Subject:  DS: The Next Generation 4
From:  Aesgaard
Date:  Wed Jun 12, 2002  1:19 pm

Amanda's walk home was slightly more spirited than it was in a long time. Silently humming the song that she and her cousin had done in the talent show the night before, she strided calmly across the front veranda of Rose Cottage, pushed the door open and dropped her school books in a chair as she went to the kitchen in back.

"Hi mom," She looked up as she pulled down a banana from above the refrigerator and took a bottled water from the fridge. Maggie glanced up from the books of the aerobics center she shared ownership with Carolyn and stood up as she went after her.

"Amanda, honey," She spoke. "We need to talk."

"About what ?" The girl looked back trustingly as her mother directed her to a dining room chair. Sitting across from her, Maggie held her her daughter's hands.

"Amanda," She started. "There's something I've got to know. Remember I asked you yesterday if there was a boy you liked."

"Yes....." Amanda reacted nervously.

"It's not your cousin William, is it ?" Maggie watched the girl's reaction as the fifteen year old silently gasped. She almost nswered then embarrassingly drew silent.

"Oh my god !!" Maggie's voice grew in pitch. "What have you two been doing ??!!!"

"Mom, it's nothing !!" Amanda panicked as the bottle of water rolled off the dining room table.

"What has he done to you ?!" Maggie stood and grabbed the phone. "I've got to tell Angelique !!!"

"No,no, mom...." Amanda shook her head at her mom and grabbed the phone from her. "Please don't ! You can't tell anyone !!!"

"And give me one good reason why I can't !!"

"He doesn't know !!" Amanda admitted the truth. "He doesn't know......" She retreated back into her shell in embarrassment.

"What ?" Maggie put the phone down as she forced her daughter to sit by her again. "He's your cousin ! What's got into you, honey ?" Her voice was more calm now as she adjusted her daughter's hair. "You're a sweet, beautiful, smart girl."

"No, I'm not." Amanda looked away as she forced herself to talk. "Smart, maybe; but I'm not beautiful."

"But you are."

"Mom, look at me." The girl looked back at her mother. "I've got all this stupid red hair and no figure. All the boys treat me like garbage, especially Jamison. William is the only one who has ever been nice to me."

"That's because he cares about you." Maggie revealed. "He's the oldest among all of you and he looks out for all of you, but honey, he doesn't love you the way you think he does. As far as what you look like, you could wear a little make-up and I can get you new clothes. As far as your brother, let your father and I handle him." Maggie paused as she looked deep into her daughter's eyes and remembered a pig-tailed little girl who often romped in the sand under the cliffs. "Don't let anyone tell you that you're not pretty. You look just like your father." She pulled her close to her heart and hugged her tightly. Amanda was crying just a bit as she heard voices and footsteps on the back mud porch.

"You need to throw the football harder." Quentin was badly out of breath as he dropped in a kitchen chair and stared out to his wife and daughter. "I'm getting old......"

"Yeah," Jamison was sweaty, dirty and grinning as he pulled a bottled water from the fridge. "What are you ? 80 or something ?"

Quentin seemed to be harboring a secret as he took the boy's water, opened it and took the first swallow.

"You'd never believe me if I told you." Quentin looked upon his tall and muscular son and started to miss his own youth. Jamison grabbed a Pepsi to replace his water and started for the back stairs. He noticed his mother and sister in the middle of a moment watching him.

"What is this ?" The eighteen year old wondered. "A female thing ?"

Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis Production.