"Tori, you need to relax.. Violet is going to love you. She loves the rest of us."
"That's easy for you to say, you guys aren't sleeping with her mother."
The line went silent for a brief moment and Tori glanced at the speakers of her car. She was currently driving to Jade's house for dinner, and to meet Violet for the first time. Well, the first time in her knowledge. Instead of holding her phone to her ear, she connected it to bluetooth, allowing herself to concentrate on the road and talk on the phone at once.
"Cat?" she asked after almost a complete minute of silence.
"...That was a mental image I did not need." her redheaded friend mumbled into the receiver, making Tori giggle to herself.
"Sorry about that."
"Its fine, but seriously don't...hold on, Tori," Cat said and Tori heard Robbie's loud voice in the background. "Sorry, as I was saying, you shouldn't...Would you stop! Fine then! Tori, Robbie wants to talk to you."
Tori couldn't help but laugh at their bickering, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Hi Toro," Robbie said.
"Robbie," Tori said, rolling her eyes. "You know I hate when you call me that."
"I know," Tori just knew that he was smirking at her on the other end of the phone. "How ya doing chickadee? You nervous about meeting Vi, huh?"
Tori's nose scrunched up at the nickname. She hated when Robbie did this. "I'm doing okay," she replied before sighing at his snort. "Alright, I'm not. I'm a wreck."
"Don't be," Robbie replied. "Trust me, Hazel is a much bigger gank." he laughed and Tori could hear Cat properly scolding him in the background. "I was kidding! You know I love Hazel like my own."
"Put Cat back on the phone you dork," Tori replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Hey," Cat spoke into the phone. "Sorry, he left now, don't worry. So as I was saying, you really shouldn't worry about this whole thing. She's really going to love you."
"Cat," Tori sighed, trying to calm her nerves.
"Tori, really. Everyone always loves you. You won our school over before you even started, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," the half Latina murmured, glancing at herself in her rearview mirror to make sure her make up didn't smudge. "So, how are you and the kids?" She changed the subject, wanting to get her mind off the impending dinner and relax. Cat and Robbie had a set of triplets at home, two boys and one girl, with another baby on the way. The redhead was very heavily pregnant at eight months.
"I'm good actually, we all are, today was a long day but I survived or rather am still surviving. I guess the day's not over yet."
"Good, just don't over do it, Cat, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up."
"Yeah, yeah." Cat repeated her friends earlier words with an eye roll. She had been hearing that from too many people lately. It was hard not to over do it and relax when she had to chase after three kids.
"I want that bun in your oven nice and toasty before she comes out."
"Wow," Cat laughed. "You have definitely been hanging out with Andre too long."
"I know he's starting to rub off on me, but oh well. He's my best friend."
"Mommy," Cat heard her daughter, Scarlett, call her from the entryway. It appeared that she was holding a damaged doll.
"Back to Mommy duty," Tori laughed. "Give the kids a kiss for me and we'll see you next week."
"Will do, have fun with Jade and Vi. And don't worry. She'll love you. You got Jade to."
Tori chuckled at how true her statement was. "True, true. I'll text you the details later. Love you."
"Love you too," Cat smiled before hanging up and looking at her daughter, taking the doll. "I'll be right there, Scar."
Her little girl and splitting image nodded before turning on her heel and stomping back towards the playroom on the other end of the house, calling out loudly and angrily. "Oh Gray-son! C'mere! I got'a present for ya!"
Cat winced at the thought of her daughter's 'present'; she knew it couldn't be good. While at times Scarlett was a lot like her, she also spent a lot of time with her aunt Jade and her old friend was really rubbing off on her daughter.
She decided to let her husband deal with their daughters violence and instead opened her group chat with him, Beck, and Andre they had made shortly after Tori and Jade had gotten back together to discuss them. Entering the chat, she quickly began typing.
Cat: Dorothy is on her way to the wicked Witch of the West's right now.
Beck: Huh?
Andre: Say again?
Cat rolled her eyes at her friends; to her the codenames were pretty clear. How could they not get that? Honestly. And she was the airhead.
Cat: The Vega star is moving towards the West.
Andre: You gotta be clearer then that, Lil' Red.
The redhead seethed in annoyance, angrily typing her next message.
Cat: TORI IS DRIVING TO JADE'S HOUSE! God you guys are so incompetent.
Andre: Ohh, why didn't you just say so?
Beck: No need to anger yourself, Cat.
Andre: I wonder how it'll go. Tori meeting Jade went horribly, I don't think meeting her evil spawn will go very well.
Beck: Hey, that's my daughter you're talking about.
Andre: Right, sorry.
Andre: …but its the truth.
Robbie: I dunno Andre, Violet is actually really sweet. You wouldn't think she came out of Jade West's vagina.
Andre: .. was that really necessary, Rob?
Andre: Anyways, if what Robbie said was true, then we have no problems. Now Hazel meeting Jade.. that's a completely different, terrifying story.
Beck: Really? Tori Vega's daughter?
Cat: I can vouch for that, as much as I love Hazel, she can be a gank. She is literally Jade in high school. But less gay. Its like she and Vi were.. switched at birth or something.
Andre: Well whatever both of them are like, I can guarantee that Violet will take the news better then Hazel.
Cat: Agreed - I wonder how its going?
Xx
While the four were having their discussion, Tori had been sitting in her car in front of Jade's house for almost fifteen minutes, attempting to get herself to get down.
She stared at the black leather steering wheel, having a mental conversation with herself. 'Just get down, she'll love you. Or at least she'll..'
Three taps on her window snapped her out of her reverie, and she swallowed a scream, reaching for the gun in her glove compartment. Yes, Tori had a gun in her car, for 'protection'. It was actually her husband, Tommy, who told her to do so, many years ago.
Tommy Calligan was a very respected man in his field, that being the LAPD. He was a wonderful husband to Tori and an amazing father to Hazel. He and Tori had met her second year of college through her father and had an instant connection, having Hazel only a year later.
Weeks after Hazel's eleventh birthday, he died after being shot at during a bank robbery. Tori went years without dating again, looking after her daughter alone. Eventually, she slowly got back into the game, knowing Tommy wouldn't want her to be alone.
Hazel always made sure not too piss her off too much in the car when she learned of that little fact; yet she had doubts her mother even knew how to use a gun.
Tori's eyes settled on a pair of ice blue eyes through the glass, lit up in amusement. Then, falling onto the woman's lips, turned up in a mix of a smirk and a grin. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she tentatively reached over and rolled down the window.
"I don't think having dinner in your car would be very comfortable, but if you insist I can bring Violet out here." Jade's familiar sarcastic tone brought a small smile to Tori's lips. It put her at ease, in a way, which was funny. In high school that tone would make her shoulders tense.
Running a hand through her hair, the half Latina gave her a chuckle before returning the gun to its place and shutting the glove compartment.
Her pale significant other watched this in curiosity as she got out of the car with the flowers and her purse. "Okay, I have two inquiries. One, you keep a gun in your car? Two, how are you even authorized to have one? And three - do you even know how to use it?"
Tori let out a breathy laugh at Jade's questions, pressing the lock icon on her car keys. "That was three, not two." At the raised eyebrow, she began to explain as they began to walk to the open front door. "Yes, I have a gun in my car. Its for protection. I also have one in my underwear drawer," she grinned at Jade's snort. "My husband authorized it for me and taught me how to use it, before he passed away. He was a cop." She looked down at the flowers, the memory of buying the guns returning.
"This is insane - I don't need a gun, Tommy." Tori insisted as her husband pulled up in front of the store. She stared at the gun selection in the window, bewildered. "I have a black belt in Taekwondo, remember?"
Tommy could only chuckle at the thought of his wife fighting off a rapist, serial killer, or anyone really, off with her karate skills. Knowing how she was in emergencies, he highly doubted she would even remember anything she learned. "I remember - I also remember that you broke your own nose last time you tried to defend yourself." He glanced over at her, her lips pursed in irritation at the memory.
"That was not my fault. Trina jumped me."
"Yeah and anyone else could jump you. You need one. Or two. Maybe even three." Tori's eyes bugged open at the mention of three guns.
"Three?!" She sputtered, making him laugh. She watched him step out of the car and open the backseat, leaning in and unstrapping their four year old daughter from her car seat.
"Yep." Tommy smiled at her, picking up Hazel and then shutting the door, staring at Tori through the window, waiting for her to get down.
With a huff, she did, snatching her bag and shutting the door. "This is totally unnecessary."
Tommy only ignored her as the family of three entered the shop, where most of the sales clerks cheered upon seeing him. Tori blinked in surprise, looking up at her husband and speaking in a hushed tone.
"Should I be concerned that they all seem to know you here?"
"Tor, I'm a cop," he chuckled, placing Hazel down on the ground where she immediately went to her mother, raising her arms to be picked up.
"Right," Tori murmured, picking the toddler up and following Tommy to one of the clerks. She watched them talk about her for a bit with raised eyebrows, staying quiet. The clerk, who's name she now knew was Jim, came back with a selection of guns.
Tommy picked one up and held it for a moment before taking Hazel from Tori and handing the gun to her instead. The clerk taught her how to hold it correctly before her husband asked, "How does that feel?"
Tori glanced at the gun then at her husband with a blank expression. "Unnecessary."
With a twinkle in his eye and a smirk, Tommy turned back to the clerk. "We'll take two."
Jade stayed silent for a moment as they climbed her porch stairs then stopped her from going inside, cupping her cheek. "He was a very lucky man."
Tori was taken out of her reverie, and was surprised for a second seeing Jade's blue eyes instead of Tommy's brown. She merely smiled and gave her a peck on the lips before the two entered the house together.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Beck Olivier popped into the house from the backdoor with a box that held an apple pie inside of it. He caught sight of his daughter by the oven and grinned. "Violet Oliver and cooking? I'd never thought I'd see the day." Beck snickered causing his daughter to whirl around in surprise. She saw him and her blue eyes instantly narrowed. Her father stopped snickering and took a step forward with a wide grin on his face.
"Hey baby girl," he told her softly and held out his arms, putting the cake down. Violet's glare immediately softened as she smiled and hugged her father back kissing his cheek.
"Hi Daddy," she said and stepped back to run a hand on her father's cheek, leaving a trail of sticky flour that got stuck on her hands. Beck gasped and Violet doubled over in laughter as he tried to find a wet cloth to wipe off the flour. Her father was a bit of a neat freak and anything that mars his neat appearance freaked him out.
"That wasn't funny, Vi!" Beck cried looking annoyed as his daughter stuck out her tongue at him and smirked. She put the back of her hands on her hips as her father rubbed his cheek to feel if there was any trace of flour left.
"Well, surprising me in the middle of my cooking isn't funny either." Violet shot back as she looked around for her recipe card. Beck found it before her and held it hostage in his hand.
"Looking for this?" he grinned evilly and Violet scowled.
"Give it back…" she warned and her father's grin widened. He held it higher as his daughter lunged at him; her petite 5"3 height not reaching up to his 5"8 frame.
"Make me." Beck retorted as his daughter continuously jumped to reach her recipe card.
"You are so immature Daddy!" Violet yelled before fake jumping and shoving her father whose back hit the counter and his head hit a cabinet. Beck yelped in pain and in his moment of weakness, Violet grabbed her recipe card with a triumphant smile.
"Says the girl who's lobster is burning!" he said angrily before stomping toward the back door. Violet's eyes widened and she rushed back at her baking lobster – which was fine. She heard her father snicker from the doorway and sighed. Just then, she heard her mother's voice getting nearer and nearer, perhaps heading towards the kitchen.
"Let's see who gets the last laugh Daddy, when I tell Mom how you lost me at the zoo with uncle Robbie when I was six!" Violet yelled but the rest of her words ended in a muffle as her father rushed in and clamped a hand over her mouth just as her mother entered the kitchen.
"Vi, Tori's.. What are you doing here?" Jade began telling her daughter about the arrival of their guest but stopped short when she saw her ex-husband and best friend with his hand on their daughters mouth. Beck immediately took his hand off his daughter's mouth and stepped back shoving his hands into his pockets. Violet gave him a slight smile as she walked towards her mother.
"I came to drop off the pie Vi asked me to get." Beck pointed towards the resting box on the counter then coughed. "I got Tor's favorite. I'll be going now." He gave Jade a wink then left.
The latter rolled her eyes and looked at her daughter, giving her a small smile. "Ready to meet Tori?"
Violet took a deep breath and nodded, grabbing the wet cloth her father used on his face to wipe her hands off. "Yep." She gave her a broad smile and the two West women clasped hands and made their way into the family room, where Tori was currently examining two photos of them in high school, smiling fondly at the memory.
The first, the seven were sitting together in the cupcake float they built, in their 'candy jammies', making stupid faces at the camera. She, Jade and Cat all had their tongues sticking out. The boys stared at the camera with gaping mouthes, and Trina chose to look pretty, as she put it.
"All the boys at school will see this, I don't want to look like an idiot!"
The second, they posed with happy smiling faces with their teacher, Sikowitz on the same cupcake float as the first photo, thinking there would be no complications during the drive at all. She almost snorted at that.
Hearing footsteps, she commented on the memory to Jade without turning around. "I'm surprised you framed these and put them in your house. Especially since Trina is in them,"
Jade laughed, letting go of Violet to walk over to her girlfriend. "Well, I look pretty good in them." she crossed her arms and smirked at the photos. "Besides, sure it was a crappy night but it was fun. In a way. Plus, its one of the only pictures we have with Sikowitz. Except," she moved over to the other side of the room and picked up another framed photograph, coming back to the half Latina. "this one."
Tori smiled at her and took the frame, looking at the picture then laughing at the memory. The seven of them stood proudly in their fake ping pong uniforms in front of Sikowitz's van. "Oh yeah. That was an odd day."
Jade laughed. "I have an entire photo album of us in high school."
"And you chose to frame the ones with Sikowitz?" Tori laughed along with her.
"Hey, he was my favorite teacher." Jade grinned, going to put the frame back in its place.
Violet decided to speak up, still only seeing the back of Tori's head. "I personally find it very weird to see my teachers face every time I come in here."
Tori turned around and smiled brightly at the teenager but then paused as she registered her face. "Oh my God - you're the girl I met in the super market."
Violet blinked in surprise, grinning as she blushed at the situation. "Tori.. Well, this is a really small world."
Jade walked back to them, eyebrows raised. "Wait, you two know each other?"
"In a way," Tori chuckled, giving the young girl a smile. "Hi, Violet."
Violet laughed, her nerves seeming to melt away. "Hi, Tori," the two smiled at each other while Jade stood by and watched with curiosity.
Xx
Hazel entered her mothers huge room and went straight to the bed where the sheets were carelessly thrown aside and a woman clad in a pair of satin sleeping shorts and a tank top was hugging a pillow very tightly to her chest. The teenager rolled her eyes and poked her mothers cheekbone.
"Mom, its seven." She said poking Tori once again. Tori just grumbled incoherently before turning.
"This is stupid." Hazel muttered before going into the en-suite bathroom and filling a glass with water. She crept back into the room and went straight to her mother's bed before rolling her eyes, upturned the glass and dousing her mother's face causing her to let out a loud yell.
"Augh!" Tori screeched, sitting up and wiping her face off. She looked at her daughter's retreating back, knowing she was smirking to herself, and then at the clock that said 7:10, "Damn…" she muttered before getting up and rushing to the bathroom. Ten minutes later she was in the kitchen making bacon and eggs for her daughter, now in a violet robe. Hazel glanced at the wall clock and noted that it was nearly 7:30.
"You slept in. I take it you had fun last night?" she raised an eyebrow. Unlike her mother, she was completely dressed for the day in a black wife beater with her mothers newest album cover on it, a pair of dark blue jeans and her favorite dark red Doc Martins. Tori loved them because they reminded her of Jade.
Her mother rolled her eyes and gave her daughter a glare. "I did, but not the fun you're implying, little missy." Hazel only smirked at her as the doorbell reverberated throughout the house. "That's probably Andre. Watch the eggs, I'll be right back." Tori shuffled towards the front door and ran a hand through her now dry hair, thankfully the water didn't get that far, and blinked in shock when she saw who was on the other side of the door, leaning against the frame. "Jade.."
Jade West smirked at her stunned girlfriend, raising an eyebrow at her. "Correct."
Tori blinked once again, slowly asking, "What are you .. here for?"
Jade's smirk grew and she pushed past Tori, placing her bag on the table provided by the door for things such as that. "You."
The half Latina's jaw dropped and sputtered indignantly in a hushed tone. "Wh- Jade! Hazel is right in the other room!"
Jade snorted and crossed her arms. "Yeah, no shit. I just dropped Vi off at school, I came by to meet her."
That didn't put her girlfriend at ease, in fact it made her tense up and glance towards the kitchen, whispering. "That's not really any better, Jade. I haven't even had time to.." She was interrupted by her daughter walking into the foyer. She turned around and sucked in a breath, smiling at her. "Hey, sweetie."
Hazel looked at Jade and her mother curiously, wondering what on earth this woman was doing in her house. Then everything clicked in her mind. Her eyes flicked over to the stairs, where countless photograph's of her mother in high school with her friends hung. Her eyes settled on one of Jade at their high school graduation then looked back at the real thing, who stared back at her silently.
"Your Mom's girlfriend?" the fifteen year old asked with a tense look on her face and Jade just smiled at her.
"Yep," she answered cautiously, not keen on giving an answer more than that.
Tori watched the interaction with wide worried eyes. She glanced down at herself and cleared her throat, gaining both their attention. "Uhm.. why don't you two settle in the kitchen, and I'll just change and come downstairs and join you." She gave them a cheerful smile which Jade snorted at, while Hazel just stayed silent, obviously tense. Her mother quickly went up the stairs, praying to get Hazel's approval.
"Well?" her daughter persisted a minute later and Jade just shrugged. Hazel raised an eyebrow which reminded Jade so much of Tori. She grinned deciding to play coy.
"Well what?" she asked, her eyes gleaming mischievously.
"Do you plan on marrying her?" Hazel asked, her face still tense. Jade immediately felt that the mood wasn't as playful as she thought and decided to be serious.
"In fact I do," at this, Hazel let out a breath through her nose and her lips pursed, and Jade's voice nearly hitched at the fearful manner she was looking at her, "But only if you would allow it," Jade quickly continued. Hazel slowly let herself at her, touched that she wasn't kicking her out of the picture.
"I appreciate that. Although I think that now's not a good time to propose I still…"
"Don't know me that well. Don't worry, I don't too." Jade flashed a charming grin which Hazel returned with a slight smirk, "But if I can promise you one thing – it would be that I'll try to be the best step-mom ever! I know I can never replace your dad…" Hazel only lifted her hand, a sign that no more words were needed and that she was willing to try too.
"You just better take care of my mom," She said seriously, giving Jade a glare to which she responded with a smirk.
"Oh, I will."