"Now, by tonight you need to have picked a video to analyze and bring it to my attention on Monday afternoon. Now today we'll be talking about…"
Tori zones out her film teacher after his initial assignment, because she doesn't care honestly. Her film class was the last class of the day and it was Friday, Mr. Ferman was lucky she was even there and the only reason she was there was because the school would call her dad if she skipped again. She swipes some of her shoulder length blonde hair out of her eyes and pulls out her phone to text her cousin Rocco.
Gonna go straight home today, tell Aunt Lu for me please.
Her dad usually didn't come home on weekday nights until late, because he worked for some corporation, a job that her grandfather Jax had gotten for him a few months after she had been born. Her mom had been killed a day after her birth and grandpa Jax knew that her dad needed some form of steady work to provide for her.
Sure you're okay to do that? Will your dad be home early?
She let out a slight sigh. Rocco had been overprotective toward her since day one, or at least that's what it felt like to her. Rocco had been her constant shadow as she dared to climb the tallest trees at the park and take sharp turns on the speedboat. He always chastised her for her dare devil tendencies and sometimes it frustrated her to no end. She thought that maybe he would grow out of it when they were both in high school, but as the first semester of her high school career was rushing quickly to a close she realized she was wrong. Rocco would be eternally worried about her and now it was expanding to the boys who were interested in her and the friends she kept. It was a never ending cycle.
Yeah. I'll see you Monday. Good luck tonight, cuz.
Rocco played football for their high school. He was the youngest starting running back in school history and at the rate he was going he was going to break all sorts of records by the time he was a senior. She was proud of him, but just as he had lived in her shadow during their childhood, she lived in his shadow now. They didn't even share the same last name and she was still associated with him. She would never escape the tag of being Rocco Falconeri's little cousin.
Honestly, her last name was one of the most important things to her. Jerome was attached to the name of a gallery and the name of a mob family for most people in Port Charles, but for her it attached her to her mom. It was the only thing they could possibly share except for DNA, since her grandfather stole her mom from her when she was barely two days old. She had written him off years ago when she was first told the entire truth about what had happened to her mom. He had murdered her because of what she had done. Tori had understood it was the life her mom chose to live, but it didn't make it hurt any less.
She scribbles down the last of what Mr. Ferman had written on the board before the bell rings and she bolts out of the classroom. She needs to get home and watch the tape she found amidst all her old Disney movies, one labeled "Ava". She dumps what she thinks she may need this weekend in her book bag and tries to leave before any of her friends notice her. But it's too late.
"Tor, are you coming to the game tonight? There's supposed to be a sick after party if we win."
She kind of hates when people shorten her name more than it already is, but Rocco has called her Tor their entire lives and somehow the whole high school heard about so they had to do it too. He keeps saying he'll set them straight and tell them that her name is Tori, but he hasn't done it yet.
"Nah, I had a rough week so I'll probably just Netflix until I pass out. I'll see you guys on Monday."
Netflixing was a decent enough excuse and they let her go without much of a problem. She pushes through the mass of people and starts walking to the Brownstone. The walk is calm because she takes the shortcut through the docks, which no one ever takes. Her Uncle Julian had practically made the docks inaccessible to most people because of the years of violence that had taken place on them. She thinks part of it is also that her mom was killed on them and he doesn't like to go near them anymore. But the guards always let her through, because she's Victoria Juliet Jerome and she can get away with anything when it comes to her uncle and her father.
The Brownstone is quiet when she opens the door and she doesn't even bother calling out for her dad, because she knows he's not here. She goes to dump her book bag off in her room and then goes to the spare guest room where her dad has banished everything from her childhood from movies to stuffed animals to books. It's like years of her life are stuffed in the room, but she always appreciated that he hadn't thrown any of it away. Maybe he's saving it for a second kid, but she doubts it. It's been fourteen years since her mom died and he's never brought a girlfriend over to meet her. She's not naïve enough to think her mom was his only true love, she knows that her mom and dad weren't even together when she was born, but she also knows that it wasn't just a fling that produced her- her dad made sure that she understood that. Her parents had been in a relationship and loved each other, she knew that much.
She grabs the DVD and rushes downstairs, because the living room TV is the only one that still has a DVD player attached to it. She notices her hands shaking, only slightly, as she puts the DVD in the machine. She doesn't know what she's going to find on this mysterious disc that her dad has been hiding from her. Finally she garners the courage to grab the remote, but her cell phone dings as she receives a text message from her older sister.
Kiki and Michael had moved to New York City shortly Sonny had been sentenced to life in prison without parole. They had tried to work on their relationship, but it ended up not working out. Now Kiki ran their mother's gallery and she was really good at it. The Jerome Gallery in Port Charles was still under her Uncle Julian's care and on weekends when she spent time with him, they spent many hours there. Tori enjoyed it more than she ever admitted. It made her feel close to her mom and her family in general.
Are you hanging with Julian this weekend?
She tried to see her uncle as much as possible. It wasn't as hard to talk about her mom with him. His eyes would always gloss over with tears, but it never put him in a foul mood like it did with her dad.
Nope, was going to sleep the weekend away.
Come to NYC and have lunch with me?!
Yes! I'll ask dad when he gets home. Xoxo.
I'll beg if he gives you a hard time. Love you, kid!
She smiles and tucks her phone in her back pocket again. Kiki was there when she was born and she got to spend twenty years with their mom. Their age difference had never made Tori feel awkward even though it had the potential to, considering her sister was only a year younger than her dad.
Finally she grabs the remote again, pushes the disc into the machine and listens as it swirls around as it's read. Her legs are jumping up and down with stress and fear and maybe some excitement. It's all mostly stress and that's what is causing her entire body to shake.
"Calm yourself down, Jerome."
She talks to herself often, she's done it her entire life and the doctors told her family it's because she's intellectually gifted. She tried to ignore her IQ, however, it was just a number, and it wasn't really a big deal, to her at least.
She stops her legs from jumping and breathes deeply in an attempt to relieve the stress pouring into her body. She presses the play button on the remote and watches as the screen jumps to life. She sees her mom lying in a hospital bed, holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. It takes her a few seconds to realize it's her. She's watching her mom hold her and rock her and look into her eyes with so much love and Tori cannot believe that he dad has never showed this to her. Uncle Julian and Kiki are there too, standing on the other side of her mom, smiling down on her.
"Alright Ava, who is this adorable little girl?"
Tori smiles as she hears her dad's voice. He sounds so enthusiastic and happy. Ava doesn't even remove her eyes off of Tori to answer the question.
"This is Victoria Juliet Jerome. Victoria in honor of my father and Juliet in honor of her Uncle Julian. That is only if you approve? We have to have daddy's approval, don't we baby girl? Yes, we do. Oh, it's okay, mommy's here."
She watches herself starting to cry, but her mom brings her closer, holds her tighter, rocks her a little more gently; she knows exactly what to do. She can hear it in her mom's voice, though, how the thought of leaving her is tearing her up inside, how her mom is starting to cry, because of what she knows is going to happen. This is the first time she's ever heard her mom's voice and she can feel her throat closing up with emotion.
"It's perfect, Ava, she's perfect."
Ava smiles up at him for a brief second, but then looks right back down at Tori.
"I love you so much, please know that. I don't wanna leave you, it wasn't supposed to end like this, with me leaving you without a mother. I was supposed to be there for you, to see you off to your first day of school and to the prom and off to college, and I'm so sorry, baby girl, so so sorry. You deserved so much more."
Her dad reaches out to grab her mom's free hand and Uncle Julian has a hand on her mom's shoulder and Kiki is crying, because she too knows what's going to happen. They won't be able to protect her forever. Tori knows how this story goes. Her grandfather's men are at all the hospital exits and on the roof, there is no way out of there.
"Ava."
Morgan can only speak her name, because he too is getting emotional. But when Ava looks up, she doesn't look at Morgan, she looks at Kiki.
"You tell her everything about me as a mom, okay? Tell her how I screwed up more times than you could count and how sometimes you hated me more than you loved me. Tell her about how I was an awful mother and you always had to look after me because I made stupid, rash decisions too quickly before even thinking them through. But tell her about how I was a good mom too, please? Tell her about the days when I picked you up from school early and we went to the beach or the arcade. And about the nights when I let you stay up far too late and eat ice cream even though it was a school night. Please, Kiki?"
"Mom, of course, I'll tell her everything she needs to know about what being your daughter was like, every single detail, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too."
She lets go of Morgan's hand to wipe her tears away. Tori watches as her mom leans down and kisses her forehead. Her small body is wrecked by her sobs. Her father, sister, and uncle had all told her of the love her mother had for her, but it was different watching her mom love her. It hurt worse.
"Julian, you take her around the gallery, it's the only family business I want her involved in, ever. You protect her, like you protected me for all those years, take her to my penthouse and let her crash in my room. Eat Chinese food with her and give her that extra dumpling they always put in the container. Support her in whatever she does, don't let her forget how loved she is."
"You got it, little sister."
Tori smiles as her uncle nods in agreement. He still does all those things. He never talks about his mob work, always takes her to the gallery, and she's never had to sneak the last dumpling- he's always given it to her. He hasn't changed her mom's room in the penthouse that much, some of her clothes are still in the closet and her perfume sits on her bathroom sink. Tori always sprays it on herself when she goes and she can always tell that her dad notices it when she gets home.
"Morgan…"
"Hey, hey, hey."
The camera moves as her dad sits on the small hospital bed next to her mom. He cups her cheek and uses his thumb to wipe her tears. The camera is at an awkward angle, but Tori doesn't even care. She had only ever dreamed of seeing her parents together.
"I'm sorry, Ava. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, I was supposed to keep you safe."
"It's not your fault, my actions caused this, okay? It's on me, it's all on me. You just take care of our daughter okay? You tell her how much I loved her all the time, so much that she gets sick of hearing it and you stop saying it. Be protective, but don't suffocate her, let her be herself. I know you and Julian don't get along, but don't keep her from him, she needs family, as much family as she can get. If she wants to be a Corinthos instead of a Jerome, change her name, I trust you with her. Just take care of our girl, Morgan."
He leans over and kisses Ava's forehead. It's a sweet gesture that makes Tori cry more. She was born into a room filled with so much love and she can see how much her mom loved her.
"I'll take care of her, I promise."
Ava nods and looks back down at Tori. Her fingers lightly run through the baby's light blonde hair. She traces her index down Tori's cheek and smiles down at her. She lifts the baby closer to her face and kisses her face.
"Mommy loves you so much."
Morgan lifts the camera up and focuses on Ava's face. Tori wraps her arms around herself and leans over her legs as she sobs. She doesn't even hear her father walk into the Brownstone or realize that he's standing by the door, consumed by the sight of Ava just as much at Tori is.
"Okay, Ava tell Tori something, future Tori that is."
Ava can't figure out who to look out, so for some time she switches from looking at the baby and the camera. She settles on looking at the camera.
"Hey baby girl. I-I don't even know what to say. I wish I was there with you. I don't know when-or if your dad will show this to you, but I want you to know that you're smart. Whenever it was time for me to sleep at night, I would just tell you and you would settle down. You're beautiful; I see it now while I'm holding you in my arms and I saw it on the ultrasound the first time I ever saw your gorgeous profile. You are so loved and so wonderful. You'll be taken care of and protected, I know that, but I wish I was there to do that. I would've been a crap mom to you, but I would've tried so hard to be a good mom. And even though I'm not there, I hope you feel my love surrounding you all the time, with every single breath you take, because I do love you. I love you so much, Victoria Juliet Jerome."
Ava picks up the baby's hand and waves it at the camera. There is one last fleeting smile from Ava before the screen goes black. Tori vigorously rubs the falling tears from her eyes and shoves her hair back, behind her ears.
"Tori…"
Her head whips around when she hears her father's weak sounding voice. He's crying too, but not nearly as much as she is. He walks slowly over to her and wraps his daughter in his strong arms. He kisses the top of her head and to his surprise, she doesn't pull away before speaking.
"You never showed that to me before."
"I didn't know when the right time would be, Tori."
"I had never heard her voice, it makes me miss her more. How is that even possible? I knew her barely more than twenty-four hours and I was an infant."
"She was your mom, is your mom. She had so many things planned- French lithographs and spring green walls for your nursery. She wanted to do things-how did she put it? –charmingly domestic. She loved you."
"I love her too."
"I know you do."
There's a moment of silence before Morgan reaches to push some of her matted hair from her face. Her body has stopped heaving for her sobbing and she's leaning into her dad, her head is resting on his shoulder.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you forgiven him?"
"For taking your mom from us? Never will I forgive him for that. Ava wasn't the best person and she did a lot of bad things, even more than I know about, but she loved you with everything in her and that's what made her good."
Tori starts to cry again.
"She loved you too, daddy."
Morgan attempts to hold back the tears threatening to spill, but he's unsure if he can, so instead he pulls her close and holds her.
"I know, baby, I know."