#ooooouch

▪ ♪ ♩ ♫ ♬ lets talk about "Mommy Dearest " as a special request from @floripire [ tw for abuse mention ]. this will be a bit bleak, babes.

Where was his mother? Right fucking there, always right fucking there. Valentina Rivera-Sweets was the first person to suffer from her husband's anger and drinking problems, and it messed her up something awful. She'd been a young woman in love with someone who had made her laugh until she was in tears, who had shared her passions, who had seen a future with her. When Noah changed, she couldn't turn away.

Whether it be the memories they shared or merely the financial dependence that kept her there, Mateo has never been absolutely certain which was the larger driver, and he will never ask. Mati remembers hearing her being hurt, hearing her crying, curling up in his room under the blankets, or even under the bed, afraid of what he was hearing. It's sad to say that there was some relief when some of the rage she endured was shifted onto her son, enough so that every time she recalls that feeling her heart breaks all over again, and she hates herself more than before.

Val was too despondent to act when she should have; it haunts her all the time because she not only knew it was happening, she watched it. And it began because a boy loved his mother and wanted to protect her. As soon as Mateo was old enough to stand up for someone, it was her he did it for. And he bore the price of it.

Her only emotional saving grace was that, in the end, she finally shook herself loose and fought for him. When Mati went from accepting the beating as a shield for his mother to fighting back as a sword, the retaliation from his father was immediate and terrifying. The way Noah hit their child was on a level he'd never reached before. And Valentina, in fear for her son's life, put herself in the middle and actually fought back with every ounce of spirit she had. The fight was bad enough that the police were called.

While she still didn't leave Noah, she was resolute that nothing would happen to them again without a fight. With the police having arrived, came visibility; a town that had been able to ignore what was going on until then was whispering, and the shame that came with it was enough for Valentine to push Noah to seek help. Their relationship isn't what it used to be. Mateo sees it as a facsimile of a loving marriage.

But his mother is alive, he's alive, and she has treated Mati nothing short of how you'd treat your golden child ever since. Though while she did eventually do something, Mateo still can't trust that she'd be able to keep his father at bay if the issues arise again. This is why he works out how he does: to properly defend her and himself in the future.