Moppets Go To School

by colakirk

The little moppets are back and this time El and Peter are sending them off to school. Well, they're trying to! Warning: This fic contains spanking, don't like, please don't read.

Author's Note: This fic was written as a trade on the ff exchange on livejournal. Thanks to Blue_Rose for writing a great fic where Neal is sent back to the office to await being dealt with by 'Principal Burke' after stepping out of line in the field.

Warning: This fic contains spanking of a child. If you are not comfortable with that, please don't read.

-W-C-

MOPPETS GO TO SCHOOL

Friday Morning

"NO! WAY! I! NOT! GOING!"

Agent Peter Burke, who'd been casually standing in front of the dresser, about to do his tie, threw it loosely around his neck and swiftly headed off downstairs to investigate the ear-splitting shouting coming from his youngest son. Something wasn't right. It was unlike either of the kids to yell or scream. It wasn't in their nature. They were more the passive-resistant types. Of course, when the boys were being punished or being examined by the doctor, now that was a whole different story altogether. Neal sure had a set of lungs on him unlike anything Peter had ever heard! The agent stepped into the living room and inquired, "What's going on?"

Elizabeth was sitting along with Mozzie at the dining table. She had a half-eaten jam and butter croissant on her plate and the older boy was busily spreading all manner of condiments onto his toast. Neal, well young Neal was standing behind his chair, Sunny tucked under his arm, face all red and angry and one clean unused plate marking his spot at the table.

El sighed, "Good morning, honey. I was just telling the boys how I've enrolled them to begin school on Monday at Jackson Street Public School. And, I'm guessing you heard how the little one felt about that idea."

"I'm pretty sure the whole street heard." Peter turned to Neal while he continued to do up his tie. "Neal, this is not something you get to make a decision about. You will be going to school on Monday morning. End of story. And I'll also add, I'm not overly happy about you shouting at your mother."

"I! DON'T! CARE! I! NOT! GOING!" Neal stomped his foot with each word.

Peter gave up on his tie and moved in a little closer to the table. Mozzie slunk down in his chair and pretended to be totally absorbed in an article on the front page of the morning paper. This dispute was all Neal's.

"You speak like that to either one of us again young man and you'll be eating your breakfast with an extremely sore bottom." Peter reinforced his statement with a very stern finger pointed in the youngster's direction.

"I! HATE! SCOOW! And if you wake me gow I! HATE! YOU! TOO!" And with that especially clear declaration, Neal picked up Sunny and threw him at Peter before running off up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door shut.

Unbelievable! Peter placed the cuddly toy onto the table and finally sat down for breakfast, kissing his wife. "Good morning, hon." Five minutes ago he'd hopped out of the shower feeling all fresh, cheerful and carefree. Perhaps he could ignore the last couple of minutes. He studied Sunny, looking a little worse for wear, in need of a good trip through the washing machine, sitting on top of Neal's empty plate. As far as ignoring the little temper tantrum? Fat chance!

"You know you guys are seriously way too casual when it comes to the notes in our files. Neither of you noticed the big bold letters in Neal's file highlighted in yellow and circled with a red magic marker that read, 'this child has an oppositional disorder to educational institutions'?"

Peter and El replied simultaneously, "NO!"

"Alright then. Shutting up now." Mozzie slunk further into his chair and mentally kicked himself for once again butting in and bringing undue attention to himself.

"Mozzie, would you please take Satchmo out the back and check that's he's got plenty of water?"

"Sure Elizabeth," The boy replied, all too happy to have an excuse to be out of there.

Peter also left the room but returned moments later with two excessively thick files labeled with the welfare department's logo. While sipping his coffee he perused the pages until he came across 'yellow highlighting and red magic marker circles'. "How can a child in Kindergarten have so many notations in their file regarding school incidents?" Peter found it difficult to accept what he was reading and began listing some of the observation made by various school guidance officers and educational support staff. "Oppositional defiance disorder; Speech Therapy recommendations, but no mention of the fact that it's connected to an emotional coping mechanism; ADD, ah, says here it's not really an issue because there's no hyperactivity with his attention deficit disorder," Peter commented sarcastically. "Frequent truancy, what a surprise, plus there's a whole heap of other reports with regards to inappropriate behavioral incidents."

"Like what?" El inched closer so she could see for herself.

Peter rattled off the list. "Neal Caffrey, East Side Elementary. Reported stealing other children's lunches; refusing to participate in class activities; drawing with permanent marker over several children and on school property during recess and here's a kicker, stealing money from the teacher's staff room. He was suspended for that particular incident."

"Oh my! What a mess? And I'm guessing with Neal being bounced around from foster home to foster home there's been very little in the way of continuity and follow through with many of these recommendations. No wonder he's refusing to go to school. It's been one negative experience after another."

"Yeah, well come Monday morning that's all going to have to change."

"May be easier said than done, Peter. I imagine it's not going to be a simple matter of just packing his lunch and kissing him goodbye at the front gate."

"Somehow, we'll have to make it work. One way or another, he has to go to school." Peter checked his watch. "Anyway we'll talk about it tonight. I've got a departmental meeting early this morning so I need to head off to the office shortly." The agent stood up and pushed his chair under. "I guess I'd better pay our rebellious little munchkin a visit before I leave."

"You're not going to spank him are you?" El indicated she wasn't thrilled with the idea.

"Yeah, I was. Why wouldn't I? He threw one hell of a massive tantrum, yelled at both you and me, and even pegged a toy at my head. I think he's more than earned himself a trip over my knee."

"I was just thinking he's already distressed enough. Obviously schools a real issue for him. How about you get going and Neal and I will have a chat about his behavior and how to handle difficult situations more appropriately in the future."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, you head off. I'll sort things out with Neal. I'll see you tonight. Hope you have a good day." El reached up and kissed her husband on the cheek.

"Okay. You too, hon. Have a good one." Peter stepped away from the table but turned back, suddenly registering something amiss. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"

"What's up?" El looked quizzically up at her husband while he pointed at a spot on the table.

Sunny Seal had somehow managed to do the great escape and was no longer perched on top of the breakfast plate, no doubt courtesy of one very distressed little owner! Unbelievable!

-W-C-

"Which of you master chefs created this pizza perfecto?" As if Peter couldn't tell from the massive amount of ingredients piled up ridiculously high on top of the pizza base.

"That would be me." Mozzie lifted his chin proudly.

Peter took another hearty bite before enquiring, "And what do you call this masterpiece of culinary delight big guy?"

"I call it…The Mozinski Tower."

"Mozinski? Wow that's a great name for a monster pizza. Where did you get that name from?"

The young boy's face drained of all color, surprising the agent. Peter checked back to what he had said, 'Where did you get the name from?' and wondered how an innocent inquiry had caused the young chap to lose his carefree façade for a split second.

Mozzie recovered quickly enough to answer. "Ah, just made it up. Do you like all the chunky pieces of tomato? Elizabeth said it may be too much but I told her it was never enough where us men were concerned."

"No, you were quite correct my young friend. Never too much!" Peter had another humungous bite of his pizza slice. 'Mozinski?' Had the young boy involuntarily revealed the first clue into his mysterious background? Come early Monday morning it was going to be the first thing he looked up on the Bureau database. Peter stopped chewing and cringed. Damn. First thing Monday morning he'd be dragging one defiant little Moppet off to kindergarten. He had no doubt it was going to be a sideshow!

"So boys, what movie have you picked for after dinner?"

Silence. The boys and El simultaneously decided that it was a great moment to stuff their mouths full with pizza. Coincidence? Highly unlikely. This was yet another of those times direct questioning was required of the easiest target in the room. "So, Neal, what movie are we watching after dinner?"

The little boy, who was yet to say boo through dinner, raised his eyes to meet his dad's. "I wot awoud to watch a moobie."

"You're not allowed? What did you do young man?" Peter hadn't been informed of any 'incidents.'

Sad little eyes, rapidly tearing up, cast downwards. "I yelled at Mommy and I frew my bweakfast on da gwound." Neal put his head in his arms on the table and began to sniffle.

Peter placed his pizza slice back on the table and ran a hand through his hair. He took a couple of deep breaths before responding. "Have you finished eating young man?"

"Yes dadda." The reply was muffled by his arms, as well as the sad little cries.

"Then up you go and get ready for bed. Don't forget to brush your teeth. One of us will be up in a minute to tuck you in."

"Bu I don't wanna go to bed wust yet."

"Well, maybe next time you'll remember to speak nicely and not yell and throw things. Your mother, Mozzie and I are going to start watching the movie soon and I want you in bed before we switch it on."

"I don't wanna…" Neal lost all courage after receiving a very stern look from Peter "Fine. I going." The little boy pushed in his chair and moved slowly towards the stairs. No one felt good. It was not going to be a pleasant evening.

Mozzie made a move to follow. "May I be excused? I think I might head up too. Call it a night. I've had a big day and …"

"Mozzie."

"Yes sir?"

Peter sighed in understanding. "You are not going up to keep your brother company. He is being punished for his behavior this morning, and it won't make any sense to him at all if it looks like you're being punished too. If you're finished eating, go pick a movie." Peter tried to brighten everyone's mood. "Hey how 'bout X-Men?"

"I didn't think I was allowed to watch that."

"No, I said Neal was too young to watch it. You've been keen to see it for a while. What do you think, give it a go?"

"Yeah!" Mozzie's eyes lit up. He'd asked on more than one occasion to watch the M rated sci-fi flick after he found a copy at the back of the DVD case.

While Peter went upstairs to tuck in one sad and sorry five year old, El unhappily made the popcorn without the assistance of her regular helper. It just felt wrong. The movie was switched on and thesomber trio settled in to watch the Friday night movie. Well, El and Peter were subdued, Mozzie seemed to have moved past the fact his friend had been banished to his room and was totally engrossed in the film.

Not long into the movie, little feet could be heard on the steps. At first, it was ignored but after a short time, the timid footsteps progressed gradually down the stairs 'til they were more than half way. Peter hopped up from the couch but before he'd reached the bottom of the staircase, the little moppet had scampered back to bed. Another ten minutes passed before more footsteps were heard at the top. Peter sighed and pushed himself up off the couch once again. A moment later, El heard the distinct sound of one large hand hitting one tiny butt, followed by a pitiful series of hitched sobs. It was a while before Peter returned to the couch, having stayed with the youngster until he drifted off to sleep.

It was a sad way to finish the week. Everyone looked forward to pizza and movie night and it just wasn't the same without the littlest moppet curled up across their laps. El thought in retrospect she may have been better off giving the youngster a sound spanking this morning, rather than imposing the movie ban. She'd considered it at the time, especially after he swiped his breakfast plate, toast and all onto the floor. Still, it wasn't her preferred option. It was more Peter's thing to discipline the boys with a firm hand. She'd had to whack Mozzie and Neal on a couple of occasions but didn't feel comfortable taking either of them across her lap and setting about giving them a number of painful smacks to their little butts. After Peter left for work this morning, she had tried to talk to Neal about going to school. She struggled to get him to confide in her what was bothering him the most. But instead of having a sweet little chat, the boy had thrown his second tantrum for the day. As a consequence, El had dealt out the punishment of missing out the family movie and telling the little boy that he would be going straight to bed after dinner. Despite all that, the issue of school remained unresolved. Monday morning was coming around fast and she expected it would be one hell of a showdown.

Monday

"I! NOT! GOING!"

"Neal, sweetie. Do we really have to go through this all again? If your daddy hears you yelling at me he's going to come in here and wallop your little behind."

The youngster opened his mouth to continue telling Elizabeth off when he stopped to consider her advice. There was no doubt she was right and he was smart enough to realize he'd have to go about his protest in an alternate manner. He grabbed his clothes off the bed and much to Elizabeth's delight, began to dress himself for school.

Neal ate his breakfast in silence and neither El nor Peter were game to involve the boy in any conversation that make break the temporary truce. So far, the getting ready for school routine was moving along nicely. Peter and El crossed their fingers but both were realistic enough to know that at any point, the peace bubble could and more likely, would, burst.

And burst it did, although at first it was more like a slow leak. Neal hadn't spoken a word since leaving home and when Peter parked the Taurus outside the school, he hopped out along with El and Mozzie. Neal did not. He stayed in his seat and no matter what persuasive techniques the parents used, their little boy remained stubbornly buckled into the rear passenger seat. Peter looked around. Parents and children everywhere. This really was going to turn into a sideshow!

Peter reached in and grabbed the child to pull him out but it was easier said than done. El's words from Friday morning coming back to haunt him. Neal held tightly to any and every thing bolted down in the car and every time Peter was able to pry his fingers off a headrest, the kid managed to anchor himself to a door handle or another immoveable object. Eventually, after a frustratingly exhaustive effort, Peter had the child out and spun his flailing body in the direction of the school gate. The agent ignored the disapproving stares of the other parents with their impeccably well behaved children being led appropriately through to the classrooms. Anyone would think from their glares, they'd never seen a child playing up in their lives.

Peter attempted to follow Elizabeth and Mozzie with great difficulty. Neal grabbed at the gate, at the trees, at another parent's coat, anything he could get his little hands on. Every time, after Peter had removed said anchor with great difficulty and continuing a foot or two down the path, another snag was encountered. Eventually, Peter locked Neal's arms up in his own, only to discover the little rascal was as talented with his feet as he had been with his hands.

Totally exhausted and unbelievably drained, Peter deposited one little distressed moppet in the middle of the kindergarten classroom. El had taken Mozzie up to the next level to meet with the third grader's home room teacher, abandoning Peter to contend with more disapproving looks from the perfectly presented kindergarten parents with their perfectly well behaved children.

"Hello I'm Rose. You must be Mr. Burke?" The sweet kindergarten teacher introduced herself to the new arrivals.

"Peter, please." He let go of Neal's wrist to shake the teacher's hand.

"Pleased to meet you Peter. And this must be Neal?"

"Yes." Peter tried to compose himself as though his son's anti-school demonstration had been only a figment of everyone else's imagination. "Say hello to Mrs. Roberts, Neal."

The little boy scowled and turned away folding his arms and looking for inspiration for stage two of his 'anti school' plan.

Mrs. Roberts spoke quietly to Peter seeing the frustration clearly plastered all over his face. "Don't worry too much, Peter. I've seen it all before. Most little ones at some point show their displeasure at having to attend school. You wouldn't know it from looking around but on any given day, any one of these youngsters is fully capable of going off on some full blown tantrum. I'm sure once you leave, Neal will calm himself down and settle into what all the other children are up to. Who knows, you may even find he's upset at the end of the day because he doesn't want to leave. Kindergarten is wonderfully happy place and most kids thrive on all the play-based activities." The young woman smiled reassuringly. "My advice is for you to say your goodbyes quickly and head off before the little chap conjures up something else to get your attention."

Peter nodded, accepting the suggestion of the educational professional and turned to let Neal know he was going. But no words would come out of the agent's mouth. Mrs. Roberts was also speechless, her mouth agape. Standing before them was Neal, they guessed. It wasn't a certainty because whoever it was had upended an entire bottle of red paint all over their head. Peter could see two bright blue eyes staring defiantly through the dripping liquid. Yep, it was Neal alright. The agent turned to Mrs. Roberts and raised his eyebrows hoping for more good advice.

The kindergarten teacher shook her head and was uncertain how to proceed. She did however remember to mention, "The paint's non-toxic," as she watched with disbelief as the new enrolment was dragged from the room by his very irate kindergarten dad.

-W-C-

Peter wrapped his arm tightly around the waist of the struggling figure lying across his lap and began to land firm swats onto his son's bare backside. He easily ignored the wailing pleas to stop coming from the naughty little boy as he squirmed and squealed with each whack to his bottom. Peter had spent ages washing the youngster's hair. Who knew how much elbow grease it required to remove a thick tacky substance from a mop of curly hair? And as for the clothes, Peter reasoned that it would be easier to toss them out than go through the same painful process. Although he'd deferred that call to Elizabeth who was down in the basement scrubbing out the paint from the boy's shirt, shorts and shoes. Peter hadn't wasted time with a lecture. He knew Neal was well aware he had misbehaved to the point where they'd have to be consequences. And this consequence came in the form of a trip across his daddy's knees.

-W-C-

"Hey kid." Mozzie dropped his bag against the wall and threw himself across his bed. A couple of weekends back, Peter had dissembled the double bed and taken it down to the basement and now the boys each had a single bed of their own. Neither were overly excited by the new configuration but had accepted it as another one of the steps Peter and Elizabeth had taken towards normalizing their lives.

Neal was curled up on his own bed cuddling Sunny. "Hi Moz. Dib you hab a good day?"

"Nup, it was fricken excruciating." Mozzie kicked off his shoes and pulled off his glasses to rub his eyes. "How bout you? Way to make a first day impression, man!" He propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at Neal. "How was your day or more to the point, how's your butt?"

"Ficgin cwusiating. Dadda gabe me a panking."

"Well what did you expect kid? Were you expecting Peter to take you out for ice-cream sodas and chocolate donuts after upending a bucket of paint on your head?" Mozzie chuckled while he walked over to sit with Neal on his bed. "You've got to be smart about it, man. Protest, sure. But think about it before you do something stupid. You've never had any impulse control which wasn't an issue in the past. But now Peter and Elizabeth are going to pull you up every time and you need to factor that into your actions. Be smart and choose your battles wisely. When you dig your heels in about not wanting to go to school, do it in a way that won't end up with you having one very sore butt."

Neal nodded, taking in all the advice very seriously. "I'll twy Moz. So how come your day was so tewible?"

"Oh, kiddo, you have no idea. I'm in the third grade and the teacher spent an hour teaching the class regrouping algorithms like it was some type of lost ancient code that had to be deciphered painstakingly one step at a time. And then, to rub salt in the wound, I was made to sit in a small group while we learnt about inferential text like I don't know how to read between the lines. Man I wanted to scream. I kept looking at the clock and the second hand appeared jammed but in reality, it was only moving in direction proportion to how slowly every little activity took." Mozzie rubbed his forehead. "Honestly Neal, I highly doubt I can sit through another six hours of that tomorrow."

"Be mart bout it Moz. Pick your wattles."

Mozzie chuckled. "Yeah good advice kid. I'll try to take it under advisement."

Tuesday

"Good morning Mrs. Roberts."

"Hello Peter. So good to see you back again. And hello Neal." Rose addressed the small child on Peter's hip. His face was buried into his dad's shoulder so she had to contend with talking to the back of his head. "We've got a great day planned. Wait till you see some of the new puzzles we've put out for the boys and girls."

"Neal, Mrs. Roberts is talking to you." Peter nudged his son but the boy made no effort to acknowledge the teacher.

"How about you put Neal down over here on the mat. All the boys and girls will be coming over shortly to sing our good morning song." Rose indicated the center of the room with the brightly colored carpet mat.

"Yeah, sure." Peter followed the teacher's directions and gently lowered his son onto the floor. He crouched beside Neal and kissed him on the head. "Daddy's got to go to work now, little one. You behave today please. I do not want a repeat performance of yesterday. Understand?"

Neal looked seriously at his father and nodded. He understood alright.

-W-C-

El had a couple of important clients to meet with during the afternoon so Peter had offered to do the school run. But three o'clock came around fast, too fast and Peter found himself grabbing his car keys and dashing out with very little time to spare. He felt like he'd only been back in the office a few short hours before he was racing back out again to pick the kids up from school. Why couldn't the school day be a couple of hours longer to fit in more considerately with the working hours of the parents? Someone hadn't thought that one through too carefully!

Peter maneuvered past the multitude of children and parents in the hall and made his way through to the entrance of the kindergarten. Standing just inside the door, he surveyed the room, eventually spotting his little boy sitting all alone on the carpet, right where he had deposited him this morning. Surely the kid hadn't been there all day?

"Yes Peter. He's been there all day." Rose read the agent's mind as she greeted him at the door.

"All day!"

"I'm afraid so." The teacher appeared ever so apologetic. "Please, come and have a seat."

Rose lead Peter over to the teacher's desk area, away from the bustle near the entry. Once settled she explained her failed attempts to have Neal participate in the kindy program. "We tried every trick in the book but he wouldn't move, wouldn't talk, wouldn't join the other children in the cafeteria at lunch time, and wouldn't go out at recess to play. He's just sat in that same spot all day."

"He wouldn't even eat his lunch?" Peter asked with concern.

"No, he ate his lunch, on the mat. We brought him his bag and he ate his lunch but we couldn't get him to do anything else. The school guidance officer came down to see him but he wouldn't talk to her. In fact, he hasn't spoken a single word to anyone."

Peter looked over at the sad little moppet sitting by himself in the center of the now empty room. Everyone had sure made quick work of clearing out. "So what now?"

"Well, our AVT comes every Monday so I've filled out the required forms for Neal to be seen when she comes next week."

"AVT?"

"Advisory Visiting Teacher. She'll make recommendations and work out what support Neal's going to need in order to access our early childhood program successfully.

"So that's next Monday. What about the next couple of days?"

"Well, we'll just carry on the best that we can. We'll continue to encourage him, take it one step at a time. Every little bit of progress will be a bonus and we'll persevere in supporting Neal while he tries to adjust to this new environment."

Peter released a deep sigh while running a hand through his hair. "Rose, I have a friend who has worked with Neal before, in fact she was his case officer for nearly four years while he was in foster care. Would you have any objections if I asked her if she would mind calling in here to check up on Neal. Maybe shed some light on what has worked in the past and what hasn't?"

"Please, by all means. We're all here to help the children anyway we can."

"Thanks and thank you for trying with Neal today. Guess I better grab him and go find his brother. Mozzie's likely to get some crazy idea into his head like we've all been abducted by aliens if I don't show up at the gate soon." Peter walked over and crouched down to meet Neal's eyes. "Ready to go son?"

Neal smiled sadly and reached out his hands to his dad's.

Peter lifted the little boy onto his shoulder and picked up his bag with his free hand. "Common kiddo, let's go find your brother."

-W-C-

"I don't know how long I'm going to be able to stick with this kid." Mozzie sat on the end of his bed, elbows on his knees, and head in his hands.

"Tick wit wot Moz?"

"School kiddo, school. The great institution of education."

"We not gonna leab again aw we Moz?" Neal asked with great concern.

"Of course not kiddo. No way." Mozzie gave his friend a reassuring smile. "But I'm seriously considering walking out on the third grade if they make me do one more time filing activity sheet. I almost slipped into a comma today I was so totally bored out of my brain. Honestly Neal, the work they put in front of me, a monkey could do it, blindfolded!"

The little boy chuckled. "Well why not tell vem it's too swimple?"

"Ah, now listen up my young apprentice. They tested my reading level today, a Prose Level Eight, approximate reading age fourteen to fifteen years old, and I failed it." Mozzie shook his head. "Yes it gave me shivers each time I gave the incorrect answer and mispronounced ridiculously easy words, but it'll pay off in the long run."

"Bu how?"

"Pay attention." Mozzie glared through his glasses at the youngster like he was trying to imprint it onto his brain. "You show them you're smart, and all it'll get you is extra work. You'll be ripped out of your regular class so fast, and shoved in with the G and T's, it'll make your head spin. Plus like I don't have enough trouble already without the other students knowing I have superior intelligence!"

"G and T's?"

"Gifted and Talented's. Now if there were a class for pure genius then I may reconsider. Anyway Neal, we're getting sidetracked. You get put in one of those classes and you end up with a whole lot of phony extension projects just to keep you busy so it looks like the decision makers are doing their bit to advance your learning experiences. If they really were realistic about extending my development, they'd put me in charge of balancing their budget or rewriting the curriculum goals or better still, rewiring the intercom system so teachers and students could actually hear the messages. No, you're not going to get me involved in wasting valuable brain cells creating a power-point presentation on the endangered poison dart frogs of the Amazon Rainforest. Take heed my young friend. The first time they stick a test paper in your face, start by spelling your name wrong and end by drawing a smiley face for the answer to what do you add to 15 to make 20."

Neal nodded in serious thought and filed the valuable piece of advice away for use at a later date.

"Anyway, enough of me. I see you made it through your first full day of kindergarten and you're sitting quite comfortably on the bed so you decided to take my advice and pick your battles?"

"Yeah, I din't do anyfing stoopid." Neal crossed his legs on the bed and looked down at his hands.

"So, what happened man?"

"Dare was a boy an when he came past he pwushed me on da carpet an said somefink mean?"

"What'd he say Neal?"

"He kept cawing me fweak baby an saying fweak can't peak. Ebery time he came near me he say it."

"Did you tell the teacher?"

"Noooo. But I tayed on da carpet. Dint wan ta go andywherw ewlse. "

"Why not?"

Neal shrugged. "Pwease don't tewl Mommy and Dadda."

"No? Sure man, if you don't want me too I won't."

"Shanks Moz"

"So what's this kid's name?"

"Benny Bwaxter."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. I've got Blaine Baxter in my class and I know they're related because Blaine pushed me off my seat in the cafeteria at lunch and 'accidently' knocked over my milk."

"Did you tell da weacher?"

"No." Mozzie looked slightly guilty. "I can take care of myself, besides, what would have been the point!"

Wednesday

"Hello Mrs. Roberts. I'm Rachel Hammond, a friend of the Burkes."

"Ah, hello Rachel. Administration rang through to say you were on your way down. Thank you for calling in to see Neal."

"No trouble at all. When Peter called me last night, I just shifted a few appointments and was more than happy to drop in to say hello." Rachel glanced at the children on the carpet involved in a game of duck, duck, goose with the teaching assistant. She couldn't see any little boy with a charming smile and curly dark hair. "Where is the little chap?"

"Over there. Hasn't moved all morning." Rose indicated the opposite end of the room. A lone figure sat at one of the art tables, head resting on his hands, gazing out the window.

"Would you mind if I have a go at trying something?"

"Please, whatever you can do. The AVT is coming on Monday but until then, we've pretty much exhausted all our tried and tested methods."

Rachel walked over and stepped into his line of sight. "Hello Neal."

The little boy sat up and smiled at the familiar face but did not return the greeting.

Rachel sat down on one of the little kindy chairs and Rose followed suite. "Hello Neal," Rachel repeated. Neal continued to smile but made no attempt to converse.

Rachel released an unhappy sigh and began to push up from the table. "That's a shame Neal. When Peter rings tonight, he'll be disappointed when I tell him you didn't want to talk to me."

The little boy opened his mouth while his eyes went wide with worry. Deciding he didn't want to disappoint his dad he quickly responded. "Hewwo Wachel."

"Well Hello Neal." Rachel sat back down in the chair while giving him a happy wink. "I brought something for you." Neal looked excitedly as the social worker shuffled through her bag, eventually pulling out a brightly decorated tin labeled with the words Bruynzeel Watercolor Pencils. The little boy's eyes lit up as Rachel put the tin on the table. "These are yours Neal to keep, no matter what. But I'd like you to do a favor for me, too."

Neal looked expectantly.

"See all those boys and girls over there? They're playing a game called duck, duck, goose. Do you know how to play it?"

Neal nodded. It wasn't rocket science. He'd been listening to it for the last ten minutes. All the kids sat in a circle. One walked around the outside taping each child on the head as they passed while saying duck, duck, duck, duck until finally choosing a child as 'it'. The chosen child gets tapped on the head but gets called a goose. The 'goose' would then chase the first child around the circle to try and catch them before reaching the goose's spot in the circle. What a ridiculous game! And the children were actually enjoying it. Neal couldn't for the life of him work out the appeal of something so bizarre!

Rachel laid out the deal. "If you play one game of duck, duck, goose, Mrs. Roberts will let you try out your new pencils now instead of having to wait until you get home."

Neal looked at his teacher to see if she concurred.

"That's right Neal. As soon as you've played one game, you can come back here and draw. These are great colors. I wish I had a set like this."

Neal stood up hesitantly and turned to Rachel. "Come wif me?"

"Sure gorgeous boy." Rachel took Neal's hand and walked him over to the circle. The teaching assistant suggested Neal take the next turn.

Rachel walked Neal around the circle and the little boy tapped each child on the head as he had seen the others doing but without uttering, 'duck'. Neal made it the whole way round and still hadn't chosen a 'goose'. He stopped realizing he'd reached the end of the line and a number of children sniggered. Neal looked to Rachel for help. The experienced social worker improvised swiftly and turned to address the children. "Boys and girls, Neal's going to come around again and this time if he taps you on the head twice, that means he's picked you as the goose." The kids in the circle seemed to not only understand but also enjoyed the injection of a little twist to their game. Rachel turned back to Neal and gave him a gentle push, "Off you go. Remember to tap someone on the head twice if you want them to be the goose."

Neal walked slowly, tap, tap. Moving past another couple of kids, tap tap. He felt butterflies in his tummy as he approached Benny, tap tap. He heard the words 'freak baby' spoken for his ears only but continued on like he hadn't, tap tap. He was rounding the final bend, tap tap. Soon he'd be back to Rachel, tap tap and the kids would snigger again, tap tap. He looked at the last few children. One was a little red headed girl who had smiled at Neal when she went to put something away in her back pack earlier. Neal was pretty sure the teacher had called her Heather. Neal put his hand on her head and tapped then tapped again. Rachel let out the breath she'd been holding. Heather jumped up and spun towards Neal. He remembered at the last moment that he was supposed to run. He ran back around the circle but only made it half way when a foot was stuck out and Neal went flying. All the kids began to laugh while Rachel raced over to help Neal off the ground. Heather also came to his side and checked on her classmate before returning to her spot on the mat.

Mrs. Roberts gave Neal the once over then marched over to collect Benny Baxter from the circle. "Come with me please Benjamin. You've had plenty of warnings now you've earned yourself a trip to the time out corner and detention at recess." The children, who'd been staring at Neal, turned to watch the class bully being led from the room.

Rachel leant over and cupped the little boy's chin in her hand. "Are you okay, Neal?"

"Yes Wachel. I not hurwt."

"Do you want to go over and use your pencils now? You did a great job of joining in Neal. I'm very proud of you. When Peter rings tonight I'm going to tell him how you did so well at Kindy today. And I'm sure he's going to jump of the phone and run and tell Elizabeth cause he's going to be very proud too."

Neal's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree then turned more serious as he considered Rachel's words. He looked back at the boys and girls sitting happily in the circle. "Can I hab anoter turwn Wachel. I dint get to finish da last one."

Rachel smiled in surprise. "Of course sweetie. Boys and girls, Neal's going to have his turn again. Remember if he taps you twice, you're the goose. Okay Neal, off you go."

Neal started the tapping and eyed the little red headed girl towards the end. This time he'd let Heather catch him, then maybe she might want to come and draw with him. Neal thought that sounded a lot like a plan Mozzie would be proud of!

-W-C-

Rachel and Rose made themselves comfortable at the teacher's desk while the kindy children wandered about the room during inside activity time. Both women were more than thrilled to see Neal sitting with his new friend, Heather at the art table having a wonderful time trying out his new set of watercolors.

"Thank you so much for helping us out with Neal, Rachel. I really felt like I was all out of ideas."

"I was more than happy to help out. Peter and I go way back and I'll do whatever I can to assist with the boys. Rose, can I ask a question, not as a friend of the Burkes but as a child services officer?"

"Of course."

"The youngster with the white spikey hair, what's his story?"

"The one who tripped Neal?"

"Yes. He's at least a head taller than all the other children in the room and it doesn't sound like the first time he's mistreated one of his peers."

"Sadly no. Benjamin Baxter lives with mom and two older brothers. Blaine's in the third grade, in fact he's in Neal's brother's class and Blythe is in the sixth grade. Although I'm fairly certain Blythe's currently on a suspension. Mom is struggling with the three boys. You'd know the other two if you saw them. Same white spikey hair, at least a foot taller than the rest of the cohort. The boys are in and out of trouble on a daily basis, mostly for verbal and physical misconduct. Are you worried about Benny bullying Neal? "

"I'm concerned about Benny bullying any of the children. I guess though I'm a little more concerned with how Neal will react. Neal and Mozzie have had to look out for themselves for a very long time and my mind is working overtime wondering how the boys might react if confronted. I'll take a stab in the dark but it's no great stretch of the imagination to think that they'll do something 'crazy' in retaliation if they feel they are being threatened by one or two of the Baxter boys."

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll be sure to keep a close eye on any interactions between Benny and Neal, especially somewhere like the cafeteria or the playground where bullying incidents are more likely to occur. Of course somehow I need to get Neal to the lunch room in the first place," Rose sighed in exasperation.

"I could suggest something."

"Please, by all means."

"I'm aware that Mozzie has a different eating time, but Neal has spent the last four years depending on the nine-year old. Their relationship has evolved far beyond the desire to have a friend to hang out with. At some point it became more … symbiotic and primal, both boys needing each other as much another child needs a hearty dinner and a soft bed to sleep in. Peter and Elizabeth have made incredible progress with them in a very short time but it's going to take a good stretch of normality to get them to a point where they can count on anyone else like the do each other. I think it would make a huge difference if Mozzie where allowed to eat with his brother at lunch. Neal's going to need that security for a little while until he finds his place with the children in his class."

"Wouldn't that be detrimental to Mozzie? He'd miss out on eating with his peers?"

"Well, that's an entirely different problem warranting its own complex solution. I'd suggest you trial this for a little while, work on one of the issues that can be solved with a simple action." Rachel smiled. "Baby steps. Besides, Mozzie's troubles are on a whole different scale to Neal's. The boy has nine years of distrust of anyone over three feet to work out of his system and a conspiracy complex unlike anything you've ever dealt with before."

Rose chuckled, "Oh Rachel, that's a big call. I felt like I've dealt with just about everything. May not always have a solution," the teacher glanced in Neal's direction, "but I feel like there's nothing these kids will throw at me that could surprise me anymore."

"Rose, please let me be here when you discuss with Mozzie the moon landing!"

Thursday

Mozzie snaked his way through the multitude of tables and chairs in the cafeteria and made his way over to his brother sitting by himself in the corner. "Hi Kid," he greeted while sliding into one of empty seats beside Neal.

"Hi Moz."

The older boy placed his lunch box on the table. "What have we got today?"

"Don't know bout you bu I got chocwate cake, an a peanu bwutter sanwich."

"Well I better have the same or you'll be sharing yours," Mozzie joked.

"Wow waz thor warning," Neal inquired around a giant bite of cake.

Mozzie stared and took a moment to interpret. "How was my morning?"

The little boy nodded and shoved another mouthful of cake into his already overflowing mouth.

"Arrrrh, it was awful." Mozzie shook his head and wiped at his eyes. "I'm really struggling with the tedium man! We had a geography lesson just before lunch and unreal Neal; the teacher placed a globe on the desk and actually asked how long it takes for the earth to make one rotation."

"Weny fwor."

"Yeah." Mozzie gazed off into the distant, deep in thought while he munched on his sandwich. "You know I think there may have been some children in the class that didn't know that. Anyway, then she asked if it were 8am on Monday in New York, what time would it be on the other side of the world in Sydney, Australia. And some kid put his hand up and seriously, he said Thursday. I'll tell ya, I wanted toscream; someone put me out of my constant state of despair, now! Then kids were having guesses all over the place and everyone was totally clueless. Of course I didn't make any eye contact so I wouldn't be called on but my teacher, overachiever that she is, realized I hadn't had a turn so I finally got asked. Now for my dilemma. Do I join the ranks of the young and inept? Or do I put everyone out of their misery and answer the damn question correctly?"

"Wa bid you do?

"I couldn't help it man, it was killing me inside. I told everyone what they were so desperate to know."

'You seb ten we m Monday?"

"Yeah, and immediately I was sorry. It was extremely unprofessional of me. The teacher went all dizzy with delight, ''Oh Mozzie you champion. You are correct young man,' and all the kids turned and stared and I felt like the newest attraction at the aquarium. All I wanted to do was crawl into a time machine and go back a minute or two and tell the teacher the answer to her question was, I don't know," Mozzie twirled his hand in the air, "Wednesday?"

"Dats a shame Moz. G an T forw you now," Neal teased.

"I'll give you G and T you little monster!" Mozzie gently nudged his brother in the side. "You'd better get going man. Your class is heading out to play. My group's coming in now."

"See you waiter Moz. No morw mart moments for you." Neal packed up his lunch box and followed the other kindergarten kids.

"That's right Bug. Listen to the little freak!" Blaine parked himself into Neal's freshly vacated chair and immediately began rummaging through Mozzie's lunch box. "Of course, if you can even understand a word he says. I believe the freak can't speak?"

Blaine's friends who had also joined Mozzie at the table, laughed at their 'leader's' joke.

"You know Blaine, if you're so desperate for food that you'd eat my left over peanut butter sandwich crust and drink the dregs of my orange juice, you're welcome to it. Of course, your also welcome to lick the chocolate icing off the sides of my lunch box but be sure to wash your hands and face after, I don't think you'd handle it well if others started teasing you about needing a baby bib the next time you sat in the cafeteria." Blaine's posse laughed at the comments and Mozzie hopped up, leaving his lunch box in the hands of one slightly taken back yet totally enraged bully to process how his moment of glory had been so easily shot down in flames.

It was hardly a surprise for Mozzie when he walked out of the boys' bathroom ten minutes later to find Blaine and his little gang blocking the doorway. Mozzie wasn't at all frightened of school bullies. Living on the street from time to time had taught the young guy that there were far worse things that could happen than having someone steal your lunch or call you an intellectually mindless name.

"Where do you think you're going Bug?"

Pick your battles, Mozzie reminded himself. He did a quick scan of his situation. Four boys, one of them more like a boy mountain so technically it was closer to five, and just one of him. At present he had neither the resources nor a plan to put this creep in his place. He had no choice but to ride this one out. Didn't mean he wouldn't have something to say, or do about it later!

-W-C-

"Mozzie, where are your glasses?" Elizabeth enquired as she collected the boy from the front gate.

"Oh, I've miss placed them. Took them off to give my eyes a rest in the cafeteria and they may have been picked up with someone else's tray."

Neal, who was holding Elizabeth's hand stared at his brother questioningly. An unlikely story!

"I have got a spare pair at home I can use until the others turn up, but, ah, I may have also lost my lunchbox."

"Wow, you were forgetful today weren't you mister?" El spoke kindly as she opened the rear door for the boys to pile into the car. She didn't want her son been concerned over something that was so easily replaced.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be more careful tomorrow," Mozzie replied while buckling in.

"Don't worry sweetie, these things happen." El pulled out into the traffic and soon after took a call from a client through her blue tooth, leaving the little moppets in the back free to talk about what really happened.

"Moz, Wot goin on?"

Mozzie pulled from his pocket what was once a pair of glasses although it was almost impossible to tell. The glass from both lenses was missing and the arms had been snapped off and bent.

"Bwaine?"

Mozzie nodded, confirming his brother's suspicions.

Neal rummaged through his bag and pulled out three new watercolor pencils, all snapped in half. He held them up sadly for Mozzie's inspection. "Benny."

"Neal, listen carefully," he whispered so he wouldn't be heard in the front. "When we get home, I want you to keep Elizabeth distracted for a little while. I need a few supplies and I'm going to go on a little scavenger hunt through some of our neighbor's trash cans."

"Wot awr you pwanning Moz."

"Remember what I've taught you, my young apprentice. A bully like Blaine, what's the best way to bring him down a peg or two?"

"Mbawasse him."

"That's right kid, embarrass him. Embarrass him in front of his gang, in front of his peers and embarrass him in front of as many students as possible. Tomorrow there's a whole school assembly and Neal," the little boy looked up expectantly, "you and I man, we've just declared war on the Baxter Boys."

Friday

"Good morning Mrs. Roberts."

"Good morning Elizabeth." The teacher was about to greet Neal too but the young boy had already taken off, like a man on a mission. "Isn't it wonderful to see Neal becoming more comfortable with the routine? Considering what he was like at the start of the week, he's come a long way very quickly."

"Yes." Elizabeth was more than surprised herself to see Neal let go of her hand and disappear the minute they stepped through the door. "I hope it lasts. It certainly makes my life a lot easier."

Mrs. Roberts clapped her hands three times and all the kindy kids stopped to look. "Okay boys and girls, everyone on the carpet for our good morning song."

Neal watched his mom head out the door while pretending to be getting something from his bag. Stage 1 of Battle of the Baxter Boys had begun. He heard Mozzie's words as he carried out the first task. 'Pick the most vocal girl in the class and take her lunch box and put it in Benny's back pack.'

It was an easy choice. Miss MaryAnn Somers. The whole world was going to know about it when MaryAnn found her lunch missing and the teacher would need to mount an investigation to contain the fall out. Stage one complete. Onto stage two. 'Find something on the teacher's desk. A personal item that will be unmistakably hers and plant it under the stolen lunch box.'

"Mrs. Woberts."

"Yes Neal?"

"I need a wisue," the little con replied while holding his nose.

"Sure sweetie, they're just over there on the shelf in front of my desk." Mrs. Roberts pointed while Neal walked over as directed. Mrs. Roberts went back to marking the role while Neal covertly made a selection from the little treasures amongst the teacher's person items.

The little moppet then casually moved back to the bag area and planted the beautiful glass paperweight, along with three broken water color pencils into the bottom of Benny Baxter's bag. Mission complete! Neal hoped Mozzie would have equal success at his end of the battle.

-W-C-

Mozzie followed his class into the assembly hall while doing a mental checklist that all aspects of his plan were carefully considered and covered. He had to move quickly to secure the strategic position he needed for his operation. So far the battle was panning out perfectly. Neal had informed him at lunch that Miss MaryAnn Somers had pitched a fit upon finding her lunch box missing at recess and the subsequent inquest had led to one completely astonished but utterly embarrassed six year old who maintained, even while being escorted from the room by the principal, that he had no idea how the items had ended up in his bag!

Mozzie chose a seat towards the middle of the row and sat back waiting for the opportune moment. He caught Neal's eye when the youngster turned around to check on the status of the battle and was happy to give his little brother the green light signal - removing his glasses and twirling them in his left hand. Stage three was in play!

Ten minutes into the school leaders giving their report on the sustainability project currently underway in the sixth grade, Mozzie stood up and signaled his teacher who was standing off to the side.

"Everything okay Mozzie?" The teacher spoke softly, trying hard not to disturb the silence of the audience, most of whom had fallen asleep through being bored out of their brains from having to listen to the annoying monotone reading coming from the stage.

"Ah, no Mrs. Dorrington. I think I'm going to throw up." Mozzie was anything but quiet with his response and half the assembly turned in his direction.

"Well, ah, okay quickly then, come out here and I'll escort you to the health room." The teacher beckoned for the boy to make his way out from the seats.

Mozzie moved along the row, slowly, carefully, holding his tummy, slightly bent over, and adding a low moan here and there to add to the realism of the act. He was about half-way along when he reached his intended target. Mozzie bent over, fully this time and conjured up a hearty choking type cough followed by several gagging sounds. The boy whose seat he was standing in front of stood up in horror but had nowhere to go. Mozzie gave one final massive gag while pressing down on the container under his shirt. Baaaarrrrfffff! Uuuuggghhh! The concoction of tuna liquid, onion gravy, baked beans, a semi rotten egg and a selection of well blended household rubbish all courtesy of yesterdays scavenger hunt coursed through a pipe from the container under Mozzie's shirt and spurted out the other end which stuck almost invisibly from his collar. The chunky brown foul smelling liquid gushed all over the tall white haired boy who could do nothing but squeal and scream while he wiped at the gunk dripping all down his face.

The assembly hall erupted with laughter, with squeals, with gagging and with three children actually throwing up. Blaine Baxter being one of them. Mission accomplished!

-W-C-

"But I'll have all three boys at home on suspension!" Mrs. Baxter sat across from the principal, close to tears as she was informed of the punishment the school was handing out to Blaine and Benny. "And where am I going to get the money to replace these glasses?" The frustrated mother waved her hand over the mangled mess of Mozzie's glasses sitting beside three broken pencils in the middle of the principal's desk.

Principal Young had spent over an hour investigating the 'vomiting incident' that took place during assembly. Half a dozen interviews later he had acquired all the information required to hand down sentencing. 'If only the judicial system of this country worked so efficiently!' he pondered while reading his notes. Blaine had blabbered like a canary after first being sent to shower and change in the boys' locker room. He cried that Mozzie had purposely thrown up on him after he broke the new kid's glasses and his baby brother Benny had broken Neal's pencils. Principal Young had a suspicion upon hearing the confession and had questioned Neal. The little chap had fessed up without hesitation to the planting of stolen property in Benny's bag and had also produced his brother's broken glasses from his pocket saying he didn't want his mom and dad to find them in the trash at home. Two of Blaine's 'gang' were brought in for questioning to confirm that the oversized bully had indeed been picking on and threatening the newest class member all week. Mozzie had been the only interview to yield no information. It was like trying to get blood out of a stone and the Principal finally gave up and sent him out to reception to wait with the other main players.

"Well Mrs. Baxter, those glasses and those pencils need replacing before the boys will be re-entered into the school. I'll have the family provide the prescription information for the lenses. Now if you haven't got the funds to pay for it, might I suggest to take something of the boys, a skateboard, perhaps a gaming machine, something that you won't be needing yourself, and take the item down to the local cash traders. Help the boys learn a lesson that if they destroy property, they'll be held accountable for replacing it."

Mrs. Baxter nodded, accepting the advice as possibly a very good avenue to take. She'd allowed her boys to get away with way too much until finally reaching a point where it was out of control. "So what day is it that the boys will be required to stay after to school to attend the, uh the 'Getting Along with Others' course?" Mrs. Baxter was getting her head around all the information the principal had been through with her.

"Wednesday after school. It's run on the same afternoon as the Triple P program for parents. Why not drop in since you'll be here with the boys anyway? It's held in the P&F room and it's a great opportunity to chat with the guidance officer and parental support representative."

Mrs. Baxter stood up from her chair and adjusted the handbag over her shoulder. There was no question as to where her boys got their height and hair color from, the woman was almost six foot. "You know I might just do that. Thank you for handling this Principal Young and I do apologize for all the trouble my lads have caused." Mrs. Baxter stepped towards the door but turned back to ask, "Those two little guys on the way in, the one with the glasses, is he the one that Blaine bullied?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Baxter sighed and shook her head, "He's not even as big as Benny." The single mom walked back out into the waiting area and straight over to her middle son. Blaine attempted an indifferent attitude to her arrival but that changed the minute she grabbed his ear and marched him over to stand before Mozzie and Neal who were occupying the seats on the opposite side of the reception area.

"Mommmmm!" Blaine whined while trying to reclaim his ear.

"I believe these boys are owed an apology, Blaine!" The boy's mother spoke firmly.

Blaine made an effort to retain some dignity, "But Mom…!"

"Listen to me young man, your backside has already earned itself a healthy a dose of my hairbrush when we get home, do you want to make it any worse for yourself?"

"Uh, ah, no ma'am." The kid promptly turned to the two smaller children who'd been watching the mother/son interaction with stunned amazement and spoke in a very sincere contrite tone. "I'm sorry Mozzie for treating you badly and breaking your glasses and I'm sorry Neal for suggesting to Benny that he give you a hard time."

Mozzie stood up and held out his hand. "Apology accepted Blaine. And I also apologize for," he chanced a quick glance at the boy's mother but she had crossed back to the other side of the room to grab her younger son by his arm. "I'm sorry I sprayed you with pretend vomit." Mozzie was surprised when Blaine took his hand and shook it, possibly more out of impulse than sincerity.

Mozzie watched as the Baxter Boys were escorted from the office and sat back down, mindful of the fact that he and Neal would be the next cab off the rank!

-W-C-

Elizabeth Burke squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. As a child she had never been sent to the principal's office and as a parent, she had high hopes that she'd at least see one week through before being called in to face the music. El tried telling herself that she had done nothing wrong herself and therefore there was no need to feel awkward or to be embarrassed but she was having a difficult time shaking both those feelings as Principal Young continued to discuss the inappropriateness of her children's behavior.

"We understand that Mozzie and Neal have been through many changes in the past couple of months and before that were faced with some fairly challenging circumstances. But be that as it may, , the boys need to understand that if they have a problem here at school, they are not to take matters into their own hands. They have experienced teachers, there are support staff available for them to access, plus the boys now have a supportive home environment. Because this is their first week and because they were not the instigators of this little conflict, I have let them off with a warning. But , the next time they get involved in an incident of this nature, I will be left with no choice other than to suspend them."

"Principal Young, I can assure you, there will be no repeat of anything close to this behavior from either of my sons." El reassured confidently.

The principal smiled knowingly. "Mrs. Burke, let's hope you are correct."

-W-C-

Two contrite moppets followed their mother through the front door. Both boys stopped at the bottom of the stairs looking a bundle of innocence with their backpacks strung over their shoulders, hair sticking out in all directions, Neal with his shoelaces hanging loosely across the floor and Mozzie peering up through his thick rimmed glasses. What she really wanted to do was give them and hug and tell them to go play with Satchmo while she baked them some cookies. But instead she told them to go to their rooms; they had after all just been sent home from school for being two very naughty little boys.

El went into the kitchen to gather her thoughts. It was clear that the boys should be punished for their behavior but what was she supposed to do with that information? She deliberated over a few different options. Tonight was pizza and movie night so she thought about the possibility of sending the boys to bed straight after dinner. This option was considered for a bare second or two before it was scratched from the list. There was no way she was prepared to go through the somber feelings of last Friday night again if it could be helped. When Neal was banished to his room, everyone was punished. She didn't even like the idea of sending the boys to their room to begin with. It was like telling them she didn't want them to be around and that was the last thing those boys needed to feel. Missing out on desert was also crossed off the list immediately, especially after what they'd been through with Mrs. Jenkins. El contemplated giving them extra chores but the boys were more than happy to help with anything around the house and generally saw it as a treat if they were asked to sweep the porch or dust the shelves. El knew the novelty would eventually wear off but until it did, it would also have to be scratched from the list. Of course the glaringly obvious alternative would be to leave the punishment for Peter to handle. He'd come home from work; take the boys to their room, dish out a sound spanking to both their behinds, end of story. It was tempting but El wasn't comfortable with the idea that Peter had to arrive home and instead of putting his feet up and enjoying cuddles and stories from his two little moppets, he would be required to discipline the boys the minute he walked through the door. El sighed deeply and polished off her glass of water. Reluctantly she headed for the stairs having exhausted all other options on her list. She understood clearly what needed to be done and steeled herself for a task she was going to find almost as uncomfortable as sitting in the principal's office.

El sat down on Neal's bed and asked the two boys to join her on either side. Together, they had a little chat about the bullying, about ways of handling it, about more appropriate responses. They discussed how the principal had come close to suspending them and that's what would happen if they behaved in a similar manner in the future. El told them both how disappointed she was and how Peter would also be very unhappy once he heard what his two great little men had gotten up to at school today. Neal sat and listened remorsefully while Mozzie tried desperately to justify his actions.

Elizabeth felt like all aspects had been covered and began to bring the lecture to a close. "You boys need to learn to ask for help. If you had told your father or I what was going on, or either of your teachers, this problem could have been handled without you resorting to what turned out to be a fairly serious exercise in retaliation."

"Were sorry Elizabeth."

"Sowwy mommy."

"I appreciate your apologies boys. I can tell you it wasn't very nice for mommy to be called into the principal's office because her little boys had done something very naughty at school."

Both Mozzie and Neal looked down, too ashamed to make eye contact after hearing that they'd been responsible for causing unhappiness for their mother.

"Now because of your behavior today," El took a deep breath before continuing, "you have both earned yourselves a spanking."

Two wide-eyed little munchkins were visibly taken aback. Obviously they were thinking more along the lines of one of Elizabeth's more lenient punishments. Mozzie jumped up from the bed and entered straight into negotiation mode. "Elizabeth, ah, you know what I think would work best here, I think maybe if Neal and I sat down and wrote out a list of what we did wrong and what we will do next time instead, then that will certainly assist us in doing the right thing next time we strike a similar situation."

"You know Mozzie; I think that's a very smart idea. Maybe before your daddy gets home tonight, you can work on that."

The nine-year old appeared very pleased with himself for securing such an easy victory.

"Now Mozzie, I'd like you to go over and sit on your bed please while I take care of Neal."

Mozzie's victory was short lived as he realized the original sentence was still to be carried out. "But Elizabeth...!" the young boy whined.

"Mozzie," El spoke firmly. "Do I need to give you a couple of swats with my brush to assist you in carrying out my directions young man?"

"Uh no ma'am." Mozzie pretty much threw himself onto his bed.

Good. El turned to Neal who already had tears forming in the corners of his eyes. This was not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. She had barely begun to pull the little chap over her lap when the protest began.

"Noooo mommy noooooooo!"

El secured Neal around his waist before reaching for his pants. Peter always spanked the boy on the bare, reasoning it was easier to monitor the severity of each smack and didn't require additional force to compensate for layers of clothing. El tugged down the pants and swallowed hard. It was her task now to administer several stinging whacks to the little behind across her lap. She had to see this lesson through despite the pleading and squirming. El pulled back her arm and landed her palm soundly across the middle of Neal's backside, leaving in its path one very distinct red handprint.

"Waaaaaa," Neal's cries where not helping!

El rapidly repeated the process another nine times, keen for this all to be over as much as her son was. As soon as she'd finished, she drew up his little pants and pulled the youngster into a loving hug. "Now Neal baby, no more getting into mischief at school okay."

Neal wiped his face across El's blouse and looked up. "I wont Mommy. I pwomise."

"That's good to hear sweetie." She lifted the little boy and lay him gently on the bed. "I want you wait here while I go and take care of your brother."

"I hardly think it's accurate referring to whacking my butt several times as 'taking care of,'" Mozzie mumbled to himself. Elizabeth either didn't hear or chose to ignore it as she came and sat down next to her older boy.

"Elizabeth...!" Mozzie gave one last ditch effort. "Don't you think..."

"Don't you think I'm adding on smacks for every second you delay," El cut in.

Mozzie gulped and crawled over till he was lying over Elizabeth's lap. El pulled down the pants and didn't know if it was because it's always easier the second time, if it was because Mozzie was older or if it was because the child has sprayed fake vomit inside the assembly hall in his first week at school, but for one reason or another, El found this spanking far easier to administer. She lifted her arm and brought it down with a resounding slap. Mozzie flinched but didn't begin with the tears or the pleading till halfway through. By the time El had delivered twenty swats, Mozzie was sobbing quietly. She pulled up his shorts and lifted him back onto the bed where she could pull him into a tight hug. "Now Mozzie..."

"I know Elizabeth, no more pranks at school. I got the message very clearly." The young boy wiped his face on his shirt as he spoke.

"That's good to hear Mozzie." She kissed the little moppet on his head. "Alright, when you boys are ready, why don't you have a nice warm shower then head down so we can start getting our pizzas turn is it to make daddy's pizza?"

"Mine!" Neal shouted from across the room.

El hoped up and headed for the door. "Well sweetie, I hope you've got a good design ready because daddy was pretty impressed with the 'Mozinski Tower' last week."

"Mommy afer he eats mine, he wont wan eat any ober pizza eber again."

El laughed. It felt good to laugh. Already she was able to move beyond the disastrous school incident, and the consequences were taken care of. She studied both boys and conceded that neither looked worse for wear despite the spanking they had just received. There were still stay tears spilling down their cheeks and it was no coincidence that boy little moppets hadn't moved off their tummies. She may have even seen Mozzie rubbing at his butt out of the corner of her eye but he stopped the minute she turned in his direction. Yep, it seemed like she'd made the right choice in the end but unreal, this whole parenting thing was far from a walk in the park! "See you boys downstairs soon, okay?"

"Okay, we're on our way!"

-W-C-

Agent Burke pushed open his front door to the amazing ambience of a perfect home. It was like stepping into a dream. El was laying a plate of exquisite smelling garlic bread onto the dining table, Satchmo was excitedly licking his feet and his two darling little boys were gleefully tapping away on the piano, playing one of the melodies they did so well as a duet. Peter hung up his jacket and placed down his briefcase before heading over to kiss the musical moppets on the top of their heads. "Hello boys."

"Hi Peter."

"Hewwo Dadda."

The pair continued to tap away while Peter made his way over to his beautiful wife for his welcome home hug. "Hi hon."

"Hi honey. How was your day?" El snuggled into her husband for a warm embrace.

"Oh you know the usual, caught some bad guys, put them away for a long while, saved the world."

El chuckled. "The pizzas won't be ready for another twenty minutes." She slapped at Peter's hand as he made a move to steal a piece of garlic bread. "That's hot; it's only just come out of the oven. You'll burn yourself," she scolded.

"But I'm hungry," Peter whined.

"You sound like Mozzie." El took her husband's hand and lead him over to the couch. "Just relax and listen to the music for a little while. You're hardly going to die from starvation in the next twenty minutes."

Peter conceded and made himself comfortable on the couch beside El while the boys finished the song. At the end of the number the proud parents gave an enthusiastic round of applause and Neal spun around on the piano stool and bowed dramatically. He was so proud. Speaking of being proud, "Which of you two junior chefs made my pizza tonight?"

"I did dadda."

"Well little man if it tastes even half as good as it smells, I'm going to think it's the best pizza I've ever eaten."

The youngster's grin grew from ear to ear.

Peter reclined on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "So what did everyone get up to today, anything exciting happen?"

There was silence in the room for a good thirty seconds and just when Peter had given up hope of a response, Neal began to open his mouth. But Mozzie's eyes went wide when he noticed and he beat his brother to a reply. "Ah, yeah I bet our day wasn't nearly as interesting as yours, Peter. You have any thrilling little adventures to share with us tonight."

Peter chuckled. He didn't talk about work when the boys were around but Mozzie always asked regardless.

"Actually honey, Mozzie and Neal do have something to tell you, don't you boys?" El had instructed them earlier that they would need to tell their dad about the school incidents.

Peter studied the two little chaps, who by all appearances had turned several shades whiter than seconds earlier. "You boys have something you need to tell me?"

"Yeah." Mozzie adjusted his glasses and tried to look disappointed. "Look, when we were making the pizzas earlier, Neal dropped yours on the ground."

"Did not!" Neal defended. "You wocked it off da cownter an it wanded on da bin."

"Yeeeewwww!" All of a sudden Peter wasn't so keen on his pizza after all.

"No, no," Mozzie continued, "It's a-okay now Peter. El made you a new base and Neal started from scratch. You're not eating the one from the bin."

"Well I should hope not." Peter directed a pretend scowl in Elizabeth's direction.

"That's not what the boys need to tell you Peter," El rolled her eyes. If only!

Peter turned back to his sons and considered, "Did something happen at school?"

Mozzie wiped his sweaty palms across his pants and climbed off the stool to begin pacing around the living room. "Ah, okay, let's just take a hypothetical situation here Peter. You're good at working with hypotheticals aren't you?" It was rhetorical so Peter didn't bother to answer. "Let's just say hypothetically there was a kid at school bullying, ah someone like me, and ah someone like me hatched a brilliant..." Mozzie stopped and took stock of the situation. He was taking the wrong tack with this. If he made out his retaliation was justified then both Peter and Elizabeth would see that as him not having learnt his lesson and he may very well find himself facing additional punishment. He had to think smarter than that. He was smarter than that. He stopped and stood on the opposite side of the coffee table but took one giant step back when Peter put his feet down and leaned forward. "Ah, what I meant to say was that today at school, I did something quite irresponsible, I got Neal involved and together we were called into the principal's office and Elizabeth was asked to come and pick us up."

It was Peter's turn to change color and Mozzie made another smart move, he took some additional steps back towards the piano stool where Neal had been wise to remain. Peter stood up and put his hands on his hips, "You were sent home! Both of you! What on earth did you do?"

"Ah, well I sprayed fake vomit over someone at assembly and a couple of students threw up for real." Mozzie planted his butt back on the stool, his behind was still smarting from earlier, he couldn't afford for a stay swat to land his way!

Peter stepped closed to the pair of mischief makers. "And what about you young man? Why were you sent home?"

Neal swiped at stray tear as he mumbled, " aling."

Peter spun to look at El and shrugged, 'I didn't get any of that!'

El filled in the blanks, "Neal thought it would be a good idea to put some stolen items into Benny Baxter's bag so the teacher would think he had been stealing. Benny and his brother Blaine have been bullying Neal and Mozzie all week."

Peter turned back and with his hands on his hips and his jaw set tight, glaring at his two little delinquents. "I'm so disappointed in both of you. Instead of coming home and telling us or telling your teacher, you both did something very disappointing." Peter took a deep breath trying to find his inner calm.

"Elizabeth told us if it happens again, we need to let someone know that we are being bullied."

"An we not to wandle it owselbes."

"And the principal said if we do something like that again we will be suspended."

"An mommy pank my bottom hawd."

Peter raised his eyebrows, surprised by that disclosure. He glared at Mozzie.

"Yes, I also got a walloping over Elizabeth's knee. Rest assured, that particular lesson will not need to be repeated anytime soon."

"Mmmm, I certainly hope not boys. I expect better from both of you."

"Yes sir." Mozzie hung his head.

"Yeah dadda."

"Alright then come here for a hug, you boys were too busy being musical maestros before to give your daddy his welcome home squeeze."

Both Mozzie and Neal wrapped their dad in a bear hug and he kissed each of them on their little heads. "Okay, why don't you both go wash your hands for dinner? I'm not waiting a minute longer for that garlic bread."

Peter watched his two little munchkins race up the stairs then he held out his hand to El to help her up off the couch. He pulled her into a hug. "You okay, hon? I didn't know you had to handle all that by yourself. You were okay with the..."

"The spanking?"

"Yeah, I don't have a problem with you leaving that to me you know."

"Yeah, I know. I just felt it was something I needed to handle and it all turned out okay in the end. Besides, I believe it's my turn to choose the movie tonight."

"Oh, ah, great, that's great hon."

"Peter Burke, you could at least try to sound sincere!" El pretended to be mad and reached around and swatted her husband across his slacks.

"Hey! No practicing on me!"

"Who said I was practicing?" El smiled cheekily and disappeared into the kitchen.

Peter licked his lips; those pizzas really did smell wonderful!

Monday Morning

Spiiisssssh… Neal squirted a shaving cream mountain onto his hand then covered his face professionally, careful not to miss the spots up under his ears. He wiped his hands clean on the plush bath towel wrapped several times around his tiny waist then reached up and grabbed one of the disposable razors sitting on the high self in the medicine cabinet. He was already standing on the bathroom easystepthat Elizabeth had bought for him so he didn't have to practically climb up and over the basin to turn the tap on to wash his hands. But even with the additional height of the stool, the child had to stand on tippy-toes and stretch his fingers to the limit. Finally, he had what he needed to give himself a long overdue shave. He lined the razor up with the side of his cheeks and….

"Neal!" Peter grabbed the little boy's wrist and carefully removed the razor from his hand. "What on earth are you doing, little one?"

"I habing a shabe dadda. All da high chool boys hab ta shabe."

"But buddy, you go to kindy, not high school. You don't need to worry about shaving for a very long time." Peter took in the appearance of his little moppet. Shaving cream plastered from ear to ear, wearing nothing but a bath towel. He looked so adorable.

"I was finking I might go ta high chool today intead."

"Not today little one. Mrs. Roberts would miss you and your mommy is looking forward to you doing her a beautiful drawing with your new pencils. But we'd better take care of your whiskers first. We don't want the other boys thinking you're too tough to eat lunch with them." Peter picked up a spare toothbrush from the back of the medicine cabinet and placed the brush end in Neal's little hand. He then guided his wrist along the side of the little boy's cheek, wiping off the shaving cream as it went. Peter then directed Neal's wrist to the other side of his face. After a few more swipes, Peter used the hand towel to wipe off the excess cream. "Let me see." The little boy turned to his dad. Peter ran his hand over the youngster's face. "Perfect. As smooth as a baby's bottom. What a handsome young man! Better watch the ladies today son, they're going to be after you."

"Dadda!" Neal cringed and screwed up his little nose, making him look even more adorable.

"Just kidding." Peter lifted the little boy off the stool and pointed a stern finger in his direction. "But I'm not kidding about this young man, that razor you picked up is sharp and very very dangerous. I do not want it anywhere near your face or even in your hands for that matter. If you want to have a turn at shaving, ask me and we'll do it together, understand?"

"Yes dadda."

"Good." Peter turned the little boy and swatted him across his towel. "Now, go get ready for kindy."

"High chool, dadda, wemember." Neal gave his dad a cheeky grin as he skipped out of the way of another swat.

Peter released a deep sigh. Hopefully this week was going to be a little easier than the last. Could it be possible to have an incident free week? Ever? Peter didn't have high hopes. As he packed away the 'shaving equipment' he promised himself that he'd spend at least some of his lunch break today delving further into the 'Mozinski' mystery. So far, the bureau computers had come up with zero hits on the unusual name with a possible connection to one nine-year old boy who walked into a police station more than five years ago. Hopefully he wouldn't regret it if he did stumble onto some missing pieces to the puzzle. Peter splashed water on his face and looked into the mirror. Yes, what would this week hold indeed? He thought of little Neal saying he was going off to high school and while part of him thought the innocent comment made him smile, the other part made him feel empty inside. One day his little boy would be shaving, driving a car and heading off to high school. He heard his boys laughing down the hall, joking about something they were going to be doing at recess. No, he didn't want his boys to ever get any older. He'd be more than happy for them to stay nine and five forever. Peter suspected every parent felt the same way but he told himself he should leave those worries for another day. Today all he should be concerned with would be getting a call from the school principal after recess. Peter snapped himself back to the here and now. "Mozzie! Neal! Come here and tell me what you two are planning at recess!"

Neither boy heard. El had rounded them up and they were out the door. Nope, shaving and driving cars would be the least of Peter's worries for a very long time!

* THE END *