Luc woke before his alarm sounded and lay in bed listening to see if there was something going on that would have roused him from his sleep. He could faintly hear his little brother playing in his room. Luc turned to look at his clock and thought it unusual that Sam would be up already. Everyone joked that Sam was already a teenager the way he slept. He would fight like crazy about going to bed but be next to impossible to drag out of it in the morning. Rolling out from under his covers Luc padded quietly across the hall, hearing the shower running in his parents' room. Without knocking he snuck into Sam's bedroom and looked around. He couldn't find Sam anywhere but heard strange noises emanating from under the bed.
Luc lay on his stomach propping his head up on his hands as he looked at the deep brown eyes looking back at him. "Whatcha doin' under there?" Luc asked.
"I'm….I'm exploring" Sam answered rubbing his stuffed elephant's ear across his cheek, an action he did when he was trying to comfort himself.
"Really?" Luc asked unbelievingly.
"Ya. Why you talk like that?" Sam snapped.
"Because I don't think you're exploring … It looks to me like you're hiding" Luc's tone matter of fact.
"Hmmmpf" Sam said turning his head away so he wasn't looking his older brother right in the face.
"Sam… Sam" Luc said lovingly. "Look big guy… I'm here to help… what's wrong?" trying to be as convincing as possible.
"No you're not!" Sam tried; he needed Luc to prove he was there for him.
"I am here to help you… when have I EVER not tried to help you?" Luc stated as much as asked.
Turning back to examine Luc's face Sam decided that maybe his big brother could help him out.
"Daddy's mad at me" his statement punctuated with an overzealous pout.
"No kidding… what were you expecting after you took scissors to your coat?" Luc's incredulity slipping out before he could keep it in check.
"Hmmmpf" Sam said again quickly turning away bumping his head in the process on the bottom of the bed. "ow" he yelled more out of frustration than actual pain.
"Sorry… sorry Sam… did Daddy already come to talk to you?" Luc inquired confused as to why if his father had already dealt with the issue at hand why his brother was under the bed.
"Ya, he comed and he's coming again" Sam's explanation still not making sense to the older child.
Taking a deep breath Luc closed his eyes and counted to ten, just like mommy had told him to do when he was frustrated. Then he started to ask a few questions "Sam, why is Daddy coming back?"
"cause he says he is giving me time to rethink my answer. He didn't like the one I had, he wants a new one" Sam explained finally making enough sense that Luc could make a couple of assumptions to get to where they were now in the story.
"So you tried to tell him you were cutting out the tag" his astonishment clear in every word he spoke.
"So" Sam spat out.
"So… I told you last night not to try that on Daddy… I told you he wasn't going to fall for that…. "Luc shifted as he spoke so he was laying on his side his head resting on his folded arm.
"He smacked my bum!" Sam's words were full of frustration and anger.
"I told you that too last night… would you please just once listen to me….I've lived 6 more years than you… I can only help you if you listen….now why is he coming back"
"cause he wants a different answer" Sam shouted.
"O.K…. O.K…. then when he comes back give him a different answer…the "real" answer Sam… trust me it will be better that way" Luc said nodding his head hoping to get Sam to mimic his actions so that he could get an agreement out of his little brother.
"But Daddy will be really mad that I cutted up the coat because I didn't like it" rubbing the elephant's ear across his cheek as he spoke in a stage whisper.
"Trust me SamSam he already knows the real answer" Luc wasn't exasperated anymore as Sam was obviously listening to him and his 'I'm processing what you're saying look' was plastered on his face.
"You sure?" Sam wasn't so sure that was the case.
"I'm sure" Just as the last words were out of his mouth Tim appeared at the door freshly showered and dressed ready for work "Hey Dad" he finished.
"Can you give us a couple of minutes alone?" Tim asked his eldest as the child stood and came over for a good morning hug.
Returning the embrace Tim picked up his older son and kissed him on the cheek with a good morning son whispered in his ear. As he placed the child back on the floor Luc didn't let go of his grip around his neck. "Dad" he whispered conspiratorially "remember he's just a little kid."
"I'll remember" Tim said as Luc ran down the stairs to get himself something for breakfast.
Closing the door quietly Tim entered the room and sat in the rocking chair in the corner. He waited a few moments to see if his son would come out willingly. When no movement could be seen he called "Sam…. Sam" and waited again. Hearing shuffling but not seeing a child he tried a different tactic "Samuel Thomas …front and center… NOW."
Leaning forward in the chair his elbows resting on his knees while he held his hands together fingers locked he tilted his head just enough to see that Sam was indeed working his way out of his hiding spot. Once free of the confines of the bed Sam stood leaning against the mattress not getting too close to his father.
"Sam come here please" Tim's request spoken softly but with enough of a demand that Sam moved slowly in the right direction. When Sam was within arm's reach Tim leaned forward slightly raising himself off the chair and gently pulled Sam towards him, standing the child in between his knees his hands resting on each side of the child's trunk as he sat back down.
"Do you have an answer to my question yet?" Tim asked, eyebrows raised.
Sam just nodded. Tim waited again hoping that Sam would offer the real reason he'd shredded his coat. "Sam why did you cut your coat up?" he asked trying to look into his son's downturned face.
"I…. I … was…. I … Luc said you already knew why I did it" Sam finished.
Hiding the smile the involuntarily leaped to his lips Tim answered "I think I know why, but I don't like jumping to conclusions or making assumptions so I want you to tell me why. And I want the real reason" he added to make sure Sam understood he wouldn't accept the lie he'd been trying to feed him earlier.
"I was cutting out the tag…" Sam began when a growl that would have made Gibbs proud erupted from Tim.
"and then I just kinda kept goin'" Sam continued.
"I see" Tim hesitated before he continued "I'm glad that you finally decided to tell the truth… lying will always make the situation much worse than it already is…. Do you understand that?" Tim asked tipping his own head lower so that Sam had no choice but to look at him.
The toddler simply nodded his understanding. "None of what I am about to do would have had to happen if you hadn't lied to me. Do you understand that as well?" He waited for a nod before picking the boy up swiftly and laying him across his lap. Tim quickly administered a thorough spanking. At first Sam fought like crazy to get away, not directly reacting to the fire inducing swats that kept landing on his backside. Slowly as the heat built he was unable to ignore it and began to sob uncontrollably. Landing a few more solid smacks before he lifted the boy and held him against his chest Tim finally spoke "Shh Monkeyshine… all is forgiven… shh… "He rocked his son in the chair. "I will be seeing if Ms. Wychowsky at the seamstress shop can repair your coat and if she can you will wear it without any arguments do you understand?" He waited until he felt his young son nod in agreement. "I wouldn't want to have to repeat this little conversation again … would you?" Tim asked already knowing the answer before Sam shook his head.
Setting Sam on the bed Tim picked out some clothes and placed them on the bed beside his son. "Put those on and come down to get something to eat for breakfast" without waiting for an answer Tim left the room and made his way down the stairs to find Luc.
Luc was sitting at the kitchen table spooning large quantities of Cheerios into his mouth and looked up over his bowl as his dad walked into the room. "I thought you said you were going to remember he was little kid Dad" Luc stated with a good helping of sass.
"I did remember he was a little kid. I also remembered he was the little kid that lied to me and thought he could be both rude and disobedient while telling me that bold faced lie." The look he shot his eldest while he spoke had Luc staring deeply into his cereal without giving a response.
Tim watched as Sam entered the room, dressed in different clothes then he had laid out, crawled up onto the chair beside his usual one that housed a form fitting booster chair and propped himself on his knees. Luc poured him some cereal and then some milk without exchanging anything more than a couple of looks. He couldn't be prouder of his eldest; looking after his brother at all costs.