A/N: A little idea I had in my head. This is going to be a oneshot. I kind of stole a really small amount of this from Bride Wars. You might recognize a line or two.
Disclaimer: I don't own Make It or Break It.
Payson walks into the restaurant in her simple black dress to go have dinner with Kim and Becca to celebrate her birthday. She just spent most of her week in Boston and didn't exactly have the energy to go out, but seeing her family was definitely worth it. A tall-middle aged man walks up to Payson as she's browsing the restaurant and kindly asks if her name was Payson, she skeptically answered 'yes,' before he leads the way to a dark, disclosed area of the place. Payson assumes it is a private section, but is still unsure as to why nobody was in there.
Her 26th birthday was one that she could never imagine. To say that she was surprised was an understandment. Growing up, Payson never got to experience a real birthday party with friends and family. However, she never really minded because she knew all of her sacrifices would pay off one day. She would rather have had a gold medal than a stupid birthday party anyway. Though, she didn't really mind walking into a restaurant and hearing the voices of her family and friends yelling "Surprise!" either.
She was told that she was supposed to have dinner with only her mother and sister, which was obviously just a ploy to get her to the surprise party. It was an all-girls party. So, that meant no boys, which included her husband and her father. They might have gotten her surprised, but she knew by the end of the night, she would get them surprised even better.
"Oh my God!" Payson exclaims as she walks into the private section of the restaurant that her family and friends must have rented out as the lights turn on. Pausing for a moment she becomes more aware of her surroundings. She starts to notice the family and friends who showed up. Obviously, her mother and sister are there, but she also notices that the whole London Olympic Team are there, including Kaylie, Jordan, Lauren, and Colleen. She realizes that not only are the successful gymnasts there, but Emily and Kelly are attending as well, which she couldn't be happier about. Payson walks toward everyone and hugs the closest person, which happens to be Lauren. After hugging Lauren, she makes sure to hug everyone else there, exchanging their Happy Birthdays for her Thank Yous. She makes sure to give an especially big hug to her mother for just being her mom.
When everyone calms down from the excitement, she takes a seat on the chair with the balloons attached to it at the head of the table that she supposes is hers. Everyone else takes a seat and she shortly takes the time to gaze the simple decorations that she knows a lot of thought was put into.
A few genuine tears fall from her eyes. "I'm so shocked right now; thank you so all much for this," she says as she wipes the tears away from her cheek.
Lauren smiles widely as she answers first, "No need to thank us; you deserve this." Everyone nods their heads, agreeing with Lauren.
"She's right. I've known you for most of my life and I never got to spend a birthday with you, and that's going to change right now." Kaylie kindly retorts.
Payson grins as she says, "So, how has everyone been doing?" She hears a mix of answers but can really only make out "good" from mostly everyone.
"I'm actually starting my new job in Los Angeles soon," Lauren says proudly.
Payson smiles, "That's great Lauren," she comments. "How about Jake? How is he doing?" she asks.
Lauren shrugs. "Good, I guess."
Kaylie joins in to ask, "So, was that box you found a ring or…" she trails off.
She frowns as she crosses her arms over her chest. "No, it wasn't, and I'm so angry. It was just a stupid bracelet."
"Just give it time, Lo." Payson says, as she holds back a laugh, remembering the conversation she had with Jake on the phone, in which he was asking for Lauren's ring size.
"I might just have to use my 'Lauren force,'" Lauren says.
Jordan and Colleen's eyes widen, as they both answer at the same time, "Don't," they warn.
Kelly enters into the conversations and says, "Well, guys, wait a minute. Maybe it's not that bad of an idea. I mean she obviously really loves him," she points out.
Becca laughs, "What, is that how you got Nicky to propose to you?" she taunts.
"No... Maybe I… hinted it a few times, but in no way, shape, or form did I force him,"
Kim quickly buds into the conversation as she alerts the younger women, "Girls, you'll learn later on in life that it's never a good idea to force a man into something he doesn't want to do."
"Exactly," Colleen agrees.
"I understand that, Mrs. Keeler, " Lauren says, "but we've been together for almost ten years. Ten," she emphasizes. It was true they had been together for nine years. But Lauren and Jake had this on-and-off relationship going on—never seeming to stay together or let go for too long. Sometimes the relationship was serious, sometimes not. It might sound weird for a couple with a relationship like that to want to get married, but Lauren just knew it would work. Nobody else understood it, but them.
Emily quickly adds, "Yeah, on-and-off," she reminds. Even though Chloe and Steve were married now, Lauren and Emily still had slight tension around each other. It wasn't like the conflicts they had before, but every so often they got into mini arguments.
Lauren really wanted to bark back at her 'Excuse me, Ms. Seventeen-year old mother,' but thankfully the waiter came over to take their drink orders.
"A water please," Payson kindly orders first. The rest of the women order, as well, before continuing on with their conversation.
"How about we stop talking about Lauren's love life," Kaylie suggests sensing the tension, "I think Payson is getting sick of it."
Kim nods and gently looks at her eldest daughter as she asks, "Honey, are you feeling alright? You don't seem too well," Kim points out.
"I'm fine; I've just been super tired from Nationals," Payson confesses.
"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie. Make sure to get a lot of sleep when you get home," Kim advises.
Becca nods as she inquires, "By the way, how was Nationals?"
"Oh, that's right!" Colleen remembers, "I never got to watch them. I had to work."
"Yeah me neither, how did it go?" Jordan asks.
Payson smiles, thinking of the gold medals they won. "Fantastic," she replies, "I mean, this is my third nationals, so I kind of get the hang of this coaching thing now. Though, the Rock did really well this year, especially,"
"Congrats, Pay, that's amazing," Jordan comments. The rest of the women nod their heads and agree.
Lauren laughs as she slightly reminisces on the old days as she turns to Kaylie. "Imagine Pay coaching us. Even back then when she wasn't a coach, she was strict. I can only imagine how she is now that she actually is a coach. Poor gymnasts."
Payson chuckles and Emily comes into the conversation, "On a scale of Darby Conrad to Sasha Belov. How strict are you?"
Kelly answers for her, "Bela Karolyi. For sure."
"No way," Payson argues, "I don't scream 'You can do it!' to my gymnasts when they have a serious injury."
"She's right. At least she's not as strict as her husband," Kaylie notes.
"He's not that strict," Payson says.
"So, how is the hubby?" Lauren asks, changing the subject of gymnastics and switching back to their love lives.
Kelly adds, "Yeah, how's married life treating you, Pay?"
Payson smiles again at the thought of the love of her life. "Better than I could have ever imagined." Kim and Becca smile at Payson; glad that she finally found someone who truly makes her happy.
"Aww," they all coo, as Kaylie responds, "We want details!" Before Payson could say anything, Kaylie quickly took back what she said. "Actually, you know what, I don't. You married my ex and that's weird so I don't want to know anything… ever!" she jokes. They all laugh as Payson speaks again.
"Yeah, I know the feeling," Payson jokes as she turns her head to Jordan.
Jordan gasps. "Hey, Hey, you said you were fine with me dating him. It's not like we're married or anything either," she defends.
They stop talking as the waiter comes back with their drinks and also to take their orders. "Here you are ladies. Are you all ready to order?" he asks.
The ladies order their meals and thank him for bringing the drinks. As soon as he leaves Lauren begins talking, "I could tell Rigo wasn't for you, anyway, Pay," Lauren says as puts a straw in her drink.
"Yeah, I know I was just kidding anyway," she begins as she looks at Jordan, "Besides, he was better for you all along, Jord."
Jordan grins, "I guess. I could use some of his cheesiness at times."
Payson giggles, remembering how cheesy Rigo was. She liked it at first, but after a while it got too much for her. She needed someone more… human. "It's funny. We both have one of those 'opposites attract' relationships."
"How is your relationship with Carter going, Kaylie?" Lauren asks. It's not that she was jealous or anything, but just curious.
"It's just like how it was in the old days—all lovey-dovey, but I'm just learning to trust him more, now." She left it as that. She didn't want to talk about what happened all those years ago between her and Lauren in front of all these other people who don't know about it. Kaylie, Payson, Emily, and Lauren all exchange glances as they get the hint to move on.
"Well, I, for one, am happy being single and ready to mingle," Colleen says.
"I hear that!" Becca exclaims, as she reaches over to Colleen to give her a high-five.
Payson laughs as she playfully punches Becca on the arm. "That's my girl."
"What about you, Em. How's Damon?" Kaylie asks, curious as to how her former some-what fling has been doing.
"Same-old, same-old marriage. He's working on his music. He's actually getting signed to a new record label,"
They all gasp and tell Emily to make sure to send their congratulations to Damon. "And how's Zach and the whole motherhood thing?" Payson asks, curiously.
"He's doing good. I think he's getting into his 'I'm too cool for school' stage," Emily explains.
"Good luck with that," Kelly mumbles, as Payson speaks, "Just out of curiousity, who planned all of this anyway?"
Lauren clears throat and lifts a finger to hint it was her. "Everyone kind of helped, but it was mostly me," she boasts.
Payson beams at Lauren and mouths a 'thank you' as an appreciation; Lauren gives her a single nod in return. Over the years, Lauren has become a sister-like figure to Payson, vice-versa. Payson thinks of Lauren the same way she thinks of Becca. They are both her sisters, as far as she is concerned. Lauren even started to regard the Keelers as her 'second family.'
Lauren answers again, "Well, shall we toast? To love and marriage and jobs and life and whatever else there is to toast to?"
They all nod their heads and agree. Lauren is about to call the waiter, but Payson quickly stops her before she does. "Wait. Actually… I-I can't drink," Payson informed them.
Payson caught the confused faces of everyone and further explained. She smirks as she glances at Kim, knowing that her mother probably knows what she is going to say. "Because…" she paused to add some suspense to the moment, "Austin and I are having a baby," she reveals.
Everyone sits there shocked, not able to even form words. With everyone's mouths dropped, Kaylie asks in pure shock, "You're pregnant?"
Payson smiles and nods as Lauren loudly squeals, "Oh my God!"
Tears start to fall from Kim's eyes as she hugs her youngest daughter. Becca starts to catch up with her emotions; she squeals and says, "Oh. My. God. I'm going to be an aunt!"
All of the women start to scream and cry as they go over to hug Payson. Thank God they rented out a private section. Lauren turns over to Kaylie and shouts, "Kay, we're having a baby!" They both jump up and down in excitement.
Payson laughs as she catches the words that comes out of Lauren's mouth even with all the screaming, "We?" she teases.
"Well, when one of us has a baby…"Lauren trails off. "We all have a baby," Kaylie finishes off.
After their expected and necessary freak out about the news of Payson having a baby, they finally settle down and take their seats.
Payson looks over at her mother and realized she was sobbing her eyes out. She gets out of her seat and walks over to where Kim is sitting. "Mom, what's wrong?"
Kim wipes her eyes with her sleeve and smiles at Payson. "Nothing, honey. Everything is perfect. I'm just… I'm so happy for you, sweetie," she expressed.
Payson smiles back at her mother and gives her a long hug, "I hope I turn out to be the kind of mother that you are," she whispers quietly. Kim shakes her head as she looks at her daughter before saying, "You won't be. You'll be even better," she stated.
As Payson sat down at her seat, Lauren screeches and begins to speak, "We have to throw you a baby shower,"
"Definitely," Kaylie and Jordan say at the same time.
Payson watches as her friends and family start to become overly excited about the baby for the rest of dinner. She smiles as her friends fight over who would be the godmother, who gets to plan the baby shower, and who would get to help design the nursery. Seeing her friends and family like this only confirmed to Payson that, yes, everything she's been through has definitely been worth it.
Author's Note: So... it's not the next chapter of Blast to the Past, but it's something. I just had this idea in my head; I needed to get it out. I really hope you enjoyed that! I'm currently in a stage of writer's block for Blast to the Past, but this definitely helped. How did you guys think of the pairings? Lol, Rigo and Jordan? I just thought they make a lot more sense than Rigo and Payson. Lauren/Jake... I just had to. Review please!
By the way, if you have a Twitter, please sign that Twittition to try and keep MIOBI alive. I posted the link in my profile.