Chapter 21

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I love this chapter :) so wholesome.


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"Tori hurry up! We're going to leave without you!"

Jasmine picked up the wine she had bought for my mother and began her walk to the running car. I stood in the doorway and held the locked door open for Tori, who was running late.

"No running," I reminded her as she scuttled out the door. Yes, we were running behind, but she still needed to be safe. She grumbled her way to the car and climbed in, talking excitedly with Jasmine.

My phone beeped with a message as I reached for the door handle.

"I've cleared five out of the seven cases. Your custody date is in two weeks. Here's a list of things that need to be done and submitted to the court before then..." I stopped reading and tucked my phone into my back pocket.

Two weeks. I thought it would only be a few days.

With a newfound energy within me, I jumped into my car and drove the hour and a half to meet my mother. I had talked with Pres and Maya last week about taking this trip, and about something else Jasmine didn't know about.

There was an extra bag in the bed of this truck and Jasmine nor Tori had any idea what it was. We were only staying at my mom's for one night, and they thought I had overpacked.

If anything, I'd under-packed, but I couldn't tell them what was in the bag.

"Wait for me to unbuckle you," I reminded Tori from the front seat. She halted her excitement and crossed her arms to pout. Jasmine got out of the car, slowly and nervously, all the while glancing at my mom who stood in the doorway of her home with a smile.

As soon as Tori had clambered out of the car she bolted towards her grandma with a smile and a happy giggle.

"Grandma!" I winced when she yelled and slammed her body into my mom's legs. She didn't need to be hit like that, but Tori always had a hard time containing her excitement.

Tori soon rushed past her into the house to go see her room.

"Mom," I tried to greet with a hug. She pushed past me to pull Jasmine into a hug.

"It's so nice to meet you! Come in, come in...oh, you too, Owen," she said as an afterthought. My eyebrows raised and I trailed in behind them, shutting the door behind me quietly.

"Mommy, come see my room!" Tori yanked Jasmine's hand down the hall. I followed my mom into the kitchen.

"It's nice to see you, too, mom," I muttered underneath my breath.

"It is nice to see you, I was just kidding," she pulled me into a hug. Her head rested against my chest for a second.

"I know. I missed you," I whispered and pulled back from the hug. She patted the Vice President patch on the left side of my chest.

"How's the club?" she asked and walked towards the pantry to get Tori's favorite cookies.

"Good. Mike asked if you could send home some stew," I chuckled.

"I miss him," she murmured. Because Pres' mom wasn't really in the picture, my mom really thought of him as her son.

"Um," I cleared my throat, "I just thought you should know that he's got a fiancé now. They were pregnant."

"Were?" My mom's face turned ashen.

"I'm sorry to spring this on you, but that's why you haven't heard from him. The club's been so busy," I whispered. She patted my cheek and pulled me to the couch.

"Anything else going on?" She asked and sat next to me. I must have been showing my hesitation on my face.

"Martha broke Tori's arm. She was arrested, and she's trying her hardest to keep Tori out of my custody," I said as gently as I could. My mother gasped and held a shaky hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "That poor child. Oh, Tori." My mom became teary and I rushed to calm her down before Tori and Jasmine came back down the stairs.

"What do you think of Jasmine so far?" I asked her to keep her mind off of Martha. She smiled and wiped her eyes.

"We'll be talking about that more later," she scoffed and pointed at me, "but I really like her so far. She's just like you described her."

"I'm in love with her, mom, and I'm going to ask her to be my old lady tonight," I whispered. Her eyes widened.

My mom didn't know too much about the club, and refused to be a member of it, but she knew what that meant.

"Wow. It's serious," she responded. I nodded.

"I was hoping for your blessing before I did." I twiddled my fingers while my mom thought about it.

"Take Tori out to go on a walk. I want to talk to her," my mom said.

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't sure," she laughed. "We'll see you guys in a bit." I walked down the hall and into Tori's room where she was bouncing on the bed.

"Hey," I said quietly. Tori's eyes widened and she flopped back on the bed, knowing she wasn't supposed to be doing that. Jasmine winked at me.

"I'm going to take Tori out for a walk. My mom wants to talk to you," I whispered. Jasmine's eyes widened.

"No, don't leave me here alone," she whispered loudly. I smiled.

"It will be perfectly fine. We will be back for dinner," I kissed her on the lips and pulled Tori to the front door.

"Bye, mommy!" Tori waved and Jasmine waved back.

JASMINE'S POV

The door shutting behind Owen felt like it was trapping me inside the house.

"Jasmine?" His mother, Nadine, shouted from the living room. I slowly left Tori's room and met her in between the kitchen and living room.

"Come here for a second," she led me into the kitchen. "Take this; don't give it to anyone but Tori, or any other children you guys decide to have." Nadine stretched out her hand to reveal a piece of paper.

"Dina's Stew," I said aloud. She smiled at me.

"It's everyone's—especially Owen's and Mike's—favorite stew," she muttered. "I feared Owen would never find someone for me to give it to."

"Does this mean..." I trailed off. My hand clenched the piece of paper tightly.

"I just wanted to mess with him. The way you treat Tori, the way she's already calling you "mom" means you're taking great care of her," Nadine looked teary.

"I'm honored," I murmured. Nadine pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the cheek.

"Welcome to the family."


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Yes, welcome to the family!!

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