Disclaimer: Don't own.
:}
Tori watched out the window as Jade tried, for the last hour, to teach their daughter to play catch. Of course, Tori wasn't sure Tawney wanted to learn, but for some god awful reason today was the day that girl learned.
Of course, Jade was showing her usual amount of patience with her child, surprisingly more then any of her friends ever expected. Jade had worked hard to keep her intense amount of rage and aggression under control with her child.
'Team sports may not be the best thing for Jade to be involved with.' Tori thought. She shuddered at the thought of Jade at any sporting event, cheering on their first born. 'With her temper, there would be a series of scissor related murders...' Tori did not like that idea one bit.
But that didn't explain why Jade had decided to start teaching their barely five year old daughter to play baseball. Tori watched Jade throw the ball, and praise any time the girl caught it. They'd started underhand, but Jade was encouraging the girl to throw overhand. 'I should have known something was off when she walked in with that glove.'
Tori tried to take a deep breath and relax. This jade, the parent, would be unrecognizable by any of their friends. Indeed, diplomacy was one of Jade's key weaknesses in her profession. Jade's production company survived off of her raw talent and determination. The goth still acted, but put most of her energy into working behind the scenes. Producer, director, writer, those were where Jade made the growing mountain of money that bought them this nice house in the Hollywood hills. The nice house with the back yard big enough for Jade to teach their oldest to play catch.
'Of course, there have been sacrifices.' Tori reminded herself. 'The weeks she'd been gone filming, or the late nights when she was still fighting for her vision. Now, after making as much money as she has, they tend to have more faith in her, but still, I remember how hard it was.' Of course, Tori had made sacrifices as well. Someone had to take care of the kids, and after one album tour, Tori knew that would be her. It was one of the few things she'd ever demanded from Jade. Tori now worked for Mason, as a songwriter and producer. Royalties from the songs she wrote with Andre were more then she'd probably have made as a moderately successful pop princess.
Tori took another drink of her coffee, and looked back to check on Tyler. The boy was rambunctious for a three year old, toddling all over the place, trying to get into whatever. She'd taken him to soccer just yesterday. 'I wonder, if Jade had been there, would she have been as calm? Or would we be paying off the estate of that poor instructor?' The boy was looking for something. Too late, Tori knew what. He walked up to her, demanding to be picked up, and when she did, he started pointing and demanding to be taken out and play with his sister.
'Three year olds don't play catch.' Tori reminded herself. 'You can throw them stuff, and they kinda stop it, but whatever they throw goes in a random direction, often behind the kid.' But Tyler wasn't going to let his sister have fun, do anything, if he wasn't involved.
Outside, Jade was still going over the basics with Tawney. Squatting down to explain things to the girl, then taking a few steps away and resuming the game. Having already lost the argument with their son, Tori gave in to her own curiosity and walked out to join them.
"Jade, Tyler wants to play." Tori called out.
"Three's too young." Jade called back. "But if he really wants to, then I have a balloon he can play with. You toss it to him, and he'll throw it back. Ish." Jade hedged her words.
"I didn't know you played baseball." Tori asked, walking the boy out. He wanted to walk on his own now, so she put him down. Like many a toddler, he didn't have a regular walking speed. Either he moved so slowly, due to his size, and frequently further hindered by his lack of attention. All kinds of things caught his eye. But if he wanted something, he moved quickly, his tiny legs pumping in an almost run. And run he did, straight to his sister, demanding she give him the ball.
"Want ball." He said. Tawney gave it to him, and he tried to throw it. The ball sailed high and behind him, bouncing on the grass and rolling to a stop some twenty feet away.
"Well, go get it." Jade encouraged him. The boy turned to run, and Tori saw him looking happy, unaware his lack of control was a problem. "I didn't. Play that is." Jade said, turning to look at their daughter, and pulling another ball out of her pocket. "Tawney, keep your eye on the ball, and put the glove in front of it. And if it's heading towards your head, first put the glove in front, them move your face. Never the other way around."
"Useful advice." Tori said, watching Jade toss the ball. The windup was good, but almost mechanical. Tori, a trained actress and singer, recognized something. 'But what?'
"I thought so." Jade said, smiling. Tawney caught the ball, and tried to mimic her mother, throwing the ball somewhere in the general vicinity of Jade's position. "That's good, honey. Why don't we take a break. You take Tyler to the playground, okay? I'll give you half an hour."
"Kay kay, Mama, Mommy." The girl was off, rushing over to where Tyler was playing with the ball. Jade watched her carefully, just in case something went wrong.
"Not sure I trust him with a baseball." Tori commented. Jade was so relaxed.
"It's a tennis ball." Jade said. "They come in white. I found a set that looked kinda like baseballs. Felt they'd help."
"Why baseball?" Tori asked.
"Most boys who never knew their father say, and I know it's cliche, that they wish someone was available to teach them to play catch." Jade said. "I realized I had to do something to be in my children's lives. I mean, I'm in and out so much. I can't guarantee I won't be involved in another film project that has me taking two to three months off again. I needed something to bond with my kids over."
"Baseball?" Tori asked. "I mean, You don't even like baseball."
"But I could learn." Jade said. "I spent time every day I was out at my last shoot playing catch. The star would play with me, and he taught me how to throw, to catch, to hit the ball, everything. I still need a lot of practice on most of it, but the basics, I got those. So I'm teaching Tawney, and in time, Tyler, to play catch. It'll be our thing."
Tori was speechless. "You..." The singer took several steps towards her wife, wrapping the other girl in a tight embrace. Jade was the stronger, and was used to being the one to give the tighter hugs, but Tori was suffocating her. "I had no idea." Jade could hear the tears in her wife's words.
"It's okay." Jade whispered in Tori's ear while rubbing her back. She glanced over to see Tawney trying to show her brother how to throw the ball. A smile ghosted over her face. "I'm not going to let my children grow up without a parent. As long as I'm alive, I'm going to be a part of their lives. You just make sure I know about their appointments, their play and sporting events, and I'll try to be there. I won't always make it, but I swear I'll try."
After a few minutes, Tori released her wife. "So you learned to play catch for our kids?" Tori was smiling now.
"There's a lot more to it then just that." Jade said. "Remember, I do my research. I read, found out how young to start playing. Lots of other good advice as well. I spent a month breaking that glove in. I swear, I thought I was gonna be pounding that glove forever. I had two meetings where I was tossing a ball into that glove. Lucky, I'm at the point where most of my meetings are with people who want to impress me, so they didn't say a word."
"Why break the glove?" Tori asked.
"I keep forgetting, you're a girl." Jade laughed. "Apparently, if you break in the glove, it's easier for them to open and close. I was worried I'd have to keep breaking it in, but I seemed to have gotten it loose enough for her."
"And tennis balls?" Tori asked. "Let me guess, they don't hurt as much."
"That's the idea." Jade said, smiling. "The point is, I know I can be competitive, so I chose something we could do for fun, that I wouldn't want to do otherwise. Again, I know it's cliche, but if I do this with my kids, then we have something."
"One problem." Tori told her wife. "My dad has been waiting forever to play catch with his grandson. You're gonna have competition for that special mother child activity."
Jade laughed. "That's assuming he ever finds out." Then she looked at her wife again, her face getting serious. "The point is for us to enjoy our time. That's why I'm not using it as a punishment, and I'm not forcing her to keep going when she get tired of it. If she wants to play catch with her grandfather, that's cool. It's a family bonding thing."
"And what family bonding thing do I have?" Tori asked. The kids were still playing with the tennis ball, and Tori could see the early stages of frustration on Tawney's face. The girl was so much like Jade, to the point where Tori could see when the girl was getting ready to break. 'Amazing how much of a difference two years can make."
"Tawney, he's too young to throw the ball. Don't expect him to be ready to play catch for a while." Jade called out.
"Why don't you take him to the play set." Tori added. Then she sighed. "I guess I'm the one who enforces discipline."
Jade's laughter rocked the back yard. "What!" Hurt powered Tori's anger.
"Your the one who told Tawny that when I got home, I'd shoot her in the face with a bazooka." Jade said.
"We do not paraphrase Bill Cosby in this household." Tori scolded Jade. "But, point taken."
"Has it ever occurred to you that I'm the one needing something to bond with them?" Jade asked. "Your mommy. You're the first one they call for after a nightmare. You'll be the first one they thank when they win anything. First time either of them are on camera, it'll be 'Hi mom.' You have the home field advantage. Plus, all the girly stuff Tawney's into, like that fairy show. The one with the people who turn into elemental fairies. Windex or something."
"Winx club." Tori said.
"Yea." Jade said. "I don't do girly. Tawney's a girl. Give it time, and she'll be all yours."
"Aww, Jadey bear feeling unwanted?" Tori asked, smirking.
"No, just playing to my strengths." Jade said. "Tori, I love you, and I had this family for you. But if I'm gonna be a parent, I'm gonna be the best parent that there ever was."
"Parenting's not a competition." Tori scolded her wife. By now, they'd drifted to the side yard, where the families copious amounts of cash had allowed them to install a nice playground quality playground.
"Of course it is." Jade said. "I'm in competition with my parents, and you're in competition with yours. The goal is to be better then them, making totally different mistakes."
Tori put her head on jade's shoulder. "So catch?"
"Catch." Jade assured her wife.
"You know, both our families only had two children. Maybe we can do them one better?" Tori said.
Jade took a deep breath. The ball was in her court now.
:}
Just a moment in our girls lives. Thoughts?
