Beca took a seat beside Chloe with a smile. The redhead smiled back at her, Charlotte was on the floor in front of her on a blanket filled with her toys. She was having a blast, every now and then she'd look at her moms and smile, as if she was letting them know she was having a good time.
"Beca I was thinking.." Chloe said.
"Yeah?" Beca asked, looking up from her laptop.
"I want to adopt Charlotte." Chloe said. "I want to be officially her second mom."
Beca looked surprised.
"Really?" she asked, tears filling her eyes.
"Really. I love that kid and I love you so much." Chloe said. "And I want to prove to you that I'm in it for the long run. So if you'd let me, I want to adopt Charlotte."
"I'd love it if you adopted her!" Beca said, grabbing her by the back of her neck and kissing her hard on the lips.
"Great." Chloe smiled and felt a tug on her leg. She looked down to see Charlotte on her feet, looking up at her.
"Ma." she said.
"Hey baby!" Chloe said with a huge smile, which made Charlotte giggle as she put her hand in her mouth. "You wanna walk for us?"
"Are you gonna walk for us?" Beca asked.
Charlotte looked at Beca and took her hand from her mouth, reaching out in her direction.
Beca smiled.
Charlotte looked back at the blanket for a moment, as if she was thinking if she could do it. She took a step forward and the two girls on the couch became alert. The toddler took another step and removed her hand from Chloe's knee.
The toddler continued her journey with small steps, trying to balance on her two feet. She finally reached the blanket and sat down, looking up at Chloe and Beca with a serious face.
"You did it, Char! You did it!" Beca said, standing up and going towards her daughter, picking her up and kissing her repeatedly on the cheek.
"That was great, Char!" Chloe kissed the baby's cheek and smiled.
"Now all you have to do is say Mommy." Beca said and Chloe giggled. "Can you say Mommy?"
Charlotte looked at Beca and looked at her mouth as she repeated 'Mommy' over and over, as if trying to memorize the words.
"Mommy!" Beca said.
Charlotte looked at Beca then at Chloe.
"Mamma." she said, which made Chloe smile widely.
Chloe kissed Charlotte's cheek over and over.
"You said Mamma!" Chloe said.
"Mamma." Charlotte said and and giggled when Chloe squealed in happiness.
"I still can't believe she hasn't even tried to say Mommy." Beca said. "And I carried you for seven months, child!"
Chloe giggled and kissed Beca's cheek. Charlotte watched the interaction and pressed her lips against her mother's cheek.
oO0Oo
Chloe and Beca were sitting side by side in the doctor's waiting room with Charlotte. The little girl had her chew toy inside her mouth and waited quietly, looking around the room.
"Me." Charlotte said and looked up at Beca. "Me."
"You? You what baby girl?" Beca asked.
"Me." Charlotte repeated, laying her head on Beca's chest.
"I think she's trying to say mommy." Chloe said. "Hey Charlotte, who's this?"
"Me." Charlotte said, looking up at Beca.
"That's right, it's mommy!" Beca said with a huge smile. "And who's that?" Beca pointed at Chloe.
"Mamma." Charlotte said.
Chloe smiled.
"You're so smart, Char, did you know that?" Chloe said.
Charlotte just stared at Chloe and put her chew toy back inside her mouth.
"Charlotte Mitchell?" the doctor called and smiled as the two girls stood up and greeted him.
Chloe and Beca sat down in front of his desk as he looked at Charlotte's file.
"She's one already." The doctor said. "Happy birthday, Charlotte!"
Charlotte smiled at the doctor.
"Okay, let's see how this girl is doing." The doctor stood up.
"Doctor, Charlotte's been a little.. cranky lately, I mean she's a really happy girl but sometimes she'll cry for hours and sleep a lot." Chloe said. "Is that right?"
Dr. Carl frowned.
"Well, no. We might have to run a few tests." Dr. Carl said.
Chloe looked worried, but she knew everything was gonna be fine. Beca, however, grew pale. She didn't even the possibility of something being wrong with her little girl.
Dr. Carl examined Charlotte closely and she didn't complain, but he did want to run other test to make sure she was okay.
"I'm gonna run a blood test on Charlotte." Dr. Carl said. "Just to make sure."
The girls were silent until they left. Chloe helped Beca buckle Charlotte in and the little girl was smiling and giggling, trying to get her mothers to laugh too but it wasn't working.
Chloe looked at Beca, who was unusually quiet on the passenger seat. She was looking out the window.
"Beca?" she asked. "Beca, talk to me."
Beca sighed.
"I just.. want to go home." Beca said. "Just take me home."
Chloe frowned.
"You don't want me there?" Chloe said.
Beca sighed again and remained silent.
Chloe parked the car in front of Beca's father's house and got out of the car, opening Charlotte's door and started unbuckling her.
"Let me." Beca said.
"It's okay, babe, I got it." Chloe said, picking Charlotte up. "Want me to put her down?"
"I'll do it, you can go, thank you." Beca said, taking Charlotte from Chloe, making the little girl look at Chloe with a confused look.
Chloe frowned.
"I can go?" Chloe said.
"Yeah." Beca said. "I'll put Charlotte down, thank you for taking me, Chloe."
"Wait, are you seriously saying this right now?" Chloe asked. "Beca I told you I'm not leaving."
"Who are we trying to kid?" Beca said. "You know you'd leave one time or another."
"Beca I'm not leaving!" Chloe said.
"It's okay, Chloe, really." Beca said. "You can come visit Charlotte anytime you want."
Chloe's eyebrows raised.
"Oh so you're just kicking me out?" Chloe asked. "Saying I can come visit Charlotte?"
"Ma." Charlotte said and her expression was a scared one.
"I'm Charlotte's mother, those are my worries." Beca said.
"Are you kidding me?!" Chloe asked. "What am I then?"
"You're a friend, you know she loves you." Beca said.
"Mamma!" Charlotte said, trying to throw herself on Chloe's arms.
"See? Even she knows I'm her mother too! I adopted her, remember?" Chloe said.
"That doesn't mean anything." Beca said, putting Charlotte's diaper bag over her shoulder. "I'm going in, bye Chloe."
Charlotte started crying and calling out for Chloe, which absolutely broke Chloe's heart. She got in the car and started crying, and just hoped Beca would come to her senses soon.