DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for Jetta, Teddy, and Liam. Characters and show belong to Dick Wolf, music and lyrics belong to Sugarland. Song is called Baby Girl by Sugarland.
A/N: I'm not as happy with this one as I was with the last one...
"You should tell her that I'd like to retire someday. Hopefully in the near future," Elliot said lazily as he sat at the table reading the paper.
"She's trying to make a life for herself. She wants to be somebody, El," Olivia defended her daughter. She leaned against the counter with a worn piece of paper with creases in it. Jetta's familiar, curly handwriting all over it.
Olivia pouted her lip slightly and tried to grin as she read on through her daughter's letter. She smiled as she read further. "Teddy's boyfriend, Liam, you know, the other band member? Jetta says he tried to push Teddy into the water, but ended up falling in himself."
Elliot grinned as he looked absently through the paper.
Jetta sat at the booth by the window at a small restaurant. She looked hopefully up into the dark night sky. Teddy and Liam sat across from her, laughing and joking with one another.
She looked back at her friends and smiled. "Too bad the star's ain't out, huh?" she asked them, nodding towards the window.
"It's LA, baby. There are too many lights to see the stars. It's not that they're not there," Liam responded femininely, giving an absent wave of his hand.
She chuckled at Liam. "You're so... feminine, Liam. Teddy? How'd you ever go out with a tough girl like me? Then end up with a femme boy like Liam?"
Teddy shrugged. "I thought I was straight then, Jetta. Or, at least, I tried to be straight." He smiled at her.
Teddy and Jetta had remained good friends after they broke up, not long before Teddy came out of the closet.
They say, this town, the stars stay up all night,
Well I don't know, can't see em,
For the glow of the neon lights
And it's a, long way, from here,
To the place where the home fires burn,
Well it's, two thousand miles and one left turn...
Now, both of them, plus Teddy's boyfriend, were out on their own, living in the world in their early twenties. They were making hardly any money playing at the bars, but it was something, at least for now.
Their band was having a hard time starting out, but they knew they going to make it this time. Jetta could feel it in her bones.
That night, at the cheep, old motel they were staying at, Jetta took a pencil and paper and began writing.
Dear Mom and Dad please send money,
I'm so broke that it ain't funny,
Well I don't need much just enough to get me through,
Please don't worry 'cause I'm alright,
See I'm playing here at the bar tonight
Well this time I'm gonna make our dreams come true.
Well I love you more than anything in the world,
Love your baby girl
When she'd finished, she'd folded the letter three times and put it in an envelope. She licked the seal shut. Turning it over, she put a stamp on the front and wrote her parent's address in the middle.
She put the letter down, realizing that, with the time, she would have to mail it tomorrow.
She fell down backwards onto the bed. It squeaked as she bounced slightly from the fall.
Jetta hated asking her parents for money, but it was the only way they were going to make it. They got payed hardly anything for the few gigs that they did catch, and they needed money. She was going to pay them back as soon as they're first album got big, though.
They were going to be famous and be able to buy all the cars, diamonds, and fancy things they wanted. Jetta smiled at that thought.
Black top, blue sky, big town full of little white lies,
Well everybody's your friend, you can never be sure,
They'll promise fancy cars and diamond rings, and all sorts of shiny things,
But girl you'll remember what your knees are for
Jetta mailed the letter the next day. A week later, she was reading her own letter from her parents. The small wad of twenties had fallen from the paper when she unfolded it. She picked it up, but read carefully through the letter, smiling at all the words her mother wrote.
"We're sending money," Jetta read aloud to Teddy as Liam sang loudly from the shower. "But, honey? Please don't take long too become famous. Your father and I would like to retire sometime soon, okay?"
Teddy laughed. "They're so sweet."
Dear Mom and Dad please send money,
I'm so broke that it ain't funny,
Well I don't need much just enough to get me through,
Please don't worry 'cause I'm alright,
See I'm playing here at the bar tonight
Well this time I'm gonna make our dreams come true.
Well I love you more than anything in the world,
Love your baby girl
"Teddy?" Jetta began. "Do you think we're going to make it big?"
Teddy questioned her with his green eyes. "Of course we're going to make it big. You know that as well as I do."
"You're not just saying that? You really think it."
"Jetta, you know as well as I know that we're getting there. We're on our way already. I know you can feel it too when we play."
She smiled gratefully at him.
I know that I'm on my way,
When I can tell every time I play,
And I know it's worth all the dues I payed
When I can write to you and say:
Jetta kept a promise that she'd made to her parents. It only took her three more years, but she kept it.
Jetta, Teddy, and Liam had finally made it big, they're album had sold almost 300,000 copies already, and Jetta had sent the money she owed back to her parents, plus a little extra.
She'd also bought plane tickets to New York, but she conveniently left that part out.
Dear Mom and Dad I'll send money
I'm so rich that it ain't funny
Well it ought to be more than enough to get you through
Please don't worry 'cause I'm alright
See I'm staying here at the Ritz tonight
What do ya know we made our dreams come true
And there are fancy cars and diamond rings
But you know that they don't mean a thing
Well they all add up to nothing compared to you,
But remember me in ribbons and curls,
I still love you more than anything in the world,
Love your baby girl
Almost a week later, her flight landed. She stepped out onto familiar ground and inhaled the air deeply. God, how she'd missed this place.
She took a cab to her parent's house, the house she'd grown up in. She stood outside the front door with all her luggage for a long while, looking the place up and down.
Finally, she moved forward towards the door. Ringing the doorbell, she waited for an answer.
She heard her parent's from inside.
"Livvie! Get the door, will you?"
"I'm going, I've got it, El!"
Jetta smiled.
Olivia opened the door. Jetta saw just how much she'd aged over the few years she'd been gone. Her hair was almost all gray, and it was shorter now. She had creases in her face that made her look aged, too. Jetta smiled upon seeing her mother.
"Hi ma," she said calmly.
"Oh!" Olivia gasped and embraced Jetta in a strong hug. That was something Jetta noticed right away, her strength was still in tact, the years hadn't worn that. "What are you doing here, sweetie?"
"I came to see you guys. It has been almost six years, mom."
A single tear ran down Olivia's whithered cheek. She took Jetta's hand and guided her into the living room, as if it was her first time in the house. She sat her down at the couch and hurried off to retrieve Elliot.
"Jets?" Elliot said as he walked into the room with Olivia close behind him.
"Hi daddy," she said happily, smiling broadly.
He hugged her tightly. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"You and mom both. Why do I need a reason? I've got a record out now, I have money. I had the money to come and see you. Do I reason to come see my own parents? That I haven't seen in almost six years, by the way."
Your baby girl
(Dear Mom and Dad please send money,
I'm so broke that it ain't funny,
Don't need much just enough to get me through)
Your baby girl
(Please don't worry cause I'm alright,
Playing here at the bar tonight)
Dreams come true
"I came to give you this," Jetta said, pulling out a huge wad of cash. Both Olivia and Elliot's mouths dropped open.
"Jetta, we can't take that," Elliot said.
"I owe you guys a bunch of money. I'm giving it back to you, I'm not offering it." She took her father's hand and put the money in it.
He smiled kindly at her. The years had aged him, too. His hair was even thinner and gray, and Jetta wondered why he didn't just shave the rest of it off. The lines on his face made him look only slightly older than her mother. He was slightly more hunched than her, too.
"I came to tell you two that you can finally retire." She smiled.
A/N: Please, R&R, tell me what you think of it.