Story Name: Project Christmas

Chapter Name: Three.

Category: Lab Rats, 2012

Characters: Tasha "Davenport"

Rating: K

Song of the Chapter: The Night We Met - Chase Eagleson (cover)

Location: Home of Grandma Rose, Mission Creek, CA

Date: December Third, Two-Thousand Twenty-Three

Hello and welcome back, y'all. This chapter is pretty short, mostly because Tasha is not my writing strong suit. I have also concluded that I will be making the rest of the story in first person if it makes it easier for me to write. Anyway, here's Tasha's chapter. The next chapters will be combined because I'm not planning this out like I should and I'm pretty lazy. Nevertheless, here's three.

P.S. Just so you know, I'm revealing what happened "five years ago" as the story goes on. Everything will become clear, eventually. Thought I should let you know.

Three.

Tasha gazed upon the phone screen, watching it as if the darkest plague was about to rise to fight against her body. She couldn't bear to say his name, let alone even read anything he had to say. It was almost as if she had pictured him as a part of a horror film, her in the role of victim and Donald in the role of the most evil thing you could possibly think of. This image had stayed in her mind, screaming at her if she ever thought he would've changed.

But just that minutest twig of guilt seemed to spark some curiosity.

Their divorce was final, and there was nothing that was going to change that. Donald proved to her that he wasn't a good husband, a good mentor, or a good leader in general for that matter. All that mattered to him was greed, and without greed, he crumbled. Donald was a sophisticated man, yet on the inside, he was just like any other horrible drunk guy on the face of the earth... and Tasha blamed herself that she ever talked to him.

Leo had convinced her many times that he wasn't the right man for her, the first comment being when she and "Mr. Davenport" walked right in the front door of his newly-constructed mansion. Of course, who pays attention to that when you're love-struck. Oh, how she would take it all back in a heartbeat. How she wished she would've listened to her son.

Don't look at me - I told you to stay away from online dating!

But there is one thing that she wouldn't have traded anything in the world for: her three oldest: Adam, Bree, and Chase. Sure, Douglas was the one who created them and Donald was the one who taught them... but her heart could not have been and be more fond of the three, especially after all that has happened in their lives.

She missed them dearly, gosh she missed them. When they left, three pieces of her heart were torn out of her chest. All of the memories, the annoyances, the laughter. It was like they were her own children. No, they were her children. Tasha knew that eventually she would see them again, doing so much better than she ever could be. That was the story of every mother's heart, incidentally. But to Tasha, words couldn't describe the feeling of them leaving.

Not to mention, Leo left the Davenport mansion a few days after all of this happened in pursuit of finding his passion for acting in New York City. Staying with his biological father, Tasha knew he would be much more safer in the comfort of his father's hands than Donald.

So, she decided to unwillingly accept the dinner invitation. Not for Donald, but for the small chance that her kids might be there. Adam, with a passion for crazy adventures. Bree, with her title of fame that she's always wanted growing up. Chase, with the mind of Einstein, looking for a way to teach the world anywhere he goes.

Five years is a long time to go without seeing most of your family. Sure, she always had Naomi (with full rights due to many court meetings), and she was staying at her mother's house, but it just wasn't the same. Her heart was longing for something more. Something she hasn't had in a long time.

Hopefully on Christmas, Tasha thought, I'll finally get to see my other three.