Jade drug herself out of Beck's bed on Sunday morning when her phone began ringing on the other side of the RV. Groggily, she trudged across the small living space to retrieve the offending device and read who was calling: Cat.
"Hey," Jade grumbled into the phone.
"Good morning, Mommy!" Cat giggled. "Are you at your house or Beck's? When do you want to go shopping?"
Jade looked at the clock. "Cat, it's eight in the morning. How about I pick you up at one? I'm tired and I need a little more rest. And I'm at Beck's."
"Ooh, I love Beck's RV! It's so cozy and cute and-"
"Cat-"
"sweet and he's always got delicious snacks in the fridge. I just wish-"
"Cat-"
"that the bathroom worked when we aren't in his driveway. He really needs to get that fixed."
"CATERINA VALENTINE!" Jade shouted.
"Whatty?"
"I'm going back to bed now. I'll see you at one."
"Okey dokey! Bye, Jadey!" The redhead hung up.
Jade muted her phone and stuffed it in the couch to muffle if it rang again before climbing into bed with her boyfriend.
"Cat's excited, isn't she?" Beck mumbled without opening his eyes.
"That's an understatement."
The boy wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her close to him. "Let's treasure our final few moments together before your best friend drags you off to the mall." Eyes still closed, he brought his lips toward his girlfriend's, smiling when they connected.
"Okay," she sighed as they pulled away. "Sounds good to me."
At quarter of one, Jade was clad in her favorite of her still-comfortable outfits and preparing to leave Beck's RV. She carried a coffee in her left hand and her bag over her right shoulder with her wallet and credit card inside.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Beck asked, walking up behind his girlfriend and wrapping his arms around her. "I could drop you guys off."
"Beck," Jade smirked as he planted kisses all over her neck and shoulders, "I'm pregnant, not broken. I can drive my own car. Besides, it's just been parked in your driveway for the past several months anyway."
"If you say so," Beck whispered, spinning her around and kissing her.
Jade patted her boyfriend's chest before turning and leaving. "I'll bring home dinner. Text me if you want anything in particular."
She shut the door to the RV and Beck listened as her car started and drove away. He finally had a chance to go talk to a certain someone.
At the mall, Cat led Jade in a beeline to the maternity clothing shop.
Once inside, the blue-eyed girl looked around with disgust. "Nothing's black," she complained.
Cat picked up a frilly pink top. "But Jade, they're so pretty! At least pick out twenty things and we'll buy fifteen."
"Holy cow, KittyCat. I don't have money for fifteen of these!"
"Coupons!" Cat giggled and pulled out a gift card. "I love coupons!"
Jade shook her head, turning back to the rack of clothing in front of her. She looked through outfits after outfits until she picked several.
"Go model them for me!" Cat jumped up and down. "Go model pretty mommy clothes!"
Shaking her head at the excitement of her best friend, Jade made her way to the dressing room, where the attendant gave her a dirty look. The teenager returned it with equal intensity.
In the dressing room, Jade pulled off her shirt, replacing it with a dark green tunic she found in the "clearance" section. In approval, she hung it on the hanger over the edge of the door. She continued with almost twenty other shirts in a range of muted colors and simple styles until she had picked her favorites. The only ones she disliked were one red button down, two tunics, and a striped sweater. Pants wise, Jade ended up with several colors and patterns of leggings and jeggings, since those were easiest to get into and out of. Finally, she found one jacket she liked: a simple black pea coat.
Standing at the register, Cat took over buying and slid forth two gift cards, three coupons, and her credit card.
"Cat, you don't have to buy everything," Jade protested. "Let me pay what the gift cards don't cover."
"Nonsense!" Cat squealed. "I'm buying."
"Then let me pay for the bras," Jade stated. "I'm in desperate need of those."
Cat rolled her eyes. "If you insist."
On their way out of the store, Jade caught a glimpse of a certain middle-aged couple walking toward the Freezy Queen: Mr. and Mrs. Oliver.
Cat noticed them too and ran over, giggling. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver!"
"Hello, Cat," Mrs. Oliver greeted the giggly redhead. "What brings you to the mall?"
"Cat drug me out shopping," Jade butted in, appearing at her friend's side and attempting to conceal the bags behind the petite girl. With her other arm, she clutched her jacket to her stomach in an attempt to conceal her belly.
"Hello, Jade," the woman deadpanned, her expression morphing from her friendliness toward Cat to hostility toward her son's girlfriend.
"We were just headed for a bite at the Freezy Queen," Mr. Oliver spoke, breaking the tension. "Would you girls like to join us?" Jade knew that she wasn't on the man's list of people that he liked, but she also knew that his Canadian upbringing required him to politely invite people to things, even if he didn't want to.
Jade opened her mouth to decline the request, but Cat spoke first. "We'd love to!"
The redhead was oblivious to the unhappy aura emitted by the other three people and she skipped ahead, leading the others to the little stand.
Sitting around one of the tables, the four shoppers ate their ice cream in silence. Except for Cat, who chattered happily with Mrs. Oliver about her recent costume design endeavors.
Mrs. Oliver had always liked Cat, despite her naivety and ditziness. Several times, she had advised her son to date the redhead rather than Jade, since the former was polite and sweet and the exact antithesis of Jade's abrasiveness.
During the entire conversation, Jade kept her gaze trained on her ice cream and her coat on her lap in hopes that she could continue to hide her pregnancy. She stared down at the brownie sundae and carefully scooped up the exact amount of brownie to complement her next bite of ice cream.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Beckett," Mr. Oliver stated, staring at the blue-eyed girl.
"Yes, I have," Jade nodded.
"Why?" he prodded.
Jade shrugged. "Because," she paused, "because I love him."
Mr. Oliver nodded, maintaining a cold gaze with the girl. "Well, Miss West, if you ever do anything to hurt my son or hinder his future, just remember that I have lofty connections in media. Do not mess with me."
Without a response, Jade nodded. She didn't like the man and he didn't like her, but she knew when he had the upper hand.
For the remainder of their snack, neither of Beck's parents spoke to Jade. She finished her sundae and threw out the bowl, returning to some unwanted, prying looks from Mrs. Oliver.
"Jadelyn, you're bigger than you were when you and my Beckett began dating."
"Honey, that's rude," Mr. Oliver whispered to his wife.
"My apologies, dear. All I'm asking is if you have been becoming lazy as well."
Jade knitted her eyebrows together, unsure how to reply. "I haven't been exercising as much recently, no. I don't have a dance class this semester."
"Well, if you want Beckett to stay, you should get back into shape. You look pregnant." The woman laughed at her joke.
Uneasy, Jade nodded. Words escaped her and she glanced down at Cat, who cocked her head to the side, completely unsure of what to do.
The blue-eyed girl placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We should get going, Cat."
Cat nodded and stood up. "Thank you so much for the ice cream. It was delicious."
"You're very welcome, Miss Valentine." Mr. Oliver stood and shook her hand. Mrs. Oliver hugged her. Jade only received a nod of acknowledgement from each of her boyfriend's parents.
"Goodbye, girls," Mrs. Oliver waved to the two as they left the shop.
On their way into a random jewelry store, Cat looked over at her friend. "Do they know?"
"No," Jade shook her head. "But that was awkward. I initiate conversations for the remainder of this trip."
"Okay," Cat agreed and ran off to play with a rack of glittery jewelry in the corner of the store.