Title: Cliffnotes June 7, 2000 Guest
Author: Shannon
E-mail: greensprout2000@aol.com
Feedback: yes
Category: humor, family
Spoilers: none
Season/sequel/series: Cliffnotes
Rating: G
Content warnings: none
Summary: In Cliffnotes
Archive: The Wanderings, ELF Command, Avant Guard, WWOMB, anyone else ask g
Disclaimer: Dont' own them, never have never will, but Chance owns the Cliffnotes series g
Author's notes: Ths is Chance again G Shannon drabbled more in Cliffnotes and came up with this. I love it g
****
Robert Bridger looked at the pile of hard-boiled eggs he'd already helped his little brother dye for Easter and suddenly grinned. He'd just had the most brilliant idea, if he did say so himself. "Hey, Little J," he whispered, making sure their mother couldn't hear, "want to trick Mom?"
Staring up at his older brother, Lucas nodded. If Robert had asked him to jump off a bridge, the five-year-old would have agreed. He absolutely worshipped his big brother and would follow him anywhere.
His mom would probably kill him, Robert thought, but it would be worth it if it made Lucas laugh. The little boy had been rather subdued since their dad had to leave for his sea tour two weeks ago. He figured his mom would forgive him if it took Lucas' mind off of missing his daddy. Besides, if he was lucky, she'd blame their father anyway, since he was the one responsible for starting this prank.
Opening her refrigerator door a while later, Carol Bridger did not whether to laugh or cry. This was supposed to have been the year she was safe. The longer she stared, the more sunk in: like the fact she had sat there, while they did this right under her nose. The sudden giggling fits of her younger son and the willingness of both sons to clean up the mess from dyeing Easter eggs should have been clues, she realized, they never _volunteered_ to clean. "Robert Tyler Bridger," she began, knowing who had been the ringleader.
The use of his full name did not bode well, Robert realized and he strove to look properly apologetic. He knew his lips were twitching from the effort not to laugh at her expression. The only thing missing was having his dad there to see it.
"We tricked you, Mommy!" Lucas crowed happily.
If only she hadn't turned around, then she might have been able to sustain her outrage long enough to chastise them, Carol decided. Having them stare back at her with their mischievous grins made it very difficult to do anything but shake her head in defeat. "You two are worse than your father," she said, knowing they would take it as praise and allowed a smile to break out on her face.
"We tricked you!" Lucas repeated, still excited by their success.
"Yes, you did," Carol agreed, hugging him. If she been seriously upset, Lucas' obvious delight in having pulled off the joke with his brother would have banished it. Tickling the little boy, she shot her oldest a grateful look. She'd have to be blind not to realize one of Robert's reasons for doing this had been to cheer up his little brother. Not that she assigned purely altruistic motives to his actions. Like his father, he loved a good prank, especially at her expense.
Plus, as much as she hated to, Carol had to admit it was rather funny. Her sons had managed to carry out Nathan's tradition of coloring _all_ the eggs in the house including the uncooked one that had been in the refrigerator, all while she sat supervising them. Which was the most embarrassing part of it, realizing that she had never noticed what they were doing. Although there were ways of distinguishing between the cooked and raw eggs, she never managed it when she was in a hurry. More than once in previous years, she had started to peel an egg only to discover it wasn't hard-boiled. Nathan, of course, managed to pick what he needed without any trouble. However, he wouldn't be around to pack Robert's lunch this coming week, Carol thought, her smile widening. After all, there was no reason she had to suffer through this alone.