Sauce

"Here, now put in a little bit of salt," Sam told nine-year old Tyler as the two stood in front of a pot on the stove. "And then put in this garlic…that's right."

"Can I try the sauce now, mom?" Tyler asked.

"Sure," Sam smiled. "But be careful, it's hot."

Tyler picked up the wooden spoon and took a taste. "It's good!" he said happily. "I'm a good chef, aren't I?"

"The best," Sam chuckled. "Alright, now we just let this simmer here for a little bit. Why don't you go get washed up and tell Jason dinner's ready? By that time hopefully your dad will be back with your sisters and we can all eat."

"Okay," Tyler nodded, running upstairs.

Sam began to set the table just as she heard the front door open.

"Mom!" she heard her daughters yell as they stormed into the kitchen.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Dad completely ruined our lives at school!" thirteen-year old Emma said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah!" Ashton agreed. "He humiliated us in front of all our friends!"

"Okay, I think 'humiliate' is a strong word," Freddie said, rolling his eyes as he walked into the room after the twins.

"No it's not!" Emma snapped.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"I was waiting to pick them up from their practices at their school," Freddie explained. "And they were both running late; I must've been sitting in the car for twenty minutes and neither of them answered their phones when I called them. So all I did was get out of the car and go into the school to see what was taking them so long."
"You got out of the car?" Sam grinned. "Bad call, baby. Parents aren't supposed to ever get out of the car."

"Thank you!" Ashton exclaimed. "Clearly dad didn't get the memo! He just comes into the gym wearing that hideous sweater demanding to know what's taking so long!"

"I didn't demand," Freddie said. "All I did was walk over to their coaches and ask how much longer practice was going to be."

"All you did?" Emma repeated. "You embarrassed us! Thanks to us, we're now going to be known as the girls with the impatient dad who just barges into practices! I'm gonna be the joke of the soccer team now!"

"Yeah, and I can just forget about that cheer captain position thanks to you!" Ashton said hotly.

"All I did was walk into a school gym!" Freddie defended. "You guys are acting like I committed some huge crime here. I bet you no one else even noticed me."

"How could they not have noticed you? You were wearing slippers!" Emma cried, pointing down at her father's feet.

Sam looked down and saw that Freddie was in fact wearing his favorite slippers. "Dude, really? Slippers?"

"Well they're comfy!" Freddie hissed. "And my feet were getting cold waiting out in the car!"

"Well I hope you're happy, dad!" Ashton said. "We're gonna have to change schools now! God, this is the worst day ever! I hate you!"

"Yeah, I hate you too!" Emma said. "And those slippers!"

"Well," Freddie sighed as the girls stomped upstairs. "That was pleasant."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Sam said, giving him a quick kiss. "They're teenage girls; even mentioning parents is humiliating to them. They'll get over it."

"Yeah, I hope," Freddie said. "You know, if they knew what my mom put me through, they'd think nothing of me going into the gym in my slippers. I mean she once barged into my math class because I didn't finish my milk at breakfast!"

"Ha, I remember that," Sam smiled. "I think I got it on video…But that wasn't as bad as the time she came and started yelling at you by your locker about forgetting to wear your anti-tick underwear. Or the time she-"

"Thank you!" Freddie snapped.

…..

During dinner that night, neither Emma nor Ashton said a single word to Freddie. Sam could see that Freddie was upset by this, but he was trying his best not to let it show.

"So, at work today a buddy of mine told me that there's going to be a Galaxy Wars marathon on the sci-fi channel," Freddie said, twirling some spaghetti onto his plate. "We should watch it, shouldn't we, Em?"
Emma didn't even look at Freddie as she took a bite of her garlic bread.

"Um…anyway," Freddie said, clearing his throat. "Ashton? I know you said you wanted to go check out that new bookstore that opened up across town. Want to take a trip over there tomorrow after school?"
Ashton stared down at her plate and didn't reply.

After dinner, the girls went back up to their room and Sam and Freddie began clearing the table.

"Freddie, the girls are just wazzed off," Sam told her gently. "I told you, give them until the morning and then they'll be back to normal."

"I hate having them mad at me though," Freddie sighed.

"I know, but all kids are mad at their parents at some point," Sam reasoned. "If they're not, then the parents aren't too good at their jobs, are they? I mean you know how often they're mad at me for something? Just last week Jason was mad at me because I wouldn't buy him a new videogame."

"Remember when our kids liked us?" Freddie smiled, putting an arm around her. "And they wanted to be seen with us and didn't think we were the worst people on earth?"

"I told you, teenagers suck," Sam said. "But at least we still have a few years with Tyler before he turns."

"That's true," Freddie agreed. "Hey…maybe this is a sign. Maybe we should start thinking about having another baby and-"

"Dude, we've been through this," Sam said. "We'll have another baby when science makes it possible for you to carry it."

…..

That night Sam stood in front of the twins' door and knocked before she opened it and stepped inside.

The girls were lying on their beds and they both looked up when Sam came in.

"Oh, hi mom," Ashton said, closing her homework. "We thought you were dad coming in to torture us more."

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "Hey, can you pick us up from practice from now on?"

"Guys, come on," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Yes your dad embarrassed you today. But can't you just forget about it now?"

"No way!" Ashton said.

"Yeah, dad broke the 'no parent gets out of the car at school' rule," Emma said.

"Okay, guys, you both know that's not an actual rule," Sam said. "Don't you think you're blowing this whole thing out of proportion just a little bit? No one's even going to remember your dad walking into your practices tomorrow."

"Yeah right," Ashton mumbled. "God, dad's the worst dad ever.'
"Seriously," Emma nodded.

"Hey!" Sam said firmly, catching the twins by surprise. "Don't you ever say that again."

"But it's true!" Ashton said.

"Yeah, dad's always embarrassing us and doing dumb things," Emma said. "Remember that time we were out grocery shopping with him and steered his cart into the soda display?"

"And the time he made that light up sign for my cheerleading competition last year that almost caught on fire," Ashton added.

"So?" Sam said. "Who cares? That doesn't make him a bad dad! He loves all you guys more than anything in the world and he'd do anything to make sure you all are happy. You want to know what a bad dad would do for you? Nothing. A bad dad wouldn't have been there clapping louder than anyone in the audience when you made the honor roll last semester, Ashton. A bad dad wouldn't have spent an entire weekend teaching you how to fence, Emma. A bad dad wouldn't care about you at all! He'd never spend any time with you or do things for you or even tell you that he loved you just one time! You know how much I wanted a dad like you guys have now when I was your age? You know how badly I wanted someone who'd be there for me no matter what? And here you two are saying you hate your dad just because he did something dorkish!"

Emma and Ashton looked down at their laps.

"We-We don't actually hate him," Emma said softly.

"Yeah, we love him," Ashton nodded.

"I know you guys do," Sam said, lowering her voice. "Just…know how good you've got it, okay? Because there's lots of other kids out there who'd love to have a dad around to embarrass them."

…..

The next morning Freddie was in the kitchen making breakfast for the family.

He had just slid a few plates of eggs onto the table when Emma and Ashton shuffled into the kitchen.

"Morning girls," Freddie said. "Who wants toast with their-"

He was cut off, though, as both girls stepped over to him and wrapped their arms around him.

"We love you, daddy," Emma said.

"Yeah, even if you're nerdy and embarrassing," Ashton nodded. "You're still the best dad in the whole world."

Freddie smiled and hugged the girls back. "Thanks guys…I love you too."