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It is a well known fact that the two brunettes carrying the Boxer surname are prone to trouble. And more often than not, are very short tempered and might get physical if the situation calls for it (or even when it doesn’t). Thus, Cindy was not overwhelmingly surprised the first time she was called to her daughters’ school because Ashley had gotten in a fight.
What did surprise her – actually shocked her into a 15 second speechless stupor – was when one sunny Thursday afternoon she gets a call from the snooty, obnoxious school secretary demanding her immediate presence because Lily had gotten into a fight. The reporter could not even begin to fathom what in the entire world could have caused her younger daughter to go on the rampage the woman was describing over the phone.
While the woman ranted about brats and their lack of discipline (Cindy had long ago gotten used to the woman’s absolute disdain for her relationship with Lindsay and their children), her desk phone started ringing.
Before she could even say a word in greeting, Lindsay’s voice barreled through the line in a rather unusual tone of incredulity. “I think I’m going insane! I think the barista at Starbucks put something in my coffee this morning, because I did not just get a call from that insufferable, pretentious old hag calling herself the principal’s secretary about LILY being in a fight! The girl does not get into fights! And there is no way she was confused for Ashley, because they don’t look even remotely alike!”
“Linz, if you have been drugged so have I, because I’m currently on the phone with Mrs. Cope. Even if she is taking the opportunity to question our right to raise children together again…”
There was a distinct bang on the other end of the line; Cindy could easily picture her lover slamming her head on her desk out of sheer desperation to make sense of the absurd situation.
******
Less than 15 minutes later found the two women exiting Lindsay’s car in the school’s parking lot. Cindy noticed that the inspector had gone from incredulous to worried in the time it took to fully process the situation and drive to their daughters’ school.
“Something’s not right here…” The taller woman mumbled as the two of them made their way into the building. “Lily doesn’t get into fights. She rants and talks a lot and is very bubbly, but she does not get into physical fights!”
The reporter laced their hands together and squeezed, trying to provide some reassurance that she herself felt slowly slipping away to leave only worry behind. Something was definitely not right.
When they arrived at Mrs. Cope door, Cindy knocked and walked in, only to ground to a halt as her eyes landed on her two daughters.
Lily was holding a pack of ice to her left eye, both hands bloodied and bruised; the girl stared straight ahead, her uncovered eye fixed on the three boys sitting across the room, the most intense glare the reporter had ever seen directed at them.
Ashley had her eyes fixed on the floor and didn’t even look up or acknowledge her redheaded mother, when she let out a gasped ‘Oh my God!’ and ran over to them, kneeling in front of them.
“Jesus, Lily! Are you alright?” Her hand flew to her mouth when the girl removed the ice pack and turned it in her hand, pressing the colder side back to her incredibly bruised face.
“What the hell?!” Lindsay exclaimed, turning to three boys “Did you do this to my daughter?!” The three teens jumped in their seats and glanced fearfully at each other.
The inspector’s anger spiked and she took a menacing step towards them, only to be stopped by the snooty voice of the ever friendly Mrs. Cope.
“Actually, Ms. Boxer, they are here as witnesses to what happened.” The woman stated as she came out of the principal’s office. “Your daughter is the one looking at at least a week of suspension-”
“Are you kidding me?!” The brunette shouted indignantly. “Have you seen her face?! She looks like she just came out of a boxing ring and you’re telling me she is being suspended?!”
“Ms. Boxer, calm down.” The elderly woman glared at her over her glasses.
“Inspector Boxer…” Lindsay stressed with a glare of her own. “And don’t fucking tell me to calm down! I want to know who did this to my 13 year old daughter!”
“Ms. Boxer! Watch your language! This is a school and you will not be using that kind of vocabulary in front of our students.”
“Linz…” Cindy quickly shot up from her kneeling position and grabbed her lover’s arm. As much as she wanted to watch Lindsay get in the woman’s face, there were more important matters to attend to.
******
Cindy stared at the principal in disbelief as he droned on about how her thirteen year old daughter had singlehandedly sent four football players to the school’s infirmary with several bruises and one to the hospital with a broken nose.
“This is unacceptable!” The man was saying. “We have never had an incident this serious and this taking into account all the times that your other daughter has been involved in physical altercations.”
Lindsay scowled but remained silent, more preoccupied with the two quiet girls sitting between her and Cindy.
“I have no choice but to suspend Lily for-”
“Are you suspending those morons too?!” The redhead teen hissed, glaring with her good eye. “Because if I am they sure as hell should as well, because they started it!”
“Language, Miss Boxer!” The man admonished. “I will not have you use such language-”
“So I can’t use a tame word like ‘hell’ but those stupid jocks with sawdust for brains get away with calling my sister names?! I don’t think so-”
“Miss Boxer! Calm down and do refrain from interrupting me!” The principal raised his voice.
The girl opened her mouth to argue further, when Cindy grabbed her arm. “Lily, please calm down…” The redhead teen huffed and sat back in her chair, clenching the pack of ice tighter in her hand and glaring at the principal.
“Now, I have heard a lot of accusations on your part about the other students starting this altercation, but none of the three witnesses sitting outside are able to confirm this.” The man directed at the younger girl, before glancing briefly to the brunette teen. “And your sister seems to have lost any and all ability to speak, when normally she’s the first one to throw around accusati-”
Cindy about had a heart attack when her youngest daughter flew out of the seat in a rage. “DON’T YOU DARE talk about my sister, you spineless creep!” She yelled, slamming down the ice pack on the desk. Lindsay jumped up just as suddenly and grabbed the girl, but it didn’t stop her from trashing around and continue spewing all sorts of threats. “You don’t know a thing about her, so you don’t get to fucking judge!”
“Lily! Will you settle down?! What is wrong with you?!” Lindsay hissed and held the girl tighter, lest she jump over the desk and strangle the gaping principal.
“There’s nothing wrong with me, mom! I am not gonna sit around and do nothing while he…” She stabbed a finger in the man’s direction “… badmouths Ash! He is just as bad as those jocks! They got what they deserved for calling my sister a d-”
The fiery rant died so suddenly mid-word that the three adults in the room blinked in shock. The inspector glanced down worriedly at her daughter who’d gone stock still in her grasp, being the first to notice what had effectively silenced her. Ashley was gripping her sister’s arm firmly, but what really disturbed the brunette woman was that the girl hadn’t even looked up from the desk in front of her and, in the weakest voice she’d ever heard from her, said: “Lily… please… don’t…”
Cindy looked up at her lover, worry etched all over her features, which only became more pronounced when, after a short hesitation, their older daughter got up and left the room without saying anything else or looking at anyone.
“Lily…” Lindsay started, taking her daughter by the shoulders and turning her around “What happened?”
The girl looked into her mother’s worried gaze and immediately dropped her eyes to the ground, but it was long enough for the brunette to see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Lily?” She asked apprehensively. The girl shook her head frantically and hastily left the room, presumably after her departed sister.
******
The two women found her about ten minutes later just outside the school, looking out towards the parking lot, where Ashley was leaning against her mother’s car, hands deep in her jacket pockets, and kicking at random pebbles.
“Here, the nurse caught up to us just as we were leaving the principal’s office.” Cindy said, handing a new ice pack to the girl.
“You have also been suspended for a week.” Lindsay added, massaging her temples to stave off the headache that had become permanent as soon as she’d set foot in the school. “Lily, what in goodness name happened?!” She asked with a stern look.
The girl looked at her feet and fiddled with her ice pack. Cindy took it out of her hands and gently pressed it against her swollen eye. “Lily, you’re worrying us. Both of you are…” She glanced in Ashley’s direction, before focusing back on her youngest daughter. “You broke another student’s nose. And the principal has called a meeting with all the parents of the students involved in this. What are we supposed to say to them?”
“Tell them that a thirteen year old midget beat five bulky football players into a messy heap.” The girl huffed in indignation. “Ought to shut them right up…”
Lindsay’s lips quirked up in amusement, while Cindy just shook her head.
“Lily, this is serious.” The taller woman said, schooling her features. “Ash is the one that gets into fights, not you, and they are never this bad. And if they were insulting her, I’m actually surprised she didn’t punch one or two as well…”
The reporter gave a half-hearted glare; she agreed with her lover, even if she had made it clear, more than once, that fighting was not the answer to conflicts.
Lily looked down again. “I… I- I don’t know… They called her a- She… She just froze… It scared me more than fighting with five stupid jocks…”
The two mothers shared a concerned look. “Lily, what-” Cindy started to ask but the girl shook her head.
“Can we not talk about it now? I don’t…” She looked at her mothers pleadingly. “And Ash… can you… not ask her what happened? She… I think she is really upset…”
“Lily… You’re scaring us… What happened?” Lindsay enveloped the girl in a fierce hug, eyes fixed on her eldest daughter across the parking lot.
“Mom, please! I’ll tell you everything, but… not in front of Ash…” The younger redhead pleaded, fisting her hands in her mother’s jacket.
Cindy had heard enough. She stalked across the parking lot and as soon as she reached her daughter, took her into her arms and just held her. Tears sprung to her eyes when the girl flinched at the first touch and didn’t return the embrace. The reporter just held on tighter.
******
Lindsay drove them home. The silence in the car was stifling, the two women throwing extremely worried glances at the two girls sitting in the back.
When they pulled up into the driveway, Lily felt her sister tense up in her seat. She looked at her and followed her gaze to their front porch where two people were sitting on the steps. She recognized them instantly as her sister’s best friends, Kate and Santiago.
“Mom…” she whispered pleadingly, glancing furtively at her sibling who had yet to move to get out of the car.
Lindsay was already outside, but Cindy heard her. The reporter quickly got out and walked up to the front door, greeting the two teens with a thin smile, which they returned. She ushered them inside and into the kitchen, while her two daughters got out of the car.
Ashley all but fled into her room once they were all inside, without looking at anyone.
Martha had looked up from her position on the couch at all the somber humans, deciding to follow after the brunette girl. She had to whine a bit at the closed bedroom door, but then it opened and she trotted inside before it slammed shut again.
Lily had giggled a bit, sitting down on the couch with a pained sigh. Cindy was quick to join her, fussing a bit over her ice pack and swollen eye. “We should have Claire look at that…”
“Mom. You want aunt Claire, who is a ‘dead people doctor’, to look at my injuries? Really?” The girl asked with enough incredulity to draw a smile from her concerned mother.
Lindsay watched the two redheads fondly, glancing down the hallway. Ashley’s friends stared after her as she walked to her daughter’s door and quietly walked inside, after a soft knock.
“Ash? Are you okay?” The inspector was very aware that the girl was not okay, but she would actually prefer the girl call her out on her bullshit or even yell at her, than the silence that followed her like an ominous cloud.
She got no answer; the girl merely snuggled closer to Martha on the bed and ignored her mother.
The woman sighed, but was already plotting a world of pain for the stupid people who put her daughter in that state. She scowled and started mumbling to herself about badges and guns and stupid boys getting anywhere near her precious daughters, while plucking Pingu off the shelf and setting the beloved penguin on the bed next to the girl. With a squeeze to her daughter’s shoulder she left the room, the quiet sniffle she was sure wasn’t meant for her to hear feeling like a dagger to her heart.
She stalked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch next to her daughter, who was gingerly holding another pack of ice to her face.
“That is an impressive shiner…” Kate commented.
Lily grinned proudly for about two seconds before she noticed her mother’s unamused look. “And I’m sure it will be the last shiner you’ll ever come home with, right?” The reporter questioned sternly.
The girl giggled sheepishly. “Sure… You know, now that I think about it, it hurts like hell…” She mumbled, pressing the ice pack back to her purple eye.
The silence that followed was rather awkward. The three teens avoided the women’s gazes at all costs and Lindsay, scowl firmly planted on her face, looked at each of them for a full minute before she’d had enough. “Okay, out with it! What the hell happened today?!”
Lily grimaced and Kate glanced at the boy next to her apprehensively. “Is- Is Ash okay?” the girl asked. “Has she said anything about… what happened?”
“No. And I am becoming very concerned with all this skirting around the subject!” The inspector ran a hand through her messy hair, getting more agitated by the second. “What did those fucking jocks say to make my daughter mute?!”
“Lindsay!” Cindy hissed in disapproval. “Please mind your language-”
“I will not mind my language until someone tells me what the hell happened to make my daughter hide in her room to cry!” Lily looked up in disbelief at that “That girl does not cry! She gets angry and loses her temper when people make fun of her for having two mothers, or bully her friends or even so much as look at Lily wrong! So, I ask again WHAT-?”
“They called her a dyke…” Lily whispered so quietly she was barely heard, tears falling from her good eye.
Cindy’s breath hitched and Lindsay’s anger dissipated almost instantaneously, leaving her staring wide-eyed at her daughter. Kate and Santiago looked down to the floor.
“Wh-What?” The brunette asked softly.
“Please don’t make me repeat it…” The redhead teen whispered, turning into her mother for comfort. Cindy wrapped her arms around the distraught girl, eyes searching frantically for her lover’s, unable to contain a few tears.
Lindsay reached out and wiped them away, setting her other hand on Lily’s back. “What exactly happened?”
“Ummm, we… Ash and I…” Santiago started “We were by her locker after our last period discussing what we could do for our science project when Josh, the football team quarterback, came walking down the hall and pushed me into the lockers…” He rubbed at his shoulder absently. “Ash, of course, got annoyed and told him to…uh… ‘fuck off’…” he mumbled the last bit, not sure whether the use of such language would meet approval, but the two women were beyond admonishing the obscenities that might find their way into the conversation.
“I was coming down the hall from the other side when I saw the guy push Santi…” Kate added, patting her friend on the knee. “The jocks always mess with him, ‘cause he’s Hispanic…” The boy nodded. “Josh started on a rant about… I don’t even know what anymore… and I told him to get lost when I joined them. Then two more guys showed up and were, you know, ‘joining in on the fun’ as they said… Also, said that Santi should go back to Mexico or something…” The boy scowled and shook his head. “Ash moved forward to push them or punch them, I don’t know… But I grabbed her and said they weren’t worth getting another fight on her record.” She smiled a bit, with Cindy rolling her eyes in bitter amusement.
“That’s when I got there.” Lily said, straightening up on the couch. “At that point half the school was in the hall listening in; Kate just said to leave it alone and was pulling Ash away, when someone shouted that she should be listening to her girlfriend and go back home to her mommies…” Lindsay clenched her fists. “Ash then goes and tells that jock that his gay was showing… It was kinda funny really…” She giggled and the other two teens nodded. “She said ‘At least my moms don’t have any qualms about making out in public… You, on the other hand, do it behind the bleachers with a guy from the golf team!’”
“He turned a funny shade of purple…” Santiago commented with a grin.
Lindsay smiled; her daughter always had a comeback for everything.
“So, then…” Kate continued, her voice turning somber “We start walking away when Josh calls her… you know… and a bunch of other hateful things… I mean, I had never in my life seen someone be so, so… spiteful… the other three jocks just egg him on and Lily just lost it and… well, beat them into a pulp…”
“But…” Santiago looked a bit uncertain. “Ash… She just stood there… I was expecting for her to go into a rage or something… I mean I would’ve but I’m no football player….” He gestured to himself, to his slight frame and gangly limbs “But she just stood there…” He looked helplessly to his friend sitting next to him.
“We just pulled her away… And Lily ended up with a shiner from another guy who decided to join in on the fight… He got a broken nose for his trouble.” Kate finished with a slight smirk toward her best friend’s younger sister.
They slipped into silence after that, the three teens looking a bit uncomfortable and Cindy holding her daughter close with one arm and squeezing Lindsay’s hand with the other. The inspector closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
She opened them again when she heard the nervous shifting of the boy sitting in front of her.
He looked at her for a moment before dropping his gaze to the floor. “I- I don’t want to be rude or anything, but…” He swallowed convulsively and then looked up again “It’s just… Ash doesn’t seem to have any issues with… you know… gay people?” Lindsay nodded indicating he should continue; she had a fairly good idea where the conversation was going. “We always kinda assumed that she’s…” He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I mean, half the time she and Kate are together, people assume they’re… dating.”
Kate rolled her eyes at the silly notion but nodded. “You know, we get teased by some of our friends and all, and Ash knows what the less… accepting students say behind her back… She sometimes smirks at those bimbo cheerleaders just to watch them trip over each other to run away… We always have a good laugh at that…”
“So we always assumed that she is… uh, you know… gay…” Santiago mumbled at the last world. “But she also seems quite comfortable with who she is… so I don’t get… why it hit her so bad this time around…”
Lindsay glanced at her lover for a brief moment before leaning forward in her seat and facing the two teens again. “Has she ever, specifically, said that she was gay? To either of you?”
They glanced at each other uncertainly and then shook their heads.
“Does it make a difference?” Lily asked quietly, looking up at her brunette mother.
“It makes quite the difference, Lily.” The woman answered. “She was never confronted directly about being gay. It’s one thing her knowing, or even that she knows that neither you, your mother or I have a problem with it… It’s a different matter altogether having people she doesn’t know at all throwing it to her face in front of half the school and, especially, in a such a way.”
“She’s probably angry at herself for letting it affect her so much, confused, because she is after all still young and this is a delicate issue no matter your age; more than likely scared of how we might react, even if she knows that we would be okay with it, how her friends might react and how people in general will act towards her in school…” Cindy explained to her frowning daughter.
“You know…” Kate spoke up then. “Meyers, he came up to me after we took you to the infirmary and asked if Ash was okay. He was all serious about it too… You know how he’s always making jabs at her and they just butt heads every time they see each other, but he was genuinely concerned… He said that nobody should ever be treated like that and that the jocks got what they deserved…”
Lindsay raised a curious eyebrow. “We are talking about the same Meyers, who Ashley is always ranting about? How he’s an asshole and keeps coming onto Lily even though he has a girlfriend?”
Lily scowled and poked her mother in the side in annoyance. Cindy shook her head in dismay.
******
Cindy and Lindsay stood facing their eldest daughter’s bedroom door. They shared a concerned look, the taller woman closing her eyes and inhaling sharply before squaring her shoulders and walking in.
Ashley was in the same position as when the inspector had seen her earlier, the difference being that she was now holding her favourite stuffed penguin as well.
Martha raised her head at the intrusion and gave a slight nudge to the girl’s arm, huffing out a quiet bark when the human ignored her. So she nudged her again, with a bit more force, earning an unhappy scowl from the teen. The dog just stuck out her tongue and licked her arm.
“Hey!” the brunette protested indignantly, peering over her shoulder at the chuckles coming from her mothers.
“I believe sweet Martha wants you to talk to us…” Lindsay said with a smile, sitting down on the unoccupied side of the bed, behind her daughter.
The girl just scowled and resumed her former position, decided on ignoring the two women. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Cindy sat down as well, settling a hand on her daughter’s jean clad leg and rubbing up and down soothingly.
“Ash…” The inspector started.
“Leave me alone.” Came the reply, which lacked any and all anger that they were sure was meant to have come across.
“Ash.” The woman said again more firmly. “We need to talk about this. Lily and your friends told us what happened at the school, but we’re worried about you.”
“I’m fine…” The girl mumbled with no conviction, squeezing the penguin in her arms tighter.
Lindsay sat back against the headboard, moving fully onto the bed, and ran a hand through brown locks softly. “You’re not fine. What they said clearly upset you…”
The women welcomed the heated reply that came from the brunette, along with the famous Boxer glare. “Ya think?! What would you do if a bunch of brainless morons called you, or mom, a dyke?!”
“Probably punch them into next week.”
“Spray them with my trusty can of pepper-spray.”
Came the simultaneous, serious, answers. The women glanced at each other and shared a smirk, focusing back on the sniffling teen.
“Ash, don’t you think that I have been called that and worse? I’m a woman doing a man’s job. Worse, I’m one of the few women in the Homicide Division and better at the job than some of the guys I have the unfortunate luck of working with… You learn to deal with it eventually, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt sometimes. And when that happens, I just think about your mom and how we have two amazing children together and remind myself that they are just jealous pricks. And then picture myself punching them where it counts.”
“Lindsay.” Cindy said reproachfully, but with no real feeling of disapproval behind it. Her heart fluttered in her chest, knowing that no matter what happened in her job, the brunette still thought of her as her connection to firmer ground and comfort.
Ashley turned and wrapped an arm around her mother’s leg and buried her nose in the woman’s shirt.
The reporter moved her soothing caresses to the girl’s back.
“I don’t like how it feels…” The teenager whispered. “Hurts more than breaking a bone…”
“Because it is true that you’re gay or because it was just a condescending term that is always demeaning no matter the circumstances?” Cindy asked, gently.
“Both…” Ashley mumbled, tightening her hold on her mother’s leg.
“Ash, you know that we won’t judge you. And neither will Lily, or your two friends sitting in the living room.” Lindsay laid a hand on the girl’s arm and squeezed.
A few tears slipped out at that. “And what about the people at school?”
The taller woman raised an eyebrow and grinned impishly. “You do what you do best; if they piss you off, you always find something to say that makes them stop. And if that won’t work you can always picture yourself punching them, because your mother will not approve if you go around beating people into a pulp like your sister.”
Cindy gave a pointed look for effect when the girl looked at her. “I will have Claire poke at your bruises and emphasize the fact that she dissects dead people for a living every five minutes.” She stated with narrowed eyes.
Ashley snorted and wiped her tears away. “I bet you already told Lily you wanna have aunt Claire look at her eye… Is she okay, though?”
“She has. And Lily is okay, but says it hurts like hell.” Lindsay answered with a chuckle. “It does look like it does too…”
The brunette nodded and looked down. “Thanks, moms…” she whispered quietly.
Cindy gave a teary smile that the girl didn’t see and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. She started to move back, but didn’t go very far before her daughter had thrown her arms around her in a fierce hug and didn’t let go until five minutes later, to pull her brunette mother closer as well.
Martha just waited patiently. She didn’t want to ruin the moment, but if she did not get her own thanks soon she would start protesting; she was not above giving friendly bites to her humans if it meant getting the recognition she deserved.
******
Martha did collect the acknowledgement she deserved in the form of a small happy grin and some petting from Ashley and extra treats from Lily, while her sister had been in the shower. She munched away happily, knowing that her younger brunette owner seemed to be out of her funny mood from before, so all was right in her doggie world.
Ashley took a deep steadying breath before exiting the bathroom after her shower and walking into the living room. She was nearly tackled to the floor by an overly excited Kate, who all but threw herself at her brunette best friend.
“Oh my gosh, Ash! You’re okay!” She whispered heatedly with the brunette still blinking confusedly.
“I… I guess?”
“Kate, let her breathe! Geez…” Santiago commented, grinning when a thought struck him. “And you throw a hissy fit every time someone says you’re dating Ash… The way you cling to her leaves little doubt in less informed minds…”
Kate was worried for a second that her best friend might take the joke the wrong way, but when she felt the other girl chuckling against her, she heaved a heavy sigh of relief. She then detached herself from the brunette long enough to glare at her other friend. “Stupid boy! Are you still having trouble understanding English?! Should I maybe translate into Spanish for you? I am not dating Ash!”
Lily giggled hysterically from the couch at the scowling girl.
“And just what, exactly, is so unappealing to you about dating me?” Her sister asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kate smacked her friend on the arm. “No offense or anything, but you’re a girl. And I may be all for liberal thinking and all that, and like you just the way you are – which, by the way, is a badass butch – but, you and I,” she gestured between the two of them “not gonna happen…” She finished with a smirk, which slowly turned into a concerned smile. “You’re okay though, right? ‘Cause, you know, me and Santi are totally cool with the whole…” She waved a hand around.
“Gay thing?” The brunette finished for her with a sigh and soft thankful smile. Her two friends nodded. “Thanks…” She mumbled, looking away.
Kate hugged her once more and Santiago moved closer to them, patting the brunette on the shoulder. “You’re still our best friend and we’ll totally kick ass if anyone messes with you…”
“I don’t think so!” Cindy said from the kitchen entrance, hands on her hips, making all three teens jump apart. “I will not have any of you getting into fights! We’ve had enough to last us at least a month!” Then she grinned impishly and winked. “Remember, the trusty can of pepper spray is the answer!”
“Cindy! Seriously?! I can’t say anything about punching people, but you can go around advertising the uses of pepper spray?!” Came Lindsay’s irked voice. Ashley laughed as her mother disappeared once more into the kitchen.
“Your moms are totally awesome!” Kate said with a grin of her own and dragged Santiago away into the backyard to keep Martha company, leaving the two sisters alone so they could talk.
******
Lily shuffled on the couch so her sister could sit down next to her. She gave a friendly smile and grasped a hand firmly in her own. “You’re okay?” She asked quietly, with a playful poke to her sister’s arm.
The older girl nodded hesitantly “ ‘Be fine…” She mumbled, looking away.
“Oh, Ash…” Lily whispered, quickly moving closer and wrapping her sister in a tight hug. “You should know I love you no matter what. I don’t rightly care if you’re gay, or black or even Chinese…” That got her a watery chuckle. “You’re still, and will always be, the best sister in the world to me…”
Ashley returned the hug fiercely.
Lindsay and Cindy watched from the kitchen doorway, slightly worried about their eldest daughter, but confident that she would be alright.
“Besides…” Lily said after a short while, still holding her sister close. “I kinda always knew, anyways. I mean, I always pictured you becoming a badass homicide detective like mom and having all the ladies swooning at your feet…” She giggled at her own words “And then you’d meet this very beautiful woman and I would totally threaten her not to break your heart, and you’d have little happy babies. And I would be the best aunt in the world!”
Lindsay face palmed at her daughter’s happy rambling and shook her head in dismay. It seemed to have done the trick though, since Ashley was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
“You’re a goof!” The brunette teen whispered with a chuckle and releasing the younger girl, discretely whipping her tears away.
“I am the goof that beat five big guys into a pulp!” The redhead huffed. “Will teach them to call me a midget ever again! Or mess with my sister. No one messes with my sister!” She murmured the last bit in the most threatening tone she could muster.
“That’s all very brave of you, Lily, but you are NOT to get into fights in the future! Is that understood?” Cindy stated very clearly, approaching the couch. “I about had a heart attack when I first saw you in that state in Mrs. Cope’s office.”
The girl scowled. “Oh, that woman! She is such a… such a…”
“Pretentious old hag.” Lindsay finished for her, sitting down next to her older daughter and giving her a warm smile.
“That may be true…” The reporter started to say, frowning for a moment before correcting herself. “That is true, but I don’t want you getting into fights, Lily. You’re a small girl and-”
Lily glared at her mother, highly offended, and crossed her arms. “And what is Ash?! She’s a girl too and she gets into fights at least three times a week!” She huffed indignantly making the two brunettes on the couch chuckle in mirth.
“I am a ‘badass butch’! Kate said so. I can totally fight boys three times my size and not break a nail…” Ashley said merrily.
Her sister stomped her foot as best as she could from her sitting position and glared with her good eye at her smirking parents and sister.
The brunette teen caved in soon after, laughing for a few moments before going back to hug the miffed girl. “Thank you for standing up for me, Lil.” She whispered in a heartfelt tone.
Lily smiled proudly and hugged back. A funny thought struck her then and, patting her sister on the back, she withdrew and adopted a serious expression. “Ashley. Mom.” She looked at Lindsay, who raised an eyebrow “Mom.” She looked to Cindy who blinked in a bit of confusion. “I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I am…” She paused for dramatic effect, while the other three held their breath. “Straight. And I hope that you won’t take this news badly and still love me, because I am still your daughter and sister. I am just your straight daughter and sister and thought you should know…”
The girl struggled to keep her straight face, but with her mothers looking at her completely and utterly flabbergasted it didn’t last very long. She burst out into raucous laughter, soon joined by Ashley who almost fell off the couch she was laughing so hard.
******
Later that night, Ashley had been absently playing with her favourite penguin on her bed, when there was a soft knock at the door and her brunette mother stuck her head in. “Hey.”
“Hey, mom.” The girl sat up on the bed, as her mother came closer and sat down close to her daughter.
“Aren’t you too old to be playing with a stuffed penguin?”
Ashley frowned. “Do not hate on the penguin! Pingu is awesome!”
Lindsay chuckled. “Sure he is.” Her daughter grinned widely. “So, I just came to check whether everything is alright. I know you said you were fine now, but I am your mother and therefore know exactly that most of the time when I say I’m fine, I am definitely not.”
The girl smiled a bit. “I’m okay, mom. Just… you know… a bit nervous about school tomorrow…” She looked to the penguin in her lap and shrugged.
“That’s perfectly normal. Like I told Lily before, it’s one thing accepting yourself, a completely different matter when other people who don’t know us are involved.” The woman patted her daughter’s knee and gave an encouraging smile.
The girl nodded.
“Come here.” The inspector pulled the girl close and kissed her forehead. “Everything will be okay.” She whispered reassuringly. “You have your friends on your side. And even Meyers was worried about you…”
“Urgh, I still cannot believe what Kate told me.” The teenager mumbled. “That guy is an ass…”
Lindsay chuckled and pulled back a bit. “Well, he is an ass that respects you, which is already much more than some of the people, who may call themselves your friends, will probably do throughout your life.”
The girl nodded in understanding. “Thanks mom.”
“No need to thank me. You’re my daughter and I’ll always love you no matter what.” She ruffled the girl’s hair and smiled. The girl nodded again and gave her mother a short hug. “Now, another thing I wanted to ask was about whether you want to tell your aunts or still wait a bit…”
“Oh…” The girl looked away and smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, about that…I might have told… aunt Denise about… being gay… a month ago?”
Lindsay raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t be mad, mom. It’s just… I wanted to tell someone and… I don’t know… Seemed like a good idea at the time…”
“I’m not mad.” The inspector was quick to reassure. She had always wondered about the close bond that her daughter shared with her aunt; all of them had, actually, but neither Ashley nor Denise could ever explain it when asked. “What did she say?”
“The first thing she said was that you and mom and Lil would still love me regardless of that. It was a relief, really…” The teen confessed. “I mean, I knew that you wouldn’t freak out or anything, but I was still worried, and it was reassuring when she said that… I guess I was looking for an outside perspective?” Her mother nodded in understanding. “I asked her not to tell anyone else, ‘cause I wanted to do it myself, and that was mostly it. Oh, and she warned me that Aunt Jill might throw a party or something.”
Lindsay barked out a laugh. It was most definitely something Jill would do.
******
The next day…
Ashley had sat through her first three periods without any incidents or anybody making any smart comments, which was a relief. She got a few stares in the hallways but that was mostly it, and Kate was always quick to glare and send people scurrying the other way. That was rather funny because her friend’s ego just seemed to inflate in superiority whenever she managed to scare someone away.
The only trouble she had all day was during lunch break, when one of the beaten up jocks thought it’d be a good idea to threaten her with teaching her and her sister a lesson and then started talking loudly about how lesbians and gays shouldn’t be allowed to be in the same schools as normal people.
Students had stopped in the hallway to stare at them and Ashley frowned. Santiago had to hold his friend Kate back from beating the other boy into a pulp.
“Man, will you shut the hell up?!” Ashley barked with a glare. “I don’t give a damn about what you think about me. You can all go to hell for all I care!” She directed at the other students. Kate stopped struggling in her friend’s grasp and stared. “Also, need I remind you that my thirteen year old sister beat the crap out of you?! And four other guys five times her size?!”
There was a lot of giggling and snickers from the students around them and someone shouted: “Yeah, man! Wasn’t that humiliating enough? Leave her alone!” Ashley turned to face the voice in surprise. The boy gave her friendly nod and a wave, and several students around him did the same.
She turned back to the jock and smirked. He growled and moved forward, in all likelihood to teach her some sort of lesson, when he was grabbed by the person Ashley least expected.
“I don’t think so, asshole! You will leave her alone if you know what’s good for you.” Steven Meyers, Ashley’s high school nemesis (Lily liked to call him that), stood glaring at the jock and holding him by his collar. “Now, I may be no football player but I will smack you around if I hear you or any of your friends calling her any names because of her sexuality. I may not like her all that much but you DO NOT treat people like you did her yesterday. Are we clear?!”
“Are you creeped out? Because I am…” Ashley heard Kate mumble to Santiago. She imagined they must be standing behind her in shock and wide-eyed, much like she was.
The jock growled and pushed the other boy away before stomping off in a rage. Meyers glared after him and called him a ‘fucking moron’ before turning to face the brunette girl.
And then it went awkward.
“Ookay!” Kate yelled. “Move on, people! Show’s over, nothing left to see!”
Her menacing glares all morning seemed to have worked because people remembered her and scampered away. Some students gave her best friend friendly smiles as they passed, before going back to their own business.
Ashley glanced at Meyers with a frown, before straightening. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
He nodded uncomfortably and held out his hand. “You’re welcome.” After a moment’s hesitation they shook hands. “Are you okay? And how’s your sister? She seemed pretty banged up…”
“We’re both okay. She’s been suspended for a week though. But my mom said she was gonna call the principal and try and speed up the meeting he wanted to have with all the parents.”
He nodded. “Yeah, those morons deserve to be suspended too.”
They stood staring at each other uncomfortably for a few moments, before the boy cleared his throat. “I, uh… I have to go. But I’m… glad you’re okay.” He took a few steps before turning back to the brunette. “This doesn’t mean I like you or anything. You’re still an annoying little shit.”
Ashley smirked widely. “And you’re an asshole. I don’t want to see you anywhere near my sister.”
They shared an understanding grin, before he walked off to join his girlfriend.
“Urgh, that bimbo again…” Kate hissed, bumping shoulders with her friend. “Believe me now? I was seriously creeped out yesterday and just now was even worse…”
The brunette laughed and wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders. She winked at Santiago and steered the girl down the hallway towards the cafeteria. “Come on, girlfriend, I’m hungry.”
“Eww, no! Get away from me!” Kate shouted in amused indignation before running away, with her friends’ laughter in her wake.
******
The rest of her school day passed without further incidents and with her friends asking how she was doing, if her sister was okay and then congratulating her on having such an amazing spitfire for a sibling and reassuring her that they had absolutely no issues with her sexuality. Ashley was touched and might have shed a tear or two but her friends didn’t comment.
The brunette left the school around four and waving to her friends, dropped her skateboard on the ground and rolled away towards the Hall. Once she got there, she took the elevator to the morgue where she knew her sister would be, more than likely per their mother’s instructions, to have their aunt poke at her bruises.
Ashley grinned to herself and walked into the morgue, already hearing her sister’s grumblings about not being a dead body that her aunt could just poke into without consequence.
“OW!! Aunt Claire!!” The young redhead whined. “Will you stop doing that?!”
The woman merely raised an eyebrow and went back to her inspection of the girl’s bruised face. Cindy stood nearby with and amused smirk on her face. “That’ll teach you to get into another fight. I told you I would have Claire look at your bruises.”
Jill chuckled at her niece’s less than amused countenance. She then noticed her other niece walking in and was quick to grab her into a hug before the girl even knew what was happening. “There you are!” She squealed, grinning from ear to ear. “Our baby lesbian.”
Lily giggled at her sister’s scowl.
“Aunt Jill!” She ground out while the woman playfully fawned over her. “Will you stop that?!” She batted the woman’s hands away, moving around the room, trying to get rid of her. “Aunt Denise was right. Next thing I know, there’ll be a party.”
The blonde woman smirked evilly. “Now that is a great idea!!” She squealed once more. “We should definitely have a party in celebration of your self discovery and coming out into our little lesbian world!”
Lily was in hysterics at that point, making it impossible for a highly amused Claire to continue her inspection of the bruises.
Ashley just gaped at her smirking aunt for a full minute before growling at her and chasing her around the morgue.
“What is going on here?” Came the stern voice of Denise Kwon as she entered the morgue in search of the medical examiner and finding hysterical chaos instead.
Lily continued giggling as she watched Ashley swatting at their blonde aunt, while trying to look serious facing Denise.
“We are celebrating our niece’s coming out.” The blonde DA offered merely, earning another smack from the brunette teen, who was still scowling, albeit more in amusement than in irritation.
“Coming out?” The asian woman asked with a raised eyebrow.
“You hadn’t heard yet?” Jill asked and then grinned. “You owe me fifty bucks!”
Ashley’s scowl turned to one of irritation once more. “She owes you fifty bucks?! You had a bet on my coming out?! And just how exactly did you find out anyway? I told mom not to say anything!”
“Ah, that might be my fault.” Lily raised her hand sheepishly. “I might have let it slip… while being poked at like a dead body!” She puffed out, glaring at her mother and aunt.
“Details, details.” Jill waved a hand dismissively in the air. “The point is that you…” She pointed a finger at her lover. “…are the last to find out. So give me my money!”
Denise’s eyebrow raised further. Ashley huffed and glared. “This is not funny!” She mumbled. “Making bets on my coming out…! You’re insane!”
Jill gave her miffed niece a warm hug. “Of course it’s not funny. It’s a very serious matter, in fact. And I am proud of you and so is Claire and we are here for you if you need us.”
“Thanks.” Ashley smiled and hugged her aunt, before poking her in the side. “But you still made a bet! Not cool!”
“Oh, please! You know me.” The blonde grinned patting her niece on the cheek. “This is how I roll…”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Oh god, she’s trying to sound like a teenager again…”
Jill stuck her tongue out at the redhead, who replied in the same fashion, shrieking in pain when Claire placed a finger against her forehead above her purple eye.
“Children, behave.” She received another unamused glare from her niece. “Now, Ashley, come here and give me hug.” She told the older girl, who happily complied with the request. “As Jill said, I am proud of you, and after what happened yesterday in school, even more so. And I’m here for you if you need to talk, advice or have your bruises poked at.” The woman finished with a gentle grin, earning a scowl from Lily.
“Thanks.” The girl mumbled and hugged her aunt again, before releasing her and skipping to Denise’s side with a grin on her face.
Denise smiled back and gave her a one armed hug. “Finally told them?”
“Well, after yesterday’s disaster it was rather unavoidable…” The girl said and then smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe you should inform aunt Jill how you have actually won the bet and were not the last person to find out? Even if I don’t like the fact that you’re making bets about me and then conveniently failed to inform me…”
“Oh this should be fun…” they heard Cindy mutter, before turning to face the frowning blonde attorney.
“I suddenly have a feeling that this is not gonna end well…” Jill commented and narrowed her eyes at her niece and lover.
******
Lindsay walked into the morgue a few minutes later, coffee in hand, and reading a text message from her partner. She immediately heard her youngest daughter’s grumblings about dead bodies and poking and raised her head to see the girl sitting on a stool with Claire ‘uhmming’ and ‘ahhing’ with an amused smile on her face.
“You know, I’m starting to think that you’re just doing this on purpose!” The girl complained. “It can’t possibly take so long to look at my bruises!” Claire raised and eyebrow and chuckled. “I knew it!” The girl exclaimed in indignation turning to her laughing redhead mother. “MOM!! Did you tell her to just poke away at me?! I so don’t like you right now!” She crossed her arms and pouted angrily.
Lindsay chuckled and glanced to Jill, who was leaning against the counter and scowling in the general direction of Claire’s office. “And what is wrong with you?” She asked her friend, putting her phone away.
“I don’t like your daughter’s relationship with my woman.” The blonde said flatly.
“What?” Lindsay was confused.
“Ashley seems to have confided in Denise about her sexuality before she even thought to tell you.” Claire explained. “And therefore made Jill lose a bet.”
“Oh, that.” The inspector nodded absently. “Surprised me a bit too when she told me last night…”
They were quiet for a while, hearing the faint sounds that were coming from Claire’s office, where Ashley and Denise were talking, before Jill turned to her friend. “Is it really true what Lily said? About what happened yesterday?”
“Yeah.” The brunette nodded, a frown marring her features. “God, I want to find those stupid kids and just-” She growled menacingly. Jill settled a hand on her friend’s arm and squeezed. Lindsay took a deep breath and exhaled, before turning to Cindy. “Did she say anything about school?”
The reporter smiled. “She said it was great. No incidents except for one that she wants to tell us about later. She said it was funny and creepy at the same time.”
“I bet it had something to do with Meyers… I still cannot imagine him asking if Ash was okay…” Lily stuck her tongue out in disgust.
Her mother chuckled. “And how are you?”
The young girl huffed and threw a sideways glare at her aunt and mother standing next to her. “You mean, aside from being poked and probed like a dead body? Only thing missing was the bone saw…”
The women laughed at the girl’s frowny face. She just growled and glared at all of them, arms crossed over her chest.
Ashley came bouncing out of her aunt’s office and grinned at the scene. She spotted her recently arrived mother and moved to her side, enveloping her in a hug. “Hey, mom.”
“Hey, yourself. Everything alright?” Lindsay kissed her on the top of her head and patted her back.
“Yup, all is good.” Was mumbled against her shirt, the girl snuggling closer and not letting go. The inspector smiled and rested her chin atop her daughter’s head, closing her eyes in contentment.
Claire, Jill and Denise watched the scene with fond smiles on their faces. Cindy wrapped an arm around Lily and sighed against her red tresses. The girl beamed and wrapped her arms around her mother, irritation about being poked at like a dead body completely forgotten.