How It Could Be
Part One
"No one really wants to see the baby on camera until it's clean, and smiling about three years from now…"
-Ashley Juergens
The first time he sees her, she's a bundle in a fluffy pink blanket, and her eyes are shut.
He's too young to comprehend much at this point, but this is what he knows. The girl holding the bundle is one he's seen many times, he's played on her lap. He's tugged her thick dark hair in his fingers and his mommy and daddy know her. She's tired, her eyes are barely open but she's smiling so something good must've happened. Next to her is someone he's seen before too, a boy. He's smiling even wider than usual and his hand is on the bundle too.
Amy bounces John in her arms and he turns to her. She grins, "John, say hi to Alexandria."
John's eyebrows furrow and he looks over his mother's shoulder to Ricky, who's also smiling. John turns back to the small bundle in Adrian's arms, and it moves. Amy leans in closer and John reaches out, running his hand carefully over the soft material. The baby's mouth opens and yawns before settling to the touch.
This is the first time he reaches out to her, but it won't be the last.
-
A few months later, and she's practically a staple in their household. Her baby face is rosy and she has pouty lips that open up to cry.
A lot.
And when she's not crying, she's yelling. And when she's not yelling, she's giggling because she smeared peas on your face. John learns quickly to enjoy the time he knows to walk and she doesn't because as soon as she learns to walk, she'll be running circles around him.
(It's obvious where she gets her speed and agility from because as soon as she learns how to run, she somersaults as if her life depended on it).
-
John didn't know it at the time, but the minute that Lexy opened her big wide mouth to the world, the girl was born with connections.
And not just any connections, but ones that could make a guy disappear into some abyss if they crossed her.
(Grandfather number one, Leo, happens to have some illustrious friends in all type of manner of business, including the Mob. And grandfather number two, Rueben, was a DA who could pretty much call on cops from California to New York due to his vast arena of work).
John's been to the butcher shop so many times, it could even be called his second home, but this is Alexandria's first time. Leo's holding her against his broad chest absolutely beaming, and a few of his friends from the old neighborhood, as he calls it are just gathered around him and a busty blonde named Betty who is all smiles.
They were getting married that week, and Leo wanted to make sure that anyone who had a place in his life was there, and who better to mingle with his friends with that Apple of His Eye number one (Alexandria) and Apple of His Eye number two (Betty)?
Betty was nervous because, of course, she wasn't Italian and she wasn't Sarah either. And Alexandria was too young and too unknowing to be nervous, but she was mixed.
(And not too many Hispanics hung out in Little Italy).
But Betty has a heart of gold, as Leo says, and John thinks that since she is always smiling when he sees her that she can't be too bad.
And Alexandria? With her soft dark locks and her winning smile and her gorgeous baby face? Within five minutes, these four formidable men who could probably send someone to be whacked are twined around her pudgy little finger. Really, all they could say is Leo, how come you have the luck to be surrounded by such beautiful women?
"What can I say, boys?" Leo chuckles heartily, Lexy beaming in his arms. "Life's been good to me."
(Alexandria's always adored Leo, so maybe it's fitting that she has a middle name honoring him. Actually, John thinks, she has like, five names, but he never says anything about it because she'll go on a tangent about how it honors her culture, or something).
She giggles with he tickles her little stomach with his finger and Betty has a thought. "Hey, do you think she could be the flower girl?" She asks enthusiastically, turning to the Sausage King.
Leo smiles at his fiancée, loving the spontaneous aspect of her. "I think she's a little young for that, Betty. Maybe when we have our vows renewed."
"Right," Betty says quickly with a flushed smile. "Of course, what was I thinking? I'm just so excited!"
Leo and his friends, all in suits and some sporting old school fedoras, share a laugh at the blonde's lovable antics.
Ricky chuckles as well from the back, where he's holding John because Leo insisted that if Lexy was there, then John should be, too. Robbie's not there because George just put him down for his afternoon nap and he could be fussy at the best of times, but John and Alexandria are thick as thieves, so they survive the absence.
-
John comes to realize that bath time is even wetter than before with her around.
He's testing words on his tongue around this time, perfecting the art of 'No'. And sometimes when Ben goes in for the kill, trying to feed Alexandria, and she turns her head away, he'll say it for her. After making a mess of themselves when their fathers tried to feed them -John with the carrots and Alexandria with the peas- Ricky and Ben prepare their baths while the girls are away. John can say 'Lex -which Ben and Adrian thought was so cute at the time that she was nicknamed Lexy, not that they'll remember the origin. Alexandria, who still couldn't really talk communicated through touches and actions. So when she splashed him in the tub, and his hand fell on her knee, Ben took her quickly out of the water, leaving John alone as his father and Ben argued at the doorway of the bathroom.
Ricky sighed, "You're being irrational. It's not like he knew what he was doing."
Ben gave him a skeptical look, cradling his precious daughter over his shoulder. "You sure you haven't been teaching him any tricks lately?" He glares intently, as if to say Like father, like son, right?
At this Ricky scoffed and told Ben he was out of his mind because John wasn't even old enough to know about that sort of thing, and Ben accused him of probably passing on those lady charmer genes to his son, and now he was trying them on his innocent daughter.
(John didn't see Alexandria for a full week after that, leaving him staring at the front door hopefully and Lexy very irritable).
By the time that Amy and Adrian caught wind to this, Ricky had rolled his eyes at the entire situation and Adrian made sure that Ben's tail was sufficiently tucked between his legs before John came over to the house.
-
Lexy's first birthday party was definitely a lively affair, more than John was used to.
First, the house was filled with people, most of which were speaking languages John didn't understand sometimes. Then, there was a lot of meat, to which Grace jokingly cooed to Lexy, saying she was the Sausage Princess. And finally there were a lot of colors and balloons around. And flashes of light followed by the cooing from familiar faces and not so familiar faces.
(There's a picture of John on the right, Robbie on the left, and Alexandria in the middle on his grandparent's mantle).
-
This is something he can remember so well; it's not even funny.
(Okay, maybe, it's a little funny, just not the spanks on the behind afterward).
Lexy's walking at this point, which translates to Lexy running at this point because she was always a bursting ball of energy -even when she was an infant and she would shriek until her face grew red.
John's bouncing a closed bottle of baby powder on his lap until Lexy catches sight of it and runs around the bedroom with it.
(The bottle turns out to be halfway open, and by the time Adrian and Amy return upstairs, the room and their kids are covered top to bottom with the soft smelling powder, floating around the air like snow).
-
There was an incident in particular where (and don't ask her how she got her hands on it) Lexy hit Ricky in the head with Adrian's baton.
The house lights were off, and Ricky was holding John on his right and Lexy on his left, and surprisingly, neither baby cried as it thundered outside. He was about to turn on the light and everything pretty much went dark.
(Moments later, the lights are on, and Amy and Adrian are standing over him, yelling at him. Ben's holding John and Lexy and he swears he hear him say "That a girl," in his daughter's ear).
(Years later, they make it pretty clear that even if Ben can't knockout Ricky, his daughter sure could).
-
John's a little momma's boy, and Alexandria's daddy's girl.
(This doesn't bode well to either Ricky or Adrian, respectively).
Actually, John just gets along better with the girls because charm and good looks go a long way, and Alexandria just adores her father's smile and her grandfathers' loving arms.
(This goes for both Leo and Rueben).
John sits in his playpen, listening to the melodious blaring of Amy softly blowing her French Horn and Alexandria slumbers against Ben's chest when he hums the lullaby his mother sang to him when he was little from the old neighborhood in Brooklyn.
(Of course, no one mentions that it's Ricky and Adrian that can calm down their children but they secretly smile because they know they can).
Alexandria is bouncing on her father's lap, and John is running his brand new toy car across the backyard table in fascination. (It's shiny and red and jumps off when it reaches the end of the table).
Ricky has a lazy smile on his face, jutting his chin out. "She's going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up," He smirks at Lexy who donned a yellow sundress. It would be one of the only times since John has known her that she actually wears a dress.
She's barely two and her hair is raven dark and curly, already reaching the juncture of her back. Her smile is wide as she plays absently with Ben's button down shirt. Ben strokes her hair, "Yeah, just like her mother."
"What did you say about her mother?" Adrian's head peeks out the backdoor, her glossed lips curled curiously.
"That you're a heartbreaker." Ben says easily and pauses. "Oh, and that you're daughter's going to grow up like you."
Adrian rolls her toffee eyes with a pout, walking out and wrapping her arms around Ben from behind. "I wasn't that bad."
Ricky grins. "What about your brother?"
Adrian rests her head on Ben's shoulder in contemplation. "Oh, yeah. That. And he wasn't really my brother, by the way." She glanced over at the skeptical look marring Ricky's face. "Shut up, Ricky," She mumbled, leaning her arm over closer to Alexandria so she could play with the charm bracelet Ben bought for her.
Amy walks out of her parents' house with a bottle of lukewarm milk for Lexy and a sippy cup for John, cocking her eyebrow when she notices her son incessantly rolling his toy car off the table. "Ricky, make sure your son doesn't hurt himself," Amy quipped curtly, a small smile playing on her face.
"It's funny how he automatically becomes my son when he does something you're not happy with," Ricky retorted, watching Amy lean down to replace John's car with John's cup. Lexy grew bored in Ben's lap and began to stir until he let her down on the slightly dewed grass. She bounded over to John where Amy greeted her with a grin and her bottle and then she took off, flouncing about the yard. John took off after her, making sounds with his mouth as if he were revving like an engine.
"Aww, that's so cute!" Amy gushed at the display of her son chasing after Alexandria.
Ricky scoffed with a shake of his head, his smile betraying the action, and Adrian rolled her eyes, cocking an eyebrow at the other young mother. "Okay, Amy, I was kidding when I said John would become Lexy's boyfriend." The Latina said referring to the last month of her pregnancy when she jokingly divulged that she was carrying John's future girlfriend.
"But it could be nice, them going out when they're older," Amy said musingly, and then paused. "Way older."
"No way," Adrian said with a shake of her head. "If he comes out anything like that one over there," She jutted her chin towards Ricky, whose lip curled downward. "I'd kill him if he hurt her, and I don't think you'll like that." The majorette finished lightly, replacing Lexy's place on Ben's lap with herself.
"No, John's a good boy, I'm sure he'll take from me." Amy commented as she sat in the chair beside Ricky, keeping up the game. She smirked when Ricky's arms rose in the air in exasperation.
"What, did this become Rag on Ricky Day?" The drummer said, sighing.
"Yes!" Both mothers turned to him in unison after exchanging secret smiles with one another.
"I should've known," Ricky said with a knowing smirk. He turned to Ben. "You were supposed to remind me to never have these two in a room together for so long."
Wrapping his arms around Adrian's waist, Ben shook his head. "Completely forgot. I was a little distracted," He murmured as Adrian's fingers twined with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. Ricky gagged falsely at the tender looks Ben and Adrian gave one another and Amy swatted his arm with a frown.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure." Ricky replied with a surly expression. He looked over and gave Amy a look that could only say What, seriously? in response to her glare. She rolled her olive eyes with a sigh; for someone who was supposedly so mature, he did have his moments.
-
The first children's song they learn is, fittingly, John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt.
(Which happens to be everyone's name. Everyone, but Lexy's, that is. There's no x in John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt and when he's old enough to figure that out and tell her, she pouts, saying that John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt is a stupid name anyways).
-
(John figures she's jealous that he has a song he's named after, and she doesn't. She just happens to have everything else to make up for it).
Still, when Grace, another pretty blonde, hums Jesus Loves the Little Children to John and Alexandria, it has an equal calming effect.
(Until Adrian walks in, and shakes her head with a smile. Grace points out that if they couldn't be "Good Christians" that at least John and Lexy have a chance. Adrian points out that there is no such thing as a good Christian, only good people).
-
Alexandria remembers things, distinct things. Like her and John sitting next to each other on her father's lap. Her mother is throwing a black hat in the air with a shiny golden tassel, and John is tugging on her bracelet. Her father got it for her because it looked just like mommy's.
(Alexandria's caught in the age where her parents are false Gods, and she's their wide-eyed worshipper because Adrian was always beautiful and sweet-sounding to her, and Ben's smile was bright and wide, his arms were always warm and ones she's been cradled in several times).
Boys don't have cootie yet so she doesn't fuss at John's soft tugs. Adrian softly shoves John's father on stage and then waves to them brightly. She looks weird today, different in long dark robes, but Adrian always looks beautiful to Lexy so she waves back. She notices when John is lifted from her father's lap and into George's arms. Lexy giggles when his finger pokes her stomach and he wriggles his eyebrows at her comically. Ben finally holds Alexandria up and they make their way down the stands, approaching the stage.
Lexy remembers how happy everyone was that day, Adrian in dark robes and Ben kissing her proudly.
However, it's John who ties together the pieces.
John was in his grandfather's arms when they made their way over to the brass section. Ricky smirked at his mother and Amy smiled back before turning to John. He's three so he can articulate words easier now, and asks what's that thing-y on daddy's head, just like that.
(John's at that age where he believes one thing-y results in another thing-y. Like, if it's his birthday, then he gets gifts. If he does something bad, he goes to timeout, and if everyone is happy, then he should be too).
Ricky pulls off the cap and puts it on John's head, but it swallows his forehead since it's too big for him. The drummer fixes it and tells John that everyone gets one for their graduation, and next year mommy would wear one too…
-
John's so busy speaking about this particular memory, that he doesn't even notice Alexandria shove the aged yearbook into his abdomen. With a huff, his dark eyes narrow and he glares at her, holding the book. "What was that for?"
Alexandria rolls her eyes, crossing her arms to match her crossed legs. "That, is for wasting time. I know it was all happy that day, but what happened next?"
John cocks his head, which sweeps the light brown bangs from his eyes. "I was getting to that part. Calm down or I won't tell you."
Her lower lip abducts and is fixed in a well-placed pout. John isn't fazed because though it's been a while he knows her to be a notorious brat. She's annoying and spoiled and gets what she wants too often so he didn't mind taking her down a notch every now and then. Now, her chocolate brown eyes are glassy with brimming tears. Great. She's going to pull that card.
"But if you don't tell me…then we'll never know. And you can't honestly say that you don't want to know, even a little bit," She gestures with her index finger and thumb, showing a little bit of space in-between. She's giving him a cheesy grin and blinking rapidly in a motion that's supposed to be alluring but comes off twitchy to John.
"Nope," John says, lying back against the headboard with his hands behind his head, popping the p. "I don't really care, you do."
The feisty preteen harrumphs in a contemptuous manner because John Juergens can be a jerk, sometimes. And when he wasn't a jerk, he was a sourpuss, like just now. "Whatever," She mutters flippantly, grabbing the book from his hands and turning the worn pages. "If you didn't care, then you wouldn't be here right now, so cut the crap." Grumbling, she avoids his intense stare until he rolls his eyes and starts talking again.
-
…It's later that night, when it takes place.
The inevitable conversation.
Ricky and Adrian are no longer students of Ulysses S. Grant High. And this is a problem because they're both parents, and both have counterparts that are a grade younger than them.
So, what do they do now?
Adrian's holding Alexandria, who's not smiling. Just staring up into her mother's eyes with a sleepy gaze, small hand tightly wound around Adrian's manicured finger. John is sitting on Ricky's knee, still fully awake and Ricky's hand is on his hip to steady him.
They're in Adrian's kitchen, and everything is just too quiet until Alexandria yawns.
"We should really talk about this," Amy murmurs, sitting at the small round table. "I mean, we've been procrastinating this whole time; it's not as if we didn't know this was going to happen eventually."
Ben and Adrian exchange glances, and Ricky wraps his arms around John's waist, pulling him closer into his lap.
It's no secret that Amy wants to go to Julliard, and Adrian, wanting to follow in her father's footsteps, wants to go to Columbia University, so this should work fairly well because they're both in New York. But it's not that simple.
Adrian can't go because that means she would have to leave Ben, and Ricky would have to stay and go to the community college until Amy can leave.
So, what was the problem?
Adrian caresses Lexy's chubby cheek with her finger and Ricky inadvertently holds John tighter.
He's never been away from John for more than a week, and Adrian's never been away from Lexy for more than a few hours.
"Maybe you and Ricky." Ben begins, looking at Adrian and John's father, "Should go to New York, and Amy and I will stay here with the babies."
Ricky's face stays generally cool, but Adrian glances between both men, slightly panicked. "I…don't really like that idea."
She doesn't voice that her being alone in a city with Ricky scares her shitless. Neither does she point out that she doesn't feel comfortable leaving Ben alone with Amy, but then Ben looks over and grips her hand, assuaging her building discomfort.
"Then what do you suggest, Adrian?" Ricky inquires tiredly, running a hand through his hair.
Internally, she suggests that they be selfish, or just not go, or something that doesn't involve her being away from her child and fiancée. Instead, she agrees, not really seeing another option and says that she'll go put Lexy down because the girl can barely keep her eyes open at this point.
-
Summer comes and along with it brings carnivals, the beach, and a girl named Maria who makes these funny faces and talks loudly and gushes over Lexy.
(She also glares in Adrian's direction every now and then, and Adrian returns the gesture with a falsely sweet smile as Ben's arm wraps around her).
Thus begins The Game. Here are the rules: If you thought about the game, you lost the game. The only way you could win the game would be to forget the game ever existed.
So a while, after Ricky drops him off in the playpen, John "forgets" that he's in the next room, and cries.
(Actually, it's more a shrieking yell now).
Then Alexandria joins the mix, and soon it's a power struggle over who could get the most attention.
(And most of the time she wins, with a few tiebreakers from John. Hers is higher pitched and much more alarming, after all).
-
One day, John decides he really likes being held by Adrian. She smells good and bounces him on her lap every time he crawls on it.
(He also decides that he doesn't like it when Amy holds Lexy because he wants them both to himself).
-
Lexy finds out early in life just how much she loves the blaring melodies of the band.
Amy often plays the French Horn at home and church, and occasionally when he thinks no one is looking Ricky will drum on the countertops with the baby spoon and fork to get John to settle down.
It's loud and demanding and if it were tangible it would almost be like a kindred spirit.
She dances to it.
-
It comes to a point where one day melts into another, and as time goes on there are more touches, more cries, and more heavy looks until that last goodbye.
Ben gives Adrian a kiss on her forehead, and Adrian gives Alexandria a kiss on hers (and damnit, she refuses to cry, and holds her daughter just a little closer because she went through so much when she was carrying her).
Ricky's hands are shoved in his pockets and Amy's biting her lower lip, standing a good foot away from him. It's John who bridges the gap, barely walking on hesitant legs until Ricky smirks and picks up his son from the airport carpet. Amy smiles and points outside the windows at LAX, telling John that that's the plane his father will be in.
(There's so much they have to say to each other, and not enough time to say it all, so instead, Ricky hugs her, and for once, Amy just hugs him back).
Ricky pulls away, and smirks when Adrian swats his arm, telling him it's time to go.
(He still finds it funny when she tries to act so strong).
(She glares at him because 'Hello, we've been here all summer, and you're holding up progress').
Before Adrian runs to the gate with her purse, she grabs Ben's collar and pulls him in for a searing kiss, which Ricky rolls his eyes at because she's such a hypocrite.
Ricky gives John and Amy a mock salute, which Amy shakes her head at, and Ben is still flushed and recovering from that last kiss.
"Remember," Ricky calls out after handing his ticket to the guard. "It's not goodbye. It's 'see you later'."
-
Comments? Flames? Thoughts? All of the above?
Next Part comin' up!
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