Harper's fourth birthday happens to fall in the middle of the week once production starts on Cloverfield Isle's third season. Jade takes the morning off, hoping that the rest of her production team will be able to manage without her for a few hours, to take her daughter out to breakfast. Although it's only for a little bit, Harper is happy for the one-on-one time with her mother, and Jade is happy to see her happy.
They have her party the following Sunday, the only day that the show isn't filming. Both sets of Jade's parents, her brother and his girlfriend, Cat, Robbie, Tori, and Andre and all of their kids, and Beck are in attendance. Even Andrew's parents fly in from North Carolina to be there to celebrate their granddaughter. Despite the estranged relationship she has with their son, the Powell's have never been anything but nice to Jade, and it's very clear that they love both Harper and Drew unconditionally, so she would never deny them a relationship with their grandchildren.
"You're here." Jade says with an amused tone as Andrew enters the backyard with Sydney on his arm
"Why do you look and sound so surprised to see me?" Andrew rolls his eyes
"Because it's Harper's birthday and not Drew's." Jade shrugs "But I'm glad you're here, your mom has been asking where you were and I didn't know what to tell her. Hi, Sydney."
Jade's feelings towards Sydney are complicated, and probably will be for a while. On one hand, she's the woman her fiancé cheated on her with. On the other, she had been the one to hire Sydney, and she knows how much she cares for her children and how good she is with them. In fact, she might be the only reason Harper gets any attention from an adult during her visits with Andrew.
"Hi Jade." Sydney nods with a smile "S'nice to see you."
"You too."
"Where should I put this?" She asks, gesturing to the gift in her hands "And where's Harper? I want to say happy birthday."
"Gifts can go on the table over there." Jade points then scans the backyard for her daughter "And Harper...is over there with Beck and Robbie."
"Thanks." Sydney smiles, then kisses Andrew on the cheek "Be right back."
"Kay." Andrew nods "So that's the new boyfriend, huh?"
Jade follows Andrew's gaze over to Beck, who is keeping a watchful eye on Harper as she sits in the grass beside Robbie playing with Leah.
"That's him, yeah." Jade confirms
"I didn't realize he's already so close with the kids..."
"Can you stop being passive-aggressive and just tell me what the issue is, Andrew?" Jade sighs
"You didn't tell me you were introducing him to our children." Andrew tells her "I want to know who my kids are around."
"Alright, first of all...he and I were friends first. The kids had met him long before we started dating." Jade reminds Andrew "Second, I don't remember you asking my permission to introduce them to Sydney."
"Sydney was their nanny, they already knew her."
"I rest my case."
"Whatever." Andrew rolls his eyes "Still would have appreciated the heads up."
When Sydney had shown up to say hello to Harper, Beck immediately started scanning the yard for any sign of Andrew. He spotted him talking to Jade, and noticed that their eyes kept flicking over to him every once and a while. Between Robbie and Sydney he knows that Harper will be well looked-after, and decides to offer some kind of relief for his girlfriend should she need it.
"Hey." He says as he approaches them "You must be Harper and Drew's dad."
He knew whenever he met him, and it's inevitable at this point that he would, Beck would need to stoke Andrew's ego just a little bit. Based on what he's heard about him, and how he himself would act if he were in the same position, Beck wants to assure him that Andrew is Harper and Drew's dad and that he isn't out to take that title away from him.
"S'me." Andrew extends his hand to Beck "AJ Powell."
"Beck Oliver." Beck shakes his hand "It's nice to meet you. You've got a couple of great kids."
"Thanks." Andrew nods
"Everything okay?" Jade asks Beck "I thought you were with Harper?"
"Just wanted to come introduce myself." Beck tells her
"Beck!" Harper suddenly appears at Beck's side
"Woah! Hey kiddo..." Beck chuckles, ruffling her hair "I thought you were playing with your Uncle Robbie?"
"I was." Harper confirms "But can you come push me on the swing? Please?"
"In just a second, I'm kinda in the middle of a conversation with your-"
"PLEEEEASE?" Harper cuts him off
"Alright..." Beck chuckles, taking Harper's small hand in his "I'll come push you on the swings. It was good to meet you, AJ."
"Uh, Harper?" Jade stops her daughter before she can get too far "Are you going to say 'hi' to your dad?"
"Hi Dad." Harper waves quickly, then immediately turns her attention back to Beck "Come on, Beck! This way!"
"I guess I'll be near the swing set, if you need me." Beck says to Jade as Harper pills him away
"Be careful."
"Always."
Personally, Jade finds the whole situation to be quite adorable. Now that he has become a more common, yet still not entirely regular, presence in their lives, Harper and Drew are both starting to form quite strong relationships with her boyfriend. She's not entirely sure that they completely grasp that he's her boyfriend, but she also hasn't explicitly told them either.
When she turns to back to Andrew, she's surprised to find his expression hard to read. Normally whenever she interacts with him, he's openly annoyed or making an attempt to hide the fact that he's annoyed so the kids don't figure out that he is. Now she can't tell if he's annoyed, angry, or hurt by Harper's actions.
"I think Drew is inside playing with some of the other kids." She says to him "If you wanted to go see him..."
"Alright..." Drew nods, still watching Harper "Thanks."
As the sun starts to set, the population of the party starts to dwindle. Cat, Robbie, Tori, and Andre all leave shortly after dinner so they can get their own children home and ready for bed. Andrew's parents have an early flight the next morning, and also say goodnight early. Jade's brother and his girlfriend have to drive back to Santa Barbara and leave as well. Before long, the only guests left are Jade's parents, Beck, Sydney and Andrew.
"Either he's putting on a show for my parents, or he's jealous of you." Jade remarks as she and Beck clean up the kitchen
They can see Harper and Drew in the living room with both sets of her parents and Andrew and Sydney. For once, Andrew seems to be paying attention to both of his children at the same time. Granted, they're still playing with Drew's train set rather than one of the new toys Harper had been begging to open, but he at least seems to be splitting his attention rather than focusing it all on his son.
"Of me?" Beck clarifies
"Remember when Harper barely gave him the time of day earlier because she wanted you to push her on the swings?" Jade recalls his attention to the day's previous events "He got this weird look on his face. I'm not sure he was upset, but he definitely wasn't happy."
"I thought that's how he always is around you unless you're with Drew?"
"It is, but it was a different look." Jade insists "She chose you over him and he hated it."
"That's not how I want this to be." Beck admits "I don't want him to think I'm trying to edge him out of the picture."
"It's not anything you're doing." Jade assures him "It's Harper's own preference...and it doesn't surprise me at all. You play with her, you give her the attention that she needs, you actually care...it's not shocking that she would ask you to play with her instead of him."
"I mean, I guess if it gets him to actually give a shit..." Beck sighs "I just don't want there to be anything bad between us, you know? Because if there's bad blood between me and him that translates into bad blood between you and him and that's not going to be good for the kids."
"You're sweet t-"
She stops talking when Beck leaves the kitchen, and then begins to worry as he enters the living room.
"Hey man, can I talk to you for a second?" He says to Andrew, nodding towards the back patio
"Beck, maybe now isn't the time..." Jade suggests
"Sure." Andrew nods, standing up from his place on the floor and following Beck outside
"Look..." Beck says once they're outside and out of earshot of everyone else "I know I'm the first guy that Jade has brought into your kids lives since you guys broke up and I just wanted to tell you-"
"I'm not doing this heart-to-heart thing with you, dude." Andrew cuts him off "I get it, okay? You don't want to replace me, I'll always be their dad, I get it. Okay? You and me aren't going to be all buddy-buddy for the sake of the kids though, that's not how I roll."
"Alright, got it." Beck nods slowly "Message received."
"Is there anything else you needed from me?"
"No, that about covers it, I guess..."
"Alright good." Andrew scoffs "Now if you'll excuse me, my children are waiting for me."