Adam did hope Sarah was feeling better. She sounded a little better. It always made him sad when she didn't feel good. Not that there was much he could do. He had told the kids to try to behave today. Although, obviously that hadn't help with Ben. He could tell his son was nervous getting on the phone.<br/><br/>Adam gave Ben his full attention and was a mixture of being angry and proud as Ben explained himself. While he certainly didn't think his son should be picking fights at school, he was also proud of him. It made him angry that this Jack kid had insulted Sarah but he was proud of Ben for standing up for his mother and their family. He also wished that his son hadn't had to do it. Listening to Ben, made him wish his shift was already over so he could hug him.<br/><br/>"It's okay, buddy. You're right, that was mean. Mom isn't lazy. She works very hard taking care of you and your sister. She makes sure everything in our family runs smoothly. But not everyone else realizes that. And we aren't poor. We have a house over our heads and food to eat. There are lots of people who don't have either of those things."<br/><br/>While Adam wished he could give his family more things, he knew they should also be grateful for what they had. There were plenty of children out there that only got to eat at school. At least Ben and Maggie didn't have to worry about that. His kids never went to bed hungry, even if they didn't have the expensive clothes or the fanciest toys in the world.<br/><br/>Adam could hear Sarah in the background and said to his son.<br/><br/>"Ben, I'm proud of you for standing up for Mom but you also can't start fights either. While you have the right to defend yourself and the ones you love, you can't be the one throwing the first punch. Because when you do, you end up like this. The school doesn't care the reason the why, they just know you threw the first punch. Next time..."<br/><br/>He hoped there wasn't a 'next time'.<br/><br/>"....Don't push or punch anyone, unless they do that to you first. You understand that?"<br/><br/>He asked and after getting Ben's response, he told Sarah.<br/><br/>"Don't worry about picking me tonight. Carrie's working and you know she never lets me walk home."<br/><br/>Carrie was in her fifties and treated Adam like a son. Whenever they worked the same shifts, she always insisted on giving him a ride home. She never took no for an answer.