Chapter Two

"Henry! Come on buddy, we're going to be late for your game!" Jade shouted over her shoulder as she refilled her travel mug for the fourth time that morning. It was only six forty-five in the morning and she was still half asleep. But, Henry needed to be to his game in a half hour and it was a twenty minute drive. Hearing no response from the upper level, Jade took a sip of her coffee before hustling up the stairs with a tired sigh, towards her son's racecar room.

"Hey, little man, what's the hold up?" she asked, knocking on his door.

"Mommy! I can't find my shin guards! I had them the other day for practice but I can't find them now," Henry replied frantically, throwing things over his head and out of his closet.

"It's alright bud, calm down." He turned to face her with wide brown eyes.

"No! We can't be late, Mommy!" If there was one thing her son was, it was punctual. He couldn't stand being late. "If I don't get there in time then Coach won't play me!" He turned back towards his closet to resume his wild searching.

"Don't worry kiddo. He'll play you. You're the best on your team." Jade ducked, a sneaker narrowly missing her head from where Henry had chucked it over his should in a vain attempt to find his missing soccer gear. "Why don't you go check downstairs in the closet by the front door? I'll look around up here some more."

Climbing up off his knees, the boy quickly made his way towards the door before Jade stopped him, leaning down to ruffle his hair. "Chill," she whispered in his ear, giving his a small peck on the cheek. He broke free of her grasp and sprinted down the steps towards the front door. Jade sighed again before making her way farther into the room.

First thing's first, she thought. Closet. She sorted through T-shirts, sneakers, dirty clothes and socks, T-Rex toys, and old stuffed animals, folding a few items along the way. Finally giving up, she made her way over to the chest at the foot of Henry's bed. Opening the top, she sifted through baby blankets and kid books before moving on again. Lying down on her stomach next to the bed, Jade rolled her eyes as she pulled hidden roller skates and elbow pads out from under the bedframe. She gagged as she game across a piece of old pizza and made a mental note to scold Beck for letting Henry eat in his room.

Glancing up at the clock, Jade's eyes widened. Seven fifty-five. They needed to leave. Now. With one final desperate sweep of her hand under the bad, Jade grasped onto something grainy and grimy. Pulling the object out from under the bed skirt, she realized that it was Henry's practice jersey. Complete with a multitude of grass stains and red Gatorade splotches. She would have to soak that in the laundry room.

A light bulb went off in her head and she raced down the stairs and towards the back of the house. Flinging open the laundry room closet doors, Jade unclipped Henry's slightly damp shin guards from where she had hung them to dry after washing them yesterday afternoon.

"Henry!" she shouted. "I found them!" Her son came running around the corner in his long socks and gym shorts. "Here," she said, tossing the shin guards to him before slipping his LA Legos (the boys had picked the name) jersey over his head. "Go get in the car and put your shoes and seat belt on. I'll be right there, baby." The boy nodded frantically before grabbing his cleats from the closet and running for the door.

Okay, Jade sighed again, raking her finger through her hair. She slipped her shoes on before grabbing a bunch of things off the counter and heading for the door, going through a mental checklist in her head. Keys, check. Purse, check. Henry's mouth guard, check. Red Gatorade, check. Phone, check. Video camera, check. Sunglasses, check. Jacket and Henry's sweatshirt, check, check. Coffee, double check.

Slamming and locking the front door, she jogged to the car and got in, throwing everything except her coffee into the passenger seat. "Ready, kiddo?"

"Yes ma'am!" Henry replied cheerfully from the back seat. Jade smiled at the response he had picked up from hearing Beck say. Putting the car into drive, Jade pulled away from the curb and started down the street. "Seat belt, Mommy!" Henry shouted from his seat.

"Thanks, pumpkin." Securing her seatbelt with a click, Jade once again started off down the road, this time at a slightly faster than recommended speed. "Next stop, the soccer game…" Jade waited for her son to fill in Beck's part to their chant that they sang before every game, smiling into the rearview mirror.

"Next stop, victory!"

XOXOXOX

"Come on, kid! You've got this!" Jade cheered from where she stood on the sidelines. Mentally rolling her eyes, she thought about what she was doing. Who would have ever thought I'd be a soccer mom cheering for my kid on the sidelines like some lunatic? Well, she had. Let's be honest. Although she would deny it until her dying breath, Jade had always wanted to be a parent. Even in high school when everybody had seen her as the mean, cruel, harsh, dark girl, Jade knew she'd grow up to have kids. She was just thankful that she got one as amazing as Henry.

The referee blew the whistle as the other team called a time out. The little players in their red jerseys huddled around their coach, a man around Jade's age who loved what he did and was damn good at it. Jade had to admit, it took a special kind of person to be able to coach a team of five-year-olds.

Coming up behind her son, Jade ruffled Henry's hair and handed him a new red Gatorade before whispering in his ear, "Tie your shoe, please." The small boy frowned down in the general direction of his shoe before bending down and making two loops. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, Henry struggled to tie a bow on his soccer cleats. Jade smiled before turning to go and sit on the bleachers with all of the other moms and dads.

Speaking of dads, she thought, Beck hasn't called me yet today. He's probably busy on set. She pulled out her cell to check for messages: nothing. She looked up and smiled yet again as she heard the "Let's go, Legos!" coming from the huddle below. As they broke, Henry made him way down the field, turning around halfway there to lift of his left foot and show his mother his tied shoe. He pointed at the foot as his mom gave him an approving thumbs up.

Jade remained in the bleachers for the majority of the game, videotaping it so that Henry and Beck could watch it when he got back from filming. Halfway through the second half, the score was tied at three to three. Henry's coach called a time out and the boys made their way quickly over to the sideline. As the coach knelt in the middle of a circle of five-year-olds, Jade looked at her son. He was sweaty and holding his sides, breathing hard, but listening to his coach intently.

As she admired her son, Jade couldn't help but be stuck, not for the first time; by how much Henry looked like his father. Most people said that Henry was a perfect mixture of both of his parents, but when Jade looked at the small boy, all she could see was Beck. Apart from the pale skin, Henry looked just like Beck did when he was that age. Henry often assumed pictures of his father during childhood were actually himself. Jade thought it was adorable.

Caught in her musings, she hardly realized that another ten minutes had gone buy and the game was almost over. The score was still tied and there was only five minutes remaining. Jade watched as Henry dribbled the ball up the field towards the other team's net. Quickly snapping a picture with her phone, she sent it to Beck with a caption, "Our son, the superstar." Looking up from the screen she saw Henry passing the ball to another player on his team, Carter. Carter was known for not being the most coordinated of kids but he was one of Henry's good friends, so Jade felt bad for him when he tripped over his own feet, losing control of the ball, sending it off towards a player of the opposing team.

Jade was pleased to see that Henry paused momentarily to help Carter up off the ground before sprinting down the field to stop the other team from scoring. "Wow, that kid's got some manners," Jade heard from behind her. Smiling to herself, she looked over her shoulder to see that it was, in fact, Carter's dad that had spoken. Jade loved it when people commented on how polite Henry was. After having absolutely no idea how to raise a child, she was always pleased to hear that she and Beck had done a good job.

"Thanks," she replied, taking a sip of her now lukewarm coffee. "Manners are important to his father and me."

"Yeah it is. I don't know how many times I've heard her say 'Can I have some milk what, Henry?' Or, 'It's thank you what, Henry?' Hell, after seven years of marriage, I think she's even improved my manners."

Jade shot around in her seat at the sound of the more-than familiar voice. "Beck!" she exclaimed, jumping of the bleachers before rushing to her husband and flinging her arms around his neck. As much as she knew she was going to get teased for it later, she couldn't help but hold him tighter and tighter. He squeezed her back, practically picking her up off the ground before planting a huge kiss on her lips, eliciting an "ewww!" from all of the soccer players' little siblings.

"I missed you so much," Beck whispered in her ear as he pulled away, pushing some hair out of her face.

"I missed you too! What are you doing back so early?" she asked, still held tight in his arms.

"I wanted to surprise you. We finished filming a little early and the director said I was free to come home."

"So you lied to me?" Same old Jade, Beck thought to himself, rolling his eyes. "Because you know how upset Henry was last night and it would have been so much easier if you had just told him that you were coming home! Seriously, Beck, I mean-"

She was cut off abruptly when Beck kissed her again, interrupting her. Jade smiled into the kiss before locking her fingers into his hair and kissing him some more. They pulled away from each other as the sounds of excited cheers echoed in their ears. Finally looking away from each other, they both glanced up to see Henry dribbling down the field towards the goal with no one in front of him.

"Oh my gosh!" Jade exclaimed, breaking away from Beck. "Go Henry, you've got this, baby! Go!"

"Go, buddy, go! You've got this, dude, you've got this!" Beck joined in and soon their cheers were so loud and enthusiastic that they blended together. As Henry approached the goal he did a fake before kicking the soccer ball into the net, scoring just as the timer on the clock sounded, signaling the end of the game.

Henry jumped in excitement as all of his friends and teammates hugged him and high-fived him. He soon turned around, looking for his mother's thrilled face. When he spotted Beck standing there next to his mother, the kid took off sprinting towards them before leaping into his father's arms, hugging him fiercely. "Daddy, did you see me? Did you see me score?" he asked animatedly, his eyes shining.

"I sure did, Little Man! And I am so, so proud of you!" Beck replied, hugging his son to his chest even tighter.

"I missed you, daddy."

"I missed you too, buddy."

"Mommy missed you too!"

Beck laughed and looked at Jade. "I know she did," he said before pulling Jade over to join their embrace. He kissed Jade on the cheek before kissing Henry on his sweaty forehead and hugging them tighter.

Beck hated having to leave his family. He hated having to travel all of the time for work. He hated missing all but the last five minutes of his son's soccer games. He hated being away from his family for ten minutes, let alone two weeks. But, it was moment like these ones that made it all worth it. As he held his family as closes a humanly possible, Beck couldn't let go of just how lucky he was. He wouldn't trade Henry and Jade for the world.

"Daddy, can we get ice cream?"

Nothing was better than this.