DISCLAIMER: Nope not mine. I do dream though.
SUMMARY: The wedding's over and the reception is under way. Can Abigail regain Tara's trust?
The reception was being held in the Cyber Café. Hayley had graciously offered the place for the couple's wedding present. She and the former Dino Thunder Rangers had done an amazing job of decorating the place.
Kim, Jason, Tommy and Tara were the only ones in the receiving line. They smiled at everyone who came in and shook hands with most of them.
As had been planned, Abigail and Daniel were the last two to enter the reception. Tara went white when her mother stepped up to her. Tommy took her hand. "Thank you for coming, Abigail. Thank you, Daniel. It was good of you to be here for this."
Tara was shaking. She was nervous about her mother being here but she hoped that it was a good thing. She shook hands with her mother and father. "Thank you for coming."
"It's our pleasure. Can we talk later, Tara?" Her mother had a hopeful look on her face.
"Of c-c-course, Mother."
"By the way, you look absolutely beautiful." Abigail leaned in and kissed her daughter on the cheek.
"Th-th-thank you." Tara blushed at the rare compliment. Tommy settled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight to him.
"I've been telling her that for several months now. She just never seems to get it though." He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Please have a seat. The party is just getting started."
After they had gone into the party, Kim and Tara stepped away to use the restroom. Jason rounded on his friend. "What in the hell are you up to?"
"I simply had a talk with your mother. She's starting to realize that she was wrong to cut herself off from Tara for so long."
"How did you convince her of that?"
"I made sure that she understood that I love Tara more than life. I told her about the hostage situation and the threat to Tara. I explained the way I felt like punching your lights out when you scared Tara after that."
"You wanted to punch me?" Jason sounded like he just might laugh at that.
Tommy shrugged. "You were terrifying your little sister and she turned to me to protect her. My first thought was to remove the fear factor. Knock you out, growling stops, sister no longer scared." He turned to look at his old friend. "I can't help it. Tara brings out the protective side of me."
"Yeah. Yeah. You and your white knight complex. Sometimes you go more than a little overboard." Jason chuckled, shaking his head. He got serious again. "What did my mother say to convince you that she didn't hate Tara?"
"She asked me if I'd ever held a child in my arms as her breath rattled in her chest knowing that she could be dying there with nothing I could do about it. Knowing that each breath could be her last. She also told me about the children she'd already lost to crib death. She told me that she was terrified of loving a child that much only to lose them again."
"I knew about the ones she'd lost but I didn't know that she felt that way. She always seemed to just keep going. No matter what else happened. I wish she'd have talked to me."
"Maybe you just should have asked, bro." He put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "But now maybe the healing can start for everyone." He gestured with his head. "Let's go. The girls will know where to find us."
****
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Kim and Tara were having a similar conversation. "Kim, why? Why would she show up now?"
"Maybe she decided to see if she could see what we do when we look at you. Maybe she's decided that she's been cut off from you for long enough. I don't know. Maybe you should talk to her and ask her what happened. Ask her why she's been so distant. Maybe she'll tell you. Maybe things between the two of you can change."
"Kim, th-th-that's an awful l-l-lot of maybes. What if she's j-j-just pretending?"
Kim placed her hands on Tara's shoulders. "And what if she's not? What if you could get close to her finally? After all this time?"
Tara turned away from her best friend. "It would be nice to have my mother with me when ---"
Kim whirled Tara around to face her again. "When what, Tara? Don't tell me you're --?"
"N-n-no. No I'm not p-p-pregnant. But s-s-someday I might be. And I'd l-l-like to be. But I'd like to h-h-have my mother there wh-wh-when it does happen. I've always d-d-dreamed of having my m-m-mother beside me when I g-g-gave birth to a ch-ch-child. Although I n-n-never dreamed I'd e-e-ever even have a ch-ch-chance to with T-t-tommy." Tara ducked her head and blushed heavily. She still had a few problems with her self-esteem but she was starting to get over them.
"Well, maybe this is what you need then. You have to talk to her, Tara. Tell her how you feel."
"I-I-I-I'll try. I'm j-j-just tired of being laughed at."
Kim chuckled. "I actually know what you mean."
"B-b-but you've always been p-p-popular."
"Not when I first got to Miami. A lot of people laughed at me because they honestly didn't think I could handle being there. And at first it was really hard. I hadn't had a real coach in years and all of a sudden not only did I have a coach but a world-class coach and was working toward a major competition. I mean, the only thing bigger than the Pan-Globals is the Olympics. Some of the girls used to call me Cinderella. As in the poor relation. They looked at me as the unfortunate step-child. It wasn't fun and there was more than once that I called Jason wanting to quit."
"And yet y-y-you didn't qu-qu-quit until that injury."
"That's right. Jason kept reminding me that quitting would prove them all right. That I couldn't handle it and he knew that wasn't true. One night, he talked to me on the phone for over four and a half hours. He was still in Switzerland at the time so you can just picture the cost for that one." Both young women giggled. "Now what say we go join the men and get this party started."
Tara wrapped her arms around Kim and hugged her tightly. "Y-y-you always kn-kn-know what to say t-t-to make me f-f-feel better."
"What are friends for? Now let's put a smile on. After all, you just married the man of your dreams." Tara smiled and the two of them headed for the bathroom door.
"So wh-wh-when do I get to s-s-start planning a w-w-wedding for you t-t-two?"
"I don't know, Tara. We only just admitted that we had feelings for each other. I don't think a wedding is in our immediate future."
Tara giggled. "W-w-we'll see."