Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Someone asked about the age difference between all the kids. As of chapter 43, Scott is 28, Abby is 24, Ellie is 21, and Evan is 19.
In this chapter, Scott is 22, Abby is 18, Ellie is 15, and Evan is 13.
"You know she's probably going to kill you, right?"
Scott glared at his sister. "You know, Abby, you're really not helping right now."
Abby just smirked at her big brother. Normally, she was the one getting in trouble (her most current reason for her grounding was that she had been caught in a slightly compromising position with her boyfriend while she was supposed to be babysitting Ellie and Evan). This time, Scott was going to get it and Abby couldn't help but take some amount of glee from it.
Scott flipped through his official paperwork and tried to ignore Abby. "You do realize that I'm twenty-two, right? Mom and Dad—specifically, Mom—can't really tell me what I can and can't do with my career."
"I'm eighteen and Mom and Dad just grounded me for like the five millionth time," Abby pointed out flippantly. She was only a couple of months from heading to Parsons at the New School, and she couldn't wait to finally be on her own. She loved her parents and her family, but it would be nice to have a boy over and not get grounded for it.
"That little asshole had his hands up your shirt and Ellie and Evan were right down the hall!" Scott exclaimed as his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Come on, everyone knows that you can't invite your boyfriend over when you're babysitting. You were asking to be grounded."
Abby shrugged her shoulders. "Brad will probably never come over here again, anyway. Dad scared the shit out of him, and now that you're going to be a cop… well, I doubt we'll be seeing much of him." She didn't look too broken up by it, however. She had just been messing around with Brad before the summer started. This left her with plenty of time to have a summer fling, which was just fine by her.
Ellie came skipping into the kitchen, tripped over her own feet, and managed to right herself before she slammed into the counter. Her cheeks flushed wildly due to her clumsiness, but she smiled brightly at her big brother.
Scott hugged Ellie tightly. At fifteen, she was still in her awkward stage, but Scott had no doubt that she would grow into a beautiful young woman. That kind of terrified him, because Ellie was the type that had no clue how amazing she was. Abby worried him for a different reason; she wasn't afraid to flaunt it, and hadn't been since she was fifteen.
"What's going on?" Ellie asked. She peered up at her big sister with knowing eyes. "You've got that look on your face."
"That's because we're talking about the summer fling I'm going to have," Abby declared. "That, and how Scott is going to join the police academy."
Ellie whipped around to face Scott and almost fell out of the kitchen chair as she did so. "You're finally doing it?" she asked. "You're going to join the police academy?"
Scott opened his mouth to respond, but it was their mother's voice that they heard instead. "Excuse me, what?"
Scott winced and slowly turned towards the kitchen doorway. Rachel Hudson was standing there with her mouth hanging wide open. The two grocery bags in her arms were dangerously close to slipping, and Abby rushed forward to grab them. Abby couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face as she nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yup, you heard right! Scott is joining the police academy!" Abby set the grocery bags on the table and sat back, watching eagerly.
Ellie glanced nervously between her mother and older siblings. "Should I go find Daddy?" she asked.
Rachel didn't take her eyes off of her oldest son, even when Evan started banging on his drums upstairs. "Yes, go do that."
Ellie bolted from the kitchen chair and ran upstairs and into her father's office. He was going over some paperwork from the music store and was listening to Evan practice the drums at the same time. As a music teacher, he was never one to put on headphones to block out the noise when one of his kids started practicing music. Still, Ellie tapped on Finn's shoulder until she got his attention.
Finn grinned down at his youngest daughter. She was the spitting image of her mother, but she was sweet and quiet and shy—the exact opposite of her big sister. "What's up, princess?"
"Scott's in trouble," Ellie stated with a worried look on her young face. She was incredibly attuned to people's emotions, especially her family and friend's.
Finn's brow furrowed, because it wasn't like Scott to get in trouble. Realization suddenly dawned when he heard Rachel screech something about the police academy. Finn squeezed Ellie's shoulder and then they went downstairs.
"Do you have any idea what could happen to you?" Rachel demanded shrilly. "The city is dangerous, Scott! You have a degree in biology from NYU. There are so many other things that you could do!"
"Rach…" Finn began. Rachel stopped yelling at their oldest son long enough to whip around and face her husband.
"Did you know about this?" she demanded. "Did you know what our son has been doing? What he plans to do with his life?"
Finn shared a look with Scott. He was about to get into as much trouble as Scott, if not more. Abby, naturally, didn't miss the look. She was taking way too much pleasure in being the one who wasn't getting yelled at for once.
"Yes," Finn finally admitted. "Scott came to talk to me about a few weeks ago."
Rachel's mouth dropped open again, and she gaped at her husband. "But… but… he has a degree in biology!"
"That makes this kind of perfect, right?" Scott began cautiously. He doubted that his mother would listen to much reason at the moment, but it was worth a shot. "I'm aiming for making detective eventually. My scientific background could be really useful."
"Maybe as a forensic scientist!" Rachel exclaimed. "Not as a police officer!"
Scott released a heavy sigh. "I need the training, Mom. But like I said, I want to make detective."
Unable to put the worry she suddenly felt for her son into words, Rachel began to splutter. Finn decided that now would be a wise time to send their daughters out of the room so that he, Rachel, and Scott could continue with the rest of the discussion.
"Ellie, Abby, why don't the two of you head into the living room and put on a movie before dinner?" Finn suggested quietly. Ellie immediately headed into the living room, but Abby opened her mouth to protest. Before she could, Finn held up a hand. "Abigail Katherine. Do I have to remind you that you're still grounded?"
Grumbling under her breath, Abby stomped into the living room after her younger sister. Finn turned back to the current situation at hand just in time to hear Rachel say, "Scott Christopher Hudson. What in the world are you thinking?"
Finn sighed. This was going to be a long night.
Dinner was a tense affair. Finn and Scott had gotten nowhere with Rachel, so they had just decided to let her think it over a little bit. Even after dinner, there wasn't much discussion. Finn and Evan cleared the table and cleaned the dishes while Ellie and Abby went to do their homework. Scott headed out into the backyard, wanting to take advantage of the warm spring night.
He didn't get a whole lot of time to himself to think, however. It wasn't long before his mother was joining him, sitting next to him on the grass. They sat in silence for several long moments, just staring up at the twilight sky.
"I'm sorry," Rachel finally said. "I didn't mean to react the way that I did."
Scott gave her the half-smile he had inherited from his father. He had expected his mother to react the way she had, honestly. "It's okay, Mom. I understand."
Rachel smiled and ruffled his messy, thick hair. "I don't care how old you get, Scott. You're still my baby boy. And I'm going to worry about you no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're a police officer or if you're sitting in an office on Wall Street."
Scott nodded his head. He could see where Rachel was coming from, of course. Naturally, Finn had expressed some worry as well, but he was immensely proud of his older son and knew that this was the right course for him. Scott felt incredibly lucky that he had such great parents that would support him no matter what he had decided to do.
"I want to do this, Mom," Scott said. "I want to help people. And I think that I'll really be able to do this."
Rachel beamed at Scott and reached over to hug him tightly. "I know you will, Scott. I have no doubt that you will."
Finally.