Chapter 2

It was getting close to four o'clock in the afternoon when Neal finally arrived back from school. Peter had just gotten his third coffee refill when he looked up and saw Neal walk in, pausing at his desk to deposit his book bag. "Neal!" Peter called out before giving him the two finger point and watched as Neal started wearily up the stairs to his office. He waited for him and then accompanied him inside and motioned for him to have a seat.

"Sit down and tell me how your first day of school went; what did you learn," Peter said indicating the case as he looked up from his seat to see that Neal was still standing.

"Neal?"

"I rather not sit at the moment Peter," Neal replied as he leaned instead against the wall.

There was a pause as Peter considered the words before asking, "What did you do?"

"Apparently not the right thing for school," replied Neal as he longed to sit but was too sore to do so.

Peter decided then and there to continue this conversation somewhere Neal could at least rest. "Come on, let's go home and while you are resting on your stomach you can tell me all that you learned at school today."

Neal smiled briefly at the suggestion before asking, "You won't mind if I lie on the backseat for the journey?"

"No, not at all; just let me grab my briefcase and tell Hughes we are leaving. I'll meet you at the elevators in a few minutes," dismissed Peter as he started to load up his briefcase as Neal left the office. Peter couldn't help but see how he was limping as he left and surmised that the kid had a rough day and decided to give him a little slack tonight.

"We're home," Peter said over his shoulder as he pulled up in front of his townhouse. Neal had laid down in the backseat and hadn't said a word for the journey home.

Neal groaned as he slid quickly out of the back seat only to ask, "Why are we at your house? I thought you were taking me to June's?"

"El and I talked it over at lunch and she thought that just in case anyone from the school called or came over it would be best if your presence was seen living with us. So on my way back to work I stopped by your place and brought back a lot of your stuff…books, easel and paints, clothes, etc. and set them up in the guest room, which El refers to your room anyhow," Peter explained as he grabbed both his brief case and some of Neal's books and they walked towards the front door. Peter walked with a firm stride while Neal walked gingerly behind him.

El meet them at the door and watched as Neal came forward noting at once that he was in pain and smiled tenderly at him as she came forward to help him in.

"Our son had a rough day at school today and was punished for his misbehavior," explained Peter as he dropped his load next to the book pack that Neal dropped at the front door. He then helped him up the stairs to his room and to the bed. Neal rolled quickly to his stomach to allow his sore backside some relief.

"Here dear, take two of these," El said as she handed Neal a glass of water with two painkillers.

Neal swallowed them quickly and smiled his thanks as he said, "Thanks Mom."

El exchanged a glance with Peter before saying, "I'm going to finish up our supper and let Peter help you get a bit more comfortable," and left her husband to help Neal.

Peter waited until El had left before turning to Neal to say, "Come on buddy, let's get you out of that suit and into something more comfortable and a bit loose in the seat. You start to get undressed while I get a pair of my sweatpants," and darted from the room to return a few minutes later with the sweatpants. He found that Neal hadn't moved an inch and sighed….he was in more pain than he had thought at first. Peter gently began to undress his CI; he paused when he got down to his boxers before pulling them down to take a look at the damage. He was shocked to see three distinct lines of red on Neal's backside. All three were placed fractions apart on his sit spots…they were what was causing Neal so much pain as he felt them every time he sat.

"Oh Neal, if I had known that this was what he planned I would have warned more strongly about behaving," Peter said. "I've got some salve in the bathroom that might help; I'll be right back and then we will finish getting you more comfortable," promised Peter.

"It's…not your…f-fault," Neal said emotionally. "Y-You tried to w-warn me."

Peter gave him a sad smile before hurrying to the bathroom and retuning with the salve and as gently as he could he applied the salve to the marks on Neal's bottom.

El looked up to see her boys walk into the dining room. Neal was looking a bit better although dressed in Peter's sweatpants gave him the look of a child dressed in his father's clothing the way the sweatpants hung off of him.

"Honey, couldn't you find him something a bit smaller," she said with a chuckle.

"Are you calling me fat?" growled Peter good-naturally.

"Of course not…it's just he looks like he's playing dress up in his father's clothes," replied El as she gave Peter a peck on the cheek before turning to Neal.

"Are you feeling better now Neal?"

"A bit…but I don't think I can sit to eat…those chairs are hard," replied Neal as he looked at the chair where he unusually sat.

"I wouldn't be so sure…I put pillows in it…check it out and maybe you can sit long enough to finish supper," replied El as she gave him a light push in that direction.

Neal did find that his chair was well padded and gingerly sat down and nodded.

"Thank you Elizabeth…this should work fine."