Ellie's POV
By the time I get to lunch and sit down, it's obvious that Lance and Mason are good. They are goofing around and smiling.
I've been sitting with the crew again for a while now. The first day back, they had a cake waiting for me. A literal cake.
When I got to the table, they all cheered. "The family is whole again!!!" Nick yelled. I just rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully as I sat next to him.
McKenna started to get up. "You can have your spot back" she said nervously.
I shake my head. "Nah, I'm getting pretty sick of the boss. I'll bug this knucklehead from now on" I smiled.
"Sweet. You always have the best junk food" Nick said, stealing a fry from my plate.
"Maybe I changed my mind. Mason, can you squeeze one more over there by you?"
Nick chuckled and took another fry for good measure.
It's so nice to be back. And it's awesome to not have to talk about math, or science, or biology, or whatever. Right now Nick and Mason are talking about how a kid got depantsed today, and I just settle in and enjoy the break.
Lance motions someone over. They are behind me, so I just continue eating my food.
"Hey Evan" Lance smiles. "Have a seat!"
I hear the chair squeak next to me, and I look up. I smile at him when he sits down.
"Guys, this is Evan. The math teacher I finally got hired."
We all know what he isn't saying. He is Ben's replacement.
Lance makes the introductions, and we all smile. I can see everyone staring at me out of the corner of my eye. They don't need to worry. I immediately like him. He's a good guy.
He joins in the conversation, and he is getting along with everyone. He's going to be a good fit to the group.
McKenna said something funny, and I turn and laugh at what she said. Evan is looking at me hard.
"I'm so sorry, I'm going to be rude. But what happened to your cheek? That looks like it hurt."
Everyone else freezes. Nobody likes talking about it.
I chuckle and brush it off. "This guy" I say, pointing at Nick. Nick looks at me, confused.
"What?" Evan asks.
I just nod. "Yeah. Don't play basketball with him. He gets nasty."
That wasn't a lie. Nick talked me into playing once when he found out that I used to play a tiny bit in high school. He drug me to the gym during his free period. He totally elbowed me in the ribs.
Nick starts cackling. "You're never going to let me live that down, huh?" He snorts.
"Remind me to never play with him" Evan says, going back to his food.
"Oh great. Now a rumor is getting spread that I scarred you" Nick says, not thrilled at all.
I chuckle. "I'm just kidding. He didn't do it. Just an accident a while ago."
Evan nods, and doesn't ask for more details.
"McKenna, do you know any makeup tricks to hide it? My daughter tried to help, but she got annoyed and said she was never helping again."
Mason snorts. "Ok, Ellie, you're leaving out a key piece of info. Don't blame Sasha." He laughs.
"She deserved it"
He laughs as he takes a drink of soda. Lance looks at me, confused.
"I kinda dumped some of her expensive powder on her head"
"Why?" He laughs.
"Because she said I'm looking old, and it was going to take a lot of her powder to hide my wrinkles"
Mason starts to spit out his soda.. "She was kidding" he cackles.
"Not funny. Never tell someone that they have wrinkles. She's lucky all I did was get powder in her hair."
The conversation turns, and we enjoy the rest of our lunch. Evan leaves, and goes back to his class. Lance grabs my arm gently as I'm about to leave.
"Is he ok?" He asks me seriously.
I smile. "Yes, boss. He's not a psycho."
"You sure?" He asks me again.
I just nod.
He breathes a sigh of relief as he walks me to my office.
The next day after school, I get home and give Taylor the biggest hug. He wasn't home from work yet when I left for work.
"Man I missed ya" he says, kissing my cheek.
"What's wrong, Chief?" I ask after looking at his face.
"Not a good shift" he says seriously.
"What happened?"
He sighs and shakes his head. "Liam had to write up Tony"
"Why?"
"He didn't vent the house properly, and it blew"
"WHAT?!?" I yell.
He nods. "Liam and Tatum got burned. Tatum has third degree in a ton of spots. He's out for a month"
"And Liam?" I asked getting panicky
"Got his neck. He's ok. He saved Tatum's life"
"Why are you just now telling me about this?" I ask, getting mad.
"Because he was fine"
I look at him, mad, and get out my phone.
"Hello?" Liam answers
"Get your ass over here" I say as I hang up the phone.
"You're in trouble" I say to Taylor, absolutely furious.
"Ellie, stop. I had one of the worst shifts I've ever had. I don't need it"
"Well, you're getting it" I snap.
Liam comes in, and looks at me, confused.
"You get hurt, and I have to hear about it 24 hours later?" I ask, yelling at him.
"Mom, I'm fine" Liam says seriously.
"Sit down" I yell, pointing to the chair.
"You don't need to look at it. The doctor and Nora both did"
"NOW" I yell.
"I swear you and Nora are the same person. She wouldn't leave it be, either" he says, completely annoyed.
I take his bandage off and look at the burn.
"Damn. This is third degree" I say, feeling sick to my stomach.
"That's what they tell me" he sighs.
I put the bandage back on and look at him. "Are you ok?"
He just nods. "Hurts like hell, but I'm fine"
I kiss his forehead, and then rest my head on his head. Then I look at him seriously.
"If you EVER get hurt, and wait over 24 hours to tell me again, my paddle will be giving your ass third-degree burns. Do you understand me, young man?"
He chuckles. "Yes ma'am" he says quietly.
I roll my eyes as I go to the fridge and get out a soda.
"Can I go back home now, or am I still in trouble."
"You're still in trouble, but you can leave"
He nods as he starts to leave.
"Liam"
"Yeah?"
"I'm proud of you, kid" I say, fighting tears.
He looks at me, comes over and kisses my head, and leaves.
Then I turn and glare at Taylor.
"I'm sorry, Ellie. It was such a bad shift" he says as he puts his head down and shakes it. He's trying not to cry.
I go over and give him a hug and a kiss. "I'm sorry it was so bad. Thanks for getting you both home safe."
He looks at me and sniffs. "It could have been so bad" he whispers.
I just hold him.
A few minutes later, Mason and Dylan come in. They are arguing.
"This isn't your business" Mason snaps
"You're being such an ass. Leave her alone."
"Dylan, I've had enough of this. Taylor, where is Josie?"
"She was outside on the back porch" he says.
Mason goes and yells for her. When Josie comes in, he looks at her hard. "You wanna tell me something?"
She just stares at him.
"I've had enough of this, Josie. You told me the paper was good. I didn't realize I needed to babysit you. Principal Mills is not accepting your paper. He wants you to redo it. Upstairs, now. We are up there until it's done" he says darkly.
Josie storms upstairs.
"Mason, you are the biggest dick" Dylan spits.
"Get your homework done" Mason snaps as he goes upstairs.
I look at Taylor, and he isn't happy either. As Dylan goes to the fridge, I grab his bicep and spin him around to face me.
He's surprised.
"Young man, I'm sick of this. Quit being so disrespectful to him. I hear it again, I will be getting Mason's permission to use the paddle on you. I mean it. I'm this close. Do you hear me?"
"Yes ma'am" he says quietly as he grabs a soda and sits down.
I stare at Taylor, and he is just as shocked as I am. I fully expected him to give me major attitude just then. He didn't. He even called me ma'am.
Dylan's attitude improved dramatically with Mason the rest of the night. Josie's didn't. She still won't talk to him. She won't hardly look at him. He's really starting to get upset.
"Jocelyn, if this keeps up, I'm not wasting my entire Saturday to visit mom" he says at dinner when he asked her a question and she ignored him.
"You would withhold seeing mom from me now? What is wrong with you?"
He shakes his head and sighs. "No, of course not. I'm sorry. I'm sick of the silent treatment."
"Tough" she says as she takes a bite of broccoli.
I'm so tired of this. I wish she was mine, so I could step in. I'm having trouble though. He's not asking for help. I don't want to overstep. It's hard.
He glares at her, but eats the rest of his dinner in silence.
As we're lying in bed, I look over at Taylor. He just doesn't look right.
"What's wrong, Tay?"
He doesn't even look at me. He just continues to stare at the ceiling. "That kid has been mine since before we got married. Basically from the moment we started dating I considered him my son."
I just nod, waiting for him to go on.
I see a tear slowly leak out of his eye.
"Sometimes I wish he wouldn't have chosen this profession."
I grab his hand and kiss it.
"When Luke said he didn't want to be a firefighter, I had to hide my facial expression. I was so damn relieved. Sometimes I think about retiring. I'm not doing it for as long as I can, though. I just have to make sure that kid is safe. I wasn't there when it happened, Ellie. The house blew, and I wasn't there. I run in, and Liam is on fire. He wasn't worried about it. He was too busy getting Tatum out. Tatum would have died if it wasn't for him." He says, letting more tears fall.
I let my own tears fall as I snuggle in close.
"He's my kid. My kid was on fire yesterday." He says, trying his best not to sob.
"How did the fire get out?"
"I threw him to the ground and smacked it until it was out. He's got a big welt on his back from me hitting him so hard."
I snuggle in even closer and kiss his cheek. "Thank you for keeping our son safe, Taylor."