Note: This came to me from a reference in my Violated story that I wanted to explore. This has nothing to do with that story otherwise. Also, like the After stories, this was not betaed by the talented LoganX5 so any mistakes are mine & any typos are my amazing Hulk-like fingers. And, if you like well-written, humorous and hot stories, check out Loganx5 – many good iCarly stories, some Hannah Montana (good stories too & I never watched the show) & 2 of my favorite Victorious stories – Tori Tries Something New and it's on-going sequel Tori Tries It Again.
"Mom?!" Elizabeth wailed.
"What?!" Jade West yelled back, already upstairs in the family game room outside.
"Oh!" Liz said, surprised. Then, using her inside voice, she asked, "When did Movie Night begin?"
Liz' sister, Lola, chimed in, "Yeah! When did it start?"
Jade walked into the large media room, a case of beer hanging from each hand. The girls had been sitting in the front row, watching cartoons. Jade shook her head, "God, didn't I tell you this before?"
Ten-year-old Liz, with an oh-so innocent face, said, "Why no, Mother."
"Jeez, you sound like a female Eddie Haskell," Jade moaned quietly. She turned to the eight-year-old, "You?"
"Nope!" Lola said with a wide smile.
"Must've been Cat and Sam's kid we told..." Jade said quietly as she emptied the cases into the refrigerator in the back corner of the room, even as she noted the I-got-Mom expression on Liz' face.
"So?"
Jade handed the empty cardboard boxes to Lola. "Munchkin, take these to the garage and throw them in the paper bin. Then drag one of the cases of soda up here. You, Love of My Life, help your sister. You can handle the other case of soda and a twelve-pack of coolers. Then...maybe I'll tell you..."
The girls raced downstairs yelling at each other all the way. Jade took the momentary silence to relax on one of the sofas in the room. She looked around proudly at the room. The far wall was a giant rear-projection screen with the internet, cable and disk hardware off to the side.
Just to the left of the double doors was a refrigerator that was soon to be stocked with wine coolers and soda in addition to the beer Jade had loaded. To the right was a mini-bar with scotch, vodka and bourbon, only missing the tequila, rum and mixers. Beer mugs hung from a wall rack next to the fridge and shelves with glasses were mounted on the wall behind the bar.
The room sloped gently down from the double doors to the screen in four levels, counting the entry level with the 'refreshment stands'. The other three levels each had two sofas in the middle and easy chairs at both ends of each row. End tables sat between the sofas and between the sofas and the chairs. Coffee tables were set before each of the sofas as well.
The walls were covered with movie memorabilia, including Jade's prized The Scissoring scissors prop below the framed movie one-sheet – signed by the cast. A random assortment of lobby cards and one-sheets, with a few empty 16mm reels, decorated the other walls.
A free-standing, glass display case on the right at the end of the second row held Jade's two Emmys and her Oscar as well as a couple of other similar big-time awards that weren't hers. Having been the inspiration of that success, those were often more a source of pride for Jade than her own awards. Not that she'd ever admit it.
Jade had come a long way since she and Beck had their on-again, off-again relationship in high school. Then she only saw the negative when Beck got a role. Either she was jealous of the star, the costar, the makeup person, one of the other behind-the-scenes girls or, worse, Tori Fucking Vega.
Before her thoughts could go further, she heard the tumult coming up the stairs. Groans accompanied by thumping noises on each step. When they emerged at the head of the stairs, her daughters were practically dragging the heavy cartons along the floor
Smiling despite herself, Jade said, "Okay, you know what to do."
"Fill the fridge," Liz stated.
"BINGO!" Lola yelled before Jade could say it.
"That is my line, missy," Jade warned happily.
The task was quickly, if noisily, accomplished.
"Okay Mom. Movie Night?"
"Trash?"
"Alright," Liz grumbled as she grabbed the empty cases. "Help me, ya little punk!"
The two girls ran down the stairs as Jade checked the refrigerator. She shook her head with a smile.
As the girls returned, out of breath from all the running around, Jade said, "Um, you wanna maybe straighten up the bottles in the refrigerator?"
"Toldja," Lola smirked. Sticking her tongue out at her big sister, Liz stomped over and rattled the bottles.
Finally, Jade decided everything was ready except the last bits, the snacks and pizza that her honey was bringing. She'd already spoken to the absentee housemate to pick up the necessary items on the way from the airport.
"Alright, gather 'round, lil chillens..."
Liz and Lola settled in on either side of their mother. "Okay, you remember me telling you about Hollywood Arts and how our friends all got together?"
"Yeah." "Sure."
"Okay, so, this was the summer between our junior and senior years in college. Aunt Cat was living in her Nona's apartment in Venice." Jade smiled, remembering Cat calling it "Venice of America."
"Is that when Aunt Sam came to live with her?"
"After Uncle Sam moved in. But before they became...um...more than friends." Jade dubbed Sam with Uncle once Liz was born. Fortunately, as far as Cat was concerned, both once-angry young women laughed.
"Anyway, Cat got a nasty summer cold she couldn't shake - mononucleosis. I made fun of her at first. You know I love Cat, right?" Both girls nodded. "But I'm also a... I picked on everyone - whether they deserved it like Uncle Robbie or not, like Uncle Andre. No one was immune. Not Beck, Tori, her irritating sister or anyone else."
"Even Dice?"
"Especially Pube Head." Jade laughed before she realized what she said and actually clapped her hand over her mouth while her older daughter giggled. "Uh, I mean, Curly..."
Fortunately Lola didn't catch the slip, or understand it.
"Okay. So Cat was sick. She had mono and couldn't do anything. The first week she barely got out of bed. And that was when I was mean to her. I felt bad about it later though. Like that makes up for it.
"Anyway, the next week, she took it easy and was out of bed at least. Usually the worst is the first couple of weeks but Cat then got a summer flu and so she was stuck at home for at least another three or four weeks until the worst of it was over.
"To make her feel better about being stuck at home, we decided to spend our Saturdays with Cat. I mean, we all were there at different times since we heard she was ill. And we all kept in touch with Sam to see how she was doing." Jade failed to mention that she initially got her news directly from Beck until she actually met Sam and became fast friends. "You know Cat loves movies and concerts and singing but couldn't enjoy them. In those days, we went to Karaoke Dokey or Nozu usually. Those were joints we used to hang out in. Like Bots, they're gone now.
"So Beck came up with a great idea. We get a couple of movies, some chips and soda and spend the evening with Cat. We all agreed and that was it.
"The first Saturday, Beck chose the movies. He brought the original Ocean's 11 and Robin and the Seven Hoods. Both are classic Rat Pack comedies from the 1960s." Then Jade had to take a detour and explain Sinatra, Martin, Davis and the rest of the legendary Hollywood Rat Pack.
"After the movies, we did some karaoke with a half-assed karaoke machine Dice got somewhere that probably wasn't too legal. Cat still couldn't sing very well but the rest of us did okay. Well, except Uncle Robbie. He has no real musical talent. Sam was actually 'crowned' the winner when she sang Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. Anyway, the night was a success and we decided to do it again the next week."
Jade scowled as they walked out of the Venice apartment building courtyard. "Okay, this was 'fun'... " She used the hated air quotes to emphasize her disdain. "But I don't want to do it again next week. I cannot handle having to listen to Robbie try to sing backup for that damned puppet. It's pathetic. Anyway I wanna go out and..."
Tori interrupted, "No! Cat's our friend! You've been her friend since you were kids, for chrissakes! We're doing this again next week whether you like it or not." Seeing the resolute look on Jade's face, she went on, "Well, the rest of us are doing this."
"Yeah, Jade," Beck added. "Tori's right. We'll get a couple of more movies next week. If you don't want to join in with us, don't."
Not about to let Tori spend time with Beck on a Saturday night, Jade gave in. Anyway, the prospect of a Saturday with none of her...acquaintances around actually bothered her.
She looked down at her daughters and said, "Yeah, we all decided to go on with Movie Night each week until Cat was feeling better. The next week, Vega got the movies. I still don't know how she kept that secret from from me so long..."
"I don't want to pick the movies. Hell, I don't even wanna do this," Jade argued.
Andre replied, "Guess then it's Tori's choice."
"Fine! Let her screw up with some lame-ass, rom-com, chick flick."
Jade was pleasantly surprised when Tori brought Die Monster, Die, an American-International Films movie from the early 1960s that starred Nick Adams and the legendary Boris Karloff. The story was loosely based on an old H.P. Lovecraft story, The Colour Out Of Space, which added to Jade's increasing estimation of Tori Vega when Tori pointed out that little factoid. Lovecraft was Jade's favorite old pulp horror writer.
The second movie was another, even older classic, The Raven. It was an early Universal movie featuring Boris Karloff, only listed as Karloff, and Bela Lugosi, the two biggest names in the field of horror at that time and still giants of the genre.
"Vega, horror movies? I thought you hated them."
"From the way I reacted to your scissors prop last Christmas, right? Well, Jade, I'm not afraid of horror movies. I love them! I am afraid of you with sharp objects. Or shovels in the middle of nowhere."
Jade guffawed. "God, Vega, if I'd known you were such an easy mark..."
"So, we continued for the next few weeks while Cat recovered. Sam got a couple of Tarantino movies, Reservoir Dogs and Inglorious Basterds."
Jade smiled, remembering the highlight of the night.
"I'll never be able to listen to Stuck In The Middle With You again without worrying about my ears…" Tori complained, drawing laughs from her friends.
"The next week, Beck's turn came and he picked two John Ford movies, The Searchers, which many consider one of the best American movies of all time.
"He also brought another Ford classic, The Man Who Shot Libery Valance. Even Cat, who didn't like Westerns, loved those movies.
"The week after, Robbie brought PeeWee's Big Adventure and Big Top PeeWee.
"We still ride him about that. Although, to be honest, we all laughed at the movies and did try to do the Big Shoe Dance.
"Andre brought two musicals when it was his week – South Pacific and I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy.
"When it came to my turn, I picked The Scissoring, naturally, and High Tension, a bizarre French film from the early 2000s. And, I have to say, Vega blinked or reacted less than the rest of the group. Even Beck who I made watch The Scissoring several times."
"Can we see them, Mom?" Liz piped up.
"Soon, baby, soon," Jade replied. She actually didn't plan to let them see either of those movies, or several others in her collection, for several more years. Lola still had occasion nightmares from the Abominable Snowman from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer last Christmas,
Lola spoke up, "Hey, if Aunt Cat was sick for four weeks, then why did you still watch movies?"
Jade smiled, "Well, while Aunt Cat was still sick, we got into the habit of watching the movies then doing our own karaoke. Before Tori's turn came again, Cat was officially cured. But we found Movie Night to be a lot of fun and still got together to watch them before we went out to do karaoke at a club"
"Okay, so Cat's cured. Why do we still have to do this movie crap?" Jade nearly whined.
Beck tried to calm his sometime girlfriend, "Because Cat likes it. And the rest of us like it too. C'mon. You don't want to be left out, do you?"
"What's to stop me from going out on my own?"
"Nothing, babe. Except you'll probably end up being stalked by Sinjin, Burf or some Northridge lowlifes..."
"Shit! Then I get to pick next week!"
"Some advice?" Jade nodded at Beck. "Get the early Frankenstein movies with Karloff as the Monster – the first three from Universal."
"Why?"
"So, along with Blazing Saddles, I can bring Young Frankenstein next week and everyone will get the jokes."
"Cat too?"
Beck smiled, "I may have to explain a couple of them to her…"
"Alright. The Karloff Frankenstein movies. But only because they're horror classics."
"We cut back to once a month when school started. With the Full Moon Jam, Vega's new Homecoming Dance, Sikowitz' plays, concerts and...whatever else, we didn't have the time every weekend. Sometimes we'd have Matinee Day on Sundays to make up for that.
"But we went on. October became Horror Month and December was Holiday Month. Except when Beck had us watch Tora, Tora, Tora for Pearl Harbor Day.
"And we often did theme nights. One night we watched three Marx Brothers movies in a row. Another was a pair of Orson Welles films – Citizen Kane and The Third Man. Or we might watch a single movie if it was a longer one like It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
"That movie was funny," Liz said.
"Yeah, it was, sweetie," Jade agreed, remembering watching it with her daughters recently. Both of them fell asleep before it even ended but that was well past their bedtimes and a special night since the three of them were home alone for a change.
""Mel Brooks' nights, World War Two nights, War of the Worlds night – that was a long one. Beck brought a disk with the old 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles then we watched a couple of movies about that night panicky the radio audience on YouTube before watching the old George Pal movie.
"Through college, break-ups, new romances, babies, careers and all the rest, we still made a point of trying to get together as often as possible. Only the past year, now that we've all pretty much established ourselves and everyone is back in LA, can we get back to the once-a-month pattern."
"What are we gonna see tonight, Mom?" Lola asked.
"Don't worry, they'll probably be lame," Liz stated.
"Well, my little hellions, you should love we're going to watch. All three Despicable Me movies. Oh, and several Rabbids shorts. They're wacky cartoons from high school. Like even more demented Minions."
"Are they like the Three Stooges shorts?" Liz asked eagerly, having overheard talk earlier in the week.. Despite Tori, Cat and Robbie claiming the Stooges were stupid, Beck had made a point of showing several early Three Stooges short subjects recently. Liz and Lola found them hilarious, as did Jade, Sam and Andre.
Beck's smug comment had been, "Gotta teach 'em young."
"Yeah, sort of. Well, not really... The Rabbids are pretty innocently abusive but... Oh, ask Uncle Andre when he gets here with Aunt Cymphonique. They chose the movies this week..."
At that point, they all heard the toot of an antique British roadster and the girls charged downstairs, yelling, "Mami!"
Jade followed and found her favorite brunette with her arms full of two ecstatic children. It was a beautiful sight – Tori on her knees as she hugged and kissed her daughters.
After a couple of minutes, Jade decided it was time for her own me-time with her love. She directed the girls to take the liquor and mixers upstairs. The snacks and pizza stayed in the kitchen for the time being. Then Jade pulled Tori into her arms. "Hey you sexy thing. I've missed you."
Tori kissed Jade, a soft kiss that deepened as their tongues caressed each other. Pulling back, reluctantly, Tori smiled as she replied. "I missed you too."
"We have time to get reacquainted?" Tori asked.
Jade had been trying to re-establish the kiss but looked at the clock. "Dammit! No. Beck will be here soon and the rest will arriving in a half hour or so."
"I need more a lot than a half-hour," Tori whined.
Tori had been on tour for the past nine months, getting into town only an hour os so earlier, and she had desperately missed her family and her lovers lovin'. In turn, she had been severely missed. Jade thought about cancelling Movie Night for a couple of seconds. "I... We could reschedule… We can't. Anyway... And..."
Tori silenced Jade's Tori-style ramble with another kiss then agreed, "I know, it wouldn't be fair to the gang."
"Don't worry, Vega, we have all weekend."
Tori looked questioningly at Jade who added, "Sam, Cat and little Miranda are taking the Twin Terrors after the shows."
Tori beamed, "Guess I'm gonna need a Liz-Lola hug-sandwich during the shows."
At that point, another car horn honked and the children ran downstairs and past their moms, yelling, "Daddy!"
Moments later, Beck came in from the garage, wriggling girls in both arms, impeding his ability to kiss his wives.