Down In The Dumps.
Author: Invader Johnny
Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan; I own nothing but this very unexpected idea.
Synopsis: A Death in the family happen, Both Tori and Trina are coming to terms with with it but their respective spouses don't like how they are dealing with it, Tori/Jade and Trina/Gibby.
Author Notes: Well I was watching "Life Of Brian" the other day, by far one of my favourite episodes of "Family Guy" not because Brian died but because of the grief and emotional despair the Griffin family went through after his (temporary) demise, I liked that because it showed how much Brian meant to the family (even thought by the next few episodes he was forgotten) anyways I was inspired to do something similar... Since the death of a loved one is never easy to overcome as fast as anyone would hope.
And I have to say that if you don't feel any kind of sadness as you read this fic then you are all dead inside.
Be warned it IS kinda angst-y.
"Hey, Jade?" Cat called out, walking into the West's household.
Silence was the only thing to welcome her.
"Jade?"
The petite woman made her way towards the living room, "Anybody here?"
Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Cat walked deeper into the hallways of the house, increasing speed with each step. "Jade? JADE?!"
Once she made it to the living room, she was greeted with an odd sight.
Jade was sitting silently in the sofa with Gibby next to her, things got even weirder when she noticed that her friend didn't have a pair of sciccors in her hands like she usually did when she and Gibby were in the same room, she always had to scare him in some way, it was always her way of getting under Trina's skin, much to the chagrin of her relatives.
But that didn't seem to be a priority for her now since the two in-laws were quietly sitting, unmoving... Staring into the wall as if some big event was about to unfold, in Cat's opinion they were like statues, it was disturbing seeing them this way.
"Jade? Gibby?"
"Huh? Oh…Cat... It's you" The Thespian mumbled from her spot on the sofa, then she looked at the man sitting besides her. "Look who it is Gibson".
"Hi" He said emotionlesly.
"What's going on?" Cat frowned, the feeling that something was wrong got stronger. "Is everything alrighty?"
Jade shook her head. "No Cat... Everything is anything but all right"
"Well what is it?" She asked concerned, sitting down next to her best friend.
The pale woman sighed. "I don't know if I should tell you"
"Why not?"
"Have you seen Tori?" Jade asked, hoping the question would make things a bit less dark.
"No, she was suppose to come with me to buy some stuff for a party next week but she never showed up at my place"
"I don't think Tori is going to be in the mood for a party anytime soon Cat."
"Neither will Trina" Gibby said softly.
"You guys are starting to scare me" The former redhead whimpered "What happened?"
The dark haired woman sighed dejectedly "Mr Vega died."
Cat gasped. "What?"
"We got the call a few hours ago" Jade told her heavily. "The morgue called us first, then they called Gibby's house"
"What-what happened?" Cat whispered. "How could he have died? He was in good health!"
"He died in the line of duty" Jade said darkly. "There was a damn robbery in progress, he went in without a second thought... The damn robber pulled out a gun and... And... Had a pregnant woman at gunpoint, fucking low... Mr Vega acted on instinct and leap in front of the woman, taking the bullet"
The other woman wanted to say something, anything! Her mouth however wouldn't react, but her eyes said more than enough.
"I know Cat, I know" Jade muttered, she always had a way to read her best friend like a book "The loss of blood was massive, like a big puddle of red goo, paramedics tried to save him, they tried to take him to the hospital as quickly as they could... By the time they arrived... It was too late"
"Oh my God," Cat said softly, putting her hand over her mouth. "That's terrible!"
"Yeah... It was" Jade said, shaking her head "He got hit in the stomach"
"Jadey? Where's Tori?" Cat asked uncertainly. "How is she?"
"She's at the morgue right now, both her and Trina are" Jade replied. "They had to identify their father's body, afterwards I think they are gonna do some paper work or something…I dunno"
"Well why aren't you with them?"
"We did offer to go along with them" Gibby answered this time "But they said they just wanted to be alone, we didn't like the idea... I mean, their father just got killed!, they shouldn't have to be alone, they should be with us trying to comfort them on such a hard time!"
"I think it's a sister thing" Jade said sadly "I remember Tori telling me that growing up they always feared their dad wouldn't make it home one day, they hated his job but knew they couldn't keep him from doing it, it was what he loved... The man was in his sixty's, he should have retired by now but he refused to, too damn stubborn to do so, both Trina and Tori begged him to retire... They didn't like that a man his age continued to risk his life when he's no longer in the shape he once was, they wanted to see him spend his few remaining years on this Earth relaxing and now... Well now it's their worst nightmare come true... I can't imagine what's even going through their heads at this moment"
"Did... Did they catched the man who shot him?"
Jade laughed sarcastically "Man? It wasn't a man, it was a fucking teenager who was high on cocaine and thought he could make a quick buck by stealing from a damn jewellery store!"
"But to answer your question Cat" Gibby said bitterly "No they didn't catch him... The boy took his own life after he realized what he did, the kid didn't want to go to jail"
"Fucking coward" Jade sneered in disgust. "Taking the easy way out instead of paying for what he did... If he was still alive I swear I would have mutilated his body by now!"
"It's not something Mr Vega would have aproved off Jade" Cat said sadly "You know that right?"
"Ugh, yeah I do" The other woman said in defeat " It's just... I can't believe he's really gone... I mean just last night we had dinner with him, I even talked to the man this morning! THIS MORNING! And You know what he said to me?"
Cat shook her head.
"He said that he was going to retire next week... He wanted to tell Tori and Trina in person and not to spoil the surprise, he apparently had something planned... It's twisted, seven fucking days away from taking a well earned rest, just imagine, if he had retired today then he would still be around... Now it feels as if a part of me just got ripped out..."
"It hurts" Gibby said "That's about sums it up"
For Cat and Jade it was weird to see the normally weird man act so mature and serious, but he was right, it did hurt, over the years the man who could easily intimate them both came to accept both Jade and Gibby as the newest members of his family without a hitch, when they married Tori and Trina respectively, Mr Vega was always the one they went to when they needed advice, both of them grew to love and respect him like a surrogate father, so when they heard the the news of the shooting, it really hit them hard.
"Who else knows? Cat asked.
"Danielle and Tawny called me an hour ago" Jade responded "They read the news on their phones... They hoped it was a mix-up"
"You told them it wasn't?"
"It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do but yeah I told them...They're on their way home" Jade answered "They took the rest of the afternoon off from their classes, they don't want Tori and I to be alone, not at this moment"
"What about Anthony?"
The former Goth was silent.
"Jade?"
"He didn't take the news too well... This... This is the first major death we've had in the family. I think he's still in shock, he's ten... He understands the concept of death but I don't think he is ready to actually deal with it"
"What about your sons, Gibby?"
"Alex and Noah took it with a grain of salt" He replied "They won't say much but I know my boys, they are obviously affected, they're staying with my mom right now, trying to deal with it by fixing her car and doing other things around her place, I think that they just want to keep the grim reality at bay right now but they promised they will be here for their grandfather's funeral."
"I'm sorry"
"Not your fault Kitty" Jade said.
Suddendly Cat hugged her best friend, in normal circumstances the dark haired girl would have counted to three to theaten Cat to stop hugging her but right now? It was very welcoming.
Tears ran down the brunette's eyes "Is there anything I can do?"
Jade shook her head "Let us mourn Cat, that's all you can do"
after the hug, the former redhead got to her feet and said with her lips quivering "I'm gonna go... Let you be sad... But call me if you need anything"
Her friend smiled sadly "I will Kitty."
"Do you think I should call Tori tonight?"
"It might be better to wait," Gibby said "I think it's best to let both her and her sister deal with this on their own before they talk to anyone else"
"Okay," Cat said. "Let them know my door is open for them at any time and that... That I'm sorry this happened"
"We will," Jade uttered.
After Cat left, Gibby sighed "Jade?"
"What?"
"Do you think it would be ok if Trina and I spent the night?" He asked tiredly "I don't want my wife to be at our house right now"
Jade understood the reasoning behind the request, after Gibby and Trina got married, Mr Vega gave them the house his daugthers grew up as a wedding present, she knew that house held so many memories for her sister-in-law and it could cause some more unnecessary angst.
And for once Jade did not want Trina to be in despair.
"I think... I think you guys are going to be here a while" She said tiredly "Go home, get some clothes for you two, because I have the feeling that if you hadn't asked, Tori might have offered"
"Thanks"
The man got up from the couch, heading towards his car.
"Oh and Gibby?"
"Umm?"
"Do me a favor and get some dinner for everyone... With what's been going on, I'm sure that cooking will be the last thing in Anthony's mind."
"Will do."
He closed the door as he left the West household.
Once she was sure Gibby was gone, Jade started to cry.
Half an hour later Jade walked into her son's bedroom "Okay, Anthony? How you doing?"
He simply gave a small shrug, but his mother noticed that his eyes were red and puffy, right next to him was their pet silver fox which was unusually quiet.
About five years ago "Foxy" as the silver animal was unoriginally dubbed by her wife escaped from some organisation that did some illegal (and cruel) experiments on animals; Jade found it by accident one day and was originally going to send it to a zoo but eventually the family decided to keep him, the fox became quite loyal after being showed some love and affection.
"Come here," Jade said, pulling him into a hug. "I know this hurts."
"Is grandpa really not going to come back?" He asked weakly, stroking Foxy's hair.
"Fraid not" She said gently. "That's what happens when you die."
"This bites."
"It does" Jade agreed "But there's nothing we can do about it"
"How's mama dealing with this?"
"Well... She's going to be feeling very, very sad for awhile."
"Are you sad Mom?"
"Yeah... I am."
"You don't look like it."
"But I am" She confirmed "I just don't want everyone in the house to seem like it."
"You can show you're sad, you know that, right Mom?" Tony asked quietly "I don't think anyone cannot be sad right now"
Jade sighed, she internally recalled a time when loved to see Tori feeling down in the dumps, but things have changed so much since high school, now the mere thought of her wife being miserable in any way shape or form was pretty much eating her alive.
she didn't dare to ponder on what exactly Tori was thinking at this moment, let alone imagine what she was going through, but the Thespian suspected that her wife must have felt like she lost a part of herself, which in a way was the grim reality.
Jade knew the moment Tori came come she would have to be there emotionally for her wife, in the meantime she was coping with the situation in the only way she knew how, by being with her kids.
"Your grandpa would have understood."
"Really?"
"Yes"
"How would you know?"
"I just do."
"If you say so mom."
"Your sisters are gonna be home in a little while.
"Do they...?"
Jade nodded.
"Are they...?"
She nodded again.
"Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"What happens when you die?"
The woman frowned "I... I don't know for sure."
"But do you think that grandpa in a better place?"
"You know what Anthony?" She smiled sadly "I believe he is."
"MOM! MAMA!" Danielle and Tawny yelled out as they entered the house.
Jade looked up from the table, she and Anthony decided they needed a distraction from the grim atmosphere that struck them all, so they were playing scrabble, it was a weak attempt to say the least since neither of them had their head in the game.
In fact most if not all the letters they spelled out were "Death" "Gone" "Police" "Perished" "unfair" and so on.
It was as if every word in the damn English language decided to mock them, constantly reminding everyone that Mr Vega was no longer around because of a stupid crack addict.
The Thespian was about to throw the board game across the room when both her adult daughters quickly entered the kitchen, the first thing she noticed was that their eyes were red and puffy, the anguish in their faces clear as day.
"Girls... How are you...?"
The twins quickly went towards their mother and hugged her, they started to cry all over again.
"Where's Mama?" Tawny hiccuped.
"At the hospital I think" Jade said, in truth, she had no idea, she hadn't heard from her wife in the last few hours and she was beginning to get worried, The pale woman just assumed her spouse could very well be at the morgue, saying goodbye to her father or doing paperwork to give him a death certificate, or even went with Trina to mourn someplace as the sisters should, there were so many places she could be.
"How is she?" Danielle asked.
"Like us all" Their mother said "Angry and sad."
The family shared a hug after that, not wanting to be apart.
"I miss him" Danielle said.
"All of us do."
Foxy whimpered worriedly.
"I know boy" Anthony said to his pet "I know."
Later that night, Jade was laying in her and Tori's bed, trying not to worry. It was past midnight, and Tori still wasn't home, and she wasn't answering her phone.
She sighed, Danielle and Tawny were spending the night, they didn't want neither of their mothers to be alone at such a grim time, but they had obligations to their education first and Jade had to remind them of that so the girls were planning on returning to their respective college campuses the next day, Danielle had a major report on animal biology that was worth half her grade and Tawny was working with her roommate to create a few voices for a collaboration with the animation department of her college, if done right it could be a window if opportunities since voice acting was a hard to thing achieve, but at the moment their assignments weren't that important to the twins.
Since both young women were worried sick for their mama.
Gibby was having the same problem with his wife, once he returned, the chubby man kept calling Trina only to get voicemail every time.
It was frustrating to say the least but neither of them were going to complain, both their wives had a good reason to be a little distant at the moment.
After the call had come in about her father, Jade remembered Tori standing still, almost as if time had stopped. She had put an arm around her wife but she quickly shrugged it off and mumbled that she needed to get going, she needed to see it with her own eyes.
That was hours ago and she hadn't heard from Tori since.
Just then Jade heard the front door of the house open, and a few seconds later she heard footsteps coming upstairs.
"You can take the guest room down the hall Treen"
"Thank you Tori... I'll see you tomorrow... Night."
"Night"
The Half-Latina opened the door only to be greeted by the worried face of her wife.
"Oh, I-I thought you'd be asleep by now," Tori said when he saw her wife, wide awake, on the bed. "You didn't need to wait up for me."
"I wanted to," Jade said softly, "I just had to know you were going to get home."
"I'm here...Just tired."
The thespian got up from the bed and pulled her wife into an embrace. "Baby…come here... How... How are you doing?"
"I'm okay," Tori shrugged. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her pants, carelessly tossing them onto the floor instead of putting them into the dirty basket like she normally did. "Trina and I just had a ton of paperwork to fill out at the hospital... It was grueling"
"Is that where you were this whole time?" Jade asked as Tori pulled back the covers to her side of the bed.
"No… Actually after that we went back to our dad's apartment," She answered.
"Oh.. And... How was it? Her spouse asked carefully.
Tori sighed, not meeting Jade's eyes as she climbed into bed. "We went through some things… Photos and junk..."
"Anything good?"
"I didn't even know my dad still had baby pictures of us" Tori commented "Trina and I were surprised to see he had so many in just one box, we figured Holly took them and burned them when they divorced"
Jade grunted in surprise "Why would you think that?"
"I just thought that in a moment of rage she would have done it" Tori replied emotionlessly "You weren't there but the night I came out to her? I could practically see anything motherly she once had towards me going down into a blazing inferno"
The dark haired woman's blood boiled in anger, she never got the full details of that night, over the years she subtly put the subject on the table but never got a straight answer out of her wife, she had however seen it in Tori's eyes, she wanted to share the events of "the worst night if her life" but always backed down at the last moment, why? She didn't know and Jade was losing hope that she would ever find out.
The only other person who knew what truly happened was Trina but she wasn't about to go behind her wife's back on such a grim subject, when Tori was reader she would reveal everything but now wasn't about to ask again, it would open up a wound that hadn't completely healed when a fresh one just popped up a few hours ago, so instead she thought of something else to question her about.
"A box?" That's odd, Why not put the photos in an album?"
Tori shrugged again.
"I guess tomorrow One of us should call the funeral home and..."
"I'll do that," Jade quickly volunteered. "Don't worry about it."
"No, it's alright, Trina and I can handle it," The tanned woman told her. "My dad's co-workers kept calling us while we were at his apartment, they kept telling us how sorry they were and that they want to help with the funeral, his squad want to give my dad their finals respects.
"That's nice"
"Holly also called."
Jade froze "Your mom called you?"
She nodded.
"What did she want?"
"Nothing"
"Tori" Jade spoke worriedly "What... did... she... want?"
"She's going to the funeral" The younger woman answered "She wants to make amends with dad"
"A little too late for that don't you think?"
"She wants to talk to his tombstone.. I don't know" Tori muttered "Or maybe she wants to talk to me, I wasn't really listening and to be honest, I wasn't that interested in hearing what she had to say."
"But how you feel about her going to the funeral?"
"Did you tell the kids yet?" Tori asked instead, changing the subject.
"Of course," Jade nodded. "The twins were crying when they heard, but I think Anthony took it the hardest though..."
"I bet, I mean he looked up to him."
"They were angry, but I had to remind them that their grandpa died a hero."
Her wife didn't say anything to that.
"Baby," Jade said, putting her arms around her spouse "I know how hard this has to be for you. Just-Just let me handle the funeral arrangements and everything, okay? I think you should just focus on you and-"
"No Jade!, really, it's okay," Tori told her. "I can plan my dad's funeral... It's just something Trina and I have to do ourselves... Besides, We're gonna have to pack up his apartment too…"
"I'll go with you!" Jade exclaimed, "That way don't have to do this alone"
"My sister's gonna help" The brunette pointed out "So I'm not gonna do this alone."
"Still, two people isn't enough, let me help you"
Tori shook her head. "Baby, it's just something only Trina and I have to do, he was our dad, his entire life is in that apartment"
"Yeah, but..."
"I don't want anyone else to do this"
"At least let me drive you" Jade pleaded "I.. Can pick you up when your done too!"
"I'm really tired," Tori interrupted as she turned off the lamp at her bedside. "I think I just wanna get some sleep right now."
"Okay," Jade said in defeat. "But baby... you know I'm here for you, right?"
"Yeah," Tori nodded. "I know you are. Good night."
"Good night," She said softly as she watched her wife's eyes close.
The former Goth didn't sleep until a few hours later.
Subconsciously the two women found their way to the other's arms, never letting go.
"Hey baby."
Trina looked surprised to see her husband but composed herself right away "Gibby?"
"I been trying to call you all day" The man said "I figured you wouldn't want to be home so I asked Jade to let us stay here a few days"
"That's nice of you Gibs" Trina told him kindly "But I don't think you had to do that, we can go back to the house tomorrow"
"Or we can stay here" He said, his tone clearly giving away the concern towards his wife "Jade is fine with it and I don't think your sister would mind having us around for a while"
"Be that as it may I still want to go to my house" Trina said "I want to be with all my boys and I'm not gonna let something so simple as my dad's death preventing me to go back."
"Simple as...? Gibby stammered, a bit baffled and shocked by her comment. "Trina, your dad just died! That's not simple!"
"Well its a part of life isn't it?!" She retorted in irritation.
"Well yeah but..."
"But nothing, we are going home as soon as Tori and I finish things up at our dad's apartment."
"Fine"
"Good"
A few minutes later Trina got next to her husband to sleep, he desperately wanted her to open up since she couldn't be ok but didn't know exactly what to say, this was a very delicate subject, one wrong word could be a fight and that's not what he wanted so instead he sighed in defeat, only giving his spouse a good night kiss and a mental promise that she wouldn't hold things inside for long.
She had to cry eventually, it was the healthy response.
The moment Trina closed her eyes, Gibby's phone went off, he was glad it was on vibrate or his wife would have woken up, he saw a picture of his eldest son Noah and picked up.
"Hi dad."
"Hello son."
"Is mom with you?" He asked "Alex and I been trying to call her but went straight to mailbox."
"Yeah, she's here."
"And? How is she?"
Gibby gazed at his sleeping spouse "She's dealing with it."
"Is that good?"
"I'm not really sure son." He admitted, I'm not sure at all.
"Hello Jadelyin."
"Hi dad."
"My deepest condolences."
Jade grunted, she may be on better terms with her father, but he still had problems expressing things.
"I think you need to tell Tori that."
"I know." He agreed "But let's not forget that David was also your father in law, you're also in pain, I can tell."
She said nothing to that, her father gave her a curt nod before making his way in search of his daughter in law and give her his condolences.
"Hey," Cat said, walking in a few seconds later, she was not exactly thrilled about the fact that she was near a graveyard but she summoned her courage for her best friends. "This is nice... I mean that so many people came to see Mr. Vega one last time, I think he would have liked to know how many people loved him and stuff."
"I guess so" Jade sighed. "Where's Robbie?"
"Oh he's parking the car, he just thought it would be best if I came to see you guys first.. He doesn't exactly have a good way with cops, and I think he just want tone alone for a bit before he enters the place with so many policemen around"
"Ah I see, you brought Lukas along I assume?"
"I think he was with Tawny trying to comfort her."
"That's nice of him."
"Well my goddaughter needs some comfort and who better to give it to her than my son, right?"
"I suppose."
"Where's Tori?" The former redhead finally asked after her poor excuse at small talk. "I hope she's feeling better."
"She's with Trina running around somewhere worrying about whether or not there's enough food for the reception" Jade said. "I'm really worried about her Cat."
"Why?"
"Because its been four days since her dad died!" She hissed. "And she hasn't really, you know, acted sad or anything."
"Are you sure?" Cat frowned.
"Yes I'm sure!" Jade growled. "She's been going nuts trying to do everything with her sister, those two cleaned out his entire apartment in less than a day, they been refusing my help or Gibby's for that matter to plan the funeral… and they haven't even shed one tear... One fucking tear... That's the worst, it's like they just don't want to deal with it!"
"Well uh... People mourn differently Jadey"
"This isn't mourning" Jade snapped "This is... I dunno what this is but I need to end it"
"Then do it with Gibby" Cat said "You two are family and need your wives to be ok."
"I know," She replied heavily. "I know... We been trying but it's like there's this barrier that keeps us from getting through to them" She looked across the room and saw Gibby going their way.
"Hey Cat" The man greeted.
"Hey"
"Nice of you to come."
"Of course I came" The petite woman said firmly "I wanna be here for Tori"
Speaking of the devil, Jade saw both her wife and sister in law talking to her father, she couldn't hear what they were saying but she could only assume that he was telling them how sorry he was for their loss, after that he walked away, leaving Trina and Tori to check the table.. For the sixth time.
"This is getting ridiculous."
"What is?"
"Hey, can you keep greet people as they arrive Kitty?" Jade asked her friend. "I think its time we try talking to our wives again"
"Sure," Cat agreed.
Jade grabbed her brother in law by the arm and pulled him towards their spouses.
As they arrived they cleared their throats at the same time.
Trina and Tori turned around "Oh hi."
"Hey," Jade and Gibby replied back.
"Do you think there are enough drinks for the reception? Tori asked her sister.
"I think we're almost out in here." Trina replied.
"We should probably get more"
"Maybe"
"Oh no your not" Jade told them darkly. "We need to talk to you two now."
"But We need to go talk to the caterers about the..."
"It can wait," Gibby said, taking his wife's hand without another word, Jade did the same.
They led the two sisters away from the crowd of people paying their lasts respects to the fallen cop.
"Jade I really need to get back down there," Tori said. "There's still a lot to..."
"Gibby whatever you need to tell me it can wait!" Trina said at the same time.
"Ok you two, We know what you're doing," Jade said as the two couples made their way into an empty room.
"Yeah!"
"What exactly is that?" Trina asked, confused.
"You're trying to keep yourself busy to try and keep your mind off of this whole thing," Gibby said.
"That's ridiculous," Tori denied.
"Is it?" Her wife retorted "Because the last time I check its normal to cry when someone you love is six feet under and the both of you haven't even shed a single tear for your father!"
"Trina, it's okay, I get it," Gibby said. "You're upset but you don't need to keep it inside of you!"
"No, you two don't get it! We... Are.. Fine!" Trina snapped. "Right Tori?"
"Yeah, we are"
"Tori! Trina!" Their spouses yelled out at the same time "You haven't cried once since you two found out he was killed!"
Both in laws looked at each other, Gibby was about to say something but Jade shot him a death glare.
"You say Jinxs and I swear I'll chop off your arms with my sciccors and shove them up your ass"
Gibby shuts his mouth.
"Come on Trina, let's check who else arrive"
"I'm right behind you"
"Don't you dare move!" Jade hissed "You two aren't going back in there until you let things out"
"What's there to let out Jade!" Tori snapped "We already accepted that he's not gonna come back!"
"This sort of things happen all the time!" Trina said afterwards "Nothing we can do now"
"We know they do," Gibby said. "But...But that doesn't mean you have to be okay with them."
The sisters didn't say nothing to that.
"You know," Jade said, squeezing Tori's hand. "You're the one who always told me that it's not good to just keep all your feelings bottled up, that it's important to just let everything out sometimes... So baby, please follow your own advice."
Tori still said nothing.
"Trina, crying doesn't make you weak" Gibby spoke seriously "It makes you human, don't act all distant or that it doesn't bother you, it's not healthy, you're not a robot, your a person!"
"Your dad was a good guy Tor" Jade whispered. "I mean it, he kept you safe," She looked at Trina as well "Both of you...And he always wanted what was best for the both of you... He did a damn good job raising you, he loved you, please do the same and show him you loved him by mourning his passing in a healthy way, he wouldn't want you both to be so... Repressed."
That did it, days worth of bottled up emotions, the two women finally broke down.
"DADDY!" They wailed uncontrollably.
Trina and Tori held each other tightly, sobbing like there was no tomorrow, their spouses finally acomplished what they were set to do but were having mix feelings of what they were witnessing.
Eventually both sisters seeked a different sort of reassurance so they latched onto Jade and Gibby, not once did they stopped crying.
"I don't want him to be gone Jade!" Tori sobbed as her wife put her arms around her "Why couldn't that stupid kid just accept that he was outnumbered? Why did he had to pull the trigger?!"
"I dunno baby" Jade answered "I just don't know"
"It hurts so much Gibby!" Trina wailed "Make the pain go away please!"
"I will... But right now you got to allow yourself to feel sad"
"You too Tor" Jade said "That's how the healing begins"
"That's right" He agreed, rubbing his wife's back, feeling her tears drop onto his neck. "It's going to get easier, okay? I promise."
"DAD!"
"PAPI!"
The sisters didn't stop crying for about an hour, Jade and Gibby kept holding them, stroking their hair as they whispered soothing words into their ears.
"Shh shh,...It's gonna be all right, baby... I promise."
"Let it all out Trina."
After both sisters had been all cried out the two married couples decided to get back.
"Excuse me?"
The foursome gazed to met the eyes of a young woman.
"Yes?" Tori asked "May we help you?"
"Um... Is this David Vega's funeral"
"It is"
"Ok good um.. Are you his family?"
"We're his daughters" Trina answered this time.
"Oh... My deepest condolences."
"Yeah... Thank you"
"Um...You might not know me but I'm Sheila Sternwell"
"Nice to meet you" Tori said politely.
"likewise... She said uneasily "Well I just came here to pay my respects to your father... He... He was a brave man."
"How you know our dad?" Trina asked suspiciously.
"I didn't... Well not technically... He saved my life... Actually he saved my child's life too" The woman said as she pointed at her stomach.
The four people's eyes widened in shock.
"I understand if you don't want me here" Sheila said "I just... I wanted to give my respects, he was a good cop and I am sorry for your loss."
The pregnant woman was about to leave until Tori said "Stay"
"Are you sure?"
The Half-Latina smiled sadly "My dad gave his life so you and your baby could live, I think he would have liked for you to be here"
Sheila smiled sadly "Thank you."
Several minutes later everyone was sitting in front of the casket.
Gary, David's partner and closest friend cleared his throat "First of all... Thank you all for coming, we are here to say goodbye to a friend and family member who was taken from us before his time came"
A few of Mr Vega's former squad members agreed in murmurs.
"Now I know many of you would like to say a few words to our fallen comrade" The man said "But I believe if anyone should start then it would be his own flesh and blood."
He nodded to both the grieving women, Trina was the one who took the stand.
She cleared her throat, looked at her father's closed casket and melancholically began to speak "My name is Trina Gibson, I was his first born child... My dad... There is a bunch of things I could say about him... In fact my sister and I wrote a whole speech to say to him and you all but... But I don't think that's the right way to say good bye to him so eventually we came up with a poem which we would like to read to you all.. So, Tori if you would please come up here and join me"
Tori did as she was told and took the stand next to her sister, soon enough both of them began to recite the poem.
"Gone But Not Forgotten
The years we've shared have been full of joy.
The memories we've made will go on and on.
I haven't stopped crying since you went away,
and I've asked God time and time why couldn't you stay.
You lit up my life, my hopes, and my dreams.
You've opened my eyes to see what it all means.
So now that you're gone how can I forget;
Because you were the greatest out of all I have met."
After they told their poem, their children came forward with little anecdotes about their grandfather, eventually Jade and Gibby had their turns .
But it didn't stopped there, more and more people came forward to talk and offer condolences and support to the family with encouraging words and prayers.
The family would thank them all but the look of despair in their eyes never faded. Jade thought it would always be there. As Tori and Trina, they just stared blankly ahead, seemingly not hearing anything or feeling the comforting hugs that people kept giving them.
Then the hard part came.
"As a tribute to David" Gary began to say "We are shooting twenty one bullets into the sky"
Ten squad members stood up and directed their guns up.
"Let it rip"
As the men started shooting their guns, the casket began to lower into the freshly dug hole, as it went deeper and deeper, The family began to weep all over again.
Jade held her crying wife as they, their three children and pet fox quietly looked into the ground.
Trina too was being held by her husband, their two sons next to them.
"Goodbye daddy."
From a safe distance, a lone figure was sadly seeing it all.
Holly Vega knew she wasn't welcome but she still wanted to say good bye to her ex-husband so she would wait until everyone would leave.
"Goodbye David."
Well this might be the end… I'm not sure if I'm gonna come up with a second chapter or a sequel since I wanted to write something with a grim ending and there is no sadder ending than that of a funeral, to be honest I'm not very satisfied with how I finished this but I feel that the rest of the fic was very emotional so I kinda made up for it right?
To clear things up a bit, Jade and Tori's daughters are older than Trina and Gibby's sons because Jade and Tori got married first and had children long before Trina ever got pregnant, why? Because she was worried she would look unattractive to her husband, so Gibby had to convince her that he wouldn't see her less attractive if her body changed, Tawny and Danielle are in College while Alex and Noah are in high school.
So, you may all be wondering why Jade and Tori have a pet fox? well I wanted the to have an unusual pet since the family is not normal and I read that the silver fox has become somewhat domesticated so why not?
This fic is part of my "50 Shades of Jori" universe so you can all bet that I will eventually write how Foxy became a part of the West family in my "Parenthood" Saga, so be on the lookout for that.
You may also wonder why Holly kept the Vega surname, well this will be explain in a later fic, ok?
So be patient with me I have so many ideas for this Jori universe it's hard to pick which one to do next.
Anyways, tell me watcha all think of this story?
Invader Johnny Signing Off.