Fresh Start at Life
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N:
Chapter 52 (Life Plans and Goals)
Waking up the next morning, Trina made her way from the bedroom and into the living room where she heard Jake and Justin shouting and laughing. Jason was on the couch with a wireless Gamecube controller, his eyes were wide and his jaw hung open.
She looked to the television and saw Super Smash Bros on the Wii. Jake was playing Samus, Justin was Wolf, and Jason was Ike. Currently, Ike was flying off the screen, the cousins were teaming up on him. Trina put her hand to her forehead and shook her head. "They are taking advantage of the fact that you've never played, I'm guessing?" Jason turned his mournful eyes up to her and she sat down beside him. "Jake's using my character." Jake laughed and Jason looked at her with a bewildered gaze.
"You've played this monstrosity?"
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and grinned wide. "Yep." Studying the screen, she saw Ike down to three lives, Samus at five, and Wolf at six. "Love it too. Oh boys…" She took the controller from him and called out to her cousins in a singsong tone. They looked back at her and screamed, both pointing at the controller.
"No! No fair!" While they were distracted she struck the buttons on the controller, causing Ike to charge and swing his sword into both characters, sending them flying off the screen. Jake and Justin immediately turned back and Jason's eyebrows rose.
"Trina." She hummed back and leaned into him. "I just fell a little more in love with you." Trina laughed and pecked him on the lips before returning to the game.
It came down to all three having one life left. Ike was on the right edge of the stage, Wolf on the left, and Samus in the middle. "I don't think this is a good place to be," Jake muttered.
Trina snickered and curled her lip into a smirk. "It's really not." Samus had a high damage percentage, which meant Jake was about to be out of the game. Wolf charged in first and Samus flipped over him, striking him in the back before he could block. Trina took the opportunity to send Ike rushing forward. Ike jumped up and swept down with his sword, forcing Wolf into the ground and up into the air.
Samus threw a part of the broken suit and Ike deflected, then dashed forward. The sword swept outwards and Samus flew off to the side with an explosion. Jake bowed his head and his shoulders fell. The continued fight with Wolf dealt heavy damage on both sides. It ended with the two causing the other to fly off the top of the screen.
While Ike fell in the background, Wolf smashed into the front, causing his character to die first. "No!" Justin cried out in defeat and Trina cheered. Jason laughed and put an arm around Trina's shoulders, grinning at her.
"That was beautiful, Trina."
"I demand a rematch," Justin remarked. "When was the last time you played, Trina? No fair helping your boyfriend!" Trina leaned back, putting her hand to her chest and letting out a mock gasp.
"But I can't just let anybody trash him. Can I?" She curled a smirk on her face and crossed her arms. "It's been on and off since I saw you guys last." Trina stood up and pat her pants. "You could try playing something where you're working together. I need to get my cup of coffee."
Trina moved to the kitchen, smiling at Sarah. Sarah was working on a crossword puzzle, which intrigued her. After pouring her coffee, she took a seat beside her cousin and looked to the front room. Jason looked bored, but it was good that he was spending some time with them. "They've been at it all morning," Sarah looked up from her puzzle and chuckled at the group. "Jonah got him to play a Super Mario game with him. Danielle wants to get everyone together to play DDR."
"You mean all the cousins?"
"Yep." Sarah leaned back and motioned to the prize box behind the table. "Tonight's family game is going to be Christmas Trivia. Winner gets a prize out of the box."
Trina sipped her coffee. "Sounds like fun." She turned her eyes to the screen on the television. Kirby's Adventure was playing. "I honestly don't know how I can picture Jason playing DDR." She stifled a laugh and Sarah shrugged.
"The worse you dance, the funnier it is."
"Very true. I can't picture him doing the salsa or anything-slow dance yes, but who can't do that?" She looked to the puzzle and pointed at one of the boxes. "I think that's 'filch'." Sarah studied the given definition and the letters already in the box, an F and a C.
"It is!" She wrote it in and moved to the next definition. "Did you sleep alright last night?"
She rolled her head to the right and laughed quietly. "I miss cuddling, but yes." Sarah rolled her eyes and smirked at her.
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity to cuddle with your boyfriend at other times."
"Of course." She took another sip of her coffee and reclined her head. Her body was still sluggish from last night, she hadn't been able to sleep until late because she was up trying to deal with her laptop she brought. It was loading pages slowly and overall didn't want to stay connected to the internet for whatever reason. "I was up scanning my computer for viruses last night, it's been acting weird."
"Strange." Sarah pulled her pen away from the paper and looked towards Trina with some concern. "Is it an old laptop?"
"Yeah, so that's probably it. I don't really want to bother." It wasn't like she had use for it anymore, not with the changes she'd been making in her life. "I think Tori has me blocked on Facebook now for whatever reason, but I don't care."
"What makes you think she blocked you?"
Trina shrugged and crossed her legs. "I can't find her name in the search bar anymore and she's not in my contact list." Sarah clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I created a new Facebook and deactivated that old account just last night, so it doesn't matter."
Sarah reached over and rubbed her back. "Well I'm proud of you making that step. You and Jason don't need all the drama people in your lives." The only people she added back on her new profile were Beck and Jade, the rest could go to hell.
"Thanks Cuz. I've pretty much made it extremely private, so I'm thinking it'll work out that I don't have to worry about crazy stuff anymore." Se tucked her hair behind her ear and blew out a rush of air. "Unlike Jason, I really don't know entirely what I'm going to do with my future. I don't know if I want to be like the women in this family or not, though."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at Aunt Dee and Aunt Sonya." Trina folded her forearms on the table and leaned forward. "Both have degrees in something." Aunt Dee had a business degree, which Trina thought was a masters, and then Sonya had a masters in marine biology and medicine. "But they've both devoted their entire lives to staying home and taking care of the kids-not saying that it's a bad thing, because I admire them more for it."
"I understand." Sarah set her pen down on the notepad and curled her eyebrows inwards as her lips curved into a tiny smile. "But they also have the money to do that. Mom could homeschool us and didn't have to work because Dad made so much money while also saving it up." Trina was always envious of that fact, but it was still a great thing to see them so well off. "Uncle John's in the military and has an extremely well-paying job. At the same time, you don't know if you'll be a stay-at-home parent until you have kids."
Her eyebrows bounced up and her eyes darted to Jason. "Yeah, I'm a little shocked that hasn't happened yet." Sarah raised an eyebrow and she quickly lifted a hand. "I'm just saying…Not ready for kids yet. We slowed down, we really have."
"Sure." Sarah nudged her playfully and laughed. "After Dad got you to move down to Houston." Trina laughed and shook her head. Sarah leaned back into her chair and tapped the table with her palms while sighing. "Mom and Sonya never planned to be stay-at-home moms, and there is nothing wrong with that-despite what some asshole feminists would have you believe."
"Did you just curse?"
"Ignore that." Sarah dismissed it with a wave and cleared her throat. "Feminists tick me off, just saying. Grandma and Mom both have said many times that they've been told comments from the ignorant ones that made them want to punch them. There's good feminism and then there's extremism. The notion that women who choose to stay at home with the kids is something that the man forces them to do is just ignorant. If feminism is about choosing, then why the hell should they judge their own gender for choosing to stay at home! It's ignorant!"
"I agree." Trina sipped her coffee and watched her cousin stretch out her fingers. Sarah's muscles tensed for a minute, then relaxed. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips tightly together.
"Back onto subject though. Mom and Aunt Sonya have a degree so they can work if they have to find a job, much like your mom did. It's a safety net for them." Sarah motioned to Jonah who had come out of the bathroom and sat down on the couch. "Jonah's girlfriend may end up being a home mom if she chooses. She talks about it a lot." She moved her hand to her chest and lifted her shoulders. "I've got a degree and will probably always work-but I don't know that for a fact. Whenever I have kids, I might decide to stay at home and homeschool them. Same goes for you. It doesn't hurt, either, if the husband is making a good amount of money."
"How much does a personal trainer make in Houston?"
"They can make about fifty thousand a year, but that's the median."
Trina coughed on her drink and leaned back, patting her hand over her chest. "You know that?" She lifted her eyebrows as Sarah nodded.
"Looked it up last night while you guys were talking about it at the table."
"Oh." Fifty grand was a good number, though as Sarah said, it was just a median. The starting salary was likely lower. "Jason plans to try and open a gym, so starting his own business…he'd make more." The man did double major in Business and Finance, so he knew what he was doing. It wasn't as if he was just relying on being a personal trainer. "But damn if he doesn't start making more money than I do."
"Wouldn't be surprised." Sarah closed the crossword book and furrowed her brow. "Can I ask you something, though?"
"Sure."
"You're always talking about you and Jason, putting you two together with most things. Primarily your future. Are you thinking seriously about a life with him, Trina?" She paused to look at Jason, her answer needed no hesitation.
She lowered her voice and breathed in slowly. "Is it bad if I want to? I know he's the guy I want to be with, regardless of who his family is."
"It isn't bad." Sarah smiled at her and gave her a one armed hug around the shoulders. "I was just wondering. The way you two are, it seems like at least one of you, if not both, are thinking seriously about family life."
"I want to have a family one day. I want to raise my children up right, like my mom raised me up." There was nothing she wanted more at this point than to be able to say that she could raise her kids and be there for them. Maybe her aunts, and the way her cousin seemed to be headed herself, may very well have a good point. "You think there's a benefit to being a stay-at-home parent, Sarah?"
If anyone would know, it was Sarah. Being a counselor, or at least Sarah's focus in child psychology, was something that made her an expert. "Yes." Trina's heart skipped forward and she held her breath while listening carefully to her cousin. "You're always present in the child's life, which gives you time to bond emotionally and mentally with that child growing up and the ability to teach them the things they ought to know. I don't have to mention the benefits on saving money for every babysitter or daycare you don't have to hire. Mentally speaking, it's better for the child-but you can still have a good impact on them even if you work, just like your mother had with you."
"I suppose." She dropped her eyes towards her hands on the table. There was a light quiver in them as she thought back to her mom's passing. It was the job that took her mother away from her and plunged her into her angry grandfather's hands. "I can't blame mom's job for it, but she died on the job. If she were still alive…"
"Well, of course things would be different, but you can't always focus on that, letting it decide what you want to do with your life." Trina smiled sadly and nodded back to her cousin. "In all honesty, you've got some time, I think. If you and Jason end up together and starting a family, you'll have time to plan out what you want to do with your lives-of course you'll have all of us to back you guys up."
"Right."
"Mom and Aunt Sonya both have told me this." Trina raised an eyebrow and Sarah straightened her back. She closed her eyes and cleared her throat. "You won't know if you want to be at home to share in everything your child does in life or work to help support the child financially until the very minute you hold your firstborn in your hands."
She furrowed her brow and moved her hand to her stomach, fantasizing about that moment. "I want to finish out my degree, to have that. I want to work right now. I know mom wanted to be able to stay at home with me, but the divorce stopped that from happening." She pulled her hand away and took a deep breath. "You're right though, I guess I won't know until the time comes."
"Exactly. Mom didn't know until I was born, and like I said, she decided to stay and homeschool us. "Aunt Sonya worked until Justin was born, then she gave up work to raise her kids. You and I, we've got plenty of time before we have to worry about any of that."
"Hopefully our men will be financially stable when that time comes." She smirked and Sarah laughed abruptly.
"Yes, it's looking like they will be. Let's make a pact to try and wait until things are set up, right?"
"You mean like when we actually get settled into a home, husband's working, and college is done? Then worry about kids?"
"Yes. Sometimes it doesn't always work out that way-almost never works out in that order, but it's a good goal to have in mind. College degree, career, husband-not necessarily in that order-home, and then children."
"Agreed." She hugged her cousin and pulled away to do a quick fist-bump. She truly looked forward to her future, and was elated to be able to finally see a plan that could be worked into her life.
A good simple plan indeed, I'd say the future looks good for them. And of course, beating the cousins at a game is always fun
