Four days of continuous rain had turned their once nice backyard into a mud pit. Their garden was flooded and Jesse was certain that their poor tomatoes and strawberries would never get a chance to make it to their table.

And four days of continuous rain was turning Beca into a psycho.

(It felt like four years.)

"Guys", Bec protested, as the shrieks from the lounge room grew louder. She was sitting at the table, trying to get some work done, but the Monopoly game to end all Monopoly games (deemed that by their father when he left that morning) was causing her some grief.

"Mum, we're bored", Molly said again, wandering into the kitchen with the little Scottie dog piece clutched in her hand.

Beca had tried her best to entertain them. It was mid-June and they had marked a few activities off their summer bucket list, but rain and the fact that Beca and Jesse did still have to work had proved difficult.

"What happened to Monopoly?" she wanted to know.

"We're done with Monopoly". She shrugged.

"Of course you are".

"Wanna play Clue?"

"Not right now babe, but I'll play later", she promised. "I've got to work right now! I'm almost done, so I'll play with you soon. Did you hear that, guys? Why don't you get the Game of Life down?"

"We've played that FOUR times!" Jack all but wailed in protest from the other room.

Two years ago, all they wanted for Christmas and their birthday were board games. And so the Swanson family board game collection (although Beca was fairly impressed by their collection up until that point- Jesse was a dork and in the early days of their relationship she had found herself battling it out in Monopoly) grew. Their obsession had died down slightly, but there were still days where the three of them (and often a cousin or two) would sit down to battle it out on the board (and Jesse still initiated a once a month family game night because "Beca before we know it they'll be all grown up and gone off to college and we won't even get to hear Toby's hissy fit when he loses at Clue").

"Wanna watch a movie?" Toby said finally. "Nemo?"

"No, not Nemo!"

"Inside Out!"

"No, Toy Story!"

At nine, they still loved their Disney movies. Jesse had raised them right, he had said proudly, although Beca could probably argue.


At some point after giving her kids sandwiches and a bowl of popcorn, Beca moved from the kitchen to the office. She left her kids sprawled through her lounge room, promising that she would soon be finished and could play with them, and stuck her big headphones on.

Which was exactly why she didn't hear them strut outside into the rain.

"How angry do you think Mum's gonna be?"? Toby wanted to know, as the three of them stood on the veranda, looking out at the sheets of rain pouring from the sky.

"She probably won't be", Jack said confidently. "Remember when the Bellas were in college and they went to visit Aunt Aubrey and they went in the mud pit?"

"She hated that", Molly protested.

"No, she hated Aunt Aubrey. If she hated it so much why's there a photo in the lounge room?" Toby countered, stepping down onto the grass and slipping a little. He held his hands out to balance himself, flicking his wet hands at his sister. She let out a scream, before gracefully leaping (six years of dance had paid off, and despite being half Mitchell, the girl had grace) off the veranda and onto the grass.


Beca knew exactly where the shrieks were coming from, when she emerged from the office. She should have expected it, from her sneaky ass kids.

Opening the window, she stuck her head outside, just as Jack slapped a fistful of mud onto Molly's cheek.

"HEY!" she screeched and the three of them dropped to the ground.

Fully clothed, her kids were covered head to toe in mud. Head to toe in mud, a la senior year at Barden.

"Oh my God", a second voice said from behind her and she turned to see her husband, dripping wet from his trek from the car front door. "What is going on out here?"

Jack almost hung his head, not willing to make eye contact with his parents or his siblings.

And then Toby chuckled.

"You think this is funny?" Beca bristled.

(It was fucking hysterical, but she couldn't let her kids know that. She was the tough parent.)

She swung open the back door, marching onto the veranda and glaring at her kids, trying her best to bite back a smile.

"Did you think this was a good idea?" Jesse agreed.

"It was Toby's idea!" Jack burst out and Toby bellowed.

"HEY!"

"I don't care! If Toby said jump off a cliff, would you?" Jesse wanted to know, winking at Beca, just barely biting back a smirk.

Beca carefully stepped down onto the grass, moving closer to their children.

And then Toby saw the sparkle in his father's eye, from twenty feet away. So he did what he knew Jesse would want them to do. He threw himself at Beca, making her shriek, as he wrapped his arms around her and smacked a messy kiss to her cheek.

"I love you Mama".

And all of a sudden Beca had six muddy arms wrapped around her, set on pulling her onto the grass.

"Guys!" Jesse called, laughing hysterically as Beca shrieked and squirmed to get away from their octopus grips. "That is NO WAY to treat your mother! Beca, come here sweetheart".

And he turned the hose on the four of them.

Beca took a running leap, throwing herself onto his back and digging her thumbs into the pressure points on his shoulders, bringing him down to the ground. He laughed as Jack, Molly and Toby jumped on top of them, rain thundering down on top of the pile of limbs.

"Shower", Beca choked out, pointing her hand towards the house. "Shower, now!"

"What's the matter Bec, too many memories?" Jesse laughed, helping her up.

The kids stripped down to their underwear on the back veranda, Jesse turning the hose on them before sending them slipping and sliding on the tiles towards the stairs.

"I'm going to kill them", Beca said with a shake of her head, picking up a sopping wet, originally white t-shirt that Molly had donned that morning. "I'm going to kill Aubrey".

"What did Aubrey do?"

"Oh this was probably her idea". Beca shook her head and Jesse laughed, squeezing the nozzle on the hose once more and making her bellow.


Jesse Swanson took a photo with Instagram: Tuesday at the Swansons, a la the Bellas senior year #lifewithtriplets #bardenbellas