A/N: Blame it on school, reports, family, and sickness BUT don't blame it on the alcohol. So this chapter didn't actually turn out to be a Palex chapter because I felt there was something that needed to be discussed but the next two chapters will be FULL of Palex goodness. My hope is to be done with this story by the end of this year and then I have a surprise for you guys =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or it's characters. But I do own Jordan =) among other things
Did you know that May is my favorite month? Yep, it is. Not just because my birthday is in May but also because May brings warm weather, flowers, and the end of another school year. That's right! I'm free bitches! Well kind of free. Alex, Beth, and I just got done with our sophomore years of college. Well Beth and I did, Alex is about six credits short of becoming a junior which is why she will be VERY busy this year. Alex is taking classes at the local community college in T.O., after getting permission from FSU, and she's volunteering at the hospital Beth's mom works at. But Alex won't be the only busy one this summer. Beth is also volunteering at the local animal hospital this summer and Brian was able to get me an internship at 101.5, T.O. 's hottest radio station, at least that's what they say. Sure all I will be doing is getting coffee, bagels, and making sure that the cds are in order but everyone has to start out somewhere.
You're probably wondering what happened after that semi disastrous dinner at Sage's place. Well Alex and Sage are stronger than ever. I mean after Alex confessed her love for Sage and then stood up to her dad it sort of HAD to make their relationship stronger. They spent most of the semester attached to each other's hips, which was cute yet nauseating. I don't exactly know what happened at Sage's after that dinner, I'm a little too afraid to ask.
Neither Alex nor I have heard much from Paige. All I know is that she's been working hard as Jason Mewes' assistant and that Mewsical High is suppose to come out soon. Honestly I hope Paige is doing well and that she gets everything she hoped for.
So tomorrow is Mother's Day! Well actually last Sunday was Mother's Day but Alex and I weren't here so we're celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow. Currently Alex and I are in my room putting the final touches on the plan for tomorrow.
"So what exactly are we cooking for breakfast?" Alex asks me, again.
"You mean what am I cooking for breakfast? Because let's face it, if I even let you WATCH a pancake you'll burn it."
Alex grabs a pillow and throws it at my head. I duck just in time. Thank you fast reflexes. Uh, what's that I hear? I think I hear a baby crawling his way in here.
"Hey Major," I greet Matisse.
His response is a whole bunch of baby gibberish. You see we've started calling Matisse "Major" now. Number one because his initials are M.A.J. and because Brian likes to call him Major Poopers. Yeah, my father is a real weirdo. Also now Matisse has a favorite word, "no". Yeah, his first word is 'no' and he loves saying it. Anyway, Matisse is crawling his little baby body into my room. Alex picks him up.
"You got Major right?" Brian calls from the hallway.
"Yeah, we got him," Alex responds.
"Ok, thanks."
Alex closes the door and continues holding Matisse.
"Did you want to help us plan Mother's Day for Mom as well?" Alex asks Matisse.
"Ajhkjdg hjdhkjds," Matisse responds, in his own baby language.
"So I'm thinking breakfast buffet, then gift giving, then we'll take a time out, and then take her to dinner later," I tell Alex.
Alex is nodding her head. "Sounds like a good plan to me."
"So umm I meant to ask you something earlier," I start nervously. "Have you talked to your mom lately?"
Alex looks at me and her facial expression darkens. "What are you talking aboot? I just talked to Mom twenty minutes ago. You were there with me."
"No Alex, I mean your mom mom, Emily. I mean it has been about a year and a half."
"Does it matter?" she asks. "It's not like she actually cares about me."
"Alex…"
"No!" Alex shouts.
"No!" Matisse shouts back.
I take Matisse from Alex and place him on the bed. I hand him my old cell phone to play with. For some reason he finds technology very interesting so the cell phone will keep him occupied for hours.
"If Emily cared about me then she would have looked for me. Obviously she didn't so she doesn't care and I don't care."
"Alex you don't know if Emily was looking for you or not."
Alex's eyes narrow. "Really Jordan, you're defending her? What happened to me being a Johnson? Why won't you drop this?"
"Because she's your mother Alex! Because she is a part of you no matter what happens!"
"Waaaahhh!" Matisse cries.
Oh no, Matisse is crying. I forgot that people yelling/arguing is what sets him off. I walk over to the bed and pick him up.
"It's ok Major," I tell him while patting his back. "Everything is ok, don't cry." I look over at Alex. "Come over here and play peek-a-boo with him."
Alex rolls her eyes and walks over. "Major," she calls out Matisse's nickname in a light voice. Alex places her hands over her face. "Peek-a-boo!" she says and removes her hands.
Matisse turns his head at the sound of his favorite game being played.
"Peek-a-boo!" Alex half shouts again.
Matisse calms down a bit on the crying and a tiny smile appears on his face.
"Peak-a-boo!"
"Ha ha," Matisse giggles.
"Peak-a-boo! I found you!" Alex begins to tickle Matisse's stomach. He starts giggling and the cry has subsided.
Whew, thank God that's over. I put Matisse down in the play pen we have set up in my room and give him the old cell phone so he'll be preoccupied. I pull Alex out into the hallway and leave the door a crack open, that way we can still hear and kind of see Matisse.
"Listen I know you don't want to hear this," I start.
"Then why bring it up?" Alex interrupts.
"Alex, I know that you're still pissed and upset and you have every right to be but you have to go see if your mom is at least alive. I mean jeez Alex the last time you saw her was like December oh six."
"She's not my mother anymore!" Alex yells.
Oh my God, Alex is crying.
"A real mother wouldn't have chosen her boyfriend over her own daughter," Alex says through the tears. "A real mother wouldn't have bailed her dumb credit card stealing boyfriend out of jail instead of paying the rent so her and her daughter would have a place to live." Alex slides down against the wall. "A real mother would have been there to hold me and tell me everything would be ok when I was crying at night worried sick about her or where we would live the next day."
I sit down on the floor beside Alex. "Last week Mom and Dad told me that soon the adoption will be finalized and I figured that maybe you'd like to tell your Mom and maybe say goodbye or something."
Alex looks at the wall. It's like she's trying to burn a hole into it.
"Should I go to my room and give you some time to think?" I ask her.
Alex is shaking her head no. She takes a big breath and lets it out. "No, let's do it," she says firmly. "Let's go see Emily."
"MOTHER'S DAY"!:
"Shh."
"Stop shushing me!"
"Ya know for someone who was once a criminal you sure do suck at being quiet."
"I am being quiet. It's Major who won't be quiet."
"Ajshkdjjdg sjhdklj djhkjdhkdg"
Alex, Matisse, and I enter the 'rents room as quietly as we can. I try to walk as quietly as I can while holding a giant card and Alex is carrying Matisse. We walk up to the bed on Mom's side. I hold my hand up to Alex and Matisse and starting lowering my fingers to count down. My finger gets down to one.
"Happy Mother's Day!" Alex and I yell.
"Jkdgslhjg ijkdlgjsl sdgklj!" Matisse yells.
Brian sits up quickly. "No more candy corn!" he yells.
What? Alex and I look at each other and then back at Brian with questioning looks on our faces. Ok, that was weird. Mom slowly opens her eyes and smiles when she sees us and the giant card I'm holding.
"What's this?" she asks.
"Well since we couldn't be here for Mother's Day last week we decided to make today Mother's Day," Alex tells her proudly.
"So Happy Mother's Day Mommy!" I yell.
I hand Mom the giant card Alex and I bought for her. She opens the card and her face immediately lights up.
"To a mother oh so wonderful, oh so grand;
You're the best kind of brand;
We thank you for everything you've given us;
For driving us to school, for not making us ride the bus
Have a wonderful Mother's Day
YEA!"
Matisse is clapping his hands, something he always does now whenever someone says "yea". Mom is looking at us with tears in her eyes.
Thank you," she says. "I really appreciate it."
Alex, Matisse, and I hug Mom. Alex leaves Matisse on Mom's lap.
"Even Major signed the card," Alex tells Mom and points to Matisse's 'signature'.
Mom smiles. "I can see that," she says. "Good job sweetie," she tells Matisse and kisses him on the cheek.
"But wait, there's more," I tell her.
Mom and Brian get out of the bed and follow Alex and me downstairs. We reach the kitchen and Mom and Brian's faces are in awe. Laid out on the kitchen counter is a breakfast buffet.
"You girls made all of this?" Mom asks surprised.
"I made all of this," I correct her.
"Um I made toast," Alex says.
I look at her. "You burnt the toast."
"Doesn't matter," Mom interrupts us. "This is so sweet. Thank you."
We gather around and have a big family hug. Yeah, the Johnson family has turned Alex into a hugger, sort of. After we separate we all dig in. Mom places Matisse in his high chair and hands him his food while the rest of us grab out on food.
"So do I get something this grand for Father's Day?" Brian asks.
"No!" Matisse shouts.
"Wow, thanks Major. Who changes your diaper most of the time? Me." Brian is nodding his head.
"Don't worry Dad, we'll get you a card," I tell him and smile.
Brian throws a piece of bacon at me and I duck. Nothing like a family breakfast to start a difficult day.
Late that Day:
Alex and I decided to visit her mom a little after breakfast. We told Mom and Brian that we were just going out but that'd we see them later. I'm driving to Alex's old apartment right now. According to Jay she still lives there. I pull up to the parking spot in front of the building and Alex and I get out.
Alex and I enter the building and the smell of piss instantly enters my nose. I haven't been in this building since Alex moved out so the smell REALLY bothers me. To be honest I was surprised when Jay told us that Alex's mom still lives here. I wonder if Chad stole more credit cards to pay the rent. Alex and I take the stairs to the familiar third floor. We reach the door that reads 315.
I turn and look at Alex. "Are you ready for this?" I ask.
"Let's just get this over with," she grumbles.
Alex knocks on the door. We hear movement behind the door. The door opens and some random guy is looking at us. Unless Chad got a major make over this guy is not Chad. This guy has striking blue eyes, slick black hair, and looks dirty.
The guy looks us up and down. "What do you want?" he snarls.
"Is Emily here?" Alex asks.
"Who's asking?"
"Her daughter."
The guy's eyes widen. He turns his head around.
"Emily!" he yells. "Some girl claiming to be your daughter is here!"
The man leaves with the door open. Alex and I walk into the apartment. It's been eighteen months since either of us has been in this apartment. The big screen tv has been replaced with a small 19 inch television, but besides that everything looks the same. The guy that opened the door is sitting on the couch drinking a beer. He might not look like Chad but he might as well be him.
"Lexi!"
Alex and I turn our heads and we see her mom coming out from her bedroom. Emily's hair is back to black but besides that nothing totally looks the same. She seems really tired and has even more stress lines all over her face. Emily rushes over to Alex and engulfs her into a hug.
"Oh Lexi!" she exclaims. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
I can tell that Alex is stiff while Emily is hugging her. I'm pretty sure Alex just wants to push her away but she's trying not to be harsh. Emily let's go of Alex and notices me. She smiles at me.
"Hello Jordan," she greets me.
"Hey Ms. Nuñez," I greet her and wave.
Emily turns her attention back to Alex. "Lexi, I'm so glad you're back."
"I'm not back Mom. I came here to say goodbye."
Emily's face falls. "What do you mean?"
"The moment you chose Chad over me was the last straw Mom. I was your daughter! YOUR DAUGHTER! And you chose your boyfriend over me."
Random guy turns his head around. "Hey keep the noise down!" he yells. "I'm trying to watch tv!"
Alex narrows her eyes. "And then you don't even stay with Chad," she tells her.
"Lexi, I'm sorry. But I thought Chad was the man for me and I couldn't let my man rot in jail."
"Your man? Your man? You mean the man that stole from you? The man that hit not only you but me as well!"
"I was in love Lexi."
"It doesn't even matter anymore Mom because I've moved on with my life. I have a new family now."
A look of confusion appears on Emily's face. "What do you mean?"
I step up. "My parents are adopting Alex. She'll legally be a Johnson in a few days. But in my eyes and my parents' eyes she was always a Johnson." I smile at Alex and she smiles back at me.
Emily looks confused and upset. "The Johnsons?" she asks. "The Johnsons are adopting you? So this life wasn't good enough for you so you decided to move to the other side of town and get a rich prissy family to take you in?"
Did she just call my family prissy? Ok, obviously Emily is upset because her only child is moving on but that doesn't give her the right to call my family prissy.
"No Mom, I decided to go to a family who would love me and act the way I family SHOULD act."
"How a family should act? I supported you for 18 years AlexandraNuñez! I worked my ass off putting a roof over your head, food on the table, and clothes on your back!"
The random guy gets up from the couch. "I'm going to Frank's," he announces. "When I get back these two girls better be out of my apartment!"
Random guy opens the door and leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"See Mom!" Alex exclaims. "Men like that shouldn't have been in my life. You also put me in a dangerous environment by having dangerous abusive boyfriends. My childhood consisted of me cleaning you up night after night Mom! At one point we spent more nights in the women's shelter than we did at home!"
"I did the best that I could. After your father left I didn't know what to do. I tried to find you another father, a better father!"
Alex sighs and is shaking her head. "A better father?" she asks. "You honestly thought those men you brought here would be good fathers? Mom, are you really that stupid?"
"Don't you dare call me stupid!" Emily yells at Alex and points an angry finger at her. "I am still your mother and you will treat me with respect!"
Alex is shaking her head, disagreeing with Emily. "No, you're not," she says. "A real mother would have looked for me. You're not my mother anymore."
Alex walks out of the apartment. I turn my head and look at Emily.
"I told Alex to come back and say goodbye to you," I tell her.
Emily narrows her eyes at me. "You took my daughter away from me."
"No!" I exclaim. "You pushed your daughter away! You gave up your daughter the day you chose to bail your dead beat husband out of jail instead of paying for the rent you and your daughter needed. Alex is an AMAZING person and I'm sorry that you couldn't see that but my parents could. They gave her something that you were NEVER able to give her and that's a true home. Alex is better than you and she's better than this. If you EVER try to contact Alex I will make sure that the Toronto PD visits you weekly because I'm pretty sure you and your new man are doing something illegal to stay in this dump."
I head to the door. I stop and turn around. "And by the way if you ever call my family "prissy" again I will come back here and show you exactly how prissy my fists are."
I slam the front door shut. I go down the stairs to find Alex. I see Alex against a wall with tears running down her face.
"Oh Alex," I say quietly.
I walk to Alex and open my arms. She practically collapses into my arms.
"It's ok Alex," I whisper. "It's ok."
I'm just holding her as she cries on my shoulder. I've only see Alex cry a handful of times and each time I see it, it breaks my heart and my heart is breaking right now. Alex lifts her head off my shoulder.
"I said goodbye," she tells me. "Can we leave now?"
I'm nodding my head. "Yeah, let's go to Beth's," I tell her. "We have to go pick up the cake."
Alex and I get into my car and drive over to Beth's house to pick up the cake Mrs. Perez made for Mom. I pull up to Beth's house and Alex and I get out of the car.
"If this helps I threatened Emily that if she ever called our family "prissy" again I'd show her how "prissy" my fists are," I tell Alex.
Alex shrugs her shoulders" Doesn't really help but thanks anyway," she says
I raise my hand to knock on the front door. The door opens. What the…
"Paige?"
A/N: So I have mixed feelings on this chapter. What do you think? Leave reviews please =)