The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With Labels And Lobsters

They were still laughing and kissing when David's phone pinged with a reply from Matty and so they'd Facetimed him and enjoyed a slightly less animated but nevertheless positive call with him too. Not long after that call had ended, David's cell began to ring again with another Facetime request. It was Cleo.

"Uhmmm Jen, Cleo's calling, mind if I take this?"

"Of course I don't mind honey, want me to make myself scarce?"

"Errrm, no actually, no I don't. She knows I'm here to be with you guys and I don't want to have to hide you from her." He swiped to answer the call. "Hey sweetheart, how are you?"

"Daddy! I'm great. I loved your show. My friends did too. They couldn't believe that I was actually there when you filmed some of it. They were so jealous that I got to go with you and hang out with everyone like I told them. Where are you by the way?"

"I'm over at Jen's. You wanna say hi?"

"Of course! Jen! There you are! Hi. Are the dogs with you too? Oh yeah I can see Clyde lurking in the background. I miss you Jen, I wish I was there."

Jen moved herself further into the shot. "Hi honey, it's so great to see you! I miss you too. I can't wait until you can come back and visit again."

"All my friends were talking about you last night. I think you are everyone's favourite. They can't believe I actually know you. And they can't believe that you and my dad were almost boyfriend and girlfriend. That would've been so cool."

"Haha you think so do you?" laughed David, raising an eyebrow in Jen's direction, "and why exactly do you think that?"

"Well, because Jen's totally cool and you're kind of cool too I guess."

"Oh wow, thanks for the vote of confidence kid!" David giggled.

"Hey for what it's worth, I happen to think your Dad is very cool" Jen said with a broad smile.

"It's a shame he's too old for girlfriends now otherwise you could be his" Cleo replied matter of factly.

"Too old for what?" David shrieked with indignant laughter, Jen snorting back giggles and tears streaming from her eyes next to him as she fought to contain her amusement. "You wait until I get home tomorrow young lady. Too old for girlfriends indeed! Jen and I are both in the prime of our lives thank you very much."

"Yeah although he is a few years older than me" Jen teased, as David playfully jabbed her on the shoulder, looking at her with complete adoration in his eyes. Chesterfield was bouncing around in the background too, his tail wagging so forcefully that he knocked over a full glass of water off the table, Jen dashing off to clean it up while David carried on the conversation and banter with his daughter. She took her time with the tidying, giving them space to talk freely without her leaning over his shoulder, not that she thought for one moment either of them would mind, but because it felt like the right thing to do. She absolutely did not want to mess this up with Cleo. Or Zoe. She had been thinking a lot about what David had said, planting the seed that his ex-wife might feel threatened by Jen and she completely understood his fears, having tried to think about how she would feel if the boot was on the other foot and she were in Zoe's position. Maybe, once they had decided the time was right to begin to tell more people, and obviously the first of those people would be Cleo which naturally meant Zoe too, maybe she could speak with her and try to allay any fears she might have.

When the time was right. They both kept saying that, to each other, and now to the other four Friends too. When the time is right we will tell Cleo. When exactly would it be the right time though? This was only the second chance they had been able to get together since the Reunion and already that felt like a lifetime ago. So much had changed in such a short space of time and Jen already knew that this was exactly what she had been seeking her whole life long, and what she wanted for the rest of her life. David had already declared his feelings on the matter too, that he wanted to love her and be loved by her for the rest of their days. So what was the hesitation in telling Cleo? She knew they had to get it right because they were only going to get one shot at it, but the more she spoke with and learned about Cleo, the more she felt that she would actually be over the moon with this, and would present little challenge at all, especially if Jen could convince her that she had absolutely zero plans to steal her dad away to the opposite side of the country on a permanent basis. So, was it actually a hesitation in telling Zoe? She wasn't sure but she made a mental note to ask him before he left, because if she was entirely honest with herself, she was already feeling kind of intimidated by her, despite David fearing it might be the other way around.