A/N: Sorry, but I messed up Jace's age. He is three years old, not two.

Chapter Three: Preschooler Boot Camp

And one week turned into a few weeks, and a few weeks turned into a couple months, and a couple of months turned into a year. And then, of course, they got married and lived happily ever after. Yeah, right. This is the real world not some fairytale land where everyone lived happily ever after except for the bad guy. Spencer and Toby didn't just fall back in love just like that and forget about everything else. No, day one was their first step of many, many steps to being in love again.

Spencer let out a loud yawn. She had gone home on her plane that she booked before, because it was a first class seat and she was not giving that up. Later, after she packed her bags for a one week stay, she had driven back to Rosewood not stopping except for the need for gas. Her body and mind were doused in fatigue and her back was sore from sitting too long when she arrived at the place Toby had told her was Emily and Maya's home. Not having much energy left Spencer crashed in the guest room Toby had shown her.

At the bottom of the steps Spencer closed her mouth and peeled open her eyes. She seemed to be in the kitchen: the exact room she was hoping to find, but she was not alone. Spencer was graced with the presence of Toby at the stove frying eggs and the child of Emily and Maya's sitting at the island spooning Cheerios into his mouth. Toby turned his head towards the staircase seeing Spencer standing there. He pointed to the island where Jace was eating and also where a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast sat accompanied with a class of orange juice. "I hope you still like your eggs over easy."

Spencer nodded her head before going over to sit where the plate was placed. The island was made out of white and gray sparkled granite with black iron and tribal patterned cushioned chairs to sit in. Picking up the fork Spencer started to eat. Once Toby was finished cooking he tossed the frying pan in the sink and sat down next to Jace. They all ate in silence with only the sound of munching food to be heard. When Spencer went to take a sip of her orange juice she noticed the child was staring at her with his bright blue eyes. He turned his curious gaze to Toby when Spencer had caught him staring.

"Toby who's that?" the child asked in a high pitched voice pointing at Spencer.

"That's your godmother Spencer," Toby answered chewing on a piece of buttered toast.

Jace got a confused look on his tiny little face. "I have a god mommy?"

"Yes," Toby answered with simplicity.

Once they were all done eating Toby cleaned up ignoring Spencer's offer to help. "Jace, why don't you play with your blocks? Spencer and I need to talk." Jace nodded his head and raised his arms up in the air. Toby lifted him up and set him down on the white tiled floor. Jace raced off to what Spencer assumed was the family room that was just off of the kitchen. Toby gestured to where Jace had ran off to and walked over there. Spencer followed and took a seat in a leather arm chair next to Toby who took a seat on the couch. "I hope you're okay with talking with him here. I have to keep an eye on him."

Spencer bobbled her head up and down watching Jace stack colorful blocks on one another. She waited for Toby to talk and only after two minutes of her silence did he take the hint. "So, we need to get you use to Jace. Luckily, he is in his preschooler stage. He had some terrible twos." Toby gave small chuckle. "He's really easy to take care of, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Jace took a red rectangular block and threw it at the tower he had just built. Spencer frowned at the destructive behavior. "I guess I should go over some of the basics. He is three years old and his birthday is January 15th. He loves blocks, playing catch, kicking the ball, playing outside in general, and he adores Bubble Guppies. He doesn't like when he doesn't get what he wants, broccoli, and he is terrified of dogs." Spencer nodded her head taking in all the information. "But, he is a totally sweetheart and is kind to everyone," Toby concluded.

"So, do we just watch him the whole time?" Spencer inquired watching Jace build his tower back up.

"No, he has a schedule he goes by. He is usually woken up at eight thirty and gets dressed before having breakfast. Afterwards he plays with his toys or plays outside. Then there's lunch and after lunch it's time for Bubble Guppies. With his TV time filled in Jace reads a book out loud to help him improve in reading. Nap time is after reading. He likes being told a story or read a book first; it's the only way he'll go to sleep. Then play time again before dinner. And after dinner time some brain games and books. Last thing he'll do is bathe and then it's bedtime at eight thirty."

A slight smile appeared on Spencer's lips. "You seem to know a lot about him."

Toby grinned. "I love him like he was my own son. I used to think I could probably kidnap him away, and I even tried once, but Emily caught me on the way out the door."

A rare laugh escaped Spencer's mouth. "Did you really?"

"Yep, and I was so close to succeeding, too."

They continued on the day doing almost everything Toby had said Jace usually did on a normal day. When they had gotten to nap time Jace became fussy, but Toby calmed him down and brought him upstairs. Jace's room was a stereotypical shade of sky blue with clean white carpet and two large windows with a view of the backyard. He had oak wood furniture with a three shelved bookcase by his bed. Many books were stored on the highest shelf with toys taking up the other two shelves. Jace went over to the bookshelf and brought a book over to Spencer. Spencer looked down at him with pure confusion. "Uh, Toby can read it to you."

Jace shook his head and pushed the book more towards Spencer. She looked over at Toby with her eyes having help written all over them, but Toby shook his head as well. "No, he wants you to read it to him. I suggest you do it; he gets very fussy without a nap."

A gulp was sent down her dry throat. She took the book from the child's hands and followed him to the bed. Jace climbed onto his twin sized bed and scooted over to one side. Now under the covers Jace patted him tiny hand on the open side of his bed. Another look of confusion crossed Spencer's face. Toby stepped in. "He wants you to sit next to him."

A bit of panic filled Spencer's eyes; she shook her head no. "No, I'm not doing that."

"He won't go to sleep unless you sit next to him and read." Spencer grumbled at Toby's smirk on his face. She got onto the bed taking up the rest of the open space. With a puffed out sigh Spencer began to read.

Nearing the end of the short story Spencer felt pressure being placed on her left side and was suddenly aware Jace had fallen asleep against her. Jumping off to the side Spencer clutched the book to her chest breathing heavily. Jace's small form slumped over and he snuggled up against his pillow.

"Hey, you got him to fall asleep." A voice entered her ears.

Spiraling around Spencer saw Toby standing in the doorway leaning one arm against the door frame. During story time Spencer had never noticed that Toby had left. He took in the startled look on Spencer's face. "Did I scare you?"

"Just a bit." It was the truth and secretly Spencer was glad Toby was not there to witness her jump away from Jace. She didn't need him questioning another thing.

The day went on with no other incident to Spencer's luck. Jace was a happy little boy with all of Toby's attention on him. Spencer stood more on the sidelines watching Toby play with Jace. Dinner strolled in with Toby whipping up some Mac 'n' Cheese at Jace's request. Afterwards they continued on the schedule. Jace completed his brain games and then was taken up for a bubble bath. Spencer dragged on behind slowly climbing up the stairs and walking down the hall to reach Jace's room. Soon as she reached his door her ears were filled with a soft musical voice. Peeking inside Spencer found the owner of the angelic voice. Toby was inside singing Jace to sleep. When the boy was fast asleep Toby tucked him in under the covers.

"You know you're really good with him."

Toby spun around to see Spencer was the one who startled him. Spencer smirked: payback. Toby's hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I guess so."

Spencer rolled her eyes just as her stomach growled. Even with eating the Mac 'n' Cheese, Spencer's stomach was used to being fed around this time or later. Toby looked up from the ground to look at her. She was wrapping her arms around her stomach trying to cover up her stomach growl. "Are you hungry?"

"Maybe."

"C'mon, we can order Chinese takeout."

And here they were. They were sitting on the couch chowing down on Chinese takeout. It had reminded Spencer of the old times when Toby would show up at night when Spencer's parents were out of town. They would order Chinese takeout and just talk all night long with some stolen kisses here and there. Toby broke Spencer out of memory lane. "You did well today."

"I guess so." Spencer shrugged her shoulders.

Toby smiled at her mocking answer. Today had gone well. He had expected in the morning that Spencer would still have here stone walls up, but she didn't and he was happy about it. "I'm going to stop pestering you about why you left. It is your business and I shouldn't being poking around at it. I hope in time you'll tell me why."

Spencer kept quiet. Then suddenly she leap up from the couch heading towards the staircase. Disappointment filled Toby. He had hoped for a response of yes or even a maybe; not a silence response. But, to his surprise she stopped at the foot of the steps and spun round. "Only time can tell."