The white noise of the baby monitor crackles, then tiny cries can be heard, but the two exhausted women in the bed don't notice for several seconds. Aubrey eventually is pulled out of sleep, and somewhere in her sleep-deprived brain it registers that her son is crying. Pulling her arms from around the woman next to her, she rubs her eyes sleepily, hearing another cry from the room down the hall. The woman beside her finally stirs with a quiet groan, but Aubrey stills the movement with a gentle hand to her shoulder.
"Go back to sleep honey. I'll check on him."
Chloe nods in response, nuzzling her face deeper into her pillow, too exhausted to consider leaving their warm bed, although she knows she will have to wake up sooner rather than later. Aubrey pulls the covers back, pressing a soft kiss to Chloe's cheek before getting out of the bed. In the corner of the room, their dog Reggie lifts his head from his bed, watching as Aubrey pads across the cool hardwood floor towards the nursery.
"Stay, Reg." Aubrey whispers softly as she slips from the room. The obedient Labrador mix puts his head back down, and Aubrey continues in the direction of the tiny cries. As she makes her way down the darkened hallway, she contemplates just how tired she actually is. The word itself no longer has any meaning. Tired has taken on an entirely new definition. The past seventeen days (well, eighteen if you count the nearly twenty-four hours that Chloe was in labor) have been the strangest, most exhausting, most exhilarating, and most terrifying days that Aubrey Posen has ever experienced. But as she enters the nursery, still wiping the sleep from her eyes, and catches sight of her crying son she knows – knows – that the exhaustion is worth it.
August Mitchell Posen. Their son. Born exactly seventeen days ago. Five pounds, fifteen ounces. Although he was five weeks premature, he was a tiny, precious miracle that Aubrey didn't know she needed until she saw their screaming son placed onto Chloe's chest. Aubrey truthfully hadn't known what to feel about the impending birth of their child, but everything changed in the moment when they first saw their child enter the world. Something shifted, and nothing else seemed to matter now that they were responsible for a tiny human. Their tiny human.
"Shhhh August, mommy's here." Aubrey still can't get over how tiny he looks in his crib, but the angry cries intensify, and Aubrey swiftly bends down and carefully cradles him in her arms. Pressing a kiss to his tear-stained cheek, she lifts him to her chest, cradling him against her. One hand supports the back of his head, and the other pats a gentle rhythm on his diapered bum. Aubrey paces slowly around the nursery, soothing the baby, and in a few moments the baby has calmed. Once August has quieted down, Aubrey quickly and efficiently assesses the situation, trying to figure out what made him cry. Satisfied that his diaper is still dry, Aubrey sleepily blinks at the clock on the wall. 2:41am. It's only been just over an hour since his last feeding, but she knew that he would likely be wanting another meal sooner rather than later. Shifting the baby in her arms so that he is resting comfortably in the crook of her arm, Aubrey walks back to the crib, leaning down and picking up the pacifier from where it had been spat out when August started crying. As Aubrey prepares to place the pacifier in his tiny mouth, August yawns, the small movement bringing a sleepy smile to his mother's face. Aubrey bends and kisses his forehead, placing the pacifier in his mouth, sticking her index finger into the designated spot and feeling as August begins to suckle on it. She's hoping this move will distract him for a little bit and buy her some time before she must wake up a sleeping Chloe to feed him.
Aubrey enjoys a few quiet moments as he continues to suck on the pacifier, studying the little boy in her arms. It still doesn't feel real. In the past ten years, so many things had changed in Aubrey's life. She had entered a relationship with Beca and Chloe not really knowing how things would turn out. But the two women both had changed her life for the better, and even though their relationship was considered unconventional to many, it simply worked for them. Aubrey had spent the first few years in constant anxiety, second-guessing how to navigate a polyamorous relationship. She still had those moments, if she was being completely honest. You couldn't compare Beca and Chloe, they were both so different. But they both complemented Aubrey's personality in ways that were perfect. Aubrey considers herself the luckiest woman, and with August's recent birth, the elation and bliss had increased tenfold. Her strained relationship with her father had made her question her ability to be a parent, but several discussions with Beca and Chloe over the past few years as well as recent months had eventually softened her anxiety toward the idea. Aubrey ten years ago would have stress-vomited multiple times at the idea of raising a child, especially with her two lovers. But now, with her son in her arms, Aubrey knows that everything had led her to this point.
Aubrey continues to pace slowly around the nursery in a circle. August seems content now, so Aubrey takes a second to push back the drapes and peeks out into the darkness toward their driveway. Beca's car is still missing, and Aubrey sighs, somewhat sympathetically, knowing that Beca would give anything to be home with them right now. August's early appearance had interfered with Beca's work schedule in that she had some gigs lined up in the months prior to his birth. Confident that Chloe would carry to term, the women hadn't seen there being any problem with Beca performing her monthly set at a local club. They had decided she would stop performing around Chloe's thirty-eight-week mark to take a couple weeks of maternity leave before the baby arrived, but August had other plans. Chloe and Aubrey had insisted they could deal without Beca for one night, so they had sent Beca off to her gig earlier in the evening, knowing that it would be her last gig for the immediate future. There had been a flurry of text messages right before Beca had gone on to perform, checking and double-checking that all her loves were doing fine at home without her.
Letting the drape fall back to its proper place, Aubrey returns to her slow circles around the nursery. After a few more laps, it becomes clear that the baby is hungry, and that she is going to have to return to their bedroom to allow Chloe to nurse. August begins to squirm against her, his tiny face turning towards her chest, searching desperately (and adorably, Aubrey muses) for some milk as he roots against Aubrey's pajama top.
"Let's go wake up mama, huh August?" Aubrey whispers, attempting to pacify her son before he starts full-on wailing as she makes her way through the dark hallway to their bedroom. "Almost there, just another minute."
Chloe feels the bed dip, the movement stirring her awake before the sounds of her son crying register in her exhausted state. Yawning, she forces her eyes open, blinking sleepily in the still dark room as Aubrey settles beside her. Rolling onto her back, she finds Aubrey sitting cross-legged on the bed beside her, attempting to soothe their son.
"Mhmm…what time is it?" Chloe's voice is raspy with sleep.
"A little after 3am." Aubrey replies, holding out their wiggling son. "Here, I tried to get him to sleep but I think its time for another feeding."
Chloe nods, and with a tired smile on her face, sits up, scooting back gently so that she is leaning against the headboard. "C'mere Gus." Not one for modesty, especially in the company of her girlfriends, she pulls the strap of her tanktop aside and reaches for her son, easily settling him against her breast. It takes a few moments for August to stop crying, but he eventually takes the offered nipple and begins to nurse hungrily at his mother's breast. Chloe can't stop the contented sigh that escapes her body as she settles into the bed and watches in awe as their child feeds.
Aubrey shifts on the bed, moving to sit next to Chloe, and wrapping an arm around the redhead, pulls her close so that Chloe can rest her head on Aubrey's shoulder.
"No Beca yet?" Chloe yawns, watching as Aubrey's fingers delicately trace the baby's cheek. Both women are anxious for the musician to return home. Having been home since August's birth, it feels strange that Beca is missing from the late-night feeding, a newly favorite tradition that had been happening for the past couple weeks. Although they were in a state of sheer exhaustion, these middle of the night feedings were a special and emotional experience, giving the three new mothers chances to bond with their son.
"No. But the club closes at 2am, I imagine she will be home shortly." Aubrey moves her hand to the baby's head, softly running the tips of her fingers along the tiny patch of light brown hair, reveling in the softness of it. Aubrey hoped that the color would eventually lighten into an auburn like Chloe's. "I miss her. I feel bad she had to go to work." Truthfully, Aubrey is thankful for her generous amount of maternity leave, knowing that she wants to be able to spend as much time with her girlfriends and child as possible.
"Me too." Chloe replies, lifting her head from Aubrey's shoulder so that she can kiss her girlfriend's cheek. She looks back down at the baby in her arms, content to study him for the rest of eternity. Blue eyes rake over the baby's features, taking in every detail of this perfect little creature in her arms. She knows he looks like her, she's heard Beca and Aubrey talk about how he has her nose, her cheekbones, her long fingers, but it still baffles Chloe that she carried and gave birth to someone that looks like her. It had taken them close to two years from when they began to discuss having a family to decide that Chloe should be the one to carry the baby. It wasn't an easy thing to decide. There were a lot of variables and decisions that had to be made. Being pregnant was the hardest thing Chloe had ever done. But even after twenty-two hours of labor and seventeen days of the craziest exhaustion Chloe had ever experienced, Chloe knows in her soul that she would do it again in a heartbeat. August was sheer perfection, and her heart melted hundreds of times a day as she held her son in her arms or watched Beca and Aubrey with him. Chloe had never considered that a level of such unconditional love existed, but now she knows what all the fuss is about. She was made for this. Beca and Aubrey were made for this. Tears begin to burn in Chloe's eyes as she contemplates those statements. Blinking them away, she smiles when August opens his eyes and she gets a glimpse of blue eyes staring back at her. His long eyelashes flutter as his eyes close as quickly as they opened, and he lets out a quiet grunt as he continues to nurse.
"He's perfect Bree." Chloe murmurs, shifting August in her arm so that she can intertwine her fingers with Aubrey's. Closing her eyes, she relaxes into the woman beside her, enjoying the intimacy of the moments like these. The only thing that would make this moment even more perfect was the brunette that was currently making her way home in the early morning hours.
Beca finishes loading the last of her equipment into the trunk of her car and closes the door with a slam. Reaching into her pocket she pulls out her phone and keys and opens the driver's side door and climbs in. She is still riding high on the adrenaline of performing live but knows she will be crashing soon. Checking her phone before she starts the car, her heart jolts at the picture on her lock screen. The photo, taken just minutes after August was born, was of Aubrey and Beca huddled around Chloe's hospital bed, all staring in awe at the baby on Chloe's chest. One of the nurses had snapped the picture and it gave Beca all the feelings each time she saw it. Feeling a tug to be home as soon as possible so she can be with her family, Beca turns the ignition and pulls onto the road.
After a few minutes the combination of the lack of sleep, the fading adrenaline, and the gentle movement of the car have gotten to Beca, who yawns loudly as she drives through the nearly empty streets of Los Angeles towards their house. She had almost canceled the gig after Chloe had given birth to August, not wanting to be away from her family for even a handful of hours. But Aubrey and Chloe were nothing but supportive of Beca's career, knowing how much she loved those nights of mixing at the hottest nightclubs in the area. The rush of performing live never got old for Beca, feeling the energy of the crowd as they moved frenetically to the beat of the music she performed. But now that she was a new mom, she was realizing the shine was fading somewhat, and that every second spent away from her girlfriends and son were pure torture.
Her son.
God, that still felt so fucking strange to say out loud. A wry smile appears on Beca's face as she contemplates that thought. She has a son. She is a mother.
She thinks back to eighteen days ago when the three of them headed to the hospital, not understanding the gravity of the situation and how it would absolutely change their world. And Chloe, she had been a fucking rockstar, laboring for nearly a day in resolute determination. The last few hours of active labor were absolutely maddening for Beca and Aubrey, watching helplessly as Chloe labored naturally, trying to provide emotional support where they could, but not being able to take her pain away. Beca was sure that Aubrey was going to vomit at one point when a gut-wrenching scream came out of Chloe's mouth. But Beca watched with pride as Aubrey leaned forward, pushing a few sweaty strands of Chloe's hair out of her face and after pressing a kiss to Chloe's clammy cheek, nodded at Beca as if to say: "I'm okay, let's do this."
Watching Chloe labor was both mesmerizing and horrifying. Labor was fucking gnarly, a visceral, almost animalistic process that Beca had never witnessed the likes of before. But time stood still when August's cries pierced the air of that delivery room, and Beca swore her heart stopped for several seconds, bewildered at the sight of their son being placed on Chloe's chest. She remembers how she was helpless as big gasping sobs seemed to fall out of her in that moment, tears burning in her eyes as she reached out to touch August's skin for the first time, feeling his back rise and fall with each tiny cry as he took his first breaths in the outside world. Then her heart seemed to go into overdrive, her eyes darting from August, to Chloe, to Aubrey, and back to August. Beca remembers just how full her world seemed in that moment. Full of indescribable joy and love.
Beca realizes she is blinking back tears as she pulls onto the street their house is on. Chuckling at how much of an emotional mess the past few weeks have made her, she reaches up with one hand to brush the tears from her cheeks. Her heart starts to beat faster as she pulls into their driveway, knowing that in a few moments she will be able to hold her family in her arms. The garage door opens much too slowly for her liking, her fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel as it slowly raises. Beca pulls into the garage, shutting off her car and hopping out, forgoing unloading her gear until later in the day when she's more coherent. Tapping the button on the wall to close the garage door, she passes by Chloe's and Aubrey's cars and opens the door to the house as quietly as she can.
She deposits her keys in a bowl on the counter and toes off her shoes, setting them neatly on the designated mat beside the door, a side-effect of living with Aubrey Posen for the greater part of a decade. She hears paws clicking softly down the hall and she smiles when she sees Reggie slowly loping towards her with his tail wagging. She squats down, content to scratch his face and neck for a few seconds. Reggie had been a rescue from Chloe's veterinary clinic a few years ago, and his playful but gentle ways had won them all over, although honestly neither Aubrey or Beca were capable of resisting Chloe's pout when she brought him home a few years ago. Reggie had become an integral part of their lives, adjusting nicely to the addition of a human brother in the past few weeks.
Straightening up, Beca gives Reggie one last pat. "Where are they Reg?" The question is somewhat rhetorical. She knows that in all likelihood her girlfriends will be in bed, with an even higher probability that August is sleeping in his co-sleeper beside them. Aubrey had been attempting to get them to put the baby in his crib more often, citing some nonsense about teaching the baby self-soothing skills, but in the early morning hours after a few night-time feedings, the fifty or so steps to the nursery felt like running a marathon, so the women opted to use the co-sleeper more often than not. Untucking her flannel shirt, Beca starts to unbutton it as she heads down the hallway to their bedroom. The door is partially open, and Beca makes sure Reggie enters behind her before closing it and turning to assess the sight before her.
It makes her face light up in a way that has only been happening since August was born.
Aubrey is awake, but only just so, and Beca knows that this is her stubbornness coming out in full force, not wanting to sleep before Chloe is able to. Chloe's eyes are closed, but the way she is still cradling August protectively against her breast, Beca can tell that Chloe is still awake. Aubrey notices Beca coming into the room and smiles tiredly at the brunette. Tossing her flannel somewhere in the general direction of the laundry hamper, Beca also pulls off her snapback and tosses it on the bed as she leans down to kiss Aubrey's lips in greeting. Pulling back with a grin on her face, she perches herself on the edge of the bed and wraps an arm around Aubrey's thin waist.
"Hi. Sorry I'm so late." Beca says quietly, turning her head to give Aubrey another kiss. "I missed you guys." She leans across Aubrey and gives Chloe's shoulder a gentle squeeze, trying to stifle a laugh when Chloe's eyes blink sleepily as she looks over at them. When her brain finally catches up, a smile lights up Chloe's face as she realizes Beca has come home.
"Hey baby." She says with a yawn, gingerly straightening her body against the headboard. "Come snuggle. Gus misses you."
Beca grins but doesn't need to be told twice. The idea of snuggling with her son and girlfriends is literally her idea of heaven on earth. Beca gives Aubrey a quick squeeze on her hip, then moves from Aubrey's side of the bed to the foot of the bed to take off the rest of her clothes. Beca grimaces when she feels how sweaty her tanktop is but taking a shower right now would mean more time not snuggling, and she just can't have that. Hopping on one foot as she tries to pull her leg out of her skinny jeans, Beca makes it over to their dresser, where she pulls out a clean tank top and a pair of sweatpants. Pulling them on as swiftly as she can, she crawls up the bed and settles herself next to Chloe, exhaling with a loud groan as she does, feeling her body relax into the comfortable mattress. Rolling onto her side, she props her head up in her hand and watches as August sleepily finishes his late-night meal.
Beca knows she's smiling like a total nerd and can't help but reach out and touch her son, running her fingers along his back, feeling the cotton onesie under her fingertips. Her fingertips move upwards, moving to run one knuckle gently along the pale skin of his cheek. Beca's smile grows wider as she feels Chloe's lips against her forehead.
"He's pretty great, right?" Beca's eyes pull away from the baby to meet Aubrey's. Aubrey nods, and repositions herself so she is mirroring Beca's position on the other side of Chloe.
"He's the best thing that has ever happened to me." Aubrey whispers, her face showing all her emotion as she cranes her neck to kiss the top of August's head. "I can't even put into words just how much I love him."
"That might just be the sleep deprivation, babe." Beca quips, with a smirk that quickly turns into a yawn. She can feel Chloe chuckling beside her as Aubrey leans across to give Beca a gentle smack on her hip.
Chloe feels August slowing down, eventually stopping his suckling and pulling away from her breast. His breathing evens out and he looks peaceful as he sleeps in her arms. She fixes her tanktop and draws her knees up, settling the sleeping baby against them. Knowing that she can't fight sleep for much longer, she picks August back up and motions like she's handing him to Beca. Beca responds quickly, wanting to hold their son for a few moments before they all succumb to their exhaustion. She accepts the baby, pulling him against her chest and cradling him close. She can feel his tiny breaths against her skin, and it feels pretty great. Beside her, Chloe scoots down in the bed, settling on her side and then reaching back to pull Aubrey's arm so it rests across her hip.
"You did real good Chlo." Beca whispers, pressing a kiss to the crown of the baby's head.
"I know." Chloe responds with a sleepy wink, smiling as Aubrey kisses along her neck. "It was a team effort though. I couldn't have done it without you guys. I love you both so much." She links her fingers with Aubrey's, pulling their hands up so she can kiss the back of Aubrey's hand. She drops their hands back to around her waist as her eyelids flutter shut, no longer able to fight the sleep. "I'm just so happy." She murmurs. "Really fucking tired, but so happy."
Beca sees Aubrey smile at Chloe's sleepy admission, and her smile makes Beca's heart flutter. These moments with Aubrey are some of her favorite ones, where Aubrey is relaxed and completely herself with them. With a feeling of wistfulness, Beca turns and gently places August in the co-sleeper that is attached to the bed to her left. She watches for a few seconds, making sure that the baby is going to stay asleep. She leans down and kisses his forehead tenderly, then with a gentle caress along his cheek, turns to kiss both her girlfriends on their cheeks before settling on her side facing Chloe and Aubrey. She tugs on the blankets, making sure that Aubrey and Chloe are tucked in adequately before pulling them over herself. Beca closes her eyes, feeling absolutely content as sleep begins to take over. The last thought that registers in her mind before she falls asleep is that she is the luckiest woman in the world.
AN- Hey guys...this idea popped into my head the other day and I couldn't stop thinking about a Triple Treble babyfic. This is a oneshot for now, but am toying with the idea of adding to it in the future. Let me know if that's something you would be interested in.
