8 years… that’s how long Jessica DeLoughrey has been a wife and a mom. Well… give or take a year. That being said honestly… the past few years have been some of the best years in Jessica’s life. Anyone who knows Jessica knows, with certainty, that she was always meant to be a mother. She had taken care of her siblings, her cousins, and honestly her entire family. She had so much love to give and nothing could compare to the feeling of finally having something she had wanted so much. Especially… having it with a man she loved more than anything else. As much as Daniel Parker may want to deny it… Dorian was everything to Jess and he would stay that way. That being said, although Jess would never trade her life for anything… it didn’t mean she didn’t miss her adventures. To this day, she was still passionate about her work and taking down corrupt institutions and people and… well… her work wasn’t exactly something she could do remotely. While Jess still worked as a freelancer at newspapers around the world taking up remote jobs here and there, nothing came close to the work she did when she was younger and now… well… let’s just say an opportunity fell in her lap that she had been passionate about for years. When Jess was 24 working for one of her many jobs, she found a data file of the top one percent of one percent of people involved in various illegal activites, including the death of an innocent 5 and 12 year old who’s parents found themselves involved in something… well…let’s just say wrong place wrong time. And what did those with all the power do? They threatened the parents and when the parents spoke out to protect millions of people, as retaliation, their children were killed.
Suffice to say, it was something Jess was passionate about, and over the years, she had spent time taking everyone involved down one by one - including a prince that led to her consequential meeting with Kai once again and where, because of him, she almost got caught. Jess did end up taking him down, and destroying the dictatorship in place in the region… but there was one name she could never track down. One name… one individual that was so deep underground that he hadn’t been seen… or heard of in years. He was good… Jess had to give him that and years ago, Jess had Daniel set up a tracker in case he did ever come back to the surface… and that was now. Apparently, the man had fallen in love and had finally come out from the underground to plan his wedding and… well they were looking for a wedding planner. It was perfect… except…well… it had been a long time since Jessica took on a job this big and she was no longer in a position to make a decision by herself. This was exactly why when Dorian came home… Jess talked to him about it.
Since that fateful night and later that week where she had to say goodbye to her kids and husband which, if Jess was being honest, was the hardest bloody thing she had ever done and this was including that time she died, Jess had spent one and a half months undercover working as an assistant for the best wedding planner there was. Cassandra Wang was a fabulous wedding planner, an old friend of Jessica’s, and, consequently, the individual who was hired by Sergio Petrov to plan his wedding. Jessica, on the other hand, was no longer “Jessica DeLoughrey” rather, her Alias, was Lena Grinsky, an American architecture apprentice that had decided to switch careers into event planning and had gotten the opportunity of a lifetime to work with Cassandra Wang. It was a good Alias, one that Daniel made sure was solid and it was then that her work begin. The wedding was to take place fast - clearly as Sergio wanted to go back underground - which meant Jess had to collect what she could as quickly as possible. Over the past month, Jess had gotten access to the man’s phone (bugging it within the first two weeks of meeting him), the man’s schedule, and even his home security. What she needed, however, was access to his home office safe where all the proof of his wrongdoings was located. Conveniently, the wedding was located in the man’s private home, and with only a few weeks left to go - Jessica DeLoughrey had a plan.
Though… not every plan is perfect… and that is exactly what today felt like. Lena and Cassandra were walking with the soon-to-be husband and wife and about 6 other security guards at the Miami zoo, figuring out the exact details as Sergio’s soon-to-be wife picked which animals she wanted at her wedding. For the past month and a half, she had been situated in San Francisco, however, Sergio’s main residence was in Miami so they had to take a flight back to… well… Jessica’s home to get the final details into place. It was always… tricky to work in Miami when her family also lived in the area but… well… so far things had worked out for the better and what were the chances that she’d run into her husband or kids or others she knew today? Okay… fine the chances were really fcking high but she just… needed to survive a few more weeks of this. Jess had her hair up in a bun, glasses on her face, and an iPad in her hands as she acted the part of the dutiful assistant. Sergio’s wife was… well… young and… extravagant to say the least, pointing at the Lion… the Flamingo… and various other animals she wanted at the wedding since she had always loved animals. Cassandra was currently trying to convince the women to limit the animals at the reception and Jess was following closely behind, writing down notes since technically, she still was the assistant. “Flamingo’s we can do… though I’m not sure about the Lion Penelope … But I do think we could make it so you rode in on an elephant instant?” Cassandra was always a master mitigator, and Sergio clearly was too preoccupied with what was on his phone to listen to what his fiance was saying to Cassandra. So busy, in fact, that Sergio soon left the group to take a call a few feet away. It was a good thing Jess had his phone bugged. With one airpod in, Jess subtly clicked on the piece to have direct access to the call which revealed an interesting fact that the wedding would be… well… more than a wedding. While Sergio was getting married, it was also seemingly a hand off and…
Well… you see… everything would have been… fine if not for what happened next. Jess was subtly listening into the call while pretending to write something on her iPad as she followed Cassandra and Penelope… and then… she heard it. “MOMMY” the familiar voice filled her ears as a young boy ran up to Lena with clear excitement in his eyes. Maybe if Jess had been paying attention, she would have noticed her family long ago… and the kid who seemed to have caught sight of her a few minutes ago and had been slowly making his way towards her after leaving his dad. Yes, Dorian, you LOST YOUR KID AGAIN.
You see… while Jessica was a mother, Lena Grinsky was not. Turning towards the little voice (alongside Cassandra and Penelope and the three security guards who stayed behind), Jess’ heart melted seeing her 2 and a half-year-old son’s excited features as he raised his arms wanting to be held. As much as Jess wanted to drop down to her knees right there and kiss Aidan all over, she couldn’t. Keeping her demeanor, Lena raised her eyebrows in confusion as she looked at the kid before turning over to the two girls still staring at her to emphasize the confusion on her face. Turning her Ipad and earphone off, Lena uncomfortably patted the kid on the head almost as if he was a dog. “Hey…kid. I think you’re mistaking me for someone else… where are your parents?” Cassandra played the mistake off gracefully, picking up on the incident and laughing. “God, I swear kids will just call any women their mother now-a-days.” Cassandra’s laughter was followed by Penelope’s who bent down and pinched Aidan’s cheeks, making Jess… very fcking uncomfortable. DON’T TOUCH HER CHILD OKAY. “Awee cutiekins are youuu lost? Do you need help?” Penelope asked in a baby voice, picking her son up and kissing his cheek. Let’s just say… it took EVERYTHING in Jess not to slap that woman right there. Jess felt her fist clenching… but after a few seconds, relaxed her hand because as much as Jess wanted to do certain things… she had to stay in character as her confused son looked back at her, wiggling out of Penelope’s arms to come back to his mom. Once again, Aidan raised his arms, a pout on his lips as he begged “Mommy… up” “Again… kid I’m not your mom but… how about I go and help him find his parents? Will you be okay without me?”
Looking over towards Cassandra, the women immediately nodded alongside Penelope who clearly had baby fever and almost started to say that she’d help… until Sergio came back asking what was going on. “Nothing honey, this cute little kid is lost and thinks Cassandra’s assistant is his mom. When are you going to give me a little baby, honey?”
It was a good thing Penelope wasn’t… well… bright because any questioning that Sergio was going to ask disappeared with her let’s have a baby talk in the middle of a zoo. With a now frazzled couple, Lena told Cassandra that she’d go find the kid’s parents and tentatively grabbed the boy’s hand… keeping the act as if she didn’t know him apparent. However… right before she was home free, Penelope screamed after her telling one of the guards to go with Lena to make sure they could find the parents. Fck. Fck. Fcking great.
The guard was keeping his distance from her, but clearly keeping an eye on Jessica’s movements. “M…M…Mommy u…Up.” her confused son started, tears falling from his eyes as the confused boy looked up at his mom who was acting as if she didn’t know him. Okay, Jess… got to… be careful here. A soft sigh left her lips as she turned towards the little boy. “Okay… look kid I’m… not your mom but I’ll pick you up okay… and then we’ll go find your mom or dad?” Lena stated. With that, she made a movement… almost as if she didn’t know how to pick up a kid trying to make a show for the guard who was watching her. With her son now in her arms, Jess let out a soft sigh of relief. God, she missed her child and all she wanted to do was kiss the boy. Hearing the sobs of the boy and feeling how Aidan stuffed his little face in her shoulder to cry, Jess’s heart broke. She knew she… shouldn’t do this… she was risking her cover but after a second, Jess dropped her voice barely above a whisper as she made a show of pointing around trying to make it seem like she was asking where the kid had last seen his parents. “Shh sweetie… mommy’s here. Mommy didn’t forget you she’s just doing her job. Where’s your papa, love?”
As she asked the boy the question, Jess continued to walk - going towards a crowd of people to lose the guard that was following her. It took a while, but Jess had successfully lost the guard sneaking into an exhibit and then the bathroom that was right next to it. It only took Jess a second to drop her character as she hugged her little boy and kissed him all over. “Hey it’s okay… I’m sorry darling,” Jess whispered, wiping his tears as he looked back up at her in confusion. “You’re growing up so bloody fast darling,” Jess sighed, bringing her nose to his as she tickled him so he would stop crying. “I wuve you mommy,” A sigh left her lips as she kissed the boy one last time, closing her eyes as she hugged him tightly. “I love you too, nugget, but your dad must be worried sick.” Staying in there for a second longer, Jess closed her eyes, holding the boy tightly against her. “Sweetie, when we go outside, mommy’s going to play a game okay? Want to play with me?” And with that, she convinced her sweet son to play pretend with her and once again went outside trying to find Dorian.
She found the man a few minutes later talking to a security guard - clearly worried about the wondering Aidan. Jess tentatively walked up to the man, putting her hand on his shoulder and smiling as he turned around soon followed by her other two babies. Jess swore her heart skipped a beat as her husband met her eyes, confusion on his face though before he could say anything, Jess added “Hi… I’m guessing you’re the dad?” Jess asked, giving Dorian a look that said not now. Once again, Jessica was Lena. She didn’t know who was watching, meaning that while she gave her son Aidan a hug in private, she couldn’t do the same as Shay and Zoe squealed mommy. Putting the boy down in front of Dorian, Jess put her hand out to introduce herself - ignoring her kids… as much as that hurt. “Lena Grinsky. Your little boy found me while I was working…”
Dorian had Zoe in his hands so she couldn’t jump out towards Jess even though she wanted to, and Shay had started walking towards Jess until she pretended not to know any of them. “And are these the rest of your kids? They are adorable. Hi sweethearts,” Jess said - her American accent still apparent as she waved towards Zoe and brushed Shay’s head. She knew she was upsetting her kids… she could see the same look Aidan had meeting Shay and Zoe’s features and Jess kept up the act of not knowing.
“I should probably head back to work but I’m glad this little guy found his dad. You four… have a good one okay?” Jess heard Zoe whisper something to Dorian, trying to wiggle out of his arms to go to Jess, and Shay looked slightly scared at Jess’ nonchalance towards the four of them… clearly. Aidan likely still believed they were playing pretend, but that didn’t mean that when Jess said bye he wanted to let her go. The little boy had grabbed onto her hand and a frown met her lips. God… bloody fck she didn’t want to leave. She missed this… Jessica missed her kids… her family… she just… wanted to go back to it right away. With a struggle… Jess pulled away from her son, bending to her knees as she looked at him. “Hey sweetheart… I have to go now okay?” she stated, looking at her son with a broken smile. With that, she pulled her hand away and waved goodbye hearing the little boy break the little game with a “MOMMY DON’T LEAVE” , clearly trying to chase after Jess but Dorian held him back. Turning towards Dorian, Jess gave him one last look before turning away and walking away from her family which was something she never imagined she would ever do.
The next two weeks were torture but she did what she needed to do. After getting access to Sergio’s computer, Jess sent all the information to the FBI and during the wedding, there was a raid with almost everyone in the room being arrested and no one knowing what happened. Honestly, however, that didn’t matter. The second after Jess could leave and had given her statement, Jess went straight home. It was night time meaning everyone should be home. Knocking on the door, a feeling of anxiousness met her body as she waited outside her door. Two months… it had been an entire two months. Two weeks since she had last seen them and…
None of that mattered when Dorian opened the door and the instant he did, Jess wrapped her arms around him tightly, kissing the man. Dorian didn’t even have a chance to figure out who the hell was at his doorstep at 10:15 PM before Jess jumped him. After a few seconds of his arms around her, Jess hesitantly pulled away knowing her kids were probably all in bed but also needing to see them. Dorian went to Aidan’s room while Jess went to her daughter’s room, a smile on her lips as she kissed her daughter’s cheeks. Shay was first, and she mumbled in her sleep as her eyes sleeply opened but when they did and she saw her mom - the girl was instantly awake and jumping on her mother. “ZOEEEE MOMMY IS HOMEEEE,” Shay screamed, wrapping her arms tightly against Jess. Dorian soon came back into the room with her little boy sucking his thumb but when Aidan saw his mom, he also wiggled out of his dad’s arms and ran to him mom, soon followed by Zoe.
Yep… this… there right here was her happiness. Jessica knew she could never take a job like she had again… not while her babies were still babies.
@astxrism
. Mommy called on this weird portal thingy that Dad kept in his pocket, but everytime Grayson put his mouth on the portal thing to get some milk dad either told him no and it didn’t taste like the good stuff. It was weird, and he couldn’t get to him mom through it. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE PORTAL DAD? But everyyyyy day his mom told him, hey and talked to him which was fun… until Shay or Zoe or Aidan took the phone which was rude, but anyways every day Grayson told her 
- 2033
why did mama and papa lock the door? She tried and tried and nothing, it wouldn’t budge. So what was a little girl to do besides KNOCKING loudly and yellling a little through the door like Anna did with her sister, Elsa, when she asked to build a snowman. She kept knocking until her daddy finallllly opened the door after a longggg time.