Dear Evan Hansen one-shots!

Chilltober 8: fog

It had been a rough morning. Mallory had woken up late, Evan had left late for work, and Mallory had chosen this morning to decide she didn't want to cooperate.

"Mallory! Sneakers on, now." Zoe said, pointing at the small pink shoes in the front hall.

"No!" Mallory yelled.

"Mallory, I'm not doing this right now. Get your shoes on." Zoe snapped. Mallory crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

"I'm not putting them on for you, so you have about ten seconds to start putting them on, or I'm really not going to be happy." Zoe said. Mallory walked away from her mother and sat on the couch.

"I'm going to get your sister ready to drop you off. If you don't have those shoes on by the time I get back, you'll be going to school without them." Zoe warned. She walked into the kitchen and saw Tia sitting under the table, playing with one of her toys.

"Come on T, let's show Mallory what a big girl you are and go put on your shoes!" Zoe said.

"Sue!" Tia screeched.

"Yeah T, shoes. Where are they?" Zoe asked. Tia started crawling out from under the table and went to stand too early. Zoe gasped as Tia hit her head off the underside of the table, and promptly let out a scream.

"Oh my girl! Come here baby, let Mama take a look." Zoe soothed, pulling Tia into her lap.

There was a fairly large bump on Tia's head and Zoe bit her lip. She'd have to swing by the doctor's office on her way home to make sure that Tia was okay.

She picked up Tia and walked back into the living room to find Mallory still sitting on the couch, with no shoes.

"Shoes on now Mallory. I need to take Tia to the doctor after I drop you off, and if we don't leave soon you'll be late." 

"Then I guess I'm going to be late." Mallory snapped. Zoe put her own shoes on and grabbed Tia's diaper bag and her purse. She walked opened the door and stopped. 

A layer of fog covered the entire neighbourhood. Zoe opened her phone and saw a message from Mallory's school.

"Dear Parents, 

We are currently in a fog effect. If any of you feel as though you are unable to drive your children to school, please let us know.

Sincerely, 
The Faculty of F.D. Roosevelt"

Zoe sighed and looked outside again. Tia was still in her arms screaming. Zoe sighed and dialled Evan's phone number.

"Hello?" 

"Hi honey, was it foggy when you left?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, a lot foggier than it is now though. Why, are you worried about driving?" 

"Kind of. But I need to get Mallory to school and Tia to the walk in clinic or something." Zoe sighed.

"What happened to Tia?" Evan asked.

"Oh she hit her head and it doesn't look great so I just wanna make sure she's going to be okay." Zoe explained.

"Okay good call. Are you okay to drive?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, it'll be okay. I'll be safe I promise." Zoe said.

"Okay, I love you." Evan said.

"Love you too." And the call ended. 

Zoe pocketed her phone and turned to her daughter.

"It's foggy out. I need to put Tia in the car, and I need you ready to go when I get back to grab my purse." Zoe explained. She walked out to the car and strapped her screaming one year old into her carseat.

"I know baby girl, I know it hurts." Zoe soothed, trying to calm her daughter.

She kissed her daughter's forehead and walked back towards the house. Mallory was still on the couch, glaring. at her mother.

"Alright Mallory, I really didn't want to do this, but since you don't want to listen, it looks like I have to." Zoe warned. She picked up Mallory's shoes and put them in her purse before walking towards Mallory.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to listen." Zoe said, holding out Mallory's small shoes. Mallory kicked out at her mother, narrowly missing her stomach. Zoe's eyes widened and she instinctively flinched back, making Mallory smile meanly.

"Alright, that's it." Zoe snapped. She put the shoes in her purse and picked Mallory up, putting her over her shoulder. Mallory let out an ear piercing scream and started pounding on her mother's back.

"If you're going to act like a three year old, you're going to get treated like a three year old." Zoe snapped. 

Mallory's hits didn't stop and neither did the screaming as Zoe walked out the front door, closing and locking it in the process. She opened Mallory's car door and put her in her carseat, strapping her in. Tia had stopped crying suddenly and was watching her big sister scream while getting strapped into her big girl carseat. 

Mallory was swinging at her mother with her arms and when her elbow collided with Zoe's nose. There was a noticeable crack sound and Zoe yelled and stumbled backwards and Mallory stopped. Tears filled Zoe's eyes and her nose started bleeding. Tia's eyes got wider at the sight of her injured mother.

"Mallory." Zoe breathed, looking at her six year old. Mallory didn't look at her mother. Zoe grabbed some tissues and pressed them to her nose.

"Mallory, what do you say?" Zoe asked. 

"Sowwy!" Tia chimed in. Zoe looked at Mallory expectantly.

"You were being mean." Mallory said softly.

"I was not being mean Mallory. I asked you several times to get ready for school. You haven't been listening all morning and I can't be responsible for getting you and your sister ready. You need to start taking some responsibility!" Zoe cried, tears streaming down her face. Zoe looked at her phone. 

"And now it's 9 and you're late for school." Zoe sighed. Mallory crossed her arms.

"You didn't need to carry me to my car seat." Mallory growled.

"You weren't listening Mallory. I can't stand around waiting for you. And if you want to talk about mean? How about in the house when you tried kicking me, or in the car when you were hitting me, or a few minutes ago where you gave me a bloody nose. You're six years old Mallory, you should know better than that!" Zoe snapped. 

Mallory couldn't look at her mother. 

"You and Daddy and I are going to be having a conversation tonight." Zoe sighed, before getting in the car.

"Mommy thats not fair!" Mallory yelled.

"You kicked at me, you hit me, and you weren't listening. I think it's entirely fair." Zoe said, starting the car and backing out of the driveway. She watched Mallory cross her arms in the back seat and she sighed.

It was going to be a long day.