"Mother Knows Best"
"Come on girls, lets go" Melinda said, as she yelled for her daughters to hurry up.
"Mommy, can I have some more juice?" Matthew asked Olivia who was in the kitchen.
"Sure, but don't tell mommy Mel, I gave it to you" she said to her son as she poured him a cup of Hawaiian Punch.
"I swear the older they get, the longer it takes them to get dressed" Melinda says, walking into the kitchen. "Liv…you didn't"
"It wasn't me" Olivia says smiling while holding her hands in the air.
Melinda walks over to the kitchen table where Matthew is sitting. "Matt…sweetie…did mommy Liv give you that glass of punch?" Melinda asked him.
Matthew looks up at Olivia, who's shaking her head from side to side, signaling him to not tell on her. "Mommy told me, not to tell you she gave it to me. So, I'm not going to tell you." Matthew says to Melinda.
"She did, huh" Melinda says, as she walks over to the sink where Olivia is standing. Melinda leans forward and whispers in Olivia's ear, "You know what happens when you're a naughty girl."
A smile crosses Olivia face, "Yeah…I sure do" she says.
"Well, I hope you're going to be prepared to receive your punishment tonight."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be prepared" says Olivia. She then cups the back of Melinda's head with her hand and pulls her in for a kiss.
"Okay, we're ready" Mackenzie says.
"Where's your sister?" asked Melinda.
"I'm right here mom" Taylor says walking into the kitchen.
Olivia and Melinda were surprised when they saw Taylor. "Honey, what is that you have on your face?" Melinda asked.
"Lip gloss" Taylor replied.
"And…" Melinda said, waiting on Taylor to respond.
"It's just lip gloss mom" Taylor says.
"What is that around your eyes? And where did that mole appear from?" asked Melinda.
"Oh…this" Taylor says, pointing at the mole she drew on the left side of her upper lip.
"Yeah, that" says Melinda.
"Mom, it's…." Taylor began to explain but was cut short by her mother.
"I don't want to hear it" Melinda says. "I told you girls no make-up until you're sixteen."
"Mom… I'm thirteen now, a teenager. There are twelve year olds at school wearing actual lipstick" Taylor says to her mother.
"I don't care what the other kids are wearing; you two will not wear make-up until you're sixteen. Now go into the bathroom and wash your face off with soap and water" Melinda says, pointing upstairs.
"Mom" Taylor says desperately looking at Olivia for a lifeline.
"You heard your mother" Olivia tells her.
Taylor heads upstairs and starts mumbling under her breath, "I can't wait until I'm eighteen" she says.
"What was that?" Melinda asked.
"Nothing" Taylor replies.
"I thought so" Melinda says.
Mackenzie and Matthew grabbed their book bags and headed for the front door.
"Did you see your daughter?" Melinda says to Olivia.
"The poor child looked like she had been hit in the eye" Olivia says and the two ladies start laughing. "Where did she learn to put on eyeliner?"
"Who knows" Melinda says.
Melinda and Olivia walk out the kitchen and sees Taylor walking downstairs. "Now you look like a thirteen year old" Melinda says.
"Have good day in school" Olivia says to her kids.
"Bye mom" the kids replied waving goodbye to Olivia. They all hopped in the car and Melinda drove them to school, dropping off Matthew first.
When they reached the girls' school, Mackenzie gave her mother a kiss on the cheek "see you later mom" she said. Taylor got out the car without saying a word. Melinda rolled down the window, "I don't get a, see ya later mom. I love you" Melinda says to Taylor, who opens the passenger door. "See later mom, love you" she says.
Melinda began tapping her right cheek with her right index finger. "Okay, okay" Taylor says, and then she leaned over the passenger seat and gave her mother a kiss.
"I Love you too baby" Melinda says. Taylor closed the door and Melinda drove off.
Taylor immediately went to the bathroom and put her eyeliner back on, along with her lip gloss and she drew the mole back on her face. When Taylor walks out the bathroom she runs into her sister.
"Mom is going to have a cow when she finds out you put that make-up back on" Mackenzie says.
"Mom isn't going to find out because you're not going to tell her, are you?" Taylor says. "Or, I'll tell her about Derek."
"What about Derek?" Mackenzie says.
"I saw you two holding hands yesterday"
"So what?"
"Well, what else have you two done?" Taylor asked.
"Nothing" says Mackenzie. "All we've done together is hold hands, that's it."
"Oh really" Taylor says sarcastically.
"Yes, really" Mackenzie says. "Taylor, you wouldn't try to make it seem like I've done something freaky with him, would you?"
"Are you going to tell mom I have of make-up?"
"No" replied Mackenzie.
"Well then, I won't tell mom about you holding hands with Derek. I really don't know why she's freaking out; it's just lip gloss and eyeliner. It's not like I have on lip stick and eye shadow."
"I don't care what you do, just leave me out of it" Mackenzie tells her sister.
Around 12:30pm, Olivia calls Melinda and tells her Taylor is in the nurse's office at school. Apparently, she had gotten sick from eating lunch in the school's cafeteria. Olivia was out on a case and couldn't pick up Taylor, so she asked Melinda to get her. Melinda drove to the school to get her daughter. When she entered the nurse's office, she saw her daughter lying on one of the cots.
"Hi honey" Melinda says.
"Hi mom" a still nauseas Taylor says.
"Are you okay?" a concerned Melinda says.
"I threw up and I feel like I have to throw up again" Taylor says.
"What did you have for lunch?"
"Fish and fries" Taylor replied.
"Well, lets get you out of here. Maybe you'll feel better at home" Melinda says. She signed Taylor out of school early and they went home.
When they arrived home, Taylor told her mother she was feeling much better. Melinda told Taylor to go upstairs and rest for a while. After na hour, Melinda enters Taylor's room carrying a tray with tomato soup, saltine crackers and a glass of water on it. She sat the tray on Taylor's nightstand and she sits down on the side of Taylor's bed.
"Taylor, sweetheart" Melinda says, as she placed the back of her hand on Taylor's forehead to see if her daughter had a temperature.
"Yes ma'am" a sleepy Taylor says, after waking from her sleep.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yes ma'am"
"I brought you some tomato soup and crackers"
"Thanks mom" Taylor says.
Taylor sits up in the bed and began dipping the crackers in the tomato soup.
"Sweetheart"
"Yes mom"
"If you're doing to put make-up on in school, make sure to take it off before I see you"
Taylor just sat there with her mouth open; she couldn't say a word because she knew she was busted.
"I'm not mad" Melinda says politely. "I am disappointed."
"Mom, I'm sorry" Taylor says.
"Sweetheart, do you know why we don't want you wearing make-up before you're sixteen?" Melinda asked her daughter.
"No" replied Taylor.
'Your mother and I don't want you girls growing up too fast. You're thirteen years old and we want you to look your age. We don't want our thirteen year old daughters looking like they're eighteen or twenty-one" Melinda tells her daughter.
"Yes ma'am" Taylor says.
"There are a lot of strange, diluted, sick people in the world, especially child predators. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you."
"I understand" Taylor says. "Mom, I promise I won't wear make-up again until I'm sixteen."
"Good" Melinda says. "Oh and sweetheart"
"Yes mom"
"You're grounded" Melinda politely smiling at her daughter.
"But mom…"
"Don't but mom me"
"How long?" asked Taylor.
"Two weeks. Now, hand me your cell phone" she tells her daughter as she hold out her hand.
"Here you go" Taylor reluctantly says.
"I love you, sweetheart" Melinda says and then kissed her daughter on the forehead. She gets up and walks to the bedroom door.
"Love you too…mom" Taylor says.