Estrangement
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N: I am posting the final three chapters up today, partially because 33 and 34 should be one. So here you go, 33, 34, and the epilogue.
Chapter 33 (Trina's Family: Dinner)
Dinner went without a hitch, and dessert consisted of banana crème pie that Rachel and Holly prepared together. It was a feast that Tori would never forget. She sat across from Trina and to the left of her mother. Sinjin sat to Trina's right, and Megan to the left. Danny and Rachel were happily eating their pie on the other side. Tori couldn't help but to look forward to future visits.
"This was a great meal," Tori repeated with misty tears forming in her eyes. Trina chuckled while Holly beamed with pride. She could see Trina was holding back her own emotion, her eyes couldn't hide the woman's happiness. Her family was whole, that's as what Trina likely felt for the first time they had everyone together. "I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but I couldn't be happier to be here with my sister, my nieces, nephew…"
"We're happy to have you," Megan reminded with a polite smile. "Even mom is, whether or not she'll admit it." Trina dipped her head, struggling to keep her laughter in. She was still hung up on all the jokes and stories the family was telling over the dinner table. "Seriously, Mom's good at not admitting things, whether good or bad. One of those things mom hates are spiders and frogs, right?"
Trina's jaw dropped, "Oh no." Sinjin smirked at her while Daniel and Rachel looked on with laughing gazes. "Not this story, Megan." Megan's smirk grew and Trina moved her hand to her forehead.
"A couple years ago, Rachel here thought she could show her mom a sign of her affection and went out to find a flower." Tori rubbed her chin and drifted her gaze to Trina. "She brings mom a flower, and when mom takes it and starts to sniff it, this little-emphasis on little-spider comes crawling around it. Mom's eyes get wide and she lets out the loudest scream ever! Dad comes running in trying to figure out what's going on, sees the flower without seeing the spider, and snatches the whole thing out of her hand, crushing it. Meanwhile, Rachel's standing there wondering why her parents are freaking out over a flower!"
The kids laughed uproariously with their father. Tori chuckled at Trina, shaking her head. "Oh Trina, the flower and a baby spider are both harmless."
"You didn't see that thing!" Trina smiled.
"You should have been here when Danny tried to bring mom a frog!" Tori raised an eyebrow and Trina shuddered.
"It was dirty, in my son's hands, and in my house."
Daniel laughed gleefully, practically falling out of his chair. "Mommy didn't like my gift." He inhaled sharply and looked over to Megan. "Rachel says you did the same stuff when you were a kid." Megan wagged her eyebrows and leaned forward.
"You'll never know, Danny boy. You will never know." Tori's interest was piqued now, but she wasn't going to ask what Megan did to scare the hell out of her mother. The teenager leaned back in her seat and looked to Trina's belly. "Now there will be a fourth kid to bring mama frogs, spiders or garden snakes." Trina shivered once more while Sinjin continued to laugh. Megan flashed her shiny white teeth and lifted her shoulders up. "What can I say? I was an adorable five year old. That snake was a tiny pet for the classroom."
"What classroom has a pet snake?" Trina brought her fingers between her eyebrows and moaned lightly. She moved her hand to her stomach and sighed. "Not this one. Not going to happen."
The three kids all chimed out simultaneously, "It will."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think my babies were betting against their mama."
"Makes sense to me," Holly chimed, "You and Tori were just the same when you were young." Tori made eye contact with her sister, then laughed remembering all the crazy things they brought their mom as kids. "Like mother, like son and daughter, right? I swear children are so innocent, but sometimes you just want them to bring you home a puppy or a kitten."
Trina laughed, "Nope they bring you snakes, spiders, toads…makes me wonder where my children are playing half the time."
"Trina dear, when you were seven years old, you went into a cave we were visiting and came crying to me about this bat that had a broken wing." Trina's cheeks reddened as her children eyed her suspiciously. Tori cupped her hand over her mouth to avoid laughing at her sister. "No, you bring your dad wounded bluebirds, but you bring your mom bats." Holly motioned to Tori, smirking widely. "Your sister's not much better. Nine years old, send her off to the store down the street while I'm working on laundry and what does she come home with?" Tori lifted her eyes, blushing as she remembered buying from some weird guy on the streets. "She comes home with a container of piranhas. I swear you two were trying to give your mother a heart attack!"
The women laughed while Sinjin coughed up a chuckle. "It's in the blood," Rachel joked. After the laughter died down and everyone began to settle, Rachel looked from her sister to her mother with an honest, serious expression. "Momma, will you be home more now that we're getting another sibling? You are around, but it's still not a lot."
Trina reached over, curling her hand over Rachel's and smiling softly, "I'll try to be here more." Her brow furrowed and she leaned upright. "In fact it does bring up what I've been thinking about lately. I know I'm not even forty yet, but I'm thinking of early retirement…"
"Retirement?" Sinjin set his silverware down and looked over, curious as Trina nodded her head. The standard for retirement had changed in the last twenty years. For those who weren't above a certain pay grade, they still couldn't retire until they were fifty-which was where the age fell to. For those that made a certain amount annually, they could retire whenever they wanted-especially if they were married to someone with an acceptable pay. Trina, being a CEO, was at the right pay that she could leave anytime she wanted and eventually receive retirement benefits.
To add to that, Sinjin had been pushed up to Dean position at the university. Starting in the summer, he would be taking that position, which meant he would be making over a couple hundred thousand annually.
"I need to be with my babies more. Not to mention, I have to take care of mom. So there is that…" Trina was one of the most powerful businesswoman in the country. If she stepped down now, would the person replacing her even be ready to fill those shoes? "I mean I can train someone to my position, begin the process, but inevitably, I want to be with my family."
"I could get a job," Megan suggested. The work age in New York was fourteen now, so it was just the age for the teen. "I know you want me to wait until I'm sixteen, but if you stick around here more, then I don't have to and I can start working. I know you like hard work, so…"
Sinjin nodded to his daughter, "I think that would be good. However, Trina, are you sure you want to do that?"
Leaving a job position at that level was a monumental decision, and not one that could be taken lightly. "I don't know." Trina breathed in heavily as she looked over to Tori for a second. "The thing is, it's not a decision to make on the spot. I don't mind being a stay at home mom. I will think about it, though."
"Yeah, we'll talk more about it at another time." Sinjin stood up and grabbed his empty plate off the table. "Okay kids, you know your chores." The kids immediately jumped up from the table. Megan collected all the dishes while Rachel went to scrub down the kitchen counter as Daniel grabbed a rag to clean the table with. Tori smiled at the sight, impressed with the children.
"So you have them doing their chores often, Trina?"
"All the time," Trina answered, "Chores promote hard work. I've already said, I don't want my kids thinking they can just grow up doing whatever they want and expecting everything to be handed to them. They have to work, and doing chores builds character and responsibility."
"Yeah." Thinking back, Tori turned to Holly and put her hands to her hips. "Mom. How come you and dad never had us doing chores?" Holly raised an eyebrow and Trina shook her head. "Oh…right, I forgot…Trina did chores."
"Yeah, I did all the chores because somebody would whine about it." The older sister smirked and Tori let out a nervous chuckle. "In fact, Tori, since you're here…" Her heart stopped as Trina's lips turned into a devious grin.
"Uh oh." Rachel was setting up the vacuum cleaner, much to Tori's surprise. "Do you vacuum after every dinner?"
"No, it was part of Rachel's chores before you came to visit today. We were doing a lot of cleaning this week, but she never got around to it." Trina snapped her fingers and Rachel looked up to her mom.
"Yes momma?"
"Dear, go help your sister with the dishes."
"Yes ma'am."
"Thank you sweetie." Rachel bounced over to Megan. Tori studied the vacuum out of the corner of her eyes. "Tori. Vacuum, please?"
She heaved forth a heavy sigh and moved over to the vacuum without question. "I'm on it." She couldn't help but to smile, though. It didn't matter to her if she did a chore for her sister or not, Trina was in the right frame of mind. She taught her children to be respectful, to say 'sir and ma'am' when given instruction, and to do their chores.
Trina had to be proud, since even Megan was willing to get a job somewhere to help support the family, even though they likely had enough money that they wouldn't have to work. Of course, Tori knew that as children of the house, they wouldn't always have their parents' money. So they were well prepared for that.
She only hoped that one day, she might have a family just like this, or to be a mother in the way Trina was bringing up her own family. "Tori."
"Yes, Trina?"
"Come to church with us Sunday." Tori's heart skipped a beat and she practically skipped with joy. Trina rolled her head to the side and exhaled softly. "The pastor likes to announce new pregnancies, births, marriages, and etc so he can pray for blessing and good health. So I'm pretty sure my name's going to be in the bunch…We have a good pastor, he's been there for all my children. I'd like for you to be there, meet with the pastor and some others."
"I'd be happy to, sis."
"Great."
"Can I ask Zack to come?" Trina lifted her head up and nodded.
"Of course, I've wanted to meet him. See what he's like."
"Thank you."
Looks like some bonding taking place there, hopefully you enjoyed.