Beck hasn't lost any interest in girls now that Miles is around, and he continues to date. He and Jade come to the agreement, however, that they won't introduce Miles to any new partners either of them have until they know for sure that said partner will be around for a while. They also won't introduce him to anyone without the permission of the other. No girl that Beck is interested in stays around long enough to meet Miles in the first semester of their senior year though. He's not trying to be a player, even though it looks like he is, he's just trying to find some sort of connection with someone. No one that he takes out or hooks up with seems to be looking for anything serious, it's all just superficial to them. He's breaks things off with five different girls from the time Miles is born to final exam week of their first semester of school.
Jade doesn't date at all, she doesn't have time to. She's too busy going to school, and working, and taking care of Miles, and rehearsing for the winter musical. Not to mention that she doesn't really think it makes a lot of sense for her to be dating right now anyways.
"I'm a lot to handle, I realize that. And that's even before I tell anyone about Miles." Jade tells Kaitlyn one night "Besides, we're about to graduate. There's no use in trying to start a relationship with someone who isn't even going to be here in a few months anyway."
"I just don't want you to be lonely." Kaitlyn sighs
She sees how busy that Jade has been lately, trying to keep up with everything that's piled onto her plate. Her daughter had recently told her that Cat Valentine and Robbie Shapiro had started dating, and in addition to Tori and Andre going out as well, that left only Jade without a boyfriend at the moment.
"Oh, I'm not lonely." Jade assures her, picking Miles up off of his play mat and pressing a kiss to his cheek "Miles is the only guy I need in my life. Isn't that right, Little Man?"
The baby grins at his mother and coos happily as she adjusts him in her arms. He's a mama's boy for sure.
"What about me?" Tyler whines from the couch
"And you too of course, T." Jade chuckles
Miles is just newly four months old when it comes time for the performances of the winter musical. He stays with Beck those three days, even though it's technically not his weekend, so that Jade doesn't have to worry about him and can just focus on her part. Beck is happy for the extra time with Miles, he feels like every time he sees his son he's grown or reached another milestone, but for three and a half days it's just the two of them in his RV having guy time. Except for Saturday afternoon, when Beck takes Miles to school with him to see his Mommy and Aunt Cat perform in the musical.
"Do you see him yet?" Cat asks as Jade peers through the curtain
They had both gotten the roles they auditioned for, Cat as Sandy and Jade as Rizzo. Just as Cat and Tori had assured her, Jade doesn't catch any flack from her cast mates about the pregnancy scare storyline, although someone had snickered in the audience at opening night on Thursday when it came time for that particular scene. There hadn't been any issues since though.
"Yeah." Jade smiles "He's in the back with Beck and Robbie. Oh! And he's got a little dress shirt on, that's so cute!"
"Not Miles!" Cat rolls her eyes, peeking her head out from behind the curtain as well "Leonard Trumbull."
"Cat, I honestly don't know what he looks like." Jade admits "We've only ever spoken on the phone."
"He's like our parents' age." Cat tells her "Tall, dark hair...second row. Oh my god, he's in the second row!"
"It'll be fine." Jade assures her friend, pulling the curtain closed and putting on her Pink Ladies jacket "It's just another show."
"Right." Cat nods, smoothing out her skirt "Just another show."
"I'll see you out there, Sandy." Jade nudges her friend with a smile "Break a leg."
"Thanks, Rizzo." Cat winks "You too."
The show goes on with minimal issues. One of the dancers loses his shoe during Greased Lightning and Kenickie sneezes in the middle of one of his scenes, but nothing too earth-shattering or show-ending. Jade nails all of her solos and takes her bow at curtain call feeling rather confident in herself.
"There's my Little Man!" Jade grins as she walks up to Beck and Miles after the show "Hi Miles!"
"Hi Mom!" Beck picks up Miles' hand and waves to Jade as she approaches them "I got you flowers!"
"Aw, thank you Miles!" Jade grins as Beck hands the bouquet of roses over to her "Thank you, Beck."
"Don't thank me, they're from Miles."
"Right." Jade winks
She's still dressed in her costume from the final scene and curtain call, but she wanted to come out and see Miles before she changed so Beck could take him home for his nap.
"The show looked great." Beck tells her as she takes Miles out of his arms
"Yeah?" She smiles "You think so?"
"Yeah, I'm seriously impressed." Beck admits "So was Miles."
"Did you like the show Little Man?" Jade tickles the baby's tummy and kisses his cheek, leaving a bright red lipstick stain behind
"He didn't fuss once." Beck informs her "I thought for sure we'd be watching on screens in the lobby the entire time because he wouldn't be able to handle it...but he sat and was mesmerized by everything the entire time. I think we might have a little music man of our own on our hands here."
"I mean look at his parents." Jade laughs "Of course he's interested in performing."
"Of course." Beck chuckles, pulling out his phone "Do you want a picture with him?"
"Yeah duh."
She positions Miles in her arms so that there's no way he can possibly avoid looking at the camera, and tucks the roses across her front so that they're not blocking either of their faces. Beck snaps a few pictures and then an additional one of Jade kissing Miles on the cheek before showing them to her for approval.
"Oh, you're so cute." Jade tells Miles as she looks at the pictures "And so photogenic."
"Well, he is my son." Beck smirks
"And mine." Jade reminds him with a laugh
"Jadey!" Cat exclaims as she emerges out of the crowd of people in the auditorium "Leonard Trumbull wants to talk to you!"
"Who's-" Beck begins to ask, but is startled by Jade placing Miles back in his arms
"I'll explain later, hopefully." Jade tells him, kissing Miles again "I love you Little Man. Be good for Daddy tonight, okay? I'll see you tomorrow Beck."
"Right, tomorrow." Beck nods as the two girls run off
"Did he really ask for me specifically?" Jade asks Cat as the two of them weave through the crowd of people towards the backstage area
"Yes!" Cat exclaims "He came backstage looking for both of us, and I told him I would go find you and bring you back."
"Did he seem happy with the performance?"
"Hard to tell." Cat shrugs, pushing the stage door open again "They're supposed to have that neutral demeanor, ya know?"
"Right."
"Mr. Trumbull!" Cat calls out to a man in a dark suit "This is-"
"Jade West, I recognize you from your audition tape." The man extends a hand for Jade to shake "I'm Leonard Trumbull and I'm very pleased to finally meet you."
He's middle-aged, but still has a very full head of dark hair. His skin is tanned, like he just got back from a long beach vacation. His eyes seem kind but Jade doesn't want to assume so just in case he isn't.
"You as well, sir." Jade smiles, hoping that she isn't coming across as too eager
"You two should follow me." Leonard nods towards an empty dressing room "I think we have a lot to discuss."
"Everything alright?" Beck asks as he pushes the RV door open for Jade to come in "You sounded real serious on the phone."
"For now everything is." Jade nods "Hi Miles, baby!"
The baby is laying on his stomach on a blanket on the floor, playing with a stuffed animal. When he looks up and sees Jade, a huge grin spreads across his face. Usually Jade would pick him up and shower him with love right away, but she wants to talk to Beck about something important first.
"For now? What do you mean by that?"
"So, you know how Cat and I ran off real quick after the show yesterday?" Jade begins
"Yeah." Beck nods "What was that all about?"
"Leonard Trumbull wanted to talk to both of us." Jade explains "He's a recruitment scout from New York University and he flew out to see Cat and I perform yesterday. I sent them an audition tape from Legally Blonde a few months ago and Cat flew out over Thanksgiving Break to audition in person-"
"Wait, NYU?"
"Yeah." Jade nods, resisting the urge to grin endlessly with pride "Uh...there's not really an easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I want to go to school at NYU in the fall and I want Miles to come with me."
"No." Beck answers quickly
"No?"
"You're joking, right?" Beck scoffs "I'm not letting you move my son all the way to the other side of the country!"
"Beck, they're offering me a scholarship that's going to pay for ninety-five percent of my tuition." Jade informs him "I can cover the rest with my FAFSA. Not to mention that they picked me out of like five hundred different applicants."
"They picked Cat too, didn't they?"
"They did."
"Of course." Beck nods "So, the two of you take Miles and run off to New York to live out your Carrie Bradshaw fantasies and I'm stuck here paying child support for my son who I'm only going to see twice a year."
"You'll see him more than that."
"Oh, so you're going to fly him back here every other weekend to keep up with the custody agreement?"
"No." Jade sighs "We'd have to work something else out."
"I don't want to work anything else out." Beck tells her "I like it the way things are now."
"Okay, but things are going to change next year whether we want them to or not." Jade reminds him "He's going to be older and we're both going to be in school full time, probably in different places-"
"I won't be in school." Beck shakes his head
"Excuse me?"
"I'm not going to college." He tells her
"I thought you were applying to UCLA?"
"I did apply." He tells her "And I got in, but I don't want to go. I can't learn what I want to learn from sitting in lectures for fifteen hours a week. I want to learn about acting through experiences, so I'm going to work full time next year and go on as many auditions as I can. Hopefully I book something."
It won't take him that long to book something major, Jade knows that already. Beck is a phenomenal actor and someone somewhere is going to recognize that soon enough.
"Alright." Jade nods "If that's what you want, then go for it. You have my full support."
"I was going to do it with or without your support." Beck tells her "But I appreciate you giving it."
"Of course." Jade tells him "But Beck..."
"Hm?"
"I want to go to college." She reminds him "Remember when we made the decision to keep Miles, that was my one condition."
"I don't understand why you can't go to UCLA or USC or somewhere else in the area."
"I applied both of those places." Jade says, looking down at her hands "But those programs weren't very competitive...and they aren't offering me anywhere close to the benefits that NYU is. I'm trying to make the best life for myself that I can so I can take care of Miles...I think the best opportunities for both me and him are in New York..."
"I can't not see him." Beck admits, tears forming in the corners of his eyes "He's my son!"
"My whole family is still going to be here." Jade reminds him "It's not like I'm taking off and never coming back. We'll be home for all of the major holidays, and for a few weeks in the summer around his birthday. Plus you'll always be more than welcome to come out and see him whenever you want."
Beck doesn't respond to her but looks sadly at Miles, who is still happily on his play mat and completely oblivious to his parents' argument.
"It won't be forever, either." Jade adds "Just for school for those four years and then we'll come back to Los Angeles. This is where the jobs are, but New York is where I can get the tools to help me secure those jobs."
"So, when you're finally back for good, he'll be five..." Beck sighs "Four whole years of his life communicating by phone calls and FaceTime."
"Beck, you will see him." Jade says sternly "In person. I'll make sure of it."
"I can't make this decision right now." He tells her "Just...just take him home and I'll see you at school tomorrow."
Beck doesn't say a word to Jade at all the following morning when she drops Miles off with Priya, or at all during the first half of the school day.
"I told him about New York, finally." Jade sighs to Cat and Tori, picking at her salad "He didn't take it well."
"I knew he wouldn't." Tori admits "He doesn't exactly respond well when he doesn't get his way."
"Yeah, he's stubborn like that." Jade says "I just-"
"Jade?" Beck is suddenly standing next to their table "Can I borrow you for a second?"
"Sure." She nods, standing up from the table "I'll be right back, guys."
She follows Beck over to the small parking lot next to the Asphalt Cafe. Normally, he parks his truck in the student lot but he must have been running late today because it's waiting for them just a few feet away from the lunch tables. Beck pulls down the tailgate and climbs into the back and Jade does the same, dangling her legs over the back of the truck.
"What's up?" She asks him
"I thought a lot about your whole New York thing..." Beck admits "I spent most of last night trying to come up with an argument as to why he should stay here with me while you go to school, but I couldn't make it convincing enough. He can't spend the next few years of his life in that little RV."
"I can't imagine the apartment we find will be all that much bigger."
"It will be though." Beck sighs "And he'll get to go to daycare and meet other kids, not just be with my mom all day."
"Did you talk to your mom about this at all?" Jade asks him
She and Priya are only just now to a point where they are getting along, and she doesn't want to mess that up by taking her grandson away from her.
"I did, yeah." Beck nods "She told me to get my head out of my ass and think about what's best for my son."
"What do you think is best for him...?"
"Interrupting his normalcy as little as possible." Beck tells her "And normalcy for him is living with you a majority of the time. He needs consistency. Your life at school will be consistent, I have no idea what's in store for me after graduation."
"So..."
"So, accept the offer from NYU." He sighs "Take Miles with you, and do your very best so we can give our son the best life that we possibly can."
"Beck..." Jade is almost speechless "Thank you."
The two of them share a brief hug, but a meaningful one.
"You're welcome." He says to her quietly "But..."
"But what?"
"I want to work out a new custody agreement that ensures I'll still get time with him." Beck adds "I know you'd never purposely keep him from me, but we never know what the future has in store. It's better to make a plan when things are good so that we're protected in case things get bad."
"Of course." Jade nods "I'll get my dad to help us figure something out."
"Okay." Beck agrees "I, uh...I never congratulated you, by the way. On getting into the program? That's a really huge accomplishment, Jade. I'm really proud of you. I know Miles would be too if he could understand."
"Thanks, Beck." Jade smiles a bit. "I'm really excited about it."
"You should be." He tells her "You're going to do great things, Jade."
"So will you." She assures him "And when you make your first big movie, Miles and I will be the first ones in line to buy tickets."