Should we ground her? –

Annie and Auggie waited outside the principal's office at Zarya's school, they had been called there to discuss their daughter's behavior.

Zarya wasn't a bad student – in fact, she was one of the best – but she liked to talk. She liked to talk about anything, anytime, with anyone, and people liked to talk to her too, because she was very kind and funny. Well, because of that, her teachers constantly had to interrupt the class to ask her to stop talking. It was usual, but lately it had started to annoy them; she just wouldn't stop. So, one of them sent her to the principal's office once. Then it happened again. And again. After her third incident in less than a month, Mrs. Rogers, the principal, decided to call the Andersons and talk it through.

Annie and Auggie didn't really know why they were there, the principal had been pretty vague on the phone, which made them a little anxious because they didn't know what to expect; as far as they were concerned, Zarya had never been a problem.

There was a ticking clock on the wall and its noise was the only sound in the room. Annie started to hit her high heels on the floor, following the clock's rhythm; Auggie frowned at her, it was so annoying. Luckily for him, Mrs. Rogers opened the door and invited them in.

"Please take a sit." She smiled.

Annie led Auggie to one of the chairs and sat on the other, next to him.

"So, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, I'd like to talk to you about Zarya's behavior." She took a file from her drawer. "Well, she was sent to my office three times in less than a month, and I started to worry about her."

Annie nodded, waiting for her to finish what she was about to say, but Auggie interrupted her. "What'd she do wrong?" His tone was a little aggressive.

Annie hit him on the leg. She hated when he did that, trying to take over the situation before they even knew what was wrong. Just let the woman finish what she has to say, for Christ's sake!

"Well, you have a very talkative daughter, Mr. Anderson, and she just can't stop talking. She has annoyed her teachers so much that the only solution they could find was getting rid of her during their classes."

Annie raised her eyebrows. "I'm confused. Why hasn't she been sent to detention?"

"I figured it'd be better for her to talk to me and to her parents first. Well, she is pretty intelligent and I'm sure she will understand what she has been doing wrong. You should talk to her about the importance of following the rules, and help her see she's jeopardizing herself by acting like that. I know she doesn't do it on purpose, and I know she doesn't mean to disrespect her teachers; that's why I didn't feel I should punish her."

"Oh. Well, thank you." She smiled. "And I'm really sorry about that… We'll talk to her." She held Auggie's hand and stood up, ready to leave. As much as Annie tried to hide it, she had a scared look on her face. Auggie could hear it in her voice.

Mrs. Rogers noticed it too. "Well, Mrs. Anderson, you shouldn't be too worried, you know? You have raised her well. But no child is perfect. She likes to talk and she doesn't know when to stop, that's it." The principal tried to be as sympathetic as she could. "Zarya is brilliantly smart, she's athletic, and she is very friendly. I'm personally very fond of her. She is growing up to be a great person, don't worry."

Annie wanted to feel relieved, but she couldn't; there was always this little voice asking her if it was her fault.

She was good mother, but she was always worried that she'd hurt her family, both physically and emotionally, because of her job. She started to wonder if Zarya talking nonstop was some kind of reflex of her absence in the house – even though she wasn't absent at all –, Annie felt guilty for working such long hours and traveling that much.

They left in silence. In the car, driving back home, Auggie decided to talk about what had just happened.

"Alright, Annie. You're acting weird, what is it?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it is my fault that Zarya is a little clueless about this kind of stuff. I mean, she is thirteen, she should know the right time to stop talking and to listen to the teachers. We know she can focus, right?"

"First of all, how could it be your fault? And second, she's a teenager! They talk! Also, she's always been talkative, I think it's just who she is…"

"What if it is a symptom?"

"A symptom? Of what?"

"What if I'm an absent mother? Maybe it's her way of getting the attention she doesn't get from me…"

"Are you out of your mind, Walker? You've turned your whole life upside down to raise her well! We have turned our lives upside down! You heard her principal, she is a great kid. You are just overreacting... We'll get home and talk to her. I know she would tell us if something was wrong."

"Ok." She wiped a tear from her face.

"Also, when I was her age…" He cleaned his throat and turned his head to the other side, not facing Annie. "I might have been through the exact same situation…" His voice faded away slowly with each word.

"Really?"

"Well, except that my principal wasn't this nice and my parents grounded me for a month."

Annie laughed.

"Hey! It's not funny!" He feigned offense. "But it actually worked. I was never sent to the principal's office again."

"Well, then I'm not that worried anymore, because you turned out just great." She said and smiled as she parked her car. "But I don't think we should ground her, though…"

"Well, maybe not for that, but she didn't tell us she had been sent to the principal."

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that."

"Hmmm… What should we say?" They really didn't know how to reprehend her because she had never needed to be grounded. Most of the time a scolding was enough to make her change her behavior.

"I don't know… We should probably talk to her first and see what happens. Maybe she doesn't need to be grounded after all…"

…

Right after dinner, Zarya was laid on the couch when Auggie sat beside her. "You know what is funny, Annie?" He screamed from there.

"No." His wife answered from the kitchen.

"Some people like to talk so much, but they don't talk to their parents about visits to the principal's office… Isn't it weird?"

"Indeed. It is…" Annie didn't leave the kitchen; she let Auggie take control of the situation on his own.

Zarya's heart speeded up. She looked at Auggie, who had a sarcastic look on his face. She felt bad for not telling them.

"Oh, so… Mrs. Rogers talked to you?" She sat up.

"She did. But why didn't you, Z?" He was serious now.

"I think I was sort of… embarrassed." She sighed. "I didn't want to disappoint you, guys."

"You wouldn't have, Z. But you did disappoint us for having omitted that from us…"

"I know…" She hugged him. "I'm sorry, dad."

"It's ok as long as it doesn't happen again." He held her hands. "So, do you understand why you have been sent to the principal?"

"I do." She nodded.

"Will you let it happen again?"

She hesitated for a while. "I won't. At least I'll try not to."

"Trying isn't enough, you'll have to make it."

"Alright. I won't let it happen again. I promise."

"Is there something your mother and I can do to help?"

"Hmm… I don't think so."

"Alright, then." He hugged her again. "Are we good?"

"Yes, dad. We're good." She smiled.

Annie watched the whole thing from the kitchen and smiled. Even though she felt bad for not being as close to her daughter as Auggie was, she was glad the two of them got along so well.

It bothered Annie that she wasn't able to spend quality time with her family, but it didn't worry her anymore. And remembering Mrs. Rogers's words made her feel better. Her daughter was a good person and people liked her; Annie was proud.

Also, she was sure Auggie was a great father, so she knew Zarya had someone to rely on, after all. It didn't completely dissolve her worries, but it softened it, for sure.

AN: So? What do you think? Please, please review! Let me know your opinions, ok?

I felt I should show Annie's feelings about being a CIA mother, but I tried not to be too depressive HAHAHA I'm not sure I've managed that so well… I figured it'd be kind of annoying not being close to your only child, so Annie would feel a little bad and guilty, even though it wasn't that serious. Hope you've liked it :)

Btw, feel free to suggest stories, alright? I'm running out of ideas ;)