Patience

15

December 23, 2019

The bed at Stevie's house was heavenly and if she could move in with her mother, well she probably would. But she's not even going to broach that topic. She had found herself cuddling the penguin stuffed animal tightly as a form of comfort it was weird being a 26-year-old woman sleeping with a stuffed animal but she didn't care. She had been sleeping with the door open a crack. Stevie does the same thing and Lily tends to float between the two of them and currently, Lily is curled up against her hip and the dog and the human are woken up at the same time by a loud laugh. Lily immediately starts shaking and Tori takes her into her arms. 

"What's the matter, girl?" Tori inquires kissing the dogs little head.

"Tori is...oh thank God," Stevie sighs popping her head into her daughter's room.

"Yes Lily is with me, what's going on?" She questions.

"That's Roman. Roman is aggressive with animals. Beyonce, Jessie's dog can tolerate him. Lily cannot. She's petrified of the little guy and I love him dearly but Jessie needs to...discipline him better, Her way of telling him to stop messing with the animals is simply gentle Roman gentle." Stevie explains taking the dog into her arms.

"Alright, well I need coffee." Tori rolls out of the bed. 

"I still absolutely love those pajamas." Stevie tugs on the hem of the cactus top. 

"Yeah, they're nice." Tori nods. 

***

Walking down the hall they come to a wide-open bedroom door and when Jessie sees her she immediately bounds over and wraps her arms around her.

"Hey, Aunt Stevie are you coming today?" Jessie asks.

"I always come." Stevie nods.

"Where?" Tori asks.

"To Kohls to picks out this year's family Pajamas," Stevie informs her.

"Wait you guys do family pajamas. I cannot believe it." Tori shakes her head. 

"Well believe it. Cause you're getting a pair too." Jessie grins. 

"Oh, I can't afford Kohl's most of my clothes come from Walmart." She shakes her head. 

"I pay for all of them," Stevie tells her.

"I can't ask you to do that. I'm fine really, I have a pair of Christmas Pajamas with me they're black and fuzzy with hedgehogs on them wearing red and green hats. I've had them since I was sixteen and I wear them every Christmas it's fine." Tori shakes her head.

"No, you're getting a pair that's final." Stevie tugs lightly on her ponytailed waves. 

"I'll pay you back when I get a chance," Tori tells her. 

"TORI PAIGE STOP IT! I'm your mother, let me buy you a pair of festive pajamas and deal with it." Stevie bellows in a voice that even causes Jessie to snap towards her. 

"Holy shit." Tori chuckles lightly.

"What?" Stevie asks.

"You just used the mom voice," Jessie explains. 

"The what?" Stevie wrinkles her eyes. 

"The mom voice," Jessie repeats. 

"Well, I mean I guess I am a mom come on, I know you want some coffee." Stevie steers her towards the staircase. 

***

Walking through Kohls with a toddler was interesting. Jessie was pushing him in the stroller and he was grabbing at everything. They were walking down the aisles when all of a sudden Tori stopped at a lace flowy tank top in a rusty red color. Stevie stopped and watched her daughter as she picked it up felt the fabric. Stevie's heart broke a little bit when the young girl flipped the tag and then put it back down. Stevie laid her hand on her back and picked it up again. She also flipped the price tag.

"25 dollars isn't that bad," Stevie tells her. 

"No, but I can't afford it." She shakes her head.

"Well, I can afford it." Stevie sighs.

"Like I told you earlier I can't let you do that." Tori goes to walk away. 

"You don't have to let me. I'm going to do it. And anything else you pick up while you're in this store." Stevie warns her.

"I'll pay you back." Tori looks down at her feet.

"Tori, I know that you have a lot going on in your head right now. I know you're scared to find out if  I'm your mother or not. But trust me kiddo. You're my daughter I know it in my heart and in my bones. Now, I've missed 26 Christmas' with you. That is 26 years of not getting to play Santa, of not getting to watch you open up your Christmas gifts and seeing the joy on your little face. I missed getting to watch your dad fumble with some stupid instructions to set up toys. I missed going Christmas shopping with your dad and hiding all of the gifts that we got you. I know you're an adult but please for me will you do this, Will you go throughout this store pick out some things that you really absolutely want and then I'll wrap them all up and stick them under the tree on Christmas Eve. Please baby girl, please." Stevie begs. 

All in all, Tori handed her mother a black duster with dusty pink roses on it, A black short sleeve tie top with lattice sleeves, a black racerback tank top with a lotus flower and a crescent moon on it, a black sleeveless dress with lace on the straps, a light blue handkerchief skirt with pink flowers on it, a black long sleeve bodycon dress, and a couple of candles. Stevie wanted to buy her so much more but that's what Tori picked out and she was happy to buy them for her. 

They eventually found the rest of the family and Roman, though he really didn't like Tori was happy to see Stevie none the less. 

"Aunt TeeTee." 

"Yes hi, munchkin." Stevie smiles and takes him into her arms when he holds his out. 

"What is all of this?" Lori thumbs through the clothing that Stevie dumped on the tiny cart before taking Roman into her arms. 

"I'm buying Tori some clothes as a Christmas gift," Stevie explains. 

"They're super cute." Lori grins.

"Thanks. My friend Trudy from Foster Care used to say I had a boho seventies vibe to me." She shrugs.

"Well, you definitely do."  Stevie leans over with Roman still in her arms and gently kisses Tori's head.