Chapter 1
The first time Jane Gloriana Villanueva and Petra Solano go out on a date, it's merely accidental. They don't even notice until much later.
Jane has spent the afternoon at Petra's suite at the Marbella with Mateo. Originally, she had planned to simply take him to see his sisters for a few minutes before leaving to spend the day with Xiomara and Alba because yes, she was the kind of person to quadruple-check each family member's wedding schedule, thank you very much for rubbing it in Michael, I'm stressed.
But then Xiomara calls to inform her that she isn't going to be at the hotel for another couple of hours since she's currently driving to an actual possible singing job at a nostalgic piano bar at the other end of the city.
That's great, Jane thinks, allowing herself to be slightly disappointed-bordering-on-seriously-annoyed for half a second before she feels genuine excitement about this development, wishes her mother the best of luck and hangs up.
Jane's face must have betrayed some of her less supportive emotions though because Petra gives her a surprisingly sympathetic look.
"You know that you've prepared them well enough for your wedding. It's gonna be fine, Jane.", she states and places a hand on Jane's thigh. Jane looks up here, almost startled by the instance of contact, and gives the other woman a small, grateful smile.
However, this moment passes quickly because Petra can't resist adding "Plus, your mom didn't force you to take a hostage and tried to pin a murder on you ... I mean, you're weirdly nice, but I think Xiomara did a decent job with you."
It's supposed to come out in typical Petra-fashion, all stone-faced and sarcastic, but she cringes at her own joke and when her voice gets a bit shrill at the last part, she regrets having said anything at all.
At this point, the situation could become awkward due to their history suddenly hanging in the air between them again (does Petra maybe want to remind Jane of that staircase-incident with her grandmother, too?) if it wasn't for the kids.
Anna and Elsa - who have apparently really missed an older brother in their life so far - are lying on a thick baby blanket on the floor, actually and audibly giggling. Meanwhile Mateo is sitting next to them and imitating the peckaboo gestures he's seen his mommy do at them earlier, obviously the cause of their delight.
Jane is almost positive she's going to squeal upon noticing this, but she even forgets to text a video captioned with a ton of exclamation marks to Raphael (or, feeling slightly guilty for snapping at him this morning, Michael) when she sees Petra's reaction.
It's not as enthusiastic as Jane's had been at some of Mateo's developmental achievements and she doubts Petra is going to glue a memento of this moment into a Elsa&Anna-scrapbook, but it's a crass contrast to her former apathy.
She actually scrambles up and rushes to the twins to scoop Anna up into her arms. Anna's visible irritation at her half-brother being removed from her field of vision doesn't stop her mother from cooing at her and agitatedly repeating "Jane, look! She laughed!" until the girl addressed also removes herself from the sofa the two if them had been sitting on to join the party.
With her reddened cheeks and her bright eyes, Petra looks very beautiful in this moment.
Jane notices this while she is applauding Mateo for being so good with his baby sisters already, yes you are, Mr. Sweetface, and maybe it's a little weird, for just a second, but then she thinks she's really glad that Petra, her friend, is this happy right now.
For about an hour, the two of them simply continue to play with the kids and chat about the mommy stuff that even Michael gets tired of hearing about sometimes: which diaper brand is the perfect one, which prestigious preschools has Rafael had put Mateo on the waitlist already, which pediatrician is trustworthy and which one has the worst yelp reviews.
It's nice. Petra had never hoped for anything like this.
Her stomach lets out a very audible growl just when she is done changing Elsa's diaper and she looks momentarily embarrassed.
"Woops, I totally forgot to eat all day with all the taking care of the kids and the ...", instead of finishing her sentence, she makes an ambiguous hand gesture between her and Jane. Jane just grins and suggests to get lunch somewhere, promptly (mostly) succeeding in dispelling Petra's doubts about the ordeal that going out to eat with three kids probably will be.
"Sure, it can be a little ... demanding sometimes, but I've done it before with Mateo and it usually works out. Especially when both ... people understand what having a kid is like! Which we do!"
Petra still isn't quite as optimistic, but then again, what else is new. Either way, the pair packs up their baby supply bags and gets their strollers to acquire some quality food.
The restaurant they end up at isn't as prestigious as Jane had expected, but it's still more expensive than what she would choose if she was eating alone or with Lina.
When she orders her garden salad, she can ignore the small pang of guilt that hits her at the price.
It's not like this is going to be a regular thing, so she can treat herself for once.
They make it to the 12-minute-mark of a "pleasantly quiet meal" before little Elsa starts blaring like a siren.
Petra claimed that the twins were very calm and barely ever fussy usually, but maybe that had something to do with them basically only ever being at the Marbella. Right now, none of the guests here could guess at Elsa's otherwise tranquil nature.
Because Anna isn't freaking out yet, Jane quickly reassures Petra that she will take care of her and makes her leave the restaurant for a bit so she can soothe her daughter without 20 people staring at her accusingly.
This works out relatively well and when Jane still hears a woman at the next table complain about the baby's crying and lack of discipline, she goes over there and snaps at her in true Petra Solano fashion.
"This woman is a great mother and, unlike you, understands that babies get upset about things from time to time. As you can see, the way she handles this benefits you because otherwise you would hear a screaming baby right now. But you don't, so if you could be so kind as to let me and my friend enjoy our lunch, please, I would appreciate that."
Just like it should be, her strained jaw contradicts her politeness near the end of her rant. With one last angry look into the lady's direction, she turns and walks back to their table.
Petra comes back a little out of breath, carrying Elsa in a practical if not particularly affectionate grip and unaware of Jane's encounter with the occupant of their neighbouring table.
"Ha, I suppose I shouldn't try to date anyone again in the near future with this one around.", she jokes as she sits down again.
Jane's heart skips a beat at the word "date". She hadn't thought that Petra had given up on Rafael yet and her dating other people is sort of a foreign thought. Surprising.
She doesn't dare ask who Petra would consider for those dating activities she is referring to (because, obviously, Jane, this isn't a date, what are you thinking?!) and she doesn't get much more time to ponder her friends words anymore before her cell phone vibrates to signal an incoming call from her mother.
"Is it okay if I take this here? It's my mom.", she asks Petra and picks up when she nods and smiles politely in response. Xiomara happily informs Jane that she's back at the Marbella now, that she got the job or at least a first gig there and that she and Alba are ready for their - hopefully - last runthrough. Because seriously, she's had enough to last a lifetime.
Jane feels a bit exhausted suddenly, maybe even a little sad because she's had the best day with Petra and the kids and she should be excited to get back to planning the wedding ASAP, but she wishes their, her and Petra's, time didn't have to be over yet.
Maybe the stress of the last few - weeks, months? She can barely remember when she has last been truly relaxed - is really wearing on her more than she thought.
Something like this, not complicated and relatively drama free in comparison to everything else in her life feels like exactly what she needs.
If she wants to let herself fall into it for a bit longer, who can blame her?
Still, she agrees to met her mother in her suite in an hour. Petra, too, seems a little more reserved and quiet again now, but as they wrap things up she still hugs Jane and thanks her for spending time with her and the twins. Hearing that she breaks into a smile because only Petra would thank her when Jane is the one whose day was basically saved by the other woman today.
In the evening, Petra lies on her bed and stares at the ceiling. She doesn't even know why she made that comment about dating earlier at lunch. It definitely sort of ruined the mood.
It's not like she wants to date at the moment, anyway.
She's a woman with two babies from her ex-husband, let's be honest, who would even go for that? Plus, after Lachlan, Milos, Rafael and Roman, Christ, Roman, she isn't sure she is meant to be dating, in general.
Her reasons for dating and being with men haven't always been great in the past and the next time she commits to someone, she wants it to be her own decision, and she doesn't want it to be for money or cheap personal gain.
She wants something genuine, if it ever happens again. She wants to feel like she felt in her suite with Jane today if she is going to date again, happy relaxed and weirdly at peace with everything.
Around 2am, she has to make herself stop thinking about the day and the fact that Jane is probably the only actual friend she has had since she was a child. And how easy it would be for her to mess that up, again. And how much she doesn't want that to happen. Petra finally falls asleep.