A/N: Back at it! Thank you for all the support!
Also, we're getting a little OC heavy in this chapter. But, do not fear, Bechole is still heavily present!
The angst just got turned up three notches.
Big chunks of italics are flashbacks!
Chapter Two: A Mama's Love For Her Son
Micah closed his door after looking to see if anybody in his family was going to hear him before he took the phone call. "Hey Mom." He said into the phone.
"Hi my little prince," his birth mother, Sarah, said back to him.
"What's the emergency?" He asked.
"Whatever do you mean?" She asked.
"I gave you my number for emergencies only. If Beca and Chloe knew I was talking to you right now, they'd flip." He said.
"I just miss you my son." She said.
"I'm not your son anymore," he answered flatly.
"You'll always be my son." She answered. "I can't believe you don't consider me your mother."
"When I was five, you thought that leaving me alone by myself while getting drugs was a good idea." He whispered-yelled.
"You live in the past Micah Benjamin," she said. "You know I've changed."
"Have you?" He said. "Because if you really have, you'd be going through my moms right now instead of me directly."
"I want to see you," she said.
"Why?" He asked. "What could you possibly want from me?"
"Just your time." She said. "No strings attached."
"I don't believe you." He said.
"What are you doing this weekend?" She asked.
"Going out of town with my family." He emphasized on the last word.
"What about Monday after school?" She asked.
"I'm free." He said unwillingly.
"Meet me at our spot please?" She begged.
He took a deep breath, "Fine, but no more after this okay? And I'm not giving you any money." He said.
"Fine." She said. "I just want to see you anyway."
"Okay, Monday, our spot, 4 o'clock." He said with finality in his tone.
"Sounds good little prince." She said before they said their goodbyes.
Little did Micah know Taylor was listening into the conversation via the joint bathroom the brings the three kids' room together and she was not happy about what she heard.
"So when are we leaving?" Taylor asked the next morning.
"When Mama gets home from work," Chloe said.
"So around midnight?" Micah jokingly took a stab at the music producer's weird hours.
"Hey," Beca said, "in case you forgot, I'm co-owner of the company, so I can pass some of the project off to another producer if I wanted to."
Beca and Emily started the company ten years ago after both having a little experience in the industry and Emily moved out to LA from where she started in New York.
"She's the real breadwinner of this house," Chloe said coming behind Beca and kissing her cheek wrapping her arms around the woman.
"We both are baby," Beca said not wanting her wife to think that her paycheck didn't mean anything.
"Of course, you're right." Chloe said as her wife sank back into her embrace.
"It was a joke, Mama." Micah said. "I know you're in the middle of cutting a record right now."
Beca left her wife's embrace to embrace their son, "You're tense," she mentioned, "everything okay up there?" She asked pointing to his head.
"I'm just stressed because of midterms, that's all." He said. "A weekend away with the family is exactly what I need."
"Maybe you can convince Mom to give you a backrub," Beca said. "They're the best."
"I'd be happy to," Chloe said.
"Thanks Mom," he said as Beca still had him in her arms. Micah won't admit it, but this was his favorite position to be in. He knew that Beca wasn't too fond of him when he first came and he also knew that it was protectiveness for her two girls that they already had. But, through the nightmares, through the insecurity of them giving up on him, Beca was the forefront. Sure, Chloe was there, she was the physical comforter of the family, but Beca was always there with a shoulder squeeze, soft reassurances that everything will be alright.
"So let's get breakfast done, shall we?" Chloe said.
"Food," both Micah and Beca declared as they left the embrace.
Chloe and Taylor shook their heads, as the two acted like they weren't just having a mother-son moment.
"I'm not really hungry," Dani said.
"You've been saying that all week," Chloe said. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," the high school freshman said, "I'm just not really hungry."
"Eat a little of what your mom made, please?" Beca requested.
"Okay." Dani said obeying her mama's request.
The family sat down for breakfast and it was quieter than usual, both Chloe and Micah were morning people, while the three night owls were usually half asleep at breakfast, but it was quieter than usual.
"So you have midterms next week?" Taylor asked. The two sisters went to a different school than he did. He stayed there because he was thriving and he just commuted to school with Chloe.
He nodded, "All of them, in a two day period."
Chloe rubbed his shoulder, "Mama's right. You do seem tense." She said.
"I'm just stressed." He said.
"It's more than about midterms though, right?" Taylor said.
"What - what do you mean?" Micah said.
"C'mon bro," Taylor said, "your room, my room, and Dani's room is separated by a bathroom. I heard a particular phone call last night."
Micah's eyes went wide, "You were eavesdropping on my private conversation last night?" He asked, his jaw tightening.
"I did." She said. "And I'll tell Moms what I heard if you don't."
"What's going on?" Beca asked.
"Nothing," Micah muttered.
Chloe put her arm around the boy, "Micah honey?" She said her blue eyes begging him what's going on.
"Just tell them," Taylor said. "It's better that they find out from you."
"Micah," Beca said softly yet sternly.
He took a deep breath and took a sip of the coffee that was in front of him, "I've been in contact with my birth mom." He said.
"What?" Beca and Chloe said.
"I gave her my number for emergencies. I'm the only person left in the family that doesn't hate her guts." He said.
"Wh-why would you do that?" Beca asked, in a voice that asked the real question, 'are we not enough?'
"Because I still love Sarah, without her, I wouldn't be here." He said. "And she's my birth mom."
"This is a great way to start out family weekend," Chloe thought giving her wife a sympathetic look.
That evening, things were tense at the Mitchell-Beale beach house. Like really tense.
The moms made dinner in silence instead of harmonizing together. The kids did their weekend homework in the bedrooms at the beach house. Nothing was the same.
Chloe and Micah avoided each other at school, which wasn't normal. They of course saw each other in his music class, but even then they didn't make eye contact. In the car on the way to school, on the way home, and even on the way to the beach house, he put his Beats headphones on and listen to a mix he had created a few nights before.
Chloe did come behind Beca in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around the music producer who had taken the news really hard. When the music teacher rested her chin on her wife's shoulder, the music producer asked whispering, "Are we enough for him?"
"Honey," Chloe said.
"What if we aren't enough for him? Was I too harsh when he first came to live with us?" Beca asked.
Chloe turned her wife around, "Your insecurities are getting in the way babe." She said softly.
"Why is she still in the picture?" Beca asked burying her face into her wife's shoulder.
"I don't know babe." She said. "I wish I had an answer for you."
"You're avoiding him too." Beca said.
"I'm just - hurt, angry, confused." Chloe said. "And I don't want to take it out on him."
"Yeah," Beca said. "What are supposed to do about dinner tonight? We can't ignore him."
"We do the usual, ask how his day was, and how he's doing." Chloe said.
"And avoid the elephant that's going to be in the room?" Beca asked as Chloe placed a gentle kiss to the music producer's neck.
"I guess." Chloe said.
"And if he brings it up?" Beca asked.
"Then we calmly discuss it." Chloe said.
"I don't do calm very well." Beca said.
"I know babe," the red head said kissing her temple. "Believe me, I know."
Dinner was a quiet affair.
Minus Beca and Chloe telling Dani she needed more food on her plate, it was a quiet dinner.
Finally Micah couldn't take it anymore, "So, you two are mad?" He asked his mothers. "At me?" He clarified.
"We're not mad honey," Chloe said.
"So the silent treatment that I've gotten all day?" He asked.
Beca gripped her fork, not looking up from her food, and began to shake, Chloe who was sitting next to her in case of this happening, started to soothingly rub and scratch her back.
"We aren't mad," Chloe said.
"Then why does it look like Mama is going to break that fork?" He asked wide-eyed.
Chloe looked over to her wife, "Baby," she whispered directly into her ear, "relax."
Beca puts her fork down and looks directly into her son's eyes and asks, "Are we not enough for you?"
"Wh-what?" He asked surprised by the question.
"Why are you in contact with Sarah?" She asked.
"She's my birth mo-" he tried.
"Not the answer I'm looking for," Beca snapped.
"Honey," Chloe said. Snapping at the one kid who probably doesn't even feel like family was never a good sign.
"What am I supposed to say?" Micah said. "I gave her my number for emergencies."
"What's the emergency this time?" Beca bit back. "Needs more money for drugs?"
"I told her that I wasn't giving her money." Micah said.
"Yeah and then she's going to give you a sob story about how she just needs a couple bucks to pay bills and give you those puppy dog eyes that you and I fall for when it comes to anybody that means anything to us." Beca argued.
"I'm not that shallow," he argued. "I'm sorry for wanting to help the woman that gave me life."
"She needs professional help." Beca said. "And I don't want you dragged into her fucked up life."
Chloe continued to scratch Beca's back, she agreed with what her wife was saying, but the hurt look on their son's face was what broke her the most.
"I can choose how much I'm in her life without help." He bit back. "At least she makes an attempt to be there."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Beca asked with her eyebrows shooting up.
"You bailed on me and Tyler Sunday on the Dodger game." He said.
"I explained the situation." Beca defended. "And you still went."
"Has it ever occurred to you that I was looking forward to going to the game with you?" Micah said. "Like I know you didn't want me at first, but at least make an effort."
The table fell silent and frozen, Micah the only one shaking in anger. All remembering that first night he came into the Mitchell-Beale home.
Beca knew that a boy was going to be sitting at her kitchen table, but she didn't expect it to look anything like what Micah Forester looked like. He was beaten up, looked scared, and obvious had huge walls up.
"Hi honey," Beca said coming in to kiss her wife.
"Hi baby." Chloe said kissing her back, pulling back to stare into her lover's eyes for a moment until reality sunk in. "Beca baby, this is Micah. Micah sweetie, this is my wife Beca."
"It's nice to meet you ma'am." Micah said sticking his hand out to shake his foster mother's hand.
Beca shook his hand and nodded her head before turning to her two daughters, "Hi loves." Beca said kissing their foreheads.
"We were waiting for you for dinner." Chloe said.
"Oh you didn't have to." Beca said. "But thank you beautiful."
Chloe dished up plates and put it in front of each person when she placed food in front of Micah he said, "Thank you, Mrs. Mitchell-Beale."
"You're welcome sweetheart," Chloe said squeezing his shoulder. "And off campus you can call me Chloe."
"Okay, Chloe," he said trying the name out on his tongue.
Beca sat directly across from the boy and stared at him skeptically, he pushed his food around his plate, she started a conversation with her family, "So how was everybody's day?" She asked.
"Good." The three other females said. Micah got a sense that she wasn't talking to him, so he kept his head down.
"You have a rugby game tomorrow right, Tay?" Beca asked.
The girl nodded, "Yup, at 5, can you make it?" Taylor asked.
"I'll make sure I will." Beca said. "How about you princess?" She said to Dani. "Soccer game on Saturday?"
"Yeah! They're letting me start too!" She said excitedly.
"Really? That's wonderful." Beca said. "How was your day beautiful?" She asked grabbing Chloe's hand from across the table.
"Good," she said smiling at her wife then Chloe made a motion with her head for her wife to talk to Micah because she knew in a small way the music producer was ignoring the boy.
Beca cleared her throat, "So uhm, Micah, do you play any sports?" The music producer asked.
Micah looked up from his plate and answered, "Football in the fall. Baseball in the spring."
"Do you have any games coming up for baseball?" Beca asked knowing that it was the end of March.
"Uh yeah," he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "tomorrow at 5."
"Oh," the couple said.
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to not having any support in the stands." He said.
"I can be there if you want," Chloe said.
"What about Taylor?" The boy asked softly. Then he looked at her, "That's your name right? I'm bad with names."
"Yeah, that's my name, and it's fine." The high school junior said. "Mom says you're the captain of the jv team, you should have some support."
"Are you sure?" He asked the girl. "She's your mom first."
"I'm positive." Taylor said.
Beca watched as the two shared a small smile and while she kept her guards up for awhile, she was glad that she and her wife could save this boy from the worst.
"It's not that I didn't want you at first," Beca said softly, "it was - I was trying to protect myself and my family from getting hurt. I was trying to prevent this."
"I'm adopted now." He said firmly. "I'm not running back to her."
"Then why aren't we enough?" Beca yelled standing up. "Why do you need Sarah? Huh?"
"I don't need her, she needs me!" He yelled back, standing up himself.
"She's just going to use you, Micah!" Beca yelled back.
"Oh, like you used me?" He countered.
"What are you talking about?" Beca asked.
"Let's go back to the fact that you didn't even want me at first." Micah said. "Why'd you agree to take me in because it made your wife happy and you're so whipped that you couldn't say no to her?"
"You know that's not true," Beca said.
"Oh, do I?" He asked.
"We wouldn't have adopted you if I was just doing it to please my wife." Beca said.
"Or did you?" Micah asked.
"Of course not," Beca said. "I've grown to love you like my own."
"Then could you act like it," he said throwing his hand out. "Could you maybe stop acting like I'm going to judge you for loving me? For holding me? You ask me if you aren't enough, sometimes - sometimes you're not. Sometimes you show me how much you love me, but Mom is the only one who physically shows me that she loves me. And I'm tired of being place in the backseat. I - I need you too sometimes."
Upon that confession he grabbed the bottle of root beer that he was drinking and all, but ran out the door to the private beach, leaving his mothers and sisters in a state of shock.
After dinner, Beca went up to the master bedroom and went into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub. She had taken a couple of shots before coming up. Her mind reeling, did Micah really think that she only allowed him into the home because it would make Chloe happy and overall her happy? Did he really think that she didn't love him?
She was buzzed and in her thoughts when she heard a small knock on the door, "Come in," she said. When the door opened, it revealed her two daughters standing there, "C'mere loves."
The girls went to their mama and curled into her, they knew that she just needed to hold somebody and with Chloe outside trying to win back Micah's heart to being apart of the family.
"Where's Mom?" The music producer asked.
"Outside with Micah." Taylor answered.
"Oh," Beca said as Dani put her head on her mother's shoulder. "What's up then?"
"We know after stuff like that you normally hold Mom," Dani said softly.
"So we thought we'd let you hold the both of us." Taylor added.
"Thanks loves," Beca said softly, kissing both of their temples.
"Is it true?" Dani asked. "Did you not want him at first?"
Beca took a deep breath, remembering that night in the bedroom. The only argument she's had with Chloe that she wish she could take back.
"Why would you bring a boy into our home without consulting me first?" Beca asked folding laundry.
"Uhh, we did talk about it, for MONTHS, this didn't just happen Beca." Chloe said.
"He's one of your students babe," Beca said. "How does your boss feel about it?"
"Michele is fine with it," Chloe said. "She's the one who suggested it since he was so comfortable with me and that you're not a man."
"It just feels weird." Beca said. "That's all."
"I know we said our family was complete with our girls, but I feel like I could really help Micah." Chloe said. "More so than I already do and I feel like you could too."
"What happens when this happens again though Chlo?" Beca asked. "Are we going to take in each of your students who've been dealt a rough hand?"
"No, of course not." Chloe said a little hurt. "You know that most of the kids who come through my classes have been dealt a rough hand."
Beca stopped what she was doing because she heard the tone in her wife's voice, "I'm sorry," she then said.
Chloe took a deep breath and said, "Micah's been dealt a really rough hand and I'm sorry that I wanted to save him. Could - could you maybe give him a chance? For me?"
Beca took her wife into her arms and said, "Of course I will my love." The music producer kissed the music teacher softly. "I love you."
"I love you too." Chloe mumbled into her wife's chest.
"I know how the foster system works," Beca started running fingers through Dani's hair. "I know we could've lost him in two seconds if things didn't work out. I didn't want to get attached."
Beca kissed Dani's head when Taylor asked, "But, now, you do love him, right?"
"More than I'll ever understand, more than he'll ever know." Beca answered immediately.
"Then why does he think you don't love him?" Dani asked.
"I've been bailing on him a lot lately." The music producer said.
"Why?" Dani asked.
"You girls have needed a little bit of my attention lately." The mother said honestly.
"Oh," both the daughters said.
"Don't feel bad loves," Beca said. "It's not your fault."
"Maybe this weekend you two should spend a lot of time together," Dani suggested.
"Yeah, just you two." Taylor agreed. "Like surf sessions, runs along the beach. Something that makes you two doing something together."
"You two really are your mom's children." Beca said kissing them both. "I love you both."
"We love you too, Mama." The girls said at the same time.
Chloe knew her son better than he knew himself sometimes, but this sudden, 'do you really love me mama?' thing caught her by surprise.
She wasn't surprised to find him sipping his bottle of root beer on a rock looking out at the ocean.
"What's your happy place?" Chloe asked him when she was rubbing his shoulders as he was studying for his first round of finals in the Mitchell-Beale household.
"The beach." He said. "The smell and sound of the ocean with wind blowing in my face, relaxes me.
"We'll have to go there after finals, we have a beach house in Orange County." Chloe said. "With a private beach and everything."
"Okay!" He said.
"The beach is my happy place too." Chloe said.
"Really?" He asked.
"Yeah, really."
Chloe sat beside him, she had brought a glass of wine out for her for this talk, she needed to feel a little numb.
"You remember how I was talking in class the other day about how I inspire Mama to produce things that she's never thought of before?" Chloe asked, she saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. "And how sometimes the little things inspire you to be extraordinary?" He nodded again. "You inspire your mama to do something extraordinary. So do I and so do you sisters." She looked from the ocean to her son to see him wiping a tear from his eyes. "She loves you. Not because saving your made me happy. Not because of me, but because of you. I know it's hard to believe sometimes. Believe me, I've been with her for over twenty years. I know how hard it can be. But, I do know she loves you so much."
"I know what it's like to not be loved." He let out after several minutes. "My mom chose drugs over me every single day after my dad died. Foster parents chose alcohol over me. I know what it's like to not be loved and sometimes that's how Mama makes me feel." He began to cry.
Chloe took the slightly-bigger-than-her teenager into her arms and onto her lap. She rocked him back and forth in order to sooth him.
"She loves you," Chloe said. "She loves you a lot more than she'll ever be able to understand, more than you'll ever know."
The mother-son pair sat there for awhile listening to the sound of the ocean finding comfort in the ocean and each other.
The next morning, Chloe found her wife and son cuddled on the balcony outside the couple's room each of the two sitting their with coffee watching the sunrise. Chloe watched the two from the bed. It warmed her heart to see her son curled into her wife. She tried not to listen to their conversation, but she was curious.
"I love you more than I'll ever understand, more than you'll ever know." Beca said.
"That's what Mom said." He said. "I love you too."
"I'm sorry that I hurt you in any way." The music producer said.
"I'm sorry for putting fear in you that I would hurt you," he mumbled.
"I know Mom promised you what she'd be for you on your adoption day, but I'm going to make a promise to you right now." Beca said.
"What's that?" Micah asked.
"I promise that I will love you unconditionally. I promise that I will be there when you need me. I promise to be a better mom. I promise that you can count on me no matter what."
"I love you Mama." He said.
"I love you too baby." She said kissing his forehead.
"Are you working Monday?" He asked.
"No, I have the day off. Why?" She asked.
"You and Mom come with me," he said. "That way if she does try anything, you two can intervene."
"Okay, I'll talk to Mom." Beca said. "Oh and Micah?"
"Yeah?" He asked.
"I always wanted a son." She said kissing his head.
Chloe smiled at how heartwarming the conversation, the music teacher looking forward to watching the relationship between the music producer and their son grow.
End of the Chapter A/N: This came to mind before I even started this story. So I hope it wasn't bad.
