Chapter Three

Five Months Later

"And I- I never thought I'd leave behind my childhood dreams but, I don't mind. I'm where and who I want to be. No change of heart, a change in me. No change of heart, a change in me…"

The final notes flooded from Jade as the song came to a close. She made eye contact with her newest director and he smiled. "Alright, Jade. That's enough for today. Great job."

"Thanks, Jerry! See you tomorrow," she said with a quiet sigh of relief. She was in a hurry to get home and rehearsal had run late. Jade had been cast in the Broadway version of Beauty and the Beast just a few months prior. As much as she loved doing Wicked, she felt she needed a change. If you asked High School Jade, she wouldn't be caught dead starring in a fairytale. But, this Jade, the Jade that was a mother didn't mind it. In fact, she liked it. The cast had started actual theater rehearsals earlier that week and unfortunately, this new theater was a bit farther away from home than the old one.

Running off stage in a hurry to get home, Jade didn't notice Eloise until it was too late and they collided. Landing on the floor in a huff, the other woman let out a short cry. "Sorry Eloise!" Jade said as she gave her friend a hand up before hurrying past.

"What's your hurry, girl?" asked the sweet, slightly younger woman that portrayed Babette in the show, said as she followed Jade into her dressing room.

"The premier of Beck's movie is tonight and I was supposed to be home half an hour ago to help the boys get ready. Lord knows they can't do it themselves," Jade explained as she hastily reapplied the carefully done makeup she had applied before rehearsal, hoping to save some time afterwards. She had sweated it all off under the lights and now had to hurry to make herself presentable. Twisting her hair into a chignon at the base of her neck so that she could just slip on her dress once she got home, she smiled as her friend poked her side.

"And how is that adorable son and sexy husband of yours? All things good?" Jade had long since lost her jealous steak after she and Beck had gotten married, so she just laughed at Eloise once more.

"Yeah, they're both great. But, they won't be if I get home to find them still in sweats and eating ice cream for dinner. I've gotta go. See you tomorrow," she yelled over her shoulder as she exited the dressing room, purse and newly purchased bow ties for the boys in hand.

XOXOX

When Jade arrived home she was beyond frustrated. Not having time to manually put of the top on her convertible, her hair was once again a crazy mess, her makeup was smudged from the number of times she had mistakenly rubbed her face, and she was ninety-five per cent sure that Beck was screening her calls seeing as he hadn't answered any of them.

Hastily slamming the car door, she rushed into the house, tripping over her feet. She was way later than she thought she was. "Beck, Henry!" she cried out as she pushed open the front door. She stopped mid step when she saw both her husband and son completely dressed and ready for the premier, with the exception of their bow ties. Henry was holding a long stemmed rose and quickly rushed to hand it to his mother as she came through the door.

"What is this?" Jade asked skeptically, taking the rose from her son.

"Daddy said you'd be stressed when you got home so he went and stole a rose from Mrs. Cole's garden."

"Henry!" Beck groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. "You weren't supposed to tell her that part."

"Sorry," the young boy said softly, looking at the floor as if he was getting scolded.

"It's okay," Jade said, kissing the little boy's head. "Thank you, baby." She fumbled to put his bow tie on him while turning to glare at Beck at the same time. "I will scold you later."

Beck just laughed and came to kiss her cheek before taking Henry's bow tie from her. "I'll do this. Go get ready." Beck watched as his wife hurried up the stairs and smiled. He attached his son's bow tie and ruffled his hair. He handed his son and few Hershey kisses and said "Watch the clock, little man. When it said 7:30, come and get us, okay?" Henry nodded and Beck climbed the stairs to join his wife.

XOXOX

Jade sighed as she scrubbed the carefully done makeup from her face. Drying her skin with a towel she quickly worked to reapply. Moisturizers, foundation, eyeliner, mess up eyeliner, take off eyeliner, redo eyeliner. She groaned loudly as her shaking hand messed up her eye makeup yet again.

"How's it going?" Beck asked as he leaned against the door to their bathroom staring at her, smirking.

"What time is it?"

"Seven fifteen. You have fifteen minutes." She groaned again and went to do her eye makeup for the third time. "Need any help?"

"Can you get my dress out? And find my shoes, the silver strappy one that I bought last week. They're still in the box." Beck did as told, hanging her dress on the back of the door and setting the box of shoes on the floor next to it. He came up behind his wife and rested his chin on her shoulder as she applied mascara.

"Anything else?" Jade begrudgingly handed her husband her hair comb and he started to gently work through the wind-blown tangles and she applied a neutral lipstick. "Have I told you how much I like your hair this color?" Beck asked as he worked, kissing her temple. Jade's hair was once again the chestnut brown it had been when they were teenagers, seeing as it was required for her new role as Belle. "I mean, the black was nice, but this reminds me of when we first met."

"What, when we were fourteen?" she asked as she took the comb from him and twisted her hair back into its previous styling.

"Yupp." She slipped out of his arms and made her way towards the closet, grabbing the dress on her way, quickly slipping out of her robe and into the extremely simple floor length, red dress.

"That was forever ago," Jade reminded him, walking out of the closet. Beck caught her eye in the mirror and smiled.

"And you're still just as beautiful," he grinned, knowing that it would earn him a rude comment or two.

"You are such as sap." She slipped on her heels and looked at the clock on their bedside table. 7:30.

Just then, Henry burst through the door with chocolate all over his face. "Daddy, its seven thirty!" he cried, stopping short upon seeing his mother all dressed up. "You looks pretty, Mommy!" He ran up to Jade and was about to hug her around her legs when she stopped him, eyes wide at the sight of chocolate on his cheeks.

"Thanks Love Bug, but if you get chocolate on this dress I will probably cry. Where did you get chocolate? Were you in the candy dish again?"

"No, Daddy gave me Kisses!" he cried in self-defense.

"Henry!" Beck cried for the second time, face palming himself yet again.

"Alright, Sugar, come here so we can get that stuff off your face." She sent a cross look in Beck's direction as she went to the sink to wet a washcloth. After effectively cleaning her son's face, she helped him hop off the bathroom counter and he held her hand as they walked down the stairs. Beck trialed behind them as he straightened his bow tie. Grabbing her pre-packed clutch, she added her lipstick and took one last look around the house to see if she'd forgotten anything. She spotted the crumpled Hershey Kiss wrappers near the couch but didn't comment. She'd clean them up when she got home.

Despite both she and Beck making more than enough money, neither of them had wanted to hire a cleaning staff or anything like that. They had decided way back in high school that when they got to be famous, they still wanted to act like normal people, and that included cleaning their own house. They didn't live in a mansion, just a small, cozy two story home in a neighborhood outside of LA. They didn't have a pool, or a maid, or a chef. They cooked and cleaned and spent time together as a family and Jade liked it that way.

A horn honked outside, alerting them that the limousine Beck's manager had insisted they arrive in was waiting. Henry squealed at the sight of it before jumping up and down in excitement. It was his first red carpet event. And, although most celebrities didn't bring their children to movie premiers with them, Beck's surprise for Henry when he got home from his long trip was a rather fancy tuxedo in Henry's size for him to wear simply for this occasion. The boy had been thrilled.

The trio made their way out the front door and Jade locked it behind them. The limo driver opened the car door for her and she slip in, followed by Henry, then Beck.

"You excited, bud?" Beck asked as the car started moving. Henry said nothing. He just stared with his mouth wide open as he played with the buttons to the sliding screen that separated the driver from the passenger. He let out another excited squeal.

"I think he's excited," the limo driver chuckled from the driver seat, catching Beck and Jade's eye in the rearview mirror. They both smiled fondly.

XOXOX

Cameras flashed as Beck stepped out of the limousine. He helped Henry hop down from his seat before taking Jade's hand and kissing her knuckles, pulling her out of the car. The family made their way down the red carpet, posing ever once in a while for picture, Henry in between his parents, holding both of their hands. They eventually reached an entertainment television reporter that stopped them.

The pretty blonde reporter chatted with Beck for a few moments. Jade was used to this. She knew that Beck was the star here and was who people wanted to talk to. It didn't bother her much. Henry, however, was restless. He pulled on the reporter's shiny blue dress, snatching her attention from the boy's father. She looked down at him as if she's barely noticed him in the first place. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, as if wondering why there was a child in front of her.

"I'm Henry."

The reported snapped out of her confusion quickly and knelt down next to Henry. "Well hello, Henry. Are you Beck's son?" No, we found him on a street corner. Dumb gank. Jade rolled her eyes. The blonde help her microphone out to Henry but he just ignored it, simply nodding his head vigorously. "Well, aren't you cute? And you're Jade, the wife, right?" she asked, standing up and finally addressing Jade. No, he found me on a street corner. But, of course she didn't say that.

"Yes, that's me," she replied in a bored tone. The reporter looked startled at her slight attitude but, Beck just chuckled.

"Now, you do Broadway. Wicked, if I'm not mistaken, correct?"

"Actually no, I'm in Beauty and the Beast now."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "but Wicked was such a huge success. What made you decide to change? Anything particular?"

"Actually yes," Jade continued. She'd never told Beck or Henry this but, the reason she had decided to take the new job was because of Henry. Her son had only seen Jade's previous play once. He'd spent the following week having nightmares featuring Madam Morrible and flying monkeys. "As much as I loved doing Wicked I wanted to do something a little more family friendly. Henry here is only five. Wicked is still a little scary for him." Here Beck hushed Henry when he chimed in with a bashful 'No it's not!' ruffling his son's hair lightly. "I wanted to be in a show that my son could see whenever he wanted without Beck and I having to worry about him being scared." As she spoke she gently smoothed Henry's tussled hair back into place. "Family's the most important thing." Jade had a sudden strong urge to hold her son close so she gingerly picked Henry up and rested him on her hip. His arms clasped around her neck and rested his cheek on her neck. She could feel his eyelashes flutter against her skin.

The reporter smiled before returning her attention back to Beck. "Well, your family sure is lovely and you guys have fun tonight." Beck muttered a 'Thanks' and they continued on down the carpet.

"And you say I'm the sap," Beck teasingly whispered in her ear as they walked.

"Shut up." She elbowed him in the stomach.

XOXOX

The movie was fantastic. But really, who was expecting anything less? Henry struggled to keep his eyes open throughout the entire movie. Yet, somehow, he was fully conscious for the one scene where Beck's character kissed his opposite. To which Henry as in a shocked tone "Why is daddy kissing Miss Molly?" very loudly. Everybody in the theater laughed, but Henry was just more confused.

Beck and Jade had obviously been invited to the after party but decided to bail. They took Henry home and Beck put him to bed with no trouble as Jade removed her makeup and fancy dress. He awoke briefly when she came in to kiss his forehead goodnight. His eyes fluttered a few times before they focused on his mother.

"Good night, baby cakes. I love you," she whispered against his hair.

"I love you so much, mommy," the young boy whispered back. Jade was overcome with a strong surge of emotion. A single tear ran down her cheek as she looked lovingly at her son until he fell asleep once again. She kissed him once more before rising from her sitting position on his racecar bed and turning to find Beck leaning against the door frame.

"If you call me a sap, I'm going to punch you," she said quietly as she passed him in the doorway. He grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

"You're not a sap," he whispered against her temple, burying his nose in her hair.

"Damn straight." The pair made their way down the hall and into bed. Once the light was off Jade's head instantly found its way to her usual spot on his chest. "Tonight was fun," she admitted eventually, after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"It was. And Henry was right, you looked beautiful."

Jade hummed in contentment. "Thanks, babe. You didn't look too bad yourself."

Beck chuckled and pulled her closer. "I think Henry had a lot of fun. He was pretty exhausted though."

"Maybe tomorrow he won't wake up at seven a.m. That would be nice. Then we could sleep in."

"I doubt it." Silence fell over the couple for a few minutes more. Jade's breathing started to even out but she was brought back to full consciousness when Beck spoke once again. "Remember when we were in high school and we swore we'd never have kids? I'm glad we changed our minds."

"Me too." Her eyes fluttered as she started to fall asleep. "Beck?"

"Hmm?"

"Our son's kind of perfect, you know?"

"Yeah, he is."

XOXOX

Okay, so I'm not completely satisfied with this last section. I might rewrite it. Just so you know. But, if you do like it, leave a review and let me know. I love reviews.

As for Jade's dress for the movie premier, look up Jennifer Lawrence's dress from the 2011 Oscars. That's what I pictured it as.

Also, I'm thinking about writing a separate story that is just a bunch of one-shots about Beck and Jade and Henry. If that interests you, let me know…Via review. I love reviews.

I hope you liked my little story.

That is all.

Love, always,

May

P.S. I love reviews. Just saying.