Moments later, Rachel's husband and daughter entered the house - Olive first, followed by Jesse. Olive had on her sunglasses, despite it being a cloudy day, and Rachel smiled because she looked just like Jesse in sunglasses. Her hair was still up in a bun from ballet and she had her dance school's sweatshirt/sweatpants on over her leotard and tights. She had, naturally, chosen hot pink for the color of her sweatsuit.
"Hi, baby!" Rachel greeted enthusiastically.
"Hey," Jesse smirked, leaning in for a kiss. Rachel returned it, but laughed.
"I meant our actual baby, honey," Rachel said, playfully swatting Jesse's shoulder. "But how are you?" She asked, following Jesse's pout.
"I'm good - it was so nice to see how much Olive has improved. Our girl can pirouette like nobody's business," Jesse and Rachel both beamed at their daughter, who smiled back.
"Hi, Maya!" Jesse greeted the preteen seated on the St. James couch.
"Hi Jesse," Maya said softly.
"Olive, say hello to Maya," Rachel coaxed.
"Hi Maya," Olive said coolly. She still hadn't taken off the shades.
"You can take those off now, hon," Jesse laughed, giving Olive a playful pat on the back.
"But, Dad - I look so good!" Olive protested.
"You always look good," Jesse took the sunglasses off for Olive and slipped them in his back pocket. The removal of the sunglasses revealed Olive staring daggers at her father.
"Don't give me that look," Jesse tried to sound stern but he couldn't help chuckle a little. "Why don't you get changed, baby."
Olive gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine. Will you take out my bobby pins?" Jesse did so and handed the pins to Olive who ran upstairs, fistful of pins in tow.
"So, Maya, how have things been?" Jesse turned to Maya who hadn't moved a muscle during her sister's little performance.
"Fine," the girl seemed to ease up a little following the departure of Olive.
"What grade are you in now?" Jesse asked.
"Fifth," she responded. Maya and Olive attended the same private all-girls K-12 school, and were a grade apart.
"Wow! How did that happen? It seems like just yesterday we were at your preschool graduation," Jesse smiled. Maya couldn't help but smile too. Jesse had always been so nice to her and 100% supportive of her and Rachel's relationship. Maya once told Rachel she sometimes felt like she had three dads with Jesse in the picture, which made both Rachel and Jesse very happy. Watching Kurt and Blaine have Maya ten years ago had also made Jesse all the more excited to have children of his own someday.
"I don't know," Maya shrugged.
"What kinds of activities are you involved with these days?" Jesse asked.
"Soccer, book club, and chorus," Maya said. "My dads have been wanting me to try out for the school play but I'm not so sure."
"So you like to read? Maybe you can encourage Olive to read more. Other than the Little House on the Prairie series, which she recently finished, Rachel and I haven't had much success in getting her to branch out," Jesse admitted.
Maya was quiet for a moment. "It's kinda hard to encourage Olive to do anything," she finally said, after which she blushed, remembering she was talking to Olive's parents. However, Jesse and Rachel just laughed. Maya was not wrong.
Olive came back at that moment.
"Are you talking about me?" she asked accusingly. She had changed into a kitten t-shirt and jeans.
"Nothing bad, dear," Jesse replied. "Just that we wish you would read more," He patted his lap, and Olive slowly sat on it.
"Oh," was all Olive replied.
"I thought we'd just hang out here today, but what do you think we should do tomorrow, girls?" Rachel asked, squeezing Maya on the shoulder.
"Can we go see a show?" Olive asked.
"Sure!" Rachel replied enthusiastically. "Oli, did you know that the Hudson Theatre is doing none other than Hairspray? You wouldn't be interested in that, would you?" Rachel teased.
Olive nodded excitedly. Her mother knew her too well.
"Do you like Hairspray, Maya?" Rachel turned to Maya, who nodded in approval.
"Great!" Rachel pulled out her phone. "We should see the matinee with it being a school night and all…"
Olive groaned. "Aw, Mom!"
"It looks like for the matinee there's only three seats left. Sorry, girls," Rachel said, disappointedly herself.
"Why are you sorry? Maya can just stay home!" Olive replied quickly.
"Olive Maria - go to your room!" Rachel scolded swiftly. It was probably the harshest she'd ever sounded with Olive but she refused to let the next five days go like this. It was time to nip this in the bud.
Olive turned to Jesse, who had an even harder time with discipline than Rachel did. In the past, Rachel had gotten frustrated when Jesse undermined her authority with Olive and downright vetoed punishments. However, Rachel was proud that over the past few years, he had really stepped up his game, and much to Jesse's relief, Olive still absolutely adored him.
"Go," Jesse told her firmly.
Olive got up off his lap and glared at both of her parents.
"These are going to be the worst five days of my life! I'm never leaving my room. I hope you have fun with your new parents, Maya!" Olive darted up the stairs and Rachel and Jesse heard the door slam behind her.
Olive's words stung, but Jesse and Rachel knew that there would be time for comfort and snuggles later. They turned to Maya who looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Maya," Rachel said softly. "Olive is just upset. Jesse and I will go talk to her in a little while - she needs to cool down. But no matter what she says, we want to make it very clear that we are so glad that you're staying with us...do you want to play a game on my phone?" Rachel couldn't think of any other way to distract the poor child - and it always worked when Olive needed a distraction.
Maya perked up. "Do you have Angry Birds?"
"As a matter of fact - I do," Rachel opened the app and handed her phone to Maya who immediately set to work. Jesse and Rachel watched her for a while but about ten minutes later decided it was time to talk to Olive. Rachel told Maya she could continue playing, and she and Jesse headed upstairs.
