Chapter 41

Monday morning, Gabby pulled up in front of Adam and Kim's house. She got out and walked in, MacKenzie holding her hand.

"Hey girl, what's up?" She hollered, walking in the door.

Adam looked up from eating breakfast. "I'm not a girl, but nothing much. How about yourself?"

She laughed. "I wasn't talking to you, moron. But that's good."

Her and MacKenzie walked into the kitchen. She walked over to Kim, who was making pancakes while MacKenzie sat with Brayden and Hannah at the kitchen table.

"Hey girl." Gabby said, sitting on the counter.

"What's up?"

"I have the day off today so I was gonna offer to bring the kids to school."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to. I need something to do to keep myself busy."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive. Are you guys coming down later for career day?"

"Yeah. Both of us have the afternoon off."

The kids finished their breakfast and got into Gabby's car.

"See you guys later!" She yelled as she shut the door behind her.

The kids buckled up before she pulled onto the road.

"Auntie Gabby, guess what?" Hannah said.

Gabby adjusted the mirror so she could see Hannah in the backseat.

"What's that sweetie?"

"I drew a picture for you and uncle Matt."

Gabby smiled. "That was so nice of you. I'll look at when we get to the school, okay?"

"Okay!"

Brayden was coloring in a book, ignoring the girls.

"Whatcha doing there, buddy?" Gabby asked him because he had been so quiet.

"I'm not into girl talk." He said and then looked back down at his book.

"You're not cool enough anyway." MacKenzie told him.

"Be nice, Kenzie." Gabby said, parking in the lot and walking inside with the kids.

"Mrs. Casey, so nice to see you again." The secretary said when Gabby walked in.

"Likewise."

"Are you here for career day?"

"I am." She smiled.

"That's wonderful. It's great to see so many parents today."

"My mommy's a firefighter!" MacKenzie told her, clinging to Gabby's arm.

The secretary handed her a visitors name tag. Brayden led the way to their classroom. Their teacher came over and greeted Gabby as they walked in.

"Hello, Mrs. Casey. So nice to meet you." She shook Gabby's hand. "I'm MacKenzie's teacher, Ms. Webber."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Thank you very much for coming down for career day, the kids are so excited."

"I'm very happy to be here and tell the kids about the world of firefighting."

Hannah was cleaning her end of the table where she sat. A boy sat at the table in front of her. His parents were there, so he turned around to face her.

"Where's your mommy and daddy?"

"Not here."

"That's funny."

"No it's not!"

"At least my mommy and daddy showed up cause they love me."

"Mine love me too!"

"They don't if they aren't here."

"Shut up!" Hannah clenched her fists.

"Why would they want a whiny baby for a kid?"

"Shut up." She grumbled.

"Go sit in the corner." He stuck his tongue out at her.

"That's it!" She threw her chair back, walked around the table and pushed the kid to the floor.

"That wasn't nice!" He yelled.

"I don't care!" She started crying.

The boy's parents walked over and started telling him that teasing wasn't nice, and he better apologize.

"I'm not apologizing to a stupid girl." He grumbled to them.

"Right now, young man. I mean it." His father said sternly.

"No! She's a stupid girl!"

Hannah ran out of the room crying and Gabby chased after her. "Hey, slow down. What's wrong, sweetie?"

"He said mommy and daddy don't love me."

"He's a bully. Your mommy and daddy love you very much."

"Then why aren't they here?"

"They have something to do at work first. They'll be here soon, I promise."

Gabby picked her up and they walked back to the classroom. The boy came over to try apologizing to her, but she didn't want to talk to him. Gabby looked at him and his parents.

"She worries about her parents because they're police officers. It scares her when she can't be with them."

"No need to explain." The boy's mother smiled.

Snack time came and Hannah refused to eat anything. Brayden offered her some graham crackers, but she pushed them away.

"You need to eat, sissy. Lunch isn't for two more hours."

"No. I want mommy and daddy."

"They said they would be here. They wouldn't just not come."

Ms. Webber came over to them and gave Hannah a note.

"What's this?" She looked at it funny.

"Can you bring it to the office, sweetie?"

"Okay." Hannah got off Gabby's lap and headed into the hallway.

As she went to push the door to the office open, Adam and Kim came walking in. The note dropped from her hands and she ran into Adam's arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as she could.

"What's wrong, princess? Have you been crying?"

"No." She lied.

"Were you scared because we couldn't be here earlier?" Kim asked, holding her hand.

"I don't like it when I can't be with you guys."

"We're here now." Adam kissed the top of her head.

"It scares me when I can't be with you guys. Your jobs are scary."

"It scares us too, sweetie."

"What if one day you guys go to work and don't come back?"

"That won't happen, we're always protected."

"You say that, but look what happened to auntie Julie. She was wearing a vest when she got shot and she still died."