Oh my gosh you guys...I am so sorry for making you wait longer than usual for this chapter! Life had a crazy way of interfering with my writing time. I won't go into all the details, but I was in Texas helping my sister with her baby for a while. Then two days after Christmas the very first friend I ever had was killed unexpectedly in a car accident. Honestly, reading stories on here is about the only thing that can do lately-I love having an iPhone. Somehow I have been able to find a little time to write enough for a chapter, but I am making no promises as to its quality. If it's bad, I totally promise to make it up to you guys next time! I can't be sure when I'll get the Chapter 14 out, but I will try super hard to not make you wait as long!

Moving along to some good stuff...it's SHOUT OUT TIME!

Paljon kiitoksia (anyone ever been to Finland?...FYI I haven't) to: Dawnmist of RiverClan, Victoriousjadefan, twenty four7bade, DrizzyJ, Kaylee, and the Guest reviewer! You guys never fail to amaze and humble me with your kind words! :)

Now the not so fun stuff...Disclaimer: I had a very nice Christmas, but none of my presents included the ownership rights to either The Proposal or Victorious, so I sadly they're still not mine.

Ok, now that all the necessary stuff has been taken care of, let's get to something hopefully enjoyable :D

Chapter 13

The girls returned home to find Andre and Craig in the living room, lounging around watching an American football game on television.

"Where's Beck?" Jade cursed herself internally for being the one to ask, but then realized that she genuinely did want to know his whereabouts.

Chuckling as he spoke, Andre replied with, "He's upstairs attempting to make himself presentable for tonight. Apparently Beck's process takes like two hours. I don't even want to know all the details involved in it." Everyone laughed at Andre's explanation.

After recovering from her laughter, and remembering their encounter that morning, Jade did not want to run into Beck before his was finished. Instead she asked, "How long has he been up there?"

"Umm..." Andre paused to look at his watch. "Only about 10 minutes."

"Ugh great." Jade said annoyed.

Cat, unaware of the truth, asked innocently, "What's wrong Jadey? You and Beck are engaged. It's not like you haven't seen him getting ready before...right?"

Taking notice of Jade's slight blush, before she turned away, Andre made a mental note to tell Beck later that the plan might not have to be as complicated as they had originally thought.

After recovering herself rather quickly, Jade responded with, "Cat you know it doesn't take me that long to get ready, so I was going to take a nap before I changed, but with Aladdin up there trying to turn himself into a prince, I'll just go outside for a walk instead. Call me when the room is clear."

"Sorry Jade, but we've gotta get going. We need to go back to the mainland to my house so Cat and I can get ready ourselves." Andre then went over and put his arm around Cat's waist to lead her out the door and down to the boat.

"Bye Jade! See you in a few hours!" Cat hollered over her shoulder to Jade just before she and Andre got out the door.

Not bothering to respond since Cat wouldn't hear her anyway, Jade turned to go out the back door.

"I'll send Beck out to get you when he's done so you can come in and get yourself ready, ok dear?" Mary really wanted to go with Jade so she could question the young woman who had stolen her little boy's heart, but she could sense that Jade wanted alone time, so she settled for staying inside for now.

"Thanks." It was all Jade said before leaving.

/

Jade had been walking around in the woods for about 10 minutes, (give or take a minute-for once her mind was occupied with too many other thoughts) when she heard a weird chanting coming from somewhere up ahead. It sounded like the chants Jade had seen in movies featuring Native American Indians. There was also other noises emanating from the same direction, causing Jade to think there might be a whole tribe practicing who knows what in the woods. Curiosity had always been one of Jade's bad qualities, (though it was no where near the worst) but usually it was justified by the satisfaction she received from investigating the situation.

As she got closer and closer to where the noises were coming from, Jade saw that her guess was correct. About twenty feet in front of her in a clearing, was a person dressed in traditional Native American attire, complete with the feathered headdress. Looking around Jade did not see anyone else, but did happen to catch sight of a boom box sitting on a tree stump. The person in the clearing was dancing around with arms raised in the air and acting, in Jade's mind, like someone who belonged in a mental institution.

Jade continued to watch the person, wanting to see just what else would occur. The person finally turned so Jade could see who it was, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that the person was actually Betty. Upon recovering her wits, Jade smiled slightly to herself as Betty's craziness made her like older woman just a little bit more. Shaking her head and deciding to walk in another direction, Jade turned around to do just that, but unfortunately stepped on a branch that broke right as there was a break in the chanting.

"Who's there?" Surprisingly, Betty didn't sound the least bit scared, just questioning.

Cursing her unfortunate timing, Jade turned back around so Betty could see her. "It's just me Betty. I came out for a walk because Beck thinks he's a girl and needs hours to get ready for dinner."

"Yes, that boy has always had an unnatural attachment to that hair of his." Both women laughed after Betty's revelation. After recovering herself, Betty continued, "Don't just stand there dear, come on over and join me."

Not really wanting to join, but unable to think of a good excuse to get out of it, Jade begrudgingly made her way towards the older woman.

"Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you've never attempted any ritualistic dancing before, correct?" At Jade's negative shake of the head, Betty spoke again. "It's really easy. All you have to do is dance around however you want, and chant whatever you're feeling in the moment. The words aren't really important, it's simply the feeling you put behind them. Remember you're trying to get in touch with your inner spiritual self, so there is no right or wrong way to do it."

"Um, no offense Betty, but I'm not really into all this chanting and dancing. Plus, my inner spiritual self and I currently have a well-balanced relationship that really works for us. So I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to decline, but you go right ahead and continue what you were doing. I'll just sit over here and watch." Jade tried to make her way over to an unoccupied tree stump, but was stopped by Betty's hand on her arm.

"Nonsense. You can't just sit there and watch. You must dance a little bit. It's just you and me out here, so will you please give this 90 year old woman an early birthday present and let loose a little with me?"

It was the puppy dog eyes that finally broke down Jade's resolve. It wasn't until that moment that Jade realized Beck had the same exact eyes as his grandmother. She would never admit it to anyone, not even Cat, but those eyes had gotten Beck out of a lot of trouble with Jade in the past, and now they were once again working against her. Cursing herself once again, Jade vowed that she was going to build a better defense for those eyes, but for now, she'd have to simply succumb to Betty's request.

Jade stood there pondering what to sing so she wouldn't have to do any chanting, while Betty waited patiently for her to begin. After a couple of minutes of thinking, there was only one song that popped into Jade's head. Hesitatingly, since she was still unsure of exactly what she was doing, Jade began the song while moving her body around in the makeshift circle in which Betty had created.

"You know I flaunt ya, cuz girl I really want ya. And you lookin' nice, got me cooler than a bag of ice. Now freeze, freeze, freeze." Right after she said the words, Jade froze mid-step. Her arms were currently straight up in the air with her head thrown back. Just as she was getting ready to continue with the next line, she was shockingly interrupted by Betty.

"Now go. Drop it fast and move it real slow." Having no time to really recover from her surprise, nor think about her actions, Jade reacted on instinct to the words and managed to 'drop it' as per the lyrics' suggestion. The two then went on to continue to dance and sing the rest of the song.

They ended with, "Five fingaz to the face. Ohhhhhhhh." As they said the words, each woman put her hand into the other woman's face before dramatically falling to the ground, or in Betty's case, throwing an arm across her forehead and tilting her head back because, though she still had plenty of moves, she wasn't quite as agile as she used to be in her glory days.

After getting up, Jade found herself once again laughing along with Betty, and was just about to make a comment as to how much fun she had, but was stopped by Mary's voice coming from somewhere not too far off.

"Jade? Mom? Where are you?"

Recovering quicker than Betty, Jade was the one who replied. "We're right here Mary. We'll be there in just a minute."

"Okay, see you both soon." Jade and Betty heard Mary's footsteps fading away shortly after her words.

Helping by carrying the boom box, Jade and Betty made their way back to the house to get themselves ready for Betty's birthday dinner.

/

Meanwhile, back at the house...

Beck had finished getting ready and made his way downstairs about an hour after Jade had left. Noticing only his parents in the living room, he made his way to the kitchen looking for Jade. He was trying out some new cologne (per Andre's suggestion) and wanted to know Jade's thoughts on it. Not seeing her in there either, he asked, "Where's Jade?"

"Oh, she went out for a walk while you finished getting ready dear. Now that I think about it though, she's been gone for quite some time, and I haven't seen your grandmother for a while either. I was going to send you out to get her when you got done, but I think I'll go try to find them and tell them to come get ready so we won't be late for dinner. That way you don't ruin your lovely dress clothes. Now you two boys behave while I'm gone." With those parting words, Mary gave each man a warning look then left to find other women.

It was quiet for the first few minutes, with each man watching the game on television. As the game went to a commercial break, Craig felt it was time to continue the conversation/argument the two were having the last time they were alone, when Beck had announced his engagement. The two had done barely anything more than trade 'hellos' since then.

"So Beck, are you ready to speak rationally regarding your relationship with Jade now?"

The way Craig put a special infliction while saying the word relationship caused Beck to remember the anger he had felt the day before, but for the time being, he held it back. "Dad when will you get over your dislike of my fiancee and realize that she is going to be a part of this family no matter what you have to say regarding the matter?" Beck was proud of himself for not immediately going off on his dad, but instead actually trying to have a civil conversation.

"I'm sorry son, but I just cannot sit by and watch you be manipulated and used by a woman who doesn't care a single thing about you. I did a lot of thinking last night, and spoke with your mother about the situation. She doesn't agree with my choice, but I absolutely refuse to support your decision to marry that woman. With that said, I'm going to make you a one-time offer. Your mother doesn't, and will never have to know, so listen closely and keep this just between us. If you break up with Jade now and quit working for her, I guarantee you that you will land the leading role in the next blockbuster film. Not only that, but I will also pay the rent on your apartment for the next year. Now, I don't want you to give me an answer right away, just think about it and let me know before you leave Irricana, okay?"

What little control Beck had been maintaining on his anger was steadily slipping away with each word that came out of his dad's mouth. At the end of Craig's speech, Beck was seeing nothing but red, and couldn't even form words to respond. After eventually gaining control enough to not completely go off on his dad, he finally spoke. "Dad I appreciate the fact that you are wanting to help me, but for the last time-I'm not breaking up with Jade. We are getting married and I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Beck's voice had rose steadily during his speech, and he didn't realize he was yelling until after the words left his mouth and there was pin-dropping silence between the two men, save for the noises emitting from the television set.

Craig, after about five minutes, opened his mouth to tell Beck to pack up his things and leave the house immediately, but wasn't able to get a word out as Mary entered the room, having just gotten back from her outing.

Taking one look at the faces of both Beck and Craig, Mary knew there was a heavy tension in the air. Wanting to break it and know what happened, she decided to say, "So, did I miss anything while I was gone?"

/

Despite the lingering anger he was feeling, Beck was stopped from getting out of his chair and leaving the room, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when he saw Jade walk through the door not two minutes after his mom spoke. "Hey...did you have a good walk?"

"Yes actually, I did. Your grandmother has some great taste in music." Jade smiled slyly as she spoke, causing Beck to raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Uh huh. Now I'm going to go get ready for dinner, and unlike someone, (looking pointedly at Beck) I will not take more than 30 minutes." Making her way through the living room towards the stairs, Jade had to pass by the chair in which Beck was seated. Right after she got behind him she caught wind of the cologne he was wearing. "What's that smell?" The question wasn't asked with any disdain, so Beck figured Jade didn't hate upon the first sniff.

Beck, wearing Italian cologne to try and impress Jade per his and Andre's plan, gave his reply happily. "Oh, that's my new cologne. It's called Baldessarini Del Mar." Beck was glad he was able to say the name without messing it up. "Do you like it?" He held his breath waiting on Jade's response.

"It's okay." Came the immediate response. Still in a happier-than-usual state since her fun in the woods, however, Jade decided to mess with Beck a little bit. "Of course it's the also scent my ex-boyfriend used to wear when he went out and cheated on me every night, so thanks for that memory." She hoped her smile appeared more sarcastic than it's true jovial nature, and she congratulated herself on pulling it off when she saw and heard Beck's response.

Beck's eyes immediately became as wide as saucers, and he had trouble getting his words out. "Uh...um...ah...I'm s-so s-sorry Jade. I d-didn't mean t-to bring up any b-bad m-emories for you."

Deciding to take pity on Beck, and make sure he didn't waste two more hours by taking another shower, Jade set him straight. "Relax Beck. I'm just messing with you. It was fun seeing your reaction." Giving him a wink and laughing, Jade turned and made her way up the stairs to get ready.

After recovering from another round of laughing herself, Betty walked over to Beck and spoke honestly. "I am so glad you proposed to that woman Beck. She's going to make such a wonderful addition to this family. Now if you all will excuse me, I must go get ready as well. Can't have the guest of honor not be the best looking woman at the party can we?" With those parting words Betty also walked away to get ready.

Beck was left speechless in his chair in the women's wake. Not too long after Betty had gone, a faint smile graced Beck's lips as he remembered Jade's words and actions just before she left. He realized that his plan had a higher chance of success than he and Andre had originally thought. He knew that Jade's joking with him was her way of expressing her approval of his cologne. Had she not liked it though, nothing could have kept him from jumping right back in the shower and scrubbing himself raw.

True to her word, it was exactly 30 minutes later (with no more words spoken between Beck and Craig, despite Mary's numerous attempts to make conversation) when Jade returned to the living room wearing a dress she bought earlier that day during her shopping trip in town with the girls. Forgoing her trademark black, Jade had opted for a dark blue (small steps) tea length strapless dress with a light blue ribbon wrapped around her middle. She wore a sapphire necklace (it had once belonged to Cat's mom, but was given to Jade for her 21st birthday because Cat wanted her to officially feel like part of the family) and dark blue pumps that matched her dress, while carrying a black clutch (it was the only purse she owned). Jade She had even curled her hair into gorgeous spirals that cascaded down her back. She knew she looked good, but the way Beck was looking at her made her feel like a goddess.

After picking his jaw up off the floor, and not at all ashamed to be caught staring, Beck was finally able to speak. "Wow Jade. You look amazing."

"Thank you honey (as she said it, she realized that she was actually starting to like saying the word). You act like I don't look this gorgeous every day." She chuckled to let him know she wasn't really mad, and was happy when he didn't try to say anything to make the situation worse for himself.

Beck simply smiled his mega-watt smile and took a chance by walking up to Jade and placing a kiss on her cheek. After he pulled back, he and Jade stood there staring into each other's eyes. Ever so slowly, both Beck and Jade began to lean in, and were just about to kiss when they were interrupted by Betty, who hadn't realized what was going on when she entered the living room.

"Okay, I'm ready to go. This birthday girl wants to party!"

Beck had turned to face his Nana at her outburst, therefore he missed the disappointed look that flashed across Jade's face as the spell was broken. Beck, on the other hand, was able to hide his disappointment behind a semi-staged smile.

Taking Jade's hand in his own, Beck gave it a slight squeeze. He was rewarded by a genuine smile from Jade, and together, along with Betty, Mary, and Craig, they made their way out of the house and down to the boat dock.

AN: I think it's a little shorter than usual, but I tried to put some good stuff in there. Hope you smiled at least once or twice! To those who haven't seen the movie, the dancing/chanting in the woods with Sandra Bullock is so much funnier than what I put in here, so if you watch nothing else of the movie, at least YouTube that part. That's really all I've got for now, so until next time, maa al salama (got Egypt on the brain-watched The Mummy recently) my mysteriously merry marmots :)