The States

too late to apologize

To be honest, Arthur almost turns around when he sees Massachusetts sitting at the kitchen island with her laptop. 

The last time he had talked to Samantha, she had pushed him into the swimming pool, and he wasn't exactly eager for a repeat experience. Arthur sometimes wondered if he should take it as some sort of sign that the state that looked the most like him hated his guts. 

The thing is, Alfred's kids are more important to him than anything else, and if Arthur wants to stick around, he needs to be on their good side too. 

So he instead of turning around, he continues into the kitchen. He starts the kettle and pulls down the box of earl grey and a mug. 

"That's Ginny's mug," Samantha tells him without even glancing up. 

Arthur looks at it and then Samantha. "It says Best Mom Ever."

Samantha actually looks at him this time. "She's Virginia." She says, as if that explains anything. 

It doesn't. Samantha rolls her eyes in response to his continued confusion. "One of her nicknames is the Mother of States, and it annoys her when we call her mom, but she won't get rid of the mug because Kendall got it for her."

"Kendall isn't actually-?"

Samantha raises one eyebrow. "Kentucky, and no, Ginny isn't actually his mom. She might be Sera's mom, but she isn't anyone else's."

Arthur doesn't actually what to say to that, so he chooses to ignore it for the time being. He puts the mug back, and takes a plain black one out instead. 

They're both silent as the kettle boils. 

Arthur clears his throat. "What are you working on?"

Samantha looks at him. "...music theory paper."

The awkward silence resumes. 

Arthur sighs. "Look, Samantha, I'm sorry."

She stops typing abruptly, eyes raising to meet his as she closes the laptop. 

"Do you even know what you're apologizing for?" She puts her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her folded hands. "Alfred always says apologies don't mean anything unless you know what you're apologizing for."

Arthur's silent. 

"See, the way I see it, you aren't my father. Alfred raised me, has always been there for me, no matter what happened. You, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing to do with me for the first 400 years of my life, and spent a good portion of that trash-talking my real dad-"

"I didn't know you existed." Arthur retorts, and Samantha fixes him with stone-cold green eyes. 

"Because you never came around. You ditched Alfred as soon as he wasn't a cute little kid anymore and didn't come back until you wanted to tax us."

Sam stands up, picking her laptop off the table. "Maybe Ginny will play happy family with you, but I already have a dad, and I don't need or want another one."

She turns and leaves, and Arthur opens his mouth to say something but the tea kettle starts whistling, and she's gone by the time he turns it off.