Title: Are You Ready?
Genre: Romance and Humor
Rating: T to be safe; for some suggestive content
Pairing(s): Beck/Jade obviously; Robbie/Cat; and gang friendship
Description: Jade smiles and looks around the room that will soon be occupied with the newest member of their little family. She relaxes in her husband's embrace and says just as quietly, "I love you, too." They both stand there for a short time, letting the fact that this is their life sink in. And despite everything they've gone through for the past ten years, neither Beck nor Jade would disagree that these were the days they were most eager for./Written for Save the Bade's Silver Sixpence Challenge: Something New.
Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious. All rights belong to Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider.
Author's Note: Alright, as promised here is my Something New oneshot for Save the Bade's Silver Sixpence Challenge! I'm super excited for this one :) I hope I do the prompt justice…
"How's this, babe?"
"It's too low on the right; push it up a bit."
Beck Oliver does as he's told, gripping the bottom right-hand corner of the picture frame and tilting it. "How about now?"
Jade Oliver squints from her position on the couch. "Nope, go back down to the right."
"It was just there!" he cries desperately to his wife, flailing his hands into the air.
"But the right side is too high now!" she argues back, sitting up to take a better look.
In that moment, Robbie Shapiro walks through the front door with a trolley supporting a stack of boxes. He wheels it into the living room to Beck and Jade, and unloads the boxes in between them. "Alright, which one do you want me to open first?"
"Robbie, come look at this picture and tell Beck that the right side is too high," Jade commands of her longtime friend, who immediately obeys by scampering to her side.
He stands in the direct line of the photo, which adorns Beck and Jade from their wedding day, wiggling his nose in concentration. Finally, he comes to a conclusion, "I actually think it's perfect!"
Beck furrows his brows and shakes his head in despair, knowing the still curly-haired boy is in for a verbal beating. Robbie peers over his shoulder to receive Jade's approval, but only obtains a murderous glare. He quickly turns back to Beck and practically recites what Jade has embedded in his mind, "I'm sorry, it's too high on the right. Please fix it!" He whimpers before running back to the front door and exiting toward the moving truck.
Beck pushes the picture down not even a centimeter, allowing his wife to grin in victory. Suddenly, Cat Valentine appears from the kitchen with a glass of water in hand, humming an upbeat, unknown tune. "Here you go, Jadey!" she squeals when passing it to her best friend.
"God, Cat, you left to get this ten minutes ago. What happened?" Jade asks, taking a large gulp of the clear liquid.
Cat positions herself on the couch next to Jade, folding her hands in her lap after smoothing the edge of her sundress. "Well, the wallpaper in there has grapes on it, so I started telling them this story about how one time my brother stuffed a grape up his nose and–"
Jade places a hand on top of Cat's knee, giving it a slight pat. "Okay, baby girl, thanks for the water."
"Welcome!" the synthetically redhead beams, glad to have her best friend praise her.
The two women avert their attention to Beck, who's started unpacking the top box in the stack. He retrieves more framed pictures and holds them up to show his wife. However, she's lost interest in him and has placed the glass of water on her protruding belly.
"Cat, Cat, Cat," Jade exclaims, hitting her best friend in the side. "Look!"
The petite girl gasps in amusement as she watches the crystal balance evenly. "What if she kicks it?!"
Jade laughs whole-heartedly, causing her husband to grin lovingly. The best friends examine closely, hoping to see movement from beneath the glass. "Oh!" she exclaims, her hands flying to her ballooned baby bump and clutching it. "Oh, oh, oh!" Jade continues to say rapidly, just as large shudder erupts from within her and the glass topples over. The water spills out, causing Jade to curse under her breath.
"Jadey, not around the baby!" Cat scolds with a pout before running off to get a cloth.
Beck laughs openly, ignoring the stares from his wife, and carries on to set pictures around the room.
Jade grunts uncomfortably. "It isn't funny."
"It's a little funny, babe."
"And what's worse is that I'm so stinking big that I can barely move, meaning the water is just settling," Jade complains, writhing around on the leather cushion. "Why'd you have to knock me up?"
Beck chuckles and walks toward to his very pregnant wife. "Jade, when you're married, it isn't me knocking you up… We're starting a family."
She scoffs, about to retort with some sarcastic comment, but Cat returns with a hand towel for Jade to use. After drying off the mess her unborn daughter made, Jade suggests for Cat to go check on her overly sensitive boyfriend and to tell him to get back to work. Her best friend minds without question, skipping out of the living room and into the house's entryway.
"How are you feeling? Up to decorating at all?" Beck asks, rubbing her baby bump soothingly. "It'd get done faster if you helped."
"I hate that we waited to move at the last minute," Jade says, dodging his question. She fixes the end of her black maternity shirt and tilts her head back to rest on the couch. "And I hate being swollen."
Beck chuckles lightly, kissing her temple affectionately. "You hate a lot of things, babe."
Jade cracks a smile and playfully hits her husband in the ribs. "Touché, Oliver."
"But really, an extra pair of hands would be great. We only have maybe ten boxes left, and it's all small stuff. Weren't we planning to have it done by the time Tori and Andre fly in tonight?"
"I guess," she replies slowly. "Beck?"
"Hm?" he responds, tracing along the swell of her stomach.
Jade readjusts herself, pulling her legs up to cross them Indian style. "Don't you think everything is moving so fast?"
Beck pauses his motions, quirking an eyebrow at his wife in concern. "What do you mean?"
"Like, I mean that everything big that's supposed to happen in someone's life is hitting us all within two years! For example–" She's interrupted by her breath hitching, causing her to straighten her posture.
"Babe? You okay?" her husband questions, reaching his hand out for her to take if wanted.
She closes her eyes briefly. "Yeah, the kid is in my ribs again, dammit."
"Want me to go get the icy hot?"
"No, no, I'm okay," Jade declines his offer, releasing a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Anyway, for example, you proposed and we got married within six months; then boom, honeymoon baby. We haven't even been married a year and we've already had to set up a nursery, for crying out loud!"
Beck scoots closer to his wife, smiling at how worked up she gets over the tiniest issues. "Jade, it's not like we've been together for a short time. Yes, I agree with you that much is happening, but we've been together for ten years. We're successful, and we know and love each other, so there's nothing to be worrying about. Okay?"
Jade turns her head and looks down, avoiding any eye contact. "I guess I just hate change."
"Among many other things," he adds, intertwining their fingers loosely. "And that may be true, but honestly, you're handling everything very well. From the wedding to finding out about the baby, then making the decision to move out of that dingy, little apartment, you've been accepting of every bit of change that's come our way. Even the tiny little alterations, like changing your last name; that came with a lot of responsibility… To your driver's license, credit cards, social security, and all that jazz. And in the process of changing all that, you only threatened two people! I take that as progress of being a married woman."
"You see what I mean, though? That's so much, and now our biggest challenge is due in… Oh my God, three days!" Jade exclaims, sheer panic in her voice and eyes. "I'm not ready to be a mom!"
Beck brings her hand to his lips and kisses it gently. "Babe, you're practically a mom to Cat; you're getting worked up over nothing. Yes, it's going to be a life-changing moment, but for the better! And you can deny it all you want, but I know you are excited for her to be here."
Jade sighs exhaustedly. "Are you ready?"
"Probably not," he answers truthfully, watching as she visibly tenses. "But, I can sit here and say that I don't think I've ever been more anxious in my life. Well, except for that night ten years ago in Cat's closet when you agreed to be my girlfriend."
"Sap," she snorts, but suddenly becomes sincere. "How did I get so lucky?"
"Who's the sap now, hmm?"
"Shut up, it's the hormones," Jade argues, still allowing her husband to wrap his arm around her waist.
He grins, planting a peck straight to her lips. "Sure."
Jade plays with her wedding ring. "At least we know our daughter is gonna be one good looking kid."
And before Beck can respond, Cat bounces back into the house with Robbie in tow, both carrying the last of the moving boxes. "We're almost done, yay!"
"Alright, let's get to it then," Jade announces, pushing off Beck's knees to stand up from the couch.
But when Jade sneaks off toward the staircase, he follows her into the lavender painted nursery, where she stands in the middle of the room and just stares. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, his hands not quite reaching one another because of her size. Beck presses a kiss to her shoulder before resting his chin there, then admits in a whisper, "I love you."
Jade smiles and looks around the room that will soon be occupied with the newest member of their little family. She relaxes in her husband's embrace and says just as quietly, "I love you, too."
They both stand there for a short time, letting the fact that this is their life sink in. And despite everything they've gone through for the past ten years, neither Beck nor Jade would disagree that these were the days they were most eager for.
However, when Scarlett Elaine Oliver is born the next day, they change their minds…because with one look at their tiny baby girl, they truly know that she is the something new that's going to be the focus of their forever.
A/N: Here we go, my Something New oneshot! I hope you liked it! :) I hope Jade wasn't too OOC in this, because I was trying to make it seem that with age, marriage, and parenthood came maturity, but at the same time she's still good ole Jade.
Be looking out for my Something Borrowed oneshot, coming soon! And if you haven't read and reviewed my Something Old oneshot, please do! It's called "More Like Seven Minutes in Hell." :)
Please review! If you are a reader of Survival of the Fittest, put the phrase 'Beck's pocket!' at the end of your review for this oneshot and I'll PM you a hint for the next chapter for Survival of the Fittest! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR PMs ARE ENABLED! (If you already did so for my Something Old oneshot, you'll get ANOTHER hint by reviewing this one, too!) So, go for it!
Thanks so much for all the positive support; keep it up!
XxLadyStrengthxX