Disclaimer: Anything you don't recognize from the show is mine… everything else… I wish!
You and I Wouldn't Change a Thing
Moping was not her strong suite; neither was sitting in bed till noon but she did it anyway. Jillian's usual battle cry of "wake with the birds" turned into just a cry. Now, more than ever, she was unsure of what move should come next. Should she stay? Maybe Jake would change his mind. She had to hope that he would come around, if only to let Jillian be apart of Jenny's life.
She took a shower which made her feel somewhat better. A shot of vodka would have helped, but the only time she could ever get a hold of the stuff was when her parents were having some sort of dinner party and there was a surplus of booze lying around.
The phone rang, almost startling her. She removed the towel from around her hair and picked up the receiver.
"Hey, Pops."
"How'd you know it would be me, Bean?"
"I'm clairvoyant."
"I'm calling because I wanted to check up on you. You didn't sound good last night. Are you feeling any better?"
"To imagine, when I called you was the not the worst part of the night."
"What happened after that?"
"I really don't want to have to rehash everything." She still wasn't used to this new found curiosity her father had for her.
"I understand, Bean. He'll come around once he realizes that Jenny needs her mother."
She couldn't stop the thought from verbalizing. "Maybe he already found someone else who is willing to be a mother to her." She didn't want to think about it but it was there, it was a possibility.
He ignored her statement. "You need to make a plan because I don't know what your mother has in store for you."
Just thinking of having to go to the way things were, just a week ago, made her chest feel tight. "I never want to go back there, Dad. I would rather..."
"I would never let you go back. But I don't know how long I can keep smuggling money to you before your mother finds out."
"I know, I'm looking for a job around here. I just wish I could have come back here-"
"There's not use wishing for something now that you're there." He sounded harsh, like she was bothering him, taking up his time. He had been so understanding lately that it disappointed her. "I have to keep this short."
It was at this moment that she realized that her father was calling while driving; she could hear the static from moving while talking on a cell phone, and could hear him pulling in somewhere. Then, it clicked.
"You're back home, aren't you?"
"We can't talk till I'm back out. Call Geoff's cell, but only if it is an emergency, and the next time I get a chance..."
"Go play house with Mom. I'll be fine."
"I love you, Bean." She didn't hear him this time; she was already hanging up. She was losing a battle with time. She had to make a plan before her mother found her, and she knew it would take no time for her to figure it out. She probably called Jake's house, checked phone records, done the works. Jillian needed to think of what to do when her mother would find her.
Just getting out of lunch, Jake headed to his locker, before being intersected by Peyton. She said nothing while they walked down the hallway, choosing to just hold onto his hand and watch him while he was obviously deep in thought.
"You look like you didn't get a lot of sleep." She noticed the dark circle's under his eyes.
"Jenny wouldn't stop fussing last night." In actuality, it was one of the first times she has slept through the night, but he wasn't going to correct his statement.
"Are you going to go talk to," she didn't know the name, "Jenny's mom?" He looked at her with a stern face as he reached out for his lock and started to enter in the combination. "She's still Jenny's mother. Jenny needs a mother in her life. If I had the choice between having my mom back or not, obviously I would choose have her."
"Jillian."
"What?"
"That's her name; Jillian. So you don't have to call her Jenny's mom." He took out his Marine Biology book and took his Algebra book out of his backpack and placed it into his locker and closed the door. "She was my best friend my whole life. Dated our whole lives, it seemed. I felt like she was the only person I could trust. I was proven wrong in that department."
"I don't want to push you because she is your daughter, but I know what its like to have no mom and its not easy. Sometimes you just want someone to talk to who has been through what you've going through." They were walking towards Peyton's class. As they approached the door, Jake stopped and looked at her as if he were in amazement.
"Why are you so cool with this? I kept thinking last night how awkward this situation must be for you. Why aren't you weirded out?"
"Are you over her?"
He didn't hesitate. "Oh yeah."
"Then I have nothing to worry about. That and I care about Jenny, too. And whatever is in the best interest for Jenny is good with me." She kissed him and pulled away, to find him still holding onto her waist.
"You're the best, Peyton."
"I know." A quick kiss on the lips and she dashed into her class.
With no basketball practice that afternoon, Jake took off for home right after school with Peyton to spend some time with Jenny. He'd been so busy the last couple of weeks with basketball, working at the Cafe, and Peyton that he had little time to spend with his daughter.
"I can't believe you're not working today." Peyton was sitting on the swing while Jake was holding Jenny in his lap while he looked over a paper that was due the next day.
"Karen told me to come in for the dinner crowd. She knows I've been busy and told me she refused to let me come into work before five."
"She could quite possibly be the best boss in the world." She paused. "What class is that for?"
"Collins. He's been rattling my chain about my work being sloppy. I wanted to do reallywell this time."
Jenny crawled from his lap onto the porch, looking like she was on a mission to find something to investigate. They both looked at each other, then Jenny and laughed. Peyton got up from her seat to grab her from putting her hands in a plant. When she picked Jenny up and took her back to her seat on the swing, she saw that Jenny was holding onto something.
"Whatcha got there?" She took it from Jenny, who started to fuss. Peyton handed it back to her, soothing her with her voice. The object went directly back into Jenny's mouth.
"I know what that is." Jake sat next to Peyton and looked at the object that Jenny was tasting. "It's Jill's. It's always falling out of her pocket."
"It's a Rosary right?"
"It was her Grandmother's. Its the only thing that she had to remember her by."
"And it looks like Jenny has an attachment to it." Peyton's eyes met Jake's, looking down at Jenny, falling asleep with the beads in her mouth. Peyton, still holding her in her arms, stood while Jake got the screen door open. Placing her in the crib, Peyton looked up and Jake. "I'm going to go work on my comic for the paper. Its due soon and I haven't had the time to work on it."
"I hope that its not because of me." He grinned evilly and she pushed on his chest. He put his arm around her, walking her to her car.
"I'm glad to have you as a distraction." They embraced before she got into the car. He leaned in once she got in and kissed her lightly on the lips. She loved it when he did that.
"Drive safe." He ran back into the house to put on the game that had already started.
He took his algebra book from the end table and opened the book, though he knew he wouldn't do much while the game was on. He had so much work for school that he barely had time to watch television, but he was going to try it anyways.
Five minutes into the game, the baby monitor lit up with activity from Jenny fussing in the other room. Not wanting to miss the game he hesitated to see if she would stop crying on her own. He darted for the room once he could hear her spitting up. Reaching into the crib, he took his red faced, crying baby into his arms to calm her.
"Did you think you were alone?" Jake rocked her back and forth for a few minutes to calm her down. While doing so, she held onto his shirt tightly, and ended up falling asleep in his arms. He didn't want to wake her, so he took her with him into the living room, turned down the volume on the television, and began to work on his math homework.
Looking down at his daughter, Jake wondered whether he was making the right decisions for her. Is it a good decision to keep her mother out of her life? How will she feel about it when she's ten or fifteen?
"Am I being fair to you, Jenny?" She was silent and completely asleep. "I wish you could tell me what you want."
"That would make parenting too easy for you, sweetie." He hadn't heard his mother walking in through the front door. She put down her paperwork from the office, brushed her curly darkening blonde hair out of her eyes and planted a kiss on top of her son's head. "Is something wrong?"
"I have a lot to tell you. I don't know how you are going to feel. I'm not even sure how I feel. I have been waiting for this for so long and now-"
"Jake, you have to tell me what's bothering you first." Just as she released the words out of her mouth, Jake's father also walked in the door, kissing his wife and saying hello to both Jake and Jenny.
"Good you're both here. We have to talk."
