BRIAN

After lunch, we took the girls to the indoor kids' gym so they could run off some energy. Victoria likes to sit on the highest step and look around. Justin told me it’s to survey her kingdom. Beth is a runner. One of us has to chase her around. I told Justin to do it because it keeps his bubble butt from sagging. Jen laughed at that.

We were both running after Beth when my phone went off. It was Cynthia, I forgot about Gabriel. Mikey left me ready to have some peace.

“Hey Cynthia, tell Gabriel I’ll call him in an hour from my house,” I tell her.

“I will when he calls. He told me to tell you he has two more accounts that should be calling back, so he was going to call after getting the agreements. I’m calling you because the school called and wanted to know if someone could pick up Gus and JR.” She tells me.

“Call them back and tell them I’m ten minutes away and will be there as soon as possible.” I’m going to murder Linds.

I tell Justin we have to go get Gus and JR from the school. Jen tells us she’ll watch the girls and we can get them from her house. I thank her and we run out the door. Justin tries Linds and Mel. Linds is just ringing through to voicemail. Mel had court so she might not be able to answer. As soon as we got to the school, Mel called back.

“What is going on?” She asks me.

“I got a call from Cynthia, the school called and said no one picked up the kids today. I need you to give them permission for us to take JR. Linds isn’t answering.” I tell her.

“I can be there in ten minutes, I was walking out of court and just turned on my phone. I called because I haven’t had time to listen to my messages yet.” She tells me.

“We’re already here, just about to walk in the door. I’ll see you when you get here.” I tell her.

Justin walks up to the front desk and tells the woman sitting there that we are Gus’s fathers. She asks us if the mothers are on their way. He told her that we were able to locate one of the mothers. She tells us the principal wants to speak to the parents of the children and we need to wait.

“Brian, try Linds again. I hope she has a better reason than that she lost track of time.” Justin tells me.

“She isn’t answering. She better already be hurt or unable to move, otherwise, she just might be after this.” Brian tells me.

“Brian, Justin, I’m so sorry about this. I can’t get a hold of Linds.” Mel says as she rushes in.

“Good afternoon, I’m Tom Driver, the principal. Can we step into my office and talk? I have a teacher staying with the children.” He tells us.

We all file in and take seats. He asks if Justin and I are the children’s fathers.

“Gus is our son. Jenny is a friend’s daughter.” I tell him.

“I wanted to discuss this with all the parents. The children are being left at school late very often. They are also tardy at least once a week, and this morning Ms. Peterson told us they went to the doctor. I have tried talking to her about the situation and it doesn’t seem to have changed. I need to find out how you, as the parents, are going to help this situation, so it doesn’t repeat itself continuously.” He asks us.

I want to get snarky, but I can’t argue that he is being an asshole. He seems to be worried about Gus and JR.

“Linds and I are the primary caregivers of Gus and JR, so it’s our responsibility to be on time. I don’t know where she is at the moment. I can assure you this won’t happen again.” Mel tells him.

“I want to believe you, but I had this same conversation with Ms. Peterson a couple of days ago. She told me it wouldn’t happen again. I do want you to know it has never been this late before, but she is usually anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes late. The only reason we contacted you was that it was over an hour late and we hadn’t heard from any of you.” He is trying to be nice about this.

“What time does someone need to be here to get the kids,” Justin asks him.

“We start loading the children on buses and in the carpool at 3 pm. We like for the parents to be outside by that time.” He tells Justin.

“I can be here to pick them up.” Justin offers.

“Justin, I can’t ask that of you. You have Beth and Victoria too.” Mel tells him.

“Mel, on days you can get them on time, just call me. We also need to add our cell phones to your contact list. Apparently, you only have Brian’s business phone listed. Also, does something need to be signed so that we can pick up JR without a problem?” Justin questions.

“I will have it noted in her file,” The principal tells us.

“I also only work a few miles away, if there is an emergency and Mel can’t be here, contact me,” I tell him.

The principal seemed satisfied with this arrangement. He thanked us for being prompt once we were called. Gus and JR came to us. JR was upset and Gus asked where his mother was.

“She got caught in traffic Gus,” Justin tells him.

Justin shook his head at me, he didn’t want the children more upset. He told the kids we were taking them out for pizza. I called Jen and told her what was going on. She said she would meet us at the pizza place with the girls. Linds better be in the hospital or I might make her wish she was.

LINDS

I keep having this dream that I couldn’t shut off this ringing noise. I woke up and looked around. Justin wasn’t home yet. I turned on my car to see what time it was. Oh fuck me, it was almost 5 pm. I looked at my phone and saw that I had twenty missed calls. I hope someone got the kids. I start the car and drive back towards my house.

I almost turned around and went somewhere else when I saw all the cars in our driveway. Emmett spotted me and turned and yelled towards the house. I parked and Emmett said he had to go. I walked into the house. Great, Michael is here.

“Mel, she better have a good explanation for abandoning JR at the school.” Michael was in full drama mode.

“Look, I want to talk to her alone, why don’t you go home. I promise you this won’t happen again. Justin and I have it worked out so the kids will be picked up on time.” Mel tells Michael.

“I’m not leaving until I get an explanation for her not taking care of her responsibilities,” Michael tells Mel.

“Michael, I need to be able to talk to my wife without you trying to cause a fight. Trust me I am no happier about this than you.” Mel tells Michael.

“I get that everyone's upset about this, but until we talk to Linds nothing's getting solved. Let Mel talk to her and then we can try to discuss this rationally.” Justin tells Michael.

“You need to mind your own business, it isn’t about your kid. Why don’t you go upstairs and watch YOUR brats, so we can discuss OUR children.” Michael tells Justin.

“Michael SIT YOUR ASS IN A CHAIR and shut up. Those BRATS are my daughters.” Brian tells Michael.

I walked in and decided to face the heat.

JUSTIN

I wanted to stomp the shit out of Michael, but Linds and Mel were in the wrong here. Brian apparently had enough. I look and see Linds standing there. I wanted to talk to her alone because this was going to get ugly and even though I understand why everyone is pissed, it’s not going to help anything to get in a shouting match.

“I know I fucked up guys, I’m sorry. I went to Brian and Justin’s house to talk to Justin. I was waiting for him and fell asleep.” Linds tells us.

“So, because you're so busy trying to kiss up to Justin, my kid gets left at school again.” Michael snarks at her.

“You’re one to talk, Mr. Best Friend. You’re too busy trying to suck Brian’s dick to pay attention to JR or Ben.” Linds tells him.

“If you spent time taking care of the kids and not hoping that Justin will let you suck his dick, then we wouldn’t be here,” Michael tells her.

“At least I understand what it means when people tell me they are busy. You instead take it as a reason to unload your kid on anybody so you can chase Brian.” Linds sneers at him.

“At least I can drop off my kid and arrive on time to pick her up.” Michael sneers back.

Brian starts to clap his hands. They both turn to look at him.

“As much as I want to watch more episodes of Beavis and Butthead, I would like to get home. Linds, Mel and Justin have decided that Justin is going to pick the kids up each afternoon. You are going to drop them off on time in the morning. I, as a concerned father, will call you each morning to make sure the children make it to school ON TIME. Michael is going to SHUT THE FUCK UP.” Brian tells them.

It was like looking at a Minnesota Picnic by Seurat. There is so much going on you have to tilt your head back and forth to see it all. Beavis and Butthead finally stopped the blame game. Brain told them what was going to happen. Linds looked hurt. Michael wasn’t through.

“JR is my daughter, and I should be able to make decisions about her.” Michael just can’t give up.

“Okay, are you going to pick her up or do you have a better idea?” Brian sneers at him.

“I can’t get to the school every day. Linds doesn’t work so she should be taking care of it.” Michael tells Brian.

“Until we can guarantee that Linds will be there every day, this is the solution we have. Unless you're at the school to get your daughter, she will come home with Justin. That’s final Michael, we aren’t going to argue anymore about this.” Mel tells Michael.

“Justin needs to be able to work on his art. You guys are making him take more time away from that, or is that what you want Brian?”

Linds really needs to shut up.

“No Linds, it’s not what I want but unfortunately for me, the person who should have picked up the kids today didn’t show up. Therefore we had to sit in the principal’s office like children and listen to the fact that you’re not only late picking them up but also lying to the school about why they aren’t dropped off on time. If you had taken care of that, Justin wouldn’t have had to volunteer himself to do it. I think maybe you could shut the hell up too.” Brian tells her.

“That’s right Linds. Maybe we should revisit the custody agreement, Mel.” Michael tells her.

“Michael, as much as I want to stay and listen to the whining and blame, I need to tell my son goodnight and take my daughters home for dinner. So fight on dude, without us.” Brian tells Michael.

We head upstairs and walk in to see Gus sitting on the bed with JR. They are both watching the girls sleeping. I need to paint this picture. I grab my phone and start snapping pictures from all angles. The kids are so used to this they sit still till I stop. Brian looks at the pictures and tells me that he doesn’t care how much someone offers for the finished painting, I can’t sell it.

This is what Linds doesn’t see. I haven’t even painted it but Brian already knows this is going to be the best one I ever do.