When asked about it, both Andre and Tori are more than willing to be the third party that supervises Chelsea and Aspen's time with Alyssa. While neither one of them are her biggest fan they would both do anything for either of the girls, or to make the process easier on Beck.
After some discussion, it's decided that Andre should be the one to take the girls to the park on Saturday morning. Tori doesn't trust herself not to go off on Beck's ex-wife and while she wouldn't mind doing so in private, she doesn't want to behave inappropriately in front of the girls. She also feels as if picking a chaperone who can't control her emotions might ultimately end up hurting Beck in court, so she's more than happy to let her husband step up.
"I don't want to go..." Chelsea says sadly as Jade helps her bundle up in her winter coat "I don't like her."
"I know you don't..." Jade sighs "But unfortunately we don't really have much of a choice right now."
"Give her a chance, Chels..." Beck kneels down next to his daughter, a lopsided smile on his face "You might have fun."
"Or she might yell at me."
"Chelsea Ingrid." Beck shakes his head "She's going through a lot of trouble to be able to see you. Try to meet her halfway."
"Fine." Chelsea grunts "Whatever."
Andre arrives at 10:15 to pick up the girls, and switches cars with Beck to avoid having to transfer carseats between the two vehicles. Beck and Jade stand on the front porch and wave goodbye, waiting until Andre has driven out of sight before re-entering the house.
"That was very mature of you." Jade tells her husband as she closes the door
"What was?"
"What you said to Chelsea?" Jade clarifies "About giving Alyssa a chance? I know you don't like this situation, but you're setting a great example for them."
"That's all I've ever wanted to do..." Beck admits, a sad look on his face "I just hate that she was never there for them...and then she left me all alone with them...and now she's going to get to walk right back into their lives like nothing ever happened."
"Well it won't be like nothing ever happened..." Jade sighs as she moves to give her husband a hug "But I do agree with you that it's completely unfair."
"I just really hope that she's serious about being back in their lives." Beck says as he walks down the hallway that leads to the kitchen "I don't want it to be something where she's back for a few months, then dips out, then keeps coming and going as she chooses. The girls deserve something stable and that definitely isn't stable."
"I'm sure a judge would step in and make the appropriate changes if she did that." Jade assures him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he leans back against the kitchen counter "But let's try not to worry about all of the 'what if's right now, okay? We have an hour and a half to ourselves, when was the last time that happened? Think about everything we'll be able to get done."
"Oh." Beck smirks, wrapping his arms around her waist "We can change the sheets, do the laundry, and maybe even have some time left over to pay the bills."
"Sounds incredibly sexy." Jade laughs as she kisses him "Last one to the linen closet has to fold the fitted sheets."
"You're on!"
The couple has a very productive fifty minutes or so. They're able to change the sheets on all three beds, start a load of laundry, and are just sitting down to start paying bills online when Jade's phone starts to ring.
"Fuck." She mutters as she pulls it out of the pocket of her hoodie "It's Andre."
"Answer it!" Beck urges her "Something might've happened."
"Okay, okay." Jade slides the green answer button across the screen and raises the phone to her ear "Hello?"
"Hey, Jade..." Andre sounds unamused "Alyssa...she asked me to bring the girls home."
"I don't understand." Jade checks the clock on the laptop in front of her "They're supposed to have another forty minutes or so still."
"Yeah, I know." Andre agrees "It...I don't think it went as well as she was hoping it would."
"Alright, well...if she wants to forfeit the rest of her time..." Jade shrugs "Bring them home, I guess."
"Is everything okay?" Beck asks quietly
"Alyssa wants to be done." Jade answers him
"Of course." Beck sighs "She's flaking on them already..."
"She wants you to come and meet her here, Jade." Andre says
"Me?"
"Yeah." Andre confirms "She...she asked me to call you specifically. Not Beck, just you."
"Did she say why?"
"Nope." Andre responds "But whatever it is, it seems serious."
"Okay, tell her I'll be over as soon as I can then."
"I'm going to wait here and make sure she doesn't leave." Andre tells her "Once you get here I'll bring the girls home and wait with Beck."
"Alright." Jade nods "Thank you Andre, I'll...see you in a bit."
"What's going on?" Beck asks as his wife stands up from the table "Are you going somewhere?"
"Alyssa asked to speak with me, and Andre thinks it's serious." Jade tells him "He said he would wait at the park until I got there and then bring the girls back here."
"You can't go alone." Beck insists "She's manipulative, Jade. I don't want you to-"
"I'm a big girl, Beck." Jade reminds him as she moves back towards the front door to grab her boots "I'll be okay. Andre didn't sound super upset when I talked to him, so I don't think anything bad is going to happen."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive." Jade slips her boots on and grabs her coat "If anything happens, I promise I'll call."
"Alright." Beck sighs "Be careful, okay?"
"I will be, promise." Jade smiles a bit before leaning in to kiss him goodbye "I love you."
"I love you too."
"She's over there." Andre says as Jade steps out of the car "Hasn't moved or said a word since she said goodbye to the girls."
"Did she say anything to you?" Jade asks him
"No." Andre shakes his head "But I think...I think everything might've caught up to her. She kinda seemed like she was in over her head."
"Okay." Jade nods "Well, thanks for bringing them here. I'm sorry it didn't-"
"S'fine." Andre assures her with a smile "I'm always happy to help."
"Mama!" Aspen calls from inside Beck's truck "Hi!"
"Hi ladybugs..." Jade waves, peeking her head inside the truck "Uncle Andre is going to take you home to see Dad, okay? I'm going to talk to your mom really quick and then I'll be home too."
"Is she okay?" Chelsea asks
"Y'know kiddo, I'm not sure." Jade admits "But I'm going to go find out."
"Okay."
Jade waves goodbye as Andre drives away, then turns and starts walking towards the bench Alyssa is sitting on. It's mid-November now and the weather is getting older by the day. Even with a hoodie, winter coat, and boots, she's still a bit chilly as she makes the trek across the park. Hopefully whatever conversation Alyssa wants to have is a short one, and then they'll both be able to get somewhere warm.
"Alyssa?"
"Hey..." Alyssa sighs, still looking straight ahead "Thanks for coming."
"Uh, sure..." Jade nods slowly "Can I..should I...do you mind if I sit?"
"Go ahead." Alyssa nods to the empty spot next to her on the bench
"Thanks." Jade says as she sits down "What's...this about? Why did you want just me?"
"I lied to Beck and to you." Alyssa admits "I lied to the court too, which is a whole other story. I haven't been sober for a year...I've barely been sober for twenty-four hours. I was high the day I showed up at your house, I was high at the fall festival, I've been drunk every night this week."
"Oh..." Is all Jade can manage to say "Well, um..."
"You can spare me the lecture, okay?" Alyssa shakes her head "I know it's bad. I just...I thought that if I came here and I saw the girls, they would be enough to keep me sober. But being with them today...I realized how fucked I was because I just kept thinking about where I was going to get my next drink from...or my next hit...and how I was going to get it. And how if Andre hadn't been here...I might've taken them along with me to find something."
"Well it's a good thing he was here then."
"Yeah." Alyssa brushes a tear away from her eye "Yeah it was. I, um...when Chelsea was born...I was never able to connect with her the way that they say mothers are supposed to be able to connect with their children. I mean, I had heard the stories about moms taking a few days to bond with their newborns...but for me it was different. I never really felt that unconditional love they say you're supposed to feel, I still don't. But Beck did, I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at her. It was the same thing when Aspen was born. He was in love with her instantly, but it felt like I was holding a stranger's baby."
Jade doesn't know how to respond, so she doesn't. Instead she continues to listen to Alyssa as she talks, keeping eye contact so the other woman knows she's listening too.
"I don't want to be a mom." Alyssa admits "I never did. I just...didn't figure that out until it was way too late. I...I'm going to tell my lawyer to drop the case, and then I'm going to ask him to draw up the paperwork for me to surrender my parental rights."
"Woah." Jade stops her "Are you sure you want to do that? Surrendering rights is...well, it's pretty permanent. It's not something you'll be able to go back on."
"I'm sure." Alyssa almost laughs "I was with them for less than an hour today and I wanted to get drunk or high. I can't be sober and be a mom, I have to choose one or the other. And I want to be sober. I want to live a life that isn't completely controlled by drugs or alcohol...and I want them to be raised by parents who love them unconditionally and who don't need to be under the influence to get through a day with them."
"Alright." Jade nods "If that's what you want..."
"Take care of them for me, okay?" Alyssa says seriously "They both think the world of you. And I mean that, seriously. The entire time I was with them today all I heard was 'Jade this' and 'Mama that'...you're meant to be their mom...not me."
"I love both of them like they're my own." Jade admits "I promise I'll keep on loving them for the rest of my life and even after that."
"Good." Alyssa smiles a bit "And if they ever start displaying traits that they got from me...I'm sorry. I can't help genetics."
"We'll manage." Jade assures her "Um, where are you going to go?"
"Back to South Dakota, I think." Alyssa admits "I was staying with some relatives I have there, they really wanted to see me get sober so I'm hoping they'll still be willing to help. S'not a bad area, maybe I'll stick around there for a while or maybe I'll keep going west. I'm not really sure, but I do know I can't be here anymore. This town is where all of my problems started. I need to get away from it all."
"I can respect that." Jade agrees "I wish you...nothing but the best of luck, and I mean that."
"Thank you." Alyssa nods "I, uh...I already said goodbye to the girls. I didn't tell them I was leaving, but...I don't want to make it any harder than it needs to be."
"Are you going to say goodbye to Beck?"
"He won't want to see me."
"You're probably right."
"I hope the two of you live a long and happy life together." Alyssa says to Jade as she stands up "I put him through hell, he deserves some happiness."
"I'm going to do my best." Jade admits "I'll...fill him in on everything."
"I'm sure my lawyer will be in touch too." Alyssa shrugs "Well, it was nice to meet you Jade...fuck I don't even know your last name..."
"Oliver, as of yesterday." Jade grins "Née West, but officially Oliver now."
"Congratulations." Alyssa laughs "It was nice to meet you, Jade Oliver. Have a nice life."
"You too, Alyssa." Jade smiles a bit "I promise to take care of your girls..."
"They were never really mine." Alyssa shrugs "They were Beck's...and thankfully now they're yours too."
"So she's just gone again?" Chelsea looks as if she could cry "Forever now?"
"Yeah, kiddo." Beck nods "I'm sorry."
His own emotions had been mixed when Jade filled him and Andre in on her conversation with Alyssa. On one had, he had seen it coming and knows it's really for the best. On the other, he's furious that she's left them again without saying goodbye, and that she hadn't had the courage to tell him herself. Jade urged her husband to remember that Alyssa really just wanted what was best for Aspen and Chelsea in the end, and that is the most important thing.
"I don't know why I'm sad..." Chelsea admits "I didn't like her...but I can't believe she really left again."
"Chelsea..." Jade says quietly, sitting beside the little girl on her bed "I'm sorry that she made a choice that hurt you. But I want you to know that your dad and I love you very very much, and we'll never leave you. We'll always be here for you, no matter what. Your mom-"
"She's not my mom." Chelsea cuts her off "Not anymore. I guess...I guess she never really was."
"Well..." Beck sighs
"That's okay." Jade says as she makes eye contact with her husband, a signal not to make any comments that might confuse Chelsea further "If you don't want to recognize her as that anymore, you don't have to."
"I want you to be my mom." Chelsea looks up at Jade "I don't want to call you Jade anymore, I want to call you Mom like Penny does."
"Okay..." Jade nods with a smile "Okay, if that's what you want, I'm totally okay with it. I've told you from the very beginning, you can call me whatever you're comfortable calling me."
"I like Mom." Chelsea says "Maybe Mama...I dunno."
"We can test it out, see what sounds best to you." Jade smirks, brushing some of the hair out of Chelsea's face "I would be honored to be your mom."
Beck is too emotional to speak. For so long he had hoped someone would come into his life that would love him and his girls, but he never could have imagined he would be so lucky as to find Jade. She loves him and his daughters unconditionally, and he can't wait for all of them to spend the rest of their lives together.
"Are you okay, Dad?" Chelsea asks him "You look weird."
"I'm fine..." Beck assures her "Just thinking about how much I love you both."
"And Aspen?"
"And Aspen." He nods "My three girls."