Carrot Cake 1, Coffee 16: Provocation
Title: Provocation
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Carrot cake 1 (stop), coffee 16 (scale), whipped cream (Ivy is five).
Word Count: 1626
Rating: PG
Summary: Gail finds out about one of Ivy's escapades.
Notes: Immediately follows Daddy's Little Girl.
"She what?"
Nathan, to his credit, did not wince at the unnaturally shrill vocal heights Gail had just hit. "Punched Ellen Carson," he repeated. "Got her a pretty good one, I have to admit. Aaron must've shown her how to do it right since the last time they got into a fight."
"I'm glad her technique has improved," Gail said. "Can we go back to the part where she punched Ellen Carson?"
"She was provoked," Nathan said, and leaned on the counter. "Try not to be too hard on her."
Gail dumped her purse on the counter and gave him the evil eye. "She's more than old enough to know that hitting doesn't solve anything."
"Which is exactly what I told her," Nathan said, "so there's no need to glare at me."
"I'm not glaring at you," Gail said, in blatant opposition to the facts. A twitching at the corner of Nathan's mouth indicated his awareness of that little detail, so she hurried on before he could get cocky. "How bad was it?"
"Not bad," he said, with the authority of one who has broken up entirely too many fights between enlisted men. "Bloody nose, nothing worse. Mrs. Carson will probably try to claim it was broken."
Oh, that was the last thing she needed, medical bills for a broken nose. "You're sure it wasn't?"
"I'm sure. Ellen wasn't having any trouble breathing or touching it. Worst-case scenario, she'll have a black eye."
"I'm so relieved," Gail muttered. To think she wanted another baby someday. "Where is she? Clearly we need to have a talk."
"Gail." He rested a hand on her sleeve, gently. "I'm serious. Go easy on her."
"Just because she's already been lectured once..." she began, but he shook his head.
"No, that isn't what I meant. She had provocation." His eyes and mouth were serious; no laughter there anymore.
Gail frowned, and looked down at her purse. "I have no idea what provocation could possibly excuse punching another child."
Nathan was silent for so long that she looked back up to see what was keeping him that way, and was surprised to catch a deeply pained expression on his face. "Ellen was... repeating some things her mother told her," he said, finally. "Suggesting that Ivy's a mistake, and unwanted. Things like that."
That was so far from what Gail had expected that she couldn’t believe it, for a moment. And when she did believe it... God, it hurt, more than she'd guessed. "Ellen Carson said that? Ellen Carson's mother said that?"
"That's what Ivy told me," he said, expression grim. "I believe her."
He hadn't needed to add that last part; Gail had heard similar things too often herself to discount them now. She'd ignored them, when people said them to her, because she was a grown woman and she had made a mistake, even if it infuriated her that they saw her brilliant, lovely daughter as nothing more than an error in judgment. But to say that to that daughter, to make her child feel unwanted and unloved...
"I'm going to kill her," she said, calmly. "I am going to strangle that self-righteous, holier-than-thou, sanctimonious bitch. Is Ivy all right?"
"I think so." Nathan rounded the counter and settled himself beside her. "She was angry more than anything else. I think she saw it as a slur on my honor."
...okay, that was funny. A little bit. "A slur on your honor? I'd think it was a slur on mine."
He shrugged. "Something about my not being her real father. Which is ridiculous."
"Obviously." Well, she was still angry, just not at Ivy anymore. "There will be blood."
The corner of Nathan's mouth twitched again. "I can just see it. Pandemonium at the PTA."
"You're not funny," she said, but it had helped.
"I know," Nathan said, to both things.
Gail sighed, and leaned against his shoulder, companionably. "Too bad I can't actually strangle the bitch. I think it would look bad on my resume."
"Ivy already punched Ellen," Nathan pointed out. "I think we'd better call that one a win and leave it."
"Speaking of." She let herself lean for one more minute, then stood up straight and took off her suit jacket. "I'd really better talk to Ivy. Provocation or not, she can't go around hitting people. That looks worse than if I do it."
"She's in her room," Nathan said, and took her jacket. "I'll hang this up. You go talk to her. And be nice."
Gail didn't dignify that with an answer.
She went down the hall towards her daughter's room, past the bathroom and Aaron's bedroom. Her stepson wasn't home at the moment, but it was his mother's night for dinner, so presumably he'd gone over there already. She made a mental note to get Nathan to make sure he'd arrived safely and knocked on Ivy's door.
"C'min!" her daughter called, voice muffled by the door.
Gail opened it, and smiled to see Ivy on the floor, her red braids tousled and leaking wisps of hair, attacking a toy tank with a Barbie riding a plastic Tyrannosaur. That was her kid in a nutshell.
But that was not the point. "I hear you got into some trouble at school," she said, carefully, and stepped into the room, picking her way past abandoned stuffed animals, presumably fallout from Barbie's previous depredations. Her little girl. How on earth could she ever regret this?
Ivy looked up at her mother, and immediately adopted her most mulish expression. "I’m not sorry," she began, and ended in a surprised squeak when Gail went to her knees and pulled her daughter tightly against her chest.
"You are not a mistake," she told the top of Ivy's head. "My relationship with your biological father was a mistake, a big one, but you are not an accident or a mistake or anything of the kind. You are my darling, precious daughter, and if anyone tells you any different, you make sure they know how wrong they are." Only then did she let Ivy pull back a little, the better to get a look at her small, confused face.
"Uh, 'kay," Ivy said, clearly unsure as to what had brought all this on. Then she brightened. "Can I punch 'em?"
"Without punching them," Gail said firmly. She reached forward and brushed a few stray locks off Ivy's forehead. "Although I agree that you acted under extreme provocation."
That got a scowl. "She said Daddy wasn't my real daddy," Ivy said, balling up her fists. "I had to hit her."
Gail sighed. "Sweetie, she was being stupid. If you go around hitting everyone who's being stupid, you'll get arrested."
"So?"
Ivy was too young to be impressed by the force of law, but practical considerations might help. "You'll also bruise your knuckles," Gail said. "And you don't want your hand to hurt, do you?"
"Aaron could help me punch 'em," Ivy said, magnanimously. "If he wanted to. Daddy's his daddy too."
"That's very generous of you," Gail said, and tugged gently on one of Ivy's braids. "But I'm afraid the stupid people have you outnumbered either way."
Ivy thought about that one for a moment. "I could try anyway?"
"No," Gail said, firmly, and, on seeing Ivy's expression, added, "Because I am your mother and I said so, that's why."
Ivy scowled. She looked down at her toys, stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at them-- she knew better than to do that to either of her parents-- then said, "Fine, I won't hit her. But she is stupid."
"No one is arguing the stupid." Only the methods. "Promise me you won't hit anyone else, even if they say things like that."
"I promise," Ivy said. "Only what do I do if they do say mean things? 'Cause I don't like it and I won't listen."
Nor should she have to. "You come and tell me," Gail said. "Or your father, or one of your teachers. We'll make them stop saying mean things, without hitting them."
Ivy gave her a deeply skeptical look, but refrained from questioning her mother. Instead, she shrugged and said, "Okay. I promise. Do I still have to 'pologize to Ellen?"
Since Ivy would never have come up with that on her own, Gail assumed Nathan had told her to apologize. "Yes, you do," she said, firmly.
Ivy stuck her out tongue at her toys again. "Stupid Ellen," she muttered.
Well, she wasn't wrong there. Gail leaned over and kissed the top of Ivy's head. "I think you'd better find a new friend, sweetheart," she said, testing the waters. The end of a friendship could be very traumatizing for a girl Ivy's age, no matter what the inciting incident. If Ivy was upset about it...
"Duh," Ivy said. "Ellen couldn't play dinosaurs anyway."
No great loss, then. Gail smiled at her, relieved. "I suggest you try the boys. They tend to play with dinosaurs more."
"'Kay." The Tyrannosaurus was marching back and forth impatiently; Ivy had lost interest in the conversation. "Can I play now?"
"Sure." Gail kissed the top of Ivy's head again, then rose. "Don't forget to do your homework."
Ivy paused with the Tyrannosaurus in mid-leap. "But I don’t have school tomorrow! I got sus-- suspended?"
"Suspended, that's right," Gail said. "And I don't care. You have to keep up with your homework."
"Aw, Mom!"
If Ivy could achieve that peculiar tone, halfway between a plea, a whine and annoyance, she'd be fine. Which was not to say that Gail wouldn't do something terrible to Mrs. Carson. But at least her daughter was all right. In the grand scale of things, she'd call this one a win.
Main Story: In The Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Carrot cake 1 (stop), coffee 16 (scale), whipped cream (Ivy is five).
Word Count: 1626
Rating: PG
Summary: Gail finds out about one of Ivy's escapades.
Notes: Immediately follows Daddy's Little Girl.
"She what?"
Nathan, to his credit, did not wince at the unnaturally shrill vocal heights Gail had just hit. "Punched Ellen Carson," he repeated. "Got her a pretty good one, I have to admit. Aaron must've shown her how to do it right since the last time they got into a fight."
"I'm glad her technique has improved," Gail said. "Can we go back to the part where she punched Ellen Carson?"
"She was provoked," Nathan said, and leaned on the counter. "Try not to be too hard on her."
Gail dumped her purse on the counter and gave him the evil eye. "She's more than old enough to know that hitting doesn't solve anything."
"Which is exactly what I told her," Nathan said, "so there's no need to glare at me."
"I'm not glaring at you," Gail said, in blatant opposition to the facts. A twitching at the corner of Nathan's mouth indicated his awareness of that little detail, so she hurried on before he could get cocky. "How bad was it?"
"Not bad," he said, with the authority of one who has broken up entirely too many fights between enlisted men. "Bloody nose, nothing worse. Mrs. Carson will probably try to claim it was broken."
Oh, that was the last thing she needed, medical bills for a broken nose. "You're sure it wasn't?"
"I'm sure. Ellen wasn't having any trouble breathing or touching it. Worst-case scenario, she'll have a black eye."
"I'm so relieved," Gail muttered. To think she wanted another baby someday. "Where is she? Clearly we need to have a talk."
"Gail." He rested a hand on her sleeve, gently. "I'm serious. Go easy on her."
"Just because she's already been lectured once..." she began, but he shook his head.
"No, that isn't what I meant. She had provocation." His eyes and mouth were serious; no laughter there anymore.
Gail frowned, and looked down at her purse. "I have no idea what provocation could possibly excuse punching another child."
Nathan was silent for so long that she looked back up to see what was keeping him that way, and was surprised to catch a deeply pained expression on his face. "Ellen was... repeating some things her mother told her," he said, finally. "Suggesting that Ivy's a mistake, and unwanted. Things like that."
That was so far from what Gail had expected that she couldn’t believe it, for a moment. And when she did believe it... God, it hurt, more than she'd guessed. "Ellen Carson said that? Ellen Carson's mother said that?"
"That's what Ivy told me," he said, expression grim. "I believe her."
He hadn't needed to add that last part; Gail had heard similar things too often herself to discount them now. She'd ignored them, when people said them to her, because she was a grown woman and she had made a mistake, even if it infuriated her that they saw her brilliant, lovely daughter as nothing more than an error in judgment. But to say that to that daughter, to make her child feel unwanted and unloved...
"I'm going to kill her," she said, calmly. "I am going to strangle that self-righteous, holier-than-thou, sanctimonious bitch. Is Ivy all right?"
"I think so." Nathan rounded the counter and settled himself beside her. "She was angry more than anything else. I think she saw it as a slur on my honor."
...okay, that was funny. A little bit. "A slur on your honor? I'd think it was a slur on mine."
He shrugged. "Something about my not being her real father. Which is ridiculous."
"Obviously." Well, she was still angry, just not at Ivy anymore. "There will be blood."
The corner of Nathan's mouth twitched again. "I can just see it. Pandemonium at the PTA."
"You're not funny," she said, but it had helped.
"I know," Nathan said, to both things.
Gail sighed, and leaned against his shoulder, companionably. "Too bad I can't actually strangle the bitch. I think it would look bad on my resume."
"Ivy already punched Ellen," Nathan pointed out. "I think we'd better call that one a win and leave it."
"Speaking of." She let herself lean for one more minute, then stood up straight and took off her suit jacket. "I'd really better talk to Ivy. Provocation or not, she can't go around hitting people. That looks worse than if I do it."
"She's in her room," Nathan said, and took her jacket. "I'll hang this up. You go talk to her. And be nice."
Gail didn't dignify that with an answer.
She went down the hall towards her daughter's room, past the bathroom and Aaron's bedroom. Her stepson wasn't home at the moment, but it was his mother's night for dinner, so presumably he'd gone over there already. She made a mental note to get Nathan to make sure he'd arrived safely and knocked on Ivy's door.
"C'min!" her daughter called, voice muffled by the door.
Gail opened it, and smiled to see Ivy on the floor, her red braids tousled and leaking wisps of hair, attacking a toy tank with a Barbie riding a plastic Tyrannosaur. That was her kid in a nutshell.
But that was not the point. "I hear you got into some trouble at school," she said, carefully, and stepped into the room, picking her way past abandoned stuffed animals, presumably fallout from Barbie's previous depredations. Her little girl. How on earth could she ever regret this?
Ivy looked up at her mother, and immediately adopted her most mulish expression. "I’m not sorry," she began, and ended in a surprised squeak when Gail went to her knees and pulled her daughter tightly against her chest.
"You are not a mistake," she told the top of Ivy's head. "My relationship with your biological father was a mistake, a big one, but you are not an accident or a mistake or anything of the kind. You are my darling, precious daughter, and if anyone tells you any different, you make sure they know how wrong they are." Only then did she let Ivy pull back a little, the better to get a look at her small, confused face.
"Uh, 'kay," Ivy said, clearly unsure as to what had brought all this on. Then she brightened. "Can I punch 'em?"
"Without punching them," Gail said firmly. She reached forward and brushed a few stray locks off Ivy's forehead. "Although I agree that you acted under extreme provocation."
That got a scowl. "She said Daddy wasn't my real daddy," Ivy said, balling up her fists. "I had to hit her."
Gail sighed. "Sweetie, she was being stupid. If you go around hitting everyone who's being stupid, you'll get arrested."
"So?"
Ivy was too young to be impressed by the force of law, but practical considerations might help. "You'll also bruise your knuckles," Gail said. "And you don't want your hand to hurt, do you?"
"Aaron could help me punch 'em," Ivy said, magnanimously. "If he wanted to. Daddy's his daddy too."
"That's very generous of you," Gail said, and tugged gently on one of Ivy's braids. "But I'm afraid the stupid people have you outnumbered either way."
Ivy thought about that one for a moment. "I could try anyway?"
"No," Gail said, firmly, and, on seeing Ivy's expression, added, "Because I am your mother and I said so, that's why."
Ivy scowled. She looked down at her toys, stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at them-- she knew better than to do that to either of her parents-- then said, "Fine, I won't hit her. But she is stupid."
"No one is arguing the stupid." Only the methods. "Promise me you won't hit anyone else, even if they say things like that."
"I promise," Ivy said. "Only what do I do if they do say mean things? 'Cause I don't like it and I won't listen."
Nor should she have to. "You come and tell me," Gail said. "Or your father, or one of your teachers. We'll make them stop saying mean things, without hitting them."
Ivy gave her a deeply skeptical look, but refrained from questioning her mother. Instead, she shrugged and said, "Okay. I promise. Do I still have to 'pologize to Ellen?"
Since Ivy would never have come up with that on her own, Gail assumed Nathan had told her to apologize. "Yes, you do," she said, firmly.
Ivy stuck her out tongue at her toys again. "Stupid Ellen," she muttered.
Well, she wasn't wrong there. Gail leaned over and kissed the top of Ivy's head. "I think you'd better find a new friend, sweetheart," she said, testing the waters. The end of a friendship could be very traumatizing for a girl Ivy's age, no matter what the inciting incident. If Ivy was upset about it...
"Duh," Ivy said. "Ellen couldn't play dinosaurs anyway."
No great loss, then. Gail smiled at her, relieved. "I suggest you try the boys. They tend to play with dinosaurs more."
"'Kay." The Tyrannosaurus was marching back and forth impatiently; Ivy had lost interest in the conversation. "Can I play now?"
"Sure." Gail kissed the top of Ivy's head again, then rose. "Don't forget to do your homework."
Ivy paused with the Tyrannosaurus in mid-leap. "But I don’t have school tomorrow! I got sus-- suspended?"
"Suspended, that's right," Gail said. "And I don't care. You have to keep up with your homework."
"Aw, Mom!"
If Ivy could achieve that peculiar tone, halfway between a plea, a whine and annoyance, she'd be fine. Which was not to say that Gail wouldn't do something terrible to Mrs. Carson. But at least her daughter was all right. In the grand scale of things, she'd call this one a win.