A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews, guys! They're really making me write faster – thank you!
Lindsey Grissom opened her eyes the next morning to find herself in her high school bedroom. Bands she really didn't listen to that much any more were still up, mostly because she was never home long enough to really think about redecorating…or undecorating. It's not that she didn't like her family…she just didn't want to be around them that much. As a nineteen year old, she needed her space as she tried to find out what she was really about. College had been going so well, but after the fight with Natalie things had gone downhill. Lindsey was surprised at just how much the fight had affected her – it really hurt her emotionally. She hated that she had jumped at her little sister and couldn't blame Nat for fighting back. But when she did, it upset her even more to know there was that much rage inside her baby sister. All her life, her parents had told her she needed to protect Natalie, and there she was beating the hell out of her.
She'd been worrying so much about family life that she really didn't feel like doing much schoolwork, or even hanging out with her college friend. So she was just a couch potato – not exactly depressed, but just really down. It had gotten so bad that she'd stopped going to classes almost altogether and had recently resorted to paying off classmates to do her papers. Her main source was her friend Luke, and he assured Lindsey all the papers were one hundred percent original and she believed him. Then one day her forensics professor called her to his office and showed her two identical papers – one of which belonged to her. Lindsey didn't know what to say, so she just stayed silent. She'd been busted – what could she do? Caught red-handed. She knew what she was getting herself into when she started using Luke's papers, but never thought anything would happen. And now she'd have to explain it to her parents. She knew they wouldn't rest until they found out what drove her to do it, and they could always tell when she was lying.
Sighing, she looked at her alarm clock – 8:30. She couldn't sleep any longer, which was unusual. It normally only happened when she was really nervous or really upset. Lindsey decided to make her way downstairs where she could hear that her parents were already getting breakfast. As she neared the kitchen, she could hear their hushed whispers and could tell they were talking about her.
"Hi guys." She greeted them. They gave her a speaking-of-the-devil look.
"Good morning, Linds." Gil told her and gave her a hug, followed by her mom. "Do you want some pancakes?"
"Sure. I thought I smelled something cooking."
The family tried to small talk with each other, trying to stay away from the big issue of the day. Catherine and Gil wanted to give her time to cool down until they started in with their questioning. She still seemed really upset.
"Linds, do you want to go to the butterfly sanctuary with me today?" Gil asked his daughter. It was a favorite outing of theirs from the time Lindsey was a little girl, even before he'd married Catherine. She delighted in the beautiful, colorful creatures and Gil would passionately tell her about each one. Lindsey just ate it all up and she was as close to a butterfly expert as her father was now. Almost.
"Yeah, dad. That sounds good."
"Okay. Shall we go at say, 2:00?"
"Yeah."
Natalie came down the stairs, unable to sleep in also. She didn't look to thrilled to find the rest of her family eating without her.
"Hi, sweetheart." Catherine greeted her. "You want some pancakes too?"
"I'll get 'em." She told her mother, as she went to the stove and dished herself out a couple of hotcakes. Natalie took her plate to the table, filling up the fourth and final seat.
"Linds and I are going to the butterfly sanctuary later. You wanna come?"
"No thanks, dad." She looked at her sister, poking at her food. "I've got homework to do."
No one dared look at Lindsey, and they all continued eating in silence.
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Nick Stokes was so glad to get home finally a little after one in the afternoon. He'd had to pull overtime, which he really didn't like doing with Sara home in a fragile state. Nick was lucky to have Mally around to help him out. She was being so great about getting Sara whatever she needed without complaining. He came home to find the two women in his life on the couch, watching the movie Return to Me. Sara had been choosing to watch every single romantic comedy she could get her hands on. They'd decided to wait until after the twins were born to get married. Sara didn't want to be married while she was pregnant, though she couldn't wait to get hitched to the one and only Nick Stokes. So, until then, she was all into the romance of the movies.
"Good afternoon, ladies." Nick greeted them, a pile of mail in his hands that he'd just brought in. He'd actually had perfect timing with the mailman, getting the straight hand-off today, which hadn't been happening lately.
He received a unified "Hey." from Sara and Mally, but they kept their eyes glued to the screen, tossing popcorn into their mouths. Nick shook his head and started sifting through the day's mail. All seemed normal until he came to an envelope from the emergency room of the hospital. Sara had been in for appointments, but he saw no reason they should have been to the emergency room. He curiously opened the envelope.
Sara and Mally were completely oblivious to the fact that Nick was going through the new mail. Mally had been intercepting it each day, waiting for the doctor's bill to come. She'd slip it to Sara and get it paid, and her dad would be none the wiser.
Nick started reading the bill – charges for seeing the doctor, a cleaning of the navel area, and a prescription of antibiotics and cleaning solution. What the hell did that have to do with pregnancy?
"Sara, what's this?" He crinkled his nose as he read it over again.
"Huh?" She turned her head.
"An emergency room bill? Are you okay? When did this –" He looked back at the top where it said patient name, and instead of his fiancée's name, he found his daughter's. When Nick looked back at the girls, Mally had that look like when she was in deep trouble, and Sara looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"What's going on? What aren't you telling me?"
Sara glanced at Mally and knew they couldn't cover it now. She pushed herself up off the couch and walked over to Nick.
"Nicky, come with me." She touched his arm, but he was getting worked up and it would be hard to calm him down, especially when his daughter was involved.
"No. I want to know what this is about. Mally, are you okay?"
Mally looked down at her lap. "Yes, dad."
"Then what's going on? Why were you at the emergency room? And why was your navel being treated?" He glanced back down at the bill.
When neither of them answered, Nick knew he had uncovered something big and that both were involved somehow. Sara looked unsure how to continue. Nick shifted his weight, getting annoyed. He finally walked over to Mally and stood in front of her, not before finding the remote and switching the TV off. She knew there was no hiding now that he sniffed something was going on.
"Mally, you tell me what is going on right now." He ordered her with command in his voice. Mally hated the stance he was taking and that look on his face. She started getting teary-eyed. "Now, Mally." Sara just watched them, feeling really bad for Mally, but really nervous about what Nick would say when he found out she'd tried to help cover it up.
"Ashley's older brother works at a…piercing parlor…" Nick shifted his weight and let out a huge sigh before she continued. "And he said he could pierce Ashley and me for free. So he brought the stuff home and…did it." Mally started crying more.
"You let Ashley's brother pierce your belly button? At their house?"
"Yeah." She choked out. "Daddy, I'm sorry!" Mally said louder when he started pacing, arms folded, which was never a good sign.
"Why did you go to the emergency room?" He started drilling.
"It got infected, and S….Sara took me there." The teenager looked at Sara, as if asking for help.
Nick's eyes shot over to his fiancée. He couldn't believe she had helped her out and hadn't told him.
"And you never told me?" Nick said coldly, putting his hands on his hips, glaring at his daughter. Mally didn't dare look at him. "You were trying to cover it up?"
"I knew you'd get mad, but dad, I took it out and I'll never do it again, I promise!"
"That's not the point, Mally. You LIED to me when you didn't tell me. And you did something you knew I wouldn't like without asking.." Nick shook his head in disbelief. "What has gotten into you? You snuck out with Natalie and now you're piercing your body without my permission? Is there anything else I should know about?"
"No." She replied meekly. She thought about reminding him it was for free, but didn't think it was such a good idea after he'd received the giant doctor's bill for fixing it.
"How's your belly now? Are you okay?" He wanted to make sure. "Let me see it."
Mally all of a sudden got uncomfortable. "Daaaad! No!" She chided him like he was insane. Mally had gotten really uptight about exposing her body to anyone lately and really didn't want to go through it again, even if it was her own father.
"Mal, I've seen you in a bathing suit. It's no different…"
Sara had been a bystander up until this point but could see Mally was really uncomfortable with this idea. She knew Mally loved her dad, but she was fourteen years old and suddenly really modest.
"Nick, just leave it." She told him, walking over to him again. "I've seen it, and she's just fine." Sara told him truthfully. For some reason, Sara had been about the only person Mally had been comfortable showing any part of her body to lately. She'd checked on her every night to make sure the medicine was working, and her abdomen was just about healed.
Nick studied Sara for a moment, and decided to take her word, though he wasn't sure if he should at this point. She'd lied to him too.
"Okay. I believe you." He let his look linger a bit, letting her know he wasn't happy. "Mal, get up to your room and wait for me. I'll be up in a minute." He told her calmly. Mally quickly stood and darted up the stairs, closing her door. Nick watched her go up the stairs and kept his eyes there until he heard her door close. His hands still perched on his hips, he turned to Sara.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He started.
"Nick…I"
"She was in the emergency room, Sara. That's a big deal. I'm her father and I need to know things like this."
"I know Nick, and I'm sorry. It's just…"
"What?" Nick really wanted an explanation.
"She was really upset about you finding out, and I was feeling really stressed and tired at the time, so I told her I wouldn't tell you, as long as she promised not to try it again."
Nick shook his head. "I can't believe you let her play you like that." He rubbed his face in disbelief. Mally wasn't a bad kid, but she had her tricks, and Sara had fallen for one of them.
"Play me? Nick, she was…"
"Save it, Sara. You can't let her manipulate you like that. Now she thinks certain things she can get away with if she comes to you first. Do you see what you're doing here?"
Sara was getting upset, and her pregnancy hormones weren't helping. She felt like Nick was attacking her, even though he was just really upset about being lied to. Finally, she broke down and started crying in the middle of the kitchen. Nick immediately felt horrible and was over to Sara in seconds, taking her in his arms. He knew upsetting her was not only bad for her at this point, but bad for the babies.
"Sara, baby, I'm sorry…."
"No! I'm going to be a horrible mother, Nick, I am!" She sobbed into his shoulder. "You're right! I let her take advantage of me and I shouldn't have. I've just been trying so hard to fit in with you both, and it's hard, Nick!"
"Sssshhhh….I'm sorry." He waited for her crying to die down a little. Nick really felt like an ass, but he was concerned about his daughter. "Sara, look at me."
She slowly picked her head up from his shoulder, looking defeated.
"Sara, you are not a bad mother, nor will you ever be. You made a mistake, we all do. I can't tell you how many mistakes I've made as a parent. But you're a first time mom dealing with a teenager, Sara. That's the toughest age, at least to me, it is."
He wiped some tears from her eyes and kissed her softly. Sara was trying to breathe in and out calmly. This couldn't be good for the babies.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you. You just have to remember not to let her get away with crap like that, and don't let her play you. She can be good at that. And I'm going to have a talk with her about that. I'm totally busting her on it. I won't allow it. Okay?" Nick rested his forehead on hers, and reached out to touch her belly where his two children to be rested.
"Why don't you go lay down for a bit? Get some rest."
"Okay." Sara nodded. Nick helped lead her up the stairs to their bedroom, past Mally's closed door and past the twins' nursery. He tucked her in and gave her another slow, sensual kiss. Sara soon dropped into a peaceful slumber.
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"Oh! Look at that one, dad!" Lindsey pointed at a beautiful blue butterfly as it flew past at the Las Vegas Butterfly Conservatory. It had been a solace for the pair even since Lindsey's first visit with Gil when she was four. The word 'dad' was always music to Gil's ears, coming from Lindsey. He felt so honored and proud to be her dad, because he hadn't been her father at all until she was about six. It was like she'd selected him for the position and he couldn't be happier.
"It's beautiful. Morpho Menelaus." He rattled off. Lindsey gave him a look as if to say, don't start with your scientific jargon. "Sorry." He apologized. Gil couldn't help it – science was his life. Well, at least after his family. There was a time when that wasn't the case, when he engrossed himself in his profession, never loving anyone, never taking a break, and never really living. That's why he adored Lindsey so much – she showed him why he was alive. Gil studied his daughter as she walked around the sanctuary, her eyes lighting up like she did as a little girl as she saw the creatures fly around. A young girl ran past them, yelling excitedly at her dad, reminding Gil of what Lindsey was like as a youngster.
"What's that one?" Lindsey asked her father, knowing that he loved to talk about his beloved butterflies. He had dozens framed in his office at home and at work. They were his pride and joy.
"Goliath Birdwing Butterfly. Ornithoptera Goliath." He said of the green, yellow, and black creature.
"It's beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you." Gil said, being cliché.
"Dad, please!" She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Secretly, she loved hearing things like this and he knew it. A young girl could never get tired of being complimented by her dad, the most important man in her life.
"It's true." He told her, and then pulled her in for a shoulder hug, kissing her temple. Gil was glad that she didn't pull away like she sometimes did. He could tell she was desperate – desperate for some guidance, begging for him to tell her the right thing to do. Gil wasn't so sure himself, but he was the parent – it was his job.
"You know I'll always love you, no matter what." He said seriously, knowing it might make her uncomfortable. But he needed to get it out so she knew.
"Daaaad." She blushed a little, but inwardly was glad he'd said it.
"And your mom and Natalie too. Even though she doesn't always show it."
Lindsey started getting a little teary eyed at how Gil was trying to cheer her up and support her. She was surprised that her parents hadn't started jumping down her throat yet – at least with her mom. Gil was always the calm one. He spoke with conviction, but gently, making everything he said a little easier to swallow, as opposed to her mom's more dramatic, upset tone. But he always made her feel really disappointed in herself when he was done. Somehow, it always made it seem worse – he got her to think about her actions. Her dad was sneaky like that. Gil was a salt of the earth type of guy.
With all these thoughts running through her mind, Lindsey had to cover up her face to keep from crying full out in public. Gil put a hand on her shoulder and led her off to a corner, realizing she was getting emotional.
"Heeeey…don't cry." He pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back in comfort. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, dad, it's just…I'm so confused. I can't believe I cheated, and you're being all supportive and stuff. But Nat's really mad, and I know mom wants to jump all over me…"
"Linds, just calm down." He stopped her as he saw she was getting overwhelmed. His hands were on her upper arms, rubbing them lightly to calm her. "You're getting ahead of yourself. All your mom and I want to do right now is make sure you're okay. Keep your head up, and don't let anyone get you down, especially Nat. I've already spoken to her about her comment earlier and about the situation in general, so she knows not to try anything. You just need to take some deep breaths, and don't worry so much. Life goes on."
Lindsey nodded in appreciation and then rested her head back on Gil's shoulder. "Thank you, dad." She told him. And he held her until she'd calmed down behind a tree in the butterfly sanctuary.
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Mally felt like she was a little girl again as she waited for her father to come to her room. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but this was always the worst part – sitting, wondering what he was going to say, and anticipating his disappointed face. Mally didn't often get in trouble, but when she did, Nick was one to make a big event out of it so she wouldn't try it again.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she heard his footsteps nearing her door and he knocked.
"Come in." She said, trying not to sound intimidated.
Nick walked in and closed the door. Just minutes earlier, he'd taken Sara to their bed so she could calm down after what Mally had pulled. Instead of going in to Mally's room immediately, he thought he'd let her sweat it out a bit more. He pulled out her chair and sat next to her bed.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself before I begin?" He asked her, which was a horrible, horrible sign. Mally looked mortified, and she quickly shook her head no. It was always worse to try to make excuses, she knew.
"Good. I just got done helping Sara to bed because she about had a nervous breakdown because now she thinks she'll be a horrible mother. Do you think that's fair on her, or on the babies?"
"No."
"Did you think about that when you tried to pull a sheet over Sara's eyes?"
"No."
Nick paused and just stared her down, letting his words sink in.
"Mally, I'm not going to lecture you on what you did wrong, because I think you're old enough and smart enough to know what you did. You knew what you did was wrong, because you tried to cover it up. And you dragged Sara into it with your little sob story. Again, you showed absolutely no respect for your own body, your own safety, or for me."
Mally was starting to quietly sob now that Nick was railing on her. He made her sound like such an awful person, and she should've known better – which she did. She hated him for making her feel so awful, but at the same time knew she deserved it.
"If you had come clean to me, I would've only grounded you for two weeks, but since you tried to cover it up, you're grounded for four. Since you were a little girl, I have tried to drill one thing into you – honesty. Honesty towards adults, teachers, your friends, and especially me. Your behavior in the last few months has really made me question if I've been doing a good enough job with you. Now, you sit here and think about that until dinner time."
Mally didn't dare say a word, and Nick got up, putting the chair back, leaving the teenager crying on her bed. Though he hated having to punish her, he did feel a degree of satisfaction because he seemed to get through to her. Nick was thankful she did seem to have a conscience most of the time, though she'd been showing a number of lapses lately. He went downstairs to start dinner, his pulse still racing from his suppressed anger and disappointment.
Mally really didn't know why she'd been acting up lately. She knew that before, she was kind of upset about Sara now being in her life, and a little on impulse and boredom. But why did she want to pierce her navel again? Mally didn't know if she ever really wanted it done. Maybe it was just because she knew her dad wouldn't like it and there was the thrill of possibly getting caught. Well, she did get caught and it really wasn't that exciting or thrilling any more. Mally didn't get why she'd acted on such impulse when everything else in her life was going so much better. She and Sara were actually getting along and, dare she say, getting closer each day. Mally had made Sara feel awful, and so she felt awful. Sara was carrying her new siblings, which she was enthralled about. Her dad loved her to pieces. What was wrong? Mally collapsed onto her bed and hugged her favorite teddy bear tight. She supposed she would have a month to think about it.
A/N: Aaaarggghh! Angry Nick! The birth of the twins will be soon…stay tuned. I hope you don't mind how I'm portraying pregnant Sara – I just figured she'd be doped up on crazy emotions. I know she's normally a very strong female, but I think her stress of carrying twins may cause a lapse. Please review!