Secret Smiles and Three Little Words Pt. 44

"No," Nora said softly. "I'll be fine."

"That's my girl," Andor smiled. "It will be just a few minutes. If you need her, have the secretary call Ms. Davies."

Nora nodded and slid from Alex's lap who reluctantly let her go. Nora stood on her tiptoes and kissed Gavin on the cheek and then kissed Alex in way of an apology. Gavin kissed her back.

"Don't worry baby doll," Gavin whispered. "We are not mad at you."

Nora nodded but she didn't believe that. She had heard her father tell her that many times only to see him yell at her later when he had the time. Nora closed the door behind her and took her spot back in the chair outside. The secretary gave her a reassuring smile while she picked up the phone. Within minutes, Ms. Davies walked into the office and took a seat next to Nora and held her hand.

"It will be ok," Ms. Davies assured her. "We all make mistakes." Nora nodded.

Andor let out a deep sigh and leaned onto his desk.

"That girl had better be expelled!" Mrs. Papin demanded causing Alex and Gavin to look to her. "Children should not have to be exposed to that type of violence! My son is scared to death now!"

"If I'm going to expel anyone," Andor began. "It will be Lance." This caused all four adults to snap their head to them.

"What?" Mr. Papin barked.

"We have a zero tolerance policy on bullying here at St. Timothy," Andor told them. "Punishable by suspension all the way up to expulsion!"

"My son doesn't bully!" Mrs. Papin gasped. "He's an angel!"

Andor dropped his head.

"Mrs. Papin," Andor began slowly. "Your son has spent more time in my office for picking on the other students than the rest of the students combined!"

"What?"

"You haven't seen the disciplinary notices we send home?" Andor asked surprised. "Why do you think he has been staying late a lot of nights?"

"He says he's on the basketball team!" Mrs. Papin told him.

"He was kicked off the team," Andor said shaking his head at her naïveté. "And it's not even basketball season anymore, we are in track season."

Mrs. Papin looked to her husband.

"He's a typical boy, causing some mischief!" Mr. Papin told her. "There was nothing to tell you."

"You've known?" Mrs. Papin asked him. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Tell her that all boys act up," Mr. Papin asked Andor.

"To a degree, but your son has taken it too far," Andor told him.

"Here is what we know," Andor said holding his hands up to stop the marital argument before it could continue. "I have talked to several of the students, including Nora and Lance. It seems Lance has been bullying Nora since her first day. Calling her names, messing with her books...,"

"Hardly something that should require her breaking his nose!" Mr. Papin barked.

"Nora broke his nose?" Alex gasped, a small smile of pride creeping up. Andor frowned at her small smile but she could see behind his eyes he was smiling.

"Yes," Andor told her. "The nurse believes so."

"And you're right, none of that would warrant a broken nose," Andor continued. "And none of that caused the broken nose. It seems the kids have found out that Nora's mother has passed. He told Nora that her mother must have..." Andor looked to Alex and paused. "Brace yourself," he warned her.

"He said Nora's mother must have committed suicide because, and I quote 'Nora was so ugly'," Andor said looking at his notes before looking to Alex.

"Doesn't sound so horrible to me!" Mr. Papin said angrily. "Sounds like normal kid's insults."

"Nora's mother did commit suicide," Alex snapped.

"Oh my God," Mrs. Papin gasped.

"So that gives her permission to hit my son?" Mr. Papin growled. Andor held up his hand as soon as Gavin took in a deep breath to begin his verbal assault.

"The girl hasn't dealt with her mother's death completely," Andor told Papin. "Until she confronts it...it will always be a sensitive issue!" He defended. "Now normally comments like that don't hit a mark, because most of the time it's just nothing. But for Nora...well it's not nothing." Papin sat back angrily.

"So what are you going to do?" Mrs. Papin asked him.

"I'm giving them both in school suspension," Andor told them. "They will be sent to the detention hall with their work and will work away from the other students. They will receive no recess, and they will serve after school late stay."

"But you aren't kicking them out?" Mrs. Papin asked.

"No," Andor told her.

"I think the police should get involved," Mr. Papin demanded. "That little girl should be charged!"

Andor reached for his phone and Alex gasped thinking he was actually doing it.

"Would you have the school resource officer come in here, please," Andor sighed. Within a few minutes a man walked in.

"Mr. and Mrs. Papin, Dr. Steward and Miss Lasko," Andor said beginning introductions. "This is Officer Amond Code, he is with the Chicago Police Department, he is also what we call our resource officer, DARE officer and school security."

The tall man nodded at the four parents and sat in a chair to the right of Andor.

"The Papin's believe Nora should be charged," Andor told him. Code shook his head.

"First off, we don't charge children with battery in cases like this," Code told them. "This was a school fight, it wasn't anything...for lack of a better term...malicious."

"Have you seen my son?" Mr. Papin barked.

"I have," Code nodded. "But it was a fight he started."

"My son never laid a hand on her!" Papin railed.

"No, Nora got the upper hand and didn't hold back," Code said with a shrug. "Now of course you can go down the precinct and file charges, but I can pretty much guarantee that as soon as a judge sees it, they will bounce it out as a school fight, not worthy of criminal charges. Especially seeing how it's a first offence for Nora."

"Well perhaps we should just sue?" Papin said looking to Gavin who smiled.

"Again," Code continued. "I don't think you will get much more than medical costs, if that, seeing how Nora has a right to defend herself."

"Defend herself? She attacked my son!" Papin nearly yelled.

"Your son approached her," Code said firmly. "He did so in a menacing manner with a group of his friends. Nora said she was not only angered, but afraid. She tried to walk away, something even your son admits to her doing. Your son continued with his bullying, resulting in Nora defending herself."

"Defending herself?" Papin gasped as his face reddened with his anger. "She physically attacked my son, something my son didn't do to her!"

"But she still felt threatened," Code reiterated. "He surrounded her with his friends. HE taunted her, HE was taller, bigger, and stronger...not only the fact he was a boy. HE had his friends around him, Nora was alone."

"No, Mr. Papin," Code finished as he sat back. "If you do pursue this, my report will go into record as saying Nora defended herself against bullying she has been enduring for months. Something I recommended he be suspended for at least six weeks ago when he was picking on another student. See it's not just Nora he is bullying, there are several students he has been working over."

"Sounds like he got what was coming to him," Gavin shrugged.

"We do not condone violence here, Dr. Steward," Andor warned him.

"I do not condone my child having to endure the bullying from another child," Gavin retorted. "It sounds like you have had plenty of reason to expel him but didn't. So my lawyer may just decide this school has not properly protected its students and he may want to countersue to make up for the lack of administrative control. I mean, if we are lawyering up and all." This caused Alex to glance at him.

"I have to protect my Nora," Gavin finished sitting back. "I mean, if this school won't protect her...I will." Andor shook his head.

"As a matter of fact," Gavin said standing up. "Based on what I heard? I suggest you rethink your decision to punish her. It sounds like she had to take matters in her own hands because you wouldn't protect her."

"Mr. Papin," Gavin said turning to him. "If your son so much as looks at my little girl again, I swear to God, I will teach her to put him in the hospital."

Alex sat there slack jawed. She was stunned. Gavin making threats? Holy shit! Gavin walked out and took Nora's hand and led her from the office. Alex sat in her chair watching them leave, her heart swelling with love and pride for both parties.

Alex looked to Andor who had his little smirk going, she could tell he didn't take what Gavin said personally. She gave him a shrug.

"As you can see," Alex said picking up her purse. "He is very protective of her. She will be spoked to at home, but I can assure you, we will tell her to defend herself if a similar situation occurs again." With that Alex made her way out.

***

"Am I in trouble?" Nora asked as they sat around the table.

"Yes," Gavin said firmly. "We do not believe in violence."

Alex cast a quick glance at him before looking back to Nora.

"It doesn't solve anything," Gavin explained. "Hurting people isn't the way to fix problems."

"He was picking on me," Nora explained.

"I don't care," Gavin said bluntly. "Words do not mean you can hit him. We don't do that in our family."

Nora stared at the table. Alex watched her carefully.

"Nora," Alex said causing the girl to look to her with teary eyes. "You can't hit people, I don't care how angry they make you."

"I'm sorry," Nora cried. "He made me so mad!"

"Doesn't give you the right to hit him," Gavin told her.

"What if he would have hit me?" Nora asked him angrily.

"But he didn't," Gavin said back calmly. "He was doing what cowards do, he bullied. He was saying something that would get you to respond, and you did. With your fists, another cowardly act."

"Have I been kicked out of school?" Nora asked him. "Sandy said they would kick me out of school."

"No," Alex said after looking to Gavin. "They haven't kicked you out, they are still thinking about what to do with you. It sounds like you are going to be given what they call in school suspension. Maybe."

"Maybe," Gavin sighed. Alex could see his jaw muscles tighten and knew if they continued with their plan he was prepared to do something.

"What are you going to do with me? Send me back to my dad?" Nora asked. This caused Alex to sit back like she had been slapped.

"Let's get one thing perfectly clear," Gavin said his voice hardening to where Nora sunk lower in her chair.

"You are not going anywhere," Gavin said, struggling to keep his voice from being too harsh. "Your mother wanted you with your Aunt Alex, it was important to her for you to be with us." Nora nodded.

"You are our daughter, our responsibility," Gavin continued. "We love you, we will take care of you like our daughter, which is exactly what your mother would have wanted...make no mistake young lady, you belong here with us. There will be no going back to your father except for visits from time to time."

"Are we clear?" Gavin asked dropping his head to cause her to look him in the eyes.

"Yes Sir," Nora nodded.

"Baby, we love you, we want you here with us," Gavin said softer. "At first I didn't know if I could have a child in my life, but now I can't imagine my life without you. You have made your Aunt Alex and I so happy. You have made us a real family, but as with any parent and children, you have to respect us and do what we say...or there will be punishments." Nora nodded again.

"So," Gavin looked to Alex. "We want you to go up to your room, we have to decide what punishment to give you."

"Spanking?" Nora asked as she slid from her chair.

"We don't spank our children," Gavin told her. "Ever." Nora nodded and smiled a relieved smiled.

"You spank me," Alex teased once she was out of earshot.

"You are not a child," Gavin grinned. "And you enjoy them." Alex raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Was I too rough on her?" Gavin asked her. Alex shook her head. "I have no idea what I'm doing here...I'm just kind of repeating things my father used to say...Jesus, I've become my father!" Gavin blurted out in laughter. "Bet he is laughing his ass off right now!"

"Then he must have been a fantastic dad, because I thought you were amazing, firm but loving," Alex assured him. "As always."

"This is not Dom stuff," Gavin told her.

"It is, without the sex," Alex disagreed. "You have to maintain discipline while continuing to show love...you are an expert at it."

"What do we do?" Gavin asked her.

"You are the Dom," Alex said looking to him. "I'm not sure...,"

"No we can't do that when it concerns Nora," Gavin said shaking his head. "With her we cannot be Dom/sub we have to be mother/father, therefore our lifestyle will not be involved and any decisions will be made by us as a parental unit."

"What do you suggest?" Alex asked him. "Grounding?"

"At least," Gavin nodded. "She needs to understand the severity of what happened."

"I think she already does," Alex told him.

"She hit that boy," Gavin reminded her. "She has to be punished for it."

"What about your stance at school?" Alex asked him.

"They cannot punish her, I meant that," Gavin said firmly. "It sounded like the kid needed his ass kicked and the school should have intervened long before Nora, but that still doesn't excuse her behavior. We will punish her in our home, but I will not allow her to be punished there."

"No," Alex agreed.

Opening the door Alex found Nora laying on her bed looking at the wall. She looked over to Alex when she walked in.

"Is Uncle Gavin mad at me still?" Nora asked her.

"Gavin isn't mad at you," Alex assured her pulling the girl into her side. "He loves you, he wants to protect you, but you have broken rules."

"And Lance's nose," Nora admitted. Alex barked out a laugh which she quickly stifled.

"And Lance's nose," Alex repeated. "Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you hit him?" Alex asked her. "That doesn't sound like my Nora."

"He said my mother killed herself because of me," Nora whispered. Alex sat there numbly. Her mind scrambled with what to do. How does she handle this? She knew the issue of her mother's suicide would come up sooner or later. Gavin agreed, he even wanted her to start seeing a child psychologist but she wanted to wait. Perhaps that wasn't the best choice now. Now she didn't have the skill she was afraid.

"Did my mom kill herself because of me?" Nora asked when Alex hesitated.

"Absolutely not!" Alex gasped. "Baby, your mommy was so confused...she was so scared and confused!"

"She left me here all alone!" Nora cried out. "It was supposed to be me and her! She promised!"

Nora tore herself from Alex's grip and flopped face down on the bed and sobbed. Alex could do nothing but pull up alongside of her and hold her while she wept. Alex's eyes streaming tears as she cried with the fragile child. Nora cried so hard for so long that she fell asleep. It was only then that Alex got up and left her.

"Fuck!" Alex barked in a hiss after she closed the door. "Fuck, fuck fuck! God Dammit Livy!"

***

Nora was washing dishes by hand even though they had a dishwasher. Extra chores were part of the punishment that Alex and Gavin came up with. She also had to write letters of apology to Dean Andor, Ms. Davies and to Lance Papin. At first Nora refused to write the letter to Lance, refusing to apologize. There was a small standoff between Nora and Gavin. She finally broke when Gavin threatened to send her to bed early every night until she wrote the letter.

Now she stood on a step stool to wash the dishes from dinner. Gavin stood next to her drying the dishes off after she washed them. Alex watched her, she wasn't happy about the punishment, but then again, she shouldn't be. If she enjoyed it, then it wasn't a punishment. Something Gavin teased Alex about later that night when they had their first dishwashing. Alex enjoyed her spankings so they weren't really a punishment. The idea of it caused her to blush at the table as she thought about it while flipping through a magazine.

"Uncle Gavin?" Nora started as she handed him a plate to dry.

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in God?" the little girl asked him.

"Yes," he said with a nod as he watched her begin with the next plate.

"Why don't you go to church?" was the next question.

"Part of it is time, I really don't have any to go to church," Gavin shrugged as he took the plate from her. "Part of it is I don't believe in organized religion." The look on her face told him she didn't understand, which he knew she wouldn't.

"It's complicated," he explained. "I pray, I believe in Him, but I don't go to church because I don't want someone to tell me how to believe in Him. I don't want someone to tell me that to be a good Christian, I have to pray a certain way, or go to a certain church, or give a certain amount of money to be a good Christian."

"Then how do you know you are doing it right?" she asked starting with her last plate.

"My heart tells me I'm doing it right," Gavin shrugged. "See that is how God talks to you, He doesn't come down and talk like we are now...He speaks to your heart."

"Do you think my Mommy is with Him?" Nora asked softly.

He knew it was coming, long before it left her lips. It still hit him like a punch. Gavin rested his hands on the sink as he thought about how to explain it to her. Explain the unexplainable? How many centuries has man tried to make sense of the things they didn't understand? Nora finally turned to him and he looked to her.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "I know she is."

"How do you know?"

"Because I asked Him," Gavin shrugged. "And He told my heart she was safe."

"So I can ask Him questions?" Nora asked him.

"Of course!" Gavin nodded with a smile.

"And He will answer?"

"If you are listening," Gavin nodded.

"How does my heart listen?" Nora furrowed her brow. "Does it have little ears?"

"No," Gavin laughed, ignoring Alex's blurt laugh. "When you quiet yourself in prayer, when you are on your knees...if you open your heart and ask Him, He will answer. You will know when He answers...I can't explain it other than to say, you will just know."

Nora was quiet again as she watched the water drain from the sink. Again, Gavin knew another question was coming, he just hoped it wasn't the one question he couldn't answer. The one question that even had him up at nights sometimes...why? Why, did Livy do this?

"Uncle Gavin?"

Please God, not that question, Gavin begged.

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Nora asked him hopping off the stool. Gavin laid the towel he was using on the counter and leaned against it.

"I don't know," Gavin shrugged. "I've never seen one, so...I don't know." Gavin watched her nod. "How about you, do you believe in ghosts?"

Nora nodded and went to Alex and kissed her cheek.

"Can I watch TV now?" Nora asked her. Alex nodded and they both watched her run from the kitchen.

"Odd," Gavin commented watching the doorway Nora just ran through.

"Very," Alex agreed.

***

Alex knelt on the floor, the submissive position. After finishing the dishes, Gavin received a call and had to leave. Nora and Alex took turns reading out of a book until she was ready to go to bed. Now she was kneeling on the floor of their new bedroom, she had heard the garage door open and knew Gavin was back from his call. Now she just waited.

"Damn," Gavin said softly as he closed the door behind him. "I thought you would be asleep by now."

"No, Sir," Alex smiled, happy to surprise him. "I need my Sir."

"Do you now?" Gavin grinned as he came to her and ran his fingers gently over her bare shoulders. Her eyes fluttered closed at his gentle touch.