A/N – Sorry I missed updating last week. I try not to, but I had computer issues (it's in the shop getting fixed – I feel like I'm missing a limb) and general stress over everything kind of caught up with me. These are not good times. Although I suppose it could be worse for me personally – I could be Emmett. Anyway, I thought I'd just say thank you again to everyone for reading, and I hope you're all safe and well and coping okay with these crazy times we're living through.

Chapter 26 – Unfamiliar Familiar Territory

My client has headphones on and breathes deeply and evenly as I fill in the scales on the tail of the dragon I've tattooed on his bicep. The colour is rich and vibrant, the linework strong, and I'm pleased with how well it's coming together. I'm always happy to chat with clients when that's what they want, but I don't mind the quiet ones either. It's easy to focus and I'm working fast, deep in the zone, when I'm interrupted by the ringing of my phone. I'd usually ignore it while I'm working but the ringtone is the special one I've set only for calls regarding the kids and I know it's either Angela at home with the little ones or the school with the big ones.

"Sorry, I've got to take this."

The client barely cracks an eyelid, and I yank off a glove and grab the phone. It's the school. "Hey."

"Emmett? It's Leo Hyland. Have you got a minute?"

"I'm at work, but…what's up? Are the kids okay?"

"They're okay, but Mac had another meltdown and he's had to be removed from the classroom. I was wondering if you'd be able to come down?" Leo sounds tired.

I bite back a few curse words and glance back at my client, mentally calculating how quickly I can finish this piece. "I'm in the middle of an appointment but I'll be there as soon as I can. Maybe half an hour? Forty minutes? Will that work?"

"I'll see you then."

I hang up the phone and reach for a new pair of gloves, taking a deep breath to quell my irritation as I pick up the tattoo gun and check that I'm good to start up again. "Sorry for the interruption, it was my kids' school. This is looking great though, there's only about fifteen or twenty minutes left in it."

"Kids, eh?" the client grunts.

"Yeah." I get back to work, brooding over the situation I'm facing with Mac. Despite the frequent sessions he's been having with the psychologist at school, despite all the kindness and attention from his kindergarten teacher, despite all the time that I – and Angela, and Carlisle and Esme and even Daisy – spend going over his homework with him, both his schoolwork and his behaviour are only getting worse. And my patience is starting to wear thin. I love him, and my heart hurts with the way he's struggling, but the truth is I'm tired. I have six children I'm raising alone, I'm hustling at work, I haven't slept through the night in weeks, and some days the emotional weight of my obstreperous and defiant six-year-old feels like more than I have strength for. I'm trying desperately to hold everyone together, and Mac's seeming refusal to even try is pushing me to the brink. I wish I had an answer.

I'm impatient to get to the school and deal with the issue, but I've got to finish the dragon first. I really like the piece and the client is also happy with it when I eventually declare I'm finished. I lotion and wrap it while we talk about incorporating some more background elements, and he says he'll get back to me to book in another session once it's healed and he's got some more time. He tips well as he leaves, and then I go through my clean-up routine and head on out to the elementary school.

"Emmett, come in." Leo shakes my hand and gestures for me to come into his office. "Thanks for coming down, I know it's not convenient. I've got Liz Chapman to take Mac for now, so we can talk without him. His class has gym, so his teacher Vivi Allen is going to be along in a minute too."

I take a reluctant seat in front of his desk and wait until he hangs up the phone from calling Mac's teacher. "What did he do this time?"

"He had an outburst in class that ended in him throwing a book and hitting Vivi in the face," Leo says with a sigh.

"Ahh, that's…I'm sorry." My teeth bite into my knuckles. "I feel really bad about this."

I feel even worse a moment later when Vivi Allen comes into the room and I see the vivid red scratch on her chin where Mac's caught her with the book. I like Mac's teacher. She's only first year out of college and looks about fourteen, which makes me feel really old, but she's always positive and enthusiastic and really seems to love her job and the kids. Even my cranky little brat, who's now paid her back by walloping her in the face with a book. "Crap, he really hurt you…I'm sorry."

Vivi shakes her head. "It's really nothing. I have the kind of skin that shows up every single little mark…don't worry about me. What we need to worry about is Mac."

"What set him off?"

Vivi looks anxious. "Reading assessments. I know he's not up to grade level and he's struggling, but they're mandated and we have to do them… I don't think I was too pushy with him? I really try and keep a positive attitude to encourage him, but…"

"No, it's not your fault," Leo says firmly. "You've been doing a great job, but Mac's a challenging kid." He glances across at me. "However, the situation can't really go on like this and so I think we need to change our approach."

I shrug, resigned. "What do you want to do?"

"I think he needs more help," Leo says, opening a folder and flipping through some papers. "Both behaviourally and academically…he's a bit much for Vivi to handle on her own in the classroom, and I think the combination of issues should qualify him for extra services. We need to dig a little deeper into what's at the basis of his academic problems so, if you're okay with this Emmett, we'll look into getting a full educational assessment for a start. Vivi says she thinks there might be something specific that's holding him back."

"I'm not experienced enough to know what," Vivi admits. "But when he started school he was so enthusiastic and keen to learn, and I thought we'd have a really good year. He's clearly quite bright; his verbal skills and vocabulary are great, and he does very well with math concepts when we're using manipulatives. He should be doing well. But for some reason he's not, and I think we need to try and find out why."

"Our recommendation is to have Mac assessed by an educational psychologist. We can organise to do this through the school, or you can choose a private provider, it's up to you. They might be able to determine the source of his difficulties, or refer him for further investigation. If it's a specific learning disability causing Mac to struggle then having a diagnosis can be enormously helpful. Even if nothing definitive is found, the information gathered through the assessment process can offer us some ideas and suggestions on how best to teach him. Ideally, we'll be able to use the educational assessments and some reports from Liz Chapman about Mac's emotional and behavioural issues and develop an IEP for him. Perhaps even get some funding for some extra assistance; he'd probably do really well with a classroom aide able to dedicate some targeted, individual time to him." Leo smiles at me sympathetically. "I know this is a lot to take in. It's important to remember that none of it reflects on you as a parent, or Mac as a kid either. It's just one of those things, and we have to do the best we can for him."

"No, I get that. None of this is exactly unfamiliar territory for me." I hesitate. "I'm dyslexic myself, so that might be…I guess it might be where you should start looking, with Mac."

Leo leans back in his chair. "Oh, really? That's interesting, dyslexia is highly hereditary and would explain a lot. It's certainly something the educational psychologist will look at. When were you diagnosed?"

"Not until I was sixteen. I was in special ed classes after that and managed to graduate but…I'd rather Mac doesn't have to go through what I did." I smile wryly.

"Absolutely," Leo nods. "And if that is what Mac's dealing with, early intervention in a supportive environment can go a long way."

"We're only partway through his kindergarten year," Vivi jumps in. "If someone can help me figure out how to teach him effectively, I'm sure he'll do well. He's smart, and I really do like him…I'm just sorry that he's having such a hard time."

"We really do need to address Mac's academic issues, but we're not going to ignore his emotional needs either. He's been through a lot, and we really want to help him deal with that and see him back to the happy, confident kid he was at the start of the school year," Leo says, eyeing me intently. "I've spoken to Liz Chapman again too. He's been seeing her fairly regularly and she says that she thinks the two of them are making some progress, and she wants to continue working with him. And while today was bad – and I've had to write up a formal incident report unfortunately – Vivi here has said that there have been several good days where Mac has been happier and a bit more settled. How are things going at home?"

I pick at a spot of ink on my knuckles. "It's been okay. I've gone back to work, so we've had to hire someone to look after the kids while I'm gone. Angela. She started a couple of weeks ago and looks after the babies during the day and the big kids after school. Mac likes her - and she's actually really good at getting him through his homework, much better than I am – but it's another change for him to get used to, and he's had his moments. I hope that this is it, that Angela is going to be around for the long term and our lives are going to find a new kind of normal, but I know it's another adjustment for the kids."

Leo nods. "That's true, and Mac's definitely had a lot of change to deal with in the past six months. Starting kindergarten in the first place, then losing his mother, having a new baby at home, different caregivers and…it's a lot, and he's a little boy. But kids are resilient."

"I think the sooner we get him assessed and figure out what's going on the better," Vivi adds. "A lot of his negative classrooms behaviour seems to grow out of his stress over difficultly with the lessons. When it's something he enjoys and feels confident with he's a different kid – he's an absolute delight in art class and gym! Interested, enthusiastic, happy to have a try at anything and puts in lots of effort…if I can find a way to make literacy skills more achievable for him I bet I'd get a lot more of that Mac in the classroom." She smiles at me, a little shyly. "I really like him, and I really want to do the best I can by him as his teacher."

"He's a great kid," Leo says with a chuckle. "Everyone likes him! I know that it can be hard as a parent to hear about your child having difficulties like this, but you've got a lot to be proud of too."

Vivi nods eagerly. "Exactly! Mac's wonderful – he's helpful in the classroom, he's kind and inclusive to the other children, and he's got a great imagination and can be really funny."

"Mac's got tremendous potential…we just need to work out how we can best help him achieve it," Leo says. "To that end I'd like to get on with the assessments as soon as we can arrange it. Is that okay with you Emmett, or do you want to organise a private evaluation?"

"I think doing it here through school would be better. Less stress on Mac if it's just a part of his school day, you know?"

"All right, we'll arrange that asap. I'll let you know when it's going to be happening." Leo writes on a post-it and sticks it to the front of the file. "Thank you for coming in so quickly, it's always better to deal with these things as soon as possible. I'm sorry I had to call you at work though; you've gone back to it now?"

"Yeah. With Angela to look after the kids I've been able to start booking jobs again. My mom has been helping out a lot, but all day with the babies was a bit much for her in the long term." I smile a little sheepishly. "Six kids is…uh, a lot. I've been limiting my work so far, to give everyone a chance to get used to the new routine, but so far it's working out pretty well."

"I'm glad you're all doing okay," Leo says. "As I've said before, the school is behind you a hundred percent and you just need to let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Now the final bell is going to ring shortly – do you want to take Mac with you or should we put him on the bus like usual so you can go back to work?"

I don't have to be back at work until the evening, so I figure I may as well save the kids the bus ride and they call Mac down from Liz Chapman's office. He arrives a few moments later, dragging his backpack, and looking ashamed.

"Hi Daddy," he mumbles, and then glances guiltily across at Vivi. "I'm sorry Miss Allen, I didn't mean to hit you with that book. I won't do it again." His voice quivers.

She smiles at him. "It's okay Mac, I know you didn't mean it. Let's have a better day tomorrow."

Mac follows me outside and we sit on the bench by the entrance, waiting to waylay Noah and Daisy as they come out. He swings his feet, and I notice that he has a hole in the toe of one sneaker and his hair badly needs a cut and once again feel guilty for letting things go.

"Am I going to get in bad trouble?" he asks me.

"I'm not happy with you," I say sternly. "And when it comes to school you are out of chances. I mean, you hurt your teacher! They could have chucked you out."

Mac squirms guiltily. "I didn't mean to. But I hate school and it makes me mad and I don't want to come here anymore."

"You have to go to school," I sigh. "It's the law."

"But I hate it," Mac says. "Can't a get a job instead?"

I bite back a laugh. "There aren't a lot of jobs going around for six year olds. I don't think you're even old enough for a paper route."

"How old do I have to be?" Mac looks miserable.

I wrap an arm around his shoulder. "I used to hate school too," I tell him. "And I was always getting sent to the principal's office as well."

"What did you do?"

"Oh, a whole bunch of stuff. I was always acting up or losing my temper or not doing my homework…all kinds of things! See, I wasn't very good at school work and I thought I'd rather be the bad kid than the dumb kid." I bite my knuckles, remembering what it was like, and look down at my son.

Mac leans against me. "I'm dumb."

The defeat in voice feels like a blow. "You're not dumb," I say softly. "I see how hard school is for you, especially reading, but that doesn't mean you're dumb."

"I try really hard. I do! But the letters are all slippery and even when I try my hardest I can't do it," Mac mumbles.

"I know. I know exactly how that is…Daddy was never a good reader either."

"But you can read. I mean, not as good as Mommy does with big books, but you can read all the sight words and do writing without spelling mistakes," Mac says bluntly.

"Well yeah, but that's because I'm a grown up and have been learning for years." I grin at him and then say slowly. "But it did take me a long time. I have dyslexia, which is a thing where my brain doesn't work the same way most other people's brains do. It made learning to read really hard, and even though I can do it now it's still not as easy for me as it was for Mommy, or Grandpa or Edward."

"Or Noah," Mac says glumly. "He's getting his reading books from the first grade box now, he said so."

"Reading is easy for Noah," I agree. "And it's hard for you. But that doesn't mean you're dumb, not at all. You might just be like me, and there might be a reason why you seem to be having extra trouble. Miss Allen and Mr Hyland and I were just talking about that, and we think we need to do a few tests to see if we can figure it out."

"I don't want to do more tests! I'll get everything wrong!"

"It doesn't matter though! The tests they want you to do aren't right or wrong kind of tests…they're different. The person who goes through them with you can use your answers to find out a bit about how your brain is working and if there's a better way to teach you." I give him another hug, listening to the final bell ring out across the school yard. "We just want to find a better way for you, Mac, that's all. Now keep a look out when the kids are leaving – we want to catch Daisy and Noah before they jump on the bus."

We just want to find a better way for you…for all of us.