All for You
Summary: After thinking of Juliet makes Justin upset, Jerry and Theresa tell him a story about a difficult time in their relationship. Justin is surprised when this leads to a bonding moment with Harper.
A/N: I actually wrote the first version of this years ago after "Alex in the Middle" first aired, in response to finding out about Jerry and Theresa's past. But I took it down, since I hadn't written much WOWP and didn't like the story very much. A couple years later, Disney randomly airs Aladdin one afternoon, and I'm taking the story out for a complete overhaul. I have to say I'm much more satisfied with this version.
With a long sigh, Justin leaned back on his desk chair and stared at the picture of Juliet he still had as his laptop's wallpaper. Though he tried to hide it, he was still heartbroken over how their relationship had ended, and thought about her every day. After the incident, he'd asked his father what happened to vampires in Juliet's condition. Though he'd attempted to avoid the question, which only worried Justin more, Jerry reluctantly explained that vampires didn't last long after they were scratched. She had most likely turned to dust by the time the night was over.
A tear formed in his eye, but Justin ignored it. The sensation of crying over Juliet had become so common that he no longer felt shame when it happened.
That was why he had been so active in school lately. This intense focus on his senior year was all for her, or rather, his yearning for her. He wasn't at the point where he wanted to move on with his life, so he'd used other means of distracting himself. But as it turned out, the gaping hole she'd left in his heart couldn't be filled by scoring four three-pointers in a row or being voted Student Body President.
Though he would never admit it, he envied Alex. She had been able to push her heartbreak aside to go after someone else, if just to land a date for the dance. To be honest, Justin suspected that she only went after George because she knew nothing would happen. Really, Alex was not the type to fall for a pep band leader.
But at least she'd been able to go after someone else. Here he was, more than a month later, and simply the thought of a new girlfriend made him sick to his stomach. That was why he was beginning to think this feeling would never go away, that he was going to be stuck in this state of mourning forever.
His stomach growled, and a glance at the clock proved that it was over an hour after his mother had called him for dinner, and he'd said he wasn't hungry. Thankfully, he'd at least moved past the point where he'd been too heartbroken to eat.
He allowed himself one last glance at Juliet's picture before he slammed his laptop shut. As he stood up, he remembered his tears and quickly wiped them away while he made his way downstairs. His family thought he'd moved on, and he'd like to keep it that way.
Since it was late in the day, he wasn't surprised to find his parents and Max in the living room watching the Mets game. He'd hoped they would be distracted, but his mother was in the kitchen cleaning up the last of the dinner dishes. "Hey, it's the Student Body President!" she greeted and gave him yet another congratulatory hug.
Theresa had been away for the past few days after his grandmother had guilted her into a visit after Magdalena broke her foot in a wrestling match. She'd arrived home that morning with homemade enchiladas and pictures their grandmother had sent of her cast. Apparently, Magdalena was very proud of her injury, which she'd gotten during a match she'd still ended up winning.
"Hey Mom," Justin managed to reply as he opened the fridge. Nothing immediately caught his eye, so he ended up just staring at the contents.
Concerned, Theresa remained standing next to him and said, "I could heat you up an enchilada if you want, honey."
"Huh? Oh, no, it's okay, I'll do it," Justin replied as he took the enchilada tray out of the fridge. The last thing he wanted was awkward chitchat while his mother heated up his food.
Instead of going back to the game, Theresa stayed in the kitchen and, much to his discomfort, examined his face. "You were thinking about Juliet again, weren't you? My poor hijo," she whispered, since she knew he wouldn't want his father and brother to overhear.
Surprised, Justin raised an eyebrow at her as he put the enchilada dish down on the counter and closed the fridge. "How'd you know?"
"You're upset right after being voted Student Body President. And your eyes are red," she pointed out. She put an arm around his shoulders in a quick hug. "It'll be okay, honey. Everyone goes through this."
Justin smirked. "I highly doubt everyone loses their vampire girlfriend because she was scratched by their sister's werewolf boyfriend."
"You know what I meant," Theresa retorted. She sat on one of the island stools, a clear indication she wanted to chat while he continued to heat up his food.
About to protest, Justin gave into the conversation with the reasoning that it might help him feel better. "Yeah I know," he said as he took his enchilada out of the microwave. "I just...I get so mad sometimes that Juliet and I never had a chance to be happy. It actually hurts me to think of what might have happened if she hadn't been a vampire. Maybe we could've actually had a lasting relationship and lived happily ever after."
"Justin, honey, whether you're a wizard, vampire, mortal, whatever, love will always be hard," Theresa assured him. "You just have to deal with disaster the best you can and move on. Trust me, I know. Your father and I almost didn't make it past our engagement."
Surprised at first, Justin realized that she must have been talking about his father having to give up his powers. Grateful for the opportunity to change the subject, he said, "Oh yeah. the Council making Dad give up his powers must have been rough."
"You have no idea," Theresa replied. "Of course, it didn't help that I didn't know what the heck was going on most of the time." She'd said that last part extra loud so Jerry could hear.
Her tone was enough to distract him from the game, and he turned to them. "I told you! It was official Council business that wasn't meant to be shared with a mortal!"
"When I'm the mortal you're talking about, it is my business!" Theresa retorted as old anger flared up.
Though he had been trying to keep whatever focus he had on the game, Max got up from the couch. "Look, if this is going to turn into one of your fights about magic, I'm going upstairs to check on an experiment. Hey Justin, let me know when they're done, 'k?"
Justin nodded at his brother on his way upstairs, but he couldn't help but wonder exactly what experiment Max was going to check on. His parents were too distracted to notice, or else they definitely would've had some questions.
Since the angry look on his wife's face indicated she wasn't going to let this go, Jerry turned the volume on the game off. "I'm sorry, honey, but we've been through this before. You were new to magic and I didn't want to overwhelm you with the details..."
"I had a right to know, Jerry!" Theresa almost yelled. "You were making this huge decision, and you didn't even tell me until you'd already made it!"
"But the way I told you almost makes up for that, right?" Jerry replied weakly.
Uncomfortable, Justin had a feeling his parents had forgotten he was still in the room, and briefly wondered if he should try to slip out like Max had. But as if on cue, his mother turned to him, a nostalgic smile on her face. "He has a point. You should hear this story."
March 1989
When Theresa planned to spend the summer after college in Puerto Rico, she had no idea how much it would change her life. Her whirlwind romance with Jerry Russo had been nothing short of amazing. Then at the end of the summer to find out he was a wizard...that had changed her whole world.
Magic...it was still a foreign concept to her. How could real people do things she had only seen in movies? When Jerry first showed her, she almost didn't want to believe him because doing so seemed like such a daunting task. But she had reminded herself how much she loved Jerry, how much she wanted their relationship to last. And she'd managed to believe in magic again, which she hadn't done since she was a small child.
But her fairy tale soon evolved into reality. Thankfully they both lived in New York, and so quickly moved in together. Though it upset her mother (who was purposely kept in the dark about Jerry's true identity), Theresa braved the move from her own suburban house to Jerry's impressive Manhattan loft. When Theresa asked how someone in his twenties came to own such valuable real estate, he explained that he'd gotten it from a wizard friend. Since wizards didn't place any value in mortal things like real estate or even money, the good friend, who'd owed Jerry a few favors anyway, had simply given it to him without asking for even a nominal payment.
The main floor had been built to be rented as a restaurant, which Jerry did to keep up appearances that he was earning an income. But he really didn't have to do so as he used his powers for almost everything he needed. Many times, Theresa had to teach him the value of doing things like cooking or doing household repairs the mortal way.
Actually, even though she had been coming down from a fairy tale, reality hadn't been too bad either. He proposed to her on Valentine's Day, and she didn't hesitate to say yes.
Then their relationship started to crumble. Much to her intense frustration, only a few days after her engagement, he began to act distant. He seemed distracted most of the time, and for no apparent reason got so upset that he snapped at her. She began to wonder if he was drinking. She'd also wondered if he was cheating on her, since he'd been going out too much lately without giving her a good reason why.
Eventually, she cornered him one day when he was on his way out the door.
"Where are you going, Jerry?" Theresa had snapped one day when she'd once again caught him trying to sneak out.
A guilty expression on his face that he wasn't quite able to mask, he'd replied, "Uh, just meeting a friend at the bar. Be back soon."
"No!" Theresa shouted as she ran to the front door and threw herself against it. Of course, she knew Jerry could both physically and magically move her, but she also knew he wouldn't dare. "You've been giving me these stupid excuses for weeks now! Do you think I'm naive, Jerry? What's her name?"
Startled, Jerry backed off, slightly afraid of the dark look she was giving him. "What's whose name? What are you talking about?"
He seemed genuinely confused. Frustrated, she lowered her arms and peeled herself away from the door. "Then what is it?" she pleaded. "Where have you been going, Jerry? I'm worried about you. You're just...not yourself lately."
His mouth opened, as if he were going to feed her another line, but then he closed it and sighed. "I've been going to meet my father," he confessed, much to her surprise. "There's been some...problems in the wizard world, and he's been keeping me up to date."
"Is that all? You could've told me that. I would've understood!" Theresa insisted as she was filled with relief. He wasn't drinking, and he wasn't cheating. Whatever else it was couldn't be so bad.
But his anxiety didn't fade at her tame reaction. "I didn't want to worry you, but...it's big, and it's about us." Before she could ask another question, he went to the door. "I promise I'll tell you everything when I get home, honey. Love you." He then kissed her good-bye and left.
She barely sat down the entire two hours he was gone. How could she after what he'd said? No matter how much she turned over his words in her brain, she could not imagine a big wizard issue that would affect them. Of course, she really shouldn't have been surprised given how little she knew about the wizard world. The most she could come up with was that maybe him marrying her was causing some sort of problem. Her biggest exposure to magic was watching Bewitched when she was young, and she remembered that no one had liked that Samantha had married a mortal.
Boy, she must really have been desperate if she was using a sitcom as a reference.
About to cry from her nerves, she nearly shrieked with relief when she heard Jerry call her name. "Theresa? I'm back," he said. Oddly enough, it sounded like it was coming from the terrace.
"Thank goodness! I was worried sick!" she said in a rant on her way outside. "First you say there's this huge problem and leave without any explanation, then you leave me here for..."
She stopped short when she saw why he sounded like they'd come from the terrace. "Oh...my..." she whispered in complete shock.
He was sitting on an actual flying carpet, which was airborne next to the terrace barrier. Turned to face her, he examined her reaction carefully. "What do you think?"
"I-I...I'm not sure..." she sputtered as she approached the carpet and ran her hand along the front. "What's it for..." Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't expect me to ride this thing, do you? Jerry, I could fall!"
Amused, he couldn't help but laugh at her. "Look, we need to talk, and this is the only way to make sure we both stick around to talk it out." At her apprehensive expression, he pressed, "I promise I won't let you fall. You trust me, right?"
Present
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Justin interrupted. He waved his hands as he crossed the room to stand between his parents. "Are you making this up? It's starting to sound an awful lot like Aladdin."
Insulted, Theresa crossed her arms. "I am not! Ask your father!"
"She's right," Jerry assured him. "If anything, Disney copied me since the movie came out years later. Giving girls a ride on the carpet was always my trademark..."
At that, Theresa glared at him. "It was, was it?"
"Oh...ah...I didn't mean..." Jerry blurted, not sure how to backtrack.
To help his father out, Justin refocused their attention on the story. He was actually getting into it, though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised since he usually liked stories about their early relationship (as long as they didn't get too romantic). They were pretty interesting given his parents' strange situation...the first time he heard them. His mother then usually ruined them by repeating them every chance she got.
"What happened next, Dad?" he interrupted.
Grateful for the distraction, Jerry continued, "Right. Well, since life isn't a Disney movie, the ride didn't go as well as I'd hoped..." He trailed off when Alex came in from the terrace, went to the kitchen, and began looking for something. "...what are you doing, Alex?"
"Nothing...ah, here it is!" she exclaimed as she took out a bottle of yellow food coloring. Harper had used it along with green food coloring to make frosting designs on her St. Patrick's Day cupcakes.
Though she looked like she might ask what the coloring was for, Theresa then shook her head as she decided she didn't want to know. "Hey, Alex, you want to listen to this story about your father and I?"
"Yeah, it's a good one," Justin added.
But Alex scoffed at them. "That's okay, I'll wait until Mom tells it again." Dye in hand, she was about to leave...but quickly filled a nearby empty pitcher with tap water before she dashed out of the room.
"Something tells me I should have stopped her...oh well, I'm sure it's harmless," Jerry said with a shrug. "Anyway, back to the story..."
