"No, Ethan! Stop! Auntie, Ethan pulled my hair!" Ari screamed, slapping away Ethan's hand.

"Did not!" The boy yelled back and stuck his tongue out.

"Did so!"

"Ari! Don't be a tattle-tale," Julie admonished her daughter. It was the first day of school for six-year-old Arielle Bongiovi and Ethan Bryan and nerves were taking hold amongst the children and their parents.

Since Richie's departure from the band, the family attitude and dynamics had been flipped upside down. Jon had since fallen into a deep depression and had little to no energy most days. He hadn't picked up his guitar since their last show in 2013, instead, chose to sequester himself in the bar and drink till sundown.

This left Julie and Ari as the neglected ones most days. Julie would simply bury herself in work with a bottle of wine while Ari would lay with her coloring books on her bedroom floor.

Things had been worse for the Bryans. When David wasn't drinking with Jon, he'd shut himself in his studio and leave Leesha to tend to the house and their son. It wasn't until she'd found him passed out cold that Leesha started snooping.

Rather than empty liquor bottles, she found cocaine and paraphernalia in his studio cabinets. It wasn't rare for the couple to smoke marijuana together, but to have David relapsing back into a life of hard drugs was too much for her to handle.

The violent fight that ensued resulted in David smacking his wife's cheek hard enough to leave a red handprint and storming out of the house. Ethan had witnessed the altercation and stuck by his mom for comfort. David didn't end up returning until afternoon the next day.

His charm and sweet words won her back over and their bedroom shook that night with moans and cries as the two made up. Leesha didn't mention it to Julie, fearing the shame and pity she would no doubt see in her best friend's eyes.

Ari pouted at her bowl of cereal and winced when Ethan stuck a wet finger in her ear. "Ethan, stop being a butthole!"

"Make me, bitch!"

"What the hell!" Jon yelped and put his hands over Ari's ears. Julie groaned and rolled her eyes skyward.

Leesha's head shot around to her son, eyes wide and cheeks blushing bright pink. "Ethan Bryan!"

"What?!" Ethan asked innocently. "That's what Daddy calls you!" David appeared behind his son and, upon being tossed under the bus by his own flesh and blood, spun on his heels and rushed back into Jon's office.

"Jesus H Christ," Jon mumbled at his best friend's receding back.

"OW!" Ari cried and threw her cereal bowl at Ethan, soggy bits and milk splashing the little girl who started screaming. He reached over and ripped the new pink bow from Ari's hair and threw it into the dog's water.

"Arielle Caroline Bongiovi! Apologize at once," Julie snapped, "We don't throw cereal in the house. Why are you being like this, this morning? Of all mornings?!"

"Ethan Alexander Bryan!" Leesha yelled and grabbed her son up by the collar, dragging him to the sink and smacking the child's butt and scolding him. "Why do you have to act like your Father all the time?"

Julie quickly cleaned up the spilled milk and soggy cereal and placed the bowls in the dishwasher, glancing towards her friend worriedly. "Jon, can you please make sure she puts her shoes on? Find Ethan one of her shirts to wear too, please."

"Yeah, yeah," Jon nodded with a sigh, "C'mon Babymine, let's get outta Mama's hair so she can calm down." He took Ari's hand and headed out of the kitchen.

Ethan cried quietly as he was stripped of his shirt and cleaned off by his mom, a wet washcloth wiping the milk from his face, hair, and belly. "No, mommy...please don't make me wear girl clothes!"

"Shit...sorry, guys," Julie sighed looking at Leesha and Ethan, "I'm guessing it's the first day jitters?"

"It's our kids being--" Leesha grumbled.

"Asshole!" Ari screamed from upstairs.

"Arielle!" Jon's distant voice scolded.

"Damn it...is it time for them to go yet?" Julie groaned, checking her watch.

Leesha snorted and rolled her head to face Julie. "To college? I wish..."

Julie chuckled and gave her best friend a one-armed hug, "Wishing our lives away, hon?" She reached for the coffee and poured herself another mug. Inside, she knew things had been off lately between Leesha and David. Small arguments would turn into screaming matches, no matter who was around. Unfortunately, Ethan seemed to be picking up the swearing with ease.

"And that jackass wanted another one...DAVID! Get the fuck out here!" Leesha yelled.

"Can you...oh, I dunno...quit swearing in front of the kids?!!" Jon bellowed from upstairs.

Leesha raised an eyebrow and screamed even louder, "Can you...I dunno...mind your own fucking business for once!?"

Julie almost spat her coffee out, "Are you trying to start him up this morning, honey?" Julie asked, "He's teetering on the edge as it is because of today."

Leesha opened her mouth to reply and was pelted in the head with a rolled-up white shirt. Julie had to laugh at her shocked face, her friend's face turning a bright shade of pink.

"Oh no," she said, seeing Leesha coil in on herself as though she was a cat about to strike. "Jon, honey...I'd run if I were you."

"Or what?"

"You've never been on the receiving end of her right hook, have you?" David asked rhetorically, hugging his wife from behind and nuzzling his nose in her hair, frowning when she pulled away from his touch. "Fine. Fuck you too, woman." He picked up the balled shirt and wrestled it over Ethan's head.

"Coffee, Rockstar?" Julie asked, raising an eyebrow at David's back.

"Yes please," both men answered, then glanced at each other. Julie blinked at them both.

"Here," Leesha sneered, "have some cream too," and proceeded to pour the contents of a heavy cream container down the back of Jon's shirt.

Jon gasped in surprise, turning slowly to face the culprit. Leesha sneered and dropped the carton at his feet, flipping him off in the process. "Now I see why Lema spends so much time out of the house. You're a fucking psycho."

The room fell quiet with Leesha glaring daggers at Jon, coloring rising in her face. "I'm the psycho?" Her voice was forced calm. "I'm the psycho?" It rose in pitch as she stepped closer to him. "I'm the fucking psycho?!"

He didn't have time to dodge as the short woman spat in his face, turning to storm from the kitchen with hot tears streaming down her cheeks and locked herself in the office she and Julie shared.

Julie jumped when the door slammed and her lips tightened. "Rockstar, when are you gonna learn not to poke the fiery one?"

David rushed Ethan and Ari from the room with a sarcastic, "Good luck, brother."

*~*~*

"Come on, man," David chuckled as he drove up towards the school, Jon in the passenger seat and both kids in the back. "Why do you egg her on like that? You haven't learned better by now that you don't fuck with her temper?"

Jon chuckled, "Coz somedays it's fun. Other days she just pisses me off."

"She's New England born and Southern raised. What do you expect?"

"Hey, she's got nothin' on Jules when she gets going," Jon rolled his eyes, "C'mon, you've been on the receiving end of that too."

David rubbed his cheek as thoughts of Julie smacking him, not once but twice, flooded back. "Don't remind me."

"Mama can get loud!" Ari offered from the back seat.

"Especially if you throw money at her," David chided.

"Shh!" Jon swatted David to keep him from divulging too many secrets.

"Why would you throw money at Auntie J?" Ethan piped in.

"Yeah...explain that one to your son, Lema," Jon snickered.

David twisted his lips and pulled up behind the other parents waiting to drop off their kids. "Because it's...it's a man thing..."

"Can I have money?" Ethan asked.

"For what?"

"To be a man."

David bursts out laughing and holding his stomach, eyes watering. "S...someday..."

"Enough," Jon chuckled, "C'mon you two...let's get you to your classroom." Jon pushed open the door and climbed out, pulling his cap down low to blend in as much as possible. He opened the back door to let the kids out.

David didn't bother with his cap, his blonde curls pulled up into a messy ponytail. Ethan and Ari were looking around apprehensively, each clutching onto their respective parents.

The hallways were crowded with multiple age groups, some calling out to their friends and others being greeted by their teachers. There were a few questioning looks from some adults as they walked through the crowds.

They reached the kindergarten classroom and were greeted by a slender blonde woman in a blue and black ensemble with an ass you could eat breakfast on.

"Oh! You must be..." She pointed to Ari who was hiding behind her father, "Arielle Bongiovi and you..." she turned to Ethan, "Must be Ethan Bryan."

"You've got quite a memory," David grinned, "Impressive."

"You must be David," the teacher replied with a kind smile, "your wife said you're the flirty blonde one."

Jon snorted quietly. "And you..." She raised an eyebrow at Jon, "Snarky and slightly senile. You must be Jon."

"What the?!" Jon gaped at the teacher.

"You talked to his wife too?" David asked.

"No...just yours, Mr Bryan. Ethan, Arielle, why don't you two go over and find your names on the cubby holes, put your belongings away and join the other children?"

"Daddy?" Ari looked up at her father with tear-filled eyes.

"Off you go, Babymine," Jon bent down to Ari's side, "Be my big, brave girl, okay? I'll bring Mama with me this afternoon after school and we'll go somewhere special." He kissed her cheek and thumbed away the fat tear that fell down her cheek, his own eyes starting to swim.

Ethan looked up at David who knelt to eye level with his son. "Go get 'em, tiger...you got this."

"Yeah, I got this, Dad!" Ethan bumped fists with David and started towards the cubbies, but stopped and held out his hand to Ari. "Ready, Scooby-Doo?"

Ari wrapped her arms around Jon's neck and whispered, "I'm scared, Daddy."

Jon returned her hug fiercely, "I know, sweetheart, I'm scared also. Let's be scared together and tell each other about it tonight? Off you go with Ethan, baby."

Ari sniffed and kissed Jon one last time before letting him go and said, taking Ethan's hand, "Let's go, Shaggy."

"Oh crap," Jon mumbled gruffly, "We forgot the photos for the girls." David pulled his phone out and aimed the camera towards the kids.

"I'm sorry," the teacher cut in, "but cameras aren't allowed in the classroom. It'll have to wait until the end of the day."

"Damn it," Jon sighed, "Guess we're stopping on the way home for apology presents."

"You know they'll just beat us with them," David groaned and left the classroom with Jon. "Who would've thought we'd be bringing another generation of spawns to school."

"You can talk," Jon chuckled, "you got another one to get through yet."

"Mr Jon! Wait, wait!" Jon turned at the squeaky little voice to see a little girl with red hair running towards them. "Will...will you two sign my pencil bag?"

Jon and David exchanged a look, plastering on their "public" smiles automatically.

A stunning red-haired woman in a shirt that seemed only half-buttoned, walked up behind the girl. "Jessica," the woman said, "I told you not to bother the gentlemen."

"No bother," Jon said with a small smile and took the pen. Something about this itched uncomfortably between his shoulders and handed the pen and bag to David.

"I'm sorry, again," the woman said, almost pushing her daughter out of the way to stand as close as possible and sticking her chest out to the men, "I'm Veronica, Jessica's mother. It's a...pleasure...to meet you both." She smiled and licked her bottom lip suggestively.

"Likewise," David replied, his eyes subconsciously following the curve of Veronica's cleavage and waist.

"So..." she started, "You're both here alone. Does this mean...."

"No, it doesn't," Jon interrupted and David whimpered quietly, "Our wives had an important client to meet this morning. They'll both be here this afternoon."

Veronica pouted and took two cards from her purse, slipping one into each of their pockets. "Well if you ever want a...playdate...give me a call..."

"But Mom," Jessica whined, "They're kindergarteners!"

"Shut up!" Veronica hissed back, waving to the guys and dragging her daughter off to the third-grade classroom.

"Holy shit, the tits on that woman...and the ass on that teacher...it's gonna be a good few years, brother," David smirked.

"Do I need to tell your WIFE?" Jon laughed and whacked his friend's stomach as they headed back out of the building toward the car park. "You know I did you a solid after finding you bending their preschool teacher over the arts and crafts table and fucking her brains out by not telling Leesh or Julie?"

David shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Only because you locked the door and took a turn as well."