The Joys of Motherhood - Of Boyfriends and Christmas Shopping
Tittle: The Joys of Motherhood - Of Boyfriends and Christmas Shopping
Author: storm_8
Fandom: Women's Murder Club
Pairings: Lindsay/Cindy, Jill/Denise
Raiting: PG
Spoilers: None
Disclaimers: Ha! Obviously I don't own any of these characters except the original one's.
A/N: Unbeated, so all mistakes are mine.
So, this Christmas fic of mine is turning into an epic story. It's huge and I haven't finished yet, because the muse just decided to run away with it and I just keep writing and writing, even though I have loads of uni work to do. I'm getting kind of worried... But anyway...
This first part of the big story happens a few days before Christmas. I should point out that in this fic, Ash is 18, Lily is 16 and Sam should be 19, since I wanted to include the cute two year old Tyler...
I'm currently writing what happens on Christmas day where I'll include a family dinner, and then there should be one more part dealing with New Year's... We'll see how that goes, because we all know what is said about the best laid plans...
Enjoy! And remember comments are love!! And bribery for the muse...
Tyler Bernhardt Kwon looked curiously around the mall, watching all the colourful Christmas displays and the odd person dressed as elves or reindeer bustling about. He held onto his dark haired mother’s hand while munching on a candy cane and watched his other mother argue with a salesman about the price of a box of ball ornaments. Denise just sighed in dismay. The two-year-old boy looked up at her and grinned a toothy grin.
The DA smiled down at her son. “Are you enjoying your candy?” She asked in amusement.
He nodded eagerly. “Momma want?” He asked, stretching his arm up and offering the sweet to the woman.
Denise chuckled “No, you can have all of it…”
“Oooh, can I have some?” Came a voice from behind them.
Tyler blinked and craned his neck around his mother’s legs curiously. He found his redhead cousin grinning at them. “Lily!” He exclaimed and launched himself at her legs.
The girl giggled and gave him an affectionate pat on the head, before picking him up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey aunt Denise.” She greeted the dark haired woman. “Are you doing some Christmas shopping too?”
“The way I see it…” Lindsay interrupted, walking towards them holding two bags and waving her free hand in Jill’s direction “It’s more like Jill using lawyer logic on an unsuspecting salesperson… You’d think they didn’t give out Christmas bonuses with the way she’s acting.” There were wild gesticulations and every now and then they could hear the blonde say something along the lines of ‘over-priced’ and ‘this is not Prada!’.
Lily looked up at her mother with a raised eyebrow. “You say that as if you don’t use your badge on unsuspecting salespeople as well… Because aunt Jill has told me all about your ‘forgetting anniversaries shopping terrorism’, her words not mine…”
Tyler giggled when his brunette aunt gaped at the redhead, Denise smirking in obvious amusement.
Just then, Jill exited the store and walked over to her lover and son, muttering about never doing Christmas shopping ever again. She then noticed her friend doing a very good impersonation of a fish out of water, while her niece laughed at her mother’s expression. “And what is going on here? Linz, are you exercising your jaws or is there a specific reason why you’re imitating a suffocating fish?”
That only caused Lily to laugh harder, which then amused the boy settled in her arms and, sticking out his hand holding the candy cane, he asked amidst a lot of giggles: “Auntie Lindsay want candy?”
The inspector snapped out of her speechless stupor and smiled lovingly at the boy. “No thank you. You can enjoy that all by yourself.” She then turned her laser vision on her blonde friend “Why do you keep telling my daughters these things?! ‘Forgetting anniversaries shopping terrorism’?? Really?!” She gesticulated with her free hand, making quotation marks in the air.
Jill snorted, set the bag with her purchase down and folded her arms across her chest. “So what? Not my fault you keep forgetting all the anniversaries…”
Lindsay sneered and smacked the attorney on the arm “Some friend you are! If this is how it’s going to be, I’ll start telling Denise about all those times when yo-” She was quickly silenced by a glaring blonde, who clamped a hand over her mouth.
Denise sighed again and turned to her niece. “How about we get something to drink? I have a feeling this might take a while…” She vaguely gestured towards the bickering women and started walking to the nearest coffee shop, knowing that Lily would be following.
“Oh sure, I’ve been craving a nice hot chocolate with a marshmallow or two…”
Tyler perked up, pulling the candy cane out of his mouth with a pop “Momma! I ‘ave ‘ocolate too!”
Lily giggled at the little boy’s enthusiasm.
**************************************************
Ashley squeezed through the people crowding the Starbucks’ counter, trying not to drop the two mugs and plate she was carrying, only to almost get covered in hot chocolate when two small children ran past her when she managed to get out of the crowd.
Luckily, Sam had seen her approaching and had gotten up from their table to help the other girl. She snaked an arm around the brunette’s waist to steady her and grabbed the plate sitting on top of one of the mugs before it went clattering to the floor.
“You gotta love Starbucks’ rush hour, especially during the Christmas break…” The blonde commented. Ashley snorted and gave her girlfriend a thankful smile for her help. They moved to the table Sam had managed to get for them, shuffling around until the two chairs were close together and Martha was lying next to the brunette, absently twirling her tail through the air.
“I think Martha is a bit tired after all that running around in the park…” The older girl commented, taking a big sip of her hot chocolate.
Ashley gave her favourite dog a grin and ran a hand through her fur. “It’s good exercise to get rid of all those excess treats that Lily keeps feeding her…”
The Border Collie barked in what could be a mix of indignation and amusement and sneezed on her owner’s sneakers, who grinned widely at her reaction. She then turned back to Sam, only to let out at chuckle.
“What?” The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You got a moustache. Very sexy, I might add.”
Samantha glared at her cheeky girlfriend and stuck out her tongue to clean up the foam off her mouth. Ashley laughed and reached out a hand to stop the other girl from grabbing her napkin. “Let me help with that…” She grinned and then kissed the girl gently.
The blonde giggled when the brunette leaned back just enough to run her tongue on her upper lip and entwined their hands, pulling back to give her a wide grin. “I think you just wanted an excuse to kiss me.”
“I don’t need an excuse for that…” The teen replied with a smirk.
Sam chuckled and smacked her playfully on the arm. “Now, how about some cake? ‘Cause this looks positively scrumptious…”
***************************************************
“Lily?” Tyler pulled on the girl’s scarf trying to get her attention. “Where Auntie Cindy?”
The girl looked at the boy sitting on the chair next to her with a smile “She’s at the airport with Aunt Claire and Uncle Ed. They went to pick up Nate.” She glanced at her watch “He should have landed by now, actually.”
The little boy perked up “Nate got p’esent for me!” He grinned widely and popped the candy cane back in his mouth.
Lily giggled at his antics and ruffled his dark hair “Really? Have you been a good boy this year?”
He nodded eagerly and then dunked his sweet in the mug with hot chocolate in front of him, twirling it around and then sucking on it. “I c’ean my room. I help momma and mommy.”
“That you do.” Jill said, kissing the top of his head and sitting down next to him. “You’re a good boy.” Tyler grinned widely and stretched his arms out wanting to sit on his mother’s lap.
Instead, Lindsay hoisted him up and twirled him around, before sitting down on the vacated chair and setting him on her lap. The two year old laughed and hugged the woman. “Auntie!” he exclaimed and then dissolved into more happy laughter.
Denise came back to the table with two extra mugs and set them in front of the two women. “I see you’ve managed to stop arguing…” She commented sitting next to her niece. She never got a reply, since the two women were engrossed in Tyler’s babbling about Santa and reindeers and how his candy cane tasted much better with some hot chocolate. The DA chuckled, while Lily giggled and took pictures on her phone so she could send them to Ashley.
“Where is your sister? Is she with Cindy at the airport?” Denise asked the redhead.
“No, she’s with Sam. They took Martha to the park and are coming back for dinner later. I think Sam’s parents are coming too. It’s one big family gathering with in-laws and all…” She giggled, her aunt shaking her head in amusement.
“And how about your in-laws?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow “Because, if I’m not mistaken in what I saw last week when I went to pick you up from school on the last day, there will be in-laws soon…”
Lily chocked on her hot chocolate and turned flaming red. She looked at her aunt with wide eyes and then turned to her mother, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay, Lily?”
“Fine!” She squeaked “It’s all good, mom. Not to worry!” She waved a hand dismissively in the air, sighing in relief when her mother shrugged and focused back on Tyler’s monologue.
Denise chuckled quietly, but still loud enough for the girl to hear.
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about!” The redhead defended hastily. “There are no, nor will there be, in-laws anytime soon!”
“Lily.” The attorney laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know what I saw. He gave you a rose and he kissed you. It might have been on the cheek, but you were blushing just as much as you are now and you were smiling all the way to the car and on the ride to the Hall…”
The redhead looked down and blushed even more. “You can’t tell mom!” She gestured towards the inspector “And Ash doesn’t know either. I mean, she has met Lucas but she doesn’t know that we’ve started… dating…”
Denise smiled at the embarrassed girl. “Have you at least told Cindy?” She received a nod “And what did she say?”
Lily giggled then. “Well, she didn’t freak out like she did when Ash and Sam started dating. But now I know why Ash was traumatized when mom started talking about the birds and the bees…” The woman laughed. “She did say that I should tell mom. Because I can’t hide it forever and because she should hear it from me and not from someone else…”
“I agree with her. And tell Ashley too, I’m sure she would be happy for you.”
The girl snorted. “That’s what I’m dreading. Mom will throw a fit and ask a million questions and then will probably scare him away once they meet. And Ash will beat him up or something… She said so herself; something about being the older sister and having to protect me.”
Denise actually had to agree with her niece’s assessment. She could just imagine Lindsay going on a rampage and Ashley would certainly go into protective mode and not leave her younger sibling alone. “You might be right about that…”
***********************************************************
Ashley stood outside Starbucks watching people hurry along in their last minute Christmas shopping and waited for Sam to join her, so they could go to the mall. Martha sat next to her, tongue lolling out, and enjoying the girl’s petting. “You’re one spoiled dog, you know that?” She commented with a grin, receiving a happy bark in return.
“And you are just absolutely smitten with her…” Sam said, kissed the other girl on the cheek and grabbed the purse she was holding out.
“Martha is the best dog in the world.” The brunette grinned widely and the Border Collie wagged her tail in agreement.
The blonde laughed and linked hands with the younger girl, pulling her along.
“So, tell me again why we have to go the mall?”
“Ash, I’ve told you that like ten times already…” Samantha sighed and shook her head in amusement.
“Really? Huh, I must have missed it…” The brunette said with a pensive look on her face.
The blonde narrowed her eyes “Do you not pay attention when I’m talking to you?”
That earned her a cheeky grin “Of course I do. I always pay attention. It might not necessarily be to the conversation, but I do pay attention to you.” She wiggled her eyebrows, only to be slapped over the head by the other girl.
“Ash!” She exclaimed, half amused, half annoyed. “God! Do you always have to act like such a teenage boy?”
The brunette put on a look of mock hurt “I’m offended. I don’t act like a teenage boy.” She then smirked “I act like a teenage girl who has a hot girlfriend…”
Sam huffed and shook her head in dismay. Ashley laughed and let go of the blonde’s hand to wrap her arm around her shoulders. “I’m just joking. You want to go pick up your mom’s present at the jewellery store. I always listen when you’re talking and even when you’re not talking, which is why…” She stopped walking to unzip her jacket and pulled out three roses, one red, one orange, one yellow, and offered them to her surprised girlfriend. “… I got these while you went to the bathroom. I saw you looking at the roses over there when we walked past…” She waved to the florist across the street “… and you said you liked the three colours together…”
Samantha was pleasantly surprised. Ashley joked around a lot, but every now and then she would do something like this. She was the most sweet and caring person she knew, even if she acted like a cheeky idiot most of the time.
The blonde smiled wide and threw her arms around the other girl’s neck in a crushing hug. “Thank you.” She whispered and then kissed her soundly on the lips.
Martha watched the proceedings with a wagging tail. Until she decided they were taking too long and nudged her owner’s leg none too gently.
The girls separated reluctantly and Ashley huffed at her dog. “What? Oh, right…” She turned to Sam with a grin “Martha helped pick out the roses…”
The blonde giggled and gave the happy dog an affectionate pat on the head. “Thank you Martha. Very sweet of you to help.” The Border Collie barked and trotted away, dragging a laughing Ash along. Sam giggled again and hurried after them.
They arrived at the mall around 15 minutes later and headed directly to the third floor to one of the many jewellery stores. Samantha ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the various displays of rings, necklaces and earrings, before finding the one necklace that she’d seen her mother eyeing a few days before.
Ashley waited outside with Martha, when she noticed one of her sister’s friends inside the store doing a purchase of his own. She raised a curious eyebrow and shuffled inside, peeking over the boy’s shoulder. She grinned to herself. “That is one pretty, shiny necklace. Who’s it for?” She asked, having a very good idea of where the piece of jewellery was gonna end up.
Lucas Howard jumped at the sound of the girl’s voice and dropped his wallet on the floor. He scrambled to pick it up and then swivelled around to face the brunette. “Ha… Ash, sheesh. You scared me.” Ashley merely raised an eyebrow and the boy actually blushed. He scratched his nose in embarrassment and looked over his shoulder at the man wrapping his gift. “Huh… Well, that is for a friend…”
“Yes, I’m sure…” The girl drawled out with a knowing smirk on her face.
Before she could think of other ways to embarrass the dark haired boy further, Sam walked up to her and linked their hands together. “So, I’m done. I have the gift for my mother and it wasn’t ridiculously expensive.” She was about to say more when she noticed the boy staring, wide eyed, at their joined hands. “And who might this be?”
Lucas straightened immediately, glancing between the two girls and then looking somewhere over Ashley’s shoulder. The brunette had to resist the urge to laugh.
“Sam, this is Lucas, Lily’s… friend… Lucas, this is Sam, my girlfriend.” And then her phone started ringing and she had to excuse herself to answer it.
“Hello? Oh, hey Lil… I’m actually at the mall, ‘cause Sam wanted to come get a present for her mom.” She paused, listening to her sister rambling on the other end about their brunette mother’s shopping antics and then mentioning their aunts. “Aunt Jill and aunt Denise? Is Ty here too?” Ashley grinned when she heard an excited yell coming through the line from the boy in question. “Yeah, sure. We’ll meet you downstairs. Oh and one more thing…” She smirked “Your boyfriend is here too, so he’ll be coming down with us as well.” And she disconnected before her sister could say anything in response.
***********************************************
Standing just outside the coffee shop, Lily gaped in utter shock at her phone, turning bright red the second time that day.
“Lily, are you okay?” Lindsay asked, concerned.
The girl jumped and squeaked at the sudden intrusion. Her mother raised an eyebrow. Jill and Denise stared at her, while Ty kept looking around trying to spot his other cousin in the crowd.
“I’m fine!” The redhead exclaimed, giggling exaggeratedly. Inside her head she was cursing her older sister with all the curse words in her extensive vocabulary. She was going to kill Ashley, consequences be damned!
“Ashley!!” Tyler exclaimed loudly, breaking the redhead from her internal tirade, and launched himself in the girl’s direction.
The brunette laughed and grabbed the eager boy mid jump, twirling him around and then turning him upside down. The boy just giggled and waved at his mothers. Denise and Jill chuckled at the children’s antics. Lily was too mortified at the sight of Lucas walking towards them chatting with Sam, to find the situation even remotely funny.
“Ash, put your cousin right side up again…” Lindsay said, smiling widely.
“I want up!” The boy added, amidst his giggles.
The girl laughed again and set her cousin on her shoulders, holding onto one of his legs and grabbing Martha’s leash from her girlfriend. She then turned to her sister and smirked at her look of dread. “Hey Lil, look who we found in the jewellery store just a few minutes ago…”
All the adults focused their gazes on the young man standing beside Samantha. His eyes widened at the sudden attention bestowed upon him. “Huh, hello…”
Lily blushed furiously, the colour matching her hair almost perfectly.
Lindsay turned to her youngest daughter “Lily. Are you going to introduce us to your friend…?”
The girl gulped and looked up at her mother. The look on her face was unreadable.
She took a few steps forward and then gestured vaguely in the boy’s direction. “Umm, this is Lucas, he’s a… friend of mine from school.” She then motioned to her mother. “Lucas, that’s my mother, Lindsay; next to her is my aunt Jill…” the blonde woman gave a friendly smile “…and my aunt Denise.” The woman gave a curt nod. “Oh, and sitting on Ash’s shoulders is my cousin Tyler. I’m assuming you’ve met Sam…”
The small boy looked curiously at the person standing beside his redhead cousin and then waved enthusiastically. Lucas chuckled and reached out a hand to him, which Tyler gripped in a handshake and then giggled.
Lily turned back to her mother, who still had the same blank expression on her face.
“Why don’t we give you two some time to chat and then we’ll go home?” The inspector suggested, glancing at her daughter “Your mother should be home soon and we need to get started on that dinner, if we want it to be ready for when Sam’s parents arrive…”
The 16-year-old girl didn’t need to be told twice; she grabbed Lucas by the hand and dragged him a safe distance away, before her mother changed her mind and started shooting things.
Or people.
Even if she wasn’t carrying her gun at the moment.
Sam had watched the entire exchange in silence, and once Lily had scurried away she smacked her smirking girlfriend hard on the arm. “Seriously, Ash?!”
****************************************************
Lily made sure they would not be overheard, before she plopped down on a bench with an audible sigh and groaned for good measure.
Lucas carefully sat down next to the girl, smiling softly at her distress. “That went better than expected…” he commented lightly, trying to get the girl to smile.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and gave him a playful shove. “Yeah, right. There will be hell when I get home, I’m sure of it.” Then she narrowed her eyes and scowled “And once that’s done I’m going to kill my sister!” She threatened waving a fist in the air, making sure her sister could see it from where she was.
The older girl stuck her tongue out and was then smacked over the head again by her girlfriend. She pouted, while Sam gave a friendly wave in Lily’s direction.
Lucas smiled at the redhead’s antics and fiddled with the bag he was holding. Making a decision, he straightened and turned on the bench to face the girl. “Lily… I… here…” He held out the small bag “This is for you. Merry Christmas…” He said softly, smiling.
Lily blushed, but smiled nonetheless. “I have something for you too…” She dug into her bag and pulled out a package wrapped in red paper with Christmas trees on it.
They grinned at each other and exchanged gifts, carefully unwrapping them. Lily gasped when she found the golden necklace with a bright red heart dangling from it; Lucas chuckled at the dark green scarf with Rudolph, the Rednose Reindeer on one end and wrapped it around his neck.
The teen girl giggled. “It looks good on you.” The boy smiled wide and took the necklace from her hands. Lily pulled her hair away from her neck and turned around so he could put in on.
She ran a finger over the small heart and turned back around, kissing the grinning boy on the cheek. “Thank you. I love it.” And then she kissed him on the lips, forgetting that half her family was watching in the distance.
Jill’s jaw dropped; Denise merely raised an eyebrow; Ashley gaped at her sister’s audacity and then frowned - it was one thing knowing that her sister was dating, but a completely different matter when she had to see the boy kiss her sister and wrap his arms around her waist. Sam shook her head at her girlfriend’s reaction and gave Martha a pat on the head, while the dog looked on, wagging her tail about.
And then they all turned to stare at Lindsay, because the woman made no move at all to stop them, or threw a fit and threatened bodily harm, or started shooting things.
The inspector looked at them questioningly. “What?!” She demanded, scowling fiercely. They quickly looked somewhere else.
**********************************
Half an hour later…
“So, you knew about Lily dating?” Jill asked as she exited the car in front of their apartment building and moved to the back to unbuckle Tyler.
“When I went to pick up the girls on the last day of school before the break, I saw her and the boy together. He gave her a rose…”
“Aww… So sweet of him.” Tyler giggled at his blonde mother’s dreamy tone “How come you don’t give me any roses? I mean, even Sam was carrying three around, which I’m sure Ash got for her.” She asked the other woman.
Denise rolled her eyes and moved to the trunk to get the bags out. “So, you want me to randomly send you flowers so you can put them up in your office? Have we not had this discussion before?”
Jill grinned. “Yes, we have. And I love it when you send me half a dozen flower arrangements for every anniversary we celebrate…”
The DA wanted to argue, because the way the blonde had put it, it made her sound soft, which was something she was not. But then her son smiled widely. “Momma gets f’ower fo’ me too!” And Denise decided it best not to comment, locking the car instead and grabbing their bags to walk into the building.
Jill laughed and followed the dark haired woman. “Anyways… So Lily is dating… Do either Cindy or Lindsay know?”
They stepped into the elevator and Tyler was allowed to press the appropriate button, much to his delight.
“Thomas knows, yes, but Lindsay…” She trailed off, not needing to elaborate further to get her point across.
The other woman frowned. “Oh this is not good…” She muttered “She’s gonna go into a killing spree or something…”
Denise knew she was purposefully exaggerating, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t some truth to it. Lindsay would most certainly not be happy about this recent development.
**************************************************
The ride home was a silent one. Lily sat in the passenger seat, Sam and Ashley taking up the back with Martha. The two older girls were too preoccupied with each other to notice the redhead’s constant fiddling with her new necklace or Lindsay’s now permanent frown.
When they all shuffled inside the house, Cindy looked between her younger daughter and her lover. Lily gave a slight grimace and the reporter sighed.
Seeing that no one was going to break the slightly uncomfortable silence, Sam decided to speak up. “Ms. Thomas, would you by any chance have a small vase where I could put these?” She lifted her hand holding the three roses. Ashley turned red at her mother’s knowing smile.
“Sure. And might I ask where you got these?”
The blonde girl giggled and followed the grinning woman into the kitchen. “Ah, you see… Ashley is a real softy on the inside and she…” The brunette huffed in embarrassment and stomped off to her room, leaving Lindsay and Lily standing in the living room.
The girl looked at her mother hesitantly “Mom?”
The inspector glanced at her with another unreadable expression. She exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sit.” She commanded pointing to the couch. “Now…” She started when her daughter did as told. “How long has this been going on?”
Lily winced. “Huh… A little over a month…”
Lindsay clenched her fists and shook her head to get rid of the images of her hunting down the boy and hurting him.
Seeing the angry look crossing her features, the redhead launched into a hasty explanation. “We haven’t done anything besides a kiss or two! And he took me to the movies once. He’s really sweet and he has told me he won’t do anything I’m not comfortable with. Mostly we have lunch together in school and he carries my books and walks me to class…”
Seeing the mounting distress in her daughter, Cindy sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Lily, calm down. Everything’s alright.” The girl nodded jerkily and hugged her mother tightly.
Sam disappeared down the hall intent on keeping Ashley occupied while that particular conversation was taking place. And she would use the time to make sure her girlfriend wouldn’t hurt her sister’s boyfriend; because she knew how much the older girl cared about her sister and she wasn’t above kicking anyone’s ass to protect the younger girl.
“Lindsay.” Cindy said in a tone that clearly indicated she should fix this and be gentle about it, or she would be sleeping on the couch for a week. The inspector scowled and crossed her arms. Her lover glared. “Lindsay.” Lily borrowed further into her mother’s embrace. “Lindsay, I swear-”
“No. I don’t like this! She’s too young to be dating! And just how old is he, by the way?!”
“He’s sixteen, just like Lily.” Cindy replied evenly, stroking her daughter’s hair in a comforting gesture.
“You knew?” The brunette asked incredulously, voice rising a few decibels. The redhead girl flinched at the tone. “And you didn’t think to tell me?!”
The reporter scowled and stood up. “Of course I wanted to tell you! Except I knew this was how you were going to react! And Lily wanted to be the one to tell you when she was ready. Only she was afraid of your reaction and she was right about it!”
The girl in question stared wide-eyed at her arguing parents. She was about to say something when her older sister beat her to it: “Mom… Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit?” Ashley questioned stepping into the living room. She had heard the argument from her room and decided to try and give her sister some help.
Lindsay swivelled around to glare at her. “And I’m assuming you knew too?”
The girl glared right back “Well, yes, but not because Lily told me or anything. I’m just that good of an observer. I just figured she’d tell me when she was ready. And by the way you’re acting right now I understand why she didn’t tell anyone sooner…” She said condescendingly.
Cindy blinked at the tone her eldest daughter was using. Lily gaped in utter shock. It was very rare that Ash talked back to their mothers and even rarer that she do so in that particular tone.
Lindsay was slightly taken aback, before her glare returned full force and she took two steps toward her daughter. “Ashley, don’t take that tone with me. I’m your mother and you will show some respect when talking to me!”
“Lindsay!” The reporter exclaimed. “Lower your voice! We have guests in the house…”
“No! The girl cannot talk like that to me and-”
“I’m standing right here! Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room!” Ashley interrupted angrily.
“Mom! Ash! Don’t-” Lily tried desperately to prevent the escalating fight but was completely ignored. She looked helplessly at her redhead mother.
Cindy just sighed at the increasing volume of the arguing brunettes. “Lily, get Sam. We’re going for a walk and let them get it out of their systems.” She was already moving to the kitchen to get Martha and in less than two minutes they left the house.
Sam wrapped a comforting arm around the younger girl’s shoulders. “It’ll be alright…”
“Yeah, don’t worry.” The reporter added with a sigh. “You know how stubborn and hard headed those two are… And better they argue with each other than with you or me.” Lily smiled slightly at that. “And I’m very sure that Ash isn’t very enthusiastic about you dating either, with that protective streak she has that’s miles wide. So let her blow off some steam with someone who can keep up and match her word for word…”
******************************
Cindy had been right. By the time they got back, the brunettes had stopped arguing, resorting to throwing dirty looks at each other every now and then. By the time Sam’s parents arrived for dinner, they were behaving civilly around each other and neither Mrs. nor Dr. Parker noticed anything unusual.
The subject was only brought up two days later on Christmas Eve, when Lily timidly asked her mothers if she could invite Lucas to their big family dinner two days later. A dinner which usually involved Claire and Cindy’s cooking, Tyler playing around with the decorations hanging from the huge Washburn Christmas tree, Jill getting slightly tipsy, Kayla and Jacobi arguing about something relatively inconsequential, Ed and his two sons and nieces having a video game tournament and Lindsay and Denise taking in all the madness and trying to preserve their sanity.
Sam had been invited the previous year and she had joined in on the video games, surprising everyone when she managed to win the tournament much to the boys’ dismay.
Lily wringed her hands nervously, waiting for her brunette mother to say something. Ashley scowled but didn’t comment; she was still in less than stellar speaking terms with her mother and she was still on the fence about Lucas kissing her sister. Cindy glared at her lover daring her to say something she shouldn’t.
Lindsay folded her newspaper and set it on the coffee table, before looking at her youngest daughter. After her fight with Ashley, they’d never gotten around to discussing the matter further. Cindy had specifically forbidden her from doing so, if she wasn’t going to at least try to be reasonable and give her own daughter the benefit of doubt.
The inspector sighed and closed her eyes briefly. After being yelled at by both Cindy and Jill, and having Claire scold her and then offer advice, she’d decided to try and quench her desire to hurt this Lucas until further notice.
“Lily, come sit down…” She patted the space between her and the reporter on the couch. The girl did so, albeit a bit reluctantly. She looked at her mother with a guarded expression “Okay. So first I want to apologise for yelling the other day. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, so I’m sorry for that.” She glanced first to Lily then to Ashley, who gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Second, I do not appreciate being kept in the dark about anything that relates to either you or your sister, Lily. I’d have rather found out about this with you telling me, instead of seeing you… kissing the boy in a crowded mall, even if there was Christmas spirit all around…”
The redhead girl smiled shyly. “I didn’t mean for you to find out that way, mom…” She whispered apologetically, looking down at her shoes “I guess I kinda forgot you were all watching…”
Lindsay reached out a hand and placed it under the girl’s chin, raising her head so she could look at the girl in the eyes. “Regardless of how it happened, I know now… I don’t much like it…” Cindy gave her a look over Lily’s head “Okay, so I don’t like it at all, but I promise to try and listen to you before going on a rampage again…” The three ‘yeah, right’ looks she got were clear indication that they didn’t really believe her. “What?! I will try! ‘Try’ being the key word here.” She defended.
Lily gave her a crushing hug “Thanks mom!” The brunette woman smiled and ran a hand up her back reassuringly. Cindy smiled.
“And yes, invite him to our post-Christmas dinner. If he will survive it, that’s a different matter altogether.”
The younger girl frowned at her mother, while the reporter smacked her lover on the arm. “Lindsay. If you so much as think of doing anything to ruin that dinner, you will be sleeping on this couch for an entire month. And the same goes for you Ashley…” She added sternly glancing at the brunette girl.
“You’re gonna have me sleep on the couch with mom?” The girl asked with a smirk. Lily giggled at the imagery her mind provided for that particular case.
The redhead woman frowned at her daughter. “No. But I will ground you until you’re 30 if you even look at him funny.” She said in a voice that brooked no argument.
“Sheesh! Fine… I won’t do anything, I promise.” She stuck her tongue out at her mother and then turned to her sibling “Just don’t go kissing him, ‘cause I don’t want nor need to see it.”
“But I have to see you being all cuddly with Sam? I don’t think so! Besides, it’s your fault all of this even happened and I still want to kill you because of it!”
And just like that a pillow fight broke out between the two squabbling girls. One of those pillows almost landed on poor Martha, who’d been dozing off in a corner.
Cindy sighed dejectedly already making a mental note to buy more couch pillows. She was brought out of her musings as Lindsay carefully draped an arm over her shoulders and kissed her temple.
“Are you going to stay mad at me for much longer? Because my body and this couch don’t agree as much as they used to…”
The redhead raised an eyebrow. “Ashley is still mad at you. Talk to her today, and I might consider letting you come back to bed…”
The inspector sighed and buried her nose in red tresses. “I’ll talk to her… Can I at least get a kiss?” She asked with a hopeful tone. Cindy chuckled and leaned up. They didn’t talk for a while after that, reconnecting after two days of numerous arguments and sleeping on the couch.
Ashley and Lily tired out very quickly, with the redhead ending up half on top the other girl, while the brunette ran a soothing hand through red hair. “I really like him…” The younger girl whispered quietly, gazing up at her sister.
The 18 year old sighed. “I know. I’ve seen it at school. He carries your books and everything. And he has good taste in jewellery…”
Lily giggled and settled her head back on her sister’s shoulder.
Author: storm_8
Fandom: Women's Murder Club
Pairings: Lindsay/Cindy, Jill/Denise
Raiting: PG
Spoilers: None
Disclaimers: Ha! Obviously I don't own any of these characters except the original one's.
A/N: Unbeated, so all mistakes are mine.
So, this Christmas fic of mine is turning into an epic story. It's huge and I haven't finished yet, because the muse just decided to run away with it and I just keep writing and writing, even though I have loads of uni work to do. I'm getting kind of worried... But anyway...
This first part of the big story happens a few days before Christmas. I should point out that in this fic, Ash is 18, Lily is 16 and Sam should be 19, since I wanted to include the cute two year old Tyler...
I'm currently writing what happens on Christmas day where I'll include a family dinner, and then there should be one more part dealing with New Year's... We'll see how that goes, because we all know what is said about the best laid plans...
Enjoy! And remember comments are love!! And bribery for the muse...
Tyler Bernhardt Kwon looked curiously around the mall, watching all the colourful Christmas displays and the odd person dressed as elves or reindeer bustling about. He held onto his dark haired mother’s hand while munching on a candy cane and watched his other mother argue with a salesman about the price of a box of ball ornaments. Denise just sighed in dismay. The two-year-old boy looked up at her and grinned a toothy grin.
The DA smiled down at her son. “Are you enjoying your candy?” She asked in amusement.
He nodded eagerly. “Momma want?” He asked, stretching his arm up and offering the sweet to the woman.
Denise chuckled “No, you can have all of it…”
“Oooh, can I have some?” Came a voice from behind them.
Tyler blinked and craned his neck around his mother’s legs curiously. He found his redhead cousin grinning at them. “Lily!” He exclaimed and launched himself at her legs.
The girl giggled and gave him an affectionate pat on the head, before picking him up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Hey aunt Denise.” She greeted the dark haired woman. “Are you doing some Christmas shopping too?”
“The way I see it…” Lindsay interrupted, walking towards them holding two bags and waving her free hand in Jill’s direction “It’s more like Jill using lawyer logic on an unsuspecting salesperson… You’d think they didn’t give out Christmas bonuses with the way she’s acting.” There were wild gesticulations and every now and then they could hear the blonde say something along the lines of ‘over-priced’ and ‘this is not Prada!’.
Lily looked up at her mother with a raised eyebrow. “You say that as if you don’t use your badge on unsuspecting salespeople as well… Because aunt Jill has told me all about your ‘forgetting anniversaries shopping terrorism’, her words not mine…”
Tyler giggled when his brunette aunt gaped at the redhead, Denise smirking in obvious amusement.
Just then, Jill exited the store and walked over to her lover and son, muttering about never doing Christmas shopping ever again. She then noticed her friend doing a very good impersonation of a fish out of water, while her niece laughed at her mother’s expression. “And what is going on here? Linz, are you exercising your jaws or is there a specific reason why you’re imitating a suffocating fish?”
That only caused Lily to laugh harder, which then amused the boy settled in her arms and, sticking out his hand holding the candy cane, he asked amidst a lot of giggles: “Auntie Lindsay want candy?”
The inspector snapped out of her speechless stupor and smiled lovingly at the boy. “No thank you. You can enjoy that all by yourself.” She then turned her laser vision on her blonde friend “Why do you keep telling my daughters these things?! ‘Forgetting anniversaries shopping terrorism’?? Really?!” She gesticulated with her free hand, making quotation marks in the air.
Jill snorted, set the bag with her purchase down and folded her arms across her chest. “So what? Not my fault you keep forgetting all the anniversaries…”
Lindsay sneered and smacked the attorney on the arm “Some friend you are! If this is how it’s going to be, I’ll start telling Denise about all those times when yo-” She was quickly silenced by a glaring blonde, who clamped a hand over her mouth.
Denise sighed again and turned to her niece. “How about we get something to drink? I have a feeling this might take a while…” She vaguely gestured towards the bickering women and started walking to the nearest coffee shop, knowing that Lily would be following.
“Oh sure, I’ve been craving a nice hot chocolate with a marshmallow or two…”
Tyler perked up, pulling the candy cane out of his mouth with a pop “Momma! I ‘ave ‘ocolate too!”
Lily giggled at the little boy’s enthusiasm.
**************************************************
Ashley squeezed through the people crowding the Starbucks’ counter, trying not to drop the two mugs and plate she was carrying, only to almost get covered in hot chocolate when two small children ran past her when she managed to get out of the crowd.
Luckily, Sam had seen her approaching and had gotten up from their table to help the other girl. She snaked an arm around the brunette’s waist to steady her and grabbed the plate sitting on top of one of the mugs before it went clattering to the floor.
“You gotta love Starbucks’ rush hour, especially during the Christmas break…” The blonde commented. Ashley snorted and gave her girlfriend a thankful smile for her help. They moved to the table Sam had managed to get for them, shuffling around until the two chairs were close together and Martha was lying next to the brunette, absently twirling her tail through the air.
“I think Martha is a bit tired after all that running around in the park…” The older girl commented, taking a big sip of her hot chocolate.
Ashley gave her favourite dog a grin and ran a hand through her fur. “It’s good exercise to get rid of all those excess treats that Lily keeps feeding her…”
The Border Collie barked in what could be a mix of indignation and amusement and sneezed on her owner’s sneakers, who grinned widely at her reaction. She then turned back to Sam, only to let out at chuckle.
“What?” The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You got a moustache. Very sexy, I might add.”
Samantha glared at her cheeky girlfriend and stuck out her tongue to clean up the foam off her mouth. Ashley laughed and reached out a hand to stop the other girl from grabbing her napkin. “Let me help with that…” She grinned and then kissed the girl gently.
The blonde giggled when the brunette leaned back just enough to run her tongue on her upper lip and entwined their hands, pulling back to give her a wide grin. “I think you just wanted an excuse to kiss me.”
“I don’t need an excuse for that…” The teen replied with a smirk.
Sam chuckled and smacked her playfully on the arm. “Now, how about some cake? ‘Cause this looks positively scrumptious…”
***************************************************
“Lily?” Tyler pulled on the girl’s scarf trying to get her attention. “Where Auntie Cindy?”
The girl looked at the boy sitting on the chair next to her with a smile “She’s at the airport with Aunt Claire and Uncle Ed. They went to pick up Nate.” She glanced at her watch “He should have landed by now, actually.”
The little boy perked up “Nate got p’esent for me!” He grinned widely and popped the candy cane back in his mouth.
Lily giggled at his antics and ruffled his dark hair “Really? Have you been a good boy this year?”
He nodded eagerly and then dunked his sweet in the mug with hot chocolate in front of him, twirling it around and then sucking on it. “I c’ean my room. I help momma and mommy.”
“That you do.” Jill said, kissing the top of his head and sitting down next to him. “You’re a good boy.” Tyler grinned widely and stretched his arms out wanting to sit on his mother’s lap.
Instead, Lindsay hoisted him up and twirled him around, before sitting down on the vacated chair and setting him on her lap. The two year old laughed and hugged the woman. “Auntie!” he exclaimed and then dissolved into more happy laughter.
Denise came back to the table with two extra mugs and set them in front of the two women. “I see you’ve managed to stop arguing…” She commented sitting next to her niece. She never got a reply, since the two women were engrossed in Tyler’s babbling about Santa and reindeers and how his candy cane tasted much better with some hot chocolate. The DA chuckled, while Lily giggled and took pictures on her phone so she could send them to Ashley.
“Where is your sister? Is she with Cindy at the airport?” Denise asked the redhead.
“No, she’s with Sam. They took Martha to the park and are coming back for dinner later. I think Sam’s parents are coming too. It’s one big family gathering with in-laws and all…” She giggled, her aunt shaking her head in amusement.
“And how about your in-laws?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow “Because, if I’m not mistaken in what I saw last week when I went to pick you up from school on the last day, there will be in-laws soon…”
Lily chocked on her hot chocolate and turned flaming red. She looked at her aunt with wide eyes and then turned to her mother, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay, Lily?”
“Fine!” She squeaked “It’s all good, mom. Not to worry!” She waved a hand dismissively in the air, sighing in relief when her mother shrugged and focused back on Tyler’s monologue.
Denise chuckled quietly, but still loud enough for the girl to hear.
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about!” The redhead defended hastily. “There are no, nor will there be, in-laws anytime soon!”
“Lily.” The attorney laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know what I saw. He gave you a rose and he kissed you. It might have been on the cheek, but you were blushing just as much as you are now and you were smiling all the way to the car and on the ride to the Hall…”
The redhead looked down and blushed even more. “You can’t tell mom!” She gestured towards the inspector “And Ash doesn’t know either. I mean, she has met Lucas but she doesn’t know that we’ve started… dating…”
Denise smiled at the embarrassed girl. “Have you at least told Cindy?” She received a nod “And what did she say?”
Lily giggled then. “Well, she didn’t freak out like she did when Ash and Sam started dating. But now I know why Ash was traumatized when mom started talking about the birds and the bees…” The woman laughed. “She did say that I should tell mom. Because I can’t hide it forever and because she should hear it from me and not from someone else…”
“I agree with her. And tell Ashley too, I’m sure she would be happy for you.”
The girl snorted. “That’s what I’m dreading. Mom will throw a fit and ask a million questions and then will probably scare him away once they meet. And Ash will beat him up or something… She said so herself; something about being the older sister and having to protect me.”
Denise actually had to agree with her niece’s assessment. She could just imagine Lindsay going on a rampage and Ashley would certainly go into protective mode and not leave her younger sibling alone. “You might be right about that…”
***********************************************************
Ashley stood outside Starbucks watching people hurry along in their last minute Christmas shopping and waited for Sam to join her, so they could go to the mall. Martha sat next to her, tongue lolling out, and enjoying the girl’s petting. “You’re one spoiled dog, you know that?” She commented with a grin, receiving a happy bark in return.
“And you are just absolutely smitten with her…” Sam said, kissed the other girl on the cheek and grabbed the purse she was holding out.
“Martha is the best dog in the world.” The brunette grinned widely and the Border Collie wagged her tail in agreement.
The blonde laughed and linked hands with the younger girl, pulling her along.
“So, tell me again why we have to go the mall?”
“Ash, I’ve told you that like ten times already…” Samantha sighed and shook her head in amusement.
“Really? Huh, I must have missed it…” The brunette said with a pensive look on her face.
The blonde narrowed her eyes “Do you not pay attention when I’m talking to you?”
That earned her a cheeky grin “Of course I do. I always pay attention. It might not necessarily be to the conversation, but I do pay attention to you.” She wiggled her eyebrows, only to be slapped over the head by the other girl.
“Ash!” She exclaimed, half amused, half annoyed. “God! Do you always have to act like such a teenage boy?”
The brunette put on a look of mock hurt “I’m offended. I don’t act like a teenage boy.” She then smirked “I act like a teenage girl who has a hot girlfriend…”
Sam huffed and shook her head in dismay. Ashley laughed and let go of the blonde’s hand to wrap her arm around her shoulders. “I’m just joking. You want to go pick up your mom’s present at the jewellery store. I always listen when you’re talking and even when you’re not talking, which is why…” She stopped walking to unzip her jacket and pulled out three roses, one red, one orange, one yellow, and offered them to her surprised girlfriend. “… I got these while you went to the bathroom. I saw you looking at the roses over there when we walked past…” She waved to the florist across the street “… and you said you liked the three colours together…”
Samantha was pleasantly surprised. Ashley joked around a lot, but every now and then she would do something like this. She was the most sweet and caring person she knew, even if she acted like a cheeky idiot most of the time.
The blonde smiled wide and threw her arms around the other girl’s neck in a crushing hug. “Thank you.” She whispered and then kissed her soundly on the lips.
Martha watched the proceedings with a wagging tail. Until she decided they were taking too long and nudged her owner’s leg none too gently.
The girls separated reluctantly and Ashley huffed at her dog. “What? Oh, right…” She turned to Sam with a grin “Martha helped pick out the roses…”
The blonde giggled and gave the happy dog an affectionate pat on the head. “Thank you Martha. Very sweet of you to help.” The Border Collie barked and trotted away, dragging a laughing Ash along. Sam giggled again and hurried after them.
They arrived at the mall around 15 minutes later and headed directly to the third floor to one of the many jewellery stores. Samantha ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the various displays of rings, necklaces and earrings, before finding the one necklace that she’d seen her mother eyeing a few days before.
Ashley waited outside with Martha, when she noticed one of her sister’s friends inside the store doing a purchase of his own. She raised a curious eyebrow and shuffled inside, peeking over the boy’s shoulder. She grinned to herself. “That is one pretty, shiny necklace. Who’s it for?” She asked, having a very good idea of where the piece of jewellery was gonna end up.
Lucas Howard jumped at the sound of the girl’s voice and dropped his wallet on the floor. He scrambled to pick it up and then swivelled around to face the brunette. “Ha… Ash, sheesh. You scared me.” Ashley merely raised an eyebrow and the boy actually blushed. He scratched his nose in embarrassment and looked over his shoulder at the man wrapping his gift. “Huh… Well, that is for a friend…”
“Yes, I’m sure…” The girl drawled out with a knowing smirk on her face.
Before she could think of other ways to embarrass the dark haired boy further, Sam walked up to her and linked their hands together. “So, I’m done. I have the gift for my mother and it wasn’t ridiculously expensive.” She was about to say more when she noticed the boy staring, wide eyed, at their joined hands. “And who might this be?”
Lucas straightened immediately, glancing between the two girls and then looking somewhere over Ashley’s shoulder. The brunette had to resist the urge to laugh.
“Sam, this is Lucas, Lily’s… friend… Lucas, this is Sam, my girlfriend.” And then her phone started ringing and she had to excuse herself to answer it.
“Hello? Oh, hey Lil… I’m actually at the mall, ‘cause Sam wanted to come get a present for her mom.” She paused, listening to her sister rambling on the other end about their brunette mother’s shopping antics and then mentioning their aunts. “Aunt Jill and aunt Denise? Is Ty here too?” Ashley grinned when she heard an excited yell coming through the line from the boy in question. “Yeah, sure. We’ll meet you downstairs. Oh and one more thing…” She smirked “Your boyfriend is here too, so he’ll be coming down with us as well.” And she disconnected before her sister could say anything in response.
***********************************************
Standing just outside the coffee shop, Lily gaped in utter shock at her phone, turning bright red the second time that day.
“Lily, are you okay?” Lindsay asked, concerned.
The girl jumped and squeaked at the sudden intrusion. Her mother raised an eyebrow. Jill and Denise stared at her, while Ty kept looking around trying to spot his other cousin in the crowd.
“I’m fine!” The redhead exclaimed, giggling exaggeratedly. Inside her head she was cursing her older sister with all the curse words in her extensive vocabulary. She was going to kill Ashley, consequences be damned!
“Ashley!!” Tyler exclaimed loudly, breaking the redhead from her internal tirade, and launched himself in the girl’s direction.
The brunette laughed and grabbed the eager boy mid jump, twirling him around and then turning him upside down. The boy just giggled and waved at his mothers. Denise and Jill chuckled at the children’s antics. Lily was too mortified at the sight of Lucas walking towards them chatting with Sam, to find the situation even remotely funny.
“Ash, put your cousin right side up again…” Lindsay said, smiling widely.
“I want up!” The boy added, amidst his giggles.
The girl laughed again and set her cousin on her shoulders, holding onto one of his legs and grabbing Martha’s leash from her girlfriend. She then turned to her sister and smirked at her look of dread. “Hey Lil, look who we found in the jewellery store just a few minutes ago…”
All the adults focused their gazes on the young man standing beside Samantha. His eyes widened at the sudden attention bestowed upon him. “Huh, hello…”
Lily blushed furiously, the colour matching her hair almost perfectly.
Lindsay turned to her youngest daughter “Lily. Are you going to introduce us to your friend…?”
The girl gulped and looked up at her mother. The look on her face was unreadable.
She took a few steps forward and then gestured vaguely in the boy’s direction. “Umm, this is Lucas, he’s a… friend of mine from school.” She then motioned to her mother. “Lucas, that’s my mother, Lindsay; next to her is my aunt Jill…” the blonde woman gave a friendly smile “…and my aunt Denise.” The woman gave a curt nod. “Oh, and sitting on Ash’s shoulders is my cousin Tyler. I’m assuming you’ve met Sam…”
The small boy looked curiously at the person standing beside his redhead cousin and then waved enthusiastically. Lucas chuckled and reached out a hand to him, which Tyler gripped in a handshake and then giggled.
Lily turned back to her mother, who still had the same blank expression on her face.
“Why don’t we give you two some time to chat and then we’ll go home?” The inspector suggested, glancing at her daughter “Your mother should be home soon and we need to get started on that dinner, if we want it to be ready for when Sam’s parents arrive…”
The 16-year-old girl didn’t need to be told twice; she grabbed Lucas by the hand and dragged him a safe distance away, before her mother changed her mind and started shooting things.
Or people.
Even if she wasn’t carrying her gun at the moment.
Sam had watched the entire exchange in silence, and once Lily had scurried away she smacked her smirking girlfriend hard on the arm. “Seriously, Ash?!”
****************************************************
Lily made sure they would not be overheard, before she plopped down on a bench with an audible sigh and groaned for good measure.
Lucas carefully sat down next to the girl, smiling softly at her distress. “That went better than expected…” he commented lightly, trying to get the girl to smile.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and gave him a playful shove. “Yeah, right. There will be hell when I get home, I’m sure of it.” Then she narrowed her eyes and scowled “And once that’s done I’m going to kill my sister!” She threatened waving a fist in the air, making sure her sister could see it from where she was.
The older girl stuck her tongue out and was then smacked over the head again by her girlfriend. She pouted, while Sam gave a friendly wave in Lily’s direction.
Lucas smiled at the redhead’s antics and fiddled with the bag he was holding. Making a decision, he straightened and turned on the bench to face the girl. “Lily… I… here…” He held out the small bag “This is for you. Merry Christmas…” He said softly, smiling.
Lily blushed, but smiled nonetheless. “I have something for you too…” She dug into her bag and pulled out a package wrapped in red paper with Christmas trees on it.
They grinned at each other and exchanged gifts, carefully unwrapping them. Lily gasped when she found the golden necklace with a bright red heart dangling from it; Lucas chuckled at the dark green scarf with Rudolph, the Rednose Reindeer on one end and wrapped it around his neck.
The teen girl giggled. “It looks good on you.” The boy smiled wide and took the necklace from her hands. Lily pulled her hair away from her neck and turned around so he could put in on.
She ran a finger over the small heart and turned back around, kissing the grinning boy on the cheek. “Thank you. I love it.” And then she kissed him on the lips, forgetting that half her family was watching in the distance.
Jill’s jaw dropped; Denise merely raised an eyebrow; Ashley gaped at her sister’s audacity and then frowned - it was one thing knowing that her sister was dating, but a completely different matter when she had to see the boy kiss her sister and wrap his arms around her waist. Sam shook her head at her girlfriend’s reaction and gave Martha a pat on the head, while the dog looked on, wagging her tail about.
And then they all turned to stare at Lindsay, because the woman made no move at all to stop them, or threw a fit and threatened bodily harm, or started shooting things.
The inspector looked at them questioningly. “What?!” She demanded, scowling fiercely. They quickly looked somewhere else.
**********************************
Half an hour later…
“So, you knew about Lily dating?” Jill asked as she exited the car in front of their apartment building and moved to the back to unbuckle Tyler.
“When I went to pick up the girls on the last day of school before the break, I saw her and the boy together. He gave her a rose…”
“Aww… So sweet of him.” Tyler giggled at his blonde mother’s dreamy tone “How come you don’t give me any roses? I mean, even Sam was carrying three around, which I’m sure Ash got for her.” She asked the other woman.
Denise rolled her eyes and moved to the trunk to get the bags out. “So, you want me to randomly send you flowers so you can put them up in your office? Have we not had this discussion before?”
Jill grinned. “Yes, we have. And I love it when you send me half a dozen flower arrangements for every anniversary we celebrate…”
The DA wanted to argue, because the way the blonde had put it, it made her sound soft, which was something she was not. But then her son smiled widely. “Momma gets f’ower fo’ me too!” And Denise decided it best not to comment, locking the car instead and grabbing their bags to walk into the building.
Jill laughed and followed the dark haired woman. “Anyways… So Lily is dating… Do either Cindy or Lindsay know?”
They stepped into the elevator and Tyler was allowed to press the appropriate button, much to his delight.
“Thomas knows, yes, but Lindsay…” She trailed off, not needing to elaborate further to get her point across.
The other woman frowned. “Oh this is not good…” She muttered “She’s gonna go into a killing spree or something…”
Denise knew she was purposefully exaggerating, but she couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t some truth to it. Lindsay would most certainly not be happy about this recent development.
**************************************************
The ride home was a silent one. Lily sat in the passenger seat, Sam and Ashley taking up the back with Martha. The two older girls were too preoccupied with each other to notice the redhead’s constant fiddling with her new necklace or Lindsay’s now permanent frown.
When they all shuffled inside the house, Cindy looked between her younger daughter and her lover. Lily gave a slight grimace and the reporter sighed.
Seeing that no one was going to break the slightly uncomfortable silence, Sam decided to speak up. “Ms. Thomas, would you by any chance have a small vase where I could put these?” She lifted her hand holding the three roses. Ashley turned red at her mother’s knowing smile.
“Sure. And might I ask where you got these?”
The blonde girl giggled and followed the grinning woman into the kitchen. “Ah, you see… Ashley is a real softy on the inside and she…” The brunette huffed in embarrassment and stomped off to her room, leaving Lindsay and Lily standing in the living room.
The girl looked at her mother hesitantly “Mom?”
The inspector glanced at her with another unreadable expression. She exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sit.” She commanded pointing to the couch. “Now…” She started when her daughter did as told. “How long has this been going on?”
Lily winced. “Huh… A little over a month…”
Lindsay clenched her fists and shook her head to get rid of the images of her hunting down the boy and hurting him.
Seeing the angry look crossing her features, the redhead launched into a hasty explanation. “We haven’t done anything besides a kiss or two! And he took me to the movies once. He’s really sweet and he has told me he won’t do anything I’m not comfortable with. Mostly we have lunch together in school and he carries my books and walks me to class…”
Seeing the mounting distress in her daughter, Cindy sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Lily, calm down. Everything’s alright.” The girl nodded jerkily and hugged her mother tightly.
Sam disappeared down the hall intent on keeping Ashley occupied while that particular conversation was taking place. And she would use the time to make sure her girlfriend wouldn’t hurt her sister’s boyfriend; because she knew how much the older girl cared about her sister and she wasn’t above kicking anyone’s ass to protect the younger girl.
“Lindsay.” Cindy said in a tone that clearly indicated she should fix this and be gentle about it, or she would be sleeping on the couch for a week. The inspector scowled and crossed her arms. Her lover glared. “Lindsay.” Lily borrowed further into her mother’s embrace. “Lindsay, I swear-”
“No. I don’t like this! She’s too young to be dating! And just how old is he, by the way?!”
“He’s sixteen, just like Lily.” Cindy replied evenly, stroking her daughter’s hair in a comforting gesture.
“You knew?” The brunette asked incredulously, voice rising a few decibels. The redhead girl flinched at the tone. “And you didn’t think to tell me?!”
The reporter scowled and stood up. “Of course I wanted to tell you! Except I knew this was how you were going to react! And Lily wanted to be the one to tell you when she was ready. Only she was afraid of your reaction and she was right about it!”
The girl in question stared wide-eyed at her arguing parents. She was about to say something when her older sister beat her to it: “Mom… Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit?” Ashley questioned stepping into the living room. She had heard the argument from her room and decided to try and give her sister some help.
Lindsay swivelled around to glare at her. “And I’m assuming you knew too?”
The girl glared right back “Well, yes, but not because Lily told me or anything. I’m just that good of an observer. I just figured she’d tell me when she was ready. And by the way you’re acting right now I understand why she didn’t tell anyone sooner…” She said condescendingly.
Cindy blinked at the tone her eldest daughter was using. Lily gaped in utter shock. It was very rare that Ash talked back to their mothers and even rarer that she do so in that particular tone.
Lindsay was slightly taken aback, before her glare returned full force and she took two steps toward her daughter. “Ashley, don’t take that tone with me. I’m your mother and you will show some respect when talking to me!”
“Lindsay!” The reporter exclaimed. “Lower your voice! We have guests in the house…”
“No! The girl cannot talk like that to me and-”
“I’m standing right here! Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room!” Ashley interrupted angrily.
“Mom! Ash! Don’t-” Lily tried desperately to prevent the escalating fight but was completely ignored. She looked helplessly at her redhead mother.
Cindy just sighed at the increasing volume of the arguing brunettes. “Lily, get Sam. We’re going for a walk and let them get it out of their systems.” She was already moving to the kitchen to get Martha and in less than two minutes they left the house.
Sam wrapped a comforting arm around the younger girl’s shoulders. “It’ll be alright…”
“Yeah, don’t worry.” The reporter added with a sigh. “You know how stubborn and hard headed those two are… And better they argue with each other than with you or me.” Lily smiled slightly at that. “And I’m very sure that Ash isn’t very enthusiastic about you dating either, with that protective streak she has that’s miles wide. So let her blow off some steam with someone who can keep up and match her word for word…”
******************************
Cindy had been right. By the time they got back, the brunettes had stopped arguing, resorting to throwing dirty looks at each other every now and then. By the time Sam’s parents arrived for dinner, they were behaving civilly around each other and neither Mrs. nor Dr. Parker noticed anything unusual.
The subject was only brought up two days later on Christmas Eve, when Lily timidly asked her mothers if she could invite Lucas to their big family dinner two days later. A dinner which usually involved Claire and Cindy’s cooking, Tyler playing around with the decorations hanging from the huge Washburn Christmas tree, Jill getting slightly tipsy, Kayla and Jacobi arguing about something relatively inconsequential, Ed and his two sons and nieces having a video game tournament and Lindsay and Denise taking in all the madness and trying to preserve their sanity.
Sam had been invited the previous year and she had joined in on the video games, surprising everyone when she managed to win the tournament much to the boys’ dismay.
Lily wringed her hands nervously, waiting for her brunette mother to say something. Ashley scowled but didn’t comment; she was still in less than stellar speaking terms with her mother and she was still on the fence about Lucas kissing her sister. Cindy glared at her lover daring her to say something she shouldn’t.
Lindsay folded her newspaper and set it on the coffee table, before looking at her youngest daughter. After her fight with Ashley, they’d never gotten around to discussing the matter further. Cindy had specifically forbidden her from doing so, if she wasn’t going to at least try to be reasonable and give her own daughter the benefit of doubt.
The inspector sighed and closed her eyes briefly. After being yelled at by both Cindy and Jill, and having Claire scold her and then offer advice, she’d decided to try and quench her desire to hurt this Lucas until further notice.
“Lily, come sit down…” She patted the space between her and the reporter on the couch. The girl did so, albeit a bit reluctantly. She looked at her mother with a guarded expression “Okay. So first I want to apologise for yelling the other day. I shouldn’t have lost my temper, so I’m sorry for that.” She glanced first to Lily then to Ashley, who gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Second, I do not appreciate being kept in the dark about anything that relates to either you or your sister, Lily. I’d have rather found out about this with you telling me, instead of seeing you… kissing the boy in a crowded mall, even if there was Christmas spirit all around…”
The redhead girl smiled shyly. “I didn’t mean for you to find out that way, mom…” She whispered apologetically, looking down at her shoes “I guess I kinda forgot you were all watching…”
Lindsay reached out a hand and placed it under the girl’s chin, raising her head so she could look at the girl in the eyes. “Regardless of how it happened, I know now… I don’t much like it…” Cindy gave her a look over Lily’s head “Okay, so I don’t like it at all, but I promise to try and listen to you before going on a rampage again…” The three ‘yeah, right’ looks she got were clear indication that they didn’t really believe her. “What?! I will try! ‘Try’ being the key word here.” She defended.
Lily gave her a crushing hug “Thanks mom!” The brunette woman smiled and ran a hand up her back reassuringly. Cindy smiled.
“And yes, invite him to our post-Christmas dinner. If he will survive it, that’s a different matter altogether.”
The younger girl frowned at her mother, while the reporter smacked her lover on the arm. “Lindsay. If you so much as think of doing anything to ruin that dinner, you will be sleeping on this couch for an entire month. And the same goes for you Ashley…” She added sternly glancing at the brunette girl.
“You’re gonna have me sleep on the couch with mom?” The girl asked with a smirk. Lily giggled at the imagery her mind provided for that particular case.
The redhead woman frowned at her daughter. “No. But I will ground you until you’re 30 if you even look at him funny.” She said in a voice that brooked no argument.
“Sheesh! Fine… I won’t do anything, I promise.” She stuck her tongue out at her mother and then turned to her sibling “Just don’t go kissing him, ‘cause I don’t want nor need to see it.”
“But I have to see you being all cuddly with Sam? I don’t think so! Besides, it’s your fault all of this even happened and I still want to kill you because of it!”
And just like that a pillow fight broke out between the two squabbling girls. One of those pillows almost landed on poor Martha, who’d been dozing off in a corner.
Cindy sighed dejectedly already making a mental note to buy more couch pillows. She was brought out of her musings as Lindsay carefully draped an arm over her shoulders and kissed her temple.
“Are you going to stay mad at me for much longer? Because my body and this couch don’t agree as much as they used to…”
The redhead raised an eyebrow. “Ashley is still mad at you. Talk to her today, and I might consider letting you come back to bed…”
The inspector sighed and buried her nose in red tresses. “I’ll talk to her… Can I at least get a kiss?” She asked with a hopeful tone. Cindy chuckled and leaned up. They didn’t talk for a while after that, reconnecting after two days of numerous arguments and sleeping on the couch.
Ashley and Lily tired out very quickly, with the redhead ending up half on top the other girl, while the brunette ran a soothing hand through red hair. “I really like him…” The younger girl whispered quietly, gazing up at her sister.
The 18 year old sighed. “I know. I’ve seen it at school. He carries your books and everything. And he has good taste in jewellery…”
Lily giggled and settled her head back on her sister’s shoulder.