"What kind of sandwich did you pack me today, mama?" Colton asked, tying his shoes as he sat on the bottom of the stairs.

"Turkey like you asked for."

"And avocado slices?"

"Yes. And a string cheese."

"Cool. I am really excited for this field trip. I love museums."

"I know you do. Now, remember what we talked about. You pay attention to what all the grown ups are telling you and mind your manners."

"I know mama. Because there is three first grade classes going and that is a ton of kids so I need to be very good. Me and Isa already talked about it. We're going to be really, really good."

"Okay. Do you think you need to wear a hat today?"

"Can I wear my snowboardin' hat that daddy gave me?"

"Sure, do you know where it is?"

"Yup. Be right back!"

He ran off into the other room and she yawned. It had been a long morning, he'd been up since dawn excited about his field trip to the children's museum. It would be his first field trip and he'd been excited about it for weeks, especially since Isa's class would be joining his and they would get to spend the day together.

Lindsay was a little nervous, knowing that he wasn't going to be in the safety of the school and she was going to have to rely on other parents to keep an eye on him. She would have volunteered for the trip, but all the parents rotated and she wasn't up for a day with the class for another month.

"Ah mama!" Avery greeted, crawling around the corner.

"Hi baby. Are you ever going to walk again?"

Avery giggled and slapped her hands down on the tiles as she crawled into the kitchen. She'd been doing well, walking pretty hesitantly for a few days, but then Danny had innocently and playfully growled at her as she tried to take steps and she hadn't walked a step since then. She was either stubborn or suffering from the baby form of PTSD.

"Hey sissy come back!" Ben hollered, jogging into the kitchen. "We is still playin'!"

She sat on the small rug in front of the sink and giggled at him when he leaned down to wrap his arms around her chest and pick her up.

"You is so chunky," he said, staggering across the kitchen. "And enormous."

"Bye mama," she said with a little wave as they went back into the other room.

"Geez sissy, you are so hefty," he mumbled, setting her back down on the floor where they had been playing with their plastic farm set.

"Beb?" Avery questioned after a moment, holding up a toy horse.

"That's a horse, sissy. It's a Paint. Can you say that? Paint horse?"

"Pah hos."

"Yep! You are smarty. Now look at this cow. It says moo and it gives milk."

"Moo!"

"Now this aminal… I not know what kind it is. Hey mama, what this?"

"That's a goat," Lindsay answered, checking through Colton's backpack to make sure that he had everything.

"Oh yes. Goats, they eat everythin'. Sissy, you is a goat."

As if agreeing, Avery took the small toy from him and put it in her mouth, chewing on the head of it.

"Mama, they're here! Time for me to go!" Colton announced, sliding into his coat.

"Come here, let me button that up for you."

He gave a long sigh as she buttoned his coat and the front door opened.

"Colt, you ready?" Isa asked, fighting her long curls into submission and tossing them over her shoulder.

"Yep, my mama's just fixin' my coat. Sarah do you gots kindergarten today?"

"Nope," she answered quietly. "I'm gonna stay here with Daniel and Benjamin and Averylin and your mama. My ma has to go to the courtroom. Daddy is workin' too."

"Oh. It would be cool for you to go on a field trip with us. Maybe someday."

"Yep," she agreed, hugging her sister. "Bye, Isa. I love you."

"Love you too Sarah. Have fun."

Colton and Isa left the house, dragging Austin between them so she could drop them off at the bus stop. Sarah sighed and looked over at Ben and Junior who were ignoring Avery in favor of a book about football.

"Hi baby Averylin," she greeted. "Can I play farm with you?"

"Sah! Hi!"

Lindsay smiled and made sure they were all occupied before going upstairs to change. One would think that having all the kids for the day would be exhausting, but it really was never any crazier than having just her own kids. She was glad they all had each other and that they got along, because they would all grow up that much happier and safer.

"Colt!" Isa whispered fiercely, squeezing his hand.

"Shhh! We're s'posed to be quiet!"

"But Colt, I really, really gotta go to the bathroom! And you're my buddy, you have to come with me!"

"I can't go in the girls bathroom!" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"I am going to pee my pants!"

Colton jumped up and down and raised his free hand, waving it dramatically.

"Miss Shaumberg! Mr. Orlob! Isa has to pee!"

"Thanks a lot, Colt!" she said dropping his hand and running into the bathroom while the other kids laughed. "Oh shut up guys, at least I didn't go in my pants!"

The teachers and parents took a few moments to calm the kids back down before letting them explore the World Brooklyn exhibit. Colton was inspecting the stationary shop in the kid sized Brooklyn when he felt someone walk up behind him.

"Hey Little Ross. What are you doing?"

"Um, just looking at these things," he said. He recognized the voice without turning around. Zach was a bully. Zach picked on him all the time. Zach was a jerk.

"Oh yeah? I saw you holdin' hands with that girl," he sneered. "You know what I gotta do to boys that play with gross girls."

"Isa's not gross! And she's practically a boy!"

"But she's still a girl. And I gotta do what I gotta do."

"Why? Is this the He-Man Woman Haters club? Like on the movie?"

"Stand still, Little Ross. I'll show you what happens when you play with a girl."

Zach grabbed Colton's shoulder and turned him around, then grabbed the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled up. He called it a Turkey on the Log and he did it almost every day. Colton hated it but he wasn't exactly sure how to fight back. He yelped in pain, looking around for the teachers who never seemed to notice when he was getting picked on.

"Hey!" Isa shouted suddenly. Colton turned and saw her in a split second run over and knock Zach to the ground. "Don't mess with my best friend!"

She then called him a name that Colton had heard Austin say only once and he was certain Isa was not allowed to say it. Zach stood back up from the floor, his fist raised.

"You'll pay for that, Little Messer!"

His fist launched back and suddenly Colton found himself jumping onto Zach's back, putting him in a headlock and hollering.

"Don't you dare hurt Isa! I will smack you so hard that spit will come outta your mouth and hit you on the back of the head!"

Zach spun in a circle, trying to free himself while Colton continued to rant at him.

"You don't hit girls unless you're a barbarian! You just don't hit them!"

He felt someone picking him up and moving him back to the ground and he couldn't help but repeat the name that Isa had called Zach. He was mad and scared and he felt the muscles in his arms get tight because he was so nervous about finally standing up to a bully.

From the look on the teachers faces though, he knew this was not going to be received well, no matter who he had been trying to protect. And Isa wasn't going to be off the hook either. He already knew there was going to be a very, very long talk at home tonight.

"So then I got to thinking that a garbage disposal, while dangerous installed, it's pretty harmless uninstalled. The disposal that Drew Evans got his hand caught in was in a sink somewhere. I compared the wounds to the blades and found that it's an industrial disposal, used in restaurants and school cafeterias. I'm still tracking down a list of anyone who has it, but I thought maybe Danny and Flack could start canvassing the restaurants within a few blocks of where we found the body."

Mac nodded at Adam's assessment and looked through the print-outs with the specs on the garbage disposal.

"I'll tell them. Let me know if you come up with anything else."

"I did. The substance under the vic's nails was mirepoix."

"What?"

"Sorry, Lindsay's been watching the food channel recently. A cooked mixture of carrots, celery and onions. It's often used to line the bottom of a baking dish before making a roast or something."

"Seems all signs point to a kitchen of some kind."

"Exactly. Now I was thinking-" he began, but was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. "Uh, sorry boss, I gotta take this, it's Colton's school."

Mac gave him a nod and he answered the phone conversing with the person on the other end for a few minutes before hanging up.

"Everything alright?"

"It sounds like Colton and Isa got into a fight with another kid. The school couldn't get a hold of anyone else, so they want me to go down and pick them up."

"Sent home early?"

"No, suspended."

"Really?"

"That's what they said."

"You can leave and go get them."

"I've got to finish up here."

"Go ahead and bring them back here then," he said pointedly.

"You want to talk to them?"

"I think I do."

Adam gave a half amused nod, knowing the talk was more to instill fear into the kids than actually punish them. He never expected that either of the kids would get suspended, but if it had to happen, he wasn't surprised it was for fighting. They both had too much of their mothers in them to take bullying laying down and as upset with them as he was, he really wanted to hear directly from them what had happened.

The streets weren't as crowded as he was expecting and he arrived at the school in about half the time. Colton and Isa were sitting side by side in the office, eyes downcast and their legs swinging back and forth. They both looked up at him with large eyes when he came in, but he went over to the front desk first.

"Mr. Ross, hello. We haven't been able to reach Isabeth's parents and since you're listed as an emergency contact, we were hoping you could take her home."

"Yeah, she was going to end up at our house anyway. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm not sure. Let me call one of the teachers down here."

He nodded and moved over to the chairs to wait, sitting down next to Colton and giving him a look.

"But daddy, that kid was about to hit Isa!"

"And he was pickin' on Colt too!" Isa added. "That's why I done it."

"Guys-"

"I know we said swears but daddy, you woulda said swears too! Zach is the biggest, worstest meany in the whole entire school!"

"Colton, just settle down please. Once your teacher gets here I'll get everything straightened out."

"But daddy-"

"No buts, mister."

Colton sighed and looked over at Isa, who was chewing her bottom lip. She had never seen Adam so stern before, and she wasn't scared but she was a little worried about what the other grown-ups were going to think. Colton must have sensed what she was thinking and he slid his arm around her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Isa. We won't be in huge trouble I bet."

"They'll be disappointed."

"Maybe, but we done the right thing. Zach won't pick on me or you anymore."

Isa nodded and sighed as both of their teachers came through the door. All the adults had a hushed conversation for a few moments before they all seemed to agree on something.

"Okay kids, lets go."

"Are we in huge trouble, Dum?"

"Let's just go."

They each took one of his offered hands and headed out to the car, climbing in to their seats. They both stood beside their decisions to do what they had done, but neither one of them knew if everyone else would see it that way.

"This isn't the way home," Colton commented, looking out the window at the passing buildings. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the lab. I have to finish up some work. You two can wait for me in Mac's office."

The two of them exchanged a look and a sigh. It was bad enough to get in trouble at school and with their parents, but they were none to happy about Mac being involved.

The rest of the drive and the elevator ride up to the lab were silent and they walked slowly into Mac's office, sitting down on the chairs against the wall.

"Hey Isa?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Mac gonna be real mad at us?"

"I dunno. If he is, I will just make my cute face, okay?"

"Okay. That always works."

They sat quietly for a few minutes until Jo walked by the room, then backed up and peeked in at them.

"What are you two doing here?"

They looked at each other and Colton sighed.

"My daddy picked us up from school. We're waitin' for him to be done."

"Why the long faces, there partners?"

"Uh… well, we kinda got in trouble at school."

"What do you mean kinda?"

"We got in big trouble, Jo."

"Oh you did, huh?"

"Are you mad at us?"

"Aw, I could never be mad at the two of you."

"Really?"

"Sure!"

"Good, because Mac is gonna come in here and talk to us. I just know it, Jo!" Isa moaned. "He will be so upset with us."

"Now why would you think that, Isa Messer?"

"Because, Mac likes the rules. And we broke the rules."

"Just connectin' A to B to C," Colton added.

"I see. Well Mac may love the rules but let me tell you two a little secret."

"Okay."

"Mac loves you kids more than he loves the rules."

"He does?"

"Yes, he does. And I don't know what he's going to say to you, but whatever he says, it's because he loves you. Got it?"

"Got it," they answered together.

"Good. Now I gotta go get some work done, but I'll see y'all later. And just remember for next time, for whatever you two did that got you into this, you can't keep trouble from visitin' but you don't have to offer it a chair."

And with that she was gone, leaving them alone again.

"Colt?"

"Hmm."

"What does that mean? What Jo just said."

"Y'all?"

"No, that other thing. About the chair?"

"Oh. Mama says that sometimes. Means that bad stuff can happen but you don't have to help it along. Like when the sink spilled over in the kitchen and me and Ben splashed in the water. We just maked the problem worser."

"Oh, I get it. Like today we maked the problem worser by fightin' Zach instead of tellin' a teacher."

"Yeah, kind of."

"Jo and Indy say lots of weird stuff."

"Yeah. Mama always says that bein' a cowboy means never sayin' it hurts, because pain is just the other side of feelin' good. I pinched Ben's arm to test it out and I got sent to my room, so I think mama was confused about what that really means."

"Grown-ups don't understand life."

"Amen."

They both looked up and noticed Mac standing in the doorway and they sunk back into their seats.

"Hi kids."

"Hi Mac," Colton said, taking a deep breath.

"Hi Papaw. You mad at us?"

"Oh no, I'm not mad. A little disappointed."

Isa nodded and sniffled while Colton reached over and patted her back.

"Did you two do something you knew was wrong?"

They looked at each other and Isa gave Colton the look that said she couldn't answer right now.

"Well Mac, you see, we kind of knowed it was wrong but we feeled it was right."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well you see this kid on the playground is a big bully. He's supposed to be a second grader, you know. He is very much taller and stronger than me and every day he picks on me and calls me Little Ross and gives me a Turkey on the Log. Every single day, Mac! And he was doin' it today and so Isa knocked him over for bein' a jerk and a bully. But then he was gonna hit her! He maked his hand into a big hitting fist and he pulled it back all slow like in the movies so I jumped on him and holded onto his neck like when I wrestle daddy. And then the teachers comed but me and Isa had already called him a real bad name that Austin said once and so we're in trouble for fightin' and for that word."

"We know we're not s'posed to fight, Papaw. But we were protectin' each other. That's what friends do!"

"Yeah! And that guy can't hit a girl. I don't even care if I get put in jail, he will never hit Isa, ever."

"So see, we shouldn't in be in trouble."

"And you know what happened to him, Mac? You know? Nothin'! Not anything at all! He's not in trouble because none of them teachers was lookin' and saw nothin'! And that's not fair!"

"You're right, Colton, that's not fair."

"That's all you're going to say? Nothin' else?"

"Nope. Your parents can figure out what to do about this. I just wanted to hear the story straight from you."

"You're not even mad that we broked the rules?" Isa asked with wide eyes.

"Well, I'm not happy about it. But I'm proud of you for sticking up for each other."

"Jo says you love us more than the rules."

"She's a smart woman. Adam's almost done working and then he'll take you both home."

He stood up and started to leave the room before Isa called him back.

"Papaw?"

"Yeah?"

"If you was us, what would you have done?"

He gave a long sigh before answering.

"Isa, I probably would have done the same thing. That doesn't make it right, but that's probably what I would have done."

"Well the daddy, what are we gonna do?"

Adam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before setting his book on the side table.

"I don't know. I guess we go to that stupid parent teacher conference. I'm confused about why Colton didn't tell us he was getting picked on in the first place."

"I don't know," Lindsay replied, sliding into bed. "His excuse that he didn't think we would care is just not cutting it for me."

"I thought we'd taught him to use his words."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything in kid world. It bugs me that some jerk is picking on him in the first place."

"I know."

"Did you get picked on at school?"

He just gave her a look and she scooted closer to him, sliding her arm around him.

"I mean really, Adam."

"A little here and there but surprisingly not much more than any other kid. I got teased, but never really maliciously. You?"

"I had three big brothers and I was known to inflict vigilante justice on anyone that deserved it. So no, not until high school."

"My little Calamity Jane."

She snorted and he dropped a kiss into her hair.

"So seriously, what are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, babe."

"I don't want him to think that he can't stand up for his friends but I don't want him to think that he can only do that by fighting. How do you explain that kind of balance to a kid?"

"I don't know. How did your parents explain it to you?"

"I don't remember. Maybe we should just tell him that he has other options and see what he can come up with on his own."

"That sounds like a good idea. We'll test out the effectiveness tomorrow."

"Okay. Now how about him not telling us stuff?"

Adam sighed again. This was the most difficult parenting thing they'd ever done, not because of the level of stress, but because the way they taught him now would effect his interactions with people for the rest of his life. They didn't want him to be a bully and they didn't want him to be a pushover either.

"That bugs me. He always tells us things. I don't know why he suddenly feels like we wouldn't care."

"I know. I thought we were doing really good, making sure we have special time with all the kids. I guess we were wrong."

She nodded against him, her brain working overtime to try and figure out where she could add extra minutes in the day. She always tried to carve out extra time for Colton because he spent the day at school and she didn't get to see him and spend time with him as often as she did with Ben and Avery. She tried to make sure that the other kids were down for a nap or otherwise occupied with Colton came home, so she could focus on him for a little while.

"Babe?" Adam asked suddenly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Maybe we aren't doing it right. Maybe what we thought he needed isn't what he needed."

"I don't know."

"I don't want him to think we don't care."

"He doesn't think that, honey. He just thinks… I guess he didn't want to bother us."

"He shouldn't be worrying about that. If he has a problem he should always feel like he can tell us about it. I don't want this to happen again with something bigger."

"I know. Look, let's stop worrying about it right now. There's nothing we can do for him tonight and we have two days of suspension that we can use to talk this all out. It's going to be okay, he's a good kid and he's smart and we're not completely stupid about this parenting thing either."

"I just wish…"

"That it was perfect all the time and we never had to worry."

"Yes."

"Keep dreamin' babe."

She chuckled softly and he tipped her chin up to kiss her.

"Either way, we've got a really good kid and even if he didn't do the exact right thing, his heart was in the right place and that's something we can be proud of."

"Okay."

"We're good parents, Linds. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"Good. Now go to sleep. We'll all feel better in the morning."

She nodded and closed her eyes, still feeling like she'd been doing something wrong. There was a little comfort in the idea that even on the days that she wasn't up to par as a parent, Adam still was and their little family would be just fine.