Jess' POV
"Jessica!" I heard my mom shout up the stairs forcing me out of the comfort of my bedroom. It was practically empty now, my closet cleared out and stuffed into various boxes, the walls blank and bare every single one of my stupid polaroid pictures of family and friends stripped down and carefully stored in the moving boxes. It was hard seeing my room like that, the room I had grown up in for the first 17 years of my life, the room I hid from my problems in, the room where I found out I was pregnant, the room where I stashed bottles of liquor for when times got difficult, the room I so desperately wanted to bring with me to college, but we all have to grow up sometimes. "Jessica!" She repeated louder this time the older blonde lingering at the bottom of the stairs
"I'm coming mom" I replied slowly descending the stairs briefly checking my reflection in the mirror before making my way to the kitchen. Today was the day, as much as it killed me, today was the day I gave Jamie a better life. It felt rushed, all of it, finding the Willow family, getting to know them, putting enough trust and faith in them to give them my first born. I hadn't known them for more than three weeks, but I knew, something in me knew they were the perfect family to raise Jamie. Miranda didn't like it, neither did Emma they didn't like the idea of me giving Jamie to Olivia and Richard the two of them still believing with all their hearts that I should be the one to raise her, that I should be the one who she calls mom instead of Aunt Jess. I made it a point to get an open adoption so I had the option to see Jamie, I needed to be able to see her, to see her growing over the years, to see her becoming the young girl I hoped and prayed she would become.
"You look beautiful" She grinned her eyes scanning over my bright outfit, I tried my best to look good today, to look mature, to look as if I was ready to take this step "Are you sure you…"
"Mom, I'm doing this. This is what I said I was gonna do when I was pregnant, this is what my heart told me to do but things got messy" I explained taking a hold of her hand forcing her to look me in the eyes "This is what I want to do"
"Then I fully support you, let's go sign the papers" She said reluctantly, I hated this. I knew my mom didn't want this she loved being a grandmother, she loved making Jamie smile, she loved teaching her new things, I didn't want to take her granddaughter away from her, but I wasn't doing this to her, or for me I was doing this for Jamie
"Hey Tori, it's Jess I just wanted to let you know I'm headed over to the lawyer's office to sign the papers for the Willow's and I should be at the hospital in an hour or two so don't die till I get there" I giggled hanging up the phone turning to my mother the blonde shaking her head in disapproval "What?" I asked innocently
"Don't you think that's a little insensitive, I mean after all that's happened?" She said turning down the windy road her blue eyes connecting with mine for a moment
"She knows I'm joking, and plus Miranda said we can't treat her differently, if we do that she won't get any better" I argued leaning my head comfortably on the cool window watching as the bright green trees became distant blurs as they flew by the window
"How is she?" She asked curiously stopping at the red light turning to face me a concerned look on her face
"She had seizure Saturday, and another one Monday but Miranda says she's doing okay today the doctors are upping her dosage of medication and she's been working with her neurologist daily to improve her speech" I said the thought of Tori instantly bringing my mood down, we were supposed to leave for Dartmouth on Saturday, just five days away and yet Tori was still stuck in the hospital for I don't even know how much longer, and then there was Emma….
"What about Emma?" She questioned as if she had read my mind "Is she?"
"She's different" I said simply "Em's dealing with it, it's not permanent she knows that, with work and dedication she'll be fine she just doesn't want to accept that this happened to her"
"She has a physical therapist right?"
"Of course, Aria and Ezra both made sure she had the best PT in the hospital" I explained unbuckling my seatbelt as I slipped out of the car following closely next to her as we made our way into the office
"Aria and Ezra are speaking again?"
"Mom, I thought we weren't going to gossip anymore" I giggled linking my arm with hers "But as far as I know, Aria and Ezra are trying to work it out, something about Ella acting out because of their separation" I whispered holding the door opened for her
"Interesting" She chuckled coming to a halt at the front desk letting the secretary know why we were here "She said we can go right in" She grinned gesturing me towards the corner office
"Good morning Jessica, Alison" Mr. Benson greeted standing up to shake my hand "How are you?"
"I'm doing fine, it's a bit difficult but I know it's the right thing" I said taking a seat near his desk "So just to be clear, all I have to do is sign the papers and Jamie legally belongs to Olivia and Richard?"
"There's some processing that the papers need to go through, but yes for you that's all you need to do" He explained sliding a set of papers towards me spinning a ball point pen in between his fingers "Whenever you're ready" I didn't think I would ever be ready to sign the papers but I did. Ten minutes later I signed the papers, and in that moment everything seemed wrong. I was giving my daughter away, my daily reminder of Liam. I knew Jamie wasn't biologically related to Liam but he loved her, he loved her as if she were his own, and it killed me to give her up, it killed me to finally let the memory of Liam go
"Toyota!" I shouted barging into Tori's room quickly covering my eyes as I caught sight of the two girls "My bad" I giggled peeking through the cracks of my fingers watching as Miranda jumped off of the bed tousling her hair nervously "Having fun in the hell hole?"
"Shut up" Miranda demanded resting in the chair near Tori's hospital bed "How did it go?"
"Fine, I'm not really in the mood to talk about it" I groaned sitting down on the edge of Tori's bed. She didn't talk much, she couldn't without stuttering not after finding out about her epilepsy. It seemed like every day was a battle, every day was a fight just to mutter two words, I felt bad for her, she had her whole life ahead of her and in only a matter of a few hours her entire world came crashing down. "How much longer?" I asked directing my question towards Tori wanting nothing more than to hear her sweet voice
"The doctors said she can leave in a day or two" Miranda answered Tori rolling her eyes slightly no doubtabley growing tired of Miranda speaking for her
"Thank god I feel like you've been here forever" I chuckled swatting her leg playfully
"I….I….know…but…but….it's…its…only been…three…three…days" She stuttered slowly the simple sentence bringing an enormous smile to my face as well as Miranda's
"I almost forgot what you sounded like" Miranda said taking Tori's hand in her own "Have I told you how much I love your voice?"
"No...tell…tell…me…again" Tori teased tighten her grip on Miranda's hand
"I love your voice" Miranda smirked pressing a soft kiss on Tori's lips before planting one on her forehead "I love everything about you"
"You guys are making me sick" I whined pretending to gag whipping my head around at the sound of the rattling door "Is that Emma?"
"Yeah, she has trouble getting to the doorknob" Miranda explained quickly moving to open the door for her best friend "Hey Em"
"Hi" She greeted quietly rolling into the room shifting nervously in her wheelchair as her eyes scanned the crowded hospital room "What's up?"
Question (answer in reviews): How will Emma deal with her new problem? Do you think Emma and Tori will still be able to go to Dartmouth with Jess and Miranda?