"dad!" elmo says excitedly as he hops up from the sofa.
"dad?"
i stand up as elmo runs down the hall, me following.
"dad omg!" i say.
this was the first time i've seen him home since mom died!
"hi my precious babies!"
my parents loved calling us 'babies', even though we're literally 17 and 18.
"what are you doing home?" elmo asks as we walk into the living room.
jaden's pov
joshua looks towards me as i shake my head, signalling him not to say anything about me going to see him last night.
"well, i felt like i needed a break and decided that i should be here so we can support each other during this hard time! especially since the funeral is this saturday"
"wow. how long are you staying?" mars asks.
"maybe a week or two"
elmo and mars pull their dad into a hug.
"how are you two?" he asks them.
"really good!" elmo replies.
"and how are all you's?" their dad asks all of us as we reply with a series of 'good's and 'great's.
he walks off and down the hall as mars sits back beside me.
"i can't believe he's here!"
"yo me neither, that's so good though!"
mars cheerfully wraps her arms around me as i grin. i look over at elmo who couldn't sit still from how excited he was. they both have been the happiest i've seen in a long time and it's amazing. it for real made my heart warm.
we were all planning to go get pizza but mars and elmo decided to stay back to catch up with their dad.
"do you want me to bring you takeaway?" noen asks
"i'm good" elmo says.
"and you?" andre asks.
"yes please"
"we'll bring back a cheese pizza then" i say.
"my favourite" she says with a grin as i smile.
of course i remembered her favourite.
"stay the night?" she asks.
"no" elmo says quickly as everyone laughs.
"are yous gonna fuck or what?"
"shut up elmo, of course not" mars exclaims.
"yeah obviously not since your room's right next to hers"
"so what you're saying is that if i'm not there you would?"
"bruh you really love putting words in people's mouths" she says.
"yeah but not this time coz it's fax" i say as i send a wink to mars as everyone laughs.
"nice one jaden" elmo says pointing to something behind me.
i turn around and see their dad.
"uh. who's ready for pizza?" i say as everyone laughs once again.
they all start piling out the front door. i wave goodbye to mars and flip elmo off as i follow.
mars' pov
once they all left it was somewhat awkward.
my dad's never usually home at this time but when he was on sundays, he was with my mom. if i'm being honest, i don't know too much about my parents.
their masterclasses only started blowing up when elmo was 12 and i was 11, which was when they started staying home less and less and less. once elmo was 16 and i had just turned 15, they thought we were old enough to look after each other for six days a week.
now that my dad's gonna be back for more than just one day, things are gonna seem different around here.
an extra car in the garage, more dishes to do, less leftovers, less alone time. it was something i wanted to get used to.
•
"what! why?" elmo exclaims.
never mind.
my dad was only gonna let our friends come over once a week, including jaden and hannah! in normal families this would seem okay but in ours it was terrible! elmo and i have been alone for years now and we hated it! our friends kept us company and my father now wants to take that away from us!
"i wanna spend more time with you's and get to know you's!"
"you only wanna start doing that when mom dies?" i exclaim.
"mars, you know i've always wanted to i've just been busy!"
"what, you only decided to take a break now because she's dead yeah?" elmo says as my dad clenches his jaw.
"well, yeah"
"you hesitated. why?"
"well if i'm being honest, i didn't know that i was gonna be taking a break until jaden decided to come to my work and tell me that you's needed me!"
my jaw dropped.
"wait, what?" i ask.
"yeah! i was busy but he told me that it was important and thought that we should go through the loss of your mother together!"
"so you never wanted to come back? you only did because jaden told you to?" elmo says.
"like i said, i've always wanted to but-"
"who wants pizza?"
we all turn around and see jaden holding the box out.
"how'd you get inside?" my dad asks.
"we let him keep mom's old keys since you never bothered asking what to do with them" elmo says as i nod.
i turn back to my dad, shake my head and walk past him and upstairs, elmo following, which made jaden follow too.
"you didn't have to do that" i say as we all stand in my room.
"do what?" he asks.
"talk to my dad"
"i know it wasn't my place but i just saw how down you guys were and thought that going through this with your dad would make things easier but if it made things worse, i'm sorry"
"nah man it's okay. it was crazy of us to actually think he'd genuinely wanna come back for us" elmo says patting his shoulder as jaden frowns.
"yeah. i can't believe he only came here because you told him to"
elmo leaves the room as jaden sits beside me.
"again, i'm sorry if i caused any trouble"
"no no you didn't! thank you for trying to make us feel better"
"it's fine, i'd do anything for you guys since i love you's"
"we love you too, jaden"
i place a kiss on his lips.
"first my dad didn't wanna even come on his own and now he wants me to only hang with you guys once a week"
"wait what?"
"yep. yous can only come over once a week, including you and hannah"
"you can come to mine though yeah?"
"i'm not sure actually but i'm not gonna mention it just in case he says no"
"bet bet"
he hands the pizza box to me as i grin.
"eat up"
"wait, let me put money heist on!"
"you haven't seen it yet?"
"not all of it"
"it's so fire. what are you up to?"
"where the..." (not spoiling🤪).
•
"you're still coming?" i ask as jaden quickly nods.
"of course! my parents would be attending too if you don't mind"
"of course not, my mother loved them"
he places a soft kiss on my lips and walks away and into his car.
as he pulls out of the driveway, he blows a kiss goodbye.
i walk back inside and close the door, to see my dad standing at the end of the hall.
i shake my head and fast walk past him as he grabs my hand.
"listen, i know elmo won't listen to me but surely you would!"
"why should i? you only came here because jaden told you to"
"but i wanna be here for you marcia!"
"marcia?" (pronounced marsha)
"oops"
"what do you mean 'oops'?"
"well. let me explain my side of this and then i'll tell you"
smart.
no wonder where i got my negotiation skills from. elmo clearly didn't get any of them considering he put his own relationship on the line!
"fine"
he explains that he's always been hosting the masterclasses because of my mom and because he wanted to pursue what he loved.
"then why couldn't you just come home after your shifts?"
"you and elmo would be asleep"
"okay. right. then what about when mom died? what did you wanna do then?"
"well, i didn't know. part of me wanted to come stay home forever while another part of me wanted to continue doing the masterclasses at the kitchen for your mother"
"oh. and jaden convinced you to come back?" i ask as he nods.
"once i heard about you and elmo, i knew i had to come back"
"oh"
thank you jaden.
"now about your name"
"mars?"
"no. well, yes. mars is the nickname your mother gave you"
"so you're telling me my name hasn't been mars my entire life!"
"kind of. once you went to elementary school she felt like you suited mars much more"
"so i just went by that my whole life?"
"if you put it that way, yes"
"what other way can i think of this"
"uh i don't know"
•
"hi. i'm marcia o'dwyer, the daughter of my beautiful mother"
i look around at all the shocked and confused faces, even jaden's.
"i know you all seem confused with why i'm referring to myself as marcia but it turns out that it's my real name. who knew that this whole time i had a name that was semi-normal?" i say as i hear a few chuckles.
"my mother preferred the name mars because she believed that i was too good for this world. in reality, i believe she was the one that was too good. she was always kind, caring, happy and supportive. she was always there for elmo and i no matter what we did or whether it was stupid or not. she was always very happy and supportive when it came to everything! what i loved the most about her was her persistence. no matter what happened to her, she would continue to do what she loved. she didn't care what anyone else thought of her and only did what made her happy. i miss my mother more and more each day goes by. i love her with my whole heart and hope that she's watching down on all of us right now"
i look towards jaden as tears filled my eyes.
he points to himself as i quickly nod.
"thank you" i say as i leave the podium, jaden walking up.
"hi. i'm jaden, mars, well marcia's boyfriend!" he says, a few chuckles again.
"i wasn't the absolute closest with mars' mother but that's what made me appreciate her the most. i still remember the first time i had a sunday dinner at the o'dwyer's with my friends. she had made a whole seperate meal just for me and i know vegans always say this but yes, i'm vegan!" he says as a few people laugh, including me.
"she was very kind and welcoming when she found out that mars and i were together and cared a lot about me. she really treated me like i was her own son and it's crazy that a beautiful person like her has left this world so soon. my favourite thing about her was that she was the best mother to my girlfriend and best friend and i'm glad i have the honour to spend everyday with them. she's worked so hard her whole life, i'm glad she can finally rest in a better place now"
i started to sob quietly as jaden passed the mic on and came down to hug me.
"thank you so much"
"no, thank you for letting me speak. it was an honour"
i pull jaden into a hug as tears filled my eyes again.
jaden held me in his arms as we listened to everyone else's speeches about my mom.
•
"my parents are home though"
"that's fine, we don't have to do anything! i wanna fall asleep next to you, just for tonight!" i exclaim as tears fell down my cheeks.
jaden tilted his head back and laughed, pulling me in for a hug.
"of course you can sleep with me tonight, you don't even have to ask!"
"thank you" i mumble into his chest as i wrap my arms around him.
"no, actually thank you"
"what for?"
he pulls away from our hug and places his hands on my shoulders.
"for being the strongest girl i know. it hurt my heart to think about your mom but knowing that you've accepted it makes me so happy"
"my mother really loved you"
"and i didn't realise that until she passed"
this time, i pull jaden into a hug.
he kisses my cheek and rests his head on top of mine as we stand in the doorway of my home.
"hi jaden" elmo says from the end of the hall as the both of us pull away.
"hi brother"
"i'll go get my stuff" i say as jaden nods.
jaden's pov
"how are you?" i ask as he shrugs.
"okay. kinda relieved actually, like the reception made me realise how much of an amazing person my mother was and i'm just happy that she lived long enough for everyone to see that"
i know he wasn't talking about the reception. he was talking about the funeral but he hated that word. who wouldn't? all it did was bring bad vibes.
"yeah, she was an amazing person"
"you are too, j-dog. i don't know if i ever properly thanked you but thank you for caring so much about marcia and i. it means a lot to us"
"of course. you guys are family to me"
it took me a second to remember that mars' real name was marcia. marcia. cute.
"you ready for our first game next week?" i ask, to lighten the mood.
"as ready as i could ever be"
"good. we gotta do really well this year since we're playing the team that nearly won finals last year"
"yeah word but we'll be fine since we were the ones that beat them. holy i can't wait to see hannah cheer for me"
"anthony's girl?!"
"fuck no, my hannah!"
"since when was she a cheerleader?"
"well, she isn't one yet but the whole little girl squad is signing up, even mars"
mars as a cheerleader? that would be so fucking hot. the thought of her cheering for me in that little outfit turns me on.
i turned to my side see her walking downstairs and down the hall with a smile plastered on her face. another thing her mother and i had in common was that we both agreed she was too good for this world.
mars' pov
"ready to go?" he asks as i nod.
he takes my hand and we say bye to elmo as we walk out of the house and get into the car.
•
"you did so good today" jaden says as i nod.
"i'm really proud of you"
"coming from you, that really means a lot. thank you"
"its okay"
he slowly glides the back of his hand across my cheek.
"you're out of this world marcia"
"i was gonna say that you always say that but i think this was the first time"
"it's still very true though" he says as i grin.