On Christmas Eve Zac was in New York showing Jenny the city and her first snowfall. When Jenny first saw snow she was so intrigued she couldn't help but immerse herself in it, but upon finding out how cold it was she was possibly scarred for life and wouldn't leave Zac's arms for the rest of the morning. Zac was excited because with the afternoon came the arrival of Ginger, who would be there for the next two days. She was leaving the morning after Christmas, although Zac didn't want to think about when she would be leaving again.
"Are you excited?" Zac asked Jenny while removing her thick coat he bought for just this trip, knowing soon Jenny wouldn't need a thick coat anymore and probably the next time she'd need one she'd be too big for this one. "Mommy is coming today with Auntie Kris." Zac sent Taylor out to the airport to pick up Ginger and Kris. He knew it would just be a scene if he went to a place as crowded as the airport to pick up another huge celebrity. Everybody already knew he was in town and it was hard enough to leave the hotel without getting hounded, so he sent Taylor to avoid any possible situations.
Jenny was getting fussy. She knew Ginger was coming and she was impatient. Zac took off her outer clothing he'd been so protective about while she was outside and let her crawl around the hotel room. Since it was Christmas, and Kris and Ginger were coming over, Zac got a suite so there was a living room with a Christmas Tree and two separate bedrooms. Jenny crawled straight into the living room and Zac followed behind, smiling when Jenny pulled herself up at the table into a standing position. She'd been doing that a lot lately. She was getting ready to start walking and he hoped she waited until they were back home so Ginger didn't miss it.
Jenny fell back down and crawled over to the clicker where she sat herself down and started to randomly press the buttons. Zac sat down next to her. "Do you want to watch some TV?" he asked. He took the clicker from her and turned on the television, finding PBS kids, Jenny's favorite channel. Zac was never able to watch what he wanted anymore. It was one of the many things he'd given up when Jenny came into his life.
Zac's cell phone rang. Zac reached over to the table where it sat and picked it up. "Hello?" he asked.
"Hey, it's Taylor," Taylor said. "What gate am I going to?"
"H6."
"Okay. I think the plane landed already," Taylor said. "We'll be there soon."
"All right. Hurry up, Jenny's getting impatient and there's only so much I can do to entertain her by myself," Zac said.
"I will, I will. Put PBS kids on."
"I've got it on."
"Great. She should be fine until we get there. See you then." Zac said goodbye and hung up the phone, then looked down at Jenny, who had crawled into his lap and was watching television. He smiled. He kissed the top of her head and let her watch away. This past month and a half with her had been absolutely wonderful. He'd gotten so close to her that it seemed the first six months that he wasn't around was completely erased. Jenny recognized her father now and finally began to go to him more often that she went to Taylor. Taylor had been around her entire life and she often felt more comfortable around him, but now that she knew who her father was and was closer to him, Taylor wasn't as important as he used to be. Although that might have hurt Taylor a little bit, it made Zac feel awesome.
An hour later Jenny was absolutely restless. Taylor came in and Zac couldn't be happier. Jenny was screaming her head off after an awkward landing when she was pulling herself up on the furniture again, and Ginger ran in. Jenny saw her mother and quieted immediately. "Oh, honey, honey, it's okay. Mommy's here. Mommy's here." She gave Jenny a kiss. "I missed you so much, Jenny!"
"Because we all know it doesn't matter that you haven't seen me in a month and a half either," Zac said. Ginger said.
"I missed you too, baby," she said. "Stand up and give me a kiss." Zac got up and kissed Ginger. "This is a nice place you've got here."
"I'll show you around," Zac said, taking her hand and leading her around. There wasn't much to show, but Zac just wanted an excuse to walk around with her. He'd been so busy he forgot how much he missed her, and being with her again made everything so much better.
"How come Jenny's awake?" Ginger asked. "Isn't it time for her nap?"
"She's exhausted, yeah," Zac said. "But she wanted to see you. I tried to get her to quiet down and sleep but she wasn't having any of it."
"Were you giving Daddy a hard time?" Ginger asked Jenny. Jenny was leaning her head against Ginger's shoulder, her thumb in her mouth and her little legs swinging. "Oh, Jenny, you're so tired. Let's put you down for a nap." Zac let Ginger into their bedroom where Ginger put Jenny down on the bed. Ginger didn't give her much more than a kiss and a tuck into bed before she fell asleep. Ginger collapsed into a chair. "Oh my God, Zac, you would not believe the day I had."
"Problems at the airport?"
"Not only that," she said. "But this morning I got a call from the director and he's all like 'I need you in tomorrow.' I told him I wasn't coming in on Christmas; he knew I was coming out here to be with you and Jenny and he still asked me to come out. Then he yelled at me and told me I was being irresponsible when I'm just doing what everybody else is doing! Nobody else working on the movie is in town for the holidays, so I don't know what he could possibly need me for. Then I had a big beef with security at the airport and the flight was delayed and then it wasn't delayed and all this crap�ugh. How was your day, honey?"
"Much better than that," Zac said, smiling. "I had an interview this morning, then afterwards I took Jenny out in the snow. She was having the time of her life until she discovered how cold snow is. Then she freaked out and wouldn't let me put her down until we got back here." Ginger smiled. "You look downright exhausted yourself. Why don't you take a nap with Jenny?"
"No," she said. "I just got here. I want to spend some time awake with you first. We haven't made out in a month and a half. I was looking forward to that."
"Posh. We have plenty of time to do that. Take a nap." She smiled. "We can make out when you wake up."
"I love you," she said, standing up and kissing him. "Did you even say hello to Kris yet?" He shook his head. "You better go do that or she won't speak to you for weeks. I'll see you when I wake up." He kissed her again and she went to the bed while he went out of the room. He walked back into the living room where Kris and Taylor were making out on the couch.
"Oh come on," Zac said. "At least do me a favor and get a room."
"We had a room until you walked in," Taylor said, sitting up. He pulled Kris up with him. "Where's Ginger?"
"She's in there taking a nap," Zac said. "She looks so exhausted."
"Well she's been working nonstop since you left," Kris explained. "Especially these past few days when shooting's been winding down. Anyway, where's my hello kiss?"
"I think Taylor took care of that," Zac said. Kris gave him a look. He walked over and gave her a kiss.
"How have you boys been doing out here all by yourselves?" Kris asked, watching as Zac took a seat next to her on the couch. "I know it must have been torture, what with me not around."
"It was, Kris," Zac said. "I had to listen to him whining about it every ten minutes." Kris smiled and kissed Taylor. "But it's gone surprisingly well. Except for when we were in Tulsa and I found out that I don't know anything about my family." Zac sat back.
"That's not true," Taylor told him. "It's just he met Roni for the first time."
"You've never met Roni before?" Kris asked.
"You knew who she is! How is it you knew and I didn't?"
"Because I was always around, Zac," Kris said. "I met her a few times. She's really a nice girl. It shocked all of us when her and Ike ran off and got married. They'd only known each other, what? Six months?"
"Just about. Mom thinks it'll never last but you never know."
"Mom doesn't think anything will last," Zac said.
"She thinks you and Ginger will," Taylor said. Zac paused, confused. "I'm serious. I was talking to her when we were in Tulsa and for some reason she seems like she's excited about your wedding. Whatever." Zac smiled.
"Good."
After Ginger and Jenny woke up, Zac and Ginger sat in the living room with a bag of chips and a movie. Kris and Taylor had left about twenty minutes before so they could be alone for a while. The movie was getting boring, so Ginger decided Jenny would be more amusing. Ginger watched in amazement as Jenny pulled herself into a standing position against a chair.
"Zac, look," Ginger said, nodding over to Jenny. Zac looked over.
"Yeah, she's been doing that a lot lately," he said. "She's probably going to start walking soon." Ginger smiled.
"I hope she doesn't do it before you come home," Ginger said. "I want to be there when she does it." Zac looked over at Jenny and smiled. Jenny fell backwards onto her butt, where she just turned around and crawled away. He sighed.
"I think you should take her back with you," he said. "She misses you."
"No, Zac, I said she could stay out here with you and she will. She needs her time with her Daddy, and frankly I don't have anybody to watch her at home. Kris and I are out all day and we can't just bring her along with us."
"Taylor would go back with you," Zac said. "The only reason he's out here is to be my babysitter. It's a package deal; you take Jenny, Taylor comes along with her." Ginger shrugged.
"Whatever, Kris would be pleased with that," Ginger said. She groaned. "Oh my God, Zac, you do not understand how annoying she's been since he left. 'I miss Taylor. How long until Taylor comes home?' Blah, blah, blah�"
"Well Taylor's been the same way," Zac said. "Of course, so was I."
"No you weren't," Ginger said, laughing.
"You're right, I wasn't." She hit him. "Hey! What kind of example are you setting for our child?"
"She's not even paying attention!" Ginger said, looking over at Jenny who was intrigued with the fringe on the end of a throw rug. "She's gotten so big, Zac. I wish I didn't have to work so I could be out here with you."
"Hey, after this movie you could be done. It won't be boring this time. You'll have Jenny to keep you company, you can follow me around as I promote my next two records, although I don't want to do them."
"Two more? You didn't even want to do this one."
"I know, I know," Zac said, sighing, "but it was a three record contract. I'm stuck making two more." She paused. "What?"
"You're not getting paid all that money for the other two, are you?" He nodded. "Oh my God!"
"I know," he said. "They're crazy down there. I don't understand why they're giving me this much, but it's all they're going to give me. I don't care. After I finish that third record, that's it. I'm retiring. We can find ourselves a condo in Florida and live with the old folks." Ginger smiled.
"Like hell you'll be done. You love this too much."
"Yeah right."
"Wait until you go on tour, Zac, and then tell me you don't love this. This is just a whole bunch of interviews and crap. This isn't what you got into the business for." Zac sighed. "I just can't believe how well this album is doing. I hear your music on the radio all the time, everybody I talk to has the album�I hate to say it but you're more popular that I am."
"Finally!" She let her head fall against his chest and he put his arm around her. "I missed you, baby."
"I missed you too," Ginger said. Jenny crawled over and tugged at Ginger's pant leg. Ginger smiled. "Oh, Jenny, you're so needy." She picked up Jenny and placed her on the couch. "You know, she doesn't seem too excited for Christmas."
"Ging, babe, it's her first Christmas. She has no idea what's coming."
"True," she said. "Well, I'm excited. You didn't spoil Jenny, did you? She's not getting a truckload of gifts, is she? 'Cause she'll enjoy it for maybe two days and then she'll never look at any of it again."
"No," Zac said. "She's got a good haul, but she doesn't have a lot. I didn't go into double digits."
"Good. She's not incredibly spoiled. Her father's a massive rock star and her mother's a movie star so she'll grow up just fine, eh?"
"Yeah�"
"Honey, I've been going out of my mind at home without you around. They're sucking me dry with this movie and nobody ever seems to agree with me. I need you to calm me down." Zac kissed her temple. "I don't know what I'm going to do for the next two weeks until you come home. When everyone comes back they're going to be so lackadaisical about working. They all think I'm a big bad boss but all I want to do is get this thing done."
"That's perfectly understandable." Ginger sighed and stood up. "Hey, down in front! I'm trying to watch a movie."
"Zac," Ginger said, shaking her head. "Shut up."
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go pick up your Christmas present," Ginger said. "I ordered it and I have to pick it up before they close and I'm too late."
"Aww, Ginger, you didn't have to get me anything."
"Pfft," she said. "If I hadn't, you would whine like a little baby."
"True." Ginger smiled. "Be back soon, we're going to have dinner together later."
"I will," she said. She kissed him and left quickly.