Mother Knows Best
~This was written for SunnyinOregon...I hope this makes your day a little less crappy.
~This takes place in the 'Rossi Family Universe' just after the wedding in 'An Unconventional Family.' This will make a bit more sense if you've read that story, but it's not totally necessary.
David Rossi took a gulp of his steaming coffee and smiled as he watched his wife and teenage daughter frolic in the falling snow. The weather forecasters were calling for over a foot of the white stuff to be dumped in the DC metro area, but Dave knew that close to that amount had fallen already and there was no end in sight. All government offices, schools and non-emergency businesses had shut down, so the Rossi's were stuck in their secluded cabin for the duration of the storm.
His smile faded and he sighed when he remembered the argument he'd had with his daughter two nights ago. They still hadn't made up from it and because of that, the temperature was chilly in the cabin, even though he had a nice propane heater, not to mention a huge fireplace, heating the large space. No, his and Abby's fight had been a doozy and there was no smooth sailing between the two of them in sight.
"Penny for your thoughts, son," Marie Rossi said as she stepped up next to him, drinking her own mug of hot coffee. Because of the expected power outages in the city, Dave had invited his mother to brave the storm with them at the cabin, the cabin that just happened to have a fully stocked pantry, a generator and a large propane tank in the side yard.
Giving another sigh, he said, "I'm just wondering how you managed to raise five children without going completely insane."
Marie laughed, "Oh Davie, I came within hailing distance of insane many times during my child-raising years, of that you can be sure."
"But you always made it seem so easy!" He protested, not tearing his eyes away from his girls, who were working on building a snowman.
"Believe me son, nothing about being a parent is easy; in fact, it is the hardest job on the planet, but it's also the most rewarding."
"Yeah, well it isn't so rewarding now," he told her.
"What happened?" Marie asked gently. She knew her son was a good father, but he was also a new father, having learned about his daughter's existence less than a year previous and she wanted to help him if she could.
He shook his head slightly as he remembered their argument. "She wants a later curfew, she wants to be able to stay out until one in the morning on the weekends. We just upped it from eleven to midnight, but she says all of her friends are allowed to stay out later and she wants to be able to as well. I told her that I didn't feel comfortable with her staying out that late; I told her it was unsafe and that she needed her rest."
"What did she say to that?" Marie asked, but she pretty much knew the answer to her question. Her granddaughter was just as stubborn and outspoken as her son and she guessed this was the part where the fireworks had started. She was right.
"She told me to get over myself, that she wasn't going to be raped and murdered just because she stayed out an hour later. After that, more yelling ensued by both of us before I finally snapped."
"What did you do?"
"I lowered her curfew back down to eleven o'clock."
"And how did the little one take that?"
Dave sighed again, "She jumped up from the dinner table and told me that she knew that as soon as I married Jennifer and had nothing to lose, that I'd turn into a big jerk who wanted nothing more than to run her life. She then told me that because I was her dad, she loved me but she didn't like me very much anymore. After that, she ran up to her room and we've been avoiding each other ever since."
"How does Jennifer feel about everything?"
"She wanted to ground Abby for a week after what she said to me, but I stopped her; she's entitled to her opinion and if that's what she really thinks about me, then I guess I'll have to live with it," he said.
"She didn't mean it, Davie," Marie said. "She's a teenage girl and teenage girls frequently yell things they don't mean. Right now her blood is 99% hormones and, trust me, there will be times where it will seem as though she's been possessed by Satan himself."
"But the girls were never like that to you," he protested, referring to his three sisters.
Marie gave an unladylike snort, "At least now I know you weren't born a detective," she said. "Davie, if I had a dollar for every time one of your sisters screamed that she hated me, I would be a very wealthy woman. My life was one long battle once your sisters, and to a lesser extent you and your brother, hit puberty. My advice to you is to talk to her and hear her out, there must be a real reason she wants a later curfew. Then, if you understand her point, compromise on it."
Dave nodded, "I'll try ma, and thanks." He paused for a moment and then wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Is there some super-secret parenting class I missed? How do you know all of this stuff?"
"Years of practice, Davie, years and years of practice," Marie said as she leaned against her son.
While Dave and Marie were in the cabin, JJ and Abby were outside building a snowman. Unbeknownst to her, JJ began discussing the same topic with Abby that Dave and his mother were talking about inside.
"Do you have dad's scarf?" Abby asked and JJ handed it to her. She watched as her daughter wrapped the scarf around the snowman's neck, giving it a bit of flair.
"Speaking of your dad, you were out of line with him the other night," JJ said. "You're lucky he wouldn't let me get involved, because if I had, you wouldn't be going out for the next two weeks."
"But mom," Abby whined, "He wouldn't listen to me; he wouldn't even hear me out!"
"First of all, a curfew of one in the morning was never going to happen," JJ said firmly. "You're lucky to have one of midnight as it is."
"But it isn't midnight anymore, is it?" Abby snarked. "Dad lowered it back down to eleven."
"And you're lucky that's all he did. You really hurt his feelings with what you said to him."
That made the teen pause, "Really?" She asked and her mother nodded. Damn, she hadn't meant to actually hurt him, she just wanted him to stop acting like such a jerk about the whole curfew thing, so she'd hurled the ugly words at him. Looking back, she knew it had been a bitchy thing to do, but her pride prevented her from apologizing to him. "I didn't mean it," she said softly. "I know he wasn't waiting until after the wedding to do anything."
"I know that and you know that, but he doesn't. Look honey, he's a new dad and he's still trying to feel his way through things and you're a good kid, but you're not exactly making it easy for him."
Abby nodded, "You're right; how can I make things better?"
"I think you need to apologize to him," JJ said and she saw Abby make a face. "Yes, I know, you're the product of two of the most stubborn people on the planet, but you're gonna have to swallow your pride and tell him you were wrong in saying those things to him."
"Okay," Abby said with a sigh, feeling like the worst daughter in the universe. Her mother's next words brightened her a little.
"I am proud of you for one thing, though," she said.
"What's that?" Abby asked.
"You didn't shout that you hated him like I used to do to my dad. Yeah, you said you didn't like him, but you also told him you loved him and that, my dear, is the one thing that saved your proverbial hide from my wrath."
Abby couldn't get past the fact that her mother had gotten into arguments with her stern and uncaring grandfather. "You?" She asked in disbelief. "You screamed at Grandfather Jareau? You told him you hated him?"
JJ nodded, "And I knew it hurt him, but I didn't care, so at least you didn't inherit that part of my temper."
Abby nodded and shivered a little. "Come on," JJ said, noticing that her daughter's lips were taking on a bluish tinge, "Let's get inside before we turn into popsicles."
xxxxxxxxxx
After a hot shower, Abby went in search of her father and found him in the great room, sprawled out on one of the sofas watching an old black and white gangster movie. He was alone since Marie had decided to give JJ a cooking lesson, not believing that anyone could be as inept in the kitchen as her family made her out to be. She would soon learn that, if anything, Dave and Abby had been lowballing her terrible cooking skills as not to offend her. There was a reason Dave had a portable fire extinguisher on the floor next to the couch.
As she entered the room, Abby took a deep breath and pushed her pride down. "Hey dad, got a minute?" She asked.
Dave, surprised to hear his daughter's voice, sat up and paused the movie. "For you Pumpkin, I have two."
She smiled softly and sat down next to him on the sofa. "I'm sorry about the other night," she said, looking at the floor. "I shouldn't have said what I did. You weren't being a jerk, I was and I really didn't think you would change after the wedding, I was just being a bitch."
"Hey," he said sternly and Abby looked up at him. "First of all, I don't like hearing you call yourself that name; I wouldn't stand for anyone else calling you a bitch so I certainly won't let you get away with it. You were frustrated and upset and I get that."
She nodded, "It's still just kinda weird, you know? I mean, for the longest time it was just mom and I and I would ask her for something like that and she'd think about it and give me her decision…but you…you just kind of jumped in and put a kibosh on the whole thing without even thinking about it and I guess it pissed me off. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she whispered as tears sprung to her eyes.
"Aw, it's okay Pumpkin," Dave said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him. "Your apology has gone a long way in soothing them. Besides, you're right, I should have listened to you."
Abby shrugged, "Yeah, but I could have explained better instead of just flying off of the handle…I was frustrated and I'm sorry…and I actually do like you," she said with a smile.
"Well that's good, because I'm pretty fond of you too," he said as he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"Are…are we good?" The teen asked and she felt a huge sense of relief when her dad nodded;
"We are," he affirmed. "But can I ask, why do you want a one o'clock curfew? I know for a fact that Jack's curfew is midnight and you've said on more than one occasion that Becca has to be home by midnight on the weekends. Why one o'clock for you?"
"Because when I'm in the city, I always have to leave earlier than everyone else since we live so far out. Jack and Becca might have the same curfew as I do, but they can leave at eleven forty-five in order to make curfew, whereas I usually have to leave by eleven–thirty at the latest. It just kind of sucks leaving early from everything."
Dave thought on that for a few moments and then nodded, "You're right, it does suck. How about this, I'll raise your curfew to twelve-thirty on the weekends as long as you call either your mother or I when you leave the city so we're not worrying about you being broken down on the side of the road somewhere?"
Abby's face brightened, "Really?"
Dave nodded, "I'll have to run it by your mom, but I don't foresee a problem with it."
"Thanks dad!" She squealed as she threw her arms around him. The two of them stayed like that for a minute and they didn't see JJ and Marie standing in the doorway watching the proceedings.
The two women finally left the entryway to the great room so they could check on the lasagna that was in the oven. "That ended well," JJ said as she opened the oven door. "Thanks for talking Dave down from the ledge. I'm sure this won't be the only time that Abby yells mean words at him."
"Not if she's anything like her aunts," Marie agreed. "But the credit should mostly go to you; you're the one who got a teenage girl to see the error of her ways. That's a minor miracle in my book."
JJ sighed, "They don't tell you it's going to be this hard when you sign up to be a mom, do they?"
Marie smiled and shook her head, "But in the end, it's well worth it."
A/N 2-From ilovetvalot and tonnie2001969: The Second Annual Profiler's Choice Awards are up & running at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. The nomination ballot IS available! Please, please, please READ the rules and category descriptions before casting your noms. Time is running out...the nomination period is half over. The LAST day to submit your ballot is October 15, 2011, 11:59pm EDT. Remember, without you guys there'd be no awards! HAVE A BALL! We're SUPER EXCITED!