"So how was your hot date?" Benji clapped a hand to Jesse's shoulder, chuckling.

Jesse laughed sarcastically, "Shut up. If you wake my kids up, I will find you and I will kill you."

Benji grinned, "Seriously dude."

"It was not a date. It was a meeting. We talked about Kara. She had a lot of concerns. It was nice and informative." Jesse walked away from Benji.

Benji followed him into the kitchen where Jesse began to make his children's lunches for the next day. "You smell like beer. If you had alcohol, it's a date."

"Don't you have anything better to do than meddle with my life?" Jesse laughed for real this time.

"Nope. Until Lena pops, my house is boring as fuck. Come on Jess. Do you think she's pretty?" Benji was making him blush, and he didn't know why. He was a man, he should not be acting like this over some meeting her just had.

He gave in, "She is very pretty. Come on Benj, she's your kids teacher too. Obviously you must have seen her. She's attractive."

"AHA! You want to bone her." Benji ducked to avoid Jesse's fist.

Jesse groaned, "Are we twelve? Go home and make sure your wife is okay."

"Fine. Fine. The kids were good. I really do hope you had a nice night. I'll call you tomorrow Jess. See you later, man." Benji began to walk towards the front door.

"Hey." Jesse called after him, "For what it's worth... I would totally fuck her."

"I KNEW IT!" Benji said as he shut the door.

"Why are you here?!" Beca jumped as she turned the light in her living room on to reveal Chloe, Aubrey, and Kai sleeping on her couch. Kai instantly began to wail.

Aubrey jumped up, "Great. You woke him up."

Beca stared at her friends, "My. House." She kicked her shoes off and walked into the living room, "No. It was not fun. There was no 'date'."

"Come on Becs. It's time to move on." Chloe whispered.

"What?" Beca spun around to face her friend, "Move on?"

"Beca..." Aubrey cut in.

Beca held her hand up, "No. Is that what you guys think? That it's time for me to 'move on'?" She crossed her arms, "You lose every-fucking-thing you have and then tell me when you're ready to 'move on'. Okay? Seriously. Get out."

Aubrey and Chloe stood up, quickly moving towards the door. They left without another word. Beca slid down onto her couch, grabbing the last family photo she had off of the table next to her. She felt tears welling in her eyes. Tonight, until now, had been the first time in two years that she went a solid chunk of time without thinking about Jay. It made her feel so strange. What was happening? She was by no means intrigued with Jesse. He was just so nice. And he was a guy. The first new guy she had met since Jay had died. The comfort of her friend's husbands had been the only men in her life.

Beca ran a finger across the picture. She missed them... a lot. Kara reminded her so much of her little Kira. She was so sweet and innocent. Sometimes, when Beca heard Kara talk, she imagined her own little girl telling the story. Beca always wondered what her kids would be like now. In school, reading, and writing.

"Okay. Pick up the crayons and markers and put them in the bin. First table ready and cleaned up gets to pack up first!" Beca called out to her classroom filled with Kindergarten children. Ten more minutes and it was Columbus Day weekend. She certainly needed a break.

Beca heard a soft knock on her classroom door and it opened up. "Hello!" Beca called to the little boy at the door.

"Brady!" Kara called out. Beca instantly recognized this as Jesse's son.

Brady waved to his little sister, "Mrs. Matthews sent me to give this note to you."

Beca opened the note from Chloe, "Thanks Brady. Hang on one second."

Becs,

We still on for tomorrow night? I have a bunch of correcting to do tonight, come chill with me. Drinks and snacks boo.

Chlo

Beca scribbled a 'sure' on a sticky note and handed it to Brady. She began tidying her room up and helping kids pack their things. "Remember! You have your math packet due Tuesday. And a spelling paper on Tuesday as well. Have a good, long weekend everyone."

The bell rang and Beca sat down behind her desk. "Mrs. M-B?" A little head poked back into her room.

"Come on in Kara." Beca called out to her.

She took a folder out of her backpack with a note, "I forgot to give you this."

"Oh thanks sweetheart. Is this from daddy?" Beca unfolded the note and looked at the neat, yet quick, writing of Jesse Swanson. She had learned his penmanship after he had began writing her notes. They met weekly now, always at the same restaurant. They talked of Kara's progress in class and ways to help her move on. They began talking about Brady, too. And soon, their chats wandered onto other topics; like friends and family.

Beca,

I know this totally goes against our 'professional' meetings, but I would love to invite you to our barbecue Sunday. Your friend Chloe is invited, she's bringing her kids by. Come. It'll be fun. Hope to see you there.

Jesse

Kara stood before her still. Beca smiled at her and pulled out another sticky note. She loopily wrote 'Of course I'll be there' with a smiley face. "Give this to daddy for me love."

"Okay. Are you gonna come Sunday Mrs. M-B?" Kara looked at her hopefully.

Beca smiled, "Yes. And when I'm at your house... you can call me Beca."