After Aunt Michelle Returned
by
John O'Connor
"I'll have you call her as soon as she gets back, Mrs. West. Yeah, uh, Judy..." Tori smiled at the phone, she was still having trouble calling her girlfriend's mother by her first name.
"Yeah, we can do that too. I think. Gotta check with her highness first, Judy," Tori laughed along with the woman on the other end of the call.
"I'll remind Mom about your lunch date. Okay. Goodbye Mrs.…Judy."
As Tori clicked off her PearPhone, the front door opened and a sweaty, frazzled Goth came in.
"Jade! You're sweating!"
"Shut it, Vega!"
"But you never sweat. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you said you didn't sweat because it was gross. And not the good kind of gross…"
"It's freaking hot out there! I got stuck in traffic on the 405 with no AC. Not fun, Vega."
"No AC?"
Jade sighed; all she wanted to do was take a shower. "No. There's a broken line or something and the freon or whatever, drained. I have an appointment to take the car in tomorrow."
"I'm sorry sweetie," Tori said as she tried to hug Jade.
"Ugh. Get off. I'm…all gross."
"Speaking of gross, what's a good kind of gross?"
Jade rolled her eyes. "I'm taking a shower."
Tori called after the girl going up the stairs, "Call your mom! She says it's important!"
"Shower first!" came the response.
Like her hero Gibbs on NCIS, Jade came up from behind Tori on the sofa, smacked the back of the brunette's head lightly and saying, loudly, "C'mon, Vega."
"First… Ow! And second… Why?"
"We're going somewhere," Jade replied cryptically.
"Where?"
With a look that was a combination of boredom and irritation, Jade sighed and said, "Mom's house. She wants to see us." Forestalling any further comment from her girlfriend, Jade added, "Both of us."
"Mom! Can we borrow your car? Thanks," Tori yelled towards the staircase. She grabbed the keys from a dish on the kitchen counter and tossed them to Jade.
"Damn, Vega. I'm definitely rubbing off on you…" Jade observed in admiration as they went to the garage.
Seconds later, Holly Vega appeared at the head of the stairs. "Tori, did you call me? Humm, no one here."
She shrugged and went back upstairs
Judy West hugged her daughter in welcome. "Jade, I'm glad you're here. It seems like…"
Jade was becoming accustomed to her mother's renewed affection and had to smile, "Hi Mom."
Judy then hugged Tori, "Tori, thank you for coming. Is she behaving herself?"
"Mom!?"
Judy smiled and led the two teens to the living room. "Can I get you girls anything? I have coffee…"
Jade waved a finger in acknowledgement. "Two sugars."
"Dear, you've been drinking coffee since you were twelve. I think I know how you like it. Tori?"
"Just a Coke."
"Back in a sec."
After several seconds, the older West returned and handed drinks out. "Thanks Mom. Where's the rug rat?"
"Your brother is at the beach with the Yamatos. Unlike you sweetheart, he loves the ocean." She turned towards Tori, "He loves dolphins too…"
"Don't, Mother!"
Smiling, Judy changed the subject. "I heard from Michelle."
Jade sat up quickly, "Aunt Michelle? Where is she? How's she doing?"
"She's finally home from that long Asian trip. And she asked if you wanted to come up and visit. I told her I'd ask you."
The next day, Tori and Jade were on final approach for San Francisco International Airport. The flight, paid for by Judy West over her daughter's half-hearted protests, was just under ninety minutes in the air. For Jade, it was an anxious hour and a half. Coupled with a delay at LAX that lasted almost an hour, the combined delay made Jade more irritable than Tori had seen in some time.
"Ladies and gentleman, we are cleared to land at San Francisco International Airport. However, there will be a slight delay before we can reach our gate and deplane. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until we arrive at the gate. I will keep you updated Thank you for your patience."
The flight captain's voice faded from the loudspeakers and Jade growled. "More delays? I don't freakin' believe this chizz!"
"Jade, it'll be okay babe. Just a little while longer." Tori took Jade's hand but the Goth jerked it back, not looking at her girlfriend. "Why? Do you have to wazz? I know I do…"
"If we'd driven, we'd be here by now."
"Wrong," Tori declared, earning a glare from Jade. "We'd still only be around Carmel right about now. In a car with no air conditioning, I might add."
Tori reach over and grabbed Jade's hand. "What's eating you?"
Jade looked at her paler hand in Tori's tanned grip as the Latina's thumb gently massaged the back of her hand. "Nothing. I'm just sick of this plane…"
"Jade?"
The raven-haired beauty glanced at Tori then dropped her eyes. With a resigned breath, she said, "You know what happened with Aunt Michelle and my old man? That's when I gave up on my family and… Well, you know."
"When you became a gank?" Tori smiled and pushed her shoulder against Jade's.
Jade smiled. It looked sad to Tori and she felt it in her heart. She gripped Jade's hand tighter to give her some assurance and support.
"Before that, I used to idolize my dad, ya know? He was the greatest man in the world. And I had the best…" Jade paused for a breath then went on, "We had the best family in the world! I had three people in my life that were like…my idols. And Aunt Michelle was so cool. She was like a rock star to me. And she was always there for me when I needed her.
"But when Dad threw her out… I was so scared and so… I should have said something. Did something. But I cowered in my room like a little girl, scared and I didn't do anything. Do you understand, Tori? My aunt. My best friend. She was being thrown out of my life and I didn't do anything!"
"Jade, you were a kid. No one…"
"Tori, it's not like that. Everyone, especially Aunt Michelle, always told me how smart I was. How mature I was. But, when I really needed to live up to that…"
Jade sobbed once. It was such a rare sound from her that Tori's heart almost stopped in despair. Now she wished they had driven. Then she could turn the car around and head back to LA.
Tori pulled Jade to her and whispered, "No one expects that from a child. No one."
"Tori, I'm…scared. What if Aunt Michelle doesn't love me? What if she hates me?"
"Sssh. She doesn't. You talked to her on the phone. Several times when she was in Asia and yesterday. Did she ever say anything like that?"
"No but maybe… What if she just wants me to come here to…? I don't know. To get back at me?"
"For what?"
"For not standing up for her!" Jade said loudly, causing heads to turn to the two teens.
In a lower voice, Jade added, "Maybe she blames me for getting her kicked out?"
"What?! How the hell do you come up with that?" Tori kept her voce low even though she wanted to yell at her girlfriend.
In a low tone, Jade said, "I don't know. All I know is that I never said anything to my old man and…" She shook her head, her eyes watery from unshed tears.
Tori pulled Jade to her and kissed the girl. It was chaste but full of love and support and care.
"I promise you, whatever happens, I'll be there for you the whole way. Never doubt that." Jade saw the look in Tori's eyes and knew the girl was telling the truth. Not that she ever would doubt her love.
"Jade, if anything happens like that, we're out of there. I'll do whatever it takes to get you home."
"I know Tori. Thank you. You're the only thing holding me together right now." She rose up a bit, looking over the seat ahead of her in the direction of the flight deck. Her voice was a growl, "When the hell are we going to get to the gate?"
For the next thirty minutes, Tori tried to coerce Jade into a conversation about what they would do when they returned home. She mentioned beach parties, concerts, movies and just hanging out. She even brought up the burgeoning relationship between Jade's ex and her sister. Jade added a thought or two, including a half-hearted insult about Trina, but showed little interest.
By this time, the plane had been on the ground for thirty minutes and had taxied towards the terminal. The plane sat for several minutes, the sun shining on the aluminum fuselage, the heat slowly permeating the plane, regardless of the internal air conditioning. It wasn't oppressive yet but the comfort level was dropping. There were increasing grumbles from people in the cabin.
This increased when a jet liner pulled out of a gate, headed for the taxiway. The fact that it was a different airline escaped the notice of several of the grumblers.
Before any real issue had a chance to raise its ugly head, the captain came on the intercom to announce their gate was now open and they would be deplaning shortly.
After arrival at the gate and the connection with the jetway was established, the passengers filled the aisle and slowly made their way off the plane. Tori and Jade remained in their seats as the parade of humanity passed by slowly. Naturally, to combat her internal stress. Jade had to comment on the more unusual people passing while Tori tried to quiet Jade, with no success beyond a lower voice.
Finally, the pair rose, grabbed their bags from the overhead and made their way off the plane. As the flight attendants said their goodbyes, Jade started to comment on the delay but Tori pulled her into the jetway.
"Hey! I wanted to complain about…"
"Write a letter to the FAA. The flight crew has no control over delays," Tori argued while cutting off the expected comments from Jade.
After stopping in one of the restrooms along the concourse, the relieved and refreshed pair headed for baggage claim to retrieve their suitcases.
Several planes came in at roughly the same time so baggage claim was busy. Carousel three had their flight's bags so the pair moved into the small crowd to look for their four suitcases. Just as they got to the carousel, their bags came towards them. Tori grabbed one then amother, almost falling onto the carousel on her second retrieval.
"Smooth, Vega," Jade snickered. Then she effortlessly grabbed the remaining two bags.
Though she said nothing, Tori could see the tension in Jade's body, especially when she scanned the crowd for her aunt.
"JADE!" rang out over the noise of passengers and their friends, families and/or lovers.
In front of the Hertz counter, a stunning blonde was waving at the girls. She had a big grin on her face and looked thrilled to see them.
Jade paused, bags in each hand. In a very small voice, she said, "Aunt… Aunt Michelle?"
"Jadey!" the woman yelled as she moved towards them, her arms outstretched.
Jade dropped her bags, narrowly missing Tori's sandaled feet. She ran the very short distance and fell into her aunt's arms.
Michelle hugged her niece tightly; tears of joy sliding down her face. Jade's eyes finally released the tears she'd held back.
Pulling back a bit, Michelle looked at Jade. "Oh, my beautiful little girl. Jade, I can't tell you how much I've missed you."
"I missed you too, Aunt Michelle," Jade sobbed.
"And look at you… You've grown up into the beautiful woman. Just like I always knew you would."
"I'm so sorry, Aunt Michelle. I'm so, so sorry."
"For what, dear?"
"I didn't say anything… I didn't do anything when Dad threw you out. I'm so sorry. I just hid in my room and…"
"Oh Jade. My sweet little girl. You didn't do anything wrong. There was absolutely nothing you could've done."
"But…"
"No buts! It was my brother's narrow-mindedness. There was nothing you, or your mother, could do. Please don't blame yourself for anything. Okay?"
A muffled okay came from where Jade's face was buried in her aunt's shirt.
Michelle looked over and saw Tori trying to manage four bags. With a wide smile she stated, "You must be Tori!"
"I must," Tori said, smiling with tears in her eyes at the loving reunion.
"Either that or there's at least one giant seed pod on the plane," Jade managed to say.
"JADE!" Tori whined.
"Aunt Michelle, this is Tori Vega. Vega, this is my aunt, Michelle West."
Tori held out her hand but was pulled into a hug instead. "Please call me Michelle, Tori. I'm so happy you are both here. Tori, I'm so glad you are part of my Jade's life. I know, from talking to Judy, how much love there is between you."
The older West looked at her niece and future niece-in-law with a big smile. "C'mon. Let's get out of here…"