Parental Obligations: Of Mischief and Movies

The debate was fierce. The battle of wills was exceptionally strong. Cheerful emerald eyes stared into solemn brown.

Little Mermaid vs. Atlantis

Grace's small selection of movies included Little Mermaid, A Bug's Life, Mulan II, and Cinderella.

The only movie Sam had was Atlantis. She had an extensive Disney/Pixar collection, but there just wasn't enough room to bring them all. So she chose the one movie she truly loved. Milo reminded her of Daniel Jackson from her sister's favorite show, Stargate SG-1.

Elizabeth was laughing as she watched the staring contest between her sister and Grace. She sometimes forgot how stubborn Sam could be. It was nice to be reminded. "You two, we can watch both movies," she said laughingly. Personally, she wanted to watch A Bug's Life or Mulan II. Not that she would ever say anything...She hated being treated like a kid.

Danny sipped his beer. "I find this weird," he finally decided. He turned to Lindsay who had her eyes closed and was tapping her foot. "Do you find this weird?"

Lindsay opened one eye. "No," she said. "They're kids. Cartoons are important."

Grace finally sighed, impatient. "Fine," she grumbled good naturedly. "We'll watch the ocean movie!"

"Technically," Elizabeth said, "Your movie's an ocean movie too. They're both cartoons, and they're both equally fun...except, you know, Ursula. She kinda freaks me out." She shuddered to emphasize her point.

Danny was half laying across the couch so Grace climbed onto him as Lindsay got up to put in Atlantis. "Danny'll protect you," she said confidently. "We watched a scary show and he protected me."

"What scary show?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

Danny put his hand over Grace's mouth and whispered something in her ear.

"X Files," Grace said quickly when he took his hand away.

"I told you not to say anything!" he protested.

Elizabeth grinned. "I never watched that show, but I'm pretty hooked on the Stargate shows."

Lindsay rolled her eyes. 'Hooked' was an understatement. She was obsessed, and, if allowed, she would go on and on about them. "The movie's starting."

Elizabeth was laying on the floor, Danny was laying on the couch with Grace in his lap, and Lindsay was sitting in a recliner. Sam stood beside the TV trying to decide where to go. Elizabeth would whisper comments in her ear the entire movie, and Lindsay got restless during movies...

Danny smiled at Sam when she climbed up and sat beside Grace. He was taking the time to analyze his feelings about the whole, weird situation. He was truly shocked and maybe a little angry at Lindsay. She had left her two beautiful and great daughters in Montana and hadn't even told him about it. Although, he supposed he didn't have the right to be angry at her for not telling him. It's not like she was required to tell him every little thing about her life.

Still, there were no pictures or anything in the apartment to indicate she even had kids. She had been in the city for eight months while her kids were in Montana.

Grace moved to sit by Danny's feet. He kept absent-mindedly tapping his fingers on the back of the couch and it was annoying her.

Danny yelped when Sam pinched his finger. "Why'd you do that?" he hissed.

Sam shrugged. "Watch the movie," she said sweetly.

Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. Sam was truly adorable. She obviously took after her dad because her skin tone, hair, and eyes were darker than Lindsay and Elizabeth's. Elizabeth, on the other hand, looked just like her mom.

Sam was sitting on Danny's stomach watching the movie with a concentration only she could pull off. It was obvious she loved the movie, but she'd seen it a million times and could recite most of the lines from memory.

She surprised Danny once more by laying across his chest, her head resting right over his heart. It felt a little symbolic, but he didn't say anything. In the short few hours he'd known her, she had wormed her way into his heart.

Elizabeth watched Lindsay who was watching Sam and Danny with a soft look in her eyes. She sighed, turning back to the movie. It wouldn't last. Something bad would happen with Danny or otherwise and ruin Lindsay's happiness. Good things--happy things--never lasted...at least not with them.

At five, as they were nearing the end of the movie, there was a light knock at the door. Elizabeth had given up on the movie and went into the bedroom to read and Danny had fallen asleep.

Grace tugged on Sam's foot, causing the little girl to turn with a frown. "Wanna meet my momma?" she asked.

Sam stared at her before nodding slightly and following Grace and Lindsay to the door. The door opened and her eyes widened at the man and woman standing at the door.

"That is my momma," Grace said proudly.

Stella raised her eyebrows and grinned at Grace who really was her daughter in all the ways that mattered. She always felt warm inside to hear Grace call her that.

"'S that your daddy?" Sam whispered, her eyes not leaving Mac's form. He seemed kind of scary to her.

"No...well, sorta," Grace said. "I just call him Mac, but he is I guess..."

Mac crouched down to their level, a bit surprised when Sam stepped behind Grace.

Lindsay just stood there, unsure of what to say or do.

"This," Grace said, grabbing Sam's hand and pulling her forward, "is Baby Montana." She remembered how Sam had cried earlier when she tried to push her into playing, but she also remembered how worked up the other girl had gotten when she called her Baby Montana.

"Nuh uh," Sam said, yanking her hand away and glaring at Grace. "M' name's Sam."

Grace turned to Mac with a grin. "Lil Montana is reading," she said, dragging out the word.

Lindsay sighed. "Come on in," she said resignedly at Stella and Mac's questioning looks.

Stella stumbled when Mac grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. "Not funny," she muttered when he laughed.

"Sorry," Mac apologized solemnly, his eyes shining.

Stella rolled her eyes and gracefully walked around him.

Grace gave Sam an exasperated look. "She says it's not funny, but she's laughing so it is funny." She shook her head. Grownups.

Sam just stared back at her.

Grace huffed. "Come on," she said, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the living room.

Danny was snoring softly on the couch when Grace and Sam came to stand beside him. Stella and Mac were talking quietly with Lindsay in the kitchen, leaving the girls with the sleeping Danny.

Sam grinned slightly and took Danny's glasses off. She put them on and was really surprised when everything went blurry.

Grace giggled at the stunned look on Sam's face.

"What are you doing?"

Grace and Sam turned to look over at Elizabeth. She was standing in the doorway to the bedroom with raised eyebrows. "Nice glasses there, Sammy."

Sam blinked behind the lenses. Elizabeth walked over to where they were crowded around Danny and crouched down to their level.

Danny abruptly woke up to something being shoved up his nose.

Sam and Grace looked up at Elizabeth with wide eyes. She had just shoved a pencil up Danny's nose!

Danny reached up and carefully pulled the pencil out and blinked at the blurry people before him. "Where are my glasses?"

Sam passed them to Grace who passed them to Elizabeth who put them in Danny's outstretched hand. "It was Sam," she said immediately when Danny shot her an accusing look.

Sam nodded in agreement.

Grace looked between the sisters. "Sam took her glasses, but she was just playin'." As if Danny was really going to get mad. "And Lil Montana is that one that stuck the pencil up your nose!"

"You stuck a pencil up his nose?"

Elizabeth winced. "No," she said defensively, turning to her mom and the two strangers.

Lindsay looked at the pencil in Danny's hand and rolled her eyes. "Great. Now you're lying."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Insert witty comeback here," she said dryly. "I'm going to finish reading my book."

Having explained the situation as best and quick as possible to them, Lindsay turned to Stella and Mac. "That charming girl is my oldest daughter, Elizabeth. The little girl trying to fade into the background is Samantha."

"Lil Montana and Baby Montana," Grace explained cheerfully.

Stella and Mac exchanged amused looks when Sam huffed indignantly. "Not Baby Montana! Sam."

Grace grinned impishly and slipped her hand into Mac's. "Are we leaving?" she asked sweetly.

"Yes. We're going to do something fun," Mac promised.

Grace looked over at Sam. "Can Sammy Sam Sam come too?" she asked.

Stella looked over at Mac with wide eyes. "Grace," he immediately said. "I think Samantha needs some time with her mom."

Grace looked over at Sam who was studying her shoes. "Okay," she conceded.

Grace walked over and hugged Danny then Sam. Sam was startled and tried to pull away. Danny had to catch them to keep them from falling.

Lindsay smirked as Sam finally succeeded in pushing Grace away. "Bye, Grace. I promise you can play with Sam tomorrow."

"Great!" Grace said cheerfully. "I'm gonna say goodbye to the grumpy one."

They all watched as Grace disappeared into the bedroom and heard Elizabeth's indignant, "Hey! That's my book!"

Sam sighed and crawled onto the couch beside Danny.

"I'm ready now," Grace said, bouncing back into the room.

Stella turned to Lindsay. "Thank you for watching Grace," she said.

Lindsay shrugged. "It was no problem."

Stella took Grace's hand and grinned at Danny. "I'll talk to you later," she promised.

Mac just nodded and smiled as they made their exit.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Danny asked.

TBC...I know it ended abruptly, but I thought I would go ahead and post it since it's been so long since I've updated this story. It will probably be a while...I have major writer's block. I know how I want this one to end, but it's the little things I'm having problems with.