About a year later
Beca and Chloe were getting married. It was surprising to Beca to be getting married at twenty-four years old, especially to someone she'd only officially been dating for two years. She and Jesse had been together nearly twice that long before breaking up, and marriage hadn't been more than a passing discussion. Beca knew she wanted to marry Chloe very early in the relationship. She'd heard people say, "When you know, you know." It certainly rang true to her feelings for Chloe.
The morning of the wedding, Beca was at her dad's. She wasn't worried about it being bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, but Chloe had insisted. It was early, and Sam wasn't even awake yet. She sat up in bed, playing on her phone. She didn't want to wake her dad, stepmom, or brother just yet. She sent Chloe a quick "good morning" text and got one back almost immediately. They texted for a few minutes before Beca ended the conversation. She heard Sam tiptoeing in the hallway. She opened the door to her room.
"Hey, little brother, what's up?"
"Did I wake you up?"
"No, I was up. Just excited, I guess."
"Oh, good. I'm excited too. I get to call Chloe my sister-in-law today!"
"And I get to call her my wife. Let's go get some breakfast."
"Hey, Beca, do you want me to make you some eggs?"
Beca smiled when she remembered how proudly Sam made his own scrambled eggs every time he stayed over at her place. "Sure, dude. Thanks."
Sam started to make the eggs. "So, Beca, all I have to do is hand the rings over when the minister asks, right?"
"That's right."
"And I give a toast at the reception."
"Yes."
"Cool. Being the best man is easy."
Beca chuckled at her brother. He was so funny sometimes. He proudly handed her the plate of eggs. "Thanks, Sam. They look great."
Beca ate her breakfast and commented on how good the eggs were. Sam beamed. He'd never made eggs for Beca before, and she could see how proud he was of himself. She made a pot of coffee and was sipping on a cup of it when her dad and stepmother entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, Beca. What do you want for breakfast?"
Sam piped up before Beca could answer. "I made her some eggs, Dad."
"He did," said Beca. "You two taught him well."
"Good job," he said. "Anything else?"
"I'm good," said Beca. "I'm going to go over my vows before it's time to get my hair done."
Before she knew it, Beca was headed to the hair salon to meet her mother. She was getting her hair in an updo with a simple veil, and she had her makeup done professionally as well. She had originally planned to wear a pantsuit, but she found a dress she absolutely loved when shopping for wedding attire. Beca and her mother headed to her dad's to finish getting ready and take some pictures.
The photographer did a bunch of the traditional poses. He got some great ones of Beca with Sam, and he even got a few shots of Beca with her father, stepmother, mother, and brother. Beca really hoped they turned out well because it showed all of the family members who were the most important to her.
He left to get pictures of Chloe with Aubrey (her maid of honor) and her family.
The couple was getting married at Barden's chapel. There was a non-denominational minister there who had performed many same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Chloe was waiting in the bride room in the back of the chapel. Beca went down the aisle with her father, and then Sam walked down the aisle. Aubrey told Chloe and her dad to get ready as Sam was walking down the aisle. Aubrey went down the aisle, and then Chloe and her dad went down the aisle. The fathers gave their daughters a hug and a kiss and then the two brides joined at the altar.
The ceremony was traditional, but Beca and Chloe wrote their own vows. Chloe went first. She said:
"I promise to love and care for you, and I will try in every way to be worthy of your love.
I will always be honest with you, kind, patient, and forgiving.
But most of all, I promise to be a true and loyal friend to you.
I love you."
When it was Beca's turn she said, "Yeah, that sounds good. What she said." The guests all laughed, and Chloe looked shocked. "Just kidding Chloe," she said, earning a smile from her bride.
"I promise to hold your hand every night and to never let us lose our spark.
I vow to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed, and to share in the silence when they are not.
I vow to be giving and forgiving, and to make you laugh and to laugh at myself.
I vow to love you as you love me, through all hardship, darkness, and pain, to reach for our joys, our hopes, and always with honesty and faith.
I love you."
After the ceremony, they held the reception at the nearby fire hall. The DJ began introductions.
"Please welcome Beca's mother Ellen Mitchell.
Please welcome Beca's father and stepmother, Francis and Sheila Mitchell.
Please welcome Chloe's mother and father, William and Lynn Beale.
Please welcome the maid of honor Aubrey Posen and the best man and Beca's brother Samuel Mitchell.
Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time ever appearing as a married couple, let's welcome Mrs. and Mrs. Beca and Chloe Mitchell!"
Chloe had insisted on taking Beca's name. She knew how much it had meant to Beca and Sam to share a last name, and Chloe didn't want to take that name away from Beca. The two brides had also insisted the DJ introduce Sam as Beca's brother, not her half-brother. While legally he was only her half-sibling, it wasn't a term either of them ever used when describing their relationship.
The brides shared their first dance to "Could Not Ask For More," sung by their fellow Bellas. There were too many of them to put them all in the bridal party, so they decided to have their Bellas do what they do best – sing. Beca and Chloe quietly sang to each other while they were out on the floor. After the first chorus, the DJ invited all of the guests to join them on the dance floor.
The rest of the music at the reception was done by a DJ – a coworker of Beca's from Residual Heat. Sam gave an adorable toast about what a great big sister Beca had been, and Aubrey cried through half of her toast.
When it was time for the bouquet toss, the brides decided they'd both throw the bouquets and skip the garter toss. The DJ called the single ladies to the floor and fired up Beyoncé's "All the Single Ladies." As the DJ called, "1, 2, 3!" Beca and Chloe made a motion like they were going to throw their bouquets but then they turned around. Instead of tossing their bouquets, Beca handed hers to Stacie and Chloe handed hers to Aubrey. There were a few boos from some of the guests, but the Bellas found this hilarious as Stacie and Aubrey had a wedding planned a month later.
The two brides did the cake cutting, and both drew an arm back like they were going to smash the cake into each other's faces. Both of them stopped just short of smashing the cake and fed it to each other nicely. Beca could hear Cynthia Rose say, "Damn, Conrad. I guess I owe you fifty bucks. I was sure Beca was going to cover Chloe with cake." That had been the original plan, but they had decided not to smash the cake because they didn't want to ruin each other's makeup or risk anyone getting icing up their nose or in their eye. Chloe had found a bunch of YouTube videos of this happening, including one where someone had actually bled, and she'd made Beca promise not to smash the cake.
Beca's dad took them to their apartment after the wedding to change and grab their luggage for the honeymoon. Chloe carried Beca over the threshold, insisting that it was tradition and that Beca should be the one carried due to her small stature. Beca rolled her eyes, but she obliged.
They spent their wedding night at an airport hotel. Both women had secretly purchased bridal lingerie, and the sets were nearly identical. The lingerie hit the floor in record time, and they consummated their marriage.
"You know, Chloe, we should probably consummate a few more times, just to be safe," said Beca as they were cuddling.
"Oh, totes," said Chloe, as she fixed her lips on Beca's neck. They didn't get a whole lot of sleep due to all of the consummating, but it was worth it.
They got up early for their flight to Florida. They were taking a cruise to the Bahamas.
They had an awesome time on the cruise, checking out the various shows, swimming with dolphins, and even participating in the cruise line's version of "The Newlywed Game." They put them against a couple who had been married about ten years and one who had been married around twenty years. They won! After the game, a lot of people recognized them and congratulated them on their win. The cruise's TV network had been showing the game repeatedly, so even people who hadn't been in the room were seeing it. A few people called them "disgustingly cute," which Chloe loved and Beca pretended not to love. A small number of passengers even asked to take a picture with them.
They came back from the honeymoon and happily settled into their lives as a married couple. They bought a house the following year. A few years after that, the discussion of kids came up. The decision was made that Chloe would try to carry, as Beca would rather not be pregnant. They were fortunate that Chloe ended up pregnant on the first try, and she delivered a healthy little girl they named Megan. Beca hadn't really given motherhood much thought before getting together with Chloe, but she immediately fell in love with their little girl. Soon after she was born, Beca couldn't imagine life without her.
Shortly after Megan had turned one, Beca came home from work to find a box of her things on the step. It wasn't much – just a flannel shirt, a few flash drives of mixes she'd made, and a hairbrush. She hadn't seen them in years, and she quickly realized they must have been left at Jesse's place. She'd wanted him out of her life so badly, she had never noticed those items were gone. She rolled her eyes at the sight of the box and brought them into the house. How did Jesse even know where she lived? She figured Amy and Bumper must have told him. She'd have to have a talk with them about that. It had been about six years since they'd split, so this had taken her by surprise. She put the hairbrush in the trash, hung the flannel in the back of her closet, and grabbed the flash drives of music. She played one of them and giggled at herself. She'd learned so much since she'd become a real music producer. They weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but she'd definitely gotten better at mixing music in recent years. She saved the files on her hard drive for nostalgic purposes, but then she wiped the flash drives, figuring they'd come in handy for something later.
Chloe came home shortly afterward with Megan, and Beca told her about the box of random stuff from Jesse. She rolled her eyes. After all these years, they were both surprised that Jesse had reached out again.
The next day, Beca came home from work with Megan in tow and was surprised to find Jesse sitting on the steps.
"Jesse, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure you got your stuff."
"I did. So, how did you know where we live?"
"Bumper and Fat Amy told me," he replied. "Can we talk? It's been six years, and I miss you."
Beca wasn't terribly interested in talking, but she didn't want to make a scene or upset her daughter. She sighed. "Okay, Jesse. Come on in."
"So...whose kid is she?"
"She's mine and Chloe's."
"Oh. What's her name?"
"Megan."
"Hi, Megan," he said, looking at the one-year-old.
"Hi," said Megan, burying her face in Beca's shoulder.
"She's funny about new people," said Beca. She put the diaper bag in Megan's room. "Let me set Megan up with a video." She sat Megan on the floor by the TV and found an episode of Sesame Street on the DVR. Once Megan was occupied, she asked, "What did you want to talk about?"
"I miss you," he said. "I'm really surprised you have a kid. I didn't know you wanted kids."
Beca shrugged. "It wasn't something I thought about until I married Chloe. So, Amy and Bumper didn't tell you we had a kid?"
"No," said Jesse. "But that's Bumper and Fat Amy for you. So, Chloe wanted kids and you just agreed to it?"
"It wasn't that simple, Jesse."
"So, how does that work with two girls? Is she adopted? Or was one of you pregnant? And what does she call you?"
Beca rolled her eyes. "For your first questions, that's none of your business. For the last question, I'm 'Mama' and Chloe is 'Mommy.'"
"Oh. Well, she's really cute."
"Thanks."
"So, how's your family?"
"They're good. My dad adopted Sam, so he's my brother now."
"Half-brother," said Jesse.
"Not to either of us," said Beca. "He's my brother."
"But, he's-"
"He's my brother," said Beca. "There's no half."
"That's weird."
"Remind me why I agreed to talk to you."
"Sorry. So, are you going to ask me how I've been?"
"Fine. How have you been?" said Beca. She hoped he'd talk to her briefly and then go away. This was a rotten night for Chloe to be working the evening shift.
"I'm good," said Jesse. "I got my master's and I'm working on some indie films. I also DJ for an internet radio show on the side."
"Oh," said Beca. "Sounds..interesting. How are your parents?"
"They're doing well. They miss you."
"Tell them I said hello." She actually had really liked Jesse's family. She missed them more than she ever missed Jesse after they broke up.
The Sesame Street episode ended and Megan got up and walked over to Beca. "Mama!" she exclaimed.
"What do you want?"
"Eat," she said.
Beca immediately decided cooking was not something she wanted to do that night. "You want pizza?"
"ESSSS!" yelled Megan.
"Okay, we'll order pizza." She looked at Jesse, who was giving her puppy dog eyes. "Do you want some?" she asked awkwardly, hoping he'd say no, but knowing that was unlikely.
"Yeah, pizza sounds good." Damn, thought Beca. Now I have to tolerate him through dinner. Why did I let him inside in the first place, and why did I offer him pizza? I should have just sent him home so I could feed Megan.
She ordered pizza through an app on her phone. "It should be here soon. I got plain cheese. Megan's not a fan of toppings on her pizza."
"Not my first choice, but okay. Do you still not like movies?" Jesse's such an ass. How did he not realize I only asked him if he wanted pizza to be nice?
"I'll watch some if Chloe wants to, but they're not my favorite."
"Do you ever not do what Chloe wants?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I just don't get it. I want to watch a movie, and you act like it's killing you. Chloe asks, and you're all for it."
"That's not even close to what I said. I still watch the occasional movie if Chloe wants to, but she never pushes me to watch a movie if I don't want to."
"Is that what I did?"
"Jesse, you made me sound like the worst person in the world when I told you I didn't like movies. Our entire relationship was us doing what you wanted."
"It was not. Besides, it's weird to not like movies."
"Not to me."
The doorbell rang Beca grabbed the pizzas and paid for them. Jesse didn't even offer to chip in. Apparently, he hasn't grown out of his selfishness, thought Beca.
She sat Megan in her high chair and began to cut up a slice of pizza for her. Jesse attempted to talk to Megan, but she wasn't having it. Every time he looked at her, she'd wail.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing. She just met you."
"She sure does cry a lot."
"Jesse, she's a baby. That's what they do. Stop pushing yourself on her."
They ate their pizza. Megan quieted down once dinner was in front of her. Jesse and Beca updated each other on their families and what they'd been doing. After that, Beca realized she didn't have much to say. She was working in the music industry and enjoying being a mom, while Jesse was working in the movie industry and doing some internet radio. Beca hadn't even realized internet radio was a thing.
Chloe walked in as they were finishing up dinner. Megan yelled, "MOMMY!" and Chloe immediately walked over to her, giving Beca chaste kiss as she took Megan out of the high chair.
"Hi, Megan. Did you eat your dinner or wear it?" asked Chloe as she wiped Megan's face with a paper towel.
"Eat," said Megan.
"That's not what it looks like." Chloe finally noticed Jesse sitting at the table.
"Hi, Jesse. This is...a surprise."
"Yeah, we were just catching up. But, I should probably be going. Nice talking to you, Beca."
"Bye, Jesse," said Beca. She walked him to the front door.
"So, what was that about?" asked Chloe after Jesse left.
"He was sitting on our steps when I came home. I probably should have told him to go away. You're not mad, are you?"
"No. It's okay."
"He's still an asshole, and we have nothing in common anymore except for our past."
"Beca, watch your language in front of the baby," said Chloe.
"Oops."
"Was he that bad?"
"He asked some inappropriate questions and said some things that p-, I mean ticked me off, but it wasn't awful. I really don't want to see him again, though."
Beca removed Jesse from her blocked list on Facebook and messaged him. She thanked him for returning her stuff. He replied asking to hang out, and Beca respectfully declined, explaining to him that she felt like they'd said what needed to be said and no longer had anything in common. He backed off, and Beca allowed him to remain a Facebook friend, but she restricted his access to a lot of her page.
Two years later
Megan had recently turned three, and Chloe and Beca welcomed a pair of twin boys, Ricky and Tony. Beca had announced the birth on Facebook, and Jesse had sent a message of congratulations. Beca didn't reply, and he didn't say anything else.
Shortly after that, Beca saw Jesse had been posting a bunch of old pictures of them on Facebook. The pictures were pretty tame for the most part, but they were obviously pictures taken when they were dating. Many were even captioned "with an ex." This seemed super weird to Beca, so she asked him to take them down. He acted like she was the weird one for having gotten rid of old pictures of them together. With that, Beca unfriended and blocked Jesse. She hoped this was the last she'd ever hear from him.
She sure felt lucky she'd taken the chance with Chloe. They were happily married and now had three happy, healthy children. She knew life wouldn't be perfect, but she had to admit she wouldn't trade the life she had with Chloe for the world.
A/N: That's the end of our story! Hope you enjoyed!