After Dorothy left her house on Sunday, Michaela wanted to call Sully and talk to him. She also had the urge to just give him a hug; she felt like he needed one. Regardless of how she felt, she didn't call him because she didn't know what to say. She didn't think that it was wise to start a conversation with, "Well, Dorothy spilled the tea, I know all your secrets..."
Sully occupied her thoughts for most of the morning, it wasn't until the afternoon that she had something new to think about.
On Sunday afternoon, she received a call from Principal Bing requesting her presence at Matthew's school on Monday morning at nine o'clock. He wanted her there for a conference in his office with Matthew and Miss Chambers.
Michaela found it very odd that the principal would call her on a Sunday. She also found it odd that when she asked Matthew about it, he was clueless. He said that Miss Chambers did yell at the class on Friday, but she always yelled at the class, so he had no idea what the conference was about.
Perhaps they were going to move Matthew to another classroom again. But why would they need a conference for that? They didn't even bother to call her when they moved him the first time.
Perhaps it wasn't for something negative. Was Matthew getting an academic award for reading? Miss Chambers was using him as her assistant during reading time because he was ahead of the other students. But again, why would they need a conference for that?
Michaela arrived at Matthew's school, in a hurry, the next morning. Her knee was still bothering her, and she limped up the steps as fast as her Michael Kors ankle boots would take her. They were the flattest pair of shoes that she owned that weren't sneakers or gym shoes. She stood at the locked door to the school, and when the secretary finally buzzed her in, she stumbled on her way to the front desk.
"I have a conference with Mr. Bing," Michaela told the secretary.
"I need your I.D., Ma'am," said the secretary.
Michaela dug through her purse, and fumbled with her wallet. She nervously retrieved her driver's license and handed it to the woman. When the secretary checked her in, she took a seat and waited for the principal to call her into his office. Michaela sat impatiently drumming her fingers on her purse.
She didn't notice when she came in, but she was being watched. Sully was also waiting to be called to the principal's office.
"Mornin', Dr. Mike," he said, smiling at how frazzled she was. He thought about her all Sunday and wanted to talk to her, he just didn't know what to say. He wasn't expecting her to be at the school, "What're ya doin' here?"
"Sully," she said nervously and almost embarrassed. She did want to talk to him, but she didn't expect to see him there, "The principal needs to see me about my son," Michaela explained, starting to drum her fingers anxiously again.
"That's why I'm here," he confessed, smiling at her. Noting her obvious anxiety, he couldn't help but ask, "Have you ever been called to see the principal before?"
"No," Michaela admitted.
"Matthew is eleven like Zac right?" Sully asked, making sure that he had that right.
"Yes," Michaela confirmed.
"And you've never been called?" Sully questioned, "That's pretty good."
"Have you ever been called?" she asked, and then remembered the story he told her about his son using very vulgar language with a teacher.
"Yes, Ma'am," Sully said with a chuckle, "My kid has been doin' much better. He brought up all his grades and his behavior has improved a lot over the years. But every once in a while, he still does somethin' stupid and I hafta crack down on him. Like I told ya before, sometimes, he's not just askin' for a punishment, he's beggin' for it."
Michaela didn't respond. She kept eye contact with him but didn't say anything.
"How are ya?" Sully asked, believing that now was as good a time as any to break the ice, "Since Saturday, I mean."
"I'm fine," Michaela said awkwardly. She wanted to say more, she wanted to talk to him about what Dorothy had told her. She wanted to give him her condolences for the loss of his wife, but she didn't know how to do that. She was back to where she was on Sunday, how was she going to start that conversation with him? She didn't get the chance to even think about it right then. Mr. Bing had come out of his office and was walking toward them.
"Sully," Horace greeted.
"Horace," Sully greeted. Horace was another person that Sully had known since high school.
"You must be Dr. Quinn," Horace greeted Michaela.
"Yes," Michaela answered.
"The incident that I called both of you for involves both of your children," Horace informed them, "If it's okay, I would like to have both of you in my office at the same time."
"Fine with me," Sully said with a shrug. He just wanted to know what Zachary did and what kind of punishment they were looking at.
"I guess so," Michaela said. This was a new experience for her, so she agreed.
Sully and Michaela followed Horace back to his office. Once inside, each parent sat next to their son. The boys and Miss Chambers were already present in the office.
"I'm Miss Chambers," she greeted Michaela, warmly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Quinn, Matthew's mother," Michaela greeted anxiously.
"Sully," Louise greeted him curtly.
"Louise," Sully greeted her with the same curtness.
"Miss Chambers, perhaps you can explain what happened," Horace said.
Sully nearly grunted aloud. This should be good, he thought to himself.
"On Friday in class, this note was circulated around my classroom," Louise said, handing the note to Sully first, "After reviewing the handwriting and questioning a couple of the other students, I learned that Zachary and Matthew were responsible."
The note read: Roses are red, violets are blue, why does Miss Chambers breath smell like poo?"
Also on the note, there was a child's drawing of what looked like Pac-Man with curly hair and a cloud coming out its mouth. Next to the cloud, there were dead flowers.
Sully smirked when he read the note and handed it to Michaela.
"This is serious, Sully," Louise hissed at Sully.
"I didn't say it wasn't, Louise," Sully said with equal venom in his voice. Keep your cool, Sully thought to himself. Don't blow up at her. This isn't the time or the place.
Michaela was astonished at that moment. This woman was highly unprofessional in her opinion. Michaela knew that Sully, Miss Chambers, and likely the principal all knew each other from school. It was pretty clear that they knew each other based on the fact that they were all on a first-name basis with one another. Not to mention, Sully had already told her about his personal history with Miss Chambers. However, Michaela was new to all of this. She didn't know Miss Chambers, and Miss Chambers didn't know her. The teacher was being very rude to Sully, as if she was trying to pick a fight with him. Michaela felt that it was very inappropriate for a teacher to behave that way in front of her, a parent that she didn't know.
Michaela took the note from Sully and read it. It wasn't as serious as she thought. She was expecting to read something very offensive and crass, involving language that no eleven-year-old should express. The note was actually quite juvenile, "Did you write this, Matthew?" Michaela asked, noting that the handwriting was nicer than her son's handwriting.
"No, Mom," Matthew said, "I drew the picture of her killing the flowers with her poo breath."
While Michaela seemed to be lost in thought, Sully focused hard to ensure that he suppressed his laughter when he heard Matthew's confession. He didn't need another ear full from Louise.
"I wrote it, Ma'am," Zachary openly admitted.
Sully was now proud of his son for owning up to what he had done.
"We have to discuss this," Horace said, "Miss Chambers has agreed to let this go with a warning, but if it happens again, they'll both be suspended."
"What!" Matthew reacted first. He had never been suspended before. Michaela put her hand on his shoulder, wanting him to calm down and be quiet while his principal was talking.
"It ain't that big of a deal," Zachary said, shrugging it off, "They suspend you for everything around here."
"Hush!" Sully told his son sternly, knowing if he didn't keep him in check, he could become very disrespectful to Horace. He didn't want that, but he also didn't think that this was that serious of an offense that warranted a suspension. Zachary had been suspended before, but for much more serious offenses like spouting obscenities at his teachers. He'd also damaged school property on more than one occasion. Sully understood why he'd been suspended in the past, but he didn't understand suspending him for this. The note was childish nonsense as far as he was concerned. In fact, he didn't understand why he was even at the school right now in Horace's office? Couldn't Louise just give them detention and move on? Then he turned his attention to the direction of the principal and said, "Horace, They're two little kids messin' around. They're likely tryin' to make their classmates laugh. Are you really-"
"They succeeded, Sully!" Louise reacted, cutting Sully off, "They caused a major classroom disruption. Instruction had to be stopped for ten minutes while I redirected my class. They are lucky to be getting off with just a warning. If this happens again, I will be writing them both up for defiance, disobedience, disrespect, disrupt-"
"Yeah, a bunch of D words," Sully answered back with a roll of his eyes, "How about a D word called detention, instead of suspension? I don't see why you need to throw them outta school!"
"Forgive me Miss Chambers, Mr. Bing, but I have never been called to a school about Matthew's behavior before," Michaela said before Louise could scold Sully, "And I would like to know-"
"He was probably peer pressured by Zachary," Louise said openly, cutting Michaela off, and earning a scoff from Sully.
Since Miss Chambers wasn't going to let her finish, she turned her attention to Matthew.
"I would like to know why you did this Matthew," Michaela said. Something fishy was going on and Michaela couldn't quite put her finger on it. She saw how openly spiteful this woman was toward Sully, and his son. She had heard countless stories about this woman from her son and a few stories from her daughter. She wanted to know if there was more to this that Miss Chambers was hiding, "Speak openly, Matthew. If you tell me the truth, I will protect you."
Matthew looked towards his mother and then towards the other adults in the room and said nothing.
"Tell me, Matthew," Michaela demanded.
"Miss Chambers is mean," Matthew said, "I don't mean strict, I mean mean. She humiliates and puts down the kids if they don't do what she wants. We wrote that note and sent it to a girl in class to make her feel better. I told you about her, Mom. She's my friend, Ingrid, and she has a hard time reading. Miss Chambers first made her read out loud, it was a really hard paragraph with a lot of big words, then she got mad at her when she didn't read it right. She said in a really mean way that she needs a volunteer to finish reading the paragraph and she wants it to be someone who actually knows how to read, because Ingrid will never get it right. That's what happened, Mom. I promise."
"It's true, Dad," Zachary said to Sully, "and Ingrid doesn't even speak English all the way. She only knows basic words to communicate. There is another girl in class, who is really behind in school that Miss Chambers is always mean to too."
"Yeah," Matthew agreed, "I told you about her, Mom. She's mean to Emma like she's mean to Ingrid."
"I've never said anything like that," Louise tried to deny it, but Michaela wasn't buying it.
"Your plan is to throw two boys out of school for writing a juvenile note that apparently caused a disruption," Michaela said to Horace.
"Not this time," Horace said, "If it happens again."
"What exactly is your plan for this teacher?" Michaela asked him firmly, "I am not condoning the boys' actions, I'm not, but I don't think they are the only ones who are in the wrong here. A teacher is supposed to encourage and teach children, not put them down and humiliate them. I hear about her behavior almost daily from my son. She is apparently so infamous on this campus, that my first grader has heard about her as well. So what is the plan here?"
"Well ma'am," Horace said nervously, "You can't always believe what kids come home and tell you. They misunderstand their teachers all the time."
"Okay, so nothing," Michaela said sternly, "Your plan is to do nothing! I know how children are, Mr. Bing, believe me, I have three at home. However, I DO believe these boys when they say that she humiliated that little girl. Since your plan is to do nothing about it, then I think I've heard enough. Putting my children in your school was a temporary solution for me. Luckily for them, I found a private school to enroll them in. I was going to wait a little while longer and see how it goes, but I don't want my children in this school, with that teacher, for another minute. Please call my daughter out of class because we are leaving now!"
"Dr. Quinn," Horace tried to protest, "I'm sure we can talk about this reasonably."
"The only thing reasonable to do is to get that teacher some training on how to talk to children," Michaela said openly, "I hope you will do it for the sake of the other children in her class. Matthew was wrong to have caused a classroom disruption, but he only did it to defend a student who was being picked on by someone who is supposed to support her. I will not see him punished for that."
Michaela stood up and limped out of the office with Matthew following behind her.
"I can't even!" Louise scoffed, when Michaela left, "You'd think she'd have more common sense being a doctor. I guess even the most highly educated parents can be vexatious and hysterical."
"Vexatious and hysterical?" Sully questioned, "More like passionate and intelligent," What a woman, Sully thought. She was smart, brave, exceptional, and downright sexy.
Once she was in the parking lot, after withdrawing both Matthew and Colleen, Michaela put both of the kids in her car. She was about to get in herself, when she heard Sully calling her name.
"Dr. Mike!" He called, running to her car.
"Yes," Michaela said, turning to face him. She saw his son across the parking lot standing by his truck.
"What school are ya putting them in?" Sully asked.
"The Evangelical Christian Academy," Michaela informed him.
"I withdrew Zachary too," Sully said.
"You did?" she questioned, in amazement.
"I was teeterin' before, but your passion and courage pushed me over the edge," Sully told her honestly.
"Really?" asked Michaela, It had been a long time since she took a real stand on anything, "I convinced you?"
"Of course," Sully said, "You are a bright, honest, and powerful speaker."
Michaela looked down, she was getting butterflies in her stomach.
"I'd like to talk to you more about it. I think I need a crash course in private schools," Sully admitted with a laugh, "When can I see you again?"
"Do you want to come to my home tonight for dinner?" Michaela asked, "You can bring the kids. Then they can play downstairs after dinner and we can talk as adults."
"I'd like that a lot. Call ya later," he said. Then he winked at her and ran back to his truck.
Michaela sent Dorothy home for the night before cooking dinner. She made sure to not tell her that Sully was coming over with the children.
Not wanting to chance cooking a bad meal for his first dinner at her home, Michaela baked Stouffer's chicken enchiladas in the oven; the family size frozen meal. They weren't exactly authentic, but they tasted good, and were easy to make. She also made a salad and washed some grapes to go with it.
Sully brought the kids over for dinner at 6:30, and after he complimented her house, she showed him and the kids to the kitchen and they sat down to eat. Once they were done, they sent the kids downstairs to play, and Sully helped her clean up.
Before they could get down to business about private schools, Michaela had to limp her way downstairs to the basement with some baby wipes and some lotion. Brian had a runny nose, and Michaela wanted to get him cleaned up, and then put lotion on his face so he didn't chafe. She came back up the steps and placed both items that she took downstairs with her on the coffee table. Then she sat down next to Sully.
Now that they were alone on her couch, Sully took out his iPad and said, "I enrolled my son in that Christian School, and they want him to wear a uniform. They sent me to this website, but I don't understand the sizing chart."
She smiled and scooted close to him to look at his iPad and help him choose uniforms. As she got closer, she said, "You smell good," It was an involuntary reaction to the smell of his cologne, "What are you wearing?"
"Thanks," he said, thinking he may be blushing, "It's from Dior. Last Christmas, was the first Christmas since, um, I was showered with a lot of expensive gifts."
Michaela knew that he was avoiding saying that it was the first Christmas since his wife died. She didn't want to press him, she only said, "It smells good on you."
"Thank you," he said again, "You smell pretty good yourself. I like your shampoo."
Michaela smiled at him and felt goosebumps rising in her skin, but got focused on the school uniforms, "Zachary is about the same size as Matthew. I purchased the plain front pants for Matthew in a size twelve and I got two of each color. I also bought the plain front shorts in a size twelve, but I only bought one of each color because Matthew prefers pants to shorts. School uniform bottoms typically come in four colors: khaki, blue, black and gray. I bought blue and white polos in the medium size, those typically run a little big. I bought blue and white button-ups in a size twelve as well. I picked two blazers in a size fourteen. I usually buy those a little bigger on Matthew, because he says that he can't bend his arms if they are just the right size. I picked a boys' large in active and outerwear. Matthew wears a men's size seven shoe."
"I know Zachary wears a men's size seven shoe too," Sully said, impressed that she knew exactly what to buy her son. In an effort to not make this difficult, Sully simply ordered everything for Zachary that she said she ordered for Matthew. Once all of the pieces were in the cart, he was able to pay and have the clothes delivered to his house.
"They typically come right away," Michaela said, "We can start sending the kids to school as soon as the uniforms arrive. The worst case scenario is that they will be at home until next Monday."
"Do you have a place for Matthew and Colleen to go while you are at work?" Sully asked, knowing that she didn't have as many connections in town as he did, "Do you need any help lookin' after them?"
"Dorothy is going to work longer hours until they can go to school," Michaela informed him.
"Dorothy," Sully said. He still couldn't believe that she was Michaela's nanny. Michaela likely knew things about him that he hadn't told her yet.
"Yes, Dorothy," Michaela said, wondering if he was ready to talk.
"Thanks for helpin' me with this," Sully said, changing the subject, "Can ya help me with my daughter too?"
"What about your daughter?" Michaela asked, a little puzzled. Hanna was too young for school.
"My mother put her in a dance class, and I need to order all this dance stuff for her. I have a list saved on my iPad," Sully explained, "I don't understand. Ma puts her in all these things, but never helps me order anything."
Michaela smiled, "Of course I can help with that. Would you mind telling me which dance studio that she attends? Colleen took lessons in Boston, and I would like her to continue with lessons here."
"Sure," Sully said. He didn't mind telling her, but truth be told, Snowbird handled the dance classes, and he didn't know for sure where she took Hanna, "I'll text my mother and ask, and after we order all this stuff, will you please explain to me the difference between a ballet shoe and a jazz shoe?"
Michaela laughed out loud and said, "Of course."
"Mom!" they heard Matthew yell, "Brian's nose!"
Michaela looked at Sully and they both laughed, "A mother's job is never done."
"Neither is a father's," He murmured with consensus.
"I'll be right back," Michaela said, taking the baby wipes and lotion in hand, and limping her way down to the basement. She took care of Brian and came back upstairs. On her way back to the living room, she accidently hit the same injured knee on the door frame that separated the living room from the formal dining room, "Ow!"
"Oh, Ouch!" Sully shouted sympathetically. He got up from his spot to help her make her way back to the couch. Once they sat down, he began rubbing her hurt knee, "Where does it hurt?"
"Right here," Michaela said, pointing to the general area.
He lifted the hem of her a-line skirt, so he could see the full area of where she hit her leg. He did what he would do if he was taking care of one of Hanna's owies, and kept rubbing her leg.
Michaela didn't say anything more, she just closed her eyes and allowed him to soothe the pain.
But then... the realization of how intimate they were acting with one another hit them both at the same time.
Michaela froze, and Sully put his hands up as if a police officer had just ordered him to.
Then they both looked at each other and laughed nervously.
"What did you do to your leg?" he asked, "You've been limpin' all day."
"I tripped and fell yesterday and landed on my knee," Michaela admitted, though she didn't want to admit that she was thinking about him when she did it.
"I'm sorry," he said, and then tried to explain his actions, "you were in pain, it just came so naturally to me to wanna help. I wasn't tryin' to feel you up."
"I understand," she said, "Thank you for trying to help."
Michaela smiled at him and looked into his eyes. He smiled back and gazed into hers. He leaned forward and then stopped, when he heard someone coming up the stairs, and backed away.
Colleen came into the living room and said, "Mommy, it's Brian's nose again."
Michaela sighed and tried to get up.
"Sit," Sully commanded, stopping her, "I'll take care of it."
"His nose is really runny," Michaela protested, "It's kind of gross."
Sully chuckled and said, "I can handle a runny nose. I don't think you can handle goin' down the steps again. Now you stay put and I'll take care of it."
"Okay, thank you," She said, "I think the baby wipes and the lotion are still on the floor over there."
"I'll get them" said Sully, "and I'll take care of Brian."
To be continued. Please review. =)