Jesse Swanson had not had the typical life of a thirty year old father for the last two years. Raising his two children alone had proven to be way more difficult than he expected. Plus, he had never really expected this to be his life if he had to be honest. His wife, Sarah Lewis, had always been in the picture. Sarah had been perfect. Tall, blonde, smart, loving. Those were just a few of the millions of wonderful things he could say about Sarah. After moving to LA straight out of college, Jesse met Sarah at a restaurant, waitressing. With his new job at SonicSound, producing movie scores, she had been the perfect distraction from his work. Paying her way through college to become a teacher, he had thought her dedication was incredible.
After barely six months, Jesse proposed. Sarah accepted excitedly and on their one year anniversary they were married. At twenty-three and twenty-one, life seemed to be picking up pace quickly for them. Jesse's job was incredible and they bought a house together. A cute little three bedroom house with a porch swing and a swimming pool. Sarah was so happy the day she came home to tell Jesse she was pregnant. Together, they painted a nursery in anticipation of their little one. They had a shower and all of Jesse's friends from college took him out as his last night of 'being just a normal guy'. Brady Alexander Swanson was born on the cool night of November eighteenth. He had brown hair like his dad and dark green eyes like his momma. He had been perfect.
Life as a mom proved perfect for twenty-two year old Sarah. She had finished school, but with Jesse's salary got to stay home and be a mommy. They had been ecstatic when Sarah got pregnant again quickly. Their little three bedroom house would soon be full. The perfect way for life to be. Brady was a hand full, and at eleven months he was the perfect playmate for his little sister, Kara Marissa. Sarah of course loved her name rhyming with their little girls. Brady and Kara were perfect for Jesse and Sarah.
They lived happily for two years. Birthdays were happy and Christmas's were filled with love. Dinners were made and sheets were washed. Some days were tough, others came easy. Jesse was happy as could be, and he knew Sarah was too. So when Sarah decided to go out one night, Jesse was happy to watch his three and four year old. It was what happened that night he hated more than anything.
Jesse remembered the phone call, the earth shattering phone call he had gotten at eleven-thirty that night. Sarah had gotten behind the wheel, intoxicated. She drove down the street and ran a red light, slamming into another car. A minivan. A minivan with three children and their father in it. 'Mr. Swanson, she was lucky. Life could have been bad after this.' That's what his lawyer had told him. Sarah had never been one to drink. In fact, Jesse wasn't sure she ever had more than one since Kara was born. Now, she had been killed while driving drunk. It had not been his Sarah, and he hated thinking about it now.
He remembered her funeral, and the one of the three children and their father, that he had attended. Jack, Kira, and Brody. How similar in age they had been to his own. Lives taken too soon. He refused to think of Sarah in that way. She was the love of his life, and her life had been taken too soon as well. She had never deserved any of this. He knew it was all wrong, it had been the worst thing he would ever see in his life.
Now, almost two years later, he sat in the same house he had bought with his late wife. Reading his daughter to sleep as she bounced around excitedly at the idea of going to school the next day. He smiled and kissed her forehead as she chatted and told her it was time for bed; more for him than her. He shut the light off and walked downstairs to make sure everything was ready for the busy first day of school tomorrow. On the wall in the living room he looked at the last full family photo he had. It had been taken on Kara's third birthday. Sarah held Kara, Brady was on Jesse's shoulders. They were smiling. Jesse missed being loved and loving. He sighed and turned to the kitchen. He had PB&J sandwiches to make, and they were not going to get done if he continued to sulk.
Beca Mitchell had never intended for her life to end up like this. At thirty years old, she had never expected to have so much tragedy in her life. LA was supposed to be her redemption after being stuck in college for four years. But now, she had new views on life.
After college, she moved to LA and began working at a radio station. That was where she had met Jason Benson. Jay had been just like her. Perfectly sarcastic and snarky. They hit it off immediately. He proposed and she shocked herself when she accepted. Jay knew she hated weddings, and she loved when they eloped, ridding themselves of the chore of having a wedding. She was happy.
They moved into a huge studio apartment. It was perfect, they played their music and made love until three in the morning. Nothing in her life had ever been that great. She was so happy. When she found out she was pregnant, she had thoroughly believed that all that would change. When she saw how excited Jay was, though, she saw how they would get the chance to be an awesome family. They moved into a house. It was totally different but totally perfect. They painted the room and bought furniture. Whenever they found out they were having twins, Beca almost died.
Jay said everything happened for a reason and was over the moon as they bought one more of everything. Beca threatened murder as she went into labor, but loved him again when she held her... no, their... boys. Jack Nicholas and Brody Sebastian were born on a cold and rainy Halloween. Beca had laughed and said they should have given them scarier names. Her boys were each one of their parents. Brody looking completely like Jay and Jack taking after her. She smiled every time she saw herself or Jay in one of them.
Beca and Jay loved taking the boys to work. She loved music and she loved them, so it was perfect. Often, she found that she was distracted by her little ones, and sometimes the music went onto the back burner. Beca was so happy. She had never pictured herself having a family, but having one was awesome. So, when she found out she was pregnant again, and only six months after the boys, she was happy. Yet desperately praying for a girl so that she wouldn't die from being crushed by her boys.
Kira Alyssa was beautiful and looked just like her momma. Three kids and Beca was totally completely in love with every single one of them. She loved singing songs with them and reading to them. Feeding them and bathing them. Kissing them and loving them. Everyday she woke up happy. They always made her days interesting and she would have never wished for anything else. Jay told her they would have twenty babies. She had laughed but secretly loved the idea.
They lived happily for two years, loving life. The boys learned new things every day and then taught their sister. Kira liked the dirt and bugs because of them. Beca worked on her music and loved her kids equally. She brought them to work and made them eat their veggies. She and Jay said that they would have another kid soon. Hopefully giving Kira a sister. They were the happiest family in the world, Beca was sure. Nothing could be greater than her love for her husband and children. She was totally infatuated with her entire life.
That was until that horrible day. Beca remembered it perfectly. She had always wondered why God had made her stay home from the beach that day. A headache... that's what she had said. Now she had desperately wished she had gone. 'Mrs. Benson, a drunk driver... dead on impact... so sorry.' Snippets of the conversation she had with the police officer had remained in her head. Mostly she remembered an intense numbing feeling. Like nothing else. The other driver had died... she knew that. 'No need to know her name. It will make me hate her even more.' Beca had said. She sat in the funeral, on some drug to calm her down, weeping uncontrollably. She had lost everything.
Now, nearly two years later, she sat on the couch in the house she lived in all alone. She held the last picture she had of her family. Kira's birthday, it was the perfect image. Everyone was laughing. It was the picture that made her realize she needed to help children. Tomorrow she would start her new career. A teacher, helping little kids grow into something great. She folded her legs up under her and looked across the room at her backpack that was packed and ready to go. She fell asleep on the couch that night. Knowing that walking past those rooms and sleeping in their bed would be too hard for her today.