Chris gave a long yawn as he went to wake up Vin and Ezra who had slept in. The others were already up, and after setting them up with books, paper and pencils, were beginning school. Josiah was going to be the one in charge of their education while Chris and Buck helped.
Sitting on the side of the bed, Chris looked down at the sleeping boys who were curled up together. They almost looked innocent which made him smile and push their hair out of their faces.
"Time to wake up boys."
Soon, a pair of blue eyes were followed by a pair of green ones as they looked up at him.
Both boys moved a lot slower today.
Once Chris saw to them getting dressed, he led them to the table where breakfast and learning was taking place at the other end.
Vin plopped down in his seat and rested his chin on the table. Ezra clung to his cards which were still messed up.
Chris was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with these issues so early, but he figured the sooner he did it, the boys would regain some of their energy.
"Vin, let me see your arm." Chris said as he knelt down in front of the boy. He had picked up some of the ointment that he was instructed to put on the healing limb from the doctor.
"Ezra, you need to eat your food."
"I'm not all that hungry."
"I still want you to eat something." Chris said as he finished up wrapping Vin's arm again. He kissed the boy on the top of his head and Vin's energy seemed to revive and he ate happily.
He then moved over to Ezra who still shuffled the damaged deck in his hands.
"Want to tell me what happened?" Chris asked.
"Maddie tore up my cards and now I can't use them. They're the only thing I got from my mother." Ezra sounded like he was about to cry again.
Chris considered at the cards. The ones that had been torn were practically ripped in the same area. It was possible to glue them back together again, but then they'd stand out from the others.
He picked up one of the intact cards and tore it in half like the others. Ezra's eyes grew huge before he screamed in horror and began hitting Chris angrily. Chris caught the little arms attacking him and tried to calm the boy down.
"Ezra. Ezra. Ezra. It's alright. It's going to be alright. Watch."
Chris got up and brought back a bottle of glue. He then began to patch up the card he tore and then glued another damaged card. Ezra watched him with a tear streaked face. When Chris was done gluing the torn cards up he handed them to Ezra.
"If you really want to keep these and still use them. We could try tearing and re-gluing them back together so they'd look uniform."
Ezra silently nodded. Chris ran his hand over the boy's head before kissing it and moving to get his own breakfast.
The following days were uneventful for the men and their wards. Chris worked outside to construct another two bed frames with the occasional help of Buck. Wilmington would go into town to work odd jobs at the mercantile. Josiah would stay inside with the younger children and help them with their schooling.
Ezra and Nathan sat outside with Chris who was sanding down the last board of the second bed. Ezra had just finished his page of the book he and Nathan were reading out loud to Chris.
While Nathan read out loud with little effort like the other boy, Ezra played absentmindedly with his newly mended cards.
Buck rode up on his horse and stopped short before getting off.
"You boys doing alright?" he asked as Nathan stopped his reading to look up. Ezra too had stopped what he was doing.
"They seem to have an easy time reading those books you bring." Chris noted as he smiled proudly at the two boys who grinned back up at the men.
"Well I'm finished for today. Do you need help getting the beds inside?" Buck grunted as he stretched a little.
"I'm good. You go ahead and rest. I can have Josiah help me in a little bit."
Buck nodded and went inside after patting both boys on the head as he passed.
The tall man smiled as he watched Vin, Kate and the younger children practice their writing. JD instantly bounded out of his seat and ran to his pa.
Buck swept the boy up and tossed him in the air before catching him again.
Maddie and Kate giggled when he attacked them both with tickles and kisses. Vin, Buck noticed was pouting from his seat at the table.
"What's wrong there junior?"
"I hate school."
"Why do you say that?"
"Cause I ain't good at it. I'm stupid." Vin buried his head in his arms as he rested his head on the table.
Buck sat down next to him and rubbed his back.
"You ain't stupid, Vin. You may be having a harder time then the others but that don't mean nothing."
"JD and Kate already know how to read and write. Nathan and Ezra are already reading hard books. Even Maddie knows the alphabet." Vin muttered.
"You may just have a different way of learning things." Buck reassured.
Josiah came out from the back where he had gone to use the toilet.
"I'm having a hard time finding a method to teach Vin. Maybe you know of something."
Buck nodded and turned to the little boy. Vin was already having more difficulty than the others with his broken arm still healing which was his dominate hand.
"What do you think of when you think of words?"
Vin shrugged. "Sometimes Ezra likes to use big ones and grownups say bad ones."
"But what do you like about them? What makes you happy? A song, a poem, a quote."
"My mother used to sing songs when I was little. Used to sing to me before bed."
"Would you like to make a song?"
Vin thought about it before nodding eagerly.
"Okay then. We'll write one together, but first you need to learn how to write a poem. For that you need to spell the words you want to say."
Vin watched closely as Buck showed him again the alphabet and had Vin sound out each letter. He then had him write words that rhythmed together.
Soon Vin was scratching away at his paper.
Chris came inside with Nathan and Ezra following after him.
"Oh Chris, I forgot to tell you earlier. Heard some news that some judge is coming in town in a couple of days. Might want to stay hidden till he's gone."
Chris nodded and went into the back to wash up and change.
Ezra sat down next to Vin who was working hard on his masterpiece.
"Whatcha working on?" Ezra asked curious. He tried to peer over the boy's hand.
"I'm writing a poem."
"A poem." Ezra laughed, "That's adorable."
Vin sent his brother a glare.
"Well it ain't for you so you don't have to read it."
"Who's it for?"
"Pa."
"Why would he want a poem? That's not very impressive."
Vin's hand with the pencil stilled and he stared down at his work. Ezra wondered if he should apologize. It wasn't his place to say such things. After experiencing countless rejections and verbal rebuke from his mother and step-fathers, he wasn't sure what would be considered worth their approval. Vin probably never felt that kind of rejection. He would probably be better off not letting himself go through rejection.
Vin suddenly balled up his piece of paper and stuck it in his pocket. Buck looked up from where he was talking with the girls and noticed the distress on the boy's face.
"You alright there junior? What happened to our poem?"
"I don't want to do it anymore." Vin muttered.
Ezra felt the guilt wash over him and he fidgeted in his place. "Vin, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."
"No, you were right. I was stupid for writing one."
"No you aren't."
"Just leave me alone." Vin hissed before slipping out of his seat and running to their room.
Ezra's shoulders slumped as he watched his brother go.
"Why did you say that?" asked Nathan who had been listening.
Ezra looked back at his half sibling.
"It wasn't my intent to hurt him."
"Well your words were pretty hurtful."
"I apologized, didn't I?"
"Yes, but it still don't change the fact that Vin now probably doesn't want anything to do with reading or writing now."
"What am I supposed to do now? He won't listen to me and doesn't want me around."
"Well, have your pa talk to him."
Ezra could feel the dread set on top of him of having to tell on himself. This would probably warrant a punishment. The thought of it made him tremble. None of the children had gotten into any real trouble, except Maddie for ripping up his cards. Josiah had her apologize and then sit and write 'I will not harm my family's belongings' ten times the next day. That was Josiah, but Chris, no one had seen him give a punishment. What if he took a strap to him? Ezra's mind began to fill with the beatings he had received from his step-fathers. As he made his way to Chris's room, he was shaking with fear.
Knocking on the door, he reverted back to cowering and waiting in silence instead of just going inside like Chris had told them they could do.
Chris opened the door and saw Ezra practically shrink in size even more as he bowed his head and seem to curl up.
"Ezra? Is something wrong?"
Ezra didn't lift his head. "I'm sorry."
"For what? What happened?"
"I said something mean to Vin about his writing and balled up his work and ran into the bedroom."
Ezra waited in fear for Chris to yell at him, scream demeaning words, and hit him. None of those things happened.
Chris bent down in front of his scared son, careful not to touch him just yet until he became less tense.
"Did you apologize to Vin?"
Ezra nodded, head still down.
Chris pulled the boy to him and gave him a hug. He could feel the little boy tense up, practically shake in his arms before going slack and accepting the comfort.
"How about we go talk to Vin?"
Ezra nodded against his shoulder and Chris stood back up and took Ezra by the hand and led him down the hall.
Vin was curled up in a ball on the bed facing away from the door.
"Vin. Ezra told me what happened and has said that he is sorry." Chris said as he sat down on the bed and rubbed the boy's back.
Vin curled up into a tighter ball.
"Can you show me what you were working on?"
Vin shook his head.
"I'd love to see it even if you don't think I would."
Vin unfolded himself after another minute and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Chris. Chris took it and pulled the boy to sit next to him. Ezra looked from Chris's other side at the paper.
"I was writing you a poem." Vin murmured.
"Would you like to read it to me?" Chris asked, smiling encouragingly at the boy.
Vin nodded.
"I know not where you've come from
I dare not even try
Cause I know where you'll be now
Every moment when we cry
So thank you for loving each and every one of us
In your hands I will place my trust
Cause you are my pa
And you'll be there to catch me when I fall"
Ezra smiled as he listened to every words.
When he finished Vin stared intently down at his hands.
Chris pulled him in for a hug and kissed him on the top of his head and then did the same to Ezra.
"You are all my children and I love you all so much."
The hug lasted for a few more minutes before Chris finally released them. He suggested that he share the poem with Buck and Josiah and Vin bounced out of the bed to do so.
Ezra soon was the only one in the room with Chris.
"I almost made Vin stop reading and writing." He murmured.
"But you did the right thing and came to me. I think Vin is more encouraged than ever."
Ezra nodded and they went back to join the others.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I have news though. (Good or bad, depends on how you see it). The story is almost over! Yay. Well I think there will be another, but this story was just focusing on the hurt and comfort and rough beginnings like in a marriage and stuff. The sequel will be about Chris's history coming back to destroy his new family. Well, have a great day! Love you all!
