I'm Right Behind You (Coda)

From Wikipedia:

Coda (Italian for "tail"; from the Latin cauda, see below), in music, is a passage which brings a movement or a separate piece to a conclusion through prolongation....In a series of variations on a theme or in a composition with a fixed order of subjects, the coda is a passage sufficiently contrasted with the conclusions of the separate variations or subjects, added to form a complete conclusion to the whole.

October 17, 2015 - the tenth anniversary of the Report - will be a Saturday. This takes place on the day before. Many things will be different nine years into the future; for one thing, Tim Hortons will have made a thorough expansion into the United States.

Title: I'm Right Behind You (Coda)
Rating: PG
Pairings: Sam/Charlene
Words: ~700
Disclaimer: The usual two.

For the Report character fic: The Colbert Report characters are property of Stephen and the other Report writers. Not mine. Sue me not, please.

And for the real people, the poem:
Please, make no mistake:
these people aren't fake,
but what's said here is no more than fiction.
It only was writ
because we like their wit
and wisecracks, and pull-squints, and diction.
We don't mean to quibble,
but this can't be libel;
it's never implied to be real.
No disrespect's meant;
if you disapprove, then,
the back button's right up there. Deal.

Summary: It's just over a year eleven years after the birth of Samantha Bee's first baby; her career is thriving through the roof, her marriage stable suffering. Then she meets She's also "best friends" with this really, really hot woman. You Piper can guess where it goes from there.

One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Eight - Coda


I'm Right Behind You - Coda

With her backpack slung over one arm and her soccer uniform tucked under the other, Piper Bee-Jones scanned the parking lot. It was empty except for the cars of team moms, but the miniature Smart Fortwo would have stood out even in a full lot, so she spotted it instantly.

The trunk popped open as she approached, and she stuffed her things into it (they fit, but just barely) before climbing into the passenger seat. "Hi, Charlene!"

"Hey, Piper! How was practice?"

"Fine. Where's Mom?"

"She's already at the big party. You know, the Colbert Report's big bash for its tenth anniversary tomorrow . . ."

Piper looked skeptically at her. "I know about that. But Mom said she was going to pick me up. So how come she's not here?"

"Something . . . came up," said the driver tersely.

Piper folded her arms. "You're hiding something. I'm not stupid. Tell me what's going on."

Charlene bit her lip. "It's . . . complicated."

"I'm old enough." Piper sat up as straight as she could and tried to look mature. "I can handle it."

The driver flicked a signal on, slowed, and turned a corner. Piper looked out the window, confused. "This isn't the way home," she protested.

"You're right." Charlene was staring intently at the road. "We're going to Tim Hortons."

Piper's heart sank. "That bad, huh."

"I don't know," admitted Charlene. "Maybe."




A sugar-coated, cream-filled, chocolate-dipped, sprinkle-topped donut would be a distraction from anything short of a nuclear explosion. Piper's mouth was full of one such donut when Charlene's cell phone rang. (She had one of the new jewelry models - a bracelet with a long narrow screen, connected to speakers in her earrings - and Piper was for a moment too jealous to be curious.)

"Hi. What's . . . Hm? Yes, she's with me. Yes, I . . . what? No. Sam, no. I can't . . . what?"

She paused. Piper strained to hear her mother's half of the conversation, but it was no use.

At last, Charlene sighed, not unhappily. "You mean that."

Then she smiled. "All right. I'll be right over."

She hung up and stood frozen for a moment; Piper hurriedly swallowed her donut. "What's going on?"

The woman Piper had known all her life, who was like a third parent to her, who was her mother's best friend, looked down at her and seemed for a moment not to see her. Then her focus returned. "Come on. Bring the donut. We're going to make things right."




A huge hall had been rented for the venue, and it was stuffed with celebrities. Piper knew all of their names - from Steve Carell to William H. Macy - but the star-studded quality of the event didn't faze her. Her own mother was a celebrated television host, and many of the guests had been her co-workers.

Piper had never actually met Stephen Colbert, but she'd watched his show a few times when she knew her mother wouldn't find out; and even if she hadn't known what he looked like, she could have just scanned the room for the man who looked like the ice sculptures.

Colbert looked in her direction, noticed Charlene, and visibly jumped. Piper searched nervously for her parents.

Then the crowd parted, and out strode her mother - graceful, solid, and determined - to give Piper a warm, confident smile before catching Charlene around the waist and kissing her on the lips in full view of everyone.

Eyes popped across the room. Piper noticed her father, mouth hanging open. Stephen's jaw had likewise dropped. Jon Stewart, next to him, had better control, but he clearly hadn't been expecting this.

Was it really possible, Piper wondered, that she was the only one who wasn't surprised?

Then someone let out a wolf whistle, and someone else a whoop, so Piper started clapping. As the silence held, she gave the assembly an impatient look and motioned for them to join in.

They did.

(She didn't see Colbert step worryingly forward; but, though she didn't see this either, Stewart put a hand on his shoulder, and it was understood.)