Joanna Elizabeth McCoy sat at the kitchen table, sulking, as her Father paced back and forth by the sink.
"You're grounded," Leo said, shaking his head.
"Dad!"
"Six weeks," he continued. "You go straight to school and your Mother or I will come pick you up after. On the weekends, you will help your Mother with your brother and sisters."
Joanna seethed, "You're not being fair!" she shouted, as he stopped to look at her.
"Fair?" he asked. "Joanna, you're fourteen years old! You shouldn't be kissin' boys or even thinkin' about them! What have I told you? I've told you countless times that you should be focusin' on your studies and helping your Mother out!"
She rolled her eyes, "Don't roll your eyes at me!" he warned. "I've had it up to here with this attitude you've developed since you started hanging out with these kids! Lillian's starting to pick up on it and it's gotten out of hand!"
"Whatever Dad!" Joanna snapped, pushing the chair back. "You think that just because you and Mom are back after five years, that makes it perfectly fine to go and ruin my life!"
Leo sighed, "Don't be dramatic!" he said, shaking his head.
Joanna whirled around, "NO! You didn't care about me when you and Mom got married, going off with Uncle Jim and the others! You obviously replaced me with three other kids and now you want to act like my Dad!" she shouted. "Where were you when I needed you the most? When I fractured my ankle? Or when I started getting my period? Who took care of me then?"
Leo blinked in shock as his eldest daughter stood before him, shaking with rage. "It was Grandpa and Uncle Phil! The two of them combined have been more of a Father than you have in the last eleven years!"
"Jo-" he shook his head.
"I HATE YOU!" she screamed, before taking off out of the kitchen; storming up the stairs like a bat out of hell.
Leo flinched as the door slammed shut, the sound echoing throughout the house. Slowly, Leo moved to the table and sat down on one of the chairs, digesting what his daughter had said to him.
…
"Lillian, I swear to god," Andrea huffed, as the five year old knocked a few boxes of pasta onto the floor. "If you don't stop touching everything, you'll go right into time out when we get home."
"But Mommyyyy," she whined, as Andrea picked up the boxes.
Christopher stood by the shopping cart, watching as his older sister got yelled at. In the carrier, Holly sat quietly watching her surroundings; unaware of what was going on. Once the boxes of pasta were back on the shelf, Andrea grabbed Lillian's hand and pulled her towards the cart.
"Next time you touch something, I mean it…" she said, as Lillian looked up at her. "Can we just get through one shopping trip without you causing any trouble?"
Twenty minutes and a hectic checkout later, Andrea had all three of her children in the car and the groceries in the back. The headache, which started as a dull ache, was now a full blown pounding annoyance. Andrea sat in the driver's seat, resting her forehead against the wheel, crying quietly.
"Mama?" Christopher asked. "Mama, no cry!"
Andrea sniffled, "I'm okay, baby," she said, her voice hitching. "Mama's got a headache."
"Daddy fix!" he squealed, smiling at the thought. "Daddy fixes boo-boo's!"
Out of the three children she had with Leo, Christopher had been the easiest to raise. He rarely cried or fussed as a baby and always had a smile on his face, even when his parents were mad at one another or when Lillian caused trouble back when they lived on the ship. Just a two weeks shy of his fourth birthday, Christopher managed to surprise his parents everyday with his imagination and retelling stories that he'd learned from his Grandfather or from one of his Uncles.
"Yes," Andrea said, as she started the car. "Daddy will fix Mama's boo-boo."
Wiping her face, Andrea put the car in drive and pulled out of the parking space. She could hear Christopher whispering to Lillian, while Holly thankfully fell asleep in the car seat.
"Mama sick," Christopher whispered. "No shouting!"
Andrea couldn't help but manage a small smile, as she pulled out onto the main road.
….
As soon as she stepped into the house, Andrea knew something was wrong. Moving the children into the playroom, she quickly set a holo-vid on and moved back to the front door. Grabbing the shopping bags off the porch, Andrea moved back inside and closed the door behind her.
"Leo?" she called out, peeking into the living room. "I'm home."
Setting the bags down on the table, Andrea moved to look out into the yard. When she didn't see her husband, she began to slightly panic.
"Leonard? Where are you?" she yelled, moving out into the hallway.
Spotting the basement door sitting slightly ajar, Andrea quickly moved towards it. Taking the stairs two at a time, Andrea found him sitting on the sofa against the wall.
"Baby," she sighed, moving across the room to sit down next to him. "Didn't you hear me?"
Leo looked up at her and she gasped, "What's wrong?" she asked, rushing to him. "What happened?"
"She hates me," he shook his head, as Andrea wrapped her arms around him. "Oh god, she hates me."
Andrea frowned, "Who hates you?" she asked, as Leo's eyes filled with tears. "Oh don't cry!"
Leo shook his head, "Joanna says that I've ruined her life," he sobbed. "Said that I don't have the right to tell her what to do since I've abandoned her for eleven years."
She listened intently as Leo described what happened earlier with Joanna, how she claimed that her siblings replaced the love that both she and Leo had for her. And how her own father and Uncle Phil took the role as "Father" ever since they'd gotten married and went on a five year tour
"Oh Leo," she said softly, hugging him tightly. "Joanna didn't mean any of that! She's just having a temper tantrum because she's grounded."
But Leo shook his head, "No, she's right," he sighed. "For eleven years, I've abandoned her. I walked out when she was three and when I finally got her back, it was too late; especially when Joss died."
He then turned to look at her, "Pop's been more of Father to her than me," he said. "I've done nothin' but interfere and disrupt her life now that I'm back."
Andrea shook her head, "Don't say such things," she said, hugging him to her side. "Please don't say anything like that. It's going to take time, Leo. We've only been back for seven months, and we've brought three children with us."
Leo nodded, "It's going to take Joanna sometime to get used to the fact that we're not going to jet off into the night, leaving her for another five years. And she's a teenager, Leo. A teenaged girl who's bound to be a bit bitchy from time to time."
Footsteps could be heard from upstairs, signaling that either Christopher or Lillian were on the prowl; searching for both of them.
"I'll go talk to her," Andrea sighed. "See if I can't get her to talk about what's going on with her friends and this boy."
Leo nodded, "And don't for a second think that she doesn't love you," Andrea said, making him look at her. "I know she loves you, Leo. Okay?"
"Okay," he nodded, though the disbelief was apparent in his eyes.
"MAMA! DADDY!"
Christopher started banging on the door of the basement, giggling as he did so. Andrea quickly got up and rushed up the stairs, pulling the door open to see her son standing there.
"What are you doing, silly boy?" she asked, scooping him up.
He giggled, "Looking for you!" he said, as they moved down the stairs. His eyes then lit up, "Daddy!"
Setting him down on the floor, Christopher ran towards the couch, giggling as Leo pulled him up.
"Daddy! I go to store with Mama!" he giggled, as Leo kissed his cheek.
"You did?" Leo asked. "Where you good for your Mama?"
Christopher nodded, "Lillian bad," he scowled; his face a mirror image of Leo's. "Mama yell."
Andrea sighed, "Lillian's this close to being locked in her room until it's time for her to move out," she said. "I'm going to put the food away and start on dinner. Christopher, I want you to keep Daddy company. Can you do that?" she asked.
Christopher nodded, "Daddy! Play!"
Leo chuckled, " We'll play," he said, setting him down on the floor. "Go get your blocks from the basket."
The little boy took off with a squeal and Leo looked up at his wife, "Thank you," he nodded.
"You're welcome," she smiled. "I'll come down in an hour to get you both for dinner."
Christopher dragged the container of blocks back across the room, "Daddy, help!" he grunted, yanking on the handle.
Leo crawled across the floor and pulled the bucket with little effort and dumped the contents out, "What do you want to build?" he asked, as Christopher picked up a blue block. "A house?"
Andrea smiled as she watched them play, before moving back up the stairs. Heading into the kitchen, Andrea started putting the groceries away in their respectful places. Pulling a pot out form the cabinet, Andrea filled it up with water and placed it on the stove.
As she grabbed the bag of fresh peppers, placing them onto the counter, Andrea started to think about how she would address Joanna. Her behavior in the last few weeks had been out of control, and today's outburst was the final straw. The last time she saw her husband cry, was when Christopher took a tumble in their quarters on the ship. The gash on his forehead and the blood that covered his little face was enough to age him thirty years.
"Joanna, Joanna," she muttered, shaking her head. "What are we going to do with you?"