Monica was speechless. She knew she'd sometimes been inconsiderate, sometimes downright neglectful, she knew this and admitted it, but she never thought Jacqueline would react like this!
"Honey, I can't believe you didn't tell me." she said carefully, thinking of how to react. Both her daughters were sitting on the sofa, and Monica suddenly realised that she didn't know either of them – not really, anyway. This was more or less excusable with Cameron, who was just a baby, but Jacqueline, Jacqueline had been here for over 16 years…Monica stopped. "But I haven't been here…" she said to herself softly.
"What?" Jake looked up at her mother, frowning. "What did you say?"
"Baby I'm sorry." Monica was almost in tears, and Jake couldn't understand it. "Jacqueline, I know I'm not the best mother, and I'm sorry. I haven't been here when you needed me, and I've completely ignored you. And Cameron too." She stopped, and tried to continue. "I…I…I…" it took her a while to get a coherent sentence out, but finally she managed it. "I know sorry isn't really enough, but it's all I've got to offer. It won't make up for it now, but I'm gonna try, really I am. Starting from now. I'm going to stop professional acting. I'll…….oh, I don't know, become an amateur. Anything. To make sure I'm here for you."
Jake didn't know where to look or what to say. It was her turn to be speech less. She couldn't believe her Mom was being so great about this! Deciding she needed to go get Hamilton so he could be introduced to Monica as who he really was – her boyfriend – she deposited Cameron onto her mothers' lap.
"There's someone you've gotta meet." She said quietly, grabbing her cap that "smelled good" in one hand, and putting some sneakers on with the other. "I'll be right back." Jake bolted out the door, leaving a bewildered Monica behind her.