"Happy birthday, baby," the tiny brunette whispered one more time for the day before planting a loving kiss on the toddler's forehead. She had never meant for it to happen, the baby. Kalia was more or less a massive mistake (of course she could never tell her daughter that. Like, ever.) It was your typical high school knock-up story. Invited to the blowout of the year, fucked by some random stranger while wasted, and then surprise pregnancy four weeks later at the age of sixteen. At first, Beca's dad had smacked her across the face and told her to get out. But after nearly six months of sleeping at motels and on the streets, it was kind of hard for Warren Mitchell to turn away his sobbing daughter at his doorstep clutching a newborn baby.
Warren had made Beca promise a fresh start if she wanted to live with him and the stepmonster again. "Give up the music career and go to college. That's my only requirement for you to come back home. Also, I will not be a fulltime babysitter, so you can count that out if you've just returned looking for freebies. I mean it Beca, I need to really see you actually try." It has been three years since the brunette had made the promise. If it gave her daughter the best life possible, she would do anything.
After tucking in her exhausted birthday girl, Beca tiptoed her way into her room to finish packing. Warren had managed to get Beca a single dorm with enough space to occupy both her and her little girl. Perks of being a professor's kid. He had helped her bring a few necessities over to campus already, such as a crib and a massive pile of toys for Kalia. Tomorrow was the "big move." With a sigh Beca collapsed onto the bed in a heap. Yippee.
"Do I really have to do this?" Beca grumbled as the SUV pulled up to the campus near Baker Hall. College (or school for that matter) was the last thing the girl wanted to be doing when she could be focusing her time and energy into her three year old and her music. Originally the desired plan was to move out to Los Angeles with Kalia as soon as possible, but Warren had shot that idea down quicker than it could even be considered. "Yes, Beca, you remember the deal. College or the streets." The look on his face told Beca he wasn't fucking around. The brunette swung the car door open and slammed it, pulling her daughter out of her car seat as Barden Volunteers unloaded their things.
Unfortunately they had arrived just as the little toddler fell asleep. She began screaming and crying as Beca struggled to get her out of the restraining car seat, clearly not impressed she was being woken from her slumber. Beca made soft cooing noises at Kalia as she finally released her from the buckles and balanced her on her hip with one arm and proceeded to head to the hatch to retrieve her laptop. Just as she reached the back of the car, a girl with fiery red hair pulled into a sloppy ponytail threw the laptop bag over the shoulder. "Uh, no wait," Beca began as the woman looked at her with a start, clearly afraid she had done something wrong. "Sorry, I'll take the laptop though." Her Mac was the one thing the volunteers weren't allowed to touch. Except her daughter, of course.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I should have asked." Striking blue eyes met Beca's dark irises as she handed the laptop over with an apologetic smile. "It's no problem," the small brunette replied tiredly. There was no doubt in Beca's mind she looked like shit. She always did when she was tired. There were bags under her eyes, red rimmed eyelids and an overall slouchy posture. Kalia had begun squirming and crying tiredly again as Beca just stood and stared at the beautiful girl expectantly. "Oh! How rude of me. I'm Chloe." The redhead extended her hand but quickly dropped it when she realized the smaller brunette had no hands available to shake it. "Beca," she replied with a curt nod.
"Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but you seem really exhausted. If you ever need me to babysit the little one I'd be happy to do it free of charge, uh here, let me give you my number." Beca raised an eyebrow at the perky girl, actually sort of considering this offer. Not only was she more than tired, but she had this strange aching inside of her to get to know Chloe. Which was weird, considering Beca was certainly not a people person. "Oh. You don't have to do that, I mean at least not free of charge," Beca stumbled.
Not having any paper on hand, Chloe quickly thought of an alternative. The yanked the pen out of her pocket and said "hold still." The redhead began scribbling her number on Beca's arm, leaving goose bumps in its path. "There," she finished with a giggle (a giggle? Was she flirting with her?), capping the pen with the cap she was holding in between her teeth. "Call me. Really, anytime." And with that, the bubbly woman threw Beca a wink and walked off to help the next incoming student unload, leaving Beca's mouth agape at how smooth Chloe was. Hmph. Maybe I will.