A/N: Thanks for the reviews! And I am now pretty much moved into my new apartment in Bloomington, so hopefully I'll have more time to write! Please enjoy and hit the little button!
Riley Groves was pissed to say the least when she woke up the next morning to recall what had happened the previous evening. Her father had actually cancelled her party? Well, it wouldn't be official until he actually called the hotel and cancelled the reservation, but Riley knew he was a man of his word. If he said he was going to do something, he would. She tried to understand his reasoning; she really did. But this was totally uncalled for! I mean, what did he think high school kids did at parties? So what if she said she was going to be somewhere else for the evening? It's not like she was the first teenager to ever lie to her parents just a little bit. He should be proud that she wasn't doing what some of the other kids were doing. Drunk off their asses, groping each other, and Riley was sure she'd smelled pot being passed around in one of the back rooms. What she had done was not that big of a deal. Did he not think that girls her age make out with boys? It was a normal part of development, and he was acting like it was a sin.
Riley sighed as she turned over onto her back, staring up at the pasty white ceiling. She would rather just stay in here all day than to face those looks on her parents' faces again. Though she had a tough as nails exterior most of the time, nothing stabbed at her heart more than what can only described as "the look". She didn't care as much as perhaps other kids did, but Riley hated when her father was disappointed in her. And he'd perfected his look over the years, dealing with all those criminals. Now she was just as bad as them, or at least that's how she felt when those eyes drilled into her face, filled with disappointment and regret. Damn his look!
She heard footsteps nearing her bedroom and a knock moments later. Riley looked at her alarm clock and saw it was almost eleven in the morning. Wow, they'd let her sleep this late. The teen didn't say come in, but Nick opened his daughter's door anyway, stepping inside.
"Morning." He greeted her simply, not sounding at all sincere as he stepped over clothes, books and hats to get to her window. A still displeased Nick Stokes pulled back the white laced curtain to reveal the near noon sunlight, and with one harsh pull, opened the blinds, further dispersing the brightness into the room and Riley's eyes. Riley covered her poor eyes with her arm to shield it, hearing him move about the room again, and let out an annoyed grumble.
"It's past a decent hour." He informed her as he stopped next to her bed. "You've got chores to do."
What that man had against sleeping in on Saturdays, she didn't know. He rarely let her sleep past nine thirty because he said it made kids lazy. Again, Riley didn't see the problem. In response, she rolled away from him on her bed. "Add that to the list of things I don't care about."
Nick cleared his throat. "Does this mean you're gonna act childish again like you did last night? I thought you wanted to discuss things with me like an adult." His arms were crossed, though Riley still didn't look at him.
"I need more sleep." She informed him from her pillow, not wanting to part with it just yet. Gone were the days she used to sleep in past noon at her mother's house. The question of whether Nick would allow it was answered when he stripped the covers off from top of her and gave her leg a couple 'get moving' pats. Riley kicked her legs around and groaned.
"Are you fifteen or five?" Nick questioned, his tone indicating his slight annoyance with his offspring. Riley didn't answer and he sighed. "I'll be back to check on you in five minutes. If you're not out, I'll get you out myself."
Seriously, the guy needed to pick his battles a little more carefully, Riley thought to herself as he left the room, leaving the door wide open. The tired teen groaned and rolled over onto her back again, knowing her dad wasn't kidding. Even though she wasn't in the most obedient of moods, she didn't really want to start her Saturday day off being dragged out of bed by her father. Not number one on her to do list. Riley swung her legs over her bed, rubbing at her face. She managed to find her way into the bathroom despite the sleep in her eyes and the haziness of her vision this early in the damn morning.
Nick sighed from the kitchen, where he and Sara were both making up a grocery list. "Wow, she listened." He commented, feigning surprise. At least he still had some kind of effect on her.
"Amazing." Sara answered as she looked in the fridge for needed items as they both heard the shower starting down the hall.
"I should probably stay here with her." Nick reasoned out loud. "You wanna take the younger two with you?"
Sara wrote down a couple things on her list and nodded. "Yeah. I might take them to the park later. See if blowing off some steam might help Carly. You did set up an appointment with that therapist the Jenkins were talking about, didn't you?"
They had finally decided that perhaps Carly's problem was out of their hands, and they needed some professional help. A family they knew had recommended a particular therapist who had helped their son with anxiety. Finances were tight, but of course they found a way to rearrange things to get Carly the help she needed.
"Uh-huh." Nick told her as he came up behind her to kiss her shoulder and his hands rubbed at her hips. "Tuesday after school."
Sara nodded and smiled as she turned her head to capture her husband's lips in hers. They kissed for several long moments before Nolan came bolting through the living room and tripped, falling flat on his face. Sara anticipated a delayed cry as he lifted his head up from the ground, but surprisingly, the tyke got right back up and ran towards his sister on the couch.
"I'm Darth Vader!!" He threatened menacingly. Both his parents bit back a laugh as Carly scrunched up her face in annoyance. Little brothers were so weird and very random.
Nick gave Sara a final kiss. "At least he's resilient." He commented as Sara looked over her shopping list to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
"That he is." She said lowly then cleared her throat to speak louder to their children. "Alright, guys, get your shoes on. We're going out."
Both children seemed excited enough to get out of the house, and went about the business of finding their shoes quickly. Carly seemed to be in a decent mood today, besides the fact she was being tormented by her brother. She was used to that by now.
"Do I get a kiss?" Nick asked hopefully, as if either of his youngest would ever deny him that at this stage in their lives. Both scurried over to their father, and he knelt down to receive a hug and kiss from each of them.
"Daddy, are you comin' with us?" Carly asked hopefully as she hugged him. Nick kissed her cheek and pulled her back slightly.
"No, I'm gonna stay here with Riley to make sure she behaves." He told his middle child honestly. "But we can hang out later, okay?" Nick offered.
Riley seemed to consider the option of breaking down crying for a few moments, as Nick saw her eyebrows furrow and she bit her lip. If that wasn't a cliffhanger, Nick didn't know what was. "Okay." She finally said softly, relieving her father. He kissed her on the forehead again and sent her off to her mother.
"Bye guys, have fun. I love you." He called as they all filed out the garage door for their outing. The door closed and Nick sighed, now left alone in the house besides his foul-mooded teenage daughter. The water shut off in the shower, so he headed off to the laundry room to start up a load. Riley took a few more minutes in the bathroom and then he heard her move to her bedroom and shut it behind her.
Inside her bedroom, Riley sighed as she readjusted her pink towel around her slender body after she turned on her radio. She worked her away around the clutter on the floor to her wardrobe, and picked out a suitable outfit for being grounded on a Saturday. Riley settled on a pair of dark blue lounge pants and a plain white fitted t-shirt. She slipped on a fresh pair of panties and her clothes, then went about brushing out her slightly tangled, wet hair, then expertly clipped it up with her spider clip holder in the middle of her head. Plucking her cell phone from the charger, she collapsed on her stomach on her bed and began thumbing through her phone book for her grandmother's number. Surely, she would understand and agree with her on what a jerk her father was being. Her grandmother always listened to her and seemed to go along with what she was arguing. Well, except that time when she was ten and shaved the letter "P" in the side of her cat Pepper's fur when she got bored. She didn't seem too pleased about that one, and had agreed with her mother's punishment.
The phone rang twice when her grandmother picked up with the reassuring greeting of her voice. "Hello?" It creaked slightly in her old age, another reminder that she was safe talking to this wonderful lady she called Grandma.
"Hi, Grandma. It's Riley." She smiled, resting her head against her pillow once again.
"Riley!" The teen smiled at the sound of how happy she was to hear from her. She loved how special she always felt just from the mere utterance of her own name coming from her grandmother's mouth. "How are you?"
"I'm okay." She fibbed a little, not wanting to unload on her right away. "What are you up to?"
"I was just watering my flowers, thinking of you." She admitted as she emptied the watering can on a bunch of azaleas. She headed for the sliding glass door to go inside and relax while she caught up with her favorite granddaughter. Riley smirked and wished she was there with her. They went through the usual small talk of how school had been that week, and that she had indeed been doing her homework. Audrey could tell, however, that Riley wasn't as peppy as she had been lately. Every time she called, it was all about how excited she was about Butterfield.
"Something's bothering you." Audrey stated, instead of a question. There was no point of dilly dallying around the issue. Riley smiled and rubbed at one of her eyebrows.
"You know me too well, Grandma." The teen admitted as she rolled over on her side.
"Spill it, girl." Audrey ordered her, with that old lady zest in her voice.
"Okay. Tell me what you would do if I did this back at home." She began. "I went to a little party last night instead of being where I told my dad I was at. I ended up kissing a guy a little bit, but that's it, and I had one tiny sip of alcohol. What would you do?" She bit the edge of her thumbnail, waiting for a response.
Audrey had a way of avoiding a true answer when she knew Riley was trying to manipulate her current situation. The little rascal. "Well, I'm guessing you're asking me this because your father punished you for it?" She guessed, thinking Riley was looking to get some ammo to use against her father. Sure, he was a little stricter than she would be with Riley, but Audrey thought it was good for her.
Riley sighed. "Yes, but I wanna know what you would do."
"Well, I'm your grandmother. It's not my place to handle discipline. If you pulled that when you were at my house, I'd lock you in your room and then call your father to handle it." She admitted. No way was Riley going to steer her into the middle of an argument with her father. She had to know that she and her parents were on the same side.
Riley somehow knew she wouldn't get a straight answer out of her grandmother, but she had to try. She knew deep down she wouldn't have been so harsh, and that's what was bugging her about the situation. Many dilemmas in her life had to do with her wondering what would happen if the same situation occurred at home in Tucson. How different would the reaction be? How would the outcome change? Would she be as happy, or as upset?
"Well, what if I lived with you, and you were my guardian?" Riley tried again anyway.
"Riley, I don't answer 'what if' questions." Audrey reminded her, aware of her granddaughter's manipulations. "There's no point, because it's not reality. You acted up, and you got in trouble with your father. That's all there is to it."
She heard a frustrated huff coming from the other end and knew she wasn't giving Riley the answers she wanted to hear. She wanted to say welcome to being a teenager, but thought that would just annoy Riley even more.
"Grandma, I really liked staying with you at Spring Break." She said softly into the receiver, seemingly changing the subject for the time being.
"Well, I liked having you. I always love having you." Audrey answered, running her fingertips around a picture she had sitting out of her granddaughter. She always missed her when she was away.
Just the response she'd wanted. "Really? Cause I was thinking maybe I should spend some more time with you."
"What do you mean by that, dear?" She was suspicious.
"Well, I don't know if I like living here all the time. Maybe I could come live with you for the summer?" Riley suggested hopefully.
Audrey rubbed her eyes in thought. It was great to hear that coming from Riley's mouth, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was a manipulation, or if it were truthful. She might just be upset with her father and saying this on a whim. Audrey was too old and tired to deal with being in the middle of a father/daughter argument.
"I don't know, Riley. Have you spoken with her dad about this?" She checked first.
"No. I wanted to ask you first." And use it against her father.
"Well, that's a big move, Riley. I'd need to talk to your parents about that first, but you know I'd love to have you."
Riley beamed at the response. She quickly wrapped up the conversation with her grandmother, now having some hope to go on that she could spend the summer away from this environment the Stokes had created. And maybe Nick would realize how much he missed her when she was gone, and realize he was way too strict with her. Then, when she returned in the fall, things would be a whole lot better. He would appreciate her more. Riley hung up the phone and heard a knock on her door once again.
"Whaaat?" She answered in annoyance. Nick stepped in once again.
"I thought I heard you talking on the phone." He told her. One of his rules about being grounded was that she wasn't allowed on the phone, unless it was to a relative or for homework reasons.
"Well, gee golly, you were right." She answered smartly, tossing her phone on her bedside table. "Relax, it was Grandma."
Nick felt like she was constantly testing to see what she could get away with. "Fine. The lawn needs to be mowed, and then you can start cleaning out the garage." He saved some of the worst chores for when Riley was in trouble.
"Or not." She countered. "I need to start studying for my SATs." Riley reached onto her bedside table's shelf and pulled out an SAT Preparation book he'd bought her in hopes that she would use it, not use it against him.
Nick cleared his throat and stepped forward, plucking the book from her hands. There would be plenty of time for her to study in the next few weeks since she'd have no social life. "Nice try. Get your butt moving. There's lots I have planned for you to do."
Riley scoffed and crossed her arms. "The SAT's are like, any minute! The garage can surely wait. When is my test anyway?"
"Saturday the thirteenth." He informed her without hesitating, now that it didn't matter her birthday party had been planned for the evening before.
Riley was about to speak, when the dates starting spinning in her mind. The thirteenth – the day after the twelfth, which was supposed to be her sweet sixteen party. What the hell?
"My party's supposed to be on the twelfth. How can I take my test on Saturday morning?" She pointed out to him, still sitting on her bed with her arms crossed, in battle mode.
Nick shook his head. "Easy. You're not having your party, remember?" As if he believed she'd forgotten. Informing her she'd lost her party had been the most dramatic response of her life.
"Whatever! When were you gonna tell me about this?" She didn't like the fact he obviously knew about the conflicting dates and hadn't mentioned it to her.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?" He pointed out, hoping to skip all the drama she liked to create. "Your party is cancelled, and you'll have plenty of time to rest up the night before now." Nick gave her a matter-of-fact smile upon proving his point.
"The point is you lied to me by not telling me." She accused, shooting him a glare.
Nick let out a humorless chuckle at her claim. "Darlin', there are so many worse things in the world than me not telling you about that. For instance, underage drinking, lying and disobeying your parents…" He started to name off all her recent offenses.
"Ditching your pregnant girlfriend…missing your child's first thirteen years…" Riley started naming off smartly, counting them off with her fingers.
"Hey." He snapped, giving her his worst parental look. "We're not turning this all around. The point is, you messed up, and you need to start taking your punishment like an adult, though you're surely not actin' like one. Those dates are irrelevant now. What matters is you being ready to take your SAT on the thirteenth, and when I tell you to do something under my roof, you do it."
"Well, maybe I don't wanna be under this roof." She spat, glaring at him just as intensely as he was glaring at her.
"Too bad, you're stuck with me." Nick countered, reaching for the doorknob to leave her to sulk for a few more minutes.
Riley rose from her bed, angry that she wasn't getting under his skin like she'd hoped. "Well, I wanna live with Grandma this summer, and she wants me to also!" She threw at him.
Nick turned to look at his daughter, and saw she was totally serious. And while she claimed all this, he highly doubted Audrey had just agreed to let her stay with her this summer without consulting him first. Truthfully, having her away for the summer might be a good thing, the way she was acting lately.
"We'll discuss this another time." He told her simply, not letting her draw him in to another argument. "I better see you outside with the lawnmower in ten minutes. Move it."
With that, Nick left the bedroom, closing the door behind him this time, because predictably she started her angry groaning and stomping moments later, the way she always did when he got the last word. He remembered the advice his father gave him when Riley moved in – sooner or later, teenagers get over their self-involvement and need for thrills, and realize how unreasonably difficult they're being. Until then, you just had to be patient, firm, and consistent. Nick just sighed, hoping this defiant teenager phase would come to an end sooner rather than later.