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Chapter VII

It Had to Be You

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As soon as the doorbell of the Oliver home rings, Finn takes off to go answer it. A quick look out the side window tells him it's okay to open the door, so the six-year-old does to let his aunt and uncle in. "Hi!" He jumps into Andre's arms and leans over to kiss Tori's cheek. "Mama said you guys went to the beach after your wedding!"

"We did!" Tori says, closing the door behind her.

"It was awesome." Andre carries him into the kitchen area, where Ezra is still eating and Jade is washing a few dishes. She waves to them and continues on with cleaning. "We've got tons of pictures to show you, too."

Finn smiles happily at this and returns to the table to finish his dinner. His father enters the room shortly after and greets his longtime friends. "Alright, the boys are bathed and ready for bed. Finn can go down in a about an hour; 8ish, probably, and Ezra by 7:30."

"Mama, all gone!" Ezra exclaims from his high chair.

"Good job, buddy," Jade replies to him, and grabs a wet paper towel to clean the toddler's face.

"Here, I've got this." Tori holds her hand out for the towel and Jade gives it to her gratefully. "You go get dressed."

Jade does as her friend suggests and heads into the bedroom to finish getting dressed. She's still curious as to where Beck is taking her tonight, but her boyfriend has kept a firm stance that he wants to surprise her. While she flits around the bathroom, trying to decide what to wear and simultaneously trying to figure out what Beck could have in mind, the rest of her family is still in the living area. Beck finishes cleaning the kitchen, and Finn hops over to the couch to finish the movie he and Ezra had started earlier. Tori lifts the younger boy out of his high chair and he squirms to also get to the TV, so she places him on the couch next to his brother.

"Sick pajamas," Andre comments, once he notices that the boys are wearing matching pj's with bears on them. He joins his nephews on the couch so that Beck gets his chance to go finish packing up a few things for the date tonight. After fifteen minutes of Beck and Jade being gone from the living room—but still inside the house—Ezra picks up on the fact that they're not around. He stands up and looks for them in the room, and within seconds he bursts into tears.

Tori turns towards him immediately and looks at Finn to see if he knows why he's crying. "What's the matter?" She asks, pulling the toddler into her lap. Ezra is trying to speak, but Tori can't understand what he's saying through his tears.

Finally, Finn picks up on what his little brother is sobbing about. "He's saying he wants to give Mama a hug. I think he thinks they already left."

"Oh, buddy, it's okay!" Tori reassures him, and hugs him tightly. "Your mama and daddy haven't left yet! They're still here!" Unfortunately, her words do little to nothing to calm him down.

A few seconds later, though, a clanking of heels through the hallway alerts them to the fact that Jade is coming. The moment she appears in the room, Ezra looks up and reaches for her. "Hey," Jade says in a soft, sweet voice as she lifts him into her arms. "I'm right here, baby." Ezra rests his head on her shoulder and holds onto her as his heavy, short breaths turn into calmer, slower ones. "Mama wouldn't leave without giving you your hug." Jade kisses his head.

Beck comes back in, then, and asks if everything is okay. "Yep," Andre answers. "He just wanted Jade." He looks back and forth between Beck, Jade, and Finn. "Is he…gonna cry the whole time y'all are gone?" The look on his face is enough to make Beck laugh.

"No, he'll be fine," he promises. "He has a hard time with any separation from her, but once we're gone he'll be okay."

"He usually cries when Mama leaves," Finn adds. "He doesn't like it."

Meanwhile, Ezra has calmed in his mother's arms and Jade is talking to him softly. "You're going to have so much fun with Finn and Uncle Andre and Aunt Tori. Mama and Daddy will be here when you wake up in the morning, okay?"

Beck puts his arm around Jade and kisses Ezra's forehead. "Buddy, do you want to finish watching Toy Story?"

"Uh-huh," he says, but he doesn't move from where he's laying on Jade's chest. Jade walks over to the couch and sits next to Tori, and slowly she pulls Ezra off of her lap and places him into Tori's. She sits there with them for a few minutes, while Beck loads up the truck, until the toddler is distracted enough by the movie. Jade kisses both boys quickly, mouths a quiet thank you to Tori and Andre, and then gets up to join her boyfriend out in the driveway.

"Hi," Beck says as he opens the passenger side door for her. "You look amazing." He kisses her and shuts the door so that he can walk around to sit in the driver's seat.

"Are you going to finally tell me where we're going?"

He grins. "No."

"I hate surprises."

"I know."

"Beck."

"Jade, trust me."

She sighs and settles for holding his hand across the middle of the front seat. They ride in a comfortable silence until Beck drives the truck into a grassy area and parks it.

"Beck Oliver, did you plan a picnic?"

"I told you you'd like it." He unloads the basket he had prepared and opens the door to let Jade out. The area is clear of any other people, as it's a spot the two of them had discovered one Saturday while taking the boys on a hike.

They sit down on the blanket together and Beck places the basket between them. He pulls out an expensive bottle of red wine, followed by a dinner he had picked up from her favorite restaurant. "You went all out tonight, huh?" Jade places his hand over his and leans over to kiss him. "I love it." Beck smiles and pours each of them a glass of wine while Jade prepares both of their plates.

They eat and talk for over an hour before putting everything back in the basket. Beck's nerves are eating him alive, but he's more excited than he's ever been in his life. The velvet box burns in his pocket, but he doesn't feel right about saying what he's planned while they're sitting down. He needs to walk around, he thinks, and get some of his nerves out. "Want to go for a walk?"

They get up together and Jade kicks her heels off to walk more easily in the grass. Beck takes her hand and she intertwines their arms and rests her head on his shoulder. They walk until they eventually come to clearing, where the moon can be seen clearly through the absence of so many trees. By this point, Jade has a feeling of what he's up to and she feels like she's either going to cry or throw up. She doesn't know how she hadn't guessed it until now, and her heart is beating so hard that she's sure he can hear it. Before she can say or do anything, Beck's voice interrupts the silence.

"I know I was supposed to wait to fall in love with you," he says, and her head is still on his shoulder so that she doesn't have to look at him. Jade knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that, if she watched him say these words, the tears she's trying so hard to hold in will fall. "I was supposed to date you for a few years," Beck continues, "to be absolutely sure that you were the right one for me, and for the boys."

Beck turns her body so that she's facing him, and he holds her face in his hands so she isn't tempted to shy away. "I know you think I'm cheesy," he says, and he's grinning big enough to get a smile out of Jade, "but I really just couldn't help falling in love with you." He resists the urge to kiss her right at that moment, instead continuing on with the words he knows he needs to tell her. "And my boys fell in love with you almost as fast as I did. Hell, I think Ezra would be proposing to you any day now if I weren't doing this tonight."

She laughs at this, and ignores the fact that her eyes fill up with tears. He just admitted that he's going to propose, which would officially make her not only a wife but also a mother. It would make her a member of the Oliver family for the rest of her life, and it would give her more and more chances every day to give Beck and his sons the love they deserve. When the first tear falls from her eye, Beck wipes it gently with his thumb.

"If someone would have told me a year ago that I was going to meet a woman who loved me, Finn, and Ezra—right where we're at—I wouldn't have believed them. But here you are." Beck takes a deep breath and squeezes her hands. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life. I love you, Jade, like I have never loved another woman. And I'm not just doing this because I'll be making myself the happiest guy in the world; I've got two other guys who I know want to see you every day just as much as I do."

Jade has let go of his hands to wipe her tears, and when he drops to one knee, she has to close her eyes to remind herself that this is, in fact, happening. Beck opens the box in front of her and she sees his mother's gorgeous antique engagement ring. "Jade, will you marry me?"

She nods her head wordlessly and he slips the ring onto her finger. When he stands up, he pulls her in to kiss her and they're both smiling and he wipes her tears again. Beck carries her, bridal style, back to the picnic blanket, and they continue their celebratory make-out session. They end up making love right there on the blanket (they're thankful it's a private spot—and that it's dark). They laugh hysterically when they accidentally roll off into the grass, and decide together that it's worth it for whatever weird marks or burns they'll have from it tomorrow.

When they finish, she's lying on top of him and they're grinning as if they don't have a worry in the world. Right now, after all, they don't. "I love you," Jade says, and Beck starts laughing again. "You're supposed to say 'I love you too'."

He's still laughing. "You have grass all over your hair. It's everywhere."

"Yours doesn't look any better." Jade is laughing too, now, and she leans down to kiss him. "How are we explaining this to Tori and Andre?"

He grins. "I'll tell them I just have a really kinky fiancé...and that we tried to re-enact the Lion King." His lie causes Jade to burst into laughter all over again.

"The sad thing is that I think we've seen it enough times that we could actually do that."

"We kinda just did," Beck replies. "And we're kinda about to do it again." Jade shrieks when he spontaneously rolls them so that he's hovering over her, and they realize that they're probably going to have twice the amount of grass stains by the time they actually make it home.

The next morning, both of them are exhausted. They've only been sleeping for four hours when Finn comes to the bedroom at 7:30 and jumps onto the bed. "Good morning!"

Beck opens his eyes lazily. "Hey, buddy. How'd you sleep?"

"Good," he answers plainly, and at this point Jade is stirring in her fiancé's arms. "Morning, Mama," Finn giggles.

"Morning, squirm." She yawns. "What do you say you get under these covers with us and we all close our eyes for a few minutes until Ezra wakes up?"

"Okay." Finn does as he suggests, happily crawling between the two of them to lie down. Beck and Jade get about ten more minutes of silence until they hear the almost two-year-old on the baby monitor. Jade rolls out of bed, somehow finding the energy to walk into Ezra's room, and picks her younger son out of his crib.

"Mama, I out!"

Jade smiles at the toddler and gives him multiple kisses on his face before carrying him back to the master bedroom. When she gets into bed, Beck watches as she catches a glimpse of her left hand. He leans over to kiss her and Ezra, and then uses pillows to prop himself up against the headboard. "So, Finn," he says, eyeing his six-year-old.

"Yeah?"

"Mama and I have some pretty exciting news."

"What is it?"

Beck grins. "Remember what you asked me at Uncle Andre and Aunt Tori's wedding? About if I was ever going to get married?" Jade furrows her eyebrows; this is news to her.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I am."

Finn's eyes widen and he sits up to stare at his dad. "Wait, really?"

"Yep."

"You and Mama are getting married?"

"We are. I asked her last night and she said yes."

"Oh my gosh." Finn launches himself into Beck's arms and Jade smiles. "Thank you, Dad." Beck holds his son tightly and barely gets a word in before Finn has popped back up for more questions. This time, he faces Jade. "Mama, this means you get to live with us! All the time! Did Dad tell you that?"

Jade feigns surprise to please the six-year-old. "He didn't tell me that! So, I can live here?"

"Yes!" He explains happily. "You can move in today!" Beck laughs and Jade leans over to kiss Finn's forehead.

"That sounds great, buddy."

The next day is Friday, and everyone in Breckenridge is gearing up for the Blue Moon Festival. Beck is returning to work from a lunch break with Jade and Ezra when he notices a manila envelope on his desk. Curiously, he opens the large letter to pull out a multi-page document. His eyes do a quick scan over the words and his stomach drops. Without giving it a second thought, Beck grabs his cell phone and calls his ex-wife. She picks up on the third ring. "Leslie, what the hell are you doing?"

"Hi, Beck. I miss you, too."

"I don't miss you. Why is there a letter on my desk from your lawyer saying that you want visitation time?"

"I told you I wanted to see my sons," she replies simply, and Beck is fuming. "You were the one who decided to make it difficult by telling me no, so I had to go over your head and to the court."

"You're not going to win this one. You were an awful mother to Finn and Ezra when you were around, and none of us want you back now."

"I'm sure you'll get over it. Look at it this way; if I get to keep Finn and Ezra, say, on the weekends, that will give you more time to play with your little girlfriend."

Beck doesn't bother correcting her with Jade's new title; he's too frustrated. "It says here on this page that they'll be conducting interviews with family members and friends. I'm sure the lawyers will love it when Finn tells them how you took him out of a church against his will. And don't forget about the fact that nearly every person in this town knows how you treated the boys and me. Give it up, Leslie."

"I'm their mother," she persists. "I'm going to have time with them."

Beck hangs up the phone and runs a nervous hand through his hair. He knows Jade has a shoot right now and he doesn't want to disturb it, but he eventually finds himself desperate for the comfort that only one person in the world can provide him with. She picks up and he lets out a long breath. "Hi."

"What's wrong?" He knew she would instantly pick up on his tone.

"Are you done with your shoot? I don't want to get in the way."

"You're not," she promises. "We're taking a break for an outfit change, and Ezra just went down for his nap. What's going on?"

Beck sighs. "I would rather tell you the details in person, but... Leslie went to the court. She wants to fight for joint custody, or at least visitation time."

"Wait, seriously?" A shiver goes down Jade's spine and she feels the uninvited anger in her bones. "Is she insane?"

"She must be. I'm so sorry, Jade."

"Don't be sorry," she orders. "We can get through this. I'll see you at home in a few hours, and we can talk more about it."

"Okay."

"Beck?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me you won't dwell on this for the rest of the day." He doesn't respond, and Jade wishes she could be there to hug him. "You are the best dad in this town, and everyone knows that. Leslie isn't going to get shit. Don't let her ruin your day."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay."

Later that evening, once the boys are tucked into bed (earlier than usual, since they'll have a long day at the festival tomorrow), Beck and Jade sit on the couch together. "We have to get interviewed," he says finally.

"Interviewed? By who?"

"The case social worker. They want to assess our relationship and 'family life balance', whatever that means. We have to take the boys, too."

"Okay, well it could be worse," Jade points out. "Besides, you're good at talking to people." He nods his head, but he still seems like he's in a daze. "Beck, look at me." He does as she asks, and she can see the worry in his face. "She's not going to get visitation rights," she says, seemingly reading his mind.

"She can't."

"There are at least two people who love Finn and Ezra more than Leslie ever has—and both of them are sitting in this room. They wouldn't choose her over us."

Beck rubs her thigh, as Jade's legs are strewn across his lap, and leans in for a kiss. "You're right."

She grins. "I'm always right."

"True. What time do you have to be at the festival tomorrow?"

"Early. They want pictures before everyone gets there, too, so I'll probably go around eleven." She's absentmindedly playing with his hair, which he loves and will never call her on. "And Finn said on the way home from school that he wants to come with me."

"Why am I not surprised? How about this: we all go early so you can get your shots; then, we have lunch together at Blue Moose and head back over to the festival?"

"Okay." She rests her head on his shoulder and Beck drops a kiss to her hair. "You know what's crazy?"

"Hmm?"

"Around this time, last year, I was meeting the boys for the first time." Beck smiles and holds her tighter.

"And now you're their mom," he adds. "And we're getting married. When are you moving in, by the way?" He's half-kidding, because she's practically lived with them for several months now, but another part of him is eager to get her officially moved into the house.

"We could start on Sunday," she suggests. "Veronica has already found a new roommate...some friend she met at work. She's basically just been waiting for me to move out."

Beck laughs. "Sunday sounds perfect."

The next morning goes just as they had planned. The boys are ecstatic about getting to go to the festival early, and they eat lunch with Tori and Andre before all walking back over to the town square. Beck and Jade had decided to bring the stroller, since Ezra is missing his nap for the day and will probably need somewhere to sleep. So far, though, both of their sons are energized as ever about being at the Blue Moon Festival.

Over the course of the next hour, they play games, do some rides, and say hi to family and friends. Beck isn't shy about telling people about the engagement, and there isn't a single person who isn't happy for them. Carole Oliver has also told everyone she knows how excited she is for her son and future daughter-in-law, making the ring on Jade's finger the biggest piece of news all day.

When Finn decides he has to go to the bathroom, Beck walks him into town, leaving Jade and Ezra to explore the petting zoo. The toddler is giggling wildly as he plays with the bunnies, and Jade is snapping tons of adorable pictures. "Ezra," she says, to get his attention, "show Mama the bunny!" He's crouched down, with a loose grip on the animal, and grins as Jade captures more of the cuteness. She checks out the photos she's just taken, and when she looks up her heart stops.

Leslie has appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and is bending over to ruffle Ezra's hair. "Get away from him." Jade's voice is sharp and unforgiving, and she instantly moves to pick him up.

"Mama, I see ducks!" Ezra points to the little animals behind them, but Jade's only response is to rub his back protectively.

"Calm down, crazy." Leslie stands up and fixes her curls. "I just want to see my son."

"Right. He calls me mama and he's your son. Remind me how that works again."

"Go ahead and keep on playing house. Beck will get tired of you, just like he did of me. It's what he does."

Jade scoffs. "He got tired of you because you couldn't handle your liquor and you were a terrible mother. And don't forget, Leslie, that you left him. You were the one who chose not to be in their lives."

"That was the past. Once the courts see how much better I'm doing, they'll know I deserve time with the boys. And then, Beck will realize he's still in love with me, and you'll be nothing but a fling."

"You really are crazy, aren't you?" Jade shakes her head. "I don't know what your angle is, but—"

"You know, I might be crazy. But at least I wasn't cowardly enough to get an abortion." Jade's face turns a ghostly white and she thinks for a second that she might drop Ezra. "You're probably wondering how I found out. Not everyone in this town is your biggest fan, you know." Seeing how there's only one person in the world that knows about this, Jade knows exactly who told her. What she can't figure out is how she would have found him—or why she cares so much.

"That's none of your business."

"Oh, but isn't it your fiancé's? It seems kind of weird, doesn't it? You get an abortion in college, but a few years down the road you suddenly want to be a mother to a kid the same age as the one you could have had."

Jade is eternally grateful that no one else is around at the moment. "Beck knows," she lies. She'd been terrified to tell him, and the time was never right. Now, though, this piece of information is like a ticking bomb.

"Really? And he was okay with it?" Leslie knows she's lying. "Because both times I got pregnant, I begged him to let me get an abortion. He insisted that we keep them, though, because he was so sure he wanted them."

Jade is shaking now, and all she can think is that she needs to get back to Beck as soon as possible. "Stay away from me. Stay away from me, and Beck, and the boys. You have no right to be here."

Leslie grins. Knowing that she has intimidated Beck's fiancé gives her a power high that she hasn't felt in too long. "I'll see you in court," she says, and leaves before Jade does.

Jade is still shaking as she exits the petting zoo. She spots Beck and Finn coming back from the bathroom and Beck notices right away that something is off about her.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?" He lifts Finn off of where he's sitting on his shoulders and holds his son's hand instead.

"Leslie's here," she explains nervously. Jade is not about to tell him what their conversation was about—not here, in public—and instead settles for letting him hug her.

While Ezra is completely oblivious, Finn notices the tension as he looks up at his parents. "Mama, what's wrong?"

Beck bends down to be at his son's level and puts his hands gently on Finn's arms. "Buddy, everything is going to be okay. You know Leslie?" Finn nods. "She decided to come to the festival. But it's okay, because you're always going to stay with Mama and me. I need you to do me a few things; can you?" He nods again and Beck smiles reassuringly. "I need you to keep close to us for the rest of the day. No running off, okay?"

"Okay."

"And second, if you see her, will you tell one of us?" He nods, and Beck pulls him in for a hug. "Good. It'll be okay. Mama and I aren't going to let her be mean to you again. I promise." When he stands back up, Finn takes Beck's hand and Beck takes Jade's and they start walking towards the Ferris wheel, which the six-year-old had requested they do. Jade tries to brush off Leslie's words, but on the inside she's still panicking.

What if Beck hates her for what she did? What if he thinks she's an unfit mother because she didn't want kids before meeting him and his? What if he calls off the engagement, and she has to be separated from him and the boys? Just that thought is enough to make her want to vomit, so she tries desperately not to think about it.

"Babe," Beck shakes her from her intrusive thoughts. They're about to get into their cart on the ferris wheel and she's still paler than usual. "Stop worrying. I'm not leaving your side for the rest of the day. She won't come back."

Jade nods and enters the blue cart along with her fiancé and sons. She sits on one side with Ezra while Beck and Finn sit across from them, and the boys are instantly enthralled. Beck reaches across the small in-between space to hold Jade's hand in her lap, and her mind starts racing again with how she's going to tell him.

After the ferris wheel, Finn and Ezra decide they want their faces painted. Finn gets his like a shark and Ezra picks a bear, and the way they get so excited puts a smile on Jade's face that makes Beck a lot less worried about her. As Jade does her job in taking plenty of pictures, the family of four makes their way around every part of the festival. Beck is on high alert for Leslie, so he spots her before anyone when she approaches them at the ring toss game.

Beck grabs onto Finn, who had been just getting ready to play, and pulls him back to be close. "Hi, Finn," Leslie says cheerily, and the six-year-old stares at her blankly. Jade takes the little boy's hand and prays that Beck's ex-wife doesn't mention anything about their conversation at the petting zoo. "I got an extra cotton candy, and I wanted to see if you'd like it."

"Leslie," Beck starts, but the blonde interrupts him.

"I was talking to my son." Beck rolls his eyes and keeps his arms wrapped tightly around the little boy. "So, Finn, what do you say?"

"Cotton candy makes my stomach hurt."

"Aw, I'm sure you could have just one piece," Leslie insists.

"He can't." Jade's tone is sharp as she glares at the other woman.

Leslie shrugs and bends down to be at Finn's level. "Your dad's girlfriend is no fun. Let me know when you get tired of her." She winks at Jade, and then looks at Beck. "You too, doll." With that, she spins on her heel and exits the festival.

Jade and Beck are livid and Finn seems annoyed. By the end of the festival, everyone is tired and they're glad to finally be back home. The boys are put to bed early, as the day had exhausted both of them, and Beck and Jade go to the master bedroom to start their nighttime routine.

Beck can tell that his fiancé is still irked, but he can only assume it's from Leslie's multiple appearances today. When she comes back into the bedroom after a shower, though, he notices that her face is red and her eyes are a bit swollen. "Jade," he says, and catches her arm as she tries to turn away from him.

"I'm fine," she snaps, but her voice cracks and makes her sound about as weak as she feels. She pulls her arm away and moves to the dresser, where she has a drawer in which she keeps some pajamas and lingerie. Beck waits until she's dressed and peeling back the covers to get in bed until trying to get through to her again. He knows that, when she doesn't want to communicate, it's most likely going to be a struggle.

"Jade," he says softly, and sets his palm on her shoulder.

"I don't want to talk about it." She's turned on her side to face away from him, but he's far from giving up.

"Did Leslie say something to you? Because if she did, babe, you can't let her get in your head. She's out of her mind; you know that." Jade doesn't say anything, and, much to her chagrin, her eyes again fill with tears. It takes ten long minutes before she shifts her body to face his.

"I have to tell you something."


Title is a song by Frank Sinatra.

Thoughts?