A Love Like Ours

4. Troubles

Jay stepped out of the preschool, beginning to take a slow walk back to where he parked the truck as he raised his hands to his head, running them over his face as he lets out a long groan.

It had been a week since the kids first day at school and while Macie had adjusted quickly to the change and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it, Alfie on the other hand was having a really hard time being at school. Even though he was only in three days a week, it had become a regular occurrence on the days he was in for either Hailey or Jay to get a phone call from the school saying that he was being difficult, had been throwing a tantrum for the last thirty-minutes or that he was refusing to eat his lunch.

It was also becoming harder to leave him there, Alfie clinging on tight and refusing to let go, and it was taking up a good chunk of time to be able to drop him off. This morning they decided they'd take two cars, that Jay would take Alfie and Hailey would take Macie to make it so Mae didn't end up being late.

Jay shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at the floor as he approached the truck, almost reaching it when he's forced to look back up and turn around at the sound of his name being called from behind him.

"Mister Halstead!"

He spins on his heels and spots one of Alfie's teachers standing by the front door to the building, and it's hard for Jay to miss the worry on her face from where he was stood.

Miss Parker points over her shoulder and is already starting to step back inside. "Something's happened."

That's all she needs to say and it has Jay running back in after her, following behind as she lead down the corridor into Alfie's classroom. Once they get inside, Jay's stopped suddenly by the quietness of the room, a drastic change from when he left moments before, and the tense air floating around.

Jay scans his eyes around the room and when he can't find his son, he turns to look at the teacher standing beside him. "Where's Alfie?"

Miss Parker looks behind Jay, to a closed door on the other side of the classroom. "We had to put him in the office."

Jay's eyebrows furrow. "Why? What did he do?" He asks quickly.

She seems hesitant for a beat, struggling to get the words out. She swallows thickly and lets out a breath. "He got angry, he started throwing things. It was fine at first, just some stuffed animals and some books on the floor, but then another kid came up and tried to talk to him and he threw one of the toy cars at her. When we tried to intervene he got even more angry and he punched the teaching assistant." She replies quickly, making Jay's eyes widen slightly as he stared over at the teacher.

He's silent for a beat, shocked at what he had just been told before Jay asks, "Can I go in there?"

Miss Parker nods. "Of course." She says, leading him over to the door.

She pushes it open slowly and the moment the door opens the slightest crack, Jay can hear Alfie's frustrated cries and another quiet voice attempting to calm him down. He steps inside and spots Alfie lying face down on the couch, shouting into the cushions and it makes his heart drop into his stomach.

The teacher looks up from where he was sitting on the floor and Jay met his gaze and it makes the sergeant's face fall even more when he sees the red mark that would certainly become a bruise surrounding the man's eye. The teaching assistant doesn't say a word and instead just turns back to Alfie, continuing with what he was doing before Jay came in.

"Alfie can you look at me please?" He asks, getting no response from the toddler in return. The teacher turns his head to one side. "Alfie, it's okay, I'm okay and you're okay, but can you please just look at me."