Family Struggles - 12. Chaotic Week

Chaotic Week:

Blu quietly opened the front door poking his head in to see if anyone was around, seeing no-one he shuffled Arabella and Lincoln through before carefully closing it behind him. As they entered the living room they came face-to-face with Kyle.

Kyle looked at the three, who had a guilty look, “Where have the three of you been?”

“Nowhere,” the three said in unison looking sheepish.

“Uh huh,” Kyle stared at the three, “Well, Levi and I made lunch it’s in the oven, to keep it warm. We made Buffalo Chicken Mac-n-Cheese.”

“Awesome, come on kids,” Blu said excitedly. “Thanks, Blondie.”

Blu kissed Kyle on his way past him to the kitchen hoping they had gotten away with their little outing.

Kyle stood up watching the three retreat hastily to the kitchen, wondering what they had been doing all morning causing them to act so strangely.

Casually Kyle strolled into the dining room where the three were eating setting his eyes on Lincoln.

“So, did you have fun this morning buddy?” Kyle asked innocently.

Lincoln nodded his head making no effort to say anything.

“What did you do?” Kyle smirked at Blu who glared at him.

“Nothin’,” Lincoln shoveled a large portion of food into his mouth freeing himself from speaking.

Levi strolled into the dining room after he heard the talking.

“Where were you guys? Dad and me played some Xbox,” Levi smiled as he recounted his morning activities.

“We went for a walk,” Blu said as if it were something they would normally do, even if the temperatures outside were beyond cold.

Levi stared at his brother sensing Lincoln being caught in a lie, “Wasn’t it a little cold bro?”

“Uh… We wore warm clothes,” Lincoln muttered before hurriedly shoveling another bite of food in his mouth. “What’s the mark on your neck Dad?”

Kyle rolled his eyes, “Your Pop thought he was being funny.”

Levi looked at the mark on his Dad, “Hey, didn’t Tony have one of those on his neck?”

Blu winced his fork stopped half-way to his mouth, “He better not have.” He sternly eyed his daughter.

Kyle looked at Levi and Bella, “I um… WOW!”

Kyle sat down in his chair his mind reeling, not even sure what to say. He sat wondering how long of a drive it would be to get to Tony’s house.

“Shut-up Levi, he did not.” Arabella looked at Blu, “I swear Pop he doesn’t if he did Tony didn’t get it from me.”

“Okay, I better not find one on him, young lady. There’ll be consequences if he has.” Blu pushed his lunch away from him.

Levi shook his head, “I swear –”

Kyle shook his head cutting off his son, “That’s enough,” he heard more than his mind was willing to process.

“If you kids have finished eating get on to your homework or chores. Your Dad and I will clean up here,” Blu told them.

The three left the table grumbling and nudging each other, Khan followed along behind Lincoln. Scarlett jumped out of an empty soda can box to follow his Mom, scaring the crap out of Blu.

“Jesus,” Blu gasped, “I’m going to kill that brother of yours.”

“Why?” Kyle stared off into a distant world still dumbfounded by Levi’s revelation.

“That cat’s favorite past time is trying to give me a friggin’ heart attack.”

“Oh ok,” Kyle answered not really paying attention.

“Blondie focus, I want to talk to you about something,” Blu said as he stood and started clearing the lunch dishes from the table.

“I was focusing, you wanted to kill Tony,” Kyle looked at his husband.

“No Honey, that’s you. If he has a hickey on his neck tomorrow in class we can revisit that train of thought. After we ground Arabella until she’s old and grey,” Blu said unamused by that situation.

“What did you wanna talk about Babe?” Kyle fully focused on Blu, well kind of.

Blu shifted nervously before speaking, “I um… I was wondering if we could, you know, maybe, run a competition with the English classes. Have the kids write a short story, then a panel of three or so teachers could read them and…” Blu shuffled his feet again, looking away for a moment.

“What’s the winner going to receive?” Kyle watched his husband dance nervously around the subject.

Blu sighed, “Well I have enough in my savings to sponsor one kid to go to a two-week writers camp in the summer holidays. I would also like to send Arabella.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes, “What if Tony wins?”

“That won’t matter, it’s not a sleep away camp. They are running it at the local community college.”

“Oh, okay, that’s fine then,” Kyle relaxed in his chair blowing out a deep breath.

“So you wouldn’t mind if I spent some of our money paying for a kid to go?” Blu asked.

“No, it’s a great idea. It’ll give a kid an opportunity they might never get again,” Kyle smiled at his husband who appeared to be worried about spending money from their savings, even though they had enough money to last them a lifetime.

*****

The week started off slowly, nothing much happened on Monday. Tuesday school was a bit crazy with the guys trying to get the day over with before they had to take the kids home to Nan and get to the Attorney’s office for their appointment about the adoption.

After school, Kyle and Blu rushed the boys to the car, Arabella was going to Tony’s house to work on an assignment.

Kyle got in the driver’s seat watching the kids in the mirror while they fastened their seatbelts, “Now remember boys, don’t let Nan do anything crazy.”

Levi snickered, “We can handle Nan, don’t worry about us Dad.”

Lincoln giggled and nodded his head.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea Blondie, between Nan and the hellions it’s scarier than when we left them with Kaleb.” Blu bit his bottom lip anxiously.

Kyle smiled reaching out to squeeze Blu’s hand, “The kids will be fine, Babe.”

Blu frowned at his husband, “If you say so. You’re cleaning up after that tornado.”

Kyle laughed as they started their drive home, which didn’t take long before they were pulling into the driveway.

Kyle shut off the motor before he got out of the car turning to the boys, “Remember don’t let Nan talk you into doing anything crazy while Pop and I are gone.”

“Oh, we won’t,” Lincoln smiled innocently.

Levi chuckled quietly to himself as he crawled out of the backseat.

“How long are you guys gonna be gone?” Levi questioned his Dads.

Kyle walked in front of the boys as Blu brought up the rear, “I’m guessing a few hours,” he shrugged his shoulders as he placed his key in the lock, “No sugary treats Lincoln, you can have a piece of fruit for a snack, we will give Nan money to order pizza for dinner.”

“Sh… alright,” Lincoln mumbled as the door opened and they all went inside.

Blu leaned down whispering into Lincoln’s ear, “That’ll be a dime for the half bad word Sunshine.”

Lincoln grumbled under his breathe as he dug into his pocket handing Blu a dime.

“I didn’t say it though,” Lincoln whined with puppy dog eyes.

Blu stuck his bottom lip out at Lincoln. “Tuff,” he said taking the dime to put in their bad word jar that went to Kasey at the end of each month. Mostly sometimes it would be every few weeks depending on how often Kaleb and Blu found themselves in the same room.

Kyle smiled as his men bantered back and forth, “It’s a losing battle Link, just don’t even think of saying that stuff and you won’t lose your money.”

Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest pouting, “I didn’t mean too.”

“But you almost did and Pop gets caught by Kasey all the time, even if he didn’t mean too,” Kyle roughed up Lincoln’s hair. “Get your homework done before Nan gets here, I don’t want her checking over your work.”

The kids worked for about forty-five minutes on their homework before Nan arrived, proclaiming they were done.

A knock at the front door gained Lincoln’s attention, “I got it!” He jumped out of his chair running to do his duties as a designated doorman.

“Hi Nan,” Lincoln smiled at the old woman holding his hand out, “There is a ten cent entry tax today.”

Nan pulled a fireball candy, “That’ll have to do Sweets, and if you behave there’s more where that came from.”

She thrust the candy into Lincoln just about knocking him on his ass as she charged through the opening.

Lincoln glanced around making sure his Dads weren’t watching as he shoved the candy into his pocket before heading in their direction.

Kyle smiled at Nan when she entered the dining room, “Thanks for watching the kids Nan, their homework is done. We’ll probably be gone a few hours,” he handed her two twenty dollar bills, “Order pizza for dinner, the kids know what we normally get. If you don’t like what they order, find something for yourself there's a menu in the drawer.”

“Thanks, Grandbaby, we’ll be fine, you boys go and do what you need to,” Nan said nonchalantly.

Kyle made rounds to the kids giving hugs and kissed their foreheads, “Be good boys,” he said to the twins as Blu repeated the process.

*****

After Blu and Kyle left the boys decided to test the waters with Nan, they grabbed the cling wrap out of the kitchen chuckling as they headed to the downstairs bathroom. A few minutes later the kids returned the roll to the kitchen giggling like a bunch of teenage girls.

Lincoln walked into the living room flopping on the couch beside Nan, “How was your day Nan?”

“Okay, I guess, I’m old, ain’t much to do but watch tv, read, drink, or nookie. How about yourself?”

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders, “Nothin’ to exciting, we had school. Dad played a piece of music in band, on the piano.”

Levi walked in the room choosing to sit in the chair where he had direct sight of Nan.

“Don’t you have to wash your teeth and diapers Nan?” Levi asked the elderly woman.

“Hmm, I don’t reuse diapers freckles, seems a little unhygienic to me. And unlike yourself I don’t wash my teeth I brush them.” Nan chuckled.

“I thought all old people had fake teeth that needed to be washed,” Levi smirked at Nan.

“Ya Nan those teeth are older than dirt if you still have them,” Lincoln chimed in with a devilish smirk.

Nan glared at the boy, “Go have a shower and get your PJ’s on Sweets.”

“It’s not even 4:30 pm Nan!” Lincoln huffed, “You’ve lost your mind too.”

Nan growled, “Sorry, you’re right. I said that wrong. What I meant was – go play in traffic.”

She picked up a magazine from the coffee table and tossed it at Lincoln.

Lincoln elbowed his brother nodding towards Nan, “Can I have your car keys, Nan?”

“Don’t have any, I can’t even drive.”

“Eyes are too bad, Huh?” Levi laughed.

Nan huffed and turned the television up to drown out the rug rats.

Lincoln walked over and tapped his great-grandmother on the arm.

“I’m hungry can I order our pizza’s now?” Lincoln batted his eyes innocently.

Nan gave up and turned off the television, “What?”

Levi spoke at the top of his lungs, “He said he’s hungry and wants to order our pizza but you’re too hard of hearing.”

Nan so badly wanted to flip the kid off but thought better of it. Instead, she just yelled back.

“Okay then, go ahead. I like anything but anchovies.”

The twins walked out of the room smiling to one another.

Once the boys got the pizza menu out of the drawer Levi leaned into his brother after looking over his shoulder, “Extra anchovies and hot peppers, I can stomach it for one night if you can.”

“It’ll be hilarious,” Lincoln snickered as they called the order in all three pizzas made identical.

After they hung up the phone the boys went back into living room each taking a seat on opposite sides of Nan.

“Pizza will be here in forty-five minutes Nan,” Lincoln smiled as he leaned his head on Nan’s shoulder.

“What are you up to Sweets?” Nan asked warily.

“We,” Lincoln motioned to his brother, “wanted to show how much we love you.”

“Mmhmm, let’s pretend I believe you for the moment. Why don’t you boys play your game box until the pizza comes?”

Both boys shrugged their shoulders and kissed Nan on the cheek before they went to play their game.

“Damn kids,” Nan grumbled, “think I’m stupid.”

Levi grabbed the pizza menu that they ordered from folding it, slipping it into his pocket before they went to the game room.

“We could make Nan some sweet tea with extra sugar,” Lincoln suggested to his brother.

Levi’s eyes got big as saucers, “Dad would kill you if you touched the sugar container, I’m not goin’ to the dentist because of you.”

Lincoln made a clucking sound, “You’re chicken!”

“I’m not stupid,” Levi said exacerbated.

“I can’t believe you’re a chicken,” Lincoln wouldn’t back down after he found a line his brother wouldn’t cross.

Levi grabbed Lincoln in a headlock hurling them both to the ground with a loud thud.

“I’m not tellin’ you again, take it back!” Levi demanded as he tightened his grip on his brother’s neck.

Lincoln shook his head, continuing to aggravate his twin.

“I’m gonna hurt you,” Levi grumbled cinching his grasp, even more, causing Lincoln’s face to turn a bright red.

“Nan!” Lincoln choked out.

Nan sighed getting up from the couch lazily making her way to the game room.

“What’s happening here? What’s all the yelling?” Nan asked as she watched the boys wrestle not making any attempt to break it up.

“Nothin’,” Levi growled as he continued his death grip, “Say it!” he demanded.

Lincoln shook his head refusing his brother’s request.

Nan shook her head as she edged closer to her hoodlum grandsons. She grabbed each by an ear twisting it until they let go of each other, then led them back out to the living room while they yelped she was hurting them.

Levi sat in the chair glaring across the room at Lincoln who sat at the opposite end of the couch from Nan with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You know you are–” Lincoln started but was immediately cut off by his brother.

“If you say it again you will wish you were never born,” Levi said heatedly.

Nan glared at the boys one at a time, sighed then turned the television on tuning it to the gospel channel and turned up the volume. She sat with them while they mouthed silently at each other across the room. It made no difference to her all she wanted was the peace and quiet, even if she had to endure scripture at the same time – “Judgy fuckers.” Nan thought.

The doorbell rang causing Lincoln to spring from his seat he grabbed the cash Kyle left on the table in the foyer for pizza. Once he paid the delivery kid Lincoln placed the pizza on the dining room table.

“Pizza’s here,” Lincoln called out with a smile as he went and grabbed plates.

Levi smirked as he made his way to the dining room.

Nan opened the lids of the three pizza’s, all the same.

“Let me guess, beef extra anchovies?”

“Nope, extra anchovies and extra hot peppers,” Lincoln shrugged his shoulders.

“You said you love anchovies,” Levi smiled.

“Yes, you’re right I did. Didn’t I?” Nan answered.

There was no way in hell she was going to give the little darlings an inch. She took a plate from Lincoln then loaded three pieces onto her plate. Nan had every intention of showing them she could handle whatever they dished out – pun notwithstanding.

Lincoln took a bite of the god-awful concoction and smiled innocently at Nan.

“It tastes really good huh,” Lincoln asked after swallowing the bite unchewed, chasing it down with a gulp of lemonade Levi brought to the table for them.

“Mmm, sure is,” Nan said.

After three or four bites Nan’s mouth was on fire, her nose was running and she was almost positive her tear ducts were bleeding.

“Thith, ith, tho yummy. I can’t believe me and Thteven haven’t tried thith before.” Nan’s words slurred from the fiery bite of the hot peppers.

Nan swallowed the food as quickly as she could, picking up the jug of Lemonade and chugging it down.

Levi smiled sweetly at Nan, “So Grammy do you need another piece you look really hungry?”

Not only was Nan’s entire head one fireball, her stomach was now rebelling. “Must not kill the children,” she chanted in her head. It had become her new mantra since the boys had come into her life.

Nan took her phone from her pocket holding it under the table.

Nan: Exactly how attached are you to your boys? And where’s the sweet, nice girl. I like her.

Kyle: Don’t hurt the twins, Arabella went to visit Tony.

Nan: Who the F is Tony?

Kyle: Her boy, friend.

Nan: Oh! That’s sweet. Should I get her some condoms and magazines?

Kyle: NO!

Nan: Settle Petal. No need to yell, I’m an old lady, not deaf.

Kyle: We are almost done here, should be home in an hour or so.

Nan: No detours, Stud Muffin or I’m roping the kids to the clothesline and going home – 1 hour!

Lincoln tried giving Khan some of his pizza, he sniffed it and headed to his food dish opting for dry dog food.

After five pieces of pizza, Levi leaned back in his chair rubbing his stomach, “That was a delicious suggestion for the anchovies Nan.”

“You’re welcome Freckles.”

“That’s what you call Levi,” Levi huffed.

“You’re Levi, that’s Lincoln,” Nan said pointing to the other boy.

Lincoln shook his head, “Nope, I’m Levi.”

Nan shook her head back at Lincoln, “Nooo, you’re Lincoln. I know this because you always answer the door. Plus you have been wearing the grey shirt and Levi is in black. You’ll have to try this another time when I haven’t already spent time with you.”

Levi chuckled, “We had to try,” as he took another gulp of his drink hoping to get the fishy taste out of his mouth.

Nan smiled, then her stomach loudly made a weird noise.

“Uh-oh!” she sped from the table toward the downstairs bathroom.

The twins grinned as they watched Nan held her hand to her stomach as she bid a hasty retreat into the bathroom.

“This is gonna be so priceless,” Lincoln chuckled.

“Aaaaaagh!!” Nan screamed, “You little turds!”

Levi looked at Khan, “Do you need to go out boy?”

Lincoln nodded his head grabbing Khan’s leash as the boys hurried Khan out the door into the backyard.

After the boys thought they gave Nan enough time to calm down, plus it was freezing and thought maybe they’d get frostbite if they stayed outside any longer, so they snuck quietly in the back door, looking around as they tip-toed through the kitchen. Lincoln and Levi made it to the living room to find Nan sitting on the couch in Blu’s robe, her purse over her shoulder and a plastic bag on her lap.

“Sit. And. Do. Not. Move.” Nan bit out in a no-nonsense tone.

The boys snickered, both opting to sit in the chair across the room from Nan fearing she might pop her cork.

The dining room had been cleared the downstairs now smelled like disinfectant and bleach. Nan was pissed, or had the shits doesn’t matter how you say it she was angry.

Lincoln heard their Dads car pull in the drive, “Can I go open the door for them?”

“No!”

Nan stood up from her seat, pulled her bag tighter against her body marching out the door. She reached Kyle and Blu as they were walking up the stairs to the porch, pushing her way past them without saying a word.

“Nan, where are you going?” Blu called out.

Nan whipped back around to face Blu and Kyle pointing at them, she opened her mouth and nothing came out. Shaking her head she tried again, then gave up huffing, stomping off toward her own place down the street.

“Nan, let me drive you,” Blu called out, “Why are you wearing my robe?”

She turned around again and shook her head when she couldn’t speak then kept walking.

“Blondie, go and find out what’s happened. I’ll drive the crazy lady in a bathrobe home before she gets picked up by the cops.”

Kyle nodded his head, going inside fearing to defy his husband and more fearful of what the twins had done to cause Nan to leave in such a huff.

Kyle walked into the living room where he found the twins still sitting in the chair where they had been since Nan told them not to move.

“Do you want to explain why Nan left here in a bathrobe?” Kyle asked as he sat on the couch staring at the two who had a smirk on their faces.

“The pizza didn’t agree with her stomach Dad,” Levi said.

“Her old person diapers didn’t work,” Lincoln snickered.

Kyle rubbed his temples, “What did you make Nan eat?”

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders, “Nan said she loved anchovies, so we ordered extra anchovies and extra hot peppers.”

Kyle’s stomach churned just hearing the combination, “Uh… Did Nan actually say that she loved anchovies?”

The boys looked at each other before their heads dropped to the floor, both muttering, “No sir.”

“That still doesn’t explain why does the house smell like a hospital,” Kyle stared at the boys awaiting an answer.

“We might have covered the toilet in cling wrap,” Levi mumbled quietly hoping their Dad wouldn’t hear the answer.

“You boys didn’t,” Kyle closed his eyes before shaking his head, “Pop ran Nan home, you know you’re both in trouble.”

Both nodded their heads, not able to make eye contact with Kyle.

Blu came in the house slamming the door, making his way to the living room at a swift pace.

“I’m guessing neither of you is surprised that you are both grounded for a week.” Blu took a deep breath. “Go upstairs and bring down your cell phones and the game room is off limits, along with the music room unless it’s for your regular lesson with Dad.”

Lincoln looked at Blu, “What about bowling?”

“There won’t be any bowling this week either. I hope you boys are happy, you made Nan cry, she felt absolutely humiliated. I have never in my life seen that lady shed a tear, so thank you. Now go, then you can get ready for bed.”

Both boys quietly went to retrieve the phones.

“Did Nan really cry?” Kyle asked his husband worriedly.

Blu flopped on the couch his hands scrubbing over his face, “Yep.” he sighed. “I was too hard on the boys, wasn’t I? I feel like an asshole. Nan cried, now I’ve been too hard on the boys. This day sucks.”

Kyle reached out pulling Blu into a hug, “Babe, you weren’t too hard on the boys. They knew they were in trouble, I don’t think they realized how bad they hurt Nan’s feelings.”

The boys slunk into the living room, handing Blu their phones.

“Pop,” Lincoln started to back away from Blu, “I’m… we’re sorry, we were just havin’ fun.”

“We didn’t mean to make Nan cry,” Levi said as he placed his arm around Lincoln’s shoulders.

“But she did, we’ll talk more about this tomorrow. Come and say goodnight when you’re ready for bed.”

Blu dismissed the boys he was too upset to talk to them without upsetting everybody any more than they were.

The twins headed back upstairs to take their showers.

“You realize that I just sent the boys to bed at six-thirty in the evening?” Blu gave Kyle a sad smile.

Kyle sighed, “Parenting isn’t always gonna be easy Babe, we’re still new at this stuff too. We’re gonna make mistakes, just like the kids.”

Sighing Blu pulled Kyle down on to the couch with him, “Come here and make me feel loved.”

Kyle held Blu in his arms kissing him while rubbing his back.

The boys walked back into the living room a little while later both in their bed shorts and t-shirt, with damp hair.

Levi hugged both of his Dads, “Sorry, goodnight,” he turned heading back to his bedroom.

“I love you,” Lincoln said with tears in his eyes, “Are you going to tuck us in still?”

Kyle hugged Lincoln, “We love you too, Link, we’ll come up and tuck you boys in.”

Lincoln turned heading back upstairs to his own bedroom which is never used anymore.

Kyle watched Lincoln ascend the stairs, “It breaks my heart when we have to punish the boys.”

Blu nodded then quietly sobbed into Kyle’s chest. He hated that they had to get upset with the boys, the three kids had already been through enough in their young lives but they had to learn to consider other peoples feelings over what they think might be funny.

*****

Later that night Kyle and Blu were awakened by Arabella.

“Pop, Dad, you have to wake up. Lincoln’s crying and packing a bag. Please Pop, you have to come now?”

Arabella was panicking and shaking her Dads awake.

“Please…” she cried.

Kyle jumped out of bed, “Babe, get Bella calmed down then come to Link’s room. We don’t need everybody worked up, it’s just gonna upset him more.”

Sitting up, Blu pulled Bella down next to him to explain exactly what had happened earlier. When she had arrived home from Tony’s everyone was tired and just turned in.

“It’s going to be okay, we’ll make him see he can’t leave. You go back to bed Sweetheart we’ll make sure your brothers are okay.” Blu hugged Bella before sending her off to her room.

Kyle was sitting in Lincoln’s room holding both boys in his arms when Blu walked in.

“You boys can’t run at the first sign of trouble. Remember when you first came home with us, we all agreed we’re all going to make mistakes,” Kyle said kissing the boys heads.

The bed dipped as Blu climbed up behind his boys, he pulled Lincoln from Kyle and laid down with his arms wrapped around the young boy. Lincoln melted into Blu with his head on his chest.

“We love you kids so much, you can’t leave us we would be heartbroken. Plus you can’t go anywhere you’re grounded.” Blu chuckled lightly squeezing Lincoln tightly. “Here move over so the two fatsoes can get in here with us.”

Lincoln sniffled as he slid over still attached to Blu making room in the bed. Levi shifted his way to his brother, leaving Kyle to lay on the outer edge of the cocoon they were forming.

“Can you tell us why you wanted to leave? Is it because you were in trouble?” Blu murmured before kissing the top of Lincoln’s head.

He shook his head sniffling, “We didn’t think you’d want us around after makin’ Nan cry. If we left, you could tell Nan that it was so we couldn’t hurt her no more.” Lincoln wiped his eyes, ashamed of his own actions.

“You guys are kids, you made a mistake, you’ve learned your actions can hurt others however unintentional they were. Nan wouldn’t want you to leave, even if she’s mad at you,” Kyle said as he stretched his arms over the boys.

“She’s really mad at us though Dad,” Levi said in a hushed tone.

“So are we Bud, but we love you. If we didn’t care about you do you think we would get mad?” Blu asked.

Lincoln laid there quietly not answering that question remembering what happened in the past with all of the boyfriends their mother had when they got in trouble.

Levi looked at Link, “When we got in trouble before, they’d try to hit Lincoln. I won’t let him get hurt again,” he said with a quivering voice.

Blu’s eyes welled up, “We would never, and I mean ever, lay a finger on you in anger. Please don’t ever think we would.” Blu said almost begging the kids to believe him. “You do understand the difference between those men and your Dad and me don’t you? We love you, but when you make mistakes, we might get mad but we would never physically hurt you or send you away. We still hugged you goodnight and tucked you in, told you we love you – because we do, no ifs, ands, or buts.” Blu’s voice was shaky, he would never want them to think they were like any of the men that tried to hurt them. His heart breaking as he spoke.

“We’re really trying to believe everything you both tell us,” Levi said with tears in his eyes.

Kyle’s eyes glimmered, “Just keep trying Son, we’re not giving up on you guys,” blinking back the tears, “nobody has a handbook about how to be a kid or a parent. We all make mistakes, we learn from them, and try to do better.”

“Is it okay, if we move this pow wow to our bed it’s bigger and we can all be comfortable in there. Did you boys want to sleep with us tonight?” Blu asked.

Both boys nodded their heads, Kyle stood up picking Levi up in his arm heading for their room.

Lincoln jumped on Blu’s back and they padded their way back to the main bedroom for the evening. A comfortable sleep for the family reassuring the boys, even though they were in trouble they are still very much loved and wanted.

Once the four had settled, Khan crawled onto the bed stretching across the foot of the bed, maintaining a watchful eye over the boys.