Giving up my music was a lot harder than I thought. Even though I could play whenever I want, declaring that I wouldn't do my tours or perform for my devoted fans made it a rather tough decision. I talked it over a bit with my band, none of them were the happiest but they supported me. They were just worried that I might make a decision I regret in the future.

I picked Gee up from his therapy session, smiling as I gave him a piggy back ride to the car. On the way home, however, I got a call from Jamia. I put it on the speakerphone connected to the car.

"Hello, Mia," I said.

"Mommy!" Gee cheered from the backseat.

"The school just called and Miles is in trouble and in the principal's office," Jamia said. "Do you want to get him or should I?"

"You know, it would probably be best for me to go, I don't want him throwing a fit," I said.

"Okay, I'll see you at home then," she said. "Bye, Gee."

"Bye bye, mommy," he said.

I hung up, sighing as I went to the middle school. We walked in and I saw Miles sitting outside the principal's office. I let the receptionist know I was here before sitting next to my son.

"So, do you wanna tell me what you did before we go in there?" I asked.

Miles didn't say anything, just crossed his arms.

"Mr. Iero," the principal said as he opened the door.

I went into his office with my kids, sitting on the other side of his desk.

"I'm afraid you to inform you that your son is being suspended," he said.

"Suspended?" I asked. "What could he have possibly done? What did you do?"

I looked at Miles and he just looked down.

"Your son was caught drawing on the bathroom stalls," the principal said.

"Wh--drawing on the stalls?" I asked. "Really? That's what he's being suspended for? Every kid does that."

Gee began laughing and we looked over.

"Look the poster of the kitty says 'hang in there' and he's hanging from a branch!" Gee exclaimed.

"Well, this on time of the three lunch suspensions he's already received," the principal said.

"I-I'm sorry, the what?" I asked.

The principal pulled out a file and I saw the form for three lunch suspensions, all with my signature on them.

"I have never seen those in my life," I said, looking at Miles.

Gee began touching stuff on his desk, knocking over a cup of pens.

"Gee, sit down," I whispered a little harsher than I meant to.

He started crying and I sighed.

"Maybe we can talk in a more private environment," the principal suggested.

"Miles, take Gee out into the hall," I said.

Miles ushered his crying brother out.

"Miles has been acting out lately, getting lunch detentions which we now know he has been forging your signature on," he said. "They're just small misdemeanors. He got in trouble for pulling a girl's hair, starting a food fight and replacing the hand sanitizer in his math class for gravy."

I couldn't help but snicker at the last one before quickly stopping, putting on a straight face.

"You clearly have your hands full," he said. "What with your band and being a sort of local legend, the young daughters. Twins, right? And Gee, poor Gee. You see, I think things at home might be a little bit overwhelming. The way Miles is acting out recently, it's a cry for attention. Did anything recently change in your home?"

"I think I know what this is about," I sighed. "A few months ago Miles found out that my wife isn't his birth mom. He's been acting out ever since then."

The principal nodded, looking through his rolodex before pulling out a card. He handed it to me and I looked it over.

"So, this is a card for a group of therapists that work great with children, preteens and teens," he said. "Kids like Miles often act out and cause trouble as a way to try and get attention, it's a cry for help. Can be because they're having trouble processing their emotions."

"Thank you for this," I said. "Me and my wife were talking about getting him to talk somewhere but we didn't know where to start looking. Gee has one but obviously those are very different circumstances."

"I think having someone to talk to will really benefit him," the principal said. "Miles is not a trouble child, simply a child causing a bit of trouble."

"And he's still suspended?" I asked. "He can't be, like, excused if he goes to see a therapist?"

"The policy is after three lunch suspensions it's a two day out of school suspension," he said. "Miles will be allowed back on Thursday."

I nodded. "Thank you for calling me and for the card, we'll try to get Miles some of the help he needs."

I stood up and we shook hands before I walked out. Miles was pouting and Gee was having an enthusiastic conversation with the receptionist.

"Alright, boys, time to go," I said.

The bell overhead rang, making Gee scream. I held his hand as the halls began to fill up with kids. Gee waved hello to everyone, giving out high fives as kids laughed and Miles hid his face in embarrassment.

We drove home in silence, other than Gerard singing. I pulled into the driveway and Gee went inside. Miles went to go too but I told him to stay in the car. I drove us to the arcade, parking in the parking lot. Miles was quiet as we went in and I bought tokens for us and a pizza, sitting at a table.

"A-aren't I in trouble?" Miles asked in confusion.

"I think Gee embarrassing you in front of your classmates at school was pretty good punishment," I said. "At least for now. No electronics during the time of your suspension."

"Then why are we here?" He asked.

"I thought you and I could have some bonding time together," I said. "How does that sound?"

"Really good," he said with a smile.

The pizza came and we both dug in, eating until our stomachs were full.

"Okay, so, tell me," I said. "How did you fill the hand sanitizer with gravy."

"Easy, I just took the bottle from class that morning, dumped it out and then at lunch I poured gravy into it and put it back," he said.

"How did people not see a brown liquid in the bottle?" I asked.

"Well, hand sanitizer bottles are usually clear but my teacher thought it would be a fun activity before break to decorate the hand sanitizer and tissue boxes when we didn't have work to do," he said. "So, it was completely painted over and you couldn't see what was inside."

"One time in high school--I went to a catholic school right--one of my teachers were ranting about gay sin or whatever so I went over and kissed my best friend--who was a guy--straight on the lips," I said. "Got suspended for a week."

"Oh that is so cool," Miles said. "What did Grandma and Grandpa say?"

"They were like 'Paco, it's okay to like boys but you can't do that just to stick it to the man' but they didn't punish me they just gave me some ice cream," I said.

"I've never heard that story before," he said.

"Yeah, I guess that there's a lot of stories I haven't had the chance to tell you," I said.

"You're never home to tell them," he mumbled.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Listen, I get it," I said. "But I'm going to be spending more time with you more. We'll have more one on one time with each other, how does that sound?"

"Really good," he said.

"But it's on one condition, you can't keep misbehaving, both at school and at home," I said. "No more disrespecting your mom."

"She's not--"

"Miles, she is your mother," I interrupted. "She was there since the day you were born, she raised you. She is more of a mother than Alicia ever was. Just...just try to be more respectful, okay?"

"Fine," he said.

"Then I think we should make this a weekly thing," I said.

"Really?" Miles asked hopefully.

I smiled and nodded. "There's just one other little condition. Your mom, principal and I all think that it would be good for you to start seeing a therapist."

"Why?" He asked. "I'm not like Gee."

"It's not just people like Gee who need to see therapists," I said. "I used to see a therapist in middle school. It can be a place where you can talk to someone in a private space to help work your feelings for. Just between you and I, therapy is where I used to just complain about grandma and grandpa so you can use this to complain about me and your mom."

"Sounds kinda cool," he said. "But what if I get stuck with a wrinkly old man I don't like?"

"You can change therapists, see who works best with you," I said.

"I guess that sounds okay," he said. "Can you tell me the story of Gee again?"

I smiled softly. "I was working at some dead end fast food place when I was walking home from work because I couldn't afford gas. I heard some crying while in the woods and found some little boy there. I took him home, gave him food and cleaned him up. He was scared but very friendly, didn't know his own name. I took him to the hospital and the police station but no one knew where he came from. So, I took him home and cared for him and then you came alone and I adopted him right after you were born."

"So, did Gee get to go on tour with you?" He asked and I nodded. "Why can't I ever go on tour with you? Can I?"

"Because you have school, you can't go on tour with me," I said.

"Nevermind, I get it," he mumbled. "Gee gets everything because everything always revolves around him."

"Hey, you are just as important as Gee," I said. "And, you know what, you and I have a different kind of relationship. Gee needs to be coddled but I can totally cream your ass in laser tag."

"You're on!" Miles exclaimed.

I laughed as we ran to the laser tag room, our pockets jingling with tokens.