It hadn't been the least bit surprising to Jade that her father selected a rather expensive restaurant to treat her to dinner at when he came into the city for work. It also hadn't been that surprising that he had sent a car to pick her up at her apartment that evening either. She assured him that she could take the subway, or even uber, like she always did when she needed to get somewhere that would be further than a twenty minute walk, but her father had insisted. So now she watches out the tinted window of the vehicle as the New York City streets pass her by, dreading the conversation that awaits her.

Every once and a while the baby twists and turns inside her, sending flutters through her abdomen that only she can still feel. Much to Beck's dismay, and Cat's on occasion, the movements still aren't strong enough to be felt on the outside. Selfishly, Jade almost enjoys that fact, at least for the time-being. It's something special between her and her child that no one else can encroach on yet, and the thought of it makes her smile as she rests a hand on her bump.

Suddenly, she feels her phone vibrate from inside her purse, and pulls it out to see a text message from Beck lighting up her screen. He wishes her good luck with her dad, knowing that the evening is going to be hard for her. She had expressed to him that she was feeling a bit anxious about sharing the news with him, simply because she has no idea how he'll react. Beck had done everything he could to reassure her that things would be fine, even going so far as offering to accompany her to dinner as it was his night off from the play. While flattered, Jade had declined, insisting that showing up with a stranger and then dropping that kind of news definitely would not be well received.

She types out a quick thank you text to Beck and hits send, just as she receives a text from her father as well. He informs her that he's going to be a few minutes late to dinner, as his negotiations meeting with his client had ran a bit long. Jade is almost relieved as the car pulls up in front of the restaurant, knowing that she now has the opportunity to position herself behind the table in a way that could potentially help her avoid an immediate confrontation.

After thanking the driver, Jade makes her way into the building and gives her name to the host, and is almost immediately shown to a table near the back. She takes a seat and positions herself in a way that she hopes conceals any signs that she's pregnant, and opens the menu to look while she waits for her father. A waiter comes over and inquires about beverages, determined to show her the wine list. Jade declines, insisting on sticking with her water. About fifteen minutes later she looks up to see her father rushing across the restaurant, a large smile spreading across his face when his eyes finally pick her out of the crowd.

"Hey, Jadey Baby." He greets her with a kiss on the cheek before sitting down across from her "Sorry I'm late."

"It's alright."

"Were you waiting long?"

"Not at all."

"Okay, good." He smiles "Good. It's great to see you."

"You too, Dad."

"No wine?" John's eyes glance around the table before looking up at his daughter

"Nah." Jade shakes her head "I'm not feeling like any tonight, and I wasn't sure what you would want."

"Not feeling any?" John scoffs "Remember, this is my treat tonight, kiddo. Go ahead, order whatever bottle you want."

"Not tonight, Dad."

The look on her face and the tone of her voice tells him that she's serious. After twenty-six years of knowing her, John West knows better than to push his daughter when she's being serious.

"Alright..." He raises his hand to grab their waiter's attention "You don't mind if I order some?"

"No, go ahead." Jade assures him

John orders a bottle of cabernet for himself, although he doesn't intend on finishing it. Normally that wouldn't be an issue because he would share it with Jade, but once again he knows better than to press her when her mind is made up. They order their meals and continue conversing about what they've missed in each other's lives since they last saw each other over the Fourth of July holiday. John tells Jade about his client's business merger that he's in town to assist on negotiations with, and Jade tells him about the different projects that she's been working on over the past few weeks. There never seems like an okay time to mention the baby, although she knows that there probably never will be, and it starts to have an impact on her mood.

"Are you alright, kid?" John asks her "You've seemed a little off tonight."

"Hm?" Jade looks up from her plate "Yeah, I'm good. I...I kinda have some news that I need to share...I'm just not sure how you're going to react so I've been trying to find the right moment..."

"Well, when you put it like that..." John sets his fork down "I guess that kind of makes right now the moment, huh? What's going on?"

She hesitates for a moment, trying to decide if she wants to come right out with it or give him a bit of context for the scenario first. Although she's been thinking about it for close to a week now, she's still not sure which would be better.

"Jade?"

"I'm pregnant, Dad."

John's expression doesn't change as the words escape her mouth, almost like it doesn't register with him. After a few moments pass though, he does realize what she's said...but it doesn't make any sense to him. She can't be pregnant, that's not right. Not Jade, she's smarter than that.

"You're..."

"Pregnant." She nods as she finishes his thought for him "Not super pregnant or anything, but pregnant enough you'd definitely be able to tell if I stand up."

John doesn't say anything, but focuses his eyes downward on the table in front of him rather than on his daughter. It's impossible for her to read his expression, which only makes her even more nervous.

"Dad?" She speaks up "Please say something..."

"I...this isn't something I ever would have expected from you, Jade."

"Dad, I-"

"You are my daughter, and I love you." John assures her "But I'm disappointed. Have you learned nothing from your mother and I?"

"It's not like I did this on purpose, Dad." Jade insists "It happened because of our own human error but we're trying our best to take it all in stride."

"We?" John raises his eyebrows "Who's the father?"

"You don't know him."

"Clearly." John scoffs "What's his name?"

"His name is Beck."

"How long have you been together?"

"We technically never were."

"Jade..."

"I know it sounds really bad, Dad." Jade admits "Really, I do. But I was hoping that of all people you and Mom would at least be able to understand just the tiniest bit-"

"Have you talked to your mother? Does she know?"

"She does...she...she was the first person I told."

"And I'm the last to know?"

"Well excuse me for being a bit afraid of how you would react." Jade sighs "You're proving my theories right, by the way."

"Well excuse me for not being over the moon that my daughter is repeating my own mistakes." John signals to the waiter "Check please."

"Can we talk about this?" Jade pleads with him "Please?"

"Not tonight, Jade." John shakes his head "Actually, I think it would be best if you just go."

"Dad..."

"You heard me."

Jade bites the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from saying anything she might regret as she grabs her purse off of the back of her chair and slings it over her shoulder. Going into the meal she knew her father would be upset by the news, but she hadn't expected him to ask her to leave. As she makes her way towards the subway station that will take her home, she has to fight not to cry...which she hadn't expected either.

The baby continues to do flips inside of her as she rides the train home, almost as if to remind her that it's still there. She caresses her bump softly as she leans her head against the window, unsure of how to really proceed from here. Surely, he just needs time to process the information...but what if he doesn't change his attitude. What if the moments leading up to her telling him were the last positive moments she would ever have with her father?

For some reason unbeknownst to her in the moment, Jade decides to get off a few subway stops early. She isn't all that familiar with this part of the East Village, but she knows enough about the area to get her where she needs to go. Before long, she's knocking on a door labeled 3-D, and Beck appears on the other side not long after.

"Hey." He looks surprised for a moment until he realizes that she's upset "Hey...it's alright. Come inside."

"I'm sorry." Jade apologizes as she steps inside his apartment "I should have texted you or called you or something...I just couldn't go home yet."

Cat had gone to dinner with Robbie, as she usually does when she has the night off from Wicked. Their apartment is most likely empty, and at the moment Jade doesn't feel like being by herself.

"It's alright." Beck assures her "I'm sorry the place isn't cleaner...I'm taking it things didn't go so great with your dad?"

Jade opens her mouth to respond to him, but she isn't able to form any words. Instead, a small squawk escapes from the back of her throat and this time...she can't fight the tears she had been holding in.

Since discovering she was pregnant she's cried countless times, sometimes even for no reason. She's chalked it up to feeling overwhelmed by the whole experience, and every so often the hormones that have made her feel a bit out of control of her own actions. These tears, however, are genuine, upset tears.

"Whoa...hey, it's alright." Beck tells her, touching her arm gently "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm sorry..." She cries

"D..don't be sorry, Jade. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be."

"C'mere..."

Beck reaches out and wraps her up in a gentle hug, careful not to squeeze her too tightly. Both he and Jade realize in that moment that it's the first time he's ever hugged her, at least in this way. He's thrown an arm around her shoulders a few times and pulled her close to him, but he's never held her like this before. He wishes it was under different circumstances. They stay like that for a few minutes as Jade catches her breath, then she steps away towards the couch.

"I'm sorry." She apologizes again "Hormones, you know? They just take over sometimes."

"You don't have to blame it on the hormones, Jade." Beck says, offering her a box of tissues before sitting down beside her on the couch "It's okay to be genuinely upset."

"I've never seen him look at me the way he did tonight." She admits "Sure, I've made choices he hasn't loved before. He's always been skeptical of the whole photography thing, but when I told him tonight he almost looked..."

Beck waits for her to finish her thought, but she doesn't. It looks almost as if she's lost in her own thoughts, unsure of where she was headed.

"He looked...?"

"He looked disgusted, Beck." She finally forces herself to say the words "I dunno, maybe I'm just being a brat but...this is the first time he's ever really been so...disappointed in me. He's always been so proud of me and so supportive in everything that I do but tonight changed that."

"Not necessarily." Beck admits "I mean...it's a lot of information to have to take in at once, especially when you're not expecting it. I know we can both relate to that feeling. Just because he seemed upset in the moment doesn't mean he won't come around. My mom was ready to bite both of our heads off when I told her, but now she's knitting baby blankets and showing the sonogram picture off at bookclub."

"Is she really?"

"According to my dad, yeah." Beck chuckles "But even though she's doing that, I bet she wishes it were under different circumstances still. I've never met your dad, I don't know him...but I wouldn't get yourself all worked up over his reaction until you give the dust some time to settle."

"You're right..." Jade nods "I'm sorry for just barging in like this and overreacting."

"Hey, no. Don't apologize." He shakes his head "You weren't overreacting. And for what it's worth...you're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you..."

"Sure." He nods "What are friends for?"

"Right." Jade smirks "I...I should go. You were probably busy."

"Nah, most Monday nights I just try to relax and mentally prepare myself for the week ahead of me." Beck chuckles "Do...are you in a rush to get home? I could walk you...if you want? It's a nice night."

Fall is rapidly approaching the city, and there probably won't be too many more 'nice' nights like this one for a while.

"Sure..." Jade shrugs as he picks her purse up off the floor "I would like that."

Of course as soon as Cat arrives home from her outing with Robbie that evening, Jade wastes no time recounting the events of the meeting with her father to her. Cat has to stop herself from smirking when Jade admits she had gone to Beck's and then he walked her home, but she supposes that it makes a bit of sense. Aside from herself, Beck is really the closest person to the situation that Jade has to lean on right now. The two women stay up later than they should, sharing a pint of ice cream as they sit on the floor in the living room.

When Jade's alarm goes off the next morning, she awakes to a missed call and several text messages from her father. He wants to know if she would be willing to meet her for breakfast and after some persuasion from Cat, she agrees. He sends her an address to a cafe in midtown and this time, she takes the subway.

John is sitting at a table outside when he sees his daughter approaching. When she left the restaurant the previous evening, he had been speaking to the waiter about the check. He had only seen her leave out of the corner of his eye, but now as he sees her walking towards the table he sees that she is in fact pregnant. She sits down across from him without saying a word, and he knows that he'll have to be the one to start the conversation if he wants one to occur.

"Good morning."

"Good morning..."

"Uh, thanks for meeting me." He tells her "I know it was very short notice."

"Sure."

"Alright, I suppose there's no point in making small talk..." John sighs "I'm sorry...for my behavior last night. I realize it was probably very hard for you to tell me...what you told me...and I shouldn't have reacted the way that I did."

Jade stares at him for a moment, unsure of how to accept his apology without justifying his behavior. She's happy that he at least realizes he had been harsh...but that can't undo his actions.

"It's been very hard for me to wrap my head around because...well as a parent you want to do everything that you can to make sure that your child turns out better than you did. I'm sure you'll come to realize that soon enough..." John continues "I took some time last night to clear my head, and to talk to your step-mother and...well I want you to know that while I'm disappointed with the situation...I'm not disappointed in you. I love you, and nothing will ever change that. I'm here for you always."

"Thank you, Dad..." Jade nods "I love you too. And I really...I would really like you to be part of the baby's life. But only if you want to be. I don't want to try to force a relationship that you don't w-"

"Of course I want to be part of it's life." John assures her "I just...I want to make sure that this is what you want and not something that you feel like you need to do because it's what your mother and I did. Parenting is hard, Jade. And co-parenting with someone you're not with has it's challenges as well."

"This is what I want." Jade tells him "I...I weighed my options, and this is what I want."

"Alright." John holds his hands up "Then I promise that'll be the last you hear from me on that."

"Thank you."

"So..." He hesitates "Tell me more about the dad...Brad, was it?"

"Beck." She corrects him "Beck Oliver. He's an actor-"

"Oh god..."

"Let me finish." Jade insists "He's an actor, and he's currently starring in a play on Broadway."

"A play or a musical?"

"A play."

"Do you need money, Jade?" John asks her "Because if you do please don't feel like you-"

"I don't need money, Dad." She assures him "I'm not hurting for business right now. I'm booked until Thanksgiving. And I know actors don't always make a ton of money...but Beck is doing alright for himself right now too. We're okay. I promise that if we weren't, I would tell you."

"I just want you to be taken care of." He tells her "And your...my grandchild."

"We're okay." Jade repeats "I promise."

She can see in his face that this is still hard for him, not only because of the situation but probably also because he's realizing that she really doesn't need him as much as she once did. Offering him a reassuring smile, she reaches across the table and squeezes his hand tightly. He rests his other hand on top of her's and smiles back.

"When are you due?"

"March." She responds, a small smile forming on her lips "There's still plenty of time."

"Not as much as you think." John smirks "It felt like time passed at light speed when your mother and I were expecting you. This little one is going to pop up on you before you know it...and completely change your life."

"I know." Jade nods "And I'm okay with that...with the baby changing my life. I mean, if I wasn't...I probably wouldn't have gone through with this."

"I suppose you're right." John agrees "You do realize this...Beck...is going to change your life too, don't you?"

"I mean, he sort of already has...hasn't he?" Jade chuckles "It takes two to make a baby, Dad."

"I realize that..." John sighs, wincing a bit with discomfort as the topic of conversation switches to his daughter's sex life "But you do realize he's cemented in your life for at least the next eighteen years now...right?"

"Well, yeah." Jade says "I'm okay, Dad. We're okay. I know...I know you're just looking out for me because you love me and because you've kinda been in this situation...but I realize what I'm agreeing to. And I'm okay with it."

"I just want you to be happy."

"I am." Jade smiles again "I promise."