maybe a little angsty hehe, but cassie's ex-husband finding out about javadi spending time with harrison when cassie isn't there?
this was lowkey really difficult to write which is why it took so long. I'm sorry if its not quite what you wanted bc i focused a little more on the cassie/vic/harrison family dynamic than on chad (bc i hate that mf). tw for use of 'lesbo' in a derogatory way.
Chad is fifteen minutes early to pick up Harrison.
Cassie is twenty minutes late home.
Victoria and Harrison are halfway through Andrew Garfields Spiderman movie when there's a knock on the door of Cassie's apartment.
Cassie is not the one knocking.
Victoria, oblivious to this, throws the door open with a grin, a jibe at Cassie's predictable tardiness on the tip of her tongue, her body leaning forward with the expectation of two strong arms reaching out for her, except -
Chad is standing in the doorway, irritation set deeply into his face in a way that suggests it never really leaves.
Victoria all but jumps backwards.
'Hi!' She says, trying to keep her own hatred of the man out of her tone. He was still Harrison's father. 'I'm Victoria, I, uh, work with Cassie. She'll be home any minute!'
Chad looked her up and down, frown lines deepening at the t-shirt (Cassie's t-shirt) she was wearing. It had a graphic of the Pixies album 'doolittle' on it, and, while she didn't not like the pixies music, the purple scrunchie and pink sweatpants weren't helping to sell her as the owner of the item.
Chad just pushed his way inside.
Victoria stumbled to close the door before following him through the apartment to where Harrison was sitting in front of a paused TV.
His face didn't fall, exactly, when he saw his dad, but something in his posture changed that lit a protective fire in Victoria's stomach. Without thinking about it, she reclaimed her seat next to Harrison and pressed play.
'What do you think you're doing?'
'Uh, waiting for Cassie?' Victoria answered, tilting her head slightly. 'She'll want to say bye to Harrison, she was supposed to be back before you got here.'
'Well, she's not, and I've got things to do.' Chad said, picking up Harrison's backpack from where it sat at the end of the sofa, packed by Cassie earlier that morning. 'C'mon, kid, you'll see your mum soon.'
Harrison looked at Victoria, eyes wide and pleading. It was no secret to her that Harrison cherished his time with his mum, and often preferred the doctors home to Chad's, but she was powerless here. As far as Chad was concerned, she was the babysitter. A friend. Someone Harrison barely knew.
He would probably have a heart attack if he knew all the things Victoria had done in the room they were in. The softest being the family meals her and Harrison had cooked for Cassie.
But he didn't know. He didn't know the life Victoria had built here, the shelves in Cassie's room that had become hers, the copious amounts of skincare she had filled the bathroom with, the homework she had helped Harrison with, and the detention she had reprimanded him for, beating Cassie to the metaphorical punch by half a second.
There was a jiggle of keys in the door.
'Hey, Vic, baby, I'm so sorry I'm late! Harrison, honey, I picked you up the doughnuts you wanted.'
'Did you just call your fucking babysitter baby?' He turned to Cassie, glaring, and Victoria felt Harrison press into her side, small hands curing into the stolen t-shirt.
'Victoria isn't my babysitter, Chad, she's a doctor at the Pitt. You're early.'
'So you call all your co-workers baby?' The accusation was clear. 'You give me shit for dating Chloe while you're fucking a barely-legal girl and letting her be alone with Harrison? You a lesbo now, huh?'
'We're not having this conversation. You have no say in who I date or who I am, and you don't get to say hateful things like that in front of our son.' Cassie's voice was heavy with anger that likely went right over Chad's head. Victoria could hear it though; she could hear the sadness too. 'Go wait in the car, Chad. I will walk Harrison out in a minute.'
Against all odds, Chad left, grumbling something under his breath as he shouldered the backpack, slamming the door a little harder than necessary behind him.
Cassie immediately walked over to the couch, kneeling in front of Vic and Harrison and pulling them both into a clumsy hug.
'I'm sorry about that,' she whispered into their shoulders, 'I should've timed that better.'
'It's okay, mum.' Harrison said, nesting further into the hug, pulling Victoria in closer with him.
Cassie just hummed, a melancholy in her tone that made Vic rub a hand gently down the older woman's arm.
There was a moment of silence as the hug dissolved before-
Cassie dug her teeth into her lip, hard.
Victoria knew this was a difficult topic for the resident, knew that Cassie had spent a long time knowing, but not very long letting herself know how she felt. She also knew about the bullying and harassment and guilt and the cross necklace that lived at the back of the top shelf of her bedroom.
She was one of the most confident queer women Victoria knew, but hearing that sort of hate from someone you were supposed to be able to trust? That was always going to hurt, even if it was Chad, even if it was probably thoughtless irritation and not hate.
'It's a not-so-nice word for a lesbian,' Victoria answered, intertwining her fingers with Cassie's where they rested on the edge of the sofa, 'we don't use it because its hurtful, but being a lesbian isn't a bad thing, it just means you don't like men romantically or sexually.'
'And you're both lesbians?' He asked, looking between the two women with curiosity. 'Because you're dating?'
'I am,' Cassie answered, squeezing Victoria's hand, 'it took me a long time to realise, which is why I was with your dad, and also why I had you, so I wouldn't change a thing.'
Harrison smiled at that, his mothers reassurance never tiring to hear.
'And I'm bisexual!' Victoria added, grinning. 'Which means I like men and women, but mostly just your mum.'
'Good, because my mum likes you a lot,' Harrison said, 'and I like anyone who makes my mum happy.'
It was so cute, and so childishly sincere, that Victoria had to fight to keep tears out her eyes. She could tell Cassie was fighting the same battle, watching as her jaw tensed and released a few times.
'Well I'm glad we have your blessing, kiddo, let's get you to your dad.'
