TW: Injuries

Pov y/n

Scarlett and I glance at each other every once in a while and every time, I smile afterwards and so does she.

She's currently in the coffeeshop again, doing her usual Wednesday work and visit.

It became a habit that she visits on Wednesdays and I really enjoy having her here.

Now, that my days here are counted, I almost get a little sentimental. This was my first job in New York and it grew on me. It might not pay a lot of money but it was still fun and I loved every chat Jesse and I had.

After signing the contract on Monday, I told Jesse about it and he looked like he wanted to cry.

We hugged and he asked me to promise him to stay in contact. I did so, after all, he was there for me through every stage of Scarlett becoming my girlfriend and I really appreciate that.

Besides, I need my gay gossip and he has a lot of that.

I'm a little sad that this will be one of the last days I'll work here, since Christmas is just around the corner and over the holidays, I'll be home with Scar and Rose and in January, my new job starts.

I also already told the aquarium and Mr. Jackson was very happy for me, as he was the one who suggested the job. Since the aquarium works on some projects together with the organization I'm gonna work for, I'll probably see him a few times.

But I probably won't see my coworkers anymore and I will also miss to walk around the aquarium as it always gave me a feeling of really being underwater.

But I'm trying to enjoy my last few days and to make the best out of it.

The coffeeshop is relatively empty and it's calm while Jesse and I restock some things.

When I next glance over to Scarlett, she smiles at me, which I return but then the ringing of her phone interrupts us.

She looks at the number and seems a little irritated but takes the call.

Due to the distance, I can't hear what's going on but it can't be good as she starts to frown and her face drops a little.

Suddenly her eyes dart to me and she says something on the phone.

I'm a little confused by her eyes on me as she speaks but continue my work. When she hangs up, she runs a hand through her hair and gets up to approach me.

"What happened?" I ask and look over her face that shows a mix of concern and stress.

"Rose got into a fight at school." She explains and I feel the color draining from my face.

"Oh my god, is she okay?" I ask and Scar nods.

"I think so. They told me to come there to speak to the principal and pick up Rose." She informs me and I nod in understanding.

"Okay, good luck with that." I say but she shakes her head.

"Rose apparently insisted on us both being there." She tells me and I look at her in surprise.

I'm not Rose's real mother, I actually don't really have anything to say in this matter.

"She wanted me there?" I ask again and Scar nods.

"She said, and I quote what the secretary told me Rose said 'I want Mama there as well or I won't talk.'. Apparently, she made a fuss about it and the secretary gave in." She confirms and I raise my eyebrows.

"That doesn't sound like Rose. I mean, she does have a lot of energy and stuff but she usually isn't really fussy about anything." I think out loud and Scar hums in agreement.

"Are you able to come with me?" She asks and her eyes tell me that she is a little overwhelmed with this situation herself. I look around the shop a little helplessly.

"I don't know if I can just leave, it's the middle of my shift." I say and my eyes dart back to Scarlett. She nods slowly in understanding.

"Is your boss there? Maybe I can talk to her?" She suggests and I am surprised by that but nod and point behind me.

"She's in her office but I don't know if talking to her will change anything." I tell her honestly because it doesn't change the situation that Jesse will have to work alone then.

Scarlett nods and gives me a quick, assuring smile before she makes her way towards my boss's office. I look after her for a few seconds until my attention snaps back to the coffeeshop. Jesse tilts his head in question, having noticed the talk Scar and I just had. He comes over and scans my face.

"Everything okay?" He asks and puts his hand on my arm in a comforting manor. I shrug and bite my lip a little in thought.

"I don't know. Apparently, Scarlett's daughter has a problem at school and wants me to be there as well. And now Scarlett is talking to Ms. Miller if I can go." I tell him and he nods along.

"I don't know if she'll let me go but in case, I'm sorry to leave you alone." I apologize and he takes his hand off my arm to wave it off.

"It's not your fault, besides it's more important that you're there for the little nugget." He says and I smile at him appreciatively.

We get back to work and I try to do as much as possible to take potential work off him.

I actually don't think Ms. Miller would let me go but I also know how convincing Scarlett can be and if it's about her daughter, there's nothing that can stop her.

And I am right. Around ten minutes later, Scarlett comes back, with a little smile on her face.

"It's all settled, you can come with me." She says and goes to her table to put everything into her bag. I watch her as I untie the apron around my waist.

"What did you say to convince her?" I ask after bringing my apron into the staff room and giving Jesse a quick hug before going to Scarlett who waits for me at the door.

"I'm good with arguments and discussions." She says vaguely and smiles a little, opening the door for me.

I thank her but think about what she could mean. But since it doesn't seem to bother her or be a big deal to her, I decide to drop it and just accept it.

She guides me to where her car is and we get in and drive to Rose's school. On the way there, I can sense her nervousness as her fingers tap on the steering wheel.

I'm not sure what to say, of course I want to calm her down and comfort her but at the same time I don't know if this is the right moment.

This isn't about her being nervous about something she's gonna do, it's her being nervous about something her daughter did and none of us has an idea what this is about.

So, I decide to stay quiet and hope to radiate some calming energy.

We arrive at the school and get out of the car.

It seems to be class right now because no one is out in the hallways or on the playground.

Scarlett stops before turning around the next corner and I come to a halt as well. She takes a breath and turns to me, the stress visible on her face but her eyes are soft.

"I have no idea what this is about or what I should expect." She starts off and I nod along, not sure what she wants to get at.

"But Rose wanted you here as well and I respect that. I know, you're not in any way bound to her, biologically or legally but I want you to know that you are allowed to have your opinion on this as well and to talk to Rose about it. You know which values I try to teach her and I know you have a very similar opinion, so I trust you, that you will say and do the right things."

I look at her and my heart warms up at her words. I appreciate so much that she allows me to be a part of this situation and that I am allowed to act as if I was a parent to Rose because I know a lot of people wouldn't want someone else interfering with their parenting, which is also totally fine. The trust Scarlett puts into me is huge and it means a lot to me. But right now is not the moment to talk about it.

"Okay, thank you." I say and she smiles a little at me and when she reaches her hand out, I take it and smile softly at her.

She returns the smile and I gently squeeze her hand to show her, she's not alone and doesn't need to be nervous.

We walk around the corner and at the end of the hallway I see chairs lined up before a wall and an open door next to them, the principals office.

On one of those chairs sits a little girl and when she looks up and jumps up to run towards us, I know it's Rose.

"Hey, please stay seated until your mother arrives!" I hear a voice from inside the next room but Rose doesn't care, she continues to run towards us.

She slows down to not run us over before hugging the both of us.

In the corner of my eye, I see the secretary looking out onto the hallway and when she sees us, she nods to herself and goes back inside.

Scar gently unwraps Rose's arms from her and crouches down to look at Rose. She cups her face and Rose leans into her mother's touch.

"What happened?" Scarlett asks softly and Rose sulks.

"The other kid was very mean." She states and crosses her arms. When she does so, I notice her elbow is bleeding and I kneel down as well. Scarlett lets me take over and takes one hand from Rose's face, so she can look at me.

"You came." She says with a little smile and it's cute how happy it seems to make her.

"I did." I nod and gently place a finger on the back of her arm.

"Should we take care of this?" I ask and just now Rose seems to remember that she hurt her elbow.

She nods and I look over to Scarlett, whose eyes show agreement, so I get up and Rose takes my hand as we walk back to the office.

Her grip tightens a little when we enter the office and the secretary greets us with a tight smile.

"Hello, Miss Johansson." She greets Scar and her eyes only shortly dart to me before she looks back at Scarlett.

"Hello, Miss Bloomsbury. Do you have a First-Aid kit here?" She greets back before looking around. Miss Bloomsbury nods and gets up to get one from a cupboard.

"Is Rose hurt?" She asks and looks from Scar to Rose. "She didn't mention anything."

Rose presses herself a little further into my side and I put an arm around her. Miss Bloomsbury doesn't comment on that and just hands Scar the First-Aid kit.

We go back onto the floor and Rose sits down on one of the chairs while I sit next to her and Scar kneels in front of her.

She opens the kit and gets out wipes and band-aids. Rose squeezes my hand a little when her mom cleans her elbow and winces a bit but doesn't complain otherwise.

Scar blows a little air onto the hurt elbow before putting a band-aid over the scratch and kissing beneath it.

"All patched up." She says in a soft voice and closes the First-Aid kit and brings it back inside, throwing the trash into a bin.

Rose snuggles into my side and I wave my hand through her hair. Scarlett has a short conversation with the secretary before she comes back outside.

"The principal wants to talk to me alone first, are you two okay to wait here?" She asks and looks between us.

I nod and wait for Rose's reaction, which is also a nod. Scarlett leans down and kisses Rose's forehead before going back into the office. I stay silent for a few more seconds, before I look down at Rose.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" I ask softly and tug some hair out of her face. Rose looks up to me and slowly nods.

"The other kid was mean." She says and I nod, that's what she already told us.

"But you can't hurt somebody because they were being mean." I explain, still in a soft tone.

Rose looks at her hands for a few moments before looking back up at me and I see some tears in her eyes and my heart clenches at the sight. I carefully lift her onto my lap and she buries her head in my shoulder. I stroke the back of her head and rub her back.

"He said it's wrong to have two moms." She mumbles into my shoulder before leaning back to look at me. A tear runs down her face that I gently wipe away.

"Why did he say that?" I ask carefully and Rose shrugs before starting to play with the bands of my hoodie.

"We had art and the assignment was to draw us in a year and that's what I did. I drew a playground and then me, Mommy and you. When I presented it to the class, I explained who it was in the picture and that in one year I see us playing on a play ground together. When the teacher asked who the other woman was, I told her it's my 'Mama'. She nodded and told me it's a beautiful picture." Rose explains and I listen to her and try to ignore that her words make me feel very happy.

It's adorable that she sees me in the future with her and I hope that's exactly how it'll turn out.

"Then we had a break and went outside to go play. That's when James came to me and he started to say it's strange that I have two moms. I said it's not and that I like it.

He then said it's wrong because there has to be a mom and a dad. I told him it's not wrong. He said some mean things about it being not real and weird and dumb." Rose starts to sniffle a little and tears appear in her eyes again.

I rub her back again, trying to comfort her.

Anger builds up in me at her story and I hate that she was confronted with this since it's nothing she controls.

"When he didn't stop, even after I told him to, I shoved him. He fell and got angry and shoved me back. I hit my elbow on the ground but got up and hit his arm. He wanted to kick me but then a teacher came and told us to stop. He was very angry and brought us to a classroom to talk. But James accused me of starting this, which isn't true because he was mean first. The teacher didn't care about that and said I was being naughty and that he will call my mom to take my home, so I can think about what I did." Rose continues and I see anger in her eyes, that's directed towards James and also her teacher.

"I told the secretary to tell Mommy to bring you too because you're my Mama and I wanted you here too." She ends and a little pout forms on her lips.

Her eyes are still a little wet from her tears and she looks like she either wants to cry or get up and fight this James kid again.

"So, you were upset because James said mean things about your Mom and me?" I ask and Rose nods.

"And because he said it wasn't real." She adds and sadness shows in her eyes.

"First of all: It is real and it doesn't matter what James or anyone else says. I love you very much and I am honored to be your Mama." I tell her and she looks at me with hope in her eyes.

"Really?" She asks and I nod and kiss her forehead.

"Really." I confirm and she smiles a little at me.

"Second: I am sorry you had to be confronted with that. The sad thing is, there are people who don't understand it when two women or two men are together and love each other. They don't understand that there's nothing wrong with it and that it's just as normal as when a man and a woman are together." I explain and Rose looks at me and thinks about my words.

"But...James isn't right, is he?" She whispers and I quickly shake my head when her eyes grow sad.

"No, he isn't. It's not wrong, weird or dumb." I say and Rose nods a little, wiping a tear from her eye.

"What you experienced is called homophobia, it's when people say mean things about people who love someone of the same gender or if they treat them meanly." I explain further and Rose thinks about my words.

I let her do so as I know it's probably a lot to take in for her but I feel like it's important she understands what happened. She bites her lip in thought and slowly nods.

"Okay." She says and looks at me again, waiting to see if I got more to say.

"It's not nice at all to experience that and it's normal and okay to be angry about it or sad." I make sure she knows that her feelings weren't the problem because they really weren't.

"What's not okay though is, to hurt people who say those things. Sometimes it seems like the best way to shut them up but that's not how you treat people, no matter what." I say, keeping my voice soft to signal Rose that I'm explaining it to her and not blame her for acting out.

"Hurting people is not right because they can end up hurt badly and no one likes that. It can cause pain and make them sad and cry and it's not nice to make someone feel that way."

Rose looks at me, listening to my words and she purses her lips a little.

"If you have a problem with someone, look for someone who can help you to solve that situation because often when you hurt someone, they hurt you right back and that can end very badly." I explain further and Rose thinks about what I said.

I let her process and continue to gently rub her back. She looks down at her hands for a while before looking back up at me.

"I maybe could have asked a teacher to help me or to tell James to stop." She thinks out loud and I smile a little and nod before kissing her hair.

"That's a good idea, they could have helped you to handle the situation. It is their job to take care of you and make sure you are safe." I encourage her. Rose nods slowly.

"I didn't mean to hurt him, I just wanted him to stop saying mean things because they hurt me." She says silently and leans back against me. I hold her close and run my hand through her hair.

"I believe you, that it wasn't your intention to hurt him and I'm sorry he made you feel this way." I say and lean my head a little against hers. We stay silent for a while and Rose stays cuddled into me.

"Maybe I can apologize to him and tell him I don't like when he says mean things and that he should leave me alone the next time." She thinks out loud and looks at me in question. I smile softly at her.

"That sounds like a good solution, sweetie. And it would be very mature of you to apologize." I agree and her smile grows a little at my encouragement. She thinks a few seconds before she nods.

"I will apologize to him but maybe I ask a teacher to go with me, in case James is mean again." She concludes and I kiss the top of her head.

"Great plan, little dolphin." I tell her and feel pride rising up in me at her way of understanding and choosing to act right.

Scarlett comes back outside and when she sees us cuddled together, her eyes soften a bit.

"The principal wants to talk to you as well, Rosie." She says and Rose looks up at her mom and nods, sliding off my lap. She takes my hand and I follow her as Scarlett leads us back into the principal's office.

Rose will go home with Scarlett for today, so they can talk it through and Rose can learn to not do it again. Otherwise, there are no consequences, since it's the first time that Rose acted out.

The principal tells Rose to not do it again and Rose nods and tells him she wants to go apologize to James, which takes the principal by surprise and he looks from Scarlett to Rose to me.

For a few seconds he doesn't say anything but then he nods and a little smile tugs on his lips before he agrees and they decide to do it tomorrow in one of the breaks with a teacher.

Before we go, the principal asks Rose for her side of the story and she shortly tells him what happens. She doesn't go into detail but says that James was homophobic and that it made her very angry and she wanted him to stop saying mean things.

Scarlett shortly looks at me at the term and for a second I'm worried she might be mad but she just smiles a little at me before she addresses the principal, saying she doesn't like the thought of other children saying homophobic things and he agrees.

He promises to work something out with the other teachers before we are allowed to go. While Rose walks a bit ahead of us, Scarlett takes my hand and squeezes it lightly.