An End and a Beginning
Life Unaccounted For Universe: Part 8
Summary: Part One of a series of one-shots in an AU setting inspired by a picture I found and put in the top corner.
Disclaimer: Hahaha, I wish! I own nothing.
It was Wednesday of the following week, Letty's day off. Aiden was still at school, and Dominic was going to pick him up and keep him overnight. So she spent the day running errands she had put off during the week – like grocery shopping and doing five loads of laundry. And she went to the craft store to hunt down a few glass bottles with corks.
Letty was sitting at the kitchen table with her project, ziti baking in the oven when Mia came home from her last class at six-thirty.
"Letty?" Mia asked warily, walking through the apartment with her bag of books in tow.
"In here", she called back absently.
"What smells good?" Mia raised an eyebrow as she entered the dining area.
Letty smirked. It had been a running joke in their family for years that she couldn't even boil water without scorching the pan, but there were a few cooking lessons that had stuck. "Ziti", she answered. "It should be done in about ten minutes."
Mia grinned. "Bless you. I'm starving. Aiden is with Dom?"
"Mhm", she nodded absently, writing a date on a small, round colored sticker.
"Uh, Let? What are you doing?" Mia laughed.
"What?" Letty muttered, slightly affronted. "I can be crafty."
Mia giggled. "I didn't say you couldn't. What are you doing?"
"Sand, bottle", she held the items up. "It's not exactly rocket science, Mi."
"Why are you pouring sand in a bottle?" Mia eyed the bag of sand she was dumping into the funnel dubiously.
"It's for Aiden", Letty said exasperatedly.
"From when we went to the beach the other day?"
"Yeah."
Mia smiled fondly. "You're an amazing mom, Let. And sometimes you still manage to surprise me."
"Ugh, cut the mush", Letty chuckled. "And check the ziti."
"You cooked- as much as I love ziti… is something wrong?"
"Why does something have to be wrong?"
"You like cooking when you need to keep busy", Mia said with a raised eyebrow as she pulled the large pan out of the oven.
"So?"
"Look, I know you get into a funk when we do stuff with Aiden without you", she said softly. "You feel like you miss out on him growing up. Granted, it could be a lot worse. Let, Dom feels the same way. You have to know that."
Letty shrugged. "Things are the way they are. I can't change it."
"My brother still loves you", Mia said seriously.
"Leave it, Mia", Letty groaned.
"I can't. I'm tired of seeing both of you act like you're not miserable!"
"No one's miserable, Mi", Letty rolled her eyes.
"I live here", Mia reminded. "You can't keep up your defenses forever."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Letty looked up in time to see Mia's nostrils flare. "Letty", she practically growled.
"What, Mia?"
"You may be okay being miserable for the rest of your life, but do you want that for Dom? At some point, Letty, he's going to get over you, or at least he'll decide not to wait any more. Are you going to be okay when that time comes and he brings home another woman?"
"I wouldn't have the right to be anything otherwise, now would I?" Letty raised both eyebrows. "I walked down a fucking aisle, Mia. And he let me."
"What happens if we go to family dinner one night and Dominic has a woman sitting at the table with him?" Mia tried again, changing tactics.
"Then I jump over the table and rip her blonde head off", Letty deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
"Why didn't you marry Trevor?"
"Mia", Letty hissed warningly.
The girl just snorted. "Just answer the damn question for once."
Letty's elbows banged the table as she dropped her head into her hands roughly. "I loved him", she said quietly. "I really did… and he loved Aiden. We didn't have that… electricity between us though. I thought it was okay. Every relationship is different – that's what people say, right? Dom and I were always kind of volatile. I thought I could live without those feelings; that we would work. But I know love, Mia. And what I felt for Trevor… it wasn't the right kind. I thought it would be enough, but it wasn't. And you have no idea how much that hurts."
Mia flinched, hearing the tears choking her voice and moved to crouch in front of the chair to hug her tightly. "Shh", she muttered. "Make me feel like an evil bitch for making you cry, why don't you?"
Letty snorted against her shoulder. "Shut up."
"I know you still love my brother… and he loves you. You both deserve a second chance. I just don't know why you don't believe you deserve one", she sighed and pulled back slightly.
"There's too much at stake if we fuck this up again, Mia", Letty shook her head. "And if we were going to fix this… we should have done it a long time ago. And I was too stubborn."
"Maybe", Mia acknowledged softly, tugging on her friend's hair. "Just know that you would make me a very happy sister-in-law", she teased gently.
Letty smirked. "You just want to plan a huge wedding."
"I love you, Letty. No matter what. I just want you to be happy."
"I know, I know. I love you too. Now let's eat before the food get's cold."
00
On Saturday, the garage was busier than usual, and they all worked their asses off. Mia had taken Aiden to the store with her for the morning, and Leon had swung by to pick him up around six on his way back from a parts run to Harry's. Aiden loved going to visit them at work; he liked when someone explained to him how an engine worked, or something simple like and oil change.
Tony often joked that considering his parents, Aiden probably had a good mix of oil and NOS in his bloodstream.
They were closing down for the night, and Letty had managed to finish the tune-up for the Toyota she had been working on, and she closed the hood with a bang, first making sure there were no little fingers in the way.
"Mom, are we still going to the park tomorrow?"
Letty looked down at her son, head tilting playfully. "That's the plan. It's going to be nice outside."
"Can Daddy come with us?"
She crouched down in front of him. "Sounds like a good idea… why don't you go ask him?"
Aiden was gone before she could even stand up straight, and she could hear his voice over the rest of the noise, even if she couldn't make out the words. She saw Dom's questioning look in her direction, and she nodded, smiling slightly.
Seconds later, Dom had Aiden over his shoulder and she heard her son hollering, "Mommy and Daddy are taking me to the park tomorrow!"
Letty headed towards her locker to gather her things, blinking away the stinging behind her eyes. Kids could be so easy to please sometimes. If only it was always that easy.
00
A/N: Okay! New chapter finally! Just for danidani, who was still poking me for an update for this even with all my one-shots. So, you're welcome. Tee-hee. I didn't exactly edit this, so I'll probably check it over tomorrow. Let me know if you catch anything annoying. =) I just wanted to freaking post already! Let me know what you think.