Looks like I did make this its own story. This first chapter is already on my Random Oneshots and Drabbles (or whatever I named it) but the rest of the chapters will be posted here. I have the second one ready so I'll probably just upload it after this one. I'm not even gonna apologize anymore, whoever's been with me this long already knows I take long breaks from posting lol. Anyways, here's the first chapter

*Disclaimer alert!* I do not own Victorious or its characters, just any names you don't recognize and the "plot" whatever that is.

Tori POV

"Mama, can I have apple juice for lunch?" Mateo, my 4-year-old son, asks. I take the small bottle of apple juice from him and fit it in with his PB&J sandwich with the crusts cut off and his box of raisins.

"Do you want a few cookies too? You have been a pretty good boy this week, I think you deserve a little treat."

"Chocolate chip?"

I smile down at him, nodding as I put a plastic baggy of three small chocolate chip cookies in with his lunch. I have him packed up and ready to go just as my sister trots down the stairs, checking her purse to make sure she has everything.

"Tori, Matty, are you two ready? You're gonna be late if we don't hurry up."

I still haven't passed my driver's test so Trina has to take me and Mateo to school then pick us up. She doesn't really mind, she just lounges around the house all day afterwards since she's taking a year off before college. Then she and Mateo do something until it's time for me to come home.

Without warning, I throw Mateo over my shoulder and hurry out the door while he giggles; leaving Trina to grab the bags.

"Hey Tor! We're going to mini golf, you wanna come hang out?"

I look over and see Andre standing next to me. He gestures to the doors and I see the rest of the gang standing there, ready to leave.

"Sorry, Andre. I promised my dad and Trina I'd be home for dinner. Maybe next time though."

He gives me a slightly irritated look but it disappears quickly. "Is everything okay, chica? You've never been one for hanging out much but we hardly see you outside of school anymore."

I wanna hang out with my friends, I really do, but Mateo is my number one priority. Between school, work, rehearsals for parts I get, and a number of other things, I don't spend nearly enough time with my little boy. I feel really bad about that, no matter how often he tells me it's okay. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just been really hard since my mom walked out on us. We're trying to adjust as much as we can."

I can tell I made him feel guilty by saying that but it's not a total lie. Things have been a little harder since our mom left our dad for his partner. "Okay, Tor. If you need anything, you can come to us. You know that, right?"

I nod, giving him a genuine smile. I know he's just trying to help and he actually believes he and the gang can help with anything I might need but if the school finds out I had a baby at 14, I'd be a social pariah. I can't drag them down if things come out.

He walks off to the others, Jade giving me a curious look before she follows everyone out.

- Page Break -

"Can I have the chicken nuggets, Mama?" Mateo asks, pointing to the picture in his menu. We're at my Aunt Rosa's restaurant; a smaller, hole in the wall place that's within walking distance of the house. Normally my dad and Trina are with us, but dad had to work late and Trina claims she's exhausted from taking Mateo to the zoo after he got out of preschool. Either way, Mateo loves Aunt Rosa's restaurant (and Aunt Rosa) and she absolutely adores Mateo.

"Of course, sweetie. What do you want to drink?"

"Milkshake?"

I let out a small laugh, knowing that even though the restaurant doesn't serve milkshakes, Aunt Rosa will probably make an exception for Mateo. "If you ask Aunt Rosa really nicely, maybe she'll make you one."

About thirty seconds after I say that, Aunt Rosa's loud voice cuts through the Latin music playing over the speakers and chattering of people at the surrounding tables. "Victoria! And little Mateo! Well, not so little anymore, look how big he's gotten! I remember when you were a tiny baby still feeding from your mama." She pinches Mateo's cheeks and gives one of mine a quick squeeze before pulling out her notepad and a pen. "Now. What can I get for my favorite sobrino y sobrina, eh?"

Mateo's quick to call out his order. "Chicken nuggets!"

"With French fries, he'll have a fit if there aren't fries. And I'll have…a salad, please." I grab Mateo's menu and put it on top of mine, putting them down next to our aunt.

She narrows her eyes at me, dramatically making hand gestures as she speaks. "Bah! Salads. You don't need a salad, you're already too skinny, Victoria. But I'll get you your…salad." Aunt Rosa's always giving me a hard time because I'd been eating a lot more salads since having Mateo; having craved vegetables something awful when I was pregnant with him. But I know she's just joking. She smiles again, picking up our menus. "And to drink?"

"An iced tea, please."

Mateo gives her his famous puppy dog eyes. "Can I have a milkshake, please Aunt Rosa?"

And just like she always does, Aunt Rosa melts. She can't refuse Mateo anything, just like she couldn't when Trina and I were his age. "Of course, mijito. What flavor?"

"Cherry, please."

Aunt Rosa writes it down and with a kiss to both our heads, she puts our orders on the carousel and disappears into the kitchen. While we wait for our drinks, I pull a coloring book and crayons from Mateo's bag to keep him occupied. He happily colors his Disney characters, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrates on staying inside the lines.

Before long, Aunt Rosa's daughter, a 16-year-old named Carmen, brings our drinks. "Hey Tori. Hey there, Matty D."

Carmen's the only one who calls him Matty D, his full name being Mateo David Vega (or Matthew David). He gets along really well with Carmen and likes her a lot. "Hi Carmy!"

"Hey Carmen."

Carmen grins and kisses Mateo's cheek before going back to the kitchen, probably to handle another order. Mateo's about to show me the picture he colored of Raja from Aladdin when he focuses on something behind me. "Mama, tiene pelo verde." (Mama, she has green hair.)

He only ever speaks Spanish when he's trying to be polite about talking about someone he doesn't think speaks Spanish. He tries not to talk about anybody but he's so observant and points out every little thing.

I follow his line of sight and my heart stops. Jade just walked in with her dad and a woman who's young enough to be her sister. But Jade doesn't have siblings, she's been very vocal about being an only child.

"I see, honey. Es muy bonita, no?" (It's very pretty, huh?)

"Si, mami." (Yes, mami.)

I glance over at Jade and see an irritated look on her face, as if she doesn't wanna be here but didn't have a choice. She probably didn't. I turn my attention back to Mateo and make a big deal about how beautiful he colored Raja, making him giggle and modestly tell me to use my inside voice.

It isn't long before Carmen brings out our food. "One plate of chicken nuggets with fries and some ketchup for the most handsome boy in here." She sets his plate in front of him and puts the ketchup in the middle of the table. "And one salad for the girl with the amazing figure that doesn't need it." She winks at me and I let out a small laugh, lightly smacking her arm before she walks over to Jade's table to take their orders.

Mateo pushes his plate a little closer to me. "Can you cut my nuggets in half, mami?"

"Of course, mijo."

As I'm tearing his nuggets in half, I hear the chair next to me scrape against the floor and a body sit down in it. "Hey there, Vega. I thought you had dinner plans with your father and annoying sister."

I glance over and see Jade with a small smirk and a confused look in her eyes before leaning in close to Mateo. "Este es un amigo mio de la escuela. Mejor comportamiento, ¿si?" (This is one of my friends from school. Best behavior, okay?) I see him nod and turn back to Jade. "Dad had to work late and Trina backed out last minute but this little guy still wanted to come out, so…"

Jade looks at Mateo and raises an eyebrow. "Who's this? A little brother we never knew about?"

Mateo stays quiet, picking at his chicken nuggets and his french fries while I look back at Jade. "Something like that…"

She looks at my son and puts her head down on the table to be somewhat level with him. "Hey there. My name's Jade. What's yours?"

My little boy looks at Jade, brown eyes the same shade as mine peering into her beautiful blue-grey as he answers her softly. "Mateo."

She smiles, something that nobody ever sees, and glances at me. "How do you know Tori, little guy?"

He looks over at me, making me sigh and nod. Jade may be a bitch, especially to me, but she knows the limits and when not to push them. "She's my mommy."

I would've laughed at Jade's shocked face if I wasn't in the middle of having an anxiety attack over her reaction. Pushing Mateo's food closer to him, I run a hand through his hair as a way to comfort both of us. "Finish up your food, mijo, it's getting late and we have to get you in the bath."

He nods and begins eating again, leaving me to deal with Jade. It seems like forever, Mateo's almost finished with his food and I took a couple of bites from my salad, before Jade snaps out of it. "You have a kid, Vega?"

With a nod, I push my salad around and look over to my son. The circumstances were severely less than ideal but I got something wonderful out of it. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. Mateo notices me staring at him lovingly and makes a silly face, causing me to laugh.

I see Carmen look over at us with a raised eyebrow, motioning to Jade's table and I see her father and the woman already eating. "Your food's gonna get cold, Jade. We should get going anyway."

Mateo takes out his little wallet and puts $5 on the table for the tip. He would always complain about not paying his share, claiming a gentleman should pay for his lady, so I finally bought him a little wallet with foxes on it and compromised with him about paying the tip. I told him depending on the service, put down between one to five dollars and every time we come here, he puts down five. I put whatever he pays back in his wallet back at home anyway so he can pay the tip again next time.

Jade glances at my boy while he does that and looks back over at the table like she doesn't wanna go back. Mateo taps my arm and I look at him. "Can we stay with Jade? She doesn't look like she wants to go back."

"If it's okay with Jade, I don't see why not."

Jade nods and stands up, surprised when Mateo stands as well and grabs her hand to lead her to her table. I see her exchange a few words with her father, covering Mateo's ears at one point and glaring at the older man, before my son takes her drink and she picks up her food and they both come back to the table.

"That man said a bad word, mami."

I glance at Jade and she looks slightly ashamed, as if she did something bad and is waiting for punishment. Looking back at my son, I smile. "You remember what I told you about bad words?"

"Don't say them just because someone else does." Mateo recites, giving me a big smile.

"That's right." I look over at Jade who's picking at her food. "I saw you cover his ears. I'm not mad at you, Jade."

She looks back at me with slightly vulnerable eyes before she scoffs and her walls are back up. "Why would you be? I didn't do anything wrong…"

We all sit in relative silence after that, Jade nibbling on her food while Mateo colors and occasionally offers me sips of his almost gone milkshake. Mateo's really the one who kept dinner from being awkward, showing us his coloring and just talking to fill the silence. Jade halfheartedly humors him, acting upbeat when he shows her what he colored and answering questions when asked. It's kinda nice seeing this side of Jade.

When she's finished, Carmen comes to clear the plates and our glasses. She raises an eyebrow at me, knowing nobody outside of family knows that Mateo is my son. I shake my head to let her know I don't wanna talk about it.

Looking at my phone, I see it's nearly 7:30. "It's getting late, mijo, it's time to go home and give you your bath."

He pouts but nods obediently, standing up and extending his hand to me. I take his hand and shoulder his bag, looking back at Jade. "Could you…please not tell anybody? I love him and I'm not ashamed at all…but I also know how judgmental people can be. One reason I wanted to get out of Sherwood so badly…"

Jade looks between me and my son, seemingly debating over something before she nods with a sigh. "You've helped me out enough times, I think I can do this much for you. This makes us square though, alright?"

I nod and lead Mateo to the counter, Aunt Rosa shaking her head when I try to pay. "It's okay, mija, no charge. Just come back again and bring your niño."

Mateo immediately gives her a bear hug and she kisses my forehead before waving us off dismissively, knowing I need to give Mateo his bath before bed.

- Page Break -

"Mami?"

I cover Mateo's eyes with a washcloth, pouring the water over his head to get the soap out. "What's up, buttercup?"

"Do you like your friend Jade?"

The cup slips from my hands and water dumps down his back, making him let out a small squeaking noise in surprise before he giggles. "She's my friend. Of course I like her."

"You know what I mean, Mami…you told her about me, you care about what she thinks, and I saw you looking at her. That's what you do when you like someone, right? That's what I notice in Auntie Trina's movies, anyway."

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that? And you shouldn't be watching movies with Auntie Trina, who knows what kind of stuff is in them that you don't understand yet." I take the washcloth off of his eyes and kiss his wet forehead. "But you're all clean, you can play for a few more minutes before the water gets too cold."

He splashes around, careful not to splash too much so he won't get the floor wet, and even gets me to play with him for a bit. He got my shirt wet but it's no big deal. We're not going anywhere and I have to change anyway. When it's time for him to get out, I dry him off a little before wrapping him in a towel and carrying him to our room.

"You never answered my question, mama."

I slide up his nighttime pullup and let him pick his pajamas while we brush our teeth, speaking between spits. "Yes, I do like Jade. But you come first, always have always will."

He picks a pair of spiderman pajama pants and a plain black t-shirt, putting them on with a little help after he puts his toothbrush up. "I think you should tell her. She might like you back."

"You think so?"

He nods, picking out my pajamas too; a pair of shorts and the t-shirt with his Art To Remember on it. "You never know until you ask, right? That's what you taught me."

I lay down and immediately Mateo cuddles into me. "Maybe I will. You have school tomorrow though, time for bed."

"Okay. Goodnight mama."

"Sweet dreams, mijo."

Chapter 1 over and done. I think I'm gonna do a Song of the Day for this story. For this chapter, it'll be…hmmm…Something's Gotta Give by Camila Cabello since that's what's playing for me now.

Hugs and Kisses for those who want them and love to those who need it xxx