Wade caught up to Ember in the hall. "Em—" he called out softly, not wanting to raise his voice to bring further attention unto them. When Ember stormed off there were a few eyes on them still.

Slowly, Ember stopped walking and turned toward Wade. Her face showed that she was trying really hard to keep it together. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. She was frazzled by the whole situation and wanted nothing more than to get out of there.

They needed to talk though. Preferably without Vapor watching. They would hate for their daughter to think that they were fighting. "How about we go to the playground?" Wade suggested. "Would you like that Vapor?"

Vapor broke into a smile, bouncing up and down as she still held onto her mother's hand. "Yes!" she exclaimed happily.

"Great," Wade said, smiling back at her. "Let's go."

Once the family was outside, they let Vapor play by herself as they stood back and watched. She climbed up the ladder and slid down the slide by herself several times.

Content that Vapor would be okay, Wade crossed his arms while Ember avoided his gaze. "I didn't like how you snapped at me." he tells her.

Ember sighs. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have lost my temper." She truly felt terrible. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt the ones that she loves. In that moment she lost herself. She couldn't forget how Vapor looked at her when she snapped.

"That's not the kind of example we should be setting for Vapor." Wade continued. His eyes softened. He wasn't upset at Ember as he knew where she came from. "We can't be too overprotective of her."

Ember slacked her jaw. "Yeah." She then hid her face behind her hands, ashamed of what she had done. Fortunately she had saved some face and calmed down a bit towards the end. She just wanted the best for her daughter. A bully wasn't going to stop that. "I feel like such a bad parent." she admitted somberly.

"What?" Wade was taken aback. "No way! You're a great parent." He was appalled that Ember would say such a thing.

Ember's hands slid down. Her flames were growing dim. "Compared to you? You're perfect. I'm—"

Wade placed a hand on her shoulder. "Also perfect."

"See? You're doing it again. You always know what to say." Ember groaned a bit.

Wade was perplexed. "Is... That a bad thing?"

"No." Ember sulked. "But it makes me feel like I'm stupid." Ember and her temper. With every new development in her life, it felt like feeling with her temper would never go away. She'd always be fumbling through life.

"I'm not trying to make you feel stupid, Ember." Wade said with a frown. It hurt him to hear her say that.

Ember put her hands up in defense. "I know, I know you're not. I honestly love you for it. But how do you do it?"

"To be frank..." Wade rubbed the back of his head. "I actually don't know what I'm doing half the time. All I want to do is help you and Vapor and be the best husband and father I can be."

"Aww, Wade."

Wade began crying, tears streaming down his watery face. "I just care about you guys so much." He opened his arms for an embrace and Ember accepted, nestling against his chest. As they hugged, Ember's flames turned bright again.

"Gosh, that fire mom was such a jerk." Ember murmurs.

"Right? No wonder her kid thinks he can do whatever he wants." Wade rolled his eyes.

Ember groaned as she screwed her eyes shut. "What are we going to do about that?"

"... I don't know." Wade admitted, stroking her back.

"Let's just go home." Ember decided, pulling away after a bit. She called out Vapor's name, saying it was time to leave.

At home, Ember and Wade took turns helping Vapor with her homework. Ember would help her with math and Wade would read with her.

Wade was really good at that, doing unique voices for each character in the children's book. Vapor loved it. She always seized with laughter while holding her tummy. When it was her turn to read, she would do her best to copy the voices.

When it came to doing math with mommy, Ember would reward Vapor with a little candy after every question she got right. This made Vapor into quite the fast little learner.

It was like the events at school hadn't occurred. Vapor was her chipper self and never spoke about Ash again. This honestly surprised Ember and Wade. They left it at that, not wanting to make Vapor cry again.

When it was time for bed, they tucked Vapor into waterbed. When she was born, Ember's dad helped them turn it into a bit of a sauna. That way whenever Vapor when to sleep, she was surrounded by refreshing steam. There was a switch on the outside to turn it on and off as the collective moisture over time could be harmful to Ember. So whenever Ember would want to come in, she'd turn it off.

In fact, if Wade spend an extended period of time in there he would evaporate. He would also use the switch every now and then. It was the perfect environment for Vapor though.

"Are you excited for school tomorrow?" Ember asked experimentally to see how Vapor would react. She and Wade gave each other sidelong glances.

Vapor's feet wiggled from underneath her blanket. "Mhm!" She nodded repeatedly. "I can't wait to see Mandy tomorrow. We're going to play princesses on the playground." She spoke with excitement in her voice.

No mention of Ash. Good.

"That's great kiddo!" Wade patted her on the head before giving her a kiss to her forehead. "I'm glad you were able to make a friend."

"We actually met Mandy's parents." Ember added, lilting her voice a little. "How would you like to have a playdate with her on Friday?"

Vapor's eyes widened. She's never been on a playdate before. "Really?"

Ember nodded. "Really."

"Really, really really?"

"Alright you, time for bed." Wade turned off the lamp with a chuckle.

Vapor let out a huge yawn, settling into bed. She cuddled the rubber ducky that she slept with in her arms. "I can't wait until Friday..."

"If you go to sleep, Friday could come a little bit sooner." This time Ember kissed Vapor's forehead.

Soon the little steam element was fast asleep and Ember and Wade left her room, turning on her sauna.