The next day, after getting all her chores done, Charlie decided to try to make their house look more presentable by doing a little gardening and yard work. She trimmed a few trees, cut up some brambles, and pulled weeds then started looking in a Home and Garden magazine for flowers that she could plant out front. She particularly liked the Calla Lilies, the miniature Rose bush, the yellow Daffodils, and the Wisteria, yet they were very expensive.
"I wonder how much I could save up to buy them?"
Taking a marker from the drawer, she circled the flowers she liked best and their prices, adding them up together in her head to see how much she'd have to save up to get them all. But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a phone call from the local school. They were asking for her or for her husband to come in for a parent-teacher conference. Aaron had gotten himself into trouble for locking his grammar teacher Mr. Tom Trench in the stall of the men's room that day and the man was furious, practically throwing a fit. Hitting his desk with a ruler and pretty much shouting each word out of his mouth, Charlie almost suspected him of having no sanity.
"This boy has been a menace to my class ever since he came to this school!" Mr. Trench ranted. "Ignoring my lessons, back talking to me, openly mocking me in front of the class, and now pulling these pranks that are down right illegal! You're lucky I'm not pressing charges and sending him to juvenile hall!"
"I locked you in the bathroom, it's not like I assaulted you with a baseball bat." Aaron snarked. "But I wish I had."
"Aaron hush." Charlie said firmly. "Mr. Trench I understand that what my son did was reprehensible and I promise you, his father and I will speak to him about it-"
"I seriously doubt that." Mr. Trench cut her off, gripping the ruler in his hand. "With a sloppy, brainless, bumpkin like him bringing up these children, no wonder they lack discipline and respect."
"You shut up about my dad! Or I'll shove your head right in the toilet!" Aaron snapped.
"Aaron please." Charlie said. "Now Mr. Trench I will not have you speak that way about my husband, especially in front of our children."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Devalcourt, but I call things as I see them. And how that man hasn't caused your children to be taken from you, is a mystery to me. He's raising them all wrong, especially this one." He pointed to Aaron. "Arrogant, lazy, disrespectful, he's a disgrace! And I won't tolerate such behavior in my class!"
He rapped his ruler on this his desk again which caused Aaron to flinch. Charlie paid close attention to the boy's behavior at the moment, she saw his face pale and his body tremble, his hands rubbing over the red and bruised marks anxiously. And it wasn't until now that she noticed that the lines on Mr. Trench's ruler matched the ones on Aaron's hands. It didn't long for her to put two and tow together and when she did, she was enraged.
"Mr. Trench, what is this?" She said gently taking her son's arm and holding it up for the teacher to see the marks.
"What is what?" He asked.
"These marks on my son's arm. They matched the lines on your ruler." She kept calm but her great fury was evident in her grey eyes. If looks kill this teacher would be buried far deep into the ground already. "Mr. Trench have you been beating my son?"
"Well I...I...I." Mr. Trench said getting nervous, he didn't expect her to have such an intimidating gaze. It was like some kind of fire from within that was threatening to roast him alive. "I had to. The boy needs discipline. He's completely out of control. Why just last week he put a thumb tack in my chair."
"I don't care if he set your entire classroom on fire. You have no right to touch him." She snatched the ruler from him and broke it in half over her knee. "I'm reporting you for student abuse and if you ever so much as lay one finger on any of my children again, I'll make sure that you end up exactly like your ruler."
Tom Trench could only stand there, petrified with fear as Charlie led Aaron out of the classroom and outside to the car. Once inside she adjusted her demeanor to a gentle one and proceeded to gently to get answers from the boy.
"So that's why you've be struggling in school. It's not because of your grades, it's because of him, isn't it?"
Aaron was quiet for about five minutes, almost scared to tell her the truth. But he eventually came to the conclusion that he couldn't hide it any longer.
"It's a little harder for me to read than everyone else but he thinks I'm just being lazy. So he gives me a reason to want to do better. Or rather something to fear each time I mess up."
"Honey why didn't you ever tell us?"
"I didn't want Dad to know."
"Why?"
"Because he already has a lot of crap to deal with. He was work and he has Miss Killjoy on his tail all the time."
"Who's Miss Killjoy?"
"She's a stupid broad who wants to take us away. I don't know why but she does and it scares Dad. I didn't want to give him anymore problems. I've already done enough to screw up his life."
"What makes you say that?"
Mimzy to be exact. Poor Aaron had heard that fight between his parents the night Mimzy found out she was pregnant for the third time and since then he had always thought it was his fault that their mother left and that his birth had destroyed his father's dreams. That if he had never been born then his parents would still be married and Alastor would be rich and famous by now.
"He would have been a radio star if I hadn't of come along." He spat, fighting back tears.
"Did he tell you that?" Charlie asked.
"No...But I know it's true. I wasn't planned and he was going on verge of stardom but he had to give it up to take care of me! The retard who can't read!"
He suddenly broke down crying, revealing to her the years of rejection and self-blame. Charlie slowly moved closer to Aaron and took him into his arms, holding him close and giving him that maternal love that he had been starving for.
"Aaron you are the most precious thing in your father's life. He loves you more than you'll ever know and he wouldn't have traded you for anything in this world. I can see it in his eyes whenever he looks at you. You, your brother, and your sisters are his whole life."
"Really?" He sobbed.
"Really. Now dry those tears and let's put on a smile for when we pick up Louis, Ella, and Carrie."
"Okay." He sniffed. "But you won't tell Dad about this right?"
"He'd want to know Aaron. Don't worry, it want cause him problems."
Once she picked up all the kids from school, she went home and got started on dinner. When Alastor came home, she waited until the kids went to bed before she talked to their father about Aaron and school and what happened. Unfortunately he had made plans to be somewhere this evening.
"Alastor please don't go bowling. Not tonight." Charlie pleaded.
"Why not?"
"Because we need to talk about the kids."
"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" He said glancing at the clock nervously.
"Now Alastor." She said sternly.
"Charlie I don't have time to talk about this. It can wait."
"Aaron's teacher has been abusing him."
Alastor went as still as a statue, taking a moment to try to comprehend what she said and when he did, he looked at her as if she had grabbed a gun and taken a shot at him.
"What do you mean abusing him?"
"His teacher has been beating him with a ruler. I reported him today but that's the reason why his grades are getting bad."
"Why didn't he ever say anything?"
"Because he thought he'd be burden and he...I hate to tell you this but he thinks that he ruined your life."
"What are you talking about?"
"He thinks that because we had him so young, that you had to give up your dreams to take care of him."
"That's not true!"
"I know it isn't, but you need to tell him that."
"He knows that I love him."
"But he might think you only love him because you have to. Children need to be reassured of their place in their parents's lives. Especially ones like Aaron who are struggling."
"We'll talk about it later. I really have to go now."
He glanced at the clock again. Charlie became angry.
"Damn it Alastor! Is bowling more important than your own children?!"
That struck a nerve.
"Hey! Nothing comes before my children alright?! Don't you dare think for one minute that there's anything in this world that's more important to me than them!"
"Then why are you always away? Why don't you ever talk to your kids?"
"It's not that simple for me! I'm a complicated situation right now! It's none of your business anyway!"
"None of my business? My children aren't any of my business? Did you really just say that to me?"
Uh-oh, slip up.
"I didn't mean that." Alastor quickly corrected himself. "I'm sorry. I just got frustrated and-"
"And I'm starting to think that you don't recognize my position here." She said. "I am not your cook and cleaning lady. I am your wife and the mother of your children, and you better start respecting that."
But Alastor couldn't stay to listen anymore. He grabbed his keys, went outside to his car, and drove away while growling under his breath. The nerve of that woman. What gave her the right to stick her nose into his family's business and judge him as a parent. Granted she did think that she was their mother, but she had no experience of being parent. She didn't know what he was going through. She didn't know how hard he was working to keep his children safe, healthy, and happy. She didn't know how terrified he was of them getting taken away and how much he had degrade himself to prevent that.
Yet at the same time he couldn't stop himself from thinking that maybe Charlie was somewhat right. He had been so busy with work and money lately that he hadn't been paying as much attention to the kids as he used to. He'll, he didn't even notice that his own son was getting beaten, but Charlie a person who technically wasn't his parent did. That's what made him so angry. That until now, he never realized how upset and troubled his son was and it had a pretty good idea of what reason behind it was.
"I should have talked to him about Mimzy." He said to Angel that night. "I should have known how hard her leaving us was on him. He still remembers her."
"Don't beat yourself up too hard pal." Angel said. "Becoming a parent doesn't make you a mind reader."
"It's not that I never planned to talk to them about their mother it's just that I never got around to it, there's was also something more important to take care of first and...And...And I don't know what to tell them."
"Just tell them the truth."
"You mean tell them that their mother never wanted them in the first place? Tell Aaron that his mother believes he ruined her dreams of fame and fortune? Tell Carrie that her mother would have aborted her if I had not put my foot down?"
"Ouch. No wonder you put this off."
"I don't want them to think that they were mistakes. Yes I didn't plan on having them but the minute I found out Mimzy was pregnant, I wanted them. Having them was the happiest I had been since I was forced to break up with Charlie. They're everything to me." He then sighed. "But they meant absolutely nothing to their so called mother and I don't know if I have the heart to ever tell them that. I mean, for God's sake, how do you cope with the fact that your own mother didn't want you?"
"You got me. It was the fathers who didn't want me and Vaggie. But you know, as painful as it was for us to learn and accept that, we were okay in the end. Because father or no father we were still loved and that made us realize that it wasn't that we were unlovable, our fathers just didn't try hard enough to love us. And in time, when the kids are old enough, they'll realize that too. They'll understand that there's nothing wrong with them and that no one but Mimzy was to blame for her own unhappiness. That they're lovable and she just didn't try hard enough to love them."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Wanna know how I know?"
"How?"
"Because you give your kids so much love Al, a man who loves his children the way you do, there's no way they'd think that they were the problem. Mother or no mother, as long they know that they're loved by someone, they'll recover."
"Thanks Angel. I really needed to hear that."
"You're a good father. You're doing the best you can and that's all anyone can ask of you. So maybe you should try telling Charlie about it? Telling her what you're really doing instead of bowling? I have a feeling that she might understand."
"I doubt it. Amnesia or not, she still probably thinks I'm trash. Her parents conditioned her too well. She'll never be the person we knew all those years ago."
"Maybe maybe not. But like my sister says, miracles do happen."
It was around midnight when Alastor came home and he expected everyone to be in sound asleep by now including Charlie. However he could hear her sniffing on the couch, her whole body hiding underneath the blanket. He started to feel guilty about how things went down before he left, thinking that she was crying because of him.
"Charlie?" He said softly, moving toward the couch. "Are you awake?"
"Go away." He heard her squeak.
"Charlie I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get mad at you."
"I said go away."
"Sweetheart I've been thinking...Maybe you're right. I haven't been paying much attention to the kids lately and I have been very focused on other things and a little insensitive toward you and I...I...I can't talk to you when you're under the covers. Come on out."
"No."
"Why?"
He pulled her covers off so fast that she didn't have time to stop him and saw that her face had red rashes smeared with white lotion and tears.
"Because I'm ugly!" She cried fresh tears.
"Dear what happened?" Alastor asked concerned.
"I was doing some gardening today, trying to make our yard look nice but some of weeds I pulled turned out to be poison oak! And now I'm ugly!"
She buried her face into her pillow.
"Oh come now, it's not that bad."
"Yes it is!"
"No it's not. Believe me, I have seen way worse. Now come here." He scooped her up into his arms.
"No! I don't wanna go back in the barrel!" She blubbered.
"No you're not going in the barrel, I'm gonna put you in bed. I'll take the couch."
"Really?"
"Yes."
He took her into his bedroom and tucked her into bed. She looked at him with tear filled eyes.
"Why are you still crying? I said you don't look that bad. Honest."
"It's not that." She sobbed. "I...I lost my wedding ring."
"Wedding ring?"
"I lost it at sea when I fell! Now I don't have any momentum of our love!"
"Oh that...Well that's nothing to be so upset about that. It wasn't really worth much. It was a cheap, plastic ring with a cut glass jewel that I got from a gumball machine. You don't deserve that."
"You proposed to me with a ring from a gumball machine?" She asked him aghast.
"I was very young and very cheap back then."
"No kidding." She dried her tears and rolled her eyes. "But then again I guess someone like me deserves a ring that cheap. Considering how I've treated you, I'm surprised that you haven't divorced me yet."
"Well you're not that bad." He smirked.
"Tell me the truth Alastor, did you marry me because you loved me or was it out of pity?"
"Oh Charlie I loved you so much, I wanted to marry you as soon as possible." He admitted. "I spent all my free time thinking about the kind of life I'd give you, how I could be the best husband I could be, how wonderful it would be to wake up every morning next you and see your smiling face. There was no one else in the whole world I loved more than you."
Charlie smiled up at him, knowing in her heart that he was telling the truth.
"What did you love most about me?"
"Well I guess it would have to be those beautiful grey eyes of yours." He said looking into them. "I could always see the kind of person you were in them. I could always see how you really felt and what you were really thinking. Your eyes told me that you loved me before your mouth did and I swear, there is absolutely nothing more beautiful than the way your eyes look at someone with love."
Her cheeks turned rosy and her grey eyes were shining like bright silver.
"You know you're really charming when you want to be." She leaned up and much to his surprise she kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight Alastor."
She then curled up into bed and fell asleep. Alastor quietly left her room, slowly placing a hand to his cheek to feel the memory of her kiss. It made him blush as well and his heart skip again.