Next Day
I woke up and got ready, rushing to get to work. At work everything went smoothly until around 5 pm. I was packing up so I could leave the office and get home to the boys. I had left them with Lucy today because of my crazy schedule and Mark had the day off today. Normally I would be more worried but Jason, a member of my security team had filled in for Mark and I trusted him to take care of things. But when I was in the elevator heading down to the parking garage for my car Lucy called. I answered my phone and heard crying in the background, I immediately went into protective mode asking, "Lucy, report."
"Nolan is crying and none of us know why!"
"Okay, I need you to calm down and put Nolan on the phone."
"Okay... okay, I'm calm. Here's Nolan."
I heard the cries get louder as she brought the phone closer to him. I listened as she explained that I was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. His cries immediately calmed down to sniffles. I heard her hand the phone off and began speaking in a cheerful voice "Hi buddy! I'm on my way home now, are you okay?"
I heard him go to the text app and he typed 'I okay now.'
"Okay buddy. Be good for Lucy. I'll be home in ten minutes. Can you hand the phone back to Lucy for me?"
He handed it back and I spoke quickly to Lucy, "I'm coming home now. I'll be there in 10 tops. If Nolan starts crying again, call me."
I hung up before she could respond and raced home. I entered the house and found Nolan sitting on the floor next to the door. I walked right up to him and opened my arms for a hug. He leaped up and jumped into my arms, he snuggled into my shoulder while I walked to the kitchen to find Lucy. She moved around the kitchen fluidly, making dinner. I smiled at her headphones, knowing she loved to listen to music while she cooked. I let her be and went to find the boys. I found Liam in the living room with the Tv on, watching 'Finding Nemo'. He heard my heels as I walked in and jumped up giving me a hug. I hugged him with one arm as the other held Nolan. I smiled and said "Dinner will probably be ready once your movie is over, okay? And then after we are going to have a family meeting, sounds good?"
He nodded without letting go of my middle as he hugged me. I ruffled his hair and he glared up at me playfully. I let go of him and went to find Griffin and Wren. I found both in Griffin's room sitting on his bed reading. I cleared my throat and remained in the doorway to give them some space. I knew the younger two liked me but was still unsure how the older two would respond to these changes. They looked up at the same time and Wren just looked at Nolan in my arms with a small smile on his face. Griffin spoke first in a cool tone saying "Thank you for calming Nolan down."
I responded, "That's my job. You're all family to me now, it depends on if you want me to be your family too. Speaking of which, after dinner I would like to have a family meeting. I want to discuss some changes that will be occurring in the near future."
They both nodded solemnly. With that done I walked to my office and sat down at my computer with one arm still wrapped around Nolan. And we stayed that way for the next hour as I answered some calls. I held onto him and he curled into me, occasionally I would rub his back. When I did he got tense like expecting a hit, before he relaxed into the touch. I smiled slightly at this, glad that he was trusting me, even if for a little bit. Once I was done with my calls I walked downstairs and found dinner done and served. I whispered to Nolan "Would you like to sit in your own chair for dinner?"
He shook his head 'no' and I sat in my chair with him on my lap. We ate dinner without much talk beyond the basic 'How was your day?' After we had all eaten I told the boys to watch Tv in the basement while I made hot cocoa. Once I was done I went down to the basement to find the boys watching 'Tangled'. Wren paused the movie when he saw me come down and they each took a mug of the chocolate goodness. The boys sat down on the large brown couch and I sat on a chair across from them. I started the conversation saying "I'm sorry I was gone for so long today. I'm afraid I had several pressing calls and new hires to take care of. I will try to stay at home on the weekends however, today I had more work than usual. However, during the week I will be gone from 7 am to 5 pm, but if you need me at any time just have Lucy or Mark call me."
Griffin responded to me first, "Just get to the damn point!"
"Griffin, please do not use that kind of language around your younger brothers. But I will get to the point, I just wanted you to understand. Now the reason for this family meeting is Mrs. Matthews, the lady who is your CPS worker was supposed to come over for dinner tonight. But when Lucy called with concern to Nolan's crying I called her and explained the situation. So she will be coming over tomorrow afternoon for lunch. She is coming to discuss where you will go to school and make sure this is a safe environment. The first thing I would like to talk about is, why was Nolan crying?"
Nolan looked at me and got up, putting his mug on the coffee table in between us. He walked around it and came to me. He then pointed at himself and then to me. Griffin spoke for him in a soft voice, "He missed you. He didn't know where you had gone."
My face fell. Of course! Ever since Nolan had come here he would crawl into my bed at some point in the early morning. I left around 5 am this morning to get some work done before I got Grace and Mr. Torres settled, so I wasn't in bed when he came to snuggle up. Then I was gone all day, without telling any of them where I had gone. Lucy was used to it and Jason had called me to find out where I was. I opened my arms and Nolan sat on my lap. "I'm so sorry, honey. I left early this morning to get some things settled at work. But that is no excuse I should have told you guys or at least called. I'm afraid that I have gotten used to just leaving without having to tell anyone. I will work harder to remedy this habit. Now the next thing, what would you guys like to do regarding school? It's only July but I need to get this handled now so we can get everything you need."
This time Liam spoke first "School? We can go to, like, real school?"
My eyes softened in understanding to what he was saying. Most of the wealthier businessmen and women had their children taught at home, mostly so they could eventually take over the company. My parents had done the same thing and I graduated high school at 17, going to Harvard Business School at 18 years old. I smiled and said "Yes Liam. If you would like to go to school you may or I can hire a tutor for you and you can homeschool."
They all paled at the word tutor. Wren started shaking violently and I recognized signs of a panic attack. I quickly put Nolan down and walked slowly over to Wren. Griffin looked at his brother in sorrow and fear. This had clearly happened before as the younger two boys moved away and Griffin tried to move towards Wren. He wasn't able to get close before Wren shot up out of his seat and turned trying to go up the stairs. I saw this and quickly grabbed Wren, he grunted and balled his fists. He swung, hitting me straight in the face. Griffin gasped and I told him calmly while still holding tightly onto Wren, "Griffin, please take the younger boys upstairs with Lucy. Then you can come back down and help me calm Wren down."
He nodded and ran to Liam and Nolan. I grunted in pain as Wren landed a hit to my ribs. I let him go before grabbing his hands, preventing him from hitting me. Instead he started kicking. He kicked my shins leaving several bruises. I noticed when he slowed his kicks and spoke, "Wren, it's me. It's Natasha. I need you to calm down. You are safe here, no one is going to hurt you, okay? I know it's scary, I know someone hurt you. But I'm going to help you, your brothers are going to help you. It will all be okay, but you need to calm down. Breathe with me, okay? Breathe in... and out. There you go, see? It's okay."
Griffin was standing at the bottom of the stairs and he watched as I was able to calm Wren down. I felt when Wren's body gave out and let go of his arms in favor of wrapping him in a hug and lowering us both down to the floor. Griffin walked over then grabbing Wren's hand and tapped it. Wren tapped back and I realized they were using Morse code.
What horrid situation were they in that they felt the need to use Morse code? I felt Wren's body shake against my own while Griffin spoke in a whisper, something I had never heard from the passionate and loud boy "Never use the t-word again. The t-u-t-o-r-s our parents had hired liked using special punishments if we got something wrong. With Wren being the heir to their company, he had worse punishments than we did."
"I understand. I want to help Wren and you guys as much as I can. To do that I need to know more. I need to know as much as you are willing to tell me. Just so we can avoid these situations in the future. You and I will talk later about what I should avoid saying or doing, okay?"
"Of course."
I smiled slightly and said to Wren "Wren, let's get you to your room, okay? I think we have had a long day and some sleep sounds like a good idea."
He nodded in response. I helped him up and walked him to his room, keeping one arm around his shoulders. Once we got to his room he turned and faced me, I let my arm drop and waited a moment. When I turned to leave he grabbed my wrist. I turned back to him and he didn't let go of my wrist but instead brought his other hand to my face, pointing to the bruise blooming there. Then he pointed to himself. Knowing he was asking if that was his fault I said "Wren, honey this isn't your fault. During an episode like that you can't control your actions and I understand that. I'm going to talk to Griffin about ways we can prevent this from happening again. However if I ever say or do something that makes you uncomfortable I want you to put your hand out like this."
And I put my hand out in a stop motion. He nodded and did the same. Then he looked up into my eyes and let my wrist go before launching himself at me in a hug. Shocked, I stood there for a moment before wrapping my arms around him. He then whispered so quietly I almost missed it "Thank you"
Before turning and running into his room. I smiled brightly and walked back downstairs to find Griffin holding a sobbing Nolan and Liam curled into Griffin's side. My smile disappeared as I ran to Nolan and picked him up, cradling him and whispering soothing words. Griffin looked at me in shock and then turned to Liam who was trembling. After about 5 minutes Nolan stopped crying and Liam wasn't shaking but only looked pale. I sat down next to Griffin on his right where Liam was leaning against him, putting my free hand on Liam's back, I explained. "What you boys just saw was Wren having a panic attack. I assume you have seen that happen before?"
They all nodded. "When that happens Wren might react violently. It is not something he can control, so when it happens I want you to step into another room. If I'm not there at the time, find me and take me to Wren so I can help him calm down. This does not just apply to Wren but any of you. If you see your brother is upset then let me know, so I can help. Now I believe it is past Nolan's and Liam's bed time? So let's get you guys to sleep. We will talk more about school tomorrow morning."
They nodded and Griffin and I put them to bed. Once we were done I spoke to Griffin "We can either do this now or talk later when you have more time to think, whichever you prefer."
He looked at me and said "Now or I'll lose my nerve to talk about it."
I nodded and said "Follow me we'll go to my office and talk. If at any time you wish to stop, just let me know."
We went to my office and sat down on the plush couch there. I waited for Griffin to start the conversation, knowing he needed to gather his thoughts first. "Wren had it the worst. He was constantly forced to be perfect. His t-trauma runs deep. It really started when he was 10, I was 7 at the time. Him and I played all the time. We were happier then, our parents were just neglectful, not abusive. Eve was never home, always at a party so Wren was made the heir instead of her. Anyway, one day we were playing and he was called into dad's office. When he came out h-he wasn't the same. He didn't talk unless he absolutely had to. It was shortly after that a new tutor was hired for Wren. This tutor used to... hit Wren when he made any type of mistake. Sometimes he would just hit him simply because he felt like it."
I felt my blood begin to boil at that and made a note in my head to have the bastard arrested.
"This went on until you came and brought us here. Then there is Liam. He is dyslexic and his tutor loved to insult him for it. Liam was constantly emotionally a-abused, he was told that he is stupid and that he should just d-die. I think he might still believe that."
I was shaking in anger now and had to remind myself that I couldn't have my friends to just take care of this problem.
Griffin continued "Nolan-'' he stopped and thought for a moment. "Nolan was never in the room with us when we were being tutored. Wren, Liam and I were tutored in the same room. It was part of our punishment. We not only had to suffer ourselves but also had to watch our brothers suffer. But Nolan was never there so I don't know what happened. All I know is that I have never heard him speak. Not once."
He stopped there and I waited a moment to compose myself before I spoke, "Do you know the names of these tutors?"
"Yes I can write them down for you."
"Thank you. Griffin, I have audio recorded this whole session and would like to use it as evidence to put them in prison. This way you don't have to testify or ever see them again. Is that okay if I use this conversation?"
He only nodded and I spoke again "Please give me a verbal response so that it is recorded."
"Yes, you can use this recording."
"Thank you. Now before we both go to bed. Could you tell me what method of punishment your tutor used?"
I waited for his response. He sighed and said "My tutor liked for me to be silent. So she would often make me drink concoctions of vinegar and lemon juice to burn my throat. This made it so I couldn't speak for weeks."
He chuckled darkly and said "Hence the reason I'm so vocal now."
I smiled slightly and spoke, "Thank you for telling me all this. I think I have a better understanding of how to help now. I know this was not easy for you to talk about and I greatly appreciate it."
He only nodded and said "I'm going to bed now."
"Goodnight, and one more thing but only if you want to. Can I have a hug? I think we both need one after this conversation."
I opened my arms and he tentatively walked over and hugged me. As we hugged I whispered to him "You have been so strong, but you have me now too. You can lean on me, I'll always be there to help. In my family we have a motto 'Family always comes first.' "
He nodded against my shoulder and I felt hot tears fall onto the satin of my blouse. I hugged him tight, letting him collect himself. He pulled away and without a word went to bed. I smiled at the trust that was beginning to build between us all.