A/N: Written for londynon from her prompt.
Janet looked at Sam and said, “Is it still called infanticide when they’re teenagers? Because I swear to god I’m going to kill her!” Janet’s knife came down hard on the cutting board again.
“Actually, it’s only called infanticide if they’re less than twelve months old,” Sam quipped as she stole a slice of cucumber from the cutting board. The harsh look she received from her lover instantly wiped the impish smirk from her face. “Sorry. What happened?”
Before Janet could answer, Cassie stormed in the back door, almost-but-not-quite slamming it shut behind her. She glared at her mother. “Now what?”
Janet’s jaw muscles flexed as she clenched her jaw before responding. “Go clean your room.”
As heavy footfalls thumped up the stairs to the second floor, Janet lowered her head and massaged her temples.
“Janet? What happened?” Sam asked gently.
She let out a heavy sigh as she dropped her hands and looked at Sam. “She skipped school today.”
“What?”
“She and Ellie decided it was a good idea to go to some day concert up at Red Rocks Park.”
“How did you find out? Did the school call you?”
“No. She forged my signature on a note. I found out when Ellie’s mother called me after the police called her.”
“The police?!”
“Apparently, the girls took Meg’s car – without permission – and got into an accident.” Janet continued before Sam asked the obvious question, “They’re both fine, but the car has over $2,000 worth of damage. I’ve assured Meg that Cassie will be paying for her half.”
Sam rubbed a hand over her face as she processed everything Janet had told her. “What the hell was she thinking?” she asked rhetorically. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“She’s grounded for a month.”
“Obviously.”
“She’s also on extra chores for the month.”
“I’m sure we can keep her busy, but…”
“But what?”
Sam was a little hesitant to give voice to the thought she’d had. However, she knew that Cassie needed to learn a lesson. “Weren’t we supposed to take Cassie to get her driver’s license next week?”
“There’s no way that’s going to happen now. Right now she’ll be lucky if I let her get her license before she’s 18.”
“WHAT?!”
Both women turned at Cassie’s outburst.
“You can’t do that!”
“The hell I can’t, young lady.”
The teenager turned to her other mother. “Sam?”
Sam crossed her arms. “Forging your mother’s signature on a note to the school, going out of town without permission, taking Ellie’s mother’s car without permission… Your mother and I are in total agreement on this.”
Cassie let out a rude noise, turned, and stomped back upstairs.
Janet and Sam exchanged a look.
“Thanks for backing me up,” Janet said.
“Not a problem. What she did was wrong. The only way she’s going to learn from it is to get her where it really hurts. I remember what it felt like to get my first driver’s license. It meant a new level of freedom.” She paused. “Are you really going to make her wait until she’s 18?”
“Probably not.” Janet sighed. “But she doesn’t need to know that right now.”
Sam nodded in agreement.
FIN