I don't own criminal minds or its characters.
Just a quick story that I had to do real quick.
***warning: contains spanking of a child **** please do not read if that offends you.
Another night in the Morgan house and Tiffany has an attitude - again. Derrick had noticed that Tiff had become unusually surly over the last week or two. Ms. Claire had been off the last 3 weeks because of a family emergency out of state. She was so concerned when leaving because she wasn't sure Derrick and Tiff could make it. She had become everything to them - cooking, cleaning, mothering, and grandmothering. They loved her tremendously and she felt likewise. The problem was that they didn't know when she would be back and neither did she. Derrick tried to reassure her that they would be fine but sometimes he wondered if he was trying to reassure himself.
He was hoping that was the reason for Tiff's surliness but quite frankly he had had enough. "Tiff, how is your report coming along?" Tiffany very dismissively said, "it's fine," and with a huff she got up from the kitchen table and stormed off to her room. Derrick was left standing there wondering what the heck had just happened. He decided to give her until dinner to get herself together. They were going to have to have a serious discussion about this attitude.
After about an hour he called her down for dinner. She said she wasn't hungry. He went upstairs to her room. There he found her on the phone talking to one of her friends. He said, "Tiffany, it's time for dinner." She rolled her eyes and said into the phone, "hold on a sec." She then said to Derrick, "I said I wasn't hungry," with all of the snarkiness that a 12 year old girl could muster. Derrick took about 10 seconds to compose himself while staring at her (but she didn't see because she tried to act as if he wasn't there) and then he said through gritted teeth, "get off the phone NOW and get downstairs for dinner." With that, Tiffany looked over at him and registered the message shooting from his eyes and said into the phone, "I gotta go. Bye."
She got up and walked out the door passing him trying to maintain eye contact because his tone implied he was close to popping her. He was not above popping her on the behind when she pushed him too far and she suspected that she had crossed the line. She then hurried down the stairs to the kitchen table. Dinner was laid out already. It was baked chicken and salad, nothing too fancy. He asked her again about her book report. She rolled her eyes again and said, it's fine. He was so tired of this. "Tiffany, lets get a couple of things straight." She sighed loudly and looked away. "The first thing is that you will look at me when I'm talking to you." She looked at him but kind of cut her eyes to slits as if she was upset with him. "Second, you will drop the attitude while I'm talking to you. Not sure where you got the idea that that's okay. Not here, young lady. All that I'm doing is checking up on your progress with your schoolwork. That's my job as a parent. Now if that's a problem let me know." He looked at her waiting for a reply. She just sat there picking at her food. He decided to try a different tact. But before he could begin, he started chuckling. He was thinking to himself that he could find psychopaths without even seeing them because of his profiling ability but he can't figure out a teenage girl. Ridiculous, he thought.
"Tiffany, I've been trying to cut you some slack in terms of checking on your homework every day. I'm trying to let you grow up a bit and show responsibility. Have you noticed?" Tiffany was starting to relax a bit. She replied, "yes." Derrick continued, "so I have to check periodically to make sure that you're following through and that I don't need to help in some way. Do you understand?" She replied a bit hesitantly, "yes." "So, now," he continued, "how's your report coming along?" Tiffany started to tear up and her face was turning red. She looked down. "Tiffany?" Morgan asked bending his head down to search her face. "I haven't really started." Derrick grabbed his face and pulled in exasperation. "Haven't really started?" "No. I haven't really started." "Have you done any of the research?" "A little," she said contritely. "Go and get your agenda and all of your schoolwork including what you have for your report," he said with an edge to his voice that wasn't previously there. Again, Tiff detected the change and got right on it.
She returned with her belongings and the first thing Derrick asked about was the reports' due date. It was due 5 days from now. This was something that required at least 2 weeks of work. He didn't say anything at that moment because he was trying to be cool. He asked Tiffany what her plan was exactly for getting the assignment done and when was she going to tell him she was behind. She didn't really have one. It just seemed she was going to cram. So much of her grade was riding on this report and the fact that she blew it off just pissed him off. Truthfully, he was more upset with himself for trying to be some kind of new-agey dad when he should have just continued to be more of a taskmaster. No more, he determined. "We'll, Tiff, we have a lot to work to do to get this report done." "We?" "Yes, we. Obviously, I let you down because I wasn't checking on your work daily and Ms. Claire was not here to do it. Without daily check ins, you don't stay on track with your assignments." "But daddy, I did all of my other stuff." "Yes you did. And that's great. This however carries a lot of weight and you should have been working on this one too." Tiffany hung her head ashamed. He laid out the plan for Tiffany to get caught up. It involved no tv, no phone, and no computer unless it was for research and devoting 2-3 hours a night on it. Tiffany whined, "Daddy, it sounds like I'm grounded." "I wouldn't call it that. This is me helping you to get back on track. But this sticks until after the report is done." She started to pout. He added, "Oh, yeah and another thing. No movies for two weeks." At that, Tiffany quietly started crying. It became more intense. You see, Tiffany is a movie nut and she prided herself on seeing movies when they were first released. This was going to kill her. "Daddy, why" she asked tearfully. "That is punishment for not having your priorities straight." "Can I be excused?" "Yes as long as it's to start working on your paper." She left to go wash her face and she dragged herself back to start her work. She was very mopey but she started working in earnest.
The next 5 days passed very slowly for the both of them. Tiffany was insufferable with her sighing and occasional tears when she would be reminded to not even think about checking her e-mail and when she had to turn her phone in every day after school. Derrick could not tolerate another eye roll. She got her paper turned in and got a B- on it. Derrick reminded her that she could've done better if she would have put more time into it. He reminded her that she should be able to take pride in her work and her abilities and know that she gave her best effort on every assignment. He lifted the restrictions on everything but the movies. She had one more weekend to get through.
Derrick got the call that the BAU had a case in Colorado on a Thursday while Tiff was in school. He had previously made arrangements with her friend, Brittany's mom, Sheila, to be his backup when Ms Claire was not available. He and Ms Claire was her backup as well because she was a single mom without much family nearby. He called her to let her know that he needed her assistance. He let know that Tiffany was not allowed to go to the movies and that if they had plans that involved the movies Penelope Garcia could get her for a short period. Sheila reassured him that they had no such plans because strangely Brittany had pulled the same last minute stunt with her project as well and was similarly punished. He sent Tiff a message to let her know that he had to go on assignment and that she was to go to Brittany's after getting some things. He reminded her that she was not to do any movies this weekend.
Fortunately, the case was resolved by Sunday morning and the team was on their way back. He notified Sheila and said he would swing by to pick up Tiffany. He picked up Tiffany and there were hugs all around. He asked Sheila if she needed a free afternoon to recuperate but she just laughed and said that was sweet but she and Brittany were alright. Derrick asked Tiff how her weekend was and what did they do. "We just hung out around the house and went to the mall with Ms. Sheila and her friend." "Cool. Did you get anything?" "Just a pair of earrings and a scarf." "Cool. Did you start your homework?" "Finished it." "Excellent. Are you hungry?" "No. We ate about an hour ago." "How about we go by Emily's and take her out for ice cream." "That would be awesome."
They went by Emily's. She was so happy to see Tiffany and Tiffany her. They squealed like little girls hugging each other. They decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. They went back to Emily's afterwards and went inside. It was an awesome evening and Tiffany begged Derrick to let them stay over that night. He reminded her that it was a school night and that he didn't rest well sleeping on the couch. Emily teased calling him a party pooper and told her that if they were in town next weekend she would come and stay with her at their house. Maybe they could even go to the movies to celebrate her being off of movie punishment. Tiffany sighed loudly saying, "Daddy, you told her?" Emily interjected saying, "he tells me everything regarding you. So we will talk about all of the last week next weekend." "Ugh. Do we have to? I just want it to be over." She says this as she goes and plops down the sofa. Emily looks at her and says, "if your eyes go any further in your head..." She just shook her head and wondered if she was this insufferable as a teenager and then a thought occurred to her - Tiffany isn't even a real teenager yet. Derrick was going to have it rough. Derrick announced that it was time to go and Emily gave Tiffany a big hug. While she hugged her, she whispered to her that she should really work on her attitude and keeping her expressions of it in check. "Snarling is not a good look on you, Tiff." They both giggled and Tiffany said she would work on it.
When they got home, Derrick had Tiffany leave the clothes from her overnight bag in the laundry room which is on the way into the house from the garage. He dropped off the clothes from his go bag and they both went to get their hampers. He was going through the pockets in the clothes when he put his hands in the pocket of a pair of Tiff's pants and he pulled out a ticket stub to a movie. She went to the movies all the time so it wasn't unusual but he started thinking that he did laundry since she was on restrictions. He checked the date and it was from YESTERDAY. Oh, he was hot. He had to take two huge calming breaths.
Tiffany was on the sofa in the den texting one of her friends. Derrick asked Tiffany, "Who are you texting? Is it Brittany?" "No. It's not." "Oh. Well you should send her one saying, 'my dad found my movie ticket stub. We're busted." Tiffany gasped. And then she turned beet red. She knew she was dead meat. "How did you do this?" She started stumbling over words and Derrick stopped her saying, "Tiffany don't think of lying to me. Your omission of this little tidbit has me pissed already." She took a deep breath and told him how they did it. They were at the mall with Sheila and her friend and they were given 2 hours to walk around alone. So they ran around to the movies and saw which of the new movies had just started and bought a ticket for it. They were able to get back in time. Derrick just stared at her amazed at their deception. He was thinking he would've never known if not for doing the laundry and, thankfully in this case, Tiffany's carelessness. "You really need to send Brittany that message. You need to put in it that she has 5 minutes to tell her mother and have her call me. I'm calling after that." "Yes, sir." She sent the message. They sat there in silence waiting for the call. After 5 minutes, Derrick asked Tiffany to call her. She did and Tiffany was trying to talk in hushed tones, but Derrick took the phone and very firmly, "Brittany, you need to be walking to your mother as we speak to let her know what you did. If not, the next time you see me, it won't be pleasant. " Brittany replied whining, "Mr Derrick I can't. She will kill me." Derrick then told her, " you will. I am texting her with my phone now to let her know that you have something to tell her. I am trying to give you the opportunity to tell her yourself. It goes over a lot better hearing it from you versus hearing it from someone else. Now go, otherwise I'm hitting send." He waited a few to hear if she was doing as she was told but she didn't. He hit send on the text and told her that Tiffany was grounded effective immediately and hung up the phone.
He told Tiffany to go up to her room and wait for him. She got up and walked very slowly with her head hung low saying, "I'm so sorry Daddy." It's a bit late for that he thought. He told her just to hurry up. He called Emily and told her what happened. She could not believe it. She had only spanked Tiffany that one time for stealing candy but if she was there now she would have been compelled to pop her. Derrick expressed his supreme frustration with Tiffany. The most bothersome part of this was the deception involved. Oh he wished Ms Claire was there because she's raised a girl and might not be surprised by this. He would not call her because she was handling a serious family matter and he didn't want to bother her with such things. He knew this was typical of a teenage girl to test the limits but this was dangerous. He just went on and on. He did calm down some just by getting it out. He told Emily he would see her tomorrow and for her to get some sleep. Emily told him to not be too too hard on Tiffany. Emily knew however that Tiffany was going to get killed.
He went upstairs to Tiffany's room. She was sitting on the bed crying. "Why are you crying now," he asked. Sobbing, she replied, "because I'm sorry that I disobeyed you." "I'm having a hard time believing that you're sorry for disobeying me, Tiff. If you were sorry for that you would not have disobeyed me in the first place or you would have at least told me early on. You probably would still would have been in trouble but at least I would know that you would confess of your own volition. I mean to say you would've told me on your own. I believe you're sorry that you got caught." She started crying harder. Derrick asked her, "do you remember why you couldn't go to the movies for two weeks?" She answered, "because I had not done my schoolwork the way I was supposed to. " "Exactly. So did you think your punishment was supposed to be shorter or was somehow unjust? Don't answer that," he says as he put his hand up in a stop sign and moved further into the room. "It doesn't matter. The punishment is the punishment unless I tell you otherwise, and it is not for you to change it according to your whims. Do you understand me." She nods her head. He looks at her in a way that she's familiar with that says "speak up." She then says, "yes sir. I understand."
With that, he took his belt off and motioned for her to get up and lay over the bed face down. "Do not turn over or we start over. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." He began to swat her backside and she cried out on the first hit. He swatted her again and she cried again and started to sob. She was starting to squirm but he put his hand on her back to keep her from getting up. He started lecturing her while spanking her saying, "you knew you were wrong (smack) when you decided (smack) to go to the movie (smack). You knew (smack) that you were grounded (smack) and that you weren't supposed (smack) to even think about a movie (smack). " At this point, she couldn't take it the pain that had built up in her butt and wriggled out from Derrick's grasp, standing up and rubbing her butt while bouncing from leg to leg. He put the belt down and went over to her dresser picked up her brush. He took Tiffany by the waist with his left arm making her face back with her right were he needed her to finish her spanking. As much as he wanted to make her drop her jeans because she really deserved to be spanked on her underwear or even on the bare for what she did, he felt he was making his point just fine. He continued saying, "If you ever (smack) pull (smack) a stunt (smack) like this (smack) EVER (smack smack smack) AGAIN (smack extra hard for emphasis) I will make you remove your pants (smack smack smack). Tiffany was practically screaming after that and her legs were all over the place. Because Derrick was so strong she was not able to fall to the ground to try to get away from the spanking that she was getting. He released her and made her look at him. "Tiff do understand me when I tell you that I will not tolerate this kind of behavior from you. You are a good girl and you can do better than this. Do you understand." She nodded her head while vigorously rubbing her behind. "You are not punished often but when I do punish you, I believe it's fair. When you do stuff like this it upsets me. It makes me feel like you're capable of bigger escapades and that I won't be able to trust you. I don't like that feeling. We're going to have to work on that. Go wash your face and meet me downstairs." He put the brush back and left the room. He heard start crying all over again. He gave her some time.
When she came downstairs after about 15 minutes, she looked contrite. He took her in a big hug and kissed her on top of her head. "Good girl, bad decision," he cooed. She hugged him back saying, "I know, Daddy. I won't do it again." He said, " I know you won't, baby girl." He invited her to sit down on the couch as he handed her book bag. She got out her school agenda for him to check her work over the last few days. He told her that he wanted her to write a letter of apology to Sheila for what she did. He checked his phone but there were no messages from Sheila and he wondered if Brittany did what she was told. He would deal with her another day. He did have a voicemail from Ms. Claire. She said she would be back midweek. He shared the news with Tiffany and they hugged. They needed her back. That news could not have come at a better time.