RP: Telling the Girls

[neve_stadheim]

Date: October 24th, 2011
Characters: Neve Stadheim, Shelby, Mackenzie & Bryn Stadheim (NPC), Jake Abernathy, Star Abernathy (NPC)
Location: Abernathy Home
Status: Private
Summary: Neve and Jake finally tell their girls.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[neve_stadheim]

"We'll get through this." Neve murmured, not sure if she was trying to reassure Jake or herself that they would get through this. She never kept things from her girls, and hadn't had a serious relationship since Zach's death. So she could understand why Mackenzie and Shelby were upset, and why Bryn wasn't. Her older girls likely saw Jake as a replacement, and Neve was just going to have to work harder to assure them that Jake wasn't intending to replace their dad.

"They all will." she replied, knowing her girls would get over this, and would likely even come to accept it once they realized that she wasn't trying to replace their dad or ruin their life with this.

Mackenzie was the first to speak after Mom's comments. "He's not Dad." the nine year old snapped. "He's never going to be Dad." She continued, getting up from the couch to begin pacing again, though it was short lived when Neve reached out and pulled her into her lap.

"Mackenzie Ann." Neve's tone wasn't harsh, just firm. "Jake isn't your father, and he doesn't want to replace him. He will be in my life and yours though, so I do expect you to be kind to him." She paused and let Mackenzie go again. "You girls like Jake, and you like Star. I don't expect you to be okay with this right away, but I'm going to date Jake and you're going to give this all a chance, for my sake, please." Neve rarely asked much of her girls when it came to something she wanted. She wanted this to work out though, and wanted her girls to accept her relationship at some point.

"Mom, does Jake make you happy?" Shelby was fighting to set aside her own worries and hurt feelings. She didn't want to lose Star, and worried that her friend would be upset with her because of all of this. If her Mom was happy though, Shelby thought maybe she could deal with the possibility of losing a friend.

Neve smiled softly. "He does." She answered honestly. "I'll really only be happy once I know you girls will be able to adjust." Which she hoped would be fairly quickly once the initial shock wore off.

[jake_abernathy]

"We will," he repeated, smiling faintly as he looked her reassuringly in the eyes. Jake would never try to replace the girls' father, that wasn't even possible. He could be tehre for them if they needed and wanted in the future, if things worked out. But he would never expect them to think of him as a father.

Star bit her lip, looking away from his stern gaze. She couldn't believe he was doing this to her, dating her friends' mom. She knew he'd been happier lately, and God she hated that it wasn't her doing that. That he wanted someone else, all these other people, in her life. It made her wonder if he'd leave her too, or if he would love one of them more than he loved her, if she'd stop being his little girl somehow because all these people were in his life.

She didn't see right now that she would also be gaining people, Neve and Shelby and Mack and Bryn. She could only see how they would all be a part of her Dad's life and she might be shoved out of it. The girls were all sisters, and she didn't know how to be a sister, she wasn't one of them. And she didn't need a mom, she had one already.

Jake reached out and tugged her, and she reticently slid off onto his lap, still stiff, not relaxing into him like she usually did. "Starshine, you're my number one," he told her softly, cuddling her as if she was amenable to it. "Hearts can get bigger, they don't get smaller."

"It's not fair," she murmured again, reluctantly leaning into him. He didn't take it as acceptance of everything, he knew his daughter better than that. But she wanted the reassurance, and he would give it to her.

[neve_stadheim]

They would, Neve had complete faith in the fact that she and Jake would be able to get through this with their girls. Her hope was that they would make it through this and at the end of the day their girls would be able to adjust and accept it. If things worked out between her and Jake, she wanted to be a part of Star's life, willing to be there for her in some way; but would never dream of trying to 'mother' her.

Mackenzie jut out her chin and met her mother's gaze straight on. "And if we don't adjust?" She asked, still unbelieving that this was happening. Her Mom was dating Star's dad, that seemed like something from the twilight zone and not her life. She wanted an ally in Shelby, though she was getting the feeling that her older sister would cave and accept this because Shelby was always seeking to make sure everyone else was happy.

Neve closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself not to yell at Mackenzie right now. "I love you girls, you're my world and you know that." She began, opening her eyes to scan the faces of her three girls. "I hope you can adjust to this and in time accept it." Pausing for a moment, she shifted to pull Bryn into her lap and urge Mackenzie to sit down next to her. "Nobody can replace your father Mackenzie, but people can care about more than one person in their lifetime."

"I don't have to like this." Mackenzie muttered, though she willingly leaned against her Mom when Neve put her arm around her. Neve knew that wasn't Mack giving in, she didn't give up that easy.

From her other side Shelby sighed softly. "Give us time Mom, okay." Her eldest seemed closer to accepting things, but that wasn't surprising; Shelby had a big heart and usually put herself last when it came to things.

"Are Jake and Star coming back?" Bryn finally spoke up, most of the conversation going over her head. She still didn't understand why everyone was so upset that Momma and Jake were dating, she was assuming it was a big person thing and she wasn't old enough to understand it.

Neve smiled softly. "They will when Jake's done talking to Star I think." At least she hoped that both Jake and Star would come back out, though Neve wouldn't expect Star to join them again if she was still upset.

[jake_abernathy]

"Not everything is, honey, I'm sorry. But this is happening, and it's not going to unhappen because you don't like it. Give it a chance, okay?"

Star leaned against him, sighing and curling against his chest. She didn't say anything, not wanting to lie, not wanting to mean it.

"Please, for me?" he coaxed, something he rarely did.

She sighed gustily, giving a grudging nod. It was the best he was going to get, for now, Jake knew, and he kissed her temple softly. "Thank you, Star," he told her softly. "Now do you think you can come back out there and behave?" he asked gently, and got another nod and sigh. He hugged her for a moment, holding her close, before she pushed away and climbed out of his lap. He could see her working to pull herself together as she wiped at her eyes, brushed her fingers through her hair. She was growing up so fast.

"Okay," she said softly, not looking at him, not really, before she followed him quietly back out of her room to rejoin the Standheims.

[neve_stadheim]

The storm hadn't passed, Neve knew it was just a break in the clouds for right now. Shelby and Mackenzie were still both upset, albeit showing it in different ways. She didn't expect them to be okay with all of this right away, or even in the next couple of weeks. She would make it clear that this wasn't going away though, and that no amount of fit throwing was going to change her mind or make her break things off with Jake. Granted her girls had been dealing with change in the last few months as it was, with Ezra's relationship ending and Kyle moving out; her girls had been adjusting and this was just one more thing for them to adjust to.

They sat in quiet after Neve's last comment. Mackenzie was still quietly seething over everything and Shelby was trying to work things through in her head. Bryn on the other hand couldn't wait to see Abby next and tell her friend about all of this and how her Momma had someone like Abby's Daddy had someone.

Neve's smile was faint as Jake and Star reappeared in the living room. "What does everyone think about ordering in dinner?" She asked, meeting Jake's gaze before glancing at her girls. "I think we could all use it." Neve wasn't trying to ignore the blow ups from earlier, but for now she felt like dwelling on them or calling attention to them was unneeded and would only aid in rekindling already heightened emotions and feelings.

[jake_abernathy]

"I think ordering in would be great," Jake said, smiling faintly at Neve. They were handling this, he thought. It wouldn't be easy, but they were both determined, stubborn people. "Would we prefer pizza or Chinese? There's both that deliver relatively nearby.

Star curled up in the arm chair, resting her head against the back and giving her friends a wan smile. They might not like that their parents were going out, but she still liked her friends.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve was relieved when Jake agreed with her. She had a feeling they would only survive this if the tried to be a united front, and handle these situations together. This wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't over yet by a long shot. Neve had faith they would manage though, as they were determined. "Pizza?" She glanced at the girls, waiting for some kind of reaction from one of them and received varying degrees of agreement from them. "Unless you or Star would prefer Chinese."

Shelby wasn't nearly displaying her emotions the same way Mackenzie or Star were, that didn't stop her from understanding why they were both upset. Shifting, she got up from the couch and moved over to the arm chair, sitting down on the arm and returning Star's wan smile with one of her own. "Hey....." She couldn't lie and say she wasn't worried that Star maybe didn't want to be friends with her now.

[jake_abernathy]

Star seriously considered Chinese for a moment, Jake could tell from the look in her eyes, and she would do it only to be perverse and troublesome. He caught her eye, though, and she sighed probably more loudly than she intended and said, "Pizza's cool. No problem." She even tried not to sound too sullen, though he would never be able to applaud her acting.

"Hey," Star replied. "What you want on your pizza? We can probably take our slices into my room and watch a movie or something," she offered, hoping that Shelby wasn't going to be mad at her because she wasn't thrilled their parents were dating.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve bit her tongue to keep from saying anything to Star about her attitude; the parent in her wanted to speak up, but it wasn't her place and at least Jake's daughter had even decided to rejoin them all. "Sounds like Pizza it is then." She said with a smile. At least that decision had gone over fairly well. "What would everyone like?" Neve glanced around the room as she asked this.

"Anything but Mushrooms and Anchovies." Shelby wrinkled her nose. "You think so? I'd rather watch a movie then stay out here." Sure Shelby was acting fairly mature about the whole thing, that didn't mean she wouldn't prefer to be away from her Mom and Jake for awhile. "What movie were you thinking?"

[jake_abernathy]

Jake could foresee several long talks about manners and attitudes in his future; it made his head hurt a bit. But at least she wasn't mouthy and blatantly disrespecting anyone at the moment, and that was all he could really ask for just yet. She would eventually settle, and hopefully old habits would reinstill themselves.

"Supreme or pepperoni and onions or something," Star said with a shrug. She lifted her shoulders again at Shelby's question. "Dunno, I have several. You can choose whatever you want," she offered.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve knew they both had rocky roads ahead of them when it came to dealing with their respective children. In knowing that though, she also knew they would and could manage this. Her girls were upset, but she knew it wouldn't last, and a couple good conversations about all of this was likely to aid in the process of pushing forward.

"Bryn doesn't like onions, though I think we could order two pizzas." Shelby replied, glancing at her Mom briefly. "At home we usually end up ordering two anyway 'cause Mack and Bryn are picky." She added. "Anything but a romance right now." She answered, trying to do her best to avoid wrinkling her nose as she said it.

[jake_abernathy]

"At least two. There's enough of us to eat that much, at least," Jake said. "What do you suggest?" he asked Neve, not knowing her children's preferences as well as she did. He and Star were usually pretty easy going on their choices, mostly just agreeing to keep the fish off of it, though he didn't mind them on occasion.

"Mm, I have the new Pirates movie, you wanna see that? Or Monsters Inc or something, there's a bunch of choices," she said. Her grandma had bought the new Pirates movie but Star had taken it off to her room the other night, wanting something new and interesting to watch, evne if she had seen it with her grandparents before.

[neve_stadheim]

"So maybe two large pizzas, then?" Neve asked, considering Jake's question. "Mackenzie and Bryn don't like onions, and Shelby would prefer something without mushrooms and anchovies." She listed off, "The safest bet would be to order a pepperoni pizza for my picky eaters and then whatever Star would like on the other one." Neve felt more comfortable if Star was able to choose what one of the pizza's would be. She would hate for it to be all about what her girls wanted.

"Let's watch the new Pirates movie, Bryn was on a Monster Inc. kick for months last summer, so I haven't been able to watch it since." She said, laughing slightly. "Or we can watch whatever, I'm not really picky." Shelby really wasn't, so long as it wasn't a romance she'd be happy.

[jake_abernathy]

Jake nodded. "Sounds good to me," Jake said, pushing himself over to the phone and picking it up. The number was on the magnet on the refrigerator.

"Just sausage and onion or something," Star said with a shrug at her dad. "We'll be in my room, watching a movie. Yell when the pizza's here," she said, pushing out of the chair and nodding her head toward her room, looking at Shelby. The other two were welcome to come too. "Pirates is fine with me. I really like the new one," she said.

[neve_stadheim]

Neve got up and followed Jake while he ordered the pizza, glancing over her shoulder as Star and Shelby got up to leave the living room. "Shelby, would you mind taking Bryn with you?" It wasn't that she was trying to send her girls away, but so often Bryn didn't seem to feel like she could just invite herself along with the older girls like Mackenzie did.

"Sure." Shelby replied as she got up for the arm of the chair, picking up her little sister before following Star to her room. Mackenzie didn't bother to ask, she just followed behind the three other girls. "Yeah? I'm not sure if I saw the newest one." She answered Star, glancing at Mackenzie who shook her head no.

Once the girls were gone, Neve let out a heavy sigh. "Well, that went better than I expected." She commented quietly,

[jake_abernathy]

Star led everyone into her room, not minding that all the girls followed (though, a voice whispered in her head, would her dad prefer them to her eventually? Shelby was always so good, and Bryn so sweet, and Mack spirited...). She dug the DVD out from where she'd put it after watching it the other night and fidgeted with the portable DVD player that was hooked into her little TV--she didn't have a big player yet, but when it was hooked to the TV, it was the same thing as having one, so she didn't care.

"It's really good. There's pirates and mermaids and the Fountain of Youth," she told them, sitting back on her heels to let it load so she could navigate the menu. "Feel free to sit anywhere, I don't care." There was the bed, and the desk chair, also a large floor pillow and the scoop chair thing she'd begged for last Christmas and loved.

Jake sighed and nodded, reaching back out for her now that the girls weren't around to see and judge. "It went all right," he conceded. "It could have gone better, but it could have gone a lot worse, too," he said.