Epilogue


Beca stopped saying "I love you" when she was fifteen years old, or more specifically, when her father left.

She's twenty-five now, and the phrase has finally familiarized itself on her tongue again.

She's always scared that one day, she's going to stop using that phrase in the same way that she stopped using it back when she was fifteen. She was scared of the betrayal and the hurt; she was scared of losing what she loves the most.

So, she packs her bags and finally moves to Los Angeles to pursue what she loves, and to be with the person she loves.


"You look hot," Beca comments dryly, fanning herself with her program.

"Aw, thanks babe," Jesse replies back, a smug smile on his face.

She rolls her eyes. "Seriously, it's hot as fuck. I would probably die of heat stroke if I were you."

He's decked out in a black robe and mortarboard, with his khaki pants peeking from underneath. His family is in the city to attend his big event, and with the ceremony being in the evening, they're taking pictures while the sun is still out. It's about 102º, and Beca was about to pass about from the heat.

"I thought I'd be able to handle this heat after bearing Georgia's summers, but, shit, I was wrong," She groans, leaning a cheek onto Jesse's shoulder as his parents, oblivious, continued taking snapshots. "How are you not dead?"

"Eh, you get used to it," he smiles, eyes towards the camera's clicking. "Also, I have two cooler packs strapped on."

She gapes at him, an expression that finally gets his parents to stop with the pictures. "Share. Now."

"You're not the one graduating here, so..."

She scowls. "You're lucky I love you."


When they call Jesse's name, his family is the first to jump up and scream. Beca joins about a beat behind, unable to keep the smile on her face from growing.

Beca's not one for big gestures, so she sticks with what she's comfortable with. "Nothing's gonna stop my dude!" She yells out in the crowded room, grinning widely when Jesse turns his head to look at her from the stage. He sends her a wink, smiling brightly at her as he strolls to meet his diploma. He pumps his fist into the air, his diploma in hand, with his eyes focused solely on Beca's beaming face.

The ceremony ends about an hour later, and it's not hard to find Jesse among the small pool of graduates. His parents are beaming with pride, and his siblings offer him teasing jokes and their congratulations. Benji, along with Emily, has managed to make it just before the ceremony began, and he was sharing his congratulations with his best friend. Beca watches the interactions unfold patiently, only offering him a congratulatory kiss when he's not caught up in all of the chaos and his family is mingling amongst each other.

"Congratulations, Mr. Fancy Pants Grad Student. I hope this thing," she gestures to his diploma, "doesn't give you the excuse to be a grade-A asshole."

He snickers. "You never let me have any fun."

"I let you have fun sometimes," she winks. She presses a kiss to his cheek, suddenly feeling warm in her chest. Her heart swells when he laces his fingers with hers, looking at her like she was the only person in the room. "Speaking of having fun, will you be over at my place tonight?"

"Aw, you can't promise fun if my family is staying at my place for the rest of the weekend. That's mean."

"You can't sneak out for a couple of hours? Come on, break the rules for once."

He shakes his head, chuckling softly. "Well, if you insist."

"You know," she starts, nonchalantly blowing out some air, "we wouldn't have this problem if you, you know, would move in with me."

He stares at her, his head cocked to the side like some sort of lost puppy. He's looking at her as if he was debating whether or not she was joking, thoroughly amusing Beca. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes."

"Like, seriously seriously? Like, you're going to make room for my movie collection and my popcorn maker and everything? And we get to wake up to each other and maybe get a pet and movications all the time? That type of thing?"

"Yes, that type of thing."

He grins excitedly, smacking a messy kiss onto her lips. "Of-fucking-course I'll move in with you."


She's twenty-nine when she's starts to panic about that one three-worded phrase again.

"Shit," she murmurs, staring at the pregnancy test, clearly displaying two straight lines. She tests two more, only confirming her dread. She heads straight for the clinic, finally getting a firm confirmation that she is, indeed, pregnant.

It's got to be the worst timing ever, because she's just shunned Jesse to the couch after getting into a silly fight with him the night before. And while she's great at keeping a grudge, she couldn't exactly keep this a secret, even if she tried.

Naturally, they've talked about having kids. She wasn't a huge fan of the idea, but as time went on, she warmed up to it. They agreed on early to mid thirties, when both of them were bigger names in the industry. Beca's music has been heard all over the globe, thanks to her reputation at Residual Heat and for being a star Barden Bella, but Jesse's still taking his time getting up there. It wasn't like he was struggling— he's scoring movies for indie films, which is amazing for his age— but he was still making a name for himself. She doesn't want this pregnancy, and ultimately, child, getting in the way of their career, and honestly, she was terrified.

She's terrified that this baby could be what ruins them in the end.

She decides to take out her worries on eating a ton of pasta until he gets home that day.

"Becs, are you here?"

"Yeah, I'm in the office."

She hears his footsteps gradually coming, jolting her to get rid of all of her boxes of microwaved filth. She's just shoving her last box down the trash when he catches her in the act.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, nothing."

His eyebrows are knit together as he approaches her, puzzled. "You're hiding something."

"Fine. I ate all of the boxed dinners."

She sees the corners of his mouth twitch, but his lips remain in a straight line. They're not exactly over their fight from last night, and clearly, he wasn't so easy to back down. "Okaaay. Can I ask why?"

Her palms begin to sweat. She blinks slowly, moving her way to her office chair. "Yeah," she pauses, fighting to keep her voice steady and calm. "I'm eating. For two."

He stares at her blankly for a moment, but it soon dawns on him and his eyes go from hers to her stomach. "You're... Eating for two?"

"You heard me."

"So, like, what you mean to say..."

She throws a pregnancy at him, which he catches against his chest.

He looks at the stick in shock. "Are you joking with me right now? Because I swear to God, if you're lying, I'm going to be really upset."

Beca sits straight in her spot, her heart beating rapidly. "You'd be upset? So, you're... You're down for this?" She gestures to her stomach, a bump nonexistent at this point.

"Are you kidding? Of course I am!" He finally breaks into a grin, rushing to press kisses onto Beca's lips.

She laughs lightheartedly, loving the way he was looking at her at this very moment. Still, she can't help the gnawing feeling in her stomach. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely positive about this?"

His eyes meet hers, as if they were saying "yes." He gets on his knees and gently rolls her shirt up to reveal her milky skin, propping his chin on her knees. "Hi there, future aca-child. I love you. Wow, this is weird. Is this weird? Tell me if this is weird."

She laughs. "A little."

He sighs happily, kissing her the center of her stomach instead. Immediately, she feels her insides explode from the kind of warmth that only Jesse can give her, although it's more intense this time. He lifts her off the chair, sits in it himself, and then places her on his lap. His hands circle her waist, resting firmly on her abdomen.

"Remember the last time I took one of these?"

He stares at the stick thoughtfully, now lying flat on her desk. "Yeah. That was a fun time, right?"

"Not really," she says wryly, her head against his chest. "We were both being stubborn assholes."

"Well, even though you didn't tell me about this time," he rubs her abdomen gently, "I'm still happy. I'm happy beyond belief."

She smiles, reaching up so that she could place a kiss along his jawline. "Honestly, I'm a little worried. Do you think we're ready for this?"

He shifts so that he's facing her, with his back against the armrest of the chair. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, an earnest expression on his face. "I do. I know we agreed on a little later, but who knows? Maybe this is meant to happen."

"I hope so."

"I just hope having a child won't get in the way of our careers, as selfish as that sounds. And I know we're financially stable enough to support a kid, but..."

"We'll make it work. Having a baby will not be a problem, I guarantee you. We're Jesse and Beca. We're Jesseca, remember?"

She nods and stays quiet for awhile, resigning her head to his shoulder.

"We're going to be amazing parents, Beca. I hope you know that. I'm not your dad and you're not your dad. He or she is going to be the most loved kid out there. We're going to have the best family ever. But maybe most importantly, though," he leans in to kiss her forehead gently, "You're going to be the best mother. I know this because I have never met anyone as loving as you are, Beca."

In that moment, all traces of doubt vanish from her mind. She offers a small smile, struggling to keep herself from crying. "I love you."

He kisses her affectionately. "I love you, too."

"So, we're doing this?"

"Absolutely.


They name her Aria.

She's just under eight pounds, with rosy, plump cheeks and bright sapphire eyes. When she smiles, she looks just like Jesse, down to the way her eyes crinkle at the corners and the way her cheeks dimple. She's perfect.

And for the second time in her life, Beca falls in love.


As expected, Jesse's a perfect dad. He makes sure Aria goes to sleep with a bedtime story and a lullaby every night. Beca takes Aria to Jesse's studio every Saturday morning, where the little girl occupies herself to her father's mess of instruments. Afterwards, they head to the park if it's a nice day, or to a movie on a rainy day. It's like this for the next three years, with Aria growing to love music as much as her parents do.

It's the year 2025, and Jesse's finally made his mark in the big films. He's working on a movie for kids movie for a big name studio, while Beca continues making strides up the Billboard pop music charts. They're happy, but busy, and when an invitation comes in the mail one day, they don't actually take the time to look at it until a week later.

Beca waits for the lights in Aria's room to dim to bring attention to the invitation. "Jesse, have you seen this?" Beca calls quietly as to not wake her child, studying the card one more time and fixing her eyes onto the big, fancy font that read "ten year reunion" and "Barden University" in one sentence.

Jesse appears a few seconds later, padding his way to her side of the bed. She hands him the card, waiting for his reaction.

"Hmm," he hums, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Has it been ten years already?"

"I guess so."

"Damn, Beca. We're old," he chuckles, shielding himself away from her pinching fingers. "Well, are we going?"

She shrugs. "We see a lot of our friends anyways, I don't see the reason to. All Barden is going to do is try to milk as much alumni donations as possible out of us. But if you want to, we can."

"I kind of do. It would be a great opportunity to pump our egos as successful human beings," he jokes, unsuccessfully deflecting Beca's death pinch. "Ow! Okay, okay. I'll talk to the group, see if they're up to it. It'll be fun reuniting with the rest of the gang who didn't make it out to LA or left Georgia. Aria would have a lot of fun at the barbecue, too."

"I guess you're right. We'd have to clear out our schedules for the weekend, but it would be nice to visit family, too. Aria hasn't seen my dad since last Thanksgiving."

"So that settles it, then? We're going?"

"I think so."


Barden is just as Beca remembers it. It's green and bright and big, with looming buildings and the same statue of the heroic Barden Knight mascot.

She's waiting outside the dorms, where her father said she'd meet her for lunch. Aria's on a play date with Chloe, Cynthia-Rose, and Amy's kids, while Jesse's catching up with Donald and Benji somewhere. Her dad texts her saying that he's running a little late, and so she's left on the sidewalk outside Baker Hall.

"Don't you cry no more, no!"

She turns her head to meet the sound of the crooning, her ears immediately burning red when she sees where, or rather, who, it's coming from.

Jesse's pulled up in a car, with Donald and Benji in the driver's seat. Jesse's playing his air guitar, eyes directly set on Beca's confused face.

Donald speeds off, throwing Jesse to the back of the seat and leaving Beca staring at the engine in the distance.

What the fuck, she thinks to herself, taking her phone out to text her boyfriend the same thought. Her eyebrows are knit together, her mind whirling after witnessing the most random thing she's ever seen.

"Mommy, mommy!" Suddenly and out of the blue, Aria's running towards Beca, with Aria's pigtails bobbing as she hobbles towards her mother clumsily. Beca sees Chloe's car parked nearby, staring at it quizzically when no one else gets out of it.

Beca manages to catch the bumbling toddler in her arms, too busy checking over her daughter to notice the man walking to her direction.

"Hi daddy!"

"Hey, princess," Jesse grins, smacking a loud kiss onto his daughter's chubby cheek before turning to kiss Beca.

Beca sets the child down, letting Aria hold onto her finger. "What the fuck?" She mouths, frowning at Jesse's sudden appearance.

Jesse ignores her, instead turning to his daughter. "You ready, kid?"

Aria nods excitedly, watching as her father gets onto one knee.

Beca's jaw drops, and her heart starts beating rapidly. The blush finds her cheeks almost immediately, and as much as she wanted to start speaking, she finds that she's lost her voice in the heat of the moment.

"Hi, Becs. A little under ten years ago, we officially met, right at this very spot. I was in the back of a car, and you were just about standing where you're standing now. I sang to you, and you looked at me the same way you're looking at me right now– confused as... heck." He glances at the young girl warily, smiling a little at the half-grin Beca was wearing. "Little did I know that this fateful interaction would lead to what we are today. We're Jesse and Beca, we're–"

"It's been over a decade, Jesse. Don't say it," she rolls her eyes playfully, shaking her head as he chuckled.

"Right. We're Jessecaria, isn't that right?" Aria nods, giggling, before handing over the velvet box to her father's open palm.

"I love you, Beca. I love our family, and I love you. I love you so much, and I want to marry you if you'll let me, because, I... I love you," he rambles, the nerves clearly showing as he opens the box to reveal the ring, a beautiful silver band with two diamonds on either side of a larger one, reflecting brightly at Beca. "Will you marry me?"

"Us," Aria chimes in, grinning cheekily at her parents.

Beca's heart hammers in her chest, and despite this, she nods, finally letting go of the breaths she was holding in in exchange for a few stray tears. He slips the ring onto her finger, taking her into his arms. He kisses her gently, her chest warming at the sensation.

"You're the worst," she mumbles into the kiss, with a smile gracing her lips. "But I love you too, weirdo."


A/N-

Done! I accidentally did the thing where I slept through an entire week without working on my writing, oops. Forgive me, I'm not usually an asshole. Well, at least not in that way. Lol.

Anyways, I hope that warmed your hearts. Thank you for the love you've all given this story, I truly appreciate it. You guys have been so supportive and I appreciate every one of you in our tiny, but mighty, Jeca community.

I got the idea for this story from a Tumblr text post here: comlcsans . tumblr post/111934513213/how-i-say-i-love-you-to-my-friends

Special shoutout to cuticlecareenetwork, marsbarr, and cruisingturtle for their kind words with every chapter and for being just wonderful in general. I'd also like to give a shoutout to bonesgadh for always being up for a good chat, and to grace-summer10 on Tumblr for their sweet encouragement.

Now that this fic has finally come to an end, I'll be trying to focus on filling all of my prompts and hopefully getting back into Mandatory Health Class.

Reviews are, of course, always appreciated. Give this story some final love ;-)

I'll see you all very soon!