Welcome Home!

Tara had spent years trying to put the pieces together. The day that her ex-husband, the man she thought was the love of her life, not only filed for divorce but went the lengths of framing her to be unfit to be a mother… she crumbled. She was broken. There were the people that had supported her but even they became tired of watching her loathe in self-pity and would eventually go on to save their own mental state. She was going down, and she was taking everyone around her with her. On this wonderful day, those pieces were set! Tara was complete again.

The day was the day that Tara had set to throw a “welcome home” party for her youngest son; she had been informed during the Night of Honor pay-per-view event at Project: Honor that her case had been won, and she would gain shared custody of Edward, Tara’s eight-year-old son. She wanted the first couple of days to be with only family and the closest of friends, naturally, but she wanted to throw a larger celebration which was why the backyard was in full decoration. It was already crowded with the many people that could make it, many who had brought their kids since it was a Pokémon-themed party. There was a section covered with a small tent that had pre-recorded videos playing on loop from people that were unable to be there in person; the messages mainly pertained to welcoming Edward home, and saying how much Tara had missed him. There was the barbecue on a concrete block that had a path leading to the pool area where there were several Pokémon floats in the pool, including a giant Lapras. The grill was being manned by none other than Denzel Porter! He had a beer in one hand and a spatula in the other, and an apron on that had one simple phrase on it: #BREAKINGNEWS.

“BREAKING NEWS!” Denzel suddenly shouts out and raises his spatula into the air. “The burgers are ready!” Denzel continues with his announcement which earns a cheer from everyone that had been waiting for the first batch of burgers to come up.

Ross Hanson is the first one standing in the line with a plate ready to go. Just as Ross turned to retreat with his food, he saw a glare from the better half of Skyeson, Chelsea, giving him the evil eye and he turned just in time as if Denzel had read his mind and served him up a second burger.

There was one person who battled tooth and nail to see a smile back on her face; one person who helped gather up all the pieces, but knew that she was the only one who could put them together. Tara’s eldest son, signed to both IWF and making his debut at OCW on Monday, had a different aura around him when he knew the cameras weren’t on him… Despite being lost in his own moment from time-to-time, he would glance over at his mother to see how she was holding up before returning to his own conversation. He had seen her through her worst, and it was why he would gain such a temper when he felt someone was trying to drag her down. There was still one person at the party that would cause him to sneer whenever they made eye contact: Dean Harper. Tara’s stepson, and Sabin’s stepbrother. The two had waged one war with each other, and both of them knew it was far from over… but… for her, Sabin would bite his tongue.

Edward was running around freely for the time being… just being a kid. The kids were very different in this period than when Tara was; they all had a phone in their hand and were playing on the Pokémon Go app. Much of the party seemed to go off without one single hitch. The timeframe of the party would go on as late as everyone would be willing to stay; Tara was not about to be responsible for people drinking and driving, but it was still a party for children so she would have to make sure people were still on their best behavior.

For the first time in years, she was able to watch her little boy run around with kids his own age… She was able to watch him play, and have fun; all of the things that she missed. There was a glint in her eye and none of that mattered. None of what she missed mattered. All that mattered was that she was able to see him now, be with him now, and she was going to be there for him going forward. It was all that mattered. Tara was sitting at her outdoor table under an umbrella; there were a few open seats beside her, but the table had numerous glasses and finger food. While she seemed to be zoning out in the moment, she was brought back to reality by a sudden touch to her shoulder.

“G’morning!” says Ophelia Pain-Pinkston, or Pheelz for short; there was an excitement to her voice because she seemed to finally startle Tara for a change. Tara leaned against Ophelia’s shoulder.

“Good morning! I’m so happy you could make it,” Tara answered.

Behind Pheelz was Walt gave a nod of his head, “Mornin, Blue.” He said while pulling up a chair at the table.

Meanwhile, Pheelz took a seat beside Tara, and let her eyes linger on her for a moment while Tara did turn her attention back to Edward and was still glowing. “Sooo, where is he?” Pheelz asked.

Tara looked at her as if it were obvious, and she gestured forward, “He’s right there--”

Pheelz interrupted by waving her hands back and forth, “No no no, you know who I’m talking about.”

“Are you girls talkin’ ‘bout boys again?” Walt asked.

“Yes.” Answered Pheelz.

“I’m gonna go grab a drink.” Walt answered while standing back up.

“They’re doing mixed drinks inside, other than that there’s a cooler over by Denzel.” Tara said.

As soon as Walt was a fair distance away, Pheelz turned back to Tara, “So are you gonna tell me about him?” she persisted.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Tara said; there was a tone in her voice that would have sold it had she been under oath, “We’re just friends.”

“You keep tellin’ yourself that.” Pheelz answered.

“Drinks here!” came another voice, causing Pheelz and Tara to look up to see Jason Cashe approaching the scene, “And another guest. Hey!” Cashe resumed, and handed a glass to Tara.

“Thank you--” Tara answered, looking up at him for a brief moment. Off the corner of her eye she caught that Ophelia was still giving her the glare and tilted her head as if to study her further; her face reddened a bit.

“Bringing her drinks, are you?” Ophelia asked the question directed to Jason Cashe but her eyes were still on Tara.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do that for all my friends.” Jason answered with a slight stutter.

“Oh, really? Can you go get me one?” Pheelz asked this time, rolling her eyes up to look at Cashe as if to call his bluff.

“I said friends.” Jason answered sarcastically.

“Just-- can you please get her a drink? No liquor for her, though.” Tara answered. Jason grumbled a bit but began walking toward the cooler by the barbecue.

There was a short time of silence between the two; Ophelia drew in a heavy breath and still had her own smile while looking at the glint in Tara’s eye, “Are you sure about this?” she finally asked to break the silence.

“There’s nothing going on…” Tara answered again. She couldn’t help but give Ophelia the side glance, until she was finally startled for a second time! Edward had snuck up on his mother and gave her a slight tug on the arm. “Hey, sweetie! Is everything okay?” Tara answered while kneeling down and wrapping her arm around him.

“Yeah, but I-- I want to go with you this week… I want to watch your fight.” Edward answered; there was a slight stutter to his voice… he seemed shy to tell his mother what was on his mind, but felt happy to say it aloud.

Tara bit her bottom lip as she heard what she said. There were a series of statements that Tara wished she could say: Well, you can’t, because your father’s a no-good bastard and won’t let me take you out of the state much less the fucking country! along with many more statements that would be unsettling for the child to hear. But the mother of the dear child was able to wear a smile as she answered, “Nothing would make me happier than you to be there, but--” without a skip, she resumed, “--it’s better for you to be here. Japan is-- it’s unknown to you. It would break me if anything were to happen to you and I could’ve prevented it. I wouldn’t be able to keep my eye on you as well as I need to. You’re safer here. You have your father… your brothers… here to protect you. You can watch the show here, but you have to promise me that you’ll cover your eyes for the bloody parts. Okay?”

Edward nodded his head.

“Promise?” Tara asked him, and Edward just nodded his head a second time. “I need to hear you say it.” Tara said in a cheerful tone.

“I promise.” Edward answered.

Tara pulled her son close and kissed him on the forehead before giving him a tight hug, “This is Auntie Pheelz!” Edward looked at Ophelia, who waved and mouthed a pleasant greeting. Tara continued, “You see the man with the amazing mustache over there? That’s Paw-paw Walt! Do you want to go and explain to him what Pokémon is?” Edward nodded his head and hurried off to bother Walt.

Pheelz sat back in her chair and shook her head slightly, "You can be pretty evil."

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// This is open for ANYONE to continue and tell their own side from their perspective of the party! Just please be mindful of other people's characters and still try to get permission before just using them. I didn't get to mention everyone that I would've wanted to, but yes, it's open!