Chapter 2
"Where is she?" Penny asked as Sarah's teacher met her at the gate.
"She's holding out in one of the bathroom stalls...good thing that everyone is in their classes right now." said Sarah's teacher, Mrs. Friedman.
"Did you talk to her?" asked Penny.
"I tried but she wouldn't open the door...that's why I called you." said the teacher.
"Well I knew this would happen one day..." said Penny as she walked with Mrs. Friedman to the bathroom where Sarah was locking herself out.
"She's in there." said Sarah's teacher, pointing to one of the stalls.
Penny went over and knocked on the door. "Sarah sweetheart...it's mom...open up...come on..." said Penny.
"I think I'll give you guys some privacy." The teacher said, leaving the girls inside the bathroom.
"Thank you." Penny said before turning back. "We're alone now sweetie." she said as Sarah unlocked the door, slowly opening it.
"It happened mom." Sarah said, looking down on the floor.
"I know sweetheart...Mrs. Friedman told me..." Penny said.
"I'm so embarrassed..." Sarah said as she leaned over and hugged her mother.
"It's gonna be alright sweetheart...all girls go through this...it's just a matter of time..." said Penny.
"It feels weird...I can't describe it..." Sarah said as Penny knelt down to look at her daughter.
"I know what you mean." Penny said. "You're a young lady now...this is just the start for you to see some changes in your body..." she added.
"I suppose you and dad are gonna give me 'the talk' huh?" Sarah said, making Penny smile.
"We can if you want..." said Penny. "But I know you already know how it works...it's just a matter of knowing the consequence of any decision you make." she added.
"I wouldn't know mom." Sarah said.
"That's why your dad and I are here...not to tell you what to do with your life but to let you know what will happen." Penny said. "Now come on...let's get out of here before your classmates come out of your classroom." Penny said, pulling her up before taking a sweatshirt out of her purse and putting it around the young lady's waist.
"Thanks mom." Sarah said, giving her mother a weak smile.
"You're welcome sweetheart." said Penny before holding her hand and leading her out of the bathroom where Sarah's teacher is waiting.
"Are you okay now?" she asked her student.
Sarah nodded. "Thanks Mrs. Friedman." said the young lady.
"It's alright...you can go home with your mother now..." said the teacher. "I'll just tell your friends that you weren't feeling well." she added.
"Thank you." Penny said as she led her daughter out of the building and into the parking lot. "How are you feeling?" she asked the young lady as they get inside the car, putting their seat belt on.
"Tired...let's just go home." said Sarah. "I want to take a shower." she added.
"No problem sweetheart." Penny said before putting the car in gear and driving out into the road.
"Who's gonna pick William up from school?" asked Sarah.
"Don't worry about that...I already called your father to pick him up." Penny said. "And I'm pretty sure he'll bug Leonard to pass by the ice cream place..." she said, laughing a little.
"Yeah...that would be fun to see." said Sarah, leaning back and resting her head on the car seat, thankful that her mother came to 'rescue' her.
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"Honey we're home." Leonard said after opening the door and letting his son into the living room.
"Hi guys!" Penny said, welcoming her son with a kiss on his cheek. "Did you have fun at school?" she asked the young boy.
"We studied trees mommy." said William, sitting beside his mother.
"That's great...I'm sure you learned lots of things..." she said while putting her arm around her son.
"Did you know that trees take in the dirty air and clean it up for us?" William asked his mother.
"I didn't know that!" Penny said, proud at how fast her son learns new things.
"And they also let the birds live on them and also some bugs and critters..." said William.
Penny leaned in and kissed her son. "You are so smart! Mommy's very proud of you!" she said as Leonard sat beside her.
"What happened to your daughter anyway? Is she alright?" Leonard asked.
"She's gonna he fine." said Penny. "It's just a girl thing."
"Is this about a boy?" asked Leonard.
Penny laughed a little. "No! It's not about a boy." Penny said, amused by her husband. "It's about the thing that all girls go through..." she said, hoping Leonard get what she meant.
"Uh...puberty?" he asked.
Penny smiled and lightly slapped his thigh. "You're so cute...she's a young woman now..." she said while winking at him.
"Oh?" Leonard said, finally understanding what Penny meant. "It's time huh?" he said, taking a deep breath.
"Yeah...it's time." Penny said.
"Do you want me to talk to her?" asked Leonard.
"And say what?" asked Penny, curious as to what he might say.
"I don't know..." said Leonard, not knowing how to deal with his daughter growing up into a young lady. "Can you come with me?" he said to his wife.
Penny sighed. "Fine." she said before turning to her son. "Sweetheart you stay here okay...mommy and daddy's just gonna talk to your sister upstairs."
"Okay mommy." said William who took the remote to watch some cartoons on the TV. "Is big sister in trouble?"
"No buddy...your sister is not in trouble." Leonard said as he pulled his wife off the couch to go upstairs.
"Honey...can we come in?" asked Leonard while knocking on Sarah's room.
"It's open dad." said Sarah as the couple opened the door, seeing the young lady writing on her desk.
"How are you feeling?" Leonard asked his daughter.
"I'm fine dad...you don't have to worry about me." said the young lady.
"Come here sweetheart." Penny said as she sat on the bed, inviting her daughter to sit beside her. Sarah stood up and sat beside Penny, resting her head on her shoulder.
Leonard sat with them, putting the young lady between the couple. "I can't believe it's already twelve years since you were born...it feels like it was just yesterday." he told his daughter.
"I know dad..." Sarah said.
"Honestly, I don't know if I should talk to you about these things or not..." he said when Penny cut him off.
"Honey, honey...you don't...that's why I'm here...okay?" Penny said, reassuring her husband.
"Mom is right dad..." said Sarah.
"Oh? Okay..." said Leonard, still trying to process that his daughter is becoming more and more independent of him.
Penny looked at Leonard. "Honey...your daughter is a young woman now..."
"I know..." Leonard said before taking a deep breath. "I guess I'm still in denial in accepting the fact that my baby girl doesn't need me anymore." he said, making Sarah laugh.
"Okay dad...this would be the last time that you call me your baby girl..." said the young lady.
Leonard nodded, knowing that he can't stop his daughter from growing up. "Yeah...I understand." he said as he stood up. "I'll leave you two alone now." said Leonard as he went out the door before closing it.
Penny leaned in and kissed Sarah on her cheek. "Well...I'm gonna let you go back to what you were doing sweetheart...I'm gonna prepare dinner in the kitchen." She said before standing up.
"You need any help?" asked the young lady.
"Come on..." Penny said, motioning for her daughter to join her while getting out of the room.
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A few weeks after Sarah's 'incident'...
"Dad, can I borrow your computer? I need to do some school stuff." Sarah asked as she went to her father who was typing on his laptop.
"No problem honey...just give me around ten...fifteen minutes to finish this up." Leonard said.
"Why do you keep borrowing your father's laptop anyway?" asked Penny who was watching TV on the couch with William.
"Uh...to do some school stuff mom...that's a weird question." said Sarah, making Leonard laugh.
"What I meant was...why don't you just use that old laptop in the storage box in the garage?" Penny said. "No one's using it anyway." she added.
"Your mom is right honey...bring it here so we can find out if it still boots up..." said Leonard.
"I have a better idea..." said Sarah before Leonard quickly cut her off.
"If that idea involves us going to Best Buy and getting you a new laptop then forget it...we don't have that money yet." said Leonard while facing his daughter.
Sarah sighed, knowing that her father has a point. "Fine...I'll use your old laptop..." said the young lady.
"I'm sorry sweetheart." said Penny, sad to see that they can't always give what their kids want.
"It's alright mom...I understand we're barely getting by..." Sarah said as she walked towards the garage to dig up her father's old computer, hoping that it can still be salvaged after years of sitting in the storage box.
After almost ten minutes of rummaging through several storage boxes, Sarah came back into the living room, carrying the laptop bag. She went to her father's desk as Leonard started hooking up the old computer, hoping that he can still make it work.
"Okay...fingers crossed..." said Leonard before pushing the power button, hearing the faint beep and cooling fan of the laptop as they see it come back to life. "Good...looks like we're in business." he said, smiling at his daughter who was sitting next to him.
"I wonder how long it would take to update it's software?" asked the young girl.
"Half an hour...maybe less..." he said. "I'm gonna leave you to it honey." Leonard added.
"I got it dad..." said Sarah as she started typing on the laptop computer, making sure to update the software and clean up the old data in its memory disks to free up space for her school stuff.
William looked at his sister and decided to walk up to her. "Big sister..." he said.
"Yeah? What do you want little brother?" asked Sarah, not taking her eyes off the screen, knowing that the young man would want to get in on whatever she was doing.
"Can you teach me how to do this computer stuff?" said the young man.
"Computer stuff?" asked Sarah, amused by her little brother.
"You know...hacking and stuff." William said, not really understanding what he meant.
"Hacking and stuff?" asked Sarah, laughing a little.
"Yeah...you know...pushing some buttons and then messing up the traffic lights...and then stealing the money from the bad guys...that sort of stuff." he said, making them laugh.
"Sweetheart, that will get you into trouble...you could go to jail for that." said Penny.
"You've been watching too many movies little brother." said Sarah.
"Your sister is right buddy." Leonard chimed in.
"Are you saying that what they're doing in the movies is not real?" asked William.
"Not only is it not real...it's nearly impossible to hack into a bank and steal their money...or mess up the traffic lights..." said the young lady.
"It's impossible?" William asked.
"I said it's almost impossible...and if by any chance that you manage to get into their system, they would surely find a way to find out who you are and send you to jail." said Sarah.
"Why do you want to mess up the traffic lights anyway?" Penny asked her son.
"Nothing...1 just thought it would be fun." said William.
"Listen to me buddy...these computer systems were put there for a reason...and that is to make sure the people on the roads are safe...did you see what happened when the guy in the movie started messing up the traffic lights?" Leonard told his son.
"Yeah...some people crashed their cars into other people's cars." said the young man.
"And does that look like fun to you?" Penny asked.
"No." William said, realizing what his parents meant. "Okay...hacking is bad...got it." he added.
"Good...now go and watch your sister so you can learn what she's doing." said Penny.
"Come on..." Sarah said as she pulled another chair for the young man. "You know William...instead of wanting to be a hacker...you can be a white hat..." she said.
"White hat? What's that?" asked the young boy.
"A white hat is also a hacker...but instead of stealing money or messing up the traffic lights, he makes sure that the system is secure so he can keep the bad guys away." said Sarah, while typing on the keyboard.
"So a white hat is like a Jedi...they fight the Sith..." William said, making Leonard laugh and Penny roll her eyes.
"That's exactly right buddy." said Leonard.
"But do they always wear a white hat? That seems kinda goofy..." he said, making his sister explode with laughter.
"That's just a name William...it doesn't necessarily mean that they wear a white hat." said the young lady, kissing her brother on his cheek. "You're so cute."
"What does this button do?" William asked, pointing at a button on the keyboard.
"That's for erasing stuff." Sarah said.
"Okay...I'll be careful with that..." William said before turning around to face his parents. "Mommy do you think I'll be as good with computers like big sister?"
"Of course sweetie...you just have to study hard." Penny told her son.
"Your mom is right buddy..." said Leonard.
"Okay...I promise I'll do good in school." William said, making his parents proud.
After almost half an hour, Sarah decided to take her laptop to her room so she can continue setting it up while William resorted to playing with his toys in the backyard. Leonard and Penny chose to stay in the living room and watch TV. Suddenly out of nowhere, they were surprised when they heard Sarah screaming from her room. Leonard immediately jumped off the couch and ran upstairs with Penny following close, worried for their daughter.
Leonard burst through the door and saw Sarah crying while facing the laptop on her desk. "Honey, what is it? Why are you crying?" Leonard asked, seeing her distraught at what she saw on the screen.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Sarah asked while pointing at the screen.
Leonard looked at the computer and saw June's video from the memory card they found in her old algebra book. He took a deep breath, knowing that they have to tell Sarah everything.
"Honey...please let me explain." Leonard said as Penny joined them, apprehensive of how their daughter would react after finding out about the video.
"You have this video in your computer and you never even told me about it!?" yelled Sarah, trying hard to hold back her tears.
"Honey...we found that video in your mom's old algebra book...it was taped to the back cover." said Leonard.
"When did you find it?" asked the young lady.
Penny took a deep breath. "Sweetie...we found it when you showed us you learned algebra by yourself..." she said.
"I was five years old back then!" Sarah said. "You mean to tell me that my mother left me this video and you never bothered to show it to me!?" she added.
"Honey please...you were too young back then...and we were just worried that you might not take it well." said Leonard, hoping the young lady would understand. "...that's why we decided to wait until you're older..." he added.
"Well?" asked Sarah before facing Penny. "Were you in on this too!?" she asked her mother.
"Sweetheart...I'm sorry...please listen..." Penny said as she began to panic.
"How dare you keep this away from me! You're not my mother!" Sarah yelled. "How dare you!?" yelled the young lady.
"Sweetie please...let me explain..." Penny said as she began to tear up, hoping the young lady would forgive her.
"No! You stay away from me!" Sarah yelled. "You have no right!" she said as Penny covered her face with her hands and began crying.
Leonard stepped forward to console his wife. "Honey please listen to us...we only wanted what's best for you..." he said. "...and if you wanna be angry, then be angry with me and don't blame your mom for this." he said.
"You have no right...how can you say you want what's best for me when you decided to keep this away from me!?" Sarah yelled, letting out all the built-up emotions inside of her. "You have no right to do that!" she added before running to the door.
"Where are you going?" Leonard asked, running after her daughter.
"I'm going away from this house! Away from you two!" Sarah yelled when William saw them fighting.
"Why are you yelling at mommy and daddy?" asked the young man, clearly bothered by the commotion.
"It's none of your business...just go play with your toys!" Sarah said before running down the stairs and out of the house.
"Daddy what happened? Why is big sister crying?" asked William when he saw Penny crying as well. "Mommy why are you crying?" he asked, running to his mother to hug her.
"It's nothing sweetheart...don't worry." Penny said, trying to console her son.
"Did she make you cry?" asked the young man.
"No sweetheart...it's not like that." Penny said, wiping off her tears.
Leonard knelt down to talk to William. "She's right buddy...it's hard to explain to you right now...so you're just gonna have to take our word for it...okay?" he said.
William nodded. "Okay daddy."
"Good...now you stay here and take care of your mother...I'm gonna go after your big sister before she gets hurt or something..." he said before standing up.
"Do you know where she went?" Penny asked.
"I have a few ideas...don't worry honey, I'm sure she's gonna be okay." Leonard said before going out of the room to look for his daughter.
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"Hi uncle Leonard." Sheryl said after opening the front door. "Sarah's in my room but she doesn't want to talk to you right now." said the young girl.
"Is she okay?" Leonard asked, knowing that badgering his daughter would only make the situation worse.
"She's resting for a bit...she just needs some time away from you...her words, not mine." Sheryl said when her mother joined them at the door.
"Hi Angie...I'm sorry for bringing this to your home..." said Leonard.
"Hey don't worry about it...Sarah is like my daughter, she's safe here." said Angie. "Don't worry, I'm gonna bring her home after dinner...I'm sure she'll be fine by then." she added.
Leonard gave them a weak smile. "Thanks...I appreciate it..." he said. "Can you please tell her something from me?" he added.
"Sure uncle Leonard." said Sheryl.
"Tell her that Penny is worried about her...and we'll be waiting for her to come home." Leonard said, hoping that his daughter would understand.
"I will uncle Leonard." Sheryl said.
"Thank you...I'm gonna be on my way now...just please call me if something happens." he told Angie.
"I will Leonard...don't worry." Angie said as Leonard waved goodbye, hoping that his daughter would come home to them.
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"She's at Sheryl's house." Leonard said as he stepped into the living room while Penny sat on the couch with her son.
"Did you talk to her? How is she?" Penny asked.
Leonard sat beside Penny and kissed her cheek. "No...I didn't see her but Sheryl told me she's okay...she just wants some space for now."
"Ugh I feel so guilty...what are we gonna do now?" Penny asked.
"We're gonna wait for her to come home tonight...Angie said she'd bring her home after dinner." Leonard said. "...and don't worry, I'm sure she'll come around..." he added.
"You think so?" asked Penny.
"Yes honey..." Leonard said. "Come here...don't worry, it'll be fine...I promise." he added, pulling Penny close to rest her head on his shoulder.
"Daddy why did big sister run away?" asked William.
"Uh...how do I put this...we'll explain it to you when she comes home...okay?" said Leonard.
William nodded. "Okay daddy." he said, leaning onto his mother.
Penny draped her arm around her son, feeling his affection for her as they wait in the living room for Sarah to come home, hoping that by then, she would be ready to accept their apology.
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Later that night, a little over eight o'clock, Sarah opened the front door and saw her family on the couch, watching TV. Leonard and Penny looked at her, waiting for the young lady to speak when Sarah quickly ran over and hugged Penny, pushing her face on her chest before crying her eyes out.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you mom..." said Sarah while hugging her mother tight. "I never should've done that."
Penny hugged Sarah tight, unable to control herself from crying. "It's alright sweetheart...I'm sorry too..." she said, feeling grateful that she and her daughter were able to make it up with each other.
Sarah then let Penny go before leaning over and hugging her father. "I'm sorry dad." said the young lady while pushing her face on his neck.
"We're sorry too honey..." Leonard said, consoling his daughter. "Your mom and I love you so much...don't forget that."
"I love you too dad." said Sarah, wiping off her tears before going back to hugging her mother. "You're my mother...you've been my mother since I was six...and I'm glad you are my mother..." she added.
Penny hugged Sarah tight. "Ugh...come here sweetie..." Penny said.
"I love you mom...I promise I'll be a better daughter..." Sarah said.
"What are you talking about? You're already perfect..." Penny said while wiping off the young lady's tears. "You're smart...you're pretty...so sweet and kind..." she added.
"I'm sweet and smart too mommy!" William chimed in before getting on the couch and wriggling himself between his mother and sister.
"You are sweetheart!" Penny said, amused at how her son always puts himself into everything.
"Mommy." William said.
"What is it?" Penny said.
"Why were you and big sister fighting?" asked the young man.
"We're not fighting little brother." Sarah said.
"Then why were you yelling and crying?" asked the young man.
"Okay buddy, let me explain it to you so you would understand." Leonard said, pulling his son to sit between him and Penny. "Your sister found an old video of her mother in my old laptop...that's why she got a little emotional." he said.
"I don't understand...she saw a video of mommy in the laptop? What kind of video?" asked William.
"Sweetie, it's not me...it's your sister's real mother." said Penny.
"Real mother?" asked William. "Now I'm confused." he said, making them laugh a little.
"Buddy listen to me...a long time ago, way before you and your sister were born, I was with another woman, her name was June." Leonard said. "When we were about to get married, we found out that she was pregnant with Sarah here...so we waited until she was born...that was twelve years ago." he said before continuing. "When Sarah was almost a year old, June got sick...really sick."
"What kind of sick?" William asked.
"It was bad...she was always in the hospital so I had to take care of Sarah on my own while caring for her at the hospital...your grandma and aunt Cathy helped too..." said Leonard.
"What happened after that?" asked the young boy.
"Well...her health got worse...and the doctors couldn't do anything..." said Leonard.
"And then what?" asked William.
"Well...sad to say but June never made it..." Leonard told his son as Penny held him close, reassuring him.
"She died?" asked William, frowning at his father's revelation.
"Yes little brother...she went to heaven." said Sarah, touching his face.
William then faced Penny. "Mommy, I don't want you to get sick..." said the young boy before hugging her tight.
"Aww...thank you sweetheart...don't worry, I'm not gonna get sick..." Penny said, reassuring the young man.
"If you or daddy dies, I'm gonna be really sad and cry all the time...and big sister too..." William said.
"You're so sweet!" Penny said, kissing her son.
"Does this mean that she's not really my sister?" William asked, referring to Sarah.
"No buddy...she's your half-sister..." said Leonard.
"I don't care..." William said, going over to hug Sarah tight. "You're still my sister...even if you act weird sometimes." he added, locking his arms around her neck.
"And I'm lucky to have a baby brother like you!" Sarah told her little brother, kissing him on the cheek.
"Big sister, can you show me that video?" asked the young man.
Sarah smiled. "No problem...let me get the laptop so we could all watch it here." she said before getting up and going to her bedroom to get the computer. After a few minutes, Sarah clicked on the file and let the video play on the screen.
'Hello Leonard...' said June on the video.
"Is that her?" William asked, pointing at the screen.
"Yeah...that's my mother..." said Sarah.
William leaned at his sister while watching the video. "She's beautiful..." he said, making Sarah smile.
"Yeah...dad has the talent of luring beautiful women into marrying him." Sarah jokingly said, making her parents laugh.
"Well...he lured me in alright." said Penny before pulling Leonard in for a kiss, to the disgust of their kids.
"Be quiet...I'm watching here!" William told them as they watched the video message of June for Sarah.
Sarah closed the laptop after the video ended, going back to snuggling up to Penny with William doing the same, sandwiching their mother tight.
"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Penny asked her daughter.
"I'm okay now mom...I guess you and dad were right in keeping this from me until I'm a little older." said the young lady.
"I'm sorry if we kept this from you honey." said Leonard.
"It's okay dad...I know you and mom are just looking out for me." said Sarah.
"Thank you sweetie..." said Penny as she put her arms around her children. "Ugh...why do I even deserve you two huh?" she said, referring to her kids.
"Mom, I think you have great kids because you're married to dad." Sarah said, clearly teasing her father.
"Hey...that's not nice..." said Leonard.
"I think big sister is right." William chimed in, making his mother and sister laugh.
"Don't be so smug young man, without me, you won't be here making snide comments about your father." Leonard told his son.
"At least you can train me in your nerd ways daddy!" William said, making his mother and sister laugh even more.
"He got you there dad." said Sarah.
"Fine...can we all go to bed now? I'm tired." Leonard said as he lifted his son off the couch before lightly pushing him towards the stairs.
"Mommy can I join you and daddy in bed and read my story book?" asked William.
"Of course sweetheart...come on, let's get you washed up and brush your teeth before you put your pajamas on." Penny said, pulling her son toward the stairs.
"Come on honey...you had a long day." Leonard said, pulling his daughter off the couch.
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After almost half an hour, Leonard opened the bedroom door when he heard a knock on it, seeing Sarah standing on the hall. "Honey? What is it...are you okay?"
"Yeah...what are you doing here big sister?" William asked as he got on the bed with their mother before getting his story book.
Sarah stepped inside the bedroom and went directly to join her brother and mother on the bed. "Is it okay if I join in on the fun?" asked the young lady as she sat beside her little brother.
"Okay...but be quiet...so you can understand the story better...I don't want to repeat myself." said William, making the couple laugh.
Sarah leaned over and kissed William on the cheek. "Sure thing little brother."
"Okay...let's start." William said as he opened his story book to start reading while Leonard, Penny and Sarah look on while the young man reads his book.
"Good job honey." Leonard said before kissing his daughter and wife, knowing that he will probably fall asleep before William finishes reading the story.
"Daddy just listen...I'm reading here..." William said.
"Sorry buddy...you can keep reading now..." Leonard said as William continued reading.