Chapter 195

Alex and Luca were sitting on the couch paging through a family album when her phone rung and her heart skipped a few beats when she saw the number of the day-care on the caller ID. Taking a deep breath she answered, preparing herself for the worst.

"Hi Marci."

"Hi Alex, I hope I'm not bothering, but can I ask you to come here? Don't worry Phoebe is not sick." She added quickly not yet putting the young mother at ease but she agreed to it either way.

"Everything okay?" Luca asked raising an eyebrow at his sister who nodded her head.

"I don't know, that was Phoebe's care giver at the day-care asking me to come in, but she also said Phoebe's not sick so I don't really know what to expect." She was confused but got up as quickly as she could in her condition, grabbed her car keys and drove down to the day care to see what was going on.

She pulled up in front of the building and was greeted by Marci at reception. "Hi, I'm glad that you could make it, uhm I don't really know how to ask you this without making you uncomfortable and I know you and Ryan but, has Phoebe been around some violent situations lately?"

"No, not at all. Why are you asking?" Alex asked looking at the care giver.

"She's been fighting a lot with the other kids lately. And she cannot stand the sight of babies, she cries when I pick one of the babies up or she'll hug my legs and refuse to leave until I hand the baby over." Marci explained and Alex ran a hand through her hair biting her bottom lip.

"She's been like this at home as well. And I don't know how to handle it, Ryan has been trying the time out thing, but I think she's too young to understand it." Alex said shaking her head as Marci took her to the classroom, where Phoebe was hitting another child because she wanted the Lego block the girl was playing with.

"Give a me." Phoebe started taking the block while she tried to grab it out of the girl's hand and when she eventually got hold of it she threw it to the other side of the room.

"Phoebe Grace!" Alex said from the door and the toddler looked up at her mother.

"Not me mama." She defended herself quickly and got up walking towards her mother, hugging her legs and looking up at her with big eyes.

Alex looked up at Marci and then at her daughter. "I'll take her home for the rest of the day. I really don't know what else to do about this anymore."

"It's just jealousy because she starts to notice that a baby will be entering the household soon and sees that you are preparing for it."

Alex sat down on a chair and looked at her daughter. "Phoebe you know fighting is wrong, your father spoke to you about this last night. Please go apologise to your friend because you made her cry."

The toddler looked up at her mother and then at the little girl who sat on the floor still crying, when one of the care giver walked over to her to calm her down. "We're not leaving until you've said sorry to her." Alex explained and she turned around and walked over to the blonde girl.

"I sowi." She said looking at her, she walked to the corner of the room to pick up the Lego that she threw there and handed it to the girl as her part of a piece offering, then looked over at her mother for confirmation. The caregiver told her to hug the girl and after the two of them exchanged a hug she walked towards her mother satisfied with the peace that she just made after she has been reprimanded.

Luca was standing in the kitchen in front of the fridge when two beers caught his attention. Looking at the clock firsts trying to figure out how long Alex would be there he decided to grab one and drink it, hoping he will be able to discard the evidence before she gets home. Knowing deep down he shouldn't do it, but the feeling overtook him and with shaking hands he opened the bottle and took a swig of it when a key turning in the lock made him jump, and in his haste to get rid of the alcoholic beverage the bottle fell out of his hand and shattered on the floor. "Shit." He cursed and scattered around to pick up the glass pieces.

"Uncle Lukie!" Phoebe smiled running into the house but the look on his sister's face was the opposite of his niece's expression.

"Phoebe go put your bag in your room please." Alex said and handed Phoebe her diaper bag that she put on her back and walked down the hallway towards her room, the mother hoping that she will find something to occupy herself with while she is there so she and Luca can have a conversation about what she'd just witnessed.

Turning her attention to her brother not saying a word but waiting for him to start this conversation as he tried to avoid eye contact with her while picking up the glass pieces of the bottle and mopping the floor where the beer spilled, all while she watched him in silence. "What the hell man!"

"I was only going to take a sip and throw the rest of it down the drain." He defended.

"I don't give a damn, I thought we were working on getting you sober. You just proved to me that I can't trust you. You're not thirteen anymore, but if you continue like this I'll take you with me whenever I leave the house." She lectured and their conversation ended when the door opened once again as Ryan entered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Just came to get my laptop before I head to work." He said seeing the look of confusion in his wife's face as her brows furrowed. "I went to the hospital, mom decided to start chemo today." he explained and it all made sense after that as Alex nodded. He still felt that something weird was going on.

"Daaaadaaaaaa." He heard his daughter before he saw her when she made an appearance and he was just as surprised to see her at home so early. "Hey you're home early." He said picking her up kissing her chubby cheeks, looking over at his wife for an explanation.

"Marci called, she was in one of her fighting moods and I actually saw her hit a child." Alex said exasperated not in the mood to deal with her toddler drama and her brother who seems to be back on the wagon again.

"I say sowi dada." Phoebe stated her point also when her mother sold her out.

"I'm glad you said sorry but fighting is still wrong, okay?" Ryan said and she nodded her head. "Good, I have to go to work I'll see you later." He put her down on the floor and she disappeared down the hallway again. he took his laptop bag off the dining room chair but he still felt awkward in his own house looking between his wife and brother in law. "Is everything okay?" He finally asked, and Alex nodded but Luca still stared at the same spot on the counter.

"Okay." He said in a sing song voice, kissing Alex's cheek. "Luca we're still on for the game this weekend so don't make any plans." Ryan said walking towards the door,

"I don't know if I'll still be here by this weekend." Luca told his brother in law as he made eye contact with his sister while saying the words.