Sophie crawled into my lap, reaching her arms up again.
"You really like being held, huh?" I giggled, picking her up, holding her close as we made our way into the kitchen. Hanging back in the doorway, I silently watched as Jake continued to stir one of the pots on the stove, occasionally peeking into the oven.

"This is a good look on you." I finally said, gently rocking Sophie back and forth. He looked back, his cheeks burning.
"All part of the plan." He winked.
"What plan?"
"I know after seeing all this, you won't be able to resist me later." My cheeks burned as I smirked back at him, shaking my head. 

"You know you don't have to do all of this for me to feel that way." I said softly, bringing Sophie back into the living room. She pointed to the photos on the wall as we walked around.
"Is that you?" I asked. She reached out for one of the photos of her and Addison.
"And that's your mommy." She nodded, flashing me another gummy smile. The longer we looked, the more empty spaces I noticed in all of the frames. It was clear that Addison wasted no time getting rid of the photos of Will, and I couldn't say I blamed her. But I couldn't imagine how hard this must be by yourself.

Making our way down the hallway, I couldn't help but get lost in just how gorgeous their house was. After growing up in my compact apartment, it was hard to understand how one person could need so much space. I had never really left the city before, so I never experienced homes like this, not in person, at least. 

When we finally made our way back into the kitchen, Jake smirked at me, shaking his head.
"Don't fall in love with it, I don't make enough for something like this." He laughed, crossing his arms, leaning back up against the counter. I peeked over at him, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Well, I could do something too, you know, to contribute..."
"We can't pay you enough to afford this either." He said, shaking his head, making his way over to us. He gently pushed the hair out of Sophie's face, running his fingers up and down my arm. I felt my heart start to beat faster as I peeked up at him. He leaned down, kissing my cheek, giving me a soft smile.

"Well, what if I got another job?" I asked, holding my stare on him. "After the tour?" He instantly shook his head, going back over to the stove.
"Why not?" I laughed, following him closely. Looking into one of the pots, I could see a medley of vegetables, bubbling in the boiling water.
"Because.." He said, stirring them again. "We make enough for us to be able to stay together. You don't need to do anything else just for us to change what we have now. I don't need much.. do you?" He asked, peeking over at me. I sighed, shaking my head as a smile escaped my lips. He was right. I loved getting to be on the road with him, being able to wake up to him every morning. How many people were lucky enough to be able to do that? Especially with someone in this industry.

"I love our apartment." I finally said, pulling him into a kiss with my free hand. I felt his lips curl into a smile, kissing me back, gently holding my face in his hand. Soon enough, I felt another tiny hand on my other cheek, giggling to herself.
"And what are you doing?" Jake laughed, leaning down close to Sophie. She pulled away, shyly hiding her face in my neck. I smirked up at him as he pulled me in, kissing my forehead before turning back to the stove.

While we waited for Jake to finish cooking, I carried Sophie around the house again, gently bouncing her in my arms, humming that same song over and over, doing my best to avoid another outburst. When we got back into the living room, I could see Jake's phone lit up across the couch. Going over, I saw that Josh was calling, and had apparently been calling for a while.

"Hey.." I said, bringing it over to him. "Josh keeps calling." He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the stove.
"You can leave it on the counter, I'm sure it's nothing." He said nonchalantly, pouring the pot of vegetables into a strainer. 
"Are you sure? He.. he's called a few times already." Jake shook his head again.
"He knows where I am. I told him not to bother me. I'll call him after dinner."
"Alright.." I sighed, putting his phone down.

I silently watched as he set the table for us, placing a tiny plate on Sophie's high-chair, pulling it over next to his. It was so hard to not fall in love with him all over again.
"You're so cute." I sighed, leaning back against the counter. Sophie lied her head on my shoulder, gripping my shirt as her eyes began to close. Jake peeked over, flashing me a smile as his cheeks burned red.

"Oh, no, sleepy head. We're gonna have dinner!" He said, going over, gently ticking her feet. She quickly opened her eyes, clutching onto my shirt as she let out a shrieking laugh, kicking her legs.
"Come here.." He took her from my arms, gently placing her in the high-chair. She stared up at him with wide-eyes as he leaned over, kissing the top of my head.
"Here, sit, I got everything, don't worry." He said simply, getting the rest of the food and bringing it over.

I sat down, watching as he filled the table. He put a wine glass down in front of me, filling it halfway, before sitting down across from me.
"I'll catch up with you later." He said, winking at me. I felt my heart jump, a smile escape my lips as I took a sip.

"So, hopefully you like chicken because that's all I know how to make." He laughed, taking my plate, filling it up first and placing it back down in front of me.
"I'd like whatever you make." I said softly, taking a bite. It was delicious. 

"Yeah, you're definitely gonna be the one making dinner for us back home." I laughed. He nodded, smirking back at me.
"Just as long as you're the one who sings the kids to sleep."

He then went over, grabbing Sophie's baby food from the fridge. She slammed her hands down on her tray, happily screaming as he sat down close to her again. I reached over for her spoon, but he stopped me, taking it from my hand.
"You eat, I got it." He said sweetly, now feeding her. She happily took every bite, eagerly smiling up at him between swallows.

I held my stare on him, feeling my cheeks burn, my heart beating faster.
"Jake.." I said. He gave Sophie another spoonful, gently pushing the remaining food stuck to her lips into her mouth.
"Mhm?" He managed, keeping his eyes on her.
"You have never looked more beautiful to me than you do right now." I sighed. He peeked over at me, his cheeks burning red as a smile escaped from his lips. He shook his head, looking back at Sophie, giving her another spoonful.
"I see the wine is already working." He giggled to himself. "You're gonna be fun later."

He had no idea how right he was.

I reached my leg over, gently rubbing it against his under the table. I saw his eyes get wide as he peeked back over at me.
"Maybe this was a bad idea." He giggled, moving the wine glass away from me. "I should've just saved this for the hotel." I laughed, shaking my head.
"What?" I giggled, feeling my face get hot. He bit down on his lip, shaking his head, containing his smile.
"Jessica, there are children present." He said with a smirk, giving Sophie another spoonful.

After dinner and two more glasses of wine, we cleared off the table and Jake brought Sophie's high-chair over to the sink as he washed the dishes. I hopped up onto the counter, sitting close to him, gently running my finger up and down his arm. He peeked up at me with a sly grin, his cheeks burning red.
"What are you doing?" He asked playfully, placing the dish onto the rack.
"Nothing.." I giggled, gently rubbing my foot up against his leg. He shook his head, his smile growing.
"Oh, yeah, I know all too well what nothing means."  He laughed, peeking back over at me. I leaned over, gently kissing his cheek, my lips slowly moving down to his neck.
"Jess.." He said, putting another dish on the rack.
"What?" I laughed. He shook his head, flicking water in my direction.
"You need to calm down." He smirked, flashing me wide-eyes again.
"Jake!" I laughed, wiping the water from my face. I heard Sophie slam her hands against the tray of her high-chair, letting out another shrill laugh.
"She agrees with me." He said, trying to contain his smile as he finished the rest of the dishes.

He went over, picking Sophie up from out of her chair and brought her into the living room. I followed closely as he gently placed her down on the floor in front of her toys. When he turned to face me, he pulled me into a long, passionate kiss. I pulled him in closer, kissing him back harder.
"Now.." He sighed. "That's gonna have to hold you over until later." I bit down on my lip, nodding as he pulled me down onto the couch. I crawled on top of him, wrapping my arms around his stomach, lying my head on his chest as we both watched Sophie playing with her toys. One by one she would bring them over, gently placing them on my back. 

"This is the best date I've ever had." I sighed, peeking up at him. He smiled, gently running his fingers through my hair.
"Me too." He said softly, staring back at me with dazed eyes. "But.. it's not over yet." I felt my heat beat faster, my entire body feeling hot at just the thought of getting him alone later tonight. 

And then I heard his phone ringing again.
We ignored it for as long as we could, until it was almost concerning.

"Jake, I.. I think you should answer it. What if it's important?" He sighed, shaking his head.
"It's not." He said. "He knows where I am. I told him I wouldn't be able to answer the phone tonight." He looked down at me as I held my stare on him, still not convinced.
"Fine.." He sighed. "Could you get it for me, please?" I nodded, going over and answering it.

"Josh, what is going on, you've called-"
"Oh my god, finally. Jake, when are you coming back? Sam's on another bender and I swear if I have to hear about Jess one more time.. he's not listening to anyone, Danny's tried everything. I need you to come and get him before he does something stupid again."
"Josh, what are-"
"Jake, you remember what happened last time, just.. get home. Now."

And then he hung up.