Thank You For Being A Friend
A/N: Here's a fun one shot where I decided to bring together a friend's OC, and my own. The characters of Chad and baby Finn belong to nweeks3. Thank you very much for letting me borrow them. This story also contains what I would consider a "deleted scene" from Through Her Eyes. I don't own any characters, expect for Sarah. Hope you enjoy. Title is an homage to Golden Girls.
Flashback to 2012
Sarah is in the lobby of the police station waiting for Beca. She never the evening would end with one of them getting arrested, but here they were after a crazy night following the Bellas regional performance. Soon Beca came out of the back, and Sarah was glad to see her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Sarah asked her.
"Yeah, no sweat. At least I didn't have to be in there long." Beca told her as they walked out to the parking lot.
"So wait..." Beca paused. "...did you bail me out?"
"Yeah, I did. I couldn't let you spend the night in jail. Especially since it wasn't even your fault."
Beca stopped to look at her best friend. Of course she was grateful for Sarah's generosity, but she was still in shock.
"How much was it?" Beca asked.
"About four hundred dollars, but don't worry. I wanted to do it."
The amount shocked Beca, and also made her feel terrible that the trouble she got into cost her friend so much.
"Sarah...can you afford that?"
"It was no problem, really. I had some emergency money saved up, and since I'm doing work/study I can put it back in no time. It was nothing to worry about."
"It's not nothing, Sarah. That's a lot of money. You have to let me pay you back." Beca insisted.
"Beca really, it's okay. You've done so much for me this past year. It's the least I can do for you."
Beca wrapped Sarah in a tight hug. She really was the best friend Beca could possibly ask for. They've never stopped being there for each other, and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
"I love you." Beca told Sarah.
"I love you too, Jailbird." Sarah said and they both laughed.
"I'm still paying you back."Beca said adamantly.
"Okay, if you insist."
"So...does my dad know anything about this?" Beca asked.
"Well, If so he didn't hear it from me. I didn't say anything."
"You really didn't tell him?" Beca asked Sarah.
"Best friends don't tell." Sarah replied with a smile.
"You totally stole that from 'Matilda'." Beca laughed.
"Yeah, so what if I did?"
Alas It was time to end this evening, and both girls returned to campus.
Present day - February 18th, 2020
This evening in the Donaldson home was about preparing for another Bella birthday celebration. Since Aubrey and Chad were currently the only ones with a big enough space, they offered to throw a party for Sarah's birthday. After all these years, it's still unbelievable the Bellas are still close friends celebrating birthdays, weddings, and the arrival of new babies together. It's something they hoped to continue for the rest of their lives. Aubrey brings down 7 month old Finn, while Chad is preparing food for the party. Aubrey sits their baby down in front of a plate of chicken fingers and some peas, but little Finn is putting up a fight, and won't cooperate with eating his dinner.
"I don't know what's with him lately. He doesn't seem to want anything lately." Aubrey said frustrated.
Chad came over in an attempt to help trying to offer his son some chicken, but he kept pushing it away.
"Come on Buddy, it's yummy." Chad told him. "You don't want to be hungry all day; do you?"
It seemed there was no use in forcing him. The two decided to leave Finn on his own for a bit hoping he would eat on his own accord. Soon some of the girls have started to arrive. Beca arrived with Chloe and Fat Amy. Chloe carried in the cake they picked up, while Beca and Fat Amy carried in their gifts for Sarah.
"Hey, where do you want us to put these?" Beca asked Aubrey.
"Oh, the guest bedroom will be fine." Aubrey told them while the girls took them in there.
"I'm glad my gift came on time." Beca said. "I can't wait for Sarah to see it. She's gonna be so excited."
"It is a really nice gift, Beca. I'm glad you were able to find one." Aubrey said.
They were all excited for Sarah to see what she got, and were looking forward to celebrating this day with her. Aubrey took a look at the cake on the counter, and it looked great. A double chocolate cake with strawberry filling was just the treat Sarah's friends knew she would enjoy. Aubrey made room in the fridge to store the cake away for later.
"So when does the guest of honor get here?" Aubrey asked Beca.
"She should be on her way soon. She just texted me that she finished her shower, and is getting ready to leave now." Beca told her.
More guests started to arrive leaving their gifts in the guest room as instructed, and soon Sarah arrived greeting her friends there to celebrate her birthday.
"Hey, Happy Birthday." Beca told Sarah with a hug.
"Thank you." Sarah replied while she made her rounds. Soon she came up to hug Aubrey as well.
"Hey, thank you guys for hosting this. I really appreciate it." Sarah told Aubrey.
"Oh, of course. We were happy to do it."
Sarah started to sniff around in the kitchen, detecting a familiar treat.
"Ah, I knew I smelled it."
"Smell what?" Aubrey smirked.
"Your famous Apple Brown Betty in that oven over there. Are you making that for me?" Sarah asked.
"Maybe, it's a surprise." they both laugh.
"So where's that man of yours?" Sarah asked Aubrey.
"He's out by the grill." Aubrey said motioning to the patio.
Sarah made her way outside to investigate seeing Chad grilling up a storm. Even in the month of February when it was quite cold outside, the grilling process proved to be successful. There was not much snow to clear away as they were lucky enough to have an awning over their patio. Chad is outside with a steak seasoned to perfection, and corn wrapped up on the top rack. Sarah was happy to take in the smell of everything.
"Hey, how goes the grilling so far?" Sarah asked.
"It's coming along. Everything should be ready soon." Chad told her.
"So it seems you're quite the grill master, huh?"
"Yeah, my dad taught me. We always had barbecues for his military buddies."
"Any chance there's some grilled mushrooms to go with that steak?" Sarah asked hopefully.
Chad happily showed her the pot of mushrooms simmering on the grill.
"You've got a good man here, Aubrey." Sarah said patting Chad's shoulder.
Everyone soon sat down to dinner, enjoying the effort put forth by Chad and Aubrey. The food came out great, and the girls praised Chad for the awesome job he did. Over dinner Sarah was showing off part of the birthday gift from her father. He paid to have Sarah's Star of David necklace from her mother restored. They cleaned up the pendant, and replaced the clasp on the back with a stronger one. This family heirloom has held up well over the years since it was brought over from Poland by Sarah's great grandmother. Sarah always loved hearing her mother share stories about their family's past, and hoped to keep the story going with her own family someday. Listening to Sarah talk about her mom made Chad wish things were better between he and his own mother. It wasn't that things were terrible, they still talk, and share holidays together, but they're not as close as he'd like to be. It made him more grateful to have Aubrey and Finn in his life. He was proud of the family they've created, and hoped they'd be as close as ever.
Soon it was time for the fun part of any birthday party, cake and presents. Sarah loved her cake, as her friends sand to her while she blew out the candles. Then everyone gathered in the living room with cake in hand for present time. Sarah loved all the gifts from her friends with her vocaloid software from Chloe, and plenty of kawaii plushies, and Hello Kitty merch to go around. Next was her gift from Beca, and her friend felt both excited and nervous. Sarah tore off the wrapping paper opening the large box, and was equally surprised and delighted as she held up a beautiful "S" shaped electric violin. Sarah has always wanted one, and couldn't believe Beca found her one.
"Beca, this is beautiful. Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome." Beca said smiling.
"These things are expensive, I can't believe you were able to find me one."
"Yup, I told you I'd pay you back someday." Beca told Sarah, both remembering the big favor Sarah did for Beca in bailing her out their freshmen year.
Sarah stood up giving Beca the biggest hug she could. She appreciated her gift,a ,nd the kindness from all her friends on this day.
Through the rest of the party, everyone continued to enjoy cake, and other snacks. They had a special viewing of "Frozen" the sing along edition like the true acapella champions they are, and soon the night was coming to a close all having had a good time. Beca helped Sarah load up all her gifts while she said goodbye to Chad and Aubrey.
"Thank you guys again for throwing this party. It was a lot of fun." Sarah told them.
"You're welcome. It was fun planning it." Aubrey said with delight.
"Chad, you're quite the kitchen magician. You should cook at more parties."
"Well, thank you. I'm glad someone likes my cooking." Chad said motioning to baby Finn in his arms, and Aubrey laughed.
"At least he did eat eventually, and he was very happy to have cake." Aubrey said.
They all said goodnight, and Chad and Aubrey put Finn to bed. The couple was happy to have another successful party in their home, and Aubrey was glad to see Chad blend into the group so nicely. The two layed awake talking more about the party.
"Well Hon, seems like you were a big hit tonight. Dinner was certainly a success." Aubrey told Chad.
"Yeah I'm glad I could make the day nice for Sarah." Chad said. "From what you told me about her, she seems like she's herself again since losing her mother."
"Yeah, it's good to see her happy. "
Aubrey could tell her husband was thinking hard about something. He always had that look when something was weighing on him. She rolled closer to Chad trying to coax it out of him.
"Does it remind you of how you and your mom aren't so close?"
"Yeah...kinda..." Chad sighs "...I wish I knew how to fix it."
" Surely she's proud of the man you are today, Babe. Maybe she wants to put the past behind just as much as you do."
"I hope you're right." Chad smiled to Aubrey. "Anyway I appreciate your optimism."
Aubrey laughed cuddling closer to Chad. She would have to admit she could relate to rocky family relationships, and not knowing how to relate to her dad. Luckily for her, Aubrey has a great family with her husband and son, and with the Bellas as well. She hoped Chad felt the same.
The end. Thanks for reading.