Maturity || Sweet Pea [4]

14

Next to Normal

"Here you go, Betty." I said, handing her another drink. "These are on the house."

"Thank you, Kit." Betty said softly, looking around the table as I took my spot beside Sweet Pea. "Thank you, guys, for rallying."

"Of course." Veronica nodded. "How are you holding up, B?"

"As good as I can be, I guess." Betty shrugged.

"How are the twins doing?" Toni asked.

"They're okay, surprisingly." Betty sighed. "Cheryl volunteered to take them for a few days. They have been asking about their mom, though."

"And I told them that she's somewhere beautiful and close by." Cheryl said. "We hung up a hummingbird feeder in the rose garden, and they wait for their mommy to come visit it."

"That's beautiful, Cheryl." Toni commented.

"How's your mom?" Jughead questioned.

"She's not good, Jug." Betty shook her head. "She won't leave the house. She's listening to this Next to Normal cast album on repeat.

"What's Next to Normal?" Archie asked.

"It's a Broadway musical that she took Polly and I to see one year for Mother's Day in the city."

"What's it about?" Tabitha inquired.

"This family." Betty said with a sigh. "To be honest, watching it, I felt like it could have been about us... The mom, she wants this normal, perfect family, but he's lying to herself. She and her husband don't love each other anymore. She fights with her daughter a lot, and one of her kids is... dead."

"Jeez, Betty." Reggie breathed.

"It's actually a really beautiful show." Betty nodded. "And we had the best day. Just the three of us, walking around New York."

"So your mom is just listening to this album?" Roni questioned.

"Over and over again." Betty shook her head. "I don't even know what she's thinking or feeling."

====

"Poor Betty." I murmured, climbing into bed beside Sweet Pea. "And Alice, too. I can't imagine how they must be feeling."

"Baby, if anyone can relate to them, it's you." Sweet Pea said, pulling me gently into his arms. "We lost our twins, and you had to grieve your twin after he faked his own death."

"It's different, Sweets." I shook my head. "We didn't spend twenty years with our twins. We didn't get to see what their personalities were, we didn't get to see them take their first steps or say their first words. Our twins didn't give us grandchildren before they left us. And Jughead came back, so that doesn't count."

"Okay, I see where you're coming from." Sweet Pea sighed. "But you do relate to them on some level."

"I guess that's fair." I nodded. "What can we do for them?"

"Whatever they ask." Sweet Pea stated. "And we be there when they need support, like they would for you."

"You give good advice when you're tired." I whispered.

"And you're very chatty at bedtime." Sweet Pea murmured, pressing a kiss to my temple. "Go to sleep."

====

"Are you absolutely sure, pumpkin?" My father questioned over my phone's speaker.

"I- I think so." I said, running a hand through my hair.