Things had been quiet and awkward between Blake and Gwen since that night at the Mexican restaurant. There wasn't to much interaction between them, only when it pertained to the boys. They had agreed to split the time with the boys. One would have a day with the boys and then they would switch the next day. The boys enjoyed spending time with each parent however the tension in the room at night you could tell was affecting them. They were more clingy than they had been and were very fussy. Both boys started waking up about once a night when they had been sleeping through the night. Gwen was at a loss for what to do. Today was her day with boys and she had planned to take them to the park however the rain kept them in the house. So Gwen decided it was a Mickey Mouse marathon kind of day. She put Mickey Mouse on and got them their toys before she settling down on the couch with her laptop. She decided to write some while the boys were being good. She hadn't gotten a lot of writing done in the last few weeks and her publisher was pressuring for a sequel to her newly released best seller.
She worked on the sequel for a while looking up to see what the boys were doing every few minutes and when she heard a bunch of noice which happened quiet often since they were boys. Richie had been teaching the more laid back Jupiter to rough house and he seemed to be learning quickly. At lunch time Gwen took the boys in the kitchen feeding them yogurt and fruit. It wasn't to long before it was time for nap and Gwen carried both boys upstairs and put them in their cribs. She decide to write on her bed considering she could hear the boys better. She was deep into a chapter when she was startled by a knock at her door.
"Oh my gosh Blake you scared me." She said placing a hand on her heart
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"I know it's ok. What's up?"
"I just got off the phone with my mom and she was wondering if we could come over for dinner tonight. She really wants to meet you and Jupiter."
"Hmm yeah that's fine. I put the boys down about an hour ago so they should be up in the next hour or so. What time do we need to be ready?"
"She said dinner at 6. So maybe 5ish, that way they can get their gushing over the boys done with before dinner."
"Ok sounds good." She said and Blake began to walk away "Hey Blake?"
"Yeah what's up?"
"Are you sure I should go? I mean you can take the boys on your own if you think that would be better. Its not like I am part of the family or anything."
"Gwen you are part of the family, you are the boys mom, and my mom wants to meet you to. Please done make this difficult and just come. Ok?"
"Ok"
As Blake left out of sight the nerves began to settle in the pit of Gwen's stomach. How was his mom gonna take her? She remembers that he said his mom is nice to everyone but look at the situation they are in. It's not exactly conventional. She doesn't have long to dwell on her thoughts as she hears Jupiter crying. She gets up quickly to him not wanting him to wake Richie. If her and Jupiter stay here, they are going to have to separate the boys. They each are going to need their own rooms. Once Gwen has Jupiter she returns to her bed with her baby boy. He cuddles into her chest and they both let go of a sigh.
"Momma loves you baby boy. I know we don't get a lot of time for just you and me anymore but I think that's something that momma needs to make sure we get from now on."
Jupiter snuggled closer into Gwen's chest "momma" he said before falling back to sleep. Gwen must have fallen asleep as well because she suddenly awakes to the sound of Richies cry's. She looks to see Jupiter fast asleep and works to lay him on the bed and heads to get Richie.
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By five o'clock Gwen has both boys in the living room dressed and ready to go to dinner. She is so nervous she doesn't know what to do with herself. When she turns around she finds Blake standing at the door looking at her and she feels her cheeks turn red.
"Don't be nervous Gwen. I promise you my mom loves everyone."
Gwen just smiles and picks up Jupiter. Blake makes his way into the room and picks up Richie before they head out to the truck. About twenty minutes later they arrive at Blakes moms house. Gwen is terrified at how this going to go down. What if they don't like her? What if his mom doesn't like having a strange woman living with her son? Gwen has to stop herself before she spirals out of control. No matter how nervous she is, she reminds herself that this is all for Jupiter to know his family and for her to continue to be apart of Richie's life. So she pushes her nerves down and gets Jupiter out of his seat. Blake rings the door bell when they get onto the porch. On the other side of the door Gwen can hear the quick foot steps just before the door opens.
"Blake son!" A woman says, who is clearly Blakes mom, before she pulls him into a hug. "Richie! Grandma loves you little boy!" She says planting a kiss on the little boys cheek.
"Mom this is Gwen and her son Jupiter." Blake introduces "Gwen this is my mom Dot."
"Oh my goodness. Look at him." She says covering her mouth with her hands. "He looks just like Big Richie." Tears start to stream down her face.
"It's nice to meet you ma'am. Can you say hi Jupiter?"
Jupiter waves his hand at Dot, who in turn melts.
"Oh I'm sorry I got all caught up in these beautiful baby boys. Lets head into the living room." Dot says realizing they are still standing in the doorway.
As they move into the living room, they meet Blake's sister.
"Blake! Hey! Hey Richie!"
"Hey sis." Blake says giving his sister a hug
"Endy this is Gwen and Jupiter."
"Oh my God! He looks just like Big Richie." She say as tears began to fall down her face too.
Gwen can see the pain this family is still in some 8 months later and her heart breaks for them. She can't imagine losing a sibling, and she absolutely can't imagine losing a son and still being able to carry on.
"Here are some toys for the boys to play with." Dot says placing a large bin of toys in the middle of the room
Gwen can tell how at ease Richie is here as he struggles against Blake until he puts him down so he can go play. Gwen offers Jupiter the option of playing with Richie, however he clings to her wanting to be held.
"Do you think he would let me hold him?" Dot asks
"It's worth a try. He is typically very open with people but there has been a lot of new things going on for him lately."
"I bet. Is he dealing with everything ok?"
"Yes absolutely. He loves having a bother and he loves Blake."
At the mention of Blake Jupiter is suddenly reaching for Blake.
"Dada" Jupiter says reaching for Blake.
Blake doesn't hesitate he stands up walking over to the boy before taking him into his arms.
"Maybe after dinner mom when he is a little more comfortable here."
"Yes of course. Dinner should be ready in five minuets."
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"So Gwen what is it that you do?" Dot asks
"I write fiction books." Gwen says shyly not know how they feel about her career choice
"That's wonderful! Gives you the ability to work from anywhere."
"Yeah it has made this situation a lot easier to deal with."
"Yes, I would imagine. We are glad you are able to be here." Dot says
"What books do you write?" Endy, Blake's sister, asks being a book lover. She tries to think of ever seeing the name Gwen.
"I have a pen name so I would appreciate if you don't share what books I write with anyone else." Gwen says shyly while the rest of the table nods. "My first book was called Anaheim Girl. I also wrote The Kings Sisters."
"Oh my gosh! Your kidding me! I have read Anaheim girl probably ten time and I loved The Kings Sisters! Oh my gosh! I'm such a huge fan!" Endy said enthusiastically
"Thank you." Gwen says shyly
She had decided on a pen name not wanting to have all the attention that comes with best selling books. This is the first experience she has had with a fan but she kinda likes it. She likes knowing that someone likes her writing enough to be excited to meet her.
"Ok Endy take it down a notch, the girl is clearly not used to fans." Dot scolds
"It's ok. I'm just not used to it that's all."
"Well you are fantastic!" Endy chimes
"Thank you."
"It blows my mind how much Jupiter looks like my Richie. I feel like I'm looking at him every time I look at Jupiter. We always joked about how little Richie didn't look anything like either of them. I guess we know why now." Dot laughed "Little Richie definitely has your blonde. Did your husband have blonde hair as well?"
"No Richie looks just like me. He looks just like my baby pictures."
"How did your husband feel about the fact that Jupiter looks nothing like either of you?"
"He passed before the boys were born, so he never saw him."
"Oh I didn't realize that. I'm sorry."
"I'm not. I'm glad he never met either boys. He didn't deserve them and they sure don't deserve him. He was not someone I would want my son around. He also wouldn't have let us come out here either.
"Well I'm glad he isn't here then." Dot said with a smile.
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After dinner they all moved out to the back porch. Dot is such as loving grandma, Gwen thinks as woman gets toys out for the boys to play with on the porch as well.
"Dot did you want try to hold Jupiter now?" Gwen asks
"Absolutely!"Dot said walking over to them.
She sat down next to Gwen and put her hands out to Jupiter. He looked at Gwen first to see if it was ok. On Gwen's encouragement he reached to Dot. Dot had tears in her eye again.
"Thank you for this Gwen. You didn't have to do any of this." Dot says through the tears
"You don't have to thank me. I knew when I found out that I needed to find my son and be apart of his life in some way. I also knew that Jupiter had a blood relation out there. He deserved for me find you guys and he deserves to have you in his life. I just am grateful to Blake for allowing me to be apart of Richies life even if he isn't fond of me."
"What do you mean he isn't fond of you?"
"We don't really get along. We have been splitting the days with the boys. He takes them one day and I take them the next."
"Really? He didn't tell me you were doing that." Dot answered not sounding thrilled and shooting a "Your in trouble" look Blake's way
They spent the rest of the evening talking and Dot hadn't put Jupiter down since he went to her. By the end of the night Jupiter was asleep in Dot's arms and Richie was asleep in Gwen's arms.
"Gwen lets go the boys need to go to bed." Blake said as he made his way to his mom to get Jupiter and tell her goodbye.
Dot was shocked to hear Blake talk to Gwen like that. She seemed like such an honest caring mom and she was very pretty to top it off. It was late so she wouldn't handle it now in front of everyone. Instead she told Gwen goodbye and thanked her once again for everything she is doing for the boys.
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The next morning Blake had made his way out to the stables to start his day of chores when his phone rang. He was about to ignore it but something told him he should at least look to see who it was. When he saw his moms name he quickly answered it.
"Hello."
"Hi son. Do you have a minute to talk?"
"Of course. I always have time for you mom you know that." He answered hearing the tone of voice she was using and knowing he was in trouble
"Blake can you tell me why you and Gwen are splitting days with the boys?"
"Wait how do you know about that?"
"That's not what's important. Now tell me why you are doing that." Dot said in a firm voice that told Blake she wasn't happy
"We just have a hard time getting along and we feel like it's better for the boys this way."
"Blake Shelton. You better figure out what the hell you are doing. The way you talked to Gwen last night Blake. You should be ashamed of yourself. I raised you better than that. You have a woman, a beautiful one at that, who has uprooted her entire life so that those two boys could have a mom and dad as well as a relationship with both of you, the least you could do is respect her and be kind. You need to apologize to her and get your shit together before she leaves and takes Jupiter with her. She is trying to make this situation work and you are doing everything you can to make her question if this is the right thing to do. Do you really want to lose Jupiter?"
"No that's not what I want."
"Then you better apologize and start treating her the way I raised you to treat women."