A/N:
... I don't have anything to say for myself.
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Thirteen:
Bye-Bye, Curls
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"Well, little girl," Beau ruffled Maisys golden curls with a reflective expression, observing how long her hair has gotten. "I think you're due for a haircut."
"What?!" Maisy defensively clutched her hair and ducked away from him, unsure of what he meant. His words were out of the blue, all she was doing was a little puzzle Amber bought for her.
"Yeah, her hair is getting a little . . ." Cassidy paused as she tried to think of the correct terminology. Once she did, she snapped. "Unkempt."
"My hair is too kempt!" Maisy frowned at her sister instead before her anger faded into confusion. "What's kempt?"
"Unkempt. Messy and tangled." Cassidy clarified before leaning down and kissing the top of Maisys head before walking to the other side of the dining room table to dig through her purse for her phone.
"You know, Sawyer cut hair for a little while. I could see if she still could give Maisy a little trim." She suggested, although she was already texting her fiancée as she spoke. Sawyer was out picking up a cheesecake they ordered for dessert that night, it sounded delicious.
"Yeah, that should work." Beau nodded, still looking over Maisy's wild hair. Lately, it's been getting extra tangled and hard to manage. That, or it's always in her eyes. It's also grown long enough that it reaches just a couple of inches above her belly button. Which, is quite long.
Maisy still stared at them, horrified. She clutched the ends of her hair and defended her lovely locks. "But I love all my hair! I need it!"
This was terrible! Don't her siblings understand that they can't just take away her hair?!
"Come on, monkey." Cassidy encouraged, knowing she definitely needed a haircut. It was becoming hard to get her ready in time in the mornings before daycare, because of how long it takes to brush out the knots. "It'll just be a few inches."
That may have been a teensy understatement.
"Teddy told me he doesn't want me to cut my hair." Maisy crossed her arms, deciding that her siblings couldn't go against the bear's wishes. They knew what happened when the sacred bear wasn't respected. No one wants another grouchy Maisy.
"Oh, really?" Beau pondered out loud. "Because I spoke to him earlier about the idea and he thought that a haircut sounded absolutely perfect."
Maisy frowned, stumped yet again. "He did?"
Beau gave her a sincere nod and pretended to be a little bored of the situation. He couldn't over-sell it. "Yes, he did. He said he doesn't like when he can't cuddle with you because your big curly mane is in his way."
Maisy let out a long exhale but gave in, even though she didn't have much of a choice. "Alright."
"But only because Teddy thinks so." She said in a stern voice at her siblings, just so they knew she wouldn't be giving up so easily if it weren't for her fuzzy companion.
"So it's settled?" Cassidy asked Maisy, just to make sure she was on board. Even though she had already confirmed with Sawyer for a haircut today. "Sawyer will do it, that way we won't have to go to a salon or anything."
"Okay." Maisy's arms remained crossed and she sounded just a tad grumpy now, but she supposed she would have to do it for Teddy's sake.
–
"Alright, let's see . . ." Sawyer had her few utensils evenly lined on top of a cloth next to them, but the chair Maisy was supposed to be sitting in was still vacant.
"We could have her sit on a couple of huge books, that or on someone's lap." Sawyer tried to think of a solution as she stared at the chair, if Maisy were to sit in it she wouldn't be tall enough for Sawyer to comfortably cut her hair.
"I dunno about this, Teddy." Maisy muttered to the bear she was hugging tightly as the adults brainstormed ways to make it work. They didn't have one of the chairs that you could just pump up to the correct height.
"That could work." Beau said after a long quiet moment, thinking about possible outcomes of both ways. "She could sit on Miles' lap."
"Woah, Woah, Woah there, pal." Miles held one of his hands up, the other remained around Amber's shoulder. "Why me?"
While Beau began to reason with Miles, Eric merely snickered at his older brother. Almost rubbing it in his face, glad he wasn't the chosen one.
"She'll probably be pretty mellow if she's sitting with you."
"So, you want me to be the one to get smacked in the face when she changes her mind and starts to thrash?" Miles was almost certain the young girl would change her mind, as she does quite often. Once she realizes that she's bitten off more than she can chew, she'll flip out.
"She won't change her mind, and shhh." Beau harshly whispered the last part at him like a threat, warning him to shut his mouth before Maisy began to consider his words.
Miles groaned but pulled away from Amber to sit with Maisy. Truthfully the only reason he was hesitating was because he did in fact believe Maisy would change her mind once it's too late, and that she would throw a fit when she doesn't get to stop mid-haircut. And he didn't want to be the one to hold her still while she cried.
"I guess it's showtime." Miles' tone was very unenthusiastic, not looking forward to a possible meltdown.
"Climb on up, you two." Sawyer patted the chair they dragged into the living room, deciding they all wanted to watch.
To most people, a simple haircut isn't a big deal at all. But for the Rose family, this was like her first haircut ever. And they were pretty excited to see the amount of tangles decrease.
Maisy hesitated and hugged Teddy a little tighter, so Miles just lifted her up and sat down, waiting for Sawyer to work her magic. Leaving Teddy to watch from the floor.
"Alright, so just to here?" Sawyer pinched a strand of hair just below Maisy's shoulders between two of her fingers, glancing at the others for validation.
They all murmured in agreement, besides Maisy. She wasn't so happy about this cutting-of-the-hair thing. So she just sat still, quietly watching her family gathered around her.
"Alright, great." Sawyer picked up the scissors and spray bottle and got to work, spritzing Maisy's hair and 'accidentally' getting Miles a couple of times.
"Ah—I'm not a dog being punished! Stop spraying me!" Miles dramatically flinched back when the water hit him in the face again and profusely wiped his face with the back of his hand.
"What are you, the Wicked Witch and you can't go near water?" Eric taunted, deciding to have a little fun while Miles is at a distance and can't punch his arm. "Will you melt?"
"You're lucky Maisy's here." Miles growled at him, biting back a few names he wanted to call his younger brother right now. And if anyone here is a 'Witch' Eric sure acts like one.
"Alright everyone," Sawyer's tone was getting everyone excited like a little drumroll, causing a buildup. "First cut!"
Maisy's eyes widened the second she heard the snip, and she tried to jerk away. Even though all their small cheers she still looked very uneasy at the chunk of hair that was in Sawyer's hand.
"I don't want to cut it anymore." Maisy whined reaching her hand up to feel her hair, but Miles quickly grabbed it before she could disrupt anything.
"But if you don't, your hair won't be even." Miles explained, hoping the reason would soak in.
"I don't care." Maisy tried to get out of it anyways, wiggling around now. Unfortunately for her, Miles saw it coming and already had a secure grip on her.
"But look, look, look—" Sawyer began to distract her, tossing the small lock of hair to the ground. "Look over there, right there."
Sawyer pointed to Maisy's left, at nothing in particular. It was only a distraction so she could cut off another chunk of hair.
"Hey!" Maisy clutched her hair again and whipped her head back around, recognizing that very familiar noise. "I don't want a haircut anymore, I wanna go play!"
"You can play as soon as you're done, alright?" Beau reassured her, deciding this wasn't something that they could just skip past.
"No, not alright!" Maisy said, repeating Beau's own words whenever she would be oddly calm in a not-so-nice situation. Like that time she got a mini acrylic painting kit from Amber and destroyed one of Beau's collared work shirts. "I change my mind!"
And there it is. Miles' expression could be read by absolutely anyone, the way he predicted what would happen. The moment he knew what he would have to do to finish this haircut.
"Easy." He said in a stern voice, knowing damn well how likely it would be that he regrets his next actions. Your actions have consequences. Beau's words rang through Miles' mind, but he ignored it. "Maybe, just maybe, I have a solution."
"Shut up, Miles." Eric quietly snapped at him, assuming his solution wouldn't be effective and only make things worse.
"What if," Miles continued anyway, not even acknowledging Eric. "Swuerhuesh." His voice fell lower and he mumbled an incoherent sentence.
"Huh?" Cassidy was the first to say anything, although they were all squinting at him and attempting to comprehend his mumble.
"I said, Sawyer could cutwehdjehs." He mumbled again, and this time even Maisy turned to give him an odd look—Distracted from her refusal.
"Sweetie," Amber smiled and wrapped her arms around Miles' neck in a quick hug before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I love you but if you don't spit it out, I'm going to hit you."
"What if Sawyer cuts my hair too?" He finally spits out, his voice slightly louder and more exasperated than it was earlier. But it sprouted a moment of speculation with all of them, then all eyes were on Maisy.
"I guess that's okay." She mumbled like it was the biggest inconvenience in the world. Even if the idea might've made her want to smile.
"Wait—Actually?!" A huge smile grew across Eric's face as he realized exactly what fate his brother had just thrown himself into. "You're going to let Sawyer snip off your precious hair?"
"I'll kill you." Miles hissed at him, covering Maisy's ears with his hands while he did. Of course, the child remained oblivious to the threat and a scowl returned to her face.
"You pwomise it's not a trick?" Maisy decided to question as she pushed away Miles' hands before she allowed them to go any further. "Because if it is—"
"I promise it's not. Watch." Sawyer picked up the scissors and snipped a small piece of Miles' hair off, the small pieces fluttering down to the floor.
"Hey! I didn't say I was ready!" Miles leaned away from Sawyer, glaring at her with nothing but spite.
"Too bad, your majesty." She winked at him before looking back at the little girl, changing her expression back into the sweet, nurturing look she usually uses with Maisy. "You ready now, princess?"
Maisy pursed her lips and nodded, waiting for the inevitable.
It was over soon, at least. And with every couple of snips that Maisy received, Miles would lose the smallest bit of his gorgeous hair.
"See, that wasn't so bad! Was it, Miles?" Cassidy helped Maisy down and gave her a small nudge towards the mirror Beau was holding out for her, but remained smugly smirking at her younger brother.
Who, was scowling as he ran his hand through his hair. After Sawyer finished the final touches on Maisy's hair, she went back and made Miles' hair look a little nicer. And actually, it turned out pretty great.
"I didn't see you volunteering to have your hair stolen." Miles seethed at his oldest sister, not finished pouting. One of the many similarities Maisy and Miles share, their pouting over small things.
"Do you like it, sweetheart?" Beau simply decided to ignore Miles' angst and turned back to Maisy, who was staring in awe at the mirror. Reaching up to feel her hair, wondering if that reflection was truly her.
"I-" Maisy paused, gently touching the other side of her hair. "I look pwetty."
"Yes you do, babe." Sawyer bent down and stroked Maisy's hair, gently fixing some strands to go along with her middle part.
Whilst, Eric continued to snicker at his brother's haircut. "How're you feeling about your hair, Miles? Pretty?"
"Eric?" Maisy spoke before Miles could even threaten Eric, the added bonus to getting her brother's attention.
"Hm?" Eric planned on just giving her a quick answer, likely about her hair, then continuing to give Miles shit.
"Now do you wanna play princesses?" Maisy looked up at him, her eyes filled with hope. Those eyes are nearly impossible to say no to, which is how they ended up with a couple of baby dolls.
"I—" Eric was going to gently shoot her down, princesses aren't exactly his area. He'd rather play ninjas, color, or have a tea party. Princesses—Far too fancy for him.
"He'd LOVE to play princesses with you, Mais!" Miles' big smile finally returned and he turned to Eric, thankful for the instantaneous karma.
"Well, I don't know if he'd love to, Maisy—" Eric tried to get out of it, any way he could. Thinking of excuses, but Miles interrupted yet again.
"He even told me that he wants you to give him a makeover because he wants to be the prettiest princess of all the lands." Miles animatedly described his made-up story to the child, getting off the chair to push Eric towards Maisy's bedroom so he had no excuse.
"Go, Maisy! Let your imagination run wild and make him a true princess." Miles dramatically extended his hand, as if he were yearning for something. But, he was just overly eager to torture Eric.
". . . Was that really necessary?" Beau turned to Miles after Maisy's bedroom door shut, all giddy that her brother wanted to play princesses. Eric never plays princesses.
"Yes." Miles' smile was completely satisfied, proud of his work. "Yes, it was."
Fourteen:
Altercations
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"Guys," Beau sighed as he closed the apartment door behind him, walking into the living room to his siblings.
He had just come back from a little parent-teacher conference at the daycare. Not over grades or anything, just progress on their little lessons, and how they're doing for their age group.
"We have an issue." Beau plopped down on the couch and rubbed his face with his hands, exhausted from the short conference.
"What?" Cassidy frowned, wondering why he looked so tired. He wasn't gone for that long, nor was Maisy exactly a trouble-maker.
"Maisy's teacher had some feedback for me." Beau removed his hands from his face then sighed again.
"Oh great, was there another name-calling incident?" Miles' first thought was the 'Assface' incident and although they had a long talk about it, there was still a chance it could've happened at daycare as well.
"No, not exactly."
You see, while Beau was sitting in that chair across from Maisy's polite teacher, he was informed that Maisy had a small issue. Quite common among children, but still something that needs to be worked on.
Sharing.
"So, that's not a big deal." Eric scoffed, that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Their oldest sibling had made it sound as if Maisy had committed some sort of daycare-crime. "No kid in the world knows how to share."
"Including you." Miles muttered beneath his breath, just out of earshot of Eric.
"Yes, but that got me thinking," Beau continued, attempting to make his point. They didn't have much time before Maisy surfaced from upstairs. She loves to greet her siblings when they come home. "Where she got those sharing issues."
"Are you . . . implying we can't share?" Cassidy playfully narrowed her eyes and tapped her chin. "These four grown adults?"
"Really think about this last week alone." Beau emphasized, begging them to come across his epiphany. Well, his revelation.
Monday:
"Don't touch that, that's mine!" Miles yanked a box of sugary cereal from Eric's hands with a deadly glare, possessive of this specific box. This was the one with the cheap prize in it.
"It's not yours, it's the food that we all eat for breakfast." Eric argued as he continued to pour himself a bowl anyways.
"Fine." Miles said through his teeth, but as soon as Eric turned his head he swiped the plastic bowl off the counter. Causing a huge spillage of cereal all over their floor.
"I'm not cleaning that up." He called as he walked out of the kitchen, not even turning back to see what reaction he got.
Tuesday:
"Hey!" Cassidy used a stern voice and smacked Eric's arm. "Do not ever touch my keys again. If you do, I will end you."
"I barely even touched them." He rolled his eyes, then looked at Maisy as if she was agreeing with him.
"Don't. Touch. My. Stuff." She practically bared her teeth at him, threatening his safety. "Get your own keys, because every time you use my stuff, you lose them!"
"I don't lose anything." Eric rolled his eyes at his sister, doubting her sanity. "But you've lost your mind."
"Mhm. Remember my last set of keys, with my frying pan keychain?!"
"Mhm." Cassidy replied as she nodded her head at his silence, knowing she got the last word in and that she, was in fact, right.
Wednesday:
"Give me the remote!" Miles shrieked at Eric trying to pull it from his hand.
"No! You've hogged it for the past hour, it's mine!" Eric held it out of his brother's reach, still set on watching his movie.
"What're you gonna do about it?" Eric stuck his tongue out at Miles, teasingly waving it around just to provoke his brother.
That was the last straw.
Miles punched Eric's arm then yanked the remote away. "We aren't watching your garbage shows."
But Maisy only sighed as she held Teddy in her lap, quietly muttering about how silly they are with her bear.
Also Wednesday:
"Beauy's pens. Don't touch." Beau scolded Maisy when she tried to color with his work pens, grabbing them from her and putting them back in his drawer.
"But the colors are pwetty!" Maisy tried to argue, but Beau's mind was set. Those specific pens only have one duty, and by god were they going to fulfill their destiny!
"Those colors are strictly for professional use."
Thursday:
"I want seconds, that was so good!" Miles moaned, picking up his plate to go get a second slice of cheesecake.
Cassidy had brought home a whole cheesecake for everyone, to their liking.
"Ooh—Me too." Eric got up and followed him over to where Cassidy was standing, but when they got up to the counter Cassidy pointed out something terrible. There was only one more slice.
Let's just say it got pretty ugly from there, a certain someone got tackled to the ground, both of them got yelled at and neither of them got the last slice.
Beau was the one to enjoy it—Smugly. Right in front of them.
•
"Ohhh, yeah. I guess we are kind of bad at sharing." Miles laughed it off, even if it wasn't exactly a small problem.
"Is it really that big of an issue?" Eric still didn't see what was wrong, Maisy's in daycare and not sharing, not starting fistfights or joining toddler gangs . . . As far as they're concerned.
"Yes! She shoved a little boy because he took the toy she was playing with." Beau defended his urgent message, trying to get them to understand that they need to deal with this immediately.
"Oh, boo-hoo. Sounds like the little shit had it coming." Eric pretended to whine, once again not concerned with the issue. "Shouldn't we reward her for sticking up for herself?"
"Well, yes, but that isn't the only time and that's the problem." Beau did kind of agree with Eric but refused to show it, first he has to get his point across. "Regardless of that, she doesn't know how to share because of us."
"Ugh, fine." Miles decided to agree to Beau, unenthusiastically of course. "That doesn't mean I'm going to start sharing my cereal, you know."
"Yes, we are." Beau corrected his still-oddly-possessive-over-cereal-behavior. "We are going to act extremely well-mannered towards each other, Maisy needs good role models."
Eric groaned at Beau's tone, he was serious. "That doesn't mean I'm going to be some kind of saint."
–
Miles, still very groggy, yawned as he turned on the coffee pot and placed his mug down on the counter.
"Oh, thanks." Eric mentioned when he walked into the kitchen, realizing what his older brother was doing.
"Huh?" Miles looked up, not really fully awake yet. Even if it's already nine and he has to go to work soon. He was technically supposed to leave a little bit ago but he decided to 'get stuck in traffic.'
Eric pointed at the mug sitting next to the machine, warming the house with a pleasant scent of caffeine. "My mug. You're making coffee for me too."
That woke Miles up almost instantly, at the mention of a simple red mug. "Your mug?"
"G' morning." Maisy sleepily greeted them with a big yawn, she had stayed up past her bedtime last night and as a result, she was nearly dragged out of bed by Beau this morning.
"Morning." They greeted back in unison, not breaking eye contact with each other, remaining in their defensive stances.
"That's my mug. I use it every day." Miles argued in an angry tone, borderline threatening.
"No, your mug is the blue one. I use that mug whenever I—" Eric's equally angry tone was cut off by Beau appearing and clearing his throat, giving them a warning look.
He gave a pointed look to Maisy, who was cuddling Teddy and looking like she was about to fall asleep right at the table. Sure she wasn't exactly aware of what was going on, but they knew it still counted.
Miles and Eric both internally started to curse themselves for agreeing with Beau in the first place.
"But it's okay, you can use my mug because sharing," Eric used a more upbeat voice that sounded half monotone, or a little sarcastic. "Is caring!"
"Thanks, dear brother, how . . ." Miles spoke through his teeth, this would be hard to say. "Considerate of you."
"That's more I like it." Beau approvingly nodded at their poor efforts while he sat in the chair next to Maisy, gently nudging her arm to keep her alert. "Mais? See how your brothers share?"
Maisy nodded but didn't show any interest in the two. "Can we go back to sleep, Beauy? M' still sleepy."
As one could guess, that wasn't the day she learned how to share. But, they persisted on anyways. And trying to share, seemed to be ripping apart their family more than not. The breaking point happened only two days later.
"Maisy, please don't touch that—" Cassidy realized what she had after a moment then stopped. Did this classify as a sharing issue?
"Can I have some?" Maisy stared down at the delicious-looking apple crisp, the thought of the taste alone caused her mouth to water.
"No, Maisy." Cassidy decided to refuse it for now, this wasn't even close to being related to sharing. Probably.
"But—" Maisy paused, then thought back to several events from the past couple of days. Her siblings had all been acting strange once the word 'sharing' was mentioned. Well, time to put it to the test. "Sharing is caring."
She repeated a phrase she had heard one of her brothers use when they were acting particularly strange. Instead of arguing or kind of raising their voices like they normally do, once they saw her, the fight abruptly came to an unnatural end.
The same thing happened when they didn't take turns, and whenever any other childish altercation came up.
"Not right now, Maisy."
"Pwease?" She gave her pouty lip and big doe eyes, but then Cassidy realized something.
She hesitated for a moment before shaking her head at herself, it was ridiculous that she was almost manipulated by a child. "I'll be right back, love."
"I knew this would come back and bite me in the ass." She muttered to herself as she turned towards the living room and calling out for backup. "Beau!"
"You've turned her against us." She dramatically whisper-yelled at him after jogging towards him, pointing an accusing finger in Maisy's direction.
"What're you talking about?" Beau was taken off guard, and very unsure of what Cassidy was mumbling about. He was just enjoying the peace and quiet of the living room, watching his show on the Tv.
"You've only given her more power!" She dramatically stated, still loudly whispering.
"I—" He paused, trying to comprehend the words being thrown at him. "What?"
"The sharing. The kindness. Beau, she's smarter than that! She's using it against us!" Cassidy glanced over her shoulder to make sure the child couldn't hear them.
"This family isn't nice to each other, that's probably the only reason we've survived!" Cassidy realized her brother still wasn't up to speed, and pulled him a little further away just in case.
"Beau, she just tried to tell me sharing is caring."
"Oh." Beau sounded pleasantly surprised, thinking his fatherly lesson had finally sunk in. "That's great!"
"No." Cassidy emphasized. "Not great."
"Beau, she said that after I told her no to dessert. Twice." Cassidy explained, waiting for Beau to understand. It was taking him a while to get to the point.
". . . Oh." Beau sounded less satisfied with himself, then stared off into the distance as he lost himself in thought. Maisy couldn't be attempting to get her way through mild manipulation—Oh no.
"Beau, think about it." Cassidy stopped her dramatics and stared her twin in the eyes, actually saying something important this time. "Even though we aren't nice to each other, we get along just fine."
Thursday night:
"Cass?"
Eric lightly tapped on his sister's door, hoping she would be up. It was late, he just got off work and knew Cassidy had a long day at the restaurant.
"Hm?" She appeared at the door, wearing pajama pants and a plain black tank top. She only leaned against the doorframe, just to see what he wanted.
"I, uh—" Eric paused, wondering if this is just the stupidest thing he had ever done. Also fidgeting with a small object in his hands. "I got you something."
Cassidy narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if this was a trap. It's not her birthday, or a holiday. What kind of scheme could he be up to? "You got me something?"
"Yeah . . . I actually got it a little while ago but . . ." Eric hesitated before just handing her the item he had been playing with while he was talking, dropping it onto Cassidy's palm. "You kind of reminded me today."
A smile slowly spread across her face as she realized what it was. It was a small black pennant shaped like a frying pan, with a little egg in the middle. "You got me a new keychain?"
"Yeah. I know it's not the same as your other one, but I felt like an ass for losing it and I couldn't find—" Eric started to babble on, hoping she loved it as much as her old one. But he was interrupted by Cassidy wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.
"Thanks, Eric."
He smiled back as he slowly wrapped his arms around her too, glad that she liked it. "Mhm."
•
Beau sighed, realizing both how ridiculous yet sweet their little family can be. "You're right."
"Great, now you can go talk to her about the whole thing and I'm going to go upstairs to alert the other children." Cassidy patted Beau's shoulder, leaving him to go the heavy-lifting of a dad speech. He's getting quite good at them though, he's had lots of practice.
"Hey, Maisy?" Beau scratched the back of his head and sat back on the couch, grabbing the remote and just turning off the Tv. Welp, there goes his chance at relaxation.
"Yes, Beauy?" Maisy made sure to use her extra sweet-sounding tone, appearing in the room just after he called her name. Almost as if the small bean had been trying to listen.
"Can you come here for a minute, sweetheart?" Beau's wording sounded like his usual self, but his tone was slightly . . . off. And Maisy sensed it, she knew the voice from other talks. That's Beau's 'I'm-not-very-happy-with-you voice.'
Maisy didn't move her gaze from her feet as she slowly walked closer to her brother, she knew she must be in for it. After all, who would use such a tone without reason?
"Do you remember when I had to go to your daycare and—" Beau's question was interrupted by Maisy, bobbing her head.
"To drop me off?" She was attempting to stall her brother, she knew this conversation wasn't about to be a pleasant one.
"No," Beau was patient though, and shook his head at her. "When Miss Quinn told me about when you were mean to that little boy in your class."
Maisy's innocent facade fell in an instant, those were fighting words. How would Beau know what happened—He wasn't even there! "Nah-uh!"
"I wasn't being mean! He stole it, Beauy!" Maisy tried not to sound so dramatic, but as a child that is attempting to defend herself, it's a bit difficult.
"That toy wasn't yours Maisy." Beau reminded her, trying to be patient. The toy belonged to the daycare, he was sure of it.
"I know, but he grabbed it from me really hard." Maisy tried to get Beau to listen, but she could feel the doubts in his mind. He didn't believe her. "Then he called me a bad word, so I took it back!"
She huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, getting that story out was exhausting.
"He called you a bad word?" Beau was suddenly more intrigued, wondering what a little boy could've possibly said to her. "What did he call you?"
Maisy realized what she had done. She shook her head at her older brother. "M' all done talking."
Then she tried to turn around and walk away, but Beau grabbed her arm before she could get too far.
"Hey. I want you to tell me what that kid called you." Beau paused before realizing why Maisy was hesitating. "You won't get in trouble for telling me."
"But it's a bad one, Beauy!" Really, she couldn't stress that enough.
Beau gave her a look. Somewhere between sternness, and perhaps exasperation. "You can tell me."
Maisy sighed to herself, as if this was a very difficult decision. "Pwomise you won't get mad?"
Beau nodded, losing his patience a little. "Yes, Maisy. I promise."
"He called me a–" Maisy glanced around and leaned really close to Beau so she could whisper the terrible word into her brother's ear. "A dumb-butt."
Beau had to shut his eyes for a second to collect himself. He knew it would be a very bad example if he started to laugh.
"Mais, that wasn't very nice of him, but you can't push people. Alright?" Beau decided to focus back on his original intent, avoiding the name-calling for now.
"Mkay." Maisy grumbled. That little assface had it coming.
"Alright, now let's go have a piece of Cassidy's apple crisp." Beau lifted the young girl off to the kitchen to go nibble at Cassidy's treat.
•
"Hold your fist like this." Miles demonstrated for Maisy, showing her the proper technique.
"Like this?" Maisy showed her brothers, curling her fingers in and copying Miles' fist.
"Perfect." Eric gave her an approving nod.
"Now next time a little boy is bothering you, you tell him he has one chance to stop." Miles stressed, making sure Maisy understood.
"Then you go tell a grown-up. But if he does it again, you make a fist just like that, and you hit him right in the nose as hard as you can." Miles waited for Maisy to nod too, hoping she understood.
"I just tell you guys." Maisy decided to say after a moment. Punching kids wasn't exactly her area, she decided that she would stick to her own methods.
Miles and Eric looked at each other, exchanging a small nod. A silent vow, to kick any kid's ass that dared to hurt her.