"Aunt Tori spoils you two rotten, doesn't she?" Beck remarks, giving his friend a sideways glance as his two daughters rip into their Christmas presents "What do you say?"

"Thanks, Aunt Tori!" Chelsea grins as her eyes land on the new barbie doll she had been eyeing for the past few weeks

"Tank wu!" Aspen mimics her sister, still not entirely sure of what is happening around her

"What about me?" Andre teases the two girls playfully

"Aunt Tori buys everything and signs both of your names." Chelsea smirks "Just like Grandma buys everything and signs Grandpa's name too. It's how it works."

"I..." Andre chuckles "Beck, your kid is too smart for me."

"Say 'thank you' to Uncle Andre too, Chels." Beck tells her with a smile "He helps pay the credit card bills."

"That's true!"

"Thank you, Uncle Andre."

"You're welcome, kiddo."

"Wook!" Aspen exclaims as she toddles towards Beck with a new toy in her hand "Bus!"

"Is that a bus?" Beck gasps, taking the package from his daughter "That's pretty cool! Should we open it?"

"Open!"

"Magic word, Aspen Taylor?"

"Pwwwease?" The eighteen month-old whines

"Alright." Beck laughs "Since you said please."

"Here." Jade takes the box from him "My nails are longer than yours, they can rip through the plastic easier."

"I can't argue with that." Beck chuckles

He had been surprised, but not all that disappointed, to hear that his girlfriend didn't have any plans to return to Los Angeles for the holidays. Obviously he knew that she didn't want to see her father, but he had expected her to want to spend time with her step-father and brother. She assured him that as much as she did want to see them, she usually doesn't around the winter holidays. It was tradition for her step-father to take her brother to visit his parents in Seattle for Christmas, and he hadn't been allowed to take Jade along once she started living with her father after her mother died. She became accustomed to spending the holidays apart from them and while she claims it doesn't bother her, Beck could tell there was at least a hint of dishonestly in her voice when she told him that. She has plans to see them at Easter, but in the meantime Beck was more than thrilled for her to join in on their holiday traditions.

Christmas Eve is spent at Tori and Andre's, a newer tradition that had been started in recent years since the couple decided to move back to Hartford after college. The following day, Christmas Day, Beck will take Aspen and Chelsea to his parents' house to see them and the few family members that have flown in for the holidays...but this year he's excited to get to bring Jade as well.

"Here you go, Pen." Jade smiles as she pulls the toy school bus out of the package and presses one of the buttons, causing the toy to start playing an instrumental version of 'Wheels on the Bus' "Look! It makes noise!"

"Wow!" Aspen gasps as she takes it in her hands "Tank wu!"

"You're welcome..." Jade chuckles as Aspen toddles back over to Chelsea to show her "She's getting pretty good at the talking thing, huh?"

"She is, yeah." Beck agrees "Before long she'll be arguing with her sister in full sentences."

"Oh, you don't think they'll argue do you?" Jade teases him as she takes his hand in hers "Who has ever heard of siblings doing such a thing?"

The couple stays on the couch for a little while longer, watching the two children play with their new toys. There will be plenty more for them to open tomorrow, both from Beck and his parents. He knows very well that his parents will go overboard and spoil his daughters more than they need to, but he has to remind himself that an overabundance of love is so much better than the lack of it.

"Alright, ladies!" Beck announces as he stands up, checking his watch "We need to get going! If Santa gets to our house and you're not asleep, he's not going to leave any presents!"

"Aspen, we gotta clean up!" Chelsea exclaims "Hurry!"

"That's one way to get them ready to go..." Jade laughs as she stands up as well

"Works every time." Beck winks "We'll see you at my mom's house tomorrow at one?"

"Wouldn't miss it." She smiles, quickly pressing a kiss to his cheek while Aspen and Chelsea are busy

They'e not sure how either one of the girls would react to seeing them actually kiss each other. They've been able to hold hands without raising any eyebrows or causing any tantrums, but with the holidays heightening everyone's emotions they want to be careful...with Chelsea especially.

"I know this might not be the most ideal holiday situation for you..." Beck says quietly "And I know you miss your step-dad and your brother, but...I'm really happy you get to spend Christmas with us."

"There isn't anywhere else I'd rather spend Christmas this year." Jade assures him "I love you."

"I love you too."

"So where did you say you were from?" One of Beck's aunts asks "California?"

"Los Angeles, yeah." Jade nods

"What on earth are you doing all the way out here then?" The woman laughs

"I just...wanted a change." Jade shrugs "I had been there my whole life and wanted something different...so I started looking at the opposite coast. New York was too expensive, and I had a few friends in this area already so I thought...why not give it a try?"

This woman doesn't need to know about the traumatic experiences with her father that actually drove Jade so far away, only knowing half the truth is fine for now.

"Well, it seems like it's worked out for you."

"It definitely has." Jade smiles "I'm very happy here."

"Hey." Beck appears behind her suddenly "Aunt Kathy, do you mind if I steal Jade for a minute?"

"Steal away!"

"Thank you." He chuckles, taking Jade's hand and leading her out of the kitchen and into the next room "You look like you needed rescuing."

"We were fine." Jade assures him "She seems nice."

"She hasn't asked you for your thoughts on politics yet."

"Oh, yikes." Jade cringes "One of those?"

"One of those." Beck nods "I'm glad I got you alone though, I want to give you something."

"Something more than what you already got me?"

They had exchanged presents earlier. She had gotten him a new sweatshirt and a pair of boots and he had gotten her the new hairdryer she had specifically asked for.

"I'm not going to give you just a hairdryer for Christmas." Beck laughs

"Why not?" Jade shrugs "That's literally what I asked you for."

"I know, I know." Beck sighs, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box "I wanted to give you one more thing."

"What is this?" Jade asks, taking the box from him

For a moment, she's worried it might be a ring. Sure, she loves him, and they're in a really good place, but they're not in that place. Not yet, at least. She realizes very quickly that the box is too big for a ring and opens the lid to reveal what's inside.

"Beck..."

"Merry Christmas, Jade."

It's a necklace; a round diamond pennant on a simple silver chain. It's nothing overly extravagant, but it's certainly beautiful. She touches the necklace she's already wearing. Her mother had given it to her for her twelfth birthday, the last one they celebrated together before she died. It's a gold dove-shaped charm on a simple gold chain, and she's worn it almost every single day since it was gifted to her. At first it was to keep her mother close, but now it's mostly because she's never found anything worthy of replacing it. She's willing to take it off for now, even if it's only for the rest of the night while she wears this new one.

"Thank you." Jade sighs, looking up at him with a small smile as she unhooks the dove necklace "You didn't have to-"

"I know." Beck cuts her off as he takes the new necklace out of the box and drapes it around her neck "But I wanted to. I hope you like it."

"I love it." She tells him, leaning forward to kiss him

"Dad!" Chelsea's voice comes from somewhere in the house "C'mon! We're opening presents!"

"Coming!" Beck yells back to her "Shall we?"

"Yeah." Jade laughs "We don't want to keep them waiting."

Beck's mother is already busy distributing presents when they arrive in the front room, and Aspen and Chelsea each have a huge stack sitting in front of them. Knowing his theory about his parents going overboard had been correct, Beck plops down on the couch with a sigh, wrapping an arm around Jade as she positions herself beside him.

"Who is this one from?" Chelsea asks, picking up one of the boxes

"Oh." Jade takes notice of the box "That one is from me."

"You...you got us presents?"

"Is that okay?" Jade laughs

"Yes!" Chelsea answers quickly "Thank you!"

"Well don't thank me yet, you haven't opened it yet."

Chelsea begins pulling at the paper, revealing the boxed set of books beneath it.

"Ramona?" She reads the title of the book "Did I say it right?"

"You did, yeah." Jade nods "There's only eight, and I know that's not as many as Junie B...but I really liked those books when I was your age. I thought you might like them too."

"I hope I do!" Chelsea grins as she runs over to give Jade a hug "I can't wait to read them! Thanks, Jade!"

"You're welcome." Jade hugs her tightly "Go open the rest of your presents, we want to see what you got."

"Okay!"

Jade and Beck exchange a pleased look with one another, both appreciating how much progress Jade and Chelsea's relationship has made in the past few months. Beck honestly couldn't be happier, it means the world to him that both of his girls have accepted the woman that he loves.

Aspen and Chelsea continue opening presents for a while longer. Every once and a while one of the adults receives a gift as well, but the two children are most definitely the center of attention. All is well, all is happy, until Aspen opens a certain toy.

"Woof woof!" The baby exclaims "Woof woof!"

The 'My Pal Violet' toy had been on her mind ever since she saw the commercial for it a few weeks prior. Every time someone would ask her what she wanted for Christmas, she would respond with 'woof woof' and everyone knew exactly what she meant. Beck's mother had purchased it almost immediately after hearing Aspen wanted it, and the look on her granddaughter's face brings her so much joy.

"Open!" Aspen grins, picking the toy up and carrying it over to Beck and Jade "Mama! Open!"

Her choice of words cause everyone to freeze, Beck, Jade, and Chelsea included.

"Aspen...that's not..." Chelsea begins to say, but doesn't finish her thought

One look at the seven year-old's face makes it clear that she's upset.

Beck is panicked. They almost never use the word 'mom' or any form of it, he's not sure where Aspen would have gotten that idea from. He and Jade have been together for less than six months, it's much too soon for anything like this to be happening.

What if it's too much?

What if this scares her away?

He can't read her facial expression but much like everyone else in the room, Jade looks surprised.

"Mama!" Aspen repeats, shoving the toy into Jade's lap "Mama! Open!"

"Alright, alright." Jade nods "I'll open it, hang on."

"Aspen, she's not our mom!"

"Chelsea..." Beck sighs "She's just a baby. She doesn't-"

"She's not!" Chelsea insists, then runs out of the room

Beck begins to stand up, intending to go after his daughter, but Jade stops him.

"I'll go." She offers, handing Aspen's toy to him

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

It's not hard to track Chelsea down. They had all heard her stomp up the stairs, and heard a door slam just a few seconds later. Jade finds her in Beck's childhood bedroom, her face buried in the pillow on his old bed. Not wanting to completely invade the girl's privacy, Jade knocks on the doorframe to make her presence known before doing anything further.

"Chels?"

"I don't want you." Chelsea grumbles

"I know that." Jade nods "I wanted to talk to you about that, actually."

Chelsea doesn't respond verbally, but turns her head ever so slightly to look at Jade.

"Have I ever told you about my mom?" Jade asks as she steps inside the bedroom, turning on the light before moving to sit on the edge of the bed

"No..."

"She died when I was just a little bit older than you." Jade informs her "And she and my dad were divorced, so I had to go live with my dad and my step-mom...I hated my step-mom."

"What's your point?"

"I hated her because she tried to act like my mom never existed. She acted like she was my mom instead and she had been in my life the whole time but the reality was...she didn't even know me at all. And she never made an effort to even try to get to know me. She would get mad at me for missing my mom or even talking about her...and that made me even more sad than I already was." Jade explains "Look, Chelsea...I don't know why Aspen called me mom. I didn't tell her to, your dad didn't tell her to...like he said, she's just a baby. She doesn't understand. And I know you miss your mom but-"

"I don't miss her..."

"You don't?"

"No, she made my dad sad and mad...she made everyone sad and mad." Chelsea admits "I'm glad she's gone, but I'm also really mad at her...because she left and didn't say goodbye or anything. It's like she didn't even care about us..."

"I'm sorry that happened, Chelsea."

"I thought she cared about me."

"I know it's really upsetting..." Jade nods "And it's okay to be mad at her, but you need to remember that there's someone who does care about you a whole lot...and that's your dad. He loves you very much. There are a lot of people who do, actually. Most of them are downstairs."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you love me?" Chelsea asks "And Aspen?"

"I do, yeah." Jade nods with a smile "I hope you're okay with that."

"I think I am."

"I'm not really sure what's going to happen with the whole 'Aspen calling me Mom' thing." Jade admits "But I want you to know, you don't have to call me Mom. I know you're not comfortable with that, and I would never ask you to do something that makes you uncomfortable."

"So I can keep calling you Jade?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay..." Chelsea says quietly "Thank you."

"Of course." Jade smiles a bit "Do you want to go downstairs and finish opening your presents? I think you still had a few more."

"Yeah." Chelsea agrees "But, um...when I'm done? Can we maybe start reading one of the Ramona books together?"

"Sure." Jade nods "I would love to."

"Do you want to talk about what happened tonight?" Beck asks Jade on the phone later that night

They had each retreated back to their own homes, mostly because Aspen was exhausted from the excitement of Christmas and the fact that she had skipped her nap and needed to go to bed. Beck knew he needed to talk to his girlfriend though, what his daughter had said isn't something that can just be ignored.

"Which part?" Jade smirks "The part where you gave me a necklace? The part where I met your family?"

"The part where my daughter called you 'Mom'..." Beck sighs "After we've only been dating for a few months..."

"I knew that." Jade assures him "I was just messing with you."

"Look, I'm sorry." Beck apologizes "We don't really use that word so I'm not sure where she would have picked it up from."

"You call your mom 'Mom'." Jade reminds him "They're around Tori and Andre's moms sometimes, they call their moms 'Mom'. She hears it in books, she probably hears it at daycare...I'm not overly shocked that it happened."

"How does it make you feel...?"

Beck is afraid of the answer. He had thought their relationship was in a really good place up until tonight, this will most likely be a setback. Jade just met his kids and is only now starting to spend regular time with them...this all happened way too soon.

"Honestly, if you had told me yesterday that it was going to happen...I probably would have been really freaked out." Jade admits "But when she said it...I dunno, it's almost like I didn't have to think twice about it."

"So...you're not going to break up with me?"

"Oh my god, no." Jade answers him quickly "Beck...I love you. I like where this is going, I see it lasting-"

"You do."

"I do." She confirms "Don't you...?"

"I do!" He assures her "I'm just...I'm really happy that you do too. You're...the best thing that has happened to me in a really long time and I want this to last."

"I think it will."

"So...what do you want to do about the whole 'Aspen calling you Mom' thing?"

"She's a baby..." Jade reminds him "She probably doesn't even understand what she said. I say we see if she does it again and go from there."

"That sounds like a good idea." Beck agrees "Um...what did you and Chelsea talk about when she ran off? I tried to ask her but she's been pretty tight-lipped."

"We just had a little heart-to-heart about how it's okay that hearing she was upset hearing Aspen say that because of everything that happened with Alyssa...and that it's okay that she still wants to call me Jade and not Mom." Jade tells him "I think the rest of it should stay between her and me. I'm finally starting to gain some of her trust and I don't want to break it. I promise she didn't say anything alarming or concerning."

"Okay..." Beck nods "Okay, I can respect that. So...we're good?"

"We're great." Jade promises him "Merry Christmas, Beck."

"Merry Christmas, Jade. I love you."