(A/N: Just for clarification, for the purposes of this story, "Little Ethan" really is Julian's son, rather than Ethan's, and Marty is the son of Sheridan and Luis, not Antonio. Antonio, by the way, is actually dead, or if he isn't he at least never came back to Harmony after the plane explosion.)
Maria Lopez-Fitzgerald made her way carefully through her mother's antique shop, carefully avoiding bumping into any of the expensive clutter that surrounded her. This was the part of the store that the general public could see: a trendily eccentric hodgepodge of curious odds and ends that had, over the past few decades, become a considerable hit, making shopping at Kay's Yesteryear a must for all the impressionable yuppies that frequently visited the picturesque coastal town.
Maria, though, was headed for the back rooms, sealed off by a glamoury from the sight of common eyes, where the real meat and potatoes dealings of her mother's business took place. Stepping through an invisible barrier, Maria found her mother haggling expertly with one of her regular customers. The teenager kept silent; she knew not to bother her mother while she was at work.
"No, I'm sorry, Mr. Flinchwit" intoned Kay Bennett, clad in her usual trendy, vaguely New Age get-up that the more mundane customers would expect of the proprietress of such a tastefully odd establishment as they thought the shop was, "but I just can't go under $30,000. Do you know how rare Babylonian obelisks are these days? All known surviving relics were smuggled out of the Mesopotamian temples on the eve of the last Iraq invasion."
The slimy old man stroked his limp, stringy beard with his long and spindly fingers as he examined the knee-high structure. Maria made doubly sure to stay safely hidden out of sight, as the man for years had had the disgusting habit of patting her head whenever he saw her. "Yes, but it's hardly in perfect condition," he argued, pointing out a chip in the obelisk's otherwise smooth obsidian surface. "Surely that takes a few thousand off the price."
Unruffled by the criticism, Kay folded her hands in front of her chest, a sure sign that she was not to be brought down. "If I was appraising it based on its aesthetic value, then yes. But I'm not selling this artifact on its potential as a conversation piece. The obelisk's structural integrity is unaffected, and as you well know there's simply nothing better for channeling the elements. If you're not interested then I'm sure I can find plenty of other customers who would find my selling price a bargain."
Flinchwit remained silent for a moment, before reluctantly deciding to take it. "But I'll need a certificate of authenticity, and I expect the price of delivery to be included."
"Of course, and you'll receive all the proper papers with the delivery," Kay promised as she led her customer to the door while making all the necessary insincere small talk and thanking him for his business. It wasn't until the old creep had left that she let her mask of indifference drop away.
"Yes!" Kay squealed, pumping the air with her fist.
"Nice sell, Mom," Maria congratulated her as she stepped out of her hiding place behind a stack of cartons filled with quite reasonably priced dragon scales, dried goblin eyeballs, and the like.
Kay hugged her daughter enthusiastically. "That's the third one this week! I knew investing in Sumerian goods was the way to go. Maria, I think this calls for a celebration."
Maria had to admire the deft flair with which her mother handled the magical market. "That's great, Mom. Maybe you could show me how to use one of these things."
Kay shot her only child a forbidding look, but chose to ignore the girl's needling so as not to spoil her good mood. "No, Maria, I was thinking more along the lines of a dinner at the Seascape for the two of us, with no expenses spared."
"That sounds nice, too," Maria acquiesced. "I could definitely go for a nice filet."
"Alright, then, I'll make the reservations for tonight. It'll be nice to get out, just the two of us girls. Although," she added, smiling broadly, "maybe it'd be nice to go again when your father gets here."
Maria froze, drawing away from her mother. "What makes you think he'll even want to be seen with us? It's not like we see him more than once every four or five years," she spat out viciously.
"Maria Ivy Lopez-Fitzgerald, you will not talk about your father that way," Kay ordered, her eyes storming over perilously, causing her to look far more like the dangerous and powerful witch she really was. "He loves you, and he wants to see you more often, he just…"
"Is too busy wandering around the country looking for your cousin, because he'd rather waste his life like on a woman who ran off to avoid him than be around either of us?" Maria finished for her mother. "Face it, Mom, he doesn't love you, and he never will."
Kay looked as if she'd been stricken. "That wasn't very nice," she said quietly.
The teenager softened as she saw the pain etched into her mother's features. "I'm sorry," she pleaded, reaching out to hold Kay's hand gently, "I realize I'm being really blunt. It just kills me when I see you pining for the low-life. It's been this way ever since I can remember. When I was little, you just kept saying, 'When your father, comes back, things will be different,' or 'when your father comes back, then we'll be a real family,' but it never happened, and I hate it when you say it will, because I just know you'll get hurt again. Look at the way you torpedoed your life over him. If you hadn't, then you wouldn't have been stuck with me, you would've found some decent guy, and you would've had a real family."
"No," said Kay firmly, though tears had welled up in her eyes. "You're the one thing in my life that I don't regret. I never resented having you in my life, and I've always wanted to be there for you."
"Maybe you did, but my 'father' obviously didn't. Don't you see? We don't need him in our lives. What you should be doing is using your powers to get your revenge on the SOB. I'd totally be willing to help."
Kay was actually glad that Maria had steered the confrontation into an area that she was more comfortable dealing with. "I am not going to plot revenge on Miguel, and neither are you. Nor are you going to be learning any of my witchcraft. We've had this conversation many times before."
"Yes, but—"
"No 'buts.' I'm not proud of what I am, Maria. The only reason I sold out to the Dark Side was because I couldn't properly provide for you as a cannery worker, and even if I could, my abdominal injury keeps me from doing hard labor. I wanted to give you the life that you deserve. I've got enough saved up now for you to go to absolutely any college you want, and have a normal, decent life."
Maria held her tongue, but privately she didn't have much regard for most of the "normal, decent" people in Harmony. Her "good" father had abandoned her, the "sainted" Lopez-Fitzgerald family treated her like an after-thought, and all she saw around her were small-minded, petty rivalries and flagrant stupidity. To be sure, she did love her Grandpa Sam and got along fairly well with his wife, Maria's namesake, but as for the rest of her extended family she couldn't really care less. On the other hand, her mother had worked hard and built a life for the two of them, Tabitha had always been a caring constant in her life, and Endora was her closest friend in the world, and yet they supposedly were the "evil" ones.
When Maria didn't reply, Kay took it as an opening to have the last word. "You're just going through a phase, Maria. Soon enough you'll come out of it, and then you'll be glad you didn't do anything rash."
Maria said that her mother was probably right, but privately she remained unswayed. Sorry, Mom, I love you and all, but I will become a witch, and I will make my pathetic excuse for a father pay for everything he's done to the both of us.