Title: Just Stopping By
Author: slacker_d
Pairing/Characters: Aubrey/Beca, Beca's parents
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Beca's mom makes a surprise visit.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Word Count: ~2,160
A/N: This was requested by kiarcheo. It's definitely not what we talked about, but hopefully it's still okay.
2nd A/N: For IDF 2013
Collapsing backwards onto the bed, Beca tries to catch her breath. "Fine. You were right."
Aubrey chuckles as she lays next to Beca. "I usually am."
"But if you want me to be up this early every Saturday, then I'm gonna need a wake like that each week."
"I think I can agree to that," Aubrey replies.
Beca's cell phone rings, cutting off her retort.
"Hello?"
"Hey there, kiddo, it's your mom."
"Oh hey, mom," Beca says, suddenly feeling very exposed.
Thankfully, Aubrey seems to understand that and wraps the sheet around her. Beca smiles gratefully.
"I'm surprised you're awake this early."
"Um, yeah, me too," Beca chuckles, nervously. "So what's up?"
"Well as I'm sure you don't remember, your cousin Carrie just had her baby," her mom says.
"Mmmm."
"And I was just visiting them, and Judy, of course, since it feels like ages since I've seen any of them."
Carrie's mom, Judy is Beca's mom sister and Beca knows they don't see each other as often as they'd like.
"That's nice."
"And since I had some extra time, I thought I'd stop by and see you," her mom continues.
"Oh. Wow. Really?"
Her mom chuckles. "Try not to sound too excited, kiddo."
"No. Sorry," Beca says. "I didn't mean—"
"It's fine, Beca," her mom interjects. "I'll only be here for the day and then I'll be out of your hair."
"Um, all right."
"So why don't we have brunch?" her mom suggests. "I'm outside your dorm—"
"You're what?"
"I'm outside your dorm," her mom repeats. "I can wait while you get dressed."
"Uh, the thing is... I'm not actually in my, uh, room, right now."
"Oh really?"
Beca groans.
"Bring them with."
"What?"
"Pick a place in town," her mom says. "And I'll meet you both there, in say, a half hour?"
"Mom..."
"Beca," she warns.
"Fine," Beca huffs. "We'll meet you at Granny's Diner. Do you need the address?"
"My rental has GPS," her mom replies. "See you soon."
"Can't wait," Beca retorts, hanging up. She turns to a smirking Aubrey. "So, are you ready to meet my mom?"
…
They both shower quickly and separately because Aubrey refuses to meet Beca's mom smelling of sex.
Beca's mom is already seated and waiting when they arrive, so Beca slides into the booth first, followed by Aubrey and introductions quickly follow.
"So," Beca's mom says once the waitress has taken their orders and left them coffee. "How long have you two been together?"
"Um, a year and a half," Beca replies, hesitantly.
Her mom raises an eyebrow. "How is it that this is the first time I've heard tell of a girlfriend?"
"Sorry?" Beca offers.
"And how did you two meet?"
Grinning, Aubrey elbows Beca who haltingly begins to explain the Bellas and what it was like when Aubrey was captain. There's a look of surprise on her mom's face when Beca says that Aubrey made her captain, that Beca knows she shouldn't be insulted by, but she still kind of is. Beca then explains how Aubrey still occasionally helped out because she was around and how they unintentionally feel in love through working together and all the bickering.
"It may have been a full two year courtship," Beca finishes.
"You spent two years fighting and then started dating?"
Aubrey nods. "It was basically foreplay."
Beca groans as she lets her head fall and smack the table quietly.
"I understand," her mom replies, grinning at Beca's embarrassment. "It's how her father and I got together."
"Oh, god, my ears," Beca exclaims. "They're burning."
Aubrey rolls her eyes. "You're ridiculous."
"Hey," Beca replies. "I can never unhear that. And there are just some things a kid shouldn't know about her parents."
To Beca's annoyance, her mom is chuckling.
"And," Beca continues. "Never say the word foreplay in relation to us to my mother. Never."
"When did you become so reserved?" Aubrey asks.
"Apparently about a minute ago," Beca retorts.
Meanwhile, her mom laughs. "I'm glad my instincts were right."
"About?"
"You two are good together," her mom replies.
Beca raises an eyebrow.
"You need someone to call you on your shit," her mom replies.
Beca sighs as Aubrey laughs.
…
"It was very nice to meet you, Aubrey," Beca's mom says. "Are you sure you have to go?"
Aubrey nods. "I have some work that I need to catch up on, but I look forward to dinner."
"I'll call you when we figure out where and when," Beca tells her.
"Of course," Aubrey nods. "Have fun."
Not knowing what else to do, Beca ends up showing her mom around Barden. They walk around campus a bit before visiting the Bellas' rehearsal space, the radio station, which she's now in charge of and finally her room.
Being a senior, Beca has a single this year, so her mom sits at her desk, while Beca takes the bed.
"It's pretty sparse looking," her mom says, looking around.
"Um, yeah," Beca replies. "You know me. Not much for stuff."
"Uh huh," her mom says. "So you're basically living at Aubrey's?"
"Um..."
"Beca," her mom starts. "None of your equipment is here. None of it. That means you haven't mixed anything here for quite a while. And for you, your DJ stuff is how you mark your space."
"I guess," Beca says.
"What are you afraid of?" her mom asks. "Admitting to me that this is serious? Or to yourself?"
"I don't know," Beca shrugs. "I've never been a big sharer."
"I know," her mom nods. "I just can't believe that you haven't ever mentioned her, especially since you're basically living together."
"It never came up?"
"Please at least tell me that you talk to Aubrey about things," her mom says. "That you don't shut her out too."
Beca chuckles. "Well, we argue a lot. The truth tends to come out whether we mean to or not."
"Oh."
"And it's not like Bree is an open book," Beca continues. "So she understands."
"What constitutes a lot?" her mom asks.
"It was daily when we first started dating," Beca explains. "But that's probably because it had been our main source of interaction for so long. Now it's usually just good natured bickering."
Her mom grins.
"What?"
"I still can't believe you're in love," she replies.
"Yeah, yeah, it's a freaking miracle," Beca grumbles.
…
They end up at a causal little Italian place for dinner. Conversation flows well, though Beca and Aubrey do get into one small snipping match and one minor argument, but considering that it's been a couple of days since their last fight, Beca isn't too surprise.
Her mom just watches, amused.
"I apologize, Kelly," Aubrey says to Beca's mom. "It's just that your daughter is very frustrating."
"I understand."
Beca rolls her eyes at both of them; this is exactly what she doesn't need, her girlfriend and her mother ganging up on her.
...
At the beginning of her senior year, Beca still needed one English credit to graduate. However, the only one that fit her schedule was being taught by her father. She reluctantly signed up for it; mostly because of Aubrey's encouragement, the blonde had been hoping that it would give Beca and her dad a chance to make a real connection, which despite their physical proximity for the last three years previous, never really manifested. Meanwhile, Beca just hopes to escape unscathed.
The problem is that her dad will usually try and talk to her after class. Even after three years at Barden and two months in his class, their conversations are stilted and awkward.
"So how was your weekend?" her dad asks.
"Fine."
He sighs. "Do anything interesting?"
She shakes her head. "Nope."
"Beca."
"Mom stopped by," Beca tells him.
"Your mom just stopped by? She lives halfway across the country."
Beca just nods. "She was visiting Carrie and Judy. I guess Carrie just had a son."
"Oh."
"And then since she had some extra time, she decided to stop by Barden," Beca finishes.
"That sounds like your mother."
"Dad."
"Sorry."
"Anyway, she took me and— Uh, she took me to brunch and then I showed her around campus."
"You and who?" he asks.
"Me... and my girlfriend," Beca admits.
"Your girlfriend?"
Beca nods.
"I could be annoyed that your mother met her before me, but that was just luck on her part, right?" her dad says. "How long have you been dating? A couple months?"
Beca swallows nervously. "A few more than that."
"Did you meet her over the summer?"
"Not exactly."
"Before that then?" he presses.
"We've, uh, been dating for..." Beca pauses to count. "Almost twenty months?"
"Two years?!"
"Wow, that sounds a lot longer when you shout it in years," Beca says.
"Sarcasm is not your friend right now, young lady."
"Are you... mad at me?" Beca questions.
"You've been dating this girl—"
"Woman," Beca tells him.
"Woman, then," her dad says. "You've been dating this woman for almost two years and this is the first I'm hearing about her? How is that even possible? I realize that we're not as close as I would like, but I had hoped you'd at least feel comfort enough to share some basic details about yourself."
Beca sighs, not knowing how to respond.
"I mean, your mother makes a surprise, cross country visit and gets to meet her, but we see each other three times a week and I... nothing. Absolutely nothing."
When Beca was younger and her dad started dropping his sentences, it was usually a sign that Beca was never going to win the argument. It doesn't bode well for her current situation.
"Dad," Beca starts, but pauses, realizing she has no idea what to say. "I'm, uh, sorry. I didn't mean to... I'm sorry." God, now she's dropping her sentences. She is not like her dad.
He sighs. "I'm sure you are," he replies. "However, it doesn't change the fact that this is the situation we find ourselves in."
Beca's never felt more like a chastised eight year old; it's not encouraging her to share other personal details with her father. "I'm not sure what you expect me to say to that."
"I could say the same thing," her dad replies.
"All right," Beca says after a long awkward silence. "I'm gonna go."
He nods.
Beca expects him to say something else, but he doesn't and so Beca simply grabs her things and leaves.
...
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
"So you're just going to watch TV and pout?" Aubrey asks Beca as she joins her on the couch.
"That's the plan."
"You know you're going to tell me eventually," Aubrey says. "Why don't you just save us both the time?"
"I'm sick of being annoyed by my relationship with my dad," Beca huffs. "I was hoping to just slide through his class, finish the year, graduate and not have to worry about it anymore."
Aubrey sighs. "Dare I ask?"
"He's pissed that I didn't tell him that we're dating, that mom found out first, by accident."
"Well, I guess that's understandable. After all, she's on the other side of the country and he's a stone's throw away."
Beca rolls her eyes. "Yeah, well, he's not really helping shorten the emotional distance between us. And physical closeness is not enough of a reason to just open up to him. He left me—"
"Well, your parents got divorced," Aubrey interjects.
"And then he ran to the other side of the country to teach," Beca rants. "There are plenty of colleges out there that he could have taught at that were much closer."
"Beca..."
"And then, he didn't stay in contact," Beca continues. "He didn't call. He didn't write. He only sent birthday and Christmas cards with a fifty inside."
"That's nice..."
Beca's rant begins to lose steam. "Is it wrong that I want to just graduate, so I can get as far away from him as possible?"
Aubrey shakes her head.
"We can't go back to how it was when I was a kid, which is what he seems to want. And I tried. I did. But I just can't anymore. If he wants to go back and I want to move forward, then I don't think we'll ever be able to meet in the middle. Not when what we want is so different."
"I know, babe."
"I just don't understand what he expects from me because no matter what I do, he reacts badly," Beca finishes.
"I don't think he knows either," Aubrey says.
"Great."
"Look," Aubrey says. "You just have to make it through the rest of the year and then you can—"
"We can."
Aubrey smiles. "We can get as far away from here as possible."
"Yeah?"
Aubrey nods.
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Thanks Bree," Beca says. "You know what? I kinda love you."
Aubrey rolls her eyes. "I love you too."