2 days later T.J makes a surprise visit
"hey Mitchie, sorry for the surprise visit but I wanted to talk to Tess" says T.J
"she's sleeping right now, Josie isn't doing well, some sort of electric nerve shocks and seizures" says Mitchie
"who let her near the alcohol" asks T.J
"nobody, why would you say such a thing" asks Caitlyn angrily
"because Tess is susceptible to the same thing, it's why I had kicked her out of my house anytime she wanted to drink my wine, maybe not the best way to deal with it but I didn't know any other way to do so, I was never there for her growing up, I was always trying to outdo myself, it was only after I saw how vulnerable she was at that camp rock jam that summer that I had to quit and be there for her, Tess has to be very diligent in monitoring how much she drinks, at Josie's age it wouldn't take much at all to set it off and it can last up to two weeks" says T.J
"so you know about Josie then, do you approve" asks Mitchie
"she's always wanted kids, I knew once she got sober drug wise it would only be a matter of time, barely anyone knows Joselyn is even still alive, I'm so exceptionally proud of Tesslin, that she felt safe enough, that she felt secure enough and that she felt loved enough to accept into her life a young girl many thought had died in that fire or in that ditch, Brown Cesario had SO many doubts about Tess ever being normal, he firmly believed she'd never be fit to raise a child, let alone adopt one and pass the legal part of it" says T.J
"I'm glad, Tess should be up in half an hour with Josie, come to think of it we have never heard your full name" says Caitlyn
"Tara James, the reason I'm here is because I got a divorce and Mr. Tyler didn't take it very well, he was at a company Christmas party, and one of his colleague's teenage daughters brought a girl, ya he went nuts, took a knife and cut their hair, so ya he's in jail for assault awaiting trial, I don't see it going very well for him" says Tara James as Tess and Josie come around the corner still half asleep
"mom did you seriously come by without telling me first, you woke Josie up" says Tess
"I know and I'm sorry but your dad won't be a problem anymore, I got divorced and he's in jail for assaulting two teen girls and cutting their braids off with a super sharp knife at the company Christmas party" says Tara James
"ugh dad's always had a temper, I assume they were or are together, anyway you find anyone who tickles your fancy" asks Tess not expecting an answer
"actually yes, an old friend from high school, you might know her, Marissa Steinbach, the model" says Tara James
"ok wow she's hot, I can't believe you went to school with her, soooooo when's your first date" says Tess
"she's in France for a shoot right now but we've been talking, apparently she's had a crush on me since forever, anyway she was hoping that since she'd be back in time for Christmas eve that we could spend some time here, she figured since your father was no longer in the picture I should spend time with you, Mitchie and Caitlyn, it's not easy starting over Tesslin, I've been in the closet my whole life, I know you had been too Tess but you're about half my age" says Tara James
"I'm glad we can see eye to eye on how hard it can be to come out of the closet mom but you have the hottest model in the world loving you now, just one question, are you going to be her first lover" says Tess
"funny how you worded it like that, no she's never let anyone see her naked, yes she has had lovers but she's always been up front about saving herself for someone special" says Tara James
"mom she does lingerie shoots" says Tess
"yes I know Tess, that's not really any more naked than walking around in bikinis like you do, her and I are going to happen pretty fast" says Tara James
"why" asks Josie innocently
"she has a rare heart defect, her doctor doesn't give her more than ten years left" says Tara James
"nuh uh, stwess and dwinking bad, wove and coodles good, tic tok" says Josie
"what is she saying" asks Tara James
"she has the special gift that only one in ten million have with heaven, she's saying that Marissa Steinbach envelops herself in the stress of being a model and that she drinks and that it's bad, that love and cuddles are good, the tic tok refers to the fact that for the defect to be healed Marissa is running out of time to be in your arms" says Tess
"wooshy" says Josie
"that means that it will melt away, before you mention her issue with speaking normally, she can it's just meeting new people freaks her out" says Tess as Josie falls to the floor, arms flailing
"someone get her water" says Tara James as Josie curls up in a lot of pain
"she won't drink water, only juice" says Tess
"get her up, I need to have a word with her" says Tara James as Tess holds Josie in her arms
"Josie, please listen to what my mom has to say ok" says Tess as Josie tries to nod through the pain
"I understand how being different is hard Joselyn, I understand how scary having an audience watching you all the time can be, my audience may be different than yours but at least people can see mine, you took a few sips of mom's fruity drink one night, then the seizures started, then the shocks happened, I understand why, your mommy Tess, she has the same thing, you need water so here's the deal, I get you a cup of water with a straw as it's probably not fun to move your head right now and when you finish two cups I get you some fresh grape juice ok, how does that sound" says Tara James as Josie manages a smile
"you know it's weird hearing you call me mommy Tess, I'm also surprised I'd never had made that connection before" says Tess as T.J goes to get a glass of water and a straw and returns
"creating a family is always the hardest part Tess, you didn't make her so you had no reason to even assume she could possibly have the same super rare condition you have, what really breaks my heart though is how Joseph literally paid the police to make being homeless even worse, believe me if it wasn't for your father's meddling…. the police would have had the manpower and the time to help Shane look for Joselyn, I'd even caution that they would have found her, however that homeless village never would have handed Josie over to a man, family or not, the men in that homeless village and a few others outside the city protect homeless teen girls and women in general with their life, no amount of money, food or housing would bridge the trust needed to hand them over" says Tara James as Josie slowly sips the water
"how did dana gain their trust, I bring them food" asks Mitchie
"you have to know I was a very close friend to Hannah Cesario and her whole family, which means I knew Dana when she was little too by proxy, Dana's dad the evil Camp star mastermind himself is actually Joselyn and Gabriella's father, it was a hush hush affair that shouldn't have happened, Hannah had the same condition Josie and Tess have, the only difference is how it progressed, for about six years she had un-treatable amnesia, by then Gabriella had been born and was about three and she was pregnant with Joselyn and only then did she willingly return to her husband" says Tara James
"why didn't Axel's wife kick her out, surely having her there put strains on the marriage" asks Mitchie
"she did try but was warned that traumatizing someone with amnesia that truly believes they are with the person they love would only make things worse so Olivia had to put up with it" says Tara James
"am I gowna be wike my mom and be bad to ze ones I wove" asks Josie scared
"your mom loved her wine Josie, she didn't let her bad mental state fears stop her from drinking, your new mommy Tesslin watches how much she drinks, as I'm sure momma Mitchie and Caitlyn do as well, keeping tabs on how much one drinks with this condition is very important" says Tara James
"are you like me and mommy" asks Josie as she regains her strength
"no but my mother was, I wasn't exactly a good mom for mommy Tess when she was growing up, I had no idea how lucky I was to have her as my daughter, that was until she ran away after she came out to me and her dad about liking girls and boys, I was not as accepting at the time as I should have been" says Tara James
"wait so mommy didn't know you were like her, y-you hurt her" asks Josie
"I never wanted to hurt her Josie, but I hid the same part of me that she told me she had, I was fearful Josie, I didn't have it easy growing up, back then I was big into the arts, Marissa was one of my only friends and she's the only one left alive besides Julia, Shane's mom, I was made fun of for having no friends who were boys Josie, I was afraid Tess wasn't strong enough to stick to her word and mean it, because I didn't have the strength to do it all those years ago when I was her age, she idolized me for the longest time Josie" says Tara James
"you afwaid now, can we coodle so you not afwaid" asks Josie
"Josie dear it's not your job to comfort me" says Tara James
"mom she's not going to just let you say no, not now after you had already admitted to being friends with her mom in school, she wants to cuddle because the last thing she said to her parents was out of anger for letting Gabriella run back into the burning apartment building for a cat that had probably already died from the heat, only Gabriella visits her, and it's traumatic for Josie, she never gets a chance to apologize for those last words of anger, this cuddle is as much for you as it is for her" says Tess as Tara picks up Josie and sits on the couch for a cuddle
"you know your parents loved you right, even Gabriella did, she was never really good at making friends Josie" says Tara James
"den why was she always mean to me, blame me for tings I didn't do" asks Josie
"because she liked girls, she was struggling with a lot, she didn't love you the way mommy Tess, Caitlyn and Mitchie love each other but every girl she saw she compared to you, she hated how incorruptible you were, how no matter how much blame she put on you that you never stopped caring, you always cheered on her experiments" says Tara
"how you know this, you not like me" asks Josie seriously confused
"because I gave her the idea for the night light, she came to me frustrated, said she didn't love love you but that you were the embodiment of every trait she wanted in a girlfriend, that she wished you weren't her younger sister so she didn't feel this guilt about maybe making her family hate her for these feelings, she tried to anger you so she could invalidate those feelings, she was afraid your mom would ship her off to some camp to "re-educate" her and make her only like boys" says Tara as Josie tears up
"s-so she didn't h-hate me…." Cries Josie
"I had no idea she's make the mistake she did Josie, a nightlight is a really simple thing, I highly doubt she went back into that fire to save a cat, the cat would have forgiven her, a cat wouldn't hate her for making a small mistake in a nightlight" says Tara
"then why" asks Josie as Shane walks over
"she didn't expect your parents to run in after her Josie, she could feel the anger from everyone around her, her mistake didn't just cost you your bed and stuffies, it cost your mom her records, it burned everything everyone owned to ash, the last thing she saw was the fury in your eyes, she realized she'd made the biggest mistake, that the girl she idolized, the girl she had hoped to be able to spend the rest of her life with now hated her with a fiery passion" says Shane
"I don't understand unkie, Tara says she not love love me" asks Josie
"Sarah and I just spent an hour communicating with her, the night light had a recording of her singing to you and that's what caught fire, that device she put in to play that song, Gabriella was willing to sacrifice romance to be with you, she didn't want kissy kissy, she wanted cuddly cuddly and sleepovers, but when she saw the pure anger and rage in your eyes she didn't see a way out of it, we were just at the apartment building site, one coffin exists at the site, somehow in that fire that she was in the hottest part her body was preserved, Sarah and I spoke to a firewoman that was there that day, she was found with the remnants of the night light in her hands, she was laid to rest there because nobody claimed her" says Shane
"she's not boney is she, that's why she keeps bugging me isn't it" asks Josie
"that firefighter is trans Josie, she paid for the best of the best when it came to end of life care for Gabriella, she still had a picture of the body and I confirmed it was Gabriella, the firefighter asked if she had any living family and I said yes, aside from being covered in ash she doesn't look like she's gone boney at all, if you want we can have her buried where you want, away from prying eyes" says Sarah as Josie slips into a trance
"I owe it to her to be laid to rest pwoperly, she waz moore powalful dan you wealize, she waz an angel born to fwesh, dat why her body not burn, wike the holy son not die on dat cwoss, she not burn in dat fire, her body special, bwessed by heaven, she and me howy sistars of holy son" says Josie as she comes out of the trance
"I don't understand" says Tess more confused than ever
"Gabriella and Joselyn are two parts of one soul, one without the other doesn't hold enough power to perform miracles, her and her sister were born to cleanse the survivors of the "holy" cult, however Josie without Gabriella can do nothing, their abilities were intertwined, if someone knew of the connection and knew how to abuse psychic connections, they could use Gabriella's body to make Josie do anything they want, it is of utmost importance that Gabriella be buried here on this property, we don't need someone making Josie do things" says Sarah
"w-w-what kind of things" asks Josie scared to death
"anything they want, they could take her body anywhere and do it, a whisper in Gabriella's ear is as good as hypnosis to you, you would be compelled to do anything they ask, her body surviving that fire is both a curse and a blessing, believe me we are lucky that cult was destroyed or you both would have definitely been targets, anyway she can come back of a sort, we burry her here in the back yard and get a priest to bless the soil in which she lays and she can project herself walking around as if she were still alive" says Sarah
"I want her actually alive Sarah, I want to see her actually smile" says Josie
"if only it were that simple Josie, that's no simple ask, it's a forbidden ask, the only way to do it is a life for a life Josie, and she doesn't want that because someone would have to die to do that, the only way she can come back is if the angel council allows it and since it's been two years I highly doubt they will, though I could be wrong" says Sarah
"this is getting really odd" says Tara James
"ya well Josie is a literal angel so things will get odd, Christmas is close they do generally give one person a free gift every year, the only way Gabriella comes back is if they determine Josie is worse off without her after all you guys have to understand they removed her from this world for a reason" says Sarah
"what was you gift last year Sarah" asks Josie
"clarity of mind, for years I'd been loopy, even after Jennie was born, then last Christmas I could finally understand Andrea all of the time, all of a sudden I realized not only is she smart but she can sing and draw like crazy" says Sarah
"i-i-i-I was d-d-doing fine without Gabriella but n-n-now I need her" says Josie
"she'd still be your sister, and that's even if they let it happen, what changed your mind" says Sarah
"I thought she hated me, had she explained things I'd have told her yes" says Josie
"why" asks Tess
"because we were born four years apart yet as we were growing in our mom separately we both adopted the exact same gene mutatios, mom and dad knew we were different, non-romantic would have been ok by them, I know it, mom was always open about that stuff, ya sure Gabriella made me mad most of the time but she always had this comforting thing about her voice, besides who knows, we could have like the same girly" says Josie