DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, Showtime, Gekko etc. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Written as part of the 31 Aspects meme. Prompt from Cabenson.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author

Chocolate Lunch
By ralst

 

"Mom!"

Cassandra slammed the front door shut and threw her book bag the length of the living room to fall, abused, to the floor. Hands on hips, she surveyed the chaos that was her home and silently cursed the whole idea of spring cleaning.

"Mom!"

A sound reminiscent of charging elephants sounded from above and, seconds later, Janet hurried into the room, her blouse half undone and a harried look on her face.

"Cassie? What's wrong?" Before the last word was even out of her mouth, Janet had started a physical examination of her daughter, starting with a hand to her temple and then quickly moving on to examine her eyes.

"Don't do that." Cassie slapped her hands away. "What were you doing?"

Janet ignored the question. "Why are you home? Did something happen at school? Are you sick?"

With a sigh of exasperation the likes of which only a teenager could manage, Cassie slumped into the nearest chair. "I didn't have any money for lunch."

"I packed you lunch."

"You packed me weeds and cardboard bread," she complained.

"It's good for you." With a shake of her head, Janet turned and headed for the kitchen, surreptitiously fastening her blouse as she did so. "It'll have to be a cheese sandwich; it's all I have in until I do the shopping this afternoon," she called back.

"Cheese," Cassie whined, from directly behind her mother. "That's so booooring."

"Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Cassie was about to respond when she saw what looked suspiciously like chocolate wrappers littering the counter top. Pushing past her mother, she examined the crumpled wrappers, the familiar logos sending a wave of hunger throughout her body.

"You've been eating chocolate?" She picked up what she thought was another wrapper, only to have her fingers smeared with honey as the remnants from the tiny sachet dribbled onto her hands. "Honey? I don't believe this."

"Now, Cassie, it's not what -"

"Peanut butter!" Cassie's voice took on the shrill tone of outrage. "My peanut butter!"

"I was -" Janet's mind whirled with possible excuses but each one was quickly dismissed before being replaced by something even more ludicrous. "- baking."

Cassie looked about the kitchen, its disused oven and neatly tidied pots and pans. The only sign of cooking in the entire room was the pan of boiling water left to cool in the sink. She moved closer to Janet, her suspicions confirmed as she saw the telltale signs of chocolate consumption on her mother's lips.

"Chocolate!"

Janet felt as if she'd been accused of selling secrets to the Goa'uld. "It's -" Her tongue poked out to eradicate the damning evidence, but it was too late. "I'm sorry, Cass: I got hungry."

"Hurumph!" Arms crossed and scowl firmly in place, Cassie held out her hand. "I hope you left some for me?"

"I -" Janet's eyes flickered upwards before returning to scour the surrounding area for her purse. "Here." She held out twenty dollars. "Why don't you buy yourself lunch at the school cafeteria?"

Cassie's scowl intensified.

"You can keep the change."

Mollified, Cassie relieved her mother of the money, turned and sauntered out the door with a look of utter superiority on her face.

"Pssst."

Janet looked towards the stairs.

"Is the coast clear?"

The sight of Sam's barely clothed body brought a smile to Janet's face - until she saw the smudge of chocolate and honey adorning her neck.

"Next time I invite you over here for lunch, we're eating at the kitchen table."

A smirk appeared on Sam's face and her bathrobe slipped an extra couple of inches.

"That's not what I -" Throwing up her hands in defeat, Janet grabbed the last sachet of honey and chased Sam up the stairs.

The End

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