Page 78 of After the Vows

Chloe drops to her knees in front of my daughter. “Listen to me. No matter what names people call you, you don’t take it on.” She places a hand over Natalia’s heart. “You listen to who you are in here. No one else can say who you are. Only you.”

“Okay, Clo-Clo.”

Chloe tweaks her nose before standing. “I’ll let you and your dad talk.”

I tag her hand before she can escape. “I want you here.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re my wife. Of course, I’m sure.”

I usher everyone into the living room. “What happened?”

Chloe opens her mouth to speak but I place a finger over her lip. “Not you. Natalia. What happened with Sheila this time?”

“She pushed me. I was first in line for lunch but she pushed me so she could be first.” She pauses.

“And what did you do?”

“I punched her in the stomach.”

“Punching is wrong.”

“I know! But what was I supposed to do?” She throws her arms in the air with a huff. “Sheila’s always pushing kids and saying nasty things but the teachers never do anything about it.”

“Do the teachers know about it?”

“They do. Trust me. They do,” Chloe mutters.

“And what happened at this parent meeting?” I ask.

“Chloe yelled a lot,” Natalia says.

I cock an eyebrow at Chloe. Her cheeks burn but she nods. “I had things to say.”

I stand and offer her my hand. “Chloe and I need to discuss what happened.”

“Don’t be mad at her, Dad. She was standing up for me.”

I ruffle her hair as I pass. “Don’t worry. I’m not mad.”

I lead Chloe upstairs to my bedroom.

“I’m sorry, Lucas,” she says as soon as the door is shut behind us. “I didn’t know Natalia didn’t phone you. I thoughtshe did and you were running late. And I shouldn’t have yelled when I got there. But Maddy wasn’t doing anything about Sheila bullying Natalia and shewasbullying her. Bullying her. I can’t… Not bullying...My mom…”

She bursts into tears and I wrap my arms around her.

“Don’t cry, wildcat. Your tears destroy me.”

My heart aches for her. Today’s incident brought up all the shit of the past with her mother.

I want to hunt down her mother and give her a piece of my mind. I usually work hard to not be intimidating when I’m in uniform since a police officer who towers over you can be frightening. But I want to frighten the hell out of Chloe’s mom.

“I’m sorry.”

Chloe leans back to meet my gaze. “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re perfect.”

I wipe the tears from her face. “I did, though. I yelled at you when you gave Chloe permission to sleep over at her friend’s house when I should have been thankful to you for helping out. Being a parent to Natalia wasn’t part of our deal.”

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