"Laurie. I can't believe it. A baby girl. She's beautiful."

"She really is. Gah! I can't believe we finally have a kid!" Laurie's excitement was nearly tangible to Beca. Her unfailing happiness was one of the things that had drawn Beca to Laurie. Beca was never an overly happy person, her childhood home had made sure of that, and she had always preferred to live within the world of music. Music was easy. All your feelings and thoughts could be represented perfectly in the melodies and lyrics. Your life could change with one perfect bassline. She had always felt this way, especially when she needed something to drown out her parents loud, angry words in the next room.

Laurie was the one person who could draw Beca out of her own little world. Out of her mixes and out of her head. Laurie was the kind of person that surrounded you and took you completely hostage. Her happiness was infectious, soon Beca couldn't help but catch that disease. It was unpleasant at first, but Beca grew to love being loved. Beca loved Laurie. And now Beca had a little Laurie to love even more.

Beca never thought kids were in her future. She was scared of messing up any family she tried to start. Beca didn't want to be anything like her. At first she resisted Laurie's prodding. There was no way Beca Mitchell would be a mother. Laurie had known this when they had gotten married, and she was ok with it. She really was, but seeing other families around the park, in restaurants, and on T.V., the more insistent she got with Beca. In the end it wasn't the constant discussions, and sometimes arguments, she had with Laurie, the pictures of children all over their house, nor even the informative powerpoint Laurie had spent days on. It was the wanting loving look in Laurie's eyes whenever she would talk about having children of their own. Besides Beca could never say no to Laurie for long. Beca loved Laurie more than anything. The thought of kids might have scared her, but Laurie's love was louder. There was a promise made. Give Beca two years to rise up in the music production company that had just hired her. When they had a little more money saved up Beca promised that they would start a family.

They spent weeks picking the perfect donor for their child. When Laurie finally got pregnant Beca was surprised at herself. She was becoming happier and happier as the weeks went by, and it wasn't just Laurie infecting Beca. It was Beca's own happiness. The tracks she produced got more notice from the public. Within Laurie's first month of pregnancy one of Beca's songs made it to number three on Billboard's Top 100.

Beca got a call from the hospital. Laurie had felt ill that day. When she went home she had found an immense amount of bleeding when she used to restroom. Laurie had called an ambulance, and when she got to the hospital the doctor told her she had had a miscarriage. Beca rushed to the hospital and found Laurie laying in bed. There were no tears, not yet. There were just hugs and glances to things Beca would never be able to see. Beca gathered Laurie and took her home. For days Laurie just sat and rocked in the chair they had put in the nursery only days earlier. At night beca held Laurie as tight as she could. Eventually the hurt faded away, but so did the dreams of starting a family.

Beca's music continued to grow in popularity, and Laurie found her happiness in her elementary school classroom. Life was knitting itself back together.

It was three years later when Laurie woke Beca up in the middle of the night and said five simple words.

"I want to try again."

Beca froze. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know if she could take the heartache again. But Beca was never able to say no to Laurie for long. Beca loved Laurie.

The pregnancy went perfectly, and nine months later Beca was in a maternity ward in L.A. looking down at the most beautiful baby girl she had ever seen.

"I love you, Laurie."

Laurie looked up at Beca with the brightest ocean blue eyes in the world and smiled. Her whole face lit up. Beca never got tired of that.

"I love you, Beca Mitchell."

Five Years Later

"So what do you think, Sam? Music producing in your future?

"Nope. I want to be a teacher like mommy. And maybe a mailwoman."

Beca chuckled quietly to herself. She had a great day with Sam at work, and the new band she was working with had loved her. Sam had drawn them a picture of what they looked like in the recording booth, and they had insisted on using it as their new album cover. Maybe some form of art was in Sam's future. As Beca and Sam got closer to their home they both noticed the flashing blue lights. It must be another break-in. There had been a lot of those in their neighborhood recently. The break-in's had also been a sore spot between Beca and Laurie. Beca wanted to move out as soon as possible, but Laurie didn't want to leave the house that their family had started in.

"What's that Mama?"

"It's just the police. Come on, let's hurry and get Mommy this soup. It'll definitely make her feel better when she knows you picked it out just for her."

As they drew closer to their house it became more obvious that the flashing lights were gathered around their house. Pulling into the driveway, Beca hopped out of her truck and quickly grabbed Sam and held her close. An officer approached her and asked if this was her house.

"Yes I live here. What happened? Where's Laurie?"

"Ma'am will you follow me please?"

"I will if you tell me what's going on."

It was then that Beca noticed the ambulances scattered between the police cars.

"If you will just follow me please. I suggest you leave your daughter with this officer here."

Another officer bounded over towards Beca and Sam.

"My name is Jesse. I'd be happy to stay here with your daughter."

"Just tell me what the hell is going on!"

Beca was growing more and more uneasy as she stood there. She was clinging to Sam. She could feel her panic move from the tip of her toes and bubble up through her blood.

"I highly suggest you leave your daughter with Jesse and follow me," the first officer said. The urgent tone did not go unnoticed by Beca, and she finally started to lower Sam to the ground. Beca took two steps toward the house and a gurney was wheeled out. A gurney with a white sheet covering. A white sheet with spots of blood on it. Spots of blood that had to come from some source. A source that had to be under the white sheet. Where was Laurie? These details came in small increments. There was only so much she could take. She took jagged steps towards the gurney, and before she could reach it it hit a bump. A hand fell from underneath the sheet. Beca collapsed. Grabbed the hand as the gurney went by.

"Mama? Mama, where's Mommy? What happened? Where's Mommy?"

Sam. Sam needed her. But everything was moving too slow. Everything was stopping. She couldn't. Move. Everything was turning into white noise. Everything was falling down around Beca. Everything but the hand. The hand she was desperately clinging to.

-XXX-

The police report said there was a break-in. The intruder ransacked the living room before moving to the bedroom. The owner of the house was laying in bed and did not notice the intruder enter. The intruder used a bookend and hit the owner of the house three times on the head with the bookend. The police were called by a neighbor at 7:00 p.m. when the sound of a door breaking was heard. The police arrived at 7:08 p.m. The intruder was not caught. The owner's time of death was 7:06.

The police report did not include the days Beca spent rocking in the chair that Laurie had rocked in so many years ago. It did not include the meals and help that Jesse brought by for weeks after the break-in. It did not include the days that Sam stood at the door of her moms' room and watched the loss of her other mother. It did not include what happened after.