Nick Stokes knocked on his oldest daughter's bedroom door, holding a note from her school in one hand, puzzled. He heard a reply from within, so he opened the door to find Mally laying on her bed, taking notes on a novel she was reading for English class. She looked up at her father and immediately, her face took on a confused demeanor.

"What?" She asked strangely. He had one of those weird, unreadable looks on his face that he rarely showed.

"Mal, I got another letter from your school." He waved said document around a little, studying his daughter. "It says you've already brought your chemistry grade up to a C."

Mally smiled up at her dad. He didn't think she could do it, but she did. She brought her grade up far past his expectations.

Nick breathed out incredulously, still with a shocked look on his face.

"Mal, I've got to hand it to you." Nick said, sitting next to her on the bed. "I didn't think you'd be able to pull it up this quick, but in one week you raised it two letter grades? Sweetheart, I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it."

Nick ruffled her hair and planted a proud kiss on her head. Mally relished in his affection and approval, but felt her stomach drop in a pang of guilt.

"You've been up here since school. You wanna take a break? Go throw the ball around?" Nick suggested. If she'd been working this hard, she deserved a break. Today, he was feeling so much better about life because his daughter was finally doing okay again. The meds were starting to kick in, and from his conversations with her therapist, things were moving along well. With the news of her quickly improving chemistry grade, Mally seemed to be getting her life back in gear. In turn, now he could too. As a parent, when one of his children was hurting, it made him hurt too. One of those strange things being a father does to you.

"Nah. Maybe later. I really want to finish off The Winter of Our Discontent." Mally explained. In reality, reading the book was torture because the theme was all about honesty, integrity, and hard work. She felt that John Steinbeck was trying to make her go crazy, and he kept taunting at her, telling her to stop what she was doing. But she couldn't – she had to pass this class. And as long as she was careful, no one would ever find out.

"Good book." Nick agreed, thumbing through one of her notebooks. "It has good messages, don't you think? Hard work really does pay off." Nick gently swatted her with the notebook, in a cheery mood. He didn't know that right now, he was making his daughter feel guiltier than ever. Mally smiled and avoided his eyes. Those eyes that bore into her and seemed to know everything; even the smallest fib, they'd catch her knowingly and set her straight.

"Alright. I'm going to go start dinner. Sara should be home soon. Would you mind watching the twins for a while so I don't burn the ground beef?" Nick got up, scratching at his neck and stretching.

"No problem. I'll be down in a minute."

Her father left the room and she smacked herself on her forehead with The Winter of Our Discontent. Damn book.

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Natalie Grissom opened her locker at the end of a busy school day. Her mono was now long gone, but a school day could still be rough. Right now, she just wanted to head home and take a nap, and not think about anything in the world. Some freshman girls walked by, giggling and laughing, so carefree and light. Natalie sometimes wished she was still an underclassman. They didn't have to worry about college and grades that seriously yet. They had a couple more years to goof around. Natalie had gotten into Stanford, but she still had to keep her grades up. They could always decline her if they thought she was slacking off.

The senior apathetically began exchanging a few books from her backpack with some other heavy texts in her locker when she stumbled upon something. Her chemistry folder. It was missing! Natalie worriedly searched through every crevice of her backpack and locker, frantically trying to find it, but it was nowhere to be found. She had homework to do that night, and though she knew she could do it tomorrow morning before class with her eyes closed, it still wasn't right. She'd left it right there in her locker. It was there two periods ago when she was at her locker last. Where would it be? The only other person who knew her combination was her best friend Mally. Why would Mally want to borrow her…oh no.

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Mally arrived at home after another exhausting day at high school. Sara was home today, so she could just disappear to her room and her mother wouldn't say anything. Mally knew that Sara was still uneasy about prying into her life. She still left that to her dad. Mally put on a perky face, as always, being a little chatty with her and the twins. Truthfully, she was feeling a little better these days, besides what she'd been forced to do for chemistry class.

After the small talk ended, Sara turned serious, as they sat on the couch, watching the twins play happily on the floor.

"Your dad's so proud of you." Sara looked straight at her stepdaughter, but she looked at the ground. She didn't know Mally like Nick did, but she never made eye contact when she was ashamed, lying, or when something was bothering her. "You pulled your grade up in no time. Now you can relax a little, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess." She answered simply. The only thing Mally couldn't do right now was relax. Every minute she was on edge, wondering what other people knew, thought, and suspected. She must look like a deer in headlights 24/7.

"Well, I need to get to my homework." Mally announced before further questions, getting up quickly from the couch.

"Alright, dinner will be in about an hour."

Sara watched her stepdaughter climb the stairs. There was just not something right with that girl. She didn't know what, but something was up. Sara didn't think it was about her mother, the family, or her friends. That left school. Her chemistry grade was fine now, so what was she worried about? Sara decided she needed to talk to Nick when he got home from work.

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"Do it again, daddy!" Aidan requested, watching the scene before him in awe. Nick had decided to show the twins a little science experiment after dinner involving static electricity. On a paper plate, he had sprinkled salt and pepper generously.

"Okay, but this is the last time." Nick told his son. This was the fifth time they were doing this. He delighted in the way the twins reacted to it every time, though. It never got old to see their eyes light up in wonder and awe. They thought their daddy was doing magic.

Taking the comb in his hand again, he ran it through Aidan's shaggy locks vigorously for about ten seconds. Then, he handed the comb to his son. With a huge smile of anticipation on his face, he held the comb over the salt and pepper. Like magic, the pepper sprung up and attached itself to the comb.

Aidan and Bailey let out genuinely astonished little-kid cackles and couldn't stop. Nick grinned widely, loving that they both seemed to like science from an early age.

"That's so cool!" Bailey exclaimed. "Do it one more time, daddy! On me!" She pleaded with the best puppy-dog eyes her tired body could muster up.

"No, that's enough for tonight." Nick told them, picking Bailey up from the breakfast stool and setting her on the floor. "It's time for you two to go to bed."

They both whined, further convincing him of their worn out state, as Nick picked up Aidan, setting him on his hip. He took Bailey's hand in his, and started to lead them to the stairs. For once, Bailey didn't argue with him, just walked along with him. It took over a minute, but the trio eventually climbed the stairs.

Sara had decided a while ago to go rest a while in her room after a long day with the twins. She of course loved them, but two three year olds was a handful for anyone. Sara smiled as she saw Nick with Aidan in his arms, and Bailey by the hand. The first time mother couldn't dream up a more perfect father. He was completely in love with all three of his children, and would do absolutely anything for them. His tenderness was incredibly endearing to her, and sexy at the same time.

After helping the twins get into their jammies and brush their teeth (and gave mommy a goodnight kiss), Nick settled down on Aidan's bed with one child on either side of him. He let each of them pick out a book to read each night, and tonight Aidan had chosen Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Nick knew Aidan loved this book because he could pretend he was reading. His son had long since memorized how the words went along with each page, and he proudly 'read' the book to his father and sister. (A/N: Tee hee. This is actually what I did as a little kid – I first believed I could read after memorizing this book. Giggle giggle)

"Bwown bear, bwown bear, what do you see? I see a wed bird wooking at me!"

Nick smiled and praised his son when he was finished. He and Sara both loved reading as kids, and hoped that Aidan would continue with his love also. Bailey loved to be read to, but hadn't really tried 'reading' like her brother had. She still had plenty of time, though.

Nick read one story from The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Bailey's favorite book at the moment. She always begged for more, so Nick was always putting his foot down, gently of course. Stinky Cheese Man was not a book he could easily put down himself. He'd been guilty of stealing it from the kids and finishing it in bed the first time they'd started it. Hey, he was a guy.

To make things easier, he threw Bailey over his shoulder fireman style, which he knew would always make her squeal and fix whatever she was upset about. He made a monstery roar as he gently body slammed her onto her bed, finishing with a soft kiss to her forehead. Bailey was tucked in without further ado, and soundly hugged and kissed once again.

Nick went back to his son's bed and squatted down next to him, gently stroking back his hair from his forehead.

"Goodnight, son. I love you." He kissed Aidan's forehead sweetly and began to get up, but his son's tiny voice stopped him.

"Daddy?"

"Yep, little man?" He knelt down again and brought his ear closer when his son signaled, obviously wanting to ask a very important, secret question.

"When's Baiwey gonna wead wike me?" He asked his father, concerned. Anyone who wasn't around the little boy every day may not have been able to understand what he said, but Nick knew his toddler lisp.

"Well, son, all kids learn to read at different times. You just got a jump start. Bailey will read soon, we've just gotta give her some time, okay bud?" Nick reassured his ever-concerned son.

"Otay daddy." He whispered, and reached his pudgy arms up for a hug. Nick embraced him warmly one last time and kissed Aidan on the lips. Little kid kisses were like his air. Nowadays, he couldn't live without them.

Nick left the twins' door slightly ajar, because they were both still afraid of the dark, making his way into the master bedroom. As he passed Mally's door, he heard silence and figured she was busy studying once again, or listening to her iPod. He closed the door and his eyes fell upon his beautiful wife, dressed in short pj bottoms and a simple white tank top. Though she was always gorgeous, Nick especially appreciated Sara in this way. No make up, no fancy clothes, just Sara.

He joined her under the covers, immediately running a warm hand under the fabric of her tank top. They kissed tenderly for several moments, until Sara pulled away. Nick kissed her once more on the tip of her nose, and looked at her delicate face. She looked concerned, which wasn't that much out of the realm of drama that had endowed this household lately.

"You okay, baby?" He asked quietly, stroking her jawline with his finger tenderly.

"I'm just concerned about Mally still." She confessed. Nick rolled onto his back and put one arm behind his head, rubbing his face exhaustedly with his other.

"I know it's been rough lately, Sar, but I think she's really turning a corner." Nick started, not letting his wife finish.

"I don't think she's telling us everything." She blurted, studying Nick's face carefully. Sara wasn't sure how he was going to take her concerns. Nick turned his head to see a serious-looking Sara.

"What do you mean?"

"Pulling her grade up by two letter grades in one week, Nick? That's almost impossible."

"I talked to her teacher about that. She allowed Mally to correct her work from the last two weeks, and she's been doing extra credit."

"Nick, you know I love Mally like my own, but I…"

She was cut off.

"But what, Sara? What are you trying to say?"

"I don't know, Nick!" Sara almost snapped. "Geez! I can't bring up any concerns?"

"You were going to accuse my daughter of cheating."

"Your daughter? What happened to the team approach?"

"Let's not discuss this right now, Sar." Nick wanted this conversation to end. One thing he missed about being a single parent was his ability to make decisions by himself. Sara wanted what was best for Mally, too, but she didn't know all her intricacies like he did.

Sara stared at her husband incredulously. She couldn't believe he was blowing her off. His daughter, one of the most important people in his life, and he was dismissing it. Unbelievable.

"Fine. Goodnight, Nicholas." Sara settled back under the covers, facing away from her husband intentionally. Nick rolled over the other way and sighed, looking at the clock. It was only 8:30. He decided to get out of bed and finish off some case work he'd brought home. He didn't need his wife second-guessing him and Mally right now.

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Mally placed her homework paper back in her own chemistry folder solemnly. It never got any easier. But she couldn't fail this class. She looked over Natalie's paper with a 98 written at the top of it. The AP class moved faster than the regular one. They had the same assignments, but did the work faster and earlier in the year.

The ashamed seventeen year old put Natalie's paper back in the folder she'd taken from her locker. She knew that her friend pretty much always finished her chem assignments at school during study hall, so it was safe to assume that she'd never realize Mally was 'borrowing' her papers. Mally was careful and smart about everything. She would nonchalantly ask Natalie about her assignments, and always knew when she would need her papers to study for a test or quiz. It was almost foolproof. Almost.

The 'what-ifs' ran through her head constantly. What if her teacher caught her? What if Natalie caught her? What would her father think?

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A couple blocks away, Natalie Grissom was in a quandary. Mally wouldn't cheat, would she? She knew better than that! Natalie didn't even want to think about what kind of trouble her friend would be in. Not to mention herself! What would the school do if they found out Mally was using her papers? Natalie had no idea it was going on until now, but would the principal care? She could lose her admittance to Stanford. Mally wouldn't do that to her, would she?

Natalie had known Mally practically all her life. She'd seen her friend pretty desperate before. Like the time she spilled grape juice all over Mrs. Parker's white couch and ran away without turning herself in. Her father had been furious because he had to hunt her down for hours.

But desperate enough to CHEAT? CHEAT? Mally Stokes? Despite some of the mischievous things she'd done over the years, Mally was one of the most well-behaved, good-hearted kids Natalie knew. This was a serious accusation, but she knew she had to tell someone. She didn't want to be responsible for getting Mally in trouble, but cheating was inherently wrong. Natalie knew it, and she was sure Mally knew this too.

In the early morning hours that day, Natalie made the decision. Tomorrow, she would go to Mally's teacher.

A/N: I know a lot of you didn't want Mally to stoop this low, but that's how I felt like writing her character. Life really sucks sometimes, ya know, and we all make mistakes. I promise I'll make it all better by the end. Hey, two chapters in two days! Woo hoo! Please review…