"Did you see this?" Jamie asked his wife, waving a piece of paper in the air.
"Did I see what?" Eddie asked, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Bridget's mid-semester report," Jamie scowled, thrusting the piece of paper under Eddie's nose.
Calmly and with a roll of her eyes, Eddie snatched the report from her husband's hand and scanned it.
Eddie's amused smirk fell as she read further. By the time she reached the end, she had a full-blown frown going.
"She's failing?" Eddie said, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe the words in front of her.
Jamie nodded, "She's failing. Not only that, but she's acting up too!"
Eddie sighed, "I'm sure she has a reason."
"We didn't raise her to be talking back to her teachers, Eddie," Jamie snapped, dropping to the couch with a huff.
"Calm down, babe," Eddie said, moving over and draping her legs across his lap, "We'll talk to her, figure out what's going on with school."
"I never got a bad grade when I was her age," Jamie said, frustrated.
Eddie snorted, "Oh don't even try that. Your dad told me about that C, Mr. Harvard Law."
Jamie laughed despite himself, "It was one C. I don't understand why she's failing now. She's always been such a good student, like me."
Eddie patted his arm gently, "Are you sure she's like you? Maybe you've been putting too much pressure on her."
"I haven't been putting too much pressure on her," Jamie protested, "Have I?"
Eddie shrugged, "We'll have to ask Bridgey."
Jamie sighed, "Tonight or tomorrow morning?"
Eddie grabbed Jamie's wrist to check the time on his watch, "We should just do it tonight. Get it over with."
Jamie nudged her legs off of his lap and stood up, extending one hand to Eddie so I could pull her to her feet.
"I hate getting upset with her," Eddie sighed, following Jamie down the hall.
"We're not upset," Jamie said, "Just curious."
Eddie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever you say, Detective."
Jamie knocked on Bridget's closed bedroom door, "Bridget. Open up."
The 14-year-old sighed loudly, "Come in."
Jamie pushed the door open and both he and Eddie leaned against the doorframe.
Bridget looked up from her laptop, unimpressed with their good cop-bad cop routine.
"Want to explain this?" Jamie asked, holding out the mid-semester report.
Bridget's eyes widened, "How'd you get that?"
She jumped to her feet and tried to grab it away from her father. Jamie simply lifted his hand higher into the air.
"No way, Bridget. You're not hiding this," Jamie frowned, "We'd like an explanation."
Bridget's forehead was creased in confusion, "You weren't even supposed to get that for another week."
Eddie moved her hands to rest on her hips, "Mrs. Anderson sent it to us early. She's concerned with your work."
Bridget threw herself into her bed, "That's so not fair! I needed time to explain."
"Explain what?" Jamie asked, "Why you've been failing? Why you've had a dozen detentions in the last month? Why you're being disrespectful to your teachers? Which one is it, Bridget?"
Eddie touched Jamie's forearm, "Calm down, Jamie. We're not angry."
Bridget narrowed her eyes, "Dad seems pretty angry."
Jamie sighed and his shoulders dropped, "I'm not angry. I just want to know what's going on with you."
"Nothing's going on," Bridget mumbled, crossing her arms and looking down.
"Yeah, like we believe that," Eddie laughed gently, "Honey, we're detectives for a reason."
She sat down next to her daughter and wrapped an arm around the teen's stiff shoulders.
"You can tell us what's going on," Eddie said, "We can help if you need it."
Jamie could see that Bridget's lower lip was quivering a little bit. He sat down on her other side and kissed the side of her head, "What is it, baby?"
Bridget burst into tears, "Everything sucks. Amy is being a bitch and it can't see the blackboard and all of my teachers think I'm dumb."
She buried her face into Eddie's chest, her shoulders shaking with the force of her tears.
Jamie and Eddie shared a look over her head.
"Honey," Eddie said, stroking Bridget's blonde hair, "It's okay. We're going to take it one step at a time. First off, we'll go see the eye doctor this week. Maybe you need glasses."
Bridget sniffled in response.
"That's probably why your grades are dropping," Jamie said, "Once we fix that, it'll be easier for you to pay attention."
"And what's the problem with Amy?" Eddie asked.
"She's a bitch," Bridget scowled.
"Yeah, we established that," Jamie said, "And your mom and I would appreciate it if you didn't curse."
"Fine," Bridget mumbled, "But she told Anthony Gold that I like him, but I don't!"
She threw herself into Eddie's lap and wailed, "Now he won't leave me alone. He thinks I want to date him!"
Eddie rubbed Bridget's back, "Honey, Dad and Uncle Danny can talk some sense into this Anthony kid, if you want."
Bridget looked up and her eyes were so sad that Jamie's heart broke for his little girl.
"You would?"
Jamie nodded, "Course we would. We don't want to see you upset."
Bridget sighed, "Thanks, Daddy."
Jamie pulled her into a hug, "You should have just come to us in the first place. This all could have been resolved a long time ago."
Bridget sniffled, "I didn't want you to be mad at me."
"For what?" Eddie said, "Being harassed by some stupid boy? Needing glasses? Honey, you're our baby. We will always have your back."
"Thanks," Bridget wiped at her eyes, "Dad?"
"Mhm?" Jamie hummed.
"Can you help me with math?" she looked up at Jamie sheepishly, "I haven't been paying attention and I don't know what I'm doing."
Jamie laughed lightly, "Sure, kiddo. Let's see if I can help."
Eddie kissed Bridget on the top of her head and let her husband and daughter get immersed in the world of ninth grade math.
She had a phone call to make.
Amy's mother didn't know who her kid had messed with.
A/N: This is sort of based on a prompt from Charlottarosa (FFNet). I've had a bad case of writer's block lately, so I'm not overly fond of this, but let me know what you think :)
Happy Blue Bloods Friday!