Mediator Mom
By: ChocolateEclar
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll, including Jesse (no fair), Suze, Paul, Father D, CeeCee, Adam, etc.
Claimer: I fully own Shaun, Charisma, Carmen "Carmenita" De Silva, Rosalinda "Rosie" De Silva and her pets, Tobias "Toby" De Silva, Jacob "Jaco" De Silva and his dog Hiei, and Dominique "Unique" De Silva. I also own the plot. I may not own the fact that Jesse has five sisters (ages 6-16 when he died), but I do own who the five girls are – i.e. their personalities and names. In short, I also own Juanita "Nita" De Silva, Estefana De Silva, Felicidad "Felly" De Silva, Dolores "Dolly" De Silva, and most of all Carmen De Silva.
Chapter 1: Return
"And this is your mom when she was almost a year old."
"Mom," I groaned. "Why are you showing them my naked baby pictures?"
"But you were a very adorable baby, Susannah," teased Jesse from behind me. Scowling, I turned back to the five people on a red couch in the living room. Four were the oldest of my kids. The other: my mom – their grandma. Unique was nowhere to be found…but that was no surprise. She was probably in her room.
My mom held up the photo album for me to get a better look at the pictures. She pointed to a picture of me in a particularly ugly, frilly pink dress. Carmenita – who was sitting on the arm of a matching red chair Jaco was sitting on – made a face and mumbled, "Argh. Ick." Apparently, my mom didn't hear her. "I love this dress. I asked you if you wanted it at the baby shower for Carmenita, remember?"
"Yeah," I replied. "I didn't want it."
"Thank God," muttered Carmenita.
My stepdad Andy came in then behind Jesse with a plate of hot dogs fresh off the grill. "Who wants some?" he said, grinning. I snatched one right before a rush of grabbing hands swallowed up the whole plate.
"Let's go out in the yard," said Jesse, leading the way.
To my surprise, Unique was out behind the house sitting with David. Dopey and Sleepy were chucking Toby's old football back and forth. The football bounced off the swing set and was scooped up by Jaco. "I'll play," he said, smirking. Toby soon followed.
Jesse, Carmenita, Rosie, and I went to sit at the lawn table under an umbrella with Unique and Doc. They were talking about constellations. My stepbrother was talking about science with my eight-year-old! Jeez.
"I want to be an astronomer," admitted Unique. Her dangling feet didn't even touch the lawn from her spot on one of the coffee-colored lawn chairs. I didn't doubt her. She had a wild bright spark in her eyes.
It was then that the football went soaring at us. "Watch out!" shouted Jaco. Unique ducked as Jesse reached over her head to catch the ball. He tossed it back to Jaco who fumbled and missed the football. My eleven-year-old klutz.
Jaco was known for being clumsy. It was a rare occasion when he didn't knock a chair over or crash into something. He was too tall for his own good. What a sight he would be when he went chasing after girls…
A scary thought and one I wasn't prepared for yet. It was bad enough with three hormonal teenagers. Carmenita had a new boyfriend a week and Rosie had been pinning after Alex Bayman for two years. He was a senior at the Mission and had been Carmenita's third boyfriend. Very tall and brunette, I could see what Rosie liked, but also the simple fact that they had never said more than a handful of words to each other.
Carmenita assured Rosie atleast once a month that she would gladly "hook" Rosie up with Alex, but that he wasn't worth it. Considering her experience, I'd have to agree with Carmenita.
"Watch out!"
"Jaco!" yelled Unique. "You're going to kill one of us!"
"Mrs. De Silva, a call for you."
"Oh, thanks, Kate," I replied, taking the phone from my assistant at my fashion shop in Carmel. "Hello?" I said into the receiver, as I surveyed a navy blue halter-top and matching skirt.
"This is Mrs. Dack from the Junipero Serra Mission Academy."
"Oh," I grumbled. "Which one is it this time?"
"Oh, well," said Mrs. Dack, chuckling. "It's Jacob. He was unkind to Sister Ernestine and will be given detention after school today."
Oh gosh. When is that woman going to retire and leave my family alone?
"Fine. Is that all?" I asked, bored. I didn't blame Jaco when it came to Sister Ernestine. Does that make me a bad parent? Nah. I just have my priorities.
"Oh, let's see," Mrs. Dack mumbled, shifting through papers at her desk. "Oh, here's something else. Father Dominic would like to speak with you and your husband tonight."
"Alright. You can tell him we'll be there after work," I answered.
"That's it then," said Mrs. Dack. "Have a good day."
"You too."
I hung up and turned to Kate. "The outfit is too plain. Pair the top with the mini white one instead."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good day, Jesse, Susannah," Father Dom greeted us in his office. I flopped down on one of the chairs in front of his desk and crossed my legs under my little denim skirt.
Jesse sat down much more politely beside me. "How are you, Father Dominic?" he asked.
"Very well – except for the occasional mediator child causing mischief," replied Father Dom good-naturedly. "Atleast none of them have destroyed any part of the school."
Grinning, I said, "Just wait. It'll come. There are five of them after all."
"Frightening thought," mumbled Father Dom.
"You didn't call us down here to talk about that, did you?" I asked.
"No," admitted Father D. "I wanted to let you know Paul Slater has contacted Dr. Slaski."
"What did Slater have to say?" asked Jesse darkly. I glanced at him. He was gripping the arms of the chair tightly and frowning. Even with him angry though, I couldn't help but think he was still hot.
"According to Dr. Slaski, Paul is moving back to Carmel," Father Dom said slowly.
"Why?" I grumbled while Jesse said, "Nombre de Dios."
"Apparently he believes it would be the best environment to raise his son."
Jesse and I sat very still for a moment. Then…
"What the heck?" I yelped – except I didn't say heck.
Jesse swore in Spanish and asked Father Dom, "How old is this son of Slater?"
"According to the papers Paul sent me this morning, the boy is sixteen," responded Father Dom, glancing at a sheet on his desk. "Shaun Michael Slater."
"Oh boy," I whispered. What was wrong with the world? Why wouldn't Paul Slater stay away from me? If he had a son though, that meant he was done with me, and…
…he had a wife or atleast some other girl in his life! Who would've thought? A Mrs. Paul Slater? He was in England for awhile. I supposed he could've met her there.
If I thought things were screwed up before, they just got much worse.
"Well, atleast now he's settled down," pointed out CeeCee over glasses of iced tea. She had one arm draped over her stomach, which was roughly the size of a watermelon. On the ring finger of that hand glinted her wedding ring from…Adam of course.
They already had a nine-year-old daughter named Charisma who was one of the best friends of Jaco and Unique at the Mission. She was a very athletic little girl who was as pale as CeeCee and liked to try to teach Jaco to grow out of his clumsiness. It was a very cute relationship really and one CeeCee and I encouraged. Hey, what's wrong with family friends' children marrying?
"Yeah," I agreed. "But now there's a new devil's spawn."
CeeCee thought on this, sipping her iced tea. "Maybe this Slater will be easier to handle. I wonder what kind of woman would be able to tame Paul though?"
Laughing, I replied, "She'd have to have a lot of patience."
"You think Paul's enough of a creep to go after some other girl named Susannah?" CeeCee asked, chuckling.
I grimaced and said, "You never know."
I rush of feet tramping through the foyer signaled the arrival of my little devils. Carmenita always drove them all to and from school in the old VW Bug Adam sold her. She would come flying through the house in front of the other four and change into jeans and a tank top. Then, she would be out the door again to hang with friends or her latest boyfriend. Today was different. Today was Shaun Slater's first day at the Mission.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
Unique was the first one to appear in the kitchen where CeeCee and I were sitting. "How was school?" I asked her.
Unique was wearing black shorts and a big black T-shirt that gave her a slightly gothic look with her very pale skin and ebony hair. "Carmenita asked your arch-enemy's son out on a date," stated Unique blankly. She smirked then and said amusedly, "He turned her down." Unique laughed as Carmenita, Jaco, and Toby appeared behind her. Carmenita was trying to be very calm, but failing with a grim frown. The other two were fighting to keep their laughter at bay.
I suppose I should've known the moment Carmenita would be turned down would come…and then anger her to no limit. My dear drama queen.
"Oh, come on, Diva," Jaco managed to say to Carmenita. "What was so great about that guy anyway?"
Carmenita let out a long breath and said, "He was hot, but nothing special." She stalked away then.
Jaco was right. She was a diva. I followed Carmenita anyway. She was in her room, angrily trying to apply mascara.
"Trust me," I told her. "You'll poke your eye if you put it on when you're pissed off."
Carmenita closed the tube of mascara and sat moodily down on her bed. I positioned myself beside her on her purple coverlet. "So," I said, "you met Shaun Slater."
"Yeah," grumbled Carmenita.
"What was he like?"
"Tall, blonde, good-looking…"
"Ah. Stereotypical surfer boy material," I said, grinning.
"He was kind of smug but wary at the same time," Carmenita commented after awhile. "When he turned me down, he told me he'd be seeing me around. All of us."
"Hmmm… 'Sounds like he has some of his father's qualities," I mumbled. I pictured a blonde Paul for a moment and made a face.
"Do you think he'll be totally like his dad?" Carmenita queried. I had told her and the other four stories of my being a mediator ever since before they could walk. They knew all about Paul.
"I don't know yet," I replied honestly. "He could be worse for all we can tell yet. Why don't you keep an eye on him? Make sure he doesn't cause trouble."
"After he shot me down?"
"Then make Toby or Jaco do it," I suggested.
Snickering, Carmenita nodded. "I can do that."
"You feel better now?" I questioned.
"Much."
Perhaps we had nothing to fear in Paul and his son.
A/N: Now, see that button down there? Click it and review, okay? Let me know what you think of this. Until next time. Bye.
