Lena
Today is the first day of the self defense course and I'm really nervous about it. Jude decided that he would do it and Mariana opted out of it but decided she would take it during the summer if she could get a friend to do it with her. Stef had a short shift today so she was going to stop in after her shift.
Today is an introductory course for the first half and then the second half we actually get started on basic skills. We sat and listened to the instructor talk about rules and what we are going to do in the class for a while when Jesus leaned over to me.
"How long does this go for, I want to kick and punch some people" he said jokingly and i glared at him.
"Stop it" I told him and the instructor stopped right as Stef walked in.
"Excuse me is their a problem?" the instructor said looking right at us and Stef laughed.
"No sorry" I said and he turned around too Stef.
"Oh do I actually get help today?" he asked Stef who laughed and shook her head.
"Yeah right i'm here too make fun of my family" She said sitting down on the floor and I rolled my eyes.
"Well I'm putting you too work, go do something" he said too Stef who got up and groaned.
"How long till the actually do something?" she asked.
"Fifteen minutes" he said to her.
"Ok i'm going shooting i'll be back" she said dismissing herself. There's a shooting range in the station for practice.
"Sorry about that the cops in here will come and go just ignore them" he said and continued on his lecture.
Stef
After ten minutes of shooting I headed back and decided to be nice and help him with the class since it's a bigger class of ten, which is a lot when teaching self defence. I'm used too subbing or co-teaching this class so it's nothing new. I snuck in as he was still lecturing and started getting some of the equipment out. After I had it all set up Jack turned towards me.
"In the back is Stef, she's going to have the fun job today" he said and i laughed.
"Ok this is Bob…" I said pointing to the punching bag and he rolled his eyes.
"And she names the things she punches" he said and i laughed.
"It's therapeutic" i argued. "we punch him" I said putting gloves on and punching the bag a few times.
"And sometimes kick it" i said and roundhouse kicked it.
"Don't be too impressed she can only do that half the time" he said and i rolled my eyes.
"Thats pretty much all Bob does for a living" I joked.
"And I don't miss half the time" I denied and he laughed.
"Alright we are going to start with beating up Bob" he said and I can tell I'm making his job harder. I laughed finding it funny. We had them line up at three different punching bags.
"Is she ok?" he asked me looking at Lena.
"She's doing a lot better." I said.
"Whose idea was this?" he asked meaning taking this class.
"Mine…" I said and he nodded knowingly.
"I feel the same way and my wife was never stalked… so I can't blame ya" he said and I nodded. Cops are known for being protective, sometimes too much, of their families. When you see the things we do on a day to day basis it's bound to happen.
"Mom look at this" Jesus said hitting the punching bag and having it hit the ceiling.
"Jesus" Lena lectured him.
"Good job" I said and she glared at me.
"What that was a good punch if need be he can knock someone out easily." I said and he said yes.
"Keep hitting it" I said to him and he did as told enjoying it. I know she's against violence and this is going to be a hard adjustment for her but what did she expect. I wrapped my arm around her waist too make sure she is ok.
"No PDA in my classroom, or I will separate you two" he said and I rolled my eyes but let go of her.
"You ok?" I said and she nodded.
"Alright your turn" I said going on the other side of the punching bag to hold it still for her.
"Ok" she said and hesitated a bit.
"Have you punched anything, ever" I asked and she shook her head. Yeah not surprised.
"Just hit it and thumb outside of your fist" I said correcting her when she did it wrong. She hit it a few times and I can tell she's not putting all her effort into it.
"Oh come on I know you are stronger than this" I said but not going all full on athletic trainer on her. That would be too mean. She hit harder and I laughed proud of her.
"See better" I said and looked over at Jack.
"Hey she can hit harder than you" I joked and he rolled his eyes.
"At least I hit the bag" he teased back and I rolled my eyes.
"It happened once and only because David moved it, not my fault" I said and he laughed. We finished up the class, much too most of their delight since we don't go easy on them even on the first day.
"God I'm tired" Jude complained and I laughed.
"I told you it was a work out and imagine doing each thing we did today for another thirty minutes and then five more workouts after that" I said and Lena looked at me in disbelief.
"They don't actually work you that hard?" she said as if I were lying.
"Thats what camp cadet is" I said and she gave me a sympathetic look and I laughed.
"Is it going too be like that every time?" Brandon asked and I kept laughing.
"I'm glad this amuses you" Callie said sarcastically even though she did great today.
"Oh it does, very much" I said and Lena shook her head at me.
"And to answer your question, yes. Which is why there would never be too days of it in a row, too give your body a break." I said.
"I need more than a day" Jude complained and I laughed.
"Oh you are a bunch of whiners, don't worry Jack will get rid of that" I said laughing. Jack is pretty good at making it so people learn not to complain. If we complained in camp cadet we had to run another mile for every complaint. Nobody complained for long. Our camp cadet counselor was in the military and was known for making it a lot like military training. But I owe my career to him, because that really helps to prepare you for those rare moments you are running after someone and scaling a fence and tackling people too the ground.
Once we got home we made supper and me and Mariana enjoyed making fun of their agony. When everyone went to bed, it was hilarious too see them go up the stairs, me and Lena got ready for bed and I went over and massaged her shoulders.
"Thank you" She said.
"Of course he was a little meaner than I thought he would be, normally he isn't that bad" I said and she groaned.
"Great he was taking a bad day out on us" she said and I laughed.
"I think it was because of me being there he had to improve his class curriculum" I said and she glared at me.
"I love you honey but if thats the case don't show up again" she said and I laughed.
"But it was fun" I said and she rolled her eyes.
"Yes I know you're all cruel people" She said and i just laughed kissing her head.
"Thats what we thought of our camp cadet counselor and we all thank him for it now" I said.
"Well lets fast forward through time then" She said and I laughed.
Week after week they did the class and week after week it got easier for them and they stopped complaining, for the most part. I was feeling a lot better knowing that Lena and the kids knew how to defend themselves if need be, and aren't so dependent on me if that were too arise. I believe everyone should know how to protect themselves just in case, it would make my job a lot easier. I have debated this class before but pushed the thought away because I know Lena hates violence. But sometimes it has to be the answer.
Lena herself is feeling a lot better too. Her anxiety has gone down, she hasn't had any panic attacks. Which she used too have way too often after the attack. Her bad dreams have mostly gone away and everything is becoming normal again.
Even Callie seems to be improving even if her problem wasn't as obvious. She is feeling less protective of Jude, and less protective of herself. She's less guarded and more open. Everyone has grown closer to each other.
"It's hard to believe it's already the last class" Lena said.
"It wouldn't be if you let us do the gun part" Jesus whined.
"Mama isn't comfortable with you guys doing it and neither am I" I said and she smiled at me.
"I thought you said that knowing how to shoot a gun is important even for people who don't have careers in it" he said and I smiled.
"Tell you what" I said getting his attention.
"If I manage to get your mama's agreement and you listen carefully to my instructions then I will teach you myself" when I said that his face lit up but I know Lena wasn't thrilled.
"I don't know if I'm ok with that but we will talk about it" She promised and I smiled. She would never completely dismiss an idea without us talking about it. I still don't know if she will ever agree with me.
"Come on mama"
"Thats enough of that conversation for now" Lena said. I know I probably shouldn't have said that without bringing it to her awareness first. I'm happy she didn't just dismiss it through.
After a few more months passed by life was back to normal. Mariana agreed too take the class during the summer since she got a friend from the dance team too do it with her.
Lena sat next too me.
"If Jesus wants too and he really listen to you…" Is she saying what I think she is saying.
"Really?" I asked.
"If you are both extremely cautious" she said and I nodded.
"I'm always careful with a gun in my hand and I definitely would make sure Jesus is careful too" I said knowing he will be thrilled.
I gave him a few shooting lessons and he loved it, which Lena wasn't thrilled about. I'm just happy my family can protect themselves if something
