This is a continuation to the previous chapter, for those of you who don't remember because it's been a while since I last posted… (Yeah, sorry about that) … Tori accidentally locked in Tony in the car which resulted in her nearly having a breakdown as well as a new degree of maternal protectiveness over her son… Which you will see below.
It was the middle of the night, everyone in the West household was slumbering, not a sound could be heard… Except of course the mumbling voice of Jade West, who seemed to be having one of her "hot, romantic dreams."
"Umm…. Tori…" Jade mumbled happily hugging her pillow. "Don't you dare stop…. Or you'll…"
Whatever else the Thespian was going to say came to a halt as she moved away from the pillow and into the arms of her spouse, only to be met with… Nothing, subconsciously Jade knew something was wrong, which in turn brought her out of her pleasant sleep, letting out an annoyed grunt as she opened an eye, her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Tori's side of the bed, empty once again.
"This has got to stop." Jade muttered tiredly, putting her hand over her eyes. "Vega can't keep doing this to herself, it's not healthy."
That being said, the brunette grudgingly got up from her soft, comfy bed and walked out of the bedroom, grabbing her robe on the way out, by this point she had a pretty good idea where she could find the Latina.
So, making her way down the hall, Jade was greeted with the first clue that she was on the right path; Tony's door was ajar, clue number two came soon enough when she heard soft snoring coming from within and clue number three was more like a billboard than an anything else.
As Jade quietly opened the door, she was greeted with the familiar sight of her slumbering wife in a sleeping bag next to their son's crib, Tony was also in a deep sleep, holding onto the pink teddy bear he has grown quite attached to as he cooed, giving the illusion that he was also snoring like his Mama.
The pale woman smiled sadly at the sight, while it undoubtedly was quite a picture-perfect moment, Jade knew the reasoning behind this was far more serious.
So, making her way towards her sleeping spouse, she quietly got Tori out of her sleeping bag, lifting her from the floor with easy, safe to say that this wasn't the first time Jade has done this and had the suspicion that it won't be the last.
"It's been three weeks." Jade thought worriedly. "This has got to stop… Tori needs to get past this… She can't be around Tony 24/7."
She walked out of her son's bedroom with her wife still sleeping in her arms, at first Jade thought that Tori needed time to come to terms with what had happened in that parking lot where she accidentally locked Tony in her car, they had a serious talk in which the former Goth repeatedly told her wife that she was an amazing mother and that everyone makes mistakes and that one blunder did not made her a terrible parent, but sadly it all seemed to have been said to deaf ears as evident with Tori going far and beyond to make sure their son was not in harm's way.
Jade remembered how a week after the incident, she got home from work just in time to witness Tori selling her car to the impound lot to be scrapped, she was so traumatized by the memory of their son behind the windshield and not being able to get to him all because of a simple key, that as a result, the Latina didn't have the will power to get behind the wheel of the forsaken car since she just kept relieving that moment over and over every time she was near it.
What shocked Jade the most was when she saw Tori giving the recently sold vehicle the finger before throwing the keys to the guy who would be taking it away for good.
"The moment you get to the lot." Tori said coldly. "Tear the damn thing apart… Every last bit! I don't want even a piece to be spared!"
The man nodded quickly before driving away in fear, it was the very first time Jade ever saw her wife being ominously scary.
While all this was going on, Tony was innocently (and ironically) playing with some toy cars in the front lawn.
"You're safe now Mijo." Tori said gently as she held him in her arms, giving him a big smooch on his cheek, making him giggle. "You're never going to get near that stupid car ever again!"
Tony only clapped his hands, not really understanding what his Mama was saying but in his young mind, she was giving him hugs and kisses, so everything was right with the world.
… Except… It wasn't.
Jade had never been more worried in her life, she knew that Tori was no stranger to freak outs as she has had a few since high school but accidentally locking Tony in the car was by far the worse as she felt responsible and hated to think what would have happened had she not left the air conditioner running, case and point, Tori made sure to have a backup of every key they owned, from the house, to the cars to the garage so no one would get locked in or out of anything ever again.
"Tony…Mijo." Tori said in her sleep. "I'm sorry."
"Even in her sleep, Vega still feels the guilt."
Tori began to move her arms wildly, which almost made Jade lose her balance a few times.
"NO! NO! MIJO!"
"She's having the nightmare again."
As if the trauma wasn't enough, Tori had the same nightmare once or twice a week but compared to a few weeks ago where she had it almost every night, it was an improvement in a sense but the fact of the matter was that the nightmare of Tori seeing their son behind glass was a reminder of what happened.
"How I wish I could make that nightmare go away for good."
After a struggling walk to their bedroom, Jade finally (and gently) dropped Tori in their bed, she worriedly stared at her wife who continued to move her arms, desperately trying to reach something or rather someone.
So, Jade did the best she could do, she grabbed a small pillow and gave it to Tori's waiting arms, the Latina calmed down once she had the pillow, hugging it with all her might.
"Mijo." Tori mumbled in her sleep. "I got you."
"Try to sleep well Vega." Jade said soothingly before giving her wife a kiss on the forehead, she then went to the kitchen for a glass of water, walking silently so as to not wake up the younger woman.
After getting her water to calm her nerves, the West matriarch returned to her bedroom only to see the queen size empty.
"Oh, come on!"
Jade ran towards her son's bedroom once more and of course she saw Tori about to get comfortable in her sleeping bag only to stop in her tracks once she saw her pale wife and she did not look happy.
The former Goth narrowed her eyes, telling the Latina to "come here" with her finger, which of course came the swift reply of a "no" by shaking her head.
"Don't make me come in there." Jade mouthed.
Tori stubbornly crossed her arms as if to say "I'm not moving." She gazed at their sleeping son, mouthing. "He needs me."
"Vega… What Tony needs is to sleep." Jade whispered, already knowing what her wife was saying with her body language, you don't stay married to someone for so long without picking up on their habits. "And what you need is to stop worrying and go back to our bed… Or son is going to be all right."
"You can't know that!"
"You're right… I don't… But I do know that you can't go on living like this." Jade said entering the bedroom and sitting next to her wife. "Vega… I know you're scared… I was too when I heard what happened but baby… You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"What?" Tori snapped. "I can't look out for our son?!"
"You been doing that every minute of every day since he was locked…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Tori stuttered. "I locked him in there and I never been so terrified in my life!... I could've hurt him or worse! And I couldn't live with myself if that had happened... Jade, you remember when Dani hurt herself when she was little and you drove her to the hospital?"
"I do." She replied. "Not a single day goes by when I don't kick myself for taking my eyes off of her for that one brief moment."
"Well, that how I felt with Tony!" Tori cried, staring at her son. "Jade… Growing up I had many fears, spiders… My dad losing his life in the line of duty… You… But the moment I saw Tony behind that windshield… I remembered Beck."
"What does that asshole have to do with anything?!"
"Everything!" She wept. "Our baby is the reason as to why Beck is behind bars… When you hired that private detective, all the pieces were slowly setting into place and It was because of Tony that Beck was eventually found and convicted… His DNA showed a link between him and how he murdered his biological mother and It scared me seeing Tony behind that glass because it reminded me of Beck and how much he hates our baby boy… When I couldn't get to him… When I couldn't protect him… I felt so scared… So useless… Like I failed as a mother."
"Tori… I… I had no." Jade said surprised. "How come you never told me this before? Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because I didn't want to bring my fears on you… You already do so much for us from your job, the kids, the house and so on that telling you why I was constantly looking after Tony would only add to you stress-"
"Vega… you're an idiot!"
"I'm sorry?"
"You kept this locked up because you didn't want to give me any problems?" Jade asked incredulously. "Tori… You are the most selfless woman I have ever known but you can also be quite stupid."
"Hey!"
"I'm serious!" The thespian snapped. "You were suffering just because you thought it would cause me problems?! Where's the logic in that?! Vega, you're my wife… The mother of my children and the reasons why I wake up every day with a smile on my face… You four are the most important people in my life and whatever problems you have? They're also my problems and you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because we're a family… You… Danielle… Tawny and Tony will always come first no matter what." Jade said determined. "Everything else will come second because you guys… You're my whole world and I will never think that anything you have to tell me will be unimportant."
"Oh Jade!" Tori said, her lips trembling. "Mild insult aside, that was the most beautiful thing I ever heard!"
"I really was mom."
"Oh yeah."
Both mothers turned around to see their daughters at the door.
"What are you two still doing up?" Jade asked. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"We were." Dani replied. "But considering it almost 6 o' clock, I don't think that's a possibility anymore."
Jade and Tori blinked surprised before Tony began to wake up, about to cry but that soon stopped when he saw his mothers, instead he let out a soft coo and raised his arms, wanting to be picked up.
Tori didn't lose a second, getting up from the floor she held her son in her arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the baby giggled happily, soon his other mom and his big sisters stared at him, he cooed back at them.
For the first time in weeks, Tori felt as peace with herself since Jade's work finally sunk in. "My family."
"Well, now that we're all awake, what say we all have breakfast?" Jade suggested. "We can all have pancakes."
"Oh, that actually sounds good baby!"
"As long as you guys don't cook." Danielle teased her parents.
"Just for that, you're cooking Dani." Jade said.
"Aw mom!"
"Or another less dangerous option is that we go out for breakfast." Tawny suggested. "That way there's no chance of Dani burning the house down."
"Oh, ha ha!" Her sister said sarcastically. "That was so funny I forgot to laugh."
"Now, now… We can waste time arguing or we can all get in the car so we can buy some pancakes and enjoy the morning before you two have to go to school and you have to go to work Jade."
"And what about you Vega?"
"I'll be looking after or son today and tomorrow… You will."
Jade smiled. "Baby steps… It's a start."
The West family got out of Tony's bedroom and into the car, all of them ready for some pancakes.
All the while Tori watched her spouse lovingly
"Thank you Jade." She thought. "You just know what to say to make me feel better." She then stared at her children. "And thank you for our family."
Let's not forget my dear readers that Jade is a writer, she has a unique way with words that she uses in many ways and in this case, she eloquently made Tori feel like herself again and made it clear that she loves her with flaws and all, so they will always communicate when it matters.
Also, I'm aware that Jade and Tori were "arguing" in Tony's bedroom, the reason why is because he subconsciously was hearing that they were saying and while he didn't hear or understand the whole thing, he at least was able to grasp that his moms love him and the reason why he never woke up? He's a deep sleeper like Jade is.
So, what are your thoughts on this one?
Invader Johnny Signing Off.