Just a little something. Happy Holidays!
Beca knew this was a horrible idea. She hated taking pictures with 'Santa' as a child, and had every reason to believe that her child was going to hate it just as much. At least, if the current wailing and sopping cheeks were anything to go by.
"Babe, I told you she was going to hate it, could you have at least dressed her in something less itchy?" Beca whines, bouncing a fourteen month old Emily on her hip as the three traverse through the mall, full of bustling crowds of people trying to buy last minute gifts and take last minute pictures with Santa for last minute Christmas cards - much like they were doing now. Emily wore an adorable red, white, and grey plaid dress, but the rough fabric had been frustrating Emily all afternoon. The pigtails at either side of her head do make up for some of the agitated movements and groans though – just a little. "I mean, do we really need this picture?" (Of course they need the picture), "We could be at home baking cookies and wrapping present, with a baby that's not crying right now."
The redhead one step ahead of her turns around with a disproving glare, "Gee, thanks for prepping our daughter for pictures while I sat and watched The 100 the entire time, my love!" She mocks in a voice higher than her typical one, then continues in her own cheery voice: "Oh, yeah, sure thing Beca, it's no problem at all. My pleasure entirely."
"Whoa, okay," the brunette attempts to defend herself, "In what world is my voice that high pitched?" They finally reach the ridiculously long line and Beca's face twists into a grimace. It reminds her of the one time she went to Six Flags with her high school Debate team, except this time, there were no fun, lightning quick thrill rides at the end. And no, she was not on the team voluntarily. It was the start of her father's famous ultimatum strategy: she joins an extracurricular at school, he buys her a new laptop with more efficient mixing capabilities. "We both know that if I had tried to get her ready, her pigtails would be lopsided and there's a ninety-percent chance that her dress would be on backwards. And that show is awesome!" She points an accusatory finger. "Don't hate on it just because it lacks rainbows and unicorns."
A tiny hand yanks sharply at Beca's hair with a miserable wail, earning a snort from Chloe.
"See? She agrees with me." Chloe smirks, her eyes gleaming with exuberance. "Don't you, Em?"
Beca gapes, "No ma'am!" She says sternly to their daughter, then turns to Chloe, "We do not encourage that behavior, my love!"
"Oh, come here, baby girl," Chloe coos and reaches out for Emily, who's now flailing and nearly knocking Beca in the face with her fierce little hands. Chloe easily takes her from Beca's hip and holds her close, swaying to and fro. "All it takes is a little love, baby." She winks as Emily calms down and settles, her head resting on Chloe's shoulder with a pout.
Beca matches Emily's expression with a frown of her own, directed towards the redhead. "How do you do that? Em, why don't you do that with me?" The little girl flexes her hands and then holds it into a fist against her cheek. With a yawn, she buries her face further into Chloe's neck. If it weren't so adorable, Beca would be a little more upset at the apparent favoritism going on at the moment. Chloe leans her cheek on gently against Emily's head and offers a sweet, loving smile to the brunette. Beca immediately pulls out her phone and raises it to take a quick picture. She'd take a picture like that over a Santa picture any day.
"She loves you." Beca smiles one of those smiles that actually reaches her eyes and makes them sparkle, like moonlight striking a lake. She tucks her phone back in her jacket pocket and tucks her hair behind her ears. Beca might hate the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but with Chloe's bright eyed wonder and excitement towards it all, it's much easier for Beca to deal with it – to want to deal with it. The way the redhead beams at each newly decorated Christmas tree she sees, or sings along with each carol she hears, or gazes in awe at the houses on their street adorned with strings of lights and wreaths: her reactions always make Beca swell with love and joy. Add Emily to the picture, with her reactions towards everything she's seeing for the very first time, Beca's sure that one day she's going to explode with all the happy feelings that warm her heart. Even if they were currently pairing up to deplete her patience reserve.
Chloe sways towards her and leans to press a kiss to her forehead without disturbing the now sleeping beast in her arms. "And we both love you."
Once again: how has her heart not exploded yet? She'll never know.
Beca doesn't fight the smile and raises herself slightly on her toes to kiss Chloe on the lips, lingering for a moment.
"NEXT!"
They're brought out of their peaceful world and back into the loud, stressful real one. A very unhappy looking woman dressed as an elf calls them up to finally have their picture taken. It's partly a blessing, but mostly a curse, really. They can finally get what they came for done, but to do so, they're going to have to wake sleeping beauty. Beca looks to Chloe with wide eyes.
"What do we do? She, like…just fell asleep! Oh my God, she's gonna get her revenge, I know it, Chloe. We're never going to get a full night's rest ever again."
"Shh, shh, shh, Bec, baby." Chloe starts and reaches out to smooth the brunette's hair down. "It's okay. She'll be fine. Calm down, and let's go. Chop-chop." She begins to walk towards the impatient man at the counter, Beca following hesitantly behind. Chloe makes arrangements and nods for Beca to make the payment, then they are led to the man in the red suit.
Chloe peppers kisses to Emily's head and whispers softly for her to wake up. She does – painstakingly – and rubs her tiny hands against her eyes with protesting whimpers. She successfully manages to hand their daughter to Santa without too much of a fuss, while Beca paces behind her, mumbling about how this is cruel and unusual punishment, and that they really don't need this picture anyway.
All goes smoothly up until the man goes, "Ho ho ho!" much louder than necessary, and Emily jerks in surprise and fright, quickly falling into a frantic fit of whines and other displeased baby noises, looking to her parents with a wide eyed gaze of betrayal.
"Chloe!" Beca whimpers, raking her hands through her hair in a nervous panic, "Look at her! This isn't cool!" Chloe gnaws on the side of her thumb anxiously. Her watery eyes don't go unnoticed. "Chloeeee!"
"Go." The redhead requests, gesturing for Beca to move. Beca just stares at her for a moment until the redhead snaps, "Go! Go Becs!"
The brunette abides and hurries over to the pair sitting in the chair, "Hey, Em. It's okay, mommy is right here, okay?" She wears a bright smile in hopes Emily will follow her lead. She begins to settle, so Beca begins to back away slowly. Yet, her child is not having any of it, and resumes her earlier fit. A second passes where Beca stutters in her steps, wondering if she should just tell the dude to take the picture, or if she should run up and snatch her child from Santa's arms and race to the car.
Instead, she decidedly walks over to Emily and kneels down beside the chair, then reaches her hand out to hold Emily's. The little one quiets her fussing, and the second it happens Beca nods to Chloe, and Chloe quickly tells the photographer to take the picture. The camera snaps with a flash, and Beca quickly pulls her child into her arms, offers a sheepish smile to Santa Claus, who nods back to her like it's no big deal. It really isn't, Beca realizes, because he deals with this all day long every day he reports for Santa duty.
Chloe takes the printed pictures, tucks them away in her purse with a "Thank you!" and follows behind her two girls as they storm towards the exit, forcing their way through crowds: they have a baby they need to make happy, stat. They have Emily strapped safely into her car seat in record time, and Chloe has to chide Beca to slow down at least four times on the ride home.
They finally get Emily out of her uncomfortable dress and into a pair of soft stretchy clothes, her shirt designed with tiny red and white candy canes. Chloe sits Emily down in the middle of the living room where she babbles loudly, banging toys and stuffed animals together excitedly while the redhead goes through the pictures on the couch. Beca changes herself into some sweatpants as well and busies herself in the kitchen. She puts fills a pot with water and places stove to boil for spaghetti, and chops a banana into chunks for Emily to snack on.
She hears Chloe sound out happily right before she comes bounding into the kitchen and nearly topples Beca over, "Aww, Beca, look!" She whips something in front of Beca's face. Beca examines it to see an image of Emily smiling as she sits atop Santa's lap. She's gazing down to her right with a wide grin, where Beca can be seen crouching and reaching out to hold Emily's hand in reassurance.
"Isn't it the cutest?!" She drawls adoringly, drawing out each syllable with an airy tone. "See?" She continues, replacing the closeness of the photo with her own face. "I told you she loves you. We love you." Chloe whispers against Beca's lips before sealing the statement with a kiss.