AN: Alright, folks. *cracks knuckles* In the first part of the story the last chapter's events happen over a span of a week. In the second part, there was a time jump. Well, guess what, humans? This last one has both. Prepare for a lot of words. And if you guys are interested in an epilogue to this story do tell.
Disclaimer: there will be typos because I can't bring myself to proofread. It's hard for my brain... and I'm whining like a twelve-year-old. ENJOY.
Present.
"Jesse, whatever happened with the man that shot you?" Dr. Mitchell asked as accepted a glass of champagne from Jesse.
"He's getting help," Jesse answered. "He's very troubled mentally." He's had been keeping tabs on Spencer through Christina.
"I told you to use the spoon," Beca was saying to Joseph who was stuffing his birthday cake into his mouth using his hand. "I know you know what I'm talking about," she confidently said as she held his gaze. Jesse smiling hearing her and excused himself from Dr. Mitchell.
"It's his birthday, Beca, let him be." Jesse threw an arm around her shoulder.
"You clean him up later then." She shrugged his arm off and walked away.
Jesse watched her for a moment then tilted her head feeling a tap on his shoulder.
"Chloe, Stacie, hey," he grinned.
Chloe smiled shaking her drink tilting her head to look at Joseph who was sitting in his high chair enjoying the birthday's banana cake.
"We were talking just now about you and Beca," she sighed looking back at Jesse.
"Okay," Jesse nodded not knowing what to say.
"You two are really good at co-parenting Joseph."
"Thanks, Chloe," he thanked her.
"I know someone who's going through a divorce and they have a kid with their ex-, is there anything you could tell me that I could tell this person to help make things easier?"
"Do I know them?" Jesse asked as he drummed his fingers on the cup of coke he was holding.
"No, she's from work," Chloe shrugged.
"Well, tell her to just clear things up with her ex- and put the kid first," he casually said.
"Does clearing things up include spending a week with their ex- in god knows where?" Stacie wondered.
Jesse smiled figuring out what was going on: ever since he, Beca, and Joseph got back from Canada everyone had at some point tried to get either him or Beca to tell them what happened. It was private so all the attempts failed.
"Whatever works," Jesse shrugged.
Six months earlier.
Day #2 (in the cabin.)
"Wow," Beca slowly said when Jesse stepped out of the bathroom and her eyes fell on his face.
"Whatcha think?" he asked rubbing his chin.
"I can't say I hate it. But I don't like it either," she said as she eyed the mustache he left after he shaved his beard that was getting out of control. "I mean you don't look homeless anymore."
"Well, I like it." He shrugged. "What are you making?" he asked as he walked towards the kitchen where Beca was standing.
"Some tea," she informed him. "Want a mug?" she asked offering to make him one.
"Yeah, sure," he accepted. "Joe's still napping?" he wondered.
"Yep," Beca nodded. "He'll wake him up in like an hour from now hungry." She looked up and eyed him closely. "Dude, you look so weird with a mustache." She handed him a mug of tea.
"I'm owning the dad look," he told her gesturing to the t-shirt he was wearing that had 'DAD AF' printed on it.
He grinned at the eye roll his words got.
"How are we doing this, Jesse?" Beca wondered as she made her way to the dining table where she left her laptop and a few notes.
"Let's start off by telling each other what dislike the most about each other," he suggested taking a seat facing her.
"Wow, off the bat? Okay," she nodded adjusting her chair. Jesse rested his arms on the table and interlocked his fingers.
"I think we should write them down." Beca grabbed an empty sheet and a pen and placed them in front of him.
"I'm gonna go get another pen," she told him and got up.
"Okay." Jesse watched her leave the room then looked down at the sheet and sighed grabbing the pen.
Beca was back in less than a minute and immediately started writing. "You read the stuff I write and I read the stuff you write, okay?" she said without looking up.
"Yeah, okay," Jesse shrugged.
"Okay, I'm done," Beca told him.
"Already?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know what I don't like," she shrugged putting the pen down.
"Okay, I'm done, too," Jesse announced five minutes later. He handed her the paper and took the other one from her then cleared his throat.
"-You take me for granted
-You're too depended on me.
-You give up too fast.
-You settle for temporary solutions to big problems," he read out loud then looked up.
"-You either obsess over things or you're indifferent: There's hardly ever a middle ground.
-I hate the way you just shut me out sometimes.
-You're not appreciative enough of anything I do," Beca read. "What's the last one supposed to mean?" she arched an eyebrow. "I appreciate the stuff you do even when it's not enough."
"Well, you hardly ever show it," he shrugged.
"What do you want me to do? Throw you a parade whenever I appreciate something you've done?"
"I'm not asking for that. I'm not asking for anything, really," he said. "We're just talking about the things we dislike about each other. And I really dislike that about you. You just expect me to Ace things because if it were you doing them you'd find no trouble accomplishing them so you just assume they're easy. You forget that you're an overachiever and it's infuriating."
"Noted," Beca slowly nodded processing his words.
They went over the rest of the points they made and discussed them very maturely—ie they didn't defensive.
"And that's my cue," Beca said, hearing Joseph wake up in tears, pushing her chair back before she stood up.
Jesse leaned against his chair and watched her as she walked away. He picked up a pen and doodled until she came back. He grinned seeing that she brought Joseph with her.
He took him from her and placed a kiss on his cheek before he sat him on the table.
"Uh-oh, he doesn't recognize you," Beca noted in sing-song when Joseph frowned as he eyed Jesse who had never seen without a beard.
"Wait, don't talk. He might recognize your voice," she told Jesse as she grabbed her phone from the table.
"Joe, who is this?" she asked as she started filming. She snickered when Joe tilted his head to look at her in confusion.
"Joe, it's dada." She rested her hand on Jesse's shoulder squeezing it. "Joe?" she called when looked back at Jesse and his bottom lip started quivering.
"Aww," she cooed.
"It's me," Jesse said. "Dada."
Beca handed Jesse her phone and picked Joseph up when he reached for her as he began to cry.
"Baby, it's dada," she told him while rocking him in her arms. "We love dada, don't we?" she asked him, wiping his tears away.
In the midst of all the incoherent babbling, Joseph babbled dada.
"Yeah, dada," Jesse nodded, getting up, and placed a kiss on his cheek then pulled his head back when he felt Joseph's palm on his cheek.
"It'll grow back," he told him and kissed him again.
"Dada dada dada…" the little boy repeatedly said.
"Joseph doesn't like the mustache, Jesse," Beca said still rocking Joseph in her arms.
"He'll warm up to it," he shrugged. "Because I'm totally keeping the mustache." He put Beca's phone aside.
"C'mere, buddy," he said to Joseph as he extended his arms.
"Go ahead," Beca encouraged when Joseph tilted his head to look at her. She leaned over towards Jesse and handed him their son who was a bit relented.
"Well done, Jesse, you managed to confuse the shit out of your son!" Beca said in fake enthusiasm as she patted his shoulder. "What, you said I'm not appreciative enough," she shrugged at the look he shot her.
"I'm gonna go for a walk," she told him as she turned on her heels. Jesse considered going after her then decided to let her have some space. They spent an hour criticizing each other and it was hard not to get defensive.
Jesse was laying on the couch playing with Joseph who was laying on top of him when Beca came back from her walk.
"Hey, Becs, come sit with him while I go to the bathroom real quick," Jesse said sitting up.
Beca made her way to the couch and sat down smiling when Joseph grinned the moment he saw her.
"C'mere, buddy," she said picking him and stepped aside to let Jesse through before she sat down on the couch.
"What's that you got there, buddy?" she asked gesturing at the folded paper Joseph was holding then took it from him and helped him sit on her lap while she unfolded it.
' I adore you because:
*You're very passionate about what you love.
*You make great sandwiches.
*You're so thoughtful.
*You get out of your comfort zone to make those you care about happy.
*You're tough AF. (Both emotionally and physically—it really hurts when you punch me in the shoulder, stop doing it please.)
*You're unpredictable and so damn hard to read.
*You very strong willed.
*You have a bigger heart than what you lead people to believe.
*You let me use your skincare products.
*If it weren't for your constant encouragements I would have never gotten anywhere near where I am in my career.'
Jesse got out of the bathroom and was watching her from a distance.
"I can't believe you put making sandwiches on here," Beca said as she eyed the list of things he wrote.
"You do make awesome sandwiches," he shrugged.
"Aren't unpredictability and being hard to read bad qualities?" she asked clearing her throat.
"Not necessarily," Jesse said as he walked towards the couch. "You surprise when you do things the unexpected way and I freaking love that about you. As for being hard to read: it just means that there's still a lot to know about you, you're not an open book. As frustrating as it can get sometimes, it's what makes you you." He sat down next to her. She scooted closer to him so he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and embraced her.
"Thank you," she mumbled against his chest.
"Those were some of the stuff I fucking love about you but inappropriate things in my head wanted to make their way onto the list so I stopped when I stopped," he said as he rested his chin on her head.
"Good call." He heard her say as he helped Joseph stand up. He chuckled when Joseph threw himself at him and supported his weight.
"There's that and the fact that when I counted them and saw that they were ten things, I figured it would be like in the movie ten things I hate about you. You didn't get the reversed reference, of course, right?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Jesse," Beca sighed looking up.
"For what?" he frowned.
"For acting like an ass just now," she told him.
"Hey, I don't like what you said about me either. It hurt to hear you say that I'm co-depended but the hurt is the motivation I need to fix that problem and the rest." He rubbed her arm. "We're different, Becs. We deal with things differently." He smiled and held gaze then looked away when he felt like leaning and kissing her.
"I think I'm gonna go for a swim," he shared with her as he continued to rub her arm.
"Jesse, it's cold."
"It's good for your health to swim in cold water," he shrugged and pecked Joseph's cheek. "I read about it."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "It boosts your immune system. It burns calories," he cited. "It gets your blood pumping—you have bad blood circulation, you should swim in cold water," he pointed out.
Beca sat up thinking about his suggestion.
"I saw a bottle of vodka in that book shelve over there it drink some for warmth," he nodded towards the book shelve.
"Jesse I can't just drink from that."
"Why? You could pump milk for Joe and he's good to go until you produce alcohol-free milk."
"This isn't about the milk. Everything here doesn't belong to either one of us."
"It's not like you're gonna drink the whole thing! You're just gonna take a few shots of vodka to warm up," he casually said as he watched Joseph try to climb him.
"Need a little help, weirdo?" he asked placing his palm under Joseph's butt to give him a boost.
"I really hate that you put it in my head," Beca murmured getting up.
"Go, Mitchell," Jesse hollered grinning. He made a face tilting his head to look at Joseph and made him laugh.
"God!" Beca exclaimed after swallowing a shot of Vodka. "My throat is on fire. What is this poison?" she said as looked at the label to read it.
"It's in Cyrillic," she told Jesse.
"Which means it's the good kind of poison," Jesse concluded watching Beca blow a breath and jump in her spot while rotating her neck and holding the towel she had wrapped around herself after taking off her clothes in the bathroom.
Beca waited for a reasonable amount of time before she took another shot.
"Alright. To the river!" she put the bottle down. "I didn't bring clothes because I thought we're staying just for the weekend. So, don't peek," she mentioned casually.
"Wait, you're gonna skinny dip?" he asked in surprise.
"Yeah. I can't ruin the underwear I brought with me," she shrugged and started making her way out of the cabin.
Jesse very shamelessly watched her as she dropped the towel before she got in the water. "Dude, that's mama," he said after looking down at Joseph. "Don't stare at mama," Jesse put a hand over boy's eyes.
Joseph held onto Jesse's hand and tried to remove it while he babbled.
"What was that?" Jesse removed his hand. "Did you just say mama?" he checked while holding his son's gaze.
"Mama," Joseph very hesitantly said.
Jesse hopped off the couch and paced out of the cabin heading the river.
"Beca," he called.
"What?" she asked.
"Come out of there," he gestured with his hand for her to get out, bending to grab the towel. He closed his eyes and held it out.
"What's going on?" she asked as she got out of the water and wrapped the towel around herself.
"Check this out." Jesse paused. "Say, mama," he said to the little boy.
"Ma-ma," Joseph repeated after his father.
Jesse grinned and looked at Beca following Joseph's gaze.
"Couldn't you have said that before I went into the water?" Beca didn't fight the grin that made its way to her face. She dried her hands before she cupped Joseph's face leaning up to kiss him.
"Say mama," she told him.
"Mama," Joseph grinned.
"Oh, baby." She kissed him again. "I know you don't know what you're saying but thank you." She pulled her head back remembering her breath was of vodka which was a little too strong for her little one's senses. "Whoa there." She held her hands up to catch him when he threw himself at her. Jesse held him back and Beca wasn't quick enough to keep the towel that she barely wrapped around herself from falling.
"Oh my god." She bent to pick it up in embarrassment. Jesse turned on his heels instantly.
"It's nothing I haven't seen before," he tried to reassure her as he held Joseph who was trying to look over his shoulder more steadily.
Hearing a splash, Jesse tilted his head and blew a breath. "Mama is something, isn't she?" he said to the boy whose head was tilted towards the river too then pecked his temple.
Day #3 (in the cabin.)
"Dude, right now, you're a stereotype in its human form," Beca noted as stood eyeing Jesse who was cutting wood for the fireplace.
It was barely autumn and during the day it was relatively warm but during the night it got cold which Beca and Jesse could handle but they didn't want to put Joseph at any risk so they figured it was best if they lit the fireplace.
"I don't know what you mean by that, eh," Jesse said in a terrible Canadian accent as he held the maul against his shoulder.
"You're wearing a flannel, got a mustache, and you're cutting wood. Need I say more, Lumberjack?" she said as she held back a smile.
"A lumberjack cuts down trees, Bec," Jesse pointed out resuming his work.
"Jesse, I think that's enough wood," Beca said noticing the way he winced once he lifted the maul over his head.
"Just this one," he grunted hitting the wood.
"What is it, Joe?" Beca tilted her head to look at the little boy she was holding in her arms when he babbled something in awe. He waved his arm as he looked at his father while still babbling.
"Jesse, I think Joe wants to split wood, too," she told Jesse.
Jesse drove the maul right through the chopping block and took a moment before he looked up. "The maul is about his weight. In a few years, buddy."
"Jesse, go rest. I'll bring the wood inside." Beca made her way to him. "You did all the hard work." She wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead with the back of her sweatshirt.
"Does it hurt whenever you pull any effort?" she wondered placing her hand on his shoulder.
"No," he shook his head. "Only when I push it."
"Don't push yourself then." She squeezed his shoulder.
"I'm supposed to get myself through it. But I've been busy to hit the gym and slowly work on getting myself to handle pain until it eventually stops to ache so much," he told her.
"Start slow and like go for a run in the morning," Beca suggested. "Just don't push yourself too hard and end up collapsing."
Jesse rolled his eyes. "I won't collapse. I'm fine, Becs. Physically, I'm very fine. It just hurts when I go overboard," he assured her.
"I don't mean to come off paranoid all the time," Beca chuckled humorlessly. "It's just that I saw you in a pool of your own blood and I honestly thought you died," she told him. "And the fact you haven't been yourself ever since makes me think that a part of you did die that night." She paused feeling a lump in her throat.
Jesse pulled her and Joe who was in her arms into a hug. "I know I zone out a lot but I'm working on filling the emotional void that night caused."
"I know you are," Beca mumbled against his chest. "And I'm very proud of you." She wrapped an arm around his waist. "Fuck, I'm sorry I don't show it enough." She gripped his flannel.
"That part really stuck with you, huh?" Jesse rested his chin on top of her head. She nodded.
"Beca, I know that you appreciate what I do. I guess you could say I like to hear you tell me." He pulled his head back when she looked up. "I need validation," he shrugged. "I take back what I said earlier. A parade every time you deem me worthy of your appreciation sounds awesome." He grinned when she rolled her eyes.
"Take Joe and get inside," she sighed. "I'll bring in the wood." Beca pulled away and handed Jesse Joseph.
"Look at what I found," Beca said to Jesse who sat on the braided rug near the fireplace playing with Joseph.
"You know how to play it, right?" she asked tossing the harmonica she found for Jesse to catch.
"Yeah, but I haven't played in ages," he said catching it and flipping it in his hand. "It's Blues harp," he told her bringing it to his lips to playing some random notes.
"I'm gonna play you the first thing I learned how to play the harmonica," he mumbled.
"Wow me, Jesse." Beca sat Indian style on the rug and grabbed Joe's stuffed giraffe.
Jesse played the Pokémon theme which really pleased Joseph.
"Thank you," he thanked Beca who was slow clapping for him when he finished. "The tone is a real panties dropper."
"Well, Joe looks awestruck," Beca pointed out as she watched the little who was eyeing his father with so much wonder in his eyes.
"What is it, buddy?" Jesse asked. "Do you like the harmonica?" He waved the instrument.
Joseph followed Jesse's hand movement with his eyes before he crawled towards him.
Jesse helped him sit on his lap. "I'll teach you how to play it when you're old enough." He placed a kiss on the top of the boy's head who was busy exploring the harmonica that Jesse let him hold.
"So, I was thinking earlier," Beca started to say. "You still haven't hired an executive producer, right?"
Jesse nodded.
"An executive takes care of the finances and like the budget and contracts and all, right?" she checked.
"Yeah, why?" he wondered as he kept Joseph from stuffing the harmonica into his mouth.
"You should ask Christina. She has a Ph.D. in Economy. She knows shit. I feel bad for wasting her skills on the stuff I make her do."
"Thanks for bringing her up. She's actually perfect for the job." He hid the instrument behind him.
"I thought so, too." She watched the way Joseph wasn't having it and wanted to put the harmonica in his mouth which was why he began to fuss.
"I'll ask her when we're back in New York."
"Cool." Beca clapped to get Joseph's attention. "Time to go to sleep, buddy," she said gesturing for him to come to her.
Joseph crawled to her. She picked him up and got on the couch then unzipped her sweatshirt.
She stroked Joseph's cheek while he nursed. "Jesse, could you please turn off the lights?"
"Yeah, sure." Jesse got up and flipped the light switch then carefully sat down next to her. "Do you want me to spend the night with you two?" he asked.
Jesse knew the answer was yes: the night before he went to bed with them without asking because it felt natural.
"If you want," she mumbled fixating on Joseph who was struggling to keep his eyes opened.
"Why did you ask me to stay our first night here?" Jesse hesitantly asked.
"'Cause you were comfortable and I didn't want you to give up the warmth of the bed for this less than comfortable couch that will definitely give you a sore neck," she explained. "Besides, you had just woken up from a night terror, I didn't want you to be alone," she added looking up. "Still don't wanna talk about it?" she checked.
Jesse shifted in his seat and looked away from her gaze.
"Jesse, you don't have to tell me. And I won't obsess over it, I promise. It's just that I know that the Jesse I've known for almost seven years would find comfort in talking about what bothered him." She looked back at Joseph.
"You know what? We're here to talk and clear things up. So, let's about it." Jesse inhaled deeply. "For the months you spent at the hospital doing your best to keep Joe inside the womb, I learned to keep it all in, bottle it down. I hated lying to you. I hated pretending. And, I hated how I couldn't talk to you when you got better. You were so happy about Joseph and I couldn't bring myself to ruin that for you." He shrugged. "I wanted to open to you all those times you tried to talk to me."
"But shutting me out was easier," she finished for him. "And the more I tried to get you to talk the more annoying I became," she sighed looking up. "Shutting everyone out is easy but it's so fucking lonely." She paused. "I think a selfish part of me knew how bad it got with you but I didn't want to pull more effort. Instead, I chose to get mad at you." She exhaled. "This is all my fault, isn't it?" she sniffed feeling the tears form in her eyes.
"No, it isn't," he disagreed. "We both fucked up," he shrugged. "We got carried away, Beca. And, it really sucks." He rubbed her back. "But it's not just you. If I weren't too fucking dependent on you and let you take charge of everything instead of being a part of the decision-making things would have turned out differently." He watched Beca hold Joseph who had fallen asleep against her shoulder.
"Last night I had a moment of clarity and I came to the conclusion that we should stop playing the blame game," he told her. "I can honestly admit that I was wrong. I made so many bad decisions our relationship wise," he sighed. "I might not like how things turned out—scratch that, I fucking hate how things turned out—but I'm done blaming you and myself," he decided.
"Do you think you can do that, too?" he asked. He arched an eyebrow when Beca didn't reply and kept looking at the fireplace. "Becs?"
Jesse curtly smiled when she nodded then leaned in and pecked her temple.
Day #4 (in the cabin.)
"I can feel you staring," Beca said from her spot in the yard in front of the cabin facing the river. She tilted her head. "I'm sure you can find something else to look at," she told him.
"I'm interested in what you're doing," he shared with her.
"Wanna try yoga?" she asked doing a different pose.
"Um, yeah," he nodded.
"Joseph is still tight asleep?" she asked getting up.
"Yes. And the makeshift fortress is untouched," he assured her. "He's curled up."
"Good," she rotated her neck. "If you want I could teach you some easy poses," she offered.
"You think I can do it? You know I'm not the most flexible," he grimaced.
"Oh, you're flexible." She paused realizing her tone was a little flirtatious and hoped he missed it. "Besides, yoga is basically stretching but like stretching muscles that you didn't know you could stretch."
"Isn't yoga all about the Zen and peace within one's self?" Jesse wondered.
"Yeah, I can't do that part. I do it for the stretching because it weirdly helps me lose weight when I regularly go for runs."
"I don't wanna lose any more weight," Jesse frowned stretching his arms. Beca rolled her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes. Half of my wardrobe doesn't fit me. I'm in a really shitty shape."
"Jesse, a few yoga poses won't affect your weight."
"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "What do I do?" he asked reaching her.
Beca smirked then said, "get down on all four."
Jesse hesitantly got down on the towel she had put on the grass. "I'm a little scared."
"You should be," she was saying as she bent while resting her palms on her knees.
At first, she made him do some easy poses to get him to ease up and let his guard down before she moved to harder poses that even she had a hard time pulling off.
"Beca, this feels wrong," Jesse uneasily said as he pulled his left leg closer to him while bending towards the right and trying to reach the toes of the other leg that he was trying to keep flexed.
"Jesse, you're not bending enough," Beca got on her knees and slowly helped him bend.
"Oh, it burns." He sucked in a deep breath.
"Then you're doing it right," she rubbed his side. "Wait, if it's your stomach then stop, Jesse, you might hurt yourself."
"No, I'm fine," he exhaled. "Just stop what you're doing, it's distracting."
"Sorry." She pulled her hands away. "Try to reach your toes, I'm gonna check on Joseph."
"Okay," Jesse squeaked bending closer to the right despite the pain he was feeling.
She was in and out of the cabin in a minute and had brought a bottle of water with her.
"Still asleep?" Jesse asked.
"Yep." Beca put the bottle down. "All right enough of this pose," she decided and watched him let go.
"Yoga is hard," Jesse concluded grabbing the bottle of water. "How can anyone find peace when everything is aching?" he wondered after he swallowed the water.
"Beats me," Beca shrugged. "Still up for some Yoga?"
"Yeah," he nodded putting the bottle aside.
"Stretch for the next pose you're gonna try," she recommended.
"Okay." He rotated his neck. "Wait, Becs, could you get me a cap? My hair is annoying me so much," he requested running his fingers through his shaggy hair that was in need of a haircut.
"I got something better than a cap," Beca said removing the elastic she was holding her hair up in a ponytail with.
"There you go," she grinned holding the hair that was bothering him with the elastic.
"I feel so attractive right now," he told her touching the hair she tied. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Okay, let's start shall we?"
"Ow, ow, ow, I'm gonna fall," Jesse was saying as he tried to stay put on one leg while he arched the other leg back and tried to hold it with his hand.
"No, you're not, now hold your hand higher," Beca said.
"Fuck," Jesse exclaimed losing his coordination when Beca tried to help him arch his back and eventually fell to the ground.
"I think you've done enough yoga for the decade," Beca decided.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Jesse said noting the way Beca was holding back a smile.
"You said you wanted to try yoga," she shrugged and extended her arm to help him stand up when he reached out his.
"I should have known you'd do this," she sighed when he put her in a headlock the moment he was on his feet. "God, I can't even elbow you," she groaned knowing that she will really hurt him if she did elbow him in the stomach.
"Ow," he exclaimed when she stepped on his foot and let go of her. "You're so violent and impulsive," Jesse was saying as he checked his foot, sounding impressed.
"Impulsive, that's a new one," Beca noted accepting his weird compliment.
"Yeah, you know you could have like broken a toe or something," he said as he moved his foot.
"Oh, don't be such a pussy."
"All right. You did not just call me a pussy," he said in mock annoyance. "I'm a fucking cheetah!"
"Side note, did you know that cheetahs sound like puppies?" Beca asked as she walked backward knowing that Jesse was planning on doing something.
"I'll spray this all over you if you come near me," she threatened, picking up the bottle of water.
"I'm not scared of water," he shrugged walking towards her.
"Jesse, I'm serious." She extended the bottle. "Fuck it, I'm outta here," she said deciding to make a run for it.
Jesse grinned before he followed her, having a hard time to run fast because of what she just did to his foot.
Catching up with her inside the cabin, he grabbed her by the arm causing her to let out a small yelp.
"Okay, Jesse, I'm sorry for making you do all those poses. And, yes, I had fun watching you struggle," she said when pinned her to the wall. "And sorry about your foot." She glanced down at his foot. Looking up she found him dreamily gazing at her. "You can let go of me now, I apologized," she told him.
Jesse slowly let go of her arms while he held her gaze. She reached and removed the elastic from his hair and tried to calm his hair then cupped his cheek. Against his better judgment, Jesse leaned in and kissed her. He wrapped an arm around her waist when her hands made their way to his hair running her fingers through it as she pulled him closer.
His free hand moved down to her butt grabbing it before it went under her tank top and to her back desperate for more contact but knew he had to hold back. He then picked her up while they passionately kissed and walked to the couch laying her on top of it and hoping whatever they were doing would last longer than he knew for sure it would.
He was the first to pull away out of breath.
"I'm gonna go check on Joseph," Beca said pushing him up gently before she could get up.
Jesse watched her pace to the room and wondered if he just fucked everything up.
"Where are you going?" Jesse jumped from his seat when Beca stepped out of the room an hour later while holding Joseph in her arms and was wearing makeup and had changed from the clothes she was wearing.
"I'm going to that town I told you about. I really need some space and I can't have that when you're like five feet away from me. And, I have to buy some clothes, I can't keep wearing your sweatpants, I'm tired of pulling them up." She paused. "I can't exactly walk around the cabin in boxer shorts all day long: it's cold and I'm not a monster." She knew what seeing her in shorts that barely covered her ass would do to him: Jesse wasn't by any chance a horndog but he was still a man with needs.
"You're taking him with you?" he nodded at the boy she was holding.
"Yeah."
"Wait, let me go get my shoes. I'm going with you—"
"—did you not hear what I just said?" she asked in disbelief.
"I'm going with you to the town 'cause we're out of juice pouches," he finished his sentence. "And, I wanna go for a walk."
"You finished the ones I bought?"
He nodded.
"Jesus, man, you need to slow down with the juice. It's not even good for your health." Beca started making her way out of the cabin.
"Okay, okay, stop shouting, we're gonna go see mama," Jesse said to Joseph who was expressing himself rather loudly. Jesse took the car and went to the only department store in the two blocks town with Joseph in tow seeing that Beca really wanted to be alone. They agreed he'd come get her in a couple of hours.
"Ma-ma," Joseph babbled as Jesse unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Yeah, mama," Jesse nodded picking him up and smiling feeling Joseph's palm on his face. He tilted his head enough to kiss his son's palm as he stepped back. From the glass window, he could see Beca sitting at a table chatting with a guy who was sharing her table.
"Huh." He started making his way to the coffee shop. Knowing Beca, he knew for sure that it was very unlikely that she had made a friend this quick.
Jesse had just stepped into the place when Beca looked up hearing Joseph's babbling that was hard to miss. He watched her as she said something to the middle-aged guy when he was still out of earshot.
"Hey," Jesse smiled politely resting a hand on Joseph's chest to keep him from throwing himself at Beca.
"Hi," Beca said reaching out her arms to take Joseph from his dad.
"Well, hello there, little guy," the man smiled broadly at Joseph before he looked up at Jesse and extended a hand.
"Kyle," he introduced himself.
"Jesse," Jesse said firmly shaking his hand.
"Jess, Kyle knows Doug," she informed him and made space for him to sit next to her.
"Really?" Jesse scooted into the booth.
"Yeah. My family owns a house across from the river and we saw the lights so. At first, I thought it was Douglas but when I e-mailed him to be sure he told me that he lend it to his wife's ex-husband," Kyle explained.
"How did you figure out that Becs is with me?" Jesse wondered.
"I heard her talk to the waiter. You don't find any Americans around here or native English speakers for that matter," Kyle shrugged. "I was just inviting you guys over for dinner," he shared with Jesse. "Beca said she'd check if you aren't up to anything first when I insisted."
"Oh." Jesse paused then tilted his head to look at Beca. "Um." He looked at her, scanning her face to see what she wanted. "Sure," he slowly said when he couldn't read shit, deciding to make the call regardless of what she wanted. She tossed him the ball. He made the call.
"Great," Kyle grinned.
"So, are we going to talk about it?" Jesse asked he stood in the doorway, watching Beca apply makeup in the bathroom, getting ready for dinner.
"You waited until now to bring it up?" she asked back.
"You said you wanted some space." He paused. "Look, I'm not gonna apologize for kissing you. So there's that. You're gorgeous and I'm very attracted to you. I'm done apologizing for kissing you when you clearly didn't mind."
"Not asking you to apologize," Beca told him turning on her heels. "When I said I wanted space from you I meant it in the literal sense. If I didn't get out of here we would have had sex," she said as she held his gaze.
"You make it sound like I don't have any self-control. And I'm a little offended by that."
"Jesse, when was the last time you had sex?" she asked as she wore her Blue Vans slip-on.
"Last time with you," he answered crossing his arms across his chest.
"Right, that's like nine months ago." She paused. "We're attracted to each other and are twenty-four seven together. I think I speak for the both of us when I say that because of all the deep talking we're in a pretty damn vulnerable place. Which means that if I crack we will have sex," she confidently said.
"Point taken."
"Just don't get near my face and we'll be fine," she sighed.
He nodded. "You look nice," he complimented her changing the subject. Given the fact that they were invited for dinner, Beca figured she'd buy some sweater from the town to wear with the only pair of jeans she brought with her.
"Thanks. You look good, too," she smiled. Jesse went to the barber he found while driving around town and got a haircut. He looked more than good. She liked seeing him in khakis and a button down. He didn't do formal that much: it was a nice change.
"So, we're good?" he checked.
"Yeah," she nodded, grabbing a pair of shoes that served no real purpose for Joseph to wear. They were adorable and that was why he wore them.
"What are you doing?" she asked Joseph who ducked his head under one of the pillows that he was surrounded with to keep him from falling off the bed.
She pulled the pillow away and smiled when he looked up grinning. "We're drooling a lot these days, aren't we?" she said slightly grossed out as she reached for a napkin to clean his mouth with it.
"His gum is preparing for the upper teeth," Jesse told her walking towards the bed then sat down and sat Joseph on his lap before he cupped his cheeks to look into his mouth while Beca sat next to him and put the shoes on their baby's small feet.
"Dude, what are you doing?" Beca asked looking up to find Jesse putting his index into Joseph's mouth.
"I'm checking his gum," he told her while he gently touched Joseph's upper gum. "Well, it's hard but I didn't see any white. Still got some time before his teeth make an appearance," he told Beca. "Ow," he said pulling his finger out. "He bit me."
"Welcome to the club." Beca gave Jesse a napkin to clean the drool from his finger. "Put his coat on and let's go. I'm hungry, I hope their food is good."
"How long has been together?" Kyle's wife, Jill asked.
"All together like four years maybe," Jesse answered when Beca didn't say anything— she was chewing and he knew she was using it as an excuse to get out of answering.
"You don't know for how long you've been together?" Jill frowned, tilting her head to look at Beca to see her reaction.
"We've known each other for over seven years and have been on-again and off-again. Got a Rachel and Ross kind of situation," Jesse elaborated, referencing Friends when Beca shrugged. "What about you, guys?" he asked looking between Kyle and Jill.
"Together for twenty-one years, married for twenty years," Kyle answered.
"Wow. That's a lot of years of waking up to the same face," Beca said genuinely but was met with laughter so she smiled and let her words let be played off as a joke.
"We had our rough patches like any other couple," Jill shrugged.
"But we made it through," Kyle finished for her.
"That's really sweet." Jesse leaned against his seat.
"Yeah," Beca agreed, resting her cheek against Joseph's head who refused to sit on the age appropriate chair the Dawson's provided and decided to act like the clingy brat he was and only stayed quiet in her lap.
"Joseph is really into the baked apple, thank you for making it for him," Jesse said glancing at his son who was furiously biting the baked piece of apple.
"Please, we haven't had a little one over in years. I had to remind myself that he couldn't eat all the things I could make him," Jill was saying as she eyed Joseph.
"What is it, Joe?" Beca asked when Joseph looked up finishing the piece he had been chewing on for the last half an hour.
"Good job, buddy," she said as she cleaned his face before she helped him stand up and placed a kiss on his cheek. He reciprocated the gesture.
"He could give kisses already?" Jill coed.
"How did you manage to get him to do that?" Kyle asked. "Jane didn't start kissing until she was ten months old," Kyle said referring to his daughter that was away in college.
"We didn't do anything, really. His sister did. She was determinant to get her baby brother to kiss her back," Jesse informed. "She's really persistent," he proudly added.
"A quality she gets from her dad," Beca added, sighing when Joseph buried his face in her neck and rubbed his nose against her skin. She rubbed his back and supported his weight when he dropped his legs counting on her to hold him.
"Is he going through the clinginess phase?" Jill asked.
"It's been going on for a couple of days, will it last long?" Beca asked.
"He's just learning that it's not just him and that there's a whole world around him," Jill told her. "It's a little scary and he needs his mommy."
Beca nodded absorbing the information then placed a kiss on Joseph's head.
Day #5 (in the cabin.)
"The Dawsons totally think we're together," Jesse was saying as he and Beca laid in bed while Joseph slept between them.
"I'm pretty sure they think we're married, 'cause I'm wearing grandma's ring," Beca chuckled holding her left hand up.
"Why are you wearing it, though? I noticed that you never take it off."
"It's one of my favorite rings. I like that it's fancy. Grandpa had a dope ass taste," she shrugged eyeing the ring on her finger.
"He really did. It's beautiful." Jesse was holding her hand and eyeing the ring closely as he spoke.
"You know else is beautiful?" he asked letting go of her hand and resting his head on his elbow using it as a pillow. "The Dawsons' relationship."
"Did you feel the sexual tension between them or was it just me that noticed?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "I felt it, too. They're really in love."
"I always thought sexual tension fades when you're in really long term relationships," Beca shrugged taking a lock of her hair around her finger and twirling it.
"It doesn't have to." He sighed. "Not when the relationship is strong."
"And the couple has great sex like all the time," Beca concluded. "I'm talking erotic novels great," she added when he chuckled.
"Fifty shades great?" Jesse asked.
"You think the Dawsons' are into BDSM?" Beca smirked.
"Beca, I don't need that mental picture in my head. You know what, we should stop talking about this."
"No, wait I think I'm onto something." Beca rested her weight on her elbow as she turned to look at Jesse. "People who are really experimental in the bedroom wouldn't get a chance to get bored with their partner. Like, they'd start doubting their relationship then have amazing sex and be like fuck that noise this relationship rules."
"Beca, you should never give relationship advice. What you just said is a recipe for disaster."
"I just theorizing," she shrugged laying back on the bed.
"I agree with some of what you said. A good sex life is important." He paused. "Becs, was the sex good?" he asked, referring to themselves, checking if it had a hand in what happened to them.
"Yeah, sex was fine when we had it," she answered thoughtfully. "You know what I think weakened us?" She tilted her head. He nodded for her to keep going.
"We stopped having those deep talks we used to have. We used to get deep even over the phone when one of us was away."
"Yeah, why did we stop doing that? I enjoyed those times." Jesse frowned.
"Like you said a couple of nights ago: we got carried away," she smiled sadly at him. "You got lazy and depended on me and I got indifferent," she shrugged. "Which really sucks." She let out a heavy breath.
"Yeah, it really does," Jesse agreed as he stroked Joseph's cheek. "But if I got a chance to start over I wouldn't do anything differently." He leaned down and placed a kiss on top of Joseph's head.
"Me neither." Beca smiled when Jesse looked up. He leaned over and placed a kiss on her forehead in an attempt to comfort her, noting how watery her eyes had gotten, then laid back on his back extending his arm enough he could envelop both Joseph and Beca.
Beca wiped the tears that fell and scooted closer to Jesse.
"I think it's time we went back home," Jesse said resting his cheek against her head while he rubbed her back. "Don't you think?"
She cleared her thought and snuggled up to him finding a comfortable position. "Yeah."
"I'll book us flights. You stay in with Joe."
"Okay."
Day #6.
It was eleven twenty-two in the pm when their Uber parked on Beca's street.
Joseph was still clinging to Beca. Other than that, things had changed. Beca and Jesse were in a better place. It wasn't ideal but they worked things out and we were definitely going to co-parent Joseph better, which was their top priority.
"You think Bender had fun for the week?" Jesse asked as he and Beca walked into the elevator heading up to her penthouse. Bender stayed at Beca's place with Bumper, Amy, and Stacie.
"Yeah, I let Bumper babysit Joe. Bender's in good hands," Beca assured him.
"That's very comforting," Jesse said peeking his head to check on Joseph whose head was tucked into his mother's neck fast asleep.
"I'm gonna go put Joe in his crib," she told Jesse. He nodded and pecked the little boy's temple.
Hearing a bark they both tilted their heads.
"Jesse, calm him down. He can't wake Joe up," she was saying as she checked on Joseph.
"Yeah, yeah," Jesse grinned bending to play with his fluffy and much bigger baby. "Bender, buddy, I missed you." He hugged the dog.
"Beca, is that you?" Stacie asked, stepping out of her bedroom in a robe.
"Hey, Stacie," Beca greeted opening the door to Joseph's nursery.
"When did you get home?" Stacie asked.
"Just now. There was a delay with the airplane. Then we got stuck in a traffic jam," she sighed and walked into the nursery.
She pecked Joseph's cheek as she sat down on the armchair near his crib and started removing all the unnecessary clothes off of him.
"Where were you?" Stacie asked, leaning against the doorway.
"Stace, keep it low. Joe can't wake up," Beca whispered getting up to put Joseph in his crib then walked out of the room with Stacie in tow.
"Where are Amy and Bumper?" Beca asked.
"They went out. It's date night or something."
"And you stayed in?" Beca asked in surprise.
"Andrew came over," Stacie shrugged.
"Andrew, Officer Andrew?"
"Yeah, him."
"Well, where is he?" Beca asked. "Did he leave?"
"No, he's sleeping over. Said he had a tough day at work," she shrugged playing it cool.
"Aww, Stacie, I didn't know things were this serious with him. You let him sleep over when he's tired and not because he just dozed off after sex and that is a huge step."
Stacie rolled her eyes at Beca's sarcastic words and decided not to reply.
"Jesse, hey," Stacie stretched out the words.
"Stacie, how's it going?" Jesse straightened up while Bender jumped his leg.
"Going great," Stacie said. "Wow, digging the mustache." She gestured at his face. "But I can't say you're a DILF 'cause the mustache reminds me of my own dad and I can't go that far."
"Thank you," he thanked her. "Where's his leash and the rest of his stuff?" he wondered nodding at Bender.
"I'll go get them," Stacie said as she began walking.
"I don't think I've ever seen Bender this happy," Beca noted.
"Yeah. I'm happy to see him, too." He took the leash from Stacie when she came back.
"I'll see you around?" Jesse said straightening up.
Beca nodded and walked towards him giving him a tight hug.
"Night," she said pulling away.
"Good night." He started walking towards the elevator.
"Beca, what is going on?" Stacie asked the moment the elevator door closed.
Beca shrugged and kept fixating on the door.
"Well, are you hungry? 'Cause I'm making myself a snack."
"Yeah, sure," Beca nodded.
"What do you want? Peanut butter and jelly?" Stacie frowned eyeing Beca.
"Uh-huh. Sounds good," Beca absent-mindedly said.
"Okay," Stacie sighed and walked to the kitchen.
Beca sucked in a deep breath then paced to the elevator deciding to listen to her guts that told her to go after him.
The elevator ride felt like an eternity as Beca stomped her foot. She ran out of the building and was glad to see Jesse didn't get far.
"Jesse?" she called.
He stopped in his tracks. "Becs?"
"I didn't tell you the things I adore about you," she said as she ran towards him.
"You don't have to tell me. I know I'm adorable."
"Shut up, I'm not going to list things I love about you, your ego can do without them: I'll e-mail them to you if you want," she said the moment she reached him. "I have never seen Friends before but I remember Bumper binge watching it. I know about Rachel and Ross. What I don't know is how their story ends. But since it's a sitcom I guess the writers let them be together by the finale episode."
Jesse nodded.
"I wish our life was a sitcom," she told him letting out a humorless chuckle. "We get back together then kiss in a very television-friendly way while a cheesy-ass song plays in the background."
"That does sound awesome," Jesse smiled.
"No, it's cheesy."
"Cheesy is awesome."
"Let's agree to disagree, shall we?"
"Okay," Jesse laughed. "Then are you sure a sitcom happy ending is what you want?"
"Isn't every ending is a new beginning?"
"Yeah, it is," he agreed.
"Then yeah, I can do cheesy if it meant I could get a new beginning." She paused. "With you." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Jesse, I have this really annoying feeling that is telling I can't let you go."
Jesse pulled his phone and unlocked it and it wasn't long until Earth, Wind and Fire's September's start playing.
"Background music is set. Got like four minutes to wrap things up," he told her then started humming along to the song and as he was about to start singing Beca cupped his face and kissed him very inappropriately.
Jesse tightened his hold of the leash as he kissed her back. They kissed until Bender started jumping on Jesse's leg and broke them apart.
"What?" Beca asked noting the thoughtful look on Jesse's face as he lowered the volume.
"I'm thinking," he told her. "I'm thinking of what comes next."
"Um—"
"—No, don't. I got this," he interrupted.
"Okay," Beca nodded wrapping her arms around herself.
"Okay, I know what we should do. And it's up to debate. You don't have to agree, cool?"
"Yeah, cool."
"Right, so we shouldn't get back together."
"Pardon?" Beca arched an eyebrow.
"Hear me out." He paused. "What just happened right now means there's hope for us to make it work and stop breaking up every two minutes. But we can't just let our hearts take the wheel—believe me I know the feeling you're talking about, I have it, too— I love you and Joseph so much and I don't want to throw what we managed to do away. So, let's take our time with this." He took a deep breath. "Take time to see if what you're feeling right now isn't temporary and due to being together for a week in the middle of nowhere."
Seeing that Bender had calmed down, Jesse stepped closer to Beca. "What do you think?" he asked.
"You're right." She nodded after a beat. "If we're right for each other we'll get back together." She shrugged. "Even if we don't, it's fine."
Jesse nodded pulling her close to him. "That's fine, too." He leaned down and kissed her grinning as he turned up the volume of the song.
"And, that's a wrap!" Jesse said pulling way the moment the song ended. Beca rolled her eyes and stepped back.
"Night, Jesse," she smiled at him.
"This is the end credit track," he told her playing Passion Pit's Carried Away as she walked away.
"I didn't think you could out-nerd yourself," she shook her head in amusement. "You just did, congratulations," she said over her shoulder.
"Thank you," he grinned.
Present.
"Beca?" Chloe called stepping into the kitchen.
"Yes, Chloe?" Beca answered as she climbed on a chair.
"Wait, what are you doing up there?"
"I have a headache from all the noise in the house and I remember leaving some painkillers up here," she told Chloe as she looked on the wall shelf.
"Found them," she exclaimed grabbing the bottle.
"Joseph is having a lot of fun," Chloe casually said as she watched Beca hop off the chair.
"Yeah, he is," Beca agreed, popping a couple of pills. "What is it, Chlo?" she asked after washing the pills down with water.
"Are you hooking up with Jesse?" she asked.
"Nope. Where did that come from?" Beca wondered.
"Stacie and I have been watching you." She paused to register her friend's reaction. Beca had a blank look on her face. "So much sexual tension between you and I saw how you leaned in when he hugged you. You wanted to kiss him."
Beca rolled her eyes.
"Beca, cmon just tell me you are back with him. I want my best friend to be happy."
"Chloe, I am happy."
"Don't give me that crap."
"Listen, I know you care about me a lot that it can get annoying sometimes but I kinda need you to believe me when I say that I'm happy, okay?"
"God, Beca," Chloe groaned. "Fine." She held her hands up.
"Becs," Jesse called as he walked into the kitchen.
"Yeah?" she tilted her head.
"Sam wants to stay over. She's having the time of her life with Grace and Joseph. But mostly Grace. 'Cause Joe isn't interested in playing he just wants to eat cake."
"Are you really asking for permission?" She arched an eyebrow. "Of course, she can stay. There's plenty of room."
"Awesome," he smiled.
"Hasn't crashed yet?" Beca asked as stood in the doorway of Joseph's nursery.
"Joe is enjoying his new bedtime story," Jesse said as he sat on the armchair while Joseph sat on his lap.
Joseph patted the page asking Jesse to flip the page so he did.
"This story is so interesting," he said nodding at the book he was holding.
She bent to give Joseph a kiss. "Fall asleep soon, baby," she said to him. "So that dada can go to sleep too."
"Sam sleeping?" he asked.
"Yeah, I was checking on her. She and Grace are out like a light."
"What about everyone else?" Jesse asked flipping the page again under Joseph's request.
"Everyone is getting ready for bed," she sighed straightening up. Jesse glanced at the door then took her hand in his and pulled her down gently before pecked her lips.
"I know what you're thinking," she said. "And, no, you're not spending the night in my bedroom. Chloe won't let me hear the end of it if she found out this way."
"What way?" He watched her straighten up.
"She can't catch you doing the walk of shame out of my room." She shrugged.
"You said she knows we're hooking up."
"We're not hooking up," she deadpanned.
"You're right we're not," he agreed. "We're dating. And no one knows we are. We went from pulling a Rachel and Ross to pulling a Chandler and Monica."
"We'll tell them when the time is right."
"And when is that?"
"When they leave."
"Is that a promise? I want to be affectionate with you in front of everyone."
"Yeah. I promise." She leaned in and kissed him. Joseph saw her do it and babbled something out of jealousy so she leaned down and kissed him too.
"Make it a pinky promise," he said when she pulled away and reached out his pinky finger. "Don't roll your eyes. We got back together three months and two weeks ago, and the time was never right. I want a pinky promise." He shrugged.
"Jesus," she sighed interlocking pinky fingers with him. "Fine. I hereby pinky promise you that we'll go public by Monday."
"Can't break a pinky promise, Beca," he said watching her make her way out of the nursery. "Put Joseph to bed." He heard her say.
"Okay," he inhaled. "You heard mama. C'mon, let's finish this and hit Snooze Ville," he told Joseph. "So I can go change mama's mind about where I'm going to sleep," he added when the little boy looked up and babbled.
"Jesus Christ, Jesse," Beca sighed when Jesse peeked his head through her bedroom door.
"I can't fall asleep. Do you have hot chocolate or tea that could help me fall asleep?"
"Yeah but you won't find them in my bedroom," she told him.
"I went to the kitchen; I can't find them." He shrugged playing dumb.
"Fine." Beca tossed the pillow on the bed and walked to him grabbing him by his shirt and closing the door. "You can spend the night here. But you will leave early in the morning 'cause I'm serious, Jesse, I can't handle my friends and my parents and their questions."
"Okay. I'll set the alarm clock to six." Jesse grinned and wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned in when she pulled him down.
"Happy birthday, Jesse," she said against his lips then kissed him. "Guess you are gonna get birthday sex after all," she mumbled as they kissed. He grinned picking her up walking to her bed.
"We don't have to have sex," he said pulling away the moment he laid her on the bed. "I just wanna spend the night with you and help you keep your ice cold feet warm and sniff you because you smell nice." He pecked her lips then grinned when she pushed him so he sat up.
"I was gonna tease you first but you're getting a blowjob now," she decided, pulling her hair up in a bun. "Who knew talking about my cold feet and your creepy habit of smelling me would someday become turn-ons," she sighed.
"Beca, marry me?" he blurted out.
"What?" she asked having missed what he said.
"Marry me," he repeated sitting up.
"No," she answered.
"Why not?" he asked. "Is it because we've just gotten back together?" he guessed.
"Yes," she nodded. "And also because I have a lot going in my life right now I can't add preparing a wedding into the mix."
"We don't have to throw a wedding," he shrugged. "Look. I don't see myself without else. I know for a fact that I wanna spend my life with you. I wanna wake up every day to your face. Our stars must be penguins or swans because these guys mate for life."
"I don't think that's how astrology works," Beca noted to which Jesse shrugged.
"Well, I want us to get married 'cause I wanna call you wife," he jokingly said. "That's, like, the main reason but I want to marry because when Sandra and I divorced I really thought I was done with marriage and didn't want to do it again but I don't feel that way with you." He smiled at her. "Also, health insurance and Tax cuts," he added.
"So romantic," Beca shook her head climbing on his lap.
"So, marry me?" he asked looking hopeful as she caressed his hair.
"I'm not in panic-mode that you brought marriage up which is a good thing," she told him. "The idea of committing to you with the intention of never leaving you doesn't sound bad." She leaned in and kissed him.
"Did we just get engaged?" he mumbled.
"I got one condition," she said pulling away.
"Shoot."
"I won't change my last name."
"Didn't expect you to change it," he shrugged. "And, I'm serious about not having to throw a wedding. Having already thrown one, I can say that it's mostly a waste of good money. But it doesn't mean I wouldn't plan one with you if you want to."
"We'll talk about this later," she decided. "I still wanna give you head which will fucking blow your mind." She licked her bottom lip.
"This transition is very smooth," Jesse said taking off her sweatshirt. "And I fucking love it when you give me a blowie but right now I wanna make out with you." He pulled her to him. "I should buy a ring ASAP," he mumbled when she pressed her lips against his.
"I still haven't said yes yet." She pulled her head back.
"Marry me and I will do our taxes," he offered.
"Every year?" she checked.
"Yes." He grinned when she pretended to think.
"We'll get the wedding bands on Etsy, I don't want an engagement ring."
"Oh, Becs, we should pick them for each other," he suggested.
"Don't go overboard and buy something really expensive," she warned. "I'm doing this for taxes thing," she joked.
"I know." He nodded. "And don't worry. You will love it," he assured her wrapping an arm around her. "Now, c'mere. It's my birthday and you just agreed to marry me without even saying yes: this is one of the greatest days of my life." He swiftly rolled on top of her.
Beca frowned when she woke up to knocking on the door. "Beca, are you coming down for breakfast?" Chloe asked from the other end of the door.
"Yeah, I'll be right down," Beca replied sitting up while she looked at Jesse who was sleeping next to her.
"Okay." She heard Chloe say as she shook Jesse.
"Get up." She shook him harder when he groaned.
"Morning," he lazily smiled waking up then leaned up pecking her lips. "You didn't leave," she deadpanned.
"I didn't hear the alarm when it went off." He sat up while he stretched his arms. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.
"It's seven thirty. Chloe was just here calling me for breakfast."
"Don't panic. I'll sneak out. Everything will be fine." He placed a forceful kiss on her cheek and watched her climbed out of the bed and walk to her wardrobe so he got up and wore back his clothes from the night before.
"I'll see downstairs." Jesse placed a kiss on Beca's Rose tattoo on her shoulder then stepped back so she could wear her t-shirt.
Jesse made it out of Beca's room undetected. He made stop at Joseph's nursery to see if he was up and he was.
"Joe, buddy," Jesse grinned picking him up then blew raspberries into his stomach. "Let's go see mama, shall we?" he said glad that Joseph was in a good mood.
"Look who it is, Joe," Jesse said turning on his heels to find Beca at the doorway.
"Mama," Joseph waved his arms towards Beca.
"Good morning, Joe. Did you sleep well?" she said taking him from Jesse.
"I'll take that as a yes," she laughed when he placed a kiss on her lips.
Jesse grabbed Joseph's bathrobe and handed it to Beca. He smiled cheekily as he watched Beca walk out of the nursery and back to her bedroom to bathe Joseph then stepped out of the room as well deciding to go get some breakfast.
"Good morning, people," he greeted when he got to the kitchen and was met with a chorus of 'Good mornings' from those in the room, including his daughter who was deep into a waffle who he gave a kiss on the cheek.
"This is really good," he exclaimed when Sam held the waffle his way and let him take a bite.
"You're in a good mood," Chloe noted eyeing him up and down.
"Yesterday was my birthday and no one cared, why wouldn't I be in an excellent mood?" he joked making his way to the coffee machine to fill a mug of coffee.
"What, is there something on my face?" he asked when Stacie kept gazing at him.
"Your shirt is inside out," Stacie told as she added sugar to her mug of coffee and smirked at him.
"Who wants waffles?" Bumper called putting the waffles he just made on a plate.
"I do," Jesse said taking them from and making his way to the dining table to eat there.
"When are you shaving that mustache off?" Nicole asked when he sat down in front of her. "I know men have this phase where they think a mustache is the greatest thing ever but it never really lasts that long."
"I like the mustache," Jesse shrugged. "And Beca doesn't—" he stopped in his tracks realizing he was about to slip and tell Nicole and consequently everyone in the room that Beca didn't mind the mustache.
He regularly trimmed his mustache so that it never got on his upper lip and bothered her when they made out.
"—lie; she said it looked good on me and I believe her," he said finishing his sentence.
"I don't disagree with her. It does suit you."
"Thank you," he smiled at the knowing look in her eyes that say: 'I know.'
He made a mental note to tell Beca that her mother knew about them.
"Aw," Chloe cooed watching Beca hold hands with Joseph who was still figuring out how to not walk like Frankenstein. "Look who's up."
"Up up," Joseph repeated after her.
"C'mere, zombie," Jesse said pushing his chair back while he gestured for Joseph to walk to him.
"Go on, buddy," Beca encouraged when he looked up then gently guided him in Jesse's direction.
"Dada," Joseph called while reaching out his arms as he walked unsteadily and eventually fell.
"It's okay," Beca told him when he looked back at her.
Jesse grinned when he saw that Joseph was pulling himself up.
Beca walked up to him so he could hold on to her for support and smiled when he wrapped his arms around her leg. Joseph eventually let go of her and resumed his walk towards Jesse while Beca followed him.
"Well done, champ," Jesse picked him up and sat him on his lap kissing him on the cheek.
"Cham," Joseph clapped grinning.
"Yeah, champ," Jesse nodded then grabbed the waffle and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Jesse, I told you not to eat like you're running out of time in front of him," Beca said in annoyance knowing how likely Joseph was to pick the habit. "Take human bites," she added when he tilted his head while chewing.
"Okay," Jesse mumbled letting Joseph slide from his lap and hold onto Beca's leg. She sighed and picked him up when he kept tugging her at sweatpants.
Jesse almost choked on the waffles so he washed it down with coffee and got up get a refill. Standing in close proximity of Beca who had Joseph in her arms caused the little boy to wave his arm at Jesse then protectively wrap it around Beca's neck thinking Jesse was going to kiss her.
"Okay, you want mama, I get it," Jesse said holding his hands up. "I won't take you from her."
"I don't think he's doing it for that reason," Stacie spoke.
"You really suck at being discreet," Bumper told them as he flipped a pancake.
"We know, honey," Dr. Mitchell who just joined them along with Sheila smiled at her.
Beca took a look around the room and sighed meeting Jesse's gaze who wasn't even trying to keep the grin off his face.
"Fine, we're dating," she mumbled. "Can we go on with our lives now?" she asked.
"Yeah," Chloe nodded grinning.
"Who wants bananas pancakes?" Bumper asked.
"Me!" Exclaimed both Sam and Grace.
"This isn't so bad," Jesse said into Beca's ear.
"You just wait, buddy. Or leave now and save yourself from the lectures my parents will give and I'm not counting the teasing from the girls."
"I'm not going anywhere, future wife," he placed a kiss on her cheek when Joseph wasn't looking.
"Wife?" Chloe gasped over-hearing them.
"Fuck," Beca murmured. "Great job, Jesse," she glared at him.
"I'll handle it," he assured her pretending to roll his sleeves.
THE EFFING END.