Authors Note: Okay so this chapter took me a long time. Partly because I was waiting until after Haloween and all the haloween fics…Some of you are AWESOME writers. I commend each and every one of you. I wrote a FF once and I tell you…I sucked at it. LOL. Then after the holiday, I really didn't want to write diddly. However, as late as it is, it's finally here.

Oh and I wanted to mention because some of you may be like me and try to picture images in your heads of people. Since I have no clue how to make banners or even do anything in photobucket, I'll just tell you a few things. Obviously we can all imagine the adults since they are characters on GH anyway. However, the kids are sometimes hard to picture grown up.

Here's just a few of the younger set that's in my head playing whom: (I may tell the rest later.)

Jake ~ Chad Michael Murray from One Tree Hill

Ella ~ for some reason she's so Miley Cyrus to me…I think it's because I think

Miley looks just like a really young Elizabeth.

Cece ~ Hilarie Burton from One Tree Hill

Georgie ~ Brittany Snow from Hairspray

Jack ~ Benjamin McKenzie from The O.C.

Chapter 10

Jason had had all he could take of the party for the moment. Specifically Big Pappy. All he said was that he would prefer Big Pappy did NOT give his mother a ride home. She had her car and hadn't drank any alcohol since she had been sober for seventeen years, give or take a few slips. There was no reason that man needed to give her a ride home in his limo.

Except that he had been making the moves on his mother all night.

Monica was polite, as always, and would rebuff his advances without embarrassing Maximus but he still insisted he give her a ride home in his limo. He said it was late and a woman should not be on the road alone at this time of night. No one, not even Jason could argue that. Especially given the fact that his mother was up there in years now and didn't like driving at night.

Jason said his mother could stay in the guest room and she was so shocked at the invitation that she stammered a bit. That was just long enough for Maximus to interject that she didn't want to wake up to all those screeching teenagers when she could wake in her own bed.

Monica was torn and Jason knew it. She didn't mind a ride home with Maximus, per se. She knew that he would never overstep with her. They had a nice friendship for many a years and he always respected her when she turned him down. But that never stopped him from trying. Then the invitation from Jason was too much. He had invited her to stay with the kids in the past but never when he was there. She had not slept under the same roof as her son since the month after his accident almost thirty years ago. However, she could tell the only reason the invite was extended was that Jason didn't want her to ride with Big Pappy.

Honestly, she WAS a grown woman and could take a ride with whomever she wished.

Then again, she'd have to come get her car the next day and she had a busy day tomorrow. But all those girls in the house. Maximus was right; she was too old for all of that. Just Ella was fine but Ella, Anna, Cece, Amalia, Georgie, Molly and Farah was a whole lot of giggling girls. She didn't have the strength.

She made her decision and Jason was none too pleased. His final comment about Pappy keeping his hands to himself in the limo was the straw breaker to his keeping his composure. The old man whacked him on the back of the head and said 'What da fuck are yous talking about?'

That was when Max, Milo, Elizabeth, Monica and Diane all jumped in and separated the two men. Jason had had enough of Pappy that night. The man was boisterous, rude to the men, acted as if he owned the place and then topping his sunny disposition was his constant leeching on his mother. Jason was a patient man but enough was enough.

Monica and Elizabeth led Jason in the side door to the house so that Monica could get her purse and her coat. Max, Milo and Diane led Maximus to the waiting limo where Monica had told him she would be as soon as she said goodbye to her son. The whole place erupted with laughter when Maximus Giambetti's final statement inside Jason's home was 'Dat boy's gotta learn his place Max, if I wanna bada bing his mama and she says yes den dats dat.'

"Mom, just stay here." Jason said as soon as they got into the foyer where her coat and purse hung.

"No Jason, I would rather go home and actually it's rather polite of him to offer his limo. You know I don't see well at night. He won't try anything. He wouldn't dare." She leveled a glare at him that made Elizabeth wonder if she was where her husband had gotten it.

"Alright Mom. Call my cell when you get home so I know you made it."

"Oh brother" Monica said and leaned over to kiss Elizabeth on the cheek. "He's all yours"

Monica went for the door and Jason grabbed her arm and spun her to face him then enveloped her in his arms for a big hug. He usually didn't do that. Rare occasions, like bad news, good news or the occasional heart to heart talk but casual everyday conversations, she was just lucky he had started calling her Mom on a regular basis.

Jason pulled her away and looked into her eyes, "Remember what I taught you."

Monica and Elizabeth both laughed. He really was being so protective over her. It was genuinely nice to see. He was referring to the self defense lessons he gave her after a scary incident in the parking garage at the hospital. Ella was probably two and Monica had gone to the police station to file a report and Jason was just being released from one of the many, many times they hauled Jason in on unfounded, trumped up charges or suspicions. Once Jason found out why she was there, he insisted she come over for dinner that night. Spinelli hacked into the system and found who the creep was. Jason asked Max to send some of his guys to send a message.

Then Jason gave Monica a self defense lesson similar to the one he had given Elizabeth all those years ago in her studio, including the baseball bat.

Monica left and Elizabeth shut the door. Jason was quiet and she knew better than to try to talk to him. She headed back toward the party but only when she reached the door to the game room did she turn around to see Jason going the opposite direction into her office. She decided it was probably best to let him settle down before rejoining everyone else. The limo ride should only take ten minutes, give or take, so once his mother calls to say she's home, he'll be better.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

(A/N: Did you think I forgot?)

Jason turned on Elizabeth's computer and logged in.

Username: Stonecold

Password: Michael

Jason checked his email and surfed the web for the college football scores. He kept checking the little clock on the lower right side of the monitor. It had been fifteen minutes and his mother still had not called him.

He didn't like the way Pappy was behaving tonight. He always hit on his mother, Jason was used to that and usually enjoyed the many ways his mother turned him down flat but tonight it was like Pappy wouldn't let up.

In order to completely take his mind off the subject he decided to check Elizabeth's latest blog. The website usually posted it at the end of the workday on Friday's so that it had been read enough to make an impact come Monday morning around the office coolers. At least that's what Jax said.

Hi all,

It's been a strange week around here. Do you have teenagers? I mean when they are babies they are all cute and cuddly and can't get into trouble or speak or…well anything you don't want them to do. And they suck you in and think…oh this is wonderful.

Then they become a teenager.

I'm telling you now people, if you have not had any kids there is nothing that says you have to.

In fact I recommend you DON'T !!!

The world is overpopulated as it is. I know I had three too many. I should have taken someone else's kids for a week. I would have removed my uterus myself had I just had that one week of training.

And not any kids will do. No you have to have a baby that's sick and puking and projectile shitting all over the place, an eleven year old that refuses to use soap or bathe (Jake and Mal stunk so bad that Robin and I literally scrubbed them with comet in the driveway one time. Scared them straight ~ or well…clean.) And of course you also have to throw into the mix a sixteen year old girl and a twenty two year old boy.

Amazing that my eighteen year old is the only one not giving me trouble.

Reality check: I probably just haven't found out about whatever he's done yet.

Okay so you get all that together and then be the person responsible for them for a week.

You won't want kids. Trust me! I have them and I DON'T want them.

Okay, if you don't have kids then consider yourself one of the lucky few.

Stay smart…don't be stupid like the rest of us.

For those of us that have them, don't you wish there were a lemon law or something? A Wal-mart exchange program or something.

Wouldn't that be great? You go down to the baby dealership ~ that's a hospital maternity ward for those of you without kids. Tell them you got the right make and model but there is something wrong under the hood. You want to trade your lemon in for a better model.

I tell you, everyone would trade in their cars ~ oops I mean children around the teenager age.

Teenagers are the worst. If you don't have one you are the luckiest person alive. Unless they are in college.

Not so lucky.

Speaking of college, I think every kid that goes off to college gets a 'How to be stupid' pamphlet or maybe it's a seminar instructing them how to make their parents worry even more.

And no, before you think it… it's not the credit cards the banks throw at them. Although that is just plain STUPID. I mean really, REALLY stupid. Like these kids have any freakin money. Hey banks, it's the stupid parents that have to pay those credit card bills so why don't you just let us decide if we want to take on any more debt. You wanna know why our banking system is in trouble? Well… aside from the stupid mortgage lenders. Just look in the face of all of the 18 year old college students with part time jobs waiting tables or working for minimu wage at Blockbuster but have five thousand dollar credit limits on their shiny new visa's. The kicker is…these stupid banks let you put pictures on your visa…stupid…this isn't a My Space wallpaper theme…it's a freaking credit card. The picture should be of your parents because that's who you should thank every time you use the stupid thing.

YES, the word of the day is STUPID! Look it up.

Here I'll help you.

1.

lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull. That would be us, the parents.

2.

characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless. That would be the banks, car dealerships, mortgage companies, etc…

3.

tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless. Well, that would probably be this blog but HEY!!!

4.

annoying or irritating; troublesome. And there we have it…our children !!!

Okay, so that's our lesson for the day…spread the word people !!!

Where was I…oh yeah

Then there are the co-ed dorms. I swear my husband and I thought we were in the middle of a Girls Gone Wild video shoot when we took our little Cam to school. Hey parents of girls in college. You should really consider webcams to see what your little angels are up to. I think you would be shocked.

Finally there is the stupid, idiotic things your kids do away at college just because they can. That's why Cameron is home this week. I wanted to ground him to his room but how can you ground a twenty two year old? Although had the hubby let me, I would have pad locked him in there.

But I can't tell you what happened. This is one of the few times I am going to take my hubby's advice but trust me when I tell you, I understand why animals kill their young.

Now, speaking of that hubby of mine…you want to know what that jerk did to me yesterday?

Of course you do.

He got me all hot and bothered. Even went so far as to lick me like a lolly pop but stopped mid swipe to answer his cell phone.

I MEAN HONESTLY !!!

Say it with me girls….STUPID MEN!!!

All our kids were home. What the hell was so important that he had to stop THAT!

So what did I do?

Again, say it with me girls…I cut him off. No more nookie for him.

Just for the night though. I think I'll go get me some after I am done with this blog. A woman has her needs. Besides, He'll work all that much harder to please me because he knows he was wrong and I didn't like the way he put me off yesterday.

I know, I know he has a job and all that but honestly. Five more minutes and I would have been toast. You know, done. Stick a fork in me.

I had to finish on my own.

WHAT A JERK !!!

Speaking of…Now, let's talk about the King and his Princess.

Well, our favorite Princess has the King snowed.

BIG SURPRISE THERE HUH?

She doesn't know I know this but she spearheaded a campaign for all of their friends to travel to the high school dance this coming weekend together in limo's because her father, The King, would not let his Princess date the preverbal frog. Well news flash King, the Princess and Princes have taken over the kingdom. She even has something over both Princes' heads so that they'll leave her and her frog alone at the dance and ride in a different limo back home. (That's the part the Princess thinks the Queen doesn't know. HA!)

The frog is someone who is truly a Prince from another kingdom and is set to rule over all of his own land one day. The King is foolish to think that his Princess will never kiss that frog.

As the Queen, all I can do is sit back and wait. Personally, I like the frog. He comes from good lily pads. His father is a strong, gentle toad and just because his Prince is a little older than our Princess doesn't mean they are wrong for each other. She is ready. He's a good frog and the King is an idiot to think he can stop that freight train a comin'

Soon she WILL kiss the frog. My guess is this weekend.

Well, lookey there…you got drama, child rearing lessons, intrigue, sex and a fairy tale…my blog is like one stop shopping for entertainment.

Until next time !!!!

Humbly Yours,

Grumble's

Jason had read enough and he was just about to storm out of the house to go get his daughter but his cell phone rang. He looked down at the caller ID and saw the familiar name.

"Mom, did you make it home in one piece?" he breathed a sigh of relief at just hearing her say his name.

"But what took you so long?" he asked as he looked at the clock on the computer monitor and saw it had been a half hour.

"Mom, I know this will sound hypocritical and honestly pretty strange coming form me but I don't want you around him. It isn't safe. He isn't safe…I know, I know but…Yeah but…Fine…no you're right, it's not up to me to tell you who to be friends with but…fine I'll leave it alone."

Jason hung up the phone feeling like he had just been scolded. Honestly, he had. But for the life of him he didn't understand the relationship his mother had with Maximus and for her to say she invited Pappy in for a night cap was just…

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The Homecoming Dance was held in the school gymnasium. Streamers were hung from the rafters and around the basketball nets. The hardwood floor was covered with a protective mat to stave off ruining the floor with high heels, tables and chairs and spilled punch.

The theme was "Secret Garden"

Walking in to the gym, you were surrounded by free standing lattice with ivy growing all over it. Fake, plastic ivy but still…

The dance floor was set up to look like a gazebo in a park and surrounded with tall bushes. Okay, painted wood made to look like bushes. Then on one side of the gym, the winding garden path that was again made by freestanding lattice covered with plastic ivy made a path to the photographer taking the dance photos of couples under another makeshift gazebo. The path then continued on with areas for benches (which were actually well decorated lunch tables) and alcoves.

It all reminded Georgie of the old Epic movies she and her mother loved to watch. Her mother's favorite was Pride and Prejudice but Georgie's favorite was First Knight.

Half of the gym was a garden maze that ended with a beautiful punch fountain and a table of snacks. This was where she was manning her station. Ian was doing the job of DJ next to her and from their perch atop the theatre stage at the end of the gymnasium; they were able to see everything over the trellises.

The two, along with other dance committee members which included Shawn Spencer, the dreamboat guy who didn't know she even existed, had spent all night after the game decorating it. Everything from hanging the cardboard and aluminum stars to twining the plastic ivy through every lattice board. The local Garden Ridge had allowed them to borrow the materials for the lattice, bushes and ivy with the promise that each committee member would take turns manning their Christmas Tree sales for at least 4 hours each. All of the kids agreed so that they could complete their vision and still stay within the schools budget for the dance.

"Hey Georgie" Ian yelled over the pumping volume of Missy Elliot.

"Yeah?" Georgie asked as she continued pulling the cream cheese and crab sushi rolls from the Tupperware bin that was in the cooler where the cold foods were kept and placed them on the nearly empty plate.

"The Tree Fort Gang just arrived" he announced as he leaned over and pulled four pieces of sushi off her platter, taking note of how her glasses kept sliding down her nose.

With her forearm, Georgie pushed them back up on her nose and blew a stray curl out of her eyes that had unattached itself from the bun on top of her curly auburn hair. She then raised an eyebrow to the sushi thief when she noticed the gaping hole he had just made in the middle of her platter. Then with a sweet lopsided smile she shrugged and climbed down from the stage to the table.

Georgie looked over the table then picked up the platter with finger sandwiches varying from peanut butter and jelly to cucumber. She had made them herself that morning with her father's help. He found the pastime quite refreshing as his daughter made the sandwiches and he lopped off the crusts and cut them into teeny tiny triangles.

She hopped back up onto the stage, thanking GOD that her mother had convinced her that a skirt would be futile with her responsibility and then outfitted her with a dark brown Dries Van Noten pantsuit. It was the hottest new style and this season's signature color according to her mother but all she cared was that the outfit had plenty of pockets to hold all of her favorite things.

She turned around at Ian's urging and saw the lot of them walking in through the gymnasium doors. First came Jake and Cece. Although their arm's were linked, they were looking everywhere but at each other. Mal and Amalia walked in behind them and it didn't go unnoticed by Georgie and Ian that Malcolm Drake could not tear his eyes away from one Cecelia Jane Jacks. He followed her every move with a smile that told anyone watching that he would prefer to have his best friend's date on his arm rather than her best friend.

Jack and Anna followed in and Georgie took stock in the fact that Jack's hands were precariously perched just above Anna's behind but too low to be considered appropriate.

Georgie was taking a sip of her punch and nearly spit it all over Ian when one of her father's robotic trash retrievers that looked eerily like a retro R2D2 came up behind Jack with his garbage picking claw and raised the young man's hand to a more appropriate place.

"What was that for?" Ian queried as he began using a napkin to wipe down the punch that was spit sprayed on the table and a few of his CD cases.

"Leave it to my Dad to use his garbage robots to act as spies for this dance." She said as her eyes rolled.

Damien Spinelli had taken pride over the years in heading up the chaperone committee for any such occasions and then outfitting all the parents with the latest technology. Heat seeking sensors to roam hallways and corridor's with, night vision glasses and binoculars, ear pieces fitted into earings and cuff links, survelience camera pens and broaches and of course his famous garbage robots. They really were robotic trash collectors with arms that picked up the refuge and a hole in the head to deposit said refuse but the kicker was their camera eyes. Once person, this dance being Spinelli himself, was stationed in a room with several laptops hooked up to the camera's and monitored all angles of the school activity.

He had even won an award from the school because there had never been a parent complaint or serious incident since he and Maxie took over the chaperoning duties. Spinelli covered all the bases and Maxie was experienced enough to know what the teenagers would try to get away with since she had done those things herself when she was in high school. And then some.

This year, because of his daughters vision of and enchanted garden maze, he decided he needed to man the surveillance. There were too many hidden alcoves and areas with blocked views for his liking. However, his daughter wanted the theme and Spinelli rarely denied her anything.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Shawn asked as he came from behind the stage where he had just finished unloading all of the coolers of refreshments that Spinelli had brought in his SUV.

"We're just watching the gang all file into the gym. Look there's Mike and Ella…wow she looks beautiful." Georgie stated in awe. Ella's hair was styled long with loose fat curls and her dress was simple but elegant in bright red. To Georgie, she looked like a movie star from the fifties attending a red carpet affair. Georgie's idolization of Ella was known by all of their friends.

Ian and Shawn glanced at each other and then over at Georgie. She was taking in every mannerism and movement Ella made. She was etching into her memory the way Ella's hair was done and the style dress. Ian smirked when Ella ran her hand across her tight updo and then looked down over the pantsuit she wore. Her face turned down into a sort of frown as she realized she was dressed like the anti-Ella. Shawn noticed this too and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest giving a quick peck on her forehead.

"You look beautiful too" Shawn stated giving her arm a squeeze.

Georgie felt an electrical current, starting with her forehead where Shawn had just pressed his lips leading across her back where his arm was draped and down her arm where his hand was currently placed. Had he not been holding her so tight, she felt she would have melted down onto the gymnasium's stage floor in a puddle of goo. She looked up into the brilliant green eyes of Shawn Spencer and sighed.

He was so dreamy.

She then followed his line of sight and it landed squarely on Maggie Reed. The freshman version of Britney Spears. She could literally see the drool starting to form in the corner of Shawn's mouth and realized that his hug, kiss and compliment were simply Shawn Spencer being a gallant, charming PIG. Just like his father and grandfather.

Why couldn't she be more like her own mother at times like this?

"Are you seeing what I am seeing?" Ian asked of his two friends and committee co-horts.

All three looked to the entrance but saw three very different but equally disturbing things.

Georgie saw her brother Jack taking a swig from a flask that he had pulled from his coat pocket. She had suspected for months now that her brother was drinking but now it was confirmed.

Ian saw Morgan wrap his arms around Farah from behind and leaned in to kiss her neck just below her earlobe. Obviously there was more to this couple than anyone knew about.

However, the worse one…as we all will later learn…was what Shawn was watching. Tony Lansing off to the side leering at Ella Morgan. His obsession with her was reaching major creep factor levels. Shawn was starting to think that maybe it was time to ignore his mother and father's advice. Maybe now it was time TO start MINDING other people's business.