Page 51 of Hearts of Fairlake

"Julian," Colin said softly, picking his head up to look around.

"What's that?" I asked, peering down at him.

He stared in the direction of the firehouse. “That's Julian."

It took me a moment to understand what he was saying. “Is that Julian's music?"

"Mhmm," Colin said, forgetting all about his sibling troubles. He began wriggling in my arms so that I’d put him down.

"Buddy, he's working right now. You can't go bother him," I said, wondering when Julian had gotten into house music and why I’d never known.

"Aw," Colin groaned, his face falling. I waited for the emotional explosion and then let out a breath of relief when he seemed to accept it with dignity and grace.

The doors to the police station swung open, and my mom came flying out, clutching a large bag to her side. She jogged toward us, her face stricken. My dad and Bennett were close behind, albeit at a more subdued pace. Bennett had Amber walking slowly beside him while my Dad held onto Brendon, giving him a little wiggle to make him laugh and shooting me an apologetic look.

"Oh my God, Colin!" my mother exclaimed loudly, making Colin shrink back in surprise and probably fear of the reprisal he clearly saw coming. "How many times have I told you not to run off when we're in public?"

"I'm sorry," Colin said, scrunching his face and staring at the ground.

"You scared the life out of me," she scolded.

"At least he came to find me," I said, arching a brow. "Honestly, I'm a little impressed he managed to hunt me down."

"Adam, don't compliment him when he does something wrong," my mom chided.

My brow arched. “Hey, Colin? Why don't you go see if Julian wants to say hi? Dad, would you take the kids to keep an eye on them?"

"Sure," he said, and I could see he was curious, but he reached over to take Amber's hand from Bennett's. "C'mon, Colin, let's go say hi."

Colin, of course, wasn't one to waste an opportunity to get what he wanted and quickly took off toward the firehouse. I could have sent Bennett, but I wanted him to weigh in, so he was fine right where he was.

"Adam, I'm sorry for losing him like that," my mother said, clearly sensing I wanted to talk to her and wasn't happy.

"That part is fine. Everyone can make a mistake. I just ask that you be more watchful," I said, crossing my arms. "But can you explain why Amber was allowed to get away with biting Colin? It was him who got scolded for not getting along."

Bennett's eyes widened and his lips parted but then clamped shut as my mother spoke up. “I never saw her do anything like that. Colin was mad because Amber took a toy from him, and when I told him to stop yelling at her, he said she'd bitten him."

"There's a bite mark on his shoulder," I said, raising a brow. "You didn't bother to ask him where he'd been bit...or check?"

"Well, no, I didn't think to. She's never done anything like that."

"Mom, you raised a kid. You know damn well they can do all sorts of things they've never done before and withoutwarning. Plus, we all know Amber can be...feisty sometimes. The first thing you should have done was calm him down, then ask him to show you where he was bitten. Not to immediately scold him for screaming."

Bennett sighed. “This isn't the first time you've shown favoritism, Diane."

"It's not favoritism," my mom denied hotly, turning on Bennett with a scowl that, once upon a time, would have made Bennett immediately behave. "Don't you dare accuse me of playing favorites."

"But youdoplay favorites," Bennett insisted, not backing down. That was the Bennett who had been busy raising kids for the past five years, and for all his goofiness and playfulness, he didnotmess around when it came to our kids. "You've always treated Amber more leniently than Colin and show her more attention than you do Brendon."

"We didn't say anything before because it hadn't got to a point where it was a big deal," I told her. "But today, it officially reached that point."

"Oh, you two think ganging up on me is the call?" she asked, turning back to me.

"Mom, if we'd had time to sit down with you and Dad without the kids around, I would’ve done that. But Bennett and I will be working the rest of the day, and Bri and Keith aren't supposed to be back till later. Which means you're going to be with them, and I need you to understand that you can't just dismiss Colin and favor Amber."

"And," Bennett added quickly in a softer voice. "We understand it's not because you love the other two any less than you love her. And honestly, I don't think you're doing it on purpose."

"Is it because she's the only girl?" I wondered.

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