“Out of control!” Caroline announced at the top of her lungs as she stormed into the kitchen where Alaric was making a sandwich. “Our kids are out of control!”
“What do you mean?” Alaric looked thoroughly confused. Everything had gone well - the talks, the punishments, all of it. It was all very much under control - or, at least, he had thought it was.
“I mean they’re doing drugs, they’re lying, they’re being - they’re being b- no, I can’t say that about my daughters.” Caroline shook her head and bit her thumbnail as she thought of a better word. “Disrespectful! They’re being disrespectful!”
“What happened?” 
“You tell me! I left for Hong Kong with two polite, respectful, sober daughters, and I come back to these - these - these -”
“Do you want a sandwich?” Alaric held out his dinner. 
“No.” Caroline’s shoulders slumped in defeat, anger dissipating. “But I will take a blood bag.” She smiled hopefully and pointed to the fridge behind him. “I just don’t know what happened. It’s like all of a sudden they’re -”
“Old enough to make their own decisions but young enough to make the wrong ones?” Alaric held out the blood bag. 
“Fuck you.” Caroline smiled and took her dinner. “You don’t get to be the zen, philosophical parent. It’s not fair! I want to be that chill when our daughters are acting out.”
“Well, think of it this way,” Alaric said. “How much trouble had you gotten in by their age?” 
“I was dead by their age.” 
“Well then think of how much trouble I had gotten into by their age. There’s probably half a dozen police reports still in my file at the sheriff’s station if you need a refresher.” 
“And what?” Caroline scoffed. “We turned out fine, so they’ll automatically turn out fine? What about all the other people who didn’t turn out fine? Hmm? What about all the kids like Kai Parker who didn’t turn out fine? I bet their parents thought they’d grow out of it.”
“Well, neither of our kids is a sociopath who killed the other.” 
“Yet,” Caroline deadpanned, half-joking, before she realized what she said. She almost spit out the blood in her mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m tired. I had a long flight home, and then this -” 
“It’s fine. Go rest up for tomorrow.”
“What’s tomorrow?”
“The Salvatore School’s first game day!”