"MAMA!"
Harper's delighted squeal echoes through the sound stage and turns quite a few heads. Thankfully it's lunchtime and no scenes are being filmed, so Harper is free to be as loud as she wants.
"Hi Haper Bug!" Jade drops to one knee and opens her arms to wrap her daughter up in a hug "What are you doing here?"
"Happy Birfday!" Harper exclaims, squeezing her mother tightly
"Thank you, baby." Jade smiles as she hugs her daughter back just as tightly
This was all planned, of course. They're currently filming episode eleven of the twelve-episode season but Jade's mother still wanted to make sure her daughter's thirtieth birthday was memorable, especially after the events of the past few months. So she planned everything out with Jade, taking the day off of work so she herself could watch Harper and Drew, and determined it would be best to bring them to the set for a visit around lunch time. That way Jade would definitely be free to spend time with them.
"Who is that, Drew?" Her mother, Kaitlyn, gasps in an excited tone as Jade stands up "Is that your mama?"
"Hi Baby Bear..." Jade coos, playing with her son's hand "Uh oh, you look grumpy. Has he eaten?"
"He has..." Kaitlyn nods "But I think that tooth is giving him a lot of trouble."
"Oh that stupid tooth." Jade frowns playfully at the baby in an attempt to make him laugh "What a meanie, huh?"
The eight and a half-month old already has two teeth, it's the reason Jade had decided to switch from breast feeding over to bottle feeding him milk she had pumped, and this new one is proving to cause him just as much pain as the others had.
Drew reaches out for his mother and Jade gladly takes him in her arms. He snuggles up to her immediately, resting his head on her shoulder.
"Mom makes everything better, doesn't she, Drew?" Kaitlyn smiles
"I try, Buddy..." Jade sighs as she rubs her son's back "Do you guys want a tour of the place?"
"Tour!" Harper cheers, bouncing up and down
She doesn't know what a 'tour' is, but her mom smiled at her when she said it...so it must be something fun.
Jade shifts Drew a bit so she can support him with one arm, then reaches down and takes Harper's hand with her free one. Kaitlyn smiles, hanging back a few paces to snap a picture of her daughter and grandchildren from behind. Jade will end up printing the photo in black and white and keeping it in a frame on her desk for years to come.
She takes them up to her office first. Harper would visit the space with her frequently before her brother was born, but was far too young to be able to remember doing so. She loves spinning herself in Jade's office chair, and pointing out the pictures of herself and of 'Baby Do' on her desk. The people in other offices are delighted to see them as well. Most remember Harper from when she was Drew's age and have never even met Drew at all. Jade is afraid Harper might tire herself out before they make it back to the sound stage, but somehow the two year-old manages to keep going.
Next they go to food services, and Harper is overjoyed when her mother hands her a cookie. Normally she wouldn't be allowed to have one without proving that she first finished a meal, but Jade assures her that it's okay because today is a special day.
When they arrive back at the sound stage, Jade intends to take Harper to one of the main sets. There's a foam pit set up there right now for one of the actors to fall into and Jade thinks she'll have a blast playing in it, but before she can lead her in the correct direction...Harper takes off towards the cast trailers.
"Harper!" Jade calls after her
She can't run because she's holding Drew and doesn't want to bounce him around unnecessarily. The trailers can create quite a maze if you don't pay attention to where you're going and she's afraid Harper will get lost.
"Harper Caterina!"
"I've got her!" A voice calls out from around the corner
Jade and Kaitlyn make their way towards the sound, following the same path they had seen Harper take. She's surprised, yet not surprised at all, to find out who had been the one to stop Harper from running too far head.
"Missing something?" Beck chuckles when Jade comes into view
He's holding Harper in his arms and while Jade isn't happy that her daughter had allowed a stranger to pick her up, she's relieved to know where she is.
"Sorry." Jade apologizes Beck sets Harper down "She's a bit adventurous."
"I wonder where she gets that from."
"You can't just run away like that, Harper." Jade kneels down to be eye-to-eye with her daughter, ignoring Beck's comment "You could have gotten lost."
"I'm sorry..."
"Stay close to me now, okay?"
"Okay..."
"Can you say 'hi' to Beck?"
"Hi!" Harper waves, looking up at Beck
"Hey Harper..." Beck waves back "Hi, Mrs. Parker. S'good to see you."
"Look at you, Beck Oliver..." Kaitlyn chuckles "All grown up."
"I am thirty now." Beck laughs
"Don't remind me..." Jade groans as Drew fusses a bit "Oh c'mon, dude. You've been doing so well."
"Who's this guy?" Beck asks, leaning down to see Drew's face
He already knows, of course. He follows her on instagram again, so he's seen plenty of pictures of Drew and Harper already, but he feels like it's still polite to ask.
"This is Andrew, but we call him Drew so no one confuses him for his dad." Jade explains "He's cutting a new tooth so he's a bit cranky today."
"That would make me a bit cranky too." Beck smirks, standing upright again "Where were you guys headed?"
"I was going to take her over to the swamp set and let her play in the foam pit before they get rid of it." Jade tells him "Do you...do you want to come with us?"
"Sure." Beck shrugs, glancing at his watch
He has another half hour before he needs to start dressing for his next scene, he can play on the set for a bit.
As they walk, Beck and Kaitlyn make small talk while Jade leads the way. Kaitlyn tells Beck about how Jade's step-father had just gotten a promotion at work and how her younger brother is getting ready to start his last semester at Arizona State. Beck tells Kaitlyn about Bianca and shares a story about how Stella had chewed a hole in the screen door that leads out to their patio. Jade tries to refrain from rolling her eyes, the whole situation is just a bit too cliche.
"Check this out, Harper..." Jade says as they step onto the set "Kinda looks like outside, huh?"
"I can play?" Harper asks, pointing to the foam pit
"For a little while, yes." Jade nods "Just be careful, okay?"
"C'mon kiddo." Beck extends a hand to Harper "I'll come with you."
"Kk." Harper shrugs and Beck has to stop himself from laughing out loud
"She spends a lot of time with Cat Valentine..." Jade explains, sensing that Beck must have found her daughter's comment amusing
"S'cute." Beck tells her "That's awesome."
Jade watches as Beck shows Harper how to stand on the edge of the foam pit and fall in, and can't help but smile when her daughter squeals with delight after finally getting to try it herself. Kaitlyn takes pictures on her phone while Jade rocks Drew gently, the baby slowly falling asleep in his mother's arms.
"What time do you think you'll wrap today?" Kaitlyn asks
"Hm?" Jade looks away from Harper "Oh, uh...I hope by six? Dunno, depends on how long the last scene takes us. We're trying to stay on track to finish the episode by the end of the week."
"Remember that your dad and Angie invited us all over for your birthday tonight." Kaitlyn reminds her
"I remember." Jade nods "The nanny is coming over to watch the kids, I'll be over as soon as I can."
"You invited Cat and Robbie, right?"
"I did." Jade assures her "They'll be there."
"Good." Kaitlyn smiles "Is there...anyone else...you'd like to invite?"
Jade looks over to see that her mother is looking at Beck while he plays with Harper, and this time she really does roll her eyes.
"No, Mom..." She sighs "He's just a coworker now, that's all."
"I was surprised when he said he doesn't have any kids yet." Kaitlyn admits "I mean, it seems like he's good with them."
"That's his business, Mom." Jade reminds her "Not ours."