Parental Obligations

[Cube]

November 2011

It was always weird having to draw yourself getting beaten up. Still, the latest issue of Dr. Mystery wouldn't draw itself. One of the unique issues involved with being turned into one of your own characters.

Still, people wanted more Doc Mystery beating up Lord Pyre. Even if it did have a tendency to make his superheroic side work kind of awkward... At least Mister Wiseman was sympathetic. Not many people would keep someone like Lou on the job, what with him being a giant demonic monster an all. But Harry understood. Besides, Lou had a kid to feed.

[Cube]

"Hey Daddy!"

Speaking of kids, the eight year old child raced into the room with a speed that could have rivaled Johnny Rocket's as she leapt at her father. Lou had to catch her with one of his spare arms, but soon managed to bring his daughter into one of his ceremonial after-school snuggles.

"Hey Kiddo," he grinned, a pair of tiny tusks protruding from his lower lip, "How was school?"

"It was great! We read this story about a kid who steals a ladies purse to buy some shoes, but the lady stops him instead of a superhero! Oh, and we were working on our times tables, and the teacher played this old cartoon about the number three and it was really cool!" Faye beamed. "Oh! And tomorrow Mommy and I are going to the Super Museum with my class!"

[Cube]

Of course, the Winter Field Trip at Lieber Elementary was coming up soon, and Faye had been gushing about it for weeks now. Lou ruffled his daughter's hair. "Heh, you excited kid?"

"Oh yeah!" Faye bounced. "I'm gonna go see Centurion's Cape, and Doc Holiday's Robo-Turkey, and a whole bunch of cool toys, and maybe I'll meet another superhero like you, Dad!"

Lou couldn't help but smile at the kid's enthusiasm. "Heh, well I can't wait to hear about what you see. Where's your mom?"

"Oh, she's on the phone!" said Faye. "She looks really serious."

"Huh? Really, wonder why that is..."

[Cube]

"Lou." Audrey Ross stepped into Lou's office, her normally jolly expression replaced with one of deep concern. "I've got some bad news."

"That was New Horizon." said Audrey, "They want me to do the score for that Captain Thunder movie."

Lou blinked. "Honey, that's great! Your work in an actual movie? You know what that means?"

Audrey sighed. "It means I have to drive across town tomorrow to their offices because it's the only opening they have until January?"

[Cube]

"...Oh." Lou could feel the mass of child in his arms begin to quiver.

"B-but..." Faye started to tear up. "You said you'd come with us on the trip. You promised Ms. Green!"

Audrey sighed, as she stepped over to give her daughter a kiss on the forehead. "I know, but this is really important for mommy's work. Maybe someone else's mommy can chaperone?"

"No!" Faye screamed, with all the fury of an enraged eight year old. "Now we'll never get to go because we need two chaperones and we only have one and the everyone is going to be mad at me!"

"Oh... please don't cry sweetheart..." Audrey said, as she tried to calm her daughter's tantrum. "Uh... maybe your dad could take your class?"

[Cube]

"What?!" Lou's eyes went wide.

Faye immediately ended her tantrum, looking straight into her father's eyes. "You'd do that, Daddy?"

"I... I don't think I..." Lou's words trailed off as the sight of his daughter's quivering lip. "...Alright. I'll do it."

"Yay!" Faye gave her father a big kiss on the cheek before leaping off his lap. "I'm gonna go get my stuff ready for tomorrow!"

"Alright sweetheart!" said Audrey, biting her lip. "...I'm sorry, Lou."

Lou sighed. "It's fine..."

"I'll just... call Ms. Green and let her know, okay?"

"Sure thing." Lou immediately turned his attention back to his work. Tomorrow was going to be a long day...

[Cube]

That evening, Lou laid awake in bed for quite sometime before Audrey finally came upstairs.

"...Hey."

"Hey..." Lou's massive chest heaved as she sighed.

"...Look, I'm sorry about all of this, Lou." Audrey sat on the side of the bed. "I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."

"It's fine, honey." said Lou. "I probably would've done it myself anyway. It's just..."

"You're nervous?"

"...Yeah."

Audrey chuckled. "You're bigger than my car and you're afraid to take a bunch of little kids on a field trip?"

"No!" said Lou, though it wasn't very convincing. "I just... you know, I haven't gotten out much lately..."

[Cube]

"And you're afraid people will be scared of you?" Audrey smiled as she gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Honey, Faye loves you. I love you. You're still that goofball I met back in FreeSA, even if you did turn into a handsome devil."

Lou blushed imperceptibly under his red skin. "I keep telling you not to use those nicknames."

"I only do it because it's adorable to see someone like you get all flushed." Audrey smirked at her husbands embarassment. "I'm sure you'll do great."

Lou relaxed. "I guess you're right."

"Good, now I'm going to get ready for bed." said Audrey. "I've got a long drive tomorrow. Be at the school by 6, alright?"

"Alright. But you owe me for this." Lou grinned.

Audrey just shook her head and smiled as she headed into the bathroom to prepare for bed. Still, she had a point. Lou felt like he could relax a bit now. I mean, what was the worst that could happen?

[Cube]

The next morning was a whirlwind of activity at the Ross household.

“Alright, the bus leaves at six.†Audrey said, as she struggled to balance a stack of binders a tablet, and a bagel in her sadly overloaded arms. “You’re supposed to meet with Ms. Green in the carloop. I’ve already paid for her lunch. Don’t go crazy on the souvenirs.â€

“I won’t, honey.†Said Lou, â€Need any help with all of that stuff?â€

“I’ll be fine, I was supposed to be on the road five minutes ago anyway. Faye! Be good for Daddy, alright?â€

Her daughter grinned, crumbs of Freedom Crunchies falling out of her mouth. “I will, Mom! This is going to be SO COOL.â€

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, sweetie." said Audrey, from behind her stack of work. "You two have fun, okay?â€

[Cube]

“We will.†Lou smiled as his wife rushed out the door. “You excited, Kiddo?â€

“Oh yeah!†Faye threw up her hands in excitement, sending sugar frosted breakfast cereal flying. “Everyone is going to be so jealous when they find out my dad is a superhero!â€

“Heh, yeah…†Lou let forth a nervous chuckle as he grabbed a paper towel to clean up his kids mess. “Jealous…â€

Jealous is… not the word Lou was thinking of using. Terrified, perhaps; but not jealous. Sure, Faye thought having a demon for a dad was kind of cool, but she was his daughter. Of course she wouldn’t be scared of him. But an entire class of 3rd Graders?

’As long as they don’t all run away screaming, it’ll probably be okay.’ He thought. ’…Probably.’

[Cube]

Lou was used to people being afraid of him, at this point. Sure, it was unpleasant, but as long as the people he cared about weren’t afraid, who cares about a few civvies freaking out? Even if something did come up, his liaison at AEGIS would handle things.

He was worried about Faye. She meant the world to him, and it would break his heart to see her Classmates turn away from her because of him.

’Alright… gotta be a good dad today. Can’t screw this up. Everything’ll be fine…’

“Hey Dad?â€

Lou blinked back to reality. “Yeah, sweetie?â€

“Can we go now?†Faye bounced in her seat. “I wanna get on the bus!â€

Lou felt the knots in his stomach loosen at the sight of his daughter. “Sure thing, sweetie. Finish your cereal and go grab your coat. Daddy has to make a phone call.â€

“Woohoo!†Faye slurped the remainder of her breakfast directly out of the bowl before leaping out of her chair and dashing upstairs.

Lou smiled as he pulled his phone from his pocket. “A girl after my own heart, that one…â€

[Cube]

It had become part of Lou's daily routine. If he ever wanted to leave his house, he had to make that phone call. The folks at AEGIS said it was to make sure no one jumped the gun and tried to call a strike on him. It was for his safety, they said.

…Of course, Lou knew better than that. He was on probation, plain and simple. The week he had to spend trying to convince everyone that No, he was not an actual demon, and No, he didn’t want to purge the world in flames told him that much. Still, putting up with a daily check in was better than sitting in a cell.

[Cube]

The Agent picked up after only three rings. “Hello, Mr. Ross. You’re calling in early today.â€

“Heh… yeah. Something came up, and I got roped into chaperoning for my kid’s field trip to the Super Museum.â€

“…I see.†Lou could hear the apprehension beneath her business like tone.

“…You aren’t comfortable with me taking my kid on a field trip?â€

“That’s perfectly fine, Mr. Ross. You’ve proven yourself to be responsible enough in the past. “

“…Then what’s with the ‘I see’?â€

“…I’m not certain if having you interact with a group of young children is advisable, Mr. Ross. The risk of an incident occurring is-“

[Cube]

“There is not going to be an incident, alright?†Lou sighed. “Look, Faye has been looking forward to this trip for weeks, and I don’t have it in me to tell her that it’s canceled because I’m afraid there will be an “incidentâ€. Just, log me as heading over there, alright?â€

“…Very well. Have a good day, Mr. Ross.â€

Lou sighed as he hung up. “Well, at least that’s done… an incident. “ That was the polite term they used, “an incidentâ€. They never specified who caused the accident, or what it involved, but Lou was always the one to blame… indirectly or otherwise. It didn’t help make him anymore comfortable with the whole arrangement.

But, today was going to be a good day. Just Lou, Faye, and an entire bus load of screaming third graders. There could be worse things, right?

[Cube]

The walk to Lieber Elementary was uneventful, despite Faye's unbridled enthusiasm.

"Hey Dad, you think any other superheroes will be there?" asked Faye, from her perch on Lou's shoulder.

"Heh, we'll see." Lou smiled. At least she was excited about today.

Meanwhile...

Ms. Green checked her watch as she paced the carloop sidewalk. Field Trip day was always hectic, especially when it came to last minute chaperone changes.

"Miss Green!" asked one of the children. "Where's Faye and her mom?"

"Oh, Faye and her father will be here soon. Don't worry." she said, glancing at the clock anxiously.

The other chaperone, an older woman holding her grandson's hand, just shook her head. "So Mrs. Ross finally got that husband of hers to chip in? It's about time. Haven't seen hide or hair of him at a PTA Meeting in months."

"Well, she did mention something about some sort of condition." said Ms. Green.

"Eh, Condition my right foot." said the older woman. "I know men who would say anything to get out of having to do something like this. Why, my husband would always come down with a case of gout when...ever..."

The woman's voice trailed off as a massive red figure approached the car pool. "Oh my God..."

The entire class was staring. Ms. Green's mouth fell agape.

"...Uh, hey there." said Lou. "I'm Faye's dad. ...Is everything alright?"