The flashbulbs are blinding, their light engulfing the room, as Beck and Jade make their way through the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Los Angeles. The attention isn't entirely on them, it rarely is when they attend the yearly foundation gala, there are plenty of other A-list celebrities in attendance to share the limelight with. Regardless, the couple is stunning as they move effortlessly through the crowd, Jade in a strapless black ballgown and Beck in a matching black tuxedo.
"Beck!" Another tuxedo-clad man exclaims, clasping a hand on Beck's shoulder "Long time, no see! How the hell are 'ya?"
"Evan!" Beck grins, shaking his former co-star's hand with his right while still holding tight to Jade with his left "It's been a while, yeah. Things are good. How are you?"
"Can't complain." Evan chuckles "Always love an excuse to get dressed up and attend a party."
"Right." Beck agrees "Evan, this is my wife Jade. She's-"
"Oh, I know who she is." Evan smiles, extending a hand to shake Jade's "Jade West, the movie star!"
"That might be a bit of an exaggeration." Jade admits humbly "I wouldn't exactly call myself a-"
"Three Oscars and four Golden Globes in six years is definitely nothing to scoff at." Evan reminds her "You've got your husband beat for sure."
"Not by much." Beck points out
He himself now has two total Oscars, compared to Jade's three. All of her's have been earned in a shorter amount of time though.
"Alright, it's not a competition." Jade assures him with a smile, leaning against him as she wraps her arms around one of his "If it were though, I would win."
All three adults laugh, and Beck presses a kiss to the top of Jade's head. They continue to make small talk with Evan for a few more minutes before excusing themselves and continuing through the crowd.
It's the same charity gala where they reconnected almost eight years ago, supporting the foundation that helps fund music and arts programs in public schools. The couple wishes that they could say they've attended every year since, but unfortunately that isn't the case. Filming schedules and personal conflicts have prevented their attendance a few times in the past, but they're happy to be in attendance this year to do their part for the cause. After all, without the arts, they wouldn't have their careers. In all honesty, they likely wouldn't have each other either.
"Want a drink?" Beck asks his wife
"Absolutely." Jade laughs "I can't get through an evening with this much small talk without it."
"Chardonnay?" Beck laughs
"Yes please."
They're coming up on two years married. When they initially moved in together, Jade had shared her thoughts with Beck about not wanting to immediately jump right into another marriage. She had spent almost the entirety of her twenties married to Wilmer, and while she loved Beck and wanted to be with him she worried what the weight of the title of marriage would do to their relationship. Beck understood, assuring her that he was content with the way that things were. After a few years though, they both knew that they were ready to take the next step.
They married in a small ceremony at the Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles, with only fifty guests in attendance, when they were both thirty-four. With it being Jade's second marriage, she only wanted the people closest to her there, and she didn't feel like they should go all that over the top. Beck didn't care, he was just happy to be marrying Jade, and would have done it at city hall with only Cat and Robbie as witnesses.
Two years after Wilmer died, Jade officially dropped the 'Gordon' off of her name, and thus severing her last real tie to him. When they got married, she opted not to take Beck's name in any sense, even with a hyphen. After all of the stress, grief, and angst surrounding the topic when she was with Wilmer, she decided that she would never take another man's name...regardless of how much she loved him. She is now Jade West, and only Jade West. Her own name, with her own merit and no one else's.
"Here you go." Beck says when he returns with Jade's wine, handing her the glass
"Thank you." Jade accepts the glass and presses a kiss to his cheek "Heads up, death stare at eight o'clock."
"Hm?" Beck looks up to see what she's referenceing "Oh."
Paul Meyer, Wilmer's former writing and creative partner, is watching them from the opposite side of the room, a nasty look on his face. He and Jade haven't purposely spoken since Wilmer's funeral, but they have encountered each other at events such as this one. Once she started seeing Beck and it became public knowledge, Paul has been disapproving. He thought that Jade moved on too soon, and that something had to be amiss. He has no proof though, and no real stake either. So he keeps his distance, and Beck and Jade do the same.
"I mean, whatever, right?" Beck shrugs "Why do we care about him?"
"We don't, I guess..." Jade sighs
"We don't, right?"
"It's weird that once he was a friend and now he probably hates me." Jade admits
"Was he really a friend though?"
"I dunno..." Jade shrugs "But, it doesn't matter. Because that's not my life anymore."
"Right." Beck agrees, kissing the top of her head "Wanna go sit?"
"Sure."
The gala has become a much more positive experience for Jade since she started attending with Beck. When she was once sitting with Wilmer's friends and their wives, people she really didn't know and had to really work to make small talk with, now she's sitting with people who are friends to her and Beck both and who she actually enjoys spending time with. There's a much friendlier sense of camaraderie, and a much more pleasant one at that. The Gala might be her favorite event out of the year.
"You good?" Beck asks, resting his hand on Jade's thigh
"Never better." Jade smiles genuinely, resting her head on his shoulder "Might need another drink soon though."
"Same." Beck laughs "S'not a problem though. We have the driver tonight. We can drink as much as we want."
"That might make for a rough morning though." Jade reminds him
"Eh..." Beck shrugs "We'll manage."
It's early the next morning when Beck and Jade are awoken suddenly, too early for either of their likings. Jade groans, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she rolls over and tries to find her bearings.
"Should I-"
She doesn't have the chance to finish her question, as Beck is already up and out of bed and attending to the noises coming from the monitor on the table beside the bed.
"Thank you!" She calls after him, then repositions herself under the blankets
The bed is still warm, and there's barely any light streaming through the curtains. It would be the perfect opportunity to curl up and fall right back to sleep...but Jade isn't so sure that she'll be that lucky.
"Couldn't give Mommy and me the chance to sleep in today, huh?" Beck says, his voice coming through the monitor "That's alright, you're too cute to be mad at."
Jade never had much of an opinion on having kids, or at least that's what she thought for a very long time. When she was married to Wilmer, it didn't bother her that he didn't want any more children, and that he had taken measures to make sure that they wouldn't have any. At least up until the end, and in that case it more bothered her that he had made the decision for them both without consulting her feelings on the matter. As soon as Beck brought up the idea of having a child, she suddenly couldn't think of anything that she wanted more. They started trying just a few months after they got married, and Jade was pregnant by her thirty-fifth birthday.
"Good morning..." Jade smiles sleepily as Beck re-enters the bedroom, this time carrying an infant in each arm
"Morning, Mommy..." Beck chuckles "These two just couldn't wait to see you, I guess."
"I guess not..."
It hadn't come as a surprise when they had learned that they were expecting twins. Well, maybe it had been a surprise, but it wasn't a shock. With Jade being thirty-five, which she had been disappointed to hear was considered 'geriatric', they had been warned the possibility of twins was higher. They had been lucky enough to welcome two healthy babies ten months prior. A son named Dylan Maxwell West-Oliver, and a daughter named Sage Vivian West-Oliver.
"C'mere, baby..." Jade yawns as she opens her arms
Beck bends down carefully, passing Sage to Jade before walking around to his side of the bed and climbing in with Dylan in his arms. Both babies are still half-asleep, and both Beck and Jade are silently hoping that they can coax them back to sleep so that they can get some additional rest themselves.
"Mama..." Sage coos, pressing her hand to Jade's forehead
"Sh...that's me." Jade whispers, laying the baby down on her chest and rubbing her back gently "Let's go back to sleep, okay?"
"Sweep?"
"Yeah, back to sleep."
"Mama..." Dylan reaches towards Jade, squirming in Jade's arms
"Alright, alright..." Jade nods, shifting Sage to one side of her body so she can rest Dylan on the other "You can both lay with Mommy..."
"I can keep him over here with me." Beck offers
"S'fine..." Jade assures him "I've just got to get 'em back to sleep."
With both babies resting against her chest, Jade rubs both of their backs gently and tries to steady her breathing. Within ten minutes, both Dylan and Sage are fast asleep again, their chests rising and falling in time with Jade's.
"Look at you, baby whisperer." Beck smirks
"Not a baby whisperer, just a mom." She assures him "Can you help me?"
"Yeah, of course."
Beck sits up so that he can move the babies from Jade's chest, to laying on their backs in bed between them with Sage next to Jade and Dylan next to Beck. Once they're settled, he takes Jade's hand, the two of them holding hands on top of the blankets.
"So, do we go back to sleep now?" Jade asks "Or do we lay here and watch them sleep?"
"Maybe we watch them sleep, just for a little bit." Beck suggests "We don't know how much longer they'll be willing to just lay here in bed with us like this."
"I know..." Jade sighs "I can't believe they're almost one."
"Before you know it, they'll be off to college."
"Oh, don't say that to me." Jade groans "I can't even fathom them turning one, let alone going off to college. I want them to stay this little forever."
"Yeah, but think about how fun it'll be when they learn how to walk." Beck tells her "Or when they start talking and can have full-on conversations with us. Tell us their likes and dislikes..."
"How much they dislike us, when they're teenagers?"
"Probably." Beck chuckles "But that just comes with the territory, right?"
"Right..."
Unfortunately, Jade's relationship with her parents never recovered, even once Wilmer had died and she started dating Beck again. The distance that they willingly put between themselves and her when she married Wilmer was too great, trying to rekindle it was too awkward and felt too forced. They had been in attendance when she married Beck, but they haven't spoken much since. They've met Dylan and Sage, but only once...when they were about two months old. Jade has accepted that her children are not going to have much of a relationship with their maternal grandparents, and she's at peace with that.
"They'll be fine." Beck assures her, squeezing her hand tightly "We'll all be fine."
"I know." Jade nods, looking to the babies asleep between them "I know we will."
"Wanna try to go back to sleep now?"
"Way ahead of you..." Jade tells him, closing her eyes "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Beck smiles "I love you."
"I love you too."
And that's the end! A shorter chapter than average for this story, but everything is all wrapped up. This was an interesting one for me to write, it explored sides of Beck and Jade that I haven't gotten a chance to yet. I hope everyone enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your support and kind reviews. The playlist has been updated on my profile!
Thank you for reading :)
