As soon as the words came out of August’s mouth, Beau could feel the annoyance. One of the things he was trying to work on the last two years was reducing the mental load August had. Therapy had taught both of them it was causing strain in their lives, and both had been working to be better about their parts in it. Did they have her favorite soda? He hoped so. For the moment he could come over and provide some support at least .

There she was, ready to ignore her pain again. He worried so much about that. “Rest your knee. Today was toddler-time, right? And it was the teachers. They aren’t following the IEP again.”

God why did this have to happen today? Honestly. This would have been a heavy day with August even without her co-workers. Beau had a feeling she heard some nonsense from them again today.

He watched as August let out a slow breath, closing her eyes for a moment. “Of course. How bad, girls?”

As she got the basics from the girls, he headed over to check the fridge. Beau was in luck: one root beer left. Well, if it was going to be the last one, today was a good day for it. Just in case, he opened it up ahead of time. The last thing Beau wanted was for his wife to end up covered in soda to boot.

By the time the girls ran off to do their evening activities, Beau was putting the cold soda in her hand. “I am so sorry I forgot to tell you.”

“Let me guess, they wanted to talk to you, not me?” August took a sip. She sounded exhausted. How bad had her day already been?

Beau tried not to sound like the child she surely thought he was being about this. “Well, you have the librarian super research mode on them. They know you’ll organize everything in a matter of minutes.” Smile. He needed to give a confident smile, let August know he believed in her. Beau was very certain it was more nervous looking.

Well, there was a chance she didn’t notice, as fast as she was getting her laptop out. Beau scrambled to get the cord for her. The cat had knocked it out earlier, and he was pretty sure her battery was dying on the thing, it was used so much. As she took the cord, he paused. He should offer additional help, right? Of course.

“Want me to sanity check the email?”

The laptop’s screen turned on, shining a blue light on her soft yet serious features. “Maybe. Forward me anything they sent you first and we will go from there.”

Forwarding was easy; he had updated the shared folder last night. All he had to do was make a few taps on his smart phone and she had the rest of the needed information. Now he had to wait. no. Not wait. He should be useful and not hover.

Beau let himself zone out for a moment as he went to take care of some clean up in the kitchen. He was scolding himself about all of this. Letting the dishes be so bad she felt she had to do them. The kitchen probably was a disaster in her eyes. Beau looked to the cutting station set-up he made. At least that looked like it had been used, so it was still useful. And it meant she wasn’t standing as long as he feared. After a quick sweep and steam, he glanced over to his beloved princess. Although if Beau were being honest, it was less of a princess mode right now.

Normally August could be a sweet and gentle angel. And being a public servant herself at the library, she sympathized with the teachers. She knew school librarians and some teachers, the same people who had thankfully helped guide them on what to say to the schools to get the girls the support they needed. Beau and August both had some idea of how hard teachers had it. But when August saw the teachers failing at even trying to help the girls, that was when the other side of her came out. It was like watching the princess fade away and August turn into an amazon warrior. Heaven help any who came between her and the target then.

As dinner finished, he could tell how focused August had gotten. Her root beer barely touched, the entire bottle dripping from the condensation and pooling on the side table. Good thing neither of them stressed out about that sort of thing. Thankfully, August was starting to set down the laptop. Unfortunately, sweet and well meaning Raven had a lovely question to ask her mother.

“Mama, are you done being a drama llama?”

“I . . . excuse me?” Beau could hear his wife’s brain come to a screeching halt at that.

Sadly all he could think to say at the moment was, “Raven! Nice words with your mother.”

“But that’s what Mrs. White calls the moms who fuss after her. I heard her say so.” Raven shifted a little.

He wanted to speak up, knowing August was struggling with thinking poorly about herself as it was. Alexandra was a bit faster though. “Mom isn’t a drama llama. The IEP is supposed to help us.”

Just as his daughter finished speaking, the timer went off, announcing the roast was ready. He quickly spoke up.

“That’s right. Your mom works hard to make sure the school doesn’t forget what they are supposed to do. And she does her best to make sure that everyone can do their part. Today that means getting on the teachers. Tomorrow it might mean making sure you do your homework.” He set down the roast, admiring it for a moment. It was perfect as always. She did it every time, and his came out wrong even when she was watching. It had to be magic. “Now girls, set up the folding tables. I’m not making your mom walk to the table if her knee hurts.”

The girls excitedly ran around starting to get things done. He knew this was best for August, but she always felt like the kids weren’t getting real meals when they did this. All he could do was try to help support her and make her feel better. Which meant making sure he gave her the plate with the kaiju monsters attacking the village. August would deny it, but it was her favorite over the others. Well, maybe there was a tie for the UFO one.

As he finished plating the food, he paused and remembered the cookies Betty gave him. Sure they were for the family but was it weird bringing food another woman made? Some of the others at the shop thought so, but Betty wasn’t interested in him as more than a friend. He hoped August didn’t get jealous from that sort of thing. Beau felt like he’d never notice if that were the case.

And yet when he came up with the cookie on the plate, he said, “Some extras from Betty. She insisted.”

“I need to steal the recipe from her one day.” August smiled that warm and soft from the oven cookie smile. His heart melted before the dinner conversation went into the normal things. His writing, the girls' day, August’s day, the upcoming swim meet . . . and the girls wanting to dress up as dragons. With their parents as a princess and knight.

That, Beau was worried about. Clothing shopping was stressful for August as it was due to her size and body shape. He always went with her to try and help and give honest feedback when asked. Getting a princess dress that didn’t look terrible? She’d probably try to make it because the plus size ones were never that great looking. Not the ones in their price range. Beau chewed a moment on the roast, thinking of every place he could look. Betty was probably the best bet, right? She worked as a personal shopper for various people, so surely she must have some leads. He’d ask her later.

By the time the thought was done in his head, he noticed the girls were already clearing their dishes. “Hey, finish the homework and then take a bath, both of you.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “The pool should count.”

“If you want it to. You can watch as your hair breaks off and falls into the pool.” Alexandra grinned. She was obviously feeling recentered and back to teasing her sister again.

Beau looked to his beloved. “Do you need the shower first?”

His beloved slowly set the plate aside. “I . . . I think. . .I think I need help getting in, and out and . . . getting clean.”

Beau quickly got up. “I’ll get things sorted to hop in with you.” He smiled as warmly as he could before running to get the towels.

He could at least do this much.