Previously…
– Samantha and Jaq went on a brunch date before King’s Bay inaugural Pride parade.
– Jason hired drag queen Elaine Zbornak to ride on Edge of Winter’s Pride float, but Elaine became ill at the last minute.
– The Gray family was torn apart in the wake of the car accident that caused Tori to miscarry her baby.

In downtown King’s Bay, excited onlookers line the sidewalks of Platz Street, cheering and waving small rainbow-colored flags. Vehicles adorned in all sorts of decor roll slowly down the street; the passengers call out to the crowd, blast music, and hold up banners. The sun beams down upon the town’s first-ever Pride parade, bringing out the beauty of the clear Pacific Northwest day.

On the south side of the street, Samantha Fisher and Jaq Pearson watch the parade floats go by. They clap as the KBAY float moves down the street, with a number of radio station employees — including Samantha’s mother — waving to the onlookers as a Kim Petras song plays.

“Your mom looks like she’s having a blast,” Jaq observes.

“Oh, I’m sure she is,” Samantha says. “If there’s one thing my mom loves, it’s attention–”

“That’s my daughter!” Diane shouts from the float as she pumps her arms into the air.

Samantha cringes but nevertheless smiles as heads turn toward her.

“–and embarrassing me,” she finally adds.

“No, it’s cute,” Jaq says. They place their hand on Samantha’s shoulder, once again sending a shiver of exhilaration through Sam’s body.

They both wave back at Diane as the KBAY float continues down the parade route.

Then Sam turns back toward Jaq. “So why didn’t you ride on the KBAY float?”

Jaq raises their left eyebrow. “Why didn’t you ride the Objection one?”

With a chuckle, Samantha’s shoulders sag. “Because I hate being in the spotlight.”

“Ding, ding, ding! Same. Having all those people staring at me sounds like hell on earth.”

“I’d much rather be a spectator for this kind of thing,” Sam says.

“Same.” Jaq grins at her. “Plus, it means I get to hang out with you.”

Another tingle of excitement goes through Samantha. “I like that part, too.”

Jaq slings both their arms over Samantha’s shoulders, pulling her closer.

As they nuzzle together, the next float comes down the street. Onlookers erupt in a fresh round of cheers as “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen blasts from the float.

On the bed of the pickup truck that is serving as Edge of Winter Arena’s float, Tempest Banks peers out at the crowd. But she stops short when she sees two particular bodies, snuggled close amidst the fray.

“This is so cool,” Sabrina Gage comments from her spot beside Tempest, as she continues waving to the people lining the street.

“Oh. Uh, yeah,” Tempest says, shaking her head as if it might shake loose the sight she has just been forced to take in: Samantha cozying up to some girl with short, dark hair down there on the sidewalk.

Back on the street, Samantha turns her attention back toward the parade, all the while still being held from behind by Jaq. When she sees that it is the Edge of Winter float, she immediately flinches — just a split-second before spotting Tempest up there.

The two women make eye contact from a distance.

“What’s wrong?” Jaq asks, confused, as Sam pulls away from them.

“It’s nothing,” Sam says, though it sounds unconvincing even to her own ears. Perhaps luckily, as the truck continues to roll by, she spots a very welcome — and confusing — diversion.

“Oh my god,” she says.

“What’s going on?” Jaq repeats, now sounding equal parts annoyed and perplexed.

Samantha points to the end of the float, where a figure in a shimmering blue and silver dress, topped with a frosty white wig, is tossing out prizes to the parade attendees.

“It can’t be,” Samantha says. “I think that’s… it’s Mr. Chase!”

She watches in astonishment as the float goes by. She manages a meek wave at Tempest — a gesture that is only acknowledged with a cursory nod from her ex — but finds herself unable to take her attention off the person at the end of the float, fully made up and smiling out at the crowd.

Sarah Fisher Gray carefully pushes down the handle and slides open the door to her daughter’s hospital room. She peers inside and sees that Tori is awake and watching some HGTV show or another on the dated TV mounted in the room’s corner.

“How’re you feeling?” Sarah asks gently as she eases toward the bed.

She sees her daughter fight the instinct to glance toward her, instead remaining focused entirely on the television as she responds.

“Fine,” Tori says flatly. “Tired.”

“You’re going to need a lot of rest while you recover,” Sarah says. “But good news. Dr. Robinson says that, as long as your next round of tests come back looking good, you should be cleared for release tomorrow.”

Now Tori’s head snaps toward her mother. “Why is he even talking to you about that?”

The anger hits Sarah like a bullet to the chest, but she strangles whatever reflexive response wants to emerge and forces herself to take a breath.

“Because I’m your next of kin,” she says.

“I’m not dead. He should be talking to me and me only about my care.”

“Okay. Sorry.” Sarah holds up both palms. “It was very innocuous info. And it’s good news.”

“Whatever. I can’t wait to get out of here,” Tori spits.

“I can only imagine.”

Sarah warily approaches the bed.

“I know you’re hurting,” she says. “And I can only imagine how painful this all is for you.”

Tori grits her teeth. “You can’t.”

“I lost a child, too, Tori.”

She watches as Tori processes this reality, affixing her gaze back on the TV even as a slew of emotions — surprise, embarrassment, regret — wash over her face.

“I know that,” she finally says, her biting tone dulled somewhat. “But it’s different.”

“The circumstances are different, yeah. But you were young, and I don’t know how much of this you picked up on at the time… but that wasn’t a pregnancy I was enthusiastic about, either.”

That manages to get Tori to look back at her, with a slightly softened expression.

“Your dad wanted to grow our family, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready,” Sarah says. “But I got pregnant, and…”

“What’d he do? Trick you into it?” That harsh glibness comes roaring back into Tori’s face as she says it.

“No. It just happened. And I was struggling with so much guilt as it was. Knowing that I was carrying that baby — and that it was never an option to place him for adoption — I felt like something was wrong with me for being so ambivalent. After the explosion, when I woke up and found out he was gone, I was…” Sarah shakes her head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the emotions from long ago. “I felt even guiltier. Like maybe the universe was punishing me for not fully wanting that child. Like that baby himself had been punished by never being born. It was a lot to grapple with.”

A long, tense beat passes before Tori says, “I didn’t know all of that.”

“Of course you didn’t. You were young when it happened. All I’m saying is, my emotions were crazy after that. I was confused, I felt guilty, I was mad — even at your dad, because he was the one who had to authorize my care when I was unconscious–”

“So he played God with your life, too.” Tori lets out a loud, frustrated sigh. “Then you can understand why I’m never, ever going to forgive him.”

—–

Once the parade has ended, people flood Platz Street. Eager consumers line up at the food truck stationed along the parade route, and bodies flow in and out of the local businesses.

Samantha is walking with Jaq, each holding an iced coffee, when she hears her name being called.

“Samantha!” she hears again, and this time, she spots Alex Marshall in the distance, waving.

She and Jaq navigate toward Alex. They find him near the sidewalk with Trevor, Chase, and Helen.

“Was that really Mr. Chase up on the Edge of Winter float?” Samantha asks.

Helen claps her hands together with glee. “It was!”

“I didn’t know he did drag,” Sam says incredulously, glancing toward Alex and Trevor for assistance.

“He doesn’t,” Helen says with a chuckle. “Not until today!”

“Jason had lined up Elaine Zbornak — that drag queen we took you to see — to ride on the float,” Alex explains. “But she got sick at the last minute.”

Trevor grimaces. “Gas station sushi.”

“Ew,” Jaq comments.

“By the way,” Samantha says, “this is Jaq. They work at KBAY with my mom.”

Alex sticks out his hand. “It’s great to meet you.”

Jaq goes wide-eyed. “I just have to geek out for a second. I’m a huge fan of your work, Mr. Marshall.”

“Alex. Please. And that’s really sweet of you,” he says with a bashful smile. “This is my husband, Trevor, and our little boy, Chase. And this is–”

“Helen Chase,” the older woman announces, sticking out her own hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Jaq says, as other greetings are quickly murmured.

“So how did Mr. Chase wind up in drag on a Pride float?” Samantha asks with confusion.

“At first, I was going to volunteer, but I’m awfully small for a drag queen, especially since all we had was Elaine’s costume,” Helen says. “But it looked like such fun, so I thought it might be a kick for Don! Luckily, your cousin Victoria taught me all about contouring — I did a pretty wonderful job on Don’s makeup, if I do say so myself.”

“You did,” Trevor says with a grin.

“They’re actually coming to meet us in a moment,” Helen continues. “Don, Sophie, Jason, and the rest.”

Suddenly Samantha’s pulse quickens.

“We actually have to get going,” she says, “but I’m glad we ran into you guys. Happy Pride!”

“Oh,” Alex responds with surprise. “Happy Pride. It was nice to meet you, Jaq.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Jaq says, their confusion showing through even as they allow Sam to take them by the arm and lead them away from the group.

“What was that all about?” Jaq asks once they are back in the thick of the crowd, moving down the street.

“Oh, nothing.” Samantha takes a quick sip of her iced coffee. “I just remembered that my parking meter is almost up, and if my cousin Sophie had shown up, we never would’ve gotten out in time.”

“Oh. Got it.” They walk side-by-side for a few more steps before Jaq asks, “Are you gonna put more money in your meter? Or do you have to go?”

“No,” Sam blurts out. Catching herself, she stops in her tracks and turns to Jaq. “I want to keep hanging out. If you do, I mean. I just need to fill the meter. Then we can do whatever you want.”

Jaq brightens. “Good. Because I’m not through with this date yet.”

“Okay, good,” Samantha says, doing her best to appear cheerful even as she tries to figure out how they can avoid a run-in with Tempest for the remainder of the day.

—–

Sarah pauses, feeling the whiplash from her daughter’s quick about-faces, but she also knows that the way Tori is acting is exactly the way that Sarah herself felt all those years ago.

“He made the decision to save my life,” she says, “and it meant that the baby wasn’t able to survive.”

“Just like he made a decision for me, too.”

“Tori–”

“Dad decided that I was going to give my baby up for adoption, no matter what I wanted. He made sure I thought that Zane didn’t care so that I’d sign those papers.”

Sarah breathes in deeply through her nose, again reminding herself to think before speaking. At last she asks, “Do you mean to tell me that, if you’d read that text from Zane, you would’ve decided to keep the baby and raise it with him?”

She sees a split-second of hesitation from Tori.

“I don’t know, Mom!” the younger woman exclaims. “I never got the chance to make that choice for myself, because Dad made it for me, and now look at where I am.”

Suddenly she devolves into tears. Sarah moves even closer, placing her hands on her sobbing daughter.

“Don’t touch me,” Tori snaps as she cries, pulling her arms up to cover her face. “Just leave me alone.”

“I’m your mother. I’m here for you.”

“I don’t want you here. Not now. Not if you’re going to defend him.”

“Tori…”

But when Tori thrashes one arm outward to push her away, Sarah steps back. All she wants to do in this moment is fix this, fix her family, but she knows all too well that there is no magical solution, no switch she can flip to make it all right.

“I’ll give you some time alone,” she says, taking another step backward. “I’ll get some coffee and give you some space. But I’m not leaving.”

“Fine,” Tori says, again refusing to look at her.

Sarah leaves the room and pulls the door closed behind herself. Her heart pounds with pain at the knowledge that there truly is nothing she can do to make this better right now.

—–

“You did such a good job!” Jason says as he pats Don — once again in his street clothes, but with theatrical makeup still covering his face — on the back.

“All I did was wave and toss out those gifts,” Don says bashfully.

They stand amidst the parade attendees near an artisan ice cream truck, where Helen has just bought Sophie a heaping waffle cone.

“Grandpa, you were awesome!” Sophie says as she returns, carefully balancing the delicate scoops of ice cream.

Don shrugs. “I don’t know about that. But it was a lot of fun. I do see how it can be so liberating to do something like that!”

“Now that,” Alex says, as he bounces Chase up and down on his arm, “is the true spirit of Pride.”

Helen wraps her arms around her husband. “You were wonderful! That Elaine had better sleep with one eye open!”

“I don’t know that my drag career will go much further than today,” Don says, “but what a hoot!”

“You know, you all just missed Samantha,” Helen says. “We ran into her and a friend a little while ago.”

Tempest, carrying a cup with a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and an assortment of toppings, rejoins the group. The others fall awkwardly silent.

“It’s okay. I saw her, too,” Tempest says. “She was with some girl.”

Alex and Trevor trade concerned looks.

“That was her friend Jaq,” Trevor explains. “Samantha says she works at KBAY.”

“Whatever,” Tempest says before scooping up a spoonful of her ice cream, but no matter how dismissive she tries to sound, the bite remains right on the edge of her words.

—–

“There you are!” Diane declares as she spots her daughter and Jaq rounding the corner by 322 Bar & Grill.

“Hey, Mom,” Samantha says as she walks the final few steps to greet Diane with a hug.

“Excellent job up there on the float,” Jaq says.

Diane swats away the compliment with a flap of her hand. “It was nothing. You should’ve been up there with us, though!”

Jaq makes a face as they shake their head. “Not really my thing. But it was pretty kickass to see my workplace have a float in a Pride parade.”

“I’m really glad that I got to do it,” Diane says, “and proud to have a daughter who’s so strong and so able to be herself.”

“And who’s about to get a parking ticket if she doesn’t fill her meter,” Samantha adds. “Be right back.” She strides hurriedly up the street to where her car is parked.

Diane waits until her daughter is out of earshot before addressing Jaq.

“I’m glad to see the two of you out together,” she says. “It’s going well?”

“It’s going great. We’re having fun. I knew we would.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Because the more Samantha sees that there’s a whole world out there waiting for her, the less likely she is to get pulled back into Tempest’s little web.”

“I like Samantha,” Jaq says, glancing up the street to where Sam is plugging her debit card into the meter. “I don’t have to fake that. And if things go the way I’m hoping, you won’t have to worry about that ex of hers ever again.”

Diane purses her full lips. “Perfect.”

END OF EPISODE 979

Will things be as simple as Diane and Jaq hope?
Is Tori ever going to be able to forgive Matt?
Were you surprised by Don’s role in the parade?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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