Coming Home

Chapter 17

A/N: this part I'm dedicating specifically to @juliaG656 . when I first started brainstorming this story, I had some ideas on where to go with it, but Julia threw another idea at me and it made its way into the story after I decided how I wanted to execute it. Happy birthday, Julia!❤️

About 20 minutes had gone by before David and Cleo showed up. Cleo giggled with excitement as she saw Jen standing in the doorway.

"Is she aware?" Jen lipped to David as she and Cleo hugged, to which David just nodded gently. "Yeah, she is. I let her in on it in case it came up on tv later on." Jen just nodded as she listened. "Well good. Cleo, I'm sorry if yesterday was overwhelming in any possible way."

Cleo just looked at Jen as if to say "You're kidding, right?"

"Jen, I'll admit, going into the first store and seeing the woman look at us kind of like she might know freaked me out a tiny bit. Though I wouldn't say it overwhelmed me. I think you being so nice with everything you bought me was a bit more overwhelming than the idea of being caught! Though I am incredibly grateful for it, so thank you so much again." Cleo quipped, trying to ease Jen's nerves about the situation.

Jen stared at the child, the proudest grin crossing her face.

"You and Zoë really did rub off on Cleo in the way of gratitude. Cleo, I'm sure your father told you this, but seeing as you are HIS child, I might spoil you a bit too much. If it bothers you THAT much, I can try to tone it down. Can't make promises, though." Jen offered, which just made Cleo shrug and nod. They then saw David off and Cleo followed Jen into her house.

"So like, how mad was dad when he found out Matt would be stealing his job in season 9?" Cleo once again joked. Jen laughed then scrunched her eyes, being reminded of THAT season was not her favorite thing. "I don't think he'll ever say it, he was INCREDIBLY jealous. We were all rather mad about the Rachel/Joey storyline. He's a great guy, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't a bad kisser, but having to kiss Matt was one of the most uncomfortable situations ever. Had THAT story played out earlier it probably would not have been too bad, but Matt was and is really like my brother."

They kept talking about the days of friends, then Cleo got the idea of wanting to watch 'The One Where Ross Finds Out' so she could get Jen's side of the story.

When they got to the coffee house fight, Jen looked over at Cleo and admired how invested she was in this episode.

"So how many takes did this kiss take?" Cleo asked as she watched Jen going to the door to unlock it.

Jen thought for half a second. "Took about 3. I probably shouldn't tell you THIS fact, but the first take was ruined because your dad lifted me and put me on the counter to the left as we kissed. Ross and Rachel kissed in the laundromat, then Rachel had a fantasy about Ross kissing her, but otherwise this was our first real kiss. We wanted to kiss before we filmed this episode, but it never happened. So, we ruined the take so we could have our first kiss. That's why Burrows pulled us to the side and told us to not let our feelings blossom into anything."

Cleo looked a little grossed shook her head and laughed. "I'm glad I exist, but man, Burrows is unintentionally evil." She said with a laugh.

Another 20 or so minutes go by, Cleo and Jen are in the kitchen, with Jen making them a strawberry banana smoothie. "Jen, I know this is NONE of my business, but I'm going to ask anyway. Don't feel like you have to answer: why do you NOT want to get married again?"

The child's question made Jen freeze. She thought for a minute before she replied:

"I've been married twice. Brad didn't treat me the best, Justin was incredible and nothing bad happened between us. In all honesty, I'm afraid of getting it wrong again. However, that was also BEFORE your father and I got together." Jen simply explained.