This is my birthday present to a good friend of mine: Batel.
Happy birthday! May it better than ever and I wish you all the best.
This quick one-shot is set 15 years in the future with Sam parenting an adolescent Scout, after Scout wound up in a heap of trouble.
There's Samlexis and Sam/Scout (don't know the ship name for them).
Enjoy and please review!
"Don't 'mom' me! You are to do all the chores in the house for two weeks. And on the weekends, you can do all the mundane filing for Aurora." Sam yelled as she pulled her 15 year old daughter by the ear, into the house.
"Everyone is overreacting, mom!"
"No one is overacting to anything here!"
"You did so much worse when you were younger. Gosh, dad always has a ton of stories about you and him spending nights at the PCPD!"
"That, in no way shape or form, means you need to emulate us!"
"It wasn't even my fault!"
"What!? It wasn't 'your' fault. Was it the lock on the door that just magically unlocked itself and let you in? Did the laws suddenly change and now the victims of break-ins are the people breaking-in?"
"I was NOT breaking in!"
"Then what were you doing? Please, I'd love to know," she asked with a sarcastic tone and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"Ugh, you don't understand the situation."
"Clearly!" she threw her hands in the air.
"Ok, ok, ok. Let's all take a breather here," Alexis had heard the commotion from the upstairs bedroom and came down to see what the ruckus was all about. "What happened?"
"What happened, mom, what happened? Scout got arrested, that's what happened!" Sam said, looking away from Scout and walking towards the sofa.
"What!" was all Alexis could manage to say.
"Yes, I had to go pick her up from the PCPD. She broke in to the Ewing's home. The parents agreed to drop the charges if Scout gives them a written apology, returns anything that was stolen…"
"I didn't steal anything," Scout interrupts.
"and to stay 100 yards away from their property at all times." Sam finished.
"Scout!" Alexis turned to her granddaughter.
"Grandma, you don't understand."
"Clearly!"
"That's what I said," Sam replies. "You know what Scout. Chores in the house for 4 weeks and when you're not doing chores or homework, you're being grounded. I'm taking all your electronic devices away. No cellphone, no laptop."
"Grandma, you can't let her do this!" Scout looked to her grandma for help but was afraid she may not be so lucky.
"You know what Scout? Why don't you just go up to your room and do your homework. I'll talk to your mom and maybe when we've all calmed down, we can talk about your reasonings as to what you did and the consequences," Alexis suggested.
"Oh, thank you thank you thank you grandma," Scout ran up to Alexis and threw her arms around her. She knew that sometimes her grandmother had a way of reasoning with her mom.
"Don't even think your grandmother is going to talk me out of disciplining you!"
"Go up to your room," Alexis whispered in Scout's ear and she happily obliged. She headed for the stairs but not before being interrupted by her mother.
"Leave your book bag here," Sam said and, rather than adding more fuel to the fire, Scout dropped her bag, that held her smart phone and laptop, to the ground before running to her room. Alexis turned to Sam.
"I hate to say it Sam, but little miss Scout is turning into a mini Sam."
"Argh, I don't understand mom! She's doing so well in school. Never got into any trouble; the sweetest girl in class. She always had a bit of a mischievous side to her, right from the day she was born, I could see it in her eyes, but mom, ever since the teenage hormones kicked in, it's been crazy. Suddenly she's constantly up in her room. She won't tell me what's happening in school or who her latest crush is. She no longer wants to go shopping with me, preferring to go with friends instead." Sam rambled and slumped down into the couch.
"The teenager years are notoriously difficult, honey," Alexis took a seat next to her daughter.
"I don't know what to do?" Sam said, frustrated. "I don't want her to go down this path. I don't want her to be mixing in with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble and being in and out of jail. It's not the life I want for her."
"Do you remember when Kristina entered her teenage years?"
"Gosh, she was a mess."
"Well… she was," Alexis looked for a way to defend her middle child, "yeah, she was a mess."
"She ran off to Mexico with Michael thinking that all her problems would magically disappear." Sam reminded her
"Right, and how did I react?" Alexis asked.
"You were a helicopter mom. At first you were simply happy to see Kristina back from Mexico but then you began taking everything away. Phone, car etc."
"Right, and how did Kristina react?"
"Not well." Sam answered.
"And when you first came to live with me after I had found out you were my daughter?"
"You hovered over me." Sam answered again, understanding the overall theme.
"And how did that make you feel?"
"I felt like I was being suffocated."
"How do you think Scout will feel after you take away all her privileges and hover over her?"
"I get it, mom. But I can't just let this go. I don't want her to think that this is acceptable behavior."
"I know, I know." Alexis moved to grab Sam's hands. "I'm just trying to show you that maybe you should go about this 'discipline thing' differently than what I've done. Try a different angle. Talk to her. Get an idea of what she is feeling, what's going on and what led her to breaking in."
"Ok…" Sam mulled over the suggestions.
"And then come to me and tell me why in the world Scout would break into that house!?" Alexis exclaimed, and Sam laughed.
"I have a feeling it's boy trouble."
"Isn't it always." Alexis rolled her eyes.
"We can certainly relate," Sam laughed again.
"Don't even mention it. Anyway, back to Scout, talk to her. You've been crazy busy with Aurora Media, and I'm not saying it's wrong, but perhaps Scout needs a little more mommy time and you both don't know it." Alexis advised.
"You know, I have the best mother on the planet," Sam reached over and wrapped her arms around Alexis.
"Remember that you said that the next time I fall head over heels in love with another mob boss," Alexis joked.
"There won't be a next time! Our family has been cleansed of mob bosses!" Sam pointed the finger at her mother.
"Don't worry cookie, I'm happily dating in the non-mob boss category of tinder."
"Wow," Sam hurled her head into her hands, embarrassed her mother knew of such an app and for making such a joke.
"Alright then. I'll be heading out of here," Alexis stood up and walked towards the coat closet.
"Wait mom! Why were you here in the first place?" Sam had realized that her mother had been in the house when she and Scout and was too caught up in what was the ensuing drama to ask why Alexis was there.
"Oh, I was just here to drop off some legal papers for Aurora Media. I placed them in your office upstairs." Alexis replied simply.
"Ok, thank you."
"Come here, give mom a great big old hug. And, honey, Scout has the best mother on the planet. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently."
"Knock knock, can I come in?" Sam asked calmly and quietly.
"Yes, I guess, it's your house." Scout rolled her eyes.
"Why don't we try this again?" Sam closed the door, but not before giving her a stern eye. Again, "knock knock, can I come in?"
Scout smiled a little and nodded her head. Having been laying on her bed, she pulled herself into a seating position.
"I want to talk to you now that I'm over my initial shock and anger over the situation."
"Mom…" Scout started, wanting to defend herself.
"Scout, I didn't come here to argue. I just want to have a conversation. You told me earlier that I didn't understand."
Scout looked down at her lap, not quite certain as to what to disclose.
"Hey, Scout" Sam approached and kneeled in front of her, grabbing her hands. "You can tell me anything, you know that right? Besides, having been a P.I., I'm pretty sure there's little that could possibly shock me," she giggled a little.
"There's this boy…" Scout started.
"Right…" Sam and Alexis had been right.
"It sounds so juvenile now that I think about it. I was so stupid mom!"
"Hey hey, a lot of things can seem juvenile or stupid in retrospect, ok? Why don't you tell me about this boy."
"Well, we're in the same art class. And we had to do a project together and we were getting along very well. We began hanging out after class and sitting next to each other at lunch," Scout began and Sam didn't see anything wrong with the relationship yet.
"The issue is that he's two years older…"
"Ok" Sam thought to herself while taking a deep breath. She an idea as to where this was heading.
"We wanted to be more than friends and I told him I didn't have a problem with him being older but… he said he did."
"What?!" Sam busted out.
"Mom…"
"Sorry," Sam apologized and tried to take another few breaths in an attempt to quell her anger.
"And he said that he wasn't good enough. That he supposedly hung out with the wrong crowd and didn't want me to be a part of it. He said he wants to protect me. But mom, I don't need to be protected!" Sam could very eerily relate to her daughter.
"Ok, and, assuming this boy is an Ewing, you decided that breaking into house was a good plan?"
"I hated that he just left me behind! Suddenly, he wouldn't talk to me in art class anymore. He asked the teacher if he could have a new partner. He won't have lunch with me. Mom, he doesn't even acknowledge me when we're in the hallways."
"So you felt that you were the only one hurting and wanted him to hurt too. Scout, what were you planning."
"I don't know. I don't know what I was planning. Maybe trash his room. Steal his favorite watch. Something that I knew would hurt him, mom."
"Ok…" Sam stood up and took a seat next to Scout, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Trust me when I say that I've been where you are. Someone left me behind because he thought it would keep me safe. I felt the same way you are feeling now. After feeling like I had done everything to get him back, and he still wanted us to be together, I told that I hated him. It was a bold face lie, but I thought saying something like that would hurt me just as much as I was hurting inside."
"Did it work?"
"That's not the point. I became completely consumed by this ended relationship. My life depended on it and I felt so lost without it that I became self-destructive."
"What did you do?" Scout asked curiously.
"Again, not the point," Sam answered quickly, not interested in delving back into the dark era of that miserable vengeful time. "The point is, I wound up hurting myself more than I could have ever hurt the guy. You realize that had the parents not dropped the charges, you would have been in serious legal trouble? Beyond that, do you think you would have felt relief after having thrashed his room and destroyed his valuables?"
"No…" Scout spoke softly after having pondered her mother's questions.
"Exactly, and Scout…" Sam took her daughter's face into her hands, stroking away a few stray tears that had fallen down her cheeks. "No guy is ever worth your life. It may not feel like it now, but there's plenty of guys out there. No guy will ever be deserving of you but that's because you're my little girl. My little girl with beautiful black locks and piercing blue eyes. The stubborn baby cheeks that I could pinch all day long…."
"Mom, stop, you're embarrassing me," Scout laughed while trying to pull away from her mother's grip on her cheeks.
"But, a guy being deserving of you is a whole separate matter and I'm sure your dad will have a say in it whenever you bring any guy home."
"Definitely." Scout agreed.
"So…next time, when you have the urge to break into someone's house, come to me. We can talk it out and I promise I won't judge. And even when you're not in trouble, I always love to talk with my little girl. You have my cell phone number and my office number, and you know you can call me anytime. When I'm home in the evenings, we can talk privately in your bedroom and if perhaps you ever feel up to it, we can even go to the mall once and go shopping together."
"For sure," Scout answered enthusiastically, "Thank you, mom. Gosh, I don't know why I didn't come to you sooner. I'm so stupid," Scout sighed.
"No no… no child of mine is ever stupid. There might be an occasional lapse in judgement but never stupid. Well actually…"
"Mom!" Scout gasped.
"What child of mine breaks into a house and gets caught? Clearly, I didn't teach you well enough," Sam and Scout laughed.
"Does this mean I'm not being punished?" Scout asked hopeful.
"Ha ha, no. You're not getting off that easy. Chores for two weeks and paperwork on the weekends."
"Ugh… fine."
"Come here baby girl. Give mom a great big old hug."
"I love you, mommy"
"I love you more."