The alarm on the phone rang for a full twenty seconds before Chloe reached enough consciousness to poke one hand out from under the blanket and flail blindly for a few seconds before locating the offending device. Cracking open one eye Chloe managed to silence the alarm and placed her phone back on the bedside table. Sighing heavily, she closed her eye and rolled onto her back, not wanting to start the day just yet. Pushing a few stray curls out of her face, she opened both eyes this time and glanced to her left, where Jack was still sleeping soundly. Chloe smiled sleepily in spite of herself, mentally congratulating herself on how handsome her sleeping son was. The four- year-old looked like he was in the middle of a pretty great dream, so Chloe rolled onto her side and gave him a barely-there kiss on the crown of his head before pulling back the covers and swinging her body upright to sit on the edge of the bed. Chloe sat there for a moment while she swept her auburn hair into a messy bun, then stood to stretch her lithe body for a few minutes. She wasn't quite back to her pre-baby body but had recently resumed her morning jogs and was feeling much more like herself. Chloe's bare feet moved across the hardwood floor and she peeked out the window to make sure that her wife had indeed made it home at some point. The Range Rover was in the driveway so even though her wife was missing in action from their room, she knew that she was somewhere in the sprawling house. Chloe stooped down to pull a pair of sweatpants out of a drawer and slid them up and over her hips so they sat low on her waist. Satisfied that Jack was still sleeping soundly, Chloe pocketed her phone, taking note of what time it was. They needed to get the show on the road in order to leave for the airport on time.
The redhead opened the door to the hallway and stepped out into the hall, pausing for a minute to make sure the rest of the house was quiet. When she confirmed this, Chloe padded quietly down the stairs into the kitchen to make a much-needed pot of coffee. As Chloe pulled the coffee supplies from the cabinets, she glanced over to the couch, surprised to find it unoccupied. Usually that's where Beca ended up crashing after late nights and early mornings at the studio. However, a visual scan of the room confirmed that Beca's keys were sitting on a small table, and her shoes and messenger bag were there as well. With a yawn, Chloe finished loading the coffee and water into the expensive commercial coffee maker and pressed the button to begin the caffeination process. Pulling a couple of travel mugs down from the cabinet, Chloe placed them next to the coffee maker and went to go in search of her absentee wife.
As Chloe padded back up the stairs, she couldn't help but think of how little she had seen of Beca the past several weeks. Sure, she was used to taking care of things on the home front for the most part as Beca struggled to meet deadlines for the record label, but lately it seems as though they were two ships passing in the night. She couldn't fault her wife for having a successful career, but Chloe was definitely looking forward to ten days away from Beca's work so that they could focus on each other for a change. Chloe was about to head to the third-floor home office to see if Beca had ended up crashing up there, when she stopped to peer into the nursery to make sure the baby wasn't awake yet. He usually was awake and voicing his displeasure at waiting on Chloe to nurse him, so when Chloe turned the doorknob and opened the door, she was surprised to find her wife and son curled up in the oversized chair.
Chloe leaned against the doorway for a few minutes, her heart beating fiercely in her chest as she watched the loves of her life dozing away. The little family was still getting used to the sleep deprivation that came with having a new baby, but the good moments outweighed the tough ones for sure. Beca's arm was wrapped securely around Alex with both their faces tilted the same way, and Chloe studied her wife and son's features, marveling at the similarities between the two. After a few quiet moments during which Chloe pondered how she could possibly be this lucky, Alex seemed to sense Chloe's presence in the room, and started to squirm in Beca's arms. Chloe quickly closed the distance and sat down on the ottoman beside Beca's legs and leaning over, reached to take the baby from her wife.
Beca's grip on the baby tightened slightly and she opened her eyes to glare at her wife in mock-irritation.
"Hey gorgeous. Go find your own baby." Beca's voice was raspy with sleep, and she shut her eyes once again as she pressed a kiss to Alex's forehead. Beca pulled back and leaned her head back against the chair once more, pretending to fall back asleep.
Chloe laughed in spite of her wife's antics, leaning forward to first kiss Alex's cheek, then leaning forward further, placed a quick peck on her wife's lips.
"Last time I checked he was my baby. Quit being a baby hog." Chloe pecked her wife's lips a second time, and then ran a hand over the top of her son's fuzzy head. "Besides, unless your body magically decided to start producing breast milk in the past few hours, he's not gonna have much interest in you in a few minutes."
Chloe grinned as Beca pouted comically, her grin turning into a loving smile as Beca opened her eyes to look at her. Even as Beca blinked sleepily at her, Chloe couldn't help but appreciate how absolutely stunning her wife was as the early morning light came through the window, illuminating Beca's pale skin and making her dark blue eyes sparkle. Alex chose that moment to let out an indignant squawk, indicating that he was now ready for his morning feeding. Beca pouted even more fiercely, making Chloe grin again as she received the baby from her wife. Chloe settled the baby in her arms and pushed her shirt to the side so Alex could nurse.
"Betrayed by my boobs dude." Beca laughed and shook her head. "Is it wrong to be jealous right now?"
Chloe laughed, her laugh echoing through the nursery. "Hey if you're so keen to nurse the kid, how about you have the next one?"
Beca's eyes widened comically and she sat up fully from the chair. "How about let's make it to a year with Alex first before you put your evil plan in place to knock me up, Chlo." Beca rolled her neck, reaching up to rub a sore area for a few seconds. Sleeping on couches and chairs for the past few nights was doing a number on her body. "Don't get me wrong, I love our little dudes, but like, I'm definitely not in any rush to push a baby out of my tiny body."
Standing up, Beca draped the blanket across Chloe's shoulders then shifts so she is sitting slightly behind Chloe on the oversized ottoman, craning her neck to rest her chin on the redhead's shoulder. Beca lets her lips find the juncture where Chloe's neck meets her shoulder and allows them to linger there for a few seconds, watching in appreciation as goosebumps break out on Chloe's skin. Beca leaves another kiss there before wrapping her arms around Chloe's body so they are both cradling the baby boy.
"God…he really is fucking cute, isn't he?" Chloe can hear the pride in Beca's voice. "He clearly takes after his mom."
Chloe rolls her eyes but finds herself smiling at her wife's comments, then drops the smile and lays on the faux anger. "Rebecca. Beale. Mitchell. How many times have I told you not to drop the f-bomb in front of our children?"
Chloe can feel Beca trembling with silent laughter behind her.
"Sorry babe. Old habits die hard."
It is quiet for a few moments while both mothers watch the baby suckle. One of his tiny hands comes up to rest between Chloe's breasts and his eyes open sleepily and blink a few times. Chloe adjusts the baby so he's primarily in her left arm and brings her free hand up to grab Alex's tiny hand. The baby clutches onto her index finger. She runs her thumb across his tiny knuckles. Sighing, she closes her eyes and allows herself to lean back into Beca's embrace.
"Chlo?"
Chloe can feel Beca's lips along her neck again. She can sense Beca's uneasiness through the silence.
"Mmhm?"
It is quiet for a few beats while Beca kisses her way up to Chloe's ear. Beca tucks an errant curl that has escaped from her wife's messy bun behind her ear, then leaves a kiss there.
"I'm sorry I've been working so much." Beca says quietly. "The execs are putting a lot of pressure on Charlie and me to produce at a high level and it's just really…"
Chloe turns her head and cuts off Beca's rambling apology with a kiss to the corner of Beca's mouth. She appreciates that Beca is trying to make amends for her absences of late, but a glance to the vintage clock on the wall tells her now is not the time and the place to hash this out.
"It's fine Beca." Chloe shifts the baby to her other breast and makes sure he latches on. "We can talk later."
Beca is slightly put off by Chloe's insistence to table the topic for now, but she glances down at her son with a smile and shakes it off. They sit quietly for a few more minutes while Alex nurses hungrily.
"We need to get a move on Beca. Jack is still sleeping and he needs a bath and we need to be in the car in an hour and a half and on the way to LAX for our flight. Aubrey would kill us if we miss our flight. You know she sent us all individual itineraries customized down to fifteen minutes intervals? In military time of course…" Chloe muses. She then feels the loss of contact from behind her as Beca moves to stand up. "Plus, this lil guy needs to be burped and changed…" Chloe's voice trails off as the smaller woman moves towards the door.
"So…divide and conquer then?" Beca questions, as she leans against the doorframe.
"Yep. Sounds good." Chloe confirms. "I started coffee downstairs too, by the way."
Beca gives her a smile and then takes a couple steps back into the room to give Chloe a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Ahh yes…sweet caffeine." Beca grins, pumping her fist. "I knew there was a reason I married ya Beale." With a sassy glance back at her wife Beca exits the room and heads down the hallway towards the master bedroom.
"It's Mitchell now babe!" Chloe calls after her. "Last time I checked, anyway."
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Chloe." Comes Beca's grumpy reply from down the hall. "Let's get a move on then Mrs. Mitchell. We've got a Bellas reunion to get to!"
Chloe laughs and looks down to find Alex grinning up at her.
"Oh great…you think your mom is funny, huh?" Chloe shakes her head in disbelief. "We can't let her know that, she'll get a big head." Chloe adjusts her shirt and stands with the infant. "Okay Baby Mitchell, let's go to Hawaii, huh?"
Alex coos and waves his tiny fists and Chloe can't help but laugh at the little guy. "Don't get so excited Alex, you haven't met your crazy aunts. We were a hot ticket back in the day."
Chloe smiles at the thought of the Bellas being together once again and being able to catch up after a number of years, then starts moving toward the changing table to get the baby ready for the day. The Mitchells have a plane to catch.
