When Vanessa Dawson heard her youngest son slam the door and throw his bag on the floor before stomping into the TV room, she knew he was having a bad day.
"Time to get the Oreos out..." she said to herself, smiling.
Vanessa always had a soft spot for her youngest, who was still a third grader. She loved all three of her children (the eldest were twin girls, Audrey and Stacey, and were already in eighth grade), but Ryan Dawson, who had inherited her red hair, was her heart.
She slowly approached him, carrying a plate full of Double Stuffed Oreos, and a tall glass of milk. One of the old Spiderman films was on HBO, and he was watching it, uninterested. "Hey, Ry," Vanessa said softly, sitting next to him. "Got you some Oreos."
"Thanks, Mom," Ryan replied, looking at her slowly, a hand darting out to take an Oreo.
"Is this the first one, with Goblin?"
"Nah, Doc Ock," Ryan said, continuing to stare at the screen. "I'm glad it's this one; the third one sucked."
"Tell me about it," Vanessa replied, making Ryan laugh.
Ryan loved his mom. She was cool, not like other moms. She actually knew the names of the Avengers and all the superheroes, and didn't get Hawkeye and Captain America mixed up. She also knew all of their alter egos. Sometimes, he secretly thought that she was better at being a guy than his own dad, who didn't even like watching superhero movies. So, that was why he decided to tell her what was on his mind.
"There's this girl at school who won't leave me alone," he said sullenly, making Vanessa smile.
"What's her name?"
"Ugh. Mom. It's not like that," he said, looking at her and frowning. "She always, always, always teases me. She thinks she's so much better than me. She only raises her hand to answer if I'm raising my hand, and she always raises it first. And she kicks my chair and teases me about my glasses and-"
"Bully problems, Ry?" Alex Dawson, Vanessa's husband, came charging in the room, loosening his tie. He bent down to kiss Vanessa and Ryan on the forehead. "Give me his name, so-"
Vanessa shot her eyes at her husband. "She's a girl, Alex. Honestly." Ryan laughed.
"Then... uh... pull her pigtails or something. Nessie, do we have any steak?" Alex walked towards the kitchen. The twins paraded through the door, just arriving from school.
"Dad, no one wears pigtails anymore," Stacey and Audrey chorused, rolling their eyes. "Even the third graders. Right, Ry?"
"Uh, yeah," Ryan said, back to being quiet again. Vanessa sighed, and waited for the girls to go upstairs to talk or do homework, and for Alex to start cooking. When the living room was finally quiet, Vanessa turned back to Ryan.
"Does she make you mad, Ry?" Vanessa asked.
Ryan took another Oreo, and shook his head. "She's annoying, but she doesn't make me mad," he said thoughtfully. "She's like a -" he turned his head to the side, watching his mom, who had a smile on her face. He blushed. "Mom..."
"What?" she said, reaching a hand over to ruffle his head. "It's perfectly normal to have an enemy at your age."
"Really?"
She nodded. "There was this guy back when I was in second grade. He would tug my pigtails, duct tape things to my desk like gum and rocks and things... He even cut off a whole two inches off of my hair one time, and that was the last straw."
Ryan was fascinated. He had never heard this story before. "Then what happened?"
"Well, our moms got so fed up with us that they made us become friends." She smiled, reminiscing.
"And did you become friends?" Ryan asked doubtfully.
"We became best friends," Vanessa said, laughing at her son's incredulous face. "Now am I going to have to call this young lady's mother, or are you going to take it like a man?"
He paused, and shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I'm just going to have to see what she does tomorrow," he said, resigned. But she saw something in his eyes; his attitude towards the girl had changed. Success! she thought to herself, smiling. Now that the plate of Oreos was almost gone, she knew her job was done.
"I'm going to make some dinner, Ry. Those Oreos better not have spoiled your appetite." She told him, before getting up.
"No, mom," he said obediently, and she nodded. Before she exited the room, he called her attention. "Mom?"
"Mm?"
"Her name's Amy Robinson, by the way. Awful Amy."
She laughed, and shook her head at his nickname for her. Vanessa entered the kitchen, where her husband was already preparing the steak. "Girl problems?" he asked her, as she watched him sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.
"Yup," she said, tying back her hair in a long ponytail. "He calls her Awful Amy," she said, standing next to him and winking.
"Awful Amy? Now I know he takes after you," he said, nudging her playfully with his shoulder.
"Of course he does, Awful Alex," she said, stepping up on her toes to give him a peck on the cheek.
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