Strong Enough (An Older Brother Story)

Sunday

Clayton's POV:

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. Going to church always makes me feel refreshed and ready to tackle whatever the next week has in store. We never miss church, unless one of us is deathly ill. This has been a really long and exhausting week and I definitely need the refuel in order to be able to tackle this next week. Sophia has been pretty good the last few days, but when she is grounded I am pretty much grounded too and I am getting a little stir crazy. Usually Friday night or Saturday afternoons are when we go out and do things together. On the plus side, I have been able to get a lot of work done this weekend. I was even able to work ahead some so that I will be less busy this week. I am hopeful that the additional attention that I will be able to give Sophia will curtail some of the behavior she has been engaging in as of late. I definitely think the fact that she is getting along with Amelia is helping, they spent some time together yesterday and Friday night while I was getting caught up on work and it seemed to make Sophia less upset about me being busy. I really do wish that I could give her my undivided attention, I love her and it is not that I don't want to spend time with her, I just have to work and study sometimes. Amelia has been staying over more lately, she has stayed over the last 3 nights in a row. She usually only stays over one or two nights a week, and almost never consecutively. Sophia doesn't seems to mind though, which is making me pretty happy. I am treating this as a test run in the back of my head, because I am seriously considering proposing soon. I am going to if I can have even a sliver of hope that Amelia and Sophia will be able to at least coexist peacefully, hopefully even enjoy each other...

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear a frustrated shout from the hall bathroom and what sounds like a hairbrush being thrown. Then I hear Sophia yell "Clayton! I need you!" I rush to the bathroom and see her hair halfway braided and disheveled looking, the hairbrush in the bathtub, and Sophia looking like she is about to cry from frustration. She says, on the verge of being hysterical, "I just can't do it! I keep trying and I just can't and I am so frustrated!" I hug her and say "Hey kiddo, it's nothing worth getting this upset about." she sighs and says "I know... I am just feeling really emotional today, I don't know why..." oh no, I really hope this isn't what I think it is. She continues "Can you please just do it?" I say "Of course, get me the hair brush please." she grabs it out of the bath tub and I add "You know you can't throw things like that when you are frustrated, right?" She says "Yes sir, I'm sorry, it won't happen again." and she looks down embarrassed. I try and dismiss it because I don't want her to feel bad, so I just nod and say "Thank you. One braid or two?" She says two and I part her hair and start brushing it. It takes me less than ten minutes to get it into two neat french pigtail braids. What can I say? When you suddenly find yourself raising a 6 year old little girl you have to learn how to French braid pretty quickly. I am actually really good at doing hair, curls, braid, buns, everything, although that is not a talent that I usually advertise. After I am done with her hair I go and finish getting ready. It is pretty hot, so I am not wearing a suit jacket, but I still put a tie on. Amelia has on a knee length dress, pantyhose, and high heels. Sometimes it amazes me how she can dress so modestly and still look so feminine and attractive. We head out to the living room and are about to leave when I realize that Sophia has jeans on. I ask "You don't seriously think that you are wearing jeans to church, do you?" She glares at me and says "Yes. I do." Ugh, I am not in the mood for this and I do not want to be late. I take a deep breathe and say calmly "Go put a dress on please." Sophia rolls her eyes and says "I don't think God cares whether or not I wear a dress to church." I say "That may be the case, but I do care. And I know God cares that you are being disobedient and disrespectful." She just rolls her eyes again and ask Amelia "Do you think I should have to wear a dress to church?" Amelia looks really uncomfortable, but she still responds and says "That is really not my place to have an opinion on, but since you asked, yes I do. I just think it is more appropriate to dress in nice clothes. And I think either way you should probably do what Clayton ask you to." I am pretty surprised that Amelia actually asserted her opinion, but I also think it is probably a good sign that she will be able to handle living here, because at some point she is going to have to have some authority. Sophia glares at her and mumbles "It's the freaking 21st century, but apparently no one else in this house is aware of that! Jeez!" then she storms to her room and yells "Screw you guys! I'll put on the dang dress!" and slams the door. Amelia and I just exchange shocked glances. Sophia is 12, so it is not like she never has outburst, but it is usually nothing like this. And certainly not with that kind of language. It may not seem like bad language to most people, but a lot of the stuff she just said is stuff I do not want her saying at 12 years old and that I do not think is appropriate. I don't think it makes sense to teach kids more "appropriate" versions of curses or expletives, I think the goal should be teaching them to control their temper so they don't feel a need to express themselves in that manner. After a second, Amelia says "I'll go talk to her." I try to hide the shocked expression on my face and ask "Are you sure?" She nods and says "Yeah, I feel like this is about more than the jeans, and I might be able to help." I say "Okay, if you say so, give it your best shot."