Daddy pick up
Logan was thankful for work; work made sense to him. There were no apps, no feelings, just work. The kongs and shy guys who worked with him at the garage didn’t talk to him much unless they absolutely needed to, though he didn't talk to them much either, so it worked out…though this kind of a setup left him with his thoughts.
“WHOA MAN CAREFUL!” Funky Kong yelled as sparks almost hit his fur.
“What the hell, man! What's up with you? You seem distracted today, what's up?” Funky asked a bit more concerned that Logan would start a fire, then actually concerned for Logan’s mental well-being, only to cause Logan to huff.
“I ain't distracted…just in my head…what time is it?” Logan asked as he looked up at the garage's wall clock and noticed it was almost pickup time.
“Shit!” Logan cursed as he all but threw his tools down, and he hurried to put his tools away. Last time he was late, Gabby had a panic attack thinking he wasn't coming back.
“I've gotta go pick up my kids!” Logan yelled as he ran to clock out, almost knocking over a Shy guy carrying a box of parts.
“Oh, um Okay, man, I guess I’ll see you later.” Funky shrugged as he continued to work on the cart he was working on. Logan waved him off as he ran to his truck on his way to pick up his kids.
Back at the Mushroom Kingdom daycare, Gabby sat on the floor next to the door, holding Jonathon close to her chest. Peach noticed this and walked over to her, kneeling next to her.
“Gabby, dear, why don't you come have a snack with the others? I’m sure your papa will come and get you soon.” Peach tried to reassure the preschooler and get her away from the door. Gabby just shook her head.
“ No, thank you, Miss Peach. We'll be going shopping after we pick up my siblings, which means ice cream!” Gabby cheered as she straightened out Jonathan's rainbow tutu. Peach just smiled at the little girl, though, for her sake. She hoped Logan came back soon. But as quickly as that thought entered her mind, she heard a happy squeal, and Gabby yelled, “DADDY!”
Gabby flung herself into her father's embrace in a bear hug.
“Hey darling, how was your day?” Logan asked, walking over to Peach to get Gabby’s day report. Peach just giggled at the father-daughter duo.
“Gabby had a good day…I mean, there was a minor incident where she almost bit a child, but it wasn’t 100% her fault because the child tried to take her food…out of her mouth, mind you, so we did have to write an incident report…But I'm sure tomorrow will be a better day!” Peach rambled as she handed Logan a small baggie of today's snack. Logan nodded as he took the baggie from Peach.
“Thanks, Peaches, we’ll see ya tomorrow,” Logan said as Gabby waved bye-bye to her favorite teacher as they left for the day. As they drove over to the middle school, Logan got a call from Charles with a deep sigh. Logan answered the phone.
“ Hi, Dad. You're on speaker phone with Gabby, " Logan said with a slight huff.
“Hi, Pop pop!” Gabby yelled from her backseat car seat. Charles chuckled at his youngest grandchild's antics.
“Hello darling!” Charles greeted her as Logan shook his head.
“What do you want, Dad?” Logan huffed, not wanting to play the long run-around game.
“Right, that's why I called,” Charles started. Well, first, will you come to family dinner on Sunday?” Charles asked, causing Logan's eye to twitch.
“Chuck, did you just call to ask about Sunday dinner?” Logan asked, annoyed that was the first thing his adopted father asked of him, though he guessed he should be grateful that it wasn't about his dating life.
“Well, no, not just about dinner, but I've been talking to Akihiro’s teachers, and it seems like he's been ditching his classes again.” Charles stated to Logan as he sighed an mumbled a ‘goddamn it’
I'm sorry, Logan, I know-” Charles started apologizing when Logan cut him off.
“I know, Chuck, I know it’s gonna be in school suspension blah blah blah,” Logan grumbled, rubbing his temple.
“ Look, I’m trying, but nothing is working…sigh… I’ll…I’ll talk to him, Dad, but other than jail, I don't… I don't know,” Logan looked up from his vent to see if Gabby was listening, and thank the gods she wasn’t, as she ate her snack.
“I'll try talking to him again, but I must go. I'm pulling up to the girls' school, they don't need to know what's happening. I'll call you later.” Logan said, trying to wrap up the call with his father figure.
“Alright, Logan, give the girls and Hiro my love, " Charles said, trying to calm Logan's nerves, earning a chuckle.
“Yeah, pops, I will… don't give Erik mine,” Logan joked, getting a laugh from Charles.
“Of course, Goodbye, Logan.”
“Bye.” Logan hung up as he pulled up to parent pick up, where he saw Jubliee, Kitty, and Laura playing a version of Miss Mary Mac with Bowser and Bruce’s daughters, Wendy and Cassandra.
“Hah, look, Gabs, we’re early,” Logan pointed out to Gabby as she ate one of her orange slices. Logan honked his horn to get the older girls' attention and let them know he was here. The girls gathered their stuff, waved goodbye to their friends, and hopped into Logan's truck.
“Hey, Dad, guess what! I got an A on my history paper!” Jubilee cheered from the back seat, holding a paper to Logan’s face. Logan took the paper with a chuckle and handed it to Laura.
“That’s so awesome, Junebug. I can’t look at it now, but once we get home, okay?” Logan chuckled as he pet her fluffy hair. Jubilee pouted but agreed as she sat back in her seat.
“Good, now buckle up, we're going to get your brother,” Logan said to all the girls as he drove to Akihiro’s school. As he drove, Logan’s phone lit up with a text notification from Akihiro’s principal and Logan’s least favorite sibling-in-law Emma Frost.
{I know it’s late, but could we have a quick meeting about Akihiro? as Teacher to Parent, not in law to in law.} the text read. Logan pressed his lips together and texted back.
{sure I’m on that way there anyway to pick up Hiro now anyway…is he at the front office now?} Logan texted back, not wanting a yes or no, honestly, he was hoping an IDK kinda of message.
Yes, the campus officers caught him trying to sneak back in with that boy who lives next door to you, Emma replied. Logan sighed as he pulled up to Akihiro’s school, parked his truck, and opened the door to let the girls out.
“Why are we parking, Dad?” Kitty asked as she looked around the high school parking lot.
“ I have a quick meeting with Akihiro’s principal, then we'll go shopping, okay?” Logan promised as he picked up Gabby. The girls nodded as Logan walked over to the principal's office. When he got to the front office, Logan saw Akihiro sitting at the bench, looking bored until he saw Logan. Logan couldn't tell what emotion was on Akihiro’s face; all he knew was that Hiro opened his mouth to speak.
“Dad, I-” was all Akihiro could get out before Logan glared at him.
“ Not one word, Hiro. We’ll talk more about it once we get home. Do you understand me?” Logan hissed as he covered Gabby’s ears.
“...yes sir.” Akihiro shot back, causing Logan to growl as he entered the office.
“Ah, Logan. It’s good to see you, " Emma said as she pointed to a chair. Gabby’s face lit up when she saw Emma.
“Hi, Auntie Emma!” Gabby greeted Emma, who smiled softly as she handed the preschooler a notepad and colored pens to use as the adults talked.
“Em, I know what you're gonna say,” Logan stared at the meeting as he sat down. Emma gave a deep sigh.
“ Logan Akihiro is very close to being expelled,” Emma explained as she put a hand on Logan's arm, as Logan looked shocked.
“Expelled for ditching class?” asked, genuinely confused about what the hell Akihiro was doing. Emma pressed her lips together.
“No, Logan, not just cutting class but also starting fights and so many other things… has no one told you about his behavior?” Emma asked, genuinely concerned.
“NO! This is the first time I’ve heard about this! Why haven't I heard-” Logan started and stared, remembering all the drive-by conversations he and Akihiro had, all the notes Logan had signed, distracted.
“I think I’ve been getting drive-by conversations about it, sigh. I’ll talk to Hiro about this, Ems, " Logan promised as he rubbed his temple.
“If that doesn't work, maybe it might be time to talk about military-” Emma started, only for Logan to explode.
“Emma Frost, I’m not sending my son to military school!” Logan yelled, slamming his fists on the desk, scaring everyone around the office.
“I'm sorry I… sorry. Come on, Gabby. Let your brother go, and then get some ice cream…” Logan said, holding his hand out for the little girl to take.
“At least think about it, Logan, the military may not have worked for you, but it might work for Hiro.” Emma pleaded with Logan. Logan looked at Emma and just sighed.
“We’ll talk about it, Emma, but no promises,” Logan said as he exited the office, going to get Akihiro off the bench. Stopping in front of Akihiro, Logan looked down.
“Let's go; we still have things to do,” Logan said as he picked up Gabby and carried her to the truck. Akihiro followed behind, not saying anything that would incite his father's wrath as they returned to the car.
“So what did you do?” Jubilee asked from the backseat, trying to stir the pot. Akihiro glared from shotgun.
“It was nothing.” Akihiro hissed, causing Jubliee to smirk.
“Well, it has to be something because Aunt Emma wouldn’t call Daddy this late in the day unless it was something serious… did you murder someone?” Jubliee asked with a grin at her own bad joke.
“No! I’m not that stupid!” Akihiro yelled only to earn a glare from Logan.
“It’s nothing you girls need to know or worry about,” Logan stated as he pulled up to the store.
“Who wants to be in charge of the list this week?” Logan asked, holding out his phone and holding it out to the girls and Akihiro.
“I'll do it,” Laura said as she took Logan's phone and opened the notes app on it. With that, the Howlet family walked into the store. After an hour of dividing and conquering, they got everything on their list with minimum bribing, which Logan was thankful for. All he wanted to do now was order dinner, drink a beer, and help the girls with whatever homework they had that he could help with. If Bowser texts him about the app, he could just say he went to bed early… no, that wouldn't work… but he could say his phone died, that's more believable, seeing how Logan rarely charges his phone battery to 50% on a typical day.
“Dad?” Laura called out to Logan as he let his mind wander. But it didn’t work. Akihiro waved a hand in front of their father's face, which was a dangerous game, but Logan did not move.
“Dad?” Jubilee and Kitty called together as they looked over Laura’s shoulders to see what she was looking at on Logan’s phone.
“DaddY!” Gabby yelled, causing Logan to snap back to reality.
“Yeah baby, what’s up?” Logan asked as Gabby smirked at her sisters, still holding Logan's phone.
“You got a text from Uncle Bowser,” Laura stated as she opened the message. Logan swallowed hard. Shit he didn’t it’s so close to dinner Bowser never sends messages unless…FUCK! It was Kamek's night to cook.
“Why did Uncle Bowser send you a link to a dating app?” Laura asked as she raised an eyebrow. Kitty and Jubliee’s eyes lit up with excitement, while Akihiro snickered at how white his father’s face was turning. Logan took his phone from Laura, paid for the groceries, and walked back to his truck.
“I’ll explain later.” Logan just mumbled, though his children didn't like that answer.
“When’s later? Shouldn't we get a say on whether or not you should start dating again? Why an app? Why not be social and do things like speed dating?” All of his older children bombarded Logan as they returned to the truck and loaded the truck bed with their groceries. Logan pinched his nose.
“Look, we’ll talk about this when we get home after dinner. You kids weren’t supposed to see or know about it. Let's get dinner, and then we'll talk.” Logan reasoned with his children, which seemed to be the best answer for them. With a sigh, Logan drove home, not looking forward to this conversation.