Gracie-
After school, Wyatt caught up with her. Gently grabbing her elbow to spin her around.
"Hey", he said.
She smiled.
"I have some news for you and your little sister. See, my dad's superintendent of the schools and as we speak, he's down at the elementary school discussing this teacher with the principal and vice principal", he said.
Gracie hugged him and then pulled away.
"Why would you do that?", she asked.
"Because I like you Gracie, a lot, and besides that, no teacher should call their student stupid. My dad said the same thing", he said.
"Thank you, Wyatt", she said, before kissing his cheek.
Dean-
We were laying in bed. She had fallen asleep in my arms. I brushed her hair back. Hearing the kids come in from school, I carefully got up and went down to meet them.
Ronnie jumped into my arms.
"One more day and no more school", she said.
I chuckled.
"Then you get to come with me and mommy on the road", I said.
She nodded and I kissed her cheek. Cat walked in and she sent me a smile before putting her purse down.
"Jon, can we talk?", she asked.
I nodded and set Ronnie down. Once all the kids were in the kitchen, I set my hands in my pockets.
"What's up kid?", I asked worried.
She swallowed and looked nervous, her hands were shaking.
"Catherine, what's wrong?", I asked again.
"Madison's here. She came by to see me at work. She wants to meet me and I was going to meet her, but I thought I should tell you first. I'm scared", she said softly.
I went towards her and hugged her. She cried and was shaking.
"I don't know what to do", she mumbled.
"I'm going to call Scott and have him come here. There's something you and Lexi need to know about Madison", I said.
She wiped her cheeks and nodded.
"She said not to tell anyone about her being here. If she finds out I told you she's going to hurt you or worse, the kids and I don't want anything happening to you, Lexi, or them", she said.
"Calm down Cat, she's not going to know. I won't let her hurt them or you", I said.
She sat. Lexi came down and looked between us.
"What's going on?", she asked.
She sat beside Cat and wrapped an arm around her.
"Jon?", Lexi asked.
"Its Penny", I said.
Lexi met my eyes and stood slowly.
"You mean Madison", Cat said.
I swallowed and shook my head no.
"Detective Scott found out that she's not Madison, but Penny. I knew it was Penny after Cat said she had a tattoo on her wrist that said Madison's name. I was there when they got those tattoos, Penny got Madison's name and Madison got Penny's", I explained.
Lexi sat and took deep breaths. I bent down in front of her.
"Doll face, I wanted to tell you but I needed to be sure if my theory was correct and it is", I said.
She pulled her hands away from me.
"Please don't touch me right now", she said.
I stood.
"And", I continued.
Lexi looked up at me.
"You are my daughter Cat, but you aren't Penny's daughter, you're Madison's daughter. It explains why you were treated so badly, why she didn't care.", I said.
"No, she's my daughter", Lexi said.
Cat smiled at her and sat beside her, taking her hand.
"She's yours baby, ours", I said.
Lexi couldn't even look at me. I cleared my throat.
"I'm going to call Scott", I said, leaving the living room.
Lexi-
"Are you okay?", Cat asked.
"I don't know anymore, my mind is all over the place. I just want everything to stop. I just started feeling better and now", I sighed.
"I'm sorry, if I didn't come here none of this would be happening", she said.
I shook my head no.
"Its not, she's crazy and no one can predict when someone is going to act out.", I said.
She nodded.
"She wants to meet me", she said.
I was confused.
"What do you mean? She wants you to go back to Ohio?", I asked.
She shook her head no.
"She's here, she came by my work", she said.
I swallowed.
"Where are the kids?", I asked.
"In the kitchen, I made sure of it", Cat said, wiping her eyes.
I nodded and hugged her.
"Don't worry about any of this. Jon and Scott will figure this out", I said.
"But she wants to meet me and talk. If I don't go, she said she would hurt you and the kids", she said.
"Cat, listen to me. You aren't going anywhere near her. Let Jon and Scott handle this, okay", I said.
She nodded and I wiped her face.
"Go shower and rest a little bit before dinner. Go on", I said.
She nodded and stood. Jon came back in and slowly made his way to me.
"I fucked up, I know. I should have told you what I knew and I didn't. Cat said", I cut him off.
"I know, Penny's here", I finished.
He nodded.
"I won't let her near you or the kids", he said.
"And you are right, you should have told me. I had a right to know Jon", I said.
He nodded.
"Why keep it from me then?", I asked.
"I didn't want to add stress. You're pregnant and the last thing you need is to be looking over your shoulder and freaking out at every little thing", he said.
"I am fine now. No, I'm not hundred percent, but you still could have told me", I said.
"I'm sorry Lex, I am. If I can go back and tell you, I would", he said.
I took a deep breath before sitting. I was feeling dizzy. I closed my eyes and I felt him sit beside me.
"See, this is why I wanted to wait to tell you. I don't want something bad happening to you or these twins.", he said.
Exhaling, I opened my eyes and looked at him. His heart was in the right place. I placed my hands on his cheeks.
"Please tell me there isn't a third", I said.
He chuckled.
"Just two bat shit crazy women", he said.
I pressed my lips against his.
"Can we please talk about something else", I said.
"One more day of school. We can take half of the kids with us on the road and the other half will stay with Riley. Roman has a big ass family and will protect them", he said.
I shook my head no.
"This is our problem and we will fix it. I don't want to interrupt the kids lives", I said.
"Well can we send them to Roman's for a few days. I would like some alone time with you", he said.
I giggled.
"I love you Doll", he whispered.
I pecked his lips.
"Love you", I said.
"I don't want you to worry that pretty little head of yours, okay. I'll deal with this", he said.
I nodded. He was going to kiss me again, but stopped when someone knocked. He groaned. I laughed.
"Go get the door horn dog", I said.
He winked.
"You love it, if you didn't we wouldn't have so many kids", he said.
I slapped his butt and he laughed. He opened the door and Wyatt stood there with a man in a suit.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Good. This is my dad, superintendent Mike Preston", Wyatt said.
His dad smiled at us and I stood. He shook Dean's hand before shaking mine.
"Please come in", I said.
They did, we sat.
"Can I get you something to drink?", Dean asked a little nervous.
"Oh no, I'm fine", Mike said.
We nodded and Dean sat beside me.
"What's this about?", Dean asked.
"Gracie told me what happened to Chloe and I told my dad", Wyatt said.
"After he told me that, I looked into this teacher and it turns out this wasn't her first school, but second. She had a few problems at her previous job as well. Parents complaining, I checked complaints here at this school and there were quiet a few, including yours. We want the kids to feel safe and comfortable at our schools. What that teacher did was out of line and I took care of it this afternoon. She is no longer working there, I gave a warning to the principal and vice principal for not reporting these incidents.", he explained.
"Oh wow, thank you", I said.
Dean nodded.
"Yeah, thanks", he said.
"No problem, like I said, I want kids to feel comfortable and safe. I have kids and I know I would never want anyone making them feel like they aren't good enough", Mike said.
We nodded.
"This also gave me an opportunity to meet my son's girlfriend's parents", he said.
"Not girlfriend, at least not yet", Dean made sure to correct.
Mike laughed.
"Oh yeah, he told me about that. Maybe we could all get together for dinner and get to know each other better, because according to my son, your daughter is the one", he said.
Dean looked at Wyatt, who now looked completely terrified.
"We should definitely get together", I said, before Dean did something.
Wyatt's dad nodded and stood.
"Well we should get home, my wife will definitely be calling to set up a dinner", he said.
We walked them to the door.
"Of course", I said.
"And thank you again for what you did", Dean said.
Mike nodded. We watched them drive off.
"Admit it, you like him even more now", I said.
"I don't like ass kissers", he said.
I laughed.
"Wait till Chloe and Ronnie start dating", I said.
Dean made a face and touched his chest.
"I think I'm having a heart attack, my chest hurts bad", he said.
I kissed his cheek.
"You aren't having a heart attack, more like a panic attack. Relax, they won't start dating for a few more years", I said, patting his shoulder before walking into the house.
The kids were getting ready to sit for dinner when Scott arrived. Jon filled him in on what Cat told him.
"Where is Cat now?", he asked.
"Sleeping", I said.
He nodded.
"Awake", we turned to see her coming down the stairs.
She sat beside me.
"I thought about it and I want to help catch her. It's not safe for anyone if she's out here. She's mentally unstable", Cat said.
Scott nodded.
"I'll meet with her and get her to trust me. She would tell me everything. I'll pretend to hate Lexi", Cat said.
"I don't want you in danger", I said.
"I know how to handle Madison or Penny, I can do this", Cat said.
Jon squeezed my hand.
"Alright, but if she sets one finger on you, you are done and aren't going anywhere near her", I said.
She nodded and so did Scott and Jon.
"I should go and meet her, she's waiting on me. I'll tell you everything as soon as I get back", she said.
I stood.
"You get out of there if you feel like you're in any kind of danger.", I said.
She nodded.
"Yes mom", she said smiling.