"This is seriously gonna be the best day ever", Jesse declared, as he strategically set mini Easter eggs down the hallway, a metre apart.
"Jess, she's going to be eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is this really necessary?" Beca objected.
"The Easter Bunny is coming, Beca", Jesse reminded her. "Also, Aunt Fat Amy. Molly' gonna be high as a kite on sugar".
"I understand this, Jesse, that's why I don't think it's entirely necessary to fill her up on chocolate before breakfast".
"Bec, we're having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast", he reminded her. "You sound like Aubrey, just chill".
"Take that back", she growled, and Jesse took a step back at his angry, hormonal wife.
(When Beca was pregnant, her hormones raged easily ten times worse than they did on a regular day. Jesse had found himself treading on eggshells when she was pregnant with Molly, and with baby number two she was just as bad. The only person who didn't make Beca snap or cry was Molly, and Jesse was incredibly glad.)
"It's alright, I'm not going to hit you or anything", she said in amusement, as Jesse visibly stepped back. "Come on, I'm tired. Let's go to bed".
Checking on Molly once more, Jesse made sure the eggs would be in clear view of their twenty two month old daughter before wrapping his arm around Beca, leading her towards their bed.
"Jess?"
"Yeah Bec?" he wanted to know, as he slipped under the covers.
She leaned over to peck a kiss to his lips. "I love you".
"I love you more". He grinned, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the top of her head.
"Good morning beautiful", Jesse whispered, rolling over to find Beca lying on her side. "You alright? You're looking a bit pale there".
"I just feel a bit… queasy". She grimaced (her morning sickness had been horrible with Molly- hanging over the toilet bowl for at least an hour every morning, heaving and gagging and retching- but with baby number two, she was just uncomfortably nauseous).
"Do you think Molly's awake yet?"
"If she's not she'll be up in a few minutes". Beca glanced towards the clock, grinning a little (Molly Claire was like clockwork, they could time it perfectly). As if on cue, they heard a small thump from the hallway, as their daughter's feet hit her bedroom floor.
"Wait for it… wait for it…" Jesse held his breath in anticipation, and Molly let out a squeal.
"Mummy", she called excitedly, and Jesse heard her pick up the chocolate eggs. Moments later, she appeared in their bedroom, a grin a mile wide on her face and making her look just like her father.
"Hey there baby girl, what have you got?" Jesse wanted to know, patting the space between them.
"Choc-lit!" Molly giggled, throwing her handful of mini eggs onto the bed before pulling herself up. "Daddy, choc-lit?"
"Who brought them for you, baby?" Beca wanted to know, grinning at her daughter's messy bed hair and trying her best to pat it down.
"Bunny". She nodded seriously, her little fingers doing their best to unwrap the chocolate egg. "Daddy, help?"
"Daddy will help", Jesse agreed, taking the egg from her, unwrapping it, and popping it into her mouth.
(Beca wished she had had her phone to capture the look on her baby girl's face. It was a mix of outrage and hysterical sadness, and Jesse had to laugh.)
"Sorry, Molly", he said, biting back a chuckle, as he unwrapped an egg for her. She shoved it into her mouth, glaring at her father, as she curled into her mother's side. Beca grinned, squeezing her tight.
"Is it nice, Molly?" she questioned, and Molly nodded enthusiastically.
"Yep!"
"Hey, how about we go downstairs and have some breakfast before we eat any more chocolate?" Beca suggested, and Molly frowned.
"No Mummy".
"Yeah, come on Molly!" Jesse swung his legs off the edge of the bed, before scooping her up and plopping her onto his shoulders and making her squeal. Beca followed at a slower pace, as her husband and daughter galloped down the stairs.
Jesse plopped Molly down on the bench, as Beca lifted herself onto the stool at the breakfast bar (with great difficultly, because the stool came up to her hips- she hoped to God that Molly didn't inherit her height). Getting out all the necessary ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes (Molly and Beca's favourite), he began to chat.
"This is gonna be the best day ever", Jesse told Beca, as he cracked an egg into a mixing bowl. "I mean, it really is. Its Easter, we get to eat chocolate all day and actually have a reason to, we're telling everyone that you're knocked up-"
"Jesse, I swear to freaking God, if you tell them just like that-"
"Calm yourself, I won't". He grinned, his eyes sparkling, and she sighed heavily, shaking her head.
While Jesse cooked the pancakes, Beca retreated up the stairs to have a quick shower and make herself look presentable for when their friends arrived (Beca wasn't one to make a fuss when the Bellas and the Trebles came over, they had seen her at her best and her worst- although when Molly was a newborns she had sent around a mass text message to all their friends, something along the lines of 'call before you come over as I have a boob hanging out'. But she knew her face was pale, if not tinged green, and she needed to fix that). Changing into jeans and a loose shirt (she wasn't showing in the slightest, but if anyone was going to notice the changes in her body it was Chloe Beale), she moved into Molly's room to get an outfit for the day.
She broke into a grin when she saw it- a pink t-shirt, with the words 'big sister' in sparkly silver font. Jesse had come across it whilst shopping, and Beca had been so excited she had teared up. grabbing the shirt, Molly's blue jeans, stripy socks and sneakers that lit up (Stacie had found them and when she showed them to the little girl, Molly had been so excited she attempted to leap out of her highchair), she moved back downstairs, where she smelt chocolate chip pancakes.
"Some for Molly, and some for Mummy", Jesse said proudly, presenting his two favourite girls with plates and cutlery. Beca moved to the fridge to get out the bottle of milk, before pouring some into a cup for their daughter. "hey Bec, I'm going to go and get dressed and then go and check something in the backyard, alright?"
"Okay", Beca agreed, knowing that Jesse still had to hide the Easter eggs from the Easter bunny. So while Jesse disappeared, Beca climbed up to sit beside her daughter, grinning at Molly's messy face.
"Love choc-lit, Mummy", she said seriously, and Beca laughed.
"I know you do!" she wiped a smear of melted chocolate from her cheek, making Molly giggle. "And I love you".
"Love you Mummy".
"Happy Easter!"
Aubrey was the first one they saw when they opened the door, and Molly squealed and lunged for her.
"Bee!" she squealed.
Molly had to laugh, as Aubrey held out her arms to catch the tiny brunette.
"Hey, mini earspike!" Fat Amy cooed, and Molly giggled.
(Jesse felt Beca tense beside him- he knew exactly how much she hated being called 'earspike'- and squeezed her hand, willing her not to blow up at that moment.)
"Hey Bec!" Chloe pushed past the rest, kissing Beca's cheek. "You're looking happy!"
(Chloe Beale, the one to notice the tiny details. Beca had to give it to her, the girl had talent.)
"Did the Easter Bunny come, Molly?" Benji wanted to know, as the little girl reached out for him.
"Bunny come, Unca Benny! Come, Lily!"
Laughing, she squirmed down, trying to take Lily and Cynthia Rose and Stacie and Donald's hands all at once. In the end she just called for them, corralling her aunts and uncles into the yard to assist her in finding her chocolate (Molly Claire wasn't a silly little girl. And her father had given her a very detailed description on the workings of the Easter Bunny).
They spent most of the day in the sun, relishing in the chocolate that Jesse had hidden for Molly (she was like a sniffer dog, Jesse had chuckled, and Beca had to agree. When it came to chocolate, Molly knew it all). Beca had her camera and her phone out at all times, alternating between the two, taking photos and videos to send to their parents.
"She's so cute", Cynthia Rose chuckled, as Stacie and Molly jumped on the trampoline together, working off the sugar they had consumed (because Stacie was just as big of a kid as Molly, it turned out.).
"Down, please?" Beca heard Molly say to Stacie, as she fell to her knees. Crawling to the edge of the trampoline, Stacie helped Molly down, before swinging her long legs off the trampoline.
"Mummy", Molly called, picking up her shoes.
"What's wrong, baby?" Beca wanted to know.
"Mummy, hot", Molly said emphatically, running towards her mother with a rim of chocolate around her mouth (Beca had to note that Fat Amy looked almost the same, and that photos she had taken would come back to haunt the Australian for years to come). Beca hoisted her into her lap, before unzipping her jacket.
"Hey Molls, have you shown Aunt Chloe your new shirt?" Jesse said brightly, as Beca gently tugged her arms out of the pink jacket.
"No".
"Go and show Aunt Chloe your new shirt, tell her how pretty it is!" Jesse gave Molly a gentle push, and Molly broke into a grin.
"Look, new!" Molly slid off her mother's lap, dancing towards Chloe with a grin on her face. "Pretty. Pink".
"Ooh, it is pretty and pink", Chloe cooed, and Molly leapt onto her lap. Spreading her arms wide, she grinned on her aunt, knowing exactly what the words on her shirt said.
"Big sister", Chloe read, and she almost dropped the little girl. letting out a squeal, Molly slipped off her godmother's lap, as Chloe's eyes grew wider and wider. "Beca- oh my God- big sister?"
"You're pregnant?" Aubrey voiced what all of them were thinking.
Stacie summed it up best. "Holy shit!"
"Stacie!" Beca bellowed, and Jesse grabbed their daughter, wrapping his arms around her ears.
"You're pregnant, Bec?" Cynthia Rose said, and Beca nodded.
"Twelve weeks today, actually".
"Congratulations!" Benji said sincerely, and Beca leaned over to give him a quick hug.
"Thanks Benji".
"You're pregnant!" Fat Amy shrieked. "Now this is a perfect time to discuss names, all in favour of earspike and the Treble calling the baby Amy? Aye? There we go, it's settled". She all but lifted Beca off the ground in a bone crushing hug, making Beca holler.
"I don't think that's too good for the baby", Benji said uneasily, and Fat Amy all but dropped her.
"Hands in!"
(When Aubrey Posen spoke, they listened.)
"To Beca and Jesse!"
"To Beca and Jesse!"
Beca just laughed, lifting Molly to her hip and accepting Chloe's hug of congratulations ("I knew there was something different about you!"), wondering how on earth her life turned out the way it did. But it had, and she wouldn't change a thing.