"How are we supposed to tell them apart?" Charlotte sighs "They look the same!"
"They do a bit, don't they?" Jade chuckles "Sutton's hair is a little bit darker than Hazel's though, and their noses are shaped a little differently."
"How can you tell?"
"I just can." Jade shrugs "I'm your mom, I'd be able to tell the difference between any of you anywhere."
Charlotte and Lennon are absolutely obsessed with their new baby sisters, and Beck and Jade are enjoying it while they still can because they know eventually the obsession will turn into jealousy. But for right now, they always want to help and they always want to hold. When one of them cries, they're at their parents' side, ready to assist with whatever they're asked to.
The family of four is currently sitting on Beck and Jade's bed. Charlotte is in Jade's lap holding Hazel, and Lennon is in Beck's lap holding Sutton. The twins are three weeks old now and starting to look a bit less identical, but their older sisters still have a hard time telling them apart. Well, even Beck still has a hard time telling them apart. The only person who seems to be one hundred percent confidant in identifying them correctly one hundred percent of the time is Jade. But that's her mother's intuition and she knows that the others will pick it up with time.
"We'll keep dressing them in different colors until it's easier to tell them apart." Beck assures Charlotte "Don't worry."
"Okay."
"Alright, Dad. What do you think?" Jade sighs "Bedtime for Lennon and Charlotte?"
"I think it might be, yeah." Beck agrees "They're already up late as it is."
"Nooooo!" Lennon and Charlotte groan
"Just five more minutes with the babies?" Lennon begs "Please?"
"They're going to be here when you wake up tomorrow." Jade reminds her "And every day for the rest of your life. You'll get plenty of time with them, don't worry."
Both Beck and Jade each take the babies carefully from their daughters so that they can stand up and move off of the bed. Just as Beck is getting ready to stand up himself, his phone starts ringing on the bedside table.
"It's Mona." He says to Jade "I should take it. She wouldn't call this late if it wasn't important."
"Go ahead." Jade tells him "We'll wait for you."
"Alright." Beck nods as he stands up to leave the room, taking Sutton with him "Hey Mona."
"It's your lucky day." Jade says to Lennon and Charlotte "I think Aunt Mona just bought you guys at least an extra ten minutes of baby time."
"Just one baby though..." Lennon sighs
"Hey." Jade laughs as she rocks Hazel gently "One baby is better than no babies."
"Yeah, I guess."
Hazel is half awake and barely able to focus on anything, but her sisters still make funny faces at her and fawn over her as if she were completely awake and alert. Eventually, Beck re-enters the bedroom and puts his phone back on the bedside table.
"Everything okay?" Jade asks him
"We'll talk later." Beck tells her "But yeah. Come on ladies, bedtime."
They have to start the whole convincing process over again, reminding the two older girls that their twin sisters will still be there in the morning when they wake up and that they have all of the time in the world to spend with them. It's a team effort getting them to bed, Beck and Jade each take a baby with them and Beck helps Lennon get settled while Jade helps Charlotte. They say goodnight, and then switch rooms to say goodnight to the other. It's another half hour before they're finally able to get back to their own bedroom.
"So what did Mona want?" Jade asks her husband as she closes the door behind them "Does she have a project for you?"
"Something like that, yeah." He tells her as he sits down on the edge of the bed
"What is that supposed to mean?" She raises an eyebrow at him as she sits down next to him
"Um, well. Long story short. Another actor had a family emergency and had to pull out of this movie, and the director personally called Mona and asked for me as a replacement." Beck explains
"Who's the director?"
"Oh, just this guy." Beck shrugs "You probably haven't heard of him...Quentin Tarantino?"
"Quentin Tarantino?" Jade gasps, and has to stop herself from practically screaming "Beck? That's incredible! Oh my god! You have to take the part. You just have to."
"Okay but there's a catch..." Beck sighs
"There always is." Jade shrugs "We can handle it, what is it?"
"I would need to be in Madrid in like...two weeks." He informs her "For a few months."
"Alright, and?" Jade waits for him to say something worse "That's not that big of a deal. You've gone and shot on location before and everything was fine."
"That was when we had two kids." Beck reminds her "Now we have twice as many and half of them are less than a month old."
"Well, this is the life we signed up for, isn't it?" Jade assures him "I have both of our moms, and my step-mom, and Stephanie, and Cat, and Tori...Beck there will be so many people around who can help out if I need them to. I refuse to let you not take this part because you're worried about the kids being too much for me."
"Well, it's not just that." Beck admits "I don't want to miss them growing up. They can't even hold their heads up right now and when I get back they'll probably be able to sit up on their own."
"Well, yeah. But not much else." Jade reminds him "All babies really do for the first few months is poop and cry and eat and sleep anyways. It's when they're a few months old that they start to develop personalities and the real fun begins."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Alright, remove the kids from the equation. Hypothetically." Jade tells him, repositioning herself so she's facing him instead of just next to him "Would you take the part then?"
"Of course." Beck admits "It's Quentin Tarantino. His movies are phenomenal and almost guaranteed to make Oscar buzz."
"So do it then." Jade urges him "It's a great career move. He asked for you personally. That's a huge fucking deal."
"Are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure." Jade smiles "I promised to encourage you to follow your dreams, remember? I can't just go back on my vows now."
"Alright. I'll go call Mona." Beck smirks, leaning forward to kiss her "I love you. Thank you for always supporting me."
"Likewise, Oliver."
"Mommy! Mommy!" Charlotte exclaims as she practically climbs on top of Jade "Come play with us!"
"Charlotte Nicole!" Jade scolds her in a harsh voice "What have I said about jumping all over me when I'm holding a baby?"
"To not to..." Charlotte says quietly
Jade had been sitting on the couch in the living room, trying to feed Sutton when Charlotte had run in excitedly. It was usually how it went most days with Beck being gone. If one of the babies need her, Lennon or Charlotte want her. If Lennon or Charlotte need her, at least one of the babies is crying. It's inevitable.
"I'm sorry!" Stephanie apologizes as she rushes in after Charlotte "I told them to stay in the playroom but-"
"It's fine." Jade sighs "I'll come in with you guys as soon as I get these two down."
"Alright, sorry again." Stephanie nods, ushering Charlotte back to the playroom before "We've talked about this before, Charlotte. When Mommy has the blanket over her shoulder like that, it means she's feeding a baby and she needs her personal space."
Jade leans her head against the back of the couch and lets out a deep sigh. She loves all four of her daughters more than she imagined she could ever love anything ever, even Beck, and she wouldn't trade them for anything...but basically being a single parent to four kids under the age of six is a lot. Beck does what he can from the other side of the world. He calls almost every night before bedtime to talk to Lennon and Charlotte about their days, to talk to the babies even though they can't talk back yet, and to say goodnight. He texts Jade regularly and calls her to talk when he can. But all of that can't supplement his actually being there.
She's gotten quite good at carrying both of the twins at the same time, so Jade positions one in each arm and carries them upstairs to the nursery to put them down for their afternoon nap. Hazel and Sutton are three and a half months old now, and still look almost identical. However, Jade is noticing that Sutton's eyes are shaped and colored a bit more like her's, while Hazel's look more like Beck's do. She's thankful for any indicator, even a small one, that could help someone tell them apart. Sure, she knows which is which, she's their mom. But the others who sometimes help out, Stephanie and all three grandmothers, are still having a hard time.
"There we go..." She coos as she lays them down in their crib, which they're still sharing for the time being "Nice and comfy, nice and quiet. Feel free to sleep for a few hours, okay? Your sisters are going to try and steal me away the moment that they see me."
Jade places a kiss on each of the sleeping infants' foreheads and creeps quietly out of the room, then makes her way downstairs to the playroom to find Lennon and Charlotte. Both of them have recently retired from napping, much to Jade's dismay, and are awake all day for the most part. As inconvenient as it can be at times to have them climbing all over her when she's trying to care for one of the babies, Jade is thankful for the time that she gets to spend with her older two on their own without having to worry about one of the twins needing her.
"Hi Mom!" Lennon's eyes light up when she enters the playroom "We're playing restaurant! Do you want to order anything?"
"Sure, I'd love to!" Jade tells her as she sits down at the play table next to Stephanie "Do you guys know how to make mac and cheese?"
They play restaurant until Lennon and Charlotte grow bored of it and then switch to a game of Monopoly Junior. Jade has to bow out when the baby monitor starts making noise, signaling that Hazel and Sutton are awake and need her attention. At first the older two girls are sad to see their mother go, but their attention is quickly redirected when she brings their twin sisters down to the living room for them to interact with. Lennon sits between them on their blanket and tells them stories that she makes up herself, and Charlotte takes 'pictures' of them with her pretend camera. Stephanie helps Jade feed Lennon and Charlotte dinner so that she can feed the twins again, and then gives them baths and gets them ready for bed. Once they're sure that the older girls are down for the night Jade sends Stephanie home, assuring her that she can handle the twins on her own. As she opens the front door to make sure the nanny has gotten to her car safely, she's surprised to see Cat Valentine walking up the front steps.
"Oh hey." Jade smiles "I didn't know you were stopping by tonight."
"You're smiling..." Cat sighs "That means you don't know."
"I'm sorry?"
"Have you been online at all today?"
"No?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her "I'm almost never online these days. I'm busy raising four little versions of myself."
"So...you don't know about the pictures...?"
"What pictures, Cat?"
Cat looks around her nervously, checking for paparazzi, before urging Jade back into the house and closing the door behind her.
"Cat, what the fuck is going on?"
"Just..." Cat sighs, opening her phone and turning the screen towards Jade "Don't shoot the messenger, okay?"
It takes a moment for Jade to realize what she's looking at, but as soon as she does her heart sinks into her stomach. It's a picture of Beck out at a nightclub in Madrid, kissing another girl who isn't her. Part of her wants to think that it's a bad picture, that the man just happens to look a lot like him but isn't. But it's a clear shot, and she'd recognize the tattoo on his arm anywhere.
"Please tell me that's photoshopped." Jade begs as tears fill her eyes "Please tell me he didn't..."
"It's alright." Cat tells her as she wraps her up in a hug "Jadey, I'm here for you. Don't worry."
Cat ends up spending the night that night, staying up with Jade and trying to comfort her while she cries until she finally falls asleep just before the sun comes up. Cat talks to Stephanie when she first arrives in the morning, and advises her to call Kaitlyn or Angie for back up, and to let Jade sulk in her room for the day. Both Angie and John end up coming to help Stephanie with the kids, and Kaitlyn comes to help Cat with Jade.
Jade is absolutely devastated. Actually, she's whatever comes after devastated...she feels like she could just curl up and die. She's dedicated over half of her life to this man, fallen in love with him, married him, had four of his children...and he completely disregards that and goes and makes out with some random girl in a nightclub halfway across the world. All while she's at home taking care of his children. It seems like all she's done since Cat broke the news is cry...she didn't know it was possible to cry this much. She didn't know it was possible to feel this heartbroken.
"It's my fault..." Jade sobs "I forced him to take that part. I should have told him to stay here, then he never would have been in that situation at all."
"You can't control what he does..." Kaitlyn reminds her as she hugs her tightly "He's a big boy, he knew what he was doing."
Beck makes multiple attempts to contact Jade throughout the day, but she ignores them all. She needs her space from him right now, and she's afraid if they speak she'll end up saying something she regrets. Eventually she switches her phone over to Do Not Disturb so he gets sent straight to voicemail every time he calls. He leaves her eleven voicemails, and then he starts calling Cat.
"What do you want me to do?" Cat asks "Should I tell him to back off?"
"Do what you want." Jade shakes her head "I don't fucking care."
Cat opts not to answer Beck's call, but instead texts him and explains that Jade is upset and needs her space from him right now. After about ten minutes, Beck texts her back.
"He says he understands, but that he wants you to know he would never ever intentionally do anything to hurt you." Cat reads Jade the text "It says 'tell her that I love her more than anything else, and that I can explain the whole thing if she gives me the chance'..."
"I'll give him the chance." Jade sighs "Just not right now. I'm too devastated."
Three days later as Jade is feeding Hazel in the nursery, she hears commotion downstairs.
"Daddy!" Charlotte exclaims
"Oh fuck no..." Jade whispers to herself as she stands up from the rocking chair "He didn't."
She quickly places Hazel down in the crib next to Sutton, then grabs the baby monitor off of the changing table and makes her way downstairs. Lennon and Charlotte are climbing all over Beck as he stands in the foyer, huge grins plastered across all three of their faces. At first she thinks it's sweet, seeing how happy they are to see each other, but then she remembers how pissed she is at him and clears her throat to make her presence known.
"Hey." Beck smiles when he sees her
"Hi." She says flatly "Stephanie? Would you mind taking the girls out to the backyard to play?"
"Of course." Stephanie nods, taking the baby monitor from Jade "Come on, ladies."
"But Dad just got home!" Lennon whines
"Backyard. Now." Jade says with a harsh tone
"Alright..."
"You didn't have to send them away..." Beck sighs when the kids are out of earshot
"Yes I did."
"Why?"
"Because I have no idea how this conversation is about to go." She admits "What the fuck are you doing here anyways? You're not supposed to be back for another month."
"I came back because I knew it would be the only way you would talk to me." He tells her "So c'mon, let me have it."
"You don't even want to try to defend yourself?"
"I know this will go way better if I let you yell at me first."
As much as Jade hates to admit it, she knows he's right.
"Alright, fine." She sighs "Do you have any idea what you've put me through this week? How heartbroken and embarrassed I am? I'm here still working through all of my postpartum hormones and trying to take care of our four children by myself and all of a sudden there's pictures all over the internet of you kissing this other girl like I don't even exist. Do you have any idea how terrible that makes me feel? How embarrassed I am?"
Beck says nothing, a defeated expression on his face as he looks at her. For the first time since she met him, Jade feels like she can't read him. Is he sad? Is he angry? Is he annoyed? She doesn't know.
"You can fucking talk now."
"What I did was stupid and inconsiderate, and there hasn't been a moment that has passed since where I wish that I could go back and stop myself from kissing that girl." Beck admits with tears forming in the corners of his eyes "We had the night off from filming so I went out to a club with my co-stars and I got drunk. A lot drunker than I've been for a long time. And that girl started talking to me and well...she looked like you. And I was missing you so fucking bad that I just kissed her because I thought she was you. But she didn't kiss like you, and as soon as I realized that the woman I was kissing wasn't my wife...I pushed her off of me and I went right back to the hotel."
"Do you really expect me to buy that load of bullshit?"
"Yes!" Beck exclaims "Because it's the fucking truth! You can ask any of my co-stars who were there with me! Call the club, get the security footage! Jade, I know how much you must hate me right now, but-"
"I hate that even though I'm so fucking pissed at you and I want to hate you, I fucking can't!" Jade yells at him "I love you that fucking much! This was a bad idea, I shouldn't have even let you in here."
"I love you too, Jade!" He tells her, grabbing her hand before she can turn to go back upstairs "That's why I flew back here!"
"You flew back here because I was ignoring you." She reminds him as she pulls her hand away
"Right, and the woman that I love ignoring me because of something I did to hurt her made me feel like I wanted to die." He admits, sinking to his knees "Please, Jade. I'm sorry."
"Get up, you look pathetic."
"No." He shakes his head "I'm going to stay right here on my knees and beg for your forgiveness if that's what it takes."
"That is not what it's going to take." Jade rolls her eyes, grabbing his shirt and pulling him to his feet "Stand up."
"I love you, Jade." Beck says seriously, taking her hands "I would never intentionally hurt you and I would never lie to you about it. I was drunk and stupid and I will spend the rest of my life trying to make this up to you."
"Swear on your daughters' lives that the story that you're telling me is true."
Beck didn't think his heart could feel any heavier than it did when he first arrived, but the look in his wife's eyes tells him that he was wrong. Her eyes have always been one of his favorite things about her, he often tells her that they're so blue they make the ocean and the sky look grey. They're still the same eyes that pierced through his soul on the day that they first met, but now he sees more pain in them than he ever has. The sky in her eyes is full of storm clouds now, and that's his fault. He can't stand that it's his fault.
"I swear on their lives." He promises her, his voice catching "On their's, on mine, on my mother's...Jade, please...I love you."
"Why did it take you three days?"
"Hm?"
"Why didn't you come back here the moment you knew that I knew?"
"I knew you'd want your space."
"What about the movie?"
"What about it?"
"How'd you get out of filming?"
"I had to beg on my hands and knees, but I'm here. I have to go back tomorrow...but I'm here."
"Can I trust you to go back?"
"You can." He assures her "I would understand why you wouldn't...but I swear that you can. Please, Jade. I'm begging you. I'll get back on my knees if I have to."
"Beck, I-"
He cuts her off and takes her face in his hands, kissing her with more emotion than he probably ever has before. She's his wife. She's his everything. He can't lose her, he just can't.
"Would I kiss you like that if I wasn't being serious?" He asks her "Could I fake that?"
"I dunno...could you?"
"No." He shakes his head "No, that's real."
There's silence between them for a moment, and then Beck speaks again.
"I made a vow to love you every minute, of every day, for the rest of our lives." He reminds her "I haven't forgotten that. There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about that. I made a mistake, Jade. A stupid, irreversible mistake. But I love you, and I love our family, more than any movie. If you want me to quit and stay here, I will."
"You can't do that, it's going to ruin your career."
"It's a price I'd be willing to pay to make this up to you."
"I don't want to be responsible for that..." Jade shakes her head "I can't be responsible for that. You have to go back and finish the movie."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am." She nods "But I swear to god, Beck Oliver...if you ever pull shit like this again...that's it. There is no third chance."
"I won't need one." He promises her as he moves closer to her "Jade, I swear-"
"Just shut up and kiss me again."
"Alright."
And he does. They make out in the foyer for a few minutes, and almost consider moving upstairs to the bedroom before they remember that Lennon and Charlotte are still outside with Stephanie.
"I do love you." Jade tells him quietly "I never stopped loving you, even when I was angry at you."
"I know." Beck nods "I love you too. And I promise to never do anything to make you doubt that ever again."