by T J Vertigo
"Ms. Ashford? Are you involved with Ms. Corbett romantically?"
"*Bleep* you, you *bleep*hole!"
My daughter, the truck driver. Jesus, Faith!
"Have you any idea of her criminal past?"
Criminal?
Reece turned to the reporter with a venomous glare, then the image of her face was replaced by one of the sidewalk. When the camera righted itself, the two strange girls were wiggling their tongues at the camera while just sliding into the car.
"Freaks, the whole lot of them," he muttered, shutting off the TV.
"Funny you should say that, dear," Mrs. Ashford chuckled, ushering the girls into the room.
"What the hell is that?" Quinn pointed at Cori with disbelief.
"Cori and Violet. They're Faith's very good friends. They'll be having Christmas dinner with us tonight."
"Like hell they are! FAITH! Get down here this instant!" he yelled, deliberately knocking into Violet on his way to the stairs.
* * *
"Son of a bitch!" Faith jumped off the bed, slamming Reece's head into the headboard.
"OW! Oof." the club owner fell onto the pillow, blinked away the stars and turned over.
"Why is it when ever that man is in my house, I come up injured?" she rubbed the sore spot on her forehead, pulled down her shirt and ran out after Faith.
* * *
"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Faith asked her father.
"That's what's wrong with me," he hollered, pointing at Cori. "I will not eat Christmas dinner with that."
"Cori," the dancer provided.
"Shhh," Marsha patted Cori on the shoulder.
"You know, I could say something profound about how one shouldn't 'judge a book' and all that rot, but in your case, Dad, it'll just get lost between your ears. I don't know why I thought you could be civilized long enough to have dinner. I can't believe you're my father."
"You watch your mouth, little girl!" he pointed his finger at Faith.
"Honestly, Quinn, she's hardly a little girl and I think you're the one who should watch your mouth. This isn't your castle, have some respect. If not for Cori then for Theresa's home."
Reece took her place at Marsha's side and folded her arms.
"Respect?!" he waved his finger at Reece.
The club owner widened her stance, her upper lip curling.
"Her!? A common criminal? Why, she's nothing but a worthless thug..."
Faith covered her father's mouth with one hand and put the other on Reece's chest to hold her back. The feel of Reece's heart hammering wildly against her hand frightened her.
Quinn grabbed his daughter's hand and yanked it away.
"I am still your father, Faith! How dare you..." he held her hand up in the air and, to the dismay of everyone in the room, Faith grimaced in pain.
Reece reached around her lover and covered Quinn's face with her hand and squeezed. Her teeth ground together audibly.
"Reece, no!" Faith cried.
"Don't... you... ever... touch... her... again," she spoke slowly in a very deep voice. "Ever. Do you hear me?"
Marsha gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Cori and Violet froze. It appeared to the piercer that Reece actually became larger. Violet had only heard about the Reece of the past and the stories were scary enough. Witnessing what she feared was The Animal was downright chilling. This wasn't her friend.
Reece squeezed harder, the man started bending at the waist.
"REECE! PLEASE!" Faith yelled in a panic, holding on to Reece's shirt.
"Apologize, worm," the tall woman let go of his face as she shoved him backwards and balled her fists at her sides.
"Faith, let go of me," the tall woman growled.
"No. You're scaring me. Please calm down, please! I'll make him leave, I promise!" she begged.
Reece stood there, leaning against Faith's hand, her chest heaving erratically into her palm.
Faith stared into Reece's narrowed eyes, she noticed her jaw clenching spasmodically, her nostrils flaring. God, she is just like an animal.
Reece was fuming and Faith had never actually felt her lover's body this tense with anger. The actress hadn't ever been in body contact with Reece when she'd lost control; the energy pouring into her body through her hand was intense. She let go of her shirt and started rubbing her hand in small circles on Reece's chest, not really knowing what to do.
"Quinn, come in here this instant!" Marsha was petrified for her husband.
Quinn stood there shocked. That woman was stronger than any man he had ever met. With just her hand, she had sent him sprawling on his ass. And Faith is holding her back. He shivered with the thought of his little girl on the receiving end of such strength and again at the thought of his daughter denying her anything. Oh god! His mind filled with images of the maniacal club owner controlling his daughter, abusing her, taking what she wanted forcefully and he became furious again.
Seeing her father open his mouth, Faith turned her head towards him and warned, "Don't you even think about it. If I was so inclined, I could have just let her at you and maybe you would have learned your lesson. However, I'm not so inclined and I really don't want to clean up the blood on Christmas Eve." Faith's calm tone was the best acting job she'd done yet.
Reece's body started to become more pliant and her heart had slowed down some, but Faith knew that she was still enraged. The actress felt trapped. She looked at her mother who nodded worriedly, tiling her head in the direction of her soothing motions.
"Baby, it's okay, I'm going to take care of it and then we're going to eat. Please trust me," she glanced at Cori who was just as scared as she was. Faith tried to convey confidence to her friend. She was going to let go of Reece and send her off with Cori. "Mother, take Reece into the kitchen. Cori and Violet, you go and see to it that they stay there. I have something to discuss with my father."
Reece stepped forward naturally when Faith let go of her and Quinn flinched. The club owner sneered at him.
"C'mon, Bosslady, let's go play with the turkey," she tugged on Reece's rigid arm and managed to pull her away.
Faith shoved her hand into her hair so hard she practically threw herself backwards. "I want you out of here. Do you hear me? Never, ever step foot into this house again. I'm ashamed of you," the actress said through her tears.
"Faith, how can you let that monster..."
"Monster? You're calling her a monster? God, Daddy, did you ever listen to yourself? Did you ever think before you spoke? How does Mom even stand to breathe the same air as you?"
"I'm scared for you. Baby, listen to me..."
"Baby?" she laughed. "No, you listen to me. Like it or not, Reece is my lover, my heart and soul. She loves me, she holds me and she makes me feel whole. I'm incredibly happy with her. If she's only gone for an hour, I miss her terribly. Speaking her name makes me smile. I feel like a thousand little sparks run through my body every time she touches me. Most of all she respects me. She'd never hurt me knowingly and she'd never ever raise her hand to me in anger. Simply looking at her sometimes makes me giddy. Reece is my whole world and that's perfectly fine with me. Most fathers would do anything to have that for their little girl. You... you just insult her, hurt me and disrespect me in our home. How dare you? I want you to go away and don't ever come back. I'd give you an ultimatum like, 'When you think you can accept Reece,' but since I don't see that happening any time soon, just go."
Quinn sat heavily on the couch. He leaned his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands. He began to cry.
"I'm so sorry, Faith, please don't make me go," he sobbed.
Faith looked at her father and felt a twinge of guilt. "This is my house, you're not welcome here anymore."
The actress broke down. It was harder than she thought to say what she did. It hurt her to tell him that she didn't want to see him any more and her father was crying for the first time in her life.
"I'm so sorry..." he blubbered.
She was hurt, guilty, confused and needed to feel her lover's strong comforting arms around her right that second. Which is exactly what she felt when she turned to leave the room. "Oh, Reece," she sobbed into the tall woman's chest.
"Shhh, it's okay, Faith, it's all going to be okay," Reece cooed and scooped her lover up into her arms. The tall woman stared at the broken man for a moment before glancing over towards the kitchen where three worried faces eagerly awaited the outcome. Reece nodded at them and kissed her lover's head. "I got ya, baby," she whispered into the red hair as Faith burrowed deeper into her chest.
* * *
The tall woman laid Faith down on the bed and held her until she cried herself to sleep. She wondered as she gazed at her lover, what it must feel like to have a father, and to have him turn on her like Faith's did. God, that must suck. Reece thought about how it must hurt Faith; what it must feel like to be torn between your lover and your parent. She couldn't get a good grip on the emotion, but if it made Faith this upset, it must be horrible. Who is he to come in here and make her feel this way? He's her father! He should be holding her hand, making her laugh, embarrassing her by singing off-key. This is no way to treat a child.
Faith turned over into her usual fetal position and Reece knew she was out for the count. She kissed her lips and closed the door behind her. Coming down the stairs, she heard Marsha begging Quinn to stay for dinner.
"My daughter doesn't want me here Marsh, she hates me. I really made a mess, didn't I?" he sighed heavily. "My daughter hates me."
"See, here's the good thing in all this, sir, I don't think Faith can hate anybody. Even you."
Quinn looked up to see Reece halfway down the stairs, leaning over the banister.
"Your daughter cried herself to sleep just now and I couldn't do anything about it. That just makes me feel bad. She was crying over you. That sickens me," she said as she came down the stairs.
Quinn backed up as she got closer. Reece stopped moving and lifted her hands.
Cori shot her a pleading look.
"Its alright, Cori, I'm not going to hurt him. Faith did that better than I could. I think he's learned not to fuck with me... or Faith, for that matter. Haven't you, sir?"
Quinn backed up another step; Reece cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. When the man didn't answer, she sat down on the coffee table a good distance away. "Take off your coat, Mr. Ashford, you're staying for dinner."
Violet came out of the kitchen with that comment.
"You want me to stay?" he asked dazed.
"Shit no, I can't stand to look at you and I know the feeling's mutual," she chuckled, "but Faith does."
"She doesn't want to look at me either," he hung his head down. Marsha came over and hugged him.
"Sir, you have a terrific wife and a fantastic daughter. How you turned out to be such a flaming asshole, I'll never know. But," she sighed deeply. "Faith loves you, god only knows why, so I have to play Suzy fucking homemaker."
Quinn looked to his wife as if to say, 'Does she always talk like that?' Marsha just shrugged.
Reece bowed her head and blew out a breath, ruffling her hair. She didn't want to do this, but for Faith, she'd walk through Hell and back. Leaning forward on her elbows she continued, "Faith doesn't want you to leave as much as I don't want you to stay. So, you have options here. You either go upstairs and apologize, tell her how much you love her and make this a great Christmas for everyone -- and personally, I really hated Christmas until Faith walked into my life -- or you can leave and probably never see her again."
Quinn's lip quivered.
"Of course, that would break her heart, in turn make my life a little more difficult, in which case you'd be at the very top of my shit list," Reece couldn't hide the smirk as the man grimaced.
"Thank you," Marsha cried.
"Go on, the choice is yours, but I suggest you go up and be Faith's father. I would have given anything to know what that's like, sir." Reece got up and started to walk into the kitchen. She felt very sad -- for Faith and her father. How can you make a miracle, produce a life and be so careless with it?
"Reece?"
The tall woman started at her name coming out of his mouth. She turned to see his hand outstretched. "Don't patronize me sir. You can hate me, I don't care," Reece sneered.
"Reece, please. I mean it," Mr. Ashford held his shaking hand out and tried again. "What you said about not having a father..."
"Is none of your concern. Go up and make sure Faith knows hers still loves her no matter what. That's what fathers do, isn't it?"
Quinn wouldn't take no for an answer. He clasped Reece's forearm and turned her around. "Okay, so I'm an asshole."
Reece snorted and looked at his hand.
A flaming asshole."
Reece exhaled a laugh through her nose.
"I was afraid for Faith. All I heard were stories about you... I saw you arrested, lose your cool plenty of times; I was scared. You have to admit, you're pretty intimidating when you want to be." Reece nodded so he continued, "Then I saw what happened today..." he sighed heavily, "I'm ashamed to admit that I was worried about what others may say about Faith; how it would make me look."
"Fuck 'em," Reece shrugged.
"Have you seen some of those people? Not with someone else's..."
"Quinn!"
"Well, you get the point," he grinned. "I was afraid that you were hurting her, I mean the way you hurt me didn't convince me that... Anyway, then Faith told me how much you mean to her, how incredibly happy she is... and she's right you know, every father wants his little girl to be that happy for the rest of her life. I shouldn't care that you're a woman or what other people think."
"She said she's happy? How happy did she say she was? She told you I make her that happy?" Reece blurted out.
"You're such an asshole, Reece," Cori laughed.
"Food's almost ready, everyone," Violet announced.
Reece shook Mr. Ashford's hand loose. "Well, time to make merry," she turned to go upstairs.
"Reece? I thought I was going to go up?" Quinn asked hopefully.
"I think she'd love that," Reece smiled and took his hand this time.
"Thank you so much for the chance, Reece."
"Don't fuck it up. I still don't like you very much."
Reece shook his hand a bit longer before going to the couch. A hundred emotions swirled around in her head, making it throb. She leaned back and covered her eyes with her arm.
"Shit I hope I did the right thing."
Someone sat down very close and suddenly Reece was enveloped in a warm soft embrace.
"Hey!" she jumped up uncomfortably.
"Oh stop being so butch and let a mother hug you for once."
"Fine," she said tensely although she had to admit, it felt really good. She relaxed into her lover's mother's arms and sighed contentedly. It felt safe.
"You did really well, Theresa. I'm so proud of you."
To her utter embarrassment, tears sprang to Reece's eyes.
"Shhh, it's alright. Just you let me hold you." Mrs. Ashford had a feeling that the fearless strong woman needed to cry. These last few days had been an emotional roller coaster. She had often wondered about this woman, what made her the way she is? It was apparent that she was hurt, troubled, but she was curious to know why. Cori barely contained her laughter when the older woman asked her if the club owner ever really cried or if she ever talked about her mother. The dancer briefly explained to Faith's mom the hell that was her friend's childhood and this made the older woman weep herself.
Marsha was determined to let the dark woman know she had someplace to go if she just needed to be held. Everyone deserved that much out of life... to be hugged, noncommittally, no questions asked. What a shame, she thought, that Theresa never knew a mother's unconditional love. She never knew what it felt like to have someone tell her she was special, or important, looked at her through a mother's eyes.
The older woman felt her daughter
's lover clasp her tightly and try to pull away. Knowing that the usually controlled woman was probably mortified by her actions, she had to reassure her. Marsha pulled back and held Reece's face in her hands. She tried to convey as much understanding with her eyes as she could. She wiped the tears away with her thumbs. "You're such a beautiful girl Theresa. I'm so sorry you never had a mother's love." Mrs. Ashford pushed long black strands behind Reece's ears gently. "It's a terrible shame," she leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"Stop it, Mrs. A., I don't deser... need this, alright?" Reece was terribly ashamed to be crying like this.
"No, you stop it. You're worthy of a little TLC too, you know. No one's too big to need a mommy."
"Jesus!" Reece breathed as her tears renewed themselves. She allowed the older woman to hold her, rock her. She felt like a baby, and for once, it was okay with her. She rubbed her face into the older woman's shoulder, finding her humming reassuring.
"Why don't you think you're deserving of love, sweetheart? How did you get this way? Who hurt you so badly? Hmm?"
"No one. Everyone."
The older woman cradled the tall club owner as she wept. "You're only human, Theresa, and human's need to feel safe; they crave contact. When it's denied too long, they become wild. Is that what happened to you?"
"Yes," Reece shook her head.
"Well, I'll tell you something, never be ashamed to be human."
Reece nodded.
"Faith makes you feel safe, doesn't she?" Mrs. Ashford peered down at the contradiction in her arms. All power and strength, yet she's as frail as a butterfly.
Another nod followed by a loud sniff.
"Well, we'll keep this our little secret, won't we? No one has to know anything, okay?"
"Okay," Reece sniffled, feeling much better that she did a minute ago.
"Faith is going to come down those stairs and faint dead away when she sees this," Violet whispered to her lover.
