"I'm home!" Cat announces, shrugging her backpack off of her shoulders as soon as she's entered the apartment

It's Sunday afternoon and she's just arrived home from a matinee performance. Despite it being only a one show day she's exhausted, and wants nothing more than to shower off the hairspray and the last of the show makeup still clinging to the pores on her face.

"Hi." Jade calls out from her bedroom "How was the show?"

"You ask me that every time I come home and every time I give you the same answer..." Cat sighs "It was average."

It's becoming quite clear to everyone around her that Cat is starting to grow bored with Wicked, which Jade finds a bit sad because she remembers how excited she had been when she first booked it. The part had fallen into her lap after she lost her spot in the company of Kinky Boots when the show closed. Cat, and Jade alike, had adored the show for as long as she could remember, and the chance to play even the smallest part in it felt like a dream come true. After so much time though, and the whole debacle with never receiving the opportunity to audition for the Elphaba understudy, Jade supposes she understands Cat's frustration.

"I'm sorry." Jade offers Cat a sympathetic look as she enters into the living room from her bedroom "I wish there was something I could do."

"I know..." Cat nods "How's baby?"

"Baby is good." Jade assures her, careful not to use any pronouns "Not much has changed in the five hours that you were gone."

She and Beck had found out the baby's gender at her twenty-week appointment just a few days prior on that Friday. Despite being excited to finally know, they opted to wait a few days before sharing the news with their friends and family. It was something special that they could keep between the two of them, even if it was only for a few short days. Beck had told his parents that morning, they had plans to tell Jade's friends later in the evening when they were all together. She would find some time in the upcoming week to call both sets of her parents and share the news with them as well.

"Hi baby." Cat leans down so that she's eye-level with Cat's belly "I missed you!"

"If you get a response, let me know." Jade chuckles

"I mean if anyone could tell if there was a response, it would be you." Cat reminds her "You're the only one who can feel anything."

"For now."

"Right 'for now', yeah, yeah, yeah." Cat rolls her eyes "What time are people coming over?"

Things had been rather busy for both Andre and Robbie at work as of late and with Cat and Beck on Broadway schedules, and Jade on a schedule all her own, it had been a while since they had all been together in one place. They had discussed getting together to do something, and all agreed that something low-key would be the best option. Since Cat and Jade had the biggest apartment, the boys would be coming over for pizza in just a few hours.

"Six." Jade reminds her "We talked about it before you left, remember?"

"Right, yeah. Sorry."

"Andre texted and asked if he could bring the girl he's been seeing." Jade informs Cat with a smirk

"What'd you tell him?"

"I told him yes." She shrugs "If she's willing to meet everyone at once, who am I to try and stop her?"

"I hope she's nice." Cat admits "Remember the last one? She wasn't nice."

"Yeah well, that's why she didn't last that long." Jade chuckles "Hurry up and shower. With as long as you take, you need to get going or there might be people here before you're done."

As Jade had predicted, it's close to an hour and a half before Cat has showered, gotten dressed, and done her hair. She only has about twenty minutes to spare before Robbie arrives, and Beck comes not long after.

"Hey." He greets when Jade opens the door "How ya feelin' today?"

"A little pregnant."

"Oh really?" Beck laughs as he steps inside the apartment "I'm sorry."

"S'alright." Jade smirks

"Hey, little one." Beck leans down closer to her abdomen "It's Dad again. I hope everything's alright in there."

"Everything is fine." Jade assures him "We're good."

"Good." He smiles

Less than five minutes after Beck arrives, Andre does too...along with the new girlfriend he had been telling everyone so much about. She's interning with one of the music producers at the record label Andre works for, and apparently they had hit it off right away. She's also from Los Angeles, like Andre and Cat, but hadn't gone to school with them. She and Andre had never even met until a few months ago.

"Everybody, this is Tori Vega." Andre says proudly "Tori, this is Cat, Robbie, Jade, and Beck."

"Hi!" Tori waves "It's great to finally get to meet you all."

"You too, Tori!" Cat smiles

Much to Cat and Jade's relief, Tori seems nice enough. She had originally gone to school to be a music teacher, but soon realized she was more interested in making it than teaching it. She's taking a few classes at Columbia and interning with Andre's label in hopes of somehow breaking into the industry.

"I'm not entirely sure I want to be a singer." Tori explains "But I want to do something. I dunno, the whole production aspect of things is super intriguing to me."

"It for sure is." Cat agrees "Andre has a real gift for it too. Some of the stuff he's done has absolutely blown my mind."

"I've heard some of it." Tori nods "But hey, your vocals are what give him something to work with! Is it true you're on Broadway?"

"Depends on how you would define 'on broadway'." Cat shrugs "I'm in a broadway production, yes...but I don't have a part with a name or anything. I'm just part of the ensemble for now."

"For now?"

"I'm thinking about quitting." Cat admits

This earns gasps from the other four individuals in the room, Jade included. Everyone was aware Cat wasn't enjoying the show as much as she once was, but they didn't think things were bad enough for her to consider giving it up. At least not without another option anyway, Cat is much to stubborn for that.

"Are you sure, babe?" Robbie asks, scooting closer to her on the couch "I mean I know things aren't super ideal or anything but..."

"The experience isn't worth the pay I'm getting at this point..." Cat sighs "This is one of those situations where I guess I'm going to have to be an adult and look at the bigger picture. I suppose I'd rather just do one thing that I'm kind of indifferent towards than do two things that I really don't enjoy. Either I keep this up and find a part-time job, or I quit and find something more reasonable."

"You should quit." Jade and Robbie both mumble in unison

"Thanks you two."

"I know it's not really my place to say anything because we haven't known each other that long, but I do agree with them..." Beck admits "Even in the few months that I've known you, you seem to have grown less and less happy with the whole expereince as time has gone on. However! I think I might be able to help..."

"You do?" Cat raises an eyebrow at him

"Wait." Jade matches her roommate's expression "You do?"

"I know you're more into the musical part of musical theater than the theater part but...would you ever consider taking a bigger role if given the opportunity?" Beck asks her

"I think it would depend on the role..." Cat admits "Why? Have you heard something?"

"So, everybody in theater talks to everybody, right?" Beck says "I've heard some rumblings that they might be reviving Mamma Mia...and from the way that I've heard you and Jade talk about those movies I-"

"Stop." Jade cuts him off "Cat, you have to audition for Sophie."

It's not necessarily the leading role, but it's a bigger role than Cat has right now in Wicked just as part of the company. Not to mention she and Jade both really enjoy both of the movies, and even had the chance to see the show towards the tail end of it's original Broadway run when they were still in college.

"Oh my god." Cat gasps "Oh...that's so tempting...but..."

She rocks back and forth on her heels a few times, anxiously wringing her hands together as she looks over to Andre.

"Why are you looking at me?" He laughs

"What about the music?"

"What about it?" He shrugs "If we have to take a break, we have to take a break. It'll still be there when all is said and done. Anything you can do to get your name out there right now is a good thing...and a revival of a very popular and beloved musical would definitely get your name out there."

"Go for it, babe." Robbie wraps an arm around Cat's shoulders and squeezes her tightly "Don't quit Wicked just yet, and if it doesn't work out you'll at least have that to fall back on. But this is too good of an opportunity not to take..."

"Beck, do you think you could get some more specific information for me?" Cat asks

"Yeah." He nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket "Give me a few minutes to send a few texts and I bet I could have it by the end of the night."

"Okay, thank you."

"Sure."

Cat continues chatting away with Tori, Andre, and Robbie about the possibility of her switching shows as Beck wanders into the kitchen, focusing on his phone as he drafts carefully worded text messages to a few of his cast mates.

"Hey." Jade follows him and nudges his shoulder gently "That was really cool of you."

"S'nothing." He assures her with a smile "I'm happy to help."

"I know she'll really appreciate it." Jade nods "I really appreciate it."

"You do?"

"Yeah." She shrugs "There's no rule in the co-parenting handbook that says you have to be nice to my friends."

"I mean, we're all friends at this point...aren't we?"

"I guess we are, yeah." Jade smiles

"Unless you feel like I'm encroaching on something?"

"No, not at all." She assures him "I actually think it's a really good thing. Makes the whole situation a little less weird...and I think it will be really good for the baby too...a unified support system like that."

"Yeah me too." Beck agrees "Hey, quick question?"

"Hm?"

"Is there really a co-parenting handbook?" He smirks "Because I would like to read it."

"So, you're not dating?" Tori asks

"Nope." Jade shakes her head

"And you've never dated." Tori clarifies

"Nope."

"And the only reason any of you know him is because they had a random fling and she got pregnant?"

"That's correct." Cat nods

"Well..." Andre cuts in "Beck and I knew each other in school for a while, but the only reason we reconnected was because of this whole...situation."

"Okay..." Tori chuckles "Okay. I think I've got it."

"We're aware it's atypical." Beck admits "But we're doing everything we can to take it in stride and so far it's working pretty well. Right?"

"Right." Jade agrees

Their pizza has long since been devoured and the empty boxes are scattered on the floor around the living room. Tori and Andre sit beside each other on the couch and Jade sits beside Andre, while Beck, Cat, and Robbie each sit on a different side of the coffee table on the floor. Normally, they would be playing a game of some kind or watching a movie at this point in the evening, but on this night in particular they've really just been catching up and attempting to get to know Tori. She had seemed a bit confused as to what Beck and Jade were to each other, but seems to fit in pretty well so far otherwise.

"Do you know if you're having a boy or a girl?" Tori leans around Andre to ask Jade

"Yeah, we do actually." Jade nods, sharing a mischievous look with Beck

"Wait, you do?" Andre looks confused "When did that happen?"

"At the appointment on Friday."

"You've known for two days and you haven't said anything!" Cat looks shocked "Jadey!"

"We wanted it to be something that the two of us got to keep to ourselves for just a little while so we could really enjoy it together as parents." Jade explains "I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"You're right, I'm not." Jade chuckles "It was only two days, not two months."

"Anyway!" Andre exclaims "Are you going to tell us? Or are you going to leave us hanging here?"

Both Beck and Jade know that they won't be able to keep it a secret for that long, but they are having a bit of fun making their friends sweat while they wait for the answer.

"You can tell them." Beck offers as he shares a look with Jade "If you want."

"You're sure?"

"Of course I am."

These people were her friends long before they were ever his, although an argument could be made about Andre. Beck wants Jade to be the one that gets to share this very exciting news with them, Cat especially. Even after only knowing them both for just a short amount of time, he can tell that their friendship holds a very special bond that is unlike any other he's ever seen.

"I mean..." Jade laughs with a shrug "She's a girl."

"YES!" Cat exclaims, leaping up from her spot on the floor next to Robbie "Yes!"

She rushes across the room to Jade and throws her arms around her best friend's neck, hugging her tightly. Jade smiles as she hugs her back, knowing that it had been the result she had been hoping for since she told her she was keeping the baby, but soon removes her arms as she realizes that the position is a bit uncomfortable.

"Cat. The baby, the baby!" Jade reminds her "You're squishing her."

"Fuck, I'm sorry!" Cat apologizes immediately "I'm just so excited! I didn't want to outright say it and jinx anything but I've been hoping for a girl all along."

"I know." Jade laughs "As soon as the doctor told us, I told Beck you were going to be the most excited person in this room tonight."

"That's true." Beck nods "She did."

"You're a girl!" Cat places a hand on either side of Jade's abdomen "Oh I knew it! We're going to be best friends, little one. Just you wait and see. Oh my god, I can't wait for it to be March!"

"I think we both can." Jade admits "We're not anywhere close to ready for her yet."

"But we will be." Beck assures her "I promise."

"I know." Jade nods with a smile

Something about the look in his eyes and the smile on his face lets her know that he's right. When their little girl does arrive, regardless of what the situation looks like, they'll be ready.