Pages and pages of wedding magazines surrounded them in their little tiny corner of the airplane. Flower arrangements, bridesmaids dresses, color schemes and seating charts. Aubrey and Chloe had been busy, but they never really agreed on anything since it all required Becas opinion. There were handwritten notes about potential playlists for the reception, drawings of wedding gowns and ideas for the Bellas to be included in the wedding party. Calendars with Chloes schedule, one with Aubreys schedule and potential venues that could host such an extravagant party. All of it was here, in front of her face and yet Beca still felt like it wasn't real. When she started at Barden she had no idea that she would end up where she is now. A few hours from LA, living in a small apartment with her best friend and soon to be wife - best friends that she got from being involved in a small acapella group and a music career that was taking off just as fast as it started. Life sure had a funny way of pushing you where you needed to do. All of the wedding planning overwhelmed Beca - to be honest she hadn't thought of anything past the proposal. The younger girl was never much of a planner except for when it came to music and even then there wasn't any planning, just finding inspiration.
"So what do you think Becs?" Chloe had so much hope in her eyes, like she was looking for constant reassurance that everything was fine.
"Wow Chlo, honestly this is a little much but you and Aubrey are doing a great job. I just don't want to wear any pink." Beca nudged the redhead beside her hoping that she didn't say the wrong thing. Chloe just smiled and began to pack up all of the wedding things she had scattered across the two of them. The captain announced shortly before that they would be landing soon and then the festivities would begin. When they began their final descent to the ground Beca could tell that Chloe was getting nervous, her feet were tapping and she was twirling her ring. Beca took the nervous redheads hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"I can't wait to marry you, but first I want pie. So I hope you're ready to watch me eat one whole." That's all it took for Chloe to relax, the reassurance from the younger girl and a silly joke to make things better.
When the plane landed Beca stood up and took their backpacks down from the overhead compartments and waited for Chloe to stand up as well. She knew that her mom would be waiting at baggage claim and then it would be non-stop talking until they went to sleep. They walked out of the gate and were instantly met with the smell of coffee. It was one thing that Beca could never resist. She was addicted to coffee and Chloe was no better, they would drink coffee at every hour of the day and then compare how many cups they drank in the day. Of course Beca always won, she said that it was the color of her soul - but Chloe knew she was always joking.. She took Chloes hand and walked over to the line at the coffee cart. They both needed a pickmeup after the conversation they had on the plane. Beca still felt like she let Chloe down since she didn't seem to be interested in the wedding planning. After getting more espresso shots in her coffee than usual Beca followed Chloe past security and down to baggage claim where her mother would be waiting. She took a deep breath, caught up to Chloe and gave her a reassuring look.
"Oh my goodness! Is that my Beca Mitchell!?" Even at this age Becas mom still had the ability to embarrass her, it was ridiculous really. Becas face was already a deep shade of red as her mother ran to her, preparing herself for the crushing embrace and careful not to spill her coffee.
"Hey mom, I'm glad you're so excited to see me." Becas monotone voice and eyeroll made Chloe chuckle, the shorter girl was genuinely happy to see her mother, just overwhelmed with the affection. Beca mother finally took her death grip off of Beca and turned to Chloe who still chuckling at the view of Beca trying to be annoyed.
"Chloe dear, come here! I haven't seen you in so long!" Chloe wrapped her arms around Becas mother. Beca thought nothing of it until she caught sight of the engagement ring on the redheads finger. And of course it was on the hand that had a firm grip on a coffee cup. The younger girls eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head, like one of those stress ball animals. If her mother saw the ring they'd be having the conversation in the middle of the airport, or in the car on the way to her house, or in the driveway and Beca wanted to make sure none of those things happened. Her brain was in overdrive. How could she get the ring off of Chloes hand and make it look normal? There were no discrete ways to hide this and Chloe didn't seem to have a care in the world anymore. When the two women were done hugging Beca was already pulling their luggage over to her mother, she made Chloe pack separately so they wouldn't stir up any more speculation. Beca wasn't trying to hide the fact that she and Chloe were soon to be married, she just wasn't sure how to bring it up. Sure her dad and step-monster were thrilled, but they already knew about Chloe before Beca knew she loved her. It was just obvious, but being so far away from Becas mom made every little thing seem like a grand gesture.
"So tell me Chloe how have you be…." Beca stopped breathing when her mother's face gaped open. She knew exactly what happened. Her mother found the ring. Instead of saying anything, her mother picked up Chloes hand and examined the ring. She had a puzzled look on her face, which soon turned to pure joy. Beca was nervous and Chloe just kept smiling waiting for everyone to figure everything out.
"This is beautiful Chloe. I'm so happy for you! If only Beca would decide to do something that serious…. Does Beca approve? I think it's important that best friend accepts someone's significant other." Chloe was already chuckling and Beca wanted to crawl inside her suitcase, just to get away from this conversation.
"You know Ms. Mitchell, I'm not sure…. Becs do you approve?" Chloe could hardly keep back the smile that was creeping up on her face. She wanted to be honest with Becas mother and tell her the story about how her daughter planned a proposal with all their friends, took her to her favorite spot in the city and then asked the most important question. It was her favorite story to tell. After the proposal she told her closest friends at work and she could hardly choke back the tears as she told them. She was so in love with Beca Mitchell that it was a shock that the were actually going to be married soon. Becas mother was patiently awaiting her daughter's answer.
"Uh. Yeah, I guess. No one will ever be as cool as me though." Beca tried her best to shrug off the question but she knew that her mother would figure it out sooner rather than later. It was pretty obvious in everything the two Bellas did. They couldn't walk without being side by side, hands almost touching. They could hardly go a few hours apart without sending the 'I miss you' texts. It was obvious that these two were meant to be together.
"Is there something you need to tell me young lady?" The tone in her mother's voice went from questioning to almost giddy. She knew the real answer, it was written all over the redheads face.
Before Chloe could jump in and save the day, Beca started going into detail about the last time she was in an airport - when Chloe left. Beca was telling the story as she started to walk out of the Houston airport. She didn't want this conversation to happen in the airport - she wanted it to happen in the comfort of her mother's home. So she started from the beginning. As her mother drove Beca spoke from the backseat about how lonely she was when Chloe left, how she wanted to give up on music. Chloe had never heard these things before and was already trying to wipe away the tears coming out of her eyes. Beca proceeded to tell her mother how the Bellas came up with an idea to get the two back together because she couldn't finish Emilys album.
"I was just going day by day, being a complete asshole to everyone I talked to and I knew Emilys album wouldn't get finished or if it did - it wouldn't be correct and I didn't want to let the little one down. I guess everyone else knew what was missing." Beca looked at Chloe as she watched countless trees pass by in a small neighborhood. They were approaching one of Becas childhood homes and the younger girl could feel her shoulders relax as she continued to speak.
She told her mother how nervous she was on the plane and how she couldn't stop thinking about what Chloe would look like when she saw her for the first time in months. She spoke of the moments when she felt like she needed to run away, how her heart wasn't ready to deal with all of her emotions for the months before. She told her mother about the pep talk Aubrey had to giver her and the photos that Chloe had in her apartment. She skipped most of the details about the Bellas trying to get involved - Aubrey trying to constantly get them alone. Her favorite part of the story was describing the afternoon they spent in the recording studio. As Beca told her mother about the song he arranged Chloe turned her head just enough so that she could see the younger girl speaking. She could hardly keep the smile off her face and was talking with her heads - the one thing Beca Mitchell does when she's confident and excited. The story continued as they pulled into the driveway.
"I knew after spending the day in the studio with Chlo that I would marry her. It's stupid I know but she's the only thing that makes sense." Beca was serious and her mother could tell.
"So tell me about the engagement… I want to make sure that you did it correctly now that Chloe is apart of our family now." That's all Becas mother needed to say, both of the girls knew that she couldn't be happier.
