Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own anything except for this idea, but unfortunately not any of the characters from the show.

Rating: K+ (I don't know ratings very well, but I don't intend on making this story for older audience. This story is mostly all about humor nothing else.

Setting: This takes place during Derek's and Casey's senior year. Frankly, the time doesn't play much of a role. I just thought it would be a bit more appropriate instead of when they're 15 or 16 years old, and you'll figure out the reasons when you read this.

Summary: Today was just like any other day, that is until dinner came, giving Derek and Casey the most shocking news of their lives… from Nora? This is the one side of Nora (and George) that nobody has ever seen before.

Author Notes: This is just something humorous that was stuck in my brain for the past few months and I have finally decided to write it out. Hope you enjoy.

The Shock of a Lifetime

By: True Love Lives Forever

Chapter 1: Deal

Today was a completely normal day, just like any other day.

"Derek, if you don't tell me where my make-up is right this very second, I'm going to KILL YOU!" The yelling belonged to none other than a very angry teenage girl from the second floor, her voice resounding throughout the two-story house.

Yep, there's nothing extraordinary about this day, indeed. After all, it is the McDonald-Venturi household we are talking about, where two crazed teenagers are constantly bickering and getting at each others' throats.

This is the kind of life that Nora McDonald and George Venturi have gotten used to over the past three years. It was difficult, to say the very least. After all, who would want to live in a zoo, or better phrased, who in their right mind would want to live in a zoo? They were actually quite surprised that their older children's nonstop fighting hasn't driven them completely insane and straight into a mental institution. Yet, here they were, sitting at the kitchen table on a Thursday morning in the middle of December, patiently waiting for the kids to come downstairs for breakfast before heading off to school.

In a way, school seemed like a blessing for the parents. After all, it is thanks to school that they got a bit of peace and quiet around the house. Granted they were at work for the majority of that time, but nonetheless, it helped a bit – homework taking up some time from the days during which the kids could run around the house screaming for God knows what, yet instead spending some of it on education. Well, that didn't apply to everyone, and unfortunately that somebody loved to wreak havoc around the house the most. Speaking of whom…

Derek jogged downstairs, laughing the whole way about an obvious successful prank on the teenager of the house. Right before Derek got the chance to sit down at the table and face his scrambled eggs and bacon that he grew to love in the mornings, a disheveled Casey bounded down the stairs after him, fuming like a tea kettle at the highest of temperatures.

"Derek, I can't believe you. It's been three years. Count them, three," she said as she threw three of her fingers in the air toward the addressee. "Three years and you..." She didn't get the chance to finish her thought as Derek interrupted her as always.

"Yes, Casey, I know how to count to three. I'm not a child."

That got Casey going, "Oh really? You're not a child? Then how come you act like an immature four-year-old who doesn't know right from wrong, and you can't even keep a girlfriend for more than a month. I'm surprised they even last that long! You're a complete moron!"

Derek laughed through her insults, which didn't seem to change much over the years, and tried to come up with a good, witty comeback. Just then, Edwin and Lizzie walked into the kitchen, mumbling something along the lines of "What is it about this time?" and then sat down, saying "Morning" to Nora and George, who didn't pay much attention to the fighting whatsoever. George continued reading his morning newspaper with far more interest than listening to the morning fight that was inevitable, sipping his coffee every once in a while. Nora, in the meantime, finally got the time to sit down at the table and eat after having made enough of food for everyone.

That's when a light bulb lit up in Derek's seemingly small brain and he grinned mischievously, bringing up what he knew would piss off his dearest stepsister. "First off, girls love going out with me because they love me," he started off, grinning more and more by the second. "I'm funny, entertaining, fun-loving, and let's not forget my good looks," he continued, emphasizing his appearance before he got to the juicy part, noticing Casey's scowl spread all over her face as she was trying really hard not to throw something his way to prove how wrong he was. "You, on the other hand, are something else. It's you who obviously can't get past three," with a chuckle, adding, "three boyfriends that is. Obviously, Sam, Max, and Noel never got to see you in the mornings, when you can be used as a decoration for Halloween, probably as a scary, wicked witch." After pretending to think for a second, he added, "Or maybe that's one of the main reasons you can't get a boyfriend to last long?"

The look on Casey's face was priceless to Derek, but the sudden growl of pure anger wiped the grin right from his face. Then suddenly, Casey moved from the kitchen doorway to the table, grabbed a piece of bread laying in the middle of it, and before anyone could register what was going on, whacked it at Derek's head. He yelped out in surprise and was about to throw his piece of bacon at her when George finally caught sight of the two and interjected, knowing that if he didn't, a nasty food fight would start before his very eyes, and in the morning of all times.

"Ok, that's enough," he said, his voice loud enough to make them realize he's not playing. "I don't care what you do, but you've got to work out your differences already. I've got a huge case tomorrow for which I need to prepare for in a quiet place and you two make that impossible. But today is going to be different, got it?"

"Don't look at me. He always starts it!" Yelled an annoyed Casey at the same time as Derek blamed her for the same deed. After a sideways glance at his stepsister, Derek tried reasoning with his father, "Why can't you stay at work today and get ready there?"

"Because the office is being repainted and I would rather not die from that nasty smell of paint. This is it. You two better get along today when I get back, or you're both grounded." George wasn't really mad as he spoke, he was simply desperate. Desperate to get some peace for at least one day which could determine how well he does in court on his huge case. Was that too much to ask for? Knowing Derek and Casey, that's probably impossibly, but still, that doesn't mean he has no right to ask for it.

Casey interrupted his thoughts by her sigh of defeat and an icy glare towards Derek. "It won't matter. Emily is coming over and we're watching a movie toge-" She didn't even get a chance to finish as she was interrupted by Derek for the second time in mere minutes. "There's no way. Sam is coming over and we are watching a hockey game."

Hands on hips, stubbornness all over her face, Casey moved closer to his stool at the table as he started getting up. "NO! Emily is coming and that's that!"

"NO! Sam is coming over!"

"NO! Emily!"

"NO! SAM!!"

Everyone in the kitchen kept glancing from Derek to Casey, back and forth, until Marti skipped down the stairs thanks to all of the commotion, enthusiasm written all over her little face, and sat down next to Derek's stool. It was impossible to miss this fight and even though she had no clue as to why there was a fight, she liked it. After all, silence was not something Marti enjoyed.

After a few more seconds of this ridiculousness, George couldn't take it anymore. "Can't you agree on anything?"

In response, Casey yelled "No" at the same time as Derek screamed "Yes."

This was hopeless, seriously hopeless. Nora decided to intervene and help out her husband. "Nobody is watching TV today, or for the rest of the week. You both are grounded. And THAT's final."

"WHAT?" The two teenagers were shocked, but the rest of the family saw it coming, except for Marti who missed all the main points of this wonderful "discussion."

Before they could say, or rather scream anything else, Nora continued, now that she had their attention, "George is right. You two have to stop and you have to stop now. You can bring over Sam and Emily, but no TV. Got it?"

Casey and Derek glanced in each other's direction before reluctantly nodding.

"Good. Now get ready for school. You've got 7 minutes before the bus gets here."

With that, Derek ate the last of his bacon that has somewhat cooled in all of the lost time before catching up to Casey who was at the stairs and shoving her shoulder lightly. She, of course, returned the favor and they continued like that all the way to the top of the stairs, with the addition of some grunting and hushed whispers of whose fault it all was.

A minute later, Lizzie and Edwin followed their older siblings and went upstairs to get ready for school, arguing over what to watch on TV for the next week, since now there won't be as many kids in a fight over the remote.

George and Nora watched everyone but Marti leave the kitchen and sighed with relief. Another morning, another fight. What else is new? But despite it being the same, old problem, it was still annoying and needed to stop.

"I can't believe them," George broke the silence. "Three years have gone by and they're still at it."

With a small chucked, Nora couldn't help but add, "Yeah, and it's getting worse and worse by the minute."

George scoffed. "Try by the second." They both chuckled at that and Marti looked up at them from her breakfast. "But it won't be fun if they got all quiet. I don't like quiet." Typical Marti.

George stood up, folded his newspaper and turned to his wife. "We've tried grounding them before. Hundreds of times, I might add, and that never worked. What are we supposed to do?"

"How about something creative?" George looked up at his wife, who still sat at the table, now drinking her coffee. He had no idea what she meant, but her eyes put him on guard. Her eyes were shining mischievously… like Derek's.

"What do you mean? We are seriously running out of options." Sighing for dramatic effect, he confessed, "I've even been considering sending them to a therapist to work out their issues, but I don't know if that will help. You know, I'd actually pay someone to get them to agree on at least one thing for a couple of hours today. They NEVER agree on anything. Besides, some serenity is way overdue. I desperately need it."

"Oh really?" Nora's playful voice surprised him and he decided to figure out where this was going.

"Yeah. What do you have in mind?"

Marti curiously listened to the conversation between her Dad and step mom, almost pretending like she didn't exist for the first time. After all, it's not like her to just sit tight and wait for something to happen. Playing around, making potions, and screaming was closer to her liking.

"How much would you pay?" George shifted his weight to his right foot as he leaned on the counter and looked straight at Nora, with a facial expression that clearly read "confused for eternity."

"What are you talking about?"

"How much would you pay to get them to agree on something?"

He still wasn't sure where this was going, but his brain definitely started to whirl around into the right direction. "I don't know. Why? What do you have in mind?"

"I'll tell you, but first, how much?"

"I don't know." The look on her face convinced him to drop it, so halfheartedly, he gave in. "I don't know… 20 bucks, I guess. I never really thought about it."

"Let's make it 40, and we've got a deal."

Looking his wife in the eye, he couldn't believe where she was going with this. While before he was simply confused, now he was surprised and confused. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Yep. I can use $40, plus I want some time from their bickering too."

"But there's no way you can get them to agree on anything. They're impossible."

With a sly grin, she shook her head. "Oh, but I bet I could."

George couldn't believe what he was hearing.

After a moment, George argued his point of view – he was a lawyer and that was in his blood after all, "If you could, you would have tried it a long time ago."

She simply shook her head, though he could have sworn he saw some doubt in her eyes flash for a mere second. He let that go and after the initial shock passed, he decided that it couldn't possibly hurt. So what if he lost $40? She was his wife after all, and they both contributed to the family's income

"Fine. Deal." With that he extended his hand, which she shook almost immediately. "You've got until 8 pm and by then, they better agree on something." He without doubt believed that Nora had no idea what she was getting into. Casey and Derek have been fighting for years, and as far as he knew, they haven't agreed on anything. Well, except for that time when D-Rock was practicing for Clash of the Bands and Casey said they sucked, and surprisingly, Derek agreed. But that was because he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his school. Other than that, they never agreed – not on food, definitely not on manners or dating habits, books (yeah right, has Derek even read one?), music (no again). There really wasn't that much else.

But oh well, he might as well let Nora try. Who knows, maybe, just maybe she'll succeed. At that second, he brought himself back to reality by his wife.

"Deal." Right after saying that, Nora looked at the clock and automatically returned to her normal self. "Oh, Georgie, we're going to be late for work. Fast. Let's get Marti ready and get on the road."

As if on cue, Marti jumped up from the stool, yelled that she's done eating, and then went upstairs to get ready, just as the older kids were making their way downstairs. Nora decided she'll do the dishes once she gets back and went after Marti, noticing that this time, Casey didn't look so disheveled anymore and apparently, she somehow forced Derek into giving back her make-up. How that happened was beyond her and she didn't have the time to question anything, like what happened on the second floor while she was busy having a betting discussion with George. As the older kids rushed out the door and Nora made it to Marti's room, she couldn't help but wonder about the possibilities she could cook up for today for her little bet. This wasn't like her and she knew that.

But if she was going to go through with this bet, she needed a plan.

This chapter was more of an introduction into what will happen next. I don't plan on making the story long, just a few chapters. Please, tell me what you guys think through a review. You have no idea how much that will mean to me.

P.S. For those of you who read "Twists and Lies," I will continue it shortly. Now please REVIEW!