justifer

44. NYC Pt. 2

it's officially month 3 of living in new york. they didn't even expect to be staying so long but their love for new york hit them full force. both jen and justin had forgotten just how much they loved being in the city in the summer and fall. neither of them had any projects that they needed to return home for just yet and the time away from the dizzying fakeness of LA was refreshing to say the least.
the first month they spent laying low because they didn't really want cameras following them everywhere but once the sneaky men with ridiculously long camera lenses had caught them smoking on the roof top balcony of their apartment, they decided it was time anyway to venture out and explore.
like justin had suggested, they took the babies and jack to everywhere jen grew up; they visited the apartment building she grew up in (and were very surprised to find the same security guard working in the lobby), they visited and even got to look around the school of performing arts jen attended as a teenager, and then spent many hot evenings in central park eating hotdogs and watching the kids play around.
the girls are now 6 months old and they manage to crawl with lightning speed, justin joked around that their kids were going to end up being either pro athletes or superheroes.
jackson has turned 4 whilst they've been in new york and they've already started having conversations about getting him into a good kindergarten back in LA but they've decided to not stress themselves with that just yet seeing as he'll only be attending next year.

it's now november and with thanksgiving fast approaching jen and justin decided to brave the rapidly decreasing temperatures of the city in winter to get some food in for cooking.
they make sure the kids are wrapped up warm before heading out to the grocery store 3 blocks away.

"right, what do we need?" justin asked, shaking off his hood as they were blasted with the warm air conditioning at the doors to the store.
jen rustled in her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with rushed writing covering most of it.
"veg aisle first i think, then the meat section"
they walked slowly along the aisles as they made their way to the veg and fruit section; justin pushing the cart with jackson sat inside whilst jen pushed the double stroller the twins were fast asleep in, wrapped up warm against the bitter wind outside.
"mommy look at these!" jackson yelled excitedly as he spotted a bag of giant marshmallows which just happened to be placed at his eye level.
jen rolled her eyes as she could see this was going to a problem with jack wanting every sweet he could see.
"not today sweetie, we just need some quick things for dinner this weekend"
jackson whinged as they carried on, justin or jen occasionally dropping some boxes of random foods they needed into the cart.
they arrived at the vegetable aisle and started deciding on which ones they wanted like carrots or spinach.
"which do you think the babies will eat more of?" asked justin holding a bag of lettuce and a bag of tomatoes as he carefully inspected the contents.
"i don't know maybe the toma-" but before jen could finish she felt someone knock into her accidentally.
she turned, manoeuvring the stroller to let the side to let the person behind past "sorry i'll just move out-" however the end of that sentence was lost in a gasp and then awkward silence.
"well this is coincidental" the lady said.
jen nodded stiffly as she felt justin come up behind her, he'd obviously looked up from the bags of food and seen.
"so how have things...errm been?"
"just same old same old"
there was an awkward silence and scuffling of feet.
"and you must be justin" the lady said, redirecting her gaze to him. he smiled as he held out his hand for her to shake.
"and you must be nancy"
"ahhh so you have heard of me" she smiled slightly sarcastically, a low fire kindling behind her eyes, a lot like jens could have sometimes.
justin was taken aback by her being so upfront and still slightly rude but nevertheless he didn't change his demeanour or tone as he replied "of course"
"well this was really nice..mom" jen said stiffly, getting ready to quickly walk away and forget this encounter ever happened "see you around some time"
"oh..yeah ok" nancy seemed a little almost disappointed at first before rearranging her facial expression and smiling.
"wait..." justin had an idea. a stupid one but still an idea. "why don't you join us this weekend?"
"what?" said nancy just as jen also said
"what?!" a look of shock on her face.
"well i don't want to impose-"
"i don't kn-" jen started to say before justin cut her off.
"not at all, do you remember where our apartment is?"
"errr... yeah i think so. it'll be written down somewhere if not"
"ok well we'll see you sunday, just come by at about 3" justin smiled again as he watched jen huff and push the stroller away and head towards the meat section.

justin caught up with her, placing his hand on her shoulder but keeping quiet. he could almost feel the anger radiating off her and he sensed jackson could also as he'd gone silent again.
after a couple more minutes of jen looking at the different turkeys they had on sale, trying to pick which one looked the best, justin decided to try and break the silence.
"jen i-"
"what the fuck are you playing at" jen whispered ferociously at him as she turned and was nose to nose with him.
"you two need to sort out the shit going on between you and she's alone at these times of the year, she doesn't even know her grandkids, it was politeness"
"you can take your fucking politeness and shove it" and with that jen stalked away.
justin stood there still staring at the spot she'd been stood before looking down at jackson who looked slightly scared as he wasn't used to seeing his mom and dad fight.
"uh oh" he said quietly.
"yes uh oh" justin agreed as they slowly began walking in the direction jen went to see if he could find her.
"mommy's mad at you"
"yeah buddy" justin sighed.
he knew now looking back that it probably wasn't the most thoughtful choice but he stood by it and his reasoning.

jens pov
how dare he ask my mother round for thanksgiving right in front of me knowing damn well everything that's happened between us. even from the ages of 9 when everything went downhill she made me feel so insecure and hopeless even when i tried so desperately to make living with no money fun and easier, he knows all about this.
jen stalked along the aisles, not looking for anything in particular just trying to distance herself from justin and calm down a little.
her anger has simmered down after reaching boiling point just five minutes previously.
jen hates feeling angry and this is by far the most pissed off she's been with justin since he allowed the kids to decorate the walls of the living room a couple of months ago.
as jen thought more and more about the idea of her mom coming round for a holiday, the first holiday they were spending together since she was in her early 20's, jen realised that maybe he really did have her best interests at heart. but she couldn't show that she was grateful he tries to help her in every way.

just as jen turns down into another aisle she's met head on with justin and the cart, jackson still playing around in the bottom.
"hi" justin says timidly.
"i want to go home" jen mutters, looking down pretending to re adjust something on top of the stroller.
they agree to just pay for the food they have now and head home.

now all jen had to worry about was being in the same apartment as her mom for multiple hours without arguing.
and all justin had to worry about was keeping the peace so there was no argument...