Beck's alarm echoes through their small basement bedroom, waking both him and Jade just as it always does at six o'clock each morning. As usual, he's quick to silence it so that it doesn't wake Liam as well, and Jade is quick to attempt to fall back to sleep so that she can get as much extra rest as she can before the baby awakes and is ready to start his day.

She finds it hard to fall back to sleep on this particular morning, however. While Beck usually lets her sleep and goes about getting ready for the day on his own, today he's pressing kisses to her neck and to her collarbone, his breath hot against her exposed skin.

"Good morning to you too." She chuckles, her eyes only half-open as she rolls over to face him "What's the occasion?"

"Happy Valentine's Day." He smiles, pressing a kiss to her lips as he slides a hand underneath her t-shirt

"Happy Valentine's Day." She smirks, pushing his hand away "You know how I feel about this when the baby is in the room though."

"I know, I know." Beck assures her "I just wanted to give you a preview of what's to come later."

"Later?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her

"Yeah." Beck smiles, sitting back on his knees and running a hand through his hair to pull it out of his face "Be ready when I get home from work today, and have Liam ready too. My parents said they would take him until ten-thirty tonight."

"What should I be ready for?" She asks him, a devilish look on her face

"Dinner." He shrugs, crawling towards her again with the same devilish expression "Amongst other things..."

"Other things?" She laughs "I doubt my mom and Chris are going out tonight, and Tyler will be home. Do you really think we'er going to be able to do anything before ten-"

"I never said...we'd be coming back...here." Beck tells her between kisses "Just let me-"

Liam starts to fuss in his crib, and both Beck and Jade look over to see that he has pulled himself up and is watching them. They both laughed, embarrassed, even though their son still has absolutely no concept of kissing or sex or anything of the sort.

"My favorite little cockblocker..." Beck smiles, standing up from the bed to retrieve the baby "G'morning, Liam."

"Give him to me." Jade holds her arms out "He wants to eat."

"Now it's my turn for a preview of what's to come later." Beck winks

"Shut up, you're disgusting." Jade laughs "There shouldn't be anything sexy about me feeding the baby."

"Being a good mom is sexy."

"Go get ready for work."

When Beck arrives home from work later that evening, he immediately changes out of his khaki shorts and work shirt and into a pair of slacks and a dress shirt and tie. Jade is already wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress and has her hair and makeup done. Together they drive to Beck's parents' to drop off Liam, already dressed in his pajamas, and the night from that point forward is a mystery to Jade.

She isn't surprised in the slightest when they arrive at Maestro's for dinner. They had frequented the restaurant with their friends as teenagers, but on the school's dime. It's expensive, with most of the entrees costing fifty dollars at least, Jade isn't sure that they can afford it.

"Can we afford this?" She asks as Beck pulls out her chair for her

"Not on the regular." He tells her as he pushes her chair in "But every once and a while as a special occasion, sure."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Jade." He laughs "Tonight is special, alright? Let's celebrate."

"I really don't see what's so special about Valentine's Day." She admits "I mean...it happens every year, and it's for everyone. S'not like its our anniversary."

"No, it's not...but it's still a celebration of love." Beck reminds her "And our love has grown a lot in the last year...we have a baby now. That's not nothing."

"That's true..." She nods "Are you up to something, Oliver?"

"No." He assures her, raising his hands in surrender "I just want to spend the night with the woman I love."

The waitress comes to take their drink orders, and they both order a glass of wine. Red for Beck, and white for Jade. After ordering their entrees Beck raises his glass, a huge smile on his face.

"To our eighth Valentine's Day."

"Wow, eight." Jade chuckles as they toast each other "I can't believe it's been that long."

"Neither can I." Beck admits "But, honestly? I think each one has been better than the last."

"I think so too." Jade agrees "We just keep gettin' better, huh?"

"We sure do." He grins "I love you, Jade. You make me so happy, you and Liam both. I don't know how I could ever live without either one of you."

"I love you too, Beck." Jade tells him "You're sure you're not up to something?"

"Positive." He nods "I just...I've done a lot of reflecting this year is all. And I know we might not be where we planned to...but I think we're where we're supposed to be. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me either."

Unless they could be living in New York with Liam, and they had found a way for her to stay in-person at NYU. That might be a change she'd be willing to make. But she's glad that Liam has gotten to spend most of the first year of his life so far around his grandparents, and around Cat and Andre, and occasionally Tori and Robbie when they're home from school, all of whom she knows love him so so much.

They finish their meal and split a slice of ice cream pie for dessert, before Beck pays the check and leads Jade back out to his truck. She expects him to head back to her mom's house, or to his parents' to pick up Liam, but instead he heads for Pacific Coast Highway and starts driving north.

"Where are we going?" She asks

"Just let me surprise you."

"I was pregnant without knowing it, I've had enough surprises for a lifetime."

Beck only laughs in response, reaching over to grab her hand and pull it into his lap as he drives.

They don't stay on the highway for very long, and Jade notices a sign for El Matador State Beach as they exit. They've been up here a few times, but never this late at night.

"You know it's too dark to swim, right?" She tells him

"Who said anything about swimming?"

They drive a bit further, and Beck pulls into a parking lot not that far from the shoreline. He hops out and then runs around to open the door for Jade, helping her climb out herself before grabbing a bag from the bed of the truck and taking her hand.

They walk down to the beach hand-in-hand, their free hands that aren't being used to hold each other holding their shoes. There's no one else around, something that Jade finds to be equally romantic and terrifying. They're completely alone, but if something were to happen...there would be no one around to help them.

"Help me spread this out?" Beck asks, pulling a large beach blanket out of the bag

"Sure."

They spread the blanket out on the sand, and then Beck removes a few candles and a bottle of wine and glasses from the bag as well. He lights the candles while Jade pours them each a glass of wine, smiling as she does so because it's white wine...and she knows he prefers red but had bought white to appease her.

"I thought we could watch the tides for a little bit." He tells her as they lay down "Just the two of us, no one else around. No singing baby toys..."

"Oh you don't find the purple monkey song romantic?" Jade teases him

"Do you?"

"Of course I don't." She laughs "It's fucking catchy though."

"It sure is."

"I love you, Beck." She tells him, reaching out and taking his hand "You've been the one saying it first all night, but I want to take a turn. I've loved you for years now but since having Liam...I dunno I love you even more somehow. You've been such a big supporter, and I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend for myself or father for our son."

"I love you too." He smiles, leaning over to kiss her

It's not a quick kiss, it's a deep and passionate one. It doesn't take long for them to discard their wine glasses, thankfully made out of plastic, in the sand, and for Beck to pull Jade on top of him.

"Sex on the beach is a total cliche." She tells him, working at the buttons on his shirt

Not to mention it's a huge risk. They're on a public beach. Despite it being considerably past peak hours, that doesn't mean someone else couldn't show up at any point. The last thing either of them need right now is a public indecency charge. But then again...the knowledge that someone could catch them at any time is kind of hot...

"You wanna stop?"

"Fuck no." She laughs "Help me with my zipper."


Of course with Beck and Jade being out so late on Valentine's Day, Liam is up earlier than usual the next morning. One plus, Jade supposes, is that the two of them will get to eat breakfast with Beck, Tyler, Chris, and Kaitlyn before they all run off to work or school for the day.

"Good morning!" Kaitlyn seems cheerier than usual as Jade emerges from the basement with Liam on her hip

Beck is finishing his shower, and will be up to join the rest of them shortly.

"Good morning..." Jade can't help but laugh at her mother's disposition as she slides Liam into his highchair "You seem awfully happy this morning..."

"I'm just excited to hear about your date night, is all." Kaitlyn tells her "How was it?"

"Fine, I guess?" Jade chuckles as she grabs a banana and starts cutting it up for Liam "We had dinner, we went for a walk on the beach, we picked up Liam, we came home."

"That's all?"

"That's all." Jade nods

Her mother has never seemed so interested in her date nights with Beck before, at least not since she became an adult and really couldn't get into much trouble anymore. She isn't going to go into detail of their walk on the beach...or their sex on the beach...that's their own business...but Jade can't help but sense her mother is looking for her to tell her something more.

"Oh..." Kaitlyn almost seems disappointed "Well alright then."

Tyler is the next to arrive in the kitchen, immediately starting to devour the bowl of cereal had waiting for him, followed by Chris, and then Beck. Breakfast is hectic, as it always is when all of them are in the kitchen together and trying to get to work or school on time. Eventually it's only Jade and Liam left, and Jade finishes cleaning up the rest of the dishes before retreating back downstairs with the baby so he can play with his toys.

Once she's sure Liam is content Jade grabs her phone and calls Cat, desperate to share the details of her mother's odd behavior with someone.

"Oh my god, tell me everything!" Cat answers almost immediately

"Everything about...what?" Jade is confused

"Oh come on, Jade. Don't fuck with me."

"I'm not fucking with you." Jade assures her "What are you talking about?"

"Did Beck not...dammit."

"Beck didn't what, Cat?"

"He didn't propose last night?"

"Um, no..." Jade feels even more confused now "Do you know something that I don't?"

"No, I don't. He hasn't said anything to me." Cat admits "I just really wanted him to. So did your mom."

"Well, that explains why she was acting weird this morning too." Jade sighs "No, he didn't propose."

"I'm sorry, Jadey."

"Why?" Jade scoffs "I wasn't expecting him to. Then again...he was acting a bit sappy and there were a few moments where I thought he had something bigger in store but...s'not like I'm disappointed that he didn't or anything."

When Liam was born and the idea of married housing was thrown around, they agreed that marriage should be something they enter into when the time is right...not just because it's what other people think they should do. She's content with the way things are right now...or at least that's what she's telling herself.

"Alright, fine." Cat huffs "But let it be known that your mom and I were rooting for it."

"It's known." Jade laughs "She was being so weird this morning. Like, very eagerly asking me how our date night was and what we did."

"Did you have sex?"

"Of course we did." Jade tells her "But I didn't tell my mom that."

"You have a baby, I'm pretty sure she knows you have sex."

"Doesn't mean I have to go into detail about it with her." Jade laughs "Are you on your way to class?"

"Yeah, I've got about ten minutes."

"Well I won't keep you." Jade tells her "Sorry to start your morning off with disappointment."

"No, don't be." Cat chuckles "Like I said, I'm just really rooting for you guys. I think everyone is."

"Well, thank you for that I guess." Jade smirks "The time will come, just not now."

"Right, right." Cat agrees "I've gotta go. Give Liam a hug for me!"

"Of course. Bye, Cat."

"Bye!"

"Can you believe these people, Liam?" Jade says to her son as she hangs up the phone "Everyone acting disappointed that Daddy didn't ask me to marry him as if there was some kind of indication that he was actually going to."

Liam looks at her momentarily, then returns to his toys, oblivious to anything that she's saying.

Jade catches herself looking down at her left hand, and she supposes she wouldn't mind wearing a ring there. But not yet, they're not ready.

Or at least that's what she's going to keep telling herself for now.