Kenny went into Kree's room to wake her up. To his surprise she was already awake. He smiled, "Good morning princess."
"Good morning." She said in a cheerful tone that did not match her face. He frowned looking closer.
"What's wrong? It looks like you haven't slept." He asked sitting on her bed. She climbed into his lap burying her head in his neck. He rubbed her back, "Kree, what is it?"
"Nothing." She said afraid of what would happen if she told.
"Well whatever this nothing is, daddy's here now and you don't have to be scared."
"You promise you'll protect me?"
"Cross my heart." He said.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"You know what I think? I think you should go to family counseling. It may help you and your son." Carol said as they sat in Kenny's office.
"I don't need help." Kenny protested.
"You need to understand where he's coming from. You tore his family apart and created a new one."
"But I never shut him out. He's always been the center of our world."
She raised a brow, "Are you sure about that?"
He frowned, "What do you mean?"
"You talk about your daughter all the time. This is maybe the 3rd time you mentioned your son." She said making him think back. That didn't mean Niko wasn't getting enough of his attention at home, did it?
••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Olivia and Toni went over the last details of the competition. It's not everyday you get to coordinate a national piano competition. It had to be perfect.
"Okay, everything looks good." Toni said handing the list back to the stage manager.
"I know. Carol is coming by tomorrow to take a look at everything." Olivia said excitedly.
Toni rolled her eyes, "Wonderful."
"Give her a chance."
"Hold on." Toni said hearing her phone ring. Picking it up, "Hello?" After hearing some disturbing words and a request of her presence, "Sure." She said hanging up.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked seeing the strange look on her face.
"I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Mrs. Edmonds." The principal said as Toni entered the office.
"Call me Toni. Is Kree alright? Is she in trouble?" She asked sitting down.
"Toni, thanks for coming. Kree is fine and she's not in trouble."
"Then what's wrong?"
"This is Mrs. Smith, the school nurse and this is Gina the social worker." She said.
Toni's eyebrows raised, "Social worker?"
"Toni, Kree came in with arm pain and I found bruises. By law, I have to report it since this isn't the first time." Nurse Smith stated.
"Bruises? I don't even know where she would've gotten bruises. And what do you mean this isn't the first time?!"
"She says she got them at home and a month ago she said the same thing about the bruise on her shoulder."
Shaking her head, "This is crazy."
"Look I'm only here to make sure everything is okay and that she's safe." Gina said.
"She's safe. So she's had an accident or two. She's a kid. Can I take her now?"
"Well I need to ask her some questions first."
"No. I'm taking her home." She snapped. Standing up she looked at the principal, "Thanks."
With that, she left the office and went to wait for Kree to come out of class. Toni smiled seeing her run towards her while being escorted by a teacher.
"Mommy!" She said as Toni caught her.
"Hey. I came to pick you up."
"Okay. Do I have a doctors visit?" She asked curiously as she struggled to put her backpack on.
Toni chuckled as she grabbed it from her, "No. I just missed you."
Kree smiled as they made their way to the car. After getting settled in the car, they drove away.
"So, I heard you had a some ouchies on your arms." Toni said looking in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah." Kree said lowly. Niko had grabbed her quite hard.
"Where did they come from?"
"Umm...I fell, yeah that's what happened. I fell really hard."
"You remember when we talked about a truth and a lie?" Toni asked her. She put her head down making Toni sigh, "We can talk about it later."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
"Bruises? From where?" Kenny asked in horror.
Toni shrugged, "She wouldn't tell me. This is crazy, they were looking at me like I did it."
"Don't worry about it. We'll just sit Kree down and get to the bottom of it." He said kissing her hand, "Anyway, Carol and I were talking and she thinks I should take Niko to counseling."
"That's a good idea, maybe we can figure out-"
"Tone, she meant just he and I. She thinks it has something to do with me leaving Sabrina then creating a new family." He said trying to make it sound as nice as possible.
"Oh. Okay, yeah." She said getting up and going into the bathroom. He sighed knowing that she was offended and would soon start blaming herself. Niko's behavior was no one's fault.
