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Cal nods his head along with his words. “You won’t even have time to miss us,” he adds.
“Is that what Grandma told you too?” Scarlett asks, a small smile on her face.
All four little heads nod just as Charlene and Joe walk into the room, arms full of backpacks and lunch boxes. Why are there more than four of each?
“You know each kid only needs one backpack and one lunchbox, right?” Luca asks as he finally enters the room and takes in the scene.
Charlene laughs and Joe narrows his gaze. “That’s what I’d like to ask you lot,” he fires back. “We’ve had more package deliveries this week than in the last six months combined.”
Several cheeks heat, including Jade’s and Noah’s, but Scarlett crosses her arms as Roe runs to climb up Kade’s legs. Her smile falls into her cool mask. Yeah, pretty girl, you’re not fooling anyone.
“How many, Scarlett?”
She looks in the opposite direction, acting as if she didn’t hear me. I shake my head. At least she didn’t buy her an entire store this time.
Charlene’s warm voice betrays her amusement even if she keeps her expression neutral. “I thought it would be fun for the kids to be able to pick their backpacks while we’re here with everyone.”
My chest tightens at the thoughtfulness behind those words. No one in this room ever thought we would be the type of parents to have someone else raising our kids for us. It’s one of the hardest parts about this first day of school. Charlene has been the one to do all the hard work.
She decided which school was the best fit. She filled out all the paperwork and got all four kids registered. She made all the plans. Did most of the shopping. The rest of us are just here.
I fidget, uncomfortable as the thought settles deep in my gut. I hate that it’s come to this. Guilt flashes across my pretty girl’s face and I know she’s thinking the same thing I am. I pull her into my arms and squeeze her tightly.
Decisions had to be made. Hard ones. Everything we’ve done has been about protecting these kids, preserving their innocence. Soon things will change again. We’ll bring them home to us. Be more involved. Very, very soon. Everything is almost in place for it.
The rest of the night flashes by quickly. Charlene makes dinner in our kitchen, while the rest of us help the kids pick out their outfits for the first day of school and pack up the chosen backpacks. To no one’s surprise, they all wanted to match and ended up with the same backpack in different colors, monogrammed with their names. Scarlett looks too smug at the decision for anyone else to be behind them.
Dinner is a loud affair with all the kids wired in their excitement about what school is going to bring. Roe begins to get nervous and climbs into Scarlett’s lap halfway through the meal, clinging to her and hiding in her hair.
“Are there really going to be a lot of people?” she asks in a small voice.
We trade worried looks at the panic in her voice. Roe hasn’t exhibited any social anxiety in months. Then again, her preschool was very small with only twelve kids in each class. She hasn’t been in big crowds of people who she isn’t already familiar with.
Scarlett runs a hand over the back of her head, cradling Roe to her chest. “Roe baby,” she soothes in a hushed tone. “You’re going to meet lots of new friends, but Kai and Cal are going to be in your class.”
I start, surprised she already knows that. We aren’t supposed to find out their classes until tomorrow. Noah blushes as I pin him with a questioning look. I should have guessed. The two of them probably moved around the class rosters in order to make it happen.
“I’m always going to protect you, sweet girl,” she promises. “You have a whole family now that won’t let anything happen to you.”
The vow hits me in the gut, and there isn’t a single person who doesn’t get a little emotional by it. Rowan has come so far, it’s easy to forget how fragile she was. How fragile she still is. Her scars are much more deep-rooted than the ones painted on her skin.
“It’ll mostly be other kids around you,” Scarlett continues to explain to her. “Other kids who are just as nervous as you are. It won’t be adults surrounding you, but your teacher will be close by if you do need anything. Even if you need a little break. Just tell her and she will make sure to call me. Okay?”
A little nod is the only response we get.
“I’m only one phone call away,” Scarlett repeats, running her hand down Rowan’s back.
Kai squints and cocks his head as he watches the scene, his own face scrunched in a look of worry. “I’ll stay with Roe, Aunty Scar,” he says in his small voice. “I won’t leave her alone.”
A warm smile spreads across Scarlett’s face and a few chuckles sound throughout the room, breaking some of the rising tension. Charlene wipes tears from under her eyes as she pats Kai on the back.
“Hear that, sweet girl? You’ll have your best friends right at your side.”
Slowly, Roe pulls herself away from her mom’s chest and nods again, a determination in the tilt of her head. “No monsters?” she asks her mom in a small voice.
My stomach turns and violence rushes through my blood. She’s far too young and innocent to have survived the horrors she’s had to. All the revenge in the world isn’t enough to give her back everything she’s lost.
“No monsters,” Scarlett promises, her voice catching. “School is a safe place. A place full of protectors and heroes. If anyone scares you, there are lots of people you can tell. That you can run to. You’re not alone anymore, Roe. Never again. I’ll slay all the monsters for you.”
