[Blake] New Romantics

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie needed to change out of her work out clothes and shower before Blake came over, but Lily was just being too cute in one of her new dresses, "Hang on Princess, let me take a picture of you for Daddy," she told her, taking a quick picture with her phone. "Aunt Blake is coming over?" Lily had asked as Mack started laying out her own clothes for when she got out of the shower, "Yes, she's bringing Kenzie and Emma over. You can show Kenzie your dress up things," she smiled, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. Kennedy was napping, and so long as Lily was within ear shot while she showered, she didn't mind. Lily had sat down on the rug in the bathroom as Mack climbed into the shower, and had brought a box of nail polish out, "Can we paint nails? I want this pink," she said, looking up at Mack who had poked her head out, "Ooh, that one's called Look at my Bow." Mackenzie showered quickly while Lily chatted to her about kitties, climbing out and grabbed her bathrobe. Mackenzie put a movie on in the living room for Lily and then dressed and put her make up on before going to start lunch. She had meatballs cooking in the crock for dinner later and it smelled amazing. But Lily had only asked for chicken nuggets for lunch.

Some time later Lily was munching on her lunch and Kennedy was eating small pieces of nugget in her high chair, giggling about who even knew what. Lily was making faces at her. Mack was gonna miss lunches like this next fall when Lily started kindergarten. That was going to be SO weird. They grew up so fast. She sort of missed having a baby in the house... which was why Blake bringing Emma over would be so nice. But Mackenzie still thought about what having a little boy would be like. Someone Riley could play catch with and take golfing. Not that he couldn't do those things with the girls, but she still thought how nice it would be to give him a son. Mackenzie was making a big pitcher of lemonade, something she'd learned from Blake herself so she hoped it was up to her standards. Mack heard the door open and the rustle of little feet that could only be Kenzie. "Hi!" Mack called out, "Come on in, we're in the kitchen," she added, grabbing glasses for herself and Blake.

[Blake Emma Renner]

The rest of the morning with Logan had been blissful; and had it not been for his plans with Riley to go golfing, she would’ve stayed in bed with him all day. He offered to cancel them, and to do just that. But she figured they needed to continue living their lives, and she was still dipping her toe in this pool. She didn’t need to throw Kenzie into it with a cannonball. It was a lot to process at her little age. Everyone was being pretty lenient with her because it was hard enough for the adults to understand what was going on, let alone a little tyke. Blake pushed her hair behind her ear before she reached down with her key to open the door. But just as she opened it, Kenzie was pushing her way through. Getting her here had been a struggle, but now she seemed in a good mood. “ AUNT MACKENZIE! AUNT MACKENZIE!” she screamed. Blake winced, hoping that Kennedy wasn’t taking a nap but turned the corner and smiled, seeing both girls up and noshing on some snacks or their lunch. “ Hey,” she said, giving Mack a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before she set her purse on the counter and started to unbutton her coat. “Aunt Mackenzie, I got to have a sleepover with Brayden last night. And he gets to come over for a sleepover TONIGHT. Which means he gets to have breakfast with us tomorrow. Do you want the girls to come? Cause Brayden and I get to go buy new toys after my playdate here. We have lots of appointments today,” she said matter of factly as she started taking off her own little jacket. Blake looked up at Kenzie, lifting her eyebrows to silently demonstrate how exhausting Kenzie was being today. “Oh my gosh,” Kenzie said, putting her hands on her cheeks as she looked at her aunt. “You look like a princess..” she said, giving her a quick hug before she went over to Lily. She leaned over to her, putting her hand up to Lily’s ear as she whispered about Brayden and the trouble they had gotten into last night before getting into a fit of giggles. Blake watched the way the little girl put her head back, squinting her eyes and laughing uncontrollably about whatever her and Brayden had done last night. A small smile softened her stressed features.

Kenzie excused herself, telling Lily to hang on before she went over to Kennedy and was explaining to her how she got lots of new tea cups for her teaset and that they were going to have so much fun at their big sleepover. Apparently that was decided. Blake took in a deep breath and turned to Mackenzie, smiling tiredly. “Is there vodka in that?” she questioned, pointing at the lemonade before she picked it up to take a drink. “This smells delicious,” Blake said, referencing the meatballs as she sat down and crossed her arms on the counter, gripping her arms with her hands tightly. The boys were probably drinking on the golf course already. “Oh my god, okay.” she said, putting her hands up quickly to indicate that she had some juicy news. “This morning I woke up before Logan and I had this crazy, crazy dream about just.. he and I, and craving banana pancakes, and Jack Johnson.. and it was this whole thing. So I thought to myself, Parker if there is one thing you can do, it is cook. So I went downstairs and made him banana pancakes since I was craving them. Well, I come back into our room and when he wakes up I’m telling him about my dream…Except, Mack. Not a dream!” she said excitedly.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

"Hey you!" Mack said, scooping Kenzie up in a hug before setting down and kneeling at her level, "Well that does sound so exciting, I think maybe the girls could come over for a little while, if it's okay with your mom," she said, winking at Blake. Mackenzie would never leave Blake with that many kids to supervise, not unless Mack could join her, and maybe share a bottle of wine. For sanity's sake... Mackenzie only smiled at Kenzie when she said she looked like a princess, "Well so do you." Mackenzie stood up, looking at Blake sympathetically, "It could have vodka," she muttered, getting the impression that Kenzie was a little much to handle today. "Oh I just made meatballs, nothing spectacular," she added, waving it off. Nothing like Blake probably would have made. Lily was climbing out of her seat, telling Kenzie she had some chic new purses to show her and that they should play dress up, Mackenzie walking over to the high chair, "Hang on, take Kennedy with you... thank you," she added giving Kennedy a little nudge, "Go play with Lil." Mack took the vodka off the top shelf after they'd gone, pouring a little in each of there glasses and then taking Emma into her arms, "Ugh, I need to hold a baby," she laughed, sipping her lemonade. Blake began telling her about a dream she had, something Mack knew to be very familiar, but let her finish. Mackenzie laughed, "That's amazing, is that the first memory you've had come back a little bit?" Mackenzie knew without her saying that it was a memory, Mack knew all about their rainy mornings. Mackenzie waited a moment to share the excitement with her before rewinding back to that other part. Yes, she caught that. "So you went back to the bedroom? What were you guys doing in there?" she teased with a smirk, sipping her lemonade, knowing full well what they were probably doing. Because if that was what they were doing, then good for them.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake watched as the girls went off to look at their purses and get all dressed up, when she realized that her and Mackenzie’s jobs really weren’t that different from their playtime. Hm. She was brought back to attention as Mack picked Emma up into her arms. Taking a long sip from her drink, she set it down before sitting up straight. “Does Riley know that you have baby fever?” she questioned, smiling as she lift her eyebrows slightly. But she couldn’t help but clap her hands together excitedly when Mackenzie was just as excited about the memory. “Yeah the completely first one. It was strange because it felt so surreal. I mean is it really possible that I was just that happy that my memories felt like a literal dream?” she questioned, getting up to get herself a plate of some of those meatballs. She had put a few on her plate when Mackenzie questioned what they were doing in there, causing Blake to turn and smile at her, setting the serving ladle down. “My parents came over last night and it was a complete disaster. Logan and I were self medicating with scotch and…” she said, giving a slight shrug of her shoulders. “Our relationship..progressed. Twice.”

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie only smiled when Blake asked her if Riley knew she had baby fever, "... well if he doesn't, he will." Mack didn't think it was nuts to want another baby, she was 22 years old. People had babies in like their 40's. She just hadn't mentioned it to Riley, yet. But she would. "You're entire relationship has been something out of fairy tale," Mack said, "I think anything you remember about it is going to come back feeling like a crazy dream." For the most part anyways. No one wanted to tell Blake about the rocky times, but she'd probably remember them on her own. After giving it a moment of thought she added, "You know, with Riley things started coming back slowly. Not full memories, maybe feelings, like he knew things were familiar. But once they started, they started coming more often. Maybe it was enough of a trigger for you, you'll start getting glimpses of other things," she mused, hoping that would be the case. Blake was helping herself to meatballs, explaining briefly the events of last night. "Wow," Mack said, shifting Emma in her lap, "Well good for you two," she smirked. Normally she would have pestered her about it but... what was there to say? "Was it like riding a bike?" she asked. Sure it probably felt like a new thing, but Blake was still Blake. Like with Riley, it probably seemed all new and exciting to him at the time, but he was still himself; same body language, same tricks in his arsenal. Mack slid her glass along the counter, frowning, "Well what was the deal with your parents?"

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake smiled slightly as she cut one of the meatballs in half. It was sort of strange really, that she felt like they were just having an amazing time during Senior year and here was Mackenzie talking about more babies. With Riley. Who had turned out not do be such a dick upon graduating. As Mackenzie pointed out that her life with Logan had been a fairytale she smiled again, looking up at her. Maybe all of this was a dream anyway and she’d wake up any second and look out her window to see Scarlet getting into Logan’s new car. She momentarily got distracted by the meatballs because, up until now she hadn’t realized that she herself hadn’t eaten anything at all yet today. And these were tasting more and more heavenly. She laughed, setting her fork down when Mackenzie asked if it was like riding a bike. Obviously it was in reference to whether or not everything just synced back together naturally, which Blake could assume it had. “ No,” she said wistfully with a shake of her head. “ It was like … riding a Logan.” she said, biting the meatball off the end of the fork. Riding a bike seemed like it would be mundane and ordinary. But honestly Blake didn’t see how she would ever get used to sleeping with Logan Renner. It would probably feel like a surreal fantasy every time. Blake scrunched her nose as Mackenzie mentioned her parents and chewed quickly so that she could answer. “Oh you know, the usual. Overheard my father and Logan talking. Apparently when I was in the hospital they disagreed with Logan on my treatment plan. He felt I should live and they… felt differently,”

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie laughed out loud at Blake's comment, well alright then. It must've been everything she dreamed and more apparently. But good, that's where it started. It sounded really shallow but it was one of the first things that came back... easier than other things. At least Mack thought so. She was really shocked though when Blake explained the issue with her parents last night. Mackenzie waited until she was finished, not saying anything for a moment. "I... what?" she said furrowing her eyebrows, "I didn't know anything about any of that." Logan must've kept some things to himself. Mack reached over to place her hand on Blake's arm, "You okay? That's really... awkward. Did you and Logan talk about it? Do your parents know you know that?" She stopped herself, shaking her head, "I'm sorry, that was so many questions." Mack stole Blake's fork, eating a piece of meatball, "You know, it matters that you're here. And you," she added to Emma giving her a little tickle. Honestly, she wasn't sure what she would do without Blake, she was her best friend. Yeah she had other friends, and of course she knew she didn't compare to Shane, but Blake was Mackenzie's greatest friend. That wouldn't change.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake nodded, letting Mackenzie soak in the drama that had been the Renner household the night before. “Yeah…. He can be secretive, that one” she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I don’t know. I mean I don’t know how I feel about it. My parents didn’t want me to know so I almost feel like I shouldn’t bring it up to them. But at the same time… Logan’s hurt over this. I don’t know everything that happened and I certainly wasn’t going to ask all the questions last night… I got a little occupied. But, I think he had so much stress on his shoulders that it would be nice just to get a little acknowledgment of everything he did, you know? she said, making a slight face before taking another bite of meatball. Riley never had this problem. His parents were dead. But here Blake was torn between her lack of memories with Logan and the fact that he was the one that stood beside her for better or worse. “I just think he really loves me,” she mused quietly, as though it was the most outlandish thing in the world. She shook her head quickly, taking in a deep breath before looking back at Mackenzie and focusing her attention back on her. “You think Riley is gonna be convinced you’ll pop out another girl and that he’ll go broke?”

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie nodded, mulling it over in her mind what Blake was mentally grappling with. It was hard because it was her parents... but then at the same time, looking at the extent Logan went too to keep her around was over whelming too. Mack reached over to grab the bottle of vodka and poured a little more into Blake's cup, making a face. She needed to let her hair down. But Mack smiled, "Oh I think he does," regarding the fact that Logan really loved Blake. It was almost worthy of a playful eye roll, only because it was obvious to everyone on the planet beside Blake right now. It was okay though because she was starting to see it. Not just that Logan loved her, but she was starting to see herself; her own confidence, how she'd grown as an artist and a person, how her music can transformed. Blake was just at the tip of the iceberg, learning about the Blake she'd been for the past 5 years. It was sort of an incredible thing to sit back and watch. Because when Blake became excited all over again about things, they could all share that joy with her again. Like realizing you had a magical rainy morning tradition, that was so something to smile about. Blake asked about having another girl and Mack said with exasperation, "Right? I feel like I should present him a list of pro's and cons," she joked, "But i just really..." she felt so dumb admitting it, "I want Riley to have a little boy, you know? And I know there's a chance it could be a girl, but that wouldn't be the end of the world... we make pretty girls..." she offered as consolation.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake smiled as Kenzie said that her and Riley made pretty girls. That was an understatement. “Yeah a pros and cons list would be good for someone like Riley.” she muttered in agreement. He was all academic and liked to make decisions based on logic. Which was crazy because Mackenzie was like that too, but she also sort of lived life as though it was this never-ending exciting loopdiloo. She knew what she meant. “Riley would be cute with a boy,” she conceded, thinking back on how Riley played both football and baseball back in highschool. Did he still ever play? Clearly he golfed. “I wonder what they’re talking about…” she said, realizing that the two of them were left alone without any adult supervision. “…. You don’t think Logan would want more kids, do you?” she asked, biting at the side of her nail. “ I mean Riley and you would be great with a boy. If we had a boy he’d be……. “ she started, trying to think of a polite way to say terrible. “Terrible.” she conceded, giving a shrug of her shoulder. "It's so weird to me that you and Riley are this super happily married couple. No offense. All I know of him is like.... screaming. And yelling. And then I see you two together and it's so loving. It's like a total 180. Though I guess with everyone else Logan was sort of a whore and with me he's.... well, he wasn't a nun last night," she said, looking at Mackenzie with a helpless look. "I can't think straight."

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie poured more lemonade into her glass, following it with vodka, "Do you think they're talking about the same things we are?" Probably talking about sex and their kids making them have tea parties and how much money their wives spend. Or maybe that was just Mackenzie. Mack gave a little Renner boy some thought and just shook her head, "I can't... you guys, okay. Can you imagine Logan as a child, but then give him a lot more privilege... so basically Kenzie in a boy's form. But more cocky. And charming. That is terrifying," Mackenzie laughed, one Logan was enough. One Kenzie was enough, bless her little heart. Mackenzie nodded when Blake said she couldn't think straight, "I know, the sex, it does that to you. Not you specifically, just, you know people," she added as clarification, but waved her hand, "I hear people telling me Riley was an asshole in high school. Chad has told me some terrific stories. And I just want to clarify; he still is. Just not to me," she smiled, "He's got a soft side, with the girls obviously," she added. "But, just hypothetically, if Logan wanted more kids, you think you would?"

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake made a slightly grossed out face, "They're probably talking about gross things," she said before shoving another meatball in her mouth quickly. She didn't want to know what they were talking about. But Riley and Logan had known each other a long time, there probably wasn't much that they hadn't discussed. Mackenzie was right though, a little teenage Renner would be a handful. Look at Lance and Logan. Sure. She loved them. But Lance was in rehab before he had a license. And Logan... had his own demons he had battled with before him and Blake seemingly settled down. Add growing up as a famous kid and the fact that just about no one would tell you no until you became this entitled ...brat... oh he would be horrible. Amazing. But horrible. "Mhm..." Blake muttered, staring off into space as she tried to envision the scariness of that world. She rolled her eyes, while smiling, as Mackenzie suggested that Blake couldn't think because of the sex. ".. I mean you've never had sex with Logan. I don't think you c- have you?" she said, making a slight face as she turned to look at Mackenzie. She already knew Scarlet had. And Shane made some off hand comment about Logan sleeping with Madeline. Because of course he did. And Blake had dated Riley, had Mackenzie and Logan been a thing at some point? It would've made sense. Blonde seemed to be his type. " I believe it... about Riley. I can see that he has a soft side with y'all." she said, giving a nod. But she had also heard him when he was on two different phones and was getting mixed up with who he was yelling at. He ended up yelling at a nurse over a business deal and sent her about ten dozen flowers to apologize for his mishap. "If Logan wanted more kids?" she questioned with a slight lift of her eyebrows. But the answer came as easily as the shrug of her shoulder, "Of course. Anything he wanted. How could I possibly say no? Look what he's done for me.. I'd give him anything he wanted," she answered, picking up her glass of lemonade to take a drink.