Work Text:
"So ... who's going to tell me first?"
Their father's question echoed in the silence in the car, and the children, no matter how well they knew him, knew how calm and peaceful he was, and hearing his voice demanding an answer made the three shrink even more in the seat behind the car.
Jimmy felt his face contort, almost handing over what had happened, but his middle sister just begged him not to do it. Louisa knew she was to blame for everything, but she was not ready to face the consequences of her actions yet. Emily also blamed herself, not knowing what she could do to avoid it.
"Folks, are you going to tell or not? Anyone?" Brian turned, no matter how relaxed he seemed, inside he began to think that a tragedy had happened to his children, and with their silence, which made him try another alternative "okay, then, if they don't tell me, you will have to tell to your mother"
The three siblings exchanged glances, but still, they decided to remain still.
"Okay, you really want me to ask the principal?" That wasn't the solution Brian wanted to use, but it was the only apparent solution left.
"No, no, no!" the May siblings begged.
"Then somebody has to tell me what happened," their father said, already tired. "Jimmy, tell me what happened."
"Well, it's just ... Dad, me, us ..." staggered the 15-year-old boy.
"No, no Jimmy, I'll tell him, let me tell him." Louisa touched her brother's arm, feeling it was the right thing to do.
"What is it, Lou?" Brian tried to sound as understanding as possible.
"It's like, Dad ..." the 9-year-old girl got up with courage "it was more or less like that, I was in the playground, in my little corner, sitting, just waiting for the time to pass, and I went to see how Emily was since is her first year at school, and I wanted to see how she was adjusting and everything else ..."
"And what Louisa?" Brian insisted, a little firmer.
"I saw some girls teasing Emily," Louisa sighed as she remembered again, "calling her quiety, and telling her if the cat had her tongue, and she looked so fragile, I had to do something ..."
"They pushed me before you shoved them," Emily added in a sad voice.
"Oh Lord, girls!" Brian was amazed at the whole story "how old were these girls? Don't tell me they were as young as Emily, you can not hit someone younger than you, Louisa!"
"Don't blame them, Dad, I got there right on time, before it got worse" Jimmy defended his sisters "I recognized Louisa screaming at these girls, and by the time I got there, she was already on the floor, I saw that she had grated an elbow, and took her to the infirmary, and Emily started to cry over it all, I tried to calm them down."
"I stopped crying later," the youngest confirmed innocently.
"And then? Has anyone scold these girls or you, Lou?" Brian wanted to know.
"A monitor saw everything and wrote down our names," she confessed, "I have a warning for you and Mom to sign."
"Okay, I'll sign it, but ..." hwe father was still shocked by the whole story, "you know it's wrong to pick up fights at school, Louisa, you could have hurt yourself a lot more."
"I know Dad, but I couldn't let them treat my little sister like that just because she's shy," Louisa said.
"I wish you were in the same school as me when I was younger, it would come in handy," Jimmy confessed to his sister, which made Louisa smile.
"Jimmy, don't encourage her" their father reprimanded him "I know why you did what you did, and it wasn't for a bad reason, but the way you defended your sister with violence, was wrong, you see my angel?"
"I see, but they deserved it," Louisa insisted.
"It was easier for you to take Emily's hand and get out of there," Jimmy suggested.
"And I thought you were on my side," Louisa said angry.
"Don't fight over me, please," Emily begged.
"Okay, okay, pay attention here." Brian put a stop to that argument. "Louisa, I don't want you to fight or hit anyone else at school anymore, but if you need to defend your sister again, do as Jimmy said, Emily, there's no problem on being quiet, is it okay, kids?"
"Yes, sir," the May siblings gave the answer in unison.
When they got home, they were feeling better, relieved that their conversation was so much better than they thought it would be. Only that their mother, observant and worried as always, soon made a point of sitting with the children to understand what was happening.
"Um ..." Louisa began again, "we've told Daddy everything, Mom, ask him."
"Now I really want to know, Ms. Louisa May!" Chrissie was more energetic, making the girl shrink a little.
"Lou got involved in a school fight for defending Emily" Brian thought it best to summarize everything "we've talked about it, and she's not going to fight anymore, righr?"
"Yeah, yeah, Mom, I felt really bad afterwards, really." She looked genuinely at Chrissie.
"What did they do to you, Emily, if you don't mind telling me, my flower?" Chrissie put her youngest on her lap, understanding that it wouldn't be easy for the girl to tell.
"They called me quiety," Emily whispered, a little sad.
"Oh, my love, I'm so sorry." Chrissie hugged her daughter, sympathizing with what she told her, since she knew very well what it was like to feel bad for being called that "I know that school can be difficult and we don't always have ease to speak or talk, especially when we don't feel well about it, and it's okay to be shy, even if people don't understand us, don't listen to those who call you quiety, Emily."
"No, I won't," the little girl decided, shaking her head, making her mother smile.
"I hope you three don't give me another fright like that, okay? Please." Chrissie gave the three children a steady gaze.
"Yes, ma'am," replied the May siblings.
At the end of the day, Louisa, Jimmy and Emily were happy that their parents understood, knew that the same love that Chrissie and Brian felt for them united the three in an invincible siblinghood.