A/N: Wee! Lookit! It's about to get good. At chapter seventeen. *Laughs* Hehe – Dr. Spartacus… eh, yes – inside joke.
Disclaimer: I own them all. I kidnapped TPTB, and set them free again under the condition that I own them all. Yes. If you believe me, you need to psychiatric help… Also – I thieved the song from Tracy Lawrence…
*~LTDan~*
I was ten years old the day I got caught
With some dime store candy that I never bought
I hung my head and I faced the wall
as Daddy showed me wrong from right
He said this hurts me more than it does you
There's just some things son, that you just don't do
Is anything I'm sayin' getting through
Daddy I can see the light
Oh Lessons learned, man they sure run deep
They don't go away and they don't come cheap
Oh there's no way around it
Cause this world turns on lessons learned
Granddaddy was a man I loved
He bought me my first ball and glove
Even taught me how to drive his old truck
Circling that ol' town square
He spoke of life with a slow southern drawl
I never heard him cause I knew it all
But I sure listened when I got the call
That he was no longer there
Oh Lessons learned, man they sure run deep
They don't go away and they don't come cheap
Oh there's no way around it
cause this world turns
On lessons learned
Oh Lessons
learned, man they sure run deep
They don't go away and they don't come cheap
Oh there's no way around it
cause this world turns
On lessons learned
~Lessons Learned by Tracy Lawrence
By Saturday, Jayleigh still had not warmed up to Anne. She had even kicked her when Carter proposed she stayed the night, and Anne gratefully accepted. Even as the el train bumped along the tracks, Jayleigh was screaming at her.
"Can't we be friends?"
"NO! Not my mommy! You not!"
Anne was attempting to hold Jayleigh, but Carter could see it was proving difficult.
"Do you want me to take her?" he asked with a frown.
"No… No, I've got it, thanks." She smiled her sugary sweet smile.
Carter's expression didn't change, though. Her effort was apparently moot. He wouldn't be surprised if she tried something like she did the night before. He was almost proud of himself for what happened the previous night. He had invited Anne to stay overnight, but he miraculously refused to sleep with her. She had not been exactly happy about his decision, but Carter, at least, knew it was the right one. No more risk-taking for him; as much as he loved Jayleigh – he did not want it to happen again. In fact, he had only invited her to stay because a horrible snowstorm had set in, and Carter did not want her out in it.
"Your stop," he said, kissing her goodbye.
Anne smiled and got off the el.
Carter watched her out of sight, and then turned to Jayleigh, who was sitting in the seat across from him, looking very sweet. But Carter was not fooled.
"Why don't you like her?" he asked solemnly.
"'Cause she's a bitch," she replied matter-of-factly.
Carter looked blankly at her. "Where did you hear that word?" he snapped.
Jayleigh chewed the inside of her jaws, and Carter was briefly reminded of Abby. "Henny."
"Henny," he repeated skeptically.
"Yuh."
"Who's Henny?"
"A boy."
"A boy?"
"Yuh. Henny is a boy."
"How do you know him?"
She shrugged.
"We'll ask your mom when we get to her house." Carter grimaced at the thought of punishing his daughter.
******
"Hey, Abby."
"Hey." Carter saw her eyes sweep to Jayleigh. "Hey you. Mommy missed you." She picked her up and Jayleigh squealed with delight.
"Miss you more!" She wrapped her arms around Abby's neck.
Abby looked at Carter. "Did you have fun with Daddy?" She didn't take her eyes off of him.
"Yeah! We stayed up real late and ate pizza! Oh, and played games – Daddy's real good at hide-and-go-seek. We watched Big Bird lots. An' we went to the park… but it wouldn't no fun 'cause Anne came too."
Carter held up his hand. "Can I come in? I need to talk to you…"
"Sorry – yeah, sure." She swung the door open, and let him into her apartment.
Carter followed her to the couch, where she put Jayleigh down, telling her to go play in her room.
"She's a great kid…" Carter mumbled, looking down the hall to her room.
"Yeah. She never gives me trouble," said Abby, following his gaze.
There was a short but pregnant pause.
"That's what I needed to talk to you about. Jayleigh… really doesn't like Anne."
"She's a child, Carter. You can't expect her to love everyone…"
"She kicked her… and called her a bitch."
Abby nodded, a frown growing on her face. Though Carter hated to see her frown, he pressed on,
"She said she learned the word from a boy… Henny?"
Abby sighed. "Henry," she said, "Henry Weaver. Kerry and Lopez's son."
Carter's jaw dropped slightly. His boss's son was teaching his daughter wrong? Something was very wrong there.
"Henry Weaver?" he murmured, taking in the irony. "Weaver's son…"
He looked up to see Abby smiling slightly. He grinned back at her.
"What?"
"Doesn't she need to be punished?"
"I'd say so…"
"Do you want to do it?"
"What? Punish my daughter? I'll pass, thanks."
"I think you need to. C'mon." She continued to smile as she stood and took his hand, leading him to Jayleigh's room. She stopped just outside it. "Discipline her."
Carter stood there for a moment, but pushed open the door to her room nonetheless. She sat in the floor, playing with unclothed Barbie dolls. He smirked at the cute sight, but cleared his throat loudly.
"Daddy?" said Jayleigh smiling. "Do you like my room?"
It took all he had to keep from smiling, so he merely nodded and squatted down before her.
"You know that word you called Anne on the train?"
All the happiness left the child's face; it was apparent she knew she was in trouble. "Yes, Daddy."
"You know what my Gamma would do to me when I said words like that – bad words?"
Jayleigh's eyes were wide as she shook her head.
"She'd wash my mouth out with soap."
Jayleigh gasped. "Soap is yucky."
Carter nodded slowly. "It is. But I bet if I put soap in your mouth you wouldn't say those bad words anymore, would you?"
She shook her head a second time.
"Come on, then," said Carter, sighing.
He led Jayleigh to the door where Abby stood, a satisfied smile on her face, and her arms folded across her chest.
"Good job, Dad," she said jokingly.
He frowned. "Are you coming?"
"Bathroom's down the hall. First door on the right."
Carter groaned, but led Jayleigh down the hall. He entered the bathroom, and scanned it for a bar of soap.
"Abby! Where's your soap?"
"In the cabinet above the sink. In a pink box," she called back.
With a dejected sigh, he opened the cabinet, and rummaged around for a pink box. Instead, he found a plastic baggie, full of pictures. He curiously took the down, and saw that the photo on top was one of him. He wore a black suit, and was making a ridiculous gesture at the camera. He opened it, smiling. He shuffled through the pictures, each one better than the last. In the final one, he and Abby were kissing, eyes closed. One hand was around her waist, and the other was outstretched, apparently taking the photo.
He felt a tug on his pant leg. "Daddy? What didja find?"
Carter forced a slight smile. "Nothing." He put the pictures away and took down the soap box.
He bit his lip and turned to look at his daughter. "Okay. First you… you lick it, 'cause uh, it doesn't have a taste unless it's wet, so…" He held the bar out toward her.
She took it tentatively, and gave it a quick lick. Carter felt his heart sink as she pulled a face. He didn't know punishing the small girl would be so hard.
You're going to regret this later, you know he thought sadly
"Eh… now you've gotta put it in your mouth and leave it there for a minute. I'll… I'll check my watch. When I say take it out, you do it. Got it?"
Jayleigh nodded, and put the bar of soap in her mouth. Carter checked his watch, and kept looking down at it: he couldn't watch that, or his heart would explode.
Five seconds…
Ten seconds…
Twenty seconds…
Forty seconds…
Fifty seconds…
"Take it out," he instructed, sighing slightly.
"Icky… that's real nasty."
"I know. Now, you won't say anymore bad words, will you?" he said, putting the soap up.
Jayleigh looked stunned that Carter would even suggest such a thing. "I'd never, ever call anyone a bitch again!"
A/N: Look, I had a really, really, really hard time getting the ending together. Yes, it's sloppy. Yes, it's bad. But, as I always say (or not) – when all else fails, go with lame comedy!
Response to ReviewsAbbyLockhart2: Yep, yep. Right you are. Er… yes. No, I mean. No. Just forget I said anything. Thanks for the review.
Hyperpiper91: Long time no see! Stick with it. Carby in only a few chapters…
C.L. Curtis: Anti-Anne Mob? Lol. Carby is gone for only a few more chapters, as I just said to HyperPiper91. Buuuuut… I'm not giving away any secrets.
Carbybubbles: You've never seen Owen! Oh, I must link you to a picture of him! e since August or September, I didn't register until December… Anyway – thanks for reviewing! :D
Banana_Belle: First off, love the name. Second, thanks for the review! ;)
Lily: Lol nice review. Unfortunately, though it IS my birthday today, I don't have my new PSP yet… I'll get those icons to you ASAP, though!
Kattybaby2318: Carby sex… you are really upfront, ya know that? All I can tell you on the sex front is… um… watch and see. :) But you're an awesome reviewer, and upfront is good…
Jordan-Cavanaugh: Devil? Anne's not Devil. KEM is Devil. Anne can be… I dunno… Demon or Sister of Devil… lol. Thanks for reviewing as always, chickiepoo! ;)
A/N: As I said, it's my birthday (really! Check my profile!)… so why not leave a review as a 'present' to me? *Hint hint* ;)