As the new year rings in, Beck and Jade begin spending a lot more time together. It isn't uncommon for Jade to spend entire Saturdays with Beck and his girls, only for his parents to come later in the evening to relieve them so that they can go out somewhere to spend time as a couple. She starts stopping by after school, helping Chelsea with her homework, giving Aspen a bath, and sometimes even spending the night. They had both been worried the first time Jade slept over, not knowing how Chelsea would react to seeing her there in the morning. But rather than asking uncomfortable questions, Chelsea had just been excited to see her father's girlfriend. Any insinuations about why they might have been sharing a bed go right over the seven year-old's head.

Beck allows Aspen to continue to call Jade 'Mama', but only because his girlfriend had given her blessing for the little girl to do so. Jade's only condition had been that he be open and honest with Aspen when the time came, that he explains to her that Jade is not her birth mother, nor is she Chelsea's. It's slightly frightening, hearing the baby call her 'Mama' and hearing it so often. She sees a future with Beck, and that part is exciting, but the part that scares her is that it's not just the two of them in their relationship. She's growing close with his daughters as well and even though it would be painful to lose him, it would be even more painful to lose all three of them.

By early April, the weather is starting to get warmer and most of the snow has melted, much to Jade's relief. She never did quite adjust to the snow, ice, and cold like Beck had implied that she would. He assures her that the next winter will be much easier, but she isn't entirely convinced.

"I think I remember her..." Chelsea admits as Jade brushes her hair out "Does she have red hair?"

"Yes." Jade laughs, amused at the little girl's memory of her friend "That's her signature."

"What does that mean?"

"It means it's like her 'thing'." Jade explains as she starts to braid Chelsea's hair "When you think of Cat, the first thing you think of is bright red hair."

"Ohhh...okay." Chelsea nods "Do I have a signature?"

"You sure do."

"What is it?"

"Books and a love of reading." Jade tells her "Just like me. Your dad's is movies."

"Cool."

"Alright, you're all finished." Jade says, patting Chelsea's shoulders to signal to her that her hair is done "Go get your shoes on."

"Can we braid Pen's hair?" Chelsea asks as they leave the bathroom

"Not yet, I don't think." Jade sighs "She'll have to stick to pigtails until it gets a little longer."

"Aw man, okay..."

"I'm going to go check on your dad." Jade chuckles "We'll be down in a minute."

"Okay!"

Jade watches to make sure that Chelsea actually goes downstairs to find her shoes rather than into her bedroom, then turns around and heads back to Beck's bedroom to make sure that he is ready as well.

"All good to go in here?" She asks as she enters

"Mama!" Aspen exclaims from her place on the bed

"Hey Pen." Jade chuckles, opening her arms to the baby who crawls right into them "Where's your dad?"

"I'm here." Beck assures her as he walks out of the master bathroom "Do I look okay?"

"You look fine." Jade assures him, resting Aspen on her hip "Why are you so nervous? You've met Cat before."

Cat had been one of Tori's bridesmaids when she and Andre got married the previous summer, and Beck had been Andre's best man. They had spent a lot of time together then, but even before that...Tori had brought Cat home with her to her parents' house for a weekend in college every now and then. There are even pictures of Cat holding Chelsea when she was a baby.

"I know, I know." Beck nods "But I've only ever met her as Tori's friend from high school. Or as Andre's best man. Now I'm your boyfriend. I want to make a good impression on her. She's your best friend, she's pretty important."

"She'll love you." Jade tells him "If for no other reason than I love you."

"I love you too." He smiles before pressing a kiss to her lips "I'm ready to go, are you ready?"

"Chelsea and I have been ready." Jade laughs "We've just been waiting on you, slow poke."

Cat and her boyfriend Robbie had made the short trip out from the city to visit with Jade and Tori for the weekend. They opted to stay with Tori and Andre, as Jade lives in a one bedroom apartment and neither one of them really knows Beck all that well. Jade is excited, she hasn't seen Cat in over a year and has so much to catch her up on. Even though they text and call each other regularly, cell phones just can't replace face-to-face conversations in person.

Chelsea insists on ringing the doorbell when they all arrive at Tori and Andre's. Within seconds the door flies open, revealing a very excited looking Cat Valentine on the other side.

"Jadey!" She squeals, leaping towards her childhood best friend and wrapping her up in a hug "Hi! I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too." Jade grins as she hugs her back "You would think with us living on the same coast again it would be easier to get together."

"You would think." Cat smirks "Adulthood gets in the way sometimes though. Oh! Where are my manners? Hi, Beck. S'good to see you again."

"You too." Beck smiles "You remember my girls, right? Aspen and Chelsea?"

"I do." Cat nods "They're so much bigger than the last time I saw them though. You ladies have grown so much! How are you?"

"I'm good..." Chelsea says quietly, positioning herself between Beck and Jade so she's partially hidden

Jade has to keep herself from laughing. She of all people understands that her friend has a larger-than-life personality, it's not surprising that she might come off as intimidating to Chelsea.

"Hi!" Aspen waves

"Hi!" Cat waves back "Oh, you're a little cutie pie. They both are."

"Thanks." Beck smiles

"Come on in." Cat waves them inside the house "You can meet my boyfriend, Robbie."

Jade has met Robbie multiple times already, but he hadn't been at the wedding so Beck never has...nor have Aspen and Chelsea. Not that either of the girls would remember if they had, they barely remember meeting Cat.

The adults spend most of the afternoon in the living room talking and catching up; it's still a bit too chilly to be spending long periods of time outside while remaining at a comfortable temperature. Jade has to admit, she's quite proud to introduce Beck as her boyfriend. Cat has met almost every guy she's ever dated, and has only liked maybe one or two of them. Not that Jade blames her, most of them were real assholes...especially the guy she had been with her freshman year of college. But Beck is the complete opposite. He's understanding and considerate and kind and thoughtful and all of the things that a partner should be.

Cat notices all of those qualities in Beck almost instantly. From the way wraps his arm around Jade while they're sitting on the couch to the way he interacts with his daughters, Beck Oliver seems like a genuinely good person, and that's all Cat has ever wanted for Jade. She's had a habit of surrounding herself with some not-so-good people, and it's refreshing to see someone treat her as well as she deserves to be. The man is constantly doting on her, and it warms Cat's heart.

Jade seems like she's genuinely happy for the first time in a very long time.

"Were you born with your hair that way?" Chelsea asks Cat "Or do you dye it."

"Oh, I dye it." Cat laughs "I don't think it's possible for anyone's natural color to look like that."

"Jade told me she used to dye her hair black." Chelsea remarks "But she 'got over it' so now she just lets it be brown like it was when she was little."

"That's true, she did used to do that." Cat smirks "You should ask her to show you pictures sometime."

"Cat..." Jade's voice comes with a tone of warning from across the room

"What?" Cat shrugs "Your dark hair looked cute!"

"That's all you need to tell her about my teenage years though."

"Alright, alright. Fine." Cat holds her hair up in playful surrender "I get it."

Her best friend is a role model to two young girls now, she can't be recounting the stories of her rebellious years like it's nothing.

"Chels, you should ask Cat where she works." Jade tells her

"Where do you work?" The seven year-old asks with eager eyes "Somewhere cool?"

"Yeah, kind of." Cat smirks "I work for a company called Dior. I'm a fashion buyer...that means I decide what the company should buy and how much of it they should sell in their store."

"Where's the store?"

"New York."

"City?" Chelsea looks amazed "Really?"

"Really!"

"Do you live there too?"

"We do yeah."

Chelsea is absolutely amazed. To her, New York City is just a place that people visit for a day or two at a time...not a place where people actually live.

"That's so cool!" Chelsea admits, then turns around "Dad! Jade! Can we go visit them sometime?"

"Maybe..." Jade shrugs, exchanging a look with her boyfriend "What do you think?"

"I think that would be a lot of fun if we can make it work." Beck admits "We'll have to look into it."

"I have to admit, Jadey..." Cat says to her best friend later that evening "Motherhood looks good on you."

Jade had mentioned that Aspen had started calling her 'mama' a few months prior when it first happened, but actually hearing her say it that day had still been surprising. Jade had been so...good with both Aspen and Chelsea, almost like a natural. Someone who didn't have all of the details of the situation might even believe that the girls were actually Jade's.

"Thanks..." Jade smiles a bit "It's...weird to hear it phrased like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Jade nods "I mean...I didn't come into this with the intention of being a mother-figure to them. Of course I knew that if things lasted with Beck, that's inevitably how things would end up just because of the situation and everything but...I dunno I'm still not used to it."

"The little one really does call you Mom, huh?"

"Mama." Jade corrects her "But yeah, she does..."

Beck had taken the girls home early when Aspen started to grow cranky, but Jade hadn't been ready to say goodnight yet. Andre offered to take her back to Beck's later after the adults had tired out, and she took him up on that offer. Now Andre and Robbie are in the den watching some sporting event that had been uninteresting to both Cat and Jade, so the two women retreated to the kitchen to talk. Tori floats back and forth between the two groups, but right now Cat and Jade are alone.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you think you're going to marry him?" Cat asks

"I dunno..." Jade smiles "I mean...it's been less than a year but he's already become such a huge part of my life...all three of them have. This time last year I didn't even know that they existed and now I never want to even think about a life without them..."

"So is that a yes?"

"It's an 'I really hope so'..." Jade admits "Is that crazy to say?"

"S'not crazy." Cat admits "Why would it be crazy to hope for something that is going well to continue to go well?"

"Well like I said, it hasn't been that long."

"Doesn't matter." Cat shakes her head "It's...I dunno, Jadey. It makes me really happy to see you so happy."

"Thanks, Cat."

"Do you think he would want to have more kids?"

"Oh fuck, I don't know." Jade sighs "We're not even close to getting married at this point. We're certainly not anywhere near thinking or talking about kids."

"That's fair." Cat agrees "I just wasn't sure if the thought had crossed your mind or not."

"It hasn't." Jade tells her "I...I'm really happy with the way that things are right now. I'd be content with them staying this way for a while."

"Well, the Yankees are about to lose." Tori announces as she enters the kitchen "Be prepared for yelling. What are we talking about in here?"

"How perfect Beck and Jade are for each other." Cat smirks

"That is not what we were talking about!"

"Kinda was..." Cat shrugs "But don't you agree, Tori?"

"I do." Tori grins "I'm happy that you guys found each other."

"I'm happy you sent him to my apartment that day."

"Oh yeah, I did do that...didn't I?" Tori smirks "Does that mean I get credit for making this relationship happen?"

"Well, hang on..." Cat stops her "If it wasn't for me...you wouldn't even know Jade and wouldn't have been able to send him to help her."

"You can share the credit." Jade rolls her eyes with a smirk "Fair?"

"Fair."

"Yeah, that's fair."