They broke apart and Jade slipped the ring on Tori's finger, causing an enormous grin to cover her face. She couldn't believe it. They were getting married. Married. "Oh my God," the half Latina murmured breathlessly, staring at the ring in disbelief. "This.. its gorgeous, Jade! How on earth.." she was cut off by Jade's lips being pressed to hers, mumbling for her to drop it.
With a scrunch of her nose, she did, nodding with a smile.
They were pulled from their moment when a loud screech was heard around their section of the restaurant. They turned their heads to see Hazel's seat pushed back and her getting up, with the lividest expression Tori had ever seen on her daughters face. The exhilaration she felt in her stomach was quickly replaced with anxiety and panic.
"Hazel—" She began to sputter, pulling out of Jade's arms to go to her daughter, but she was too late. To her, Andre and Robbie's disappointment (and fear, on Robbie's part), and Cat's delight, Hazel gave her mother a glare before turning and stomping out.
Their waiter had come back with the last dessert, inadvertently in her way, causing her to let out a loud scream of frustration and shove him from her way; causing the dessert to fly into the air then plop onto the ground and the waiter to fall right along with it. The plate the dessert was on broke out into large pieces, with a deafening crack.
However it didn't seem to stop her wrath, and soon the table heard the restaurant door slam shut.
Jade stared at the dessert remnants in awe as the waiter scrambled to clean it up, a part of her shocked yet not at the same time. She tore her eyes off the waiter and looked at a distressed Tori, feeling guilt seep into her. "Tori.." She began, gently placing her hand on her fiancé's shoulder in comfort.
Holly looked at her daughter in worry before jumping up. "I'll go after her." She promised and quickly pushed her seat back, scurrying after her granddaughter, hearing David agree and following her. "Hazel," they heard her call once they stepped out of the building.
A dejected Andre and Robbie, a giddy Cat, and an anxious Beck eagerly turned their attention to Violet, who was strangely silent. Feeling the four sets of eyes on her, she raised her blue irises from her lap to look at the four adults.
Her lips pursed for a moment before she pressed her hands against the table and pushed her seat back.
Making eye contact with her mother, then her father, she silently left the table, cautiously stepping over the plate residues before leaving the restaurant entirely.
Jade felt a lump form in her throat but remained frozen in her spot, unable to go after her. She looked desperately at her father, who gave her a nod and got up to go after his granddaughter.
That left the seven Hollywood Arts alumni, and the triplets, who stayed remarkably quiet during everything. Tori and Jade shared eye contact and the latter let out a sigh, sitting down once again with her fiancé.
Tori looked somberly at the door and then caught sight of Cat's beaming face, her nose twisting in confusion. Glancing at the boys, who seemed dejected except for Beck, who practically matched Cat's expression. "What are you two smiling about?"
Looking at each other, their faces fell and Cat looked guilty, "Uhm, we kind of.. had a bet. The four of us. On how tonight would play out, and how the girls would react." At Tori and Jade's blank faces, she smiled sheepishly, "But, I won..! Heh." she let out a small laugh but quickly stopped when they didn't. "I.. I'm just happy cause.. yknow.. last time we all had a bet us girls lost and.." she stammered, mumbling. "..this time.. I won.."
Beck rolled his eyes and gently punched her shoulder, receiving her attention. "We won. We were both right about Violet."
Cat huffed and waved his statement away like it didn't matter.
"Wait.." Tori started slowly, making her friends turn to look at her. "You guys.. bet.."
The four hung their heads as she spoke like the triplets did when scolded, unable to look at her.
"..on our daughters being.. upset.."
A nod from each of them.
"..about our engagement?"
They nodded once again, Cat chewing her bottom lip from the guilt.
"Wait, what?!" They heard Trina shriek from her spot at the table and the four turned their heads to look at her. "You guys had a bet and didn't involve us?"
Cat, Beck, Robbie and Andre stared at her for a moment before looking at each other. Andre slowly looked at the angry Vega and shrugged, "You're Hazel's aunt, you're blood - that wouldn't be cool."
Trina scowled at the excuse and pointed an accusatory finger at Beck, "He's Violet's father!"
Andre faltered as he looked at his friend, who simply shrugged. "Oh.. ah," he let out a chuckle. "Heh. Never mind."
Trina only scoffed and crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat as the four let out a sigh of relief in unison.
A large disappointed frown covered Tori's lips at this as she looked at them, "Guys! I can't believe you bet on our kids being upset about this!"
Jade nodded beside her, her arms crossed across the table. "Yeah, not cool guys."
The half Latina turned to her fiancé with a content smile, placing her tan hand on Jade's pale one. "Thank you, ba-"
"I should've been included." Jade finished, giving the four a jagged look as they gazed at her in surprise, while Tori merely moaned.
"Jade!"
Jade only gave her a shit-eating grin and Tori exhaled, shaking her head. "So, what did you win?" she asked Cat, turning to look at the redhead.
Cat's eyes lit up and she giggled enthusiastically. "Oh! We bet that whoever wins gets to publicly embarrass the other three." she paused for a moment and looked at Andre and Robbie. "But since both Beck and I won, it's only two who will be embarrassed."
Robbie and Andre looked at each other, both wearing the same expression; a mix of trepidation and struggle at not looking anxious of their impending fate.
Xx
Three different car rides.
Two different emotions.
In the Vega car, the air was tense as David drove them home. Holly and David sat in the front, while Tori, Trina and Hazel sat in the backseat.
Hazel sat in the middle with a scowl as she glared at the traffic ahead of them.
Tori sat on her left, chewing on her bottom lip uneasily and anxiously toying with her new engagement ring, struggling to think of a way to make it up to her daughter in some way.
Trina was, as customary, lost in her own world listening to her Pearpod to her own demos and not hearing a word anyone said.
Tori peeked uncertainly at her daughter and took a deep breath, finally getting the courage to speak to her. "Hazel - I know you're mad at me. And this definitely won't make it up, but.. maybe it'll cheer you up for tonight at least.."
This garnered a bit of Hazel's attention and she observed her mother in her peripheral vision, urging her to continue without saying a word.
Seeing that she caught her attention, Tori visibly relaxed and she gave her a very small timid smile. "Its.. Black Friday tonight. You up for going shopping?"
Hazel's eyebrows shot up to her hairline at the offer, pleasantly surprised. In all her fifteen years, her mother refused to ever let her go Black Friday shopping; being raised by a cop and then marrying one, she knew of the crimes and senseless shoppers on that night and did not want her daughter to be involved in it. That, plus she had horrific claustrophobia.
The last time she went shopping that night, was in her first year at Hollywood Arts.
She remembered it very clearly; her friends (minus Jade, who still had a problem with her at that point) had dragged her to the mall, insisting she be apart of their Black Friday tradition. She had been hesitant at first but eventually gave in when Cat gave her those big puppy dog eyes.
An hour into the night, she was backed into a corner in Victoria's Secret, horrified as she watched Cat argue almost violently with a woman over a bra and panties set, almost ready to punch her. All around her people were screaming and aggressively fighting over underwear and pajamas, or anything they could get their hands on really.
She started to hyperventilate fairly quickly and ended up rocking back and forth on the ground, fainting when she saw Jade point her scissors at an employee for not lowering the prices even more then they already did.
Hazel stared at her mother for a moment, raising an eyebrow slowly. "But you hate Black Friday."
Tori purely shrugged, desperate to put a smile on her little girls face. "Yeah, but they're releasing the new Pearphone X6 at two am.. so we can get it while we're there. It'll be fun." she dwelled for a moment, wavering before continuing.
"And.. maybe you can get your eyebrow pierced, as well."
That put a smile on her face. A rather big one, actually, which made Tori smile herself, completely relaxing.
"You've got yourself a deal."
Tori smiled brightly, letting herself clap from her enthusiasm at cheering her daughter up. "Yay! We're going Black Friday shopping!" As soon as she said it, it registered in her brain and her smile faltered, already feeling herself start to hyperventilate. "..Oh.."
Hazel paid no awareness to this, because her attention was deterred to her aunt's sudden outburst, sitting on her right holding one earbud as she looked at her sister and niece, her eyes wide in amazement.
"Black Friday shopping?!" Trina shrilled up from her seat, her lips stretched out excitedly. "I am so in!" she eagerly stuffed her earbud back into her ear, not hearing the two groan in irritation.
"That she hears!" Tori wailed from the backseat, placing her head in her hand, resting her arm against the window. Reminiscent of her adolescence, causing her parents to laugh from the front at the reminder.
Xx
In the second car were the Wests. Gregory in the front, driving, Beck silently next to him, and the two West girls, Jade and Violet in the back.
The youngest in the car sat on the left on her cellphone, quietly texting and partially listening to music, with one earbud.
Her mother stared at her from the right with pursed lips, aggravated at her silence. "Vi." Jade began calmly, only to be ignored. Her eyes narrowed and she raised her voice an octave. "Violet!" she snapped, reaching over and snatching the Pearphone from Violet's nimble fingers, causing her to let out a surprised shriek as the earbud was ripped from her ear, her eyes widening.
"What?!" Violet gasped, grasping her hand against her heart, blinking at her mother as she watched her drop her phone into the small pouch in the drivers seat in front of her.
Jade huffed and brushed her hair from her face, turning to face her daughter once again. "I've been trying to talk to you since we've been in the car. Are you still mad?"
Violet paused for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip and wrapping a few strands of her hair around her finger tightly as she thought of how to answer the question. "I.. I'm not mad. I'm upset." She murmured with a sigh.
"You could have told me. I could have been prepared."
Jade sighed at this, nodding for a moment. "Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry for not telling you before." She barely caught Beck's raised eyebrows of disbelief at her apology, catching his eye in the rearview mirror.
She glared at him and he promptly looked back at the road, letting out a snicker.
With a roll of her eyes, she turned back to her daughter and gave her a sympathetic expression. "Are you too upset to go shopping later?"
Violet looked up from her almost purple finger to look at her mother, flabbergasted at her question. "Huh? No, that's a tradition.. one I intend to keep." She paused, biting her lip for a moment before asking, "Can..can Tori come? I mean.. I want to get to know her.. since you're marrying her." Another pause before her nose scrunched up. "But without Hazel." She spat in disgust, her mouth forming into a scowl.
Jade and Beck both let out snorts at her asking for Tori to join them. "I don't think she can, baby girl. She's terrified of crowds."
Violet moped. "Oh."
Xx
Finally, in the third car, which contained Robbie, Cat, their precious triplets, and Andre - who opted not to ride with the Vega's, whom he initially rode to the restaurant with, because he didn't want to be in direct line with Hazel's wrath.
Unlike the other two cars, this car had a very happy vibe to it as Cat was practically bouncing in her seat in the front, excited to get home and work on her idea to embarrass the boys.
Jade had pointed out that it was only fair that Cat and Beck were to be embarrassed by each other as well, which Cat agreed to after a moments hesitation. She knew whatever Beck made her do she could make it work in her favor.
"This is going to be amazing!" Cat gushed, not looking up from her task of sketching out the costumes she planned on making her husband and friends wear. She always kept a sketchbook and pencil in the glove compartment for cases such as these, when inspiration hit and she wasn't home.
Robbie tentatively took the plunge and peered at the drawing as they were stopped at a red light, regretting it immediately. At the top of the page, in big capital block letters stood his name, and then underneath was a sketch of the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz - except this particular draft had his face, not the Scarecrow.
A loud groan emitted through the car, drowning out the movie that streamed on the car TV in the back, with the kids latest obsession; ironically, The Wizard of Oz. (Naturally, Dorothy was Scarlett's favorite.)
Cat's red hair spun rapidly as she turned her head in worry, gaping at her husband with broad doe eyes that were bathing in worry. "What? Are you alright?" she gasped out, dropping her pencil for a moment to rest her palm against her chest.
A red tint covered Robbie's cheeks as he pressed his glasses back up his nose with his finger, clearing his throat. "I-I'm fine." He mumbled, glancing at her as she exhaled in relief and resumed her sketching. "Its just – are you really going to make us wear those?"
His wife smiled down at her drawing and hummed in response for a moment, adding a few more details, "Mmhm." She murmured.
A small curly head popped in between the married couple to look down at the book in Cat's lap, accompanied by a big crooked grin. "Is that Daddy?"
Cat looked at the little boy and laughed at his expression, smiling smugly. "Yep," she answered with another hum, before flipping the page and starting Andre's Lion costume.
Grayson giggled at it and looked at his father. "You look funny, Dad."
Robbie's nose crinkled and he started driving again, huffing as he looked at his son. "Go put your seatbelt on." He grumbled, relieved when the boy complied, (not before noticing Andre's name at the top of the page) and then looked at Cat for a brief moment before looking back at the road.
"Uncle Dre, mom's drawing you now!"
"How did you think of that so fast?"
Cat stayed silent as she drew the mane for the Lion, but before she could respond, another head popped in between them, this time with dreaded locks, making the pregnant redhead squeal in surprise.
"Gray told me you were-" Andre's brown eyes settled on the draft of him and groaned, dropping back against his seat. "C'mon, Lil Red! Have some sympathy!"
Cat giggled to herself and looked down at the drawing, rolling her eyes at Andre. "I am! Beck told me what he's going to make us do, trust me. You're going to be thanking me later." She mumbled, going back into the sketch and then speaking to Robbie.
"I'm not sure if I should tell you how I thought of it."
The spectacled man frowned as they drove through Sunset, looking back at his wife.
She looked back at him and sighed, chewing on her bottom lip for a second. "I had a dream back in high school that we were the characters from the movie.. Tori was the Good Witch of the North, Jade was the Wicked Witch of the West-" Andre let out a belly laugh at that and Robbie couldn't help but smirk at it, "-you were the Scarecrow, Beck was the Tin Man and Andre was the Lion."
Andre looked at the back of her seat curiously. "And who were you?"
Cat smiled smugly at his question. "Dorothy, of course."
Scarlett pulled her attention away from the movie when she heard that bit of the conversation, her brown eyes widening at the revelation. "Mommy, you were Dorothy?" the little girl gasped excitedly.
Cat looked back at her daughter with a laugh and a smile. "In a dream, baby." She turned back to the boys and continued on with the conversation. "The point is – I thought of it and decided to make it a reality."
The two merely sighed and stayed silent for a bit, before Andre broke the silence with a inquisitive voice.
"Wait.. you said you knew what Beck is gonna make us do.. what is it?"
Cat remained silent for a moment, knowing they were not going to take her answer very well. "Well… Y'know how he's in a movie with Johnny Depp?"
Robbie and Andre shared disturbed glimpses in the rearview mirror, answering Cat in unison. "Yeah.."
The small redhead started chewing on her lip, slowly speaking. "Well.. his granddaughter is turning four.. and uhm.. well.. he asked Beck if he knew any good children's groups that could perform at her birthday party.."
They already knew where this was going and were dreading her saying the words out loud. In perpetration, Robbie tightened his hold on the steering wheel as his face significantly paled, much like Andre who felt like he was going to be sick.
"..and.. Beck said he's going to call him and tell him about-" Cat looked at her very pale husband as she finished speaking. "-The Diddly-Bops."
A loud mutual groan reverberated through the car and the kids jolted from their movie coma, gaping at the two adults males at the sound, before their mother threw in one last detail.
"-And Jade will be there."
The groan only grew louder.
I'm sorry for the very long wait – I've been having some issues with a cousin. But I'm back!
And I know that this chapter took place in mostly their cars but I wanted to leave the Black Friday shopping for the next one. :) So, please, review!
ONE LAST THING. I'm not sure, should I show the wedding ceremony? Or skip right to after they get married? Please let me know what you guys want. Again, review. I really love reading your feedback.