It was Beca's third day at Barden and life was already getting busy. She had to go to the doctors in the afternoon with her daughter, but before that she was actually considering going to audition for the Bellas, on the assumption that the bouncy redhead would be there. She was all dressed and ready to leave, but there was a slight problem of a two year old sitting on her bed in strop refusing to put her shoes on. "Come on," she urged the stubborn young girl, but she merely sat that with an adorable pout on her lips.

If she wanted to make it to auditions at all they had to leave right away, and even then she would be late. Her dad had told her about a nursery on campus, but Beca wasn't ready for that yet. She knew eventually she'd have to enrol her daughter so that she could attend her classes, but she wasn't willing to let go until it was absolutely necessary. Besides, Chloe had said that they could probably come to some arrangement if Beca was to turn up, so she wasn't particularly worried about arriving with her daughter on her hip.

Five minutes passed and Beca gave up on shoes altogether. The young girl was dressed in a burgundy dress with black tights but had some aversion to wearing her black shoes as well, so in a frustrated haste Beca picked the toddler up with one arm, shoved the tiny shoes into her bag and carried that with the other arm. Luckily the auditorium was only a five minute walk away, although the extra weight on her hip slowed things down a bit. Eventually she burst through the side door and heard a guy already mid-song.

Praying that her daughter would stay quiet at least for the duration of the song, she crept round to backstage and was met with a boy named Justin. "You're not on the list," he said looking very irritated. "No, I know… Chloe asked me to come? The girl with red hair?"
"Yes, yes I know who Chloe is. I tell you – these Bellas can't keep doing this. It is my job to run these things. Just because I can't sing doesn't mean I can't organise the auditions. They have no right to invite whoever they want! I have a system in place…"

Letting Justin continue his little rant, Beca walked past him once the guy on stage had finished his song and it sounded as though everyone was starting to pack up. She poked her head around the curtain on stage right and luckily Chloe noticed her. "Oh wait, there's one more!" she called out, and everyone resumed their seats.
"Sorry…" Beca said bashfully, and walked out on stage very aware that everyone was looking at her daughter, wondering what the story was.

"I couldn't leave her behind…" she began, but Chloe was already up on her feet and jumping up onto the stage. "That's okay, I can take her for a minute," the redhead said, and Beca was surprised at how willingly the toddler went with her. She passed Chloe her bag as well which contained various toys in case the little one started to get restless, and smiled thankfully as she stood centre stage. "I didn't know I had to prepare that song," Beca said, conscious that she really wasn't giving off the best impression.

"That's okay, sing anything you want," Chloe said distractedly whilst placing the toddler on her knee, and the blonde sitting next to her looked a little put out of place. "May I?" Beca asked as she leant forwards and took a cup from their table. She sat on the floor with her legs crossed and smiled, knowing that her daughter would like this. She began to clap with the cup and create a beat with it and started singing, and she glanced up quickly to see the glee on her daughters face as she watched her move the cup around.

When she had finished, she looked up anxiously at everyone in the auditorium, searching their faces for any hope of approval. "That was amazing," Chloe said with a wide smile on her face. "Yes… We'll be in touch," the blonde next to her muttered with an expression that was hard to read. Everyone began filing out of the theatre but Chloe lingered behind, waiting to reunite mother and daughter. She walked to the stage and sat up on the edge of it with the little girl next to her, and Beca came to join them.

As she let her legs hang down the front of the stage next to her daughter, Beca noticed that she was now somehow wearing her shoes. "You got her to put her shoes on?" she asked the redhead, who then smiled and nodded. "I grew up with three younger siblings and my mum wasn't always well enough to look after them, so I'm pretty good with kids." Beca looked in awe at the other girl then down at her daughter, who was fascinated with a butterfly hairclip in her hands. "What's her name?" Chloe asked.

"Darcey," Beca said proudly, but she watched her daughter intently hoping that she would look up at the sound of her name. She didn't. "You okay?" Chloe asked, noticing the sad smile that had appeared on the brunette's face. "I'm fine," Beca replied unconvincingly. "I'm just worried that's all… I'm taking her to the doctors this afternoon, I think there's something up with her hearing."
"It could just be an infection? I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."
"That's what I'm hoping, but it seems like there's something else. I don't know… I guess I'll find out soon enough."

The two of them sat there for a while watching the young girl play with the butterfly, but eventually Beca said, "I should probably go. I want to get some lunch before we go to the doctors so that she isn't too grumpy."
"That makes sense. Here, take my number so you can text me how you get on at the doctors. And if you ever need a babysitter or even a coffee, then I can always make time for you."
"Thanks," Beca replied as Chloe slid off the stage and waved goodbye. There was something about the way she said "I can always make time for you" that made Beca smile. No one had really flirted with her in a while so she wasn't too sure what it felt like, but this seemed pretty close.

"Come on then minx, let's get some food," she said as she picked up her daughter, wondering if her voice was actually being heard.