Faculty
"I can't wait for tomorrow!" Ashton said excitedly as she sat around the dinner table with the rest of her family. "Our first day of high school!"
"Yeah, even I'm pretty excited, and I hate school," Emma nodded.
"Wow, it's great to hear you both so eager about your education," Freddie smiled, cutting his chicken.
"We can start going to high school parties!" Ashton said. "And we'll get curfews and we can wear make-up to school…"
Freddie frowned, glancing over at Sam. "Er…well, let's let not get carried-"
"And we do stuff all on our own, the cafeteria has way better food," Emma continued. "And we can go to football games!"
"With boys!" Ashton grinned.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Freddie exclaimed, dropping his fork. He turned to Sam. "What is going on here?"
"What? Two seconds ago you were all 'it's great to hear you so eager about your education'," Sam smirked.
"They're not talking education!" Freddie snapped. "They're talking boys! And parties and curfews!"
"When I'm in high school can I go to parties?" ten-year old Tyler asked.
"Eat your dinner, Ty," Sam told him.
"Girls, high school isn't just some big party," Freddie said, looking at the twins. "It's the most critical part of your pre-college education."
"Pfft, college," Emma scoffed.
"I will pretend I didn't hear that…" Freddie said. "But I'm serious. You're going to be in harder classes, you'll need to start SAT prep in a couple years, you'll need to really start thinking about your futures…You should also get in tight with the school faculty so once the time comes for letters of recommendation-"
"Dad, come on, I get good grades," Ashton said, rolling her eyes. "But no one's that serious in high school. It's supposed to be fun, right mom?"
"Um…" Sam said. "Well-"
"Yeah, you're always telling us about the cool stuff you did in high school," Emma said to her mother. "Like putting squirrels in teachers cars and stealing dish soap from the cafeteria and turning a hallway into a slip and slide!"
"You did do that!" Freddie hissed. "I knew it!"
"Well they shouldn't leave that stuff unattended!" Sam defended. She turned back to her daughters. "Girls, you-you're dad's right. High school isn't all fun and games."
"It was for you," Ashton said.
"Yeah, and if it wasn't for your dad and Aunt Carly, I probably wouldn't have graduated," Sam said seriously. "You think I want to see you guys struggling to pass your classes and keep up with everyone because you were to busy having fun all the time?"
The twins didn't reply.
"Guys, high school is one of the best times of your life," Freddie said. "It's supposed to be fun. But it's also supposed to be taken seriously. We don't want you to just study, study, study. You guys should join clubs and go to football games and go to parties…with no boys, of course. But you also need to keep in mind why you're really there."
Ashton nodded. "Okay," she sighed. "We will, right Emma?"
"I guess," Emma mumbled.
…..
That evening, Sam and Freddie sat up in their room after their kids had just gone to bed.
"So I'll drive the girls tomorrow," he yawned, climbing into bed next to Sam. "The high school's on my way to work. You can take Tyler to the elementary school."
"Alright," Sam said heavily.
"What's the matter?" Freddie asked.
"It's just, well, the whole thing with the girls at dinner," Sam said.
"I'd hardly call that a thing," Freddie chuckled. "Oh, are you talking about all their boy talk? Because that is a thing! I wish Jason hadn't graduated last year; he could keep an eye on them for us and-"
"No not that!" Sam snapped.
"Well baby, I think we got through to them about the 'fun in moderation' thing," Freddie said. "They'll be fine. Ashton's always been a strong student and well, Emma's smart when she wants to be."
"I just wish…I just wish for once I could be a positive influence for them," Sam mumbled. "And not always be the example for what not to be like."
"Sam, what-what are you talking about?" Freddie frowned. "You are a positive influence for the kids."
Sam shook her head. "No. I can't give them one example of something that they should do like me instead of the opposite. I mean you heard them at dinner! It always has to be 'don't do what I did in school', 'don't get into trouble like me' 'don't be like me'. I-I just wish I would've known how sucky it would feel now when I was doing all those things…"
"Sam, that's-that's crazy," Freddie said. "Our-our kids look up to a lot. Especially Emma and Ashton."
"Well they shouldn't," Sam said. "Or they're not gonna wind up like they should. They'll be lazy troublemakers who everybody assumes will be locked up by the time they're-"
"Sam, I want out children to take after you," Freddie said.
"Why?" Sam scoffed.
"Because, I happen to think who you grew into is one of the most admirable people I've met in my life," Freddie said. "You're strong, independent, driven, unique-"
"Sure," Sam mumbled, unconvinced. "We both know the kids will be a lot better off if they all turn out like you only. I mean look at Jason…he's exactly the same as you and he's off at a great school and never gets into trouble."
"Baby, you've had as much to do with Jason's success as I did," Freddie said. "I mean look at how much determination and guts the kids got. Me…I-I like to play it safe. It was you he was taking after when he called the admissions office at Cal Tech about a dozen times so he could fax over a new copy of his achievements with the robotics competition he just won included and wouldn't take no for an answer. It was you he took after when he started that huge petition to stop the high school from giving away more of the science club's funds to the football team. And it was you he took after when he found the courage to move so far away from home this year to follow his dreams. I want all of our kids to take after you, Sam."
"But there's still all that other stuff," Sam sighed. "All the times I got sent to Juvie, all the times I was almost suspended from school…"
"You made mistakes," Freddie said gently. "But you've learned from them, and you teach our kids not to make those same ones. You see, baby, that's exactly why the kids should look up to you. You can admit that you've done things in the past that you shouldn't have instead of just hiding them and being ashamed like a lot of parents out there do."
Sam didn't reply.
"Sam, because of you, we have four kids who never back down when things get hard," Freddie said softly. "Who aren't afraid to be creative and think outside the box. Who aren't afraid of failing because they know if they do, they just have to get right back up and keep trying."
Sam gave him a small smile. "They are pretty great kids, aren't they?"
"The best," Freddie nodded. "Because of you."
"Hey, I'm pretty sure I didn't raise them alone," Sam chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder. "They're smart, level-headed and have common sense not to do stupid things…usually."
Freddie laughed.
"Although," Sam continued, grinning up at her husband. "I think they got the good looks from me."
"Fair enough," Freddie agreed. He kissed the top of her head. "Anyway, now that that's settled…what are we going to do about this boy situation? I'm thinking we start a dress code with the girls. Knee length skirts and turtlenecks ought to do the trick. And we can-"
"Good night, Fredwad," Sam said, rolling her eyes as she turned off their bedroom light.
