Always Us

united front

A little James family chaos for your Wednesday night.

_____

"Everyone in the car."

Sienna looked up from her phone to eye her seething mother. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Olivia replied tersely. "Go."

Coming up behind her, Spencer took a deep breath. "Liv, we ain't have to pull them all out of class. I can come back—"

Olivia turned and crossed her arms, completely disinterested in whatever her husband had to contribute. She had been called in the middle of a working lunch to come pick up one of her kids from school not knowing that he had also been contacted. When he jogged up behind her in the school parking lot in his workout clothes, she wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or pissed to see him. This wasn't the first time they had been called in. And though it was one kid who was continually giving them trouble, it was his fault that she even had kids in the first place.

"What?" Spencer's eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that Olivia was not listening and was instead too busy scowling at whatever was going on behind him.

"Why the fuck is she looking at me like that?" Olivia hissed in a poor attempt at a whisper.

Spencer's eyes widened. "Liv." All their kids were still lingering behind her. Not to mention that they were still standing in the front office of their kids' very fancy, and very costly, private school.

"Can't a woman be pregnant in peace?"

"Alright, we're leaving." Spencer spun Olivia around and guided her towards the door. "Everyone to the car."

"What just because I have four kids already I can't have another? Is that how it works now? I'm sorry. I never received the official rule book."

"Olivia."

"I bet she's not giving those judgmental looks when she's cashing our checks every month!"

Ahead of them, none of their kids dared speak as they obediently trekked towards their dad's car.

"The money doesn't even go to her," Spencer offered, but Olivia raged on, speaking over him.

"I bet she thinks I'm some stay-at-home trophy wife—not that there's anything wrong with that, of course—who sits at home all day doing nothing!"

Spencer simply shook his head as his wife mindlessly waddled towards the passenger side of his car. There was no use in pointing out that they had arrived in separate vehicles. So after making sure she was safely in her seat, he checked that the kids were properly strapped in before sliding into the driver's spot.

Olivia turned over her shoulder to face the usually talkative culprit. "You care to tell me why, for the second week in a row, I had to come here during lunch?"

The principal had already explained to the parents that their youngest daughter was initiating fights on the playground, and that the school didn't tolerate bullying of any form, but she wanted to hear it in her own daughter's words.

Gianna threw her arms up in despair. "I didn't do anything!"

Her older siblings opened their mouths to come to her defense, but Olivia snapped faster. "I asked Gianna!"

"Tommy called Caleb slow, but he's not slow!" Gianna yelled incredulously. "Caleb is faster than evybody in the whoooole school!"

"I don't know about that," Sienna mumbled from the back row. "But he's definitely faster than everyone in kindergarten and first grade."

"I believe it," Spencer cut in.

Olivia shot him a dirty look over the center console.

"No. Like he actually is," Sienna stated matter-of-factly.

"Why are you talking like there's proof?" Olivia asked, her eyes shooting back to the teenager.

"I saw a video."

"Of what?"

"He races people during recess, and Gianna fights anyone who tries to deny that he won."

"I wanna see," Spencer mumbled while glancing at the side mirror to see if he could merge. His wife's hand flew at his elbow, and he shot her a look. "I'm driving, woman!"

Olivia grabbed his drink from the cup holder and turned back to the kids, "how do you even know this? You don't even have recess anymore."

"I told you, I saw a video," Sienna spoke slowly so her mom could keep up. "Plus, the whole school knows. They race every day."

Olivia shifted her gaze forward a row to the twins, eyebrows high. "So? Is it true?"

Caleb stared intently at his untied laces, and Gianna found a sudden interest in the passing greenery.

"Jackson does it, too," Sienna added.

"Hey!"

"He has the whole fourth grade beat."

Olivia turned and blinked at the road in disbelief. "I thought we were sending you all to school to learn. Not to start the James Family Olympic Trials!"

"I didn't do anything wrong, mommy!!" Gianna wailed again.

Sienna shrugged and went back to her phone. "Stacey started telling our class that the only reason my brothers win is because our dad played in the NFL."

Spencer rolled his tongue over his teeth but remained focused on the red light in front of him.

"So I said the only reason she gets to go to Lake Tahoe every summer is because her mom cheated on her dad and her new step daddy has a cabin there."

Olivia choked on the drink that was now rightfully hers, and Spencer's eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror. "Sienna," he scolded.

"What? It's true! Everyone knows." Mumbling quieter, she added, "Her brother's just slow."

At the sound of their older sister's blessing, the younger three started yelling, breaking all hell loose.

"I told Caleb that he should race the second graders!"

"I told evybody that Caleb is better than them!"

"Daddy, I won by a lot today! I show you at home!"

"Everyone stop talking!" Olivia yelled, pressing her fingers to her throbbing temple.

The car became uncomfortably silent as the mother started doing deep breathing exercises in the front seat. Once those were done, she calmly finished off the drink and set it back in the cupholder. They passed the neighborhood's security gate and turned onto their street before Olivia finally muttered. "Turn the car around."

Spencer slowed but continued in the direction of their house. "We're almost home, baby."

She spoke a little louder. "I said turn the car around."

Weary of where she was going to direct him next, Spencer pulled the car over. "I can drop them off first, and we can go for a walk to cool—"

"Turn the car around, Spencer!"

"Where am I going?" he relented, pivoting the car into an empty spot.

"We're getting ice cream," she answered. "We all need ice cream."

Spencer reversed the car and drove back towards the main road. The back of the car remained quiet, unsure of whether they had clearance to speak. Olivia tapped her fingers against the armrest then turned to face her kids one final time.

"I need to see this video, and Sienna, you need to tell me more about this Stacey girl."