As Jade makes the drive from her apartment to Beck's house the following Friday night, she begins to wonder if taking Aspen and Chelsea on her own is really a good idea or not.
Yes, they need the one-on-one time to get to know each other and bond, but Jade doesn't know the first thing about taking care of children. She teaches teenagers, and they're completely different from infants and elementary-aged kids. Aspen, she figures, will be easy enough. She's old enough to communicate when she's upset and what's upsetting her, at least through gestures, and really only wants to play otherwise. She can't pass much judgement either, because she doesn't know any better. But Chelsea? She's a completely different story. The second-grader is much more opinionated and has the potential to be much more judgmental. Jade might've bitten off more than she can chew tonight.
She takes a deep breath as she cuts her car's engine and steps out onto the driveway. It's November now, and the temperature has started to drop. Jade pulls her coat tighter around her body as she makes her way up the front walk; she's not used to weather like this. Living in Los Angeles for her whole life, the coldest temperature she ever experienced was maybe 45º fahrenheit...but usually it didn't drop much below 60. The thermometer on her car dashboard just now had said it was 36º fahrenheit, almost cold enough to snow. The warm weather might be the only thing that she misses about southern California...besides her brother and step-dad.
Jade contemplates just walking into Beck's house, but ultimately decides against it. Even though he just walks into her apartment without knocking, and she's comfortable with him doing so, she reminds herself that this house doesn't just belong to Beck...it belongs to Aspen and Chelsea too. This is their territory, and they're not as comfortable with her as their father is. Not yet at least. So she rings the bell, and steps back to wait.
"Hey!" Beck grins as he opens the front door for her, Aspen on his hip "Come on in."
"Thanks." Jade smiles as she steps inside the house "Jeez, it's freezing!"
Aspen's face lights up as Jade pulls her hat off of her head and the baby is able to identify her. Eager and excited, she reaches out to her father's girlfriend, and Jade takes her into her arms willingly.
"Hi, Aspen girl..." Jade smiles a bit as the baby snuggles up to her "I'm happy to see you too."
"Oh, this isn't even that bad." Beck chuckles, referring to his girlfriend's comment about the temperature "Just wait until we hit January and February, it'll drop below zero."
"Fantastic..." Jade groans "I can't wait."
"Each season has it's own perks, I promise." Beck assures her "You'll see."
He presses a quick kiss to her lips, but not before looking around to make sure Chelsea is nowhere to be found. Although she's aware of her father's relationship status, neither Beck or Jade is sure how she would respond to any kind of PDA at this point.
"You're sure you're up for this?" Beck asks her quietly "I can always text Andre and-"
"I'm sure." Jade cuts him off, nodding
Although the truth is that she isn't sure at all. Her step-mom hadn't really been the best example on how to build a relationship with a child that isn't yours, and while her step-dad had been amazing to her since they met...she knows the situation had been much different. She still had her dad when Chris came into the picture, Aspen and Chelsea don't have their mom. Even though Jade isn't trying to replace Alyssa, she understands that Chelsea might see it that way. She needs to find the right balance.
"Alright." Beck smiles "Aspen ate already, Chelsea is finishing up her dinner in the kitchen."
"I could have fed them." Jade insists as she follows Beck further into the house
It might be shocking to anyone who enters without having the context that Beck's house is owned by a twenty-five year-old guy. Not only is it impressive that he owns it himself at such a young age, but he takes very good care of it. Everything is always clean, despite the fact that two young children live there, and everything is kept up. Jade loves the personal touches that he has put it on it himself, from the custom-made hutch he had built himself for the front entryway, to the movie posters and memorabilia that decorate the walls.
"I know, I just wanted to make it a little bit easier on you." Beck assures her "Hey, Chels. How's the pizza?"
"Almost gone." Chelsea responds
"Jade is here."
"Hi Jade..."
"Hey Chelsea." Jade smiles "I'm excited to hang out with you tonight."
Chelsea doesn't say anything in response, only shrugs as she finishes up her last few bites of pizza. Jade doesn't take it personally, she realizes that Chelsea had probably expected her grandparents tonight, and who doesn't love their grandparents?
Beck looks as if he's about to say something further to his daughter, perhaps about being polite and responding, but Jade catches his eye contact and shakes her head. She doesn't want him to force her into whatever kind of relationship the two of them end up forming; she wants Chelsea to come to her on her own.
"They've taken baths already." Beck tells his girlfriend "So they're all good to go for bedtime. Aspen can go down at 7:00, Chelsea should head up around 8:30."
The look on his face tells Jade that if Chelsea doesn't go to bed right at 8:30, it won't be the end of the world. It's Friday night, she can sleep in the next day.
"Got it." Jade nods "We can handle that, can't we ladies?"
Again, Chelsea doesn't respond, but Aspen snuggles deeper into Jade's chest...and the sight warms Beck's heart.
"I won't be late." He promises his girlfriend
"Be as late as you want." Jade tells him "We'll be just fine."
She hopes that her tone seems convincing to Beck, because she doesn't feel overly convinced herself.
Baby steps. she reminds herself One at a time.
"Bye bye, Aspen." Beck leans over and kisses the top of his daughter's head "I'll see you in the morning, okay? Be good for Jade. I love you."
"Bye bye!" Aspen waves, causing both Beck and Jade to smile
"Bye Chels." Beck then turns to his older daughter, hugging her tightly before kissing the top of her head as well "Be good, okay? I love you."
"I love you too." Chelsea tells him
Beck says goodbye to Jade, again without any PDA, and then pulls on his coat before heading out the door. Jade is left alone in the kitchen, in the whole house really, with just Aspen and Chelsea.
"Guess it's just us, huh?" She says to the two girls "What do you two want to do tonight?"
"Most of Aspen's toys are in the living room." Chelsea says flatly "We should go in there."
The seven year-old turns quickly on her heel and exits the kitchen, heading in the direction of the living room.
"I guess we're going to the living room." Jade shrugs, looking to Aspen "Let's follow your sister."
"We have to find Lambie!" Chelsea announces as she runs from room to room "Pen can't go to sleep without her!"
"She seems okay right now..." Jade says, looking to the pajama-clad toddler in her arms
"She won't be if we try to put her to bed without Lambie!"
"Alright, alright..." Jade nods "I'm sure it's around here somewhere."
"She."
"She, right. Sorry." Jade corrects herself "She's around here somewhere."
"Found her!" Chelsea exclaims, running out of Beck's bedroom with Aspen's stuffed sheep in her arms "Now she can go to bed. Here you go, Pen."
Aspen grins and grabs the stuffed animal as soon as her sister hands it to her, hugging it to her chest tightly before letting her head fall against Jade's shoulder.
"Thank you for helping us find her." Jade says to Chelsea "I bet your sister really appreciates it, I know I do."
"You're welcome..." Chelsea nods "I can turn on her sound machine for you too."
"That would be a really big help, actually." Jade tells her "Thanks, Chelsea."
All three of them make their way to Aspen's bedroom down the hall. Chelsea makes sure that her sister's sound machine is turned on and set to the right level while Jade helps the infant get situated in her crib.
"Sweet dreams, Aspen..." Jade says to her quietly as she pulls the blanket over her and brushes some of her hair out of her face "Thanks for letting me hang out with you tonight."
"G'night, Pen!" Chelsea coos "I'll see you in the morning...we should leave her alone now."
"Okay..." Jade smiles, following Chelsea out of the room and closing the door behind her "You're a really good big sister, Chels. I appreciate all of the help you gave me with your sister tonight."
"She can be a handful sometimes." Chelsea shrugs
"Right." Jade laughs "Well, we still have a little bit of time before you have to go to bed, and it's just the two of us now. What do you want to do?"
It had been easy before they put Aspen to bed, everything they did had been centered around keeping the baby occupied. The three of them played with her blocks again before they switched over to the play kitchen. Now that Aspen is asleep, Jade will get the one-on-one time with Chelsea that she's hoping will help her break the ice a little.
"I can play by myself." Chelsea states "You can watch TV if you want."
"Nah, I want to spend time with you." Jade insists "I thought we could have a little big girl time now that Aspen is asleep."
"Uh..."
"Your dad told me that you really like to read..." Jade says as she kneels down to be closer to Chelsea's height "Is that true?"
"Yeah..."
"Did he tell you that I really like to read too?" Jade asks her
"No." Chelsea shakes her head "Do you?"
"I do..." Jade whispers, almost as if to make it a secret between just the two of them "It's actually part of my job."
"Really?" Chelsea looks intrigued "How?"
"I'm a teacher." Jade tells her "I teach big kids though...high school. And when you're in high school you have a bunch of teachers that teach different things instead of one teacher that teaches you everything. I teach English Language Arts, which is the reading and writing class."
"Really?"
"Really." Jade laughs "Kinda cool, huh?"
"Kinda..." Chelsea shrugs
"So, do you have a favorite book?"
"Junie B. Jones!" Chelsea answers quickly "Dad got me the whole set for my birthday!"
"Really?" Jade gasps "That's so cool!"
"Do you want to see?" Chelsea asks her
"I would love to!"
Chelsea motions for Jade to follow her into the bedroom down the hall, and Jade breathes a sigh of relief as she stands up to follow her. She maybe might have broken the ice with Chelsea finally...and what better way to do so than with a common interest? It's refreshing to see a child actually excited about reading, it feels like pulling teeth most days getting her own students to read.
"Look!" Chelsea points to the bookcase in her room
It's easily seven feet tall with five shelves, three of them almost completely full. Jade assumes that Beck must have built it himself, and her thoughts are confirmed when Chelsea speaks next.
"Dad built this for me..." She tells Jade as she touches the wood "When we moved into this house. I was four. Every year for Christmas and my birthday he gets me new books to put on the shelves. He told me that if I ever run out of room, he'll build me another one. He says we can always make room for more books."
"He's absolutely right." Jade smiles "Chelsea, this is really awesome. Look at this you have all the Junie B's-"
"There's twenty-eight!" Chelsea tells her proudly
"I see that." Jade laughs "Which one are you on right now?"
"Dad and I are reading 'Not a Crook' right now." Chelsea says as she wanders over to her nightstand and picks up the purple paperback book that is sitting on it "We read a chapter each night, he reads a page and then I read a page and we take turns until we finish. Sometimes if I've been really good he lets me read two chapters. Do...do you want to read some of it with me?"
"I would love to." Jade nods eagerly "I'll tell you what...what if we got you into your pajamas and all ready for bed, and then just read books until it's time to go to sleep?"
"I like that idea." Chelsea grins "I'll get my pajamas!"
Chelsea quickly changes out of her daytime clothes and into her pajamas, then runs into the bathroom to discard her outfit in the laundry hamper. Jade follows and watches from the doorway as the little girl pulls her step-stool up tp the counter and begins brushing her teeth.
"Can you do pigtails?" Chelsea asks as she rinses the toothpaste out of the sink
"Hm?"
"Dad always puts my hair in pigtails before I go to sleep." Chelsea tells her "You said I should be all the way ready for bed, right?"
"Right." Jade agrees, stepping into the bathroom "I can do pigtails...or I could do two braids, if you want."
"You can do braids?" Chelsea gasps
"Yeah...?" Jade laughs "Do you want me to?"
"Yes please!" Chelsea nods "Dad can't do braids. Or buns. If I ever need those for dance he has to call Grandma or Aunt Tori."
"Well, lucky for you I can do braids and buns." Jade smiles, picking up the hairbrush "Look down for me?"
"Did your mom teach you?" Chelsea asks as Jade parts her hair down the middle, separating it for the braids
"Uh, no...she didn't." Jade answers honestly "I kind of figured them both out on my own. I could show you though sometime, if you want. Maybe when Aspen's hair gets a little longer. I can show you on her head and then you can practice on mine."
"Maybe..." Chelsea shrugs "Why can't I practice on Aspen?"
"Because if you accidentally pull on my hair the wrong way I won't cry." Jade smirks "Your sister probably will."
"That's true." Chelsea giggles
This is progress, Jade decides. A lot of progress. Chelsea went from wanting almost nothing to do with her to asking her to read with her and braid her hair. It's only the beginning, of course...but Jade thinks she might actually be able to do this...to bond with Aspen and Chelsea and create meaningful relationships with them.
Once Chelsea's hair is done, the two of them retreat back to her bedroom to start reading. Just as she had described, Chelsea reads a page and then Jade takes her turn, and they continue alternating. At first, they sit side by side on the bed, their backs against the wall. But eventually they finish 'Junie B. Jones is Not a Crook' and move on to 'Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal' and that that point Chelsea decides she'd rather lay in her bed instead of just sitting on it. Jade is prepared to sit on the edge of the bed, and pass the book back and forth so that they can still take turns reading, but Chelsea motions for her to sit beside her instead. Jade is shocked when she sits down with her back against the pillows and Chelsea curls up next to her, her head resting on Jade's side.
When Beck arrives home a few hours later, he's surprised to find all of the lights on the first floor still turned on...but neither Jade or his daughters anywhere to be found. As he makes his way upstairs he sees that the lamp in Chelsea's bedroom is still on, and goes to investigate. His heart grows when he stops in the doorway and sees Jade laying in the bed, her arm around Chelsea who is curled up at her side. The book lays open on Jade's lap, and the two of them are fast asleep.
Quietly, Beck walks over and picks up the book, placing the bookmark in the correct place so he knows where to continue reading the next night. He gently leans down and presses a kiss to Jade's lips, startling her awake.
"Oh!" She looks relieved "Hey."
"Hey..." He whispers "How were things?"
"I mean..." Jade responds quietly, looking down at Chelsea asleep beside her "Things were really good."