Disclaimer: don't own
Later that night, John walked 3 houses down the street to his house. Letty basically lived with the Torettos now. She shared a room with Dom much to her mother's dismay. Mrs. Rodriguez still had a problem with her children growing up and moving on. She tried to prolong the inevitable as much as possible. After many arguments, fights, and heart-felt mother-daughter chats, Mrs. Rodriguez finally realized that Letty was a 20 year old woman who is fully capable of making her own decisions; or mistakes as her mother often referred to many of Letty's 'decisions'.
Ever since Letty practically moved out of her childhood home, Mrs. Rodriguez has been dead-set on keeping her baby boy just that. She continued to spoil him rotten, just as she did when he was a young child. John loved the newfound attention that he hasn't seen since he was in elementary school. He encouraged his mom to keep it up, just not in front of anyone. After all, a 17 year old boy wouldn't want his friends to know that his mom still cuts the crust off his PB&J, now would he?
John makes his way into his family's modest two story white house with the big front porch. His tricked out Nissan sat in the driveway. He and Letty had the exact same car, just hers was purple and his was black. It was actually Letty's idea for them to have the same car, while John was just happy that he got a car at all. He recalled his sister saying "We are going to have the two best cars around!" He really loved his sister at times, but at other times, she was just a pain in the ass.
John walked into the den and saw his mother on the couch reading a magazine in her nightgown.
"Hey Mom, I'm home." John greeted as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Hey darlin'." She replied as she put her magazine down and stood up. It was clear that she had waited till her son returned before she went to sleep. He may be a 6'2 muscular 17 year old, but he was still her baby boy, and she would always worry about him.
"Well hon, I think I'm going to turn in for the night." She told John as she made her way towards her bedroom.
"Alright Mom. Sleep good." He called after his mother's retreating form as he sat down on the couch and reached for the remote.
"Oh and son." She halted and turned around. "I almost forgot to tell you. Maddy called while you were gone. She is just the nicest girl. Always so polite when I talk to her. When do I finally get to meet this mystery girl? She seems like a keeper. I suggest you hold onto her son." His mother gushed.
"Oh don't worry Mom. I plan to. What time did she call?" John asked.
"Oh…I would say about an hour ago." Mrs. Rodriguez replied.
"Okay. I'll call her back in a sec. Mia suggested I bring her over to the barbecue tomorrow. The team seems eager to meet her. Well…" John paused for a moment. "The guys and Mia seem eager to meet her. Dom and Letty are kind of in their own little world."
Mrs. Rodriguez scowled at this remark. It wasn't that she didn't like Dominic, because she did. She loved all the Torettos like they were her own family. She had been very close to Dom and Mia's mother Diana before she died, and Mr. Toretto was one of the kindest men she had ever met. It's just that she still wasn't used to the idea of her only daughter living with and sharing a room with a man; a young man that Mrs. Rodriguez had known since he was four years old.
John noticed that her almost always happy face had darkened and a scowl now sat upon her lips. This usually happened whenever Dom's and Letty's name were put in the same sentence.
"Oh, come on Mama. We've been over this." John began as he made his way over to his mother and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Letty is 20 years old. She has been with Dom since she was 16. You can't expect her to be your baby girl forever."
His last sentence really hit her hard. Images and flashbacks of Letty when she was just a little girl came rushing to her mind, and her eyes began to well up with tears.
John quickly noticed and folded his arms around his petite mother. She was quite a small woman, standing at just 5'2. John was an entire foot taller than her, but even this didn't make the hug awkward in the least. He could feel a few of his mother's tears seeping through his shirt. He couldn't ever stand to see a woman cry, much less the people he really cared about. While his mother continued to cry her eyes out, John rubbed soothing circles on his mother's back. He didn't really have to worry about seeing his sister cry, seeing as she rarely ever did, and even when she did, she never cried in front of anyone. 'Have I ever seen Maddy cry?' John thought to himself. He quickly came to the conclusion that he hadn't because he realized that just the thought of Maddy crying tugged on his heart and made a ball in the pit of his stomach. 'How is it that I care this much for her already? We've only been together a little over a month.' John asked himself. A loud sniffle and an extended sigh brought John out of his thoughts.
John started to pull away from his mom.
"Mom, it's okay to miss her. Hell, even I do sometimes…not much, but still." He told his mom with a smirk. "And don't forget Mama. You always got me. I'll still be around for awhile." John told his mom. He would say anything to try to lighten the mood and see a smile back on his mother's face, and thankfully this worked. His mom began to perk up at the thought that her baby boy was still at home, and she could still coddle and love on him all she wants.
"Okay." His mother began and she finished wiping the tears from her face. "Enough of the sappiness." She ended with a small laugh. John was glad his mother was semi-happy again, even if it was a little forced. He hated to see her upset.
"Go call Maddy and see if she can come tomorrow. I would really love to meet her. I don't see why you haven't brought her around before." His mother said.
"We've just been really busy Mama, and I guess we just never got around to it. But, I'll call her and see if she can come. I promise you'll meet her soon." John said with a grin.
John wasn't the least bit nervous of his mother and Maddy meeting. He knew they would get along just fine. The real reason he hadn't brought her around was because he was nervous of the team's reactions. They weren't exactly known for being the most accepting people in the world; minus Mia of course. She liked almost everyone. She was truly a sweetheart. John understood why the team was so wary of new people after the whole Brian fiasco, and even though he was a cop and lied to them, he turned out to be a pretty good guy. After all, he and Mia are dating. The team finally accepted him after he saved their asses. Well, Vince didn't exactly accept him, more so tolerates him; mainly for Mia's sake, and Dom threatened to kiss his ass if he so much as started any unnecessary shit with Brian and nobody wants to get their ass kicked by Dom.
"I better!" His mom joked. "Night baby. I love you." She said as she headed off once again to her bedroom.
"Love you too Mom. See ya in the morning." John called back at her as he stifled a yawn. 'Emotional shit really takes it out of ya.' He thought to himself.
John cut off the T.V. he had cut on earlier before his mother's emotional breakdown. John hoped that his mother would soon get over Letty's decision to move out. He hated to see his mother depressed. After he cut out all the lights downstairs, he made his way to the staircase as he began to climb the stairs to his room. Once he got to his room, he checked the clock to see what time it was. '11:02. It's not too late to call Maddy.' John thought to himself before reaching out and grabbing his cell phone. He then pushed the 3 button, his speed dial number for Maddy; right after his mother and voice mail which was automatically set as number 1. He laughed to himself as he heard 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' blaring through his phone's speakers. Of course his girlfriend wouldn't just have a regular ring; she had to have a ring-back tone. He let it ring for a while before finally getting her voice mail. 'She must be in the shower or out somewhere.' He thought. It was well known that his girlfriend was a complete night owl. She claimed that she functioned best at night. 'She surely is one of a kind, and she's all mine.' John thought as a silly grin appeared on his lips.
"Hey you've reached Maddy! Just leave me a message, and if you're lucky I just might get back to you!"
John loved his girlfriend's voice. She was from the southeast; South Carolina to be exact and she was a true southern belle. He could listen to her talk for hours on end. Her voice soothed him. Whenever he was mad, she could calm him down just by talking to him. She didn't know this, but he never had to worry about not hearing her voice. Maddy loved to talk, and she did so constantly. Her voice was one of the only ones he could stand to hear for over an extended amount of time.
"Hey Maddy. It's only 11. You cannot be asleep. I mean this is even early for me." John joked. "Anyways, I just called to see if you wanted to come to a barbecue at the Torettos house tomorrow evening. You know Letty's boyfriend and all them? Well just call me or text me or whatever. I think I'm going to go to sleep. I'm wiped. Well I'll talk to you later. Bye baby." And with that he hung up. John caught himself before he slipped an 'I love you' in there. 'What the hell is wrong with you John? You've just been together like a month. You can't love her…can you?' John asked himself.
"I'm going to scare her off if I don't keep my mouth in check." John muttered under his breath.
After he hung up, sleep came not long after. About an hour later, he was woken by a beep coming from his phone indicating that he had a new text message. He flipped open his phone to see a new text from Maddy.
Hey baby. I didn't want to call and interrupt your precious beauty sleep haha. I would love to go to the BBQ. I can't wait to meet them. I hope they like me…oh what am I saying? Everyone loves me! lol. Ok. Well I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye!
P.S. What should I wear
John couldn't help but laugh at his girlfriend's message. He loved her playful and joking nature. She was always so confident in herself, but never cocky, and he found this very attractive. He just hoped the team would like her half as much as he did.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember constructive criticism is welcomed. I promise the team will meet Maddy in the next chapter.
