"Babe!" Jade's voice echoes through the house "Come look at this!"
Beck quickly finishes buttoning his flannel shirt, discards his work clothes in the hamper, then follows the sound of his wife's voice down to the front entry way. He hadn't been sure what to expect when she called him, but the sight in front of him is more than worth it.
Jade, Chelsea, and Aspen are standing near the front door, all in matching outfits. Each of them wears a white hoodie with a black puffer vest over it, black leggings, black boots and a white beanie.
"What do you think?" Jade shrugs, trying to read her husband's expression
"You three look absolutely adorable." Beck grins "I love it!"
"Daddy!" Aspen squeals "I match Mama and sissy!"
"You sure do!" Beck grins, scooping the toddler up in his arms "You all look more than ready for the fall fest!"
It's the weekend before Halloween, and Chelsea's elementary school is having a fall festival to fundraise for the upcoming semester. There will be food, games, face painting, and even a bouncy house. Beck and Jade, now married for two full weeks, had been more than willing to take the girls when they heard about it. Tori and Andre will be meeting them there as well.
"I never thought I would be the kind of mom to dress to match her kids, but..." Jade laughs "I couldn't help it. I mean, look how fricken' cute they are."
"I think it's awesome." Beck admits "What do you think, Chels?"
"I think it's super cool." The little girl admits "I bet we'll be the most matchy people there."
"I bet we will too." Jade laughs "Come on, we don't want to be late. They might run out of apple cider donuts!"
Two weeks of being married also means two weeks since Alyssa has come back into their lives, and Beck and Jade are doing their best to keep life as normal as possible for Chelsea and Aspen. They answer any questions that they have as honestly as possible, although it's mostly Chelsea asking questions at that point. Aspen isn't old enough to remember Alyssa and had been mostly asleep the day she showed up on her porch, so she hasn't said much. But Chelsea wants to know why her birth mother had suddenly reappeared, where she had been, and when she was going to leave again. The couple was honest; they aren't sure where Alyssa had been or when or if she would be leaving again, but she was back because she missed Aspen and Chelsea and wanted to see them. The third grader hadn't been overly fond of any of those answers.
"Are you guys going to come in the bouncy house with us?" Chelsea asks as they stand in line for snacks
"No." Beck laughs in response "The bouncy house is just for kids. Jade and I will watch."
"Just watching is no fun!" Chelsea insists
"Maybe not for you, but for us it will be." Jade tells her "Adults have the most fun when they get to watch their kids have fun."
"It's true." Beck agrees
"That sounds lame." Chelsea scoffs
"That's because you're eight..." Beck laughs, reaching out to ruffle his daughter's hair
"Hey, watch it!" Chelsea exclaims "Jade worked hard on these braids!"
"Yeah!" Jade mimics her step-daughter's tone "I worked hard on those braids! Don't mess them up!"
"Yeah!" Aspen chimes in, although she doesn't understand what the argument is about
"Woah, okay. Sorry." Beck laughs, holding his hands up in surrender "Don't mess with the hair, I got it."
After purchasing their food, the family retreats to a nearby bench to eat. Chelsea and Aspen each get their own apple cider donut and take occasional handfuls from the box of popcorn Beck and Jade are sharing. Eventually, Tori and Andre arrive and stand with them for a while, talking about all of the fun games and activities they had passed on their way in.
"Excuse me..." A rather stressed-out looking woman approaches the group "Mr. Oliver?"
"Principal Martin!" Beck smiles "How are you?"
"Not so great." The woman admits "The arm on the dunk tank is stuck and I was wondering if you would be able to..."
She doesn't finish her sentence, but both the look on her face and the tone of her voice imply that she's hoping Beck will be able to fix the dunk tank. He's volunteered to do odd jobs for the school before, included but not limited to building sets for last year's holiday program.
"Oh, um..." Beck hesitates "I'm a carpenter, not an engineer. I'm not sure if I can-"
"Babe." Jade cuts him off, shaking her head
It's a signal to her husband that he should at least try to help.
"You know what?" Beck smiles as he stands up "Let me see what I can do."
"I'll come with you, man." Andre offers "I'm sure between the two of us we can figure it out."
"Oh, thank you so much!"
"Of course." Beck nods, giving Jade a quick peck on the lips before he leaves "Be right back."
"We'll be right here."
"Jade, can we go in the bouncy house now?" Chelsea asks her step-mother hopefully
"That's all the way on the other end of the field." Jade points out "We should wait for your dad to come back so he knows where we are."
"Aw man!"
"You can go climb on the hay bales over there if you want." Jade offers "Just stay where I can see you."
"Okay!" Chelsea exclaims, running off to the pyramid of hay bales that other children are climbing on
"I go too!" Aspen insists, wiggling off of Jade's lap and running after her sister
"Oh, okay. Chelsea!" She yells after the third grader "Your sister is coming too! Look after her!"
"Okay!"
"We should go with them..." Tori suggests "There's a lot of kids over there."
The two women stand up and move closer to the climbing pyramid, standing close enough to keep an eye on the girls but far enough away not to be in the way.
"Matching outfits..." A voice behind them says "That's fucking cute."
Jade turns over her shoulder to see the same woman who had shown up on her porch a few weeks prior. She looks a bit annoyed, whether it be by the overabundance of children around her or just the situation in general Jade can't be sure, but her expression definitely isn't pleasant.
"You must be Alyssa." Jade says "I'm not sure we've had the pleasure of meeting yet."
"It's Jade, right?" Alyssa asks "You're the one who's sleeping in my bed and playing house with my children?"
"Alright, Alyssa. That's enough." Tori says, a tone of warning in her voice "Knock it off."
"It's nice to see you too, Vega."
"It's Harris now." Tori holds up her left hand "Thank you very much."
Even in high school, long before Alyssa's issues with drugs and alcohol had started, she and Tori had never really gotten along. Tori always found Alyssa to be manipulative and superficial, and Alyssa hated that Tori and Beck were so close despite them both insisting that there were absolutely no romantic feelings between the two of them.
"Well congratu-fucking-lations." Alyssa smirks
"Are you fucking high right now?"
"How dare you."
"Alright, enough you two...please..." Jade sighs "There's kids everywhere right now."
"Yeah, Tori." Alyssa agrees "Speaking of that, where are mine?"
"You're not supposed to have any contact with them until the hearing next month." Jade reminds Alyssa "Remember?"
They have a court hearing scheduled for the second Tuesday in November, the soonest their lawyers were able to get them in front of a judge. Until then, Alyssa is not supposed to have any contact with Aspen or Chelsea unless Beck is present and gives his explicit permission.
"This is a public event, it is not?" Alyssa clarifies "You can't stop me from being here."
"I can stop you from seeing them."
"Shit, Jade." Tori taps her friend's shoulder to get her attention
She turns just in time to see Aspen tumble off of the bottom level of hay bales. It's eighteen inches off of the ground, maybe, so the toddler isn't hurt, but the look on her face as she falls tells everyone around her that she's definitely scared.
"Shit." Jade mumbles before calling out to her "You're okay, Pen! It's okay!"
Aspen's bottom lip begins to quiver as she stands up. She begins walking over to Jade, tears in her eyes as she reaches her arms out.
"Mamaaaa!" She whines
"See? She wants me." Alyssa remarks, kneeling down and holding her arms open "It's okay, baby. Mommy is here."
Much to Alyssa's surprise, Aspen walks right past her and over to Jade.
"Mama..." Aspen says again as Jade picks her up "I fall."
"I know, I saw..." Jade says quietly as she rubs Aspen's back "You're okay though, aren't you?"
"I need hug."
"I can give you a hug." Jade smiles a bit "You can have as many hugs as you want."
"She thinks you're her mom?" Alyssa scoffs "Oh no. Oh absolutely not."
"Alyssa..."
"Aspen Taylor." Alyssa says sternly "Look at me. I'm your mom, okay? Not her."
Confused, Aspen turns her head away, hiding her face in Jade's chest.
"You should go." Jade suggests
"I can't leave!" Alyssa insists "You're brainwashing my kid!"
"Alyssa!" Beck's voice carries across the field as he and Andre approach "What are you doing here? You're not supposed to-"
"You're letting them call her 'Mom'?" Alyssa snaps "I'm their mom!"
"Are you on something?" Beck asks her calmly
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Alyssa says, growing visibly more upset "I've been sober for a year! I have the documents to prove it!"
"Sober or not, you're not supposed to see the girls before the court hearing." Beck reminds her "You need to leave."
"Where's Chelsea?"
"You need to leave."
"Fine." Alyssa scoffs "I'll see you in court."
"The court will now hear the case of Moore vs. Oliver." The judge announces "Are both parties present?"
"Yes, your honor."
"Good." The judge sighs, looking at the papers in front of her "Ms. Moore, I see that you are petitioning Mr. Oliver for shared custody of your two children?"
"Yes your honor." Alyssa nods "I want equal for us both, fifty-fifty."
"And Mr. Oliver it is my understanding you do not want that to happen."
"That is correct, your honor." Beck agrees "My ex-wife was never much of a mother to my oldest daughter when she was around, and she abandoned us when my youngest daughter was less than a week old. She has a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and I do not want her around my children."
Jade watches everything unfold from a bench in the back of the courtroom. She hadn't been allowed to sit with Beck and Richard, as her name doesn't appear anywhere on the legal documents nor does she really have any stake in the case. Of course she wanted to be there to support her husband, and had taken the afternoon off of work to be there with him. Even if 'with him' is from a different spot in the courtroom.
"My paperwork from rehab is right there." Alyssa tells the judge "I was part of an impatient program for three months last spring, and I've been sober for over a year now. Please, your honor. I realize I've made mistakes in my past but I'm trying to do better. I want to be better for my girls. Walking away from them was the stupidest thing I've ever done and I would give anything to be back in their lives again."
Jade feels conflicted. On one hand, she might just sympathize with Alyssa. If the roles were reversed, she would certainly want to be given the opportunity to see the girls if she could, especially if she was making such an effort to be a better person. But on the other hand, she remembers the stories that Beck has told...not just about how she left, but other things too. Showing up drunk to Chelsea's second birthday party, using the money that was supposed to pay her daughter's preschool tuition to buy drugs...awful things that seem unforgivable. She doesn't want Beck or the girls to be hurt again...but she also remembers what it's like to be forbid from seeing someone that you love.
"This is not something that is going to be solved in one twenty-minute hearing." The judge informs them "Child services is going to need to run background checks and conduct interviews. We will revisit this after the first of the year. In the meantime, Ms. Moore...I will allow you ninety minutes of supervised visitation time with your children per week. Mr. Oliver, you will need to designate a third party to supervise these visits that will take place in a neutral environment."
"I can't supervise them myself?"
"Not given the nature of this case." The judge shakes her head "Perhaps a grandparent? Or a family friend?"
"I will find someone." Beck nods "Thank you, your honor."
"Case dismissed."
"It could have gone worse." Jade assures her husband as he approaches her "She could have just awarded her the split custody."
"I know..." Beck sighs "I just don't like that I won't be there while they're with her. Who knows what she'll say to them..."
"The judge said it can be a grandparent." Jade reminds him "Maybe your mom or dad?"
"My parents hate her, they'd never agree to that." Beck shakes his head "We should ask Tori or Andre."
"Even after how her and Tori went at it at the fall fest?"
"Trust me when I tell you that my mother would do and say much worse."
"Oh shit, okay."
"I want to see the girls on Saturday." Alyssa approaches them suddenly "Preferably in the morning, but beggars can't be choosers."
"Once we figure out who our third party is, I'll have my lawyer contact you with the details." Beck assures her "Now if you'll excuse us-"
"No, we're going to do this now."
"Jesus, okay." Beck sighs "Uh...Wolcott Park. Saturday morning at 10:30. Whoever is supervising will bring the girls to you."
"Perfect." Alyssa nods "I'm looking forward to it."