Raina's eyes lit up when I told her she could go to the trampoline party.  She jumped up and down, her wig hair bouncing.  Her hair was slowly starting to grow back, but it had a long ways to go.  She liked to keep her hair long.  Raina ran off to tell her brother.  Instead of being jealous, he was happy for her.  He knew she'd been through a lot and he was glad she got to do things again.

That didn't mean I still wasn't a nervous wreck.  The other parents tried to engage me in conversation at the party, but I couldn't take my eyes off my daughter.  Any time she slipped even a little bit, my heart jumped.  But she bounced right back up and kept playing with the other kids.

After about half an hour, I had her come take a break to conserve her energy.  I had her eat a banana and drink some juice.  We talked so I could see how she was doing.  When she was really tired she paused between her words.  She chatted away.

After five minutes, I let her get back up.  I laughed as she ran back to the trampolines and got right back at it.  After the party, we walked home and she talked the whole way.  Lin was making dinner, so he got an earful about what had gone on.

"Daddy, there were soooo many trampolines!" she told him, animated.  "There were, like, a million!  And I jumped on them all!"

"Wow," Lin said as he peeled potatoes.  "That sounds amazing.  Do you think I'd like it?"

"Yeah!" she said.  "I can take you there and I can show you how to jump."

It was adorable that she thought he apparently didn't know how to use a trampoline.  Lin laughed and Raina ran off to tell someone else.  I walked up behind Lin and wrapped my arms around him.  I rested my head between his shoulder blades.

"I'm glad she got to go," I admitted.  I'd been so stubborn.

"Me too," Lin said.  "She'll be talking about it for days."

"I guess we know where the twins will have their next birthday party," I said.  Now that Raina had seen the place, she'd definitely want to go back.  I helped Lin with dinner as the twins raced around the house together.  I was glad they had such a special relationship.

Cam walked out with her shoes on and her purse.  "Dad, I need to go buy something real quick for my project," she told him.  As usual, she'd left a big project to the last minute.  It was due tomorrow and she was just now getting started on her poster.

"Okay," Lin said.  "Dinner's in half an hour."

Cam disappeared and came back a while later with a big 3-panel poster board, some punch-out letters, and some fancy markers.  She spread the poster out on the coffee table and began to punch out the letters and spread them out on the board as her siblings continued to run and play.  When she had the letters she wanted, she found some glue and began to press them on.  Just as she was finishing, Raina pushed her brother a little too hard and he stumbled, tumbling right back at the coffee table and Cam's poster.  The board bent and tore.

"Felix!!" she screamed, and he started crying.  "Oh my God!!  You ruined my board!"

I rushed over and scooped up Felix, who was crying and holding his side.  He knocked it against the table pretty hard.  I bounced him a little and shooshed him as I carried him back to the kitchen.

"Raina, time out," I told my daughter.  She cried softly as she walked to the rug, the twins' designated time-out spot.  I know she didn't mean to, but they had to learn how to be more gentle with each other.

I set Felix on the counter as he cried and gently lifted up his t-shirt.  His side was a little red, but he'd be fine.  I kissed it better and ran my hands through his hair.

"Do you want some ice?" I offered and he nodded tearfully.  Ice made everything better.

"Does no one care about my poster board?" Cam asked from the living room. Lin looked over.

"Can you tape or glue it back together?" he asked her.

"No!" she said.  "It's ruined!"

"Okay, calm down," Lin said as he walked over, grabbing for his wallet.  "Go get another one."

He put $10 in her hand and she frowned, obviously frustrated she'd have to start over.  At least she hadn't gotten very far.  Cam disappeared for the second time that night.  I kissed Felix on the head and gave him a wink.

"Are you okay now?" I asked and he nodded.  I lifted him down.  "Go wash your hands for dinner.  Raina?"

She looked at me, tears in her eyes.  "Come here, please."

She walked over, rubbing her eyes.  I leaned over, resting my hands on my knees.  "Sweetheart, remember how we talked about being gentle?"

She nodded and hummed "mmhmm".

"You were being way too rough.  You not only hurt your brother but Cam's poster got ruined.  Will you apologize to both of them?"

She nodded and I smiled.  "Good girl.  Go wash your hands for dinner."

I dished out the food and Lin got everyone drinks.  Molly wandered out with a Mensa Sudoku puzzle book.  It looked like she was almost done.  As we all sat down, Cam returned with her new poster and joined us.

"Molly, put that away please," Lin told her.

"I'm almost done," she told him.

"Nerd," Cam teased her.  Molly shot her a look.

"Cam, that's enough," Lin told her.  She smirked as she started on her mashed potatoes.  Raina sweetly apologized to Felix and Cam, and they accepted.  The rest of dinner and the evening was luckily uneventful.  We bathed the twins and tucked them into bed.  Because of her poor planning skills, Cam was up past 10:00 finishing her poster.

The next day, I got a call from Lin, who had back-to-back press sessions all day for a new movie he was doing.

"Could you go get Cam from school?" he asked me, sounding upset.

"Sure," I said.  "Why?"

"She and some other girls were implicated in a bullying incident," he reported.  "And I can't get out of here.  The principal wants to meet with all the parents."

I was surprised at Cam.  She could be a little mean to her siblings sometimes, particularly Molly, but I didn't think she was a bully.  I told Lin I'd go and made my way down to Hunter.  The three girls who were apparently involved were sitting in the main office, looking bored and a little nervous.  I gave Cam a look, but she didn't flinch.  She wasn't really afraid of me, but she should be afraid of Lin.  He was not at all happy.

There was one other mom and a dad already waiting as well, messing around on their phones.  I checked in with the secretary and soon the principal called the three of us back.

"So, your daughters were implicated today in a bullying incident regarding a fellow sophomore," he began, turning the computer.  "We have some surveillance video here."

The video showed a girl going into one of the bathrooms at the end of lunch period.  Cam and her two friends followed soon after, then they ran out, laughing a minute or so later.  According to the victim, they'd forced her into a stall and blocked her.  Then, they threw wet paper towels inside and were taunting her.  It was so childish.  I let out a repulsed sound.

"At Hunter, we take bullying very seriously," he continued, turning his computer back around.  "First, they all were made to clean up the bathroom.  They'll all be suspended for three days, and will complete a workshop on bullying prevention."

That was vacation compared to what Lin probably had in store for her.  We had a couple questions for him, mostly about make up work and when the workshop would be.  I asked for the victim's name, but due to privacy issues he couldn't tell us.  I'd ask Cam later and be sure to have her make reparations. 

"You're free to take your daughters home for the day," he said, looking at the clock.  "This will not count as a day of suspension, however.  That will start tomorrow."

We thanked him and left the office.  I gave Cam a look and she sighed as she stood up with her backpack.  She followed me out and we walked down the steps.

"Bullying, Cam?" I asked her, disgusted.  "I didn't think you were that kind of person."

She didn't answer as she followed me.  I didn't bother getting in a deep conversation with her about it.  With Cam, she had never particularly warmed to me.  We got along fine, but we didn't have a close relationship.  I let Lin handle the discipline with her, and he had his work cut out for him on this one. 

When we got home, I told Cam to go straight to her room.  She went wordlessly and slammed the door behind her.  I texted Lin with the updates since I didn't know if he was in the middle of interviews.  As I made dinner, Molly practiced her violin, which was nice background music.  She had just stopped when there was a knock at the door.  I opened it to find Sofia, our attractive neighbor.

"Hi, Sofia," I greeted her.

"Hi, Pippa," she smiled.  "Is Lin home by chance?  I was hoping to get his help with something."

"No he's not I'm afraid," I told her, and saw a hint of disappointment in her face.  "I can tell him you stopped by though."

"That would be great," she said.  "I need some help with my Internet."

We said goodbye and I closed the door.  I'm not sure what it was, but something about her rubbed me the wrong way.  She was attractive, and she was Latina.  Did Lin find her attractive?  Did she find Lin attractive?

I continued with dinner, my heart slightly unsettled.