Good morning Miss Mitchell! Are you busy today?
"Who's the message from, Mum?" Rosie wanted to know, seeing the way her mother's face lit up.
"Aunt Chloe?" Courtney guessed.
"No, it's just Jesse". Beca grinned, before typing out a reply.
Hey Swanson. Why, what are your plans?
"What does Jesse want?" Natalie flicked her spoon, sending droplets of milk and Beca just wiped it away.
"I don't know, Nat". She shrugged.
I was going to show you TBC and go down in the history as showing the unbreakable Beca Mitchell the only movie she'd ever like. Maybe even love.
She'd love it. Jesse knew she would. There was no one in the world that wouldn't love The Breakfast Club, accompanied by juice pouches.
I highly doubt that.
"What are we doing today?" Courtney yawned.
"Um, Jesse and the boys are going to come over".
Rosie pouted.
"Really?"
"Really really. Maybe if you guys are good I'll take you to the pool this afternoon?" she said.
What time are you coming over?
Jesse beamed, and Ben looked at him suspiciously. "Get dressed guys; we're going to visit Beca and the girls".
"What?" Ben complained.
"Be good, and we'll get ice cream for dessert", he said, and Brody grinned.
"Okay!"
"I like your shirt", Courtney said shyly to Dean, as she swung open the door. "I like Mickey, he's my favourite".
Dean grinned at her. "I got it when we went to Disney".
"You went to Disney?" her eyes grew wide.
"Haven't you been to Disney?" Jesse asked curiously, as Rosie invited them inside (glaring at Brody as she did so).
"I have", Rosie volunteered. "Aunt Chloe and Uncle Tom took me and Natalie to Disney when we went to Florida, right Mum? She's never been to Disney, either" .
"What?" if possible, Jesse's eyes would have fallen out of his head. "Beca!"
"Hi!" Brody said cheerfully, and Beca waved at him.
"You haven't been to Disneyland?" Jesse ploughed on, ignoring his son.
"No".
"Disney World?"
"No".
"What?" he exploded and Beca motioned towards the back door.
"Natalie's out the back on the trampoline, guys, if you want to go and see her? I don't really mind. Courtney, if you guys want to draw, you know where the chalk is".
Courtney led the way, the boys reluctantly following her with Rosie bringing up the rear.
"You've never been to Disneyland?"
"If you recall correctly, my parents fought every day since my sixth birthday and divorced when I was ten. We didn't exactly have a happy family".
"You were deprived! How have your children gone to Disney without you?"
"After Luke left Chloe and Tom took Aubrey, Michael, me and the girls down to Florida- that's where she's from, that's where Chloe grew up. Courtney was only four months old, Tom and Chloe took the older two one day".
"You need to go to Disney", he told her.
(Essentially, he was mapping out her life for her. First they were going to watch The Breakfast Club, and then they were going to Disneyland. Hopefully, together. He liked that girl, and there was a lot that he had to teach her.)
"One day I'll make it to Disney". She shrugged, leading him into the living room. Jesse dropped his backpack beside the couch, pulling out a DVD and two juice pouches. He tossed one to her, before opening the case and tossing that beside her.
Jesse put the DVD in the player, before settling down comfortably beside Beca.
"You have a habit of making yourself at home, you know?" she said, and Jesse just grinned at her, offering her a juice pouch.
"This is only one of the best scored movies", he said, choosing to ignore her and skipping through the first part of the movie. "It launched Simple Minds career in the US- it could have been a Billy Idol song, but he turned it down".
Beca glanced at the case, before looking at Jesse, who was still spouting trivia. "Tell me, what does Judd Nelson eat for breakfast?""
"Well, like all misunderstood rebels, he feeds on hypocrisy".
"Sure".
"And black coffee, to help with his morning dumps".
She broke into a grin. "You're an idiot".
"I'm full of fun facts- watch, watch the movie!"
Beca turned her eyes to the screen, where there was a dramatic voiceover about princesses and brains, and a guy walking along a football field. She frowned slightly, before turning her attention back to Jesse. He was mouthing along with the movie, raising his hand along with the guy on the screen.
"You're missing it!" he protested, and she snapped her head back to the television.
"Sorry". She held up her hands.
When the credits started to roll, he grinned at her with a childlike excitement.
"What did you think?"
"It was good", she told him. "I'm sure the rest of the movie is just as good".
"I knew you'd like it!" he pumped his fist into the air. "You know, one day I'm going to make you watch the full movie and I bet you'll love it. It's great, Beca, you'd love it".
"I'm sure I would".
"One day the two of us are going to sit through the whole movie".
He really liked her. Like, he would do anything to see that smile on her face. He saw a future with her, and hoped that she felt the same.
"So, you know how you agreed to another date?" Jesse said, as Beca got a loaf of bread out (she had heard two calls of 'I'm hungry' from the backyard, and upon glancing at the clock, had deemed it lunchtime).
"Yeah?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"I was thinking... do you and the girls want to go to the zoo or something? My boys love the zoo, and I was just thinking-"
"That sounds great", she told him. "The girls and I haven't been to the zoo in ages".
As Jesse opened the loaf of bread, she opened the fridge and the pantry. "What do your kids eat on sandwiches? I've got a bit of everything".
"PB and J?" he wanted to know. "It's my favourite and apparently I've passed that on to the boys".
"I should have guessed. Peanut butter and jam, juice pouches... you're a child". Grabbing the two jars, she set them down on the bench, before selecting a knife.
"What are you having?"
"Hey, I never said I didn't like PB and J!"
"Who's the child now?" he taunted, as she scooped up a chunk of peanut butter. He watched as she carefully spread it to the edge of the slice of bread, making sure that it was even. "A bit OCD there, don't you think?"
"The peanut butter has to cover the bread", she told him. "Who taught you how to make a sandwich?"
"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it!" he defended, picking up another knife and copying her actions. "I'm just observing. I think Ben's eaten a PB and J sandwich every day for seven years".
"Rosie's not too far behind. It's their favourite". Beca smiled at him and Jesse stretched to look out the window. Doing a quick headcount, he saw Brody and Courtney on the trampoline, Natalie drawing with chalk with Dean right beside her and Ben sitting on the swings.
"Um, Bec", he said. "I don't want to alarm you, but I can't see your kid".
"What? Which one?"
"Rosie, I think".
Beca poked her head out the window, scanning the yard. "Rosie Ryerson, out of the tree!" she called almost immediately.
"So you guys have a tree, too". Jesse almost laughed. "Whenever the boys get on his nerves, Ben takes a book up into the tree and just sits there. My mum was watching them and she called me up in a panic because she couldn't see Ben".
"Yeah, she's not meant to be up there- because Courtney's really accident prone and Courtney follows in her big sister's footsteps", she explained, slapping a sandwich together and setting into onto a plate.
"You're so precise", Jesse chuckled, as she spread the peanut butter to the edge of the crust.
"A guy I once dated slammed my sandwich shut because he got tired of waiting for me to spread the peanut butter", she said conversationally, as she spread jam onto the bread. "We did not last long".
Jesse chuckled and she wrinkled her nose up at him.
"It's really hot", Ben complained, as Jesse balanced six plates up and down his arms. Setting down a plate in front of each child, Beca followed with a tray of six glasses of apple juice and a sandwich each for her and Jesse.
"Mum said we could go to the pool later, remember?" Rosie eyed her mother, and Beca nodded.
"I know, I just didn't say how much later". Beca's eyes twinkled, as she bit into her sandwich.
"Mum!" Natalie protested. "It's a million degrees".
"It's not actually a million degrees", Dean corrected. "If it was we'd be dead. And we're not dead".
"Thank you, Dean", Jesse said, shooting his middle child a look. Dean looked right back, taking a bite of his sandwich.
By the time they had finished their lunch, Jesse was well and truly over hearing his children- and her children- whinge about how hot it was. He knew how warm it was, they were complaining like they were immune to the heat. So he stacked the plates, set them on the table, and turned on the hose.
"What are you doing?" Rosie said immediately.
Jesse simply adjusted the hose, before turning it onto the six kids. Rosie let out a screech and Beca laughed hysterically, as Courtney danced through the spray.
"Dad!" Ben hollered in protest, and Brody grabbed his older brother, tugging him closer to their father.
Beca stood back from the spray, watching from the back door, her heart swelling in her chest. How she had found herself that boy, she would never know. But she had, and there was something special about him.
She could get used to afternoons like that. Maybe.
"Beca, come on!" Brody called excitedly, thoroughly soaked to the bone, and she shook her head.
"No way!" she almost laughed, and Jesse felt his heart soar.
Brody grabbed her hand, and Rosie tugged her into the stream of water. Beca shrieked, and Jesse passed the hose to Courtney, running closer to Brody and Rosie.
"Oh my God!" she hollered, as the cold water hit her skin. Jesse grabbed her around the waist, preparing to lift her into the air, but upon feeling her tense, moved his hands. She squirmed from the grip of her eldest child, as Dean leapt onto his back.
(Moving to Barden, Georgia, was the best decision he had ever made.)
"You're going on another date?" Benji grinned, as Jesse sliced up the slab of lasagne he had made. "Oh, we are so coming".
"This is not a group thing, you are not invited. You are not coming, and that's final". Jesse, spatula in hand, crossed his arms.
"Uncle Benji, are you comin' to the zoo?" Brody said cheerfully, stretching up to set the cutlery on the table.
"I sure am bud!"
"Good!"
Jesse frowned. Well shit.
"No!" Beca snapped, crossing her arms. "You aren't invited!"
"When have we ever needed an invite?" Michael scoffed. "We'll be there, Rebeca".
She glared at the use of her full name, and the persistence of her older brother. "You're the worst person in the world".
"I'm just looking out for you!"
"I don't need you to! I'm a big girl now, Michael".
"You could still sit in a booster seat", Fat Amy piped up, and the siblings turned to her.
"Do not bring my height into this", Beca glared.
"Aunt Chloe", Natalie said cheerfully, strolling into the room wearing her pyjamas. "You're gonna come to the zoo, right?"
"Of course I will! We're all coming", Chloe assured the little girl, lifting Natalie into her lap and brushing her damp hair back.
Beca glared, frowning. Well shit.
