BRAX'S POV:
"Are you gonna tell me why you did it then?" I asked Casey as he and I walked to the beach
"Like I'm guessing Ricky's told you, attention." he informed me "Now you've got your own kids, I don't matter…"
"Do you really think that?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him, stopping him in his tracks
"I know it." he replied
"Don't you ever, ever, ever think like that!" I proclaimed "Ricky and I love you as if you're our own. Why would we have applied for legal guardianship if we didn't?"
"I don't know why you bothered…" he admitted
"Maybe because we didn't want you growing up feeling as though you didn't have a family." I informed him
"Well you've failed your mission," he replied "as far as I'm concerned, you've got your kids and your wife, your perfect little family and I don't matter."
"Casey!" I proclaimed as he started to walk again
"What? You've always told me to be honest about how I feel and now I have been" he informed me "I don't know what you can do to make it better, Brax."
"Would you like it if we had more nights like this? Just you and me, and you, me and Ricky?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow at him
He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded his head, signalling yes… "It'd be nice to know I'm not invisible."
"You've never been invisible to us, Case, not once," I informed him "but if that's what you want, then okay. But just so you know, you're grounded until the weekend and you'll be cleaning off the graffiti after school tomorrow night. And if anything ever happens like this again, you lose your surfing privileges as well as your TV and gaming ones, got it?"
"Got it!" he assured me
"Good," I replied "now let's surf."
RICKY'S POV:
I arrived at Angelo's just over an hour later to find Brax and Casey sat in a booth. Sitting down next to Brax, I kissed him gently and smiled at Casey… "Good surf?"
They both nodded their heads, signalling yes in unison…
"We had a good time, didn't we, Case?" Brax questioned
"Yeah." he replied
"Good," I stated "so, what are we eating?"
"I've ordered for you," Brax informed me "Hawaiian pizza, just the way you like it."
"With extra pineapple?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow at him
"With extra pineapple." he mirrored
"Thank you," I replied, kissing him softly once again "and what's the man of the moment having?"
"Meat lover's pizza." Casey informed me
"Okay," I stated "and what's happening punishment wise?"
"He'll be staying after school to clean it off tomorrow night as arranged with Bianca, and he's grounded until the weekend, and he's been warned that if anything like this ever happens again, he'll be losing his surfing and TV/game privileges." Brax explained
"I think that's fair enough, don't you, Case?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him
He nodded his head, signalling yes…
So Casey's punishment is to clean off the graffiti and he's been grounded till the end of the week; do you think that's too lenient? What next, I wonder?