"Oh Jade..." Judy Brewer, her maternal grandmother, gasps as she rushes towards her with open arms "Oh thank god!"
"Hi Grandma..." Jade smiles, allowing the woman to embrace her warmly "I've missed you."
"I..." Judy reaches up and cups her granddaughter's face in her hands "I'm just so happy you're alive and you're back where you belong."
"Me too."
"Hey, Pumpkin..." Her grandfather, Steve Brewer, smiles as he approaches her, tears filling his eyes
"Hey, Grandpa..." Jade moves to hug him tightly as well "...s'good to see you."
"You too." He kisses the top of her head as he wraps his arms around her "I didn't think I'd ever get the chance again."
Kaitlyn's parents, Jade and Tyler's grandparents, had relocated to Charleston, South Carolina when Jade was seventeen. Although they still wanted to be around their grandchildren, they were growing tired of the fast-paced lifestyle of Los Angeles and wanted to go somewhere more relaxed. Friends of their's had spoken so highly of the southeast coast, and they decided it was where they wanted to retire as well. Usually they only fly out to Los Angeles around the winter holidays, but Kaitlyn and Chris and their children would visit them for a few weeks every summer as well. They had been in town the weekend Jade disappeared, using her graduation as a special occasion to come back to LA outside of when they usually did. What was supposed to be a weekend trip to see their granddaughter graduate ended up turning into a month-long stay to hopefully witness her return. Obviously that didn't turn out the way that they wanted it to either.
When Kaitlyn called her parents to tell them Jade had been found, and found alive, they almost hopped a red-eye flight in the middle of the night to come and see it for themselves. However, Kaitlyn urged them not to. Jade had enough reunions in the first few days to overwhelm her for a lifetime, and they already had a trip scheduled at the end of May for Tyler's high school graduation. So the couple made do with phone calls and video chats to reunite with their granddaughter and to be introduced to their new great-grandson, but this was the first time they would get to see either one of them in person since Jade had been found.
"Alright, Dad." Kaitlyn rests a hand on her father's shoulder as a sign to change the subject "That's a bit morbid. Let's try to focus on the positives here. This is a happy weekend, remember?"
"Yes, of course." Steve sniffs, collecting himself and standing up a bit taller "Jade is home again, Tyler is graduating, and we get to meet our new great-grandson! Where is the little guy?"
Kaitlyn is thankful that her parents hadn't flown out right away when they learned Jade had been found, it was for the best that her daughter never saw her grandparents' reactions to the news that she now had a child fathered by her captor. They had been outraged, as everyone else had been, but were not shy about the fact that they disapproved. Kaitlyn had to remind them that at the end of the day he was Jade's son, and his paternity didn't matter. They loved Jade, and they all loved Aiden as well. After seeing pictures and interacting with him a few times over video call, Judy and Steve had come to love the little boy just as much as everyone else did. After all, it was very hard not to. Aiden had a way of wrapping everyone around his tiny little finger.
"Oh, he's around here somewhere. Probably getting into trouble with his Uncle Tyler." Jade chuckles "Aiden?"
"Mom?" Aiden appears in the hallway leading to the foyer, eyes widening when he sees the new guests that have just arrived "Uh..."
"C'mere, baby." Jade kneels down and opens her arms to him "There's some people I want you to say hello to."
Aiden toddles down the hallway, straight into his mother's open and waiting arms. Jade presses a kiss to his cheek before lifting him up and resting him on her hip so her grandparents can get a better look at him.
"Do you recognize Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa?" She asks him "From the computer?"
Aiden nods, but doesn't say anything.
"He's a bit shy when he meets new people..." Jade explains "He'll warm up to you, I promise."
"I would be a little wary of strangers too if I were him..." Judy smiles as she reaches forward and brushes some of Jade's hair behind her shoulder to see the little boy better "Hi there, Mr. Aiden. It's great to finally see you in person."
"Hi..." Aiden says quietly
"He has your eyes, Jade." Judy tells her granddaughter "Almost exact replicas. He's beautiful."
"Thank you." Jade grins, nudging Aiden a bit "Hey, she just gave you a compliment. What do you say?"
"Thank you, Great-Grandma."
"Just Grandma and Grandpa works for us, kiddo." Steve informs the little boy "Throwing the 'great' int there can be a real mouthful. Just call us Grandma and Grandpa. Does that work for you?"
"Yeah." Aiden nods "Do you guys want to see my cars? Uncle Tyler helped me build a track for them."
"We would love to." Judy smiles, taking Aiden's hand in hers as Jade sets him down "Lead the way, Aiden."
"MOMMY!" Aiden's voice echoes down a long, dimly lit hallway
"AIDEN?" Jade screams, running in the direction of her son's voice
"MOMMY! HELP!"
Jade's legs feel weak beneath her as she runs from door to door down the long, seemingly never-ending, hallway, trying to burst through every door she comes to with no luck. Every doorknob she tries is locked, and she's no closer to locating her son.
"MOMMY! HELP ME!" Aiden cries out again
"I'M COMING BABY!" Jade exclaims, crying now
Finally, the last door she comes to opens when she turns the knob and she falls through it, landing in a heap on the floor. She quickly jumps to her feet and scans the room, her heart sinking into her stomach when she sees Aiden in the corner. He's crying and looks absolutely terrified as a tall, muscular man holds a knife to his throat.
Jade would recognize that man anywhere unfortunately. The graying blonde crew cut and the neatly cut beard...the marine corps tattoo on his left shoulder...
Ronald Cook has her son, and he's hurting him.
"Let him go!" She cries, almost choking on her own saliva "We had a deal! I"ll do whatever you want as long as you don't touch him!"
"You broke my trust when you ran away." Ron reminds her "You really expect me to honor that deal now?"
"Mommy..." Aiden whimpers, wheezing as Ron tightens his grip around him
"It's okay, baby..." Jade tries her best to comfort him "Ron, let him go. I'm begging you, please!"
"Say goodbye to your mom, kid."
"Ron, don't." Jade begs "Please, no!"
"NO!" Jade screams, sitting straight up in bed
She's breathing heavy, almost as if she had just finished running a marathon instead of just waking up from a dream. Hot tears stain her face and her heart breaks into a million pieces as she turns to see her son in bed next to her, wide awake with a terrified look on his face.
"Why are you crying?" Aiden asks her "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Jade shakes her head, reaching over and pulling him into her lap "Nothing, baby. I just had a bad dream is all."
Her grandparents were staying in the guest bedroom where Aiden normally sleeps. They had left the bigger bed in there in addition to Aiden's bunkbeds, but Jade was worried that their commotion going to bed after him and waking up before him would disrupt Aiden's sleep. So for just two nights while they were in town, he was allowed to sleep in her bed with her. Obviously she hadn't planned on waking him in the middle of the night with one of her nightmares.
"Were there monsters?"
"Yeah..." Jade sighs as she hugs him tightly "Yeah there were. I just got a little scared is all."
"Don't worry, Mommy." Aiden turns and wipes her tears off of her face with his small hands "S'not real. You're safe."
"You're right, baby." She nods, trying her best not to start crying again "You're absolutely right."
It doesn't take long for Aiden to fall back to sleep, but Jade doesn't. She stays wide awake, watching her son sleep peacefully beside her, and assuring herself that what he told her was true...
They're safe now, both of them. The monsters aren't real, they can't hurt him. Ronald Cook is dead, he has been for over two months now.
It was just a dream.
She watches him all through the rest of the night, too afraid to go back to sleep and relive the whole scenario all over again. Eventually, the sun is shining through the openings between her curtains, and Aiden is awake and ready to start his day.
"Were you guys okay last night?" Tyler asks as Jade wanders out of her bedroom, Aiden at her heels "I thought I heard you yell."
"Mommy had a bad dream." Aiden answers him before Jade has a chance to make up a feasible lie "About monsters. It wasn't real though."
"She did, huh?" Tyler nods, shooting his older sister a serious look "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"Jade..."
"It was just one of those weird things, everybody gets them." She tells Tyler, resting a hand on his shoulder "I'm okay, really."
"You sure?"
"I'm positive." She lies "Stop worrying about me. I'm older, remember? I should be worrying about you."
"Well, can you really blame me, Jade?"
"No, I guess not." Jade sighs "But can you at least stop worrying just for today? It's your big day."
It's a chaotic day, to say the least. Tyler is graduating that evening and Kaitlyn rushes around all day, making sure everything is in order. His cap and gown are clean and in his closet. They've already scheduled the pizza delivery for an hour before they want to start taking pictures, which is forty-five minutes before they need to leave for the ceremony.
"S'going to be fine, Mom." Tyler chuckles from his place on the couch as he watches his mother rush around in a frenzy
Jade and Aiden won't be attending the ceremony with her parents and grandparents. She's afraid people will recognize her and all of the attention will be on her instead of the graduates, and she doesn't want to take that away from her brother and his classmates. Not to mention Aiden probably wouldn't be able to sit through the ceremony anyways, and it would leave him awake way past his bedtime. The school is going to stream it live on SplashFace, and they'll watch it there. Beck is coming over to keep them company as well, so at least they won't be by themselves.
"You look good, baby brother." Jade smiles as she adjusts the sash around Tyler's shoulders "Almost like a grown-up or something."
His cap and gown are the same emerald green as his high school's main colors, and Jade thinks it really makes his eyes pop.
"Thanks." Tyler smirks
"Look here you two!" Kaitlyn demands, pointing a camera at them "Smile!"
Jade and Tyler both smile for their mother, who snaps at least a dozen pictures of them both.
"Where's my favorite nephew?" Tyler asks "I want him in some pictures too!"
"I'm here!" Aiden exclaims, wriggling out of Beck's arms and running over to join them "I'm here!"
Kaitlyn takes a few pictures of the three of them, some of them with Jade holding Aiden and some of them with Tyler holding him. Then she takes a few of just Tyler and Aiden without Jade. As Jade steps forward to take her son back, her brother stops him.
"Can I take some with you and Beck?" He asks her
Jade hesitates for a moment. She doesn't know where she and Beck are headed, she likes to think he'll still be around when Tyler looks back at these pictures but if anything lately she's learned that you can never really be sure what life has in store for you. But she knows that her brother and her boyfriend have always had a somewhat brotherly bond, and she doesn't want to rob him of that on his special day.
"Beck?" She turns back to look at her boyfriend "Would you mind jumping in some?"
"Uh, sure." Beck smiles, stepping past Kaitlyn to join them "I'd love to."
Kaitlyn only takes one of the four of them, not wanting anyone to feel overwhelmed, then calls Aiden over to stand by her. She takes a few of Beck, Jade, and Tyler together, and then a few of just Tyler and Beck as well.
By this point, it's almost time for those attending to leave for the ceremony. Everyone wants to make sure they get good seats, and Tyler wants to make sure that he's lined up with plenty of time to spare. Jade hugs her family members goodbye and as she moves to embrace her brother, she notices he hugs her a little tighter than everyone else had.
"Are you okay?" She asks him, rubbing his back gently before stepping back from him
"Yeah..." He nods, looking down at his feet rather than making eye contact with her "It's just..."
"Look, I know I made that joke about you tripping on stage earlier but-"
"It's not that, Jade." Tyler shakes his head, smiling a bit before turning serious again and looking up at his sister "I just...I had forced myself awhile ago to come to terms with the fact that I would be celebrating this day without you, you know? And I just wanted to tell you that I'm really happy that you're here to celebrate with me...even if you're not going to be there in person. I'm just really happy you're alive and you're safe and-"
"Shhh..." Jade cuts him off, hugging him again tightly "Me too...me too..."
"I love you..." He mumbles into her shoulder
"I love you too, T." She smiles, breaking their hug "Now go hurry up and get in the car, you don't want to be late to your own graduation. We'll celebrate for real when you get home, okay?"
"Okay." Tyler nods, pressing a quick kiss to his sister's cheek before running out the door "Love you!"
"Love you too!"
Jade, Beck, and Aiden all wave to everyone from the front window as the two cars pull out of the driveway and start off towards Tyler's school. As soon as they're out of sight, Aiden runs to the living room, anxious to play with his toys. Beck and Jade can't help but chuckle as they follow behind him. Tyler's words weigh heavy on Jade though and she can't shake them from her mind as she sits down on the floor to play with her son.