Later that day... (It's around the middle of the day)
Betty Pov:
I wasn't at all surprised to find Veronica at my front door, her expression rather grumpy and lacking patience. Her eyes met mine for a moment, and I watched the emotions in them swirl in confusion as she strained to appoint sympathy or frustration into them.
After a moment, she simply huffed, gesturing politely if she may be allowed in. I complied, allowing my hand to silently lead the way inside. Once again, without a word or any sort of verbal exchange, she bolted up the stairs. Moments later, she dragged an over-packed suitcase noisily down the stairs, Lola running after her and Trinity trailing timidly behind.
Veronica shot out the door with the luggage, slamming the door behind her.
"What on earth?", I heard Cheryl muttered to Toni in the kitchen. "Did Veronica Lodge just pack a suitcase and leave without saying a word?".
"Yeah, I thought that was kinda weird as well...", Toni added. "Then again, it's been a wild twenty four hours.".
I hadn't even noticed Veronica come back through the door, scared as if I would jump out of my skin when I felt a pair of arms hug me from behind. Her smooth hands, well-kept fingernails, and perfume hinted that it had been her, though I'm not sure who else it would've been. I turned around within her grasp, throwing my arms around her as she pushed my face caringly onto her shoulder, rubbing circles onto my back as she compelled me to cry.
"It's going to be okay, B.", she assured with her sing-songish voice. "We're here for you.".
With that and a delicate wiping of my cheeks, she slipped back out of the house, her car speeding off back to wherever she was off to with what I presumed to be Jug's things.
So Jug's with Archie and Veronica. Why am I not surprised?
~~
"Come on, Trinity! I'm hungry, do you want to go eat?".
"I'm always hungry!". She really was her father's daughter.
Giggles.
Despite the chaos that had transpired, I was pleased to see that Trinity and Lola had been getting along as if they'd known each other much longer than only one full day. They came skipping down the stairs, merrily with linked arms and laughter flooding the air, halting once they witnessed my puffy, tomato-red face with Toni and Cheryl's hands on my shoulders and arms.
"Is everything okay, Mommy?", Lola asked concernedly, arms outstretched as she skipped over to the couch to hug me. My hands found the small of her back, pulling her closer, one departing to extend to Trinity, who had also come over to offer comfort and solace. "Mom's still sad about J-Dad running out.", she explained.
Lola's face lifted from the top of my head, her hands cupping my cheeks. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sure Daddy will come back. He loves you a lot.".
"He deserves better.", I stated harshly, biting back my tongue as the words stung my chest. "H-He deserves better.".
Everyone began to shift uncomfortably as they searched for an adequate response.
Trinity, my smart little bean, was the first to speak up.
"No. No, Mom, that's not true. You made a mistake. Yes... It was a big mistake, but he wouldn't have been as upset as he was if he didn't love you.", she said, nodding as she did so, as if to validate her opinion.
"He doesn't realize it yet, but he needs you. I'm sure you made him very happy, Mom. So...", she continued, hesitantly placing herself onto my lap and pulling Lola up onto it as well. "... Give D-Dad some time. I'm sure it'll all be alright soon. And if not, you have us, remember?".
Considering she had known nothing but foster homes in her short existence, she knew an awful lot about love. Was my love for Jug so apparent that a 5 year old could learn and observe it? Was his love for me the same? Was she able to obtain and process that message from him during the short time they had been in the same room?
Her sharp, kind response brought a smile to my face.
"Thank you, baby. Thank you both. And thank you, Cheryl and Toni. I don't know what I would do without you guys. Let's hope this all can end sooner rather than later, or never at all.".
Filler part :)
Can we admire how strong Trinity is for calling Jughead her dad when she hardly knows him and is scared of him?
