It Had to be You

Chapter 5

Lizzie and Manson were both quietly sitting on a bench. Both kids were pouting and feeling the heavy disappointing look Claire was offering. This was the first time all day when they were quiet and sitting still. The redhead loved her kid to death, but she seriously wondered sometimes what had she done wrong to deserve his mischievous behavior. Lizzie was equally terrible, but Claire had to deal with her son first. It wouldn't be fair to blame all this behavior on a bad influence either; the redhead knew her son was sometimes the mastermind behind the things they came up with.

Claire had already lectured them about what they had done and how wrong it was. She was never too harsh on Manson and she knew Brenda was never too harsh on Lizzie, either. They would ground them from time to time but never in public where they would be humiliated. The two kids did look like they had gotten busted committing a felony and were about to be sent to jail.

The redhead handed the kids some crayons and a piece of paper so they could write an apology letter. They knew that the more sincere they were about their fouls, the more it would help them towards the consequences.

Both kids were now sitting on the floor, using the bench as a table so they could start their letter. They always did this together, both moms never required for each kid to write their own.

It took them a minute to hand Claire the piece of paper back. They were still upset they had been scolded and went back to sitting on the bench with their arms crossed against their chests.

'Sorry because of nothing.' That's what the paper read in brown crayon. It was Lizzie's handwriting and definitely her attitude displayed across that paper.

Claire was disappointed. She had already heard the excuse that they had found the damage already done and they were just playing around.

"We are not apologizing for something we didn't do." Manson said firmly.

"I'm not saying anything without a lawyer present." Lizzie looked away. She was always repeating things she heard here and there.

"What do you need a lawyer for? I thought you were innocent." Claire raised her eyebrow.

"To prove we are not guilty." She nodded once.

"I really want to believe you." Claire frowned. The kids were always getting in trouble and doing all sorts of things, but this was the first time they had taken it too far.

Both kids shrugged.

Owen was across from them, sitting on the floor, making sure he left the glass they had found scratched as good as new. The lion behind it, circled around, never taking his sight off Owen, and occasionally scratching the other end of the glass with his paw. He would roar at Owen as if asking him to back off.

The man was brushing each scratch with Claire's clear nail polish. They were lucky the damage wasn't too deep or big, but just a few scratches close to the low corner of the glass. He knew a couple of tricks to leave it as good as new before any staff member would see them and get them in trouble.

People who passed by wouldn't fail to bring their eyes down to the man cleaning the glass, but neither did they make a big deal out of it.

After working his magic for about fifteen minutes, Owen proudly stood up and walked back to their bench. He smiled over towards Claire and handed her polish back.

She smiled lightly and nodded her head, "thank you."

"Both our kids did this, so I'm just saving both of our butts." He shrugged.

"We didn't do anything!" Lizzie insisted. "Daddy, you believe us, don't you?" The blonde girl frowned.

Claire's eyes traveled from the kids to Owen and she tilted her head, expecting him to answer that question and awaiting for the single father to support her in this.