"Mom, you know we're missing Arrested Development, right?"

"You keep your mouth shut, young lady, until I hear what Mr. Higgins has to say. I don't know what's keeping your mother; she should have been here ten minutes ago. I'm so sorry for the wait, Mr. Higgins," Aubrey apologized. In the chair next to her, Louise sprawled languorously, examining her cuticles with her angular features slack with boredom; a perfect mirror of her mother, who despite over two decades of being urged to relax by her family, still sat with her back as straight as a poker.

"Mom — " With a sharp click of her tongue, Aubrey cut her daughter off. Louise managed to summon enough energy to roll her emerald eyes.

"Really, Mr. Higgins, I don't know what's taking her; maybe the traffic is unusually heavy — "

"Mom, when I drove the car last week, the transmission — "

"What did I say, Louise? — it's probably the traffic lights around the University; they've been down the last couple of weeks, and — "

"Mom, it's the transmi — "

"Louise, what did I just say to you? You wait until your mother gets he — there you are, babe. What took you?" Stacie sweeps into the office with her leather messenger bag over her shoulder and her reading glasses still perched on her nose. She's obviously just come from a lecture class, and even after more than twenty years, Aubrey still has to take a moment to catch her breath, because her wife still manages to be that stunning.

"Hey, you little rascal." After swooping down to land her wife a swift kiss, the tall brunette greets her daughter by rumpling her hair as she glides past and collapses into the empty chair. "Sorry, babe. The transmission in the Honda's been a little wonky recently; we'll have to get it checked out on Monday when we drive down to Bec's." Over Stacie's shoulder, Louise shoots Aubrey a smirk. Stacie huffs out a long breath and places her palms on the desk separating them from the principal. "What'd I miss?"

Despite the fact that he most likely deals with situations akin to theirs daily, Principal Higgins seems to be rendered the slightest bit uncomfortable by the somewhat eclectic family in front of him. Even with the fact that one of them is significantly younger than the other two, all three women radiate a bold aura of frankness and
power. Neither Stacie, in her breezy way, nor Louise, with her casual disinterest, nor even Aubrey in her harried manner display a single sign of being easy people to bully.

Accordingly, he speaks quickly so as to get the interaction over with as soon as he can possibly manage.

"I've called you here today because of Louise's behavior," he begins, but has to stop almost immediately to clear his throat. "Though the presence of one of you would suffice, perhaps it's better that you're both here."

"Both of us always come," Stacie interjects promptly, without the slightest bit of hesitation. "Our kids are always the most important thing to us."

"Admirable," appears to be all the man can muster up as a response. "In any case, we're here because I wish to discuss Louise. Your daughter's radical behavior exhibited during the lunch hour — "

"Seriously?" Louise scoffs. "I'm right here."

" — Was erratic and disruptive, and will not be tolerated in this establishment. As punishment — "

"Wait," Stacie interrupts him suddenly. "What did she do?" As Louise huffs out a breath, Aubrey tsks sharply.

"She hit a boy in the middle of the cafeteria," she says pointedly, attempting to meet her daughter's gaze. Louise lets out a quick hah of breath that's almost a laugh.
"Don't make it sound so undignified; it was a punch, not a pansy-ass little girl slap," she corrects. A short sound escapes Stacie that could almost be a chuckle. Aubrey's eyes narrow disapprovingly.

Principal Higgins's expression is uninterpretable.

"As I said, to determine the proper course of action, we will need to take into account the manner of the transgression, therefore settling — "

"Hold on a minute!" The words burst from Louise's lips; she's no longer lounging in her chair, but sitting up straight, the glare of her sharp eyes flashing to focus on each of the adults in turn. "Seriously, none of you are going to ask me why I did it?" A small grunt escapes the principal, but it's overcast by the simultaneous queries of the two mothers who have turned to their daughter with suddenly attentive gazes.

"Why did you do it, sweetheart?" Louise's eyes are narrowed hard; she casts an accusing glare at the principal.

"Alfred Murray's had it coming to him," she says coldly. "He's one of those assholes who thinks he rules the universe just because he's a senior. He would have deserved it sooner or later. Anyway, Ollie and I were walking to our table at lunch, and we were talking, and then that dickwad had to yell something rude at us, and when Ollie obviously didn't turn to him, he called him a retard, so I broke his pretty little fuckboy nose." Stacie and Aubrey's expressions are a mix of amusement and anger, the principal's, irritation. Neither women chastise the teenager for her language, instead choosing to focus on the more important aspects of the story.

"What teacher witnessed this?" Aubrey bites out, turning back to face Principal Higgins with her face now lined with anger. Louise coughs out a humorless laugh, her features twisted into something ugly.

"That's the best part — Ms Raleigh, the lunch lady, said that it didn't matter what Alfred had said because Ollie couldn't hear him." Stacie's expression changes to match her daughter's.

"What?" Louise nods, eyes vicious, and suddenly, Principal Higgins finds himself facing three furious women, all of whom stand up abruptly in nearly the same moment.

"Where is Ollie?" Aubrey's voice is calmer than it seems like it should be with the way her jaw is clenched; she addresses her daughter.

"Chemistry, lab five-two-four." With a curt nod, Aubrey catches up her purse, and with a final, disgusted glance tossed in the direction of the principal, she stalks out. Stacie's fingers close over Louise's wrist; standing side-by-side, it's suddenly evident just how much they look alike. Right now, with both of their gazes hard and icy, the picture is more than a little intimidating.

"You'll see Louise and Ollie's un-enrollment forms on your desk by the end of the day," Stacie informs the man cooly. The coldness in her voice is enough to make him visibly flinch. "Don't expect them back tomorrow." With that, she gives Louise's wrist a little tug, and mother and daughter stride out of the office without another word or backward glance.

Halfway down the hall, they catch up to Aubrey, who is emerging from the science classroom with a bewildered-looking Ollie. Seeing the other two members of his family approaching at a swift and determined pace, he quickly shifts his books to the crook of his arm and signs to his older sister: shit, Lou. You screwed? Knowing better than to let loose with the chuckle that desperately wants to break free of her throat, Louise settles for a brief shake of her head.

"No," she responds, signing along with the audible word regardless of the fact that Oliver has been reading lips flawlessly since the age of three. "We're leaving."

For the day? Ollie signs, his puppyish face adorably bemused. Again, Louise shakes her head.

"For good," she answers him, and his expression breaks out in a boyish grin.

Seriously?

"Seriously, little bro. We out." At that, Stacie erupts in laughter. Both children turn to her, confused.

"You've been spending too much time with your Aunt Beca," she explains through her amusement. Beside her, a low chuckle escapes Aubrey.

"I'll say," the blonde confirms. "Jesus, Lou; if you ever end up in Juvie, you're telling the cops it's her fault."

"Really," Stacie agrees. "Seriously, rascal, you sucker-punched a senior?" Louise only shrugs, using the motion to slip an arm over Ollie's shoulder as they walk; for four years younger than she, he's only the slightest bit shorter.

"A dick's a dick," is her only reply, but Ollie catches the grin she shoots him on the sly. "Not that I'd know; right, Ollie-Wolli-Oxen-Free?" She tries to tousle his already mussed blonde mop of curls, but he dodges her just in time, grinning broadly as he signs back to her.

Easy.

"Willing," she counters with an equally mischievous grin, her eyes lighting up a little as pinching his babyish cheeks earns her a squeal.

Slu —

"Okay, that's enough," Aubrey interrupts before he can finish signing the word, sighing as she watches Louise grin wickedly and chase after him as he takes off down the hall. "God, babe; if there was ever any doubt that she's your daughter . . ."

"Eh, she'll turn out all right." Stacie shrugs. "I did, didn't I? She's just needs to mess around until she's gotten it all out of her system; you can't hold back a Conrad any more than you can a Posen. She's a smart kid; she won't screw up too badly. Even I knew when to say when most of the time, and when I didn't, I had you all there to say it for me." Slowly, Aubrey nods in agreement; she knows her wife is right. She even lets out another chuckle watching Louise catch up to Ollie and muss up her baby brother's hair until it resembles a lion's mane.

"We've sure unleashed a terror on the world," she comments in amusement, and Stacie laughs agreeably. They have; pragmatic and confident, laid-back and no-nonsense, Louise is a powerful combination of both her mothers with a quick spark of her own. Ollie, while more mellow, is still equally mischievous.

Yes, Aubrey echoes her own thoughts; they've got two sweet, wonderful kids who manage to be kind even as they terrorize the world with their exuberance. Clearly, they've done something right.