Annie put the phone receiver down and looked at her cup of coffee. It was now lukewarm. She poured it down the sink and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to lose her temper. It would achieve absolutely nothing. She walked to the bottom of the stairs.
"Olivia Trudy Winger, I would like to see you in the kitchen right now."
Annie walked back to the kitchen, sat down and waited for the youngest twin to appear.
"Hey mum, what's up?"
"Sit down Livy we need to talk."
"Look mum I'm sorry. I know you bought those red vines for dad and I shouldn't have taken them."
"What?"
"What?"
"Livy did you take your father's red vines?"
"Yes mum. Look I'm really sorry I know..."
"Annie cut her off. Livy this is more important than the red vines. I just had a phone call from your social science teacher. It seems that you have a diorama to hand in tomorrow."
"Yes mum I do."
"Well could you tell me where it is? I don't believe I've seen you work on it once this week."
"That's because I haven't done it."
"YOU HAVEN'T DONE IT!" Annie shrieked. "What are thinking? Do you not care about your grades?"
"I care mum. I've done the paper that accompanies the diorama and it's good enough to get me a C."
"A C! Your better than a C. "
"I know mum, but its only Professor Duncan's class. Dad says what that man could teach you, could be written on a grain of sand. Plus I only need to pass his class and I could do that with a C."
"But Livy, you can't just coast through school. You have to take your education seriously."
"Mum look at you. You're getting worked up over Duncan's class. Plus I can't do a diorama on Greek civilization in one night. I'll just take the C and work harder in another project."
Olivia stood up and went to walk away.
"Livy dear..."
"Yeh yeh mum I know. I'm grounded. No phone, no TV. and no going out. You'll discuss the length of time when dad gets home."
Annie simply stared at the table. She could not get over the fact that she was choosing a C and not reaching for the top. She had really taken after Jeff and was happy to coast through school. Well Annie was not going to let that happen. She got up, grabbed her coat and bag and went to the front door. As she passed the living room she popped her head in and spoke to her eldest twin.
"Abby I'm popping out for a bit. I'll be back in half an hour. Your sister's grounded so you know the rules. You're in charge."
"With this she walked out and headed to the shops."
Jeff walked in and greeted Abby.
"Hiya Princess."
"Hi dad."
"Where is everyone?"
"Livy's grounded and mum's in the kitchen waiting for you."
Jeff let out a loud groan. "What's happened now?"
"Don't know, but Livy's sulking in her room and mum's got her formidable face on."
Jeff looked at the kitchen. "Right better get this over with."
Jeff walked into the kitchen and saw Annie leaning over something on the table.
He wrapped his arm round her waist.
"Hiya babe. What you doin?"
Annie simply shrugged Jeff off and continued working. Jeff to a close look at what she was working on.
"Babe isn't that the diorama we did on ancient Rome."
"Yes and now we've got to turn it into ancient Greece. Come on. I've written down what needs to be done on that sheet of paper."
"Wait what? Why are we doing this? Annie the girls are still up, we can't recreate our supply closet days."
Annie turned around and smacked his chest.
"No Jeff. We're doing this cause your daughter has got the idea that she can coast through school on a C."
"She what?"
"She didn't do a diorama for her class and now we have to do it or she'll fail."
"Why do you keep saying we?"
"Because I can't finish this alone."
"But Annie I've had a hard day at work. I just wanna veg out in front of the TV."
"Jeffrey Tobias Winger, you are going to stay here and you are going to help me finish this diorama. Besides this is all your fault."
"How did you figure that out?"
"Cause the genes to avoid doing school work weren't passed down from me!"
Jeff just sighed and picked up the list.
"You know Annie isn't this cheating. I mean we're doing Livy's work for her. That isn't right."
Annie rolled her eyes at Jeff.
"Jeff do you know what's gonna happen if Livy gets a C?"
"No. What?"
"Her GPA will fall and she won't get into a good high school and she'll end up at Greendale!"
Jeff muttered a few choice words under his breath and then grabbed a paint brush.
"Come on Annie, you should order some pizza for dinner. This looks like it could be an all nighter."
Annie tried to hide the smile on her face. She forgot how easy it was to manipulate Jeff sometimes.
Annie looked up at Jeff and let out a little sigh.
"What was that for?" Jeff asked.
"It was nothing."
Jeff just lifted an eyebrow.
"Fine I was just remembering how often we used to do this. And I didn't realise how much I missed it."
"Annie, we're making a diorama. Seriously you miss this?"
"Not the diorama making, but you know the spending times with our friends. We don't seem to do it that often now."
"Babe, that's cause we have two 13 year olds, who seem to take up a lot of our time."
"Jeff they don't take up our time."
"Care to explain why I'm at my dining table on a Thursday evening, making a diorama?"
"OK you may have a point there. But it's still nice to be doing this together."
"I know babe. The feeling mutual for me." Jeff stood up and stretched his back. "You know what I don't miss? The visits to the ER."
"There weren't that many Jeff!"
"Annie we had five separate incidents, where you and I managed to glue ourselves together. On the fifth occasion that doctor gave us a 30mins demonstration on how to use the super glue safely."
"Yeh well if you paid attention to the work, rather than looking at me, we wouldn't be stuck together."
Annie casually flicked her wrist and some paint almost hit Jeff.
"Hey hey hey, watch the shirt missy!"
A mischievous smile grew on Annie's face. "Well you could always take your shirt off, you know paint topless."
Jeff smirked at that thought. "Well it wouldn't be right with me doing it alone. Maybe you should remove your shirt as well."
"Eww! Gross!"
Both Annie and Jeff turned their heads at the door. Abby was standing there looking disgusted.
"I just wanted a snack, but thanks for ruining my appetite."
She went back upstairs. As she reached the top they could hear her shout "well done Livy! You've managed to make mum and dad regress into horny teenagers."
Jeff and Annie just looked at each other and burst out laughing.
It was late at night and Jeff and Annie were still working.
"Jeff, we still haven't discussed Livy's punishment."
"I thought you grounded her."
"Yes I did, but I haven't decided on how long for."
"Maybe two weeks?"
"Sweetie, she still doesn't understand what she did wrong. I don't think two weeks will cut it. I was leaning more towards a month."
"Annie it's not like she killed a person. A month is maybe a bit excessive."
"She also ate all your red vines."
"Six months. Yes we're grounding her for six months!"
"Six months? Now who's being a bit excessive! We're grounding her for a month and that's it."
Jeff just stood there fuming about his red vines.
The next morning Livy came downstairs to find Jeff and Annie asleep at the kitchen table.
She put on a pot of coffee and woke them up. When they had had a few sips and were awake she decided to speak to them.
"Mum, dad, I first want to say sorry about making you guys do all my work last night. It was wrong and unfair on you."
"Thank you sweetie." Annie replied. "But your punishment still stands. You are grounded for a month."
"Plus another two weeks for eating my vines." Jeff interrupted.
"Six weeks. That's... That's...Fine!" she took a deep breath and looked directly at Annie. "Mum if I got a C, would that be the end of the world? Would you stop loving me?"
Annie gasped at what she had just heard. "What! Why would you say that dear? Where did you even get that thought?"
Livy just shrugged and turned to Jeff. "Dad if I take in this diorama, that you and mum made, wouldn't it be cheating on my part. It's almost like faking a law degree"
Jeff raised an eyebrow towards Livy. She just continued
"Mum, dad. I made a mistake. You can't keep on cleaning up after me. I will take whatever punishment Professor Duncan gives me and I will make this up to you guys. I know you both love me, but you have done a great job on raising me. It's time to put some trust in your skills as parents and let me fix this. I promise I won't let you down again."
Annie and Jeff both rushed forward and pulled Livy into an embrace. Livy started to break free from them.
"Mum, dad stop it! You're wrinkling my dress." She managed to wriggle loose. "Nice one guys, now I have to get changed again. Not to mention re-do my hair. It took me 20mins this morning to get it right."
With that she stomped back upstairs. Annie looked over at Jeff and noticed tears beginning to form in his eyes. She walked over to him and cupped his face.
"Jeff you should be proud of her. We've done a good job in raising her."
Jeff just looked down at Annie and smiled at her.
"Annie did you hear what she said. I am proud of her. She just gave her first Winger speech."
Annie just laughed and rolled her eyes. She went to move away.
"Ummm Jeff, we may have a slight problem!"
Dr Daniels looked at his patients chart and read the names. "Winger. Humm... Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time."
He walked into the cubical Jeff and Annie sitting there, with Annie's hand stuck on Jeff's cheek.
"18 years and you two still haven't learnt how to use the super glue!"
