A/N: For Bechloe week, Day 4: Family.

Chapter Rating: T


"See I ain't try to hurt you, baby, no, no, no, I just wanna work you, baby. Yeah, yeah," Chloe sings, dancing as best as she can while still driving (relatively) safely.

Groaning, Beca sinks deeper into the passenger seat, "Please, no more Bruno."

"It's a long drive, I needs my jams," the redhead pleads, pouting adorably in a way she knows her girlfriend can't refuse.

Chloe's a generally compassionate person (unless it involves TV shows or music), so Beca appeals to her softer side. "It's Christmas br-"

"Due to copyright reasons, we're gonna have to call it Winter break, honey!"

"What? Who copyrighted- no, that doesn't matter. Why do you think this is the appropriate time to break out your 70s announcer voice?"

With a mischievous peck on her cheek, Chloe's voice drops low, "Oh, I'm sorry, is that reserved for the bedroom only?"

"Seriously?" Beca glares, and the redhead kisses her cheek again (misaiming and landing on her jaw). "When have you ever used that voice during se-"

"Nope," Chloe shouts over her. "Can't use that word. We're in the presence of minors."

Looking around, Beca shakes her head, "No. No, we're not. It is just us. On the road. To hell."

Chloe's hand closes over hers reassuringly and says (more sincerely than before), "I'm just trying to lighten the mood. It's the holidays, Beca! We should be able to enjoy this."

"I hate these kinds of things, you know I do, I hate this, really."

Nodding, she takes the next exit, "I know, honey, but I'll be here with you this time and-"

"God, but what if Sheila says something? I haven't told them about…us." Beca looks away guiltily.

"You are allowed to come out on your own time," the redhead nods supportively, the subject already discussed many times before. "I know it's stressful, but I'm looking forward to meeting your dad and then your mom and- and I'm excited for when you meet my family."

With a wince, Beca asks, "They won't attack me or anything, right?"

Chloe chuckles, fiddling with the GPS, "Come on, the worst they'll do is attack you with hugs."

"Pity I can't say the same for my step-fiends."

"Beca!" The exclamation is emphasized with a slap to her knee.

"What? It was clever, wasn't it?"

Her girlfriend merely shakes her head.


"Beca!" Dr. Mitchell wraps his daughter in a quick tight hug that Beca grimaces through. "Glad traffic wasn't too bad." He shakes Chloe's hand firmly, "And always a pleasure to see you, Ms. Beale."

"Chloe," she insists with a flashing smile.

"Only if you call me Warren," he booms in response, clapping her shoulder. "After all, we're practically family."

Beca freezes, "What?"

"Warren, dear, you're letting a draft in. Oh!"

Suppressing an eye roll, Beca turns to regard her step-mother.

"Sheila."

"Rebeca." Pure disdain.

Nudging Beca out of her way, Chloe introduces herself, "Chloe!"

Temporarily flabbergasted, Sheila allows Chloe to give her a hug before detaching herself awkwardly. "Uh, welcome."

"I'm Beca's girlfriend," she shrugs nonchalantly.

Sheila's eyes bug out comically, Warren merely raises an eyebrow, and Beca's jaw drops. A beat.

"Don't worry though," Chloe confides, "There's a whole group of us, so she's never lonely. We go shopping on Tuesdays and party on Fridays." She winks. "If you know what I mean."

"Oh, well," Sheila forces a semblance of a grin, "I'll go check on the strap-on cake. Strawberry! Strawberry cake. Not…" She struggles, "It's strawberry."

"Can I take your coats?" Beca's dad invites them in, "Sit, sit!"

He disappears into the hallway to hang up their winter jackets.

"Seriously, Chloe?"

"What?" She has that faux innocent expression adorning her face.

"Now they think I'm either part of some lesbian mafia orgy or that I actually have friends!"

"Ooo," Chloe exclaims exaggeratedly. "What could be worse than that?"

"Thank you for your hospitality," Chloe smiles down the long dinner table at Sheila, raising her wine glass in toast.

"These are our sons," Sheila introduces as two gangly boys take their seats, one next to Warren and the other next to Beca. "Jack and James." The older and taller one, Jack, smooths back his gelled back dirty blonde hair and squares his shoulders, looking at the new additions to the table with sharp green eyes. His younger brother looks startlingly like his mother, wavy brown hair and grey eyes along with a thin frame.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Chloe" the redhead beams, extending a hand across the table. "I'd hug, but we're already sitting down."

"Dear God, yes," James says, his mouth ajar, obviously smitten.

Reflexively, Beca elbows him in the ribcage, earning a glare from her father and step-mother.

"Enchanté,"Jack kisses her hand, bending his head as low as he can without forcing his collar into the bowl of soup. For God's sake. Beca clenches her jaw tightly at the display, to which Chloe dismisses with a wave of her hand and shake of her head in the brunette's direction.

"Real charming," she snarls.

"Beca," her father shoots her a warning look. Turning to the rest of the table, he smiles, "I'm so blessed today, to be able to sit here at the table with my whole family, you too, Chloe."

"Wait, what?" Sheila looks at Chloe, then Beca, then Warren, then back to Chloe and Beca. "Family? Are you two…?"

Jack laughs, before realizing, "Wait, what?"

"Well, I mean, any friend of Beca's is a friend of ours," Warren explains logically. "And friends and family are just as close, isn't that right, Sheila?"

"Oh for God's sake, Warren."

Uncomfortably, James shifts in his seat, "Mom, Dad, not now."

"What the?" Beca turns in her seat to her brother, "What's going on?"

"It was just one stupid party!"

"Stupid? Stupid?"

Over the pandemonium, Jack apologizes to Chloe, "Sorry, this does not in any way reflect on me."

"I'm sure," she replies, amusedly.

Sheila stands and lets out a furious growl, "This is so typical of you. Let it go!"

Matching her pose, her husband throws down the napkin and yells back, "I don't know, I just thought that you'd want to support me maybe?"

"You win one of those awards every year!"

He shakes his head, face red, "So Katelyn's fifth bachelorette party was more important?"

Unable to take it anymore, Beca grabs Jack's wrist as he's about to touch Chloe's hand. "Don't even, loser."

"You can't tell me what to do," he protests, yanking his hand away.

"Uh yeah, I can. I'm older."

James throws a sharp look towards them, "Stop fighting you guys, this is supposed to be Christmas dinner."

"We don't even celebrate Christmas," Jack and Beca shout back at him in sync.

For her part, Chloe simply serves herself some mashed potatoes as the family descends into absolute chaos. Humming, she sets the bowl down and looks around for the gravy.

"You know I support your profession and your-"

"I don't get why you're so uptight about this, Beca, I'm being nice to-"

"I gave up a boss fight for this dinner, the least-"

"But you went to a party instead of my awards ceremony because you're-"

"Because I'm dating Chloe!"

A deathly silence falls over the family.

"What?"

"Maybe this isn't the time," Warren deflates belatedly.

"I can never watch lesbian porn again."

A low buzzing noise fills the air before Chloe shuffles through her purse and scavenges her phone out. "Oh no! Beth is sick!" Acting a bit dodgy, Chloe tugs her earlobe and taps her mouth once. Oh. The signal.

"Well, it's been nice," Beca smirks, "But our dog is sick, we need to take her to the vet."

"Oh," Warren looks fairly relieved. "I'll get your coats."

"Thank you for having us over," Chloe gushes to Sheila and the boys. "Sorry that we weren't able to stay longer!"

"No problem," she flushes, realizing the amazing family argument that had just unfolded in front of the stranger. "Too bad you two couldn't stay longer."

"Yes, too bad," Beca mocks, narrowing her eyes.

Forgetting her previous embarrassment, Sheila hisses, "Don't take that tone of voice with me. I don't care who you date, that's your choice, but if this is some sort of attention-grab or rebellion, let me just say-"

"It's not," the brunette crosses her arms. "I've never done anything like that."

"-that you're too old for that sort of stuff."

Warren returns, his arms full with their winter apparel and ushers them towards the door. Beca's brothers, still in the dining room, continue with their argument over who knows what (Beca suspects it has something to do with Chloe).

"Thank you, Dr. Mitchell," Chloe presses into him for a hug. "Dinner was wonderful."

He chuckles dryly, "Oh, I'm sure it was. Call me Warren. I hope this doesn't…deter you from coming back next year."

"Of course not!"

As the two women turn around to head back to their car, Warren calls out, "And Beca!"

Beca whirls around, bracing herself for whatever is coming next.

"I'm glad you told us the truth."

She smiles.

"Finally."

Her smile fades. "You knew?"

"Yeah…" His mouth scrunches up. "Subtle isn't your style."

"Fucking hell."


"Well, that was a disaster," Beca muses as they head onto the highway again.

"Our dog is sick," Chloe echoes her statement from earlier. "Our dog is sick? Was that really the best excuse you could come up with? I thought we agreed Beth was going to be my half-sister."

"I panicked," she shrugs. "It was absolute craziness in that house. You were there."

"I thought they were sweet people."

"Uh huh," the brunette looks at her skeptically, "You would think that."

"Hey, don't insult the lady at the wheel," Chloe winks. "It went better than you thought it would, didn't it?"

"Yeah," she admits reluctantly, but glances down at her girlfriend's collar. "Don't wear a V-neck to dinner with the steps ever again."

"Why not?" That innocent tone again.

Narrowing her eyes, Beca merely shakes her head, "I thought Jack was going to drown in that soup trying to peek down your shirt."

"And here I thought you enjoyed the view." No, not the pout. Damn it.

"I do," Beca sputters, gesturing to her general chest area. "Don't get me wrong, lovely view for me. But it should be like, a VIP view, you know?"

"You are terrible at romantic gestures," Chloe laughs, fiddling with the radio dial, letting a song with a low bass fill the car.

"I know." Beca shifts in her seat, her leg slightly numb. "Where are we headed to anyway?"

"Well, we're not due in Illinois for another two days," she quirks her mouth playfully.

"So…"

"Marathon road trip sex."

Tilting her head to the side, the brunette confesses, "That's not exactly where I was headed, but I like the way you think."

"I like the way you work it!"

"No diggity," she succumbs to a faint smile.


Two days later…

"Okay, don't mention Yosemite or the texting accident," Chloe recaps.

"Right. Mom is pretty good at pretending things never happened," nods Beca. "After the divorce, she was convinced that she had never been married in the first place."

"Oh, how long did that last?"

"A good three weeks."

Chloe pats her knee.

"And this time," Beca twists in her seat to fully face the redhead, "Please, no subtle hints at being my girlfriend. I'm not sure Mom, or her heart, can take it."

"Okay, I promise."


"Ah! Beca!" She finds herself under attack.

"No," the brunette strives to get out from her mother's grip. "No hugs, Mom."

"Heavens knows how you managed to raise such an ungrateful child," a new voice snipes. An elderly woman hobbles to the door, her hair nearly completely grey, "Well?"

In a surprising twist of events, Chloe watches as her girlfriend grins warmly at the older and shorter woman and voluntarily reaches out for an embrace. She openly gapes. Her confusion dissipates as Beca greets her with, "Hello, Granny."

"And who is this?" It's clear that Beca has inherited more than just her height from her grandmother.

"Hi," Chloe reaches forward for a hug, but is rebuffed when the elderly woman merely shakes her hand. "I'm Chloe."

"And why are you here?"

"Granny," Beca chastises, "She's my friend."

"You have friends? I thought you'd done away with those." Assuming it's a joke, Chloe chuckles until Beca's grandmother silences her with a cold glare.

Luckily, Beca's mother steps in, an arm encircling her waist. "Oh Mother, lay off. We love company."

"So did your father," Granny barks. "And look what happened to him."

"He had a heart attack, Mom, it wasn't from talking to his friends," she reminds her.

"More friends equals higher chance of heart attack," Beca teases. "Positive correlation."

"I knew that college would teach you something!" Granny pulls Beca into the bungalow. "Now come, I need to change into something more revealing to make your friend uncomfortable."


"How long have you been in the real estate business, Ms. Westing?" Chloe politely asks Beca's mother as they sit down for dinner.

"Ms. Westing is far too formal for Christmas dinner, please, just call me by my first-"

"Christmas dinner," Granny harrumphs. "Back in my day, that meant something. That meant a certain amount of grandeur, you know."

"Mother, please."

"Please, please, please," she wobbles to her chair and Beca dutifully helps her grandmother sit. "That's all I ever hear from you. But do I ever hear thank you?" She directs her attention to Chloe and tells her, "Not once, I tell you!"

"Because you never behave," Beca grins roguishly, recalling several dinners with both her father and grandmother present. Oh, good memories.

Granny laughs, a dry wheezing sound, "What cheek! I love it."

"In any case," Beca's mother scowls at her mother, "Call me Josephine."

"Sure thing. How long have you been in the business, Josephine?"

"Your friend's an ass kisser," Granny loudly whispers to Beca. "All this small talk. No one wants to know anything about Josie. Just ask your father."

Beca snots into her drink before pulling away, coughing. Chloe's cheeks burn in embarrassment, although the more offensive remarks aren't even directed at her.

Perhaps used to such comments, Josephine merely sets her glass down, "As opposed to Daddy dying to get away from you, Mother?"

There's a tense silence that passes between mother and daughter before Granny cackles, a loud abrasive sound. "Where were those claws when you divorced Warren?"

Even Beca looks suitably impressed at her mother.

"I must be a late bloomer," Josephine shrugs, looking quite proud of herself.

Interesting, Chloe observes.


Tired from the long drive, Chloe decides to head to bed a little earlier, Beca showing her the way to the guest bedroom. Beca closes the door as quietly as she can manage (it's a creaky old bungalow after all) and heads back to the living room to watch TV with Granny.

"Are you already getting divorced?"

"Huh?"

Granny never looks away from the screen, "Sleeping in separate bedrooms."

Stammering, Beca tries to make heads and tails of how she's guessed with no success.

"I- What? I don't under-"

"Oh honestly, you rascal," Granny sneers, "As if I couldn't tell."

"But…but how?"

"That'll teach her to try and play footsie under the table."

Beca laughs disbelievingly, "She accidentally got you?"

"Never mind that, when were you going to tell us?" Finally tearing her eyes away from Jimmy Fallon, Granny examines Beca critically.

"Eventually?"

But Granny's more perceptive than she's given her credit for, "You weren't planning on telling us ever, were you?" It's more of a statement than a question.

Beca's always been emotionally honest with her grandmother, the only person she really lets in completely no questions asked, so she's sure this feels a tiny bit like betrayal. "I just didn't know how to."

"Mother, Grandmother, I brought my hot girlfriend," Granny mimics, pointing at the nearby lamp. "Good enough for me."

"I'm sorry, Granny," Beca hugs her, holding on securely. "I should've known I could trust you."

"Told her you love her yet?"

"You approve?" She asks in surprise.

With a guffaw, Granny answers, "Can't say she's got much Westing potential in her, but better than that boyfriend you brought home a few years ago. Mick? Dick?"

"Rick," Beca rolls her eyes, God what had she been on when she brought him to meet her family? Rick, while on the nicer side, had been an extreme stoner and stinking of marijuana certainly hadn't been the best first impression.

"Dick suits him better. Well? Have you told her yet?"

"Not in so many words," Beca tries to cleverly avoid the question.

Clever doesn't really apply to her.

"No? What's wrong with you?" Granny slaps her upside the shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Next thing you know she'll be running off marrying some successful business man or an actress and you'll end up settling for Dick or someone like Warren, God forbid," Granny rants, waving her glasses in the air for emphasis.

"I really doubt that, Granny."

"How else do you think I ended up with your grandfather? You think he was my first choice? Oh no," she adamantly shakes her head, "There was this handsome sailor, oh, so handsome." She sighs. "But I thought I had all the time in the world and look at me now, stuck here in a bungalow. I could've traveled the world!"

"But then you wouldn't have me," Beca supplies sweetly, smiling.

"True," Granny acknowledges. "I'd have an even better granddaughter."

"Hey!"


"Thanks for dinner yesterday and letting us stay over," Chloe embraces Josephine warmly. "It was lovely."

Granny looks Chloe up and down seriously, "Well, I guess I don't mind that you played footsie with me yesterday."

Chloe sputters, "But I didn't-" She cuts herself off and mischievously grins, finally catching onto the game. "I guess I couldn't help myself," she turns to Beca. "Your grandma's a looker."

At long last, Granny snickers and launches herself forward for a hug. "Welcome to the family, Chloe!"

Beca's chest tightens and she feels oddly emotional watching her grandmother and girlfriend hug.


"Granny is a wonderful woman," Chloe reiterates as they climb into the car, preparing for the ride to Minnesota.

"Yeah, I'm really lucky to have her," Beca says. "I don't know how I would've gotten through the divorce without her."

Squeezing her knee, Chloe gives Beca a reassuring smile, "Things work out in the end."

"When we meet your family," Beca starts cautiously, "Can you introduce me as your girlfriend?"

Chloe gapes, "Are you serious?"

"I mean, if you want to."

"Of course I want to!"

Beca leans over and pecks her cheek.

"Thank you."


As they pull into the driveway of Chloe's parent's house, Beca spots a welcoming committee (comprised of Chloe's parents, who she recognizes from the many family photos Chloe carries, and a younger boy and girl, who must be her siblings) waiting for them at the front of the house, busying themselves with the task of shoveling the driveway clear of snow.

Chloe rolls down the window, letting in a particularly chilly breeze, and waves at her family with a joyous shout, "Hey!"

It's exactly as Beca's expected, a warm greeting back, Chloe's younger siblings running in the snow towards the car, obviously excited to see their older sister home. The polar opposite of her family, genuine and friendly, and she finds herself strangely nervous yet again.

Chloe barely makes it out of the driver's seat before her little sister jumps into her and Chloe lifts her into the air. "Oof, Clara, you're getting heavy."

"Am not!"

Restraining himself from following in Clara's footsteps, Chloe's brother takes a step back, his arms crossed, "We were trying to clear the snow before you got here."

Beca slowly rounds around the passenger's side, standing awkwardly at the tail of the car watching the events unfold. Catching her eye, Chloe beckons her over as Chloe's parents stride towards them as well.

"Chloe dear," her mom envelops her with affection. "And this is?"

"My girlfriend, Beca," she pulls Beca by the waist towards her.

There's not even a flicker of surprise or disgust or anything in their faces as they greet her. Chloe's mom ushers them inside, "It's too cold to talk out here!" Chloe's father laughs, a deep sound emanating from his belly.

Once inside, Clara peers suspiciously at Beca, and although it really shouldn't, she feels intimated by the little girl. "Your name is Beca?"

"Yeah," she hesitantly answers. "And your name is Clara?" The little girl nods. "Chloe's told me a lot about you."

"Like what?"

Oh shit, her memory isn't that great. "Uhm, that you guys visited the Grand Canyon once and your-"

"My hat flew off my head!" Clara grins. "But it's okay, because Chloe bought me a new one."

Relieved that the kid hasn't attacked her yet, Beca smiles along with her. "She's great, yeah."

"What's your job?" Chloe's brother, Caleb, asks.

"Well, I work at a radio station sometimes," Beca says, startled when Chloe shows up out of nowhere laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Cool!"

"Wait till after dinner for the interrogation, guys," Chloe puts on a stern tone. "Now go wash up."

Clara and Caleb scamper off towards the bathroom, racing down the hallway loudly.

"This is okay, right?" Chloe hooks her arm around Beca's neck. "Not too stressful?"

"Are you kidding? This is like the all-American family dinners you see on TV. It's awesome."


"So what are you studying at Barden, Beca?" Chloe's mother passes her a bowl with corn.

"Media law and case studies in mass media," Beca answers. "Thank you."

"Oh that's lovely," Chloe's father remarks, "Chloe's told us about how you helped the Bellas win Nationals two times in a row."

Beca blushes for some reason, although she's been praised before by strangers, having your girlfriend's parents look at you admiringly is very different. "Oh, it was a team effort."

"She's so cute," Chloe's mom laughs, patting Chloe's hand. "So modest too."

Being well liked is another thing she hasn't learned to deal with.

"Uhm, thanks." Even her ears are red.

The corner of Chloe's mouth quirks up.


"Did you have a good time?" Chloe suspects Beca is even more enamored with her family than Chloe is.

"Yeah," her voice is soft and she looks out the passenger window, in a sort of daze. "They were super nice."

"They really liked you, especially Clara," Chloe comments, looking at the corner of her eye for Beca's reaction. Unsurprisingly, Beca grins at that; what had been surprising was the way Beca had taken to playing with Clara and Caleb right away (Chloe's mom assumed maternal instinct, but Chloe suspects it's something else as well).

"They're great."

"You okay, babe?"

Beca turns to her suddenly, a quick swivel, "I love you."

Chloe thinks she's misheard her for a sudden moment.

But she repeats herself, "I love you."

Turning off the ignition, Chloe turns to her, feeling a great weight lift off her shoulders (one she hadn't known existed). Her heart should be racing, but her relief slows it to a steady thudding against her ribcage.

"Yeah?"

"So much," Beca says, and her eyes are shining, confirming it.

Chloe leans forward, her lips seeking out Beca's, a clear reciprocation, "Why now?"

"I dunno," she whisper, resting her forehead heavily against Chloe's. "I always thought family was this thing forced on you, but I guess I finally see it's so much more too. And one day, maybe, I want a family like this."

"Oh?"

Her cheeks are flaming with color. "With you."

Sparing her further embarrassment, Chloe simply nods, unable to keep a wide grin off her face. She turns the ignition on, starting the car, and the car's radio plays a familiar song.

You shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am titanium!

And the words have never felt truer as they sing along.


A/N: Thanks for reading, and a special thank you to all those who reviewed/favorited/followed. You're all rock stars. Leave a review if it so suits you, see you tomorrow for Day 5: AU.

Quick notes:

1. I didn't want to spoil Batman for anyone last chapter, but since some of you guessed it, yes, I am a fan ;) A sad unoriginal fan.

2. I've been super busy as of late (grinding out seven one-shots in seven days isn't exactly my work pace), so if I don't reply to your reviews, I apologize!

Cheers.