*The USO Tour*
"Are you sure you're okay to go through with this Beca?" Chloe whispers loudly.
Chloe leaned over the middle airplane seat, stretching over lily to tap the brunette who had already slid her headphones on, mid safety lecture from the flight attendants.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Beca implied, removing the headphones to hear her, though she hadn't started the music yet.
Beca pretended not to know what she was talking about, afraid that the Bella's would hear them and pick up on what they were talking about. They were of course safe with Lily, she wouldn't make a peep (quite literally) but Beca still worried and Chloe still persisted. But still, Beca couldn't let the girl's down in their chance of winning and performing for DJ Khaled.
First pregnancy, first baby, but last chance to perform with the Bella's, and she was going no matter what. She wanted to soak up every new moment in her life with her pregnancy of course, but it was deemed safe to travel by her doctor and she wanted every last moment of this trip to perform with the Bella's too.
They'd have their whole lives to see each other and hang and meet this baby (which was huge because Beca was the first to get married and have a baby) little did Beca know them disaster waiting, and that this wasn't the last time they'd all be together for days in a row, or their last vacation. Unfortunately, it had to happen under horrible circumstances, but little did she know that this baby (who was her sweet little boy, Teddy, but she didn't know him or his siblings yet) was going to be so loved and cared for.
Sadly for them, Stacie was already out of the competition because she had important family issues to sort out, so Beca felt this was an exciting and happy obligation to fill the missing spot. Not that Emily couldn't have done it, but Beca really wanted to be there so bad, it sounded desperate (but she didn't want Chloe to know that because she could never live it down) ("The same alt girl who hated a capella and never had girlfriends?" "You looove us Beca, admit it. Look at you, you're blushing." Chloe had teased when Beca insisted on leading auditions the following year after winning the 2012 ICCA's).
"Beca," Chloe pleaded for her to listen, "The B-A-B-Y." She whisper-spelled as if the other's couldn't and Beca snickered.
"You couldn't leave the driveway without Jesse walking you outside with a garbage can so that you wouldn't puke in the driveway. We had to lie and tell the Bella's we were in traffic even though you and I both know I had to pull over several times so that you could throw up. And did you already forget about..."
"Chlo, I'm fine. Relax." She reassuringly reached over and took Chloe's hand, squeezing it convincingly. "It was probably mainly motion sickness from being in the car."
"Alright, it's just 'Motion sickness' then?!" She mocked, "Beca, you couldn't sit up in bed for the longest time without throwing up! And, we're on a plane! Are you gonna puke 'Aubrey style' all over the rows in front of you when it starts taking off?!"
"Chloe, you're spiraling again." Beca warned gently, feigning a smile to hopefully help her relax and not start a scene.
"Besides, that was weeks ago! I'm okay, I promise. And I'll let you know if I'm not."
Had Chloe forgotten the scene she and Aubrey had caused back in 2012 when Aubrey had puked all over the rehearsal room and the pitch pipe had rolled into the vomit?!
"Lily," Chloe tapped on the quiet girl's shoulder, "Switch seats with Beca please; I want to be next to her and she could really use the end seat."
Though Beca's severity of her morning sickness was starting to taper off, she still prefered to be close to the aisle so that if she had to, she could dart to the restroom. Despite Jesse's plea to stay home, she blatantly dismissed him, claiming that it had resolved to quite literally only morning sickness now (compared to when she was sick all day very early on and couldn't even keep water down).
"My OB-GYN said I'm fine to travel, Jess. And until you have a medical license in a frame above your desk at home, I don't wanna hear it." Beca sneered at him before giving him a kiss goodbye as he helped her climb into the passenger side.
"I'm just concerned for you guys." Chloe continued as they shuffled to switch their seats, Aubrey glaring at them from the row over the entire time.
"Thank you Chlo; I appreciate it and love you." Beca smiled, knowing she was referring to the baby when Chloe said, "You guys." and it honestly warmed her heart.
Beca leaned her head on Chloe's shoulder as the plane started moving and closed her eyes tightly, praying that the anti-nausea medicine would kick in and work. She hadn't anticipated even going to the USO's, she had figured she would be too pregnant to even go, but they were moved up by several months due to scheduling conflict (she didn't know specifically what the issue was) and Aubrey had dropped it on them the month before.
So here she was, fifteen and a half weeks pregnant, flying out of the country to perform for the troops. Boy, she couldn't wait to tell this little one about that. He or she hadn't been born yet and already they had traveled the world and met Dj Khaled, had been kidnapped (which she didn't know would happen yet) and this was only in the first fifteen weeks of their lives.
-XXX-
"You guys, we just embarrassed ourselves in front of Dj Khaled."
Emily had stormed in, wearing something far nicer than what was necessary given the occasion. Some of the girls were lying in the same bed in their pajamas and Flo was on the floor getting her hair braided by Cynthia Rose. They had decided then and there that all hopes of performing with DJ Khaled were gone, and their luck had only plummeted and been jinxed by losing the riff off.
"All because Beca decided to copy Aubrey's 2012 puke-aid." Cynthia Rose added.
"Yeah, what the he-" Fat Amy began.
"You guys, she couldn't help it." Chloe pitched in, stopping the attack they had going on Beca.
"Why not? She should've ran off stage first." Cynthia Rose proposed.
"It would have been more embarrassing to the country if she had left in the middle of taps." Aubrey informed them all matter of factly.
Beca leaned in the doorway of the bathroom in Chloe's thick, pink, vanilla scented robe wrapped around her body (Thankfully big enough to hide the beginning of what would eventually be a protruding belly of hers that had just began to form) and a thin hotel towel cradling the hair on her head, water pooling at her ankles. She struggled to grasp everything that had happened and felt horrible both physically and emotionally. She hadn't anticipated any of this and wished and cursed herself for not listening to Jesse's sound advice out of her own stubbornness.
She took a shaky breath and wanted to cry as hormones ravaged through her entire body and exhaustion took over. She didn't want them to see her cry, she had felt awful enough and was ready for this nightmare of a trip to be over. She didn't know if she should defend herself and just tell them what was going on, or if her surprise would follow through.
She didn't want to make this trip about her or take away their excitement and focus of performing. When it was over and they went out to celebrate she wanted something to celebrate along with their win while they were all riding high. It was gonna happen, she was gonna make sure it did. She wanted these to be memories that lasted forever without taking away from the trip itself.
"I'm sorry you guys. This wasn't how this trip was imagined and I didn't mean ruin it for you guys." Beca's voice wavered the entire time, trying not to cry.
Chloe hopped off the bed and went to her, putting an arm around her shoulder and rubbing her back before she and Emily helped her back to the bed to lie down against the headrest. She was pale and shaky, feeling too weak to get dressed, not that the girls weren't tight anyways.
"Don't be Beca- We were unfairly projecting and we're the ones to be sorry." Aubrey surprisingly reassured her.
"We couldn't have predicted that any of this would happen." Emily pitched and the others nodded.
"What happened up there? Bad sushi?"
"I used to make sushi at sushi morgue." Lily whispered.
"I'm sorry, a what?! Is that the name of the company?" Emily worried.
"Shawshank here, is trying to knock Aubrey down as the reigning puke champion." Fat Amy sneers.
Chloe hugged Beca and smiled reassuring her that it was not her fault and that if she wanted to tell the girls she could, but she didn't have to. It would be their dirty little secret and she felt bad enough, but she still didn't want to take away from their trip, so she shook her head at Chloe, knowing exactly what she was suggesting.
"What's our plan, guys?" Chloe deteers them from Beca being the subject.
"Binge drinking and karaoke!" Fat Amy suggested.
"NO!" They all responded in unison.
"And Gambling!" Cynthia Rose concurred.
"Still no." Beca stated with everyone else's head nods as unanimous agreement.
"We find Khaled and make things right for ourselves!" Emily enthusiastically proposed.
Aubrey clasped her hands together excitedly and above the other girls hesitant murmurs declared that it was what they were going to do. They were going to find Khaled and show him that they did have what it took to be stars whether he wanted to believe it or not.
"All right ladies, let's get tarted up!" Amy roared.
They all filed out and congregated into their separate rooms, except for Emily, who took notice of Beca and Chloe, who hadn't made an effort to get up.
"Em, what's the matter baby?" Chloe notices and Emily shuts the door behind the girls, trekking back into the room.
"Mom?" Emily plopped down beside her, sandwiching Beca between her and Chloe.
"What's up, Legacy?" Beca wearily opened her eyes, having begun to fall asleep amongst the noise.
"You've been acting weird." Em states bluntly, concern and slight confusion mixed in her voice.
"Thanks Legacy." She rolled her eyes sarcastically.
"That's heartwarming."
"No, no! No offense, it's just, you're not you! You've been sleeping a lot- well, you always do, but you tire quickly and you're grumpy, then you're sad, then you're way too overly enthusiastic, not that that's a bad thing,- but you're also more guarded than usual."
"Life has its ups and downs. These are normal emotions, Em."
"No, these seem like hormone surges; Worse than just "ups and downs" these are like PMS symptoms on crack." Em exaggerates.
Beca stifled a snicker because she knew Emily was concerned, and for a moment she contemplated telling her to appease her nerves, but she really wanted to tell all the Bellas together. Or would it be better to do it personally?
"You either eat everything in sight or puke everything up at the sight of food. It seems to me that-"
"I'm fine, I promise." Beca grabs Emily's hand to silence the rambling.
Emily sighs and takes the hint, hugging Beca and smiling at Chloe before picking herself off the bed.
"Can I get you anything? Some bagels from the lobby? Some of that fancy water?"
"Im okay, Em. Thank you." Beca smiles.
Emily opens the door and begins to shuffle out, but not before turning around one last time.
"I'm here for you, whatever you need. I just hope you know that when you get to a better place that you're comfortable with, the Bella's are not gonna think you're selfish and will be just as excited for you as I am. And maybe-"
Em paused and wrung her fingers together.
"I'll get to be the God mom." She added with a wink before closing the door and latching it behind her.
Chloe's jaw dropped and Beca was a bit thrown off by the youngest brunette's confession, but was amused by the lighthearted humor thrown in. How long had she had that figured out? How! She was by far the ditzy-est Bella! Or maybe they all just underestimated her.
And there was no way she was gonna be the contender for a Godparent by a long shot. Well, shoot! She'd have to compete against the other Bella's, but she was adorable and Beca looked forward to the competitions and kiss-butting that would be for months to come.
"I get to be the Godparent, right?" Chloe finally spoke and Beca shook her head.
Was that the only thing Chloe gathered from that entire conversation? She didn't wonder how Emily knew let alone cared enough to ask? We're the other oblivious or just too shy to ask?
"You're the only one I'd ever consider, Chlo. You know, if the other girls just suddenly disappeared and you were the only Bella left." Beca snickered and Chloe relaxed, socking Beca jokingly in the arm for the sarcastic comment.
