House Arrest
Chapter 3
Day 3
Fang opened his eyes at exactly 5:30, just like always. He looked over at Max but she was still sleeping. After kissing her head, Fang got up, going out of the room. His two oldest kids need alarm clocks, or else they wouldn't get up. But he always woke Caden and Rain…except that day the cops were here to give him his ankle monitor. But he was busy that day.
Fang yawned loudly, going into Rain's room. "Rain, are you up?"
She moaned, rolling over. Fang got into bed with her, wrapping an arm around her.
"Daddy-"
"Shhh." He kissed the back of her head. "Wanna get up now?"
"No."
"Come on, Daddy wants you to help him."
She moaned as Fang got back up, taking her with him. He carried her into the living room, laying her down on the couch. He put a blanket around her, turning the TV onto some cartoon. He kissed her again before going into the kitchen to start breakfast. He was only in there for a few minutes when Skylar walked in.
"What are you doing up?"
He sat down at the table. "I have to walk to school so I need to make a head start."
"Why do you have to walk?"
"Hayley is on her vendetta against dicks."
"When did you two think that you can say that word?"
"Dad, if I have one, I can say it."
"How about this? If you won't say it in front of your mom, don't say it."
"…Nah I'm good."
Fang sighed. "She can't make you walk."
"Oh, but she can. She is a very evil person when she wants to be."
Fang sat a plate of food in front of his son. "Why are you fighting?"
"You know that girl that she hangs out with?"
"She hangs out with a lot of girls."
"The redheaded one?"
"With the annoying voice?"
"Yeah."
Fang frowned. That girl is the most annoying girl ever. "What about her?"
"She was so all over me."
"Skylar." Fang sighed.
"Anyways, Hayley found out and is being a brat about it."
"Why?"
"I don't know! She's crazy!"
"Sky!" Rain ran into the room, climbing into her oldest brother's lap.
"Hey Rain." He pushed her hands away from his food. "Get your own."
She giggled, leaning against him. Fang reached down, scratching near his ankle monitor. The thing was starting to annoy him. Fang made himself a plate and Rain before sitting at the table. He didn't normally eat with his kids, he normally was getting ready for work.
"Daddy no wo'k?"
"Not anymore…for a year at least."
Rain smiled, remembering this fact. She moved to her own chair, starting to eat. After a few minutes, Hayley walked in.
"You're taking your brother to school," Fang told her.
"I know. Why wouldn't I be taking Caden?"
"I mean Skylar."
Hayley glanced at her father. "That is not my brother. My brother wouldn't be boning my friend!"
"Hayley!" Fang stood up, looking at his oldest daughter. "You two need to learn to watch your mouths!"
"Or what? Now that you're home you'll ground us?" She snorted, walking out of the room.
"Come back here and eat!"
"I'm not hungry!"
Stomp, stomp, door slam. Ace's crying. Fang groaned, going to get the baby. When he went in there, Caden was up, getting dressed.
"Hi Daddy!"
"Hey," mumbled Fang, going to pick up Ace. The baby stopped crying after a moment. Kissing his head, Fang walked out of the room. "Come get breakfast, Cad."
He went back down stairs into the kitchen. Skylar was gone and Rain was happily eating her father's breakfast.
"Rain, that is mine!"
She giggled. "Daddy!"
Fang sighed, sitting down in a chair. "You can finish it, I guess."
Rain smiled at him. "Sky go school."
"He did?"
"Yes. Him say bye-bye Rain. I love you!"
"Did he?" Fang kissed Ace's head when he started getting whinny.
"Yeah. Him loves me! Me his fav-right."
Ace made a noise, reaching up for Fang's hair. Rain giggled.
"Hi Ace!"
The baby looked at her. "Ah!"
"Does Ace love me too, Daddy?"
"Yeah." Fang was suddenly hit with the realization that he was stuck with his kids for…362 more days. Ugh.
"No! Get off me! Fang!" The man's beard tickled my face. I scratched at him, trying to get away. He just pulled down my zipper.
"I can't help you this time Max. You're on your own."
"Fang! Fang…"
Max's eyes shot open. As her breath leveled out, she looked around. It was nine now. Damn it, she had missed seeing her kids before school. She laid there for a few more minutes before getting out of the bed, going down the stairs and into the living room. Fang was on the couch, watching a movie while Rain was on the ground, playing with her baby brother.
"Mommy!"
"Hey baby," said Max as she went over to her and her brother. "What are you two doing?"
"Teach'in Ace to say me name."
"You are?"
"Yeah."
Fang lifted up the blanket that was laid over him. "Come here baby."
He was talking to Max but Rain took it as an invitation for her. She climbed up onto his chest. Fang and Max's eyes met and they both smiled at this as Max went ahead and sat down in the chair. Rain cuddled against her dad, running a hand down his face.
"You hairy."
"You think I need to shave?"
"Yes!"
"Well I'm not until I get to leave this house."
Rain giggled while Max just rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Rain, he'll be shaving by tomorrow."
"Why do you say that?" Fang asked, amused.
"Because you'll be on the couch till you do."
"Doubt it."
"You know that I don't like beards, Fang."
"Just because he had a beard doesn't mean that I'll be like him if I-"
"Shut the fuck up!"
Rain cuddled closer to her father. Mommy never used to yell or say bad words. Now she did it all the time.
Fang took a deep breath. He had crossed a line. "Max, I'm sorry but-"
"Leave me alone." She got up and walked out of the room, taking her youngest with her. Sighing, Fang kissed Rain's head. He had a beard when they had had Skylar. It was short and fuzzy. Hayley used to like to feel it. He shaved it because he lost a bet. Fang had always meant to grow it out but just never got around to it. Now that that guy had a beard, it looked like he'd never get to have one again.
"Why Mommy sad?"
Fang looked down at Rain. "Remember that bad guy we talked about? The one Daddy got into a fight with?"
Rain nodded. "Fights bad. Daddy gets in trouble. No po-lece any more."
"Yeah, I'm not a policeman anymore because of it." Fang sighed. "But Mommy's still hurting."
"Daddy no fix it?"
"I can't baby." He ran a hand down her back. But damn did he try.
"Ma-ma." Ace reached out for Max. She ran a hand down the back of his head, sighing a little. Ace put his hands on her stomach, standing up. The bed was too bouncy, making him fall back on his butt. The thirteen month old clapped his hands, giggling.
"Baby." Max rolled her eyes, still peeved about Fang. How dare he bring that up. And in front of their children! Ace smiled at his mommy.
"Ma-ma." He laid his head on her stomach. "Ma-ma!"
"What, baby? Huh Ace?"
He lifted his head to looked at her. "Hi!"
His version of hi was really just a high-pitched noise. But it was still very cute.
"Hi sweetie." She smiled at him. Ace was so sweet and cute…he'd never be like that man. Never. Max bit her lip as Ace moved up the bed until his head was on the pillow, right next to her. "You look like your daddy. Did you know that, Ace? Huh?"
The baby giggled. Max kissed his head gently. "I love you, Ace. I love you so much. You know that, right?"
"Ma-ma!"
"Can you say I love you? Huh?"
"Nah noo oo."
Max smiled brightly. "Good job, baby! You're so smart!"
Ace smiled at the praise. "Ah!"
"Yes, baby." Max kissed him again.
"Mommy, are you still sad?"
Max bit her lip, not even turning to look at the doorway. "No Rain."
"Okay, Daddy. We can go in." Rain climbed up onto the bed, her father following. "Hi Mommy!"
"Hi sweetie." Max kissed her head. Fang walked into the room carrying a plate with a sandwich on it. He handed it to Max before laying down. "W-"
"You missed breakfast," he said simply. Fang gave her a small smile before closing his eyes. "House arrest sucks."
"Yeah."
"Could be worse though," Fang decided.
"How? You lost your job and are stuck here for a year. What could possibly be worse, Fang?"
He looked at her. "I could be in jail, baby."
Max snorted. "Yeah, whatever."
Her husband just closed his eyes. "In a year, baby, I'll get a job and you can stay home again. In a year, this will all be over."
"It's never going to be over, Fang."
Fang ignored her, pulling off his shirt instead of responding. "Rain, Daddy's back hurts."
He rolled onto his stomach. Rain giggled, running her hands down his back. It didn't really help him any but it gave her something to do. He opened his black wings, letting them fall over his daughter.
"Daddy!"
"What? Jealous?"
"No."
Hayley was born with wings and still had them. Skylar, however, was born with them but they never grew right and had them removed with he was eight. Caden had them and they worked fine. Rain was born without them and so was Ace.
Max ate her sandwich, silently watching her husband and kids. Ace was fascinated with their wings so, as soon as Fang opened them, he was rubbing them, giggling when they tickled his face. Rain was still trying to rub Fang's back, though he would constantly move his wings in her way, just to annoy her. After Max finished her sandwich, she walked out of the room, going to put her plate in the sink. When she got there, she realized that Fang had not washed the dishes.
"Fang," she hissed, shaking her head. She washed them before going back upstairs. When she got there, it was apparently story time because Ace and Rain were each cuddle on one of Fang's sides as he talked to him.
"So there I was," he continued, "face to face with the scariest thing ever. You know what it was, Rain?"
"What?"
"Guess!"
"…A monster?"
"No, but very close. It was Mommy."
"Fang-"
"But, she hadn't eaten in an hour or so. You know how cranky she gets, right? Well, to top it all off, she was pregnant with Skylar, so, clearly, I had a problem. Anyways, Hayley had written on the walls with crayons while Max was napping, because you know, that's all she does all day."
Max ignored him, laying back down on the bed. Fang smiled at her before going on.
"And, even worse, Daddy had forgotten to pay the electric bill. So it was dark, Max was hungry, and Hayley had written on the walls. You know what happened next?"
"Daddy fix it?"
"Yep! I went and got food, paid the electric bill and grounded Hayley."
"Ground Hayley?"
"Yeah but only for ten minutes. She was only two and started whining so we went to the park to escape the wrath of Mommy."
"You're a jerk. And, that's not how it happened. I was on the phone with Mom and Hayley won't stop crying about it being dark so I gave her finger-paint. She put that on the wall. We had no food, and we were both hungry. And where were you?"
"Out fighting the crime."
"Oh yeah, okay."
"I was!" Fang looked down at Rain. "Now, time for a nap."
"Lunch?"
"After."
"Not how you do's it yest-er-day."
"Yeah, well, I'm tired today." Fang moved her next to her brother so that she wasn't on the edge. "Go to sleep."
"Tigger?"
"He's asleep in the living room."
"Gets him, Daddy?"
"Nope. Then I'd have to wake him up. But you've got something better than Tigger."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you got Ace! Cuddle with him."
Rain looked at her nasty, drooling baby brother. "Mommy."
Max sighed. "Fang go get the stupid doll."
Groaning, Fang went all the way back down stairs to get a 'stupid doll'. When he got back, Rain was already asleep! He'd rather be tracking down drug dealers than this, honestly. He loved his family and all but they were so dull. Well…not all of them. Hayley wasn't dull, just mean. He does everything he can for her and she acts like he's some kind of abusive father. Fang got back into bed, laying the stuffed animal in between Ace and his sister.
"Still glad you did it?"
Fang looked at Max. "Get the doll? No, not at all."
"You know what I meant. You could be at work right now."
"I know. Trust me, I know." Fang closed his eyes. "But then I couldn't be taken a well deserved nap, either."
It was silent for a minute before Max spoke again. "Would you do it again? If you could go back?"
"Yeah, baby, I would. But if I could go back, I would have stopped him from raping you."
"Fang-"
"Go to sleep." Fang gave her a soft smile. "Three days down, almost. It'll be over before we know it."
Fang was on the couch, watching the game with Rain, when the other kids got home. Well, two of them.
"Hi Daddy!"
"Hey Cad." He looked at his oldest daughter. "Where's your brother?"
"Right there."
"Hayley-"
"He walked, alright? It's not going to kill him."
"Watch your tone."
"Make me."
"Hayley! Come here for a second," Max called from the kitchen. The seventeen year old rolled her eyes before going in there.
"What?"
"Don't what me. Your dad is going through enough-"
"He brought it on himself. You can't just beat up on somebody because you're a cop."
"That's not even what I was talking about."
Hayley looked away. "He's just been on me since, like, a year ago. I'm tired of him! I would rather have him at work."
"Yeah, you and everyone else. But that's over so get used to him being here." Max went back to cutting carrots. "You got homework?"
"No."
"Then help me cut. Go cut the potatoes."
"What are you making?"
"Stew."
Hayley sighed, going over to the bag on the table, pulling some potatoes out.
"Did Seth say anything today?"
"No. He was all over Joy though."
"…Isn't that your friend-"
"Not anymore."
Max didn't say anything else. After a minute, Rain happily skipped into the room.
"Hi Hayley!"
The teen smiled at her sister. "Hi."
Rain climbed into a chair next to her sister. "Can I cut?"
"No."
"But I wanna!"
"Trust me, you don't." Max looked at her. "Where's Caden?"
"Watch foo-ball with Daddy." Rain laid her head on the table. "Sky?"
"He's not home yet," her mother told her.
"I don't know why you like him so much," Hayley commented.
"Him me brother!"
"Yeah but that doesn't make him great."
"Yes!" Rain glared at her sister. Skylar was awesome. He was nice and loved her the most.
Hayley sighed. "You're hopeless."
"Hayley, be nice. Skylar is very nice."
"Yeah, to you two."
"Well maybe if you were nice to him, he would be nicer to you." Max knew that his two oldest weren't fond of each other at the moment…or ever in their lives, honestly. When Skylar was born, they thought he was going to be a girl. Hayley was very excited about having a sister. Then she got Sky. The then two year old hadn't realized how much a baby cries or needs attention. Since then, it has only gone downhill.
A loud burp rang out through the house, Skylar's calling card of sorts.
"Mom!"
Max sighed. "I'm in here Sky."
He walked into the room, throwing a piece of paper down. "I need you to sign this."
"What is it?"
"Just saying that you'll meet with my principal tomorrow."
"Skylar, I have work."
"Yeah, well, he wants to talk to you. Well…actually he wants to talk to Dad but since that is out of the question-"
"Shut up and go do your homework." Max put down her knife, looking at the paper. "I'm not going tomorrow. I'll call your principal and tell him that I can't."
Skylar shrugged, grabbing a soda. "Fine by me."
"What did you do this time, anyways?"
"Nothing. He thinks that 'I'm acting out because of my dad being in trouble'. But it's okay because he and the counselor 'know what I'm going through'."
Max shook her head. "Why don't they need me to talk about Hayley?"
"Because she 'doesn't cause problems'." He made a face. "'Why can't I be more like her'?"
Sighing, Max stood up, going to but her carrots in the pot. "That's what I've asked since you were two."
"What about before?"
"All you did was poop and eat. How can you find fault in that?"
"I bet you could."
"Skylar, for once I'm not yelling at you. Now go away before I start." Max wasn't in the mood for yelling today. She felt…odd.
"Fine. But I will return!" He walked out of the room, taking his soda and Rain with him. Hayley rolled her eyes.
"Imagine life without him."
"I can't."
"I can."
"Good. You'll be moving out soon, right? Or is that just a hallow threat?"
Hayley glared at her mother. "Oh, I am so gone when I graduate."
"Sure you are, sweetie."
"I am!"
"Stop yelling, I don't feel good."
Hayley sighed. "He won't even be at my graduation, you know that right?"
Max looked at the once miniature version of herself. "He loves you though and would be if he could."
"He's stupid."
"Hayley, stop it."
The seventeen year old put the potatoes in the pot before walking away.
