A/N: Will Sam have a happy ever-after following the 1984 movie "Sixteen Candles"? Probably. But she isn't the only one whose life has changed.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Ding dong.

"Is anybody going to get that?" Jim Baker yelled from the living room of his Evanston, Illinois home. "Wait," he said to himself. "Brenda took Sara and Mike to that school thing, Ginny's on her honeymoon and Sam's out with Jake Ryan. I guess that leaves me." He chuckled – after the pandemonium of the last few weeks leading up to his oldest daughter's wedding, it was now quiet thanks to all the family being out and their house guests gone back to their own homes as well. He started to luxuriate in the feeling until the doorbell sounded again.

Ding dong.

"At least it's not Long Duk Dong," he said to himself as he got up out of his chair and headed to the front door. "I'm coming!" he yelled, only detouring into the kitchen a moment to snag a left-over doughnut. He opened the door and immediately had to adjust his gaze downward. He saw a young sandy-haired boy, rail thin and acting somewhat nervously. "Hello?"

The boy looked around and then asked "Are you Samantha Baker?" Before Jim could react the young man corrected himself "Idiot. I mean, is Samantha your dad?" The nerves were definitely getting to this one. He turned around in a complete circle and threw out his arms to his side as if to steady himself, although Jim didn't rule out a little self-loathing. "I mean, is Samantha home, and if not are you her father?"

At first Jim thought that this might have been some friend of his younger son Mike, but he was probably a schoolmate of his daughter Sam. "I'm her father whether or not she's home," he answered.

The boy stared for a moment and let that sink in as he reran the conversation in his head. "I'm sorry. Can I start over?"

"Please do. But let's skip the doorbell part – I don't feel like walking all the way back into the living room just to get up and come back here to answer it."

"Right. I'm Farmer Ted, and I go to school with Samantha. Is she home?" he asked after taking a deep breath.

"No, she isn't. You work on a farm?"

"No!" Ted answered, half-defensively but went on with the speed of someone who had explained something many times before. "My name's Ted Farmer, but everyone calls me 'Farmer Ted' like when they say your name backwards at roll call."

"Well, that's comforting – I don't see a lot of fields in Chicago. If it's any consolation, that would make me Baker Jim."

"Oh. Hey yeah, that's right! I mean, that's cool. Is she going to be back soon?"

"I don't know. She's out with her new boyfriend, and I told her to be back before sundown but that's a long time still."

"Oh yeah, Jake Ryan."

"You know Jake?"

"We're best buds, you know? We talk about life and women and other sh…stuff like that," Ted answered, bouncing around a little. The kid just couldn't sit still for very long while he was talking.

"Good guy?" Jim asked.

"Jake's my man, he's the best. You know, he really cares for Samantha. Told me himself. He had a girlfriend but they kind of…ah…well, they stopped seeing each other. He wanted a real down-to-earth girl, you know?"

"Well, I hope my daughter is down-to-earth, as you say. Lord knows my other kids aren't. Do you want to leave a message for her? Is it something for school?"

"It's…um…no, I guess it's kinda private. You know. Girl stuff."

"No, I don't know. I've barely figured out guy stuff. Well, you can call her later if you want on her phone. I don't get my own phone. Maybe I don't want my own phone. Well Ted, good luck. I'll tell Sam you came by."

"Thank you sir," Ted said as he waved weakly and walked away. Jim walked back into the house and to the living room before he realized he still had the doughnut in his hand. Good, he thought to himself. He didn't remember enjoying it, and now there was a good reason why – he hadn't eaten it yet. He was on his way down into his chair when the doorbell sounded again.

Ding dong.

He hurriedly stuffed it into his mouth and went back to the door. He opened it and there was the Ted boy again.

"Yeff?" he asked, trying to swallow the last of the doughnut without spraying any.

"I'm sorry to bother you again, but…ah…can we talk, sir?"

"Apparently so. Why don't you come in and save me from any more trips back and forth, okay?" When Ted hesitated Jim said "Come on!" Ted scurried in and Jim shut the door, then led the way to the living room. Ted sat in his chair and Jim immediately motioned for him to move to another. Thus freed, he sat down again and gave his concentration to the boy. "What do you want to talk about? And why me?"

"Well sir, you seem like a man of the world."

"I'm a man, and I live in this world. Does that count?"

"I mean, I can talk to you, right? My parents just think I'm some geek kid or something, but I can see that you understand what it's like to…you know…um…have a girlfriend. I think."

"You THINK I have a girlfriend?" Jim asked. "You mean, right now?"

"No no no no! You got a wife now, but you had a girlfriend once, right? I can't talk to my parents about it, but you…" he said before trailing off.

Jim toyed with the idea of dragging this on longer but decided to spare the boy. It was actually a little flattering to have a young man ask for his advice. He and Samantha had always been able to talk, while with his other kids it was like learning a new language or cross-examining a witness. "You would like to have my perspective on something after my years of experience with members of the opposite sex, is that it?"

"Yeah. Kinda. Now, don't misunderstand, I've been with a woman before. I don't exactly remember much of it, but unlike Bryce and Cliff, I've done it." When Jim gave him the beginnings of a scowl he added "And I'm sure it was done in a very mature, respectful manner. Probably."

"Was there alcohol involved?"

"Maybe. Maybe a lot."

"And you see how well that worked out for you. What does the girl think?"

Ted smiled. "I think she's happy about it. Except for losing that big chunk of hair." When Jim looked questionably at him, he went on "It's a long story, I had nothing to do with that part. But yeah, I think she's happy. She certainly sounded happy when I talked to her last. At least she remembers more than I do."

"Are YOU happy about it?"

"Of course! I guess. I mean, every guy wants to bag a beautiful woman, right? I mean, who wouldn't? Trust me, Caroline is a very popular topic among the guys at school. But now I'm – I don't know; confused, I guess. Do I have a girlfriend now? Or just a great story to tell my friends? Do you have a beer?"

"I think the answer to most of those are 'yes'. But you can't have a beer."

"People in the Middle Ages drank when they were my age."

"Yes, and they usually had families by your age and died by the time they got to thirty. I'm not going to give you a beer because: it's illegal, it's wrong, and I only have one left and I was saving it for this afternoon. Listen Ted, I'm no expert on kids."

"But you sure raised a good one in Samantha. If Jake wasn't her boyfriend, I'd…well, I'd wish I was able to have her interested in me. She's great."

"Yeah, I won't argue with that. Okay, here's some advice from an old dad to a kid he's never met before. Women aren't there to bag, score, or otherwise treat like an object. They have feelings too. As guys we may never understand those feelings, but we have to respect that they're there. I hope part of what makes Samantha so great is that her mom and I can talk to her and she'll listen. She may not always agree with us, but she WILL listen. And we try to pay that same respect back by listening to HER. And when you have a relationship with a girl, you and her both have to work the same way. Now, this new girlfriend of yours…"

"Caroline. Caroline Mulford. She was Jake's girlfriend before."

"Jake Ryan?"

"Um, yeah. That's another long story. Now I couldn't even begin to explain how we ended up together, but we did and now I don't know how to be."

"What's she like?"

"Oh, she's a knockout. She's a senior like Jake. Um, and she parties a lot because she gets stressed trying to be like a mom to her little sister who's deaf. Let me tell you Jim, Samantha's lucky to have parents like you. Caroline's parents don't know how to deal with Sandy – that's her little sister – and they pawn it off on her instead. But you know, she really is a nice girl when you talk to her."

"See, that's good. Look Ted, this Caroline girl may not be the right one for you…" Jim said and Ted started to object but he went on "…or maybe she is, I don't know. I don't think you know yet either, and I bet she doesn't. But you already got off on the wrong foot by getting drunk and, let's say, 'scoring' with her." You really need to get to know a person and you don't do that by taking off your clothes. Get to know each other. THEN take off your clothes and see if you can still look the other person in the eye the next morning and talk like you did before. If you can't look her in the eye – she's either the wrong one or you've got some growing up to do still. Don't take that as an insult – we grow up all our lives. And grow out, if you eat too many donuts," he said patting his belly.

"But she's three years older than I am."

"And I'm ten years older than my wife, what's your point?"

"Wow, you're old! I mean, your wife must be so young!"

"No, I'm old. But I've had plenty of time to get used to it. You, you're young. You don't have a wife and kids yet to tie you down. Don't make a mistake and start a family too soon until you're ready for it and can afford the time and the bills. Just saying." Ted started to rub his hands and Jim cautioned him. "At the same time, don't get too crazy by burning your candle at both ends. We've all only got so many candles in our life - don't burn them up too fast. Save some to enjoy later."

"Wow. That's great, Jim. That borders on deep."

"Thanks. Oh, and another thing. If you're talking to people a lot older than you, don't call them by their first name unless they say. It shows respect, and you might score more points with the girl's parents. I just had Brenda's parents stay over for the wedding, and I can't imagine what it would be like if I offended them right off the bat when I met her."

"Right. Butter up the parents. Talk. Take our clothes off. Not too many donuts. Got it." Ted stood up and stuck out his hand. "I appreciate doing business with you."

Jim stood up and returned the shake. "Good luck." The two walked to the door and Jim opened it up for his guest to leave.

"Um, one more thing Ji…Mr. B. Could you give this to Samantha?" He handed over a folded note to Jim.

"Okay."

"Please don't read it, it's personal. I think she wrote it, because I recognize her handwriting. I found it in a car a few days ago and I think she'd like to have it back to either burn or put in a scrapbook."

"That's quite a choice."

"It's either the most embarrassing or the most important thing she's ever written." Ted waved and turned to go again. This time Jim waited until the young man walked out of sight around the block before going back in.

He closed the door behind him as he went back into the house, pausing in the entryway and looking at the paper. It looked like binder paper that had been folded tightly; he could read the partial word "CONFIDEN" on the front part. Well, he may be her father but if he was meant to know what was written inside then Sam would tell him at some point. He left the paper on her bed and went back downstairs, deciding that the beer wasn't going to wait any longer. He savored the beverage and the quiet, knowing neither would last forever.

The End

A/N: When I did my research before writing, I read that the actor that played Samantha's father turned down the part until the director wrote and added the scene with him apologizing for forgetting her birthday. That moment makes us all wish/appreciate a parent like that, and that we can be that type of parent too - and that was the genesis for this short.