"Quality Family Time"

It's 6:30 pm in the evening. The family's sitting around the table, having dinner. Dexter's heating up a can of soup at the stove. Hannah's setting up the dishes at the table. Harrison playing with the salt and pepper like they're action figures. Laura's still in the stroller. And Debra's sitting at the table next to Harrison. She's still in the straightjacket.

Hannah places Debra's dishes in front of her. Dexter has his back turned towards the stove. He's stirring the pot. He tastes the soup to see if it's ready.

Dexter tells the family, "It still needs another minute."

With a smirk on her face, Hannah places Debra's silverware on either side of her bowl.

Hannah says to Debra, "I'm not sure how you're going to use your spoon but here you go."

Debra gives an awkward smile and retorts back, "That's okay. There's something about recent events that have caused me lose my appetite."

Hannah asks, "Are you not looking forward to your trip to Mexico?"

Dexter turns around with the pot of soup in his hands. He says, "Ladies, lets have no talk of that if you don't mind." He gives Hannah a reproachful look, warning her not to antagonize Debra.

Hannah holds her hands out to take the pot from Dexter. She says, "This soup's pretty bland. I could add some herbs to zest it up a bit for the fam."

Dexter pulls back the pot, in his hands, away from Hannah. He darts an apprehensive look at Debra and says, "Let's just make things simple tonight. I'll just serve the soup as is with no added ingredients." He smiles and nods at Debra. He says, "Just soup straight from the can. All cooked with my own hands."

Hannah rolls her eyes and says, "Fine. Bland soup it is."

Harrison calls out with enthusiasm, "I love bland soup!"

Dexter pours the soup in everyone's bowls. When he pours the soup in Debra's bowl. She looks at her soup with much disinterest. She shrugs and says, "Well, feel free to add Hannah's special ingredients if you want. I'm not having anything anyway."

Dexter looks at Debra with concern. He then sets down the pot on the stove and takes a seat next to her.

Harrison takes a loud slurpy sip and says, "It's delicious. Thanks Daddy."

The salt's turned over on the table next to Harrison. It had recently fallen in battle with the pepper. Hannah picks up the slain sodium and shakes it in her hand. She says, "Here's to roughing it in the great outdoors."

Dexter takes a sip. Assessing the soup he says, "It's not bad." He picks up Debra's spoon and scoops up some soup for her. He blows on the soup to cool it off. He then tries to spoon feed Debra.

Debra leans back to avoid the spoon. She shakes her head and says, "No."

Hannah laughs and says, "It's like you're trying to feed a fussy baby."

Dexter holds Debra's soup spoon up, mid air, in front of her. He says, "Deb, refusing to eat won't help you. Come on. Why let Harrison see you go hungry?"

Harrison nods and says, "Ya, the soup's good. Go ahead and try it. You might like it."

Debra obliges, "Fine, I'll taste it to see if I like." She opens her mouth with much disdain.

Dexter gives her a spoonful of soup.

Hannah sings, "Here comes the plane into the hanger."

Once the soup is in Debra's mouth, Dexter nods and smiles at her.

With a mouth full of soup, Debra smiles back at Dexter. Then she spits the soup right in Dexter's face.

Soup drips off Dexter's face. He glares at Debra with annoyance.

Harrison laughs and points at his father. He says, "Aunt Deb, that's funny."

Hannah puts her hand over her mouth and stifles a laughs at Dexter's expense.

Debra jeers at Dexter, "Well I tried. Doesn't mean I liked it. Maybe it was too bland."

Dexter takes his napkin and wipes off his face. He sighs and shakes his head.

The family, minus Debra, finishes their soup. After Dexter empties his bowl he looks back at Debra's untouch dinner. Beseechingly, he asks, "Will you eat if I let you outta that thing?"

Harrison says, "Ya Daddy, let Aunt Deb outta that funny shirt. That way she can feed herself."

Dexter says, "That's right Harrison, Aunt Deb could feed herself." He then turns back to Debra and says, "Well Aunt Deb, will you sip your soup if I let you outta the funny shirt?"

Debra smiles and says, "I'd love to get my hands on that bowl of soup. Hell, I'd like to get my hands on just about anything right now."

Dexter says, "Alright, I'll getcha outta that." He undoes the straps, freeing Debra.

Harrison says, "Yah, now Aunt Deb can use her hands."

Debra agrees, "I sure can." She lifts the bowl of soup to her nose. Eyes closed, she inhales to take in the aroma. She says, "Ummm... It does smell good."

Dexter smiles and looks at the wall paper to avoid Debra's sarcasm.

Debra then dumps the soup right on Dexter. She aims for the eyes. From there the soup streams straight down his chin, onto his shirt. The waterfall of liquid end it's journey on his pants. Debra leaves the soup bowl, turned upside down, over Dexter's head. He wears it like helmet.

Taken off guard, Dexter holds up his hands and looks down at the liquid that was just poured all over him.

Hannah laughs out loud and claps her hands down on the table.

Harrison cheers with delight and claps his hands, applauding the performance.

Hannah laughs and says, "Dinner and a show, now that's entertaining one's guests."

Hannah hands Dexter a towel that hangs over the oven handle. While stifling her giggles, she offers, "Here Dexter, you need this."

With dignity and composure Dexter removes the soup bowl from his head and excepts Hannah's towel. He mops up his face and neck. He throws the soup drenched shammy down on the table right next to Debra. He glowers at his sister with grave ill humor.

With devilish glee, Debra beams a smile back at him.

Dexter gets up from the table and walks over to the sink. He sticks his head under the facet to clean himself up.

Once the water is running over Dexter's head, Debra sneaks out of her seat. She nervously glances at Hannah and gives Harrison the shushing gesture.

Harrison smiles and nods at Debra. He silently gives the shushing gesture back to her.

Debra then awkwardly slides out from under the table. She does all this without moving her chair.

Hannan smirks at Debra, she shakes her head and looks away.

Debra turns around and starts tiptoeing her way to the door. She's cartoonish in her efforts at stealth.

Hannah silently laughs at Debra. She looks back and forth from, tiptoeing Debra, and water running Dexter. Hannah decides not to say anything to Dexter. She'd rather see how this all plays out on its own.

Harrison's also amused by all the antics. He tries to keep quiet by keeping his hand over his mouth. Unfortunately his laugh is not as silent as Hannah's.

Dexter's currently cleaning himself up. The water's still running. He using a wet towel to wipe the soup off his clothes. He hears Harrison giggling and looks over to the dinner table. He sees that Debra's seat is empty. With trepidation he looks back at his giggling son for answers.

With one hand Harrison still stifles his laughter, with other hand he points to Debra. Dexter catches sight of Debra. She's tiptoed her way halfway to the door.

Dexter calls out, "Deb, where are you going?"

At hearing Dexter's voice, Debra freezes mid tiptoe. Her next step is left frozen in the air. In that position she slowly turns her head to Dexter. In a high pitch voice she answers, "Oh, I'm not going anywhere."

Dexter tosses the towel, in hand, down onto the counter. Without looking at the sink, he reaches behind and turns off the facet. He takes a step towards Debra and says, "Well, it looks like you were trying to sneak out the door."

Debra quickly side steps across the living room. She vigorously shakes her head and squeaks out, "No I wasn't!"

Dexter zeros in on his target. The obstacles between them are the couch, the table, and the family. He starts walking around all three to get at Debra. He points to her unstrapped straight jacket and says, "I gotta put that back together."

Debra starts sidestepping in the other direction, away from Dexter. She holds up her hands, defensively, and again vigorously shakes her head in protest.

Harrison interjects, "Daddy, Aunt Deb doesn't want to play no more. Why are you still tying her up?"

Dexter darts his eyes at Harrison but still keeps focused on Debra. He tells his son, "Tying Aunt Deb up for her own good. She needs a timeout. She just made that big mess out of dinner."

Harrison laughs and says, "Ya, that was funny." He turns to Debra and says, "But that's right Aunt Deb. You can't make a mess of your food like that."

Debra's now by the side of the couch. Her hands are on the couch's arm as she half cowers behind it. She nervously darts her eyes at Harrison. Her voice quivers as she tells her nephew, "Okay Harrison, I'll keep that in mind."

Dexter's on the other side of the couch, by the opposite arm. While Debra's momentarily distracted, Dexter quickly darts towards Debra. He goes around the front of the couch. He lunges forward at her and almost catches her.

Debra lets out a shriek at nearly being nabbed, "Aaah!" She quickly scurries away from Dexter. She's now in the kitchen. He's now in the living room. Debra's between the couch and the table. Hannah and the kids are still sitting around the kitchen table.

Dexter becomes uneasy. Debra's now close to the kids. And pursuing Debra could get a lot worse before it gets better.

Dexter glances at Hannah and says, "Hannah, could you please take the kids out for a while."

Hannah gives a fretful glance at Debra and says, "Ya, I think that would be for the best." Hannah gathers up the kids and gets out the door.

While Hannah and kids are exiting the cabin, Dexter becomes momentarily distracted. As Hannah's shutting the door, Dexter has his head turned away from Debra. He then hears the sound of metal scraping against wood. He turns around and to see Debra brandishing a large kitchen knife in her hand. He shakes his head at the sight of this and mutters "No" under his breath. He runs at Debra full speed.

Debra braves the onslaught and plows forward as well. She slashes the knife around franticly.

Dexter lunges forward to grab the knife. The blade catches the outside edge of his left hand, right under the pinky. He grabs his own bleeding hand. It's a deep cut. He momentarily stops his pursuit of Debra to tend to his wound.

After the attack, Debra scrambles to the other side of the couch. She now back in the living room. She brandishes her weapon again, awaiting another attack. Dexter's blood drips off the knife's edge.

Dexter goes to a kitchen drawer and takes out a roll of masking tape. He wraps up his hand and puts the tape down on the kitchen table. He leaves the tape stained with blood. After he tends to his wound he smiles at Debra. In a cogent tone, he tells her, "Come on Deb. You don't wanna hurt me. Just put the knife down." With his wounded hand, he motions for her to lay down her arms.

With an incredulous look, she gawks at him and yells, "You're f***ing crazy! You're the one who should be locked up around here. How could you do all that to me? Tying me up in a straight jacket. Throwing me in a padded cell. Frying my brain at a f***ing mental institution! Why don't you do all that to yourself? You're the psychotic serial killer around here! Not me!"

With anguish he pleads, "I just don't want you to die."

Debra cries out, "Who cares what a murder like you wants." She presses the knife to the side of her throat. She saws the knife into her own skin. She cuts herself, under her ear, part way down her neck.

Dexter sees blood dripping from where the blade meets Debra's skin. A drop of her blood mixes with his own and runs down her neck, staining her collar. He begs, "Please don't hurt yourself." He stands still behind the couch. He holds his hands up in a stopping gesture. He considers lunging at her again. But this action could prompt her to slit her own throat. She could slice open both her jugulars in one swift motion. He'd reach her too late to grab the knife away. She'd bleed out in seconds. There'd be nothing he could do.

Debra squeezes her eyes shut and lifts her chin. She presses the knife deeper into her flesh.

In horror Dexter watches her suicide attempt. Feeling helpless, he racks his brain for how to stop her.

Debra rocks her arm back and forth, sawing herself, deepening the cut. She tries to will herself into slashing open her own throat. She starts crying, trying to do this. She pules in despair as she fights with herself.

A few seconds pass, to Dexter's relief, he sees that she's getting nowhere with the knife. He presents Debra, stretching out his arms and gesturing with his hands. He says, "See, you can't do it. I knew you wouldn't kill yourself if you had a second to think about it. Just put the knife down and we'll talk about this." He nods at her reassuringly. He eyes the self mutilation at the side of her neck. She's now bleeding fairly profusely. While keeping his eyes on the wounded prey, he reaches down to the kitchen table. He picks up the blood stained masking tape. With the tape in hand he steps over the back of the couch. He stands on the cushions, for a second, then he steps onto the floor.

Debra sees Dexter scaling the couch. She gives up on suicide by knife. She looks around the room for options. There's no place left for her go except out the front door. If she turned and ran he'd grab her. She could walk backwards towards the door, while slashing the knife. But she reasons that her best plan of attack is to go on complete offense. She could lunge at him again while slashes the knife. She cut him before while doing this. She could do it again.

She takes a deep breath and musters all the courage she can. She holds up her weapon to slash her way forward. She grips the handle firmly and practices her swing. Her blood flies off the blade as she does this. Blood also streams down from her neck, from the cut. She fails to notice this. She slashes the space between herself and Dexter. Each slice of the air causes a "Swoosh" sound. She repeats this action a few times in a warning gesture.

Dexter's off the couch by now and is walking on the floor. He's getting closer and closer to Debra and her menacing swings. A last drop of blood flies off the blade. It lands on Dexter's cheek. Her last knife slashing misses him by an inch. He nonetheless suppresses the urge to hold up his hands. He doesn't try to grab the knife or defend himself. He just calmly walks into her space after the last swing. He's only a couple of feet away from her with his arms down at his sides. In his right hand he still holds the roll of tape. In Debra's right hand she holds the knife up in the air. The tip of the blade points down at Dexter, ready to strike. He's easy pickings for a stabbing.

Dexter raises his arms up and out to his sides. The ring of tape dangles in his fingers. He presents himself for attack.

He offers, "Okay Deb, you can stab me now. Go ahead."

The knife in Debra's hand shakes in the air. She cries and yells, "I'll stab you! You're not strapping me up again. F*** your padded cell. F*** you frying my brain."

Dexter says, "I won't do any of that to you now. All I needed to know was that you wouldn't kill yourself. And I saw that you couldn't do it, with my own eyes, just now. You had the knife to your throat. But you stopped yourself. You chose not to do it."

Through angry tears she spits out, "I told you I'm not suicidal. Why didn't you believe me?"

Remorsefully, he says, "You're right. You told me as much and I wasn't listening. I feel horrible about doing all this to you. It pains me to see you like this."

Debra's knife is still held high in the air, poised for attack. It's still aimed at Dexter. She knits her eyebrows together and shakes her head. She venomously whimpers, "You acted sadistic. You acted crazy." As she says this she unconsciously makes small stabbing motions towards Dexter.

Dexter's eyes dart upward at the threatening blade. It shivers in air. In a reasonable tone he explains, "I snapped. I didn't know I could act that way, talk that way, especially to you. I don't know what came over me."

She says, "I'm afraid of you."

He says, "I don't blame you for feeling that way. But Deb, I gotta tell you something. A while back I found out something about Dad. It's something I never told you. Dad didn't die of a heart attack. Mathews told me he overdosed on his heart medication on purpose."

She gawks and says, "Dad killed himself? But why?"

He says, "It was because of me. Dad saw my killing in action. It drove him to take his own life. I was paranoid. I thought that the past was repeating itself. I thought my killing was driving you to commit suicide. Just like it did with Dad."

Debra protests, "But I'm not Dad!"

Dexter shakes his head and shrugs. Despondently he says, "I just thought... "

She says, "I'm my own person, Dexter. You can't project Dad's issues onto me."

He says, "I can see that now."

She says, "So you'll stop all this insanity? You'll let me go?"

He says, "Of course I'll let you go. It hurt me to hurt you. I just had to know you wouldn't hurt yourself. And now I know you won't."

She cautiously lowers the knife but keeps it in her hand. She says, "Okay then. I'll just get my things." She starts to walk around him.

He presents her with the masking tape and says, "Your neck, it's bleeding. Can I tape that up for you?"

She puts her hand to her neck. It feels wet. She then pulls her hand away and looks at it. To her surprise her hand is red with blood. She looks down her front. The red liquid had streamed down her body and soaked her clothes. She didn't even realize she was bleeding that much. While looking at the gory mess she stammers, "Uhh... sure."

He wraps the tape around her neck. He circles her neck with the makeshift bandage several times. It stops the blood flow. The second he's done he tosses the tape on the ground and opens his arms up for a hug. He asks, "Will you please forgive?"

She begrudgingly says, "Uhh... fine." The last thing she wants to do is hug him. But she's eager to get out of there. She figures the sooner she relented to a hug, the sooner she could leave.

She hugs him while she still has the knife in her hand. After the hug, Dexter gives her a lachrymose look. He pats the sides of her arms then holds her hands.

Dexter's hands are now on top of Debra's. The knife dangles from between her curled fingers. She smiles at Dexter awkwardly and nods. Forlornly, he smiles back at her. She moves their hands up and down in a hand shaking gesture. She hoping this last gesture will bring an end to this unwelcomed moment. Trying to end this exchange she interjects, "Well, I'll get going then." She steps to the side to pull away from him. His fingers go from resting on top of her hands, to circling around her wrists. His smile freezes on his face.

Her eyes go wide with fear. She pulls her arms back and yanks away from him as hard as she can. His grip tightens on her wrists. His frozen smile turns troubled. She jerks her whole body towards the door. Their arms raise up together as she pulls away, but his hands remain glued to her wrists. She yells, "What are you doing?! Let go of me!"

He shakes his head and says, "No. I won't let you hurt yourself."

Her eyebrows knit together. She exclaims, "But what you just said. What you just saw. I had the knife at my throat and I didn't do it."

He nods and says, "That's true. But most people would find slashing their throat quite a hard thing to do. It's much easier to swallow pills or pull a trigger. You've just proven all of that." He uses his firm grip on her to shake the knife outta her hand. The blunt side of the blade bounces off his shoe and then falls flat on the floor.

In wide eyed horror, she vigorously shakes her head. With a shrill voice she whimpers, "No."

He says, "I'm sorry. But whatever makes you not dead is what I'm doing." He kicks the knife across the room.

Tears well up in Debra's eyes and streak down her face. She sinks down to the floor crying.

Dexter finally lets go of her.

She puts her head in hands and shrinks up into a quivering ball.

He sits on the floor in front her. He looks at her with sympathy but doesn't say or do anything.

After a time Debra's crying subsides. She uncurls her body and takes her head outta her hands. She looks out the window, avoiding Dexter's worried gaze.

Hannah knocks at the door soon afterwards. She calls from outside, "Can we come back in now?"

Dexter calls back to her, "Yah Hannah, everyone can come back inside again."

Hannah and the kids come back inside.

Harrison walks in and sees his father and aunt sitting on the floor. Debra doesn't respond to anyone. She keeps her head turned towards the window. Debra's blood soaked clothes and neck are obscured from Harrison's view.

Harrison asks, "Daddy, did you get Aunt Deb to sip of her soup while we were gone?"

Dexter looks at his son and shakes his head. He then looks at his sister who's sitting on the floor. The blood from the neck cut had started to cake and dry on Debra's skin. A branching trail of blood ran down the front of her, staining her clothes. Dexter sighs heavily and wipes his hands down his face in aggravation.

If you enjoyed the story I'd love to hear a review from you. Of course it's always great to hear back from readers. But also I found that getting feed back can be helpful in both in terms of how I write, and how I present, my stories.

"Quality Family Time" is actually an excerpt from a much longer story called, "The Morgan Family Cabin." This longer story is about 75,000 words long and has fifteen chapters. This particular excerpt is from chapter seven, "Quality Family Time." I pulled five other excerpts from the long story and titled them as shorter stories. The titles of the other shorter stories are: "Dexter Moser meets Debra Morgan"(1k+), "Dexter Kidnaps Debra"(16k+), "Debra's Dream"(2k+), "Don't Jump the Fence"(1/2k), and "Debra's Rapist Gets the Ax"(5k+). I figured a lot of excerpts worked well as stand alone stories. Also while I breezing through other authors's fan fiction, I found smaller snippets of stories give you a better idea if you'd enjoy a larger story along the same lines.

I got into fan fiction just so I could write the story, "Debra's Rapist Gets the Ax." While watching TV show Dexter I came to believe that there was a hidden-back story in the show. And that this story was going to be revealed late into the last season. Of course this didn't happen but I still visioned that this story might go something like this: As kids Dexter kills Debra's rapist with an ax. And somehow one or both kids are made to forget this event.

All the other stories I wrote expanded from this original idea of mine.