Hello friends! Penultimate Vigil chapter - though technically this is an in-between as it takes place after Vigil. Something a little different here. Vigil was a pretty big demand for me so I also enlisted some help from my talented friend TheTBone, who also happens to be one of the queens of young Mariana and Jesus. She dreamed up the flashback in the next two chapters and is responsible for the vast content of it. I simply went over it and Grace-ified it a little (made it overly-wordy, the spelling British and tweaked it to be more in my style). Anyhow, I hope you enjoy it!
We're past the main Kasey arc now so she's returning to her role as the "viewer" almost (especially in I Do) and a plot device character to bring out some of the other feelings. I am thrilled though at how people responded to her story's climax and sorry I seemed to make so many people cry. That's the last of the intense scenes, I swear!
As always, if you have time to review, I'd be thrilled to hear your thoughts! Right on to the past.
(NB: I just realised I was in my mid-teens at the time of this flashback...wow that feels pretty crappy.)
Mariana rushed up the stairs to her bedroom the second she stepped through the front door, her backpack firmly held in front of her, hiding her fatal mistake.
"Jesus," she whispered frantically, getting her twin's attention as she reached the top of the stairs. "Come in here."
"What's wrong?" Jesus asked, thrown off guard as Mariana practically shoved him into her bedroom. "Are you okay?" he asked immediately. Despite feeling this place may be different, he couldn't break his instincts to look out for her.
Mariana shakily removed her backpack from its place in front of her leg; unshed tears visible in her eyes as she revealed a gaping hole in the skirt of her Belle princess dress: the one Stef and Lena had bought her days before, the one she hadn't taken off since.
"What happened?" Jesus asked, his eyes wide. "Who did that to you?" he questioned, a hint of anger in his voice as he noticed her bandaged knee.
"Nobody did it to me, I fell on the playground," she said, tears still swimming in her eyes. "What am I going to do?" she asked desperately. "Stef and Lena are going to be so mad," Mariana bit her lip. This was the first time she had been in trouble since they had arrived and in her mind that probably meant the first and last. Surely this disrespect for property would be the turning point? They knew it had been too good to be true.
"Don't worry," Jesus attempted to calm her, although he was just as panicked. "We'll figure it out. Right now just change your clothes and hide that somewhere," he ordered, Mariana nodding her head in agreement.
"What are you doing?" Kasey pried nosily, practically assaulting Jesus as soon as he had closed Mariana's door and stepping into the hallway.
Jesus gulped. He'd never been good at lying and if there was one other thing he had seen that Kasey was good at, it was using any means necessary to find out what was going on; she had been in trouble more than once for it since they arrived. He had to think of a good excuse and fast.
"I was just, uh…I was just going to try and find you, actually!" he said, a thought popping into his head.
"Reeeally?" she dragged out the word to make a point of how skeptical she was. That was her mom's favorite word when she didn't believe something; ironically often used just before Kasey got in trouble for one of those snooping operations.
"Yeah," Jesus defended. "I was going to ask you if you knew how to make lemonade."
Kasey's eyebrows wrinkled, her nose scrunched. "Why do you want to make lemonade?"
"For a lemonade stand, duh," Jesus replied, hiding the rushed state of his operation by making it sound as if it was obvious to everyone. "We could make money from it and get rich so we can buy more stuff," he rationalised, hoping Kasey wouldn't suspect.
Kasey's lips perked up into a mischievous smile. "I'd be able to buy that new book I want!"
Jesus smiled as well, relieved that his spur-of-the-moment idea had worked. "Great! We can split the money," he suggested. He figured if they made enough, he and Mariana could put what they made together and buy another dress before Stef and Lena noticed the other one was torn.
"You go make a sign and I'll go make the lemonade," Kasey said, taking charge and running down to the kitchen.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lena warned, intercepting her as she flew past. "Slow down, there, you know we don't run in the house," she scolded lightly. "Where are you running off to?"
"I'm going to make lemonade and then Jesus and I are going to sell it and be cazillionaires," she said seriously.
Before Lena could respond to the comment, Brandon chose the moment to pad down the hallway. "What are you and Jesus doing?" he inquired.
Kasey huffed. She hated repeating herself. "Me and Jesus are selling lemonade and becoming cazillionaires."
"Oh cool!" Brandon exclaimed with excitement. "Can I join?"
"No," Kasey rolled her eyes.
"Yes," Lena corrected, with even more emphasis. "Of course you may join, Brandon." she said, looking pointedly at Kasey.
Kasey sighed. "But mama," she whined, "Don't you understand business? This means we have to split our money three ways!"
"Well you're probably going to have to split it four ways, Mariana will probably want to join too," she replied through a patronising chuckle to a very dissatisfied Kasey. "And if you don't watch it and put that pouty lip away, you'll be in your room and Brandon, Mariana and Jesus will be splitting the money three ways without you," she warned.
Kasey huffed, but quickly straightened up. "Fine," she said cordially. "If you will excuse me, I have lemonade to make," she said, her nose in the air as she walked into the kitchen.
Lena rubbed her temples. This was going to be a long afternoon.
"Idiot!" Kasey cursed her twin, flapping the oven gloves at the smoke emanating from the tray of burnt cookies. She rounded it off with a swipe of Brandon's arm.
"I don't see the issue, we have made enough for another batch anyway." he argued back.
"Which you criticised us for, I will remind you - "
"Of course I did, there are 8 of us, we're not feeding the 5,000. If we didn't have so many I wouldn't have had to try and speed it up!"
"Will you two quit it?" Callie rolled her eyes, taking on the role of peacemaker in the absence of their parents.
"What is that burning smell?" Jude ran through, covered in a mixture of flour and glitter.
"Brandon burning out his last fibre of common sense."
He was about to respond, folding his arms angrily before Callie threw him a look.
"Brandon ramped up the temperature while we were making the card. He was nervous about us having time to cook both batches." Jesus explained.
"It doesn't matter as long as we have something for Mom." Mariana piped up nervously, her guilt still eating away but desperate for this latest gesture to be perfect.
"Well let's get these cleaned up and put in the second load then, the second load we wouldn't have had if it weren't for the rest of us ignoring the muppet chef over there." She added under her breath but clearly with the aim to be heard.
Brandon picked a pinch of flour and tossed it in Kasey's direction.
"Guys! Can you cool it." Jesus snapped edgily. He, like Mariana had been trying to stay off radar as much as possible. Both looked at him, surprised by the reprimand. It was enough to stop Kasey from retaliating with food but it didn't stop her sneaking a crafty kick as she passed her twin.
"Maybe we should start making the icing now, save time later." Jude suggested as Lena clicked through the door. All 6 kids snapped to attention, re-positioning themselves in front of the cookie batches, the toasted and pre-cooked.
"I thought we were meeting you at the hospital..." Kasey commented first, quickly destroying the evidence of the food fight that never was from her face.
"I wanted to grab a few..." she began while assessing the nervous faces. "What are you up to?"
The kids looked between each other before Brandon's shoulder dropped down with a sigh.
"It was meant to be a surprise."
"Can you not even lie for the greater good?" Kasey rolled her eyes with a laugh, sharing a smirk with Callie, Brandon too unable to suppress a small smile even at his own misfortune. Kasey may be ragging on him as always, but the important thing was it was like always. Both had relaxed exponentially now Stef was on full road to recovery and their dad almost a week sober.
"What was?" Lena replied skeptically, ignoring the jibe. It may have been a few days but she hadn't quite recovered her energy - especially as she was the one left parenting the much faster recovering kids alone.
"We made Mom 'get well soon' cookies - and a card!" Jude filled in the blanks
Lena looked to the evidence of this around the room. She was happy with the sentiment but couldn't help feeling a niggle of protest in line with her planned regime for Stef's recovery plan - one that definitely didn't include sweet baked goods. Seeing their innocent faces she put aside her overly-paranoid worry.
"I'm sure she'll appreciate that a lot." She resigned. "But let's make sure we clean the place up, OK? And no fighting. She looked pointedly to Kasey and Brandon followed habitually by one to Mariana and Jesus, even though this time it was clear they were not engaging in their usual bickering to complement the other set of twins. Her heart sunk a little to see they were still so demoralised. Most of the kids had begun their rehabilitation to normality, but it was still clear Mariana and Jesus had some distance to go.
She shook her thoughts from her head, bookmarking it to mention to Stef if she wasn't already onto it and moved off to complete the errands she had come home for.
"Play nice." She warned, with one more look - now almost longing for it to be necessary as some glimpse of their family dynamics returning.
[Lemonade stand flashback continued]
"I think that our problem is our display. I think we should do something to make it look nicer." Brandon sighed, sitting at the end of the plastic table they were using as their lemonade stand. The four kids sat, waiting for business. So far they'd had a total of three customers and a grand total of $1.25. Two of those customers had been Stef and Lena and fifty of those cents had been pity tips from them.
Kasey resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Brandon was only holding the group back, in her opinion, and she really didn't see how he was an asset to this business. She knew that she had to play nice however, or else her moms wouldn't let her have any of the profit she had rightfully earned.
"Like what?" Jesus asked, interested. He looked over at Mariana, who stared intently at the table. She'd barely spoken a word since their talk in the bedroom and the fear in her eyes was making Jesus uneasy. They had to find a way to get the money and fix this. He couldn't bear seeing her so afraid.
"Well I was thinking, you know how Lena has that vase in the living room? Maybe we could serve the lemonade out of that," he suggested.
Kasey's jaw dropped open as she shot her head over to look at her twin, no longer bothered about keeping up appearances. "That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard," she said.
"Why is it stupid, Kasey?" Brandon fired at her, irritated. "Because I came up with it?"
"Um, no. Because Lena would kill you," she shot back, Jesus and Mariana uncomfortably sandwiched in between them. There was a reason Brandon and Kasey were sitting on opposite sides of the table.
"Well maybe she wouldn't find out," Brandon replied. "We could bring it out here and put it back before she noticed. I think it would help us sell more. Pretty things sell more," he said.
Jesus glanced at Mariana and shrugged, looking for her approval. It was risky, and if they got caught they could get in trouble, but weren't they kind of already past that point? It couldn't get much worse. Mariana shrugged so slightly that it could've been mistaken for a twitch.
"I guess it's worth a shot," Jesus told Brandon, causing him to break out into a grin and Kasey to roll her eyes and cross her arms.
"I'll go get it. And I'll be sneaky, I promise," he informed them as he crept inside to go grab the vase. He tiptoed inside the house, keeping lookout for his moms as he gently nabbed it from its place on the shelf. He was about to back outside to join the others when his eyes spied something on the floor. He tenderly tucked the vase under his arm and grabbed the object as well before creeping back out to their stand.
"Did you get it?" Jesus asked apprehensively.
"Got it," Brandon smiled triumphantly, setting the glass and the other object on the table as well. The four of them rising and helping to rearrange.
"What is that?" Kasey questioned, spying the toy he'd brought with him.
"It's my nerf gun so we can use it for protection against people that try to steal from us," he explained.
"You mean burglars?" Kasey questioned, unimpressed. "No one is going to steal our lemonade."
"You don't know that, Kasey."
"I'm pretty sure I do."
"I'm pretty sure you're wrong."
"I'm pretty sure you're an idiot."
The younger twins watched in fear as the bickering escalated. Brandon's face got hot, his eyes seeing red. He couldn't take this anymore. Kasey was always bossing him around and trying to make him feel stupid. In the heat of the moment, he swiped the nerf gun off the table, aiming it at his twin. The foam and rubber flew into the air, soaring, although not where he intended for it to go. Brandon's aim wasn't the best, and instead of heading towards Kasey, it was on a line-drive path to a trembling Mariana. Time seemed to freeze during the split second between launch and the impact – the point of contact where it finally hit a swooping in Stef, bouncing off her abdomen.
"Knock knock!" Lena smiled as Stef looked up from her reading position on the bed.
It was swiftly followed by a broad smile as she removed her reading glasses and put down the magazine she held in response to a chorus of hellos.
All the kids bound in towards the bed. Jude carrying the big box of baked goods and the first to reach her.
"Hello babies! Aren't I glad to see you!"
"I don't blame you, I'd go insane if I was stuck in a room with one of my mothers all day." Kasey teased, kissing her head as Stef swiped her on the arm with the magazine. She was at least glad to see that Kasey's humour had returned over the few days since their talk.
"Hey, watch it, junior." Sharon piped up, almost unnoticed as she sneaked in behind them from an errand of grabbing herself a coffee. She had flown in two days after the shooting to help. So far however she had really only helped with making Stef desperate for anyone else's company. She passed her own kisses around her grandchildren ending with a tight pinch around Kasey's waist.
"Jude, what's in the box?" Stef asked, her speech broken by various kisses of her own scattered around.
"Open up and see!" he beamed, placing it on her lap.
"Cookies! And a beautiful homemade card. Amazing. Thank you, love." she cupped his cheek.
"It was Callie's idea!" he smiled.
Stef hit Callie with a smile but she immediately shrugged, pinching his shoulders.
"Don't exaggerate Jude, it was a team effort." Stef's noticing of the immediate modesty was overshadowed by the start of Kasey and Brandon's imminent bickering.
"We would have had more had Brandon not been trying to show off ramping up the temperature to cook them faster."
"Are you ever gonna let that go? You could have spoken up at any time, Kase!"
"I didn't think you needed a baby sitter to complete your one task."
"Babies...haven't I suffered enough this week?" Stef cut them off as Kasey slipped an elbow to her brother who nudged her back. A tussle that didn't go unnoticed by Sharon.
"Don't worry, I'll hose 'em down in the yard." she assured her incapacitated daughter. The two kids exchanged a nostalgic smile, despite their tumultuous relationship.
"Thank you all, anyway." Stef gave them all a proud gleam, mostly returned except for Jesus who only returned it with a sheepish one. Mariana too hung near the back, barely acknowledging it despite her desperation for it to be appreciated. Nothing seemed like enough to make up for what had happened. Their quiet attitudes didn't go unnoticed by Stef even though Lena quickly grabbed her attention back.
"But only one."
"But they're my cookies..." Stef immediately complained. "Why d'you let them bake cookies if I can only have one?"
"Because they didn't exactly clear it with me first...or your new diet."
Stef pulled an exaggerated face to Jude who giggled.
"Bet you can't wait to come home, huh, Mom?" Brandon teased as Lena lightly batted his arm.
"The doctors advise a healthy diet to speed up your recovery."
"Ha - too bad, Mom!" Kasey jibed as Stef raised an eyebrow.
"That's bold coming from someone I control for the next couple weeks."
"Uhm, you're not controlling anything for the next few weeks." Sharon commented. "Stress free life as well."
"But threatening my kids is how I de-stress..." Stef's face dropped as Lena rolled her eyes.
"Too bad, Stefanie." Sharon chopped her hand out jumping in to Lena's defense. "I'm with your better half on this one! Getting my kids back on their feet so I can get back to Florida is how I de-stress and I intend on returning to retirement as quickly as possible." Jude giggled at seeing Stef reprimanded. He was rewarded by a playful tickle, normality still slowly creeping back in.
"Anyhow, I think it's about time I got a change of scenery. Is that OK, Grandma? Mama? Am I allowed that or do I have to check my manual?" She softly teased as both woman shook their heads in mutual sympathy. "Let's get through to the day room."
The family headed to the door as Lena and Sharon began to transfer Stef into a wheelchair. She moved down but thought of her mental tick-list she had made during the last few moments. There were three kids she had to make sure she spoke to and one of them was conveniently moving the slowest
"Hey Callie, maybe you can hold back a minute and give us a hand here." Stef added, thinking back to her earlier observation.
She looked around the room, slightly startled as the others continued to bustle out.
"What you do?" Kasey whispered with a smirk as Callie threw her a side eye.
As she lingered, Stef transferred a telepathic signal to both Lena and Sharon who immediately got her meaning.
"You know, you're right. Us oldies shouldn't be doing this. Callie, help my stubborn daughter out. She only nags us when we try anyway." Sharon babbled patting Callie's arm as she left.
Lena followed, giving Callie a friendly arms squeeze herself. "We'll see you in the other room."
"Thank goodness they've gone. Can you slip me some wine or chocolate?" Stef teased as the coast went clear. "Need to take advantage before I get my official care plan Lena's no doubt typed out and printed in handy leaflets." She joked, making herself comfortable in the chair.
"We've already had our brief I'm afraid and I'd be breaking subsection 4.2." Callie replied with a smile taking the handles of Stef's temporary form of mobility. Once they're chuckles subsided, Stef got back to business.
"So I didn't see much of you the other night. Seemed to see everyone else, actually."
"Unconscious and still know when one of us is missing?" Callie joked back, beginning to maneuvre her round towards the door.
"Don't you forget it." She squinted back. "Hold up a sec though, I just wanna check in." Callie removed her hands from the chair and looked for further instruction, confused. She sat on the bed following a head-flick signal. She was now even more curious as to where this may go.
Stef locked her gaze for a moment in a loving smile, hoping she'd do what she was about to say justice. "So, between the cookie plan and some little birdies, I hear that you've been a rock for the others through all this." She took her hand softly, sweeping Callie with a warm tingle. Callie shrugged it off but with no hurry to let go.
"I did what anyone would have." She responded, nonchalant, Stef's eyes twitching down in sadness at her inability to accept praise.
"Well, whether that's true or not, I'm not talking about anyone." She paused as Callie looked back to her gratefully. "I know it can't have been easy for you, being back in a hospital. I just wanna make sure you've not forgotten to think of yourself through all this."
"I haven't," She replied quickly. She hadn't forgotten to at all, she just had tried not to. "To be honest, I kinda liked the distraction." Stef's eyebrows twitched as Callie quickly recanted.
"The distraction of looking after people, not the distraction of you being -"
"I got you sweetheart..." Stef winked with a laugh as Callie's face eased. "And I'm glad you admit that you were looking after people. Maybe one day we'll even see you give yourself a pat on the back." She teased, squeezing her hand to the response of another satisfied smile.
"Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you - for looking after my family so well." Callie nodded humbly with a pause.
"Well, you kinda look after mine." She eventually shrugged, now giving Stef the warm tingling feeling. She cocked her head to take in Callie's unassuming words and ran her palm down the girl's cheek. Callie wasn't entirely sure how to react to the gesture but she didn't flinch or wince, simply accepted it with gratitude in their moment of serenity.
"OK, now start up my engine, I need to make sure Jesus and Kasey aren't having a wheelchair race."
"Why, so you can join them?" Callie joked hopping up and pushing her out towards the main room, both of them chuckling away again.
Next Chapter Preview: Stef and Lena discuss both the lemonade stand and Cornado Street shootings with the twins.
"Come on guys, you can't even laugh for the cripple?" She nudged Mariana, apparently the nature of the wording making her even more nervous. Stef took in the response and shook her head, defeated.
"OK, we need to talk about this. I don't like these robots that have replaced my children." Both twins looked to each other, unsure of how to respond - not helping to ease Stef's frustration. With mixed feelings of relief and dread, they reached the room and Jesus wheeled her in, pushing her round.
"Come on, sit. Let's talk." She beckoned to the two chairs in the room.