Chapter Text
Remington and Laura were busy one afternoon going through their notes on a case when Mildred knocked on the door of his office. “Sorry to interrupt folks but I’ve got the kids’ school on the phone,” she stated as Remington & Laura exchanged a look. “Who for?” Laura asked as Mildred gave them an “isn’t it obvious?” look as Laura and Remington both sighed. “What’s he done now?” Remington asked, in reference to their 8 year old son Mickey, who had developed a propensity for getting into trouble, either with his teachers in the classroom or sustaining various injuries due to his daredevil antics in the playground. “He hasn’t hurt himself has he?” Laura asked with concern as Mildred shook her head.
“No,” she replied as both Remington and Laura breathed a sigh of relief. “Apparently he’s been giving his substitute teacher grief so she kept him in after school for detention and he needs someone to go pick him up,” Mildred stated with a knowing smile, as she looked at ‘the boss’ knowing that his & Laura’s cheeky son was a chip off the old block. “Okay put them through,” Remington replied, shaking his head, as Mildred went back out to her desk to put the call through. “Steele here,” he answered the call. “Yes Miss Phipps,” he greeted the school secretary. “Oh he has, has he? Oh I’m very sorry to hear that – yes we’ll be dealing with him quite sternly I assure you,” he replied as he shared a look with Laura. “Yes one of us will be down there shortly to pick him up. Thankyou.”
Remington hung up the phone. “So your son’s been up to his usual tricks huh?” Laura shook her head as Remington looked at her a little incredulously. “Laura – why is he always my son when he’s in trouble? He has as much of your DNA as he has of mine you know,” Remington pointed out. With that Laura rolled her eyes at him and then looked at her watch. “Well how are either of us going to be able to pick him up? We’ve got Mr Randall coming in to discuss the case in half an hour and he wants both of us in that meeting,” she replied. “Well maybe Junior can pick him up for us?” Remington suggested as Laura nodded. ”Good idea,” she agreed.
They then both walked into the adjoining office, the one that used to be Murphy’s years ago, where Remington’s older son Harry was busy doing some paperwork. He was now 26 and had joined the agency around a year before, deciding to follow his father & step-mother into the detective trade. He looked up as they came into his office, Laura marveling at how much he now looked liked the younger Remington who had walked into the agency office all those years ago. He greeted them both with a smile. “Sorry to interrupt you while you’re hard at work Junior,” Remington said with more than a little pride , “But we were wondering if you could do us a favour and go and pick Mickey up from school? Both Laura and I need to be here for the client meeting we’ve got in half an hour.”
“Sure Dad,” Harry replied then added with a lopsided grin, “What’s he done now?”, knowing full well of his younger half-brother’s cheeky nature. “Playing up for his substitute teacher,” Laura replied with a rueful smile. “Oh yeah he told me the other day their regular teacher’s off sick and they’ve got some old substitute teacher filling in,” Harry laughed then added, “I almost feel sorry for her.” With that he put his jacket on and grabbed his car keys. “Do you want me to pick Livvy up from her music lesson as well?” he offered as they nodded and thanked him.
Meanwhile Mickey’s substitute teacher Emily Woods was in the school office. “I’ve just spoken to Mickey Steele’s father – someone should be here to pick him up soon,” the school secretary informed her as Emily thanked her. “Oh I hope his father comes to pick him up,” the secretary added with a mischievous grin. “Why?” Emily asked curiously. “Because he’s gorgeous that’s why – tall, dark and handsome. And he’s got the most amazing blue eyes. Oh and don’t even get me started on his English accent,” the secretary enthused as Emily smiled. “Well his son is certainly a handful,” Emily stated as she shook her head ruefully. Despite her giving him several warnings during the day, Mickey had continued to answer back and show off in front of his class mates until she had had enough and had put him on detention. “Well I probably shouldn’t admit this but I’m kind of glad when he does play up if his father comes to collect him,” the secretary added with a laugh. “Sounds like quite a guy,” Emily laughed. “Oh believe me he is,” the secretary replied with a wink then Emily thanked her and headed back to the classroom.
“Your Mom or Dad should be here to pick you up soon Michael,” she informed Mickey when she came back into the classroom where he sat writing lines as part of his punishment. Mickey looked at her with a pout and grumbled “My name’s Mickey.” Emily had to stop herself from smiling – he was a cute, if cheeky, kid. He had a quick wit and was no doubt clever, and she suspected if he applied himself and paid more attention in class he would do quite well.
Meanwhile Harry had got to the school and pulled into the carpark. He found the third grade classroom and knocked on the door. Emily looked up when she heard the knock and spied the tall, dark and handsome young man whom she assumed was Mr Steele, as he opened the door. ‘I see what she means now’ she thought to herself in reference to what the school secretary had told her, and she had to stop herself from staring at his gorgeous blue eyes. He’s young to be Mickey’s father though, she thought to herself curiously, thinking he only looked to be in his mid-twenties.
She wasn’t the only one to be fascinated by what they saw. Harry had expected Mickey’s teacher to be an older, stern woman so he was pleasantly surprised to find she was in fact an attractive, young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had warm brown eyes and light brown hair with some blonde highlights he noticed as he looked at her, struck momentarily speechless.
“Excuse me you must be Miss Woods. I’m…” he found his voice and went to introduce himself. “Mr Steele – nice to meet you. I’m Emily Woods, the third grade substitute teacher,” Emily interjected as she stood up and went and shook his hand, thinking to herself that he did have a gorgeous English accent. At that Mickey started giggling and a lopsided grin, that Emily noticed was very much like Mickey’s, spread across the young man’s face.
“It’s O’Casey actually, not Steele,” Harry replied as Emily looked at him a little puzzled as she also wondered why Mickey was laughing. “I’m Harry O’Casey – Mickey’s brother, well half-brother actually. Mr Steele’s my father. Nice to meet you Miss Woods,” he explained, his blue eyes twinkling at her. At that Mickey got up and came and stood beside him. “Hi Harry. Yeah he’s my big brother not my Dad, Miss Woods,” Mickey laughed as Harry looked at him. “Okay that’s enough Mickey,” he chided him gently then added, “What have you done now squirt?”
At that Mickey looked a little sheepish. “Nuffin,” he replied as he avoided his teacher’s intent gaze. “Oh really?” Harry asked skeptically as he shared a look with Emily who explained how he had been playing up all day. “Well I’m sorry to hear that – what have you got to say to Miss Woods Mickey?” Harry stated seriously as he gave his younger brother a meaningful look. “Sorry,” Mickey muttered under his breath, feeling a bit embarrassed in front of his older brother who he idolized. “Well thank you for your apology Michael – I hope you’ve learnt your lesson and we won’t have any problems tomorrow?” Emily said firmly, her hands on her hips as Mickey nodded, his gaze focused on the floor.
“I’m sorry my father or step-mother couldn’t get down here to pick him up – they said to pass on their apologies and assure you they’ll be talking to Mickey about this. They run a detective agency and they had a client meeting they both had to attend,” Harry explained as Emily nodded understandingly. “Okay little brother let’s go,” he added to Mickey then turned to Emily with a smile and said. “Well it was lovely to meet you Miss Woods.”
“Emily.. please,” she replied with a smile of her own, thinking to herself again how gorgeous he was. “And it was nice to meet you too.. Harry,” she added as he grinned at her then bade her farewell as he steered his younger brother out of the classroom.
When they got back to Harry’s car Harry turned to Mickey and said, “I thought you said Miss Woods was old,” as he thought to himself, she’s definitely not old. In fact he thought she was downright gorgeous. “She is old,” Mickey stated adamantly as Harry laughed and shook his head. “C’mon Mickey she only looks to be about my age.” At that a cheeky grin crossed Mickey’s face. “Like I said.. old,” he retorted mischievously as Harry grinned the same lopsided grin back at him and took a playful swipe at him. “Get in the car you cheeky little bugger,” he laughed as Mickey did so, Harry thinking to himself how he was kind of glad his little brother was as cheeky as he was if it meant he got to see his cute teacher on a regular basis.