"Dean what do you want for dinner?" Dommy had gone into the room Dean shared with Phinnigan. She found the young boy sitting with his knees curled up against his chest sobbing.
"Sweetie what's the matter" she asked having a seat on his bed before taking the five year old boy into her arms. She began to rub his back and it was a few minutes before he let out on big sniffle and began to dry his eyes.
"I have to write a report for school" he sniffled again.
"Ok so what's so upsetting about that?" Dommy questioned.
"It's about our nationalities … that mean where our ancestors are from" he explained.
Dommy nodded her head but she couldn't help but thinking something like that wasn't a little advanced for someone so young. The young dark headed boy wiped his nose on the back of his hand. He miserably sat with his shoulders sagged. He was certainly a handsome little boy with his normally bright face and hazel eyes. He was about average height and build for someone his age and Ashley often teased Randy because Dean had similar elf-like ears as his father.
"So what's got you so sad?"
"I don't know my nationalities cause I was adopted" he sniffled again.
"Is that all" Dommy laughed a little against her better judgment.
The young boy didn't find his predicament funny at all. He stuck his chin out and little and crossed his little arms. With a frustrated look across his freckle covered face.
"It's not funny Dommy"
"Sorry sweetie I don't mean to laugh it's just that you can still write the report just because you were adopted doesn't mean that you don't have a heritage you are still part of a family so technically by adoption you are what they are" she tried her best to explain.
"I don't understand" he said.
"Take you Uncle John he's Italian right and Auntie Ashley is Irish and Canadian"
"And I think my daddy said he was Italian and Polish" Dean smiled brightly beginning to get what she was saying.
"So you see those a plenty of nationalities that you are"
"What are you Dommy? I want to put you in my report as well?" the little boy asked. It shouldn't have been such a big deal but Domonique's heart swelled up a little bit with joy.
"Well my mother who was Auntie Ashley's mother's sister is Irish and my father was Puerto Rican and African American"
Dean grinned as he ran over to his backpack and pulled out his notebook. He sat down at his little desk that Randy had purchased for him and began to write his report. Occasionally asking Dommy to spell some words that he wasn't sure how to spell. He handed her the finished product about 90 minutes later and Dommy told him that he had done a very good job on the report and that his teacher was surely going to give him a good grade on it.
"Thank you for the help Dommy" Dean hugged his father's girlfriend "I love you"
"I love you too sweetie" she kissed his cheek.
--
"My family" Dean began to read his report a few days later "my family isn't like every other family out there. My family is special because they chose me to be a member of their family. My daddy is of Polish and Italian decent and my Auntie Ashley is Irish and Canadian. My Uncle John's family is from Italy and my daddy's girlfriend is Irish, Puerto Rican and African American. So I guess you could say I'm Polish, Italian, Irish, Canadian, Puerto Rican and African American"
The older children began to laugh a little as Dean said he was African American. Dean looked at them puzzled; he didn't understand what was so funny. His teacher Ms. Clifford looked anything but pleased after Dean had finished his report.
"Dean please go over and sit in the corner for causing such a commotion" Ms Clifford reprimanded him.
"But I didn't do anything" Dean stated.
"Go!" she ordered.
Sullenly Dean made his way over to the stool in the corner. Muttering to himself that he had done nothing wrong.
When Ashley got a call from Dean's teacher at around lunch time she dropped everything else she was doing asked Fabo to watch Phinnigan and Faith and hopped into her car. Fearing something was wrong she rushed down a long hallway and made it to Dean's classroom in 20 seconds.
"Ms. Clifford is there something wrong with Dean?" Ashley asked upon entering the room.
"No, he fine sitting over there in the corner"
"Why isn't he out with the rest of the kids at recess?" she asked giving the short pudgy looking teacher a perplexed look.
"He's being punished for causing a disturbance in class" the teacher explained.
"Auntie I didn't do anything wrong" Dean piped up.
"Quiet Dean" the teacher raised her voice a little.
"I would appreciate if you wouldn't raise you voice at him like that" Ashley gave the teacher a hard threatening stare "Dean come here"
Dean did as he was told walking over to his aunt and hugging her leg. Ashley had a seat in a chair and Dean sat on her lap.
"So what is it that my nephew supposedly did?" Ashley asked annoyed with the teacher already. Dean was always such a well-behaved little boy so she doubted this was his fault.
"Did you read his report?" the teacher asked.
"Yes I did and I think it was a little ridiculous to have children as young as he is doing such a difficult project"
"Dean didn't follow any of the guidelines and this paper is excuse my French but its garbage"
Ashley swore she could see red. She wanted to reach across the desk the teacher was sitting behind and slap the woman and she would have to if Dean had not been in the room.
"Dean, sweetie why don't you go and play with your classmates while Auntie talks to your teacher" Ashley suggested sweetly to the young boy.
"Ok Auntie but I'm not in trouble am I?" he asked.
"Of course not baby you did nothing wrong" she sent a glare in the teacher's direction.
As soon as Dean was out of hearing range Ashley turned her attention back to the teacher. Her blue-gray eyes hardened. Oh this teacher didn't know what she was in for.
"How dare you call his hard work trash do you have any idea how upset he became because of this project … Dean's biological family died in a car accident while he was still and infant and you'd know that if you bothered doing any checking into it and he came home from school sobbing because he felt he couldn't write the paper but you know what my cousin his father's girlfriend helped him and you know what all the adults in our home thought he did a hell of a job and if you can't see that maybe you shouldn't be teaching" she fumed.
"Well I've been teaching first grade for almost 10 years now and I have never had a problem with any of my students completing this project until now" the orange haired woman adjusted her glasses on her nose.
"Well lady you won't have any problems from Dean anymore because I'm taking him out of this place"
"You don't have the right to do that" the teacher argued.
"The hell I don't … Dean's father has granted me guardianship of Dean while he travels with his company for work so you can see that I can do whatever I see fit for my nephew's wellbeing and you'd better believe that I will be bringing this matter not only the principal of this establishment but also the superintendent of school" with that Ashley got up from her seat and went over to Dean's cubby and grabbed his things.
"You just made the mistake of your life" she said leaving the room to take her nephew home.
Dean was now the first enrolled student in the WWE's new education program which had just been passed.