House Arrest
Chapter 7
Day 24
Rain had decided that she was going to be a singer when she grew up and Fang would be her guitarist. Max decided that she was going to kill herself for ever buying him a new guitar.
"Rain, I have a headache," Max told her daughter, pulling the blanket over her head. She was trying to take a nap on the couch but Fang and Rain had other ideas.
"Then go to the bedroom," Fang said.
"I was in here first."
"And?"
"Fang-"
"Max, we're playing."
"I really don't feel good."
Fang sighed. "What's wrong?"
"My head."
"Your head always hurts."
"And? Go away."
Groaning, Fang got up, picking his daughter up too. "Come on. Let's go make cookies."
"Okay!" Rain said, happily forgetting her musical career. If she got anything from her mother, it was her love of cookies. Max sighed, removing the blanket away from her head. She felt like crap today. Not much different from other days but today was especially bad. Ace had cried all night and was grumpy that morning from such little sleep. The baby, who was in his playpen, started whining.
"Ma-ma," he called out to his mother. "Ma-ma!"
Max groaned, getting up to go get him. "What? What was so important that you chose now to start crying?"
Ace clung to his mother, his cries ceasing. "Hi."
"Hi," Max said, kissing him. "Are you okay now?"
He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes. None of Max's kids had blue eyes. She nor Fang had blue eyes. They had to be an underlying gene. She kissed his head before laying back down on the couch, him on her stomach.
"Ma-ma," he mumbled contently before falling back to sleep.
Being called to school because your sons gotten into a fight sucks for most parents. For Max, it had become a normal thing, along with being called because of PDA, cherry bombs, sleeping in class, cursing, and just flat out refusing to do his work. Being called down there because your straight-A, cause no problems, daughter is in trouble was a first.
"You did what?"
Hayley just sunk down further in her chair, shrugging. "I don't know."
Max closed her eyes before looking at the principal. "What are you going to do?"
"Two days suspension."
"No ticket?"
"No ticket."
Max stood up. "Come on Hayley."
She followed her mom out to the car. "Are you going to tell me that those frogs deserved to die for science? Because they didn't."
"Hayley, shut up."
"Mom-"
"Just shut up, alright?"
"Mom, if I'm gonna be yelled at, I'm going to plead my case."
Max closed her eyes, thinking. "What possessed you to do that?"
"Those frogs did not deserve to die."
"Hayley, you dissected a frog in like ninth grade."
"Seventh and I regret it."
"Why would you set them all free though? In the school?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I was high."
"What?"
"On adrenaline."
Max sighed, shaking her head. "Just shut your mouth, alright?"
"Mom, today is the Friday before winter break. It'll be just like I have two extra days of break."
"Oh no it won't because you'll be grounded."
"How is that different from the rest of my life?"
Max stopped, thinking for a moment. "You know what? Good for you."
Frowning, Hayley said, "What?"
"At least you spoke your mind."
"So I'm not in trouble?"
"With me, no. What your dad does to you is up to him. I don't even care though."
Hayley smiled. Finally, her life was turning around.
Fang stared at Ace. "Do something."
Ace patted his dad's nose. "Ah."
"I meant something interesting."
"Nah."
"Ooh, you did…absolutely nothing. You're killing me buddy."
Giggling, Ace fell onto his back. That was about as interesting as he was gonna get. Fang sighed, kissing the baby's head. His more entertaining child walked into the room.
"Okay, Daddy. I found it."
It? He turned to look at her. Rain was now adorned with a pink tutu. Fang frowned.
"Why are you wearing that?"
"So I can dance." God, Daddy was so stupid sometimes.
Fang rolled his eyes, laying on his side on his and his wife's bed. "Fine, dance."
"No. You have to sing."
"I have to sing?"
"Yes."
"Rain-"
"Sing Britney."
"Who?"
"Britney Spears, Daddy." Does she have to explain everything to him?
"No."
"Lady Gaga?"
"Who?"
"What about…Pink?"
"No. I'm not singing, Rain."
"You're no fun."
"Really?"
She frowned. Dancing without music was difficult but what in life wasn't? Like Nike, sometimes she had to just do it. She giggled to herself out loud. Sky said that a lot. What was Nike?
Fang frowned when Rain laughed. So weird… "Are you going to dance or what, baby?"
Rain closed her eyes, focusing in on her inner Britney. Just when she was going to begin, the front door opened and Fang jumped out of bed to go yell at Hayley. So Rain danced for Ace. Hey, an audience is an audience, whether it be one one-year-old or a thousand other people. You gotta start somewhere.
"You have ten seconds to explain," Fang bellowed as he came down the stairs.
Hayley, unfortunately, was as skilled at this as her brother, and wasted her ten seconds by taking a deep breath.
"That's it," Fang said, having counted in his head. "Now time for the belt."
"What?"
Max sighed. "Fang, a lot of people would think it…inappropriate to spank a seventeen year old girl."
"Why?"
"You know why."
Fang narrowed his eyes at his wife. Max walked up the stairs to see her babies, letting the two most boneheaded people in the world fight it out.
"Why are you in tutu?"
"I was going to dance for Daddy but he left," Rain told me. "So I was dancing for Ace."
Max looked at her youngest and saw that he probably couldn't care less what Rain was doing. "Well just be quieter, okay? I'm going to lie down."
"And sleep?"
"No. I'm…watching you dance."
Rain smiled. Mommy wanted to see her dance! While his wife was stuck upstairs with one daughter, Fang was yelling at the other.
"Then hit me, come on! Then I can hit you back."
Fang held down at growl. "Hayley, I am trying to give you a chance. Do you just want me to go and get my belt?"
"Do it! I dare you."
Fang hadn't spanked Hayley since she was ten! Skylar was one thing but hitting Hayley was a whole other.
"Just go to your room," he said finally.
Hayley scoffed at him before walking away.
"Thanks for leaving the keys in your locker," Skylar said to his sister as he walked into the house. He had finally gotten to be the one to drive and all it took was for his sister to get suspended.
"Are people talking about what I did?" Hayley asked him, not telling him to get out of her room for once.
"Yeah. You're such a loser, getting caught and all," he said before walking away. He went to find his dad.
Fang was in the kitchen, staring intently at a pitcher of tea.
"What are you doing?" His son asked him.
"Watching the tea."
"Why?"
"It's better than the crap that's on TV."
Skylar went over to the fridge. "So she's grounded, right?"
"…No."
"What? If I did that-"
"You aren't even smart enough to dissect a frog, much less save its life."
"Whatever, you just like her better."
"This is true," Fang said, thinking that they were joking. Skylar left the room, not joking at all. Fang continued to watch the tea.
"Hi, Dad," Caden greeted, walking into the room.
"Hey."
"Guess what we did today," his son said, sitting down next to him.
"What?"
"We read a book about the Grinch and then got to do a coloring page! I colored my Grinch purple and made my teacher laugh."
"That's good."
"Yeah," his son agreed. Mimicking his father, Caden laid his head down on the table too, looking hard at the tea. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "Hey, Dad?"
"What?"
"Why are we looking at tea?"
Fang sighed, sitting up. "I was just thinking."
''bout what?"
"Nothing, just thinking."
"Oh…me too," he said, wanting his father to think that he was adult.
Smirking a little, Fang laughed. "Come, Caden. Let's go learn some more guitar."
"No," he whined but did follow his father out of the room. Max walked into the kitchen as they left, Rain trailing behind her.
"I like cookies," Rain said. Max rolled her eyes. She was continuing to say this because she was hoping it would get imbedded into her mothers mind that they should make cookies. "I really, really-"
"Rain, I do not feel like making cookies, okay?"
Frowning at her mother's tone, the little girl ran off into the living room. Skylar was there, watching TV.
"Hi, Sky," his sister greeted, climbing into his lap. "Did you miss me?"
"While I was at school? Of course," he said, hugging her a little. "And you know what else? I got you a present in my backpack."
Rain jumped out of his lap and over to the discarded backpack by the front door. She unzipped in. "What is it?"
"The candy cane," he said. True, some girl had given it to him by where does it say that you can reuse gifts?
Rain smiled at him. "You got it just for me?"
"Of course," Liar. But who cares? She didn't know that.
Rain skipped over to him, climbing back into his lap. "I love you Sky."
"Yeah, yeah. Now be quiet. I'm watching something."
She just smiled.
"Grandma!" Rain squealed as Dr. Martinez walked into the house. Skylar closed the door behind her.
"Hi, baby," the vet whispered, giving her a hug. Rain giggled, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck.
Skylar laid down on the couch as his mother walked in. He was never big on his grandmother. She was too strict for his taste.
"Hi, Mom," Max said, glancing at her son. "Sky, go give her a hug."
"No, I'm good."
"Sky-"
"It's fine," Dr. Martinez said as Fang came in the room. He took Rain from the woman.
Caden walked in. "Did you bring me something?"
"Caden, stop it," Max said, walking towards the kitchen, her mother following. Caden came too.
"Did you?"
"No, sweetie, but if you wait a few days I'm sure Santa will bring you something."
Disappointed, Caden left to go play in his bedroom.
"How are you?" Dr. Martinez asked her daughter. "You haven't called me recently."
"I've been busy," Max lied.
"Work?"
"Yeah."
"How's Ace?"
Max shrugged. "I was making dinner so are you staying?"
"No. I just stopped in on my way home from work."
"Oh."
"Where's Hayley?"
Max shrugged, going back to chopping. "I don't know. In her room I guess. She got in trouble at school today."
The vet frowned. "Hayley?"
"Yes."
"For what?"
"Setting the frogs loose that were going to be dissected."
Dr. Martinez smiled a little. "Did he ground her?"
"Nope."
"I bet Skylar's upset."
This thought hadn't even crossed Max's mind. When she thinks of one of her older children, the thought of the other never factors in. They hate each other no matter what.
"I guess so. I haven't asked him."
Rain ran into the room, her tutu on again. "Okay! Now you can watch me dance."
Max knew she should save her mother from the torture but, after having to suffer through it herself, she couldn't find it in her to do so.
