"How long are you going to be gone?" Chelsea asks
"I'm not sure." Beck admits as he brushes her hair "You'll be asleep by the time I get back though."
"If you're not sure how long you're going to be gone, how do you know I'll be asleep by the time you get back?" The little girl counters, giving her father a questionable look in the mirror "Maybe I'll still be up."
Beck can't help but laugh at his daughter's wit, most definitely a result of spending so much time with his own mother. With each day that passes he watches her personality develop more and more, and he loves every second of it.
"Well, I know I'll definitely be out past your bedtime." He tells her, grabbing a hair elastic off of the bathroom counter "I'm just not sure how long."
"Why can't Penny and I come with you?"
"I told you, it's a boring work thing." Beck tells her as he pulls her hair into two pigtails "You'll have so much more fun with Grandma and Grandpa. Alright, hair is done."
He pats Chelsea's shoulder, signaling that she can step off the step-stool she had been standing on, and takes a moment to admire his work. He's always been good at doing ponytails and pigtails; his own hair had been long enough to pull back when he was in high school. Unfortunately for his daughters, he's not that skilled at much else in the way of hair. He's getting better at buns, but anything related to braids or curls of any kind still require assistance from his mom or from Tori.
"You're sure I can't come?"
"I'm sure, sorry." Beck nods, extending a hand to her "C'mon, let's go see what your grandparents are up to with your sister."
His parents are in the kitchen. Aspen sits in her highchair, already eating fistfuls of the chicken and rice her grandmother had placed on the tray for her.
"I see you've already got dinner covered." Beck chuckles
"Of course I do." His mother, Priya, smiles at him "What kind of grandma would I be if I didn't spoil these two girls?"
Chelsea had been born when Beck was eighteen, and was only about two months out of high school. While his parents hadn't been overly thrilled about the choices he made to put himself in that situation, there was one thing that was undeniable...they absolutely adored their granddaughter. The world stopped spinning when it came to Chelsea, and Aspen too when she had been born, and Beck knows he's incredibly lucky that his girls have such a strong relationship with his parents.
"Bedtime for Aspen is 7:00." He reminds his parents "Chelsea can have until 8:30, but no later than that. It's a school night."
"Dad!"
"You know the rules." Beck gives his daughter a pointed look "Bedtime is 8:30."
"Fine..."
"Be good for your grandparents, okay?" Beck wraps an arm around Chelsea, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head
"She's always good." His father, James, insists
"Yeah, Dad." Chelsea smirks "I'm always good."
"Right, but it's my job as your dad to remind you." Beck chuckles, walking over to Aspen and kissing the top of her head as well "Bye Pen, you be good too. Okay?"
Aspen smiles and holds out a fistful of food for her father, almost as if she's trying to share.
"No thanks, kiddo." He laughs "I'm good."
"Have fun tonight." Priya says to him as he turns to leave "Be careful."
"Of course." Beck nods "Thank you so much again for watching them."
"Anytime." She reminds him "You know that."
The drive from Beck's house to Jade's apartment feels longer than it had on the previous Sunday, but he supposes that's because he feels more nervous this time. This is his first date in a long time, and he doesn't want to mess up. Jade seems so great too, he doesn't want to embarrass himself either.
His hands are shaking as he reaches out to press the buzzer at her apartment building, and for a moment he worries that he hadn't even hit the right one. It wouldn't surprise him if an angry man's voice is the one to answer to him, but thankfully Jade responds almost immediately.
"Hello?"
"Hey!" Beck says, almost a bit too eagerly he feels like "It's Beck!"
"Hey!" She responds "I'll be right down."
"Sounds good!" He tells her, but it's unclear at that point if she's still able to hear him
Beck paces a bit, kicking at the dirt next to the sidewalk outside the building.
It's fine. He thinks to himself You can do this, it will be-
"You clean up nicely." Jade smirks as she emerges from the building, snapping Beck back to reality
"Huh?" He looks up "Oh! Thanks!"
He had gone with a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. He figures it's more dressed-up than he would be for work or a day at home, but more casual than if they were going to a super fancy restaurant. Jade seemed to take the same mentality, opting for a black sundress that comes down to right above her knees. Her hair is curled now, it had been straight when he saw her last, and she's wearing just enough makeup for it to be noticeable, but not obvious.
"You look..." Beck can barely find the words "Wow..."
"Exhausted?" Jade chuckles, draping her purse over her shoulder "Like I spent all day with rowdy teenagers?"
"I was going to say beautiful, actually." Beck tells her "No presence of rowdy teenagers anywhere."
"Thanks." She smiles a bit "So...should we?"
"Yes!" Beck says, again he feels way too eagerly "I'm parked right over here."
He had swapped cars with his parents, just in case they needed the carseats. Beck just knows that Chelsea will try to talk her grandparents into taking them for ice cream, and he just knows his parents will cave. He doesn't mind, as long as they get to bed on time...and he has to admit, getting to borrow his dad's Lexus to take a girl on a date is sort of exciting. It feels almost like he's in high school again.
It doesn't take long for them to arrive at the restaurant, and Beck finds parking easily. The nice thing about Hartford is although it's one of Connecticut's largest cities, it's still not that big. Beck technically lives in the suburbs, but the drive into downtown really only takes him about ten minutes. He has the best of both worlds, which is something he and Jade discuss as they walk from the parking lot into the building.
"It's a lot different than LA." Jade remarks "It's not nearly as crowded and life isn't nearly as fast-paced."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Beck asks her
"I haven't decided yet." Jade admits "Like I said, it's just different. I was in LA for my entire life. I visited other places of course, but I always returned home to LA. I don't really have any complaints about Hartford yet though. The change is...refreshing."
"Good." Beck smiles "I'm glad to hear that."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." He nods "It means you'll stick around."
"I spent all of my money on a cross-country move, so I don't really have much of a choice." She smirks
"That's true." Beck agrees, holding the door open for her to walk inside "Have you ever been here?"
"No." Jade answers him honestly "I haven't really gotten the chance to get out and explore much yet."
"Well, allow me to introduce you to the best burger place in Hartford." Beck smiles "Fuck, you're not a vegetarian, are you?"
That definitely would have been a good question to ask her ahead of time.
"Not even close." Jade laughs "I'll eat a burger no problem."
"Thank god." Beck chuckles, breathing a sigh of relief
So far, so good.
Conversation comes natural to them both, which definitely helps calm Beck's nerves. They talk about the connection they both have to Tori and how she had been the one to help Jade find her apartment. She studied marketing in college and now works for a large real estate company in the area, and had been able to let Jade know the about the listing almost immediately after her landlord had posted it. Otherwise, Jade probably wouldn't have been able to find something nearly as nice on such short notice.
They talk about their taste in music and find out they like a lot of the same artists. Neither one of them is really into pop music, but prefer more alternative styles both present and past.
"Do you like movies?" Beck asks her
"Doesn't everyone?" Jade smirks as she takes a sip of her drink
"I suppose so, but some like them more than others." He says "I'm...kind of a movie geek."
"Oh really?"
"Really." He nods "Maybe in another life, I could have been an actor. I never had the nerve to try though, and in reality I doubt I would be any good at it. I don't want to say I'm a film buff because that kind of makes me sound like an asshole but-"
"I don't think it makes you sound like an asshole." Jade tells him "I think it makes you interesting."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She laughs "I wouldn't say I'm a film buff but I definitely enjoy lots of different movies from a lot of different genres."
"What's your favorite movie?"
"Like ever?"
"Like ever."
"Oh, I dunno." Jade sighs "I have different movies that I love from different genres, you know? Like comedies? Bridesmaids is fucking hilarious. Horror? The Scissoring. Action-"
"What about romance?" Beck cuts her off "Which movie would you say is the most romantic of all time?"
"Oh, we're going there." Jade laughs "Well, I guess most women would say something stereotypical like The Notebook or Titanic but if I really had to pick based on my own personal preference...I would go with Casablanca."
"Wait, really?" Beck grins "I love that movie."
"You do?"
"I love Old Hollywood in general, it's one of my favorite periods of cinema." Beck nods "I think Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman were just so...well talented for one, but they were just so good in that movie. It actually..."
"It actually, what...?" Jade waits for him to finish his thought
Beck hesitates for a moment, contemplating if what he almost said is something that should be brought up on a first date or not. He doesn't doubt that Jade had asked Tori and Andre for more information about him after she agreed to go on this date, but he doesn't know how much they told her. Honesty, he supposes, is the best policy in these cases, especially with something as serious as this.
"It inspired my daughter's middle name." He tells her "Chelsea Ingrid Oliver."
"You...your daughter?" Jade repeats, wanting to make sure that she heard him correctly "You have a kid?"
"Yeah." Beck nods "I have a daughter, two actually. Chelsea Ingrid and Aspen Taylor. Their mom was really in love with both of their first names so she let me choose the middle ones. Chelsea is named after Ingrid Bergman and Aspen is named after-"
"Liz Taylor." Jade finishes for him "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have cut you off like that...but am I right?"
"You are, yeah." Beck nods "They were both such talented actresses, I figured those were two names both worthy of passing on."
"I would have to agree with you." Jade nods "Although I do admit, I'm a bit surprised that with two girls you didn't go with Audrey and Katherine."
"I had no way of knowing I would end up with two girls in the beginning." Beck chuckles "Besides, nothing against the two of them but those both felt a little mainstream."
"Fair enough."
"I know it's a lot to hear, especially on a first date, but I wanted to be upfront and honest with you." Beck tells her "I...I have sole custody of them, so they're a very big part of my life and I wanted to be open about that from the beginning."
"I can understand that." Jade assures him "They...their mom isn't around?"
"No." Beck tells her, but he doesn't elaborate
The complicated story behind the mother of his children most definitely is not first date material.
"God, I'm sorry. That must be hard on them and on you." Jade sympathizes with him
Unfortunately, she understands a bit of what they're going through...but elaborating on that doesn't really feel like first date material.
"We're doing fine without her."
"How old are they?"
"Seven and one."
Jade can't stop herself from raising her eyebrows. He told her that he's twenty-five, the same age a her. They're definitely not teenagers anymore, but she still feels a bit young to have any kids at all...let alone two. Having a seven year-old would mean that he had his first child at eighteen, which while that isn't unheard of it's certainly not common either.
"You were expecting the first one to be younger." Beck says, reading the expression on her face
"No, I just-"
"It's okay." Beck laughs "Yeah, we had her right out of high school. Definitely not planned, but definitely worth it."
"I bet."
"I'm sorry." Beck apologizes "We can change the subject now. Like I said, I just wanted to be upfront about that."
"Thank you for telling me." Jade reaches across the table and touches his arm "I appreciate knowing."
She's telling the truth. As shocking as it is to hear him say it, she does appreciate that Beck came out right away and told her the truth rather than waiting until their third or fourth date to drop a bombshell. Now the question becomes...how does she feel about potentially dating a guy with two kids?
Don't dwell on that right now. She thinks to herself
Right now, her priority should be enjoying a great night with a great guy...she can worry about what comes next later.