Disclaimer: The characters of Pitch Perfect do not belong to me. However, the little one does.
A/N: Written entirely for Bramzambies, who prompted me without meaning to. Thoughts and feelings always welcome.
The sign on the door reads "no unsupervised children" in big red block capital letters and the bell gives a shrill jingle as the door is pushed open. Not all the way, there's a slight struggle, but then Chloe's arm is swinging around and she's pressing her palm flat across the sign and pushing it the rest of the way.
An excited shriek fills the store and all eyes turn as they enter. Beca is at the back, eyeliner turning her glare into an unspoken threat. A dare for the guy behind the counter - the one with the flesh tunnels and greasy hair, sunken back beady eyes that are staring at her in a way that tells her that he put up the sign - to say something to them. Just one word so she can verbally kick his ass.
Feeling the tiny tornado starting to spin, Chloe throws a knowing smile over her shoulder and the only reason that Beca stops glaring at the guy is because she catches the glimmer of brightness in her periphery. Chloe doesn't say a word, just reaches back and takes Beca's hand, lacing their fingers together. Her eyes scan the length of Chloe as she's led and she wonders if they look as polar opposite to people as she sometimes feels they are. Beca isn't exactly emo, but she's made up of snark and dark eyeliner, where Chloe is light and hope and happiness. Right from her brilliant red hair to her bright yellow shoes.
And Beca can't help but wonder what she did to end up lucky enough to have two Chloes in her life.
The one leading her through the store and the one they follow.
The bubbling, bouncing ball of excitement that they are tailing is Chloe in miniature. Everything from the red curls to the unrestrained emotion and passion she shows everything. Be it happy or sad or somewhere in between, the little girl feels it all and she feels it deeply.
"Emily." Chloe sing-songs, and their daughter turns mid-step so quickly that she almost tumbles sideways. Her tiny arms come out and she steadies herself with a giggle and a grin. And the smile is all Chloe too - a thousand watts, brighter than the sun - but her eyes? They're Beca. Deep and dark and sparkling, with a glint that's too knowing for her few years. "C'mere baby girl." And Chloe holds out her other hand, wiggling the fingers until Emily bounces over and takes hold of two of them in her small hands, swinging Chloe's arm back and forth as she grins up at her moms. Then Chloe bends her knees and crouches until she's eye to eye with the girl, taking her hand from Beca's with a lazy kind of leisure that lets their fingers brush to their tips.
Emily tugs herself forward by way of Chloe's fingers and she bumps her forehead against her mom's a little too harshly, but they both just giggle. Matching laughter that makes Beca's heart swell. Chloe's eyes dart around the room before she whispers to her daughter, excitement leaking into the words.
"Where do you want to start?" And Emily is bouncing on the balls of her feet now, practically vibrating with energy and excitement, and her dark wide eyes go to the walls, find the guitars, and then she's off. With a squawk and a stumble, she's racing towards the display of guitars that hang in various shapes and colours. Chloe stands and reaches back for Beca's hand again before they move as one to follow her.
"That one!" Emily exclaims, though it comes out "dat one!" and makes both her parents smile. She's gesturing wildly with one hand toward an electric guitar that's bigger then she is. It has a white body with bright flames painted across it in shades of blue and Beca chuckles approvingly.
"That's my girl." Chloe smiles brightly and gives Beca's hand a squeeze before turning.
"Excuse me?" Chloe calls over to the man behind the counter, who sighs and swivels on his chair until he's looking at her. Chloe's expression never changes, but Beca's eyes narrow. "Do you have any for children?" She asks, gesturing to the guitars behind them. He gives her a withering look.
"This isn't a toy store, lady." And Beca's sure, almost positive that she feels her eye actually twitch. Chloe's brow furrows.
"We'd like to see that one," she points to the guitar with the flames, "please." But the please sounds strained and Beca recognises it for what it is; an annoyed mother trying to keep her cool. The man sighs again, loud and obnoxious, but he manages to get off his ass and walks over to them. He pulls a metal stool over from where it sits beside a mini amp and stands on it to reach the guitar. He gingerly pulls it down off of its rests and hands it to Chloe who takes it with a tight lipped smile. He stands down from his stool and leans against the wall between the instruments, folding his arms across his chest and watching with suspicion as Chloe hands the guitar to Beca.
Emily is still bouncing with barely contained excitement as Beca slips the strap over her head and plucks the strings with her fingers. At the first low twinkling of sound, Emily let's out a squeal and rushes her mom. Beca laughs and kneels enough to balance the guitar on her legs so that Emily can take a close look.
"Okay Em," she says, meeting her daughter's dark blue eyes and feeling her heart swell at the vibrancy of them. She feels a little breathless, proud. Complete. "I'm going to hold my hand here," she arranges her fingers into an E cord against the neck, "and you are going to run your grubby little finger," she grins as she says it, reaching out with her free hand and tickling Emily's tummy. The girl shrieks and bats the hand away and Beca laughs as Chloe smiles at them. "Right here." And she takes Emily's hand and extends her pointer finger for her, dragging it slowly over all six strings. Emily's eyes go wide at the sound she makes, her little mouth forming an "O", and Beca strums her finger over them once more before letting her hand go. And then Emily is strumming by herself, slow sweeps of her finger that grow bolder with each pass until she gets out one solid note and then Chloe can't help herself. She's clapping with all the enthusiasm of someone witnessing a world renowned orchestra.
"Music!" Emily cries, elongating the word until she's almost out of breath. And then she's spinning on the spot, kicking her feet out in a dance that only she knows, and then she stops. A gasp leaves her and she's off again, this time toddling over to a rack of wind instruments. She stops about a foot away, visibly catching herself before she reaches out and then looks back at her parents over her shoulder. "What's this?" Only "what dis?" And she points at one of them. Chloe's smile is so wide it practically overtakes her face as she approaches, leaving Beca to hand the guitar back to the clerk - owner, idiot, whatever - with a barely disguised glare.
"That's a flute." Chloe tells her, plucking the instrument from its spot and crouching to show the girl. "I played one of these when I was young. Got my first one when I was as old as you." This new piece of information seems to elate Emily.
"Can I hold it?" Chloe smiles and carefully places the flute into tiny, eager hands. Emily fumbles for a second but then she's grasping it and staring with her head tilted to one side.
"You blow here," Chloe points to the mouth piece, "and your fingers go here."
"I make music with my mouth?" Emily asks, utterly confused, and behind her Beca let's out a bark of laughter as she walks over and ruffles red curls. Emily tilts her head back until she's looking up at her.
"Weird right?" Beca says with a grin, then meets Chloe's eyes over their daughter's head. They share a smile, soft and knowing around the edges as they take a moment to remember. Activity fairs and empty pools, grand stages and pitch pipes. Emily nods emphatically and then hands the flute back to Chloe.
"Not your thing, huh?" Chloe asks as she places it back on the shelf.
"Hey, what about this?" The redhead turns to find Beca taking a tambourine off a spinner rack. Emily looks up at her and asks what it is. "This is a tambourine." Beca says with a flourish and the little symbols cling together noisily. Emily laughs but makes no move to take it and Chloe rolls her eyes.
"You're not doing it right." She admonishes, reaching over and snatching the instrument out of her wife's hand.
"Excuse you, rude." Beca says with a grin and below them, Emily giggles.
"No snatching!" And she tugs at Chloe's pant leg until sky blue eyes are looking down into brilliant stormy waters. "No snatching." She repeats, more quietly, and Chloe's smile is soft. She looks over at Beca who is now wearing the most outrageously over the top kicked puppy expression that Chloe has ever seen in her life.
"I'm sorry for snatching." She says, attempting to control the smile and failing as she bows her head in apology. Emily tugs her leg again.
"Sorry kiss!" She insists, with enthusiastic vehemence that, weirdly, reminds Beca a little of Aubrey. "Make better with sorry kiss!" And across from them Beca heaves a sigh that's filled with a feigned grudging acceptance.
"Those are the rules, Chlo." Emily reaches out for Beca's hand at the same time that she reaches up for Chloe's, pulling with all her might until her parents' hands connect. Then she lets them go and stares up at her parents with a grin on her face. Chloe lets out a low chuckle as Beca leans in and then pulls back, remembering at the last second that the redhead is the one who should be initiating the sorry kiss. And Chloe does, with a brief brush of their noses. Emily lets out a high pitched giggle and claps her hands together.
"Gross!" She exclaims, beaming. And Beca pulls back with a laugh, looking down at her daughter.
"You," she says, pointing a finger at the girl, "spend too much time listening to Uncle Jesse."
"He tells me stories." And their all too aware of that fact, because after his last visit Emily had in turn told them one of the stories. And Beca has never seen E.T. from beginning to end, but she's pretty sure she knows how everything pans out now. And every hummed note of the score.
"So, you gonna show us how to use that?" Beca asks after a moment, indicating the tambourine that Chloe is still holding loosely in one hand.
"Yes! Show!" And so Chloe does. She shakes it in a way that actually manages to resemble a tune - as opposed to the 'noise' Beca was apparently making - and it's all very cute and magical until she does this move with her hip and hand that has Beca feeling things she really shouldn't be feeling in public. With their child less then three feet away. When she's done she takes a bow and Emily claps before something else catches her eye and she's wondering off again. Chloe hangs the instrument back in its place and smiles when she feels arms wrap around her middle from behind. Beca's chin rests in the hollow of her shoulder and warm breath tickles Chloe's ear.
"How do you manage to make a tambourine sexy?" She murmurs, and Chloe feels a shiver slide along her spine.
"Mm, magic?" Chloe offers around a smile and Beca has no trouble taking that as her answer.
"Mama! Mama, Mama, Mama!" Usually, 'Mama' is reserved for Chloe, but the word blends together enough in Emily's excitement that they know she's calling for both of them. Chloe turns to give Beca a quick kiss on the cheek and then they're walking together in the direction of the squealing.
They find Emily, all three feet two inches of her, hovering close to a metallic blue drum set. She isn't quite touching it, but she's fidgeting with her fingers in the same way Chloe does when she's trying to control herself.
"Drums." She whispers, awestruck, and sounding a little astonished. She turns her head to look at her parents over her shoulder and Beca arches an eyebrow. She's intrigued, didn't see this one coming.
"You like those, huh?" She asks, and she really should have expected this. The girl is constantly overturning the kitchenware and arranging them in a very specific pattern, before she commences wailing on them with a wooden spoon and a plastic spatula. Emily nods with enough exuberance to shake her curls and they fly about her head like turbulent red waves. Beca lifts her leg and gently nudges her daughter's backside with the toe of her sneaker. "Go check them out." Emily giggles again, batting blindly behind her with her hands, and then she's wandering over to the kit. She touches the blue finish of the bass drum with something akin to reverence and Beca feels Chloe entwine their fingers. She glances at the other woman but Chloe's gaze is focused on their little girl. And she's smiling in a way that Beca finds indescribable.
"Spoons!" Emily cries, clumsily grabbing hold of the wooden sticks in one chubby little hand as she shuffles onto the stool.
"Those are drum sticks." Beca tells her with a laugh.
"Dum sicks!" And she wants to correct her again but can't really bring herself to. Switching so that she's holding one in each hand, Emily gives the floor tom an experimental tap, not quite tall enough to reach to reach the higher ones from her sitting position.
"Now try that one." Chloe points to the snare drum and Emily give its surface a gentle thwack. She lets out a delighted squeal at the difference in sound and then she's alternating back and forth between the two, smile so wide it shows all of her little pearly white teeth. "I think we have a winner." Chloe whispers to Beca, eyes still trained on the girl who's doing her very best impression of rocking out. When Emily hits the hi hat, the expression that crosses her face seals the deal. Her eyes light up like a Christmas tree and the sight fills her mothers with warmth.
"This the one, Em?" Beca asks and red hair sways again in a nod of affirmation. She squeezes Chloe's hand before letting go and walking closer to the drum set. Their little house in the suburbs is about to get real noisy. She grins at the prospect.
"Shall I grab you one from the back?" This from the clerk, who has wandered over to watch them with a slightly suspicious gaze. Chloe glances at him but Beca is back before she can say anything. She laughs, but it isn't her usual. There's a distinct lack of mirth and a nice helping of sarcasm in its place.
"Oh hell no." She tells him with a smile. His fades.
"Excuse me?" He asks, obviously confused, and Beca regards him with a single arched eyebrow.
"Word of warning, dude." And she isn't quite threatening but the smile she wears is tight with menace, and she can see Chloe's lips twitching at their corners in her periphery. "If you actually want to make a sale," and she lowers her voice a touch, mindful of Emily's close proximity, "try not to treat your customers like S-H-I-T." He blinks at them, red rushing up to meet his cheeks.
"Shit!" All eyes turn to Emily, who still sits at the back of the drum kit and now strains to grin over the top of it. And suddenly Chloe's hand is on Beca's arm, fingers turning white at the knuckles, and Beca looks over to find the redhead smiling.
"Did you hear that?" Beca blinks at her happiness, bewildered.
"Uh, yeah. Why are you so-" But Chloe's uncontrollable elation interrupts her.
"Our baby girl is a genius!"