A/N: Thanks to AllieKat21 (thanks), Trikster 707, everfaraway (cause he's MINE!), cari88 (welcome, and thanks!), and 2furious4u for their reviews! Big thanks to all who have put me on alerts and favs.
Wrist is better...mostly. Still taking it easy. If any of you are into the movie Push or just psychic powers, I've started an RPG. Randomness...Oh, and The Jerk (a houseguest from hell) was staying with me for a couple weeks, really messed up my life, but he's gone now. WOOT!
Now...here is what I promised you...what you've all been waiting (not) so patiently for...
Review & Enjoy!
Rae adjusted Bella against her hips, pushing her way through the double doors to Jesse's ward. They'd become familiar with the various nurses, and as soon as they made it to the nurses station they were waylaid by besotted hospital staff.
Rae was under no delusions as to who they were truly interested in, and just stood back with a rueful grin as Bella smiled and giggled at all the attention. When they were finally free of their clutches they made their way the short distance towards Jesse's room.
Brian was sitting outside on a bench, his elbows resting on his knees. Mia was further down the hall, glaring at the candy machine. Bella started wriggling in her arms, and the second Rae set her down, she ran off towards Mia, not even slowing as she passed Brian.
"MiaMiaMia!" she cried gleefully, causing Mia to scoop her up with a grin.
She waved at Rae and pointed questioningly between Ella and the machine. Rae sighed, looking at her daughter's wide eyes, her little fingers flexing as she grasped for the trapped candy.
Rae held up one finger and Mia nodded, her lips twitching in amusement. Ella laughed and clapped her hands as the candy slowly dropped out of the machine, bouncing in excitement.
Shaking her head, Rae flopped down next to Brian. "What's up?" she asked the ex-cop.
"Doc's in there with the others. We got here late, so we figured we wouldn't interrupt. Rome's watching the store," he grinned. "I think it might be good news."
"Awesome! Wait, late? Vince said two-thirty…" she trailed off.
"Yeah, that's what he told us too, but I guess he got it wrong," he chuckled. "It's our own fault for not checking."
"True," she sighed, sitting back and watching as Mia walked Ella around the ward.
She didn't want to think about Vince right now, she was having a hard enough time not freaking out over the fact that she was going to be seeing him in a few minute. But apparently Brian didn't feel the same way.
"He's been stomping around all morning. Honestly, he's been worse than Letty with her hangover. Did you two argue or something?" he asked nonchalantly, but Rae could feel his sharp eyes watching her.
"Why would you think V.'s mood has anything to do with me?" she asked back, swallowing down her paranoia.
"Because when I saw him before breakfast, he was fine, happy eve, which is scary all by itself. But when he came back from dropping you off, he was slamming doors and glowering like nobody's business," he replied, his eyes fixed on Mia and Ella who were now chatting with another nurse.
Rae just gave a shrug. "We hardly talked at all. We certainly didn't argue." She said truthfully, although they'd done a lot more, and she did know why he was pissed.
Brian was silent for a moment. "You when you and Mia came back to find Vince and I fighting? Right before I went to Miami?" he asked, and she nodded with a frown. "Did he ever tell you why we were fighting, what it was I said that set him off?"
She shook her head. "He needs a reason to fight? That's new," she joked, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Brian laughed, sitting back against the wall. "Apparently. I just observed that maybe the reason he was hung up on Mia was because he really had a thing for you."
Rae blinked. Mia had said pretty much the same thing to her, but she was surprised Vince had such a violent reaction to the idea.
Well, sort of. It was Vince, after all.
Brian's eyes were still watching the girls laughing with the nurse, chocolate around the corners of Ella's little mouth. Good thing she brought wet-wipes. He took a deep breath.
"Y'know, when she glares, she looks just like him. The expression more than anything."
Rae froze.
"You really should tell him. We've never seen eye-to-eye, but I know he's a good guy. Loyal to a fault. He deserves to know," he finished softly.
His voice was sympathetic and understanding, and Rae just couldn't keep denying it anymore. She needed to tell someone the secret she'd been keeping for three years.
"I want to. But I never find the right time," she sighed. "How did you know? Did you tell Mia?" she frowned.
He laughed a little and shook his head. "I love the woman, but there's no way she'd be able to keep quiet, and I figured it was something he should hear from you," Brian shrugged. "As for the rest, I don't know, really. I guess when you didn't deny it," he smiled. "Maybe it just took someone who didn't know either of you back then. I could see there was something between the two of you, and the timing just fit. Plus, the kid can glare."
Rae laughed, at that, feeling a little better, even though her troubles were still there. "That she does. When she hits puberty, we're all doomed."
"Oh shit," Brian laughed, "I never thought of that."
"Thought of what?" Mia asked as she led Ella back by one sticky hand.
Luckily she seemed to have missed the rest of their conversation. Rae dug out her wet-wipes, handing one to a grateful Mia before attacking her daughter.
"We were just talking about what Ella will be like as a teenager," Brain answered, smiling up at Mia.
"Well, if she's anything like her mother, she'll be a surly little thing," Mia grinned, and Rae stuck out her tongue. "We were all pretty bad, I guess," Mia shrugged.
"Oh man, remember Jesse's mullet?" Rae asked, laughing hard. "What was if he used to say?" she grinned.
"Business in the front, party in the back!" they chorused in stoner-dude voices, collapsing into laughter.
"Are there pictures?" Brian asked. "Man, I gotta see that…"
They chatted for a while. Rae and Mia trying to out do each other with funny stories from their teenaged years. A few minutes later, they all looked up as the door opened and Dom came out, clapping one big hand on the doc's shoulder.
"Now, don't hesitate to call if you have any more questions, Mr. Toretto. And I'll see you all on Friday," the older man said, giving then all a polite nod before making his way back to wherever Doctors hid when they weren't doctoring.
"Good news," Dom rumbled, ushering them into the room. "Doc says he'll be released on Friday. He'll have to use a chair 'till the physio kicks in, but we get to take him home."
"You make me sound like a puppy," Jesse complained from where he was propped up in his bed.
"Jesse Friend!" Bella yelled, practically jumping out of Rae's arms onto the bed.
Jesse grinned, and started playing peek-a-boo with her as Dom filled them in on specifics. Rae barely heard, she could feel his eyes on her from where he was sprawled in a chair next to the bed.
"Sorry we were late, Jess," Mia said as she leaned over to hug him. "Someone told us the wrong time to get here," she apologized, shooting Vince a playful glare. He just grunted.
They all settled down around the room, Rae sitting as far from Vince as possible, which unfortunately meant she ended up sitting straight across from him. Industriously trying to avoid his gaze, she watched her daughter run happily around between them all.
They laughed and chatted and made plans for a Team BBQ on Friday night. They wanted to have a bigger party for all their friends, but they'd wait a couple days to give Jesse time to settle down.
Rae's plan of avoiding Vince was foiled when Ella choose to pull her kid-sized plastic chair over next to him with great fuss, and proceeded to show him every toy in her little pink backpack. Rae did get satisfaction from the fact that he looked slightly panicked and it distracted him enough that she got a few moments of peace before the nurse popped in to tell them visiting hours were nearly over.
"I'm glad you're back Rae," Jesse whispered as she leaned over to hug him. She beamed at him and waved with Ella as they were all hustled out but the nurse.
"Rae…" she heard Vince begin softly from behind her.
Ignoring him, she walked briskly to catch up with the others. "I have to get going, I'm supposed to meet up with Viv and Alex for dinner, and Ella needs a nap before then. Is there anything you want me to bring to the party?" she asked, smiling at Mia.
"Not really…But I could use a hand with the cooking?" she replied hopefully.
"No problemo," Rae grinned before making her exit.
After Jesse's party. She'd tell him then. She wanted to make sure Jess had a good happy homecoming before she told Vince, and fucked everything up again.
"This is delicious," Jesse groaned again, and Mia laughed, her dark eyes twinkling.
"I'd take that as a compliment if you hadn't been eating hospital food for weeks," she grinned back, and Vince let out a low chuckle as Jesse gave a cheeky grin and grabbed another plateful of hotdogs and chicken.
This was how it should be. Dom at the head of the table, all the Team seated around, with big plates of food in the center. Viv and Alex fitted right in already, and Jesse had tried explaining the basic engine components to Vivian, who had remained oblivious, but at the same time praising Jesse's knowledge and giving him a little ego boost. The woman had a way of genuinely charming everybody, and Vince had even found himself smiling a time or two.
He'd slid into his seat at the last second, ensuring himself a place next to Rae. She was sitting with the kid on her lap, helping her daughter eat in between taking her own bites of food.
Viv and Alex had offered to babysit and let them have a grown-ups BBQ, but as soon as Jesse heard the plan he made a fuss. Apparently he'd taken to the kid as much as she had to 'Uncle Jesse', and wanted her there too.
Leon and Brian were arguing over car parts, and Rome was relaying the story of how he'd come to be in LA to Jesse, who was listening, rapt. Dom and Letty were shooting each other heated glances, and he was betting their whole second chance thing was going well.
He'd been trying to get time alone with Rae since their night together, but she was very good at avoiding him. He wasn't going to let her get away a second time, and he wasn't going to let her stop living life just because things might go wrong. Not when she still kissed like that.
He'd watched her when he couldn't talk to her, and he'd come to a few realizations. One being that their night together on her eighteenth had been no chance of fate. Not that she's planned it or anything, just that he finally realized that she'd had a full-blown crush on him. All the times he'd seen her watching him out of the corner of her eye, all the times she'd ended up helping him…she'd been trying to get closer to him.
And the idiot that he was, he had never really seen it for what it was. But now he did. And she may have changed, but her feelings hadn't, and that was just fine by him. He'd also noticed the distance she'd put between them and not just the physical avoidance.
She kept the kid close by when he was around, limiting what he could say or do, using her as a shield. Almost like she didn't trust herself alone with him. Either way, he was done playing her games.
He dodged a forkful of potato salad as the kid got a little over excited. "Sorr 'ncle Viss," she said around a mouthful, turning those big brown eyes on him.
He shrugged, not particularly bothered. Leon was worse when he got carried away. It wasn't the kid that pissed him off. It was what her mother said next.
"I've told you already Sweetie, Vince isn't your uncle."
Vince clenched his fists. He didn't particularly care what the kid called him, but Rae let her call all the others Uncle, even Bri and Rome once or twice, but not him. Yet another barrier she'd put up, and he'd had enough.
"Rae, I need to talk to you. Now," he growled. The others blink in surprise as he stood suddenly. He scooped up the kid and dumped her carefully in Mia's lap as the little girl "Wheeee!"'d. Grabbing Rae, he practically dragged her around the side of the house 'till they were in the front drive and out of earshot of the others.
"Vince what the hell?!" Rae snapped as she tugged her hand free of his grip.
"Why do you do that?" he demanded, pointing back toward the table.
"What? You're not her uncle, Vince. Get over it!" Something flickered in her eyes as she replied, and alarms sounded in his head. She was hiding something.
"Bullshit. This is you avoiding another connection between us and you know it!" he countered, his voice raising more.
She laughed bitterly. "Trust me, I've got more connections to you than I know how to handle."
His blood boiled. "Don't dare say you didn't have fun last week. I did. You're just chicken to take a chance!"
"Take a chance?" she scoffed. "I took a chance on you three years ago and you broke my heart! You told me to get out, Vince!"
"And obviously you weren't too upset. After all, you were spreading your legs for some other guys as soon as you hit the next tow—"
Once again she blindsided him, knocking him on his ass with her strong right. She stood over him, her cheeks flushed, her eyes flashing, her chest rising as falling with each ragged breath.
God, she was beautiful.
"I never, Vince! For years, it was only—" she trailed off, her eyes widening in shock as she realized what she had just said.
Vince blinked, his stunned mind still trying to start working again.
"Oh god…" a voice gasped from behind her, and his head snapped up to find the others watching them from where curiosity had drawn them at Rae and Vince's raised voices.
Mia was staring between the two of them like she'd just figured out something important, and the others looked like they were only a few seconds behind.
Before Vince could open his mouth to ask, Rae had spun around and dashed to her car, peeling off with a squeal of tires. Before he even thought about what he was doing, he was in his car and racing behind her.
A/N: Heehee. So technically...Rae told, in true Rae & Vince fashion. What? You thought they were going to sit down and have a nice, calm, adult discussion? WTF have you been reading?!
