Chapter 8 – Love For You

"A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you."
~Author Unknown

Tori had spent all day trying to prepare Lily for Trina's visit. The older Vega was loud and intrusive… and she hoped the child was ready for that kind of personality. Trina hired a Taxi to bring her from the airport and arrived at the house late in the morning.

Tori hugged her sister and welcomed her into the house. "Wow," Trina said in surprise. She walked into the living room and looked around. "You still have mom's couches?"

"I always liked them," Tori answered with a shrug. She smiled and lifted Lily into her arms. "Trina, this is Lily – my daughter. Lily, this is Trina – my sister. You can call her Aunt Trina."

"That doesn't in any way age me, does it?" Trina asked, not actually acknowledging the child.

"No," Tori responded irritably.

"Alright," Trina answered breezily. "So, show me around. I still can't believe you moved out of Jade's house – I didn't think that would ever happen."

Tori sighed and shook her head. "She talks a lot," she finally whispered to Lily. The child smiled uncomfortably and snuggled against her adoptive mother. Tori spent the next hour showing her sister around the house. Trina had something to say about everything.

"I didn't know lime and navy could actually look good together." And "Isn't that my scarf?" And "I forgot mom had these – do you really want them?" Tori ignored the negative things, thanked her for the positive things, and kept moving. In all seriousness, Trina was impressed by her little sister's home – and the life she had built. The recovery she had gone through in the past few years were nothing short of amazing. But, with Trina, being impressed walked hand-in-hand with being jealous – so, her rude comments quickly started to outnumber her kind comments.

Trina had been screeching and talking and blabbering for over an hour. Lily watched in a mixture of confusion and terror – and was thankful the older brunette chose not to acknowledge her at all. When Tori excused herself to make a pot of coffee, Lily followed her to the kitchen. "Can I go to see Violet?" Her voice was timid and shy; she was only just getting used to asking for things directly. She rarely did it; so the fact that she was asking gave credence to how desperate she was. Tori looked down and saw that the little girl's eyes were wide in concern.

She knelt down so that their eyes met. "I know that Trina is really – loud," Tori said, finally deciding on a non-offensive adjective. "But she's okay – she's not going to hurt you."

"I know."

"But you still need a break?" Lily nodded emphatically. She was learning several dramatic things – like emphatic nodding – from Violet.

Tori hugged her. "Okay. Go ahead over. Have Jade text me." Lily scurried out the back door and less than two minutes later, Tori's phone beeped – Jade letting her know that the child had arrived. Violet was still at her violin lesson, so Lily sat at the kitchen island and watched Jade's preparations for dinner. Jade tried to engage her in conversation, but she remained quiet, catching her breath and watching the older woman's perfect, succinct movements as she chopped vegetables and measured ingredients.

After a few minutes of silence, Jade handed her a container of strawberries and the corer and Lily set to work. "So, you met Trina?" Lily nodded. Jade studied her carefully. "Are you okay?"

"She's loud," Lily said finally, taking time to decide if there was a better way to describe her feelings about Trina. There was nothing else she could say without hurting Tori's feelings, so she went with Tori's chosen adjective.

"That's a nice way to put it," Jade answered sarcastically. "Trina is hard to deal with. But she's only here for a few days – don't worry too much." Lily looked away, studying the box of pasta intently. Jade's eyes narrowed but she kept her voice even. "What do you know?"

"Tori said she could stay," Lily answered softly.

"For how long?" Jade asked, trying to keep her anger under wraps.

"I don't know," Lily answered in a whisper. Tori had said Trina could stay as long as he wanted; that sound like a long time to Lily. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears; she had just gained Tori in her life – she wasn't ready to share her – and she wasn't prepared for another big change. She tried to explain these things to Jade – but she didn't know all of the words – or all of the emotions. She just knew that her heart hurt and she was anxious.

"Try not to worry," Jade repeated, hiding her own concern after listening to Lily's messy and confused litany of fears. "I'm sure it's just a few days." She saw that her words caused the child no semblance of peace. She put a lid on the sauce she had been working on and slid it into the refrigerator. Making sure all the kitchen appliances were turned off and the strawberries were put back into the fridge, Jade offered her hand to Lily. "Come on, let's go check on Coral. Okay?" Lily took Jade's hand, allowing her to help her down from the counter-height stool. Upstairs, they looked in on Coral – the baby was still sleeping in her crib. Jade chose a book from the shelf and sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her – Lily crawled up next to her and they both laid down – the little girl in Jade's arms – and read the first few chapters of Ella Enchanted.

By the time they reached chapter five, Lily had fallen asleep. Jade had a feeling the child had been a bundle of nerves all day, waiting for the visitor Tori had tried to prepare her for; she greatly needed sleep. When Beck arrived home with Violet, he found all three of them sleeping – Jade included.

Violet watched with an air of irritation as he pulled a blanket over his wife and Lily, lifted Coral from the crib since she would be waking soon, and walked back down to the kitchen to figure out how to plan dinner. She stayed by his side, asking insistent questions about why she wasn't allowed to wake Jade (she had tried when they'd first walked in the room and Beck had spoken rather harshly to her, in her opinion) - and why was Lily here, instead of with Tori?

"Vi, Lily is allowed to spend time with your mom. Just like you're allowed to spend time with Tori. Got it?" Beck was too busy taking in the remnants of dinner preparation to think too deeply about Violet. Jade had left dinner in the middle of being made – and he knew they were having Tori, Trina, Robbie, and Andre over for the meal. He needed to do something.

Violet scowled at his answer and his dismissiveness but said nothing else. "Can you help me with dinner? What should we order?" In the end, he ordered from a nearby Italian place and had it delivered.

Beck set the table for eight and set Coral's high chair next to his place. Violet helped, telling him all the things he was doing wrong and making sure he set it correctly. Tori and Trina arrived half an hour later.

"Where's Lily? And Jade?" Tori stayed in the kitchen to speak with him while Trina wandered into the living room.

"Sleeping," Beck told her. "I found them sleeping when I got home – in Coral's room. But it's almost time for dinner – so you can wake them up if you want." Tori walked up the stairs and crept into the room. Lily's eyes popped open as soon as Tori entered. The older woman smiled and leaned close to kiss her cheek.

"Feel better?" Lily nodded and Tori shook Jade's shoulder lightly, waking her. Jade sat up quickly, startled, and her heart raced for a moment until she remembered where she was.

"I can't believe I fell asleep."

"You must have needed it," Tori told her. "Thanks for watching Lily. Beck ordered dinner – it should be here soon. Everyone is here."

Jade sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten the mess it had become during her nap. She looked down at Lily, who was sitting next to her. "Are you okay?" The little girl nodded solemnly. "Okay. I'm going to get ready for dinner. You tell Tori what's bothering you, promise?" Another nod.

Once Jade was gone, Tori sat against the headboard and pulled Lily into her lap, hugging her close. "What is she talking about, sweetie?"

Lily told Tori about her fears – she told her that she was afraid of Trina – and that she was afraid that Trina wasn't going to go away – and that she was afraid to lose Tori. It all came out in a gush of tears and words and when she was finished, she felt much better.

"I am never going to leave you," Tori promised her. "Never. You're stuck with me now, okay?" Lily nodded, hiding her face against Tori's chest as the tears continued to fall. After half an hour or so, Tori was able to calm her fears and dry her tears. They walked down to the kitchen to find that Jade, looking much more fresh and awake, was moving the food to serving dishes.

"Now we just have to wash all of our serving dishes," Beck told her in confusion. "They came in serving dishes already."

"What is this we crap?" Jade asked him. "And if you think I'm putting aluminum foil serving dishes on my table, you don't know me at all." Tori smiled and stole a carrot from one of the dishes, breaking it in half and handing a piece to Lily. They both munched on it as they watched Jade and Beck finish transferring the food.

Tori carried the salad and Lily the rolls; Jade and Beck followed them with plates of pasta and sauce and meatballs. They sat down and started to pass around the meal, everyone seemingly talking at once as they prepared to eat.

Halfway through the meal, the elephant in the room was finally addressed. Quite unkindly, but still – it was finally mentioned. "So, Trina, when are you leaving?" Jade asked, her voice positive and upbeat – her meaning falling solidly in the category of rude. Beck gave her a look of displeasure but she ignored him, her smile widening. Trina glared slightly.

"I just arrived Jade, don't get your panties in a twist."

"What does that mean?" Violet asked curiously.

"Ignore anything that Trina says," Jade told her, before anyone else could respond. Trina made a face and stuck her tongue out at Jade. The other woman smirked; Trina always did prove to be the less mature one, no matter how low Jade decided to take things.

"Let's not talk about this," Tori interrupted, her voice stern. "Cat, how was work today? Tell everyone what you did." Most of the other adults at the table bit back groans as Cat leapt into a play-by-play description of the film she was working on. Tori smiled and nodded, listening as she ate her meal. No one interrupted her until she mentioned her brother, at which time Jade called an end to the story telling and moved on, asking Andre about his work.

After dinner, they moved into the living room where most of the adults broke into pockets of conversation while Cat tried to interest Violet and Lily in a puzzle. Violet refused to move from Jade's side and Lily was happy to watch Cat build a puzzle, but she would not participate.

"Did I really need to know how many costume changes Cat went through today?" Andre asked Tori as she walked from the kitchen, a glass of wine in hand. "Really, I mean – have I done something lately that I deserve to be punished for?"

"I had to stop Jade and Trina. Just be thankful I didn't ask her to tell us the plot of the latest Disney movie."

"Thank you for small miracles," Andre answered. "How are you holding up, with the new house and Lily? And now having Trina in town?"

"I'm okay," Tori promised. "Lily has been great. She's still not sure of a lot of things – but she's working really hard – and getting better every day. But we could have both gone a few more months without a visit from Trina."

"Can't blame you for that," he answered. He looked around the room to find that Trina was talking to Robbie, paying them no attention at all. "Listen, Tori. I think it's a little too convenient. You get a house – your sister comes to visit. If I were you, I'd be keeping an eye on how long she stays. Because I have a feeling from that has nowhere else to be."

"Andre—"

He continued, knowing she was too kind to think about the possibility that was on everyone else's mind. "I know she's your sister. But she's never done anything but cause you grief. So you either need to get comfortable with the idea of kicking her ass to the curb, or you need to unleash Jade. Because you don't need Trina messing up what you've worked for." Tori leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for worrying about me. I'll be okay."

"Never said you wouldn't be," he answered, shaking his head proudly. "You're pretty amazing, Tori Vega." Her heart swelled; this was the first deep conversation they'd had since she'd completely rejected him; she was thrilled to have her friend back.

"You're not so bad yourself, Andre Harris." She hugged him and walked over to the sofa, sliding to floor in front of it to sit next to Lily. "Why aren't you playing, Lily?" The little girl shrugged. She crawled into Tori's lap and made herself comfortable, curling into the older woman's arms.

Andre sat at Jade's grand piano and began playing, causing smiles to erupt across the room. They spent the remainder of the evening listening to Andre and Jade take turns at the piano, outplaying one another at every turn. They were so evenly matched that no one ever beat the other one – but they had fun trying.

That night, Beck attempted to put Violet and Coral to bed while Jade continued to entertain their guests; that didn't work out with his eldest daughter. "I want Mama."

"She'll come say goodnight," he promised.

"No," Violet answered, arms crossed tightly against her chest, "I want her now."

"Violet, come on. It's been a long day. Change into your pajamas and we'll read a book-" Violet shook her head, plopping onto the carpeted floor, back to Beck, arms still crossed. He had no idea what to do. He considered physically picking her up and putting her in her pajamas, but she was too old for that.

Jade was surprised when he came to find her several minutes later and told her what had happened; Violet didn't normally give them trouble at bedtime. She walked up the stairs and into her eldest daughter's bedroom, where the child was still pouting in the middle of her floor. Jade stood above her, peering cautiously at the little girl. "What is going on?"

"I don't want to go to bed."

"Bedtime is not a negotiation," Jade told her firmly. She pulled a pair of pajamas from a nearby dresser drawer and laid them on the bed. "Pajamas, now."

"No," Violet answered. Jade's eyes widened and it took quite a bit of willpower for the little girl to remain obstinate despite that look. It worked for several moments, but Jade was much better at holding a frightening gaze. The older woman simply stared at her daughter until the child's stubbornness dissipated and she grabbed the pajamas and pounded angrily into the bathroom.

Jade watched in confusion as she disappeared. Kicking off her shoes, she lay down on Violet's bed, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. She'd never in her life had an argument with her daughter - not one problem once the child moved beyond the infant/ toddler state that defied rational thinking. As soon as she could explain things to Violet, she'd been such a good child - always behaving, always doing what was asked. Where in the hell had this little scene come from?

Violet was embarrassed and angry and took extra-long to wash her face and brush her teeth. She was hoping against hope that her mother would have left out of pure anger and she wouldn't have to deal with the repercussions of her attitude until the morning. No such luck. As she left the bathroom, she saw that her mother was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Jade picked up the covers when she heard Violet, pulling them back. The little girl obediently crawled under them, saying nothing. Jade was quiet too, while she tried to decide the best course of action. She was angry - she'd never been defied by her daughter before. But she knew what anger could do to a person - what it could make them do. So she waited to speak until she felt calm enough to be rational.

"I need you to tell me what is going on. Why are you being difficult tonight?"

"I don't want to go to bed," Violet said in a pout.

"That's not what I asked," Jade responded. "What is wrong?" There was silence between them for a long time and Jade peeked once to make sure the young girl hadn't fallen asleep. Finally, Violet spoke – and it was nothing her mother expected.

"Do you like Lily better than me?" Jade flipped to her side, staring strangely at her first born.

"Why would you even ask that?"

"She already took Aunt Tori, and now she's taking you," Violet said, tears seeping into her voice and overflowing from her eyes. Jade's expression was still one of confusion and uncertainty, but she could see that Violet was in pain, so she pulled her arms around the child and hugged her close.

"My beautiful baby girl, Lily hasn't taken Aunt Tori away from you. And she's certainly not taking me anywhere." She paused and tried to imagine how things looked from Violet's prospective. "I know Aunt Tori and I spent a lot of time with Lily while she was in the hospital – but you have to understand – she needed us. And I knew you were safe. Lily wasn't. She's never had an adult in her life to take care of her and make sure she was safe. She needs to know that we all love her. I know you love her, Vi."

Violet didn't answers. She did love Lily. She tried to understand how loving Lily and sharing her mother had to coincide. But she was six years old – and she wanted her mother's undivided attention. Being rational about it didn't currently appeal to her.

"You love her more because she needs you more?"

"Oh, Violet," Jade said, softly. "Love just doesn't work that way. It's not something you ever run out of. I don't have to love you less because I also love Lily. The more people you love, the more love you have to give." She smiled as her eyes met her daughter's. "That's a neat little trick your dad taught me." Violet sniffled as Jade hugged her closer. "I love you more than anything in this world. There is nothing that could ever change that. But I love Coral too - and your dad - and Aunt Kitty. Aunt Tori - and grandma - and grandpa - and Lily."

Violet didn't answer, so Jade squeezed her again and kissed her forehead. "I love you so much," she said softly. She turned out the nightlight and settled Violet more comfortably in her arms. Softly, she began to sing.

Darling you can count on me

'Til the sun dries up the sea

Until then I'll always be

Devoted to you

I'll be yours 'til endless time

I'll adore your charms sublime

Guess by now you know that

I'm Devoted to you

I'll never hurt you, I'll never lie

I'll never be untrue

I'll never give you reason to cry

I'd be unhappy if you were blue
Through the years our love will grow

Like a river it will flow

It can't die because I'm so

Devoted to you

I'll never give you reason to cry

I'd be unhappy if you were blue
Through the years our love will grow

Like a river it will flow

It can't die because I'm so

Devoted to you

Devoted to you

Violet's tears dried and by the end of the song, she was sleeping, snuggled closely against her mother. Jade stayed with her, ignoring the knowledge that all of their guests were still in the house, probably waiting for her. By the time her eldest daughter was sleeping soundly and she was able to extract herself from the child's grip, everyone had gone home. Beck had cleared all of the dishes and glasses and locked up the house. He was waiting for her in their bedroom.

"What happened?" He asked, sitting on the edge of their bed and waiting while she disappeared into their closet and reappeared, dressed in a comfortable pair of cotton pajamas. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and sat at her vanity to remove her makeup. She looked at him in the mirror.

"I think she's getting a little jealous of the attention Lily's getting."

"I can't blame her," Beck answered. Jade glared at him slightly.

"She has to learn to get over it," Jade answered. "Especially with another baby coming –"

"Babe, I'm just saying - I'm a grown man and I'm jealous of the time you spend with other people. I can't blame our six-year-old for feeling that way occasionally."

"Am I that terrible?"

"No," Beck said, backpedaling and regretting his words immediately. "I love you – I love that you help so many people. But I can see why Violet's upset. She doesn't understand what's going on. Hell, we don't even understand this. It's been a whirlwind and suddenly Tori is moved out, you have a little sister, and Violet finds it confusing that there's one more person to share her life with. I can just see where she's coming from."

"I'm trying my best," Jade said, dejectedly.

"Your best is two hundred times better than anyone else's. And you're an amazing mom," Beck told her. "It was just a hard day for her. It'll be okay." Jade didn't respond. She continued removing her makeup, got ready for bed, and allowed him to massage her shoulders and cuddle with her until she fell asleep.


Thanks so much for all of the lovely reviews! Let me know what you think. Do you think Violet's jealousy is understandable? Well-founded? Do you think it will affect her relationship with Lily? What did you like? Anything you didn't like? Thanks again for reading!