Disclaimer: This story is based upon characters created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney. Since this story is set 20 plus years later, all the characters under twenty-five years of age are mine.
The next morning's formal debriefing went better than the informal one.
After she had made sure all was well at headquarters, Mom came home with the kids. It was Saturday. The harvest dance was that night.
Once they were home, Anne went back to her room. She turned on her stereo. She was feeling down, so she set it to select her least played songs. She hoped something unusual might help her mood.
The first song was a pop cover of some old, tender, Disney love song. She quickly tapped 'next'. Anne didn't want to be reminded that she didn't have a date for the dance.
The next song was some millennium pop tune about God riding a bus. Anne opened her Latin book to do some studying. A half-sheet of paper fell out. It was Trent's poem.
Anne was feeling like a pigeon all right. Ken had asked Cindy to the dance. No Dove for her. She decided she didn't want to study after all and plopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
The next song started with some guitar riffs and a laugh. Anne thought she could use some laughter right then.
'I lost faith in myself, in everyone and everything around me.' a woman sang.
Anne realized it was Pat Benetar. Probably a song she got from one of her uncles.
I thought I'd disappear; maybe you'd be better off without me.
Anne gave the song a top score for being appropriate.
You showed me I was wrong, everybody needs someone
Love is not about perfection.
Anne wished that it were true.
You made no promises
Life is hard enough you said, without you
Anne was looking for patterns on the ceiling as the chorus began.
Only You, Only You
You're all that matters
Only You, Only You, Only You
Sounds like Mom and Dad.
Only You give me strength
When my world is shattered
Only You, Only You, Only You
Anne knew it wasn't talking about her.
I've walked this road some many times before
You'd think I'd know the way
But like the fool that I am, it always ends the same
That sounds more like my life.
You said that everyone deserves a little happiness
No one should have to be alone
No one? So why am I lying here? Answer that.
Me, I'd be satisfied with just a little tenderness,
With you
I can share that. Point him out. Oh, and keep him away from Cindy.
Only You, Only You
You're all that matters
Where's the dove?
Only You, Only You, Only You
Only You break the chain
Bill got them out of that darn ring. Don had kept Bopper from throwing them to the sharks. She hadn't done anything.
When my world is shattered
Only You, Only You, Only You
Ken could be her dove, but he'd rather fly with Cindy.
Anne turned off the stereo and went to the kitchen unsure whether she actually was hungry.
Anne found Mom pouring some milk for herself.
"Hey, Annie!" she smiled. "I'm proud of the way you two did last night. You kept safe in a bad sitch."
"Thanks, Mom," Anne decided to sit at the kitchen table, since Mom was in the fridge.
"You don't sound very sincere," said Mom. "Are you all right?" Mom sat down at the table.
"Fair," she said honestly.
They sat a moment. Kim waited patiently. She could see that Anne wanted to talk, but didn't want to admit it.
"Mom, where did you meet Dad?" Anne asked. "Please don't say Kindergarten," She pleaded.
Mom sipped her milk. "Okay," She hesitated.
"It was in kindergarten?" Anne gaped at her mother.
"Um," Mom smiled nervously, "Pre-K, actually."
Anne let her head fall forward until her forehead hit the table with a 'thunk'. "I'll never meet a guy."
"Now you sound like me."
"Reality check, Mom," Anne barely lifted her head. "You just told me you met your husband in pre-K."
"Yet in high school I constantly agonized about boys and dating," Kim looked squarely at her daughter's ear, since Anne's eyes were on the table.
"You weren't dating, Dad?" Anne lifted her head slowly.
"Not until senior year," Mom told her. "We were just friends all that time, best friends."
"So you hung out as friends, dating other people?" Even after all she had learned about her mom in the last twenty-four hours, Anne could not grasp it.
"Mostly," Mom looked thoughtful. "Then there were the missions. Your Dad was always with me for those." Mom got a dreamy look in her eyes, though she looked right at Anne. "What I love about your father is that he is always there for me."
"Wow," Anne whispered.
"Wow," Kim agreed. "I hope you will find someone like that, too."
"Really, always?" Anne looked up at her like she had used to during a good bedtime story.
"Even when it hurt."
"Like what?" Anne smiled and propped her chin in both her hands, leaning on the table.
"Once Drakken had poisoned me with some rare pollen. It interacted with an emotional response. Your dad went to the Amazon alone for an antidote, even though I had a date." Mom looked so nice when she talked about Dad.
"You went out while poisoned?"
Kim looked down at the table, "It was stupid, I know. But I really liked the guy." She continued, "Ron was there to support me, though he didn't like Josh Mankey much at that time."
Kim saw her daughter staring at her, mouth open and eyes wide. "Something wrong?"
"Please tell me you did not say, 'Mankey'."
Kim hadn't intended to say his name, especially after Anne's reaction to the mistaken case with Brick Flagg, but you can't unring a bell once it has sounded. "Actually, I did." Kim bit her lower lip.
"Cindy's Dad!"
Kim remembered that she had once seen Cindy and Anne bickering. Their banter had even reminded her of another pair of teens but it had slipped her mind until now. "Yeah."
"Ken's dad was bad enough!" Anne shouted. Her head went back down on the table. "This is just too weird." She said quietly. This time her long hair obscured her. It looked like a blonde ball of hair sat on the table.
"The Flagg thing was wrong, Anne," Kim pointed out.
"But this is true," Anne said from under her hair.
"So?"
Anne rose up and faced her mother; "So Cindy is always on me about stuff! She wouldn't let me live this down!"
"Have you considered that she might think it's weird?"
Anne paused to think, "No."
"Do you really think she would want everyone to know?"
"No," Anne sighed.
"Then why does it matter?"
Anne thought long and hard on that. "I guess...," she looked up at her mother, "it doesn't?"
"That's my thought on it." Mom got up, "I think we have some mint ice cream left."
"Please and thank you." chimed Anne.
Additional Disclaimer: Pat Benatar owns all right to her song, "Only You."
My first songfic. Did it stink?
Lewis Caroll: You caught one of my jokes! Yeah, I made Anne the captain of the debate team because of a line Drakken said in 'Crush'. She's not a cheerleader either. Don is a linebacker. I wanted him on defense and its one of the few positions I understand.
It's nottoo late to review my old stuff if you really want too. ;-)
Anne's actually feeling rather crushable at this point, we'll see what she does about it.
kIrEigIrL: Flo's birth parentage came out in 'Go Flamingo'. I refer back a lot to events from KP and my own stories. In this story, most of the sitch is resulting from events of the earlier stories. I didn't realize before that most of their fanfic kids are guys. I just liked her as a girl.