A/N: Woooo sorry about the suckiness at not updating lately! My mom was visiting me for a week, so we were chilling like villains all week. Sorry if I haven't responded to reviews – I really do appreciate all of them and will have more time now to send you a message back! Thanks again for reading!
"Nick!" Riley began singing to the famous Eye of the Tiger song as she snuck up behind her father stirring the ground beef. "Nick! Nick! Nick!"
Nick cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows, but kept stirring at the dinner in front of the stove. Riley got into these moods sometimes.
"Nick! Nick! Niiiiiick!" She began dancing around in what could only be described as a very confused array of motions. "Nick's the man, stirring the beef! He's a CSI! He's got ambition! He knows someday he just might becoooome supervisor!"
Riley had been riding high ever since her letter from Butterfield Academy had arrived earlier that day. In fact, she had been breaking into song randomly, which was something very un-Riley-like. From what he could tell, she only did this when she was truly in a state of euphoria. It was almost like she was high. Her little shows did make cooking dinner a hell of a lot more fun than usual.
"Will you set the table please?" He asked her as he walked over to the sink with the pot in hand to drain it, making no mention of her theatrics. Riley grumbled a little in disappointment, but still smiled as she did a sashay across the linoleum floor towards the silverware.
"Do you not like my dancing and singing, Daddy?" Her puppy dog eyes and decidedly sad face tugged at his heart strings, making him wonder if he would've spoiled her rotten as a child. If she had paired those chocolate brown eyes with a grin full of missing teeth, he didn't think he'd have a dime in his savings account. Her father cracked a smile as he crossed the kitchen once again. She had a way of making him laugh.
"It's endearing, sweetheart, but don't quit school to go to Hollywood, okay?"
Riley swished her handful of knives around expertly like a ninja as she walked towards him. "How could I possibly quit school if I had a scholarship to Butterfield?"
Nick shrugged as he spooned the ground beef onto the tortillas as evenly as he could. "People have done stupider things." He pointed out and had to shake his head again at her antics as she swooshed the silver wear around. "Like waving knives around in the air."
Riley feigned insult as Nick turned his head towards her, plastered with his signature grin – a grin she had grown quite fond of over the two and a half years she had known him. Whoever knew that a simple smile could make someone feel so much better? The teenager retaliated by kicking her dad in the butt. However, his lightning fast reflexes gave him the upper hand as he grabbed her foot, turned her around and walked. This forced his daughter to start hopping out of the kitchen on one foot as he held the other.
"Daaaad! You suck!" She laughed as they reached the dining room. Nick released her foot and watched her shake it out.
"Set the table, you little drama queen. Then you can exit stage right and find your brother before he tries to stick another Lego up his nose."
Riley sighed and smiled as her father left the dining room to go finish up the dinner. She began laying the silver wear out at the five places – knives on the right, forks on the left, just like Sara had taught her. Moments later, a Nolan screech sounded throughout the house and the patter of his feet could clearly be heard coming down the hall. It was followed a blink of an eye later by an intimidating Carly with her hands perched on her little hips, an angry scowl on her face. She was starting to look more and more like her mother every day.
"Young man! Come back here!" She ordered her younger brother as he paraded around the coffee table with her American Girl Felicity doll. Carly had entered a somewhat bossy stage with her little brother once she'd hit second grade. She liked the prospect of being in charge of someone else, and could get out of hand at times. Already, she had become a mini-mockery of Sara and Nick's parental warning phrases, occasionally ordering her brother to his room. However, she didn't quite have the problem solving skills of an adult.
"I'm gonna tell on you!" She threatened.
Nolan cackled as the two youngest Stokes stood at opposite sides of the coffee table. He then did the thing Carly absolutely hated the most. He licked the side of Felicity's face with a mischievous grin. Nolan was just beginning to discover the fun of taunting and annoying his older sisters, and Carly just made it easy.
"Daddyyyyy!!!" Carly whimpered loudly as she stomped one of her feet. She sulked as she walked slowly to the kitchen with her arms crossed. Saliva did not look good on Felicity's face. Riley bit back a laugh from where she was finishing off in the dining room. Carly practically egged him on with her reactions. If she wanted to, she could probably get hours of entertainment out of her younger sister. But she wasn't quite as immature as Nolan. It was, however, very fun to watch. Carly had been particularly high-strung lately.
Nick and Sara were trying to teach Carly to solve problems on her own, but were also aware that Nolan could be a bit difficult at times. As Carly wrapped her arms around her father from the side, hoping for help, Nick turned to look at his son who was now chewing on poor Felicity's fingers.
"Daddy, he licked my doll again!" Carly reported sadly as she buried her face in his side. Nick patted her back and gently guided her face away from him. Sulking didn't do her any good and he was trying to get her past that stage.
"I'm sorry, Carly. What do you need to say to him?" Nick prompted her as he began walking her over towards Nolan.
"I told him to stop and he won't listen!" She whined further, grasping his hand.
"Well, I heard Miss Bossy Pants." He called her on her previously domineering demands of her brother minutes earlier.
Carly whimpered when she saw her brother practically mutilating her favorite doll. "Just make him stop."
"Nolan Thomas, what are you doing?" Nick asked his son. Nolan continued to chew the doll's fingers as he looked at his father and shrugged. Nick looked down at his daughter, trying to prompt her to take the lead. He was having to coach Carly more and more lately with what to say to people and how to say it. She seemed intimidated, and scared almost when faced with a dilemma. With her, it seemed she either bossed or cowered and it amazed him how quickly she could switch from one to the other.
"Carly, what do you need to say?" Nick prompted his daughter, stroking her hair away from her face so she could look at Nolan. Instead of telling him nicely, but firmly to stop like her parents had taught her, she buried her face again in Nick's side. Nick furrowed his brow at her sudden shyness. "Carly, be brave. You're a big girl."
Riley was watching now curiously from her seat on the edge of the kitchen table. Her sister puzzled her sometimes. She could be such a schmuck. Was she really being thrown off by a three year old? That seven year old was a real piece of work. Riley was completely taken aback when Carly started to cry. Nick seemed just as surprised because he was trying to raise his daughter to be independent and strong, and knew Sara wanted the same.
"Nolan, give me Felicity." Nick told his son firmly, holding out his free hand. Nolan seemed to debate momentarily, but handed her over when his father gave him a stern look. He quickly wiped Felicity's cheek off on his jeans and handed her to Carly. Nick then reached down and picked his youngest daughter up, who was still shedding some stressed-out tears. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with her, and why she'd lost it. As Carly buried her face in his shoulder, he turned to look at Riley.
"Ry, will you watch Nolan for a few minutes?" He requested. Riley nodded and walked to the living room to make sure her brother didn't do anything stupid while Nick took Carly up to her room. Nolan began running circles around the coffee table, which was apparently incredibly liberating at his age. She plopped herself down on the couch and watched as her brother scampered over to her with that seemingly permanent mischievous look on his face.
"He heeeeee!" He giggled and reached down, untying his sister's shoe laces. Riley grumbled and shooed his hands away. What was it about three year olds that made them like to do the most irritating things? She felt for Carly now that she was the subject of his wrath.
"Nolan, quit." Riley told him in a firm voice, looking him sternly in the eye. Her look still wasn't quite as daunting as her father's, and probably would never be, but she kept working on it. Nolan still kept at it, so Riley grabbed both his wrists and held them in hers. "Nolan, it's not nice to do that to people. And it's not nice to take Carly's dolls."
Nolan just grinned and pried his hands away. Seeing that it was no use talking sense into a three year old, Riley let him go and he waddled off to find some other object to prey on. Somehow the drool that periodically occupied his little chin and his always disheveled brown hair were more threatening at times than algebraic equations. Riley was glad to be able to leave his disposition to her parents, and was relieved to hear the garage door open. Moments later, Sara appeared with her workbag slung over her shoulder, and was bombarded by the preschooled terror.
"Mommyyyyy!!" The being attached to her leg squealed as she tried to walk in. Sara laughed and picked her only son up, showering him with kisses he may not really deserve. Riley rolled her eyes and watched from the couch, deciding to wait her turn. They would have much to talk about after the letter that had come earlier that day. Riley suspected she'd want to read it herself, and then they'd marvel together about how Butterfield wanted her. Her! Two years ago, none of them would have imagined it the way Riley had been heading. The queen of blowing off projects until the last minute, of worming her way around answering essay questions, and bullshitting her way through unrehearsed off-the-top-of-her-head speeches was being scouted by a big-time school.
"Have you been a good boy today?" Sara worked her way over to the couch to sit next to Riley. At least Nolan had the sense to look at Riley, knowing she could counter his claim of good behavior.
"No. I licked Felicity again." Nolan admitted sadly, playing with the charm on his mother's necklace as she cradled him in his lap. At least he was learning the sense of right and wrong, though he was still getting the hang of actually choosing the right thing to do.
Sara had to purse her lips to keep from smiling at his answer. How random a response was that? Only Nolan could get away with an explanation like that, and she didn't doubt he'd done it for one second.
"Hmmm that's not very nice." Sara agreed as she raised her eyebrows at him. She noticed Nick and Carly weren't around, and hypothesized he was off talking to her for some reason. "Did you tell her you're sorry?"
Nolan shook his head no and his tongue slithered out the corner of his mouth in concentration. "Uh-uh. She was cryin' so I couldn't."
Sara turned to look at her oldest daughter, hoping for an elaboration. Nolan wasn't very good at giving accurate recounts of family events. Riley was much better, and could always give a dramatic narrative.
"She must've had a rough day." Riley explained, resting her head on the back of the couch. "She was chasin' after Nolan after he took her doll, and then when Dad tried to help her, she started crying. He's up with her now. She just kind of lost it." She shrugged her shoulders, indicating her own sense of puzzlement about the situation.
Carly had been having more and more lapses like this lately, where she'd just break down in the face of a problem, and cower to one of her parents for comfort. She always been a happy child, and not one too fearful of anything in particular except for spiders. Her change lately had the entire family puzzled. Except for Nolan, because it just added to his childish glee of taunting his sister. That's what little brothers were for.
"Huh." Sara huffed and adjusted her son in her lap. "I'll have to talk to your dad later about it. Of course the big news of the day is your letter! Congratulations, sweetie."
Riley beamed and basked in her praise, which was something she didn't readily admit to. Her relationship with Sara had been a rocky one at the beginning, but slowly they were getting closer and closer. Of course she would never be her real mother, but she was a pretty damn good stepmother if she'd ever known one. She knew how to balance friendliness, and a stern look when it was needed.
"Thanks. I'm still trying to adjust to the shock." Riley admitted as Nolan slipped off Sara's lap.
"I'm sure." Sara turned towards her oldest and rested her hand on the side of her head as she leaned in to the couch. "So they said they'd fully cover your tuition?"
"Yep." Riley smiled as she thought about it more. "I just have to get a 1900 on my SATs and write an essay."
"Ooof." Sara commented. "I guess a 1600 isn't perfect anymore, huh? What are you supposed to write your essay about?"
She turned her head to the side a bit when she heard footsteps on the stairs, immediately identifying them as her husband's. He came down sighing as Riley gave her answer to Sara. She'd practically memorized the speech she was giving to everyone now about the requirements. Both the women's eyes followed Nick as he went into the kitchen to check on the dinner for any indication as to what was up with Carly. He looked in the oven quickly and decided it needed another few minutes. The look on his face displayed his confusion still about the event.
"I hear Carly had a bit of a breakdown." Sara acknowledged as he walked closer to the couch. Nick let out a sigh as he sat next to his wife and kissed her temple gently.
"Mmmhmm. I'll talk to you more about it later. She's takin' a nap now." He reported. Riley let out an offended sound but smiled at her father.
"What? Am I getting in the way or something?"
"Yes. You're always in my way." Nick joked with a totally serious tone to his voice. "If I start makin' out with Sara, will you leave?"
Sara laughed as Riley crinkled her nose in disgust at the thought. Nick wrapped his arms around his wife and gave her a sweet kiss on her lips, but didn't go any further.
"Barf." Riley commented, shaking her head.
"Don't you have some homework to get to before dinner?" Nick reminded his daughter. "Especially if you're trying to get into the Margarinefield school."
Riley punched him in the arm as she pushed herself up off the couch. "Fiiine. But you better behave yourselves, or I'll unleash Nolan on you."
"Scoot." Nick told her, kicking her square but lightly in the butt like she'd done earlier as he snuggled in further with Sara. Riley gave him a glare, and he returned it and added a wink. As soon as Riley was out of earshot, Nick let out an exhausted sigh. Sara rubbed her hand up and down his chest and kissed his cheek and jawline several times as his face took on a different appearance than in front of his children.
"What's going on, babe?" She asked him gently.
"Well, the thing Riley doesn't know yet is that the only time left to take the SAT is the Saturday right after her birthday party." He started quietly so no one would overhear. "And we both know she's not gonna be partying light."
Sara sighed at the dilemma. "I see." She told him as he gently moved her legs so they were draped over his lap instead of into his side. "And I sense you don't think that's a good idea to have them back to back?"
Nick looked at Sara as he rubbed her calf gently. "Well don't you think so?" He checked, but only got a look that wanted more explanation. "I mean, she'll be up 'til past midnight probably and the test starts at the butt crack of dawn. There's no way she'll be in a good condition to take a test as big as that."
Sara gave him an almost motherly look. "Nicky, it's not like she's gonna be drinking alcohol. We're gonna be there. And I think she'll be reasonable if we tell her the dilemma. Seems to me that she's pretty excited about Butterfield, and she's not going to jeopardize that for one night of partying." She spoke reasonably. Nick often had a way of getting ahead of himself. And with Riley, there was still so much that was unknown. He thought he knew her values, but teenage girls were somewhat of a mystery to him. Especially the one he called his own.
"You think?" He asked, tracing unknown patterns on her skin. "She talks about the party all the time and acts like the world will end if she doesn't get a top-notch DJ. And she never seemed to care much about private school." Nick thought out loud about his daughter.
"Baby, I don't think you're giving her enough credit." Sara told him honestly, looking him in the eye. "She may not act like school is her top priority, but I think it really is. But she's fifteen, she's not going to act all obedient and excited about private school when she never knew she had a chance."
Nick thought silently about his wife's words. She seemed to understand Riley a lot better than him sometimes. It all made sense what she was saying, but he still wondered if Riley would really want to sacrifice her sweet sixteen party for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
"Yeah. Maybe you're right." He murmured, and felt her hand on top of his. Nick turned his head again to look into her eyes.
"Quit worrying so much. She's a good kid at heart. I think we just need to be honest with her." Sara went on. Nick smirked his famous grin, the skin crinkling just next to his eyes – evidence that he'd led a happy, full life. She leaned forward slightly to capture his lips in hers. God, his lips. Sara would never get tired of kissing them and their gentle, reassuring strength. The couple exchanged several slow, thorough kisses before Sara pulled back again and tousled his hair.
"And what about Carly?" She inquired as she admired the tan that always seemed just right on his face. That perfect skin that she loved to feel beneath her fingertips.
Another troubled breath left Nick's lungs at the thought of his middle child. "I don't know. She seems more on edge lately." He thought of the many occurrences over the last few weeks. "Nolan's not helping."
Sara let out a tiny amused breath through her nose as she watched their son playing with a few Legos on the kitchen floor. That little one was definitely figuring out how to play Carly. "Probably not. What did he do?"
"Nothing too awful. He had her American Girl doll and he licked it and was biting her fingers. And when I tried to back her up, she wouldn't say anything and then she started crying." Nick explained, rubbing his face. "I took her up to her room and tried to talk to her about it, but she was still really upset. So we just cuddled for a few minutes until she calmed down and then I put her down for a nap."
"She got upset over that?" She seemed just as bewildered about it. "I wonder what's going on with her."
Nick looked at her again and smiled. "I was hoping you'd know. You seem to know the girls' moods better than me."
"Well even she has me stumped." Sara admitted, crossing her ankles the other way. "I'm sure it's just a phase."
They locked lips again, but were soon interrupted by the buzzer on the oven going off. Nolan let out a happy sound and stood, walking to the oven door to check.
"Nolan Thomas Stokes, don't you dare." Nick's voice told his son sternly. The little boy turned and smiled at his father, sticking his finger in his mouth in innocence. Nick kissed Sara's cheek and gently moved her legs so he could get up. Moments later, he scooped his son up and put him on the opposite counter so he could get to the dinner without fear of him getting burned. He retrieved the steaming enchiladas and set them on top of the stove, the scrumptious scent of the beef mixed with cheese and sauces wafting throughout the house.
"Little man, you still hungry after chewing on that doll's fingers?" He asked his son as he got out the plates and took some rice off the burner. Nolan couldn't tell if his dad was really joking around with him or he was displeased. The look on his face confirmed he wasn't happy with his actions.
"Yes, Daddy."
Nick nodded as he dished one enchilada onto the first plate and spoke over his shoulder to his son.
"You don't mess around with your sister's stuff, do you understand me Nolan?" He asked softly, but still in a firm fatherly voice.
"Yes." He answered quietly as he swung his feet a little. Nolan already didn't like when his parents weren't happy with him. Nick turned around and nodded, then crossed the floor to kiss him on the forehead and help him down from the counter.
"Good. Will you go get Riley please and tell her dinner's ready?" He requested. Nolan nodded his head and scampered off to find his oldest sister in her room. Sara walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his supportively. Placing a kiss between his shoulder blades, she gave him a firm squeeze.
"I hope you made vegetarian enchiladas for me." She teased, knowing he never forgot. Poor Sara was the lone herbivore amongst a family of die-hard meat-eaters. However, she was always well taken care of by her husband.
Nick turned slightly to wrap one arm around her. "Of course, m'dear." He mocked an upper class accent, but it failed due to his dominant Texan twang. Sara laughed and gave him a playful swat on the bottom before releasing the hug.
"I'll go get Carly before that beefy smell makes me upchuck."
Nick smiled as he dished out the food to all the plates and made a threat.
"If you do, you're not gettin' any tonight."