5 Ronan

Tennyson had really outdone himself with dinner. He'd made a big batch of tomato sauce with meatballs. Everly had chosen the curly pasta and everyone had several helpings, including Ezra, who ended up splattered with sauce. While Ten gave the little boy a bath, Ronan had been reading to his daughter.

"What's grave robbing?"

The six year old asked.

"Where did you hear that term?"

Ronan knew neither he nor Ten had mentioned anything about Laura Cooper and trash pile find.

"In Daddy's head."

Everly wore a confused look. "I don't know what it means."

This was yet another instance of Ronan having to explain something he never imagined to his daughter. "In the olden days, people were buried with jewelry or had gold teeth or other valuables in the grave with them. Robbers would dig up the graves and steal from the dead person."

Everly wore a horrified look. "That's so bad."

"Yeah, it is,"

Ronan agreed. He was still appalled over Laura Cooper thinking there would be gold in the bag of remains.

"You said that happened in the olden days. Why is Daddy thinking about it now?"

Ronan took a deep breath. How much should he actually tell his daughter? "Do you know what cremation is?"

He had a feeling that if Ten walked in on this conversation, he wouldn't be happy with what he was hearing.

Everly nodded. "Timmy Bowman brought his nana for show and tell. He told us all about cream-nation."

"He brought his nana to school?"

Why was this the first Ronan was hearing about this? Shouldn't there have been a letter that went home with all of the students?

"Yup, in her pretty vase. Mikey wanted to open it up and see the ashes, but, Mrs. Robbins said that wasn't appropriate"

Everly grimaced. "I'm glad she said no."

Ronan was too.

"What does cream-nation have to do with grave robbing?"

Everly asked.

Ronan sighed. "A woman was out walking in her neighborhood this morning and found a box with human ashes in someone's trash. She took it home with her and later brought it to West Side Magick, hoping Daddy could speak with the dead person's spirit."

There was no way Ronan was going to tell his daughter that Laura didn't want to help the spirit, but rather wanted gossip to spread at her next book club. "Daddy wasn't able to speak with the spirit and the woman wanted to leave with the box in case there was jewelry inside she could sell for money."

Which now that Ronan said it out loud didn't make sense. He'd been to Laura's house. It was huge and in an exclusive neighborhood. They were rolling in cash, weren't they?

"Marcus is a gambler. I don't know what that is, but they're busted."

Everly said, looking confused.

Ronan was absolutely not explaining to his daughter what gambling was. Christ, what a family.

"Who's a gambler?"

Ten asked, walking into Everly's room, with a freshly scrubbed Ezra in his arms.

"Marcus Cooper,"

Ronan said. "Everly picked up some new words from you."

"You know about the box?"

Ten asked, sitting on the side of her bed.

"Yeah, Dad told me a little bit."

Everly wore a solemn look.

"Are you getting a name or an address of the person in the box?"

Ten asked.

Everly shook her head. "No, I'm not getting anything, but I'm tired. I'll try again in the morning."

"Sweet dreams."

Ronan kissed the top of Everly's head.

"Night, Daddies!"

Everly grabbed a unicorn stuffie and snuggled under her covers.

After putting Ezra to bed, Ten and Ronan walked downstairs. Ten headed for the kitchen and turned on the electric kettle.

"I hate asking her for help, but I was really hoping she would know the name of the person whose remains we have locked up in the shop."

After pouring two cups of hot water, Ten brought the mugs and tea bags to the table, setting one in front of Ronan.

"I was hoping so too,"

Ronan admitted. He was with Ten in that he didn't want to use Everly's gifts to assist with their cases, but this wasn't a case, at least not yet. "Fitz set up a meeting with Cisco for Wednesday morning, which gives us all day tomorrow to figure out the mystery."

"What happens when we don't discover who the remains belong to?"

Ten asked, looking as if he didn't want to know the answer.

"I definitely think we need to make an appeal to the media. We can pinpoint the location to within several blocks of Laura Cooper's house. Maybe some funeral home director will recognize something about the box or the approximate area where it was found."

Ronan took a deep breath. Ten wasn't going to like this next bit at all. "If worse comes to worse, we can bring the remains to the lab and see if there are any teeth or bone fragments that are intact enough to run DNA. If not, then we'll make sure the remains are kept at the county morgue in case someone comes looking for them."

"Okay, well that answer isn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Ten took a sip from his steaming mug.

"You know, if we do go to the media with this, it might come out that you weren't able to speak with the person who died. Are you prepared for the shitstorm that could bring?"

Ten nodded. "I've been thinking about that since Laura threatened to sue me when she left the shop earlier today. I'm sure there are a lot of people, Laura included, who'd like see my downfall. On the other hand, there are a lot of good people in this city who trust me and my gifts. If we explain that the spirit has crossed over that might get me out of this bind."

Ronan had a feeling that wouldn't be the case. Ten's detractors were vicious, especially those emboldened by the anonymity of a keyboard. He was sure there would be renewed efforts to put West Side Magick out of business, but Ronan knew no one was going to let that happen. "Changing the subject,"

Ronan began, "did you hear anything about Aurora being a bully?"

Ten's eyes widened. "That was Aurora?"

He got up from his chair and went into the living room. When he came back a few seconds later, he was holding Everly's backpack. "I meant to tell you earlier about this letter, but we got busy with dinner and putting the kids to bed."

Ten unzipped the pack and pulled out a purple folder. The left side was filled with papers that needed to go back to Mrs. Robbins, while the right side was filled with things parents needed to see. Ten pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Ronan.

" Dear Parents ,"

Ronan read aloud. " It has come to my attention that several students have reported a case of bullying. We are taking all measures to ensure this behavior is stopped and appropriate punishment is dispensed. As a result of this behavior, recess will be canceled for the rest of the week and we will hold an anti-bullying assembly tomorrow without the student in question. "

"What the actual fuck?"

Ronan was pissed. "How the hell can they do that to Aurora? If kids don't see her at school tomorrow, then they'll know she was the one accused."

"Did Everly mention anything about this?"

Ten shook his head. "Which, now that you mention it, is strange. Out of everyone, wouldn't Everly know what was going on?"

Ronan grabbed his phone and called Fitzgibbon.

"Hey, Ronan, now's not really the best time."

Fitz sounded exhausted.

"How's Aurora?"

Ronan had known the little girl since was a few hours old. She was a little picky about certain things, but didn't have a mean bone in her body. She certainly wasn't a bully.

"Not good. She hasn't stopped crying since she got home. Jace is upstairs with her now, trying to get her to calm down enough to sleep."

Fitz sighed heavily. "They don't want her to come to school tomorrow. You want to talk about bullying? How can they do that to a six-year-old?"

"What did they tell you happened?"

Ronan asked.

"According to three classmates, Aurora was making fun one boy. Singing a song about how he smelled bad and laughing. Apparently she told everyone that the boy was poor and that I was going to arrest him because he didn't belong at the school."

"I don't believe that for a second,"

Tennyson said. "There's no way Aurora would say anything like that."

"I agree,"

Ronan said. "What can we do about this?"

"Nothing,"

Fitz said, sounding sad. "She's suspended for tomorrow and her behavior will be monitored. She'll have to go to counselling sessions at school and Mrs. Robbins will be sending home daily reports on her behavior."

Ronan couldn't believe his ears. "What did Aurora have to say for herself when the teacher and principal spoke to her?"

"They didn't speak to her."

"What? How the hell could they pass sentence without hearing her side of things?"

Ronan was beside himself.

"Aurora is being railroaded,"

Everly said, walking into the kitchen. She climbed into Ronan's lap. "Timmy Bowman is a liar. Aurora never made fun of him."

"Timmy Bowman? The boy who brought his nana's ashes to school for show and tell?"

Ronan asked. Under any other circumstance, he would be laughing, but this was serious. This could end up on Aurora's permanent record.

Everly nodded. "Yeah, he's the one who's been bullying Aurora, but she didn't want to say anything and get Timmy in trouble."

"Is this something you saw and heard with your eyes and ears, or with your gift?"

Fitz asked.

"I saw it with my eyes. Woofie did too. Timmy told Aurora that you were gonna send her away to live with another family because she was adopted. Aurora started to cry. I was the one who told Timmy that he smells. He said he was going to tell on me and ran away."

"Who else was there when this happened?"

Ronan asked, proud that his daughter stood up for her friend.

"It was me, Aurora, Woofie, and Kimmie Parks. We were singing Never Getting Back Together at recess and Timmy and his friend Paul said that our singing sucked and then started making fun of Aurora. How come she didn't tell you, Uncle Fitz?"

"That's a good question, honey. I'll ask her tomorrow. Did Mrs. Robbins ask to speak with you? Or the others?"

"Not me. I don't know about Woofie or Kimmie."

Everly kissed Ronan and went to the fridge to grab a mini bottle of water.

"What do we do now?"

Ronan asked, watching as Everly twisted the cap off her water and took a sip.

"I haven't wanted to throw my ace in the hole, but I've been wondering if I should call Max Preston. See what he's got to say about this."

Fitzgibbon sounded uncertain, which wasn't like him at all.

"I'll call him,"

Ronan offered. "If you call it might look like you're trying to use your influence to get him to change his mind on school policy. I'll talk to him and find out what he knows and why no one spoke to our kids."

"Yeah, that's probably a better idea. I'm too emotional right now. I'd end up shouting, crying, or arresting his dumb ass."

Ronan chuckled. "I promise you'll get to slap the cuffs on if it comes to that, but I don't think it will. I'm a very skilled negotiator."

"Oh, really? Is that why Everly has one hundred and seven unicorns in her bedroom?"

Ten rolled his eyes.

"Stop crushing my dreams, Ten. Fitz, I'll call you back."

Ronan ended the call. "I don't like this one bit."

"Agreed. Let's get you back to bed, little miss."

Ten made a move to stand up, but was stopped by Everly's response.

Everly shook her head in a rare act of defiance. "I want to stay and listen to Dad talk to Principal Max. Aurora is my best friend and this isn't fair. You always say that we have to stand up for our friends and that's what I'm doing."

"She stays,"

Ronan said, holding up his hand for Everly to high-five. He tapped Max Preston's contact and put the call on speaker phone.

"Ronan? How the hell are you?"

Max sounded in good spirits.

"I'm good thanks, but there's something I need to talk to you about."

Ronan took a deep breath in an attempt to keep his temper under control.

"Sure thing. What's on your mind?"

Max sounded like his usual jovial self.

"My niece, Aurora Fitzgibbon, is suspended from school tomorrow and I just wanted to get your take on that. My daughter and other kids were with her when this incident took place and none of them were spoken to. It doesn't seem quite right to me."

Ronan hoped Max would be able to shed a little light on the situation.

"Aurora, suspended?"

Max asked sounding confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Can you fill me in?"

Ronan gave Max the bare bones of the story and read him the letter that was sent home with Everly.

"Fuck me blue,"

Max said, making Everly laugh. "Oh, no. Is that you, Everly?"

"Yup! I'm here to make sure Dad got the details right. But what you said was funny!"

The little girl giggled.

"Promise me you won't repeat it at school."

Max sounded worried.

"You got it. I'm gonna go to bed now, Mr. Max. I just wanted to tell you that Aurora would never bully another kid. I'm the one who said that Timmy smelled, and no offense, he does. I sat next to him in the sharing circle when he brought his nana to school for show and tell. If you need to punish me, I understand. I was wrong."

"Thank you for being so honest, Everly. I don't think punishment is necessary at this time."

"Night!"

Everly kissed Ronan and Ten's cheeks and headed off to bed.

"I don't know what to say about this situation. Mrs. Robbins most definitely did not mention anything about Aurora, bullying anyone, or holding an assembly tomorrow. I just checked my school email account and there's no correspondence from Jill at all. I'm going to get in touch with her and then I'll call Fitz. I'm so sorry this happened."

Ronan nodded. "Same here. Aurora is a sweetie and would never bully anyone. According to Fitz, she's very upset over being told she can't go to school tomorrow with her friends."

"I'm upset too. Thanks for the heads up, Ronan. Bye."

"Bye, Max."

Ronan hung up the phone and set it on the table. "What the actual fuck?"

"Who is this new teacher anyway? We didn't learn much about her at the open house last week."

Ten shuffled through Everly's take home folder, as if there was something in it that could answer his question.

"I think they said something about her being southern, from Alabama or Mississippi, but there was no mention of her record or why she made a job change."

Now that Ronan thought about it, he didn't like this one bit. He was going to run her name through the criminal database in the morning. "I can't help but wonder if she pulled this same sort of shit at her old school?"

"It's possible. I just hope that Max can get this all straightened out before tomorrow."

"Me too,"

Ronan agreed, getting out of his seat and pressing a kiss to the back of Ten's neck. "In the meantime, why don't we call it a night and go to bed early."

"Yeah? What did you have in mind?"

Ten asked.

"I thought we could watch a little television and make out during the commercials."

"Just during the commercials?"

Ten grabbed Ronan's hand and dragged him toward the stairs.

There was nothing Ronan loved more than when his husband took charge in the bedroom. He didn't know what was about to happen, but he could guarantee the television would not be involved.