Leah waited in her sister's office, nervously pacing the length ofthe room. After dinner she had been told to wait in the office whileMeredith and John finished cleaning up and talked some more. So, with butterflies in her stomach and tears in her eyes, she went upstairs.As she paced she fingered the hem of her thin black zip-up hoodie,that had been strategically placed over top of a teal blue tank top,which in turn, was strategically placed on top of a black tank topwith wider straps. The shirt ensemble matched her denim capri pants perfectly, as they too had a teal blue flower embriodered on one ofthe legs. She considered her clothes to be fashionable, and thoughtabout the shopping trip she and Meredith had taken only a couple ofweeks earlier when her sister bought her an entire new springwardrobe at the more upscale stores in the city.
Maybe Penny didn'tget to take these kinds of shopping trips with her sister or mother.Maybe they couldn't afford to buy new clothes period. Let aloneclothes from expensive trendy shops. Things started to fall intoplace as Leah thought about these things. She always consideredherself to be lucky because Meredith and John constantly reminded her of this, but she didn't generally think of the people whowere "unlucky." People like Penny. But maybe Penny WAS the lucky one. She had parents who loved her enough to complain to the principalabout the other girls making fun of her, and Leah was envious ofthis. Yes, Meredith and John would do the same for her withoutquestion, but it just wasn't the same as her parents doing it forher. She didn't have much more time to dwell on this fact because Meredith opened the door to her office, and closed it softly behindher. Leah turned around to face her sister, looking visibly worried.
Meredith made her way to where Leah was standing and looked down at her timid looking younger sister. It always made Meredith's heartbreak when she had to spank Leah. The look of fear on her face when she was about to be spanked was the same look that Meredith saw on her face the day her parents dropped Leah off and announced that they wouldn't be coming back. She wanted to give Leah everything, to lether do whatever she wanted, to give her back her happiness, but whatshe wanted and what she knew her responsibilities are were two different things entirely.
Meredith wrapped her arms around Leah suddenly, hugging her tightly. Leah clung on as well, enjoying this feeling of safety. She felt like Meredith could protect her from anything. Leah burst into tears for the forth time today, and instead of scolding her, Meredithlet her cry, as she rubbed her back in a calming and motherly way.Time wasn't really of the essence so Meredith just let Leah cry foras long as she wanted. She eventually stopped, and still leaning against her sister enbraced in her large protevtive hug, said "Meredith if the girls at school were mean to me like I was toPenny, would you go to the principal too? Like Penny's Mom did?"
"Of course I would sweetie, I'd do anything for you. You know that."
"What about Mom and Dad? Do you think they would?" Meredith froze when she heard this question. She wasn't expecting it, and she didn't know what to say.
"Well, sweetie, we talked about Mom and Dad, and how their priorities are a little bit different than most people's."
"So you're saying they wouldn't." Leah concluded.
"I am baby. They probably wouldn't do anything. They might pay someone else to do it for them, if they're feeling especially generous that day." this comment earned a small giggle from Leah. "But that doesn't mean anything. What does matter is that John and I, and Addie and Jeremy, we would do anything you needed."
"I know." there was a moment of silence, then Leah spoke again, very softly and genuinely. "I'm sorry you had to leave Oprah today. I knew it was an important day for you. I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't think they'd actually call you in."
"I know. But the upside is...this acts as the perfect example of how your irresponsible actions influence others. And I've told youseveral times before....your actions have consequences, and you're responsible for them."
