little upset about the whole incident. Emma made another circle around the two of them and said, slightly out of breath, “We made other things too. Wait till you see the-“ She was suddenly silenced as Alex leaned down and put a hand on her mouth.
“Emma, no! You can’t tell!”
“Oops.” Emma’s apology, muffled by Alex’s hand, could be heard.
Alex complained to Brian, “She can never keep a secret.”
“I can too!” Emma protested while climbing onto a nearby desk.
“You always tell everyone! You almost told Daddy.” Alex exclaimed indignantly to make her point.
“Only ‘cause I forgotted.” Emma answered and Alex sent another pointed stare at Brian.
“Do you think Daddy will be mad?” Alex asked Brian, changing the subject.
“No, I’m sure he won’t be mad at all.” Brian assured her.
“Maybe we can keep it a secret too?” Emma suggested, and added as she met Alex’s suspicious glare, “I swear I won’t tell this time.”
“A secret is not the same as lying, right, Daddy? ‘Cause I wasn’t lying.” Alex repeated, once again referring to the fight she had with her classmate.
Even through the hazy swirl of the last hour, Brian was able to smile at the success of his parental endeavor from a couple of weeks before, when he had sat down with the twins to explain that lying was not an accepted form of communication in the Taylor-Kinney household. Not wanting to be hypocritical, Brian had ended up explaining to two four-year-olds the vast difference between a lie and a fib, and the consequences that came with each one.
“No, you weren’t. But Steve has a mommy and a daddy and he didn’t know that some children have only one daddy or only one mommy. And you have two daddies. He didn’t know that either. But it wasn’t nice of him to call you a liar.” Brian agreed.
Alex and Emma both nodded and Brian hugged them before asking, “You wanna go back to Miss Allison’s class and finish your gifts?”
Brian decided the bad news about Justin not coming back today could wait another hour or two and said goodbye to the girls, giving each a big hug and reminding them that Debbie would be there to pick them up later, before going back to the office.
continued here...
A/N2: Post was too long. Had to split it. You'll find the link to the rest of it at the bottom of the page.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: None. As usual.
Beta: The amazingest Silvia (silvaofhope) worked her magic again. Thank you so much! And pet0511 worked her magic too. I'm indebted to you, Pet. You know what you did for me. Thanks a lot.
Disclaimer: I’ve read somewhere that, since disclaimers have no legal footing, they’re merely an expression of the author’s guilt. And I still don’t feel guilty. Shame on me. Nope, doesn’t work either.
Valentine’s, Taylor-Kinney Style
Present, February 2014
If he’d wanted to be precise, Brian would have been able to pinpoint to the minute the time that his day had started to spiral downwards: It was at exactly 6:30 AM, when his alarm clock had ripped him not-so-gently from a particularly juicy dream involving his favorite silk necktie that was not being used to complete a perfectly tailored business attire, some of their very expensive toys from their very exquisite toy chest, and an extraordinarily limber blond. The Great Alarm Clock Massacre, as Brian would later refer to this particular morning, had only happened four hours prior and already this day couldn’t have sucked more, in Brian’s opinion - and really, whose else mattered?
The first thing that was ‘wrong’ about this particular morning was the fact that he had to wake up in his huge bed alone, for the third time in a row. Justin had gone to New York to oversee the final organizing stages of what would become the first exhibit in their new gallery that was already expected and talked about excessively among the art critics and connoisseurs in the New York art world, as well as watched with a critical eye by almost anyone who mattered or proclaimed himself as such. According to his detailed schedule, Justin should have been back yesterday already. However, things were not running as smoothly as expected and he had called Brian the day before to tell him that he would need to stay a day longer and arrive in Pittsburgh International sometime today, probably in the late afternoon. Brian had grumbled something unintelligible in response, not wanting to be obvious about it and thus let Justin in on the already way too well-known fact that his mornings sucked when there was no one around to suck him.
The morning had continued in its determinedly sucky way when Emma refused to eat breakfast and sulked all the way to preschool. Brian knew she was being difficult because she missed her daddy, and at age four she had no other venting option than to be moody. He tried being patient with her and managed, mostly because he could sympathize immensely. And if he hadn’t been the parent and designated driver, he probably would have happily joined her in her sulking. Pulling up in front of the private school, he got out and walked around the car to open the door for Emma who was making no effort to move and get out by herself. Alex meanwhile unclasped the safety belt around her seat and got out of the car on her side of the vehicle, pulling hers and Emma’s little bags with her. She stood patiently on the sidewalk while her dad was trying to persuade her sister to get out and enjoy the day with her friends.
“Em?” Brian bent his knees and cowered down to be eyelevel with her. “Emma?” He tried again but she refused to look at him as she continued to stare down in her lap, lower lip stuck out in an image so reminiscent of a pouting Justin, Brian almost laughed if it hadn’t been so sad. “Don’t you wanna go in and have fun with all your friends? Look, Alex is already waiting for you.” He tried, glancing at his other daughter through the side window where she stood watching the two of them. When that didn’t work, he tried another tactic. “Miss Allison said you’d be making Valentine’s presents today. And you want to have a present for your Daddy when he gets back, don’t you?”
Emma didn’t move but Brian saw her raise her eyes and look at him sideways. The greenish aquamarine in her irises was so pronounced today, the way it would get when she was really upset about something, and Brian’s heart clenched a little.
“Daddy will be home today when I come to pick you up at Grandma Deb’s. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled if you had a present for him.”
Emma finally turned her head and looked with her big sad eyes directly in Brian’s. “He’ll be back today?”
Brian nodded. “Yes.”
“Promise?” Emma wasn’t convinced.
Brian closed his eyes briefly and prayed to every deity known to man that the fucking gallery shit would clear up by midday so Justin could get on his plane. “Promise.”
Emma graced him with a tiny smile and extended her arms towards Brian. “Okay.”
Brian sighed in relief and strapped her out of her seat, pulling her out of the car. She clung to his neck a little more desperate than usual and Brian hugged her back fiercely before walking around the vehicle and setting her back down beside where Alex was waiting.
The moment he put her down, Emma spotted some of her friends behind the fenced wall and waved frantically at them, calling out a greeting to announce her arrival - though really, it was somewhat redundant. In true Emma fashion, all sorrows from only ten seconds before were already forgotten as she dashed through the opened iron wrought gates. Brian looked after her before glancing down at Alex and catching her rolling her eyes. He bit his lip to not laugh out loud and bent down to give Alex a hug.
“Look out for your sister?” He asked Alex as her little arms came around his neck. She nodded into his shoulder.
“Bye, Daddy.” She kissed him on the cheek before disentangling herself and straightening up.
“Bye, Precious.”
She smiled a quick sunshine smile at him before turning around and walking the path after Emma.
“Daddy?” Alex called back halfway through the gate.
“What is it, baby?”
“Is Daddy really coming back today?” She asked simply.
“He said he would.” Brian replied, wishing he could be surer of it.
“Okay. Can you make him? Because Emma is really upset.”
“Come here,” Brian motioned her back to him again and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m gonna try.”
She nodded again before Brian released her and she walked across the school lawn.
Brian straightened his jacket and tie, and returned the smile and wave from Miss Allison who stood at the entrance of the school building, ushering her students inside.
Arriving at Kinnetik half an hour late due to an unlucky coffee-car-incident at a red light, which forced him to take a detour to the loft to grab a clean suit, he was greeted by a stressed out Cynthia who didn’t bother with pleasantries before she attacked him in the lobby.
“Kevin has fucked up the boards from yesterday again.”
“The ones I already approved of? How is it possible?”
“Yes, the very ones. He thought he might improve the background color or something, I didn’t go into detail.”
“But they were already approved of.” Brian stated unnecessarily.
“I know. You have to fire him.”
“Aren’t you the one who’s telling me not to fire people too overhasty?”
“He fucked up the boards!” Cynthia exclaimed. “The ones I’m going to need in about,” she glanced at her watch, “two hours.”
The truth was, Kevin had already received two warnings for being out of line; he obviously didn’t fit into the Kinnetik team and it was high time Brian threw him out. The only reason he’d kept him so long was because certain people forced him to believe in granting second chances. The problem was, Kevin was already on his third.
“Get Ted to do it.”
“No,” Cynthia protested. “He’s way too soft for that. He’ll probably end up writing him a letter of recommendation.”
True. There were things Ted was extraordinarily good at. Unfortunately, firing people was not one of them. And Brian knew better than to suggest Cynthia do it herself. At least not while she was still wired and angry about his latest fuckup. The poor guy would probably end up without his balls. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but he figured the paperwork would be a bitch and he really did not need that.
“Alright.”
They reached Brian’s office and he looked around for his assistant before adding her absence to the exceedingly long and still growing list of things that made this morning less than stellar.
“Where’s Lauren?” Brian asked irritably.
“I’ve had her send over to the art department to help the guys reverse what Kevin did. She saw the boards last before he mutilated them and knows what they should look like.”
“I need my coffee.” Brian stated blandly in a, in his opinion, perfectly logical explanation why he couldn’t tolerate Lauren not being there.
“Looks like you’ve already had one.” Cynthia said with a wink to his shirt and suit that were ruined in the coffee-car-debacle on the way over.
“Fuck.” Brian muttered, remembering. “I need to change. Tell Kevin I want to see him in my office in twenty minutes.”
The next few hours continued to piss him off. Angry clients called to express their unhappiness with their current sales figures, incompetent interns had never heard the word cool applied to colors before, which made Brian think of the last competent intern he had worked with and who had been so painfully missing from his daily routine this morning. And then there was the general stupidity that seemed intent on manifesting itself in the people around Brian today, and continued to beat a path to his door and make his day less than bearable.
By 10:30 AM he was ready to pay indecent amounts of money for anyone willing to shoot him, when Lauren announced Justin on line one. Having learned from the last four hours, Brian dreaded the worst and wasn’t disappointed.
“Morning, Honey.” Justin’s voice dripped with sarcasm and Brian suspected Lauren had given him an advance warning.
“Cut the shit.” Brian cut in. “Just tell me.”
Justin hesitated only a second. “Ehmmm, I think they need me here a couple more days.”
Brian pinched his nose with his right hand as the fingers of his left clenched tightly and angrily around the receiver, making the white on his knuckles contrast sharply with the tanned skin.
“Why can’t Arianna do it?”
“From Europe?” Justin asked. “It was either I go to France or she. I believe you were the one who decided I should go to New York and she should take care of the opening in Saint-Tropez.” Justin replied.
Brian remained quiet because he had nothing to add to the facts. It seemed like the better deal at the time - to have Justin only a few hundred miles away instead of a few thousand. But as it turned out, New York felt just as far away as Europe and Brian had to fight hard not to copy Emma’s morning behavior. Oh, fuck, Emma.
“I’m sorry I won’t be there for Valentine’s Day.” Justin said but Brian was mentally kicking himself for his words this morning.
As bad as it already was, and as worse as it was about to get with another morning of waking up without Justin, and being reduced to jerking off in their shower, alone, late in the evening, and dealing with morons for staff and even greater morons for clients, and overbearing family members - Brian would deal with all of that when the need came. But the worst of all would be admitting to Emma that her daddy was not yet back from New York, wouldn’t be for another couple of days, in fact. Brian was really not looking forward to seeing the disappointment in her huge trusting eyes and being cast as a liar from hereon. Maybe he would somehow be able to turn it into a fib?
“Brian?” Justin treaded carefully, guessing his confession had made Brian temporarily speechless with anger. “Brian, I don’t care if you didn’t get me anything for Valentine’s,” he tried to joke.
“Fuck, Sunshine!”
“What is it?” Justin asked, suspecting there was more.
“I promised. I promised Emma.”
“Promised what?”
“That you’d be back. Today. She was throwing a fit at the breakfast table, refusing to eat. Then she wouldn’t talk to me or Alex. And I promised her you’d be back.”
Justin was quiet for the longest time. “I’ll call her.” Justin finally said. “I’ll call her at Debbie’s and explain. I’ll tell her not to be mad with you; I’ll tell her that it’s completely my fault.”
Brian nodded; unaware that Justin couldn’t see him. No matter what Justin was going to say to her, it wouldn’t erase the look of disappointment on her face that he’d be greeted with when he went to pick the twins up from Debbie’s house.
“This sucks, Sunshine.”
“I know.”
“Get a gallery manager?” It was a request slash demand that was not made for the first time. Ever since the first time the idea came up to convert part of the former museum building that was to house the New York branch of Kinnetik into a gallery, Brian demanded Justin hire a gallery manager. But the blond was too picky and no matter how many people applied, he always found something wrong with them.
“How long did you take to find one for Kinnetik NYC?” Justin retaliated, as usual.
Brian had nothing to say to that because Justin was right. When they’d moved to New York almost three years ago, they had plans to only stay for a year at the most. But because Brian couldn’t find a suitable applicant to turn the reins over to, they had ended up staying almost two years. Eventually though, things had worked out perfectly. So well in fact, that Brian didn’t need to break up the dynamic Ted-Cynthia duo. It would be hypocritical of him to rush Justin to make a decision. So he shut up.
As Justin knew that he wouldn’t receive an answer to his last question, he changed the topic and amended. “I’ll take care of Emma, Brian. It’ll be okay.”
“Alright.” Brian said, because there really was no other way to respond.
“I miss you.” Justin whispered into the phone.
“I miss your cock.” Brian replied with a hint of sarcasm and defiance in his voice.
“Love you. Later?”
“Later.”
Brian hung up and sighed. The constant drum behind his eyes had finally developed into a full blown headache and he searched his desk drawers for the bottle of aspirin. Shaking out three pills, he swallowed them dry before walking over to the refreshments cart and downing half a bottle of water. He’d barely managed to sit down on the white couch to allow himself a minute’s rest when the phone buzzed again.
“A Mrs. Sterling on line two, Mr. Kinney.” Lauren announced his next caller.
“Who the fuck is Mrs. Sterling?” Brian asked her.
Lauren replied, “From the Mt. Lebanon Montessori School and Academy?”
That was the twins’ preschool. Brian breathed through the terror threatening to freeze up his heart and picked up the phone.
“Kinney?”
“Mr. Kinney, it’s Margo Sterling, I’m the director of the Mt. Lebanon School.”
“Are Alex and Emma alright?” Brian asked before the pleasantries could take over the conversation.
“Oh, yes, Mr. Kinney, they’re quite well. I’m sorry if my call suggested otherwise. There has been a tiny episode though and I would like to ask you to come over here to discuss it properly.”
“What kind of episode?”
“Nothing of too big importance. Just a minor misunderstanding between your daughters and another student. We like to address those issues with the parents present. It has proven to be the best way of action to deal with similar situations.”
“I’ll be over in thirty minutes.”
“My assistant tried to get a hold of Mr. Taylor. Will he be able to join you?”
“No. He’s in New York this week,” Brian explained.
“Well, I guess, then it’ll be only the two of us,” Mrs. Sterling replied.
“I’m on my way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kinney.”
Brian slammed down the phone, cursing Cupid and everyone else who was responsible in the making of this day and slipped into his coat before leaving a message with Lauren that he’d be gone for an hour or maybe longer.
What the fuck was an ‘episode’ supposed to be? Brian wasn’t firm in the parent-teacher-slang and felt like he lacked some serious update to the parenting vocabulary to be able to translate the code. Apparently, he’d be facing Mrs. Sterling unprepared and unarmed. He only hoped he would come out of it with his mind and body intact. So far, he wasn’t providing too much of a challenge for anyone who set out to destroy him, Brian mused. The thought of Justin acting as his full-body armor suit kept him moderately entertained through his entire drive to the school grounds.
Arriving at the school, he made his way through the brightly but tastefully painted corridors into the director’s secretary’s office. He remembered the way from his earlier visits to the school during the application process. Stepping through the arched doorway, his sight immediately caught of Emma who was sitting on a bench, letting her legs dangle back and forth. A young woman with a pretty and friendly face sat beside her and Brian guessed she was the secretary; he didn’t remember her and guessed she must be new.
As soon as Emma’s eyes caught sight of Brian, she exclaimed, “I didn’t do anything, Daddy!” Her eyes were wide as saucers and Brian knew that she spoke the truth. Whenever Emma actually did do something, she would proclaim exactly the same words, only she would squint when doing so and Brian hoped it would always be this easy to tell when she was telling a lie.
The young woman who was sitting beside her, stood up to greet Brian. “Mr. Kinney, I presume. I’m Amanda Davis, Mrs. Sterling’s assistant.” She said extending her hand, voice friendly and calm. “She would like to talk to you. You can go in right away.”
“Where’s Alex?” Brian asked, shaking her hand in greeting.
“She’s with Mrs. Sterling. Go on, I’ll wait here with Emma.” She smiled encouragingly and Brian stepped through the massive oak door after knocking once but not waiting for an answer.
Mrs. Sterling’s office was decorated like no director’s office Brian had ever seen. It was colorful and could have rivaled Debbie’s love for gaudiness, only it was coupled with an interior design that didn’t look like something that was spawned by the Muppets during an orgy while tripping on a particularly good batch of crack. Strangely enough, Brian was relieved. When Alex or Emma were called into the director’s office, he didn’t want it to be some stuffy place and a frightening experience for the girls. As it turned out, Mrs. Sterling sat unceremoniously with Alex on the floor, quietly engaged in what Brian suspected was an educational lesson masked as a fun game.
He cleared his throat to make his presence known and both, Mrs. Sterling and Alex, looked up. Alex scrambled to her feet and ran into Brian’s arms while Mrs. Sterling stood up and arranged her clothes. Brian picked up the little girl and listened to her talk without taking a breath.
“Miss Allison said we should talk to Mrs. Sterling. But I didn’t do anything. I swear. Steve was mean. And I didn’t lie, Daddy. You told me not to lie and I didn’t.” She finally stopped to take a breath when Brian scooped her up in his arms.
Brian felt torn and desperate. The thing that irritated him most, besides the fact that he couldn’t make heads or tails of the jumbled speech, was that it wasn’t like Alex to talk a mile a minute. That was a skill Emma was the residing champion of. Hell, he’d never expected to be called into the headmistress’ office because of Alex. Emma - maybe; she could get wound up in something where she wouldn’t budge. But Alex? Not in a million years would he have expected this. He wondered what could have happened that had Alex so riled up. Being watched by Mrs. Sterling didn’t help matters in the slightest as he was already feeling like the worst parent on the planet, even though he had no idea what he was ordered to the school for.
“What happened?” Brian asked, not sure whether he was addressing Alex or the director.
Mrs. Sterling smiled benevolently at Alex and motioned for Brian to take a seat across from her behind the heavy desk. Brian set down, placing Alex on his lap and listened to the woman.
“It appears that there has been a slight misunderstanding between Alex and another student which lead to a spat. You see, the students were asked to make Valentine’s cards and the teacher, Miss Allison, was moving around, helping those children who couldn’t sign their cards completely on their own.”
Brian held back a comment on the lack of ideas the teachers displayed in letting the children make Valentine’s cards. He also didn’t comment on the fact that the shitload of money he was paying the institution was used to brainwash his kids into pliable citizens that would later join in the commercialism and consumerism that was the propaganda of Valentine’s Day.
Brian didn’t know whether Mrs. Sterling saw him scowl, but if she did, she kindly refrained from commenting and continued unperturbed. “Anyways, as you can imagine, there was lots of commotion; that’s why Miss Allison, Alex’s and Emma’s teacher, didn’t hear the argument when it started. Alex had already finished her card and since she can read and write pretty well on her own already,” Mrs. Sterling sent a proud look in Alex’s direction, “she decided to sign it to make it a very special gift for her daddies, isn’t that right, sweetie?” She directed the last question at Alex.
Alex nodded gravely, a very serious expression on her face, before she melted further into Brian’s embrace.
“Maybe the whole situation will become clearer once you see what started it.” At that, Mrs. Sterling passed the self-made card in question to Brian and he looked at it. It was a fairly standard, red and white card, with a big, slightly misshaped, heart on the front. When Brian opened it, the text inside read ‘I love my two daddies’ in dancing capital letters. Brian had never thought he could be touched so deeply by something so humble and felt a lump in his throat the size of Arizona. He swallowed hard around it, took a shaky breath and pressed a kiss on Alex’s hair, moved by her simple words, and she burrowed her face into Brian’s shoulder, looking sideways at Mrs. Sterling from under long lashes.
Mrs. Sterling watched the emotional exchange with a soft smile. “Apparently, a boy in Alex’s class read the card and said to Alex that she can’t have two daddies. He then proceeded to explain that one can only have one daddy and one mommy.” Mrs. Sterling explained.
Alex lifted her head from Brian’s shoulder and, becoming agitated, interjected - big Justin-blue eyes focused solely on Brian. “I told Steve I have two daddies, Daddy. But he didn’t believe me. And he called me a liar. But I do have two daddies,” She insisted with a vehemence in her little voice that tolerated no contradiction, waving her small hands, palms up, in front of her for effect. “And I told him so. And Steve said, ‘Then you’re not a family.’ He said, ‘A real family is a daddy and a mommy and a kid.’ But Grandma Deb and Auntie Em, they always say we are a family. And they wouldn’t lie to me. And I said to Steve that I too have a family. And that I do have two daddies. And it’s way better than him because he only has one daddy!” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, an angry pout firmly in place. Brian found she was beyond adorable in her outrage and smoothed a soothing hand across her hair again.
“Mr. Kinney, the boy, Steve, he didn’t say it in a vicious way. He meant nothing malicious by what he said. He was simply confronted with a family structure that was unfamiliar to him. Please know that we do encourage and promote all kinds of ethnicities, religion, race, or alternative family structures among our students.”
Brian nodded at that. He knew. That was one of the reasons why they had chosen this school after returning from New York.
“You see, Mr. Kinney, the little quarrel resulted in a small fight when Emma somehow got involved into the argument. She has quite a temper, as I’m sure you are well aware of.”
Again, Brian nodded. Yes, he was aware, though he tried hard not to grin proudly at that. One did not want to cross Emma when she was on a mission, especially when it involved her sister.
“Emma can be very… protective when she feels wronged. And she and Alex are, understandably, very close. I guess she felt she needed to come to her sister’s rescue, even though Alex managed quite well on her own. As you can imagine, it got very loud between the three of them and the teacher wasn’t able to quiet them down immediately. Also, we usually try to give children room to solve little spats on their own. But Mr. Kinney, we do not tolerate children getting violent. That’s why we called you. Maybe it would be best if you talked to the girls while the incident is still fresh on their minds?” Mrs. Sterling suggested.
Brian felt a surge of barely controlled anger at the insinuation. He and Justin and the girls may not have been the traditional family, but Brian wouldn’t let anyone even imply that the way they chose to raise their kids left anything to be desired. He was fuming.
“Alex would never become violent! And neither would Emma.” Brian protested vehemently, and then turned to Alex. “Did you or Emma hit Steve?” Brian asked, disbelief clearly etched in his voice. Alex stared up into his face, eyes huge and mouth slightly agape. She shook her head slowly, lips forming a ‘No’ but no sound came from her lips.
“That settles it, I’d say.” Brian pronounced, knowing that Alex was telling the truth. Nobody should ever say that he didn’t know his daughters.
“No. Alex didn’t hit anyone. But she did shove Steve and we do not allow our students to lash out physically.”
“What did Steve do?” Brian simply asked.
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Sterling was flustered.
Brian chose to address his daughter. “Did Steve try to shove you or your sister?”
Alex shook her head again. “But he grabbed my card and I was afraid that he would rip it so I pushed his hand away. I didn’t hit him.” She assured.
“Mrs. Sterling,” Brian began, addressing the headmistress again, “I can assure you that violence is not tolerated in our household either. The way I see it - it’s not my kids who need to be talked to.” The clipped tone indicating this conversation was over.
There was no way Mrs. Sterling could have missed the hint and she hadn’t. Immediately backpedaling, she hurried to clarify what she had meant by her former statement. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Kinney, if what I said led you to believe I was implying an error on your part, because I wasn’t. That was never my intention. I was merely suggesting taking this incident as a lead in for a discussion about conflict resolution? It was in no way a critique on your style of raising your children.”
Brian nodded, accepting the apology but still feeling something ugly simmering just underneath his carefully measured and deceptively clam surface. He tried to detach himself a little from the situation to get an objective perspective. He didn’t intend to run into Mrs. Sterling like he did. Only it was hard to remain cool when it felt like she was critiquing Emma and Alex’s behavior, which he thought was totally appropriate and justifiable. Brian sighed. This talk was just the cherry on top of this shit sundae of a day. He squeezed the bridge of his nose with the hand that wasn’t resting on Alex’s back, feeling his headache return despite the three aspirin he took earlier.
The woman smiled sympathetically at him.
“I’m guessing you’re not having the best of days?”
Brian nodded in affirmation, recognizing the peace offering and accepting it. Despite everything, she was a nice lady and Brian wouldn’t have liked to elaborate on what an agony it was to be forced to start the day without his usual morning workout. Alex began squirming in Brian’s lap before she pulled away a little and looked at Brian, eyes widened in question and a frown creasing her forehead.
“Are you mad, Daddy?” She asked.
“No, Alex, I’m not mad.” He comforted her. “I am tired.”
She reached out and lay a palm on Brian’s forehead, imposing her wisdom on her father, “When you’re tired, you need to lie down and take a nap.”
“I’d really love that, sweetheart.” Brian replied, managing only a tired smile.
Alex pinched his cheeks lightly and pulled at the corners of his mouth with her fingers until he graced her with a smile that she deemed satisfactory in intensity.
Mrs. Sterling had watched the gentle exchange of words and gestures with a smile. “Mr. Kinney, please don’t think we’re making today’s incident into more than it was - a twist between children. As you’re well aware, I’m sure, we like to involve parents in the school’s everyday happenings and today was just another one of those things that every parent has to deal with on a daily basis.”
“Of course.” Brian conceded and asked, “Do you want me to sign them out for today?”
“Not at all. They are very welcome to stay until pick-up time.” Mrs. Sterling smiled again to communicate that she meant it and stood up, escorting Brian to the door. “You have two very bright girls there, Mr. Kinney. You should be very proud.” She smiled at him encouragingly again and Brian felt weirdly reassured.
He was. But Brian only had enough energy to nod at her compliment.
He was still reluctant to let go of Alex and carried her in his arms. Alex’s head lolled on his right shoulder and as Brian walked past the director on his way out, Alex sent a brilliant smile in Mrs. Sterling’s direction, waving at her with the Valentine’s card she was still clutching in her hand, and Mrs. Sterling smiled and waved back. That girl was really something, she thought fondly.
In the privacy of a deserted classroom, Brian listened to the whole story again, told alternately by Alex and Emma. Brian sat on a way too small chair listening carefully to Alex who sat opposite from him on a desk. Emma’s patience had been put to a hard test when she needed to sit still in the director’s assistant’s office and she was now running in zigzag circles around the tables and chairs.
“And Steve’s card was really stupid,” Emma called from the back of the classroom as the issue was raised once more.
“And now it’s not a surprise anymore,” Alex pouted, holding up the card she made.
“Of course it is,” Brian protested. “It was a huge surprise and I loved it. And Daddy hasn’t seen it yet. I bet he’ll be just as surprised as I was.”
Alex only shrugged, still a little upset about the whole incident. Emma made another circle around the two of them and said, slightly out of breath, “We made other things too. Wait till you see the-“ She was suddenly silenced as Alex leaned down and put a hand on her mouth.
“Emma, no! You can’t tell!”
“Oops.” Emma’s apology, muffled by Alex’s hand, could be heard.
Alex complained to Brian, “She can never keep a secret.”
“I can too!” Emma protested while climbing onto a nearby desk.
“You always tell everyone! You almost told Daddy.” Alex exclaimed indignantly to make her point.
“Only ‘cause I forgotted.” Emma answered and Alex sent another pointed stare at Brian.
“Do you think Daddy will be mad?” Alex asked Brian, changing the subject.
“No, I’m sure he won’t be mad at all.” Brian assured her.
“Maybe we can keep it a secret too?” Emma suggested, and added as she met Alex’s suspicious glare, “I swear I won’t tell this time.”
“A secret is not the same as lying, right, Daddy? ‘Cause I wasn’t lying.” Alex repeated, once again referring to the fight she had with her classmate.
Even through the hazy swirl of the last hour, Brian was able to smile at the success of his parental endeavor from a couple of weeks before, when he had sat down with the twins to explain that lying was not an accepted form of communication in the Taylor-Kinney household. Not wanting to be hypocritical, Brian had ended up explaining to two four-year-olds the vast difference between a lie and a fib, and the consequences that came with each one.
“No, you weren’t. But Steve has a mommy and a daddy and he didn’t know that some children have only one daddy or only one mommy. And you have two daddies. He didn’t know that either. But it wasn’t nice of him to call you a liar.” Brian agreed.
Alex and Emma both nodded and Brian hugged them before asking, “You wanna go back to Miss Allison’s class and finish your gifts?”
Brian decided the bad news about Justin not coming back today could wait another hour or two and said goodbye to the girls, giving each a big hug and reminding them that Debbie would be there to pick them up later, before going back to the office.
continued here...