Welcome back!
Thank you very much to SMC for the review. Happy you liked the first one shot. :3
Aaaand... I will directly get into the second one:
"I'm home," Beck says as soon as he walks through the door. "Tori and Andre are with me."
Andre and Tori drove here together and met Beck outside as he got back from work. He has actually just started filming for another movie.
They come inside the apartment behind him and loose their shoes just like Beck while they hear Jade groan as if annoyed. Then she already calls out: "I'm nursing."
Tori looks at Beck who makes a gesture that they should wait a second before he himself takes a step into the living room from which her voice was coming.
"Do you want to be alone?" she hears his voice and then Jade's answer: "No, just wanted to warn Andre that he's going to see a boob."
Tori looks over to Andre who looks slightly flustered at the mention of his name and Jade's breast.
Beck is already looking out of the living room again, with a smile: "Well, you can come in then."
They go in. Jade is sitting in the corner of the corner sofa, feets up the couch, knees pulled up close to her body and the baby in her arms between her legs and her breast. She has pulled up her shirt, her bra pulled down only on one side that the baby's head covers fully.
"Hey," Tori says softly and smiling as she gets closer.
"Yeah, hey," Jade answers as she puts her legs down.
Beck is now with her, leans down and they share a short kiss before he leans down even further and kisses the baby's cheek while it's still drinking.
Then he pulls back and gives Tori and Andre room to also come closer.
Jade still isn't someone to love hugs but they don't see each other all that often – Tori hasn't seen her for almost two months now, since Melissa's birth, which hasn't been all that long for the usual time spans. But she now also kind of goes with the hugs, accepts them and gives them, even if she's sometimes pulling a face. Though rarely she still absolutely declines them as if she can't stand them. They accept that.
Now she clearly waits for it and so Tori also leans down, though she doesn't want to disturb her nursing, and they share a short one-armed hug with the baby between them.
Andre seems even more flustered but also hugs her. Then, Tori sits down next to Jade on the shorter side of the couch, Andre next to her and Beck sits down on Jade's other side.
"Everything alright?" he asks and seems worried as he watches Jade closely.
She rolls her eyes while she puts her legs back up. "I just forgot they would come today."
Tori bites her lips. Maybe, they should have texted in their group chat again, so everyone definitely would have known. But she hasn't even thought that Jade of course could have forgotten with everything else going on, with actually having a child to take care of.
"I reminded you this morning," Beck softly says, rubbing her knee and still watching her a little worried.
"I know," she replies harshly. "I'm just like... forgetting everything."
"You don't get enough sleep," Beck notices.
Jade raises her eyebrows and defends herself as if Beck said differently: "That's not my fault."
"I know," he just answers and leans forward again to kiss her again. She does kiss back.
It's the same moment the door bell rings.
Beck gets up again to get it and Jade's eyes wander back to her arms.
Tori herself catches a glimpse of Melissa. She is truly the cutest. She has only seen her twice for real, a few hours after her birth and two days later, both in the hospital, has hold her once there.
She has seen quite a few pictures though. They have that group chat and Beck seems to love posting pictures of Melissa. Mostly just of her though Tori bets he makes thousands of pics with her and Jade together and Jade just forbids him to post most of them. From time to time they get one though. And from time to time Jade also posts beautiful pictures of Beck and Melissa without any comment and they have gotten one of all of them together. Melissa has been cute on all of them. And Jade and Beck may have seemed a little exhausted if you looked close enough but also always happy in a way that seems so private.
And of coure there has been that picture on twitter that all of them have commented on, next to all the fans of Beck and Jade. Tori still can't decide though if that's a better pic than all the photos Jade and Beck themselves take.
But despite all the pictures... Tori still can't believe they actually have a child, they have to take care of a whole new human being, that they made that human being. But there it lies in Jade's arms and she looks down lovingly at it.
Apparently, Robbie and Cat are at the door. Beck tells them as well that Jade is nursing but that they can go further into the living room and that he meanwhile will catch some drinks.
Andre promptly stands up and tells them he will help Beck with the drinks and he and the others meet in the door, shortly hug each other before Andre is off to the kitchen that's in a seperate room.
Cat is totally excited to see Jade and Melissa.
She hugs Jade tightly and then already starts talking to Melissa: "Hey, Lizzy. Are you drinking? Are you hungry? You're so cute."
She barely makes room for Robbie to also hug Jade, before he also greets Tori and then sits down at the far end of the couch. She still talks a little to Melissa until Jade cuts through her with an eye roll. "You can have her in a sec."
"Really?" Cat asks happily and sits down between her and Robbie.
She nods, looking down at her daughter again: "She is about to finish up now."
Cat claps in her hands as Beck and Andre come back, both with some glasses and bottles.
"Coke?" Beck asks Jade directly after stepping next to her again where Cat has left some room for him to sit down, about to pour and she nods, before she says: "You can also give Melissa to Cat."
Cat claps excitedly again and Beck pours while Jade gently pulls her daughter away from her breast, covers it again and quietly says to her: "Come on now, Lizzy. Go to Daddy."
Beck puts the filled glass on the table in front of Jade and gives the bottle to Andre who asks around who else wants coke and pours it.
Tori also takes a coke but still watches Jade closely as she puts a kiss on the cheek of her daughter in such a sweet way... It's so weird to see her like that, to see her so soft and gentle. To see her with a child, with her child.
Beck takes the baby out of her arms.
"Hey, sweetie," he greets the little girl and puts a few kisses on her faces with a smile that's also unbelievingly loving. Then he asks: "Do you want to go to Auntie Cat? Yes, you do."
He turns to Cat and gently puts her down in her arms.
"Watch her head," Jade warns, obviously watching closely.
"I got her," Cat says happily and Beck draws back at the same moment and finally drops on the couch again, really close to Jade.
He puts his arm around her and she instantly cuddles up to him, her feet still up the couch, leaning her knees against his upper body, and lying her face in the crook of his neck, her eyes still on Melissa and Cat.
Andre also gives Beck a drink, then Becks looks around the room: "Well... So, what's new in your lives? I feel like I haven't heard anything from you since... like a month before her birth."
He indicates Melissa in Cat's arm with his head and Tori has to say: "You have a lot on your plate. Both of you."
They all know that and nobody blames Beck or Jade for not having taken any part in all their lives recently. Tori isn't sure if they ever truly will again. They have to take care of a whole other human being now after all – and that for the rest of their lives. Their friendship therefore naturally won't be the same anymore.
"Yeah, well..." Beck says, looks over to his baby again, then: "So?"
They answer him, only Cat not involved in the conversation who instead talks softly to Melissa the whole way through, makes funny faces for her which makes the little girl give smiles and small gurgling noises that somehow sound extremely happy.
Finally, she decides: "Robbie, you take her."
She's leaning forward to give her to him but Robbie doesn't seem happy with that idea: "Uhm... I'm not sure if I..."
He looks past Cat and Beck to Jade who watches them intently and Tori knows why he's getting this nervous. Jade has always frightened him and the option of holding her child while she's looking at him like that, clearly about to see every possible mistake... Tori remembers that all of them (except Cat) had been nervous that first time because Jade may have allowed them all to hold her child but she still had looked at them as if she would murder them if Melissa would cry in their arms.
But Robbie doesn't get to defend himself any longer because then, Cat has already put the baby in his arms.
He looks down at it with a soft smile. "Hey, Melissa. It's me, your Uncle Rob."
Melissa makes a noise and Cat promptly claims: "She likes you."
Robbie looks happy about that and Tori sees how Beck watches them with a smile and it's that moment that Andre asks: "How is life with her?"
"Exhausting," Jade answers without hesitation and sounds as harsh as she so often does.
Beck has a light smile on his face as he pulls Jade even closer. "It really is. But it's also amazing. And it's crazy how fast we got used to having her around and everything. I mean... A year ago she didn't even exist but I feel like I know her since forever."
"It's unbelieveable," Tori agrees. "That thought that she didn't even exist a year ago."
"It really is," Robbie confirms as he stands up with the baby in his arms. He goes over to Andre and puts Melissa in his arms. "Here, Andre. You have her."
Andre smiles brightly at the girl while Robbie sits back down. "Hey, little one. It's your Uncle Andre."
Tori shortly shoots the two of them a smile, before she turns back to Beck and Jade: "Does she sleep well?"
Jade herself looks at Melissa who possibly hasn't left her sight once since she has given her out of her arms. "She does, just not much in one go, so I sleep about an hour every now and then."
"That does sound exhausting," Robbie says and Cat asks: "But it will get better, won't it?"
"It better be," Jade directly states and now she finally looks from Melissa to Beck who returns the look and the next moment they kiss each other softly.
"Want to go to Auntie Tori?" Andre finally asks the baby and hands her over to Tori.
She feels heavy and alive and amazing in that way in her arms. It's so weird and great to actually feel her against you.
Tori looks down in her face and just then, she scrunches her nose while she tries to grab Tori's hair and Tori smiles: "She absolutely is the cutest."
"She is," Cat nods and Beck smiles before he suddenly turns to Andre as if he has just remembered: "Oh, what happened to your song by the way?"
Andre has written this song that a relatively famous singer wanted to have but only if he would change a few things which Andre hasn't been sure about.
Andre tells them what they have agreed on now and they go on talking about the music business in general when Tori notices that Melissa is about to fall asleep in her arms. She's sure the baby would sleep much better with her parents, so she stands up and is about to give her to Jade. Jade however promptly leans further into Beck and doesn't put her arms up to take the baby.
Beck looks at Tori with a smile and makes a short gesture with the arm that doesn't lie around Jade, and Tori finally puts the baby in that arm, before she sits down again and all of them continue with their conversation.
They keep on talking and talking and Tori soon realizes that Jade and Melissa have both fallen asleep in Beck's arm. That of course is a real testament of how exhausted Jade really is. Tori's sure she wouldn't have fallen asleep in front of all of them otherwise while they are all talking.
Though, Jade also isn't asleep for too long. Melissa wakes up first and she just gets a little uneasy and Beck already seems like he wants to pull out under Jade when Melissa gives a soft cry and Jade startles awake.
Robbie falls silent. He has just been in the middle of a story but now they all look to the baby as Beck truly pulls out under Jade and stands up.
"I'll go change her," he says and is already on his way out the living room.
Robbie looks after him for a second before he ends his story lamely: "Anyway... That's how that happened."
Jade has leant back into the couch, calm again, and looks at Robbie: "Are you talking about that weird pic you sent yesterday?"
Robbie has sent a picture over their group chat yesterday that had showed him in some very colorful pants and with an ukulele, without any comment. Nobody has really reacted to it – Tori has also wanted to ask him about it today.
"Um, no," Robbie says, looking flustered as if he doesn't even want to be reminded of that photo. Though he has sent it himself.
Jade raises an eyebrow but is definitely interested now: "How came that to be?"
Robbie tells the story and they are all laughing because of it when Beck comes back with Melissa.
Andre takes up on the story and starts one of his own Tori listens to while she watches Beck coming closer again and now Jade stretching her arms in his direction. He understands her without a word being exchanged and puts Melissa into her arms before he sits down right next to her again and puts his arm around her.
Jade presses herself close to Beck again with their baby in her arms but she faces Andre and listens to his story. She truly stays awake for the rest of their visit and is involved in their talk as much as always, gives her harsh comments every now and then that make the others laugh from time to time.
Beck also is like usual and Melissa falls asleep again in her mother's arms, so that nothing seems different than all their other get-togethers. Except that Tori catches Beck or Jade or both of them every now and then suddenly looking at their child and kind of getting lost in their family bliss.
It's so beautiful and somehow, Tori's also jealous. She's jealous that they have this while she doesn't even have a serious boyfriend at the moment. But she also definitely think they deserve this. They deserve to be this happy little family.
