Butter Pecan/Red Currant/Sea Salt smoothie
Authors: Marina and Casey
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Butter Pecan 23 (heavy), Red Currant 3 (distant thunder) [Marina]; Sea Salt 9 (steam) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Peaches (Enjoy the calm because tonight’s lunar interactions with Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Uranus guarantee pressures and disturbances), Smoothie [both]; Malt (Trick-or-Treat from Sara - “One Girl Revolution” by Superchic[k]) [Marina]; Malt (Trick-or-Treat from Lily - Beauty and the Beast quote) [Casey]
Word Count: 1,183
Rating: PG
Summary: Kaylee Dakamar announces her potential college plans. Her father takes exception to them.
Notes: Casey and I decided that Dean is the most overprotective father ever and that his pain is amusing to us. Then this got unexpectedly serious. :P The girls are eighteen, seventeen, and fifteen respectively.
"So I think I want to join the Navy," Kaylee announced, right before she took a generous bite of chicken and rice.
Dean almost immediately started coughing. "Excuse me?" he gasped around coughs as Bethy helpfully pounded his back.
Kaylee lifted her shoulders and finished chewing. "They have a really good scholarship program," she explained. "So I'll be able to go anywhere I want to for college. And I think I'd like serving for a few years."
"Are you sure?" Carrie asked, throwing a sidelong glance at her husband.
"Not 'set in stone' sure, but I've been thinking about it."
"But that's..." Dean hesitated for a moment, searching for the right word, "dangerous!"
"So is everything else about being alive, Dean," Carrie said pointedly.
"And it's not like I'd be in action right away, either," Kaylee added. "I'd go to college first."
"But it means they could call you in at any time if they needed people," Dean argued.
"I think it sounds cool!" Bethy said around a mouthful, as usual not bothering to swallow first. "I wanna go too."
Dean blanched immediately.
"If I didn't want that then I wouldn't do it," said Kaylee, with a smirk for her youngest sister.
"No. No way," Dean said sternly to their youngest, ignoring Kaylee for a moment to deal with the easier problem. "You are staying right here in school."
"You can't join until you're eighteen anyway, Bethy," Carrie added. "And you have lots of time until then to decide what you want. You don't even have to decide immediately after then, either."
Bethy sulked. "Why not? I'd be really good at it!"
"Because it's the law, dear."
"Well, the law sucks."
"The law is very smart, Beth," Dean corrected, then turned to Kaylee. "You're a smart kid, Kaylee, there is no need to rely on the Navy for scholarship money."
She gave him the famous Morales expression of exasperation in return. "Dad. I just said I wouldn't be applying to this program if I didn't want to. Honestly, I think I'd be a pretty awesome SEAL."
"A SEAL?" he repeated, voice shooting up about an octave.
"Don't they go on all the really crazy stealthy and hard missions?" Bethy asked happily, not helping his state of mind in the slightest.
Nora, at the end of the table, quickly swallowed the last of her meal and pushed back her chair. "I'm done, can I be excused?"
"Sure," said Carrie, understanding her middle child's constant desire not to be in the center of the action. "Take your plate to the sink."
Kaylee grinned at Bethy as Nora made good her retreat. "That's right."
Dean groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "At least I have one sane child."
"Aw, you know you love us, Daddy!" Bethy told him, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder now. "And that would be awesome, Kaylee. Can you teach me all the cool moves you'll learn?"
"I'm totally sane, Dad," said Kaylee, beginning to look a little angry.
Carrie cut her off. "Kaylee, it's your decision, but your dad and I want to talk with you about all your options before you pick one thing for sure. So don't apply until we've gone over it with you. All right?"
Kaylee nodded in agreement and went back to her food, but shot Dean another glare around it. Bethy just shrugged. "Dad's doing his 'you're my babies thing again, isn't he, Mom?"
"Yes, he is," Carrie said, not-so-subtly poking him in the ribs.
Dean lifted his head and shot a pathetic look at his eldest. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"And?" Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Even if I didn't join the Navy or do something else 'crazy' like, I don't know, stunt doubling, I could still get in a car accident."
"But...but then you're not potentially asking for it."
"Dad, don't be silly. It's Kaylee, d'you really think anyone's gonna be able to hurt her?" Bethy said, with all the confidence of a younger sibling.
"Thanks, Beth." Kaylee shot her a brief smile.
"Well, no," Dean admitted slowly. "I know your sister can take care of herself..."
"Let's not have the rest of this discussion right now," Carrie suggested, eyeing both Dean and Kaylee.
"But it makes dinner a lot more fun," Bethy said calmly and then got a wicked look on her face. "And it chased Nora away."
"Bethany," Dean said sharply, glad to have something he could deal with.
"I heard that!" they heard Nora yell from the den.
"Good!" Bethy called back, not the least bit ashamed.
"Bethany Anna Dakamar," Carrie said, in the tone that all three girls knew well as the signal to back off. Bethy rolled her eyes but subsided, shoveling another forkful in her mouth.
Kaylee scraped up the last of her vegetables. "May I be excused?"
"Go ahead," Carrie replied. Kaylee took up her plate and bolted for the kitchen.
Their youngest hastily finished. "Me too?" she mumbled around another mouthful.
"Swallow your food first."
She did as ordered with much drama and then hopped from her seat and followed Kaylee.
Carrie pushed back her still half-full plate, leaned an elbow on the table, and turned to look at Dean. "Dean, you know I love you, but you're being ridiculous," she said bluntly.
He sighed morosely, unable to quite look her in the eye. "It just seems unnecessary."
"I'm not really thrilled about it either," she said, "but it's Kaylee's decision, and quite frankly it's pretty great that she even has the option."
"I know," he said, "but there's a very good chance that by the time she gets out of school, we'll be at war."
Carrie knew that as well as Dean did. Activity in Russia and China had not been at all reassuring of late. "We can't stop her," she said, even though her stomach lurched at the idea. "She's a legal adult and she knows her own mind."
He reached over and put his hand over hers. "I guess I just wish we could."
She squeezed it. "Look at it this way. You and I are awesome, right? That means our daughters inherited awesomeness from both sides of the family. I think it's pretty safe to say that wherever she goes, Kaylee will be kicking ass and taking names."
Dean blinked at her and then had to laugh. "I guess that's hard logic to argue with."
"My logic is flawless," Carrie said, with a smirk.
"As always," he said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. "I suppose I owe Kaylee an apology." He meant it, but he also had an ulterior motive: they could hear Nora and Bethy bickering somewhere in the house, and he was not anxious to get in the middle of it.
"I'll take care of the other two," she offered.
"You are the most amazing woman ever," he said with some relief.
She beamed at him. "You're pretty amazing yourself." With a parting peck on the lips, she rose and marched into the other room to settle the irritable duo.
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Butter Pecan 23 (heavy), Red Currant 3 (distant thunder) [Marina]; Sea Salt 9 (steam) [Casey]
Toppings/Extras: Caramel, Peaches (Enjoy the calm because tonight’s lunar interactions with Mercury, Mars, Neptune, and Uranus guarantee pressures and disturbances), Smoothie [both]; Malt (Trick-or-Treat from Sara - “One Girl Revolution” by Superchic[k]) [Marina]; Malt (Trick-or-Treat from Lily - Beauty and the Beast quote) [Casey]
Word Count: 1,183
Rating: PG
Summary: Kaylee Dakamar announces her potential college plans. Her father takes exception to them.
Notes: Casey and I decided that Dean is the most overprotective father ever and that his pain is amusing to us. Then this got unexpectedly serious. :P The girls are eighteen, seventeen, and fifteen respectively.
"So I think I want to join the Navy," Kaylee announced, right before she took a generous bite of chicken and rice.
Dean almost immediately started coughing. "Excuse me?" he gasped around coughs as Bethy helpfully pounded his back.
Kaylee lifted her shoulders and finished chewing. "They have a really good scholarship program," she explained. "So I'll be able to go anywhere I want to for college. And I think I'd like serving for a few years."
"Are you sure?" Carrie asked, throwing a sidelong glance at her husband.
"Not 'set in stone' sure, but I've been thinking about it."
"But that's..." Dean hesitated for a moment, searching for the right word, "dangerous!"
"So is everything else about being alive, Dean," Carrie said pointedly.
"And it's not like I'd be in action right away, either," Kaylee added. "I'd go to college first."
"But it means they could call you in at any time if they needed people," Dean argued.
"I think it sounds cool!" Bethy said around a mouthful, as usual not bothering to swallow first. "I wanna go too."
Dean blanched immediately.
"If I didn't want that then I wouldn't do it," said Kaylee, with a smirk for her youngest sister.
"No. No way," Dean said sternly to their youngest, ignoring Kaylee for a moment to deal with the easier problem. "You are staying right here in school."
"You can't join until you're eighteen anyway, Bethy," Carrie added. "And you have lots of time until then to decide what you want. You don't even have to decide immediately after then, either."
Bethy sulked. "Why not? I'd be really good at it!"
"Because it's the law, dear."
"Well, the law sucks."
"The law is very smart, Beth," Dean corrected, then turned to Kaylee. "You're a smart kid, Kaylee, there is no need to rely on the Navy for scholarship money."
She gave him the famous Morales expression of exasperation in return. "Dad. I just said I wouldn't be applying to this program if I didn't want to. Honestly, I think I'd be a pretty awesome SEAL."
"A SEAL?" he repeated, voice shooting up about an octave.
"Don't they go on all the really crazy stealthy and hard missions?" Bethy asked happily, not helping his state of mind in the slightest.
Nora, at the end of the table, quickly swallowed the last of her meal and pushed back her chair. "I'm done, can I be excused?"
"Sure," said Carrie, understanding her middle child's constant desire not to be in the center of the action. "Take your plate to the sink."
Kaylee grinned at Bethy as Nora made good her retreat. "That's right."
Dean groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "At least I have one sane child."
"Aw, you know you love us, Daddy!" Bethy told him, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder now. "And that would be awesome, Kaylee. Can you teach me all the cool moves you'll learn?"
"I'm totally sane, Dad," said Kaylee, beginning to look a little angry.
Carrie cut her off. "Kaylee, it's your decision, but your dad and I want to talk with you about all your options before you pick one thing for sure. So don't apply until we've gone over it with you. All right?"
Kaylee nodded in agreement and went back to her food, but shot Dean another glare around it. Bethy just shrugged. "Dad's doing his 'you're my babies thing again, isn't he, Mom?"
"Yes, he is," Carrie said, not-so-subtly poking him in the ribs.
Dean lifted his head and shot a pathetic look at his eldest. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
"And?" Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Even if I didn't join the Navy or do something else 'crazy' like, I don't know, stunt doubling, I could still get in a car accident."
"But...but then you're not potentially asking for it."
"Dad, don't be silly. It's Kaylee, d'you really think anyone's gonna be able to hurt her?" Bethy said, with all the confidence of a younger sibling.
"Thanks, Beth." Kaylee shot her a brief smile.
"Well, no," Dean admitted slowly. "I know your sister can take care of herself..."
"Let's not have the rest of this discussion right now," Carrie suggested, eyeing both Dean and Kaylee.
"But it makes dinner a lot more fun," Bethy said calmly and then got a wicked look on her face. "And it chased Nora away."
"Bethany," Dean said sharply, glad to have something he could deal with.
"I heard that!" they heard Nora yell from the den.
"Good!" Bethy called back, not the least bit ashamed.
"Bethany Anna Dakamar," Carrie said, in the tone that all three girls knew well as the signal to back off. Bethy rolled her eyes but subsided, shoveling another forkful in her mouth.
Kaylee scraped up the last of her vegetables. "May I be excused?"
"Go ahead," Carrie replied. Kaylee took up her plate and bolted for the kitchen.
Their youngest hastily finished. "Me too?" she mumbled around another mouthful.
"Swallow your food first."
She did as ordered with much drama and then hopped from her seat and followed Kaylee.
Carrie pushed back her still half-full plate, leaned an elbow on the table, and turned to look at Dean. "Dean, you know I love you, but you're being ridiculous," she said bluntly.
He sighed morosely, unable to quite look her in the eye. "It just seems unnecessary."
"I'm not really thrilled about it either," she said, "but it's Kaylee's decision, and quite frankly it's pretty great that she even has the option."
"I know," he said, "but there's a very good chance that by the time she gets out of school, we'll be at war."
Carrie knew that as well as Dean did. Activity in Russia and China had not been at all reassuring of late. "We can't stop her," she said, even though her stomach lurched at the idea. "She's a legal adult and she knows her own mind."
He reached over and put his hand over hers. "I guess I just wish we could."
She squeezed it. "Look at it this way. You and I are awesome, right? That means our daughters inherited awesomeness from both sides of the family. I think it's pretty safe to say that wherever she goes, Kaylee will be kicking ass and taking names."
Dean blinked at her and then had to laugh. "I guess that's hard logic to argue with."
"My logic is flawless," Carrie said, with a smirk.
"As always," he said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. "I suppose I owe Kaylee an apology." He meant it, but he also had an ulterior motive: they could hear Nora and Bethy bickering somewhere in the house, and he was not anxious to get in the middle of it.
"I'll take care of the other two," she offered.
"You are the most amazing woman ever," he said with some relief.
She beamed at him. "You're pretty amazing yourself." With a parting peck on the lips, she rose and marched into the other room to settle the irritable duo.